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PART ONE: WHAT THE QUAESITORIS
KNOW
The Order of Hermes was
founded in 767 in Durenmar, by 10 magi of very different magickal traditions--all
bound together by the system of Hermetic Magick that was created by Bonisagus
himself. The youngest of these founders was a competitive but relatively
weak magus named Tremere. He, like the more experienced magus Tytalus,
was trained under Guorna the Fetid, from whom both magi took their combative
and volatile natures. But while Tytalus was known for challenging other
magi simply to appease his temper or to test his abilities, Tremere was
more shrewd and subtle. With Bonisagus, Tremere created the non-lethal
method of dueling known as Certamen, and soon gained equal footing with
the other founders through skillful use of it.
In 837, Verditius died,
leaving Tremere (who was in his 90s) the only living founder. By then,
Tremere's apprentices were respected masters of Certamen, and House Tremere
had grown powerful. Only a decade later, Tremere mustered his House, and
-- through a combination of political cunning, incredible organization
and loyalty, and even hired military force -- nearly dominated the entire
Order. A magickal attack from unknown source struck at Tremere's leaders,
weakening their minds, and it was only through the intervention of the
Quaesitoris that House Tremere survived at all. The identity of the attackers
was never revealed to any but Tremere; the House was quiet thereafter,
stoically accepting the mistrust and scorn of the other Houses, and then
in 861, Tremere himself died.
After his death, his seven
filii (especially one known as Goratrix) began to search for methods of
achieving immortality. Many magi of the Order were experimenting with the
creation of potions that would extend the lifespan by a decade or two,
but even this was difficult; "Twilight", a force now thought to be an early
form of Paradox, made the use of potions increasingly dangerous as Reason
and the Dominion of the Church tightened their grip on the world. A more
permanent method must be sought, reasoned Goratrix; and it was to this
end that he began studying the vampyres of the Transylvanian Tribunal,
those ancient enemies of House Tremere, who used a strange and dark magic
to trouble the people and magi near Ceoris, the Transylvanian Tribunal's
Domus Magna.
It is believed that Goratrix
pursued the secrets of immortality for a century or more before turning
to the study of the undead, and potions that would
According to the documents
later found by Cercistum Dimuna (see below), Goratrix finally captured
one of the foul creatures just after the Schism Wars. The diabolical experiments
assumed to have followed ended with the vampirism of two of his apprentices,
and Goratrix' own death. His body was found in his laboratory, next to
the broken and disjointed bodies of his apprentices; the room was dusted
with ashes, and it is assumed that the captive vampyre escaped. Goratrix
was buried in the catacombs beneath his Chantry.
Few of the Quaesitori even
suspected what Goratrix had been doing, and even those few had no idea
that such studies would somehow continue. But in the next century, strange
things began happening within House Tremere, and the Tremere magi became
even more secretive, and fearful of outsiders. As it had with House Diedne,
suspicion arose within the Order, and accusations of Diabolism were whisped
in the halls of covenants. House Tremere fervently denied trafficking with
demons, and no proof was ever offered to implicate the House, as its cousin-House
Tytalus had been implicated centuries before.
Almost 200 years after Goratrix'
death, Pusicalle (who was the filia of one of Goratrix' apprentices) became
suddenly infamous. It seemed that in the early 1200s, she revitalized Goratrix'
studies, and had infected entire chantries with vampyrism. Houses Tytalus
and Flambeau led a Wizard's March to attack the vampyric magi, and soon
defeated the chantries soundly; some of the vampyric magi escaped, but
it is believed that all were destroyed by the winter of 1212. The magi
who had hunted the creatures told that even the other vampyres were attacking
the undead magi -- horrid creatures of the night, bestial and shadowy monsters,
pale and strange strangers who fled at the light of dawn.
The Order of Hermes relaxed
once more, and turned its attention to the other matters that pressed upon
it; House Tremere, again severely weakened, began to retreat into their
isolated covenants. By the time the Order of Reason began its attacks,
the House was so weak that even its rigid hierarchy could not save it.
House Tremere was disbanded in the middle of the 14th century, after the
Order of Reason began its Pogrom; there were a great many situations Tremere
magi were among those accused of helping the Order of Reason -- by supporting
universities, fighting superstition, encouraging the growth of Science
and Reason. By the 15th century, all of the followers of Tremere were either
dead, subsumed into House Tytalus, or defected to the Order of Reason.
House Tremere was no more.
PART TWO: WHAT THE HIDDEN
HOUSE KNOWS
The vampyric infestation
in Transylvania was disturbing to all of the magi of the Order, but especially
to the young magi of House Tremere. The apprentices wondered how it could
be, that the rigid hierarchy of their House failed to protect them from
Pusicalle's evil works...everyone had a place in the pyramid, and all were
subordinate to Roto, the Tremere Primus. One did nothing without the knowledge
of his superior -- how could Pusicalle have gone so far? Some went so far
as to suspect Primus Roto of involvement,or at least passive assent.
Sightings of vampyric magi
in distant lands were sometimes reported, but were largely ignored as rumor,
or else they came to nothing when investigated. In the 14th century, however,
on magus -- Cercistum Dimuna, named after the Primus who led the war against
House Diedne Án the Schism Wars -- looked closely, and saw that
it was possible that the vampyre-magi might still exist. If they did, they
were a threat to the Order as a whole, and when he found that few Quaesitoris
would take this idea seriously, he sought the truth on his own...for the
good of the Order, and to restore the name and power of House Tremere.
First, the records told
of many accusations of Diabolism that had been aimed at Tremere magi, between
Goratrix' death in 1022 and the discovery of Pusicalle's vampyrism in 1210.
Some of those records, however, had been mysteriously lost, much to the
chagrin of the Quaesitoris. Cercistum began to see a pattern in the missing
records, a pattern that spread out from...Goratrix' Chantry. Also, there
had been a large number of mysterious deaths of Tremere magi since Goratrix'
death, wherein the magi were impaled, set on fire, or found charred in
a courtyard. He realized that, if there had been vampyric magi even before
Pusicalle's apprenticeship, then the vampirism could slowly have been spread
through the House in the following centuries, and then any who resisted
or opposed the diabolical scheme could have been destroyed in horrid ways....
So it seemed that Pusicalle
was not the first vampyric Tremere, nor was she the mastermind of the infection.
And that meant that the responsibility was shifted further up the pyramid...to
Goratrix. And if the vampyre-magi of the Transyvanian Tribunal had NOT
been wholly exterminated, they could have survived well by fleeing to other
lands where fewer magi were familiar with them, which would support the
rumors. And that would mean that the Order was still in danger.
Further (sometimes forbidden)
research by Cercistum and his filii hinted at a strange truth: that perhaps
Goratrix had lived on after his death, even after being entombed in the
catacombs beneath his chantry -- lived on as a vampyre. And the worst of
it came when they discovered that the infestation may have also extended
to the highest-ranking Tremere magi of the 11th century, Tremere's own
filii and filiae. Knowing that their work was unlawful according to the
Code, and also knowing that their new-found knowledge was dangerous they
hurried to gain more evidence. In time, they had assembled what is now
believed to be at least a mostly complete history of the true doings of
Goratrix and the others.
In 1022 Goratrix gathered
six of Tremere's most loyal filii in his own chantry, telling them that
he had found the secret to immortality, and would share it with them. Then,
in a ritual wherein he slaughtered two of his own vampyric apprentices,
the Seven ingested a potion whose ingredients included the unholy blood
of the creatures. The rest is confused and garbled in the secret records,
but it seems that the Seven paid a high price for their immortality --
for now, they too were undead creatures driven by the sun, the damned children
of the night.
They began to secretly spread
the vampyrism throughout the House, destroying those who opposed them.
It seems that there was some sort of fractioning among the Seven, and that
Goratrix and a magus known as Etrius were at the head of two factions.
Whatever the truth of this, by 1394 the vampyric Tremere magi seemed to
have gathered a great amount of power among the other vampyres, who are
believed to have been savage and brutal creatures. They organized the creatures
together and began the group now known as the Camarilla -- a new hierarchy
of vampyres that even today lurk behind the scenes in the cities, by night,
pulling strings for their dark Tremere masters.
The vampyric Tremere --
who began to call themselves Clan Tremere, in vile mockery of their former
unity within the Order -- also betrayed the Order of Hermes to the Order
of Reason, and worked closely with the early technocrats in establishing
universities and fighting superstition, so that their vampyre servants
might move unhindered by hunters. In this treachery, aiding in the
fall of the Order of Hermes, they also assured that "Clan Tremere" would
be the only group to still hold the secrets of the old magicks. Even as
the Order of Hermes was forced to reduce its power and adapt new ways of
magick in order to survive, the vampyres of Clan Tremere strengthened the
old magicks with the strange powers of immortality, and the vampyric blood.
Cercistum delved deeper
and deeper into the dark history of his House, even as it weakened and
died around him. With the help of his two loyal filii, Pruntus and Dominic,
he compiled prodigious amounts of information on the doings of the Masters
of the House -- a feat made easier after Cercistum was initiated into the
Quaesitori within the Order. Each Tremere Master that fell before the onslaught
of the Pogrom left more information for Cercistum so long as he acted quickly
enough to sieze it. He and his filii were soon strong in their convictions
-- the Masters of House Tremere had betrayed the Order, and tarnished the
honor of their loyal followers. Together, they swore that they would have
vengeance on these vampiric magi whose evils had ruined the Order, and
lost them their wondrous Mythic Age.
AKASHIC ORDER -- They do nothing.
CHURCH-MAGES -- They, at least, understand the evil of the vampiric race, and usually help us to destroy the undead. They make useful and gullible pawns, and decent allies, though their sight is narrow.
ECSTATICS -- Pawns, degenerate sensualists, and drunkards.
SHAMANS -- They are at home in realms that our enemies cannot comprehend, and we can respect them for this. But they isolate themselves in the remote places with their downtrodden mortal families, and this makes them ineffectual against the city-dwelling undead.
CHAKRAVANTI
-- Secret Traitors, allied with the creatures we destroy... they will bring
down the Order, and the Traditions, if we do not stop them.
ORDER
OF HERMES -- There are some among House Tytalus who seek to
ally with Clan Tremere, saying it would increse the power of the Order.
They are traitors, corrupt through and through, and they do not know the
lessons we have learned -- the truth of how hollow are the powers and promises
of the undead.
ETHER SCIENTISTS -- Once a Technocrat, always a Technocrat. They play with the Dead Magick of Science as though it were salvation.
WITCHES -- For our forefathers crimes against their Druidic cousins in House Diedne, we owe them a small debt. Aside from that debt, they are worthless and ignorant.
HACKER-MAGES -- They have no respect for history, or tradition, or any of the sacred remainders of the Mythic Age. And again -- once a Technocrat, always a Technocrat...
THE TECHNOCRACY -- They must be wiped out, along with the vamipiric perversion of our House that aids them. The tide of this deadly war will not be turned with eternal hiding, but instead with careful strikes at the roots of the Technocracy's creeping vines.
MARAUDERS -- Allies when they manage to be useful, but do not hesitate to destroy them if they threaten your work.
NEPHANDI -- It was their bargaining that lured Goratrix and his line to their treason. Yet, if one can bargain with them and win, the power gained as a result may be worth it...
VAMPYRES -- They have become subtle and dangerous under the leadership of Clan Tremere. The young ones are most like simple humans; take them as pawns, use them to root out the ancient beasts in the cities. You should generally destroy them when you are finished with them, but remember the use of an unknowing pawn.
WEREWOLVES -- Useful hunting dogs, especially our Mythic enemies, the Shadow Lords of Eastern Europe; allow them a long leash, and use a silver whip. The lesser types of werewolves, such as the city-mongrels and the plains-wanderers of the United States, are even more easily manipulated -- but do your research, and keep at a cautious distance.
GHOSTS -- Restless dead, like our vampyre enemies. Destroy those who feed on the living; the rest are merely tragedies.
FAERIES
-- At times, they have aided us, and at other times they have mocked and
disturbed us. Their pranks can be nasty, and their help fickle, so be wary,
and remember the Code.
FIND THE WALKING CARCASSES (Life 1, Matter 1, Correspondence 2) -- Life 1 and Matter 1 allow the mage to seperate the living from the dead, Correspondence 2 allows a wider range of searching. Often used to determine the exact position of the undead during strikes on their havens.
PIERCE THE WITHERED HEART (Matter 1, Forces 2, Prime 2) -- Matter 1 allows the mage to detect the exact location of the vampire's heart, reducing the number of successes needed from 5 to 3. Forces puts extra power behind the strike, adding 1 level of damage per success beyond the second (remember that 3 are needed). Prime 2 "enchants" the stake (or whatever), making all damage it causes aggravated.
DOMINATION OF THE YOUNG (Mind 3, Matter 2, Correspondence 1) -- Allows the mage to control most or all young vampires in an immediate area. Those vampires with Dominate 3 or higher are not easily affected unless the Mind component of the rote is raised to 4, in which case only those vampires with Dominate 5 have a chance of resisting. Vampires with Auspex will have a chance to sense this magick in effect. For every success on the magick roll, two neonates or one ancilla is affected. This spell requires one dram of vampire blood, and iron filings.
CREATE BINDING VITAE --