Lasombra

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==General==
Name: 	Lasombra
Plural: 	Lasombra
Pronounciation:	luh-sohm'-bra
Nicknames: 	Keepers, Shadows, Magisters
Antediluvian: 	Lasombra
Faction: 	Sabbat
Disciplines: 	Dominate, Obtenebration, Vigor
Theme Song: Only the Good Die Young - Billy Joel
The leaders of the Sabbat, clan Lasombra are darwinists, predators, elegant and inhuman. Firm believers in the worthy ruling and the unworthy serving, the Lasombra have maintained their traditions even as they have turned the Sabbat to their own purposes.
===Disciplines===
===The Generic Lasombra===
==History==
===Primordial Shadows - the Early History===
Several thousand years B.C., a tribe of Masai were ordered by a pale spirit to produce a child for him. This child was trained to lead by having every member of the tribe obey him, and he was trained to be loyal by extensive gifts and rewards from the Antediluvian Lasombra. The experiment failed.
Before rerunning the experiment, [Lasombra] was visited by his child's playmate, Ontai. This shaman in training offered his life to [Lasombra] (who had already punished the tribe by wiping out half of its population) - in life, death and beyond, with no price offered. Lasombra, disturbed by the offer and Ontai's already impeccable honor, tested the shaman's resolve by demanding he slaughter his tribe.
Ontai obeyed, and a shaken [Lasombra] called off the execution and embraced Ontai, renaming him Montano and bringing him to the Mediterranean. To his grave, [Lasombra] was uncertain whether his childe's unswerving honor had gotten the better of him.
===The Power and the Glory - Dark Ages===
*Roman Empire - sack of Carthage, alliance with Ventrue.
*Lasombra as Mediterranean nobles; introduction of Moorish Lasombra.
*Establishment of Darwinistic philosophy, Embrace of Zamra as example
*The Anarch Revolt and diablerie of Lasombra by Gratiano, Montano's defection.
*Lasombra Catholicism. Moncada forms the Path of Night.
===Smoke and Mirrors - the Victorian Age===
During this time the influence of the Church upon people's lives declined. As a result, Lasombra influence became more indirect as the years progressed. Like many other clans, the Lasombra began to influence the bourgeoisie, where most of the world's finances now flowed from. Unlike other Clans who had previously infested religious organisations, the Lasombra did not turn away from churches - indeed, the Lasombra are infamous even in the modern nights for their powerful grasp in religious circles, particularly the Catholic church.
*Development of the Paths of Enlightenment
*The Second Sabbat Civil War
===Nightfall - the Final Nights===
Whether they approve or not, Clan Lasombra has changed with the times. Where once the elitist ideals saw that only those of certain lineages, ethnicities or religions were Embraced, the Clan now recruits from all walks of life. Financial influence is now increasingly important to them due to the establishment of the global economy, and the Lasombra are the clan mainly responsible for bankrolling much of the Sabbat's operations in the modern nights.
The Lasombra still hunt their hated antitribu, although fewer and fewer exist each night. The fervour with which their brothers are hunted has brought about a Darwinism of it's own - those antitribu surviving are generally the oldest and wiliest Keepers to still walk the earth.
Perhaps most embarrassing for the Clan was the defection of Giangalazzeo. A former Cardinal, he was a signatory on the Code of Milan, one of the Sabbat's most important documents. At the end of the 20th Century, Giangalazzeo gathered all of Milan's Cainites to his castle. From the balcony of his Haven, he announced that he would no longer be a part of the Sabbat. With that, he tore up the original Code of Milan and sealed the courtyard. Burning his former sectmates to death, he announced himself Prince of Milan and a member of the Camarilla. As a result, Giangalazzeo is particularly hated throughout the Clan, but too well supported by the surrounding Italian Camarilla to destroy.
==Organization==
Lasombra naturally seek positions of power and authority, as a result they form the bulk of the Sabbat's administrative offices - ducti, prisci and the like. Tzimisce are more likely to be pack priests, while the Lasombra focus on the practical matters of administration and leadership.
Separate from Sabbat organization, the Lasombra maintain a clan-specific organization, the Friends of the Night, usually called les amies noir (amici noctis during the Dark Ages). While a Lasombra can be in the clan and not a Friend of the Night, all Lasombra who matter are part of the organization. The Friends are something of a formalized favor network within the Lasombra - they grant prestige and prestation, but the most notable feature of the friends are the Courts of Blood, which regulate diablerie.
The Lasombra are a clan driven by ambition, and consequently they accept diablerie as a necessary facet of their existence; from the Lasombra perspective, the only tragedy in diablerie is that such an unworthy vampire as the vessel was sired in the first place. The courts regulate diablerie by accepting petitions to diablerize other Lasombra and authorize hunts - these hunts usually have conditions attached because the target must be guilty of something before the hunt is authorized. The court system ensures that diablerie is managed - Lasombra are allowed, if not flat-out encouraged to cannibalize appropriate targets, but those targets must be judged worthy of this attention by a court before the attack can take place.
===Antitribu===
"If any of these pathetic fossils still exist - and I doubt that they do - then they are merely marking time waiting for death. Should I learn of any in my domain, I will be certain to make sure they don't have to wait long." - Francisco Domingo de Polonia (Guide to the Camarilla, page 59, by Dansky, et alia)
The Lasombra antitribu are rare and exceptionally elusive creatures. There are perhaps a scarce handful left in the modern nights, either having succumbed to lonliness and despair over the past few hundred years, or been destroyed by their Sabbat clanmates. Only those under the personal protection of Montano have a chance at survival, since there are few Lasombra cunning enough to track down the Methuselah, and fewer still with the daring to confront him.
Lasombra antitribu who exist in the Camarilla often masquerade as Ventrue or Toreador (sometimes even the odd Malkavian, if they are broken in spirit), maintaining the lifestyle they prefer while using all methods at their disposal to ensure they are hidden from the sight of their erstwhile peers in the Sabbat... of course, just because they don't look like Lasombra doesn't mean the Sabbat hates them any less.
Famous Antitribu
*Montano, childe of [Lasombra]
*Lucita of Aragon (until 2000)
*Giangalazzeo, Prince of Milan
*Marcus Vitel (recently deceased)
===Sects===
===Bloodlines===
==Culture==
Lasombra are fiercely predatory creatures, and the Lasombra mindset is defined by an enthusiastic embrace of social darwinism. The Lasombra firmly believe that power is best held by the most worthy, and that the primary test of worthiness is acquiring said power. As a result, they are predatory, backstabbing, power-hungry and unapologetically arrogant about their position. Needless to say, the Lasombra and Ventrue despise each other. Historically, the two clans have sought out parallel dominions - the Lasombra focused on the Mediterranean, the Ventrue on Germany. The Lasombra went to the Church, the Ventrue went to the state. The Lasombra went to the Sabbat, the Ventrue to the Camarilla. As the ruling clans of their respective sects, they are naturally prone to come to loggerheads.
The Lasombra are also noted for a strong fascination with chess; the game serves as a metaphor for Vampiric existence (or at least, as the Lasombra see it), and consequently any Lasombra who plans to get anywhere in the clan is proficient in the game.
Finally, something must be said about the impact that the lost visage has on the Lasombra. The clan weakness makes it impossible for a Lasombra to ever see his own image again - mirrors, photography and other reflective media fail, and the Lasombra react to this problem in a variety of ways. Clan culture places a strong emphasis on not overreacting to this problem - it is generally acceptable to sit for a portrait every few years, but extreme reactions (such as hiring a Tzimisce to fleshsculpt a ghoul) is considered a breach of good taste and grounds for diablerie.
The Lasombra, as a rule, loathe ghouls with a passion. To them, a mortal in the world of Cainites is as absurd as a poodle putting on a tutu and walking around on it's hind legs. Due to their command of Potence and Dominate, mortals are laughably easy to control, both physically and mentally - how could the Lasombra possibly respect or value such a pathetically weak and frail thing? As a consequence, the ghoul of a Lasombra is typically a sniveling and timid wretch, living in terror of a single mistake which could end their lives.
Lasombra ghouls fall into two broad categories. The first are the raft of accountants, lawyers and bankers that the Lasombra need to keep the finances rolling in, and perhaps these are the luckier of the two groups - as long as the books balance at the end of the day, they'll live to see another one. The second group cater to the Lasombra's difficulty with their own image. Some Lasombra keep an army of personal attendants - scores of ghouls to brush the mistress' hair, do her makeup and dress her. Such attendants are punished severely for infractions. If the hair is not brushed with exactly one hundred strokes, the ghoul might find themselves on the wrong side of the hairbrush, a Potence fuelled hand wielding it. Also due to the Lasombra's curse, ghouls of either stripe might have their faces reduced to identical spider-webs of scar tissue, or be forced to wear featureless white masks.
===Clan Prestige===
• Obscure; your are known for little more than your ambition, which all True Lasombra possess
•• Known; You stand out in the crowd. Your elders watch to see what you will do with your potential (the Black Eagle Pack, Demba Makemba Adoula)
••• Popular; Your control is iron, and your scheming is expansive and subtle (Archbishop Borges, Magnus of Constantinople, Lin Baloh)
•••• Storied; Your self-mastery is rivaled only by your strength and cunning. Few are the Lasombra who have not heard your name (Lucita, Cardinal Polonia)
••••• Legend; None could possibly escape your manipulations. The Abyss itself obeys your every whim (Cardinal Moncada, Gratiano)
===Style and Appearance===
===Religion and Philosophy===
The Lasombra embrace of the Mediterranean and the Church has left odd marks on their clan culture. Many Lasombra are drawn to the sea, and the majority of antitribu are sailors. Even now, the Lasombra are prone to some ancestral Catholicism. Notable figures such as Cardinal Moncada still view the world in Catholic terms - they believe in God and their own damnation with equal certainty. Elder Lasombra in particular place a strong emphasis on confession, although without redemption.
===Kings, Queens, and Pawns: Clan Relationships===
If there were ever two Clans prone to night-long staring contests, it would be the Gangrel and the Lasombra. Both Clans are prideful, both demand respect, and both refuse to surrender. These common traits have made the relationship between the two Clans tense, but the one also has a healthy measure of respect for the other. The Lasombra move gracefully where the Gangrel blunder; the Gangrel blend in where the Lasombra stick out. Though their paths most often cross in the Sabbat, Gangrel and Lasombra complement each other well anywhere they meet (provided the first meeting doesn't end in the death of one or the other).
*The elders of Clans Lasombra and Gangrel tend to get along slightly better than their childer, thanks to the fact that both clans become steadily more inhuman as they age. The Lasombra look down on the Gangrel for being so obvious about it, but they are more likely to have similar views on humanity and the role of vampires as (social or literal) predators.
It must be said that one of the only reasons the Lasombra put up with the rabid nature and incessant demands of the Tzimisce is Vicissitude. With that power, the Clan can craft war ghouls, vozhd, torture enemies, fleshcraft flawless spies, and cow the sect's enemies. Other than this, the Lasombra accede few points to the Tzimisce: they might have a basic sense of style and an animal cunning, but these are hardly considered virtues among the Keepers.
Keepers of the Crown: Lasombra in the Jyhad
The Lasombra gravitate towards leadership roles; this is because of their natural sense of superiority (bowing to another is antithetical to Lasombra), their ability to manipulate others, and their judicious use of the Dominate Discipline. In packs, either the ductus or the priest is usually a Lasombra; however, it is rare that Lasombra will assume both offices, as the struggle for supremacy will tear the pack apart.
The Lasombra operate under the metaphor of "shadows". They do not stand in the limelight, preferring to manipulate others to their own ends while doing as little as possible to make themselves a target. This is not done soley out of fear, but because many Lasombra have domineering and superior personalities that neccessitates having someone beneath them. This role is usually filled by mortals; though they are not quite as adept at manipulating the living world as the Ventrue are, those cultures that still revere the Catholic Church often have several generations of Lasombra pulling their strings. Those who find themselves under the control of a Lasombra can expect a demanding and unrewarding experience. Their domitor will use any and all tools available to ensure loyalty, such as the Blood Bond, coercion, physical intimidation, and unapologetic use of Dominate. The wise Lasombra will judge just how much of this force is neccessary; too little, and the servant is untrustworthy - too much, and the servant is spineless and afraid to act when they need to act.
The stated goal of the Lasombra (at least since the foundation of the Sabbat) is to destroy the remaining Antedivulians and free the world from their influence. What they don't say is that this will then open up a power vaccuum that the Lasombra will immediately fill, shucking the Tzimisce and the Sabbat as a whole in their quest for ultimate control.
==Lasombra: Shadowplay==
===Embraces===
The Lasombra embrace is notably sadistic. The clan generally has traits that they're looking for: strength of will, ability to manipulate events, self-control, and an ability to evade the limelight for positions of power. When a candidate is identified, the sire will usually "test" the candidate.
Testing, in this case, generally means totally destroying the target's life and seeing how the target reacts. If the candidate falls apart, then he was obviously unworthy of the embrace. If he can continue to survive and even overcome the challenges, then these challenges tend to become more extreme, until the Sire decides that the candidate has demonstrated enough merit and is taken into the night.
As a rule of thumb, the Lasombra generally don't embrace that many shovelheads, while becoming True Sabbat after being shovelheaded is a sign of talent, the Lasombra generally prefer to be choosy.
===The Lasombra Weakness===
The Clan Lasombra suffers from a two-fold curse: firstly, they cannot observe themselves in any reflective surface, and most electronic recording measures (videotape, photography, etc) render them only as shadows. Only simple, mechanical means can be used to capture a Lasombra's image - painting, sculpture, and sketching.
The second major weakness of the Clan is tied directly to the Obtenebration Discipline. There are many theories concerning what the shadows of Obtenebration are, but one thing is certain: the Lasombra's use of them means that they burn more easily when under sunlight. Where another vampire might end up with a scalding burn when exposing their hand to sunlight, a Lasombra will be lucky if they keep all their fingers.
*In game terms, Lasombra receive 1 extra point of Aggravated Damage per turn whenever they are exposed to sunlight.
===Quotes and Criticisms===
"The Lasombra are an edifice built of shadows on a foundation of blood. We have turned the ephemeral into the lasting, and a curse into a celebration. Tell me, what other Clan has that kind of power?" - Dontien a'Constino
"You afraid of the dark, you little punk? You damn well better be." - Frederico, Lasombra neonate
"The Lasombra read about Darwin's law. The Gangrel live it. Come out here in the light and let's see which works better." - Megan, Gangrel neonate (recently deceased)
"Don't look them in the eyes - when you can see their eyes." - Donigan the Pict, on Clan Lasombra
"Creepy-assed sonsab*tches. But they pay on time, so..." - Mikey, Nosferatu ancilla
"Every Cainite is a pawn on someone's chessboard." - Ericyes Fragments, Vol. IX, Proverbs (Dark Ages: Vampire, pg. 112, Bruce Baugh, et alia)
===Notable Lasombra===
*Cardinal Ambrosio Luis Moncada, a sixth generation Spanish Lasombra.
*Cameron
*Francois Benedicte Truffaut
*Cardinal Giangaleazzo of Milan. Recently defected to the Camarilla; Gratiano
*Lucita, a seventh-generation Spanish Lasombra antitribu.
*Montano
*Narses, Prince of Venezia (Venice) and leader of the Cainite Heresy.
*Cardinal Francisco Polonia of New York
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