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Clan Lasombra
Tweet Topic Started: Mar 17 2013, 07:59 PM (67 Views)
Amy Mar 17 2013, 07:59 PM Post #1
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Lasombra
 

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Clan Lasombra:
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.
Due to their inherent clan 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.

Pronunciation: luh-sohm'-bra

Nicknames:Keepers/Magisters/Corsairs

History
Early history:
Several thousand years ago 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 embrace 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.

Dark Ages:
Roman Empire - sack of Carthage, alliance with Ventrue.
Lasombra as Mediterranean nobles. Moorish Lasombra.
Establishment of pseudo-Darwinist philosophy, Embrace of Zamra as example.
Anarch revolt.
Diablerie of [Lasombra] by Gratiano, Montano's defection.
Lasombra Catholicism. Cardinal Monçada
The Arabian Lasombra, or Qabilat al-Khayal were notable among their Islamic kindred counterparts in that they were one of the few bay't to be majority Christian. Islam took hold in a few places in the clan, especially Iberia, and caused major rifts in the bay't. Those Christian Lasombra in Qabilat al-Khayal lands felt trapped and torn by refusing to adapt to the Islamic religion there. The Islamic ones, however, were some of the most devoted to Islam's cause.

Renaissance:
n 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.

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 global economy, and the Lasombra are the clan mainly responsible for bankrolling much of the Sabbat's operations in 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 Gian Galeazzo Visconti. 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, Giangaleazzo 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 sect mates to death, he announced himself Prince of Milan and a member of the Camarilla. As a result, Gian Galeazzo is particularly hated throughout the Clan, but too well supported by the surrounding Italian Camarilla to destroy.

Organisation
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.

The Angellis Ater:

The Angellis Ater are a secretive Infernalist faction and bloodline of mystics within the Lasombra. They are allied with the Baali (specifically the Azaneali), and have undergone the Baali's dark thaumaturgic Rite of Apostasy, thereby proving their loyalty to the Baali and granting them access to the demonic powers of Daimoinon.[citation needed] Having undergone the Rite of Apostasy they are sometimes referred to as Lasombra Apostates.[citation needed] The Angellis Ater are the ones who can take the most credit for applying principles of Dark Thaumaturgy to Obtenebration so as to extend it into a form of blood sorcery known as Abyss Mysticism.[citation needed]
The Baali have their own bloodline who wield Obtenebration known as the Azaneali. Given the similarities between the Angellis Ater and the Azaneali the two groups are sometimes confused as a single group, and they may indeed be such.[citation needed] Further, Salubri have pointed out that the Lasombra and the Baali share a mutual obsession with the Abyss and the shadowy demons therein, and they especially pointed to the Azaneali, as proof that the Lasombra Antediluvian is the true progenitor of the Baali bloodline.[citation needed] Due to propaganda by the Tremere though, few have taken the Salubri's claim seriously

Lasombra antitribu:

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. Not all Lasombra who disagree with the clan’s stance within the Sabbat join the Camarilla -- a significant percentage of this relatively small number simply go independent and absent themselves from vampiric politics entirely. The remainder, however, seize for themselves positions of respect and authority — if not prominence — in the Camarilla.

Philosophically, Camarilla Lasombra differ little from their Sabbat compatriots on a basic level. The antitribu still fully expect to win the Jyhad; they just see the Camarilla as a more efficient and effective tool for doing so than the Sabbat is. Distaste for the rabble the Sabbat is encased in shows clearly in Camarilla Lasombra’s attitudes, as they regard the Sabbat tactic of mass Embraces as wasteful and insulting. Indeed, even the supporters of antitribu inclusion in the Camarilla see these vampires as haughty, arrogant and impatient. Few suffer fools or incompetent underlings to live, and the penalty for failing an assignment set by a Lasombra antitribu is often death. The position occupied by these few self-exiled Kindred is an ambiguous one. On one hand, these vampires are Lasombra, the core of the dreaded Sabbat, and no Camarilla vampire is ever completely certain than the defection is a real one. On the other hand, essentially all Lasombra antitribu are creatures of undeniable power and presence, and are devoted to the destruction of the Sabbat in a way that few other Kindred are. The Camarilla cannot afford to waste these Cainites’ talents, powers and knowledge of the enemy but cannot afford to trust them entirely, either.

Culture
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. 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 the 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.

Embraces
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.

Disciplines

Obtenebration
Obtenebration: Obtenebration is the trademark Discipline of clan Lasombra which grants them control over shadows and the supernatural darkness of the Abyss. The unnatural darkness summoned by Obtenebration is extremely frightening to mortals, animals, and even other Cainites unaccustomed to its use. The exact nature of this Discipline is unknown even among its greatest masters, and it has been a subject of religious, philosophical, and metaphysical debate among vampires for millennia. Its greatest scholars are the followers of the Path of Night and practitioners of Abyss Mysticism, which draws on knowledge of this Discipline in its rituals. While fairly common within the Sabbat, Obtenebration is virtually nonexistent among Camarilla vampires and anyone seen using it would be regarded with extreme suspicion.

1. Shadow Play- By spending a blood point, the vampire can manipulate shadows and dim (but can not extinguish) lights

2.Shroud of Night-The vampire may cover ten square feet, per success, in a black matter that obscures all light and sound. Most are blind and deaf within it; those with Heightened Senses or Gleam of Red Eyes are not, but lose three dice in relevant pools. If the vampire can not see the area to be blackened, she must spend a blood point, and the difficulty is increased by two.

3.Arms of the Abyss-The vampire may create dark tendrils. Each success either summons a six-foot shadowy tendril, or increases such a tendril by six feet.

4.Nightshades-The vampire may create a circle of moving shadows. Within such a circle, all adversaries, and even all allies who don’t have Obtenebration suffer.

5.Shadow Body-By spending three blood points, the vampire may transform, over three turns, into a shadow. In this state, the vampire may see in absolute darkness, slither through cracks, and is invulnerable to physical attack.

6.Call the Lamprey-The vampire may summon from within herself a large shadowy monster. If it attacks mortals, it may draw blood at one point per turn, and if drawn back into the vampire, she gains half the blood it drew.
Eyes of the Night-The vampire can see in absolute darkness -- even darkness created by Obtenebration. She gains Gleam of Red Eyes if she did not already have it, and if in a poorly lit area, may close her eyes and concentrate to see anything in a fifty-foot radius.
Shadow Step- The vampire may teleport, by stepping into one shadow, and emerging from another, up to fifty feet away.

7.Shadow Slave- By spending a blood point, the vampire may animate her own shadow, which may move up to 150 feet away from her. In the event of a botch, the shadow will be hostile to her. The shadow has no disciplines, except for Obtenebration at half that of the vampire, and its abilities and attributes are half those of the vampire, except for Stealth, which is that of the vampire. If the shadow is destroyed, the vampire loses half of her willpower, must make a Rötschreck roll at difficulty 9, and can not use this power for a month. This power lasts for one hour per success.

8.Entombment- The vampire may trap the victim in an impenetrable darkness, which will dissipate under sunlight, or at the will of the vampire. The vampire may choose to make it airtight, and mortals trapped within will asphyxiate after a number of minutes equal to their Stamina.
Master of the Night- By spending one willpower point, and spilling five blood points on the ground, the vampire may create a shade, and by spending one blood point each, she may summon up to three. These shades obey every command she gives them. The shades have the following traits: Strength 3, Dexterity 4, Stamina 3, Charisma 0, Manipulation 0, Appearance 0, Perception 4, Intelligence 1, Wits 5, Athletics 1, Brawl 3, Dodge 1, Stealth 8, Celerity 1, Obfuscate 1, Obtenebration 6. Additionally, they do not take wound penalties, and all hand damage that they inflict is aggravated.

9.Summon the Abyss- By spending two willpower points and concentrating for three turns, the vampire may summon a sentient darkness. The number of successes is the amount of damage this darkness does to anyone within fifty feet of the vampire. This darkness remains for one turn, and cleans up after itself; all corpses are removed.

10.Banishment- Roll: Willpower, difficulty Humanity
The vampire may send a victim to the abyss, for the following time periods:
1 suc. one day.
2 suc. one week.
3 suc. one month.
4 suc. one year.
5 suc. forever, until the victim finds the way out herself.


Dominate
Dominate: Dominate is a Discipline that overwhelms another person's mind with the vampire's will, forcing victims to think or act according to the vampire's decree. While undeniably powerful, its use almost always adheres to two important restrictions: the user must meet the eyes of the target and must speak in language that is clearly heard and understood by the target. Furthermore, this Discipline cannot be used upon Cainites of lower generation and cannot force someone to be self-destructive or defy their Nature. Using Dominate is often considered very heavy-handed, hardly appropriate within what passes for polite vampiric society, but it is also favored by those of age and status as a efficient means of asserting their authority.

1.Command the Wearied Mind- With eye contact, the vampire may give a one-word command to a target. This command may only be one word, but it may be used with slight emphasis in a sentence, to hide it. This command is obeyed instantly, unless it is ambiguous, in which case temporary confusion ensues.

2.Mesmerize- The vampire can give commands to a target, which may be as simple or detailed as desired. Eye contact must be maintained throughout the command, but is not necessary once the command has been given.
1 suc. The target will not act in defiance of her nature, or her usual behavior, but she is otherwise obedient.
3 suc. The target can be made to act in ways that she otherwise wouldn’t, except in the case of self-endangering behavior.
5 suc. Nearly any command may be given, Storyteller nimdyd excepted.
3.The Forgetful Mind- With eye contact, the vampire can alter her target’s memories.
1 suc. The vampire may cause limited memory loss lasting a day, with control over which memories are lost.
2 suc. The vampire may cause more permanent memory loss.
3 suc. The vampire may make slight alterations to her victim’s memory.
4 suc. The vampire may alter or remove an entire scene from her victim’s memory.
5 suc. The vampire may reconstruct entire periods of a victim’s life.

4.Conditioning- The vampire may add to the number of successes she has accumulated in someone she is dominating. Once she has accumulated a number of successes from five to ten times her victim’s Self-Control, the victim will act as if dominated even in the vampire’s absense. Such a victim will continue to obey the vampire, even when not dominated, and the difficulty for all other vampires to try to dominate her is increased by two.

5.Possession- With continuous eye contact, the vampire may possess a mortal, but goes into torpor in so doing. Each success by the vampire costs the victim a willpower point. Each success by the victim gives her an extra die the next round. A botch by the vampire makes the victim permanently immune to all Dominate attempts by that vampire. The actual possession (and torpor) occurs when the victim has no willpower points.

6.Loyalty- Those on whom the vampire has used the Dominate discipline are considered to have five extra dots in Willpower, when resisting other users of the Dominate discipline.
Obedience- The vampire may use any Dominate power without eye contact. Touching their skin, or even clothing, is sufficient.
Rationalize- The vampire can make a victim of Dominate believe that she is acting of her own accord.
1 suc. The target won’t suspect she has been dominated... at first.
2 suc. The target will suspect something... eventually.
3 suc. The target can only be convinced by others that the action was not her idea.
4 suc. The target will only suspect something if shown hard evidence.
5 suc. The target will ignore all evidence, and may become angry if the point is pressed.
Tranquility- The vampire may bring another vampire out of frenzy. If she botches, the target vampire will attcak her.

7.Mob Rule- The vampire may dominate more that one victim. Each success in a given roll above the required number represents another person who can be Dominated. The roll is determined using the most difficult target; if she is unaffected, the rest of the targets are unaffected. Eye contact is only required for the first target.
Repression of the Obvious- The vampire can learn what thought, emotion, or urge is being most rigorously repressed. Three successes cause the victim to blurt out the thought being repressed.

8.Far Mastery- The vampire may use any Dominate power on any victim whose location she knows, even at a distance. Once the above roll is completed, the vampire may use Dominate as if eye contact was achieved. If she attempts to use this on a vampire, she must spend a willpower point.

9.Best Intentions- The vampire can make a victim act in her interests, without further command, and the victim will automatically know what constitutes the vampire’s interests. This bond is broken when the victim gains a permanent willpower point, or gains Humanity.

10.Puppet Master- The vampire can make the victim act as if she was the vampire. This includes all the details of Best Intentions, as described above. This power may only be attempted once per year on a given victim.
1 suc. The victim occasionally acts as the vampire would.
2 suc. The victim feels both her mind and the other in her head, and is appropriately confused.
3 suc. The victim usually acts as the vampire would.
4 suc. The victim almost always acts as the vampire would.
5 suc. The victim may be roleplayed by the vampire.


Potence
Potence:Potence is a Discipline that grants the vampires supernatural strength. Each dot grants an automatic success on any rolls involving Strength, and does not require activation.

1.Prowess- Master the ability to use one's own blood to refuel themselves.

2.Might- Overcome physical challenges would otherwise would be failed.

3.Vigor- Double your efforts to overcome physical obstacles

4.Intensity- Allows no ability risk during physical challenge.

5.Puissance- Your strength can overcome others easily.

6.The Fist of Caine Imprint- Making brawling attacks from a few yards away
The Gentle Rebuke- Telekinetically knock someone away without harming them
Relentless Pursuit- Make extraordinary leaps through the air

7.The Forger's Hammer- Create weapons that do aggravated damage and have a slight damage bonus.
Earthshock- Send shockwaves through the earth
Fist of the Titans Earthshock- Attack or throw someone away telekinetically

8.Touch of Pain Flick- Put the full force of your strength against one person or object
Lend the Supernatural Vigor- Grant your incredible strength to another
Flick- Make a simple motion that sends a target flying away

9.Might of the Heroes-Perform physical feats of mythic proportion

10.plot device- This is the power for all level 10 Disciplines. Basically, it does whatever the Antediluvian in question needs to do with the Discipline in question.
Edited by Amy, Mar 17 2013, 08:32 PM.
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