I love my character, an Mark of Shadows Vistani Elf (reskinned to have been marked by Ravenloft's Mists before birth) on the path of the College of Spirits Bard (Ravenloft-specific subclass, I couldn't not); she's a bit shifty and not exactly law-abiding but it's all for the greater good of freeing Barovia from that horrible, horrible Strahd, right? She loves stories and sees the BBEG as a villain whose tragedy requires an ending that's long overdue.

This has been somewhat complicated by her long-lost twin, played by one of my best friend, that ended up a CE Draconic Sorcerer who joined the cult of a red dragon and joined the party with the goal of getting stronger by any means necessary; we played a long portion of the campaign advocating for our ways of doing things, with the rest of the Good party actually agreeing with the conniving sadistic sorcerer more often than not. Fighting tooth and nail for your beliefs against the person you loved more than your own life that now constantly **** with you for **** and giggles while still having your back in combat has been... engaging, but very draining.

We're now playing the final boss rush as we storm Castle Ravenloft (pretty sure it wasn't supposed to be this many fights on the row, but we managed to become wereravens and regeneration is one hell of a feature to give PCs) and it looks like the DM has plans to keep the campaign going after Strahd's defeat, but as engaging as it has been I just want to close this story with a satisfying ending. After Strahd is taken down, there will only be off-game reasons for the twins NOT to plot each other's death, and I'm just sick and tired of playing such a pained character.

Meet the Jackals, a (homebrew) secret Independent faction that preys on Camarilla and Sabbat alike to protect most of Belarus from the Camarilla's stranglehold and the Sabbat's senseless violence. Born as an alliance between a jaded Gangrel tactician, a cunning True Brujah politician and a reclusive Tzimisce occultist, they eventually found common ground with a determined Toreador who nursed dreams of an independent Minsk, and eventually granted her wish.

Time, however, hasn't been kind to the Jackals, and keeping control of Belarus as Elder after Elder woke up to send cities into chaos due to the Beckoning proved... taxing. The Tzimisce elder has always viewed the Jackals as a pack of watchdogs for his lab, to be kept obedient with rank vozhd blood and the occasional powerful occult equipment, and has little interest in actually leading; the Brujah founder is losing interest in the Jackal project after siring his first childer in [s]millennia[/s] centuries, and unbeknownst to most Jackals, the Gangrel founder, de facto leader and brains of the Jackals, has left following the Backoning. Cue the party being pieced together, after much insistence from certain overworked Jackals, from a (legacy character) firebrand Brujah that drank his way (gaining Addiction) his from Italy to Minsk after losing her True Love to the Sabbat in the worst way (being turned into an antitribu Toreador), a traumatized Brujah influencer that ended up the latest pupil of the Minsk's Toreador ruler, a runaway Gangrel that still secretly meets with her Shadow Lord Ragabash sister... and Path of Cathari Caitiff (a failed experiment of the Tzimisce founder) and a Lasombra on the Path of Power and the Inner Voice (Sabbat fresh recruit accidentally "rescued" when the Jackal's elite fighters wiped his sire's pack) who secretly plot to reshape the Jackals in their twisted image. The last two characters made me work the hardest, kinda sequence-breaking their way into forming a tentative alliance a very shady but extremely knowledgeable character... who's actually a fanatic Tzimisce who wants to eradicate his entire clan and has his eyes on the Jackal's oldest fleshcrafter as his next diablerie target, and has been stirring up trouble in Jackal territory to weaken them since the '90s.

As the party struggles to handle all the tasks the older, overworked Jackals put on their shoulders, the Caitiff (played by the same friend who roleplays my Bard's literal Evil Twin, surprise surprise) botches a diablerie the night after a grand event at their clandestine fighting ring and gets his soul ripped apart; the Lasombra knows the occultist Jackals will come sniffing after the Caitiff's "mysterious disappearance" and discover the Caitiff has been dabbling with secret arcane powers with the Lasombra's knowledge and blessing, and to avoid the undoubtedly brutal punishment (there are few worse torturers than a creative Tzimisce with a grudge) he will stage a fake external attack and destroy their own haven, banking on the fact all kinds of vampires just got to Minsk for their aforementioned event and the Jackals will likely suspect them as he leaves Belarus and hides in Poland among the Anarchs (becoming an NPC) thanks to his new "ally".

So, while the two players are already coming up with their new characters, an ex-Grimaldi and an ex-"Danislav" (born from the breeding of a Bratovich matriarch and a Black Spiral Dancer **** of a Theurge) tasked by the ancient and mistrustful Tzimisce with discovering the truth about the "attack", I have to manage the sudden shift of the Jackals from "overworked and possibly disillusioned but stable secret society" to "secret pack of Ancillae and Elders on high alert due to a possible breach". How exactly the Lasombra will go about destroying the evidence of their plot and hide his tracks will determine how paranoid and volatile the Jackals' spymaster (and quest-giver) will be, thus heavily affecting the tone of the next stage of the campaign.