Lasombra

The Ventrue have a cousin and its name is Lasombra. The shadow to the thumb|left|200 pxVentrues' darkness, a camarilla kindred would describe Lasombra simply as Ventrue with a particular mean streak, and an even better pedigree. While Ventrue have taken to emrace those based on merit in the modern nights, despite lineage, the Lasombra would never dream of such a thing. The dark gift, they assume, is meant for only those of the purest and refined ancestry.
Unfortunately for their enemies, this often means the elder Lasombra play darwinist, matching couples in Euopean nobility they feel would produce exceptional results, social, biological, or otherwise. Because of their constant meddling in mortal relationships, and very selective embraces, all Lasombra are impeccably beautiful, and many are smart, conniving, and ruthless.
The leaders of the Sabbat, clan Lasombra are social 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.
==The Clan==
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.
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. That stated, as the ruling clans of their respective sects, they are naturally prone to come to loggerheads.
That stated, 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 Archbishop Ambrosio Luis Monçada 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.
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.
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.
==Covenants and Sects==
In the early renaissance, the Lasombra had just became the leaders of the Sabbat. Their political and commercial power has weakened and they have turned to more brutal practices, such as piracy, even shifting their focuses from the dwindling Spanish kingdoms to Dutch pirates and opportunities in the New World. Their main focuses have been the eradication of the Camarilla, particularly their Antitribu clansmen
==Bloodlines==
There are no Lasombra antitribu, at least, not according to the Lasombra themselves. The Sabbat Lasombra deny that “traitors” exist, while the so-called antitribu see themselves as Lasombra — nothing more, nothing less.
Lasombra who are not appart of the Sabbat are either:
*The exceedingly rare member of a very small bloodline who are outragiously loyal to the Camarila.
*Very old, and Very potent Autarkis.
*Or a member of the much more common bloodline that exsists within the Lancea Sanctum.
Lancea Lasombra tend to keep their true lineage secret to all but other trustworthy Sanctified, for their own protection. As both members of the camarilla would villify and ostracize them, and their 'coming out' would bring sabbat packs down around their ears. They're loyalty lies with the Sanctum first and the Camarilla a very distant second. For what its worth they are truly faithful to their vision of God.
==Mechanical Systems==
Clan Disciplines: Obtenebration, Dominate, Potence
Favored Attributes: Presense, or Strength
Weakness: Lasombra vampires cast no reflections. They cannot be seen in mirrors, bodies of water, reflective windows, polished metals, photographs and security cameras, etc. This curious anomaly even extends to the clothes they wear and objects they carry. Many Kindred believe that the Lasombra have been cursed in this manner for their vanity. Additionally, due to their penchant for darkness, Lasombra take an extra level of damage from sunlight.
==Lasombra in Portland==
Currently, there are no known Lasombra in the Portland/Vancouver area. While one has been encountered, his identity remains unknown.
Category:Clans/Bloodlines