Anne Bowesley ("Lady Anne")

Anne's family - one of the most prominent in Warwickshire-had surprised many people by siding with Cromwell. The fact was, they would not support a king who claimed a divine right over the nobility, especially when most of the noble families were older and more distinguished than the upstart Stuarts. Let Cromwell bring Parliament to unrivalled power, then-and then let the nobility rule Parliament. Her father and his friends met in secret and called themselves Optimates-Anne absorbed enough education from her brothers to recognize the term and know what it meant. Once the struggle was over, her family would be part of the ruling elite. Cromwell died, and his son died too, and back came the monarchy. Anne's father died without seeing his dream realized, and her brothers followed the herd and became fawning courtiers and town fops. But Anne never forgot. Her father had made her a good marriage, and although she never loved her husband, she found him useful for his wealth and contacts. Soon she was introduced to a group of nobles who had friends in the Netherlands, and an idea that her father would surely have approved. If England must have a king, let it be a king who could be ruled by Parliament - the group had already sounded out a Dutch prince who seemed ideal for the task. In 1688, William of Orange landed, James faced a mutiny among his own troops, and the following year William became king, married to James' daughter Mary as a precaution against pretenders and rebels. That year, Anne became married in a way, for her planning and executive skills had impressed one of the nobles deeply. His name was Valerius, and he had made more kings than the Earl of Warwick. Anne's family believed her lost at sea while on an embassy, and she installed herself in London, rapidly discovering the true powers and events behind the civil war. She learned of enemies - rebels and sorcerers - and applied herself to thwarting them. Her rise within Clan Ventrue was rapid, and she dealt with rivals as she dealt with enemies. Woe betide the fool who thought her frail because of her sex. She began attending the prince, and her natural ability led him to give her charge of Parliament. (If only her father had been alive to see it.) Through two centuries, she built Parliament into the ruling force of the nation and made it a powerful weapon against the prince's enemies. She rose in power along with her clan, her prince, her fief and her country, until it seemed that there could never be a rule so glorious. Wars came and went, on both sides of the sunrise. Plots were discovered and efficiently crushed. Then events in Europe led to conflict among the kine. Bombs rained down on London, and fire blazed everywhere. The prince was missing. Anne did not think twice. Her followers quietly removed a few prominent rivals-many of whom were also though to have fallen to the mortals' bombs - and she annouced her succession. Not liking the male term "prince," she gave herself the title "Queen of London." Her rule was not unopposed, nor had she expected it to be. Still in control of the mortal Parliament, she took advantage of the ruin and economic disruption that the war had caused and used them to starve her new subjects of resources. Thus weakened, they were unable to resist a series of crackdowns and assassinations which left her rule somewhat more secure. While opposition within her own clan had effectively been stifled, there was trouble from without. The Anarch Movement was on the rise once more, and in London it had been backed by the skulking Tremere. They never acted openly, but she had learned to read their hand in their actions. An increase in mysticism, coupled with a growing lack of respect for authority - though they called themselves "Flower Children," Anne knew a Tremere dupe when she smelled it. For a while, she let them be, remembering the situation her prince had faced a scant few decades earlier. She would not make herself look foolish by chasing shadows, and in time the enemy would surely show themselves. Her response was subtle and indirect, again using Parliament as her weapon. Under the guise of social reform, she sowed the seeds of ruin in the nation's recovering economy, aiming to cut away the basis of her enemies' power as she had done before. The Age of Aquarius ran out of money and collapsed in a sea of recrimination. She placed a pawn-one whom she regarded almost as a daughter-in charge of Parliament, and kept up the pressure on the economy. The smaller fiefs had become less obedient of late, and the destruction of their economic base would teach them their place. Meanwhile, London must learn to be ruled, willingly or otherwise, and Anne took steps to keep the primogen weak. Upon her succession, she had filled the primogen with Ventrue faithful and Toreador whose neutrality she bought by extending the Elysium. The Tremere who had sat on the primogen were either destroyed or missing, and the few Brujah were soon manipulated into withdrawing in protest. A World of Darkness 61 Mithras had kept the primogen weak, and it was an easy task to fill it with her supporters. She no longer feared the anarchs' voices - let them howl and rage, so long as they were powerless. A revolt among the northern fiefs was put down with the help of allies, and although relations with York were strained London was once again in control of Britain. But Parliament was slipping away from her. Her pawn had succeeded almost too well, and despite careful sabotage of any rivals her leadership of Parliament was in jeopardy. The kine were becoming restless, and the frustrated anarchs were setting about harnessing that frustration. Anne's pawn became the focus for all discontent, and regretfully she had to remove her from power. She now faces a dilemma, as criticisms of her rule are growing even among her own clan. Three decades of harsh rule have failed to extinguish the Tremere threat and have apparently given the anarchs more support instead of starving them into submission. Rivals are jockeying for power, the Sabbat has sprung underfoot like fungi, and the crown feels loose upon her head. Is there any way to hold onto power without another series of purges? Has she the power to undertake such purges, or will she fall to a coup which may even now be brewing?

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