Tremere (Antediluvian)

Tremere is an ancient vampire of the Third Generation and founder of Clan Tremere who appears in White Wolf Publishing’s World of Darkness setting.

Description
What Tremere actually looks like is unknown, as his body has undergone a massive transformation since his breathing days, and there are few alive who remember him from that time. He was however, stated to be a tall man, with a dark, imposing presence, and possessed of an impressive mastery over human Magicks.

History
The founder of his own House of mortal Mages, shortly before the coming of the Dark Ages, Tremere realised that the power of Magick in the world was slowly waning, and with it his ability to extend his already long life. He thus embarked upon a program of intense research into alternative methods to sustain his immortality, but soon discovered that the only viable way was to imbibe the blood of the Kindred, as the vampires of the World of Darkness are known. He believed that creating a potion from their magical essence would grant him the immortality that he craved, whilst still allowing him the power of his mortal Magick.

Unfortunately for Tremere, the serum only half worked; whilst he became a vampire and thus undying, the ties to his Magickal avatar were severed, leaving him bereft of his former abilities. He quickly set about bringing others of his House into the fold, reasoning that there was strength in numbers, particularly as his former allies amongst the Mage Houses has turned their backs upon him for his blasphemous practices. Tremere was nothing if not resourceful, however, and much experimenting with his new condition resulted in the development of the Discipline of Thaumaturgy, a quasi-magical use of vampiric blood previously unheard-of.

Tremere’s experiments with captured Kindred had not gone unnoticed by the established Clans however, and thus began the Omen War, a long conflict waged by the Tzimisce, Nosferatu and Gangrel against the newborn Tremere. Massively outmatched by their enemies, once again Tremere initiated an intense program of research and development, and succeeded in creating the sub-species of vampire known as Gargoyles from captured enemies as a warrior caste to help stem the tidal wave of losses they were suffering on all fronts.

Although realising that even with the aid of the Gargoyles, House Tremere were doing little more than holding on to their few remaining assets, during this period Tremere was fortunate enough to uncover the existence of the Antediluvians, and the process known as diablerie, which would allow a vampire to drink another dry and thereby gain his power.

Using Thaumaturgy to track down the haven of what they deemed to be the least-powerful of the Antediluvians, Saulot of Clan Salubri, Tremere and a handful of his closest lieutenants travelled there, where Tremere himself committed diablerie upon Saulot, gaining the full power of a Third Generation vampire. This single act allowed the Tremere to establish themselves as a Clan proper, and gave them the supernatural might to fight back against their enemies. Realising that the Tremere were not going to be quite the pushovers that the vengeful Clans had expected, the Omen War devolved into little more than a series of isolated border skirmishes, and eventually petered out all together. Whilst his Clan set about the process of making a name for themselves in vampiric society, Tremere fell into a long sleep, only then realising what a great mistake he had made; Saulot, whose physical form had disintegrated into dust after his diablerie, had in fact transferred his consciousness into Tremere’s body along with his blood, and the two waged war for control of his mortal coil. This battle raged for eight centuries, but ultimately Saulot won, and claimed Tremere’s body as his own. Tremere, using the last of his power, transferred his own consciousness into that of his former first lieutenant, Goratrix, in effect killing his protégé and claiming his body.

Reassuming control of his Clan, which by this point had become one of the most powerful in existence, Tremere realised that with Saulot’s awakening the End of Nights was near, and has spent his time since preparing for the coming conflict.