Clans
Here is a listing of the clans and bloodlines that have some sort of tie to the Giovanni.
I will stress that all of these should be considered canon (IE: factual by the books, unless otherwise marked) as the research done to conclude these links were obtained from the books themselves. Should any of these be found in error, I will gladly update them based on whatever updated oWoD book is being used.
Cappadocians: If you play the Giovanni and have no clue who or what this clan is, then stop playing right now, pick up either clan book, and start reading. Cover to cover if you have to. The Cappadocians were the original grave robbers of their time. They had a desire to study death that no other was able to match. They sired the Lamia bloodline and the Giovanni. Long story short, once certain aspects of the Cappadocians studies came to light (Cappadocius seeking to diablerize God himself) Augustus had all the plausible deniability he needed.
This isn’t to paint Augustus with the look of a good guy, because he wasn’t. This was just the opening he needed to advance his own plans. The Giovanni then began to destroy the Lamia and Cappadocians down to the single man. But this wasn’t to be the end…
Lamia: The servitor bloodline to the Cappadocians and efficient workhorses. While the Cappadocians reviewed death and all it’s pallor, the Lamia liked to witness it in the here and now. It’s hard to do the bloodline justice with just a a blurb or two so this writer would strong encourage you to find copies of clan novel: Assamite and Cappadocian from the Dark Ages line of novels.
They were followers of Lilith as well. And it’s not impossible to say that their lasting impression on the WoD was the Path of Enlightenment: Lilith as they were the most fervent of followers during their time. The last Lamia is noted to have perished before the Victorian Age.
Samedi: Little except rumor and innuendo supports their link to the Giovanni and/or the Cappadocians. There has been nothing definitive written that links these either of these clans to this bloodline and it should just be considered it’s own, wayward bloodline. That’s not to say you couldn’t continue to use the rumor to harass Giovanni in game….
Harbingers of the Skull (HotS): Despite popular rumor in and out of game, they are not the direct descendants of the Cappadocians. Their background depicts them returning from the ‘Shadowlands’ from which they were banished. There has been nothing written down from White Wolf that depicts this event in Giovanni history. Now it’s possible that some Cappadocians fled to the Shadowlands, but at the same time, that was largely a Giovanni discipline and not one that belonged to the Cappadocians proper. In fact, when the revised Sabbat guide was originally written, the Cappadocians didn’t even have that ability! It wasn’t until long afterwards when the Cappadocians were skillfully fleshed out in the revised Dark Ages: Vampire that they took on a more potent in-game appearance. And even then, the best they could do was a form of Necromantic Astral Projection which left their body in the lands of the living whilst their soul skimmed around in the Shadowlands.
It is highly likely that the Harbingers suffer from their own propaganda, which is exactly what this is. Now this isn’t to say that they didn’t spring from the remains of the Cappadocians. This just means that they weren’t ‘the’ same guys that the Giovanni hunted down. And if you know your Cappadocian history then you’d know that hundreds, possibly thousands, were locked away in Kaymakli during the Feast of Folly. This writer is here to tell you that you can discount them as the HotS as well. Why? Because if any of these incompetent saps actually lived, they would be true Cappadocians, not HotS.
But be reminded that the fools who were locked away in Kaymakli were indeed largely incompetent. And even giving them an ounce of credit to their unholy name, it still highly unlikely that any of them would be able to break the ward Cappadocius played on the tomb.
So who are the HotS and where did they come from? This would be my opinion based on the facts (not rumors or side comments made by White Wolf in their books) presented. Lazarus was for the longest time the only known Cappadocian who lived, aside from the Cappadocian/Giovanni called the Premascines. He was strong enough in his own ways to stand on his own, but he’d need a small army to try and bring down the Giovanni. He was also knowledgeable enough to feasibly have created the Path of Mortuus. The Harbingers go by the nick name “Lazarenes” in his honor so it’s likely that they are his brood.
“But if they come from Lazarus, they’d be Cappadocians right?” Wrong. Being apart of a clan in the WoD is much more than just who created you, as evident by the Caitiff in later books. It has to do with culture, background, disciplines, and most importantly, the founder. Lazarus wasn’t they standard Cappadocian, he was very much a rogue. In fact he killed one of his own (Caias) in a fight brought about his lack of attendance of the Feast of Folly. He also was never around for the Giovanni rise to power. He felt guilt at the slaying of Caias and due to his injuries he had to slip into torpor in order to heal.
The brood of Cappadocians he had with him at the time shows he was at least a marginal leader. So is it that hard to imagine a grief stricken Lazarus rising from his grave of torpor only to find his tie to his founder gone? Or those he might have shared with his brood?
Without much thought, Lazarus fled to the Shadowlands, and over time, picked mortals who showed great promise and gave him his gift. Thus the HotS were born. It’s possible, though incredibly unlikely, that members of his original brood survived the purge and joined him in the Shadowlands. They would be like the Giovanni embraced Cappadocian prior to Augustus eating Cappadocius. Only instead of being Giovanni/Cappadocians they’d be HotS/Cappadocians. But for all intend and purpose, they’d just be Harbingers. Simply older members of a new bloodline.
End result: HotS are definitely related, but not the real item. Their new culture, paths of enlightenment, disciplines, and clan weakness dictate this to us. “But you’re saying the Cappadocians lived right?” Read on friend read on….
Mla Watu: Now here is the genuine article as far as the Cappadocians are concerned. One of the later books of the White Wolf line, Kindred of the Ebony Kingdom, details the exploits of the Mla Watu and lays to rest the arguments of what happened to the Cappadocian clan. Apparently, during the purge, some Cappadocians fled to the dark and untamed lands of Africa and hid among the laibon there. Their founders were actual Cappadocians who managed to assimilate themselves into the culture and society of the laibon and eventually (much like the HotS) become something else.
But unlike the HotS (who never had a Cappadocian background except what twisted and changed variant Lazarus taught) they did not start off being different. They simply became different over time. Like the HotS, their disciplines no longer match the parent clan and their weakness is slightly different (though closer to the original clan than the HotS).
So there you have it, the remains of the Cappadocian clan are no longer. For in-game purposes, if you’re wanting to play a Cappadocian in the modern era you’ll probably have to ask your ST if you can play one of the Premascines from the Giovanni. If you’re looking for some fun spin offs, I offer you the Harbingers and the Mla Watu.
Salubri: It had been rumored awhile back that Saulot and Cappadocius were possibly the same person. Cappadocius soul is finally done away with at the end of the Giovanni Chronicles and Saulot reappears during the Gehenna plot in the form of Tremere himself I believe. So there you go, no link.
Tlacique: An interesting, and slowly rebuilding bloodline of Setites that doesn’t have Serpentis. Almost wiped out twice, they have since befriended the Giovanni Pisanob branch. They work together loosely as the bloodline rebuilds. Had White Wolf continued this series, this would have made for an awesome Setite/Giovanni story arc with the Sabbat in the backdrop. They don’t detail too much, but given the way the Tlacique need allies and like Thaumaturgy (their own and others) its not impossible to run some spin offs from that.