#Lore24 – Entry #304 – Sentinel City by Night #30 – A Mastermind in Hiding
From the Journal of Sheba O’Rourke, Private Investigator
“Well, after taking my licks for the past week, I’ve learned that I’m just going to have to resolve myself to not get caught. Fighting is not an option. I’m a much better shot than I am a brawler, but as was pointed out numerous times by the likes of Ramos and Winters, a gun is going to be worthless in a fight with a Fiend. Duly noted.
I’ve been pondering my corkboard since I’ve finished up my impromptu training with the Hounds, for now; got me scheduled for another round in a few nights. Unfortunately, nothing particularly helpful was jarred loose while I was getting tossed around, but I’m still working on it. I’m absolutely convinced there’s a mastermind controlling the Sabbat’s actions here. They’re being far too careful. Getting some echoes of San Diego going here, and I’m not liking that.
Maybe it’s something to do with Grim’s presence here keeping them at bay, but my gut is telling me otherwise. They’re setting up something much larger than we expect, I’m certain of it, but I don’t know what that is. It’s more than just striking fast and hard and taking over the city. Something sorcerous, maybe? That warning the Tremere gave me when I visited their chantry is nagging at me. Where does the Lasombra, Delgado, fit into this, and how much of her clan is involved? Aside from that altercation between the Hounds and the Lasombra ghouls a few weeks back, they’ve been almost a non-entity in town aside from when Delgado and the war ghouls attacked me. Couldn’t get much out of Ramos about Delgado but doesn’t seem like she’s the type to think things through this thoroughly.
Who is this mastermind running things? I’ve not been able to track down anything on them, but all the signs are pointing to someone or something pushing the pieces around the board. Someone was cluing Emmerson in on Kindred society to try and destabilize the Kindred power base in the city. Likely that same someone managed to find out I had a backdoor and got it cleared off. Whoever it is has also managed to deal with the Kuei-jin; they had a big presence on the west coast when I was in San Diego, and though I couldn’t prove it, I had plenty of suspicions they were involved in some of what went down there. Same groups in town now, maybe? Maybe they’ve worked with this mastermind before, saw a way to profit, to further their own agenda while staying out of the way of the Sabbat…
I’ve spoken to Becky about this too; she was getting knocked around alongside me this week. Apparently, she’s not much for hand-to-hand combat either, total keyboard jockey. Said she’d look over what I could give her, but so far, even she’s not come back with anything probative on the matter.
After thinking on the problem nearly all night, I’m now wondering if maybe they’ll repeat what they did in San Diego. Sentinel City doesn’t have a primogen to bomb, though, at least, not a formal one like most Camarilla cities, but there is a meeting place where plenty of Kindred meet up… I’d better call Grim and Sokolova on this one…”