Clan Lasombra (La-sohm-brah)
"There is nothing better than oblivion, since in oblivion there is no wish unfulfilled. We had it before we were born, yet did not complain. Shall we whine because we know it will return? It is Elysium enough for me, at any rate."--H.P. Lovecraft
The Lasombra are a Clan mainly in the shadows by design. Formerly the #2 in The Sabbat, and some would argue to the real force behind it, the Lasombra are spread across all Sects as the Sabbat wage their impossible mystery war. But, no matter where the crown of the Lasombra falls, they are a clan predicated on their efficiency. Influential leaders, wise aides, skilled fighters and tacticians, and shadowed puppeteers, the Lasombra bleed perfection, efficiency, and pragmatic planning, or else surrender their rights to existance.
The Lasombra keep their grips on all strings of the night with the perfect application of these disciplines:
- Dominate - A match for the mighty Ventrue, the Lasombra are commanders and rulers. While they might be satisfied with taking control from the shadows rather than the main stage, their words carry just as much authority and power, if not more. If you aren't smart enough to listen to a Lasombra right away, they'll make sure to rectify that error.
- Oblivion - The Lasombra, as their name might imply, have unique mastery over Shadows, manipulating them to be weapons, gateways, or sheer wells of entropy. The Lasombra used to practice a unique discipline known as Obduration, but with the mystical shift within the Vitae in recent years, it seems their power of shadows has crossed over with the witchcraft and veil-piercing used by the Clans Hecata.
- Potence - When Words and laid-out plans can't solve a problem, sometimes brute force really is the answer. A Lasombra will know to hold their weapons until the right moment. Often times, you won't see the Lasombra burst down a door or break limbs, but let their shadows do the talking for them.
Structure
Most of the hard-lined structures among Lasombra fall into Sabbat lines, where they fill a majority of roles that're more duty and diplomacy. The ever-fervent Tzimisce take on the roles of the Priests and influential preachers, while the Lasombra take the positions of practical leadership. Within the Camarilla and Anarchs, no structure has begun to rise, aside from Childer following their Sire, until they've proven themselves.
Culture
Power
Clan Lasombra is a ruthless institution. The rivals to Clan Ventrue, they've fought on equal yet separate battlefields. To them, power is the right of the worthy, and their clan is the true, worthy owner of power in the Kindred world. Their clan must be the true owner of that power. Backstabbing, power-plays, careful maneuvering, and sheer Pragmatism are hallmarks of the shadowed clan. Even in the modern night, when Clan Lasombra has fled from the Sabbat for the Camarilla, they find their way, weaving into positions of power and biding their time, even while the other clans laugh and mock them for their new, "lower" position.Appearance
While one might view care for aesthetics as indulgent and decidedly non-pragmatic, and would often be correct, the Lasombra still put a lot of power into appearances. It's one thing to have everything under control, it's another to look like everything's under control. Refinement, grace, calm, surgical precision, it's essential that a true Lasombra and their childer keep up this visage, lest they appear to be weak or unprepared. Perhaps this affection towards aesthetics comes from their Clan Curse as well, as the Lasombra are cursed to not be visible on any reflective surface, including photographs. While all Kindred have a faint blur to them, a Lasombra will be nigh-imperceptible as anything more than a hazy afterimage or a dark spot. This fascination with finesse extends to personality as well. You'll be hard-pressed to see a proper Lasombra break until everything has gone tits up. Don't overreact, don't wallow in your losses, and certainly don't go to irrational extremes when the going gets tough. To be calm, practiced, and in control is the prime mode of the Lasombra.Cultural Ties
Many elder Lasombra, despite their vampiric nature, are a part of the Catholic church or similar religious institutions. This not only has its origins in the Sabbat's seat of power but also in their eternal rivalry with the Ventrue, as the Blue Bloods went for political institutions in their chess game of the night. Despite the two overlapping, the aforementioned Sabbat ties have kept the Church intensely in the Lasombra wheelhouse. The ocean is also a conceptual tie that many Lasombra share, whether due to its deep dark depths that mirror the despairful dread of their shadows or merely because the Lasombra of the past focused largely on the Mediterranean and various port cities.Embraces
A Lasombra only embraces the best of the best. A mortal will be found, observed, and tested time and time again until their sire-to-be finds their progress adequate enough. They very much hold a "break them down and build them back up" attitude. However, they usually detest ghouls, finding "pet humans" to be a disgraceful addition to their armies of the night. Either they are human, or they are Kindred, they would not have the middle ground. Obviously, outliers exist, and many Lasombra who detest ghouls might still have them around for necessities sake, but it is a general attitude.Tacoma/Seattle Culture
Clan Lasombra has always had a presence within the South Sound, not only due to its proximity to Canada, where the Sabbat has set many winding roots but also due to both Tacoma and Seattle having prominent, lucrative ports. However, these were either shadowed cabals of Sabbat infiltrators or third-party groups with their own traditions, such as the Saverino crime family, so independent culture didn't form until the modern day. For the Lasombra in Seattle, it's business as usual. The clan may have largely changed hands from Sabbat to Camarilla, but their core ideals and tenants are perfectly in place, and Seattle is even a bit more accepting of the Lasombra without as many hoops as other Camarilla cities, albeit with many MANY eyes still on them. In Tacoma, the Lasombra are a bit more freeform, although many still adhere to the typical trappings of their clan. Many joined after switching sides, realizing that the Sabbat cell that invaded Tacoma really was just a meager last hurrah, while some are refugees from the outset or recently escaped childer. Either way, there is a notable community of Lasombra within Tacoma, to the point where they too have some internal social factions. But, much like with the clans Hecata, they're less personally used labels and more community-given labels. First are the Adumbrators, Lasombra who integrate themselves into Tacoma's nightlife by offering their services and assistance. Dutiful right-hands, effective managers, hired muscle, etcetera. If you want a Lasombra to do your dirty work to a razor-degree of effectiveness, you find an Adumbrator. Their counterpart in Tacoma's nights, the Blacklights, are Lasombra who refuse to debase themselves to assistants or laborers. You'll still be able to hire them or get their aid, but you'll really have to make it worth their while, as these are not Lasombra who are making their services directly available. They hold the power, and they aren't going to just roll over for a salary or commission. Despite these denominations being based on what they do rather than who they are, it might be hard to imagine any actual cultural differences popping up, but as the Kindred community has been able to gather and interact more following the cleansing nights, many Lasombra find themselves doing just that. The Adumbrators are often the type to assess and analyze their relationship with power, and how much they truly value it (when their internal compulsions don't overrule their logic), while the Blacklights gather to compare and compete with one another in an almost sportly fashion. But, neither side holds much animosity for the other, and there are even more Lasombra who do not lean one way or the other, following their own path to power and wealth in the night.Public Agenda
Nothing about the Lasombra is any kind of public, even within their own clan, but the throughline for all their machinations and goals is simple: pure, deserved, power.
Assets
Between millenia of conquest and power gathering, the Lasombra are one of the most affluent clans in the night, comparable only to the Ventrue. While each bloodline and organization will differ, a properly connected Lasombra will have plenty to draw on.
History
Early History
Any history pre-Crusades can be a bit messy to track for Kindred. This holds doubly true for the Lasombra, as not only are they a shadowed clan who do not let internal information slip easily, but the Sabbat are prone to staking their claim on plenty of historical deeds and places where they might not've had any sort of hand at all. But, for those who claim to be historians and reputable sources of the night, here is some of what we do know: Like many powerful, pragmatic institutions, it starts with a white man taking advantage of Africans. Of course, this is more literal chromatic paleness, as no one knows the origins of the supposed Lasombra progenitor, described as a sickly pale man. Nonetheless, the history of the clans begins in the ancient days of what is now Kenya, where the progenitor of the clan ordered a tribe to produce a child for him to raise for some experiment. The details of said experiment are lost to the ages, but the child was raised and trained to lead the tribe, the beginning strands of the Lasombra claim to power. Whatever the experiment was, however, it did not go well, as the progenitor slaughtered the entire village, sparing only one young man who coldly killed many of his own people to prove fealty to the pale spirit. From there, the early influences of the clan began to be seen in the Mediterranean, where the clan grew much of its influence along those waters as well as with the sea in general. Some histories speak of the Lasombra influencing Rome along with the early Ventrue and Malkavians but still remained in the area after its fall. As the Medieval period continued, the Lasombra grew in prominence in their home territory and began to gain greater influence with institutions of faith. Mostly the Catholic Church, a tie that would continue to the modern day, but also with Islam in the eastern part of the Mediterranian, enough to where not only was there an inner-clan conflict between the two faiths, but when the Anarch Revolt reached its end, a decent chunk of Lasombra didn't join the Sabbat, but instead the Islamic sect of Kindred known as the Ashirra. Speaking of...The Anarch Revolt and its Aftermath
Despite the heavy influence of Clan Lasombra in the Catholic church, it did not spare them at all during the flames of the Inquisition. So, they too suffered heavy losses, with the Elders throwing dozens of childer onto the spears and pyres of their enemy to make their escape. As the conflicts began, and the fires of revolution were starting to spread, Clan Lasombra was instrumental in their uprising, as it was the actions of the Lasombra Antediluvian's youngest childe that tore the clan into chaos, leading many of them to join the fray. However, where many of the clans that made up The Camarilla gave in during the Convention of Thorns, Clan Lasombra was one of the few who utterly refused to do so, and thus split off from the newly formed Camarilla along with the Tzimisce and sparse members of other clans to form the Sabbat. As the Sabbat began to fully form, the Lasombra easily came into positions of power and leadership, being the mirror to the Ventrue while the Tzimisce mirrored the social power of the Toreador. The rise of the Camarilla and the social advent of the Renaissance did not treat them easily, however, as social, political, and financial power largely shifted from the areas the Lasombra had monopolized all the generations previous. But despite it all, the Sabbat dug their feet in, keeping their primary source of influence in the Church, while also spreading their tendrils to the then-unpopular (among Kindred at least) New World. While stretching that far did cause many schisms within the sect, the Lasombra used their particular talents to quell and refine the conflicts where they occurred. From this point for quite a while, the history of Clan Lasombra is nigh-synonymous with the Sabbat, as they were the hand of power behind it as they spread across all the Americas, fought against the Camarilla time and time again, and almost reached a crescendo of power and possibility within their sect. Fate had other plans.Modern Nights & Tacoma History
Even before the tides fully shifted, Clan Lasombra was leaning more and more on its lauded Pragmatism in modern generations. Their standards were becoming looser, aiming mainly to acquire and maintain material wealth above all else, as the world marched forward around them. Each decade became harder and harder for them, as their ties with Oblivion render modern technology inert in their hands, or at least incredibly unreliable. The first hit was near the turn of the century. The Archbishop (Sabbat equivalent of a Prince) of Milan, a notable and powerful Lasombra, struck a secret deal with the Camarilla, brought all Sabbat Kindred into his home, and then declared his departure from the sect, burning them all to death and allowing the Camarilla to enact a mass blood hunt for the rest. His rise to Prince of Milan in return signaled the shift for many Lasombra, but that was not the final nail. Clan Lasombra was stuck between a rock and a hard place in the early 2000s. The Second Inquisition was growing stronger than ever, even if many celebrated the damage to Clan Tremere in their wake, and at the same time, much of the Sabbat was whipped into a fervor towards the mystery war in the Middle East. They were getting slaughtered by mortals, drawn to their sects' lack of restraint, and being pushed into a venerable blender out of "righteous valor". It became too much. It cost too much, and the payout was not worth it anymore. So, the best of the best in the Clan reached out past the differing sects, to members who valued Clan loyalty over Sect loyalty and arranged meetings with notable figureheads, asking for amnesty and safe passage in return for the Lasombra's considerable talents and skills. One key response came from the Prince of Chicago, Kevin Jackson, who initially made a joke. When asked what it would take for the clan's safety in Chicago, he replied: “I don’t know, girl. How about you just deliver all your Sabbat elders with stakes through their hearts?” The Lasombra do not deal in jokes. So, each member of the Lasombra who wished to be safe in Chicago delivered an elder among the sabbat to the Camarilla, with many other domains having their own rules. For Seattle's worth, they did not require the price to be paid in blood, but in usefulness and social integration. Essentially, the Lasombra needed to be likable and submit to the panopticon of politeness that is the Seattle Camarilla. The first half was easy, the Lasombra had resources, connections, and skills aplenty. The latter was more difficult, but not impossible, and many Lasombra fill the streets of the waterside city. For Tacoma, there was never too powerful of a Lasombra presence. There would be hidden agents and out-of-sect members that stayed in the shadows of Seattle's lesser, but many kept their eyes and goals on where the power really was. The clan's most notable presence in the city would come with the advent of the Sabbat Invasion. When the splinter group of 50 and their minions arrived via Tacoma's Ports, they quickly got to work. The Sabbats' tactic of mass embracing was in full swing, even though Clan Lasombra usually turned their nose at such tactics, and while few survived, they did it enough to gain a significant edge. These tactics also brought many Lasombra out of hiding, as they were a key advantage in the Cleansing Nights to understand and fight against their less graceful clanmates within the cell. Between these arriving Lasombra, the cell members who weren't so entrenched that they couldn't see reason, and the surviving mass-embraced who weren't poisoned by the cells fervor, there was a boom of population for the Clan within Tacoma and also Seattle, adding on top of their pre-existing population once the Cleaning Nights were finished. It is now time for the Lasombra to plan, to work the hardest they've had to in generations, and to wait. They have always been masters of following the right footsteps towards power, and they always get their piece in the end, in the new environments of the Camarilla and the Anarchs alike, they will have their cake and eat it too. It's only a matter of time.Territories
Lasombra mostly exist as the shadowed second-in-command, either in the Sabbat or the Camarilla, due to their flashier counterparts being better suited for the spotlight. However, that doesn't mean they don't have control over any territories, as it's only natural in the Lasombra's eternal quest for power that they'd actually get it. Here are a few notable Lasombra that rule entire domains:
- Giangaleazzo - Former Archbishop, Current Prince of Milan, Italy
- Gratiano de Veronese - Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Lucita de Aragon (or someone using her name) - Archbishop of Madrid, Italy
Founding Date
~2000 BCE
Type
Geopolitical, Clan
Alternative Names
The Night Clan, Turncoats, Keepers
Demonym
Lasombra
Related Species
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