Clan Information : Giovanni The Giovanni are respectful, genteel and well-mannered.
Affluent beyond imagination, Clan Giovanni traces its roots back to before the
Renaissance, to a family of merchant princes. The clan still maintains its
original home in Venice, in a thousand-year-old loggia just outside the
heart of the city. No other clan makes such a spectacle of humility and
propriety, as does the Giovanni. And no other clan hides its blasphemous secrets
as well.
According to tales whispered in Camarilla salons and Sabbat esbats, the
Giovanni's money spoiled the family, and the Venetians turned to nigrimancy
out of perverse boredom. Surprisingly enough, the family demonstrated a great
aptitude for trafficking with the dead, and their newfound abilities caught the
eye of a forgotten Antediluvian. The vampire Embraced the head of the family,
Augustus Giovanni, and brought him into the world of the Damned. This particular
Antediluvian, the legends say, had a profound interest in death, and the Embrace
of Giovanni and his family was intended to further the vampire's knowledge of
what lay beyond the wall of mortality.
The Ancient's plan worked better, albeit differently, than he'd intended.
Augustus, a cutthroat and mercenary merchant, saw the opportunity to seize his
doddering sire's power and did so, hunting and killing all of the Antediluvian's
descendants as well. After drinking the Ancient's blood, Augustus became a
member of the Third Generation and founded his own clan, the Giovanni.
Other vampires reacted with horror, and for a century, the "Devil
Kindred" Giovanni were rooted out and destroyed wherever they went.
Finally, the Giovanni sat down with the newly formed Camarilla and formed a
mutual truce. This truce guaranteed the Giovanni would not participate in the
Jyhad and would leave other vampires to their affairs. The Giovanni agreed, thus
averting the genocide they surely would have otherwise met.
Taking advantage of the other vampires' lack of involvement with them, the
Giovanni quietly continued to amass wealth and power, practicing their
Discipline of Necromancy all the while. Few believe the clan is engaged in
either practice for altruistic purposes, and recent global movements by the
Giovanni have many Kindred worried. With all that money and all those harvested
souls, something is on the horizon; it is an ill wind that blows out of Venice.
Members of the Giovanni clan are also members of the Giovanni family, and
those not Embraced often serve their Kindred relations as ghouls. The familial
tie — members of the clan are related by blood twice — ensures complete
loyalty on the part of the Giovanni. While concentrated primarily in Europe, the
Giovanni have recently been expanding into the world market, and the clan seems
to be more prolific in recent nights.
Nickname: Necromancers
Appearance: Giovanni vampires typically maintain
airs of presentability and respectability. Most Giovanni, hailing as they do
from the Italian branch of the clan, bear European features, including
fair-to-dark complexions, dark hair and solid statures. Giovanni tend to dress
well but not lavishly, preferring subtle accouterments of affluence to
ostentatious displays.
Haven: Giovanni favor havens befitting their
wealth. Mansions, palatial homes and well-appointed apartments suit the Giovanni
best, though uncommon is the Necromancer who doesn't keep a backup haven in a
sewer or graveyard. Some Giovanni involve themselves in medical power structures
and make their havens in hospitals, where plenty of cover exists and precious
blood may be taken at a whim.
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