Editing Independent Alliance (section)

===A House of Cards===

In 2008, an attack devastated the palatial Giovanni compound in Venice. Of the nearly two-hundred vampires and ghouls protecting Augustus, none survived to tell the tale and the Clan’s Founder was gone. The brutal attack destroyed the wraiths bound to serve Augustus, their incorporeal forms torn apart as if cut by a thousand blades. A massive investigation was conducted by the Giovanni, but thus far the Necromancers have only been able to discern their founder still survives in physical form; he has not been destroyed or diablerized. His whereabouts, and the identity of his attackers, are still unknown. As the tides of the war began to shift, the Giovanni found themselves targeted by the Sword of Caine. Struggling to recover from the abduction of their Founder, the Necromancers began to suffer heavy losses in the confrontations. Believing that the Sabbat and their new cohorts, known as the Harbingers of Skulls, were responsible for the abduction of Augustus, the Giovanni needed allies in order to survive. The Necromancer’s hands were tied by the Promise: a treaty with the Camarilla that afforded them no protection and little benefit, especially in the face of the onslaught from the Sabbat.

With but one way to advance their cause, in 2011 Clan Giovanni sent a private declaration to the Camarilla Inner Circle stating its intention to break the Promise. The Necromancers claimed their Clan needed to fully engage with vampire society in order to survive after the repeated Sabbat attacks on the clan’s holdings. When the message reached the Camarilla, the tide had already turned in its favor over the Sabbat. These successes caused many Elders of the Ivory Tower to see the Giovanni’s declaration as impudence and a challenge to the Camarilla’s power.

Although most Kindred were outraged by the Giovanni’s statement, a small faction among the Ventrue, led by Purissimma Geiss, argued in favor of an alliance with the Necromancers. However, the Tremere and Brujah found common ground on this matter and sternly rejected any such overtures. Clan Tremere did not want another Clan with sorcerous power to swell the ranks of the Camarilla and threaten its monopoly and the Brujah had recently lost several of its own interests to the Giovanni and were in no mood to support the Ventrue or their allies. As a result, the Camarilla made no efforts to aid the Necromancers in their time of need and instead threatened a second war with the Giovanni if they were to break the promise. As news of the Giovanni’s desire to break the Promise spread, Giovanni were thrown out of Camarilla domains, refused entry to their courts, and openly slighted.