| Contents |
| History • Strongholds • Advantages and Weaknesses • The Lasombra in DC • Lasombra Player Characters |
| Lasombra | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pseudonyms | Magisters, Nobility, Shadows |
| Sect | Sabbat |
| Disciplines | Dominate Obtenebration Potence |
| Bloodlines | Angellis Ater Azaneali Kiasyd |
| Rarity | Uncommon |
The Lasombra are the epitome of inhuman elegance, a clan of old-world nobility, rulers, warlords, and seafarers who have carried the glorious mantle of their once-indisputable control over mortals with them into the afterlife of vampirism. They believe utterly in their own superiority, and like the Ventrue are able to trace their royal and noble blood back hundreds or even thousands of years (although unlike the Ventrue, they do not consider petty merchant-class ideas like "being a good businessperson" to count for anything). Their haughty arrogance would rankle other clans if it weren't so obvious that the Lasombra are exactly what they say they are: lords and masters of whatever domain they choose to possess.
In the Middle Ages, battle lines were clearly drawn between the Ventrue and Lasombra, with the former controlling secular power and nobles and the latter exercising their influence through the sprawling reach of religion. In modern times, the Lasombra are one of the official founding clans of the Sabbat and consider themselves its rulers, directing the rabble of the other clan members to their goals without much caring whether they like it or not. Only the Tzimisce can challenge the Lasombra within the Sabbat, but since most of the Fiends are busy with their weird experiments or holed up in their Transylvanian castles, the Lasombra continue to reign supreme.
History
The clan's origins are contested, with the Lasombra themselves maintaining a rich, almost religiously ornate founding myth that they swear is utterly true while all the other clans stare at one another in disbelief. According to them, their Antediluvian (whose name they consider it a very bad idea to speak, since he might be listening from any tiny pool of shadow on the planet or beyond it) appeared thousands of years ago, visiting the young peoples of the planet in search of those who would behave like his perfect society. He found it in the second millennium B.C.E., when he and his childer began to spread through the Mediterranean Sea Peoples and created an ocean empire that lasted far longer than any on land. They eventually lent their strength to the Phoenician Empire, which under Lasombra control was one of the most flourishing of the ancient world.
The other clans often have strong opinions on this origin story, as it not only places the Lasombra as unequivocally above them but also implies that they were to blame for many of the other clans' strongholds being destroyed or crowded out by Phoenician marauders. Most simply refuse to believe it, calling it propaganda, but others point out that the Lasombra remain tied to the sea even now, many of them only able to remain on land for short handsful of years before setting sail again.
By the Middle Ages, the Lasombra had gained control of one of the planet's most powerful institutions: the Roman Catholic Church, which they made a globally dominant force and continue to influence just as much from the shadows in the modern day. Their supremacy continued more or less uncontested for centuries, with the Antediluvian himself still active among his descendants, until finally the Anarch Revolt forced major change.
According to the Anarchs, the Lasombra Antediluvian was killed in the first assault of the Revolt thanks to a conspiracy between a large group of Assamite assassins and the ancient vampire's own childer, but most Lasombra elders reject this tale (often angrily; it is not unusual for the suggestion to be the last one a person makes). While the official Sabbat party line is that the Antediluvian is dead, in line with the sect's goal of escaping control by their most ancient elders, behind closed doors most Lasombra take it as a given that the ancient is only biding his time, and whisper uncomfortably to one another that something made of the pure essence of darkness cannot be killed by any physical means.
This argument over the Antediluvian has resulted in most of the modern Lasombra Antitribu, who consider themselves loyalists and are opposed to both the Sabbat's focus on the destruction of elders and its laissez-faire attitude toward discipline and hierarchy, splitting off from the main clan. Those Lasombra who believe in the Sabbat's cause remain with the sect... and so do plenty more who know better than to expect their Antediluvian to stay gone forever, but recognize opportunity when they see it.
Strongholds
The Lasombra clan stronghold is the island of Sicily in Italy, which thanks to its central position in the Mediterranean has been one of the prime destinations for seafaring and ocean trade since humanity first managed to make boats seaworthy. The ancient Phoenician and Roman ruins that cover the island were once thriving communities under Lasombra control; in the Middle Ages, it was a kingdom in its own right, run ruthlessly by Lasombra interests; and in the modern day, their Italian city counterparts are the same, their citizens unaware that the majority of what they do is likely dictated by the long-range decisions of the shadowy undead corsairs.
Humanity has memorialized the fact that the Lasombra Antediluvian himself generally lived on Sicily in the ancient Greek myth of Zeus fighting the monster Typhoeus, a creature of silthering coils and claws and terrible darkness; Zeus was only able to stop the creature by putting Mount Etna on top of it, pinning it to the island forever. Of course, the Lasombra are not confined to their island as much as anyone might wish, but they take pride in striking such fear into the hearts of humanity that they could literally only conceive of them being beaten by a god.
The actual home of the Antediluvian remains hidden, perhaps actually beneath the mountain, or perhaps just cunningly folded away in a darkness that no one else can penetrate. Most of the younger Lasombra either believe the stories of his death and therefore do not attempt to find it, or don't and know better than to go looking.
Advantages and Weaknesses
Advantages
Lasombra always wield influence over their environment, and automatically have up to three areas of influence in any given city where they choose to make their home (for example, a Lasombra might choose to have influence in the criminal underbelly, the court system, and the shipping and manufacturing delivery lanes). They also automatically have one status that they can never lose, thanks to their prestigious clan, and this status is equally in effect no matter what sect those who interact with them belong to. All Lasombra are able to automatically gain an official position in a city they inhabit, whether Camarilla, Anarch, or Sabbat, although what position depends on what openings there are and who else might be in a position to take advantage of them.
Disadvantages
The Lasombra are invisible to themselves; they do not appear in mirrors, pools of water, or any other reflective surface, a problem that occasionally makes preventing mortals from recognizing their true nature difficult. They also do not appear on film or digital recordings, making them effective "ghosts" that, although larger than life when encountered in person, leave no trace of their existence behind to be experienced again.
The Lasombra in DC
DC is a rarity: a Camarilla city with a Lasombra Prince. Although the vast majority of Lasombra are leaders who control the movements of the Sabbat, the Lasombra themselves maintain that they are above sect and do not identify as any of them. They are simply Lasombra, and will do whatever they choose to do as Lasombra, and the other clans can call that whatever they like.
Marcus Vitel, an elder Lasombra who had until then been masquerading as a Ventrue, seized power as Camarilla Prince after the previous Prince was ousted. He immediately declared his true clan, which caused the Camarilla residents of the city to flee and all nearby Sabbat members to charge inward, believing that the city was theirs; but Vitel, after welcoming the entire Sabbat contingency of Washington, DC and surrounding areas into his court, promptly had the entire place fire-bombed, single-handedly wiping out the Sabbat resistance in the area for some time to come. After this demonstration, the Camarilla was forced to accept Vitel's Princeship and claim to membership in the Camarilla in spite of his clan, although many are still extremely uncomfortable with the arrangement.
The only known Lasombra in DC are Vitel and his two daughters; all others were Sabbat-aligned and perished in the conflagration. While this creates an impressive Camarilla Lasombra power bloc, it is unlikely that they would welcome too many other members of their clan arriving to set up shop, preferring to keep the power in their hands alone and avoiding any less-scrupulous clan members from accidentally giving the Camarilla any reason to doubt their motives.
Lasombra Player Characters
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| Jacque Beaumont |