“Dictators must have enemies. They must have internal enemies to justify their secret police and external enemies to justify their military force.”
Richard Perle
“Show me the man and I’ll find you the crime.”
Lavrentiy Beria
“Put yourself in a cop’s shoes and chances are you won’t like what you see in your face.”
Anonymous

Perceived Goals: Enforcing the Traditions and maintaining Prince Vidal’s rule
Meeting Place: Perdido House
Prerequisites to Join: Appointment by Prince Vidal. However, it is usually the sheriff or seneschal who recommend prospective hounds to the prince, and their opinions carry substantial weight.
Required Backgrounds: Status (Guard de Ville) ••+; Status (Hardline Sanctified or allied covenant) •+

The Guard de Ville are the hardest, bloodiest knuckles in Augusto Vidal’s iron fist and one of the most important coteries in New Orleans. Its members include the sheriff, the hounds who serve as his deputies, and any other Kindred recruited on an ad hoc basis to serve as part of the brute squad. The Guard’s purpose is simple: enforce the Traditions and maintain Prince Vidal’s increasingly draconian rule over the Big Easy. Depending on who one talks to, the Guard de Ville are either a jack-booted Gestapo or the archdiocese’s first line of defense against a tide of chaos… or perhaps a little of both.

Duties

What doesn’t the Guard do? When a criminal breaks the Traditions, the Guard de Ville is sent to bring them in. When there is a Masquerade breach, the Guard de Ville is there to clean it up (often in coordination with the Krewe of Janus). When Loup-Garoux, hunters, Strix, Sabbat, or other enemies are at the gates, the Guard de Ville is there to drive them back. Whenever there is a mission Augusto Vidal or Philip Maldonato wants accomplished, the Guard de Ville will probably be the Kindred they entrust it to.

The Guard de Ville’s most famous exploits are martial in nature and all of the coterie’s members have reputations as seasoned warriors. However, like any police force, the Guard’s typical night-to-night duties are more mundane. These most frequently consist of investigative work and preempting potential problems before they can become problems. Often, the Guard simply talks to vampires throughout the city (regents are accustomed to semi-regular conversations with the sheriff and hounds) and makes their presences felt at Kindred gatherings. The Guard are representatives of the prince’s law and reminders that his descending iron fist is never far.

The Guard owes much of its present importance to the conflict between Vidal and his two archrivals. As relations between the prince, Antoine Savoy, and Baron Cimitière deteriorated to their present state in the early 20th century, the Cabildo began to lose relevance as an institution. Vidal no longer used it as a forum to resolve his disputes with the city’s other two most preeminent elders. Instead, he increasingly came to rely upon the Guard de Ville to impose his will by force (or threat of force) without the need for compromise or diplomacy. The more tyrannical the prince becomes, the more powerful the Guard grows, and indeed has grown.

The Guard’s greatest power lies in the fact that it is responsible for implementing much of the policy set by the prince and seneschal. For example, Vidal might declare a particular Kindred outlaw. It’s the Guard de Ville that must locate the outlaw and interrogate, intimidate, or broker deals with any other involved Kindred along the way. It’s the Guard de Ville that must stake the outlaw once they’re located. Ideally this is done through ambush rather than protracted battle, and even more ideally by simply getting the outlaw to come quietly. Once the Guard has their man, they must decide what to do with any Kindred who obstruct the prince’s justice by assisting the outlaw, and finally decide what to tell the prince or seneschal. Are the outlaw’s crimes not so bad as initially believed, or are they even worse? The Guard comes to the latter conclusion more often than it does the former, but their testimony can move the prince to show clemency.

While the Guard de Ville informs the prince and seneschal about significant developments in their investigations, they nevertheless have significant autonomy and decision-making authority. Any given neonate off the street is far more likely to speak to one of the Guard’s members than they are to see the prince himself—and far more likely to get in trouble because of something the Guard notices than something the prince notices. Vidal isn’t the one actually patrolling the streets, after all. While the Guard’s stated purpose is to bring criminals before the prince or seneschal for judgment, rather than pass judgment themselves, it’s often at their discretion whether a given Kindred gets brought forward and “charged” with crimes at all.

Following Hurricane Katrina, Sheriff Donovan was allowed significant leeway to punish “lesser” infractions as he saw fit. Consequently, the Guard’s members wield great influence over how Vidal’s policies are implemented on a night-to-night basis. The prince is amply aware of this fact and only extends membership on the coterie to Kindred whom he trusts.

Unfortunately, that trust was proven disastrously misplaced in 2016 when Sheriff Donovan used it to lead the Guard de Ville against the prince’s childe and her allies—and largely to their doom. The result of that clash at the Battle of Mt. Carmel, and the number of Sanctified Kindred slain on both sides, led to some of the largest territorial expansions by Antoine Savoy and Baron Cimitière in the city’s history.

For good and ill, the Guard’s power and influence no longer resides with the sheriff alone now. Neither the replacement sheriff nor his hounds command the same fear they once did. It remains to be seen whether they will be enough to maintain the prince’s rule over an increasingly factitious city.

Privileges

The Guard’s job is a difficult and time-consuming one. Members of the coterie are far more likely than most Kindred to get into physically violent altercations with other vampires, although only two of the Guard’s members—Robert Bastien and Austin Shepard—have met final death “in the line of duty.”

Despite (and sometimes even because of) this fact, most neonates jump at the chance to serve as hounds. Equally many ancillae would love to serve as sheriff. The Guard’s members perform valuable services for the prince and are well-rewarded for their efforts. Some of these rewards include:

• Right to domain. All of the Guard’s members receive ample feeding grounds. (This is as much out of necessity as it is a reward—they do their jobs better with access to more blood.)

• Right of progeny. While not every member of the Guard has childer, every member who’s wanted a childe has been granted permission to sire. Some have been granted permission multiple times.

• Authority over their fellow Kindred. The Guard’s members are not “in uniform” and “out of uniform” like mortal law enforcement officers—the sheriff calls on the hounds whenever he needs them, and the Guard’s agents are often given assignments to pursue on their own time and at their own pace. As far as most Kindred are concerned, the sheriff and his hounds are always “on duty”. They are afforded caution and respect in many of their dealings, as it usually safer to assume they are acting on the prince’s behalf until proven otherwise. A hound who has a dispute with a fellow neonate is more likely to get their way by dint of being a hound.

• Powerful allies and patrons. The Guard de Ville is one of the city’s deadliest coteries and enjoys the explicit backing of the prince and seneschal. Someone who picks a fight with a hound is picking a fight with the rest of the Guard de Ville—often a lot more trouble than it’s worth. The Guard’s members can also turn to the rest of the coterie and its patrons for potential assistance in matters of personal interest.

• Opportunity to build their reputations. The Guard’s members do important work for the prince. The coterie’s aulmni include several sheriffs, regents, and an archon. All of them established reputations for cunning, martial prowess, political astuteness, and—perhaps most important to their elders—loyalty and dependability through work they did as hounds.

• Information. The Guard’s members are exposed to the inner workings of Vidal’s court and can be privy to otherwise secret information if they need it to do their jobs. The prince of course expects discretion from his agents, and his rage at any hound (much less sheriff) who betrayed his secrets, whether deliberately or through poor judgment, would be terrible. A discrete member of the Guard who watches, learns, and keeps their mouth shut can nevertheless reap substantial benefits, both immediately and down the line.

It should be noted that the Guard offers more perks and opportunities to neonates than ancillae who are already established figures in city politics. Serving on the Guard requires a great deal of time and offers no avenues for advancement to hounds who don’t become sheriffs—and there can only be one sheriff. Consequently, most hounds “do their decades” and then get out, using their time on the coterie to leverage greater things later in their Requiems. Donovan, Pierpont McGinn, Jonathan North, and Slane Holland are all respected former hounds whose early nights of service helped get them where they are now.

The average hound serves perhaps several score years on the Guard. Most members are neonates or younger ancillae. The ideal sheriff, at least to many princes, is a mature ancilla or younger elder, though Donovan and Robert Bastien were both appointed to the position while still neonates. Ultimately, the job goes to whoever Vidal thinks can fill it best.

Current Members

Guard de Ville Status •••

Sheriff Slane Holland

Lineage: 9th gen. childe of Dominique Toutain
Embrace: 1876
Status: Camarilla •••, Hardline Sanctified •••, Ventrue •••
Coterie: Guard de Ville •••
The current Sheriff of New Orleans is not his predecessor. That is both a positive and a negative: Donovan was a terror, but also a traitor. Holland assumed his position on the heels of the bloodiest betrayal the Hardline Sanctified had seen in many decades, and at the hands of the last sheriff, so there is nowhere for the office to go but up. Unfortunately, the challenges that beset the new sheriff and his coterie of neonate hounds have never been greater: an ascendant Baron newly allied with the Anarchs, an expansionist Savoy, and the all-too mortal appearance of the prince’s once-seeming invulnerability.

Guard de Ville Status ••

Hound Alexander Wright

Lineage: 11th gen. childe of Doc Xola
Embrace: 1984
Status: Brujah •••, Camarilla •, Hardline Sanctified ••
Coterie: Guard de Ville ••
Before the 2016 Battle of Mt. Carmel, Alexander Wright was the Guard’s junior-most hound, albeit one with close to four decades of service on the coterie. Now he’s the Guard’s senior-most hound. A gangbanger in his mortal life, Wright has little patience for the halls of Elysium, but Kindred who dismiss the Brujah hound as a mere hoodlum find he’s smarter than they give him credit for. His familiarity with gang culture and the city’s poorer, blacker neighborhoods has been a considerable asset to the Guard in their operations against the Baron’s followers. Wright can talk to people who wouldn’t give the time of day to the other hounds (notwithstanding his childe, who joined the coterie in 2016). The Brujah briefly served as acting sheriff following the Battle of Mt. Carmel, but stepped down upon Slane Holland’s return to the city.

Hound Caroline Malveaux-Devillers

Lineage: 7th gen. childe of Augusto Vidal
Embrace: 2015
Status: Camarilla •, Hardline Sanctified •, Ventrue •
Coteries: Augusto Vidal’s inner circle, Guard de Ville ••, Low Table •••, Leviathan Committee •••, Red Right Hand •••
The prince’s only known childe, Caroline Malveaux-Devillers joined the Guard in the nights after the destruction of Sheriff Donovan—an irony given that her battle with him was what decimated the Guard’s previous incarnation. She’s remained a member under Holland’s tenure and her shared clan and covenant with the older Ventrue has made her his favorite “second” when getting his hands dirty. Though she is still young in the Blood, her reputation as a lethal fighter and cunning tactician were bloodily earned during the Battles of Mt. Carmel and the Arts District. Few Kindred have reason to believe her placement on the hounds is anything but deserved: most of the city already thought she was a bitch.

Hound Roger Ferris

Lineage: 10th gen. childe of Conroy Westphal
Embrace: 2016
Status: Camarilla 0, Lasombra •, Invictus 0
Coteries: Guard de Ville ••, Leviathan Committee ••, Low Table ••
Roger Ferris is one of the younger members of the current Guard de Ville, preceding Furnie’s Embrace by mere hours. He’s made his bones in the coterie by dint of his skills in life and ruthless intellect rather than strength in the Blood. As a former CIA station chief, he excels in the sorts of gray area operations that many of his peers do not. He favors abductions of mortal family members to bring the Guard’s enemies into compliance. Also a vampire hunter before his Embrace, his knowledge of their methods and his own amorality make him particularly lethal when dealing with hunters.

Hound Furnie Jacobs

Lineage: 12th gen. childe of Alexander Wright
Embrace: 2016
Status: Camarilla 0, Brujah •, Hardline Sanctified •
Coterie: Guard de Ville ••
The “youngest” member of the Guard, Furnie cut his teeth as a ghoul for Alexander Wright for years before dying in the 2016 Battle of Mt. Carmel on the end of Caroline Malveaux-Devillers’ sword—a fact he never lets his fellow hound forget. He subsequently arose as a postmortem Embrace and survived the brutal fighting during the Battle of the Arts District, which earned him a place on the Guard. He shores up the prince’s “northern front” by making his domain along the borders of the Baron’s recently expanded territory. Like most of the current Guard, he leans heavily on the skills he learned in life—in his case as a Marine and bringing his not unsubstantial physical gifts to any conflict.

Guard de Ville Status •

In addition to these official members, the Guard de Ville maintains a number of informal agents, bullyboys, and ex-members it can call upon when the need arises. Some of these Kindred are more reliable than others. Duke Elmhearst, Bishop Malveaux, and Pierpont McGinn were some of the Guard’s better-known “auxiliaries.” Elmhearst was a vassal and lickspittle of Donovan’s who largely did as his master said, while Malveaux had long been one of the sheriff’s closest allies. Pierpont McGinn is a former hound who supports the Guard’s mission, though now tends to do so from a distance befitting his current position as regent.

History & Prior Members

The Guard de Ville is a younger coterie than some might think. During the early nights of Vidal’s reign, its existence would have been redundant: Vidal was in a near-constant state of conflict against “rebels and insurgents” who refused to accept his rule. His few early followers were more or less all members of the Guard by default. It was only following the last great revolt in 1815 that Vidal appointed the city’s first sheriff, Robert Bastien. Bastien had several Kindred he could call on for assistance, when the need arose for additional manpower, but it rarely did. The city was peaceful.

Vidal formally established the Guard de Ville in the aftermath of the Civil War to maintain order in the Union-occupied city. Federal troops were under the control of Roger Halliburton, whom many believed to harbor ambitions of seizing Vidal’s throne for himself. Under these conditions, a more organized “police force” to maintain the prince’s rule was called for. This early Guard was an all-Ventrue coterie.

1866—1890s

• Sheriff Robert Bastien (8th gen. childe of Lothar Constantine, Ventrue/Hardline Sanctified, e. early 19th century)
• Hound Troy Hansen (8th gen. childe of Alejandro Rojas y Batiz, Ventrue/Invictus, e. early 19th century)
• Hound Slane Holland (9th gen. childe of Dominique Toutain, Ventrue/Hardline Sanctified, e. late 19th century)

In the later 19th century, following the assassinations of Maria Pascual and Roger Halliburton, Vidal believed a more robust security force was necessary. The Guard’s powers were expanded even as Vidal appointed a scourge, Caitlin Meadows. Meadows did not serve on the Guard, instead directly answering to the prince as a personal hitwoman, but Embraced the coterie’s first non-Ventrue member. The rise to power of Antoine Savoy and the Baron’s seemingly forever-sealed enmity ensured the Guard’s relevance would only continue to increase in the coming years.

1880s—1915

• Sheriff Robert Bastien (8th gen. childe of Lothar Constantine, Ventrue/Hardline Sanctified, e. early 19th century)
• Hound Slane Holland (9th gen. childe of Dominique Toutain, Ventrue/Hardline Sanctified, e. late 19th century)
• Hound Donovan (8th gen. childe of Antoine Savoy, Toreador/Hardline Sanctified, e. late 19th century)
• Hound René Baristheaut (9th gen. childe of Robert Bastien, Ventrue/Hardline Sanctified, e. late 19th century)
• Hound Rocco Agnello (10th gen. childe of Caitlin Meadows, Gangrel/Hardline Sanctified, e. late 19th century)

In 1915, the Guard was devastated when Robert Bastien was slain by vampire hunters. Baristheaut chose to leave New Orleans for personal and still-disputed reasons in the aftermath. Donovan was appointed as sheriff. Holland, affronted at not being chosen, resigned in protest and also left New Orleans, though he would remain in Clan Ventrue’s service as a lictor.

Facing a manpower shortage, Vidal relaxed the Guard’s restriction on Sanctified members. The Tremere Jonathan North and the Invicta Pierpont McGinn were brought in to fill the ranks. Both proved themselves valuable members of the coterie.

1915—1932

• Sheriff Donovan (8th gen. childe of Antoine Savoy, Toreador/Hardline Sanctified, e. late 19th century)
• Hound Rocco Agnello (10th gen. childe of Caitlin Meadows, Gangrel/Hardline Sanctified, e. late 19th century)
• Hound Jonathan North (8th gen. childe of Nathan Mendelssohn, Tremere/House Tremere, e. mid 19th century)
• Hound Pierpont McGinn (9th gen. childe of Troy Hansen, Ventrue/Invictus, e. late 19th century)

After 17 years on the Guard, North was transferred to Vienna by the Tremere clan and left New Orleans. North was replaced in 1938 with Holland’s childe, Jacopo “Walter” Andretti.

1938—1955

• Sheriff Donovan (8th gen. childe of Antoine Savoy, Toreador/Hardline Sanctified, e. late 19th century)
• Hound Rocco Agnello (10th gen. childe of Caitlin Meadows, Gangrel/Hardline Sanctified, e. late 19th century)
• Hound Pierpont McGinn (9th gen. childe of Troy Hansen, Ventrue/Invictus, e. late 19th century)
• Hound Walter Andretti (10th gen. childe of Slane Holland, Ventrue/Hardline Sanctified, e. early 20th century)

Andretti left the Guard after some two decades amidst rumors of an altercation with Rocco Agnello. Around the same time, Donovan Embraced his first and only childe, who was brought in to the Guard to fill Andretti’s spot.

1950s—1970s

• Sheriff Donovan (8th gen. childe of Antoine Savoy, Toreador/Hardline Sanctified, e. late 19th century)
• Hound Rocco Agnello (10th gen. childe of Caitlin Meadows, Gangrel/Hardline Sanctified, e. late 19th century)
• Hound Pierpont McGinn (9th gen. childe of Troy Hansen, Ventrue/Invictus, e. late 19th century)
• Hound Camilla Doriocourt (9th gen. childe of Donovan, Toreador/Hardline Sanctified, e. mid 20th century)

Following Pearl Chastain’s rise from torpor and the resultant shift in Invictus politics, Pierpont McGinn retired from the Guard de Ville after close to 60 years of service—a long overdue retirement in his eyes. McGinn put forward his childe Austin Shepard to fill his shoes. Shepard had previously assisted the Guard in an informal capacity anyway and proved well-suited to the role.

1970s—1980s

• Sheriff Donovan (8th gen. childe of Antoine Savoy, Toreador/Hardline Sanctified, e. late 19th century)
• Hound Rocco Agnello (10th gen. childe of Caitlin Meadows, Gangrel/Hardline Sanctified, e. late 19th century)
• Hound Camilla Doriocourt (9th gen. childe of Donovan, Toreador/Hardline Sanctified, e. mid 20th century)
• Hound Austin Shepard (10th gen. childe of Pierpont McGinn, Ventrue/Invictus, e. mid 20th century)

Alexander Wright was Embraced and joined the Sanctified midway through the ‘80s. His addition to the Guard de Ville swelled the coterie’s ranks to its largest size yet.

1980s—2005

• Sheriff Donovan (8th gen. childe of Antoine Savoy, Toreador/Hardline Sanctified, e. late 19th century)
• Hound Rocco Agnello (10th gen. childe of Caitlin Meadows, Gangrel/Hardline Sanctified, e. late 19th century)
• Hound Camilla Doriocourt (9th gen. childe of Donovan, Toreador/Hardline Sanctified, e. mid 20th century)
• Hound Austin Shepard (10th gen. childe of Pierpont McGinn, Ventrue/Invictus, e. mid 20th century)
• Hound Alexander Wright (11th gen. childe of Doc Xola, Brujah/Hardline Sanctified, e. late 20th century)

Hurricane Katrina saw heavy action by the Guard, all of whose members remained in the city during the storm and its aftermath. Austin Shepard met final death and his own childe, Jethro Cyr (who was being considered for membership on the coterie), fled New Orleans. No replacement was named.

2005—2016

• Sheriff Donovan (8th gen. childe of Antoine Savoy, Toreador/Hardline Sanctified, e. late 19th century)
• Hound Rocco Agnello (10th gen. childe of Caitlin Meadows, Gangrel/Hardline Sanctified, e. late 19th century)
• Hound Camilla Doriocourt (9th gen. childe of Donovan, Toreador/Hardline Sanctified, e. mid 20th century)
• Hound Alexander Wright (11th gen. childe of Doc Xola, Brujah/Hardline Sanctified, e. late 20th century)

In the decade since Katrina, the current Guard de Ville has proven that it remains an efficient and well-oiled machine. Its members have served together for more than 30 years and are more than capable of dealing with most threats to Vidal’s rule. They were the prince’s first line of defense, some of the best-known symbols of his rule, and their loss was a devastating blow to the Hardliners.

2016—present

• Sheriff Slane Holland (9th gen. childe of Dominique Toutain, Ventrue/Hardline Sanctified, e. late 19th century)
• Hound Alexander Wright (11th gen. childe of Doc Xola, Brujah/Hardline Sanctified, e. late 20th century)
• Hound Caroline Malveaux-Devillers (7th gen. childe of Augusto Vidal, Ventrue/Hardline Sanctified, e. early 21st century)
• Hound Roger Ferris (10th gen. childe of Conroy Westphal, Lasombra/ Invictus, e. early 21st century)
• Hound Furnie Jacobs (12th gen. childe of Alexander Wright, Brujah/Hardline Sanctified, e. early 21st century)

The modern Guard de Ville is a shadow of what it was only years ago. Fresh-faced neonates replaced seasoned ancillae, which the Guard’s current members claim has led to a greater refinement of their methods. As younger vampires, they’ve been forced to do more with less, and increasingly favor mundane skill and modern technology over supernatural power. For all that, the ruthlessly efficient coterie does not inspire the same dread as its predecessors, and they are stretched thin by the growing scope of their duties. Time will tell if they earn their stripes in the city’s concrete jungle. For now, the prince’s enemies have taken advantage of the Guard’s weakness in ways they would not have dared even a few years ago.

Destroyed Members

Sheriff Donovan

Lineage: 8th gen. childe of Antoine Savoy
Embrace: Late 19th century
Final Death: 2016 (~120 years undead)
Status: Camarilla ••••, Hardline Sanctified •••, Toreador ••
Coterie: Guard de Ville ••••
The sheriff from 1915 until his final death in 2016, Donovan was one of the most feared vampires in New Orleans and the third-most important figure among the Hardline Sanctified. Tales of the sheriff’s martial prowess abound, yet even beyond his skill with a blade, the sheriff inspired a level of fear in other Kindred eclipsed only by the prince himself. Socially, Donovan long cultivated influence over the NOPD (which was of obvious utility in preserving the Masquerade) and the private mercenary company Blackwatch. He was the foremost champion and “field agent” of the Hardline Sanctified and seen an indispensably useful asset to the prince. Fear of Donovan was what keeps many of Vidal’s enemies in line. All of which made his betrayal in 2016, and his attempted assassination of the prince’s newly revealed childe all the more devastating. His destruction at the Battle of Mt. Carmel by his would-be victim came at the cost of almost the entire Guard de Ville. This power vacuum gave rise to the Battles of the Arts District and Mid-City, which saw bboth the Baron and Antoine Savoy make their greatest territorial and political gains in more than a century.

Hound Camilla Doriocourt

Lineage: 9th gen. childe of Donovan
Embrace: Mid 20th century
Final Death: 2016 (~70 years undead)
Status: Camarilla •••, Hardline Sanctified •••, Toreador ••
Coterie: Guard de Ville •••
Camilla was Donovan’s informal second-in-command among the hounds. Rocco may have been her senior in years served, and possibly her better as a warrior, but Agnello’s social stumbles in late 2015 and early 2016 solidified the belief that her temperament was far more suited to command. Like all of the Guard’s members, Camilla had a reputation as an able fighter and investigator, but it was her blood magic that was perhaps her most valued skill—and one she leveraged frequently on the coterie’s behalf. She also had influence over mortal law enforcement agencies, with a greater focus on “behind the scenes” police work such as Internal Affairs and public outreach. She sided with her sire in the 2016 Battle of Mt. Carmel and met final death in its aftermath at the hands of the Snake Hunters.

Hound Rocco Agnello

Lineage: 10th gen. childe of Caitlin Meadows
Embrace: 1899
Final Death: 2016 (117 years undead)
Status: Camarilla •, Gangrel ••, Hardline Sanctified ••
Coterie: Guard de Ville ••
Rocco Agnello was the oldest of the hounds. He could’ve left the coterie decades before his destruction, if so inclined, but there’s no doubt that Donovan (and the prince) appreciated having so experienced a warrior to call on. He was likely the Guard’s best fighter after the sheriff himself during Donovan’s reign. Socially, his ties to Harrah’s casino and the Italian Mafia gave him numerous avenues to conduct extralegal activities that even a police force as corrupt as the NOPD wasn’t always suitable for. Social blunders in Elysium and elsewhere damaged his reputation just prior to his final death, though, and led many Kindred to think of him as no more than a mad dog on a leash. He achieved some measure of final redemption, though, when he turned upon Donovan during the 2016 Battle of Mt. Carmel. He met final death under the sheriff’s sword, defending Vidal’s childe to his last breath.

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