The Tzimisce were one of the High Clans. In
medieval times, it was common for the Tzimisce to hold vast domains in
Eastern Europe, and command armies of men,
ghouls and monsters of their own making; in some places they were revered or
worshipped almost as gods. The most (in)famous Tzimisce was
Vlad Ţepeş, commonly known as
Dracula.
The Tzimisce were among the preferred victims of the
Tremere clan, who often employed Tzimisce as raw material to craft
Gargoyles. The Tzimisce of old held the Tremere in utmost contempt.
During the Dark Ages, the younger members of the clan were subject to
blood bonds with their elders, until they found a way to break them and slaughtered most of their masters. This ritual is called Vaulderie and consists of a
blood bond with the pack members rather than a single elder, thus bonding to a community (or pack) of fellow Tzimisce and breaking their
sire's control upon them. The Vaulderie is now one of the
Auctoritas Ritae and practiced by all of the Sabbat, in theory at least.
[4]
It was also during the Dark Ages that the Koldun arose as a whole Tzimisce faction. In the modern World of Darkness, Koldun are so rare as to be considered extinct.
[4] The Koldun were later ret-conned into Old Clan Tzimisce.
