The night beauty died

I was there the night beauty died.

Diana Iadanza, radiant, untouchable, a Justicar among artists stood beneath invisible chandeliers, ready to host a Grand Ball that would never be remembered. The music should have risen. The dancers should have gathered. Instead, the night was torn apart by blades and blood. The Assamites came like a storm, silent, precise, inevitable. There was no elegance, no negotiation, only violence. The Ball never began. The Toreador dream burned before the first note could be played.

This Saturday I finally had a chance to play VTES with friends again, and what better setting than a pub in Cambridge, because nothing says "eternal struggle" like ordering drinks between turns and trying to remember your pool count over background chatter.

David brought his Lasombra, Manuel arrived with his ever-reliable Assamites, Aaron gave the Salubri a spin, and I, of course, brought the Toreadors. Someone had to represent culture at the table.

The seating ended up as: Salubri > Lasombra > Assamite > Toreador. A perfectly reasonable arrangement, if your definition of reasonable includes being hunted by professional assassins.

The game began slowly, as it often does when everyone pretends not to be dangerous yet. Karif, Gnaeus, Opikun and Diana all made their appearances, and we spent the early turns setting up, quiet, cautious and slightly suspicious of one another. My starting crypt was kind, with two additional princes waiting, so I felt optimistic.

That optimism didn't last long. The Salubri escalated things first when Opikun equipped a weapon dealing aggravated damage, effectively announcing that close combat was now a terrible idea. Aaron was immediately promoted to "problem" and David had to tread carefully as his prey. Meanwhile, the Assamites started handing out Contracts like invitations nobody wanted. Manuel made several attempts on me, but I managed to deflect those attacks toward the Salubri, slowly draining his pool. David joined in on the redirection game as well, occasionally passing pressure back to the Assamites. It was one of those tables where no one wanted attention, but everyone kept receiving it anyway.

By the late game, all of us had three vampires out. My Toreador trio (Diana, Catalina and Flavio) were finally ready, but my hand had other ideas. For what felt like ages, I drew no political actions at all. A Toreador deck without politics feels like hosting a gala with no music. technically impressive, but deeply disappointing. Eventually, though, I drew Kine Resources Contested and things started moving. With a clear vote advantage, I pushed it through, dropping the Salubri to 3 pool and the Assamites to 10, while I remained comfortably at 9.

Then came Camarilla’s Iron Fist, the perfect follow-up. Elegant. Devastating. The finishing move. The encore after the performance. The action succeeded. I counted the votes. I had five. David had four. Everything aligned. And then, like a perfectly timed heckle from the shadows, David played Ominous Chorus. Suddenly, my carefully orchestrated masterpiece lost its rhythm. The numbers shifted. The vote failed. The Salubri lived. And just like that, the Toreador dream collapsed.

The aftermath was swift. Over the next two rounds, the Assamites dismantled my board, burning some of my vampires and leaving the rest too drained to do anything meaningful. It turns out that missing your big moment in VTES often leads to someone else having theirs. In the end, the timer saved me and we all walked away with half a victory point.

I never got to play Grand Ball, which felt almost poetic. Even funnier, the pub had live music that night and a band started playing halfway through our game. So while my Toreadors failed to host their own grand event, the background music ensured the atmosphere was still appropriately dramatic, though communication became slightly more challenging.

The game itself was fantastic. The Salubri performed impressively, the Assamites were relentless and I even had a brief alliance with the Lasombra: we each saved one of the other's vampires from torpor, which in VTES terms is practically a lifelong friendship. We laughed, we bled and we would absolutely do it again.

The game never ends, only pauses. I'll see you at the next move.

Custodian Hargrave