It started out as a quiet night in Sleepy Hollow -- a little town of about 10,000 only an hour north of the Big Apple. Anarch Kindred from around the country were gathering for a huge event: the Tontine.
The Tontine was primarily a tournament of combat organized for the Anarchs by the Anarchs. However, it was much more -- a place of gathering for the young and disenfranchised, as well as a few of the old and powerful looking to make a deal or eat the young. Others were there looking for opportunity, temptation or redemption. Others had no idea why they were there.
The host was the Brujah Prince Grendel and a local Malkavian who was known only as the Prince of Sleepy Hollow -- not that anyone really cared.
The Jamaican, a Caitiff from the Bahamas, was the returning champ of the Tontine, and brought the belt with him, which two powerful Brujah from LA -- Jeremy MacNeil and Salvador Garcia -- lusted after. Other powerful Brujah came from Philadephia, Boston, Chicago, New Orleans and Atlanta.
The most insidious Kindred (?) in attendance were the Triplets -- a sinister trio of Ravnos (?) who made their home in nearby Rochester, New York. Although they resembled children, their age and menace was clearly far superior.
The early rounds of the Tontine were largely uneventful, but Grendel found the event's bookie murdered , and the gambling element of the event never quite recovered, much to the dismay of the financially strapped Brujah.
The defending champion, the Jamaican, shockingly lost his belt in the initial heat to Irishman Regan O'Keefe. Due to the round robin nature of the tournament, the Jamaican took second place in his heat and qualified for the second round.
The first surprise of the tournament was in the first round of the elimination the host, Grendel, falling to an unherald Brujah from New Orleans named Vincennes.
As the night wore on, rumors of the Sabbat got louder and louder. Most of the rumors surrounded a Brujah from Atlanta named Solchare. He took a very low profile. It was this man who caused Vincennes to forfeit his next match by delaying him.
The Brujah elder Tyler from Chicago disciplined her errant progeny, Carlos Ramirez, who was thrown to the wolves. He was first eliminated from the Tontine, then met Final Death shortly thereafter.
The Brujah Cancer finally met his long-deserved end, as he messed with Grendel's finances for the last time. There was much rejoicing.
A small contingent of Tremere, led by the Regent Voltaire, was trying to stay inconspicuous and unknown. Anyone who talked to them heard rumors of a nefarious three-eyed Salubri.
The final four in the Tontine was led by the Jamaican, who seemed to be getting stronger with every match. He was fighting Azure, a surprising Brujah from New York. As the only "home-town" Kindred left, she had become somewhat of a fan favorite.
Alas, it was not to be. The Jamaican, who proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was far more powerful than he was at the beginning of the night, and Azure fell quite easily.
The next match was a fiasco. The two combatants were scheduled to be Ransom, the Brujah leader of the Boston Anarchs, and an LA Caitiff known only as the Badass Motherfucker. This mysterious Caitiff had other issues, and forfeited his match to Ransom in exchange for asylum in his city. This was a great offense to host Grendel. Luckily for all involved, he was too busy dealing with the Sabbat.
The Archbishop of the Sabbat had been uncovered, and was revealed to be a Ventrue pretender named Trask. Grendel, with help from the Archon Santiago and the Prince of Sleepy Hollow, destroyed the Archbishop. Much of this was due to information provided by one of the agents of the Triplets, as was the uncovering of the other Sabbat agent, Trevor Foster, who also met his demise.
The climax of the Tontine was a fight between the invigorated Jamaican and the Brujah Ransom. Rumors of a powerful stimulant that had powered the Brujah this far were proven as the previously uneven match suddenly became even.
Blows rained down from the sky, the two combatants moving as though they were the wind itself. The Jamaican and Ransom fought fiercely for what seemed like hours before finally, unbelievably, the Jamaican fell. Ransom's howl of triumph was heard through the night as he hoisted the belt.
The final event of the night was, perhaps, the most morbid -- the Black Lottery. The very nature of Anarchy implies change and risk. Thus, every Anarch present had their name thrown into a hat and one was withdrawn. The initial name referred to one of the Triplets, who had already left for the evening, with a prisoner in tow. Leaving before the Black Lottery is drawn is tantamount to murder among the Anarchs -- the Triplets were now marked for life as enemies by the Anarchs. A scream of protest arose, but nothing could be done. Except draw another name.
It was none other than the Prince of Sleepy Hollow. The howling mob descened upon the Prince, tearing him limb from limb, ripping him to shreads. A voice was heard rising amongst the crowd: "I've got the head!!!!!!! I've got --" That cry was silenced suddenly, and then two Kindred made the same claim. Much more quietly, however.
The Triplets had already left the city, returning to Rochester in posession of the Badass Motherfucker, a revealed amnesiac who was, in fact, the progeny of the Jamaican. The Jamaican was, in fact, the Salubri that the Tremere were after. The Triplets, now in posession of a Salubri, were able to use that to neutralize the Thaumaturgic wards that kept them out of a Tremere vault they had been trying to crack for hundreds of years. Although the Kindred collectively held their breath, nothing has been heard from them since the Tontine. While the Camarilla and Sabbat have now both exhaled, they are still keeping a very, very close eye on Rochester.
The Sabbat having been decimated by (of all things) the Anarchs, they hustle to reorganize. Their Archbishop slain and the Bishop of Atlanta (Solchare) found out, they installed a new Archbishop of New York and sat back and analyzed. While nobody knows the identity of the new Archbishop, everyone is aware that the Triplet servant Clarion has ascended within the organization. The Triplets' relationship to the Sabbat is questionable.
