Carfax Abbey

London

[[]]

Description

Headquarters for London's resurgent goth scene, this recently opened dance club also serves as a meeting place for London's swelling population of anarch vampires. Even as it houses the lace-and-face-paint set, Carfax Abbey provides a rallying ground for disaffected neonates (and wannabe disaffected neonates - Ventrue and Tremere occasionally stop by for a "nibble," and the Abbey is open to all of the Blood). Feeding is ridiculously easy here, and accidents, while frowned on, are discreetly covered up by the management (for a price).

Carfax Abbey is owned by Horace Holden, a Toreador ancilla who looks back fondly on the glory nights of Oscar Wilde, Stravinsky, Johnny Rotten and Bauhaus (not necessarily in that order). Censured by Lady Anne for endangering the Masquerade, Holden rebutted that what better place for vampires to hide among kine than a place where the kine are pretending to be vampires? For now, Lady Anne has acquiesced; she has more important matters to attend to, and anyway its nice to know that most of London's anarchs congregate in one easily accessible, easily torch-able place.

And what a place! Built in the shell of an old church, the Abbey is a multistoried labyrinth of passageways, alcoves (with black cushions for liaisons of various sorts), murals, statuary (much of it erotic or obscene, depending on taste), fetish gear (rentable by the hour) and other nocturnal knickknacks. Three fully stocked bars, a state-of-the-art sound system, an expansive dance floor, a stage for live bands and a V.I.P. balcony complete the dark Xanadu.

Rowdies are ejected courtesy of Horace Holden's ghouls, all of whom have rudimentary training in Celerity and Potence. For serious (i.e. Kindred) problems, security head Ian Corso, a hulking Brujah, takes a personal hand.

Business, for now, is booming: Carfax Abbey plays an eclectic mix of goth, darkwave and industrial. Strangely enough, reggae and ska are occasionally heard; Holden caters to all tastes, and even the most defiantly sullen goth is hard-pressed not to kick up her heels to Madness' "House of Fun" played at 80 decibels.

Most of Carfax Abbey's clientele is, of course, human; and this is true of the bands who occasionally perform there. Children on Stun, Das Ich, Corpus Delecti, Leaether Strip, Psychic TV, The Wake, Gitane Demone and other acts have played in Carfax Abbey's tenebrous recesses, their melodies reverberating through the club's cavernous vaulted ceiling and rounded alcoves. One local band of rising fame, however, distinguishes itself not only by its unearthly music, but by its Kindred members.

Kine who know of the group "Persephone Seed" think of it only as an up-and-coming, particularly eerie goth band. Persephone Seed also draws the local vampire population, who come to see two of their own flout the Masquerade right under the elder's noses.

Persephone Seed is the brainchild of two undeniably talented Kindred musicians. Frontman and bassist Glass is classic Toreador - pale, emaciated, histronic, drowning fans and lyrics alike in waves of emotion, feedback and Presence. His counterpart, female vocalist and keyboard player Elizabeth Westcott, is more enigmatic, preferring to express herself through her haunting bridges and whispered verse. Most Kindred presume the quiet, waifish Elizabeth to be Toreador, and she says and does nothing to dispel that misconception. In truth, Westcott is Tzimisce and Sabbat at that.

Sent to infiltrate the anarch population, Westcott instead found common ground with Glass. He knows she is Sabbat, and cares little - though her depictions of unlife in the Black Hand provide him with ample fodder for morbid lyrics. For her part, she prefers being in the band to indulging in Fire Dances and War Parties. When confronted as to her loyalties by bishops and the like, Westcott gently reminds them that the Sabbat is first and foremost about freedom - and what better way to turn the anarchs than to be in their favorite band?

Kindred of the Abbey

Ian Corso - Security

Persephone Seed - Local Kindred Band

Glass - Toreador front man & Bassist

Elizabeth Westcott - Toreador vocalist & keyboard player