Fabrizio Ulfila is a 5th generation Methuselah and one of the few Ventrue Kindred who still holds power in the Catholic Church. Befitting his position, he has been accused of inciting the Fourth Crusade and the Inquisition itself, consorting with mortal mages, and getting in bed with the Giovanni.
Biography
Fabrizio Ulfila has been around since the first nights of Christianity in Ancient Rome. He became one of the most influential members of the Ecclesiasticals, the faction of Ventrue that believed that power lay in the Church. Through his influence, the Catholic Church aligned itself with the Carolingans. During this time, he was forced into Torpor and only reawakened in the 12th century. He discovered that other Clans, particular Toreador and Lasombra, had infiltrated the institution. Maintaining strong ties with Mithras of London and Alexander of Paris, Ulfila slowly worked to expand Christendom into the domains of the Tzimisce and supported the Crusades.
Even though the Church has been a battlefield for Cainite conspiracies for centuries, Fabrizio has survived them all and still remained steadfastly loyal to the Ventrue principle of dignitas - one of his few mistakes was handing over a ghoul named Ferox to the Tremere. All other accusations, like unleashing the Inquisition, he has excused with being in Torpor at the time. In truth, it was Ulfila who first incited the Church against the heretics of Languedoc. He had hoped that this would deal the Toreador in Paris a blow from which they would not recover. Instead, the Albigensian Crusade galvanized the witch-hunters and lead to the Shadow Inquisition, which would eventually transform into the Society of Leopold.
During the Dark Ages, he resided in Bologna, Italy. There he concentrated his efforts in influencing the two dominican monasteries and the university of Bologna -- gaining pawns, ghouls, and childer among the students and Dominicans. His long term goal was to expand his influence in the Church through the fledgling monastic order.
Contracts in 1250 a strange wasting disease, along with several of his confederates in Rome.[citation needed] The younger kindred die, the elders, including Ulfila, make a slow recovery. Suggested a league of Vampires in 1394.[citation needed]
It has been rumored that Fabrizio has True Faith due to his incredible success within the church, though he never appeared to manifest any of these abilities. It is also rumored that he has learned many of the secrets of Necromancy from the Giovanni which is fueled by his infrequent communications about the events in the Underworld which he describes in a first person perspective.
In the modern nights, he continues his quest for control over the mortal Church, despite its growing irrelevance (which he ignores). He now mainly resides in Venice in the company of the Giovanni than in Rome. Growing unrest within the Underworld has lead him to strengthen his focus on ferreting out the Secret Masters wherever they may hide.
Gallery
References
- Clanbook Ventrue Revised, p. 99
- Dark Ages Europe, p. 98; p. 108-109
- Encyclopaedia Vampirica, p. 177
- Libellus Sanguinis I: Masters of the State, p.83-84, 100
- Clanbook: Ventrue, p.68