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 Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 9:31 pm
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  Consider taking a different tone with me. You are, after all, worth as much to the Giovanni dead as you are undead.Clan: Giovanni Nicknames: Giovanotti, Necromancers, Nigrimancers, the Young Ones, Necro-incestuous Mafioso, Romans, VenetiansFaction: Independent Disciple: Augustus GiovanniAntediluvians: Ambrogino Giovanni, Claudius Giovanni, and Nonna GiovanniMethuselah: Amadeo Giovanni"Baptized in blood and treachery, this sinister clan of necromancers worms its way through the Jyhad while feigning noninvolvement. Whether gutting companies or animating corpses, the Giovanni is a power to be reckoned with. The legacy of these insular undead is bloody, and their future even deadlier."
The Giovanni are the usurpers of Clan Cappadocian and one of the youngest clans. The Giovanni has historically been both a clan and a family, and more recently a bloodline. They Embrace almost exclusively within their family, and are heavily focused on the goals of money and necromantic power.
In many ways, the Giovanni are a Ghoul family with less visibly disgusting parts. This does not mean the Giovanni are not as warped as the Bratovitch clan; the Giovanni are repulsive and degenerate in a more subtle manner. It is said that younger generations of the Giovanni were found to be very attractive. Some even say they put on the irresistible look of a succubi pre-change. Also, some are known to be shape-shifters.
Effective Giovanni are sadistic Giovanni. Controlling wraiths means acquiring fine control over a variety of psychological levers (understanding Passions and Fetters) and then ruthlessly manipulating these tools to make a spirit do what you want. The Giovanni have been cruel, manipulative, and vicious since before the diablerie of Cappadocius, and it bleeds out into everything else they do. The outer shell of the Giovanni clan, the public face is less visibly cruel and horrid, but only because these vampires are explicitly tasked to deal with the outside world.
The most notorious example of this bleed off is the Giovanni Proxy Kiss. Giovanni make an art out of ghouling, since ghouling is a rite of passage for the Giovanni – ghouling means that the Giovanni is now part of the people who make the family work. Not necessarily a mover and shaker, but something akin to a made man: the Masquerade is pulled back and the truth about vampires is revealed. Giovanni tend to make Proxy Kisses aesthetic efforts, and take a point in pride in producing especially memorable or mind-destroying ones – blood received via fellatio, blasphemous masses and the like are all popular choices. In a similar vein, to be made into one of the undead is a great deal, celebrated in a semi-public event within the family to allow the childe-to-be the last pleasures of the mortal world. The Bacio della Morte, the "Kiss of Death", is conducted in a ritual matter, with the mortal childe wearing its best clothes before disrobing itself before the sire, offering himself to the undead being before him. Afterwards, the fledgling Giovanni is first inducted into the art of feeding in a formal dinner, likely making its first official alliances with its kind.
The sadism and weirdness of Giovanni internal culture is enhanced by its incestuous nature. Giovanni can spend the majority of their lives interacting with nobody except other Giovanni, and the resulting insularity breeds additional problems. The Giovanni are, in particular, arrogant and prone to underestimating the world around them.
The Giovanni are, if anything, severely lapsed Catholics. Due to their practice of Necromancy, they have seen what "the other side" and "life beyond death" really mean, which tends to completely eradicate any faith in a benevolent deity. Giovanni, in a ways similar to the Lasombra Clan, often present the appearance of Catholicism in ritual and Family culture, but have twisted the vestments all around to better fit a vampiric frame. They may attend a certain kind of Mass, where the holy water is blood and the priest a Family elder, but these sorts of ceremonies tend to devolve into orgies, massacres, or other kinds of deviant practices behind closed doors.
The Giovanni relationship to the spirit world means that they have a very casual attitude towards such things as torture, dismemberment, and death. After all, if your victim dies in the chair, you can always yank his spirit back from Hell and get information out of him another way. What the Giovanni are really focused on is efficiency: bribery, seduction, and all other sorts of underhanded means are taught to new members of the Clan as a matter of course. If all other methods fail, then killing off the competition becomes a very viable alternative.
The Giovanni are a highly organized clan, consisting of a network of interrelated families who share a common culture and fealty to the ancestral Giovanni family. As a result, despite popular conception, not all Giovanni are Italian.
The Giovanni are organized as something between a highly ruthless mafia dynasty and a highly ruthless corporation. Clan operations are overseen by a hierarchy of capos, padrones and maestros. Favors such as financial responsibilities (and rewards), ghouling, and the Embrace are dependent on performance; vicious backstabbing and cutthroat competition are the order of the day in a Giovanni household.
The Giovanni maintain their own internal Masquerade. A member of the family may be aware that his family is into some weird stuff, but beyond the relatively benign (in comparison) incest and high-finance backstabbing, be blissfully unaware that he is a catspaw for cannibalistic blood-drinking necromancers.
Decisions in the Giovanni are made by councils of elders known as the Anziani, with age, rank and competence all playing a role. Elders who are not Anziani are given the courtesy title nonno/nonna instead. Giovanni are highly family-oriented, even after the Embrace, and will spend centuries guiding their descendants for the greater good of the family (and themselves).
It is extremely rare for non-Giovanni who do not belong to one of the satellite families to be Embraced and the chances are slim but "it has happened before and it will happen again". In either case the numbers are very small.
The Giovanni generally do not Embrace outside of the family; and they do not Embrace without permission. Not if they know what is good for them at least. In 1444, Claudius Giovanni Embraced a non-Giovanni peasant girl named Marianna into the clan as a distraction. For 500 years. Marianna was a constant embarrassment for the clan. She is also the only family outsider to have been Embraced and to survive longer than a month.
Like everything else in the family, the Embrace is treated as a reward, a promotion for good service. More than any other clan, the Giovanni actively consider factors of generation in the Embrace – being Embraced by a lower-generation clan member is considered a performance bonus.
While not uncommon, it is frowned upon to Embrace another of your own mortal family. This would encourage nepotism, and Giovanni much prefer to have the loyalty of their neonates as divided as possible within the family. When a Giovanni puts one of his own grandsons forward for the Embrace, it is much more likely that a Giovanni from another family branch will execute the deed. Even better for the clan if those Giovanni are rivals – since the neonate now has loyalty to his own grandmother and his own sire, which forces (somewhat) the two elders to avoid plotting against the other, lest the new childe betray either of them.
The clan weakness of Giovanni causes that they deal more damage than normal when biting a living being, making it difficult to keep people alive after feeding from them.
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Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 10:03 am
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Unico Sangue - Single Blood (Born into the Main Giovanni Family and Embraced)(MUST ASK KINU FOR PERMISSION TO JOIN)Amadeo GiovanniAmbrogino GiovanniAugustus GiovanniClaudius GiovanniIllario GiovanniNonna GiovanniVespara GiovanniDoppio Sangue - Double Blooded (Embraced Giovanni from an absorbed Family Line)The Major Families [Dunsirn, Machiavelli, Milliner, and Pisanob]:Despite the misleading name of the clan, Giovanni Kindred are not all former members of the Giovanni mortal family. Of course, the Giovanni clan has no problem letting the other clans believe that their numbers are smaller than they actually are. Dunsirn(MUST ASK PANDIEMONIUMS FOR PERMISSION TO JOIN)Plural - Dunsirn Nicknames - Bankers of Dunsirn Active Family:Artis DunsirnBac DunsirnMaeve DunsirnNiko Costello DunsrinRanulf Dunsirn (Head of the Family) Scottish branches of the Giovanni, these savvy bankers have a nasty fetish for cannibalism. Augustus appreciated their ability to keep a secret and brought them into the fold. The Dunsirn are steeped in the supernatural landscape of their Scottish homelands and are rumored to have ties to both the savage Lupines and an enigmatic sect of nature mages. The Dunsirn were assimilated into Clan Giovanni in the early 18th century. Before that, the Dunsirn were already a rich family. Rumors speak that the patriarch of the modern Dunsirn was banished from his family's estate for the crime of cannibalism. Unperturbed, the outcast returned with a family of his own, killed (and probably ate) his relatives and overtook their business. In the modern family, cannibalism is treated like an urban legend, and many Kindred that have contact with a Dunsirn banker joke about their fondness for "long pork", but just as many still look wary when a Dunsirn eats a sandwich. It is believed that the Dunsirn entered service to the Giovanni with a loophole of leaving the Clan when they desired it. Not interested in Necromancy, the family focuses nearly exclusively on making money. The Dunsirn were crucial for establishing Giovanni domains in the colonies, and their influence in the U.K allowed them to play on the various internal conflicts, like the issue between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland. In modern times, the Dunsirn have been vital for the developments of Giovanni interests in the European Union. However, several Anziani now insist that the Dunsirn have to deepen their knowledge of Necromancy in the wake of the Sixth Maelstrom. Being bossed around chafes at the Dunsirn's pride and some worry what this will bode for the relationship between the families. Another facet of the Dunsirn is that they are distantly related to Garou (i.e. some of them are Kinfolk), understood to be Fianna (although given their location in Scotland, it could also be one of the old Kin lines of the Black Spiral Dancers). Approximately, one in hundred children has the potential for the First Change and in the rare case that the child becomes a Garou, it is either quickly killed by the family or flees to become a Ronin. Also, more Dunsirn than any other family are adept in Hedge magic, which is tolerated by the main family. Machiavelli (MUST ASK KINU FOR PERMISSION TO JOIN)Active Family:Aurora MachiavelliCelestino MachiavelliEdon Machiavelli (Family Head) Louis MachiavelliMarius MachiavelliRomeo MachiavelliOne Mortal Member - Unknown This Family enjoys the greatest degree of respect from Augustus and the rest of the Giovanni Family, for their assistance in the Cappadocian purge. Nothing more than a mere mortal at the time, Edon Machiavelli was an associate of many of the Giovanni Elders who continued to practice the ways of mercantilism. When the Giovanni rose up to extinguish the Cappadocians, Edon and his family used their prodigious influence to ferret out information regarding the havens of the Cappadocians, thus making it easier for the Giovanni to hunt their parent Clan down and slay them. For such service, Augustus himself Embraced Edon and honored his descendants by bringing them into the fold. The Machiavelli are indeed the descendants of Niccolo Machiavelli who himself joined the clan in 1527. Milliner(MUST ASK UTA FOR PERMISSION TO JOIN)Plural - Milliners Nicknames - The Grudge Masters Active Family:Dante MillinerDavide MillinerFabrizio Milliner (Related to Dunsirn) Jessie MillinerLewis MillinerNicletta MillinerNicolas Costello MillinerRiccardo "Ricco" Milliner (Family Head) Vincenzo "Vinny" GiovanniThe 1950’s induction of the Milliners into the Giovanni Clan began with a family feud between Francis Milliner and Joe Kennedy after a Boston business deal cut out Milliner and set up Kennedy. Using Giovanni monies, Milliner set up circumstances to destroy the Kennedy legacy, resulting in, if you believe the rumors, the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The Milliners are extraordinary industrialists and have close ties to the Mafia. Though extremely young compared to the rest of the Giovanni, they are still considered a Major Family for efforts that proved instrumental in providing the Giovanni Clan with a foothold in North America Francis Milliner is the leader of the family and is famous for his ability to hold a grudge. The history of the Milliner family within Clan Giovanni begins after Francis Milliner was passed over by P.J Kennedy during his campaign to become the next president of the Columbia Trust Company. In turn, Francis Milliner used his business contacts to ally himself with Andreas Giovanni of Boston, who had recently arrived. Over the years and a little encouragement from his new allies, Francis Milliner worked to systematically undermine the entire Kennedy business while they were "distracted" by politics. Urban legends within Clan Giovanni hold that the Milliners still pursue their vendetta against the Kennedys, and that they are responsible for the assassination of J.F. Kennedy, among other misfortunes. Currently, the Milliners are headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts and have influence in the greater New England area. Francis Milliner's success in claiming the city for his Clan has earned him the favour of Augustus Giovanni himself, who allowed Francis to diablerize the unfaithful Giovanni Genevra to lower his generation. The Milliners are not well versed in Necromancy, instead preferring to focus on the business of making money. Thanks to the Milliners, the Giovanni involvement in organized criminality didn't die when Italian influence waned. They invested heavily in privatized prisons that bring in a constant source of income and cheap labor for the Clan, as well as using their influence to denounce witch-hunters as "persons of interest" and "domestic terrorists" Pisanob(MUST ASK NOIR SONGBIRD FOR PERMISSION TO JOIN)Plural - Pisanob Nicknames - The Children of Tenochtitlan Active Family:Jacobo PisanobMercedes Pisanob (Family Head) Though they did not originate as a true Family, the Pisanob have, throughout the centuries of breeding and Embrace, become one nonetheless. The Pisanob were inducted into the ranks of the Giovanni from a loose-knit cabal of Aztec priests in South America, led by their high priest, Pochtli. Masters of Necromancy even before they became Kindred, the Pisanob are atypical in that they’ve maintained the trappings of the Necromancy they used during their mortal existence. Pisanob Necromancy is extremely ritualized and utilizes props and iconography from the ancient Aztec religions. Their influence, as one would expect, is mainly relegated to the Latin American countries of Mexico, Central and South America as well as the European countries of Spain and Portugal. The Pisanob are a bloodline of necromancers that is centered around Mexico and South America and are allied with the Giovanni. They were formerly led by Pochtli, a powerful premascine necromancer. The Pisanob originated from Aztec necromancers that were Embraced during the 16th century in order to preserve their unique traditions from extinction. Even today, the Pisanob's style of Necromancy, as well as their rituals, remain different from the main Clan. Although most of their temple havens in the Mexican hinterlands remain secure, many outlying Pisanob havens in Mexico have been compromised. Between unchecked rampages by the Sabbat and Underworld conflicts with the resurfaced Harbingers of Skulls, the Pisanob were beleaguered even before the crippling maelstrom in the spirit world. When half their phantom servants were destroyed in an instant, the Pisanob were finally vulnerable to the vengeance of spirits who had awaited a chance since before Columbus came to the Americas. The only reason the temple of Pochtli has survived is that the maelstrom and its aftermath caught the Pisanob's enemies as flat-footed as it did the Kindred themselves. The Harbingers of Skulls suffered the ghostly apocalypse at least as badly as the Central and South American Giovanni. As for other Pisanob, they have found themselves frequently targeted by a group of humans who claim to be driven by a higher power to reclaim the world. Numerous Pisanob have met their ends at the hands of these mortal Hunters, too, finding themselves caught between the warring sects or compromised to save another Kindred's skin. In secret, the Pisanob fear that Gehenna has come. To answer this threat, Pochtli revitalized Aztec sacrifice ceremonies to gather the hearts of enough Kindred to appease the things that will rise. Most Pisanob who knew of this keep it a secret, because they feared retaliation from the Giovanni family that would surely destroy them. The Minor Families [Della Passaglia, Ghiberti, Puttanesca, Rossellini]: The Giovanni, both of the Family and of the major families often look down on the minor families with a degree of contempt. However, their usefulness precludes any treatment harsher than jibes and taunts from their betters. Most significantly, the Minor Families have little say in what policies Clan Giovanni implement and it is extremely rare for one of their kind to climb higher than the station of Don or Dona of a city. Della Passaglia(MUST ASK YAYOI FOR PERMISSION TO JOIN)Active Family:ArisaAureliano Della PassagliaColumbina Della PassagliaFiero Della PassagliaFiore Della PassagliaGabriele Della PassagliaGeorgina "Gigi" Della Passaglia (Family Head) Matteo Della PassagliaSavio Della PassagliaValentina Della PassagliaThe della Passaglia are the Giovanni’s agents in the Far East, and are specialists in dealing with the mysterious Kindred of Japan, China, India, and Southeast Asia. Before being brought into the Giovanni, they originated as traders to the East, following the roads set up by Marco Polo As such, they have opened new vistas for the Giovanni with their knowledge of Asian Necromancy and Thanatology. As the Far East specialists, they provide valuable links with Asian Vampire, which call themselves Kue-Jin. The Della Passaglia are a family within the Giovanni Clan that descended from Italian trader families that had ties with the Orient, trading silk, tea, and porcelain for opium and firearms. The Giovanni assimilated the Della Passaglia in the 15th century. For a long time, the Della Passaglia were the only Kindred tolerated by the natives within the cities of China, and careful observations from both sides revealed much about their cousins. Up to this day, the Della Passaglia are the most informed Kindred next to Oliver Thrace in the matters of Kuei-jin and the paradigma of the Middle Kingdom. Recently, however, relations have soured up. The Great Leap Outward makes association with the foreigners difficult for potential sympathizers among the Kuei-jin and many have chosen to turn from them, leading many Passaglias thinking that the Kuei-jin exploited them in order to learn about the weaknesses of Cainites. The Della Passaglia, however, hope to regain the Asians' favour by securing their aid in bringing down the Shroud in the conquered territories in California, to ensure that the Second Breath could also take place in these lands. With this, the family would greatly assert their value to the Venetian main family, regain favor with the Kuei-jin and gain several wraiths for the Ritual of Endless Night. So far, the Ancestors of the Kuei-jin are debating this course of action, but more and more voice support for the Kin-jin's plan. Ghiberti(MUST ASK [ESTELLE] FOR PERMISSION TO JOIN)Active Family:None As the della Passaglia are specialist in Asia, so the Ghiberti have made significant in-roads for the Clan into Africa and the Middle East. Though they’re grudgingly respected for their efforts to establish trade routes in the Dark Continent, and procuring valuable information regarding Nubian aspects of Necromancy and the Abombo (African Wraiths), they are still mistrusted and discriminated against by Single-blooded Giovanni for their ‘going native’ and intermarrying with the natives. They are responsible for involving the Giovanni in the United States, West Africa, and West Indies trade triangle. The Ghiberti family is a branch-family of the Giovanni focused on Africa, who are best known for having developed their own path of necromancy, the Cenotaph Path. Originally Italian, the Ghiberti were acquired in the early 17th century when it became obvious how much money was just waiting to be made in the triangle trade between the United States, West Africa, and the West Indies. The ruthless Ghiberti Kindred developed an aptitude with the abambo and the fourfold soul of the Dark Kingdom of Ivory that no other Giovanni could match, and they leveraged that advantage for all it was worth. They also got in on the lucrative underground slave trade early, and in some ways helped establish it – an industry they support to this day. Studying the strange powers of the ghostly Moriman, the Ghiberti learned to trace wraiths and bind them. Experienced Ghiberti Kindred recognized that mystically compelling the dead required an extensive knowledge of the ghosts to be so commanded. Whereas many among the family content themselves with mastery of the occasional wraith and the means to affect corpses or the Underworld, more erudite practitioners looked into necromantic means to unearth locations or objects holding strong ties to the dead (known as Fetters in necromantic circles). Puttanesca(MUST ASK SEUSSI FOR PERMISSION TO JOIN)Plural - Puttanesca Nicknames - The Criminal Puttanesca, The ******** Puttanesca Active Family:Addie PuttanescaAlice PuttanescaAntonio PuttanescaBenedict "Benny" PuttanescaBlack Widow (Married into family from outside) D'Angelo PuttanescaEloisa PuttanescaFiorenzio PuttanescaFrancesca 'Franny' PuttanescaLucia PuttanescaMilana Millie Puttanesca Nicolò (Nico) PuttanescaOriana PuttanescaRiccardo Puttanesca (Family Head) Vittoria PuttanescaZeno PuttanescaThe Putanesca are the servitors of the Giovanni, as well as their agents in the world of blue-collar crime, such as prostitution, numbers running, and the drug trade. Considered little more than whore mongers and crack dealers, they are reviled by all others of the Giovanni Clan. However, their aptitude in dealing with the seedy underbelly of modern society makes them especially useful nonetheless. The Puttanesca's very name translates as "of the whore"; they are a Sicilian family of low-rent criminals, pimps, and thugs with ties to the Mafia that the Giovanni acquired in the 1660s to do the family's "dirty work". Largely ignorant of necromancy, the average Puttanesca has a temper that would even put a Brujah to shame. Not the type to forgive and forget, they are consumed with the concept of vendetta and are usually employed by the clan as leverage against enemies. Rossellini(MUST ASK SEUSSI FOR PERMISSION TO JOIN)Plural - Rossellini Nicknames - Piccoli Fratellini, Little Brothers, Little Siblings Active Family:Armando RosselliniCount Marcello Rossano Rossellini (Family Head) Diego RosselliniIlaria RosselliniInigo RosselliniLeontina Serafina RosselliniLucilla RosselliniMelchiorre RosselliniThe Rossellini are sadistic individuals who enjoy mutilating their victims as part of their Necromantic Rituals. They became involved in the Giovanni clan when a cadre of their members ran afoul of Claudius Giovanni, who separated their souls from their bodies until they swore an oath of fealty to the Giovanni. Since then, they have almost entirely interbred with the Giovanni Family, though there are few true Rossellini still walking about. The Rossellini (formerly Rosselini), also referred to as the Piccoli Fratellini ("Little Brothers") by the main Clan, are a branch of the Giovanni family that originated in Italy. They share many traits of the main family, being another family that practiced Necromancy since the Roman Empire. Like the Giovanni, the Rossellini had strong ties to Venice, where both families practiced necromancy. By other mages of the Middle Ages, the Rossellini were regarded as the more talented necromancers. In addition to the ways of necromancy, many Rossellini were Sorcerers. Even then, the Rossellini were often regarded as hysteric or otherwise unbalanced. After the conversion of their Giovanni rivals into a Cappadocian Bloodline, the Rossellini were, at first, unaffected, except that they began to push themselves and their arts harder in order to compete with their rivals. They were assimilated into the family after a nasty incident with Claudius Giovanni in Rome during the 16th century, who ripped out the souls of the ruffians and forced the family to swear an oath of fealty to the Giovanni. Among the Clan, the Rossellini are known for their cruel (even by Giovanni standards) treatment of their wraith servants. More than one Giovanni secretly suspected that the reason the Rossellini wound up serving the Giovanni (and not the other way around) was philosophical more than tactical. The Giovanni pursue necromancy for the power to exalt the family. The Rossellini do it because they simply like it. It is an end in itself, and consequently, the Rossellini often try to do as much as they possibly can, as sadistically as possible, just to push the envelope. The Lesser Families [Beyrn, Koenig, Li Weng Rothstein, St. John]: Most of the Retainers of the Core Family and Major families come from these families. Beryn (by marriage)Active Family:Andreas "Andy" BerynThe Beryn are a family of Flemish merchants operating from Luxembourg with African influence like that of the Ghiberti. They have many holdings in South Africa mines. They have few vampiric members, only six to seven, and few of them take an interest in Necromancy. In fact Beryn seem to be unskilled in the realms of Necromancy having virtually no knack for it. It would seem they where brought in only for genetic purposes. Their tall stances and wide shoulders are desirable traits after all. Only seven are know to be in line for the embrace. Most are ghouls or still mortal. Many whisper that when the Rossellini are gone, the Beryn are to replace them purely as breeding stock. Hidalgo (by marriage)(MUST ASK YAYOI FOR PERMISSION TO JOIN)Active Family:Angel Hidalgo (Family Head) Bruno HidalgoJose HidalgoSantino HidalgoThe Hidalgos were another group of Giovanni from the Obsidian Kingdom, who live in Mexico, in the northernmost areas of the Flayed Lands. The family is of mixed Mayan and Spanish ancestry. These Necromancers are vile in their rituals, often mutilating their mortal sacrifices due to the belief that it will help them in their witchcraft. Although there were only one or two vampires chosen from the ranks of the Hidalgo, most members of the family practice at least one rudimentary form of Necromancy. Since a Sabbat attack in the 1990s there's only mortal and ghoul Hidalgos left. Clan Giovanni has no knowledge of these survivors, although there are some who continue the search. During the Spanish colonization of Mayan lands the Giovanni encountered an unfamiliar Underworld. Hence why they came up with the idea to interbreed Maya natives with family members and potential mediums amongst the Spanish in the hope of establishing a new branch of the clan. This was the origin of the Hidalgo branch of the Giovanni. Under the leadership of Vespasiano Giovanni the Hidalgo proved to be proficient in trade, and a rare few were born with the potential to contact wraiths. It was these who received instruction in the rudiments of necromancy. Interestingly, whilst ghouling these mediums allowed them to retain their ability, once they were Embraced it disappeared. For this reason, Hidalgo vampires were never numerous. Koenig (by marriage)(MUST ASK YAYA, KINU OR SEUSSI FOR PERMISSION TO JOIN)Active Family:Berlioz KoenigFelix KoenigKonstantin KoenigMatthias KoenigMilo KoenigRainier KoenigWolfgang KoenigThese German death cultists may have never come to the attention of the Giovanni had it not been for World War II when the Giovanni saw an entire nation rise up under a dark leader. His band of cultists had the sickest and most twisted ideas of death that the Family had seen since the induction of the Rossellini. They are also German arms manufacturers and generally not put in the same room with a Rothstein as it normally resolves in the death of both parties. The Koenigs, also spelled König are a lesser family branch of the Giovanni Clan operating in Münich, Germany and Japan. The Koenigs are a family that was assimilated through marriage. Their activities involve arms manufacturing. They are also death-cultists that really benefitted the Giovanni with their necromancy. The Koenigs have expanded their territory to Japan after Heinrich Koenig embraced Hiromitsu Asano in the 1950s. This added more financial gain for the clan. Li Weng (by marriage)(MUST ASK CHERI FOR PERMISSION TO JOIN)Active Family:None The Li Weng, originating from outside of San Francisco’s Chinatown, are a group of geomancers who are attempting to gain favor with the Giovanni Clan so that they might be the next Major or Minor Family. Rothstein (by marriage)(MUST ASK KTQUEEN FOR PERMISSION TO JOIN)Active Family: Shlomo Rothstein (Family Head) The Rothstein are Jewish-American Cabbalists with ties to Las Vegas. In the early 1900’s, Shlomo Rothstein was Embraced and became the first and formal ‘head’ of this line. Their ties in the diamond industry cannot be denied. St. John (by marriage)(MUST ASK KINU FOR PERMISSION TO JOIN)Active Family:Everette St. John Thane St. JohnThe first of the five Families that Augustus looked to acquire in whole was the St. John. They are a cabal of English Masons who have been breeding into the family. Their ties with the occult are very strong. |
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Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 10:04 am
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The Giovanni Clan.
Our name is spoken in whispers. We are feared, envied, loathed and suspected. We are The Giovanni. Our wealth beyond measure rivals that of any Kindred.
Kindred - Even that word means something different to us than to others. Yes, we all share the blood of Caine, but we also share the blood of our Patriarch, Augustus. We are all family you see. Our Embrace goes from Father to Son, Mother to Daughter. We do not Embrace from outside our Family.
But our Family is large. We have many connections, inside and outside of Faetasia. And we have given unlife to several other families who were not related to the Giovanni's but are now part of the Giovanni Clan. These families are beholden to us, not unlike your mortal Mafia and their ... associates.
The Giovannis of our Realm live here on the Giovanni Estate in Hemlock. The Giovanni Estate, as it is called, houses our businesses, family and the mortals who work for us. The Giovanni family is involved in several businesses, but by far our most profitable is the brokering of souls. The primary business which occupies the time of the Elder of the clan in the Realm is a large Giovanni Firm. His house is constantly filled with bright and promising young men and women who want to work for him. And he always looks at each one with a careful eye.
Our dealings with members of Mortal and Undead society, keep us constantly on our toes. Our various businesses keep us in contact with mortals and we are very cautious around them. Although we prefer the company of our own, you frequently can find us in the company of Toreador and Tremere. But always remember our Clan quote.
Consider taking a different tone with me. You are, after all, worth as much to the Giovanni dead as you are undead.
The Giovanni are some of the most loathed of the Kindred, because they refuse to take sides and instead play both sides of the court.
The Giovanni Clan began when our Patriarch, Augustus Giovanni, was embraced by Cappadocius. The Embrace strengthened Cappadocius clan by giving him the power of Necromancy, which the Giovanni Family was well known for. Augustus got very powerful and eventually killed Cappadocius. Our Family has grown since then, becoming much more powerful in the art of Necromancy and aquiring more wealth than we have a need for. Our forays into the brokering of souls have brought us closer into the underworld of the Kindred than any other clan.
The Giovanni of our Realm are perhaps more insular and yet more outgoing than the rest of the clan. The Elder has embraced family without ghouling them first for many reasons, mostly that he had no family in the Realm and had to go to outside it to retrieve them and bring them back. His family here is not very extensive, however, the clan is becoming more trusted.
We are a very close knit family and will always be that way. Remember that when you deal with us. We stick together. |
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Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 10:05 am
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Giovanni The Giovanni are respectful, genteel and well-mannered. Affluent beyond imagination, Clan Giovanni traces its roots back to before the Renaissance, to a family of merchant princes. The clan still maintains its original home in Venice, in a thousand-year-old loggia just outside the heart of the city. No other clan makes such a spectacle of humility and propriety as does the Giovanni. And no other clan hides its blasphemous secrets as well.
According to tales whispered in Camarilla salons and Sabbat esbats, the Giovanni's money spoiled the family, and the Venetians turned to nigrimancy out of perverse boredom. Surprisingly enough, the family demonstrated a great aptitude for trafficking with the dead, and their newfound abilities caught the eye of a forgotten Antediluvian. The vampire Embraced the head of the family, Augustus Giovanni, and brought him into the world of the Damned. This particular Antediluvian, the legends say, had a profound interest in death, and the Embrace of Giovanni and his family was intended to further the vampire's knowledge of what lay beyond the wall of mortality.
The Ancient's plan worked better, albeit differently, than he'd intended. Augustus, a cutthroat and mercenary merchant, saw the opportunity to seize his doddering sire's power and did so, hunting and killing all of the Antediluvian's descendants as well. After drinking the Ancient's blood, Augustus became a member of the Third Generation and founded his own clan, the Giovanni.
Other vampires reacted in horror, and, for a century, the "Devil Kindred" Giovanni were rooted out and destroyed wherever they went. Finally, the Giovanni sat down with the newly formed Camarilla and formed a mutual truce. This truce guaranteed the Giovanni would not participate in the Jyhad and would leave other vampires to their affairs. The Giovanni agreed, thus averting the genocide they surely would have otherwise met.
Taking advantage of other vampires' lack of involvement with them, the Giovanni quietly continued to amass wealth and power, practicing their Discipline of necromancy all the while. Few believe the clan is engaging in either practice for altruistic purposes, and recent global movements by the Giovanni have many Kindred worried. With all that money and all those harvested souls, something is on the horizon; it is an ill wind that blows out of Venice.
Members of the Giovanni clan are also members of the Giovanni family, and those not Embraced often serve their Kindred relations as ghouls. This familial tie - members of the clan are related by blood twice - ensures complete loyalty on the part of the Giovanni. While concentrated primarily in Europe, the Giovanni have recently been expanding into, the world market, and the clan seems to be more prolific in recent nights.
The Giovanni Crest:
Nickname: Necromancers
Appearance: Giovanni vampires typically maintain airs of presentability and respectability. Most Giovanni, hailing as they do from the Italian branch of the clan, bear European features, including fair-to-dark complexions, dark hail and solid statures, Giovanni tend to dress well but not lavishly, preferring subtle accouterments of affluence to ostentatious displays.
Haven: Giovanni favor havens befitting their wealth. Mansions, palatial homes and well-appointed apartments suit the Giovanni best, though uncommon is the Necromancer who doesn't keep a backup haven in a sewer or graveyard. Some Giovanni involve themselves in medical power structures and make their havens in hospitals, where plenty of coyer exists and precious blood may be taken at a whim.
Background: Most Giovanni come from the ranks of the Venetian family and have spent much of their mortal lives as ghouls in service to another family member. As closely knit as the family is, rivalry and treachery are rampant among the clan, as each member tries to assert his superiority over others. Amazingly versatile for having such a finite pool from which to draw new Kindred, the Giovanni may Embrace any individual who shows particular promise, but only after a "trial period" of ghouldom known as the Proxy Kiss.
Weaknesses: The Giovanni Kiss causes excruciating pain in mortals who receive it. In fact, the bite of a Giovanni vampire often kills its mortal victim from shock before the poor soul has a chance .to die from blood loss. The Necromancers do twice as much damage as any other vampire to mortals (and only mortals) who suffer their Kiss. Thus, if the Giovanni in question took one blood point from a mortal vessel, that vessel would suffer two health levels of damage. As such, Giovanni vampires are quite likely to feed from already dead corpses or from resources like hospital blood reserves.
Organization: Giovanni clan affairs are handled in Venice, in a vast loggia colloquially known as the Mausoleum. As is to be expected, the clan has a familial structure. Incest, necrophilia, favor-currying, ancestor worship and carefully cultivated guilt riddle the family; by the time most Giovanni Kindred are Embraced, they've seen more than enough to inure them to the vagaries of undead existence. The clan's nonintervenrion in the Jyhad allows members to focus on their own vendettas and better their knowledge of Necromancy. The Giovanni Antediluvian, Augustus Giovanni, reportedly still maintains direct control over the clan, though none outside the clan is known to have seen him in the past 400 years.
Quote: Consider taking a different tone with me. You are, after all, worth as much to the Giovanni dead as you are undead. |
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Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 10:07 am
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Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 10:08 am
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The Embrace
Most Kindred sires choose who they Embrace. In the Camarilla, this is often a complicated matter of paying dues until one gets permission, then spending months, years ---even decades--- picking the perfect person to drag into eternity. In the Sabbat it can be a lot simpler. "Hey, he looks tough, let's get him!" But those Sabbat who last more than a week or two tend to be those who were Embraced after some thought and deliberation. In neither case does either sect foster a perception of obligation. Neither group feels it owes the Embrace to any mortal.
Among the Giovanni, the criteria are completely different. Merit figures into it, but only within the narrow confines of family. A mortal may seem tremendously useful and worthy, but if she's not one of the accepted mortal bloodlines, the odds of her becoming a Giovanni Kindred are slight indeed. This doesn't mean that every Giovanni cousin eventually suffers the curse of Caine, regardless of merit. Far from it. Most don't even rate the Proxy Kiss, the brutal period of being a ghoul. But the family, though widespread, is tightly knit. Everyone comes to a christmas party Damn it. If you recieve an invitation to one of the other reunions-- the ones they hold every April 4th-- you'd better show up for ******** sure.
Many of the Giovanni are mostly ignorant, but only the truly clueless are completely ignorant. Too many rumors circulate, even among the backward bumkins who aren't going to be shown the Horrible Truth in a million years. They may not know, but they suspect. So many whispers and overheard remarks and strange goings-on make the rounds that even the dullest needle in the pincushion is eventually going to stitch something together. They know that some people in the family get picked, and if you're picked, you get money. You attend all the parties, even the secret ones. You always look good, you always know what's going on, you always have a smug, half-smile when you look at the ones who weren't picked. Thus, even the Giovanni who don't know exactly what's going on know that something is going on. Something powerful. Something they want, very much, to earn.
The Giovanni then are a family of over-achievers. But it's not as simple as excelling in general. See, the ones who haven't been picked often have a hard time of knowing who has. If you don't know for sure who made the cut, it's hard to suss out why they did. So while one Giovanni concentrates on making the starting soccer team, another turns down dates so he can study the violin and a third is just grade-grubbing as hard as she possibly can. Their all gambling that their field is the one that earns them the big reward. Whatever it is.
In all actuallity, the Giovanni Embrace is just as complicated as the Camarilla one -- just in a different way. What is intesely personal and private in the Camarilla is often decided in a forum of Giovanni elders.
The Elders consider numerous factors when it comes to deciding who Embraces whom, first and foremost their generation. Higher generation vampires are more powerful.
Factors to include in The Embrace
Name -- Hey, the Giovanni didn't end up where they are tonight without healthy doses of Nepotism. This means that the less-promising child of a noteworthy mortal father may enjoy preferential treatment.
Talent -- Sure, it's not the only factor, but it's still an important one. If you earn the Embrace, you do because you're damn good at something.
Nature of talent -- On the other hand, f the clan decides they need more asskickers, someone who's placed in Spain's national Greco-Roman wrestling championship may find himself Embraced before a truly brilliant stock investor -- who can, after all, continue investing during the day.
Genealogy -- It shouldn't be a factor, but fome elders still harbor a bit of a sentimental streak for the family. This would be more surprising in a Kindred who wasn't raised from infancy to think the family is the most important thing in the world. Thus, a Giovanni is often more likely to ask the elder's permission to Embrace one of the children she had as a mortal (or a grandchild, or great-grandchild).
Gender -- Four centuries ago, it was common knowledge that women were hysterical, inherently sinful, weak and good for little more than mopping, cooking and screwing. Of course, it was also common knowledge that the Earth was flat. Some of the anziani have overcome their now-anachronistic upbringing, but for most those old habits die hard.
Ghouls
The ghouls with the Proxy Kiss are, of course, well aware that it's better to recieve the Embrace from an older more powerful Vampire (While they may not understand the complexities of the generation, they're well aware of the political edge that being close to an elder gives). Thus they are constantly competing to prove their loyalty to the family and to idividiual vampires. Remember, the Giovanni are a driven family, and the Proxy Kiss goes to those who stand out of a field of overachievers.
Given the family belief that the blood bond clouds your judgement, it ironically turns out that many of these bond-addled ghouls never earn the Embrace. It's akin to the old baked goods proverb: Why buy the loafe when you can have the slices for free? Why reward someone with the Embrace if she's perfectly devoted as a ghoul?
Wraiths
A wraith is a ghost, the soul of a person who has died unfulfilled and now haunts the Shadowlands.
Overview
For some reason, known or unknown to the wraith, they are still tied to the living world (the Skinlands) and cannot pass on to the ineffable afterworld. Wraiths are confined to the Underworld (Oblivion), a parallel reality which is tangentially connected to the living world, but distinct with its own laws and physics.
About 5% of people becomes wraiths after death in time of relative calm. Far more in times of great calamity and suffering. It is plausible a sizable percentage instantly becomes Spectres at the time of their death.
Attributes
Physically, a wraith is a coherent "body" of plasm, the substance that makes up the majority of the Underworld. Plasm is a non-material "stuff" that houses the wraith's soul and which the wraith unconsciously shapes into a form resembling their living body (often somewhat exaggerated, and incorporating Deathmarks). The wraith's Corpus, their body-equivalent, can be changed by Moliate or through soulforging and has only a loose relationship to what the living would think of as a body. Most wraiths are solid plasm - which is to say that if a wraith were chopped in two, there would be no internal organs, just a consistent mass of "stuff" throughout the body.
Wraithly bodies are subject to their own distinct metaphysics; in the Shadowlands and Tempest, they obey local rules of gravity, but under certain conditions can pass through material things (informally called the rule of ouch). Plasm can also be used to manufacture objects and many of the items in wraithly society are comprised of other wraiths.
The wraithly mind is divided into two parts, the Psyche and the Shadow. After death, the negative, self-loathing and self-defeating parts of a wraith's personality form a distinct archetypal personality of their own. This personality, the Shadow, is in communion with the darker forces of the Labyrinth and serves as a constant foil and antagonist to the Psyche. The Psyche, in turn, is the wraith's original personality, or at least the parts of its personality that retains its humanity and sense of survival or will to live. Wraiths have a higher, positive personality as well, usually termed the Eidolon. In the modern era, the Eidolon is generally fairly weak due to the severe suffering and cynicism in the world and most wraiths are only marginally aware that they have one.
For a wraith to exist in the first place, it must be bound to the living world by one or more Fetters. Fetters are objects (or creatures) in the living world to which the wraith is connected and that keep it from passing on. Fetters are a mixed blessing for wraiths - allowing them to interact with the living world, but also binding them to it.
Pathos and Angst
A wraith's psyche feeds on Pathos, the energy of emotion. Each wraith has several Passions, the emotions which are most tightly connected to its personality. Experiencing these emotions, even vicariously, provides the psyche with energy that the wraith can then use for various purposes.
The Shadow also has energy, called Angst, which it can acquire by fulfilling its own passions. These Dark Passions are generally contrary to the wraith's own goals.
Lifecycle and Types of Wraiths
Wraithly status is defined by a combination of age, maintenance of one's Fetters and Willpower. The lowest form of wraith is a Drone, a wraith that does not have any Willpower or personal identity, drones are condemned to eternally act out their personal tragedies and are tightly bound to their Passions and Fetters. Having no personality or self-will, they are usually converted into raw materials as soon as they are found.
Self-aware wraiths begin as Enfants; when a person dies, its soul is reborn in the Underworld covered in a layer of plasm called a caul. The caul acts as a cocoon that keeps the wraith docile until it is removed, a few wraiths remove their cauls themselves, but the majority of cauls are removed by another wraith, traditionally called a Reaper.
Young wraiths are called Lemures, with the distinction between a young and an older wraith primarily being Fetters. A Domem is a wraith whose Fetters are all destroyed, preventing them from staying in the Shadowlands for any period of time - while Domemhood generally implies age, a wraith can become a Domem while still very young, all it requires is that their Fetters be destroyed. A Gaunt is an older wraith who has resolved one or more of its Fetters and still maintains them. Gaunts are significantly more powerful (and generally more canny) than Domems and are consequently more respected in wraithly society, though there are rare exceptions, such as the Deathlords.
The final distinct class of wraiths are Spectres, which are wraiths who have been absorbed by Oblivion. Spectres have their own society and from the wraithly perspective are mostly hostile entities out to destroy all other wraiths.
What Ranks Can Control a Wraith (Number and Type)
Disciple: Up to seven but not often all at once. Any type.
Antediluvian: Can subjugate up to three of any type
Methuselah: Can subjugate up to two of any type
Elder: Can subjugate one of any type and one of an animal type
Ancilla: Can subjugate one of an animal type only
Any rank below Ancilla does not have the strength to subjugate a wraith. |
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Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 10:09 am
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L'economia Sanguinosa (The Economy of Blood)
Starting, as they did, as a family of merchants, the Giovanni tend to regard just about everything in economic terms. Their fundamental axiom is "get it cheap, sell it dear." While sometimes limiting, this approach does provide some insight into how the Giovanni regard the rich, red essence of vampiric existence --- vitae.
If you ask Giovanni about the Curse of Lamia, many of them shrug and tell you that, in the long run, it's not a curse at all. When a mortal starts juicing his jeans every time you sink in the fangs, it's a lot easier to delude yourself that you're not stealing life, or that the mortal is not your victim or that you're not a monster. When they shriek and scream it's inconvenient, but at least you don't fall into the trap of thinking that what you're doing is anything less than reprehensible.
Psycho-philosophizing aside. however, the lack of an ecstatic "Kiss" makes it more difficult to form a blood cult or find a willing herd. Sure, they may say they're into it because of the genuine experience of near-death intensity" or something, but the Giovanni know that only the real twists choose pure pain over pleasure. Using Dominate is an okay tactic for compelling obedience, but unless you're really good at memory erasure (or cooking up alien abduction stories) it's not a perfect solution. The old smash 'n' suck approach still works, but Giovanni (usually neonates) who rely on it usually find out what the Masquerade is for --- if the Camarilla doesn't beat the cops to their door.
One solution available to many Giovanni is to take blood from the dead, procedure that is fairly common in developed nations. Dead blood is usually thrown away in mortuaries once it's drained to make room for embalmingfluid. The same sort of thing happens in hospital operating rooms. This tactic works with remarkable, if unsavory, efficacy. It does have a few drawbacks, of course. For one thing, these are the sorts of places that intrepid vampire hunters and inquisitive sectarians watch closely. Furthermore, the Giovanni aren't the only ones who've figured out that if you want blood, you go where the blood is. Nosferatu who don't care for animal blood but who still don't have what it takes to get the good stuff fresh often gravitate toward morgues and blood banks, where their hiding skills make it fairly simple to rummage through the biohazard bins. The other drawback to the morgue approach is that it's absolutely disgusting. It's kind of like spending eternity eating cold, congealed, unflavored gruel, when there's a literal moving feast all around you. Another option is spending money to procure blood.
The simplest way is to approach the saddest, most desperate crack whore you can find and say "I'm very rich and very, very kinky. I'll pay you over a hundred bucks for a pint of your blood." Most Giovanni who do so drink the blood through the straw to make the "donor" less suspicious. A more discreet (but also more elaborate and cold-gruel-flavored) bethod is to set up a fake blood donation station. People come in, and the phlebatomist takes a few ounces "for testing." A unit of blood is taken and the plasma is spun out --- but a few more ounces are surreptitiously drained off before centrifuging. The nonplasma portion is banked, the patient leaves with 25 bucks in his pocket, the plasma is thrown away (or used, untested in hospitals) and a vampire drinks the secretly collected ounces. About three donors are required to produce a single night's worth of sustenance, but most victims never suspect a thing.
Still, this has all the disadvantages of a funeral parlor operation, with higher overhead to lxiot. Rather than screw around with cops, health inspectors and suspicious priests, many Giovanni have opted to go where life (and therefore blood) is cheap. |
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Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 10:11 am
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Unico Sangue Doppio Sangue (Single Blood and Double Blood)
The notions of equality between genders and races are, to some Kindred, odd indeed. The older the Cainite, the more quaint and misguided (or, alternatively, radical and threatening) these ideas are likely to seem. The anziani of the Giovanni clan are very old indeed and their prejudices are firmly set. Their first and strongest prejudice, of course, is that Giovanni blood is the best in the world. They don't feel any need to give reasons for this belief: From their perspective, it's just a ******** fact. Need proof? Okay, find another family that's been as successful. Find another family with an active "Antediluvian" That got that way, not by being chosen, but my choosing to grab the future by the short hairs. Find another Kindred clan that's got the coherence of a real family, instead of being a thrown together batch of misfits, screwups, ******** and impluse Embraces. Found one yet? Didn't think so.
So the Giovanni are the best family and the best clan. That means that anyone who was both born and Embraced Giovanni has to be the cream of the crop, right? Not just born to greatness but chosen for it, too. They even have a phrase for it: unico sangue. "of single blood." Those who are "pure" Giovanni naturally consider themselves superior to those who were Embraced into the clan, but not born into the Giovanni family --- all the others who are doppio sangue ("double blooded") The doppio sangue are still more meritorious than the other Kindred, just as other vampires are better than wraithly slaves. But they still aren't the best. To the Giovanni, this is just common sense. They don't talk about it, just like people don't talk about why the sky is blue. That's just the way it is, obviously.
Of course, some of the doppio sangue do not necessarily agree with all this crypto-eugenic arrogance. No one's going to call bullshit on a Giovanni elder for a subtle snub, but among themselves they roll their eyes and grumble. That's because this superiority isn't just theoretical. Oh no. IT may not be intentional or conscious, but the Giovanni act on their assumed superiority. If a project is important, it doesn't matter whether a doppio sangue is more informed or more experienced: Usually, an unico sangue Giovanni is entrusted with the ultimate authority.
This bias causes no small amount of friction and displeasure for the doppio sangue, of course. From their point of view, they do all the hard work, while the Giovanni sit back and take the kudos. Not only that --- the Giovanni are more willing to risk shedding double blood than they are their own pure, precious, unsullied single blood. So when a really dangerous s**t job comes along, you know the guy in the thick of it probably isn't going to be wearing those fancy G-crest cufflinks. |
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Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 10:13 am
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Infantilism
The natural course of life is this: You're born, your parents rear you, you gradually become more independent until get your own place, but you still probably go to your folks for advice and help when the chips are down. Eventually, they die. That's when you''re really stuck being an adult: Not only because you're living on your own and controlling your own life, but because you no longer have the option of running home to mama.
The Giovanni situation is anything but natural. They're born and brought up, just like everyone else, but most are never forced into the full self-determination that comes from having no other choice. The Giovanni always have a ma and pa back home in Venice, maybe checking up on them, making sure they're doing okay or (most important of all) making sure they're doing the family proud. Even if your folks weren't Embraced, or if (Heaven forfend) they suffered the Final Death, you still have a passel of Anziani around. On the good side, they can bail your a** out of trouble. On the bad side, they pry and spy and meddle as much as they're able. And a deathless Kindred with unreasonable sums of money, plus spirit servants, is very able indeed.
Most Giovanni just grit their teeth and try to be competent enough to earn their elder's trust (imagine some bachelor pushing 30 who nods and says "I'll think about it" whenever his mom stops by his apartment with some decorating tips). A few, though, are willing to leave all that hard thinking and planning to their elders. Maybe it's someone who just got so worn down by incessant backstabbing and treachery that she's given up. "Go ahead, do whatever you want. You will anyhow." More disturbing, though, are those who relish having their descisions made for them. These infantalized Kindred are like spoiled brats who do whatever their elders say in return for praise, clan status and coddling. In extreme cases, you have a mama's boy, seemingly 40 years old, talking baby talk to his sire as he whines and begs for another quarter mil to shore up his haven.
Of course, you can't have a Daddy's Little Girl without someone in the role of Daddy. The more sophisticated and elder Kindred generally don't fall into this trap: Sure, caring for your kids is a tough habit to break, but a century of being dead and killing others can have a corrosive effect on even the bonds of parent and child. The overprotective daddies and mamas are generally less than two hundred years old. Some of them know that they should let the fledgelings spread their wings and fly (or plummet) on their own, but they just can't commit to it.
Others see nothing wrong with "caring deeply." This is a broad spectrum, of course. Most of the infantile or paternalistic Giovanni are very mild cases: A sire who's a little overprotective, a childe who's a bit dependant and indecisive. But the clan has also sheltered some real basket cases. The extreme infants tend to show little foresight and throw tantrums whenever thwarted, counting on their parent-figure to clean up the mess (which is generally a pretty good bet). As for the (s)mother types --- just don't mess with their "kids." It's hazardous to your health. |
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Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 10:13 am
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Tradizione (Tradition)
The Proxy Kiss:
The Giovanni have many ways of giving the Proxy Kiss -- the ceremonial feeding of Giovanni vitae to create a ghoul from a family member -- as they have havens. Some Giovanni leaders set it up as a voluntary act in a "black mass" so that only the boldest --- those willing to be damned for the family -- become ghouls.
Others simply slip it into some normal food to create a ghoul who becomes addicted, but who initially has no idea of the cause. This method is favored for useful mortals who might not agree -- in the hypothetical case that they were informed beforehand. After all, it''s much easier to continue being a ghoul than it is to conciously decide to become one.
Some clothe the kiss in layers of farcical ceremony to throw off any inquisitive eyes and ears from outside the family. Some are simply very straightforward about what they are doing.
Bestowing the Proxy Kiss is considered almost as great an honor as recieving it, because it means the family and clan trusts the donor enough to deliver a family member into her power.
April 4th:
April 4th is still celebrated every year by the Giovanni family. Members of the family throw lavish parties, with mortals and ghouls starting things in the afternoon and Kindred joining (of course) after the sun sets. These parties aren''t for everyone: Only those who know the truth about the Giovanni are invited -- or those who are going to find out before the sun rises. April 4th is traditionally when the new family members are proposed to be the local Anziani for the Proxy Kiss and for the Embrace (or order an Embrace) as they see fit, any time of the year, but on April 4th those without Embrace privileges are permitted to press suit for the Embrace of a favored mortal or ghoul.
Tithing:
Some members of the Giovanni clan -- childer or ultraconservative sires, or very traditional Italian Kindred, for example --- are expected to provide a tithe to their sires or the main family at least once a year. The nature of the amount of this tithe depend on the individual Kindred, but the more authority you have, the more you''re expected to pony up "for the good of the family."
Tithes may be provided in physical assets, or they are provided in souls. The currency provided is up to the donor. |
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Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 10:16 am
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Everyone but us is stupid: (Giovanni relations with other clans)
The Assamites: The Assamites dislikes us, but actively despise the Tremere and often (by association) the Ventrue. The Ventrue are useful to us, and the Tremere envy their place: Therefore, it is best for us to direct the dislike of the Assamite against the Tremere to protect the Ventrue (and ourselves) as much as possible. I predict great success for the Assamitess -- in the short term. However, their structure is not strong enough to contain a number of dangerous, trained killers to whom the taste of elder blood is completely irrisistible. The elders will need to keep the neonates at ever increasing distance for their own safety, which will erode their already weakened authority. I predict a major crack in their facade within two years.
Brujah: Given the Gangrel defection, the Brujah's position within the Camarilla is strengthened considerably. This is just as well: I suspect that Brujah brutishness is just what the Camarilla needs to fight off the Sabbat. What few Brujah realize is that without the structure of the Camarilla, they would have nothing to rebel against and would (consequently) have to start doing something instead of simply railing against their betters.
Gangrel: The Gangrel defection merits a great deal of attention. Oh, I don't mean that the Gangrel are going to have much impact on our plans: I suspect they're going to suffer greatly from the attention of the Lupines, if not mortal hunters. Other independent clans have hierarchies or systems by which they aknowledge their elders to gain strength of unity. (Oh, except for the Ravnos. How could I ever forget the Ravnos?) The Gangrel, lacking same, can look forward to a steady actrition from their well-organized and numerous enemies. While the Gangrel are of little use to our clan --- I suppose they could be used for sandard Putanesca scut work. It is therefore desireable to make things easier for the Gangrel, for a time. They must survive long enough to make things painful for the Camarilla. After that, they can sink or float on their own, but if they are hurt too badly, too quickly, they'll run back to their old masters with their tails between their legs.
Lasombra: Our Spanish cousins are a superb cautionary example. A fine combination of strength and intelect, courage and cunning, they have become bogged down in the untenable role of "Sabbat coalition builder" and fighting their tedious war against slumbering enemies that may or may not exist. This is what happens when you try to preserve an old situation instead of adapting to a new one. If they had turned their considerable energies and abilities toward something worthwhile, they'd be done by now. Instead, the future they contemplate is one of unremitting toil and conflict. What a waster of a perfectly functional eternity.
Malkavian: For thousands of years, we knew the real source of madness, and now some humorless German has conviced the world that it's because mama stopped breastfeeding too soon. Rubbish. Madness -- and particularly the madness of Malkavians -- is what happens when a mind it too exposed to the breakdown of the world. All the Malkavians can advise you about is what is leaking through from the other side. I can tell you the same: It is merely chaos. The madmen can be surprisingly coherent and adroit in their actions, but it is ultimately only the rumble of thunder without the lightnings flash. Against the infinite patience of oblivion, they are insignificant.
Nosferatu: Like us, they are fortunate. Like our Lama's Kiss, their curse shields them from the self-deception common among Brujah and Toreador. They know they are damned. Unfortunately, anyone else with eyes to see or a nose to smell knows it as well. They are also quite inquisitive. If any clan is going to find out about our ultimate goals it will probably be the Nosferatu. Furthermore, as they are despised by others, they do tend to stick together (no pun intended). Thus, any Nosferatu spy found skulking about one's residence cannot be summarily diablerized and dismissed. That will only bring his fellow outcasts in search.
Ravnos: The Ravnos are in trouble, thanks, I believe, to something gone awry in their bloodline. They are so few now! I see two possible fates in store for Clan Ravnos. One is that the other predators will scent weakness and fall on them like jackals. The other is that the survivors will prostitue themselves for protection to whatever pimp they can find.
Setites: The crux of our mutual hostility is a fundamental compatibility between our goals and theirs. They want to ressurect some withered anachronism of a god and spend eternity being the first among its slaves. Our plan is not without a granduer, I think, that contrasts well with the essential squalor and masochism of theirs. Nonetheless, despite the differences, in one important way we are more like the Setites than any other clan: We are similar because we both have a goeal. Not only a goal, but a concrete, transforming goal that can be moved toward resolutely and preserved indefinitely once achieved. Compare this with the goals of the Sabbat and Camarilla: They are both passive and retrograde. They only want to prevent things from happening.
Toreador: As with so many of the clans, the great strength of the Toreador is also their great weakness. That central factor is this: They are the closest among us to being mortal. Many of them refuse to realize that human emotions are only a hazard to undead like us. Their mawkishness aside, the Toreador are probably our strongest allies in the Camarilla. Their greed for ordinary pleasure and wealth are a refreshing chance from the emotional machinations of the Lasombra, the incoherent political philosophy of the Brujah or the rigid, abstract power plays of the Ventrue.
Tremere: The Tremere want to supplant the Ventrue as the foundation of the Camarilla. They are too well organized and responsive for this to be permitted. Under Ventrue influence, the Camarilla is conservative to the point of immobility. However, the admirable tenacity of the Tremere should not be underestimated. Despite their reputation as neurasthenic scholors, they have survived everything the Tzimisce, Assamites and Gangrel have been able to align against them for centuries.
Tzimisce: The Tzimisce are experts in a highly arcane field that has no relevance to us, nor to anything else. We politely stay out of their way and expect the same courtesy.
Ventrue: The key to the Ventrue is respect. Their highest priority is maintaining their delusions of primacy. Few Ventrue conflicts cannot be salved by gestures of penitence. Remember always that in their minds, they are the nobles and we are the merchants. They are content to humilate us, whereas a Lasombra or Tzimisce they would destroy.
Stereotypes
Assamite: Their recent change in disposition makes me nervous.
Brujah: So much noise, and yet so little signal.
Followers of Set: Although they hail from the lands of the dead, there is little we can glean from them without tainting ourselves in the process.
Gangrel: Ultimately forgettable; we rarely cross paths.
Lasombra: They'll stab you in the back, but that's because they know how Kindred games are played.
Malkavian: The insight they offer is rarely worth the excruciating company they provide; I wonder if the "madness" is a simple sham to reduce their foes' defenses.
Nosferatu: This blighted clan has proved dangerously adept at uncovering secrets. Make no enemies among them, lest: you become the subject of their attentions.
Ravnos: No good can come of a Kindred who claims lies as his sire.
Toreador: Effete and indolent, the Toreador nonetheless wield appreciable assets.
Tremere: Slippery as eels, the Tremere are guilty of the same crime as we, yet they mire themselves in the same politics that damn them.
Tzimisce: An arcane, if outdated, evil.
Ventrue: They spend too much time cultivating their image as martyrs to get involved with something that truly matters; they lack direction. |
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Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 10:19 am
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Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 2:44 pm
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(POST U/C)
To the uninitiated, Nonna’s kitchen is a warm and friendly place, run by the matriarch of the family. If you’re one of the Giovanni, you’re always welcome to stop by, to find Nonna Giovanni hard at work in the immense room, pasta on the boil and sauce simmering. It’s all big ovens, open fires, pots and pans, herbs and spices and the smell of tomato and basil heavy in the air. It’s rustic and well-loved and there’s plenty of room for a feast or two.
Just be careful, Nonna is a gracious host but if you’re disrespectful, you’ll find the back of your hand becoming well acquainted with her rolling pin.
But to those who know, the chosen few who have proved themselves worthy of being a vampire, the kitchen is where information moves and respite from hunger is found. It might appear to be a normal kitchen on the outside but there are plenty of secrets hidden in the cabinets and cupboards. And in the pantry, a locked door leads downwards to the secret catacombs below the mansion.
This is Nonna Giovanni’s domain.
It’s here where fresh blood is harvested from mostly unwilling victims, a constant source of blood for a family who has an unfortunate habit of killing their prey. Dosed out with love from dear old Nonna, just as much as you’ve earned and not a drop more or less. There’s plenty of talk to be had as well, as the kitchen is the heart of the house and not much escapes her notice. Just be wary. She might look like your sweet old grandma but there’s something wicked underneath. |
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