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From: Dee
Damienne listened silently as Jerry told the tale of Patience and what they now were sure was a hunter on his trail. As she looked them over, she saw that reactions among the group varied from voiced outrage to thoughful silence. 'Good,' she thought. 'Let them keep this in mind when we get to the other reason we're here.'
When Jerry finished, Dee stepped up amid shouts of anger and outrage and struggled a moment to regain the attention of her clanmates. Shouting over them, she took her best shot at making the connection she wanted on their minds. "All right! You have a description and I'm sure Jerry will deal with this problem, but listen! Why did it happen? Because the hunter found out about Jerry. Because the Masquerade was compromised. Now I know you all have your opinions about the Camarilla..." Dee was forced to silence as she waited for the noise of dissention to abate enough for her to continue. "AND," she went on, "You're entitled to them. I don't give a shit about that, as long as you have something better to replace it with, do what you think is right, BUT, in the world we have right now, the Masquerade is all that stands between us and the hunters, or anyone else that wants to put us down. I know each and every one of you can kick ass in a pool hall or an alley any night of the week, but what protects you in the daytime? Huh? That's right, only the big lie, most of the time. The fact that most people don't know who we are. Some people, though, think they can take on the world all alone. Those guys get us all in trouble. We have one of those to deal with tonight."
Dee shot a glance toward Jerry and thought he looked ready to dive into the lake. "Jerry has had his warning in losing his childe. I think his punishment has dealt itself, but we have another problem." The brujah primogen then detailed for her clan not only the fight between Alic and Sally and his diablerie of JonJon, but also the bargain and responsibility she had agreed upon with the council. "Like many of you, I have little faith in the justice of the council. Too often they see only what they wish to and use the traditions as weapons in their own little wars. That's why I promised them that we would judge our own according to the traditions and needs of all our kind. The Prince was more lenient than he needed to be in granting this, but I say to you, we should be only fair, nothing more and nothing less. What should we do with one who endangers us with his public actions, embarrasses us by his lack of control in the only sacred place we have, and commits diablerie at his own whim?" Dee paused to look at each of them as individuals before she finished. "It is true that Sally provoked the fight, even her own primogen agreed that her actions were foolhardy, but she is merely a childe and Alic has been among us long enough to know the rules that protect us." Dee flashed a quick smile. "At least he won the fight and taught her the wisdom her clan is supposed to be so famous for. As for the diablerie, what think you of one who would steal your soul over a disagreement? Shall we fall upon each other like animals and take life and knowledge just because we can then wait while the rest of the Camarilla bands together sending their strongest out against us in their fear instead of accepting us for our strength? Again I ask, are you prepared to take on the world, give up all you freedom over the actions of one of us? Tell me what you think we should do with Alic." Dee fell silent both in words and the Presence of her blood as hot debate broke out among her fellows. While the discussion was just beginning, Alic pulled into the parking lot where Bull and Laughing Jack were waiting.
Sonja Torres 1999