Tremere
Encyclopedia
The Tremere are a clan
of vampire
s in the Classic World of Darkness
setting.
The Tremere backstory is heavily based on Ars Magica
, and the original House Tremere appeared as a Hermetic house in that game system. As the World of Darkness progressively diverged from Ars Magica's medieval Europe, certain elements of the backstory become problematic. The background originally has Tremere were originally a group of human mages from House Tremere of the Order of Hermes. When they found their magical life-extending elixirs started failing due to the growing lack of belief in magic, they started looking elsewhere. They captured vampires of the Tzimisce
clan and conducted experiments on their bodies and blood, and they found how to become immortal with the help of a fellow patron named the Comte de Saint Germain. They became immortal as promised, however, in exchange, they turned into vampires.
After their transformation, the Tremere were beset with enemies on all sides: the Tzimisce wanted revenge, the Order outlawed them, and their awakened Avatars left them on the transition to death, taking their magic with them. Tremere crafted the art of blood magic, Thaumaturgy
, and they defended themselves. Wanting more power for his bloodline, Tremere found the resting place of Saulot, the Antediluvian
founder of clan Salubri, and diablerized
him, consuming his very essence and gaining his power. Tremere declared his bloodline a full Clan, and started spreading rumours that the Salubri were soul-stealers, and managed to hunt them to near-extinction; it is believed that no more than seven Salubri survive into the Final Nights.
According to the game's background, the Tremere are one of the youngest vampire clans, having just come into existence during the Dark Ages. In the little time since then they made incredible inroads within vampiric society and are arguably the most powerful clan in the modern nights. This was due in no small part to their strict hierarchy, secretive nature, and mastery of Thaumaturgy
, the clan's trademark discipline, all of which brought suspicion, fear, and respect from other Cainites. The Warlocks were a pillar of the Camarilla and were one of its main defenders, despite the fact that they existed almost as a subsect. Some even went as far as to consider themselves the evolution of vampirism, citing their extreme versatility of blood magic and lack of a true clan curse.
in Transylvania
, survived, but the Tremere soon spread again and founded strongholds in Prague
and Vienna
(the latter was to become their main center of power), with smaller chantries elsewhere (such as the one in Perugia
, in central Italy
). Tremere would soon become the preeminent clan in Central Europe
.
With the destruction of many Elder vampires during the Inquisition
and the retreat into torpor of many other Elders, most surviving vampires had little knowledge of the Salubri and no source to counter the Tremere's allegations of the Salubri's soul-stealing. This, combined with the Thaumaturgical powers the young clan made available for the fledgeling Camarilla's defense, brought them greater esteem among the Kindred population in later centuries.
When the Camarilla was organized, the Tremere were one of the group's strongest defenders, although the Gangrel
and Nosferatu
clans harbour deep resentment toward the Tremere due to their use of Gangrel and Nosferatu blood to create their gargoyle servants.
The Tremere have a strict formal hierarchical structure called the Pyramid. The heads of the Pyramids ensure the loyalty of their subjects by having each childe presented to the regent of the local chantry and forced to drink the blood of the Seven elders through a Thaumaturgical ritual, thus bringing them closer to a blood bond, as well as swear an oath. All Tremere are expected to respect and obey their superiors, or else risk being harshly punished.
or help Lilith
destroy Caine. However, since Clan Tremere are technically a bloodline of the Tzimisce - and all Tzimisce vampires carry a "seed" of their antediluvian - the Tzimisce Antediluvian uses Saulot/Tremere or Tremere/Goratrix's body as the vessel of his re-birth (since "The Cathedral of Flesh", his previous body, is now mindless). As usual, it is up to the story teller's discretion if Saulot is capable of resisting the Tzimisce Antediluvian. However, in most Gehenna scenarios, Saulot acts as a messiah saving vampire kind and defeating Tzimisce.
Players gain 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 players 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 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 events towards the end of the game's timeline have brought that group’s destruction.
As part of the metaplot, the antitribu were eliminated at the start of Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Edition. The reasons and methods were expanded upon in Transylvania Chronicles IV: The Dragon Ascendant and Nights of Prophecy. In 1999, an in-game event leads every Tremere antitribu to be killed by their parent clan. The relevant Gehenna scenario states that Saulot regained control over Tremere's body (with Tremere's soul being displaced to Goratrix's body). As all vampires' powers begin to weaken during Gehenna, Tremere/Goratrix sacrificed all the antitribu in order to regain his strength.
Many practiced the discipline Dark Thaumaturgy, a name given to Thaumaturgy learned from demons. Besides the Tremere antitribu, the Baali were the major practitioners of this form of blood magic.
The Telyavs can sense a mystical emanation from the land called Siela, the part of the spirit that remains bound to the world after death and also inhabits plant and animal life. The gives the Telyavs rules for a unique Thaumaturgical path based on combining their vitae (vampiric blood) with the soil, tree sap, and the blood of animals to produce a variety of effects. In addition, their deliberate closeness the vis-rich soil enables Telyav players to draw upon the metamorphic aspects of their character's Tzimisce blood.
Unlike Clan Tremere, who prefer to work in secret, the Telyavs operate openly amongst the pagan populations of Lithuania who see them as incarnations of Telyavel. They use their vampiric nature to work as shamans and priests carving out a unique niche in the everyday life of pagan society.
in 2004
.
Clan (World of Darkness)
In White Wolf Game Studio's role-playing games about vampires, a clan is a group of vampires joined by blood relations...
of vampire
Vampire (World of Darkness)
A vampires is a fictional creature in the role-playing games and books based on the World of Darkness setting by White Wolf Game Studio. The concept of a vampire in WoD takes many elements from the folklore surrounding traditional vampires in Western culture, and adds a number of specific features...
s in the Classic World of Darkness
World of Darkness
"World of Darkness" is the name given to three related but distinct fictional universes created as settings for supernatural horror themed role-playing games. It is also the name of roleplaying games in the second and third settings...
setting.
The Tremere backstory is heavily based on Ars Magica
Ars Magica
Ars Magica is a role-playing game set in Mythic Europe, a quasi-historical version of Europe around AD 1200 with added fantastical elements. The game revolves around wizards and their allies...
, and the original House Tremere appeared as a Hermetic house in that game system. As the World of Darkness progressively diverged from Ars Magica's medieval Europe, certain elements of the backstory become problematic. The background originally has Tremere were originally a group of human mages from House Tremere of the Order of Hermes. When they found their magical life-extending elixirs started failing due to the growing lack of belief in magic, they started looking elsewhere. They captured vampires of the Tzimisce
Tzimisce
The Tzimisce are a clan of vampires in White Wolf Game Studio's books and role-playing games Vampire: The Masquerade and Vampire: The Dark Ages....
clan and conducted experiments on their bodies and blood, and they found how to become immortal with the help of a fellow patron named the Comte de Saint Germain. They became immortal as promised, however, in exchange, they turned into vampires.
After their transformation, the Tremere were beset with enemies on all sides: the Tzimisce wanted revenge, the Order outlawed them, and their awakened Avatars left them on the transition to death, taking their magic with them. Tremere crafted the art of blood magic, Thaumaturgy
Thaumaturgy
Thaumaturgy is the capability of a saint or magician to work miracles. It is sometimes translated into English as wonderworking...
, and they defended themselves. Wanting more power for his bloodline, Tremere found the resting place of Saulot, the Antediluvian
Antediluvian
The antediluvian period meaning "before the deluge" is the period referred to in the Bible between the Creation of the Earth and the Deluge . The narrative takes up chapters 1-6 of Genesis...
founder of clan Salubri, and diablerized
Diablerie
In the context of White Wolf Game Studio's vampire books and role-playing games from the World of Darkness, diablerie takes place when a vampire drinks not only all the blood of another vampire but also their soul, generally in order to increase their own powers...
him, consuming his very essence and gaining his power. Tremere declared his bloodline a full Clan, and started spreading rumours that the Salubri were soul-stealers, and managed to hunt them to near-extinction; it is believed that no more than seven Salubri survive into the Final Nights.
According to the game's background, the Tremere are one of the youngest vampire clans, having just come into existence during the Dark Ages. In the little time since then they made incredible inroads within vampiric society and are arguably the most powerful clan in the modern nights. This was due in no small part to their strict hierarchy, secretive nature, and mastery of Thaumaturgy
Thaumaturgy
Thaumaturgy is the capability of a saint or magician to work miracles. It is sometimes translated into English as wonderworking...
, the clan's trademark discipline, all of which brought suspicion, fear, and respect from other Cainites. The Warlocks were a pillar of the Camarilla and were one of its main defenders, despite the fact that they existed almost as a subsect. Some even went as far as to consider themselves the evolution of vampirism, citing their extreme versatility of blood magic and lack of a true clan curse.
History
Clan Tremere was originally a collection of magi of the House Tremere from across Europe. Tremere, along with several others from his house, created the first clan chantry deep in the Carpathian mountains. The Tremere were all organized via chantries. These were almost completely destroyed in the war against the Tzimisce. Only the fortified Ceoris, in the Southern CarpathiansSouthern Carpathians
The Southern Carpathians or the Transylvanian Alps are a group of mountain ranges which divide central and southern Romania, on one side, and Serbia, on the other side. They cover part of the Carpathian Mountains that is located between the Prahova River in the east and the Timiș and Cerna Rivers...
in Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
, survived, but the Tremere soon spread again and founded strongholds in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
(the latter was to become their main center of power), with smaller chantries elsewhere (such as the one in Perugia
Perugia
Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....
, in central Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
). Tremere would soon become the preeminent clan in Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
.
With the destruction of many Elder vampires during the Inquisition
Inquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
and the retreat into torpor of many other Elders, most surviving vampires had little knowledge of the Salubri and no source to counter the Tremere's allegations of the Salubri's soul-stealing. This, combined with the Thaumaturgical powers the young clan made available for the fledgeling Camarilla's defense, brought them greater esteem among the Kindred population in later centuries.
When the Camarilla was organized, the Tremere were one of the group's strongest defenders, although the Gangrel
Gangrel (World of Darkness)
The Gangrel are a clan of vampires, often associated with the Camarilla, from White Wolf Game Studio's Vampire: The Masquerade, Vampire: The Dark Ages, and books and role-playing games....
and Nosferatu
Nosferatu (World of Darkness)
The Nosferatu are a clan of vampires from White Wolf Game Studio's Vampire: The Masquerade, Vampire: The Dark Ages books and role-playing games....
clans harbour deep resentment toward the Tremere due to their use of Gangrel and Nosferatu blood to create their gargoyle servants.
The Tremere have a strict formal hierarchical structure called the Pyramid. The heads of the Pyramids ensure the loyalty of their subjects by having each childe presented to the regent of the local chantry and forced to drink the blood of the Seven elders through a Thaumaturgical ritual, thus bringing them closer to a blood bond, as well as swear an oath. All Tremere are expected to respect and obey their superiors, or else risk being harshly punished.
Gehenna
One Gehenna scenario describes the ultimate possible fate for the Tremere. Saulot gains control over Tremere's body (with Tremere's soul being displaced into Goratrix's body) due to Tremere having diablerized Saulot in order to cement the status of his clan. Either Saulot/Tremere or Tremere/Goratrix then proceeds to diablerize most of the clan in order to regain his strength and then (depending on the scenario) either proceeds to either destroy the BaaliBaali (World of Darkness)
The Baali are a bloodline of vampires from White Wolf Game Studio's Vampire: The Masquerade books and role-playing games.The Baali were a bloodline of vampires associated with demon worship. Much of the Baali in-game symbolism is inspired by real-world Mesopotamian and Phoenician sources. The very...
or help Lilith
Lilith
Lilith is a character in Jewish mythology, found earliest in the Babylonian Talmud, who is generally thought to be related to a class of female demons Līlīṯu in Mesopotamian texts. However, Lowell K. Handy notes, "Very little information has been found relating to the Akkadian and Babylonian view...
destroy Caine. However, since Clan Tremere are technically a bloodline of the Tzimisce - and all Tzimisce vampires carry a "seed" of their antediluvian - the Tzimisce Antediluvian uses Saulot/Tremere or Tremere/Goratrix's body as the vessel of his re-birth (since "The Cathedral of Flesh", his previous body, is now mindless). As usual, it is up to the story teller's discretion if Saulot is capable of resisting the Tzimisce Antediluvian. However, in most Gehenna scenarios, Saulot acts as a messiah saving vampire kind and defeating Tzimisce.
Clan organization
The Tremere clan is highly organized, arranged in a pyramidal hierarchy, with Tremere (the clan elder) at the top.- Councilors: The members of the Inner Council of Seven and the true rulers of the clan. Each Councilor is responsible for directing clan efforts in a particular portion of the world. Each councilor appoints seven Pontifices.
- Pontifices: A Pontifex oversees a large region, such as parts of a nation or groupings of smaller countries and islands, and in turn oversees seven Lords.
- Lords: Each Lord is responsible for a small country or group of states and uses their influence and knowledge to sway the Tremere in their domain, particularly the seven Regents they oversee.
- Regents: The most visible figures of Tremere authority. A Regent runs an individual chantry and is charged with the well being and training of Apprentices.
- Apprentices: The youngest and most numerous Tremere. Apprentices must spend much of their time training, serving some need within their chantry, or playing the politics of the clan as best as their inexperience allows. Some never advance beyond this rank, either because they are more interested in Camarilla politics or their own affairs to rise among the Tremere or because the Lord of the region sees no need to create a new chantry and Regent.
- Acolyte (OWbN): Within 'One World by Night' these are oath bound Ghouls in service to House & Clan. They follow the same ranking system as Apprentices. This often creates an early rift within the lower ranks of the clan, between those that claim up from Acolyte, and those that are embraced directly as an Apprentice.
Players gain 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 players 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 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 events towards the end of the game's timeline have brought that group’s destruction.
Tremere of note
- Maximillian Strauss, Regent of Los Angeles – appears in the PC game Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines.
- Aisling Sturbridge, High Regent of the Chantry of Five Bouroughs.
- John DeeJohn DeeJohn Dee was a Welsh mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occultist, navigator, imperialist, and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I.John Dee may also refer to:* John Dee , Basketball coach...
, English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer and philosopher. - Deitrik, Elder Astor of Clan Tremere, Sabbat infiltrator.
- Heinrich HimmlerHeinrich HimmlerHeinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
, Leader of the S.S.SchutzstaffelThe Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
and creator of the Nazi Concentration-CampNazi concentration campsNazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps set up in Germany were greatly expanded after the Reichstag fire of 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime...
.
Minor bloodlines
The Tremere are arguably a bloodline of the Tzimisce, as it was the blood of Clan Tzimisce that the Tremere magi used to gift themselves with unlife. Regardless, there are no modern bloodlines of the Tremere, as the clan's uniformity does not allow deviations. There are however two notable extinct bloodlines; Tremere antitribu and the Telyavs.Tremere antitribu
During the formation of the Sabbat, a group of Tremere under the leadership of a powerful vampire named Goratrix defected to become the Tremere antitribu, which ultimately came to be based in Sabbat-dominated Mexico. The Tremere antitribu were originally descended from Goratrix, and were marked by the Tremere as traitors through a special ritual.As part of the metaplot, the antitribu were eliminated at the start of Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Edition. The reasons and methods were expanded upon in Transylvania Chronicles IV: The Dragon Ascendant and Nights of Prophecy. In 1999, an in-game event leads every Tremere antitribu to be killed by their parent clan. The relevant Gehenna scenario states that Saulot regained control over Tremere's body (with Tremere's soul being displaced to Goratrix's body). As all vampires' powers begin to weaken during Gehenna, Tremere/Goratrix sacrificed all the antitribu in order to regain his strength.
Many practiced the discipline Dark Thaumaturgy, a name given to Thaumaturgy learned from demons. Besides the Tremere antitribu, the Baali were the major practitioners of this form of blood magic.
Telyavelic Tremere
In the Dark Ages iteration of the game there was a small bloodline known as the Telyavelic Tremere which was influenced by pagan practices and arose in Lithuania. This bloodline took their name from the Lithuanian god of the dead, Telyavel, having split from rest of Clan Tremere seeking a cure for their vampirism.The Telyavs can sense a mystical emanation from the land called Siela, the part of the spirit that remains bound to the world after death and also inhabits plant and animal life. The gives the Telyavs rules for a unique Thaumaturgical path based on combining their vitae (vampiric blood) with the soil, tree sap, and the blood of animals to produce a variety of effects. In addition, their deliberate closeness the vis-rich soil enables Telyav players to draw upon the metamorphic aspects of their character's Tzimisce blood.
Unlike Clan Tremere, who prefer to work in secret, the Telyavs operate openly amongst the pagan populations of Lithuania who see them as incarnations of Telyavel. They use their vampiric nature to work as shamans and priests carving out a unique niche in the everyday life of pagan society.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
The Tremere appear as a playable faction in the PC game Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines developed by Troika GamesTroika Games
Troika Games was a video game developer created by the key people behind the first of the critically acclaimed Fallout series of games. The company was focused on role-playing video games between 1998 and 2005, best known for Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura and Vampire: The Masquerade –...
in 2004
2004 in video gaming
-Events:*January 20 — Wireds Vaporware Awards gives its first "Lifetime Achievement Award" to recurring winner Duke Nukem Forever.*March 4 — Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts Peter Molyneux into the AIAS Hall of Fame*March 22-26 — Game...
.
Further reading
- Hartshorn, Jennifer , et al., Vampire: The Dark Ages, White Wolf Inc., 1995
- Vampire: The MasqueradeVampire: The MasqueradeVampire: The Masquerade is a role-playing game. Created by Mark Rein·Hagen, it was the first of White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness role-playing games, based on the Storyteller System and centered around vampires in a modern gothic-punk world....
(Revised Edition) by White Wolf (1998)