Francis House, then the headquarters of the Rooks, anchors the turn from a vampire hatching to the Checquy’s thirty-three-day war of attrition—and, finally, to Alrich’s recruitment into the organization. Its role shifts from refuge and reporting post to the place where a new, uneasy arrangement begins.

Headquarters and Thurow’s Report

After witnessing a vampire hatch, Eleanor Thurow escaped the mansion and returned to Francis House to report what she had seen: a vampire, a newly born offspring, and the likelihood of another birth. Her superiors responded only when she identified the neighborhood, fearing that wealthy and influential families might be at risk. Checquy forces were sent to the mansion, but found it burning; Thurow was dismissed and sent home.

The return to headquarters had an unintended consequence. Thurow’s intrusion into the hatching had apparently provoked a vendetta, and her flight gave the vampire a trail back to the Checquy. The next day, a Rook was found dead, and killings began among Checquy personnel. The organization’s London strongholds did not prove safe: bodies appeared inside its facilities, and the attacks eventually spread beyond London.

The War and Its End

The attacks escalated over thirty-three days, killing seventy-two Checquy members. At the end of the campaign, the Lord and Lady of the Checquy were confronted in their fortified bunker by Heller, the parent vampire. He explained that his younger spawn, Alrich, had become impressed with the Checquy’s scope and enamored of its work, and asked whether Alrich might serve the organization for a time.

Alrich’s entry into the Checquy brought the killings to a halt. Francis House became the place where he presented himself each evening to receive his assignment. The other two vampires disappeared, while Alrich’s sleeping place remained unknown to the organization. The same headquarters that had received Thurow’s warning thus became the regular meeting point for a former threat now employed as a Checquy operative.

A New Arrangement

Alrich entered as a Pawn under a complicated set of agreements. His colleagues did not know the full extent of his abilities, he was not required to undergo testing, and no one could be certain how many of them he had killed. The fear and hostility that followed the vampire campaign made his presence at Francis House uneasy, though no one attempted revenge.

At first, Alrich worked alone, chiefly in combat and other dangerous assignments. Later, the Checquy paired him with Rupert Campbell, a capable operative in deep personal distress. Rather than destroying one another, as the Court may have expected, the two became friends and mentor and protégé, and went on to accomplish outstanding work together. Francis House therefore marks not only the end of the vampire attacks, but the start of Alrich’s service and an important partnership.