Tremere Ghouls

The Tremere, more so than any other Clan, often employs strict guidelines regarding the creation and maintenance of ghouls, whether that ghoul is being groomed for the Embrace or not. Secretive and paranoid to a fault, some Tremere domitors spend months investigating potential candidates, writing and storing dossiers filled with volumes of background information. Other Tremere domitors are presented with candidates and commanded by their elders to choose one. Regardless, all Tremere ghouls are tracked in some fashion, both before and after they are given their first taste of vitae, and may even be monitored by more than one Warlock. In many ways, the Tremere’s policies are designed to protect their knowledge and prevent run-ins with mortal mystics. While some vampires believe the Tremere want to find occult adepts, the opposite often holds true. For any potential ghoul to be considered, he needs to have a curious and open mind as opposed to being skeptical or claim to have definitive knowledge of the supernatural.

For many Warlocks, the value of their ghouls goes beyond the opportunity to train them in esoteric arts. Tremere domitors tend to seek clinically-minded candidates who work in hospitals, blood banks, and clinics, or those who have easy access to victims or stores of blood. Thus, they find that doctors, specialists, and surgeons are viable choices, but also select capable bodyguards, attorneys, financiers, brokers, and museum curators to maintain their influence.

It is commonly believed that most Tremere ghouls are potential candidates for the Embrace. However, Tremere masters might maintain a ghoul for decades, if not longer, before hinting that this is a possibility. Some ghouls, especially those whose backgrounds are a little questionable, are trained to become personal attendants and guardians for their chantries, although still under the command of a Warlock. Often, these ghouls are asked to attend to the basic needs of other ghouls, by making sure they have food, clothes, and medicine their domitors cannot provide. Others act as intermediaries between the chantries and the Tremere’s revenant family, the Ducheski, as well as the Clan’s other allies.

Fortunately, most Tremere ghouls are not required to carry out mundane tasks, as those are typically reserved for homunculi. Still, young ghouls might feel trapped or frustrated for the first couple of months. As time passes, however, Tremere ghouls are slowly given more responsibilities, such as memorizing basic occult concepts or alphabetizing a particular section of their libraries. Once a ghoul is deemed competent, her domitor will continue her training by asking for her assistance in a thaumaturgical ritual.

In recent years, many Tremere ghouls have primarily been focused on preservation. While older Warlocks may be comfortable with their many books and piles of manuscripts, others are worried that their research could be conducted more efficiently if they digitized their collections. However, change happens slowly — especially among the Tremere — and this effort could take years before the Warlocks are comfortable storing and using their new archives. Consequently, some ghouls are employed as research assistants, and are recruited from analytical and academic professions such as librarians, history or literature professors, software analysts, and computer engineers.

Though life as a Tremere ghoul may seem ideal, they operate under a heavy set of restrictions. First, Tremere ghouls are not given permission to increase their use of Disciplines without the guidance of their domitor, nor are they allowed to study Thaumaturgy. Second, they are not allowed to move or travel freely, and are required to check in more frequently than other ghouls. And lastly, Tremere ghouls are subjected to varying uses of Dominate and thaumaturgical rituals to ensure they remain loyal and truthful to their masters. Thus, most Tremere ghouls never have the opportunity to disappoint their masters, and those who don’t are either sent to live with the Ducheski, or allowed to age naturally before their release.

These rules are a precaution to avoid other Clans from stealing their secrets, and are often exploited to intentionally seed misinformation to their enemies. A Tremere domitor might send her ghoul into contested territory with a healthy supply of magically-sealed vials of vitae to meet with an independent ghoul, except the vials are filled with human blood, a ruse designed to draw enemies out into the open. Other Tremere domitors know that their ghouls are at risk of being compromised by the Sabbat, infernalists, or the Anathema, and anticipate their capture by preventing them from learning too much.Tremere among the Anarchs tend to rely less on ghouls and more on their Allies and Disciplines. However, despite their low numbers, most rogue Tremere who do maintain ghouls tend to favor minions who excel at a particular task such as hacking, or those who have useful connections.

**Appearance:** Like their domitors, there is a distinct difference between the way Tremere ghouls present themselves in public and in the privacy of the chantry. While in public, they tend to dress smartly and conservatively. Among the Warlocks, however, Tremere ghouls wear adorned robes that are embroidered with symbols that denote their age, domitor, and field of study.

**Character Creation:** Tremere ghouls are often selected for their keen minds and curious natures. Candidates are recruited heavily from medical, academic, and technology professions, but also might be pulled from financial, spiritual, or food services. Thus, Mental Attributes and Knowledges tend to be favored over more physical or social traits. The Mentor Background is often selected to represent the relationship between the ghoul and their domitor or, in some cases, future sire.

**Weakness:** Tremere ghouls are extremely susceptible to the blood bond. Their difficulty to break the blood bond is twice that of other ghouls, as detailed on page 288 of V20.

**Quote:** “I know less than you think, but more than you’d believe.”