Elliot Praxton recognized the need for safe transportation options for Kindred migrating to safer climes and whose business requires regular travel. He’s the founder of one such service, investing heavily in the company “The Pony Express.”
Description[]
The Pony Express was founded by an enterprising group of Ventrue ancillae in response to the Camarilla’s abandonment of electronic communications in the aftermath of the Second Inquisition. Recognizing the need for a method of coordinating intercity communication across the sect, the group’s founder, Elliot Praxton, assembled a group of like-minded Ventrue to found what Praxton deemed “The Pony Express.”
The Express is a system of physical couriers that crisscross the nation using various modes of transportation ranging from muscle cars and unremarkable sedans to boats, planes, and helicopters. Agents of the Express in each city include Kindred and their ghouls who may be permanent fixtures of that domain or move from city to city in a circuit. They operate a dizzying array of blind-letter drops, secret meets, and other anonymous forms of communication that they use to “collect the mail” in each domain. This mail ranges from heavily-encrypted flash drives to old-fashioned physical correspondence.
Express drivers are culled from the ranks of Gangrel loyal to the Camarilla and an ever-increasing pool of young Ventrue and other ambitious Kindred. Drivers brave the perils of the open road, handing off their packages to other drivers at pre-arranged drops or occasionally making long hauls with particularly sensitive information. Anarchs, Lupines, and the Inquisition stand in their way, but they get the mail through, never taking the same route twice, and always covering their tracks. Working for the Express is dangerous on the best of nights, but it is vital to the Camarilla’s survival, and Praxton pays extremely well.
Loresheet[]
Access to the Network: You have access to the Express and can send or receive a secure message or packet to or from any domain the Express operates in. The delivery will arrive within three nights to a week (Storyteller's discretion).- Station Agent: You collect the mail in your domain and facilitate the handoff to a driver. You have two dots in Mask and are Zeroed. You also have access to the local Express station, a two-dot Haven with a one-dot Postern. It is owned by Praxton but available to you while on official Express business. The obligation that comes with this Loresheet sees the vampire often chased or held accountable if expected deliveries do not make it to their recipients.
- Driver: You are a driver for the Express, granting you access to a wide array of vehicles and bolt holes across the nation. You can acquire a vehicle appropriate to your journey’s needs (Storyteller's discretion) once per story. This is typically a car, truck, boat, small aircraft, or even motorcycle suitable to reach your destination. You also have access to the full Pony Express station network, representing a collection of two-dot Havens within one night’s travel of each other. They are owned by Praxton but available to all his agents and drivers in times of need.
- World Tour: Praxton recently took the Pony Express international, arranging secure stations at many of the world’s major air and seaports, and you are at the forefront of this new initiative. Once per story, you gain access to an international mode of travel specifically tailored to accommodate the unique needs of Kindred. This transportation is likely something fast and maneuverable like a Lear jet or slow and clandestine like a berth on a faceless freighter. Two-dot Havens in the form of Express stations anchor each end of your journey.
- Passenger Service: Always the innovator, Praxton operates a clandestine passenger service for “special” clients. Once per story, you and your coterie obtain passage from your domain to any destination the Express operates in (Storyteller's discretion).
References[]
- VTM: The Chicago Folios, p. 168
