The Voivodate was the loose conglomeration of Tzimisce domains near their ancestral home by the Carpathians during much of the later age of Rome, the Long Night and the War of Princes. It fell apart during the Anarch Revolt, and now only the Oradea League (an alliance of several old and powerful Fiends) has some resemblance to the former Voivodate. In the modern nights, the Tzimisce of the Sabbat (particularly those of the younger generations from the Americas) pay little heed to the voivodes.
History[]
From the seventh century on, the local Fiends assembled their influence, ruling remorselessly over the mortal population with a combination of fear, superstition, taking local nobles as ghouls (in some cases taking entire mortal bloodlines), and enforcing their might through hordes of szlachta ghouls. Each Tzimisce who was in charge of his own domain would claim the title of Voivode - powerful and ancient landholders, who had given fiefs to selected childer, who they called Knezi (s. Knez).
The Voivodate was nominally ruled by the Voivode of Voivodes, originally Tzimisce himself, who later passed on the title to his childe Yorak. In turn, Yorak later appointed a number of successors, the last one being Vladimir Rustovitch, but in effect, every Voivode was his own master, answering only to his sire. As a result, the Voivodate was fractured and many Tzimisce focused solely on their own rivals and battled each other for supremacy. Only the constant Lupine threat and, for a time, the feud between the Voivodate and the Obertus Tzimisce from Constantinople would unite them.
This all changed when the Tremere stole the secrets of immortality in their chantry Ceoris, which is seated within the Carpathians — and more, they used Tzimisce vitae to do so. The Omen War between the two clans raged without mercy during these nights, but each Tzimisce mistrusted his clanmates, fighting only when his own domain was threatened and engaging the warlocks in solitary missions, sometimes even betraying their rivals to the Usurpers in order to carry out their ancient hatreds.
When the Burning Times began, the Tzimisce Elders gladly sacrificed their childer in order to buy them time, fueling discontent against themselves that eventually boiled down in the Anarch Revolt, which claimed the life of many Elder Fiends and the Eldest himself. When the Anarchs reformed into the Sabbat, most of the remaining Elders refused to bow before them. Many were destroyed in battle, but some managed to stave off the assaults through sheer potency of blood and ages of experience, each for themselves, sacrificing what little unity they had possessed before.
Today, the Sabbat has focused on other battlefields, being content with leaving the Old Clan be, although they remain a thorn in their collective side.
References[]
- Clanbook Tzimisce: Revised, p. 98
- Players Guide to the High Clans, p. 47, 104