Sara Anne Winder

San Francisco

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History: Sara Anne Winder was the firstborn of English nobleman Roger Winder, and she came of age in an era when such distinctions meant worlds of difference. Her touch-eccentric father insisted she be educated exactly as a young man would be. Her intellect shined like a beacon, and she possessed a hungry mind. Contemporary society considered it extremely unladylike behavior for a young woman to attend a university, but, by colluding with her father and masquerading as a young man, she graduated from Oxford with honors.

When Oxford’s regents discovered they had given an advanced degree to a woman, they promptly revoked it and accused her of base dishonesty, conveniently ignoring the fact they wouldn’t accept her otherwise.

Winder, wealthy enough to play a lady of leisure, didn’t need the degree but was angry nonetheless. She associated with those on the fringes of English society: authors, playwrights and actors. She took up with a long-term female companion and scoffed at those who accused them of “ an unusual and remarkable fondness for one another.” She had an almost magical talent for extracting what she wanted from others, and rarely refrained from using her gift. By so doing, Sara Winder created something of a cult around herself. The nobility, while scandalized by her behavior, respected both her family and her obvious genius.

Charlotte Ingraham groomed Winder for immortality two years before she gave the young woman the Embrace. The first year she carefully introducing Winder to elements of what she referred to as “The Society of Night.” The second year she ghouled Winder, and, just as the young woman’s “radical stance” elicited serious repercussions in the mortal world (thanks to the efforts of a scandalized Anglican bishop), Ingraham gave Winder the Embrace and spirited her away to Italy.

Winder remained in touch with her family through correspondence until their deaths. She told them the political and moral atmosphere of England was repugnant to her and she would not let it bring her down (or them by association with her).

With her old, breathing life in the background, Winder set her sights on a whole new realm ripe for charming: that of the Kindred. With the guidance and instruction of her Sire, Winder became a strong proponent of Camarilla ideals. Wit h time those ideals, backed by her formidable intellect, earned her increasing respect among the Camarilla’s Kindred.

The most valuable chip in Winder’s portfolio, however, was her recent performance in the war to retake New York City. As one of the strategists behind the New York reconquista, Winder’ s star rose in Camarilla circles. Too high, perhaps, for her own good. Certain old-guard Kindred still worried about her ambitions and cocky manner, and they nudged the Inner Circle to grant her fondest wish: princehood of a major city — once she retakes it from the invading Cathayans. If she fails, they’ll have the satisfaction of seeing an upstart eliminated from a position of power. If she wins… well, so much the better for the Camarilla.

Truthfully, in Sara Anne Winder’s mind, the city is already hers. With the information recently provided by the Tremere and the fealty of the Nosferatu Kokopell Mana, she estimates the Cathayan influence over the city could be significantly weakened within the space of two weeks and their presence eradicated entirely within a month, given the competent execution of a simple mass- Embrace campaign. For the moment, however, she waits for word from those higher up along the chain of command. A mass-Embrace is not something to be pursued lightly. Such tactics always lead to breaches of the Masquerade and always smack of a Sabbat stench. The tolerances for such things relax slightly during wartime, though, and as soon as Winder receives word, she intends to make the Cathayans suffer for every Kindred death and indignity suffered during their occupation. Then, she will truly be Prince of San Francisco. The knot in her plans, however, is that while the Camarilla knows the Cathayans do not Embrace through blood, their method of induction remains a mystery. Until they uncover the Kuei-jin’s secrets, the Inner Circle will not commit to the endeavor blindly.

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