The Lasombra

Overview

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.

Early History

Several thousand years ago, a tribe of proto-Maasai people 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 Lasombra Antediluvian. The experiment failed, and Lasombra punished the tribe by wiping out half of its population. Before rerunning the experiment, Lasombra was visited by his child's playmate, Ontai. This shaman-in-training offered his life to Lasombra – in life, death, and beyond, with no price asked. 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. Thereafter, Lasombra was always uncertain whether his childe's unswerving honor had gotten the better of him.
In the second millennium B.C., the so-called "Sea Peoples" ravaged all the settled lands around the Mediterranean. The Hyksos even ruled Egypt for two successive dynasties. For a while, the Sea Peoples dominated all commerce in the Mediterranean. Nobody sailed without paying tribute to them or courting destruction. Indeed, around the turn of the millennium, the Sea Peoples played a major part in smashing the Bronze Age civilizations in and around Greece, ushering in an era that more landbound historians like to call a "dark age."
From the very beginning, the Lasombra have been tied to the sea. Sicily, where Lasombra had his lair, was the center of the Clan, from which they inserted themselves into various seafaring cultures that arose. It is said, that after the eruption of Thera, the Lasombra Antediluvian began various lengthy travels, leaving his progeny free to discover the world around them. Reveling in piracy and the freedom of the sea, most Lasombra fought against both Greeks and Romans, refusing to accept the feeding rights of any Cainite overlords. Others traveled to Iberia and the lands of the Roman Republic. Some particular adventurous even traveled so far as China, where their broods still survive secluded and hidden away from the wrathful Cathayans. Together with the Ventrue and Malkavians, the Lasombra clan ruled over the Roman Empire until it dissolved. While the Ventrue left for the north and the Malkavians were seen with suspicion and fear now, the Lasombra remained.

Dark Ages

Clan Lasombra c. 1197-1242
Motto: Morte Ascendō (Latin: "In Death, I Rise") In medieval times, the Lasombra were centered around the mediterranean in the feudal realm of the Sea of Shadows as one of the High Clans, headed by their Antediluvian himself. The Lasombra were heavily involved with the religious institutions of this age, particularly the Roman Catholic Church and with Islam, leading to an internal conflict between the two factions within the Clan that resulted in the Shadow Reconquista in Spain, where both sides battled against each other for control over the peninsula. Most Lasombra had strong ties to the clerics and nobility and were able to utilize them to their own endings.

The Anarch Revolt

According to clan legend, [Lasombra]'s last childe, Gratiano de Veronese, was the one who slew the Antediluvian with the aid of a coterie of Assamites, instigating the Anarch Revolt and the resulting chaos (although many Tzimisce challenge that claim). Many Lasombra flocked behind Gratiano, hoping to overthrow their scheming sires and gain their power. Most among them refused the Convention of Thorns, seeing it as submission to the despised Ventrue and the kine without even proper negotiations.

Renaissance

In the early renaissance, the Lasombra had just become the leaders of the Sabbat. Their political and commercial power had 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 Lasombra antitribu clansmen.

Victorian Age

Clan Lasombra c. 1800+
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 organizations, 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.
During this Age, many Lasombra sat down to codify the ancient Rites and clan-specific traditions into proper Paths of Enlightenment to create substitutes to Humanity within the Black Monastery. In the New World, various Sabbat Civil Wars threatened the rule of the Clan over the Sabbat and forced them to restructure the sect several times. The Purchase Pact defined the enemies of the sect to end various infightings (Antediluvian catspaws, Infernalists and Camarilla pawns) while the revised version of the Code of Milan formalized a more structured approach to internal control. In both cases, the Clan were heavily involved into these revisions.

Related Organizations

• The Sabbat and it's Present State