More on the Salubri, including both forms of the Valeren Discipline, can be found in the Dark Ages:
Storytellers Companion.
Giovanni
The Giovanni family is one of the newest addi- tions to the ranks of the Cainites. This Venetian merchant family was brought into the night by the scholarly Cappadocian clan for two reasons. First, the Giovanni family’s vast wealth helps pay for books and other items needed for the continued research of the
G
IOVANNI AT AG
LANCESobriquet: Graverobbers. Within the
Cappadocian clan, the Giovanni are sometimes called Nigrimancers.
Appearance: The Giovanni like to show off
their wealth, dressing in fine clothes and wearing jewelry. Many of them are also slightly on the heavy side, a sign of good living, though the Embrace strips away some of it. Almost all Giovanni are Italian, though this runs the gamut from blondes descending from natives of the Po plain to those so black-haired and swarthy they could almost pass for Arabs.
Haven and Prey:It is rare for a Giovanni not to
have enough resources or family contacts to afford a house. Those who serve or tutor other Cappadocians make their havens along with said Cappadocians. Some Giovanni prefer drinking from corpses, while others often frequent the whorehouses of whatever city they occupy.
The Embrace: Almost all Giovanni are Em-
braced by fellow Giovanni, often one who is closely related. Most Giovanni prospects are given a lengthy, though usually somewhat edited, introduction to what is to happen to them.
Character Creation:Giovanni who specialize
in nigrimancy favor Mental Attributes and Knowledges, while merchants tend to focus on So- cial Attributes as primary and possess a good mix of Skills and Knowledges. Except for Generation and Status, all Backgrounds are appropriate for a Giovanni, though Resources and Retainers rank
highest, followed by Contacts and Influence. Most Giovanni follow the Road of Humanity, while a few follow the Road of Kings (especially the Path of the Merchant; see Road of Kings) or the Road of Bones.
Bloodline Disciplines: Auspex, Fortitude,
Mortis (usually the Path of Nigrimancy is primary, but this is not a requirement)
Weakness:The Giovanni are Cappadocians
and suffer the same weakness listed on p. 67 of Dark
Ages: Vampire. In addition, a surprisingly large
number have manifested the Grip of the Damned Flaw (p. 309 of Dark Ages: Vampire), for un- known reasons.
Organization:The Giovanni are a merchant
family and organize themselves as such. Those who are serving or tutoring Cappadocians become part of the parent clan’s organization, but others report to higher-placed members of the hierarchy, some- times actually answering to some old and experienced mortal. The current mortal patriarch is Paolo Giovanni, the mistress of the Nigrimancers is Gianneta Giovanni, and the ultimate leader is, of course, Augustus.
Quote: It may interest you to know that the Warlord that you have expressed such antipathy against has been meeting secretly with several prominent Nosferatu. How do I know? That is of no concern. However, I would like a small favor concerning the dockside taxes.…
Cappadocians. Second, the Giovanni were, and still are, masters of nigrimancy, magic capable of interact- ing with and controlling the spirits of the dead. The Cappadocians, renowned both for their scholarly pur- suit of the secrets of death and their curiosity, could hardly afford to pass up such an opportunity.
History
The history of the Giovanni family can be traced back to the Roman empire. Ancient scrolls and tab- lets record transactions made by the Jovian family in the time of Mark Antony, and the family even man- aged to place one of its members on the throne for a short time. It was in those days that the family began to delve into nigrimancy, probably as an extension of basic Roman ancestor worship. The Jovians were not the only ones communing with the dead in those days, but they were the only ones who managed to turn their
powers to financial gain, calling up the spirits of dead rivals and past masters of trade alike.
With the fall of Rome, many of the Jovian family fled, along with hundreds of other Romans. They settled on islands in the north of Italy, and toward the end of the fifth century AD, these islands had begun to unite into what would become Venice. It was also during this time that the loose federation of families that shared the Jovian name united to present a more common front, turning them into the merchant fam- ily they are in current nights.
The true emergence of the Giovanni family began in the early eighth century, during the schism between the Iconoclasts and the Iconodules, the two factions within the Church who debated whether or not the use of pictures and statues as objects of worship was a sin (the Iconoclasts believed it was, the Iconodules did not). The Jovians found themselves in dire straits because their family name came from the Roman god Jove, so after much deliberation, the leaders of the family decided to side with the Iconoclasts (and the Pope), changing the family name to Giovanni. This “new” merchant family
allied itself clearly with the papacy and began to curry favor with Rome, going so far as to remain Catholic when the rest of Venice was Orthodox.
The power, wealth and influence of both Venice and the Giovanni family were steadily growing when, in 975, a man named Augustus Giovanni became patriarch of the most powerful branch of the family. Augustus was not only a master nigrimancer, a genius and an expert in trade, he was also ruthless, ambitious, possessed of an iron will and, above all, a visionary. He united the factions of the Giovanni family like none before and he made them the most powerful merchant family in all of Europe. While doing this, he also researched many foreboding secrets, adding greatly to the nigrimancy rituals known by the family.
M
ORTALN
IGRIMANCERSC
he Giovanni family practiced nigrimancy before they were brought into Clan Cappadocian. Many mortals in the family still practice the black art. The Embrace, however, facilitates nigrimancy immensely. Augustus laid the groundwork for the Nigrimancy Path of Mor- tis along with Cappadocius and powerful members of the Cappadocian clan and Giovanni family, making it much easier for vampires to perform the basics of nigrimancy.In order to simulate mortal nigrimancy, use the rules for the Nigrimancy Path presented in Chapter Four, but with the following changes: A mortal
nigrimancerhas a special Trait called Nigrimancy,
rated from 1 to 5. Merely possessing this Trait does not allow one to use nigrimancypowers. Each power described for the Nigrimancy Path is instead treated as a ritual of equal level. The time it takes to cast such a ritual is either five minutes or twice the time it takes to use the power normally, whichever is greater. In addition, ritual tools (which vary from practitioner to practitioner but usually include bones, crucifixes, ancient texts, etc.) are always needed. Mortal nigrimancers can also use Mortis rituals of nigrimancy, but these take three times the time they would for a Cainite.
Mortals cannot learn standard Mortis powers as rituals.
G
HOSTLYS
ERVANTS8
t is possible, through the use of the Path ofNigrimancy and either rituals, threats or
cajoling, for a Giovanni to bind a ghost to herself, making it her servant. With the Storyteller’s per- mission, a Giovanni’s player may declare that one or more of her character’s retainers is a ghost. Certain stipulations apply:
• A ghost is considered a remarkable retainer (meaning that one ghost represents a Retainers rating of 3 or more).
• A character needs to have at least three dots in Nigrimancy, or a Mentor or Ally who does.
• Ghosts have certain powers, but also limita- tions. All ghosts posses Heightened Senses (as Auspex 1). They can walk through solid objects, though doing this often weakens them. Common powers for a ghost include low to medium levels of Auspex, Chimerstry, Dementation, Mortis (Ca- daverous Animation) and Thaumaturgy (Creo Ignem and Rego Motus). Some more powerful ones might have Vessel (Dominate 5), high levels of Chimerstry or the power to manifest solidly for a few seconds. Ghosts need to expend Essence to power their abilities, specifically those that affect the living (or undead) or would cost blood or Willpower. Ghostly Essence is usually regenerated at the rate of one point per day, though rituals exist that can transfer Essence to ghosts. The Storyteller sets the power level for a ghostly retainer, usually a single common power in addition to Heightened Senses. Ghost cannot enter areas of holy ground and shy away from both holy persons and demons. See pp. 297-298 of Dark Ages: Vampire for more on Ghost Traits.
Then, in 1004, Augustus received an offer he could not refuse: the offer of the Embrace by one of the most powerful beings in the world. Augustus and the leaders of the Giovanni family treated this as a business proposal, and the deliberations lasted an entire year. In the end, however, Augustus’ lust for power meant that he could not ignore this chance. Augustus was brought to Mount Erciyes. There, despite the protestations of several of Cappadocius’ closest advisors and childer, he was Embraced.