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Gratiano de Veronese is the youngest childe of the Lasombra Antediluvian and allegedly the one who committed diablerie on him.

Biography[]

I changed it! I turned a handful of whining children into something that could pull Antediluvians off their thrones! Me! Every vampire there ever was marched to the founders' beat all the way back to the Flood. I decided to do something else, and did it. Without me there'd be no Sabbat. And without the Sabbat there'd be no Camarilla. The entire face of Cainite society is what it is because of me.
  —  Gratiano de Veronese

Gratiano was born into Italian nobility, the Veronese family. He had come to know all the advantages of wielding power. The early part of the twelfth century was a curious age of Popes and Anti-Popes; of holy wars within Christendom; of the Italian nation trading happily with the German nation invading it. Gratiano battled with all his substantial might and power to keep Italy strong, knowing birth tied his power to its. Thus he used treaties, trade agreements and troops as weapons against the Holy Roman Empire. But it seemed nothing could stem the tide of endless invasions. As the armies of the Empire came closer to seizing the Papacy from Rome, the Italians desperately sought a new strategy.

Amid high hopes for peace (and praise), the young Gratiano embarked on a series of diplomatic missions to the court of the Holy Roman Emperor to negotiate for greater autonomy. After months of futile bargaining, however, he realized his countrymen's insincerity in the negotiations. That they sent him, him of all people, only to stall, was unbearable to the ambitious young man. His bitterness grew as he saw the dazzling wealth of the Emperor's court, and he slowly began adopting German customs. This, coupled with the lack of action on his investiture, began severing his ties to his homeland. A German noble quickly noted Gratiano's dissatisfaction and began working on him. In short order, the Italian patriot agreed to betray his Pope and his people in return for a German estate and entry into the clergy of the Holy Roman Empire. He maneuvered the elderly patriarch of his family into signing away valuable territorial control to the Holy Roman Empire, and laid the groundwork for a siege of northern Italian cities. His glee at how well the plan caught his family off guard knew no bounds, and his happiness would have been complete if not for the intervention of an ancient vampire.

Gratiano's base betrayal of his own family caught the eye of the founder of the Lasombra clan of vampires. Though long separate from the mortal world, the founder still covertly manipulated Italian politics. Gratiano's cunning and malice so impressed him that he decided to take the noble into his vampiric family. Lasombra fervently believed his progeny should not be taken by force, but instead Embraced only when they wanted a vampiric existence as passionately and as desperately as they desired their next breaths. He believed, as do many other Kindred, that ties of true loyalty are far stronger than the supernatural ties of the Blood. So, before Gratiano could savor his German estate, Lasombra arranged for him to return to Verona to hammer out the agreement's fine details. The young man feared an eleventh-hour return to the people he was betraying, but knew all his work depended on it. Upon his arrival, he found his family waiting with manacles. They ambushed him, beat him and placed him under house arrest. When the armies of the Holy Roman Empire did not come to release him, he began to despair that all his plans had come to nothing. Lasombra rose from his deep sleep to make a late-night visit to the imprisoned young man. Passing through the cell walls, the intimidating Antediluvian offered to intercede for the stunned youth in return for utter loyalty. To his surprise, Gratiano did not jump at the offer, and showed skepticism about joining the mysterious Lasombra. He already had plans for his own release, and felt confident his personal charm would win the day in a battle against his weakened family. Still, Gratiano's doubts were assuaged by the continued presence of the ancient vampire, and eventually Gratiano accepted, seeing a sure path to safety and power.

As the Antediluvian congratulated himself on a fine addition to his line, Gratiano began looking for ways to take his sire's place. He easily surmised that Lasombra was looking for an enthusiastic, eager son, so he put on a great display of enthusiasm and loyalty. Gratiano's cleverness deceived the Antediluvian utterly, but the ancient vampire's elder childe, Montano, was not so easily duped. Montano, a powerful warrior and leader of Lasombra's elite Victory Corps, saw through the young man's duplicity. He warned his sire of his misgivings, but Lasombra scoffed, accusing the loyal Montano of rank jealousy towards his new brother. For years Gratiano seemed to fulfill the Antediluvian's hopes. When the master was around, he was a loyal, fawning toady. When he was away from his sire, he constantly tested the practical limitations of his ties. Lasombra felt refreshed after taking a new son, and never suspected Gratiano of disloyalty, especially after Montano convinced him to ensure the Italian's loyalty with a Blood Bond. He never guessed Gratiano was the last son he would ever take.

After his Embrace, Gratiano delighted in the routine use of Abyss mysticism and desired immediate respect, hating the thought that high status would take centuries to earn. He became jealous of his vampiric brother, Montano, who was highly popular in the Lasombra Court, due mostly by his military victories.

The young nobleman traded the precarious world of Italian intrigue for the ferocious world of vampire politics. During the following centuries, he learned the ways of the Kindred and became adept at the stratagems they used against one another. He also bridled at the rigid status system locking Montano and Lasombra's other sons above him in a fixed, immutable hierarchy. His daring had rocketed him to power in the mortal world, but now he found himself in a cold world where lifespans were measured in millennia and rapid ascensions were impossible. He wanted immediate respect and hated the thought that high status would take centuries to earn. His hatred was further fueled by the successes of Montano, who enjoyed great popularity in the Italian court and military victories abroad. Gratiano continued to do as he was told, but his heart burned once more with traitorous venom.

We young ones often spoke in the early morning, just before slumber, about the desirability of fresh opportunity. What distinguished Gratiano was that he dared to act on it.
  — Brother Oso, Clanbook: Lasombra Revised


In the 15th century, when the Anarchs made appeals to Gratiano, he was very tempted. It was not until he learned that they could break his blood bond that he was compelled to join their cause. They held a secret midnight ritual which involved twelve anarchs to help break Gratiano's bond with his sire. Released from his bond, Gratiano was now in a position to plan a sinister plot to bring down [Lasombra].

In 1413, he aligned with the Assamites to setup an anarch assault on his own castle, the Castle of Shadows, in Sicily, where [Lasombra] was in torpor. Gratiano's well devised plan allowed the Anarchs to succeed in over-running the Lasombra Clan's High Court. Most of the elders were killed and anyone left was converted. Gratiano and his men infiltrated the Antediluvian's tomb and destroyed whatever was there. It is unclear whether or not he committed diablerie on his master, as there are no eyewitnesses around.

Later Gratiano convened the Amici Noctis and presented them with the deed already done. They could condemn him. Indeed, he dared them to do so, taunting them that if they did not stop him now, he would remake the clan into something altogether new. The Friends listened and stepped aside. Some Friends chose to join with Gratiano's revolt. Others kept quiet and let events unfold. The great rebel announced that unlike Augustus Giovanni, he would not claim the status of clan founder. He was, he said, quite content being a member of clan Lasombra, now that the monster which once defined the clan was gone. Now every member of the clan could decide for himself what the lineage meant and act accordingly. No single will would thereafter run the clan. Gratiano explicitly rejected the role and "suggested" that the Friends of the Night not anoint a successor. Montano frantically campaigned against this step, but to no avail. He and a handful of his supporters became a roving clan-in-exile and were dubbed by some unknown wit among the Friends as an "anti-tribe."

Conspiracy theorists often wonder why someone as potent as Gratiano would settle for the rank of Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, and a footloose existence. He does admit that one place does not hold his attention for long, considering that when he had seen all of what he could do with the area's Lasombra, he would be on his way somewhere else.[1]

Appearance[]

Gratiano de Veronese seldom stood out in a fashionable crowd, even halfway around the world from his home. In the centuries since he drew his last breath, aristocracies had intermingled... until he unleashed his powers, he was just one more short man with long brown hair and wearing this season's second most expensive suit from Yves St. Laurent. He walked confidently and (this was the only unusual touch) quite conspicuously turned to look at his fellow pedestrians. He wore a flashy silver suit with metallic threads in the seams. He also wore a broad smile.

Gallery[]

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