From time immortal the Tzimisce have haunted Europe beyond the Elbe. Along the Oder and Danube, through the Pripet Marshes, amid the Carpathian crags stalk the Fiends, each claiming its lair and wreaking a terrible vengeance on intruders. Millennia of defending their holdings from all sides have made Tzimisce extremely vicious, and Tzimisce cruelty is infamous even among vampires. (Traveler's legends of cynocephali, vrykolas and other monsters can often be traced to some wretch disfigured by an annoyed Tzimisce.)
Of all the clans, the Tzimisce is perhaps the least human. Tzimisce are scholarly, even brilliant beings, but their studies (and their Vicissitude Discipline) have led them to the unequivocal conclusion that vampires are superior to humans and Tzimisce are superior to other vampires. The "best" (by Tzimisce standards) humans are to be elevated; the rest are fodder. Unlike many vampires, Tzimisce do not see themselves as dammed or accursed. If God has dammed them, they say, then perhaps it is time for new and better gods....
During the years immediately following Rome's fall, the clan made vassals/slaves of various Eastern Europeans hereditary chieftains, thereby creating "ghoul families" with noble lineage and inbred supernatural powers. These families provide the Tzimisce with great temporal power, and thereafter the inhabitants of the East have groaned under the yoke of their Tzimisce masters. For centuries Tzimisce dominance in the East remained unchallenged, and the clan itself was arguably the most powerful in Europe.
But recent times have proved troubling for the Fiends. A skirmish with the sorcerous Tremere (who gained immortality using stolen Tzimisce vitae) quickly blossomed into a full-scale war. At first the Tzimisce's raw power and terror tactics gave them the upper hand, but the Usurpers' superior organization and magical might have recently turned the tide. Moreover, the Fiends' distress has been a balm to the hearts to rival clans. Under the cover of mortal invasions, other vampires have begun to jockey for the Tzimisce's dwindling holdings. Fearful voivodes increasingly send their young to fight and die in their names, and the Blood-Oath bound progeny dutifully go, though for the first time ever they have begun to grumble at their servitude....