Vampire: The Requiem - Bloodline - Tremere (version 2)

Long ago, a group of vampires sought a bargain with a Strix. They asked for the power to call down dreams and reshape the world to match their nightmares. The Strix bade them: "Gorge yourselves upon the blood of peasants." The vampires did so, but they did not gain the power they had asked for. They returned to the Strix. The Strix bade them: "Gorge yourselves on the blood of lords." The vampires set upon the lords and kings of every land, but they did not gain the power they had asked for. They returned in a rage to the Strix. The Strix bade them: "Gorge yourself on the blood of wizards." The vampires flew across the land, scooping witches from their hovels and towers, and dragging them before the Strix and then devouring them. But the mages' blood burned inside them, and destroyed them like sun from within. The mages, meanwhile, rose from the dead. "Look around you, my children," said the Strix, "for I have cleared a kingdom for you to rule." And with the Strix in their ears and thoughts and blood, the wizards raised the dead kings to rule and the dead peasants to serve. And they ruled the land, and named it Mu, and the eldest of them they named Tremere. Tonight, the Tremere remain. They have the greed of mages and the hunger of vampires. They must feed only rarely, but in the most gruesome fashion. Their victims live, yes, but with neither heart nor soul, and little more than automatons. Even larvae have a better half-life. The Tremere have long been thought off as an extinct Kindred bloodline. They pride themselves with a creation myth

that could place them among the great clans and covenants that rose from the Camarilla, but their mere existence as well as the smear campaigns of the Sanctified, almost led to their extinction. Yet, the Tremere proved to be great survivalists and have found an -obscure- place in modern nights. Tremere history is equal parts myth -fuelled by romanticism- and facts that would have otherwise been lost to the Fog of Eternity. They exist, because the Strix wished for them to exist. They are the missing link between Mages and Kindred, coupled with fearsome blood sorcery and infamy deeply rooted within the Invictus and the Lancea Sanctum. They bore the curse of Vampirism and the consumption of souls and in their efforts to transcend their condition, nearly destroyed themselves -creating a Mage legacy along the process. The Tremere soon realised that the Strix are deceitful even in their giving of gifts. They did not require Vitae to maintain their immortality. Instead, to avoid Final Death, they required the soul of humans. Consuming the soul of another, though, is a terrifying act and one of the main reasons other Kindred have despised the Tremere. Mortals who have lost their hearts and souls to the Tremere, face a terrible existence to which death can be seen as the better alternative. Yet, without the consumption of souls, Tremere suffer the same effects as Vitae Starvation. Parent Clan: Mekhet Nickname: Breath-Eaters (Dark Ages), Warlocks (modern). Covenant: The Tremere hold to an

ancient hatred for the Lancea Sanctum and the Invictus. If the claims of the Tremere are to be believed, it was they who developed the -secular- rituals upon which the Sanctified based their Theban Sorcery. Therefore, it is highly unlikely for Tremere Kindred to be found among the Lancea Sanctum. Tremere hatred for the Invictus -for they joined the Sanctified in their treacherous crusade- has faded away, so it isn't unheard of Tremere Kindred that belong to the Invictus. The Tremere seem indifferent towards the Circle of the Crone. The Warlocks hold all religions -Abrahamic or pagan- in equal contempt and find the notion that Crúac is comparable to Awakaned spells -or Thaumarurgy-, entertaining. The Ordo Dracul has drawn Breath-Eaters in large numbers, although this is mostly due to the vast knowledge that membership to the Dragons brings about, rather than true concern for Vampiric transcendence. The Tremere have, after all, achieved their kind of transcendence and ever since the Dark Ages -when a group of Tremere, tried to consume the souls of Mages-, they are reluctant to dwell in this aspect of Vampirism again. The Carthian Movement is largely ignored by the Warlocks, as they find Carthians lacking in purpose and focus regarding their Requiems. A few coteries and individual Tremere have made their way in to the Belial's Brood and the Society of the Accord, although membership in the latter is common only among those Tremere who wish to demonstrate the superiority of their bloodline, as well as enjoy freedom from the politics of the Danse Macabre.

History

The true origins of the Tremere, remain obscure even for the Warlocks themselves. The seem to have come in to existence due to a grand plan -or scheme rather- of the Strix. This creation myth seems consistent with the findings of many Kindred researching these owl spirits as well as a forgotten group of Kindred Breath-Eaters. Among the accusations the Lancea Sanctum directed at the Breath-Eaters, was that they

had made a pact with Demons -possibly they meant the Strix-, as well as place blame on the Tremere for the disappearances in the late period of the Camarilla, attributed to the Strix. These undead Mages, that rose from death after being consumed by Kindred -who were, according to myth, acting on the Strix's instructions-, soon realised the true nature of their newfound Damnation. They did not require Vitae to sustain themselves, instead having to consume mortal souls. Although rare, the need to consume souls forced the early Tremere to seek ways to overcome this. They only reached limited success, forcing their undead bodies to utilise Vitae for the use of disciplines and their blood sorcery, but were never successful on sustaining themselves solely on Vitae. Still, their odd feeding habits have given the Tremere an edge, extremely useful -as well as detrimental for their survival during the persecutions orchestrated by the First and Second Estate. Unlike other Kindred, they are able to walk during the day for a short period after having fed on a soul. They face no feeding restrictions based on Blood Potency, instead having to feed more often when a Tremere is of high Blood Potency.

The Land of Mu Part of the Tremere creation myth, is the mythical Land of Mu, over which the Tremere were granted absolute power. To this day, no two theories on the true identity of Mu exist. Some say that the Land of Mu was Atlantis, the land from whence all Mages hail. Should this theory be true, it would mean that Mages were meant to be ruled by the Kindred Tremere During the Dark Ages, as the blood of Tremere Elders had greatly strengthened, they were terrified to discover the last aspect of their curse. The higher the potency of their blood was, the more often they had to feed on mortal souls. Moreover, their ability to walk during daytime also seemed to be related with Blood Potency, and the Warlock Elders were only able to remain awake and safe from the sun, during Twilight. This caused the Tremere to seek ways to lessen their damnation,

leading to the events that caused the creation of the Tremere lich legacy (MtA, p. 363). Their near-demise, coupled with persecutions from the Lancea Sanctum, forced the bloodline's Elders into Torpor. The younger BreathEaters focused their efforts and energy in revising old Blood rituals, hoping to outdo the bloodline's Theban Sorcery.

Tremere were able to devise their new set of Blood sorcery naming it Thaumaturgy. The name is a wordplay on the Greek word Thauma, meaning miracle, and was chosen to further anger the Sanctified who were now left practising Sorcery, whereas the Tremere were performing “miracles”.

Sun resistance To determine the number of weeks -or days- a Tremere character can go out in daylight and not take damage from the sun, roll the soul-consuming activation dice pool – Blood Potency. The dice pool, however, can never be reduced to a chance roll. For characters with Blood Potency lower or equal to 4, successes rolled equal to weeks -right after the soul was consumed- the Tremere can operate during the day. For characters with Blood Potency 5 to 7, the same rules apply but the successes rolled equal to days, not weeks. For characters with Blood Potency 8 or 9, no roll is necessary. They can operate during Twilight for one day. Characters with Blood Potency 10 have no resistance to damage caused from the sun. By the end of the Dark Ages, the

EFFECTS OF BLOOD POTENCY ON THE TREMERE Blood Potency

Soul begins to erode after...

Sun resistance

1

One year

(Activation roll) weeks

2

One year

( Activation roll) weeks

3

Nine months

( Activation roll) weeks

4

Nine months

( Activation roll) weeks

5

Six months

( Activation roll) days

6

Six months

( Activation roll) days

7

One month

( Activation roll) days

8

One week

Twilight for one day

9

One week

Twilight for one day

10

One day

none

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