Activity Logs, March 9, 2001 Since I was not expecting to see much activity from the group following their battle against the Sabbat, I was quite pleasantly surprised when Julia contacted them early the following evening, regarding the disposal of the Sabbat fledglings that had been brought to her. Julia explained to the group that, because they had been so concerned about the fate of these young vampires, she had interceded with Jan to allow them fair trial. Due to her role as sheriff, she would have to act as the prosecutor, so to speak, while the subjects would be allowed to speak in defense of the young ones. Julia's single condition was that they claim they were acting as representatives of the Sheriff and therefore the Prince in this matter; though Hannah was suspicious that Julia was acting for personal gain, the group was eventually convinced that Julia was merely bowing to political necessity in this matter and agreed. I do hope they are able to save the younglings. Though three of them are quite mundane -- two young Brujah, one irreparably mad from the Sabbat rites, and a rather tough-looking elderly Nosferatu woman -- there is a shaper of darkness among the group, as well as a rather disturbing figure who I can only assume from its aura to be a shaper of flesh. If they are freed, I will likely be able to capture one for the laboratory. It would be quite a coup -- even Meyerhoff has not managed such a thing, as they are most difficult to isolate from their companions. In any case, the group quickly entered a near-frenzy of activity as they tried to draw on their limited political force. I was actually quite impressed with their political competence -- they have demonstrated no small lack of it in the past, and I am pleased to see that they still retain the ability to learn from their mistakes. Like many vampires, they may lose this ability as they get older, but for the moment they were able to surprise even me. Their reasoning on the matter seemed quite sound: the main arguments they discussed were that there have been exceptions to the tradition of Progeny in the past, that a strict interpretation of the accounting required only the sire to answer for the crimes of the childe and not vice versa, and that the rite was interrupted so they might not even be Sabbat. Cliff began talking among the neonates, trying to rally popular support for the helpless Sabbat. He encouraged a number of them to wear black armbands in support, and even managed to convince Stanislaw, Elena, Kate, and a few others to wear these to the trial. The group also split up to try to find sires who might accept the young ones as their charges, should they be spared by the Prince's judgment. Cliff spoke with Faith Miller, who said the Nosferatu would take charge of their own. Ethan spoke with Margot, who was less than encouraging. He did win the support of David Lee, but David claimed to be too young to even request to adopt a childe. However, the group realized that they would have to find a better forum in which to talk to the other vampires if they were to gain the kind of support they would need. They therefore went to talk to Angel, who seems to be their main contact other than Julia among the elders. Angel invited them out to the balcony, where they witnessed the rather spectacular failure of an attempted helicopter landing in Central Park, and then agreed to speak with them on the matter at hand. After some talk on irrelevant matters -- Angel's opinion on Oliver Blackwell, Ethan revealing that someone had been obstructing the path of Angel's protégé Christine -- the group reminded Angel that they were to come to the invitation-only party at the Guggenheim that evening as "security." They asked her if she would mind them talking to the guests, and she claimed not to mind as long as it did not interfere with their duties. She arranged for them to be appropriately dressed and brought them with her to the Guggenheim; likely no one of their status would have been allowed in alone, no matter what their claims to employment. The Guggenheim itself was quite impressively decked out, with the three main galleries containing the works of the artists on display for the evening. On the fourth floor were Nathaniel's strange and disturbing collages of twisted and burned metal, along with his portraits of Hannah. On the third floor, Hannah's dance performance alternated with a reading by the well-known reclusive novelist Gabriela Prieto. On the second floor, Christine showed the gathered crowd an assortment of technological and artistic endeavors, ranging from a life-size nude ice sculpture of herself to paintings that reacted to the movement of the crowd outside. The central floor contained a smattering of the more prestigious vampires of the city and many, many socially important mortals who they mingled among. The subjects divided up to cover the most possible ground with their security -- though the absence of Ari, who had promised to be present, was quite a sore subject, especially with Ethan. This was especially glaring when Sophia arrived, with a collared Gangrel in tow. After they had made quite a scene (evidently Larry, the Gangrel, had not been invited), Angel personally intervened and allowed the offenders to stay. Ethan took a break after this, seeming quite upset, and watched Hannah's performance. Both he and Celeste seemed extremely moved by it, and I must admit that even I was quite touched. I shall certainly have to see her perform in person. Despite the social by-play, the subjects were actually able to discuss the matters at hand quietly. Alice agreed to take the "third sane Sabbat" as her childe -- though they neglected to tell her of its Tzimisce blood. Cliff's petition to Jacob for him to act as a sire for the sane Brujah fledgling was also readily accepted, and thus they managed to secure potential adoptive sires for all three sane survivors. They were also able to investigate other ways of protecting the fledgling Sabbat. Ethan persuaded an older Kindred, Sean, to allow him to see his collection of legal books on Camarilla matters. Cliff gained audience with Jan to beg an interview with the Sabbat, but Jan dismissed the notion, claiming that Cliff was insufficiently powerful for this to be safe. Ethan and Hannah spoke with Abbott of the Tremere, who spoke with them a bit about the blood-drink the Sabbat share, the Sabbat creation rites, and what it means to be Sabbat. Of course, he was nowhere near as well-informed as he ought to have been, given his status within his clan, but given that the subjects paid him only a minor debt, they certainly gained a great deal from speaking with him. He also agreed to test the blood of the Sabbat, if necessary, to determine how far they had been tainted by the degenerate rites of their kind. The trial will be tomorrow night; I am quite fascinated to learn the outcome. I have heard of the American fascination with entertainment based on the legal profession, and I believe I am beginning to understand this predilection. Transcribed and maintained Elizabeth Kent