Ceoris

Domain Summary

Ceoris is a territory of unparalleled occult practices and arcane power. Vienna has long been one of the bastions of House Tremere of the Order of Hermes. It remains their prime Chantry, Ceoris, which exists in a realm all its own.. Following the Fall, the Order of Hermes was welcomed back into the city. Now the once bitter enemies work together to maintain a city safe from the ravages of the Seventh Age.

Life in the Domain

Life in Ceoris is a mixture of freedom and oppression. The Council oversees all things in the domain, and little escapes their notice. Still, most nobles and apprentices are permitted great leeway in their studies. Magic pervades the domain, and dominates the lives (and unlives) of almost every individual who resides here.

Dominant Races

Vampires (Tremere, some Tzimisce) and Mages (Primarily Order of Hermes)

Paradigm: Almost exclusively Hermetic.

Costuming and Archetypes

Wizened Wizard, Sorcerer Scholar, Arcane Apprentice, Student of Forgotten Occult Lore

Politics & NPCs

Ceoris is overseen by a Council of Seven, to whom all nobles of Ceoris are ultimately sworn. The Council of Ceoris is comprised of seven vampires of extreme power, who, combined, oversee the worldly (and otherworldly) doings of the domain and the Tremere clan. The council comprises the canniest and oldest of surviving Tremere. The council itself is a fraternity of equals or near-equals, each with personal agendas and individual visions for the domain, who recruit supporters for their projects and disseminate important information, while at the same time making sure that problems threatening the domain face a unified opposition. Rarely does the council move directly against someone; instead, a councilor will let his vassals know what pleases him and what vexes him, and allow the subordinates to sort out the proper course of action for those who wish to remain in good stead. The council is often seen as having impeccable judgment and extremely far-sighted planning, so few individuals would dare to presume superior discretion.

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Umbral Realms

Low Umbra - Shroud 4
Middle Umbra - Gauntlet 7
Dreaming - Mists 7 / Banality 9
High Umbra - Periphery 4 (Vulgate - Periphery 3, Elemental Courts of Occident - Periphery 5, Fortress of Government - Periphery 6)

Historical Information

Ceoris Rises from the Ashes

As Gehenna arrived, Goratrix seized upon his opportunity to reclaim lost power. Returning to Ceoris, he used his arcane link to the to drag the ruined Chantry back into the physical world. Aided by his protégé, Damien Vryce, and a mysterious benefactor, he sounded a rallying cry for the unity of House and Clan. With the rise of the Antediluvians and the sects dissolution, many Tremere answered his call as a matter of survival. To his surprise, many magi of the Order of Hermes did as well. Despite the return of power to Ceoris, the Council of Seven opposed him, at Etrius' behest. Rather than unifying the clan, his jealousy threatened to shatter it with civil war. Goratrix refused to see that happen. He challenged Etrius to a Certamen and reduced him to ash, claiming his seat at the head of the Council.

Court of Empires

The Court of Empires forged the first diplomatic ties between Dischordia and Lazarus' Kingdom. The Tremere of Deus reached out to their clan hierarchy, the Council of Seven. Damien Vryce's past with the council earned him both allies and enemies in Ceoris. But he saw the arcane knowledge of the clan as a means to regain what he had lost at the start of the War of Aether. Dischordia's attack on Carpathia, and Lazarus' declaration of war, disrupted their diplomatic efforts.

War of Maelstrom's Rebuke

During the Court of Empires, diplomatic relations between Dischordia and Lazarus' Kingdom failed. Dischordian nobles learned of a dark ritual planned by the Prince Alyosha Buljiev. In response, Dischordia launched a coordinated attack on Buljiev's domain of Carpathia. Their attack, seen by Lazarus' Empire as unprovoked, precipitated the conflict. The hostility between the two kingdoms erupted into the War of Maelstrom's Rebuke.

The Ordo sent troops to fight at the Praetor's command, but they led no battles and claimed no territory. They received considerable scorn from their rivals for their lack of action, but they offered no explanation. They claimed only that their plans would become clear in time.

As the war waged, officers on battlefields across Europe reported witnessing magical duels. In each case, an unknown man appeared to challenge a Lazarean Tremere officer to a Certamen duel. In each case, the man defeated his adversary, before vanishing once again.

Before long, the man's identity became known: the infamous Primus Damien Vryce. Vryce had remained in seclusion for more than two decades, since the opening volleys of the War of Aether. Ordo nobles revealed nothing of his re-emergence, or what his plans might be. Yet, month after month, Vryce continued his campaign of Certamen. It soon became clear that each challenge was more powerful than the last.

Vryce's plan came to fruition in the final months of the war, on a contentious battlefield in the city of Kiev. Vryce appeared, and challenged Grimgroth for his control of the Ceoris council. They drew the Certamen circle, and set upon one another in a flurry of magic and blades. In the end, Vryce emerged wounded, but victorious. Vryce retrieved a talisman from Grimgroth's ashes before vanishing once again.

Even as Vryce dueled Grimgroth, the armies of Ordo laid siege to the Tremere city of Vienna. Hundreds of magi chipped away at the Tremere's wards. The Methuselahs of Deus hammered at the physical structures with unmatched force. Once the wards had fallen, the outer walls offered little resistance. When Vryce re-appeared, he brandished the talisman of the fallen Grimgroth. The Tremere of Vienna surrendered, and Vryce the now-vacant seat on the Ceoris council.

Yet the victory was not without its cost. Adam, Lord of New Constantinople, fell during the battle. The death of their lord severed New Constantinople’s Oaths to the Ordo Trismegistus. Chaos engulfed the city, and all contact with them was lost.

The Sublime Cataclysm

The tides of the war began to turn to their enemy’s favor. The Dischordian lords of prepared a spectacular attack to bring a swift end to the conflict. Sultan Suleiman, a master of spirit magic, led the largest ritual the kingdom had ever seen. New Faith ritualists, students of the Arcane Academy, and a million occultists gathered from all domains aided him. The sky itself bled with the power they summoned. Chunks torn from the spirit realms themselves bombarded Lazarus’ Empire. As each realm struck, it laid waste to thousands of miles of Lazarus' territory. Millions perished in an instant, as the realms destroyed immense swaths of land.

Treaty of Maelstrom's Rebuke

The war ended one year, to the day, after the events which marked its beginning. Delegates from Dischordia and Lazarus met to solidify a treaty and bring the war to a close. Every kingdom sent diplomats to witness the signing, but each had ulterior motives. Each hoped to see their kingdom's goals reflected in the final document. The Treaty detailed terms of ceasefire, such as returning prisoners and withdrawing troops. Yet it also contained several initiatives which advanced specific agendas.

Despite heavy losses during the final months of the war, Ordo counted the Treaty as a great victory. Though the Treaty demanded the return of conquered territory, it exempted Ordo. It explicitly granted their claim to Vienna, Ceoris, and all attached realms, libraries, and holdings around the world. Ordo was thus the only domain to keep their European holdings. This gave Ordo scholars the unique opportunity to study the newly-fallen realms.