Letter dated and postmarked September 20th, 2003

Dr. Malcolm

I'm writing to let you know that Marshall Pieper (Pipe) arrived in Vienna, broken and bruised..in more ways than one. I cleaned him up and laid him to rest on the silk sheets of some foreign hotel whose name I could not pronounce, let alone write. As promised, he is welcome here with me, for whatever it is worth, the end of this trip still uncertain, I am glad he is here. Glad Jaxon and Arkady are here as well. As I grow older, I find it best to never underestimate the value of family, perhaps it is because I never had such in my breathing days. I'm considering sending for Ember, just to complete the circle. St Louis seems so far away, and it is true what they say..that home is where the heart is.

When Pipe finally came to his senses, or at least stopped speaking in that monotone military-esque style, I finally was able to glean some of what transpired, that sent him on his flight across the world. Bukowski is no more....Merle is dead (though embraced, I think, if I interpreted the cryptic speech well enough - I didn't pry into those areas of the heart, given Pipe's mental state.) Andrea Donaghy fully esconsed then into my place, which I suppose is for the best, seems I may be tied up here for some time. I only wanted to let you know, that Pipe will be staying here with me, I did miss him a great deal, as well as others of my extended family. If Merle is still in St Louis, she may wish to know.

I can't say for sure where I'll be (or Pipe for that matter). They shuffled us out of Italy, when the whole Ventrue scandal erupted. A boatload of us went to Greece, under the hospitality of Prince Papacrisanthou of Preveza, though I've heard the natives simply call him Prince Papa, which has a nice ring to it. I think, though, Prince Papa may be getting a bit nervous about the entourage I brought with me, between Jaxon, Pipe, and Arkady, I can see how it might be viewed as a potential hostile takeover. One assassination attempt failed, and while I wasn't interested before, the bastard done pushed my button. Fair's fair.

As far as the tribunal of myself and my policies in St Louis (if that's even what it was at all), I've been well put off again by the scandal that erupted in Venice, and it seems as though other minor skirmashes are erupting all over the world, like the Camarilla's master plan is started to show cracks in the infrastructure. Whatever, they wanted with me, maybe doesn't seem that important, but they don't seem to mind keeping me in limbo indefinitely. And you know what they say about idle hands. Preveza is a beautiful coastal town, how I missed the ocean when I was in St Louis. Merle is welcome to come out here also, though I can't guarantee the reception she'll get from Pipe, maybe time will tell.

Sincerely,
Marlo Chase