Lasombra

The Lasombra are one of the thirteen Great Clans who are the primary focus of White Wolf Publishing’s World of Darkness setting. A Clan ruled by elitists but backed up by plenty of street-level muscle, the Lasombra are heavily entrenched in the religious affairs of the mortal world, and are widely considered to be one of the most powerful of the Great Clans.

History
As with all tales of the early days of the Kindred, those of the Lasombra must be taken with a grain of salt. They state that after the fall of the First City their founder, whose true name has been lost to time but is most commonly simply referred to as Lasombra, made his way to Eastern Africa where he Embraced the first of his Childer, the vampire who would come to be known as Montano. This would prove to have major repercussions for the Clan in the distant future. Leaving the Dark Continent, Lasombra travelled to Sicily, where he established the Clan proper, and proceeded to insert his offspring into positions of power within both the Roman Empire and the many seafaring cultures which had sprung up around the Mediterranean. From then on, he allowed his progeny to indulge their inherent love of the seas to roam far and wide, establishing broods all across the world, with some even making it as far as China.

With the fall of the Roman Empire, most of the Kindred residing in Italy took their leave to pursue interests elsewhere, but the Lasombra remained to rule over what was left, consolidating what little power remained in Rome and insinuating themselves into the ever-growing Catholic Church. It was to be this decision which, more than any other, would determine the path that the Clan took as a whole in the coming years.

The Dark Ages
During this period, the Lasombra flourished throughout the Mediterranean, with their ties to Catholicism and Islam granting them strong footholds in many cultures of the region, particularly Spain, and the decline of Constantinople as a major power gave them the opportunity to claim many of the old empire's territories as their own. However, their links to the two major religions also caused them several setbacks as their respective proponents made war against each other, each trying to claim mastery of the Iberian peninsula, weakening the clan to a degree.

The Dark Ages also saw major upheavals within the Lasombra, with two events in particular redefining the Clan as a whole: the Anarch Revolt, and the formation of both the Camarilla and Sabbat.

The Anarch Revolt
Coming about as a direct result of the feelings of many younger Kindred that their Elders were purposefully hoarding the lion's share of power and keeping their offspring firmly under the heel, the Anarch Revolt was an uprising of these disenfranchised vampires in an effort to grab both influence and independence for themselves. Whilst the Revolt was eventually put down by a concerted effort by the Elders of several Great Clans, a large number of Lasombra had chosen to join the rebellion and the damage had been done, with many of the Lasombra Elders lying dead, including mighty Lasombra himself, drained dry by his Childe Gratiano.

The Rise of the Sabbat
As a result of the dual pressures of the unexpected Anarch Revolt and a burgeoning Spanish Inquisition, many of the Elders felt that a new approach to their interaction with the mortal peoples was necessary. This manifested as the formation of the Camarilla, a sect which comprised the majority numbers of seven of the thirteen Great Clans, and was dedicated to concealing the existence of the Kindred from the living world. Refusing to submit to the other Clans at the Convention of Thorns the bulk of the Lasombra, along with most of Clan Tzimisce and disillusioned elements from several other Clans, responded by creating their own faction, which would come to be known as the Sabbat. The Sabbat believed in the inherent superiority of the Kindred as a species and, whilst adopting certain policies of concealment out of necessity, despised the Camarilla proclivity for hiding from the mortal masses.

During this, an embarrassing turn of events for the Lasombra was the failure of Montano, Lasombra's first Childe and as such oldest of the Clan barring the founder himself, to join with his fellows in the creation of the Sabbat. Montano instead lead a small group of his Clanmates to join with the nascent Camarilla, where he remains to this day, fighting single-mindedly against those he believes to have betrayed his father. These Lasombra antitribu have proved to be a constant thorn in the Sabbat's side, and one which their “parent” Clan have shown a single-minded determination to eradicate whenever the opportunity presents itself.

The Victorian Age
Having becomes the premier Clan amongst the Sabbat, financing and coordinating the bulk of their operations, the Lasombra found themselves in an unusual position by the coming of Victorian times. Whilst still retaining strong bases of operations throughout Spain and Italy, and even establishing a powerful presence in the New World (and Mexico in particular), their traditional means of income from the Catholic Church and other religious organisations was dwindling due to the drop in spiritual reliance by mortals on these institutions. As a result, the Lasombra had increasingly turned towards naval piracy, both as a way to bolster their economic status and to strike against their enemies. In addition, like many of the other “noble” Clans they had begun to insinuate themselves into the upper echelons of society, in the process gaining both material backing and large numbers of human assets.

Modern Nights
In the current time, the Lasombra hold strong territories in Italy, Spain and Mexico, but have also managed to conquer and hold several key cities within the United States, including Washington, D.C. and Atlanta. Whilst they still retain a reasonable percentage of members raised in the manner of their authoritarian roots, an increasing number of the Clan are composed of street-level thugs and small-time muscle who enforce the dictates of the Sabbat at their masters whims.

Culture and Organisation
Although the Lasombra have a regard for tradition to a degree, their ties to the Anarch Rebellion and their Clan-wide devotion to social Darwinism give them a structure and outlook on the world unique amongst the Great Clans: the belief that power should only be held by those best suited to it cultivates a somewhat paranoid, treacherous attitude amongst Clan members. Whereas other Clans tend to respect age above all else, the Lasombra are more of a meritocracy.

As might be guessed due to their superficially similar mindsets and their tendency to pursue the same material assets, the Lasombra wholeheartedly despise Clan Ventrue, who many see as their opposite number within the Camarilla.

Les Amies Noir
The essential core of Clan Lasombra is an informal group known as Les Amies Noir (the “friends of the night”); whilst every Les Amies Noir is a Lasombra, not every Lasombra is a Les Amies Noir. This group is comprised of those Kindred Embraced to be a part of the leadership of the Clan, as opposed to those who are brought into the fold as a requirement for additional manpower. Members of the Les Amies Noir are the ones most likely to be appointed to positions of power in the Clan, such as the acquisition of resources or management of field operations.

Diablerie
The Lasombra attitude towards diablerie (the drinking dry of another vampire in order to gain a measure of his power) is somewhat flexible; whilst on the one hand, younger members of the Clan are encouraged to engage in this pursuit, they may only do so if they provide their Elders with a reasonable argument which they are able to back up with facts and prior actions. Needless to say, the presentation of such a proposal may not go down well with the target, and so older Lasombra may be reluctant to grant permission for such a course of action, in fear that their turn may be next.

Ghouls
The Lasombra attitude towards their ghouls is nothing short of utter contempt. They view these wretched creatures as being completely beneath them, and only worth keeping around in order to utilise the skills which the Lasombra lack themselves. Whether bankers, accountants, smugglers or dealers, all are treated with the same scorn, and the best existence that they can hope to eke out for themselves is one where they make no mistakes which might catch their master's eye and thus bring down the wrath of an angry vampire upon their heads.

Embrace
The Lasombra Embrace two types of mortals: those which are intended to one day join Les Amies Noir, and those that are not. After deciding upon a candidate to become “true” Lasombra, the vampire will systematically destroy that person's work and home life, all the while removing any type of support mechanism that they may have. Should the candidate be overcome by such a trial, then he was never worthy to become a Lasombra in the first place, but if he should rise above it and master the challenge then he will be Embraced, and from then on taught the tenets of the Clan.

The second type are those destined to be little more than cannon fodder. These are normally taken from the lower echelons of society, and chosen for their violent lifestyles. Embraced with a minimum of thought as to how the unfortunate creature may react to such a mind-shattering event will have upon them, they are typically used as either front-line combat troops, petty criminals to fill the Clan's coffers, or simply dross to be employed as speed-bumps in the face of an opponent's attack.

Clan Weakness
Some would say the greatest weak point of Clan Lasombra is it’s inherent flaw, the inability to cast a reflection or even show up on photographic images, an effect which extends to the clothes worn and items carried by them. Although many Lasombra do suffer from psychological damage due to the inability to see how they look - with some even going so far as to sit for portraits or surrounding themselves with a small army of personal groomers - those who claim this as a weakness are usually unaware of the range of powers which the Lasombra Clan Discipline grants them in compensation: the power over shadows. Using this, they are able to hide themselves from spying eyes, allowing even the most inexperienced of users to shroud themselves in a blanket of swirling darkness.