"I'm in the game because I believe what I'm doing is right."-Cancer Man, The X-Files
The Pyramid. All those other clans just pick their childer haphazardly. Not the Tremere. Tremere are chosen, and each one for a reason. There is a sense of purpose to each and every person, and the entire structure of the Clan lends strength and determination to each and every member. You have a place.
WITCHES, WARLOCKS AND NECROMANCERS
Ranj
on playing Tremere and loving it.
On Becoming A Tremere. The Tremere hold themselves apart from other Kindred in all respects; this attitude takes root in their Embrace.It's actually a wonder they call it an Embrace anymore. The usual method for creating a Clan Member is long, involved, and almost completely passionless. After getting permission from your local Elders and the Vienna Elders, a suitable subject is chosen. Prime factors are their innate magical ability, their general education and experience, and other factors such as specific training or breeding. The person is taken to a secluded place, and fed the blood of the Kindred to be their sire (The Clan also has a say in what generation the newly embraced Clanmate will be.) This is usually the blood of the Tremere who asked to sire someone, but will sometimes be blood sent from Vienna (and thusly, unquestioned by all loyal subjects.) Embarrassing questions of parentage assigned, the first words the new Tremere speaks is the Oath of Tremere, the prayer of the Clan.
Most Tremere are then sent to Vienna to training for a period of seven years. Here they learn the secrets of Thaumaturgy and the teachings of the new world around them. Here they learn their disciplines, the ways of the clan, and the way among other vampires. The wisdom of teachers who have been teaching for centuries is passed down, and hopefully held close to heart.
(Vienna also keeps a point of blood of all Tremere on file in their deepest catacombs, in case they ever need to preserve clan secrets by destroying the Tremere in question. There are no rogue Tremere. It is also customary for the Tremere to leave a point of blood at the Chantry of which they are a member. Asides from being a sign of trust in your clanmates, you are also giving them a tool to find you if you are lost, or to prove your identity should it come into question.)
Worthy of note: All Tremere learn Latin during their apprenticeship. It's the official language of all Clan business. A few of the more progressive modern Tremere lobbied the Elders to get this changed, since in today's world Latin is a dead language, and since most other Clans know they speak it, it isn't good code any more. This movement was struck down by the more traditional Elders, however.
The Blood Bond. When the Clan was first created, Tremere knew that they would need to keep loyal to one another. Their secrets were the only things setting them apart from their peers, and if all vampires had access to their Thaumaturgical research, it would change the way the wars of the Kindred were fought. Thusly, it was decided that all clan members of Clan Tremere would be Blood Bound to the clan during their apprenticeship.
After a time, this fell out of fashion. The Tremere wanted the other Camarilla clans to trust them, so they decided to stop enforcing the Blood Bond on all their childer. (Some say they also wanted more creativity among their children, and that was the real reason. Others whisper it was so their spies would remain wholly undetected. Outright war had evolved out with the nascent Masquerade, and had given way to the quietness of espionage.) Whatever the real reason, the rule about Bonding all childer was removed. For a while, most still did it, to show their true dedication to their rulers (and to make sure that no one else could Bond them.)
In the ages since, the Blood Bond has come and gone in fashion. All Tremere have the option of being bound to the clan, either at the time of the Embrace or later in life.
The Assamites connection
Other ghoulies and ghosties: research
fashion + gossip
Vienna
What's this? Paul loves his Tremere so much that they get two!
Interpretation:
Paul M. M. Jacobus (vampire@digex.net)