Et in Arcadia Ego Discussion

[Berylis]

Please put any questions about Arcadia here!  

[Kaido kalru]

In the OWoD, the Order of Hermes were the founders of the Tremere clan of kindred. Do they still have any ties with them?  

[Berylis]

Mage: the Ascension is part of the Old World of Darkness, so absolutely.

The way the story goes is that Tremere was an older magus of the Order of Hermes, who served as one of the most important members of the Order. He was also one of the weaker mages. While most powerful mages are able to halt their aging, Tremere, though brilliant, could not do this. But he so greatly desired life that he decided to commit the unthinkable. He and his followers kidnapped a Tzimisce and drank its blood, turning themselves into vampires.

But this immortality wasn't enough. Tremere was determined to become the founder of a whole lineage of vampires, and unless he found some way to lower his generation, he would never achieve legitimacy. So Tremere staged a second kidnapping. He learned the location of the Salubri antediluvian, and diablerized him, effectively making Tremere one of the third generation, just like the other clan founders. The Tremere then waged a vicious war of propaganda against the Salubri to hide the remnants of their vicious crime, for the Salubri were the only true "good" vampires, whose very existence was to serve as a bridge back from vampirism to God.

Anyway, back to your question, and remember that this information is NOT widely known throughout the World of Darkenss. After the Order of Hermes discovered Tremere's treachery (about 150 years after the fact) the Order waged a war against their brethren, called the "Masassa war." This war resulted in huge losses on both sides, and both the Tremere and the Order of Hermes realized that they did not have the resources to eliminate the other, so an uneasy truce resulted. Periodically there are flare-ups, but for the most part both the Tremere and the Order of Hermes tend to leave each other alone.  

[Kaido kalru]

Okay. Though, what I've read is a tad different, it's still pretty much the same. So, are they more of allies or enemies at the present day, or has everyone pretty much forgotton.  

[Berylis]

For the most part, the Tremere and the Order of Hermes give each other a wide berth. House Tytalus of the Order of Hermes is rumored to have some dealings with the masassa (the Tremere) but this is speculative at best, and certainly not information a player character would have knowledge of.

I would expect my information to be different from what you read on the web, because I'm drawing from three rare WoD sourcebooks dealing with the subject smile

For more details, see:

Vampire the Masquerade: Gehenna (sourcebook NOT novel)
Vampire the Masquerade: Clanbook Salubri
Mage: Blood Treachery