Tzimisce

Tzimisce
Pseudonyms	Fiends
Sect	Sabbat
Disciplines	Animalism Auspex Vicissitude
Bloodlines	Dracul Kolduns Tremere
Rarity	Uncommon

No other clan quite embodies the classical Western image of the Dracula-like vampire like the Tzimisce. From their crumbling ancestral strongholds in old Romania and Moldova to their terrible shapeshifting powers and macabre sense of humor to their armies of misshapen servants, they take each old stereotype about vampires and amplify it a thousandfold. Some other vampires suspect that they do this just to be contrary, intentionally cultivating an image of horror and inhumanity to allow them to keep their secrets and frighten outsiders away, but the Tzimisce themselves find this theory amusing. They aren't pandering to anyone's "tastes" when it comes to their activities; they simply are what they are, and aren't interested in hiding it from anyone.

The Tzimisce are, along with the Lasombra, the founding clan of the Sabbat, and are almost exclusively found in its ranks (although a few of the most old and unfriendly among them stay holed up in the old country and don't involve themselves in politics). As the pre-eminent predators that they are, the majority of them believe strongly in the Sabbat tenet that mortals should be theirs to rule, use, and abuse as they see fit, and they use every opportunity to continue their blood experiments and solidify their power over both mortal and vampire alike in pursuit of that goal.

History

Unlike many other clans, the Tzimisce don't bother with their history before their Antediluvian, who they refer to as the Eldest, founded the clan; like all other things involving mortals and humanity, they find the idea of what was happening before that pedestrian and unimportant.

Ancient Times

According to their oldest legends, the Eldest was Embraced in an attempt to rid its ancient sire of his Beast, which encompassed not only rage and survival instinct but also change and evolution, thus creating a vampire in which such qualities were magnified hugely. It is their theory that their special discipline of Vicissitude, far from being a simple set of skills like most vampire powers, is the literal manifestation of the ancient primordial Beast that the Eldest carries and passes on to all its descendants.

Traditionally, the Eldest and its elder children chose eastern Europe as their base, creating mountain fortresses and bizarre castles in the Carpathian mountains (and earning special hatred from shapeshifters as they did, since they were much more effective than any other clan at routing the so-called "beast-men" out of their territories; the war over the area continues to this day). The clan elected not to bother expanding into western Europe, where the other European clans were already fighting for influence, and instead spread east and south, taking over most of the Slavic lands as well as gaining large territories in cities such as Constantinople.

The Middle Ages

By the Middle Ages, the Tzimisce had created their own powerful society, the Voivodate, which became a loose confederation of Tzimisce elders who were not beholden to one another but might be called upon for alliances and aid when other clans tried to invade the lands they claimed as their own. With the advent of the Tremere, who committed the unforgivable sin of capturing and murdering the sleeping Eldest, the clan as a whole turned finally to western Europe, this time with vengeance in mind. The Tremere were in severe danger of being fully wiped out, and the fact that they were saved by Ventrue incursions that forced the Tzimisce to split their forces has often been seen as one of the opening shots that caused the Anarch Revolt and eventually resulted in the founding of both the Camarilla and the Sabbat.

Having avoided political affairs in most of Europe until now, the Tzimisce turned from the petty mortal rulers and domains to instead dominate the Catholic Church, shaping it into an powerful oppositional force that was eventually able to go toe to toe with even the kigns and princes the other clans chose to influence. While the Church's prominence has dwindled somewhat since then, the clan is still inarguably the most powerful and influential in it, and can still cause signficant events around the globe if they choose to leverage it.

The Anarch Revolt

The Tzimisce were a powerful presence behind the Revolt, but with their own goals in mind; they had little interest in protecting neonates from the depredations of elders, instead recognizing that the ideals of the nascent Camarilla would result in a curbing of their power and attempts to force them to fall in line with the other clans. Their support took the form of encouragement that hurled shock troops into the maw of the opposition while allowing them to quietly capture territory and resources from fallen enemies behind the lines.

By the end of the war, the Tzimisce were perfectly pleased to allow the Convention of Thorns to set some rules and create an uneasy "truce," one they are not impressed by and do not have any interest in honoring. Instead, they have spent the past few centuries solidifying their control over the rest of the Sabbat, to the point that only the Lasombra can truly challenge them within it. Many of the elders, satisfied that their domains were now protected and that the new Camarilla cities would view them as an unreasonable risk to try to attack, withdrew back to their mountain strongholds now that they could be assured of remaining unbothered there.

Advantages and Weaknesses

Advantages

Most Tzimisce are attended by their faithful retainers, the szlachta, which are Ghouls that have been deformed and reshaped by the Vicissitude Discipline into whatever form is most useful to their owner. All Tzimisce begin with at least one szlachta, which can be in any reasonable form that they could have created with the Vicissitude powers they have. Szlachta are almost always obvious breaches of the Masquerade; most Tzimisce don't care about this much, but even they might keep them under wraps anywhere that their existence might attract the hostile attention of Camarilla Kindred, Garou, or Hunters.

Disadvantages

The Tzimisce are closely tied to their homelands, so much so that they can barely function outside them; they must rest each day in at least two handsful of their native soil (the soil of wherever it was that they were Embraced) or suffer from increasing exhaustion and hallucinations as the distance from their homeland begins to affect them. Some Tzimisce sew linings of their required earth into their clothing or find a way to carry it with them at all times, while others opt for the traditional coffin-full-of dirt and simply make sure to return home each night.

There is a second, more insidious disadvantage to being Tzimisce: their blood is the blood of the Eldest, and the Eldest was not exactly like other vampires, being instead a living form of the Beast. Unbeknownst to all but the most advanced of elder scholars (most of whom are deathly distressed by what they have learned), the Eldest was not destroyed by the depredations of the Tremere, instead simply dissolving into the undying pool it had created: its own bloodline. The Eldest lives within every Tzimisce through the Vicissitude discipline, and it can perceive through them and even, should it choose to, take over, liquefy, or otherwise play with their bodies from any distance like the toys they are. The Eldest is all of them, and they are all the Eldest, and it is impossible to escape.

So far, the Eldest appears content to let its many descendants live out their unlives as normal, but some of the eldest among the clan are becoming more and more afraid of what may happen if, on some future night, the Antediluvian awakens fully and decides to rise to power again...

The Tzimisce in DC

Since Prince Vitel's scourge of DC's Sabbat population, there are no known official residents within city limits, although various Sabbat packs including Tzimisce members occasionally make forays into town in search of information or tactical advantage. There are rumors that a few Tzimisce might be undercover among the Camarilla vampires, fleshcrafted so that they are undetectable... but these are of course only rumors.

Tzimisce Player Characters

Miguel	Raven Dante	Viktor Brachovich

See Also

Dracul
Kolduns
Tremere
Tzimisce Antitribu

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