VtM: Winter's Teeth #2

Issue #2 continues where issue #1 left off. We are officially introduced to Prince Samantha of the Twin Cities and her council. Cecily lies an introduces Alejandra as her childe. Ali, as Cecily calls her, is different and learns she must take blood directly from human prey. She can't keep animal blood and blood bags down. Cecily leads her on her first hunt, having her target a drug dealer. After feeding and killing the dealer, she also shows Ali that he was the only one that looked after her daughter. This less hurts Ali, but teaches her that good or bad, in the end people are just trying to survive. We catch a flashback to Cecily's embrace and her kneeling before something with glowing red eyes peering out through the darkness. There is a bit of intrigue as Cordell Block, who's girlfriend Cecily killed in the previous issue, is hands over a flash drive with important information about the Prince and her plans to a nosferatu hacker named Sphinc. After he leaves, Sphinc and her compatriots are killed by three individuals using night vision goggles. This leads to Cecily getting a call that vampires have been killed by hunters. 

Tim Seely and Devmalya Pramanik continue to do a great job presenting the World of Darkness. Seely's characters are interesting and feel like they come from a WoD sourcebook. Premanik's artwork is fantastic. I'm looking forward to learning who these hunters are, because their symbol isn't one I'm familiar with.

The Anarch's Tale story begins with a flashback Mitch, Colleen's sire, and his embrace. The story flashes between that time and the current, with anarchs stopping at an abandoned rest area. In the past we see Mitch and several others are kidnapped and fed upon by some vampires, who then throw them in a pit and bury them. The vampires speak Latin as they do so. Anyone familiar with VtM realize this is a Sabbat pack performing rites. Mitch is the only survivor He digs his way out and finds he's alone. Back in the present a van approaches the group. Hunters hop out, shoot Priscila, and refer to Colleen as Renfield. They throw her in the van, where we see they've already got Mitch. 

While this story is shorter, Tini and Black Howard are telling an interesting story. Once again, Nathan Gooden's art is phenomenal and close enough to the Winter's Teeth art to not be a jarring shift. It was cool to see Sabbat. My one complaint is there is no segue between stories in this issue and "The Anarch Tale Part 2" title is on the second page of the story. Seeing as both stories contain hunters, we're seeing the stories threads start to slowly connect.

The issue ends with two new loresheets. In Vampire the Masquerade 5e loresheets are merits that you can take at character creation. You can typically only have one and they are connections to areas, people, and organizations. They have a 1-5 rating like most merits and provide some interesting bonuses and features. They are a godsend to a storyteller because they have built-in in character plot hooks. The first loresheet focuses on Minneapolis, which is the anarch side of the Twin Cities. You gain ties to the cities rebellious past. The St. Paul loresheet grants ties to the Camarilla and features elements tied to the cities criminal history. 

This was another great issue. The combination of intriguing story, fantastic art, and new game material is a win. You can grab the issue in pdf here.