A setting supplement for the Amaranthine RPG

Writing: David A Hill Jr

Additional Writing: Renee Ritchie. “The Board of Trustees” in Part III.
Editing: Renee Ritchie
Layout: David A Hill Jr
Cover Art: Jenna Fowler
Interior Art: Alex McKechnie, Jenna Fowler, Juan Santapau, Kenneth Max Brooks, Laura Guzzo, Ruth
Lampi
Amaranthine is a Machine Age Production
http://www.machineageproductions.com/

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 introduction
Immortality means an attachment to the past. It may seem odd
then that Los Angeles, a young city even by American standards,
is such a hotbed of Amaranthine activity. However, attachment
to the past does not inherently mean attachment to the distant
past. A past in Los Angeles is a past worth retelling. Los Angeles
also serves as a sort of hub for immortals from various regions
and times. It’s the center of a historical network; Rings from
all over the globe and all over time have coalesced here to seek
fortune, fame, and power.
Inside, you’ll find a full treatment of Los Angeles as a city. This
includes a handful of sample Rings with which your players’
characters can backstab, love, suffer, or otherwise interact. Each
Ring has a flashpoint in history, where they were once promi-
nent. The players can use these flashpoints in time to help im-
provise Reflections and otherwise develop backgrounds with the
immortals in the City of Angels. Lastly, you’ll find the frame-
work and seeds for an Epic in Los Angeles.
theme: success and faiure
Los Angeles embodies the ‘Wild West’ mindset. It’s a hard-
edged place where the strong succeed, and the weak fall by the
wayside. Hierarchies are pronounced; you cannot meet someone
that doesn’t fit into someone’s scheme. Success is never subtle,
neither is failure. Some of the world’s most powerful people live
in Los Angeles, and so do some of the world’s most destitute.
mood: waiting for riots inspiration
It was nearly twenty years ago when the streets of Los Angeles
erupted into violence and devastation, but the spirit of distrust
and unrest still boils beneath the surface. The palm trees and film
studios don’t make up for the neglect and hatred that permeates
city life. The Void feeds on the rampant creation and destruction
within Los Angeles. Verges crack through reality in the places
where people speed by. The Void brings chaos, and the people of
Los Angeles know chaos intimately. LA wants to be relaxed. It
looks relaxed. But at any time, it can explode.
contents
The City of Angels – First, we detail some of the basics of Los
Angeles’s geography, neighborhoods, and points of interest.
The City of Sores – Here, we offer a major ruling Court for
LA, and a couple of minor Courts that vie for power over its
dominion.
The Rings of LA – Here are a handful of Rings, each containing
a short bit on a time and place in world history where the Ring
was of particular import.
This is Now – Lastly, we provide a skeleton for a story, where
the characters fight their way into the structure of Los Angeles’s
Courts.
2
realism be damned
Amaranthine is a game about reincarnated beings that
wield earth-shattering magics. Clearly, we’re not too
concerned with realism here. While Los Angeles is a
real place in the real world, we’re focusing more on the
things we find dramatically valuable, and we’ve twisted
and tweaked a few things here and there to make them
more engaging for your game. A Los Angeles native
will be able to point out inaccuracies in our treatment
of the city. Stick with our edits if you’d like, or go with
your personal knowledge. None of our dramatic em-
phasis is utterly necessary to use the rest of the material.
Story Hooks
Some sections of the text are set apart like so. These
are not presented as factual information about the
game setting. Instead, they’re seeds and hooks to in-
spire stories. They’re usually tied to a particular element
nearby; they act as a proof of concept, offering ways you
could use the element in practice. They don’t have game
mechanics tied to them, they’re just ideas meant to help
you improvise and develop your Los Angeles. Use them
if you’d like.
City of Sores draws from a number of inspirations; its stylized
portrayal of Los Angeles is predicated on a number of media
sources. Hit them up for inspiration for symbols, places, story
ideas, and language. Fortunately, Los Angeles has a breadth of
such inspirations; you should be able to find something in any
genre you wish. These are just some that played into City of
Sores specifically.
Movies and TV
Californication (TV, 2007): Writer Hank Moody makes far
more sense as a character if you give him a Dominion score. The
way he stumbles through life maintaining success while never
making the right choice and forever remaining the eye of the
storm is perfect allegory for immortal living. While none of our
suggestions are particularly kid-friendly, even we wouldn’t rec-
ommend watching with your children awake.
Jackie Brown (Film, 1997): Based on a great Elmore Leonard
book that’s curiously not set in LA, Pam Grier’s flight attendant
Jackie Brown has the attitude of an Amaranthine written all over
her.
Lords of Dogtown (Film, 2005): The Venice and Santa Monica
areas of the 1970s see great treatment in this bio-film. Lords of
Dogtown is a great story of average slackers becoming larger
than life icons.
Mulholland Drive (Film, 2001): David Lynch takes traditional
narrative, throws it against the wall, takes what isn’t broken, and
pastes it together with what is broken. It’s a story about excep-
tional people, fucked-up memory, inexplicable murders, dreams,
et cetera.
Romeo + Juliet (Film, 1996): Love or leave the film itself, it’s
full of superb imagery. The setting is fictitious “Verona Beach”
which might as well be Venice Beach. Doesn’t Shakespearean
tragedy take on a whole new light if you add reincarnation to
the mix?
Music
Drinking With Jesus (Album, 2009): Venice Beach-based The
Red Elvises have an entire catalogue of melting pot rockabilly
surf punk lounge rock that belts and croons to the excess of Los
Angeles. Drinking With Jesus is my particular favorite.
Free (Album, 1989): Concrete Blonde saw recognition as the
band played in every small-budget vampire flick in the early to
mid nineties. Free is witty, punchy, and doesn’t hold back. God
is a Bullet captures the hot-blooded danger of LA life perfectly.
the city of angels
Everyone in the world knows about Los Angeles. When many
people think of the United States of America, they think of Los
Angeles. It’s the third largest economic center in the world. Los
Angeles alone contains nearly four million people; the metropol-
itan area boasts over seventeen million, making it the thirteenth
most populated metropolitan area in the world. The city grosses
nearly one trillion US dollars per year. It’s one of the only cities
in the world with a census of over one hundred immortals. What
we’re trying to say is, Los Angeles is important. Let’s talk a little
bit about why.
We’ll keep the real-world data to a minimum, since the Inter-
net can provide you with everything you’d ever want and more
in that regard. Here are some tidbits to whet your appetite and
maybe inspire some stories to get you playing, and keep you away
from research.
historical primer
By almost any standard, Los Angeles is a young city. The Na-
tive American Tongva and Chumash tribes inhabited the land
now called Los Angeles for thousands of years prior to Western
settlement. To this day, Tongva burial grounds limit metropoli-
tan development in the region. In the sixteenth century, a group
of Spanish explorers claimed the region in the name of Spain,
but didn’t settle.
In 1771, Franciscans founded the Mission San Gabriel Arcan-
gel. It still stands in San Gabriel, a suburb northeast of LA. In
1781, a small group of Spanish settlers officially founded the
town with Felipe de Neve. as governor. They named the settle-
How Could Hell Be Any Worse (Album, 1981): Bad Religion’s
music is full of great LA references (Los Angeles is Burning, for
instance) but their first album exemplifies the raw energy and
life we’d expect from an LA immortal.
Straight Outta Compton (Album, 1988): Look past the con-
troversy. This album was a breakthrough in style and produc-
tion, and gave powerful messages with furious and diverse talent.
NWA paints a picture of life in California like almost nothing
else could.
Books
Farewell, My Lovely (1940): Aside from his usual places within
LA, Phillip Marlowe drives through the surrounding area where
whole suburbs can be owned by one man with enough money,
like Amaranthine emperors of minor Courts. Marlowe’s adven-
tures give a great feeling of place.
Make Love! The Bruce Campbell Way (Book, 2005): This hu-
morous semi-biographical novel by Bruce Campbell gives a ton
of insight into the gritty, silly, and otherwise unbelievable things
that happen in Hollywood. If you want to make your Hollywood
bounce with life, read this book.
ment El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del
Río de Porciúncula, or The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the
Angels of the Porciúncula River.
In 1821, the settlement became independent of Spanish rule.
It became a full part of Mexico and served as the capital of the
Alta California region. From 1846-1848, the Mexican-Ameri-
can War shook the farming town. With the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo in 1848, Mexico surrendered the California territory
to the United States, thus making Los Angeles an American
territory.
Railroads made their way to Los Angeles in 1876. Oil produc-
tion out of Los Angeles helped the city boom in wealth and
population. Both aviation and film centered in Los Angeles,
which protected it from the worst of the Great Depression. The
city grew rapidly, and expanded all about the region. Now, Los
Angeles is a global hub for entertainment and commerce
life in los angeles
In LA, you’re always within an hour of the ocean, barring traf-
fic. In LA, you’re always minutes away from an hour-long traffic
jam. The weather is amazing. If you live in LA and complain
about the weather, you are officially unable to be happy. The
temperature varies no more than ten degrees Celsius (thirty de-
grees Fahrenheit) all year round. It’s never too cold, it’s never too
hot. The sun is comfortable, never oppressive. Rain is occasional,
light, and refreshing. Winds are cool.
But then again, there’s all the fucking people.
3
 While you don’t see every one of the millions of people in LA
every day, you feel their presence. Everything is congested. Ev-
erything is crowded. If you want a bite to eat without a wait, you
have to plan ahead, go during lulls, and on weekdays. If you find
a nice hole-in-the-wall establishment, hoard it, and be prepared
for when it inevitably closes or becomes popular.
What to Do
If you cannot find something to do in LA, you should con-
sider looking. Unless your interest is “being somewhere other
than LA”, you can find your fix in LA. Are you interested in
movies? Go to a premier and see the stars. Are you a physical
person? The surf ’s outstanding. Amusement parks? Done. Mu-
seums? Done. Roller Derby? We’ve got it. Underground theater?
We have it handled. Magic shows? We have dozens every night.
Dinosaur bones? Our dinosaur bones are procured as locally as
our produce. Celebrity cemeteries? Nothing is too tacky for Los
Angeles. A tower made of seashells? We’ve got that.
The Magic Show
The marquees announce, “Hypatia, Sorceress Extraor-
dinaire!” She’s the biggest thing amongst people in the
know. Tickets to her performances are on a waiting list
over six months long. Reviews are scarce; her PR person
keeps it that way. Everybody talks about her shows, but
nobody talks about what happens at her shows. Asking
a former audience member elicits chuckles, blushes,
and quick subject changes. That is, except for the one
person every night who disappears after the grand fi-
nale. Police investigations have turned up inconclusive.
Weekly shows, fifty people missing in a year, and the
police don’t believe there’s a case?
What to Eat
Food in Los Angeles is as diverse as the population. LA offers
great and terrible examples of food from all over the world. If
you’re willing to pay for it, name your poison and you can find
it. Parts of the city carry trends, from ultra-chic dieting to food
that steals days off your lifespan after each bite. Go to Oki’s Dog
in West Hollywood and you can get two hot dogs with chili
and pastrami wrapped in a flour tortilla for less than a combo
at a fast food chain. If you survive it, you will have grown as a
person. You could go downtown to Bottega Louie for gourmet
pizza that’ll shock a New Yorker. On the far end, you could hit
up The Ivy, drop over a thousand dollars on dinner, and run into
Oscar recipients.
We Slay Your Hunger
Jimmy’s Famous Burgers has been a boardwalk
staple since your father was in diapers. His Mammoth
Burger proudly grants its buyer over two pounds of vari-
ous meat products at a reasonable price. Perhaps too
reasonable. All the other boardwalk vendors have raised
their prices due to new taxes and regulations passed
earlier in the year. Jimmy’s Mammoth Burger hasn’t
seen a price change since the last three Presidents have
been in office. It still costs less than a pound of cold
cuts in your local grocery store. Everyone knows Jimmy’s
Amaranthine, but what are the mysterious gurgles and
groans coming from the kitchen?
4
What to Think
California’s known for its activism. Los Angeles is no differ-
ent. This is partly due to the visibility of its celebrity population.
There’s also a strong religious contingent with both wealth and
influence. Political and social extremes clash hard in Los Ange-
les. You might not be able to tell neighboring country clubs apart
on the surface, but dig a bit and you’ll find fierce ideological
rivalries between the two. On the streets, everything has a mes-
sage. Outside of every grocery store, you’ll find someone push-
ing for ballot initiatives. Outside of every courthouse, you’ll find
groups protesting that someone isn’t afforded the rights they
deserve. Across the street, you’ll find another group that believes
that person should have fewer rights. In Los Angeles, it doesn’t
matter what you believe, but you have to believe in something.
The Butter Battle
Sasha Lansley and Monica DeVille each own a neigh-
boring gentleman’s club. They’re lovers. They’re rivals.
Anything that gets between the two of them burns
brightly before utter destruction. Each intends to use
their club as the center of a new Court. One club fan-
cies itself a true gentleman’s club, with class, limitation,
and finery. The other openly engages in every possible
excess. Each of the two immortals could be powerful
allies, but allying with one means an equally powerful
enemy. What happens when a character’s loved one
falls in between the two empires and falls victim to their
slash-and-burn warfare?
Travel
As expected, LA is a city full of travel options. Between trains,
boats, automobiles, planes, subway, and old-fashioned walk-
ing, you can find a way to your desired destination. In most of
LA, walking is a viable option. Many LA residents get by only
walking and occasionally taking mass transit. Six commercial
airports, including the massive LAX, comprise the Los Ange-
les Metropolitan Area’s airline system. From Los Angeles, you
can fly almost anywhere in the world. Long Beach Harbor, the
fifth busiest seaport in the world, connects Los Angeles with
the world for trade distribution and brings in around 37 percent
of US imports. LA acts as a hub for a complex combination of
highways and freeways, including the visually stunning Highway
1 that leads down the California coast. Road travel in the area is
notoriously bad; don’t use the roads without plenty of lead time
and an expectation that you will not be on time. All in all, travel
in LA is available, if not always good.
immortality
In LA, there are a handful of large immortal cliques. And why
not? Cliquishness defines Los Angeles in the human world; of
course that’ll translate to the unending. The biggest clique (and
there’s always overlap) is the regional Great Court, The Guild
Unwilting. If you ask an immortal the history of Los Angeles
amongst the Amaranthine, they’ll tell you the story of The Guild
Unwilting. But isn’t history always written by the ruling party?
The Guild maintains power over everything south of the San
Francisco Bay, well into Baja California, and east to the Nevada
border. While it isn’t the largest geographical Great Court, it’s
indisputably the largest by population in the United States, and
nearly the largest in the world. While they encompass large pop-
ulation centers such as Orange County and San Diego, these ar-
eas have their own lesser Courts and Los Angeles ignores them
unless something goes terribly wrong.
Within the immediate auspices of The Guild are two minor
Courts. Santa Monica and Venice (together called Dogtown
by the Amaranthine) maintain the Court of the Feast. While
it holds a strong relationship with the Guild leadership, they
disagree on focus. The Court of the Feast dedicates itself to
fighting back the Void, since, for some reason, the stretch of
beach is a hotbed for new Verges. Most of The Guild ignores the
coastal Verges, assuming the Void is a problem that’ll solve itself.
Amongst the Court of the Feast is a more fatalistic and urgent
disposition than in the laissez-faire Guildmembers.
The Red-Crowned Court is a sanctioned but mostly antagonis-
tic Court based out of CalTech University in Pasadena. They’ve
petitioned for independence from The Guild on a number of
occasions in their sixty-year history, with not so much as an al-
lowed debate. They espouse social freedom for Amaranthine,
and tend toward Palatine ideals. Their smug sense of superiority
often clashes with The Guild’s smug sense of superiority, and
causes everything short of outright war.
Lastly, there exists a Rogue Court of which public details are
few. Rumors have them worshipping the Void, preparing for all-
out insurrection, or just wanting to be left alone (the final rumor,
of course, is met with groans and rolled eyes amongst the dra-
ma-hungry LA courtiers). Because of its unsanctioned nature, its
membership rolls are tightly sealed. Its membership likely shares
membership in other Courts throughout the city.
Beneath the Court-level groups, Los Angeles boasts between
twenty and forty Rings. Often, Rings are recognized before in-
dividuals. Everyone knows the popular rings; even if they don’t
know the names of their popular members. Even The Guild’s
leadership is recognized not as an individual, but as a Ring.
Technically, The Saint holds final executive power, but her Ring,
The Board of Trustees, receives widespread deference first and
foremost.
neighborhoods
Los Angeles’s metropolitan area consists of hundreds of neigh-
borhoods and pocket communities. Instead of trying for thor-
oughness, we’ll give you a feel for a few areas ripe for storytelling.
For each, we’ll provide a brief description and a couple of points
of interest where you can ground events. Then, we’ll close out
with story hooks set in the location. The locations may or may
not exist in the real world. If not, they’re provided as a filtered
and focused example of the locale.
We recommend you feel out your neighborhoods before play.
It’s not utterly necessary, but it’ll help. Fire up Google Street
View. Take a virtual walk. Find some places that sound or look
interesting. Use a couple of screenshots to give your players ex-
amples. If something looks great, jot down a description. Stylize
it. Romanticize it. If it’s sexy, make it sexier; if it’s dirty, make it
dirtier. Look up local news reports, add an Amaranthine twist.
Anything you can bring to the table to make your setting breathe
is something your players will notice and appreciate. Just make
sure it’s actually hitting the table; background worldbuilding will
go unnoticed. Show, don’t tell. Let your characters live in the set-
ting; don’t let them watch it from afar.
Chinatown
Los Angeles’s Chinatown underwent two major phases which
shifted its geographical placement. Old Chinatown is now the
area of LA’s Union Station. Immigrants were displaced in order
to make room for its development shortly before World War
II. The site was home to a number of terrifying and controver-
sial events, the most well-know being the Chinese Massacre of
1871, where 500 white men descended upon Chinatown and
murdered between eighteen and eighty Chinese immigrants,
beating and robbing countless others.
The new Chinatown is a few blocks northwest of Union Sta-
tion. Hollywood set designers laid out the new Chinatown, to
give it a more stereotypical Asian “exotic” feel. Clearly, this de-
sign was intended to draw tourism, and it did so successfully.
It’s conveniently located north of downtown, within walking
distance. You can find all manner of cheap home décor, herbal
remedies, shark fins, and bootleg DVDs. Look hard enough, and
you can find the curio shops full of occult artifacts popularized
in the mass media. The food is diverse, from Italian to a great
Peking Duck.
Fifth Floor Gallery: This design-intensive gallery features lo-
cal artists of all persuasions. Their modern art bent feels highly
out of place along the heavily Asian Chun King Court. It’s just
one of many off-the-beaten-path galleries you would pass by if
you didn’t know what you were looking for. Amaranthine with
fingers on the pulse of the art community eat and sleep unknown
hotspots like this.
Empress Pavilion Restaurant: A popular dim sum spot acts as
a meeting ground for all strata of interaction. Gangs, creatives,
and businesspeople all sit down at the Empress’s welcoming ta-
bles. If you know what you’re looking for, you can make connec-
tions or find blackmail material. It’s nice enough to keep out the
worst elements, but out of the way enough to not draw attention.
Lucky Jade Market
The Lucky Jade Market’s entrance is in an alley, and
down enough stairs to deter all but the most aware
shopper, or a one-off wanderer lost amidst the street
bustle. Even when you enter, it looks closed. The door
chimes, but the dusty old shop has barely a light. You
see porcelain cats waving, and tiny jade dragons. You
smell oolong tea and old cardboard. You expect to see
an old man behind the counter, but you’re surprised to
see a young woman. She smiles sweetly, and you feel
a hint of sympathy. Between her lips, you see fangs.
The shop contains many wondrous things, things you’d
never believe, and all she wants in exchange is a brief
access to a warm vein.
Dogtown
Dogtown is a traditional nickname for Santa Monica. It’s
sometimes falsely attributed to Venice. For the sake of the Ama-
ranthine of Los Angeles, Dogtown means the stretch of both
Venice and Santa Monica; about two miles of shoreline, board-
5
 walk, tourism, and residential space. On the south end, you’ll
find Muscle Beach and some of the best burgers LA has to of-
fer. Head north through the tourist traps, and you’ll pass the
world-famous Santa Monica Pier amusement park, then you’ll
find trendy cafes and bars.
Hawkers of all varieties accost you as you make your way
down the boardwalk. At the southernmost end, you’ll be solic-
ited for bootlegged everything, “medical” marijuana, and cheap
jewelry. As you move on, the offerings evolve into sex services
and driftwood art. After you pass the parks into Santa Monica,
the offerings are almost exclusively knockoff designer clothing.
Somehow, this is considered classier. As the offerings become
less shady, the chance of pickpocketing increases. Venice is less a
tourist trap than Santa Monica, and a little lower-brow.
The Court of the Feast bases itself out of this area. Their meet-
ings are held monthly at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.
Their stated mission is to hold off the terrible things that come
from the Void just off the coastline. You can find more of them
in the following section. Most of the short fiction pieces in Am-
aranthine take place in the Dogtown region.
The Pacific Coast Verge: Everyone knows of the Pacific Coast
Verge. Nobody knows exactly where it is. Amaranthine that have
explored the waters a half mile out tend to disappear or return
with no answers. The thing they don’t know, however, is that
there’s no single Verge. Under the sea, many great Verges cluster
in the deep. Because of this massive cluster, new, tiny Verges ap-
pear in the region with great frequency. Dogtown is closest to
the Verge, so it sees the most new portals. Some of the creatures
a battery of tests run east of LA by a group of biologists
and Void-Touched in the area have been heard using the words
trying to harness genetic mutations for power and profit.
“utpahli utpahli”. They have yet to be translated. While it’s a ta-
The failed experiments are released wholesale to the
boo point, Eclipse Walkers study the area intently.
freakshow.
The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium: This building houses
concerts, business meetings, trade conferences, and all other Financial District
manner of subculture. It’s also the primary meeting place for The Financial District stands out from a distance; it’s plastered
the Court of the Feast. Monthly, they have their board meetings with skyscrapers and concert halls covering Bunker Hill and a
here, billed as a “neighborhood watch” group. That’s not an inac- few blocks south of it. Billions of dollars pass through this dis-
curate description. Regardless, the meeting place is well-known, trict daily. All the shops are overpriced, but you can get amaz-
and thus a perfect target for enemies. The powerful Amaranthine ingly affordable and tasty food from street carts. Try the tamales,
of Dogtown have secured the place heavily; it may very well be they’re superb. But don’t go to Javier’s. Javier’s are just freeze-
the safest place in Los Angeles. dried and deep-fried. Try Elias’s cart.
The innermost buildings are massive office complexes, subcon-
The Santa Monica Pier: The Pier is an iconic image, seen in tracting to any number of businesses. As you move out from
numerous films and television shows. It contains restaurants, the hub, older office buildings have been modified and adapted
shops, and the massive Pacific Park amusement park, giving its to residential buildings. These range in quality and prices; the
Ferris Wheel and roller coaster. The pier is always populated, city of Los Angeles’s policies have forced in low income hous-
and in the summer, it’s packed shoulder to shoulder. This makes ing amidst the Financial District buildings. The bottom floors
it a great place for clandestine meetings. Anonymity works best are more visually-palatable shop fronts, the same chain boutique
amidst a crowd of loud, excited people. shop fronts you’ll see in any major city.
The Freak Show Los Angeles Music Center: The Los Angeles Music Center
is a break from the monotony of skyscraper after skyscraper in
Venice’s freak show is a long-standing staple of the
the Financial District area. It’s enormous, consisting of four
boardwalk. For a few dollars, you get to see mutated an-
major buildings that serve to bring music to the people of LA.
imals, people with deformities, sword swallowers, and
From opera, to theater, to symphonic performances, the center
things in jars that you don’t even want to identify. As
is always active. Aside from the larger-scale performances in the
you pass by, a carnival barker tempts you with strange
main four wings, you can visit the Roy and Edna Disney CalArts
stories and a two-headed turtle. One might assume all
Theater for offbeat, experimental material and a good drink. Ev-
these deformed animals resulted from the nearby Verg-
eryone who is anyone will find something of interest at the LA
es. The truth is stranger. The animals are surplus from
Music Center.
6
 Bunker Hill Towers: Many of the towers in the Bunker Hill
area include high-end residential living. If your character has a
few million to burn, these condos offer the kind of view that
makes for the perfect third act of an action/drama feature. Be-
sides, most Sorceries depend on range of perception. Who would
consider attacking the sorcerer that can see most of Los Angeles
from their bedroom?
The McHale Suicides
Once per day, every day, somebody sees a suicide
from one of the prominent towers of the Financial Dis-
trict. She leaps from a high window and crashes to the
ground before the witness. It’s always the same suicide.
Nobody else sees it. There’s never any evidence it hap-
pened. Inevitably, this has drawn the attention of the
particularly curious. Ghost hunters spend hours on the
fated block, cameras ready. Nobody looking for her has
ever seen her. It’s caused more than a few fender bend-
ers as drivers witnessed the death. Who is she? What’s
causing her to repeat her death?
Hollywood
The Entertainment Capital of the World isn’t even a city; it’s
a northwest district of Los Angeles. The people of Hollywood
have attempted secession from Los Angeles a number of times.
Each time their requests were voted down, likely for economic
reasons. The district grew out of a plot of ranch land that was
eventually overtaken by movie studios in the early part of the
twentieth century.
By 1920, Hollywood became the cultural image we’re all fa-
miliar with. Bright red streetcars took most everyone in and
out of the district. Vast expanses of land were decorated as film
backlots. Originally, this was where the celebrities lived. As Hol-
lywood became less and less glamorous, the talent moved out of
the district and into the nearby, more affluent and secluded areas.
Now, most of the backlots and sets have been torn down to
make way for housing and shopping. Movie editing and pro-
duction still occurs within Hollywood, but principal filming is
relegated elsewhere, often to the suburbs or even other states.
An Amaranthine that lived in classical Hollywood wouldn’t rec-
ognize the modern incarnation. Some landmarks, such as Grau-
man’s Chinese Theater, still stand in some capacity. Even the his-
toric Hollywood Hotel has been destroyed to make way for the
new Kodak Theater.
In the past couple of decades, gentrification efforts worked to
bring trendy bars and clubs to Hollywood Boulevard. Prior, it
was considered one of the seedier areas in Los Angeles, full of
drug pushers and prostitution. Today, it’s reclaiming some of its
legacy for lavish nightlife.
Rancho del Oro: The Golden Ranch was once a backlot used
to film Westerns and period pieces. Once abandoned, the city
closed it off. Since, Amaranthine of The Guild Unwilting have
renovated some of the sets and added meeting places and sleep-
ing arrangements to hold parties. Many of the city’s immor-
tals pride themselves in their “homes away from home” where
they’ve emulated their favorite past lives in the decoration of
these set pieces.
The Bottom: The Bottom is an underground comedy club, spe-
cializing in subversive, eccentric improvisational sketches. Every
year, a few new members join the club’s ranks and receive men-
torship from the current members. Its founders are mostly now
B-list celebrities that have pull on the blogosphere, but a few
breakout successes have come from the crew. For the past forty
years, The Bottom has been the premier hangout for Los Ange-
les Muses, who find the dirty sparks of these gritty comics to be
the height of innovation.
The Neverending Story
Hollywood is a city of stories. Every person growing
up in America, and most kids the world over, know sto-
ries that come from Hollywoodland. Fairies are the stuff
of stories, and thus thrive in Hollywood. Two particular
sprites take the form of talent scouts that force would-
be actors and actresses into “method acting” auditions
where they act out the great tragedies of Hollywood
past. When you see two lovers, crying, crooning in flap-
per-era dress on the corner of Hollywood and Vine, you
have a Reflection. You remember these two. Are they
emulating the past talent? Or have they become those
dead actors?
The Platinum Triangle
The Platinum Triangle is a conglomerate of three neighbor-
hoods: Bel Air, Holmby Hills, and Beverly Hills. Holmby Hills
has the highest mean income in the United States, and all three
corners are immensely affluent. Popularized in television and
film, these neighborhoods are locked down like a prison, seques-
tered from the rest of the less-wealthy world. Trying to make
a list of influential people living in this area would take more
space than the rest of this chapter. Beverly Hills is the only fully
recognized city of the three.
If you drive through too slowly in a car that costs less than the
American median income, police and private security will follow
you and look for any minor infractions. If you’re wanted in the
Platinum Triangle neighborhoods, you know you’re wanted. If
you’re not wanted, you know it. Films such as Get Shorty and
Beverly Hills Cop, and television shows such as Beverly Hills
90210 and Entourage give accurate if often caricatured portray-
als of this area. Episodes of MTV Cribs often show area homes.
But keep in mind, these shows typically show the homes and
hangouts of entertainers. These are not the wealthiest or most
extravagant area residents. Their homes are just the tip of the
iceberg.
Rodeo Drive: Rodeo Drive is the common name for a small
strip of fashion boutiques. While most are along a few blocks of
Rodeo Drive, the shopping district also stretches a block or two
either way across. Many famous fashion designers base their dis-
tribution on the sales of Rodeo anchor boutiques. The window
fare of Rodeo Drive quickly becomes fashion standard world-
wide within weeks. Immortals of class and culture soak up the
ambience; Palatine in particular find Rodeo a terse reminder of
the quality of humankind over which they rule.
7
 UCLA Hannah Carter Japanese Garden: This authentic Japa-
nese garden celebrates Asian culture in the United States. The
garden was crafted in Kyoto then disassembled and reassembled
on-location. Similar gardens in Japan were closed to the public
until recently. Every inch of the design was meticulously consid-
ered for geomantic and symbolic purposes. Many Amaranthine
have led lives in Japan and thus maintain a strong sympathy for
what it represents, and many simply appreciate its serene beauty.
Needful Things
The shops of Beverly Hills represent everything poorer
cultures envy or hate about the Americas. This particu-
lar shop, The Bridges, takes that extreme to a whole new
level. It has all the same junk, clothing, décor, and other
overpriced decadence of the rest of the area. However,
its products are a true addiction. Some of its patrons
spend themselves into poverty; some go a step further
and find more money at any expense. Sometimes, a
family in Beverly Hills dies. The police look for a motive,
but cannot find one. It’s simple: Someone needed some-
thing. Something costs money. The family had money.
What causes this rare affliction? Is it commercialism? Is
it the Void? Is it a djinn? You could find out. But you can’t
just hang around the store. If you want to chat, that’s
fine, but you have to buy something. This isn’t a charity.
South Central
South Central is a broad area of Los Angeles, encompassing
numerous smaller neighborhoods including Crenshaw, Hyde
Park, and Watts. It’s cut down the center by the Harbor Freeway.
Compton is possibly the most well-known city in the South
Central Los Angeles area. It’s been brought into the public eye
through hip-hop and its involvement in the LA Riots. While
crime rates have declined significantly in the past years, the
statistics are still much worse than most of America. The city’s
median income has always been low, and plummeted during re-
cessions. It’s often overlooked for urban renewal projects; Los
Angeles is notorious for passing it over for improvements. This
leaves much of the city desolate and dangerous.
Compton’s a wellspring of talent. Actors, musicians, and ath-
letes come from the city in great numbers considering the size of
the population. Why is this? Some have attributed the destruc-
tion and talent to a vast Verge somewhere in the city. Most take
a more practical stance. From the slums of Compton, it’s easy
to see the glitter of Hollywood. Pain motivates. Pain teaches.
And the pain in Compton is great. Hard lessons teach valuable
skills. Those with the will to rise above come up with outstand-
ing ability. The nineties saw a revolution in Compton, a whole
movement motivated by the squalid environs, racial tensions,
and inequity.
South Los Angeles Food Pantry: As recession continues with
no end in sight, the South Los Angeles Food Pantry’s resourc-
es are stretched thin. It’s a prime location to see the absolute
best and worst in people. Most importantly, the people around
this pantry are clever. Everybody knows something important,
whether or not they understand how important it is. The home-
less are all but invisible; they’re witness to some of the most fas-
cinating and terrifying things humanity has to offer. It’s become
a point of reference for local Intemerate, since the homeless no-
tice more weird things than anyone.
8
Upstairs Room Records: Upstairs Room Records is an under-
ground hip-hop and gospel record label. They’ve been making
waves with the parties they host. The parties involve free food,
free booze, but tolerate exactly zero disrespect. Everyone is an
equal within the doors of the Upstairs Room, they say. They don’t
hesitate to remove offenders. As they’ve hosted more parties,
they get more and more attendants. Soon, they’re going to have
to get a bigger location.
The South Central Verge
Truth told, a massive Verge does exist in Compton. What
influence it has had on the people is impossible to discern.
The Verge is fourth or fifth rank, growing gradually to po-
tentially cataclysmic proportions. Few know where the
Verge rests; it’s rumored that one Void-Touched Amaran-
thine defends the Verge because of its peculiar property.
This Verge allows direct access to the Void, and upon reach-
ing through and touching the Void, one is changed forever.
It will make you a new person entirely.
Westwood (UCLA)
Westwood is a west side neighborhood between downtown
and Santa Monica, namely the site of University of California,
Los Angeles. It’s also the site of numerous movie premiers. Just
south of Bel Air, Westwood is often seen as one of the safest
neighborhoods in the greater Los Angeles area. The neighbor-
hood is generally affluent, with a high Asian population. It
also contains the second largest temple of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints in the world.
UCLA: University of California, Los Angeles is generally
regarded as one of the strongest academic universities in the
world, with immensely selective admissions requirements. With
a student body of nearly forty thousand enrollees, it contributes
a significant and important population to the Westwood area.
Most of Westwood exists to cater to student life in one way or
another. It’s unparalleled in its fundraising power, and keeps
roll of numerous wealthy donors, both independent and alumni.
Their school of medicine is renowned worldwide, drawing
wealthy people from all over the globe for treatment. Recently,
UCLA drew much attention because of a liver transplant they
performed on a high-ranking member of the Japanese Yakuza.
UCLA also boasts prominent sports teams. The school has
provided many athletes to the Olympics and they’ve won a
great number of championships. UCLA athletic scholarships
are greatly prized amongst working-class children of southern
California.
UCLA Library: While UCLA provides many resources and
activities to its students on a greater scale than their library, the
library is one of the largest collegiate libraries in the country.
The library is a full network of dozens of access points, in-
cluding research libraries, reading rooms, archives, and public
libraries. Patrons may access government publications and
shift materials between locations. Because of the complex-
ity of the system, it serves as an excellent place to archive and
hide various occult texts. A knowledgeable researcher can find
just enough to get themselves in trouble at the UCLA library
system, and a number of such researchers have done just that.
Local Raconteurs toil through the library system, digitally ar-
chiving its most esoteric works in order to study Amaranthine
history and the nature of the Void.
Let There Be Light
One book finds itself back in the archives time after
time. It doesn’t have a catalogue card. You can’t find it
through traditional searches. It doesn’t have a title on
the spine or cover. It’s just a book; a novel about the se-
duction of a young woman. However, whoever finds and
reads the novel cannot put it down until they reach the
last chapter. At which time they do, pure sunlight bursts
forth from their every orifice. Blinded and dehydrated,
they die quickly. Coroners say the victims are simply ca-
sualties of the California sun. Real scrutiny sees right
through those assessments.
the city of sores
The story of the Amaranthine in Los Angeles is truly the story
of The Guild Unwilting, and its leader, The Saint. While im-
mortals existed within the city prior to The Guild, The Guild
changed everything on a fundamental level. Before The Guild, it
was everyone for themselves. Immortality was stuck in the Wild
West mindset long after the mortal populace had developed past
it. Duels to the death were not only common; in fact, they were
expected. Bridges were burnt as a popular first resort. Salting the
Earth was a basic expectation. If you couldn’t settle your differ-
ences peacefully, the city watched as you settled them violently.
For a time, many of the newly awakened Amaranthine came
from Native American stock (likely due to the massive deaths
brought in the nineteenth century). Considering the lawless na-
ture of the local immortal culture, many First Reflections in-
volved violent deaths, and thus brought further deaths. Nihilistic
temperaments were all but fashionable. In one popular case, a
shootout on a busy street made news not as a murder scene, but
a brilliantly staged movie shoot. Despite four deaths (three un-
related to the shooter and intended victim), the truth never saw
public release.
The Saint Cometh
The joke goes, “We call her The Saint, because she doesn’t like
it when we call her The Murderess, The Conquistador, or The
Heinous Bitch.” On September 1, 1927, a stranger in flapper
dress marched into a Burbank speakeasy called the Mayflower.
She Reflected with none of the numerous Amaranthine present.
The place was already on the verge of a bar fight; her entrance
did not help the tenor. The bartender, an Intemerate, demanded
she leave. The woman pulled a six-shooter and executed the man
before his guests, then put another bullet in the head for poster-
ity. A brutal gunfight, seven mortal lives, and four Amaranthine
lives later, she declared primacy over the city of Los Angeles.
Over the years, she’d make many such declarations. Each time,
the declaration would be made over the body of a detractor.
She swore she’d bring a more civilized time to Los Angeles. On
the lips of locals, she’d shifted the description of her massacre
to “The Great Duel of 1927.” It was no duel. However, anyone
familiar with the story and her stance toward dissenters should
be afraid to argue the semantics.
Other Neighborhoods
Here are a few other locations you might consider looking
into for your games: Echo Park, Griffith Park, Hollywood Hills,
Lincoln Heights, Melrose Hill, The Miracle Mile, North Hol-
lywood, San Pedro, Santa Monica Mountains, Skid Row, Toy
District, Van Nuys, and Ventura Business District. Full cities
in the area include Burbank, Glendale, Long Beach, Lynwood,
Pasadena, Pomona, and Santa Clarita.
Los Angeles is packed full of great locations, no matter what
kinds of stories you wish to tell. There’s a wealth of information
on the city, so dive in and your patience will be rewarded.
She did usher in a new culture for the forever dying. The im-
mortals under her reign soaked up the glamour and power of
Hollywood as it grew in prominence. She and her associates es-
tablished a stranglehold on the aviation industry, and put their
hands into manufacturing and farming interests.
1935: The Guild
After nearly a decade of strict rule, The Saint formed a formal
set of rules at the request of some of her more influential al-
lies. They told her that the less desirable of the city’s immortals
might rise up without determined guidelines. Being the benevo-
lent soul she was, she codified The Guild Unwilting, primarily
to codify and validate her own power. Her public reason was
simple: Only with rules can a people have culture.
Thanks to a connection in the recently reinvented Grandest
Court, she was able to pass a Charter without revisions and with
very little wait. By the end of the year, The Guild went live. As
predicted, the Charter saw fanatical support through the re-
mainder of The Saint’s lifetime.
The Saint formed “committees” of her most fervent support-
ers, each committee managing one particular field of influence.
The Civility Committee dispatched threats to The Guild’s au-
thority. The Public Relations Committee policed Guild meeting
fashion and decorum. Her Modesty Committee managed the
society’s external affairs, guaranteeing that mortal political inter-
ests would not hinder immortal behavior. The Committees were
initially met with a quiet dissent, but as The Saint added more
and more of the population to these offices, the dissent quieted
to near silence. She held a philosophy that if everyone had a job,
nobody would have the time to complain.
She took the role of President, both as a parallel to the United
States government and as a play on the Screen Actors Guild
structure. Some call her Guildmistress. She approves of either
title.
1953: Death of a Saint
Nobody knows how The Saint died the first time. Her body
turned up, ripped asunder and barely recognizable. If it was by an
Amaranthine, it was particularly brutal. She looked as if she’d fell
9
 victim to a pack of wolves. For almost a decade after her death,
the city went on with its business, the Committees continued
to flourish and maintain the peace. Then, there was The Breach.
In the late sixties, a Ring of potent sorcerers collectively tore
a number of holes through the Eclipse, most of which near the
coast. Since they were on the periphery of The Guild, they went
unnoticed until the problem had escalated to a threatening level.
Verges combined with one another, forming a network of tears
so complex that it could not be shut down permanently. The tears
grew and multiplied, and the fabric of reality was forever altered.
The Guild came together to hunt down and eradicate the sor-
cerers. However, the damage was done. Venice Beach and Santa
Monica were changed thoroughly, and they would continue to
generate new Verges for the foreseeable future. This was particu-
larly problematic because of their heavy tourism. All manner of
monsters came in, as if the beach were a magnet for strange-
ness. Every single mortal in the area risked death or infestation
from the Void. No matter how many times the Amaranthine
attempted to close the beaches, the local and state governments
fought back and won. Dogtown became an eternal battleground.
In The Saint’s absence, the Committees formed the de facto
government in order to maintain order and prevent further ca-
tastrophe. For a few years, they ruled uncontested. During this
time, Rings consolidated out of the former Committees. The
Defense Committee, a group dedicated to otherworldly threats,
rebranded themselves as the Dogtown Crew. They worked to se-
cure the Dogtown Verges. While they were not flawless in their
efforts, they’ve saved many lives over the years. Arguably, they’ve
saved the world.
This drew The Saint’s ire. Hearing voices against her sovereign-
1972: The Coup ty was unacceptable. She hunted down the Ring and slaughtered
Death could not keep The Saint away from Los Angeles. Her three of their four members, leaving only one to tell the story.
new body wasn’t quite twenty years old when she stormed back “You wish to tell my story to the public,” she told the blood-
into The Guild as if she’d never left. However, the Committees stained survivor, “Go. Tell my story.” The survivor told the story,
were unwilling to relinquish control so easily. They stood their but not during that lifetime. She called down a miracle, and un-
ground and insisted she take a figurehead role. Her refusal came leashed an earthquake to swallow the ranch home site of the
in the form of a skull from each Committee’s leader, brought to murder. Both she and The Saint died quickly, and the city re-
the next monthly gala. She quickly assumed her previous posi- mained unaware of why.
tion. Their coup was not an effective one, but it was a firm mes- Almost immediately after her absence, the city underwent three
sage that she took to heart. major political shifts. First, the heads of the Committees formed
Her control was no less thorough, but dissent was somewhat the Board of Trustees. The Board stood as a ruling Ring in The
more common. Her Committees often relaxed in their duties, Saint’s absence. The Dogtown Crew appealed to the Board to
sweeping concerns under the proverbial rug. Her former syco- forge Dogtown as its own Court, semi-autonomous and able
phants had years to decide that they weren’t comfortable killing to best police the Verges. The Board agreed, and the Court of
their compatriots on her word. Many sentences to extended cus- the Feast came of it. Soon thereafter, a group of CalTech stu-
tody or death were commuted secretly as exiles instead. dents pulled in favors with The Board in order to attain their
own Court. The Board debated, but ruled in their favor not only
1986: The Second Death because of the favors pulled, but in order to decentralize power
The Saint returned as the mortal populace was ending the Viet- before The Saint’s inevitable return.
nam War. Trust in government was a rare commodity, and war-
like behavior was not welcomed. She didn’t have human rights 2009: The New Order
to stop her from maintaining control by any means necessary, In 2009, she returned. She was not welcomed with open arms.
though. Her reign was an unpopular one this time around, but Indeed, this time, the city of Los Angeles stood strong, and in-
one would never know from listening to public commentary. Pri- sisted she would not take charge again. They proclaimed that no
vately, independent newsletters and magazines passed through amount of murder would result in her conquest, and that any
immortal hands. The most popular of these, Sarasvati Now, be- acts of aggression would be met with her Unmaking. She po-
came a semi-public Ring tasked with bringing accountability to litely accepted the terms of their new coup, and told them gently
the Court through public opinion. At the height of their influ- that they would regret their choice. They allowed her member-
10 ence, they even ran a pirate radio station. ship into The Guild, but not in a leadership position.
 That was until the Dogtown Verge evolved. Numerous smaller
Verges combined, and the resulting portal was of sufficient size
to pose an existential threat to the world at large. The Zubjar-
Atrih was that threat. Living humans failed to see the giant
squid, moving inch by inch across the ocean toward the coast.
It devoured entire ocean liners, but human media wrote it off
as disappearance in the vein of the Bermuda Triangle. Zubjar-
Atrih took three whole days to reach the shore. Many of the
Amaranthine launched attacks and curses. Many attempted mir-
acles. Many died. Some have not since reincarnated. The Guild
nearly gave up. Then, The Saint offered to intervene.
She called an emergency meeting of the Board of Trustees. She
said she had the answer, and would only stop the beast if they
reinstated her command, but she would respect their stations as
advisors and administrators. The Board debated, but their con-
stituency insisted they accept. After all, if she was lying, they’d
all be dead anyway. And if she wasn’t, they’d die without her help.
Grudgingly, they agreed.
As she’d marched on immortal opponents in the past, she met
Zubjar-Atrih on the field of battle. She launched diversionary
fires and made bomb threats to close the beach. Then, she met
the creature as it approached the piers. Nobody knows how the
fight went down. Those sensitive to magical energies felt the fab-
ric of reality bend and nearly snap. Rumors had her making a
deal with the creature, or even that the creature won and took
her form. No matter what happened, The Saint returned to her
city, and returned a ruler once more.
2011: Tonight
Two years have passed since the threat of Zubjar-Atrih. The
Saint has only executed one Amaranthine, and that execution
was only after fair trial for a clearly heinous act. Her Board’s
representatives field most concerns by the rest of the city. Most
citizens have a particular representative they prefer to address.
The Saint’s role is little more than a figurehead position, a local
hero of sorts. She shows up to all the monthly parties. She men-
aces those walking the line. She could take more authority in all
likelihood, but she doesn’t appear to want it. She’s comfortable
with a strong foundation of fear and respect.
the guild unwilting
The Guild’s genesis was in 1935 when The Saint forged its
Charter. The Saint sought and received approval from The
Grandest Court to forge The Guild as a Great Court. Its Charter
has evolved from its original form, adding authority to the Board
of Trustees where there was none before. However, aside from
those minor addenda, the Charter is similar to its initial form.
Amaranthine of Los Angeles are typically called Members or
Citizens. Citizen is not the official term, and is used informal-
ly. Once, it was a punishable infraction to use any term aside
from Member when at an official Guild function. Ironically, The
Guild was meant as a parallel to the Screen Actors Guild, of
which The Saint was supposedly once a member. The point of
the Screen Actors Guild was to protect the rights of its perform-
ers and maintain amiable working conditions. The Saint forged
The Guild Unwilting in order to solidify her authority as the
single-handed ruler of Los Angeles’s Amaranthine.
While not a democratic council, the Board of Trustees act
as de facto representatives for the people. They influence The
Saint’s executive power and pass judgments of their own, gener-
ally without her intervention. Each representative has different
processes and methodologies for their political leanings, ranging
from altruistic assistance, insular aid to friends, to selfishly cur-
rying favors.
Over the years, The Guild has become significantly less strict.
Originally, there were esoteric rules for decorum that changed
from week to week. Now, anything short of direct insults to the
Board or the President is simply ignored. However, at official
Guild functions, members are expected to at least dress nicely,
if not formally.
The most controversial of The Guild’s decisions seems to be
their lackluster stance on the Dogtown Verges. They rarely ad-
dress the issue, instead delegating The Court of the Feast to
handle the problems alone. While the Court of the Feast was
formed for just such things, sometimes their resources are not
enough.
Customs
The Guild Unwilting maintains a handful of traditions and
customs exclusive to the Amaranthine of Los Angeles.
Induction: To join The Guild, a prospective member must sub-
mit a request, in writing, with the express recommendation of
three members in good standing. Often, this is now a formality.
A prospect can ask three attendants at a gathering to sign for
them, and there have only been a few cases where three sig-
natures could not be procured. In times past, failed recruits re-
flected poorly on the sources of their initial recommendations.
The written request must be presented at a monthly meeting.
Monthly Meetings: Every month, The Guild holds a meet-
ing. The Rancho del Oro backlot is the most common location
for these meetings, but The Guild holds formal events in luxury
hotels and resorts from time to time. Meetings always include
some form of entertainment provided by members or prospec-
tive members. After initial entertainment, a designated Secretary
reads the minutes from the prior meeting. Then, the President
(or the Board in her absence) holds a public office hour, col-
loquially called “court.” During this time, members may bring
grievances to resolve or petitions for action. Prospective mem-
bers may use this time to bid for membership.
Guild Strikes: Guild Strikes are a formal right of the member-
ship. If they feel mistreated, they reserve the right to withhold
service to the President while negotiations occur. Calling this
a custom is a bit misleading, however, as every single strike but
the most recent has led to the President’s slaughter of members
involved. The most recent was only effective thanks to a citywide
organizational effort after the President’s death. One could say
that the President’s violent reprisals against striking members
have become something of a custom. To this day, when griev-
ances with Court policy escalate past a certain point, The Saint
jokingly tells the complainant that “you could always initiate a
strike.” That failed threat alone has diffused a great number of
city disagreements.
11

Organization
The formal organization of The Guilt Unwilting consists of
three levels: The President, The Board of Trustees, and then the
Committees.
The President: The Guild recognizes The President as the ut-
most executive authority in all matters. However, this formality
is rarely tested in the modern day. The Saint often takes a back-
ground role, allowing The Board of Trustees to handle the day-
to-day affairs of the Court. She sometimes takes a peculiar inter-
est in personal grievances, but is often detached and dismissive.
She could veto any act of The Board, but only rarely even pays
attention anymore, let alone in a contradictory fashion. Often
her presence alone is enough to inspire compliance. She retains
the sole authority to Unmake Amaranthine, citizens or no.
The Board of Trustees: Beneath The President, The Board of
Trustees hold authority. When she’s unable to render decisions
due to death, misplacement, business, or just absence, The Board
retains full authority short of Unmaking. Unlike The President,
however, The Board requires a three-fifths majority to pass any
lasting resolutions. However, The Board often agrees internal-
ly, if only because of a worry that disagreement will draw The
Saint’s attention, and thus risk their authority. The Board pre-
sides generically, but members of the city often refer to “their
representatives.” Any Amaranthine with a recognized name has
established at least a working relationship with one or more rep-
resentatives. Internally, The Board has established spheres of in-
fluence, to prevent one another from stepping on proverbial toes.
Committees: Most of the city’s dirty work and hard labor
comes from Committees. Both The President and The Board
are empowered to create Committees. At the time of a Com-
mittee’s inception, its jurisdiction must be clearly defined, or
at least that’s the way the rule is supposed to work. Often, pet
Committees receive far more leeway in jurisdiction than others.
Most Committee jurisdictions are defined vaguely enough to al-
low or damn them, depending on the whims of Court authority.
Popular Rings are often given Committee assignments as rec-
ognition for services rendered. Every Committee has one point
of contact; a leader. The leader is ultimately accountable for its
members’ behavior, to the point where often punishments often
affect leaders, instead of offenders.
The Charter Unwilting
With the exception of the Board of Trustees addition, The
Charter Unwilting has remained largely unchanged from its
original incarnation. The Charter itself has never been held as
gospel; The Saint is of a mind that the document only exists to
abate concerns. She’s partly right. She has stomped over its af-
forded rights with some frequency, and relies more on personal
judgment than legalese in her decision-making.
You can find the modern version of The Charter Unwilting on
the following page.
A Hole in the Board
At the monthly meeting, a messenger announces that
one of the Board of Trustees has been killed. The pos-
sibilities and justice aside, the seat needs filling. Do the
characters investigate the murder in order to garner fa-
12
vor amongst the Court, or do they pull favor and attempt
to fill the role before their rivals might?
The Play’s the Thing
The Saint approaches one of the characters for a high-
profile task: she wishes the character to write, cast, and
direct a play based on her life and accomplishments.
The character could benefit by kissing up to The Presi-
dent, or they could benefit by publicly shaming her. Ei-
ther path brings benefits and risks. Possibly more im-
portant, does the character dig for private information
about the enigmatic immortal that none met over a
century ago?
the court of the feast
Reality is on the brink of destruction. The Court of the Feast
serves as the world’s first line of defense against the monsters of
the Dogtown Verge. The Court was conceived only out of neces-
sity, but has maintained influence and respect throughout the
Los Angeles area and beyond.
Many of the Court’s membership have attained worldwide
recognition for their heroic efforts and sacrifices in the name
of security. Primarily, this comes from the Dogtown Crew, the
Ring at the center of the Court. The Ring’s members come from
a group of immortals prominent during the Renaissance in Ven-
ice, Italy.
The Dogtown Crew set up shop along the Venice and Santa
Monica shores in the early part of the twentieth century. They
kept a low profile and mostly stuck to themselves. They were
never harassed by The Saint’s efforts. Outside of brief Commit-
tee appointments, the Crew remained largely apolitical. Even
in those appointments, Crew members tended toward unbiased
roles; investigating, judging, and defending the people. This has
garnered the Ring a reputation for fair treatment, which extend-
ed into the reputation of The Court once forged.
In 1986, almost immediately after The Saint’s second death, the
Dogtown Crew petitioned the new (and technically unofficial)
Board of Trustees for satellite Court status. The Board knew that
eventually The Saint would return, and having a widespread au-
thority would benefit their struggle against her reclamation of
power. The Court’s inspiration was far less personal; they simply
wanted to curb further threats from the Void.
Since its formation, the Court has been decidedly unified. This
doesn’t mean all members are compatriots or friends, but the
focused, imperative goal has kept squabbling to a minimum. It’s
hard to argue when you’re fighting for your collective lives.
Many of the Court’s members have grown into authorities on
Void manifestations. This drags them all over the world, and
sometimes this stretches the Court’s resources thin. Because of
this phenomenon, the Court has developed a number of tricks,
both mundane and magical, to compensate for their situation.
You can find many of these tricks in the rules Appendix.
Customs
The Court of the Feast only maintains a handful of traditions
and customs. A few cynical members have stated that a Court
with such a high attrition rate should not be in the business of
On this anniversary of my arrival into Los Angeles, September the First, Nineteen
Thirty Five , I do bring into existence The Guild Unwilting. The Guild Unwilting
does establish and maintain express authority over the territories of Los Ange-
les, San Diego, Fresno, and all the California territories between and east of these
cities. The authority vested in The Guild Unwilting shall be alienable only by a
quorum of The Grandest Court.
This document hereby establishes the office of The President of the Guild Unwilt-
ing. The President shall wield superlative executive power over the purview of
her Guild . Abdication of that authority can only be undertaken by The President
of The Guild Unwilting, when in sound state of mind .
The President of The Guild Unwilting’s authority may be , at her wit, delegated
in part amongst Committees of no fewer than two of the Unwilting. Terms and
limitations of the delegation must be made at the time of assignment. While act-
ing in the capacity of office , a Committee member holds equal authority to The
President of The Guild Unwilting, but her word shall always supersede .
Unless specifically delegated , the right of Unmaking is the sole authority of The
President of The Guild Unwilting.
All members of The Guild Unwilting enjoy the right to live their existences, free
of imposed deaths. All members enjoy the right to own personal property, both
material and ephemeral . All members of The Guild Unwilting enjoy the right to
speak and disseminate information without legal prohibition . All members of
The Guild Unwilting enjoy the right to Committee membership, as assigned by
The President of The Guild Unwilting. All members of The Guild Unwilting enjoy
all rights not expressly enumerated or prohibited by this document, or by The
President of The Guild Unwilting.

The Saint
Signed ,

Addendum, December Thirteenth , Two-Thousand Nine

This addendum does establish the office of The Board of Trustees. The Board of
Trustees shall be five persons in numbers, as chosen by popular vote by all mem-
bers of The Guild Unwilting. The Board of Trustees enjoys all rights and privileges
provided to The President of The Guild Unwilting, excepting that of Unmaking,
and at the sole discretion of The President of The Guild Unwilting. The President
of The Guild Unwilting may dissolve any act taken by The Board of Trustees, at
any time , for any reason .

The Saint
Signed ,

13
 becoming attached to its members. Mostly, the low number of This procedure and role is the sole internal method of punish-
social practices come down to the fact that the Court is small, ing Court members. It requires at least three members, since the
and the Court is busy. Members spend most of their free time potentially punished will generally vote in their own defense.
patrolling and otherwise fighting back The Void. In these cases, the definitions of the punishment are expected
in the proposal. Even then, such cases are rare. Anyone abusing
Induction: The Court of the Feast induction ceremony is a
that authority can find themselves back on the receiving end of
somber affair. Petitioners swear fealty to the Festive Charter be-
a punishment with a similar voting bloc.
fore a quorum of at least half the Court’s members. This oath
acknowledges a Festive Courtier’s fatalistic likelihood of death
at The Void’s jaws.
The Festive Charter
The Festive Charter’s formation was decidedly less formal than
Afterward, each present member, one by one, swears to defend most Court foundations. During a late-night diner discussion
their new fellow Courtier with their life. If any member declines with the Board of Trustees in 1986, The Dogtown Crew wrote
to swear defense, the quorum customarily asks the member’s their would-be Charter on a napkin. More specifically, Saman-
misgivings, and then gives the prospective member the chance tha Morgan wrote it amidst discussion, while the rest of the
to pose a counterpoint. If the member continues to refuse induc- Crew used their napkins to manage their donuts. While it was
tion, the prospect is turned away and must wait a minimum of not meant to be perfect, it stuck. It was never amended. The Fes-
one year before their next petition. If they allow, the induction tive Courtiers have never been much obsessed with formality, so
continues as planned. At the conclusion of the affair, the Court the document’s specifics aren’t called into question. The Court,
casts The Chain Unbroken (see the Appendix) to solidify their as any member will tell you, has more important things to do
membership. than argue political semantics. The fate of the world is on their
War Party: When the Court predicts a large-scale incursion of collective shoulders.
Void entities, or has located a particularly large entity, they or-
ganize a raid utilizing the full force of the Court’s membership.
The Festiv
These parties only occur every few years and are not taken lightly.
eCharter
However, they’re a great point of pride amongst the Courtiers.
The Court o
War Parties exemplify every positive thing the Court is capable f the Feas
between V tm
enice and S anages the coast,
of. Every member plays a role, and the group works together like
a well-oiled machine.
is king of th anta Monic
e beach. Th a. The Cour
The typical party involves three phases. The first is the “pep
the Court is e stated purp t
talk,” where the Court assembles in one location to discuss plans.
t o o s e o
This takes the form of an actual party, where music and danc- Void. Membe fight back the forces f
ing get the blood flowing for the battles to come. Second, the rship is only of the
least half t with the ap
Court hits the streets, and looks for their quarry. Some members
he current proval of at
work to disguise war efforts, some work to guarantee optimal
L e adership in m e m b e rship.
(read: no) media coverage, and some manipulate the environ- the Court r
ment, both physically and magically, for maximum efficiency. agree
by two-thir equires a gr
The strike is the third and final part. All eligible units descend d s majority to oup to
against the enemy, according to the previously discussed battle leader. The a de-facto
leader is ch
plan. Every War Party has ended in one or more dead Courtiers, Af
ter the tas o s e n f
but the Court sees this as a regrettably necessary cost. A few lives k, the leade or a given task.
lost are a small price to pay to save many. Leadership r is no more
only applies .
T h e Court of th t o t h e task.
Organization e F e
Contrary to stereotypes thrown around in Los Angeles, Court its sanct
a s t a bides by all
ioning Grea laws of
members are not always the greatest fighters. The war against t Court, Th
The Void isn’t a war fought on a single front. Monsters fall to e Guild Unwiltin
traps more often than they fall to swords. A keen eye is essential, g.
no matter the role. Cleverness is also highly valued. In such a
populated area, public relations and damage control make up a
large portion of the war effort. Some Court roles break down to
the red crowned court
professional party-going. The Court of the Red-Crowned Parakeet. The Court of Court-
lessness. The Court of Fuck You. The Court of Fuck The Saint.
The Chief: There’s only one main position within The Court The Red-Crowned Court has gone by many names in its short
of the Feast, and it’s not a permanent role. At any time, a mem- lifespan. Its members eschew tradition, at least in the traditional
ber of the Court can propose a task with a clearly defined end sense. They believe only that your rights end where theirs begin,
point. All the members in the group (usually a Ring) proposed and vice versa. They firmly believe in reminding you of this fact
to hold a vote, but the member proposing does not vote. A two- at every opportunity. The Court of Caltech is loud, brash, unruly,
thirds or greater majority results in appointment of the member and everything The Saint hated about Los Angeles when she
as Chief over the task. The Chief maintains executive authority moved into town.
in all matters relating to the task at hand.
14
 The story of the Red-Crowned Court comes in the form of a
prank. In the summer of ‘65 (the irony is not lost on the Court’s
membership), an Epicurean by the name of Rudy came to realize
that not only did he not miss The Saint, but he’d be much hap-
pier if the dictator never came back.
He and a cabal of friends uncovered an old ritual they call “The
Devil in the Details” (see the Appendix). After a complex battery
of research using university resources, private investigators, and
a healthy dose of magic, he found The Saint’s new incarnation
in Seattle. While she looked different, she had certain tells that
gave her away to a highly educated researcher with an under-
standing of her genealogy. She always reincarnates into the same
bloodline, within two steps of cousins. A confused cat burglar
broke into her home and stole her hairbrush, which served as the
vehicle for the enchantment.
The curse in question made The Saint believe that Rudy had
beaten her in past lives consistently, and that it was their des-
tiny to continue that path. Rudy used that leverage and talked
The Saint into leaving Los Angeles. The woman left, as her first
encounter was shocking and frightening for her young sensibili-
ties. However, Rudy’s plan didn’t account for The Saint’s spirit of
defiance. The Saint never compromises. Her Legacy took hold,
and within 24 hours, she returned and brought swift death to the
heads of her opposition, Rudy included.
Fortunately for the Red-Crowned Court, the truth of the ritual
never made it to the rumor mills. Rudy caused the Saint’s ire,
and caused her to the wholesale slaughter of the city’s leader-
t ship. Rudy’s efforts set back progress in Los Angeles by decades.
CalTech’s Amaranthine, however, heralded Rudy as a hero, not
because he was able to remove The Saint’s control of Los An-
geles, but because of the raw gall required to use such magic
and leverage such dangerous tactics against the tyrant. CalTech
has been long known as a school of pranks; its immortals are
no different. They considered the Devil in the Details ritual as
the utmost Amaranthine prank, since it could change the scope
of an immortal’s entire incarnation. “Would Rudy do this?” be-
came the group’s mantra. His less magical exploits even bled into
the student base, and the mantra became a countercultural buzz
phrase for a number of years. It still sees occasional use in frater-
nity hazing rituals.
Rudy’s survivors forged the Red-Crowned Ring in his stead.
They named it arbitrarily after the Red-Crowned Parakeet,
which has been forced into nativity in the Pasadena area. While
the name had no real meaning at the time, members have since
attributed countless symbolic reasons for the name. Explaining
the name and giving it a false history has become something of
a custom amongst the later Court.
The new Ring saw a potential hole in The Saint’s armor; she’d
die again. In the meantime, they’d act as upstanding citizens.
They performed favors for everyone they could (except The Saint
herself, of course). Most importantly, they hobnobbed with key
members of The Grandest Court. They corralled influence, and
they waited. When she died the second time, they moved in to
strike. In the midst of The Festive Court’s inception, they stepped
in, called their favors, and forged a Court charter. Hesitantly, it
was approved.
Two forms of the Red-Crowned Charter exist: the official ver-
sion and the “real version”. They’re nothing alike. The official
charter only sees occasional citation. Even then, it’s usually just
to placate Guild Unwilting officials. The “real version” is less a
specific legal document and more a set of basic rules to live by.
It never had a formal release, but saw distribution in the form of
comic strips, radio broadcasts, and whatever forms of media were
popular at the time.
Customs
A bit of irony, and a bit of tradition find most of the Red-
Crowned Court’s customs mimicking college practices.
Hazing: Court membership doesn’t come lightly. To join, one
must show a dedication to the cause, and nigh-fanatical devotion
to one’s courtmates. Generally, this means putting a potential
recruit through grueling and excessive testing to prove those two
traits. While the Court holds no formal acknowledgment that
hazing occurs, it most certainly does. In fact, the urban legends
of Red-Crowned hazing has deterred no small number or pro-
spective members.
Hazing is as arbitrary and spiteful as any other fraternity haz-
ing, but taken to the next level. One famous example had a pros-
pect stripped naked, strapped with fake explosives, adorned with
a trenchcoat, then told to go to the nearby police precinct to have
a discussion with the chief of police. The conversation required a
confession, and a successful escape. Now, that member is a rank-
ing member in the Fraternal Order of Beavers. This of course is
a rumor, because hazing never happens, and nobody ever speaks
about their initiation protocols. Ever.
Rudy’s Day: The observation of Rudy’s Day happens on Sep-
tember 17th, which was the evening of 1965 when Rudy made
his metaphysical attack on The Saint. This is recognized as the
moment the Court’s ethos came into existence. The Court cel-
ebrates Rudy’s Day with a prank contest, judged by The Court
President. Pranks occur in the week prior, judging happens dur-
ing a Court gathering and feast (which truthfully means “keg
party”). At the feast, members are expected to wear whatever
silly occult paraphernalia they can. This isn’t mandatory, but it’s
almost universally followed. Members without pyramid hats or
other absurdity are never chosen as the winners of the contest.
Many times, bystanders have met their deaths as part of these vi-
cious pranks; sometimes Court members die in the contest. This
is all part of the spirit. Since Rudy died, death during a Rudy’s
Day prank guarantees renown in future lives.
Organization
(If you could call it that)
The Court itself only maintains about fifteen members at a
given time. Its membership is divided amongst the four mem-
bers of The Fraternal Order of Beavers, and the remainder of
the Court. The remaining members overlap in Rings with the
rest of the city, and vary in level of involvement. At the top of
the Fraternal Order stands The President, who wields supreme
executive power. There’s no other official authority, aside from a
passing deference afforded to the Fraternal Order.
15
 The President: The President’s role is a vague one. The only
acknowledged truth is, in the thick of things, the President is
always right. Court members wax philosophical about the value
of such authority. However, it has yet to become a problem, and
the Court at large has never openly disagreed with a Presi-
dential decision. Some members argue the wisdom in absolute
power, using the Court’s historical precedent to back it up.
Detractors argue that The Saint shares similar authority. Either
way, the arguments never progress outside of the debate. The
Court’s internal affairs have remained tight since its inception.
The Fraternal Order of Beavers: The Order has no official
role in the Court, but they are recognized as “knowing best”
and the Real Charter says “The Court respects their wisdom”.
What does that mean? If you ask fifteen members of the Court,
you’ll get thirty answers. Some think it’s simply favoritism
toward the ‘cool kids’. Some recognize the efforts the Order
went to in order to establish and maintain the Court, and thus
see it as a sort of elite guard. No matter what a member thinks
the passage means, they recognize the Order as influential. No
official Order policy change sees light of day without Order
approval.
The Official Charter
As mentioned, the Court laws officially on the book are not
regularly cited. Nobody knows the document well, and very few
members even understand the basic tenets. It was written as a
joke; it’s a legal document with over five hundred pages of nu-
ance and loopholes so complex that, if invoked, could be used to
argue any case as criminal.
The Real charter
The “Real Charter” is something of a living document, a piece
of folk law. It came into existence as word of mouth, and pro-
gressed into other formats as it evolved. It’s always consisted of
nine rules, which change from time to time. While many of the
rules seem arbitrary, the Court holds each to a value far beyond
surface interpretations. Now, the rules see distribution in the
form of a pamphlet comic strip (see the opposing page). The
current incarnation is almost a decade old, and likely to see revi-
sion soon. Below are the common interpretations of the Charter.
Here’s the real charter. Learn it. Love it. Or GTFO.
This is very simple: Members must abide by the simple laws of
this Charter. Adherence is mandatory, failure to adhere results in
removal from the Court.
Rule Number One: If something’s worth punishment, it’s
worth kicking your ass out.
While sometimes, members will be executed in the moment
for egregious violations of Court security, there are no formal
punishments in the proper sense. If something escalates to pun-
ishment, the member loses membership and loses all right to the
CalTech region.
Rule Number Two: We > Cat Pictures on the Internet > Oth-
er Immortals > Mortals
This rule is read as “We are greater than cat pictures on the in-
ternet, which are greater than other immortals, which are greater
than mortals”. Essentially, it’s a mandate of priority in all things
law. The Court must defend itself above all else, and maintain a
detached disdain for the outside world. If the situation requires,
16
mundane humans are always put beneath Amaranthine, even
when the Amaranthine are otherwise “guilty”. Red-Crowned
doctrine affords Amaranthine the utmost rights over humanity.
Rule Number Three: The Fraternal Order of Beavers knows
best. The Court respects their wisdom.
This rule is a blanket acknowledgment of the Order’s sover-
eignty. It doesn’t afford specific authority, but it recognizes that
Order members stand above the rest of the Court. The Order was
established as a theoretically inclusive group; any Court member
with enough merit can petition to join the group. Deference and
preferential treatment always go to Order members above mun-
dane Court members. Disrespecting a Beaver is tantamount to
insulting the Court at large.
Rule Number Four: The Court loves ordered lists.
If there’s a throwaway part of the Charter, this is it. However,
the wisdom of the rule is that all Court decisions and legislation
should be clear, concise, and stated openly. In contrast to their
enormous “official Charter”, Court rulings rarely exceed two or
three sentences. The Court rules by spirit of law, not by word.
Rule Number Five: If a Court member asks for a lesson,
teach them.
Most Court members would agree that this tenet best embod-
ies the spirit of brotherhood (or sisterhood) amongst the mem-
bership. However, the rule is twofold. On one hand, the rule
requires members to take a stance of mutual education whenever
possible. If you have a trade or piece of information, you should
share with your mates. Sharing information with outsiders is of-
ten seen as an offense, but sharing inside is obligatory.
On the other hand, mistakes should be pointed out and an-
swered, often with harsh reprisal. Pranks are the common re-
sponse for most mistakes. Members are expected to police one
another. The philosophy is that if the problem is big enough to
go to the Presidency, then the problem is one too great for for-
giveness (since the President’s most common response is expul-
sion). Spectacular ‘lessons’ are a prime method of gaining favor,
or even showing worthiness for membership in the Fraternal
Order of Beavers.
Rule Number Six: Always protect a Court member in need,
unless it would threaten the Court.
This is self-explanatory, but essential to the Red-Crowned life-
style. At any moment, an outside (or even inside) force might
threaten Court stability. Most members await the day when The
Saint takes a swipe at their power base. The side name for this
rule is “CalTech Uber Alles”. That name fell out of style right
around the time Jerry Brown was re-elected as California state
governor. Either way, the sentiment is the same: Court stability
comes first, then its members. Members must protect members
at all cost.
Rule Number Seven: You have a right to life, to property,
and to rulership.
The Red-Crowned ideal isn’t far from the Palatine ideal. They
believe in Amaranthine supremacy. Your rights end only when
another Amaranthine’s end. Killing, stealing, hurting retainers,
all these things are abhorrent to Court members. But of course,
this comes at a caveat of Rule Number Two. Court members
always come first.
17
 Rule Number Eight: So do your Courtmates.
The purpose of this rule is to remind members that, while
Court loyalty is important, the self does come first. Ideally, mem-
bers rule themselves through enlightened self-interest. The rule
stands as a humble reminder that the Court remains important.
Rule Number Nine: So does the President. Only more.
The final rule establishes the priority and superiority of the
President. Although through vague terms, the default assump-
tion is that in any question, the President’s word, rights, and au-
thority stand above all else in the Court. There exists no formal
method for Presidential selection, generally there’s a vote of the
general membership, with little debate. Candidates do not ‘cam-
paign’, they simply stand forward and ask for votes. Even when
Presidents have been voted out, they step down with dignity.
Presidential elections occur about every four years. This only
coincidentally aligns with United States Presidential terms; it
actually relates to the cycle of freshman to senior undergradu-
ate studies. Every President in Court history has been elected
from the student body, and they tend to step down soon after
graduation.
the other court
Los Angeles knows little of the “Other Court” other than that
it isn’t sanctioned, and that its membership overlaps with the
remainder of The Guild Unwilting. Instead of presenting a full
treatment of who and what they are, here are a few seed ideas to
better flesh out your game.
The Void-Sworn: The Court consists of members that have
sworn allegiance to the Void, and work to further its causes. In
the end, their goal is to tear open the Dogtown Verge; effectively
ending the world as we know it. In the mean time, they work to
undermine the Amaranthine of Los Angeles and demolish their
influences for the final scenario.
The Non-Union: The Other Court is truly just a group of Am-
aranthine not willing to subscribe to The Saint’s terror tactics.
They exist on the fringe, with clandestine meetings and their
own, private agendas. They serve an independent Charter they’re
perfecting with time, for the inevitable moment of weakness in
the Guild, so they can strike out and petition for official sta-
tus with the Grandest Court. They’re rebels, philosophers, and
would-be revolutionaries.
The Liberation Front: A powerful Muse brought an agenda
of human liberation to sympathetic hearts and minds, now this
pseudo Court works to undo the damage done by decadent and
destructive immortals. They believe that no mortal life should
be imposed upon by the immortals, and that any obstruction to
human life is a tragedy. In extreme cases, members of the Libera-
tion Front will ambush and destroy immortals that participate in
terrible behaviors like human trafficking.
The Brass Monkey
Near Koreatown is a large building with a café as its
front, and numerous businesses above it. The café, the
Brass Monkey, is a hip little place with a strong reputa-
tion for good food and entertainment. However, above
the café, a false college acts as a front for illegal immi-
gration and human trafficking. The café acts as a recruit-
ing ground for potential ‘talent’. The college is owned
by a powerful magnate in the Guild Unwilting. The café
sees regular patronage from the Liberation Front in or-
18
der to keep tabs on the efforts of the college, and to
curb its more egregious offenses. Characters wandering
into the café overhear a discussion, and experience a
heartwarming Reflection with a group of these Libera-
tors. They need help in stopping this slavery.
The Pretender Immortals: A group of mortal wizards have
stumbled upon a ritual that creates false Reflections between
Amaranthine and the casters. This allows them to pass off as
Amaranthine amongst the right circles. Unfortunately for them,
they don’t know much about immortal society, and in fact only
know enough to get themselves in trouble. They want to know
more, and they’re willing to take drastic measures to get the in-
formation they desire. They’re looking for just the right immor-
tal to corner and abduct, to use as a living library.
outside courts
The Guild Unwilting is a regional Court, but to Los Angelinos,
it’s considered a wholly contained local Court. However, The
Saint has approved a handful of other local Courts in various
parts of California, and just across the boundaries of Nevada and
Arizona. Here are a few, in short form. Each contains an excerpt
from their Charters as a jumping-off point for story creation.
The Bakersfield Municipal Court: Bakersfield is seen by Los
Angeles as a rural Court, and that’s not very far from the truth.
It’s very small, consisting of only two prominent Rings. One
deals primarily with farming and manufacturing interests, one
with oil production. While the population is mostly working
class, the Amaranthine are all disproportionately wealthy and
influential. This is sufficiently so that newly awakened Amaran-
thine often leave for Los Angeles proper, since the powerful sta-
tus quo comes off as daunting and unshakable. To those in the
know, Bakersfield is more an affluent, conservative suburb for
Los Angeles’s unwilting. It even requires regular ‘membership
dues’ which go to the city’s Duke.
Charter Sample: 3:1:15 - Citizenship in the Bakersfield Mu-
nicipal Court requires a quarterly tax of ten percent of all
earnings. Payment must be made in full within thirty days of
the quarter end. If payment cannot be made, arrangements
must be made with the Secretary to the Duke.
The Mojave Court: The Mojave Court is the far eastern border
of the Guild Unwilting’s influence. It comprises a number of
small cities around the California/Arizona/Nevada border, in-
cluding Bullhead City, Laughlin, and Havasu City. Laughlin is
the seat of the Court, and its membership fancies itself a very
firm, Wild Western philosophical bunch. Personal freedoms are
of the utmost, and many members use their freedoms to explore
history, spirituality, or even casino commerce, since the area has
one of the biggest gambling tourist traps in the United States.
The leadership consists of the current incarnation of Native
Americans; they act as a sort of hereditary council. Although
most have since taken other identities, members find themselves
returning to the Mojave. The membership is not centrally-lo-
cated, since the Court covers a wide expanse of land. In fact,
members are more spread than almost any Amaranthine in the
world. Most only see other immortals every few months during
Court meetings. It’s a great place to go if one wishes to avoid the
drama inherent in Amaranthine life.
Charter Sample: All costs incurred to the Court’s territory,
whether monetary, spiritual, physical, or otherwise must be
recouped. This rule extends firmly to outsiders; any violating
the Court’s territory is unwelcomed upon it.
Colorado Belle
One particular riverboat casino along the Colorado
River serves as a self-contained city for the immortals.
Five live and work on the grounds full-time, and both
visitors and newly awakened immortals receive com-
plimentary room and board from the Ring. Since the
casino contains grocers and a full shopping mall, the
Ring never needs to leave the grounds. Thanks to the
advent of the internet, they maintain lucrative outside
connections without stepping foot outside the building.
Cynics (or those perceptive enough to read between the
lines) believe a powerful ward has kept the Ring unable
to leave the building. The powerful ward will keep them
on the grounds, as long as the casino remains standing.
Two of the four Ring members wish to destroy the ca-
sino. The other two wish to use it to amass fortunes and
power. At this juncture, they’re in need of a mediator to
resolve their differences over this ward.
The Court of Orange County: Orange County is a center of
technology, travel, tourism, and many other aspects of the Cali-
fornia lifestyle. Its Amaranthine maintain very close likenesses
to their mortal counterparts. In fact, most Orange County im-
mortals experienced their First Reflections in the area, and sim-
ply stayed to take advantage of the OC’s opportunities. While
the seat of the mortal county is in Santa Ana, Anaheim stands
as the power base of the Court. Its resort hotels around the ani-
mation-themed tourist trap serve as meeting places and symbols
of Court success, as hotel founders were Amaranthine investors
in the resort district.
A group of Orange County Amaranthine are mounting a case
to secede from The Guild Unwilting. Their argument is that Los
Angeles doesn’t represent their needs. Whether they’re right is in
contention. Many wonder why The Saint is so concerned about
keeping the southern Courts under her purview, but the com-
mon belief is that she believes releasing sovereignty over those
Courts will present a threat to her rule. If so, she’s probably right.
Orange County is a quiet power, but not one to be trifled with.
Its leadership is firm, authoritarian, and far stronger than given
credit for by dismissive Los Angelinos.
Charter Sample: The Court attests that all human laws are
in full effect while on resort property. Undue attention can-
not threaten the Court’s holdings. To this end, Amaranthine
found in contempt of mortal law will receive maximum pun-
ishment as dictated by the state of California, but sentenced
through the immortal Courts. Additionally, any sentence of
life imprisonment may result in Unmaking, at the judgment
of the Court.
The Mission Basilica San Diego: The Mission is one of the
only religious Charters in the New World. It maintains a variant
Catholic stance, and its leadership consists of a Cardinal, with a
Ring of Bishops beneath her. The Cardinal in question has ruled
the city for a great many years, more than most humans live. The
rumor is that she’s found a trick to cheat even temporary death.
Against that point, she has clearly and irrefutably aged, just very
slowly. Her methods are very ‘fire and brimstone’, usually in-
volving penance up to and including what the Geneva Conven-
tions would label as torture. However, pious members willing
to confess and commit to token penance rarely see significant
punishments. There’s no coincidence that ‘pious’ generally means
‘in political support of the church’.
Across the border into Mexico, a loose and unsanctioned Court
exists in Tijuana. The members are currently debating joining
up with the Mission Basilica, but its more rebellious members
disagree with the hardline stance of the Mission’s laws. Their
debate could shift California politics heavily, as joining would
make San Diego significantly more powerful. Alternately, the
possibility exists that the two Courts might go to war with one
another. If so, Los Angeles immortals would be conscripted to
fight the Tijuana forces.
The Mission Court is the second largest in the Guild, and that’s
if you discount the Guild’s Los Angeles members as their own
contingent. San Diego boasts over seventy Amaranthine on its
rolls. At least thirty others reside in Tijuana. Combined, the two
would rival the size of the Guild Unwilting’s core membership.
Currently, Orange County has sent diplomats to Tijuana in or-
der to encourage banding together, in order to forge a new Re-
gional Court of southern California. Efforts are moving slowly,
but progress is occurring.
Charter Sample: Any and all sins against the Mission Ba-
silica San Diego, and against the Lord Amighty must be
confessed. Confession occurs only in the presence of an ap-
proved confessor; this meaning a Bishop or Cardinal of the
Mission. All confessions must occur within the same lunar
month as the sin. All those seeking confession do so under
the shield of anonymity; their crimes are between them-
selves and God. Proscribed penance must be carried out in
full. Refusal to commit penance results in the revocation of
membership in the Church.
oddities
Los Angeles has it all. Mummies, creatures of the black lagoon,
vampires, everything you could imagine. If it exists, it exists in
Los Angeles. Fortunately for the weary inhabitant, this satura-
tion breeds chaos and confusion, and none of these creatures
maintain any large-scale, formal organizations. The werewolves
of Los Angeles form street gangs, and the vampires maintain
social clubs, but most of the supernatural denizens of the City of
Angels keep to themselves. This doesn’t mean they’re not some-
times intercepted at the worst times; but they’re just as likely
to flee as engage. Los Angeles is an Amaranthine city, first and
foremost.
The Sanguine Speakeasy: Los Angeles has a police force leg-
endary for its brutality. Vampires don’t take kindly to brutality.
So the vampires of Los Angeles try to keep their blood drinking
under wraps as well as they can. While they don’t have a formal
and all-encompassing structure, they do have cliques that aid
one another in discreet feeding. One such clique is the Sanguine
Speakeasy. They root in Burbank, in a trendy nightclub that ca-
ters to fetishists and eccentric performance art. Vampires can
come into the club, pay a healthy cash fee, and ‘rent’ a bite to
eat. Speakeasy organizers maintain herds of willing humans that
enjoy the act of being bitten, and keep them hired
19
 Screen Actors’ Guild. If there’s a place one might be subject to
The Glamour another’s shattered dreams, there’s like a fairy nearby.
Social Maneuver The Great Dragons: Los Angeles is home to three ancient
“Veronica! Where are you going?” Chase followed dragons. Each holds immense power, and each has been in the
Veronica down the street. She wasn’t ignoring him, but city for at least a century. They wage a subtle but tireless war
she continued along her way with a whimsical smile on amongst one another, moving pawns and taking actions against
her face. “Veronica. What’s wrong?” He pleaded, put- each others’ influences and power bases. Fortunately, they have
ting a hand on the small of her back as they walked. little interest in the goings-on of the Amaranthine thanks to
She looked to him with a raised eyebrow. “Nothing’s their unending feud. Currently, there’s been a great amount of
wrong, Chase. Nothing at all. For once in my life, noth- headway in the shadow war, as one particular dragon focused
ing’s wrong. You should probably get your hand off me, heavily on real estate acquisitions during the recent economic
it’s almost nightfall, and she doesn’t like when others downturn. This afforded him numerous and significant assets.
touch me.” She shrugged off his advances and kept on The three are always on the lookout for valuable talent. Any
her way. given Amaranthine could draw their attention with efficient and
“Who? Janine? Is it Janine?” He snapped, scamper- dramatic works. Clearly, most Amaranthine fit into that descrip-
ing alongside her. Veronica smiled wider and sighed as tion at some point or another, so being at the right place at the
she heard the name. right time could also help. Depending on the dragon in question,
“Of course it’s Janine. It’s so hard not to love her.” She it might mean the wrong place at the wrong time. Refusing an
stopped and turned to Chase. She looked him over, offer from a dragon can mean an eternal enemy, no matter how
sighed, then got into a classic Lincoln as it pulled up senseless the offer.
alongside them. She shrugged, and never saw Chase Conscripted
again. Two dragons simultaneously conscript two members
Requirement: Vampire of the Ring into their petty wargames. Unfortunately,
Effects: Los Angeles vampires sparkle*. They haven’t neither was alerted to the other’s offer, and neither can
always sparkled; this is purely an advent of the past afford to refuse. At first, the demands are reasonable.
decade. But it works effectively. To activate this power But what does the Ring do when two members are pit-
for a scene, spend one Sanguine Humor. When you ted against one another, by creatures of great power?
interact with a character socially, spend a Phlegmatic
Humor to entrance them. The target is considered three
Shifts closer to you, to a maximum of +6. If they wish
to cause you harm or socially denigrate you, they must
first spend a point of Phlegmatic Humor for each such
action. This effect ends if you put the target in danger,
or attack them directly, or at the end of the scene. At
the end of the scene, you may spend any number of
Phlegmatic Humor. Each spent point Steps the target
one die closer to you. *Metaphorically
on as house dancers. The dancers receive regular physicals and
disease testing for the health of the vampires.
More than a few celebrities come in for “guest appearances”
and hire themselves out as big-ticket snacks. The celebrities take
a significant cut of the proceeds, and they help to keep the place
chic and in-demand with their presences.
The Gangs of Los Angeles: Los Angelino werewolves form
tight-knit packs, and compete for ground as street gangs. Often,
this puts them at odds with mortal gangs, but some of the packs
have entrenched themselves within the auspices of larger organi-
zations. The werewolves aren’t nearly as subtle about their affairs
as the vampires happen to be. Many times, they’ll go into violent
fits, and tear apart cadres of humans. Most of the Los Angeles
gangs know better than to take out hits on the full moon.
Hooray For Hollywoodland: Los Angeles is both a city of
dreams that come true, and dreams that fall apart. The fairfolk
of Hollywoodland exemplify both extremes. They feed from the
passion and the devastation in human dreams, and thus foster
the depths of emotion that see such saturation in showbusiness.
The Burbank and Hollywood areas have more fairies than ev-
erywhere else in the metropolitan area, combined. Most own or
frequent popular hangouts. Many act as contractors within the
20
rings of los angeles
While Los Angeles boasts somewhere between twenty and
thirty Rings at a given time, here are a number of the prominent
Rings in the city. Included is a brief description of the Ring and
its stated purpose. As well, we’ve featured some of their mem-
bers, each with a secret that you could use to drop them into
your stories. These secrets are pivotal to the characters, and could
be used as leverage against them, or as valuable character back-
ground for past associations.
The Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees has been the force of government in Los
Angeles since the second death of The Saint. These men have
worked hard to decentralize the power of the Guild Unwilt-
ing so that, upon the Saint’s return, her reach would be severely
limited. In this life, all of the Board members are men; previ-
ous experience has shown that any female members would be
eliminated out of hand. None of them have known each other
for more than two lifetimes, and they have an uneasy working
relationship at the best of times. However, they force themselves
to work together, if only to keep The Saint complacent.
Kim Kwang Ho
Legacy: Kwang Ho shines brightest in others’ spotlight.
Kim Kwang Ho is a slight, unimposing young man with a wide
smile and neat fingernails polished like glass. When he walks
into a room, the air becomes redolent of sex. In this life, he grew
up in the San Fernando Valley to immigrant parents, both pio-
neers in the burgeoning field of computer programming. Kwang
Ho’s parents had high expectations of him, but he brought home
straight Bs on his report cards and instead of playing Beethoven
on the piano at age six, he barely manages to get “Chopsticks”
right even today. He was too busy watching movies to care about
any of that.
When Kwang Ho’s stint in film school at UCLA went bust,
he knew exactly where he could use what little he did learn. Af-
ter all, the San Fernando Valley produces the vast majority of
American legal porn films, and with that formal education, he
was more knowledgeable than many of the other porn directors
out there. K.H. Kim has yet to receive any awards for his work,
however. To keep that life separate from what he considers his
real life, he introduces himself in the traditional manner, with his
family name first.
He had his First Reflection on set when he met a “first-timer,”
a woman who had killed him lifetime after lifetime. He made
sure her work never saw the light of day, much to her outrage.
Good thing, too; she was a state senator’s daughter. He still has
the tape, and can use it for leverage whenever political interests
get out of hand. She still wants him dead, of course.
Kwang’s Secret: Hot for Teacher
In one of his past lives, Kwang Ho was a low-budget
leading man in the forties. That’s when he first met
The Saint, at a Screen Actors Guild meeting. He was
enamored with her; who wouldn’t be? He sought her
attentions then, but was always cast aside. When The
Saint returned in 2009, Kwang Ho made damn sure he
was the first in line to see her. The Reflection told The
Saint everything she needed to know, and sure enough,
Kwang Ho was in her bed and has been ever since. The
Saint took great lengths to conceal her role in his ap-
pointment to the Board, and both of them keep their re-
lationship secret, for obvious reasons. The real question
is who’s playing who?
Victor Campbell
Legacy: Victor will never make the same mistake twice.
Officer Victor Campbell is one of LA’s finest, and he wears his
uniform with pride. Every detail is spotless when he goes on
duty, and he would have it no other way. He walks the beat in
Compton with no fear, not because he’s the most bad-ass mofo
on the block, but because he has seen much worse. In fact, he’s
polite to those he encounters, and takes the time to reach out
to the troubled youth in the area. He grew up in Compton. His
compatriots in blue shake their head in disbelief in how easy he
makes it look, but Victor just smiles and tells them to come out
to the pitch sometime to watch them play cricket.
Victor has been playing in the Compton Cricket Club since
its inception. When he started, he was on the verge of dropping
out of high school, selling drugs, drinking heavily, and doing
nearly everything else he could have to become just another
statistic. Learning the gentlemanly game gave him focus, and
with a little help, he was about to rid himself of those negative
influences and even go for the police academy. That is, until the
Void began to whisper into his ear anew. He has been success-
ful in shutting it out so far. His willingness to keep such a close
eye on Compton made him an easy choice to the Board.
Victor’s Secret: Victor helped create the Pacific Verge.
Victor’s First Reflection was a shock not only to him,
but to the other immortal he met. Victor saw himself
standing on Venice Beach with long dreadlocks, chant-
ing in a language he didn’t know alongside five other
people. The skies opened up with storms and slick, alien
creatures slithered about his feet. His heart sank into
his chest with the realization that he had brought about
something that, even when he didn’t fully comprehend
it now, he knew was earth-shatteringly wrong. When he
recovered, the other immortal was sprawled at his feet,
her neck snapped. He quietly disposed of the body and
made his way to cricket practice.
21

Alejandro Guerrero
Legacy: Alejandro carries the fire of God in his heart.
Alejandro Guerrero has been on the Board of Trustees since he
was fourteen years old. The Court of the Feast had just formed,
leaving the Guild Unwilting without their own Defense Com-
mittee. His entrance into the Guild Unwilting was just as sudden
and dramatic as that of The Saint; he walked onto the Rancho
del Oro backlots like he owned the place, his baseball bat coated
with the gore of the guards that had been in place. No one had
any Reflections when meeting the boy, either. When asked why
he had come, he shrugged and answered in Spanish, but they still
understood. “God told me you needed me.” No one knew where
he came from or where his parents were, and the one person who
asked got a feral-sounding snarl and a broken jaw for his trouble.
His martial prowess and displays of unswerving loyalty stilled
any wagging tongues for good.
Alejandro is the least public of the Board of Trustees, as his post
has him on self-imposed constant patrols. Whenever he needs
to be found, he just turns up at La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora
Reina de los Angeles, his rosary in hand. There is always blood
under his fingernails, which are usually short and split from days
of rough labor. It is said he spends days among the immigrant
day laborers that are found in the parking lot of every home
improvement store in the city. They do seem to be a bit more
organized recently as well, and more aware of their rights. Of
course, that might not be Alejandro’s doing, but the gossips and
conspiracy theorists in the Guild think it is.
The truth is far more sinister.
Alejandro’s Secret: Spy for San Diego
Alejandro’s loyalties have recently changed. His devo-
tion to God and his disgust at the excesses in Los An-
geles has led him to look south to the Mission Basilica
San Diego. He has already met with the Cardinal, who
wishes him to stay where he is, for the time being. All he
has to do is collect information, so that when the inevi-
table war between the Guild and the Mission does break
out, she will have the upper hand. She seems to have a
particular distaste for The Saint.
Jimmy Lee Redgrave
Legacy: Jimmy Lee ages like fine wine.
Jimmy Lee Redgrave is a late bloomer amongst the Undying;
he didn’t have his First Reflection until 2000, when he was forty
years old. He had just been released from prison after serving
twenty years for the heated murder of an unfaithful lover. When
he met a handsome young man at the bar closest to the pris-
on, he saw them both as women tumbling in ecstasy in a New
York townhouse around the turn of the century. When they had
breakfast the next morning, the young man gave him the sheets,
telling him “Change your shirt; you look hideous.”
Jimmy Lee latched onto the first sewing machine he could
find, whipping out a decent-quality dress shirt from the passion-
soaked cloth. He had never sewn a stitch before in his life. With
a little luck and a lot of other people’s money, the Redgrave line
of menswear was born. Some of the hottest celebrities turn to
22
Redgrave when they want to look not just sharp, but the best-
looking bastard in the damn room. Jimmy Lee certainly obliges
in many ways, and in ten years, his little black book has surpassed
his client book by several volumes. The only thing Jimmy loves
more than sex and the power his position on the Board gives him
is his little dog Umi. Umi has a skin condition, and so Jimmy
Lee carries him everywhere in a Louis Vuitton bag. “Nothing
but the best for my baby,” Jimmy explains.
Jimmy’s Secret: Jimmy Lee’s pet is of the Void
The bundle of sheets was not the only thing Jimmy
Lee received from his one-night-stand after getting out
of prison. In the bundle was a little hairless creature no
bigger than a chihuahua. It looked only vaguely canine,
or even from this world, but it looked up at Jimmy pite-
ously with all three of its big, shiny eyes, and he simply
could not bear to part with it. Jimmy named it Umi on
request from the creature itself, and when Jimmy takes
it anywhere, his creativity multiplies a hundredfold. All
Umi asks for in return is love, and to hump the occa-
sional Pomeranian.
dogtown crew
The Dogtown Crew is the core of the Court of the Feast. Its
stated mission is identical to the Court; it seeks to hold back the
flood of the Void from the Pacific Coast Verge. Its membership
is varied in skills, as the effort is far more than a direct war. They
have to handle media and public relations, along with investi-
gation, fighting, and magical concerns. They assign leaders to
handle the problems at hand, and each specialist takes the reins
when their purview becomes an issue.
If the Crew had to choose a leader, it’d be Sahar. Sahar con-
sistently recovers many of the oldest memories known to Ama-
ranthine. Rumor puts her as a reincarnation of the first or sec-
ond Amaranthine, ever. Her destiny is to never forget the most
important stories of the Unwilting. Often, the membership ar-
gues that she should be removed from active duty, because of
the importance of her destiny and the risks associated. However,
anyone that’s seen her in action knows that the Crew needs her
service as much as any member, if not more.
The members listed all play parts in the Amaranthine core rule-
book’s chapter introductory fiction pieces. You can learn more
about them there.
Sahar
Legacy: Sahar will forever carry the story of The First City.
Sahar has fought the same battles for millennia. She’s told the
same stories for millennia. She carries a heavy burden. She’s
known worldwide for her burden. Her knowledge of The First
City is unparalleled, and she’s rumored to have Reflected with
every single immortal she’s met. Many Amaranthine travel the
world to visit her, if only for the chance to learn their places in
The First City.
In the Crew, she serves as moral support and a font of informa-
tion. She looks back to the successes and failures of the past, in
order to inform the group how to best succeed in the present.
Her contributions have been integral to the amazing level of
success the Crew has seen, given the circumstances.

In the “real world,” she’s a social worker for Los Angeles’s way-
ward children. It’s no coincidence that her job connects her with
some of The Void’s most frightening leaks.
Sahar’s Secret: She’s Tired
If anyone can say, “I’ve been doing this for too damned
long,” it’s Sahar. Have you ever had to deal with the per-
son that insists on relaying their college glory stories to
you over and over? Imagine having to relay those stories
for five thousand years. It wouldn’t be impossible to con-
vince her to give up her destiny after this lifetime, and
end the cycle of reincarnation. After all, isn’t it about
time she thought of herself for once?
Mark Washington
Legacy: Mark Washington never leaves behind a victim
Mark needs to be the hero. Sometimes, this gets him in trou-
ble. He serves as a firefighter for the Los Angeles County Fire
Department, and has an unprecedented record for rescues. He’s
made it onto television for his work more times than he’d like to
admit. On the other hand, he’s often a risk-taker. As an Eclipse
Walker, he knows The Void intimately, and frequently barters
his and others’ lives in order to maximize his success in defend-
ing the greater good. This of course makes him unpopular with
many of his Courtmates, who feel he takes unnecessary risks.
They don’t complain about his successes, however.
Mark is a very serious, very matter-of-fact individual. Being
that he walks the line between death and corruption daily, he
doesn’t have much time for idle chit-chat. His heart is pure gold,
though. He admires those willing to put others before them-
selves.
Mark’s Secret: Bride of the Re-Animator
Mark’s darkest secret is a terrifying one, indeed. His
wife died of cancer last year. He couldn’t stand to live
without the only person that always stood by his side, so
he made a pact with The Void and brought her back. This
has cursed her with a deep attachment to the Eclipse.
Every day, bad things happen to the people around her
(but not Mark, curiously). She’ll inevitably be reborn with
the same malady, forever harming those she loves and
innocents everywhere. Mark regrets his decision, but
has no reasonable solution for it. If he breaks the pact
with The Void, he’ll lose access to the dark energies he
uses to protect the masses and fight the greater forces
of the Pacific Coast Verge. Worse still, it’s the only time
he acknowledges he’s done something for himself. This
reinforces his fatalistic approach to his own safety.
Rory Cooke
Legacy: Rory Cooke cannot be consumed by darkness.
Rory is the mayor of Venice. That’s not technically true. He’s
“city councilman,” but most of the city recognizes him and re-
fers to him as “Mayor Cooke.” He’s wildly popular, and popu-
list. He’s known for aiding in immediate relief efforts. He barely
sleeps, and uses social media to organize, motivate, and clean his
city. Is a city trash truck blocking your car? Send an email, and
he’ll have it gone in ten minutes. He loves his city, and his city
loves him. Part of this comes from the fact that he was elected on
the tail of a no-good, corrupt bureaucrat that ended up in prison
thanks to an embezzlement scandal. But Rory genuinely cares
about the people of Venice. He feels that his position affords
him the best opportunity to fight back the Pacific Coast Verge.
23
 Many new Amaranthine in the Festive Court are met first by
Rory, who is often out on the streets. Since First Reflections oc-
cur early in life, he cherry-picks many of these youngsters, and
helps them through college and into local government intern-
ships. It’s his way of feeding the future of Venice. Any younger
Amaranthine might know him for these reasons. He makes an
excellent patron for any immortal that isn’t tied closely with The
Void, as he is a practicing Intemerate.
Rory’s Secret: Rory Loves Sahar
Rory loves Sahar. He loathes himself for it. He’s never
loved her before; they’ve barely even had a past togeth-
er. But now, he wants to be with her more than anything
in the world. He admires everything about her. He’s also
married, and dedicated to a wife and a large family that
he loves very much. Even if his mortal wife could under-
stand his affections toward Sahar -and she could never
hope to- his political career would fall apart in the situa-
tion of a divorce or a mistress.
Kitty Hart
Legacy: Kitty Hart is the hand of justice.
Kitty fucking rocks. And she’s angry that isn’t her Legacy. She
heads the popular SoCal punk band “Fucking & Punching,”
where she yells about politics, sex, furry animals, and whatever
else catches her fancy. She maintains a take-no-prisoners ap-
proach to life, and enjoys every waking second. She doesn’t sleep;
she passes out.
Kitty’s an Epicurean’s Epicurean. She might die at any sec-
ond, but lives by luck beyond comparison. She’s been inches
away from death by drive-by shooting numerous times. She’s on
a first-name basis with all the local hospitals. They don’t even
ask questions anymore, as she’s programmed to say, “I fell down
some stairs.” Sometimes, she just happens to fall down stairs and
land on knives.
If you know Kitty, you had a damned good time, or you ended
up with your ass kicked (or both). She’s been very similar in tem-
perament through each of her many lives.
24
Kitty’s Secret: Judge, Jury, and Executioner
Kitty can’t maintain the punk rock lifestyle for long,
and she absolutely hates that fact. She has a destiny
far bigger than herself, and eventually, it’ll catch up to
her. She doesn’t mind fighting Void monsters. Hell, she
loves it. But eventually, she’s going to have to take up
the mantle of one of the Dirae. She’ll have to travel and
commit to very real responsibilities. She has a plan,
though. She’s trying to get a major label deal (Yes, she
knows, that’ll make her a sellout. Shut the fuck up, al-
ready). That way she can do her duties while on world
tours. She knows this plan is bullshit, but you can’t fault
her for trying, right?
Most importantly, Dirae get their job through a partic-
ularly interesting mechanism: they must have murdered
members of The Grandest Court in past lives. She mur-
dered the King of the Grandest Court a handful of cen-
turies ago. Fortunately for her, nobody seems to remem-
ber this fact. She’s trying to keep it that way. If anyone
remembers, she’ll acquire numerous deadly enemies.
The Fraternal Order
of Beavers
The Fraternal Order is the heart of the Red-Crowned Court.
They’re the elite of the elite, they like to say. They’re The Presi-
dent’s clique of advisors. Everything that happens within the
Court goes through them. Since The President reserves the right
to ban any member over any offense, most disputes unofficially
go through the other Fraternal Order members first.
The Fraternal Order maintain a ‘Frat House’ on campus, which
is also a fully functional college fraternity consisting of numer-
ous mundane mortals. Every Wednesday, the immortal mem-
bers hold a congregation in the basement to discuss important
Court affairs. Attendance is not mandatory, but no-shows to the
weekly congregations often get overlooked for assignments and
brownie points. ‘Brownie points’ are the current and official term
for acknowledgment by the Court.
The Order’s member roster is not supposed to exceed one-
fourth the Court’s population. This encourages recruitment by
Order members and prospective Order members. However,
when the Court drops in population, the Order doesn’t always
drop population to match. They simply don’t recruit until a
greater number of new Court members are brought in. At this
moment, they have six members.

President Rudy
Legacy: Rudy knows people
President Rudy is not the Rudy of the Court’s founding. In fact,
the President’s name isn’t even Rudy; it’s Clarence. He just calls
himself Rudy as an odd, part-populist, part-ironic effort. He
likes to be on the edge of nerd culture’s fashions, and he knows
all the nerd culture music, television, video game, and Internet
icons. He is the king of a very small mountain.
Most importantly, he’s the king of the forgotten. He knows
many people that go under traditional radars, but have amaz-
ing access in surprising places. He’s friends with a night security
guard in a major bank, for instance. Rudy, as he’d have it, ‘ain’t
nothin’ ta fuck wit’.’ He likes to tell the Court that he could crash
the stock market with a few phone calls. That’s probably not true,
but he could definitely hurt a few major company stocks with a
little work. The truth doesn’t really matter in these cases, though.
He’s Rudy. Or at least, he’s taken up the mantle of Rudy. The
legends preclude him.
Rudy’s Secret: He’s a hack
Rudy isn’t really that cool. In fact, he has a ‘style man-
ager’ that isn’t even Amaranthine. His young personal
assistant makes connections for him, and dedicates a
great deal of time to building and maintaining the fa-
cade of Rudy’s greatness. The kid has been enchanted
to hell and back, and couldn’t disobey Rudy if he had to.
He was trying to get into a corporation as a ‘social me-
dia rock star’ or some other cliché position. If the Court
learned that Rudy wasn’t able to build his reputation
and standing, they’d eat him alive.
danica kiernan
Legacy: 22
Danica Kiernan is a mathematician. She’s currently complet-
ing her undergrad, but she’s far beyond the skill level of any of
her professors. She’s been obsessed with numbers since the day
she was born (and many centuries prior, in fact). Her immense
knowledge of the sciences of reality has given her a unique place
as the strongest known sorcerer in Los Angeles.
She’s often consulted for mystical advice, despite her complete
lack of belief in ‘the supernatural.’ She believes that everything
has reason and logic, and that the right application of science
will discern the truth behind anything. She’s the first mathema-
tician amongst the Amaranthine to develop theorems that ap-
ply specifically to the non-Euclidian logic of The Void. She’s far
from a comprehensive understanding, but she’s made a number
of amazing breakthroughs. Unfortunately, inferior minds can
barely grasp the concepts behind her work, not dissimilar from a
mundane mortal’s grasp of time and space.
A number of Court members have suggested she should take
up the Presidency. She shyly declines, stating that she doesn’t
have the time because of her studies. The Court argues that Ru-
dy’s job takes little to no time, and that they’d prefer someone
with her brilliance in a position of leadership. The real reason for
her denial is, she’s worried she might destroy the universe.
Danica’s Secret: The End of Time
Every incarnation, her name adds to 22 in a form
of numerology she’s exposed to early in life (her birth
name is Danic, but she’ll never tell anyone). She gets
glimpses of a dark nothingness in the future, in the way
that some Amaranthine Reflect on the past. She can’t
explain why she has these visions, but she instinctively
knows that she’s looking to the end of time. Her obses-
sion with numbers comes from a need to understand
these portents. Her instinct tells her that it’s somehow
tied to the number 22. She doesn’t know if it’s her des-
tiny to cause or stop the end, or if she’s just supposed
to know, but her obsession is unending, from lifetime to
lifetime. She keeps her Legacy a secret from other Ama-
ranthine, since it clearly does not apply to traditional ex-
pectations of what a Legacy is supposed to be. She feels
that scrutiny will only serve to hurt her cause.
Naresh Shankara
Legacy: Naresh will never stop creating
Naresh is amongst the brightest of the engineering students
at CalTech. He’s already been pulled in to teach classes and
conduct guest lectures, despite his status as a student. Colleges
worldwide are courting his graduate studies. These colleges are
unaware that they’re competing with a secret society of immor-
tals for his loyalty. Naresh serves as Rudy’s chief advisor in most
things. If he were more sociable, he’d likely have made President
during the last elections. Fortunately for Rudy, Naresh’s political
aspirations are limited at best. He’s more concerned with success
and achievement than with titles and pomp.
Currently, he’s raking in millions from scholarship scams. He’s
created a small company that advertises itself to college students
as a scholarship optimizer. They help students attain scholar-
ship money, and they take ‘a reasonable fee.’ When they have
insider information on many of these scholarships, this becomes
a simple matching game for them. As well, they scam percent-
ages from federal financial aid grant and student loan money.
This keeps Naresh wealthy under a pseudonym. He could retire
a millionaire before he’s legally able to drink.
Naresh’s Secret: Almost a Trustee
Prestigious colleges aren’t the only groups courting Na-
resh. He’s also in talks to join the Board of Trustees, on The
Saint’s personal recommendation. If he takes the bait, it’ll
pull Rudy’s strongest pillar out from under the Court, and
leave them vulnerable to political collapse. Naresh knows
this, and struggles between his desire for greatness and his
loyalty to the Fraternity and the Court.
sarasvati now !
Sarasvati Now! has a dark history in Los Angeles. In 1986, The
Saint slaughtered the Ring, and they brought her down with
them. The confrontation ended in an earthquake that shook
the region and left the world something to remember them by.
Shortly thereafter, a group of new immortals took on the ban-
25
 ner of Sarasvati. They’re a Ring of communication, built to keep
Court authorities accountable for their actions. They act as po-
litical journalists for The Guild Unwilting. They use media of
all types to spread the message. Most of their work is done on-
Alejandrina Valdez
Legacy: Alejandrina will never destroy her nemesis
line, through streaming radio broadcasts and PDF newsletters. If Rebecca is the brains of the Ring’s operation, Alejandrina
Through their communications, they make and break the status (Ali, she likes to be called) is the muscle. Metaphorically, at least.
quo. Arguably, they’re the strongest force in the Court. Ali can fully tear apart a computer and reassemble it flawlessly
Recently, young Shelley Handley has joined. Shelley was the in five minutes while drunk. She can code circles around the
miracle worker that killed The Saint during the 1986 confronta- best. She spends a great deal of time designing web interfaces
tion. So far, The Saint hasn’t made the connection, and the Ring and mock websites in order to further Ring goals. Although she
wishes to keep it that way. To keep attention low (which is dif- spent a few of her teen years in a juvenile detention center for
ficult when a Ring focuses on media attention), they’ve capped cybercrimes, the skills she learned make her invaluable to the
membership for the time being. They have only three members. Ring. If they need blueprints, she can find them. If they need
They might consider a new member if the right one came along, security details, she can find them.
but they’re not actively seeking recruits. She has worldwide connections via anonymous hacking com-
munities (she’s known as ‘dvirgindmary’ in hacker and gamer
circles). Her connections afford her information, influence, and
Rebecca McCarran
Legacy: Rebecca speaks the truth
leverage in many cases. In the real world, she runs in body modi-
fication and extreme sports circles that are far more diverse than
most expect. Between the physical and virtual approaches, Ali is
Rebecca, nicknamed “Fearless Leader” or “Mastermind,” han- the queen of access.
dles organization and public relations for Sarasvati Now!. She
Now, she’s the frontlines in the Sarasvati efforts. Her relentless
keeps the gears of news turning. She also takes up the role of
keyboarding turns Shelley and Rebecca’s work into news broad-
chief diplomat, as Alejandrina and Shelley are far less capable
casts, newsletters, tweets, and whatever else best fits the data.
of dealing with people. Rebecca is sly, collected, and able to
Fortunately for the Ring, Ali doesn’t need much sleep. When
get information out of anyone. She maintains solid friendships
Guild members breach protocol, Ali sees to it their reputations
throughout the Court, and knows members of each of the satel-
are destroyed rapidly. She keeps a comprehensive database of
lite Courts within the Guild.
all the citizenry, along with every deep, dark secret she and her
Conveniently, her work in the mortal world is that of a journal- Ringmates can unearth.
ist for the LA Times. This gives her access and authority where
many others might not, and breeds immediate credibility with
mortal skeptics. She uses her credentials to get the Ring’s other
talents into proverbial doors. She also maintains a strong reputa-
tion with the night life, including recurring positions on VIP
lists at all the trendy night clubs. On the side, she sells photos of
celebrities to trash magazines.
Rebecca has a vendetta against The Saint. Her mother was one
of the original Ring members The Saint killed during the 1986
massacre. She keeps close tabs on The Saint’s every activity. The
Ring would likely be more successful if Rebecca weren’t wasting
so many resources on stalking her prime enemy. Often, Guild
members get away with egregious crimes because Rebecca’s re-
sources are so focused.

Rebecca’s Secret: Vampire Bait

Rebecca has a thing for being bitten. In particular, she
likes being bitten by vampires. While this is mostly a
safe pursuit, the risks are numerous. She keeps a cou-
ple of vampire lovers about town that she visits when
she gets the itch. The vampires get a nice, heady meal
in exchange. Amaranthine blood does a number on the
vampiric body; they come out with power and mental
acuity they’re not used to. The arrangements work well.
However, the vampires like their secrecy, and if details
were to leak, she’d be in a mess of danger.

26
 Her ‘real job’ is a freelance software engineer and consultant.
She cleans bugs out of code, and develops mechanisms for suc-
cessful business applications. Usually, this also means placing
monitoring software into company systems.
Alejandrina’s Secret: Conflict of Interest
Ali’s Legacy is quite a limitation on her work. Her
nemesis, it seems, is The Saint. In fact, each time the
two have squared off, they’ve ended up intimate. Ali
even knows The Saint’s secret about Zubjar-Atrih. But
The Saint seduced her into silence. They’re not formally
involved in any way, but they’ve discussed and argued
about possibilities. While Ali has not been around for
any of The Saint’s particularly bad moments, eventually
she will be, and what’s she to do when the Ring expects
her to destroy the one prohibited by fate?
Shelley Handley
Legacy: Shelley lets no crime go unpunished
Shelley’s the ear on the streets. She’s currently only sixteen years
old, but thanks to a troubled upbringing, she has contacts all
over the city’s lower echelons. Since most of Los Angeles fo-
cuses on high society and the draw of celebrity, Shelley is nigh-
uncontested in her position. She’s on good terms with a number
of the more humane neighborhood gangs, and uses their eyes as
an invisible extension of her own. She has a knack for powerful
magic, and supplements the Ring’s information-gathering tal-
ents with scrying spells.
Shelley’s Secret: Shelley killed The Saint
She did it. She brought forth the earthquake that de-
stroyed her home, herself, the bodies of her friends, and
The Saint. Her identity is a closely-guarded secret within
The Ring. Knowing The Saint’s temper, Shelley’s life
would be in grave danger if the word got out. This is of
particular importance because the Ring is so very small,
and integral to keeping The Saint’s power in check. Los-
ing one third of their power would upset the city’s poli-
tics greatly.
The Saint
Legacy: The Saint will never destroy her nemesis
If there’s one thing to take home about The Saint, it’s that she
does not accept failure. Neither from herself, nor from others.
Compromise is acceptable, so long as it results in her minimal
victory conditions being met. In fact, success is arguably the
only important thing in the world to her. That’s positive for her,
though, since she’s very good at being successful.
In this incarnation, she bears a striking resemblance to Rita
Hayworth. She blends in well with the Hollywood crowd.
Thanks to her skill in acting and costuming, she can blend with
most environments. She’s invited to every party worth visiting
in the Los Angeles area, and many outside. She keeps a sched-
ule busy enough to rival the United States President. Even the
hyper-informed Rebecca McCarran isn’t fully aware of all The
Saint’s affairs, parties, and connections.
The Saint hates women. That’s only partly telling; she hates
most anyone. But she tends to discriminate heavily against
women in leadership, if only because she feels her uniqueness
gives her an edge. This means she’s quick to scrutinize and judge
women rising in power too quickly. It’s no coincidence that her
strongest political detractors, the Sarasvati Now! Ring, is com-
prised solely of women.
Amongst the mortal world, she’s simply a socialite. She has a
husband that’s three decades her senior, but she doesn’t see him
for months at a time; it’s purely a marriage of money and con-
venience, with no real strings attached. In her past lives though,
she’s run a wide variety of jobs. In some lives, she’s been skilled
labor. In one, she’s been a research investigator. In her most fa-
mous (the one in which she took the city of Los Angeles for her
own), she was a sharpshooter for traveling stage shows. She has
a great deal of experience to draw from.
An important note: Nobody can Reflect upon The Saint before
her initial journey into Los Angeles. She doesn’t appear to have
existed prior to that journey. She did exist, but powerful magics
have cut her associations. She made this choice to protect herself
when she moved to take power.
Roleplaying Suggestions: Always be plotting. Always scruti-
nize. Everything is a potential edge. Everything you do should
have purpose. Never waste an action or gesture. Keep the players
wondering what you’re doing or thinking. Everyone around you
is a tool. What can you do in order to get what you want out of
those tools? Nothing is too much, so long as it doesn’t cost you
another victory elsewhere. Force loyalty. Force obeisance.
The Saint’s Secret: Weakness in Love
The Saint cannot destroy her nemesis. Her nemesis is
Alejandrina Valdez. Worse for her, she’s broken one of
her cardinal rules: She’s fallen in love with Ali. She won’t
tell this to Ali, of course, as it’d be a sign of weakness.
But, she’s been attempting to learn more about her in
order to best seduce her away from Sarasvati Now! and
into her arms. From the outside, this probably looks like
stalking. However, The Saint is very good at making
people fall for her; she’s not good at actually initiating
honest relationships. She may conscript the characters
for advice, if they’re on good terms with her.
The Saint’s Secret: The Truth
Popular knowledge has The Saint confronting and
pushing back the monster Zubjar-Atrih, off Venice
Beach. She did this for the city, in exchange for her seat
of leadership. The truth is, the fight wasn’t much of a
fight. It was theater. She summoned forth Zubjar-Atrih
and made a deal with it in order to take back her au-
thority. The deal weakens the Eclipse off the Pacific
Coast, which keeps Verges appearing in the area and
keeps The Festive Court active. This is beyond simple
Void Walking. This is a direct deal that puts the world
in danger, over the temporal rulership of one region. If
the information got out, it’d destroy her. She’d likely be
Unmade.
27
 this is now
This is Now is a story in three acts for a Ring of Amaranthine,
set in Los Angeles. It works as a standalone story, or could be the
start of a longer Arc or Epic. At the end of the information are a
number of notes for extending the story, and things you should
consider when preparing the story.
It’s important you keep in mind that this is simply a skeleton;
a framework. Players at the table will choose to do things dif-
ferently. You have to be ready to improvise. For your sake, we’ve
included a load of story hooks throughout the rest of the book,
in case the players get so derailed that they go off in a completely
unexpected direction. Amaranthine fosters creativity; planning
only goes as far as your players allow.
Setup
Read the structure of the story in advance. If you intend on
using the overhead view picture for the building in Act 1, you
should print it ahead of time. Also, print out the Motivation
Cards at the end of the story. Hand them randomly to the play-
ers. There are ten, so you’ll have some left over. Those Motivation
Cards will help to get the characters in place for the hostage
situation in Act 1.
Act I: My Fellow Prisoners
Act 1 is a hostage situation. An immortal named Jerry takes
his workplace hostage after his First Reflection. The reason be-
ing, his First Reflection was with The Saint, and he remembered
graphic scenes where he was tortured by her in a past life. With-
out context, the glaring memories caused him untold stress, and
he snapped.
Depending on their Motivation Cards, characters will have
different reasons to come to help. He’s holed up in the sixth
floor of an older office building, in the corporate bank offices
that he worked at as a paper pusher. The office has about forty-
five employees trapped inside. By the time the Ring is on scene,
everyone else in the building has been evacuated, and a police
barricade waits outside and prepares for negotiations or a raid.
Security: The building’s security is light, since most of the se-
curity force has been escorted out by the police. Building secu-
rity isn’t trained to contend with hostage situations. However,
windows and doors still have active alarm systems, and there are
limited easy access points. The security systems aren’t top-of-
the-line though, and can be bypassed by someone skilled.
Jerry: Jerry doesn’t want to hurt anyone, but he doesn’t know
what to think. He feels as if he’s going insane. The Reflection
he shared with The Saint earlier that day was wildly traumatic.
She had him tied to a chair, and tortured him for hours in many
savage ways. He could have never imagined the things she did to
him. Needless to say, he’s shaken. Talking him down will be very
28
difficult. He’d need to be Shifted at least +3 toward the character
in order to even consider taking a reasonable stance (which is to
say, there’s no sense in making rolls unless the relationship has
hit that point). Jerry carries an automatic rifle. If push comes to
shove, he will use the Burst Fire Maneuver (see the Appendix).
Police: The police are at a standstill. They don’t want to risk
lives, and they’re not willing to negotiate in any meaningful way
with a hostage-taker. If things don’t get better quickly, they will
move in. This will almost certainly cause Jerry to respond badly,
and cause deaths. If they can get Jerry to a window, they might
have a sniper intervene.
Susan the Hero: During the confrontation, if Jerry has a mo-
ment of confusion, a teller named Susan will rush him and at-
tempt to knock away his weapon. She will not be successful
without split-second intervention of epic proportions (magic or
a Master or Epic Competency). If she’s not successful, Jerry will
shoot her, thus escalating the situation greatly.
Reflection: Use Jerry’s Reflections with the characters to build
a tense relationship from the start. While nothing stops the
characters from being friendly with him, the Reflection should
build an antagonistic history. In the sidebar, we’ve provided a
number of suggested Facts to use during the initial Reflection.
These suggested Facts could also work with The Saint, since she
tends toward adversarial histories with immortals.
Reflecting with Jerry
• Always betrayed you.
• Once tricked you into trusting me.
• Sometimes destroy your family.
• Never saw eye-to-eye with you.
• Always fed myself when you were hungry.
• Once backed down when you needed me.
• Sometimes let you wake alone.
• Never mourned your passing.
• Always dragged you down with me.
• Once paid respect for your lost loves.
• Sometimes married you out of convenience.
• Never meant to kill you.
• Always stood aside while you cried.
• Once reminded you why you do right.
• Sometimes overstayed your hospitality.
• Never let you be happier than with me.
• Always push your boundaries.
• Once killed you out of curiosity.
• Sometimes changed money in your house.
• Never gave “us” a fair chance.
 Act I: The Hostage Situation
Confession: Your goal as Director is to give Jerry’s confession.
But most importantly, make the players feel as if they’ve earned
it. Give it as a reward for some interesting thing they’ve done.
Did they appeal to reason? Did they appeal to emotion? Did
they kick in the doors with a well-executed plan and save lives?
Did they cry over Susan and melt his heart? His confession
should immediately draw The Saint into question. While she’s
known for killing, torture is always wrong to reasonable people.
Important Characters
Jerry
Jerry is desperate, worried, and confused. He wants nothing
more than to live a normal life again; but that possibility has
been forever taken from him. With a bit of discussion, he could
be made to understand how great his new life is. On the other
hand, the wrong kind of discussion could send him over the edge
and into a fit of violence and terror.
Description: Jerry is an average-looking, red-haired man in a
suit that’s seen better days. During his First Reflection, he near-
ly tore it off in a fit. He’s ill-groomed and shaking, his tension
stretches far beyond the present day. His voice shows concern
and defeat.
Jerry’s Secret: The Gun
When Jerry came into work today, he wasn’t plan-
ning on holding all his coworkers hostage. The Saint’s
entrance brought him to that decision. If he wasn’t plan-
ning this, then where did he get an assault rifle? Jerry
has been on outs for a while with his job and family.
His wife left him a month ago, and took the kids and
house with her. His job performance has been poorer
than usual, and an employee with Jerry’s level of senior-
ity is a liability. He’s one write-up away from termination.
He brought the rifle in with a box of donuts last week,
and hid it in his cubicle. If he’s called on why he had the
gun in the office to begin with, his guilt will get the best
of him and he’ll drop it.
Game Statistics
Character Value: 2
Approach: None yet, Legacy: Jerry never knows limits
Aggression: 4, Perseverance: 2, Creativity: 2
Will: 2, Tenacity: 3, Intensity: 3
Anamnesis: 6, Dominion: 1, Legacy: 0
Competencies
Influences: Banking 2, Exceptions: Persistent 2, Fatal-
ist 2, Aptitudes: Accountant 1, Soldier 1
Magic: None yet
29
 Susan the Hero
A hero, it’s been said, is somebody that gets innocent people
killed. Susan wants to save people, but she’s no match for a wired
Amaranthine. She’s a teller for a local bank, in on business with
the corporate offices today. She wasn’t expecting a hostage crisis,
and she wasn’t expecting to face down the barrel of a gun. But
she is the only person in the room with the courage to do some-
thing. That something just might get her killed, though.
Description: Susan’s bottle-blonde, 30, and pretty in a down-
home sort of way. She knew she was visiting corporate today,
so she wore the charcoal gray skirt-suit she wears to interviews,
the one she bought off the clearance rack the last time her boss
irritated her. She’s confident, smart, and courageous. She also
doesn’t have a whole lot to live for, so she’s willing to put herself
before others.
Susan’s Secret: Terminal
Susan has cancer. It’s ovarian cancer, and it’s not ter-
minal, but she thinks and acts as if it is. She needs a
lease on life, and she doesn’t know how to find it. Day in,
day out, she does the same things. She’s tired of them.
She’s tired of everything. She wants to make a differ-
ence. If you’re so inclined, you could awaken her as an
Amaranthine during this Act as a twist. Particularly if
she’s shot, thus as a way to save her.
Game Statistics
Character Value: 2
Legacy: Susan is always looking for her purpose
Aggression: 3, Perseverance: 3, Creativity: 2
Will: 2, Tenacity: 3, Intensity: 2
Competencies
Influences: Banking 1, Exceptions: Heroic 2, Longing
2, Aptitudes: Teller 2, Accountant 2
Act II: Hide Not Thy Wisdom
In Her Beauty
It’s assumed that, if the characters learn Jerry’s past with The
Saint, they’ll want to do something about it. Give the players a
bit of Los Angeles history; let them know The Saint’s reputation
with dissenters. If they decide to bring justice to her directly,
they’re in for quite a fight. If they attempt to talk to her, she’ll at-
tempt to seduce them to her side. She’s amongst the most com-
petent Amaranthine in the world, and she sees each one of the
Ring as a potential tool or an enemy.
Setting Up a Meeting: The Saint only meets by appointment.
If the characters attempt meeting with her, they’ll be asked to
meet at a little blues club in Burbank called The Black Swan.
She wants to meet one character alone. If they insist, she’ll meet
the group. She impresses upon them that she prefers one-on-one
discourse.
Social Encounter (Solo): If one character meets with her, she
will attempt to seduce them, and win them over to her cause.
She feels the best diplomat to the group will be a member, so if
she can make a member love her, she’s better off. She’ll lay it on
thick, using Social Maneuvers (namely Breaking Ice, Persuasion,
30
and Seduction,) and potentially even magic (namely Entice-
ment, see the Appendix,) in order to get her way. Her behavior
should always be suggesting, teasing, promising, and otherwise
controlling the conversation. If the character plays their cards
right, they could turn the tables, and seduce their way into her
good graces.
While the encounter occurs, encourage the other characters to
get involved in other ways. Do they spy? Do they connect with
The Board of Trustees? Give them ideas for how they can influ-
ence the eventual outcome. But even if they don’t get directly in-
volved, they should be able to add commentary and suggestions
out-of-character to the ‘private scene’.
Social Encounter (Group): If she meets with a group, she’ll try
to convince the group to work for her. She tells them that she
always needs talent. She’ll appeal to their particular strengths,
and promise them the world, political power, money, et cetera.
She wants them to give up on Jerry, and she’ll go to great lengths
to see it happen. If they push the issue of the torture, she’ll joke,
threaten, or whatever she thinks they need to hear. She’ll even
promise to commit penance (which is an utter lie) if she thinks
it’ll help.
A Fight: If they pick a fight with her, they’re in for a rough
time. She’s a remarkable combatant, as history has proven. She’ll
use her personal Maneuver, Union Busting (see the Appendix),
along with a plethora of others including Burst Fire (also in the
Appendix), Aim, Called Shot, Counterstrike, “Dragon Kick”,
Gun-Fu, Spray. She will always fight to win, in the fastest, most
brutal ways possible. Also, she has two machine pistols hidden
on her person, Enchanted with the Lethality spell. This means
they cause three additional Humor loss with every successful at-
tack. Her dress is Enchanted with Reinforcement, so any attacks
against her cause three less Humor loss. No matter what hap-
pens, she always leaves a survivor to tell the story; her reputation
is everything.
Espionage: If the characters attempt to spy on her, or otherwise
gather information, she’s quite open to such things. While she
doesn’t advertise her personal life, she also doesn’t hide much.
Characters might very well find out about her affair with Ale-
jandrina. The Saint still tortures her captured enemies, and the
habit is not infrequent for her. She regularly commits atrocities
that would have The Board turn on her in a heartbeat.
The Media (Your Goal): During this Act, your goal is to some-
how leak that The Saint is afraid of Sarasvati Now! getting hold
of her atrocities. She might let that slip, or it might come up in
an overheard conversation. If the characters spy on her and see
her with Alejandrina, it’ll be a topic of discussion. Regardless, if
the Sarasvati Ring learn her secrets, her career is as good as dead.
The Saint will attempt to turn the characters against Sarasvati if
possible.
Important Characters
The Saint
Much about The Saint has already been said in Part 3, and ear-
lier in this section. This includes integral secrets about her. In
this instance, remember first and foremost that she’s a survivor.
She succeeds whenever possible, and always looks for opportu-
nity. Do not use kid gloves.
 Game Statistics
Approach: Palatine, Legacy: The Saint can never de-
stroy her nemesis
Aggression: 8, Perseverance: 7, Creativity: 6
Will: 6, Tenacity: 7, Intensity: 7
Anamnesis: 6, Dominion: 8, Legacy: 7
Competencies
Influences: Political 3, Guild Unwilting Membership 4,
Exceptions: Uncompromising 3, Demanding 3, Apti-
tudes: Sharpshooter 3, Athlete 2, Serial Killer 2, Actress 3
Magic
Legerdemain: Light 3, Guns 3, Sorcery: Absorb Magic
3, Calling Forth the Flood 3, Healing 2, Identify 2, Paraly-
sis 1, Shielding 3, Enticement 3 (See Appendix), Enchant-
ment: Lethality 3, Oathcrafting 1, Reinforcement 3
Act III: Strive For the Truth
Unto Death
In the final Act of this story, the characters have the choice to
deliver information to Sarasvati Now!, or to hide the informa-
tion. If they choose to hide the information, the twist is that
Sarasvati knows the Ring can confirm long-held suspicions, and
they attempt to get the information out of them. If they give the
information, Sarasvati will want the Ring to help take The Saint
down. This could be through The Board, through direct confron-
tation, or through a smear campaign.
Give (The Board): The Board would love incriminating in-
formation about The Saint. However, in order to use it, they’ll
have to put her on trial. This means testifying before her. If the
Ring testifies, they’ll earn one of the most deadly enemies in the
world. If they refuse to, the Board will forever see the Ring as a
barrier to true progress in Los Angeles.
Give (Confrontation): As mentioned in Act 2, a confrontation
will generally be bad. However, with Sarasvati Now! backing
them, they stand better chance of success. The three women will
not fight directly, but will give support and suggestions. Alejan-
drina will abstain for suspicious reasons (she’ll say she feels sick).
However, Shelley will offer live support via earbuds, where she’ll
offer pointers based on her extensive knowledge of The Saint.
This will provide a full six dice of Privilege on all rolls against
The Saint.
Give (Smear): A smear campaign is far more abstract, yet much
safer than the other routes. The Saint will attempt a back and
forth chess match with Influences. However, The Ring should
have more than her, so in the end, they will prevail. With her
reputation gone, she cannot maintain her political power.
Keep (Debate): If the characters keep the information, Saras-
vati Now! will debate, barter, and plead for it. They’ll offer great
sums of money for their compliance. They’ll offer favors. They’ll
even offer political support if the characters wish to usurp and
replace The Saint.
The Affair (Your Goal): Alejandrina and The Saint are in a
sordid affair. It’s your goal to see that hinted at, and possibly
exposed. It could shake up the entire political structure of Los
Angeles if it gets out. That kind of shakeup could be a wonderful
end to your story, or beginning to your Epic.
Important Characters
The entire Sarasvati Now! Ring is important to this Act. They’re
featured in Part 3. As well, The Saint is featured in Part 3, as well
as Act 2 of this story.
Rebecca McCarran
Approach: Epicurean, Legacy: Rebecca speaks the truth
Aggression: 2, Perseverance: 4, Creativity: 7
Will: 5, Tenacity: 3, Intensity: 4
Anamnesis: 2, Dominion: 7, Legacy: 4
Competencies
Influences: Media 3, Guild Unwilting Membership 3, Excep-
tions: Informative 3, Aptitudes: Spokesperson 3, Journalist 2
Magic
Legerdemain: Trust 3, Enchantment: Oathcrafting 2, Pledge-
making 2
Alejandrina Valdez
Approach: Epicurean, Legacy: Shelley lets no crime go unpun-
ished
Aggression: 3, Perseverance: 7, Creativity: 3
Will: 5, Tenacity: 3, Intensity: 5
Anamnesis: 3, Dominion: 5, Legacy: 2
Competencies
Influences: Hacker Culture 3, Blogosphere 3, Guild Unwilting
Membership 2, Exceptions: Creative 3, Shy 2, Aptitudes: Hack-
er 3, Writer 2, Athlete 1
Magic
Legerdemain: Data 3, Enchantment: Reinforcement 2
Shelley Handley
Approach: Palatine, Legacy: The Saint can never destroy her
nemesis
Aggression: 8, Perseverance: 3, Creativity: 3
Will: 3, Tenacity: 5, Intensity: 5
Anamnesis: 8, Dominion: 2, Legacy: 4
Competencies
Influences: Street Gangs 3, Labor Unions 2, Exceptions: Re-
sourceful 3, Evasive 3, Aptitudes: Criminal 2
Magic
Legerdemain: Light 3, Guns 3, Sorcery: Absorb Magic 2, Call-
ing Forth the Flood 1, Healing 2, Identify 3, Scrying 3, Entice-
ment 1 (See Appendix), Thaumaturgy: Earthquake
Resolution
At the end of the story, the status quo should be shaken, one
way or another. Either the characters have shaken The Saint’s
power base (and potentially ousted her from her position), or
they’ve lessened the power of the only media outlet keeping The
Saint accountable for her actions. This is a good place to end,
or to begin something greater. No matter how the story ended,
the characters should have made both friends and enemies. At
the end of the story, allow the players each five dice to Step Re-
lationships toward them, or their own toward others, however
they’d like.
31
 Motivation Cards
You are asked into a meeting with The Saint, the
leader of Los Angeles. She tells you that a man is
holding hostages in a bank building downtown.
She says the man is Amaranthine, and that you
are assigned to fix the problem. She says she’ll be
greatly pleased if you are successful. But if you’re
not... She trails off. “Just be successful,” she tells
you.
You’re watching the television. You see a hostage
situation on the news. A downtown office build-
ing is being held up by a man with an assault rifle.
You recognize the man: He’s your mortal cousin!
If he’s left in this situation, he’ll likely be shot and
killed when the police lose their patience.
You’re reading the news. You flip through the
classified section, and you see an odd advertise-
ment. It lists a date and a time. Today, fifteen
minutes from now. It also lists an address. You
have a brief flash: You know you put this message
here. Somehow.
You’re downtown, grabbing a bite to eat from one
of the food trucks. In the distance, you hear loud
noises. You approach out of curiosity, and you see
a police blockade around an office building. You
listen a bit, and you overhear that a man with an
assault rifle has over forty hostages inside.
You get a call from a friend. She’s panicked. She
says, “I’m at work. Downtown. Some guy with
a gun... He’s holding up the place. I don’t know
what to do. I didn’t know who to call. The police
are outside, but I think he’s going to shoot!” You
know where she works. It’s downtown in the fi-
nancial district.
32
One of your Influences gives you a call. He says
there’s a situation downtown you might be inter-
ested in knowing about. A guy with a gun is hold-
ing up a major trading bank. He doesn’t know the
details, but he thought it was weird they were
holding up the corporate office, and not a branch.
You’re amidst a sexual encounter with a young
journalist you recently met. During your experi-
ence, she gets a call. You hear her say, “Uh, huh.
What? There’s a hostage situation downtown?
Um. Can you get someone else to cover it? I’m
kind of...” She sighs. “Yes, sir. I’ll be right there.”
You’ve been flirting back and forth with a local
police officer. He seems to have a thing for you.
In the middle of your discussion, he gets a page.
“Damn it.” He tells you. “There’s a huge thing go-
ing on downtown. Hostage situation at a bank’s
corporate offices. I’ve got to go. But, can I get your
number?”
You’re downtown. You feel someone bump into
you. A pickpocket just grabbed your wallet! As
you turn, you notice he slips into an enormous
crowd of people gathered around an office build-
ing. There are police and emergency services. You
hear someone say that there are hostages inside.
The pickpocket made his way through the bar-
ricade, and inside.
You get a text. A friend of yours that works in a
political phone bank downtown says, “U WONT
BELIEVE THIS. ACROSS THE HALL, PSY-
CHO W/ GUN HOLDING 120 HOSTAG-
ES!!!” You know where the office is. Across from
the call center is a bank’s corporate offices.
 Story Notes
These are some final considerations you should take if you plan on using This is Now to start an Epic in the
Los Angeles setting.
• Characters should not have ties to The Board over 100 years old. Focus heavily on their history in the
past century. Encourage Reflections to build into the history of Los Angeles, to help flesh out the setting.
• The Saint might leave power, but she’ll never leave Los Angeles. She’s made to be a recurring rival or other
lasting part of the setting. She can be killed or chased off in-theory, but it should never be by trivial effort.
• Because of Alejandrina’s love for The Saint, even an ideal relationship with the Sarasvati Now! Ring will
always be somewhat tainted. They should never be purely friends.
• The Guild Unwilting has many rivals, internal and external. If the players’ Ring becomes prominent
within the Guild, those rivals will become their own. If they become enemies of the Guild, those rivals
might become potential allies.
• Consider using Susan’s awakening as a way to contrast all the entrenched characters in the setting. Let
them introduce the characters to the setting, and let them introduce Susan. That way the characters feel
established, and their players can feel as if they’re helping to create the setting.
• Los Angeles only receives minor details in a handful of areas. Let the players flesh this out. Let them cre-
ate new locations. If they want to do the research and bring in real-life places, allow it. Remember, with
Sanguine Humor, players can make open declarations about the setting. Encourage it. Reward it.
• Since Los Angeles is so very big, you may need to keep extensive Relationship Wheel lists. Go in with
that expectation in mind. Consider discussing how these relationships change in downtime between
games. Use those Relationship Wheels to represent the way time flows.
• Discuss major story characters with the players before games start. Allow them to cherrypick characters
that might mesh well with their own, and establish relationships in advance. As well, if they feel any roles
need filling in the city, encourage the players to help you develop supporting cast members.
• Allow players access to the trait options in the Appendix. Most are catered specifically to the setting.
Some are special tricks some characters use. If you’re interested in doing so, and your players want to, use
those characters as mentors to teach these traits. It’s an easy excuse for a fun story.
• If you intend on running an extended game, discuss the various factions with your players. Let them be
members if they’d like, and encourage them to build on the established frameworks.

33
 appendix
This section details many of the tricks, techniques, and spells
used by Amaranthine of Los Angeles. While they’re prominent
in LA, none of these are exclusive to the area.
Brothers-In-Arms
Social Maneuver
The monster stood before Kevin, gun outstretched.
The monster was once a man, but was now barely
recognizable as such. Kevin shuddered at the gaping
pustules on the former man’s face. That shudder was
enough time for the monster to squeeze the tendril on
the trigger. Kevin flinched and expected to die as his
hearing went dead from the blast. When he didn’t feel
the bullet, he looked around in shock.
Rory smashed in the monster’s head-analogue. Kevin
curled a smile. Then, he saw the wound. Rory took the
shot for Kevin. Rory smirked, shrugged, and slid to the
ground as the blood loss overtook his consciousness.
“If he survives this,” Kevin thought, “I’m buying his ass
a beer.”
Character Requirement: None
Object Requirement: None
Leverage: Offer to take a number of Humor loss (Cho-
leric, Phlegmatic, or Sanguine) equal to the desired
dice to Step. Your character gets in the way of blows,
pushes the character out of the way, or otherwise sucks
up injury for the Maneuver’s object.
Effects: If your object accepts, the next injuries they
suffer (up to the designated amount) go to you. Come
up with a reasonable explanation as to why that hap-
pens. At the end of the scene, the object Steps one die
toward you for every such Humor suffered.
The Devil’s in the Details
Enchantment
Julie buzzed the intercom. “Rudy, send in my five o’
clock.” A young man stepped into the office, wearing a
suit he likely stole from his father. He wiped his brow
then clasped his hands behind his back upon entering.
He offered up an awkward smile. Julia caught his gaze.
He froze.
“I, I,” he stuttered. “I’ve worked for you before?” Julia
nodded. “And you always do right by me,” he said,
wavering between a question and a statement. Julia
nodded again. The young man raised an eyebrow.
Not only was he unfamiliar with spontaneous past life
regression, but something felt wrong about his memory
that he just couldn’t place.
Julia stood, approached him, and stroked his face. He
shuddered somewhere between fear, delight, and con-
fusion. “You won’t disappoint me this time, will you?”
He swallowed hard, and shook his head.
34
Cost: Three Sanguine Humor per rank used.
Effects: This ritual must be cast upon an Amaran-
thine that has yet to undergo their First Reflection,
and requires a personal possession of the immortal-
to-be. That makes the ritual quite tricky, requiring the
caster to use mortal agents or subtle magics to procure
something from the subject, if the subject can even be
found in the first place. Describe a Reflection with one
sentence per rank of the Enchantment. The first time
the new immortal meets another immortal, their First
Reflection starts with the described sentences, and
further sentences must add to that memory.
Burst Fire
Violent Maneuver
“You can’t hit me. You’ve seen me dodge bullets. I can
move faster than you can pull that trigger, Tiger.” He
grinned, challenging her.
“You’re right. But, when I saw you dodge Bert’s shot,
it clipped your jacket. I believe I have a thirty percent
chance of hitting you. That’s with the first shot. Each
additional shot adds another ten percent or so, each
slightly less than the last. If I launch enough bullets,
I’ve got statistics on my side”. She braced the rifle,
pulled the trigger, and let loose a shower of bullets.
The first and second missed. The third took Jameson’s
knee with it. He wasn’t apprehended just yet, but she
knew she could catch him if he tried to run.
Item Maneuver: Yes, Unique
Requirements: Intermediate Competency, Character
Value 2
Roll Required: Nerve + Competency vs Shield -2
Effects: When you fire a short burst of bullets, each is
less likely to hit than if you’d fired one. But you’re likely
to hit with at least one. If successful, cause 2 Choleric
Humor loss. Remarkable: Cause 4 Choleric Humor
loss. Until the start of your next Maneuver, your Shield
is considered two lower.
A Chain Unbroken
Enchantment (Court Enchantment)
Kitty and Kevin made way through the building quietly.
Kitty held up a gun, ready for whatever might jump out
at them. Kevin didn’t know what was going to happen,
so he came unarmed and shaking.
“What are we looking for again?” Kevin asked.
“Shhhh! Wait!” Kitty snapped, then blinked a few
times. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
Kevin narrowed his eyes. “Why? I thought this place
needed torching.”
“It does. But Sahar’s in trouble.”
“Isn’t she in Denver? How do you know?”
“I just do, okay?” She backed out of the building and
ran to her car.
Cost: At the time of casting, participants must col-
lectively spend at least fifty Sanguine Humor. When
adding a new member, the new member must spend
five Sanguine Humor, and the Court as a whole must
spend fifteen.
Effects: Upon joining the Court, a member gains the
Basic rank of this Enchantment immediately. The
member’s level determines their degree of sympathy
for their fellow members. The feeling is different for
each of them, but they can identify it. At Basic level,
they have a feeling whenever a member of the Court
within the same metropolitan area is close to death. At
Intermediate level, the sense stretches to the continent,
and can identify any strong emotional states. At Master
level, the sense stretches worldwide. Additionally, for
a point of Sanguine Humor, members may telepathi-
cally transmit a single sentence of information to one
another. At Epic level, telepathic communication is free,
clear, and fluid.
Enticement
Sorcery
“We’re done here. I refuse to live in a city where you’re
free to do and kill whatever you want. You’re a cancer,
Linda.” Scott threw a docket to the floor, challenging.
“You’ve murdered enough of my friends. I know I can’t
stop you. But I sure as hell won’t stay here and watch it
happen again.”
The Saint met his gaze. “But you love me.” She whis-
pered.
“But I love you.” He whispered back, approached, and
took her hands. She drew him in to kiss him.
Cost: One Sanguine Humor. Gain one Melancholic Hu-
mor for every Shift below +6 that your subject has to-
ward you (this means as many as twelve, in the case of
someone with -5).
Effects: This spell forces impassioned but temporary
love from even the greatest enemy. For the remainder
of the scene, the subject’s Relationship toward you be-
comes On Fire. However, it cannot be used as a nega-
tive (see Amaranthine pg 61 for more on On Fire status).
At the end of the scene, the subject Shifts once away
from you. However, they can instead choose to Shift
once toward you and gain a point of Sanguine Humor.
As well, any Social Maneuvers become more difficult to
resist. Basic: To refuse Leverage in a Social Maneuver,
the subject must spend one Sanguine Humor. Interme-
diate: As above, but two Sanguine Humor. Master: As
above, but three Sanguine Humor. Epic: As above, but
either all Sanguine Humor or three, whichever is greater.
Note: This spell may change the resulting Shifts as
result of Maneuvers used while the subject is Enticed.
Most sorcerers would be unwise to pass the opportunity
to ingratiate their thralls during the spell’s effects.
Gun to a Knife Fight
Violent Maneuver - Interrupt
“Don’t step any closer unless you want a bullet in your
brainpan. You’ve got a lot to live for this lifetime, and
you’re not going to catch me, so just give it up.” Soleil
backed toward the door carefully.
Janine leaped forward and thrust a quick jab into
Soleil’s chin while the man went for his gun. He reeled
back and panicked, patting his chest for the holster.
“Not this time, Soleil. This lifetime, you’re going to see
justice for all the times you never did.”
Item Maneuver: No
Requirements: Master Competency, Character Value
3, The Edge
Roll Required: Sword + Competency vs Nerve
If an opponent is close enough to strike with body or
weapon within a few steps (about twenty feet) and
they’re attempting to pull a gun, you may use this Inter-
rupt by spending one Sanguine Humor. If successful,
you cause 1 Choleric Humor loss. In addition, your
opponent may not use a gun during the Maneuver you
Interrupted. While they may change their Maneuver
choice, they cannot use the gun. Remarkable: Cause 2
Choleric Humor loss and knock the gun from their hand
in a random direction. It’ll take a dedicated Maneuver to
find and seize it.
Membership: The Guild Unwilting
Competency - Influence
This Influence reflects your station within The Guild Un-
wilting. Basic Competency reflects recognized member-
ship and a given amount of respect within the Court.
Intermediate Competency reflects a proven Committee
position with a solid track record. Master Competency
reflects the role of a proven Committee lead or a mem-
ber of the Board of Trustees. Epic Competency is re-
served for the President. While Reflections can tempo-
rarily boost Influence, it cannot boost this Influence to
Epic Competency unless you’ve established that your
character was an irrefutable leader during one of The
Saint’s absences. The President maintains Epic Com-
petency, despite the normal limitations.
Effects: For every rank in this Competency, you gain
one free point of Privilege (two dice) on any roll where
your authority would apply. This does apply against re-
bellious and traitorous characters, so long as they’re
aware of your authority and reputation, and you’re within
the scope of the Guild’s influence.
35

Once More for the Road
Social Maneuver
“You told me you were done with Steven.” James
crossed his arms and looked away in a huff.
“I am! I’m done with him. I just…” Daniel stopped, and
bit his lower lip. “I didn’t know if I was going to see him
again. The Saint’s on a warpath and Steven’s on her
shit list. She called us for a meeting. I thought she was
gonna kill him. I’m sorry. Is that what you need to hear?
I’m fucking sorry!” He threw up his arms in defeat.
“No. No, Daniel. I don’t know what I need to hear. But
whatever it is, it’s not from you.” He slammed the door
on his way out.
Character Requirement: +3 toward the object
Object Requirement: +3 toward you
Leverage: In order to use this Maneuver, you must
violate the object’s trust with another person. The most
common method is cheating in a relationship. This
could be any number of things though, including ‘going
off the wagon’. Offer to Shift twice toward the object,
and the object Shifts twice away from you. The object
gains three automatic successes that they can use in
any rolls against you, divided however they’d like, over
the course of the Arc.
Effects: If your object accepts, and you commit the act
to breach trust, you gain three automatic successes
on any rolls of your choice, divided however you’d like,
over the course of the Episode. The only stipulation is
that they cannot be used in rolls against the object.
36
Pillow Talk
Social Maneuver
“It’s really not a big deal,” Martin mumbled, his cheeks
turning bright red for the first time that evening. “I’m just
an electronic hall monitor, really.”
The curvy blonde entangled in the thin, motel-quality
sheets with him pressed closer to his side. “I don’t know
about that. I mean, with that kind of access, I bet you
come across lots of interesting things.” Her lips brushed
the curve of his bare shoulder and her hand wandered
down his chest, then lower.
Martin chuckled, then sighed as he relaxed under her
caresses. “No shit. You’d think people would not use
their work email for personal stuff. This one time, we
caught one guy using his email for porn notifications.
And that’s just scraping the surface.”
“Oh wow, really?” she murmured, sounding just inter-
ested enough. Martin couldn’t see the smile spreading
on her lips as he kept talking.
Character Requirement: None
Object Requirement: +2 or higher toward you
Leverage: Offer a personal secret to the object. You
can give the secret away before the object accepts to
give them an idea of the scope of the secret you want
from them, or give them the secret after the object ac-
cepts, so as not to give away more than you receive
in return. You can also offer to Step toward them a
number of dice equal to their Creativity.
Effects: If your object accepts, you gain one important,
truthful secret related to one of their Competencies.
People love to talk about what they do best, especially
when intimate acts tear down any imagined social bar-
riers between them. At the end of the scene, the object
Shifts toward you once, as they feel they can trust you.
If your object declines, they offer a less important tidbit,
and they Shift once away from you as they realize
you’re pumping them for information.
Union Busting
Violent Maneuver
The Saint carried three weapons into the fight. First,
she carried knowledge of her opponents. As Hideo and
Clyde moved in, she prepared for the judo and barek-
nuckle boxing tactics they’d employ. She ducked out of
the way of both opening blows. Second, she carried her
reputation. Both men’s eyes went wide as she dodged
their masterful blows. She used their moment of shock
to both trip Clyde and plant an elbow into Hideo’s solar
plexus. Third, she carried a Colt 1917. With a swift shot
downward, she ended Clyde’s current existence and
made Hideo think twice about continuing his attack.
Item Maneuver: No
Requirements: The Edge, Membership: Guild Unwilt-
ing (see below)
Roll Required: Sword + Competency vs Nerve
Effects: In order to use this Maneuver, you must be
battling multiple opponents. The leader of the opposing
force must be a current or former member of The Guild.
You must have Membership: The Guild Unwilting at a
higher level than any member of the opposing force. If
successful, cause one point of Choleric, Phlegmatic,
and/or Sanguine Humor loss to your target for every
active and conscious member of the opposing force.

37