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they work for a vampire. As far as the mortal world knows, Van Duesen is a middle-aged multimillionaire who inherited his wealth from a namesake grandfather. Van Duesen is well known throughout the city’s arts community. Cultural institutions such as museums and theaters know they can count on him for large donations every year. Even the most self-consciously radical artists in the city, who normally say they loathe wealthy capitalists, have nothing but good things to say about Van Duesen: a single sale to him can support an artist for a year, and greatly increases an artist’s chances of winning prestigious prizes and being written about in arts magazines.

Faction Membership

To become an Angel, a Kindred needs at least Academics •• (so he can at least talk as if he understands the arts), Resources ••• (to buy works of art and make donations to artistic institutions) and Contacts (generally •• or better) within the city’s artistic community. Crafts or Expression (to engage in some plastic or verbal art himself) may help achieve the necessary Contacts and sense of authority, but are not essential.

Attaining recognition as an Angel typically gives an Invictus member one more dot of Covenant Status, to a maximum of •••. Above that, a Kindred has attained rank or honors that make patronage of the arts a mere ornament to his power, rather than a real source of influence.

Clans: The sensuous Daeva and high-toned Ventrue make up a higher percentage of Angels, and the Gangrel perhaps contribute the fewest members to this faction — but Angels can come from any clan. Becoming an Angel depends far more on personal taste than on clan character. The Cherubim have members from all five clans.

(The Daeva bloodline called the Toreador form a notable exception. The Toreador consider patronage of the arts part of their raison d’être. Few Toreador would turn down opportunities to act as Angels.)

Nickname: “Angels” is itself a nickname. Older and more pretentious soubriquets for Invictus sponsors of the arts include “Muse” (from artists who flatter their patrons as inspiring their work, not merely paying for it) and “Helios” (the artist says that he and other hangerson shine by the reflected glory of their patron). Some Invictus members reverse the latter title by calling an artistic patron a “Selene” — he is the one who merely reflects another’s brilliance. The Cherubim, however, are usually referred to as Angels.

Covenant: These Kindred temper the First Estate’s ruthless ambition by giving a secular purpose to wealth and power. The Invictus mocks most transcendent goals, but Angels can feel that, by cultivating the arts, they give the world more than they take from it. Whatever suffering a vampire has inflicted to gain power shall pass, but the paintings, verse, architecture and other works

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arts is not a passing whim, but an unlife-long commitment. She must also show knowledge of the arts and taste in judging good from bad (or at least fashionable from passé). Just as importantly, the artistic community must recognize her as a reliable source of funds, whatever the form of art she supports.

The Cherubim wouldn’t consider a candidate unless they heard her name from several mortal artists. The faction is too loose to have any formal procedure for adopting new members. A Kindred involved in the arts simply receives an invitation to attend one of the group’s soirees. Then she receives another invitation. At Elysium, members talk to her about their artistic endeavors and ask what she’s doing. After a year or two of close contact, the Cherubim assume the candidate is part of the group, and other Kindred do, too.

Faction Disciplines: Many of the Cherubim develop Auspex — often at great personal cost — so they can appreciate artistic subtleties denied to merely mortal senses. Or at least these Cherubim say they see, hear and comprehend more than other people sense in a work of art.

Organization: Angels do not form an organized group within the Invictus as a whole. They are individuals or coteries that happen to share an interest. Angels seldom work together to further some greater goal. More often, they scheme to lure away each other’s pet artists or to gain greater exposure for their own artists at the expense of their rivals.

Only one custom is distinctive and universal to Angels: the Opening Night, when an Angel invites other Kindred to experience some new work by a pet artist. The term comes from theater, but Opening Night can center on a new show of paintings or sculptures at a gallery, publication of a book of poems or stories or even the dedication of a building.

In many ways, Opening Night resembles many other Society soirees: the host provides fresh blood in elegant surroundings, and everyone tries to be graceful and witty while the Harpies evaluate the skill of presentation. The more cultured also pay attention to the art, but not all Invictus members actually know good art from bad. It’s easier to judge how the Angel flatters and coddles influential guests than interpret a possibly subtle or radical work of art. Ironically, derivative, second-rate work often receives a better reception than a true work of genius.

The trickiest part of Opening Night consists of keeping the artist from knowing he works for vampires. Some Angels let their favorite artists in on the secret, perhaps with Vincula to assure loyalty and secrecy. These Angels generally want their pet artists to glorify their patrons as Masters of the Night; of course, the resulting paintings or panegyrics remain hidden from the masses. Most Angels, however, maintain poses as slightly eccentric millionaire patrons of the arts.

The Cherubim hold their Opening Nights at Van Duesen’s mansion and let a few of their pet artists in on the secret. An Opening Night centered on these artists

always includes a spectacular blood feast. One Opening Night featured a fountain of glass that shot preserved and heated blood and plasma. The streams of dark red and pale yellow arching through the air and mingling in the basin drew much applause from the city’s Kindred; no one has topped that display yet.

More often, the honored artists don’t know they work for vampires. Neither do the other artists and savants invited as guests. For these occasions, Van Duesen likes to invite a diverse array of artists and intellectuals. The guest of honor might be a sculptor who just completed a new statue, but the guest list could include other local artists, a distinguished artist or two from out of town, local academics and visiting writers on book tours. At these Opening Nights, the Cherubim set a few ghoul or mortal minions to pose as fellow guests, to hide the fact that some people at this very private gathering do not actually eat their hors d’oeuvres or drink the wine. The actual refreshments come before or after the showing. The local Invictus turns this social ritual into a competition, to see who best counterfeits being alive, so the audience of selected mortal artists and intellectuals never know that they are surrounded by monsters surround.

Van Duesen enjoys close connections with several art museums and galleries in town, and has become a leading collector and promoter of modern art. Much of what Van Duesen buys is conservative, by modern standards. He likes paintings, sculptures and mixed-media works with recognizable human figures.

Van Duesen also has his “shockers.” These are deliberately radical works, often stridently political, anti-re- ligious or otherwise calculated to offend the bourgeoisie. Typical examples include crucified Ken and Barbie dolls or a rendition of the flag raising on Iwo Jima fin- ger-painted in different colors of excrement. Van Duesen buys a few “shockers” every year, then loans them to museums or galleries he supports. The works get written about in arts magazines, win prizes from those museums or galleries, attract controversy — and quickly triple in value. Van Duesen sells some of his “shockers” while the price is high; others, he sends on museum tours around the world. He doesn’t exhibit the “shockers” in his house: they’re business investments, and Van Duesen freely admits to other Kindred that his “shockers” are a con game.

Van Duesen’s third artistic interest, which he necessarily keeps secret from the kine, is collecting Kindred antiquities and objets d’art for the Vault. This interest consumes more of his resources. Van Duesen sends ghoul and mortal factors around the world in pursuit of collectibles, and knows about many rival collectors.

On rare occasions, Van Duesen even sends a coterie of ambitious neonates to acquire a new treasure for the Vault. He’s worked out a cunning plan for shipping the undead in relative safety. One of his “shockers” is called