Your date for the evening was the Director for the Ventrue in Charlotte, Lars Reznik: Childe of John Lee, Childe of Rowan Magister, Childe of Amhlaidh of the Oak, Childe of Ventrue.

You knew who Lars was, more importantly, knew who his Sire was. John Lee had been the most prominent Ventrue in the modern ages. Hardstadt didn't have shit on John Lee. John Lee had been incredibly old, powerful, and sharp. It was a testament to his ability that he held off the collective might of the Tremere, Toreador, Giovanni, and Nosferatu in Charlotte for as long as he did. Of course, he still failed, and failure is failure... However, while most of the clan had jumped on the bandwagon of spitting on John's name there were a more than a few, older, perhaps wiser, elders who muttered and turned away. Seemingly in fear of some retribution from John, who did not meet Final Death, and in fact, had simply vanished... A one thousand year old elder had just vanished like he never existed. That was a far more chilling prospect than him dying any night.

None of that particularly applied to Lars, however, an elder as potent as John did not embrace failures. Your sire had flat told you to tread carefully with Lars. Lars had learned from the best. Despite succumbing to the many penalties for the Ventrue that the new Prince laid out Lars had come out of the whole fiasco comparatively unscathed. Unscathed compared to how badly it could have gone for him. Lars had done a magnificent job protecting himself and his assets, and gobbling up a great many of his Sire's in the process.

This, of course, was the history lesson your sire gave you when he called you to Charlotte. The point of which was simple: Lars Reznik was under no circumstances to be taken lightly. He was in charge of the clan for very good reasons. All indications pointed to Lars being a cunning player on the field, and with the tenuous situation the Ventrue were in any Anarch leanings would not go unnoticed or unpunished. Your sire was not an Archon anymore, there would be little he could do to save you from the Primogen's wrath.

The door opened. The same butler who had escorted you to this small office now motioned for you to enter the room. It smelled of old leather and paper. Three of the walls were lined floor to ceiling with books, except for the strip where the door you entered from was. One window was floor to ceiling window, over looking the rest of Charlotte.

A lot of the books were ledgers of various kinds. Accounts, lineages, boons, territories, etc... Others were the classic corporate classics: Sun Tzu's the Art of War, Machiavelli's The Prince, Miyamoto Musashi's Martial Artist's Book of Five Rings... and a plethora of others.

Lars looked up from a reading desk planted in the middle of the room. It had three chairs around it. He pointed to the one across from him, pushed a button on a white remote and the lights brightened. "Please. Sit, and officially, welcome to Charlotte. Dmitri, correct?"

Dimitri looks around at the swanky office, nodding his head in approval. When asked he has a seat at the left-most chair, angling to still face Lars but keep an eye on the rest of the room.

"Thank you for warm welcome. This place..." he gestures around the room, possibly indicating the room itself or Charlotte as a whole.

"Is nice."

He slouches a bit, sliding down n the seat not out of disrespect but force of habit.

Lars sat forward in his chair, making eye contact with you. "Before we talk about anything else I want to give you a run down of our situation here." He shifted in his seat and leaned back again, "My Sire, the former Prince, John, has been Blood Hunted and fled the city. I have maintained my position as Primogen, and control of our clan, only just barely."

"We are beset by the Tremere on our left, the Toreador on our right, and the Giovanni at our backs. John by and large had the largest stake in this city and his loss has crippled us. However, I am rebuilding. It will take time, decades most likely, but as we have always done, we will emerge from John's ashes to reclaim our rightful place at the top of this city."

Lars looked at you intently as spoke. "To that end. I will broke no dissent in our ranks. You want to make your life here. Very well brother, I welcome you with open arms, but you will understand our situation. You will conduct yourself so as to not embarrass us, and you will contribute to our return. I leave how to you. Any questions?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:11, Sat 17 Nov 2012.

Dimitri leaned back and splayed out his hands in a classic "what, me worry?" look.

"Da, da, you worry too much about me. You and me, we are not so different. We are business men. Business needs to be clean, it needs to be controlled. When businses get messy, everything gets messy and I think there has been too much mess around here recently. Everything a mess, really and it is up to us, brother, to clean things up in our own special way.

So I know how to keep my shit locked down, no problem. As long as you don't try and pull any political backstabbing bullshit on me, we'll be fine, just fine. Maybe even be like true brothers.

Besides, if I start burning the town down, nothing you do to me compares to what my boss would do if I create mess."

He pauses, hoping to lure Lars in with the bait he left hanging in the air.

"You know...who my boss is, right?"

Lars slid a ledger book across to you. The page it was opened on had your lineage back to the clan founder. Wasn't your thing but the ink didn't look new. If you had to guess someone had written you in just under Vlad's name months ago. "The Blood does tell, brother."

He leaned back in his chair again and the butler entered again. This time he was carrying a decanter, two glasses and a tray. He poured from the decanter, which was only partially full. It was blood, and you could smell as soon as it was opened that it was fresh. Your Ventrue palate also told you this was not human. You would be able to drink it.

"I am glad to see you intend to be productive. Tell me, where did you intend on starting? I know how difficult it can be to move large distances with our needs." His entire posture and attitude changed as he took a sip of the glass. One was put down in front of you. "To rebuilding." He lifted his glass.

In the back of Dimitri's mind, he realized that this could be a trap, that Lars could have filled this up with his own blood in order to begin a blood bond. His mind started whirling looking for ins and outs, trying to unweave the web that he imagined spinning in front of him.

But then before things got out of hand, Dimitri told that little voice in his head to fuck off and he raised the glass. He could deal with whatever happened.

"To building new bonds."

Dante swigged it down.

Lars noticed the little struggle and hesitation with your drink and frowned, but he didn't say anything. It was not uncommon for refreshments to be shared. As a host he actually could have offered his Blood to you and you were nearly obligated to take it. By serving you from a decanter that was still fresh you could have been assured it was not his.

Hesitation in this case, seemed to show a lack of solidarity, or trust, or even respect for Ventrue tradition. It would be horrific form and an insult to Lars' Gravitas to try and Blood Bond you here and now, like this. Besides, he was older than you, and almost certainly of more potent Blood. Lars hardly needed anything as crude as a Blood Bond to get you to do his will if he wanted to force it on you.


Instead, Lars restated his question from a moment ago and added, "Have you secured a Haven for yourself yet?"

OOC: It's fine to proceed with it as is but to clarify there wasn't any noticable hesitation. The point of that was to show that Dimitri goes forward even if one should pause and consider not the other way around.

"I have contacts in the area, on Eastbound Central where there are many of my people around. I own a, how do you say, gentlemen's club. If you need to get in touch you can leave message at front desk for my ghoul as I travel around quite frequently for business."

Lars nodded replied, "And what do you intend for your first project to be?"

Dimitri spreads his arms out and smiles, a vicious grin of a predator.

"Project? I am business man not contractor. First step is to set up business, get my infrastructure in order, grease the right palms, find the right territory, you know how it goes. I need to meet and greet the locals, let them know that Dimitri is open for business."

"That's what I'm asking. What is your business. What is the first step? Who are the right palms? What is the right territory? What type of locals are you looking to meet?" Lars sat forward, clearly irritated.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:40, Tue 04 Dec 2012.

Dimitri seems a bit taken aback. He had assumed that Lars would know all there was to know about Dimitri's Jacksonville operations but this wasn't a simple social visit. Dimitri leaned forward, frowning a bit. Perhaps his reputation hadn't preceded him after all.

"You speak truth, da? You know not what I do? Maybe I consider that compliment, my enterprise is not exactly legal. I am primarily importer and exporter, international trader. You need what the city cannot provide, you come to me? Weapons, drugs, fodder for the slaughter, I am your man.

The purpose is to build up my Vory, my brotherhood and establish a family. I know, I know, Dragon say "no ghouls, Ventrue" but I do not need ghouls. I already have ghouls from my time outside of city. No, I build family of fellow ruskies. I have soft spot for motherland."

A soft spot isn't the only part as Dimitri's accent is thick enough you'd need a cleaver to cut through it.

"So, step one I set up business, get my friends the things they cannot get on their own, or do not want others to know they own, eh? Step two, carve out a little empire for myself in underbelly of city, look after my people. Step three, eh, that is always profit, da?"

Lars nodded as you spoke, listening intently. "Excellent. I can help you in that regard if you like. Domain mostly, and since your Sire is in torpor, or will soon be, I can help there as well. Though in exchange I would like something from you." He leaned back, pressed his hands together and then pressed his index fingers to his lips for a second, then spoke again.

"One of our brothers, who goes by Phoenix. He's having a hard time with a rival coterie, Anarchs, but I am not concerned with them. I am concerned to know why he is having a hard time." Lars adjusted himself again, "Phoenix is not exactly young, his coterie is well established... He should have mopped the floor with this rival, but he hasn't. I believe it's because he is planning something. Something big. I need to know what it is."

Dimiri scratches the rough stubble on his chin.

"Phoenix, eh? Where can I find this man? How should I approach? Is he friendly to his brothers or one of those кусок дерьма that turns on own family? I am new, I do not wish to step too hard on too many toes, not yet.

So I do this favor for you, you carve me out a place to call home? A place to stash my sire?"

Lars nodded. "That about sums it up." Lars kinda shrugged a bit. "I wouldn't be too sure. I know he falls in with the Anarchs, and from what you just told me about your business that may end up being the crowd you need to be with anyway." Clearly Lars looked at the Anarchs as just another piece of the Camarilla, like a large coterie of angry teenagers. A view your Sire had warned you about. "I would start in Fight Club. Its what it sounds like. A bunch of angry vampires pounding the mess out of each other, but I know a few of Phoenix's group frequent it. They're bikers, but incredibly well organized..." He moved his head as he considered his next words, "Not that I would expect anything less from another Ventrue."

He turned back and looked at you then stepped towards the desk and slid an index card towards you. It had an address and some instructions. The card looked like it had been through some stuff. It was bent, dirty, and had a ring on it from where a wet cup had sat on it. On the back it just had a stylized letter "E" printed on it. There was also the unmistakable stain of blood. All faded and brown and burnt umber.

The instructions said: No weapons. Bring your cash. Put up, or shut up. $20 Cover.

"The "E" is for Eve, the Brujah who manages it. The letter changes it's style from week to week. Like a certificate of authenticity. She is incredibly dangerous. I would avoid conflict with her if at all possible."

Dimitri picked the card up and flicked it between his fingers making a sharp snap.


"I know others do not see it this way but I get along with Brujah. They tend to be my best customers..."

Dimitri lets a grin slid across his face as he starts to stand up. He pauses, midway up in case Lars had anything further to say. Dimitri hadn't technically been dismissed yet but while not intentionally disrespectful in general Dimitri didn't care much for formality, not when there was business to take care of.

"I gather they are open now? I like to get my beatings done early in evening so as not to ruin whole night, eh? Anything else before I go?"


OOC: Unless there's a good reason not to, Dimitri will head over to Fight Club as soon as his meeting with Lars is done.

Lars nodded, "Yes, I imagine it is. Going now works well. I have another engagement I need to attend to tonight." Lars rose and walked around the table, he embraced you once, quickly and added, "Thank you for your cooperation, Brother, and I will talk to my friend about your matter." He held out his arm, indicating the door.

It was time to go.

---

End thread.