By Brian Connors (connorbd@bc.edu)
The Senex of the Umbrati is just as unknown as everything else about him; the Liber Nodis refers to him only as The Shadow, and it is the only name that the Umbrati speak of him by. They do not have much of a name for themselves; the term "Magisters" is thrown around where Latin is spoken, but it is no more a true name then what everyone else calls them. The term Umbrati comes from a very disturbing capability of theirs to manipulate darkness and shadow, as well as their secrecy in dealing with others. This power, which some have named Obtenebratio, when used properly, causes confusion and disorientation and is said by some to issue directly from the darkness of Hades. Incidentally, it happens that the Umbrati cast no reflection in pools and mirrors. It is suspected that this is due to their possession of this power, that it is of such a nature that light plays false around them out of shame or opposition or even at the vampire's own volition. With the Umbrati it is difficult to say.
Their origins are among the earliest residents in Europe, the descendants of whom are now known as the Vascones to others and the Euskara among themselves. Their influence is as wide as it is because their people have extended so far in the past; the vastly shrunken territory of the Vascones has only narrowed perceptions of the Nameless Ones. They are manipulators beyond compare, with motives, method, and even identity well-hidden even from their closest allies. They count among their accomplishments the Trojan War (triggered with the help of a dimwitted Malcafis named Eris), the fall of the Etruscan Tarkhna family in Rome (the Tarquinius who raped the Roman noblewoman Lucretia was said to have been an Umbrati ghoul), and even the orchestration of the execution of a street preacher of considerable influence in Palestine about twenty years ago. The Umbrati are everywhere and nobody knows it.
They have also been engaged in a secret operation all over Rome for the last five centuries. The Umbrati see the Roman Empire as something of an experiment. After the Tarquin overthrow, the Umbrati managed to get some of their own people in power, ghouls with connections to the Gracchus and other influential Latin families that were able to build a republic of considerable power. Julius Caesar's accomplishments caught them by surprise, but they were able to regain control through a number of blood-bound Taureatores who controlled some of the more influential members of the Roman Senate. Caesar's assassination was enough to allow the Umbrati to keep control of the actual power structure, but they are beginning to lose their grip on Rome's culture, as the Taureatorean debauchery begins to seep into the lifestyles of the Roman upper class. The experiment is so far being judged as mixed.
The Umbrati are setting their sights away from Rome now. There are numerous possibilities around; the Greeks of Asia Minor seem to have a few possibilities, but it looks as if the Ventrutae are about ready to make a comeback in Rome in a few centuries...
Brushah: Do they really know who they are dealing with? My inclination is to doubt it. They've seen us before, though.
Cappadocii: They have no real influence. We are not concerned with them.
Gangrilli: They will need some work. They make no effort to have influence, but they could easily do so if they wish.
ibn-Haqimi: It's good to have such as these around. There are many advantages to not getting your own hands bloody.
Malcafii: They are our biggest annoyance. We cannot reach them; we cannot control them we cannot understand them; we cannot trust them.
Nictuci: Let them suffer in their own petty squabbles. The Nosferati have far less to worry about than they think, and Absimilliard's bastard spawn who claim the title of True Nictuci are laughable.
Rafanuti: We don't know anything about them for certain, but it would seem that they are to be controlled or we will suffer from them.
Salubri: Saulot is a contemptible weakling. Weakling because he cannot use his power, contemptible because he likes it that way. And his whole clan is no different.
Setites: Too easy. We have had our hand on them for millenia and they have never realized it. And now, we have no further use for them...
Simistis: They would be nobility among civilized people. They are nothing out there.
Taureator: We grow tired of them, but it will take time to end their reign of stupidity.
Ventrutae: Such great leaders and they do not even realize what we have done to them. Let's give them back what they have lost and see what happens...