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  To W.H. ––
– From your most devoted servant:
Many years have passed, since you irst charged me with this task, and I fervently
hope that time has dulled somewhat the distressing mystery you have endured. The
work has been long and uncertain, and for many months it seemed we’d ind no
Lord willing to speak to us, no stories willing to be told. I owe you some kind of
explanation of what has gone into the work you now hold – and why I have kept it
from you for so long.
Men and women have died. At least one of our Kindred has met a inal end as the
result of this work, but surely others have, as well. How many more have been (or
will be) hidden away, punished, broken, or ruined for telling their tales? It depends
on what you intend to do with these pages, I suppose. I’ve wondered.
I must confess that, many nights, I question whether I should abandon the work.
I must confess that I thought of not sending it. I know this means that I considered
dying, inally and truly, to be done with it. In the end, Nicodemus convinced me
that this was not really my work to
control, and that too much of us has been lost because too many of us
refused to share our tales. For all that our secrets protect us, night after night, so
too are they slowly smothering us.
At least one helot was released from a prison of blood during our search for these
words, however, and at least one childe was reunited with a sire who she long loved
and long sought, so I can’t say the work has solely caused misery.
The protection that we can uphold, without sacriicing our history and our leg-
endry, is allusion. Only if we share our stories with our kin, do we have some hope
of keeping our pasts with us and knowing real
immortality. With enough of our history kept in mind, we can continue to leave
letters to our childer and to our future selves, and speak through allusions that the
living and unmasked cannot see for what they are. Otherwise, we continue with-
holding our own history from each other, and from ourselves, out of fear of being
overheard; that path brings only
ignorance and diminishment of who we are.
Thus, in the name of knowledge and the spirit of the Masquerade, I have made
much of this work an allegory, like our own history. I have changed some names
to protect people and places from being revenged for their help, should this work
reach hands other than your own. Those
modiications aside, I have done what you asked, and found the face of the modern
Ventrue.
Much of what follows is factual. All of it is true.
Semper Servus,
– V.T.
1
W.
H. –
– From
your
most
devot
ed serv
ant:
Sir, I
am h
onored
to be
a part
of thi
s work
.
– From
your
most
devot
ed serv
ant:
I kept
this all this t
ime but I don
’t
want to
think so muc
h about the p
ast
anymore.
You should k
eep this, tho
ugh.
It feels
like part of
the work to m
e.
I kept
this all this t
ime but I don
’t
want to
think so muc
h about the p
ast
anymore.
You should k
eep this, tho
ugh.
It feels
like part of
the work to m
e.
I’m p
leased
to rep
ort to
you th
at I al
ready
have p
eople
seeking
out i
nter
in
tervie
ws and
accou
nts fo
r the p
roject
. It’s b
een m
y expe
rience
that t
he age
and se
crecy
o
f our k
ind ha
s lead
to qui
te a fe
w writ
ers am
ong u
s. Seve
ral of
my ag
ents co
me fr
om a
ti
me wh
en let
ters an
d pen
mansh
ip wer
e not h
obbie
s, as yo
u can
imagin
e.
Expec
t at lea
st a do
zen b
odies t
o be at
work
for us
befor
e the y
ear is
out. O
bvious
ly, the
M
. will s
low us
a bit,
but I t
rust m
y peo
ple to
be disc
reet.
I
antici
pate se
veral
years’
worth
of int
erview
s will b
e nece
ssary
to get
the vo
lume
of
ma
terial
we’ll n
eed fo
r anyt
hing r
esembl
ing an
accur
ate sur
vey of
the m
odern
cultu
re.
We
’ll be w
orkin
g agai
nst ha
bits of
secrec
y, year
s of il
l-infor
med a
ssump
tions,
and th
e
sla
nder o
f rumo
rmon
gers, I
’m sur
e. Loc
ating m
anusc
ripts m
ay be
possib
le for
gettin
g an
im
age of
ages p
ast, bu
t I exp
ect on
ly irs
t-hand
accou
nts an
d obse
rvation
s of o
ur mo
dern
Kin
dred w
ill ge
t us an
authe
ntic se
nse of
the m
odern
night
.
It
seems
to me
that
the wo
rk wil
l benei
t if I
can es
tablish
a base
to op
er
ope
rate fr
om so
mewhe
re I c
an stor
e note
s, reco
rdings
, corre
spond
ence, a
nd
arti
facts c
ollecte
d in p
ursuit
of the
work.
I ima
gine w
e’ll acc
umula
te eno
ugh p
aper th
at
reta
ining
an arc
hivist
of som
e sort
is pro
bably
a good
idea. C
an yo
u reco
mmen
d some
one
for
the ta
sk, or
should
I cond
uct m
y own
search
? I’ll a
dmit
that I’
m not
sure w
here t
o
beg
in, and
my c
onnect
ions d
on’t ye
t exte
nd ver
y far i
nto th
e right
corne
rs of a
cadem
ia or
ant
iquity.
Th
is is e
xciting
. It’s s
uch a s
hame
to thi
nk this
hasn’
t been
attem
pted e
arli
earl
ier, or
more
often.
May I
ask w
hat’s in
spired
you t
o purs
ue this
so ge
ner
gene
rously
? Wha
t are y
our go
als fo
r the w
ork o
nce it
is com
plete?
If
at any
time I
may
be of s
ervice
to you
or yo
ur fam
ily, yo
u kno
w I wi
ll help
as I c
an.
Sem
per Se
rvus,
– V.T
.
W.H.–
In an effort to ensure that this material is understandable and of the maximum usefulness
to you, I have put together a quick summary of its contents, as well as a lexicon of terms com-
monly used by the Ventrue of tonight’s Danse Macabre.
Semper Servus,
––V.T.
In an effort to ensure that this material is understandable and of the maximum usefulness
In an effort to ensure that this material is understandable and of the maximum usefulness
In an effort to ensure that this material is understandable and of the maximum usefulness
In an effort to ensure that this material is understandable and of the maximum usefulness
to you, I have put together a quick summary of its contents, as well as a lexicon of terms com-
to you, I have put together a quick summary of its contents, as well as a lexicon of terms com-
to you, I have put together a quick summary of its contents, as well as a lexicon of terms com-
to you, I have put together a quick summary of its contents, as well as a lexicon of terms com-
monly used by the Ventrue of tonight’s Danse Macabre.
monly used by the Ventrue of tonight’s Danse Macabre.
monly used by the Ventrue of tonight’s Danse Macabre.
2
I kept
this all this t
ime but I don
’t
want to
think so muc
h about the p
ast
anymore.
You should k
eep this, tho
ugh.
It feels
like part of
the work to m
e.
W.H.–
In an effort to ensure that this material is understandable and of the maximum usefulness
to you, I have put together a quick summary of its contents, as well as a lexicon of terms com-
to you, I have put together a quick summary of its contents, as well as a lexicon of terms com-
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