Nights Black Agents - Dracula Dossier Directors Handbook

NIGHT'S BLACK AGENTS

DIRECTOR'S HANDBOOK

kenneth hite gareth ryder-hanrahan

by and

night's black agents

director's handbook by

kenneth hite and Gareth ryder-Hanrahan

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook Publisher: Cathriona Tobin Authors: Kenneth Hite, Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan Contributors: Heather Albano, Paul Baldowski, Kennon Bauman, Walt Ciechenowski, Justin Farquhar, Elsa S. Henry, Carol Johnson, Marissa Kelly, Shoshana Kessock, Shawn Merwin, James Palmer, Nathan Paoletta, Will Plant, Wes Schneider, Christopher Sniezak, Phil Vecchione Cartography: Olivia Catroppa, Chris Huth, Will Jobst, Gill Pearce, Joachim de Ravenbel, Simon Rogers, Ralf Schemmann Overland and area map data originated in Mapbox Art Direction: Kenneth Hite, Cathriona Tobin Cover art: Dennis Detwiller Interior art: Stefano Azzalin, Francesca Baerald, Gennifer Bone, Jeff Brown, Tyler Clark, Nyra Drakae, Dean Engelhardt, Melissa Gay, Brittany Heiner, Jérôme Huguenin, Chris Huth, Christian Knutsson, Anna Kryczkowska, Erica Leveque, David Lewis Johnson, Pat Loboyko, Rich Longmore, Amanda Makepeace, Juha Makkonen, Angelus Nex (Tina X Filic), Olivia Ongai, Margaret Organ-Kean, Nathan Paoletta, Jen Estirdalin Pattison, Brittany Pezzillo, Jeff Porter, Danielle Sands, Biddy Seiveno, Patricia Smith, Ernanda Souza, Marc Steinmann, Ashley Vanchu, Alicia Vogel, Britney Winthrope Cover design: Chris Huth Layout: Chris Huth Copyediting: Kenneth Hite, Christopher Smith Adair Security Consultant: Sidney Bishopsgate Playtesters: James d'Amato, David Campbell, Chris Crofts, Dan Faltisco, General Ironicus, Neil Kelly, Christine Maunsell, Mark McCann, Shawn Merwin, Nathan Paoletta, Edel Ryder-Hanrahan, Andrew G. Smith, Christopher Sniezak, Zach Webber Dedicated with respect and appreciation to

sir christopher lee (1922-2015)

Secret Warrior and One True Dracula

"We have on our side power of combination - a power denied to vampire-kind" - Van Helsing.

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Tony Calidonna, Tony Kemp, Tony Seibel, Tony Semana, Tony Strongman, Top Deck Games, tophatv20, Toth Csaba Gabor, Tracy Barnett/Exploding Rogue Studios, Travis Foster, Travis Johnson, Travis S Casey, Trevor Bailey, Tristan Knight, TSCLRBLK, Tte cnel (ret) Alexis G Díaz Gestor de Operaciones G-2 FFDD (QEPD), Tucker McKinnon, Tun Kai Poh, Tyler Lanser, Victor Fajardo Lopez, victorpc, Ville Halonen, Ville Makkonen, Vincent Arebalo, Vincent Eaton-Valencia, Vyacheslav Naumkin, Vyv Baker, W David Pattison, Wade Geer, Wade Rockett, Wayne Budgen, wesley cole, Wesley E Marshall, Wesley Griffin, Wesley naval, Whit Mattson, Will Ciaburri, William Kahler, William Plant, William T Carmichael, William Thompson, Wolfgang Reich, wolpaladin, Wright Rickman, Xavier AubuchonMendoza, Yan Périard, Yohann Delalande, Yoshi Creelman, Z Pavic, Zachary Johnson, Zachary Kline, Zachary Weber, Zack Wenning, Zeb Doyle, Zed Lopez, Zoltán Déry

FOREWORD8 OPERATION EDOM: EYES ONLY BRIEFING

Bold Experiments Desperate Measures Hidden Hunts Black Assets

10 10 11 11

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK: OPENING THE DOSSIER what is the dracula dossier?

What’s in This Book?

defaults and assumptions 15 The Default Dracula The Default Dossier Names and Worknames The Default Campaign The Dracula Conspyramid Dracula's Vampyramid Edom Pyramid Legacies and the Story Map Summing Up

15 15 15 16 16 18 20 24 25

your dracula dossier campaign

How Do the Agents Acquire the Dossier? Does Edom Have a Vampire? Do Other Agencies Know About Vampires? Does Dracula Have Any More Vampires? Do Vampires Work the Way Van Helsing Thought They Did? How Thoroughly Has Dracula Penetrated Britain? Is Jack the Ripper Involved Somehow? In Life, Which Historical Figure, If Any, Was Dracula? Who Blew the First Operation Edom in 1894? What Was Edom's Actual Plan in 1977?

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THE 1894 NETWORK the originals

32 32

Jonathan Harker Wilhemina Murray Harker Abraham Van Helsing Lucy Westenra Dr. John "Jack" Seward Arthur Holmwood Quincey Morris Kate Reed R. M. Renfield Peter Hawkins Inspector Cotford Francis Aytown

32 33 33 34 35 36 36 37 38 39 39 40

legacies40 Lucy Blythe (née Harker) Billie Harker J. Q. Harker Philip Holmwood, Lord Godalming Tabitha Holmwood Geerd Hoorn (Van Helsing) Thad Morris Carmilla Rojas Dr. Jacqueline Seward

41 42 43 43 44 45 46 46 47

OPPOSITION FORCES 49 edom49 "D"49 "Dr. Drawes" 50 Dukes of Edom 50 Elvis (Alvah) 50 Fort (Mibzar) 51 Hound (Kenaz) 51 Ian (Iram) 51 Nails (Jetheth) 52 Oakes (Elah) 52 Osprey (Oholibamah) 52 Pearl (Pinon) 52 Prince (Magdiel) 53 Tinman (Teman) 53 Tyler (Timnah) 53 1894 Vampire 53 HMS Proserpine Ratings 54

the conspiracy

Regional Assets The Satanic Cult of Dracula

54 54 55

Dracula56 Brides of Dracula 57 Renfields 57 The Silent Servants 58 Telluric Vampires 59 Telluric Powers 59 Banes60 Blocks60 Dreads61 Requirements61

third forces

Abhartach61 Alraune62 Powers and Statistics 63 The American Vampire 63 Elizabeth Báthory 65 Independent Báthory 65 Cerneati66 Powers and Statistics 67 Jenglot67 Jin-Gui68 Lilith69 Orlok70 Powers and Statistics 71 Queen Tera 71 Mummies72 Red Jack 73 Powers and Statistics 73 Solomonari74 Powers and Statistics 74 Other National Vampire Programs 75 China75 Germany75 Israel75 Russia76 Turkey76 United States 76 The Vatican 76

PEOPLE78 workname table 79 1940 people 80 Acting Director of MI5 80 Anti-Communist81 Former Gehlen Org 82 Iron Guardsman 83 Late Con Artist 84 Neo-Nazi85

table of contents Pensioner86 "Van Sloan" 87

1977 people

Alleged Mole 89 Anthropologist90 Balkans Specialist 91 CIA Agent 91 "Cushing"92 Defector93 The Hungarian 94 Informant95 MI5 Deputy 95 Psychic96 Retired KGB Agent 97 Retired MI6 Asset Runner 98 Retired MI6 Computer Boffin 99 Sculptor 100 Seismologist 100

2011 people

102

Arms Runner 102 Art Forecaster 103 Black Site Interrogator 104 BND Deep-Cover Agent 105 Bookseller106 Bucharest Private Detective 107 Bucharest Street Cop 108 Bureaucrat108 Chief of Station, Bucharest 109 Chinese Agent 110 DIFC Tasker 111 Dissident112 Drug Boss 113 Enigmatic Monsignor 114 Ex-IRA Informant 115 GCHQ Romania Desk Analyst 115 Hildesheim Legacy 116 "Hopkins"117 "Mr. Hopkins" 117 Human Rights Activist 118 Human Trafficker 118 Icelandic Diplomat 119 Journalist120 Madman121 Medievalist122 MI5 Agent 122 MI6 Lamplighter 123 MI6 Romania Desk Analyst 124 NATO Liaison 125 Online Mystic 126 Petroleum Executive 127 Pharmaceutical Researcher 128 Radical Imam 129 Real Estate Broker 129 Romanian Police Inspector 130 Smuggler131 Sniper131

SRI Agent in Charge 133 Syrian General 133 Tabloid Journalist 134 Tour Guide 135 Turkish Agent 136 Volcanologist136

names at your fingertips 138 British138 German138 Hungarian138 Roma138 Romanian139 Slovak139 Turkish139 Ukrainian139

Slains Castle 176 Whitby177

london179 Aërated Bread Company 182 Albemarle Hotel 183 The X Club 184 British Library 184 Carfax185 Coldfall House 188 Cross Angel Cold Storage 189 Hillingham 190 Kingstead Cemetery 191 Korea Club 192 London Zoo 192 Norman Shaw Buildings 193 Safe House Network 194 Seward's Asylum 195 Sotheby's Auction House 198

NODES140 novel nodes 141 romania199 Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels 141 Axel Logistics Billington & Sons Burdett's Private Bankers Fortified Monastery of St. Peter HGD Shipping Klopstock & Billreuth, Bankers Leutner Fabrichen Ruvari Sgzany

other nodes in romania

141 142 143 144 145 145 146 147

148

Al-Qaeda in Rûm 148 Echipa Mortii 149 Heal the Children 150 National Institute for Earth Physics 151 Romanian Government 151 Cabinet152 Politia Româna 154 Serviciul Informatii de Externe (SIE) 155 Serviciul Român de Informatii (SRI) 156 Romanian Mafia 157 Sample Romanian Mafia Clan: “The Monks” 158 Station Bucharest 159

other nodes The Caldwell Foundation Extraordinary Objects Department Nox Therapeutics Operation Gladio Slovakian Border and Alien Police

Bistrita (Bistritz) 203 "Black Light" Black Site 204 "Castle Dracula" 207 The State of Castle Dracula 207 Finding Castle Dracula 208 Castles in Romania 208 Outside Romania 212 Locations in the Castle 213 Galati 217 Pitesti Prison 218 The Scholomance 219 Concealed219 Desolate222 Effects of the Scholomance 222 Connections222 Strasba Orphanage 223 Romania: Ethnic Faultlines 223

argentina225 germany226 Dead House, Munich 226 Dolingen Tomb, Munich 227 Old Pinakothek Museum, Munich 228

160 hong kong 229 160 hungary230 161 162 163 164

LOCATIONS165 britain166 Exeter167 HMS Proserpine 169 Other Ports 172 Ring172

Hospital of St. Joseph and Ste. Mary, Budapest

230

iceland231 Barnafoss Laki

231 234

ireland235 Bram Stoker Dun Dreach-Fhola

235 235

israel236 Black Site Khoshekh

236

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook italy238 Classense Library, Ravenna Santa Maria la Nova, Naples Vesuvius Observatory, Naples

238 239 242

netherlands243 Van Helsing’s House, Amsterdam 243 Vanderpool Glass-House, Haarlem 244

slovakia245 Cachtice Castle

245

turkey247 Monastic Caverns Hotel, Mustafapasa 247 The Orient Express 248 Connections250 Tokat Castle 250

united states

Camp Midnight The Rosenbach Museum, Philadelphia

252 253

establishing shots

254

Archives or Library Cemetery Chinese Market Dive Bar Forest Hospital Hotel, Tourist Hotel, Transient Motorcade River Dockyards Safe House Strip Club Subway Station Warehouse

254 255 255 255 256 256 256 257 258 258 258 259 259 261

OBJECTS262 Aytown's Photographic Studies 262 Cameos of Dracula 263 Cryptic Lockbox 264 Earth-Disturbance Urn 265 Earthquake Device 266 Elizabeth Báthory's Journal 267 Golem Parchment 268 The Harker Rosary 268 Jasper Harker's Daybook 269 Jeweled Dagger 270 John Dee's Journal 270 Kate Reed's Diary 271 Knife Set 272 Le Dragon Noir 273 Makt Myrkranna Correspondence 275 Portrait of Dracula 275 Radu 276 Renfield’s Journal 277

Sealed Coffin Spirit Board Stoker's Notes Tepes Tapestries Vampire Hunting Kit Vanderpool Garlic Vial of Blood Westenra Brooch The Zohar of Moses de León

SCENARIO SPINES spine 1: london heat The Hook The Curtain The Wakeup The First Reveal The Blowback The Twist The Final Reveal

spine 2: covering our tracks The Hook The Curtain The Wakeup The Stall The First Reveal The Blowback The Twist The Relief The Final Reveal

spine 3: for the dead talk fast The Hook The Curtain The Setup The Wakeup The First Reveal The Twist The Final Reveal The Confrontation

278 279 280 280 281 283 284 284 285

287 288 288 288 288 288 288 288 288

289 289 289 289 289 289 289 289 289 289

290 290 290 290 290 290 290 290 290

The Frozen Climb The Plummeting Water The Dark Depths The Eye of the Whirlpool

russian roulette Entry Vectors Deputy Press Secretary Russian Security The Russian Vampire Program Bucharest Security Mood Beats Phase 1: Preparation Phase 2: Implementation Phase 3: Isolation Phase 4: Endgame

the tomb of dracula

299 301 301 301

302 303 304 305 305 305 306 306 307 307 307

308

Dracula's True Death Dracula's Rebirth Dracula’s Ritual Gateways Finding Dracula's Tomb Where Is It? At the Tomb Powers of the Tomb

308 308 308 308 309 309 311 311

CAMPAIGN FRAMES the abhorrent truth

313 313

Dracthulhu or Draculathotep or 313 Through a Trapezohedron Darkly 314 Mythos Locations 315 Castle Ferenczy 315 The Black Stone 316 Mythos Vampires 317 Feasters From the Stars 317 Rat-Things317 Resurrected Ones 318 Spawn of Yog-Sothoth 318 Vampirish Vapours 318 Using The Dracula Dossier in Trail of Cthulhu 319 The Dracula Dossier: 193- 319

CAPSTONES291 they saved hitler s blood! 320 ' Running This Campaign Frame 320 zalmoxis rising 289 Airport Thriller Entry Vectors Archaeologist The King Under the Mountain The Dig Opposition Forces Zalmoxis Awakes

dracula's mill

Entry Vectors Senior Park Ranger The Ultimate Sanctum The Ranger’s Post

291 292 293 295 295 296

297 297 298 298 298

Rules Modifications 320 Projekt Draugr: The German Vampire Program 320 The Kaiser's Wampyr 320 A New Lease on Un-Life 321 Draugr Now 322 Two Dooms 322 Linea Dracula 322 Telluric Vampires 323 Followers of the Fourth Reich 323 Point 211: The Final Redoubt 324

table of contents unto the fourth generation 325 Running Unto The Fourth Generation 1894: The First Generation Creating Victorian Era Agents Against Dracula After The Hunt 1940: The Second Generation Creating World War II-era Agents Setting Romania Ablaze After The Mission 1977: The Third Generation Creating Cold War Agents The Game Is Afoot Piper, Dancer, and Gardener The Night of Fangs The Mole Revealed After The Mole Hunt Edom After 1977 - Rogue State Now: The Fourth Generation

320 325 326 326 327 327 328 328 330 330 330 331 333 333 333 333 334 334

LOOKING GLASS: BUCHAREST 335 Lay of the Land 336

Gateways337 Markets and Masses 337 Three Backdrops 338 Palace of Parliament 338 Curtea Veche (“Old Court”) 338 Herastrau Park 338

Conflicts338 Factions339 Organized Crime 339 The Parties 340

Bucharest Stories Seeds and Hooks

340 340

Sources and Resources 341 SOURCES342 bram stoker's dracula 342 Ostensible Fiction Nonfiction About the Fiction

342 342

romania343 true crime 343 the clandestine world 344

INDICES Workname table 345 Annotations Index 347 Index350 Sub-indices363 Academics363 Agencies363 Books363 Castles363 Cities363 Criminals363 Edom Bases 364 Gear and Serums 364 Magic and the Occult 364 Maps and Plans 364 Monsters364 Operations and Projects 364 Special Forces and Special Police 365 Spies365 Targets365 Vampire Hunters 365 People by Location 365

foreword

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

by hans corneel de roos To unravel the mysteries of Life and Death, Victorians would meet at their private homes and spend whole evenings sitting around the dining table. Whether using table-tipping, a Ouija board, or the assistance of a professional medium (like the celebrated Florence Cook from Hackney, East London), they hoped to receive messages from beyond, offering guidance in the pressing questions they had on their mind. For spending an evening of suspense and glimpses from the grave, today the instrument of choice is Kenneth Hite’s tabletop game The Dracula Dossier, which should help you reconstruct the obscure dealings between the bloodsucking Transylvanian Count and generations of British Intelligence, and find your way through a labyrinth of manipulation and intrigue. Please, speak freely with your freshly buried friends, wake vampires from their vaults, and gossip with ghosts, as they may hold the key to understanding

the myriad of conspiracies you will find yourself involved in — as a victim, or as a vile perpetrator. Do not be content with simple answers: behind an obvious solution, a wall of secrecy may hide another layer of the game, where the antagonistic forces of Light and Darkness engage in eternal battle. Upon seeing the substantial Director’s Handbook the game leader may consult to distribute clues and chances, I was dazzled by the seemingly endless range of roles, backgrounds, abilities, dangers, tools, variants and flavors — my own contribution to matters Dracula being rather scholarly at the moment. All the more was I pleased to find that The Dracula Dossier derives its creative potential as a roleplaying game from a huge reservoir of sound knowledge, both literary and historical, including original research on the vampire and its kin, the culture of centuries past, the intricate methods of espionage and counterespionage, and much, much more.

Tough characters will find a tough basis of fact, rendering a realistic touch to the most mind-boggling scenarios. One thing Kenneth and I have in common is our fascination with ancient maps, and it must be due to Kenneth’s background as a cartographer that his dossier is laid out like a pirate’s chart — no simple piece of parchment, of course, but resembling the “Mao Kun” map to the Land of the Dead from Pirates of the Caribbean, with circular segments that can be rotated, producing a kaleidoscopic variety of possible routes and plots. Your task will be to fill the game with life and find your unique — and preferably untraceable — path across the globe. Whether you are roaming through Romania’s foreboding forests or wandering through a maze of dark alleys in London’s East End, groping your way through the thick fog, do not mistake those redglowing orbs for the gaslights of an inviting guesthouse, and you will live longer — if that still means anything to you … Munich, 5 November 2014

Hans C. de Roos

foreword 9

operation edom:

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the demon shall cry to his fellow; Lilith also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. - Isaiah 34:14, a prophecy concerning Edom

eyes only briefing In 1893, a visionary British Naval Intelligence Department spymaster codenamed “Peter Hawkins” launched a plan to recruit the perfect spy: a vampire. British intelligence assets on the Turkish frontier, specifically the army doctor George Stoker and the Orientalist and traveler Ármin Vámbéry, had uncovered evidence of vampires’ existence during the RussoTurkish War of 1877–1878, and, upon further investigation over the next decade or so, developed a trove of cryptic occult materials and obscure scientific papers to make their case. Their research provided NID a possible key to the awakening and control of vampires through the new science of volcanology. The telluric energies that vivify and preserve vampires (who can rest only in their “native soil”) might be occult force or hidden natural law, but the methods were sound enough for a trial run.

Bold Experiments Called“Operation Edom,”after the vampiretinged prophecy in Isaiah, the trial ran promisingly at first. Hawkins made contact with a vampire named Dracula, awakened or energized by the Romanian earthquake of 17 August 1893. A meet was set and made, a safe house and a headquarters in England prepared. Then it all started to go wrong. Dracula imprisoned his minder and double-crossed NID, outsiders — possibly with their own ties to foreign espionage — became involved, and Hawkins ordered a sanction. Then Hawkins disappeared, and the Edom agents on the ground had to run the operation themselves. They barred Dracula from England, and hunted him down on his home earth, where — during the great eruption and earthquake of 31 August 1894 — they terminated him, with extreme prejudice and two knives.

Or so they thought. The NID called in George Stoker’s brother Bram to write up the after-action report. Bram Stoker, who had previously touched up George’s public memoir of the Russo-Turkish War for the Foreign Office’s propagandistic purposes, turned in a draft that even in its sensationally novelistic form still revealed far too much sensitive information. The NID redacted his text and had him rewrite it, this time not as an after-action report but as disinformation, a fictionalized cover for any rumors that Edom had aroused. His first draft, however, the unredacted Dracula, they kept.

Desperate Measures In 1940, Britain stood alone against an expanding Axis. If Germany could add Romania to its alliance, it would have the oil to continue the war on the Reich’s

operation edom: eyes only briefing

Hidden Hunts The search for the “Fifth Man” had nearly destroyed MI6 in the 1960s; Angleton’s mole hunt tore the CIA apart in the early ’70s. In 1977 it was Edom’s turn. Romania was where the new moles burrowed in from. Somehow their Department of External Information (DIE) and Securitate had found a spy network in Britain with almost supernatural access. Leaked intelligence from London turned up in Bucharest; the Securitate rolled up

a promising MI6 network in Transylvania; the identity of Oleg Gordievsky, MI6’s top man in the KGB, was in danger of exposure. The new head of MI6 (“C”), Sir Maurice Oldfield, needed the leaks plugged and the mole found. The Edom apparatus smelled the wind and promised results, quietly and soon. Edom needed to find Dracula’s leavebehind network in London — after all, the analysts realized in retrospect, he had had months to build it back in 1894, and the power to keep it alive long after his seeming demise. Edom went back to the Balkans, ostensibly to secure MI6’s remaining assets. On 4 March 1977, another earthquake ripped through Romania. Edom operatives kicked in doors in Whitechapel and dodged questions in Whitehall, trailed spies in Bucharest and traded lies in Bonn. Daylight arrests became a briefly common sight on London’s streets, but not, of course, in its newspapers. And then it ended. Oldfield retired as “C” in February 1978. In July 1978 Ion Mihai Pacepa, the deputy chief of Romania’s foreign intelligence section, defected to the Americans. Ceausescu began an increasingly paranoid hunt of his own for subversives and dissidents that would eventually help bring him down. What had happened? Did Edom find the mole? Was that Dracula’s only mole? Was the whole operation an excuse to awaken Dracula as an anti-Communist asset, or part of a play by Dracula’s minion in MI6 to redirect suspicion? Did Dracula and MI6 do another deal? Did the CIA deal itself into the game? A midlevel Edom analyst using the workname “Cushing” studied the problem as best he could. He named his 1940 SOE counterpart “Van Sloan,” two cinematic Van Helsings who had hunted Dracula in two generations. “Cushing” added his annotations, but few answers, to the Dracula Dossier. Then he put it back in the files. And he set a trigger for someone else to find.

Black Assets On 4 October 2011, another earthquake rocked Romania, as many had in the past decade. This one triggered the flag “Cushing” planted in the MI6 computer system, which checked certain other parameters: MI6 assets lost in Romania, murders in London, chatter in German channels.The conditions added up, and the second part of the plan “Cushing” set up went into action: warnings routed through desks in MI6 and GCHQ. Edom stopped most of them, but not all. One analyst without Edom clearance saw the alert, and started digging into the files.What she discovered was the Dracula Dossier — and the newest incarnation of Edom. After the terror attacks of 7/7, Edom had reminded MI6 that they already had the perfect asset for retaliation: a superhuman killer who had spent decades of his life at war with Islam. And Dracula was completely deniable — he was downright fictional! She began to keep her own record, annotating the Dossier as her predecessors had. She gave herself the workname “Hopkins” as she annotated the bloody fingerprints of Edom — and the trail of corpses left by Dracula.The vampire wasn’t just killing al-Qaeda by then, but Edom was still protecting him, perhaps completely penetrated by his Conspiracy. Or perhaps Edom just hoped to bring him fully into their network, collateral damage forgiven or even budgeted for, all to finally succeed where Hawkins and Harker had failed. She studied Stoker’s draft and its annotations. She kept backups. She was careful. Just not careful enough. She has disappeared. She has sent the Dracula Dossier to you. Time to open the Dossier — and to close the file on Edom, and on Dracula, forever.

terms — if Britain could keep Romania neutral, then she had a chance. MI6 grasped at straws and reactivated Edom. It was clear from the Stoker report that Dracula was not dead forever; he had not been killed completely. Rather than bring Dracula to England, however, this time the plan was simply to let him out and turn him against the Hitler-allied Antonescu government — if necessary, to back him as Romania’s new leader. Edom briefed a Special Operations Executive (SOE) team and dispatched it to Romania to awaken Dracula and bring him into the war. The earthquake of 10 November 1940 killed 1,600 people and brought down buildings from Bucharest to the Black Sea. That was only the first thing to go wrong. Antonescu formally joined the Axis later that month. Dracula played for time and played the SOE for fools. The fascist Iron Guard, angry at being denied its share of the spoils, mounted its own coup attempt against Antonescu in January, triggered by the shooting of a German Abwehr agent, Luftwaffe Major Helmut Döring. The Wehrmacht moved in with the Romanian Army to crush the rising amid a massive pogrom of Bucharest’s Jews. Dracula had vanished, possibly dead again, but Edom had failed. One of the SOE agents kept a diary of sorts by annotating his mission brief: a copy of Stoker’s unredacted Dracula. That annotated copy went back into the vaults. Edom did not — not entirely.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

how to use this book:

opening the dossier I am quite convinced that there is no doubt whatever that the events here described really took place, however unbelievable and incomprehensible they might appear at first sight. And I am further convinced that they must always remain to some extent incomprehensible, although continuing research in psychology and natural sciences may, in years to come, give logical explanations of such strange happenings which, at present, neither scientists nor the secret police can understand. — Bram Stoker, author’s preface to the Icelandic edition (1901) of Dracula

Before starting this chapter, go back and read the EYES ONLY Briefing, if you haven’t already.

what is the dracula dossier? The Dracula Dossier (without italics) is an in-game artifact, the first draft of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Written as an after-action report for Operation Edom in 1894, it was classified by Her Majesty’s Government, to be issued on a need-to-know basis to Edom operatives on later missions. Two of those operatives, tasked for Edom missions in 1940 and 1977, added their own annotations to one copy of the Dossier, providing a few answers and many leads. In 2011, that copy fell into the hands of a third denizen of Britain’s shadow realm, who added her own annotations — and when she disappeared, it showed up in your player characters’ computers, or in

their hands. The Dracula Dossier is the annotated version of Dracula Unredacted. The Dracula Dossier (with italics) is a collaborative, improvisational Night’s Black Agents campaign, in which heroic Agents hunt and (one hopes) finally destroy Dracula, while they evade (and likely expose) the secret vampire program within MI6 known as Edom. What do we mean by collaborative and improvisational? In many ways, that’s for you, the Director, to decide. This is a collaborative campaign because no one vision necessarily has the final word. Bram Stoker provided a mythology, which we’ve changed from

a straightforward story of good and evil into a spy thriller. We provide a backstory and several dozen potential leads, but you can change our backstory, and the players don’t have to follow all or even any of the leads.You, the Director, may come up with answers to some of the big mysteries in this campaign, but the players may discover or deduce better ones — or following the players wherever they go may just be more fun for everyone!The players decide which clues are important by following them; you respond to their choices with information and danger in the classic thriller beats. The players may lead themselves down a dead end, from which you need to extricate

opening the dossier n what is the dracula dossier?

What's in This Book? The annotations in Dracula Unredacted

provide the leads: this volume provides dozens of potential meanings for each clue. Together, you have the raw material for a wide-open campaign, in which the players send their Agents after whichever cryptic clues and suspicious references they see fit. eyes only briefing:

This gives a general overview of the Edom background. Experienced Agents can deduce everything in this section from the annotations to the Dracula Dossier, so you can give this to the players (or to the Agent with the highest Tradecraft rating) as a handout after they’ve had a chance to read the Dossier in game.

opening the dossier: You’re

reading this chapter right now! It gives a few defaults to make the Director’s life simpler, and poses some questions you’ll want to answer (at least tentatively) before you start running the game. Some of those answers will change, and you may switch up our defaults — that’s perfectly normal. the 1894 network: This chapter describes the protagonists of Stoker’s novel, the original operatives of the first Operation Edom — and gives them a variety of possible agendas from innocent victim to government asset to vampiric minion! Then it offers a selection of Legacies: descendants or successors of the original 1894 band, with their own agendas and possibilities. opposition forces: The chapter provides statistics and abilities for the OPFOR your Agents face. The first section gives the overt ones: soldiers, spies, and vampires working for Edom, Dracula, or both. It also provides some details of the various Third Forces that might interfere: other vampires, other monsters, and vampire projects run by other governments. people: Sixty-six characters, many of them referenced either directly or by workname in the annotations. Divided by era (1940, 1977, 2011), each comes in three versions: as an innocent caught up in the horror and danger, as an asset of Edom or another intelligence agency, or as a minion of Dracula and his Conspiracy. Alternate names and physical descriptions allow you to reuse them as new NPCs as needed; suggested story roles let you smuggle them into the player characters’ Network or introduce them in seemingly unrelated scenes. nodes: Twenty-nine organizations or groups, either referred to in the annotations or overwhelmingly likely to show up in the course of the investigation. Each is presented with its innocuous surface appearance, as part of the Edom network, or as part of Dracula’s Conspiracy, allowing you to tailor it to fit your current narrative needs. Suitable connections let you plant another NPC, or leapfrog into a new scenario if need be.

locations:

Forty-eight locations referenced in the annotations, likewise offered both as “cool” and unproductive objectives and as “warm” active leads. Like the nodes, they also feature a variety of possible connections, hosting people, nodes, and objects to lure (or hurl) the heroes deeper into the mystery. Another 14 “establishing shots” give quick, generic locations suitable for fights or chases, or for montage-style descriptions on the way to the next big scene. objects: Twenty-seven objects — books, objets d’art, mysterious artifacts — that the Agents might stumble over or hunt down. Each object is described, then presented as a major item, a minor item, or a useless item. Each object offers possible connections, not least among them where it might be found in the campaign world. scenario spines: This chapter shows you how to wrap all this material into a satisfying campaign of epic scope and Gothic horror. It provides a few fully worked examples of a scenario going from one or two annotations into fullon thriller structure. capstones: These optional “grand finales” offer a climax to drive the story toward, rather than letting it entirely find its own head. If you want Dracula to have a grand plan — resurrect an ancient god, or take over Russia — or set his death scene on a mountain or at his tomb — set a capstone as your campaign target. campaign frames: This chapter outlines some options for campaigns informed by other influences: the Cthulhu Mythos, or hidden-Nazi airport thrillers. The final frame, Unto the Fourth Generation, lets the players take generational roles as Edom assets from 1893, SOE operatives in 1940, Edomites pursuing the 1977 mole hunt, and finally rogue agents in the present day working from their players’ own notes! sources: This chapter offers the best of the fiction, film, and nonfiction about Dracula, British espionage, Romania, and other matters of interest to Directors and players of this campaign.

them without damaging narrative flow. Or they may resist moving into danger, which you should meet with danger that moves into them. The end result can be mythic, intricate, clever, and surprising — and ideally, suspenseful or downright terrifying throughout. This is an improvisational campaign because the players select their own path into the mystery from the scores of clues and leads provided in Dracula Unredacted. The players pick the hooks and plot threads they find the most inviting or evocative, the order in which they want to tackle them, and the actions or tactics they take. You then improvise responses to their actions, both from those they approach and from their enemies in the shadows: Edom and Dracula. You can decide which leads turn out to be red herrings or deadly traps, or you can let the players’ choices simulate the intuition of veteran spies and operatives: wherever they choose to look turns out to lead further into the mystery! Their deductions determine your Conspyramid; the clues you plant with NPCs and on crime scenes can lead them toward big reveals and thrilling terrors. No two Dracula Dossier campaigns will run the same way or establish the same background. In one campaign, Quincey Morris might turn out to be a werewolf working for one of Dracula’s unhappy Brides; in another, he might have been a selfless Secret Service agent giving his all for his friends.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook Dracula Without the Unredacted Dossier If, for one reason or another, you don’t want to give your players the bibliomaniacal joy of scouring through the annotated Dracula Unredacted, you can use a regular copy of the novel. (Or a copy annotated by a Dracula scholar, of which there are several by now.) The Agents discover that Dracula is real, and that the novel is mostly accurate, and that they’ve got to take the Count down. (You can also reveal the existence of Edom at the start of the game, or keep the existence of a vampire-control operation within MI6 a secret for a while.) They won’t have all the material that Edom forced Stoker to remove from the report, and they won’t have the insights and connections from the annotations, but they can still go hunting Dracula. All you need to do is give them an entry vector into the mystery — a dying

informant, a recovered document like the Lennart Dossier from p. 206 of the Night’s Black Agents core rulebook, an intercepted transmission — that points them at any one encounter in this book. From there, they can follow the connections all the way to Castle Dracula without ever looking back at the novel. George Smiley might uncover conspiracies through careful deduction, but beating up bad guys and spending those Interrogation points works just as well. Just make sure that the Agents always have a few core clues leading on from every scene, since the players won’t be able to refer back to the annotations for another lead when they get stuck. You may need to give them a few extra clues or hints from contacts from time to time, or let a good Human Terrain or Criminology spend fill in some blank spots on the Conspyramid.

Keep in mind that you’ll need to introduce the concepts of the 1940 SOE mission, the 1977 mole hunt, and — most importantly — the presentday anti-terror operation early in the campaign, or the players will fixate on the 1894 information to the exclusion of everything else. Give them early leads that carry them away from the original incident into the murky history of Operation Edom in the 20th and 21st centuries. A cruel Director might keep the “real” Dossier out of reach, making it a legend in the espionage underworld, a holy grail that the Agents search for while also tangling with Edom and Dracula’s minions. An especially cruel Director might have Edom assume that the Agents have the real Dossier, when all they have to go on is a cheap paperback edition of the common novel.

concept for vampires won’t fit with our Dracula lore. In that case, what you’re holding in your hands isn’t an adventure — it’s a compendium or toolkit of unconnected (or partly connected) NPCs, locations, conspiracy nodes, objects, and monsters. Even if your players aren’t hunting Dracula in Transylvania, you’re still going to need lots of burned-out spies, sinister Eastern European gangsters, eccentric

experts, cryptic contacts, and bloodcurdling thrills for any Night’s Black Agents game set anywhere in the world. (And let’s face it, a lot of them are going to get set in Romania whether you crack open the Stoker or not.) Put a stake in Dracula, assume Edom never happened (or was shut down in 1894), and use this book as a grab bag of vampiric resources for your own adventures.

annotation was written by Hopkins, and it's annotation number 137 in Dracula Unredacted. The Annotations Index on pp. 347-342 lets you stay one step ahead of your players. If they decide they're going to investigate annotation 50, you can check the index, which will direct you to the

entries in this book most pertinent to that annotation. Not every annotation has an entry in the index; these might be atmospheric but redundant notes, dead ends, pure red herrings, or openings for you to create your own connections to the Conspiracy.

Dracula Without Dracula We’re not going to judge you if you don’t like Dracula. You’re wrong, but we’re not going to judge you. It’s fine — maybe you think that the myth’s played out, that there’s no horror left in the vanilla vampire. Maybe you can’t disassociate Dracula from all the parodies and jokes. Maybe bad Bela Lugosi impressions are to Night’s Black Agents what Monty Python and the Holy Grail are to D&D. More forgivably, maybe your awesome

Reading the Annotations The marginal notes in Dracula Unredacted are individually numbered and tagged according to who wrote them. The tag VS stands for Van Sloan (p. 87), CU for Cushing (p. 92) and HO for Hopkins (p. 117). For example, if you see a Dossier reference to HO137 in this book, you'll know that particular

opening the dossier n defaults and assumptions

Even the most improvisational of campaigns must start from somewhere. The Dracula Dossier starts, fundamentally, from Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula. This provides Director and players with a common framework, of story and setting. Better yet, it shortcircuits the potential problem with a game handout the size of a novel — it’s a novel that at least one player at the table is very, very likely to have read. (Everyone should. Really.) Even nonreaders of Stoker’s masterpiece know the general outline of the story, and at least some of the proper names — Van Helsing, Mina, Dracula, Transylvania — enough to get their feet under them.

The Default Dracula This campaign assumes vampires that

default to the Linea Dracula vampires from the core rulebook (NBA, pp. 143–45), though not that specific conspiracy. In the core rulebook, the Linea Dracula vampires exemplify the damned vampire type; they also work relatively well as supernatural vampires. (See p. 59 for a discussion of the mutant “telluric vampire” alternative, and p. 59 for the telluric vampire build.) If your vampires have worked in some other fashion, simply treat them as oneoff species not relevant to the mainstream of infestation — or consider Dracula to be a “singular specimen” created by the interface of the “normal” cause of vampirism and the unique geological energies around his Castle. Likewise, if your campaign has already featured a different vampire conspiracy in charge of Europe, Britain, or (especially) Romania, either reveal that they were “always” part of Dracula’s larger Conspiracy — or start clearing them out. Dracula is making his move and shouldering his rivals aside just as he might have his feudal enemies in life. This campaign also assumes that Dracula still intends to rule Britain, just as he did in 1894 — but he’s learned some patience since then. Just how far along his plans have gotten is something you need to think about answering for your own campaign (p. 28). Dracula is also assumed to be

a figure of evil, no matter how many alQaeda cells he eats. This campaign does not assume that the Count Dracula of the novel, the figure at the head of the Conspiracy, is the same personage as Vladislav III Dracula, also known as Vlad Tepes (“the Impaler”), the historical voivode of 15th-century Wallachia (not Transylvania). Stoker didn’t have enough access to the historical record to clarify the matter, and he very carefully garbled Van Helsing’s speech on the subject. The campaign works fundamentally the same regardless of whether Dracula is Vlad; see p. 29 for a further discussion of the possibilities. There may be some confusion about the term “Renfield” in this book: it refers both to the original bug-eating eponym of 1894 (p. 38) and also to a minion given vampiric powers by Dracula. The term should be clear in context. Note that similarly vampire-charged humans in service to Edom (if there are any such) don’t use the term; they call themselves “Jacks,” after Jack Seward.

The Default Dossier The Dracula Dossier, like any good

MacGuffin, drives the story. Edom will kill to get it back; Dracula (if he knows it exists) will kill to destroy it. The default assumption is that “Hopkins” did not upload the Dossier to the Web, or even to the Deep Web where only security services, criminals, and terrorists lurk. Why not? “Hopkins” physically

couldn’t upload it. Some quality of the Dossier kept unresolving her scans, derecognizing her OCR, shutting the cable down, or changing the URL. Or perhaps, like Dracula, taking an electronic image of the Dossier is simply impossible! It may have some of Dracula’s blood in its leather, spilled in the 1940 operation. Or Edom placed some sort of Goëtic curse on it to prevent just such an eventuality. (She complains of her wonky scanner in HO147.) “Hopkins” knew that if she uploaded the Dossier, GCHQ would absolutely track her down, MI5 or Edom

would move in, and she would be renditioned to somewhere very unpleasant very soon. (This is the explanation she gives in HO172.) “Hopkins” didn’t want to hand alQaeda a huge propaganda victory by exposing Edom’s — and hence MI6’s — role in a lot of unsavory murders. (Any Agent with Human Terrain can predict the horrific consequences to Western civilians if this story gets out.) “Hopkins” didn’t feel it was “the done thing.” Her codes of professional ethics and Englishness just wouldn’t let her cheat the game and let down the side by pulling an Assange. (Tradecraft or Shrink can guess at this motive by reading her annotations.) On a purely physical level, the Dossier resembles the sort of government-issue binder that proliferates in every cubicle farm from Kharkiv to Kansas City. Once it falls into their hands, the players can tackle the issue of repackaging it or propagating it according to their designs.

Names and Worknames Many of the annotations give “KGBs” (also called “code names”) to the people they mention. In addition to mirroring standard spy and analyst practice, this keeps the uncertainty and improvisation alive — if BULSTRODE might be an MI6 lamplighter, an obnoxious journalist, or a Romanian mobster, there are more options for play. And of course, any of those people might actually be in Dracula’s control, or the last heir to the Van Helsings, or anything else. That part is up to you, or emerges through play. Thus at the beginning of the scenario, once the players have fixed on a given lead, look on the Workname Table (p. 345) to see who might fill the role of the relevant workname. The players might eventually “deduce” that it’s someone else entirely, of course, but this gives you a few starting possibilities to consider. Once you’ve got the name pretty well figured out (either by you or, more likely, by you and the players acting in concert), write the “clear name” or real name in the blank space provided.

defaults and assumptions

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook A Director who thinks this is too much recordkeeping, or too much hippie improvisation, can simply provide the players with her chosen real name for the NPC at the outset, and everyone agrees to pretend the workname was never there. On much the same basis, this book uses the familiar Stoker names for the main 1894 cast of characters, both for their Gothic frisson and to minimize page-flipping and confusion.You can decide that in that more innocent era of spying Stoker didn’t bother to conceal the names of the principals in the action, or simply avoid pointing out the strangeness and enjoy the play value of looking for a house belonging to “Van something-or-other, Hellman? Helltown? Helsing, that’s it” in a world where Dracula has stayed in print for over a century and spawned dozens of blockbuster films to boot. “Van Helsing.” “Oh, like the movie?” “Yes. Like the movie.” Or you can intensify the question “who, exactly, were the first generation in Edom” by also keeping the players uncertain of even the legendary names. If Harker, Westenra, Seward, and so forth were worknames, finding their real names is yet another lead to follow. (We provide some possible clear names for the 1894 network in the Originals writeups on pp. 32-40.) Discovering that this photojournalist or that oil company executive are actually Legacies of Edom’s past becomes an even greater reward.

level

The Default Campaign The details of a Dracula Dossier campaign

You never have to fill in a single box ahead of time, with the possible exception of adding Edom or MI6 if you decide they’ve been penetrated by the Count. Remember, Dracula doesn’t have to call all the shots for an organization, command its every operation, or brainwash all its leadership for a node to show up on the Conspyramid. He only needs to dominate one or two key figures, who then give (seemingly legitimate) orders to their subordinates, or suggestions to their nominal bosses. But if an organization does show up as a node on the Conspyramid, Dracula might have his talons into anyone in it if it makes the adventure work better. On your initial brainstorming sketch, you may want to make sure there’s at least one node on each level and one line between each level of the Conspyramid, or you may be happy to trust the players to

are up to you and your players, but its structure can comfortably default to the standard Night’s Black Agents campaign structure described on pp. 116 and 193– 94 of the core rulebook.

The Dracula Conspyramid My revenge is just begun! I spread it over centuries, and time is on my side. — Dracula Dracula being the medieval reactionary that he is, his Conspiracy fits neatly into the Conspyramid structure. For example:

6: Dracula himself. 5: His Brides (p. 57) if he’s learned to delegate since 1894, or Orlok (p. 70), or a trusted vampiric Legacy. If Dracula runs (or has generally penetrated) it, MI6 goes here. If he controls all of Romania, his main organ of national control (SRI (p. 156), the Control Body of the Prime Minister (p. 153), etc.) goes here. The Satanic Cult of Dracula (p. 55) might slot in here or lower down, depending on how important it is to his operations. level 4: A less crucial Legacy, or a Bride enforcer. If Dracula only runs Edom, it goes here, as do local powers like the SRI (p. 156) or the Russian Mafiya in Romania. Whichever bank he’s suborned might be up on Level 4, too. level 3: The Ruvari Szgany go either here or on Level 2, as primarily provincial or local controllers. If Dracula only controls part of Romania’s government, those parts show up here: the Ministry of Tourism, the National Forest Administration, or the Romanian special forces, for example. level 2 and level 1 you can almost entirely leave up to player choice: the first thing they look at is a Level 1 node, the clues they follow out lead up to a Level 2 node, and so forth. Play on Level 1 and 2 until they have a sense of the dangers in Dracula’s Europe and Edom’s England, then start chasing them up the ladder. level

uncover a conspiracy that you don’t need to lock in ahead of time. Either way, you will almost certainly wind up using the Conspyramid as a story map (see NBA, p. 159), as the players fill in their own details. The nodes on pp. 140–164 are just some of the organizations that might or might not be part of Dracula’s Conspyramid. The people on pp. 78–139 can also lead to nodes, either supplied or implied: a journalist implies a newspaper or TV channel, for instance. Look at the descriptions of the various Conspyramid levels in the core rulebook (NBA, p. 158) and apply them to this setting. Feel free to speculate, guess, and add anything that sounds right or spooky or both.

A Sample Conspyramid The tentative Dracula Conspyramid on page 17 provides an example of a first brainstorm sketched out. Dracula is at the top, with the Countess von Dolingen (one of the Brides, p. 57) as his main lieutenant. To change up expectations, Dracula suborned the Balkan operations of the CIA — with Pacepa’s defection in 1978? During the Iraq War when the Americans were grateful for willing allies? Through Quincey Morris, made an immortal enforcer by the countess outside Munich? The CIA, being big and powerful and high-budget, goes on Level 5, even though Dracula only actually controls their Eastern European presence. The CIA controls the SRI, and considers Morris an asset. Klopstock & Billreuth funds CIA operations in the Balkans, another way for Dracula to control the CIA. The rest is fairly simple: bank controls shipping line controls warehouse controls London sewer ghouls; Morris’ Szgany enforce the Master’s will on the city of Bistrita (near Castle Dracula). Level 1 is almost entirely blank or generic: the players will decide who belongs there based on who and where they investigate. Note that you can easily expand this Conspyramid to add Edom at Level 4, MI6 at Level 5, and so forth. Or add an oil company to play up Morris, the CIA, and other American elements. Or swap out Quincey for the Un-Dead Major Dörner from the 1940 operation, if the players decide that a dead Nazi spy has to be a level boss. This is a sketch, not even a blueprint.

opening the dossier n defaults and assumptions 17

Sample dracula Conspyramid

6 core leadership dracula

5 supranational countess von dolingen

cia (balkans)

4 national quincey morris

Klopstock & Billreuth

SRI

3 provincial ruvari szgany

romanian mafia clan

HGD Shipping

2 city galati docks

bistrita

cross angel

1 neighborhood gang

ship

sewer ghouls

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook Dracula's Vampyramid He must, indeed, have been thatVoivode Dracula who won his name against the Turk, over the great river on the very frontier of Turkey-land. If it be so, then was he no common man; for in that time, and for centuries after, he was spoken of as the cleverest and the most cunning, as well as the bravest of the sons of the “land beyond the forest.”That mighty brain and that iron resolution went with him to his grave, and are even now arrayed against us. — Van Helsing Dracula is not a passive foe. He is quite possibly a Wallachian warlord of no small strategic gifts. Even if his previous life was more pacific, the vampire count has the fighting instincts of the tiger who “prowl unceasing,” in Van Helsing’s words. The Director models Dracula’s tactical responses to the Agents’ attacks with this custom Vampyramid. It works just as described on pp. 189–93 of Night’s Black Agents, but, as befits Dracula’s nature, it is far more dangerous and brutal than the “standard” Vampyramid.

Row One: Scout the Foe (rats or owls): Dracula shadows the Agents themselves. Since they have likely proven troublesome or dangerous, he uses rats in any urban area or owls in rural locales. Spotting such unconventional surveillance this early in the showdown requires a Sense Trouble test of Difficulty 8 (Difficulty 7 if the Agents spend Vampirology or whichever is more relevant among Outdoor Survival and Urban Survival). Even successful tests won’t let the Agent determine how much Dracula knows, and it’s always more than he should. The spotter knows that it’s literally impossible to stay out of the sight of every possible rat in London, feral dog in Bucharest, or owl in Transylvania, but spending 2 points of Surveillance or Disguise per Agent every session helps minimize their exposure. If the Agents fail to notice the surveillance (or to spend to partially evade it), apply the Romania conditions on p. 203 to everywhere they travel. shadow source: Dracula sends minions to shadow as many of the Agents’ Network contacts, Sources of Stability, etc., as he can, with an emphasis on women. This may be part of a general security shadow agent

perimeter sweep, or a targeted stalking. His goal is to know everything about the Agents’ human connections, just as he identified Mina and Lucy in 1893. In Romania, he uses Ruvari Szgani (p. 147) or Romanian police (p. 154); in Britain, he uses one of his turned operatives there (possibly the MI5 Agent (p. 122), Journalist (p. 120), or MI6 Lamplighter (p. 123)) or has them use their own subordinates or assets (ideal for retired 1977 characters such as the MI5 Deputy (p. 95)). Watching the watchers and back-tracing them to their superiors (both likely Surveillance contests) is a great way for the Agents to move up the Conspyramid. enhanced interrogation: Dracula selects the weakest-seeming Agent and enters her dreams, where he breaks her resistance and drains her memories and plans. (He did this to Renfield and Lucy in 1894.) He must be in the same city as his target; his dream-sending cannot penetrate garlic or crucifixes. Treat Dracula’s dream-sending as a mental attack (NBA, pp. 131–32); he oneirically interrogates the Agent over three nights, and must successfully make the mental attack all three nights. He spends plenty of Aberrance to make this happen, especially if he is thwarted initially. Night One: Reveals the surface details of the Agent and her team; general competencies, standard worknames, etc. Dracula and his minions now have a generic 3-point team pool (NBA, p. 108) that can be used in any contest or combat against the Agents during any one session. Night Two: Gives up all the team’s Network contacts (including future contacts retroactively created from unspent points), Sources of Stability, and standard operational procedure known to the dreaming Agent. Dracula and his minions now lower their Difficulties (or raise the Agents’ counter-operational Difficulties) for any operation or contest against the Agents, including ambushes (but not Hit Thresholds) by 1. Night Three: Gives up all the team’s Safeties and all dark or deniable secrets known to the dreaming Agent. Dracula also secures a “back door” into the Agent’s dreams to let him top off his data on future nights. A Difficulty 5 test of Shrink or Hypnosis (p. 31),

or a 2-point one-time spend of Pharmacy, might let the Agent sleep without dreams — at the cost of 1 Stability per night. Or she just has to get used to the smell of garlic and the feel of a crucifix at night. The Agent remembers seeing Dracula in her nightmares, asking questions in his rasping, sepulchral voice, but not any specifics besides horrible imagery (blood, rats, etc.) tied up in flashes of her teammates’ faces and her recent memories. quid pro quo: Dracula calls a meet with a Duke of Edom (most likely Oakes (p. 52), Hound (p. 51), or Elvis (p. 50)) and demands that Edom provide him a full rundown on the Agents. Given the resources of GCHQ and its data-sharing policies with the NSA, this is a pretty complete data dump. If the Agents are quick about it, they may be able to track the Duke back from the meet, or see Dracula’s traces in the terror cell he slaughters as his return favor to Edom. gift box (feral): Dracula sends a box of Romanian grave earth (not his native soil, however) into the Agents’ current city. In case they don’t notice it, as a backup he plants clues to its location on easily dispatched minion foes. He has a Renfield on overwatch to see how the Agents track its location — when they find and open it, it holds either a feral vampire (created from one of his recent kills; NBA, p. 150), a ghoul (if your campaign uses them; NBA, p. 150), or just a whole lot of ball bearings and C4 repurposed from an al-Qaeda bomb factory (Class 3 explosion; +6 damage in debris range). The goal here is twofold: learn how the Agents hunt for his coffins, and discourage the Agents from opening his boxes when they do find them. After the opening, the surviving Agents’ best move is to track the Renfield back up the chain. probing attack: Dracula’s street-level soldiers ambush and attack the Agent. This probably won’t kill the target, but will help the Count assess the threat, and possibly identify sources of weapons or special gear. A Renfield may be tasked to observe the fight to perform just such an assessment; the Agents’ Sense Trouble may make them aware of that observer.

entrapment

6 5 4 3 2 1

dagger

strateguc retreat Sow Dissension terror scout the foe

Dracula's Vampyramid

total war

marlowe has left the building

testudo

destroy safety double agent (renfield) shadow agent (rats or owls)

turn solace

penetrate network

shadow source

Row Two: Sow Dissension double agent (renfield):

cloak

Dracula plants a double agent in the target’s circle: possibly a previously created Network contact, a plant “rescued” from a killing ground (either another spy (p. 105, p. 110, p. 119) or a complete “innocent” (p. 118, p. 120, p. 136)), or someone (perhaps a Legacy, real or false) who approaches the Agents with meaty intel on Dracula’s plans. An Edom triple agent (the MI6 Lamplighter (p. 123) or a false “Hopkins” (p. 117)) is an excellent choice for this role, too. Dracula doesn’t burn this double agent until Row Four or Five if he can avoid it.The double might not be a Renfield; he might merely be bribed or coerced into service. penetrate network: Dracula works his way through the Agents’ Networks: any assets they run, he flips. Any sources

sacrificed pawn

kill agent

turn his coat for him (renfield)

enhanced interrogation

quid pro quo

they go to, he suborns. Key contacts he Renfields. He’s richer, scarier, and better connected than the Agents can hope to be. His priority is contacts with access to the Agents’ safe house, but he’ll use anyone and everyone he can. Even if the campaign isn’t a Mirror game, use the rules for flipping Network contacts (NBA, p. 32), except Dracula can try to flip two contacts per session, not just one. As the campaign moves up each row of the Vampyramid, add +1 to Dracula’s roll to flip assets. Reaching Row Four ends this attack. turn his coat for him (renfield): Dracula approaches one Agent with an offer of recruitment: supernatural power, money, safety on some tropical island — no fee is too big. The Count sends a surprising asset to make the offer, ideally a previously introduced NPC the Agents do not suspect of being his

massacre

burn and freeze

gift box (feral)

intelligence failure (renfields, wolves)

probing attack

minion, a trusted patron, or a beloved public figure. Even if the target refuses, Dracula’s minions treat him as though he accepted the offer: not killing him, putting money in his bank accounts to be “accidentally” found, slaughtering his enemies in Edom. burn and freeze: Dracula selects one Agent to be openly burned by Edom and frozen out of her contacts. For that Agent only, the Heat in Britain (and Network test Difficulties) increases by +3. Use elements from the Edom reaction pyramid below for specific flavor. His goal is to separate that Agent from her partners, and possibly open her up to influence or to the mistakes bred of isolation. intelligence failure (renfields, wolves): Dracula trails evidence tailored for one specific Agent’s skills or access, pointing to a promising victory: a coffin

destruction

opening the dossier n defaults and assumptions

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook warehouse, his true birth or burial place, a graveyard holding a former Bride, etc. Instead or in addition, of course, the site is a killing ground rigged for ambush: three times the Agents’ number of gunmen, two packs of wolves, three or four Renfields, etc. Dracula’s goal here is not necessarily to wipe out the team, but to cause them to doubt the target Agent. And secondarily, to slow their investigation or abort it entirely.

Row Three: Terror destroy safety:

Dracula destroys as many of the Agents’ places of Safety as he can find and reach, in as dramatic and horrifying a fashion as he can contrive. turn solace: Dracula finds an Agent’s Solace (the most vulnerable female Solace he can) and drains her blood, turning her into a vampiric assign (NBA, p. 145) under his domination like Lucy Westenra. kill agent: Dracula kills an isolated and vulnerable Agent, brutally and messily. If he hasn’t successfully separated one Agent from the team, he sets up a feint in one part of the city and waits for the players to split the party at night. (He uses suborned Network contacts or his double agent if need be to make sure one Agent goes off into the dark alone.) The attacked Agent can use Military Science or Vampirology to know his only hope is immediate escape. massacre: Dracula kills a lot of innocent civilians and leaves the Agents’ names painted in blood on the walls or otherwise connects them visibly to the atrocity. Even if the Agents don’t get the message (“Back off, or I’ll keep doing this”), Edom does, and conveys it to the Agents with extreme prejudice at the earliest possible opportunity. No matter what happens, the Agents’ Heat increases by +2.

Row Four: Strategic Retreat testudo: Dracula turtles up and pulls back

to Romania, or seems to. His turned contacts or other go-betweens give the Agents a sense of how much more powerful and unconstrained he will be on his native soil — perhaps this is a good time for them to go after Edom instead. Ideally, the same minion who approached the team in “Turn His Coat for Him” (p. 19) conveys the message.

Alternatively, a Duke of Edom theAgents have met acts as a go-between and offers immunity and possibly a job with Edom as in “Recruit Agent” (p. 23) — in exchange for letting Dracula retreat. marlowe has left the building: Dracula arranges a confrontation and fakes his own death, turning to dust just as the Agents unload their guaranteed vampire-killing weapon on him. (He might, instead, use an illusion or a duplicate vampire or any number of other stratagems.) For extra verisimilitude, he magically or tellurically triggers an earthquake to mark his alleged passing. Savvy players may note that they’re only on Row Four of the Vampyramid and suspect a trick; savvy readers may note that they just re-enacted the last section of Stoker’s novel, and it turns out that didn’t end with Dracula really dead and gone either. The Director should welcome such suspicions. If the players actually convince themselves they’ve won — let them enjoy their illusions. Run some other Night’s Black Agents sessions for a while, or let them hunt Edom … and then, a year or two later, comes word that Dracula has risen from the grave — again. sacrificed pawn: Dracula burns a source in Edom or reveals some high-level intel such as: the

location and security situation of Ring (p. 172) or Carfax (p. 185) the location of “Dr. Drawes” (p. 50) or of Lucy Westenra (p. 34) or any other vampire made by Edom from his, Lucy’s, or Mina’s blood the current whereabouts of a Duke of Edom the Agents particularly dislike His goal here is to get the Agents into a full-scale war on Edom, during which he will repair damage to his Conspiracy and plan his new attacks. Depending on the flavor of the campaign, he may make this offer explicitly or leak the intel through a cut-out.

Row Five: Envelopment dagger: Dracula activates some heretofore

under-used or unexplored portion of his Conspyramid: the CIA, the Slovakian mafia, a Russian warlord, or a Chinese financier. He then sends that organization after the Agents, to make

their attacks in their own distinctive métier. His goal is to throw the Agents off balance, to make them turtle up so he can hunt them down and take them out. cloak: Dracula goes completely invisible, dropping off even Edom’s grid. He picks one place in his network where he is at his most powerful — likely his Castle (p. 207) — and waits there for the Agents to find him. While the Agents flail around, his minions and Edom (who desperately want Dracula to resurface and go back to killing terrorists) bleed them — a long hunt is a tiring one.

Row Six: Destruction total war:

If the Agents have survived this long, and gotten this close, their utter destruction is Dracula’s only priority. Every part of his Conspiracy goes after them with every weapon to hand: the Agents’ Heat increases by +3 (at least) as Dracula’s minions in the Romanian National Police put Interpol red cards out on them, he buys Russian Mafiya snipers by the squad-load, and he diverts Edom wet workers like Ian (p. 51) and Nails (p. 52) to target the Agents. (Edom may also, or instead, send the kill order — it recognizes the Agents’ threat, too.) Dracula burns Aberrance by night attacking the Agents’ minds; his wolves and Renfields harry their steps. The Agents should not be able to trust or depend on a single human or animal, or sleep the night through, from now until their — or Dracula’s — final death.

Edom Pyramid Unlike Dracula’s Conspiracy, Edom is run by men, not monsters. They’re part of the British Establishment, and are at least nominally bound by rules of engagement. Their reactions, then, are a little more restrained than those of the Conspiracy. They throw around a lot more “soft power,” and they won’t kill someone out of hand — at the very least, they’ll have a committee meeting about it first. This reaction algorithm works in exactly the same way as the Vampyramid above — start with any response on Row One and work your way up, targeting either an individual Agent or the whole group as appropriate. Much more than Dracula, Edom tends to react when the players are turtling up or the game is slowing down.

opening the dossier n defaults and assumptions destruction entrapment drastic action

recruit agent

elimination nullification irritation

vampirize agent (vampire)

kill agent (vampire)

dissuade agent

offer intel

trail false lead

targeted earthquake

freeze assets

arrest agent

Row One: Irritation trail false lead: Edom plants a false lead in

theAgent’s path, either by leaving evidence for the Agent to find or arranging an “accidental” meeting with an informant who claims to know something about vampires. The lead points away from any active Edom operations — good options include Argentina (p. 225), the Scholomance (p. 219) or the other ports in England (p. 172). The aim here is to get the Agents out of Edom’s way and tie up their resources. arrest agent: The Agent is arrested and held in a British police station. Under normal circumstances, the maximum duration of custody without charge is 24 hours, or 96 if the police suspect a serious crime, but if the magic word of terrorism is mentioned (and it’s trivially easy to connect an Agent to terror),

offer target

sacrificial play

extraordinary rendition

ruin contact

private intercession

burn agent

surveillance state

shadow agent

then the Agent can be held for up to two weeks. After a few days in a cell, the Agent’s released without a charge (or an apology). Edom might be content to just let the Agent sweat, or use the jail time to sow dissent among the player characters, or arrange a prison beating or frame-up — or send a friendly contact to “help” the Agent, like the MI5 Deputy (p. 95). Of course, if the Agents carry serious Heat, they may face genuine charges once arrested. private intercession: Edom pressures one of the Agent’s friends, contacts, or mentors into delivering a warning not to pursue the current line of inquiry. It’s not an overt threat, just a piece of friendly advice that’ll become a threat if it’s not heeded. This works best with Agents who are connected to the British government and so have UK-based friends / Solaces / Network contacts

intimidate agent (jack)

arrange accident

make inquiries

who might be vulnerable to this sort of pressure; that said, Edom’s reach is long. The intercessor is sufficiently troubled by the whole experience that she temporarily becomes unwilling to help the Agent; a spend of Reassurance or another suitable Interpersonal ability gets her back in the game. shadow agent: Edom dispatches a shell squad team (p. 54) to shadow the Agent. Sense Trouble (or a spend of Urban Survival, Notice, or Tradecraft) picks up the first tail; after that, it’s a contest of Surveillance to stay ahead of the watchers. Treat the watchers as a single entity with Surveillance 10 if you want, or else use the stats for Special Police (NBA, p. 70) and give them all Surveillance 4. The Edom team pulls back if confronted, but that just means a replacement team gets sent out in a day or two, and the Agent has to spot the tail again.

6 5 4 3 2 1

Edom Pyramid

offer revelation (d)

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook The watchers keep tabs on the Agent until the Agent takes measures to escape from their surveillance net (going underground and changing Cover), or until Edom decides that the point has been made and calls off its dogs, which may take several days. If the Agent stays in one place, Edom box men bug the area (tap any landlines,and plant laser microphones on any external windows and hidden cameras if they can get physical access). intimidate agent (jack): An Edom legbreaker (either an ex–special forces type or a small, unassuming Jack given inhuman strength by the Seward Serum (p. 51)) threatens an Agent by beating him up, shoving her into traffic or into the Danube, trashing his hotel room, or whatever else will intimidate the Agents. This is a probing attack, not a full-scale assault, and will always be staged as something deniable like a bar brawl, crime of passion, mistaken identity, or accident for the benefit of witnesses — but in the middle of the attack, the Edom leg-breaker whispers a warning to the Agent to stay away from the Dracula case. Use the stats for a Special Police (NBA, p 70) or Special Operations Soldier (NBA, p70), adding on the benefits of the Seward Serum (p. 51). This attack works best on weedy analysts and hackers — if all your Agents are super-skilled martial artists, then have Edom intimidate a contact or Solace instead. make inquiries: Edom attempts to ascertain who this troublemaker is. If the Agent is operating under a Cover, Edom digs up any criminal activity or legend attached to that identity, and the player must make a Cover test to ensure that Edom doesn’t find out their real identity. If the test fails, or if the Agent operates openly, then Edom gathers as much information as they can about the Agent. They won’t use any of it … yet. The Director can increase a Heat gain by +1 or raise the Difficulty of future tests, or have Edom tip off some enemies of the Agent later on when it starts leveraging the information. Network contacts and allies of the Agent may report odd visits by plainclothes police, or strange requests by the Home Office for old personnel files.

Row Two: Nullification offer intel: Edom either allows the Agent to

find a tame informant (like the Informant, p. 95, or one of the Legacies) or deliberately lets the Agent get hold of information that reveals something of either Edom or the Conspiracy. The intel is genuine — but Edom can now predict the Agent’s next move, and so can either sic the Agent on a troublesome Conspiracy node or lay a trap. Good targets for this operation on the Conspiracy side include:

Strasba Orphanage (p. 223) Leutner Fabrichen (p. 146) NIEP (p. 151)

And within Edom: Hillingham (p. 190) Carfax (p. 185) Kingstead Cemetery

(p. 191)

assets: Using powers granted the security service under anti-terror legislation, Edom locks down any bank accounts associated with the Agent — including those held by family members and close contacts, as well as any Covers that Edom knows about. An Accounting spend or Preparedness test means the Agent has squirreled away enough cash to keep going; otherwise, the Agent needs to take steps to acquire a new source of funding immediately. ruin contact: Edom targets a contact or other close associate of the Agent, and destroys his reputation. This might take the form of a frame job, a sex scandal, professional disgrace, sudden financial pressure, arrest on charges of possession of child pornography, allegations of drug abuse, or whatever else will ruin the target. The more public the profile of the target, especially in the United Kingdom, the easier it is for Edom to bring them down. Agents with high ratings in High Society or Streetwise are particularly vulnerable to this pressure. Edom may attempt to turn the target against the Agent (“We’ll make these charges go away if you do us a favor”) or use the situation to blackmail the Agent (“You know what they do to kiddy-fiddlers in prison. If you want to save your brother, listen very carefully …”) surveillance state: Edom surveillance of the Agent kicks into high gear. Facialrecognition software searches for the freeze

Agent’s features on every security camera in London; the Agent’s name, known aliases, and description are circulated to every police station via the HOLMES 2 database; ECHELON starts listening for their voiceprints — all courtesy of Edom’s hacker Prince (p. 53). The penalties for covert action in London (p. 182) now apply throughout the UK. Prince also launches hacking attacks on the Agent’s own computer systems, if any. Doing anything online without alerting Prince requires a contest of Digital Intrusion; failure means she traces the Agent’s IP and either gains access to the Agent’s computer or discovers his current location. Escaping the digital net may mean fleeing the UK for a while, breaking into GCHQ and planting a virus (which will rapidly lead to fleeing the UK in its own right), or else finding Prince’s lair and applying a low-tech solution to a high-tech problem. arrange accident: Not necessarily a lethal one, but not necessarily not a lethal one. Anything that cripples the Agent for a long time — a car accident, courtesy of Ian (p. 51), or a house fire set by Fort (p. 51), or just shoving the Agent under an approaching tube train with Serum-granted super strength. In Romania, Edom might outsource the job to the Romanian SIE (p. 155) or a Mafiya hit squad orchestrated by Elvis (p. 50) — or even to a vampire, by adding the Agent’s name to Dracula’s al-Qaeda hit list. As long as Edom can plausibly deny having ordered an assassination without government sanction, collateral casualties are acceptable. (That said, this is only Row Two on the Vampyramid — this is a quick-and-dirty drive-by hit, not a grand opera.)

Row Three: Elimination dissuade agent: Edom lays some of its cards

on the table. The Agent’s contacted by one of the Dukes of Edom, likely Hound (p. 51), Nails (p. 52), Oakes (p. 52), or Tinman (p. 53), and invited to a meeting. Just the two of them, somewhere public. A good restaurant, maybe — and Her Majesty’s picking up the tab, so feel free to order the lobster. There, the Duke explains that everything is under control, that

opening the dossier n defaults and assumptions unfortunate Agent wakes up in an Edom interrogation cell — probably Carfax (p. 185), HMS Proserpine (p. 169) or “Black Light” (p. 204). Interrogation (or experimentation) by “Dr. Drawes” (p. 50) is inevitable. Escape is virtually impossible, so it’s up to the other Agents to mount a rescue. Fortunately, the hasty abduction left clues (Traffic Analysis, Notice, maybe a tracking device planted with Electronic Surveillance or Preparedness) that lead the rest of the team to the interrogation site.The player of the captured Agent might play a newly recruited Legacy or Network contact for the duration of the rescue mission. burn agent: Edom drops 5 (or more!) Heat on the Agent by circulating “proof ” that she is a terrorist mastermind. If necessary, the earthquake machine (or Nails’ old crew in Ireland) gets hauled out to create an atrocity that can then be blamed on the Agent. At least one of the Agent’s Covers gets blown, and Network is severely impacted (all Difficulties increase to the Heat level) until the Agent can prove they’re not the next bin Laden. Edom goes to the media with this one — the Agent’s face becomes a fixture on rolling news channels for a while. The Agent gets put on Dracula’s hit list too, for good measure.

Row Four: Drastic Action recruit agent:

Edom offers the Agent official sanction. It’s a chance to come in from the cold and hunt vampires with the support and blessing of MI6. They offer funding, equipment, training, secrets, access to their networks, and a chance to take down the worst renegade vampires. In return, the Agent must give up his or her vendetta against Dracula — Edom’s goal is to harness vampires, not exterminate them. It’s for the greater good. This recruitment offer may be genuine, or it may be a ploy to recover the Dracula Dossier and eliminate the Agent. It may be offered to the whole group, or just to a single Agent. Edom’s first assignment for the new recruit will be something distasteful and illegal, so they have guaranteed leverage over the Agent going forward. Tradecraft recognizes the offer for what it is.

offer target:

Edom offers intelligence on a key node in Dracula’s Conspiracy. It might reveal the location of one of the Brides, or Count Orlok, or even Dracula himself (assuming Edom has its own vampire in reserve). It might be the location of some relic or item that Edom wants liberated from the Conspiracy, or the identity of someone compromised by Dracula. Possible targets:

Le Dragon Noir (p. 273) Dracula’s bank: Burdett’s

(p. 143) or Klopstock & Billreuth (p. 145) CIA Agent (p. 91), MI5 Deputy (p. 95), or other rival agency minion of Dracula Director or deputy of a Romanian clandestine agency such as the SRI or SIE (pp. 156, 155) or Renfielded colonel of Romanian special-forces unit (p. 154) Or, if you’ve got The Zalozhniy Quartet lurking on your shelves, this could be a good time to point the Agents at the Rubedo plot in that book. One of the Dukes brings the intel to the Agent, and it’s genuine (confirmed with Military Science). Taking down the target won’t be easy, and may cost the Agent dearly, but Edom is playing fair in this case — it merely opens the door. It’s up to the Agent to enter freely and of his own will. sacrificial play: Edom gives up one of its own, in the hopes that this bloodletting will satisfy the Agents’ vendetta. If the Agents have an antipathy toward a particular Duke, then Edom sets that Duke up for a fall. If the Agents are closing in on Edom’s headquarters, then they’re given the opportunity to take out a lesser (but still obviously important) Edom base, like Hawkins’ house near Exeter (p. 167) or maybe even the “Black Light” (p. 204) facility. Evidence planted by Edom implies that this is the end of the operation — that Edom’s finally done and dusted after more than a hundred years.The surviving elements of Edom go underground, and won’t appear again until later in the campaign (make sure they come back with a blast). Alternatively, this may be a plot by Dracula’s mole in Edom, if such a traitor exists. Maybe the mole sells “D” (the code name for Edom’s head; see p. 49)

Edom has plenty of experience dealing with vampires, that the Dossier (and “Hopkins,” p. 117) cannot be relied upon, and the best thing to do now is drop the investigation. It’s conciliatory, friendly, and may even lead to a job offer (see “Recruit Agent,” below). The Duke may offer some useful intel, help the Agent by calling off some Heat, or advise on ways to deal with a troublesome supernatural foe. Edom might offer a payoff, or threaten supernatural badness if the Agents don’t back off (“We have your daughter’s blood on file, you know — it would be just terrible if He got a taste for her …”) targeted earthquake: Edom deploys its Earthquake Device (p. 266), if it has one, and hammers the Agent with, effectively, a targeted quake. If the Agent is somewhere isolated, then Edom can cut loose with a major tremor — wiping out a place of Safety with an impossibly localized earthquake or eruption is a suitably dramatic escalation. If the Agent is in London or another urban center, then Edom just drops a building on them. The media blame fracking for the quake. In addition to the obvious damage, the earthquake machine is tuned to cause resonance between the telluric currents and the Agent (this may require a sample of the Agent’s blood, obtained by Pearl, p. 52). Vampires can now sense the Agent at a distance — in game terms, apply the rules for Dracula’s Conspiracy in Romania (p. 203) to everywhere the Agent goes, as long as she is touching the ground. Geology, Photography, Vampirology, or Fringe Science may detect a strange lingering change in the Agent’s bioelectric field; finding a way to discharge this invisible brand ends the resonance. If you’re not using telluric vampires (p. 59), or if Edom doesn’t have an earthquake machine, then substitute an alternative attack — have Edom’s vampire prey on a contact or Solace, have Fort bomb their safe house (to be blamed on al-Qaeda), or else maybe they dose the Agent with a mix of psychotropic drugs and the Seward Serum that causes a hallucinatory flashback to 1894. extraordinary rendition: A Jack strike team (led by a combat-trained Legacy, or a Duke, or even a vampire) grabs and sedates the Agent. The

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook on the idea of giving up a key Edom asset to distract the Agent, dividing Edom against itself and occupying the Agent at the same time.

Row Five: Necessity (vampire): Edom sends its vampire to eliminate the troublesome Agent. It may set up this attack with another targeted earthquake (“You haven’t invited me into your home? That’s fine — I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll knock your house down”) or back its vampire up with an appropriate Duke and a hand of Jacks. Either way, it’s Edom’s last thrust, the final spasm of an operation that’s long outlived its natural life span. vampirize agent (vampire): The plan has always been to obtain a tame vampire. Why not try again? Edom reveals the Agent’s location to Dracula, and gives the Count a reason to turn the Agent into one of the Un-Dead (maybe by planting or revealing evidence that the Agent is a Legacy,dosing theAgent with an extract of Lucy Westenra’s blood, or just appealing to the Count’s cruelty). Alternatively, Edom could break out a stored Vial of Dracula’s Blood (p. 284) and have “Dr. Drawes” conduct some bizarre transfusion. See the rules on Vampire Agents on p. 126 of Night’s Black Agents. kill agent

Row Six: The Truth (“d”): Ultimately, all Edom has left is a century of secrets. Maybe one last revelation can stop the Agent and save the plan. “D” reveals something shocking or terrible, like:

offer revelation

Dracula’s

next target (a Solace? The president of the United States? The Devil himself, called up using rites learned at Scholomance? An Agent?) a secret from the Agent’s past, ideally one tying that Agent to Edom (is the Agent an unknowing Legacy? An unknowing latent vampire?) the extent of Dracula’s control over the British government As a bargaining chip to keep Edom alive, “D” may reveal a core truth to prove his bona fides, like: the the the

true nature of vampirism location of Dracula’s real Castle location of a key object, weapon, or Legacy

Legacies and the Story Map Part of the fun of playing with source material like Dracula is the possibility of using the actual characters from the book — or their descendants, at any rate — as NPCs. (Or as PCs; see p. 41.) When using such Legacies, the Director should take care, as with any magnetic NPC, not to deform the storyline away from the players’ Agents. Nor should she drown the players in multiple-NPC arcana, even out of an understandable urge to color in her own version of the Stokerverse or to provide evocative backdrops for her campaign. If everything refers to Dracula, after all, nothing does — the novel’s characters should (with one aristocratic, blood-sucking exception) remain secondary to the players’ characters.

Number of Legacies As a rule of thumb, then, there should be no more than three Legacies playing active, visible roles in the story — too many becomes too confusing, and uses up too much narrative oxygen. One Legacy might be anything:innocent to be protected, secret warrior against Dracula pulling the Agents into her fight, loyal (or questioning) Edom asset, supplier of the Dossier, or minion of the Count. Two Legacies should be on opposite sides, either at the beginning or the end. If Lucy Blythe is Edom, then Thad Morris is Conspiracy — except that the Agents (not Lucy) have a chance to flip Thad at the climax. If Tabitha Holmwood is actually an independent vampire slayer, Geerd Hoorn might seem like a fellow hunter — until in the third act turn the Agents discover him to be a GRU agent running the Russian Orlok program. Likewise three Legacies: no two of them should ever be able to team up against the player characters for spotlight space. Rather, the players should hold the balance in inter-Legacy rivalry; their actions should determine which Legacy survives and which one gets beheaded. Three Legacies will probably shake out to one Edom legacy, one outside-agency or free-agent Legacy, and one vampiric Legacy. Which one is which might switch around during play — either “officially” or behind the scenes as the Director retcons them to match intriguing current player speculation. Having a fourth or fifth Legacy turn

up dead, or mentioned in a diary or email, is probably okay if it doesn’t happen too often. If the players are determined to hunt down every possible Legacy — and that hunt is still fun after the third or fourth operation — keep it coming, and try to tie other elements of the Dossier (various nodes, locations, etc.) into the Legacy hunt. Remember, many of the “regular” NPCs in this book can turn out to be Legacies, or be built that way on purpose by a Director who is feeding genuine player obsession. Similarly, a surprise Legacy reveal at the climax of the story can work: the director of Edom, the mysterious “D,” is actually the current Lord Godalming; or perhaps one Agent’s trusted patron, killed by Dracula in the penultimate operation, was an electrically immortalVan Helsing all along.

Pacing and Legacies As important as the number of Legacies is their pacing: introduce them gradually enough and use them sparingly enough that the story doesn’t become a class reunion the Agents aren’t really invited to. If each introduction comes with a strong and varying narrative agenda tied to the PCs, that works best and militates against just slapping in a Legacy for scenery’s sake. It also provides some story relief from the constant warfare against (and waged by) Dracula. Consider pacing the Legacies’ actions to the Conspyramid, using that diagram as the story map (NBA, p. 159). Here’s a sample set of “Legacy beats,” tied to the Agents’ progress into the campaign as signified by which level of the Conspyramid they’ve penetrated to: level 1:A Legacy gives you a lead covertly or

semi-anonymously. Possibly this Legacy is who supplied you with the Dossier. level 2: The Agents discover a (second?) Legacy. This may later turn out to have been the Legacy “trailing her coat” for the Agents to find. level 3: One Legacy betrays the Agents. Possibly they don’t know which one, or possibly they saw Jacqueline Seward crawling along the ceiling. Possibly Dracula turned that Legacy, and her betrayal was postmortem. level 4:A Legacy attacks, blocks, or thwarts the Agents. Getting around, flipping, or defeating that Legacy is a major challenge, one the other Legacies cannot (or will not) significantly help with.

opening the dossier n defaults and assumptions

Think in terms of strong story beats when a Legacy comes on stage in an operation: recruitment, betrayal, attack, assistance, life-or-death decision.

Summing Up With four separate plot elements (the Conspyramid, Dracula’s Vampyramid, Edom’s pyramid,and the Legacy story beats) potentially responding as the players move forward in search of Dracula, every level of the campaign can be as narratively rich, as murderously Gothic, and as thrillingly suspenseful as you like. Don’t overplan — the goal of the campaign is collaborative, improvised play. But it never hurts to have some idea of what might happen next, even if you’re letting the players decide where it happens, and to whom. Adjust the mixture in response to the players — if they’re racing toward Castle Dracula too fast, hit them with an Edom or Dracula response. If they’re trapped and gun-shy, bring a Legacy on stage to open up the story a bit. Whenever they slow down, suggest another dive into the Dracula Dossier. If they’re completely lost, you can bring up possibilities they’ve abandoned, or remind them of clues they’ve blown past. If all else fails, offer the analyst a choice of three leads to follow “based on your experience and your wellhoned gut instinct.”

Dracula Death Race A shorter, more streamlined campaign might consist of a series of six rapidly escalating confrontations informed by leads from the Dossier, with each confrontation triggering one sort of blowback: Edom, Dracula, or Legacy. Locations, etc., in this spine are provided solely for example’s sake: your players will choose where they go and what they find there.

0: Agents receive the Dossier from a Legacy, begin developing leads. level 1: Agents go looking for “Hopkins” among Dracula’s and Edom’s nest of London safe houses and criminal covers. Dracula “Scouts the Foe” (p. 18). level 2: Agents discover the London center of Dracula’s operations. Edom tries “Nullification” (p. 22) to put them out of the way, but not before they burn out lots of Dracula’s safe house network. A second Legacy appears. level 3: The Agents go on the run from Edom and follow Van Helsing’s trail (possibly at a Legacy’s behest) to Belgium or Holland, where they tangle with a Conspiracy transport or banking node. Dracula “Turns a Solace” (p. 20) as they get closer. level 4: A Legacy betrays the Agents; they survive the killing ambush by a Bride of Dracula in Munich. The Agents devise a way to enter Romania covertly. Offscreen, Edom manipulates the rest of MI6 into active and overt pursuit of Agents, raising their Heat by +1. level 5: Romania is a killing gantlet; the Agents may need to drop back down to Dracula’s Level 3 or 4 nodes in the country to uncover vulnerabilities and leads. If Edom has a vampire, it makes one last attempt to sanction the Agents; if not, a hit team of Dukes does the same. Level 6: The Agents must choose whether to believe a Legacy’s lead. They track Dracula to his lair and destroy him at great cost, despite the “Destruction” (p. 20) he unleashes on them. level

Dracula Downfall By contrast, here’s one possible spine for a lush, full-bodied Dracula Dossier campaign, again demarcated by Conspyramid levels. level

0: enter freely

The Agents

receive, discover, or steal the Dracula Dossier. The players realize (and discuss) the possible scope of their actions. They decide on promising leads in the annotations. Edom realizes the Dossier is missing and sends assets to look at usual suspects like the Agents; full Surveillance contest or short counter-tracking op against Edom’s duped Special Branch (or local security police, if overseas) agents.

level

1: first blood

The Agents

begin investigation of their first lead — it leads to a node on Level 1 of the Conspyramid, and possibly to violence. If the Agents don’t know vampires are real, this is the time to find out for sure — a trusted patron or other ally (or a Network contact they’ve set looking into the Dossier’s provenance) independently crosses Dracula’s Conspiracy with gory results. Dracula responds to interference with his Conspiracy with “Scout the Foe” (p. 18). First contact with a Legacy. Edom responds to interference with Dracula with “Irritation” (p. 21). The Agents may respond to either of Dracula’s attacks, still on Level 1. If they don’t already have one (or another promising lead from the Dossier), this response uncovers a clue leading up the ladder to Level 2. level

2: the dead past

The Agents

investigate, confront, destroy, etc., a node on Level 2. If the Agents haven’t discovered or encountered Renfields or Jacks, bring one of them on stage now. Dracula responds by attempting to “Sow Dissension” (p. 19) among the Agents. The Agents discover a second Legacy, or confirm the existence of the single Legacy. Edom responds by attempting “Nullification” (p. 22) of the threat. More of the Agents’ leads come into play, again sending them after other nodes on Level 2 or up to Level 3. level

3: the mist thickens

The Agents

interfere with Level 3. Here they may feel out of their depth; the nodes on this level are potentially powerful, and Dracula’s assets have been deeply buried in their organization for decades — or even centuries! This may be the Level where the Agents need to find a way into Romania that won’t show up on a GCHQ computer search. A Legacy is not what she seems.

5: A Legacy provides key help to the Agents. This is a one-time thing: the Legacy might die in battle for the Agents, or die battling them but have a helpfully unsecured laptop in their car. level 6: The surviving Legacy is threatened — by the Agents or by Dracula depending on his allegiances — and his survival (or death) is in the Agents’ hands at the end. level

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook If

the Agents dare to tread his native earth, Dracula unleashes “Terror” (p. 20) upon them. Edom switches policy to “Elimination” (p. 22) of the threat. level

4: defense of the realm

But

if they press on, the Agents force Dracula into a “Strategic Retreat” (p. 20). Looking for him sets the Agents in competition or collision with Level 4 nodes and lots of Renfields. The Agents might well be in Romania at this point, but, even if they’re still clearing Dracula’s safe houses out of London, they represent a clear and present threat. A Legacy (consciously or unconsciously) obstructs the Agents from moving forward against Dracula or Edom. Edom gets clearance for “Drastic Action” (p. 23). If Edom hasn’t dropped a dime on them previously (or their Heat hasn’t already driven MI5 or the SRI to action), the Agents become wanted by MI6 (+1 Heat at least) and actively pursued with intent. If Edom has a vampire, the Agents discover it or it discovers them or both. Same thing with outside actors and any outside vampires such as Orlok. level

5: the heart of edom

The Agents

turn on Edom as the most immediate threat to their freedom of movement. A ladder of clues presents itself in the pages of the Dossier, and they climb it to Ring (p. 172), the HMS Proserpine (p. 169), Carfax (p. 185), or some other suitable killing ground. This development may have been instigated or aided by a Legacy.

New Investigative Ability: Geology The very place, where he have been alive, Un-Dead for all these centuries, is full of strangeness of the geologic and chemical world. There are deep caverns and fissures that reach none know whither. There have been volcanoes, some of whose openings still send out waters of strange properties, and gases that kill or make to vivify. Doubtless, there is something magnetic or electric in some of these combinations of occult forces which work for physical life in strange way … — Van Helsing Given the emphasis in the campaign legend on volcanoes, caves, big boxes of mysterious earth, and mountains, consider adding this Academic ability to the Investigative list. Pre-existing characters can freely convert rating points in Chemistry into Geology rating points. You are an expert on rocks, soils, minerals, and volcanoes. You can: analyze and identify soil samples, crystals, minerals, and so forth match soil or rocks to their locality of origin

Edom

strikes back out of “Necessity” (p. 24). Dracula takes advantage of their distraction to attack in flank with an “Envelopment” (p. 20). That attack exposes a Level 5 node to retaliation by the increasingly confident, knowledgeable Agents. Lesser vampires go down like ninepins now to clear the decks for the big boss fight. level

6: dracula must die

Edom

attempts to bargain with “The Truth” (p. 24).

determine the age of a rock stratum locate and navigate inside cave formations date and identify fossils operate geo-sensing equipment, ground-penetrating radar, magnetometers, seismographs, and similar devices identify promising sites for oil or water wells, mines, etc. anticipate and identify volcanism, seismic events, avalanches, and other earth phenomena interact with speleologists, volcanologists, seismologists, mining engineers, etc., as a professional equal If you don’t want to use this ability, this makes an excellent thing for soon-to-die Network contacts to know, along with NPCs like the Seismologist (p. 100) and the Volcanologist (p. 136). This ability otherwise falls, with the rest of the material sciences, under Chemistry.

That

truth, or the last testament of a Legacy, or simply brilliant spycraft, hands the Agents the crucial equipment (e.g., an Earthquake Device (p. 266) or ancient grimoire (p. 273)) or information (e.g., the true location of Castle Dracula (p. 207) or the Scholomance (p. 219)) to penetrate Level 6. The Agents track Dracula to his lair through his attempts to unleash total “Destruction” (p. 20). A Legacy’s ultimate fate lies in the hands of the Agents. The Agents destroy Dracula at great cost.

opening the dossier n your dracula dossier campaign

The players aren’t the only ones who custom-fit and improvise a Dracula Dossier campaign. You, the Director, should ponder some fairly crucial questions in the name of narrative flow and story organization. (And one or two relatively weightless questions in the name of flavor and historical resonance.) You can change your mind about most of these answers in play, and justify it with the old “laid a false trail / told a cover story” dodge, but it will seem less organic and satisfying outside a hardcore mirror campaign.

How Do the Agents Acquire the Dossier? If this is a campaign with all-new Agents, any of a hundred MacGuffin methods can work: they find it covered with blood in a safe house, they get it from an informant

dying of a gunshot wound, they beat a hated rival group to an unknown prize and now have to decide what to do with it, and so forth. The Harker Intrusion, an adventure in the Edom Files adventure anthology, offers a default solution, but anything works. If you begin The Dracula Dossier as part of an ongoing Night’s Black Agents campaign, it’s almost as easy to work the Dossier into your story. If one of the Agents already has a Network contact inside British intelligence, it might be “Hopkins,” or her cut-out. If the Agents are already tracking vampire conspiracies in Europe, they may hear about Dracula being on the warpath and uncover the Dossier as a rumor: “Dracula? I thought that he was just a myth.” “So did we, until we heard about the Dossier on him. MI6 has it all somewhere, in black and white.”

Does Edom Have a Vampire? By and large, more vampires makes for more fun gaming. Edom might well have any number of vampire prisoners in HMS Proserpine (p. 169) without much changing the facts on the ground. But if Edom has a tame vampire they can send on missions, it seems less likely that they want to keep Dracula safe and alive. Dracula needs some sort of doomsday switch: perhaps his lawyers can reveal all of Edom’s thefts and crimes if he turns up permanently dead. He may have some bureaucratic hold over MI6, or have planted a deadly Marburg V bomb (NBA, p. 146) somewhere in London. Alternately, if Edom made their vampire from Dracula’s blood (via Mina or Lucy, for example), his death might de-power Edom’s vampire and leave them

Campaign Modes A Dracula Dossier campaign can play out in any or all of the core Night’s Black Agents modes. It’s just a matter of emphasizing the elements and themes that match, and downplaying or hurrying past the occasional infelicities.

Burn When Edom strikes, it strikes at the Agents’ Symbols and their old Networks, cutting away their ties to their past.When Dracula strikes, he poisons and corrupts the Agents’ human connections — when he doesn’t merely kill Solaces and destroy places of Safety. Legacies should all be wounded people, still (and possibly unknowingly) emotionally crippled by their ancestors’ sacrifices. Present real moral dilemmas when these Legacies appear: make the needy betrayers more attractive and sympathetic than the cold, sociopathic hunters. Tempt the Agents with the warmth of belonging, even if it is belonging to an inhuman monster.

Dust Emphasize the gritty, individual level of the spycraft involved. Draw on the reallife hunt for bin Laden (or at least Zero Dark Thirty) rather than Marvel Comics’ hunt for Dracula. Give Dracula only a few Renfields, and a lot of venal thugs; consider using the “real names” behind the novel characters rather than “Harker” and “Van Helsing” and so on (p. 79). dust mode games work well with lots of Interpersonal scenes with NPCs, each pointing a little farther down the path. Use the minimized or fraudulent explanations for the wilder artifacts such as the Earthquake Device or Le Dragon Noir; consider incorporating telluric vampirism (p. 59) with a strong science-fictional gloss.

Mirror Cast Edom as the dark mirror of the Agents’ own previous agencies: hint that Edom has always had an under-the-table sanction. Legacies are betrayers, even if they merely sacrifice the Agents as pawns in their own insane crusade against Dracula — but they more likely work for

the BND, CIA, Edom, or the Conspiracy. Or more than one. Make sure at least one Agent, like Mina, is tainted with Dracula’s blood; make sure at least one Agent has ties to Edom. At least one of the original 1894 band betrayed the others — reveal their treason when it echoes one Agent’s recent actions. Emphasize Dracula’s powers of mind control, invasion of dreams (p. 18), and ability to turn anyone into a loyal slave.

Stakes When the players begin to doubt their mission, present Dracula’s latest atrocity in stark Sky News color. Even when he slaughters al-Qaeda, add some collateral damage to his take: innocent neighbors or cops who saw too much. One Legacy is heroic, holding fast to Victorian morality in the face of Satanic evil: you know your stakes game is working when he or she no longer seems camp. Present Dracula as animalistic, medieval, everything the heroes aren’t. If any vampire but Dracula dies, they die with relief in their face: they are no longer prisoners of Hell.

your dracula dossier campaign

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook powerless. They keep Dracula alive out of pure selfishness, and use his predations to cover their own tracks.

Do Other Agencies Know About Vampires? The Dossier never explicitly says that any other agency (foreign or domestic) besides Edom knows about vampires, or even about Edom. It’s very likely that a large number of individual SRI and SIE operatives know about vampires, given their position between Dracula and the outside world, but (not least thanks to those operatives’ efforts at covering up their treason) their agencies can remain officially oblivious. The more fun and interesting answer is to add at least one or two other players to the game: the CIA via Morris and the rendition program at “Black Light” (p. 204) and the successor to the German program during the world wars, which might be the BND in West Germany, or the FSB or GRU in Russia (from East German records). This does add complexity, and in a very straightforward, run-up-themiddle stakes game or a binary player-onthe-other-side mirror story, that might not be a desired seasoning. Other secret directorates in other services, intact (CIA, FSB) or defunct (N, Abwehr, Securitate), might also have their own vampires as well as their own agendas.These can provide new targets for the Agents, and new (possibly deadly and distracting) vectors for investigation. See Other National Vampire Programs, p. 75, for more.

Does Dracula Have Any More Vampires? Specifically, does he have vampire servants capable of (or allowed) independent action? In the novel, Dracula has three Brides who, one thinks, might have come in handy when vampirizing London, but he leaves them behind. By this new century, he may have decided that vampirism is too valuable a force multiplier to leave it behind entirely. In the novel, he only vampirizes women: his subordinate vampires are more likely to be female, like Elizabeth Báthory (p. 65). That said, cousins or experiments like Orlok (p. 70) remain possible.

Further, what if Dracula’s vampires don’t see eye to blood-red eye with him? Orlok may resent his junior role, or Mina keep her “New Woman” attitude into UnDeath. The short story “Dracula’s Guest” (incorporated into Dracula Unredacted, chapter 17) implies that some of his powerful agents acted without his approval in other lands, even back in 1894.

Do Vampires Work the Way Van Helsing Thought They Did? The “default” vampire in Stoker’s novel is damned, with touches of the supernatural — hence the twin defenses of the crucifix and garlic. But Stoker reveals technophilic tendencies in many places, not least in Van Helsing’s numerous mentions of geology, chemistry, electricity, and volcanology in the seemingly incongruous context of vampire lore.You have a surprisingly open vampiric field to play with, in other words. You can present Dracula and vampires in general as default damned vampires with the canonical set of powers and vulnerabilities (p. 56) and chalk the rest of it up to Van Helsing’s Victorian-era tendency toward scientism. This matches well with stakes-mode campaigns. You can present Dracula, instead, as a “telluric vampire,” tuned to the earth’s electromagnetic field by extremophile bacterial infection. Or make the vampiric vector exposure to a mysterious Transylvanian mineral — perhaps fallen meteoric “dark matter” — resonant with or amplifying telluric currents through the medium of magnetized, iron-bearing blood. (See p. 59 for a telluric vampire build; a mutant or alien in damned colors.) If you keep the science po-faced and realistic sounding, you could even match a telluric vampire with a dust-mode game. In either case, Van Helsing might simply have been mistaken: If Dracula is damned, Van Helsing’s (and this campaign’s) insistence on his connection with volcanism is simply a red herring. Or if Dracula is a mutant, Van Helsing simply misread the symptoms through his knowledge of Balkan superstition and own devout faith.

Or Van

Helsing might have been lying. If Van Helsing was part of the German government’s own secret vampire program, he could have been feeding Edom disinformation: note that he doesn’t bring any garlic along to Romania, for instance. What the Agents don’t know can literally kill them. If Van Helsing lies, you should salt the knowledge of true banes among key NPCs: one Legacy, an old Edom hand like Oakes (p. 52), or perhaps “Dr. Drawes.” This seems like a good thematic possibility for mirror campaigns.

Alternatively, you can bisociate the vampire and explore the intersection of science and the supernatural. Dracula’s attuned to the telluric currents because of his bargain with the Devil, and the grave of a suicide has a measurably different electrical potential to that of a good Christian buried on consecrated ground. Both could be true! Orlok (p. 70), if he exists in your game, might be the product of misguided German belief in scientific vampirism, while Dracula is the real Satanic deal. Van Helsing may have been “almost right” or “mostly right” in the way of many other Victorian scientists — with the all-important remainder up to the Agents to uncover.

How Thoroughly Has Dracula Penetrated Britain? It’s nearly certain that Dracula’s leavebehind network in London survived the mole hunt in 1977. If not, he has surely rebuilt it since then. How deep does the rot go? Does Dracula control Edom? MI6? The entire military-industrial complex? The whole island? Perhaps he consummated his takeover of the British government some time after 1977, and is content to rule from behind the scenes.There’s no bottom to that paranoid well, and one answer is about as good as another: it’s very much a Director’s call, in other words. It’s also a call you can postpone until the midgame or even the endgame if need be. By and large, of course, the larger and more powerful Dracula’s Conspiracy, the harder it is for the Agents to kill Dracula. Easing back on the obstacles risks an unrealistic and therefore unsatisfying victory. Players have more than enough

opening the dossier n your dracula dossier campaign

If your campaign bends toward the adversarial, or you want to have fun with disillusionment and treachery, you can allow one of the players to play an Edom double agent. This Edom spy is under orders to infiltrate the player characters’ group, gain their trust, and then await further orders. The spy’s handler is a Duke, presumably Hound (professional but distant; p. 51), Elvis (prodding and supportive; p. 50), Oakes (secretive and profound; p. 52), or Osprey (tough and demanding; p. 52) — although there’s no guarantee that the double agent knows the true identity of the handler. Unless you’re prepared for the possibility of your campaign going spectacularly off the rails, then ask the player to choose one: You work for Edom, but over the course of the campaign you’re going to question your loyalty to them. What’s the weak spot in your loyalty to Edom? You work for Edom, but only because they’ve got some hold over you. What is it? This ensures the double agent can switch sides when dramatically needful, midway through the campaign. Alternatively, the

problems dodging an uncontrolled MI6 and a vengeful Edom without giving Dracula two whole countries at the start of play. It’s likely best to assume that Dracula controls anyone in Britain the Agents are looking at too hard, but that he doesn’t have full command over the security services. Yet.

Is Jack the Ripper Involved Somehow? This is a loose-cannon question, asked in the spirit of Victorian monster mashups more than anything else. The main effect on the game is to add a few more locations in London for Edom safe houses or Dracula blood-cult fanes, and to add another possible monster to the opposition (p. 73). Bram Stoker

double agent can simply flip out of selfpreservation when the team finds proof that Edom’s not only got a spy in the group, but that it intends to sacrifice that spy along with the rest when it sends Dracula on a kill mission. The double agent doesn’t have a full picture of Edom’s internal workings. The Agent knows that Edom is using vampires as weapons in the war on terror, and you can give the player a copy of the Edom Field Manual to study before the game begins, but that’s it — everything is compartmentalized on a need-to-know basis. If your Edom swings that way, maybe hint at vampiric hypnosis or Bourne-style conditioning (like Amnesia with no Mystery Drive; NBA, p. 86). The double agent’s handler contacts the spy once every few sessions; they communicate through secret cellphones / encrypted emails / dead drops / vampire-tinged nightmares / mysterious Romanian couriers, and of course the occasional face-to-face in a park, vehicle, or parking garage. When the double agent does flip, capturing and interrogating the handler moves the investigation up at least one row of the Edom reaction pyramid.

unleashed the possibility himself when he referenced the Whitechapel killings in the foreword to the Icelandic edition (1901) of Dracula, and you can easily continue in that tradition. In the Icelandic novel, a Satanic cult carried out the Ripper killings; when Dracula joined them, they committed the Thames Torso murders together (p. 193). Renfield and Seward are the “usual suspects” here, but you can postulate anything from a previous Edom experiment gone wrong to a war-traumatized George Stoker gone homicidal and giving the Special Branch a hold on Bram for life. Stoker also apparently knew an American Ripper suspect, Francis Tumblety, and associated himself briefly with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, if you want yet more magic in the campaign.

In Life, Which Historical Figure, If Any, Was Dracula? This mostly concerns Agents looking into Dracula’s historical past in order to deduce the location of his current Castle, the origin of his “native soil,” and so forth. His personality, powers, and so forth are those as set forth in the novel, regardless of what biographers might claim about Vlad Tepes or John Hunyadi. Some possibilities include:

Vlad III Dracula, a.k.a. Vlad tepes” (1431-1476) pro: Actually

named Dracula, fought the Turks, was bloodthirsty con: Wallachian, not Hungarian; was beheaded native soil: Sighisoara, Transylvania

The Edom Agent

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook John Hunyadi (1406-1456) Pro: Was Hungarian, voivode of Transylvania, fought the Turks Con: Very unlikely to take the title Dracula Native Soil: Unknown, but probably in Transylvania

Michael II Patrascu, a.k.a. ''Mihai “Bravu'' (1558-1601) Pro: Of House Draculesti (Vlad Tepes’ great-grandnephew); voivode of Transylvania; fought the Turks; treacherously murdered, giving him a good vampire grudge Con: Wallachian, not Hungarian Native Soil: Dragoesti, Wallachia

John Dracula (fl. 1535) Pro: Actually named Dracula (Vlad Tepes’ great-grandson), Hungarian, had the same coat of arms as the Báthory family Con: Obscure (which can be a pro) Native Soil: Unknown

Nicolaus Olahus (1493-1568) Pro: Grandnephew of Vlad Dracula, halfHungarian, Archbishop of Esztergom (for Vatican conspiracies) Con: Not a warlord, half-Wallachian Native Soil: Sibiu, Transylvania Research them further on Wikipedia or in your favorite source for obscure early modern Balkan history. You can also just add a fictional member of the House of Draculesti (also known as the House of Basarab, depending on the

branch) as the historic Count, with the advantage that you can design your answers about his Castle, native soil, etc., to suit the campaign, not the other way around. There are plenty of blank spaces left, even in the historical Dracula bloodline.

Who Blew the First Operation Edom in 1894? It might have been a vampirized source within NID, or another country’s agent: Van Helsing for the Germans, or Morris for the Americans. See the discussions of The Originals on pp. 32–40 for some more possibilities. But don’t rule out Dracula simply being more cunning than Edom thought at first: no traitor is necessary to explain Edom’s failure. It’s less important to know this answer ahead of time. Feel free to “reveal” it once the players decide their truth.

What Was Edom's Actual Plan in 1977? Whichever option you pick from the selections on p. 89 informs the answers to many of these other questions. If Dracula’s agent instigated the mole hunt to set up a coup within Edom, then Dracula is more likely to run Edom by 2015, for example. If instead it was cover for an attempt to recruit the king of vampires against the Soviets, then it foreshadows the current unsavory reality, but doesn’t necessarily implicate Edom as actual vampirized tools of Dracula.

The ambiguity around 1977 is a good place to plant second vampires, new lineages, a splinter cell within Edom (around “Cushing” or independent of him), or any other change to the background. We can’t cover all the possibilities here; the best we can do is provide an all-concealing mist in which you can find them yourself.

opening the dossier n your dracula dossier campaign 31

Optional General Ability: Hypnosis Given the major role hypnotism plays in Stoker’s novel, and considering that it is one of the few reliable diagnostics for vampiric command (unlike Mina, Renfield would not burn at the Host’s touch), you may wish to add the General ability Hypnosis. This ability is only available to characters with ratings of 8+ in Shrink or Medic. Pre-existing characters can freely convert Shrink rating points into Hypnosis rating points, as long as that prerequisite is maintained. This ability represents medical hypnosis; it is not psychic mind control or vampiric mesmerism. You can only hypnotize a willing subject, and only one subject at a time. Hypnotizing full vampires is impossible. Using Hypnosis requires a test against a Difficulty Number that varies depending on the purpose you use it for. simple hypnotic state: To place a patient in a hypnotic trance, you must succeed against Difficulty 3. During this trance, she is calm and placid. establish analytic rapport: Once you have successfully hypnotized a patient, your Shrink pool increases by 3 during any future use of Shrink on them. Your Shrink rating must be at least 3 to gain this benefit. recover memories: The patient’s fragmented or buried memories, as of dreams, traumas, or murky monster attacks, can be called to the surface and “relived.” This is a Difficulty 4 test. Reliving an experience that cost Stability will cost the patient the

same amount again, although you may practice immediate Psychological Triage (NBA, p. 85) to minimize the patient’s shock. The Director is free to provide false memories if she feels you are “leading the witness.” post-hypnotic suggestion: Upon lifting the trance, you may cause your patient to perform a single action without apparent thought. You may require a “trigger phrase” or simply specify a time: (“When you get home, you’ll leave the book on the desk.”) Spells and other complex activities cannot be post-hypnotically induced. The patient will not accept a suggestion contrary to her normal behavior. This is a Difficulty 4 or higher test; the Director may increase the Difficulty based on the suggestion. post-hypnotic trance trigger: One very common posthypnotic suggestion is “return to a hypnotic trance when you hear this phrase” followed by a trigger phrase. This is a Difficulty 5 test; if successful, add the margin between 5 and your total roll and spend to your Hypnosis pool for your next session with that patient. You wish to give Derek a trance trigger, a passage of Schiller. You spend 3 points and roll a 4, for a total of 7. This beats the Difficulty of 5; he will go under without a test when next you quote Schiller to him, and you add 2 points to your Hypnosis pool (7 − 5 = 2) during your next session with Derek.

ease pain: You can relieve symptomatic pain in a patient. This removes the mechanical penalties for being Hurt (see NBA, p. 64), and lasts until the patient is wounded again. This is a Difficulty 4 or higher test; the Director may increase the Difficulty depending on the pain’s severity. This does not work under battlefield conditions. establish clairvoyant connection: If your patient is already connected to a vampire, you can enable her to sense that vampire’s surroundings as though her mind were there in his body. This is a Difficulty 5 test on a living human who has consumed the vampire’s blood (she must then make a 5-point Stability test; a failure breaks the connection), a Difficulty 6 test on Renfields (imprinted or tainted), and a Difficulty 7 test on mere victims of the vampire. false memories: You can purposely implant false memories in the patient or bury real ones. This is extremely unethical without a direct therapeutic benefit (such as easing a remembered trauma). This is a contest between your Hypnosis and the patient’s Stability. Your Difficulty Number is 5; the patient resists with Difficulty 4. Again, the Director may increase your Difficulty based on the severity of the memory change. At the Director’s discretion, if the patient suffers a further trauma (such as her Stability dropping below −5 again), she may suddenly recall the truth.

the 1894 network

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

the originals After the events of Dracula, he and his wife Mina had a son, Quincey Harker.

This section discusses the main operators and the surrounding characters of the original 1893–1894 Operation Edom. After a brief biographical sketch true for all variations of the character, we provide several possible interpretations of their agenda and actions. character was an agent of the British secret service, most likely the Special Branch or Naval Intelligence Department. They were knowingly involved in bringing Dracula to England on behalf of the Crown, and may even have known the Count’s true nature. minion: Willingly or unwillingly, the character served Count Dracula and tried to protect him. Renfield is the eponym of the minion, but other characters may have secretly been under Dracula’s control. other: This section is something of a catchall, providing other possible motivations and agendas for some characters, or postulating a suitable future fate for the character after the events in Stoker’s report. clear name: If in your campaign Stoker used pseudonyms in his fiction, here are some possible “cleartext” real names for the main characters.

edom:

edom: The

Jonathan Harker Clerk and later partner in the law firm

of Peter Hawkins, Harker was in his midtwenties when he made his fateful journey to Castle Dracula. Described by Hawkins as “full of energy and talent in his own way, and of a very faithful disposition,” Harker barely managed to escape the Castle alive, and never wholly recovered from his experiences there. He was a devout member of the Church of England. His parents are never mentioned, and he referred to Peter Hawkins as his “second father”; he may have been an orphan — almost certainly his parents died young.

Together with Peter Hawkins (p. 39), Harker arranged Dracula’s move to England. If Hawkins was also a British agent, then he was likely Harker’s handler; if Hawkins was just a cut-out, then Harker’s unexplained business trips to places like Launceston (CU173) were cover for meetings with British intelligence to report on the progress of the Dracula operation. Certainly, Harker displayed more courage and resourcefulness than might be expected of a legal clerk in his escape from Castle Dracula. He demonstrated almost superhuman strength at the end when he threw down Dracula’s coffin, allowing Quincey Morris to deliver the final blow. This might be evidence of an Edom “vampire serum” or of his own turning by Dracula. minion: Interestingly, Dracula made Hawker write several dated letters (CU54) to be sent to Hawkins. The first step in turning an agent is to ensure their handlers do not become suspicious when the agent misses a pre-arranged check-in. Dracula turned Harker while the Englishman was at the Castle. Conceivably, Harker was seduced by the vampire women, and offered Mina

the 1894 network n the originals: jonathan harker to abraham van helsing

Wilhemina Murray Harker An assistant schoolteacher at the time

of the novel, Wilhelmina “Mina” Murray likely made the acquaintance of Lucy when they were both students. She was exceptionally well educated and organized, and possessed of considerable strength of will. On receiving news of Jonathan’s sickness following his escape from Castle Dracula, she crossed Europe to marry him hastily in Budapest.

Count Dracula fed from Mina after compelling Renfield to invite him into the asylum. As a result of her “vampiric baptism,” Mina developed a psychic connection to Dracula that proved instrumental in tracking the Count down. Dracula’s "death" removed all outward traces of her curse. She and Harker later had a son together, Quincey. edom:

She typed up and organized every diary entry and note; she coordinated train timetables; she read books on criminology — Mina’s the archetypical analyst. Note that it is she who suggested that Van Helsing hypnotize her to spy on Dracula. If she was not an agent, then it’s only because some recruiting officer failed to spot her potential. If Edom did talent-spot her (possibly while at school with Lucy — explaining how she afforded such an expensive education with no visible connections), she was part of the Edom team in place inWhitby. As an Edom agent, Mina faced a heartwrenching choice when she received news of Jonathan’s situation. She had to choose between rushing to the side of her dying fiancé and continuing to observe Dracula in Whitby. Could the operation have been completed successfully if Mina had never gone to Budapest? minion: Dracula drained and possibly seduced Mina at the asylum, and the two shared a psychic link after that. Van Helsing and the others tried to keep Mina out of their planning sessions, in case she somehow relayed intelligence back to Dracula (and Dracula did evade the hunters by arriving at Galatz instead of Varna). While Van Helsing assumed that Dracula’s death freed Mina from his power, and he took the vanishing of the burn mark on her forehead as proof of her restored purity, there is no reason to assume this is true. Dracula demonstrates the ability to restore himself; if Mina also mastered this power, she could possibly heal the wound and conceal the fact that she retained her vampiric abilities. other: Even if Mina was an innocent during the events described, it hardly seems likely that she returned to a simple life as a schoolteacher or a solicitor’s wife. Perhaps she continued to research vampiric lore with Van Helsing, or maybe the blood of Dracula

flowing through her veins continued to transform her into something other than human. Van Helsing points out that, as long as Dracula lives, then Mina will inevitably become a vampire after death, even if she dies of old age. She almost certainly survived through 1940, and may have sensed enough of that Edom operation to plan her own cremation or some other more permanent means of destruction — or to plan her eventual return in 1977! clear name: Ellen Mowbray, Genevieve “Gina” Malcolm, Elizabeth Farris

Abraham Van Helsing Professor Van Helsing held a chair of

medicine at the Municipal University of Amsterdam, where he specialized in obscure diseases. He taught Dr. Seward, and the young doctor saved his life when the professor was accidentally infected with gangrene. Summoned by Seward to help diagnose Lucy Westenra’s mysterious ailment,Van Helsing quickly identified the telltale marks of the vampire. He led the campaign against the Count; he procured supplies from his many allies on the Continent and guided the younger men in their hunt for Dracula and his spawn. Van Helsing was married; his wife was insane and locked in an asylum.Her madness may have been connected to the death of their son in unexplained circumstances. While he lived in Amsterdam and had a Dutch name, he would slip into German when surprised or alarmed.

to Dracula as tribute. He was singularly ineffectual in stopping Dracula from feeding on Mina (CU212). Dracula may have used him as a stalking horse; Harker’s ravings in the hospital at Budapest and in London would have attracted the attention of any vampire hunters. If Seward had not summoned Van Helsing already, then Harker might have drawn the professor out to where Dracula could keep him under observation. other: Harker might have merely been a friendly, a pliable solicitor recruited by Edom to arrange the mundane necessities of Dracula’s transfer to England. In this case, his exposure to Dracula turned him either into an informal Edom ally or into a minion of the Count. clear name: James Harper, Jackson Hutter, Jeffrey Hosmer Stoker clearly took Harker’s workname from Joseph Harker, a set designer at the Lyceum Theatre.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook Van Helsing was a doctor of law in addition to his medical degree, and seemed to be acquainted with every contemporary scientist and philosopher of note. He was a Catholic, and claimed to have an indulgence for his (blasphemous) use of the Host — implying very high-level connections within the Church. edom:

If the aim of Operation Edom was to recruit Dracula, then why was Van Helsing so eager to kill the vampire? There are two possibilities. First, if the conspiracy planned to acquire a vampire, then any vampire would do. Once he procreated, Dracula would therefore be an unwanted loose end. Van Helsing arrived after Lucy was infected, and oversaw her transformation into a vampire. He also stopped Seward from removing Renfield from the asylum, which allowed Dracula to similarly infect Mina (perhaps Lucy was somehow unsuitable, and Van Helsing decided to try again with another woman). This interpretation casts Van Helsing as a cold-hearted manipulator who treated everyone around him as disposable tools, to be used or broken as he saw fit. Alternatively, Van Helsing came in as a cleaner. Edom’s initial plan having failed, Dracula proving intractable, the Service needed to deal with this rogue vampire immediately. Therefore, they brought in the freelance vampire hunter Van Helsing to coordinate the fight against the wayward vampire and mop up any unwanted spawn. minion: Although Van Helsing made numerous tactical and strategic mistakes during the hunt for Dracula, the eventual outcome — Dracula driven from England, his Castle violated and demolished — makes Van Helsing’s doubling during the initial operation unlikely. However, note that we have only Van Helsing’s account that he successfully resisted the charms of the vampire women in Castle Dracula and destroyed them. His description of the vaults doesn’t match Harker’s, either, implying a cover story — either his own, or one implanted by Dracula or his Brides. Van Helsing as minion makes the epilogue of the novel into something sinister, as he sits with Quincey Harker on his knee, having invited the Harkers to return to Castle Dracula …

other:

What killed Van Helsing’s son, and drove his wife insane? Could Van Helsing’s knowledge of the Un-Dead have come from some personal experience? Van Helsing as a freelance vampire hunter fits his history and his legend. Or he might not have been freelance. Van Helsing was a spy — but he wasn’t a British spy. His habit of breaking into German when under strain implies a connection to the Kaiser’s naval intelligence section, Nachrichtenabteilung, or N (naval intelligence ran operations against Britain and America; the army’s Abteilung IIIb dealt with France and Russia). He may also have worked for the Vatican, given his connections to indulgence-granting Catholic prelates. clear name: Max Windshoeffel, Martin von Hessel, Jakob van Helmont Van Helsing may also have been the cover name of the German philologist and scholar Friedrich Max Müller (1823– 1900), holder of the chair of comparative languages at Oxford. An expert in myth and ancient “Turanic” languages, he could have been brought in by Edom to evaluate George Stoker and Vámbéry’s initial trove of vampire materials — to Edom’s detriment if he was, in fact, an agent of German intelligence. Alternatively, the real Van Helsing may have been the biologist Baron Ernst von Blomberg (1821–1903), a professor of zoology at the University of Lübeck. For reasons as yet unclear, Blomberg’s name has been associated with fraudulent vampire-killing kits sold by major auction houses since the 1980s. Other possibilities include the Hungarian-Austrian neurologist Moritz Benedikt (1835–1920), who specialized in criminal psychology and high-frequency electrotherapeutics; the pioneering Dutch psychiatrist and hypnotist Albert Willem van Renterghem (1846–1939),also involved in spiritualism and homeopathy; or the Irish surgeon William Thornley Stoker (1845–1912), Bram Stoker’s eldest brother, granted a baronetcy in 1911. A more outré possibility casts Van Helsing as the cover name of Robert Roosevelt (1829–1906), uncle of the American president Theodore Roosevelt and American ambassador to

the Netherlands from 1888 to 1890. If Edom began as an early Anglo-American cooperative venture (possibly because Quincey Morris’ experience with vampires in South America made his participation vital), then Roosevelt (like Morris, a dedicated outdoorsman and adventurer) may have run the operation on the ground — much as “Van Helsing” does in the novel.

Lucy Westenra Lucy Westenra’s life was cut short by

Dracula at the age of only 19. She lived with her widowed mother in Whitby. She attended the same school as Mina Murray, and remained in regular contact with her. Even before Dracula’s attacks, Lucy’s health was precarious, and she suffered from somnambulism. She had a number of suitors, three of whom proposed marriage on the same day. Lucy’s love life is curious in its own right, even before one introduces vampires to the mix. Her three suitors — Seward, Godalming, and Morris — all knew one another and were close friends, but none of them seemed to know the intentions of the others toward Lucy. Either Lucy managed to juggle three courtships with remarkable discretion, or else the three friends all agreed to propose almost simultaneously and let Lucy make the choice. Dracula targeted Lucy within three days of his arrival in England, and continued to feed from her intermittently for nearly two months before she perished.

the 1894 network n the originals: abraham van helsing to dr. john ''jack'' seward edom:

with garlic. However, two alternate possibilities present themselves. Firstly, if both Seward andVan Helsing were part of the Edom conspiracy to acquire a vampire, they could have used that opportunity to spirit the paralyzed Lucy away, and then lied to Holmwood about decapitating her. If that sealed coffin in the Westenra grave is empty, then perhaps Lucy was brought to some secret military base for experimentation (p. 169). Indeed, she may still be there. A second possibility is more personal — and more horrifying. Seward’s journals show he was obsessively in love with Lucy. He had access to the resources of the asylum, including secure rooms and restraints where a patient could be imprisoned. Van Helsing, the only other witness, owed his life to Seward, and had his own experiences with imprisoning loved ones in madhouses. Could Seward have taken the Un-Dead Lucy back to the asylum as his vampire bride? (Possibly he even hoped that killing Dracula would somehow free Lucy from the taint.) In this scenario, the immortal Lucy may still be imprisoned in some secret dungeon in the asylum. clear name: Alice Westen, Charlotte Westerman, Laura Wexford

Dr. john ''Jack'' Seward Aged 29 at the time of the novel, Seward operates a lunatic asylum near Carfax. He trained under Van Helsing, and was a friend of Arthur Holmwood and Quincey

Morris. The three traveled together for some time. He unsuccessfully courted Lucy Westenra, and continued to dwell on his rejection for months afterward. Seward was an obsessive diarist, recording both his observations of his patients and his personal thoughts on wax cylinders using a phonograph. Strong jawed and handsome, he projected an outward aura of calm and confidence that was utterly belied by his nervous, almost neurotic, diary entries. He married after the events of the novel, although the identity of his wife is never made clear. edom:

If Seward was part of Edom, then he was likely recruited after Dracula arranged to purchase Carfax. (His recruiter and handler was most likely either Holmwood or Morris, who would have taken the measure of his character during their earlier travels.) The asylum was ideal for any operation to acquire a vampire, with a ready supply of inconsequential victims, secure rooms, and lots of burly porters. Furthermore, any unusual events could be explained as the actions of madmen. Perhaps Seward panicked when he was unable to save Lucy from Dracula, and called in Van Helsing to help kill the vampire in contravention of his orders. In this scenario, Seward would presumably have destroyed any incriminating wax cylinders — unless, of course, a message from Lucy was recorded on one of them, and he could not bring himself to lose this last connection to his love. minion: This interpretation works best if Renfield is an Edom deep-cover agent; the unfortunate Renfield tries to warn the world about Dracula, but is stopped by the nefarious Dr. Seward. The proximity of the asylum to Carfax makes Seward an easy target for Dracula, especially if Dracula promised him Lucy as a reward. other: He is a sexually frustrated medical man with obsessive tendencies, named Jack. Was he attached to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel five years earlier, in 1888? He may have carried out an earlier operation for the Freemasons who command the Special Branch, proving his mettle in matters of blood, magic, and secrecy.

It seems unlikely that British intelligence would recruit a 19-yearold girl fresh out of school, but consider the following: Lucy spent her days watching shipping from her perch in the Whitby graveyard. In Stoker’s original manuscript, she complained about having to “sit by like a dumb animal and smile a stereotyped smile till I find myself blushing at being an incarnate lie” — words any undercover agent can sympathize with! Lucy was also a habitual sleepwalker, a possible sign of psychic sensitivity. Edom may have recruited her as an “early warning system” of Dracula’s approach and activities. Finally, and perhaps most tellingly, Dracula went to extraordinary lengths to feed from her. Even when Van Helsing blocked Dracula’s entry into Westenra House, Dracula acquired a wolf from the London Zoo to smash down the door and force entry. Why go to all that trouble, if all he wanted was blood? minion: Lucy, of course, became a minion of Dracula after he turned her into a vampire — but was she complicit in this? She certainly seemed less than displeased with his attentions. In her final note, she described how the house servants were drugged with laudanum, leaving her alone and undefended. Later, however, Dracula dealt with Jonathan Harker using mesmeric powers. Why, then, would the vampire need to drug the servants? Was Lucy removing the last obstacle to her transformation? This point can go to either the Edom or Minion explanation: If Lucy began as an Edom stalking horse, she may have drugged the servants to get them safely out of the way, knowing it was her job to let Dracula vampirize her. other: As a vampire, Lucy emerged from the family tomb to prey on the children of Hampstead as the “Bloofer Lady.” Van Helsing and Seward tracked her down, and Arthur Holmwood staked her, putting an end to her unlife — assuming, of course, the received narrative is accurate. After Holmwood staked her, Seward and Van Helsing sent him and Quincey Morris out of the tomb, ostensibly so that they could saw off Lucy’s head and fill her mouth

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

clear name:

James Sanders, Jonathan Sievers, John Sadler, Joshua Stanley Medical Ripper suspects include: Morgan Davies (1854–1920), surgeon at London Hospital in 1894; bibliophile, court physician, and obstetric surgeon Sir John Williams (1840–1926) gained a baronetcy that same year, ostensibly for his campaign against the vampiric ailment tuberculosis.

Arthur Holmwood Later Lord Godalming, heir to the estate of Ring, and one of the most desirable bachelors in London prior to his engagement to Lucy Westenra, Holmwood provided the hunters with financial backing and the shield of his reputation. He took the lead in tracking down and destroying Dracula’s network of refuges across London, and he delivered the killing blow to Lucy.Taciturn and solemn, Holmwood seemed willing to follow Van Helsing’s lead at every turn. edom:

If Operation Edom did manage to recruit a vampire, then obviously the eventual goal would have to be a British vampire — and who would be more trustworthy than a man of noble blood? Holmwood was Edom’s vampire-designate until the Count targeted Lucy instead of the young lord. Possibly, Van Helsing’s intervention ruined this scheme. If it were not for the transfusions, then Lucy would have succumbed weeks earlier, with Arthur by her side ready to join her in Un-Death. Note that he practically volunteers to be drained by the dying Lucy, only to be blocked by Van Helsing.

minion:

Note Holmwood’s telegram (CU72) in which he says that he has news for Seward and Morris that will “make their ears tingle.” This news is never described, but it cannot be word of his engagement to Lucy. Both men already know about the engagement; indeed, Morris references it in the very letter Holmwood replies to! The timing, however, coincides with Dracula finalizing his travel plans for the move to England. If Holmwood was in communication with Dracula — perhaps having met the vampire during his travels — then his Renfield-like excitement at the impending arrival of “the Master” might have spilled over into an unwise telegram to his friends. The mysterious and convenient deaths of Holmwood’s father and Lucy’s mother, which left Arthur in possession of a title and an immense fortune, may have been Dracula’s payment to Holmwood for services rendered. Presumably, Dracula’s attack on Lucy convinced Holmwood to switch sides (out of chivalry or jealousy at being snubbed), and he then concealed any previous knowledge of the vampire to avoid disgrace. Records of his involvement with Dracula may still exist in the archives at Ring. It may be worth noting that Sir Francis Varney made his home at “Ringwood” — possibly the anonymous author of Varney the Vampire combined “Ring” and “Holmwood” to insinuate something about the Godalming lineage. Holmwood may have launched Edom to remove a rival vampire! clear name: Three viscounts died in 1894, and any of their two heirs might be the actual Holmwood: Hon. Albert Henry George Grey (becomes 4th Earl Grey and 4th Viscount Howick in 1894), Hon. Henry Charles Hardinge (becomes 3rd Viscount Hardinge in 1894). The Hon. George Godolphin Osborne becomes 10th Duke of Leeds and 10th Viscount Latimer, and 3rd Baron Godolphin, in 1895; the name is close enough that Stoker may have moved the year as part of his coverup. The Hon. Francis Douglas, Viscount Drumlanrig, dies without issue in 1894 in a mysterious shooting incident in Somerset. Adding a fictional son seems a small price to pay to get a mysterious shooting incident.

Quincey Morris The elusive Quincey Morris was an

American adventurer and explorer, a friend of Arthur Holmwood and Jack Seward. He also courted Lucy Westenra, suggesting he intended to reside in England indefinitely (or that he expected Lucy to follow him around the world). Notably, he spent time in South America, where he encountered vampire bats. He carried a Bowie knife, and had a collection of firearms that he used to considerable effect during the hunt for Dracula. He died delivering what Stoker reported to be a fatal blow to the Count. edom:

Is Quincey Morris even American? Certainly, “American” is the first thing anyone notices about him, with his stage-Western drawl and his guntotin’ rugged outdoorsman approach, but that could be a cover identity. If a spy adopts a conspicuous disguise, the disposable elements of that disguise are what people remember. (“He was a redheaded man with an eye patch, and he had a really strong Russian accent!”) If Morris was a British agent, then he may have been Dracula’s handler. His actions were consistent with those of an officer diligently babysitting a useful but temperamental agent. He arrived conveniently at the Westenra house to clean up after Dracula’s last attack on Lucy; he was the first to mention vampires; he drove the Count away without injuring him when he tried to spy on Van Helsing’s council of war; he repeatedly slipped off on mysterious “patrols”;

the 1894 network n the originals: dr. john ''jack'' seward to kate reed for the aims of the United States, at the time or later. A vampire Quincey might have switched allegiances from Dracula to the CIA, for example, and worked to contain Edom ever since. clear name: Brutus Marix, Quincy Adams, James Brown, Mark Franklin

Kate Reed A writer and journalist, Kate Reed was a

regular contributor to the Englishwoman’s Review and the Westminster Gazette. She was a schoolmate and lifelong friend of Mina Murray, and remained in correspondence with her when Reed moved to London to pursue her aspirations of becoming a journalist. She came from a liberal, academic background; her father was a professor at Cambridge, and her mother was a noted actor. Reed herself considered acting as a career for some time, and likely moved in the same circles as Bram Stoker and Henry Irving. While writing for the society pages of the Englishwoman’s Review, she investigated the mysterious Count de Ville who had recently arrived in London, and discovered his true identity. She witnessed the bizarre dinner party / necromantic rite hosted by Dracula for his newly recruited followers, which brought her back into contact with Mina Murray and through her, with the rest of the hunters. edom:

As a journalist, Reed was well placed to intercept any embarrassing leaks or reports of vampire attacks. She failed to (or chose not to) suppress the Gazette’s account of the Bloofer Lady

attacks, but was able to keep Dracula’s own predations out of the public eye, while also monitoring his activities in London society in the guise of an eager young journalist under the spell of a glamorous foreign aristocrat. Her mysterious “uncle James” (HO62), with his cryptic job in the civil service and interest in train timetables, might well have been an Edom officer or even her handler.This may be why Stoker or Edom cut her out of the final novel. minion: The other hunters suspected Reed of being a minion of Dracula when she attempted to poison Mina Harker, but there’s no guarantee they were right — Kate claimed that she was trying to euthanize Mina, and Seward and Van Helsing discussed similar contingencies shortly afterward. Reed’s account of Dracula’s feast contains several inconsistencies and contradictions; it might, in fact, be a cover story hiding the fact that she was at the feast willingly, as one of the Count’s servants. She then tricked her way into Holmwood’s confidence, putting her in position to monitor the activities of the other hunters and report their doings back to her master. Also, Dracula only targeted Mina Harker later on, despite having ample opportunity to feed from her in Whitby. Some have speculated that the indiscretion mentioned in an early letter (HO110) might be evidence of an affair or romantic entanglement between Reed and Jonathan Harker; if so, could a jilted Reed have asked Dracula to eliminate her old rival? other: Why were all references to Kate Reed excised from the text of Dracula by Edom? Two possibilities: First, Reed’s father may have had connections to the X Club (p. 184), a dinner club of scientists and naturalists that served as Edom’s advisory committee. Considering Reed’s eventual fate, perhaps her father pulled strings within Edom to have a veil drawn over his daughter’s involvement in the failed operation. If so, then there may be key documents relating to vampirism and Operation Edom in her father’s files in the archives at the Seeley Historical Library in Cambridge (which may point at a connection to the Balkans Specialist, p. 91).

and of course, he finally “resolved” the renegade vampire at the end. minion: All of Quincey’s curious behavior can equally be explained if he was a minion of Dracula. He was recruited in Whitby, and was Dracula’s spy in the outside world. After all, Renfield could hardly wander around London looking for victims for his master. Quincey was under no such restrictions. Despite the American’s attempts at sabotage — for example, he failed to prevent Dracula’s escape when the company corners the vampire — his master was forced to leave London. Quincey accompanied the others on the chase, and of course was the one to kill Dracula — or was he? As Van Helsing pointed out, Dracula can change form at sunset or sunrise. When did Quincey deliver the fatal blow? At the moment of sunset, when Dracula can easily turn into a cloud of mist! Quincey failed to use any of the vampire-killing methods proscribed by the Professor: no wooden stake, no decapitation, no garlic in the mouth. Clearly, Quincey’s role here was to make it look like Dracula was dead, ending the pursuit and ridding the Count of these meddling hunters. Morris’ death in Transylvania opens another possibility: that after the Edom team had departed, Dracula raised him as a ghoul or a full-fledged vampire in his own right. Quincey Morris may still be roaming around the backwoods of Romania, or working with Dracula at the right hand of his Conspiracy. other: Even though Quincey’s life ended in the shadow of Castle Dracula, his past is sufficiently mysterious that a Director can plausibly insert almost any backstory. Quincey Morris might have been an inventor, an explorer, a cowboy, a jewel thief, a spy, or a monster, as needed. Specifically, he may have been working for the American Secret Service, either formally or informally. Even in the 1890s, the American and British services cooperated on several occasions, but Morris may have been acting under orders to make sure the British never got a tame vampire. His previous vampire experiences in South America ostensibly concerned bats, but perhaps he knew enough to hijack Edom

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook The other option revolves around Kate Reed’s Diary (p. 271). If that notebook went missing before Stoker collated all the reports, then Edom might have decided to remove Reed to avoid drawing attention to the notebook’s contents, hoping that whoever found it would never connect it to the events of 1894. clear name: Genevieve Havelock, Barbara Ward, Catherine Cook (a hypothetical niece or out-of-wedlock daughter of Westminster Gazette founder and editor Edward Tyas Cook (1857–1919)) “Kate Reed” might also have been Edith Craig (1869–1947), the daughter of the actor Ellen Terry. Craig spent 1887–1890 in Berlin studying piano (or being recruited by Van Helsing for the Nachrichtenabteilung), and her mother sent her to America in 1895 — to escape Dracula’s wrath, or Bram Stoker’s employers? Edith Craig’s later lover Christabel Marshall (1871–1960) was, for a time, Winston Churchill’s secretary, which might explain how Edom got revived in 1940.

— he became obsessed with consuming life while Dracula was still at sea. He also demonstrated a preternatural knowledge of Dracula’s arrival and location; Renfield claimed “the Master [was] at hand,” and repeatedly tried to escape the asylum into the neighboring Carfax estate. Either Renfield possessed some strange link to Dracula, or the Count deliberately cultivated the madman as a minion. (Certainly, Renfield claimed that Dracula sent him insects.) Renfield’s sole contribution to Dracula’s activities was to invite the Count into the asylum, enabling him to prey on Mina Harker. Renfield knew what the Count had in mind, as he begged Seward and Van Helsing to send him away before he invited Dracula in. Within a few hours of that, though, he became extremely secretive and talked about “walking with God” and acquiring a new and higher form of life. When Dracula entered the asylum, however, he barely acknowledged Renfield. Infuriated, Renfield attacked the vampire and was mortally wounded in the altercation. Little is known about Renfield’s life before he went mad. We do not know if he was in the asylum voluntarily, or if he was committed there by a family member or some other third party. In his moment of lucidity, he claimed to be a friend of Arthur Holmwood’s father (and, interestingly, seconded his membership of an exclusive club, the Windham), and demonstrated an excellent grasp of current affairs. edom: The

R.The M. Renfield vampiric minion so infamous that he

lent his name to the concept, Renfield was a patient in Dr. Seward’s lunatic asylum.To quote Seward’s diary: “R. M. Renfield, ætat 59 — Sanguine temperament; great physical strength; morbidly excitable; periods of gloom, ending in some fixed idea which I cannot make out.” Renfield sensed Dracula’s approach long before the Count landed in England

question must be asked — was Renfield wholly insane? If Edom knew that Dracula planned to live at Carfax, then Renfield’s assignment might have been to spy on the estate from the asylum. Not even the most paranoid vampire would have suspected a madman of being an agent of the Crown. All that fly-eating may just have been an extreme example of living one’s cover. Renfield might also have actually gone mad on a previous reconnaissance mission, or on an earlier attempt to recruit a different vampire — in Styria, perhaps. Renfield demonstrated high intelligence, great powers of observation (he noticed Mina had lost blood before anyone else), and astounding physical strength and agility (he scaled a wall that the much younger Dr. Seward could climb only with the aid of a ladder).

Could he have been a spy before he went mad? Renfield’s Journal (p. 277) is another interesting wrinkle in the case. minion: Dracula did not have to recruit Renfield. The madman was drawn to him. Dracula’s psychic aura heralded his arrival in England; long before the Demeter arrived at Whitby, Renfield knew his master was coming. The aura was also detectable by other sensitive creatures. Lucy, for example, started sleepwalking weeks before the ship arrived. How many other sensitives were similarly affected? Did every asylum have patients throwing themselves against the wall, demanding to see the Master? Were there madmen on the streets of London, ranting about the coming of the Lord? The psychic shockwave of the vampire logically called up an army of Renfields, who established Dracula’s leave-behind network in London even after he retreated to Transylvania. other: Finally, was someone besides Dracula responsible for Renfield’s death — by beating, not by exsanguination? Any one of the principals could have slipped into Renfield’s cell to put an end to the madman (perhaps silencing a former ally who knew too much). For that matter, did Renfield really die? His death certificate (written by Seward) records “death by misadventure in falling from bed,” but his crippled form could have been spirited out of the asylum by Seward, Van Helsing, or one of their agents. Perhaps, granted the knowledge of life and blood by his proximity to Dracula, a horribly wizened, crippled R. M. Renfield still runs Edom to this day. Another possibility: If Seward’s asylum was already a convenient safe house for British intelligence, where better to keep a murderous — but inconveniently well connected — madman, stashed under a false name? If the ruling order employed a Freemasonic mystic with strange notions of blood and power to clear out a few Whitechapel prostitutes who threatened the Royal Family, could their ripping tool be stored under Seward’s unknowing gaze? This might explain how he recognized Arthur Holmwood and claimed to know the previous Lord Godalming. Even without government involvement, Renfield might still

the 1894 network n the originals: kate reed to inspector cotford

Peter Hawkins Solicitor Peter Hawkins of Exeter took

little part in the events of Dracula, but his importance cannot be overstated. He was Jonathan Harker’s employer, business partner and surrogate father, and it was he who sent Harker to Castle Dracula. Hawkins suffered from gout that made it impossible for him to travel. Hawkins died abruptly (HO129), leaving his house and business to the Harkers. Oddly, Hawkins, the elder Lord Godalming, Mrs. Westenra, and Lucy Westenra all died at roughly the same time.

clear name: Abraham Aaronson,

edom:

Hawkins is an excellent candidate for the operation’s mastermind. It was he who contacted Dracula to lure the vampire to England; he then sent Harker as a cut-out to Castle Dracula to make the final arrangements. When the Harkers returned, Hawkins invited both Jonathan and Mina to live with him, where he could debrief them over a bottle of port or two. Finally, once he knew everything that Jonathan found, and once Dracula was secure in Carfax, the Hawkins identity was quietly shut down. He had no family because Peter Hawkins never existed; he was a long-running cover that was no longer relevant. In this scenario, Hawkins survived and presumably remained active in British intelligence for some years afterward. minion: Why did Dracula contact an obscure solicitor in Exeter? Did he just pluck a name out of his copy of The Law List, or was there some other connection between the two? Hawkins’ sudden death becomes suspicious in this context — while gout can lead to kidney complications, it is not normally fatal. Perhaps Hawkins suffered from some other condition, and sought out Dracula in the hopes of finding a cure through vampirism: he could have proposed Operation Edom to his superiors in NID entirely as a means of ensuring his survival. Working from behind the scenes, Hawkins made sure the hunters were always a few days short, and possibly gave the order to Harker (and Morris) to “kill” Dracula exactly at sunset.

Arthur Abbott, John Gilbert Captain William Henry Hall (1842– 1895) was the head of the Naval Intelligence Department until 1889; he might have continued to nurture Edom after “retirement” — the timing of his surprising death (he was taken ill on a train while traveling to a new posting) at a relatively young age is certainly suggestive. He might have been killed by one of Dracula’s vampire agents, or faked his own death to continue running Edom from behind the scenes. Rear Admiral Cyprian A. G. Bridge (1839–1924) was director of Naval Intelligence in 1893; his sudden retirement on 1 September 1894 suggests he was cashiered (or resigned) after the Edom operation turned sour.

Inspector Cotford Dogged Inspector Cotford is, at best, an

honorary member of the original Crew of Light; he died or vanished midway through his own parallel investigation into Dracula. His notebook, recovered from an anonymous tomb in Hampstead Cemetery, was his only legacy — he apparently had no family or close friends in London. As a police officer, he was persevering but only moderately effective, and failed to spot the danger he was in until it was much too late. The lack of investigation after Cotford’s disappearance is puzzling, but can be attributed to Edom interference. edom:

Cotford was a soldier before he became a police officer; he mentioned his service in Afghanistan, which may mean

be the Ripper. If the Icelandic text’s speculations are true, and Dracula’s highly placed Satanic cult did anticipate the Count’s coming by carrying out the Ripper killings, perhaps that explains how Renfield sensed Dracula’s immanence. Dracula may have killed Renfield to prevent him from revealing his high-born allies under hypnosis. clear name: James Kelley, Roderick Reynolds, Clark Maybrick Renfield as Ripper whose death was faked by the authorities for Masonic or other reasons can have any number of real identities: Sir William Gull (1818– 1890), Montague Druitt (1857–1888), William Bury (1859–1889), poet J. K. Stephen (1859–1892), mad heir to the throne Prince Albert Victor (1864– 1892), or Nathan Kaminsky, a.k.a. David Cohen (1865–1889). If Renfield is a real murderer under a false name (with his death faked as above, of course), the possibilities are almost as endless: murderer Richard Dadd (1817–1886), mad painter who spoke to fairies and the god Osiris; master burglar and murderer Charlie Peace (1832–1879), whose skills at breaking and lockpicking might explain Renfield’s frequent escapes; serial poisoner Thomas Neill Cream (1850– 1892), also a Ripper suspect; poisoner and Russo-Turkish War surgeon George Henry Lamson (1852–1882), who may have hunted vampires with George Stoker and gone mad as a result; “railway murderer” Percy Lefroy Mapleton (1860–1881).

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook he also served in India, and the Indian police service was closely associated with spies and espionage. Even if he wasn’t directly involved with Edom, he may have unwittingly assisted them by reporting on Dracula’s movements to his superiors. The offer of a promotion could have been a reward for a job well done, or a way to pull a pawn off the board when it was no longer needed. minion: What happened to Cotford after he was locked in a tomb with a hungry young vampiress? Dracula could well have found a use for a tame police officer. Might Cotford have returned to the Metropolitan Police as Dracula’s spy — or become a vampire in Dracula’s service? clear name: Ebenezer Crook, Thomas Snell, Athelstan Jones

Francis Aytown Another of the hunters mentioned in

Stoker’s original case notes but excised from the published novel, Francis Aytown was a society painter with fine-art ambitions. Technologically advanced if artistically perhaps somewhat retrograde, he regularly took photographs of his sitters for use in his compositions. A fixture in the artistic scene in Soho and Chelsea, Aytown shared a Chelsea studio with his friend and lover Paul Jenkins. Coincidentally asked to paint both Lucy Westenra and another of Dracula’s

victims, Juliette Parton, and to photograph a soiree featuring “Count de Ville,” he discovered the deleterious effect of vampirism on photographs. His investigation into this effect nearly led to his death at Dracula’s hand. After meeting with Kate Reed, he joined the hunters and successfully painted Dracula’s portrait, albeit at great cost to his sanity. edom:

Aytown may have been an Edom floater, put in play to keep an eye on Lucy Westenra and the Whitby operation in general. His cover as a society photographer and portraitist gave him entrée into high-powered circles, useful in a Special Branch agent looking for treason or conspiracy, for example. Edom may have excised him from the novel to cover up this role, or simply to ensure nobody went looking for the Dracula portrait and exposed their prize covert asset before he was even recruited. minion: Instead of escaping Dracula in his studio, perhaps Aytown surrendered to the aesthetic experience of joining the vampire. Dracula entered Aytown’s studio without mention of an invitation. Is this because the studio was a rental work property and not a true home — or because Aytown did indeed invite the Count in, and suppressed that fact consciously or subconsciously in his journal? Aytown also had the run of the asylum when Dracula entered it. The

Dracula portrait was a fraud, and (as in the published novel) the witnesses remembered the Count without visual cues. Aytown returned to Chelsea, and perhaps later imported some Transylvanian soil for sculpture casts … clear name: Basil Hallward, Benedict Upton, Louis Verner. “Francis Aytown” may be a cover name for the occult-minded, murderobsessed painter (and Ripper suspect) Walter Sickert (1860-1942). Sickert was friends with Churchill’s wife, Clementine, and helped Sir Winston with his own painting; an Edom Sickert could have put a good word in for the old firm before 1940.

legacies This section provides nine possible nonplayer character Legacies, in a format similar to the other supporting characters in the People chapter (pp. 78–139). However, since the Legacies are more specifically tied to their identity than a normal NPC is, we only provide a single description of each. The Director can still easily change any details to suit her own campaign. Remember that any other NPC might actually prove to be a Legacy, if the story demands it — even Romanians might have an English or German ancestor or be operating under a false name and passport.

Most importantly, the Director should decide the Legacy’s agenda in the story. That said, a Legacy can change, either as the Agents discover more details, or as the Legacy switches allegiance (either to ally with or betray the Agents) during the events of the campaign. For guidance and suggestions on introducing Legacies into the campaign, see pp. 24–25. innocent:

This describes the Legacy’s immediate appearance, how they seem upon first meeting (Bullshit Detector) or a superficial Internet search (Research). This may be the

entire truth of the Legacy, although introducing too many totally innocent Legacies clutters the narrative. This section also provides the Interpersonal ability most likely to gain the desired response from the Legacy. asset: This describes the Legacy as an asset of Edom or some other clandestine organization. The Legacy may be a full operative under cover or simply part of such an operative’s network of informants, friendlies, and contacts. An asset may, of course, have tired of working with Edom, and taken up the cause of the Agents.

the 1894 network n the originals: francis aytown / legacies: lucy blythe (née Harker) Starting as a Legacy

minion: This describes the Legacy as a part

of Dracula’s network. The Legacy may be a Renfield, a full-fledged vampire, or just another tool in the thrall or employ of the Conspiracy. defining quirks: Three or more defining quirks are provided for each character. One suggests a physical action you can perform at the gaming table, often with the use of props. Don’t get too carried away: multiple quirks are hard to play and can prove distracting from the main point of the scene. abilities and ratings: Each character also includes game statistics. Although supporting characters do not normally use Investigative abilities, these are provided to give you a sense of the expertise the character might be able to lend to the Agents. The Director should change any or all of these, especially adding new abilities to match a Legacy suddenly revealed as an asset.

New Drive: In the Blood Fighting vampires is a family tradition.You might have been raised on tales of your great-grandparent’s exploits, or maybe your parents never spoke about the past — except on certain nights, when they hung garlic over your bed and pressed a crucifix into your hand, and told you the truth about the world.You were born and bred for this life, and you’re determined to live up to your family’s reputation.

New Background: Edom Legacy You’ve been on MI6’s rolls since before you were born. Edom was your guardian all through your youth. It paid for your education, and for summer trips abroad to Romania and Turkey. It trained you, honed you as a weapon. You weren’t privy to Edom’s secrets, but you knew you were destined to play a part in an operation that spanned the 20th century. Why did you quit? Did you learn something about Edom that horrified you? Did its attempts at brainwashing fail? Did it experiment on your blood, hoping to isolate some quality or trace left by your ancestor’s contact with the

These abilities (especially the General abilities) change radically if the Legacy is a vampire! In some cases, a Legacy might become a player character: in those cases, the player should add enough build points to make a starting Agent, although he needn’t assign them immediately. Provide Health ratings to suit the dramatic necessity. If a Legacy should be a survivor, providing repeated succor (or repeated opposition) for the Agents, give her Health 8 or 9. If he should appear briefly or die informatively, give him Health 2. dossier reference: If a character is referenced in the annotated Dracula Unredacted, the entry Dossier Reference notes its number. If the Legacy appears in more than one annotation, the main reference is in ordinary text and secondary references are italicized.

Un-Dead? Or maybe you found out what Edom did to your ancestor, all those years ago, and realized that it would do the same to you if you stayed. Specific Examples: Harker-descended black bagger, Morris-descended wet worker, Holmwood-descended cuckoo, Van Helsing-descended cleaner, Seward-descended medic, Murray-descended analyst investigative abilities:

Pick those from any regular Background, and add Geology 1, Tradecraft 1, Vampirology 1. general abilities: Pick those from any regular Background, and add Weapons 4.

Unwitting Legacies Any Agent might be a Legacy without knowing it — somewhere along the way, their ancestors fled Edom, changed their names, and tried to forget about the family curse. Their true ancestry can be revealed at a suitable moment (whispered by a dying family member, found in the earthquake-blasted wreckage of the family home, found in an old Edom case file).

Lucy Blythe (née Harker) She looks, on first meeting, like a little bird

— so frail that you might fear she’d break if you touched her, so pale you can see the web of veins beneath her translucent skin. Lucy Blythe’s nearly a hundred years old, and while she admits she’s “a little dotty,” her mind is still as razor-keen of that of her long-dead grandmother, Mina Harker. Lucy is the daughter of Quincey Harker; she was named, obviously, for her mother’s friend Lucy Westenra. These days, Lucy Blythe lives in a retirement home in Exeter (Edom may be picking up the bill). She’s a widow — her husband Gerald died in a car crash in the ’70s, and they never had any children. Her career and life parallel the Dracula Dossier; in the 1940s, she was a First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) assigned to the SOE station at Grendon,

Optionally, you may allow one of the players to play a Legacy right from the start of the campaign. While Edom tries to keep track of all the descendants of the original band, it’s possible that one or more slipped through their net over the years. The Agent’s parents or grandparents might have changed their names and fled to another country, beyond Edom’s reach, or the Agent might have refused to work for Edom when the call came. Starting Legacies don’t know anything more about Edom than can be discovered by reading the Dracula Dossier, although they may personally know some low-ranking Edom handler who’s been their trusted mentor and guardian for years. Or of course, the players might all play Legacies: a team of Legacy Agents recruited, vetted, and assembled by “Hopkins” just before her disappearance. If two of the party are Legacies, at the very least the party begins the game with +1 Heat — Edom keeps tabs on them. Getting new ID (and staying out of camera range) can lower their Heat again … until Edom makes their new identities, too.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

decoding messages from spies in occupied Europe. During the 1960s and ’70s, she was a secretary in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, rising to become personal assistant to the Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs. (For those unfamiliar with the intricacies of the British civil service, the FCO PUS is the most senior diplomat in the civil service, which meant Lucy could have learned a lot about Edom’s operations overseas.) And while the other geriatrics in the nursing home stare out the window, Lucy listens to BBC World Service reports about terror and special operations in the Middle East, and continues to put it all together. innocent:

Ever since she was a very little girl, she’s known Edom wasn’t to be trusted. Maybe her grandmother whispered something in her ear; maybe her father warned her; maybe she just didn’t like the strange government men who visited her home when she was young. She turned down an offer of employment by MI6 after the war, and has spent all her life studying the problem of Dracula. She knows the monster is still out there, but she knows that Edom’s operatives aren’t the people to stop him. She’s been waiting for the player characters to turn up for more than seventy years. Well, better late than never.When they find her, Negotiation convinces her that they are committed enemies of Count Dracula. She’s got a suitcase full of papers relating to Edom and Dracula, some of which she may have inherited from the original hunters (there might be a Vampire Hunting Kit (p. 281) or maybe Aytown’s

Photographic Studies (p. 262) — there’s definitely a Cameo of Dracula (p. 263) in there). It’s all circumstantial or tangential, but Research might turn up a long-buried lead. Lucy’s much too old and fragile to travel, let alone help the Agents. All she wants to do is hold on until Dracula is finally destroyed. Then she can rest. asset: Lucy made a devil’s bargain with Edom in the 1950s. Her late husband had political ambitions, but needed help to make a name for himself. Edom could pull strings and make straight a path in the wilderness for Gerald Blythe. Lucy still distrusted Edom, but it wanted her organizational talents and her family connection to Dracula, and offered her a deal — her service in exchange for her husband’s political career. That lasted until 1977 — she had a crisis of conscience during the mole hunt, and threatened to go public and expose Edom’s illegal activities. To this day, she doesn’t know if Gerald’s death was a terribly timed accident, or a warning; either way, it broke her. She withdrew her threats and continued to work for Edom until her retirement. She hates and fears Edom, but is caught in its web. Interrogation and mentioning Gerald’s death in a car crash gets her to reveal her connections to Edom; a Reassurance spend may be able to flip her and turn her Innocent. Otherwise, she’ll report the Agent’s visit back to Edom before setting her suitcase of papers alight and throwing herself into the flames. minion: The Conspiracy recruited her when she was sixteen. Like her namesake, Lucy Harker suffered from sleepwalking as a child; these episodes stopped suddenly in 1936, which should have been a warning. She’s monitored Edom for the Conspiracy throughout the 20th century, and was given her reward when Dracula rose again in 2011 (or 2005, or …). The nurses in the retirement home always comment on how happy old Mrs. Blythe is, how she’s always smiling beatifically, how patient and kind she is, even though she can’t have more than a few weeks left. She can afford to be patient and kind. When she dies, she’ll rise again as Un-Dead and her youth will

be restored as she feasts on the blood of the innocent. Bullshit Detector notes her eerie self-confidence; Notice spots the pale spot on the wall where the crucifix used to hang before Lucy moved in. defining quirks: writes everything down in her little books always has the radio playing in the background deaf as a post investigative abilities:

History, Research, Traffic Analysis, Vampirology general abilities: Preparedness 4

Billie Harker A charming brunette in her 20s, Billie

Harker dresses in good jeans, practical shoes, a colorful scarf, and a waterproof but stylish jacket and gloves. She has a “metromedia” accent with a slight hint of the West Country. Her dark hair is trimmed close to her head, but falls to shoulder length. She is trimly built, and in good shape, never seeming out of breath after a long run or other exertion (Athletics). She doesn’t exert herself in company, but doesn’t simply go along with others’ opinions, either. She is the great-great-granddaughter of Mina and Jonathan Harker. innocent:

Billie is a law student at the University of London. If encountered abroad, she acts like a normal middleclass tourist. Her Romanian is decent, if obviously learned from Rosetta Stone (Languages). Her German is considerably better.

the 1894 network n legacies: lucy blythe (née Harker) to philip holmwood, lord godalming

investigative abilities:

Criminology, Human Terrain, Languages (Romanian, German), Law, Notice, Photography, Research, Vampirology general abilities: Athletics 5, Hand-to-Hand 3, Health 6, Medic 2, Preparedness 3, Sense Trouble 4

J.Pale Q.andHarker nervous, J. Q. Harker (Jasper

Quincey, although everyone including his wife calls him J. Q.) is in his mid-50s, but looks older. He’s ex-military, discharged on medical grounds after a tour of duty in Iraq during the first Gulf War. He retired to a small house in the Lake District on his military pension and his family assets, and occupies himself writing history books (History, Military Science, or shameless Flattery). He stammers when he speaks, and his wife often answers for him to save time; he’s much more comfortable communicating by email. He looks and even dresses like his late father, appearing to be a man out of time. He’s the great-grandson of Mina and Jonathan Harker.

needs to activate Harker, he will use “Elizabeth” to force the writer into action. If the Agents visit, Harker tries to warn them away without alerting his “wife”; Bullshit Detector or Tradecraft picks up on the signals. defining quirks: stammers carries a black notebook military bearing under pressure investigative abilities:

innocent:

His father forced him into a military career, and it never suited J. Q.’s temperament; he had a nervous breakdown after coming home from Iraq. Scouring his books for clues (Research) proves fruitless — it’s all about medieval England, with nary a bite mark to be found. If consulted by the Agents, he initially assumes it’s some sort of scam or prank. Encountered abroad, he’s on holiday with his wife Elizabeth, whom he has once again dragged off to look at some ghastly Gothic ruin. asset: Harker once worked for Edom, but was severely injured when an operation in Iraq (or maybe across the border into Turkey) went wrong. He’s bitter about the whole affair, and considers himself wronged by Edom. He still works for it, though, doing research on obscure bits of vampire lore. (If his injuries were severe or supernatural, maybe he needs regular injections of the Seward Serum to keep going). His wife Elizabeth is also an Edom asset; she might just be there to keep an eye on Harker, or she might be a vampiric bodyguard. Diagnosis spots his injury; turn him against Edom by playing on his bitterness. minion: Harker inadvertently attracted the attention of a supernatural creature (a vampire, perhaps, or a lamia or ghul) while in Iraq; she followed him home and now masquerades as his wife (if the real Elizabeth ever existed, she’s dead and her remains hidden or destroyed). Harker is helplessly bound to the creature and cannot resist her; he quit Edom to protect her. The creature, for her part, serves Dracula — when the Count

Cryptography, History, Languages (Arabic, French, Latin, Old English, Welsh), Outdoor Survival, Research general abilities: Athletics 5, Conceal 4, Driving 2, Explosive Devices 2, Hand-to-Hand 4, Health 6, Medic 4, Network 4, Shooting 6

Philip Holmwood, Lord Godalming The present Lord Godalming is in his mid-

50s; robust and commanding, he’s one of the more recognizable members of the House of Lords. He’s on the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy, a committee of twenty-two members of Parliament (twelve from the House of Commons, ten from the Lords) that advises on defense and long-term strategic planning, where his previous experience in the British Army and, later, the defense industry stands him in good stead. He’s known for his militant stance on intervention overseas, and was one of the loudest voices in support of the War on Terror. innocent:

Edom cut the volatile Lord Godalming out of the loop some years ago; as far as Godalming knows, it’s defunct and Dracula is dead. For the moment, Edom’s happy to let him whip up support for action against alQaeda; if he ever became a problem, it’s got insurance in the form of some compromising photographs. Mentioning Edom or Dracula puts him on his guard; Reassurance or Tradecraft convinces him you’re on the level. With his considerable political sway and knowledge of the British military-industrial-espionage complex, he can be a very useful ally for the Agents — at least, until Edom starts blackmailing him.

She responds best to honesty and forthrightness (Reassurance). asset: Edom pays for her legal education as a way to keep tabs on her, as it tries to for all the Legacies on its books. When she gets older, Edom plans to place her more formally within the security services. Agents who have seen a picture of Mina Harker note the extraordinary resemblance between her and her “greatgreat-granddaughter.” Billie may indeed be a Mina who has survived as a dhampir and vampire hunter, prolonging her life by ingesting vampire blood but knowing that if she does ever die, she will rise as the Un-Dead. minion: Or, of course, she did die — and Dracula raised her from the dead in 1977, restoring her youth and beauty. Now she infiltrates freelance vampire-hunter teams, using her ancestry as entrée and cachet, preparing them for the slaughter. defining quirks: carries a well-used laptop in her bag records notes to herself on her phone toys with the crucifix around her neck

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook defining quirks:

everything into a flight of oratory carries a kukri knife in his briefcase needs a stiff drink whenever vampires are mentioned

turns

investigative abilities:

Electronic Surveillance, Human Terrain, Military Science, Vampirology general abilities: Driving 4, Network 10, Shooting 4, Weapons 6 dossier reference: VS80, HO180

Tabitha Holmwood The Agents can be certain that Tabitha’s asset:

Lord Godalming is Edom’s man in Westminster. Edom might have guided his career in the British Army and defense industry in the 1980s and ’90s, possibly slipping him information to burnish his reputation. At the very least, he’s a loyal ally of Edom and owes them a great deal, but he might also be part of the organization. He might even be “D” himself (p. 49); he certainly has regular and direct access to “D.” If approached by the Agents, he’ll pretend to be on their side and voice his concerns about Edom’s “wild excesses,” make plenty of references to his great-grandfather’s battle with Dracula, and offer them all the support and help he can — while, of course, he reports everything the Agents say and do back to Edom, or even sets one of the Dukes (p. 50) on them. minion: As per Asset, but with a twist — while trying to sell arms in the Balkans in the mid-1990s, Philip Holmwood ran into a Conspiracy honey trap. He’s now a double agent, feeding information back to Dracula from within Edom. (He might even be a candidate for the mole missed during the 1977 hunt.) He uses a combination of dead drops and couriers to communicate with his masters; if he needs to communicate in a hurry, he’s got a vial of vampire blood that he can ingest at sunset or sunrise to create a temporary psychic link. Holmwood desperately wants to escape from under the Conspiracy’s control by killing the she-vampire who seduced him (one of Dracula’s Brides, or some other female vampire the Director has in hand).

not a vampire — hardly a week goes by without a photo of her showing up in one supermarket tabloid or another. She might be falling out of a nightclub, blind drunk, or seen with some pop star, hot young actor, or younger member of the Royal Family — she’s the queen of the Eurotrash. High Society is the only way you’ll get close to her, although Streetwise might find some obscure underground party that she’s graced with her bleached-blonde hair and catwalk-model looks. She’s the black sheep of the Holmwood family, the great-great-granddaughter of Arthur Holmwood. The tabloid hacks salivate at the thought of being able to write “Lady Goddamning” headlines in a few years. innocent:

Tabitha’s almost exactly what she seems — rich, famous, and selfobsessed. In conversation, she’s not always as vapid as the headlines might suggest (Art History, for example, or discussions of politics find her to be cuttingly insightful and well informed), but Flattery is the easiest way to influence her once close to her. She knows nothing about the Dossier, vampires, or her family history, but could invite an Agent back to Ring (p. 172) or get them into almost any exclusive social event. Her publicist (who’s considering putting “damage control” on her business cards) sometimes attempts to rehabilitate Tabitha’s public image by getting her to fundraise for various charities, including Heal the Children (p. 150). asset: Alternatively, maybe the Holmwood family has cut Tabitha off, and she’s made some very bad decisions to fund her extravagant lifestyle. She has connections

to the Romanian Mafia (p. 157) or the Drug Boss (p. 113), or even the Arms Runner (p. 102). Or all three. She parties with oil-rich sheikhs and Russian oligarchs, making her an ideal courier for drugs, secret information, or something more exotic, like ancient gold coins from Dracula’s vaults. If the Agents can extricate her from whatever mess she’s gotten herself into, she’ll help them. minion: Not yet, but give her time. Tabitha’s living life on fast-forward because she knows that she doesn’t have much left. She’s been diagnosed with a severe form of myelodysplastic syndrome, an impairment of blood cell production that often leads to leukemia. In her case, her specialists warned her that she is unlikely to live more than five or six years. She believes that becoming a vampire can save her. Her racing around Europe is half sticking her neck out looking to get bitten, and half staying one step ahead of Edom. Trade genuine Vampirology for her help before it’s too late, one way or the other. defining quirks: awake? champagne complains about paparazzi, but carefully checks lighting to ensure she photographs well checks phone constantly investigative abilities:

Art History, High Society, Photography general abilities: Disguise 4, Infiltration 4, Network 8, Surveillance 4

the 1894 network n legacies: philip holmwood, lord godalming to geerd hoorn

innocent:

Geerd Hoorn (Van Helsing) We know from Stoker’s manuscript that

Van Helsing’s son was about the age of Arthur Holmwood, and that he was dead in 1894. Or rather, we know that was Van Helsing’s cover story — possibly adopted not for any ignoble purpose, but rather to protect young Isaak Van Helsing from the inevitable vampiric revenge attacks. Either way, the end result was to alienate Van Helsing from his own descendants. Isaak had one son, Josef, before 1894; at some point in the following decades the Van Helsings abandoned the family’s Biblical name tradition and started using the surname Van Hoorn. Geerd Van Hoorn is Josef Van Helsing’s grandson, and Abraham Van Helsing’s great-greatgrandson. Although he’s in his 70s, he looks 20 years younger: a lifetime of hard, physical work has somehow refined or annealed him rather than breaking him down. Anyone who sees a photograph of Abraham recognizes the family forehead and wide-set blue eyes, although Geerd keeps his eyebrows trimmed and shaves his head to irongray stubble. His bristly gray mustache also slightly weakens the resemblance. Geerd has also inherited his ancestor’s gift for organization; for decades he worked on ships and on the Rotterdam docks as a union organizer for the Dutch socialist left, dropping the bourgeois “Van” from his name. (His family died during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.) After the socialist NVV union merged with the

Geerd is barely even aware that his family’s name used to beVan Helsing, and certainly knows nothing about vampires. As a good socialist and atheist, he doesn’t even believe in the possibility. He’s far more concerned about the class enemies now ascendant in this late stage of global capitalist decadence. He has a team of five men (seven counting his son Karl and grandson Wim), fellow hard-core socialists and longshore workers, who he trusts implicitly to keep police spies, agents provocateurs, time-wasters, and shiftless layabouts away from him — the Agents probably fall into one of those categories. (Use the “gym rat” build of Thug on page 70 of NBA for Geerd’s kameraden, with no guns.) It takes solid, actionable information or favors to get Geerd’s attention. (A Streetwise or Tradecraft spend might suggest something his union needs to know about, before approaching him with Negotiation.) If he promises to help the Agents, however, he keeps his word. He can, after a week or so of looking in his old family belongings, point them to the old Van Helsing House in Amsterdam (p. 243). He can also put shipping containers or Agents (or anyone else) covertly on a ship to the UK or Romania or, really, anywhere — his trusted contacts in the destination port handle the unloading, too. asset: Like his great-great-grandfather, Geerd might actually be working for any number of possible masters: Edom got their hooks into Geerd very early, during the liberation of the Netherlands in 1945. They traced the Van Helsing bloodline to one very hungry eight-year-old boy in the ruins of Rotterdam, and the Elah of that era (who might have been “Van Sloan,” p. 87) brought him onto a British army

base and into the fold. Since then, he has served two masters: Edom and the democratic-socialist Left. This was easier before Thatcher came to power, and Geerd stopped active cooperation with Edom in 1979, using the mole hunt as a convenient excuse to break off. However, Edom knows they can count on him if it must — it wouldn’t do for the “conscience of the Dutch labor left” to be revealed as an MI6 informer. The Russians (the KGB then, the FSB or GRU now; p. 76) recruited Geerd as a firebrand teenager during a socialist labor conference in Warsaw in 1954. He began as nothing more than one of Moscow’s tens of thousands of puppets in the Western left, but once the Soviet vampire (or anti-vampire) directorate discovered what the KGB had, they took over handling his case. And they still do. Geerd uses his contacts in the Dutch shipping business (still one of the largest in the world) to keep track of coffins, corpses, surprising amounts of blood or Romanian dirt, and other unlikely shipments. He almost certainly knows about HGD Shipping (p. 145) and Axel Logistics (p. 141), and may also be aware that Leutner Fabrichen (p. 146) has slipped its Soviet-era masters for its original Master. The Soviets may or may not have told Geerd about his ancestry. This is the exact same backstory for Geerd as a CIA asset; he approached the Dutch government to report his Soviet contact — he was a good socialist, not a state-capitalist Soviet stooge! — and the Dutch eventually turned him over to the CIA to run as a double agent through their own false-flagged FTUC labor union handlers. The NATO Liaison (p. 125) or the CIA Agent (p. 91) may have access to the files dealing with this phase of Geerd’s life. The Agents can flip Geerd by showing him such proof that he has been a CIA asset all along: he hates the CIA as much as he did the KGB, for much the same reason. The Germans (either BND or a surviving Ahnenerbe vampire program) recruited Geerd via their own leavebehind agents in the Dutch labor union movement. The socialist NVV union was a national-socialist union during the occupation; the postwar purges didn’t catch everybody. His ancestry was

Catholic NKV in 1976, Geerd stayed in the activist left wing of the resulting FNV union federation. When FNV leader Wim Kok became prime minister in 1994, Geerd made numerous contacts and even a few friends inside the Dutch political, police, and military establishment. Now officially retired from his dockyard job, he still acts as a political fixer for the Dutch left and political boss of his working-class neighborhood in Amsterdam.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook noticed only after the Gestapo liquidated his family (who were active in the Orange resistance), and he spent a few years being shuttled between sympathetic foster homes before being recruited into the NVV by a German asset. His duties and knowledge are much the same as the Russian-run Geerd. If Abraham Van Helsing was a German national from the beginning, “Geerd” is an elaborate cover identity created by the Gehlen Org (p. 82) from the postwar chaos. He might not even actually be Van Helsing’s descendant, but merely an asset trailing his coat to see who approaches him! (In which case, a 2-point Disguise spend notices that Geerd’s hair, eyebrows, nostrils, etc., are actually carefully shaped to maximize his resemblance to Van Helsing’s photograph.) minion: Dracula made Geerd a Renfield during his own escape from London in 1978 — either by coincidence or by ill-planned Edom machination, the Count fled on a ship that Geerd was working. Neither Dracula nor Geerd are aware of the irony; Dracula didn’t recognize the Van Helsing vintage, and Geerd doesn’t know it. Revealing Geerd’s true ancestry to him — with photos, documents, etc. — allows an Agent using a week-long Difficulty 7 Shrink test to deprogram Geerd and break the Renfield spell. He handles Dracula’s shipments out of the Netherlands; he knows HGD Shipping and Axel Logistics, but not Leutner Fabrichen. He may be able to identify other minions of the Conspiracy who he has smuggled onto or off of various ships in the last four decades. defining quirks: rolls and smokes his own cigarettes from sailor’s tobacco clenches and unclenches his fist when irritated or concerned stares right at whoever’s talking investigative abilities: Accounting,

Architecture (ships and shipyards only), Intimidation, Languages (English, German, Greek, Romanian [asset or minion only], Russian [asset only]), Negotiation, Notice, Streetwise, Tradecraft [asset only], Urban Survival, Vampirology [as asset]

general abilities:

[second set of ratings is for asset or minion versions of character] Athletics 8, Conceal 5, Cover 2/5, Hand-to-Hand 4, Mechanics 4, Network 8, Piloting 5 (sailboat, barge, fishing boat, cargo ship), Weapons 4

dossier reference:

CU240

Thad Morris Bearded, wild haired and often weather

beaten, Thad’s age is hard to pin down — he could be anywhere from mid-20s to mid-40s. He’s a freelance photojournalist, working for several magazines including National Geographic. He’s spent months photographing bats in South America, and documented the aftereffects of the earthquakes in northern Italy in 2012. He’s easy and approachable both professionally (Photography or Outdoor Survival) or personally (Flirting). Right now, he’s really into photographing old churches and ruins, and might be encountered anywhere in Europe. He never stays anywhere for long. He’s related to Quincey Morris; he’s his great-great-grandnephew. He found a box of his ancestor’s old papers and photographs a few years ago, and scanned them — he really must find time to go through them properly someday. He may have one of the Cameos of Dracula (p. 263) from his ancestor. innocent:

Thad’s working on an article covering something dangerous (human trafficking in Romania, the international drug trade, homelessness

and prostitution on the streets of London, fracking in the Carpathians), giving him ample opportunity to run into or get rescued by the Agents. asset: Thad’s CIA, operating under cover as a photojournalist (Tradecraft). He might be spying on Edom activities in London and Romania, or just building credibility for his cover. His cover name is James “Jam” Turner. minion: If you go with the theory that Quincey survived and was turned into a vampire by Dracula, thenThad is Quincey wearing a false beard and wig. He scouts out potential victims for the Count while watching for hunters and other dangers. His trusty knife (p. 272) is hidden in a secret compartment in his camera bag. If he’s human, then Thad’s main role in the Conspiracy is to fake photos to disguise the vampires. Through a combination of digital manipulation, special effects, and other trickery, he can provide seemingly genuine photographs of Count Dracula or any other vampire. He definitely has one of the Cameos of Dracula (p. 272) from Quincey or from another suborned Legacy. defining quirks: taciturn hitches his shoulder bag of camera equipment back up can fall asleep anywhere investigative abilities:

Art History, Electronic Surveillance, Human Terrain, Languages (Spanish), Notice, Outdoor Survival, Photography, Traffic Analysis general abilities: Athletics 4, Conceal 4, Driving 6, Filch 4, Infiltration 6, Medic 2, Network 6, Preparedness 4, Sense Trouble 4, Surveillance 6 dossier reference:

HO68

Carmilla Rojas Rojas is a special operations officer in the

Argentinian Secretariat of Intelligence; a troubleshooter, sent wherever she’s needed to clean up other people’s messes. She’s in her early 30s, but has already established a formidable reputation in the intelligence community. In particular, the CIA owes her plenty of favors after she helped extract two of its officers from a sticky situation in Chile.

the 1894 network n legacies: geerd hoorn to dr. jacqueline seward

innocent:

Rojas’ presence in England is no accident. She recently became aware of the Conspiracy (maybe she found something in Morris’ old diaries, or she discovered the Malargüe camp (p. 225), or perhaps an Argentinian diplomat was found dead shortly after meeting with the Petroleum Executive (p. 127)). She starts digging around at the same time as the Agents, but without the Dossier to guide her, she’s likely to end up dead before she finds anything of use. Tradecraft and Vampirology convince her to listen; as an ally, she can help investigate Edom or the CIA, or tell the Agents about the Argentinian connection — or screw them over and take the Dossier. She’s innocent, not stupid. Her grandmother may have more of Quincey’s papers back home, if you want to feed more clues that way. Whichever member of the Rojas line holds the

investigative abilities:

Criminology, Data Recovery, Human Terrain, Military Science, Tradecraft, Urban Survival

general abilities:

[second set of ratings is for minion version of character; give her the usual vampiric powers] Aberrance 0/13, Athletics 8/0, Disguise 4, Filch 6, Gambling 4, Hand-to-Hand 8, Infiltration 10, Network 10, Preparedness 6, Sense Trouble 6, Shooting 8, Surveillance 6

dossier reference:

HO140

Dr. Jacqueline Seward Dr. Seward is an internationally respected

hematologist and oncologist.She graduated from University College London in 1996, and specializes in the treatment of blood diseases such as leukemia. She lives and works in London, but flies all over the world to conferences and to consult on unusual cases (Diagnosis or Forensic Pathology engages her attention). Even when not wearing her customary lab coat, she instinctively chooses long white or pale jackets or dresses. Her co-workers nickname her the shark — the only time she can sit still is when she’s in the lab, and otherwise has to keep going. (They also say she can smell blood from miles away). She’s an avid rock climber (Outdoor Survival). She’s the great-great-granddaughter of Dr. Jack Seward, and might work at Seward’s Asylum (p. 195). innocent:

Seward volunteers with Heal the Children (p. 150) and regularly travels to Romania. She and her partner hoped to adopt a child named Rena from an orphanage there, but the ban on international adoption

Right now, she’s in London. Her official brief is to protect members of the Argentinian Ministry of Planning and Public Investment as they meet with oil companies to negotiate about extracting the Vaca Muerta shale oil. She’s the great-great-granddaughter of Quincey Morris. Her great-grandfather was conceived during Morris’ time on the Pampas, and Morris left several papers and other personal items with his lover when he fled Argentina (p. 225) suddenly in 1893. Rojas carries an old silver bullet from a Winchester rifle as a good luck charm; family tradition insists that the bullet was made by Morris.

key (Carmilla or her grandmother) can answer any two questions about Quincey’s role in the 1894 events. asset: Rojas spent two years doing postgraduate work at Cambridge before joining the Secretariat; Edom recruited her then, after a background check turned up her connection to Morris. She believes in the cause, and wants to leave the Secretariat and work for Edom directly, ideally as a Duke. She’s determined that this time, Edom won’t send her back to South America; while she’s in London, she wants to find something that will force it to bring her into the inner circle. Recovering the stolen Dossier, or eliminating the PCs, might be her ticket into Edom. Bullshit Detector or Flirting picks up on the danger signs when talking to her. The Agents might be able to flip her by showing her how dangerous and uncontrollable the vampires really are. minion: Dracula set up his own ratline before World War I; a strategic retreat in case theTurks of the 20th century overran his homeland. He shipped coffins of earth to Buenos Aires, and set up a network of minions there (the Martinez family) to watch over his affairs there. He even turned the daughter of the man who nearly killed him into a vampire to be his eyes and ears there. Carmilla Rojas is a secret Bride of Dracula. Her current identity as an intelligence officer is only the most recent of her many covers. Alternatively, make her a high-powered immortal Renfield if a full vampire doesn’t work for your campaign; either way, Streetwise (and possibly Vampirology) spots that there’s something off about her. Edom doesn’t know about her — she’s in London to back any plays Dracula makes against British intelligence (or the Agents, if the Count already has MI6 in his cloak pocket). defining quirks: stunningly gorgeous and knows it kisses her silver bullet for good luck before an action scene taste for expensive fashion

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook from Romania (since 2004) prevent them from doing so; Seward secretly hopes that her charitable efforts might convince the government to grant a special exemption in Rena’s case. Promises of help with Bureaucracy or other ways to put pressure on the Romanian government might win her trust; she might even consider illegally exfiltrating Rena if convinced it’s best for the child. asset: Seward continues her ancestor’s research on behalf of Edom. She’s responsible for the production and refinement of the Seward Serum (p. 51); her trips to Romania often include testing variations of the serum as she experiments with the effects of certain volcanic gases on Jacks. Her work with Heal the Children might be cover for such experiments; for a more charitable

interpretation, Seward’s experimenting with ways to use the vampire blood to treat otherwise incurable diseases, and would appreciate help with her research in Pharmacy or Chemistry. minion: She found some of her greatgrandfather’s notes and files in a family attic, including early work on the Seward Serum. She’s managed to replicate the serum without Edom’s knowledge — unfortunately, she hasn’t managed to filter out the side effects, and her version leaves the user vulnerable to Dracula’s influence. Edom keep tabs on all the Legacies — has she slipped through its net, or is it deliberately letting her experiment on the off chance she makes a breakthrough? Or is she on the run from Edom when the Agents encounter her?

defining quirks:

never

stops moving — walk and talks precise, clinical choice of words always carries a Dictaphone to record case notes

investigative abilities:

Chemistry, Diagnosis, Forensic Pathology, Fringe Science [asset or minion only], Languages (Romanian), Outdoor Survival, Pharmacy, Vampirology [asset or minion only] general abilities: Athletics 6, Disguise 2, Driving 4, Hand-to-Hand 2, Infiltration 6, Medic 8, Preparedness 2, Sense Trouble 2 dossier reference:

HO64, HO117

opposition forces

opposition forces n headers on this page

edom Edom per se is actually a fairly small conspiracy. Only the Dukes of Edom, the staff and security forces of Ring (p. 172), Carfax (p. 185), and the Asylum (p. 195), and the naval ratings and other personnel assigned to HMS Proserpine (p. 169) are actually stooled to the rogue, and only “D” and “Dr. Drawes” have anything like the full picture. Edom currently exists to monitor (and try to guide) Dracula’s rampages through Europe, shut down inconvenient questions and witnesses, and stop any “collateral” vampire who isn’t either Dracula or its own asset. Edom is protected by the full might of GCHQ, just like the rest of MI6 is. All Digital Intrusion efforts against Edom systems are Difficulty 8 or higher.

''D'' The few who even know there is an MI6

section chief code-named “D” assume it’s a jocular reference to being “next to C.” In truth, the initial stands for Doeg, the Edomite herdsman of Saul who killed even the high priest on the order of his king (1 Samuel 22).

The Section for Research Operations keeps a low profile even by Service standards. Its chief, likewise; “D” shuttles between Ring and MI6 HQ in Vauxhall Cross on no particular schedule. His office there is small and out of the way; finding it requires specific knowledge of the layout. He is always accompanied by two Service bodyguards (NBA, p. 69) or by one or more Dukes of Edom (p. 50). The specific identity of “D” is up to the Director, but making “D” just another faceless bureaucrat risks anticlimax. Ideally, the players will recognize him either by association with the Dossier or from a seemingly innocuous, even helpful, encounter at some point during the campaign. Possible identities for “D” include: analytical

genius and deep cover specialist R. M. Renfield, the man who knows Dracula better than anyone, still surviving on a diet of bugs and blood (p. 38) an immortal “Peter Hawkins” from 1894 (p. 39)

the

current (or vampiric) Lord Godalming (p. 43) or another Legacy, ideally one the Agents have met and trusted Lucy Westenra (p. 34) or another surviving 1894 vampire; the vampire held in the Proserpine is a decoy the Retired MI6 Asset Runner (p. 98)

This chapter provides quick statistics and ability approaches for the opposition, particularly Edom and Dracula’s Conspiracy. As with all such elements, change them, omit them, or bolster them at will.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook other survivor (besides “Van Sloan”) from the 1940 SOE mission to Romania: Lieutenant Lewis (VS57) or possibly even Captain Spence (VS78) an immortal (or slow-aging) Brigadier Oswald A. “Jasper” Harker, Acting Director of MI5 (1940–1941) who faked his death in 1968 (p. 80)

the

on duplicating vampire abilities (The Seward Serum sidebar, p. 51) rather than defeating them, but, at the Director’s discretion, his notes and records might yield specific anti-vampire measures (such as UV-radiant sera to cancel vampire powers) to Agents spending 4 points total of Chemistry, Forensic Pathology, and Vampirology. It’s less important for “Drawes” to be a familiar or even foreshadowed figure if he is discovered. In fact, his generic “mad doctor–ness” can serve as a useful subconscious hint to the players that he isn’t “D” after all. That said, here are a few possible identities for “Drawes”:

if your campaign style tilts toward the fuscous and obscure. Unless otherwise stated, all Dukes of Edom have the following statistics: general abilities: Athletics

8, Disguise 2, Driving 4, Hand-toHand 8, Health 10, Infiltration 2, Medic 4, Shooting 6, Weapons 6 hit threshold: 4 alertness modifier: +2 stealth modifier: +1 damage modifier: −2 (fist, kick), +1 (9mm Glock 17 pistol) armor: −2 vs. bullets, −1 vs. other (police tactical vest)

''Dr. Drawes'' Indeed,“D” prefers outsiders to believe that

“D” stands for “Drawes,” the pseudonym of Edom’s main researcher into the science (occult or otherwise) of vampirism. There is a John L. Drawes, MD, FRCS, listed and credentialed in the NHS and other British government databases, but this is a false umbrella identity (or series of identities) used by Edom operatives to impersonate medical personnel and sign off on any number of dubious activities. With enough access to the full spectrum of London death reports (including those of the most recent Dracula outrages), a 2-point Traffic Analysis spend notes the signature, ID number, or involvement of “Drawes” on death certificates, autopsy reports showing nothing wrong and certainly no unusual exsanguination, medical review boards for the police after weapons discharge, and so forth. The primary “Drawes,” however, spends most of his time in Seward’s Asylum (p. 195) or on the Proserpine (p. 169) researching vampires from a scientific perspective. If Edom doesn’t have its own vampire, he is lobbying to get one. He has (perhaps foolishly) concentrated

immortal, blood-addicted Seward (p. 35) or Thornley Stoker (p. 33) or George Stoker (p. 10). The current Van Helsing or Seward Legacy (p. 47), or another one that works in retrospect. The Drug Boss (p. 113) or Human Trafficker (p. 118) rounding up pharmacopeia or test subjects. The head of the Ahnenerbe vampire program in Germany, recruited after WWII by Edom as part of Operation Surgeon (the British equivalent of Paperclip).

Dukes of Edom These are the lead Edom operatives, the foes the Agents meet in London and Romania. Their ability ratings, special maneuvers, etc., should meet or exceed those of the PCs. In the field during a full exercise, they will have one Proserpine rating as an exec or NCO, but work through teams of regular MI6, MI5, SAS, etc., personnel, or simply commandeer local law enforcement or other British government and police resources using their MI6 warrant cards. They may show up anywhere in Europe, including Romania. All of the Dukes have perfect Romanian passports and language skills in Romanian, Hungarian, and Romany. Any or all of them might have been Renfielded or otherwise suborned by Dracula: even sophisticated anti-vampire hypnosis screens can’t detect a big pile of gold in an operative’s stash box. Their code names reference the “Dukes of Edom” listed in Genesis 36; the actual Biblical name appears in parentheses

Elvis (Alvah) Runs the Edom network in the Balkans. A dark-haired, friendly fellow in a modern suit, he looks like he could be anything from a vacationing American businessman to a Russian arms dealer. Since he spends more time on the ground than most Dukes, he can more easily be bargained with: a trade of information about Dracula or a solid favor (Negotiation) gets him to lay off the Agents. With enough fair dealing and exposure to the real depravity of Edom’s actions, Elvis could potentially be flipped with Ideology: he didn’t get into this business to protect Dracula. special:

Disguise 12, Infiltration 5

opposition forces n edom: ''dr. drawes'' to ian (iram) tracks as appropriate, Hound finds their traces. When Hound is in the area, all Heat and surprise Difficulties for the Agents increase by 1.

Fort (Mibzar)

Hound (Kenaz)

Handles fires and explosives for Edom, with special attention to formulations that burn at extreme heat levels (to rapidly burn vampiric flesh) or hurl wooden shrapnel. A square-built black woman, Fort mostly wears jeans, work boots, and a fireproof jacket. Also handles earthquakes if need be; if Edom has a superior Earthquake Device (p. 266), she targets it, emplaces it, or whatever is needed. She enjoys threatening and intimidating vampires, and is vulnerable in turn to isolation and Interrogation after being thoroughly searched for detonators, a packet of PETN, or other escape trickery.

Primary field agent for Edom in a nonmurderous capacity. A short, attractive woman with reddish-brown hair, she wears a suit and a crucifix necklace, and radiates competence and security. She speaks a dozen languages and has contacts all over European law enforcement. She mostly spends her time trying to map Dracula’s activities to assemble a pattern for analysis: she doesn’t care who he kills as long as every now and then some of them are terrorists. Cop Talk gets her respectful attention, although nothing short of Coercion (or being vampirized, of course) will double her against Edom.

special:

Conceal 8 (Perfect Holdout), Explosive Devices 12, Mechanics 5

special:

Shooting 8, Surveillance 6, Weapons 8. She has Special Weapons Training with her Glock (+2 damage) and her flexible baton (+0 damage). If the Agents haven’t spent Conceal, Criminology, etc., to cover their

Ian (Iram) A thin, whiplike man with a shaven head, plentiful tattoos, and six silver teeth, Ian is clearly (Criminology) a Russian Mafiya killer. (Human Terrain or Languages (Russian) detects his specific city of origin as Kazan, although he is not an ethnic Tatar.) His chosen weapon is the high-powered automobile. He can use it for other purposes such as surveillance and getaways, but he prefers to drive offensively. He will even lower himself to plant a car bomb if he must. A Network contact in the Russian Mafiya can offer leverage on Ian (Intimidation once you have it flips him with Coercion), doubtless in exchange for something unsavory.

The Seward Serum This homeopathic distillation of vampire blood (possibly saved by either Van Helsing or Seward after the death of Lucy, or taken from Mina during her contamination) can only be manufactured at an Edom facility such as the Asylum (p. 195). If the original sample is destroyed, no more can be made without another vampire. It provides the equivalent benefits of turning Renfield without the drawback of immediate subjection to Dracula’s will.

After injection, users (called “Jacks”) gain: 12 pool points to distribute among any General abilities except Cover, Disguise, Mechanics (except traps), Medic, Network, or Shrink; user may save these ability points in an unassigned pool to use at need +1 to their Alertness Modifier +1 to their melee damage Infravision Vampiric Speed (spend 2 Athletics or Health for Extra Attack,

Jump In, Mook Shield, or +2 Hit Threshold for one round) Sadly, the Seward Serum has drawbacks: Its effects only last until the user is next exposed to direct sunlight. If the user becomes Shaken while using, he gains an Addictive Disorder for the serum. The user is still at −1 to all rolls to resist Dracula.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook special:

Driving 16, Explosive Devices 5, Mechanics 10. Ian has the equivalent of Special Weapons Training with cars (+1 to all damage to others from crashes), and can make Critical Hits (double damage on a 6 if his roll + spend beats the target’s Hit Threshold by 5+) with a car impact.

Nails (Jetheth) A stolid, efficient Ulster killer, entirely owned by Edom thanks to certain errors of judgment made during his impetuous youth back in Ireland. Pale of complexion with dyed brown hair covering the ginger, he wears shapeless and nondescript clothing that doesn’t show stains. Nails actually wants very much, in his secret heart, to be a vampire: a 1-point spend of either Flattery or Bullshit Detector notices his tells during a discussion of or confrontation with vampires. A long con, a convincing story (2-point Reassurance spend), and some fake (or real!) vampire blood will get him to sell out Edom in one big way: information about a big question, or a free hit on an Edom target. special:

Athletics 10, Explosive Devices 4, Shooting 16, Weapons 10. Has Special Weapons Training in his .338 caliber Lapua Magnum Accuracy International AWM sniper rifle (+2 damage) and his Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife (+0 damage).

Oakes (Elah)

Osprey (Oholibamah)

A tired, graying case officer, Oakes joined Edom right before the 1977 mole hunt. Nothing he has seen since has convinced him that Edom got the right person, or that it even tried. He keeps a huge file of his own on the subject, and chases the mole that got away in his spare time between cleaning vampiric crime scenes and directing Dracula’s agents toward Islamist terror cells. After an approach showing bulletproof Tradecraft, real information and leads about 1977 get his attention. He can answer any three questions about 1977 except “who was the mole.” If presented with ironclad proof that Dracula’s mole is running Edom, he can be Flattered (2-point spend) into joining the Agents out of Ego (“Thanks to you, we found the key”).

Runs the Edom lamplighters, and sifts the raw intel from the field for “D” and any analytical staff at Ring. A small, dapper man, Osprey seems to fade into the background even when alone in the room. Like Elvis, he will trade intel for intel with fellow professionals (Negotiation and Tradecraft). Unlike Elvis, he cannot be co-opted (except by Dracula) because he is hopelessly obsessed with Lucy Westenra (or any other Edom captive vampire). A 1-point Flirting spend notices his complete immunity to flirtation, and intuits a prior, impossible fixation as the cause.

special:

Conceal 6, Surveillance 4

special: Athletics

12, Disguise 8, Surveillance 16. Once Osprey has spotted the Agents, all of their Heat test Difficulties increase by 1 after 24 hours in the same city.

Pearl (Pinon) This is who Edom sends to steal anything the Agents have worth stealing, especially a major artifact. Pearl is a slender man of northern Indian extraction, darkly good looking and (when off duty) sharply dressed. High Society detects his social climbing desires; an invitation to the best parties is always welcome, but no thief is off his guard around rich people. Better to Intimidate him with threats of broken hands and power drills. special: Athletics

Infiltration 14

12, Filch 12,

opposition forces n edom: nails (jetheth) to 1894 vampire special:

Athletics 15, Hand-to-Hand 15; he targets the throat or wrists in Called Shots (NBA, p. 72) and Disarms (NBA, p. 73). Once per session, he can freely refresh 4 Hand-to-Hand pool points, as per Martial Arts (NBA, p. 75), or Athletics points, as per Parkour (NBA, p. 58).

Prince (Magdiel) “D” isn’t actually entirely sure why he needs a hacker to contain a medieval warlord, but, just in case, he got a good one, right from the Israeli Unit 8200. Prince is a sunburned woman with three addictions: vampire movies, computer exploits, and pain medication. (That last is why she no longer works for Israeli military intelligence.) Her fibromyalgia keeps her in near constant agony; she might be turned by someone offering a cure. She works under UV lamps out of a ground-floor apartment in Bethnal Green, and, in the very unlikely circumstance the Agents track her down, Diagnosis and Pharmacy detect the pain and painkillers. special:

Digital Intrusion 16; Prince can call on dedicated resources from GCHQ for her hacking attacks, investigations, etc. This gives her a free full refresh of her pool every day.

Tyler (Timnah) A yellow belt in Wing Chun (1-point Hand-to-Hand spend to notice his skill and style in time to break contact and back up) and a parkourist, Tyler is interested in developing martial arts as a possible antivampire tactic. Slim but with giveaway muscled wrists and shoulders (Athletics or Hand-to-Hand deduces this), Tyler is half-Chinese; his father was stationed in Hong Kong (p. 229). If an Agent with Occult Studies or High Society shakes his hand, he notices that Tyler is a Freemason. This may offer a possible road to flipping him, or at least calling him off. Many higher-ups in MI6 and Special Branch are also Masons, however, so Agents may want to tread lightly in those circles.

Tinman (Teman) In charge of building anti-vampire gear, and building off-books surveillance and espionage gear. Tinman is a darkcomplected Scot with terrible teeth and beautiful hands, usually dressed like a mechanic. He is completely loyal to Edom, and Bullshit Detector notices the telltale gleam of this allegiance in his eye. He might turn if presented with hard proof of Dracula’s rule over Edom, or he might just snap and blow the whole thing up. special:

Explosive Devices 4, Mechanics 10, Piloting 6, Surveillance 6

1894 Vampire This might be Lucy Westenra, Mina

Harker, or some other vampire created during Dracula’s time in England. Like Dracula, she cannot be seen in mirrors or by cameras or other artificial imagery. Her ability scores assume that vampiric abilities increase with age: although a full vampire (unlike the Brides), this vampire is still relatively young. That said, feel free to increase her ability scores to match the intended level of challenge: if the vampire has access (overt or covert) to Edom’s vampiric research laboratory (Seward’s Asylum, p. 195), she might have supercharged herself with whatever alchemical, medical, or other treatments Edom has developed in the last century. Depending on her tasks for Edom, she may have 4+ ability ratings in Shooting or Weapons.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

general abilities:

Aberrance 16, Hand-to-Hand 11, Health 11 hit threshold: 6 alertness modifier: +3 stealth modifier: +3 damage modifier: +1 (bite; extended canines), +0 (fist, kick); +2 to melee weapon damage armor: −1 (tough skin) free powers: Drain, Infravision, Regeneration (all damage from physical weapons regenerates at the next sunset; can regrow limbs or eyes in a year), Unfeeling other powers: Addictive Bite, Apportation (into any room she has been invited into), Clairvoyance (those she has bitten), Cloak of Darkness, Dominance, Infection (those who drink vampire blood only), Magic, Mesmerism (eye contact or voice), Necromancy, Send to Sleep, Spider Climb, Strength, Summoning (rats, wolves), Turn to Creature (bat, wolf; only at sunset or midnight), Turn to Mist, Vampiric Speed banes: beheading, stake to the heart, sunlight (prevents use of all vampiric powers) blocks: cannot enter a room without being invited, crucifixes and holy objects, running water, wild roses, cannot move while staked in her coffin

compulsions:

drink blood crucifixes and holy objects, garlic, mirrors requirements: drink blood, must sleep in her native soil each night dreads:

HMS Proserpine Ratings The Proserpine’s naval ratings

(or an equivalent special ops SBS team, if there is no Proserpine in your Edom) are the Operation’s main outside actors, along with the Dukes of Edom. One rating or Duke usually provides the mission parameters and direction for larger shell squads of unknowing MI6, MI5, Special Branch, SAS, or other British government forces: “Do what you’re told by a man you don’t know, and don’t see anything while you do it” is standard ROE for such men. Use Special Police (NBA, p. 70) for civilian shell squads, and Special Operations Soldiers (NBA, p. 70) for SAS shell squads and for Proserpine ratings. Unless operating under cover as cadre for a shell squad (and sometimes even then), Proserpine ratings carry standard issue Royal Marines loadout: LMT L85A2 assault rifle (5.56mm, +0), LMT L129A1 marksman rifle (7.62mm, +1), Glock 17 (9mm, +1); all firearms mount

tactical UV lights (no effect on Dracula; prevent Dracula’s Brides and other get from using their powers; damage Orlokstyle vampires (p. 70)). Proserpine ratings all have Special Weapons Training with crossbows (+1 damage), and wear absolutely top-of-the-line night vision optics. They also carry kukri knives (more beheading-friendly; +0 damage) instead of Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knives: Military Science notes this.

the conspiracy varying with the level of perceived threat. If someone gets through the latter, then depending on the tactical situation he is likely to: For Dracula’s general run of minions and followers, use the standard Thug (NBA, p. 70). His suborned police, gendarmes, etc., likewise use standard OPFOR statistics from the core rulebook. Unlike Edom, Dracula doesn’t particularly value having well-trained humans to do his bidding: he feels he can get superior results with Renfields.Thus, a Dracula “hit team” is likely to be one Renfield and a pack of thugs, or two to three Renfields,

set

Edom on their trail using deniable doubled Romanian cut-outs (if he wants to put off confrontation and tactically assess his foe) lure his foe into ambush on a killing ground stocked with ghouls (NBA, p. 150) or wolves (NBA, p. 155)(if he believes the foe to be an imminent threat) send a Bride, assign (NBA, p. 145), murony (NBA, p. 152), or other “level boss” monster to observe and

assess the threat and pick off any vulnerable stragglers or scouts (if he either doesn’t want to risk Edom or desires clairvoyant observation)

Regional Assets In any node in Romania, Dracula likely has

an asset either bribed or coerced to do his bidding, most likely through his chosen faction of the Romanian mafia. In every city, he has 1–6 cops on the take, likewise. For rougher work, he always has at least 20 thugs and 5 thug bosses (use the Mafioso from p. 69 of NBA) — Romanian Mafia (p. 157), Ruvari Szgany (p. 147), Slovak river clans, etc. — available in any

opposition forces n edom: 1894 vampire to hms proserpine / the conspiracy: the satanic cult Romanian city. In Bucharest, he has 50 thugs and 10 thug bosses available, and his money men can recruit fifty more gang soldiers if need be. If he thinks a problem can actually be solved with money, he can free up a million British pounds in cash within a day.

of the original 1894 incarnation of the cabal. The Dracula Dossier hints that Sir Robert Parton of the Law Society and/or his daughter were members, along with the Sotheby’s clerk Robert Lewes, Lady Carradine, and “a clergyman, a member of Parliament, and another, older woman.” As for the new blood, they might be: ambitious

Correspondence (p. 275) describe Dracula joining and leading a London cabal of worshippers and fellow servants of the powers of darkness. Information about this cabal was removed from the published novel of Dracula — no doubt to spare the Establishment any embarrassment, as Dracula deliberately recruited men of influence and high office to serve him. Edom — or the original hunters — probably arrested or murdered some of Dracula’s followers after the Count’s defeat in 1894, but the cult regrew in secret over the 20th century. Was it nothing more than a vestigial node, abandoned by its vampiric master as a failed endeavor, or did Dracula continue to direct his worshippers from his fastness in Romania? Is the cult a bunch of wannabe Satanists without any real power, or the nerve center of Dracula’s stay-behind network in England? In either case, the cult is small.There are only thirteen places at the table, and one’s reserved for the Master. If any Conspiracy vampires operate in England — any of the Brides (p. 57), or an escaped Lucy Westenra (p. 34), or some more recent by-blow — then they are also part of the cult’s ceremonies. You might also drop in an elder Renfield-type as a survivor

Really, any London- or UK-based member of the Conspiracy can turn out to be a cultist: finding and busting up a cult ceremony (where the attendees show up masked, of course) is a great way to blow open a lot of leads at once. The cult needn’t even be restricted to Britons: the Makt Myrkranna version is multinational, operating out of a number of embassies. In addition to its ruling members, the Satanic cult always has a meeting place and a bunch of reliable servants. Potential locations include the cult’s original clubhouse at Coldfall House (p. 188), Slains Castle (p. 176), one of Dracula’s new safe houses (p. 194), or some glittering shard of glass in the City or Canary Wharf — wherever it is, they’ve got a Red Room (p. 187) there, a secret exit into the rat-choked sewers, and possibly a copy (or even the copy) of Le Dragon Noir (p. 273). If the cult has a public front or source of funding, model it as a subordinate node in the Conspyramid — Burdett’s Private Bankers (p. 143), Axel Logistics (p. 141), or Heal the Children (p. 150) might lead into the cult. Satanic cults need lots of disposable girls for orgies, black masses, and human sacrifices: the Human Trafficker (p. 118) is a likely vector for investigation. Optionally, give the cult another subordinate node as a security force — either a Conspiracy-controlled police force, a legitimate private security firm, or some organized criminals. These guys secure sacrificial victims for the cult’s rituals, make troublesome reporters disappear, and ensure that sabbats are not disturbed. Baseline stats for cult members (adjust ability ratings and modifiers by −2 for pure soft civilians just in it for the nudity and contacts):

The Satanic Cult of Dracula Both Stoker’s Notes and Makt Myrkranna

followers who think they’ll be exalted when Dracula takes over. They might give clues to the nature of Dracula’s capstone: if he recruits weapons manufacturers (Leutner Fabrichen, p. 146), CIA Agents (p. 91), and Petroleum Executives (p. 127), then he may be aiming at the Russian Federation (p. 302). If he’s got more Archaeologists (p. 292), Medievalists (p. 122), and Seismologists (p. 100), then maybe he’s after Zalmoxis (p. 291). seekers after immortality, who want to become vampires. Potential candidates include Tabitha Holmwood (p. 44), the Former Gehlen Org (p. 82), or the MI6 Romania Desk Analyst (p. 124). greedy followers who are in this for the money. The Petroleum Executive (p. 127) is our go-to stand-in for corporate greed; you could also use the head of Burdett’s Private Bank (p. 143) or the heads of HGD Shipping (p. 145) or Axel Logistics (p. 141). The Tabloid Journalist (p. 134) is also a likely recruit. the British Establishment, or a significant part of it: a leading MP or cabinet minister (use Philip Holmwood (p. 43) as the model), a high-ranking official in MI5 or MI6 or both (use the MI5 Deputy (p. 95)), an influential civil servant (anglify the Bureaucrat (p. 108)), a general (likewise the NATO Liaison (p. 125)), a major publisher (socially upgrade the Journalist (p. 120)), and a society doyenne like the Anthropologist (p. 90) after occult power. The Psychic (p. 96) has his own Satanic cabal that might be a front for Dracula’s group; the Hungarian (p. 94) or the Art Forecaster (p. 103) might be seduced by the promise of power. Maybe Dracula’s running a London branch or knockoff of the

Scholomance (p. 219) — in which case, one or more rogue Solomonari (p. 74) might be involved. Renfield-esque lunatics and fanatics, dragged into the psychic whirlpool of the cult, or clueless sycophants who have no idea how disposable they are. The Madman (p. 121) and “Mr. Hopkins” (p. 117) exemplify these two categories of loser. a turncoat Duke of Edom (p. 50). Nails, Osprey, Prince, or Tyler all have reasons to switch sides.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

general abilities:

Athletics 4, Disguise 4, Driving 4, Hand-to-Hand 3, Health 6, Shooting 4, Weapons 6 hit threshold: 3 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +0 damage modifier: −2 (fist, kick), +1 (9mm Glock 17 pistol or ceremonial sword) armor: −1 (ceremonial vestments with kevlar plates) special: Cult members with lots of influence can throw police interference and extra Heat at the Agents — assume a minimum Heat gain of +4 if the Agents attack the cult and fail to take it out in a single surgical strike. Sorcerous cultists might have 6–10 points of Aberrance and the Magic power. If the cult’s rites involve drinking the blood of Dracula, or if they can steal the strength of their victims, then boost their Hit Threshold and Hand-to-Hand/Weapons damage by +1 and their Health by +4. Add Renfield-style powers to taste.

For the cult’s low-ranking servants and blood moppers, assume: general abilities:

Disguise 4, Driving 6, Hand-to-Hand 6, Health 3, Shooting 4 hit threshold: 3 alertness modifier: +0 stealth modifier: +1 damage modifier: −2 (fist, kick), +1 (9mm Glock 17 pistol)

Use Police (NBA, p. 69) or Thugs (NBA, p. 70) for the cult’s security force, if any. The cult holds regular ceremonies involving blood drinking and sacrifice (probably animals; humans only if the cult is Level 4 or higher on the Conspyramid). Criminology identifies the work of a cult; Traffic Analysis or Occult Studies correlates cult meetings with dates of occult significance, or earth tremors in Vrancea, or the deaths of suspected jihadists, or Denham Enterprises stockholder meetings, or whatever else the cult is into. dossier reference:

CU59, CU97, HO114, CU130, HO145, CU174

The Director is, of course, welcome to set Dracula’s ability scores and powers at any terrifying level she wishes. On St. George’s Eve and St. Andrew’s Eve, add +13 to Aberrance, and improve Regeneration to 6 Health per round. Other vampires show smaller boosts at such times. general abilities:

Dracula Dracula cannot be seen in mirrors or

on camera; he casts no shadow. He can be prevented from rising again only by separating his head from his body: even if burned, he revives with blood on his ashes. It is possible that the stake serves only to immobilize the vampire, not to kill him. One possibility considered by Stoker initially: Dracula only recoils from religious artifacts of his era and earlier. The Agents might need to find a pre1476 crucifix to keep him at bay, if he’s Vlad Tepes. Even more difficult than that: finding a Host consecrated by a preTridentine Rite — even the “old” form of the Mass only dates back to 1570! (On a 2-point Human Terrain spend, Agents can locate the nearest Dominican, Carthusian, or Carmelite monastery, or remember that some churches in Milan still use the Ambrosian Rite, dating back to before the 8th century CE) The given General ability ratings use the core rulebook guideline for Linea Dracula vampires of +3 to Aberrance and +2 to Hand-to-Hand and Health per 50 years of Un-Death (NBA, p. 144). Thus, these ratings assume that Dracula became a vampire in the mid-15th century — during the lifetime of Vlad Tepes. For an early 17thcentury vampire like Elizabeth Báthory or Mircalla Karnstein, those guidelines would lower General abilities to Aberrance 41, Hand-to-Hand 27, Health 27. Dracula’s powers follow Van Helsing’s description of them in Chapter 18 of Dracula Unredacted.

Aberrance 50, Hand-to-Hand 33, Health 33, Weapons 20 hit threshold: 8 (fast, terrifying, experienced fighter) alertness modifier: +3 stealth modifier: +3 damage modifier: +3 (sword), +1 (bite; extended canines), or +0 (fist, kick) armor: −1 (tough skin) free powers: Drain, Infravision, Regeneration (all damage from physical weapons regenerates at the next sunset; can regrow limbs or eyes in a year), Unfeeling other powers: Addictive Bite, Apportation (into any place holding his native earth or any room he has been invited into), Break Will (NBA p. 132; treat as a normal mental attack against PCs), Clairvoyance (assigns, Renfields, or those he has bitten), Cloak of Darkness, Control Weather, Dominance, Infection (those who drink vampire blood only), Magic, Mesmerism (eye contact or voice), Necromancy, Send to Sleep, Spider Climb, Strength, Summoning (bats, foxes, moths, owls, rats, wolves), Turn to Creature (bat, wolf; only at sunset or midnight), Turn to Mist, Vampiric Speed banes: beheading, stake to the heart, sunlight (prevents use of all vampiric powers); only permanently dead if staked and beheaded, mouth filled with garlic, body burned, and ashes cast into running water blocks: cannot enter a room without being invited, crucifixes and holy objects, running water (except at slack or flood tide), wild roses, cannot move while staked in his coffin compulsions: none dreads: crucifixes and holy objects, garlic, mirrors requirements: drink blood, must sleep in his native soil or a suicide’s grave each night

opposition forces n the conspiracy: dracula to renfields dossier reference:

It is the man himself.

of the novel, presenting the Brides as considerably weaker than Dracula himself. If in your campaign the Brides are closer to Dracula’s equals, use the powers for Dracula, though, for dramatic purposes, subtract 10 from his ability scores or apply the given modifier for their younger ages. The identities of the Brides remain mysterious, besides the likely Countess Dolingen of Graz (p. 227). In the Icelandic adaptation of Stoker’s novel, the “Countess Ida Varkony” is part of Dracula’s circle of Satanists and murderers (p. 55), and she vanishes abruptly with the Count. The Icelandic version also introduces the seductive and beautiful Madame Saint Amand, a possible third Bride to complete the set. Dracula may also have a Legacy Bride, such as Mina Harker (p. 33), Carmilla Rojas (p. 46), or Lucy Westenra (p. 34); she might use the 1894 Vampire stats above (p. 53) instead of Bride stats. Dracula may also have wed Lilith (p. 69) or the “Blood Countess” Elizabeth Báthory (p. 65); as major vampire legends in their own right, they have their own stats. general abilities:

Aberrance 19, Hand-to-Hand 9, Health 11, Weapons 7 hit threshold: 5 alertness modifier: +2 stealth modifier: +1

+0 (dagger) or +0 (bite; extended canines), or −1 (fist, kick) armor: −1 (tough skin) free powers: Drain, Infravision other powers: Addictive Bite, Cloak of Darkness, Control Weather, Mesmerism (eye contact or voice), Spider Climb, Strength, Turn to Creature (wolf; only at sunset or midnight), Turn to Mist, Vampiric Speed banes: beheading, crucifixes and holy objects (+0 damage; +1 on face), stake to the heart, sunlight (prevents use of all vampiric powers) blocks: cannot enter a room without being invited, crucifixes and holy objects, running water, wild roses, cannot move while staked in her coffin compulsions: obey sire dreads: crucifixes and holy objects, garlic, mirrors requirements: drink blood, must sleep in her native soil each night

Brides of Dracula This write-up follows most interpretations

damage modifier:

dossier reference:

HO165, CU221, CU235, CU252

Renfields By and large, Dracula’s

Renfields come from one of two sources: Edom operatives who got too close to Dracula, or Romanian “Vulturii” special forces tapped opportunistically, possibly during maneuvers near his Castle. (If he was once a Wallachian or Hungarian warlord, he chooses such men out of feudal pride; Human Terrain notices that all of Dracula’s local Renfields are ethnically Hungarian in the latter case.) Dracula is picky about who he feeds his blood to: he doesn’t like feeding fellow males if he can avoid it. Fortunately, he can break the will of almost any NPC simply by staring into his eyes and spending 2 Aberrance (3 Aberrance to do so clairvoyantly or in dreams). It costs him 2 more Aberrance to grant his new minion one “other” supernatural power. Use the Edom stats (p. 50) as a baseline for Dracula’s Renfielded Edomites; add 12 points to any General abilities, +2 to Alertness Modifier and melee damage. For his Renfielded Romanian soldiers, use the statistics below.

general abilities: Aberrance

10, Driving 3, Hand-to-Hand 14, Health 8, Shooting 14, Weapons 10 hit threshold: 4 alertness modifier: +3 stealth modifier: +1 damage modifier: +0 (fist, kick), +1 (combat knife), +1 (9mm Glock 17 pistol), +0 (AK-74 5.45mm) armor: −3 vs. bullets and explosives, −1 vs. other (military-grade armor, including helmet and visor) free powers: Infravision, Unfeeling other powers: Choose one of: Spider Climb, Strength (tests necessary for feats of strength; NBA, p. 137), or Vampiric Speed (Extra Attacks, Jump In, Mook Shield, or +2 to Hit Threshold for a round; all 2 Aberrance each); all Renfields can serve as Dracula’s clairvoyant eyes, so if he is watching through all of them they have the equivalent of Pack Attack (NBA, Guard Dog, p. 69) banes: sunlight (prevents use of all vampiric powers) compulsions: obey Dracula

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook Some Terrible Fear - Man Knows Secret

Stoker’s Notes are full of cryptic asides and hints, one of which is “some terrible fear — man knows secret.” How to interpret this in the light of the Dracula Dossier? One option is that it refers to Harker’s experiences in Castle Dracula. Perhaps the Servant tried, through mute, fumbling gestures, to warn the Englishman about the true nature and intent of the Count. In this case, the Servants might take pity on some of the Count’s prospective victims out of some lingering vestige of conscience. Another possibility is that the deafmute man knows something about Dracula’s ultimate goal — if you’re working toward one of the capstones (pp. 291–312), then interrogating the Silent Servant gives the Agents a clue about that capstone. (Combine both interpretations by having a mortally wounded Servant try to make amends by giving the Agents a vital clue to Dracula’s plans.)

The Silent Servants Though Harker never saw any servants

at Castle Dracula, Stoker’s Notes contain references to an elderly “deaf-mute woman” and a “silent man” employed by the Count in England. Employing mute (and presumably illiterate) servants is the 15th-centurywarlord equivalent of putting a high-security firewall around your home computer — it shows that Dracula was security conscious, and wanted to ensure that his mortal servants could never reveal his secrets. If Dracula has a regular residence, as opposed to a lair or safe house, then the Agents may encounter his servants there. Finding mute, illiterate servants in the modern day is a bit harder — unless he has his Ruvari Szgany (p. 147) steal children, mutilate them by removing their tongues, and then train them to be perfect household

staff for the monstrous Count. (Strasba Orphanage, on page 223, might be connected to this practice.) Failing that, he might simply employ regular domestic staff from an agency as “Count de Ville,” “Count Székely,” or some other alias, and then kill them or drive them mad once he’s done with them (or maybe Edom takes care of them). Rescuing one of these servants before they’re killed could give theAgents valuable intel on Dracula’s allies and schemes. If the Agents find a way to communicate with the servant (probably through a combination of Reassurance, Languages, and signing), they can get answers to any three questions related to the mortal servants of the Count. (The Agents might also be able to interrogate the Silent Servants, but only with a huge Interrogation spend and considerable leverage. Capturing one of the pair and using him or her to

bargain with the other might work.) Alternatively, the old Silent Servants might be more than just household staff — they might be Dracula’s trusted agents, super-Renfields sustained many centuries beyond their natural spans by his unnatural blood, able to go where the Count cannot. Dracula might send his Silent Servants to assassinate those who hide on hallowed ground, or to remove barriers of garlic or rosewood that impede him. An elderly pensioner can be virtually invisible in some urban environments — if you’re looking for a knife-wielding murderer, you’re going to pay more attention to the big guy with the scars and the shaved head than to the little old lady with the shopping bags unless you Notice: hey, that’s blood leaking from her bag … general abilities:

Aberrance 13, Hand-to-Hand 10, Health 9, Weapons 15 hit threshold: 4 alertness modifier: +2 stealth modifier: +2 damage modifier: +0 (wicked knife) armor: −1 (tough skin)

opposition forces n the conspiracy: the silent servants to telluric vampires free powers:

Infravision, Regeneration (3 Health/round), Spider Climb, Tracking by Smell (+2 Difficulty to evade), Unfeeling other powers: Apportation (“slasher movement”), Strength, Vampiric Speed (Extra Attacks, Jumping In, Mook Shield, or +2 Hit Threshold for a scene, all for 2 Aberrance each) compulsions: eat human flesh, obey Dracula HO175

Telluric Vampires

This offers an alternative build for “Stoker vampires” that leans more heavily on geology than theology. Telluric currents of electricity flow through the ground we walk upon. Deep within the planet, bacteria unknown to modern science dwell in the darkness, battening on these telluric currents to survive. In rare instances, volcanic eruptions bring these bacteria to the surface. Humans infected with these bacteria undergo a bizarre metamorphosis into vampires. Even within a human host, the bacteria continue to be drawn to these telluric currents. In short — Van Helsing was wrong. (Or lying; see p. 28.) Vampires are a “natural” phenomenon, a mutation born of exotic extremophile bacterial infection. All of the vampiric powers and weaknesses derive from the bacteria and their connection to the natural cycles of the earth.

Telluric Powers All telluric powers still work like “regular” vampire powers, by spending 1 or 2 Aberrance as noted in the Night’s Black Agents core rulebook. clairvoyance:

By attuning to the bioelectric field of a victim or infected minion, the vampire can “see” through that victim’s eyes. control earthquakes: By agitating fault lines in the ground, the vampire can trigger earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. It costs fewer Aberrance points to trigger a quake near an existing fault line than it does to cause one in a tectonically stable region. control weather: Exerting control over ground temperatures, electrical fields, and winds allows the vampire to control

It Came From Outer Space Rather than bacteria, exposure to a mysterious Transylvanian mineral — radiation, heavy metal poisoning, even inhaling its dust or vapor released by volcanic heat — could induce the vampiric change. Depending on how tolerant your players are, the mineral could simply be a new kind of radioactive ore, a mysterious meteor, or possibly “dark matter,” which after all exists solely to plug holes in people’s physics. Whatever the nature of the strange matter, it resonates with and amplifies telluric currents, turning the vampire’s iron-bearing blood cells into billions of transmitters, control surfaces, or microprocessors.

illusions, making observers believe that the vampire has become a cloud of mist or a bat. The effect only works when the victim looks directly at the vampire, so mirrors or cameras can be used to counter this power. necromancy: By infecting the recently deceased with the bacteria and directing the resultant telluric stimulation of the corpse’s bio-electrical nervous system, vampires can create ghouls, zombies, or extract fragmentary memories from corpses. regeneration: Vampires regenerate exceedingly quickly, regaining an amount of Health each hour depending on their current connection to the telluric currents. No

connection (in the air, in a Faraday cage): 2 Health Low connection (at sea, in a tall building): 4 Health Moderate connection (on the ground): 8 Health High connection (on native soil): 16 Health climb: Vampires combine bioelectrically augmented muscles with magnetic hyper-sensitivity to the tiniest of cracks or ridges in a rock or castle wall. Note that Harker climbs down the wall of Castle Dracula: such a descent was very difficult, but not even superhuman.

spider

dossier reference:

the weather over land. Controlling it over the sea is harder (except for fog, which requires only an electrostatic effect), but achievable with effort. Storms and other electrical effects are easy. dominance: The vampire achieves mental dominance over a victim by resonating the local telluric currents with the victim’s natural bio-electric field, effectively hypnotizing them through a form of transcranial magnetic stimulation. (Natural magnetic fields already produce sensory effects in some sensitive people, and most birds.) Insulating the victim from the ground or disrupting the vampire’s signal with a strong electromagnetic field can block the dominance. drain: The bacterial infection degausses the iron in the vampire’s red blood cells; replacement blood is therefore needed to sustain the organism. electrical distortion: Vampires can scramble any unshielded electrical device in their vicinity by spending Aberrance. A 1-point spend disrupts mobile phones, computers, cameras, and other sensitive equipment. electrical senses: Telluric vampires can “see” electrical fields, including the currents caused by muscle contractions in the body, as well as distortions in the telluric currents. That means they can see perfectly in the dark, have 360-degree perception, and can sense movement of objects on the ground over a considerable distance. Dracula, for example, is so attuned to the telluric currents of his native Romania that he can sense the movement of every vehicle in the country. infection:The vampire’s bite transmits the bacterial infection. Usually, the victim’s own immune system can fight off the bacteria over a few days, especially with broad-spectrum antibiotics, but drinking the vampire’s blood or exposure to a high concentration of the bacteria (carried out of the depths by sulfurous exhalations) can transform a victim into a vampire after a bacterial coma or even death. invisibility: Telluric vampires can blind those around them by manipulating electrical charges in the human optic nerve, making it impossible to look directly at the vampire. This often triggers hallucinations or optical

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

strength:

The bacteria provide both reservoirs of bio-electrical power and a distributed sensorium for pressure, leverage, and exact manipulation of the vampire’s musculature. In game terms, this might be best modeled as vampiric strength with tests needed for feats (NBA, p. 137). summoning: Once present in the human system, the bacteria can spread to other warm-blooded organisms, especially rats, wolves, and dogs. (It burns itself and its host out in a few months; animals don’t have complex enough nervous systems to modulate the infection.) Vampires can amplify their bacteria’s standing wave to signal other bacterial colonies (in other vampires or in animals) to “rejoin the host.” tracking: Vampires don’t track the smell of the target’s blood, but the specific pattern of gait and movement unique to each individual. The interface of the target’s walk with the local telluric currents provides a kind of magnetic sonar ping to the vampire, giving distance and direction for pursuit. vampiric speed:The vampire can accelerate his movement using the local magnetic field. Again, the bacteria provide “capacitors” of bio-electrical energy ideal for short, powerful bursts.

Banes destructive resonance:

Every vampire’s electrical field cycles in harmony with the telluric currents present when it was created. Exposure to an electrical current that interferes with this cycle damages the vampire. Such a destructive resonance could be generated with an Earthquake Device (p. 266) or by a custom-built gadget. A volcanic eruption, underground nuclear detonation, EMP blast, or other extreme event could also generate a suitable current. lunar rocks: The moon’s alien telluric field is anathema to vampires — a bullet made from lunar rock is instantly lethal to a vampire, and one merely coated with moon dust deals damage that cannot be regenerated. meteoric iron: While no meteor generates its own alien telluric field, the Widmanstätten lines in many metallic meteors “short out” earthly fields.

Van Helsing uses Hosts impregnated with meteoric fragments (HO155) to scorch tellurically aligned humans such as Mina and to catastrophically “ground” Dracula’s native soil. A shotgun loaded with suitable meteoric iron fragments does double damage to vampires. Melting a meteorite into a bullet, however, destroys the Widmanstätten lines and makes it useless as a “circuit breaker.” It’s just barely possible that an Agent could grind down a large Widmanstätten-scored meteorite into bullets with improvised jeweler’s tools and metal-milling equipment (Mechanics test Difficulty 5, one day per bullet, double damage). Getting the right meteorite and the right tools is likely its own operation. stake to the heart: A stake to the heart grounds the vampire, paralyzing it. The stake must be made of a conductive material — wood won’t work. Iron stakes are ideal; magnetized iron stakes actively harm the vampire by “repolarizing” the bacteria in the wound (+1 damage, doubled). sunlight: Telluric currents move toward the equator when the sun rises.Vampires express chirality; the most common strain of the bacteria cannot draw on telluric currents that are moving south, and so vampires lose their powers by day (not just in direct sunlight). Presumably, there might be other vampires out there that work the opposite way, and lose their powers by night. Vampires reverse their polarity when they cross the equator — in South America, Dracula would lose his powers at night and grow stronger by day.

Blocks discontinuities: Vampires

are sensitive to changes in ground resistance, especially sudden changes. Different geological formations have different effects on the underlying telluric currents that animate vampires — a vampire moving from, say, a granite mountain range to the sedimentary basin of the flood plain below would have to pause at the border between the two regions as it adjusts to the difference in telluric intensity (the block test Difficulty drops by 1 per hour of adjustment). Any large body of water, especially running water, constitutes a block that cannot be adjusted to,

Moon Rocks Romania has two known samples of moon rocks — one from Apollo 11, containing 0.05 grams of lunar rock, that’s stored safely in the National History Museum in Bucharest, and a 1-gram chunk from Apollo 17 that went missing after the fall of the Ceausescus. Some accounts claim it was auctioned off, but it may have been stolen or fallen into the hands of the Conspiracy — or of Edom. Perhaps it’s already been cut and loaded into the tips of three 9mm bullets (for comparison purposes, a round of 9mm Parabellum weighs between 8 and 9.5 grams) stored safely in Ring (p. 172) against the day when even Edom’s patience is exhausted.

because the local currents and field strengths keep changing. The foundations of buildings might also create a sufficient telluric gradient to slow a vampire, which is the origin of the myth about vampires having to be invited to cross a threshold — the stone foundation of a castle contrasted with the mud of the fields around it would be a sufficient variation in telluric intensity to slow a vampire. In built-up areas, where the difference in telluric intensity between the street and an adjoining structure is minimal, vampires are under no restrictions as regards forced entry. garlic: Garlic, wild roses, and certain other plants absorb a sort of “telluric signature” from the soil in which they grow.A string of garlic bulbs has the same effect on a vampire as a discontinuity — but only if the telluric signature is radically different from the vampire’s natural frequency. Dracula might be repelled by English garlic (as its signature is very different to the intense telluric currents of his native Transylvania), while a vampiric Lucy Westenra would be unaffected by English garlic, but vulnerable to garlic grown elsewhere. Vanderpool’s special garlic (p. 283) is grown in insulated raised beds connected to chemical batteries, giving it a unique signature efficacious against all vampires.

opposition forces n the conspiracy: telluric Vampires / Third Forces: Abhartach strong em fields:

Vampires find strong electromagnetic fields unpleasant, or even painful if the field is strong enough. ultraviolet light: Strong ultraviolet light (direct tropical sunlight or powerful UV tactical or flood lights) penetrates the upper layers of the vampire’s skin, killing the bacteria in the bloodstream and causing immediate tissue damage. Direct

laser sight: −2 damage per successful Shooting roll with the beam.

drink blood: To

Dreads garlic:

Alternatively to the above, garlic may simply strengthen the human immune system against vampiric bacterial contamination. It cannot cure vampirism all by itself, but it gives the vampire the equivalent of a debilitating fever (vampires are Hurt by exposure, and all vampiric powers cost 1 additional point of Aberrance). Thus, the bacteria move the vampire away from garlic out of self-preservation. mirrors: As mirrors counter the vampire’s power of invisibility, telluric vampires instinctively loathe them.

replenish the red blood cells ravaged by the bacteria. sleep on native soil: Technically, a vampire doesn’t need to sleep on its native soil. However, foreign telluric currents are harder for the vampire to assimilate, so sleeping on foreign soil is exhausting. A bed of native soil works like a transformer, changing the currents to something closer to those the vampire is accustomed to. Over time, a vampire can acclimatize to a new region, and no longer needs to sleep on native soil in order to “recharge.”

third forces This section covers possible third forces: other vampires and monsters not connected to (or even opposed to) Dracula and his Conspiracy, and the possible vampire projects (or anti-vampire projects) of countries besides Great Britain.

Abhartach This figure from Irish myth was a blood-

drinking dwarf. In life, he was a magician and tyrant; when slain, he would rise from the grave the next night as neamh-mairbh, or walking dead.The only way to keep him dead was to slay him with a sword made of yew wood, then bury him upside down so his power dissipated into the earth. According to legends, Abhartach is buried under a standing stone in Errigal, County Derry, in the north of Ireland. If it’s just a myth, it may have inspired Bram Stoker as he worked on his brother’s notes, and played some part in shaping the legend of Dracula. If it’s true, then Abhartach may be another Un-Dead. Is he still slumbering in his grave, or did Edom capture him at some point, probably during the Troubles of the 1970s? Or does he commune with his ally in Transylvania through undetectable telluric emissions, and even now waits for the Conspiracy to mount a rescue mission? The Tour Guide (p. 135) might have a special interest or connection with Abhartach, or even be a risen Abhartach.

tropical sunlight: −1 damage per hour. Large tactical UV light: −1 damage per scene. UV floodlight: +0 damage at the beginning of the scene and burns off 1 further Health for every wound received by the vampire while in its beam.

Requirements

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

general abilities:

Aberrance 23, Hand-to-Hand 12, Health 15, Weapons 8 hit threshold: 5 alertness modifier: +2 stealth modifier: +1 Damage: +0 (bite) or −1 (fist) armor: −2 (leathery skin) free powers: Drain, Infravision, Regeneration (all damage from physical weapons regenerates at next sunset) other powers: Control Weather, Howl, Leap on Shoulders (works like Mook Shield, but applies to hand-to-hand and weapon attacks too; Abhartach can only make attacks against his Mook Shield while standing on a victim’s shoulders), Levitation, Magic, Strength, Vampiric Speed banes: beheading, stake to the heart, sunlight (prevents the use of all vampiric powers), only permanently dead if staked, beheaded, and buried upside down blocks: cannot enter a room without being invited, running water (except at slack or flood tide), yew wood dreads: some accounts of Abhartach have the heroes who defeat him seek out the druids for advice; other versions of the story replace the druid with a Christian bishop — Abhartach doubtless fears some sort of holy symbol, but which one? requirements: drink blood, must sleep in his native soil each night.

Alraune With the bottomless pit of atrocities

exposed by the fall of Berlin in 1945, few paid mind to the half-century-old records confiscated from the headquarters of the German military intelligence agency, the Abwehr. Documents from Abteilung IIIb, the small intelligence office of the WWIera German army, were mere historical curiosities. Little was considered lost when those files referencing “Projekt Mandragora” were almost entirely destroyed in a swiftly contained fire at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice in 1947. As such, almost no record exists of Abteilung IIIb agent “Alraune” or her activities in Europe from 1901 to 1910. Even fewer note her birth date: 3 November 1899.

After reports of Edom began to reach German intelligence (from Van Helsing, perhaps), Abteilung IIIb joined the occult arms race. In 1897, unscrupulous agent Frank Braun turned Germany’s efforts toward the burgeoning science of eugenics — and Projekt Mandragora. First referenced as “Alraune 5,” the child born in 1899 has no recorded parents and is listed as a ward of the Imperial Privy Councilor Jakob ten Brinken, an expert in artificial insemination. By 1901 — despite her age — Braun was assigned as her handler and kept a detailed account of her training. He describes Alraune as “an ideal closer to my imagination’s than Nietzsche’s, the pinnacle of a most savage world.” His writing documents her accelerated maturation and hybrid qualities, the results of ten Brinken’s generative experiments. Braun predicted a short lifespan — a disadvantage cast as a virtue, considering the liabilities presented by old agents. Otherwise, he paints Alraune as androgynously attractive, with perception bordering on prescience and an effortless talent for seduction. Braun moved Alraune into active assignment, where she quickly developed a reputation for casual lethality. In August 1905, appearing as only a 12-year-old, her charms manufactured a crash on the Berlin-Görlitz railway that killed dozens, including three British spies. By the end of 1909, with the appearance of a teenager, she seduced a crewman aboard France’s state-of-the-art airship Lebaudy République, resulting in its fatal crash. In 1910, she provoked the burning of a crowded barn in Ököritófülpös in Hungary — killing hundreds, including one Russian operative. Concerns at her body count grew in Berlin, despite the success of these missions. With war coming, Braun took assignment in the Americas, perhaps to distance himself from the being he knew too well. Alraune’s split with Abteilung IIIb came in 1911, when, unannounced and disguised, she re-entered ten Brinken’s Munich home. In two short months, she had reduced him to an utterly servile state, learned all there was to know of her origins, and emptied the laboratories of all documents and germinal plasm (possibly including vampire blood samples) that would allow its work to be duplicated.

Eight area doctors and fourteen members of the Projekt staff died accidentally, committed suicide, or went missing during that time. Abteilung IIIb terminated Projekt Mandragora soon after. Their notquite-human spy had vanished. Most of Braun’s descriptions are poetic in the extreme, creating uncertainty about whether Alraune is a genetic experiment, evolutionary leap, plantlike elemental, or combination of the three. Unquestionably, she’s aged unnaturally, and — if the Munich Glaspalast fire of 1931 is any proof — she still holds a grudge against her creators. Arrogant and manipulative, Alraune knows her biology — whether that of an übermensch or a human spliced with plant-like resilience — and uses her gifts to seize her place over humanity’s dregs. Throughout the last century, her mysterious efforts across Europe and North America might have included attempts to establish herself as a mother of a new race, attempts to meld her advanced genetics with vampiric blood, or the pursuit of beings that might also lay claim to her evolutionary pinnacle — including Dracula, Orlok, and, since 1917, her old handler Frank Braun, who supposedly became a vampire in New York during the war and disappeared. independent:

Since slipping her leash in 1911, Alraune’s been an independent operator. Gaining wealth and influence is trivial for her; avoiding the attention of the authorities (and Edom) while doing so is somewhat harder. She still seeks to understand her nature and origins, and might be funding research into genetic manipulation, delving into occult lore,

opposition forces n Third Forces: abhartach to the American Vampire

Powers and Statistics seed: Alraune can plant a mandragora seed in either fertile soil or, by spending 1 additional Aberrance point, in a creature she has seduced. Over the course of the following week, the seed rapidly grows. If planted in a living creature, the host is affected as if by anthrax (NBA, p. 81). Three weeks after onset, a juvenile mandragora with all of her mother’s memories emerges, killing the host. This creature has the same statistics as a homunculus (Double Tap, p.108). If Alraune is killed, her howl does +4 damage to all those in hearing range, and one of her mandragoras matures over the next two to eight years into a perfect copy of her. Alraune can refresh 4 Hand-toHand points once per combat; she has the equivalent of Martial Arts

(NBA, p.75). The Director should luridly describe Alraune’s literally inhuman flexibility as she refreshes. general abilities: Aberrance

10, Hand-to-Hand 6, Health 10, Shooting 9, Weapons 8 hit threshold: 5 alertness modifier: +2 (+4 in areas of dense vegetation) stealth modifier: +1 (+3 in areas of dense vegetation) damage modifier: +1 (stiletto) or −1 (fist, kick); +1 (9mm pistol); +0 bite armor: −1 (fibrous skin) free powers: Addictive Bite, Drain, Heightened Senses (smell blood), Hive Mind (with mandragora only), Regeneration (all damage regenerates after spending 6 hours in contact with fertile earth), Unfeeling other powers: Howl (3 points of Aberrance, aimed at one target only; +4 damage as extreme shock; NBA, p. 79), Lustful Dreams (does damage to Stability; NBA, p. 131), Mesmerism, Seduction (as Mesmerism; once per scene), Seed, Summoning (vines), Stealth, Tunneling, Vampiric Speed banes: fire (additional +1 damage), defoliant compulsions: reproduce requirements: must sleep in fertile soil once per week dossier reference:

CU121, HO159

The: American Vampire James Brown name

possible role: America’s

vampire, dangerous source of information on vampires description: mid-20s, short, lean build, pale brown skin, dark brown hair, sailors’ tattoos all over arms (identifiable with 3-point spend of Art History or Human Terrain as pre–Civil War designs). The first account of the American Vampire comes from Boston in 1866. James Brown was discovered in the hold of the whaler Atlantic, drinking the blood of one of his fellow sailors while a second sailor was already dead and bloodless. Convicted of murder and sentenced to hang, his sentence was commuted by President Andrew Johnson, who thought (or was advised

or conducting her own bizarre and murderous experiments. Maybe she’s the secret power behind the Psychic (p. 96), the Anthropologist (p. 90), or the Petroleum Executive (p. 127). She might even aid the Agents for a while if it suits her own schemes, before destroying all evidence of her involvement in another all-consuming fire. edom: Edom tracked Alraune down in the ruins of the Reich as part of Operation Surgeon; they stole her files and burned the evidence in Nuremberg. Is she immured in a Sealed Coffin (p. 278), encased in glass on HMS Proserpine (p. 169), or buried in a bed of fertilizer in an Edom research facility like Dun Dreach-Fhola (p. 235)? Or did she come to some arrangement with “D,” put on the Edom books as a special asset? And if so, what have they promised her in return for her cooperation? conspiracy: Like her “cousin,” Orlok, Alraune may have fallen under Dracula’s influence. If she’s fundamentally still human, then she might have become a Bride, or be a midlevel node running some classy branch of the Conspiracy like Leutner Fabrichen (p. 146) or Klopstock & Billreuth (p. 145). If she’s a monster, then maybe she’s taken root in the fertile volcanic soils around Castle Dracula … all the better to bring forth monsters.

by Secretary of War Edwin Stanton) that a vampire could be used as an asset in the protection and furthering of American agendas. A mixed-race PortugueseAfrican born in British Guiana, Brown wasn’t the most enthusiastic of recruits. Over the next 25 years, various administrations attempted to turn Brown into an asset and failed, until the records (and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle) reported his transfer to the US Government Insane Asylum in Washington, DC, on 3 November 1892, five days before the presidential election. Questions remain about just how it happened, but, from the McKinley administration on, America had a vampire as an asset. Some believe the American Vampire is actually President Benjamin Harrison’s wife; Harrison made a deal with Brown to save her from dying of tuberculosis. History says she died from the disease two weeks before the election, but it’s possible Harrison gave her Brown’s blood before that, turning her into a vampire. Another possible candidate is Edwin Brown (no relation) of Exeter, Rhode Island, who drank powdered vampire hearts to save his life during another tuberculosis outbreak that same year. Other rumors say this is all just a legend planted in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1892 to cover for the true American Vampire, Quincey Morris, who was infected and turned in South America (HO140) before joining the Edom operation. Over the years the American Vampire covertly assisted in various conflicts,

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook first under the Secret Service, then the OSS, then the CIA. The Former Gehlen Org (p. 82) worked a few operations for the CIA that included the American Vampire; never told who or what the asset was, he still saw some strange things. Everything went well (as far as can be known) until 1977. The CIA sent the American Vampire to secure Pacepa’s defection, and it went insane somewhere in Romania, possibly during the Vrancea earthquake (p. 11). The cause and indeed most details remain unknown; the CIA (and possibly Edom) contained it and sent the vampire back to America — but not before it piled up an impressive body count. Edom may know the details, as might other sources for the 1977 mole hunt and its aftermath, such as the Retired MI6 Asset Runner (p. 98). Once the American Vampire was back in the US, the Carter administration removed the asset from CIA control and turned it over to the Defense Department. The new plan was biotechnological warfare: push the R&D on vampire blood and its possible military applications. Once again, rumors abound concerning this change in focus. There were reports that the asset was compromised by an outside force or was a vegetable after the attack, that the reward-risk model made the R&D plan more viable with an increased media presence in the world, and one report claimed that one of the bodies piled up in the Romania incident was a relative of CIA Director Turner, or of an American senator, or even of President Carter. Bill Casey repeatedly tried to get Reagan to reassign the asset to the CIA, until his sudden stroke in 1987. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld kept the American Vampire in-house during Iraq and the War on Terror rather than let Cheney or “those defeatist simps at Langley” expose an irreplaceable asset. The American Vampire is housed in a secure facility at Fort Detrick, Maryland, safe from bureaucratic or journalistic interference until he’s needed again. cia: The last paragraph is junk data promulgated to let America’s enemies believe the vampire is off the board. The American Vampire is a core part of the Camp Midnight (p. 252) and Nox

Therapeutics (p. 162) program, which operates under a code-named secret office (Find Forever) within the multijurisdictional National Interagency Confederation for Biological Research (NICBR). The CIA has to compete with NICBR for the asset’s time, but the American Vampire operates overseas in just exactly the way Edom dreams Dracula some day will for Britain. (Perhaps complete with the occasional horrendous massacre somewhere away from the news.) This success story is why Edom keeps trying so often; it’s not just mulish institutional stubbornness or public-school hubris. One must make allowances for the differences between a 19th-century common sailor and a 15th-century warlord, alchemist, and mass murderer, after all. edom: The American Vampire was driven insane in an encounter with Dracula during the mole hunt. In the aftermath, Edom used brainwashing techniques (records of these sessions may remain in Carfax (p. 185), Ring (p. 172), or HMS Proserpine (p. 169)) to turn the vampire into a double agent, with the aim of hijacking America’s immense biowarfare research budget for Edom’s ends. He’s still running that op now, helping create a Seward Serum (p. 51) factory using America’s resources and letting them deal with the fallout if something should happen to go wrong. If the American Vampire is working for Edom, then one of the Dukes might travel to Nox Therapeutics (p. 162), or its records might show up in the servers in Seward’s Asylum (p. 195), or Prince’s programming “fist” might show up (2-point spend of Digital Intrusion to recognize) in its security system. conspiracy: As Asset, except the encounter with Dracula didn’t just drive Brown insane, it also put him under the Count’s control. The American Vampire’s blood, and all the Serum V made or designed from it in all those high-clearance paramilitary guards and officers and CIA agents, is tainted with Dracula’s. With a snap of his talons, Dracula can awaken and command a midnight army inside America’s defense and intelligence establishment. alternate names: Caroline Harrison, Edwin Brown, Quincey Morris

alternate descriptions:

late

50s, heavyset woman, pale skin, 19th-century sensibilities and style mixed with modern day fashions early 20s, intense predatory eyes, dark hair, wiry build, black nondescript clothing late 30s, rangy, gray eyes, long hair neatly styled defining quirks: as still as the dead wears sunglasses at night any conversation is direct and to the point — pleasantry isn’t in its dictionary general abilities: Aberrance

19, Hand-to-Hand 15, Health 15, Shooting 16, Weapons 15 hit threshold: 6 alertness modifier: +3 stealth modifier: +3 damage modifier: +1 (bite; extended canines), or +0 (fist, kick) armor: −1 (tough skin) free powers: Drain, Infravision, Regeneration (all damage from physical weapons regenerates at the next sunset; can regrow limbs or eyes in a year), Unfeeling other powers: Animal Senses, Addictive Bite, Clairvoyance (those it has bitten), Darkvision, Dominance, Infection (those who drink vampire blood only), Mesmerism (eye contact or voice), Mimic Form, Send to Sleep, Spider Climb, Strength, Turn to Creature (bat, wolf; only at sunset or midnight), Turn to Mist, Turn to Monstrous Form, Vampiric Speed banes: beheading, stake to the heart, sunlight (prevents use of all vampiric powers) blocks: cannot enter a room without being invited, crucifixes and holy objects, running water, cannot move while staked in its coffin compulsions: drink blood dreads: crucifixes and holy objects, garlic, mirrors requirements: drink blood, must sleep in native soil each night dossier reference:

HO68

opposition forces n third forces: the american vampire to elizabeth báthory

Elizabeth Báthory Countess Elizabeth Báthory was born on 7

edom:

If Edom had access to, or control of, a vampire as powerful as Báthory, it wouldn’t keep trying to corral Dracula. conspiracy: If Dracula himself turned Elizabeth into a vampire, then she may have become a Bride in 1578, when her husband was appointed commander of Hungary’s armies, or during the Long War after 1593, when she was charged with the defense of her strategically

general abilities:

Aberrance 35, Hand-to-Hand 21, Health 21, Weapons 6 hit threshold: 6 alertness modifier: +2 stealth modifier: +1 damage modifier: +1 (dagger) or +1 (bite; extended canines) or +0 (fist, kick) armor: Blood Coat (all physical attacks do only two-thirds damage (round down), but all hits to her flesh produce copious blood) free powers: Blood Will Tell, Drain, Infravision, Unfeeling other powers: Addictive Bite, Cloak of Darkness, Control Weather, Mesmerism (eye contact or voice), Mimicry, Spider Climb, Strength, Turn to Creature (cat, wolf; only at sunset or midnight), Turn to Mist, Vampiric Speed banes: beheading, crucifixes and holy objects (+0 damage; +1 on face), stake to the heart, sunlight (prevents use of all vampiric powers) blocks: cannot enter a room without being invited, crucifixes and holy objects, running water, wild roses, cannot move while staked in her coffin compulsions: obey sire, look at herself in the mirror dreads: crucifixes and holy objects, garlic requirements: drink blood, must sleep in her native soil each night

Independent Báthory The Blood Countess is an independent vampire. At some point, either during her Satanic blood rituals or after her imprisonment, she discovered a spell (perhaps in Le Dragon Noir, p. 273) or some other method to turn herself into one of the Un-Dead. With the help of her surviving coven (including Ujvary, whose magical double was beheaded in his stead), she faked her own death and escaped Cachtice Castle in a cloud of mist.

August 1560 and died — if you trust the history books — on 16 August 1614. Her husband was Ferenc Nádasdy, the “Black Knight of Hungary,” reknowned for both his cruelty and his military prowess. Their marriage was a complicated one — she was highly educated, he was an almost-illiterate brute. She had at least one child by another man; he fed one of her lovers to his dogs when he discovered her infidelity. After Nádasdy’s death in 1604 from a mysterious illness, the conveniently widowed and independently wealthy Countess Báthory was free to do as she wished. According to the testimony of all but one of her servants and any other witnesses, between the late 1590s and 1610, Countess Báthory tortured and murdered over six hundred serving girls, young children from the town of Cachtice, and noblewomen sent to learn etiquette at her school. The prosecuting court was only able to prove a fraction of those murders, but it was enough to convict her, confiscate her lands, and condemn her to life imprisonment. In 1611, three of her servants were executed for witchcraft and murder, including her majordomo, János Ujvary (p. 135). The court ordered the countess walled up inside Cachtice Castle (p. 245). Her sentence allowed her the time to research and study occult methods for retaining her life after death — or to prepare an escape plan, if she was already a vampire. Countess Báthory’s reputation as a serial killer and occultist comes out of her practice of bathing in the blood of virgins — or at least young women. (Virgins in an era where rape was common were not always available.) The ritual required her to first torture a victim, then drain their blood into a bath. She would then bathe in this blood as a way to keep her youth, and recount these actions within her journal.

important estates. Alternatively, perhaps Dracula was a guest at her Satanic rituals, and she became a vampire after her husband’s death. In this setup, she still haunts Cachtice Castle — Dracula might hole up here (instead of the expected Romania) when he pulls a “Strategic Retreat” (p. 20).

After this, she quietly worked behind the scenes, developing more allies, creating her very own faction. She currently nestles in Bratislava behind a financial shieldwall, running a midsized human trafficking ring disguised as a “domestic servant employment and immigration agency.” In this role, she may employ a Slovakian or Romanian mafia clan (p. 157), the Human Trafficker (p. 118), or even the Anthropologist (p. 90) if Lilith isn’t in the picture. A self-made Báthory can still be part of Dracula’s Conspiracy, but she works better as an independent threat that the Agents must destroy. Alternatively, she’s an independent threat that Edom must destroy, and the Agents have the opportunity to play the Blood Countess against both Edom and the Conspiracy — assuming they have the stomach to ally with a serial-killing monster. Use the same stats as above for Báthory, with the following changes: other powers: Add

Magic and Regeneration. To regenerate, Báthory must bathe in blood — she keeps several fresh vats hidden around her castle like Dracula hides coffins. After bathing, she not only recovers all Health, but gains +6 Aberrance, +6 Health, +1 to damage, and all hits do only one-third damage (round down) until the next sunrise. compulsions: Instead of obey sire, she’s compelled to torture and maim her victims, playing with them and prolonging their agony as long as possible. dossier reference:

CU127, CU184

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

Caucasus Mountains. The peaks of Brebeneskul in Ukraine and Georgia’s Mount Kazbek reportedly shelter the most significant populations — the latter being the site of the Betlemi cave, which holds treasures of religious significance and offerings to placate the creatures below. Dracula himself may have employed such Carpathian cerneati,either in small numbers to defend his home or as mercenaries that helped win his military infamy. A century of radiological research might have revealed methods of attracting cerneati to any number of powers jealously wishing to make Dracula’s servants their own. The potential of soldiers not just immune to dangerous radioactivity, but who actively bask in it, holds the potential for any number of ruthless military plots involving widespread contamination. Some rogue government, a radical group like Al-Qaeda in Rûm (p. 148), or even Dracula himself might wish to pave the way for cerneati hordes upon the surface, with incidents like the Chernobyl disaster being but a preliminary experiment in making regions better suited to their surface operations. edom:

Cerneati Beneath the shelter of mountains, the

cerneati (“black things”) are slaves to a fire few feel, a horde faded and purposefully expunged from human memory. These ogreish throwbacks follow veins of telluric energy to swarm at nodes of natural radiation. The cold, bright surface holds little appeal for them, and only when smeared in irradiated dust do they dare climb forth. Witnessed plainly, a cerneata is a Neanderthal-like sub-giant, its broad, two-meter-plus frame encrusted with calluses and singed tumors. They may be descended from whichever evolutionary offshoot left the skeletons on Godeanu (p. 294). Quicker to anger than to fear, they display primitive intelligence and obsessively indulge their species’ addiction to the deep radiations of the earth.

Where vampires and their ilk prove endlessly subtle, cerneati are not. This makes them excellent servants and muscle for those able to tempt forth the “corpse giants” or the “mountain’s black host,” as Balkan folk accounts refer to them. Throughout the 20th century, royal treasuries and museums across Eastern Europe have quietly buried historic relics revealed to be intensely radioactive — including pieces of the Polish crown jewels and the Russian Fabergé “Cherub with Chariot” egg. Contacts like the Medievalist (p. 122) and Seismologist (p. 100) might theorize these once served as offerings or payments to coax forth cerneata thugs and mercenaries. Historically, cerneati cluster deep underground, Europe’s densest populations drowsing beneath the Carpathian and

Bringing a host of giant radioactive brutes out of Romania isn’t really an option for Edom, although there might be a cerneata in the labs at the biological weapons research facility at Porton Down. Alternatively, maybe the Seward Serum slowly turns its users into cerneati, as it uses radioactive elements to align the user’s cells with telluric currents. If that’s the case, then Edom might have had to deal with the legacy of a century of serum use — maybe that’s the secret behind Cross Angel Cold Storage (p. 189) or Slains Castle (p. 176). conspiracy: Cerneati make excellent guardians for Dracula’s Mill (p. 297) — if you want to make that capstone even more of a deathtrap, then make it radioactive too. Alternatively, maybe those killed by the Radu weapon (p. 276) claw their way out of their graves as cerneati after three nights. Most cerneati perish again soon after rising; only the unlucky few stumble into radioactive caves under granite mountains or find some other source of radiation to sustain themselves.

opposition forces n third Forces: Cerneati to Jenglot Powers and Statistics irradiated dust:

Cerneati forced to work away from irradiated areas often coat themselves in a film of radioactive dust. This satisfies their compulsion to remain near sources of radiation, but also threatens their foes with radiation poisoning (treat as exposure to anthrax; NBA, p. 81; Difficulty of Health test equals the number of rounds spent at Point-Blank to a cerneata). A cerneata submerged in water (or similarly doused) loses this ability.

general abilities: Aberrance

10, Hand-to-Hand 12, Health 13 hit threshold: 3 (slow) alertness modifier: +2 (+6 to detected sources of radiation and irradiated creatures) stealth modifier: −2 (large and clumsy) damage modifier: +2 (fist), +0 (bite or two-handed hurled object), −1 (hurled object) armor: −4 (calloused skin); further −2 vs. melee weapons, firearms and projectiles do half damage after armor (Rubbery; NBA, p. 126) free powers: Infravision, Irradiated Dust, Regeneration (all damage refreshed next scene if exposed to radiation) other powers: Strength (test needed for feats), Tunneling blocks: bright light compulsions: bask in radiation, guard site, obey master dossier reference:

CU98, HO150

Jenglot The passage from Surabaya to Amsterdam

wasn’t gentle for Soraya, traveling from Java to the Netherlands as a girl.Yet even when her parents passed during the journey, she didn’t fear. She knew her grandmother was close and always watching. And every evening, Grandmother would crawl from the pouch hanging around Soraya’s neck and give her a deep kiss goodnight. It barely even hurt anymore. Agents are most likely to encounter Soraya in the Netherlands, perhaps in the vicinity of Haarlem and the Vanderpool Glass-House (p. 244). Now

a grandmotherly woman herself, Soraya moves and talks like a bundle of dry twigs and survives almost exclusively on a diet of duck eggs. She hardly remembers her life in the Dutch East Indies, having lived in the Netherlands for the majority of her life. She keeps to herself and never married. Why would she? Her life-long guardian, the jenglot “Mama Emas,” is all she needs. A traditional jenglot, Mama Emas looks like a grotesque doll, molded from a scabby mixture of clay, blood, and human detritus. She measures only a few inches tall, and boasts a shock of wild hair and pronounced fangs. Like all jenglots, Mama Emas drinks blood — preferably from her descendants. In return, she proves highly protective of her family and relentlessly vengeful toward those who would do them harm. Reciprocally, Soraya (or others aware of a jenglot’s nature) goes out of her way to protect Mama Emas, going so far as to nurse her shriveled “ancestor” from her own open veins. Although she can’t be sure, Soraya believes Mama Emas’ withered form holds the essence of a distant relation, an ancient Javanese spiritualist who discovered the path to immortality. Soraya would never presume to ask, but as she ages she quietly hopes Grandmother will reward a lifetime of

caretaking by sharing her secret. Mama Emas might come to the Agents’ attention after some foe, family, or former employer slights Soraya and soon suffers a series of attacks. Alternatively, Soraya’s time might have come, leaving Mama Emas without the protection of her family. This leads the jenglot to seek a new family among Haarlem’s Indo-Dutch population — likely with a number of terrifying failed introductions. In any case, such might lead to wave of vampire-similar reports exactly where the Agents are seeking banes against such creatures. Legacies like Geerd Hoorn (p. 45) or Thad Morris (p. 46) might also be aware of jenglots. Such a character could seek Agents’ assistance in hunting such an elusive creature, or might send Agents after one to test their chances against a true vampire. Alternatively, any of the bettertraveled families involved in the events of 1894 might have unwittingly picked up a jenglot stowaway, such as naval officer Peter Hawkins (p. 39), Lucy Westenra’s father (p. 34; obtained either through travel or business), or nearly anyone with membership to the Korea Club (p. 192). Such a creature could have subtly fed on its owner and his relations for decades, been awakened by Dracula’s own infectious

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook blood, or been otherwise accepted as “part of the family.” There’s also no reason the jenglot “tradition” couldn’t have been updated to Victorian standards, giving rise to a less grotesque but equally possessive porcelain doll-jenglot — one that watches for a hidden master or lies in wait for the overly curious amid dusty antiques. The Sculptor (p. 100) trades in statuettes and relics; she might be able to sell a jenglot under the counter. Sotheby’s Extraordinary Objects Department (p. 161) might have — or really, really want to find — a buyer for one. The spell to conjure a jenglot spirit into (or out of) a doll or poppet could appear in Le Dragon Noir (p. 273). edom:

Edom discovered the existence of jenglots in the 1960s (if you’re using the traditional clay-and-blood model) or the 19th century (if you want to run with the creepy porcelain doll approach). The little monsters make excellent security systems, so Dukes and other key Edom staff members are obliged to cultivate a relationship with a jenglot “for their own protection.” The jenglots are produced at an Edom research facility (probably HMS Proserpine, p. 169), and are supposed to be destroyed after the owner dies or retires from Edom. However, some survived and are now attached to the original owner’s family (maybe “Cushing,” p. 92, qualified for one).The family members know nothing about their relative’s work for Edom, and so aren’t aware they’re under the protection of a blood-drinking monster. conspiracy: According to some variations of the jenglot myth, meditating in the right cave and breathing in the right telluric vapors turns you into one of these shriveled monsters. Perhaps the Indonesian caves contain the same mysterious radiation or bacteria that give Dracula his powers,in which case jenglots might also appear in Romania or Iceland. Again, the Conspiracy might use jenglots as bodyguards for key figures (any humans above Level 4 on the Conspyramid), but Dracula might also be able to make jenglots that prey on a particular family instead of protecting them. A Harker jenglot, for example, might seek out and kill anyone related to Jonathan Harker, putting relevant Legacies (p. 40) at risk.

general abilities: Aberrance

8, Hand-to-Hand 6, Health 5 hit threshold: 6 (small and surprisingly spry) alertness modifier: +2 stealth modifier: +4 (small) damage modifier: −1 bite armor: −2 (mummified skin or porcelain) free powers: Addictive Bite (family only), Anaesthetic Bite (victims believe it was a rat or other animal bite), Darkvision, Drain (refreshes all damage), Heightened Senses (smell blood), Spider Climb other powers: Curse (DT, p. 106), Strength (test for feats of strength), Tunneling, Vampiric Speed compulsions: covet/protect family dreads: being observed moving by strangers (acts only if its life is threatened)

requirements:

drink family member’s blood

dossier reference:

Jin-Gui After the 1894

CU87

operation, Dracula (or one of his Brides or spawn, if Dracula himself was temporarily dead or otherwise inconvenienced in your timeframe) temporarily took refuge in China, far from the buffeting politics of Europe. There he experimented either with ancient Daoist sorceries or with the telluric bacteria exposed by the Haiyuan earthquake of 1920, which produce subtly different effects from the telluric strains of Europe, to produce his “Golden Vampires.” Rather than being turned immediately after death, jin-gui are reanimated from preserved corpses, either by binding the original po (“lower

opposition forces n Third Forces: Jenglot to Lilith

general abilities: Aberrance

18, Hand-To-Hand 12, Health 8, Weapons 12 hit threshold: 6 (unnatural speed) alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +3 damage modifier: +0 (knifelike fingernails) or by weapon armor: −2 (mummified skin); all weapons do half damage, firearms do maximum 1 point damage; Called Shots only effective at liver (Corpse; NBA, p. 126) free powers: Drain, Illusion, Levitation, Necromancy (can reanimate corpses as zombies through infection with bacteria / qi control) other powers: Apportation (dissolves into mist), Control Earthquakes, Magic (costs 3 Aberrance per use, can perform range of Daoist sorcerous effects such as weather control, spirit summoning, bilocation; requires time and ritual, or similar culturally appropriate means of chanelling telluric powers), Send Dreams (does damage to Stability; NBA, p. 131), Spider Climb, Strength, Turn to Mist banes: exorcism (by Daoist or Buddhist priest), impalement, beheading

blocks:

direct sunlight (reveals true form, prevents use of any powers), buildings blessed by feng shui master (possibly only if cleansed by traditional rituals that remove telluric bacteria) compulsions: counting dropped coins (brain damage in resurrection process creates obsessivecompulsive tendencies) dreads: octagonal mirrors (reveals true form; Difficulty 8 Aberrance test to avoid fleeing in terror) requirements: sleep in native soil each night dossier reference:

CU191

Lilith I was wakened by something leaping upon me, and licking my face with the rough tongue of a feline animal. “It is the white leopardess!” I thought.“She is come to suck my blood! — and why should she not have it? — it would cost me more to defend than to yield it!” — George Macdonald, Lilith (1895) It’s hard to say exactly when the Hebrew goddess-monster Lilith becomes associated with vampirism. Her precursor, the lilîtu of Babylonian lore, drank the life from children; the ardat-lilî drained various fluids in pursuit of their proto-succubistic habits.TheVulgate translation (ca. 390 CE) of her name as “Lamia” identified her with the sometimes-vampiric monster of Greek myth. Rabbinic commentary associated her with the “horse-leech” with two daughters in Proverbs (30:15). In a medieval Jewish tale of Lilith and King Solomon, she has no reflection in the mirror. But an explicit connection between Lilith and blood drinking doesn’t appear until the 17th century, in Jewish magical parchments in the Netherlands. More details of Lilith and her agenda might appear in John Dee’s Journal (p. 270) or even in Le Dragon Noir (p. 273) if she is of truly Biblical antiquity. independent:

soul”) to claim the body or by an extreme infusion of the Haiyuan bacteria. In their natural form, jin-gui appear as emaciated corpses of mostly Asian origin, with a peculiar golden glow and extended and curved fingernails. They retain fragmented memories of their original lives; the oldest, created from a stolen Tarim mummy, is a steppe warlord of the 5th century BCE. By channeling their qi/telluric energy, they can give themselves the appearance of life, and can perform feats of “sorcery” that excel even Dracula’s regular brood. The process makes them power hungry and imperious; many of those spawned in the 1920s were destroyed over the next few decades in peasant revolts or by armed militias. In Europe, a jin-gui may be an exotic “level boss” for Dracula or the tool of a Hong Kong-based Edom cell (p. 229). Or it may be the occult enforcer for a Chinese government vampire project (p. 75).

It is impossible for Lilith herself to be innocent, considering the bloody swath she has left in her wake through her history. But in terms of Dracula and his empire, she is a bystander to the Count’s attempted rise to power. She has maintained her distance and instead built her own

cult of supporters throughout Europe, focused on recruiting women in need of a new purpose from difficult conditions and delicate positions. She instills a cult of personality in her followers across the globe, many of whom identify as lilin in chatroom cults or secret corridors of power. A modicum of investigation (a 1-point Human Terrain spend after a few days online) identifies the Anthropologist (p. 90) as a likely priestess of Lilith. Lilith is a vampire who has embraced Renfields as close associates and acculturated to the technological age well. Sacrifices were necessary of course, but by comparison to other vampires, Lilith’s recent rise to prominence has been fairly bloodless. With a reliable chronicle of her actions, Traffic Analysis shows that she has shifted people out of the way of the danger posed by vampire conflicts in the Middle East as well as in Eastern Europe, and secured them under her own protection. Meeting Lilith, or talking with those who have met her, allows a 2-point Vampirology spend and the intuition that Lilith is not, in fact, the ancient goddess, but a vampire closely tied to Dracula himself. If Dracula isVladTepes, that spend also identifies her as either an unrecorded infant daughter of Vlad by his second wife Ilona Szilágy, born at the moment of his vampirization, or his first wife, who committed suicide and rose from the dead when Vlad became a vampire.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook That said, Lilith herself seems fascinated with her namesake legend. She desires and attempts to acquire any and all ancient artifacts that describe her, in an effort to perpetuate her PR campaign. She currently searches for the Zohar of Moses de León (p. 285) to uncover the secrets of a lost ancient vampire who also called herself Lilith, whose remains might be the key to her ascension even higher in power and strength. She spreads the rumor that she is the inheritor of the ancient Goddess of Night herself and seeks to further consume the ancient power of the Biblical-age goddess. ally: In the war against Dracula, few have such a stake in seeing the monster fall as Lilith. Lilith has based the growth of her entire network around becoming a viable alternative when Dracula inevitably falls. Some solid Negotiation could bring Lilith to the Agents’ side, at least for as long as Dracula is in control and they present a credible threat to his power. Once the Agents have dealt with her cult, Tradecraft indicates she likely has a network buried not only in various organizations the world over, but within the CIA, Edom, and the Conspiracy. Her people are as dedicated as Dracula’s and would die as swiftly for their mistress, providing the Agents with more possible Network contacts to tap into as they battle Dracula. She is a name to conjure with to turn other vampires away from Dracula, and provides a perfect Intimidation tactic for the Agents toward anyone in the Conspiracy that knows her name. And they all have come to know her name. If you’ve played, or plan to play, The Zalozhniy Quartet, Lilith may be the true identity of the enigmatic Katun (ZQ, p. 123). conspiracy: There is no bond stronger than family, and the bonds between Lilith and Dracula have never been stronger. As Lilith’s virtual network of lilin spreads itself across the globe, Dracula himself approached Lilith after the earthquake in 2011 and quietly quashed her upstart conflict with him before it could flourish.While vampires and agents across the globe believe Lilith still vies for Dracula’s power, she is in fact working with her father/husband/ partner in all this. For Dracula learned

the one lesson passed down from the ancient stories of the legendary Lilith: to offer a woman a place at his side, rather than as his subordinate. Lilith now operates as a hidden double agent, the face of his vampiric enemy until it is too late. She has secret control over many seeming anti-Dracula assets in the field — such as the Journalist (p. 120), BND Deep-Cover Agent (p. 105), the Dissident (p. 112), and any others as needed. For appearances’ sake she stays away from Romania and instead splits her time between Germany and excavations of ancient digs in the Middle East.

dossier reference:

HO45,

HO114, CU184

general abilities: Aberrance

50, Hand-to-Hand 33, Health 33 hit threshold: 7 alertness modifier: +3 stealth modifier: +3 damage modifier: +1 (talons), +1 (bite; extended canines) armor: −1 (tough skin); Unfeeling free powers: Darkvision, Drain (by bite or sexual contact), Regeneration (half of all damage from physical weapons regenerates immediately; the rest regenerates at the next moonrise), Wings (grow or conceal at will) other powers: Addictive Bite, Body Jumping (into any woman who hates her father or husband), Cloak of Darkness, Control Weather, Dominance, Infection (by blood or sexual contact), Magic, Mesmerism, Stifling Air, Summoning (dogs, mice, monsters, owls, rats), Turn to Creature (screech owl, leopard, raven, cat), Turn to Mist, Vampiric Speed, Venom banes: beheading; only permanently dead if staked and beheaded, mouth filled with garlic, body burned and ashes cast into running water blocks: angelic talisman, bowl buried under threshold, cannot directly attack Dracula, stake through heart (prevents all movement), cannot enter a room without being invited, crucifixes and holy objects, running water (except at slack or flood tide) compulsions: kill infants, never obey a male order dreads: crucifixes and holy objects, garlic requirements: drink blood

Orlok Graf (“Count”) Orlok is a nosferatu, a

mysteriously arcane word used by Stoker, perhaps based on some inside knowledge of his brother’s reports from the Balkan front. The word appeared previously in an 1885 article on “Transylvanian Superstitions” by Emily Gerard (which Stoker read) and in an 1865 travel journal by one Wilhelm Schmidt. It is unknown in Romanian, and an assumed Greek derivation (nosephoros, “plague carrier”) is specious. Both Gerard and Schmidt apparently heard it while in Sibiu (p. 221), implying that it may originate as a word of power used in the Scholomance (p. 219) for vampires. Little is known about Orlok’s true origins, swamped as they are by the poetry and expressionism of F. W. Murnau’s 1921 film Nosferatu. Orlok

was created by the German vampire program (p. 75), using samples and knowledge gathered by Van Helsing or other assets during Edom’s 1894 operation. Murnau attempted to disguise his piracy of Dracula by combining Stoker’s novel with secrets heard from hungry, angry German vampire scientists during the cash-starved early Weimar years. The film’s designer, Albin Grau, an alchemist and ritual magician, learned of the nosferatu in his own post–Golden Dawn magical circle, the Fraternitas Saturnii. He created or summoned Orlok,

opposition forces n Third Forces: Lilith to Queen Tera

Orlok knows where some very important bodies are buried in Germany — possibly literally! A German NPC likely cannot oppose the nosferatu when the chips are down. independent:

Orlok as Dracula’s jealous, spiteful rival could add an interesting dimension to the campaign; any NPC listed as part of the Conspiracy might be part of Orlok’s own web of evil. (Just change out “Romania” for “Slovakia” or even “Germany” in the character descriptions, mostly.) Orlok might also be the main assassin (or occult führer) of a surviving Nazi vampire program in Argentina (p. 225; see They Saved Hitler’s Blood! on pp. 320–325 for more). asset: Orlok as an Edom asset risks making Edom’s pursuit and recruitment of Dracula pointless unless Dracula created or sired Orlok so that Dracula potentially controls the nosferatu, or the death of Dracula means the end of Orlok as an asset. Even then, it risks diminishing focus in the game. Better to have an Orlok built or recruited by the Germans now run by the BND, or by the FSB if the Soviets captured the German vampire program along with the Ahnenerbe files.

conspiracy:

If Orlok was created with Dracula’s blood — whether by Dracula himself or by the Germans — Dracula can control him. Orlok himself may not know this, but Dracula does. If Orlok is such a sleeper asset, use one of the versions above as the cover story, and reveal Dracula’s power once the Agents depend on Orlok for something. If Orlok is an overt part of the Conspyramid, he’s probably a fairly high-level (5, or possibly 4) node. Thematically, Orlok’s underlings should be foul contaminants of society: human traffickers, drug lords, corrupt charities, whited sepulcher research hospitals, that kind of thing.

Hit Threshold), Turn to Mist (spectral form), Vampiric Speed banes: direct sunlight (instantly Hurt, does damage as fire (+2) each round), only while feeding on a woman pure of heart blocks: direct sunlight compulsions: pursue sexually attractive target dreads: direct sunlight requirements: drink blood, sleep in unconsecrated grave earth “from the Fields of Death” dossier reference:

HO159

Queen Tera

Powers and Statistics The powers in italics apply in a damned or supernatural vampire paradigm, or in a campaign in which Dracula (rather than German mad science) created Orlok. These powers reflect Orlok’s abilities and weaknesses as depicted in Murnau’s film. If the contradictions with Stoker bother you, replace them with the standard suite of the 1894 Vampire (p. 53) or Dracula himself (p. 56). general abilities: Aberrance

20, Hand-to-Hand 20, Health 13 hit threshold: 6 (cunning and superhuman reflexes) alertness modifier: +2 stealth modifier: +1 damage modifier: +2 (talons and fangs) armor: −2 (leathery hide); all weapons do half damage (rounded down) after armor; car crashes and falls do 1 point of damage (reduced blood flow) free powers: Darkvision, Drain, Regeneration (full Health refresh each day), Tracking by Smell (further +2 to Difficulty to evade), Unfeeling other powers: Cannot Drown, Extra Attacks (first extra attack is free, further attacks in a round cost 2 Aberrance or Hand-toHand points each), Levitation, Magic (inscribes mind-controlling sigils onto documents), Mesmerism (also works on horses), Plague, Spider Climb, Strength, Summoning (rats), Telekinesis, Turn Invisible (afterimage or shadow still visible, +3 to Stealth Modifier,

Britain’s attempts to recruit a deathless agent didn’t necessarily begin with transcontinental pursuit of an obscure dead royal, especially not when obscure dead royals regularly visited Victorian London. Bored explorers, wealthy collectors, institutions like the British Museum and the Egyptian Exploration Fund, and papers like the Daily Telegraph regularly indulged Londoners’ Egyptomania, inundating the city with tales of desert adventure and glittering grave goods. Not all of the city’s ancient guests appreciated the attention, though. Amid the pseudo-scholarly haze of corpse unwrappings and medicinal mummia, one investigation scrutinized the quietly obtained body and effects of an 11th-dynasty Egyptian queen named (or code-named) Tera. Professor Abel Trelawny believed that relics associated with Queen Tera’s body held valuable,

and designed the film as a bribe or exorcism or complex ward. The contract Orlok shows the “Hawkins” stand-in Knock in the film is written in Enochian — Murnau learned of the nosferatu from John Dee’s Journal (p. 270). The Barons von Thurn und Taxis, holders of the Hapsburg postal monopoly, copied Dee’s letters home as an elementary precaution; Murnau found that copy in a bookshop after the 1919 execution of Prince Gustav von Thurn und Taxis by the Communists in Munich. Gustav was a member of the ThuleGesellschaft, the occult order that spawned the Nazi Party; he may have also provided Dee’s data or the words of power over nosferatu to the precursors of the Ahnenerbe. Murnau filmed some of the exteriors of “Castle Orlok” at Orava (p. 212) and Cachtice (p. 245) Castles in Slovakia, because Orlok was a creation of Elizabeth Báthory (p. 65). Orlok is kin to, or a subcreation of, Dracula.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook even necromantic, properties. Gradually, through either evidence or obsession, he became convinced that Tera herself could reveal the secrets of the afterlife or be brought back to life herself. In 1885 or 1886, he carried out his experiment at Kyllion, an isolated house in Cornwall. The result was a tragedy — virtually all the experimenters died — but perhaps also a proof of concept: the mummy disappeared. Stoker’s cover story of this operation, The Jewel of Seven Stars, is more than usually sloppy, and Edom forced a further redacted ending onto the “novel” in 1912. Finding Tera now involves retracing Trelawny’s steps: he claimed to have brought the mummy from Egypt (along with seven ceremonial lamps and a mummified cat) around 1885. But which mummy? And what if he stole (or sourced) it in England or on the Continent? The Archaeologist (p. 292) could provide insights into missing mummies of the late 1800s. Recasting locations like the Old Pinakothek Museum (p. 228) as sites like London’s Soane Museum, Petrie Museum, or even the British Museum (with its infamous Unlucky Mummy) might also provide information useful in tracking down secrets. Details of Queen Tera’s identity could be a matter of public record — or urban legend in the case of London’s mummy-haunted British Museum station. independent: Trelawny

wasn’t connected with Edom or the British Establishment (though he might have been an occasional dinner guest at the X Club, p. 184). If he did succeed in resurrecting Queen Tera, then she remains an independent operator. If he failed, then his research was filed away by his daughter Margaret, and remains in the hands of the Trelawny family. edom: Operation Edom called for the acquisition of a supernatural agent — not necessarily Dracula, or even necessarily a vampire. Trelawny’s mummy-resurrection project was another branch of Edom. If it didn’t work, then the details are buried in the archives, waiting for some more enterprising resurrectionist (perhaps one equipped with modern technology or a better understanding of Egyptian necromancy) to try again.

If it worked, Queen Tera might still be waiting at the site of her resurrection — be it Ring (p. 172) or a similar site like Kyllion — or other safe holding spot like the HMS Proserpine (p. 169) or a sarcophagus-like version of the Sealed Coffin (p. 278). For that matter, University College Cork acquired a mummy in mysterious circumstances in the 1890s — allegedly, it was sent to the university by mistake, and then “lost” in the library basement for decades, which is the thinnest cover story imaginable for a mummy taken from the Dun Droch-Fhola site (p. 235). Alternatively, Edom might have deployed her in the field, and she’s now hunting down terrorists in Egypt. If you want to cast Trelawny as an Edom agent, but want an independent mummy queen, then perhaps she broke free of Edom in 1956 during the Suez crisis; the loss of its supernatural weapon explains why the wheels came off the British invasion of Egypt. Abel Trelawny is an unlikely but possible candidate for “D” (p. 49) or “Dr. Drawes” (p. 50). conspiracy: Dracula and Queen Tera could have crossed paths in London in 1894. If the mummy retained her sanity, she might have seen Dracula as a kindred corpse, one with the connections and an insight to help ease her return to the world of the living. Dracula too might covet the secrets and magic possessed by an even more ancient form of Un-Dead. If so, then Tera was certainly part of Dracula’s circle in London in 1894, and was part of his stay-behind network. She might be masquerading as a mortal: the Sculptor (p. 100), the Online Mystic (p. 126), or the Tabloid Journalist (p. 134) could be masks of the mummy. She might also be hanging around with the Psychic (p. 96). Alternatively, they might have hated each other immediately, being too similar to perceive one another as anything but a threat — a rivalry the Agents might seek to exploit.

Mummies Although mummies enjoy a pedigree in history and fiction every bit as rich as their vampiric cousins, such also makes expectations regarding their powers just

as variable. A mummy might be anything from a charmless, relentless revenant determined to avenge itself against its kidnappers to a vessel for ancient mystical powers and the fury of forgotten deities. The following statistics present something between the two. For either extreme, consult the details for vorthr (NBA, p. 153) or build a mummy as a full-on vampire, only without Drain. Queen Tera’s abilities, where they differ from the “default mummy,” are marked with an asterisk. Note that she appears not as a wrapped or shriveled corpse, but as a beautiful woman of indefinable ethnicity, her only distinguishing feature seven fingers on her right hand. She keeps a large tabby cat. investigative abilities:*

Archaeology, Astronomy, Fringe Science, High Society, Occult Studies general abilities: Aberrance 12, Hand-to-Hand 10, Health 10, Hypnosis 16, Weapons 8 hit threshold: 4 alertness modifier: +1 (+3 in tomb or similar setting) stealth modifier: +2 (+4 in tomb or similar setting) damage modifier: +1 (claws or fists) armor: −2 (mummified skin); all weapons do half damage, firearms do maximum 1 point damage (Corpse; NBA, p. 126) free powers: Darkvision, Regeneration (refresh 1 Health per night) other powers: Apportation (into her sarcophagus, place bearing a personal shabti, or similar representation), Astral Projection*, Curse (DT, p. 106), Heat Drain, Hive Mind (with cat familiar)*, Induce Dreams*, Magic, Mesmerism*, Mimic Form (her own living form), Mimicry, Necromancy, Plague, Resurrection (using an enchanted ruby and astral projection)*, Strength, Summoning (insects, carrioneaters), Turn into Creature (cat*, hawk, jackal, scarab swarm, etc.) banes: proper Egyptian ceremonial reburial in her own tomb (or respectable approximation) blocks: areas sanctified by the Book of the Dead dossier reference:

HO108, VS164

opposition forces n Third Forces: Queen Tera to Red Jack

Red Jack Between the creepy rotten-Establishment

Dracula’s Satanic Cult (p. 55)

summoned Red Jack as the Opener of the Way to allow Dracula’s full revival by the 1893 earthquakes. The 19 August 1888 earthquake in Vrancea county, Romania, is suggestive in that context; it’s exactly midway between the killings of Martha Tabram (7 August) and Mary Ann Nichols (31 August). Edom used the Jeweled Dagger as a major artifact (p. 270) to find Dracula by killing women; Red Jack is a reflection of Dracula’s hate and perverted lust embedded in the dagger when it impinged upon the Master’s mind. Edom attempted to create a vampire using a ritual in Le Dragon Noir (p. 273), summoning a servitor of Buné, Great Duke of Hell. They bound Red Jack into one of the surgical knives used by the Irish “Invincible” assassins in the 1882 Phoenix Park killings in Dublin — not all the assassins’ weapons were found by the investigating officers. Unfortunately, the demon didn’t have the properties Edom wanted in an asset, or escaped after the final murder. Stoker might have revealed more of this Dublin connection in his true Notes (p. 280) or in the Makt Myrkranna Correspondence (p. 275). There is an Edom and a Stoker connection to the blade: it’s one of the surgical knives George Stoker used to dissect vampires during the Russo-Turkish War. This is an excellent way to get a “telluric Ripper” — the

independent:

A “freelance” Red Jack is mostly just a distraction or a red herring; the blade’s new holder is cutting up women somewhere near the Agents. His targets might include the BND DeepCover Agent (p. 105), the Dissident (p. 112), or just the girls working for an informative boss in the Romanian Mafia (p. 113). His knife or his demonic master might have information pointing to Dracula, however, or stopping him could be its own reward while giving an NPC a reason to help the Agents. edom: Red Jack possesses one of the Dukes. This may be a secret to the higher echelons of Edom, or a bonus. Freeing the Duke

from Red Jack could flip him (or her) to the Agents’ side — or the Duke might be more than normally vulnerable when she (or he) goes out ripping without any backup or active cellphone. conspiracy: There’s nothing that Red Jack can do for Dracula that he can’t send a Renfield for. Red Jack becomes an occult weapon for a lower-level node, one it depends on to avoid bothering the Master. With that weapon broken, the Agents get a 6-point team pool TFFB (NBA, p. 108) to use against the disarmed and demoralized node if they move on it fast.

Powers and Statistics The values below either replace or add to (+) the host’s pools while he holds Red Jack’s blade. general abilities: Aberrance

8 (14 higher in Whitechapel or other past site of ritual murder), Hand-to-Hand +4, Health +2 to rating per murder of a woman committed this year with the blade, Weapons +10 (with own blade only) hit threshold: 4 alertness modifier: +2 stealth modifier: +2 (+3 in shadows, fog, or night) damage modifier: +0 (blade; ignores armor) armor: immune to all knives except his own blade free powers: Darkvision, Drain (+1 to current Health pool for every 2 Health damage drained by blade), Memory Wipe (on blade-holder while active) other powers: Apportation (“slasher movement” or into fog), Create Fog, Possession (blade-holder only, although a Body Jumping (or rather, knife-jumping) Red Jack becomes a much more dangerous and distracting foe), Stealth, Vampiric Speed banes: the host can die normally, Red Jack can only “die” of being stabbed with own blade; exorcism ritual in Le Dragon Noir; being beamed into interstellar space to dissipate blocks: holy symbols (block Possession only); elevated serotonin levels, as from Ecstasy use (blocks Possession only) compulsions: kill women dossier reference:

HO36, HO67

tone of Edom and Stoker’s outright invocation of Whitechapel in his foreword to the Icelandic edition of Dracula, Jack the Ripper haunts the novel and the Dossier alike (p. 29). Making the Ripper a mere Renfield or feral vampire is easy enough to have become something of a cliché by now, which is not to say it can’t be fun to play with in your campaign. This write-up goes slightly farther afield, presenting Red Jack as a demonic spirit, one that possesses an enchanted blade (as might be found in the Knife Set (p. 272) or Van Helsing’s Vampire Hunting Kit (p. 281), or the Jeweled Dagger (p. 270)) and thus its wielder. Where did Red Jack come from?

blade brought back exotic vampire bacteria (p. 59) trapped in the handle or magnetized into the metal. George Stoker or the Edom doctor he gave the knife to was the Ripper, infected but not fully turned by telluric vampire bacteria. “Red Jack” is actually just a multiple personality brought on by the telluric fever as it hits the spinal cord and brain. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn awakened Buné or Red Jack with their sloppy magical fumbling; the blade is an athame, a ceremonial magic dagger. Bram Stoker’s acquaintance Francis Tumblety (1833– 1903) or coroner and Golden Dawn chief William Wynn Westcott (1848– 1925) or self-proclaimed antichrist Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) or magician-doctor Robert D’Onston Stephenson (1841–1916) or Stoker himself was the Ripper, or the Ripper was many killers using the same knife. This explains the widely varying eyewitness testimonies in the case. R. M. Renfield (p. 38) or another psychotic found the dagger and awakened Red Jack, or was driven mad by the act of summoning him. On one of Jack Seward’s (p. 35) previous adventures with Quincey and Holmwood, he discovered the blade, or his surgical knife was possessed by Red Jack somehow. Dracula bound Red Jack into the blade himself, either during his study in the Scholomance (p. 219) or as a sadistic tool during his lifetime. It awakened in London as Dracula strengthened following the 1888 earthquake.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

Solomonari Romanian legends claim

that the Scholomance (p. 219) is where the Devil himself instructs worthies in the deepest secrets of the occult. The Prince of Darkness isn’t charitable, though, and for every ten he teaches, one must remain as his slave.Yet those who survive the training emerge as Solomonars (collectively, the Solomonari), beings more than human who boast mastery over the laws of nature and reality’s deeper mysteries. Whether they’re truly servants of Satan, karcists clinging to the secrets of ancient grimoires, immortal Geto-Dacian priests of Zalmoxis (p. 291), or visitors from some secret beyond, a Solomonar might be at the top of any occult conspiracy. As ancient and learned as Dracula himself, these magi use their secret knowledge to manipulate history as they see fit. Myths paint them as beneficent beings, but few mortals would rest easier knowing these ancients seek to judge what constitutes the greater good. Remember, Satan recruited and taught these guys. Whether the Solomonari spin out webs of earthly power, roam the land doing good, hoard magical books and artifacts too dangerous for mortals, or plot destruction of those who break the vows of Scholomance, they keep their own counsel. Or do they reject the world, bound up in meditation, magic, and the need to continue the Scholomance? Perhaps Solomonars only live 500 years, and the new class is relatively young — or even now being recruited. Only nine Solomonars walk the world, but all know Dracula and are known to him in turn. (Unless they plan to keep the new graduating class a secret from their old schoolfellow.) At one point, Dracula studied at the Scholomance (VS194), but that relationship has since been strained. Perhaps Dracula was the apprentice sacrificed to serve the Devil — implying his vampiric state and dark deeds, and even

his earthly agenda, come from his Infernal Master. Alternatively, Dracula might have betrayed the Solomonari, learning their secrets then defying their laws. He might have escaped the Scholomance with some potent grimoire like Le Dragon Noir (p. 273), a relic the others would go to any lengths to recover. Dracula might even have accepted Edom’s “invitation” to Britain as a way to personally smuggle the Solomonars’ treasure away from them. Considering the Solomonars’ control over storms, this might explain the rough weather the Demeter faced en route to Britain. Romania remains the seat of Solomonari power, perhaps due to some tie to the Scholomance, to Zalmoxis, or for even deeper reasons. The Medievalist (p. 122), the Online Mystic (p. 126), and the Psychic (p. 96) know about the Solomonari and may even know they exist; so does the Black Site Interrogator (p. 104) — don’t ask why. Any Romanian character — and a surprising number of seeming non-Romanians — may actually be a Solomonar in disguise, or the earthly servant of their occult agenda. Solomonars might serve as stand-ins for any number of inscrutable, timeless secret keepers — returned pharaohs,Yithians, relocated Massachusetts necromancers, famous magicians out of time, intruders from the future. They’re foremost a supernatural threat, but references to them living in some other realm might suggest an alien connection. edom:

If Edom has a genuine wizard on its books, you’re in a radically different campaign. However, Edom might exploit the myth of the Solomonari as a cover for its activities in Romania. Local legend paints the Solomonari as mysterious but kindly figures, always bent on cryptic missions of vital importance — an ideal cover for all sorts of vampirerelated weirdness. Elvis (p. 50) has a Solomonar’s robe in the trunk of his car. conspiracy: What if Dracula didn’t break his ties with the Solomonari? What if they’re backing his play? Adding a cabal of awesomely powerful sorcerers on top of Dracula and the rest of the Conspiracy is horrible, horrible overkill — but sometimes, that’s what your player characters deserve. If you do go for the Solomonari as part of the Conspiracy, consider shooting for the Zalmoxis (p. 291) capstone.

other:

Even if you don’t want to include the Solomonari as a major plot thread in your campaign, you could have one Solomonar show up to pull the Agents out of a fire or give them some cryptic advice. Hint that the Solomonari are out there, helping behind the scenes, and that the Agents aren’t wholly alone in the fight against Dracula. Then have Dracula kill him.

Powers and Statistics arcane doom:

A Solomonar can expend a point of Aberrance to conjure a bolt of magical flame, a swarm of gnashing teeth, rents in reality, or similar supernatural destruction at a target within Near range, with the effect of a Class 1 explosion. Every doubling of Aberrance spent increases the equivalent explosion Class of the arcane doom: 2 Aberrance creates a Class 2 explosion, 4 Aberrance creates a Class 3 explosion … two Solomonars who sacrifice their lives can spend 32 Aberrance to manifest the equivalent of a sorcerous suitcase nuke.

general abilities: Aberrance

16, Hand-to-Hand 6, Health 10 hit threshold: 4 alertness modifier: +4 stealth modifier: +2 damage modifier: +0 (fist), Arcane Doom (see text) armor: +3 (bend physics, amulets of protection, etc.) free powers: Heightened Senses (sense life) other powers: Apportation (sigilmarked location), Clairvoyance (through the eyes of animals), Command Beasts, Command Weather, Infrasound, Levitation, Magic, Mimicry (any voice or sound), Resurrection (can be resurrected at Scholomance or via ritual in Le Dragon Noir), Send to Sleep, Summon (natural creatures), Telekinesis, Turn into Creature (any natural animal), Turn Invisible banes: ritual in Le Dragon Noir; beheaded and buried beneath a church threshold blocks: grimoire rituals/spells compulsions: magically consult with peers/master at regular intervals dossier reference: VS194

opposition forces n Third Forces: solomonari to Other National Vampire Programs

Other National Vampire Programs Plenty of supporting cast members in

dossier reference:

HO183, CU238

CU115,

China The Chinese vampire program, Room 452, falls under the Ministry of State Security (MSS) if it came from internal investigations of the jin-gui (p. 68) or other Chinese vampires — the peoples’ cadres that tore the bloodsuckers apart reported their victories to the Party, after all. MSS may also have gotten its vampire data from insecure Edom facilities (or personnel) after (or just before) the handover of Hong Kong (pp. 229) in 1997. If it comes from cyberespionage against another national vampire program, Room 452 is part of the Military Intelligence Department (MID), and the Chinese Agent (p. 110) really wants to know what’s going on. If he can cut his own agency in on Room 452, he can get back on the upward track. Room 452 may have tame jin-gui, but not likely deployed in Europe. Their operatives there only want to vacuum up everything the Agents and other foreigners know about vampires and take the data (and samples) back to Beijing for further analysis. If Room 452 gets ahold of the Dracula Dossier, it goes out on the next plane to China under diplomatic pouch.

The German vampire program may have created, and may still run, Orlok (p. 70) or Alraune (p. 62). A wilder, more airport-thriller version of the German vampire program might cast it as a surviving “Fourth Reich” operation run out of Argentina (see p. 225) by undying Ahnenerbe necromancers (see They Saved Hitler’s Blood! p. 320). dossier reference: VS43,

VS61, VS125, CU142, VS176

Germany If a German security agency still runs a vampire program or even has a vampire investigation docket, Unternehmen Braun (“Undertaking Brown”) falls under the Federal Intelligence Service (BND). The BND may have gotten its vampire data from any number of places: Van

Helsing was an asset or operative of the German Nachrichtenabteilung (p. 34). The German vampire program began with Frank Braun, an Abteilung IIIb agent vampirized in New York in 1917.

Israel Sayeret Aluka (aluka means “leech” in Hebrew) is the Mossad’s anti-vampire kill team. It knows what it knows from archaeological research at sites like Black Site Khoshekh (p. 236), from spying on Edom (or the Intrusives, p. 293), from the Hildesheim Legacy’s (p. 116) family lore, or from sympathetic CIA or BND officers opposed to their own national vampire programs who tipped the Israelis off as a way of containing the problem without going public.

this campaign may or may not turn out to work for any number of other intelligence services, besides MI6/Edom and the Romanians. (See NBA, pp. 164–67, for a primer on European espionage.) This much is natural to any spy game. Some of those services — the CIA and the Russians, for example — can make fairly terrifying “third force” threats even without a covert vampire program. Certainly, Operation Edom remains the centerline of this campaign; thus, MI6 is by default the only agency to put together the truth about vampires. You can have a great — and rather less complex — game with Edom as the only national vampire program in existence. But in a world in which vampires and governments have operated for over a century, it’s not unreasonable to assume that other agencies have their own approach and their own covert vampire directives. Edom should still remain at the forefront — someone’s got to know the most and be the best, after all, and for dramatic reasons, it should be a main antagonist. But that said, adding a rival agency as dramatic foil can amplify, rather than muddy, the campaign’s impact. Use Station Bucharest (p. 159) as a catchall guideline for a foreign intelligence agency as a node. The Chief of Station, Bucharest (p. 109) defaults to CIA but can be adapted to any agency you want to give a bigger role. Model other operatives of foreign programs after Edom Dukes (p. 50) and ratings (p. 54), or specifically on the CIA Agent (p. 91), the MI6 Lamplighter (p. 123), the Turkish Agent (p. 136), or the BND Deep-Cover Agent (p. 105). The following nations have prime hooks, NPCs, or other story elements making them the most likely suspects for third-force vampire programs. To avoid needless reduplication, the rest of this campaign uses shorthand like “the FSB” to mean “whichever Russian agency you’ve given the vampire program to, or sourced it from.” This is where you pick the whichever, and determine where they got their vampire program.

Braun may have previously run Projekt Mandragora (p. 62) as an Army rival program to the Navy’s vampire program. The Germans found out about vampires the same way George Stoker did, by getting involved in a horrible war in the Balkans — this might have been during the German invasion of Romania in 1916 or the retreat from Russia in 1944. Antonescu or the Iron Guard (possibly the Echipa Mortii, p. 149) gave the Nazis the secret of vampirism in 1940 to try and bribe Germany to intervene on their behalf in the Romanian putsch. The Nazis ran their vampire program (whether resurrected from Van Helsing’s or Braun’s operations, or looted from Romania, or a combination) under the SS occult research arm, the Ahnenerbe.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

Russia Technically, it should be the SVR running Russia’s vampire program (or its investigation into Edom), since they are the successor to the KGB’s overseas operations — but Russian turf wars are, like other Russian wars, terrible and not overly concerned with niceties like jurisdiction. Whether it’s the FSB (internal security) or the GRU (military intelligence) gunning for the Agents and/ or Edom depends on whether it was the NKVD or the Red Army who gobbled up the German vampire program afterWWII. If the Soviets instead got their vampire data from Edom via Kim Philby or other MI6 traitors, the FSB definitely has it now. The FSB runs its own vampires (or zalozhniy; see The Zalozhniy Quartet) as domestic assets, infiltrating opposition groups and turning them into tools of the FSB.The GRU uses them as super-Spetsnaz in Ukraine, Georgia, Chechnya, and other places the Russian Army faces dug-in foes. If the operatives of some anti-vampire bureau grown out of Catherine the Great’s secret police (the TE, or “Secret Expedition”) staked Countess Dolingen in 1801 (p. 227), their heirs might be in either or both agency. The FSB vampire apparat has to watch its steps overseas, since too much exposure outside Russia can raise ugly questions in the Kremlin.The GRU is less constrained, in every sense. dossier reference:

HO166

Turkey The Kirmizatlar (“Red Horses”) are a secret, quasi-terrorist, ultra-nationalist group dedicated to killing vampires … or anyone they suspect of being pro-vampire, really. Kurds, Jews, Roma, you know. Nests of influential patrons within the Turkish Special Forces Command (OKK) and the Turkish “deep state” generally keep the Red Horses funded and out of prison, sacrificing the occasional Horse to placate the media or the West. The Red Horses’ (andTurkish military’s) vampire knowledge comes from: lore

left over from the Ottoman Turkish occupation of Bulgaria, Romania, and Transylvania intel fed the Ottomans by Arminius Vámbéry in 1878 or by protoEdom afterward, as part of a deal

Vámbéry and George Stoker made to secure vampire corpses or samples for the British the German vampire program, which made the same sort of deal with their Turkish allies during WWI. Alternately, the Turks got their lore from Rudolf von Sebottendorff, the founder of the Thule-Gesellschaft, who lived in Istanbul during WWII and mysteriously drowned in the Bosporus on V-E Day 1945. The Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT), recently purged of military influence by the Erdogan government, either covets the anti-vampire portfolio or genuinely wants to hunt down the military’s secret death squads. MIT has been credibly accused of assisting both alQaeda and ISIS in Syria in 2014; they may have drawn Edom’s fire as a result and desperately need the Red Horses as allies now. Adjust the Turkish Agent (p. 136) and any other MIT assets accordingly. dossier reference:

CU86

United States The American vampire program is a codenamed secret directive, Find Forever. Either the CIA or the Pentagon run Find Forever, currently operating out of the NICBR (p. 64). Find Forever, or what this book calls by default “the CIA vampire program,” incorporates the “Black Light” interrogation site (p. 204), the Camp Midnight processing facility (p. 252), and Nox Therapeutics (p. 162) for end-use research. Find Forever may have originated in any number of ways. To begin with, Quincey Morris sums any number of potential vampire vectors: He was a patriotic and devout American

who uncovered Edom’s vile plan and

dispatched copies of the 1894 team’s records to Washington before his death. He was an agent of the US Secret Service, inserted into Edom undercover. He was an agent of the US Secret Service, inserted into Edom as part of a joint Anglo-American operation. He was vampirized in South America in 1892; the American Vampire story (p. 63) was a cover story to conceal his true identity. He was vampirized by Dracula or one of his Brides during or after the 1894 operation, and eventually poisoned (or was discovered by, or both) the Secret Service or the ONI or the OSS or the CIA. This version casts Find Forever as Dracula’s fifth column within the US national security establishment. Even without Quincey, the US government might have picked up on vampire lore: from the American Vampire through Operation Paperclip, seizing

the German vampire research ahead of Edom or the Russians from Princess Catherine CaradjaKretzulesco during OSS operations in Romania in 1944 and the establishment of Gladio (p. 163) as a deal with Edom in exchange for funding after British defense retrenchment began in earnest in the 1950s as a deal with Edom after the British spy networks in Romania were rolled up during the 1970s mole hunt by interrogating the very few al-Qaeda survivors of Dracula’s attacks; Find Forever is desperately playing catch-up to Edom dossier reference:

CU60,

HO68, CU219

The Vatican The Vatican vampire program falls within either: the society of st. lazarus of bethany:

A recent, barely accepted program mounted by eccentric (not to say daft) exorcists around 2000, among them the Enigmatic Monsignor (p. 114). Its fringe priests try to coordinate information among themselves, but have learned not to draw the (invariably unfriendly) attention of their superiors.

opposition forces n Third Forces: Other National Vampire Programs

Founded in 1937 by Pope Pius XI to train Romanian Catholic seminarians, hence its official name Pontificio Collegio Pio Romeno (PCPR). Like

absolute proof of vampires to the attention of the right eyes in the Curia, he can get resources and new priests assigned to combat the threat sub rosa. If the Director really wants a Vatican vampire-hunting squad, assume that the Schola Allatio has found vampires in Naples (p. 241) or Romania since 2005. Father Dodona (use Oakes, p. 52) and a squad of Swiss Guard special ops (use Special Police from page 70 of NBA with Weapons 8 and halberds (+1; can reach out to Close)) show up once to save the Agents and provide a crucial lead somewhere — and then get torn to shreds by Dracula the next time they’re onscreen. dossier reference:

HO17, HO161

the pontifical college of romania:

many pontifical colleges, it also coordinates what Vatican intelligence apparatus exists in its bailiwick, in this case Romania. The PCPR incorporated faculty and collections from the Greek Pontifical College of Athanasius, itself founded in 1577 to provide Catholic priests to retake the Balkans for Rome from the Turks. The medico and vampire scholar Leo Allatius (head of the Vatican Library from 1661 to 1669) came out of the Greek college; after 1940, a few PCPR scholars took up Allatius’ notes in light of new findings. One very old cardinal (with contacts both in the Archdiocese of MechelenBrussels (p. 141) and Gladio (p. 163)) still supports the “Schola Allatio” in the Vatican bureaucracy. If he can bring

people

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

This chapter contains 64 configurable, reusable profiles for supporting characters the Agents meet as they explore The Dracula Dossier — or conduct any other Night’s Black Agents investigation. Characters are presented within the following broad categories: survivors of or important informants on the 1940– 1941 evolution of Operation Edom in Romania (pp. 80–88), on the 1977–1978 mole hunt within MI6 (pp. 89–101), and on the current activities of Operation Edom during the Global War on Terror (pp. 102–139). Further sub-classifications of these characters by nationality, profession, and utility appear in the Indices (pp. 345–360). Each character write-up includes modular elements that you can mix and match as required. When a supporting character enters the storyline, either as you prepare your scenario or in an improvised scene in progress, decide whether he or she is an innocent, an asset, or a minion. An innocent may be guilty of anything from serial killing to human trafficking to unpaid parking tickets, but is not part of the world of either espionage or vampiric conspiracies. An asset has been recruited into the shadow world, and may be a trained operative under cover or simply part of such an operative’s network of informants, friendlies, and contacts. A minion is part of Dracula’s network, either directly Renfielded or in the pay or power of the Conspiracy. Any of the three may interfere with the Agents, out of greed, patriotism, or some other motive. Members of organized crime networks quite often interfere with the Agents, out of greed or as an attempt to curry favor with the Conspiracy. Innocents and assets might, occasionally, help the Agents against the Conspiracy, almost always as a result of strong persuasion, coercion, or asset flipping (NBA, p. 112). Every so often, an asset is ordered to aid the Agents, almost always because their parent organization wants

something accomplished: a diversion, a reconnaissance in force that costs them nothing, a deniable strike against some unsavory Conspiracy outlier, or for some other shadowy goal. Anyone who aids the Agents at all is quite likely to reappear as a drained corpse or doubled Renfield, as Dracula strikes back at his hunters. Assets or innocents may become player characters to replace suddenly slain or turned Agents, after some heroic epiphany gives them the Drive to do so (NBA, pp. 37–39). Although it’s unrealistically poor compartmentalization, in the interest of smooth game play any given asset or minion may know the name or role of another asset (usually of the same organization) or minion, to be given up after suitable Interrogation or flipping. Needless to say, the facts given about the characters in any of their three modes are a starting point, not a straitjacket. When an idea doesn’t serve your story needs, change it to something that does. Finding yourself in need of a narrative twist, you may occasionally find reason to switch your conception of a character in midstream. A character you have portrayed as a minion might surprise by turning out to be an innocent, or reveal a hidden agenda as the asset of another agency inserted under cover into the Conspiracy. An asset, more likely, might be doubled by Dracula during the campaign, her newly minion-ized nature revealed by betrayal or by a nervous tic in the church doorway. Some assets — and minions! — don’t know their true role, and believe themselves to be (and perhaps present convincing fronts as) innocents. An innocent might enlist himself as an asset of the heroes, or be drawn by them into danger and horror. Some of these supporting characters might turn out to be Legacies (p. 40), if it suits the campaign or the storyline. Change last names accordingly, or let sharp-eyed Agents with Forgery spot faked passports or other identity documents.

possible role:

Profiles include an entry indicating their special skills or access; why the Agents might seek them out, independent of references to them in the Dracula Dossier. This is especially effective if they “begin” the narrative as Network contacts, only to have their connection to the Dossier revealed by further investigation. The Director should take every opportunity to weave not just Network contacts, but former mentors and protégés, providers of Solace, and any other established NPC into the main campaign — and into the Conspiracy’s toils. alternate names and descriptions: Also included are additional names and physical descriptions, so you can tailor them to the specific needs of your story: if an NPC needs to be female, or British, or elderly, hopefully we’ve got you covered somewhere on the page if not in that description. You can also reuse the basic template the next time you need a character of that type — Night’s Black Agents heroes tend to run into a lot of ex-spies, midlevel crime bosses, smugglers, and local law enforcement personnel. As you use these names and descriptions up, you may wish to replace them, so that you always have a fresh version of the character type to hand when the story goes in an unexpected direction and improvisation is a must. For more names on the fly, see the brief onomastikon on pp. 138–139. defining quirks: Three or more defining quirks are provided for each character. One often suggests a physical action you can perform at the gaming table, often with the use of props. Use only one quirk per iteration of a character. Multiple quirks are hard to play and can prove distracting from the main point of the scene.

people n workname table and modifiers: Characters also include game statistics. Although supporting characters do not normally use Investigative abilities, we provide some here to give you a sense of the expertise the character might be able to lend to the Agents. General abilities that allow the supporting character to perceive or hide from the Agents are omitted in favor of Alertness and Stealth Modifiers,

abilities

although Surveillance is sometimes listed to provide pools for contests. Provide Health ratings to suit the dramatic necessity. If a character should be a survivor, providing repeated succor (or repeated opposition) for the Agents, give her Health 8 or 9. If he should appear briefly or die informatively, give him Health 2.

reference: If a character is referenced in Dracula Unredacted, this entry notes its annotation number. Where the NPC appears in more than one annotation, the main reference is in ordinary text and secondary references are italicized.

dossier

workname table 79

The Workname Table (p. 345) lists all the worknames mentioned in the annotations, along with likely candidates for that name if it’s in doubt. For example, Charles (HO23) might be the Black Site Interrogator, the Chief of Station, Bucharest, or some other CIA asset. These possible identities are listed in the Cleartext column.

Workname Cleartext

Annotations

Black Site Interrogator (p. 104), Chief of Station, Bucharest (p. 109); someone who is actually a CIA agent or asset

HO23

Harper, Hosmer, Hutter (p. 32)

Passim

Hopkins

GCHQ Romania Desk Analyst (p. 115), MI6 Lamplighter (p. 123), MI6 Romania Desk Analyst (p. 124)

CU44

Tibor

Anti-Communist (p. 81), the Hungarian (p. 94), Smuggler (p. 131); generic member of Romanian Mafia (p. 157)

CU227

Charles Jonathan Harker

When the players collapse the waveform and settle on the true identity behind the workname, then write in the NPC’s actual name and underline their actual role, like so: As you play through the campaign, you may find it useful to strike through the identities you’ve used or eliminated elsewhere — if the PCs have already met Chief of Station, Bucharest and established that she knows nothing about the Dossier, then she can’t be Charles and should be crossed off the list.

If you want to similarly obfuscate the names of the original Hunters (see p. 32), then Jonathan Harker, Van Helsing, et al., might have been worknames. We recommend this option only for masochistic Directors who demand thorough research and tradecraft from their players — if that’s you, then you can also use the Workname Table to track the cleartext identities of the original Hunters and the Legacies.

Actual Name

Remember, worknames are optional — if the extra hassle of looking up the table outweighs the thrill of penetrating Edom’s secrets, then just skip over them and use the worknames as actual names.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

1940 people

These supporting characters can shed significant light on Operation Edom’s 1940 episode, but were not necessarily alive or active then. Either an annotation in the Dossier explicitly mentions the supporting character, or it provides a clear lead to that character (a family member, successor, archivist, etc.) in the present.

Acting Director of MI5 : Brigadier Oswald A. “Jasper” Harker name

possible role: Legacy tie between the 1894

band and the modern security state

description: Tall, well-groomed, and

patrician in bearing. Very much a colonial type who does not suffer fools gladly. Good-looking. Brigadier Oswald A. “Jasper” Harker (1886–1968) was acting director of the Security Service (MI5) from June 1940 to April 1941. Harker was replaced in the top job by Sir David Petrie, but stayed on as deputy director general until 1946. He had previously served fourteen years in the Indian Police and joined the service after being invalided home. Harker listed his interests as big-game hunting, riding, and fishing, and cut an intimidating figure among his staff. Harker’s B division was responsible for counterespionage and counter-subversion, and his name was even put forward as a potential candidate for the top job at MI6. However, the

strains of his interim role as director and the massive wartime increase in workload tested his management style and powers of organization. If “Harker” is not a workname, then Jasper Harker is the nephew of Jonathan Harker, and a cousin to Quincey Harker. innocent: Jasper knew little of his uncle’s escapades. His father intended it this way and kept Jasper well out of the way of intrigue by sending him to a Scottish boarding school and then an overseas posting. He returned to England after a prolonged bout of malaria and only then learned about Edom from his father’s papers. He was happy to take the job at MI5 but was aware that Edom may well have been pulling the strings and instinctively mistrusted them. He did his job to the best of his ability, but his performance suffered as he expended too much energy and attention secondguessing Edom’s motives and activities. Visiting Harker’s relatives and using Cop Talk or Tradecraft bluffs a look at his unclassified papers (and maybe something juicy got misfiled, like his Daybook, p. 269). asset: The whole of the Harker clan have been Edom men, since 1894. Jasper’s father James was a member of the X Club (p. 184), and his entomological researches may have uncovered a precursor to the Blomberg Serum (p. 282). James Allen Harker died in December of 1894, possible blowback from Edom’s failure. Jasper was raised and schooled knowing that Edom provided the steel core within the Establishment that kept the sun shining on the Empire. Harker’s time with the Indian Police was a cover for the Edom-sponsored research project into the Indian vampires known as the vetala; this research perhaps explains his invaliding home. Harker may, in fact, be “D” (p. 49), an impossible centenarian plus, his vigor maintained by judicious application of the Seward Serum (p. 51), unnaturally prolonged by the curse of the vetala, or as a plain and simple vampire.

Research coupled with Vampirology and Traffic Analysis uncovers traces of Harker’s efforts to cover Edom’s tracks. His Daybook (p. 269) might shed more light on the case, if they can find it. minion: A Harker in a key position within the British intelligence community was always going to be too irresistible a target for the Conspiracy. He was recruited on his return to London. Most probably his lack of knowledge left him defenseless against the Conspiracy, or perhaps he was offered a way to prolong his life and stave off the obscure tropical parasite he had picked up while in India, or the close shave with the vetala made him susceptible to domination. If he was innocent originally, then the mental domination explains his inability to deal with the top job; if he was Edom, then he was paralyzed trying to serve two masters. Or maybe Edom discovered his doubling after the failure of its Romania operation, causing it to sideline him from the top job in 1941. Edom kept him around until war’s end to feed false information to the Conspiracy. Vampirology coupled with Photography lets the Agents spot telltale signs of unnatural blood loss and exhaustion in some photos of Harker toward the end of his tenure as acting director. defining quirks: impeccably turned out but either: harassed looking from being overpromoted, and scared of Edom’s intentions [as innocent]; drawn and brittle from the vetala encounter [as asset]; impressively vigorous for someone in his mid-50s [as minion] uncomfortable in chairs because of his height and often conducts meetings standing up or walking when there are no ladies present, he uses very salty language dossier reference:

CU96

people n 1940 people: Acting Director of MI5 to Anti-Communist The Kent-Wolkoff Affair

Anti-Communist : Ilie Patrescu name

possible role: Able

to get people into Romania surreptitiously description: late 60s, bushy eyebrows, short, abrasive innocent: Patrescu’s father, Perga, was a very influential member of the proGerman Romanian government who fled to Germany ahead of the Red Army in 1944, and from there made his way to London after the war. Embroiled in émigré politics, he quarreled with the self-declared “government-in-exile” and continued his lonely crusade in a series of ever-shabbier offices. Ilie inherited his father’s politics and his struggle, opening a travel agency as détente and the Ceausescu regime’s desire for hard currency loosened border controls. Like most Romanian tourist agencies, Dracula-themed posters and tchotchkes festoon the walls and shelves, though not in Patrescu’s own private office. A detailed and sympathetic knowledge of Romanian exile politics (Human Terrain) gets him talking. Patrescu knows the mundane outlines of the Edom operation in 1940, including that MI6 assassinated Döring. He has plenty of eyewitness stories of that period, handed down from his father, and might provide confirming details or word of a strange happening that the Agents recognize as the spoor of Edom or Dracula. asset: Both Perga and Ilie ran a network of stringers in Romania feeding information and rumors to MI6, receiving a small

Tyler Kent was a cipher clerk based at the US Embassy in London who had become involved with the pro-German and anti-Semitic Right Club. He was a strong proponent of American neutrality and felt that it was being endangered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s foreign policy. Kent amassed a private collection of diplomatic documents including secret telegrams between FDR and Churchill and believed that publicizing them would show that there was a conspiracy to bring the United States into the war. The documents were particularly sensitive because at that point Churchill was still first lord of the Admiralty and not yet prime minister. Kent met Anna Wolkoff, a White Russian émigré, through the Right Club, and she copied some of the documents and passed them to the Italian Embassy, who in turn passed them to Berlin. However, MI5 discovered Kent and Wolkoff ’s activities, because its agents had penetrated the Right Club. Kent and Wolkoff were arrested and sentenced to seven and ten years imprisonment respectively. Other major figures in the Right Club were interned for the duration of the war. The case was heavily covered up at the time under the Official Secrets Act, and, even though the MI5 files on this incident have been released to the National Archives, they have been heavily redacted. The Kent-Wolkoff affair is one of the most famous incidents in the history of the secret services in the UK. Jasper Harker was head of counter-subversion at the time and would have been deeply involved in the unraveling of the plot (Research or Tradecraft). The interesting element for the Agents is that the affair occurs in April and May 1940: during the planning period for the SOE mission to wake Dracula. Did Tyler Kent accidentally copy something else that inadvertently revealed the existence of Edom, or related to the plan to activate a Romanian asset?

subsidy for their efforts. Even after the British government officially ended its direct attempts to subvert the Communist regime in Romania, MI6 paid occasional bonuses when the Service needed someone inserted into the country. His subsidy continues despite the general cutbacks in Eastern European operations after 1989; many of the Patrescus’ anti-Communist contacts in Romania became useful (police, economic management, etc.) midlevel members of the Romanian Government (p. 151). Convincingly hinting at increasing it or cutting it off (Tradecraft and Negotiation) gets his attention. Patrescu still knows the “mundane” outlines of the Edom operation in 1940, as well as some strange rumors about a German “special hunter” on the scene then. He was heavily inculpated in the 1977 mole hunt, and can provide almost any lead the Director wishes. minion: “Ilie Patrescu” does not exist. He was born Perga Belimace in 1918, and was an enthusiastic recruit into the Iron Guard. Impressed by his cruelty, Dracula made him a Renfield. After the failure of the Guard’s coup attempt in 1941, he joined the Waffen-SS and served with criminal ferocity on the Eastern Front. He made his way to London after the war, taking the identity of a dead Romanian soldier and working his way into MI6’s confidence, as an asset. About every generation, he travels to some benighted backwater and kills five or six people to slake his Renfield appetites, but otherwise keeps a low profile on his Master’s orders. Recently, his appetites have increased: he may be connected to the Human Trafficker (p. 118), providing young girls to brothels in London. Patrescu’s youthful membership in the Iron Guard and criminal record on the Eastern Front may still apply if he is an asset or innocent — it’s why even now he doesn’t return to Romania! In any case, Military Science notes Iron Guard memorabilia in his office, a Criminology spend recalls a “vanished Romanian war criminal,” and an Intimidation threat to reveal his whereabouts to Mossad gets him talking. If he was of military age in WWII, however, remember to increase

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook his apparent age (at least to Diagnosis) to the late 80s (born 1924) if he isn’t touched by the supernatural. alternate names: Petru Draghici, Florin Lazar, Sophie Cosma alternate descriptions: mid-50s, hunched shoulders, thick bottle-bottom glasses early 70s, tall, dresses in late-1950s suits, yellow-stained white mustache late 60s, sad eyes, soft-spoken, obviously dyed hair defining quirks: drinks incredibly sweet tea smiles without showing teeth drums fingers on table investigative abilities:

Bureaucracy, Forgery, Human Terrain, Tradecraft [asset or minion only] general abilities:

Conceal 5, Driving 4 alertness modifier:

+1,

−1 [if innocent] stealth modifier:

+2,

+0 [if innocent] dossier reference: VS76

Former Gehlen Org : Sigmund Walther name

possible role:

Corrupt fixer, potentially holding information about 1940 and 1977 operations description: mid-90s (but looks like mid-60s), shrunken with age, impeccably dressed in 1960 fashions, gleaming false teeth innocent: Walther was never innocent. One of the ambitious junior intelligence officers rapidly promoted byWehrmacht Major General Reinhard Gehlen to form the core of his Russian assessment section, he stayed with the Gehlen Org after WWII and went to work on the CIA’s payroll. When Gehlen turned his Org into the core of the West German BND in 1956,Walther became a “private contractor” collecting cash and favors from the CIA, BND, ex-Nazis trying to stay hidden, and the Italian Mafia looking for protection from the new German police organizations. Corsican heroin-runners, CIA arms deals in the Congo, Stasi torturers defecting to tropical American client states, German government payoffs to Israeli

politicians, ratlines in and out of Eastern Europe andYugoslavia — Walther could clear the routes, hire the personnel, set up meetings in Washington or Bonn or Cairo. He never betrayed anyone who wasn’t already dead, always paid well for information, and made sure his people kept their noses clean, and so he prospered mightily. After the fall of the Wall, he “retired” to his old home town of Wismar despite owning a decent-sized piece of one of the nicer Greek islands, where he takes his yacht in the winter. (His South African ranch, sadly, was seized by the new government in 1992 after a hasty trial in absentia.) He set up a number of deals in the early 2000s (drawn by the truly astonishing amount of money the Americans were throwing around then) but closed out most of them by 2006. He still keeps his hand in, doing small favors for old friends — just enough to keep him alive and connected in his golden years. Agents with Tradecraft (or a 2-point Criminology spend) know most of this — Walther spent 50 years advertising his services, after all. Approaching him through a Network contact (a very old CIA or BND hand is best) gets a polite reception. After some Negotiation a dirty, dangerous favor or two gets him talking about the 1977 mole hunt. It takes at least a Difficulty 7 Infiltration test to get at his files, assuming anyone can find out where they are. They may include the old Abwehr files on the 1940 operation; they definitely include the Hungarian Interior Ministry files (and perhaps other files) on the 1977 mole hunt. If the Agents desperately need money, access, or something else, they can of course approach Walther for a job — the details are up to the Director, but it’s both well paid and well and truly disgusting: riding shotgun on a human trafficking run, moving blood diamonds for Libyan jihadist militias in exchange for MANPADS, or assassinating a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Walther is always accompanied by at least two bodyguards (NBA, p. 69); if need be, he can hire virtually any combination of talents. asset: Walther might, of course, be an asset of any intelligence agency from Mossad

to the MSS, and likely still collects stipends from any number of CIA or Saudi black accounts. This entry covers a Walther who also knows vampires exist — possibly he helped transfer the German vampire program to the CIA, or hide it in Argentina (p. 225); possibly he shopped an al-Qaeda cell to Edom in 2006; possibly he uncovered the Russian vampire program by tracing the vanished German vampire program; possibly he just found out by keeping his ears and mind open for the last fifty years. That said, if the Director needs someone to sell the Agents to the FSB, CIA, BND, or Edom,Walther is the man for the job. However, true to his code, he won’t do it until they’ve already attracted Dracula’s attention — he only betrays dead men. If the Agents have impressed him with their capabilities and willingness to get their hands dirty, he even tells them just after he shops them to Edom. If Edom has pissed him off recently, he tells them where to find a Duke to take down with them. minion: When Walther was still part of the Gehlen Org, infiltrating the Soviet Bloc, he went on a routine mission to Romania — and came out a man who would not die young, if at all. Whether he did a deal with Dracula or just stumbled into being a Renfield, he acquired one or two tricks — mesmerism, perhaps, or turning into a rat horde — that gave him an edge over his rival fixers and gobetweens. He’s around Level 3 on the Conspyramid, perhaps, a deniable cutout (and useful information gatherer)

people n 1940 people: Anti-Communist to Iron Guardsman

investigative abilities:

Human Terrain, Languages (Arabic, English, French, Italian, Russian), Notice, Tradecraft general abilities:

Cover 10, Network 20 alertness modifier: +0, +2 [if minion] stealth modifier: +0 dossier reference: VS125

Iron: Michael Guardsman Anghelescu name

possible role:

Source of information about 1940, possible ally against Dracula out of revenge for 1940 description: Mid-30s, aggressively fit, emotionless demeanor, wears an obvious triple cross innocent: “Innocent” is a relative term. The Iron Guard was a violent fascist and anti-Semitic organization in pre-WWII Romania, and those who fled to Chicago raised their sons and grandsons on the same values of extremist Romanian Orthodox Christianity, violence, and

martyrdom. Michael, along with the rest of the third-generation Iron Guard, considers himself a true-Romanian-inexile, waiting for the restoration of Romania’s true rulers.The Chicago Iron Guard organizes itself into chapters called “nests,” arranged around the virtues of discipline, honor, education, work, mutual aid — and silence. Members are expected to be able to both “give” and “embrace” death. The Chicago Iron Guard operates as a local mafia (Criminology), and may well have killed University of Chicago professor and occultist Ioan Culianu in 1991. (See The Dragon Box for a miniadventure from this angle.) If Michael thinks the Agents represent another branch of organized crime (Streetwise and Intimidation), he will readily admit as much out of professional respect. If the Culianu plot is not on the table, Michael is a good source of information on the events of 1940; and for details of Pitesti Prison (p. 218), in which he almost certainly had a relative. Encountered in Romania or London, he is a scary-looking tourist, wearing secondhand US Army camouflage clothing with Iron Guard arm patches. In Chicago, he wears a Chicago Wolves hockey jersey, black baseball cap, and silver bling instead of gold. vampire hunter: The Iron Guard’s Christian imagery is there for a reason: they are Romania’s traditional last best defense against vampires. Its founder Corneliu Codreanu spoke the literal truth when he said his followers might have to perform

violent acts that would condemn them to damnation but were necessary to save Romania. Van Helsing would have understood. Michael may even be a knight of the Echipa Mortii (p. 149). This sheds a different light on the high-level assassinations carried out by the Iron Guard in the interwar period; it also explains Dracula’s decision to wait out the 1941 putsch and allow Antonescu and the Nazis to destroy the Iron Guard. It puts a particularly unsettling interpretation on Pitesti as a prison for predominantly Iron Guardsmen … and it puts the Agents potentially on the same side as the Chicago Iron Guard, whether they want to be or not. Michael knows many techniques for destroying vampires, with possible leads on Radu (p. 276) and the Solomonari (p. 74) among others. But do the Agents really want their enemy’s sociopathic antiSemitic enemy to be their ally? asset: Anghelescu is also a third-generation CIA asset. Part of the Romanian version of Operation Gladio (p. 163) involved smuggling Iron Guardsmen back into Romania after the war; Michael’s grandfather was one of the many martyrs to poor CIA OPSEC. The CIA keeps the FBI away from his nasty little mafia in exchange for dirty, deniable work in Romania or Romanian communities abroad when needed. As a CIA asset, he may also be a false-flagged Edom asset (like the Black Site Interrogator, p. 104), depending on the degree of Edom-CIA rivalry or interpenetration. minion: The Communists weren’t the only ones waiting to roll up and recondition the Iron Guard in the 1940s and 1950s. Dracula had his own welcome for these true sons of Romanian native soil. Michael’s grandfather escaped the Communists and came home to tell the tale — and to vampirize his son and grandson in turn. Michael is a thirdgeneration Renfield, chief killer of a nest of vampires so venomous that even the Chicago Outfit leaves their turf alone. But when the Master calls, he returns to Romania to kill or bleed for the true Dark Archangel. alternate names: Greg (Grigore) Popescu, Adam Balan, Corey (Corneilu) Dalca.

for the world of clandestine operations and global crime. If Walther knows about the German vampire program, Dracula turned him to gain access to it or at least information about it. In this scenario, Walther might be a Level 4 or 5 minion, the interface between Dracula and the German vampire program, as well as Dracula’s contact with other intelligence services besides Edom. alternate names: Ernst Telingfeld, Joachim Seelmann, Karl-August Muehlenberg alternate descriptions: late 90s, decrepit husk of a man held together by hate and greed, strands of lank white hair, black liquid eyes early 90s, swollen joints, hunched over, walks with two canes, fringe of white beard on discolored face late 70s, self-effacing, neatly groomed, plain charcoal sweater and slacks [Walther’s “young protégé,” heir to all his files after Walther’s untimely death in 2011] defining quirks: breathes out raspily oscillates his head German accent

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook alternate descriptions:

mid-60s

(second generation rather than third), shaved head, wears camo gear for no good reason mid-40s, but first-gen rather than third — a minion who will never die, who reveals his turn-of-thelast-century birthdate by the occasional dated turn-of-phrase 20 years old, pale, sunglasses; scared, wants out of the family business defining quirks: invokes the concept of sin or martyrdom at least once per paragraph talks about “those people” (meaning vampires' minions, non-vampires, or other ethnic groups depending on version) constantly fingers his cross investigative abilities:

Interrogation, Intimidation, Military Science, Occult Studies [vampire hunter only], Outdoor Survival, Streetwise, Urban Survival, Vampirology [vampire hunter only] general abilities: [use Renfield stats for minion; p. 57] Athletics 8, Hand-to-Hand 6, Health 6, Shooting 4, Weapons 6 alertness modifier: +2, +3 [if Renfield] stealth modifier: +1 dossier reference:

VS43, VS61

Late: Seamus ConMeahan Artist name

possible role:

Unexpected perspective on events in 1894 and 1940; scurrilous contact if you’re playing in a historical era description: (In 1894) mid-20s but acting older, dapper, handsome, thick Eastern European accent. (In 1940) mid-70s, rake-thin, haggard, haunted eyes, clerical garb. innocent: Meahan is long dead by the present day. The Agents may “encounter” him by reading a biography of him entitled Prince of Lies: The Strange Life of Seamus Meahan written by Exeter-based Romanian historian Dana Selymes. Born in Boston to a poor IrishAmerican family, Meahan was highly intelligent with a gift for mimicry. His mother begged him to join the priesthood; he ran away at the age of 17.

He crossed the Atlantic on a steam liner, and managed to steal a suitcase belonging to a wealthy businessman. He used his pilfered wardrobe to pose as a mysterious nobleman from the east, “Count Rozhenko.” Claiming to have been exiled by his murderous brother, the count’s Gothic tale and dashing good looks caught the imagination of London’s social set. He hinted that he possessed mystical powers, and convinced several dupes to invest in get-rich-quick schemes involving “transmuted water” and “etheric essences.” He kept detailed notes on his double-dealings, so he could keep track of which lies he’d told to which mark. After a traumatic experience or scandal of some sort (possibly involving the death of a pregnant young woman) — he fled first to Italy, then to Romania. He took holy orders, becoming a Catholic priest, and spent the next forty years working selflessly for the poor of Romania, as if trying to atone for the misdeeds of his younger days. He continued to keep a diary throughout his life, and was a firm believer in the power of the supernatural. He languished in obscurity after his death from pneumonia in 1944 until Dana Selymes translated his diary and used it as the primary source for her book, where she contrasts the devilmay-care rakishness of Meahan’s youth with the religious terror and guilt of his old age; she even speculates that he believes he saw the Devil and that vision terrified him into changing his ways. Meahan was in London at the same time as Dracula, and moved in the same circles as Arthur Holmwood or Quincey Morris. A close reading (Research) confirms that Meahan mentions several of the original hunters in his diaries. Furthermore, in his latter career as a priest, Meahan collected tales of demons and monsters, which may offer leads with Vampirology. Multiple spends of Bullshit Detector, though, are needed to spot occasions when Meahan or Selymes or both stretches the truth. The popular-history book, while entertaining, is of little use to the Agents. They’ll have to obtain the original diaries from Selymes, which means a visit to Exeter (p. 167) and

likely a spot of Filching. Once they have the diary, they can search it for clues to Dracula’s activities in 1894 and 1940 — perhaps they reveal the truth about R. M. Renfield (p. 38) and his unusual social connections, or why Quincey Morris (p. 36) was in London. asset: Meahan’s tale about stealing a suitcase full of clothes is a lie; he was arrested within days of arriving in London for petty theft. By chance, he caught the eye of Edom. Given the choice between rotting in prison and helping keep tabs on a “foreign spy,” he chose the latter option. Meahan was a chameleon, a natural-born liar, able to mix with the highest and lowest strata of society with equal ease. He followed Dracula — and saw something that so terrified him, he fled England and Edom. (Edom removed key pages from the diary, and Selymes missed the Tradecraft clues that reveal Meahan’s recruitment). He later joined the Catholic Church. He might have been debriefed by their vampire hunters, if such an office exists (p. 76); he certainly knew the truth about the Hospital of St. Joseph and Ste. Mary (p. 230), but his latter writings are so thick with theological references and Biblical metaphors that one needs Occult Studies or Research to work through them. minion: Dracula never forgets a face. After terrifying Meahan witless in London, Dracula returned to torment the newly ordained priest in Romania. He drove Meahan mad, and turned him into a servant of the Un-Dead. Meahan is

people n 1940 people: Iron Guardsman to neo-nazi

investigative abilities:

Vampirology, plus he can mimic any Interpersonal ability other than Bullshit Detector general abilities: Disguise 12 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +0 dossier reference:

CU72, CU249

Neo-Nazi I slowly became aware of a mighty Presence around it, the same awesome presence which I had experienced inwardly on those rare occasions in my life when I had sensed that a great destiny awaited me. A window in the future was opened up to me through which I saw in a single flash of illumination a future event by which I knew beyond contradiction that the blood in my veins would one day become the vessel of the VolkSpirit of my people. The air became stifling so I could hardly breathe. I stood alone and trembling before the hovering form of the Superman — a spirit sublime and fearful, a countenance intrepid and cruel. In holy awe, I offered my soul as a vessel of his Will.

— Adolf Hitler, as quoted in Mein Wirken by Helmut Kreider (Occult Studies or History recognizes this quote as a likely fabrication by occultist Trevor Ravenscroft from his book The Spear of Destiny) name:

Helmut Kreider Ideological descendant of, and possible historian of, Nazi vampire project description: mid-50s, fake tan and capped teeth, watery brown eyes, affects an Alpine hat that makes him look like an idiot innocent: Kreider runs a mystical neoNazi website (hosted in the United States to avoid Austrian law) and is the local gauleiter of the Kameradschaft (“comradeship”) of the neo-Nazi VAPO movement in Graz, Austria. He collects a disability pension and sells his various occult-political manifestos online, which is enough to keep him in train fare to “right-thinking” rallies all over Austria, Germany, and (in recent years) Hungary and Romania. His “political memoir” Mein Wirken (“MyWorking”) gives some details about his alleged meeting as a young man, in Linz in 1968, with an “ageless figure” he calls “der Obergruppenführer.” (Kreider does nothing to discourage the widespread speculation that this figure was Hans Kammler, head of Special Projects for the SS in 1945, who disappeared after the war.) The Obergruppenführer supposedly revealed a number of mystical truths to Kreider about such matters as the true alchemical nature of blood, the connection between earthquakes and political revolutions (the 1940 Bucharest earthquake is mentioned), and the electrical secrets of the pure Aryan superman. (Occult Studies or Fringe Science makes heads or tails out of the turgid prose; Vampirology notes the connections to the information in the Dossier.) More conventionally (Research) his father, SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Kreider, was on the staff of Reich Security (RSHA) chief Ernst Kaltenbrunner. If the Agents know about the German vampire project (assuming there was one), a 1-point spend of History or Research confirms that Kreider senior possible role:

still alive under an assumed name as a Renfield. He’s now running a charity in Romania (perhaps a branch of Heal the Children (p. 150)), but may be called upon to use his talents to masquerade as, say, a police chief or a spymaster or a university professor. A Bullshit Detector spend sees through his disguise; Diagnosis spots the terrible condition of his teeth. alternate names: Sergei Rozhenko, Mathias Kirke, Marie Limner alternate descriptions: bristling mustache, wild hair, impressive top hat (one of Meahan’s favorite alternate identities) indeterminate age, quiet confidence, quick to smile, forgettable features (modern-day con artist) mid-30s, long dark hair, dazzlingly dressed, declaims everything dramatically (actress and socialite) defining quirks: accent changes depending on who he’s talking to mirrors body language of other party opens up to fellow Americans

could have had access to its files. It also confirms that Kreider senior committed suicide in 1968. Getting access to Kreider is as simple as approaching him with money (Negotiation): he quite obviously resents his low-rent surroundings. However, the same Bullshit Detector that indicates his basic greed also indicates he’s feeding theAgents whatever they want to hear about vampires. (Intriguingly, a 1-point Bullshit Detector spend indicates that Kreider truly doesn’t believe his father committed suicide — whether Otto Kreider was vampirized by the Conspiracy or murdered by his son is up to the Director.) Getting access to his father’s papers requires real money or a real threat to Kreider’s livelihood (not his person), delivered with appropriate Intimidation. asset: Edom easily bought Kreider once he surfaced in the late 1970s, leaving him with forged vampire papers to peddle to the curious. It was long enough ago that Kreider honestly believes his own bullshit about the papers’ accuracy — but instead, they lead the Agents into a very visible dead end (perhaps at the Dolingen Tomb, p. 227), which Edom can turn into a death trap at their leisure. Fortunately, a 3-point spend of any combination of Forgery and Vampirology discovers the papers’ deceptive nature. It’s also possible that Kreider has become an FSB asset —Vladimir Putin’s “Eurasia” project unifying the various far-right groups in Europe has plenty of cash to spend, and Kreider can be bought

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook twice. If the FSB has their own vampire program, Kreider may give it away by gloating or cringing (1-point Bullshit Detector spend notes his reaction to the notion of vampires), or he may have been Renfielded by the Russians. minion: We did mention that Kreider can be bought, right? Dracula picked up Kreider with a handful of his Hapsburg gold coins. A 1-point Accounting spend along with a Difficulty 4 Digital Intrusion into Kreider’s bank statements notes a regular infusion of cash (every St. George’s Day) exactly tracking the price of gold. Kreider stays loyal for the gold and for the promise of someday being made a true Aryan superman by the gift of electrified blood. Dracula bought the true files of the German vampire project, but didn’t bother replacing them with any fancy forgeries. Instead, when the Agents approach Kreider, he sets up a meet somewhere isolated to turn the files over and then tells the Conspiracy about it. Depending on how troublesome the Agents have been so far, Dracula sends a suitable kill team to take them out. alternate names: Heinrich Wegmann, Albert Steindl, Elsa Nadler alternate descriptions: late 40s, grossly fat, wears large pectoral cross on a chain, blue eyes early 50s, mountain climbing fitness buff, dresses in black, iron gray hair and Hitler mustache late 50s, bleached blond hair, sparkling blue eyes (tinted contacts), casual jeans and hand-knit sweater defining quirks: tilts head up attentively always eating pastry puts emphasis on words at seeming random investigative abilities:

Forgery, Occult Studies, Vampirology [asset or minion only]

general abilities:

Network 8, Shooting 4 alertness modifier: +0 stealth modifier: +0, +1 [if fit], −1 [if fat] dossier reference: VS78,

VS125, VS176

Pensioner : Elisabeta Freza name

possible role:

Source for Romanian government secrets in 1940 and 1977 description: mid-70s, dainty features and fingers, rumpled crocheted wrap, white hair, icy green eyes innocent: Elisabeta was a very young girl in 1940, living in Bucharest as the daughter of Iosif Freza, a deputy in the Romanian Interior Ministry. Freza was a secret Iron Guardist who knew enough to get himself and his family out of Romania and into Germany after the failed coup in January 1941. He managed to surrender to the British instead of the Russians, spent two years in a displaced persons camp in Germany, then offered to turn state’s evidence for the Communist show trials in 1947 in exchange for repatriation to Romania and an investigatorial position with the Ministry of Justice. Whatever secrets he turned over to the Communists were enough to secure his new position, and his political instincts remained soundly self-preserving: he was attached to the Ministry until his death in 1977. (His patron Alexandru Petrescu, a military prosecutor under both the fascists and communists, died the same year.) By then, Elisabeta had her own job as a translator with the Foreign Ministry, allowed a measure of international travel. Her relative freedom ended with her father’s death and Ceausescu’s new hard line; she was demoted and transferred to the

Ministry of Tourism. Her demotion was proof enough of her bona fides that she kept her job even after the 1989 revolution, continuing her efforts to sell “Dracula tourism” to Westerners with hard currency. She retired in 1995 with a small pension, and lives in a grotesque, brutalist “people’s apartment complex” in the Bucharest suburbs. In order of likelihood, Freza may know: 1) the true story (or at least her father’s version) of the Iron Guard revolt in 1941, including the role of Edom and/or Dracula in its instigation or suppression; 2) something about the 1977 mole hunt from the Romanian perspective, especially if her father (and Petrescu?) died for his role in it; 3) something about the various candidates for Castle Dracula (p. 207), given her investigatory skills and access to all the various sites; 4) something about the German vampire project, if Iosif Freza was involved with it at all. asset: Iosif Freza may have doubled for Edom while in Germany from 1945 to 1947. He might even have been an Edom lifer, warned to get out by the SOE mission. (In any case, his debriefing records from 1945 are in Ring (p. 172).) Either way, his daughter became an Edom asset in the approved MI6 way, and covered the mole hunt tracks from the Romanian end. She has enough cutout contacts even in the modern SRI (p. 156) to shop the Agents completely deniably; she then contacts Edom to use their own methods to extract the Agents from Romanian prison. She might also, of course, be a former asset for any of the Romanian security services (p. 156), always willing to do a favor for them, like her father. minion: Elisabeta as an SIE or SRI (or STS, or DPCTP, or …) asset is probably preferable from the Agents’ perspective … unless of course her own contacts or handlers in the SRI, etc., have been turned by the Conspiracy. While Elisabeta may be a direct minion of Dracula, it’s perhaps more fun if her family’s lifetime of maneuvering for survival has left her enmeshed in his toils without knowing it. If she knows about Castle Dracula and is a Conspiracy minion, however, she’s an active, willing participant. She loves

people n 1940 people: neo-nazi to ''van sloan'' Tetrodotoxin The “zombie poison” appears naturally in puffer fish, as well as many other species from octopuses to newts. It is fatal in doses as small as 25 mg ingested (or 0.5 mg injected). Those poisoned feel numbness in the lips and tongue, followed by light-headedness, difficulty breathing, hypercardia, and eventually complete paralysis. (Pharmacy or a 1-point Diagnosis spend recognizes the symptoms as they occur.) Victims often retain consciousness until death. onset:

Dracula and her homeland with equal fervor, completely identifying the two in her mind. (This is especially true if Dracula is Vlad Tepes in the campaign; see page 29.) She might be a Renfield, or just a surprisingly resourceful old lady made amazingly cruel by a lifetime under two dictatorships. Think tetrodotoxin (see above) or vampire saliva in the tea (Sense Trouble Difficulty 7, poison takes effect on a failure), followed by a session with some very sharp knitting needles (−1 damage). alternate names: Priha Optsprezeche, Ionela Rosu, Leonhard Farkas [male, native Transylvanian] alternate descriptions: early 80s, birdlike movements, bright-colored print dress, clutch purse always kept nearby late 70s, blue-rinsed hair, somber features, large watery eyes, dresses in black late 70s but looks early 60s, well-colored brunette hair (Disguise can tell it’s cosmetic), faded Joan Collins–style beauty, Paris-made blouse and skirt, mildly flirtatious manner defining quirks: strong Oxbridge-accented English (“learnt from BBC World Service, dear”)

doesn’t wear glasses

investigative abilities:

Archaeology (Romanian castles only), Cryptography [asset only], History (of Romania, at least), Human Terrain (likewise), Languages (English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian), Notice, Tradecraft [asset or minion only] general abilities: [all as asset or minion] Conceal 5, Filch 8 (for slipping poison into teacups), Network 10, Surveillance 5, Weapons 8 (knitting needles) alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +2 dossier reference:

VS164, VS194, VS230

''Van: Cedric Sloan'' Rovere name

possible role:

SOE old-timer mid-90s, white mane of hair and Vandyke beard, bushy eyebrows, large frame, liver-spotted wrinkly hands, shapeless brown suit innocent: Rovere passes his time in dignified if countrified retirement somewhere in Wales or maybe the West Country. Very rarely he takes the train down to London, traveling by day and sleeping in the upstairs members’ chambers of the Korea Club (p. 192) at night. He mostly spends his days smoking his pipe, reading spy thrillers while chortling to himself, cooking Italian food (fish and vegetables now, no red meat) for himself and perhaps a local widow, and gardening.Wild roses grow in profusion on stakes and trellises around his cozy cottage; the talk of the neighbors, they have won several prizes at local fairs. Finding “Van Sloan” can be as simple as following the leads in the Dossier (or the membership list of the Korea Club) or as complicated and dangerous as the Director wishes.The easier he is to find, the less immediately actionable intel he should possess. An easily accessible “Van Sloan” only knows the backstory of the 1940 mission and can answer one relatively minor question asked by the Agents — no grid coordinates for Castle description:

ingested; 10–60 minutes; injected; 1–6 rounds test: Difficulty 7 Health minor: +4 damage, Hurt major: +6 damage, Hurt, paralyzed but conscious, +0 every hour until dead or comatose

knits while she talks seems nearsighted but

Dracula or plans for an earthquake machine. (He can always remember something later, and die leaving a last message if the Agents don’t get to him in time.) An approach combining Tradecraft and Vampirology gets him talking seriously and honestly — and Flirting from a female Agent puts him in an expansive mood. If “Van Sloan” is difficult to find — either because he’s hidden his tracks well (possibly the Korea Club is the only chink in his concealment) or because Edom has stashed him away in some wellwatched (Difficulty 7 Surveillance test — the cottage is isolated, and the local constable or curate reports to Edom) safe village in Wales — then he should know more, not just revealing a major secret or two (the layout of Ring (p. 172), the existence of the German vampire program, the location of Castle Dracula) but also answering two or three of the Agents’ questions about 1940 or even 1894. The “hidden Van Sloan” may also have his own private ratline into Romania, access to the authentic Knife Set (p. 272), or some other ace in the hole. He might be actively watched by an Edom Lamplighter (p. 123), especially if the Agents have communicated with “Van Sloan” by phone, post, email, or old boys’ network. Getting to — or away from — the old man could turn into a real rural hunt, as Edom feeds a shell squad (p. 54) of SAS beaters (Special Operations Soldiers, NBA, p. 70) into the surrounding moors or hills.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

asset: “Van Sloan” is still on Edom’s books,

and glad of it. He’s managed to reshape and confabulate his memories of the 1940 debacle into a sort of sepia-tinged heroic accomplishment, and if he’s cleared for the current Edom practices, he supports them wholeheartedly (“Bloody medieval-minded Arab butchers deserve something of their own back”). Perhaps he even served as a Duke of Edom in the 1950s and 1960s: likely the Elah or Jetheth of that era, if so. If anything, he drops whatever Edom secrets he knows in this enthusiastic vein if the Agents approach him pretending to be Edom themselves. (“Good show on that Munich operation, eh? Told you the Hungarian would come through, and I was right again, wasn’t I?”) If the Agents approach him as anti-Edom, he plays along and alerts his handler once they leave. A trained deep-cover spy, Bullshit Detector doesn’t reveal his subterfuge to any Agent under 60; with a 2-point spend, older Agents can spot the difference between a tell and a senile tic. Once he can get free of the Agents (or discovers his mistake), he absolutely helps Edom track them down (“can’t abide traitors”) to the best of his ability, possibly blowing “Cushing” (p. 92) or even “Hopkins” (p. 117) in the process as Edom debrief him on who he might have talked to in 1977 or 2011. If his Welsh retirement cottage isn’t video-bugged or if the Agents disable the surveillance (1-point Electronic Surveillance

spend; it’s not particularly up to date), he provides complete and very accurate descriptions of any Agents he met. minion: If “Van Sloan” was turned in Romania, it means his annotations in the Dossier are all disinformation, something of a nuclear option for the Director. It also means that Agents with Geology might spot the trail of (Rovere’s native) Cornish soil through his Devonshire or Welsh rose garden, hopefully in time to flee along it before he destroys them. Dracula turned Rovere personally, and made him a very powerful Renfield indeed: 40 extra ability points, +2 damage, and three extra powers. A Renfield Rovere likely retired from Edom during the 1977 mole hunt rather than face intensified security tests — if the Agents know this, they may have some hint of what is to come. alternate names: Cole Novello, Edward West, Gabriel [or Gabrielle] Landsdale alternate descriptions: late 90s, quite tall, pomaded gray hair, aristocratic bearing, aquiline nose, sneer at the youth these days early 90s, short but fit with very strong grip, short white hair, lambent purple track suit, thick spectacles early 70s, zaftig figure, bright red wig, smokes American cigarettes [she was his lady friend, inherited his cottage and secrets when he died in 2011]

defining quirks:

fusses

with his pipe and antique silver lighter stops to listen for something every so often voice starts soft and weak but gets stronger and more resonant the longer he talks

investigative abilities:

Cryptography, Human Terrain, Languages (French, Greek, Hungarian, Latin, Romanian, Romany, SerboCroatian, Turkish), Military Science, Notice, Outdoor Survival, Tradecraft, Vampirology general abilities: [second set of ratings is for Renfield version of character] Aberrance 0/13, Athletics 5/0, Cover 4, Disguise 2, Driving 3, Explosive Devices 3, Hand-to-Hand 3/13, Health 5/13, Network 15, Piloting 2 (boats), Shooting 8, Surveillance 4/13, Weapons 3/8 alertness modifier: +1, +3 [if Renfield] stealth modifier: +0, +2 [if Renfield] dossier reference:

CU44

people n 1940 people: ''van sloan'' / 1977 People: Alleged Mole

1977 people As with the NPCs listed under the 1940 heading, these characters may not necessarily have been alive or participating during Operation Edom’s 1977–1978 mole hunt. They make excellent mentors or opponents of the player characters during their time on the books with their original agency.

mole hunt of 1977–1978 ended with the identification of an MI6 translator, Nicholas Loman, as the source of the leak within British Intelligence, but before he could be apprehended, he fled the country. He was killed by Securitate soldiers while trying to cross from Hungary into Romania (CU3). Edom’s official investigation into the mole ended with Loman’s death; their secret assault against Dracula’s stay-behind network may have continued afterward. “Cushing” (p. 92) was convinced that Edom had got the wrong man, and that Loman was either unjustly hounded to his death or a scapegoat for the real mole. His annotations in the Dracula Dossier represent his efforts to unpick Edom’s case and find out what really happened. While Loman is officially deceased, the Agents may learn more about him by questioning other people involved in the ’77 mole hunt. He’s still alive in

name:

Nicholas Loman Mole description: mid-30s, pale, nicotinestained hands, hunched shoulders innocent: Loman’s mother escaped Romania just before the Curtain came down, and he grew up speaking Romanian at home. MI6 recruited him out of university, and he spent two years at Station Bucharest working under the Retired MI6 Asset Runner (p. 98) before returning to London. There, he worked in quiet obscurity, translating and analyzing intercepted radio traffic between Moscow and Bucharest, until someone tipped him off that Edom was hunting for him. Loman flew to Switzerland as the noose tightened around him, and made his way across Europe toward Romania. He still had contacts there — friends made during his time in Bucharest, and family in Transylvania — but without solid documentation, he ran into trouble at a border checkpoint. Edom hunters were just behind him, disguised as Hungarian troops; Loman’s nerve broke, and he tried to run past the guards into Romania. A twitchy Securitate guard shot him twice in the back as he ran. He’s remembered as a quiet, thoughtful fellow, always precise in his phrasing. He’d pause when speaking as he searched for the exact translation, the word that most completely encompassed the desired meaning. He had no family other than his aged mother. Edom claimed that Loman was part of Dracula’s stay-behind network, and that his grandfather was among those recruited by the Count in 1894. In this scenario, Loman’s guilt or innocence is really irrelevant. Maybe he was leaking a little to the Securitate, and Dracula wasn’t involved at all.What matters is that Edom used the mole hunt as cover and justification for its own activities. For a few precious months, it had carte blanche to run operations in London and Romania. possible role:

asset:

Loman was part of Edom; the “D” (p. 49) of that era feared that the KGB might attempt its own parallel operation and secure its own vampire. Loman was an excellent analyst, and held a Dukedom within Edom — he was Alvah (p. 50) from 1971–1977. His fall tore Edom apart. He’d helped build its networks in the Eastern Bloc; he was its expert on the KGB andWarsaw Pact’s esoteric elements.With Loman dead and discredited, everything he’d touched turned to dust and could not be relied upon. By identifying Loman as the mole, Edom blinded itself for a generation. In the eyes of Edom’s present-day incarnation, the Loman case proved that there’s no room for weakness when dealing with the Un-Dead. Loman didn’t keep a strong hand on the tiller while running things in Bucharest, and the vampires got their fangs into him. The new Edom is made of sterner stuff. In this scenario, Loman was a danger to Dracula, and his removal was part of the Count’s plans. Where was Loman fleeing to in Romania when he was killed? Are there more allies out there, or was he trying to thwart some vampiric scheme he’d uncovered? Or was he simply outmaneuvered by Dracula, and used as a wedge to break Edom apart? Optionally, Loman might be a secret Legacy — his mother was Romanian, but his father was Quincey Harker (p. 36). minion: Then again, perhaps the mole hunt got the right person — or one of them, anyway. Loman was indeed part of Dracula’s stay-behind network, but he wasn’t the most important mole within MI6. He was sacrificed to protect a more important asset, who may still be in place. Loman was rewarded for his part in the deception. He may still be alive in Romania, or he may have earned immortality as one of Dracula’s vampiric progeny. alternate names: Valerie Anton, George Garrity, Mark [born Mircea] Ilyan dossier reference:

CU3, CU11, CU196, CU201, CU221, CU225, CU227

Alleged Mole As described on page 333, the Edom

their memories — and, if the Securitate incident was faked, he might be alive (or Un-Dead) in Romania to this day.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

Anthropologist : Zarina Petran, Lady Talbot name

possible role:

Cultural attaché, Euro dogooder, Lilith cultist description: mid-60s, beautiful elderly woman, sharply dressed, blue stone necklace innocent: Zarina is a Romanian ex-pat, smuggled out of Romania in July 1978 with Ion Mihai Pacepa, the deputy chief of Romania’s foreign intelligence section. Zarina Petran was a low-level bureaucrat at the Council of Socialist Education and Culture on a list of political dissidents slated for imprisonment. Eventually resettled in Edinburgh, Zarina wrote her PhD thesis on Middle Eastern statuary related to underworld goddesses. A leading supporter of women’s rights in post-Soviet Eastern European countries, Zarina became a powerful voice for the rescue of women in danger of falling to exploitation by the drug trade or human trafficking. She dedicates to such causes the fortune she inherited from her late husband Sir Quentin Talbot, who died in 2002. Agents know of Zarina’s original research on Inanna, Cybele, and Lilith with a 1-point Vampirology spend; Bullshit Detector notices that she seems unsurprised by assertions that references to vampires in her studies are factual. Negotiation gets her to open up about her contacts in the women’s rights movements in Romania and the nearby countries. She is politically connected to the Icelandic Diplomat (p. 119), drops mean-spirited gossip about the Archaeologist (p. 292), and works with the Bucharest Street Cop

(p. 108), the Human Rights Activist (p. 118), and even the Smuggler (p. 131), but mostly relies upon a network of women who all share a similar aim. asset: Zarina has information smuggled out of Romania from the 1970s, when she was in contact with the Defector (p. 93) and thus with Edom. Edom cultivated her to investigate agents of Dracula within the Romanian government, working with the monks of the Fortified Monastery of St. Peter (p. 144). This joint effort aimed to uncover ancient texts that linked the Biblical mother of demons and Goddess of Night, Lilith, with the vampires. She turned over what she knew at the time to Edom during her debrief; her reports are in the MI6 files (accessible to the MI6 Romania Desk Analyst, p. 124) as well as the Edom archive at Ring (p. 172). A 1-point spend each of Digital Intrusion (to uncover her various handles) and Traffic Analysis tracking her online behavior reveals Zarina’s larger goal: recruitment of these women into an organization of so-called “lilin” dedicated to the ancient biblical figure of Lilith, meant as an example of strength in a dangerous, male-dominated world. Despite her well-placed cultists, she remains a child of Communist Romania — nervous about secret police, even burned ones like the Agents. Thus, a little in-person Intimidation — assuming the Agents can Infiltrate the Difficulty 5 security in her various homes, and get past her bodyguard Chrystal (Bodyguard stats, NBA, p. 69) — flips Zarina, giving the Agents access to details on Lilith herself (p. 69). minion: At long last, the Master will have the ultimate ally in the Goddess of Night, Lilith. Zarina is the Conspiracy’s recruiter for the new Lilith initiative, and a dedicated and brilliant agent. She uses the plausible deniability of her work and her past as a known asset to throw off MI6, and could easily be partnered with the “Double Agent” (p. 19) to enact a joint operation between the Lilith branch of the Conspiracy and the Master’s main forces. Zarina has served the Master well since her initiation into the vampire Conspiracy during her time in the Romanian government. In fact, her murdered husband was a sacrificed

Renfield whose money allowed her to build her network across Europe for the glory of the Master. Since then she has operated as a double agent in London, supposedly feeding Edom information while truly solidifying the cult of Lilith under the guise of saving vulnerable women. Once rescued, these women are further brainwashed into the cult and turned into Renfields, eager to serve and pave the way to creating a “Dark Union” between Lilith and Dracula. A 2-point Bullshit Detector spend detects Zarina’s fanaticism; a 1-point spend of both Human Terrain and Occult Studies while looking at Zarina’s online trail notices a subtle emphasis on “alchemical marriage of Black and Red” and other classic “prepare to ally with your enemy” type propaganda. Zarina is fully intent on making sure that the two powerful leaders join forces, and believes that once Lilith and Dracula are on the same side, the world becomes their dual monarchy. alternate names: Bianca Ungur, Adele Nicolescu, Daniela Vasile alternate descriptions: early 60s, scarred face, graceful, walks with a cane early 70s, thin, steel-gray hair, power suits, tea aficionado early 50s, overweight, long eclectic dresses, esoteric jewelry [child prodigy daughter of defector] defining quirks: describes ancient civilizations and folklore as if it were directly relevant to today’s society speaks quickly and commandingly without a trace of Romanian accent always asks what a person’s mother did for a living investigative abilities:

Archaeology, High Society, Human Terrain, Languages (Akkadian, Ancient Greek, English, German, Hittite, Sumerian, Ugaritic), Occult Studies [asset or minion only], Research, Vampirology [asset or minion only] general abilities: Conceal 8, Network 10, Preparedness 4 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +0 dossier reference:

HO45

people n 1977 People: Anthropologist to CIA Agent

name

possible role:

UK expert in Romanian folklore, history, or politics description: mid-60s, heavyset, aristocratic, an academic dowager countess innocent: Garrott’s father served in Romania during the war (possibly with SOE in 1940, if you want to follow that thread). His stories of his experiences inspired her to study Romanian history; by the mid-1970s, she was an assistant in research at Newnham College in Cambridge (and one of the first women to join the Apostles, the same secret society where the Cambridge Five were recruited). Approach her as a student with Flattery or at a university function with High Society to get her talking; alternatively, she’s got enough self-composure to cope with finding an armed spy waiting in her study when she comes home some evening. MI6 consulted her during the 1977 mole hunt, ostensibly to get her opinion on some of Ceausescu’s public speeches and associated newspaper articles in Scînteia, the Party newspaper; they also had her “unofficially” read over some earlier internal MI6 documents, maybe even extracts from the Dracula Dossier.Was this groundwork for a push against Edom that never happened, or did they bring her in to double-check some agent’s story? Other than that brief period of consultation, and a few contacts through academic circles — a Romanian cultural attaché sounded out her politics at a party in 1975, and was rebuffed by her stalwart Conservatism

go to the dump; Reassurance gets some reminiscences about strange visitors to the flat when she was a young girl] early 60s, sour, wears a ratty cardigan, keeps large numbers of dogs mid-20s, sociophobic, big glasses [student reading International Relations; interviewed the specialist extensively before she passed away] defining quirks: witheringly sarcastic perfect diction doesn’t smoke anymore, but keeps forgetting that she gave the damned things up investigative abilities:

Languages, History, Research, Tradecraft [asset or minion only] general abilities:

Network 6, Surveillance 6 alertness modifier: −1 stealth modifier: +0 dossier reference:

CU25, CU96, CU103, CU138, CU182, CU188, CU215, CU218, CU235, VS239

CIA: Agent Kate Bewler name

possible role:

CIA contact, possibly through an Agent’s Network description: early 60s, white hair, black suit, ever-present security detachment innocent: Back in 1977, Bewler was a CIA asset handler attached to Station Bucharest. It was her first assignment; three weeks after she started, it turned into a shitstorm as Edom’s mole hunt

Balkans Specialist : Mabel Garrott

— she’s had nothing more to do with spies since. She considers MI6 to be a bunch of amusing schoolboys; their former Eastern European counterparts, though, were no laughing matter. asset: Her involvement with MI6 was much more extensive than she lets on; checking her academic record turns up several long unexplained sabbaticals that didn’t affect her pension (Accounting or Bureaucracy). They first approached her as a student, and had her pose as a Socialist in the hopes that they’d get a bite from a KGB recruiter. She performed well enough in that role to do several other odd jobs in the early 1970s, and was brought in to keep tabs on Edom’s over-zealous activities during the 1977 fiasco. She kept quiet about what she saw to preserve the façade of her academic life, but maybe (Reassurance) it’s time to exhume the skeletons of the past. Her memory is prodigiously accurate; she can fill in gaps and clarify mysterious allusions in the Dossier. She’ll give a detailed account of what she observed of Edom’s operations — and then, once the Agents depart, she’ll take a radio into the bath with her. minion: That Romanian cultural attaché seduced her with unearthly charisma; when he asked her to spy on MI6 for him, she did. She would have done anything for him — she still would, even now. Isn’t that silly of her? She was only with him for a few days, but he wrote to her for years afterward, and made contact through couriers and dead drops. She dreams of him every night, even now. She thought she saw him once, across the street in London, but that was just a lonely old woman’s fancy, because he hadn’t aged a day. alternate names: Phyllis Hewlett, Vera Ketterly, Peter Whitsun alternate descriptions: late 70s, fading, paper-thin skin, speaks in a whisper. [in a nursing home; interrogate her by posing as figures from her past so she forgets when and where she is] mid-40s, sad and tired, hefting boxes of musty papers [her mother was the specialist, but she passed away a few weeks ago. Filch gets hold of some papers before they

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook crossed into Romania. She salvaged what she could of the CIA network, but MI6’s blundering cost the lives of several of her best sources, and nearly got her killed on a rainy backstreet in Cluj. It left her with a poor opinion of the British agencies. Nearly forty years later, she’s now either head of Station London, or a senior counterterror liaison between the UK and US governments. She’s in London to keep the UK government’s nerves in check; British support for the War on Terror faded after Iraq. As the CIA representative, she gets to attend Joint Intelligence Committee meetings with the heads of MI5, MI6, and GCHQ; traditionally, the CIA representative is supposed to leave halfway through so British domestic matters can be discussed, but, after 7/7, even the heart of England is a front in the war. So far, she hasn’t connected the Edom operation in 1977 to the mysterious “special operatives” that have been deployed with great success in recent years, and her superiors in Washington are willing to let the British have their little secret operation as long as it keeps them on board and gets the job done. As soon as Bewler becomes aware that Edom’s behind the special operatives, she’ll look for ways to shut them down, making her a potentially powerful ally for the Agents. Getting to Bewler is very difficult — she’s closely guarded at all times. High Society is the only approach unless the Agents have existing contacts within the CIA. An introduction (Tradecraft) through one of her old Romanian contacts can set up a brief meeting in a fancy restaurant, but only to discuss the events of 1977 — she won’t talk about active operations. asset: Bewler knows all about Edom — maybe through her part in the 1977 mole hunt, or maybe through some other source, like Quincey Morris. She thinks they’re quaint — a veddy veddy English operation, all old country houses and public schoolboys running around quoting Biblical code names at each other. Whatever — they’ve got the vampires, and the vampires are getting things done in the Middle East. She’ll put up with Edom’s eccentricities and inevitable fuck ups as long as they

keep delivering useful intel and the occasional exsanguinated jihadi — or until she can get her own vampire assets and cut Edom out of the loop. Tradecraft gets rumors through American channels that Bewler’s working with the Brits on something big. minion: The Conspiracy got to Bewler in 1977, and she’s been its woman ever since. It helped her rise through the CIA; it sacrificed lesser minions to bolster her reputation so she’d eventually become the new London chief. Now, she’s running Station London, Station London passes on terror targets to MI6, MI6 assigns those targets to Edom, and Edom sends Dracula after them — which means Dracula’s running himself, able to go wherever he wishes with Edom’s full support and cooperation. She’s been promised immortality in return for her cooperation. Knowing that her youth will return when she becomes a vampire, she’s got a cache of passports and other documents prepared with retouched photos of her youthful appearance (Forgery) in case she needs to flee immediately after the change. alternate names: Theodore Scott, Eloise Buckley, Eric Grenier alternate descriptions: mid-60s, distinguished elder statesman, Texan accent [receiving treatment for hepatic cancer] mid-40s, commanding, noticeable exit-wound scar on left hand [CIA high flier] early 30s, speaks in technical jargon, looks like an all-American action hero, morals of a snake [golden boy in certain CIA circles thanks to Edom connections] defining quirks: eidetic memory for faces no patience for prevarication swears in Arabic investigative abilities:

Criminology, Human Terrain, Languages, Law, Military Science, Tradecraft, Urban Survival general abilities:

Network 15, Preparedness 10 alertness modifier: +2 stealth modifier: +1 dossier reference:

HO68, CU143, CU219, CU225, CU227

''Cushing'' : Lorna Bereford name

possible role: The

daughter or handler of “Cushing” description: mid-40s, brisk and efficient, dark-haired, recently divorced. innocent: Between her day job as manager of a department store, her three kids, her ongoing messy divorce, and her aspirations as a painter, the last thing Lorna Bereford needed was for her father’s dementia to progress to the stage that he could no longer live alone. He’s moved in with her until she can find a more permanent solution for the old man. She knows that he worked in the civil service, and some of the things he’s said since he retired even make her suspect that he was a spy, but she can’t be sure if that’s actually true or just an old man’s confused fantasies. Bureaucracy or Reassurance can convince her that the Agents are health care workers here to assess his needs; if they upset him, though, she’ll try to throw them out. Michael “Cushing” Bereford remembers little about himself or his career; if questioned with Interrogation or Tradecraft, he does recall that the 1977 hunt came to the wrong conclusion, and can give the Agents a lead to investigate. Then he’s gone again, falling back into the shadows of his mind. asset: Bereford knows that her father was in MI6. The MI5 Deputy (p. 123) and Retired MI6 Asset Runner (p. 98) were regular visitors when she was younger, and helped her out financially after the divorce. The Service looks

people n 1977 People: CIA Agent to Defector alternate descriptions:

mid-20s, nurse, short hair, tiny

(barely 5' in heels), relentlessly practical [takes care of that nice old Mr. Bereford in the retirement home] mid-40s, chicken farmer, exhippie, don’t ask about the plants in the greenhouse [his mother is “Cushing”; passed away a few years ago, but left papers in one of the outhouses on the farm] mid-teens, schoolgirl, precocious [idolizes her grandfather, who lives with the family; he’s trained/ groomed her as his agent] defining quirks: defensive about people entering her home stressed and distracted swears instinctively, then tries to cover it up in front of children investigative abilities:

[all as teenage schoolgirl version of character] Electronic Surveillance, Notice, Photography, Tradecraft, Urban Survival general abilities: Driving 3, Preparedness 2 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +0 dossier reference:

CU44, HO92, HO131, HO186

Defector : Andrei Aritonovici name

possible role:

Expert on Ceausescu-era Romanian intelligence description: Late 60s, thin gray beard, worn gray suit, still treasures his case of Securitate medals innocent: Aritonovici worked for Directorate V of the Securitate, bodyguarding government officials both in Romania and on foreign trips. He fled to the West in 1982 in the aftermath of the high-profile defection of Securitate general Ion Mihai Pacepa. A furious Ceausescu demanded purges and internal investigations of the Securitate; Aritonovici left before he could be scapegoated. British Intelligence suspected he was a double and kept him at arm’s length; he’s lived the half-life of the Communist émigré ever since, even after the Ceausescu regime ended.

He’ll talk for money and out of some misguided desire for post-dated redemption; keep him talking with whisky. He can put the Agents in touch with his former colleagues or his MI5 (or Edom) debriefers; he can also shed light on the Romanian side of the Curtain in ’77 (pointing the Agents at a Conspiracy minion who sold Western secrets to the Securitate, or maybe he ran side errands while babysitting some Party delegate on trips abroad). asset: Aritonovici brought news of the mole to the British in 1977, either by trading information or by defecting in place and passing intel to them covertly; his current standing reflects how that news was received and acted upon. If a mole was identified (even incorrectly), then Aritonovici’s seen as a heroic defector and a trusted expert; if they never found a mole, then he’s still under the shadow of suspicion for being a double agent, a spoiler sent to sow doubt. He’s tired of going over old ground, but Intimidation and threats to discredit him can get him talking. In addition to clues about the start of the mole hunt / the identity of the mole / specific information received by the Romanians, he’s got a network of émigré families in England that can be activated as an information source or for street-level work (Urban Survival). minion: As Asset, but his revelations about the mole were orchestrated by Dracula (or some other superior in the Conspiracy). While in the UK, he made contact with whatever stay-behind network existed there; trailing him, or digging into his movements in 1977,

after its own, they said. They also gave her a phone number to call if anyone suspicious comes calling on her father. (Keeping “Cushing” in the care of his family ensures Edom can’t get to him.) Bullshit Detector picks up that she’s hiding something; Traffic Analysis or Tradecraft traces it back to MI6. Michael “Cushing” Bereford is angry and confused. He seems lucid, but suffers from wild paranoid delusions. He can give the PCs a lead or two, but couched in terms that are so bizarre that it’s clear he’s not reliable. (“I never trusted that MI6 man.Why … why … his fillings. I didn’t like his fillings. Codes in his fillings.”) minion: Every month, a man comes to her door and delivers a parcel of syringes. It’s a different man every time, but most of them are Eastern Europeans. Every night, at sundown, she injects the red liquid in the syringe into her father. He begs and pleads and cries — he’s always more like himself in the evenings, as the medication wears off. Sometimes tries to fight back. Sometimes, she has to hurt him. Once the drug takes hold, though, he just sits and stares at the wall, talking to himself in Romanian. He recites lists of what sound like numbers and names, or even has one-sided conversations until the sun dips below the horizon. She doesn’t know why she does this. The Master’s will is like a blind spot in her mind. Vampirology spots that she’s under vampiric influence. Pharmacy reveals that the substance in the syringe is a cocktail including blood plasma, opiates, a neurotoxin derived from the venom of Vipera ursinii, scopolamine, and several unidentifiable chemicals. It’s wreaked havoc on her father’s neurochemistry; he’s dying. With access to a medical lab (and a Pharmacy spend), the Agents can create a counteragent that briefly restores “Cushing” to some level of lucidity — enough to pass on a few clues, and to be aware that some entity was reading his thoughts every sunset, and that They have their fangs in him now. He realizes that he’s a danger to the Agents — they must go on and leave him behind. alternate names: Holly Clay, David Gull, Alex Hunt

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook might reveal Conspiracy assets there. If Aritonivici is still in the UK, then he’s waiting for the call to return home and receive the gift of immortality on one level or another; if back in Romania, he’s already a Renfield at the very least. He may try to use the Agents as cat’spaws and point them toward Dracula’s enemies like he tried to do in 1977, or else just send them into a trap. alternate names: Ion Nastac, Georghe Simion, Victor Dobrescu alternate descriptions: mid-60s, expensive suit, always has a copy of the day’s Washington Post and the Romanian National Courier, uses American idioms [traded over to CIA in the 1980s; now a right-wing columnist and pundit on post-communist Europe] mid-70s, tattered fur coat, wild hair, smells of piss [homeless and alcoholic (or in very deep cover)] mid-70s, laughs easily, reminds Agents of St. Nicholas, beloved patriarch of large family defining quirks: paranoid about being bugged, but uses outdated antisurveillance techniques rude to waiters and other serving staff, hates it when people hover scratches beard investigative abilities:

Criminology, Electronic Surveillance, Military Science, Notice general abilities: Cover 6, Network 10, Preparedness 6, Shooting 4, Weapons 4 (used to be a lot higher) alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +0 dossier reference:

CU11, CU127, CU181, CU219

The: Ágost Hungarian Vámbéry name

Hungarian names are more correctly written surname first, i.e.,Vámbéry Ágost. possible role: Fixer or contact in Hungary and Transylvania description: mid-40s, high forehead, dark wavy hair, walks with a cane innocent: Ágost is a descendant of Ármin Vámbéry (1832–1913), Van Helsing’s “friend Arminius of Buda-Pesth.”

He moved to Hungary from New York after getting his MBA from Princeton in 1989 and set up a wildcat investment bank to pour American capital into Eastern Europe … and to launder Russian and former Communist oligarch money pouring into the West. He’s immune to social, political, and physical pressure: he can hire the best hostesses, legislators, and bodyguards available. He flies from city to city and party to party in Europe, Dubai, the Caribbean, and other fleshpots, constantly on the move from five-star hotel to five-star resort. Agents credibly claiming a few billion to invest (High Society, and possibly Accounting and Forgery) can get his attention long enough to have his PA hire a researcher to scan his great-grandfather’s correspondence, looking for letters from Van Helsing for “an interested collector.” asset: Like his great-grandfather, he keeps a wary eye on the Balkans for British intelligence, especially after the Yugoslavian civil war nearly toppled his fiscal house of cards. Needing liquidity and protection, he expanded his services: he now runs networks in the Balkans for MI6, DGSE, BND, and both the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the CIA. He also does “one-off ” favors for FSB agents hunting Chechen and other terrorists. By now aware he’s in over his head, his continuous travel is a defensive measure to shake all but the best-funded and most persistent surveillance.

Using Tradecraft sets up a meet; Agents who can either swap information (Negotiation) or make a credible offer of secure retirement and protection (Reassurance) can find out what Vámbéry knows about the 1977 mole hunt (a not inconsiderable amount once he shakes his older sources), get access to his great-grandfather’s correspondence with Van Helsing, and possibly find out what Edom is up to in Romania right now. At the Director’s discretion, Vámbéry — like his great-grandfather — may know about vampires (Vampirology notes his precautions at a meet, such as convenient mirrors). minion: As Asset, except that Dracula has already gotten to Vámbéry. His travel is a desperate attempt to keep running water between him and the vampire, but in his terrified heart he knows he’s dead when Dracula says he’s dead. When the Agents approach him, he provides faked “Van Helsing” letters (Forgery will notice discrepancies) or other bad intel setting them up for an ambush by Dracula’s soldiers or, if things have gotten dire enough, by Dracula himself. alternate names: Laila Vámbéry, János Nagy, Zoltán Hivje [the latter two have access to Van Helsing’s letters for unknown reasons, or just have information about the 1977 mole hunt] alternate descriptions: early 30s, shiny European-tailored suit, no necktie but high collar [Oxford, 1997; MBA Harvard, 1999] early 60s, thick lips, overweight masked by expert London tailoring, designer eyeglasses [grandson instead of great-grandson; involved directly in 1977 mole hunt] late 50s, slow and deliberate, sharp chin and nose [grandson instead of great-grandson; involved directly in 1977 mole hunt] defining quirks: conducts all important business in his Jaguar XJR or on his Gulfstream IV slips in and out of a Hungarian accent toys with heavy gold ring

people n 1977 People: Defector to MI5 Deputy investigative abilities:

Accounting, Bureaucracy, High Society, Human Terrain, Languages, Tradecraft, Vampirology [minion and possibly asset only] general abilities: Driving 3, Gambling 6, Network 15, Piloting 3, Preparedness 5 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +0 dossier reference:

CU169,

CU189, CU218

name

possible role:

Mysterious mentor; voice of the Director; muddying the waters description: mid-40s, avoids direct contact with Agents (prefers secure phone line / email / dead drops), keeps to the shadows when meeting Agents in a parking garage or derelict building The write-ups below assume the Informant is a minor player in the whole affair; an observer like a journalist, low-ranking MI6/Edom officer, or a Legacy who was deemed unstable and not worth cultivating. If it looks like the Informant’s going to play a larger role in your campaign, then make the Informant’s true identity someone more significant, like “Cushing” or one of the retired MI5/6 officers. innocent: “Abraham” is a co-worker of “Hopkins”; several grades below her, and several steps behind her. He’s nursed an obsessive crush on her for months, and she inadvertently fueled it when she consulted him about some matter related to the Dossier. He doesn’t know the contents of the mysterious Dossier, but starts looking for it when “Hopkins” vanishes. By making contact with the

[owns a black cab, uses it as a mobile meeting place] mid-50s, dignified, white-haired, always carries an umbrella [uses bicycle messengers to deliver burner phones to the Agents] defining quirks: extremely nervous, jumps at any loud noise or sudden movement carries documents in a padded brown envelope, stamped and addressed to a law firm — he’s arranged with his solicitor that they are to hold any such letters without opening them speaks in a whisper investigative abilities:

History, Research, Tradecraft general abilities: Infiltration 6, Surveillance 6, Preparedness 6 alertness modifier: +2 stealth modifier: +2

MI5: Simon Deputy Cotford name

possible role:

MI5 contact/interrogator if the Agents are captured description: Early 60s, oddly gentle, gray-brown hair, in a wheelchair innocent: Former MI5 officer; in 1977 he was fresh out of university, learning the ropes from a more senior spook (possibly “Cushing” or one of the other retired MI5/6 NPCs, or a now-dead spy); he was also one of the pavement artists trailing suspected foreign Agents during the mole hunt. Crippled in a traffic accident, he was discharged from the service

Informant : “Abraham”

Agents and slowly feeding them the little he knows, he hopes to manipulate them into uncovering the secrets of the Dossier to rescue (or impress) “Hopkins.” As an agent runner, he’s pompous and sloppy, trying too hard to come across as all knowing. The sooner the Agents see through his act (Tradecraft) and disabuse him of his pretensions (Intimidation), the better for everyone. asset: After joining MI6 in the mid1990s, “Abraham” worked under one of the principals in the 1977 operation (probably the Retired MI6 Asset Runner (p. 98)). He sees himself as his former boss’s protégé, and has devoted himself to clearing his mentor’s name or reputation. Depending on your needs, he can either push the Agents toward the correct answer or maybe he’s peddling an unsupportable theory that makes his mentor look good, but the Agents can sift his account for actually useful intel. He thinks he’s a lot better at the trade than he actually is, and his activities will draw the Conspiracy down on the Agents before long. Approach him with Negotiation — trade for his information with a promise of service. minion: “Abraham” is a Conspiracy creation. While he might claim to have been friends with “Hopkins” or someone from the 1977 circle, it’s a lie — “Abraham” never existed. His backstory was conjured into being after the Agents got the Dossier. On first meeting the Agents, he’ll ask to see the Dossier. Assuming they’re not foolish enough to carry it with them, he gives them some chickenfeed (low-grade intel, such as Dun Dreach-Fhola, p. 235 or the Sculptor, p. 100) and sends them on their way. Repeat until he’s won the Agents’ trust, then steal the Dossier and tie up the loose ends, either by sending the Agents into a deathtrap or just setting up a meet that turns into a trap. alternate names: Adrian Price, George Leavener, Susan Moore [uses voice-altering software in her phone/ speaker, or the pseudonym “Florence”] alternate descriptions: mid-20s, stringy, overlarge glasses [communicates solely through electronic means] mid-40s, balding beneath his flat cap, strong London accent

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook and went into the diamond business. Global Gems trades in stones all over the world (including mines in Romania). He doesn’t talk willingly about his time in the Service. High Society or Negotiation lets Agents pose as potential buyers, or Geology as gemologists. Once they’ve gotten close to him, Tradecraft or Cop Talk gets his recollections about Edom and the mole hunt. He can either point the Agents at another contact (such as the Informant (p. 95) or the Defector (p. 93)) who knows more. If the traffic accident that crippled him was a cover for some other injury, then he might bear a grudge against Edom or the Conspiracy, and be willing to bankroll the PCs — or maybe he kept some memento of his time in MI5, like some files or an object? Possibilities for the latter include the Knife Set (p. 272) or the Westenra Brooch (p. 284). asset: He stayed on at MI5 despite his injuries, rising through the ranks. He’s on the verge of forced retirement, but clings on to close out a few old operations. He might unofficially take charge of the Agents’ cases if they’re arrested on British soil; Notice or Research might correlate CU187 with their wheelchair-bound interrogator, and give the Agents an opening to appeal to Cotford for aid. They could also track him down through Tradecraft or Diagnosis, matching CU187 to his few public appearances. As an asset, Cotford can pull strings within the British Establishment or provide access to MI6 files, MI5 surveillance data, or GCHQ intercepts, as well as any help listed above under Innocent. Global Gems is an MI6 cut-out that Cotford helped set up, and he makes its resources available if convinced that the mole or its masters are still a threat. minion: If the Conspiracy is running Edom, then Cotford joined Edom in 1977 (conceivably, he’s actually Oakes, p. 52). Play him as an innocent or asset while he gains the Agents’ trust, then bring Fort (p. 51) or Ian (p. 51) in an ambush. Alternatively, if he’s directly influenced by Dracula, Cotford’s value to the Conspiracy is going to plummet

when MI5 forces him to retire, so he can be sacrificed by killing him and framing the Agents or Edom for his death. alternate names: Alan Barrington, Sylvia Burroughs, Helen Paxton alternate descriptions: mid-60s, craggy features, wears a grubby raincoat, prosthetic leg late 50s, oddly youthful, welldressed, walks with a limp mid-60s, already writing her memoirs, heavyset, in a motorized chair defining quirks: demands that one character push the chair / support him as he limps (+2 Difficulty to Sense Trouble / Hand-to-Hand / Weapons when ambushed) uses a jeweler’s loupe to examine objects or documents obsessively washes hands investigative abilities:

Accounting, Geology, Human Terrain, Law, Tradecraft general abilities: Hand-to-Hand 1, Network 15, Preparedness 10 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: −1 dossier reference:

CU47, CU60, CU96, CU168, CU180, CU187, CU221, CU227

Psychic : Osmond Alfred Singleton, a.k.a. name

Aleister Singleton, a.k.a.A.A. Singleton

possible role: Occult expert, genuine psychic description:

late 60s, tubby, disturbingly intense gaze, balding with comb-over innocent: Aleister Singleton is a former parapsychology researcher turned occultist and ritual magician. (Research notes his assumption of the more occult-sounding pseudonym in 1972 following the success of the American teen singing combo the Osmonds.) He founded and leads the Order of Darkness. He has a number of followers who revere him as a spiritual leader, and a much larger number of hangers-on and socialites who attend the notoriously debauched parties/ rituals at Singleton’s London home. Depending on which tabloid account you read, these rituals involve bizarre sex acts, rampant drug abuse, Freemasonry,

blood drinking, Satanic black masses, reptile-men shedding their human skin, and one or more members of the Royal Family. He claims to have obtained supernatural powers through his study of the occult, although his detractors point out that sleight-of-hand, theatrics, and hallucinogenic drugs offer a more plausible explanation than his stories of studying at the Scholomance (p. 219). Either Holmwood (p. 43), the Sculptor (p. 100), the Petroleum Executive (p. 127), or any other wealthy Londoner could show up at one of Singleton’s private parties; the Drug Boss (p. 113), Human Trafficker (p. 118), or Tabloid Journalist (p. 134) might also be there behind the scenes. Some of his acolytes are also habitués of the Online Mystic’s (p. 126) forum although the two have not apparently crossed paths. In 1977, when he still had some credibility left as an academic (“before Morocco,” as he puts it), he was brought in by Edom as a consultant on psychic phenomena. Ever since, he drops hints about his“government work”as a“psychic spy” at the slightest provocation, but he can give few specifics if questioned with Flattery — he might know the Balkans Specialist (p. 91) or the Seismologist (p. 100), but, while he dealt with “Cushing” (p. 92) and the Retired MI6 Asset Runner (p. 98), he knows them only by old worknames. With Negotiation, he admits that he knows little about what really

people n 1977 People: MI5 Deputy to Retired KGB Agent not have killed his grandfather (CU178) but instead recruited him: and, thus, his lineage. However it began, Singleton’s London parties are a cover for vampire activity in London; they can hide in plain sight amid the poseurs and the wannabes. Flirting or High Society can get an Agent into one of Singleton’s private rituals; Occult Studies or Vampirology notes their disturbing authenticity (and if the Agents have read Le Dragon Noir, also discerns their origin). Getting out again is another matter entirely. alternate names: Helena Singleton, Austin Lees, Lola Grant alternate descriptions: mid-30s, voluptuous, tattooed throat and arms, revealing clothing [daughter of original psychic] mid-30s, handsome, predatory looks, dark suit [former lover and acolyte of Singleton, carries on his work/scam] mid-20s, white-blonde hair, blind, Russian accent [Singleton’s protégé; possibly a genuine psychic] defining quirks: expensive tastes (assuming you’re buying) drops hints he’s immortal (“I told that Jew to be careful that night”) different pretty young girl or boy every night commanding voice investigative abilities:

Archaeology, Art History, Astronomy, History, Human Terrain, Notice, Occult Studies, Vampirology general abilities: [A really highweirdness campaign might even give Singleton some Aberrance points and some magical or psychic ability, but he works better as an occult expert, not a supernatural threat] Filch 10, Gambling 6, Hypnosis 8, Preparedness 8 alertness modifier: +2 stealth modifier: +1 dossier reference:

CU81, CU93, CU96, CU98, CU138, CU148, CU162, CU222, CU229

happened, but he did filch something from Edom in a fit of pique — maybe a folder of papers or an object like a Cameo of Dracula (p. 263) or a wax cylinder recording. He may also have his grandfather’s original Spirit Board (p. 279). If the Agents can obtain a copy of Le Dragon Noir (p. 273) for him, he’ll trade. (Occult Studies is actually a terrible way to approach Singleton; he doesn’t want to cross paths either with worthy rivals or true adepts.) asset: Edom were careful to compartmentalize any information that Singleton had access to, but he put together enough to work out that there was something genuinely supernatural out there, and it had connections to Romania. Singleton tried to dig up more information. He cultivated relationships with Romanian diplomats, tried to get an invitation to visit the Ceausescus, toured Romania several times between 1983 and 1988 — and got picked up by the KGB as an asset. His contacts in London included the Retired KGB Agent (p. 97). The Soviets used him to gather potential blackmail targets among London’s elite; like Edom, they dropped Singleton as an unreliable asset after a short time — and without KGB protection, Singleton didn’t dare continue his research. However, if he gets hold of proof that vampires exist, then he may decide potential immortality is worth the risk. He’ll become an unreliable ally of the Agents (Negotiation), offering them what he learned if they share everything they discover with him. He’ll double-cross them once he gets enough information about vampires (especially Le Dragon Noir, p. 273, or a Bride of Dracula, p. 57). One of the regular attendees at Singleton’s recent ceremonies in London is the son of a Russian oligarch with FSB ties; through him, Singleton can contact the FSB and get assistance from them if he’s got something to trade (like Edom’s secrets). minion: Singleton might have been compromised by Dracula when he went to Romania in ’83. Or maybe it happened before that, at a distance — sensitive minds are drawn to worship the Master, just like the original Renfield. Or even before that — Dracula may

Retired KGB Agent : Dmitri Lobanov name

possible role:

External view of 1977 mole hunt description: late 50s, heavy graying mustache, dark brows, heavy canvas tool bag innocent: Lobanov was one of the KGB’s field hands during the late 1970s and ’80s, until he was burned by a former colleague and arrested in England — for assault and grievous bodily harm, not espionage. Ten years in Long Lartin prison followed; MI5 discovered Lobanov was a spy and debriefed him while he was incarcerated. These days, he’s a plumber doing odd jobs around North London. Cop Talk or Interrogation works best on him; brings back memories of the bad days. One of Lobanov’s first assignments was observing the 1977 mole hunt. The whole thing caught the KGB off guard entirely — it wasn’t their mole, after all — and several of their lower-level assets got swept up in Edom’s sudden sweep of London’s ghost world. Lobanov himself was arrested, questioned, and released without charge. He can identify some of the major players in the hunt, although he can only speculate about what really went on inside MI6 in those heady, strange days. asset: You never really leave us, Dmitri. And we never really left. The KGB may be gone, but the Russian FSB inherited their agent networks and assets, including

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook Dmitri. His young “nephew” Mikey handles the technical stuff — clamping black boxes onto fiber-optic cables running under the financial Square Mile, bugging offices, computer stuff — but Dmitri still handles the wet work and the leg-breaking.The man knows his way around a lead pipe. Again, threatening him with Cop Talk might convince him to talk, but the Agents had better have done their homework and obtained proof of Dmitri’s more recent crimes with Photography or some other ability first, because vague threats won’t fly. Questioning Dmitri attracts interest from the FSB. minion: Two possibilities — Dmitri was turned by the mole (if there was one) in 1977, or he was turned while in prison. If you go with the first option, then Dmitri interfered with Edom’s operations (possibly, he impulsively stopped watching and got involved, killing a Duke) and was rewarded with entry into the Conspiracy. Maybe he was promised immortality when Dracula returns to England, or he communes with some subterranean forces when he descends into the sewers to fix the plumbing. If recruited in prison, then maybe Edom got to him, cutting his sentence short in exchange for loyalty. He might also be a wild card, recruited by some feral Renfield (maybe a withered, abandoned branch of Dracula’s old network) and operating independently of both the Conspiracy and Edom, trying to divine the wishes of the Master through dreams and blood. alternate names: Oleg Chzov, Boris Melekhin, Vilen Seleznyov alternate descriptions: mid-20s, greasy ponytail, rap blaring from earphones [“nephew” of the former agent; FSB stringer] mid-50s, protective of his hands, drinks in Irish pubs [moonlighted as an IRA bomb-maker after the Russians burned him] mid-30s, sharp suit, fast car, money to burn [son of former KGB spy; now bodyguard/ fixer/troubleshooter for a Russian oligarch]

defining quirks:

hunches shoulders wipes greasy hands

on overalls when speaking instinctively locates nearest weapon when entering a room investigative abilities:

Electronic Surveillance, Tradecraft general abilities:

Explosive Devices 4, Mechanics 8, Shooting 10, Weapons 8 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +1 dossier reference:

HO166, CU168, CU187, CU225, CU228

Retired MI6 Asset Runner : Eugene Dragos name

possible role:

MI6 expert on mole hunt and/or Romania; mentor description: early 70s, portly, bald, stage English accent innocent: Dragos’ family fled Romania in the ’50s and settled in England. His father was owed a debt by the Crown for services rendered during the war (at the very least, he was a haiduc or “outlaw,” involved in the anti-Nazi and later antiCommunist resistance — assuming he wasn’t one of the local guides during the 1940 Edom operation), so Dragos got a good English education. MI6 had its eye on him from a young age, and, by his mid-20s, Dragos was back across the Curtain, building networks in Romania. He was involved in the mole hunt in Romania, and then called back for its final stages in London. Did Dragos catch the mole? Or was he Edom’s or Dracula’s patsy, brought in to bless and seal their preferred outcome — Dragos was the MI6 authority on Romanian intelligence back then, so if he said that the mole was caught, that was the final answer as far as the authorities were concerned. He retired from MI6 and went into politics; he was a lobbyist and fixer for various industries. Always self-conscious about his background, Dragos goes too far in being the perfect Englishman and ends up seeming comical. He’s especially sensitive about superstitions and tales of ghosts and monsters, which he

dismisses as nonsense and takes as a veiled jibe at his Romanian heritage. He won’t talk unless the Agents go through someone he trusts; both High Society and Tradecraft are needed to get to the level he considers himself to operate on, and any mention of Vampirology without Reassurance ends the meeting immediately. As far as he’s concerned, the 1977 affair is done and dusted, of academic interest only. asset: He’s been Edom’s man since he was six years old. When he was 15, while other boys at the boarding school talked about what they’d do when the Soviet bombs fell onWiltshire, Dragos worried about a plague of vampires swarming out of Romania and devouring the teeming millions of England. He ran Edom operations under MI6 cover. He was always on the militant wing of Edom, believing that Dracula and his line were too dangerous to be allowed to survive, and that the only way to use a vampire was to keep it under strict control. Edom cut him loose in the 1990s — a difference of opinion, or was Edom dropping out of sight again, and Dragos’ profile was too high for him to be of use to it? Either way, the only way to obtain his cooperation is to provide proof (or forged evidence) that Edom can’t control its vampiric assets. Deep inside, Dragos is terrified of the vampiric outbreak. One or two vampires in England, kept on a tight leash, are an intelligence asset. Thousands of vampires, their numbers growing every night, is an apocalypse.

people n 1977 People: Retired KGB Agent to Retired MI6 Computer Boffin

investigative abilities:

History, Human Terrain, Languages general abilities: Network 10 alertness modifier: +0 stealth modifier: +0 dossier reference:

CU21, CU103, CU181, CU188, CU218, CU227, VS246, CU249

Retired MI6 Computer Boffin : Brian Blackwood name

possible role:

Hacker emeritus/ connection to “Cushing” description: late 50s, like a grotesque schoolboy, gets winded when excited, wild hair, thick wooly jumper innocent: Blackwood never lost his childish love for spy gadgets and computers. He did “nuts and bolts” work for MI6 in the 1970s, building ever-smaller radiotransmitters and spy cameras. He left the service in the mid-1980s, and went into the private sector to work in R&D in various British tech companies; these days, he’s a semi-retired inventor with a laboratory in his garden shed. He’s seen as an eccentric crackpot by his neighbors. Before leaving MI6, he set up the deep-buried tripwires within their monitoring systems that “Cushing” requested (see p. 11; “Cushing” is on p. 92). He might have worked with the Seismologist (p. 100) to get the correct parameters for the tripwire. Data Recovery on MI6’s computers connects his old user ID to the tripwires. If the PCs want to pressure him, Research (or Cop Talk) discovers his friendship with Geoffrey Prime (notorious pedophile and KGB agent, arrested in 1982); Interrogation pushes him to talk. He can identify the real “Cushing,” describe the monitoring criteria programmed into the system, or point the Agents at other MI6 agents. He’s unaware of the mole hunt,other than what he read in the papers at the time. asset: Blackwood still does off-the-books work for MI6, providing bugging devices and other hardware for operations, especially ones that for one reason or another can’t go through the usual technical channels (unapproved vampire hunting, perhaps?) His primary contact at MI6 for most of his career was the Retired MI6 Asset Runner (p. 98). Examining a recovered gadget with Mechanics recognizes Blackwood’s little personal grace notes; recruiting him as an asset can be done with Flattery or by pressuring him as described above. In addition to providing the information listed above, Blackwood can also describe later

espionage operations, including the recent attempt to reactivate Dracula as a counterterror weapon. His workshop is a gadgeteer’s toyshop — treat it as a cache (NBA, p. 94), but equipment is purchased using Mechanics instead of Preparedness. minion: Among the gadgets and failed experiments in Blackwood’s shed are copper dowsing rods and magneto-telluric imaging equipment (recognized with Geology, Notice, or Vampirology). Blackwood’s research into these currents brought him under the vampire’s psychic sway. Encrypted files on his computer bear a disturbing resemblance to Renfield’s Journal (p. 277). He might be a lone operator, unconnected to the rest of the Conspiracy (at least, until the Master calls him) or have made contact with other agents of Dracula after his telluric conversion. alternate names: Mayur Om Patil, Barbara Wilcox, “Gandalf ” alternate descriptions: mid-50s, Indian, easily agitated [converted to Islam and is now studying theology; suspicious of former intelligence colleagues] late 50s, virtually blind, computer science lecturer [poker fanatic; will only talk to Agents over a game of cards; Gambling lets them wager cash for answers] late 50s, crustie eco-activist, refuses to use any modern technology [up a tree, protesting about the destruction of primal woodland; only helps if the Agents sabotage the construction company]

Bullshit Detector (or Intimidation or Vampirology) notes that Dragos twitches nervously whenever a moving light source sends shadows cascading across the wall; if the Agents convince him they’ve got a shot at taking down Edom, he’ll tell them what he knows. minion: The vampires got to Dragos when he was stationed in Romania. He’s got no memory of the events — maybe he’s hypnotized, under some supernatural compulsion, has a Jekyll-and-Hyde schtick going on with the Seward Serum (p. 51), or just repressed the horror. If he wasn’t the mole, then he covered the mole’s tracks on Dracula’s behalf. Bullshit Detector picks holes in his story. alternate names: Sinjin Rollet, Tom Olteanu, Olga Silivasi alternate descriptions: mid-60s, obese, condescending [wealthy family with connections to Burdett’s Private Bankers (p. 143), now public school headmaster] early 20s, serious and sullen, backpacker in Romania [grandson of Eugene, learned about vampires at a young age; believes it’s his duty to hunt them solo] late 70s, frail and tiny, eerily bright eyes [former Romanian aristocrat; returned in 1990s to reclaim family mansion, and now lives alone in a huge dusty castle] defining quirks: fastidious about table manners exaggerated English accent stammers when nervous

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook defining quirks:

childish pranks snorts when he D&D player

laughs

investigative abilities:

See Also

OCR | Digital Collections

Chemistry, Data Retrieval, Electronic Surveillance, Forgery, Photography general abilities:

Digital Intrusion 6, Mechanics 10 alertness modifier: −1 stealth modifier: −1 dossier reference:

CU162,

100

HO186, CU223

Sculptor : Vivienne Aytown-Baptiste name

possible role :

Unlikely lead, Art History expert description: mid-30s, glamorous, fashionably dressed, fantastic boots innocent: Viv Aytown-Baptiste runs a gallery and art dealership in Soho out of a converted Edwardian fire station. Her mother, Linda Aytown, was a sculptor, and the granddaughter of noted painter Francis Aytown (p. 40). While Vivienne sometime sells work by her family, she specializes in pieces by upand-coming young artists in London, especially those of Trinidadian origin. Pose as a potential buyer (High Society or Negotiation) and Flirt

with her to get her to show you the private rooms upstairs. If you’re lucky, some of Francis Aytown’s work like the Portrait of Dracula (p. 275), studies for the Dracula Cameos (p. 263), or his Photographic Studies (p. 262) might be on display; Viv certainly knows who the current owners are. In a junkroom on the top floor are some busts made by her mother in the 1970s for a mysterious client. Photography guesses that, if they were lit just right, they’d be usable as passport photographs for someone who didn’t show up on camera. Geology identifies the stone as marble quarried from somewhere in Romania (near Dracula’s Castle, perhaps?) The bust may identify a vampire who was at large in London during the 1977 mole hunt. asset: She’s involved with criminal elements in Romania — maybe the Drug Boss (p. 113) smuggles heroin inside artwork, or maybe it’s just straight money laundering for the Romanian Mafia (p. 157). She’s too proud to crack under pressure, so once the Agents uncover the evidence of her criminal activity with Accounting or Criminology, then Negotiation or Interrogation gets her to reveal what she knows. As an ally, she can help smuggle Agents out of England into Romania even when they’ve got a high Heat. minion: As Asset, but she’s also working for Dracula. In this scenario, she also deals in antiques; having piles of Roman and Turkish gold coins sitting in a dusty vault is nice, but what your well-heeled vampiric Conspiracy needs these days is London property and a platinum credit card. Through her high society connections, Aytown helps Dracula convert his fortune into euros and sterling and dollars. alternate names: Linda Aytown, Yin Jun Chu, Markus Willets alternate descriptions: mid-60s, weathered face, rough hands [still working as a sculptor; recent work inspired by strange dreams] mid-30s, elegant and unflappable, drops references to obscure artists and collectors to determine Agents’ knowledge of art scene and available assets [art dealer and broker; purchased Aytown collection]

mid-40s, Dutch, merry

eyes, casual dress, shoulder satchel [agent of Dutch private collector, recently acquired a number of Aytown pieces but has yet to bring them back to the Netherlands] defining quirks: effusively over-friendly ensures everyone has a glass of wine at all times gossips about art world investigative abilities:

Accounting, Art History, Human Terrain, Photography general abilities: Conceal 6, Disguise 4, Network 6 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +0 dossier reference:

HO84

Seismologist : Edwin Bullard name

possible role: Seismology expert/contact

description: late 60s, face like an emaciated

tortoise, wiry strength, plastic raincoat

innocent: Bullard worked at the Blacknest

seismological research site for years, on contract with the Ministry of Defence. There, they experimented with ways to detect underground atomic bomb testing. “Cushing” contacted him in the early 1980s and gave him access to heavily redacted documents dealing with the 1940 and 1977 quakes and telluric currents, and asked him to work with the Retired MI6 Computer Boffin (p. 99) to develop the trigger in the MI6 computer archives. While that was his only direct contact with anything connected to the Dossier, Bullard became obsessed with what he’d glimpsed. He’s now a crank promoting wild theories about invisible currents of force and supernatural energies moving through the ground. His former peers and students disown him (he taught the Volcanologist (p. 136) between leaving Blacknest and losing his job as a university lecturer). He’s convinced of the reality of the Earthquake Device (p. 266), but has no idea about vampires or Edom. Fringe Science, if it’s in use in your game, works to convince him you’re not one of those fools who swallows everything they’re told; Flattery also works.

people n 1977 People: Retired MI6 Computer Boffin to seismologist

for the Petroleum Executive’s (p. 127) company, prospecting and developing Romania’s oil fields. He took the job to get closer to the telluric secrets he’d seen in the Dossier. He got into trouble with local law enforcement and ended up being doubled by the Romanian SRI (p. 156) or the FSB on behalf of Gazprom, the Russian state energy goliath. The Volcanologist (p. 136) is his protégé.

alternate names:

Henry Thirlaway, Ed Loughlin, Dr. Loda Pasil alternate descriptions: late 80s, deaf as a rock, face like a wax mask, housebound late 50s, well-dressed, much younger Romanian wife, convinced of own genius late 60s, always in overalls or hiking gear, avid gardener, bored by retirement defining quirks: always asks for a glass of water and leaves it undrunk on the table, watches for vibrations smokes heavily has a “lucky stone” in his pocket investigative abilities:

Geology, Military Science, Outdoor Survival general abilities: [second set of ratings is for Renfield version of the character] Aberrance 0/6, Hand-to-Hand 0/6, Health 4/8, Mechanics 8 alertness modifier: +0, +3 [if Renfield] stealth modifier: +0, +1 [if Renfield] dossier reference:

CU91, CU100, CU153, CU162, CU190, HO206, HO247

101

asset: Since the early 1990s, Bullard’s worked

Ill health forced him to retire to England, but he still keeps tabs on events in Romania, both political and geological. As his health declines, his mind turns more and more to halfredacted lines in the Dossier, words like “immortality” and “rebirth.” The blood is the life, and Bullard will sell the Petroleum Executive, his FSB/SRI handler, and the Agents out to get his hands on some form of immortality or the Earthquake Device. Diagnosis suggests he’s terminally ill; with that as leverage, Negotiation or Reassurance can get him talking. minion: Or maybe he’s already gotten his wish — using the Earthquake Device (p. 266) to follow telluric currents, by exploring long-buried caverns in the mountains, or by sheer bad luck, he located the lair of Dracula or one of the Count’s vampiric minions in Romania. Bullard’s now a Renfield, sent back to England to serve the Conspiracy. He might be just another servant of the Master, kept back until he is needed, or a significant node in the Conspiracy’s English network. He still consults with various mining companies and the Ministry of Defence, which gives him an excuse for shipping boxes of earth or heavy machinery around the country. Notice spots some old wounds on his neck; Diagnosis suggests he’s unusually spry for an old man.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

102

2011 people The current compiler of the Dossier (“Hopkins”) provides leads to these supporting characters. This section also includes “standard” leads, contacts, and likely NPC encounters for any 2015 investigation in Romania. Here, especially, the Director should try to tie these encounters into pre-existing Network contacts and other player-character connections: change names, nationalities, genders, anything — connecting the players’ associates to Edom and the Conspiracy is more important than any such minor details we provide here.

Arms Runner : Razan Funar name

possible role:

Supplier of illegal weapons and equipment, criminal contact description: late 20s, twitchy, confident, black leather jacket. innocent: Funar imports weapons — mostly Russian-made handguns and rifles, but he can source knockoffs of other weapons and heavier stuff if the money’s right — from Transnistria. He drives a container truck with concealed smuggling compartments, and offers a 72-hour delivery service. If you’ve got his number, you can call your buddy Funar up, and within three days he’ll

show up at your door with a truck full of guns — and then you’d better go out partying with him, because he’s addicted to a Moldovan amphetamine called Vint (a mix of ephedrine, iodine, and red phosphorus), and, if he ever comes down, he’ll crash for days. Better to keep him awake until he takes another hit and zooms off again. Funar is everybody’s friend — at least, everybody who’s in the market for cheap Russian hardware. He’s got an encyclopedic knowledge of criminal groups in Europe and, with a few exceptions, has managed to stay on everyone’s good side. Streetwise gets the gossip; Pharmacy to treat the symptoms of his addiction or to keep him wired also accepted in lieu of cash. If you’re connecting The Dracula Dossier with The Zalozhniy Quartet, then Funar works with Mr. Happy. asset: He’s everybody’s friend — including the Romanian SRI. They picked him up at the border one night, and convinced him that talking was better than rotting in a jail cell. His handler might be the SRI Agent in Charge (p. 133); certainly the Romanian Police Inspector (p. 130) would love to get hold of Funar, but has been warned to keep her hands off. If the Agents learn that Funar’s compromised, they can leverage this with Intimidation. minion: He’s everybody’s friend. Unlike most of Dracula’s minions, Funar is neither an obsessive worshipper of the Master nor a pawn. His relationship with the Conspiracy is based around mutual gain. They’re excellent customers for his wares, and pay in hard currency or even gold coins. (Alternatively, if Leutner Fabrichen (p. 146) is in play, then Funar sells weapons for the Conspiracy.) Better, he’s picked up a few tricks from them. He knows that if he buries weapon caches in certain fields in Transylvania, he can find them again by looking for blue flames on the right night of the year. He knows that if he draws a particular sigil on the mudguards of

his truck, it’ll bring bad weather and storms that delay everyone else on the road apart from him. And he knows that if anyone ever asks him for a special item, like silver bullets or a stakelauncher, he’s to contact his friends and warn them. They’ll do the rest. If you’ve been a good friend to Funar (Streetwise), he might give you five minutes head start before calling in the Conspiracy. If you want to link The Dracula Dossier to The Zalozhniy Quartet, then Funar’s the European end of the Lisky Bratva girl-and-gun-smuggling racket that runs from Odessa. alternate names: Natalia Constantin, Simon Vaduva, Alexey Volkov alternate descriptions: waif-like girl, looks mid-teens (but she’s got to be older, right?), hard gray eyes like a winter sky, carries a canvas bag as big as she is full of guns [preternaturally good shot] mid-40s; neckbeard; furrier (free fur coat if you spend enough); claims to be ex-Spetsnaz, but he’s bluffing [spot his deceit with Bullshit Detector or Military Science for a discount] mid-30s, Russian, softly spoken despite the prison tattoos, looks at you with the cold regard of a cobra [ties to Russian Mafiya] defining quirks: rubs his jaw gingerly — Vint causes bone decay, and heavy users often lose their jawbones assumes that everyone else is just as ready to have fun carries several cellphones investigative abilities:

Criminology, Military Science, Traffic Analysis, Urban Survival general abilities: Driving 10, Explosive Devices 6, Network 6, Shooting 6 alertness modifier: +1 [if drugged up], −2 [if strung out] stealth modifier: +0 dossier reference:

HO56

people n 2011 people: Arms Runner to Art Forecaster

name

possible role:

Can drop hints or leads for things to come. Has a deep knowledge of art, artifacts, and antiquities and where they may be found. Can arrange contact with anyone connected to the art or design trade throughout Europe and abroad. description: mid-40s, or a well-preserved 50s, or maybe just one of those people who always looks pretty good for their age. Short, dark-haired and large-eyed, with perfect makeup and accessories. innocent: Iulia is a jet-setting consultant. Her business card says “Trend Forecaster,” which means she gets paid lots of money by very large companies to advise them on what she thinks the next big thing is for their industry — and she’s usually right. She is able to “go native” in almost any community and absorb the cultural currents of the moment, which means she can be placed into any significant setting the Agents are going to be exploring. She tends not to lie (too much) about what she does, though she’s very close to the vest about whether she’s actually working for anyone at the moment. She always seems to know the right people to talk with to move between borders, get out of trouble, or smooth other legal hassles, which makes her a valuable contact. She’s big on quid pro quo deals, whether for services or information. She may take an interest in a character on a professional level (if they have connections to the arts, design, or manufacturing industries

operative (and has made a compelling case that immersion in that world would destroy her ability to read the cultural currents around her), but she’s a mercenary at heart and is happy to take intelligence money in order to provide cover for the occasional operation.Thus, she has almost certainly done some consulting for Edom, even if she doesn’t recognize the name or the operation. minion: Iulia was originally one of the Ruvari Szgany, a child of Dracula’s original servants in Romania and Transylvania. As a young girl in 1940, she took up her legacy as a member of Dracula’s circle, running messages — and later interference — between him and Antonescu’s forces. When the Russian invasion’s dust settled (and her Master, briefly, with it), she was left with nothing but the loss of her life’s purpose, and turned to reclaiming, restoring, and preserving artifacts from Dracula’s Castle and things associated with his activities throughout the region. Some of these artifacts had the effect of keeping her well preserved as the years went on. By the late 1970s, she had built up quite the collection of valuable and historically significant objects, and used the influence this brought her to establish ties with museums, galleries, and curators throughout Europe. When Edom came calling, she recognized the agents for what they were. Whether as a servant of her re-awoken Master, or out of her own desire to preserve his secrets, she again ran interference and used her network of allies and sycophants to muddy the investigation. Perhaps she allowed herself to be recruited as an asset (as above) in order to do so, and has been playing an elaborate doubleblind game ever since. In the current day, she has capitalized on her extensive time spent observing the world from a safe distance to sell her services to fashion houses, design firms, and consultancies seeking to stay ahead of the curve on trends and the tastes of the public. Her uncanny ability to pinpoint the next big thing across so many different industries has netted her more connections and influence than she ever could have had squatting in Castle Dracula. She flits

103

Art: Iulia Forecaster Vãduva

as their cover), or simply because she feels like they’re a person of interest to the trend currents she’s following at the moment. Human Terrain, Tradecraft, or Streetwise all reveal that she’s not “of ” the surrounding social landscape, and High Society, Art History, or Negotiation secures her assistance for the moment, depending on the subject matter. She is very difficult to Intimidate. Flirting might help, depending on the Agent’s relative age and technique. She works with the Sculptor (p. 100) regularly; she probably also knows the Human Rights Activist (p. 118) through their shared Roma ancestry. A 1-point Research spend indicates that an antiquities dealer also named Iulia Vãduva had galleries in Bucharest, Budapest, and Munich during the 1970s, curating an extensive personal collection of Eastern European artifacts and objects of religious interest, including Roma art, which she collected and showed considerably before the European vogue for “outsider” art took off. If asked about the coincidence, Iulia says “Art is very much in my blood,” and doesn’t provide any further details. (In a 1977 scenario, use this Iulia if you wish.) It takes a surprising amount of further digging (another 1-point spend) to find out that the 1970s Iulia is herself of Roma ancestry, born in Transylvania during the chaos of the war. asset: Iulia was first tapped by Western intelligence (MI6, CIA, BND — whoever the Agents have a previous association or Network contact with) in the 1990s as an on-the-ground informant, and has since proved to be a fantastic local asset. Her legitimate family connections throughout the region give her an unexpectedly strong grasp on the currents of power, who’s on the rise and who’s about to fall, and her predictions are right more often than not. As she grew her cover career she’s become more and more invaluable, to the degree that she’s treated with reverential mysticism in some quarters. Those from the relevant agency will know that she’s an asset (Tradecraft) and may possibly get her help through Network connections. She’s had to resist being pulled into an agency as an

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night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook through the halls of modern business like a ghost, unrestrained by national boundaries or allegiances. She brings everything she learns about humanity, their desires and fears, what they burn for and what they are prepared to leave behind, back to her Master. She may be a full Renfield, but the needs of that position could actually make it harder for her to exercise her ability to read trends. The decision of Dracula to bring her more completely into the Conspiracy could be a trigger for her to seek help from the players; alternately, her abrupt disappearance from her current activities could set off shock waves in the mortal world that highlight the Conspiracy’s actions. alternate names: Elena Ciobanu, Cristian Ionescu, Amelie Hervé alternate descriptions: late 60s, severely coiffed, perfectly tailored couture mid-30s, trim build, soft eyes, well-kept mustaches early 40s, blonde wavy hair, prominent beauty mark defining quirks: unblinking stare smiles at seemingly random places during conversation takes notes on everything in a little black notebook investigative abilities:

Architecture, Art History, Bullshit Detector, Flattery, High Society, Human Terrain, Languages (Czech, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese (“enough to read a contract”), Romany, Russian), Streetwise, Urban Survival general abilities: [second set of ratings is for asset or minion version of character] Cover 5, Network 10, Preparedness 4/12 alertness modifier: +2, +1 [if innocent] stealth modifier: 0, −1 [if innocent] dossier reference:

HO58, HO84

Black Site Interrogator “ ”: name and workname

Manuel “Cyclops” Echeverria CIA hard-core contact, man who heard too much description: early 40s, medium height, shrapnel scar on forehead, olive complexion and black hair innocent: Echeverria joined the CIA right out of a foreign languages and literature major at Michigan State (his three older brothers had already joined the priesthood, Detroit police force, and Marines) and immediately went to work in the extraordinary rendition program of the 1990s. His peripatetic lifestyle became downright unmoored after 9/11, and he hasn’t actually set foot in America for over a decade. He’s a familiar face on virtually every US and NATO airbase, and in a startling number of foreign prisons. He is an excellent interrogator, both in the “let’s talk just you and me can I get you a halal meal” sense and the “they say waterboarding doesn’t work but let’s give it a whirl just this once” sense. He spent two years at the “Bright Light” site in Bucharest before it shut down in 2006 and still comes back to the Balkans every other tour, as the CIA chases the so-far phantom threat of “white al-Qaeda.” His interrogations now mostly happen on a US Navy frigate stationed in the Med, which he feels is possible role:

confining and unprofessional. Every so often, the SIE (p. 155), the Turks, or the Bulgarians call him in (with CIA approval) to “consult” on a case in their own prisons, a real tribute to his skills. If “Black Light” (p. 204) is still running (especially if the CIA is still running it), he knows about it and very much wants to be assigned there: “Bright Light” was a miserable hole, but it produced a huge amount of intel. Good CIA Cover and plausible Bureaucracy get him to tell the Agents what he knows about it, including his (fairly accurate) speculation about its location. He’s heard the rumors, and even some seemingly credible secondhand testimony, about shadowy monsters and clouds of red-eyed mist devouring al-Qaeda and IS cadres. He assumes it’s just more psyops from the DIA or his own bosses in Langley, juicing the superstitious fear of djinn and ghuls in the target audience to soften them up. asset: Echeverria has actually worked at “Black Light,” and is midway through a mandatory six-month leave from that insanely stressful posting. They’ve got him at a desk somewhere in the embassy (Station Bucharest, p. 159) analyzing other people’s interrogations, and he really wants to get back to it himself. He knows vampires exist, because he’s seen them up close, holy water–boarding Renfields until steaming blood came out of their eyes. And he really, really hates them, with every fiber of his good Mexican-American Catholic soul. If the CIA has its own vampire program, he’s a resolute, willing part of it. If Edom has penetrated the CIA, Echeverria is false-flagged (possibly reporting to the CIA Agent, p. 91; or Chief of Station, Bucharest, p. 109); he still believes he’s a patriotic American cooperating with the Brits. He may have seen HMS Proserpine (p. 169) or Carfax (p. 185), and has definitely met some of their personnel. If Edom has no connection to the CIA, then Oakes (p. 52) has impersonated a CIA “cowboy” (his American accent is perfect Maryland) and recruited Echeverria for a false-flag “codeword, off-the-books shindig” squeezing vampire interrogations in between his normal case load.

people n 2011 people: Art Forecaster to BND Deep-Cover Agent minion:

investigative abilities:

Electronic Surveillance, Human Terrain, Interrogation, Languages (Arabic, Farsi, Pashtun, Romanian, Spanish, Turkish), Military Science, Tradecraft, Vampirology [asset or minion only] general abilities: Cover 10, Disguise 3, Hand-to-Hand 5, Mechanics 2, Medic 3, Network 15, Shooting 4, Shrink 3, Weapons 4 alertness modifier: +2 stealth modifier: +1 dossier reference:

HO13, HO23

BND: Hatice Deep-Cover Agent Peynirci

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Echeverria went into a room one night and came out changed. The transference went the other way, and it was he who broke and reassembled himself around his ostensible captive. He now instinctively knows when to silence a too-talkative Renfield, or how to lead an interrogation into endless praise of “the Master” instead of toward actionable intel. In dreams (or in code phrases supplied by the low-level fledges he interrogates) he learns which chickenfeed or which barium meal to pass on to his superiors, all the better to conceal the real aims and extent of the Conspiracy. (An Agent with Traffic Analysis and the full records of “Black Light” can spend 2 Interrogation to pinpoint when Echeverria stopped producing anything useful.) alternate names and “worknames”: Daniel “Vulcan” Cohen, Maria “Carrie” Torres, Anthony “Eli” Monroe alternate descriptions: early 50s, salt-and-pepper hair and beard, long fingers, trench coat, round John Lennon glasses [professor of Balkan and Near Eastern studies brought in to break down “ideologists”] mid-30s, lithe runner’s body, good-looking and personable, black hair worn in a ponytail, aviator sunglasses [idealist, volunteered for the CIA on 9/12/01] late 40s, permanent empty smile, sandy hair, running a little to fat over muscle, jeans, Transylvania University Pioneers T-shirt [private contractor hired by the CIA until 2007, now freelancing for Romanian political parties, US multinationals, and the CIA on a single-job basis] defining quirks: when people stop talking, cracks his knuckles lets a long silence happen before replying to questions or posing them brushes hair off of forehead

name

possible role: Ally

in a bad place, expert on terror cells in Romania description: mid-20s, attractive, long dark hair bound in a headscarf, conservatively dressed, deliberately mumbles to disguise any trace of her accent innocent: Ever since the 1960s, Turks have been the single largest immigrant population in Germany. Close connections between the two countries coupled with the strength of the German economy means there’s a steady stream of newcomers, both legal and illegal. The German foreign intelligence agency, the BND, fears that Islamic extremists might try to enter Germany via Turkey. Hatice Peynirci is a deep-cover officer among the Turkish population in Romania, working to identify agents of the Al-Qaeda in Rûm (p. 148) apparatus. She might show up if the player characters investigate terrorist elements in Romania, or she might come across some potential aspect of the Conspiracy like Leutner Fabrichen (p. 146) or the Human Trafficker (p. 118) and run into the Agents as they investigate the same node. (Or if the Agents screw up and get captured by the Conspiracy or some other group, Peynirci could show up as an undercover agent and help them escape.) Under pressure, she behaves with stereotypical German efficiency. She’s a female undercover agent infiltrating one of the most dangerous organizations in the world — she’s pared her personality right down to the core, leaving no room for sentiment or hesitation.

As an ally (either purchased as a previous contact with Network, or convinced of their credentials with Tradecraft), Peynirci can ask her BND superiors for support, or introduce the Agents to other useful contacts like the Bucharest Street Cop (p. 108) or the Human Rights Activist (p. 118). She’s also got a Safe House (p. 258) and a ratline back to Germany (via a nearby airport on a charter plane to Berlin). She also knows about the CIA’s “Black Light” site (p. 204) but thinks it’s just for al-Qaeda. asset: Peynirci’s BND, but she’s also Edom, recruited in 2011 as part of their scheme to use Dracula as a weapon against Islamic extremism. She identifies targets for Edom’s monsters, passing on names and photographs to her superiors (possibly the SRI Agent in Charge, p. 133), or Elvis (p. 50). Human Terrain, Tradecraft, or good old Bullshit Detector pegs her as an undercover operative. minion: Dracula (or one of his other vampires) was drawn to Peynrici’s beauty and concealed intensity, and has begun to feed from her. She’s unaware of this so far, putting her fatigue and anemia down to stress. The vampire might be able to steal her memories along with her blood, or transform her into a fledgling vampire and turn her loose on meddling player characters or Western intelligence for daring to meddle in the affairs of immortals.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook alternate names:

Feriha Arap, Fatima Uzun, Muhammet Buruk alternate descriptions: mid-30s, round-faced, short, impassioned speech early 30s, ex-military, missing left arm [wounded in action with the Bundeswehr, now poses as a bomb-maker] mid-20s, bearded, works out defining quirks: always checks for exits very methodical swears in German when surprised

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investigative abilities:

Criminology, Human Terrain, Languages (Arabic, German, Kurdish, Turkish), Law, Traffic Analysis general abilities: Cover 8, Digital Intrusion 4, Disguise 6, Explosive Devices [bomb-maker cover only] 6, Hand-to-Hand 6, Preparedness 6, Weapons 4 alertness modifier: +0 stealth modifier: +1

Bookseller : Rabia Koraltan name

possible role: Academic

expert, dealer in antiques description: early 50s, elegant, wears a hijab, half-moon glasses innocent: Koraltan runs an obscure bookshop down a winding side street. She inherited the business from her father, and he from his grandfather. The bookshop has scarcely changed from those days, even though the

neighborhood around it may have altered beyond recognition. It remains a narrow maze of yellowed papers and books crammed onto high shelves. (The shop might be near the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, or in Mosilor in Bucharest, or in Hackney in London). While the shop hasn’t changed outwardly, Rabia Koraltan has brought it into the 21st century by dealing in rare books and antiques online. She also contributes to various historical journals, and teaches night classes at the local community college. Her particular field of interest is Ottoman culture and folklore in the Balkans. History or Research (or Network) points to Koraltan as a potential expert on Vlad Tepes and possibly Turkish vampire-fighting lore. Flattery or History spends get pointers to key sites in Romania that may be connected to the Dracula myth, as well as the suggestion to go visit the Medievalist (p. 122) or consult Le Dragon Noir (p. 273). If Koraltan’s based in Bucharest, then she knows that vampires exist; if she’s not living in Romania, she’s much more skeptical about the supernatural. She might correspond online with the Human Rights Activist (p. 118) or the Dissident (p. 112), and become a target if either is eliminated by the Conspiracy. A Bullshit Detector spend gives the correct impression that Koraltan is trustworthy and willing to defy convention — she’ll shelter the Agents if they’re on the run from the authorities or from the Conspiracy, assuming they haven’t actually done something abhorrent. Her maze of a bookstore conceals a hidden cellar, which counts as a haven (NBA, p. 92). She also knows several useful criminal contacts, like the Smuggler (p. 131). Hacking into her systems (Digital Intrusion, Difficulty 4, or physical access and a spot of Data Recovery) lets the Agents use Accounting to sift through her sales records (many through Sotheby’s (p. 198)), and work out who’s interested in Dracula-related books and relics. She also keeps notes on other booksellers who might have rare books or even unique volumes like Kate Reed’s Diary (p. 271) or the Makt Myrkranna Correspondence (p. 275).

asset:

Koraltan is a former operative for MIT. She took an extended leave of absence to take care of her ailing father — a leave that’s gone on for more than twenty years now — but is still officially in their reserves, and may be activated if necessary. Photography spots that she’s got a high-powered telephoto lens for a camera that she supposedly just uses for taking close-ups of items for online auction; Human Terrain or Languages picks up on bits of slang and a familiarity with foreign places that don’t quite match with her public persona. If confronted, she’ll contact the Turkish Agent (p. 136) for instructions. In this scenario, her cellar counts as a cache as well as a haven. She may also be encountered by the Agents when MIT uses her little shop as a meeting place or cut-out; she might bid on vampire-related items at an auction, or be assigned to watch the Agents or a known Conspiracy agent. minion: Rabia Koraltan’s great-grandfather was a vampire hunter for the Ottomans, a contemporary and correspondent of Arminius Vámbéry (p. 94). He managed to wound Dracula, and so the Count has taken revenge on the Koraltan family down through the generations. Her great-grandfather was murdered by the Count; so was her grandfather, and her father was forced to watch as Dracula turned Rabia into a creature of the night. Depending on when she shows up in your campaign, she might be a Renfield, a vampiric assign, a lamia, or even a full Bride. Either way, she’s completely loyal to Dracula. She amuses herself by seeding false trails for other would-be vampire hunters and spies; as such, she’s an ideal candidate to appear as a “Double Agent” (p. 19), the source of an “Intelligence Failure” (p. 19), or to set up “Marlowe Has Left the Building” (p. 20). alternate names: Nehri Murat, Abdullah Kazaz, Carmen Pirvu alternate descriptions: early 20s, modest but casual clothing, braided hair, nervous [English student selling off her late father’s book collection] mid-30s, intense, gestures with hands, always wears a taqiyah (skullcap) [young cleric in training with extensive historical library]

people n 2011 people: BND Deep-Cover Agent to Bucharest Private Detective mid-40s, matronly, peasant

dress and headscarf, face flushed with shouted profanities [runs a junkshop that has pretensions at being an antique shop; Dracula scholarship articles are from her younger days before she became tired and cynical] defining quirks: handles books with reverence prefers one-on-one conversation and picks an Agent to talk to always serves mint tea to guests investigative abilities: Art

dossier reference:

HO217

Bucharest Private Detective : Dominic Ruzic name

possible role:

Street-level contact in Romania, vampire victim description: mid-40s, always exhausted, long raincoat, steel-capped boots innocent: They call him “Copoi,” “the Bloodhound.” Ruzic’s an ex-cop, now working as a private detective in Bucharest. He specializes in long-term missing persons cases — not by choice, but he developed a reputation for being able to find bodies, and now people seek him out. He’s spent far too long going through declassified Securitate records, or searching the backwoods for unmarked graves — and those cases are better than the human trafficking ones. The Human Trafficker (p. 118) wants Ruzic dead; Ruzic’s last partner quit after someone pushed an incendiary device through her sister’s front door, so now he works alone.

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History, History, Human Terrain, Occult Studies, Photography [ex-MIT only], Tradecraft [ex-MIT only], Urban Survival [ex-MIT only], Vampirology general abilities: [a supernatural version of the character has at least Aberrance 10, Hand-to-Hand 8, Health 10, Shooting 4, Weapons 6] Filch 2, Network 6, Sense Trouble 4, Shooting 6 [ex-MIT only], Shrink 4, Surveillance 8 [ex-MIT only] alertness modifier: +1, +3 [supernatural] stealth modifier: +0, +2 [supernatural]

Cop Talk or Negotiation and a few drinks get him talking about the Romanian underworld — he can identify the Human Trafficker (p. 118), the Arms Runner (p. 102), and the Bucharest Street Cop (p. 108). A Reassurance or Vampirology spend and stronger drinks get him to talk about the stranger missing persons cases … the bloodless corpses, the missing girls who never age, the nightmares that keep him from sleeping without a handful of pills. Alternatively, the Agents might encounter Copoi while he’s on a case. He’s not a hero — he’s more likely to shadow the Agents until he has enough blackmail material to screw them over or drop a hell of a lot of Heat on them, then get them to help him take down a human trafficking ring or break into secure SRI (p. 156) archives. asset: Ruzic promises confidentiality and discretion. He’s on the books for the SRI (p. 156), the SIE (p. 155), the German BND (p. 105), MI6 (p. 124), and the Russian FSB (p. 76). Oh, and the CIA (p. 109). If they need eyes on the street and don’t have one of their own assets in place, they call Ruzic. He’s scrupulously honest for a secret agent — when he’s on, say, the CIA’s dime, then he won’t spy for anyone else, and doesn’t talk about his assignments. He knows, though, that it’s a dangerous game to serve so many masters. He’s walking a self-destructive path, and it’s only a matter of time before someone decides that he’s too risky to continue as an asset. Tradecraft remembers Ruzic’s name in the files of whatever agency an Agent used to work for; Assess Honesty picks up on his curious code of personal honor. If convinced to talk (Intimidation and a serious threat), then he can identify representatives of all those alphabetsoup agencies in Bucharest — like the Chief of Station, Bucharest (p. 109), or the BND Deep-Cover Agent (p. 105 — and the BND doesn’t know he knows about her), maybe even the Black Site Interrogator (p. 104). minion: Ruzic’s reputation as a skip tracer makes him valuable to the Conspiracy. He takes money from the family of some vanished girl to find her, and then he takes more money from the vampires who murdered her not to find her. He can

string clients out for years, keeping them from going to the legitimate authorities. “If you go to the police, you’ll never see your daughter again,” he tells them, “just give me more time. And more money.” If threatened, he’ll run to his Conspiracy handler for help (probably the Human Trafficker, p. 118, or the SRI Agent in Charge, p. 133). Keeping track of Ruzic with Traffic Analysis or Human Terrain lets the Agents build up a map of this part of the Conspiracy — and talking to his “clients” with Cop Talk or Reassurance gets the Agents information about several unreported murders perpetrated by vampires. alternate names: Kurt Kielgass, Pedrag Simic, Jim Staines alternate descriptions: mid-30s, whippet-thin, shaved head, leather jacket [muscle for hire with a sideline in unlicensed detective work] mid-50s, heavyset, balding, cheap suit [ex-gangster trying to go straight] mid-40s, crooked grin, broken nose, acts like he’s everybody’s friend [muckraking stringer for the Tabloid Journalist, p. 134] defining quirks: wears reading glasses, which he carefully puts away in a toughened case just before he kicks the shit out of you not a morning person keeps notes in a battered police notebook

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook investigative abilities:

Criminology, Notice, Streetwise general abilities:

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Conceal 4, Driving 6, Hand-to-Hand 6, Infiltration 4, Surveillance 6, Weapons 4 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +1

Bucharest Street Cop : János Tugurlan name

possible role:

Informant, nemesis on the streets of Bucharest, replacement player character description: mid-30s but looks younger, crew cut, wears faded denim jacket with fur collar and tight jeans, always keeps hands free of encumbrance innocent: Tugurlan’s the one honest cop in Bucharest. He’s a former soldier, and turned down a job with the SIE to become a street cop. This career choice didn’t win him any friends — most of his fellow police think of him as a troublemaking hotshot, his superiors consider him unreliable and dangerous, and you don’t reject the clandestine world without making a few enemies. He’s driven, resourceful, and willing to buck the system, which may make him an ideal ally or a nemesis for the Agents. If they cause trouble in his city by generating more than 3 Heat in a single scene, or more than 5 Heat in a single mission, then he’ll lead the hunt to take them down (or run his own more successful investigation parallel

to any stultified official operation). Alternatively, he might temporarily ally with the Agents to take down a corrupt police chief, Mafiya boss, or other untouchable criminal (or a vampire — Tugurlan doesn’t believe in the supernatural at the start of the campaign, but the Agents may change that). Cop Talk gets his cooperation on official matters, but if the Agents want anything more from him, the best approach is honesty. asset: You never get all the way out. Tugurlan walked away from the SIE, but he still owes them a few favors.They sometimes help him out with criminal investigations, arranging off-the-books phone taps or loaning him equipment, and in exchange he does the occasional domestic side job for them. Tugurlan’s too tightly wound and controlled for Bullshit Detector to pick up on much, but the player character can tell that something’s up. Shadowing or bugging Tugurlan confirms he’s selling the Agents out to the SIE (or whoever’s using the SIE as a cut-out). minion: Different people respond to the Master’s presence in different ways. Renfield ate flies and counted up their little lives;Turgulan beats up foreigners, especially Turks, like he’s trying to defend his home city from invaders. Sometimes, he goes too far and has to hide a body or two; sometimes, he has no idea why he’s targeting a particular victim, but a man has to trust his instincts, right? He just knows that he has to stalk and arrest — or maybe murder — the player characters. He’s unaware that he is nothing more than Dracula’s instrument. Vampirology or Shrink spots his odd behavior. If you go with this option, then Turgulan might be merely under Dracula’s influence, in which care he has to make do with the abilities noted below, or he might be a full-fledged blood-drinking Renfield, giving him another 12 points of abilities and the powers noted on page 152 of Night’s Black Agents. alternate names: Natasa Dobra, Felix Buscan, Teodor Dragomir alternate descriptions: early 30s, tough, brusque, French accent [parents fled

Romania in 1980s; grew up in France; Interpol contacts] late 40s, unkempt, smokes too much, always has a book to hand [veteran but still not cynical police detective, replace Athletics, Handto-Hand, Shooting, and Weapons with Network and Preparedness] late 50s, expensively dressed, precise speech, black gloves [exSecuritate interrogator, now trying to redeem himself; General abilities reflect the special forces he can call on through old contacts] defining quirks: protects noncombatants in a fight, even if that puts him at risk always, always armed deliberately avoids routines and predictable routes investigative abilities:

Criminology, Electronic Surveillance, Military Science, Notice, Tradecraft, Urban Survival general abilities: Athletics 8, Driving 6, Hand-to-Hand 10, Shooting 8, Surveillance 8, Weapons 6 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +1 dossier reference:

HO131

Bureaucrat : Natalia Barbulescu name

possible role:

Romanian political and economic fixer description: mid-50s, carefully coiffed helmet of brass-blonde hair, neatly creased pastel pants suit, harlequin spectacles worn without a trace of irony innocent: Natalia Barbulescu (at that time Natalia Codreanu) was a young, ambitious bureaucrat in the Ministry when the 1989 revolution happened and nearly wrecked everything. Fortunately, she had long made a habit of cultivating all manner of unlikely connections in out-of-the-way corners of the Romanian government, and she managed to fall upward when the Ministry was reformed once and for all in 1990, 1994, and 2005. Her gift for precisely calibrated phony sincerity and her mostly male compatriots’ sexist idiocy combined to always leave her holding the knife handle, or the extra favor.

people n 2011 people: Bucharest Private Detective to Chief of Station, Bucharest investigative abilities: Accounting,

Bureaucracy, Languages (English, German, Russian), Law, Research general abilities: none in particular alertness modifier: +0 (+1 for social cues only) stealth modifier: −1

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She married a member of Parliament, Ion Barbulescu, shortly before the 2005 reforms and saw her career rocket to ever more secure and well-connected heights. Her tears at his 2011 funeral were the highlight of the TVR coverage; when she turned down a full ministerial position that year everyone understood that her grief and her belief in the important work he did was too real to let her take a symbolic job. Instead, she took the less-glamorous position of permanent assistant deputy, and has served there with dedication and somewhat terrifying political skill ever since. No wheel turns, no memo is forwarded, no career is reviewed, without Barbulescu knowing it. If she withholds her imprimatur, the program is dead; if she makes a phone call, the job-seeker is promoted. She is who every Bureaucracy spend points to: the permanent, powerful center of the red-tape web that holds the ministry together. She wants nothing, of course; it is only her job to help you with your task — but sadly these forms cannot be filled out without approval from those fools in … well, you didn’t come here to hear about her problems with fools. But if something were done about them, then they would have to approve, wouldn’t they? She deals in favors obliquely expressed but empirically counted up: Agents who bring her dirt on the SRI, SIE, or any other powerful ministry have her precisely calibrated and fully sincere attention.

Attach Barbulescu to whichever ministry or service of the Romanian Government (p. 151) the Agents deal with most often. She has contacts in every governmental or quasi-governmental outfit in Romania (including Heal the Children and NIEP, pp. 150 and 151), although she deals with the mafias (p. 157) at a remove through her Politia Româna or Jandarmeria acquaintances. asset: She is one of the prized MI6 lifers installed in the Romanian civil service during the last flurry of the Cold War. (The files in Ring (p. 172) or elsewhere on the 1940 operation list her grandfather Mihnea Codreanu as an asset emplaced in the University of Bucharest.) Edom co-opted her file from MI6 when they resumed active dealings with Dracula in 2005, and well-timed GCHQ email taps and information drops keep her bureaucratic rivals prostrate. minion: One doesn’t really have to explain how Dracula co-opts a Romanian government official. Investigating Ion Barbulescu’s death turns up a number of suspicious circumstances pointing to either Ruvari Szgani or actual vampiric involvement. Sadly, revealing this to Natalia doesn’t flip her — it was her idea in the first place. She can’t be flipped short of engineering a major revolution in Romania. alternate names: Simona Morosanu, Neculai Vântu [male], Marica Stoica alternate descriptions: mid-40s, distracted look, pencil stuck into her teetering bun of black hair, sloppy lipstick, washed-out complexion early 60s, shapeless cardigan and twill trousers, unlit cigarette in corner of frowning mouth, bifocals, obvious toupee early 50s, steely glint to eyes, short-cropped gray hair, nails trimmed to the quick, cheap black blazer and miniskirt defining quirks: taps pen or pencil on the table purses lips adjusts hair or glasses with both hands

Chief of Station, Bucharest : Joshua “Josh” McKinney name

possible role:

CIA or other agency Network contact, former patron for an Agent, implacable pursuer description: mid-40s, wavy brown hair, strong chin, wears London-cut suits well innocent: Operating under official cover as the senior commercial officer at the US Embassy compound in Bucharest, McKinney spends most of his time dealing with his SIE (p. 155) counterparts on War on Terror and drug-smuggling topics, and occasionally poking his nose into the various US military operations in Romania. Every so often, he hits a corporate reception for some American bank, oil company, or entertainment conglomerate and makes noises about “the importance of trade to our countries’ friendship.” He does make time to go glad-hand producers and other financiers when Hollywood films shoot in Romania, perhaps because Hollywood budgets are even easier to launder CIA black cash through than drug smugglers are, and also he might get to meet Nicolas Cage. He takes his intelligence work more seriously than he does his commercial

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night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook liaising, although the difference between the two is sometimes fuzzy in his mind. Certainly the Petroleum Executive (p. 127) and he play golf whenever they’re in the same city, and you can learn a lot about the situation on the ground by talking to those guys. “I find out more from companies than I ever do from the Company,” he tells them. That said, he knows that terrorists and Russians (and the Chinese, maybe) are his ticket out of here to a better posting, and he has no intention of going back to the third world now that he’s (barely) made it to Europe. So if a lead crosses his vision (such as a bunch of burned spies setting off bombs in Bucharest), he puts everything he’s got on it, and with a $150 million black budget, a fleet of UAVs, and the full and eager cooperation of the SIE, “everything he’s got” is a lot. He’s lazy, not truly incompetent, and if it could mean a posting in Berlin or Paris next, he’s not even lazy. Adapt or adjust this description to suit the Bucharest station chief for any outside intelligence agency. asset: If the CIA is running its own vampire program, McKinney may not be cleared to know about it: it’s more likely run out of the CIA Agent’s (p. 91) shop. But if he does find out about it, he protects it like he would any other piece of Company turf: as if his own promotion were on the line. Edom is also unlikely to co-opt an allied station chief; their tenure is too short. If Edom thinks the situation in Romania is critical, it might maneuver MI6 into putting an Edom asset into Bucharest as station chief, but they still leave operational control to Hound, Elvis, or another Duke (p. 50). The same holds for the BND and any German vampire program still operating. If the Russian FSB is running their own vampire program, the SVR or GRU chief won’t know about it, and won’t be at all happy to hear about it. All that said, if the station chief is an Edom (or other vampire program) friendly, a judicious 1-point spend of Tradecraft, Bureaucracy, or Investigative Network notices the “do not ask” effect around crucial topics; from the nature of the brush-off, experienced Agents can deduce that the

station as a whole is protecting a needto-know operation. Other station chiefs, of course, might be maneuvered into poking at a rival service’s vampire program.This depends on the Agents’ approach — with the CIA and MI6, old-boy Network contacts or High Society recommendations are the key; the Germans require hard proof in triplicate, proper channels (Bureaucracy), and lots of Negotiation; the Russians appreciate the personal approach: Flirting, Negotiated bribes, and Streetwise (through the Mafiya) are all strong plays. minion: If the Conspiracy has its fangs in the Embassy, it is more likely to use the Romanian nationals on the “commercial staff ” inside. At a crucial point, one of those minions can drop vampire saliva or a drop of Dracula’s blood into the chief’s bourbon and Coke and let Dracula reel in another influential friend when the time is right. Such as when the Agents surface within range of a Predator drone. alternate names: Anne Chen, Ryan Harmon, Lou Mangiotti; or Charles St. Clair [MI6], Ulrike Kaegi [BND], Trofim Plekhanov [GRU or SVR] alternate descriptions: early 40s, short curly blond hair, very expensive Italian shoes, Prada or Ermenegildo Zegna ensemble, moves and build of a tennis pro [obviously treats Bucharest as a way station, aiming socially and politically at a more glamorous posting, won’t rock the boat locally] mid-30s, shiny black hair, glasses, self-effacing manner, tweed coat over good Hong Kong–cut clothes [wunderkind sent to Romania to cool off or as a Hail Mary play to break the situation open, left to own devices] late 50s, graying hair growing a little long, off-the-rack Brooks Brothers suit and ugly striped tie, bearlike arms and posture, always seems a little out of breath [on career downslope, resents the idiots back home and ignores them] defining quirks: easy frat-boy grin uses sports metaphors all the fucking time

every

so often points his finger right at you and looks seriously like a guy who signed up to kill people for the best goddamned country on earth because that is exactly what he did

investigative abilities:

High Society, Human Terrain, Languages (Romanian, Spanish), Law general abilities: Athletics 8, Cover 3, Driving 5, Network 10, Shooting 4 alertness modifier: +0 stealth modifier: +0

Chinese Agent : Lei Dongfang (“John Lei”) name

possible role:

China connection, turnable asset, fake third party description: mid-30s, running to plumpness, deliberately cheap suit and accessories innocent: Lei is an agent of China’s Ministry of State Security, stuck in the relative backwater of Eastern Europe, where his role mainly involves monitoring Russian and Western energy interests and liaising with Chinese scientists involved in technical espionage. An indifferent operative at best, he has a degree in geological engineering from China University of Petroleum in Beijing, but no real personal interest in the subject; his chief hobbies are women (he’s an easy mark for Flirting), motorbikes, and drinking. He doesn’t speak the local language, but has passable English, and almost certainly knows the Petroleum Executive (p. 127) well.

people n 2011 people: Chief of Station, Bucharest to DIFC Tasker late

60s, heavily dyed hair and worn face, long-term survivor of internal purges [served in Romania during Ceausescu’s 1970s flirtation with Beijing, may be friends/ rivals with the Retired KGB Agent (p. 97), or alternative to his role as outside observer] mid-30s, ethnically Turkic, extremely tall, can easily pass for Russian or Central Asian [promoted through ethnic minority program and permanently stuck at current level, resentful about it] defining quirks: insists on covering bill even when he can’t afford it talented amateur opera singer and member of local glee club high-functioning alcoholic (Diagnosis or Shrink sees signs) investigative abilities:

Interrogation, Negotiation, Tradecraft general abilities: Conceal 8, Gambling 4, Surveillance 6 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +0 dossier reference:

DIFC: Gavin Tasker Parton

HO14

name

possible role: Well-placed

contact within British intelligence; possible candidate for “Hopkins” description: Mid-30s, pale, speaks quickly and precisely, phone buzzes with a constant stream of notifications. innocent: The DIFC is the Defence Intelligence Fusion Centre, a small agency within the constellation of the British spookshows run jointly with the Royal Air Force.The DIFC used to be the DGIFC, the G standing for “geospatial,” but these days satellite images and drone photos are considered a bit crude, and the boffins here are into sexier concepts like MASINT (Measurement and Signature Intelligence — tracing targets by tagging their phone). The DIFC provides briefings and “intelligence fusion” analysis to a variety of customers, including MI5 and MI6.They’re small but exceedingly well placed to have a finger in every pie, or an ear against every door. Gavin Parton is a flight lieutenant in the RAF. By day, he manages a

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Lei’s original ambition was to be transferred to the US, but the fall of China’s security and energy chief, Zhou Yongkang, in 2014 has left Lei completely isolated politically; his political patrons have already been swept up in the purge and the MSS itself is on the outs. He is desperately looking for a way out, whether that’s in lunatic rumors of “telluric power” or in the patronage of a Western security agency that doesn’t realize how little he actually knows about anything. Any older photo shows him in a far nicer suit, with a then new iPhone 4 and a Rolex, now ditched as part of the Chinese austerity drive. (A 1-point spend of either Human Terrain or Tradecraft lets Agents draw the conclusion that Lei has been left in the cold.) asset: Lei is smarter and cannier; he saw the political winds in 2012 and reached out to MI6, for whom he has been a competent double ever since. Unwittingly, he acts chiefly for Edom, and is run by either Elvis or Hound (p. 51). Edom uses him as a false third party, offering a supposedly safe haven to those who have no reason to trust anybody in Europe. He is likely to present himself as interested, neutral, and with copious funds at his disposal to the PCs, claiming to represent a MSS interest in the Dracula Project. minion: Lei serves a jin-gui (p. 68), one of Dracula’s Chinese spawn who survived the Maoist purges and ensconced itself in Hong Kong. Lei is the grandson of a Maoist revolutionary who burned down the jin-gui’s mansion in 1951, and Lei’s master took particular pleasure in reducing the scion of his enemy’s line to a crawling, bloodaddled fool during an ill-timed visit to the islands. Lei believes his master to be the most powerful vampire in existence; if shown that there are worse beings in the world, he may be completely broken or find new strength to resist. alternate names: Hua Youguang, Ho Kwok-Cheung [Cantonese], Li Bao/Borjigin [ethnically Mongolian] alternate descriptions: mid-20s, handsome, carefully groomed stubble, models self on HK movie “bad boys”

room full of civilian analysts within the DIFC, which makes a change from flying drones in Afghanistan. He’s secretly gay, and his boyfriend Alistair Lewes is a writer and historian living in Cambridge (a former student of the Balkan Specialist, p. 91; a possible colleague of J. Q. Harker, p. 43). As a Network contact (or blackmailed with Intimidation, or convinced of the threat of the Conspiracy with compelling evidence), he can trace a suspect’s mobile phone anywhere in the world, identify three nodes (not necessarily contiguous) in the Conspyramid, or correlate satellite photos of ruins with anomalous geological activity to pin down potential locations for Castle Dracula (p. 207). He may have worked with the GCHQ Romania Desk Analyst (p. 115) and her MI6 counterpart (p. 124), and knows the Seismologist (p. 100) by reputation. He regularly briefs Lord Godalming (p. 43) and the CIA Agent (p. 91) on defense intelligence fusion reports. He has files on the Syrian General (p. 133) and anyone known to be connected to AQIR (p. 148). as “hopkins”: The geospatial database used by the Retired MI6 Computer Boffin (p. 99) is now under DIFC control, so when a 2011 earthquake tripped the monitoring program, Parton intercepted the alert and discovered the archived copy of the Dracula Dossier. Believing the Dossier to be an elaborate hoax, he gave it to Alistair; it was only when he started cross-referencing

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night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook Alistair’s discoveries in the dossier with certain covert operations in the Middle East and the Balkans that Parton realised that the document might be genuine. Together, he and Alistair created the “Hopkins” cover identity. He might contact the Agents after Alistair vanishes (did Edom grab him and drag him off to Carfax (p. 185) or “Black Light” (p. 204), or did the Conspiracy get to him first?). Alternatively, maybe he tries to protect Alistair by passing the Dossier on to the Agents, and Alistair and Parton can show up later in the campaign. asset: Parton is part of Edom, reporting to Osprey (p. 52). His reports help determine Dracula’s next target; Traffic Analysis possibly coupled with Tradecraft or Data Recovery lets the Agents work out how Edom’s picking victims for its supernatural assassins. They can then force Parton (with Intimidation) to massage the fusion report and send Dracula into a trap, or else use Digital Intrusion / Photography /TrafficAnalysis and/ or Forgery spends to falsify data that can fool Parton’s analysts to the same effect. If Parton is assigned the task of hunting the Agents (as part of a “Surveillance State” response, p. 22), then he tracks them no matter where they go using all the resources of the DIFC. Heat reductions for changing jurisdictions drop by 1: e.g., the Agents lose only 1 Heat for changing country within Europe (NBA, p. 89). Capturing one of their pursuers and using Interrogation gets Parton’s name, so the Agents can turn the tables on their hunter. Parton is on Edom’s files as a potential candidate for a Dukedom; if the Agents kill or retire an existing Duke (especially Osprey, Oakes, or Tyler), Parton gets tapped as a replacement. minion: Parton is the descendant of Sir Robert Parton (HO114); his family has served Dracula since 1894 as part of the vampire’s stay-behind network. Gavin Parton’s role in the Conspiracy is to fool Edom into doing exactly what Dracula wants them to do — he sexes up dossiers to prove there’s a terrorist cell in, say, Tokat Castle (p. 250), so Edom moves heaven and earth to bring Dracula there secretly. As above,

Traffic Analysis and access to secret intelligence briefings lets the Agents work out where the bad intel is coming from. Optionally, he may be under orders to let himself be turned by the CIA or another intelligence agency, so Dracula can spread his evil to another country. If threatened, he falls back to a family home in the countryside — either to await contact with his superior in the Conspiracy, or to release some supernatural horror from its Sealed Coffin (p. 278). alternate names: Dave Lai, Jane Holland, Patrick Boswell alternate descriptions: mid-20s, half-Chinese, technically brilliant [ghost in the Net] mid-40s, military bearing [former fighter pilot, saw strange things in the clouds over the mountains during war games in Romania] mid-50s, balding, old Etonian [standing in the next general election and eager to avoid scandal] defining quirks: glasses always reflect glow of several screens disturbingly intense in conversation, never makes small talk drums fingers when nervous or thinking deeply investigative abilities:

Data Recovery, Military Science, Photography, Traffic Analysis general abilities: Digital Intrusion 6, Preparedness 4, Surveillance 6 alertness modifier: +0 stealth modifier: +0 dossier reference:

HO38, HO99, HO234

Dissident : Daniela Istok name

possible role:

Unlikely ally, unexpected problem in need of rescuing description: mid-20s, rounded face concealed by an oversized hooded sweatshirt, speaks quickly, ragged fingernails innocent: Istok’s a fervent opponent of whatever you need her to fervently oppose — human trafficking, police brutality, heroin dealers, political corruption, radical Islam, the oil industry. Her activism used to be

limited to protests and organizing the opposition, but she’s decided that now is the time for direct and, if necessary, violent action. She might try to acquire weapons or explosives, or inside information about her foes, either of which might bring her into contact with the Agents. Use her as a human incendiary device if needs be — she might inadvertently disrupt an operation planned by the Agents (say, by throwing a brick through the window of the SRI office just as the PCs are listening in with a laser microphone) or get in over her head and need to be rescued (she tries firebombing a heroin dealer’s house, only to discover it’s actually a vampire lair). She’s got friends and contacts all over Europe’s underground, and has already gathered considerable information about whoever opposes her cause. Engage her with Streetwise; use Human Terrain to demonstrate an understanding of the terrible injustices that she fights against. asset: Istok’s got the secret backing of some other party who has its own reasons for supporting her crusade. If she’s agitating against oil and mineral exploration in the Carpathians, it’s because the vampires don’t want drilling in their ancestral estates. If she’s fighting to get the heroin trade shut down, it’s because the Drug Boss (p. 113) is using her to get rid of the competition. If she’s trying to bring down Romanian intelligence, it’s because Edom is backing her through a cut-out and trying to neutralize one of Dracula’s assets.

people n 2011 people: DIFC Tasker to Drug Boss

investigative abilities:

History, Human Terrain, Law, Research general abilities: Network 10, Sense Trouble 6 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +0 dossier reference: VS226

Drug: Cemal Boss Gusa name

possible role:

Heroin smuggler or drug pusher; al-Qaeda in Rûm (AQIR) associate description: mid-20s, shaved head, goatee, thin glasses innocent: (Innocent-ish, really.) Gusa’s a Turkish-born holder of a Turkmenistan passport (and several other lessofficially issued ones), a major link in the chain that connects the poppy fields of Afghanistan with the heroin dealers of Western Europe. He believes that the West is utterly corrupt and sinful, and that hastening its end is moral and just. He would never touch the vile drugs he sells to the secular, hedonistic, fallen addicts of Europe, and expects his inner circle of smugglers and enforcers to be equally ascetic. Few of them live up to Gusa’s standards, so he has to keep a close eye on all parts of the distribution chain, from Afghanistan to Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan to Armenia to Turkey, then across to Romania and from there into Europe. He has family in Galati (p. 217), but only visits them when the stress of his constant troubleshooting and management of the drug trade threatens to overwhelm him. As he’s not directly involved in any one aspect of the drug trade, it takes Criminology or Traffic Analysis to pin him down as the guy behind the entire operation. He can be questioned with Negotiation — he wants to stop whatever’s killing his associates. He works with the Smuggler (p. 131) and the Arms Runner (p. 102) on occasion; the Bucharest police know him by reputation, but haven’t managed to catch up yet. He saw the CIA Agent (p. 91) in Afghanistan, and knows she’s an American spy. He can turn up in England or Romania on business. If the Agents take out one of his allies, either in AQIR or the heroin trade, then Gusa might take it personally and go looking for vengeance. asset: Gusa might be Edom’s man in AQIR, in which case he reports to Elvis (p. 50) in Romania, and to Oakes (p. 52) in the UK, although Oakes usually hands the job over to Nails (p. 52) or Hound (p. 51). Alternatively, he’s been flipped by the BND (and his contact is the BND Deep-

113

Istok knows that she’s made a deal with the devil, but can’t break free. A careful, methodical Negotiation can convince her to switch sides, but the Agents must then extract her from the enemy’s clutches — and there’s always the possibility that she’s being used as bait. minion: Istok’s role in the Conspiracy is to prepare the ground for upheaval and chaos. When the Conspiracy needs a distraction, she can provide it. Need to smuggle fifty boxes of earth out of Varna port? Istok can provoke a riot in the center of Varna, drawing attention away from the Conspiracy’s activities. Need to murder a foreign government official? Istok can draw him to Romania for a meeting with her group. She’s gifted with almost supernatural powers of persuasion — a natural blessing, a blasphemous endowment from Dracula, access to a copy of Le Dragon Noir (p. 273), or maybe she’s really a lamia or dhampir? alternate names: Anton Bojin, Maria Camitru, Ioan Cardei alternate descriptions: mid-40s, burly, wild hair, tattoos [ex-criminal turned politician, still has underworld contacts] mid-30s, heavyset, elegantly dressed, carries a laptop [crusading journalist] mid-70s, frail, softly spoken, scarred [writer and political philosopher imprisoned and tortured under Communist regime] defining quirks: unable to sit still always interrupted by phone calls drags every conversation back to whatever she’s dissenting against

Cover Agent (p. 105)), or the CIA (reporting to the CIA Agent in London, p. 91) or maybe even the Romanian Police (p. 130). In any of those cases, he’s sufficiently valuable as an asset to warrant protection — if the Agents go after him, then his handler takes steps to protect Gusa. He’ll sell out his handler to protect himself if necessary, or if he thinks that he can use the Agents to get out from under his handler’s control. Bullshit Detector sees the wheels turning as he weighs the odds. minion: Dracula (or one of the Brides) fed from him, and it’s driven him to the brink of madness. He’s going full Renfield — he is even more violent than he used to be, is extremely paranoid, and believes that he can consume the souls of those he kills. Spreading rumors to some of his associates with Streetwise isolates Gusa and lets the Agents capture and interrogate him without having to take on all of al-Qaeda in Rûm. alternate names: Massoud Karim [Afghan], Sergei Abdullayev [Azerbaijani], Suleyman Gurbani [Turkmenistani] alternate descriptions: mid-30s, thick build, mirrored sunglasses, three-day beard about 40, tall and imposing, enormous hands, neatly trimmed mustache early 30s, wiry, thick but shortcropped beard, horn-rimmed glasses defining quirks: avoids giving firm answers avid cricket fan instantly lecherous when drunk

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook investigative abilities:

Criminology, Human Terrain, Military Science, Notice, Pharmacy general abilities: Athletics 8, Conceal 6, Network 10, Shooting 10, Weapons 6 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +1 HO56, HO149

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dossier reference:

Enigmatic Monsignor : Tristano Luria name

possible role: Vatican

vampire hunter mid-60s; narrow face with a prominent nose and dark, deep set eyes; ruffled black hair swept back loosely; clerical garb innocent: Tristano Luria studied as an exorcist with the International Association of Exorcists set up by Father Gabriele Amorth in the 1990s. While the scriptures reference the acts of exorcism practiced by Jesus, the apostles, and the seventy-two disciples, the practice existed at best as a vague and oft-avoided facet of holy disciplines. Exorcists performed their rites upon those who visited them, rather than seeking the possessed out at the source. Amorth looked to change that, turning the IAE into a more outward-facing organization. Under his charge, master exorcists would engage in proactive fieldwork, traveling the world in pursuit of their just cause. Matthew 10:1 reminds us that God gave the disciples “authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to description:

heal every disease and every infirmity.” Luria sees “unclean spirits” as a very real and dangerous corruption. With Amorth’s approval, Luria formed the Society of St. Lazarus of Bethany, and in this he pursued both study and action in the combat of mortal corruption. In his papers, Luria associates and conflates corruption of both body and soul. As Amorth gives considerable weight to the proper maintenance of faith through acts of devotion and confession, Luria espouses a regime of purging and purification. Occult Studies or Fringe Science makes some sense of the chemicals and purgatives Luria recommends to clear blood and soul of their“infestation.”A kindly Director might even allow the Luria Formula to serve as a purgative against Renfields or those tainted by vampire bites. Of course, the formula is harsh and the dosages required against vampire corruption are actively toxic (treat the formula as weaponized anthrax; NBA, p. 81; all damage requires hospital care and cannot be treated with Medic). Regardless of the true state of affairs, Luria considers vampirism to be demonic possession, full stop. Vampirology or Reassurance (or just buying the drinks) gets Luria to reminiscence about his apprenticeship to a master exorcist, particularly with reference to those demoniacs who confounded simple classification or cure. Hence the drinking. In his cups, Luria advocates the theory of the Omega Point as intrinsic to understanding exorcism.The Omega Point is a singularity wherein lies the transcendence of understanding, science, and religion, extolled upon by theologian Teilhard de Chardin. Scientific principles help interpret the Holy Scriptures, and refine understanding of the concepts and potentials of exorcism. This may make some sense to readers of Le Dragon Noir, or to students of telluric forces. asset: Luria is an Edom-funded agent at the heart of the Vatican. He sows seeds of misinformation and propaganda to direct and obstruct the activities of both the Vatican and the Conspiracy, while feeding back useful information to his masters. Edom acquired Luria’s cooperation while he worked

the Gordion excavations in Turkey, following the earthquake at Erzurum in 1983. Edom offered key intelligence that backed his theories and gave him reason to trust that their goals and intent ran in parallel with his own. A 1-point spend of Bullshit Detector determines that Luria’s open drunkenness is for show: his moments of conspiratorial confidence come across as all the more natural and accidental. minion: Luria’s dogged determination to prove the essential link between science and religion in exorcising demoniacs led to his self-afflicted infection. He’s tense, hungry, and strung out, addicted to a cocktail of Valium, serotonin, and clozapine in an attempt to moderate and suppress his incredibly violent mood swings (Pharmacy and Shrink diagnose his condition). This leaves him an open book to vampiric influence and mind control, but he discounts periods of memory loss as a side effect of his medication. He is thus an unconscious minion of Dracula, and may think himself a dedicated servant of the Vatican or of Edom while awake. alternate names: Ghigo Fratelli, Angelina Cucina [nun], Cesare Rinaldi alternate descriptions: late 60s, heavy frown lines, weathered skin, ponderously methodical late 50s, blonde short-cut hair, delicate build, pale tissue-thin skin mid-70s, ruddy cheeked, poor comb-over, hard bridge pince-nez defining quirks: unconsciously rubs chin while listening gazes above head level while speaking with people or in public drinks from flask, wineglass, whatever’s handy investigative abilities:

Archaeology, Art History, Bureaucracy, Human Terrain, Languages (Aramaic, English, Hebrew, Koine Greek, Latin, Polish), Outdoor Survival, Photography, Research general abilities:

Athletics 6, Infiltration 3, Preparedness 8, Weapons 2 alertness modifier: +2 stealth modifier: +1 dossier reference:

HO17

people n 2011 people: Drug Boss to GCHQ Romania Desk Analyst asset:

name

possible role: Arms

or explosives supplier, underworld contact description: mid-50s, shaved head, redfaced, can’t disguise his Belfast accent despite years of trying innocent: Deegan was a member of the Irish Republican Army during the 1980s, and was involved in planning attacks on London as part of the IRA campaign of terror and violence. In the early 1990s, he had a sudden change of heart and became a police informant to the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Deegan’s information led to the arrest of several key IRA members. Accused of betraying his comrades, Deegan fled to London, although he continued to claim that he was innocent. He’s still targeted for death by some hardline elements of the IRA, and is under MI5 protection (the MI5 Agent, p. 122). He runs a pub in London, the Coachman. While he’s no longer involved in terrorism (or organized crime, which is the IRA’s main line of business these days), he still has contacts in those fields. He knows the Arms Runner (p. 102), and the Drug Boss (p. 113); the Retired KGB Agent (p. 97) is a regular in the Coachman. With Reassurance or Theology, the Agents can convince Deegan to talk about the night when he decided to become an informant; he talks about a dark shadow with red eyes that appeared outside his window and whispered terrible things to him.

defining quirks:

charming

and friendly until someone asks about his past blesses himself before talking about vampires looks around for potential weapons when he enters a room thumps his finger on the table when making a point

investigative abilities:

Criminology, Urban Survival general abilities: Athletics 4, Explosive Devices 6, Hand-to-Hand 6, Shooting 4, Weapons 3 alertness modifier: +0 stealth modifier: +0

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Ex-IRA Informant : Thomas Deegan

Deegan was an unwilling part of an Edom counterterrorism operation. Maybe Edom has its own vampire, and Deegan got mind-controlled into identifying targets who were then covertly eliminated. Maybe he was dragged off to HMS Proserpine (p. 169) in the dead of night and pumped full of Seward Serum until his mind was so addled he thought “Dr. Drawes” (p. 50) was the Master. Maybe they just threatened him, then had their Jacks act on the intel they forced out of him. Whichever option you pick, Deegan knows something of Edom’s internal operations. If he’s mind-controlled, then Vampirology spots the telltale signs. The Agents can free him with the Blomberg Serum (p. 282) or Hypnosis (p. 31) or maybe a Theology spend. Alternatively, maybe he’ll only talk if he thinks it’s time to make amends; Shrink or Assess Honesty guesses at his burden of guilt, and Intimidation or Diagnosis lets the Agents convince him he’s dying. Once they get him talking, he can identify any three Dukes (p. 50) and give a lead pointing at a key Edom site like HMS Proserpine (p. 169). minion: As above, but Edom’s meddling put Deegan under Dracula’s sway. His pub might be a low-level node in the Conspiracy (perhaps used for human trafficking or drug smuggling if the Romanian Mafia, p. 157, are involved). Alternatively, keep him in reserve for an unexpected “Probing Attack” (p. 18) as Deegan puts his old Armalite rifle– and–car bomb skills into use. alternate names: Sean Burke, Mairéad O’Connell, Ciarán Conliffe alternate descriptions: late 50s, addicted to heroin, living on the streets [has delusions that he’s a vampire] early 50s, bright green eyes, wears gloves to hide hands scarred by a petrol bomb attack [husband killed by vampires] late 20s, lanky, wears a tracksuit and baseball cap [involved in IRA protection racket in 2000s, not terrorism in the 1980s; on the run from former comrades]

GCHQ Romania Desk: Cassandra Analyst Irving name

possible role: “Hopkins,”

or friend inside GCHQ Late 20s, long straight hair, favors knitted sweaters and geeky T-shirts when off-duty innocent: The infamous “doughnut” — the ring-shaped headquarters of GCHQ — doesn’t have corners, but if it did, then Cassandra Irving would be stuck in the most obscure one. She monitors SIGINT out of Romania, which usually means sorting through whatever ECHELON intercepts the American cousins weren’t interested in, and looking for anything that might be relevant to British interests. She never intended to become a spy. She studied mathematics in university description:

116

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook (M.Sc., Cambridge) and picked up Romanian as a hobby (there was a Romanian boyfriend for a while, but it ended badly). GCHQ recruited her as a cryptographer, and she got transferred to the Romanian desk a while ago as a “temporary” measure until they found someone more qualified. The Romania desk isn’t a high-profile or high-traffic assignment, so she’s got plenty of spare time to poke around inside the network and peek at files she technically shouldn’t be reading. as “hopkins”: Cassandra’s a possible candidate for the role of “Hopkins,” the source of the leaked Dracula Dossier. If you go with her, then she might be already dead, or on the run, or in Edom’s clutches, or even still at her desk. Already dead? Then the Agents should come across her body at some point. Presumably, it was Edom that eliminated her. Did they use Ian (p. 51) and make it look like a car accident, or did they send Nails (p. 52) to make a statement? On the run? Then she’s hiding out somewhere where GCHQ can’t track her and Edom can’t hunt her. She might have gone underground in England, or fled abroad. She’s not a trained field operative, so the killers are on her trail. If the Agents don’t find her first, she’ll be eliminated or abducted. Already captured? Then maybe she’s at HMS Proserpine (p. 169) or Carfax (p. 185) or the CIA “Black Light” site (p. 204) undergoing interrogation. Once she cracks, will she be able to give up the identities of the player characters? Still at her desk? Then she’s got nerves of steel to walk into work every day. She sits there, trying to spot the electronic footprints of the Agents without actually searching for them. She might be able to send some assistance or hints to them in an emergency (possibly through the Informant, p. 95). not “hopkins”: Spend Cryptography to know her by reputation, or Network to have her as a contact. Convince her to help with Traffic Analysis and Vampirology — she’s got a god’s-eye view of what’s happening in Romania, but she’s missing the key that would make sense of it all. Tell her that vampires exist, give her a few days to put everything together, and you’ve got

an extremely well-placed ally in the fight against Dracula. asset: She’s an Edom mole in GCHQ, reporting to Prince (p. 53). Edom turned her by threatening her; Shrink spots that she’s under duress, and a combination of Reassurance and a demonstration that the Agents can protect her and her family from Edom’s wrath might convince her to reveal what she knows. minion: That “college boyfriend” was one of Dracula’s agents (maybe the same one that recruited the Balkans Analyst (p. 91) if you’re minion-izing both of them). This new world of computers and invisible signals is one that Dracula is determined to comprehend and to master, and Cassandra is ideally placed to spy on his enemies as they attempt to thwart him. alternate names: Lin Yuen, Elspeth Pryce, Matthew T. Sutherland alternate descriptions: mid-20s, Chinese, short hair, unexpected Scottish accent mid-30s, reddish hair, perpetual frown, loves horses mid-30s, balding, pale, forgettable defining quirks: mild OCD makes pop culture references laughs nervously when scared or worried investigative abilities:

Cryptography, Data Retrieval, Electronic Surveillance, Human Terrain, Occult Studies [“Hopkins” only], Research, Vampirology [“Hopkins” only] general abilities:

Cover 4, Digital Intrusion 10, Preparedness 6, Surveillance 4 alertness modifier: +0 stealth modifier: +0 dossier reference:

HO56

Hildesheim Legacy : Itamar Hildesheim name

possible role:

Mossad connection or agent in Middle East description: Mid-40s, bearded, tanned, wears a kippah (skullcap) innocent: Hildesheim runs a law firm in Tel Aviv; his great-grandfather Immanuel was Dracula’s agent in

Galati (p. 217). He still owns property in Galati, but rents it out via a local solicitor. When prompted with History or Reassurance, Itamar remembers a few stories his grandfather told him about the family’s feud with the Slovakian river clans and the Ruvari Szygany (p. 147), who blamed the death of Petrof Skinsky on Immanuel — his stories might point at the strangeness of the Fortified Church of St. Peter (p. 144) or maybe a Sealed Coffin (p. 278) that came through the port on Walpurgisnacht one year. asset: Immanuel Hildesheim was an active member of the Zionist Revisionist Organization of Romania, and his son — Itamar’s grandfather — emigrated to Israel in 1947. On his deathbed, he revealed the existence of Dracula, Edom, and his family’s involvement with the Conspiracy to Menachem Begin, later prime minister of Israel. Itamar’s part of a Mossad shadow operation that monitors Edom activities. While Mossad broadly supports the use of Un-Dead assets against jihadi terrorists, they still keep a close watch on Edom to ensure that the vampires are kept under control. If questioned about his family’s involvement with Dracula, Itamar talks about his greatgrandfather’s crazy stories, as above; Bullshit Detector suggests that he’s hiding something, and Tradecraft picks up that he’s been trained. While normally resident in Tel Aviv, Itamar might show up in England or Romania in response to a suspected rogue vampire attack; he has authorization to

people n 2011 people: GCHQ Romania Desk Analyst to ''Mr. Hopkins''

investigative abilities:

Human Terrain, Law general abilities:

Preparedness 4 +0 modifier: +0

alertness modifier: stealth

dossier reference:

CU241

''Hopkins'' “Hopkins” is the workname of the 2011

annotator, who leaked the Dossier to the PCs. Whoever he or she is, “Hopkins” is youngish, tech savvy, enthusiastic, and probably doomed to die during your campaign if not dead already. Likely candidates to intercept the automated alert that "Cushing" set and get hold of the Dossier are:

DIFC Tasker (p. 111) GCHQ Romania Desk Analyst

(p.

115) — our default option Lamplighter (p. 123) Romania Desk Analyst (p. 124)

MI6 MI6

All of whom are part of the British intelligence apparatus and have access to files on Romania. More obliquely, “Hopkins” might be anyone from the precocious granddaughter of “Cushing” to a brilliant computer hacker to a cover identity for some anti-Edom (or antiDracula) cabal.

''Mr.: Oliver Hopkins'' Tate name

possible role: Political contact or informant description:

late 20s, excitable, long black coat and scarf, briefcase on a shoulder strap innocent: Oliver’s the boyfriend of “Hopkins,” the leaker of the Dracula Dossier. He’s unaware of his girlfriend’s (or boyfriend’s) illicit investigation into the Dracula Dossier; he knows she’s in espionage, but has learned not to ask questions. Oliver’s in politics — he’s a policy advisor to a Conservative MP (optionally, he might be at the right hand of Philip Holmwood, Lord Godalming (p. 43) in the House of Lords). Once “Hopkins” vanishes (abducted or murdered by Edom or Dracula, gone into hiding, on the run with the player characters), Oliver becomes obsessed with finding her. When inquiries at her place of work run into the usual stonewall, he starts looking on his

own. He might visit hospitals, retrace places that “Hopkins” went recently, and investigate people she’s shown an interest in — any of which might lead to him crossing paths with the PCs. Reassurance (or the promise of revenge, if “Hopkins” is dead) wins Oliver over. He’s got a little influence in Westminster, but can put the Agents in touch with more important people like the MI5 Deputy (p. 122), the Journalist (p. 120), or the Hungarian (p. 94). He also has a spare key to where “Hopkins” lived — it’s probably already been cleared, but what if the Edom sweepers missed something? With a little push (a Reassurance or Flattery spend), he’ll pull files or plant bugs even in the Houses of Parliament. asset: Tate’s being blackmailed by a foreign agency — FSB? SRI? CIA? Or perhaps by Edom, or even the Mafiya. If “Hopkins” is a woman, then they’ve got compromising photos of Tate visiting prostitutes and using drugs, and have lined up the Tabloid Journalist (p. 134) to ruin both Tate’s relationship and career. If “Hopkins” is male, then Tate’s gay and in the closet, and his employer is notoriously homophobic. He’s still looking for “Hopkins,” but also trying to protect his career (he’s ambitious). He might sell the PCs out to his blackmailers in exchange for the photographs, or be willing to throw them off the track. minion: You had one job, Oliver. As soon as the Conspiracy noticed your girlfriend/ boyfriend was digging into their affairs, they contacted you and made you the usual Faustian bargain — steal the Dracula Dossier from her, bring it to us, and we’ll make you rich and powerful and maybe even immortal. Unfortunately for Tate, “Hopkins” sent the Dossier to the Agents before he could grab it. Now, he’s desperately trying to find a copy of the Dossier before the Conspiracy silences him. Bullshit Detector picks up on the fact that he’s much more worried about getting hold of whatever “Hopkins” gave the Agents than finding her; Intimidation terrifies him into switching sides again and revealing his contact with the Conspiracy. alternate names: Gary Prenger, Andrew Miller, Lisa Hopcrow

117

call in a Kidon assassination or Sayeret Aluka (p. 75) anti-vampire kill team if needs be.He might trade (Negotiation) for information about Edom’s internal operations, especially the location of the defector Prince (p. 53). minion: “Itamar” is actually Immanuel Hildesheim — he’s been a Renfield for more than a century, kept alive by Dracula’s dark arts. He fled Romania without the Conspiracy’s permission in 1940, fearing persecution, and took with him a supply of vampire blood to sustain his unnatural life extension. He’s got only a single Vial of Blood (p. 284) left, and so has reopened his old links with the Conspiracy in the hopes of obtaining more; he’s desperate to find a way to get back into the Master’s good graces (capturing or ratting out the Agents might do the trick). Bullshit Detector or Languages picks up on his nervousness and outdated speech patterns. alternate names: Solomon Felder, Elina Weinberg, Ana Iser alternate descriptions: mid-50s, tanned, shaved head, surprisingly fit mid-30s, in a wheelchair, wears black [former IDF soldier] mid-20s, ambitious, expensive suits, flirtatious defining quirks: twitchy refuses to talk at length over the telephone collects medieval Christian crucifixes long elegant fingers

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook alternate descriptions:

118

mid-30s, bearded

and sandalwearing, cycles everywhere [environmental lobbyist; tried to convince “Hopkins” to quit] mid-40s, dignified, well-dressed apart from the hooded plastic anorak [married and having an affair; looking for “Hopkins” while trying to keep his face out of the papers] mid-20s, cornrowed hair, avid jogger [community lobbyist] defining quirks: carries a photograph of “Hopkins” coffee and wine snob talks so fast his words fall over his own investigative abilities:

Data Recovery, High Society, Law, Research general abilities:

Driving 4, Preparedness 2 alertness modifier: +0 stealth modifier: +0 dossier reference:

HO62, HO104

Human Rights Activist : Aishe Balan name

possible role:

Local contact, ethnic expert, interpreter description: mid-50s, traditional Roma dress (long skirt, loose blouse, bolero vest), thinning dark hair, scarred cheek innocent: Balan is a tireless advocate for the Roma minority in Romania. Her people have suffered prejudice, oppression, and attempts at genocide

time and again — they were enslaved in the 17th century, were discriminated against and mistrusted throughout Europe, and faced Nazi genocide (the Porajmos) in the 1940s. Balan works with the United Nations Human Rights Office and the Romanian government to improve relations and address the problems of the Roma. She’s an expert on Roma culture, and has connections throughout Romania and the whole Roma diaspora, although she has as almost as many enemies as friends among the Roma people. She is aware of injustices and criminal activity within the Roma community, and has worked with the police to arrest and convict Roma criminals — including some members of the Ruvari Szygany (p. 147), who have attempted to murder her in retaliation. Negotiation lets theAgents convince her that they need her help uncovering genuinely dangerous criminals or threats to the Roma, and that they’re not just using them as scapegoats. She dismisses any talk of vampires or supernatural events as superstition, although Bullshit Detector reveals that she’s lying to herself about some of the things she’s seen. asset: Balan was a spy for the CIA, MI6, and the German BND in her youth, running networks of Roma agents to pass on HUMINT. Optionally, she may have been involved in the Romanian end of the 1977 mole hunt as a pavement artist for Edom. She stopped spying for foreigners after the revolution in 1989, but is sometimes willing to run operations in exchange for political favors or funding. Approaching her with Tradecraft and a suitable offer gets her assistance; she can organize a gang of street kids to run surveillance on a target, or get some trustworthy young Roma men who won’t ask questions, but she won’t put her people in unnecessary danger. She’s got no love for the clandestine world, so if the Agents play fast and loose with Roma lives, she’ll do everything she can to bring them down. minion: Edom isn’t the only group trying to use Dracula to further their own agenda. Balan knows all about the Count, and his monstrous ways —

but she also knows that he protects his own Ruvari Szygany (p. 147). She wants to extend that protection to all Roma. With the Conspiracy as a patron and guardian, living conditions and opportunities for the Roma would improve drastically. She’s working her way up the Conspyramid, trading favors and inside information for higher-level contacts, until she finally gets her audience with Dracula. Interrogation, coupled with proof of Dracula’s monstrous crimes, shatters her illusions about being able to come to an arrangement with a vampire. alternate names: Monica Lupei, Marcell Bodrogi, Karol Novak alternate descriptions: mid-20s, lithe, former sex worker, carries a Taser [runs a refuge for victims of human trafficking] mid-30s, heavyset, intellectual, thick accent [Gagauz, not Roma; advocating for free elections in Moldova] mid-40s, tall, expensive clothes, generous with gifts [Roma rom baro tribal leader] defining quirks: greets visitors with a kiss gestures emphatically speaks to women in preference to men investigative abilities:

Criminology, History, Human Terrain, Urban Survival general abilities:

Network 10, Surveillance 6 alertness modifier: +0 stealth modifier: +0 dossier reference: VS57

Human Trafficker : Vasile Chitul name

possible role:

Criminal contact or lowlevel Conspiracy node to be taken out description: early 50s, jowly, overweight but surprisingly fast, needs glasses but doesn’t wear them most of the time innocent: Innocent being relative in this case; Chitul’s a human trafficker, running a network that runs out of Moldova through Galati and onto Bucharest; from there his victims go onto countries in Western Europe, where they’ll be forced into the sex trade to “repay” Chitul

people n 2011 people: ''Mr. Hopkins'' to Icelandic Diplomat defining quirks:

flexes

fingers, as if wrapping them around someone’s throat ignores women, gives sagely advice to younger men always wears a heavy, studded leather belt

investigative abilities:

Criminology, Traffic Analysis general abilities: Conceal 8, Driving 8, Hand-to-Hand 6 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +0 dossier reference:

HO56

119

for transporting them. He still makes the border crossings himself, driving his articulated truck across into Moldova by night to pick up more “cargo.” The guards at the border checkpoint work for him. He long ago burned out any empathy for his victims; punishment beatings and sexual violence are second nature to him. Always sensitive about his health, Chitul’s developed full-blown hypochondria in recent years, and worries about drug-resistant syphilis or undiagnosed cancers. He spends an increasing proportion of his fortune on visits to clinics in England and Germany. So far, he’s managed to hide his worries from his second-in-command, a wolf of a man named Luko. Streetwise picks up rumors about Chitul’s medical concerns, letting the Agents manipulate him with a combination of Diagnosis and Intimidation or Reassurance. asset: Chitul was briefly a KGB officer a long time ago, and still has connections in the FSB. Favors for favors — they let him bring girls into Russia; he passes on information. Sometimes, he even targets specific clients for his old friends. He might force one of his victims to seduce a politician or businessman, and feed back whatever she learns to the FSB. Intimidation lets the Agents double Chitul by threatening to reveal his Russian contacts; many of his subordinates, including Luko, would murder Chitul if they knew about his FSB ties. Optionally, Edom has already doubled Chitul, forcing him to supply its vampiric

operations in Eastern Europe with sources of fresh blood. His contact is probably Osprey (p. 52) rather than Elvis (p. 50). Even more optionally, Chitul could actually be “Dr. Drawes” (p. 50) leading a double life — his human trafficking activities are a grotesque cover for his experiments in vampirism. He was a KGB researcher who went underground after 1991. In this scenario, he’s a greasy, thuggish, truck-driving slaver when in Romania, then sheds this identity and puts on a pristine white lab coat when he flies back to England. minion: Two takes on Chitul and the Conspiracy: Option one, if he’s a low-level node in the Conspiracy, is that he’s another useful minion in Dracula’s arsenal. He smuggles all sorts of things in and out of Romania, including boxes of earth and victims for Dracula’s unholy progeny. He might know a little about the supernatural and have Dracula’s supernatural blessing while in Romania (his pursuers get hit by unexpected misfortunes or bad weather, evil things conspire to protect him, he can see in the dark), or be mostly clueless about the true nature of the Conspiracy. Other customers sometimes kill the merchandise — as long as they pay up, he doesn’t care if the girl died from exsanguination or a beating. Option two, he’s crazy on top of everything else. He believes that if he finds a suitable Bride for the Master, he’ll be rewarded with immortality. When his men find a prospective girl — innocent, beautiful, of good Szeleky ancestry — he dresses her in a bridal gown and brings her to a certain ruined Castle (p. 207; maybe he even knows the right one), chains her to the wall, and leaves her overnight. If she’s gone, then Dracula must have found her pleasing; if she’s still there, then she is unworthy and deserves everything horrible that’s going to happen to her. alternate names: Luko Puravet, Aurel Zeklos, Ilie Mondragon alternate descriptions: late 20s, lean and hungry, bleached blond hair, dead eyes mid-40s, Greek, bad skin, laconic mid-50s, thick bushy eyebrows, arrogant, meth user

Icelandic Diplomat : Thor Halvarsson name

possible role: Ambiguous

high-society contact mid-40s, handsome, noticeably pale, sharp suit innocent: Thor’s a negotiator and lawyer attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He’s known for being an iconoclast, and has intervened in several controversial incidents; for example, he was one of the earliest supporters of WikiLeaks and helped it set up in Iceland, and has defended anticapitalism and antiglobalization protesters. Thor might be encountered at any High Society event from Reykjavik to Istanbul, or show up as a negotiator at a summit or conference about, say, mineral and petrochemical extraction in Romania, or human trafficking across Eastern Europe. description:

120

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook Approached with Negotiation and proof that what the Agents are doing is right (plus maybe a Vampirology or Reassurance spend if the Agents need to convince him that vampires are real), Thor can provide support, putting them in touch with his network of contacts and activists (including the Human Rights Activist, p. 118, the Dissident, p. 112, and the Journalist, p. 120). He also knows and detests the Hungarian (p. 94) and the Petroleum Executive (p. 127). asset: Thor has an understanding with the CIA Agent (p. 91). As far as he’s concerned, it’s firmly quid pro quo — he passes on some useful information to the Americans; they show some flexibility on some other issue. In fact, the CIA has enough blackmail material to force Thor to do anything they need him to do — and this version of Thor is a veteran of the Icelandic Crisis Response Unit, the closest Iceland has to a special forces team. Traffic Analysis or Tradecraft lets the Agents work out that Thor’s not as clean as he seems, allowing them to use Intimidation to blackmail him themselves, or Negotiation to offer to wipe his slate clean if he helps them instead. minion: There are simply too many people on the planet these days. It’s unsustainable. Something has to be done about it.Thor serves the Master because it’s the cleanest, most sanguine way to deal with the excess population. Only a vampire can take the really long view, unlike shortsighted, hasty humanity. Thor’s not mad — it’s the global economy that’s insane. (Shrink, Vampirology, or Assess Honesty reveals that, nope, it’s Thor who’s mad — he’s in the thrall of the Count, and is justifying his own monstrous actions by convincing himself he’s got a higher purpose.) As a minion, Thor’s role in the Conspiracy is as a spy or “raven” (seducing female targets with his Viking good looks). He might be assigned to pose as a likely ally for Agents on the run, only to betray them to the Conspiracy as part of “Double Agent” (p. 19), “Testudo” (p. 20), or “Sacrificed Pawn” (p. 20) counterattacks. alternate names: Jöns Greggersson, Hanna Unnursdottir, Eldar Rúnarsson

alternate descriptions:

mid-60s, bearded, weather-

beaten face, blind in one eye 30s, tall and confident, avid swimmer, flirtatious late 50s, thin, gray-haired, morbid defining quirks: expresses surprise at the corruption or injustice of the outside world, as if Iceland were Paradise Island with more sheep addresses everyone by their first names pauses in thought before speaking early

investigative abilities:

Criminology, Data Recovery, Human Terrain, Law, Outdoor Survival general abilities: Athletics 4, Digital Intrusion 4, Network 6 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +1 dossier reference:

Journalist : Laurel Dene

HO192

name

possible role: Ally

in the media mid-30s, long hair in a ponytail, equally comfortable in a sharp suit or camouflage jacket, tattoo of a rose on left wrist innocent: Dene works for an English broadsheet newspaper (probably The Guardian or The Independent, both on the left of the political spectrum). She’s an investigative journalist, known for her criticism of the War on Terror and on the government’s human rights record. A recent piece on the cost of the war to description:

Britain’s economy won her considerable attention (and opprobrium in certain quarters of Whitehall). Now, she’s on Edom’s trail. She’s heard rumors of a secret, even renegade, operations division within MI6, and has started digging into the matter. Optionally, she may be the recipient of another copy of the Dracula Dossier from “Hopkins” (p. 117), or a related document like Kate Reed’s Diary (p. 271). Tradecraft gets a secret meeting with her; she may attempt to recruit the Agents as sources, arguing that their best chance of bringing down Edom is to bring it into the light. She believes that Edom’s a secret black-ops unit, and dismisses any talk of vampires unless shown absolute proof. asset: Dene’s an FSB asset; one of her contacts in Russia was arrested by the FSB, and she had to agree to spy for it to save the contact’s life. The FSB encourages her to drive wedges between the UK and US governments, and her investigation into Edom was instigated by it in the hopes of embarrassing MI6. The Retired KGB Agent (p. 97) might be her interim handler when her regular agent runner isn’t available. If the Agents could find and extract her contact, they could flip Dene to their side (Reassurance followed by an operation in Russia). She’s got access to everything the FSB know about Edom, plus any documents she’s obtained during her investigation, and will trade those for the Agents’ assistance. minion: Dene believes that Dracula is a prisoner of Edom, a misunderstood tragic figure forced to carry out atrocities against his will. She may be a sensitive like Renfield, drawn by some psychic connection, or maybe the Count (or another vampire) is cultivating her as a minion — possibly to force Edom to unleash Dracula on targets in England by having her threaten to expose the rogue operation. Optionally, she might know about HMS Proserpine (p. 169) and send the Agents there to bust Edom’s vampire out of containment (in this scenario, the PCs are cast in the role of Berserker the wolf from London Zoo). alternate names: Paula Teague, Vincent Worplesdon, Michael Anton

people n 2011 people: Icelandic Diplomat to Madman alternate descriptions:

late

investigative abilities:

Electronic Surveillance, Notice, Photography, Research, Urban Survival general abilities: Conceal 5, Disguise 2 (impersonations on phone), Network 10, Surveillance 4 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +0 dossier reference:

Madman : Richard Crinn

HO107, HO204

name

possible role:

Unwitting informant or dangerous serial killer description: late 20s, blotchy skin, ill-kempt, foul-smelling innocent: Crinn suffers from severe schizophrenia. He is estranged from most of his family, apart from his ailing mother, Susan; he is unable to work and may be homeless or in care when encountered by the Agents. He’s also a methadone user after five years of heroin addiction. When in the coils of a schizophrenic episode, he hears voices commanding him to do terrible things. One of his counselors taught him to try channeling these commands into painting instead of acting on them, so he has produced several crude but surreal and compelling pieces. The Sculptor (p. 100) has sold two through her gallery. Like Renfield, Crinn is attuned to Count Dracula (or another vampire). On some nights, he can sense the movements and thoughts of the vampire,

although he interprets these sensations as part of another schizophrenic episode. Decoding these messages through a combination of Shrink, Reassurance, Traffic Analysis, and Vampirology lets the Agents retrace the vampire’s movements based on Crinn’s impressions. Optionally, Crinn may be unable to resist his murderous urges, and starts to act like a vampire. In this scenario, he starts attacking innocent people on the streets of London. His modus operandi is to force victims to accompany him to an isolated location (waste ground, empty buildings, sewers, deserted parks), where he then ties up the victim and cuts them so they bleed profusely. He then leaves them as an offering to the vampire — Crinn desperately wants to attract the attention of the Master, and blood sacrifices are the only way he can think of to manage this. asset: Crinn’s ex–Royal Navy and exEdom. He was assigned to HMS Proserpine for several years, and was given the Seward Serum (p. 51) on several missions. The serum’s side effects helped cause his schizophrenia. Edom cut him loose and created the cover story that he’d become addicted to drugs. If Edom has a vampire asset, then that’s the vampire that Crinn’s connected to. The MI5 Agent (p. 122) keeps an eye on Crinn, and makes sure the lad doesn’t attract the wrong sort of attention. Crinn goes for “methadone treatments” at the NHS facility in

Plaistow (Seward’s Asylum) every month, as Edom scientists try to work out why he had such a strong reaction to the serum. If questioned with Interrogation, Crinn can give clues (but not answers) pointing to HMS Proserpine (p. 169), Cross Angel Cold Storage (p. 189), his Duke of Edom handler (p. 50), and the “Black Light” site and its Interrogator (pp. 204 and 104, respectively). Of course, if the Agents haven’t used Electronic Surveillance or Notice to sweep the house for bugs, then Edom knows what Crinn spills to them. (Alternatively, maybe “Susan Crinn” isn’t Richard’s mother — she too might be an Edom agent, and there’s poison in the tea; see Tetrodotoxin, p. 87.) minion: Crinn’s made contact with Dracula (or some other vampire). Vampirology draws the immediate and accurate comparison with Renfield. Crinn’s bloody offerings may be food for the vampire — or maybe they’re just used as distractions to occupy the police and player characters while the vampire pursues its real target. In this setup, Crinn’s already killed his mother — her bloodless corpse sits in in her favorite armchair in front of the television. (He believes the Master speaks through her — necromancy or schizophrenia, take your choice.) Give Crinn Aberrance 6 and Apportation (“slasher movement”) in this version, especially if he starts preying on the Agent’s contacts and Solaces. alternate names: Millie Ralford, Roman Roseanu, Aurelia Colfax alternate descriptions: early 20s, unnaturally bright eyes, talks too fast, aggressive [excellent actress; need a 2-point Bullshit Detector spend to tell when she’s lying] early 50s, unshaven, chapped skin, missing an ear [grew up in Strasba Orphanage, p. 223] mid-40s, short, precise, unassuming to the point of invisibility [nurse or pharmacist with access to powerful sedatives; targets vulnerable patients] defining quirks: stares at the floor, sullenly nervous at sunset and sunrise military bearing

121

40s, patrician demeanor, incisive interrogator [political correspondent for the Times] late 60s, quavering voice but still a powerful writer, elder statesman of journalism with a few dirty tricks left [columnist and occasional television presenter, yearning for one last big story] mid-40s, chain-smoking cigarettes, rumpled suit [Romanian or expat American writer for România Libera] defining quirks: maintains uncomfortably lengthy eye contact says “fuck” an awful lot sings Clash songs under her breath while she thinks nobody’s watching

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook investigative abilities:

122

Military Science, Streetwise, Vampirology general abilities: Athletics 8, Hand-to-Hand 6, Infiltration 6, Weapons 6 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +1

Medievalist : Memet Lucsai name

possible role: Access

to medieval archives, museums description: late 40s, trimmed reddishbrown hair and beard, white skullcap, calm, fluid movements innocent: Professor Lucsai teaches history at the University of Bucharest. [He can instead teach at Cambridge, if it fits the campaign better.] Whether because of or in spite of prejudice (both official and unofficial) against a Muslim scholar, Lucsai has become a popular lecturer and respected researcher in his field of medieval Romanian history, consulting on the ongoing dig at Tokat Castle (p. 250) in Turkey. He often appears on European satellite programs as an arch, witty “Dracula expert,” not least because of his controversial revisionist theories that Vlad III “the so-called Impaler” was the victim of later propaganda campaigns. An Agent with History or Flattery can get Dr. Lucsai to expound on the known history of Vlad III, pinpoint little-known castles and ruins (p. 207), and perhaps theorize about which other, more obscure, member of the

House of Draculesti actually deserves a bloodthirsty reputation. asset: The aforementioned prejudice, and Romania’s enthusiastic participation in the War on Terror, has in fact radicalized Professor Lucsai. He is a key link in al-Qaeda’s Balkan network (p. 148), raising and bundling funds and recruiting favorably inclined Muslim students on campus. This only makes him more likely to provide any clues he can to Dracula’s possible whereabouts, especially if the Agents seem like badass vampire killers. He has plenty of ways to set up a surreptitious document drop, or even arrange for explosives if needed. If he does so, an Agent with Tradecraft or Human Terrain can make him as wired into al-Qaeda; Lucsai might not realize he has exposed himself. minion: Lucsai is obsessed with Dracula, and has been since secondary school. When his research turned up conclusive evidence that the vampire king existed, he devoted his life to finding his fixation. When he found Dracula, he gladly gave up his soul to the monster; Dracula uses Lucsai to keep other researchers off the trail of his true identity and the location of his Castle. Dracula may have a Renfield tasked to keep in contact with Lucsai, in case some researchers prove stubborn. If Dr. Lucsai discovers or guesses the Agents’ agenda, he tries to lure them into trusting him and then sends them into as terrible an ambush as he can arrange. If the Agents speak to him again after he realizes their goal, Bullshit Detector marks a change in the professor’s affect — almost as if they’ve blasphemed his religion! If they survive the ambush, tossing the professor’s files uncovers Dracula’s historical identity and maps to his Castle. alternate names: Ali Cayik, Ferhet Sezer, Fatime Hajdari alternate descriptions: late 40s, pot belly, impish smile, dark tan mid-50s, salt-and-pepper beard, chain smoker, black turtleneck and blazer late 30s, long elegant face, slim build, terrible dentistry [hair completely covered for Fatime Hajdari]

defining quirks:

listens

to Egyptian and Lebanese pop music carries thick binder of papers tied with red cord looks down nose at others

investigative abilities:

Archaeology, Art History, History, Languages (Arabic, English, Greek, Latin, medieval languages of region, native [Tatar, Turkish, or Albanian]) general abilities:

Weapons 2 (knife) alertness modifier: stealth modifier:

+1 [if asset] −1

dossier reference:

MI5: Daniel Agent Biggs

HO46, HO233

name

possible role:

Street-level contact in London; expert on unusual murders or foreign espionage in the UK description: early 40s, prominent front teeth, toothbrush mustache, grubby raincoat innocent: Biggs was immortalized as a “thin, unpleasant man” in a police incident report that got circulated around the office. He lives up to that description — there’s something of the sewer rat or weasel about him. He gives the disconcerting impression that he’s about to go for your throat. He calls himself a “minder and a reminder” — he bodyguards informants, politicians, and other potential targets, but he also keeps an eye on former or suspected criminals or terrorists and “encourages”

people n 2011 people: Madman to MI6 Lamplighter early

40s, thickly built, bristling short-cut brown-gray hair, squinty dark eyes, pointed nose defining quirks: hands in his raincoat at all times invades your personal space as a matter of habit allergic to garlic investigative abilities:

Criminology, Electronic Surveillance, Forensic Pathology, Human Terrain, Streetwise, Tradecraft general abilities: Athletics 8, Conceal 5, Cover 4, Driving 4, Hand-to-Hand 10, Infiltration 2, Network 10, Shooting 4, Surveillance 8, Weapons 8 alertness modifier: +2 stealth modifier: +1

MI6 Lamplighter “ ”: name and workname

Brett “Portman” Bankson Network contact “still inside”; spotted on a mission with a 2-point Tradecraft spend; knows how to get into Romania on the q.t. description: mid-30s, fit but not heavily built, sandy hair and forgettable looks, expensive sunglasses, knife scar on palm of one hand innocent: Although a duly deputized agent of MI6, Bankson doesn’t really see his job as national security or black world or any of that — more a chance to travel, get some exercise, and avoid working indoors. His job is “lamplighter” — MI6 slang for a courier, spotter, retriever and setter of possible role:

dead drops, and long-term surveillance expert. Undeniably skilled at the work, he’s the last person anyone in Edom would task with something weird, shady, or highly compartmentalized. But he does hear things, and might idly talk shop with someone else from the Circus (Tradecraft). asset: Bankson’s amiable expression hides the hard ambition that drives him. He has hitched his wagon to Edom, and he has every intention of riding it into either significant policy-making or a lucrative private security contract. He has a mental database of anomalies, weirdness, and skeletons he’s seen buried, and he uses it to become indispensable to his control, Osprey (p. 52) — and to figure the angles on becoming one of the Dukes of Edom himself. Getting him to spill requires trading information (Negotiation); turning him requires not just burning Edom but a seriously better offer payable right now (2-point spend of High Society?). Alternately, Bankson is “Hopkins,” and keeps moving to avoid ever being a target for either Edom or Dracula. Diagnosis notes the slight tremor and discoloration in the eyes (though not behind Bankson’s sunglasses) and long muscles, signs of long-term exhaustion. minion: Sadly, Bankson went on one too many missions to Romania. He has been Renfielded and turned into one more pair of Dracula’s eyes. Even if Dracula has completely suborned Edom, Bankson is still a Renfield tasked to check up on the vampire lord’s shiny sharp tools. Only if someone’s blood is flowing does an eagle-eyed Agent notice Bankson’s brief, intense distraction (Notice or Sense Trouble, depending on if a fight might start). alternate names and “worknames”: Tommy “Zoltan” Polanyi, Cate “Morley” Muir, Emma “Burton” Raisani alternate descriptions: mid-40s, heavyset but surprisingly limber, white-blond hair usually covered with a hat of some kind, thick fingers hang at sides mid-20s, short brunette hair or bright-colored wigs, green eyes in narrow face, small slender

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them not to misbehave. If any of the player characters are ex–British spies or special forces, then Biggs knows all about them. Cop Talk lets the Agents masquerade as law enforcement and get some clues out of Biggs; he knows the Anti-Communist (p. 81), the Defector (p. 93), the Retired KGB Agent (p. 97), the Drug Boss (p. 113), and the Arms Runner (p. 102), as well as the Psychic (p. 96) and the MI5 Deputy (p. 95). He’s got the Tabloid Journalist (p. 134) under his thumb, too. If the Agents can provide proof that a secret MI6 faction is running operations right here in England, then Biggs’ territorial attitude can turn him into an ally (“This is my patch, and I’ll fucking remind them of that”). asset: Biggs moonlights for Edom — he’s one of Hound’s (p. 51) agents in the UK, helping clean up after vampire attacks. If a journalist gets hold of a story, or a witness won’t cooperate, then Biggs calls around and gives his usual combination of “it’s a security matter, let it drop” and “we know things about you that you wouldn’t like, so drop it or else.” He can stoke up Heat by reopening old investigations or triggering new ones — use him to implement a Row One or Two response on the Edom pyramid (p. 20). Optionally, he’s also a CIA asset, working for the CIA Agent (p. 91) — in this scenario, it’s an MI5 play to discredit MI6 by having the Americans take Edom away from them. minion: Biggs is the vampire equivalent of a lamplighter — he establishes safe havens, keeps an eye on coffins, sweeps for Edom bugs or surveillance cameras, and deals with any passport or customs issues. He’s in this for the money. Dracula might have him contact the PCs as part of a “Double Agent” countermove (p. 19). alternate names: Portia Caveney, Trevor Wilson, “Mean” Gene Lancaster alternate descriptions: mid-40s, sunken cheeks, thinning hair, nicotine-stained teeth late 30s, prematurely white hair, pale complexion, redrimmed watering eyes

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook frame, choppy movements and constant direction shifts late 20s, catlike grace, long black hair peeking out of a head scarf, South Asian features, stands in shooter’s stance defining quirks: looking over your (not his) shoulder can turn on a thick West Country accent or switch to mid-Atlantic hands stay completely still at all times

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investigative abilities:

Electronic Surveillance, Notice, Photography, Tradecraft, Urban Survival general abilities: [second set of ratings is for courier/surveillance teams from Romanian SRI or SIE] Athletics 10/8 (long foot chases a specialty), Conceal 4, Cover 10/8, Disguise 2, Driving 6, Hand-to-Hand 4, Infiltration 2, Shooting 5, Surveillance 10/8, Weapons 4 alertness modifier: +2 stealth modifier: +1 dossier reference:

CU88, HO92

MI6 Romania Desk: Alexander Analyst Tarber name

possible role:

Expert on Romanian émigrés in London description: late 30s, clean-shaven, plummy Etonian accent, long black coat innocent: Tarber’s one of the ambitious young turks in MI6; he joined the service just before the 7/7 bombings brought the War on Terror right onto the streets of London. His current assignment is the Romanian desk, monitoring recent immigrants from that country for criminal or terrorist connections. Along with GCHQ and the Romanian SRI and Interpol, he brought down a hacking ring that’s secured his reputation in MI6. He’s clearly destined for great things. He prefers to work through SIGINT and informants, but he’s got excellent field tradecraft and speaks flawless Romanian without a trace of an accent. He’s quintessential English. Approach him through the old boys' network with High Society; Flirting also works. If

the Agents need leverage over him, he’s carrying on an affair with a Romanian girl named Lucia; combine Photography with Intimidation and threaten to reveal the affair to his wife to get him to cooperate, although he’ll call the Agents’ bluff if they ask him to endanger himself needlessly. He’s best used as a clearing house to give the Agents names and current addresses for people mentioned in the older annotations in the Dossier. Tarber has files (or even active surveillance) on Al-Qaeda in Rûm (p. 148), the Romanian Mafia (p. 157), the Arms Runner (p. 102), the Dissident (p. 112), the Syrian General (p. 133), and the Human Rights Activist (p. 118). He works with the GCHQ Romania Desk Analyst (p. 115) and the MI5 Agent (p. 122). He can dig up details on the Balkans Expert (p. 91), the Medievalist (p. 122), and the Seismologist (p. 100). He worked briefly under or inherited case files from “Cushing” (p. 92) and/or the Retired MI6 Asset Runner (p. 98), and might even know about the BND Deep-Cover Agent (p. 105) if her investigation touches on London. Listing all those contacts was positively exhausting for him; he’s going to slope off to the Korea Club (p. 192) — his father’s a member, of course — for a fortifying drink. as “hopkins”: He’s inherited the job “Cushing” had, and so the alert came through to him. He leaked the Dossier to the Agents because he wasn’t sure what else to do with it and needed to find out more. Depending on how events turn out, he might reveal himself as an ally for the Agents later in the campaign, or sell them out to Edom to preserve his career (assuming that he doesn’t have to go on the run when Edom discovers he leaked the Dossier.) He’s a much more cynical, self-interested Hopkins than the GCHQ take on the character (p. 115). asset: Tarber isn’t part of Edom, but desperately wants to be. He knows they exist; he worked that out from the files he inherited at the Romania desk, or maybe an older MI6 spy clued him in. His support for Edom stands on three unshakable pillars. First, he has to believe that Edom caught the mole in 1977 — if they didn’t, then he and everyone else

who’s been on the Romania desk in the last forty years have also missed it. Better to assume that Edom was right, for the good of his career. Second, he knows that Edom’s been repurposed to fight the war on terror, and he fervently supports those efforts.Thirdly, and most importantly, he sees Edom as the ultimate secret of British intelligence, the highest clandestine service, and he wants in. He’ll do whatever he can to catch Edom’s eye — and that includes taking risks to trace, capture, or impede the Agents if they cross his path. He knows Hound (p. 51) and is in love with her, although he hasn’t realized this himself yet. The Agents can break Tarber’s first pillar of support for Edom by showing him incontrovertible proof that the 1977 mole hunt was a bust (Tradecraft); they can bring down his second pillar by showing him the collateral damage caused by Edom’s efforts (Interrogation). The third pillar will only stand as long as he thinks he has a chance with Hound (Flirting or Bullshit Detector). minion: Tarber’s not quite forty yet, but he already feels old. He looks at the younger agents, fresh faced and virile; he looks at his older superiors, gray and withered and dusty. He wants more life — and an old Romanian man, dying in a cell in Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre, revealed the way to get it in a whisper. The Master. Tarber’s eager to become a minion, so he’s scouring the Romanian expat community in London for clues on how to make contact with Dracula.As soon as he has a solid lead on Dracula’s location

people n 2011 people: MI6 Lamplighter to NATO Liaison

investigative abilities:

Art History, Criminology, Electronic Surveillance, Human Terrain, Interrogation, Law, Languages (Latin, Romanian), Tradecraft general abilities:

Hand-to-Hand 5, Network 10, Shooting 4, Surveillance 5 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +1 dossier reference:

HO56

NATO: Colonel Liaison Iuliu Cezar Epureanu name

possible role:

Romanian army contact, possible source for 1940 information description: late 40s, spotless Romanian Land Forces dress uniform, shortcropped black hair, wide face and features innocent: Col. Epureanu is a Romanian liaision with NATO, splitting his time between NATO offices in Bucharest, the US logistical base at Mihail Kogalniceanu International Airport near Constanta on the Black Sea (125 km south of Galati, p. 217), and SHAPE headquarters in Belgium. Agents with contacts in any NATO military know someone who knows Col. Epureanu, because that’s his job. An amateur military historian, Col. Epureanu is researching and writing a book about the attempted Iron Guard coup d’état in 1941 and its effect on WWII. He happily shares his information

with interested parties (Military Science or History as Interpersonal ability), even more happily if they have documents or other data to offer him in exchange. At least in his innocent incarnation, he can only provide information or leads to the overt, exoteric aspects of the SOE mission in Romania, to the anomalous role of German intelligence in the coup, and to the strange urgency to kill and die that seemed to settle over both Iron Guardists and Antonescu like a mist at the time. Once the Agents have established themselves as trustworthy, he may also be able to point them toward any Romanian military unit or officers coopted by Edom or the Conspiracy. Col. Epureanu doesn’t know who’s doing the co-opting, only that their orders or deployment patterns seem off to him. If the Director needs a real data dump, the colonel might have even noticed the smattering of occasional “SAS operators” who go into Romania but don’t deploy on to the Middle East. asset: Col. Epureanu has talked to enough Romanian veterans of Afghanistan (and the Romanian special forces operators back from Iraq and now Syria, p. 133) to hate and despise the Islamofascist enemy in the War on Terror. He fully supports Edom’s goals, and, if anything, feels a swell of patriotic pride that Romania provides such a fearsome weapon for the cause of Christianity, democracy, and civilization. (Bullshit Detector picks up on this patriotism when he lies to the Agents; he’s a military man, not a spy.) He cannot be flipped: even Coercion won’t work. His interest in the 1941 coup is genuine, but Edom also uses him as flypaper to attract, distract, or remove potentially dangerous researchers into Edom’s past. The colonel runs a major Edom transport network throughout Europe andTurkey, moving Dukes, lamplighters, ratings, and shell squads on NATO aircraft from airport to airport without a whisper of documentation. Agents who keep encountering Edom teams all over the continent use Tradecraft (or a 1-point Military Science spend) to deduce that Edom’s “invisible airline” must either be CIA or NATO transports

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(or the location of another vampire), he’ll fly out and bargain for immortality. Dropping hints with Vampirology tricks him into aiding the Agents (or maybe he’s playing them, and intends to send them into a trap as payment for his new life among the Un-Dead.) alternate names: Quentin Summers, Rani Bachchan, Donald Sykes alternate descriptions: late 50s, glum, carries an umbrella [counting down the days to retirement] mid-30s, British Indian, unflappable [excellent agent handler] mid-40s, balding, sharklike [racist and barely bothers to hide it] defining quirks: avoids giving firm answers avid cricket fan instantly lecherous when drunk

— the RAF alone doesn’t fly enough missions to cover this many passengers up. And once you narrow it down to NATO (and get access to NATO air traffic records, say with a Difficulty 6 Digital Intrusion test), Traffic Analysis notes a Romanian colonel right where Edom would need someone to arrange those flights. Failing all that, the Dissident (p. 112) or the Journalist (p. 120) might have a presorted list of tail numbers for “black aircraft” flown out of NATO airbases (or the military runways on commercial airports) that eventually points to the colonel’s network. minion: The colonel is an undying Renfield, born Iulian Epureanu in 1901 and turned in 1940 by Dracula as part of his own machinations that year. He survived the coup and the Eastern Front, and has changed identities three times since then: in 1947 (Adrian Epurianu), 1977 (Aurel Epurianu), and 1991. The Conspiracy inserted him back into the military each time. Careful Traffic Analysis (2-point spend) on the Romanian Army List notes the discontinuities (and History detects his penchant for Roman names) and alerts the Agents to Epureanu’s role. He smuggles coffins and Conspiracy personnel (usually disguised as Romanian or Hungarian military or government personnel) using the NATO network described above. He also keeps an eye on the Americans’ oh-so-inquisitive drones for Dracula, making sure no Predators overfly the site of Castle Dracula

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night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook (p. 207), another “black hole” in his digital record that another 2-point Traffic Analysis spend can tease out. Getting US drone flight records, however, is much harder: Digital Intrusion Difficulty 8. A suitable Cover (test Difficulty 6) and a trip to Constanta or to the NATO record offices in Bucharest (right above the “Bright Light” facility, p. 204) might be easier if riskier and more complex. alternate names: Vlad Lahovary, Gheorghe Vasilescu, Traian Argetoianu alternate descriptions: early 40s, Romanian Land Forces field fatigues, slightly longer hair than regulation, constant sunburn, sunglasses, shorter than average height [Afghanistan veteran who saw things he can’t quite explain to himself] early 50s, Romanian Air Force uniform, weathered skin, short-on-back-and-sides brown hair, piercing eyes [one-star generalul de flotila aeriana] mid-40s, Romanian Naval Forces dress uniform, glasses, full head of black hair, thick lips, strong profile [RNF comandor with intelligence connections] defining quirks: occasional twitch in one eye uses acronyms a lot (sitrep, OPFOR, etc.) holds self at parade rest investigative abilities:

Bureaucracy, History, Languages (Bulgarian, English, German, Hungarian, Russian, Turkish), Military Science, Traffic Analysis general abilities: [add Piloting 5 for Air Force officer; increase combat abilities and Athletics/Aberrance by +5 each for Renfield] Athletics 8, Driving 5, Explosive Devices 2, Hand-to-Hand 7, Mechanics 2, Medic 3, Network 10, Shooting 8, Weapons 5 alertness modifier: +1, +2 [if Renfield] stealth modifier: +1

Online Mystic : Mathilda Nordling name

possible role:

Occult expert, bait, psychic early 30s, willowy, dark tangled hair, ornate silver jewelry innocent: Mathilda Nordling believes that she possesses psychic gifts. Her parents are devotees of Swedish mystic Emanuel Swedenborg; while Nordling no longer considers herself Christian, she believes that she is attuned to the same spiritual realm that inspired previous mystics. She senses the invisible tides and tremulations of the spirit world, and has had several experiences that she describes as precognitive, where she foresaw events that later came to pass. She runs a website, Arcana Caelistia, where other self-proclaimed psychics can submit their visions and dreams and discuss their interpretations. Nordling moderates the forum with an iron fist, banning “charlatans, religious freaks, pagans, phonies, wannabes, skeptics, fakers, and trolls” and keeping discussions ruthlessly on topic (or as on topic as discussions about psychic powers and dreams can be). She’s never met Aleister Singleton (p. 96) and isn’t sure what to make of him; she doesn’t know that Singleton has one of his acolytes monitor Arcana Caelista to look for genuine talents / flashes of precognition / sexually available groupies / potential vampire victims, depending on which version of Singleton you’re using in your campaign. Traffic Analysis coupled with Occult Studies and Criminology description:

lets the Agents correlate trends in the forum with vampire activity. However, discussion threads on the forum are purged by Nordling every few weeks, so, to get any useful information, the Agents need to track Nordling down (she moved to London in 2011) and obtain access to her backups. Negotiation or Occult Studies convinces her that the Agents need the archives; the archives can also be stolen and obtained with Data Recovery. Clues in the archives might point to sites of unexpected spiritual power, like Cross Angel Cold Storage (p. 189) or the Red Room at Carfax (p. 185). Nordling also investigates supernatural events, ghost hauntings, UFO sightings, and occult weirdness in London, and records her exploits on video for the website. She might run across the Agents more than once by coincidence — or synchronicity, depending on how one interprets the facts. asset:As above, but Nordling’s an unwitting Edom asset. Prince (p. 53) has a backdoor into Nordling’s computer. Edom uses the Arcana Caelista forum as a sort of occult weather vane, mapping waves of sleepwalking, strange dreams, or outbreaks of madness to track the movements of vampires. Examining Nordling’s computer with Data Recovery spots the hack; after that, it’s a contest of Digital Intrusion to trace the tap back to Prince’s lair. Optionally, Edom might be secretly dosing Nordling or other members of the forum with a variant of the Seward Serum to enhance their sensitivity to Dracula’s movements. Diagnosis spots the needle tracks; Pharmacy identifies the serum for what it is. minion: Nordling is in Dracula’s thrall. She dreams of the Master and his red eyes, and would do anything to please him. She cultivates vulnerable members of her web forum, slowly undermining their social ties and support networks until she is the only person they trust. Then, she sends them into the fangs of the Conspiracy. Criminology plus Data Recovery plus Traffic Analysis lets the Agents correlate membership of the forum with unexplained deaths and disappearances.

people n 2011 people: NATO Liaison to Petroleum Executive

investigative abilities:

Cryptography, Data Recovery, Diagnosis [nurse only], Occult Studies, Pharmacy [nurse only] general abilities: Digital Intrusion 4, Medic 6 [nurse only] alertness modifier: −1 stealth modifier: +0 dossier reference:

HO42, HO150

Petroleum Executive : Martin Creasey name

possible role: American

wild card, geological info dump, last-second helicopter extraction or insertion description: mid-50s, African American, tall, quarterback build, polo shirt and khakis, strong jaw and unlined face, easy smile innocent: The Ceausescu regime squandered Romania’s oil reserves, once the largest in Europe, but Romania still has the largest refinery capacity in the region. Shale gas deposits inTransylvania also offer the possibility of energy independence despite strong political opposition to fracking. The Romanian government (and its American allies) supports gas exploration, but between local concerns and EU foot-dragging, the country’s shale potential remains theoretical. Right now, most Romanian energy comes from Russian oil and gas, although negotiations to host pipelines from the Persian Gulf are underway.

Creasey runs (or works for) an American oil and gas exploration firm based out of Houston. He personally visits Romania to get in on the ground floor of what he sees as Romania’s inevitable embrace of shale gas (and thus eventual control of most of the European market), and in the meantime to sell Texas refinery equipment to OMV and Rompetrol. He pops up all over the country, usually accompanied by a small team of surveyors or geologists he’s hired locally or sourced from the NIEP (p. 151). Of course he carries a gun (legally permitted for an outrageous bribe) — he’s not just an American, he’s a Texan. Agents can approach him with High Society or with interesting tidbits of Geology, or Flirting (he’s married, but he ain’t dead) or really almost anything but Intimidation — he’s friendly and open, the stereotypical “everyone loves me, so I love everyone” self-confident American. He might know about weird tectonic effects in remote Carpathian passes, offer his own speculation about geomagnetic force lines, have “Candace back in Houston shoot you those satellite maps,” or just provide a handy helicopter ride “for a fellow Yank in Dracula-land.” He believes in God, but not in vampires — but if he encounters one, he accepts their reality immediately. Agents with suitable Cover (Difficulty 5 test; Creasey checks them out with his own sources, though possibly only after helping them) might also approach him as CIA, DIA, or the like. He’s a patriot, and willing to help his country in a good cause without asking a lot of damfool questions. asset: Creasey is so obviously a CIA friendly that nobody can really bring themselves to believe he’s CIA: Agents with Tradecraft are kind of impressed despite themselves. The US national security apparatus and American oil companies have enjoyed a long and fruitful friendship, and Creasey is just another fraternity brother in that storied tradition. Certainly, he’s not above using CIA-SIE connections to get friendly rulings from the Ministry of Economy or from anyone else in Bucharest. If the CIA has a vampire project, Creasey is cleared for it, especially if

there are telluric vampires (p. 59) in the campaign. The connections between fracking and earthquakes become very interesting in light of the connections between earthquakes and vampires, after all. Creasey may be out in Transylvania prospecting for — or waking up — the CIA’s pet murony (NBA, p. 152) or even a full-fledged Un-Dead of their own. Finally, as a Texan, the players may well suspect Creasey of being somehow a Quincey Morris Legacy, which can be as true as the Director wishes. (Note the last alternate name, below.) minion: Creasey may well be a Morris Legacy, especially if Morris was turned in 1894. If not, Creasey fell prey to Dracula while out prospecting in the wilds of Transylvania — he’s exactly the kind of rich and influential figure Dracula craved power over in 1894, too. He’s a lower-level node on the Conspyramid unless an American oil company becomes a major player in the campaign, or unless he’s Dracula’s control mechanism for the local CIA. If Creasey is a Renfield, he may have some disturbing personal habit — sex murder of young girls or boys, drinking pedigreed horse blood, or something else that can be discovered with judicious investigation. The Human Trafficker (p. 118) or the Bucharest Street Cop (p. 108) or a contact in the SRI (p. 133) might know something unsavory, for example. Or the CIA Agent (p. 91) or any Edom asset might drop a dime on him to get the Agents to take him out.

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Nordling believes that, if she sends Dracula enough victims, he will reward her with immortality as one of his Brides. alternate names: Janet Silverleaf, Jens Wistbacka, Tariq Benzai alternate descriptions: mid-40s, heavyset, green hair, black dress [works as a nurse by day] mid-30s, creepily pale to the point of albinism, bleached hair, white shirt and jeans [much too friendly with the Neo-Nazi, p. 85] late 20s, North African, welldressed, asks too many questions [student of psychology running the website as an experiment] defining quirks: always shows up in the “right” place cleanses people’s auras when they’re stressed apartment full of cats

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

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alternate names: Travis Alcazar,

Nancy Grayson, Daniel Byrne, David Crockett Morris alternate descriptions: early 50s, cowboy boots and Stetson, bolo tie, sunburned face, muscular frame carrying a few too many orders of ribs by now [hilarious self-parody Texan in the Stoker spirit — and it’s good business branding out here in the sticks, too] early 40s, dark good looks, open-collared shirt and tailored slacks, self-satisfied expression, designer frames [ambitious vice president on the way up] mid-40s, chambray work shirt, blue jeans, scuffed cowboy boots, tousled blond hair, Texas Rangers baseball cap, Leatherman prominently holstered on belt, suntan, prescription sunglasses outdoors and steel-framed glasses indoors [technical expert whose energy exploration startup blew up big] defining quirks: Texas accent points and presses finger down into table while talking uses a BlackBerry instead of a smartphone investigative abilities: Accounting,

Bullshit Detector, Data Recovery (satellite photos, tomography, etc.), Geology, High Society, Law, Negotiation, Outdoor Survival general abilities: Athletics 8, Driving 5, Explosive Devices 4, Gambling 4, Hand-to-Hand 3, Mechanics 4, Network 10, Piloting 2 (sailboat, helicopter), Shooting 7 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +1 dossier reference:

HO74

Pharmaceutical Researcher : Hettie Shahzad name

possible role:

Clinical researcher and possible Israeli vampire hunter description: early 30s, Iranian background, confident, tall and graceful, wears a jilbab

innocent:

Hettie is the board-appointed director of clinical research for an Israeli pharmaceutical company. She was brought to the company as a clinical research assistant, but is said to have risen through the ranks faster than any other board member. She is noted as having a key role in the advancement of cancer research, and for cutting big checks for the research of infectious diseases. Hettie diligently attends every high profile fundraiser, medical conference, or press conference she can — like Heal the Children (p. 150) fundraisers. Hettie has seen, first hand, the devastation caused by infectious diseases and would be inclined to help if someone so explained Vampirology and its devastating effects on the population. However, she needs some Reassurance that whatever help she gives to further your efforts to fight the disease will remain anonymous. She has far too much at stake to be undermined by some nasty rumors. Once convinced, she can task automated pharmaceutical factories in Switzerland or Israel to produce Seward Serum (p. 51), Blomberg Serum (p. 282), or Luria Formula (p. 114) if given samples or pharmaceutical workups to work from. Given a cinematic month or two, she can probably improve the formulas’ effectiveness. asset: Hettie has a double life. As a front, she serves as a board member for the clinical research division of an Israeli pharmaceutical company and actually spends most of her time researching

vampirism while working for Mossad as a Sayeret Aluka (p. 75) vampire hunter. Hettie is used to doing things her way, so if outside Agents want to have her go along with any of their plans, they will have to use Negotiation to get her to accommodate their needs. She works with the Hildesheim Legacy (p. 116), and may have her own version of either the Seward Serum, Blomberg Serum, or Luria Formula. If Mossad knows about Edom, she has professional contacts in (and a possible digital back door into) Seward’s Asylum (p. 195). minion: Hettie is an unwitting double agent. She works for Sayeret Aluka, but Dracula is her true master.When she was a child living in Iran, her parents were both murdered by one of the children of the night, but it spared her and gave her the vampiric baptism of blood. She’s heard voices in her head ever since: she believes that God has given her a special mission, but she’s really under Dracula’s spell. She has no idea that her divine purpose of smiting the forces of darkness has been orchestrated and planned by the Prince of Darkness all her life, and that revelation will likely break her if she ever finds out. Through her, Dracula knows Mossad’s every move when it comes to vampires. Tradecraft or Cop Talk gets rumors that she’s obsessively driven even by the standards of her peers; Vampirology or Hypnotism guesses that she’s under outside influence. alternate names: Bahar Veisi, Jasmine Ghaznavi, Parisa Akhtar alternate descriptions: late 20s, calm, humble, scared face early 50s, athletic, witty, wearing tailored business attire early 40s, relaxed, optimistic, elegant gold-framed glasses defining quirks: gives compliments regularly is joyous and laughs out loud gives vibrant descriptions of places that she claims to have only read of in books investigative abilities:

Chemistry, Diagnosis, Human Terrain, Languages (English, French, Hebrew), Outdoor Survival, Pharmacy

people n 2011 people: Petroleum Executive to Real Estate Broker general abilities:

[second set of ratings is for asset or minion versions of the character] Athletics 5/8, Digital Intrusion 0/3, Hand-to-Hand 6/8, Health 6, Medic 3, Network 6, Shooting 3/10, Weapons 0/8 alertness modifier: +1, +2 [if asset or minion] stealth modifier: +1 dossier reference:

HO117

name

possible role:

Dubious intelligence asset; possible AQIR emir description: Late 30s, tall and handsome, wears thick designer eyeglasses, cool and haughty innocent: Aydin preaches at one of the largest mosques in Istanbul. His fiery sermons denounce the corrupting influences of the West; they fill popular CDs sold or given away in Turkish markets all over Europe, especially Romania and Germany. However, he is in fact an informant for MIT, the Turkish intelligence service, which is blackmailing him in return for information on radicals and criminals in the community. His handler is the Turkish Agent (p. 136). The Agents can use Tradecraft or Traffic Analysis to find out what Aydin is hiding, then manipulate him with Intimidation or make a deal with Negotiation. Alternatively, he is the Istanbul cell leader, and a leading theorist and commander, of Al-Qaeda in Rûm (p.

alternate descriptions:

early

60s, plump, walks with a limp, gloomy mid-40s, tall and thin, untidy, warm and friendly mid-50s, broad and strong, bushy beard, cold and suspicious defining quirks: loudly denounces Islamic terrorism stops in conversation with eyes closed and hands clasped as if praying repeatedly expresses dismay at the corruption of Turkish and European society investigative abilities:

History, Human Terrain, Intimidation, Languages (Arabic, English, Romanian, Urdu), Notice, Reassurance, Research, Tradecraft

general abilities:

[use Renfield stats, p. 57, as minion] Athletics 4, Conceal 5, Explosive Devices 3 [AQIR only], Network 12, Surveillance 4 alertness modifier: +1, +3 [if Rendfield] stealth modifier: +1

Real: ZhuEstate Broker Liwen name

possible role: Cut-out, accidental intruder description:

late 20s, Chinese, short hair dyed semi-blonde, professionally dressed at work and cutesy clothes outside innocent: Zhu went into the real estate business straight out of a third-rate provincial college, made a million dollars by the time she was 25, lost most of it to a bad relationship, and took a foreign friend’s suggestion to try the European real estate market. She acts as a realtor for Chinese citizens looking to buy European property, chiefly in the UK but increasingly in cheaper Eastern European markets, and makes no inquiries as to where her clients’ money comes from. She also deals with the logistical side of Chinese trade, purchasing warehouse space and branch offices for mainland firms. Zhu is likely to act as a reverse Jonathan Harker (or at least Harker’s cover story); rather than representing vampires looking for real estate, she may accidentally disturb the Conspiracy while looking for a deal. She might also show

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Radical Imam : Sait Aydin

148). He pays the Arms Runner (p. 102) or the Syrian General (p. 133) to provide explosives, grenades, and automatic weapons, stockpiled in Romania and Bulgaria. The Drug Boss (p. 113) attends his mosque, and they regularly meet in private to “discuss scripture.” Funding and recruitment may be provided by another regular visitor to Istanbul — the Medievalist (p. 122). His covert meetings and communications can be detected with a Difficulty 5 Surveillance test and a 1-point spend of Tradecraft; Human Terrain then identifies him as a key AQIR node. Once the Agents blow either cover, Aydin isn’t long for this world — either AQIR or Dracula eliminates him in a very public and messy fashion. asset: Aydin is still a deputy leader of AQIR (p. 148), but is actually an MI6 deep-cover asset. A 2-point Research spend in the British Library or in the open archives of the British India Office identifies his great-grandfather as a Foreign Office asset in pre-WWITurkey; Tradecraft reminds Agents that MI6 practices generational recruiting. If he’s been assumed by Edom (officially or unofficially), Elvis (p. 50) is his Edom/MI6 handler.They meet either at the mosque, in Varna, Bulgaria (regular ferries to and from Istanbul), or on the Orient Express (p. 248). Alternatively, he is the Turkish Agent’s (p. 136) deep-cover MIT handler, in which case, a Difficulty 5 Surveillance test with a 1-point spend of Tradecraft exposes him. See above for the likely results of Aydin’s contact with the Agents. minion: Aydin is a Renfield planted by Dracula to infiltrate the MIT, or MI6 if the Count knew Aydin’s greatgrandfather, or both. Aydin volunteers some of his time at Topkapı Palace, where he blasphemously assists the continuous Koran recitations in the Chamber of Holy Relics. It’s up to the Director whether this profanation leaves any sign; if so, whether it manifests as a stain in the chamber or a sore on Aydin’s mouth or tongue. alternate names: Omer Yildirim, Akeem Nagi, Fazal Malik

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alternate names:

up at a safe house that’s actually been put up for sale, showing prospective buyers around. Both Hillingham (p. 190) and, if it still exists, the Coldfall House (p. 188) are seemingly derelict properties in London that could be flipped for millions. In Romania, there’s always the Strasba Orphanage (p. 223) or, hell, maybe even a ruined Castle Dracula (p. 207) could be sold as a fixer-upper. asset: Zhu’s foreign friend is a former student of Chinese now working for an intelligence agency: she kept up ties with Zhu out of friendship and then recruited her as an asset when she started her new business. Zhu supplies her clients’ financial details and purchase histories, in return for which she has a sparkling new UK passport and a suspiciously clean record with the tax authorities. Either Edom or the Conspiracy may well have channeled money through Chinese cutouts, especially for property purchases; Accounting finds the details in her files. If Zhu’s friend is “Hopkins,” Zhu may be hiding him or her in one of her properties. minion: Zhu is the chief broker for Axel Logistics (p. 141): a ruthlessly ambitious woman, she sees no difference between trading property and trading people. She has close connections with Chinese “snakehead” human traffickers, who provide an endless source of easily vanishable labor and blood from her hometown in Fujian province. She knows the Human Trafficker (p. 118) but despises him as unprofessional and brutal.

Cindy Ma, Soo Sin Jie [Cantonese], Wen Wen-wen [Mandarin, and her parents thought it was cute] alternate descriptions: early 30s but looks younger, extensive plastic surgery for the “Korean look,” big eyes, small nose, high cheekbones, deliberately childish voice and largely deals with older men Eurasian, late 40s, severe expression and a fondness for golden jewelry [Hong Konger who moved to Europe following handover to mainland after the organized crime group she worked for was disturbed by post-1997 shakeups] early 20s, strong Australian accent, tan, fondness for sports [Chinese diaspora kid born in Sydney, turning her home language into a business asset] defining quirks: Starcraft addict and hardcore gamer under male ID, plays games on her phone during boring parts of conversation French literature student, still retains passion for language and thinks English crude by comparison has small lapdog with unpleasantly sharp canines and a habit of biting that she carries everywhere with her investigative abilities: Accounting,

Bureaucracy, High Society, Urban Survival (most European cities’ real estate prospects; good and bad neighborhoods, etc.) general abilities: Driving 4, Network 12, Shooting 6 [minion only] alertness modifier: +0 stealth modifier: +0 dossier reference:

HO124

Romanian Police Inspector : Principal Inspector NicuAnghelescu name

possible role:

Police contact late 30s, looks exhausted, rumpled suit innocent: Anghelescu works in the Criminal Investigations Department’s murder and serious crimes section. His father disappeared in 1985, and description:

Anghelescu spends his spare time digging up cold cases and unidentified murder victims in the hopes of finally putting the old man’s ghost to rest. This habit isn’t popular in the department — pulling up old cases like that means extra work for everyone in his section. If he’d drop his obsession, his clearance rate is good enough to assure his promotion to superintendent in a few years. Cop Talk and a cooperative attitude get Anghelescu to open up; offering him a clue to one of his cold cases wins his cooperation. asset: Anghelescu’s secretly working with Edom (or the CIA), providing support and cover for illegal counterterrorism operations and assassinations on Romanian soil. (Some of these assassinations are probably the work of vampires sent after Al-Qaeda in Rûm, p. 148.) His habit of dragging up old cases is his way of occupying police resources, to give Edom time to clean up the mess. Bureaucracy spots what he’s doing. Flattery gets him to boast about his friends in high places. minion: Anghelescu is a cleaner; he erases the evidence of vampire attacks. He knows how to make forensic evidence disappear and how to conveniently lose case files, and he subtly intimidates his staff into not asking questions. If a police detective or forensic technician tries to resist, then Anghelescu reports them to his Conspiracy handler; soon, there’ll be another case for him to cover up. Approaching him directly is pointless. He’s got enough self-control

people n 2011 people: Real Estate Broker to Sniper

investigative abilities:

Criminology, Forensic Pathology, Notice, Photography, Research, Urban Survival general abilities: Hand-to-Hand 4, Infiltration 6, Surveillance 6 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +1 dossier reference:

Smuggler : Otto Skinsky

HO83

name

possible role:

Courier, provider of escape route or equipment in Romania; wheel artist for hire description: late 20s, short, maniacal grin, motorcycle leathers and boots innocent: Skinsky refers to himself euphemistically as a “courier.” It’s not that he’s not a criminal, but it’s only half the story. Not all of the high-value merchandise he transports is illegal. He’s couriered cash, hard drives, human organs, ransom money, rare antiques, and fugitives. Addicted to the thrill of speed and danger, he welcomes

the challenge of getting past police checkpoints or rival criminals trying to steal his cargo. His preferred mode of transport is his customized MV Agusta F4 motorcycle, but he grew up on the rivers and the waterways of Romania, so he often uses watercraft. He skips out of Romania for his cousins in England when the Romanian Mafia (p. 157) is looking for him; between jobs, he lives on a houseboat on the Danube. Streetwise gets you his name and a meet; as soon as he discovers that working with player characters leads to all sorts of exciting life-threatening situations, he’ll keep hanging around with his new buddies even after the job is done. He’s of Slovak descent; one of his ancestors was Petrof Skinsky (VS242), who died under questionable circumstances at the Fortified Monastery of St. Peter (p. 144) in Galati (p. 217). His family may still be feuding with the Hildesheim Legacy (p. 116) — quite probably, a one-sided feud. asset: Skinsky works for Edom. He’s got no idea what Edom is, or what it’s doing in Romania, but he’s got a good relationship with Elvis (p. 50) and is paid enough not to ask questions. He’s seen some very strange things on his runs through Transylvania, and may even break his own code of honor and take a look inside his courier satchel to see what exactly he’s been carrying (coded messages, vials of Seward Serum (p. 51), Vanderpool Garlic (p. 283), hit lists of terrorist cell members, gold coins?) Vampirology gets his notice;

Flattery or Flirting gets inside his guard. Even if he doesn’t know much, he can point the Agents at Elvis or another Edom member. minion: The Slovak river clans work for Dracula, just as they have for generations. Skinsky might prefer his motorcycle, but when his Master commands it, he’ll drive an articulated truck or a speedboat or a horse-drawn carriage. He’s definitely a Renfield or a dhampir, explaining his superhuman reflexes. alternate names: Ziven Hornick, Bogdan Kyselý, Marika Jelen alternate descriptions: mid-40s, virtually mute, slow and deliberate boatman [river smuggler] mid-30s, dapper, perfect unaccented English, con artist [drug smuggler] mid-30s, eye patch, flight jacket, rubs her missing eyeball when nervous [light aircraft pilot] defining quirks: tells people not to worry when they plainly should listens to loud manele music chugs energy drinks, then crushes the cans and leaves them behind like breadcrumbs in a fairy tale investigative abilities:

Criminology, Languages (English, Romanian, profanities of many lands), Urban Survival general abilities:

Driving 10, Piloting 4 alertness modifier: stealth modifier:

+1 −1

dossier reference:

CU15, HO56, HO85, HO149

Sniper : “Firîste” (Kurdish for “angel”) name

possible role:

or enemy

description:

Deadly weapon as ally

mid-30s, dark blonde hair, round face, dark eyes innocent: A veteran Kurdish Peshmerga fighter in Iraq and Syria, Sehla Rashou has left the war behind to fight for her people in other ways. She brings her combat sniper experience to the European market, and kills men (never women and never Kurds) who she, or someone with a large sum of money, believes need killing. In between commissioned hits on Mafiosi and

131

to pass a cursory Bullshit Detector attempt. A combination of Cop Talk and Reassurance gets one of his subordinates to admit she’s too terrified to talk, but the Agents should look into these mysterious deaths … alternate names: Manuel Albu, Angelica Gabor, Catalina Serban alternate descriptions: mid-50s, portly, disarmingly jovial demeanor, cold and calculating eyes [superintendent in Fraud Investigations Directorate, investigating political corruption] mid-40s, unusually pale, humorless, recently divorced [principal inspector in Anti– Human Trafficking Division, frustrated by lack of progress] early 30s, casual clothing, shortcropped hair, always has coffee cup in hand [inspector in Cyber Crime Directorate, talented hacker in her own right] defining quirks: methodically transcribes conversation into notebook clicks his tongue when thinking unusual interest in odd historical trivia

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secret identity:

bankers and spies and such, she shoots Turkish secret policemen, arms dealers who supplied Saddam Hussein, Ba’athist generals, and high-level supporters of ISIS on a pro bono basis. (Criminology and Human Terrain together provide a pretty clear indication of her profile; a 2-point spend of Criminology by an Agent with Shooting 8+ identifies her MO after a kill.) The Turkish Agent (p. 136) really wants to find her, as does the Syrian General (p. 133). The Agents may “meet” her when she shoots either one during a meet that the PCs set up, leading to all manner of diverting hijinks. She travels light, sleeping in anonymous business hotels near airports and train stations. She has a number of safe houses and caches in Europe and the Middle East, and plenty of various passports (American, UK, Indian, French) to let her get to them. She works for people who also provide reliable intel on her “self-selected” targets. Such steady employers include the Chinese MSS, who don’t care about Kurdistan or its enemies, and the US DIA, who consider the Kurds America’s only useful ally in the region. A 1-point Tradecraft spend figures out these likely intel sources; the Chinese Agent (p. 110) or a spiteful CIA contact (pp. 91 or 109) could connect the dots. She also works for anyone who pays very well for best-of-brand service. Except the Turks, of course. Never them. It costs the Agents $100,000 to hire Firîste to kill someone, which probably means excessive funds (NBA, p. 95).

One of the other female NPCs in the campaign is actually another cover identity for Firîste. The Agents may think they’re dealing with a Bookseller (p. 106) or a BND DeepCover Agent (p. 105) or a Dissident (p. 112) or a Journalist (p. 120) or a Volcanologist (p. 136) or really anyone and discover too late they’ve revealed themselves to “the Kurdish Angel.” She may even really live the other career as a detailed cover, with the skills and contacts to show for it, and just shoot people on vacations and long weekends. asset: Firîste has worked for most of the intelligence agencies mentioned in this book, albeit as a contractor. If the Agents seem too dangerous (if they’re going to expose a national vampire program, say), those agencies know who to call. She’s more than happy to take a job for MI6, especially when that charming Ms. Hound (p. 51) is willing to pay well over the going rate for a group sanction. If you plan to set Firîste on your players, it’s only fair to let them know she exists first — the best way is for Edom to hire her to kill their most dangerous NPC contact first (a flipped Duke, say), then hit the rest of the team. That said, if Edom has gotten to Row Five (“Kill Agent (Vampire),” p. 24) on their pyramid, the Agents have probably already had fair warning. minion: Sehla grew up in northern Iraq among ancient ruins — and in one of them, she discovered Lilith (p. 69). She is one of the vampire queen’s knights, killing for Her glory. Her selfselected targets are no longer those who oppress Kurdistan, but those who oppress women: human traffickers and wife-beaters alike. (She still shoots ISIS funders under both sets of rules.) Her handler-priestess is the Anthropologist (p. 90), who provides the ample funding and connections to keep Firîste off the European security grid. She may be a Renfield, or remain human, or have a drop of Lilith’s blood in an EpiPen just in case she needs to make an impossible escape. If instead Sehla is Dracula’s minion, they bonded over a shared hatred of the Turks. He may have encountered her while on a job for Edom, or earlier during a previous rampage through

the Middle East (the Kurds rebelled against the Turks in 1920, 1924, 1927, and 1937–1938, as well as from 1984 to now). He may even have made her a Bride, although she still prefers the rifle to the kiss for her targets. He uses her for “deniable” killings, when the victim needs to die without a supernatural (or Romanian) connection. He may even have used the innocent version of Firîste that way, hiring her through a cut-out somewhere on the Conspyramid. alternate names: Angela Ferris, Colleen Autry, Nisha Devi [cover names]; Pervin Xan, Rehana Ardalan, Hapsa Sharbaz alternate descriptions: late 40s, graying hair, smokes e-cigarettes, Rubenesque build [all about pre-positioning and waiting for the target] early 20s but with makeup looks even younger, black hair, green eyes, slender, dressed as a club kid [all about dropping the burner rifle at the shoot and then not looking remotely dangerous] late 30s, buzz cut under one of many short wigs or baseball cap, brown eyes, athletic build, medium height [all about being nondescript] defining quirks: always keeps one hand out of sight keeps surreptitiously checking exits speaks English with southern California accent [learned from watching pirated American TV shows] investigative abilities:

Interrogation, Languages (Arabic, English, German, Turkish), Military Science, Notice, Outdoor Survival, Photography, Tradecraft, Urban Survival general abilities: Athletics 8, Conceal 5, Cover 10, Disguise 8, Driving 4, Explosive Devices 2, Hand-to-Hand 4, Infiltration 6, Mechanics 2, Medic 4, Preparedness 8, Shooting 16*, Surveillance 10, Weapons 6 alertness modifier: +3 stealth modifier: +2 (+4 in prepared sniper nest) * Firîste has Special Weapons Training in her 7.62x51mm M40 sniper rifle (+2 damage).

people n 2011 people: Sniper to Syrian General

name

possible role: Secret police contact or liaison description:

mid-40s, black Hugo Boss suit and trench coat tailored to make him still look fit, wavy brown hair, burn mark on chin, smiles thinly to not show his bad teeth innocent: Capitan Florescu handles liaison work with foreign police and intelligence agencies in whatever county the Agents first encounter the SRI officially either voluntarily or involuntarily (if, say, they get arrested and thrown into jail, then made as foreign clandestine operators). He uses these foreign contacts to wire around his own bosses and build his own little empire within the secret police. It’s up to the Director whether he uses his powers mostly for good, rousting skinheads and communists and helping serve Interpol warrants, or has dealt himself a piece of the Romanian Mafia (p. 157) activities in the area. Or both — secret police retirement pay isn’t what it ought to be in Romania, even now. Cop Talk or Tradecraft gets on Florescu’s good side, assuming the Agents have suitable Cover or a Network contact who will back their play. He cooperates with them and smooths their path as long as their Heat stays under 3 (he knows that you have to break a few eggs every now and then to make a šarlota). That same Tradecraft ability knows that he’s reporting their actions (selectively) to his SRI higherups, which means that he’s almost

alternate descriptions:

early

40s, balding, distractedlooking, glasses, rumpled gray government-issue suit late 30s, porcelain complexion, slender, glossy black hair worn long, stunning green eyes, somber expression like an Orthodox ikon mid-40s, very tall and broadshouldered, obviously works out, blank stare and wide thinlipped mouth, black curly hair worn tight, tan duster over black sweater and slacks defining quirks: jams hands in pockets while talking smokes smelly Gauloises cigarettes lowers chin and looks up at interlocutor investigative abilities:

Criminology, Electronic Surveillance, Human Terrain, Intimidation, Languages (English, French, German), Law, Notice, Research, Tradecraft general abilities:

Athletics 8, Disguise 4, Hand-to-Hand 4, Shooting 5 alertness modifier: +2 stealth modifier: +1 dossier reference:

HO56

Syrian General : Yousef Allam name

possible role:

Military contact with access to arms, al-Qaeda back channel description: mid-50s, grizzled, long curly hair, smokes constantly innocent: Yousef is a general who, like most of the Syrian Army military leadership, is an Alawite and from the ripe age of eighteen has served in the Army. He is said to have earned his rank because he maintained control of a key outpost by ordering the use of chemical weapons without regard for his own troops. Other sources say that story makes Allam seem too decent. Yousef knows his way around, and he has the supplies, contacts, and men to get any Agent anywhere they need to go or anything up to anti-materiel rifles, chemical artillery shells, and mortars — even MANPADS antiaircraft missiles — but he isn’t running a charity, and it’s going to cost a pretty penny. Men, vampires, doesn’t matter

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SRI : Agent in Charge Capitan Mihai Florescu

mathematically sure to be reporting them to Dracula whether he knows it or not. Cutting him in for a piece of the action (Negotiate) might delay the response, but nothing can keep the SRI at bay for long. Get in, get help, get out. asset: Of course, Florescu might be reporting the Agents not to Dracula but to Edom. He’s one of the ambitious young Europeanized Romanians who wants to move up and replace the old guard, and Edom offered him a short cut during a counterterrorism policing conference in London in 2007. He may be carrying on a romance with Hound (p. 51) or just working very closely with her. As Tradecraft reminds us, the SRI has a reputation for sharing Securitate archives under the counter with select foreign intelligence groups; Florescu passed all the Securitate files on Dracula (and possibly a good chunk of the Conspyramid) up to Edom without telling anyone.Those files are at MI6 HQ in Vauxhall (or possibly Ring, p. 172), but of course he’s kept copies. Getting them from him is going to take some fairly wet and gruesome (2-point spend and three days’ work) Interrogation, however; his professional pride won’t let him crack without it. minion: Or sure, he’s reporting to Dracula, just not via his own bosses. Florescu is Dracula’s early warning system for foreign spies; he hears about any Heat the Agents attract to themselves in Romania and tracks them down once they fail (or exactly make) a Heat roll. (If their Heat is above 2 and Florescu is on their trail, they need to roll every session, not just every operation or location change; see also Heat and the Conspiracy in Romania, p. 152.) Florescu has worshipped Dracula’s power ever since he discovered the Master’s reality by going through the old Securitate files. Once he found Dracula, he burned them — but his excellent memory means that the Interrogation regime above might still produce some actionable intel. Florescu is a Renfield, however, so that may be easier said than done. alternate names: Nicolae Moceanu, Sabine Dobre [female], Decebal Romanescu

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to him — Yousef is a man of action who only deals in the immediate. Streetwise will get you in contact with the locals who know what channels to go through to get a hold of him when he’s “off the clock.” If he’s not a Network contact, then a Bullshit Detector or Negotiation spend may be needed to ensure that Allam doesn’t doublecross the Agents. The Arms Runner (p. 102) and Former Gehlen Org (p. 82) can recommend him; the NATO Liaison (p. 125) or any spy or case officer worth his salt (Tradecraft) can give him a different sort of bona fides. asset: He’s hedging his bets. Allam’s working for the Syrian Army, but he’s also got contacts in the al-Nusra Front, d/b/a al-Qaeda in the Levant. To avoid jeopardizing his position in the army, he can’t support AQIL directly, so he instead provides weapons and equipment to Al-Qaeda in Rûm (p. 148). Military Science lets the Agents identify captured AQIR gear as coming from Syria. His involvement with AQIR puts him on Edom’s kill list. He can make a very interesting death scene for the Agents to find, complete with lots of uselessly expended munitions. minion: As above, but Allam is one of Dracula’s minions. He switched to serving the Conspiracy after seeing some of his contacts in al-Qaeda perish at Dracula’s hands. Now, he’s living on borrowed time. He might either be feeding information to Dracula from Syria, or have taken unofficial leave from

the Syrian Army and moved to Romania to work with, say, the Romanian Mafia (p. 157) or maybe he’s officially “defected” and is now “consulting” with the Vulturii units attached to Dracula’s Castle (p. 207) — war games cover a multitude of sins. Bullshit Detector picks holes in his account of what happened; Reassurance and the concrete offer of a way out from under Dracula’s cold thumb gets him talking. alternate names: Khalid Hashem, Ahmed Jabbour, Mohammed Mady alternate descriptions: early 40s, handsome, bearded, aggressive mid-30s, brilliant, buff, wears a fist full of beautiful diamond rings mid-60s, bored, dark sultry voice, freshly shaved face defining quirks: thoughtfully strokes the scar on his chin smokes American cigarettes through a holder made from a rifle bullet casing alternates between cool dismissal and aggressive in-yourspace friendship or anger investigative abilities:

Languages (English, Farsi, French, Russian), Military Science, Negotiation, Outdoor Survival, Urban Survival general abilities: Athletics 6, Explosive Devices 4, Network 6, Shooting 6 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +0

Tabloid Journalist : Angela Holcriss name

possible role: Muckraker or political contact description:

mid-50s, bleached hair, expensive clothes, 2 m tall, pale blue eyes innocent: Holcriss is a freelance political journalist for various right-wing newspapers, mainly British tabloids like the Daily Mail. She’s anti-Europe and anti-immigration, so many of her pieces warn about Eastern European criminal gangs moving into Britain, or expose scandals involving politicians and groups she opposes. She’s a feared and experienced muckraker and character assassin. Her husband is Romanian (an irony that’s been pointed out many

times); he’s a wealthy executive in the petroleum industry. Flattery or Negotiation with the offer of information gets a meeting with her; she can provide inside gossip about any public or semipublic figure, and she has little fear of government censure — she knows things about certain politicians that can get her out of trouble if she needs it. In particular, she can give the Agents the scoop on either version of Holmwood (p. 44), “Mr. Hopkins” (p. 117), the Psychic (p. 96), any senior MI5 or MI6 personnel, and the inner workings of the Romanian government, and has contacts in the Romanian police and mafia. Like her broadsheet counterpart the Journalist (p. 120), Holcriss might be willing to assist the Agents in exposing or discrediting Edom; she’s also more willing to entertain the suggestion of supernatural powers (for one thing, she’s a surprisingly devout Christian; for another, her husband believes in such things). Then again, she’d be the first to cheer at the news of jihadi terrorists being eaten by vampires. asset: She’s ex-MI6, of all things. She was undercover in Romania at Station Bucharest (p. 159) until she was exposed, and chose to leave the service rather than take a desk job back in London. She still has friends and contacts in MI6, and she does favors for them on a quid pro quo basis. Tradecraft picks up that she’s a little too familiar with the current intelligence gossip to be a civilian.

people n 2011 people: Syrian General to tour guide minion:

investigative abilities:

High Society, History, Human Terrain, Military Science, Research general abilities: Disguise 4, Driving 6, Infiltration 3, Network 12 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: +1 dossier reference:

Tour: JánosGuide Ujvary

HO107, HO202

name

possible role:

Suspicious sight, gobetween for Elizabeth Báthory (p. 65); Countess Báthory’s protector description: Mid-30s. János is a little person. He stands at around 4'10" and has a large head, consistent with the most common forms of dwarfism. Dark hair, bearded, his eyes betraying a knowledge long beyond his years. Thus, he usually wears designer sunglasses. innocent: The unofficial tour guide to Cachtice Castle, (p. 245) Ujvary knows how to chill the blood with ghoulish stories and gruesome details about the Blood Countess’ depravities,

all told with a relish worthy of Vincent Price. He is a genuine expert on the area’s folklore and history, but knows that lurid tales are where the money is. He introduces himself by name, and, if tourists with smartphones or 1-point Criminology spends ask about his connection to Báthory’s identically named majordomo, he laughs creepily and says “We share the same … blood!” A 1-point Bullshit Detector spend sees through his routine but (especially for asset and minion versions) suggests that he knows more than he includes in his spiel for the tourists. Alternatively, drop Ujvary’s mention of the Báthory family, and he can creep the Agents out in any ruin from Castle Dracula (p. 207) to Slains (p. 176) to the tunnels under Exeter (p. 167). asset: As above, but he’s also working with the BND. If there’s an active German vampire program, then he keeps an eye on the Castle (or Báthory) for them. Otherwise, he’s working with their anti-trafficking efforts. Photography spots the high-end long-range lens on his camera; Notice sees him taking photos of the Agents or other suspicious sorts near the Castle. As a BND operative, he may cycle to a number of “vampire castle” tourist destinations — having János turn up at Bran (p. 209), Hunedoara (p. 211), Poenari (p. 211), or Orava (p. 212) every time the Agents are there makes a good red herring. minion: Ujvary has been Countess Báthory’s companion and majordomo for four hundred years. He started as her tutor in the occult, then later became

her partner, and finally she eclipsed him in power and he became her servant. Perhaps he lacked the courage to do what she did, or maybe she used her wealth and almost unassailable social position to do what a poor, stunted beggar could not. Ujvary might have once been a student at the Scholomance (p. 219), making him a failed Solomonar (p. 74), or maybe he just had access to a copy of Le Dragon Noir (p. 273). For a really weird take, make him a jenglot (p. 67) tied to the Báthory family. If you want to splatter your Agents across the hillside, he’s really Abhartach (p. 61), who long ago left Ireland for more suitable climes. As Báthory’s majordomo, he might appear anywhere in Europe her interests need looking after. Ujvary should not be underestimated. Many might overlook his strength due to his size — but he does have vampiric strength, and, as a sorcerer, he is uniquely capable of defending the countess, and will do so at all costs. He has protected her since 1614 when she escaped her life sentence, and has never betrayed her. alternate names/descriptions: Alexje Jelen, Cyril Siddons, Imrich Novak, Marek Zupak — aliases for János. Cyril Siddons is the name on his British passport, and perhaps in Edom records. János cannot for obvious reasons change his stature, which makes him relatively easily spotted and identified when it comes to being observed. As a result, János chooses instead to either shave his beard, head, or both to change his appearance; a tailored suit goes a long way to change his look from his normal “tourist castoff and windbreaker.” defining quirks: he has a lazy eye, making it difficult to observe whether or not he is lying he acts as though Cachtice Castle is a perfectly lovely and safe place to live, despite it being a decrepit ruin he speaks with deference to all people, using “sir” and “madam” in place of confirmed honorifics — a bit antiquated, but polite

135

Her Romanian husband — he comes from a very old aristocratic family. He’s very private and doesn’t like to be photographed. He owns a large estate in the mountains. Even if he’s not Dracula, his family has served the vampires for generations. Holcriss scouts the British Establishment for the Conspiracy, identifying potential victims and minions for Dracula. alternate names: Carrie Trelawney, Imogen Sheers, “Polydore Prestwick” [pen name; gay rather than female, but still married — in UK only — to a Romanian oligarch] alternate descriptions: mid-30s, remarkably goodlooking, peaches-and-cream complexion, blonde, fit mid-40s, short, brunette, favors T-shirts from safely defunct punk bands late 30s, sleek black hair, roly-poly features, black horn-rims, wears £200 sneakers with £2,000 suits defining quirks: slowly shakes head while listening smiles a little too widely for comfort traces of Scots accent mostly eliminated by school or voice lessons

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

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investigative abilities:

Criminology (“vampire crimes” only), Human Terrain, Languages (English, German, Slovakian), Occult Studies, Photography [asset only], Vampirology general abilities: [second set of ratings is for supernatural version of the character] Aberrance 0/12, Hand-to-Hand 4/8, Health 4/12, Hypnotism 8, Infiltration 6/12, Shooting 0/10, Surveillance 4 alertness modifier: +1, +2 [if supernatural] stealth modifier: +1, +3 [if supernatural] If he’s a 400+-year-old supernatural creature, his life prolonged by the Blood Countess, then give him the powers of Magic, Spider Climb, Vampiric Speed, and Strength.

Turkish Agent : Cingöz Recai name

possible role:

Network contact with regional access description: mid-40s, tailored Armani suit, forgettable appearance save for gray eyes, clearly fit asset: Recai is an elite operator for MIT, the Turkish intelligence agency, traveling undercover in Romania as a hotelier looking to expand for the tourist trade. He has pieced together some evidence of Operation Edom from Turkish government archives (including seized Abwehr documents in 1945, and shared American signals data from 2009–2011). His current hypothesis, which he considers shaky, is that a human MI6 assassin brainwashed and ’roided up to believe in his own superhumanity has gone rogue. He doesn’t know how the pieces fit together, but he is subconsciously open to finding out about vampires. Agents with proof vampires exist are just one Reassurance spend away from an ally. Recai can serve as a Directorcontrolled investigator, sudden rescue, and anything else needed for the story to accelerate — until his inevitable and bloody demise at the hands of Dracula. Examining the scene of Recai’s death (Criminology, Vampirology) may give the Agents one more core clue.

defining quirks:

wine connoisseur signs of stimulant

use (Pharmacy or Diagnosis) shoots his cuffs just before making a decision investigative abilities:

Electronic Surveillance, Human Terrain, Languages, Notice, Tradecraft general abilities: Athletics 9, Gambling 6, Shooting 10; other ability ratings equivalent to Agents’ average alertness modifier: +2 stealth modifier: +1 dossier reference:

innocent:

Recai is actually the businessperson he claims to be. He is traveling under a false name and passport because 1) he is sheltering his money overseas to avoid Turkish taxes; 2) he is cheating on his wife with his very expensive mistress; or 3) he has been threatened by paramilitary (or religious) death squads for his political outspokenness, and needs to conceal his identity while overseas and vulnerable. Sadly, he still seems like a spy, and still draws a fatal response from the Agents’ enemies. At least they still get that neat death-scene clue. minion: Recai has a sister (Aysel Dogan) in Germany — and Dracula has found her. It suits the vampire lord to tug Recai around like a puppet, playing with him before draining him. If the Agents find Aysel and rescue her, they can flip Recai. For this betrayal, Dracula will of course kill him informatively. alternate names: Orhan Yilmaz, Altan Erol Güler, Saul Goldblum [if the Director prefers Mossad to MIT] alternate descriptions: mid-30s, ink-black hair, strong jaw, moves into Westerners’ personal space deliberately late 40s; gray temples; keeps mouth partly open at rest, showing even teeth; taller than average but wellproportioned save for large hands late 30s, intense, wears luxury casual clothing and sunglasses, wavy brown hair

CU86, HO236

Volcanologist : Francesca Collins name

possible role: Geology or seismology expert description:

late 20s, athletic, muddy hiking boots and backpack, American accent innocent: Collins works for either the National Institute for Earth Physics (p. 151) or the Petroleum Executive (p. 127) as part of her PhD in volcanology, which means a lot of climbing around the Carpathians setting up portable monitoring stations. If the Agents want to find her, the best place to look is in the muddy lunar wasteland around the Berca mud volcanoes, where she takes regular methane readings. (Nothing conveys the glamor of international espionage and monster hunting like fart-smelling geysers of cold bubbling mud.) The strange geology of Transylvania fascinates her, and she’ll talk enthusiastically about seismic waves and geophysical computer models at the drop of a hat. (“Did you know that this instrument is sensitive enough to pick up the impact of that hat from over five kilometers away? Seriously, climb that mountain and drop your hat again! It’ll be fun!”) She’s got dual UK and US citizenship; she grew up in the United States, but moved to England to study (the Seismologist, p. 100, was her university lecturer and mentor). She’s got an unlicensed handgun buried at the bottom of her backpack, just in case she runs into trouble in the wilds of Transylvania. Obviously, the route to her heart is through Geology, but she’ll accept

people n 2011 people: tour guide to volcanologist alternate names:

Farrah Bishop, Dennis Fonseca, Sherilyn Washington alternate descriptions: mid-20s, African American, designer sunglasses, slender early 30s, thick black hair, black leather bomber jacket and Doc Martens, wears silver thumb ring early 20s, University of South Carolina sweatshirt or T-shirt, horn-rim glasses, pierced lower lip, cartoon vampire tattoo on shoulder defining quirks: excited to meet you constantly checking iPhone habitual squint in sunlight investigative abilities:

Chemistry, Data Recovery (seismic surveys, tomographic satellite imagery, etc.), Geology, Languages (Italian, Romanian), Outdoor Survival, Vampirology (ironic pop-cult only) general abilities: Athletics 8 (all that climbing), Cover 3 (fake Canadian passport given to her by her dad), Driving 5, Hand-to-Hand 4, Mechanics 2, Medic 3, Shooting 4 alertness modifier: +1 stealth modifier: −1 dossier reference:

HO32

137

Flirting from a suitably attractive male as a pale substitute. She can help the Agents with geological mapping or the history of earthquakes inTransylvania, or scan for hidden features like dungeons, tombs, or buried castles beneath the soil. She’s also an avid spelunker. asset: Her father’s in the CIA, which makes Collins an unofficial CIA asset. The Company’s Station Bucharest (p. 159) keeps an eye on her, and she knows the CIA Agent (p. 91) well enough to go to her if she runs into trouble. She may be an active agent,

spying on the Petroleum Executive (p. 127) or Leutner Fabrichen (p. 146); if the CIA knows about the connection between Dracula and earthquakes, then she may be making geophysical observations on its behalf. She might even be testing a CIA Earthquake Device (p. 266) — either a Tesla original, or a new model — where no one would notice another few tremors. Ex-CIA agents, or those who indulge in background Research, may connect Collins to her father; alternatively, Intimidation or Bureaucracy can flush out her association with the CIA, as she’ll run to the Company if threatened with violence or expulsion from Romania. minion: It’s not like she wasn’t warned. The old woman at the hotel pressed a crucifix into her hand; the guy she rented the Land Rover from warned her about crossing the Borgo Pass at night, and the cop who stopped her on the road tried to find some excuse to keep her away from that haunted mountain. She didn’t listen. Now, she wears a scarf to hide the bite marks on her neck, and listens to the primordial music of the mountains in the night. Vampirology notes the classic symptoms of blood loss.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

names at your fingertips There’s nothing worse than being caught fumbling for a name in the middle of the game. Players instinctively sense that they can ignore that character, or at best treat them as a brief one-stop obstacle in a scene. Use this onomastikon to defeat such attempts at second-guessing; for more names, consult Wikipedia or “Kate Monk’s Onomastikon” at http://tekeli.li/onomastikon/

British If you’re desperate, you can also use these names for American agents.

Given Name

Surname

male: Andrew, Arthur, Charles, Danny,

Armstrong, Asante, Bentley, Cooke, Davison, Fox-Pitt, Hester, Honeybone, Lawrence, Little, McGuinan, Nickell, Philips, Ramsey, Richards, Tomlinson, Williams

138

David, Edward, George, James, Marc, Nick, Paul, Peter, Ryan, Tom, William female: Bridget, Charlotte, Claire, Eniola, Jo, Karen, Louise, Lynne, Mary, Peg, Rachel, Sarah, Sophie, Zara

German In addition to BND personnel or other German contacts, there remains a small but significant ethnic German minority in Romania, concentrated in Transylvania.

Given Name

Surname

male:

Bernd, Dieter, Frank, Karl, Matthias, Max, Oskar, Ralf, Robert, Timo, Tobias, Wolfgang female: Anna, Antje, Daniela, Franziska, Irina, Janina, Katrin, Lilli, Martina, Nadine, Sabine, Verena, Yvonne

Alt, Bechtold, Bode, Brockhaus, Delbrück, Eisner, Fechtner, Fischinger, Gottschalk, Groth, Hausmann, Herzfeld, Jost, Kaufman, Knoerr, Kuhn, Laufer, Niedermeyer, Ochs, Preis, Rohrbach, Schab, Schiffer, Teicher, Vogel, Weisz

Surname

Given Name

Balog, Bolonyai, Farkas, Horvat, Juhász, Kiss, Kovács, Nagy, Német, Pálfi, Papp, Szabó, Takács, Tóth, Vargha

male:

Given Name

Surname

Male: Boiko, Emilian, Faramita, Ferka, Ion, Papush, Pitvo Female: Dika, Donka, Florika, Luludi, Tematea, Tsuritsa, Violca

Badi, Badzo, Cervenak, Goral, Holomek, Kaleja, Klempar, Lambru, Mirga

Hungarian The province of Transylvania was governed by Hungary until 1919, and then briefly again during World War II. A little under a fifth of Transylvania’s population is of Hungarian descent, primarily from the Székely families transferred to the Magyar frontier in the Middle Ages. Hungarian names take the surname first, but individual Hungarians may use the more common Western format.

Ákos, Attila, Béla, Gábor, Imre, István, László, Mihály, Péter, Tamás, Zoltán female: Anna, Beáta, Dorotya, Erzsébet, Éva, Ildikó, Ilona, Katalin, Margit, Nataša, Réka

Roma The Roma or Romany, often called (now considered somewhat pejoratively) Gypsies or Szgany, are not to be confused with the ethnic Romanians.Approximately 3% of the population of Romania is Roma. Many Roma take names used by the surrounding population, not least because discrimination against Roma remains quite common.

people n names at your fingertips

Romanian In addition to most Romanians, approximately two-thirds of Moldovans have Romanian names.

Given Name

Surname

male: Alexandru, Andrei, Claudiu,

Barbu, Fieraru, Ionescu, Lupu, Matei, Moraru, Muresanu, Petrescu, Popa, Popescu, Radu, Serban

Gheorghe, Ion, Mihai, Nicolae, Razvan, Sergiu, Sorin female: Cristina, Doina, Gabriela, Irina, Iulia, Livia, Nicoleta, Roxana, Sorana, Teodora, Timea

Slovak Given Name

Surname

male:

Ján, Jozef, Ladislav, Martin, Michal, Milan, Miroslav, Peter female: Anna, Helena, Jana, Mária, Monika, Zuzana

Baca, Bezdeda, Chrobák, Cibulka, Cierny, Kocur, Král, Meciar, Mlynár, Mráz, Pekár

Given Name

Surname

male: Ali, Aytaç, Burak, Deniz, Emre,

Aydin, Çelik, Demir, Gul, Kaya, Özdemir, Öztürk, Sahin, Sevim, Yildirim, Yildiz, Yilmaz

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There are even fewer Slovaks in Romania now than there were in Stoker’s time, although some labor migration is not impossible along the northern frontier. Surnames ending in “a” end in “ova” for women; e.g., “Baca” becomes “Bacova.”

Turkish There is a small Turkish minority in Romania, which has begun to attract investment and entrepreneurs from Turkey as the economy improves. The Gagauz minority in Moldova use Turkish surnames and Christian first names.

Eren, Hüseyin, Kemal, Mehmet, Mustafa, Ömer, Osman, Yücel, Yusuf female: Ayse, Aytaç, Elif, Fatma, Meryem, Yagmur, Yücel, Zehra, Zeynep

Ukrainian Ukrainians are the main Slavic minority in Moldova and a small minority in Romania. Use their names for any SVR, GRU, or other Russian personnel you need — if you’re called on it, you can always claim it’s a workname or cover identity from the “situation back east.” Female surnames often, but not always, end in “-a” or “-ya.”

Given Name

Surname

male:

Antsybor, Burdyga, Deryzemlya, Godorozha, Hlavan, Kostevych, Krasovskiy, Kravets, Obolonchyk, Pidhrushna, Polishchuk, Ponomarenko, Pryma, Rudyk, Semerenko, Serdyuk, Shevchenko, Teresenko

Igor, Ivan, Kostya, Matviy, Mykola, Olya, Sasha, Vadim, Vitaliy, Vladimir, Yaroslav, Yuriy female: Anastasia, Anna, Iryna, Katerina, Marina, Natasha, Oksana, Olga, Tatiana, Viktoria, Yana, Yulia

nodes

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night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

The following chapter contains information on various corporations, banks, government agencies, and other organizations — 29 in all — which may factor into your game’s mysteries, including the troubling puzzle of the Dracula Dossier. The node described may be only a portion of the “full node” mapped on the Director’s Conspyramid: the Ruvari clan of Szgany may be only the local franchisees for the Moldovan Mafiya, or the Burdett Private Bankers a subsidiary of British Petroleum, for example. Within the confines of this campaign, the nodes generally act on their own, but the Director should feel free to tie them into real-world groups she wishes to impute vampirism to, or to her other Night’s Black Agents campaigns, either past or upcoming. To maintain an atmosphere of tension and horror, see to it that organizations able to provide shelter, resources, and information to the Agents are few and far between. Even seemingly formidable nodes can be destroyed by Dracula, or taken off the table by Edom’s high-level partners and patrons in the British government. Some of these nodes will overlap with the supporting characters in the People chapter, especially those listed under 1977 and 2011. Don’t be limited to the obvious cross-references that appear in each node’s

entry; there may be secret agendas, hidden connections, or pure coincidence at work throughout.In short,part of the challenge for Agents and fun for Directors is figuring out which NPC is “actually” part of what node. Each description breaks down into the following entries: nature: This describes the organization as it shows its face to the world. If the group is an innocuous one unconnected to the shadow struggle, it proves, on further investigation, to match its initial impression. edom: This entry describes the node as an asset, front group, or other component of Operation Edom. This may, or may not, contradict a role in the larger Conspiracy: even if Edom hasn’t been flipped by Dracula in your campaign, a given node might be penetrated by both Dracula and MI6. conspiracy: This entry describes what the organization might be up to if you decide that its apparent nature is a front for Dracula’s larger Conspiracy. It also suggests into which level of the Conspyramid the Director can insert the node. As always, you can use the idea as it appears, modify it to suit your needs, or treat it strictly as a jumpingoff point for a completely different concept of your own. apparent

If you decide that an organization has neither been suborned by Dracula nor flipped by Edom, its apparent nature is also its true nature. connections: This entry suggests characters from the previous chapter who may be connected to the organization. Treat these as suggestions to choose from: a character who is named in connection with several organizations is probably involved in only one of them. Connection does not imply membership; a character could be opposed to the group, have a family or friendly connection, or simply know something about it. This entry may also provide connections to other nodes, to locations, objects, or other items referenced in this book. Again, these connections are suggestions and inspirations, not hardand-fast truths. They are also hardly exhaustive: a little thought can connect almost any two nodes, people, objects, or locations. dossier reference: Tells you which annotation, if any, in Dracula Unredacted mentions the organization. If the node has a main reference, it is given in ordinary text and secondary references are italicized.

nodes n novel nodes: archdiocese of mechelen-brussels to axel logistics

novel nodes These organizations all appear directly in Stoker’s report. Some of them no longer exist after a century; some survive weirdly intact; others have been absorbed into later groups, many of them still dangerous.

apparent nature

archdiocese in Belgium also provides spiritual guidance to the Catholic community in the Netherlands. (The Archdiocese of Utrecht only resumed regular ecclesiastical order in 1853 after being prorogued during the Wars of Religion; during Van Helsing’s lifetime, Mechelen still played an unofficial role in Dutch Catholic bureaucracy.) Its staff of priests, nuns, lay brothers, and other employees is large and varied enough that infiltrating the offices (even if not disguised as a priest) is not terribly difficult. In the 1890s, the cathedral’s sacristan, Father Arnaud Linden, offered special indulgences to vampire hunters (or at least to Van Helsing) wishing to use the Host against the Un-Dead. The church hierarchy covered up this wildly heretical practice; finding traces requires a few days’ Research in the diocesan archives. edom: Edom arranged for MI6 to use the cathedral for dead drops, as a way

If the Director is using telluric vampires (p. 59) or similar, or wishes to keep supernatural questions hauntingly unresolved, a 1-point spend Notices a large dust-covered jar. Approximately half full of bluish powder near the sacristy’s bakery, it is helpfully gummed with the label “A.v.H.” Testing with Geology or Chemistry identifies the mineral only as meteoric nickel-iron. Linden’s papers, still stored in the church offices (under seal given his troublesome activities; 1-point Forgery spend allows Agents to replace the seal after breaking it) include correspondence with Van Helsing discussing “the meteorite of last Easter” and “the need for the Antwerp cutter to preserve the crossed lines of Widmanstätten” while urging “a slightly larger concentration of the powder desires to keep the Un-Dead soil inert.” (1-point Research spend to sort through them on site in a timely fashion.) Astronomy or Geology remembers that differential cooling of the nickel and iron in a meteorite separates the alloy slightly; Widmanstätten lines appear between the two materials. They can be 90-degree crosses if the stone is cut correctly. Whether any meteoric iron with Widmanstätten lines works as a vampiric block, or if it must be cross-cut from a meteor that fell on Easter, is up to the Director. The answer, if there is one, may appear in Edom files in the Asylum (p. 195) or Ring (p. 172), or in Van Helsing’s original files if a Legacy can find them. dossier reference:

CU154

Axel Logistics : An

nature international shipping and logistics company, with a sideline in corporate security, with its headquarters in London. Most of Axel Logistics’ clients are technology and finance companies and government departments, but a few private individuals (mostly Russian and Eastern European oligarchs and Saudi oil billionaires)

apparent

141

Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels : This Roman Catholic

for them to keep an eye on the church (vampirized or otherwise). An Edom watcher is in and out of the building every week or so. conspiracy: The constant profaning of the Host eventually allowed the UnDead access to the cathedral; in one horrific night (when exactly is up to the Director) vampires slaughtered and replaced the staff and some of the priests with their own kind, Renfielding those who begged for their lives. The cathedral is no longer holy ground; using Human Terrain during a Mass notes the slightly aberrant wording of the liturgy. The Conspiracy has kept this foothold in the Church ever since, isolating, tempting, and flipping the archbishops and other officials the Vatican assigns here. It is a Level 3–4 node, and a steady source of poison inside the Belgian establishment (including the Dutroux pedophile ring in the 1990s) and inside the Church (likewise). Criminology might trace some connections back from these scandals to the archdiocese. connections: Van Helsing, of course (p. 33). The church may have provided the ratline for the Anti-Communist in 1945 (p. 81). Any MI6 agent (Lamplighter p. 123, Romania Desk, p. 124, Retired Asset Runner, p. 98) might be there, or have hidden a telling microdot in a personal dead drop. A charitable connection to Heal the Children (p. 150) is very plausible. If the covert traffic in Hosts continues, there might be connections to Van Helsing’s possible successors in the BND or FSB (76), to the Enigmatic Monsignor (p. 114), to a Smuggler (p. 131), or to the clan of Romanian mafiosi currently opposed to Dracula (p. 157). Such customers might also buy garlic from Vanderpool’s (p. 244). If the Director is using the rule that Dracula only suffers from holy objects predating his first death (p. 56), a Human Terrain spend notices the out-of-place copies of the Ambrosian Rite in the sacristy.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook (or Bureaucracy); spotting that a consignment’s got an unusually heavy security presence comes under Military Science. Potentially suspicious cargoes:

142

Coffins

make use of the company’s services. Carter, Paterson & Co., the drayage company hired by Billington & Son (p. 142) to transport Dracula’s boxes of earth, was purchased by companies who were themselves purchased by other companies over the course of the 20th century — the chain of buyouts and mergers ends with Axel Logistics. edom: During the Cold War, MI6 used a British logistics company, CPC Transit, as a front for moving spies and assets around Europe. Many of the staff were ex–Royal Air Force, and were involved in the 1940 incarnation of Edom. CPC was later wound down and sold off to another transport company, which was later acquired by Axel, but there’s still some corner of Axel’s foreign operations office that is forever Edom. Through their agents in Axel, Edom can monitor the corporation’s activities or even arrange transport and support for its own operatives abroad. conspiracy: While older vampires might instinctively prefer having their affairs handled by reliable minions like the Ruvari Szgany (p. 147), the old ways must sometimes yield to the new,so boxes of earth and sealed coffins are among the items transported with absolute discretion and absolute security by Axel Logistics. If it’s a low-level (1–3) node, then Axel Logistics is just a tool used by the Conspiracy; interrogating Axel staff with Cover, Flirting, Cop Talk, or some other suitable ability, or stealing information points the Agents at some other Conspiracy node or place of interest. Axel security guards can show up in places where Romanian Mafia (p. 157) or Ruvari Szgany goons aren’t appropriate. Tracking a particular consignment through Axel’s system requires Traffic Analysis or Accounting

or boxes of earth: Originating at Bucharest (p. 199), Galati (p. 217), or Varna in Romania (to avoid giving away the location of Castle Dracula too easily), going to wherever the Conspiracy needs vampires (the Middle East or elsewhere in Romania if they’re going after Al-Qaeda in Rûm (p. 148), or London if Dracula’s up to his old tricks). This cargo may need to be transported by sea or rail instead of flown, if vampires have trouble flying. Extremely high security — or maybe suspiciously low security, because the vampire has supernatural defenses escorting it. Unusual weather patterns (spotted with Astronomy or Outdoor Survival) may reveal the presence of a moving vampire. Blood Products: Possibly originating at Seward’s Asylum (p. 195) or some ghastly prison where suitable victims are drained of their blood, run by the Securitate (p. 154), going to wherever the vampires are hungry. Imprisoned vampires (say at HMS Proserpine, p. 169, or the Fortified Monastery of St. Peter, p. 144) may need blood supplies brought to them. Pharmacy identifies that this consignment contains unusual blood products. Relics: Possibly items of sorcerous power like Le Dragon Noir (p. 273) or the Earthquake Device (p. 266), religious relics, corpses for interrogation with necromancy, or other treasures of the past. These might come from Castle Dracula (again, the trail starts in a Romanian city), or from an archaeological dig site (perhaps the Scholomance, p. 219), or from a museum like the Vesuvius Observatory (p. 242). They’re going to either some vampiric lair, or to a broker like the Sculptor (p. 100). Treasure: Gold from Dracula’s treasure vault, blood diamonds called up by telluric manipulation, or the location of a huge oil strike

discovered by the Volcanologist (p. 136) — whatever it is, it’s a potential source of vast wealth for the Conspiracy, but it needs to be translated into usable currency. Originates in Romania, going to London. Human Trafficking: If the Human Trafficker (p. 118) is a Conspiracy asset, then he can use Axel Logistics to cross borders into the West. Heroin: Axel Logistics might answer to the Drug Boss (p. 113), part of his network with links going from Afghanistan to Romania. Criminology works out what the Agents are looking at. As a Level 4–5 node, it’s wholly owned by the Conspiracy, and is used to gain access to potential minions for the Master. Especially valued clients are invited to meet with Mr. de Ville, the CEO of Axel Logistics. connections: Axel Logistics can connect any node/individual to any other individual (it’s like they specialize in logistics or something), so use them as a bridge if the Agents are close to exhausting one avenue of investigation and you want to point them somewhere new. In the original novel, they connect to Billington & Son (p. 142) and the Safe House Network (p. 194) — one more strand in a web that also includes Leutner (p. 146) and Hildesheim (p. 116). If they’re part of the Conspiracy, they’re likely in bed with HGD Shipping (p. 145). dossier reference:

HO48, HO95

Billington: A&smallSons law firm, mostly apparent nature

handling wills and other property deals for local clients. The firm’s musty offices occupies the bottom two floors of a house on Flowergate Street in the heart of Whitby; their archives, dating back to old Samuel F.’s era in the 1890s, are crammed into the attic on the top floor. Dracula employed them as his local agents to receive and convey his fifty boxes of earth to Carfax. edom: Samuel Billington was an Edom lamplighter, in place to receive the Count and handle his arrangements. His family has no direct connection with the Service, although they do have a number

nodes n novel nodes: axel logistics to burdett's private bankers

dossier reference:

HO50,

HO95, CU134

Burdett's Private Bankers : Founded in

nature 1704, Burdett’s is one of the oldest and most exclusive banks in England. Historically, virtually all its clients were aristocrats, landed gentry, and senior civil servants; today, it still serves only select customers — entrepreneurs, certain celebrities and entertainers, and foreign investors with strong connections to the British government. Its headquarters is on the Strand in London; it also has discreet branch offices in several European capitals, including Bucharest. In addition to wealth management, the bank offers large and extremely secure safe deposit boxes, and has a contract with Axel Logistics (p. 141) to move the contents of these boxes between branches on request without opening them.

apparent

edom:

Burdett’s handles Edom’s money, including paychecks. The bank has many years of dealing with complex and discreet arrangements, including payments to informants or undercover agents. While such information is as closely guarded as anything else entrusted to the bank, if the Agents could break in and obtain the Edom files, they get worknames, addresses, and bank details for a large portion of the organization — give them at least three solid leads, including the real identity of a Duke. Accounting and Traffic Analysis are needed to make sense of such a treasure haul, but getting that information won’t be easy. Burdett’s security is top-notch; breaking in could be the goal of an entire game session, or elided into the spending of at least 2 × the number of player characters in points of Investigative abilities (and a Difficulty 7 Infiltration test) to plan and execute a break-in. (For a model bank heist, see the one in The Box Men on pp. 94–98 of The Zalozhniy Quartet.) While they’re in there, the Agents could also make off with a few million in cash, but doing so draws a lot more Heat. conspiracy: Even before he left Transylvania, Dracula was in touch with Burdett’s bank (HO50). He wasn’t keeping his money there — he has to risk his un-life to grab a handful of gold when chased out of his Piccadilly safe house by the hunters in order to pay for his travel back home. His interest in Burdett’s might have stemmed from his research into England’s power structures — with an agent in the bank,

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to call if anything unusual happens, especially anyone asking questions about the firm’s old clients — calling it can bring an Edom surveillance team or even a Duke (probably Hound, p. 51. Use Nails, p. 52, if the Agents caused a scene). Tracing the phone number with Traffic Analysis might point back to HMS Proserpine (p. 169) or Ring (p. 172) if Edom were sloppy; more likely, it goes to an MI6 cut-out or vanishes inside GCHQ’s networks. conspiracy: Even after he was driven from England, Dracula remained in correspondence with the Billingtons, and they are still his agents in England. The Billingtons are unaware of any supernatural component to the Conspiracy, and believe that they’re dealing with a dynasty of Romanian aristocrats. They discreetly handle any requests made by their oldest and most eccentric clients, whether that’s purchasing property, arranging shipping, or paying cash to a succession of shady or even clearly deranged strangers. Huge black rats (more powerful than those on page 155 of NBA; base Fighting 3/4, Health 3/4, damage −2/+0) infest the cellars of the house on Flowergate, and have resisted all attempts at extermination. The Billingtons are strangely blasé about the infestation, even though the rats sometimes devour documents, or seem to peruse files with an almost human intelligence. They’ll devour the Agents, too, given the opportunity.

The Conspiracy keeps the Billingtons in the dark about most operations. Cop Talk, Law, or a break-in with Infiltration gets access to the current files; Accounting points at one or two other low-level Conspiracy nodes, likely Hildesheim (p. 116) or Leutner Fabrichen (p. 146). Billington & Sons is a Level 3 node at best, but probably works best as a Level 1 or 2. connections: Archived correspondence with Hawkins (p. 39) confirms the presence of a small-c conspiracy. The archives also point to Carter, Paterson & Co., now part of Axel Logistics p. 141); other letters, especially ones discussing the purchasing of property in the UK, might point to a disused or active vampiric lair (maybe in the Other Ports, p. 172, or as part of Dracula’s Safe House Network, p. 194). The Billingtons are currently handling the estate of a recently deceased young woman who passed away suddenly while visiting Whitby; Forensic Pathology or Vampirology suspects she was drained by a vampire, and she’s got the Westenra Brooch (p. 284) listed among her belongings.

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night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook Dracula would have access to every aristocratic family and every organ of government. This spy in the heart of the British Establishment might be a human minion, or maybe there’s been a vampire lurking in the bank vaults for a century, relaying information back to its distant Master. Alternatively, perhaps Dracula did deposit a fortune in gold coins there, but felt he couldn’t risk a visit to the bank while the hunters were close on his trail. In this case, the de Ville account at Burdett’s might be a financial lynchpin for the Conspiracy in England, and breaking into the bank (as above) gets the names of various key agents of Dracula. A Burdett’s used only as storage is a Level 2 node; a Burdett’s used as leverage or connector could be Level 4 or even Level 5, if the Conspiracy is deeply enmeshed in the British Establishment. connections: Likely clients of Burdett’s include Lord Godalming (p. 43) and the MI5 Deputy (p. 95). The Petroleum Executive (p. 127) or the Hungarian (p. 94) might also be clients if they’ve got the Establishment’s blessing. Burdett’s vaults might contain all sorts of relevant items — Arthur Holmwood (p. 36) had a box here, and could have squirrelled away anything from the Portrait of Dracula (p. 275) to an Earthquake Device (p. 266) to a Sealed Coffin (p. 278). Some previous spy (like “Cushing,” p. 92) might have hidden documents or some other relic in Burdett’s, and left a passbook or a sealed letter behind to allow the Agents access to that deposit box. dossier reference:

HO50

Fortified Monastery of St. Peter: Dating back to the apparent nature

17th century, this is one of the oldest buildings in Galati (p. 217). The “monastery” part is self-explanatory; thick walls topped with battlements, reinforced doors, and a bell tower that overlooks the Danube valley cover the “fortified” aspect. Persistent local legends speak of a secret passage beneath the monastery that runs outside the town, or possibly even under the

Danube river. Dracula’s agent Petrof Skinsky (VS242) was murdered in the churchyard surrounding the monastery. The Slovak river-clan smugglers were blamed for his death, which led to a prolonged feud (see Hildesheim, p. 116, and the Smuggler, p. 131). During the Communist era, the government seized the monastery and used parts of it as a museum; other sections stored munitions and parts destined for the shipyard. Relics or records kept in the monastery might have been returned when it was resanctified, or they may still be in the archives of the SRI (p. 156). Gaining access to the inner sanctum requires Archaeology, Theology, or a suitable Cover. edom:The monks here know Dracula of old; the death of Skinsky was an attempt to ambush the Count when he was exposed and vulnerable. They are sympathetic to Edom’s vampire-hunting activities as opposed to actually being part of the operation — although they gratefully accept Edom’s regular donations to their coffers. The monastery can be a refuge against vampiric attack, or provide holy water and other weapons against the Un-Dead. In the 1940s, a ratline out of Germany ran through the monastery; were the monks operating under Edom’s orders, or those of elements within the Catholic Church looking for a way to stem the tide of Communism? Either way, Researching the records points to a connection to Argentina (p. 225) or Gladio (p. 163). Optionally, the monastery has its own tame vampire kept prisoner in the crypts, let out on a chain to extract vengeance upon the deserving. It was this insane monster that killed Skinsky, and it inspired Edom’s own plans to acquire a vampire (now kept at HMS Proserpine, p. 169). conspiracy: The monks worship Dracula; this has been one of his safe havens for centuries, which is why he came here when pursued. Theology or Human Terrain notices curious aspects in their rites; Art History or access to a Cameo of Dracula (p. 263) spots that the icon representing St. Peter bears a disquieting resemblance to the Count.

There is indeed a tunnel beneath the Danube running from the church crypt to another church in Bratianu, which vampires use to avoid crossing the running waters of the river. Languages (and maybe a Filch test to steal the letters) spots unusual correspondence with the Archdiocese of MechelenBrussels (p. 141) — why is a Greek orthodox monastery telling a Roman Catholic archbishop what to do? Put this node in one step above the archdiocese as a Level 3 or 4 node if both churches are compromised, or else as a Level 2–3 local node. If you do make this a Level 4 node, then it’s definitely the resting place of a full-fledged vampire who leads the monks in unholy ceremonies. The monastery has a supernatural “guardian angel” that keeps the monks in line — it’s a gigantic, monstrous bat (possibly a camazotz if the Director is very cruel; see NBA, p. 149) that nests in the bell tower. connections: Investigating Hildesheim (p. 116) or Galati (p. 217) might bring the Agents here. Following Dracula’s trail up the Danube leads first to Strasba Orphanage (p. 223), then the mountains around Dracula’s Castle (p. 207). In addition to potential connections to the Archdiocese (p. 141), the monks here may be in touch with the Hospital of St. Joseph and Ste. Mary (p. 230) and any Vatican-sponsored vampire hunters you’ve got running around. dossier reference: VS242

nodes n novel nodes: burdett's private bankers to Klopstock & Billreuth, Bankers

HGD Shipping Dracula departed England hastily on

apparent nature: HGD Shipping operates

a fleet of a dozen small- to mediumsize containerized cargo ships, carrying goods from one port to another. Their head office is in Rotterdam, but they also have facilities in Varna and London; most of their cargos come from Eastern Europe or North Africa.They sometimes carry containers for Axel Logistics (p. 141), but that’s not their biggest client by any means. See Other Ports (p. 172) for a discussion of English ports where HGD ships might appear. The Czarina Catherine — or rather, the fourth ship to bear that name — is one of the company’s ships. She’s one of their oldest vessels, a 320-TEU cargo hauler registered in the Marshall Islands. edom: Edom acquired HGD — or rather, acquired Hapgood and the Czarina Catherine — in the cleanup after the failed operation. Captain Donelson and his crew had as much direct experience of the vampire as anyone alive, so they were held and intensively interrogated. Some of them were deemed reliable enough to be recruited into Edom; already, some within British intelligence were thinking about a second try, and wondering if the problem with the original attempt was Dracula slipping the leash at Whitby.

dossier reference:

HO48,

CU203, CU240

Klopstock & Billreuth,: Bankers A small private bank, apparent nature

originally located in Budapest. The owners fled to Berne, Switzerland, in 1940, carrying with them most of the assets of the bank, and re-established the company there. The majority of their clients are old-money families from Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania. Recent rumors link Klopstock & Billreuth to money laundering for the Russian Mafiya, but the secrecy of the Swiss banking establishment means that any investigation into such crimes will take a very long time to get anywhere. edom: Edom’s driving the Europol investigation into Klopstock & Billreuth, having failed to get a mole into the bank in the past. Its cat’s-paw is Marie Joinville (use the Bucharest Street Cop statistics, p. 108); she’s been provided with information about the money

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board the Czarina Catherine, which was owned by Charles Hapgood. As noted in CU240, the Hapgood family is still in the shipping business.

In the modern era, HGD Shipping is an Edom cut-out, a front used for their operations in Europe. Edom operatives encountered abroad may carry papers showing them to be employees of HGD, and HGD offices come with remarkably high security (Infiltration Difficulties 5+), illegal armories, secure computer connections (Digital Intrusion Difficulties 5+) and seismological monitoring equipment. For logistical reasons, the supply boats that support HMS Proserpine (p. 169) are registered as belonging to HGD Shipping. Data Recovery or Accounting on shipping records spots this odd anomaly — why does a company that mostly carries bulk goods out of the Black Sea also run two small tenders in the North Sea? conspiracy: Unlike the unlucky crew of the Demeter that brought Dracula to Whitby, the Czarina Catherine reported no such misfortunes on her return journey — and she arrived in the port of Galati (p. 217) despite being bound for Varna. The captain’s account of fog and unnatural winds was just a cover story for the arrangement made with Dracula. HGD Shipping continues to carry boxes of earth and other resources (including victims; see the Human Trafficker, p. 118, as a possible source). Every ship carries six armed Conspiracy guards, and possibly a Renfield or two; Dracula can also call up winds and fog to protect his ships or hasten them on their way when needed. After his hasty escape from England in 1894, the Count

learned not to be caught short again, so HGD Shipping has well-honed protocols for extracting vampires and smuggling coffins past security checks.All their ships carry inflatable craft or small boats for transporting the Un-Dead across running water when the tides aren’t turning. Breaking into a HGD office or gaining access to their records (Digital Intrusion Difficulty 6, followed by Traffic Analysis) lets the Agents discover the likely location of a vampire, like Orlok or one of the Brides, or even Dracula himself. HGD is either a vulnerable Level 2 node kept around for basic transport, or a better-protected Level 3 node linking the Conspiracy’s operations in the Balkans and the British Isles. connections: Axel Logistics (p. 141) is in the same line of business. Ports of interest include Whitby (p. 177), Galati (p. 217), Varna, and London (p. 179). Possible clients for cargo shipments include Leutner Fabrichen (p. 146); illegal cargoes might be connected to the Arms Runner (p. 102), Human Trafficker (p. 118), or Drug Boss (p. 113).

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night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

laundering by Elvis (p. 50). The aim of the operation is to keep Dracula dependent on Edom for financial and logistical support — tightening the leash, as Hound put it. If the player characters can provide proof to Joinville that she’s being used by MI6, she may be a useful ally to them. conspiracy: Suitable Cop Talk with an anti–organized crime expert (from Europol, OTFI, MI5, BKA, Italy’s ROS or other anti-mafia magistrates) or a 1-point Criminology spend, reveals that the bulk of the real evidence points to money laundering for the Romanian mafia, not the Russians. Dracula comes from an earlier age, and learns new tricks very slowly and cautiously. Klopstock & Billreuth were his first, tentative steps to entrusting some of his affairs to strangers bound by law to serve him, instead of those bound by blood or duty. Before Hawkins and Harker, before Billington & Son — before Edom — he entrusted some of his money to Klopstock & Billreuth. Klopstock & Billreuth may be the Conspiracy’s paymasters in general, but it’s more likely they’re a Level 3 or 4 cut-out — anything below them on the Conspyramid is unaware they’re part of the Conspiracy. They handle Dracula’s entirely legitimate business affairs — buying properties in Romania or England, purchasing items at auction (possibly through the Sculptor (p. 100)), hiring solicitors and other agents, all without any connection to any criminal or supernatural elements. When the Conspiracy needs to keep its hands

clean, it goes through Klopstock & Billreuth. They might be in charge of hiring innocent versions of HGD Shipping (p. 145), Axel Logistics (p. 141), or Hildesheim (p. 116). If they are laundering cash for the Russian Mafiya, they may be connected to the Black Sea Bank from The Zalozhniy Quartet. connections: The Hungarian (p. 94) may do business with Klopstock & Billreuth, and is possibly a client of theirs, as is the Leutner family of Leutner Fabrichen (p. 146). If the Sculptor (p. 100) is liquidating Dracula’s antique assets, she may be paying the money raised back into an account here. dossier reference:

HO50

Leutner Fabrichen Dracula writes a letter to Herr Leutner

of Varna (HO50); given the context of his later actions and his conversation with Jonathan Harker, Leutner was likely another one of Dracula’s solicitors like Hildesheim (p. 116) or Billington & Sons (p. 142), in charge of one small aspect of the Count’s travel arrangements. Backed by external capital, Herr Leutner founded a manufacturing company that survives to the present day. Arms sales were a major part of the Bulgarian economy prior to the revolution, but sales plunged from $800 million a year under Communism to around $380 million a year in recent times. nature: A weapons manufacturing company based outside the tourist town of Varna, Leutner Fabrichen specializes in explosives, antitank weapons, landmines and munitions; since the 1990s, they also manufacture several small arms designs under license from the original designers, like the Romanian UMS “Dracula” Md1998 machine pistol (9mm, +1 damage,

apparent

20 round magazine). The company was founded in the early years of the 20th century, nationalized under the Communists, but privatized again after the revolution and is now back under the control of the Leutner family who originally founded it. While the wealthy Leutners value their privacy, Johan (mid-60s) is the family patriarch and director of the company. His wife Madga (mid-50s) comes from rural Transylvania, and may either be the power behind the throne or an aging trophy wife. His daughter Ludmilla and his son Radu are both employed by the company, in R&D and sales respectively; the younger daughter Mirela is a student in London. The oldest son, Sorin, is a Eurotrash playboy who has been banished from the family home; he can be found in some nightclub in Paris, Moscow, London, or Dubai. edom: Edom doubled Leutner (either as part of the initial preparation for recruiting a vampire in 1894, or as part of the cleanup operation in 1896). His sideways move into being an arms manufacturer was a stroke of good fortune for British intelligence — it reactivated him in the 1930s, threatening to reveal where he got his money if he didn’t cooperate. The Leutner family helped conceal SOE operations in the Balkans in World War II. They remained in place during the Communist era, but their productivity as a source waned with the decline of the Bulgarian arms industry. They’re no longer actively courted by MI6, but Edom could reactivate them if needed. conspiracy: Leutner was Dracula’s agent in Varna. The Count paid him handsomely for his services, and Leutner spent Dracula’s gold on bringing in foreign expertise and machinery when setting up his new business as an arms manufacturer. The Leutner family remained loyal to the Conspiracy throughout the 20th century (Herr Leutner, once a disposable minion, may have won himself an upgrade to Renfield or even full vampire status as a reward for his ingenuity). After the revolution, the Conspiracy ensured that the Leutners regained full control of the company. Leutner Fabrichen is a good midlevel (Level 2–3) node in the Conspiracy;

nodes n novel nodes: Klopstock & Billreuth, Bankers to Ruvari Szgany

dossier reference:

HO50

Ruvari Sgzany : The Ruvari Szgany apparent nature

(“Wolf Gypsies”) is a Roma clan native to Transylvania. Like many Roma, they were slaves in Wallachia for centuries, until granted emancipation in the 1850s. The Ruvari Szgany were owned by the ruling nobles, the hospodars, and were considered their private property. The Ruvari are traditionally associated with mining and metalworking, and many still practice these occupations — or related work, like scrap metal collection

Gifts of the Count If you want to make the Ruvari Szgany more of a challenge later in the campaign, then their worship of Dracula / long exposure to weird telluric energies / black magic rituals may have given them added abilities. Perhaps …

and plumbing. In recent years, gangs connected to the Ruvari Szgany have operated car theft rings across Europe, stealing high-end cars in Germany and Switzerland, then reselling them into Russia and Ukraine. They are a secretive, self-contained people; marriage outside the clan is extremely rare, and virtually all interactions with outsiders are mediated by a handful of influential phuri (clan elders). Clan wealth flows toward these elders, who take a share of all earnings (both legal and illegal) made by their relatives. Their reputation in Romania — both with other Roma and among the settled community — is extremely poor. Streetwise lets the Agent learn whether are not there are any Ruvari Szgany in the area (usually accompanied by a warning to steer clear of such dangerous men); clan members do not, as a rule, talk to outsiders, but a combination of Streetwise and a bribe allows an Agent to briefly question one of the younger “wolves.” Use the Militia stats (NBA, p. 69) for these guys; they’re more likely to have flick-knives or baseball bats than guns unless they’re expecting really big trouble. edom: Most Ruvari are Conspiracy, true, but Edom turned one or more Ruvari Szgany bands after Dracula’s defeat in 1894, and they remained on the payroll even after the Iron Curtain descended in 1945. Edom’s agents spied on Castle Dracula and reported on events in Romania for the British, but they were never a trusted source of intelligence,

They’re werewolves. They can transform freely under the full moon; at other times, they’ve got to force the transformation with a ghastly trigger of some sort (eating a child’s heart, a cocktail of drugs, electric shock). When in wolf form, they’ve got the stats on page 155 of Night’s Black Agents. Cruel Directors might rule they’re vulnerable only to silver weapons. They’re spell casters — they can control the weather, summon earthquakes, curse their foes, and contact Dracula from afar. A connection to Le Dragon Noir (p. 273) is a virtual certainty. Give most of them 2 points of Aberrance; elders get 8 or more. Their attunement to the telluric fields means that they become Unfeeling (NBA, p. 126) and get vampiric strength (+1 melee damage, and 3 points of Aberrance to spend on feats of strength) in certain places of power or in certain conditions (such as during a thunderstorm or a volcanic eruption). Alternatively, they’ve got the same sort of supernatural senses as Dracula, only on a much more limited scale — they can sense people and vehicles moving above the earth of Romania in their immediate vicinity.

and there was little doubt among Edom’s analysts that the Ruvari were trying to serve two masters by reporting everything they told the British to their vampire patrons.The Ruvari network in Romania was rolled up and eliminated in the chaos after the events of 1977, but Tradecraft and a knowledge of Edom operations in that era let the Agents find an old phuro who still remembers the right pass phrases, and is still willing to balance Dracula’s gold against the

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move it up to Level 4 if they’re building something secret in their factory, like their own version of an Earthquake Device (p. 266). They might sell illegal weapons via the Arms Runner (p. 102) or supply the Romanian Mafia (p. 157). HO50 connects the Herr Leutner of the novel to Leutner Fabrichen. LFbuilt weapons might show up in the hands of the Ruvari Szgany (p. 147) or SRI (p. 156), and be traced back to the Varna plant with Military Science or Mechanics or Shooting. The Varna plant is a secure location — infiltrate it, or pose as a potential buyer with High Society and Military Science. The Leutner family’s mansion looks like an Ottoman-era fortress from the outside; inside, it’s luxuriously appointed. connections: LF has contracts with the Romanian Government (p. 151). Many of their weapons end up in the hands of the Romanian Mafia (p. 157) so often that there may be a direct connection. The Arms Runner (p. 102) might be involved. If they’re an Edom node, they may supply specialized antivampire weapons and gear; if they’re a Conspiracy node, then they may be delivering weapons to the Ruvari Szgany (p. 147) or other minions like Axel Logistics (p. 141); they might even be developing vampire-specific equipment, like UV-polarized riot masks, stake-proof chestplates, and kevlar-lined coffins. Explosive Devices or Chemistry can connect any handy bombing or arson back to Leutner Fabrichen; the explosives used were manufactured in their plant.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook pound sterling. Reassurance means he won’t actually betray the Agents to Dracula without giving them a sporting head start. conspiracy: This folk of this clan have always served Dracula. Hospodar can mean God as well as landowner, and they worship their Master with Satanic rites and blood sacrifices. The clan members in the heartland of Ruvari territory are utterly loyal to Dracula; younger folk

who have strayed from the path or been corrupted by the outside world may require a little reminder of their true purpose in life. Dracula uses the Ruvari Szgany as messengers and laborers when in Romania. HumanTerrain combined with Traffic Analysis might let the Agents narrow down the possible location of Castle Dracula (p. 207) by correlating the movements of Ruvari bands.

connections: The Romanian Mafia (p. 157)

and other Conspiracy nodes, obviously. The clan’s heartland is somewhere near Castle Dracula (p. 207). They’re at odds with the Human Rights Activist (p. 118), and might do business with the Arms Runner (p. 102) or the Drug Boss (p. 113) or even the Smuggler (p. 131).

dossier reference: VS57

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other nodes in romania These nodes are not explicitly mentioned by Stoker, but may exist on the ground in your campaign. They are only a few of the nodes that might be involved in a Conspiracy only extending over Britain and Romania; any node from your previous or ongoing campaign can easily be inserted here. Connections are everywhere: for example, Prince Charles (yes, that Prince Charles) has taken a major financial interest in preserving Transylvania’s forests, going so far as to purchase a manor house in Transylvania (in Valea Zalanului, northeast of Brasov) and claim descent from Vlad Tepes. Take that, fiction.

a terrorist affiliate by the UN in 2004. Italian newspapers reported an “al-Qaeda training camp” in Galati, Romania (see p. 217), in 2007; the same year Serbia rounded up a group of Muslim extremists in Novi Pazar and imprisoned 15 of them. In 2011, a radical gunman shot up the US Embassy in Sarajevo, and Romanian prosecutors alleged that an Iraqi peoplesmuggling network had moved at least five al-Qaeda members into Romania. All that said, in the real world, al-Qaeda hasn’t yet opened up an official branch office in the Balkans. But for this campaign, we’ve created al-Qaeda in Rûm (AQIR) as a useful shorthand for “al-Furqan and all these other weird little cells,” as a suitable network for Dracula to devour, and as a nice exercise in moral compromise for mirror mode games. Which devil do the Agents deal with? And is their decision any more moral than Edom’s?

Al-Qaeda in Rûm Al-Qaeda sank its tendrils into the Balkans

apparent nature:

beginning with the Bosnian war of 1992– 1995. The Bosnian government of Alia Izetbegovic, abandoned to the Serbs by the West, took any help it could get — very much including bin Laden money and “ElMudžahid” fighters from Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, and Chechnya.The 1995 Dayton Accords ended the war and expelled most of the mudžahedini to Afghanistan, but the connections stayed intact. Al-Furqan (“the Criterion”), founded in Bosnia in 1997, combined radical recruitment and finance work — and still does, despite officially disbanding in 2002 and being declared

For years, Western analysts have feared (and al-Qaeda has threatened) the rise of a “white al-Qaeda,” drawn from populations ethnically indistinguishable from most Europeans and Americans, capable of using stolen Western passports with minimal alterations or disguises necessary. AQIR wants to fill that niche. With a hard core of Afghans and Arabs to provide training, technical expertise, and ideological reinforcement, AQIR has steadily recruited Bosnian Wahhabis (mostly living in the remote countryside outside of Tuzla), Gagauz, Chechens, Albanians, Kosovars, and disaffected white European radicals.

The AQIR leadership plans revenge on Romania and Bulgaria for aiding the US wars in Iraq and Syria, and wants to get the atrocity headlines back from those upstarts in ISIS. So even though a lot of AQIR cells have disappeared in horrible ways recently, it still mounts its propaganda offensives punctuated with the occasional suicide bombing or beheading video. The Chechen membership of AQIR wants to expand the jihad to cover Russia, especially former Russian generals now retired on the Adriatic coast or in resort towns like Varna. As a historical note, “Rûm” was the old Arabic name for Anatolia and the Balkans, derived from “Rome,” meaning the Byzantine Empire. edom: AQIR as a creation of Edom makes a certain amount of twisted bureaucratic sense. In the sunniest reading, AQIR doesn’t actually exist — it’s a creation of government propaganda and selfdeluding “analysis,” and just a way to keep the black budget money flowing to Edom. To be sure, there are a few terror cells in the Balkans, but no overarching leadership or organization. Edom much prefers to send Dracula after other groups in Europe, saving Islamist cells for budget review time. In a darker version of this story, Edom or MI6 actually created AQIR in a well-meaning attempt to create a deniable mujahideen force in Bosnia to contain the Serbs (and thus by proxy the Russians), much as the CIA (working through Pakistan’s ISI) built the Taliban

nodes n Other Nodes in Romania: Al-qaeda in råûm to echipa mortii Arms Runner (p. 102), Drug Boss (p. 113), Medievalist (p. 122), or Radical Imam (p. 129) might be actual AQIR members. Even as friendlies, they might know something worth finding out. dossier reference:

HO83, HO131

Echipa Mortii The Iron Guard distinguished

itself from other European fascist militias by its primary focus on the spiritual, as opposed to political or racial, component of fascism. (Although yes, it was violently antidemocratic and anti-Semitic as well.) Founded on Midsummer’s Day 1927 as the Legion of the Archangel Michael, it explicitly urged an obsessive travesty of Christianity, invoking death as a path for the spiritual resurrection of Romania. The Legion’s founder,Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (called the “Capitanul,” or “Captain,” by his acolytes) urged assassination by suicide squads as a political tactic for spiritual ends. The dead could renew Romania’s life, he believed. Even acts that brought on damnation, Codreanu wrote, are worthy if they redeem Romanian blood and soil. These damned teams took the name of echipa mortii: “death squads” or more literally “squads of the dead.” Squads with names like the Nicadori, Decemviri, and Razbunatori (“Avengers”) ambushed the Guard’s high-ranking enemies, slaughtering them in a fusillade of bullets or chopping them up with axes before … as some said … licking up the fallen blood. All these assassins were arrested and either jailed as martyrs or executed — as even holier martyrs, aiding Romania from beyond the grave. Research, Human Terrain, or History turns up any of the above

with little effort, along with the fate of Codreanu: strangled and shot “trying to escape” with 13 of his inner circle on 30 November 1938. The gendarmes who killed Codreanu did so without trial; they then drenched the bodies with acid and entombed them beneath seven tons of concrete. But the backlash to Codreanu’s killing eventually propelled his successor Horia Sima to a brief ascendancy. Under the watching eyes of Romania’s Nazi allies, Sima and the dictator Antonescu exhumed Codreanu and ceremonially “reburied” him and his cohorts on 27 November 1940, the day after the Iron Guard slaughtered 72 dignitaries, political prisoners, and nonGuardist police officials. Eventually the Guard overreached, and Antonescu and the Nazis crushed it during the confused coup d’état of 21–23 January 1941 (p. 329). Sima and a few higherups fled to Berlin under SS protection.The Iron Guard survives today in expatriate communities overseas and as the fringe fascist political movement Noua Dreapta (“New Right”) in modern Romania. nature: All of this should be wildly pinging the Agents’ Vampirology and Occult Studies. Spending 2 points of Research or History uncovers still more suggestive details. The word echipa also connotes a magical spell, which is where the occult core of the Iron Guard comes in. The true Echipa Mortii — the Knights of Death — swore oaths on a pistol and Bible, in groups of 13.Their ceremonies combined Geto-Dacian magic, sacred murder, and the Black Mass, complete with the ritualistic drinking of blood. Fortunately, the Echipa Mortii died with the rest of the Iron Guard, in the streets of Bucharest or Berlin. independent: Dracula’s refusal to aid the Iron Guard during the 1941 putsch attempt doomed both Edom’s plans and the Knights’. He saw them, with reason, as magical rivals for Romania’s blood: their “reburial” of Codreanu implies they had a spell for restoring a vampire even after he’s burned to ashes. Dracula covets their knowledge, and seeks to break them to his thrall. They have not forgotten his betrayal, and work tirelessly behind the scenes in Romania to destroy “the Székely” or “the Hungarian Count” as they call him, apparent

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into a coherent force in the 1980s. Now, Edom still has its “own” commanders in the organization, and it’s perhaps foolishly trying to surgically eliminate their rivals to turn AQIR back into a mostly obedient client of the Crown. conspiracy: Everything from taut devil’s choice storytelling to Vlad Tepes’ crusading past should make AQIR almost the last node in the book to be an arm of Dracula’s Conspiracy, but anything is possible. In this reading, Dracula has made a deal with the “real” AQIR to weed out its rivals, including influential moderate and antiterrorist Muslim leaders. AQIR or Dracula creates a false trail leading to the patsy group and sells it to Edom, and thus to MI6 and the CIA. What Dracula has to gain from this arrangement, besides thwarting even the pretense of Edom control, is unclear. Most likely, he’s waiting to betray AQIR and destroy them all at once. It’s up to the Director whether vampires also suffer from the touch of the Koran or recoil at the sound of the shahada. If so, Dracula works almost exclusively through Renfields and actual double agents turned with bribes or threats against vulnerable family members. Even a Dracula-run AQIR is likely only a Level 1 or 2 local node. More likely, AQIR acts as a guidepost pointing to Dracula’s operations. When he slaughters a terror cell, he leaves evidence of his methods and clues to his local allies — who shipped and hosted his coffin? Who supplied the thugs for cleanup? And if AQIR decides to strike back at Dracula, they are unlikely to do so in a particularly subtle or low-profile fashion. They won’t succeed at killing the Count — they’re not quite the cream of the terrorist crop, especially after years of being hunted by vampires — but they will absolutely expose part of the Conspiracy, if only the part that just got blown up with a truck bomb. connections:There areAQIR cells in Galati (p. 217), Bucharest (p. 199), Istanbul (p. 248), and anywhere else you might need in the Balkans. Documents in the “Black Light” site (p. 204) or in the possession of the Black Site Interrogator (p. 104) might point to AQIR. The

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night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook keeping him at bay with their triplecross emblem or the new solar cross used by Noua Dreapta. Of course, the Knights don’t have the assets they once did when they briefly commanded a nation, but they have enough police and SRI on their side — and maybe the Agents, if the players aren’t picky about allying with magical fascists — to make their moves count. edom: After the Soviet “liberation” of Romania from the fascists, the West promptly allied itself with the surviving fascists to undermine Communism, in Romania as elsewhere. Edom knew what to look for in Berlin, and scooped up the core of the Echipa Mortii to run the MI6 network in Romania, and to backstop Edom’s own vampire research. The Knights’ new pawns get increasingly out of hand, stomping gays, Roma, and Hungarians with vim, but as long as they give Edom magical backup in the Balkans, it’s just another unseemly compromise in the service of the Crown. conspiracy: A very difficult to find reporter’s journal from 1940 (3-point Research) describes the head of the Echipa Mortii in Bucharest as a thin, seductive woman in green — Agents who have met one of the Brides recognize her from the description (Notice). Dracula suborned the Echipa Mortii, offering magic and the true blood of the land. He convinced the occult core that the rest of the Iron Guard should go to their deaths, a mass human sacrifice to redeem Romania under a new Master, when the time was right. Dracula commands legions of Iron Guard zombies in the streets of Bucharest, if need be; they died for him. connections: Any Romanian or exRomanianmightbepartofanEchipaMortii coven (or cuib, “nest”) but the most likely suspects include the Anti-Communist (p. 81), Iron Guardsman (p. 83), Retired MI6 Asset Runner (p. 98), and possibly the Pensioner (p. 86). The Former Gehlen Org (p. 82) and Balkans Specialist (p. 91) and perhaps the NATO Liaison (p. 125) know where the Knights went after the war, and in company with whom; the Neo-Nazi (p. 85) is in touch with them now, as rival or ally. Give them an SRI asset, and a mafia clan (p. 156), and

possibly an Un-Dead Codreanu (use the 1894 Vampire (p. 53) or a Resurrected One (p. 318)). If the Knights don’t serve Dracula or his Bride (p. 57), perhaps a Solomonar (p. 74) is their new deathless Capitanul. dossier reference: VS61,

VS76, VS164, VS176, VS194

Heal the Children The Romanian pediatric AIDS epidemic

is a case where grotesque incompetence became indistinguishable from malignant evil. It stemmed largely from two decisions made by the Ceausescu regime — first, the banning of virtually all abortion and contraception in 1967, leading to a population boom and the births of many unwanted children who were given into state care. Couple that with the second decision: in 1980, Romania embarked on a crash program to pay off its mounting foreign debt, which required deep cuts in the standard of living and all state services, including the orphanages. Tens of thousands of children were crammed into understaffed, underfunded, dilapidated orphanages. In the late 1980s, contaminated blood products and a lack of clean equipment resulted in thousands of children being infected with HIV. Roleplaying games are escapism, so let’s get back to the conspiracies and the vampires and the action. Realworld horror isn’t scary; it’s just sad and sickening and rotten. nature: This charity was founded in 1992, soon after the extent of the problem became apparent. In its early years, it sent medical supplies and doctors from the West to Romanian orphanages; in latter years, its efforts focus on raising funds for education and treatment programs. The charity works closely with the Catholic Church in

apparent

Romania, although it is not a religious charity. It holds regular fundraising events in the United Kingdom, and has a number of wealthy patrons who contribute a disproportionate amount of its funding. Heal the Children has offices in London, Dublin, Rome, Zurich, and Bucharest. Heal the Children purchased several orphanages from the Romanian government, with the intent of shutting them down gracefully once the children were re-homed or self-sufficient; however, because some of the orphans are institutionalized, the charity has had to keep some open. The Strasba Orphanage (p. 223) is one of these. edom: Edom set up the charity in 1992 as a cover for their intelligence gathering efforts in post-revolution Romania. Over time, the cover became a reality as volunteers, genuine aid workers, and actual fundraising efforts slowly took over from Edom spies and money siphoned from the reptile fund. These days, Heal the Children is mostly a genuine charity, but Edom still has access to their accounts and paperwork, and occasionally uses Heal the Children to provide cover documentation or support for agents in the field. conspiracy: In London, the Conspiracy uses Heal the Children as a source of funding, as a cover for its illicit activities, and as a way to gain access to the wealthy and powerful. (A classic Level 3–4 node.) Renfields and other agents fly back and forth on charity business to avoid scrutiny; at high-society parties, vampires circulate through the crowd, looking for suitable victims to be drained of both blood and money. In Romania, the charity is also a cover; vampires feed on the blood of children, and for decades no one went looking for forgotten, unwanted orphan children. Now that the situation has improved, the Conspiracy actually has to work to conceal the vampires’ predations; Heal the Children lies about the number and condition of inmates in its orphanages. connections: The Strasba Orphanage (p. 223), obviously. Any church office (like the Archdiocese of MechelenBrussels, p. 141, or the Fortified Monastery of St. Peter, p. 144) could work with or raise money for Heal the

nodes n Other Nodes in Romania: echipa mortii to Romanian Government Children. Dr. Jacqueline Seward (p. 47) volunteers with Heal the Children; Tabitha Holmwood (p. 44) raises money for them. Any Romanian character might be a former resident of one of the charity’s orphanages. Comparing official records with the charity’s own rolls (Bureaucracy and either Research or Traffic Analysis) reveals the extent of the organization’s duplicity if they’re giving orphans to the vampires or using them for experimentation. dossier reference:

HO109, HO117

apparent nature

activity in Romania. It operates a network of sensors and monitoring stations across the country, looking for signs of tremors as well as underground explosions. NIEP also carries out research in related fields like geology and volcanology. It’s funded by the Romanian government (p. 151) under the Ministry of Education, and the head office and central data center is in the Bucharest suburb of Magurele. Gaining access to NIEP gives the Agents a 3-point pool that can be spent on clues related to Geology or telluric Vampirology. Cross-referencing tremors may allow the Agents to zero in on Castle Dracula (p. 207). edom: The head of NIEP, Dr. Miriam Sala, is the daughter of a former Edom operative. Back in 1947, Edom dispatched a seismologist and ex-SOE agent, David Sala, to Romania. Sala was a Duke of Edom, code name Magdiel, and was cleared to know about the Dracula Dossier.He was arrested by the Securitate in 1955, and died under interrogation.

they definitely have some occult power (possibly vampiric magic spells from Le Dragon Noir (p. 273)), a servant monster of some sort, an Earthquake Device (p. 266), or maybe they got hold of “Radu,” a radiological death ray device said to be operated by the Securitate (p. 276). If they need conventional firepower, they can call on another Conspiracy node, assuming they don’t have their own special forces detachment. (Why would a bunch of physicists need a special forces unit, you ask? Obviously, because NIEP’s monitoring stations are part of the worldwide effort to enforce the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty on nuclear weapons testing, they clearly need protection against … let’s say North Korea.) connections: The Volcanologist (p. 136) has visited here; the Seismologist (p. 100) knows it by reputation. The Petroleum Executive (p. 127) might be encountered here, or else wants NIEP’s files wiped to conceal his company’s malfeasances and illegal drilling. This last, by the way, is really true: NIEP works with the University of South Carolina on a project to three-dimensionally map the Vrancea earthquake fracture zone: Deep Reflection Acquisition Constraining Unusual Lithospheric Activity. Yes, it’s actually called Project DRACULA. This can either be an amusing red herring in your game, or quietly renamed something else to avoid distracting visits to South Carolina. Or maybe it’s not a distraction; the project is funded by the US National Science Foundation, so perhaps it’s part of the CIA’s ongoing catch-up vampire project (p. 76). dossier reference:

HO32, CU100, HO186, HO234

Romanian Government It is unthinkable that Dracula has left his

home country without the benefit of his guidance since his resurrection. Simple math implies that in the century plus since 1894 he should have penetrated — should essentially outright own — the government of Romania on every level. However, even the Count’s mighty abilities might not have been enough to keep a Conspiracy functional through the serial disasters

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National Institute for Earth Physics : NIEP monitors seismic

His Romanian-born wife managed to hide Sala’s notes, and his daughter became a physicist.Through her father’s notes, Miriam Sala learned of the existence of both Edom and Dracula, and that they are somehow connected. She doesn’t know if Edom still exists, and Sala’s contact details and recognition codes are seventy years out of date so she can’t re-establish contact with Edom even if she wanted to — and she secretly blames them for abandoning her father anyway. She’s established a small cell of trusted academics within NIEP, including a rapid-response “earthquake hunter” unit that’s secretly an amateur vampire-hunting squad. She may also have an Earthquake Device (p. 266), hidden in the countryside with her father’s notes. Depending on who gets to her first — the Agents, Elvis (p. 50), or Dracula, she could be convinced to become an ally (Vampirology and Negotiation), reactivated as an Edom asset like her father before her (proof of Edom’s duplicitous ways and Reassurance to flip her), or just another victim (Data Recovery on her slagged computer and Geology to find out what she unearthed to make the Conspiracy kill her). conspiracy: Romania is a whirlpool of science and superstition. You can only understand the complexities of geology and seismology in the Vrancea seismogenic zone if you take into account the stirrings of the vampires who live in those mountains. You can only understand the weather patterns in the Carpathians if you remember that Dracula commands earth and sea and sky. By day, the academics of NIEP are sober scientists, monitoring earth tremors and logging data. By night, they descend into the secret crypt beneath the data center to worship Dracula. They conduct Satanic Black Masses by the light of blue flames, and read their Master’s commands in the juddering of the seismographs and the whimperings of the human sacrifices. They hold more elaborate cult ceremonies up in the mountains, under the guise of field trips. They go through a lot of graduate students and interns. NIEP (likely Level 3–4) may control access to the Scholomance (p. 151);

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

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heat and the Conspiracy in Romania

of the German conquest of 1916–1917, the confused fascist interlude after 1937 (including the abortive Iron Guard coup of 1941 and subsequent purges), the Russian conquest of 1944, the Communist trials and purges after 1947, and the vagaries of the Ceausescu tyranny. Any surviving Conspiracy network doubtless suffered yet more purges after the Revolution of 1989. Which is our way of saying you can tune the level of Dracula’s control in Romania to suit your individual campaign, just like everything else! As a default, it’s likely that the Conspiracy has at least some presence in the various critical organs and agencies of the state. (See Heat and the Conspiracy, above.) The following write-ups select a few of those critical bodies for discussion, but you can easily have a Conspiracy minion checking passports at the airport, reading (or censoring) the news on government TV, or driving a tank on maneuvers that just happen to take his unit near Castle Dracula when the Agents arrive. The level of a Romanian government node in the Conspiracy generally depends on its power or influence within Romania: These levels don’t perfectly track with the default Conspyramid levels (NBA, p. 158). They can reach “one higher” because Dracula’s Conspiracy is so heavily focused in one country — or in two. If he has also subverted Her Majesty’s Government, use these same levels for his Conspiracy’s British wing.

Cabinet Like most democratic nations, Romania depends on a professional civil service to actually run the country. Elected officials and their high-level appointees set broad policy, but the details — who gets detained at the border, what budget items get conveniently stashed in the summary

How omnipresent is the Conspiracy in Romania? Unless you’ve already planted a minion in the location, or (less likely) decided the location is clean, in any given scene in Romania, roll a die. On a 6, there’s a Conspiracy minion on the scene — observing, controlling, or otherwise capable of acting now or reacting later. According to Transparency International, Romania is one of the most corrupt countries in the EU, on a par with Italy. The Difficulty for Cover and Network tests accompanied by a bribe (with a Negotiation or Streetwise spend) is lowered by −1. Remember that any failed Heat roll in Romania (or any sort of friction with the Romanian government or police) will alert Dracula’s Conspiracy as well

as attract the civilian authorities, even assuming the two are different. Once Dracula knows the Agents are in Romania, use the rules under Heat and Difficulty and under Heat and the Black Market (both in NBA, p. 89) for their tests in the country. All Heat earned in Romania automatically increases by +1 once Dracula knows to watch for the Agents; the Heat roll Difficulty increases by a like amount. The Conspiracy now has an observer watching the Agents on a 5 or 6 on the die. See page 203 for Difficulty increases in Romania caused by Dracula’s supernatural surveillance. See page 182 for Difficulty increases in London caused by GCHQ’s cybernetic surveillance.

table, which neighborhoods get extra police presence and which get ignored — come from permanent bureaucrats. Even in democratic countries without vampires, bureaucrats can be corrupt or negligent.At best, parliamentary staffers might exercise some oversight — although if the staffers themselves decide to do something slightly off the books, it’s even harder to spot. Thus, neither Dracula nor Edom are likely to have directly subverted cabinet ministers or the prime minister himself.

The president of Romania is a not entirely ceremonial head of state, and even less likely to be a Conspiracy pawn — although some Romanian newspapers speculate that the president and the security agencies are conspiring to increase his powers. For one thing, politicians and cabinet ministers don’t stay in their jobs long enough to make the investment worthwhile! No, the real payoff comes from nurturing a few promising graduates through the Romanian university system — or the

node level rank military: level

Captain Mayor, MP, local police chief, Politia Româna or Jandarmeria county inspector principal

government:

military: level

level

Colonel, base commander County governor, SRI or SIE agent in charge, Politia Româna comisar-sef, Jandarmeria brigadier, ministerial aide or permanent bureaucrat

government:

military:

Brigadier general, special forces unit commander SRI or SIE deputy, Politia Româna or Jandarmeria director, minister or key cabinet deputy

government:

military:

level

Land forces chief of staff, general, special forces wholly penetrated government: Office of the president, control body of the prime minister, SRI or SIE director, Politia Româna general director, Jandarmeria general inspector, ministry wholly penetrated

nodes n Other Nodes in Romania: Romanian Government British system, since plenty of upperclass Romanians get educations abroad in this era of European integration and free travel. Then plant them in your chosen bureaucracy, watch them rise, and you have an eye, an ear, and a voice in anything you might want to happen — or prevent from happening — in Romania. Let them pick and groom their own successors and protégés, and your moles become indistinguishable from native species. edom:

This secretariat is perhaps the exception to the above rule: it acts as the interface between the prime minister and the various ministries, public services, independent offices, and commissions, state companies, and local bodies. An agent in the Control Body can potentially interfere with or uncover almost anything in Romania involving the government — which is why prime ministers more frequently staff this structure with their cronies and political allies rather than leaving it to the permanent bureaucracy. Agents might thus be able to find a rare potential ally here, not yet suborned by Dracula or previously recruited by Edom. Conversely, if anyone in the government seems too curious about vampires or MI6 “anti-terror coordination activities” in Romania, the Conspiracy and Edom know just which body to target in response.

Ministry of Culture This department has jurisdiction over Romanian archaeological sites, museums, and national libraries. Dracula uses his minions in the Ministry to prevent outside — and especially non-Romanian — inquiries that might lead to locating his castle, finding his native soil, or even identifying him precisely. Edom assets are more likely to be scholars at the various national universities (the University of Bucharest, Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca,Alexandru Ioan Cusa University in Iasi) recruited while on sabbatical or attending conferences abroad. These academics use their normal contacts, professional pressures, political pull, etc., to get access to information or sites important to Edom.

Ministry of Justice The Ministry of Justice does not run the National Police (Politia Româna, see p. 154), which falls under the aegis of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as does the Jandarmeria (see p. 154). Nor does it control the secret police — er, domestic intelligence service — the SRI (see p. 156), which is an independent cabinetlevel agency. Romania’s judicial system is part of the Ministry of Justice, but Dracula can bribe or pressure any judge he needs without going through channels. In the unlikely event it needs to, Edom can bring political pressure on judges at least through the Foreign Ministry or the SIE (see p. 155). The utility of the Justice Ministry to Dracula or Edom comes from its control over Romania’s prisons. While you can make a secret prison out of nothing more than a shipping container, it’s better in every way to hide a secret prisoner in a prison — especially if you control all his records. The most likely site for such a Purloined Prisoner game is Aiud prison in Transylvania. Built in the 19th century, it became a political prison under Antonescu and then the Communists, black subbasements and isolation chambers secreted into its foundations. Post-Revolutionary prison reforms have, as yet, left only a glancing mark on the imposingly solid structure, and on its even more imposingly solid bureaucracy. The Ministry of Justice might also have files on Pitesti Prison (p. 218) that hint at its true purpose, although Pitesti was run by the Interior Ministry during the Experiment.

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Edom operates on the theory that everyone in the Romanian government it hasn’t personally vetted is probably reporting to someone in Dracula’s Conspiracy — and Edom knowingly keeps some of Dracula’s agents in its own network as well. Better the leak you know than the one you don’t, after all; Edom does its best to compartmentalize its really crucial assets. Those are the lifers, recruited as foreign students in Oxford or Cambridge, as engineers working with British Petroleum in Ploiesti or the Black Sea, or by their parents who somehow survived the Ceausescu era as MI6 assets. Others, Edom simply turned in London or New York as embassy staffers have been since time immemorial. Edom especially seeks out Romanian officials who stumble onto Dracula’s true nature. Edom false-flags them, posing as a secret anti-vampire unit to keep such sources from blowing Dracula’s — and Edom’s — cover. conspiracy: In practice, Dracula supplements this admirable tactic with the occasional Renfield-turn and a lot of bribery and threats.With the Conspiracy there to enforce the Master’s demands, even the most upright Romanian civil servant thinks twice before throwing away his pension and the lives of his daughters by refusing a simple command. Thus, the Conspiracy has flexibility: if it needs to flip someone in the government, it usually can — by making a phone call to her boss, or by making a visit to her apartment at night. Other civil servants think Dracula’s tools in the government are being bribed by the mafia or by a rich oligarch … or they have learned not to think about it.

Control Body of the Prime Minister

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook Romanian Weapons Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism

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Ministry of National Defense While it never hurts to have someone with access to helicopter gunships and reconnaissance drones on the payroll, neither Dracula nor Edom are particularly interested in Romania’s military or its secrets. Dracula does tend to draw his Renfields from the Romanian Special Forces (1st Battalion, “Vulturii”), but other than covering up for the occasional “detached duty,” he doesn’t need to burrow much further into the force. His Conspiracy has, however, likely penetrated any Romanian military units garrisoned close to his Castle, both for added protection and to prevent them from stumbling onto something they needn’t see while on maneuvers. (He might also feel slightly possessive of the 528th Reconnaissance Battalion, “Vlad Tepes,” based near Galati.) With Romania’s close cooperation with British and American forces in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, recruitment opportunities for Edom are plentiful. However, GCHQ can remotely acquire the kinds of personnel data that Edom needs to keep track of Dracula’s Renfield recruits without tapping human assets in or out of uniform. It can even hack into the Romanian signals and secure communications intelligence agency, STS (also under the Ministry of National Defense). Romania’s version of Delta Force or the SAS is the Special Detachment of Protection and Intervention (DSPI), a company-sized unit dedicated to special protection missions at home, and recon and “direct action” missions overseas.

This Ministry controls the national parks and (with the Ministry of Environment) forests in Romania. Romania is approximately one-quarter forested; any abandoned Castle Dracula (see p. 207) almost certainly lurks in the deep woods. Mountainous Castles above the tree line are likely still in national preserves, unless Dracula has somehow re-acquired his ancestral lands after the 1989 Revolution. Edom may have one or two long-term assets in Romsilva, the Romanian national lumber and forest management company (itself under the Ministry of Agriculture), planted there to maintain safe houses and remote landing spots for covert insertions. These will likely be long-term family assets on the MI6/Edom pattern, recruited even before World War I. If Edom knows where Castle Dracula is (likely), they keep such safe houses and LZs well away from it. Dracula has far more interest in keeping the forests around his Castle pristine, and has complete control of key local Ministry officials and their counterparts in the provincial Romsilva offices. Discovering where precisely in these Ministries, or in Romsilva, Dracula has minions may tell the Agents where to start looking for Castle Dracula. Or the bloody disintegration of an illegal lumber operation that cut on the wrong hillside might leave a few drops pointing back up the trail.

Politia Româna Law enforcement agencies in Romania reflect its Communist past and subsequent upheaval.The main police force is the Politia Româna, the national police, responsible for criminal investigations. While its reputation is improving,it’s often derided as being underfunded and unequipped to deal with cybercrime, institutional corruption, or organized crime. The average patrol officer carries a Glock or other sidearm in addition to a baton; every county or major city has a SWAT-equivalent, the Rapid Intervention Service. There are forty-one counties in Romania, plus Bucharest — it’s entirely possible that one or more comisari-sefi de politie are part of the Conspiracy, while

Whether Brigada Antiterorista, Grupul Antiterorist, SIIAS, or DSPI, this is the likely loadout for Romanian security forces. H&K MP5A3 submachine gun (9mm, +1) Glock 17 pistol (9mm, +1) Benelli M4 Super 90 combat shotgun (12 gauge, 7+1 shots, +1) H&K G36 assault rifle (5.56mm +0) PSG-1 sniper rifle (7.62mm, +1) The DSPI, like many special forces units, arms itself with anything required for the mission, from Soviet-era AK-47s to smart pistols tagged to one individual firer.

Your Weapons in Romania Romania has some of the most restrictive weapons laws in Europe. Even non-lethal weapons (Tasers, mace, etc.) require permits from the police. No civilian ownership of firearms is allowed, except for licensed hunters after completion of a lengthy understudy course. Romania regulates knives with blades over 15 cm as stringently as guns. Use of firearms increases Heat earned by +1 in Romania.

some of their colleagues are working for Edom. For that matter, other groups might have considerable influence over local law enforcement — mining companies have been accused of bribing the police to put down environmental protests. There’s also the Jandarmeria or “Gendarmerie,” a military police force that’s primarily used for riot control, counterterrorism operations, and guarding government and military buildings. During the Communist era, the traditional gendarmerie was replaced by the Security Troops Command (CTS), a paramilitary unit subordinate to the Securitate. While the CTS was disbanded after the revolution and the Jandarmeria reformed in its place, there’s some continuity of personnel and methods between the two. Elements of the Jandarmeria take part in international peacekeeping missions in cooperation with other European forces. The Jandarmeria Special Intervention Brigade (BSIJ) is also named “VladTepes,” should you be interested in adding misleading radio chatter and elite police snipers to the Agents’ bad Heat roll.

nodes n Other Nodes in Romania: Romanian Government conspiracy: As

apparent nature:

If this police station is in Bucharest or another major city like Cluj-Napoca, then it’s got relatively modern facilities. If it’s in a more isolated county, then expect it to be rundown; concrete walls, desks more appropriate to a secondary school than a police station, computers years out of date, and limited forensic capabilities. Cop Talk can determine if a bribe can get the Agents out of trouble, or if they’re dealing with an honest cop; Bureaucracy or Law spends can slow down legal proceedings or get the Agents out on a technicality. Incidents involving serious Heat likely get referred up the chain of command to the regional organized crime brigade. edom: As noted on page 158, Edom has a long-term stringer in the Romanian National Police near Dracula’s castle. If they need to infiltrate the police elsewhere in Romania, then they might send an Edom operative posing as an Interpol adviser (Hound, p. 51), or else just have Elvis (p. 50) bribe a local commissioner. Again, Cop Talk gets the inside scoop.

Serviciul Informatii de Externe (SIE) Romania’s foreign intelligence service is eager to prove itself a crucial partner for NATO and the CIA in the larger world of global espionage. The SIE splits its attention between its overseas operations against organized crime and terror, and domestic political and business machinations. Companies with SIE ties have ended up with very favorable contracts for gold, copper, and gas mining; opposition newspapers have accused the SIE of rigging Romania’s elections. The SIE maintains the elite Grupul Antiterorist special operations force.With only 15 members, its activities remain top secret and often denied outright. The Grupul has mounted at least one overseas raid, in Iraq in 2005 to free hostages held by a Syrian mastermind. When the operation went public, it ended up with every major paper and politician in Romania characteristically accusing each other of staging the entire affair for political gain, to cover up another scandal entirely, or to maneuver a foreign asset to the top of the SIE bureaucracy. The Syrian’s escape from Romania in 2006 while “on home leave” merely confirmed the suspicions that something else was going on behind the scenes. (The Syrian General on page 133 may know the real story.) apparent nature:

Use any given spy NPC in this book (e.g., BND Agent (p. 105), MI6 Lamplighter (p. 123), MI6 Romania Desk Analyst (p. 124)) for an SIE contact if you need a specific set of skills. Just take a Romanian name (p. 139) and figure out her background if need be. Her demeanor and interaction are governed by Tradecraft; her agenda is up to the Director, but most Balkan spies will trade intel for intel

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Agents might also run afoul of the Border Police, whose funding and influence has increased with Romania’s accession to the EU in 2007. More likely, indiscreet Agents will attract the elite Independent Service of Special Interventions and Actions (SIIAS), which handles witness-protection operations, hostage rescue, armed robberies, and high-value target apprehension.

far as the comisar knows, he’s being bribed to ignore some local landowner’s financial irregularities. Every few weeks, he meets a representative of the landowner and gets handed a brown envelope full of cash. According to his memories of these meetings, it’s just a quick handover; in fact, he’s being hypnotized and mind-controlled by the Conspiracy, and gives them a full report on criminal and police activity within the area. They’ve arranged for him to promote their servants to key positions within the force, and have access to police frequencies and computer systems. Cop Talk gets gossip about the chief’s odd behavior; following him to a meeting lets the Agents discover the next link in the Conspyramid. If the Agents don’t draw Heat, then the police can do little more than harass them (random stop-and-searches, documentation checks, and the like). Doing anything more, like sending a Rapid Intervention Squad, requires a meeting with the police chief to reinforce his conditioning. If the Agents do draw Heat, then the Conspiracy-run police come down with excessive force. connections: The Bucharest Street Cop (p. 108) — obviously, in Bucharest, but he’s driven enough to pursue an investigation outside his jurisdiction. The Romanian National Police Inspector (p. 130) might show up in any county. Checking police records can uncover connections to any criminal elements in Romania — they might have files on the Arms Runner (p. 102), Drug Boss (p. 113), Human Trafficker (p. 118), Smuggler (p. 131), Ruvari Szgany (p. 147), and/or the local Romanian Mafia (p. 157). A modicum of Research or Data Retrieval in the police archives can uncover what crimes have clearly not been investigated thoroughly or covered up. Traffic Analysis on a map covered with pins marking the locations of assaults or disappearances correlates the data to pin down a vampire’s lair (maybe in the Strasba Orphanage, p. 223, or the Fortified Monastery of St. Peter, p. 144).

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night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook on a neutral basis. Even if created with Network, a Romanian spy can already be on Dracula’s or Edom’s payroll — but they probably won’t actively betray the Agents until their pool dwindles (but see the mirror rules in NBA, p. 32). edom: Edom can’t possibly compete with Dracula at suborning the SIE — so it leaves that job to the CIA. Nothing turns a theoretically independent agency into a lapdog like friendly access to the Americans’ vast trove of intelligence, as Edom well knows from long decades within MI6.Edom’s CIA contact (possibly the Black Site Interrogator (p. 104), Chief of Station, Bucharest (p. 109), or CIA Agent (p. 91)) handles the SIE if they get stroppy — even Dracula can’t compete with the immense treasures of data and access the Americans can shower down on those who do them favors. conspiracy: Dracula has indeed thoroughly penetrated the SIE, but primarily in order to keep an eye on foreign intelligence services. He doesn’t want another 1894 surprise, after all. The Conspiracy trades active SIE cooperation with the CIA and other allied services for interagency access to intelligence, and to pinpoint other nations’ spies who

seem a little too interested in Romanian postings. Dracula also uses the SIE to funnel foreign capital into his shadow companies and puppet accounts, and to keep control of (or at least access to) any mining operation in the country. Again, he has a sense of what lies beneath Romania, and he doesn’t want to be surprised if it’s awakened. If any of the Agents have a background with the CIA, MI6, or any other NATO intelligence agency, they add +1 Difficulty to Cover tests to enter or operate in Romania. Their Network contacts may be extra-vulnerable, as well: the Director adds 1 to the roll to flip them (NBA, p. 32). connections: The SIE has potential connections everywhere within the professional intelligence community. An SIE informant can point to anyone in this book working for another agency — not just the CIA personnel above, the BND Agent (p. 105), MI6 Lamplighter (p. 123), and MI6 Romania Desk Analyst (p. 124), but also any asset — and provide intel on the Petroleum Executive (p. 127) and his partners in Romania as well. Even if the SIE doesn’t know someone is Edom, they may be able to finger them as MI6. The

Hungarian (p. 94) and the SIE are either the best of friends, or respectfully distant enemies. The SIE may operate the “Black Light” Black Site (p. 204) for Edom. The SIE is always willing to drop a dime on its rivals in the SRI (p. 156) and vice versa; their internecine hatred makes the CIA and FBI look like Donny and Marie.

Serviciul Român de Informatii (SRI) Romania’s domestic intelligence service replaced the Communist-era Securitate secret police in 1990; the degree and thoroughness of that replacement remain matters of controversy in Romania to this day. For instance, SRI personnel are known to have literally buried (in a forest) documents tying the two agencies together and revealing a number of ongoing scandals. Only in 2005 did the SRI begin turning the old Securitate files over to Romania’s truth and reconciliation commission — the sheer extent of the data collected under Communism would make the SRI archives a gold mine for Agents interested in finding out anything about Romania between 1947 and 1989. Getting access requires a specific operation, not just Cover: the

More Romanian Spies If there is one thing Romania is not short of, it’s secret police. Any one of them might be working for Dracula, on the Edom payroll, or both. Specifically, any of them could be hosting the “Black Light” Black Site (p. 204) in one of their own well-guarded, anonymous facilities in Bucharest. Here are a few more of the agencies the stranger in the black trench coat might claim to be with. directorate for preventing crime and terrorism in penitentiaries

(dpctp): This directorate may not actually exist; it is alleged to be the successor to the Justice Ministry’s secret political police, the DGPA, which was abolished in 2006 for spying on judges. The leadership and cadre of the DGPA (and of its predecessor, SIPA) were former Securitate.

general directorate for defense intelligence

(dgia): Romania’s

military intelligence agency, mostly tasked with specifically military planning and needs. Its charter, of course, allows it to operate against “non-military risks and threats” as well. The DGIA works with the US DIA to coordinate anti-terror actions and operations in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

nest of Interior Ministry bureaucrats. Formed from the Bucharest division of the Securitate, the DGIPI overlaps with its rivals in the SRI; some commentators allege that the DGIPI and SRI are kept at each other’s throats by a shadowy third force “at the highest level” in Romania. protection and guard service (spp):

general directorate for intelligence

In charge of the physical security of Romanian government officials; the equivalent of the US Secret Service. It answers to the president of Romania.

and internal security (dgipi): The

special telecommunications service

secret police of the Interior Ministry, officially tasked with national criminal investigations and the protection of classified information. The DGIPI allegedly uses its copious archives to blackmail and pressure government and business leaders to follow its murky political agenda, and to feather the

(sts): Romania’s signals intelligence agency (under the Ministry of National Defense) also handles secure communications within and between Romanian government agencies and officials. Secure from everyone except the STS, that is.

nodes n Other Nodes in Romania: Romanian Government to Romanian Mafia

apparent nature:

By informed estimate, there are approximately 12,000 active agents of the SRI — double the number of internal police in France, for a population a third the size. The SRI admits to tapping 2,500 phones in an average year, planting moles in the Romanian press, cooperating in the extraordinary rendition of foreign suspects, and releasing Securitate files to remove members of the Senate. While this pales next to the Securitate’s record, the SRI doesn’t look very cuddly by any other standard. edom: In the 1980s, as British-Romanian contacts eased during Ceausescu’s flirtation with the West, Edom set up a core of ex–Iron Guard Romanians with false papers, filtering them back into Romania from Switzerland, Yugoslavia, and other plausible access points. The goal was to build a “Securitate within the Securitate,” one under Edom’s control. The 1989 Revolution allowed more Iron Guard–friendly figures to reach positions of potential influence and induced several hardline Communist apparatchiks to simply switch totalitarian ideologies. Edom built alliances along the radical fringe of Romanian politics, offering laundered cash and access to friendly Western media.

dossier reference:

CU11,

HO56, CU214

Romanian Mafia The Romanian mafia is,

perhaps appropriately, Balkanized into dozens of criminal “clans” constantly fighting turf wars, maneuvering for support and alliances, and leeching off the local economy: Bucharest alone has at least 15 mafia clans, and most counties sport 2 rivals.The Italian Mafia and Russian Mafiya prefer it this way: the last thing they need is a unified Romanian Mafia taking a real middleman percentage of the lucrative trade in drugs, girls, and smuggled goods. Romanian mafia clans may cohere around ethnicity (some are Roma, many others are Romanian, Hungarian, Moldavian, or Albanian), football fandom, religion, or any other tribal marker. Except for a very

few national rings (the Corduneanu clan based in Iasi, the “Athletes” in Bucharest and Transylvania) the clans operate locally, occasionally pulling up stakes to run a big score in Western Europe. Almost anything you can imagine seems perfectly plausible in the surreal world of Romanian semi-organized crime. All the following are actual incidents: Two

gangsters named “Froth” and “Bass” forged ancient Dacian bracelets and sold them to the Ministry of Culture. Half the population of one village has been arrested for racketeering. The crime lord of the Banat in western Romania, Utu Rohozneanu, calls himself “Vlad Tepes.” A Hungarian mob boss in Transylvania, “Ninja Misi,” bites the throats of recalcitrant business partners. Bucharest human trafficker “Nutzu the Pawnbroker” kept four lions and two bears in his backyard. A gangster in Cluj regularly cuts his own throat during arguments to prove that he is God. Names of actual mafia clans in Romania: “Athletes,” “Belgians,” “Black Brigades,” Buba, Buntea, Buriga, Buteni, “Buttons,” Caldararu, Calina, Camataru, “Capones,” Caran, Cârciumaru, Chira, Chiriac, Chirmus, Ciprenii, Clamparu, Cofeni, Corduneanu, Cuza, Duduieni, “Fighters,” Frusin, “Geminii,” Ghenosu, Gigi Corsicanu, “Long Haired,” “Pear,” “Piano,” Pietroi, Porumbelu, Racean, Sadoveanu, “Skins,” “Spartans,” Steoaca, Székelyan. Popular criminal enterprises for Romanian mafia clans: extortion, blackmail, racketeering,

and loan sharking

gold smuggling and theft cigarette smuggling auto theft and smuggling arms theft and smuggling drug trafficking computer fraud and identity

theft (the town of Râmnicu Vâlcea is known as “Hackerville”) influence peddling real estate and construction fraud prostitution, kidnapping, and human trafficking, especially of young women breaking and entering, burglary, armed robbery, muggings

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archives provide SRI with unstoppable trump cards in Romania’s increasingly vicious political snake pit, and are guarded with proportionate seriousness. The SRI’s elite combat unit is the Brigada Antiterorista (BAT), founded (as the USLA) under Ceausescu in 1977. Its approximately 2,000 specialists include 200 frontline operators, divided into maimute (“monkeys,” climbers and rappellers), cârtite (“moles,” tunnel assault specialists), and pasari (“birds,” snipers, divers, and parachutists).

Now, former Securitate and nationalistright politicians alike protect Edom cells within the SRI, providing the Dukes with cover, access, and some logistical support even in Dracula’s country. Threatening to reveal one of Edom’s neo-Guardists is a great way for the Agents to flip him — his patrons will kill him if he’s exposed, to make sure Dracula can’t turn him and roll up the whole network. conspiracy: It is practically a sure thing that Dracula has penetrated the SRI.The question is: are his tools the old guard of Securitate hard cases still keeping their hands on things, or the new breed of eager jackals replacing them after every (carefully stage-managed?) scandal? Either way, Dracula owns the SRI, though he may as yet only control a minority share of the agency. Any given SRI operation in Romania likely happens with Dracula’s knowledge, if not by his direct command. connections:The Securitate had informers everywhere in Romania; the SRI can only aspire to that lofty goal. That said, any Romanian in the campaign — even an SIE agent — can be an SRI asset or friendly. As noted previously, the SRI and SIE hate each other like poison, and can be relied upon to feed the Agents intel to obstruct each other — unless both sides serve Dracula, that is. And perhaps even then.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

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Both clans might have dealings with the Arms Runner (p. 102), Human Trafficker (p. 118), Smuggler (p. 131), or Drug Boss (p. 113). The Conspiracy clan definitely works with the Ruvari Szgany (p. 147) if only at specific meets (under the full moon in a graveyard, for instance). “Van Sloan” (p. 87) might have been given the name of the earlier (1940) Inspector Istok as an Edom contact. The Anti-Communist (p. 81) handled the Istok payroll during the Communist regime, and also has the name. Istok, of course, might know the workname (and description) of a current Edom agent in Romania (MI6 Lamplighter, p. 123, or any other Edom asset). Use this write-up to generate as many mafia clans as you wish. We recommend at least two: one suborned by the Conspiracy, and a second clan warring with that one. That way, “Yojimbo” plans can unfold to best effect and the Director is never far from a bunch of handy story-driving punks wielding guns, baseball bats, and knives. apparent nature:

This Romanian mafia clan dominates its neighborhood, or its half of town, by extortion, racketeering, and fear. Swaggering young toughs enforce rude street justice and collect the shares due to the graying older clan boss who watches from a street corner café, the back room of a flower shop, or perhaps a strip club if the clan involves itself in the flesh trade. A 1-point spend of either Criminology or Human Terrain lets the Agents map its basic structure in a day or two of casualseeming surveillance. By bribing police officers and local judges, the gang is able to operate nearly openly, fearing only its main rival. edom: Since 1894, Edom has kept a stringer in the Romanian National Police, stationed in the provincial capital nearest to Dracula’s Castle. Like many British intelligence assets, this posting is a family affair passed down over the generations. Inspector Filip Istok (use the Police Inspector, p. 130) is the sixth in his line. He reliably allows himself to be bribed by the Conspiracy, amplifying his pay while giving him a good view of the Conspiracy’s operations in the mafia clan. He’s too low level to know

the Agents are ex-Service, so if they haven’t been specifically burned by MI6, he might rescue them from imminent danger — or just make contact with Tradecraft and possibly reveal something of Edom’s local operations over the last century while trying to get them to brief him! Once he breaks cover, however, the clan, Edom, or the Conspiracy kills him for his mistake. conspiracy: This Romanian mafia clan acts as street muscle for the Conspiracy, abducting strangers for vampire meals, running off or killing inquisitive reporters, and providing a modest but handy slush fund for operations. In return, the vampires make Renfields out of especially loyal, productive, or cruel clansmen: the Conspiracy has eyes anywhere in the county. Even the Conspiracy needs to hire talent, occasionally. Actually joining a Romanian mafia clan requires a Connected Cover (NBA, p. 28) and possibly a Human Terrain spend to keep the details of your imaginary Romanian lineage straight, but getting hired as reinforcements for the brewing clan war just takes a Streetwise spend and another Interpersonal spend specifically targeted at a clan chief. connections: Either or both of the Bucharest police officials (pp. 108 and 130), the SRI Agent in Charge (p. 133), and likely the Bucharest Private Detective (p. 107) can provide some details of these mafia clans, and possibly have illicit connections as well.

dossier reference:

HO56, VS226

Sample Romanian Mafia Clan: “The Monks” apparent nature:

This Romanian gang started, like several other postCommunist mafia groups, with a martial arts club; in this case the Shaolin Dojo in Bucharest, founded under the auspices of the wushu masters at the prestigious Army Sports Club. Martial arts were suspect in the Eastern Bloc, seen as antithetical to Marxist materialism; in the USSR, karate was banned from 1973–1978, then again from 1984– 1989; in the early 1990s, however, they produced a steady stream of tough, group-oriented young men. The Monks are largely ethnically Romanian, though they now include a smattering of Romania’s small Chinese community. The Shaolin Dojo is still in operation, and serves as the club’s headquarters. Their business is largely straightforward extortion, with a side order of smuggling; their connections with China may extend to snakehead operations supervised by the Real Estate Broker (p. 129) or Human Trafficker (p. 118). They also exert a tight grip on Romania’s disproportionately large mixed martial arts (MMA) scene. Gang members shave their heads in the style of monks and affect a smattering of Buddhist philosophy largely drawn from Hong Kong cinema. A few hours of training at the dojo gives a 4-point Hand-to-Hand refresh; whatever their

nodes n Other Nodes in Romania: Romanian Mafia to Station Bucharest

Station Bucharest This generic header covers any foreign

intelligence apparatus not connected with MI6. The Director may introduce any number of other agencies into the campaign. (See Do Other Agencies Know About Vampires? p. 28.) Some of them will be the former employers of the PCs, and show up in relatively limited roles. Others might play any number of significant parts in the ongoing investigation: rivals of Edom, enemies of Dracula, or even shadowy manipulators trying to get the Agents to destroy Dracula and defang Edom. See pp. 75–77 for details of other nations’ potential vampire (or antivampire) programs. nature: The Agents know enough Tradecraft to set up a meet with a foreign agent in a neutral site with broken sight lines and plenty of possible exits: the Cismigiu Garden or National Art Museum in Bucharest, for example.Train stations are always good, too, or even a chain coffee shop if it’s on a busy shopping street or in a mall. Agents talking about vampires are met with skepticism even if — especially if — the organization they’re approaching has inside knowledge that such things exist. Even sympathetic listeners won’t commit their home government to anything definite, and the Agents are too good to be fooled by the normal reassuring sort-of-promises normally given to interesting walk-ins or other potential assets. The Agents need to provide a quid pro quo: the location of an AQIR cell, the identity of a known traitor or mole, other sensitive material they’ve stumbled on along the way. Once the Agents have established their bona fides, it’s possible to arrange a deal or an assist — but any further favor comes with a further price. Nothing is permanent in the clandestine world, and very little is straightforward. edom: Edom may well know about other nations’ vampire programs, if they have them (p. 75). News of such programs definitely gets the attention of any Edom asset worth his salt. A Russian agent doubling for MI6 isn’t the normal way these things shake out, but it has happened. Edom may have gathered the missing Van Helsing apparent

or Dolingen material from the Soviets in 1977 (using the mole hunt as cover — or as a sacrifice — to relax the KGB), or in 1991 when plenty of Russian spies went looking for hard-currency second paychecks. Edom might have taken over the German program (p. 75) or at least inserted its own mole into it during the occupation after 1945, in a vampiric equivalent of the Gehlen Org. If Edom began as an Anglo-American joint operation (see p. 34), then it has a hidden directorate inside the CIA mirroring the one it has inside MI6. The heirs of Quincey Morris and Peter Hawkins in the CIA and MI6 wings of Edom might be fighting their own secret war over access to (and control of) Dracula and vampirism in general. Or they might remain partners, mirroring the “special relationship” between MI6 and its American “cousins.” If the CIA has its own deniable vampire special asset — a surviving Quincey Morris, perhaps, or the American Vampire (p. 63) — the two Edoms may share resources on a global basis, somewhat like the NSA and GCHQ share signals intelligence from ECHELON. conspiracy: The entire agency, whichever it is, is not run by Dracula — he may have turned key policy makers in Berlin or Tel Aviv or Moscow, but he’s much more likely to co-opt its local station chief in Bucharest. Even better, he has pre-positioned his own minions as the foreign agency’s go-to local network. (He doesn’t use this tactic for Russian agencies, which have decades’ worth of contacts in Romania and plenty of

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sins, they take their wushu seriously. Whoever they work for, they’re likely to be a low-level (1–2) node, easy to infiltrate but also numerous. edom: Tyler (p. 53) was narrowly beaten by the current head of the Monks, Catalin Ungar, in an MMA tournament in 2009; after taking note of his gang of supporters, he recommended them to his bosses. A series of judicious bribes and the promise of vampiric blood– derived steroids soon turned the gang into a convenient source of highly disposable hitters and a useful cut-out for Romanian criminal dealings. The Drug Boss (p. 113) or any other criminal NPC may head the group; the Bucharest Street Cop (p. 108) or Romanian Police Inspector (p. 130) may either be a sworn foe or be on their payroll. conspiracy: Romania is wild for MMA; it speaks to some bone-deep need for blood. But beneath the corporate sponsorships and television deals, true fans speak of a series of secret tournaments, where even MMA’s limited rules don’t apply. Dracula has never lost his medieval taste for blood sports, and the Monks, fed strong on the platinum-blonde Bride (p. 57) posing as Ungar’s girlfriend, recruit the strong, desperate, and disposable for fights to the death that range from two gangsters pounding at each other with clubs, to traitors pitted against packs of feral Bucharest dogs, to blood-stimulated lions stolen from Bucharest’s zoo let loose on homeless alcoholics kidnapped from the streets. Tapes of the events sell for hundreds or even thousands of dollars to “connoisseurs,” and might be found in the lair of any suitable sadist. Beyond that, Dracula sees the Monks as his ideal Romanian peasant soldiers: loyal, stupid, strong, and replaceable. connections: The Monks run regular shakedowns at the Chinese Market (p. 255), and volunteer as security for Heal the Children (p. 150). They are a distinct faction within the Romanian Mafia (p. 157), and might be enemies, cautious allies, or simply business partners with any other group. Like most Romanian criminals, they are highly racist toward “Gypsies,” and informed Agents may wonder what they’re doing meeting with the Ruvari Szgany (p. 147).

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook leverage over any number of influential locals.) By controlling everything the DIA, for example, knows about Romania, he can control its actions in Romania without ever breaking a single American captain.

connections: The Station Chief, Bucharest

(p. 109) runs Bucharest Station. Adjust his nationality as needed. Any NPC or node might have connections to other intelligence agencies, especially vampire-aware agencies — simply alter the relevant

details in the Edom or Asset section of their write-up. Or keep them the same and add a layer of double-agentry, which is downright realistic for “fringe” assets like the Hungarian (p. 94), the Arms Runner (p. 102), etc. dossier reference:

CU156

other nodes 160

Between the history of European espionage, British imperial mischief-making, and vampire legendry, you can extend Dracula’s Conspiracy almost anywhere you like. Here are just a few especially resonant nodes outside the scope of both Stoker and the Securitate (mostly).

The Caldwell Foundation: Established in 1927 apparent nature

by the eccentric Lord Henry Caldwell (the 4th Lord Caldwell), the Caldwell Foundation carried out ethnological and genealogical research across the world. It amassed a considerable collection of occult and ceremonial objects, many of which are on display in the Foundation’s small private museum in London. During the Second World War, the Foundation’s offices abroad formed an unofficial intelligence network. The Foundation still exists, and a Caldwell still sits on the board that awards several moderately large research grants every year in the fields of archaeology, anthropology, and medical research. Its criteria for choosing grant recipients is notoriously opaque, and the Foundation

has made controversial choices in the past, giving money to fringe science and discredited researchers, making its grants something of a poisoned chalice. The foundation’s archives might contain some useful item like the Westenra Brooch (p. 284) or even an Earthquake Device (p. 266), or information about places like the Scholomance (p. 219), Dun Dreach-Fhola (p. 235), or the Munich Dead House (p. 226). edom: Caldwell was recruited to Edom while at Cambridge in the late 1910s. He became the operation’s third and longest-serving Duke Oholibamah (now Osprey), fortifying his position by using his inherited wealth to support Edom activities overseas. The Caldwell Foundation was effectively an Edom cut-out for most of its existence. Caldwell’s tenure as Oholibamah ended after the Second World War. “D” wanted new blood in the organization to revitalize it after the debacle of the SOE mission, and Lord Caldwell was seen as an outmoded dinosaur. He continued to privately pursue research into vampires after he retired, using the resources of the Foundation. Edom first warned him to stop interloping, then threatened him, and finally destroyed him by framing the elderly peer in a sex scandal. Caldwell was forced to flee England; he died in Argentina under suspicious circumstances. Today, the Caldwell Foundation limps along, custodians of a dwindling trust fund, a family obligation whose meaning has been forgotten. The current Caldwells know nothing about their ancestor’s involvement and subsequent feud with Edom — those secrets are locked away in Caldwell’s missing

memoirs, stolen from his hotel room in Buenos Aires by persons unknown. Research (or maybe a whisper from the Tabloid Journalist, p. 134) clues the Agents into the strange history of Lord Caldwell; his vampire files are hidden in a secret vault under the Caldwell Museum (possibly protected by a supernatural entity like a jenglot (p. 67) or an adzeh (NBA, p. 147)). conspiracy: Henry Caldwell — the 3rd Lord Caldwell — was a devotee of the occult, and sought genuine mystical power across the world. He was one of the cabal of diabolical sorcerers initiated by Dracula after the Count came to London in 1894, making him part of the Conspiracy’s staybehind network. Caldwell may have been transformed into a vampire by Dracula in 1894, or sought out some other bloodsucker to give him unholy immortality; either way, he posed as his own son in 1927 when he established the Foundation. He’s repeated the same trick every generation since then — allowing himself to age, then vanishing and reappearing, youth renewed, as a young scion of the Caldwell line from overseas.When in London, he makes his lair in a secret crypt under the Caldwell Foundation museum. In addition to providing a cover story for the vampire’s hunting expeditions and depravities abroad, the Foundation continues to carry out scientific research. In life, Lord Caldwell was a believer in eugenics; now that he is immortal, he is perfectly placed to carry out longterm experiments. He breeds different bloodlines for specific purposes. One family, the Harrisons, are hereditary Renfields, attuned and utterly loyal to

nodes n Other Nodes: The Caldwell Foundation to Extraordinary Objects Department himself to wipe out the troublesome dhampirs and their spymasters). dossier reference:

CU128, HO217

Harrison-Line Dhampir Use these stats as well for any Edom dhampirs, those protecting the Roma from Dracula, or those produced by another national vampire project. general abilities:

Extraordinary Objects Department : The venerable auction apparent nature

house is most well-known for fine art auctions, but Sotheby’s (p. 198) handles antiquities and objects of all kinds, as well as items of unique significance in history. Currently known as Sotheby’s Special Projects, the Extraordinary Objects Department was established shortly before Sotheby’s went public in 1977. Handling strange, unusual, and unique items (from the worlds largest truffle to copies of the Magna Carta), Special Projects attracts an eclectic mix of historians, art buffs, and pleasure seekers to its ranks. edom: It’s no coincidence that the Extraordinary Objects Department was spun off from Sotheby’s in 1977 — it was an off-books action taken by an Edom agent desperate to create a haven to which Dracula or his agents would have no access. By recruiting the original director into Edom as an asset and funding the entire department with laundered money from the unravelling Romanian operation, this agent (most likely the 1970s-era Pinon (p. 52)) was able to set it off on its own course before “C” retired. Since then, only a few of the Extraordinary Objects agents are aware of their department’s origin, but they still know their responsibility to fulfill the wishes of Edom — when

Aberrance 10, Hand-to-Hand 4, Health 12, Shooting 8, Weapons 8 hit threshold: 5 alertness modifier: +2 (+4 to detect vampires) stealth modifier: +1 damage modifier: +2 (sword), +1 (9mm or kukri), +0 (stake), or −1 (fist, kick) armor: All physical attacks and impacts do −2 damage free powers: Infravision other powers: Detect Vampires, Spider Climb, Strength. Some Harrisons manifest additional powers thanks to Caldwell’s genetic/sorcerous meddling: choose from Cloak of Darkness, Levitation, Necromancy, Summoning (birds), Telekinesis, or Turn to Monstrous Form. banes: beheading, fire, stake to the heart blocks: cannot cross a church threshold compulsions: obey Lord Caldwell requirements: drink blood

they come from the right quarters. Edom, for its part, may actually have lost touch with this operation since its creation, or may use it for the same purposes the Conspiracy does: finding and moving occult artifacts seamlessly across borders. To make this node more central to the campaign, the director of Extraordinary Objects has become aware of the existence of Dracula and has determined that immortality itself is the most extraordinary object of all. He or she may send an Extraordinary Recovery Team (ERT) to discover and isolate that secret, whatever it is — and perhaps use the department’s connections to Edom (see below) to use the Agents as a screen to distract Dracula while the ERT get into place for a final recovery operation.

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Lord Caldwell even before they are born and possessed of supernatural gifts. Caldwell’s ultimate goal may be to cross-breed his Harrisons with wealthy and influential families, suborning the British Establishment over the course of several generations. The Foundation becomes a Level 4 Conspyramid node or thereabouts. Vampirology flags Lord Caldwell as a suspect: no candid photographs, coupled with a history of eccentric behavior. A vampiric Lord Caldwell uses the 1894 Vampire stats (p. 53) with Aberrance 19, Shooting 8, and Weapons 8. He favors the shotgun (loaded with slugs (+2 damage) against armored foes), considering human targets merely game birds for the bag. other: Mix the two backstories — the 3rd Lord Caldwell was one of Dracula’s servants, but his son turned on him and forced his now-monstrous father to flee into the night. Henry Caldwell then joined Edom, hoping to use the organization’s resources to find and destroy his father. He served as a Duke for many years, until he was forced to retire by “D” (p. 49). Caldwell tried to continue his hunt for his father in a private capacity, but Edom wouldn’t tolerate independent action, leading to a short and bloody covert war between them and the Caldwell Foundation. The Foundation still exists, and still has the secret mission of finding the vampiric Lord Caldwell and destroying him. Their activities in England are heavily curtailed by Edom, but, in the 1980s, they managed to wrest control of some of the Harrison bloodline away from Lord Caldwell by capturing one of his breeding sites in the United States, and now plan to use the next generation of Harrison dhampirs as their vampire hunters. In this setup, the Caldwell Foundation is a potential ally for the Agents — a splinter of Edom that still hunts vampires, instead of trying to control them, and one with plenty of financial muscle and a family of dhampir vampireslayers ready to join the fray. With the Dossier as their surety, this could be the beginning of a beautiful alliance between the Agents and the Foundation (at least until Edom sends Dracula

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night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook If you are blessed with a whole party of art-friendly players, this might even be the kicker for your campaign: Extraordinary Objects has acquired the Dracula Dossier, and the players take the roles of the ERT sent to investigate its provenance. conspiracy: The public face of Special Projects continues to deal in unique treasures, but what isn’t known (even to most of the rest of the company) is that the Extraordinary Objects Department still exists, with a unique clientele. When those of vast material wealth and few scruples make it known that they would like to “acquire” an item of illegal, unpleasant, or mysterious provenance for their private collections, the elite Extraordinary Recovery Team will find a way to get it to them. A certain level of tony appropriateness to such requests must be met, of course — Extra Objects, in shorthand, does not consider such mundane requests as drugs, base metals, or the skin trade. But Caravaggio’s The Adoration, looted from a church in Palermo in 1969? Or perhaps the Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius, stolen from a dying violinist’s bedside in 1995? Those are challenges worthy of dispatching an ERT. Individual members of Extra Objects have been in touch with servants of Dracula, if not the Count himself. They’ve certainly made contact with certain Ruvari Szgany or Romanian mafiosi over the years to procure treasures lost throughout Eastern Europe. Whether the division has been drawn fully into the Conspiracy or is just being used for its functional utility to turn money into rare and unique objects and back is dependent on your campaign needs. One reason for Dracula to start intentionally bringing the Extraordinary Objects Department under his influence is its ability (using Sotheby’s name and flexible certificates of provenance and sales) to move extremely valuable things through national borders with no questions asked. connections: The Sculptor (p. 100), Art Forecaster (p. 103), or Bookseller (p. 106) could very well have been involved with procurement or shipment of any number of Extra Objects

projects. The Hungarian (p. 94) is probably a contact for moving in and out of Hungary and Transylvania, through quid pro quo deals or simply for cash. The Arms Runner (p. 102), Smuggler (p. 131), and Bureaucrat (p. 108) are all potential contacts cultivated by Extraordinary Objects. The Medievalist (p. 122) may be on retainer. The Petroleum Executive (p. 127) is rich enough to be a customer. dossier reference:

HO217

Nox Therapeutics : Nox Therapeutics is apparent nature

a small American biotech company headquartered in Philadelphia (p. 253) or Chicago or wherever else you’d like to put it. Its main office is a four-story rectangular building made of reflective green glass situated in the far corner of an office park on the outskirts of the city. The building contains four floors of labs, offices, and conference rooms. From all outward appearances, the facility looks to be like any other small biotech company. Its employees come and go during business hours. It has a website, and a social media presence. Its main focus is on creating clotting agents for use in treating battlefield wounds; it naturally gets a lot of US and NATO government contracts. When examined a bit closer, a few strange things become noticeable. Digital Intrusion shows the security system isn’t just state of the art but is of the same grade as what most intelligence agencies use. Its web server is hardened and secured (Difficulty 7 Digital Intrusion test). Breaking through the firewall shows a variety of files detailing a quantity of a product called Serum V, but no indications as to where this serum has been sent. In addition, there are a series of purposefully cryptic reports referencing something possibly illegal, documenting the results of rounds of testing, most likely on humans (Diagnosis or Bureaucracy). None of the documents reference anything to do with the treatment of battlefield wounds. A 2-point Chemistry or Pharmacy spend recognizes the insanely complex biochemical precursors for the Seward Serum

(assuming the Agents have analyzed that formula before, or have access to that data from Seward’s Asylum (p. 195)) in Serum V. Nox may assemble its final work product on site (in a Class 5 biohazard– sealed lab in the basement), or, like many pharma and biotech companies, outsource production to a cheap (and deniable) foreign factory anywhere in the world. Such as, say, Romania. cia: Nox is a CIA (or possibly Defense Department) front, the American attempt to weaponize the Seward Serum (p. 51). The original vampire blood could have come from “Black Light” (p. 204), brought back to the US by the CIA Agent (p. 91), from a vampirized Quincey Morris, as an exchange with Edom (likely bought with lots of dark funding in Britain’s cash-strapped postwar retrenchment), samples from the American Vampire (p. 63), or from Camp Midnight (p. 252). Using the samples, the CIA then collects homeless people (or cargo from the Human Trafficker (p. 118)), infects them, and harvests their blood. Their ultimate goal is to be able to create a synthetic version of the serum, massproduce it, and provide it to the Agency and ultimately to the military. This facility is a black op and runs without significant oversight. Camp Midnight may even be permanently installed in the basement of the Nox headquarters, in which case Electronic Surveillance, Traffic Analysis, or Human Terrain shows an abnormally large number of cleaning staff who report in each evening.

nodes n Other Nodes: Extraordinary Objects Department to Operation Gladio edom: Nox is a backup Edom research site,

There are several other ways that the Agents can discover the existence of Nox Therapeutics: While

doing some forensic accounting on some other aspect of Nox’s backers (i.e., the CIA), a money trail leads to the company’s discovery. (Accounting, Traffic Analysis). An asset of the backers plans to visit or inspect the facility in the near future. (Or an enemy plans to place it under surveillance or investigate it.) Depending on the interaction with the asset, this may be intel surrendered in Interrogation, or a hint about traveling to the States while sharing drinks (Flirting). Records from one of the European holding sites (“Black Light” or HMS Proserpine) indicate the transfer of subjects (Notice), or records from Camp Midnight indicate the receipt of blood samples or experimental sera. Word on the street in Philadelphia (Streetwise) is that Nox pays the homeless for blood drives. Occasionally some of the homeless vanish shortly after these events. dossier reference:

HO117

Operation :Gladio In the wake of the apparent nature

Second World War, the Allied forces — specifically the coalition of powers that would become the North AtlanticTreaty Organization — prepared for a surge in Communist power by establishing a stay-behind network that spanned Europe. The Italian splinter of this plan, code-named Operation Gladio, recruited and trained several hundred operatives capable of an on-demand pre-emptive strike against Communist uprising or invasion. Gladio sought to handle the Communist threat with a combination of guerilla warfare, elimination of problematic personalities (whatever their public status or perceived allegiance), and the dissemination of propaganda to manipulate popular tensions — invisibly guiding domestic attitudes. But after the threat of Communism subsided, those in charge

saw no reason to disband a handy clandestine army like Gladio. Cursory parliamentary investigations have declared the organization toothless and so have focused on its possible role in various outrages fifty years ago. Gladio’s current numbers and influence remain unknown. edom: Gladio’s connections to Edom depend on Edom’s connections with the CIA; Gladio was primarily a CIA operation. If the CIA has its own vampire program, Gladio likely serves as a staging area. That said, Edom may well have recruited several cut-out Gladio cells during the mole hunt and the Red Brigades era of the 1970s, or swooped in with funding and arms after 1989 threatened to nullify the whole operation. conspiracy: Frank Wisner (1909– 1965), head of Office of Strategic Services operations in the Balkans during the Second World War, and a strong proponent of the stay-behind network that would include Operation Gladio, was rumored to have had an affair with Princess Catherine Caradja-Kretzulesco (1893–1993), who claimed blood relation to Vlad Tepes. Her eldest daughter died in the devastating Romanian earthquake of 10 November 1940. Wisner set up a spy ring in Bucharest in 1944, and as head of the CIA-State Office of Policy Coordination (OPC) sent Romanian exiles and CIA agents into Romania until 1953, but Kim Philby’s treason allowed the Communists to roll the network up.

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working toward a second generation Seward Serum. In this case, blood samples collected by Edom (from “Black Light” or the HMS Proserpine (p. 169)) are shipped to the US and stored in the facility.The vampires could have come from “Black Light,” or possibly shipped from the HMS Proserpine. The vampire blood is being concentrated and purified here, and possibly made into Serum V directly. Edom runs this facility in the US to avoid Dracula, or as a co-project with the CIA. conspiracy: Dracula established Nox indirectly, leaving some other front group thinking they control the facility. He provides the vampire blood himself through a cut-out, either as “an anomalous but promising biological sample” or presented as blood from some other unconnected vampire. Depending on its ideology, the front group believes the goal of this lab is to create a mass-produced serum capable of creating super-soldiers, or healing blood diseases, or making Jacks without Dracula’s direct intervention. The truth is that this facility is part of a contingency plan for Dracula, should fleeing Europe be necessary: he not only now has prepositioned Renfields among all Nox’s test subjects and customers, but his minions can use the handy syrettes to create hundreds of Renfields at once. connections: The Pharmaceutical Researcher (p. 128) may know something hinky about Nox, or be diverting her own company’s resources to Nox’s work. (Or her company may be corporately linked with Nox; Accounting to confirm.) The Agents may have found singleuse Serum V syrettes on Edom (or CIA) Jacks. With no company name, tracking them by lot number requires long-term traffic analysis through a huge quantity of anonymous shipping data. Agents must spend a total of 6 points of Traffic Analysis, and beat a Difficulty 20 Digital Intrusion (Difficulty 13 if they have a tranche of records from Camp Midnight, the Edom mainframe, or HGD Shipping to work from, depending) as a continuing challenge (NBA, p. 50).The Agents may spend and test once per week.

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night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook Wisner sought revenge, and tried to run his own Edom variation. Like Edom, he failed, and Dracula’s poison spread back into his own Gladio networks in Italy. Wisner eventually suffered a massive breakdown in 1956, and was institutionalized for manic depression (just like Renfield!) until 1958, when he inexplicably became CIA chief of station, London. Edom got him recalled in 1962, after which time he resigned from the CIA. CIA spymaster James Angleton considered Wisner a possible double agent, and J. Edgar Hoover considered him a subversive “weirdo.” Their investigation files (accessible with Network, through the CIA Agent (p. 91), or with good old Digital Intrusion at Difficulty 7) might provide new links to Dracula’s network in America, Italy, and the Balkans. connections: Any Italian character might be part of Operation Gladio, not excepting the Enigmatic Monsignor (p. 114). The Former Gehlen Org (p. 82) or the Hungarian’s father (p. 94) sourced Gladio’s weapons and arranged some freelance work for its secret army. The NATO Liaison (p. 125) or even “Van Sloan” (p. 87) may know something telling about the dark days of Wisner’s Romanian ops during and after the war. A CIA officer such as the Chief of Station, Bucharest (p. 109), the Volcanologist’s father (p. 136), or even the Black Site Interrogator (p. 104) could have access to the relevant Gladio files; the Journalist (p. 120) could be trying to expose them. Wisner’s OPC also ran other nations’ Gladio equivalents, any of which could also be vectors for Conspiracy infiltration: The Turkish

equivalent of Gladio was Kontrgerilla (“CounterGuerrilla”), operating out of the Special Forces Command. Tie it in with the Turkish Agent (p. 136) or Tokat Castle (p. 250) at will. The Belgian version of Gladio, SDRA8, operated both out of the military and the Ministry of Justice. Early in its formation, MI6 attempted to wrest

control of SDRA8 from the CIA — an Edom infiltration thwarted? Connect it through the Archbishop of MechelenBrussels (p. 141); the Church and CIA regularly cooperated to oppose Communism in Europe. The German arm of Gladio was the technical service (Technischer Dienst) of a youth militia, Bund Deutscher Jugend. TD-BDJ recruited heavily from former Hitler Youth and Waffen-SS personnel, and was banned by the German authorities in 1953. Connections to the Former Gehlen Org (p. 82) and the Neo-Nazi (p. 85) should be obvious. The East German Stasi penetrated it completely, so you can tie it to the Russian vampire program (p. 76) for a change or to Dracula through Romania. dossier reference:

HO52

Slovakian Border and Alien Police : The government of apparent nature

Slovakia does not comply with rigorous EU standards for combating human trafficking. The country is instead a destination site for human cargo coming from many locations in Eastern Europe and East Asia. However, the highest rate of missing persons from the human trafficking reports is that of young women and girls. They disappear into the Karpaty Mountains never to return. Women who vanish into those mountains are often those without any

recourse, with false identities, people who will never be missed. The numbers of people who have disappeared into the mountains are unknown because the government seems resistant to tracking the numbers of those who come into the country for illegal purposes. The reluctance to put more money into the fight against human trafficking has been put down to budgetary shortfalls, but the underlying message is that no one wants to look too closely at the situation. Use the Gendarme (NBA, p 69) for Border Police officers; optionally, Báthory might have a Renfield or two in the mix. Digital Intrusion (Difficulty 4), Cop Talk, Criminology, or a suitable Cover gets access to the agency’s poorly secured records; Traffic Analysis or Vampirology can then point out potential vampire activity. edom: Captain Mirek Doležal (use the Romanian Police Inspector, p. 130) reports secretly to Elvis (p. 50). Slovakia’s not high on Edom’s watchlist, but Elvis still keeps tabs on human trafficking and illegal border crossings. If the Agents fail a Cover test while trying to get in or out of Slovakia, then Doležal can detain them until Elvis arrives (as per “Arrest Agent,” p. 21, or even setting up an “Extraordinary Rendition,” p. 23). conspiracy: Countess Báthory (or Count Dracula) ensures a ready supply of victims by bribing key police officials. The Human Rights Activist (p. 118) has tried to raise awareness of police corruption, but so far she’s only managed to make herself a target. connections: The Human Trafficker (p. 118) is either bribing them or in their files; ditto the Smuggler (p. 131). The Human Rights Activist (p. 118) calls out their inefficiencies online, and the Anthropologist (p. 90) or Icelandic Diplomat (p. 119) have taken up her cause. A Sealed Coffin (p. 278) might be seized as evidence and locked away in some warehouse in Bratislava.

locations

locations n headers on this page

These 62 locations come in two sorts: 48 specific, and 14 generic. Specific locations are mentioned or called out in the Dracula Dossier or its annotations, while generic locations (or “establishing shots”) are just what they sound like: samples of places that Agents might well get themselves into (or shoot themselves out of) during an operation. Specific locations begin in Britain, focus in on London, move to Romania, and then provide a variety of other miseen-scènes alphabetically by country from Argentina to the United States. The format of an Establishing Shot location is provided in that section (p. 254). The description of a specific location breaks down into the following entries: cool: This

Emotional Modulation Emotional modulation sidebars provide quick and dirty setting details you can use to push the emotional tenor of play either up or down while the story unreels. Hopeful beats provide reasons to keep fighting, to keep believing in the human; in stakes mode games, they might even offer a 1-point Stability refresh. Sinister beats provide menace, reinforcing the danger and discomfort of clandestine operations; don’t charge Stability for them even in burn mode games unless the player specifically volunteers to lose the point. Like the details of weather or landscape in Stoker’s novel or other Gothics, these beats needn’t have any game-mechanical effect or impact on the story to have an effect on the tone of play. They don’t provide clues, antagonists, or anything except thematic beats: think of them as the equivalent of a light or heavy chord from the movie score. We’ve kept them as generic as possible, but you may need to alter

or tweak them to make sense in the current moment of the Agents’ location or scene. All use a voice suitable for simply paraphrasing, adapting, or just reading aloud as written. Players being players, sometimes they might chase after a throwaway detail you intended as emotional modulation. You can either cut them short — “It’s useless; the bat has disappeared again into the night” — or let them play a bit (especially in dialogue with passersby in Hopeful beats) until the scene comes to a natural end. Don’t charge any points for things the Agents do as a result of emotional modulation elements, unless you and the players mutually maneuver and expand a scenic detail into a full-on story element, ideally one connected to a new and interesting NPC, node, or location in this book. In which case go chase that bat down, with our blessing.

of the earlier periods of Edom activity, or spoor of recent use. In many cases, this entry presents more clues than you need for a given location; some of them are deliberately contradictory to provide Directors multiple paths out of a location/scene. You could argue that clues to Dracula’s location should partake of the icy chill of the grave and be colder, not warmer, but even the Un-Dead must yield to the ancient rules of hide-and-seek. Locations can absolutely “heat up” the next time the Agents visit, or even while the Agents are on site, especially if their tradecraft is sloppy or the opposition has supernatural surveillance active there. A watcher, whether a Renfield or an Edom asset, on site is always a potential clue — perhaps just a short combat and an Interrogation spend away! As with every other element of this book, Directors should feel free to change, twist, filter, or move a location to better suit the flow of the campaign. connections: This entry suggests supporting characters from the earlier chapter who may be present at (or detectably connected with) the location. Treat these as suggestions to choose from: a character placed in several locations is likely only present in one of them in a given campaign, unless she is a major NPC or deliberately tracking the Agents. This entry may also provide connections to nodes, objects, NPCs, or other items referenced in this book. Again, these connections are suggestions and inspirations, not hard-and-fast truths. They are also hardly exhaustive: people can show up almost anywhere, as can banks, mafias, and other distributed nodes. dossier reference: Tells you which annotation, if any, in Dracula Unredacted mentions the location. If the place has a main reference, it is given in ordinary text and secondary references are italicized.

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provides the initial “what you see” information about a location, usually in the second person, to allow

the Director to paraphrase it more easily in play, or even quote directly from the text. One caveat: Although such descriptions nicely dovetail with the epistolary, Gothic nature of the campaign’s source material, most groups tune out after a few lines. We’ve tried to keep the descriptions brief and colorful. Although the description may seem evocative or creepy, it presents the location as empty of clues. This usually indicates a dead end or red herring. Maybe the locale once held evidence of Dracula’s passage, but the passage of decades has erased it. Perhaps the location has recently been “cleaned” by an Edom team covering its tracks. warm: This presents the location as informative, bearing clues to the activities of Dracula, Edom, or both. These clues might be left over from any

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

britain New Slains Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland Howick Kinmount Newcastle upon Tyne Durham Whitby (p. 177) Boston Spa Grimsby Felixstowe Harwich London (p. 179) Basingstoke Godalming, Surrey Dover Exeter

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5 6 7 8

9 10 12 13

11 14

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

locations n Britain: Exeter

Exeter Exeter’s importance

hinges on Peter Hawkins and Jonathan Harker. If they were key Edom members, then perhaps the operation to recruit Dracula was conceived here, amid the narrow medieval lanes and on long walks along the banks of the Exe. Little now remains, one way or the other. The legal firm of Hawkins & Harker is gone, and German bombs destroyed the building where it once resided, as well as the house where the Harkers lived near the cathedral. Peter Hawkins’ secluded, tree-shaded country house survives; it’s now owned by a private company, Grenley Estates, who rent it out for corporate retreats and functions. If anything of Edom survives here, it might be there. cool:

You follow the main road west, then a series of increasingly narrow and

winding country roads as you make your way up onto the moors. The corporate retreat is well signposted despite its obscurity. Security is minimal, other than a groundskeeper leaning against a gatepost, marking the turn down a winding tree-shaded laneway to a country house. Gray stone walls, narrow white-framed windows, multiple tall chimneys, with a satellite dish and cluster of aerials tucked discreetly away behind one. The stables and other outbuildings have been converted into meeting rooms and accommodation. A dozen cars, mostly high-end rentals, are parked neatly in the farmyards. Off in the distance, the sudden crack of gunfire as a corporate group bond over exterminating pheasants. warm: Edom still uses Hawkins’ house for some purpose. It could be an Edom safe house, or a training center (perhaps

where prospective Jacks acclimatize to their new enhanced abilities), or a secure location for debriefing prisoners who don’t (yet) deserve to be sent to HMS Proserpine (p. 169). The surrounding woods and mist-shrouded moors beyond might conceal the entrance to a deep cave network or more Edom structures — prefabs from the 1970s, medical research labs or brand-new domed seismic monitoring stations. In any case, security around the house is tight but unobtrusive — heat-sensitive motion detectors concealed in the trees, groundskeepers who pack concealed MP5s underneath their tweed jackets, cameras covering all approaches. connections: Visited early in the investigation, Hawkins’ house might yield clues pointing at other Edom sites, like Seward’s Asylum (p. 195) or Ring (p. 172). Archives here might record the

mentioning “a flying black cloud” and a “giant vampire bat,” possibly linked to the network of underground passages that run beneath the city center.

discovery of a “spiked stick” that she claimed was connected to witchcraft. The police declined to investigate; vampire hunters who know the virtues of spiky bits of wood may wish to follow up on this case. During renovations of the cathedral in 1942, workers found dozens of tiny wax figures dating back to the 15th century. These are believed to be votive offerings to the saintly Bishop Lacy; petitioners would make wax figurines of wounded limbs or sick relatives in the hopes of drawing divine intercession. Fashioning such figurines might be a great gimmick for a Renfield-esque madman. While the Agents check out the cathedral, they might also try to find out who stole the silver cross from the altar in 1950 (the cross turned up a few weeks later, minus its diamonds). Military exercises out on the moors coincide with a rash of reports of the ghost of a woman dressed all in black, who vanishes into thin air when spotted. A coincidence, or has Edom let its prisoner out to play?

Exeter: Quick and Dirty

Population 120,000 (think Springfield, Illinois)

Conflict Exeter’s a relatively quiet city, although anywhere with a large student population will have its share of drunken hijinks and antisocial behavior. More worrying, the vicious murder of student Kate Bushell in 1997 remains unsolved. It’s got more than its share of hauntings and ghost sightings, with recent reports

Backdrops exeter cathedral,

founded in 1050. Check out its extensive library, its 15thcentury astronomical clock, its minstrels’ gallery, and the tombs decorated with carvings of rotten corpses. the university of exeter is one of the top ten universities in the UK. Constituent schools include the Camborne School of Mines founded in 1888 to study mining techniques, geology, and Earth’s natural processes; the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, and the Centre for Leadership Studies. The university’s motto is lucem sequimur, “we follow the light.” A network of narrow medieval passages runs under the town, built originally to carry water pipes. Tours of the accessible portion of the network are a possible tourist attraction.

Three Hooks In March 2013, an Ilfracombe woman contacted the police reporting the

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Located in the southwest between Cornwall and Devon on the River Exe, Exeter was once one of England’s most important cities, a lack of easily accessible coal meant its importance declined during the 18th and 19th centuries. It has slupped into a comfortable obscurity of academia; it’s got a large university and is home to the UK’s meteorological office. It suffered considerable damage during the Second World War. Peter Hawkins (p. 39) had his law firm here; Jonathan Harker (p. 32) and Mina Harker (p. 33) inherited that company and may have lived out their lives in an equally comfortable obscurity, at least as far as official records go.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook exeter c ow r id ley b

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University of Exeter The National Meteorological Library Exeter Cathedral

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initial planning sessions with Hawkins, including maps of Carfax (p. 185) and discussions of Edom’s original plan for Dracula. The Neo-Nazi (p. 85) could be stashed here under comfortable house arrest, or the SRI Agent in Charge (p. 133) might be here for a conference with one of the Dukes of Edom (p. 50). If Edom picks up “Hopkins,” “Cushing,” or a Solace of one of the Agents, they might also be kept here. In the later stages, this might be Edom’s HQ — “D” is likely in residence,

and the Agents can confront him (or her) to get the final clues pointing them toward Dracula. Of course, if this is Edom’s HQ, then it’s certainly on top of a vast underground complex dug into the granite below. Jonathan’s trips to Launceston and Plymouth (CU173) may point to other nearby Edom facilities. HMS Proserpine could be off the south coast near Plymouth instead of the North Sea, while Launceston was once home to explorer and antiquarian Francis Vyvyan Jago

Arundell (1780-1846). While he was chaplain to the British factory at Smyrna, he wrote two volumes describing his travels in Turkey and Palestine. (He made a third tour of Palestine in 1835– 1836, but never published his notes from that expedition.) He retired to be rector of the church at Landulph, just north of Plymouth. dossier reference:

CU20, HO63, CU136, CU168, CU173

locations n Britain: Exeter to HMS Proserpine

HMS Proserpine This location primarily applies to campaigns

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in which Edom obtained its own vampire, either in 1894 or afterward (p. 27). In other campaigns, the stone frigate is just how Edom launders its secret off-thebooks payroll, and the investigations listed merely provide names for some current Edom personnel. There is no oil platform; the stone frigate is entirely notional. If in your campaign certain blood types provide extra nourishment to vampires or prove toxic to them, Edom medical records might point toward such a reveal (Traffic Analysis plus Diagnosis). Named for the queen of the underworld and consort of Pluto in Roman mythology, no such ship exists on the Royal Navy’s official rolls. The last HMS Proserpine was a Pelorus-class cruiser laid down in 1896. Built for independent patrols, the Proserpine served on the Caribbean station. Upon the cruiser’s return to home waters, it collided with a Dutch mail ship off Sheerness in 1901, and remained in the Chatham Dockyard until it was scrapped in 1919. The Admiralty transferred the name to a stone frigate: Lyness Naval Base in Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. (The Royal Navy commissions its shore bases, or “stone frigates,” with ship names so that naval personnel remain subject to shipboard discipline while on base.) Lyness Naval Base was closed in 1957, and that ended the HMS Proserpine’s service. Officially. The above information is free with Research or Military Science. What takes some digging (a Bureaucracy spend at least, and possibly a Difficulty 5 Digital Intrusion test) is the discovery that pay still continues for a very small crew complement listed as ratings on the HMS Proserpine. The identifiable personnel are almost all Royal Marines of the Special Boat Service, most declared dead “in training accidents” or in Afghanistan or Iraq. In short, the current Proserpine is a secret service stone frigate, an oil platform in the North Sea built in 1977. That platform never went into production, having been “capped” before it even drilled its first well. Finding the new HMS Proserpine likely takes a number of tests and perhaps some very taut scenes. The specific route might vary:

Get

the intel out of one of the other MI6/Edom supporting cast NPCs (Tradecraft, Interrogation, other Interpersonal or long-con techniques). Find one of the Edom SBS personnel, and tag him with a tracker (Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance, Filch, Conceal). Sieve British government financial databases to find innocuous records — fuel usage, water replenishment, electrical equipment — tagged with the Proserpine’s VDN and bruteforcibly deduce their delivery to the North Sea (Digital Intrusion, Accounting, Traffic Analysis). Then check satellite imagery for the North Sea looking for heat and EM blooms from officially capped oil rigs (Digital Intrusion, Data Recovery).

Once the Agents have found the Proserpine, a long wet trip in a small wet boat is the only way to get there without somehow impersonating or hijacking an Edom helicopter. cool:

Taking advantage of the storm to mask your approach, you moor the boat with a sea anchor and swim to the rig. Climbing aboard is the most dangerous moment, but it passes as fast as it ever did in training. Bypassing the relatively small guard force on the rig, you gain access to the secure levels, metal bulkheads and rusting rivets groaning in the wind and dripping water everywhere. Cameras watch from upper corners of the companionway, but blind spots are plentiful — almost as if this facility’s builders were interested in plausible deniability.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook HMS Proserpine cellar deck

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module deck

upper module deck

locations n Britain: HMS Proserpine with only the mirrors and ventilators to remind her of her position. The Director should tailor the description to the vision of Edom she and her players have been collaborating to build. In almost any case, the Proserpine is an active black ops base. Security is much better than it seemed on approach — almost as though Edom wants intruders to walk into its invisible prison. Perhaps it’s just security theory: people who get in are easier to silence than people who don’t get in and decide to post the rig’s coordinates on the Web, after all. Or perhaps Edom always welcomes walkin meals for its star guest. All Difficulty numbers go up by +1 after the Agents enter, and by +2 or more after they trigger an alarm. Refresh your memory of the “Getting Captured” rules on page 115 of NBA. If captured, theAgents’ accommodations are, if anything, even more stark: coldriveted (and icy-cold) metal walls and floor, a bed and sink and toilet bolted down, and no windows besides the grille in the door. All fixtures and seams are hardened to best even Renfield strength — but there aren’t any cameras looking in on the cell. If the Agents have their own escape plan, go ahead and run with it — the vampire, of course, attempts to escape in the confusion. Unless they stop to kill her, she does escape, turning to a bat and flying up and away from the doubtless dramatic explosions. Later on, she flits back down to a surviving boat and floats to shore — at Whitby, perhaps … If they seem stalled, the vampire approaches them with a plan — they can break out together. The Agents are just who she’s been waiting for, strong men who her captors hate.The Director should improvise whatever seems best, from a turned Renfield within the guard staff, to a convenient opportunity to short out the UV lights and turn to mist, to a full-on storm-blasting rescue by Dracula himself. connections: In addition to hints in the Dossier or from a Legacy, the Agents can get onto the trail of the Proserpine from several sources. NID records from Harker and Hawkins’ era (perhaps copies in Exeter (p. 167)) might mention the first HMS Proserpine: Edom kept their

vampire on the cruiser, then in Scapa Flow, until the oil rig was built. Relevant documents, or even an HMS Proserpine ship’s bell or other memento, might still exist at Ring (p. 172). There are sure to be documents or other communications between the Proserpine and Seward’s Asylum (p. 195) or Carfax (p. 185), if either is still in use by Edom. If the Former Gehlen Org (p. 82) (or the Neo-Nazi (p. 85) who’s actually an ex-Nazi) got his longevity as part of a deal with Edom, he may have visited the Proserpine in Scapa Flow to do so. The Retired MI6 Asset Runner (p. 98) might have helped relocate the vampire to the oil-rig Proserpine as part of the mole hunt interrogations. If she is an asset, the Sculptor (p. 100) visited the new Proserpine to cast her image. In the present day, the Black Site Interrogator (p. 104) and the “Black Light” site (p. 204) could point to Proserpine. The MI6 Lamplighter (p. 123) could work out of the rig, or know fellow Edom operatives who do. A foreign Station (pp. 231 or 235) could pick up chatter, or send the Agents to follow up a dangerous-looking lead. Agents could spot a Proserpine SBS rating gathering native soil from Hillingham (p. 190) or Kingstead Cemetery (p. 191) — or in Romania. The Proserpine isn’t Edom’s operational headquarters — it’s too damp and inconvenient, not to mention holding a vampire. But it still holds a potential intel windfall on any topic or Conspyramid level the Director wishes: briefings get held here, notes get taken, names kept on file at the security station or in the captain’s laptop. This intel haul might nearly map the Conspyramid, or Edom’s network, or both — much depends on how close the campaign is to the big finish, and how much the Director wants to reward the players for their Agents’ ordeal. More specifically, tracking the site’s stores of “native soil” could point to not just the prisoner’s origin but the location of Castle Dracula (p. 207). For one or another reason, the Westenra Brooch (p. 284) and of course the Sealed Coffin (p. 278) are natural items to salt here, but almost anything is plausible. dossier reference:

CU26, HO63, CU179, HO193

171

The lowest level of the rig holds cages, in which men rant in Arabic and Urdu and Farsi, or sullenly curse, or pray. One cage can be lowered into the sea by a chain. Bright lights stay on in the central area, although a wall chart shows darkened oubliettes in the rig’s supports. The Proserpine is an active MI6 black site for nameless prisoners — but if it ever held Edom, it doesn’t any more. warm: This is Operation Edom’s vampire containment facility. Accommodations depend on whether the vampire is an Edom asset or a prisoner. If the vampire is an asset, her chamber is a strange, surreal blend of 1970s industrial construction and the décor and furnishings of her native time (likely either the Victorian era or medieval Romania). Aubusson rugs or pearl-crusted tapestries lie across metal floors painted a flat industriallime color; a rosewood settee or thickcarved wardrobe inadequately conceals a large concrete stanchion. A handsome coffin sits in one corner, sheltered by lace curtains or damask draperies. Any anti-vampire precautions are hidden, possibly stored in an “arms locker” or subtly strung across hatches and portholes leading to the outside or to the upper decks. Ceiling lights have two bulbs: a normal government-issue fluorescent and a high-UV bulb that remains off … for now. If the vampire is a prisoner, her situation is less ambivalent. A high-UV lamp burns in the ceiling behind bulletproof glass. Her coffin is transparent Lexan, mounted on servos that can remotely and automatically open it. A port in the coffin attaches to a surgical IV: she can be drugged, or fed, or phlebotomized while asleep. Crucifixes hang on the walls, between mirrors and ventilators — a thick, rotten smell of garlic, rose attar, and mildew is everywhere. Other precautions line the walls outside, but the final option attaches above.The room clings to the bottom of the rig, dangled over the North Sea by vast chains; explosive bolts can drop the entire cell into the ocean to flood and sink. A vampire that Edom intends to brainwash or break into an asset might have a “coffin room” like the above but stay awake in a plain chamber next door

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

172

Other Ports In conversation with Harker, Dracula

inquires about the process for shipping goods into various ports (HO48). Newcastle, north along the coast from Whitby, was one of the powerhouses of British trade and industry in the 19th century, but the closure of the coal pits and shipyards led to the city’s decline in the latter half of the 20th century. Durham isn’t a port — Dracula’s cargoes would have had to go through Newcastle or Sunderland to get here. Perhaps Dracula was drawn to the city’s religious history — in the Middle Ages, pilgrims flocked to the cathedral that kept the imperishable remains of St. Cuthbert. Harwich, on the east coast of England, is the smallest of Dracula’s proposed ports. A former naval base, Harwich is conveniently close to London. The boxes of earth could have been transported by rail from the port straight to the East End. Dover, of course, is a major ferry port, and the nearby white chalk cliffs are a famous landmark and a symbol of England. These days, the busy container ports at Felixstowe (across the bay from Harwich) or Grimsby might be a better bet for the Count. One 40-foot shipping container could hold all 50 of his boxes of earth. Assuming Dracula followed through with his inquiries, he may have delivered more coffins than those that came on the Demeter, or have sent more to England during the intervening years. His modus operandi during his initial foray was to have all of his coffins brought to a central location (the chapel at Carfax), then to disperse most of them around the area while leaving a few behind. Such vampiric warehouses / safe houses might exist in any of the port cities mentioned above. Delving into the Count’s business via one of his pawns (like HGD Shipping (p. 145), Billington & Sons (p. 142), or Axel Logistics (p. 141)) might reveal when he shipped the coffins. After that, it’s laborious Traffic Analysis and Research to correlate container numbers and shipping logistics. Asking around the neighborhood (Streetwise) gets an anecdote from one of the dockers that his father used to tell. It’s about a strange little foreign gent who used to rent part of a warehouse to store the same few boxes, year after year. He’d

come back on the same day every year, and pay the rent on the space again in cash, regular as clockwork, looking creepier and sadder every year. Until this one year, when he turns up all worried, scared like the hounds of Hell are after him, and he says that he doesn’t have the money, and can they wait a few weeks? If they do, he’ll come back with gold, and he shows them this gold coin. Certainly, says the owner, you’ve been as reliable as the tides. We can stand you the bill for a while. Only the little man never ever comes back. Soon after that, the warehouse company goes bust, and the warehouse is locked up while the banks fight about bills. I guess the foreign gent’s boxes are still in there, though who knows what’s left of ’em. cool: The trail’s very cold, but it does lead

you to a derelict Victorian warehouse. The name of some long-gone shipping company is still blazoned in faded paint above the door; vulgar graffiti tags are fresh and bright against the brickwork in constrast to the sober sign above. The door’s chained and rusted shut, but a broken window affords easy ingress. Inside,beyond the rat droppings and pools of rainwater, an archway leads to a brickceilinged vault. Inside is a pile of loose earth, and a few scraps of ancient wood. warm: If the safe house is still in use, then the chain on the warehouse door is suspiciously new. The vault’s bricked up and hidden behind debris (Notice), although there’s a small hole at the bottom of the brick wall just big enough for a rat to crawl through. Break down the wall to uncover the box of earth hidden in the barrel vault; faint scuff marks on the muddy floor (Outdoor Survival) suggest that several other boxes were once kept here, but have since been moved. Searching around discovers a tiny surveillance camera hidden in the rafters of the warehouse (Electronic Surveillance or Notice; maybe Sense Trouble if the camera feed’s monitored by either a Conspiracy minion or an Edom watcher waiting to see if the box is in use by a vampire). connections: The strange foreign man mentioned in the story is clearly the safe house’s housekeeper — it might be the Defector (p. 93), the Retired KGB Agent (p. 97), the Smuggler (p. 131)

on a jaunt to England, or one of the Ruvari Szgany (p. 147). The abrupt ending of the story may indicate that he was grabbed by MI5 or Edom or some other group. Back-tracing the security camera feed (Electronic Surveillance) or setting up a sting (Tradecraft) can lead to whoever’s watching the safe house. dossier reference:

HO48

Ring Ring is the family seat of the Holmwoods,

located some distance outside London. Where, exactly, is up to the Director, although the default Ring is in Surrey, where indeed we find the towns of Godalming (49 km southwest of London) and Holmwood (39 km southwest of London). Another possible location is Kenley, now in the suburban London Borough of Croydon though historically in Surrey. Only 21 km south of Charing Cross, Kenley is perhaps most famous as the site of RAF Kenley, one of the primary fighter bases protecting London in WWII. If Ring is in Kenley, it lies on the north side of the modern Kenley Aerodrome. Tracing the possible “historical” Lords Godalming (p. 36) leads farther afield. Viscount Hardinge’s seat is at Basingstoke in Hampshire (77 km southwest of London). Baron Godolphin’s seat is Farnham Royal in Buckinghamshire, like Kenley now essentially part of London’s exurban sprawl (22 km west of Charing Cross); the Latimer historic seat is Danby Castle in Yorkshire, just west of Whitby. The Grey manor Howick Hall in Northumberland suspiciously burned out in 1926. (The other Grey manor at nearby Fallodon also burned out, in 1917; the Greys sold Fallodon Hall in 1946. Or perhaps “sold” it.) Reconstructed in 1928, Howick Hall is now a garden showplace and arboretum; the Greys live in the west wing only. Edom operates out of Howick (if it does) covertly — but Howick is on the North Sea coast, very convenient to HMS Proserpine (p. 169). The Drumlanrig estates are the Queensberry estates, inconveniently if scenically distant at Kinmount, in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. Officially a hospital during WWII, Kinmount House is now a drowsy holiday attraction.

locations n Britain: Other Ports to Ring cool:

Even in this fallen state, Ring can hold a clue to any one secret or discovery about the Holmwood family before 1940, in a disused trunk or box of household accounts in an attic. The Director may also plant clues or leads relating to Edom’s 1940 Romania mission, but all sensitive documentation has been removed to MI6 HQ atVauxhall Cross, to HMS Proserpine (p. 169), or to some other remote location. warm: The Holmwoods turned Ring over to Edom, not to the SOE. Edom exploited the similarity of names between Ring and The Rings, the main SOE finishing school complex at Beaulieu in Hampshire, to siphon off some of SOE’s most promising recruits into its own vampire-hunting unit. Ring still trains Dukes and Proserpine ratings in specialized vampire-control weapons and techniques; the 3 trainers and 15 guards are all ratings (p. 54; use Special Operations Soldiers from NBA, p. 70), and at least 1 Duke is present at Ring at all times. From a safe distance (two kilometers or so), careful observation (1-point Notice spend) notes that Ring sports a very sophisticated communications mast (Electronic Surveillance) and, in addition to beehives and a dozen bullmastiffs (Guard Dog; NBA, p. 69), a fully equipped hawks’ mews (1-point Architecture spend) on the grounds. With that revelation, a leveraged clue from Outdoor Survival notes that hawks are natural predators to bats.

Approaching at night, Agents with Outdoor Survival simply see the hawks circling on patrol overhead. The “careless underbrush” has carefully mapped lines of fire through thinner growth (1-point Military Science spend, only in daylight, to notice), leg-breaker traps in seemingly neglected overlook spots (Sense Trouble Difficulty 5; +1 damage, broken leg on a 5 or 6 damage roll, causing −1 to Hit Threshold and lower Athletics rating by one-third until the leg heals in a cinematic three weeks), and along the road and closer to the house a very sophisticated microphone system (Electronic Surveillance to spot, 2-point spend to beat). Assuming the Agents defeat all these systems and bypass the dogs and guards, they can reach the house itself. Getting into the house itself is a Difficulty 7 Infiltration test, and is only possible because Ring has relatively light camera coverage (almost as if it expects intruders invisible to cameras) and its 18th-century architecture has plenty of blind spots and projecting eaves to hide under and climb upon. Once inside, the Agents reach the nerve center of Edom. If this is a Level 5 or Level 6 operation, “D” may be on site himself. Otherwise, the Agents may have to satisfy themselves with a bold theft and a quick escape. Digital Intrusion tests into Edom systems are only Difficulty 5 from an MI6 computer hooked into the Ring intranet.

173

The Special Operations Executive (SOE) commandeered Ring in 1940 as a “finishing school” facility for commandos — where the very best and most independent-minded agents received instruction in special intrusion and assassination techniques. As with many of the stately homes given over to war usage, the family relinquished it to the Crown rather than pay the taxes, substantial repair bills, and further upkeep required of the place. It remains officially on the MI6 facilities inventory; during the 1980s it appears in a few of the tell-all memoirs of the era as a safe house and debrief center for defecting Soviet bloc military personnel (1-point spend of Tradecraft). Agents with a reliable source inside MI6 can confirm that it is still (very) occasionally used for that purpose, especially for high-value Russian Mafiya oligarchs or similar informers. A Military Science spend — alongside Network or otherwise, depending on the Director — might even uncover an aging veteran who attended “The Brass Ring” in 1945, useful for mapping the grounds and interior. An equivalent Architecture spend turns up the 1766 rebuilding plans for the manor — less immediately useful, but impossible for Edom to track back. Those plans show the unique feature that gives Ring its name: a branch of the River Wey split, diverted, and rejoined to run entirely around the house. Ring has a moat of running water about a kilometer in diameter. The house is two stories tall, built in a rough J or hook shape; the north wing is mostly disused and remotely monitored. The upper floor of the south wing has 14 rooms; the ground floor somewhat fewer. MI6 prefab offices complete with dingy 1970s desks and wall sections block off the main hall; armed guards patrol the roof and front door. Power comes from a generator in the old coach house. Ring incorporates 100 acres of parkland, no longer maintained and therefore gone somewhat to seed. Despite being an active MI6 facility (of sorts), the disused wing and surrounding undergrowth make getting into Ring only a Difficulty 6 Infiltration test.

174

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

locations n Britain: Ring X-ATV-TR At the Director’s discretion, Tinman (p. 53) is developing this eXperimental Anti-Telluric Vampire Taser Rifle for Edom in a campaign using telluric vampires (p. 59) rather than “pure Stoker” damned vampires. It resembles a normal Taser rifle, but much bulkier and more heavily insulated. Very thick and heavy batteries (think car batteries by weight and encumbrance) connected to the stock by thick cables power the weapon and magnetize its ammunition load. TASER International already sells a 12-gauge XREP round (eXtended Range Electro-muscular Projectile) delivering the Taser shock without wires connected to the gun. Instead, the round holds a battery attached to barbed electrodes. When the round hits, needles shoot out of the round on wires, ideally producing two contacts and completing the circuit. The XREP round is very expensive and technically illegal in Britain. British police forces have used XREP weapons without authorization; Edom has a stash of them

in its arsenals as (so far ineffective) antiRenfield ammo. The X-ATV-TR fires a modified XREP round in 10-gauge with a much more powerful battery, magnetized and spun up just before firing to “ground out” the charge of a Carpathian telluric vampire. (Each geological environment, of course, has its own signature charge; a Styrian Alpine telluric vampire, for example, is different.) Against such a vampire, the X-ATV-TR round does +3 damage and paralyzes and de-powers the vampire as if staked for two rounds. The X-ATV-TR must recharge its magnet for 3 rounds after firing, and has a maximum range of Near (spending Shooting for Extended Range does not apply). Given the bulk of the electromagnet and its power pack, the rifle lowers the bearer’s Hit Threshold by −1. On an unmodified roll of 1, it also acts as an EMP on any electronics on the bearer’s person — smartphone, laser rangefinder, flash drives, etc.

Against a Renfield or purely human target, the X-ATV-TR does +1 damage and costs the target his next four actions. Buying off lost actions costs 4 Athletics, not 3 each. If the X-ATV-TR is hit by gunfire, the bearer takes two instances of this damage.

175 An even more dangerous Ring might see Edom working from a complex of air-raid shelter tunnels under the house, a concrete warren of guard dogs and armored Edom ratings for postmodern dungeon-crawling. Ring might also hold any of the following possibilities: a

fully functional field surgery, with hundreds of units of blood stored in a big fridge, and possibly some Seward Serum (p. 51) and Luria Formula (p. 114) in a small fridge, and syrettes of Blomberg Serum (p. 282) in the loadouts an armory including full Edom rating loadouts (p. 54), comms gear, and passive UV night vision optics for 45 agents, along with plenty of ammunition, rifle grenades, flash-bangs, and any special anti-vampire weaponry used in the campaign. There are also 15 modern crossbows racked here, and a lot of stakes. (In a telluricvampire campaign, the stakes are wood with magnetized metal cores.)

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176

Tinman

(p. 53) is at Ring when not in the field; his machine shop might hold all manner of anti-vampire weaponry or gear, including (if vampires are telluric (p. 59) in nature) an experimental anti-telluric vampire Taser rifle (see X-ATV-TR box, above). a glowing map of Europe (or elsewhere!) with current Edom deployments marked in cryptic call signs and glyphs detailed satellite imagery (Data Recovery recognizes it as UV/Xray laser tomography) of Castle Dracula (p. 207). In the files (Research), a WWII-era Ordnance Survey map of Romania with the location of the Castle marked. a large stable or other outbuilding cleared and used as an anti-vampire training facility, complete with Edom-specific military instructional training manuals. By stealing the manual and studying it, an Agent gains 1 rating point in Vampirology. After doing the combat exercises in it for a month, an Agent gains a TFFB (NBA, pp. 107–8) and can spend 1 Vampirology when initiating combat for a 2-point pool of Handto-Hand, Weapons, or Shooting against vampires or Renfields. For each manual-trained Agent who so spends, the TFFB pool increases to a maximum of 5 points per Agent. lots of easily negotiable cash (dollars, pounds, euros, Romanian lei), including a stash of Hapsburg gold coins and blank Romanian passports in a strongroom forgery facilities for the above passports, as well as blanks of various licenses and identity papers for the UK mirrors everywhere, mostly antiques but all dust-free crucifixes mounted on walls in every room, in the eyeline of the door sunlamp (UV/visible light) light bulbs a functioning, consecrated Catholic chapel

hydroponic greenhouse full of garlic and wild roses, under intense UV grow lights a comfortable, if slightly stodgily furnished, safe room for keeping Renfields and defectors: tripleglazed windows with titaniumberyllium floor-to-ceiling bars, steel-core door with keypad entry, recirculating toilet facility to avoid rat intrusion a fully soundproofed interrogation suite with all the latest gear, hoods, restraints, and so forth a heavy armored truck (Armor −7) with full vampire-containment systems inside: garlic gas, large crucifix inside and across back door, titanium coffin bolted to the floor with a transparent Lexan lid, specially polarized sun roof admits UV sunlight but blocks vision, trellis of wild roses across front of cabin. This truck drives vampires (usually staked for good measure) to the Asylum (p. 195) or HMS Proserpine (p. 169); its driver knows those locations, if the Agents can get to him somehow. any sort of spy gear the Director deems likely connections:

An active Ring holds any number of Edom secrets, from uplinks to a satellite-based Earthquake Device (p. 266), to MI6 personnel and log records abstracted during the mole hunt (and thus details on any of the 1977 characters, pp. 89–101), to a full occult library (3-point dedicated pool for Occult Sciences or Vampirology research) and a copy of Le Dragon Noir (p. 273). The identities and dispositions of the current Dukes of Edom are at Ring, either in paper files or on isolated hard drives. Every secret of the 1940 operation can be uncovered at Ring, including the whereabouts of “Van Sloan” (p. 87), the location of Castle Dracula (p. 207), and the relevant Abwehr and Ahnenerbe files, removed to Ring after 1945.

dossier reference:

CU6, CU55, CU66, VS80, CU101, CU136

Slains Castle The ruined fortress of New Slains Castle

overlooks the small village of Cruden Bay, on the northeast coast of Scotland. The castle was built in 1597, and extensively reconstructed in 1836. For most of its existence, it was the seat of the powerful earls of Erroll. The 20th earl sold the castle to the secretive shipping magnate Sir John Ellerman in 1913; he never lived there, but leased the property for a few years before allowing it to fall into ruin. Bram Stoker visited Cruden Bay many times. One of his novels, The Mystery of the Sea, is set there, and there is a distinct resemblance between the ruined castle and Stoker’s description of Castle Dracula in the novel. cool: The

gardens around the castle were remodeled at considerable expense in 1890, and, if you know where to look, (Art History), you can spot telltale signs of Edom’s involvement. A century of neglect and Scottish winters has destroyed most of the gardens, but there are still a few chalice badges worked into the stone, and the skeletal remains of hawthorn and rowan trees suggest (Vampirology) that someone intended to hold a vampire here. A more thorough search with Architecture even discovers a network of tunnels and culverts under the castle that could have been flooded with running water, cutting the end of the peninsula off from the mainland for any vampire prisoners. Whatever was here, though, was abandoned long ago. The 20th and 21st Earls earls of Erroll, by the way, had respectable careers in the government; Victor Hay, the 21st earl, was the acting British ambassador to Germany and British high commissioner to the Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission — making him ideally placed to investigate any German vampire projects (p. 75). Victor’s son Josslyn, the 22nd earl, was also part of the diplomatic staff in Berlin in 1920, but moved to Kenya in 1923 and became part of the scandalous “Happy Valley set” of wealthy swingers, drug addicts, and sybarites. He was murdered in 1940 — probably by the husband of one of his lovers, but the case was never solved. (If you’ve always wanted to send your

locations n Britain: Ring to Whitby

Church of Saint Mary Flowergate Local Museum

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CU243

town and a destination for tourists. There are the ruins of the medieval abbey, the therapeutic springs and fossil-rich cliffs, the quaint pubs and narrow streets — and the biannual Goth festival, celebrating the association of the historic town with the Dracula novel. Although Whitby takes up a sizeable chunk of the novel, it’s unlikely to figure

riv

dossier reference:

Whitby Whitby (population 13,200) is a seaside

lov e ln

players off hunting a German lamia or even a Bride of Dracula in Kenya, here’s your core clue.) warm: As above, but Accounting or Research discovers that attempts to restore the ruined castle were deliberately stymied; investigations point to the involvement of some Edom cut-out like Billington & Sons (p. 142). Edom used Slains castle as a holding facility for vampires in the early part of the 20th century before they built HMS Proserpine (p. 169). Cruden Bay is still used as a resupply center for the offshore base, and some of the vampire cells in the dungeons may still be occupied (or haunted with telluric echoes of former prisoners). Alternatively, the castle was used as a vampire prison — until something went wrong in 1925, and Edom was unable to control whatever supernatural entity they held there. Agents who try to dig up the past at Slains Castle may unearth more than they expected. connections: Traffic Analysis or Military Science spots small open boats heading out to HMS Proserpine (p. 169). Digging into the layout of the gardens with Vampirology or Research might point toward records in the British Library (p. 184), or similarities to aerial photos of the one true Ring (p. 172). The Ellerman family that owns the ruin may have connections (Accounting) to Axel Logistics (p. 141) or HGD Shipping (p. 145).

significantly in your campaign. Dracula came ashore here on board the wrecked Demeter, encountered and preyed upon Lucy, then departed for London and his new home at Carfax via the Great Northern Railway. Most of the landmarks noted in the novel are part of the Whitby tourist trail, so the Agents can easily find the graveyard where Dracula rested (p. 191), or the spot where he came ashore in wolf form. The local museum has more memorabilia related to the novel, as well as some other potentially interesting collections and individual items — like maps of the jet mines and fossil digs in the area, or photographs of Whitby in 1894. The museum even has a genuine Hand of Glory (a candle made from the hand of a condemned thief, said to grant the power of invisibility) and a reconstruction of a leech-powered “tempest prognosticator” to predict storms (it bears a certain physical resemblance to the Earthquake Device (p. 266), even before you start wondering what sort of blood those leeches battened on to become sensitive to telluric currents). The prognosticator was built by the museum curator, Dr. Merryweather, in the 1850s. One obscure but extant clue, uncovered with Law or Research or by following

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook HO95, is that the firm of Billington & Sons (p. 142) is still in business.

178

cool:

In other circumstances, it might be pleasant to ramble around the seaside cliffs and scenic ruins, but you’re here on more urgent business.You climb the steps up from the shore to the little parish graveyard, explore the remains of Whitby Abbey, and fruitlessly search for the exact house where Lucy Westenra stayed. Others have gone over the same ground many, many times in the intervening centuries, and you find nothing other than a sense of gnawing frustration at time wasted. warm:You get a familiar thrill as you arrive in Whitby. It’s the starting gun, the gear shift from observation into action. As you hurry down side streets and glance up at the ruins of the abbey, black and skeletal against the sunset, you feel the town come alive around you. There’s something here, and you’re on its trail. The mystery began in Whitby, all those years ago, and now you’re part of it. connections: As noted (HO85), the whole Demeter sequence of the novel is mysterious in its own right. Why did Dracula take a ship from Varna to a relatively obscure provincial port, instead of going straight to London? Was he trying to evade some Edom watcher or handler? For that matter, what exactly happened on board the ship? Dracula can command the storms, so why did the Demeter experience such a rough and perilous crossing? And why prey on the crew in so dramatic

Emotional Modulation: Whitby Hopeful Sinister The sun glitters off the waves, and bathes the ruins of the old abbey in a golden glow, like warm honey. A trio of smiling Goths tumble out of a wine bar, their infectious laughter an amusing contrast to their clothing and pale makeup. Crossing the little bridge across the River Esk, you feel strangely cheered, as though the waters rushing beneath your feet carried away some of your burdens. You sprint up the 199 steps of the Church Stairs without pause. You’re vital, healthy, and your blood sings in your veins as you exert yourself. An old sailor by the quayside talks about his long service in the Royal Navy. There’s something indomitable here in these people, a spirit that will never be broken.

and brutal a manner? Mere hunger can’t be the answer — he returns to Transylvania on the Czarina Catherine without annihilating her crew, after all. So, what’s really going on with Whitby? A Guest of Edom: Maybe Dracula

wanted to go straight to London, but Edom forced him to Whitby instead. (This is what Stoker’s manuscript implies.) Perhaps some or all of the Demeter crew were

A bat beats against your window in the middle of the night. For a moment, you thought you saw something — like a pair of red eyes — staring down at you from a rooftop, but there’s nothing there now. Maybe it was a cat, its eyes reflecting the headlamps from a passing car. That seems … plausible. A sudden rainstorm breaks over the town. You’re drenched in seconds; icy ropes of water slither down your neck and back, like cold hands searching for purchase at your throat. The cold wind wakes you up with a start, and you find yourself standing in front of your bedroom window. You must have gotten up and opened it in your sleep. A drunk old man screams abuse at you in an impenetrable accent.

Edom agents, who hijacked or hired the ship and brought it here so its strange passenger could be captured (or maybe given a final briefing, or maybe so they could trail a delectable treat like Lucy Westenra across his path). In this scenario, Dracula’s methodical extermination of the crew is his own mole hunt, and the storms are his temper tantrum. hh Edom built a holding facility for the vampire in an abandoned mine inland from Whitby. If the base is no longer in use, then Research or Geology finds the disused mine with its suspicious sealed-off section. If it’s still an active installation, then the Agents might spot an Edom agent with Tradecraft and then shadow her back to the base. The base is a staging area before subjects are transported to HMS Proserpine (p. 169); documents in the base analyzed with Traffic Analysis let the Agents locate Edom’s offshore fortress. England’s Magical Threshold: Maybe Dracula couldn’t land anywhere else. Other invaders also

locations n Britain: Whitby / London came through Whitby — the Danes sacked the monastery in 867, and the German navy “inadvertently” shelled it in 1914. If Whitby is some sort of threshold that invaders must cross on their way into England, then what are the others? Pevensey in Sussex, where William the Conqueror landed, is a likely candidate. History or Network points to some work done by the Medievalist (p. 122) or J. Q. Harker (p. 43) about invasions of England, and you get the odd impression that he knows more than he’s saying. The Jurassic Coast: Dracula’s library contained several works on geology (VS35), and Whitby

is known for its jet mines and fossils — maybe he came here to obtain some buried treasure before pressing on to London. The Westenra Brooch (p. 284) may be connected to this strange side errand; the Seismologist (p. 100) walks the path to Robin Hood’s Bay, south of Whitby, with his homemade geophysical equipment.

finds the most likely candidate, and it’s remarkably undisturbed. Analyzing the grave with Chemistry (or Fringe Science, or Vampirology) might discern any chemical, telluric, or spiritual changes caused by Dracula’s presence. Maybe the grave dirt has an unusual chemical composition or electrical charge, or maybe disturbing the grave wakes the ghosts of Whitby. Alternatively, the grave might be in use as an Edom dead drop, so the Agents might uncover a cache of documents or equipment, perhaps belonging to a Duke assigned to cover them.

suicide’s rest: Dracula slept in the grave of

George Canon, who committed suicide. That particular grave cannot be found easily, if at all. It may have fallen into the sea, or the name on the stone may have been eroded or deliberately erased. A few hours’ search with Archaeology

dossier reference:

CU88, CU91, CU92, CU153

london 179 25

m1 m4

m25

Kenley, London Borough of Croydon Holmwood, Dorking, Surrey RH5

2 3

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook london 1a-1 1a-2 1b-1 1b-2 1b-3 1b-4

Kingstead Cemetary Coldfall Wood Highgate Cemetery Westenra Hillingham Estate Hampstead Heath London Zoo

1a-1

1a-2

2b-1 2c-1

British Library Safe House, 197 Chicksand Street Fenchurch Street Station MI6 HQ in Vauxhall Cross

2c-2 2c-3

NHS Haematology Research and Treatment Centre, Plaistow Carfax Cross Angel Cold Storage, Poplar Safe House, Jamaica Road

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2b-1 2c-1 2c-2 3c-2 2c-3

3b-2 3c-1 3c-2

1b-1 1b-3

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3c-1

locations n London

1a-1

2a-1

2a-2

1a-2

3a-1

2a-4

2a-3

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d Sotheby's Auction House, Mayfair The Royal Institution of Great Britain The Korea Club Buckingham Palace Royal Palace Mews Westminster Chapel

1a-1 1a-2 1b-1 1c-1 1d-1 1d-2

Church of Notre Dame De France Piccadilly Circus Safe House, 347 Piccadilly Westminster Reference Library East India Club Saint James's Square

2a-1 2a-2 2a-3 2a-4 2b-1 2b-2

Churchill War Rooms Methodist Central Hall Westminster New Scotland Yard The Strand Whitehall Norman Shaw Building Westminster Abbey

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night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook London is the most surveilled city in the world, with CCTV cameras on every corner and an incredibly professional police and security service analyzing the feeds. At any time, the Director can increase the Difficulty of Conceal, Digital Intrusion (GCHQ is always watching), Disguise, Filch, Infiltration, and the covert aspects of Cover, Driving, Network, and Surveillance by +2 in London. (A 1-point spend of Urban Survival or Electronic Surveillance by any member of the team can lower that increase to +1.) Even if the immediate target doesn’t notice, Edom does, within 8–48 hours. (An Agent with Traffic Analysis knows about the potential time lag; with a 1-point spend, she can predict its duration.) All Heat earned in London automatically increases by +1 once Edom

knows to watch for the Agents; the Heat roll Difficulty increases by a like amount. The Director should also see the quick and dirty description of London (NBA, pp. 173–174).

Aërated Bread Company In Stoker’s text Jonathan Harker has a

cup of tea at the Aërated Bread Company after determining the location of Dracula’s house in Piccadilly. This is the only reference in the published novel. Is it just a throwaway piece of local color that his readers would recognize, or is its singular appearance in the text the telltale sign of an oversight by a censor? Dr. John Dauglish founded the ABC in 1862 to exploit a novel baking method in which carbon dioxide was used as a raising

Emotional Modulation: London

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Hopeful You walk past a row of posters in a tube station, advertising everything from exhibitions about ancient art and old wars to the latest consumer gadgets and concerts. It might almost be a gallery of human history, and it seems that things are getting better and brighter as we fumble collectively toward the daylight. You plunge into the London crowd, vanishing into the great rush. This is London, with all its teeming masses, with all its history and culture, a crossroads of the world. Anything is possible here. With a start, you realize you’re taking the same route through the city as the original hunters did back in 1894, following in their footsteps. They defeated the vampire — so can you. You emerge from the Stygian darkness of an Underground train station into the bright sunlight. Crossing the Thames, you catch sight of some building on the skyline — St. Paul’s, perhaps, or Thames House or Big Ben — that reminds you of where you came from and what you’re fighting for.

Sinister A security camera swivels to follow you through the crowd. Instinctively, you dodge out of its line of vision, only to spot the blinking red eye of another camera on another street corner. This whole city is a panopticon — everywhere’s under surveillance. You pass a homeless woman on the street, huddled beneath a blue sleeping bag. Everyone else walks past her without seeing her. Newspaper headlines scream of terror attacks, wars, plagues, political corruption, the growing gulf between the haves and have-nots. Next to the newsstand, a street preacher rants that we’re living in the end times, and it’s hard to argue with him. A man looks up at you as you pass by. “You are never more than 6 feet from a rat,” he says strangely, and grins. “Actually, for most people it’s more like 160 feet. But for you, 6 feet. Never more than 6 feet.” A black limo cruises down the street, escorted by two other cars. Tinted windows admit no sunlight.

agent instead of yeast. The company soon opened tearooms that became very popular, and, although their number peaked in the 1920s, the company traded on after being absorbed into a larger conglomerate in 1955. Some of the Aërated Bread Company sites are still in action today after multiple rebrandings from tea rooms, to greasy spoons, then burger bars, and finally to their current incarnation as coffee bars. Harker likely used the branch at 27 Piccadilly, but it could just as easily have been the branch at Fenchurch Street Station before taking the train to Plaistow. There were hundreds of branches, so Harker’s branch can be almost any location you need. This location should give Agents a flavor of the depth of history they are investigating. cool: This is the trendy and ironic relaunch

of the Aërated Bread Company as fauxindependent coffee house complete with bearded hipster baristas shipped in from East London. The plateglass windows keep the hubbub of Piccadilly down to a bearable level, making it suitable for a stakeout or meeting with a contact. The place is styled to within an inch of its life with stripped-wood floors and squishy leather sofas. They’ve even taken the walls back to the bare brick apart from in a few places where Victorian tiles proclaim the health benefits of the Aërated Bread Company’s products, whatever they were. If the Agents are retracing the 1890s band in Piccadilly then this stands out with Notice.

locations n London: Aërated Bread COmpany to Albemarle Hotel Previous Incarnations of the ABC For the Unto the Fourth Generation campaign frame (p. 325), or even for isolated flashback episodes, showing the change in a location over time provides a real sense of history passing. 1894: This is a bustling tearoom for the cost and health conscious, with the very modern sight of women eating out alone. Posters advertise a women’s social club operating out of the premises. 1940: A slightly shabbier self-service tearoom with taped up windows and blackout curtains. Rationing has yet to be enforced in the restaurant trade, so those with money are topping up their rations by eating out in places like this.

warm: The

reference to Harker’s visit to the ABC in the text is an error. It should never have reached publication, because the ABC was a front organization used by the Special Branch. Harker was making a report to his Edom handler, or using one of the dead drop protocols. Or if Harker had been turned by the Conspiracy, then he could have met the Count or one of his agents here to give them an update on proceedings before returning to Plaistow. Research or History of the ABC reveals that early in the 20th century the security services regularly employed teashop staff as informants to keep an eye on radical behavior. Edom used locations like the ABC for meetings, even going so far as to subsidize failing locations in radical or immigrant neighborhoods. The ABC felt increasing competition after the 1920s, not least from the Lyons Corner House chain of teashops.

in an old newsgroup on the repair of prehistoric kit — he was probably still having to make the failing LEO 1s work when he first started with the Service. Prince (p. 53) may have the might of GCHQ to back her up, but her own white hat hacking has uncovered the same vulnerability. Maybe she’s sitting on it, as a back door into the wider GCHQ intranet should she ever get locked out. In the meantime she’s probably got some keyword triggers on new searches relating to the LEO 1’s code architecture in case anyone else finds it. dossier reference:

HO206

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1977: This is a neon-lit burger chain run by a British conglomerate badly copying the dodgy bits of American fast food: think fixed plastic chairs and soggy fries against a background of scratchy ’50s B-sides. It is popular with taxi drivers, coppers, office cleaners, spies, and other night owls since few other places are open.

The Corner Houses were much larger and more popular, open 24 hours a day and with restaurants on multiple floors making clandestine meetings much easier. Famously, the J. Lyons operation was so complex that they were one of the first organizations in Britain to build digital computers to assist their business. The Lyons Electronic Office (LEO) 1 was built in 1951 and made available for sale to the public. In its last years, the ABC bought three LEO 1s from its competitor, desperate to recover in the postwar era. However, Edom and MI5’s penetration of ABC meant that Edom was able to commandeer time on the LEO 1 mainframe to analyze seismological and telluric data much more efficiently than the wartime Hollerith machines. This dilution of resources spelled the end for the ABC as an independent firm, and Edom bought or confiscated ABC’s old LEO 1s for in-house use. The Agents may work out with a 2-point Investigative spend (History, Research, Accounting,Tradecraft, or the equivalent creatively applied) that Edom used the LEO 1. For example, one of the older documents in the Dossier is a faded printout with an odd pagination and font that identifies the machine that printed it as an old mainframe system (1-point Investigative spend of Data Recovery or Digital Intrusion). All computer systems and especially complex ones are built on the decayed corpses of their predecessors. The LEO 1 used a particularly obscure machine code that could provide an enterprising Agent with some interesting options. Knowledge that Edom used the LEO 1 gives an attack vector for penetrating Edom’s files. The access attempt is only as hard as if the machine were hardwired into the Edom intranet — Digital Intrusion Difficulty of 5 or 6 rather than the usual 8 or more. This vulnerability is good for one attempt, because GCHQ will close the back door. Agents still have to find the network they want to access, so this exploit is best used for a specific strike not a fishing expedition. connections: Investigating the LEO 1 brings the Retired MI6 Computer Boffin (p. 99) into play, perhaps via connection

Albemarle Hotel : The hotel no longer exists — it’s cool

now a high-end Turkish carpet shop.The shop assistant suggests you try Brown’s, just down the street, if you’re in search of somewhere to stay. warm: One of the other customers follows the Agents out of the shop when they depart. Tradecraft tells them he’s deliberately letting himself be seen. A furtive hand signal directs them to a dark little pub down a side street. If the Agents accept, they get to meet the Turkish Agent (p. 136). connections: Arthur Holmwood stayed at the Albemarle Hotel (HO111); perhaps he was briefed there by his handler if he was an Edom agent. The Royal Institution, dedicated to scientific education and research, is located nearby at 21 Albemarle Street;

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook the Retired MI6 Computer Boffin (p. 99), Pharmaceutical Researcher (p. 128), Archaeologist (p. 292), Medievalist (p. 122), or Seismologist (p. 100) might be fellows, as might any scientifically minded Legacies — or Edom boffins.

184

The X Club The X Club, a dining club of nine scientists “untrammeled by religious dogmas,” met once a month from 1864 until 1893, usually at St. George’s Hotel, also on Albemarle Street. The stated aims of the X Club were to reform the Royal Society and ensure that scientific research was not held back by religious superstitions — all the members were strong advocates of Darwin’s theories. The club’s influence was considerable; add in a few shadowy members whose names were never recorded on the club’s rolls (such as Van Helsing, geologist-traveler Andrew F. Crosse (1852–1925), or entomologist James Allen Harker (1847–1894), father of Jasper (p. 80) and possible brother of Jonathan), and the X Club might be the seed from which Edom grew. Certainly, the fact that it publicly shut down just before the Dracula operation began is suggestive. One member, Thomas Hirst (1830–1892), was known for keeping extremely extensive journals, which are preserved in the archives of the Royal Institution. Several hours Research and looking at them in a new light might point the Agents toward, say, the real identity of Peter Hawkins (p. 39). dossier reference:

CU31, HO111

British Library The British Library was formerly part of

the British Museum, but moved to its new purpose-built home in 1997.The collection includes about 14 million books, as well as copies of every newspaper printed in the United Kingdom since 1840. Access to the library is limited to researchers, but obtaining a Reader Pass isn’t difficult (1-point spend from a suitable Academic or Interpersonal ability). You do have to provide a UK address, though, so paranoid Agents may also use a Cover. Access to the library gives Agents a 5-point team pool of points that can be used for any Academic ability, Astronomy,

Chemistry, Cryptography, Forensic Pathology, or Pharmacy. In addition to its central London site, the library has a storage annex in Boston Spa, Yorkshire, that holds the bulk of the collection. Books and documents are shuttled between the two branches of the library on a daily basis, so Agents who want to stop a rare book falling into Edom’s hands may need to break into the Boston Spa secure document storage facility before they’re moved to London, or hijack the correct book truck. cool: There’s

too much information here, too many cold trails. You could drown in this sea of knowledge. You resolve to come back when you know what you’re looking for. warm: While checking a copy of Harvey’s De Motu Cordis, (Notice, Forensic Pathology, Research, Vampirology), a book on the movement of blood through the body, you find a sheet of yellowed paper tucked in the back. The jagged handwriting is oddly familiar, and although it’s written in German (Languages), you’re able to translate most of the titles and, more importantly, the signature — “Van Helsing.” It’s a list of books he consulted while at the museum! Edom got to the books first, though — several volumes, perhaps Le Dragon Noir (p. 273), or archives relating to the X Club (p. 184), or the maps of Transylvania consulted by Harker, are “lost or mislaid.” Some went missing during the move from the library’s

old quarters to its new home, but others haven’t been seen since 1977. The missing books might be still in the secure Boston Spa facility, or moved to Edom’s library at Ring (p. 172) or Exeter (p. 167). Searching for them also turns up (1-point Research spend) mention of a “Dee correspondence with glosses” (p. 270) either “borrowed” by Edom or sought intensely at some point in the last century. Recovering the missing books — by finding either the originals or other copies elsewhere (perhaps through the Medievalist (p. 122), the Bookseller (p. 106), or the Psychic (p. 96)) lets the Agents re-create Van Helsing’s research. Notably, the professor only starts doing white magic (CU249) after his visit to the Library. connections: The Balkans Specialist (p. 91), Medievalist (p. 122), or Journalist (p. 120) doing research; even Oakes (p. 52) sometimes has to check out British Library records in the course of his duties. An academic-minded Legacy like Billie Harker (p. 42) or J. Q. Harker (p. 43) might show up here. dossier reference:

HO104, CU207

locations n London: Albemarle Hotel to Carfax

Carfax The unredacted Stoker report points

cool:

Once the Agents get into the flat (Difficulty 5 Infiltration test), finding the secret entrance to the Carfax cellar is relatively easy (Architecture; 1-point spend of Notice). The cellars run beneath about a dozen houses; Architecture indicates the complex extends the width of the block, underneath the houses on Holbrook Road also. The chambers vary from an enormous vaulted room the size of a football pitch to tiny oubliettes barely large enough to stand in. They were clearly (Architecture or Archaeology) dug and expanded piecemeal over the centuries; the oldest is a medieval fieldstone-lined dungeon on the southern end of the complex. They hold random detritus, junk, and rat feces. Two fairly large rooms dominate the northern end. On the northwest, the stones encompass a deep, dark-looking pond or well. There is no floor, only water; the door leads to slime-covered steps going down into the murk. A concrete tunnel runs out of this room, its lower lip just barely above the surface of the water. Architecture or Archaeology accurately assesses it as a sewer, carrying runoff from the pond southwest. The tunnel is large enough

to move along at a crouch, although it is (of course) prime rat country. It takes a 2-point spend of Urban Survival to navigate 1.5 km through these sewers to the nearest exit at the Abbey Mills Pumping Station. The room on the northeast is the crypt of the former Carfax chapel (Architecture or Archaeology). A 1-point spend of either ability indicates it was enlarged to the west about a century ago, placing the new crypt chamber beneath both the chapel’s threshold and the old crossroads for which Carfax was named. These are both traditional burial places for sorcerers, suicides, and vampires (Occult Studies or 1-point Vampirology spend). The new crypt chamber has fragments of reddish-brown murk embedded in its joins and crevices — not just on the walls, but the floor and ceiling as well. (Notice in full light; requires 1-point spend in flashlight light.) Even a cursory examination of the gunk identifies it not as blood but as red paint (Diagnosis or Chemistry or Art History). Further lab analysis (Art History or 1-point spend of Chemistry) identifies the pigment as red lead (standard in the Victorian era) mixed with caput mortuum (“death’s head,” a red ironoxide pigment very similar to blood) and vermilion (made from cinnabar, a red mercury ore). This would have been a very expensive paint job; the room would have been the color of arterial blood (see the Red Room box, p. 187).

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to Plaistow, not the later coverup site Purfleet, as the location of Dracula’s former estate at Carfax. In 1894, Plaistow was still on the rural outskirts of London. Now, Plaistow is a neighborhood in the east London Borough of Newham, one of the poorest and most ethnically diverse localities in London. Between 1894 and now, the Blitz demolished much of Plaistow and urban renewal completed the job. Carfax is gone. Finding the precise site where it stood may be as simple as finding the original maps and directions in Hawkins’ effects (possibly in Exeter, p. 167) or spotting the Edom lamplighter (p. 123) keeping watch on the address (Difficulty 5 Surveillance test with a 1-point spend of Tradecraft). Or it may require weeks of hard, grinding Research, Accounting, Architecture, Law, and Traffic Analysis in dusty archives and law offices trying to find a medieval keep with attached chapel and no record of a sale after 1893. (HO38 deduces that Edom purloined or suppressed the original bill of sale and official title records; digital records are even more thoroughly scrubbed and doctored by GCHQ.) Identifying Seward’s Asylum (p. 195) narrows the search down considerably. If Edom uses Carfax as its secret London prison, getting captured by Edom (NBA, p. 115) may be the simplest — if not safest — way to find it. Carfax is gone, but its cellars and crypts remain, underneath a row of houses and flats on Harcourt Road in a nicer part of Plaistow. Edom keeps copies of all the keys just in case, and has installed two secret entrances to subterranean Carfax: one in the London sewer system, and one in a very unattractive basement flat. With a 2-point spend the Agents Notice the extremely sun-faded and well-thumbed state of that flat’s To Let sign. When followed up by suitable Interpersonal approaches to neighbors, the Agents hear about rats and bad drains and horrid smells from No. 81B. Another possible avenue for such investigation is the large Iglesia ni Cristo evangelical church just north and west of the site, on Meath Road. The INC is based in the Philippines, but its Plaistow

parishioners, like Plaistow itself, include a wide variety of ethnicities. (Such as Romanians, for example, should the Director need to lay another trail.) The INC is a non-trinitarian sect; the Director decides whether its heterodox Christianity suffices to consecrate its ground against Dracula’s spawn. As nonbelievers in transubstantiation, INC communion wafers never become the Body of Christ; as nonbelievers in infant baptism, the INC church has no holy water font. The East London Cemetery is just across the railroad, about 400 meters from Carfax as the bat flies. The site of Carfax is quite near the Abbey Mills Pumping Station, the Abbey Road Docklands Light Railway station, and the old Abbey Mills factory (now used by the Masjid-e-Ilyas,a large mosque).It’s possible that the misprision “Carfax Abbey” didn’t originate solely in the slapdash 1924 script of the stage play Dracula, but came from a late in life slip of tongue or pen by Bram Stoker that made it into theatrical gossip.

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The main crypt holds three 15thcentury sarcophagi; the red room is completely empty. warm: When Edom took Carfax away from Dracula in 1894, they had no intention of giving it back to anyone. Lord Godalming took over the property and held the title deed with Harker’s connivance; the 1894 network made Carfax a reunion spot for many years. After the Blitz destroyed Plaistow’s surface buildings, Edom (having learned

a great deal about operating in secret from its days in the SOE) moved in under cover of the reconstruction to build itself a bolt-hole in east London. The secret complex at Carfax has been Edom’s perfect safe house for its own and its secret prison for vampire minions and Renfields — and anyone else troublesome — since 1947. (Full vampires, if Edom has access to them, reside on the HMS Proserpine; p. 169.) Edom operatives (and special defectors

who need to be debriefed outside formal MI6 channels) reside in any of six houses on Harcourt and Holbrook Roads, above the Carfax cellars. Treat these houses as Safe Houses (p. 194); if they, too, have secret entrances into the vaults, then they, too, have problems with smells and rats. The head of the Carfax facility is called the “abbot” (and Carfax is “the Abbey” in casual Edom chat); the current abbot might be Oakes (p. 24), Osprey (p. 52), or Tyler (p. 53). Any Duke might be on site, in addition to the abbot. Finding Carfax is obviously easier if the neighbors have more rumors about the “secret branch” and “special polis” in the area, or can describe military types and possibly a Duke of Edom to convincing Agents (Cop Talk, Intimidation, or Reassurance seem best, but individual neighbors can vary). To balance that, the Carfax complex becomes more difficult to poke around surreptitiously. In addition to two Edom lamplighters (use MI6 Lamplighter, p. 123; or MI5 Agent, p. 122) watching Harcourt and Holbrook Roads on the outside, the two-person team in the Carfax security station has complete command of the CCTV feeds for the whole area, and Edom knows the streets intimately (treat as blanket +2 Alertness and +1 Stealth Modifier for wired-in Edom operatives in Plaistow; Edom takes a net +2 to its Lead in any chase in or through Plaistow). Add Edom reinforcements as needed from the safe houses — the Agents might stage an attack, chase, or other disruption to draw a sheltering Edom asset out into the open! The subterranean Carfax has a number of cells for recalcitrant types, which can contain anyone the Director needs to salt there. The computers in the security station and the “abbot’s office” have direct hard lines to Ring (p. 172), Seward’s Asylum (p. 195), and the HMS Proserpine (p. 169) if it exists. Using one of them lowers the Difficulty of Digital Intrusion tests against Edom to 6. In addition, the Carfax facility might include any or all of the following:

locations n London: Carfax The Red Room The Red Room was a place of power for Dracula in London. Magically (or tellurically) designed to focus and amplify vampiric energies and wavelengths, he used it (or planned to use it) in 1894 to cement his hold over the high-society degenerates he recruited to his faction. Since then, Edom might have taken it over for their own purposes, or Dracula may have created another, or both. Edom might use the captured Red Room in Carfax for any, some, or all of the following:

In Dracula’s hands, the Red Room might have any, some, or all of the following effects: It accelerates his Regeneration while awake to 16 Health per hour (the same as sleeping on his native soil). It allows him to heal damage from banes at 2 Health per night. He can spend 2 Aberrance to enslave (“Renfield-ize”) every willing or weak mind in the room simultaneously.

pack of Manchester ratting terriers, kenneled below or in one of the safe houses with a secret passage; 2-point Human Terrain or Streetwise spend recognizes that specific breed while casing the neighborhood a fully functional field surgery, with hundreds of units of blood stored in a big fridge, and possibly some Seward Serum (p. 51) or even Luria Formula (p. 114) handy, along with syrettes of Blomberg Serum (p. 282)

He can refresh 1 Aberrance per minute spent inside the room. Costs for all vampiric Magic or Necromancy used inside the room lower by 1 Aberrance. Within the room, his Difficulty in any test involving his Aberrance lowers by −3. He can apport (or clairvoyantly spy) into the room at any time; if Edom has seized the room, they have watchers prepped against just such an incursion. In the default campaign, the Red Room is Carfax’s expanded crypt (p. 185). The Director might locate the new Red Room anywhere in London, from a secret chamber in Dracula’s original Piccadilly safe house (p. 194) to a polarized

an armory including full Edom rating

loadouts (p. 54), comms gear, and passive UV night vision optics for 26 operatives; along with plenty of ammunition, rifle grenades, flash-bangs, and any special anti-vampire weaponry used in the campaign — there are also 6 modern crossbows racked here lots of easily negotiable cash (dollars, pounds, euros, Romanian lei), including a stash of Hapsburg gold coins and blank Romanian passports in a strong room

penthouse in a Canary Wharf condo tower. Dracula or his Conspiracy may have created more Red Rooms in 1894, or in the 1980s once the mole hunt died down. Try to restrict the number of Red Rooms to one or two; more than that, and they stop becoming special. Finding a Red Room might involve deciphering the location requirements for establishing such a “Camera Sanguinea” in Le Dragon Noir (p. 273; Occult Studies, Cryptography), tracking local geomagnetic patterns (Geology, Data Recovery), or finding and following a wealthy vampire wannabe to the Black Mass (High Society, Vampirology). Creating a Red Room is impossible for non-vampires; it involves mixing the paint with one’s own vampire blood.

forgery

facilities for the above passports, as well as blanks of various licenses and identity papers for the UK mirrors everywhere, including mirrored surveillance cameras crucifixes mounted on walls in every room, in the eyeline of the door sunlamp (UV / visible light) light bulbs triple-thickness steel hatch on the well room

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Within the room, the Difficulty of any Hypnosis (or other psychic) attempt to track (or communicate with) Dracula lowers by −3. Renfields sweat blood after 13 hours inside the room, as it attracts their vampiric energies to the surface. Jacks injected with Seward Serum (p. 51) inside the room have 20 General points to spend, not 12. The room lowers the Difficulty of human-cast vampiric magic (p. 274) or any other attempt to create an earthquake by −2.

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functioning, consecrated Catholic chapel in the old crypt a hydroponic greenhouse full of garlic and wild roses, under intense UV grow lights incredibly powerful fans and ventilators, sucking even the tiniest traces of water vapor or dust out of the air; 1-point spend of Architecture or Mechanics (Investigatively) notes the anomalously large circulators on the roofs a fully soundproofed interrogation suite with all the latest gear, hoods, restraints, and so forth any sort of spy gear the Director deems likely in a pulpier campaign, one of the safe house’s garages holds an elevator down into a full motor pool, including police cars, windowless panel vans with BT logos, and the truck (p. 176) from Ring — this would be the large vaulted chamber noted above; 1-point spend of Urban Survival or Cop Talk after three days’ surveillance notes the anomalous police route that seems to begin on this block For the Red Room in a warm Carfax facility, see the sidebar (p. 187). connections: In addition to the connections noted above, Edom ran the 1977 mole hunt out of Carfax; any 1977 NPC may have heard something — or may have done something there. In the present day, the Black Site Interrogator (p. 104) may know of (or have been cross-trained at) Carfax, and the “Black Light” site (p. 204) might have records of cables or other intel from the facility. Either Journalist (tabloid, p. 134; or regular, p. 120) might be tracking an “MI6 black site near London’s biggest mosque,” while the Human Rights Activist (p. 118), Dissident (p. 112), or anyone associated with Al-Qaeda in Rûm (p. 148) might have their own rumors of “disappeared” Romanians in London to feed to the Agents. dossier reference:

HO38, HO64, CU130, CU178, CU199

Coldfall House The meeting place of Dracula’s cabal of

worshippers and sycophants in London, Coldfall House may have met its demise when the expanding city swallowed the area around Coldfall Wood. Or as Mina threatens in her journal (24th July entry), it may have been destroyed by arson after the events recounted in Dracula Unredacted as part of some clean-up operation. Alternatively, it might have survived to the present day, protected by the forces of darkness. The most likely candidate for the house was Muswell Lodge, a large house that once abutted the eastern edge of the forest.The lodge was demolished and built over; the quiet terrace of Burlington Road runs over where it once stood, but who knows what’s lurking in the cellars there? cool:

Coldfall Wood is easy to find — it’s a small island of ancient woodland, one of four preserved within the boundaries of London. The wood was much larger in 1894; more than half of it has been cut down and built over, and the little that remains is tame and picturesque. The house by the woods is gone, buried beneath some housing estate or playing fields for a school. warm: So, do you want a haunted house, sinister buried ruins, a lingering spiritual taint, or something sinister? If you want to go for a straight haunted house, then the Coldfall House still stands, although it’s lain empty and abandoned for years — another derelict

investment properly, like nearby Hillingham (p. 190). The Conspiracy or the Satanic Cult (p. 55) secretly owns it, and meets here on certain auspicious nights. Accounting traces the current owner through a maze of property firms and shell companies to some minion: perhaps Klopstock & Billreuth (p. 145), Burdett’s (p. 143), Billington & Sons (p. 142), or maybe even Philip Holmwood (p. 43). Show up here on the right night (Occult Studies or Traffic Analysis to know when) and you can spy on Dracula’s Satanic circle (led by the Psychic, p. 96, Countess Báthory, p. 65, or even the man himself). Of course, security is very tight, and may involve supernatural watchers. The Coldfall House could be the receiver for the Norman Shaw Buildings necrophone (p. 193). Psychic echoes in the house conjure up images of the dead or force the victim to share in the horrific memories suppressed by Kate Reed. There’s definitely a Red Room here (p. 187), and maybe also a Sealed Coffin (p. 278). Pharmacy might find the ingredients for whatever ritual drug they dosed Kate Reed with (assuming it wasn’t the laudanum used to sedate the Westenra servants, or another vampire blood derivative). If sinister buried ruins are more your style, then Archaeology confirms the existence of tunnels under the site of Muswell Lodge. History, Criminology, or Research discovers

locations n London: Carfax to Cross Angel Cold Storage ruin doubtless draws creatures of the night — or else it functions as a shield against Dracula’s malign influence, like two negative charges repelling each other. Maybe Dracula can’t use “Enhanced Interrogation” (p. 18) on those within the field’s area of effect. Finally, the original house might be gone, but the Conspiracy might have set up a new facility nearby that has the same function. It could be concealed in a crypt in the adjoining St. Pancras and Islington cemetery, or as something ultramodern like a health spa or a corporate retreat: it’s a short hop from worshipping Mammon to worshipping Dracula. connections: The Seismologist (p. 100) or the Retired MI6 Computer Boffin (p. 99) might live in the area or have an allotment nearby. “Cushing” (p. 92) might also live in the neighborhood; does he wander out here in a haze on certain nights, drawn by the echoes of the Count? Any serial killings or unusual attacks (discovered with Cop Talk or Criminology) might be the cult up to their old tricks. Outdoor Survival or Notice in Coldfall Wood discovers suspicious animal corpses: mutilated cats, for cultists; poisoned bats, if someone’s sending the cult a message. dossier reference:

189

that the lodge was once owned by Henry Smith, a wealthy and secretive engineer who was so convinced that enemies were trying to murder him that he set up a perimeter of shotguns wired to trip lines all around his property. These precautions didn’t stop two thieves, Albert Milsom and Henry Fowler, from murdering Smith in 1896. They escaped and hid out with a traveling circus until the police caught them. Fowler claimed to have no memory of murdering Smith, and displayed almost supernatural strength in court by breaking free of his guards and strangling Milsom when the latter accused Fowler of being the ringleader (Renfield or Seward Serum user, take your pick). The two were convicted on the strength of the physical evidence left behind — a toy lantern belonging to Fowler’s younger brother was conveniently found at the scene.The two were hanged with a third murderer, William Seaman (because Masonic triptychs, that’s why). Whether Edom used the raw material resulting to make its own Alraune (p. 62) mandrake is a question of decorum, not occultism. Anyway, once you’ve thrilled the players by reading out most of that last paragraph like a freaking box text from a dungeon crawl, they can go Infiltration-ing down into those nighted catacombs, where dead tree roots hang from the ceiling and the tunnels are choked with the bones of sacrificed children or dive down to connect with some medieval plague pit. Again, there’s a Red Room (p. 187) — probably protected by some of Henry Smith’s still-functional booby traps. If you’re feeling generous, there might also be a copy of Le Dragon Noir (p. 273) or the Jeweled Dagger (p. 270, and we’re right back to the dungeon crawl motif). If the original gang of hunters, or a virtuous incarnation of Edom, burned the place down, then nothing physical remains. A sufficiently sensitive instrument — the Psychic (p. 96), the Online Mystic (p. 126), the Madman (p. 121), the Spirit Board (p. 279), the Earthquake Device (p. 266), or some telluric-detection gizmo built by the Retired MI6 Computer Boffin (p. 99) or the Seismologist (p. 100) — might detect the lingering taint of the site.The

CU174

Cross Angel Cold: TheStorage shell of the old cold storage cool

building is still standing in Poplar, but it’s been hollowed out and turned into office space for web-design companies and call centers. You explore the area around the hulking red-brick warehouse for a while, but find nothing of relevance. warm: The cold storage building is not only still standing, it’s still in use as a refrigerated warehouse. Security’s suspiciously high for a warehouse (Notice, Streetwise). Inside, Architecture or Notice discovers a hidden sub-basement beyond a frost-rimed steel door. Here, hanging from meat hooks or kept in refrigerated coffins, are dozens or even hundreds of frozen human corpses. What horror is this?

Is it a recreation of the Munich Dead

House (p. 226), a necromantic instrument on which Dracula divines the future from the music of the dead? Does Edom keep the deceased victims of vampire attacks here for study? Might “Dr. Drawes” (p. 50) work from a hidden laboratory on this site? Is this a vampiric larder? Are the frozen victims actually dead, or merely held in some ghastly state of suspended animation? Are all victims of the Un-Dead destined to rise again and swell the ranks of Hell’s army? If so, then the Cross Angel facility holds a horde of potential vampires. If they thaw out, then they will become Un-Dead. Perhaps Edom keeps Dracula’s “collateral damage” here, unfreezing

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook a vampire when they need a fresh agent, or maybe the existence of Cross Angel explains why England hasn’t been overrun with vampires. hh A firefight with the guards here definitely results in the cooling system getting damaged; the Agents might be able to repair it in time with a Mechanics test; otherwise, it’s time to run before the bodies thaw out … connections:

Checking the records reveals it’s been owned by the same firm for more than a century (perhaps Klopstock & Billreuth (p. 145) or Axel Logistics (p. 141), or an Edom cut-out).

dossier reference:

HO204

190

Hillingham The stately home of the Westenra family

passed into the possession of Arthur Holmwood after Lucy’s death (HO146). Now, it’s an abandoned derelict, rotting in the heart of Hampstead. Based on its location in one of London’s hottest property markets, the house and gardens are worth millions. The Holmwoods (or Edom) might be unwilling to sell, or perhaps some distant branch of the Westenras is still throwing up legal obstacles — or maybe prospective buyers are turned away by the sense of sorrow and malice that seems imprinted on the building. After all, it was here that Dracula sucked the life from Lucy Westenra, and here that Lucy and her mother died on the same ghastly night (CU143). Streetwise or Human Terrain picks up half-remembered local legends that say the Hillingham gardens are haunted by a “giant dog” — a folk memory of Berserker (CU139). Hillingham isn’t the only derelict mansion in the area — there are several staggeringly expensive properties in Hampstead that were bought by foreign investors and left to rot. Dracula’s association with Hillingham may draw would-be worshippers,Renfieldesque madmen, and sensitive souls — not to mention users of the Seward Serum (p. 51). Over the years that the house has stood abandoned, some of them may have left messages scrawled on the peeling walls, or hidden documents behind crumbling brickwork (Vampirology or Languages to translate the curious graffiti or lunatic ravings).

If Lucy Westenra or Arthur Holmwood is still at large, then one or both may haunt Hillingham, returning to it to contemplate their mortal existence. If they’re Edom’s tame vampires, then Edom monitors the estate and preserves a few locked rooms on the upper story just as they were in 1894. (Electronic Surveillance spots the brand-new security cameras watching over what should be a derelict house.) cool:

A gravel-lined avenue, now choked with weeds, leads through the overgrown garden to the house itself. Hillingham has been abandoned for years; boardedup windows and doors have failed to keep Hampstead’s homeless and junkies from using the place as a squat. Entering through a side door, you find the onceelegant hallways and drawing rooms are now ruined and neglected. Upstairs, you pause in what was once a master bedroom. A hundred years have passed, but this is still a murder scene. If you don’t stop Dracula, then you know that there’ll be other, fresher rooms like this, and other dead women. warm: The house is derelict, the gardens overgrown. The windows and doors are boarded up, but that didn’t keep squatters out, judging by the graffiti and other debris you find on the ground floor. Exploring the house, though, you find no signs of recent habitation. Something made the squatters leave in a hurry — no. In terror. Upstairs, you find a locked door. Unlike the other doors you’ve passed, this one’s in strangely good repair. No

one’s tried to force it open, and it’s not swollen with damp or rot. It looks impossibly well preserved. On the other side of the door — Lucy’s bedroom? Lucy’s coffin? The blood-drained corpses of the squatters, or children abducted by the “Bloofer Lady”? An Edom listening post, tuned into the telluric stain left by Dracula’s forced entry into this house? This is also a great place for an attack by one of Dracula’s minions — the lingering influence of the Count on Hillingham gives the attacker +4 Aberrance. connections: Lucy Westenra (p. 34) lived and died here; Arthur Holmwood (p. 36), Jack Seward (p. 35), and Quincey Morris (p. 36) were all frequent guests here, and Holmwood’s family still owns the estate. While the house has been stripped of all its obvious valuables, there might be a hidden cellar or attic room containing something like the Westenra Brooch (p. 284), a Vial of Blood (p. 284), or even a Sealed Coffin (p. 278). Possible squatters or visitors to the house — the Retired KGB Agent (p. 97), homeless and squatting; the Seismologist (p. 100), experimenting with the strange telluric currents in the garden; Tabitha Holmwood (p. 44), wandering in from a party at a neighboring High Modernist mansion (“hey, don’t I own this place?”), a Conspiracy Renfield (p. 57) drawn by the echo of the Master; Billie Harker (p. 42) indulging in urban exploration. dossier reference:

CU136, CU168

locations n London: Cross Angel Cold Storage to Kingstead Cemetary

Feral Child Vampire Created by Lucy during her brief tenure as the “Bloofer Lady,” this child vampire hasn’t aged since 1894. He’s forgotten his human name; like a cuckoo, he takes up residence with a different human family every few months, using his hypnotic powers to convince them he’s one of their children. He’s not part of the Conspiracy; he’s a by-blow of Dracula’s schemes. general abilities: Aberrance

Kingstead Cemetery The Dracula novel fictionalizes it

as Kingstead, but the evidence (HO149) points to Lucy Westenra being laid to rest in the small churchyard of St. Mary’s in Hendon. The churchyard is still open to visitors; a brief search (Notice) locates the Westenra tomb. History points out that as Lucy Westenra was the last of her line, no one should have been inside her tomb since she was buried (or, to be precise, since Seward and Van Helsing returned to cut off her head and fill her mouth with garlic, as per CU160). cool:

Crossing the little churchyard under the cover of the alder trees, you examine the lock on the tomb. Unsurprisingly, it’s rusted shut, but you manage to prize it open quietly without leaving any trace of your intrusion. Inside, you find several old coffins; unscrewing the lid marked LUCY, you find inside a leaden sheath with a visible soldering mark. If the Dossier can be trusted, then Lucy Westenra’s mortal remains lie inside that coffin, delivered from the curse of vampirism by Van Helsing’s intercession. warm: If Lucy is the 1894 vampire, then her coffin is either empty or missing — or she’s still here, impossibly well preserved, her lips red with the blood of yet another vanished child. Either way, she might have been buried with the Westenra Brooch (p. 284). Edom may have the place under observation, either with some form of Electronic

Surveillance or a well-placed watcher (spotted with Notice). Criminology identifies any suspicious patterns of missing children. There’s a children’s school just down the road from the churchyard, and the adjoining Sunny Hill park gives ample room for unseen abductions. (Optionally, the Feral Child Vampire (sidebar, left) now lairs here.) connections: Lucy Westenra (p. 34) is supposed to be buried here.Van Helsing gave the key to the tomb to Arthur Holmwood; the key might be in the back of some drawer at Ring (p. 172). Van Helsing notes that Dracula could have rested in Lucy’s coffin as though it was his native soil (CU153); if so, then there may be another vampire here, like one of the Brides (p. 57) or even the Count himself (p. 56, and run!). A vampiric vagrant might have left some clue behind, like a scrap of paper with the name of some contact (like “Mr. Hopkins,” p. 117; or the Retired KGB Agent, p. 97), or an address in Dracula’s Safe House Network (p. 194). Flipped around, the Westenra tomb could be a refuge from Dracula. After all, if Lucy was saved, then it represents a rare defeat for the Count.The Informant (p. 95) might offer to meet the Agents here, or “Hopkins” might take refuge here while on the run. dossier reference:

HO149, CU153

191

14, Hand-to-Hand 8, Health 11 hit threshold : 7 alertness modifier : +3 stealth modifier : +4 damage modifier : +1 (bite; extended canines), or +0 (fist, kick) armor : −1 (tough skin) free powers : Drain, Infravision, Regeneration (all damage from physical weapons regenerates at the next sunset; can regrow limbs or eyes in a year), Unfeeling other powers: Addictive Bite, Apportation (into any room he has been invited into), Clairvoyance (those he has bitten), Cloak of Darkness, Dominance, Infection (those who drink vampire blood only), Magic, Mesmerism (eye contact or voice), Necromancy, Send to Sleep, Spider Climb, Strength, Summoning (rats, wolves), Turn to Creature (bat, wolf; only at sunset or midnight), Turn to Mist, Vampiric Speed banes: beheading, stake to the heart, sunlight (prevents use of all vampiric powers) blocks : cannot enter a room without being invited, crucifixes and holy objects (+0 damage; +1 to face), running water, wild roses, cannot move while staked in his coffin compulsions : drink blood dreads : crucifixes and holy objects, garlic, mirrors requirements : drink blood, must sleep in his native soil each night

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook Korea Club The Korea Club is a small, exclusive

travelers’ club in the West End (just off St. James’) founded in 1861 by British veterans of the Second OpiumWar. Named the “Korea Club” because of its Oriental décor (and because it was legendarily hard to get into), its members were required to have “shed blood on three continents.” (Research)

192

cool:

A few objets d’art look like they might have been looted from the Summer Palace, but most were more probably bought at the Crystal Palace. A small wood-paneled reception and cloakroom opens onto the reading room — the dining room is dark and shut behind a faded Japanese screen. Never particularly lavish or pretentious even in its Victorian heyday, the Club’s furnishings and staff both look like they’ve been there since the 1920s. Most of the members are similarly dust-covered and gray. Newspapers (nothing to the left of the Telegraph) rustle forbiddingly when young strangers enter, but deft use of Military Science gives the Agents the respect due to former soldiers from their elders, veterans of better (or less complicated) wars. If the Agents get access to the 1894 membership book (through plausible Interpersonal use or Difficulty 4 Filch), they can confirm the membership of Arthur Holmwood, Quincey Morris, and John Seward. (If the Director is using different clear names for these 1894 figures, the book provides those

names instead, but it takes a 2-point spend of Research to eliminate all the other possibilities.) warm: Upon more careful inspection, the objets d’art are all valuable antiques (Art History), and the smell of garlic indicates the kitchen is open to at least some customers (Notice). The staff may be grizzled, but the short-haired doorman and reception clerk both look very capable — former SAS, in fact (1-point spend of Military Science). The newspapers are still well right of center-right, but copies of specialist military and geopolitics journals peek out from under the Times. Getting copies of the membership books may be trickier than it looks (Difficulty 6 Filch or Digital Intrusion) especially with that top-ofthe-line security system (Electronic Surveillance). Agents with backgrounds in MI6 or the SAS know that the Korea Club is an unofficial hiring hall for deniable assets and operators (1-point Tradecraft spend); any Agent might create a member of the club with Network. (Difficulty 5 Cover to actually be a member.) From this point, it’s up to the Agents to see if anyone here has ever done a job for Edom … or is interested in doing a job on Edom. connections: This is where to throw in old patrons, new contacts, and perhaps even a Legacy like J. Q. Harker (p. 43), Philip Holmwood (p. 43), or an old friend of Lucy Blythe (p. 41). Veterans of the 1940 operation (including “Van

Sloan,” p. 87) or the 1977 mole hunt might well be members here (especially the Retired MI6 Asset Runner, p. 98); members might know something about those strange cases. dossier reference:

HO71

London Zoo London Zoo is the oldest scientific zoo

in the world. Its original site at the north edge of Regent’s Park is still in use, but many of the animals have now been moved to more modern facilities outside the city at Whipsnade. Dracula broke into the zoo and freed the giant wolf Berserker, which he used to break past Van Helsing’s defenses at Hillingham (p. 190, CU139). The wolf enclosure is gone now, replaced by a parrot house, and the wolves have been moved out to Whipsnade. As well as parrots, the old zoo grounds are home to thousands of other animals, including gorillas, tigers, snakes, and bats. cool: You

traipse around the zoo, peering at tapirs and hummingbirds, wondering vaguely if they count as the “meaner things” of the earth that Dracula was reputedly able to control. Kids on a school tour rush past you, screaming with excitement. The wolf enclosure mentioned in Stoker’s manuscript is now full of parrots. Nearby, a tiger roars; the presence of this predator amid the teeming millions of London is a grim reminder of other, uncaged, monsters.

locations n London: Korea Club to Norman Shaw Buildings warm:

dossier reference:

CU132, HO133

Norman Shaw Buildings The Icelandic edition of Dracula (p. 275)

references the Thames Torso Murders, an unsolved killing (or killings) in 1888 where parts of the dismembered body of a woman were found on the banks of the Thames. In a grisly irony, the woman’s torso was found in a cellar during construction work on New Scotland Yard — the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police. For more than 60 years, until they moved to a new purposebuilt facility, London’s police force was based on an unsolved murder. Today, the former home of the Met is called the Norman Shaw Buildings. The site is adjacent to the Palace of Westminster, so the buildings have been converted into office space for members of Parliament and civil servants (compare it to the Old Executive Office Building next to the White House, which serves a similar function.) From 2015, by the way, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police will be right next door to this site, if any inquisitive specters want to pop across the courtyard. cool:

The low hum of government business, civil servants going to and fro, members of the public with their petty worries, backbench MPs hoping to catch a brief moment in the spotlight. All very mundane. You realize that if Edom has its agents here, you’ll never spot them; they’re as much a part of this building as

the red-brick walls and the chimneys, in place for a century or more, the rotten heart of the Establishment. warm: Dracula planned his move to London carefully. He had his agents prepare the ground — literally — with acts of vile necromancy. The dismembered woman is an occult method of surveillance. Her ghost haunts all the places where Dracula’s agents buried her body parts, and he can call her up to learn what she overheard. (There’ve been sightings of a hooded specter in New Scotland Yard over the years.) Exorcising the ghost robs Dracula of his unnatural insight into the affairs of the British Parliament; to free the spirit, find her still-hidden remains and make an Occult Studies spend — or, maybe the Agents also need to recreate Van Helsing’s research in the British Library (p. 184) and/or obtain Le Dragon Noir (p. 273) first. Parts of the woman’s arm were found on the banks of the Thames, and her left leg was found near the New Scotland Yard site. The rest of her was never found — was her head smuggled back to Castle Dracula to be a grisly transceiver? Was her left arm buried under Whitehall, or were her legs interred in Burdett’s (p. 143)? The other end of this necromantic spying apparatus might be Coldfall House (p. 188) or Carfax (p. 185) or anywhere else with a Red Room (p. 187). In fact, it’s possible that this could even be the suspected mole that caused all the problems in the 1970s.

193

Dracula can assume the form of a bat or wolf, and has to sleep on his native soil each night. Normally, this native soil is kept inside a coffin or box, but a wolf’s den or even the bat enclosure can be a bed for a vampire. Dracula (or another vampire) sleeps as a wolf here by night, or when trying to evade pursuers.The requisite native soil might have been left here during his initial visit in 1894, or maybe he had it smuggled in by Carter, Paterson & Co. (see Axel Logistics, p. 141). There might even be a coffin or supply cache on the grounds — the Clock Tower, the oldest building in the zoo, was rebuilt in 1898, perhaps after Dracula arranged for a secret room or two there. In any event, subliminally associating vampires with big predators like tigers can be a nicely unsettling reminder that the Agents are dealing with a monster, not a misunderstood Gothic hero. Whipsnade Zoo is on the outskirts of London. Dracula could repeat his tactics from 1894, and free the wolves from there. connections: Outdoor Survival notices odd behavior in the animals — some are terrified and rattle their cages when that pale man passes by, others are strangely cowed, almost respectful. Architecture spots the older buildings, and any secret storerooms or access to the underground tunnel network beneath the zoo. Axel Logistics (p. 141) delivers supplies and specialized equipment to the zoo, which could be a cover for the transport of Conspiracy assets. As a public place, the zoo might be used for meetings with the Informant (p. 95) or the Tabloid Journalist (p. 134). You could also drop in a wholly accidental meeting — what do the Agents do if they run into a Duke of Edom like Fort (p. 51) taking her nieces and nephews to the zoo on a day trip?

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook Dracula may employ the same tactic in other cities — unexplained disappearances or dismembered corpses portend the establishment of a supernatural surveillance network by the Conspiracy. connections: Lord Godalming (p. 43) might have staff in this building; “Mr. Hopkins” (p. 117) works here. The Journalist (p. 120) regularly visits. The MI6 Romania Desk Analyst (p. 124) might be called across the river to give a classified briefing on matters relating to Al-Qaeda in Rûm (p. 148), especially if terrorists hit England again. The old library in the building could have some deeply buried files relating to Edom. Tunnels connect the basement of the building to various secret underground facilities, like the communications citadel of Q-Whitehall. dossier reference:

HO36, HO62

194

Safe House Network Immediately after arriving in London,

Dracula established a network of safe houses, distributing his precious boxes of earth among them. Given that the need to sleep on native soil is perhaps the single biggest limitation on a vampire’s movements, it’s likely that Dracula was following standard operating procedure for a vampire moving into a new theater of operations. Arrive, establish an initial base, then immediately set up a safe house network to ensure the ready availability of a refuge no matter where you are. The first wave of safe houses served as distribution points; Dracula moved outward from Piccadilly, intending to plant coffins across London. Dracula’s original set of safe houses were — according to Stoker,anyway — destroyed by the hunters, and the actual physical houses contain no useful information. However, they are a model for any new networks, so they’re still worth analyzing. 197 chicksand street: Right in the middle of Ripper territory. Jack the Ripper’s killings all took place in a rough circle around this address (Criminology). Vampirology suggests that vampires are drawn to places of violent death, either as cover for their own misdeeds, or because murders have some polarizing effect on the spiritual nature of a district that makes them especially congenial to vampires.

Potential 2015 safe houses: Brixton’s known for gun crime and gang violence; Muswell Hill was home to a notorious serial killer, Dennis Nilsen, who strangled and dismembered 15 victims between 1978–1983. jamaica road: Military Science suggests that the most notable thing about this safe house is its multiplicity of escape routes. Jamaica Road’s close to the banks of the Thames, but also to multiple railways and the Thames Tunnel. Having a lair close to a transit hub allows the vampire to make expeditions further afield, knowing that it can rest soon after returning to its home. Potential 2015 safe houses: If vampires can use airplanes without any problems, then a safe house close to Heathrow would be ideal. Hounslow or Cranford are also well set up. If telluric currents, running water, or the difficulty of transporting coffins without attracting attention rules out air travel, then a safe house near St. Pancras’ station gives access to the Eurostar trains through the Channel Tunnel to Europe — the recently redeveloped St. Pancras Renaissance London Hotel has apartments that might suit an ostentatious vampire, while a more cautious one might establish a safe house near St. Pancras Hospital off Midland Road. 347 piccadilly: Right in the heart of London. High Society or Human Terrain guesses that ambitious, aristocratic vampires like Dracula are drawn to wealth and power. His Piccadilly address

was only a few streets away from the hotels where hunters like Van Helsing and Holmwood stayed — and hotels surely don’t count as private homes for the purposes of vampiric invitations. It’s also nicely central, making it an ideal distribution point (Traffic Analysis) from which to move more coffins to other houses.Well suited for degenerate orgies, it’s another potential location for a (or the) Red Room (p. 187). The former owner of the Piccadilly safe house, Winter-Suffield, gets a mention in the Dossier as a devotee of the occult and owner — briefly — of the Jeweled Dagger (p. 270). Potential 2015 safe houses: Belgravia (plenty of oil magnates buying in a massively overheated property market, and mansions lying empty for months at a time) or Mayfair (corporate wealth by day, exclusive nightclubs by dark). Obviously, “violence,” “ease of access,” and “wealth and power” are such vague criteria that they cannot be used as the sole clue that leads the Agents to a vampire’s safe house (although desperate Agents might try surveilling suitable areas of London by night, hoping to spot the vampire among the crowds of prey). Coupled with other clues, though, like a pattern of murders (Traffic Analysis or Criminology), weird rumors (Streetwise), or financial transactions correlated with property purchases (Accounting), they become suggestive. Urban Survival may point toward some possibilities, especially

locations n London: Norman Shaw Buildings to Seward's Asylum if an Agent has London as one of her Familiar Cities. All of Dracula’s properties in London were purchased legally through intermediaries and agents like Billington & Son (p. 142), so even the original band of hunters had to risk picking up Heat when breaking in (fortunately, they had Lord Godalming (p. 36) around to make High Society spends to allay suspicion). In the present day, any self-respecting vampire avails himself of modern security systems, forcing Difficulty 5+ Infiltration tests to break in without raising the alarm. cool:

cloud of pestilent vapor, conjured with vile sorcery or drawn up with telluric powers a swarm of diseased bats (Marburg virus) or mosquitos (malaria) the presence of polonium or rare fungal spores in the grave dirt makes it dangerous to touch or inhale

ghoul (or even just a particular crazy Renfield) lying concealed in the dirt with a very sharp knife, waiting for intruders more prosaically, a claymore mine or faked gas explosion A sleeping vampire can be paralyzed with a stake, or sealed in its coffin with a suitable block. If the vampire’s absent, the box of earth can be destroyed using a bane (or just by smashing it up and scattering the earth so it mixes with non-native soil). A vampiric safe house might have a keeper of some sort — a Renfield, a hypnotized servant unaware of the owner’s true nature, a ghoul or other supernatural creature, or an Edom lamplighter in the case of a “tame” vampire. connections: Dracula’s Piccadilly house was a treasure trove of documents, letters, and keys — a modern-day safe house also includes a laptop hard drive or mobile phone. These might lead to other safe houses, possibly at Other Ports (p. 172) outside London, or give insight into the vampire’s travel plans. The safe house might have been purchased through Billington & Sons (p. 142) or Hildesheim (p. 116); coffins delivered through Axel Logistics (p. 141) or HGD Shipping (p. 145) or the Ruvari Szgany (p. 147). Edom might have the safe house staked out, or have sent Pearl (p. 52) in to recover any documents. The MI5 Agent (p. 122) could also be watching if Dracula’s relying on the Romanian Mafia (p. 157) to secure his safe house. Analyzing a sample of dirt from the box might require the geological expertise of a Seismologist (p. 100) or Volcanologist (p. 136). dossier reference:

CU47, CU130, CU199, HO202

Seward's Asylum Finding Seward’s former asylum once

the Agents have already found Carfax (p. 185) is almost too simple. There are only so many large, surviving Victorian structures (1-point Architecture to find it by driving around Plaistow; 1-point Data Recovery to recognize it on Google Earth) within 250 meters of the Carfax site,

and one of them is an NHS Haematology Research and Treatment Centre. Without knowing where Carfax is, tracking Seward’s asylum becomes somewhat more difficult. Traffic Analysis applied to a digitally sourced list of licensed asylums operating in 1894 rapidly reveals no such establishment in Plaistow — GCHQ covering Edom’s electronic tracks yet again. However, checking the paper records at the former East Ham county hall in Stratford (1-point Research spend, plus Bureaucracy to get access) gives a slightly different list, including an address in Plaistow. One paper record also lists John Seward, MD (or his actual clear name; p. 36), as the responsible physician, although another 1-point Research spend makes it clear that the actual file on Seward’s asylum was abstracted long ago. However the Agents find the facility, if they know to look for “Dr. Drawes,” (p. 50), they notice he has admitting privileges here. cool:

The building, though quite large for the area (a three-story main building with two two-story wings), is remarkably unobtrusive. A dozen closely planted bushy trees (Outdoor Survival recognizes hawthorn and rowan trees; Vampirology identifies both as potential blocks) and a brick wall surround the parking lot; a steel gate operated from a large guardhouse keeps out rubberneckers; the signage is inadequate at best. However, Agents with proper medical credentials (1-point spend of Diagnosis or Medic; Difficulty 2 Cover) can get past the guardhouse and into the building with little problem. Once they do, they find a medical and research staff mostly overworked and constantly on call. All the old ground-floor cells on the west wall are now office cubicles; Renfield’s original room is anonymously buried under government paint jobs and NHS paperwork. An Architecture spend locates the former chimneys, and thus Seward’s old second-level study, but it’s now a laboratory — and behind a Biohazard Level 3 clean-room door.Getting through that requires a Difficulty 4 Cover test (or a Difficulty 6 Infiltration test

195

The flat is unoccupied and feels strangely unlived in despite the furnishings, like a staged set. No personal touches or mementos. New books and a few recent newspapers in the study. The kitchen has a few supplies — nothing perishable, but plenty of spices and other ingredients, as well as several excellent bottles of wine. In the master bedroom, you notice several scratches on the hardwood floor, suggesting something bulky and heavy was hastily removed. warm: The stench is the first clue that the Agents are hot on the vampire’s trail — the boxes of earth give off a distinct and sometimes overpoweringly foul smell that can’t wholly be masked by air fresheners or perfumes. Van Helsing et al. found Dracula’s boxes left in various back rooms and cellars, but not otherwise concealed; after his previous experiences, though, Dracula may have grown more wary, and taken to hiding the boxes (vampiric strength might let him hoist a coffin into an attic or crawlspace, or hide the box beneath a heavy trapdoor; Conceal or Notice finds the hiding place), or booby-trapping them (Sense Trouble to spot the danger; depending on the nature of the trap, Explosive Devices, Chemistry, or Occult Studies may be needed to disarm or avoid the danger). Possible traps:

196

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

somehow carried out in plain sight in a room with a 24-hour medical staff), and reveals nothing except a lot of blood samples, microscopes, centrifuges, and such. Diagnosis, Chemistry, and various Interpersonal abilities confirm that this lab studies HTLV (human T-lymphotropic virus); Diagnosis or a 1-point Investigative Mechanics spend notes that it’s been refitted extensively in the last decade. Any old machinery, files, or computers are long gone — Edom has no more than a watcher’s interest in the Centre. (The watcher, of course, is the person in the guardhouse — spotting him as Edom is practically impossible.) warm: The asylum is Edom’s main research facility into the biology, etiology, and other medical aspects of vampirism. Getting in is much harder: all Cover tests add +2 Difficulty from the Cool version. That Diagnosis or Medic spend gets the Agent with that ability into the main reception and conference area, but not into the working sections of the facility without a specific reason (such as a sample of vampire blood “for testing”). Diagnosis or Medic also, however, tells the Agent that this level of security is highly unusual for anything except bioweapons research facilities. Renfield’s old room is indeed an office; access to the computer (Digital Intrusion Difficulty 5) gets the facility’s personnel files, accounts, even the medical research and reports

for the facility — everything except the research done in the Malaria Wing. This tranche of data may pay off with later Traffic Analysis, Accounting, or other spends. This office may also conceal Renfield’s Journal (p. 277). The lab in Seward’s old second-level chamber studies rabies, not HTLV — an Agent with Diagnosis knows that while some rabies research has hematological relevance, a dedicated lab for the disease is unusual. Access to the computers and records here (Difficulty 4 Digital Intrusion test; 1-point Diagnosis or Medic spend on the data) shows the general direction of the research: to develop rabies strains that infect necrotic tissue.While this is a great way to drive Dracula or any other vampire insane (and possibly kill them), it’s an even better way to start a zombie epidemic. It’s up to the Director how many ampules of Rabies-V are stashed in the fridge here, and what effect they have on Renfields, vampires, or humans. It’s also up to her whether Edom knows what effect this stuff has. From the outside, Electronic Surveillance picks up the antiTEMPEST precautions on the windows of one wing; Notice identifies the glass as bulletproof triple-paned security glass. This is the Malaria Wing. All research and medical data in the Centre are copied to the servers in the Malaria Wing, which is very much off limits. It has a Biohazard Class 4 entry

complex (Difficulty 8 Infiltration test, again in full view of the staff) and only Edom-friendly researchers have ID cards that allow entry at all. Fingerprints, retinal scans, etc., are also required — the Director can subsume hacking that security precaution as part of the Difficulty or require the Agents to also take IR photos of personnel eyeballs and lift prints from glassware. If the Agents can hack the Malaria Wing security computer (Difficulty 7 Digital Intrusion; requires on-site direct access), however, they have a full list — complete with fingerprints and retinal scans! — of every Edom staffer with access to the facility, including not just “Drawes” but possibly several Dukes and “D” himself. This particular Infiltration exploit should be complex, detailed, and exciting, in other words. The Malaria Wing has a full suite of medical research facilities, topline medical and surgical facilities, enormous walk-in freezers, full morgue and pathologist facilities, isolation wards and prison beds for hard cases, showers and bunkrooms, and several thousand gallons of human blood stored and shelf-stable.There is at least one full basement level beneath the ward. There are two private offices and two bullpens; all but the most absolutely crucial researchers keep desks elsewhere in the facility. See Ring (p. 172), Carfax (p. 185), and HMS Proserpine (p. 169) for possible anti-vampire security measures — but since they tend to interfere with studying vampires (or vampire viruses) the Malaria Wing can’t be as chock-full of crosses, sun lamps, garlic, etc. However, the Class 4 biosecurity ventilation system is more than capable of filtering out or sucking away any vampire mist in the wing. Inside the Malaria Wing, accessing the separate dedicated servers is much easier (Difficulty 6 Digital Intrusion).The haul can hold anything the Director chooses, although it should at the very least contain everything Edom knows about vampires and how to block, contain, and kill them. (Add +1 rating point to the Vampirology of every Agent with Diagnosis or Medic.) Other possibilities include:

locations n London: Seward's Asylum

data on all Edom personnel, quite likely searchable against British government medical records (Traffic Analysis plus Diagnosis) to uncover their identities direct lines into the systems at Ring (p. 172), HMS Proserpine (p. 169), and Carfax (p. 185) — Digital Intrusion tests against Edom are Difficulty 6 from these computers lots and lots of Seward Serum (p. 51), and the formula to make it slightly less Blomberg Serum (p. 282), and the formula to make it if the Luria Formula (p. 114) exists, even if Luria isn’t an Edom asset, samples and the formula to make it an original vampire blood sample from Mina, Lucy, or Dracula himself. This might or might not be the Vial of Blood on page 284 a vampire (Lucy Westenra or another), dissected and nestled in frozen garlic juice a vampire, “alive” and imprisoned and soon to be dissected human victims of vampirism, from Renfields to bitten Edom agents imprisoned (or just recruited, if Edom is slightly less horrible)

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medical

Seward's Asylum human-trafficked Romanian girls, for live trials of serums and anti-vampire vaccines — they might be able to finger the Human Trafficker (p. 118) secret prisoners, admitted and imprisoned in hospital rooms here as “infectious cases” — especially if Carfax and HMS Proserpine are Cool, and Edom doesn’t have another secret prison facility

room full of vampire bats for experiments; another room full of Norway rats. An actual wolf stored on site is perhaps a little extreme — or maybe not, in your game! interrogation facility — optimized for humans, Renfields, or vampires; or one of each; lots of truth serum, too, possibly amped up with vampire blood “Dr. Drawes” (p. 50)

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook

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connections:

In addition to “Drawes,” any member of Edom might be here, either to check up on the research or to get a checkup (or that nasty bite looked at). If Jacqueline Seward (p. 47) is Edom, she’s either here or her records (or her embroidered lab coat) are. Invoices, etc., point to other Edom assets, if any: Axel Logistics (p. 141), Strasba Orphanage (p. 223), Heal the Children (p. 150), or the Hospital of St. Joseph and Ste. Mary in Budapest (p. 230), for example. If Edom has an asset in the Romanian Ministry of Health, her name is here — which can give Agents an opening into the Edom network in Romania.

dossier reference:

HO64, CU66, CU112, HO117, CU197

Sotheby's Auction House Located in Mayfair since 1917, Sotheby’s

provides a variety of consultation and valuation services in addition to hosting its famous auctions. The on-site café is a way to soak in the atmosphere (or set up discreet meetings) without having to actually commit to anything. Auctions are generally free and open to the public with no obligation to bid, creating a remarkably egalitarian atmosphere to view some of the most valuable objects in the world. Some particularly high-profile auctions are invitation-only affairs and held in the evening hours. cool:

A half-full room where bored functionaries bid on tony novelties,

with a gaggle of tourists in the back watching. It’s not a bad place to get a coffee or have a quick conversation, but, if you’re not here for business, there isn’t any reason to stay. warm: The main reason for Sotheby’s to become relevant is an auction of specific artifacts relating to Dracula. This could include the Harker Rosary (p. 268), Tepes Tapestries (p. 280), Vampire Hunting Kit (p. 281), or a collection of Aytown’s work being auctioned off by a failing museum. A rare-books auction could include Le Dragon Noir (p. 273) or John Dee’s Journal (p. 270). Alternately, upon the death or disappearance of the Sculptor (p. 100), the contents of her studio could be part of an estate sale.These could include the Portrait of Dracula (p. 275), any of the Cameos (p. 263), or the Photographic Studies (p. 262). Any object that needs to be smuggled in or out of a specific country could use Sotheby’s auction as a cover, especially if the Extraordinary Objects Department (p. 161) is involved. This could be as itself, or concealed within a cover artifact (like an urn or chest). Agents with Art History, Archaeology, and perhaps Vampirology spot what’s important; those with Flattery, High Society, and Negotiation can cut side deals. To win an auction is a Gambling test or contest against a Difficulty representing how much the other party has to spend and how badly they want to win. Negotiation or Bullshit Detector used before the auction starts may give you an advantage or decrease the other parties’ willingness to spend.

Some auctions, of course, may simply be out of reach unless the group has access to excessive funds (NBA, p. 95). (For more detailed auction rules, see Bookhounds of London, pp. 24–28.) Anyone attending an auction could be an agent of the Conspiracy or an asset, either to keep tabs on someone else or as a representative of some ongoing operation. Sotheby’s has its own security systems and coverage that may be used for surveillance tasks to be kept separate from the state apparatus throughout London (Electronic Surveillance to discover this or attempt to tap into it; Difficulty 5 Infiltration to defeat it). And of course, the auction house itself contains archives and catalogues of everything that’s passed through its system. With a little digging (using any relevant Investigative techniques), players could uncover a “storage room” with severely state-of-the-art security (Difficulty 7 Infiltration) that serves as a holding area for objects destined for clients of the Extraordinary Objects Department, such as the EarthDisturbance Urn (p. 265). connections: The Art Forecaster (p. 103), the Sculptor (p. 100), and the Petroleum Executive (p. 127) all have good reasons to be present for an auction (either bidding or merely observing). Any Renfield may attempt to steal an object linked to its Master. Sotheby’s originally sold Stoker’s Notes (p. 280) at auction in 1913. dossier reference:

CU123, HO217

HO58,

locations n Romania

romania 1

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c Bontesti Rákosd and Hunedoara Castle (Castel Corvinilor) (p. 211) Sarmizegetusa (p. 294) Mount Gugu (p. 294) Stregoicavar Northern Carpathians (overleaf) Bogata Mezö-Madaras meteorite fall Aiud Prison (p. 153) Sighisoara

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Alba Iulia (p. 294) Prince Charles’ manor, Valea Zalanului Ocna Sibiului Spa Racos, Brasov County Sibiu (p. 221) Bâlea Lake Paltinis Iezerul Mare Bran Castle (p. 209) Sinaia ski resort Vidaru Dam and Poenari Castle (p. 211)

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Targoviste Pitesti Prison (p. 218) Lacul Snagov Bucharest (p. 202) Dragoesti Comana Craciuna Castle? (p. 211) Epicenters of 1940 and 1977 earthquakes Galati (p. 217 and overleaf) Mihail Kogalniceanu Airport

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night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook nc1-1 Nc1-2 nc1-3 nc1-4

Izvorul Tausoarelor Caverns Rodna Fortress Borgo Pass Hotel Castel Dracula and Piatra Fântânele ski lodge Bistrita (see below)

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Ceahlau National Park (see opposite) Piatra Neamt Town Bicaz Gorge (p. 208) Red Lake

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Bistrita River Zugreni Gorge Izvorul Calimanului (p. 209) Morile Draculi (Dracula’s Mill, p. 297) Muntii Calimani (p. 209)

northern carpathians

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Hotel Krone Post Office Telephone Exchange Hotel Dracula

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locations n Romania

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Cabana Izvorul Muntelui Poiana Maicilor Lacul Bicaz Bicaz River

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night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook bucharest

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Cotroceni Palace Botanical Garden The Bucharest Opera The Memorial of Rebirth Count Dracula Club Palace of Parliament Union Boulevard Târgul Taranului The Ferentari neighborhood Parcul Tineretului Giurgiului cemetery Strasba Orphanage (p. 223) Piata Obor Targul Vitan-Barzesti

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Arcul de Triumf Antipa Museum of Natural History Victory Square metro station Gara de Nord train station Vasile Pârvan Institute of Archaeology Victory Avenue

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Lake Dâmbovita Politehnica University of Bucharest Bucharest Baneasa International Airport Diplomatic Club and Golf Course Skytower

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Saint George’s Church The Kilometre Zero monument Old Town Annunciation Church of Sfântul Anton Curtea Veche, Strada Franceza 23 Piata Unirii intersection

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InterContinental Bucharest Bucharest National Theatre Piata Universitatii intersection Piata Universitatii (University Square)

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Bistrita (Bistritz) : The town is quiet, pleasant, cool

and mostly forgettable. Dracula merchandise leers at you from tourist shop windows, and you walk past the pseudo-Gothic Hotel Dracula and the lurid orange of the Hotel Krone on your way to the medieval section of the town.

203

Dracula’s eyes are everywhere in Romania — and he has more than eyes looking out for his interests. Rats and dogs in the cities, wolves and owls in the forests, crows and bats in the skies, all may serve Dracula. He feels changes in the vibrations in the earth and senses its magnetic and electrical fields shift in ways that even he doesn’t comprehend. Driving anywhere in Transylvania, for example, without his knowing it is nigh impossible. At any time, the Director can increase the Difficulty of Conceal, Disguise, Filch, Infiltration, and the covert aspects of Cover, Driving, Network, and Surveillance by +1 in Romania or +2 in Transylvania. Even if the immediate target doesn’t notice, Dracula’s network does. All Heat earned in Romania automatically increases by +1 once Dracula knows to watch for the Agents; the Heat roll Difficulty increases by a like amount. The Director should also see the quick and dirty description of Bucharest (NBA, p. 173), and Looking Glass: Bucharest (p. 335)

An old woman does press a crucifix in your hand and warn you about visiting Castle Dracula, but she charges you ten euro for the souvenir, and her warning is about the queues. warm: Bistrita may have changed since Harker visited it, but its importance to Dracula remains the same — his letters and other physical communications go through here. Depending on the location of Castle Dracula (p. 207), Bistrita may be the closest town, or it may just be a convenient stopping point with access to the Danube, the road to Cluj-Napoca, and routes to Budapest and points west. Either way,

the Conspiracy doubtless has a presence in the main post office and telephone exchange. Breaking in gets the Agents a glimpse into the Conspiracy’s structure (Traffic Analysis). connections: Castle Dracula, obviously — at least, the Borgo Pass, Bicaz Gorge, and Calimani candidates, or Castle Ferenczy, of course, which has the virtue of being fictional and therefore moveable. Potential visitors in town include the Medievalist (p. 122) or Psychic (p. 96) looking into Dracula lore, the BND Deep-Cover Agent (p. 105) with some Turkish friends, the Dissident (p. 112) making trouble, or

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook the Human Trafficker (p. 118) on the way to Debrecen in Hungary (which, by the way, shows up in The Zalozhniy Quartet, if you want to cross over into that campaign, or just steal bits from it). Ruvari Szygany (p. 147) are a certainty; the Smuggler (p. 131) or Elvis (p. 50) are here if this is a Conspiracy node. dossier reference:

CU11, HO16, CU53

204

''Black Light'' Black Site Between 2003 and 2006, the CIA ran a

network of “black sites” — prisons in US allies around the world, from Lithuania and Poland to Morocco and Thailand. Romania was one node of the black site network, with a prison facility codenamed “Bright Light” operating out of the basement of a Romanian government building (the National Registry Office for Classified Information, where Romania stores NATO and EU secret documents) in Bucharest. Although the black site program was officially suspended in 2006 and canceled in 2009, extraordinary renditions continue — the CIA still cooperates with third countries who imprison and interrogate terror suspects captured by American forces. Under President Obama various branches of the US intelligence and military also continue to hold and interrogate “high-value captives” at Bagram air base in Afghanistan, in US-leased facilities on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, and on up to 17 US naval vessels, including the USS San Antonio and the USS Bataan. This paragraph is absolutely true. The contractors who built the “Black Light” black site beneath another government building in Bucharest (which one,and under the nominal control of which agency, is up to the Director) thought they were building the “Bright Light” facility — the prefabricated cells, special springmounted floors (to “keep the prisoners off balance” — or to interfere with vampiric connection to their native earth?), and other components were identical. Crews were kept isolated from each other, and the construction on both sites was carried out during the same weeks. A series of relatively low-level but time-consuming

Emotional Modulation: Bucharest Hopeful Sinister You smell a wonderful combination of smoke, meat, and mustard even before you see the fat man grilling mici on a cart by the courtyard. It almost seems you could survive on the scent alone, so delicious it feels. He catches your eye and waves, “Bread is free for you today!” A very pretty girl catches your eye on the boulevard. She stops, turns, and checks out her own reflection in the shop window, pushes a glossy curl behind her ear and walks on, calling out and laughing, to catch up with her friends. Church bells ring out in a brazen clamor that resolves itself into an unfamiliar but rhythmic carillon of chimes. Perhaps it’s some saint’s day — the church is hung with bright ribbons. Bright blue light and up-tempo music spill out the suddenly open door of a nightclub. The handsome revelers coming outside laugh and dance a little with the young people waiting and courting on the sidewalk. An old man dressed in a warmlooking coat sits at a café table in the slanting sunlight, sipping coffee from a glass and reading a bright-colored paperback. A young girl — his daughter no doubt — comes out, wipes her hands on her apron, and gives him a kiss on the cheek. He’s survived everything Romania’s history could throw at him, and still he smiles.

At the bottom of your vision a young man — or is it a woman — suddenly twitches her head around and stares at you, her eyes black blinking holes in a gray face. Before you can respond, she ducks back down into the open sewer tunnel she briefly emerged from. A building in Old Town is draped with a scrim painted with the building as it appears in some realtor’s dream. But the fabric blows and sags, revealing a crumbling masonry front with empty windows and rotting concrete behind them. The largest of a pack of feral dogs looks up at you and bares its teeth, snarling. You have time to see the patchy, diseased fur and dried blood on the thing’s flank before it snatches up something sticky in its drooling jaws and darts away. Bucharest’s smog closes in, choking you with diesel fumes and rubbing coal grit into your nostrils and gums. The terrible, stifling heat [or clutching, damp fog] tightens around you, making every breath laborious as well as poisonous. When you turn the corner you see a rusted-out van accelerate to beat a cab to the intersection. It hits a scooter head on, and you hear the bang and shatter before you see the doll-like body flip up in the air and come down hard and bloody. The van speeds off as passersby turn away.

Infiltration and Digital Intrusion tests on various construction, HVAC, and mechanical engineering companies — traced by a Network source in the AP (possibly the Journalist, p. 120) or CIA, or by yet more time-consuming Interpersonal investigation — uncovers the dual-purposed contracting process. But in “Black Light,” it wasn’t the CIA calling the shots or footing the bills, it was Edom. (Accounting and Traffic Analysis on all the evidence previously assembled.) Edom specialists from HMS

Proserpine (p. 169) or Seward’s Asylum (p. 195) added ultraviolet lights and tanks of holy water, and replaced the clocks with crucifixes. And then they started to ask their captives (terror suspects and captured vampires (or Renfields or both) alike) some questions. If Edom has an asset or ally within the CIA, then that ally officially signed off on the program; if the CIA has its own covert vampire program, then “Black Light” may have been its own idea without Edom’s participation or even knowledge.

locations n Romania: ''Black Light'' Black Site

cool: The “Black

outside; the doorway to the surface is a double-sealed airlock (Infiltration Difficulty 5) full of garlic-and–wild rose-essence perfume. The raw intel from interrogations stays on site in a code- and thumb-locked file room (Infiltration Difficulty 7 without either the code or a thumb); treat the data as a 4-point dedicated pool for vampiric (not necessarily Conspiracy) actions requiring both Traffic Analysis (to find the data) and Interrogation (to evaluate its value) spends to use. The Director can plant any other campaign secret she wishes in this testimony of pain, as well. A Duke of Edom (usually Elvis (p. 50), Hound (p. 51), Oakes (p. 52), or Osprey (p. 52)) is always on station here, to determine when a subject should “get his bigsby” (from BGSB: “beheaded, garlicked, staked, and burnt”). But they at least can leave on field work or special assignments. The four Edom lamplighters (p. 123) and three interrogators on the job full time are miserable: forbidden from leaving the grounds for three months at a stretch, forced to breathe the stench of vampires or their tainted minions day and night. Even if the Black Lighters don’t grumble while off duty, any Agent with both Interrogation and Tradecraft can spot such an interrogator in a Bucharest bar or strip club.

connections:

The former Black Site Interrogator (p. 104) knows where “Black Light” is (and vice versa), as do Elvis, Hound, Oakes, Osprey, and other Dukes of Edom (p. 50). The MI6 Lamplighter (p. 123) might know, even if he’s not Edom. Sources in the Romanian Government (p. 151) might also have an inkling, or be willing to grab headlines by investigating and then loudly denouncing yet another black site they profited from a decade ago. Depending on the true purpose of the Pitesti (p. 218) Experiment, copies of those files may be stored on site, too.

dossier reference:

HO13

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Light” program did what it needed to do — it located Dracula in 2005 and convinced him to do a deal with Edom. Edom rolled up the program as part of the new modus vivendi and now interrogates its refractory prisoners on the HMS Proserpine (p. 169) or beneath Carfax (p. 185). The site now looks much like any other abandoned government basement, although the mountings for the springs and a few crucifix-shaped pale spots in a bloodstained wall reveal the site’s true purpose to those with eyes to see (Interrogation plus Vampirology). They might still have difficulty getting in — the surrounding buildings are still top secret Romanian government facilities, after all (Cover test Difficulty 5). warm: “Black Light” is an ongoing program, because the ongoing threat of uncontrolled vampires still exists. Six prefab cells rest on springs and gimbals, rotating and tilting with every passing truck or earth tremor. Treat these cells as non-native earth for regular vampires, and as Faraday cages for telluric vampires (p. 59). Vampires howl and Renfields shriek nearly constantly, unable to escape the crucifix, the always-on UV sunlamp lights, or the feeling of near-drowning in holy water; only the ceiling is soundproofed. The air is recirculated to avoid any contamination (or mist) from

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''Castle Dracula'' There are four different mainstream

The State of Castle Dracula Change these details where needed to suit the specific castle you choose, or to suit your specific campaign. The descriptions vary depending on whether the castle in question is a desolate ruin (abandoned) or has been restored and put into use (occupied) since 1894. Usually, an occupied castle is a tourist site, operated either by a downat-heels aristocrat, a soulless hospitality company, or the Romanian (or other applicable) government. Even occupied castles can, of course, be secretly inhabited by Dracula or his servants. He commands a continentspanning Conspiracy, after all — suborning a tourist agency or controlling the titular heir to a property is simplicity itself for him. With Dracula dependent on his native soil, he likely keeps at least a watchful eye — human or animal — on the place just in case. If this castle is Dracula’s main refuge, in addition to his human (and Renfielded) security team he is reinforced by at least one Bride or major monstrous guardian: a vorthr (NBA, p. 153), a pack of ghoulwolves, or something. (abandoned): The fragments of stone barely look like a castle at first, only coming into focus as you walk the site and get a sense for its defensive possibilities. One or two mighty rocks lie toppled and split nearby, evidence of the great siege or seismic cataclysm that brought the fortress low. warm (abandoned): Even in this empty place, you never escape the feeling of being watched, a sensation of eyes more and less than human boring into your back. The earthquake that leveled the castle left the crag horribly twisted and broken. The earth nearby looks equally disturbed; sinkholes open suddenly. Attempts to climb the crag are ridiculously protracted and dangerous: someone could easily sprain an ankle or even break a leg (p. 173), and be left out here in the wasteland overnight. Ropes fray and snap, cameras misbehave, phones (of course) have no signal. cool

Agents and enemies suffer a +2 to the Difficulty of all Athletics or Infiltration tests to climb or maneuver on the ground thanks to Dracula’s curse and/or weather magic. Damage from falls is always doubled here. cool (occupied):There could be anyone in the press of tourists and gawkers, half of them sporting shirts and paraphernalia bedecked with vampires or Dracula or both. When the crowds do part, you see a carefully burnished image of the medieval past, the impalements and savagery carefully left behind. warm (occupied): Underneath the façade of cultural uplift, something peeks out: a lovingly displayed pike with bloodstains faintly visible on the blade, torture devices with fresh oil on the hinges, a not-quite-shadowed display of a coat of arms, all wolf teeth or dragon coils. The guards’ guns are not for show, and there are definitely passages and chambers not on the official tour. The security system is either strikingly top shelf or weirdly absent (Electronic Surveillance). connections: Dracula and Edom may both have assets watching even spurious “Castle Draculas,” just to get advance wind of any investigation by other parties. The genuine Castle Dracula, whether the Master sleeps there or not, is likely guarded by the Romanian SRI (p. 156) and by Ruvari Szgany (p. 20), both in the nearby area and (if the Castle is occupied) infiltrated into the castle staff. It may also be under watch by Edom lamplighters (p. 123) either at a safe distance or by agreement, if Dracula and Edom have come to an understanding. Any of Dracula’s banks (pp. 143, and 145) may provide leads to the Castle, or vice versa. Forensic Accounting can find bank accounts set up to maintain a private property, or to endow “patriotic cultural funds” to preserve a theoretically public monument. See the generic Castle locations (pp. 213–216) for individual NPCs who might be wandering around Castle Dracula.The Tour Guide (p. 135) might be in any of these sites. dossier reference:

HO10, HO16, HO32, HO163

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candidates for “Dracula’s Castle” in Romania; this section provides eight in Romania and two outside the country. Feel free to use “extra” castles as red herrings, or just thrilling locations. Setting an early scene at the super-touristy Castle Bran (or Hotel Castel Dracula!) and ending the campaign in some desolate ruin discovered by desperate investigation and interrogation would be one excellent approach, for example. It’s up to you to direct the Agents to the Castle Dracula you like best by feeding them clues through their Research, History, or other abilities. The Stoker manuscript is not explicit about the Castle’s location — rather the opposite. When Harker comes to Castle Dracula at the beginning, he has been traveling for most of a day over roads with no signposts. His escort and chauffeur for the last leg is Dracula himself — a driver more than capable of taking a confusing route or simply sending Harker into a hypnagogic state or full-blown trance en route. When Harker leaves the Castle, he is suffering from brain fever and dementia, making his way to the hospital in Budapest more by luck than by navigation. Only Van Helsing actually reaches Castle Dracula during the final hunt for Dracula — and even if his testimony was accurate (he might have withheld details for his Nachrichtenabteilung masters, for instance) his perceptions may have been clouded by Dracula’s mental attacks or by the privations of his journey. His description doesn’t tally entirely with Harker’s — again, perhaps he changed some details, or perhaps the Castle was larger than either man thought … or perhaps Dracula has more than one castle nestled in the Romanian mountains. A generic entry for “Castle Dracula,” wherever you decide to locate it, appears in The State of Castle Dracula, immediately following. For descriptions and details of specific castles, see the individual entries below that. Each of those entries features a general briefing on the site (usually providing some information available to the Agents with Research or History), a Castle entry describing it and providing some specific sub-locations (pp. 213–216) likely to be at that site,

and other headings offering some clues and other information available to Agents using the listed abilities.

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Finding Castle Dracula Dracula’s Castle may rest on government soil now, or be part of a nature preserve, military reservation, or other restricted area. If so, he uses the government’s resources to guard the perimeter, restricting his overt control to a few key officials or generals. Since all of Romania was “government property” under the Communists, finding his bolt-hole requires Research in the old archives for the 1946–1947 property confiscations and Traffic Analysis to compare those records with the absence of records that indicates only minimal state presence thereafter. Some landowners never went to trial or prison camps (Human Terrain or more Traffic Analysis), some forestry officials or brigadier generals seem equally immune to dismissal and transfer alike as if some force were keeping them in one place (Bureaucracy). It also requires an ironclad Cover or Forgery, because people who ask about that particular national forest, geological preserve, or training ground get special and rigorous scrutiny. Conversely,Dracula may have reacquired his ancestral lands following the 1989 Revolution; the new government put into place a retrocession law allowing former landowners to reclaim property seized or nationalized by the Communists. Here, Dracula depends on the Ruvari Szgany and the local Romanian mafia to keep the curious at bay. Most forest property was returned in very small (one-hectare) parcels; finding a few promising large estates requires only Research and Traffic Analysis; Accounting traces ownership of any truly likely mountainsides or forest valleys. The Agents may have to decide which of three large, remote properties belong to a vampire instead of a Russian Mafiya oligarch or wildcat Chinese lumber extraction company, or the Director can allow a single splotch of the map to glow conclusively red on the monitor.

Where Is It? The potential locations of Castle Dracula fall into three overlapping groups: locations derived (or possible to derive) from the directions in the Stoker manuscript; locations associated somehow with Vlad Tepes on the assumption that he and Dracula are the same; and locations derived (or possible to derive) from the

descriptions in the Stoker manuscript. Note that no single location matches all three criteria. And again, like Vlad Tepes, Dracula may have had more than one castle to call his own. Even with the Dossier, then, the Agents may have to cast around a bit, interview sources and Legacies, and eventually decide which “Castle Dracula” is the Castle Dracula. Some of these locations have no historical castles conveniently nearby, or noted on any maps. Even commercial satellite imagery shows nothing besides forests or ice. Historical records are, of course, spotty in the Balkans. In Communist countries like Romania, accurate cartography was a state secret: Dracula could easily have influenced bureaucrats to leave his Castle off the maps. Satellite imagery is another question, but you could decide that Castle Dracula, like its Master, doesn’t show up on photographs! More likely, however, if the Castle is in a location without one mapped or spotted, it is a ruin, and has been since the eruption and earthquake of 1894. Agents can find the ruins with one of three methods (spends on abilities in parentheses probably required): A

close aerial survey by eye (Notice), requiring a series of low flights over the region in question. Usefully photographing the castle site may require a camera rigged to a UV laser, radar, or lidar emitter, or other specialized sensors (Electronic Surveillance, Photography, Mechanics) and then specialized archaeological interpretation (Archaeology, Data Recovery). Renting or otherwise obtaining a small aircraft (Piloting) is not impossible in Romania, but it is likely impossible to do so and then fly over Castle Dracula without attracting the attention of the Conspiracy. Somehow obtaining classified or highly technical satellite or aerial surveillance imagery such as Predator drone overflights. Romania is a NATO member, using UAVs to patrol for drugs or check the borders with chaotic nearby Moldova. Gaining useful classified satellite IMINT or redirecting a surveillance drone flight might be possible (Difficulty 5+) with an aggressive Network spend, or an even trickier (Difficulty 6+)

Digital Intrusion test. Interpreting the imagery requires archaeological knowledge (Archaeology) and technical photo-interpretation skills (Data Recovery). Beating or tricking the location of the Castle out of one of Dracula’s servants, most likely the Ruvari Szgany or Romanian SRI secret police lookouts he keeps scattered across the area. Agents have to finger or make Dracula’s operative (noting traditional Ruvari Szgany garb or jewelry is Human Terrain; figuring out who’s the opposition is Tradecraft) and then get him to talk (Interrogation, other Interpersonal abilities) or surreptitiously follow him back to the castle (Surveillance, Driving).

Castles in Romania Bicaz Gorge This pass over the Carpathians, from Transylvania to Moldavia, is 75 km south of the Borgo Pass, the route mentioned in Stoker’s published novel. However, its physical description is far closer to Harker’s narrative: thousand-foot cliffs rearing on both sides of a two-lane, twisting road, with the Bicaz River foaming below. At the narrowest spot, the “Throat of Hell,” the rocks overhang the highway and almost meet, blotting out the sun. At the western entrance to the Bicaz Gorge lies the Red Lake, so-called because of iron oxides in the soil and water. At sunset it glitters like freshly spilled blood, tree stumps sticking out of it like stakes. The gorge itself is now a national park, with souvenir and food stands all along the road and at the lakeside. They clear out at nightfall, however. No castle exists on official maps of the gorge. castle:

Given its absence from maps so close to a tourist sightseeing spot, the Castle has most likely lain in near-total rubble since the 1894 quake. Ruin (p. 216), Crypt (p. 214), Hidden Chamber (p. 215). Driving: A diligence leaving from Bistritz could have turned southeast rather than due east and (barely) reached the western mouth of the Bicaz Gorge before sunrise, leaving Dracula’s mesmerism to erase a day’s memories.

locations n Romania: ''Castle Dracula'' Outdoor Survival: See Borgo Pass (p. 209), only moreso. Research or Geology: A sudden landslide created Red Lake in 1837, evidence of seismic disturbance in the region.

Borgo Pass

castle:

As with Bicaz, the Castle has most likely lain in near-total rubble since the 1894 quake. Use the Ruin (p. 216), Crypt (p. 214), and Hidden Chamber (p. 215) for the Rodna Fortress ruins, as well. For a castle actually hidden under the Ceausescuera theme hotel in the pass, see the Tourist Hotel (p. 256) and Gift Shop (p. 215); if Dracula is hiding in plain sight, his Hidden Chamber (p. 215) or Crypt (p. 214) might actually be concealed beneath the tacky monstrosity! Geology: The deepest cave in Romania, Izvorul Tausoarelor, is approximately 15 km north of Bistrita. Almost 20 km in length and over 400 m deep, it connects with fissures and underground rivers throughout the mountains. Outdoor Survival: The weather in the Carpathians can close in fast. The mountain summer runs from May to October; storms, snow, and bitter cold can be expected at any other time. Especially since Dracula can command the weather.

A path up the rocks leads to the entrance, which is gained by mounting an outer wooden stair, and crossing a trap-door or drawbridge in the flooring. Within are narrow passages and galleries, strange nooks and zigzag stairs, and dark corners irresistibly attractive, and in the thick wall was a low prison where no ray could ever enter. — Charles Boner, Transylvania: Its Products and its People (1865) The Romanian Ministry of Tourism identified this castle south of the city of Brasov as “Dracula’s Castle” in the 1970s, based primarily on its Gothic appearance and relative good repair. Castle Bran appeared in a number of 19th century guide books and tour descriptions of Transylvania, from which Stoker drew the local color he used to flavor the Edom mission reports. It also has little or no connection to Vlad Tepes: he may have briefly used the castle as a headquarters during one of his many campaigns against the Turks, and it may have been where Matthias Corvinus’ men imprisoned the Impaler for two months in 1462 before transferring him to Visegrád Castle in Hungary. Vlad III or his soldiery also likely occupied Castle Bran while burning down a portion of Brasov in 1459 over a tariff dispute. (No hard feelings: Brasov boasts a luxury “apartment hotel” called the Vlad Tepes today.) Technically property of the Hungarian crown, Castle Bran later came under the control of Brasov’s townspeople. In 1894, it was one of many properties used by foresters in the southern Carpathians, often left empty and in some disrepair. In 1918, the town gave it to Queen Marie of Romania, who restored it as a showplace for her collections of art and furniture: the portion not looted by the Communists became the core of the modernday museum. In 2006, the Romanian government returned Castle Bran to Marie’s Hapsburg family, who operate it now and have attempted to minimize both the “vampire” and “VladTepes” connections flogged by the previous regime. For Castle Bran to be Dracula’s Castle, much of even the unredacted novel has to be disinformation: Harker, for instance, would have traveled to Brasov instead of Bistritz by train (see HO10). Even without

this reading, however, there’s no reason that Dracula or his Conspiracy might not keep a presence in Bran now, especially given the ease of Western incognito entry to the castle and town. Further, if in your campaign Dracula is Vlad Tepes, he may have become a vampire while in Castle Bran’s dungeon, making the soil of that area in some sense his “native earth.” castle: Fully restored by Queen Marie and

the tourist industry, Bran’s pale walls and red roofs perch on a thickly forested 90-meter crag above a huge welter of junky tourist shops offering all manner of vampire and Vlad kitsch. Battlements (p. 214), Crypt (p. 214), Museum (p. 215), Offices (p. 216), Preserved Rooms (p. 216); the Dungeon (p. 214) is along a secret passage from the Courtyard (p. 214) well. Archaeology or Research: Castle Bran was built on the site of an old Teutonic Order fortification, Dietrichstein. The Ahnenerbe or another occult-minded German secret service might consider it a significant site for their own reasons. High Society: The castle and grounds can be rented for private functions; possible cover for covert searches, or for Conspiracy meetings? In 2014, the Hapsburgs began negotiations for sale of the castle to unknown parties.

Calimani Another ridge of mountains within the Carpathians, the Muntii Calimani or Kelemen Alps rise about 30 km southeast of Borgo Pass.The Calimani fit the directions and descriptions given in Stoker’s novel, and furthermore are volcanic in nature, with many extinct and dormant craters in the chain. Landmarks have suggestive names such as Mt. Dragusul, the Voivodesi Pass, and best of all a hilltop waterfall and cave complex called Morile Draculi, meaning “Mill of the Devil” — or “of Dracula,” of course (p. 297). A Dutch scholar has suggested that the mountain Izvorul Calimanului (“the Source of the Kelemen,” or more poetically, “Heart of the Kelemen”) fits the novel’s description and Stoker’s notes best, but narrowing it down to one peak is up to you, and to the Agents. Since 2000, the Calimani area has been a protected national park.

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For most literary critics, this Carpathian pass is the general “default location” for Castle Dracula, based on the general directions in Stoker’s novel. It is less rugged, and rises more gradually, than Harker’s description implies. The specific site varies, with some arguing for a castle toward the middle of the pass, where the Hotel Castel Dracula (built in 1983 as a sub-Disney tourist trap and still going strong) currently sits. A ski lodge is a little farther east, at Piatra Fântânele. Other scholars point to a location east of the pass along the Bistrita River, where the Zugreni Gorge more closely matches Harker’s dizzying crags and twisting road, and the views better match Harker’s vistas. Again, there is no actual medieval castle mapped in the pass itself, although Hungarian general Mihály Szilágyi granted the half-ruined Rodna Fortress some 25 km to the north to Vlad Tepes in 1457.

Bran

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locations n Romania: ''Castle Dracula'' castle:

Ruin (p. 216), Crypt (p. 214), Hidden Chamber (p. 215). Given the wild desolation of the area, a stark and empty set of Battlements (p. 214) is not impossible. Research: The place name Morile Draculi only appears on one map, the Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Third Survey map updated in 1907. Something kept it off the maps until 1907 — and then took it right back off.

Craciuna

castle:

Although you can present almost anything here in the wasteland of Vrancea, the most likely is a derelict Ruin (p. 216), albeit possibly one with Battlements (p. 214), Crypt (p. 214), Dungeon (p. 214), and even a deserted Courtyard (p. 214). Military Science: Useful when evaluating where Radu would have built a fortress to defend Wallachia against both the Turks and his enemy Stephen the Great of Moldavia.

This castle in southwestern Transylvania was founded in 1446 by the regent of Hungary, John Hunyadi (Iancu de Hunedoara in Romanian), from whom it takes its name. Its current owners, the town of Hunedoara, have installed a museum and call it Castelul Corvinilor, the “Castle of Corvinus,” after Matthias Corvinus, the king of Hungary who ordered the arrest and imprisonment of Vlad Tepes in 1462. Local tradition says Vlad was imprisoned here for seven years; the actual time is more likely a few months or not at all. (As with Bran (p. 209), if Vlad Tepes became a vampire here, Hunedoara might be his “native earth” in a symbolic sense.) Vlad’s grandson Ladislas became the castellan of Hunedoara around 1500, an ideal position from which to smuggle in his grandfather’s sarcophagus if need be. Like Castle Bran, the possibility — and Castle Hunedoara’s frowning Gothic façade — are enough to make this edifice “Dracula’s Castle” to tourists and souvenir-sellers alike. It would be very difficult for Castle Hunedoara to be the Castle Dracula in Stoker’s report: not only is it nowhere near Bistritz, it was actually occupied in 1894 during its ongoing restoration (beginning in 1868). The castle was badly neglected following a serious fire in 1854, however, so Dracula could have lurked there for a decade or so, or even haunted the enormous (7000 sq m) structure from some hidden crypt or dungeon. If Harker and Dracula met here, however, it must have been a very different meeting from the reported version. The reconstruction of the Catholic church inside the courtyard

probably drove him from the Castle, unless he sabotaged its reconsecration somehow. castle:

Forty-two chambers, two courtyards, and two bridges, including a long wooden bridge across the bed of the Zlasti River. Much like Castle Bran, Hunedoara is now a tourist-friendly museum centering on the history of the area and of Hunyadi and Corvinus. Battlements (p. 214), Crypt (p. 214), Dungeon (p. 214), Gift Shop (p. 215), Museum (p. 215), Offices (p. 216); the Preserved Rooms (p. 216), including two great halls, hold medieval art, books, and décor. Occult Studies: Castle Hunedoara is supposed to be haunted by the ghosts of a monk walled alive into the Capistrano Tower, of three Turkish prisoners condemned to dig a well through solid rock, and of those hurled into the “Lions’ Hole” or the “Pit of Scythes” after offending Hunyadi or Corvinus.

Poenari This castle was actually built in 1457 by Vlad Tepes — or technically, rebuilt, by boyars and merchants put to forced labor by his cruel justice. It dominates the gorge of the Arges River running south from Transylvania into Wallachia, Vlad’s principality. It became one of the Impaler’s main operating bases during his wars against the Turks, the closest thing in history to a Castle Dracula. His heirs used it as a prison and customs house; it briefly became Hungarian royal property in the early 16th century. Following the Turkish conquest, the castle declined into a ruin. A landslide in 1888 carried much

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This fortress has three primary advantages for this campaign. First, it was built in 1470 by Vlad Tepes’ brother and rival Radu “the Handsome” while Radu ruled Wallachia after deposing the Impaler in 1462. Second, it is located in Vrancea, the most seismically active county in Romania and the epicenter of all five (1893, 1894, 1940, 1977, and 2011) of the historical earthquakes that herald Dracula’s rise and fall and rise. Third, historians don’t know where Castle Craciuna (“Christmas”) stood; there are a number of ruins in the area that might be the correct site. The Turks, of course, claimed to have destroyed the fortress after conquering Wallachia and Moldavia. Wherever Craciuna actually is, however, it is definitely on the other side of the Carpathians from Budapest: Harker cannot have traveled here along anything like the route he describes in Stoker’s version. However, some details might still hold. Evoking Harker’s encounter with the witch-fires on his way to Castle Dracula, Vrancea has fields of constantly burning natural gas emissions known as focul viu (“living fire”). Surrounding Castle Dracula with the actual flames of Hell is a nice subtle touch.

Hunedoara

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook of the wall away, followed by damage in the 1940 and 1977 quakes. The Romanian Commission on Historical Monuments “restored” much of the structure in the late 1970s, using crumbling reddish brick. It remains empty, but accessible to tourists with strong legs. Poenari is too far south to be accessible from Bistritz; for Harker to meet Dracula here requires a completely different itinerary, one putting him on the other side of the Carpathians. The castle is small: only 30 m wide and 40 m long, with three fat towers. A long (1,500 steps) staircase of switchbacks leads to the top of the hill and the castle gate. Ruin (p. 216), Battlement (p. 214); there is also a ticket Office (p. 216) at the top of the steps. History: Vlad Tepes reportedly escaped a Turkish siege of Poenari in 1462 through a secret passage exiting somewhere in the Arges valley. With a 1-point spend, you recall a chronicle’s description of a “wolf-shaped shadow” that may help you locate the hidden exit … at sunset.

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castle:

Vidraru An exotic possibility separates the Impaler’s castle from the Count’s — what if during the darkness of Turkish war and occupation Count Dracula built his own Castle, by sorcery or cruelty, up the Arges valley from his ancestor Vlad’s fortress? (If you wish, the Impaler might have built his own castle on the site, and killed all the workers afterward so that only he knew where it was.) Salt the hints of a second castle through chronicles and old maps discoverable with surprisingly costly Archaeology and Research spends, then when the Agents check the location, they discover the unsettling truth: Castle Dracula was flooded by the Vidraru Dam in 1965. The dam and power station bracket Poenari, and were obviously part of a major coverup operation by Dracula — hiding in plain sight, using the legend of “Dracula’s Castle” to distract attention to Poenari while he dwelt unbreathing and unconcerned 150 meters beneath the surface of the lake. This story works even better geographically (if not historically) if you place Castle Dracula beneath Lake Bicaz (also called Izvorul Muntelui) east of the Bicaz Gorge (p. 208). Bicaz Dam went up

in 1960, confusingly on the Bistrita River, not the Bicaz River. castle:

Drowned under the lake, the Castle shimmers in eerie shadows. In the dimness, it seems intact, but from a closer vantage, the rot and corrosion become apparent. Windows gape like vacant eye sockets, and the gate howls through choking dead trees and murky lake weed. Dracula’s Tomb is in the crypt, beneath 100 meters of water and the slimy stone of his Castle. All combat and chases take place underwater, where sunlight never reaches; Dracula’s ghouls and revenants need oxygen no more than he does. And it is trivially easy for the Conspiracy to keep track of who buys or rents SCUBA gear in Romania, and almost as simple for its agents to sabotage it if need be … Architecture: Eighty workers died building Vidraru Dam, an excessive toll for such a project even in Communist Romania. Dracula must have been laying in feed stocks for the transition to underwater Un-Death. Bureaucracy: The personnel and engineering staff of the hydro station never change their career: being posted to Vidraru is permanent, absent a mysterious death or sudden retirement, which both happen with some frequency. Clearly, the hydro station is a node of the Conspiracy.

Outside Romania Once you allow the search for Dracula’s Castle to leave Romania, it’s hard to say what precisely should be off limits. If you have a specific destination in mind, start laying clues from here to there as early as you can. Here are two brief possibilities to get you started.

Dolingen Some evidence exists in Stoker’s Notes indicating that his original material named Styria, not Transylvania, as Dracula’s home. Styria, modern-day southeastern Austria and eastern Slovenia, is a wild stretch of country surprisingly close by the gates of modernity in towns like Graz and Maribor. It is home to both vampire legends and earthquakes, although without the intensity of either found in Romania. Better yet, Styria holds dozens of castles in all states of repair.

The female vampire identified by Stoker as the “Countess Dolingen of Graz” (p. 227) was most likely one of Dracula’s earlier Brides; even if you keep the Count in Transylvania, his countess’s castle might still be worth tracking down. castle: Again, it could be any one of dozens

of castles in the general vicinity of Graz, Austria. Design the Castle you want to feature, lay clues to it, and fill it with monstrous servants, Renfield watchers, or vampiric aristocracy. High Society: Hitting the Austrian ski resort scene and digging into 19th-century gossip turns up the story of a countess who “sought and found death in 1801,” possibly with a Russian connection as noted in Stoker’s manuscript. With the family’s name, ascertaining their ancestral seat is a matter of historical research in dusty archives. History or Research: Looking through muniment books and heraldic compendia eventually enables the Agents to narrow down one specific family as the Dolingen lineage — what its name is now, or by what name it might have been better known then, is up to you. If the Agents have the name, land charters and law records are the best way to find out which castles the clan owned or claimed.

Orava This castle in Slovakia should suit Directors interested in a more postmodern spin on the campaign. Built by Templars on a 110 m limestone cliff in 1241, it became a royal castle after their fall.Matthias Corvinus,Vlad Tepes’ foe, ordered it improved in 1474 — it is barely possible that Corvinus had Vlad transferred here, safely far from Wallachia, at the end of his captivity. Certainly something happened shortly thereafter to curse it. One Jan of Dubovec acquired it in 1536 and died without heirs seven years later; after lying empty for a decade, the magnate Ferenc Thurzó took it over in 1556 and died “of snake bite” (two puncture marks …) in 1576. His son György avoided the curse for some time, until he served as prosecutor for the Blood Countess, Elizabeth Báthory (p. 267), in 1610 and died shortly thereafter. (Her fortress, Cachtice Castle, is on p. 245.) His son Imre died at age 23 in 1621, his widow died there in 1626, and the castle fell vacant again.

locations n Romania: ''Castle Dracula'' Emotional Modulation: Romanian Countryside Roman, who can say? — their liquid Hopeful laughter the only sound that carries.

György had turned the countryside around Orava Protestant, removing all the crucifixes; the population began to dwindle sharply. A peasant revolt of mysterious origin ended only with the impalement of the ringleaders — again mysteriously. Famines, floods, and “cholera outbreaks” desolated the country for the next century and a half.A fire took the castle’s interior in 1800. Only after 1894 did the curse begin to lift; the Pálffy family took Castle Orava over and established a museum there in 1898. The Communist government of Czechoslovakia nationalized the castle in 1948, beginning major reconstruction in 1953. Today, Castle Orava is a national Slovakian monument and museum. Why, aside from the tenuous relationship to Vlad Tepes and Elizabeth Báthory, is this castle a possible location for your

The sky to the east has been growing pinker and brighter for some time now, and suddenly it shifts into a glorious azure blue. The sun is up over the mountains, burning through the clouds and mist everywhere it touches.

Sinister You hear a choking snarl impossibly loud and close, and feel a hot, sulfurous breath blow past you. The diesel semi-trailer downshifts on the curve and then upshifts, sending the white bonelike dust of the narrow road up in spiraling clouds. It speeds up with a whine and a growl and passes you by, its driver invisible behind tinted glass. The dust and sound hang in the air for what seems an unnaturally long time in the silent forest. A chittering, a fluttering, an echoing rattling in the treetops — something has sent a cloud of bats aloft from some hidden cave or dank grove deep in the woods. It almost seems that the bats blot out the sun for a few seconds, but they scatter and vanish well before the watery light returns.

campaign? Because in 1921 the ritual magician and visionary film director F. W. Murnau filmed some portion of Nosferatu on the site, which he had identified from pictures as his “Castle Orlok.” The castle was also providentially empty, although slowly filling with the Thurzó family’s antiquities, in 1894. In this context, note too that Dracula’s servants in Stoker’s manuscript include a large number of Slovaks — not the usual personnel for a castle deep inside Transylvania, though less unusual for an already continentspanning Conspiracy. If Orlok is yet another of Dracula’s disguises, Orava could have been his bolt-hole during the 16th and 17th centuries, to be maintained sporadically thereafter. If Orlok is but one of Dracula’s kindred (p. 70), then he may have developed his own agenda since then.

castle:

Battlements (p. 214), Crypt (p. 214), Dungeon (p. 214), Gift Shop (p. 215), Museum (p. 215), Offices (p. 216), Preserved Rooms (p. 216), and most likely a Hidden Chamber (p. 215) where Dracula or Orlok made his lair. History or Research: Much or all of the first two paragraphs comes with a 1-point spend. Occult Studies:And this is how theAgents learn that Murnau was a magician, and (if Research hadn’t already told them) that he filmed Nosferatu here.

Locations in the Castle A scene set at Castle Dracula may have any number of sub-scenes in the edifice’s sub-locations. Indeed, a whole operation may center on reconnaissance, infiltration,

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The smell of water on the cold breeze suddenly fills your lungs with freshness and life. Spring is coming — if not today, then some day, as it always has and always will. By the side of the road, you see a flash of color: flowers and candles nestled within a troita, a Romanian roadside crucifix set up under a shallow roof. Someone has been by recently, touching up the paint on Christ’s eyes and beard — even if Orthodox Christianity isn’t your way, you feel a sense of love and calm here, out of the wind. You crest a ridge and look down into the valley. Every imaginable shade of green spreads out before you, a veritable mosaic of vegetation from sheltering trees to lush grass and soft mosses. The sense of life, of Nature’s goodness everywhere you look, is palapable. As you continue along the road you see a lovingly maintained Dacia auto pulled off to the shoulder. A young couple sits on a blanket, feeding each other chicken and sharing yellow wine from a bottle. Two curly-haired children play tag across a fallen stone pillar — medieval,

The path (or road) widens out near a collapsed building, showing obvious signs of fire and bullet holes — from decades ago, or from last week. The hideous stumps of concrete give few clues to its origin. The scarred and faded paint of the Romanian words on one crumbling corner might have been official warning or revolutionary graffiti. A smell of musty decay clings to the ruin, coming from everywhere and nowhere. The path sinks a bit, and the carpet of rock and needles under your boots (or tires) turns to a slick mat. The trees close in, trunks and branches seemingly leaning and reaching over your heads, closing out the sunlight like a coffin lid lowered onto you as you travel endlessly through this desolate expanse. A whine fills the air, the sweat on your face stings your eyes and a cloud of black specks materializes out of nowhere, moving fast enough to become streaks. Somewhere you smell rot, then you feel a dozen stings. You itch intensely, like your flesh was lined with acid, ten minutes’ preview of Hell. When you can focus again, your arms and neck show scarlet dots, inflamed with mosquito venom.

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook and finally covert action inside the Castle. These “establishing shots” provide details and rules for locations inside or on top of any or all possible Castles Dracula.

Battlements The stones are slick and uneven, a dangerous combination. The view is incredible, in both directions: the whole castle looks like a toy below you, while the black Carpathians stretch out across the horizon. Sounds whip away on the wind, and the tourists don’t stay up here too long — it’s easy to think yourself alone.

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extras and supporting cast:

Occasional tourists, small running boys who don’t know how gravity works yet, man with a proper camera and a heavy coat taking his time; Pensioner (p. 86), Informant (p. 95) or anyone else making a meet with you, Journalist (p. 120) doing a travel piece, Balkans Specialist (p. 91) or Medievalist (p. 122) doing research. clues: Opposition surveillance scopes glint from a distant ridge line; still-smoking cigarette butt shows someone was just here, and the brand tells you who; from here you can see moving figures behind a window in the “closed tower” (Architecture). rules effects: This is a great spot for a watcher: take a 2-point Surveillance refresh here when you watch from this vantage point. A fall onto the courtyard does 11 points of Health; a fall off the sheer precipice on the other side of the battlement is either fatal or a good reason to max out Preparedness on that paraglider or BASE jumping chute under your coat. in a fight: A suspiciously timed gust of wind sends you sprawling; enormous stone stanchions provide a kind of cover; a throw attack (NBA, p. 76) from here can be final (Athletics test to cling by your fingers, against a Difficulty equal to the roll plus spend on the throw). in a chase: Leap down onto red-tiled roofs below; skid on patches of standing water or ice; did I mention the fall? (Open)

Courtyard Doorways and arches in profusion lead onto this ancient space, with sight lines impossible. Incongruous modern signage hangs on medieval walls, a low chain tries its feeble best to keep the tourists on the path instead of wandering out to look at the dry well or the rusted machinery by the gate. The stone walls of the fortress seem to lean in on you; the patch of gray sky above is more insult than opening. extras and supporting cast:

Lots of tourists in loud national groups, bearded backpacking young people, ineffectual uniformed guard; Legacy (p. 40) looking for closure, Journalist (p. 120) or Medievalist (p. 122) as Battlements (p. 214). clues: Surprisingly robust and up-todate security camera over one door; those backpackers have military training; the sundial is actually sitting in the middle of a goëtic sigil (with a 1-point Occult Studies spend, the sigil is that of Buné, who appears as a great Dragon and “changes the place of the dead”). rules effects: This courtyard is a classic rabbit trap: an ideal place to find someone trying to stay out of sight. The Difficulty of all Surveillance tests against targets in the courtyard (which is eventually everyone coming in or out of the castle, disregarding secret passages and vampiric climbing) lowers by 1. in a fight: Murder holes in the tower or the wall overlook the courtyard to deadly effect; smash foes up against the stones; you’re going to show up on YouTube even if your foes don’t. in a chase: Rough walls make parkour climbing easy (Difficulty −1); or shinny up the rusted gate chains and over the barbican; crowds panic after the first shot is fired, perhaps blocking your pursuer. (Normal)

Crypt Dark and cool it is, here below the castle’s mightiest tower. It might be close and stifling, thick with the dust of the dead, or there might be a suspicious draft — spoor of a secret passage to the outside. Carved effigies have worn down to humaniform

shapes, saints in niches blackened to lurking shadows. A few large sarcophagi or tombs dominate the space, but centuries of the dead lie packed into the walls and under the flagstones. extras and supporting cast:

Blissed-out Goth tourist, antiquarian taking rubbings from the tombs, visibly nervous docent; the Hungarian (p. 94) “coincidentally” doing genealogical research here, Journalist (p. 120) or Medievalist (p. 122) as Battlements (p. 214), Tabloid Journalist (p. 134) soaking up color. If you’re unlucky, one of Dracula’s Brides (p. 57). If you’re really, really unlucky, Dracula himself (p. 56). clues: Fresh soil scattered over the stone floor; names and lineages on the tombstones help narrow down Dracula’s true identity and perhaps indicate families you shouldn’t trust today; the emblem of a dragon with its tail around its own throat, or possibly just a Cross of St. George in flames (History or Occult identifies the seals of the Order of the Dragon). rules effects: This is a great place for Sense Trouble tests, even if Dracula didn’t leave a pack of ghouls or revenants here to watch his native soil. For example, there shouldn’t be any rats here — anything left of these bodies desiccated long ago. in a fight: Grab bones from an ossuary to use as horrible improvised stabbing weapons; muzzle flash looks weird and blue from the grave-damp down here; blood from wounds falls on the most suspicious of the sarcophagi and runs right into the crack. in a chase: Hop-vault-slide over the tomb; running up or down the narrow uneven stone steps full tilt costs 1 Health from random contusions; don’t slip on the skull! (Cramped)

Dungeon Aside from a very narrow wall slit very high up, and a desultory fluorescent tube set somewhere in the vaults, darkness inhabits this savage cut in the rock. The walls are rough fill, not smooth stone, the floor slants appallingly, the ceiling disappears in

locations n Romania: ''Castle Dracula'' shadow and niter. One thick door stands open, bifurcating the thin corridor to the rest of the castle. This is where the lord of the castle put those he wished to disappear forever. And now you’re here — probably without backup. extras and supporting cast:

Gift Shop Ridiculous vampire tat is on sale everywhere: T-shirts, key chains, fake teeth, spoons, hats. Only slightly less awful are the refrigerator magnets, mugs, decals, sweatshirts, and collectible plates embossed with the castle’s arms. The postcards and glossy calendars are almost forgivable. A few books and pamphlets, with wildly varying fonts and cover designs, desperately hold out on behalf of the written word.

cast:

Sullen teenage or retiree cashier, the worst tourists yet, backpackers stocking up on water or sodas from the cooler; Balkans Specialist (p. 91) or Medievalist (p. 122) surreptitiously turning his own books face out. clues: There’s a surprisingly good plan of the castle for sale here; none of the “silver” spoons or bells or letter openers are, even those priced like they should be (Chemistry); one of the pamphlets seems to draw on inside information — tracking down the author might be fruitful. rules effects: Treat the clutch of tour books, histories, guides to the castle, etc., here as a dedicated 1-point pool for Human Terrain or History regarding this castle, this county, or Romania in general. in a fight: A fistful of key chains makes a great sap (fist attack does −1 damage); toss the cash register like a medicine ball; jump into a rack of tchotchkes and bear it down on the foe (treat as smash attack for no extra points, damage −1 plus 1 for each point of Health you also lose). in a chase: Lift a baseball cap or a hoodie (or fake teeth!) for a quick disguise; stop cold behind the postcard spinner rack and hope to double back; shout “Stop! Thief!” at the fleeing foe and see if the big guy in line helps you out. (Normal)

Hidden Chamber Behind a counterweighted stone wall, or under a hinged flagstone, or above a dropped ceiling, you find a hidden chamber (Architecture spend, usually). It’s not on the maps or plans, and it might hold anything: A

room painted blood red, with a pentagram on the floor in the center, suitable for Satanic rites. The paint job might date back to the 1890s, or be very recent. (See page 187 for possible Red Room effects.) A hidden dungeon, complete with rack and iron maiden. A significant coat of arms, with melted black candles, discreet bloodstains, and other signs of recent votive prayer.

large sarcophagus labeled DRACULA, decorated with a dragon. A very angry — or hungry — vampire, imprisoned here by Dracula centuries ago. If it can be reasoned with, it might be willing to tell what it knows, but it probably can’t. An Edom listening post, with one watcher and one wet worker. Can you blow past the muscle before the canary sends an alarm? A full-fledged Edom command center, including a squad of lamplighters (p. 123). A secret passage out of the castle and into a nondescript ruined (or commercial) building nearby.

Museum Glass cases hold corroded daggers and gleaming brooches; tapestries hang from the walls to conceal modern climate control and wall finishes. Long-winded signs in Romanian and English accompany the exhibits, although some objects seem strangely unlabeled.Tall windows,widened during reconstruction, send light slanting across the room, but the high ceiling remains shadowed.The peculiar peristaltic rhythm of tour groups crowds the chamber one minute, and empties it the next. extras and supporting cast:

Docents repeating the history of the castle by rote, polite Indian or Japanese tour groups, knowledgeable (or pretentious) historian holding forth, rude Chinese or German tour groups, bored and officious guard, chattering tuned-out American tour groups; Legacy (p. 40) as Courtyard, Balkans Specialist (p. 91), Journalist (p. 120), or Medievalist (p. 122) as Battlements (p. 214). clues: The “sword of Vlad III” on display is a recent forgery (Art History or Archaeology), implying that the real one is somewhere else; an unlabeled bust matches the Aytown portrait (p. 262); many of these artifacts are “on permanent loan” from the collection of a famously reclusive financier — is he an Edom friendly? A Conspiracy banker (High Society)?

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Tourists arguing about Dracula and getting it wrong, docent or tourist a little too into descriptions of torture, black-metal musician getting inspiration; Black Site Interrogator (p. 104) or SRI Agent in Charge (p. 133) doing some eerie professional development, Journalist (p. 120) or Medievalist (p. 122) as Battlements (p. 214), Tabloid Journalist (p. 134) as Crypt. clues: Graffito cut into the wall by an informative prisoner; corroded crosses (1-point spend of Chemistry notes they were once mirrored) embedded high in the wall to reflect sunlight down into the cell; luminol residue (Chemistry or Criminology) indicates that someone was looking for blood here not long ago. rules effects: If the dungeons are a network of cells instead of just one oubliette, remember that an Archaeology spend lets an Agent navigate the labyrinth. At night with the light out, the dungeon is Pitch Black. in a fight: Hanging chains can be swung at foes; ghoulish exhibits of pokers and thumbscrews become improvised horrors; string a tripwire across the downsloping passage leading here. in a chase: This is a dead end — don’t get chased in here, or it becomes a fight! (Cramped)

extras and supporting

night's black agents - the dracula dossier director's handbook rules effects: Alarm

systems range from Difficulty 2 to 6 against Infiltration tests, depending on the museum and the exhibit. The higher the Difficulty, the more suspicious the Agents should feel. in a fight: Medieval weapons can still be used in combat; grab the guard’s gun; swing a sign like a cricket bat. in a chase: Slow and mingle with the crowd, especially if the museum is more than two rooms long; smash a case to set off the alarm and slow your foe; up over the glass cases, through the window, and a dive into the moat. (Normal)

Offices Jammed back in an old servant’s room or secondary kitchen, the office tries to run the castle as a top-flight tourist attraction on a Balkan budget. Computers are old and balky, papers spill everywhere, and truly horrible coffee brews on a ring.

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extras and supporting cast:

Harried registrar suspecting her PhD in medieval art is going to waste, phlegmatic balding curator, college interns, elderly janitor who still moves like a veteran; Bureaucrat (p. 108) on a meetand-greet or dropping in to inspect, Journalist (p. 120) as Battlements. clues: Account books show who’s really funding the restoration; memos detail sections of the castle on no account to be restored; an accurate and complete plan of the castle hangs on the wall or hides in a file cabinet. rules effects: You’re not supposed to be back here, by the way: get those Art History (“I’m from the Victoria and Albert, actually”), Cover, or Reassurance spends ready. in a fight: Scissors from an open drawer; swing the heavy obsolete phone on its thick obsolete cord; hide under a desk and shoot for their legs. in a chase: There’s a staff entrance in the old postern gate you can get to from here; the offices give access to the interior stairs; run across the desks and send papers flying. (Cramped)

Preserved Rooms Restored to their 17th- or 18th-century glory, these rooms feature plastered walls instead of stonework, stained and leaded panes on the windows, and discreetly polished woodwork and wainscoting.The furniture, paintings, vases, tapestries, and occasional harpsichord are behind velvet ropes; a coconut-matting runner keeps the tourists in line and off the antique parquetry floors. extras and supporting cast:

Yet more tourists taking yet more pictures, docents very tired of questions about vampires, local art students looking poor and nervous; Bureaucrat (p. 108) showing off for investors or diplomats, Legacy (p. 40) as Courtyard, Journalist (p. 120) or Medievalist (p. 122) as Battlements (p. 214). clues: The same four “tourists” have come in separately and left four times each over the last hour — they’re waiting for someone; a very familiar modern face looms in a 17thcentury portrait; the 18th-century books in the rosewood case are all from the same baronial collection auctioned in 1893 (1-point History spend) — could this be part of Dracula’s library of English volumes? rules effects: Spotting possible secret compartments in the furniture without getting close to it is a Conceal test (Difficulty 4 or 5). Don’t put core clues in secret compartments the Agents can’t touch without a scam or a Filch test; if you do anyway, they are still somehow obvious with Notice, or after a failsafe test (NBA, p. 184) of Filch. in a fight: Poles with velvet ropes still attached, used as bludgeons; shots now hurt priceless antiques; pull down a tapestry to bind and blind. in a chase: That tapestry trick again; heavy furniture secures a grapnel for rappelling out the window; polished floors are slippery. (Normal)

Ruin This might be anything from a lowering, bat-infested Gothic nightmare to a few stones sticking up from a hilltop requiring Archaeology to spot.Stoker’s manuscript

implies near-complete devastation, but Dracula could be “regrowing” his fortress, feeding it through his uncanny connection to the bowels of the earth. If, as is entirely possible, Dracula has more than one castle bolt-hole, you needn’t even explain it. Either way, the ruin sits atop a crag, looming more than 300 meters over the gorge below. Three sides of the castle once abutted the precipice, but subsidence could have carried away whole walls and towers, now lying in jumbled devastation at the bottom of the sheer declivity. extras and supporting cast:

Backpacker, Romanian Army squad on exercise, surveyor, nobody at all; NATO Liaison (p. 125) inspired by history, Legacy (p. 40) as Courtyard, Informant (p. 95) or Medievalist (p. 122) as Battlements (p. 214). clues: A basement, crypt, cellar, or vault lies intact underneath the ruination, though it may take earth-moving equipment (or vampire strength) to gain access; the unique geological properties of the crag provide an insight into the vampire’s preternatural energies; boot prints tell the story of who’s been up here recently. rules effects: Ruined or not, the castle utterly commands the landscape. Anyone approaching the castle is at +2 Difficulty (or −2 reduction to their Stealth Modifier) to reach the ruins without being observed by a lookout. in a fight: You can still just as easily topple off a crumbled wall into the foaming gorge below you; the sound of gunshots is whipped away on the wind in this desolate place; big rocks to hurl at each other or use to smash fingers clinging to the crumbled wall; see also Battlements (p. 214). in a chase: Cling to precipice side of the wall and hang there unseen; suddenly fall into a crypt through a weakened wooden floor covered with furze; coming on the ruins at speed wrecks any wheeled vehicle whose driver fails a Difficulty 6 test of Driving (Difficulty 5 for offroad capacity vehicles). (Open)

locations n Romania: ''Castle Dracula'' to Galati

Galati : There are fragments of history cool

Galati: Quick and Dirty The largest port city on the Danube, Galati has been a nexus for trade and shipbuilding for centuries. The

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