Places

A wealthy family of plantation owners, the Chases of Barbados purchased a churchyard cemetery vault

in the early 19th century to give eternal rest to their departed relatives. The vault had been constructed perhaps a hundred years previously, but used only once before the family purchased it — to inter a lone woman.

The head of the Chase family, Thomas Chase, was greatly reviled in Barbados, having a reputation for cruelty and a contentious relationship with the slaves of his plantation. Unkknown to him, a Baka Kindred of the Samedi bloodline known as Olembe had taken up residence in the slaves’ rowhouses, simultaneously preying upon the slaves and acting as to incite them against their master. This vampire made the tomb his haven, and his presence became one of the greatest mysteries of the island.

Each time the Chase family buried its dead, the coffins within the tomb had been moved, though the heavy stone slab used to close the vault hadn’t. In truth, Olembe had used a secret passage to enter and exit the tomb, and had planned on animating the life­ less bodies of the Chase family to torment Thomas, but the evidence of his activity in the tomb-haven had a far greater and longer-lasting effect. The hated head of the Clark family was himself buried there not too long after purchasing the vault, having descended into madness and despair at the haunting of his family legacy.

The Chase vault mysteries remain unsolved among mortals, giving the place a haunted reputation among locals and tourists alike. Olembe still dwells in Ois­ tins as the Prince of his one-Kindred town, where he leads a debased unlife, bloating himself on the blood of drunken tourists and fearful locals and pretending that his Disciplines are far more advanced than they truly are.