Ghiberti

The Ghiberti family is a branch-family of the Giovanni focused on Africa, who are best known for having developed their own necromantic path, the Cenotaph Path.

Originally Italian, the Ghiberti were acquired in the early 17th century when it became obvious how much money was just waiting to be made in the triangle trade between the United States, West Africa and the West Indies. The ruthless Ghiberti Kindred developed an aptitude with the imbambo and the fourfold soul of the Dark Kingdom of Ivory that no other Giovanni could match, and they leveraged that advantage for all it was worth. They also got in on the lucrative underground slave trade early, and in some ways helped establish it -- an industry they support to this day. Studying the strange powers of the ghostly Moriman, the Ghiberti learned to trace wraiths and bind them. Experienced Ghiberti Kindred recognized that mystically compelling the dead required an extensive knowledge of the ghosts to be so commanded. Whereas many among the family content themselves with mastery of the occasional wraith and the means to affect corpses or the Underworld, more erudite practitioners looked into necromantic means to unearth locations or objects holding strong ties to the dead (in necromantic circles also known as Fetters).

In the Modern Nights, the Ghiberti family there has gradually been shifting its attention toward the region’s ever-present conflicts. From Sierra Leone to Burundi, Ghiberti mercenaries hire themselves out to create terror (or, if you prefer, “tactical opportunities") and implement genocidal pogroms (“suppress civilian unrest”). Their prices are high, their results are undeniable, and their one requirement is that their methods go unexamined. This often leads to struggle with the native supernaturals, like the Laibon, who see the Ghiberti not only as reminders of a shameful past, but also as invaders in their own turf.