Dona Gabriela Juana Reyes de Gibraltar, the Cardinal of Maghreb and Keeper of Secrets

Background: Believed to have been originally Embraced as a 10th Generation vampire shortly before the turn of the new millennium, she claims her mortal name was Gabriela Juana Reyes, from Gibraltar, though little of her past has, or can be verified. Only stories and random snippets pieced together by those in her court make up her history, though it is known that she has used various Wild Hunts, War Parties and even the Courts of Blood to lower her generation to the level of power she wields today. Said to be heavily into the occult, including Necromancy and an extremely rare and unnerving form of Lasombra Blood Magic, she is almost as feared and respected for her mystic abilities as she is for her amazing physical prowess—made even more impressive by her lack of eyes in her sockets. Rumors abound that she consorts with Necromancers and other unsavory characters outside the Sabbat, and even commands fear and respect among some ghosts and lupines. It is also said she is impossible to kill, as the wounds—not scars—on her body attest.
Very little is known of her mortal history or her Embrace, though her small body suggests that she was in her late teens or early twenties at the latest when her unlife began. As a Cainite she rarely associated with others outside her clan for almost the full first three centuries of her unlife, after which she slowly began expanding her areas of interest while taking what opportunities she could to rise in power. The formation of the Sabbat helped her gain purpose, and it was not long before she declared herself a Cardinal and none were strong enough to move her from the position.
Rarely seen outside her haven, from which she issues all her sect-related commands, she is known for handling the night's business as expediently and efficiently as possible, and then spending the rest of the night in seclusion, pursuing her various dark studies. Those who manage to truly gain firsthand experience with her usually end up learning that her physical prowess is only a result of her great age and surprisingly active unlife, while her true power lies in her mostly surreptitious magics.
Never claiming to have made actual contact with either the Lasombra Antediluvian, nor Gratiano de Veronese—either directly or indirectly—she still makes claims to serve “the highest power among the Lasombra.” This is not a claim she makes casually or often, however, as she is fully convinced that few among her clanmates would have the courage to go to the lengths she is willing to in order to ensure her clan's dominance during Gehenna. On the other hand, her sense of a higher purpose has rendered her nearly fearless in her unwavering dedication to her secret goals. In fact, never has another Cainite questioned her loyalty to the Lasombra or the Sabbat, because in truth, she has no disloyal feelings toward either.
This lovecraftian dream of hers, that would cause even the most horrific of Sabbat to shrink away in terror, is something few, if any, other Cainites

Image: Her short, almost-reddish, auburn-colored hair, the only part of her that returns to normal nightly, is typically uncared for, yet it still looks like a sharp contrast to the rest of her devastated features. Cursed by her Embrace with the inability to seal her wounds, even after healing them, her body bears the scars of an unlife filled with conflict, though her slender, smaller frame suggests she was perhaps Embraced as a young woman.
Besides her hair, her entire body is charred-burned and blackened; at times her flesh cracks and small trickles of blood escape, only to be absorbed into another wound. Due to the complete and total disfigurement of her body, she rarely bothers to cover herself (though she can no longer be considered “nude” at all—she is not sexy).
She has a small, thumb-sized hole in her chest above her heart; an enemy once staked her out in the sunlight, but she somehow escaped Final Death.
Her eyes were gouged out by an enemy she has since slain in return; now inky, black pools of darkness gaze vacantly at others from within empty sockets, and she seems to make up for this apparent drawback in some other fashion.
Almost in the center of her forehead is an embedded, poisonous arrowhead that one enemy thought had been a lucky shot; the actual arrow is broken off, yet the arrowhead itself remains deeply lodged in her skull like a grotesque third eye.
A lucky blow from a brutish enemy has torn most of the flesh from the left side of her face; the cheek is partly missing, exposing the teeth and jaw beneath, as well as bits of bone being exposed near her left eye.
The flesh of her right hand has been shredded away to mostly tendon, sinew and bone.
One of her few tended wounds, apparently someone once attempted to behead her, as she has a rather large slice through her neck, unmercifully stitched shut with a leather thread.
Her stomach has several large gashes in it where they say a “monster” tried to disembowel her; similarly to her neck, thick, leather straps are stitched into the wounds to hold them shut and keep her internal organs from spilling out.
The flesh of her right leg is shredded to tatters—possibly by the same beast that slit her stomach open—and heavy, leather straps are fastened around her thigh to hold the large, deep wounds closed.
Lodged in her back is the broken blade of a silver dagger, rumored to be yet another failed attempt on her life, though she herself will never speak of the events involving the gaining of this particular wound. When significantly aggravated she has been known to retrieve this small, awkward weapon and use it with a deep-seeded savagery and startling, surgical precision, though blood trickles steadily out of the wound until the broken blade is replaced.
Roleplaying Hints: You are not a woman, nor even a vampire, in your own mind. To you, you are a unique creature, one in a billion; the product of the mortal woman you barely remember that you once were, and the violation of another, more powerful being whose will could not be denied—not as weak as you were, anyway. No other would have been faced with the challenges that made you, and none other would have made the choices that defined you. You are in a singularly unique position from which to perceive the world, and though you know you have yet to learn it all, you believe—simply because you are now you—that if ever you do, there will never be one more suited to stand atop kindred society and the world.
Your demeanor makes even necromancers uneasy; “look” directly at people and things with your eyeless sockets—this includes any unseen ghostly allies you may have—which serves to give the impression you “see” what others cannot. Stand still, and only make minimal gestures unless necessary; when you must move from your location, waste no time. When in battle, maintain a sense of physical and martial dominance over others by displaying your surprising Celerity.
Finally, you are a traitor—albeit only technically in your own mind—to your Clan and your Sect; if your superiors in either found out what you believe you serve within the murky depths of the Abyss, you would not only be halted in your mystical advancements, but would also most likely be the victim of a Blood Hunt—or be forced into Autarkisdom in order to avoid such.

Clan: Lasombra
Sire: Thiego de Gibraltar (diablerized)
Nature: Survivor
Demeanor: Judge
Generation: 6th
Embrace: 989 AD
Apparent Age: indeterminate
Physical: Strength 3, Dexterity 4, Stamina 3
Social: Charisma 2, Manipulation 6, Appearance 0
Mental: Perception 7, Intelligence 5, Wits 4
Talents: Alertness 6, Athletics 2, Awareness 4, Brawl 2, Intimidation 4, Leadership 3, Subterfuge 5
Skills: Crafts 1, Etiquette 1, Larceny 1, Melee 3, Performance 5, Stealth 4, Survival 2
Knowledges: Academics (Theology) 4, Finance 1, Investigation 4, Occult (Abyss) 4, Politics 1, Expert Knowledge: Clan Giovanni 3, Expert Knowledge: Lupine Lore 1
Disciplines: Obtenebration 7, Potence 3, Celerity 5, Fortitude 4, Necromancy 5
Advanced Obtenebration: Eyes of the Night
Necromantic Paths: Sepulchre Path 5, Ash Path 3
Necromantic Rituals: Eldritch Beacon, Insight, Knowing Stone (Level One), Puppet, Two Centimes (Level Two), Din of the Damned, Tempesta Scudo (Level Three), Peek Past the Shroud (Level Four)
Abyss Mysticism Rituals: Dark Awakening, Defense of Angra Mainyu, Pierce the Murk, Shades of What Could Be, Sense the Abyss, The Shadow of Hands That Serve, Shadow Preservation (Level One), Ahriman's Seal, Assuming the Unseen Visage, Calling the Thing in Darkness, Extinguish, The Heart that Beats in Silence, In the Shade of Ahriman's Favor, Transubstantiation of Essence, Under the Aegis of the Night (Level Two), Calling the Hungry Shade, Drinking the Blood of Ahriman, Sense the Dark Soul (Level Three), Reflections of Hollow Revelation (Level Four), Descent Into Darkness, Whispers in the Dark (Level Five)
Backgrounds: Age 5, Allies (The “Four Allies”) 4, Domain (National Library) 4, Elder Generation (Diablerie) 4, Lasombra Status (Amici Nocti) 3, Occult Library 4, Sabbat Ritae 5, Sabbat Status (Cardinal) 6
Virtues: Conviction 3, Instinct 5, Courage 4
Morality: (Lightless) Path of Night 8
Bearing: Darkness, +1
Derangements: Hysteria, Megalomania
Willpower: 8
Merits: Nine Lives (6 pt. Supernatural), Spirit Mentor (3 pt. Supernatural)
Flaws: Enemy (4 pt. Social), Flesh of the Corpse (5 pt. Physical), Monstrous (3 pt. Physical), Sleeping With the Enemy (3 pt. Social), Vengeful (2 pt. Mental)

The Four Allies & The Immortal Midnight

In the year 1625, as an English Fleet loomed off the southern coast of Iberia, Doña Cardinal—then a mere Bishop in the newly formed sect—was approached in secret by an ambitious, if awkward lupine, who spoke of a desire to learn the true power of darkness, and unleash such a power on the world. Doña Bishop's city had already seen numerous conflicts with the English over her domain, and as she spied upon the mortal leaders among the enemy fleet—watched as they discussed the numerous benefits of once again making the attempt on Gibraltar—she also watched as the wolf-shifter before her petitioned his strange spirit allies. The English Fleet attacked the territory of Cadiz that year, leaving the Doña's city in what relative peace it had for the time being. Impressed and intrigued—and at the time foolishly confident—the Doña formed a tentative alliance with the wolf-shifter.
As he questioned her knowledge of the shadows beyond her current ability to answer, she delved into the occultic lore of her clan to lessen her ignorance. With her own access to the collective occult understanding of the Lasombra, and the wondrously unique perspective the lupine seemed to maintain on the subject, she made remarkable progress in her studies in only a short amount of time. Soon she came to the same conclusion as her Lupine associate, in order to fulfill the destiny of her clan, she must plunge the world in darkness and abolish light altogether—only then could the Lasombra's true power be realized. She believed doing such would please her clan's Eldest, thus of course she kept her true goals private from the suspicious shifter, and together they began to work toward—almost—the same goal.

As her studies into the Abyss grew in intensity, she began to draw mysterious parallels to what little she could learn of Necromancy. Soon she had maneuvered herself into a position to join forces with a similarly-minded member of the Clan of Death, a Cainite named Bishop Giovanni, who himself was on a similar quest for his clan. Together with Bishop, she determined that the first step in seeing her dream of an Abyss on Earth come to fruition would be the abolition of the Shroud. She believed that once this was done, she would have one less obstacle between herself and her true goal. They also discovered a relatively young, yet determined Wraithly Haunter named Hargos who fully supported their decision to bring down the Shroud, thus reuniting him with his aging mortal family.
Careful to avoid any mention of uniting the realms of the living and the dead to the Shadow Lord, Doña Cardinal orchestrated a pact between the four of them, and secretly they began to call themselves the Four Allies of the Immortal Midnight. Slowly but steadily they felt as if they were making progress, that is until they ran afoul of the Wraithlord Haundemoi, who discovered their plan for the Immortal Midnight and immediately sought to oppose it, as such would most assuredly affect the control he had over the Deadlands in the area.
Daring to aggressively seek a solution to their new enemy's hindrance, they soon realized that Haundemoi was himself in league with a traitorous Necromancer named Horacio Giovanni Jr. who secretly did everything he could to oppose his clan's goals to tear down the shroud, for reasons similar to the Wraithlord's. Now, the Four Allies and the partnership of Horacio and Haundemoi have reached a nigh-impassable stalemate, as each side has enough incriminating evidence to reveal the other's treachery to their Clans. In addition, the two opposing sides are almost evenly matched, enough that any physical conflict between them would undoubtedly result in a much larger conflict than either of them could contain. As a result, the two groups have resorted to a subtle game of move and counter-move as they try to outmaneuver each other physically, politically and supernaturally.

Force-of-Silence, the Cryptic Shaman
Background: The first of the Four Allies can be said to be Force-of-Silence, the lupine who, despite the risks both mortally and spiritually, dared to seek out not just any vampire for an ally, but a Lasombra leech specifically.
Born disfigured and unwanted, Force-of-Silence was always a loner and misfit who never quite fit in, shunned and and disregarded by others. As a young lupine, he soon became more comfortable alone, shrouded by darkness in which his deformity could not be seen. In this dark embrace of night, he discovered not only himself, but his true calling; though Gaia, the spirit-mother of the Earth, did need her protectors, the tribal totems needed their champions too—Force-of-Silence was to be such a champion.
A member of a notorious tribe of werewolves calling themselves the Shadow Lords, he focused on his mystic talents and in time earned respect for himself as an accomplished sorcerer among his people. Not long after that, his dark incursions into the spirit world led him to like-minded individuals within his own tribe.
He joined a secretive and controversial cult within the Shadow Lords known as the Society of Nidghogg (Shadow Lords Tribebook, p. 32 & Shadow Lords Tribebook, Revised, p. 47), and found a place that he could belong, even with his humiliating disfigurement. With his newfound companions, he studied dark arts in order to become closer to his tribal totem, and remained withdrawn from the society of his fellow lupines as a whole.
Almost a decade later, rumors among his own kind assert that he was responsible for a series of Lasombra disappearances that occurred shortly before he introduced himself to Doña Cardinal. Speculation on some of the Cardinal's wounds may also lead some to believe that the pair's first meeting was less than pleasant, though in the end, Force-of-Silence somehow managed to gain the Cardinal's interest, and eventually an alliance was formed between them.
Force-of-Silence stated that each of the werewolf tribes had a powerful totem-spirit that “allied with” them, and he of course claimed that the totem of the Shadow Lords—Grandfather Thunder—was the most powerful. The lupine's interests once lay in areas of weather magic and manipulation, but, he claims, as his understanding of Grandfather Thunder's power grew, so he came to realize that his totem's power also resides in the darkness that it's storms are said to create. Claiming to have always had an affinity for the darkness, Force-of-Silence sought to explore this concept further, in order to determine whether his Society's interests in a dark, cloud-covered world of thunder and lightning were not only feasible, but logical.
Risking discovery by his fellow lupines and persecution by the equally infamous Bringers of Light of his own tribe, he remains wary of the duplicitous Cardinal, yet remains associated with her and the Four Allies out of a stubborn pride as much as a dark curiosity of the strange layers of reality that they help him peel away night by night.
Image: Spending most of his time away from others and in the shadows, Force-of-Silence has spent very little time concerning himself with his physical appearance throughout his life. As a result, he often appears as a poor, homeless vagabond, wearing whatever scraps of clothing he has been able to find. Never without his large, Dedicated walking stick—which he uses to compensate for his deformed leg, or as a club, whichever—he is a crafty and patient werewolf that is seldom seen in a rush, but is known to bare his fangs to opponents without hesitation. If it weren't for his crippled leg, such intimidating displays would be extraordinarily effective.
In his human form he appears as a dirty, middle-aged man, unshaven and with dark, graying hair. In his wolf and eight-and-a-half-foot-tall werewolf forms, his coat of fur is jet black and rarely groomed.
Roleplaying Hints: You don't fear the dark, or death, or the damnation of your soul; you only fear The End. Die and you shall return as an Ancestor-spirit or perhaps even reincarnate. Lose your soul and your sanity will break, thus you will never know—or care. Immerse yourself in darkness and you become one with the night, striking, unseen, at fearful, cowering enemies. What is there to fear besides failure?
Physical prowess is not your usual method, however; when you strike, it is often from the cover of shadows, using your natural mystic talents to terrify and overwhelm, to shock and catch-unaware. You care little for the whispers you overhear from your peers concerning your motivations for maintaining the alliances you do, for you know that throughout history, the greatest, most powerful secrets have only been buried deeper and deeper in increasingly dark depths of time. Sometimes, your frustration causes you to try and explain yourself to others, saying, “if there was a weapon in a dark cave that made you feel uneasy, but that weapon could defeat the Wyrm, would you not enter the darkness to take it?”
Nature: Conniver
Demeanor: Survivor
Apparent Age: 40's
Physical: Strength 2 (4/6/5/3), Dexterity 2 (2/3/4/4), Stamina 3 (5/6/6/5)
Social: Charisma 2, Manipulation 4 (3/0/0/0), Appearance 2 (1/0/2/2)
Mental: Perception 3, Intelligence 4, Wits 3
Talents: Alertness 3, Athletics 2, Awareness 3, Brawl 2, Intimidation 2, Subterfuge 3
Skills: Animal Ken 2, Crafts 2, Melee 2, Performance 1, Stealth 2, Survival 3
Knowledges: Academics 1, Investigation 3, Occult 3, Rituals 3
Equivalent Disciplines: Auspex 1, Celerity 2, Dementation 1, Protean 4, Spiritus 2, Thaumaturgy 1
Equivalent Thaumaturgical Paths: Path of Conjuring 1
Willpower: 5
Gnosis: 6

Force-of-Crossover
Lupines are feared for their great strength in comparison to a single vampire; even a hobbled one, such as Force-of-Silence, is still an imposing threat to all but the most powerful of elder kindred.
First and foremost among their natural abilities are their four additional forms beyond their human one: near-man, wolf-man, near-wolf, and wolf. The Attributes in parentheses represent that trait's values in their respective forms.
For those Storytellers with Werewolf: The Apocalypse who wish to portray a Garou more accurately (rather than the “lupines” depicted in Vampire: The Masquerade), the following traits may be substituted where applicable:
Tribe: Shadow Lords
Breed: Metis
Auspice: Theurge
Personal Totem: Raven
Talents: Awareness 2, Primal-Urge 2
Backgrounds: Fetish 2, Rites 2, Totem 3
Gifts (Metis): (1) Create Element; (2) Curse of Hatred
Gifts (Theurge): (1) Spirit Speech; (2) Command Spirit
Gifts (Shadow Lords): (1) Fatal Flaw, Whisper Catching; (2) Clap of Thunder
Renown: Glory 1, Honor 0, Wisdom 6
Rank: 2 (Fostern)
Rage: 3
Rites (Accord): (1) Rite of Cleansing
Rites (Caern): (1) Rite of the Opened Caern
Rites (Mystic): (1) Rite of the Questing Stone, Rite of Talisman Dedication; (2) Communion with the Storm, Rite of Becoming
Rites (Renown): (2) Rite of Shame
Fetishes: Cloak of Darkness
Metis Deformity: Twisted Limb: Leg. All difficulties involving moving from one place to another (such as Athletics and Stealth rolls) are at +2.
Tribal Weakness: Failure's Dagger. -1 Renown for failure.
Merits: Thunder's Child (5 pt. Supernatural)
Flaws: Enemy (4 pt. Social), Dark Fate (5 pt. Supernatural), Dark Secret, (1 pt. Social)

References-of-Silence
Force-of-Silence's Gift, Whisper Catching, can be found in Shadow Lords Tribebook, Revised, p. 66; the rest of his Gifts can be found under the appropriate sections in the Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised, core rulebook.
As for the Rites he has listed, most can also be found in the Werewolf core rulebook, except for Communion with the Storm (Shadow Lords Tribebook, p. 52 & Shadow Lords Tribebook, Revised, p. 75), and the Rite of Shame (Shadow Lords Tribebook, p. 51).
The description for Force-of-Silence's Fetish can be found on page 53 of the Shadow Lords Tribebook.
And finally, the Merit: Thunder's Child can be found on page 82 of Shadow Lords Tribebook, Revised.

Bishop Giovanni, The “Good“ Necromancer
Background:
Image:
Roleplaying Hints:
Clan: Giovanni
Sire:
Nature:
Demeanor:
Generation: 8th
Embrace:
Apparent Age:
Physical: Strength 3, Dexterity 4, Stamina 3
Social: Charisma 2, Manipulation 6, Appearance 0
Mental: Perception 6, Intelligence 5, Wits 4
Talents: Alertness 6, Athletics 2, Awareness 4, Brawl 2, Intimidation 4, Leadership 3, Subterfuge 5
Skills: Crafts 1, Etiquette 1, Larceny 1, Melee 3, Performance 5, Stealth 4, Survival 2
Knowledges: Academics 4, Finance 1, Investigation 4, Occult (Abyss) 4, Politics 1, Expert Knowledge: Clan Giovanni 3, Expert Knowledge: Lupine Lore 1, Expert Knowledge: Theology 2
Disciplines: Mortis/Necromancy 5
Necromantic Paths: Sepulchre Path 5, Ash Path 3
Necromantic Rituals: Eldritch Beacon, Insight, Knowing Stone (Level One), Puppet, Two Centimes (Level Two), Din of the Damned, Tempesta Scudo (Level Three), Peek Past the Shroud (Level Four)
Backgrounds:
Virtues: Conviction 3, Instinct 5, Courage 4
Morality:
Bearing:
Derangements:
Willpower:
Merits:
Flaws:

Hargos, the Fading Family-Man
Background:
Image:
Roleplaying Hints:
Nature:
Demeanor:
Apparent Age: late 30's
Physical: Strength 0/2, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3
Social: Charisma 2, Manipulation 3, Appearance 2
Mental: Perception 3, Intelligence 2, Wits 3
Talents: Alertness 3, Athletics 2, Awareness 2, Brawl 1, Empathy 3, Intimidation 2, Streetwise 1, Subterfuge 3
Skills: Melee 1, Performance 1, Stealth 1, Survival 3
Knowledges: Academics 2, Investigation 1, Law 2, Occult 2, Politics 1
Equivalent Disciplines: Auspex 1, Chimerstry 1, Dementation 2, Dominate 1, Vicissitude 1
Humanity: 6
Willpower: 5
Passion Pool: 5

Believed to have been originally Embraced as a 10th Generation vampire shortly before the turn of the new millennium, she claims her mortal name was Gabriela Juana Reyes de Gibraltar, though little of her past has been, or can be verified. Only stories and random snippets pieced together by those in her court make up her history, though many suspect she has at least some ties to West Africa. Truth be told—though she will most likely never share this with another—she was in fact Embraced in what was then only a settlement in the Ghana Empire named Timbuktu, which is now a part of Mali. Few know enough about her to suspect, but occasionally some may place some vague connection between her induction into the Cainite ranks and the passing of what is now known as Halley's Comet on the fifth day of September. Or perhaps, instead, with the laying of the foundation of The University of Sankoré; also known as Sankoré Madrasah or Sankore Masjid, it is one of three ancient centers of learning that comprise the University of Timbuktu. Beyond this, little else is known of her mortal history or Embrace.
Her small body suggests that she was in her late teens or maybe early twenties at the latest when her unlife began. As a Cainite she rarely associated with others outside her clan for almost the full first two-and-a-half centuries of her unlife, as literally no mention or recollection of her can be found, save for the expectable baseless speculations. Of her sire, she claims he was a 9th generation Keeper named Thiego from Gibraltar, though she will speak no more on the topic except to casually mentioned she “had to perform amaranth” on him, and rarely tolerates further curiosity.
Upon her silent arrival to Kindred society proper in 1230's Gibraltar, she soon became a known figure among her local clan and and sect, if only from her already inhumanly scarified complexion and role-model-like portrayal of how a Keeper should behave. Preferring to remain close to what she calls her “Maghrebi roots,” she rarely traveled north of Iberia, but has been known to stay in Madrid for extended periods from time to time. Meanwhile, she slowly began expanding her areas of interest while taking what opportunities she could to rise in power. The formation of the Sabbat helped her gain purpose, and by 1625 she had become a Bishop of Gibraltar and apparently single-handedly used her mystic abilities to prevent the mortal English enemies of her city's people from attacking yet again. Thus the insidious Camarillan vampires hiding amongst this English Fleet were turned away as well, and, riding the major political leverage this brought her, it was not long before she declared herself the Cardinal of the Maghreb (or al-maghrib al-ʻarabīy, to its residents) and none were strong enough to prevent it. She began solidifying a position of power for herself first and foremost from Tangiers, Morocco, but she later moved to the oldest, northernmost and “most European” city in Tunisia, Bizerte (also known as Benzert, or Binzart), near the infamous Carthage, now a province of the country's capitol city, Tunis.

[she should probably meet the Giovanni, and through him Hargo, around this time. For the most part though, her interactions with the Four Allies and enemies of the Immortal Midnight will be glossed over until the side-bar below, which explains the “real” story behind the two groups]

Only when she felt that her defenses were completely impenetrable did she truly begin once again building Lasombra and Sabbat influence in the region. Carefully coordinated repayment, exchanging and calling-in of favors owed to herself and others kept her in good favor—pun not intended—with the Keepers at least during this process; it wasn't until she conquered most of Moorish Africa and declared herself alliance to the Sabbat that the sect began to feel any peace with her actions.
Throughout this time it is known that she has used various Wild Hunts, War Parties and even the infamous Courts of Blood of the Friends of the Night to lower her generation to the level of power she wields today. She is also known to have spent a considerable amount of time (decades at least) in various other locations, including returning to Madrid in the mid-18th Century, as well as Sicily, Mexico City and northern Tanzania since. Despite her occasional inclination to embark on extended journeys, she continues to cling to her carefully-achieved station with a grip tighter than iron—and claws sharper than razors as well, should that grip ever loosen or be threatened.

[by this time she definitely needs to have formed the Four Allies, and perhaps those threads will be pulled together slightly in the following paragraphs. Also, this may be a good time for the 4 Allies to meet Horacio Jr. and Haundemoi]

Said to be heavily into the occult, including Necromancy and an extremely rare and unnerving form of Lasombra Blood Magic, she is almost as feared and respected for her mystic abilities as she is for her amazing physical prowess—made even more impressive by the disturbingly unexplained lack of eyes in her sockets. Rumors abound that she consorts with Necromancers and other unsavory characters outside the Sabbat, and even commands fear and respect among some ghosts and lupines. It is also said she is impossible to kill, as the wounds—not scars—on her body attest.

[wrapping it up, I'd like to see what kind of shit she has to deal with in her unlife before I describe more of her personality and actions and such. I'd also like to add some specific implications of what's going on in her unlife, like, what's like living near Carthage and ruling over it? I don't know enough, unfortunately, still, heh, to really give an accurate, canon-based suggestions, or if one is even possible]

Rarely seen outside her havens, of which she maintains several and from which she issues all her sect-related commands, she is known for handling the night's business as expediently and efficiently as possible, and then spending the rest of the night in seclusion, pursuing her various dark studies. Those who manage to truly gain firsthand experience with her usually end up learning that her physical prowess is only a result of her great age and surprisingly active unlife, while her true power lies in her mostly surreptitious magics.
Never claiming to have made actual contact with either the Lasombra Antediluvian, nor Gratiano de Veronese—either directly or indirectly—she still makes claims to serve “the highest power among the Lasombra.” This is not a claim she makes casually or often, however, as she is fully convinced that few among her clanmates would have the courage to go to the lengths she is willing to in order to ensure her clan's dominance during Gehenna. On the other hand, her sense of a higher purpose has rendered her nearly fearless in her unwavering dedication to her secret goals. In fact, never has another Cainite questioned her loyalty to the Lasombra or the Sabbat, because in truth, she has no disloyal feelings toward either.
This lovecraftian dream of hers, that would cause even the most horrific of Sabbat to shrink away in terror, is something few, if any, other Cainites

[this remains unfinished so far]

Clan: Lasombra
Sire: Thiego de Gibraltar (diablerized)
Nature: Survivor
Demeanor: Judge
Generation: 6th
Embrace: 989 AD
Apparent Age: indeterminate
Physical: Strength 3, Dexterity 4, Stamina 3
Social: Charisma 3, Manipulation (Misdirection) 6, Appearance 0
Mental: Perception (Careful, Darkness) 7, Intelligence 5, Wits 4
Talents: Alertness 6, Athletics (Blind Maneuvers) 4, Awareness 4, Brawl 2, Intimidation 4, Leadership 3, Subterfuge (Secretive) 6
Skills: Crafts 1, Etiquette 1, Larceny 1, Melee 3, Performance 4, Stealth 4, Survival 2
Knowledges: Academics (Theology) 4, Finance 1, Investigation 4, Occult (Abyss) 4, Politics 1, Expert Knowledge: Clan Giovanni 3, Expert Knowledge: Lupine Lore 1
Disciplines: Obtenebration 7, Potence 3, Auspex 2, Celerity 5, Fortitude 4, Necromancy/Mortis 5
Advanced Disciplines: [Obtenebration] Eyes of the Night, Shadowstep, Shadow Parasite (6); Fortify Against Ahura Mazda, Shadow Twin (7)
Necromantic Path (Primary): Sepulchre Path 5
Necromantic Paths (Secondary): Ash Path 3, Path of Haunting 5
Necromantic Rituals: Eldritch Beacon, Insight, Knowing Stone (Level 1); Puppet, Two Centimes (Level 2); Din of the Damned, Tempesta Scudo (Level 3); Peek Past the Shroud (Level 4)
Abyss Mysticism Rituals: Dark Awakening, Defense of Angra Mainyu, Pierce the Murk, Shades of What Could Be, Sense the Abyss, The Shadow of Hands That Serve, Shadow Preservation (Level 1); Ahriman's Seal, Assuming the Unseen Visage, Calling the Thing in Darkness, Extinguish, The Heart that Beats in Silence, In the Shade of Ahriman's Favor, Transubstantiation of Essence, Under the Aegis of the Night (Level 2); Calling the Hungry Shade, Drinking the Blood of Ahriman, Sense the Dark Soul (Level 3); Reflections of Hollow Revelation (Level 4); Descent Into Darkness, Whispers in the Dark (Level 5)
Backgrounds: Age 5, Allies (The “Four Allies”) 4, Domain (National Library, Madrid, Spain) 3, Domain (Bizerte, Tunisia) Generation (Diablerie) 4, Occult Library 4, Sabbat Ritae 5, Status (Lasombra: Amici Nocti) 3, Status (Sabbat: Cardinal) 6
Virtues: Conviction 3, Instinct 5, Courage 4
Morality: (Lightless) Path of Night 8
Bearing: Darkness, +1
Derangements: Hysteria, Megalomania
Willpower: 8
Merits: Nine Lives (6 pt. Supernatural), Spirit Mentor (3 pt. Supernatural)
Flaws: Enemy (4 pt. Social), Flesh of the Corpse (5 pt. Physical), Monstrous (3 pt. Physical), Sleeping With the Enemy (3 pt. Social), Vengeful (2 pt. Mental)

What good is learning all the fancy names of all the crazy stuff an NPC can do , if you have no actual clue what the trait or power really does? Have no fear, the Grey Jackal Team provides you with yet another list of page numbers:
The Level 6 Obtenebration powers, Eyes of the Night can be located in the Storyteller's Guide to the Sabbat, p. 110, while Shadow Parasite can be found in Clanbook: Lasombra, p. 34. The Level 7 power, Fortify Against Ahura Mazda, was found in Player's Guide to High Clans, p. 157 and the Path of Haunting is taken from page 196 of the same book.
All other Disciplines and Rituals are either found in V20 or covered elsewhere in this very book.

In the year 1625, as an English Fleet loomed off the southern coast of Iberia, Cardinal Reyes—then a mere Bishop of Gibraltar in the newly formed Sabbat sect—was approached in secret by an ambitious, if awkward lupine, who spoke of a desire to learn the true power of darkness, and unleash such a power on the world. Bishop Reyes' city had already seen numerous conflicts with the English over her domain, and as she spied upon the mortal leaders among the enemy fleet—watched as they discussed the numerous benefits of once again making the attempt on Gibraltar—she also watched as the wolf-shifter before her petitioned his strange spirit allies. The English Fleet attacked the territory of Cadiz that year, leaving her city of in what relative peace it had for the time being. Impressed and intrigued—and at the time foolishly confident—Bishop Reyes formed a tentative alliance with the wolf-shifter named Force-of-Silence.
As he questioned her knowledge of the shadows beyond her current ability to answer, she delved into the occultic lore of her clan to lessen her ignorance. With her own access to the collective occult understanding of the Lasombra, and the wondrously unique perspective the lupine seemed to maintain on the subject, she made remarkable progress in her studies in only a short amount of time. Soon she came to the same conclusion as her lupine associate, in order to fulfill the destiny of her clan, she must plunge the world in darkness and abolish light altogether—only then could the Lasombra's true power be realized. She believed doing such would please her clan's Eldest, thus of course she kept her true goals private from the suspicious shifter, and together they began to work toward—almost—the same goal.
As her studies into the Abyss grew in intensity, she began to draw mysterious parallels to what little she could learn of Necromancy. Soon tiring of the poor luck she was having gathering up Necromantic study materials and resources on her own, she maneuvered herself into a position to surreptitiously meet various members of the Clan of Death, posing her “wild theories” to them until she found one willing to arrange a mutual exchange of knowledge and teachings. That Cainite was a Necromancer named Vescovo Giovanni, who himself was on a quest strikingly similar to her own, the only difference being he seemed to enjoy to the full approval and support of his entire clan in his endeavors, while she felt forced to remain excessively discreet and secretive about her actions. After some time building a semblance of trust between themselves, now-Cardinal Reyes introduced Vescovo to her lupine cohort, and he introduced them both to his somewhat-loyal ally, a relatively young, yet driven ghost called Hargos.
With most of her research leading her to believe that the Abyss lay somewhere in the bowels of the Underworld, she determined that the first step in seeing her dream of a Tenebrous Earth come to fruition would be the abolition of the Shroud. She believed that once this was done, in perhaps another few hundred years, maybe even thousands, she would eventually find a way to feed the Sun to the Abyss, engulfing the world in an Immortal Midnight. Careful to avoid any mention of uniting the realms of the living and dead to the shapeshifter, Cardinal Reyes orchestrated a pact between the four of them, and secretly they began to call themselves the Four Allies. Slowly but steadily, they felt as if they were making progress, and soon even the lupine was convinced destroying the Shroud and extinguishing the sun were one and the same goal, and all were working together in almost unprecedented unity towards a single goal. A unity that was shaken by the two who have become dubbed the Enemies of the Immortal Midnight, that is, the first of whom being the cruel Wraithlord Haundemoi, who discovered their plan for the Immortal Midnight and immediately sought to oppose it, as such would most assuredly affect the control he had over the region's Underworld.
Daring to aggressively seek a solution to their new enemy's hindrances, they soon realized that Haundemoi was himself in league with a traitorous Necromancer named Horacio Giovanni Jr. who secretly did everything he could to oppose his clan's goals to tear down the Shroud, for reasons similar to the Wraithlord's. Now, the Four Allies and the partnership of Horacio and Haundemoi have reached a nigh-impassable stalemate; Reyes and Vescovo have enough blackmail on Horacio to keep him from making too many overt moves, and vice versa. Meanwhile Haundemoi hunts the fugitive Hargos without mercy or respite, claiming to “protect the natural balance, out of necessity,” but in truth he is far more concerned with remaining the “protector.” Finally, the werewolf among them has recently been approached by Horacio and Haundemoi and made aware of the lies he has been told concerning the group's true goals, and now wrestles with his own, anxious doubts.
The two opposing sides, though never having engaged in actual combat, seem to be too evenly matched, at least enough that any physical conflict between them would undoubtedly result in a much larger conflict than either of them could contain. As a result, the two groups have resorted to a subtle game of move and counter-move as they try to outmaneuver each other physically, politically and supernaturally; a deadly chess-game of the minds between inhuman minds far too devious—or powerful—to make an exploitable mistake. Unfortunately—and irritatingly—for the Four Allies however, the Enemies of the Immortal Midnight continue to “win,” as the sun continues to rise each new dawn.

Background: The first of the Four Allies can be said to be Force-of-Silence, the lupine who, despite the risks both mortally and spiritually, dared to seek out not just any vampire for an ally, but a Lasombra leech specifically.
Born disfigured and unwanted, Force-of-Silence was always a loner and misfit who never quite fit in, shunned and and disregarded by others. As a cub he soon became more comfortable alone, shrouded by darkness in which his deformity could not be seen. In this dark embrace of night, he discovered not only himself, but his true calling; though Gaia, the spirit-mother of the Earth, did need her protectors, the tribal totems needed their champions too—Force-of-Silence was to be such a champion.
A member of a notorious tribe of werewolves calling themselves the Shadow Lords, he focused on his mystic talents and in time earned respect for himself as an accomplished sorcerer among his people. Not long after that, his dark incursions into the spirit world led him to like-minded individuals within his own tribe.
He joined a secretive and controversial cult within the Shadow Lords known as the Society of Nidghogg, and found a place that he could belong, even with his humiliating disfigurement. With his newfound companions, he studied dark arts in order to become closer to his tribal totem, and remained withdrawn from the society of his fellow lupines as a whole.
Almost a decade later, rumors among his own kind assert that he was responsible for a series of Lasombra disappearances that occurred shortly before he finally introduced himself to a Bishop Reyes (who has since become the Cardinal of Maghreb). Speculation on some of the Cardinal's wounds may also lead some to believe that the pair's first meeting was less than pleasant, though in the end, Force-of-Silence somehow managed to gain her interest, and eventually an alliance was formed between them.
Force-of-Silence stated that each of the werewolf tribes had a powerful totem-spirit that “allied with” them, and he of course claimed that the totem of the Shadow Lords—Grandfather Thunder—was the most powerful. The lupine's interests once lay in areas of weather magic and manipulation, but, he claims, as his understanding of Grandfather Thunder's power grew, so he came to realize that his totem's power also resides in the darkness that it's storms are said to create. Claiming to have always had an affinity for the darkness, Force-of-Silence sought to explore this concept further, in order to determine whether his Society's interests in a dark, cloud-covered world of thunder and lightning were not only feasible, but logical.
Risking discovery by his fellow lupines and persecution by the equally infamous Bringers of Light of his own tribe, he remained wary of the duplicitous Bishop when she assumed the title of Cardinal, yet remained associated with her and the Four Allies out of a stubborn pride as much as a dark curiosity of the strange layers of reality that they helped him peel away night by night.

[This is where I want to add a piece about the Dark Fate of Force-of-Silence. I think it would be horrifyingly awesome to have a twisted, mad, dark-obsessed werewolf trapped in the Abyss, a la Nergal and Level's 9 & 10 Obtenebration. My current idea is to have F-o-S somehow “banished to the Abyss” instead of dying, and perhaps the Society of Nidhogg and his kinfolk relatives could both be searching for him, since his “soul seems to have not become an ancestor-spirit, or can't be found in any Umbral Realms as an ascended being” (or something). This way an ST can bring him back or have him dead as they wish.]

Image: Spending most of his time away from others and in the shadows, Force-of-Silence has spent very little time concerning himself with his physical appearance throughout his life. As a result, he often appears as a poor, homeless vagabond, wearing whatever scraps of clothing he has been able to find. Never without his large, Dedicated walking stick—which he uses to compensate for his deformed leg, or as a club, whichever—he is a crafty and patient werewolf that is seldom seen in a rush, but is known to bare his fangs to opponents without hesitation. If it weren't for his crippled leg, such intimidating displays would be extraordinarily effective.
In his human form he appears as a dirty, middle-aged man, unshaven and with dark, graying hair. In his wolf and eight-and-a-half-foot-tall werewolf forms, his coat of fur is jet black and rarely groomed.
Roleplaying Hints: You don't fear the dark, or death, or the damnation of your soul; you only fear The End. Die and you shall return as an Ancestor-spirit or perhaps even reincarnate. Lose your soul and your sanity will break, thus you will never know—or care. Immerse yourself in darkness and you become one with the night, striking, unseen, at fearful, cowering enemies. What is there to fear besides failure?
Physical prowess is not your usual method, however; when you strike, it is often from the cover of shadows, using your natural mystic talents to terrify and overwhelm, to shock and catch-unaware. You care little for the whispers you overhear from your peers concerning your motivations for maintaining the alliances you do, for you know that throughout history, the greatest, most powerful secrets have only been buried deeper and deeper in increasingly dark depths of time. Sometimes, your frustration causes you to try and explain yourself to others, saying, “if there was a weapon in a dark cave that made you feel uneasy, but that weapon could defeat the Wyrm, would you not enter the darkness to take it?”

Tribe: Shadow Lords
Breed: Metis
Auspice: Theurge
Personal Totem: Raven
Rank: 3 (Adren)
Physical: Strength 2 (4/6/5/3), Dexterity 2 (2/3/4/4), Stamina 3 (5/6/6/5)
Social: Charisma 2, Manipulation 4 (3/0/0/0), Appearance 2 (1/0/2/2)
Mental: Perception 3, Intelligence 4, Wits 3
Talents: Alertness 3, Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Intimidation 2 Primal Urge 3, Subterfuge 3
Skills: Animal Ken 2, Crafts 2, Melee 2, Performance 1, Stealth 2, Survival 3
Knowledges: Academics 1, Investigation 3, Occult 3, Rituals 3
Backgrounds: Fetish 2, Rites 2, Totem 3
Gifts (Metis): (1) Create Element; (2) Curse of Hatred; (3) Eyes of the Cat
Gifts (Theurge): (1) Spirit Speech; (2) Command Spirit
Gifts (Shadow Lords): (1) Fatal Flaw, Whisper Catching; (2) Clap of Thunder
Gifts (Silent Striders): (3) Ghost Touched
Rites (Accord): (1) Rite of Cleansing
Rites (Caern): (1) Rite of the Opened Caern
Rites (Mystic): (1) Rite of the Questing Stone, Rite of Talisman Dedication; (2) Communion with the Storm, Rite of Becoming
Rites (Renown): (2) Rite of Shame
Rage: 3
Gnosis: 6
Willpower: 5
Renown: Glory 1, Honor 0, Wisdom 6
Fetishes: Cloak of Darkness
Metis Deformity: Twisted Limb: Leg. All difficulties involving moving from one place to another (such as Athletics and Stealth rolls) are at +2.
Tribal Weakness: Failure's Dagger. -1 Renown for failure.
Merits: Thunder's Child (5 pt. Supernatural)
Flaws: Enemy (4 pt. Social), Dark Fate (5 pt. Supernatural), Dark Secret, (1 pt. Social)

[3 things here: 1) I want to add a couple appropriate gifts that control weather and stuff, like in his description, maybe some Wendigo or Uktena Gifts, not sure, don't know them well enough. 2) I also added a decent Silent Strider Gift to show that he has experience dealing with ghosts. 3) I'd like to take a deeper look at the rituals he can perform, and see if there could be a Discipline or two to represent them as well. Thoughts?]

To begin, more information on the Shadow Lords' Camp, the Society of Nidhogg can be found in Shadow Lords Tribebook, p. 32 and Shadow Lords Tribebook, Revised, p. 47. Force-of-Silence's Gift, Whisper Catching, can be found in Shadow Lords Tribebook, Revised, p. 66; the rest of his Gifts can be found under the appropriate sections in the Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Revised, core rulebook. The Silent Strider Gift he possesses is located in Silent Striders Tribebook, Revised, p. 75.
As for the Rites he has listed, most can also be found in the Werewolf core rulebook, except for Communion with the Storm (Shadow Lords Tribebook, p. 52 & Shadow Lords Tribebook, Revised, p. 75), and the Rite of Shame (Shadow Lords Tribebook, p. 51).
The description for Force-of-Silence's Fetish can be found on page 53 of the Shadow Lords Tribebook.
And finally, the Merit: Thunder's Child can be found on page 82 of Shadow Lords Tribebook, Revised.

Lupines are feared for their great strength in comparison to a single vampire; even a hobbled one, such as Force-of-Silence, is still an imposing threat to all but the most powerful of elder kindred.
First and foremost among their natural abilities are their four additional forms beyond their human one: near-man, wolf-man, near-wolf, and wolf. The Attributes in parentheses represent that trait's values in their respective forms.
For those Storytellers who do not have or are uninterested in Werewolf: The Apocalypse who wish to portray a “lupine” rather than a Garou, the following traits may be substituted where applicable (note that since a werewolf is obviously not a werewolf, and the powers are listed as “Equivalents,” the standard rules of how one may learn Thaumaturgy do not apply):
Nature: Conniver
Demeanor: Survivor
Apparent Age: 40's
Talents: Alertness 2, Awareness 2 (Primal-Urge 0)
Equivalent Disciplines: Auspex 1, Celerity 2, Dementation 1, Protean 4, Spiritus 2, Thaumaturgy 2
Equivalent Thaumaturgical Paths: Path of Conjuring 1, Path of Mars 2

Even the “casual” Abyss mystic may note some sort of connection between Abyss Mysticism and Necromancy. Between the similarities shared by the Paths of Enlightenment followed by their practitioners, to the location of a “place” located deep within the Underworld referred to as none other than “the Abyss” by those familiar with it, it is reasonable to assume that some Abyssal blood magicians could in fact be wholly convinced of such as truth—regardless of whether it actually is or not. Such is the assumption of the Four Allies, a rare alliance between four members of three different supernatural species, all working toward—almost—the same, common goal.
Two kindred blood magicians who believe that the elimination of the barrier between their world and the source of their power would exponentially increase their power beyond belief; a bitter ghost with similar thoughts and the overwhelming desire to destroy the painful effect death holds over his family; and a crippled, outcast and suspicious werewolf sorcerer from a tribe with an affinity for “dark things.” Their alliance is tenuous, held together mostly by machinations of one vampire and the greed of the other... but it is an alliance, and it has served them well thus far.
Their common goal? They would call it the the Immortal Nightfall, the beginning of the Immortal Midnight, or some such grandiose title, but the simple truth is they all seek to permanently blot out the sun, thus destroying the wall that separates the lands of the Living and the Dead. Realizing that no rule by any one of their factions would ever be truly complete, as there would always be the other supernaturals to contend with as well for ultimate control, the Four Allies seek to usher in a new age with as few rulers as possible—and only the “right” ones ruling, of course....
With different philosophies about, attitudes towards and reasons for wanting such a world to come to be, added to the diversity among such a small group of various, naturally-antagonistic individuals, the Four Allies are rife with their own internal conflicts, of course. However, it seems until their paths diverge to a point where animosity between them is a necessity, the four (or three, depending) of them remain presently content to at least put their common goal first.

Background: Believed to have been originally Embraced as a 10th Generation vampire shortly before the turn of the previous millennium, she claims her mortal name was Gabriela Juana Reyes de Gibraltar, though little of her past has been, or can be verified. Only stories and random snippets pieced together by those in her court make up her history, though many suspect she has at least some ties to West Africa. Truth be told—though she will most likely never share this with another—she was in fact Embraced in what was then only a settlement in the Ghana Empire named Timbuktu, which is now a part of Mali. Few know enough about her to suspect, but occasionally some may place some vague connection between her induction into the Cainite ranks and the passing of what is now known as Halley's Comet on the fifth day of September. Or perhaps, instead, with the laying of the foundation of The University of Sankoré; also known as Sankoré Madrasah or Sankore Masjid, it is one of three ancient centers of learning that comprise the University of Timbuktu. Beyond this, little else is known of her mortal history or Embrace.
Her small body suggests that she was in her late teens or maybe early twenties at the latest when her unlife began. As a Cainite she rarely associated with others outside her clan for almost the full first two-and-a-half centuries of her unlife, as literally no credible mention or recollection of her can be found anywhere. Of her sire, she claims he was a 9th generation Keeper named Thiego from Gibraltar, though she will speak no more on the topic except to casually mentioned she “had to perform amaranth” on him, and rarely tolerates further curiosity.
Upon her silent arrival to Kindred society proper in 1230's Gibraltar, she soon became a known figure among her local clan and and sect, if only from her already inhumanly scarified complexion and role-model-like portrayal of how a Keeper should behave. Preferring to remain close to what she calls her “Maghrebi roots,” she rarely traveled north of Iberia, but has been known to stay in Madrid for extended periods from time to time. Meanwhile, she slowly began expanding her areas of interest while taking what opportunities she could to rise in power.
The formation of the Sabbat helped her gain purpose, and by 1625 she had become a Bishop of Gibraltar where, throughout this time it is known that she used various Wild Hunts, War Parties and even the infamous Courts of Blood of the Friends of the Night to lower her generation to the level of power she wields today. She, apparently, single-handedly (though she knows better than to lie to herself, at least) used her mystic abilities to redirect the mortal English enemies of her city's people away to another target. Thus the insidious Camarillan vampires hiding amongst them were turned away as well and, riding the major political leverage this brought her, it was not long before she boldly declared herself the Cardinal of the Maghreb (or al-maghrib al-ʻarabīy, to its residents) and none concerned were strong enough to prevent it.
Discreetly, she began by solidifying a position of power for herself first and foremost from close-by Tangiers, Morocco, but she later moved to the oldest, northernmost and “most European” city in Tunisia, Bizerte (also known as Benzert, or Binzart), near the infamous Carthage, which is now a mere province of the country's capitol city, Tunis. Though she thought she felt a peculiar, new form of “darkness” clinging to the area, her stay there would be short lived, as the Followers of Set that swarmed the lands made remaining—let alone, ruling from—here nearly impossible and completely impractical.
Returning to Tangiers as if with new purpose, she pressed forward without missing a step, and only when she felt that her own defenses were completely secure did she deign to truly begin once again building Lasombra or Sabbat influence in the region. Carefully coordinating the incurring, repayment, and exchanging of debts between herself and multiple others—most notably the law-eschewing pirate element of the southern Mediterranean shores—she got in good favor with the local Keepers, at least, and through them, any who were sympathetic to her plight as a member of the Sabbat. Rumors of the strange allies she had formed by this time began to make her Iberian Clanmates nervous, however, and it wasn't until she quickly conquered most of Moorish Africa and declared herself allied to the Sabbat that the sect began to feel any true peace with her actions. Were it not for the revelation of her “mutual benefit” agreements with numerous Ghiberti Necromancers—known associates of the Giovanni, the traitorous Clan of Death—at a most unfortunate time, she may have become a pillar of the Sabbat and received the support of her peers to increase the size and grip she had on her claimed domain. Instead, political favor swayed a different way; Cardinal Reyes might not have noticed either way.
Known to be heavily into the occult, including Necromancy and an extremely rare and unnerving form of Lasombra Blood Magic, she is almost as feared and respected for her mystic abilities as she is for her amazing physical prowess—made even more impressive by the disturbingly unexplained lack of eyes in her sockets. Rumors abound that she consorts with Necromancers and other unsavory characters outside the Sabbat, and even commands fear and respect among some ghosts and lupines; on the other hand, rumors persist that say the exact opposite as well. Lastly, it is also said she is impossible to kill, as the wounds—not scars—on her body attest. Rarely seen outside her havens, of which she maintains several and from which she issues all her sect-related commands, she is known for handling the night's business as expediently and efficiently as possible, and then spending the rest of the night in seclusion, pursuing her various dark studies. Those who manage to truly gain firsthand experience with her usually end up learning that her physical prowess is only a result of her great age and surprisingly active unlife, while her true power lies in her mostly surreptitious magics.
She is also known to have spent a considerable amount of time (decades at least) in various other locations, including returning to Madrid in the mid-18th Century—where some dare to whisper that she ran afoul of the Clan of Death this time—as well as Sicily, Mexico City and northern Tanzania since. Despite her occasional inclination to embark on extended journeys, she continues to cling to her carefully-achieved station with a grip tighter than iron—and claws sharper than razors as well, should that grip ever loosen or be threatened.
Never actually claiming to have made contact with either the Lasombra Antediluvian, nor Gratiano de Veronese—either directly or indirectly—still, others wonder about the true meaning behind her claims to “serve the highest power among the Lasombra.” While not a claim she makes casually or often, it has been noted by what some would call “the wrong ears.” Regardless, she is fully convinced that few among her clanmates would have the courage to go to the lengths she is willing to in order to ensure her clan's dominance during Gehenna. On the other hand, her own sense of a higher purpose has rendered her nearly fearless in her unwavering dedication to her secret goals
Few would believe that this cold, stoic, merciless leader-on-the-fringe—whose sole reason for claiming her own territory seems to have been to get the resources to pursue her studies as she pleases—would feel anything at all, let alone harbor feelings of doubt. Yet, night after night, as she delves deeper and deeper into her studies, she feels as if she grows closer to some great understanding, she doubts... that the Clan she has worked so hard to help rise from the blinding light into the freeing darkness will not be worthy.
The Immortal Midnight, the time when all barriers would be swept away from the Lasombra's ascent to power, is drawing nigh, and when it comes to pass, it will change the world—possibly even all of Creation—forever. The Cardinal of Maghreb is no traitor, nor does she hold sympathies towards the enemies of the sect, but she still doubts her fellow Keepers would welcome a world without sunlight, and where Death held no meaning, if they could foresee the great, Darwinian purge that would soon follow such a shift in paradigm.
Image: Her short, almost-reddish, auburn-colored hair, the only part of her that returns to normal nightly, is typically uncared for, yet it still looks like a sharp contrast to the rest of her devastated features. Cursed by her Embrace with the inability to seal her wounds, even after healing them, her body bears the scars of an unlife filled with conflict, though her slender, smaller frame suggests she was perhaps Embraced as a young woman.
Besides her hair, her entire body is charred-burned and blackened; at times her flesh cracks and small trickles of blood escape, only to be absorbed into another wound. Due to the complete and total disfigurement of her body, she rarely bothers to cover herself (though she can no longer be considered “nude” at all—she is not sexy).
She has a small, thumb-sized hole in her chest above her heart; an enemy once staked her out in the sunlight, but she somehow escaped Final Death.
Her eyes were gouged out by an enemy she has since slain in return; now inky, black pools of darkness gaze vacantly at others from within empty sockets, and she seems to make up for this apparent drawback in some other fashion.
Almost in the center of her forehead is an embedded, poisonous arrowhead that one enemy thought had been a lucky shot; the actual arrow is broken off, yet the arrowhead itself remains deeply lodged in her skull like a grotesque third eye.
A lucky blow from a brutish enemy has torn most of the flesh from the left side of her face; the cheek is partly missing, exposing the teeth and jaw beneath, as well as bits of bone being exposed near her left eye.
The flesh of her right hand has been shredded away to mostly tendon, sinew and bone.
One of her few tended wounds, apparently someone once attempted to behead her, as she has a rather large slice through her neck, unmercifully stitched shut with a leather thread.
Her stomach has several large gashes in it where they say a “monster” tried to disembowel her; similarly to her neck, thick, leather straps are stitched into the wounds to hold them shut and keep her internal organs from spilling out.
The flesh of her right leg is shredded to tatters—possibly by the same beast that slit her stomach open—and heavy, leather straps are fastened around her thigh to hold the large, deep wounds closed.
Lodged in her back is the broken blade of a silver dagger, rumored to be yet another failed attempt on her life, though she herself will never speak of the events involving the gaining of this particular wound. When significantly aggravated she has been known to retrieve this small, awkward weapon and use it with a deep-seeded savagery and startling, surgical precision, though blood trickles steadily out of the wound until the broken blade is replaced.
Roleplaying Hints: You are not a woman, nor even a vampire, in your own mind. As far as you are concerned, you are a unique creature, one in a billion; the product of the mortal woman you barely remember once being, and the violation of another, more powerful being whose will could not be denied—not as weak as you were, anyway. No other would have been faced with the challenges that made you, and none other would have made the choices that defined you. You are in a singularly unique position from which to perceive the world, and though you know you have yet to learn it all, you believe—simply because you are now you—that if ever you do, there will never be one more suited to stand atop kindred society and the world.
Your demeanor makes even necromancers uneasy; “look” directly at people and things with your eyeless sockets—this includes any unseen ghostly allies you may have—which serves to give the impression you “see” what others cannot. Stand still, and only make minimal gestures unless necessary; when you must move from your location, waste no time. When in battle, maintain a sense of physical and martial dominance over others by displaying your surprising Celerity.
Finally, you are a traitor—albeit only technically in your own mind—to your Clan and your Sect; if your superiors in either found out what you believe you serve within the murky depths of the Abyss, you would not only be halted in your mystical advancements, but would also most likely be the victim of a Blood Hunt—or be forced into Autarkisdom in order to avoid such.
Clan: Lasombra
Sire: Thiego de Gibraltar (diablerized)
Nature: Survivor
Demeanor: Judge
Generation: 6th
Embrace: September 5th, 989 AD
Apparent Age: indeterminate
Physical: Strength 3, Dexterity 4, Stamina 3
Social: Charisma 2, Manipulation (Misdirection) 6, Appearance 0
Mental: Perception (Careful, Darkness) 7, Intelligence 5, Wits 4
Talents: Alertness 6, Athletics (Blind Maneuvers) 4, Awareness 4, Brawl 2, Intimidation 4, Leadership 3, Subterfuge (Secretive) 6
Skills: Crafts 1, Etiquette 1, Larceny 1, Melee 3, Performance 4, Stealth 4, Survival 2
Knowledges: Academics (Theology) 4, Finance 1, Investigation 4, Occult (Abyss) 4, Politics 1
Expert Knowledges: Clan Giovanni 3, Lupine Lore 1
Disciplines: Obtenebration 7, Potence 3, Auspex 2, Celerity 5, Fortitude 4, Necromancy/Mortis 5
Advanced Disciplines: [Obtenebration] Eyes of the Night, Shadowstep, Shadow Parasite (6); Fortify Against Ahura Mazda, Shadow Twin (7)
Necromantic Path (Primary): Sepulchre Path 5
Necromantic Paths (Secondary): Ash Path 3, Path of Haunting 5
Necromantic Rituals: Eldritch Beacon, Insight, Knowing Stone (Level 1); Puppet, Two Centimes (Level 2); Din of the Damned, Tempesta Scudo (Level 3); Peek Past the Shroud (Level 4)
Abyss Mysticism Rituals: Dark Awakening, Defense of Angra Mainyu, Pierce the Murk, Shades of What Could Be, Sense the Abyss, The Shadow of Hands That Serve, Shadow Preservation (Level 1); Ahriman's Seal, Assuming the Unseen Visage, Calling the Thing in Darkness, Extinguish, The Heart that Beats in Silence, In the Shade of Ahriman's Favor, Transubstantiation of Essence, Under the Aegis of the Night (Level 2); Calling the Hungry Shade, Drinking the Blood of Ahriman, Sense the Dark Soul (Level 3); Reflections of Hollow Revelation (Level 4); Descent Into Darkness, Whispers in the Dark (Level 5)
Backgrounds: Age 5, Allies (The “Four Allies”) 4, Domain (National Library, Madrid, Spain) 3, Domain (Bizerte, Tunisia), Generation (Diablerie) 4, Occult Library 4, Sabbat Ritae 5, Status (Lasombra: Amici Nocti) 3, Status (Sabbat: Cardinal) 6
Virtues: Conviction 3, Instinct 5, Courage 4
Morality: (Lightless) Path of Night 8
Bearing: Darkness, +1
Derangements: Hysteria, Megalomania
Willpower: 8
Merits: Nine Lives (6 pt. Supernatural), Spirit Mentor (“Hargos,” 3 pt. Supernatural)
Flaws: Enemy (4 pt. Social), Flesh of the Corpse (5 pt. Physical), Monstrous (3 pt. Physical), Sleeping With the Enemy (3 pt. Social), Vengeful (2 pt. Mental)

In the year 1625, as an English Fleet loomed off the southern coast of Iberia, Cardinal Reyes—then a mere Bishop of Gibraltar in the newly formed Sabbat sect—was approached in secret by an ambitious, if awkward lupine, who spoke of a desire to learn the true power of darkness, and unleash such a power on the world. Bishop Reyes' city had already seen numerous conflicts with the English over her domain, and as she spied upon the mortal leaders among the enemy fleet—watched as they discussed the numerous benefits of once again making the attempt on Gibraltar—she also watched as the wolf-shifter before her petitioned his strange spirit allies. The English Fleet attacked the territory of Cadiz that year, leaving her city of in what relative peace it had for the time being. Impressed and intrigued—and at the time foolishly confident—Bishop Reyes formed a tentative alliance with the wolf-shifter named Force-of-Silence.
As he questioned her knowledge of the shadows beyond her current ability to answer, she delved deep into the occult lore of her clan to lessen her ignorance. With her own access to the collective occult understanding of the Lasombra, and the wondrously unique perspective the lupine seemed to maintain on the subject, she made remarkable progress in her studies in only a short amount of time. Soon she came to the same conclusion as her lupine associate, in order to fulfill the destiny of her clan, she must plunge the world in darkness and abolish light altogether—only then could the Lasombra's true power be realized. She believed doing such would please her clan's Eldest, thus of course she kept her true goals private from the suspicious shifter, and together they began to work toward—almost—the same goal.
As her studies into the Abyss grew in intensity, she began to draw mysterious parallels to what little she could learn of Necromancy. Soon tiring of the poor luck she was having gathering up Necromantic study materials and resources on her own, she maneuvered herself into a position to surreptitiously meet various members of the Clan of Death, posing her “wild theories” to them until she found one willing to arrange a mutual exchange of knowledge and teachings. That Cainite was a Necromancer named Vescovo Giovanni, who himself was on a quest strikingly similar to her own, the only difference being he seemed to enjoy to the full approval and support of his entire clan in his endeavors, while she felt forced to remain excessively discreet and secretive about her actions. After some time building a semblance of trust between themselves, Reyes—now a Cardinal among the Sabbat—introduced Vescovo to her lupine cohort, and he introduced them both to his somewhat-loyal ally, a relatively young, yet driven ghost calling himself Hargos.
With most of her research leading her to believe that the Abyss lay somewhere in the bowels of the Underworld, she determined that the first step in seeing her dream of a Tenebrous Earth come to fruition would be the abolition of the Shroud. She believed that once this was done, in perhaps another few hundred years, maybe even thousands, she would eventually find a way to feed the Sun to the Abyss, engulfing the world in an Immortal Midnight. Careful to avoid any mention of uniting the realms of the living and dead to the shapeshifter, Cardinal Reyes orchestrated a pact between the four of them, and secretly they began to call themselves the Four Allies. Slowly but steadily, they felt as if they were making progress, and soon even the lupine was convinced destroying the Shroud and extinguishing the sun were one and the same goal, and all were working together in almost unprecedented unity towards a single goal. A unity that was soon shaken by the two who have become dubbed the Enemies of the Immortal Midnight, the first of whom met being the cruel Wraithlord, Haundemoi, who discovered their plan and immediately sought to oppose it, as such would most assuredly affect the control he had over the region's Underworld. Daring to aggressively seek a solution to their new enemy's hindrances, they soon realized that Haundemoi was himself in league with a traitorous Necromancer named Horacio Giovanni Jr. who secretly did everything he could to oppose his clan's goals to tear down the Shroud, for reasons similar to the Wraithlord's. Now, the Four Allies and the partnership of Horacio and Haundemoi have reached a nigh-impassable stalemate; Reyes and Vescovo have enough blackmail on Horacio to keep him from making too many overt moves, and vice versa. Meanwhile Haundemoi hunts the fugitive Hargos without mercy or respite, claiming to “protect the natural balance, out of necessity,” but in truth he is far more concerned with remaining the “protector.” Finally, the lupine was approached by Horacio and Haundemoi and made aware of the lies he has been told concerning the group's true goals, and wrestled with his own, anxious doubts before ultimately disappearing.
The two opposing sides, though never having engaged in actual combat, seem to be too evenly matched, at least enough that any physical conflict between them would undoubtedly result in a much larger conflict than either of them could contain. As a result, the two groups have resorted to a subtle game of move and counter-move as they try to outmaneuver each other physically, politically and supernaturally; a deadly chess-game of the minds between inhuman intellects far too devious—or powerful—to make an exploitable mistake. Unfortunately—and irritatingly—for the Four Allies however, the Enemies of the Immortal Midnight continue to “win,” as the sun continues to rise each new dawn.

Background: Vescovo Giovanni always just seemed to fit in with his fellow family members, regardless of what others thought of them, and the transition to thinking of his family as his Clan seemed a natural one. First gifted with the Proxy Kiss by an “uncle” while a member of the Roman-Catholic Church, there he learned how to respect the established pecking order. When it soon became time for his Embrace, he went on to excel at the deadly game of social-ladder climbing among his “new” family, having taken advantage of the opportunity to observe the true Giovanni leadership from an outside vantage-point. Applying this newfound talent in his residual mortal life as well, he relocated closer to the real Giovanni operations and entered the mortal church there, where he also “shined brightly”—according to his fellow clergy. He had proven adept at avoiding the notice of the Ventrue, Lasombra and other kindred already deeply entrenched in the mortal Church and maneuvering around them to accomplish the goals of his clan and himself. Always with the right associates and able to provide pleasing news to his superiors, he soon had them convinced he was one of their “miracle progeny” and was allowed to follow his own paths of study quite early on. Taking advantage of this, Vescovo took his time, appeasing the elders with minor projects he randomly started, finished and promptly turned away from as if forgotten; meanwhile he became a Diocesan Bishop in the Catholic Church and constructed a safe and secure position for himself from within.
Perhaps it was the influence of becoming mired in the politics of the human religion, or maybe he had always been so inclined, but eventually he settled on focusing his attention on the clan's pursuit of the Endless Night—a quest to enact a ritual requiring 100,000,000 departed souls as a sacrifice that can permanently erase the barrier between the real world and the realm of the dead—what he felt would be, ultimately, the most fruitful of all the family's goals to attach himself to. His unique—though some called it ignorant—views on how simple it should actually be amused, then angered the anziani above him, and he would often spend nights on end in heated debate with Necromancers more than three times his age or more. All the while his preaching was being barely tolerated because of the casual ease with which he continued to prove himself exceptional in; though his words were reinforced with little factual support, for almost the next one hundred years he devotedly researched, categorized and contemplated his clan's approach to achieving the Endless Night. His work did not go unrecognized though, and his notes were circulated among many scholars-of-the-dead amongst the clan. When he returned to debate his views on the Endless Night again this time, he did more than turn a few ears, he caught nearly everyone's attention.
He claimed to have made contact with not just one, but multiple “agreeable” parties that were not only in positions to promisingly aide them in their world-changing mission, but who would also support it fully. The Giovanni were not the only ones with similar goals: there have always been radical Lasombra who dreamed similar dreams; dark lupines who would risk the sun to strengthen their dark, stormy totems; and of course, the ghosts of those who wish to have never died, and roam the world of the Living once more. Vescovo never let on that the situation had all but fallen into his lap and he literally presented with what he felt was a golden situation, and so, no one else among the Necromancers ever caught on, and they continued to believe in the young Giovanni's excellence.
After he told the anziani of how he had essentially convinced his allies that all of their goals were one and the same, he proudly returned to the Four Allies and informed them that they would have the full resources and support of his clan. Where each of them had to sneak and deceive and hide their actions from the weak hearts of those in their own clan (or tribe, or Guild), Vescovo would gladly provide the resources the others needed. His three “allies” each felt like they had a “Clan-Giovanni-secret-weapon” in their partnership with him, meanwhile they opened avenues of resources to him that he was nearly trembling with anticipation over to exploit.
While he may have the rest of the world fooled though, with the Four Allies it is a different story. It may sound like a joke but... what you get when you put a Giovanni, a Lasombra, a lupine and a ghost in a room together? You get arguments at seriously high tension levels and meaningful, reliable threats of Final Death thrown about almost casually. The others in the fourfold alliance know that Vescovo isn't perfect—in fact, they're sure of it—and they keep intensely scrutinizing attentions focused on him at almost all times. Regardless, the “model” Necromancer continues to test the boundaries of their alliance by taking every advantage he can to gain as much insight he can into the power structures and mystical capabilities of his fellow Allies. In turn, they tolerate this annoyance in exchange for the “fascinating” bits of stale, old, outdated or defunct material or information he brings them. He and the anziani are sure that the others are feeding Vescovo the exact same useless, misleading junk, which both sides will eventually run out of, but he's convinced that the trade-off will be worth it in the end and he'll still be able to withhold key, necessary secrets from the Four Allies when the time comes.
Image: Vescovo Giovanni seems to have everything going for him, from his perfectly placed hair to his elegant clothes as a Catholic Bishop, from his overwhelmingly charming smile to his immortal good looks—even the company he keeps always seems to say something about him and make him look more impressive. Tall, dark and handsome are good words to describe this ghost-enslaving, corpse-controlling, blood-sucking murderer posing as a spiritual leader in the “world's largest religion.”
Roleplaying Hints: You learned as a young, mortal man that everybody needs something, and whoever can provide that something can gain power over them. Luckily, you were naturally good at most things that you tried and the Embrace gave you just the extra boost you needed to push you to the next level of capability. Now, when those around you have needs, from clanmates to the ghosts you enslave to the members of your diocese, you really can provide them with everything they need... the list of individuals that currently owe you favors would probably shock those who heard it aloud.
Smile a lot—you're lucky enough to have almost perfect features, use them. You naturally make most women feel at ease and the men whose jealousy keeps them distant, you can always win over with your open, friendly ways. Laughing pleasantly sets others at ease, or sets them off-balance long enough to take advantage of. When you speak, use as vocabulary as you believe your audience can understand, and make them feel smarter by assuming they know whatever common knowledge you were about to explain anyway. Gauge the comfort zones of those you meet and find the best way to get close to them—you can use everyone, eventually.
Listen a lot—bide your time and strike when the moment is right. As you shake with your right hand, make sure your left can always access your dagger, so-to-speak. People, kindred—even wolves and dead things, apparently—are all fools, seemingly eager to confide all their secrets in you. Gather those secrets up and keep them until you need them to start subtly pulling the marionette strings of those you find useful to your goals. Oh, and by the way, your goals are pretty straightforward and “honest,” at least by Giovanni standards... but the Elders are as retarded as the “bad” half of your mortal family if they think you won't end up with some sort of “ultimate position” out of it in the end—perhaps you'll enjoy sitting on Uncle Augie's right-hand side for a while....

Clan: Giovanni
Sire: Great Aunt Bibiana
Nature: Conniver
Demeanor: Care-Giver
Generation: 9th
Embrace: late 15th Century
Apparent Age: late 20's to early 30's
Physical: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3
Social: Charisma 3, Manipulation (Believable) 4, Appearance (Friendly) 4
Mental: Perception 3, Intelligence 3, Wits 4
Talents: Alertness 3, Athletics 1, Awareness 2, Brawl 1, Empathy 3, Intimidation 1, Leadership 2, Streetwise 2, Subterfuge 2
Skills: Crafts 1, Etiquette 2, Larceny 1, Performance (Impressive Answers) 4, Stealth 1
Knowledges: Academics 4, Finance 4, Investigation 1, Law 2, Occult 2, Politics 2
Disciplines: Dominate 2, Necromancy 5, Potence 2, Obfuscate 3, Obtenebration 2
Necromantic Paths: Sepulchre Path 5, Ash Path 3
Necromantic Rituals: Eldritch Beacon, Insight, Knowing Stone (Level One), Puppet, Two Centimes (Level Two), Din of the Damned, Tempesta Scudo (Level Three), Peek Past the Shroud (Level Four)
Backgrounds: Allies (The “Four Allies”) 4, Contacts 2, Fame (Diocesan Bishop) 2, Influence (The Church) 2, Retainers 3, Resources 4, Herd 2
Virtues: Conviction 3, Instinct 4, Courage 3
Morality: Road of Bones 6
Bearing: Silence, +/- 0
Willpower: 5
Merits: Proxy Kissed (4 pt. Supernatural), Spirit Mentor (“Hargos;” 3 pt. Supernatural)
Flaws: Addiction (Tobacco, 3 pt. Physical), Phobia (2 pt. Mental), Short Fuse (2 pt. Mental)

Background: Vescovo Giovanni always just seemed to fit in with his fellow family members, regardless of what others thought of them, and the transition to thinking of his family as his Clan seemed a natural one. First gifted with the Proxy Kiss by an “uncle” while a member of the Roman-Catholic Church, there he learned how to respect the established pecking order. When it soon became time for his Embrace, he went on to excel at the deadly game of social-ladder climbing among his “new” family, having taken advantage of the opportunity to observe Giovanni leadership from an outside vantage-point. Applying this newfound talent in his residual mortal life as well, he relocated closer to the real Giovanni operations and entered the mortal church there as an elder member of the clergy, where he also “shined brightly”—according to his fellow clergy. He had proven adept at avoiding the notice of the Ventrue, Lasombra and other kindred already deeply entrenched in the mortal Church and maneuvering around them to accomplish the goals of his clan and himself. Always with the right associates and able to provide pleasing news to his superiors, he soon had them convinced he was one of their “miracle progeny” and was allowed to follow his own paths of study quite early on. Taking advantage of this, Vescovo took his time, appeasing the elders with minor projects he randomly started, finished and promptly turned away from as if forgotten; meanwhile he became a Diocesan Bishop in the Catholic Church and constructed a safe and secure position for himself from within.
Perhaps it was the influence of becoming mired in the politics of the human religion, or maybe he had always been so inclined, but eventually he settled on focusing his attention on the clan's pursuit of the Endless Night—a quest to enact a ritual requiring 100,000,000 departed souls as a sacrifice that can permanently erase the barrier between the real world and the realm of the dead—what he felt would be, ultimately, the most fruitful of all the family's goals to attach himself to. His unique—though some called it ignorant—views on how simple it should actually be amused, then angered the anziani above him, and he would often spend nights on end in heated debate with Necromancers more than three times his age. All the while his preaching was being barely tolerated because of the casual ease with which he continued to prove himself exceptional; though his words were reinforced with little factual support, for almost the next one hundred years he devotedly researched, categorized and contemplated his clan's approach to achieving the Endless Night. His work did not go unrecognized though, and his notes were circulated among many scholars-of-the-dead amongst the clan. When he returned to debate his views on the Endless Night again this time, he did more than turn a few ears, he caught nearly everyone's attention.
He claimed to have made contact with not just one, but multiple “agreeable” parties that were not only in positions to promisingly aide them in their world-changing mission, but who would also support it fully. The Giovanni were not the only ones with similar goals: there have always been radical Lasombra who dreamed similar dreams; dark lupines who would risk the sun to strengthen their dark, stormy totems; and of course, the ghosts of those who wish to have never died, and freely roam the world of the Living once more. Vescovo never let on that the situation had all but fallen into his lap and he literally presented his superiors with what he felt was a golden situation. No one else among the Necromancers ever caught on, and they continued to believe in the young Giovanni's excellence.
After he told the anziani of how he had essentially convinced his allies that all of their goals were one and the same, he proudly returned to the Four Allies and informed them that they would have the full resources and support of his clan. Where each of them had to sneak and deceive and hide their actions from the weak hearts of those in their own clan (or tribe, or Guild), Vescovo would gladly provide the resources the others needed. His three “allies” each felt like they had a “Clan-Giovanni-secret-weapon” in their partnership with him, meanwhile they opened avenues of resources to him that he was nearly trembling with anticipation over how to exploit.
While he may have the rest of the world fooled though, with the Four Allies it is a different story. It may sound like a joke but... what do you get when you put a Giovanni, a Lasombra, a lupine and a ghost in a room together? You get arguments at seriously high tension levels and meaningful, reliable threats of Final Death thrown about almost casually. The others in the fourfold alliance know that Vescovo isn't perfect—in fact, they're sure of it—and they keep intensely scrutinizing attentions focused on him at almost all times. Regardless, the “model” Necromancer continues to test the boundaries of their alliance by taking every advantage he can to gain as much insight he can into the power structures and mystical capabilities of his fellow Allies. In turn, they tolerate this annoyance in exchange for the “fascinating” bits of stale, old, outdated or defunct material or information he brings them. He and the anziani are sure that the others are feeding Vescovo the exact same useless, misleading junk, which both sides will eventually run out of, but he's convinced that the trade-off will be worth it in the end and he'll still be able to withhold key, necessary secrets from the Four Allies when the time comes.
Until then he stays content walking the line he has chosen in addition to maintaining his herd of church-going kine, always preferring those that smoke cigars or pipe tobacco—a taste acquired during his mortal days, no doubt. Oftentimes he has been known to slip away during particularly unsavory situations and retreat to his herd for a “relaxing” sip of nicotine-laced blood. Occasionally, usually when having to go without access to his preferred flavor of vitae, he can grow quite easily-perturbed, and only his silver tongue has thus far kept his occasional, irrational frenzies from becoming troublesome rumors. Between this and his near-paralyzing, secret phobia—the object of which he rarely even admits to himself, let alone let others become suspicious of—he still considers himself lucky that he has comparatively few secrets to keep, yet he remains ready for the night when he naturally develops more enemies than he can name.
Image: Vescovo Giovanni seems to have everything going for him, from his perfectly placed hair to his elegant clothes when masquerading as a Catholic Bishop, from his overwhelmingly charming smile to his immortal good looks—even the company he keeps always seems to say something about him and make him look more impressive. Tall, dark and handsome are good words to describe this ghost-enslaving, corpse-controlling, blood-sucking murderer posing as a spiritual leader in the “world's largest religion.”
Roleplaying Hints: You learned as a young, mortal man that everybody needs something, and whoever can provide that something can gain power over them. Luckily, you were naturally good at most things that you tried and the Embrace gave you just the extra boost you needed to push you to the next level of capability. Now, when those around you have needs, from clanmates to the ghosts you enslave to the members of your diocese, you really can provide them with everything they need... the list of individuals that currently owe you favors would probably shock those who heard it aloud.
Smile a lot—you're lucky enough to have almost perfect features, use them. You naturally make most women feel at ease and the men whose jealousy keeps them distant, you can always win over with your open, friendly ways. Laughing pleasantly sets others at ease, or sets them off-balance long enough to take advantage of. When you speak, use as large a vocabulary as you believe your audience can understand, and make them feel smarter by assuming they know whatever common knowledge you were about to explain anyway. Gauge the comfort zones of those you meet and find the best way to get close to them—you can use everyone, eventually.
Listen a lot—bide your time and strike when the moment is right. As you shake with your right hand, make sure your left can always access your dagger, so-to-speak. People, kindred—even wolves and dead things, apparently—are all fools, seemingly eager to confide all their secrets in you. Gather those secrets up and keep them until you need them to start subtly pulling the marionette strings of those you find useful to your goals. Oh, and by the way, your goals are pretty straightforward and “honest,” at least by Giovanni standards... but the Elders are as retarded as the “bad” half of your mortal family if they think you won't end up with some sort of “ultimate position” out of it in the end—perhaps you'll enjoy sitting on Uncle Augie's right-hand side for a while....
Clan: Giovanni
Sire: Great Aunt Bibiana
Nature: Conniver
Demeanor: Care-Giver
Generation: 9th
Embrace: late 15th Century
Apparent Age: late 20's to early 30's
Physical: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3
Social: Charisma 3, Manipulation (Believable) 4, Appearance (Friendly) 4
Mental: Perception 3, Intelligence 3, Wits 4
Talents: Alertness 3, Athletics 1, Awareness 2, Brawl 1, Empathy 3, Intimidation 1, Leadership 2, Streetwise 2, Subterfuge 2
Skills: Crafts 1, Etiquette 2, Larceny 1, Performance (Impressive Answers) 4, Stealth 1
Knowledges: Academics 4, Finance 4, Investigation 1, Law 2, Occult 2, Politics 2
Disciplines: Dominate 2, Necromancy 5, Potence 2, Obfuscate 3, Obtenebration 1
Necromantic Paths: Sepulchre Path 5, Ash Path 3
Necromantic Rituals: Eldritch Beacon, Insight, Knowing Stone (Level One), Puppet, Two Centimes (Level Two), Din of the Damned, Tempesta Scudo (Level Three), Peek Past the Shroud (Level Four)
Backgrounds: Allies (The “Four Allies”) 4, Contacts 2, Fame (Diocesan Bishop) 2, Influence (The Church) 2, Retainers 3, Resources 4, Herd 2
Virtues: Conviction 3, Instinct 4, Courage 3
Morality: Road of Bones 6
Bearing: Silence, +/- 0
Willpower: 5
Merits: Proxy Kissed (4 pt. Supernatural), Spirit Mentor (“Hargos;” 3 pt. Supernatural)
Flaws: Addiction (Tobacco, 3 pt. Physical), Phobia (2 pt. Mental), Short Fuse (2 pt. Mental)