Tremere
Whether dreaded or reviled, the insular vampires of Clan Tremere are anything but ignored. Those who have heard of the clan�s doings are typically suspicious of the Tremere, and with good reason � for the Warlocks are aptly named. Through their own artifice, they have mastered a form of vampiric sorcery, complete with rituals and spells, that is as potent � if not more so � than any other power of the Blood. Paired with the clan�s rigid hierarchy and the smoldering ambition so common among Warlocks, this power is an unsettling thing indeed to those who know what the Tremere are capable of doing.According to some Kindred records, the Tremere came into being as a clan very recently, at least by an immortal�s standards. Legend has it that during Europe�s Dark Ages, a cabal of human wizards enacted a great ritual over the slumbering body of an Antediluvian and thereby wrested for themselves the gift of vampirism. War followed soon thereafter the fledgling clan found itself besieged by enraged Kindred on every side. But the Tremere are nothing if not survivors. Their human magicks lost, they nonetheless managed to alter their rituals and wardings to utilize the power of their vitae. These magical skills, now practiced as the Discipline of Thaumaturgy, have ensured the Tremere�s place among the Kindred ever since.
The Warlocks gladly play the games of diplomacy and intrigue with their newfound brethren. However, their dealings are always tinged with a touch of paranoia, for the Tremere know that the elders of no fewer than three clans bear them a terrible grudge that has yet to be repaid. Therefore, the Tremere work to cultivate what allies they can, even as they strive to heighten their magical mastery. No less is required for their survival. As a result, the childer of Clan Tremere are among the most driven and learned of all Cainites; few cross these undead sorcerers and escape unscarred.
The Tremere are vampires of the Old World, but have traveled across the continents to establish footholds elsewhere. The clan�s seat of power lies in Vienna, where the Tremere elders convene in council and discuss the clan�s future direction. But many larger cities across the globe house Tremere �chantries� � well-defended houses that are equal parts university, monastery and stronghold. There the Warlocks gather to exchange information and study their vampiric witchcraft, safe from the attentions of their rivals.
Nickname: Warlocks
Sect: The Tremere were more than glad to join the fledgling Camarilla when the sect was forming, and they quickly made themselves invaluable there. In fact, the Tremere are one of the linchpins of the sect. They have a marked interest in keeping the Camarilla strong, of course � with their hated Tzimisce enemies directing their Sabbat minions against any Tremere they find, the Warlocks require allies. And with the valuable magical power they offer, the Tremere find the Camarilla glad to provide the support they require. With the Camarilla�s protection, the Tremere are free to pursue the arcane mastery they so avidly desire.
Appearance: The sorcerous Tremere are typically imposing or sinister in mien. Some favor classic suits; others prefer a slightly more antiquated look, dressing in 1940s-cut suits, Edwardian finery or the simple black turtlenecks of the Beat era. Many wear charms or amulets inscribed with cabalistic or other arcane symbols, as a sign of their learning. Although individual Warlocks may run the gamut from immaculately precise to disheveled and eccentric, the vampiric sorcerers� eyes always gleam with hidden insight and frightening acuity.
Haven: While Warlocks may maintain their own individual havens (often complete with extensive libraries), the clan maintains a chantry in every city that harbors a strong Tremere presence. A chantry is open to any of Tremere�s bloodline and absolutely forbidden to all others. The Warlocks are infamous for their well-guarded havens; almost all boast mystical wards that even other Tremere would find difficult to circumvent.
Background: Many Tremere dabbled in occult or other scholarly pursuits in life. However, a fascination with the unknown is hardly enough to draw a Warlock�s attention; clan members seek �apprentices� with aggressive natures and clear thinking, and care little for muddle-headed New Agers or befuddled conspiracy theorists. Clan Tremere has an unspoken tradition of sexism, and most of its elders are male. Tremere ancillae have become rather more open-minded of late, though, and draw ample numbers of suitably ambitious and persistent acolytes from both sexes.
Character Creation: Tremere typically have strong Mental Attributes and a high Willpower to match; dilettantes and churls cannot meet the grueling demands of sorcery. Many have Knowledges as their primary Abilities, although Skills are also highly in demand. Although a few Tremere specialize in one particular area of excellence. many more prefer a more well-rounded approach to personal aptitudes; after all, a Warlock can typically rely on no one other than himself.
Clan Disciplines: Auspex, Dominate, Thaumaturgy
Weaknesses: By clan law, all neonates must drink the blood of the clan�s seven elders when they are created. All Tremere are at least one step toward being blood bound to their elders, and therefore usually act with great clan loyalty--in order to avoid having such loyalty forced on them. What's more, this arrangement means that Tremere are hard-pressed to resist the will of their elders; the difficulty of any Dominate from a clan superior is one less.
Organization: No tighter internal structure exists among the clans. No clan binds its neonates so strictly. And no clan acts with such unity of purpose as the Tremere. Although younger clan members generally are free to do more or less as they wish, occasionally they receive instructions from their elders that they may not ignore. Paranoia keeps the clan well-oiled and unified.
Of course, the Tremere do encourage individual achievement among the group, seeing it as a Darwinian method of ensuring the clan's strength. With such ambitious, powerful young vampires cooperating with such commendable clan unity, it�s no wonder the Warlocks have plenty of envious and spiteful enemies among the Kindred.
The Tremere�s pyramidal hierarchy contains several ranks, each divided into seven mystical �circles� that an aspirant must master if he desires to advance in rank (and nearly every Tremere desires that very thing). The lowest rank, that of apprentice, belongs to neonates. Above the apprentices are the regents, each one the master of a chantry; then the lords, whose domains include several chantries each. Forty-nine Tremere hold the title of pontifex, each bearing great responsibilities. And at the top of the pyramid sits the Inner Council of Seven, some the masters of entire continents, and all whispered to be in constant mental communication with the others.
Bloodlines: The strict organization of the Tremere, as well as their insistence on obeying one�s elders, offers few freedoms. No variants of the Tremere bloodline have been allowed to survive to the present night. A small group of Tremere rebels once made its home in the Sabbat, but recent events have seen to that group�s destruction.
Quote: We are more than vampires. We are the next step in Cainite evolution. We will direct the others if they allow us to do so, or we will stand alone if we must. But we will survive.
(VtM 3rd)
(Updated section from Guide to Camarilla)
Born in stolen blood and awash in it ever since, the Tremere are regarded with suspicion by their allies and hatred by their enemies. A siege mentality has prevailed within the clan of thaumaturges ever since the night Tremere and his associates crossed the barrier between life and unlife, and nothing the Tremere have seen since then has convinced them it�s time to let their guard down. Instead, as the centuries have passed the clan has grown steadily more insular and self-sufficient. Today, the other clans know less about what the Tremere actually do than they ever have, and the Warlocks like it that way.
Based out of their chantry in Vienna, the Tremere have always held to a process of slow expansion and consolidation. Once the Tremere acquire a chantry, they fortify and reinforce it before attempting to expand again. Each chantry is a miniature replica (in function, if not form) of the home base in Vienna, with laboratories, libraries, residence quarters for Kindred and retainers and other materials necessary for thaumaturgical research. The effort expended in creating each chantry, therefore, ensures that the chantry is not given up easily nor casually invaded by outsiders.
The Tremere are also past masters at the game of prestation. The wide range of possibilities that the Thaumaturgy Discipline makes available to them means that they can render a great many favors to a great many vampires. Handing out a lot of favors means piling up a lot of favors owed, and the Tremere excel at using those debts to advance their aims.
Strength and Influence: Strongest in central Europe, the Tremere rarely rise to the position of prince. That�s not because individual Warlocks are incapable of holding the position or have no ambition for it, but rather because a Tremere prince would have divided allegiance to city and clan. Clan always comes first. As a result, many princes have Tremere advisors, or even scourges, but duty to clan supersedes duty to city or even to sect. The real power the Tremere have comes from the unified front they present. Take on one Tremere, and you take on them all. That�s not to say there�s no bickering or backstabbing within the clan, but once an external threat manifests, all of the Warlocks lock step. (Mind you, there are Tremere hoping that other clan members get conveniently annihilated, but they won�t so much as think that loudly for fear of a reprimand.)
Organization: Without a doubt, the Tremere are the most highly structured of the clans. Arranged in a pyramidal hierarchy (Tremere himself at the top, the Council of Seven beneath him, each with control over a different geographic region, and soon), the Tremere all know their exact place in the order of things. Each Tremere can trace the path of power from where she stands up through her superiors to Tremere himself, and can take comfort in having a well-established place.
Underneath the Council of Seven (which is comprised of all fourth-generation Tremere) sits the Order of Pontifices, seven of whom are assigned to each Councilor. Each Pontifex has a domain to oversee; such domains have only the vaguest relation to actual geography, and frequently overlap. Each Pontifex has direct authority over a group of seven Lords (the aggregate is called the Order of Lords), each of whom oversees a smaller geographic region (a small country, for example, or a few particularly populous states). Each Lord also has seven Regents reporting to him, and each Regent has control over Tremere affairs at a particular chantry. Neonates receive, along with the Embrace, initiation as Apprentices of the First Circle. As a young Tremere progresses in her studies, she ascends through the ranks to the tide of Apprentice of the Seventh Circle. Such lofty �apprentices� help rule the chantry with the Regent; at any given time a chantry can boast a range of apprentices running from First Circle to Seventh. Interestingly enough, there are seven Circles of Mysteries for Regents, Lords and Pontifices as well.
The Tremere never cease their studies, nor do they ever stop advancing in their knowledge of the Mysteries. The Tremere�s strict formality of hierarchy begins with the Embrace and never lets up. Each Apprentice of the First Circle must meet with her Regent once a week, and along with thaumaturgical instruction she receives an indoctrination in Tremere organizational thought. Each vampire is part of the clan as a whole and serves a function in the clan as a whole; a single vampire who shirks her duty weakens the clan as a whole, and so on. It is impressed on neonates early that they are exactly where they are supposed to be for a reason, and that the good of the whole comes first.
The Tremere do have a policy of rapid and multiple transfers of Kindred from chantry to chantry. This is done to keep any single Regent from acquiring too strong a power base. The constant turnover breaks up groups that have grown extremely tightly knit, as well as making it easier for high-ranking Tremere to sneak spies into a given chantry. On the other hand, the constant scattering of Tremere now means that a Regent who won his apprentices� loyalty can have agents in a dozen chantries across the globe.
Concerns: Extinction and power�-those are the two concerns of Clan Tremere. The Warlocks never have quite recovered from the terror of their first nights as Kindred and the horrific war waged against them by the Tzimisce. Kindred too young to remember the nights in the Carpathians are fed endless stories of the battles against Tzimisce war ghouls and the nights when every hand was against them. That fear has never gone away. The Tremere are still convinced � perhaps with good reason � that their enemies still wait, and simply seek an opportunity, a moment of relaxed vigilance before striking once again. The Tzimisce are the featured players in such paranoid fantasies, but the Ventrue, the Toreador and even the escaped Gargoyles also play roles.
And what of the Salubri? Ever since Tremere�s diablerization of Saulot, his childer have been haunted by the fear of Salubri vengeance. Such fears are ludicrous, of course � the Salubri are a hated, hunted remnant, driven underground by relentless Tremere persecution and propaganda. Surely there is no way they could ever mount a threat. But the oldest of the Tremere remember the strange events that led the clan to abandon its Wallachian stronghold of Ceoris, and wonder.
Practices and Customs: Thaumaturgy demands great attention to detail, and Tremere social practices mirror this. Position in the pyramid is of utmost importance at all times; proper deference to one's superiors must be maintained. The Tremere follow a highly regimented meeting schedule. Just as every Apprentice of the First Circle meets with the local Regent once a week, each Regent meets with his peers and Lord once a year. Above them, each Lord meets with her associates and Pontifex once every three years, and the Pontifices meet with their peers and their superior once every seven years. (Note: Only the given Pontifices, Lords, Regents etc. under a single superior meet. Cross-pollination is strictly forbidden.) The Council of Seven meets once a decade in Vienna, and occasionally as a result of crises at other times. However, such irregular meetings are extremely rare; the Tremere have a schedule and they like keeping to it, exactly. Variation invites chaos, chaos disrupts control, and the Tremere like having control very, very much.
Beyond these organizational meetings, the Tremere gather frequently for mystical purposes. An entire chantry comes together for a Convocation every Tuesday, with each Convocation serving as equal parts rite and board meeting. Convocations are conducted telepathically, so as to frustrate any eavesdroppers. A city�s Tremere also host open meetings the third night of every third month; such meetings are open to outsiders, and are conducted via speech, not mindspeech. Finally, at the end of each October, the clan joins for two nights in a mystical communion. A sort of hive-mind is formed by a chant in which each Tremere takes part. Knowledge and wisdom can be exchanged (though deep probes of individual minds are impossible), and each Warlock is reminded of his place in the greater whole.
Clan Prestige: The Tremere grant prestige within the clan in slow, carefully measured doses. Following orders to successful conclusions, triumphs of thaumaturgical research, eliminations of the clan�s enemies and efforts that advance the clan�s agenda are all rewarded, albeit in small increments. Tremere who disobey orders, engage in failed experimentation or who weaken the clan drop in prestige dramatically. Considering the rigidly hierarchical nature of the Tremere and the intense competition for advancement within the clan structure, a single misstep can set a Tremere�s ambitions back literally centuries.
The Cup: It�s more than good indoctrination policies that keep the Tremere so unified. Each neonate, at the time of her creation, drinks a chalice�s worth of the mixed blood of the Council of Seven. Grail imagery and similarities to the Sabbat Vaulderie aside, putting each new Tremere one step closer to being bound to the clan elders is simply good politics. Most neonates stay in line thereafter for fear of having the full bond enforced, while troublemakers are that much easier to Dominate or bond fully. Woe betide a Tremere who gets himself blood hound to someone outside the clan and is discovered, for by doing so he has destroyed his elders� most effective leverage on him. If the error is uncovered, the bound Tremere can expect an unpleasant time, and the vampire he is bound to will probably be marked for death.
VtM 3rd ed
