rom
time immemorial the Tzimisce have haunted Europe beyond the Elbe. Along
the Oder and Danube, through the Pripet Marshes, amid the Carpathian crags
stalk the Fiends, each claiming its lair and wreaking a terrible vengeance
on intruders. Millenia of defending their holdings from all sides have
made Tzimisce extremely vicious, and Tzimisce cruelty is infamous even
among vampires. (Traveler's legends of cynocephali, vrykolas and
other monsters can often be traced to some wretch disfigured by an annoyed
Tzimisce.)
Of all 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 inequivocal conclusion that vampires are superiors 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...
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. Moreover, the Fiends' distress has been balm to the hearts of 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...
Fiends
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.
Tzimisce voivodes maintain
ancestral castles, where they live amid decaying splendor with their broods.
Woe to any who trespass on a Tzimisce's fief! The rare visitor (mortal,
vampire or otherwise) who is invited into 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).
Tzimisce are most often
chosen from the clan's "pet" noble families, and no few are ghouls prior
to the Embrace. Occasionally a particularly brilliant or learned outsider
is brought into the clan, and a voivode often takes whoever strikes his
fancy (as a "bride" or the like). Particularly in the Baltics, many still
worship (or are worshipped as) the pagan Slavic gods.
Most Tzimisce are of 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 the form of monstrous, Vicissitude-sculpted
ghoul servitors. Herd and Influence are also common backgrounds. Tzimisce
follow a variety of roads, though the Road of the Beast is most common,
and 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.
Animalism, Auspex, Vicissitude
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 demesne, 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.
Tzimisce are very hierarchical
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 voivodes 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.
Good evening, traveler. I bid you welcome
to the demesne of my voivode, Count Vladimir 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 the
castle.
TEREOTYPES
SSAMITES:
We have little truck with these paynims.
They divert the Ventrue and Lasombra in Asia Minor, and that is meet by
me.
RUJAH:
Oh, a thousand pardons - a city where
I can coexist harmoniously with the mortals? This is to be my earthly paradise?
This is the Brujah dream? Hmmph - I thought I was a blood-drinking nocturnal
marauder, but I am obviously mistaken.
APPADOCIANS:
They are interesting and enlightened,
but they seek only mastery of mortality, while we seek to master the immortal
state.
OLLOWERS
OF SET: They are worms; we are dragons.
They had best slither into their holes when we pass.
ANGREL:
Their understanding of the Beast is second
only to our own; accordingly, they make useful hunting hounds against the
bedamned Tremere.
ASOMBRA:
So much effort and so many nights wasted
in endless chess games pitting this pawn against that. Politics is simple:
tell your lessers what to do, impale those who dare disobey, and get on
with business of real import.
ALKAVIANS:
Their lunacy, while debilitating, can
be inspirational. Craft a goblet from a Malkavian's skull and drink its
blood from the vessel. The residual humors in the brain pan permeate the
vitae, providing profoundly revelatory visions.
OSFERATU:
They are stoic, if uncouth, and they understand
the power in terror. Admire them from afar and make examples of any who
dare to defile our demesnes with their noxious presence.
AVNOS:
Thieving trash. We will extract a thousand
screams in return for every trinket they steal from us.
OREADOR:
Mawkish, domesticated little vampires.
They wish us to admire their arts, but oh, how they balk at ours! Keep
them as pets until their verse begins to bore; them have them tossed into
the vozhd pit.
REMERE:
We will tear their stolen gift from their
flayed innards, skewer them on the Carpathian peaks they defiled, feed
the Danube vodyanoi with their bilious humors, and leave the rest
for the carrion birds. Then we will truly begin to teach them the meaning
of pain.
ENTRUE:
Teuton vipers who smile cordially as they
strike at our heels. Rip out their dissembling tongues and muzzle their
fangs thereby.
AALI:
Wasted effort. Why do we need to conjure
up that which is already incarnate on earth? Of course, if they absolutely
must have hideousness and grotesquerie, we would be happy to accommodate
them.
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