“Know you this, my progeny,
that our land is forever the land of darkness.
Know that when the time comes,
darkness shall consume my soul,
as it will one day consume yours.”
Lasombra’s words to his childer

Rumors of Clan Lasombra’s defection to the Camarilla are exaggerated. Individual Cainites do not easily leave the Sabbat, never mind an entire clan. In truth, the keepers have always had a sizable antitribu population, especially in the Middle East and Latin America.

Following the Gehenna Crusade in the aftermath of 9/11, this portion of the clan has emerged from the shadows. Aided by a small (but notorious) number of defectors from the Sabbat, and a surprising number of antitribu ensconced within the Camarilla, these Lasombra claim to the “true” clan and decry their Sabbat clanmates as antitribu. These rival keepers furiously contest that label.

The groundwork for this move took the better part of a decade. It was in 2016, following a great gathering of the clan in Cairo, that the Lasombra antitribu proclaimed their entrance in the Camarilla. The process is currently quite slow-going. For all the fact that these Lasombra assure they have never been members of the Sabbat, the Night Clan is intensely distrusted by the Camarilla. Many princes have made extraordinarily onerous demands of Lasombra would-be residents of their domains, ranging from blood bonds to turning over staked elder clanmates. Some keepers hope to eventually see a Lasombra justicar and Inner Circle representative, but such a thing is likely quite far off, if it will even happen at all. The greatest benefit these Camarilla Lasombra see to “coming out” is that they no longer wish to live in fear of their Sabbat clanmates.

In New Orleans, Philip Maldonato has emerged as one of the most high-profile antitribu (or, perhaps now, simply Camarillo-affiliated Lasombra) seeking to bring his clan into the Ivory Tower. Between Maldonato’s patronage and New Orleans’ status as a major port, Big Easy city has become one of the prime (and literal) ports of entry for keepers seeking entrance into North America. Prince Vidal has proven surprisingly tolerant if not welcoming of the Night Clan in his city, a fact that is doubtlessly a consequence of his centuries-long association with one of its elders. New Orleans now plays host to a large number of Lasombra transients, while the clan’s permanent presence continues to steadily grow under Maldonato’s watchful gaze.

Never one to pass up new friends, Antoine Savoy has been equally quick to offer competent and ambitious keepers a place by his side in the French Quarter. Several have already taken up his offer. For all the fact that Vidal may be one of Clan Lasombra’s greatest advocates in the larger Camarilla, the keepers are ruthlessly pragmatic. To individual Lasombra, it looks increasingly likely that Savoy is going to become prince. Baron Cimitière, meanwhile, seems to have no particular objection to Clan Lasombra’s presence in New Orleans; for him, Vodoun and service to the loa comes first, above clan or sect or covenant.

All things told, New Orleans is one of the better Camarilla cities to be Lasombra.