[center][img=http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140102051056/whitewolf/images/thumb/7/72/LogoClanGiovanni.png/200px-LogoClanGiovanni.png]

[i]Whereas his kinsmen chiefly brought him up.
So much he profits in divinity,
That shortly he was graced with Doctor's name,
Excelling all, and sweetly can dispute
In th'heavenly matters of theology.
Till swoll'n with cunning, of a self conceit,
His waxen wings did mount above his reach
And melting, heavens conspired his overthrow,
For falling to a devilish exercise,
And glutted now with learning's golden gifts,
He surfeits upon cursed necromancy.

 - Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe[/i][/center]

[b]Faction Name[/b]: The Los Angeles chapter of the Giovanni family
[b]Allegiance:[/b] Independent
[b]Location:[/b] Burbank
[b]General information:[/b] The Giovanni clan is the youngest clan of Cain, and known for being the usurpers of the previously powerful Cappadocian clan. Practicers of necromancy, the Giovanni trace their history as far back as the Roman Empire, when they as humans were known as Jovians. The Cappadocians eventually embraced the family, and the Antediluvian known as Augustus Giovanni, the father of clan Giovanni, would come to defeat and usurp the Cappadocians from within. The expertise the Giovanni possess in necromancy is unmatched, and it was through this power Augustus Giovanni came to outline his goals for the clan and family. 

The specific goal is to tear down the Shroud, potentially gaining Giovanni power beyond comprehension, but the necessary rituals require huge amounts of souls, making this a goal spanning many centuries. As the years went by, the Giovanni expanded. Families like the Pisanob, Milliners and Ghiberti were incorporated into the family, with others to follow, and thus the clan continually spreads across the globe. As the Final Nights came and ran out, the Giovanni began to wonder if maybe they'd made a mistake. Maybe Augustus Giovanni had underestimated the Antediluvians; maybe the dead would become more potent if the Shroud were pulled down; maybe Caine was real and in the end all of these petty plays and power moves had been nothing but a diversion until Gehenna.

Nothing about the goal was certain, but what is certain is the turmoil Los Angeles has been in for the past two years. Ever since the Prince of the Camarilla was killed, various factions has vied for control over the city. So far, none has succeeded, least of all the Giovanni. Following the Fledgling's crusade across the cityscape, the Los Angeles chapter of the Giovanni family was left weakened, nearly obliterated. Opting to stay out of the chaos that followed, the Giovanni elders chose not to send new members to reform the chapters during the initial years, leaving the remnants in decay. Now, however, as the chaos has slowly began to subceed, the Giovanni family have decided it is time to regain their turf in the City of Angels, thus sending their foremost expert in the rebuilding and establishment of organizations, Samuel Giovanni, to restore order to the Giovanni chapter and, subsequently, expand into the filthy mess that is Los Angeles.

[hider=Samuel Giovanni]
[img=http://puu.sh/8A33e.jpg]
[b]Name:[/b] Ulisse Samuele Giovanni
[b]Generation:[/b] 7th
[b]Birth:[/b] 1418
[b]Embrace:[/b] 1465
[b]Clan:[/b] Giovanni
[b]Disciplines:[/b] Potence, Dominate, Necromancy
[b]Personality:[/b] Intelligent, calculating, ferocious and assertive, Samuel has evolved into one of the most influential members of the Giovanni clan. Throughout the latest centuries, he has established himself as the foremost diplomat of the Giovanni clan, forming a whole host of connections throughout the United States. He has specialized in rebuilding and/or reinforcing weak chapters of the family, and he excels at his job. His fame extends beyond the Giovannis, and many Kindred - especially the informed kind - has opinions about the old Venetian. Nevertheless, Samuel is far from the polished, gentle and warm figure he poses to the outside. He has delved deeper and deeper into the arts of necromancy as the years have gone by, wanting to reach the absolute bottom of the depths of knowledge. Partially neglecting his other disciplines, Samuel has become a master of his art, and his efforts continue to grow more vile and disturbing by the season. In truth, only the Tzimisce might accept Samuel for the despicable fuck that he truly is, behind the curtains.

Moreover, he maintains a very emotional and fiery relationship to his fiancé, Julie Giovanni. He values her above anything of this world, yet the two are always at odds with one another. Where Samuel is calm, patient, cunning and evil, Julie is passionate, wild, emotional and, well, less evil. As for the outside connections, Samuel holds a grudge against the Sabbath and, particularly, the Camarilla, and it is no secret amongst the Giovannis that Samyel has hurt, is hurting and continues to strive to hurt these factions.

[b]Biography:[/b] Born a few decades before the Republic of Venice would truly become a power on the seas, Ulisse is indeed one of the oldest Giovannis still undead, and arguably one of the more influential ones as well. His first years on this earth would, however, prove little indication of this. While being of the Giovanni bloodline, Ulisse's father Micheletto had proved to be nothing but a drunken sot in his life, drinking or gambling away every coin he earned. Micheletto had married Lucilla, a miserable and mentally ill prostitute from the plentiful slums of Venice. The latter gave birth to Ulisse in a small town in Friuli in 1418, marking the start of little Ulisse's horrors.

His first years, as a baby, toddler and then little kid was plagued by abuse. His mother, sinking ever deeper into the dark abyss that was her twisted mind, would beat the boy for fun, sometimes performing milder versions of torture on him. Pinching, biting, hitting, twisting, bending and scratching were adjectives apt for describing her actions far too often. Lucilla hid her demented actions from her husband, as he had given her more than one beating when she had hurt the boy before. Even so, Micheletto often hurt ulisse himself while drunk, though this was out of anger rather than enjoyment. As the years went on, things would take a turn for the worse for Ulisse, and his father became the prime evil in the house instead.

Unbeknownst to him, Ulisse's father had for a longer time had sexual feelings for his son. This was something Micheletto stubbornly denied to himself, refusing to believe he could have such feelings for his own son. It caused Micheletto to seek further comfort in alcohol, and he gradually lost his sense over the years to the point he no longer felt obligated to repress these feelings. Instead, when Ulisse was around ten years old, Micheletto began sexually assaulting him. From monthly, it became a weekly and then daily routine as Ulisse slipped deeper into depression. In fact, if it wasn't for his uncle Domenico Belmonte, Lucilla's brother, Ulisse might have well ended up like his parents. Instead, when he turned fifteen, Ulisse was allowed apprenticeship at the medium-sized shipyard in Venice that Domenico operated. While quiet and introvert, Ulisse proved to be both intelligent and practical, much to the delight of his uncle. The two developed a close relationship, as Ulisse had never had anyone who cared for him in his life before. In less than a year, Ulisse moved permanently to Domenico's rather large home in the middle of Venice, It is safe to say that Domenico sense the trouble brewing at Ulisse's home, though he had no idea about just how far these troubles actually extended, and Ulisse wasn't the sort of person who would tell anyone about his problems. 

Soon enough, Domenico made Ulisse his second hand, teaching the boy to read and calculate. At eighteen, Ulisse was already an adept shipbuilder, and a bit of a financial genius to boot. The close relationship between Domenico and Ulisse grew ever closer as the years went by, and eventually the two became lovers. Accordingly, it was heart-breaking news for Ulisse when his uncle passed away while at sea in 1439. As written in the testament of Domenico, Ulisse gained control of the shipyard. Despite his tender age and limited experience, the business flourished under Ulisse's hands. He became far more extrovert than ever before, self-confident and assertive. As his business associates in the following years guided Ulisse to out-compete specific factions, even to the point of burning up their warehouses and extorting them, little did Ulisse know his associates were ghouls of the Giovanni family, testing him as they performed the heinous act of diablerizing Cappadoccia.

The years went on, and soon enough Ulisse's shipyard was the grandest in all of Venice. Building ships for himself as well, Ulisse became an aggressive, intimidating and above all successful merchant. He earned a small fortune, and in 1463 when the Ottoman Empire declared war against Venice, he became even richer. The doge paid him ridiculous amounts of gold for warships, and Ulisse provided. It was at this time, at the height of his might, that Ulisse was introduced to the supernatural world.

His embrace was quick and uncelebratory as the turmoil amongst the Giovanni clan was far from over after the usurping of clan Cappadoccia. The elders saw great potential in their new Kindred, and while Ulisse was anything but comfortable in his new role as a creature of the night, he excelled. Growing more ferocious and cunning with every year that passed, it wasn't long before he was properly rewarded. One of the most powerful elders had one day brought Ulisse to a remote locations in the mountains north of Venice. There, the elder managed to summon the wraith of Ulisse's long dead father, Micheletto, binding him to a delicate, large vase.
[i]"Protect this vase, and you'll be able to repay your father's crimes tenfold as time passes by"[/i], the elder had explained. While not much is known about what actually happened to the vase, the common belief amongst the Giovanni family is that Ulisse has kept the vase safe to the present day, tormenting his father in ways far removed from the physical world.

Time went on, and the Republic of Venice fell. Accordingly, the Giovanni family established itself in new places. In 1796, after establishing himself as one of the most powerful figures in Venice, Ulisse fled the country as it fell to Austrian and French troops. Along with a whole host of his family, Ulisse sailed to America. In the upcoming months, the newly arrived members of the Giovanni family established themselves on the east coast, where the first Giovanni settlers had already made their mark. Ulisse changed his first name to Samuel, after his second name, in order to better fit in to an English speaking society. As winter approached, it was decided by the elders that Samuel would sire a childe. Samuel was decidedly against the whole idea, but had little choice. Worse; he didn't get to choose his childe himself. Instead, the elders had decided that a wild but talented woman called Julie. While a bloodline member of the Giovanni, the woman had been abandoned by her parents, weak and unstable people who were never embraced nor informed about their bloodline. Having made a mark in recent years, Julie had now resurfaced on the clan's radar, and it had been decided she would be embraced by Samuel. As such, Samuel had little choice in doing other than preparing for the ritual.

[b]Shared history with Julie:[/b] On that very fateful night, the 13th of December, Samuel and Julie met for the first time. Julie had left an impression on the Giovanni elders with her ruthlessness and efficiency as a hitman, and while her mental instability was a matter of some significance, it was hardly a rare trait among the Giovannis and the elders were intent on embracing her. After the ritual had concluded, Samuel was ordered to take his childe under his wings, despite his reluctance to do so. 

The pair stayed in New York under the local elder, Paulo Giovanni. Samuel as Paulo’s right hand, and Julie as Samuel’s. The latter would soon take a liking for Julie, intrigued by the fact that she, much like him, had lived her life completely unknowing of the supernatural world – something common among most people and even among some of the minor Giovanni families, but definitely not the Giovanni’s themselves. As time passed, Samuel also slowly learned of Julie’s troubled childhood, something that caused further interest. 

As years and, soon enough, decades past, Samuel very slowly but surely developed feelings for Julie who were as deep as they were unanswered. In contrast to Samuel’s reaction to learning Julie’s secrets, Julie felt more and more disgusted by Samuel the more he revealed himself to her. As cunning, patient and strong as he was, he was nevertheless as vile, filthy and degenerated as his childhood. More so, in fact. Samuel started including Julie in his necromantic experiments and rituals and had Julie been a sane individual, she would have merely hated the man. Instead, as time passed, she began to hate and admire the man in equal fashion for his daunting and merciless ways. More importantly, he was the first person since Mary Grey who actually cared for Julie, something she would often express resentment towards, but felt stronger and calmer by.

On Christmas Eve 1812, Julie was unexpectedly sent to Boston. She greatly disliked the idea of returning to the town of her childhood, but nevertheless followed Samuel’s orders. In them, Samuel had gave her an exact address to visit. Julie eventually found herself in a large empty warehouse, save for a young man tied to a chair. As she approached the gagged man, she had no idea who he was or what any of them were doing there, but when she removed the gag and he said her name, it took less than a second to recognize Richard Grey, despite the body clearly belonging to someone else. Samuel had then appeared out of nowhere, explaining that the man was her Christmas present. Julie had felt as two-faced as ever, wanting to leave and torture the man at the same time. Samuel made sure she chose the latter, and she never regretted it. That night sparked an uneven, dark romance between the two Giovanni’s that has lasted, albeit often hanging by a thread, to present day.

After that night, the two went back to New York. As strange as it seemed, killing Richard a second time made Julie feel more whole than she had ever felt. Years passed and after killing the Camarilla-controlled mayor of New York City in the 1850’s, Samuel was promoted to the new elder of the New York chapter, with Julie his right hand. The couple continued expanding Giovanni influence in the city, which like much of the rest of the United States would come to serve a much bigger role in the Giovanni clan as the 19th century went on.

They remained in charge of New York until 1923, when Samuel was sent to establish a new chapter in Chicago after the previous one had been wiped out by internal conflicts. Their reputation and prowess in Chicago had to be restored, and with Samuel in charge, it slowly but surely was. They would stay until the 1940’s before being sent to Seattle to do much the same thing they had done in Chicago. And so it would continue – Samuel and his childe being sent to various cities in America, sometimes abroad, to help re-establish chapters, conduct small operations or start entirely new chapters. Some assignments would last days, some decades. Most of the problems Samuel and Julie was sent to solve were being caused by friction with the Camarilla and Sabbath, causing Samuel, and Julie to a lesser extent, to develop an unusually strong resentment towards the organizations over the years, particularly the former. Prior to being sent to Los Angeles, the couple were assigned to Mexico, investigating a sudden disappearance of the Hidalgo family, a Mexican minor family of the Giovanni’s. What they found or didn’t find is as of yet unknown.[/hider]

[hider=Julie Giovanni]
[img=http://puu.sh/8A37q.jpg]
[b]Name:[/b] Giuliana Liboria Giovanni
[b]Generation:[/b] 8th
[b]Birth:[/b] 1760
[b]Embrace:[/b] 1796
[b]Clan:[/b] Giovanni
[b]Disciplines:[/b] Potence, Dominate, Necromancy
[b]Personality:[/b] Julie is everything that Samuel is not. Sure, she is not an idiot, but she isn't a genius either. She is as passionate and wild as Samuel is distant and calm, and in the calmest of waters, she will be a storm. Sometimes, she appears happy and playful, often engaging in downright life-threatening games for fun, while other times being furious, sad or just absent. It is not a fair assumption that Julie's rather poor mental health as a human has carried over and worsened in her undead existence.

Tenacious and physically aggressive, Julie often serves as Samuel's brawn. She enjoys fighting, and is both experienced and good at it. While attracted and drawn to Samuel, Julie can't help but feel disgust towards the experiments and practices Samuel carries out. It's not that she is weak, but Samuel's tendencies are [i]truly[/i] disturbing. Other than that, she, likes Samuel, holds a grudge against the Camarilla and Sabbath, but she mainly does so because her fiancé does so. Her only, truly, lasting feelings are those she holds for Samuel. Anything else gets lost in the hurricane that is Julie.

[b]Biography:[/b] While Julie was born in 1760, she does not know where, nor does she care. Her memories of her parents are as faint as they are dull, and she can’t picture their faces nor remember their personalities. Julie was left at an orphanage in Boston when five years old. She quickly came to know that her peers were a nasty bunch, using physical violence and mental torment in order do ’discipline’ the children and ’keep them in line’. Julie was wild and frail by heart, and reacted accordingly – earning even more attention from the women in charge.

As the years went on, Julie seemed to adapt to the form the administrators were trying to steep her in, and when she was twelve she was deemed proper enough to be placed in a foster family. However, while solemn and quiet on the outside, rage and hate fuelled her. The foster family, the Greys, was made up of Mary, Richard and their daughter Rose. As the initial months came to pass, Julie actually started to like her new ‘family’, even though Rose was clearly jealous of her new little sister. It would all quickly change on Christmas Eve 1772, however, as a very drunk Richard stumbled into the sleeping Julie’s room and unceremoniously, as if by habit, climbed into her bed and tried to rape her. As Julie woke up and tried to fight the man, it became apparent that he thought Julie was Rose. Disgusted and devastated by the betrayal, Julie grabbed a pen by the nightstand and buried it deep in Richard’s neck. The drunken man was unable to defend himself as Julie in a fit of rage continued stabbing Richard to death.

That same night, she quickly gathered the most important of her belongings and did what she had dreamt of the entire time at the orphanage – escaped. Where she went the story does not tell, but she somehow managed to get to New York at one point or another, as this is when she turned up again. Apparently living on the streets, Julie had by her eighteenth birthday made herself a reputation as one of those willing to do damn near anything for money. Her fragile mind had broken long ago, leaving a very unstable, angry and depressed young woman feeling little else than hate towards everything and everyone – yet most of all herself. It was at this point that a man styling himself “Snake” took a notice in Julie. It was a silly name, but he certainly wasn’t a silly man. Well-known among the more exposed strata of New York, Snake was arguably the most successful of the homeless criminals in New York – though Snake obviously wasn’t homeless any longer. Often using homeless children to do his dirty work for minimal pay, he started using Julie for his, and it wasn’t long before he noticed that while she was fiery and full of powerful emotions, she was also completely un-hinged and placed no value in human life. As such, he simply used her to kill people, as she demanded the same pay as she would for fetching him groceries.

She kept working for Snake for a few more years. Her boss fell in love with her, and while the feelings were forever left unanswered, they became lovers. Julie had discovered she was quite a natural at killing, and while she took little joy in ending a man’s life, she slowly realized her hatred towards herself had slowly dissipated as she finally learned she was good for something – she had a talent. 

Soon enough she murdered Snake and took his place as the head of his organization. While she was good at killing, she knew little of management however, and the little criminal empire Snake had built quickly disintegrated under Julie’s rule. Nevertheless, her name and talent had become known throughout New York, and she would come to gain plenty of money and dead bodies as a hired killer in New York and its surroundings. Of course, things would take a dramatical turn of events in 1796.

[b]Shared history with Samuel:[/b] On that very fateful night, the 13th of December, Samuel and Julie met for the first time. Julie had left an impression on the Giovanni elders with her ruthlessness and efficiency as a hitman, and while her mental instability was a matter of some significance, it was hardly a rare trait among the Giovannis and the elders were intent on embracing her. After the ritual had concluded, Samuel was ordered to take his childe under his wings, despite his reluctance to do so. 

The pair stayed in New York under the local elder, Paulo Giovanni. Samuel as Paulo’s right hand, and Julie as Samuel’s. The latter would soon take a liking for Julie, intrigued by the fact that she, much like him, had lived her life completely unknowing of the supernatural world – something common among most people and even among some of the minor Giovanni families, but definitely not the Giovanni’s themselves. As time passed, Samuel also slowly learned of Julie’s troubled childhood, something that caused further interest. 

As years and, soon enough, decades past, Samuel very slowly but surely developed feelings for Julie who were as deep as they were unanswered. In contrast to Samuel’s reaction to learning Julie’s secrets, Julie felt more and more disgusted by Samuel the more he revealed himself to her. As cunning, patient and strong as he was, he was nevertheless as vile, filthy and degenerated as his childhood. More so, in fact. Samuel started including Julie in his necromantic experiments and rituals and had Julie been a sane individual, she would have merely hated the man. Instead, as time passed, she began to hate and admire the man in equal fashion for his daunting and merciless ways. More importantly, he was the first person since Mary Grey who actually cared for Julie, something she would often express resentment towards, but felt stronger and calmer by.

On Christmas Eve 1812, Julie was unexpectedly sent to Boston. She greatly disliked the idea of returning to the town of her childhood, but nevertheless followed Samuel’s orders. In them, Samuel had gave her an exact address to visit. Julie eventually found herself in a large empty warehouse, save for a young man tied to a chair. As she approached the gagged man, she had no idea who he was or what any of them were doing there, but when she removed the gag and he said her name, it took less than a second to recognize Richard Grey, despite the body clearly belonging to someone else. Samuel had then appeared out of nowhere, explaining that the man was her Christmas present. Julie had felt as two-faced as ever, wanting to leave and torture the man at the same time. Samuel made sure she chose the latter, and she never regretted it. That night sparked an uneven, dark romance between the two Giovanni’s that has lasted, albeit often hanging by a thread, to present day.

After that night, the two went back to New York. As strange as it seemed, killing Richard a second time made Julie feel more whole than she had ever felt. Years passed and after killing the Camarilla-controlled mayor of New York City in the 1850’s, Samuel was promoted to the new elder of the New York chapter, with Julie his right hand. The couple continued expanding Giovanni influence in the city, which like much of the rest of the United States would come to serve a much bigger role in the Giovanni clan as the 19th century went on.

They remained in charge of New York until 1923, when Samuel was sent to establish a new chapter in Chicago after the previous one had been wiped out by internal conflicts. Their reputation and prowess in Chicago had to be restored, and with Samuel in charge, it slowly but surely was. They would stay until the 1940’s before being sent to Seattle to do much the same thing they had done in Chicago. And so it would continue – Samuel and his childe being sent to various cities in America, sometimes abroad, to help re-establish chapters, conduct small operations or start entirely new chapters. Some assignments would last days, some decades. Most of the problems Samuel and Julie was sent to solve were being caused by friction with the Camarilla and Sabbath, causing Samuel, and Julie to a lesser extent, to develop an unusually strong resentment towards the organizations over the years, particularly the former. Prior to being sent to Los Angeles, the couple were assigned to Mexico, investigating a sudden disappearance of the Hidalgo family, a Mexican minor family of the Giovanni’s. What they found or didn’t find is as of yet unknown.[/hider]

[hider=James J. Milliner]
[img=http://puu.sh/8A3cW.jpg]
[b]Name:[/b] James Jonah Milliner
[b]Generation:[/b] 10th
[b]Birth:[/b] 1925
[b]Embrace:[/b] 1958
[b]Clan:[/b] Giovanni
[b]Disciplines:[/b] Potence, Dominate, Necromancy
[b]Personality:[/b] Disgusted with being a creature of the night, James is not like most vampires. He actively and stubbornly seeks a way to rid himself of immortality and become a human again, and even though - to James' knowledge - no one has ever done so before, this is not deterring him. He has tried countless of fruitless solutions, and his desperate tries' wickedness are not even matched by Samuel's experiments. James most recent discovery is cannibalizing on humans - surely this makes him feel more alive. Doesn't it? James isn't sure, but he knows whatever he is doing is not enough. Perhaps supernatural creatuers might be more potent...

In (un)life, James carries himself as he did when he was human. He is charismatic and flirty, always bringing the ladies home. This fact, that he has entered more lady vampires than James Deen has the human equal, makes him unexpectedly influential in Los Angeles, and is why Samuel has chosen him for the new chapter of the LA based Giovanni family.

[b]Biography:[/b] James Milliner was born a fortunate man. His father, John, was a successful politician and businessman, and his mother, Sharon, the sole child of a dead, rich oil man, and James inherited not only their means and influence but their looks as well. He was popular among the majority of the kids at schools while growing up, and hated by a minority. He was a bully and a show-off, but he also excelled in studies, sports and social life. As he graduated from high school, he easily made his way into Harvard University and Harvard Law, eventually graduating with a J.D. degree. He was given a top position in his father’s corporation, and quickly adapted to his new role while at the same time making a name for himself in the newspapers as the prime rich playboy of LA, frequenting all of the most exclusive night clubs, bedding everything from waitresses to movie stars, as long as they had a body and face to match his.

Judge then his surprise when at a mere 33 being embraced by the paternal grandfather James thought dead (something he wasn’t entirely wrong in…), ending his career in the spotlight just like that. His father had been omitted from the darker parts of the Milliner family due to the grandfather, Henry Milliner, not believing John to be up to the task. In order to avoid exposing the rest of the family to the secret, Henry had avoided cluing in James on his plans, especially since the Milliners do not practice ghouling to the same extent the Giovanni family does. 

James did not react well to his embracing, however. While still to this day living the playboy life, appearing perfectly happy with his lot in death, he has ever since being turned desperately strived to return to the living. He wants both the sun- and the spotlight, and as the years passes his measures grow more desperate and horrifying.[/hider]