DE NANTS

By Arthur-Trevor D.M. Lasher, for The Southron Republic

Nicknames

Baas (Afrikaans for 'Boss')

Description

When Archbishop Manning uprooted most of the British Sabbat and headed for southern Africa, he knew he needed local support, being singularly unfamiliar with much of the region. A short while after arriving, he approached a rich Boer burgher who lived in a vast wine-growing estate outside of Johannesburg and offerred him and his own a chance at immortality. The burgher's name was Kyle de Nant.

Since then the de Nants have become the most trustworthy (and useful) of the ghoul families, surpassing even the Grimaldis, who remained esconced in Europe. They number in the thousands now and are tightly knit by overlapping and incestuous bonds of kinship. Their loyalty to the Sabbat is unquestioned and total. In return, they have become the most powerful family in the Southron Republic and are represented at all levels of Southron politics and elite society. In fact, the Praetor, the ceremonial head of the nation, is a member of this Revenant clan.

Appearance

De Nants are uniformally beautiful. Even the males have an almost feminine beauty to them, though nothing so dramatic as the heart-stopping aura which surrounds the de Nant females. They're impeccable dressers and not a few of them dominate the fashion world of Cape Town (and, thencely, the entire Republic and most of the Eastern Hemisphere).

Family Estates

There are well over a thousand de Nant estates, though most of them are clustered in the southern regions of the Republic (below the Dixie [Congo] river). Each estate tends to hold ten to fifteen members of the family. Most estates also include vast game and safarii areas.

Backgrounds

All de Nants are members of high society, whether that be a dilettante or a member of Parliament. They all go to exclusive and ultra-secret private academies established for their personal use only. It is here that they usually find a spouse (or are assigned one by the family elders).

Character Creation

Director, Judge, Architect, these are the primary Natures of the de Nants, and their Demeanors are usually fairly similar, though more than a few Deviants are known to exist (and thrive). In fact, it is not too uncommon to have a dual Nature, one of which happens to be Deviant. Mental or Social Attributes are primary as are Knowledges or Skills.

Disciplines

Vicissitude, Presence and Protean

Weaknesses

The dirty little secret of the de Nants is their thinness of line. In order to keep the family together, breeding is carefully controlled and children are sired only one or two removals from the primary. It's not uncommon to find brother and sister marry or, likewise, close cousins. Strangely, no genetic defects have surfaced, save the need to continue the inbreeding. Many attribute this to Vicissitude, but others point out that no other ghoul family has been this closely inbred without obvious problems cropping up.

Family Organisation

Tightly knit. The family meets at a massive conclave once per annum at the old de Nant estate north of Jo'burg. There they frolick and engage in abject debauchery while the family elders plot further control of the nation and minister unto their Tzimisce lords, who always turn up to pay their respects to their trusted and loyal servants.

Gaining Family Recognition

Highly competitive, the Baas' only method of attaining recognition is to achieve worldly success. Since their place in the Sabbat is solely based upon their success in mortal affairs, it's obviously in the de Nants' best interests to do a decent job.

Sabbat Duties

Control. The de Nants are expected to exert control over all sectors of the nation. They're high-placed for this precise thing and they wield their power well. When the Cabal is set to release a certain technology to the world or roll out the latest Biorg, it is through de Nant companies or fronts that they do it. News is carefully filtered and controlled as every single major publishing house is owned wholly or in part by the de Nant clan. They clean up after the Cabal's nastier disasters and reckless adventures and keep the nation running efficiently.