Where to Find the Tremere Brooch

Discover the exact location of the Tremere Brooch in Vampire: The Masquerade — Swansong's Emem's second scene. Learn how to bypass the portcullises and claim this valuable item.

Alright, so you're looking for the Tremere Brooch in Vampire: The Masquerade — Swansong? It's a pretty neat piece of gear that can really help Emem out in dialogue, especially with those tricky Discipline checks. It cuts down the chance of enemies using Focus by a solid 25%, which is huge for keeping conversations smooth. Plus, every time Emem uses a Discipline in dialogue and succeeds, you'll get 3 points of Hunger reduction. The only minor downside is a point of Suspicion per successful Discipline use, but honestly, that's a small price to pay.

To snag this brooch, you'll need to be playing through Emem's second scene, Scene 04. Keep pushing through until you've done your second Blink jump – you know, the one right after you've recovered your first missing memory, while you're looking at that Jefferson Library sign. You'll end up on a ledge, and right across from you, you'll see a study that looks pretty well-furnished, with some broken stairs leading to a tower nearby.

Head into the study. Once you're inside, take a right. You'll see three levers on the wall. Now, the middle one doesn't do anything, but the left and right levers are key. They control portcullises that block off hallways filled with cells just outside the study. Here's the tricky part: the right lever (when you're facing the wall of levers) actually lowers the portcullis on the left hallway (the one you're facing away from). Conversely, the left lever lowers the portcullis on the right hallway. Lowering these portcullises blocks the hallways, but more importantly, it removes the seals on the cells inside. This gives you access to the cells, where you can find three of Emem's memories, plus some rats and vessels if Emem's Hunger is getting high. And, of course, the Tremere Brooch is chilling in one of these cells, so it's definitely worth figuring this out.

Now, here's the catch: to actually get past those portcullises in time, you'll need Celerity Rank II to unlock the Fleetness ability. This is what lets you effectively slow down time, or at least move fast enough to make it look like it. If you've already invested in Celerity, you'll get a prompt to use it when you approach the levers. If you haven't, well, this puzzle can be a bit obscure.

But don't worry if you're not rocking Celerity Rank II! There's a workaround. Just search around the desks in the study. You'll find a Tremere Potion. Pop that bad boy, and you'll temporarily gain the Tremere Concoction trait, which boosts your Celerity by +1. This buff lasts for the rest of the scene, so no need to stress about it running out.

Okay, so however you managed it – whether you've got Celerity or you've chugged the potion – you'll need to activate Celerity and face those levers in the study. Use Fleetness, then pull the right-most lever. Immediately after, you need to bolt out of the study and take a left, dashing under the portcullis before it slams shut. Keep heading down that hallway, and look for the third door on your right. Inside, you'll find a vampire who's been through a rough time, basically in torpor. The Tremere Brooch is right there on the floor, near this poor, brutalized vampire. Grab it and you're good to go!