"Be careful." The prince corrected.  "I am not turning you lose or setting you up to get thrashed by Riley.  It isn't my place to say, but your sire and Riley have an unpleasant relationship.  You would do well to heed my warning.  Riley, pissed off, is more of a match for any of you save possibly Natalya.  Trying to put her on the 10th page of the news might be a bit too difficult.  But I would be content with third or fourth page of the news."

The prince returned to his previous position and retrieved his cigar.  He held it in one hand and his cup of vitae in the other.  He inhaled and then spewed a plume of smoke up and away.  "Your purpose is not to damage Riley, just keep her from advancing her position by being the perfect host.  This by itself does enough damage."

DJ nods his head and keeps the cool, cocky look in his eye.

"This is a tune I can follow. I didn't get to be where I am on the scene by being a poser, talking trash and dragging everyone else through the mud..."

DJ's eyes flicker towards Abigail before returning his attention to the Prince.

"I'm a household name because I just play the beat better. I'll do my thing and what happens happens."

Gone was neonate. Josh had left the building. This cocky bastard was fully into his celebirty persona. For the safety of everyone else in the room, someone needed to cue the curtains before his ego swelled up enough to suffocate everyone present.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:24, Wed 06 Feb 2013.

It would be the prince who cued the curtain on DJ.  With a dismissive wave of his hand, the prince turned his attention towards Gabe and Abigail.  He was silent for a bit while he eyed the two of them.  Finally, he spoke.  "Mr. LaFortune, Miss O'Carroll."

He waited for the two Assamites to step forward.  "I will start by saying this.  I do not like the idea of Assamites working in such close proximity to my childre or myself." He paused, switching attention between the two of them.  "I know exactly who both of you are and what you are capable of.  I also know exactly who your sire is.  I find his petition to join the Camarilla a little unsettling, because if he had wanted to, he could have made that move centuries ago."  Clearly the prince was not convinced of your sire's "good" intentions.  The tone of his voice said more then enough.  The prince looked between the two assassins again.  "Abigail.  At some point in the near future, I am going to summon you for a personal matter.  I fully expect you to arrive promptly."  Then he addressed Gabe.  "You sir, are the senior between both of you.  It is for this reason that I am holding you doubly accountable for any transgressions you or your broodmate may create." Could he do that?  As far as either of you knew (and from an example already presented earlier tonight) without being released from your sire, you were accountable only to him.

Without skipping a beat, the prince continued.  "It would not be the first time Assamites and Tremere worked together.  I am certain it will not be the last.  Your sire, Ignetz, is taking great personal expense to convince the upper echelons of society of his sincerity.  This puts me in a predicament.  On one hand, I must balance the will of the city.  On the other, I must carefully handle an elder Assamite and his wishes.  If I favor the city over him, then I have made yet one more enemy I'd rather not have.  If I favor him over the city then clearly I am not the one to be prince.  If I walk down the middle path and favor both sides, then I set myself up to be a bitch."

Juan paused again.  He leaned forward and peered at both of the Assamites again.  This time there was a harder then usual tone to his words.  "Do I look like a bitch to either of you?"

When Juan got around to calling her and Gabe up, she approached, and when clsoe enough curtsied deeply, not betraying the chill which ran up her spine, this kindred was an elder, a pwoerfull one by all accords...
... and he was tremere.

Still she didn't betray those chills, giving away nothing of the anxiety this situation instilled in her.

"Sir, no, you most definitely do not.
I heard a wise man say once, no matter the dealings and nature of our kind, in the end there are no winners, only degrees of loss"

Madhu watched everything intently, still spinning the ring around on his finger while he paid attention to what the Prince said to the others. He was sitting again, but still plenty close enough to hear everything without being in the way.

After a moment he stood, deciding he wanted to see a bit of what was going on as well over the heads of the gaggle of neonates around the Prince.

When the Prince asked if he looked like a bitch Madhu smirked. The last Prince he had to deal with was not at all one to ask such questions. It seemed age sapped not only the will to take risks, but the sense of humor too. Juan's seemed to be intact. It was refreshing.

Gabriel could sense the agitation from his sister Abigail, he felt a little himself. However, his years of undercover work for the Quebec Provincial Police had trained him to disguise such things in order to survive.  To drop your cover amidst such cutthroats and murderers as the Hell’s Angels was a sure and quick way to end a promising career and find yourself buried in a lonely hole in the middle of nowhere. The same was even truer within the Cainite community.

The Prince was obviously testing the two Assamites in some manner, which Ignetz told Gabe would most likely happen. Juan was a power player and wanted to keep others on the defensive, reeling backwards unable to gain strong footing. The young Assamite had no interest in contesting with the Tremere Prince (he would most certainly lose that fight!), however neither did he want to appear as a ‘bitch’ before the entirety of the Camarilla social structure in attendance tonight.

Listening to Abigail reply to the Prince, Gabe said nothing in response to the final question. Rather, he raised one eyebrow and gave Juan a friendly smile, “My Prince, it is my intention to foster a good working relationship with the Tremere and other clans of this fine city… As to the intentions of my Sire, I would not presume to understand his motivations for seeking membership within the Camarilla at this time. Nor would I question him on such matters, it is no business of mine.” For the first time since being called before the Prince Gabe took his eyes from the face of Juan and turned them momentarily to the floor, this was a show of respect for his Sire and also to show the Prince that Gabe knew his place.

When Gabriel continued speaking it was with a very professional voice and demeanour, “I have been instructed to offer my services to you and the others of this city that I might show myself of value.”

When Gabe started speaking, the prince's free hand came up and closed.  "Bzzzt." He actually made the sound, drawing it out and ending it sharply.  "The correct answer is "No sir."  I did not ask for an elaboration, guesswork, or any sort of other response.  In fact, I just criticized the Nosferatu among you for speculating out of turn.  Why on Earth would you think you're special?  No.  Don't answer that.  I'll rephrase." He paused, looking very serious.  "Neither of you are special.  In fact, you both lack such special traits that if it were up to me I'd have sent Nigel to remove you both instead of taking time out of my schedule."

The prince sharply turned his attention to Abigail.  "And you are failing miserably at your designated task for the evening.  You are supposed to be developing a psyche profile on everyone in this room, including myself.  You can't do that without some form of interrogation, which, as a mortal Union Representative, I know you know how to do.  You can't gather appropriate information about your future companions by sitting in that corner over there," he pointed again.  "Like you have been doing.  But seeing as how I am nothing if not fair, I'm going to indebt your sire to the tune of a moderate boon right now for revealing some of that information for you."

The prince glanced at Natalya.  "Natalya Shrevchenko.  Five foot ten, one hundred and thirty five pounds.  Age 26, as a mortal.  No siblings.  Father is deceased.  Mother has quietly been turned to a ghoul, operating as a Regent's assistant in Zaporizhia, Ukraine.  She is the granddaughter of the archmage Gertrude Van Kraus, killed by a German sniper in World War II.  The most interesting thing about this bit of information is that Natalya didn't even know half of it herself." He paused for a second or two.  "She is, for lack of better terms, a spoiled brat." Dragon smirked at his childe.

"Highly intuitive and imaginative, Natalya has capacity for learning, especially Thaumaturgy, that exceeds even me.  She is multi-lingual, speaking Italian, English, French, German, Russian, and Spanish with virtually no discernible accent.  She has a college degree from UCLA, completing a dual major in Journalism and Economics.  This indicates that underneath her callous, conniving, irresponsible, and antagonistic demeanor is a keen sense of determination virtually unheard of in American students these days." As if to poke at her, the prince added one more little bit.  "And perhaps my favorite bit of information about her is that she is bi-sexual with a slight preference for women."

The prince pivoted on his feet and returned his attention to Abigail.  "That is the kind of detailed information your sire is looking for." Then Gabe.  "As for you Mr. LaFortune, your expertise with regards to motorcycle clubs and how they organize themselves may be particularly useful in the upcoming nights.  One of the larger Anarch groups in this city operates as a similar entity.  I don't know the details and it's better for all parties involved that I don't.  What I can tell you though is that the group, Jokers Wild, is run by a Ventrue.  Unfortunately, a capable Ventrue.  That means infiltrating the group and dismantling it will be next to impossible without a concentrated effort.  I would suggest contacting my Sheriff, Philip Eldritch if you want more details."

The prince looked between the two Assamites and then dismissed them by turning his attention towards the room as a whole.  "Marissa, you're next on my list." The prince's lips formed into a slight smirk and he blinked.  Once.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:42, Wed 20 Feb 2013.

Natalya raised an eyebrow in surprise. Some of the information Dragon had on her was in fact unknown to her, but her eyes showed no surprise at the news. "Telling everyone all of my secrets?" she waggled a finger in mock admonishment at her Sire. "That doesn't do. How am I to persuade the neophytes to enter my demesne if you warn them all about me beforehand." she smirked right back at Dragon. She knew some of his secrets, but unlike him, she'd keep those until she had to use them.

This message was deleted by the player at 17:37, Wed 20 Feb 2013.

"It's funny you refer to them as neophytes, neophyte."  The prince's attention quickly went from Marissa, whom he called forward, to Natalya, who had found some of her cattiness.  It was hard enough to keep attention off of Natalya anyway, without her making a naughty little distraction of herself.  "Besides, you're not Tzimisce, so Demesne isn't a term you'd be using.  And even if it was, wouldn't it be safer to say it would be my Demesne?  After all, last I checked, you still come home with me." He smirked.  Then he waved a hand at her in a playful but dismissive gesture.

"It's not like I revealed anything that shouldn't already be known about you.  Were I in any of your current situations, I would already know everything there is to know about all of you before anything resembling a face to face meeting.  One of the things I am rather well known for is my insight.  How else would I know things I should not know?" He glanced between Marissa, Natalya, and Alexander.  Alexander had his eyes on Natalya in more then one way.

"No, you neonates have a very distinct advantage over all others.  You have me.  More specifically, you have me backing you.  I have very little to gain from it, and yet I am putting my own neck on the line to make sure the majority of you succeed.  You will not find another city where you have access to the prince, let alone a prince as powerful and benevolent as me.  Remember that.  It's your greatest advantage." Yes.  The prince was addressing everyone.

Marissa stepped forward with confidence. Whatever he knew about her was fine. There really wasn't much to say that she could or would deny. The former Prince had been of her clan line and shamed the entire clan collectively. It would be a long time with much hard work to re-establish the Ventrue's good name. "Yes my Prince...?"

The prince regarded Marissa with a sideways look for a moment before speaking.  "You look very good tonight, young Ventrue.  You've done a great job of maintaining your position without disturbing anyone else.  You've got potential.  He smirked, looked around the room, and continued.  "So lets start with the obvious one first.  It's time for you to show these neonates that certain kindred of other clans hold in high regard.  Recite your lineage as far back as you can go, if you don't mind."

Marissa smiled at the compliment. With her head held high, and posture perfect, she stood her ground without so much as flinching when the Prince asked her to recite her lineage. She looked at Dragon without hesitation,

“It would be my honor my Prince, I was sired by Primogen Lars Reznik, who was sired by the exile John Lee, who was sired by the destroyed Methuselah Rowan Magister, believe to have been sired by Dirk Reichart, who is believed to have been sired by Ventrue, who was beheaded at the gates of Enoch the Second City by the first of the Antedeluvian traitors, Brujah."

Once she had finished she took a small sip of her drink and smiled. She was most pleased with her ability to recite her lineage, hopefully the prince would be equally pleased.

The prince Nod-nodded at Marissa's response.  "Very nicely said, Marissa." He glanced around the room and then at his empty cup, and the stub of a cigar in the ashtray.  He took four steps forward to the large glass table and then plopped down in the largest of the seats.  The music in the background had switched over to some David Bowie, maintaining the relatively poppy feeling of the room.

The prince reached into a pocket and withdrew another cigar, with one hand while waving the room to be seated around the table.  "I'm tired of standing.  By all means, feel free to be seated."  His hand with the cigar in it extended to Natalya's direction.  "Natalya, do you mind?"

His attention shot to Madhu for the briefest of seconds before stopping on Marissa again.  "And one final thing, Miss Lee."  His free hand pointed at the briefcase.  "I think it's time to cease speculation among your new associates.  Why don't you show them just how important you are to them."

Natalya smiled. "It would be my pleasure, my Sire." Natalya strode over to Dragons side, taking the cigar from his hands, she snipped the end off and held it up to her lips. After a few moments the tip glowed with the dull ember of a fully lit cigar with her having made no motion towards any lighter. Natalya drew a few breaths from it before returning it to Dragon. "An interesting choice, I like it. Impeccable taste."

Marissa sat down at the chair nearest her and laid the briefcase on top. “If it pleases you my Prince.” She unclasped the hinges and opened it with a slow graceful movement. No doubt the sight of $1,000,000.00 would be impressive to everyone that could see it. Marissa sat back in her seat with a bit of cockiness mixed with humor. It felt strange to be flaunting this money just to gain even a small amount of respect, but it sure couldn’t hurt. “As I said earlier, the only thing in this briefcase was that which has helped me in my future endeavors. “ She paused for a moment,  she had the floor for only a moment, so making the most of it would be the wisest idea she thought to herself. “And perhaps it will help us,” gesturing to the small circle of acquaintances gathered round, “in new future endeavors as well, should anyone be interested.”

Alexandre could not help but smile at Natalya's comment about the cigar, he could picture her speaking the exact same words right after literally licking the man's ass.

He covered his smile with a cup taking a sip and turned around to find a comfortable chair to sit on, it was a nicely made thing that could have been a central piece in one of his old rich friend's rooms back in the day... here, it was just meant to be used.

He sat down and looked at the contents of the briefcase just as Marissa showed it around... this time, he smiled openly and gracefully nodded at Marissa in appreciation, he had spent most of his life living with rich people, there were two kinds, the ones that showed the money, and the ones that didn't.. those that did show it, required a different handling than those that didn't... he'd whistle appreciatively but just couldn't afford the risk of interrupting whatever the Prince might say now, so he just grinned as if he was an adequately impressed idiot.

'Now now... lets see what endeavors do they have in mind precisely'.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:10, Fri 15 Mar 2013.

The prince took the cigar back from Natalya and beamed at her.  "Gracias mi amiga."  Ahh.  Spanish.  Specifically the Mexican dialect.  The smell from this cigar was just a hint of cinnamon and a bit of chocolate too.  Natalya was right, Dragon did have impeccable taste when it came to the flavor and aroma of smoke.

Then he smiled as Marissa opened up the briefcase.  "And there you have it, neonates, the advantage of having a Ventrue in your ranks.  A million in cash is better then five million in accounts and other easily traced assets.  While Primogen Reznick can't openly support you, lest he run the risk of cracking the overly tedious amount of eggshells he's dancing on, his commitment of wealth and a childe is evidence enough that the Blue Bloods are on board."  The prince exhaled a long plume of smoke.  "Believe it or not, Lars was the first of the elders on board with this plan of mine.  But then, considering I personally destroyed his undestroyable grandsire, exiled his sire, and ordered the destruction of his eldest broodmate, his cooperation wasn't entirely unforeseen."

Then Dragon looked to DJ.  "And your sire, often seen as having a love/hate relationship with me, was also relatively easy to get on board."  He ashed his cigar.  "Which brings me to my final point before returning the floor to the group of you.  I am putting you all together for the specific purpose of forming a coterie.  My personal agents.  As prince, I can no longer successfully manage a good relationship with the neonates and most ancillae in this city, as the majority of my time is spent dealing with my own clan and the elders.  It will be your job to make sure I keep looking good.  This in turn allows me to keep pleasing everyone as much as possible, and subsequently, allow you to have more and more advantages as time passes.  If you play your cards right and work together, you will be next century's ancillae, and then, the following century's elders.  I am setting the group of you up to be tomorrow's power players."  He nodded and smiled, quite pleased with his plans...

The Prince’s reaction and comments were not totally unexpected and did little to bruise Gabe’s ego. Ignetz had prepared him for this kind of treatment from a Tremere Prince, there was no love lost between their two clans, but Juan was the man in charge and the Assamites were lucky to even be allowed to reside in Charlotte. With the Tremere presence there they could surely drive the Assamites out if so desired.

However, on a more positive note the Prince already had what seemed a relatively important task in mind for Gabe, he was happy to quietly fade into the background once more and assume a position of observation. He would have to discover a way to get into contact with Phillip the Sheriff as from his own Sire’s description, the Gangrel didn’t stay within the cities limits unless specifically required to do so by the Prince.

When Marissa opened the case containing the million dollars Gabriel was not moved one way or the other, he was used to dealing with clients who were wealthy beyond many mortals dreams. The opportunity to earn the respect, acceptance and power as a coterie representing the Prince on the other hand was a much more valuable prize. He looked around at the gathered Neonates with a new outlook, as one trying to evaluate their capabilities and motivations.

DJ was silent and listend to the Prince respectfully, drinking in every detail about his rivals. He had assumed he would nigh be lynched for what had happened earlier and yet he had clearly come off almost scot free.

Natalya's history proved interesting and lighting the cigar without a lighter? Now there was a trick that would get a show talked about although that would most likely be viewed as either cheap stage magic or possibly a minor masquerade breech.

DJ's thoughts lingered off on a tangent as he thought about how devilish it would be for a vampiric magician to use the illusion of illusion to rip the Masquerade a new one every night to a full audience...

The snap click of a briefcase brought his attention back to the forefront and his eyes widened at the sight of a million in cool hard cash. Now the record labels and agents had all promised him millions but it was all tied up in this and that. The record label had their own accountants and "financial experts" tracking his funds and it's not like he ever had to pay for anything. He just asked for money and they gave it to him but still seeing a million on the table was a bit of a thrill.

Finally the Prince declared his intentions for those assembled and DJ couldn't help but bite the bait, hook line and sinker. DJ wasn't a stupid mortal but 'naive' and 'sheltered' definitely seemed appropriate, especially compared to the sharks circling the room...

The prince nodded with a bit of finality and look at all of the individuals.  "Alright then.  Before you all disperse or mingle or do whatever it is you want to do with the rest of your evening, there is just a couple more things." Dragon inhaled and then exhaled smoke from his cigar.

"I know at least one of you needs to see me privately before the end of the night." He not-so-subtly looked at Marissa.  "Your first priority as a group is going to be to locate some real estate to use as a haven for those of you who don't already have your own or in the case of an emergency.  This place should also be useful as a place of business and mutual headquarters.  I would suggest something appropriate as Elysium too.  You'll find that with your newfound status and connection to me, kindred of this city will be coming out of the woodwork.  You are going to want them to come to you, not go to them.  As we all no doubt know by now, elders are picky and fickle.  Keep that in mind when deciding." The prince paused and looked between Marissa and Madhu again.

"I would suggest this for Marissa and Madhu since the two of you are the best equipped to handle that task."  He flicked ashes into the ashtray one more time.  "DJ, Alexander, there's something I want the two of you to do.  Some part of me is tickled by pairing a Nosferatu and a Toreador together to work on the same objective." D smirked and ran his hand over the side of his chin, thinking.  "There is a particular individual I need you to locate.  Alex, your sire will have more details."

The prince looked at his cigar, then over at the two Assamites, back at Natalya, and finally over the whole room again.  "From here on out, if any of you need to contact me directly for whatever reason, you'll be doing it through the proper channels.  If it is an emergency, do it through Natalya.  If you need more contact information for anybody else, say the Sheriff or one of your Primogen, look no further then Miss Hart in the next room.  Part of making me look good is being able to follow the rules.  Unfortunately, that means the chain of command... Keeper of Elysium or Clan Whip first, then Sheriff or Primogen, then Seneschal, and then me.  So yes, while I will maintain an open door policy with the group of you, I will rarely be openly available."

Then he leaned forward as if to rise, stopped, and as an after thought reached into a pocket and withdrew a hotel door key.  He slid it on the table to Natalya.  "Room 1116.  There is someone there you need to meet.  I'll be joining the two of you before long."  He looked around one last time at the assembled group.  "Any last minute questions, comments, or concerns for me?  Anything you'd like to ask me specifically or are we all good for now?  If there is nothing else, you are all acknowledged members of kindred society, free to call my Domain home."

OOC: I am looking to wrap this scene up fairly soon.  For those of you who had none, you now have Status 1.0
This message was last updated by the player at 17:51, Tue 26 Mar 2013.

Madhu reappeared from his spot at the bar and back at the Prince's side, easing his way through the small gathering easily. His new status as Whip no doubt made that feat much easier. Once he was beside the Prince he cleared his throat gently. politely, once there was a break in the conversation. Just enough to get Juan's attention.

"Excuse me, Majesty, but I was wondering, if I could ask about your recent personnel acquisition" Madhu waited until he was acknowledged by the Prince before speaking any further, "The conditions were fairly exacting, indicative of someone with considerable taste, but I was wondering, what trait of hers you found most important."

Marissa nodded to the prince when he mentioned the private meeting. She sat there and listened to him, taking it all in and making mental notes. Once he rose from the table she closed her briefcase and locked the clasps back in place. She followed him back across the room. Better to get this done, medicine is always easier to take when you just "do it" instead of fighting it.

Alex looked around the room, everyone seemed concentrated on their own thoughts for a moment no one speaking. So he placed his almost empty cup on a little table besides his chair, and after it was clear that they were dismissed, he stood up and bowed to the Prince saying "Thank you, your Majesty. It is an honor, I will not disappoint you.".

He waited for a minute in the unlikely case that the Prince would deign to reply but more to see if anyone else, other than the obvious ones that had already been given appointments, was leaving the place... the party clearly seemed over.

OOC: This seems to have gone as far as it is going to.  Besides, I want to end it anyway.  So, +4exp for everyone involved.  Most of you, if not all of you have other threads you can post in anyway.