Gangrel Antitribu Newsletter

OFFICIAL VEKN GANGREL ANTITRIBU NEWSLETTER VOLUME 5 NUMBER 3 MARCH
2002

IN THIS ISSUE ....
EDITORIAL: 4 Glorious Years
DECK: The Ditchwitch Deck
FICTION: The Ditchwitch

EDITORIAL: 4 Glorious Years
The first ever !Gangrel NL hit the newsgroup exactly 4 years ago, in
March 1998, so this is really the beginning of the 5th year of its
uninterrupted publication. And what an amazing 4 years it's been - for
the clan, for the game, for the community, and for me personally. i
never cease to be amazed at how this marvellous game has spawned a
genuine international fellowship, a fellowship composed moreover of
exceptionally brainy people who dedicate a large part of their lives
to an activity which, at its best, approaches an art-form. In
celebration, you may now all raise your right hands and give
yourselves a little pat on the head - you deserve it. Indeed, Scott,
Jeff, Peter, the two Roberts [Goudie and Treasure], Todd and Steve may
give themselves TWO pats on the head, if they choose. Y'know, Steve,
maybe you should give yourself three - after all, you've put not only
love and thought into this game, but also LOTS of WW cash. i'm glad
you are getting a lot of it back, and i hope that continues for a
LOONG time.

DECK: The Ditchwitch Deck
North American readers will mostly know what a Ditchwitch is, but i'ld
be surprised if many people from the other continents did. Ben Peal,
whose dearest wish it is to own one, kindly explained about them to me
when David Tatu was driving us up through Georgia and the Carolinas
last autumn, erm, sorry, Fall.

A Ditchwitch is a caterpillar tractor which is used to excavate
ditches in the heavy clay soils of the American South. The usual
mechanical scoop/bucket/spade-type things don't work here, so instead
the Ditchwitch has a HUGE [8-foot long] chainsaw on the front, with
which to delve into the Dixie dirt. i must admit i thought that Ben
was having a little innocent fun at the Limey's expense when he told
me this, but it's actually true - i have seen them with my own eyes,
and very surreal and menacing they look - True American Gothic. They
even have a website -
http://www.ditchwitch.com/Category/CategoryView/1003 has some pictures
of the chainsaws.

i've named the following perfectly-functional [despite having 5
disciplines] country gangrel-antitribu deck after this amazing
machine, because it contains chain saws, and cards that say "earth"
and "rock" on them. i dedicate it to my Southern US friends in
appreciation of all their kindness, to Jared Strait for winning a
storyline tourney with a !Gangrel deck, and to Ben in honour of his
TWO victories in the storyline tournament. O, and it's 4CL-legal [but
was designed for NCL, and works just fine there]. Am i Mr Emollient or
WHAT?????

CRYPT [12 vampire cards]
Caitlin x 2
Genevieve x 2
Haakon Mortensen
Leon
Monique x 2
Omaya x 2
Sadie
Shane Grimald

LIBRARY [90 cards]
MASTERS [17]
Animalism
Auspex
Blood Doll x 3
Campground HG
Dominate
Fortitude
Minion Tap
The Path of the Feral Heart
Pentex loves You!
Protean
The Rumor Mill, Tabloid Newspaper 
Storage Annex
Sudden reversal
Tribute to the Master
Twisted Forest
MINION CARDS [73]
DISCIPLINELESS [17]
Arson
Computer Hacking
Flak jacket
Forced Awakening x 2
Gas-Powered Chainsaw x 2
JS Simmons, Esq.
Laptop Computer x 2
Leather Jacket x 3
Pier 13, Port of Baltimore
Sawed-Off Shotgun
Sport Bike
White Phosphorous Grenade
ANIMALISM [15]
Carrion Crows x 2
Cats' Guidance x 3
Guard Dogs x 4
Rat's Warning x 2
Shadow of the Beast
Song of Serenity x 2
Wolf Companion
AUSPEX [11]
Aura Reading x 2
My Enemy's Enemy
Precognition x 2
Pulse of the Canaille
Revelations
Spirit's Touch x 2
Telepathic counter x 2
DOMINATE [7]
Conditioning x 2
Deflection x 2
Govern the Unaligned x 2
Graverobbing
FORTITUDE [10]
Hidden Strength
Rolling with the Punches x 3
Skin of Rock x 4
Superior Mettle x 2
PROTEAN [13]
Claws of the Dead x 3
Dissolution
Earth Control x 2
Form of Mist
Homunculus
Quick Meld
Rapid Change x 3
Wolf Claws

FICTION: The Ditchwitch
Gillespi Giovanni approached the padlocked gate, glancing to right and
left to make sure he was unobserved; then, producing a pair of
long-handled clippers from his trenchcoat he cut the chain and pushed
the gate open. In the moonlight the machines glinted menacingly and he
walked along the line, counting six from the left, before vaulting
into the cabin. Rummaging at the left-hand side of the seat he found
the keys, and started the engine. It roared into life as he drove the
machine, at first hesitantly but then with growing confidence, out of
the gate and down a muddy lane, then into a forest. Freshly-cut earth
and crude concrete marked the spot, and Gillespi fired up the gigantic
chainsaw and began to dig.

About 10 minutes worth of work saw him cutting into a large concrete
pipe, whereupon he stopped the engine and jumped down, lighting a
torch as he did so. Filmy eyes, sunk in a rotting face, gazed blindly
up at him from the cavity. With a grunt of satisfaction, Gillespi
reached into the hole and pulled hard at the corpse's head, which came
free with a squelch and an exhalation of noisome gas.

"My, my, you've looked better, old chap. Looks like Legbiter's people
had their fun with you alright, before they stuck you down here. Still
alive, you say? BAAAD luck. 'Spect you'ld be in the market for a
little payback, hmm? Well, just let me know where to find Monique. She
and i used to have a bit of a thing, y'know, and i can use my, erm,
pull on her to hurt Legbiter GOOOD."

The dead mouth worked and the face moved, writhing as if with
subcutaneous maggots. Gillespi watched it intently, bending closer and
nodding; then, satisfied, he stood up, casually tossing the head back
into the excavation, and turned to go. His car was parked discreetly
close by, but as he drew out the keys he froze, feeling something
brush his leg - a cat! Swiftly he reached into his coat for his
Biretta, but even more swiftly did Haakon Mortensen, concealed amongst
the trees, fit the last of 20 2H pencils into the hopper of his
Chu-Ko-Nu. A salvo of pencils fanned out from the crossbow, glowing
with the friction of the air, and slamming into the unfortunate
Giovanni, who tried desperately to dodge, to duck, to draw his gun ...
but to no avail ... a second of agonising pain as the pencil found his
heart, and then another second, and another .... O God O Caine let me
faint let me die let me go mad ......

But Gillespi could not lose consciousness. Paralysed but held upright
by the body of the car, he could only watch as Haakon crossed his
now-fixed line of sight, lighting a cigarette and waving casually to
him as he did so. Gillespi heard the sound of the Ditchwitch motor
starting, and then the saw. The vehicle entered his line of sight and
turned purposefully towards him. Above the sound of the engine and the
saw, he could hear Haakon's powerful bass:

"Way down South, in the Land of Cotton,
Old Times there are not forgotten,
Look Away! Look Away! Look Away! Dixieland!"

Not very long afterwards, Gillespi heard no more.

**********************

Alright, that's it for this Anniversarial issue. April will be a bit
late cos we are going across the water for some vampy fun with some
french friends. Don't forget it's Portsmouth sealed-deck on the 17th
[venue still to be determined, sorry, i forgot to ask the troops about
it last night]. Blame it on a REALLY exciting game which Rob won [4 to
him, 1 to me] with his war ghouls ... but i reckon my Ahrimanes were
ONE bleed-boost away from making it an even MORE exciting game. O,
and, finally, this is the last NL from legbiter@mailandnews.com. That
address shuts down today, so correspondence to legbiter@talk21.com,
please, from which future NLs will emanate. Seeya!