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The Ripper

The Camarilla upon its forming had many rules about the embrace, some like those outlined in the Third Tradition ensure that vampires are not embraced without some oversight, while the fourth tradition ensures that someone is always accountable for their creations and last but not least, the sixth tradition that gives rights to those in charge to clean up the mess when it all goes wrong.   While never actually spelled out in the laws and traditions of the Camarilla, the embracing of children was and continues to be something that was frowned upon and though not outlawed exactly, has proven to be so dangerous that by its very nature breaks what most vampires would consider the laws of compassion. A vampire child is a concept that has much historical tragedy to make a case against it and none would be more famous then the case of the creature known as The Ripper.   Believed to be the creation of an Italian Toreador living in London by the name of Argus Petrone, he and his child offspring arrived in London in 1202 A.D. Very little was known about the circumstances and legality of such a creation, but it all pre-dated the Camarilla and for one reason or another, the matter was never dealt with by the ruling vampires at the time. The creation was rarely heard or seen from, in fact, most vampires at the time would claim that Argus himself was largely an invisible recluse who lived in the luxury of wealth, in a remote estate surviving in London through all of the turmoil of the 13th and later the age of the Anarchs in the 16th century without much involvement or interaction.   For all intense and purposes there was never a problem, that is at least until 1876 when Argus Petrone was found dead in what can only be described as a dramatic, very public and horrifically gruesome murder. Argus was cut up into roughly a dozen pieces and spread out over a canvas that reflected something of a tragic painting. When discovered, the first question on everyone's mind was who committed such a crime. After all, Hunters where not known for making explicit statements in such a manner, a typical vampire assassination would certainly be considerably more discrete and werewolves would have not been so eloquent. Simply put there was no rhyme or reason to making such a spectacle, this was something very personal. It of course left the local London sheriff with the question of where Argus's child progeny was, a question that has not been answered to this day. He was neither ever found or heard of and the working theory at the time was that it had to have been the child vampire.   A blood hunt was called and though it never bared fruit, for the vampires in charge the matter was largely closed. The culprit was identified, the reason didn't really much matter and Argus was a largely irrelevant vampire no one gave a shit about in the first place. It was what vampires in London would come to refer to as "an incident of no consequence".   That is of course until it happened a second time, this time to a young Toreador by the name of Horace Holden, something of a distinguished and wealthy gentlemen with considerable holding in various national and international banking institutions and notably a vocal supporter of the Camarilla and respected pier. Like Argus, Horace was found cut up into pieces over a canvas to make a disturbingly life like painting. The incident was again covered up and investigated and still believed to be the work of the Argus's progeny. The scene was in particularly disturbing when the London Sheriff noted that the way the bodies where cut up and shaped, they could be perceived as letters. It was not really noticed at first, but Argus's body was formed into the letter D and Horace was shaped into the letter J.   Naturally theories about exactly what word was being spelled out became the talk of the town among kindred, but it was very clear that not only was there a second linked murder, but it is expected that there may be more to come putting the entire kindred population on alert. Vampire murders were not exactly an uncommon occurrence, but kindred lived safely in the knowledge that such events where the product of vampire politics and not indiscriminate acts of a psycho path. So little was actually known about Argus and his progeny which made the investigation difficult to manage, but as the city awaits its next victim all eyes are on the London sheriff who's completely failed to produce even a single lead to the investigation.   The circumstances where made worse when reports of sightings of the creature were made in London on several occasions by mortals creating quite the affair and stirring up the local police not to mention superstitions. It also worked to confirm that this was not just some figment of anyone's imagination, but a real, inexplicable problem. From what little is actually known about the child vampire, there is absolutely no telling what its motives are. Suffice to say, the locals both kindred and mortals would like to see this problem put down as soon as possible.   The only question left is, how do you deal with a 10 year old vampire serial killer that has lived to be almost 900 years old who gives zero fucks about the Camarilla's laws with no one to hold to account for it. A question the prince is expected to answer.
Fun Fact: In the late 1800's one of the most famous serial killers was that of Jack The Ripper, however serial murders were far more common in in the early 19th century then officials of the time care to admit. In fact, serial killers where something of a common thing in London and there are a number of crimes in the city that were largely covered up by Scotland Yard police officers to save them the embarrassment of so many unsolved murders in their districts. One very famous serial killer was believed to be a boy of roughly 12 years old who murdered wealthy aristocrats wearing a mask made from an old potato sack laced with rope. This image became the inspiration for the costume for the lead character in the 2019 movie Brightburn.

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