Alessandro, Organized Crime, and Ghouls
May. 12th, 2017 06:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
subtenebrisLasombra in general have a dim view of ghouls. Mortals, in their minds, are extremely easy to manipulate. They're weak, they're not worthy of vampire blood, and they have no hope of surviving in the vampire's world. When Lasombra make or keep ghouls, it's usually for something the Lasombra can't get a regular mortal to do or things that are too dangerous for a regular mortal to do. Alessandro is no different.
Alessandro keeps very few ghouls. There are none aboard his yacht (which is currently his primary residence), as he feels he has enough control over the yacht's crew that vampire blood is unnecessary. Though some Lasombra keep ghouls to look after their appearance (as they do not show up in mirrors), Alessandro's hair and appearance are generally easy to maintain and he does not keep ghouls for this purpose. Though there are mirrors and mirrored surfaces in private cabins aboard the yacht, there are no mirrored surfaces in the public areas, thus lowering the risk that Alessandro might inadvertently reveal himself to one of his guests or to the crew.
Alessandro does have informal ties to organized crime. He has several ghouls in high-placed positions in one of the Five Families of New York, and his yacht, Spectre, often plays host to the rich and powerful that the family would like to court and keep happy. It also sometimes runs cargo and people past law enforcement between Italy and New York. As such, though businessman Alessandro Romero is the public owner of the yacht, one of his ghouls in organized crime is privately a co-owner, through a partnering business that is a front for the crime family. Alessandro allows the family to place guests, new "employees", and cargo on his yacht and quietly pulls the strings of influential members of the family. Though he has ties to the family, it has never become official and most members of the crime family have never met him. As an elder in the Sabbat, Alessandro grew used maintaining a low profile in order to keep mortals from growing suspicious when he didn't age and he still prefers to control things from the shadows.
Though he has been unable to get to the crime boss of the family he works with, he controls most of those who surround the boss, either through blood or through unrepentant use of the vampire discipline, Dominate. As such, decisions that the crime family makes often benefit Alessandro Romero as well.
Alessandro is an unforgiving master, though. He expects ghouls to learn how to use the Blood they've been given to avoid capture and punishment by law enforcement. Those that fail and are put in prison are often left without a supply of vampire blood. Depending on the situation, those that are wounded are often left to heal the wounds on their own, the magnitude of their mistakes often dictating whether they receive any more Blood from their master. Traitors to the family, almost always those who have not directly worked with Alessandro, are dealt with swiftly and quietly...often right under law enforcement's nose. Though Alessandro lets law enforcement complete and get convictions out of a few of their investigations, the family he is allied with is quietly much larger and more powerful than the government realizes.
Due to his age and his generation, Alessandro's blood makes his ghouls particularly powerful, for mortals. While most ghouls to vampires of the 8th through 13th generations can only learn the first and easiest of vampire disciplines, Alessandro's ghouls are capable, with time, of learning up to the fourth level of disciplines that he is proficient in. All of his ghouls are proficient in the vampire discipline Potence, which gives them supernatural strength, as well as the vampire discipline Dominate, which allows them to control the minds of mortals (but often not vampires, unless that vampire is of extremely high generation, such as the so-called "thin bloods"). A select few of his ghouls even show talent with Obtenebration, though not to the same degree as the other disciplines, as Obtenebration often feels evil and unnatural to mortals. Those that show talent with the discipline and live up to their master's exacting standards are often put on a short list for embrace. To date, though he's been allied with the crime family since the 1930s, only two of his ghouls have gone on to become Lasombra.
Alessandro keeps very few ghouls. There are none aboard his yacht (which is currently his primary residence), as he feels he has enough control over the yacht's crew that vampire blood is unnecessary. Though some Lasombra keep ghouls to look after their appearance (as they do not show up in mirrors), Alessandro's hair and appearance are generally easy to maintain and he does not keep ghouls for this purpose. Though there are mirrors and mirrored surfaces in private cabins aboard the yacht, there are no mirrored surfaces in the public areas, thus lowering the risk that Alessandro might inadvertently reveal himself to one of his guests or to the crew.
Alessandro does have informal ties to organized crime. He has several ghouls in high-placed positions in one of the Five Families of New York, and his yacht, Spectre, often plays host to the rich and powerful that the family would like to court and keep happy. It also sometimes runs cargo and people past law enforcement between Italy and New York. As such, though businessman Alessandro Romero is the public owner of the yacht, one of his ghouls in organized crime is privately a co-owner, through a partnering business that is a front for the crime family. Alessandro allows the family to place guests, new "employees", and cargo on his yacht and quietly pulls the strings of influential members of the family. Though he has ties to the family, it has never become official and most members of the crime family have never met him. As an elder in the Sabbat, Alessandro grew used maintaining a low profile in order to keep mortals from growing suspicious when he didn't age and he still prefers to control things from the shadows.
Though he has been unable to get to the crime boss of the family he works with, he controls most of those who surround the boss, either through blood or through unrepentant use of the vampire discipline, Dominate. As such, decisions that the crime family makes often benefit Alessandro Romero as well.
Alessandro is an unforgiving master, though. He expects ghouls to learn how to use the Blood they've been given to avoid capture and punishment by law enforcement. Those that fail and are put in prison are often left without a supply of vampire blood. Depending on the situation, those that are wounded are often left to heal the wounds on their own, the magnitude of their mistakes often dictating whether they receive any more Blood from their master. Traitors to the family, almost always those who have not directly worked with Alessandro, are dealt with swiftly and quietly...often right under law enforcement's nose. Though Alessandro lets law enforcement complete and get convictions out of a few of their investigations, the family he is allied with is quietly much larger and more powerful than the government realizes.
Due to his age and his generation, Alessandro's blood makes his ghouls particularly powerful, for mortals. While most ghouls to vampires of the 8th through 13th generations can only learn the first and easiest of vampire disciplines, Alessandro's ghouls are capable, with time, of learning up to the fourth level of disciplines that he is proficient in. All of his ghouls are proficient in the vampire discipline Potence, which gives them supernatural strength, as well as the vampire discipline Dominate, which allows them to control the minds of mortals (but often not vampires, unless that vampire is of extremely high generation, such as the so-called "thin bloods"). A select few of his ghouls even show talent with Obtenebration, though not to the same degree as the other disciplines, as Obtenebration often feels evil and unnatural to mortals. Those that show talent with the discipline and live up to their master's exacting standards are often put on a short list for embrace. To date, though he's been allied with the crime family since the 1930s, only two of his ghouls have gone on to become Lasombra.
