Lupo Giovanni

Giovanni

Sobriquet:

Appearance: Lupo's Italian features, weathered by years of hard work and the African sun (before his Embrace), have a rugged handsomeness that appeals to women. His dark eyes, which look out from beneath heavy eyebrows, can sparkle with laughter or spit fire when he is angered. He keeps his thick black hair greased back from his face and wears small round reading glasses on the end of his nose. His rich olive skin stands out against the light-colored kaunda suits he tends to wear. The suits consist of crisp, collarless, short-sleeved shirts with matching cotton trousers.

Behavior: You have an undying fondness for Kenya and its peoples. You speak their language and prefer to socialize with them rather than with your own kind. However, the hotel always comes first. Your good business sense has only failed you once, but you have never forgiven yourself. As a result, you watch over and guard the Oceanview as if it were your childe. The perfect host, you put a great deal of emphasis on customer service and will diplomatically do everything in your power to help out a patron. If, however, the patron wrongs you, wrongs your hotel, or wrongs any of your guests, you will not hesitate to make her regret it.

History: Lupo runs the Oceanview Hotel. Unlike the other members of the Giovanni board who oversee Africa's affairs, Lupo chose to make Mombasa his home. In 1907, as a young mortal, Lupo came to Kenya from Italy and opened a small hotel on the current site of the Oceanview, billing it as the "Home Away from Home" for European travelers. Biggame hunters poured in from around the world. Among Lupo's earliest patrons were a young Winston Churchill and American president Theodore Roosevelt traveling with his son Kermit in search of big game.

Mombasa and Lupo thrived for over 25 years, until the early 1930s when an economic slump affected the entire world. Lupo could not pay for the hotel's most recent renovations, a fiasco which cost him over $100,000. He faced bankruptcy.

Lupo wrote home to his father and begged for help. His father pulled the family together and requested a loan for his son. Lupo got his reply: A seventh-generation Giovanni visited Mombasa. Francesco Giovanni offered to help Lupo, but at a price. He Embraced Lupo and split ownership of the hotel five ways, an equal share going to each of five investors, including Francesco and Lupo.

Lupo oversees every aspect of the business, from approving the menu to picking out curtains to checking the books. With the money his new partners gave him, he contracted a complete renovation of the hotel and built an attached casino. He will not tolerate disobedience or theft from his employees or his guests; nor may any Kindred break the Traditions in his hotel. Lupo metes out punishment to fit the crime. Hotel employees have been dismissed or, worse, have had their fingers amputated. Others who committed more serious infractions have taken their final swims in the Indian Ocean. Kindred who break the rules are, at best, banned from the hotel and are, at worst, never seen again.

Lupo lives in a penthouse apartment located atop the casino. He has a private elevator controlled by a key that he carries with him at all times. No one else has access. One room in the apartment contains surveillance equipment, which Lupo uses to watch the gambling rooms, the lobby and each of the hotel rooms and suites.

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