A History of the Great Siege of London
A history of the Great Siege of London, 2015-2029, wherein the Sabbat, led by the Lasombra known as “Lady Astor” invaded London, and were in turn driven out by the forces of Avalon; as related by the Archivist Harold Tanner of Holborn, Childe of Worde and Nosferatu Primogen of London.
The Enemies of Avalon: The Sabbat.
On Lady Astor: The Lasombra known as Lady Astor remains something of a mystery. Worde’s first report of her presence in London comes in the tenth century Anno Domini, when she arrived claiming to be a refugee from the fall of Constantinople and the fourth crusade. Lasombra are typically both proud of their lineage and quick to hide what they do not know. Though a number of Lasombra within the Sabbat claim descent from her, none can say who her sire was, nor is her generation apparent. Given the abilities she demonstrated in front of witnesses on the final night of the siege in question, she was, to use the colloquialism, close to Caine. Indeed, she was likely closer to Caine than any of Constantinople’s resident Lasombra, though whether this was by natural embrace or foul diablerie is impossible to say. Given her apparent goals, Lasombra blood, and later membership in the Sabbat, amaranth is not unlikely. Worde was unable to confirm her identity through contact with either Lasombra or Nosferatu of Constantinople, but he reports suspecting that she originated from even further east, perhaps from Kievan Rus. That area that is now Russia was so unsettled and has seen such turmoil and upheaval that it is impossible to confirm or deny his suspicion. The fact remains that we know neither the lineage of Lady Astor nor her generation.
We do know that while she remained part of London’s night society for several centuries, she slowly slipped from view during the time of the Anarch Revolt. Though she declined to visit Elysium or present herself for accounting at any subsequent census, rumors surfaced that she had thrown her lot in with the disaffected childer, Caitiff, and Furores who formed the nacent Sabbat. These rumors subsided for a time, but captives interrogated following the Sabbat uprising of 1854 Anno Domini confessed that it was Lady Astor who lead their movement in London, though it was other, foreign agitators who forced her hand in the attack. These captives described her as being intensely dedicated to the Sabbat and its members, reluctant to risk any of their unlives in anything but the most perfect of coups. They describe her as a follower of a Road of Enlightenment known as the Path of Honorable Accord, whose members are dedicated to providing structure and unity to the Sabbat. Clearly, her actions of a century and a half later are of a completely different character.
On the Duke and Dutchess of Amber: Embraced together by Mithras in the centuries before his reemergence and the establishment Avalon, the Duke and Dutchess of Amber (born under the names …) were inseparable even after more than a millennium of undeath. So many, perhaps the Duke and Duchess themselves, seem to overlook that Amber was nothing more than the fief left to him by the Duke’s Saxon father. Of the Ambers’ alliance with Baron Robert of Lothain and their betrayal of Avalon, much is already known and written. Afterward, the pair slowly faded from view. Their last appearance in our records is a note of a scandal involving the hunting of fledgling Kindred in the year 1664. Even that scandal was forgotten quickly in the wake of the Great Fire of 1666, and the pair went unnoticed for centuries. It is possible that they jointly entered torpor.
I can find no one who can or will reveal how it came that they awoke (presumably), joined the Sabbat, or became Lady Astor’s closest allies. They re-emerged, again as an inseparable pair in the wake of the opening of the Great Siege. First, the pair were named Bishops, and given charge of overseeing London’s defenses while Lady Astor herself concentrated on keeping the Sabbat’s enemies at bay. When she promoted herself to the rank of Cardinal, she elevated the Duke the Archbishopric, preserving the traditional subordinate role the Duchess took in their relationship. Captives interrogated through the course of the siege and in its aftermath have been unanimous that though their rule was unquestioned by the majority of the Sabbat members in London, the Ambers were universally hated and feared. Their presence, it seems, served to alienate and remove the rank and file of the Sabbat from most of its leadership, Lady Astor included.
Ultimately, though, it seems that even godlings like the Ambers cannot resist the will of a true god. They were last seen attacking Lady Astor’s enveloping shadows with their strangely lit blades at Mithras’s will, not their own.
On other Sabbat noteworthies: Aside from the Ambers, the name most well known to residents of Avalon is that of the Gangrel known as Count Dunlop. It is a sentiment unworthy of an archivist, but I am personally thankful that scavenging monster’s reign of terror has come to an end. Dunlop, like the Ambers, took his name from the fiefdom he ruled as a mortal. Unlike the Ambers, he seems to have usurped a back-woods castle by killing its hereditary lords and declaring himself its master. He never received the blessing of his feudal overlord, and remained in nominal, if pathetic, rebellion against England’s nobility and King until he abandoned his stolen lands some time decades after his embrace. By that time, Dunlop had fallen to ruin, and was soon forgotten. The only identity ever given for the Count’s sire is “The Crone.” Clearly this is another pseudonym, since the only “Crone” in the annals of Avalon is a Welsh Lhiannan, a member of a bloodline that is believed to have been extinguished during the burning times. There is some heresay (Gangrel oral lore without any traceable source – I hesitate to include such dubious material, but it is the most complete I can find) that indicates that Dunlop’s relationship with his sire was one of negelect or even animosity. The destruction of this brute by the Ventrue Archon Brian O’Reilly (nicknamed “The Mighty” in honor of the deed) has been named by several sources as the rallying cry that brought hope to the Londonite refugees scattered throughout Avalon, and brought about the end of the Siege years earlier than it would otherwise have been accomplished. As to the truth of that, none can say.
Douglas Laird was apparently named Bishop in honor of the sorcerous might he brought to bear. Tremere who have examined the remains of Sabbat fortifications report that the Thaumaturgy used is powerful and dangerous indeed. At least two Sabbat malcontents are supposed to have been “punished” by being given to Bishop Douglas for experimentation. Neither survived. His name is another obvious forgery, and his origin is a mystery. Rumors among the Sabbat (possibly encouraged by Laird himself) indicate that he is somehow related to or a pupil of the rebellious Tremere Councillor known as Goratrix. It is as yet unknown what became Douglas Laird: He was seemingly not buried beneath the Grey Tower, nor was he present when the Sabbat Elders attacked Mithras. It is possible that he left sometime before the Avalonian counterstrike that drove the Sabbat from the city.
Gregory Talon is a Tzimisce who is supposed to have been acting as a personal bodyguard and torturer for Lady Astor since at least 1800 Anno Domini. He claimed to be the progeny of Sacha Vykos, who is known to have embraced a Grigori Korulov in or near the year 1625 Anno Domini. Like the Ambers, he inspired much more fear among the Sabbat rank-and-file than loyalty. He was much less fond of issuing edicts, however, and a certain number of the more proudly inhuman among them admired him for his cruelty. Among the Sabbat who assaulted Mithras, there was a creature who assumed the advanced battle shape known as the “Chirroptean Marauder.” Analysis of the remains left behind by newly appointed Tremere Regent Fatma Uzun reveal that Grigori Korulov was indeed among the slain. As to the dubious powers used to make this determination, I can pass no judgment.
Amelia Jones is different sort of Bishop. A Brujah of the 9th generation, she was embraced in London in 1926 by the Anarch Carel Ulibari, and traces her bloodline back to the Brujah Methuselah who once ruled Ulster. The bloodhunt issued by the Seneschal, Lady Anne Bowsely, was complicated by the mortal wars of the time, and she escaped justice with her life, though her sire did not. She remained active among Anarchs in Avalon until the 1950’s, when she was recruited into the Sabbat and began to attempt to avoid notice. She was observed entering the communal stronghold beneath the Grey Tower about an hour before it collapsed, and may remain buried in the rubble.
Simon Grey is supposed to be (or have been) the progeny of Lady Astor herself. She seems to have trusted him with intelligence not available to others of her Bishops, and he was known among the Sabbat as the sect’s Spymaster in London. Technological artifacts recovered from one of his haves indicate that he was indeed well informed about the movements of certain Avalonian luminaries and had kept extensive records on the activities of certain Sabbat malcontents. The remains of more than one Lasombra were found among the corpses left in Buckingham Palace, but the Tremere did not include the name Simon Grey in their report.
The Defenders of Avalon
On Lady Anne Bowsely: Seneschal of London, and self-styled Queen. Lady Anne became seneschal at the start of Mithras’s briefest to-date active occupation of his home city of London (Approximately 1870-1895 Anno Domini). Though rumors of his return propogated through Elysium during the decades of the 1940s and 1950s Anno Domini, he did not openly appear or interfere in his Seneschal’s administration of his city. So it was that the Seneschal was left to face several crises of varying degrees without help or guidance from the Prince. Though she faced these crises and triumphed, it remained the fact that her prerogatives, though not her position, were challenged regularly by Ventrue, Tremere and Sabbat who were significantly her senior. When she became aware that the Sabbat was massing for an attack, she chose to alert only those she considered most loyal and trustworthy: the Sheriffs and certain other Ancillae. It seems she even sacrificed a favored childe to ensure her own survival. Many survivors of the initial onslaught have reported observing her strange behavior, and taking precautions because of it. How many more might have survived if she had simply warned the population of London of the impending attack? Might we even have been mobilized against the Sabbat and repelled their incursion as we did in the 19th century? But such idle speculation is beneath the dignity of an Archivist.
It remains the fact that Lady Anne remained in hiding during the duration of the siege, coordinating the actions of Avalon's forces by using a limited number of highly trusted proxies. Whether she hoped to fool the Sabbat into thinking she was dead or simply avoid their assassins is a question for which I do not yet have an answer. While she and her proxies mobilized several independent forces to combat the Sabbat, I have heard several reports that each believed that it alone had the will to face the overwhelming might of the Sabbat. Rarely has such extreme compartmentalization of information been achieved on such a scale, and it seems to have been successful.
On Warlord General Sir Arthur Halesworth and Sheriff Lady Juliet Parr: The Senior Sheriff of London, since promoted to Warlord of Avalon, was a british officer of the Indian Raj in life. When he returned to his native London as a Gangrel, he was named to the position of Sheriff by Mithras at the recomendation of Lady Anne. In a matter of decades, he was joined by the junior Sheriff, Lady Juliet Parr, and after that, the two decided to split their duties by region rather than continue to double one another's efforts. This arrangement lasted through the 20th century and into the 21st.
What the city's constabulary knew about the impending siege he will not say, but he was observed carrying out his duties with unusual zeal, which suggests that he knew more than most. Like Lady Anne Bowsely, they survived the Siege and went into exile. It is believed that Sir Arthur took to the countryside, staying ahead of Sabbat assassins by dint of his Gangrel wits. Lady Parr spent the siege in Scottland, seemingly in a fruitless hunt for the traitors who aided the Sabbat.
If the Queen was the will behind Avalon's counterstrike, General Halesworth was its brain and Lady Parr was the hand that made it happen. If any others knew the whole of Lady Anne's plan, they have not yet credibly come forward.
On the Barons and the Heirs of Mithras: It is possible to observe a stark divide among Avalon's Barons. While almost all are considered elders, there are those who have held their positions since near the founding of Avalon, or at least since the aftermath of the Barron's Revolt. It is the domains of the younger Barons which tend to hold the greatest mortal populations.
It is from among this elder group that Mithras's surviving heirs hail. Moving with the long view, they report having been putting plans into motion to move Avalon against the usurpers in Mithras's seat of power. They were aware of Lady Anne's plans in a general sense, but had not been consulted. Marcus Verus points out that interference in the domain of one Baron by another is prohibited by Mithras, being considered usurpation. (The Annals of Avalon hold several accounts of times when Marcus Verus did act to usurp the prerogatives of his fellow Barons, and the consequences of those actions). James Mannerly states simply, "I was waiting to see of the young Seneschal of London would be able to clean her own stable." There is no report of these ancients becoming involved in the Great Siege, and little of the involvement of those who are or are believed to be their proteges.
The younger Barons, those with large populations under their command, seem to have been very much a part of Lady Anne's plans. The Barons of York, Birmingham, Nottingham, Newcastle and Glasgow answered her call, and took part in the fighting. The rest, even Baron Robert of Edinburgh, arrived with Mithras on the fateful night of the 21st of September, 2031 Anno Domini.
On Other Defenders of Avalon:
Stephen Leonir: London's only acknowledged Lasombra Antitribu resident (before the Siege) was also the only one known to have contact with both the elder Barons and with Anne Bowseley's cabal in hiding, though the extent of that latter contact has yet to be revealed. He has spent centuries providing help and guidance to visitors to London. The good will he accumulated in so doing apparently paid off: More than two dozen Kindred from around the Camarilla and possibly beyond (the identities of these will be published when the chronicler is sure of them) answered his call for aid either in person or by hiring mercenaries to fulfill their obligations.
Brian O'Reilly: Along with a Lasombra Antitribu companion named Bruce Edward Zieger, the Ventrue Archon and childe of Michaela of New York struck a blow against the Sabbat by turning a Sabbat ambush against their attackers when they rescued an Avalonian agent. In the struggle, Archon O'Reilly destroyed Count Dunlop and his coterie of childer. The pair used the victory to motivate a number of London's younger survivors to join an organization they named the "Knights of the World Tree," and take the fight to the Sabbat. The group met Baron Marcus Verus and gained his blessing to act in the name of Avalon. They spent the majority of the years of 2029, 2030 and 2031 Anno Domini based in Birmingham, and facing Sabbat forces on a regular basis. Lady Anne seems to have mistrusted the Archon or his organization, for they were never included in her plans beyond as a distraction for Sabbat commanders.
