57

Two nights later.

"The chaotic nights of Eden Corliss's stewardship are over," Vivian Maier proclaims to a small gathering of elders and notable information brokers. "Despite her failure to destroy the Anarchs violating our Traditions, our valiant Council was able to fight back against the scourge and eliminate them. There will be a return to order! I have mounted a full investigation…"

You wonder where Ward and Sevinc went after they got to the parking garage. Are they safe? Or is Vivian telling the truth and they were destroyed? Somehow you doubt that any of the Council were in good enough shape to go chasing down the Anarchs after the attack. Ward said that he still intended to find Arundel's hiding place and recover him, but in the meantime, it looks like you'll be dealing with steward Vivian Maier.

Peeling white paint blights the ceiling of the temporary council chamber. Despite the gravity of the events going on around you, your eyes keep wandering back to it. One chip is heavy and curled around its edges, as if it's been waiting years to take the final plunge before falling to white powder—preferably in the scalp of someone important. The ancient vampires gathered around you also cling tightly to their moorings, bracing against the inevitability of change. Eventually, one by one, they will chip away at each other—a parliament of knives that knows only entropy. All eventually fall. All things end. But while you were here—while you could still make a difference—did you not do everything within your power to be remembered?

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