A Storytelling Typology of Personality Horror: Clan Lasombra
(Clan symbol from here, brush from here, font from here.)
Meet our eager overlords…
Lasombra are what happens when resentful, individualistic, intelligent people are given a whiff of power’s power.
Don’t worry if your leader dies, suddenly and with no warning. There is probably a Lasombra waiting in the wings, all too happy to fill the power vacuum. Neither coincidence nor convenience is at work here.
Lasombra are proud to the point of unwarranted arrogance. It’s not just show, and it’s not a front to engender trust. The Lasombra don’t have to pretend to be strong. They know they’re strong, all the time, no exceptions. Or at least, stronger than whatever surrounds them. Unlike the Ventrue, they don’t try to lead just because they can do a better job than you, they lead because not only can they do a better job than you, but you’re shitty at running your own affairs and don’t deserve the privilege. That’s an important distinction and one they are not especially good at making clear, as they tell you only what you need to know.
With Lasombra, comparison to the Ventrue is inevitable. They are not exactly two sides of the same coin, but they are similar enough to warrant a description of the resemblances. They both are preoccupied with ambition and leadership, but the Ventrue are more likely to be born into a place of power. Lasombra feel like they have to work to that place, and any success they get is because they, as independent agents, deserve that success. Both have problems expressing weakness, but Ventrue keep their unproductive feelings to themselves. When a Lasombra is angry, the whole world suffers. Ventrue are understated, Lasombra overt. Ventrue rule from within their kingdoms, walking among those they would hold power over. A Lasombra will sometimes invite a peon up to his castle so that can can laugh at them.
Lasombra also have an enduring sense of style that rivals that of the Toreador. It is not enough that the enemies of Lasombra should suffer. Of course, sometimes a grisly deed may be done in a merely functional way, but a Lasombra will try for fashionably too all the same.
A Lasombra would rather go naked than wear charity clothing.
This fashion sense is why Lasombra can respect the Tremere, but not the Gangrel or Brujah. To be a survivor is well and good, but to survive without specific ideology or worldly ties is best of all, to gain power from nothing is best of all. Never mind that the Tremere aren’t exactly fashionable in the traditional sense. Lasombra see through that.
Lasombra are all too happy to laugh at the misfortunes of others, but they have a hard time laughing at themselves. The worst Lasombra take themselves very seriously which, much to their dismay, makes them targets of mockery. But not for very long.
The last person to make fun of a Lasombra has not been seen for years, but his detached tongue did show up in a letter specially mailed to the Prince of the city.
You must not mistake this seriousness for sincerity. A Lasombra affects the trappings of religiosity for the same reasons their engrained Just World Fallacy is so often lopsided: they do whatever puts them in the best light. Lasombra believe in giving to the poor only if they look good and people are watching. They put their faith in the church for aesthetic reasons and structural similarities to their own hierarchy. There might be a flame of legitimate faith in that mass of shadows, but a Lasombra would never tell you, lest you exploit the information for your own ends.
Lasombra do not suffer those they perceive to be fools gladly. This is the only reason why Lasombra do not bother giving their time to people they think beneath them (otherwise you bet they’d be surrounding themselves with Kindred to whom they’d look good in comparison). Lasombra do not habitually indulge charity cases because it would be bad for their blood pressure.
If you are friends with a Lasombra, know they hold you in high esteem, almost as high in esteem as they hold themselves.
They are belligerent, and have the tenacity to back up their ambition. Lasombra are many things, but they are not lazy. A Lasombra will, upon learning your school’s record for earliest graduation, mutter to herself, lock herself in her room, never come out, and beat the previous record by a year. And then, in true Lasombra style, she will put on her most beautiful dress, pour herself a drink, call the past record-holder up, and laugh at him.
To a Lasombra, everything is a competition, because every moment is a chance to prove their power, and their entitlement to that power at the expense of others.
Lasombra, when they put their minds to it, can do anything they damn well please, in ways you’d never think possible, with a flair that borders on overkill.
Unlike Tzimisce, Lasombra do not have utopian visions of the past or the forces that shape the world. They know the world is what one makes of it, and that people inevitably fuck up. The best one can do is exert control over their surroundings, and do so in a way that lets others know who deserves to rule.
At best, Lasombra are cerebral, inquisitive, and ambitious friends, and good people to have on your side. At worst, they are ‘cerebral,’ ‘inquisitive,’ and ambitious shitnerds, whose presence is made tolerable only due to their undeniable style.
Flaws and neuroses: Unable to laugh at themselves, unreasonably proud, petty, can be kind of dorky in a ‘political commentator on the internet’ way.
Value, above all else: Power
Despise, above all else: Being publicly humiliated
How to romance a Lasombra: Like their more fettered Ventrue friends, Lasombra love physical proof of your interest in them. However, unlike with the Ventrue, you needn’t take into account debilitating factors like ‘personal pride,’ or ‘tact.’ A Lasombra will never think you an equal, so don’t even try. Shower them with gifts above your price range, and hang on their words without being too pathetic. Do not make any moves on them without asking first. Lasombra see pretty much everything as a competition, and they like to win (‘like’ being an understatement…). Try to outwit them and you will find yourself crushed under their intellectual boots. Argue with them and you will go home crying. If you do get the undeniable upper hand, they’ll be too disappointed in themselves to even think about a relationship, especially with you. You might wonder why you’d would wanted to romance a Lasombra at all; it seems like a lot of effort to go through only to end up as a casualty of petty, narcissistic rage.
It turns out that Lasombra really, really good at sex. And chess, but nobody cares about chess except the Lasombra themselves.
Favorite book: The Game of Thrones series, The Prince by Machiavelli (taken at face value), anything by Ayn Rand (although Lasombra take exception to her views on religion) or Terry Goodkind
An outfit tailored to the Lasombra aesthetic sensibility can be found here.
A complete collection of Kindred personality types.
theartofmadeline
kaledo-art
tangentwithtanner
janainaart
dededos
origamiaround
germansingergirl
baratheonpilled
