Tzimisce are the quintessential vampires. While other vampires desperately try to retain their human nature, Tzimisce actively seek to divorce themselves from it. This attitude has colored Tzimisce culture and society. Accordingly, the clan has fostered some of the most bizarre, alien and (from a mortal perspective) horrific practices known among vampires.
Given that the clan as a whole holds the Tradition of the Progeny in contempt, Tzimisce are notoriously selective about whom they Embrace. Tzimisce are not human, do not wish to be human, and seek to Embrace people who have in some way deviated from their species--socially, mentally or emotionally. Such deviation, however, must not preclude adherence to the clan’s precepts or the capacity for wit, honor and charm. Tzimisce infinitely prefer a Hannibal Lector to a Jeffrey Dahmer. Tzimisce prize intelligence and insight, but intelligence of a particular variety--the ability to perceive new ways of looking at things rather than the conventional problem-solving or logical sort. In many ways this approach resembles that of the Malkavians, but Tzimisce do not respect insanity for its own sake. A catatonic vegetable or dysfunction schizophrenic is a manifestation of a human frailty, not proto-vampiric insight. A Tzimisce must be able to shape her madness rather than be shaped by it.
Even expedience rarely excuses a hasty Embrace. Tzimisce often hang back during wartime Creation Rites, allowing the Brujah and Pander comrades-in-arms to sully themselves with the animation of cannon fodder. A Fiend in need of muscle would much rather construct a dozen ghouls than transmit precious Tzimisce vitae to an unworthy being.
Tzimisce sires retain a good deal of influence in their childer's unlives--much more than most Sabbat vampires do. Though not nearly so controlling as Camarilla sires, Tzimisce maintain relations with their progeny, even those in different packs. Though Tzimisce are never held accountable for the actions of their childer, a Tzimisce who sires a flawed childe often loses respect in the eyes of her clan mates.
GENERATION X
Though Tzimisce choose their neonates more carefully than do most vampires, a certain percentage fail to measure up to the clan's standards. An experimental selection might produce an undesirable progeny. A supposedly perfect candidate might prove defective during the Creation Rites.
Tzimisce create very few Caitiff; admission that a mistake in selection was made is bitter indeed. Therefore, most "undesirables" are inducted into the clan--albeit very, very grudgingly. Other Fiends treat them as second-class citizens--more than human or even ghoul, but not quite Tzimisce, and suffered to exist only by the clan's grace.
Naturally, this rarely sits well with vampires so scorned. Accordingly, these Tzimisce often reject their clan, instead congregating among themselves. In the process they develop their own subculture and mores.
Many "undesireables" retain some semblance of Humanity instead of embracing a Path of Enlightment. After all, when vampires have proved to be such bastards, a "vampiric supremacy" philosophy is hard to swallow. These Tzimisce openly defy their elders by interacting extensively with the mortal world. Indeed, some "undesireables" espouse a utopian vision similar to that of the Idealist Brujah, whereby mortals and vampires can harmoniously coexist. Through the use of Vicissitude, these Tzimisce contend the world and everything in it can literally be reshaped into a fleshly paradise.
(ClB Tzimisce pg 25-26)
