Clan Tzimisce (Zuh-Me-See)

“Once again...welcome to my house. Come freely. Go safely; and leave something of the happiness you bring.”

Former rulers of isolated eastern Europe, the Tzimisce went from masters of flesh to maesters of Faith in the Sabbat, and some might say to whipped and defeated whelps in the modern day. Failures or not, Clan Tzimisce have been an evergreen presence in the world of Kindred, being feared and respect legends of the pre-Camarilla past, to being the feared enemy the Camarilla fought, to being the home clan of histories most infamous Vampire. They are powerful hosts, dreadful enemies, sophisticated scions, and a force to be reckoned with.
In their nightly roles as dignified monsters, the Tzimisce have mastered the following three disciplines, although one is a bit mutated these days:

• Animalism - The Tzimisce are courteous not only to their fellow Kindred, but to all manner of creatures as well. They are also keen masters of borrowing animals high-tuned skills and evolutionary traits themselves, making them materful predators, hunters, or trackers.
• Dominate - Sometimes to be a proper leader you need to throw some mind control around. This Discipline not only serves the Tzimisce to control their ghouls or wayward mortals, but also serves to add weight and authority to their words, and help them control their own bodies.
• Protean - And of course, the Clan known most for their mastery over flesh, muscle, and bone are skilled in the transformation of their own bodies. They used to have a Discipline all it's own known as Vicissitude, but much like the Salubri healing arts or the Setites serpentine talents, this individual path as collapsed into another.

The Tzimisce also have their own path of Blood Sorcery as well known as Koldunic Sorcery, and is heavily based on the environment and the four elements of Fire, Water, Earth, and Air.

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History

In the supposed biblical beginnings of the Kindred Vampire species, the Tzimisce began when Enoch forcibly ejected his bestial nature into a then-mortal vessel, embracing it after said vessel didn't show signs of being an evil creature. The founder of the Clan then left the city, and travelled to Eastern Europe where the Clan would flourish, being tied to the land itself and a powerful Demon of the area, whom the Clan aided and revered.
While the biblical interpretation of history is always a gray area of legitimacy, it is true that Clan Tzimisce was legendary within Eastern Europe and especially Romania and the Carpathian Mountains, where the most famed of the Clan would one day be born. During their early days, the clan often had violent battles against the Garou of the area who were also stewards of the land and saw the Kindred and their demonic ally as agents of the Wyrm. Luckily, their hold over the region and their best laid plans averted total annihilation, even if they still had to be wary of them.
While many other Kindred focused on Rome or Carthage, the Tzimisce were more concerned with Constantinople, and allowed themselves to be fully immersed in the cultural delights it provided to them. Thus, they escaped the greater drama that the Ventrue and Brujah had with each other at the time.
As time pressed onwards, they found themselves with a new and annoying enemy, the rising Clan Tremere, who gained their vampiric status by kidnapping and experimenting on Tzimisce. They were one of many enemies they made, and yet somehow the then-small Clan of traitorous former-Mages managed to survive, a thorn that many Tzimisce are still sore about to this day.
The next notable period would be during The Anarch Revolt, when the young of the Clan threw off the yoke of their Elders who would see them as meatshields and fodder against the torches and swords of The Crusades and became a large force of power among the Anarchs. When the Convocation of Prague formed the Camarilla, and many of their fellows bent the knee, Clan Tzimisce as a whole refused to do so and became the Sect now known as the Sabbat.
From here, the history of the Clan becomes very intertwined with that of The Sabbat, but many moments past that point weakened the clan further and further. First, the Sabbat was a large primary enemy of the Camarilla, with many efforts made to weaken their holdings around the world. Two, as mankind stepped into the Victorian Age their traditions and old ways began to become brittle and weak in the eyes of Science and Modernity. Even the idea of a Vampire began to be used as novel fodder and Penny Dreadful bait, weakening the fear they commanded. But, the rise of Science also gave the inquisitive masters of flesh more footing to expand their knowledge.
That's but a single light in the dark, however, as the frequent losses of the Sabbat, the excursions to the Camarilla and Anarchs, and the oddities of the Beckoning have put the Clan on the furthest back foot they have. They shall survive, however, as they find their way in the new world with a new generation.

Structure

Historically, the Tzimisce had a very tight hierarchy tied to their domains, with plenty of machinations, bloody schemes, and more human inbreeding and inter-family siring than you could shake a Hapsburg at!
This structure largely crumbled during the Crusades and The Anarch Revolt, with many Elders meeting their fates and many survivors joining the newly formed Sabbat afterwards, where it's own structure and hierarchy took priority. Those in the modern day who have joined The Anarch Movement or The Camarilla have followed suit.
The inter-clan structure that does remain usually follows the orders of a Voivode, a respected and trusted member of the clan in a given region, but the strength of the Voivode's have largely waned in their recent depature from the Sabbat.
The Tzimisce as a clan have also nurtured four groups of what could only be described as Ghoul families bred like livestock at their disposal and command, but only those of status and respect among the Clan could hope to have access to them, so wayward Anarchs and young traitors need not apply.

Culture

Despite having a very brutal, sadistic, and...interesting (read: inhuman) disposition, Clan Tzimisce also have a firm grasp and appreciation of art, culture, and class especially in the service of their leadership. This is, however, not an appreciation for human art and culture, but instead a way to rule and surpass them, as Clan Tzimisce are the most interested in the condition of Vampirism.
To that aforementioned end, they tend to embrace either randomly or the least humane of humans, so they have less work to do removing their human aspects, physically or mentally. This is also a big reason of why their molding of flesh is a key part of their culture, as well as their various rationales and mindsets regarding their personhood in these vampiric nights. To be Kindred is to be Inhuman, so might as well look and think the part.
Despite their focus of inhumanity, the Tzimisce are also wonderful hosts! They have extensive and intensive rules of hospitality, for themselves and their guests, and it's just as much of an aspect of social power and favor as Clan Ventrue's concept of Dignitas.
However, that hospitality also works as a factor of another universal part of Tzimisce culture: ownership. The Tzimisce of old held power and ownership over their land, their childer, their bred and kept Ghouls, and of course of their resevoirs of knowledge and treasure stored in their castles. This is a key aspect of their overall personalities, to the point they have mastery over a whole arcane art of Blood Sorcery devoted to controlling the elements of their domain. It also is a factor of their Clan Curse, as a Tzimisce must sleep in their own domain, whatever definition that takes in the modern day, or else be addled in the night to come. When their Beast echoes in their soul, it also takes the form of possession, not resting until they claim ownership of a new treasure.

Local Tzimisce Culture

Clan Tzimisce historically hasn't had much influence over Washington, as their domains of power mostly were throughout Canada, Central America, and formerly the Eastern coast. That's not to say there weren't any, but they were few and far between and usually cast away from the Clan and the Sabbat. There has been a stark uptick since many more migrated into the Camarilla or Anarchs in recent years, and the Sabbat invasion of Tacoma created and displaced many more.
While in the wake of the Cleansing Nights, they aren't the most popular, they are still decently populous, enough that there are four self-defined factions among South Sound Tzimisce that exist on a bit of an axis. Those loyal to the Sabbat have been destroyed or expunged, so the first axis measures Loyalty to either the Anarchs of Tacoma, or the Camarilla of Seattle, referring themselves as Cleaners for the loyal who actively work to clear their name, or Chameleons who fade into the background to not rock the boat more. The second axis depends on how much they ascribe to the Clans inherent monstrosity, with either Cryptids embracing their monstrous apperance and therefore usually sticking to private, isolated areas, or Caged Tzimisce who either don't care for monstrous apperances or keep their desire hidden as to blend into Kine and Kindred society.

Territories

Historically, Clan Tzimisce held the most sway over Eastern Europe within countries like Romania and Ukraine. With the desolution of their older ways and co-leading of the Sabbat with Clan Lasombra, their influence grew mostly to Canada, Central America, and the Eastern Coast of the United States. That too has mostly fallen by the current day, as the Sabbat is more pre-occupied with the Gehenna War, but cells of the Sect and therefore the Clan have persisted, such as the one that sought to add Tacoma to their claimed territories.
Due to their general distrust outside of the Sabbat, Clan Tzimisce does not have many if any claimed territories, and even within that sect the Lasombra do the dirty leading work while most of the Tzimisce take care of the heretical preaching.
In Tacoma, however, times are changing for everybody, and while there isn't a vast majority, one key member of the clan exists in Jojo Lowe, a kindly older woman who long since grew tired of the Clan, and was a helpful asset during the Cleansing Nights, now overseeing the McKinley neighborhood in East Tacoma.

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Founding Date

Unknown, Pre-Rome

Type

Geopolitical, Clan

Alternative Names

Dragons, Flesh-Shapers

Demonym

Tzimisce

Ruling Organization

The Sabbat

Related Species

• Kindred Vampire

Tzimisce Hospitality Laws

For the Host:

• Provide shelter and nourishment for three days and three nights after the initial arrival
• Protect your guest from third-party enemies
• Cease any inner-family quarrels while you have any guests
• Provide the best quarters available, including your own chambers if necessary

For the Guest:

• Provide a gift or equivilant service as exhange for hospitality
• Respect the boundaries and property of the host
• Do not needlessly anger your host or their family
• Do not stay past the expected three days unless specifically invited to do so

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Tzimisce in Tacoma

Washington as a whole has never been a point of interest for the Tzimisce, save for the spare Sabbat refugee. However, following the wake of the Sabbat Invasion, Tacoma has become quite populated by victims of Embraces, turncoats, and those aforementioned refugees coming out of hiding against their irreptuable Clanmates. While their reputation is soured due to the horrors Sabbat inflicted into Kindred and Kine alike, their presence cannot be denied and is accepted by The South Sound Barons at the very least.