The Tremere

Well, that's Philosophy I've read,
And Law and Medicine, and I fear
Theology, too, from A to Z;
Hard studies all, that have cost me dear.
And so I sit, poor silly man
No wiser now than when I began. 

-Goethe, Faust 354-59

Overview

Nobody liked the little prick, but Nicolai was a stabilizing force among the city’s Tremere. Possessing great power in his veins and a tight hold over all the other Warlocks in the city, the way he led his clan was a near-perfect representation of how the Pyramid operated at its height.

Then, he left Chicago and never returned from his trip to Vienna. He’d appointed the (at the time) Follower of Set, Marcel, to act as his proxy on the Primogen Council instead of naming one of his childer. He’d never ruled on the clan’s opinion of House Carna or the reemerging House Goratrix. He left a gaping hole where a powerful Tremere was required. That vacancy remains there still.

Chicago’s Tremere are firmly apolitical in these nights. Apparently lacking direction and often avoiding Prince Jackson’s summons, many of the city’s vampires wonder what the Warlocks are up to in their Hyde Park mansion. They occasionally emerge to lend their aid against Anarch raids and Second Inquisition scrutiny, but they offer the bare minimum. Some believe their stance would change completely were a new Prince to take the throne.

The Tremere may be forced to action in nights to come, as Abraham DuSable clings to the traditions of House Tremere, Sun Che embraces the new methods of House Carna, and Erichtho attempts to rebuke all methods of control.

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The metaphor of the Pyramid has been replaced by the tarot symbology of the Tower.  The fall of the Tremere was sudden, it was hard, and it was spectacular.  A war with the Tremere's mother Order of Hermes in the 1990s left the clan depleted and unable to deal with what was to come in the early 21st century, beginning with Carna's Revolt.  The sacking of the Vienna Chantry in 2008 shattered the communal blood bond that reined the clan in, causing it to collapse into sectarian infighting literally overnight.  When the Tremere's traditional enemies the Banu Haqim petitioned for admission into the Camarilla, the Tremere simply could not organize the political will to stop it from happening, which further destabilized their power matrix.  They were now not the only clan of highly skilled and organized blood sorcerers within the Camarilla, and those within the Ivory Tower who held long-simmering grudges against the Tremere were all too happy to seize the opportunity to get even.

Now the Tremere are a shattered clan.  What once moved in lockstep is now pulled in a thousand different directions as individual Warlocks assert their egos and ambitions.  Setbacks continue to bedevil the clan - Tremere Justicar Ian Carfax was recently destroyed defending an Elysium site from Lupines in St. Paul, Minnesota and the clan has yet to officially declare his replacement (for more information on what really transpired in St. Paul, read Vampire: the Masquerade - Winter's Teeth and World of Darkness: Crimson Thaw).  The only previous Tremere Justicars who are accounted for are Karl Schrekt, who leads the clan as a whole, and the disgraced Anastaz di Zagreb.  Whoever becomes the new Tremere Justicar, they will almost certainly be a political unknown with much to prove - and ambitious clanmates resentful of the promotion waiting to undermine them at every turn.

Despite the tremendous setbacks they have faced, the Tremere remain influential within the Camarilla, and in many ways the clan moves to address problems more quickly and inventively now that its top-down hierarchy has been shattered.  Individual Tremere engage in more creative use of Blood Sorcery, seize power for themselves without waiting for approval from their elders, and cultivate allies and interests outside of the clan where once they would not have dared without permission from above.

An old Hermetic maxim states that "challenge defines the magus."  Perhaps these new challenges will only make the Tremere stronger.  Only time will tell.

Tremere SPCs of Note:

• Abraham DuSable, Chantry Regent

• Erichtho, Anarch Sympathizer

• Sun Che, House Carna Sympathizer

• Father Arden Canty, Deacon of the Church of Caine

The Camarilla: 

According to the Tremere, the Camarilla was their idea, its structure inspired in large part by their own efficient hierarchy.  They place themselves at its heart, and for five hundred years the Ventrue-Tremere alliance determined the political direction taken by the Ivory Tower.  In large part that arrangement still holds, though after the Tremere's collapse the Blue-Bloods have grown more condescending and commanding - the writing is on the wall that the Lords expect the Warlocks to know their place.  The Tremere play along - for now - but the clan's elders are already considering ways to square the circle and build a political bloc against the Ventrue.  They have begun making quiet overtures to the Lasombra, offering subtle assistance to the Magisters in establishing themselves in exchange for prestation - currency they might use to establish an alliance against the Ventrue later, whether the Lasombra want one or not.  The arrival of the Banu Haqim in the Camarilla complicates things for the Warlocks, for the two clans remain bitter enemies - in some domains they coexist, in others the Tremere have as yet managed to prevent the Banu Haqim from gaining Primogeniture and asserting their pillar clan rights.  In still other domains, such as Ottawa, the Tremere find themselves effectively banished in favor of the new arrivals (read the interactive novel Vampire: the Masquerade - Parliament of Knives for more about this).

The Anarchs:

A faction of the Tremere who call themselves House Ipsissimus have defected to the Anarch Movement.  These Tremere have added Thelemic practices to the clan's old-form Hermetic teachings.  They believe that through the practice of Blood Sorcery, a perfected state as far above the Kindred as the Kindred is above the Kine waits to be discovered.  The Tremere of House Ipsissimus defected because within the Pyramid, their mystical energy would always be channeled upward away from themselves; they seek to channel it to something that waits within them in the Blood to be drawn forth.  As you can guess, they've been developing very close ties with the Ministry, and some Tremere believe that if one were to cleave to the heart of House Ipsissimus one would find a long-hidden clique of apostate Tremere Set-worshippers called The Eyes of the Serpent.

Factions:

House Tremere: 

Tremere who have maintained their loyalty to the clan's traditional hierarchy and who have rallied behind elder Karl Schreckt, so much so that some members of House Carna and House Ipsissimus now mockingly call the loyalists "House Schreckt."  The Tremere practice Hermetic Thaumaturgy in the old style, and under Schreckt's leadership they have rejected blending their Blood Sorcery with more modern schools, such as the proponents of the "path of technomancy", treatises on which have been seized by the clan as a potential threat to the Masquerade.

House Carna: 

House Carna has abandoned the traditional Hermetic correspondences of the Tremere in favor of sanguine versions of Wicca, Chaos Magick, and other practices.  House Carna walks the line between the Camarilla and Anarch Movement, with cabals aligned to either side of the divide.  Carna says she will not force her followers to choose; that would be exactly the sort of top-down tyranny she rebelled against in the first place.

House Ipsissimus: 

Tremere renunciates who have joined the Anarch movement.  Their sorcerous practices are heavily influenced by Thelema, the teachings of Aleister Crowley and the Golden Dawn.

House Goratrix: 

Followers of Tremere's childe Goratrix.  Once thought destroyed, they have recently reappeared.  The most mercenary of all Tremere factions, House Goratrix sells its talents to whoever pays.  Kindred are wary of House Goratrix and keep solicitation of their services quiet, as House Goratrix was once part of the Sabbat, though they claim that association ended with the Sword of Caine's implosion.

Historical Range:

As mortal Magi the Tremere's seat of power was the Ceoris Grand Covenant in Transylvania; they retained this fortress for some time after their corruption into vampires but eventually abandoned it and relocated their seat of power to Vienna, which persisted until the Grand Chantry's destruction by the Second Inquisition.  By the time of the Renaissance the Tremere ranged all over Europe, establishing chantries in just about every city that didn't explicitly drive them out and secret enclaves where they weren't wanted.  After the Camarilla formed the Tremere became a mainstay in most Camarilla-aligned domains as the sect expanded into the Americas; only a rare few Princes had the political clout to bar them from a domain completely.   That is no longer the case; the Tremere now often find themselves groveling in front of Princes they once bullied, and some domains have turned them out completely.  Conversely, the number of Tremere princes has also increased somewhat, as ambitious Warlocks no longer need permission from their elders in order to seize power in a domain.  In areas outside of Camarilla control the reception to the Tremere tends to be colder; the Oradea League still considers "Hunt the Usurper" a fun game and though technically allied now Tremere should expect to keep their stay in Ashirra domains either covert or short.  Surprisingly, the Tremere are perhaps the most welcome Westerners among the Rakshasa, where they conspired with native lineages to push back the Ashirra and provided some succour during the Camarilla's colonization attempts during the Raj, if only to learn the occult secrets of lineages like the Daitya and Danava.

Lexicon:

Acolyte: A Tremere neonate not yet released from their Accounting.

Apprentice: A Tremere released from their Accounting but still considered to be under instruction.  Once formed the bulk of the clan, current circumstances have resulted in Apprentices being promoted to the rank of Magister more rapidly.

Carna: "The Princess Witch."  A powerful Tremere sorceress who was once Prince of Marseilles, she was functionally banished by the clan due to her unpopular political views - until she figured out how to break the Tremere's communal blood bond over herself and her followers.  Now the leader of House Carna.

Councilor: The highest rank in the clan beneath Lord Tremere himself - "The Council of Seven."  All Seven Councilors are missing and presumed deceased after the Second Inquisition's destruction of the Vienna chantry.

Chantry: "Altar" or "Sanctuary."  A style of secured communal haven heavily favored by the Tremere (and formerly mandated by its leaders).  A Chantry directly governed by a High Regent, Lord, or Pontifex is called a High Chantry.  The Chantry where Lord Tremere resided was traditionally called the Grand Chantry.  In the old Hermetic form Chantries are called "Covenants."

Ducheski: A Tzimisce Revenant family that defected to the Tremere centuries ago.  They are known for their technical and engineering skills.   Once neglected, the recent setbacks faced by the Tremere have led to a resurgent need for the Ducheski and the embrace of several members of the family into the clan.  They are House Tremere loyalists.  See Krevcheski.

House Carna: Tremere who follow Carna, the Princess Witch.

House Goratrix: Tremere who follow Lord Tremere's childe, Goratrix the Betrayer.  They are Independent and often sell their services as mercenaries.  House Goratrix has past association with the Sabbat.

House Ipsissimus: A faction of the Tremere who have joined the Anarch Movement.

House Tremere: Tremere who remain loyal to the Founder (or at least his memory) and the Pyramid.  As a clarification, Clan Tremere encompasses all of Tremere's blood, whatever their loyalty - House Tremere represents the loyalist core of the clan.

Krevcheski: An old name for the Ducheski revenant family.  

Lord: A Tremere who governs clan activities in a large territory (such as a single country in Europe or a US state).

Magister: A Tremere who has completed their Apprenticeship.  In the current era Tremere Magisters function with more autonomy than they have possessed for centuries.

Order of Hermes: The league of mortal wizards of which House Tremere was a founding faction before their conversion to vampirism.  Once thought to have died out, in the mid-90s the Tremere discovered the Order was still extant - and still quite powerful.

The Praesidium: A faction of Tremere who sell their services as magical troubleshooters within the Camarilla and who act as a security detail to protect Tremere chantries.

Pontifex: Plural Pontifices.  Tremere who govern the clan's operations in large swathes of territory, such as several small countries or part of a large one.  Once accountable to the Council of Seven, the Pontifices now theoretically answer to Schreckt as the High Pontifex, but their loyalty to him varies.  Some Pontifices have gone AWOL, presumably due to the Beckoning.

The Pyramid: The organizational schema of House Tremere, with Tremere at its apex and his descendants arrayed beneath him based upon their stations relative to him.  Also an occult formation meant to channel the power of the Blood from the lowest Tremere neonates up through the clan to its eldest members, culminating in Lord Tremere himself.  Both the organizational formation and occult formation of the clan are now shattered.

Regent: The Tremere responsible for governing a Chantry.  A Tremere who administrates multiple Chantries in a domain large enough to support more than one is called a High Regent.

Schreckt: Former Tremere Justicar Karl Schreckt, now the de facto leader of House Tremere after the destruction of the Vienna Chantry.  Technically Schreckt's title should be Pontifex Regent but he disdains that title in favor of the humbler (ha) High Pontifex.

Thaumaturgy: "Wonder-Work."  The term used by the Tremere for the discipline of Blood Sorcery.

Tremere: Once a mortal Archmage of the Order of Hermes, who transformed himself and his followers into vampires through a failed bid for immortality.  His torpid body was once kept at the Vienna chantry; now it is lost, and assumed destroyed by the Second Inquisition.

Tremores: "The Trembling Ones" - a perjorative nickname given to the Tremere during the middle ages due to their tendency to grovel and toady before powerful Kindred.  Recently come back into vogue among the clan's enemies.

Usurpers: Another perjorative for the clan stemming from their origin as blood-thieves, particularly favored by the Tzimisce.

Warlocks: Another nickname for the clan, derived from the old English for "oath-breaker."  Stems from the clan's betrayal of the order of mortal Magi of which they were once a part.  Also a common term for a man who practices black magic.