Claudius Giovanni
Sobriquet:
Appearance: A short, stout man draped in elegantly tailored clothes and wearing a large silver skull pendant.
Behavior: Claudius is a hearty, powerful man who knows that he will soon have more power than others could ever dream of. Claudius enjoys his own witty bon mots, and he constantly grandstands in front of others. He has no pity or respect for those who cannot take care of themselves.
History: Claudius Giovanni was both the son and the childe of Augustus Giovanni, embraced a short time after Augustus was accepted into the Clan of Death, thus making him a premascine. He acted as his fathers accomplice in his coup against Cappadocius and was the main instigator of the Conspiracy of Isaac. Eventually, his failures led to his demise, and his body was delivered to the Capuchin as reward for the latter services.
Few things are actually known about Claudius, only that he grew up in Venice and was introduced into his fathers plans, showing a great deal of trust between the two. Claudius task was to slay Japheth and usurp his power through Diablerie. To this end, he formed a conspiracy with twelve other Kindred, one of every clan, that he named the "Conspiracy of Isaac".
After the Conspiracy succeeded and the activities of Claudius were exposed to the Founders, Claudius was saved from their rage by his family members. Some claim he managed to diablerize Japhet, becoming a full-fledged Fourth Generation vampire; however, that may not be entirely true. Despite this, he continued to act as right-hand man for his father, even deputizing for his father during the Promise of 1528, and developed a strong rivalry to Ambrogino Giovanni.
In the 17th century, Claudius Giovanni uncovered much about the Khazar's Diary, a tome that described a way to tear down the Shroud and unite the worlds of the living and the dead. On behest of his father, Claudius and a team of excavators traveled to Erciyes, and plundered every tome and every valuable relic, torching the rest.
When he returned to Venice to present his trophies to Augustus, he found his sire in the company of the mysterious Capuchin, who presented Augustus with Japheths personal notes that were bound within a Wraith. Through this wraith they discovered that Japheth had hidden the True Vessel (which would make Augustus ascension to the Third Generation complete), within Erciyes and that in all likelihood it had been destroyed during the burning of the temple. That information triggered a terrible frenzy from Augustus that claimed his son's unlife.
The Capuchin took Claudius corpse with him as a payment for his services.
Recent Events: Claudius was last seen in Oslo, Norway in April of 1094. There he attended a Norse ship-burning funeral and sought lore concerning a legendary horn that could summon long dead warriors back from the grave to fight for its wielder.
