I hate the Hecata thing. They reduced all the interesting clans of death to boring Giovanni. All the Death bloodlines have been wiped out essentially. There is no uniqueness about the bloodlines any more. I always hated the Giovanni as they were , well meh. They were always a wannabe Venture. I will never be able to play a Samedi again. All the unique disciplines and clan negatives have been written out of them to consolidate them. Absolute, lazy, piss poor writing!
I really like the Joshua Graham-esque narrator and art. That's an interesting twist to bring to the world of darkness but he certainly feels like he would fit right in.
Thanks a bunch! Theres a bunch of really cool creators already doing traditional storytelling of lroe for WoD so i figured id try a different approach.
@@TerrilliumV This popped up in my feed and I am impressed, I have replayed this video more than several times, so interesting and a fresh take on WoD, I would love to see more lore like this for the different clans, keep up the great work!.
That's not Joshua Graham-esque that's just straight up Joshua Graham. I was just letting lore videos play while i play games and this came on. I am honestly confused about the voice its sounds to good to be ai so i am just assuming its a the actual voice actor or a sound alike. I really cant even tell if this is the actual voice actor or not.
Why am I just finding out about this channel?? This is the type of Content we need, when t comes to Vampire The Masquerade Lore. Great job! You have a new supporter.
When working with the World of Darkness, I like to mix in Cosmic Horror as the backdrop that is really manipulating events through using supernaturals like Demons, Mages, and Vampires. There are lots of ways to explore the Lasombra and use the clan to hint that the Clan and Vampires as a whole are merely pawns in a larger cosmic game between Lovecraftian entities that make the Demons and most powerful of Wraiths shiver. Since the Lasombra clan founder had an obsession with the primordial waters. You could say that he discovered an entity that gave him the same shadow power as it gave to Caine. Where the entity speaks to the founder telepathically calling him back to the vast ocean waters and seas. Where he is a pawn to whatever grander forces that uses Vampires as tools. To the Werewolves they believe all Vampires regardless of clan or sire are all willful or unwill servants of the Wyrm, because they can see and smell the stench of the Wyrm's corruption on them. One can make in their story that all Antidelluvians and even Caine himself were all the machinations and playthings of the Wyrm or other Cosmic Horror Entities. The werewolves have tales of the Bloody Man whom the Wyrm swallowed just to spit him out changed and corrupted to spread its corrupting influence onto the world in an effort to use him and his brood to free the entity one day and devour the planet and every mortal and supernatural on it. So you can use the ocean as one of the areas where elements of the Wyrm dwell like Cthuhlu and it acts as the main puppet master in the World of Darkness that is really pulling all the strings to all supernaturals. It can also have its reach in the shadowlands of the underworld where the abyss dwells its presence. Or it can be another Cosmic horror entity that was banished to another plane of existence that forms the abyss. I also like to imagine what the Lasombra Antidelluvian has devolved into a hideous monstrosity of amorphic black shapes with many red eyes and sharp mouths like a Shoggoth, which reveals the true meaning of the curse Caine inflicted onto all the clan founders. Where. All Antidelluvians are truly immortal like Caine because he cursed them to never truly die even if their bodies were destroyed, they all will survive and devolve into hideous monsters over time whether their physical bodies were destroyed by their children or not. Where they are to become monstrosities that ultimately do the bidding of higher entities that no mortal or immortal can comprehend.
A lot of really great points here particularly the connection between the sea, the dark, and cosmic entities. One common theme in myth and origin stories, particularly from the fertile Crescent, is a hero diety(Marduk) killing a great monster and then building the world out of their body on top of the sea of chaos
I find it funny the Lasombra like dismissing the ventrue but the ventrue seems to trump them many times. Lasombra may be master manipulators but their egos are massive.
Pretty much yeah, in v5 the lasombra are categorically the lesser of the two clans. Also they're definitely not master manipulators. Otherwise they wouldn't have wrecked the sect they had running and had to kiss carmarilla boot.
@@clairestark9024They left the Sabbat because their supposed dead antedeluvian turns out to be not very dead and very much walking around.. Their entire principle of fighting and destroying the Antedeluvians died the second their Elders realizes that because the entire assumption that they can be destroyed came from the idea that they had destroyed their own elder.. There always was some doubt about the Tzimisce elder, however they were 100% sure they killed Lasombra. Which turned out to be not true, so most of the Sabbat elders of the lasombra are scared shitless and left afraid of their Eldest and his childer they killed. How do you expect the Sabbat to continue their struggle against the Antedeluvians when they have had 0 successes in the end. Besides when you look at the Camarilla and Sabbat conflict they had being doing pretty well in holding their own ground.. The Tzimisce were just there pretty much minding their own business and had almost 0 interest in the entire affair.. So I feel like your not giving the Lasombra the credit they deserve.
@@gypsyg9612 That's plot developments written by the authors not some outside force dictating how the lasombra react. The writters decided that the lasombra failed to kill their antiduluvian as a plot point. It also re enforces the noting of lasombra as spectacular failures on every level rather than dispels it. They not only failed but fled their failure like the gutless cowards they are.
@@clairestark9024 Sure and the Ventrue their influential position and powers is also written like that by the outside forces.. AKA the writers.. Because from a lore aspect there is absolutely 0 reasons why that clan should be as powerful as it is because their Antedeluvian IS dead and has being dead for quite a while. And you can say that because in every official Gehenna story so the official cannon ending he doesnt even show up.. Nowhere to be found, gone. Doesnt exist.. Unlike all the others.. So in the true cannon there seems to be only a single Antedeluvian who is truly killed prior to Gehenna and ignoring the second generation.. And that is Ventrue.. Rest of them are all alive and fine. Except Capadocius who is a wraith now after his failed ritual.. But even he still exists in the Shadowland So there is absolutely 0 reasons that the clan as viciously driven to gain power and influence is as united as it is outside of arbritary story building by those same writers.. Same as the strength of Lasombra has never being "hard power"... It is their ability to adapt themselves rapidly at every situation thrown at them. Every single clan including the Venture FEAR the Lasombra.. Especially because of their extreme ruthlessness and abilities.. Not their governing skills.
in the face of the 2nd inquisition the lasombra did not suffer much from hunters, since the lasombra penchant for controlling things from behind the scenes and their control of hte shadows make them a elusive prey indeed. However I think the Lasombra purge and defection to Camarilla killed much more lasombra than the inquisitors ever could.
@@TerrilliumV I think the lasombra are dichotomies, yes while they are vampire supremacists of the worst kind, brutal brilliant no so subtle manipulators and yah they would sell their own mothers to get ahead mentality. I think many of them esp. the older ones from before the Anarch revolt are tired of the Sabbat, who they see as brutes, no political refinement, to the game of politics, just brutal violence. Seems like while the sabbat is technically controlled by the Lasombra , the Tzimisce heavilly influenced its heart. and many Lasombra are more understanding of the delight of the game inthe Camarilla than in the Sabbat, also I think the 2nd inquisition resulted in the destruction of the Sabbat power structure and command and control, the Lasombra realized hmmm, better to retreat run away and fight another day, the ultimate survivors who will swallow their pride and join up with their archenemies the lasombra just to survive , better to serve in heaven than rule in hell or the rubble that is the Sabbat after the 2nd inquistion ate and digested it. heck even the Tzimisce has retreated from the Sabbat though I think many of them remained. with the Sabbat now ruled by the Anti tribu.
@@TerrilliumVThe Friends of the Night moved to the Camarilla as they figured out that Gratiano didn't actually destroy Lucien, so their entire Anarch Cause that lead to them forming the Sabbat was a lie. The Lasombra that remain in the Sabbat are either the extremely Young or the extremely crazy (even by Sabbat standards). My big question is what do Montano and the former Lasombra Antitrbu think about the situation.
This is the best world of Darkness video I've seen in centuries please do more like this and i love the perspective of the hunter though love a video about the hunter himself his age and what motivates him
My top 3 favorite clans is probably something like this: 1. Hecata due to how varied they are due to the consolidation of the variety of different clans making it so that you could run an entire hecata only campaign and not be boring in the least. 2. Lasombra due to their ruthlessness and access to oblivion opening the door for some Lovecraftian interactions. 3. Tzimisce due to how vicissitude enables a person to change anything they do not like about themselves and how that power slowly warps its user perspective till they have an almost alien outlook on life while possessing one of the most crippling banes.
Engaging and thorough coverage of history, interpretive variations, and talent recognition and expoitation. Beginning with the quality of Obtenebration as a cultivated dance with Abyssal architecture was thoughtful. Wrapping up 2 hours with a full-circle foreshadowing of the Discipline's key execution in sociospiritual circumstance was especially considerate, a nice... ...occulation presaging the partial eclipse of a revealed Truth. In a word: penumbral.
easily the highest quality vtm lore channel to date. Nice to hear about this stuff without the need for subtitles to understand lol. Just keep that ai voice like this and this channel will blow up if you put in the research and tell it what to say in english.
I love long format lore shit for backround noise, but the narrators voice is so important. I haven't listened to this whole thing yet but skipped a bit into it to see if I could deal with the AI voice and man AI voices are getting scary good.
First time finding your channel. Great production value, this must have taken some time to write and produce. This hunter knows more than most Lasombra elders. The SI would really wipe out kindred society with this much insight and meta level knowledge. Love your VO even with the odd pronunciation of some words like Sabbat, Diablerie, Malkavian etc. It really takes me back to the epic narration of the original transformers cartoon and 1986 movie. Look forward to watching your channel develop. Subscribed.
Such an excellent video, even with this length of details and information from the perspective of a hunter that 'survived' his encounter with such a dangerous creature of the night, one of many of the children of Cain. Only little nitpick would be the missing information of Talley the Hound and Marcus Vitel as notable Lasombra; but considering the detailed notes and information you have gathered will not be forgotten or unused. This Hunter of the Zeal Creed thanks you for your hard work and will look forward to future information and leads on our supernatural prey of the night. They will not find sucker in this world of darkness.
The Giovanni now hecata are also formidable having survived the Lasombra, the two share the same playgrounds in Southern Europe Italy and Spain, Portugal. and its telling the Giovanni does not really have Camarilla support but their control over wraiths is formidable and serves as a perfect foil for the Lasombra's control of the shadows, and in the latest edition both their powers overlap just different flavours of control of Oblivion, and I also consider the Baali's control of Daemonion and Dark Thaumaturgy to be another aspect of Oblivion.
@@TerrilliumV the lasombra have a love hate relationship with teh Baali and infernalism, yah the Lasombra have a strong influence on the Sabbat inquisition, and the Muslim and Catholic religions and the official lines is that infernalism should be destroyed and stamped out on sight but interestingly the Black angels Lasombra infernalist factions are tolerated while the Baali and other infernalists are destroyed on sight. Not surprised just like the Tremere , they will use anything to further their ends and that includes infernalism, just dont get too near and get burned.
@johnwalsh4857 Its because despite the lasombras control over religion, they dont actually believe it. They never even believed the sabbats religious views, simply claimed they did and used them for their own end. The lasombra arent believers, theyre nihilists whove noticed that fanaticism is often more reliable than loyalty, and much easier to bend towards new targets. The lasombra use whatever means they can get their hands on, even if they take a public stance against it. Theres nothing a lasombra wont do to get what they want, and that becomes even more extreme when their compulsion kicks in. Thats why the lasombra are the most powerful clan. Theyre fighting the ventrue for their positions, theyve overtaken the usefulness of the brujah, and theyre fighting the banu hakim for dominion over the tremeres base of power using necromancy and obtenebration (shadow sorcery) and a more reliable counterpart to traditional blood sorcery. Lasombra and hecata are the only 2 clans to have mastered the sorcerous potential of oblivion, and theyre slowly mastering typical blood sorcery aswell. The lasombra are without a doubt the deadliest of the clans. They dont play political games with other clans, only with eachother, because why play politics with those below you? If a lasombra wants you dead, the they can easily make the night just as deadly to another kindred as daylight. Lasombra are the only clan capable of indiscriminately killing an entire building of people with a single action asside from the hecata, who have to take a page from the lasombra to do so. The lasombra are also more unified than any other clan asside from the hecata. Before them, the tremere were but now the tremere are scattered and afraid. The lasombra are so unified, that even lasombra antitribu are considered typical lasombra, and retain full rights within the friends of the night. The lasombra dont care about sides. they care about success. the gifts of caine are nothing but a tool to be used, and they go to who will use them the best, not who plays politics right. Generation is a valuable resource. Use it well or have it redustributed to someone who will.
I guess you could connect the Baali's dark powers with a connection to Oblivion. Even the Nephandi have their link to it too, which is why they are so crazy. I never really considered the Baali's powers in this way, but it could make a lot of sense. All infernal power(s) having an origin in Oblivion's destructive nature.
@@Chann223 Its said that most of these abilities are all somehow linked to the abyss. With obtenebration being the most direct link. So mabye the other pull from the abyss but also other sources at the same time?
Let me tell you all something, Vampires are the darkness that darken the darkness itself, they are the heart of darkness and one of the very few worlds that touches this fact is the Lasombra Vampires.
Another version of Lasombra's "last day" was that they did find a "guardian" in his resting place. It was Montano, the eldest and most loyal childe of Lasombra, ready to mop the floor with his younger sibling Gratiano and his new "friends" but to their surprise, he walked away and just let them pass. Stories suggest that he was ordered by Lasombra to not do anything and let them in, and so he did what his sire asked. Further supporting the rumor that Lasombra's supposed "diablerie" was all part of his own plan. A theory even suggests that it wasn't just an order, his memories of that day was tampered to a degree, to make sure that he doesn't stop the rebels from breaking in. No vampire, other than Lasombra, was capable of doing that to someone like Montano at the time. This eventually led to Montano just being done with all the politics and shit, so he moved away, set up in a secret haven somewhere in the world and closed himself away studying the Abyss.
@TerrilliumV there was a channel I followed 4 or 5 years ago, Scientia Antiquorum, that did some WoD videos in similar format, just narrated by human. Was very good, but what you've done here is better.
Found you on Facebook going through reels and came across a few spine chilling reels and I just have to say, so far I am loving the videos! Keep up the great fucking work!
back before the 2nd inquisition it was Sabbat Lasombra policy to hunt down Lasombra antitribu with extreme prejudice esp. the ones who reside int he Camarilla. I find it interesting that while the Amici Noctis makes pretense that no lasombra can be destroyed by another without their ruling while the Sabbat hunts the antitribu down. Im nost surpirsed the Sabbat lasombra get around this by using proxies from other clans to try to destroy Lasombra antitribu and not getting their hands dirty.
amazing, really makes me wish for the rest of clans ( maybe even bloodlines) in this long format - also poor hunter, how much is he a player and how much is he being played?
i hope future episodes have subtitles. especially when talking about unusual words or names. like La Som beau?? Lao Somme Bo??? Lason Bro?? i just can't.. 😂
Id have to see for morbus since theres not a huge amount on it but theres enough i could make like a 5-6 video on something like that. I have no idea who the plague dogs are tho ill have to look into that.
Given that Vlad became a self made goul, as did his axes, howcome the hunters don't all use vitae to equal the odds? I mean if I were a hunter I would thin out the numbers of the recent generation of vamps, and have a larder stacked with steaked with them. And if different clan vitae gives different powers then all the more reason to stackvup and drink them dry.
I cant be the only one that feels like Joshua Graham was voicing this video 😂 Very good format and good content, I look forward to more! Have a subscription, you earned it
The one concern I have about your videos is the wide difference between depth of content. I agree Lasombra has a lot of info, but Tzimisce are pretty complex and that video is significantly different in length.
That was my first attempt at making longer videos. I didnt have the clan book for them at the time either. I will remake the tzimisce one at some point. I agree its too short.
gratiano de veronese is probably 4th to 5th gen. lasombra, and nope he did no diablarize lasombra heck not surprised if his mind got rearranged by Lasombra or he is just a shadow puppet.
I like to think that Lasombra got away and he just spinned it into him doing the deed. Which is still a smart move. At my table, another elder got to lasombra first and made Gratiano tell the rest of the clan that he did it so that the other vampire could kinda just do w.e. they wanted.
clan lasombra for all their bluster of destroying their antedelluvian and being so arrogant as to say theyi are the cleverest of all vampires all these boasts turn out to be laughable to the extreme when their antedelluvian not only survived but also manipulated and controlled the clan in secret with the Amici nocti and the Lasombra head guys being either unaware or were aware but were helpless puppets. Very amusing.
Outstanding video. First time seeing the channel, and of course Lasombra are my favorite clan in Vampire lore. I am curious, however: I absolutely love the artwork that appears at the 30:21 mark. Whose artwork is that, so I can hopefully go see more of it?