Tzimisce (High Clan)

[Tami]

Tzimisce



From time immemorial the Tzimisce have haunted Europe beyond Elbe. Along the Oder and Danube, through the Pripet Marshes, amid the Carpathian crags stalk the Fiends, each claiming its lair and wrecking terrible vengeance on intruders/ Millennia of defending their holdings from all sides have made the Tzimisce incredible vicious ( Travelers’ legends of cynocephali, Vrykolas and other monsters can often be traced to some wretch disfigured by an annoyed Tzimisce.)

Of all the Clans, the Tzimisce is perhaps the least human. Tzimisce are scholarly, even brilliant beings, but their studies (and their vicissitude Discipline) have led them to the unequivocal conclusion that vampires are superior to humans and Tzimisce are superior to other vampires. The “best”) by Tzimisce standards humans are to be elevated; the rest are fodder. Unlike many vampires, Tzimisce do not see themselves as damned or accursed. If God has damned them, they say, then perhaps it is time for new and better gods…

During the years immediately following the Rome’s fall, the clan made vassals/slaves of various Eastern European hereditary chieftains thereby creating “ghoul families” with noble lineage and inbred supernatural powers. These families provided the Tzimisce with great temporal power, and thereafter the inhabitants of the East have groaned under the yoke of their Tzimisce masters. For centuries Tzimisce dominance in the East remained unchallenged, and the clan itself was arguably the most powerful in Europe.

But recent times have proved troubling for the Fiends. A skirmish with the sorcerous Tremere (who gained immortality using stolen Tzimisce vitae) quickly blossomed into a full-scale war. At first the Tzimisce’s raw power and terror tactics gave them the upper hand, but the Usurpers’ superior organization and magical might have recently turned the tide. More ever, the Fiends’ distress has been balm to the rival clans. Under the cover of mortal invasions, other vampires have begun to jockey for the Tzimisce’s dwindling holdings. Fearful voivodes increasingly send their young to fight and die in their names, and the Blood Oath-bound progeny dutifully go, though for the first time ever they have begun to grumble at their servitude….

Sobriquet: Fiends

Appearance: Few Tzimisce appear normal; most are either angelically beautiful or freakishly weird. Many Tzimisce, particularly those skilled in Vicissitude, change their shape nightly. Some displaced Tzimisce, enraged by their subjects’ “Betrayal”, ravage their former herds as hideous monsters. Most Tzimisce dress in noble finery, though some prefer tattered shrouds or nothing whatsoever.

Haven: Tzimisce voivodes maintain ancestral castles, where they live amid decaying splendor with their broods. Woe to anyone who trespass on a Tzimisce’s fief! The rare visitor (mortal, vampires or otherwise) who is invited onto Tzimisce grounds is feted like a prince - but should take care to display extreme courtesy in return. Tzimisce cherish their havens, but rarely bother with upkeep (many Tzimisce keeps are the spitting image of the classic crumbling Transylvanian castle).

Backgrounds: Tzimisce are most often chosen from the clan’s “pet” noble families, and no few are ghouls prior to Embrace. Occasionally a particularly brilliant or learned outsider is brought into the clan, and a voivode often takes whoever strikes his fancy (As a ride” or the like). Particularly in the Baltic’s, many still worship (or are worshipped as) the pagan Slavic gods.

Character Creation: Most Tzimisce are Eastern European origin and tend to have noble or scholarly concepts. As the war with the Tremere rages, more and more Tzimisce are chosen for their martial prowess (Or sheer brutality). Mental attributes are often primary. Many Tzimisce have retainers in monstrous, vicissitude-sculpted ghoul servitors. Herd and Influence are also common Backgrounds. Tzimisce follow a variety of Roads, though Road of the Beast is most common, and a few openly profess allegiance to the Road of Humanity. Some Tzimisce, particularly the pagan ones, follow obscure roads combining aspects of Devil, Beast and Blood.

Clan Disciplines: Animalism, Auspex, Vicissitude

Weaknesses: Tzimisce are very territorial and tied to the lands they knew in life. When a Tzimisce sleeps, she must surround herself with at least two handfuls of earth from a land important to her as a mortal (the land of her birth, the soil of her demise, the earth of her grave etc.). Failure to do this halves the Tzimisce’s Dice Pools every 24 hours until all actions use only one die; this penalty is negated by eight hours rest amid the special soil.

Organization: Tzimisce are very hierarchal but very insular creatures. The clan is subdivided into smaller units comprising one landholding vampire sire (voivode) and a host of progeny, many of whom have been required to submit to a Blood Oath with the Sire. Progeny are expected to obey their voivode in all things. Relationships among viovodes are governed by a complex protocol and fractious at best; strife among these elders is the main reason why the clan has been unable to best the Tremere. Of late, as more and more voivodes have fallen, Tzimisce progeny have been forced to travel into exile in the West.

Quote: Good evening, traveler. I bid you welcome to the demesne of my viovode, Count Vladamir Rustovitch, whose fiefdom you crossed into at the ford a league back. You are in luck – we have ample accommodations and a surfeit of choice entertainments awaiting you at our castle.”

[Tami]

(Revised book)

From the earliest nights, the Tzimisce have haunted the European east, laying claim to northern marsh and southern mountains, fertile plains and trackless forests. The koldun--the clan's witch-priests and lore-keepers--have preserved the tale of how the Eldest, solitary and arcane, turned his back on the ruin his siblings' power struggles had made of the Second City and went into the world to build a dominion of his own shaping. He came to the mountainous heart of their homeland as though called, and there he settled. He laid deep roots and forged pacts of blood and kinship with the old gods of the earth, binding his line to the land in a sacred union. God-touched through their unbreakable tie to the earth, the clan both ruled and served, offering sacrifice in the blood of men and beasts within their domain to renew the earth, and paying the price with their own strength when that was not enough. This duality and symbiosis persisted for millenia, and the Tzimisce were unconquerable within their homeland.

All things come to an end.

In these nights, the Tzimisce are beset from all sides. From the very heart of their homeland, the sorcerous Tremere have violated both Tzimisce blood and domain and have provoked the most vicious nocturnal war since the fall of Carthage. In the north and west, Germanic Ventrue have taken the opportunity to invade territories left vunerable by the struggle with the Tremere, assaulting pagan enclaves in Livonia and Lithuania through crusade and undermining the weak-livered Kingdom of Hungary with commerce. Worse yet, within the clan, hereditary rivalries and fresh resentments sabotage any attempt at unified action. More and more of the clan's eldest broods disintegrate amid petty struggles for power, and precious knowledge is lost with every koldun who falls.

Tzimisce pride is the red-hot goad that has blinded them to their own failings, to the undeniable fact that there are forces arrayed against them that can finally drive them to their knees. Within the most stable domains of the voivodate unlife continues in traditional fashion--elders rule their childer, their childer scheme and serve in the hope of earning favor, and they sire offspring who do the same. Among themselves, the Tzimisce still value what they always have: respect for (and submission to) their elders, concen for personal honor, adherence to the demands of the family hierarchy, and above all else, a fierce love of and devotion to the homeland.

''No man may take what we have claimed for our own--we are the very soul of this land,'' Tzimisce sires whisper over the ritual graves of their childer. This is true. What is also true is that the holy ties of earth and blood are no longer enough. If the Tzimisce wish to survive, they must unite beneath a hand strong enough to shape them as they have sought to shape their world.

Sobriquiet:

Fiends (Some koldun and more scholarly members of the clan refer to themselves as Shapers)

Appearance:

It is the rare Tzimisce that can be described as normal. Either derived from revenant breeding stock or modified through their flesh-sculpting Discipline Vicissitude, Fiends tend to be shockingly beautiful or stunningly hideous, with very little middle ground. Alterations in Tzimisce directly involved with the conflict with the Tremere tend to be of utilitarian, martial nature (semi-permanent ''natural armor'' and the like). Adherents to the Metamorphosist change-cult twist themselves into whatever form best expresses the god within. Elders lean toward modifications that inspire awe, desire or fear.

Haven and Prey:

The Tzimisce clan claims one of the largest territories in all Europe, from the isolated hinterland of Livonia nearly to the walls of Byzantium. Their havens and herds are likewise diverse. In the pagan north, where some Tzimisce elders are still worshipped as gods, richly sculptured temples, sacred halls and groves, and blood-cults of mortal devotees are not uncommon. In the nominally Christianized south, the Fiends tend towards less blatant displays, dwelling in fortified country manses and reigning as the cruelest landlords local villages have ever suffered. Consciously or otherwise, many Tzimisce place their havens near the summits of hills, one of the primal confluences of earth and sky in pagan koldun belief. Tzimisce cherish elaborate protocols of hospitality, feting those whome they invite into their domains as princes and punishing trespassers with a viciousness that earned the reputation they enjoy.

The Embrace:

Traditionally, young Tzimisce are selected from among the clan's revenant minions and groomed for the Embrace from a young age. More rarely, a particularly gifted (or lusted-after) individual captures the attention of a prospective sire, or a koldun suggests that the auspices are right for enlarging ''the family.'' The war with the Tremere and other interlopers has added a more practical impetus to many recent Embraces, however. More warriors than ''brides'' or ''pets'' are selected in these nights and in greater haste. Even so, when at all possible, Tzimisce sires gift their fledglings with the funeral rites believed to cement the new childe's holy bond to the earth.

Character Creation:

Most Tzimisce are Eastern European in origin--which can be anything from a pagan Baltic tribesman to an erudite Greek monk. Mental Attributes are usually primary. Domain is the most common Background, though Mentor (in the form of one's sir and immediate family), Retainers (most often revenant underlings or Vicissitude-sculpted human or animal ghouls), Herd and Resources are also popular. Most Tzimisce believe, quite simply, that they were born to rule, so the Road of Kings is popular as are the aspects of the Road of Heaven that glorify the follower. Few Tzimisce profess any allegiance to the Road of Humanity, lest they incur the wrath of their brethern (especially the hardcore monsters who follow the cult-like Road of Metamorphosis).

Clan Disciplines:

Animalism, Auspex, Vicissitude

Weaknesses:

The Tzimisce are arguably the most territorial of all the clans, sharing as they do inviolable ties of blood and spirit to the land they rule. When a Tzimisce rests, he must surround himself with at least two handfuls of earth from a place that was important to him in life--usually either the land of his birth or the soil of his grave. Failure to do so halves his health every night that vampire has not rested in appropriate earth. Eight hours' rest amid the special soil negates it.

Organization:

The Tzimisce are hierarchical, but they do not follow the rigid feudal chain of lord and vassal. Rather, the Tzimisce are familial, nearly tribal, in nature. Most Tzimisce families consist of a sire and her brood, but each of these families is connected to many others. Therefore, many regions of the east are dominated by networks of blood relations descended from a single individual. Within the family, the elder receives great respect as the natural center of the household, while her childer compete murderously for acknowledgement, advancement and affection. Rival families often maintain running vendettas across the centuries, are similarly murderous, governed by maddeningly complex social protocols.

Quote: This earth has drunk our blood for more years then your small mind can comprehend. This is my homeland, and I shall hold it or die trying.