Chapter 6: KILLING TIME

• Fedor’s Delivery:
  Fedor hand-delivers a mysterious letter sealed in a brown envelope inside a plastic bag. It’s a clear message—urgent, secretive, and likely dangerous.
• Valmont’s Precaution:
  Valmont pockets the bottle taken from Cerano’s house, keeping it handy for emergencies.
• Ship Investigation:
  The group explores the ship, using psychometry and perception to uncover secrets:
  
  • Cerano’s watch: Not magical but crucial; shows “12-22 12:03” — date, time, or address linked to Cerano’s house.
  • Secret compartment filled with papers — possibly notes, maps, or clues? Contents unknown, ripe for discovery.
  • 30 blood coins found (a valuable vampiric currency) shared among the group (+2 for Valmont), alongside some blood jerky emergency rations.
• Enzo Dante’s Torpor:
  Shocking find—Enzo Dante is hidden under a bed in torpor! His telepathic presence is angry and frustrated. The “hold” is empty. This could open a big subplot about why he was hidden and by whom.
• Mirror Components:
  
  • Mirror frame disguised as a door frame — clever camouflage.
  • Mirror glass is embedded in the ship’s ceiling.
  • The metal base/pedestal is still missing, so the mirror remains incomplete.
• Vanguard Mystery:
  Possible link between Vanguard and figures named Kiren and Flick? Is it the same person or different individuals?
  Draco shares no lies about Vanguard and gifts a dagger.
  Mention of “ShrekNet” — a vampire dark web, a rich source for info or espionage.
• Pyramid Core Nightclub:
  Key vampire social spot, possibly a hub for gathering intelligence or meeting powerful NPCs.
  Tekki (a Tremere vampire) and Bahn Strahd have a tense “joining” — perhaps a political or mystical alliance fraught with conflict.
• VV Shirt Guy:
  This character is laying groundwork to rebuild a wine empire — interesting faction or power player.
• Primogen Elysium Destruction:
  The primogen Elysium was destroyed, making the players’ haven vulnerable. Fallout and rebuilding could be important themes.
• Ship Lock-down Safehouse:
  The ship is now a locked-down safehouse, but its safety is questionable.
• Scroll from Pyramid Pillar:
  A secret scroll hidden in the pyramid’s pillar, hinting at a quest to find the “original bar” — “Pitt Kent” in the basement.
• Magic Item — Irad Armor Piece:
  A rare, mega-magical piece of armor obtained in Egypt from Cain’s son vampire. Lost in a deluge, it’s made of alien black glossy metal, resizes to fit perfectly, light, flexible, and extremely powerful. Finding the “elbow guards of the flame” grants immunity to fire.
• Current Conditions:
  Phones are out, suggesting some kind of supernatural or technological disruption.
• Fedor’s Auspex Botch:
  A botch on Fedor’s Auspex — potentially a huge problem or source of vulnerability.
• Ms. Ling & Ghostly Lilloette:
  A Nosferatu operative linked to an Italian museum, with a ghostly companion — intriguing potential allies or informants.
• Avenging Super-team:
  Inside the Nosferatu network is a team ready to face off against Prince Cerano:
  
  • Amelia
  • Billy the Kid
  • Kayleen
  • Trout
  • Azul
  • Dean Hawks
  • Nobu
  • Arlo
  • Sting

• Enzo Dante’s Torpor and Rescue:
  Why was Enzo hidden on the ship? Who put him there and why? What are his plans once freed?
• Mirror Completion Quest:
  Find the missing metal base/pedestal. Will the players uncover it on the ship, in the Pyramid Core, or at Pitt Kent? What power will the fully restored mirror wield?
• Vanguard Identity Mystery:
  Explore the theory about Kiren and Flick. Could Vanguard be more than one identity? What is his true agenda?
• Political Intrigue & Alliances:
  Tremere Tekki and Bahn Strahd’s uneasy “joining” could create tension or betrayals. How does this affect vampire politics?
• The ShrekNet Dark Web:
  Using vampire darknet info could lead to secrets, espionage, or blackmail. What will the players learn or risk?
• Primogen Elysium’s Destruction:
  Where will the players regroup? How do they recover from this loss and rebuild their power base?
• The Magic Armor Piece & Lost Relics:
  Quest for the rest of the Irad armor, especially the elbow guards for fire immunity. Could be a game-changer in combat or against supernatural foes.

(Game Session  Aug 30 2024) (Game Date is May 5 2024).

TBA
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 The night hung heavy over San Francisco, shadows pooling beneath the flickering gas lamps as the hunters prepared their next move. Enzo, the group’s expert on occult relics, was fixated on the Blood Mirror—an artifact of terrifying power said to twist the very fabric of time. Its resting place was aboard the wrecked vessel at Alcatraz, submerged and guarded by secrets darker than the Bay itself.

To retrieve it, they would need twelve Blood Coins hidden in a long-forgotten cache—ancient currency tied to the rites of revival. Enzo spoke of a blood bond, whispered by Bahn Strahd, that might bind anyone who dared use the mirror to an unholy fate.

Enzo’s memories stretched back decades and centuries. He recounted glimpses of a 1939 villa in Italy, the last known place where Bahn was seen, and the lost years buried in the 1600s. Most intriguingly, he told the tale of Cerano, the vampire who had risen from the Italian hills and made San Francisco his throne in 1848, crowning himself prince almost overnight.

Cerano’s reign shaped the fledgling state of California in 1850 and survived the devastation of the 1906 earthquake, an event tied closely to the mirror’s more mysterious abilities. Born in Italy around 1700, Cerano had been embraced early in the 18th century. A creature both cunning and cruel, he diablerized an ancient Methuselah—yet, peculiarly, his vitae bore no trace of Black Flecks, the telltale sign of such a deed.

It was Cerano who had commissioned the Blood Mirror, an arcane device crafted by three hermetic mages at the Sutro Baths in 1896. They forged it using the blood of Countess Elizabeth Bathory, whom Cerano had met during the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. Bathory, a dark figure in her own right, shared secrets of time and power with him, teaching him the rare discipline of Enhanced Temporis. But betrayal awaited her—a cruel twist in their dark dance—when Cerano staked her to protect his secrets.

The mirror itself was a vessel of terrible power, framed in pewter etched with sigils, bound to a demon whose strength the mages siphoned to fuel their creation. It could transport its user back to three distinct points in time, but only if blood bound to Cerano’s flowed in their veins. The mirror’s mechanics were labyrinthine and cruel: reflexive protections prevented reckless meddling with the timeline, speed limiters slowed the traveler, and attempts to alter fate only pushed them into new, self-correcting branches of reality.

Cerano was obsessed—addicted to slipping through time. Over roughly a century, between 1896 and 1906 alone, he used the mirror twenty-eight times. The mirror’s magic was ancient, nearly five millennia old, and Cerano’s own blood was near-mythic, for he had diablerized three times, elevating himself to near 4th Generation status, a shadow looming over mortal and Kindred alike.

The last anyone saw of Cerano was during the chaos of the 1906 earthquake, after which his once-glorious estate fell into ruin. The mirror was believed lost, taken by the Jiang Shi during a shadowy exchange in Chinatown. Dean Hawks, a man with deep ties to the Chinese underworld, was said to know the “Chinese Connections” that might lead the hunters to it.

As the night wore on, the group readied themselves. Graf and Shreknet, shadowy figures in their own right, had tracked movements linked to Cerano. Using the Zodiac boat piloted by Val and Max, the hunters approached the Italian Museum, cloaked in darkness. Lilloette led the surveillance, watching through night-vision binoculars as the aura readings confirmed a suspicious Kindred presence inside.

Max attempted an ambush on a Sabbat-branded spy, marked by a spiked ankh—a symbol seen during the rescue of Azul and Fedor—but luck was thin. A single success on nineteen dice barely sealed the victory. Interrogation followed, with Val probing minds through telepathy, uncovering whispered fears: sunlight could still burn Cerano, and his influence ran deep.

Arlo, drinking vampiric blood, maintained an unnervingly youthful appearance, fueling whispered speculation among the group. Max used his powers of persuasion to enthrall a vehicle driver, ensuring a swift escape.

The rendezvous point was near Elysium’s hidden train tracks, where the hunters met Graf. Surveillance footage revealed more than just Luka, the tight-shirted Tremere scum—they saw fiery magical bolts launched at Cerano’s command. Among his enforcers were Genevieve Dore, a tall Toreador with a penchant for wine, and Dyson Rinsler, a Tremere of linebacker build. These were the Horsemen—five deadly servants of Cerano, two still unidentified.

The hunters stole Bahn’s Mustang, a souped-up supercar driven by Fedor, racing toward the docks. Their target was the Alcatraz wreck, where the Blood Mirror awaited.

As they prepared to breach the ship, a message arrived for Azul—from the mysterious Vanguard—hinting at dangers yet to come. The night was far from over.

The Players (Ban, Valmont and Max) arrive back at Alcatraz and Azul tells them that Vanguard has sent a cryptic message via ShreckNet. It reads "The base of the mirror is found at the base of your Elysium-Vanguard". The players suspect that Vanguard is guiding them to the final piece of the second mirror of Cerrano.

The players then discuss with Enzo, Lazo, Remus and Dean Hawkes a plan to destroy the mirrors and also track down Cerrano. After some time, it is decided that Dean Hawkes will visit China Town and speak directly with Ling Hong of the Jiang Shi. He will  present the idea of bringing to second mirror to them and hopefully destroy both in the process. The players deduced that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Dean will be accompanied by Remus, Arlo, Amelia, and Kayleen.

The Players and Enzo and Lazo discuss that if they construct the second mirror, they could assemble it and travel back in time and try to confront Cerrano when he is at his weakest. Enzo states that he could read the sigils on the mirror and could find his first usage of the the mirror. They players plan to travel back in time, find Cerrano and attempt to kill him. They then plan to "live their lives" (if they survive) and return to San Francisco so they can help take the mirror to the Jiang Shi and destroy it.

The players speculate that facing the mirrors to each other will cause them to be destroyed.

Felica adds that she will provide the players a weapons stash to bring back with them to the past. She along with Billy, Azul and Fedor head to her warehouse to gather these and bring them to the Elysium.

Lazo tells Ban that he has an accent text at his home that has a Thaumaturigcal path called Path of the Anti-Deluvian which allows the Tremere who possess it to track accient kindred 6th Gen or below. They will need this to find Cerrano in the past. Unfortunately, The text only contains up to the 3rd level-which what they need to track Cerrano. Ban agrees to learn this path from Lazo.

The Players then note that Graf is the other kindred who can travel through the mirror as he has drank the blood of Cerrano. The players attend their Elysium with Lazo and Enzo and ask Graf to join them. He accepts. Valmont leaves the bottle of Cerrano's blood with Enzo and Lazo.

• contract the mirror and find out via Enzo that Cerrano's first stop was London 1898
• the PC hold hands with Max first, followed by Ban, Valmont and Graf.
• They enter the time stream and it's much different this time. As they travel, max is presented with a fork in the road and must decided where to go . It happens several times with 2, 3 and finally 4 choices. 
• As it appears that they are going to land in London in 1898, Max sees a time portal and sees Javis in the Vault room in Alexandria-moments before he dies.He then is presented with another portal of Hannibal, who he promised he would kill as a boon to Felica. Max without hesitation chooses the try and rescue Javis.
• Max's sudden movement breaks the chain and each player is cast off to their own choices.
• Ban sees a portal of Luca about to stake Lazo and another image of Cerrano!
• Valmont sees an image of Geneva Dore and then another portal of his immortal enemy Fabian Bullard speaking with Peter Takin
• Graf is presented with an image of Nathan Kent before he is attacked by the lupine in San Fran in 1998

Max rescues Javis with his celerity and jumps into the pool with him

Ban defeats Luca and kills him

Valmont shoots Geneva Dore in the head twice with spectacular rolls and begins to diabolize her just outside the Italian Museum with Lilloete present.

Because of Max's sudden "veering off the time stream", each player was sent to their own "fate Bubble" to deal with a particularly difficult task.

Ban emerged inside the Tremere Chantry in 1903 (San Fransisco) where Luca (the Tremere renegade and traitor) was able to slip into the past and surprised Lazo Gajic while he sat in the Chantry library. When Ban walked through the time tunnel, Lazo was already staked through the heart and Luca had poised to drive a second stake through Lazo's head. Ban was able to stop Luca and save Lazo from final death.

Valmont emerged just outside of the Italian Museum in San Fransisco in 2024 and saw Geneva Dore, of the Sabbat death squad, walking towards the museum. With increadly luck and sill, Valmont was about to shoot Geneva twice incapacitating her. Then, before she could heal, Valmont pounced and diabolized her!

Max emerged in the ocean with Javis and Ban just outside of Alexandria in 1898. The three made  their way to Ban's ship, the Fortalisia where they chatted about the oddities of time travel. Ban decided to go and fly about Alexandria to see if the Setites were still roaming the streets. Max and Javis stayed behind to discuss how they would spent the next 125+ years until they "got back to" 2024 San Fransisco.

Just as the three characters were all separated in time and space, each one was visited by the time traveller Ticker and Ban's "future self" Cliff McClosky. Cliff and Ticker told each of the players the same thing:

Ticker stated that Enzo Dante's initial hypothesis that Cerrano first used the mirror to travel to 1898 London was no longer a viable option for the players to intercept him there. Cerrano somehow became aware of the players intention was was able to alter his mirror to take him any place or time. Cerrano was able to break the fail safe's placed on the mirror by the Jiang Shi and the mages who initially created the mirror for Cerrano.

Cliff states, rather melancholy, that there is only one option available to stop Cerrano. They must travel back to 1898 Carson Nevada where they will lure Cerrano to the ghost town Dayton. There, they will attempt to kill him. There is one catch however: While Cerrano and the players are engaged in fighting, all the mirrors that exist will be destroyed, effectively trapping everyone in that specific timeline. 

Cliff states that he and the future incarnations of the players spoke with Gamiel, the demon trapped under Cerrano's home and the being who helped create the mirror. Gamiel gave the players information about the mirrors and how to best destroy Cerrano. With Cerrano destroyed, Gamiel will be free of his service of the ancient Tremere.

Cliff says that making a "deal with the devil was the only solution. Then, the players each have a portal appear and they each enter it-bring them back to 1898 Carson City.

Max, Valmont, Ban, Jarvis and Graf travel back to Carson and arrive on September 30 18≥……≥ˆ……98-two weeks after they left to Philadelphia. The have a brief interaction with a strange, tall kindred named Vladimir who says he is just 'taking in the sights of American cities". 

The group then gathers Enzo, Amelia and Kayleen and tells them that Cerrano is coming to Carson to hunt them. They explain that Cerrano is a diabolist and has been listed as the most wanted by the inner circle. The group devises a plan to lure Cerrano to Dayton.

The players devise a plan to attack Cerrano when he makes his way to  Dayon. Valmont uses his astral projection to wait in Carson until Cerrano arrives. After Cerrano visits the Elysium in Carson, he gets into his horse drawn carriage and rides to Dayton. Valmont follows at distance and eventual warns the players that "Cerrano is 1 mile out".

Cerrano stops at the end of street and gets out of the carriage. He exclaims "we finally meet" in the most sinister way.

He reaches into his jacket and pulls out the crucible that the players drank from years before. Cerrano then drops it to the ground and crushes it underfoot. Immediately, Jarvis, Ban, Max, Valmont and Graf feel the effects of this and all loose several disciple dots each.

Cerrano then says "The time has come...."

The final battle with Cyrano commences and each of the players takes cover in individual buildings within Dayton. After Cyrano destroys the chalice, each player feels the effects immediately and they randomly loose some discipline dots because of it. Max looses 1 point of Potence and 2 points of fortitude. Ban looses 1 point of potence and Valmont losses 2 points of presence. Storm clouds begin to gather around the town and then at that moment an exact copy of each player shows up next to each of them. They literally fight themselves in the first phase of the attack.

Ban is incapacitated, Max kills his double and Valmont plays a game of chance with his doppelganger.

Max encounters Harland Park under the sheriff’s office and kills him. Max discovers that Park has a backpack full of explosives and it appears that he was going to attempt to blow the PCs up. After this, Max runs to the building where Jarvis was and discovers that he is badly wounded but faced off and killed the REVENANT. The players realize that that Cyrano has brought with him some of his pawns from modern times.

The players and Graf all gather in a building and Graf uses his animalism to call rats to investigate the city. They find Cyrano and what appears to be Renwick the Nosferatu hunkered down in the other side of town. The players discuss sending the horse and carriage Cyrano entered the town with, towards the ancient mage. They plan on detonating the C4 in an attempt to kill him.

The players then discover a partially erected mirror in one of the buildings. They find Kayleen and Arlo dead, killed by Cyrano more than likely. The players find that they are simply out matched.

Then, on the horizon, two figures emerge: Lazo Gajic and Nathan Kent. Lazo informs the character that Cyrano has broken all conventions of time and has consorted with himself and informed past versions of what is to come. Lazo states that Nathan Kent will face the fully powered and ancient Cyrano here in town while the rest of the group will head west toward San Francisco to confront the lesser and younger Cyrano in his haven. 

The players travel to Cyrano’s residence in San Francisco to confront a "weaker version" of the archmage, while Nathan Kent faces the more powerful incarnation back in Dayton.

Along the way, they uncover key revelations: Lazo Gajic—embraced in 1640—is Cyrano’s Childe and served as his apprentice for over a century. Lazo returned to San Francisco following the 1906 earthquake, establishing the local Chantry. However, over time, he grew disillusioned with Cyrano’s increasingly unstable behavior.

The players also learn of Darcy Ticker Lafayette, an ancient True Brujah embraced in 72 BC. A Methuselah and member of the Inconnu, Darcy’s age and power place him well beyond most Kindred.

Nathan Kent, despite being embraced in the 1400s, has spent over a millennium pursuing Cyrano after uncovering the archmage’s role in orchestrating the Purge. Nathan is now one of the twelve heads of Clan Ventrue.

Meanwhile, Fabian Bullard, originally a 12th-generation Ventrue, sought greater power and was seduced by the Sabbat. Over time, he diablerized his way down to 8th generation. Decades ago, Jarvis—then still human—arrested Bullard and pistol-whipped him. That humiliation fueled Bullard’s long-standing vendetta against Jarvis and his allies.

Upon learning of Valmont’s hidden fortune, Bullard orchestrated a plot to steal it. He sent several lower-tier Sabbat members to kill Valmont, who was captured, tortured, and left with severe amnesia. The fortune was stolen, and Valmont’s identity faded with his memories.

Back in San Francisco, the players confront Cyrano in his lair—though not before battling a pack of Lupines guarding the area. During the final confrontation, Graf hurls a coffee table at Cyrano and manages to stake him. Ban attempts to diablerize the archmage, but Lazo intervenes. Despite this, Ban drinks deeply from Cyrano—only to discover too late that the blood had been cursed through a ritual, rendering it toxic.

Though Cyrano is ultimately destroyed, Ban falls into torpor. Lazo takes Ban to Austria, sealing him within a crypt for safekeeping.

Before departing, Lazo instructs the players to return to San Francisco on July 30, 2024—exactly one day after their time-travel departure—at the base of the Transamerica Pyramid.