There are things to discuss (Ventrue) - Lowrey Manor

She'd sent the letters the day previous.  Now she waited at the appointed time for them to arrive.

As before, Duncan showed up five minutes early to the appointed time.

He was led to the parlour, where Christine was sitting in a large chair, reading.

Johnathon came downstairs from the room he used when traveling.

"Praetor" he said with a polite bow of his head

She smiled to Johnathon.

"Baron."

Johnathon then turned to the other man in the room and held out a gloved hand. "Good evening sir. I.am the baron Grant "

Duncan looked at Johnathan and smiled once as he took the hand. "A pleasure."

"And you would be?" he said with a smile

"Duncan MacIntyre of New York and San Francisco," He replied. Upon his lapel of his suit-coat, a small Shepard's Crook could be seen holding a small square of black tartan worn behind a square of plaid. "Have you a first name, Mister Grant?"

"A pleasure Mr. MacIntyre. And yes, I do, Johnathon, or John such as comes out. It is nice to see new family faces here in Florida. I was starting to despair of having more around."

"Generally, it must be worth being somewhere for many within the Clan to be around, John," He replied. "I saw a bit of value in being here so here I am."

"An entire state should prove to be reason enough. I hold Tallahasee, and all of the state north of your princes claims. I care little who travels, or conducts business so long as the basic laws that formed your traditions are upheld. The only thing I forbid is getting involved with any aspect of state government. That is reserved to myself. Needless to say who you control or influence out of Tallahasee is your concern. Once there though, I claim domain. "

"Too late...." He said. "The Five Families been involved in State government here for years through various surrogates in this state as well as some serious weight thrown by various members of the Clan. How do you think the Magic Kingdom got built on an old weapon testing area without it being cleared and certified clean?"

Duncan smiled. "The Mob has been here ever since the 1960's. Lucrative real estate market... very lucrative with more than a few meat-eaters down here willing to feed at the right table." he replied. "It is what it is, John... Family of ours in New York have been involved in Florida before Castro came out of the Mountains. If you a problem with it, I strongly suggest you discuss it with the various Peers who have interest. I don't know how they would feel about you making claims though; the fact you are an Anarch won't go over well... Actual results of your talks may vary."

A shrug. "I wish you luck though."

"This state was sabbat until recently, and as I said, I hold Tallahasee. Once one steps in there, it is my world, anarch or not. And unless you are better connected than the praetor here, what I said still holds true. Step into Tallahasee, and I don't care if you own half the senate. Play with them on your turf. "

She had sat back to watch the exchange. Now she took action.

"Gentlemen. As the saying goes, are you done or do I need to get a ruler? Sit down. We have much to discuss as a clan."

He nodded

"I see Shauna is missing, are we still waiting on her?"

She shook her head.

"She...has decided that she can not deal with the way I handle the clan. And has left."

He snorted at that.

"Amusing. Well, that is evolution in action. The weak sometimes remove themselves from the herd."

"For someone in the business she's in, Mister Grant; female or not, I wouldn't be so hasty to dismiss her as weak Her line of work is a tough one for anyone to do as a mortal male. She does it as Kindred and as a woman- I think that's worthy of a bit of respect, if only for what she has accomplished," Duncan said. "Letting her leave for a while might be a good thing in order to see if its a temporary event but I doubt the sensibility in leaving her go permanently. Investigators... competent ones... with federal and state licenses are not all that easy to find. At least ones without ties to another person or faction."

My opinion of course... yours will obviously vary."

"I am questioning her strength as a ventrue, not an investigator. She has been... Erratic of late, and her way of dealing with that which does not suit her is to simply quit. Which is sad as she is a likable person with a valuable skillset "

She nodded at John's words.

"Mr. Grant is correct. And that is not the only reason she does not trust me to rule. But my ways are not the ways of the modern Ventrue, and you should know that. I am old, and my lineage proves it. I do things in a way that not many would understand. Though perhaps, with your ties to Organized crime, you will understand it better than most your age."

"So I doubt you called us here to tell us about shauna, or that I can argue my domain claims with our new clanmate. What is it you have for us ?"

She nodded.

"Of course. First, with the addition of a new clan mate, I felt we needed a meeting. And I am reminded once more how much faster things move over here. So plan on these being regular things. But tonight, I wish to discuss what we can do together as a clan, and to get opinions on the situation with the Harpy."

He nodded. "Harpy isn't my problem, fortunately. As for the rest, it might help if we at least had the semblance of organization aside from just a praetor "

She raised an eyebrow.

"I wish your opinion, Mr. Grant. And with there being so very few of us, what would you suggest?"