The past is prologue, as they say. This was one of a handful of stories played out in this same setting with an almost entirely different cast of characters a few months ago. It’s included here as background to the current chronicle.

The investigation into the vampire “blood farm” down near the Old Corners neighborhood leads Lou and Luther onto the trail of the territory’s Regent, an Invictus Ventrue named Locke.

The purpose of these vampires: To feed elders.

Instead of being the bland Society socialite he appeared to be at court, it turns out that Locke had been keeping anywhere from nine to fifteen illegally Embraced Kindred in pens beneath a burnt-out factory buildings. The purpose of these vampires? To feed elders like himself.

Somehow, Locke had kept these undead vessels broken and sedate, apparently through repeated and brutal attacks on their minds using the powers of his Blood, but also by weakening their spirits by coercing them to Embrace other feeding vessels. Locke even brought visitors, like Cobb, by to show off his work.

( We didn’t have Mike this night, so the story focused on investigative stuff, suited to Luther’s Disciplines and Phil’s character concept. )

Was Locke working with the Carthians against the Invictus? Is he just a sick and errant monster with no fear of violating the Prince’s decrees? To find out, Lou and Luther set out in the name of the Prince and Primogen to find Locke and root him out from his hiding place within the city.

To do it, they pursue two unusual leads: night after night of mystic, psychological therapy with one of Locke’s captured and tormented victims, and a meeting with the Carthian spokesman, Haden.