Goratrix

Goratrix, also known as the Betrayer, was the most ambitious, talented and reckless of Tremere's seven disciples.

Biography

“	He was the object of our devotion, the meaning behind the sacrifice of uncounted lives - Pythagoreans, Catharists, Masons, alchemists - all struggling in darkness so that one day, generations hence, one man could hold in his hand the forbidden fruit, the Philosopher’s Stone, the elixir of life everlasting. His name was called Goratrix, our lightbearer, our Prometheus, our Lucifer.	”
	— Aisling Sturbridge

Goratrix was a mage of House Tremere, who was introduced into the order in the mid eighth century, after Tremere himself had saved him from the stake in Poitou. The two later became lovers as mortals.^[1] He proved himself as talented, ambitious and determined, earning him a place at the side of Tremere. Additionally, he developed a rivalry with another apprentice, the Swede Etrius, whom he despised for his self-righteousness and overcaution.

In 980, it was Goratrix that led the ritual to consecrate Ceoris as the prime chantry of a chain of lesser guildhouses placed across Transylvania, to harness the vis in the soil. During the ritual, Goratrix emasculated himself to lay a powerful seed for the chantry, but thanks to the failure of the participating magi, Ponticulus, who was killed and his head, along with Goratrix' member, were placed in the earth by hated Etrius, he was weakened. As lord of Ceoris, he and Etrius competed even more furiously for their masters favour and after Etrius discovered that magic was dying, both searched for ways to maintain their immortality. Goratrix was put in charge of the project.

He was the mage responsible for creating the potion that turned the Tremere into vampires by experimenting on the native Tzimisce, and was responsible for convincing the rest of the House to adopt it, neglecting to mention certain undesirable side effects. He was also the one who pushed to quickly introduce as many members of the House into the fold as possible.

“

You think I sought our exile - you of all people? Better a hundred cries of "heretic" and a thousand Tzimisce swords than the Order's words of scorn that horrible night... But if they will not follow us, then let them die out, like the dragons whose stone skeletons I chip out of the cliff-sides.

- Goratrix to Meerlinda, AD 1202

”

During the Omen War, Goratrix, with the aid of Virstania, created the first Gargoyles in 1121 and unleashed them against the attacking Tzimisce. He was also the first one to experiment with the new devised Thaumaturgy and headed many additional research projects, such as an abandoned project of manufacturing vitae.

After Tremere diablerized Saulot and entered torpor, Tremere was manipulated somehow to send Goratrix instead of Meerlinda to act out his will in France, an act that greatly infuriated Goratrix. He learned, however, that the intricate politics of Paris were more to his liking than the secluded walls of Ceoris. While he conspired against Etrius, who had succeeded him as lord of Ceoris, he involved himself in the politics of the french nobility, where Goratrix got in conflict with the Knights of the Temple of Solomon.

He was finally able to bring Philip the Fair to arrest the Templars in France around 1307. When Tremere awoke, he recognized that he made a mistake sending Goratrix to France, and also discovered that he must have been manipulated. He summoned Goratrix to Ceoris to be punished, but in a panic Goratrix fled, leaving the Tremere behind.

Goratrix's ambition eventually led him to defect to the Sabbat in the 18th century, forming a parallel society, House Goratrix, conventionally called the Tremere antitribu. He made his personal chantry in Mexico City, far from his parent Clan. The House continued to exist until 1999, when Tremere, losing his war with Saulot, possessed Goratrix, sealed his soul in a mirror and destroyed the antitribu.

Goratrix prided himself on his appearance. With dark brown hair, hazel eyes and a clean-shaven face, he attracted admiring glances from those around him, yet few miss the cruelty that lies just below the surface. His nose was strong and broad, his mouth was generous. He dressed in stylish clothes that spoke of wealth without ostentation and cultivated the image of himself as a scholar, sage and genius.

Version Differences

V20 presents an alternate continuation of the events detailed above. Here, Goratrix already claimed during the Dark Ages that he was, in fact, Tremere, having been forced outside his body after he was possessed by Saulot and that the thing that the Clan served was an abomination (likely referring to [Tzimisce] and Saulot struggling for control over the body). In this case, Goratrix' soul would have been replaced in his own body far earlier.^[2]

Character Sheet

Goratrix, the Betrayer^[3]^[4]
Sire: None
Nature: Monster
Demeanor: Rogue
Generation: 4th
Embrace: 1022
Apparent Age: Early 30s