This is certainly just spitballing and its ultimately the GMs decision, but it might serve the game well if the Council was mostly in name only and its members served as remote agents of Dracula. In his missing status, all were summoned simultaneously and, upon gathering, met eachother officially for the first time.

Might make it easier to form bonds among players and characters alike being able to start fresh and provide the opportunity to really introduce themselves within the game.

Otherwise, if we're starting with a pre-established history with one another then I suppose there will have to be a significant amount of behind the scenes discussion to create that timeline, leaving a lot of plot "off screen".