Alternate New Orleans IX

Chapter Nine: The Tremere

    Bristol (D)                                         (Isaac) (8th)
        |                        (Reginald) (9th)            |
Marie Laveau (8th)             |                   Emyl (9th)
        |                    Leah Hirsig (10th)
   Rafael (9th)

The Tremere of New Orleans all fall under the shadow of Marie Laveau. Her towering influence spreads beyond the clan, and is much greater than what one might expect for a vampire of her age and generation.

Ah yes! The Tremere have been one of my favorite Clans to play. I know I started playing Brujah when I began playing VtM, but eventually, the alienness of the system subsided: I branched out to play some of the other clans. I started roleplaying, picturing wizards throwing magick around to save the day. The Tremere are the Wizards of the Vampire world like the Brujah are akin to Warriors. My fondest memories are of one of the LARPs I played at one of the Conventions I attended; I played a Tremere Archon.

Bristol

An old British Tremere, Bristol came to New Orleans in 1874 to establish the clan's presence. He started the Tremere's current feud with the Brujah by embracing an important ghoul servant of the Brujah clan head, Annie. His new Get Marie eventually betrayed him, revealing his hiding place to Nathaniel Bordruff, who killed him in 1925

Marie Laveau

Marie Laveau was a legendary figure in New Orleans Voudou, a quadroon woman ruling as Voudou Queen for 50 years, from the 1830s to the 1880s. She held a great deal of power, both from her magical abilities, and from her extensive network of spies and black-mailers. Unknown to those under her, Marie had a powerful vampiric ally, the Brujah elder Annie, who gave Marie immortality as a ghoul. Marie lived long enough that she had to retire, in the 1850s. She had another woman pose as the elder Marie Laveau, and returned as her own "daughter", though still using the same name.

Though powerful, Marie chafed at her dependence on Annie's blood, but events moved rapidly to change this. The newly arrived Tremere Bristol chose to embrace her, both for her power and to undercut a potential rival. Annie was furious, but Accou intervened to prevented war. Marie has long suspected that Accou helped engineer the whole situation, and dislikes him for that.
Marie found life under the Tremere even more stifling, and she lost nearly all her mortal Voudou contacts. Now she was a vampire though, and she still had most of her magical powers. She waited until Nathaniel Bordruff started killing vampires in the 1920s. She carefully planted information leading him to Bristol, and made sure his magical protections were weak at a crucial moment. Bristol was slain, and the only thing that marred her plan was that Bordruff was embraced rather than killed, and lives today.

Marie was the only surviving Tremere in New Orleans, and was thus able to deal with the clan on her own terms. She never openly opposed the clan, but in a myriad of small ways made her independence clear. She then worked to reestablish her mortal contacts, and is once more influential in the Voudou and black communities. She has expanded her efforts beyond this as well, and has many contacts with other magical groups, including modern neo-pagans and ceremonial magicians.

Marie carries on her sire's old feud with the Brujah, but makes an effort to stay on the good side of the other kindred of the city. Few of them trust her, thinking her ruthless and power-hungry. Still, she is respected and feared for the immense power she wields.

Marie sees herself in a totally different light. She was once the Voudou Queen, and this shapes her unlife. She still sees herself as the servant of the Loa, and only unfortunate circumstances forced her into becoming a vampire. She feels that she is trying to protect the Voudou community from outside influences, and tries to bring other vampires into balance with the will of the spirit world. For this reason, she is given to doing many mysterious things. Seldom does she give explanations to those she helps or hinders.

Age: "35", 8th Generation, born 1796, embraced 1881 by Bristol

Image: Marie Laveau is a stunningly beautiful mulatto woman with long brown hair and milk chocolate skin. She usually wears simple cotton dresses, and keeps her hair up in a kerchief, but she knows the power of apparel, and will dress appropriately for most situations. She carries herself with a regal air; one would almost think she were Prince. She was once a queen, and still expects to be treated that way.

Influence: Marie Laveau is nearly universally feared and respected by the vampires of the city. Not only does she have access to the usual power of the Tremere, but she has many secret Voudou related rituals known only to her. She still has some influence in the Voudou community, but it is hotly contested by other groups, including the Brujah and secretly, the Setites. She has recently branched out, looking into other magical groups.

Secrets: A-

Habitat: Marie Laveau keeps a small house in the French Quarter. She also maintains hidden havens in several locations, not the least of which is her "grave". She visits her supposed gravesite, occasionally performing small "miracles", to maintain its mystique. In this way, she ensures that the name Marie Laveau is not forgotten. Marie feeds on her servants and followers.

Goals: Marie would like to strike out on her own, perhaps even founding her own bloodline. She is not so egotistical as to believe that she can challenge all of Tremere, however. She keeps a careful eye on the city's politics, always looking for any advantage.

Rafael

For the longest time, Marie Laveau jealously held her position as the single Tremere in the city, but she eventually realized that to maintain her status in the clan, she would need an apprentice. After a careful search, she found one of the descendants of her mortal children, a Voudou Bokor named Rafael. In him, the power had bred true, and she chose him to be her childe.

Rafael was overwhelmed by the power and knowledge of his ancestress, and desired nothing more than to serve and please her. Rafael acted as Marie's emissary to younger kindred and mortals, leaving Marie time to work on her own magic. Rafael became powerful and intimidating in his own right, but still pales in comparison to his sire. Rafael took to quietly speaking to Leah Hirsig about the rest of the Clan. He believes that if he can raise his prestige amongst the Tremere, he might slowly work himself free of the influence of Marie.
Leah was only too happy to pass his sentiments along to the rest of the Tremere, knowing that this would weaken Marie's hold on New Orleans. Recently, the elders of Tremere ordered a "cultural exchange". The New Orleans Chantry was to accept a Tremere from Hartford, and Raphael was on his way to New England. He believes this is the break he has been looking for, and intends to make quite a splash in the greater Tremere community.

Age: "40", 9th Generation, born 1905, embraced 1947 by Marie Laveau

Image: Rafael is a heavy-set black man, given to wearing business suits and smoking cigars. On his own, he is forceful and intimidating. On the rare occasions when he is in public with Marie, he defers to her.

Influence: Rafael maintained the political influence the Tremere have in this city. He was often in direct competition with the Ventrue and the Toreador for political pawns. He is talented enough to have played this game well. He was also considered more accessible than Marie, and many who wish to deal with the Tremere (especially younger vampires) come to him first. Now he is struggling to make a place for himself in the New England chantry.

Secrets: B-

Habitat: Rafael used to live in Marie Laveau's home, the city's Chantry House. Rafael fed on the Chantry House's servants, but is given to searching elsewhere for "special treats". At the moment, he is in Boston.

Goals: Rafael is still loyal to Marie, but is stifled by her in the same way she is stifled by the Tremere. He would like more independence.

Emyl Hillary

Emyl Hillary loved few things more than the secrets of the past, and would have happily devoted his entire life to the study of history at his native Oxford, had not an affair of his come to light. The affair was one born of genuine trust and affection, but it was between Emyl and one of his male students, and Emyl was forced to resign in disgrace. He emigrated to Germany in 1934 and secured a position as a professor in a small university, where he did his best to immerse himself in history and forget his loneliness. A year or two passed, however, and he allowed himself to fall in love with a beautiful young man named Christian. For a little while, they were very happy.

The relationship ended well and Emyl thought little more about it until 1938, when he was arrested by the Nazis. It seemed that Christian had been marked as a homosexual and arrested, and in a vain effort to save himself he had offered up his past lovers instead. Emyl wound up in a concentration camp, and the number the Nazis tattooed on his arm seemed like a stark code of doom.
A little while before, the demon known as Chagaediul had been exiled to earth as punishment for some transgression. It wandered naked and nearly powerless until its own true Name drew it to Germany with a promise of sustenance. The number Emyl had been tattooed with was, coincidentally, the numerical rendering of Chagaediul's Name, and it bound the professor to the demon. Chagaediul lived within Emyl's mind and fed on the misery surrounding them. It slowly grew in strength and ensured that Emyl stayed alive, luring him with promises of escape, if only he would aid it.

The director of the camp learned that Emyl was a scholar and put him to work translating some old documents that had been seized from a rabbi. They were descriptions of cabbalistic rituals, and in studying them Emyl managed to awaken his own magical potential. Then the true owner of the documents came to retrieve them, and Emyl came to the attention of the Tremere. Isaac decided he couldn't let the professor go to waste and Embraced him.

Since then Chagaediul has had to be careful not to be noticed by the Tremere, but that hardly bothers it; it is quite pleased with its powerful pawn. For his part, Emyl is now aware of the true nature of his "benefactor" and longs to be free of the demon. Chagaediul has a very strong grip on him, however, and it punishes Emyl without mercy whenever Emyl does not obey its wishes. It has grown quite strong and intends to keep doing so, eventually returning to Hell in glory. Recently it was able to engineer things so that Emyl was sent to New Orleans in order to aid Leah Hirsig in bringing Marie Laveau to heel. Chagaediul intends to make the city its own, and the only thing in its way is a mighty Wyrm spirit called the Blighted Swamp, an elemental of the polluted bayou.

Emyl is Chagaediul's main assistant in this, a position that fills him with despair. He does his best to fulfill the demon's wishes and spare himself its ire, but he hates what it makes him do. He is desperate for a way out of his situation, and may seize on any opportunity to free himself, no matter how tenuous. He will not commit suicide for he knows that Chagaediul would simply enslave his soul if he died.

Age: "50", 9th Generation, born 1900, embraced 1941 by Isaac; arrived 1994

Image: The archetypical beloved absentminded professor. Emyl is nowhere near as spacey as he can seem, however. He deliberately plays the part, as it makes people underestimate him. He really is gentle-natured, though, and comes across more like a favorite uncle than a demon-bound vampiric sorcerer. He has developed a minor ritual that hides his tattoo from sight and from magical detection; it only lasts for nine hours, but that is usually enough. He has tried many ways to remove the tattoo permanently but with no success.

Influence: None, yet. Emyl spent his life in academia, however, and is no stranger to influence-peddling. He will place his pawns where few other vampires would think to.

Secrets: C+

Habitat: Emyl keeps a small house in Metairie, in a neighborhood known for its Ph.D. population. He also has gotten a position teaching a nighttime history class at Tulane. Emyl feeds on academic types as these are the humans he is most frequently around.

Goals: To free himself from his demon master and expose the corruption within the city. He is terrified of the retribution he would face from his clan and the vampires of New Orleans, but he is basically a decent sort and can no longer live with his crimes.

Leah Hirsig

Leah Hirsig was just another young, well-bred Victorian girl of England in the early 1900s when she met Aleister Crowley, "The Wickedest Man Alive". As was his wont, Crowley seduced her and she became one of his many "Scarlet Women". She joined Crowley's coven, but disputes and his wanton ways eventually drove her away. Leah continued the quest for magic on her own, having forsaken the pristine ways of her youth.

In 1945, a London Tremere embraced her in the hopes that she would be able to help them against the rampaging Crowley, now a Malkavian. As much as she hated her ex-lover, Leah was little help against him. Her lust for magic was great enough that she advanced in the clan anyway.

Recently, the Council of Elders in Clan Tremere decided that Marie Laveau needed watching, and sent Leah to New Orleans. Marie could not refuse her, but did nothing to make her welcome either. Leah had an edge, however. Before she left London, the sire of Bristol, Marie's grand-sire, warned Leah that Marie was probably responsible for Bristol's death. If Leah could produce proof of this, she would gain greatly in clan prestige.

Leah was making slow progress in this direction when the Tremere Emil arrived in the city. Naturally, she sought him as an ally. Emil, under the influence of his master, tried to draw Leah into his web by teaching her Dark Thaumaturgical power. Whether or not he succeeded is unknown. Very recently, one of Leah's own ghouls burned her haven to the ground. The ghoul was caught and killed, but Leah herself is believed to be dead.

Age: "50", 10th Generation, born 1894, embraced 1945 by Reginald, arrived 1984

Image: Leah varied between dressing as a "respectable" English woman and as a witch and a coven leader. She kept her short gray hair meticulous. She played up her Tremere mystique, dropping strange hints of secret knowledge.

Influence: Leah had little power in the mortal world, but worked to change that. She moved quietly, so as not to upset the powerful Chantry head. She had a few pawns in the magic community, mostly neo-pagan and new-age types, but avoided Voudouns for fear of meeting Marie's tools. She had the tacit backing of the Tremere Inner Council, but until she could come up with hard evidence of violations of the Tremere laws, she was on her own. She was learning some interesting secrets from Emil before her haven was burned.

Secrets: B-

Habitat: Leah kept a small house in the Garden District. She occasionally held "seances" there for her pawns. This haven is now a pile of ash, all of her magical texts lost with it. Leah fed off her magic groups, rarely doing them permanent harm.

Goals: Leah was desperate to move up the Tremere pyramid. She worked to find out something she could use against Marie, so she can please the Inner Council. Leah wanted to return to England as quickly as possible, leaving this "uncouth country", but sought to learn all she safely could about New World magic in the meantime. Now, no one knows her fate.