Other Factions

Relations between the Pisanob and Ghiberti families have also been growing over the last few decades. The Pisanob needed help in combating the threat presented by the Sabbat and the Harbingers of Skulls, as well as to offset pressure directed at them from Venice to increase their tithe output. To this end, they joined forces with the Ghiberti to produce the Ritual of Pochtli (V20, p. 180) which is managing to keep the Giovanni Elders off the backs of the Pisanob — for the time being.

The Ghiberti and the Pisanob are perhaps the most adept pioneers of modern Necromancy. To date, the Ghiberti is the only minor family of Clan Giovanni to have developed its own complete Path of Necromancy (the Cenotaph Path — V20, p. 166-168), and the Pisanob have crafted a significant number of Necromancy rituals. Both families tend to keep their creations closely guarded, though, only letting certain powers filter out to the wider Clan every so often in order to appease the Elders. However, as relations between the two families have increased over recent years, they are both becoming more willing to share their ritual creations with each other.

The Ghiberti family does this very deliberately. They are intent on controlling the African continent when the Endless Night comes, so that they will have the greatest concentration of Necromancers that are able to control the African wraiths. The Pisanob have always been very territorial, remaining almost entirely in Latin America. Their focus on ceremony means that they don’t necessarily focus much on Paths, but instead have developed many more rituals in their pursuit of power. These rites are the sacred manifestation of their belief in the gods, and thus they keep their secrets to protect the purity of their faith. However, through their endeavors with the Ghiberti, they too can develop a stranglehold on their precious homeland when the Endless Night comes.

The creative focus of the two families coming together has been exactly what they both needed to spur on their own developments of Necromancy. The Ghiberti are creating more rituals to accompany their Cenotaph Path, while the Pisanob take the lessons of experimentation taught to them by the Ghiberti and use these methods to create more rituals.