The Harpy Nest Digest

#VivatOrlando!

A Hero Falls

Some say one man cannot make a difference. Let me introduce you to Marcus Barlow.

by Ty McFearson

Typically in these articles I do my best to write from a third person perspective to allow a sense of journalistic integrity and separation from the id, allowing me to be impartial in my writings. Sometimes I am not successful and I know that, but I always strive for it. In this instance, I hope my readers will forgive me as I recount the events that end to the life of Marcus Barlow as this is a personal matter to me and I find myself unable to separate my feelings from the reported facts.

Marcus Barlow was the first Kindred I met when I came to Orlando, on the night of the Sabbat War conclusion. He introduced me to the Seneschal (at the time Kennedy of Clan Toreador) and walked me through the city. He was kind, welcoming, willing to work with new allies and potential friends to assist the city. Despite my Bloodline and his Clans animosity, he treated me as an equal. When his Elder tried to set me on fire, Marcus kept me at bay and offered words of encouragement and a few laughs at the situation. Marcus was a kind, generous and giving soul.

Marcus Barlow was a member of Clan Tremere, a clan of some renown and inside it seeming to be a member seen in high regard. He studied the ways of magic under his tutor Image who was always happy to show him off and extol the virtues of his work. When the others of his Clan disappeared in a magical conflux, he stepped up and represented his Clan with the grace and poise of a Kindred well beyond his neonate years. I took great pride in seeing how well my friend was doing in such hardships, and I offered him every aid that I could. We didn’t work together alone, he also had the help of his Coterie that helped support him and the city as a whole as time continued along. Marcus gave great aid to the city, always willing to offer his skills and assistance to any who asked, asking for nothing more than a small favor and a promise to be kind to the city he had grown to love.

Marcus Barlow treated everyone he met with respect and dignity. He treated the personal employees of other Kindred as worthy of respect and notice, he offered constant respect to the Camarilla officers far and wide and always volunteered to assist however he could. Even when Elders and city officers failed to show him the respect he had rightly earned, Marcus kept his smile and focus on the great work of keeping Orlando safe for all Camarilla citizens. Despite any setback, he continued forward.

Marcus Barlow died doing what he always did, defending the city of Orlando. Leading the charge with others towards a potential place of dark ritual, again working for the city despite the Sheriff being absolutely useless, he led them to a graveyard which had been a focus point for some of the ritual work. Guarded by both Necromantic and Thaumaturgical wardings, Marcus worked with the others alongside him to try and break in and stop the dark magics from continuing. As the situation spiraled out of control, Marcus knew that someone had to return to report on the situation and thus enacted magical wards to protect those he sent off in the car; remaining behind to guard their exit. That was the last act of Marcus Barlow, to sacrifice everything he had for the safety of others.

A good man to the last, Marcus Barlow gave up everything for the sake of the city. He was a good clan mate, a good coterie member, a good Camarilla citizen, a good friend. He did the jobs no one asked of him but needed to be done, and always with a smile on his face. The city is far safer than it has any right to be due to the tireless work of this young Tremere. Remember Marcus Barlow, a hero amongst good men. And follow his example and I intend to, a willingness to do the right thing at all costs.

THIS WEEK’S

TOP STORIES

Status Updates

by Ty McFearson

Tyranus “Ty” McFearson was seen as Vulgar by Seneschal Tyvarious for accidentally walking into a Primogen Council meeting and not making proper apologies. This removes his Loyal measure of standing.

Elder Virgil Bancroft of Clan Tremere wishes the Camarilla to be aware that he sees Tyranus “Ty” McFearson as Favored in his eyes.

‘Big” Mack, Primogen of Clan Assamite, wishes the Camarilla to be aware that he no longer sees jasmine Dupree as Favored; owing to her lack of actions taken at last gathering.

For her actions in securing Elysium and aiding the city in its time of need despite her age, Master of Harpy’s Prima Dezz wishes to see Lisa Roberts of Clan Tremere as Loyal.

The Plague, Primogen of Clan Malkavian, wishes the Camarilla to be aware that he sees Dr. Zek, Whip of Clan Malkavian, as Loyal for his above and beyond work in the roll.

#gladtoseewearerememberingStatus!

#nicetoseeEldersinvestingintheirfavoredones

#whogetsanewjobnext?

So Many New Members!

by Ty McFearson

This past gathering saw a bright number of new faces, make sure you take the time to reach out and get to know your new city members! Present this gathering was a large swatch of Camarilla culture!

Clan Toreador cleaned house with a whole new host of individuals into its ranks. Sophia Amati made a striking example in Elysium with her long coat and little else ensemble. Saphire Sky is another new Toreador, a polite smile and eager eyes are always welcome. Elder Persephone Monet made a good presence in the city, accompanying her was Elder Vivica Reece of Clan Toreador who was an outspoken vote to allow innocent children to die. Samuel Blood, childe of our dear Prince Kennedy in Tampa, also arrived onto the scene sporting a fantastic facial accessory that may rival those worn by our Seneschal Tyvarious.

While not so many clans cleaned house as Clan Toreador, there was still a fair bit of representation of the others. On-iki, a member of Clan Assamite, enjoyed the company of “Big” Mack for much of the evening. Ash Greenwood was seen in good and deep conversation with his Primogen Lou Warren of Clan Tremere, good to see that the tragic events early in the evening didn’t affect too much their Clan dynamics. Frank Graves is a new member, a Camarilla member who also happens to be Clan Giovanni, and we can hope he is a better representation of his Clan than the others who have arrived from the Independent Alliance. Varrin Thresh was well represented by his Primogen The Plague Of Clan Malkavian, and spent much of his night in polite civil conversation with Clan Toreador. Chance Whitman of Clan Brujah is another new face to our city, didn’t see much from him but considering his Clan perhaps that’s a good sign?

There were many other new Kindred gathered about, that due to some sensitive moments we had trouble getting all of the names recorded. We look forward to introducing and meeting all of our new friends in the nights to come!

#welcometoOrlando!

#wedontbite!

#whosthebreakoutnewsocialiteinthisgroup?

A Wilds Sheriff Appears!

by Ty McFearson

Finally, we have had a sighting of Sheriff Wilds at a gathering. It had been some time since he had last been seen, but we have no comment to explain his absence in the situations that have been occurring over the last few weeks. Right away, Sheriff Wilds started the night off by mucking everything up and creating a huge mess.

Early in the evening Marcus Barlow was investigating another potential issue on behalf of the Sheriff, because he was nowhere to be seen, with the Whippoorwill Coterie when he was murdered by our enemies. The Sheriff has given no comment on why he was not there participating in the situation, nor at the loss of such a valuable Kindred to the safety and security of the city of Orlando. The Sheriff had to be brought up to speed by others on the progress of everything, which is not a good sign for his skills and ability.

Later in the evening, there was a bit of a mess with a botched mission to a Necropolis site. Instead of making those aware that where they were traveling to was a magical site secured by Clan Tremere, Sheriff Wilds allowed them to go and potentially risk more death walking into a magically unstable spot that at best could have had others killed by its reality-warping unstable magic and at worse could have thrown them through a time-loop. A small segway on this, the location they traveled to was a spot of magical conflux that Marcus had helped to secure and keep guarded while the rest of his Clan was missing; Clan Tremere secured the initial point where a Necropolis had interfered with the city and was keeping it warded to prevent any tamperings with it but were  bound to their Primogen to not reveal its location or the magical reality-warping effects that were occurring to keep others from wandering in and becoming lost in a magical conflux as had several other Tremere (Hence why it was never mentioned by the Tremere who arrived who simply tried to reach the Sheriff to warn him away from this mess and were ignored but also their Primogen for they couldn’t words of honor).

After allowing others into near death, Sheriff Wilds continued his work of making mistake after mistake by allowing Elders and city officials to be led into a trap by a demonic entity out in Westgate. Trapped inside this hellish realm, the Sheriff was out of his depth in managing the situation and relied on Elder Sobaka and Primogen Sigismondo to handle the delicate situation. Elder Sobaka and Primogen Sigismondo did come up with a clever way to distract the demonic entity and save the children in danger, but not before the Sheriff took it upon himself to willingly sacrifice innocent children and attack the demonic force thus triggering the attacks on the mortals. The Sheriff was unapologetic.

The Sheriff of Orlando has continued to endanger the lives of Kindred with his unprofessional actions. Good Kindred have died doing the job he is supposed to perform. Innocents have died because he is unwilling to listen to reason or advice. How long until the Prince replaces him? How long until the Primogen Council force the Prince to replace him? How long until no action leads to calls of scandal?

#NewSheriff2018

#FireWilds

#OrlandoDeservesBetter

Halogi Seider and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Night

by Ty McFearson

It was a rough first night for our Keeper as he hosted his first gathering on Elysium. The night started off well enough for him, Keeper Halogi was able to maintain decorum and polite behavior with the influx of new Kindred, but problems arose soon after. It seems someone thought it a fun “prank” to damage Keeper Halogi’s parking garage, setting it on fire to damage his assets. The Keeper then offered a Major Boon to whomever found out and assisted him in apprehending the individual responsible for setting his parking garage on fire. This was the start of a rough evening.

An officer from OUC arrived, showing a list of violations to the building that needed to be settled immediately to the tune of a great amount of money. While the power to the building was cut off, thanks to the work of Clan Ventrue the gathering site was once again secured. Soon after, Halogi once again had to settle social discourse and disagreements with the Giovanni from the Independent Alliance who continued to be rude and disrespectful to everyone they came across. Before he was ever able to settle that situation, he was called away by the Sheriff to assist with handling another of these Sin rituals.

Keeper Halogi was in a poor spot, for he is required by Camarilla law to assist the Sheriff in his investigations yet he could not leave Elysium defenseless. Turning to the only soul he could find to volunteer and assist, Lisa Roberts of Clan Tremere rose to the occasion (as an aside, Lisa Roberts did this for FREE and Keeper Halogi should really try and find a way to PAY for her services, either to her or her Primogen). Once trapped with the demonic force, he was subjected to the same struggle as everyone else until the Sheriff took it upon himself to allow dozens of children to be murdered for the sake of his inability to come up with a real plan.

Keeper Halogi did his best to fight off the shadow demons summoned, but was gravely injured in the process to the point of falling into Torpor. It seems it went from bad to worse as the night went along, ending in green infernal fire attacking Master of Harpies Prima Dezz on Elysium grounds. Currently the investigation is ongoing for what allowed this breach of Elysium to occur, the Prince is not to be bothered directly with news of the breach in Elysium. As requested. Information should progress through established channels. We expect to have updates on that particular bit next Monday.

Here’s hoping his next night goes a bit smoother.

#PrimogengonnahelpherClanmate?

#poorHalogi

#ThanksforholdingdownthefortLisa

Spotlight Of Praise: Aleksandru “Sobaka” Kasun

by Ty McFearson

There are some amazing things happening in Orlando that many overlook, and here in the Harpy’s Nest we would like to focus on that once a week. This week’s Spotlight Of Praise is aimed at Elder Aleksandru “Sobaka” Kasun.

Elder Sobaka has worked hard since first arriving in Orlando, bringing with him the Whippoorwills as well to assist the city. He has shown elegance and grace in public, and has worked out wonderfully with the rest of his Clan. Taking a second in leadership, Elder Sobaka has also been a tireless advocate for Camarilla social laws and participated well within the system. Sponsoring neonates with his Favor, participating in the boon economy and even hosting a quite excellent gathering are all feathers in his cap. But he has done so much more.

Elder Sobaka has stepped in where the Sheriff has failed and worked tirelessly to protect the Masquerade. He has tackled the Sin rituals with concern for others before himself, and had arranged to save the innocent lives lost by risking himself and Clanmates to reach out to those who might help. He has offered his experience and that of his Coteries to the city, and for that we feel this week’s spotlight should shine upon him.

#thankyouSobaka

#marcuswouldbeproudofyou

#shininglightinOrlando