History

Life

Pietro grew up starving and uneducated in an impoverished Sicily that had nothing to offer except unbearable taxation. Life was hard for the poor under the Italy’s newly-unified government. Pietro’s story was the same as many other Italians who immigrated to the United States in search of a better life. For the most part, Pietro doesn’t like to talk about it. He finds it a “boring story that’s been told a thousand times already."

Like many of his countrymen, Pietro was one of the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free” who passed through Ellis Island and fell into a life of crime. Pietro never had what it took to go far in the Mafia, though. He wasn’t interested in taking orders and made no bones over the fact that he valued his own skin over most everybody else’s. He didn’t need the Mafia to make it in this country, anyway. Pietro was already accustomed to stealing to survive in Sicily, but in America “people actually had things worth stealing.” The young immigrant was soon making a steady living as a pickpocket, house burglar, and occasional mugger when pickings were slim. God bless America.

If someone asks Pietro how he left New York, he’ll smile and weave any of a dozen stories. The unifying thread to all of them is that he robbed the wrong mark at the wrong time. New York got too hot and he skipped town. New Orleans seemed like as good a place to go as any. There was a sizable Italian-American community there, and even 100 years ago they told stories about the French Quarter’s decadent pleasures.

Embrace

Pietro’s stories grow even more outrageous after he arrives in New Orleans. He says he discovered the Kindred all on his own, and stole the vitae that Embraced him from his sire’s sleeping lips. He says his rakish looks and peerless skills captivated the entire Toreador clan, and that they all fought over the right to Embrace him; that’s how Bruno Courtet actually met final death. Pietro says he impersonated the artist who won the clan’s Halloween Ball and stole the Embrace meant for them. His cousin Veronica, when she’s in angrier moods, says he was an accidental Embrace after Barthélemy Lafon fed on him too deeply. It was dumb luck he didn’t become Caitiff and pity that made his sire keep him around.

Everyone knows they’re both liars.

Early Requiem

What’s indisputably true is that the Embrace made Pietro an unstoppable thief. Robbing mortals blind was too easy; the trickier part was maintaining the Masquerade. Pietro found that more tedious than enjoyable. It was cleaning up after himself rather than actually stealing things of worth. Stealing from other vampires, though, proved a more exciting challenge. Flirting with danger got his dead heart pumping like nothing else.

After landing in hot water with several elders, Barthélemy suggested to his childe that petty theft would only take him so far. Pietro thereafter expressed himself among the Toreador by becoming an accomplished art forger. Many of them considered such work “derivative” but he said, “Who cares? It sells. Money is beautiful, too.” He still likes to point to his “artistic growth” as evidence the supposedly static Kindred can learn new tricks. Forgeries were also better for the Masquerade. Pietro could steal prized artwork to his heart’s content when he replaced pieces with forgeries. He still gets a kick out of seeing how long it takes curators to catch on. He claims to have left dozens of still-unidentified fakes in galleries.

He also credits his success, at least partly, to Barthélemy. That credit is possibly the only thing he hasn’t tried to steal completely for himself.

Pietro’s brand of art never won him acclaim among his clan, but they tolerated it, especially when he also proved a fair hand at restoration work (there was a lot of overlap with forgery). His sire, a “gentleman scoundrel” whose style Pietro greatly admired, possessed extensive criminal holdings and always had another burglary or forgery job for his childe. Unlife was good.

Pearl’s Return

That all changed when Pearl Chastain rose from torpor and made clear she viewed her grandchilde as a low-born poseur of the worst sort; he would need to change a great deal about himself if he were to have any place within their clan and covenant.

Pietro sneered at the idea he owed his grandsire anything: he was a half-century dead and hadn’t once laid eyes on her. He’d have probably jumped ship from the Invictus even if his sire hadn’t. He wound up with the Anarchs, whose sensibilities were always more in line with his own. Katherine Beaumont was quick to besmirch him as bad seed who’d never have lasted in the First Estate. Others countered that Barthélemy (who’d earned Pietro’s respect) had influenced his childe’s criminal activities in a more productive direction. Pietro was just another potentially loyal descendant who Pearl had needlessly alienated.

Looking back isn’t for Pietro, though, especially when the Anarchs admired his exploits. Pietro was happy to bask in his newfound popularity with the covenant’s younger members, even if he didn’t care about the Movement’s larger cause: he just wanted the freedom to do what he wanted. He was completely open about it, though, unlike his cousin Veronica. For decades, that was enough for Coco and Miss Opal. Better to have him on their side than someone else’s.

Hurricane Katrina

Pietro likes to say a good thief is also a better runner: getting caught is inevitable. Katrina “caught” everybody. Stories say that Pietro stole a helicopter from the feds and took it on a joyride. That’s how he got out of the city.

It’s other licks who tell those stories, though. Not Pietro.

Pietro doesn’t talk about Katrina. No Kindred claim to have seen him in Houston or Baton Rouge, so he doesn’t seem to have fled there. He didn’t stay in the city, either: why would he, when there was all danger and no blood? The kine had evacuated. Veronica, the lick who’s closest to him, just gets nasty (even by her standards) when the subject comes up. Katrina wasn’t a happy occasion for either of them: Barthélemy was a lover and mentor to both Toreador, and met final death during the flight to Houston. Some licks wonder if that’s why Pietro doesn’t like to talk about it, but he doesn’t talk about the next two years, either. Katrina is the one story he refuses to boast about.

Since the Storm

Two years later, Pietro returned from wherever he’d been without explanation and resumed his old ways. There was plenty to steal in the rebuilding city. By 2009, he and Veronica were back together.

To this night, Pietro remains New Orleans’ premier Kindred thief. Whenever something goes missing in the city, other licks assume Pietro is involved.

He often is.

Influence

Domain

Pietro holds a moderate stretch of domain in Faubourg Marigny and (since the 2015 Anarch split) the French Quarter. He enjoys picking up vessels at bars and clubs, though many Kindred suspect that with his skills he could easily feed as a sandman too.

Fame

The Julia Street Panthère is said to be an art forger and thief of preternatural, if not downright impossible, skill. The Panthère is considered an apocryphal figure, if not ludicrous urban legend, by mortal authorities.

The Panthère, of course, is Pietro. While he’s not so gauche as to leave calling cards, there are some individuals who believe (or at least half-believe) that a ghost haunts the city’s art museums, or at least Julia Street’s. Pietro regards the whole thing with amusement, but he’s vain enough that it tickles his ego, too. It’s well that the kine should be in awe of his skills.

Ghouls

Alan Thomas
Ghouled: 1986
Status: Ghouls ••
Alan has one of those smiles that makes you want to punch the guy in his face. The smarmy kind, like he thinks he knows more than you. He’s charming, though, and he’s probably got what you need. Art? Cars? Jewels? Drugs? Guy could sell ice to an Eskimo in the middle of winter. Was a used car salesman at some point, but Silvestri obviously liked the cut of his jib since he took the guy in. Always trying to sell something to someone, whether it’s physical goods or an idea. “Do it for the commish,” he’s fond of saying. Gets on well with most people, honestly, silver-tongued flatterer that he is. Some people think he’s pretty stand up. Or maybe he just pulled the wool over their eyes, too. Has the hots for Clementine Jasper-Kumar. “She only looks underage,” but apparently that’s how he likes them. Serves as a herald of sorts for his domitor, Pietro, and talks about a million miles an hour.

Others
Pietro employs a variety of ghouls. Some aid in his criminal endeavors. Some are pretty faces he enjoys for a while and then abandons; Pietro might not be an artiste, but he’s as fickle as any of his clan. He’s particularly fond of “untouchable” pretty girls who he can “steal” from their boyfriends. Especially if they’re Christians saving themselves for marriage: he gets a kick out of “stealing” their virginity too.

Mask

Pietro goes through identities like snakeskins. He’s posed as countless different people over the years. One of his favorite is a suave and debonair “gentleman thief” from a fantastically wealthy upbringing who steals for the thrill of the heist (“James Bond without the government authorization”). He also impersonates a flirty cat burglar who always wears an impractical leather catsuit. He’s amused at how many people fall for both guises. He sometimes allows himself to be spotted while wearing them, or even leaves calling cards. He always gets a kick out sending the authorities scrambling after thieves who don’t actually exist.

Pawns

If someone knows a fence, chances are that fence knows Pietro or knows a guy who knows Pietro (at least through one of his guises). He still doesn’t have any desire to join or run the Mafia (plenty of other Kindred splitting that pie between themselves), but he knows quite a few criminal contacts and has stolen things for many of them. He also has contacts among art dealers and auction houses that open doors to surprisingly respectable circles.

Status

Pietro is a figure of high standing among the Anarchs. He doesn’t actually do a lot for the Movement, but his deeds are famous among its members. Quite simply, they love his style. Sometimes Coco can convince him to pitch in for things. (Anarch Status •••)

The Ravnos respect him a lot for the same reason. He’s learned a few tricks from the clan, and taught them a few of his own, too. The Ravnos don’t have a constant presence in the city outside of a few members, but many of the ones who pass through meet Pietro and know him for a friend to their clan. (Ravnos Friendship ••)

Pietro enjoys minor standing among the Camarilla. Some might suspect otherwise, but contrary to what younger Anarchs might say, his nights of stealing from elders to blow the Camarilla a raspberry are long past. He’s of a respected lineage, moderately old, and many Kindred find cause to deal with him sooner or later, though usually out of sight. He hasn’t gone out of his way to establish his name among the sect. (Camarilla Status •)

Among his clan, Pietro is seen as a poseur. Most of them don’t care that he sells forgeries to mortals, but they don’t see it as a respectable vocation. His restoration work has won him a few plaudits. (Toreador Status •)

Recent Events

GM’s Note: Spoilers for the adventure logs follow in Stories Ten and below.

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Genealogy

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• 5. Unknown sire
　• 6. Pearl Chastain (e. centuries ago)
　　• 7. Accou Poincaré (e. mid 18th century)
　　　• 8+. The Santiago brood (e. varies)
　　　• 8. Avoyelles Desormeaux (e. mid 19th century)
　　　　• 9+. The Lafayette brood (e. varies)
　　　• 8. Marguerite Defallier (e. late 19th century)
　　　　• 9. Abraham “Bram” Garcia (e. mid 20th century)
　　　　　• 10. Maxzille “Max” “Zilly” “Zillah” Babinfeaux (e. mid 20th century)
　　　　　　• 11. Anne Sommers (e. late 20th century, d. 2005)
　　　　　　　• 12. David Hansen (e. early 21st century)
　　　　• 9. Aniyah Bailey (e. early 21st century)
　　　• 8. Veronica Alsten-Pirrie (e. early 20th century)
　　　　• 9. Jade Kalani (e. early 21st century)
　　　　• 9. Amaryllis DeCuir (e. early 21st century, d. 2016)
　　• 7. Bruno Courtet (e. late 18th century, d. early 20th century)
　　　• 8. Katherine Beaumont (e. early 20th century)
　　　　• 9. Pablo Gallegro (e. early 20th century, d. late 20th century)
　　　　• 9. Rayisa Kostenko (e. late 20th century, d. 2005)
　　• 7. Barthélemy Lafon (e. early 19th century, d. 2005)
　　　• 8. Valentine St. James (e. early 19th century, d. 2005)
　　　　• 9. Lisette Toussaint (e. mid 19th century)
　　　• 8. Pietro Silvestri (e. early 20th century)
　　• 7. Adelais Seyrès (e. late 19th century)

Lineage

Pietro is the childe of Barthélemy Lafon, an architect, engineer, and planner who designed the Garden District. He also led a double life as a pirate, smuggler, and associate of Jean Lafitte’s. He continued both vocations into his Requiem after Pearl Embraced him to save his architectural talents from yellow fever, and walked a skillful line impressing scoundrels and proper society alike. He perished during Katrina. Barthélemy was childe to Pearl Chastain, the matriarch and senior primogen for their clan in New Orleans, the regent of the Lower Garden District, and the eldest member of the Prima Invicta, the Invictus’ governing council. Pearl Chastain has not publicly spoken of her sire, but is believed to be of the sixth generation and a great-grandchilde of Arikel.

Childer

Pietro has yet to Embrace. “Too much hassle,” he likes to say. Some Kindred joke he prefers to be the “cool uncle,” as he seems to have a soft spot for Veronica’s childe Jade, a few other neonates among their clan, and the Caitiff Zofia.