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 Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2022 2:36 pm
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Elegant yet predatory, the Lasombra think of themselves as the apex of Cainite existence. Firm believers in Divine Right and the rule of the superior, they have little patience, though often much pity, for those Cainites who are (through no fault of their own) inferior.
The Lasombra character is a curious mix of noblesse oblige and healthy contempt. They actively seek power wherever it may be found, from the cloisters' halls to the palaces' corridors, yet they do not seek the titles and glory that come along with the rule. Instead of chasing command for its own sake, Lasombra takes the reins of power out of a firm belief that no one can hold them better. The Appearance of power is unimportant; what matters is that the decisions are made by those most suited to make them. Indeed, most Lasombra prefers the role of kingmaker to the title of king.
The Lasombra are loyal to the Sabbat, but they also believe it is their right and responsibility to be the strongest leaders of the Sect. Lasombra often fights over who should lead among them, but they prefer other Lasombra to the members of different clans. There is less intrigue in the Sabbat than in the Camarilla, but what does exist is found among the Lasombra.
The Lasombra are just as concerned about freedom as the other clans of the Sabbat, but they view the means of holding onto that freedom differently. They emphasize the control of mortal political, religious, and financial institutions to defend the Sabbat from threats. The Lasombra maintains the most significant number of retainers of any clan in the Sabbat. They hold agents in many positions of power and have implanted spies worldwide. These agents are loyal to the Sabbat but answer directly to the Lasombra. After all, the Lasombra consider what is good for their clan to be good for the Sect.
Even more than the Ventrue and Tremere, the Lasombra are masters of intrigue. Rather than erect the sophisticated facade of the previous clans, however, the Lasombra are openly competitive and warlike. Lasombra maintains their often tenuous control over their Sabbat brethren through force, espionage, and manipulation, constantly guiding the other clans without said clans' realization. The word "Machiavellian" aptly describes the members of the family. Stealth and cunning are second nature to them, to the point that they have developed an affinity with and control of the forces of night and shadows.
Nickname: Keepers (as in "my brother's..." )
Sect : The Lasombra are the ruling clan of the Sabbat, as much as any family can be said to "rule" that chaotic body. A few elder Lasombra hold membership in the Camarilla or Inconnu, but such creatures lead to lonely and perilous existences.
Appearance : Many Lasombra of older generations hail from Spanish or Italian stock, and some still show their Moorish or Berber heritage. Lasombra neonates and ancillae run the gamut of cultures and ethnicities. Almost all Lasombra is reasonably attractive, with well-bred, aristocratic features - blue-collar Lasombra are rare, and one hardly sees the callused hands or broken noses of the working class among the Keepers.
Haven: Many young Lasombra disdain private havens, sleeping with the pack and maintaining communal lairs "for the good of the sect." However, old habits die hard among the Keepers; certain elders keep ancestral manses or other ostentatious havens.
Background: Lasombra may come from any background but are typically professionals, politically inclined, or well-educated. Lasombra tends to be physically and socially aggressive; the clan has little interest in weaklings and does not hesitate to cull unworthy vampires from its ranks. Lasombra is universally skilled at social discourse and pulling the strings of others - coarse manners are viewed poorly, for the Lasombra are refined monsters.
Weaknesses: Lasombra vampires cast no reflections. They cannot be seen in mirrors, bodies of water, reflective windows, polished metals, photographs, security cameras, etc. This curious anomaly 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 takes extra damage from sunlight.
Organization: Clan Lasombra's structure is simultaneously formal and open. Respect and homage are afforded to the older warriors who helped found the Sabbat, but younger members operate with almost no guidance from the clan. Quarterly meetings, known as conventicles, keep the Lasombra informed about each other's status, and blood-drinking rituals are performed at these meetings. While no Lasombra is ever told, "You may not do that" (at least not publicly), almost all Keepers profoundly respect tradition. A secret Lasombra coterie, Les Amies Noir, is rumored to hand down "death sentences" on those Keepers who bring undue shame, attention, or ignominy to the clan or its members.
Bloodlines: Lasombra antitribu are among the staunchest supporters of the Camarilla, though the Sect largely distrusts them. Some of the eldest members of Clan Lasombra hold the Sabbat Lasombra in contempt. Naturally, the Sabbat Lasombra greatly fear these powerful Kindred who oppose them, and nothing rallies rival Lasombra like the rumor of an antitribu in their midst.
Quote: Shadows? Hah! I wield Darkness itself, not mere shadows! Tell me -could a shadow do this? |
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2022 2:39 pm
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~~~The Manse Itself~~~
Secrets lie within bold walls as you advance toward the ancient Manse that towers before you. A fortress of unknown tales and wonders lies deep within only the shadows. Feel free to be seduced into the night if you are worthy enough to be manipulated. We are the manipulators, the ones that wield shadows to our will. We welcome you to our entourage of shadows. Please do come in; the Countess awaits you...
Entering the lightened hall by torchlight, you're surrounded by velvet curtains drenched in purples as they flow heavily toward the floor, mirrored by the black velvet carpet. Two grand doors face you from either side of the hall, whereas a grand staircase is directly in front of you.
If you decide to venture in the side doors to your right, you'll enter another hall with portraits of shadows and fine art that is mysterious and still rich in darkness. Each picture was of children in gothic settings looking quite eloquent and bold. Thus you've reached the clanless children's dwellings kept far away from the initial clan.
If you enter the doors to the left, you'll enter the grand dining hall, where many meetings occur. Only those enriched by the shadows may set foot within these quarters, and even the clanless are not permitted to enter this domain.
Finally, you'll step upon the black velvet stairs reaching higher quarters. Once again, there are doorways on either side, a trio of doors facing you and a vast painting of a Gorgeous female that looks timeless. Yet, her eyes that watch upon you hold a heavy intuitive gaze that makes one shiver and respect all in the same. You pause, knowing that particular doors must lead to peculiar places, but you proceed no further. An air of uncertainty implores you to return downstairs.
Still, wondering about those higher doors? You do not wake sleeping wolves.
Continuing your search, you find a door leading down into a corridor. As you step forward, the velvet melts to pure stone, chilling your feet. Walking onward, you find three more doors at the bottom of the stairs, dimly lit by the torches seen throughout the vast Manse.
Stepping to the right, you enter a vast library with those velvet royal purple drapes. Notable is the literature stacked high yet dusty and forgotten. You often wonder why they would keep such a charade and never partake of its knowledge. Yet you suspect someone has been there many nights for a few books were sitting upon a desk, one open with a purple feather placed carefully. Investigating further, you wonder who in this mightly clan was reading such forbidden tomes?
The last two doors are locked tight with no access. The strange overwhelming darkness still beseeches you to turn back. Now you stand in wonderment with inhibition and desire to learn what you can. There lie many secrets in this Manse... some hidden deep away till they could be found later. |
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2022 2:55 pm
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The Gathering of Shadows: Becoming Lasombra
Very few individuals successfully set out to become vampires. In general, the desire to become an undead creature of the night goes along with the psychological features that work against vampiric survival, including a willingness to act with sufficient knowledge and a lack of attention to detail. The Lasombra choose their recruits from among those mortals who show an aptitude for survival, whether or not targets yet know anything about vampires or would want the condition for themselves if they did.
The Beginning: The Long Hard Road
Most Lasombra recruits enter the clan more slowly, with much more deliberation on the part of their sires. The Sabbat maintains no strict accounting for progeny, but a sire who creates too many unsatisfactory childer eventually comes to the attention of his superiors. Success justifies the risk, in the Lasombra conventional wisdom, so would-be sires generally prefer to take their time in creating childer.
Long experience shows the Lasombra that higher-ranked individuals seldom make good vampires. Recruiting ranks of those near to power but not absolute is more potential for the future of the Lasombra clan.
Ambitious failures may also make excellent recruits, depending on why they failed.
In each case, the sire looks for habits of thought and states of mind. The world is unpredictable, and success doesn't prove the presence or absence of any particular quality. Experience counts, but in the end, the soul endures through the Embrace, while all life's lessons become at least partly irrelevant.
Pride is not sufficient. Anyone can be too proud to get along, and pride untempered by judgment is not a survival trait for neonates. Ambition is better, partially satisfied in life.
Revenge in all its forms is a good sign as long as the vampire-to-be shows patience. Cold detachment also warrants consideration. It's rare to find a mortal who can evaluate the world dispassionately, and the Lasombra snatch up as many such people as they can.
Testing to Destruction
Once the prospective sire identifies a good candidate for the Embrace, they test the desired individual. Ideally, testing happens over the years, though circumstances can often reduce it to months or less. The testing measures the candidate's response to adversity-the sire usually attempts to break them by ruining their life.
The sire begins by striking at whatever the candidate considers most important. Whatever it may be, the dedicated Lasombra can take it away, either by himself or with the clan's assistance.
Step by step, the vampire cuts off the childe-to-be from the world. The candidate must remain in control of themselves. A candidate who breaks under strain generally ends up in pure misery. The sire abandons the experiment but seldom bothers undoing the wounds inflicted along the way.
The tricky part is to keep the prospective child from feeling deprived of purpose. Each loss must give rise to some new motive, whether simply reclaiming the lost thing or emphasizing something that hasn't previously seemed necessary or desirable. A vampire who lacks drive cannot fend off the Beast or Flourish in the Sabbat's harshly competitive environment, and the Lasombra prefer to separate the losers from the passionately alienated before the Embrace. The ideal Lasombra candidate, for most of the clan (and this applies to attributes as well), is someone who feels distanced from their society and yearns to change or overthrow it but isn't locked into an overly narrow sense of what must be done. Even if the mortal's current vision looks only at what's close, it must contain the seeds of grandeur, or the centuries of Unlife will become a burden.
Life to the Unlife
A candidate who remains driven and active despite adversity at least meets their sire. They probably don't learn at the time how much suffering is the sire's fault. The sire generally lies mad, saying whatever they deem likely to make the candidate accept vampirism. The sire demonstrates their powers and offers them to the willing candidate.
Some Lasombra prefers to tell the truth to their childer. Most sires find this too risky and like to spin fables about how they've noticed the miseries afflicting their childer and how the powers they offer can let them redress the situation. The shock of Embrace leaves many childer a little deranged anyway.
After the child undertakes their initial period of revenge or otherwise deals with the misery of their mortality, the sire brings them into Sabbat society, and the usual process of training and Creation Rites begins.
A few points in embracing
Quote: Ambition: Dominate and Potence makes for attractive offers to mortals who yearn for prestige or physical achievement otherwise denied to them. Inquisitiveness: The desire to understand everything about the world and how others work. Belligerence: Lasombra likes to seek out those willing to keep up with martial efforts beyond the boundaries of a mortal lifetime. Specialized Expertise: Lasombra needs those that understand the modern world. An attentive elder can learn to function perfectly well in an unfamiliar culture, but it always helps to have a freshly informed perspective.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2022 2:57 pm
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2022 3:04 pm
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The Clan and the World: Our Views
The Clan in the Sect
Elder Lasombra tends to feel possessive about the Sabbat. It's theirs in their very important ways, the fruit of their brave actions. The elders expect their childer and grandchildren to lead the clan, teach doctrine, and rise in ranks. For the elders, if Lasombra isn't at the forefront in peace and war, things aren't working right.
Lasombra Among Themselves
Lasombra pride itself on doing things with style and elegance. That doesn't mean that all dress alike, act alike, or furnish their havens the same way. Lasombra leaders may turn out formal occasions in clerical garb, classic evening wear of recent centuries, or styles famous in their mortal days. The Lasombra taste in ritual observance and social gatherings ranges from ancient pagan through selectively medieval to aggressively post-modern- sometimes varying widely from one performance to the next, depending on what they hope to accomplish.
Almost anything can be elegant. One of the classic Lasombra virtues is the gift of exposition, allowing one vampire to explain to others why this choice is elegant. The clan favors its members who can persuasively articulate their preferences. The clan frowns on efforts to shock- unless they work. Managing to introduce something so unfamiliar that it tramples on existing assumptions and yet, with explanation, manages to fit imperatives is one way to win a great deal of honor. Merely being offensive warrants loss of status, at a minimum, and may bring harsher punishment. The Lasombra seek to reassure themselves and each other that they are, despite their differences, united by superior lineage. At least, that's how the elders see it. Much younger Sabbat could care less about lineage but recognize that angering their creators is unwise.
The Other Clans
Quote: Assamite: Useful tools, though a bit too independent of late. Brujah: Their fiery passion, once harvested, makes a beautiful means to use them toward your ends. Followers of Set: Hmm, How best to keep them in Egypt? Gangrel: Easily excited; terrible, monstrous foes. Agitate them and turn them loose on your enemies. Giovanni: The tree that does not branch hides rot within. Malkavian: Madness sometimes offers insight but usually obstructs those who would glean its benefit. Nosferatu: Useful as flies on the wall when you need them, but Nosferatu tend to draw too many flies themselves. Ravnos: Rather than deal with them directly, it's best to goad them somewhere else and let whoever dwells there address the problem. Toreador: They possess the most tortured of unlives, and devious minds often lurk under their flighty façades. Tremere: Inelegant, yet effective in their way. Their continued existence certainly keeps the Fiends' attentions constructively channeled. Tzimisce: Valorous allies and venomous rivals, often simultaneously. Ventrue: Their weakness dissipates their potential. They squander their curse by lurking among mortals. Caitiff: I find it unimaginable that any of these survive past the initial disappointment of learning what they are. Camarilla: Acceptable if you're talking about a kine institution. If you're a blood-sucking devil of the night, why hide from those you prey upon? Sabbat: If it would merely listen a little better, it would almost be worth the effort we invest in it.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2022 3:14 pm
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2022 3:17 pm
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Clan Disciplines
LEVEL 1
Shadow Play
Lasombra can exert a limited degree of control over existing shadows and darkness. At your mental command, darkness can deepen, retreat, lengthen, move, flicker, or undulate disturbingly. Though you can only affect a limited area of shadow, the stuff takes on a hellish quality and bends to your supernatural will.
LEVEL 2
Shroud of Night
Evoking a cloud of inky blackness, a blob that absorbs all light and distorts the sound. Hovering preternaturally in the air, this globe feels like a heavy morass to all those engulfed.
LEVEL 3
Arms of The Abyss (also known as the Arms of Ahriman)
From the shadowy corners of a room or the blackness of night itself, Lasombracan summons tentacle limbs that flail about, ensnaring or attacking as you desire. These black shadow tentacles animate as you direct, even while you take other actions. You can pull many tentacles from a single source or generate shades from several locations.
The tentacles can grab, whip, hold items, and perform other tasks with precision. The tentacles usually take damage from attacks, and they suffer from fire and sunlight like a Vampire, though they are considered to have any Fortitude you possess. You can add your Potence to the might of the tentacles as well, though not at the same time you are adding your Fortitude…One or the other. You may not combine the effects of Obtenebration with the powers of any other disciplines.
LEVEL 4
Black Metamorphosis
Spewing forth a Lasombra's stained inner spirit, you meld your corpselike body with the very stuff of tangible darkness. Your head and limbs seem to fade into shadow, while bands of blackness encircle your body and shadowy limbs sprout from your torso.
LEVEL 5
Tenebrous Form
You no longer summon the darkness within yourself at this level - you become it. Your form collapses into a shadowy outline, a pseudo-liquid humanoid shape of utter blackness. While in this form, you can slither through tiny holes and cracks and see through any normal darkness.
Lasomba can even use mental Disciplines while in this state though within the limitations of your form - you have no eyes and thus cannot use Dominate; you could hide your shadowy form with Obfuscate. While in this shadowy form, fire and sunlight are still exceedingly painful to you. While in Tenebrous Form, your blood traits are the same sort of inky darkness, and thus, they are unaffected by the powers of blood-based Thaumaturgy disciplines.
LEVEL 6
Call the Lamprey
The vampire may summon from within herself a giant 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.
The Darkness Within
The Cainite may call forth the darkness contained in her black soul. This enormous, turbulent shadow vomits from the Cainite's mouth, though some vampires are said to cut themselves and let the blackness seep from their veins. The shadow cloud engulfs a chosen target, burning it with a soul-scarring chill and siphoning its blood away in torrents.
This power does not physically damage the target but may strike him with terror. Any who observe this shadow cloud as targets or onlookers may suffer the shadow Rotschreck unless they are familiar with this Discipline and its power over darkness.
All of the caster's attention must be devoted to maintaining the cloud. If the vampire is attacked using this power, the darkness immediately returns to her through whatever orifice it originated. The Cainite may summon the blackness again at any time, gaining several blood points/traits equal to one-half the number the shadow siphoned from its victims, rounded up. Taking blood from another in this fashion is similar to drinking from that vampire -- blood bonds can result if it happens enough. Additionally, The Darkness Within may take blood from only one individual per turn, though it may be in contact with many.
Eyes of the Night
The vampire can see in absolute darkness -- even darkness created by Obtenebration. She gains Gleam of Red Eyes if she does not already have it and if in a poorly lit area, she may close her eyes and concentrate to see anything in a fifty-foot radius.
Shadowstep
The vampire has such fine control over the darkness that he may become it briefly and reform himself from other darkness close by. The vampire may Shadowstep through walls, floors, and even mystical barriers. The Cainite steps "into" a shadow and re-emerges from another shadow a short distance away.
The Cainite can Shadowstep at a distance of not more than 50 feet. If the vampire fails to cast this power properly, he cannot step through the shadow realm, while a terminal failure means he has become trapped between shadows. Pulling another individual through the shadows can be done, but it requires even more concentration and similar consequences for failure as those of the vampire alone.
LEVEL 7
Oubilette (also called Entombment)
The vampire may entrap or smother her enemies by creating a "chamber" of pure darkness. No air exists in this shadow trap, and mortals suffocate within its chilling void. Even vampires have little recourse once trapped -- they may only leave at their captor's whim. The Oubliette appears as a dense patch of shadow, unaffected by ambient light around it.
This costs the Cainite a blood point/trait, although the victim can attempt to dodge the formation of the Oubliette. The chamber need not completely encase their victim, allowing the head or other body parts to be left accessible to the outside world. A vampire, unlike a mortal, does not suffocate within as they do not breathe; they are suspended impotently in darkness and may not use Disciplines or other actions. The Oubliette vanishes instantly when touched by sunlight -- which has left more than one vampire under the sun's unforgiving rays -- or when the Cainite chooses to relax it. A vampire may only maintain one of these chambers at a time, which leads some Cainite philosophers to argue that it is a prison created from the caster's soul and thus limited to a single incarnation.
LEVEL 8
Ahriman's Demense
This power allows the vampire to summon a darkness so obliviating that it extinguishes the light of life -- or unlife -- of any victim trapped within it. ahriman's Demense creates a 50-foot radius of the void that issues from the Cainite's hand and takes away the bodies of those it claims when it vanishes. The overwhelming darkness destroys friend and foe alike, claiming anyone unfortunate enough to be within its circumference.
Summon the Abyss
The Lasombra may summon 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.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2022 3:41 pm
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Those who betray and must be silenced as per Countess
Dante van Alexandria
Violette van Alexandria
Cameron
Members of the Shadows
Our Origins Disciple: Countess IsadoraStatus: Active Antedeluvian: Methuselah:Fledglings Name: Jest (Icy Serenade) Status: Active (need image url) Rank:Name: Maeve (Songstress Kitsune) Status: Active Rank: ?? (Need image url) Name: Minerva (Naru_Uchiha007) Status: Active Rank:Neonate (nee image url) Inactive Members Name: Lorelai Rank: Methuselah Name: Taz Rank: Ancilae Name: Faereth Rank: Elder Name: Uriel Le Boursier Rank: Neonate Name: Selene Beau Pre Rank: Fledgling Name: Alefric Le Boursier Rank: Resident |
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2022 3:42 pm
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