#Yeah that's right. This guy is a named character. All those nameless disciples in the yi city arc and *this* guy gets a name.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Get Their Ass.

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[geek-patient-zero]

Part 1, Chapter 3 (pt. 2)

Or: Panic! at the (Former) Disco

Blood War: Masquerade of the Red Death Volume 1

McCann and the vamps do not do alright.

Fast Eddie Sanchez–remember him, the guy guarding the door to the members only area?–appears from the crowd, wielding a stiletto knife and quipping about entrance being invite only. He lunges forward to stab the Red Death in the chest.

And gets himself killed right away.

The stiletto melts before it can touch the Red Death. Red D. grabs him by the neck and, despite having scrawny corpse arms like the cover shows, lifts him up one handed. Eddie shrieks in pain. And ignites.

Gouts of flame burst from Eddie’s nose, eyes, ears, and mouth. Tongues of fire erupted from his chest. His fingers blasted into bits like fireworks. Legs and arms exploded like dry wood thrown into a blazing fireplace. His skin blackened and crinkled like burning paper. A blast of incredible heat roared through the chamber. And Fast Eddie Sanchez was gone.

The Red Death laughs “insanely,” which might be too cliche villainish if Weinberg’s going for a “force of nature” theme like his namesake from Poe’s story, as he pours Eddie’s ashes out of his hand.

“He was the first. But not the last. A fitting end to all those who defy the Sabbat. Or challenge the might of the Red Death.”

Alright then, I guess he’s a supervillain.

Understandably, the crowd of nameless vampires and ghouls lose their shit and panic. We’re reminded that fire destroys vampires.

...and though most had existed for hundreds of years, they clung to their unnatural existence with all the hunger of their mortal counterparts. More, for they knew beyond any doubt that they were the damned.

Like what’s going on isn’t already dramatic enough.

They run for the exit, but a mysterious force is keeping the door shut. That or Fast Eddie locked the door behind him when he came in to die. Either way, they’re stuck in the chamber with the Red Death, who’s strolling around killing anyone who gets close enough with fire hugs.

Methodically, it grabbed hold of any Kindred foolish enough to venture close. Clasped the vampire to its chest and turned it to ashes.

Dire McCann, Alexander Vargoss, and the twins, meanwhile, are presumably  still standing in front of their table, posing. Tyrus Bendeict is still seated, and panicking. He thinks the Red Death’s after him and the photos of Baba Yaga from Russia.

McCann shook his head. “Nonsense” he snapped at the wizard. But wondered if perhaps the Tremere sorcerer wasn’t correct.”

McCann’s instinct to be contrary is faster than his ability to think.

I’m starting to notice that Weinberg tends to write two sentences when one sentence with a comma would do. I think it’s supposed to make the narration look deliberate and dramatic, but instead it comes off as stilted and weird to read.

“Attend me,” snapped Alexander Vargoss to his Dark Angels. “He must be stopped.”

Features grim but determined, the Prince stepped forward directly into the path of the Red Death. Vargoss’ body pulsated with raw energy.

A fifth-generation vampire, he was over 2,000 years old and controlled incredible powers.

Jesus Christ, he’s a step away from a methusalah! What the hell’s he doing merely being the Prince of St. Louis? Is he just that bad at the Game?

Many of the important vampires in Blood War are going to be both really old and low generation. As the summary on the back cover states:

“This series reveals many of the underpinnings of the World of Darkness and spotlights the dreaded elder vampires known as Methuselahs.”

This is one instance where having a younger or higher generation vampire in the role might make more in-universe sense.

Raising his hands high over his head, clenching his fingers into fists...

...Vargoss extended his mighty will. “Halt,” he commanded in a voice that never before had been denied. “HALT!”

I guess if the Prince were higher generation, it wouldn’t be as impressive when the Red Death no-sells his Dominate attempts.

The Red Dead laughed in defiance. It continued to advance.

Bet he’s laughing at Vargoss’s Ginyu Force pose more than at his futile resistance.

“Halt,” repeated Vargoss, his voice uncertain. The first traces of doubt showed on his face. The Red Death was very close. It was too late, much too late, for the Prince to turn and run

Sit down, LaCroix Vargoss.

McCann opens fire on the Red Death, but once again the Ingram’s useless. Red D. isn’t even slowed.

Slowly, with great deliberation, the Red Death reached out for the Prince. To the detective, always suspicious of being manipulated, the monster seemed to hesitate for an instant, almost as if waiting for an interruption.

Whatever the Red Death is playing at, the ~*~Dark Angels~*~ step in before things get too awkward.

Moving with inhuman speed, Flavia and Fawn grabbed the prince by the shoulders, spun him around, and sent him flying.

Holy balls, I love this! The twins saved their boss by fucking hurling him away from the fire monster. In my head, I’m imagining them chucking Vargoss “off-screen”, him screaming in his David Warner voice all the way, followed by some cartoon crashing noises and a cat screech.

With Vargoss safe and probably unconscious, the twins turn their attentions to the Red Death.

...they could not resist the challenge the monster presented. Assamite assassins, they thrived on death and destruction. Two sets of matched blades, the finest in the world, slashed in wide arcs.

Yeah, attack the Red Death with blades. That worked so well for Fast Eddie.

To the twins’ credit, their blades don’t melt like Eddie’s stiletto when they try to slice off Red D.’s hands. But they don’t hurt him either. They just pass through.

McCann cursed aloud, astonished. In his entire existence he had never before seen the like. The specter appeared composed entirely of frozen flame. Which meant that nothing physical could harm it. The Red Death was invulnerable to normal weapons.

Like a ghost-type Pokemon. You gotta use special attacks on him.

Tentatively, McCann reached out telepathically with his mind.

...

I’m sorry, he what!? The big bastard’s telepathic too now!?

He hated revealing any hint of his true essence. But there was no other choice. He had to know the truth. What type of being was the Red Death? For a bare instant, thoughts crossed, as minds touched. Then McCann recoiled in shock.

Unable to attack the Red Death in any meaningful way without getting himself killed, McCann instead decides to use his suddenly revealed psychic powers to read his mind and remove some of his mystery just a few pages after his introduction.

With his mind probe, McCann learns that the Red Death is definitely Kindred, not something from a different game like a wraith or, god forbid, an actual mage.

It used a discipline McCann had never before encountered–Body of Fire. Transforming into this form took the combined efforts of several vampires, which meant the Red Death did not work alone. McCann caught a fleeting memory of a group calling themselves The Children of Dreadful Night. Then the thought was gone, swallowed by the creature’s obsession with destruction. In its present state, the Red Death was more elemental fire than vampire. It hungered to destroy life. It existed to kill.

The Red Death immediately detected McCann’s mind probe, closed off its thoughts, and sent back

...a mental stream of hellfire that would have burned the detective’s brain to cinders if he had remained in contact.

Psychically incinerating a dude’s brain if he tries any psychic shit on you. That’s actually an awesome power, if situational.

Let’s talk about this bit with the mind probe. We've just been introduced to this villain, this unstoppable force who came out of nowhere, who even ancient and powerful vampires like Vargoss are helpless against, and what little we learned about him we got from his actions and what he volunteered to tell us about himself. At this point in the story, the effectiveness of such a monster is enhanced by nobody knowing who he is or where he came from, or even his exact motives.

Obviously, we’ll learn more about the Red Death as the story goes on, until all will be revealed. I have no problem with that, and there’re still things we don’t know about old Red D. But thanks to McCann’s previously unhinted at telepathy he immediately confirms he’s a vampire, the name of this disciple everyone’s helpless against, how it’s powered, and the name of the group the Red Death was working with. In trying to show off McCann and further hint at his mysterious nature, Weinberg unintentionally undermined his villain early on. That stuff McCann just learned via mind probe could have been spread out in later chapters, and preferably they’d be uncovered by, you know, actual detective work, maybe with some supernatural help, instead of some sudden asspull power.

By the way, I looked it up on the White Wolf wiki, and there’s no result for a Discipline called Body of Fire, so it seems it was made up for this story. There’s a discipline called Godbody of Fire, but it’s a Kuei-jin power, not Kindred. It works completely differently, and Kindred of the East wasn’t released until ‘98, so don’t expect any plot twists in that direction. Besides, I don’t think the Red Death is Asian.

There’s also a Protean power called Body of the Sun, which transforms a Kindred into “blazing indestructible fire.” Thing is, it’s a tenth-tier power, the highest one. If a character has reached the tenth tier of a power, than they’re probably an Antediluvian or at least a really old Methuselah. Usually the only other tenth tier power of a discipline is an Antediluvian-only power called, I shit you not, Plot Device, which can best be described as “The power can do whatever the hell the storyteller wants.” Obviously it’s for storytelling purposes and not an actual in-universe power. (All that said, most of that I'd typed up before reading the next two books in the trilogy. We'll learn exactly what Body of Fire is in the next book, and why it's unlikely your vampire OC will ever learn it.)

One other thing. McCann doesn’t recognize the Red Death. But the Red Death recognizes him.

Anyway, that little psychic exchange? It took place in only a few seconds, and the twins are preparing their second attack, this time aiming for the eyes. McCann cries “No!” but they ignore him.

When they attack, the Red Death lashes out with his arms in sweeping motions, either trying to grab or clothesline them like the WWE superstar he is. Flavia, the one who hasn’t done anything separately from her sister so far, ducks out of the way. Fawn, the one who killed the fleeing assassin and made fucky eyes at McCann back in Chapter 1, however...

...was not so fortunate. Crimson fingers raked across her face.

The Dark Angel screamed, the first time McCann ever heard her make a sound. Then, an instant later, she exploded in a fireball of white flame. Involuntarily, McCann’s eyes snapped shut.

He hears a gurgling noise behind him and turns around, bumping into someone hurrying away. He opens his eyes and sees that Benedict’s still seated at the table.

Except his head’s been cut off.

And the Red Death didn’t do it, either. While everyone was distracted by the invincible fire vampire, someone went and chopped the poor Tremere’s head off. He instantly starts rotting away, because when a vampire dies their bodies decay to the point they should have if they had died instead of being embraced. The longer they live, the less there is left of them afterwards.

The Red Death has suddenly vanished as well. Post-battle, we’ve got a thoroughly emasculated Ventrue Prince and are down a doorman, a bodyguard, a wizard, and a few nameless cannon fodder vampires and ghouls. The Red Death lost nothing.

Vargoss, presumably covered in a bit of dust and with a banana peel on his shoulder, begins bringing order among the panicked vampires with help from “his overwhelming force of majesty,” which I’m assuming is the high-level Presence power of the same name. With the Red Death gone, the force keeping the exit shut vanishes too (so that wasn’t Eddie’s fault, may he rest in- oh right, damned), but Vargoss won’t let anyone leave until they calm the hell down. He doesn’t want anyone breaking the Masquerade by running past all those goth kids while screaming about fire vampires.

Meanwhile, Flavia, the surviving twin, is having a bad time.

Alone, on her knees in the center of the room, Flavia cried tears of black blood. Dark Angel and Red Death. McCann felt certain their duel was far from over.

Unless someone with a more impressive title comes along to challenge him.

The photos of Baba Yaga are gone, along with anything else Benedict brought with him, his assassin having pocketed them. McCann finds a lone clue, dropped by the assassin when he bumped into them a few moments ago: a green sequin. The kind from the dress Rachel Young, the supposed ghoul singer, was wearing.

Hurriedly, he scanned the crowd. Though no one had been permitted to depart, there was no sign of Rachel Young. The singer had disappeared. McCann was not surprised.

And that’s Chapter 3 done. We won’t see the aftermath of the Red Death’s attack right away. Next chapter we’re taking a break from McCann to focus on a new character in Washington D.C., which has apparently gone to all hell.

I mean that in a World of Darkness way, not the real life bad timeline way.