Chapter 4: Who's Pulling the Strings?

The cinders of war still clung to their coats as the coterie returned to their Elysium—smoke on the horizon, blood in their thoughts. They had narrowly escaped death, and possibly worse, in the ambush at Golden Gate Park. But as the ash settled, the echoes of older mysteries stirred anew.

Father Trout awoke from torpor, his once-silent soul now vocal with secrets. He confessed that Vanguard, a powerful figure long lost, had been buried beneath the now-destroyed FANG headquarters. The players agreed to investigate the ruins—but not yet. First, the political tides of the city demanded their attention.

As the Kindred prepared, a stranger arrived—Cliff McClosky, a raspy-voiced elder with tailored dignity and secrets bleeding from the edges of his words.

He spoke of Cerrano, not as a mere old Prince of San Francisco, but as a puppetmaster akin to Helena and Menelaus of Chicago—an ancient Tremere possibly steering events from behind veils of time. McClosky hinted at his affiliation with an unnamed organization operating outside both Camarilla and Sabbat—perhaps the Inconnu, or something more elusive.

“There are strings,” McClosky rasped, “and most of us never see who pulls them.”

He also revealed a curious historical footnote: a Tremere once exiled for seeking forbidden lore, Greg Miles, who would later masquerade as Brujah Ernest “Ernie” Bould. The lines between clans, myths, and monsters were fading.

That night, the Palace of Fine Arts served as Elysium for the full assembly of San Francisco’s Kindred. The city trembled with tension, lit by the crackle of torches and shadows of betrayal.

1. Felicia Nocturne called in her boon with Max, demanding he assassinate Hannibal, the Black Hand operative responsible for the death of Trina. Max agreed—blood oath sealed.
2. Prince Ambrogino declared Peter Takin a traitor and bloodhunted, placing him on the Red List—a name etched into Kindred infamy.
3. It was confirmed: Nathan Kent and his Archons had returned to Europe. His status as Justicar hangs in the balance, his absence echoing louder than his presence ever did.
4. Strangely, no lupines remained. Vanished. No bodies. No blood. As if… erased.
5. The Four Horsemen—as well as  Renwick—are once again in the wind.
6. The players earned Status 2 in San Francisco—a small crown, but a dangerous one.

Chapter II: Ashes, Mirrors, and the Westward Veil

The coterie of Max, Valmont, Jarvis, and Ban returned once more to the ruins of Pier 22½ — the smoldering remains of FANG’s former stronghold. A lone security guard patrolled the fenced perimeter, unaware that a hidden Nosferatu lingered in obfuscate shadow nearby. Valmont, ever the seer, pierced the veil with Auspex and warned the others.

They slipped through the wreckage and found their way to a collapsed billiards table — beneath it, a secret passage, long rotted and drenched in damp. There, they found a coffin leaned ominously against the far wall. It groaned open to reveal a scorched, blackened figure — motionless in torpor. They believed it to be Vanguard.

Max snapped the ancient’s pinky bone, pocketing it without hesitation. One piece, at least, toward severing the curse of his Dark Fate. Blood of a Methuselah. Ash from a jade dragon. And now, bone of an ancient. The ritual would one day be complete.

Valmont sensed magic in the room — Ban confirmed it: a ripple of sorcery stirred below the surface. They uncovered a cloth bag holding 17 smooth black stones. Max also discovered a jet-black dagger hidden in the coffin's lining. No marking. No weight. Cold as the grave.

They placed the torpid body and stones into their enchanted sack and fled.

Back in the waking world, the coterie drove to Chinatown, where Didi Giovanni awaited. She guided them to a nondescript six-story building. On the fourth floor, Prince Ambrogino Giovanni stood beside a wide window overlooking the coiled streets of his domain. He spoke calmly — the Jiang Shi were said to be harboring two Sabbat warlords: Sandor and Kirnon Jace. Their mission was delicate. No bloodshed. No spectacle.

Within Chinatown, the group surrendered their weapons to a man named Donald Li, then proceeded to the White Tiger brothel — a den of silk, secrets, and ancient breath.

There, Lin Hong had them escorted by Mr. Go to an underground viewing chamber. Through a one-way mirror, they saw the Sabbat prisoners: bound, gagged, but not broken. Sandor locked eyes with Valmont and sent a telepathic warning:

“The Jiang Shi intend to take you too.”

Ban attempted to tear away Sandor’s gag with Movement of the Mind, but the spell failed.

They were then led out — but the stairwell grew longer and longer. Time slowed. The walls blurred. An illusion had settled over them like a velvet curtain.

Only Valmont pierced it. He awoke first, seeing their true surroundings: cold tile, musty air — they were drugged or enchanted, trapped in some deep room beneath the brothel. He shook Ban awake but could not rouse Max or Jarvis. There was no time.

Valmont, leaning into the red hunger inside him, tasted vitae for the first time in true combat. He bit and killed five Chinese guards in the brutal escape, discovering something in himself that was both thrilling and monstrous.

Ban and Valmont fled toward a mirror — not just a reflection, but a portal. They leapt through...

...and awoke in the high desert. Bleached sunlight. Scouring wind. A sandstone formation loomed nearby.

Somehow, impossibly, they had been cast back in time — over a hundred and fifty years into the past. The year: circa 1870.

Max and Jarvis were retrieved from the bag of holding and revived. The group, dazed and dusty, walked toward the scent of cooking bacon and found two men beside a campfire. After tense introductions — and a bit of supernatural persuasion from Max — the coterie acquired horses and rode for Carson City.

Hours later, they arrived.

The sign read: WELCOME TO CARSON CITY
Population: Unknown. Fate: Unwritten.

As they trotted into town, their modern memories weighed heavy like loaded pistols. Their enemies were scattered across centuries. The mirror’s web was widening. The Sabbat were stirring. The Inquisition moved in secret. The past had opened its arms not to welcome them... but to test them.

The game was far from over.

And blood, as ever, would be the ink with which it was written.

The mirror cracked... and time unraveled.

Valmont, Max, Ban, and Jarvis — known by the locals as “Pat Garrett” — stumbled out of the desert dust into a world of oil lamps, horse hooves, and six-guns. Somehow, the arcane illusion in Chinatown had flung them a century and a half into the past, spitting them into the high frontier at the tail end of the Gold Rush.

They found shelter in a broken-down hotel-bar near the edge of town, its floorboards creaking like coffins. Night fell. Hunger rose. Each kindred fed quickly and quietly — picking pockets, draining a few vagrants, and lifting about $70, enough to buy rooms and fresh clothes suited to the time.

Max, ever the charmer, used his Presence to enthrall Lester Jenkins, a nervous man with soft eyes and softer hands. Lester handed over his life savings — $200 — and whispered that he worked “for the city,” though what that meant was unclear. It was a start.

That night, a petty thief tried the lock on their room. But Max and Jarvis, half-dreaming and fully dangerous, snarled from behind the door. The would-be burglar ran into the cold.

The next day, the coterie crossed the dusty avenue to the Mooney Prince Bridge Hotel — an upscale establishment with polished brass, a high-stakes poker den, and a brothel upstairs for those who hadn’t found eternity in undeath.

Valmont, ever the gambler, entered a game. His Auspex flared, pulling every twitch and tell from the other players like threads from a cheap suit. By night’s end, he held more than winnings — he held a deed to a silver mine, three miles out into the badlands. A new domain, perhaps.

But not all eyes were friendly.

She arrived unannounced — beautiful, unreadable, and dangerous. Amelia Crimson, a local vampire of striking poise and piercing insight. She saw through their half-truths in an instant. With a knowing smile, she warned them:

“There is no Prince in Carson City. And if you bring trouble... you bring it alone.”

She spoke of Wendigo — savage lupines who stalked the high desert by night — and of the fragile peace in town. The players nodded, but made mental note: Amelia was no stranger to power.

Over the next week, the group secured their footing. Two horses. One wagon. Guns. Ammunition. And four freshly-made ghouls — useful in the sunlight and fiercely loyal.

Then came January 3rd.

They rode out under the early moon to explore the mine deeded to Valmont. About an hour from town, they found it: abandoned, forgotten... perfect. The mine itself was veined with silver — a natural deterrent to any werewolves foolish enough to wander too close. A potential haven.

They descended seventy feet underground, unlocking rusted gates and prying open hidden chambers. In a collapsed section, Max shattered a weakened wall and revealed an ancient room — its center dominated by a single stone coffin, warded with arcane sigils both Tremere and anti-ghoul in nature. Whoever lay inside had been entombed with intent.

Inside, a pale vampire — perfectly preserved, unbreathing, unmoving. Around his neck, a Tremere broach. This was no accident. This was exile... or imprisonment.

Max, ever impatient, rifled through the elder’s robes, drawing a wooden playing card marked with the Tremere glyph — and another sigil seen once before in Cerano’s private chamber. Against Ban’s furious protests, Max snapped the card in half.

Black smoke spilled into the air.

Ban collapsed instantly, his body unmoving.

And the vampire awoke.

He stirred with no gasp, no scream — only the creak of old bones. His eyes opened, narrowed. He spoke only Italian, but Jarvis, fluent in Spanish, bridged what he could.

The elder introduced himself: Enzo Dante.

Who was he? What did he know of this mine, these symbols, or the Tremere? None could say. But his awakening was no small matter. His demeanor was calm, measured — but the power in his gaze made the coterie uneasy.

Ban remained unconscious, locked in some invisible spell. His body was placed in the stone coffin — fitting, perhaps, given what they had disturbed.

The players stood in a forgotten grave, deep beneath the Nevada rock, with a Tremere elder now stirring in their midst.

Questions hung like lanterns in the dark:

• Why was Enzo Dante buried in this silver-veined mine?
• Who sealed him with wards meant to imprison, not protect?
• What was the meaning of the broken card... and the sigil it bore?
• What spell has stolen Ban’s consciousness?
• Can this old vampire be trusted — or is he another storm on the horizon?

As the wind howled across the desert above them, the past — once lost — now walked again.

And the Wild West was about to taste blood.

Beneath the rocky earth outside Carson City, Max, Jarvis, and Valmont descended into an abandoned silver mine. Deep within, they found a peculiar sight: a man frozen in time, yet still breathing.

His name was Enzo Dante, an Italian vampire who claimed the last thing he remembered was going to sleep in Milan in 1655. The language barrier made things difficult until Valmont felt a tremble from the bag of holding. Inside, the pouch of mysterious black stones—retrieved from Vanguard’s tomb—was glowing.

Enzo took one and swallowed it. Moments later, he began speaking perfect English. He called them Babbling Stones, Hermetic relics (not Tremere) that grant the user the ability to understand and speak any language for six months. The rest of the coterie followed suit, swallowing the stones one by one.

But Ban… was another problem. Lying still, unresponsive—enchanted or cursed. Enzo examined him with concern but admitted that the spell placed on Ban was not of Tremere origin. “Hermetic,” he whispered again. “Old magic.” Until they could understand it, Ban was placed back into the bag for safekeeping.

Riding back to town on borrowed horses, the coterie updated Enzo on the world he had awakened to: a harsh, lawless land called the New World, and a dusty town named Carson City—on the cusp of a coming Gold Rush.

They mentioned the only Kindred they'd met in this era: Amelia Crimson, a mysterious woman who ran the Mooney Hotel and Bar. She was elegant, dangerous, and clearly much older than she let on.

The coterie split for an hour to hunt. But when they reconvened at the Mooney, the air was already thick with tension. A gunshot rang out. They rushed in.

A man lay dead on the floor. Standing over the corpse: a hulking cowboy. And beside him, relaxed and casual, sat Enzo Dante, already having woven his influence. He had dominated four men, crafting a personal retinue of loyal “bodyguards” in less than an hour. Enzo was adapting—fast.

A Table of Blood and Intentions

Soon, Ban, Max, Jarvis, Amelia Crimson, and Enzo Dante were seated at a long table, surrounded by flickering oil lamps and the distant din of a saloon piano.

A discussion was had—not of mere survival, but power.

Amelia explained that with gold newly discovered outside of town, thousands would soon flood into Carson City. With them would come Kindred, drawn by blood and wealth like sharks to a wounded sea.

She proposed a “pseudo-Primogen”—a loose council of Kindred to protect the town, regulate power, and stake their claim before outsiders arrived. Enzo, ancient and politically savvy, agreed. Max, Valmont, Jarvis, and Ban (still unconscious) were invited into this dangerous pact.

The Wild West wasn’t just lawless—it was ripe.

Ripe for feeding.
Ripe for influence.
Ripe for blood.

The players couldn’t help but wonder:
Who are Enzo Dante and Amelia Crimson, really?

Both felt ancient. Older than America. Maybe even older than the Camarilla’s reach in the New World. Their presence in Carson was no accident—it was an opportunity.

Now, cast adrift in time, the coterie faced a choice:
Wait to be rescued—or build an empire.

After all, the West was still being written. And this story…
was going to be written in blood.

• Ban remains cursed by Hermetic magic—how and why remains a mystery.
• The Babbling Stones may be more than they seem. Hermetic relics from a forgotten age—linked to language, memory, and perhaps something deeper.
• Enzo Dante is awake. And he is dangerous in all the ways that matter: politically gifted, socially commanding, and terrifyingly comfortable in a new world.
• Amelia Crimson has her eyes on power—and gold.
• The players have become power players in 1870—with a frontier to conquer.

The past is a strange place to build a future.
But for Max, Valmont, Jarvis, and Ban, the Wild West is no longer just a detour—it’s becoming their new domain. With the Gold Rush on the horizon and vampire politics awakening from the dust, the coterie is laying the groundwork for their own Primogen.

 Elysium in the Ashes

Max works his ghoul, Lester, to find property suitable for a future Primogen Elysium. They uncover a weathered church on the outskirts of town—derelict but secluded, perfect for a hidden power base. The land and title are secured… but the building itself requires $900 to purchase.

The coterie agrees to renovate the church with secret chambers, secure rooms, and feeding corridors. But the price remains steep.

To fund their growing ambitions, the players revisit the silver mine and extract 5 pounds of raw silver. Valmont gambles with hopes of flipping coin into capital but merely breaks even. Amelia Crimson offers to front half the cost of the church—cementing her growing influence within their emerging inner circle.

The Duel at Deadwood Alley

Curious about the rival saloon across the street, the coterie visits the rundown bar and hotel owned by a man named Mr. Smith. While inside, a young, arrogant cowboy publicly insults Jarvis, escalating into a street duel.

Jarvis doesn’t flinch.

The guns are drawn.
One shot.
Jarvis kills him cleanly.

But danger wasn’t over. The young man’s companion—an ugly, menacing cowboy clutching a shotgun—moves in to retaliate. Max, watching closely, acts first: he shatters the man’s wrist, then punches him ten feet into the air, leaving him unconscious.

Mr. Smith, amused and impressed, invites the group in for a drink—but refuses to sell the bar. “With the Gold Rush coming,” he says, “this place will be worth a hundred times what it’s worth now.”

The Cemetery Trap

Upon returning to town, Max finds Lester’s home ransacked, his wife murdered. A note left in blood invites them to the old cemetery just outside of town.

Jarvis, Valmont, and Max ride out that night, splitting up as they approach a large bonfire at the cemetery’s center. Max sights a heavily scarred vampire—“Scar Face”—and charges him without hesitation.

Valmont fires four rounds, weakening the target. Max strikes next, rending with his claws and inflicting sixteen points of aggravated damage. The scarred vampire drops, destroyed instantly.

But there’s no sign of Lester… and no answers.

Valmont’s attempt to use Auspex to read the scene fails catastrophically, leaving him blind to supernatural cues for the rest of the night.

They ride back to Carson, frustrated and increasingly paranoid that the ugly cowboy from the duel may have ties to Lester’s disappearance.

Back in town, they are approached by a mysterious older cowboy—regal, commanding, with a silver mustache and boots worn from time itself. His name is Darcy "Ticker" Lafayette, and he speaks with the gravity of centuries.

Ticker delivers a revelation:

“Cerrano,” he says, “has used the mirror many times—lived lives upon lives. He isn’t just 400 years old… he’s likely 2000 or more.”

He believes Cerrano’s mirror, currently held in Chinatown in 2024, is how the Tremere Prince has maintained power and rewritten his own destiny. But now, the coterie’s use of the mirror has disrupted that chain. Its magic may be limited… or entirely cut off from Cerrano himself.

Ticker confirms what the players suspected: Drinking from Cerrano’s Crucible likely linked them to the mirror, making them worthy or able to activate it.

Crossroads in Time

The implications are staggering. The players debate their next move:

• Live out the next 150 years naturally and wait to catch up to 2024.
• Return to San Francisco (in 1870) and attempt to destroy the mirror before Cerrano can reclaim it.
• Or… use the mirror again and return to their proper time, with new knowledge and power—but perhaps facing Cerrano more directly than ever.

Max and Valmont clash over who to trust.
Ban remains cursed, unconscious in the bag of holding.
Jarvis watches the desert horizon, brooding.

As gold fever begins to sweep through Carson, vampires stir in forgotten corners, and whispers of time-walkers begin to surface, the players face an impossible question:

Do they shape history… or escape it?

The gold rush was only the beginning. Carson City buzzed with ambition and chaos, and the players—Max, Valmont, Jarvis, and Ban—sought to capitalize on the growing frenzy. But as with all vampire tales, the lure of wealth is always a prelude to blood.

The Prospectors’ Pact

At the Mooney Saloon, the coterie mingled with the town’s rowdy underbelly. Amidst clinking whiskey glasses and poker chips, Max and Valmont struck a deal with a group of eager miners. With an investment of $500, the Kindred would fund a new mining operation outside Carson in exchange for a 50/50 split of profits.

As they discussed business, Valmont overheard two Mexican banditos—Miguel and José—murmuring in Spanishabout a strange waterlogged chest they had recently unearthed. It was soaked through, but they kept its contents.

Using their Presence disciplines, Max and Valmont quickly charmed the men, convincing them to show the coterie the chest. Inside, Max found an old, mold-ridden Union Army overcoat, a rusted revolver, a decaying Bible, and four damp scrolls.

Max pocketed the scrolls and dried them in his room.

• Valmont spent the night gambling and earned new Gambling skill dots.
• Max used XP to improve his Subterfuge.

Hours later, two of the four scrolls were legible. One described a buried Confederate treasury in the ghost town of Dayton, rumored to contain $50,000 in gold and silver. The second scroll included a crude map of Dayton with a pictograph Valmont believed marked the tailor’s shop.

Ride to Dayton

Max, Valmont, Jarvis, Miguel, and José departed for Dayton with a wagon and horses. The town had been abandoned for over a decade—empty since its mines dried up in 1859.

The ghost town loomed as a skeletal husk of 21 buildings. The coterie followed the map to the tailor’s shop, where they found a buried chest. It was trapped, but Max disarmed it easily. Inside, however, was no treasure—only old railroad spikes.

Valmont used Psychometry and received a vision: someone had swapped the gold long ago. In the vision, he glimpsed the church. The coterie moved quickly.

But just as they began to investigate the boarded-up church, Miguel alerted them—three figures were spotted emerging from the undertaker’s house at the end of town.

One dragged a body from a building and slung it over his shoulder. Another exited the outhouse with a screaming girl, no older than ten. All three vanished into the undertaker’s.

Investigating, the players found the outhouse was a pit where humans were kept as livestock. The carpenter’s shopcontained four corpses on hooks, rotting, drained, and butchered.

The Vengeance Flaw

Max, unable to control his Vengeance flaw, was triggered by the sight of the girl—memories of his own wife and daughter’s death resurfaced. Rage boiling, he marched toward the undertaker’s house with Jarvis and Valmont following.

They were met by three vampires:

• A Mexican Gangrel who fought Max claw-to-claw and quickly retreated in bat form after being maimed.
• A second vampire who held the girl at gunpoint. Jarvis fired a shot from the hip, hitting the vampire in the face, while Max followed up, killing him instantly.
• Valmont snatched the girl and rushed her to safety.

Inside the undertaker’s, Max encountered the third vampire—a necromancer with black smoke swirling around him. Max launched into him, ripping his arm off and began the process of diablerie.

But then the real horror revealed itself.

Out back in the graveyard, dozens—perhaps a hundred—zombies began to rise.

Outnumbered and overwhelmed, the coterie retreated, grabbing the girl and fleeing toward the church.

The Last Sanctuary

The boarded-up church was fortified, and the players barricaded themselves inside just in time. There were supplies, ammunition, and defensive materials—a bunker meant to withstand a siege.

Valmont climbed to the bell tower and saw it for himself:

A sea of undead, slowly surrounding the church.

As the group prepared for the inevitable, they checked the fireplace and found it hollow.

Inside, glinting in the firelight, were gold and silver coins—$50,000 worth.

The lost Confederate treasure was theirs.

But now, they would have to survive the night, and perhaps many more, as a horde of the dead closes in.

 Threads Tightening:

• The zombie horde, summoned or controlled by the necromancer, lays siege to the church.
• The girl is safe—for now—but what purpose did the necromancer have for her?
• The players are rich beyond their wildest dreams, but gold means little if they don’t survive the coming battle.
• Max’s flaw—vengeance—continues to drag the coterie into dangerous conflicts.
• Ban remains unconscious, carried in the bag of holding, his fate unknown.
• With undead clawing at the doors, the line between survival and oblivion grows razor thin.

Trapped in the fortified abandoned church of Dayton, Max, Valmont, and Jarvis prepared for the coming horde.

Outside, the undead surged, surrounding the building in shambling, decaying waves. Inside, the coterie scrambled to fortify their position. Valmont and Jarvis took the bell tower, rifles in hand and dozens of rounds at the ready. From above, they began methodically thinning the advancing horde—but learned quickly that zombie heads must be obliterated entirely to put them down. A simple bullet to the brain would not suffice.

Valmont’s luck turned as he botched several shots, jamming and destroying two of their precious rifles. The situation grew desperate.

Meanwhile, Max explored beneath the church, finding a crawlspace littered with bones and ragged clothes—evidence of past horror. He also uncovered a narrow, hidden door leading outside, offering a dangerous way out.

The players devised a bold plan: lure the undead into the church, trap them inside, and burn it to the ground.

Max, using Celerity, dashed from the roof across the graveyard and made his way to the general store. Inside, he grabbed a dusty lantern and kerosene. Just as he was preparing to leave, a faint voice called out:

“Help… please…”

It came from the sheriff’s office, two buildings down.

Max, despite the danger, investigated. Inside, behind a silver-lined, warded wall, he found a towering 6’7” man, wild-eyed and chained in a hidden room.

The man introduced himself as Arlo—and Max realized, with a shiver, that he was a lupine.

Before they could speak further, six zombies burst into the office. The pair fought back-to-back: Max using claws to rip heads clean off, Arlo crushing the undead with sheer brute strength, reducing three of them to shattered bone and pulp.

More zombies closed in. Instead of fleeing, Max and Arlo charged straight into the horde, destroying them in a frenzied, cinematic rampage. The two returned to the church and leapt onto the roof, impressing Valmont and Jarviswith their teamwork.

From the tower, Valmont spotted glowing eyes watching from a distant building. The Gangrel Max had injured earlier still lingered, biding his time. But more pressing was the flicker of torches on the horizon.

To the group’s relief, it was Miguel and José, the two Mexican banditos turned loyal allies, shouting and waving fire to draw the zombies away from the church. The blood bond and Max’s presence powers had clearly cemented their loyalty.

Max passed the rescued girl up to Valmont, then unlatched the church doors and led the horde inside. As the zombies filled the chapel, Max scrambled to the tower and doused them with kerosene.

The fire took quickly.

With the building engulfed, the players leapt into the wagon driven by Miguel and José, fleeing south under the hellish glow of the burning church.

On the return journey, Arlo spoke candidly. He had always believed vampires were the Wyrm, destroyers of Gaia. But witnessing the actions of Max and the others challenged that belief. He revealed that his captors had referred to themselves as Sabbat—and seemed intent on using Arlo for dark rituals.

Max explained the fractured nature of vampire society: Camarilla, Sabbat, Independents, and others. Arlo, wary but respectful, agreed to remain in Carson for now.

The coterie returned triumphant: burned, exhausted, but $50,000 richer.

Back in Carson, Amelia Crimson welcomed them but reported Enzo Dante had not been seen in over a week. The town was growing, tension mounting with every new arrival.

The group decided it was time to confront the ancient secret they had recovered weeks earlier—Vanguard.

In the isolation of their hidden silver mine, Max, Valmont, and Jarvis poured three points of blood each into a chaliceand fed it to the charred, wrapped body they had found beneath the ruins of FANG HQ.

Vanguard awoke slowly. Silently.

He listened to the briefest of explanations from the group, but gave no immediate reply. His power radiated even in torpor. Now awake, they could only hope Vanguard would become an ally in this savage new world.

But some doubts lingered.

Had they awakened a savior…
…or a nightmare from an age best left buried?

• The Church of the Dead is ashes, the undead defeated, and $50,000 in gold secured.
• Arlo, a powerful lupine, now questions his hatred for Kindred.
• The Sabbat presence in the region is far deeper and darker than suspected.
• Enzo Dante is missing.
• Vanguard lives once more—but his intentions are still unclear.

With blood poured into his withered mouth beneath the silver mine, Vanguard has returned to the waking world. The players—Max, Jarvis, Valmont, and Ban—now share responsibility for resurrecting a powerful, ancient force. His awakening disturbs the natural order of the timeline, creating shockwaves through fate and memory alike.

Carson City may never recover

The coterie wakes to the sound of panicked voices and chaos in the streets. Several tents have caught fire, and while the townsfolk manage to stop the blaze before it spreads to the hardware store, two men are dead—or so it seems.

A visit to the undertaker confirms a horrifying truth: one of the charred bodies has turned to ash, clearly the remains of a vampire. Whether it was a hunter’s kill or a misstep in the fire, the players cannot be sure.

But the message is clear: hunters are here.

Back at Mooney’s Saloon, a thrilled lackey under Amelia’s sway presents a mysterious suitcase found near the edge of town. Inside is a well-preserved vampire hunter’s kit: wooden stakes, silver instruments, crosses, garlic oil, vials of holy water, and even tools for exorcism.

Max is immediately repelled by the divine symbols. The others are reminded that mortals—or something else—are hunting.

The players pay a visit to Mr. Smith, the ever-calm saloon keeper across the street. Valmont joins a poker game while Max strikes up conversation. The saloon feels tense—Arlo, the werewolf ally, bursts in drunk, stumbles through two hands of cards, and passes out.

Outside, two silent Chinese men are seen watching the street with unnatural poise. They vanish before they can be questioned.

Meanwhile, Max spots the ugly cowboy who tried to ambush Jarvis weeks prior. Instead of killing him, Max entrancesthe man and takes him to Elysium, keeping him as a potential source of information... or a pawn.

That night, Enzo Dante returns to Carson—quiet, somber, and yet watchful.

A man is found dead in the street. His throat is cleanly slit, and his body drained. As the players investigate, they spot a figure on a rooftop. Max moves like lightning, chasing them down. Just as he reaches the rooftop, one of the Chinese men falls from above, landing dead at their feet.

Then... Vanguard appears.

His presence is oppressive. His power, palpable. And though he says nothing, it’s clear: he is the one who killed the hunter. Whether as a warning, a test, or instinctual defense, no one knows.

But the coterie now understands the reality of what they’ve done: they have released a force far beyond their control.

The man killed in the street was not the Chinese hunter. His features are unfamiliar. He was dressed like a prospector, but his clothes were too clean, his hands soft—not a miner at all.

Upon inspection, the players may discover:

• He wore an amulet carved with a runic symbol (a glyph that Valmont could research: possibly connected to the Society of Leopold or an offshoot of the Arcanum).
• His blood smells wrong—tainted, perhaps artificially preserved.
• He had no shadow when checked with supernatural sight (suggesting ghoulcraft or necromantic tampering).
• A hidden tattoo on his neck: the brand of the Crimson Nail, a sect of hunter-turned-executioners believed extinct.

His identity may lead to the arrival of more skilled vampire hunters, or a larger conspiracy involving time-displaced enemies who are tracking changes in the timeline.

Julia the Gangrel:
The players meet Julia, a tough-as-nails Gangrel with a strong cowboy vibe. She wears a distinctive silver ankh, hinting at deeper affiliations or personal significance. Julia moves with a mix of grit and grace, the kind of warrior who’s seen more hard days than most.

The Dead Man — “Square Head”:
The corpse found in the street is a “square head” (likely Germanic origin). His personal notes mention plans to create new ghouls by recruiting from stagecoach stops and telegraph lines—strategic points for controlling travel and information. He also showed a suspicious interest in the Inquisition, possibly hunting down vampire secrets or kindred sympathizers.

Strange Visitors:
A Spanish couple has been seen entering Mr. Smith’s bar, The Miner. Their presence is unsettling — newcomers watching the players or perhaps working for a hidden faction.

Isla, the Missing Girl:
Isla, the young girl the players rescued earlier and who had started to feel safe, was kidnapped during the night. Her disappearance weighs heavily on the group.

Mr. Smith’s Agitation:
Mr. Smith bursts into the bar with impatience and anger, demanding answers or cooperation. His sudden hostility raises suspicions about his true role in Carson City.

Enzo’s Return:
Enzo appears at the hotel, engaging the players. His tone is serious and foreboding, implying that the trouble they’ve stirred is far from over.

Wagon of Rot:
Outside the Elysium stands a wagon piled with rotting flesh and bones, emitting a foul stench and unnatural energy. The players have no explanation for why it’s there, but it clearly serves as a warning—or a message.

Mohave Attack:
The party is ambushed near the Elysium by 25 Mohave warriors in a brutal and relentless battle. The natives fight with ferocity and an almost supernatural edge.

• Amelia unleashes her celerity in dazzling bursts, cutting swaths through attackers with lethal speed.
• Enzo strikes with powerful lightning attacks, decimating groups of enemies in moments.
• Vanguard fights like a living nightmare, unmatched in raw strength and deadly precision.

Together, the party fights for survival against overwhelming odds.

Max, Valmont, and Jarvis make their way into the heart of the Elysium to confer with Amelia Crimson, Enzo Dante, and the newly awakened Vangard. Inside, tension and determination fill the air as the group reconvenes.

Ban stirs from his torpor within the portal’s mysterious confines. With care, Max and Valmont feed him blood, reviving him and pulling him back from the edge of unconsciousness.

The conversation quickly turns to the future of Carson City’s Kindred. The players agree that establishing a formal Primogen council is crucial—solidifying their influence and uniting the disparate factions for mutual benefit.

However, looming over their plans is a dark shadow: the threat of the Inquisition. The players acknowledge this danger cannot be ignored, resolving that they must take proactive measures to counter and neutralize this force.

Max, Valmont, and Ban pledge to extend their reach by dominating and ghouling influential townsfolk—key players in Carson City’s vital industries. Through this calculated control, they aim to secure power and safeguard the kindred community against external threats.

The seeds of a new order are sown amid whispered plots and unspoken dangers, as the players prepare to shape the destiny of the Wild West Kindred.

In this session, Part 4 came to a dramatic end for the players. They had been working hard to solidify their power base in Carson City by manipulating mortal affairs. The players had managed to control several key busniesses in Carson including  the bank, the telegraph, the land title office while also finishing the construction on their Primogen building (Vault) and started the construction of the new Elysium.

The players learnt that Julia the Gangrel was happy to remain independent within the city and had no desire to sit on the Primogen. Vanguard too expressed that he would be leaving Carson as he had long lost his “lust for mortal and kindred” politics. 

Arlo reported back that the gold claim had been very successful and that within a week, the first delivery of ore would be made. Arlo estimated that the claim would be worth about $500 000 (or 25 Million in 2024) and would take several years to realize its full potential.

Max, Valmont and Jarivs are hanging out in Amelia’s hotel when they learn that a new stage coach has arrived in the city. They go to investigate and note that a beautiful red headed women (Kayleen Easter) and her son (Joshua) have arrived from back East. Kayleen has several trunks with her and it looks like she is “moving in.” The players introduce themselves and invite Kayleen to Mooney's Bar and Brothel (Amelia’s place)  once she is settled in. Valmont uses his Auspex and notes that she is a kindred. The boy, Joshua, appears as an 11 year old blonde child but ends up giving the players a look that they understand as “threatening”. They surmise that Joshua may be kindred as well.

As the players head back to Mooney's,, they note that one of the males who was travelling in the stage  coach with Kayleen and Joshua, was dead. The coach rider says “he was sick. Must have died from consumption.” The players are all to familiar with this type of coverup and figure out that either or both Kayleen and Joshua must have killed the man during the trip to Carson. 

Kayleen visits the players and Amelia and they chat. Max reveals that they know she is kindred and then he states that he and the others have been in Carson for some time, seeking their fortune in gold. Kayleen listens and gleans a lot of information from Max- who continues to talk. Eventually the chat focuses on Carson and that it has a Primogen and prince and that they are trying to rid the town of the unseen Inquisition. Kayleen states that she has the ability to help the Primogen rid the city of the Inquisitin as she has a detailed past doing so. 

Kayleen states that if she rids the city of the inquisition threat, that she wants to sit on the Primogen as well. The players state that they will discuss with the prince and other members.

The players meet at the Vault (the Primogen headquarters) and decide to add Ban to their council and also elect Enzo Dante as the “figure head Prince”. They agree that if Kayleen fulfils her part of the bargain , they will bring her on.anaged to control several key busniesses in Carson including  the bank, the telegraph, the land title office while also finishing the construction on their Primogen building (Vault) and started the construction of the new Elysium.

The players learnt that Julia the Gangrel was happy to remain independent within the city and had no desire to sit on the Primogen. Vanguard too expressed that he would be leaving Carson as he had long lost his “lust for mortal and kindred” politics. 

Arlo reported back that the gold claim had been very successful and that within a week, the first delivery of ore would be made. Arlo estimated that the claim would be worth about $500 000 (or 25 Million in 2024) and would take several years to realize its full potential.

Max, Valmont and Jarivs are hanging out in Amelia’s hotel when they learn that a new stage coach has arrived in the city. They go to investigate and note that a beautiful red headed women (Kayleen Easter) and her son (Joshua) have arrived from back East. Kayleen has several trunks with her and it looks like she is “moving in.” 

The players introduce themselves and invite Kayleen to Mooney's Bar and Brothel (Amelia’s place)  once she is settled in. Valmont uses his Auspex and notes that she is a kindred. The boy, Joshua, appears as an 11 year old blonde child but ends up giving the players a look that they understand as “threatening”. They surmise that Joshua may be kindred as well.

As the players head back to Mooney's,, they note that one of the males who was travelling in the stage  coach with Kayleen and Joshua, was dead. The coach rider says “he was sick. Must have died from consumption.” The players are all to familiar with this type of coverup and figure out that either or both Kayleen and Joshua must have killed the man during the trip to Carson. 

Kayleen visits the players and Amelia and they chat. Max reveals that they know she is kindred and then he states that he and the others have been in Carson for some time, seeking their fortune in gold. Kayleen listens and gleans a lot of information from Max- who continues to talk. Eventually the chat focuses on Carson and that it has a Primogen and prince and that they are trying to rid the town of the unseen Inquisition. Kayleen states that she has the ability to help the Primogen rid the city of the Inquisition as she has a detailed past doing so. 

Kayleen states that if she rids the city of the inquisition threat, that she wants to sit on the Primogen as well. The players state that they will discuss with the prince and other members.

The players meet at the Vault (the Primogen headquarters) and decide to add Ban to their council and also elect Enzo Dante as the “figure head Prince”. They agree that if Kayleen fulfils her part of the bargain , they will bring her on.

Max, Valmont and Jarivis return to Kayleen and tell her that if she completes her task, they will bring her on the Primogen. As part of the stipulation, the players ask that she will need to reveal her clan. They suspect Ventrue.

A week goes by and Arlo comes back into town with 5 large chests full of gold ore with $50 000. The players decide to keep some gold in the vault (under the Primogen HQ), some in the Carson Bank and the rest in their protected Silver mine. As they are unloading, one of Amelia’s child servants knocks on the door and says “Miss Amelia wants to speak with you right away!”

The players head over to Amelia’s brothel and see her standing in front of it, looking pensive. She says that “we have a problem over at the Miner (Mr Smith’s establishment).” They head over to the Miner and discover Mr. Smith dead in the back room. He has been diabolized. 

The players find Mr Smith Dead on the ground and Valmont uses his psychometry on a personal mirror to read ths last images before Smith’s death. Valmont gets an outstanding reading and finds out that Smith is a Nosferatu and sees little Joshua attack and kill him. Valmont also is shocked to discover that Joshua is actually FABIAN BULLARD. At that moment Kayleen arrives.

Kayleen states that she uncovered the “inquisition plot” and explains her findings.

Smith orchestrated the whole Inquisition plot in an attempt to keep the other kindred in the city shut in an scared. He did not like how the town was changing so fast and certainly did not like the players coming in to mix things up. While Smith was a physically weak kindred, he thought he could conjure up a threat like vampire hunters to buy him time to build his power base. 

Kayleen reports that Smith hired some Chinese workers to set fire to a tent that a kindred was staying in order to eliminate him. This unfortunately almost caught the hardware store on fire. Next, Smith planted a “vampire hunter kit” to make it seem like they were in town. Smith then used a German tourist as a plant to seem like more “hunters were on their way.” In fact, the German tourist was just that-a tourist-who had nothing to do with vampires or hunting them.

Smith then decided that his slow play wasn’t scaring the other kindred so he hired 20 native warriors to attack them outright. Again, Smith underestimated the power of Max, Valmont, Julia, Amelia and the powerful Enzo and Vangard. The warriors were dispatched easily (almost that is).

Kayleen then informs the characters that after she uncovered Smith as the main antagonist of the Inquisition rouse, she spoke with Joshua. But Joshua held a particularly dark secret. He was a diabolist who met Kayleen in New York City. Kayleen had faithfully served the Sabbat for over 60 years and then they seemingly discarded her when the Camarilla set their sights on her. One evening, 4 members of a hunter team of Camarilla tracked Kayleen down near her haven and attempted to kill her. Joshua (Bullard) was part of that team. However, just as they were about to strike, Joshua turned on the other 3 members and killed them-diabolorzing them all. 

Kayleen from that moment forward, owed Joshua a life boon. As part of the boon, Kayleen stipulated that the boon would only last until Joshua diabolorized  5 kindred. She was bound to “help” and also turn a blind eye to the depravity of Joshua’s tastes.

Kayleen left the Sabbat and turned anti-tribu and the two travelled from NY to Philadelphia and then made their way west. Smith was the 5th kindred and as such, Kayleen’s service to Joshua was complete.

The players then surmise that Bullard, sometime in the future, found the gold that the players obtained and somehow stole it from them-thus sparking the events of Valmont loosing his fortune, then the heist on Bullard’s haven in Oakland and the bad blood between the characters and the . (Time travel can be confusing after all). 

Kayleen, having fulfilled her part of the bargain, becomes part of the Carson City Primogen and the players find out that she is a Lasombra. The Primogen solidifies their power in the Nevada Town.

For the next 24 years, the players rule the city quietly and become comfortable in their roles as Primogen members. That is until a cold January evening in 1895….

-End of Chapter 4-