claws of the Ascenzia night
The Carabassi family has long dominated the underworld of Ascenzia. For several generations, this shadowy family has had a hand in every kind of crime in the port city, from the cutpurses of Sinner's Landing, to protection rackets on the Slope, and even in the noble intrigues of the Constellazione district. Whatever the game is, they always get their cut.
It is also known in Ascenzia that you don't cross the Carabassi. By day, they swagger around the streets with seeming impunity. By night, they rule by the law of the knife. It's said that those they mark will never see them coming; the Carabassi see everything, and move like ghosts through the knotted alleys.
The Carabassi act somewhat like a thieves' guild, but with a strict hierarchy based on family lineage. Although the Carabassi broker jobs and collect tithes from the local operators, only blood relations are permitted entry into the organization. It is said that the Carabassi line has its origins in far away Koshkovia, but now has branch families throughout Delon and Capracia.
It is only in recent years that the Carabassi have had their position challenged by new players in the city, another gang know as the Cordiva, headed up by an enigmatic leader known only as “The Baron." After losing control of the Constellazione district, the Carabassi found themselves locked in a secret war for control over the lucrative docks distric... a war they seem to now be losing.
Even so, the Carabassi still run all the action in the city core (the Slope). Their manor house and clubs there serve as their strongholds, even as their remaining turf becomes increasingly surrounded on both sides by the encroaching Cordiva.
The Secret of the Carabassi
The Carabassi are more than they appear. Although they enjoy cultivating a nigh-supernatural aura of menace around themselves, they still conceal their true nature -- that they are shapeshifters who can freely take the forms of cats. Cats of all colours are ubiquitous in Ascenzia, and it is in this way the Carabassi so easily monitor their territory and move about unnoticed. Not every cat in the city is Carabassi, but one can never be sure...
Their power to transform themselves is inherited from ancient forebears who made shamanic pacts with primordial spirits in ages past. In human form, the Carabassi act and live as humans do, and otherwise wield no special magical abilities, other than some specialized arts passed down by generations of shapeshifters. One such example is the inscription of arcane glyphs that allow their clothing and belongings to transform with them. These marks on the body and objects are usually only discernible through expert mystical investigation.
Their power to transform themselves is inherited from ancient forebears who made shamanic pacts with primordial spirits in ages past. In human form, the Carabassi act and live as humans do, and otherwise wield no special magical abilities, other than some specialized arts passed down by generations of shapeshifters. One such example is the inscription of arcane glyphs that allow their clothing and belongings to transform with them. These marks on the body and objects are usually only discernible through expert mystical investigation.
The shapeshifting powers of their bloodline are the reason why outsiders are not granted entry to the inner circles of the organization. Even within the clan, the purity of lineage is important. While the Carabassi are an old name, the broader Creed of the Cat is much older still, with many branches around the known world. While the Carabassi may sometimes take in strays from other places, these “moggies" will never gain full acceptance among their clan's elite.
Clan Structure
The Carabassi are divided into two related houses, the Cambrio and the Kizhniks. These bloodlines each share the same abilities, but not the same standing. The Cambrio are the traditional ruling family among their kind, while the Kizhnik line originated as a branch family of retainers and servants. Over time, these houses became redefined by the roles they performed: those who steal, and those who kill.
Thieving and spying is the domain of the aristocratic Cambrio. For them, great wealth is best acquired through guile, charm, and discretion. They are expert in information gathering and influence peddling. The Cambrio way is to take whatever they wish, when they wish, without ever needing to dirty their paws.
Of course, in the criminal world, there will always be unpleasant realities that require decisive resolutions; such unclean business is left instead to the bloodstained claws of the Kizhnik branch. Whether a display of brute force is needed, or just a throat slashed quietly in the dark, all important wetwork is carried out by Kizhniks; they make up both the common enforcers and the specialized assassins of the Carabassi.
Of course, in the criminal world, there will always be unpleasant realities that require decisive resolutions; such unclean business is left instead to the bloodstained claws of the Kizhnik branch. Whether a display of brute force is needed, or just a throat slashed quietly in the dark, all important wetwork is carried out by Kizhniks; they make up both the common enforcers and the specialized assassins of the Carabassi.
The Kizhnik head wields considerable authority and has some agency within the family hierarchy, but tradition dictates that they must defer to the Carabassi patriarch - a role which is only ever held by members of Cambrio families. The Kizhnik chief will often serve as a consigliere, but the Cambrio patriarch holds the position as don of the overall Carabassi organization.
L U C I F E R O
Master of the Kizhnika
Ht: 5'8 / Wt: 200 / Hair: black (greying) / Eyes: hazel
Age: 60 / Creed: KIZHNIK
Within the Carabassi family of Ascenzia, Lucifero is the longtime head of the Kizhnik branch. Once a master assassin of excellent (and discreet) reputation, he has in his later years transitioned to a more administrative role, and has seemingly allowed his skills to lapse. Nonetheless, his breadth of experience makes him a ruthless and canny adversary. He should not be underestimated.
Lucifero is loyal to the Carabassi, but has become resentful of the subordinate role the Kizhnik branch are required to play. He feels that the Cambrio have become too gentrified and decadent, and that the Carabassi should instead value merit over lineage. He has applied this philosophy to his carefully chosen inner circle of Kizhnik assassins, largely composed of half-bloods and foundlings. He is convinced that this is the only way forward for their kind.
Lucifero is fiercely protective of his apprentice Cesara, whom he considers his surrogate daughter. His recent covert efforts to disgrace the Cambrio patriarch, the Greypad, and force him to step down were (according to him) not a bid for power, but for the sake of the Carabassi's future. Effectively, his undertakings were intended to create the conditions by which Cesara could eventually ascend to a leadership role, despite her foundling status.
His treachery was uncovered by the Party, and evidence of his double-dealings was placed into the keeping of the Baron Cordiva's for blackmail purposes. To protect Cesara from being implicated in his crimes, he is now forced to do the Baron's bidding and work against his own family's interests. It is this arrangement that also protects the Party from reprisals for foiling his plans.
As a cat, Lucifero appears as a medium-sized, slightly overweight mostly-black tuxedo cat with a greying muzzle.
C E S A R A
The Protege
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Ht: 5'4 / Wt: 107 / Hair: black / Eyes: green
Age: 18 / Creed: KIZHNIK
Cesara was originally a 'stray', most likely of Talumar or Sankarite background. She was found by Lucifero in his travels, and taken in as an apprentice at an early age. Despite her youth, she showed exceptional promise. Recognizing her as a prodigy of the assassin's art, Lucifero has taught her everything he knows. He has also quietly made every effort to secure a path for her toward eventual leadership of the Carabassi.
Cesara is cool, competent, versatile, and extremely deadly. By Lucifero's account, she has already surpassed his own skills, and it is perhaps only her lack of experience and overconfidence that hold her back. She is highly proficient with all the tools of her trade; she is an excellent combatant, a skilled acrobat, a master of disguise, and an expert in various poisons. Above all is her talent is for stealth. Her uncanny ability to disappear and go unseen is unrivaled even among the Carabassi, and is likely bolstered by training in esoteric arts similar to those used by Sankarite shadow cults.
Cesara is a young woman with a lithe build, black hair, brownish skin, and gleaming dark eyes. She sometimes appears in exotic colourful Mendigos-style garb, but is adept at blending in just about anywhere... or not being seen at all. Her most memorable feature is her wide toothy smile, at turns winning or unsettlingly predatory, depending on her intentions. This smile is likely both the first and the last thing her victims ever see of her.
Cesara acted as Lucifero's accomplice in his gambit to humiliate the Greypad by engineering the theft of his signet ring during a a sexual tryst. The ring was originally purloined by Cesara, and then used to frame Jenyeva for the deed. While in disguise, she subsequently intervened on several occasions to help Jenyeva escape from Cambrio pursuers -- including setting her up with Jack and Lonzo as bodyguards). This was all in order to prolong the debacle of the missing signet.
When the Party infiltrated the Carabassi manor to confront Lucifero, she arrived too late to protect her mentor, but still incapacitated Korvuus. Lucifero recognized the game was up and ordered her to stand down, as he did not wish her to risk her life for his sake.
In her feline form, Cesara appears as a small, speckled, sand-coloured cat with black paws and a wild look.
The G R E Y P A D
Don of the Carabassi
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Ht: 5'10 / Wt: 185 / Hair: grey / Eyes: gold
Age: 60 / Creed: CAMBRIO
The Greypad is the patriarch of the Cambrio, and boss of the Carabassi in Ascenzia. He is a regal older gentleman with a robust frame and a broad face framed by smokey gray hair, sideburns, and a thick mustache. He dresses in rich, fur-lined robes in various shades of grey.
In his prime, he was once said to be the most dashing gentleman thief in all the Southlands, a figure of folk stories and courtly gossip. In more recent years, the Greypad has spent most of his time at the Carabassi manor on the Slope, living a quiet life of languor. Even so, it must be remembered that it takes a canny scoundrel to rule a city from the shadows for so long. If his form has grown softer and his step heavier with the years, his wit and ruthless pride remain unblunted.
As to his vanity and libido, it would seem no less so, for he frequently sneaks out into the city to visit an assortment of cheap doxies he favours. For a Cambrio lord of his standing, this is seen as an unbecoming pursuit. As such, his lowbrow philandering remains a poorly-kept (but unacknowledged) secret within the family.
In his prime, he was once said to be the most dashing gentleman thief in all the Southlands, a figure of folk stories and courtly gossip. In more recent years, the Greypad has spent most of his time at the Carabassi manor on the Slope, living a quiet life of languor. Even so, it must be remembered that it takes a canny scoundrel to rule a city from the shadows for so long. If his form has grown softer and his step heavier with the years, his wit and ruthless pride remain unblunted.
As to his vanity and libido, it would seem no less so, for he frequently sneaks out into the city to visit an assortment of cheap doxies he favours. For a Cambrio lord of his standing, this is seen as an unbecoming pursuit. As such, his lowbrow philandering remains a poorly-kept (but unacknowledged) secret within the family.
The Greypad is the father to a single pure-blooded son, Thibaud. He is also a doting uncle to Minuetta and Petitpas, the children of his sister. He is the older brother of Calicot, although the two rarely see eye-to-eye.
The Greypad was a major background figure in the affair of the signet ring, but was never encountered by the Tyrson Company. It was on his orders that both Jenyeva's housemate Keisha and her fixer/fence were violently tortured and killed by Carabassi agents searching for the signet ring. He is also aware of the Company's involvement in the brawl that almost saw his son Thibaud killed. No doubt, he has issued orders to the Kizhnika to find and execute these interlopers, though somehow, Lucifero has been consistently unable to dig up any leads on this matter.
T H I B A U D
The Delinquent
The Delinquent
Ht: 5'10 / Wt: 150 / Hair: black / Eyes: brown
Age: 22 / Creed: CAMBRIO
Thibaud is scion of the Cambrio and he knows it. While his father was a crafty and enterprising adventurer in his youth, Thibaud seems largely satisfied to strut about the city with his gang of young rogues, indulging in wanton schemes and petty acts of extortion interspersed with gambling and carousing, Their nights are full of mischief and their days are usually spent sleeping off their debauchery at the Carabassi clubhouse.
Although callow and short-tempered, Thibaud is rather good with a sword, and quick to the draw. He can be dangerous on his own, but worse, he is almost never without his entourage of ne'er-do-wells, who are always ready to pile on and protect their young King of Cats. As such, it takes very little to turn the smallest altercation into a street brawl.
Thibaud is a lean young man with a mop of black hair, dark good looks, and a cruel smirk. His dress is flamboyant, with red hose, a burgundy jerkin, slashed sleeves, and a rapier at his hip (or more often, already in his hand).
Thibaud answered Mad Jack Tyrson's demand for a duel when the mercenary called out the Carabassi at their clubhouse. Although he was quickly struck down by Jack, the tide turned when the rest of Thibaud's gang entered the fray. Thibaud survived this encounter, though not without scars -- to his person and to his pride.
M I N U E T T A
The Grifter
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Ht: 5'7 / Wt: 127 / Hair: dark blond / Eyes: green
Age: 25 / Creed: CAMBRIO
Minuetta is a beautiful society girl with impeccable poise. She is also a a social chameleon and predator, adept at working her way into the confidence of just about anyone, playing upon their confidences and weaknesses to get whatever she wants. Although she is a member of the Carabassi's ruling family, she is not content to hide away in the manor; instead she travels in the most influential circles in the city, doing what she does best.
While a skilled pickpocket and sneak-thief in her own right, her specialty is information, especially of the sensitive variety, pertaining to finances, political secrets, or blackmail. Her prey includes merchants, lordlings, bankers, and priests. Her preferred hunting grounds are the upscale taverns, playhouses, and salons of the Constellazione district. Although this has become riskier since the Cordiva have gained more influence over the upper city, the subtlety of her work permits her to continue operating there.
Minuetta is a tall, slender woman, fair of face and languid of manner, with sleepy eyes and honey blond hair, which is usually arranged in elaborate styles done up with jewelry and gold twine. She moves with an easy grace, and favours soft gowns in velvety fabrics that cling to her form.
Minuetta was encountered by Korvuus in an upscale club in the Constellazione district shortly after arriving in Ascenzia. At the time, he recognized her as an operator of some kind, but was not aware of her involvement with the Carabassi. A subsequent back-alley ambush on Vincenzo di Valducci after he'd just withdrawn gold from Ascenzia's Bramante bank suggests that Minuetta had already cased Valducci's entourage and provided intel to her Cambrio accomplices. Minuetta was seemingly not involved in the affair of the signet ring.
F I G A R O
The Fixer
Ht: 5'7 / Wt: 150 / Hair: black+white / Eyes: brown
Age: 40 / Creed: CAMBRIO
Figaro serves as the steward, spokesman, and arranger for the Greypad. He keeps the Don's confidence, and is largely responsible for communications and the balancing of the books for the Carabassi.
Figaro is a slight man with a nervous, brittle disposition. His tapered face wears a thin mustache, and his hair is feathered and black with streaks of silver at his temples and crown. He is typically attired in crisp black courtly attire with a smallsword and short cape. in He speaks with politesse, precision, and overstated deference, but one could never mistake his obsequiousness for anything other than a cold, calculated formality.
Figaro was indirectly encountered by Kuan during his infiltration of the Carabassi undercroft. Figaro unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate with Lucifero for Kishnik involvement in the manhunt for Jenyeva without revealing the true reason for it (the Greypad's stolen signet).
C A L I C O T
The Black Sheep
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Ht: 5'8 / Wt: 155 / Hair: brown / Eyes: brown/green
Age: 52 / Creed: CAMBRIO
Age: 52 / Creed: CAMBRIO
Old Calicot is the Greypad's wily, streetwise, and slightly eccentric younger brother. Although he is an experienced and competent field lieutenant for the Cambrio's agents on the frontlines, he usually insists on doing things his own way, and has little interest in the prospect of taking on larger responsibilities within the family business.
His manner is folksy and easy-going, and he prefers parlay to violence when possible. For this reason, he is often called upon for delicate negotiations. However, when things get sticky, he knows he can always count on his partner, Cesca (aka the Red Huntress) to back him up. Calicot and Cesca have been together since both were young, and although their union has produced no children, neither Cesca nor Calicot seem particularly concerned about this.
Calicot is a shortish, barrel-chested man of late middle-age, with a weathered but pleasant clean-shaven face and a shag of greying brown hair. His attire is a loose-fitted motley of patches of various patterns and colours, topped with a floppy feathered cap. Unlike his brother, he has kept himself trim over the years, and still moves with surprising stealth and alacrity. He carries a short katzbalger sword at his hip, but rarely draws it.
Both Calicot and Cesca were mobilized in the search for Jenyeva, and in the subsequent hunt for Jack Tyrson (who assaulted Thibaud). Although briefly seen leading this search, they did not encounter the Party.
C E S C A
The Red Huntress
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Ht: 6' / Wt: 165 / Hair: red+grey / Eyes: green
Age: 51 / Creed: KIZHNIK
The woman called the Red Huntress was a Kizhnik enforcer by birth, and in her prime, she was a legend on the streets for her bravado and swordplay. Today, she is never far from her lover Calicot, and acts as his de facto bodyguard. In Lucifero's estimation, this relationship means he cannot rely upon her loyalty to the Kizhnika.
Cesca is a tall, handsome older woman, with sharp features and flashing green eyes. Her hair is wavy and grey-streaked ginger, worn loose and long under her wide-brimmed hat. She dresses in much the same style as a young bravo, with few nods to femininity, and carries a heavy rapier at her side, or sometimes even a full-sized flammenschwert. She has a pragmatic manner and a patient, relaxed presence which can turn abruptly to brutally efficient violence when called for.
P E T I T P A S
The Wannabe
Ht: 5'5 / Wt: 135 / Hair: blond / Eyes: green
Age: 18 / Creed: CAMBRIO
Petitpas is the Greypad's nephew and Minuetta's younger brother. He acts as a messenger and information gatherer for the Cambrio, but never lets anyone forget who he is. He is less angry and volatile than his cousin Thibaud, but youthful ambition and naivete still sometimes get him into trouble, requiring his sister to intercede on his behalf.
He is a slight youth with blond hair in a pageboy cut. A light fuzz covers his cheeks and upper lip. He dresses in simple but well-made garb, all in a matching smokey grey hue. In spite of his awkward and impetuous manner, he nonetheless moves quickly and quietly, as adept as any Carabassi when it comes to going unseen.
G R I M M A L K I N
The Magician
The Magician
Ht: 5'10 / Wt: 145 / Hair: black / Eyes: gold
Age: 50 / Creed: CAMBRIO
Grimmalkin is the Carabassi's resident expert on matters of sorcery, black magic, and the alchemical arts. He has a dour, aloof manner, and cultivates an air of mystery about himself. He spends much of his time in his subterranean laboratory with his books and experiments, and resents being disturbed for anything other than matters of the highest importance.
He is a severe man of lean build and average height, but appears taller due to the high conical hood he wears. He is typically garbed in black robes, and speaks in a harsh whisper.
other confirmed members of the Cambrio:
BIANCO
a flaxen-haired deaf-mute warrior. He is Kizhnik, but a sworn bodyguard to Greypad
JUNIPUR
young Cambrio woman with black hair and an exotic cast, relaxed and pleasure-seeking
CHAPEAU
flamboyant Cambrio clown, street magician, and master thief
PISHKA
sly mendigos illusionist, Cambrio, good with a knife
MAURICE
lazy middle-aged fop with a penchant for crapulence and con jobs, Cambrio
OSRIEL
Grimmalkin's apprentice and servant, a broken-down crony, Cambrio
The DEAD
The recent affair of the signet ring resulted in the deaths of several key enforcers and operatives within the Carabassi organization, most at the hands of Jack Tyrson and his party...
BAEMOV
Ht: 6'6 / Wt: 280 / Hair: black / Eyes: green
Age: 40 / Creed: KIZHNIK
Baemov is a raucus, fast-talking giant of a man, with coal-black hair, a bushy beard, and a manic gleam in his eye. He is clad in a wide-brimmed hat and double-breasted black leather coat. He is rarely seen without a flask on his hip and a cigarillo clenched in his teeth. Holstered across his broad chest he wears two double-barreled matchlock pistols, each with a bladed bayonet affixed. Despite his large frame, boisterous manner, and gleeful affinity for black powder, Baemov can also be startlingly stealthy when he wishes to be. As one half of the notorious Devil's Helpers, he comes and goes as he pleases, quiet as black smoke - until he strikes.
SABERHAGEN
Ht: 6'3 / Wt: 150 / Hair: black / Eyes: gold
Age: 40 / Creed: KIZHNIK
Eerily quiet, Saberhagen is quite the opposite of his partner. He is a tall, gaunt man with an unsettling unblinking stare and queerly expressionistic body language, like a mime experiencing seizures. He wears a coif over his head, black hose, and a fur-lined black doublet with trailing sleeves. He is a practitioner of magic or illusionism of some kind, but his best trick is his ability to conjure a seemingly endless supply of swords and knives from out of thin air (or sometimes, from his own mouth). Like a puppeteer, he can will these blades to fly about or dance in the air with a twirl of his fingers. Like his fellow Devil's Helper, his ability to come and go unseen is uncanny even by the standards of the Carabassi, though whether this is by sorcery or exceptional skill is not known.GEERABA
Ht: 6'1 / Wt: 200 / Hair: none / Eyes: green
Age: 27 / Creed: KIZHNIK
Geeraba is a tall, athletic, bare-chested man with a shaved head and very dark skin, against which various gold rings and baubles stand out starkly. In a scabbard in his belt he carries an Ubalanese blade, double-handed, with a long leaf-shaped blade. He joined the Carabassi as one of Lucifero's “strays" - a pirate far from his home in Ubala, who was found and brought into the fold. He is not a true member of the Creed of the Cat, but perhaps originates with a bloodline far older, for when he invokes his ancestral spirits, he becomes a powerful jungle panther with midnight velvet fur. He is among the most dangerous members of the Kizhniks - nearly as stealthy as Cesara, but a fearsome opponent in both his human and animal forms. CLAWDIO
Ht: 5'10 / Wt: 175 / Hair: black / Eyes: brown
Age: 22 / Creed: KIZHNIK
Among the Carabassi's most notorious street enforcers, Claudio is a lithe, olive-skinned young man with a mop of dark greasy curls, and the face of a swaggering brute. He wears leather breeches, a stained waistcoat, and a cotton shirt open to display his bronzed chest. His soft leather boots appear to be reinforced with metal plates on the foot and shins. Claudio is a highly skilled kickboxer and carries no sword, but on each hip he wears a large leather satchel where he stores his preferred weapons for quick access... large fearsome metal-reinforced gauntlets with slashing hooked claws.
SOUTHPAW
Ht: 5'8 / Wt: 200 / Hair: black / Eyes: brown
Age: 30 / Creed: KIZHNIK
Southpaw is a career killer and enforcer for the Carabassi, a glowering dishevelled man with a stocky build and a broad, ugly, pockmarked face. His beard is patchy, and scruffy black hair sticks out from under his wide-brimmed hat. He wears a threadbare brown poncho that hides his malformed left forearm, which is gnarled into a swollen clubbed paw. This arm is encased in a cruel-looking iron brace with an array of brutal implements bolted to it: a pistol, a retractable blade, spring-loaded darts, and a telescoping gaff hook. Long embittered by his deformity, he now wields it as a weapon.WILD BOB
Ht: 5'8 / Wt: 280 / Hair: brown / Eyes: amber
Age: 30 / Creed: KIZHNIK
Bob is stooped and thick-limbed. His matted hair is concealed under a frayed wide-brimmed cap, and his clothes are stained and torn. His face and broad and flat, with gleaming catlike eyes, and a split lip that curls over his sharp teeth when he's angry.
Bob is a throwback among the Carabassi, a foundling with a savage streak and an untamed connection to his primal spirit patrons. While his animal form is that of a burly wildcat, his human form somehow retains many features of the beast... preternatural speed and strength, teeth and claws, and senses far beyond human.
Bob is a throwback among the Carabassi, a foundling with a savage streak and an untamed connection to his primal spirit patrons. While his animal form is that of a burly wildcat, his human form somehow retains many features of the beast... preternatural speed and strength, teeth and claws, and senses far beyond human.
Out of a sense of familial responsibility, the Carabassi keep him occupied in the catacombs beneath their manor, and only release him when they have need of his relentless ferocity... for they know he would wreak untold carnage should he be allowed to roam free and hunt as he wished. Fortunately, although bestial and simple-minded, Bob is also loyal to his clan.
FELIZ the BUSKER
Ht: 5'6 / Wt: 135 / Hair: white / Eyes: brown
Age: 60 / Creed: CAMBRIO
GARAFINO
Ht: 5'11 / Wt: 280 / Hair: red / Eyes: brown
Age: 30 / Creed: CAMBRIO
A slovenly, heavy-set Cambrio enforcer with thick brows and a frizz of wirey orange hair. He wears a falchion tucked into his belt, and his clothes are worn and perpetually stained with the residue of his most recent meals. Notable for his disdain for Mondays.
