The story so far

[Esteban the Deathmage]

From the archives of Player Handouts:

Venice, 1379

   You have been a vampire for fifty years now.  The longer you live the more you see the hands of your grandsires and elders, Methuselah of clan LaSombra, in the affairs of men.  The fourth Genoese war rages as the Venetian LaSombra Methuselah recluse Mori seeks to gain face by having his beloved city wage war on one of clan Ventrues important holdings, Genoa.  The backstabbing Carrara family of Padua (Toreador Methuselah) has allied itself with Genoa, breaking a prestation to the LaSombra antediluvian who gave them sovereignty over Padua.  The Tzimisce of Hungary have also entered the fray, presumably on the side of Padua.  All the while your fellow anarchs die around you, sent on suicide missions to ensure human victories, sent on spying raids to obtain bits of information that may be of use never to return, or drained for their failure, or burned for their insolence.
   You are a servant of the Mastelli brothers, Batello, Alvisse, and Rocco, themselves 8th Generation servants of Mori.  You have been used to oversee the glass trade of the human ghouls that fuel the campaigns of your elders.  You are blood bonded to the Mastelli brothers and live in a basement of the Palazzo Mastelli.  You have several ghouls blood bonded to you, all in the glass trade.  You collect blood from them on a weekly basis, two blood points a night each from two of them.  This blood you collect in a particular wine skin, the brothers are adamant that it be no ordinary wine skin.  You are allotted one blood point for yourself a night.  Your colleagues have been caught squeezing the herd before, and they burned for the privilege.  Extra blood is allotted those who go on "special assignment."  It is up to you to keep your ghouls blood bonded by giving them each one blood point per month of your blood.  Should you fail and your ghouls rebel the traditional punishment is to be drained, your ghouls captured and reassigned, or simply destroyed. 
   As the brothers have many human servants, and many of them outlive their use, they use these humans to make their personal ghouls into vampires.  The useless servant is restrained, drained, allowed some of the Mastelli blood, then a new servant is drained and allowed to commit diablerie on the first servant.  This continues until the resulting vampire is 12th Generation.  Certainly more powerful than a human, but not much of a match for them.  They will only allow higher generations of their most trusted of allies.
   Special Assignments have a certain appeal because they mean more blood.  Special Assignments also carry with them a certain dread as they are usually very dangerous.
More blood is also promised to a vampire who tells of another's treachery, be it blood milking or otherwise.  Vampires all over the city police each other in the name of getting more blood.

   
   Being creatures of the night, you are privy to the gossip concerning your, and others, Masters.  One new fellow in particular named Gratiano speaks of insurrecton.  He speaks of throwing off the yokes of your masters, and following your own paths.  He speaks of things that the brothers would destroy you for listening to, and you've only heard of him through whispers in the dark.  There are enough of these whispers to make you think big trouble is definitely brewing, or could it be a trap meant to catch the traitorous?

   A Toreador family (Contarini by name) has recently returned from Constantinople, where they have been seeking trade routes to China.  They have come back early from their expedition, with news that the Genoans are planning something big.  The LaSombra discount this rumor as the Genoans have recently suffered a big defeat, and a portion of their fleet is being hunted down now by the Venetian fleet.  The brothers, in particular, are watching the Contarini very closely, suspicious of their allegiances.

   Trade has been sketchy recently, the result of being at war with so many people for so long, and you await a visit from an eastern trader (by way of Constantinople) with anticipation in hopes of bartering glass for silk and spices, which bring in a pretty penny on the open market.  This is very important as you are held accountable when profits turn low.
You are just on your way to see the ship come in when you are called to appear before the Mastelli brothers.

[Esteban the Deathmage]

What the hell happened?
or, previously, on Origins of the Sabbat...

Anselmo had 10 secret ghouls around the city.  He administrated the glass factory, and had been embezzling from the Mastellis.  Corso, Pinche, and Adrenne worked as production managers.  Antony worked as a manager of a warehouse at the dock.  Luigi administrated the lace factory.

Anselmo, Corso, Pinche and Adrenne were called upon to steal the Eye of Kuang Shi from the Cantarini.  They cased the Cantarini place on the way and found a party in progress.  They met Chi-Mao and Ming-Li at the docks, and Ryan invited them to the party at the Cantarini's after settling a good deal with them. 

Adrenne and Corso, in the meantime, investigated a creepy boat in the next dock.  Unable to get close to it, they sent a message to the Brothers (through Quxan) about it.  Quxan sends Luigi and Antony to investigate.  They find a lot of rats, and an empty boat.  Empty, that is, except for some dirt on the floors of some of the bottom rooms.  When they report back Quxan sends them to find the others, Antony to the glass factory and Luigi to the Cantarinis (with the orders to observe and avoid entanglement unless absolutely necessary.

There they met Veccio Cantarini, head Toreador of the house.  He said to them that he would like to meet with the Mastellis soon in a matter of great urgency.  Corso cased the joint, and noticed Chi-Mao doing the same.  Ming-Li followed Corso like a puppy.

Outside, Pinche (ashamed of this teeth and unwilling to join the party) met Gratiano and warded him off at knifepoint.  Gratiano disappeared into the shadows.

 They escorted the chinese to their hotel, and made at the glass factory (where Antony waited for them) plans to hit the Contarini's.

Corso dropped Adrenne, Pinche, and Antony off a block down, and dropped Anselmo off closer to the party (in the stages of winding down), and pulled around the corner.  Anselmo joined the last of the party-goers as the others broke into a house nearby and took to the roofs.  Corso readied some Molotov cocktails and started pitching them at the 2nd floor windows of the party

Anselmo caused confusion briefly before following Veccio up to the 3rd floor.  The boys were just coming down from the 4th floor (having broken in through the attic) and attacked a security Toreador.  Anselmo made a sphere of darkness and attacked the Toreador through it, dispelling it at the last moment so as to surprise the hapless vampire.  Adrenne beat Anselmo to the prize, however, and lowered his generation.

Veccio made his way to the ground floor, followed by Anselmo.  Adrenne jumped from the roof to the ground.  Anselmo, Adrenne and Antony engaged Veccio in battle for the jewel in front of Luigi and many horrified humans.  Anselmo got the generation and Adrenne got the jewel.  Then they all split up and met back at the house.
Luigi watched as Antony and Adrenne took a dive into the canal, and came up a block or so away.  He also saw a shape running along the roofs of the houses, and down one of the walls.  He got there in time to see Ming-Li engage Adrenne after somersaulting over Antony.  Adrenne fled, and was swooped up in the talons of Zhi.  Ming-Li ran up the sides of the buildings in time to engage Adrenne (he was dropped by Zhi as he began to feed off of him).  Adrenne threw the jewel into the canal as Ming-Li chased it quickly and gracefully. 

The group reported to the brothers immediately and were sent to catch the Chinese.  They chased admirably, dodging arrows, firing fiery arrows, Anselmo even casting bubbles of darkness first on the archers, then on the whole boat.  Nevertheless, the boat kept on going.  Anselmo and Pinche gave up first, swimming back to shore.  Corso and Adrenne managed to fire a rope on the ship, and nearly managed to get to the ship before the approaching dawn caused them to make a mad dash for land.  They spent the day on the scary ship, the rest in the glass factory offices.

The next day they consolidated at the glass factory, where they were visited by Gratiano.  He convinced them to move against the Mastellis by offering them an alternative to the blood bond.  They were visited by Quxan, sent to find them by the brothers.  The brothers were rounding up their ghouls.  They left the factory for Gratianos hideout at the Arsenale.  Anselmo called his extra ghouls to him.  Anselmo saw the first signs of plague in his ghouls.

They met Salaam.  He told them of the Genoese blockade that turned back his ship.

They attacked the Mastelli brothers that night.  Pinche nailed three vampires in a row, torporing them.  Corso was also effective with his crossbow.  Salaam and Gratiano took out Batello.  Adrenne aided Quxan (strapped to a table barely conscious) and Anselmo fought off many of the other vampires.  Corso and Pinche were grabbed by shadowy arms.  Corso got free and took off Rocco's head with a couple of lucky called shots to it.  Alvisse, fighting Luigi, and about to take on Salaam, caused the room to go dark and fled.  Luigi and Salaam followed him to the canal, where they lost him in the ghoul battle that there raged. 

Luigi, Pinche, Salaam, and Adrenne cut a ghastly swath of death while Corso rained death from above.

Anselmo, in the meantime, searched the house, turning up 5000 lira and the blood closet.  Later searching yielded the circle gate and the spell book. 

Anabella investigated the site of the circle, met Luigi and got him interested in the Giovanni. 

Msr Tuisier called upon the Mastellis, and was put off by the group.

Isobel sought them out to size them up.  The families negotiated a settlement, but Mori intruded upon it and demanded the bodies of the fallen, as well as a Blood Vow to refrain from diablerie.

They set out to investigate Strigoii.  They found his business and set out to burn down his boat.  He showed up and battled them underwater.  Salaam and Gratiano saved them, but not before Gratiano was badly wounded.  Everyone ate rats except Luigi and Antony.

They awaken at the glass factory.  Salaam convinced them to topple the power structure of the city and went to find his compatriots. 

They went back to the house and send a nasty note to Mori, Sr. Polani answered it.

The answer came by way of a Polani ghoul, who came with the barge to collect the bodies.  The party had cut off all the heads and put them in a bag and shook it up. 

Anselmo pooled the resources of the companies and redistributed them.  Luigi studied the spell.

[Esteban the Deathmage]

I dont have a handout in archive for the rest but...



What I believe happened is that you made an alliance with the Giovanni and Luigi gained control of a quantity of shadow wraiths. You concocted and executed a plan to lure both Mori and Strigoii to a dark alley/lot and let them go at each other while you took down many of the Polani's including both Sr. Polani himself and Isobel, his daughter. When Mori trapped Stragoii in a dark bag of obtenebration power you guys jumped her, and with the help of the shadows, the Assamites and Gratiano successfully subdued Mori.

You went to her den, under the Doge's Palace, and found the Doge had died. You made a ghoul of the Doge's son and set him up as a temporary Doge until you could get the Council on your side. You gave the body of Mori to the Assamites who excused themselves and began a protracted and noisy ritual. I asked repeatedly what you were doing with the encased body of Stragoii and was told that everyone had abandoned it for fear that Strigoii would emerge and kill whomever was around.

Once the Assaimites were done they came out of the room with a large bowl of blood which they used to gain entrance to her magically protected chambers, un-torpor the bodies of Anselmo and Corso, and give everyone a little diablerie. The Assamites claim that as a 4th Generation Vampire, Mori''s blood may have unknown properties in addition to the magic they tapped to undo the protection and torpor. Of Strigoii and the bad there was no evidence.

Gratiano and the Assamites left with a bottle of what was left of Mori's blood, supposedly to seek out the La Sombra Antediluvian, the 3rd Generation vampire the La Sombra descend from. In the meantime you guys worked out some communication system between your house and the Doge's palace, and sought to consolidate some of your underlings. Intelligence gathered suggested the families were meeting to discuss the problem of the Mastelli Anti-Tribu who committed high crimes against their sires, crimes that cannot go unpunished. An attempt to contact them for the purpose of negotiation resulted in your receipt of an ultimatum. You were to surrender yourselves to the Council's authority and you would be shown mercy. You contacted the Giovanni, Strigoii, and in what I thought was a remarkable amount of forethought, the Toreador in order to secure allies. You already had them in the Giovanni, to all appearances gained one in Stragoii, and from the Toreador at least secured an agreement to bide time.

It all came to a head at the appointed time, in the large meeting hall that was the appointed place. You arrived to find the area blacked out and silent. once you came to the square outside the hall you were told to halt, some fires were lit, and you observed what must have been an honor guard sent to greet you. In fact you found yourselves surrounded. You were informed that you would  be required to surrender your weapons and half your blood pool before entering the hall. At this point the shadows arrived, along with a great number of rats and bats, and the battle joined.

And here is where we will pick up our little adventure...

[Brand Nar Gath]

well, thats great... but what happened?

[Mr. Woodhope]

OK, I know I was Corso, but who was everybody else?

[Brand Nar Gath]

ahh, my nom de guerre, iss a  ... its -ah.... Adrienne, Adrienne Vittadini, I a very pleased to meet you....

[Esteban the Deathmage]

Luigi Mario-Pete Loxsom
Anselmo Armati-Ryan Reavis
Pinche Italiano-Renene Wicha
Adrienne Vittadini-Todd Walker
Antonio D'Abotello-Mike Ranken
Corso Donati/Mastelli-Paul Vaughn