Venture Tower

Venture Tower
The LA skyline, with Venture Tower at left
Location	Los Angeles
State	California
Country	United States of America
Region	Downtown Los Angeles

The Venture Tower is a fixture in downtown Los Angeles. It was subject to a terrorist attack in late 2004, but the damage was quickly repaired.

While most of the building is found in a single 90-floor tower, there is an attached side building at the base, ten stories tall, whose roof (the 11th floor of the main tower) is a large skylight opening to the food court below.

There's another roof/balcony encircling the main tower at the 30th floor, and one at the 55th floor with a helipad. (The 10th, 29th, 54th, and 90th floors seem to be double-height, so depending on how one is measuring, the tower may be 94 floors).

The building appears to have been owned or funded largely by Sebastian LaCroix's LaCroix Foundation, as he controlled the top several floors, and his name appeared prominently in the lobby.

As is common with most skyscrapers, all elevators except one are typically locked down at night, and the night security, Chunk (or Chunk's Brother), screens access.

In late 2004, a pack of Sabbat shovelheads attacked the building in an attempt to gain access to the Ankaran Sarcophagus. They set off an explosive which devastated the 11th, 12th, and 13th floors, and left a substantial amount of rubble on the street outside. LaCroix managed to defeat many of them, while his Sheriff took care of the rest. Within days, the devastated areas were already being repaired.

The penthouse unfortunately exploded for unknown reasons, perhaps an additional explosive left behind by the Sabbat "terrorists".

Building occupants included:

• The LaCroix Foundation
• The Insurrection Baby Formula Company
• 9th floor: DodecaTechnoCo
• 10th floor food court: S&M: All Deviant Food
• 10th floor food court: Hungry Veggie's No Meatza
• 10th floor food court: gosh!coffee
• 10th floor food court: Extreme Tofu

Penthouse

Recreation of chambers of the French aristocracy, circa 1733, Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The building's penthouse on the 90th floor is the private office of Prince Sebastian LaCroix. Patterned after the interior design of mid 18th century French aristocracy, the Prince and his Sheriff sit at one end of the elaborate chambers. Comfortable seating and a roaring fireplace are provided to the left and right.

Directly above the entrance door, facing LaCroix's desk, are two pieces of art depicting King Louis XIV:

• Louis XIV depicted as Alexander the Great (Unknown)
• The Chancelor Séguier (Charles Le Brun)

Flanking the Louis XIV portraits, to the left and right, facing each other, are four paintings depicting Cain slaying Abel:

• Cain and Abel (Josep Vergara)
• Cain Slaying Abel (Peter Paul Rubens)
• Cain and Abel (Pietro Novelli)
• Cain and Abel (Titian Vecellio)

Additionally, above the fireplace hangs Sleep and His Half-Brother Death by John William Waterhouse.

Jan Pieterzoon

On LaCroix's desk sits a letter opener in the shape of an ankh, a sort of "Chekhov's Gun" as well as a reference to the cover of Clanbook: Ventrue Revised, illustrated by John Van Fleet, showing Jan Pieterzoon wielding an ankh-shaped letter opener or dagger.

See this article on the VTM Bloodlines Wiki:

Venture Tower

Background Information

• The building's name is a very transparent anagram for "Ventrue."
• The Venture Tower can be seen from most outdoor locations, as a way of telegraphing LaCroix's reach. The notable exception is Chinatown -- an area under Kuei-jin control.
• With 90 floors, the Venture Tower would be the tallest building in LA, as well as the state of California. In the real world, the tallest building would be the Wilshire Grand Center at 80 floors, but it was only completed in 2017. During the time period of Bloodlines, the tallest building would be the U.S. Bank Tower at 75 floors.
• While the Venture Tower is directly across the road from the LA Public Library, the real-world LA Public Library's Central branch is directly across from the U.S. Bank Tower, mentioned above.
• "Vampire Extra Music Stem2" is the ambient track that plays in the building lobby. "Vampire Extra MusicStem11" plays inside LaCroix's chambers. "Mission Impossible" (Track 19 from the VTM: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines Score ) plays during the combat run through the building.

Gallery

Venture Tower from the street

Venture Tower front entrance

L.A. Sun: Terror Tower!

References

• VTM: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines