A modest proposal - Lowrey Manor

Johnathon showed up and knocked on the elder Ventrue's door

The knock was answered by the Butler.

"Mr. Grant. What brings you here this evening?"

He smiled at the man. "Hoping to conduct some business with miss lowery, and make sure I am not stepping on any family toes"

He nodded.

"Please follow me."

And he led the way to the office, where he left the man while he went to go get Christine.

"Thank you" he said while following his lead.

He was left a lone for a full ten minutes in the very precisely appointed office. Then the door opened and Christine came in, dressed formally. She smiled politely and held out her hand for the other Ventrue to kiss.

"Good evening, Mr. Grant."

He kissed the offered hand and bowed his head politely. "Thank you for seeing me. I had several things I wished to discuss with you before proceeding further. "

She nodded and moved to sit behind the desk.

"Of course."

"First off, I am moving to acquire local politicians where i live. Of old habit, they are republicans. I mean to see at least one in office even if I must take steps to cause their opponent to drop out. I wish to make sure I am not treading on any toes. "

She shook her head.

"Not that I am aware of."

"Excellent. I will continue down this path then, and if my interests wind up crossing another of the Family, please let me know so it can be ironed out. The last I have is a bit more controversial I think. While I have hopes that your Prince will simply accept some Anarchs living next door, I try to anticipate the worst. In the chance that he doesn't, I've a peculiar thought."

"You might have noticed that while the Nosferatu have acquired private domains in this area, none of the Ventrue have. I would like to think the Ventrue have been at least as useful as the Nos. If all else fails, I would like to ask you to petition your Prince to give Hendry County to the Ventrue, and then allow me to administer in as I would see fit, in exchange for mutually agreed upon considerations. Something akin to when Great Britain leased Hong Kong from the Chinese about thirteen years ago...."

He shook his head sadly. "More than 13 years ago. My apologies, my mind still is in two time frames."

She smiles.

"It is alright. even a hundred and thirteen is an eye blink for me. I will consider this. I had been intending to ask for my Grounds as personal Domain. Perhaps the Ventrue should have land of their own as well."

He chuckled "I will not ask, but I am certain you have spent much more time awake both recently and in total than I have, so you have fewer continuity issues. I think that your Prince would be wise to expand his borders and if he does, he will have large holdings and need people to hold them. If I may be so bold, the Ventrue should seek more than just a small county to lease to a peculiar Anarch. That said I am still going to try first to get it free and clear for myself, at which point it would be of course de facto Ventrue country as well. "

"Also, the Tremere Victor Morton fancies taking Miami for himself and possibly creating a independent domain there. This worries me to a small degree."

She nods.

"The information I have, and that the Harpy announced, is that the borders will be expanding. From Jacksonville to Miami, Clearwater to the sea."

A flash of rage showed in his eyes for a moment before subsiding. "I suspected as much. "

An agitated Johnathon paced back and forth in front of Christine's desk "My apologies. Twice now in very short order to have plans ruined. It is.... frustrating. You know I planned to build Port. St. Lucie about fifty years before someone else did the same thing. Ah never mind.... How many others know? This will set off any number of land grabs I suspect with people vying for key areas and ports. Miami will be a major point of contention, especially if the Tremere get involved. Not to mention the somewhat shaky claim I could make to Hendry county by simply being there when the only public knowledge was that it was unclaimed."

She nods.

"I will claim the land you wish as Ventrue, if I can. I'm sorry we didn't move fast enough."

He smiled at that. "Thank you. I suspect that this has been in the works for some time, I am simply the odd fly in the ointment. Now, the Tremere have spoken with me about their plans for Miami, and I left myself uncommitted. Do you wish more information about that should it come my way? I believe the idea of gaining Anarch support was in his mind when we spoke."

She nods.

"I would enjoy any information you can get for me. But I do not believe that a business venture of that type, now that his Highness has claimed Miami, would be a good idea."

This time Johnathon actually laughed out loud. "Oh this will be interesting. Understand I had no desire to hook up with a ego centric tremere who wished power for the sake of power. He has claimed Miami eh? That is a very rich plum, I have some prior experience in the shipping industry should you need my services."

She smiles.

"Thank you."

"One other thing then if I may. I have had need of arms for various obvious reasons, none of which are for waging war against the Camarilla, and have been hampered by the lack of arms merchants. I may go into the business simply to tap this market. If there are no objections, I will start on that project as well, with the assurances that I am not out to wage war against any other than shared enemies."

She nods.

"You will report to me what weapons you have. That will suffice for me."

"As you say then. If you have no need of me at the moment, if I may have your leave??

She stands and holds her hand out to him over the desk.

"Always a pleasure to work with you. I think you may have been born to be one of us."

He smiled again and shook her hand. "Why thank you. Business, I truly believe transcends nearly all things."