Ritae of the Jefferson Sabbat

Auctoritas Ritae

 * Blood Bath
 * This ritus is performed whenever Sect leaders wish to recognise a Sabbat vampire’s claim to a title, such as Bishop or Cardinal. The Blood Bath formalises the vampire’s new status in the Sect. As many Sabbat as possible who will serve under this new leader must attend the ceremony, for failing to do so without an adequate reason is a grave slight to the leader in question. Starting with the priest conducting the ritus, attendant Sect leaders and other Sabbat take turns coming forward, kneeling in front of and expressing their endorsement of or allegiance to the Cainite, and contributing a quantity of blood into a large vessel. The newly titled vampire gives praise and/or advice to each of the vampires present, emphasising the benefits the Sabbat stands to gain through the sharing of her wisdom. She then bathes in the blood donated to the pool. Following the ceremony, all vampires present drink from the bathing vessel (the blood in which is sometimes consecrated as a Vaulderie), symbolising that they willingly partake of everything the new leader has to offer.
 * Blood Feast
 * No formal Sabbat gathering would be complete without a Blood Feast. It serves both as sustenance and as a vehicle to express the Sabbat’s lust to exist as the ultimate predator. The Blood Feast is a ritual “meal,” in which captured vessels are suspended from the ceiling, bound to sculptures, or otherwise immobilised and fed from at the leisure of all vampires present. The feast itself is as much social gathering as it is a structured ritus, and many Sabbat make grand entrances, wearing the best of their finery. In preparation for a Blood Feast, a specially created pack or hunting party will have collected humans or even a rogue vampire or two the night before the feast. Much shouting, cheering, and baring of fangs occurs as the hunting party makes a formal presentation of the night’s feast to the highest-ranking Sabbat present. The official receives each victim and thanks the giver by kissing her forehead. He then hands the victims over to assistants, chosen to prepare the victims for the feast. They bind the victims’ hands and feet together and hoist them up on chains to hang at head level, or they tie (or nail) the victims to objects that prevent movement. The night after the preparation, ghouls or low-ranking Sabbat prepare the feast location by placing the vessels. After all the guests have arrived — it is considered grievously poor form to be fashionably late — the priest, Bishop, or Archbishop holding the service conducts the ritus, dedicating the vessels to the Sabbat. Cainites at the gathering then bite open the victims and feed on the fresh vitae, often licking the wounds closed so as not to waste. There is usually one victim for every three vampires present at the feast; the presiding priest, Bishop, or Archbishop gets first choice of the night’s treats, and he draws first blood. Some Cainites of the Sabbat have been formally censured by higher-ranking Sabbat and even members of the Inquisition and Black Hand for relying too heavily on the Blood Feast. To be sure, mass-kidnappings and the blood-stained halls left behind can lead vampire hunters to the trail of careless vampires.
 * Creation Rites
 * To hear vampires outside the Sect talk, all Sabbat are created on the fly, with recruits being drained, fed, bashed over the head with a shovel, buried, and left to claw their way to the surface in a starving frenzy. This is not always the case. Most Sabbat use the “shovel-head method” only in times of war. This infamous method consists of collecting a number of victims, Embracing them with the tiniest quantity of blood possible, bashing them over the head with a shovel (to knock them unconscious before they frenzy), and burying them in a mass grave. The newly Embraced Cainites rouse quickly, and they must dig themselves out of the grave to sate their frenzy, often at the expense of the weaker vampires entombed with them. This method is simple, relatively quick, and quite effective at stripping victims of their Humanity. In any event, vampires created this way have not actually received their Creation Rites. In fact, the Sabbat does not even consider them vampires yet, and it has little reservation against throwing legions of these frenzied horrors against their foes. The Creation Rites themselves are much more serious, marking the passage from nonentity into True Sabbat. After the Embrace, the new vampire is eligible for the Creation Rites only after he has demonstrated his worth to the Sect — perhaps the very night of his Embrace, perhaps years afterwards. The ritus itself is quite simple — the priest merely touches a flaming brand to the initiate’s head and leads him in an oath of allegiance. The ceremony that precedes the Creation Rites, however, varies widely, and it is wholly in the hands of the Cainite’s sire. Some Panders and Brujah antitribu have ceremonies not unlike gang initiations, which involve pummelling the vampire in question until the sire decides he’s had enough. Tzimisce ceremonies are much more civil and formal affairs, often involving recitations of one’s lineage and praise of one’s sire. Some vampires require no ceremony at all, deciding that they have all the proof that they need from a given vampire’s performance, while still others require Byzantine trials or bizarre acts like bestiality, kidnapping, murder, self-mutilation, or other depravity. The Rites serve several purposes, both practical and symbolic. The flames help reduce the new Sabbat’s fear of fire, while the ceremony teaches him what is expected of a Sabbat member like himself. Immediately following the Creation Rites comes a Vaulderie, which binds the Cainite to the pack — his new, immortal family.
 * Festival of the Dead
 * The Festival of the Dead occurs during the entire second week of March. All Sabbat in a city take part, and nomadic packs make their way to the nearest Sabbat-held city to celebrate. The purpose is to revel in being a vampire, celebrating immortality by laughing in the face of death and decay. The celebration culminates in a Blood Feast of epic proportions, and nightly Vaulderies take place among (and sometimes between) the collected packs of the Sabbat. The revels are tailored to each individual pack, and the event has as many differences in celebration as it has commonalities. Some packs participate in ritual scarification. Some may waltz in slow circles around a bonfire, using disinterred corpses or bodies borrowed from the local morgue for dance partners. Others will re-enact passages from the Book of Nod. Against the backdrop of all this revelry, the bishops and archbishops watch with interest, encouraging their malignant "children" to indulge in what it truly means to be a vampire while participating in their own bloody, bacchanalian excesses. One popular event uses up to six Sabbat "contestants", each with a live human victim. The vampires use whatever means they can come up with to dismember and kill the victim, causing the most suffering and wasting the least amount of blood to spillage. The results are voted on by a panel of judges. The winner receives the honour of drawing first blood in the nightly Blood Feast. Sabbat spend the entire week socialising and gorging on vitae. The packs hunt at will, giving little thought to hiding from the eyes of mortals. Often, mortals are singled out and used for games of fox and hound. Anything relevant to vampiric nature goes on at this celebration of immortality, and packs often mingle to trade war stories and concoct secret plans of their own. The festivities of the Festival of the Dead open once the highest-ranking priest in town declares it underway. For this week, very little is taboo, and as much happens behind closed doors as does amid the festival's events proper. Generally, this is a time of celebration; rivalries are put aside and Monomacies are forgotten as the Sabbat unite in a show of solidarity to bring Hell to Earth.


 * Fire Dance
 * To most vampires, fire is something to be feared and avoided, yet not to the Sabbat. While they still fear it, they are not above turning it loose on their enemies. To be fully Sabbat, one must face the Rötschreck and master it. To enact this ritus, the priest lights a large bonfire in a place secure from mortal eyes. Through the rhythmic beating of a drum, chanting, or both, participating Cainites enter a trance-like frenzy, whirling around the flames, writhing before them and even prostrating themselves in front of the blaze. As the ceremony reaches its peak, the vampires rave and chant, and encourage each other to jump through the flames. They make fantastic leaps, some even turning aerial somersaults over and over again to the point of exhaustion. The Fire Dance comes to a close when the last vampire present has jumped through the flames and collapsed from all the activity.
 * Games of Instinct
 * The vampires of the Sabbat engage in numerous sanctioned “games,” adjudicated by their Pack Priests to maintain their predatory edge. These games take various forms, and different packs practice different styles — everything from parodies of children’s games or sports to completely unique vampiric tests of skill can be made into a Game of Instinct. The only commonality between the games is that the priest presides over them, consecrating them as righteous exercises. Here are some common examples:
 * Base Jumping: Pick a building, pick a floor, jump off. Whoever walks away from the highest floor wins. For added fun, include bonus points for landing on and taking out passers-by.
 * Boarding Party: The pack begins by selecting a port of harbour. This may be literal port if they are playing on the water, or it may be a parking lot if operating on land. Next, they designate a certain vehicle as the "ship". The ship will typically be controlled by a mortal at the start of the game. The object of the game is to be the Cainite in the driver's seat when the ship arrives at port. The pack then sets out on smaller vehicles, cars, jet skies, motorcycles, etc, and try to board and take the ship. At first, the pack must over take the operator of the ship but ultimately they must face off against each other to control the driver's seat. The team variation of this game pits two packs (or teams within the pack) against each other. Each team has its own port and the pack that gets the ship to their port first wins.
 * Cattle Ride: The pack takes to the highway on motorcycles with the goal of corralling a target car "the bull" to a specific location.
 * Cops and Robbers: The object of Cowboys and Indians is to capture or incapacitate (but not kill) as many members of the other side as possible. Because of vampires’ innate resistance to damage, this is easier said than done, and bullets aplenty fly during these games. The team that knocks the other out of commission is the winner.
 * Demolition Derby: Starting at opposite ends of a street or parking lot, pack members set their cars on fire and charge another team’s car. After much bashing and crashing, one team inevitably has to flee their car or burn to death; the first team to exit its vehicle loses.
 * Dogtagging: The object of the game is to capture a werewolf, tag its ear (with tags similar to kind used by cattle ranchers), and turn it loose.
 * Home Alone: One packs plays as 'Team Kevin', the other packs plays 'The Wet Bandits'. 'Team Kevin' takes over an ordinary suburban house, and then have one night to prepare traps and ambushes for 'The Wet Bandits'. No fire or heat damage is allowed, and the judges prefer/ encourage traps that are more humiliating than harmful. 'The Wet Bandits' must then work to clear the house, room by room. This game of instinct tests both haven defense techniques and haven assault techniques- packs get trained in how to rapidly fortify an improvised haven, and how to detect and avoid traps.
 * Rat Race: A human is sealed in a labyrinth of some sort, such as an abandoned factory or part of a sewer system. The human is given weapons that can hurt vampires, such as handguns, knives, blow-torches, or chainsaws. The participating vampires, starting in different locations in the maze, hunt the human, while the human tries desperately to escape the vampires. Whichever vampire captures and drains the human first, wins. An alternative to the Rat Race — the Bat Race — involves vampires only.
 * Rousing the Beast: The participant has to dig up the victim of a failed mass-Embrace. Once the crazed creature breaks the surface and frenzies, it is up to the game participant to immobilise her and destroy her.
 * Run Rabbits Run: This Game of Instinct is only played in Camarilla domains. Simply put, the two packs go to a small bar, or a small party, disable/jam the phones, and then breach the masquerade in a flagrant and terrifying way. After a suitable 'head start', the competing packs/ vampires must then chase down and kill all witnesses. This game of instinct helps the Sabbat practice in their own brutal masquerade maintenance techniques.
 * Grand Ball
 * Of the 13 auctoritas ritae, the Grand Ball is the highlight of any Sabbat coven's ritual year. The Grand Ball takes place on Halloween, and all Sabbat in the city are expected to attend. Nomadic packs, not wanting to miss the festivities, travel to the closest Sabbat city in order to attend. The highest-ranking Sabbat in the city preside over the affair, and the city's most renowned priest opens the celebration. It is held in a public place such as a civic auditorium or a public park, as long as most of the revels take place in full view of as many humans as possible. In fact, most Sabbat arrange their Grand Balls like raves or public festivals, sometimes even charging mortals admission for the secretly malignant privilege of attendance. The vampires often go the whole nine yards when creating this party atmosphere, hiring bartenders and providing liquor and other refreshments for their guests. As the Grand Ball is a major social event, the Ventrue antitribu and Toreador antitribu, Lasombra, and Tzimisce usually find themselves with the responsibility of planning the affair. In true high-society fashion, many vampires also compete with each other for the most elaborate costumes. Often the most spectacular and unusual displays are by one or two elder Tzimisce skilled in the art of fleshcraft, but it is not unheard of for a Toreador antitribu to exchange favours with a talented Tzimisce "artist" to create a finely fleshcrafted face or costume for the party. Indeed, the regent herself is rumoured to have once had 50 mortals fleshcrafted to resemble her at a Grand Ball in the interests of "being everywhere and talking to everyone – and leaving an indelible impression". Hidden away from the public debauchery, the Sabbat also consecrates a Blood Feast at the Grand Ball. The "kine-kegger," as the younger Sabbat call it, capitalises on the public location of the masquerade ball. Victims for the feast are often vampire wannabes, drunken revellers, and "witches" out for a good time on Halloween night. These victims are often lured to the feast under the pretence of being invited to attend an exclusive social affair. They have no idea just how fleeting the honour is to be. Other possible sources of vitae for the blood feast include retainers or ghouls selected from the Sabbat covens' own members who may be of no further use to the sect (or are too dangerous to allow to live). The main event, which kicks off the affair at midnight, is the re-enactment of an event from vampire legend or history. This stage play could be anything from the slaying of Abel by Caine as told in Biblical terms to the dramatic interpretation of signs and portents of Gehenna. It is completely organised, acted, and choreographed by a group of vampires, though "audience participation" in events depicting sacrifice or feeding does occur, with the "guest actors" being whisked away or quietly disposed of after their debut. After the final act of the historical play, all Sabbat present retire to the Blood Feast for a special version of the Blood Bath. This night the archbishop bathes in the vitae, as a symbol of the sect's power and vitality. The ritual begins with blood from the victims suspended overhead flowing freely into a large, ornate receptacle where the archbishop reclines. Each vampire in the coven adds some of his own vitae to the bath, first bleeding into a ceremonial Vaulderie vessel, then tipping it into the bath. The archbishop performs various rituals and incantations while this process proceeds – details vary city to city. It is rumoured that the Grand Ball Blood Bath imbues the Archbishop with certain powers until the next sunrise, such as the ability to see into the realms of the dead. At the conclusion of the Blood Bath, all Sabbat at the Grand Ball begin a frenetic dance of undeath, dancing to near-deafening music and drinking insatiably from the archbishop's bath, the hanging vessels, and each other. Many of the participants fall into frenzy, driven on by the violence of the dance and the scent, sight, and feel of blood coagulating on the floor, caked on walls and splashing from the carpets as dawn draws near. Once the night's revels conclude, Sabbat ghouls take care of the cleanup. Any potential loose ends are swiftly dealt with over the next couple nights through death, the Discipline of Dominate, or the Embrace, depending on the extent of the problem and potential use of the individuals involved.


 * Monomacy
 * It is inevitable that, among vampires as headstrong and violent as those of the Sabbat, differences of opinion occur. While the vast majority of these conflicts are handled with all the civility and reason a Sabbat can muster, some grievances are so deep as to warrant a more serious solution. When two (or more) Sabbat are unable to come to a resolution, the ritus of Monomacy serves to settle the issue. Monomacy is usually practised by only ranking members of packs. Many young Sabbat are too violent and hotheaded to recognise the gravity of ritual combat to the death, and would resort to it every time a pack mate took blood from a vessel they decided they liked. As such, this ritus is conducted by the Pack Priest (or a higher ranking Sabbat, if the challenge is cross-pack), to whom a challenge is issued simultaneously with the challenge to the rival. The priest then decides whether or not the grudge is worth Monomacy, and whether or not she chooses to preside over the ritual. Should the priest deem the cause worthy, the challenged vampire may decline. In theory, there is nothing wrong with declining a challenge, but unless the challenger is of such little consequence as to be below the challengee’s notice, declining usually involves a great loss of face (and perhaps an unsanctioned duel afterwards). The actual practice of Monomacy varies widely — no formal code exists as to the choice of weapons, locations, or even terms of victory. Most often, Monomacy duels are fought to Final Death in some ridiculously dangerous or highly inaccessible place like an iron foundry or atop a skyscraper. Whether or not the vampires may use weapons, Disciplines, or other assets is typically the decision of the challenged. On the priest’s invocation, the combat begins, and the last vampire standing is declared the winner, usually followed by other ritae and celebration.
 * Sermons of Caine
 * Some members of the Sabbat value their knowledge of the Book of Nod. Others don’t know or care about the book, and they see their role in the Sabbat as one of endless war and violence. Those members who take the story of their origins very seriously often gather to hear sermons on their history to remind them who and what they are. This reminder serves to strengthen their loyalty to the Sect and their ideology. Pack members take turns reciting from the Book of Nod, while the others sit in a semicircle holding lit candles and meditating on the passages. The sermons are sometimes followed by the Vaulderie, and, among more intellectual packs, intense deliberation. Pack members often discuss the passages read during the ritus almost until dawn. Vampire history, particularly as far back as Cainite legend is largely an oral tradition — very few copies of the Book of Nod actually exist. Few, if any, Sabbat packs can agree unanimously on the exact phraseology of a given passage from the book. The Sect is divided on this matter — some Sabbat believe that as long as the spirit of the Book of Nod is preserved, the letter is irrelevant, while others maintain that for all Sabbat to have the same reference, a standard book needs to be decided upon. This schism, of course, results in a wide variety of individual positions on the matter, from violent support on both ends of the spectrum to a profound ambivalence for anything outside one’s pack‘s take on the matter.
 * The Binding
 * The Sabbat grows nightly in strength, due to its unity of mind and ambition. All members of the Sabbat, from the lowliest surviving recruit to the regent herself, participate in the Binding. Group participation and familiarity with the ritual helps unify sect members, in a similar fashion as the Vaulderie. In essence, the Binding is a formal oath of allegiance to the sect, whereby the vampires swear fealty to the Sabbat. The event serves as a sober reminder of why the Sabbat exist as they do. The ceremony opens with a recitation of the pack's interpretation of the Sabbat's credo. (Although no formal written code exists, most Sabbat have enough presence of mind to compose a summation of the sect's doctrine. These may be anything from long, prosaic accounts to fervent, one-sentence rallies of vengeance.) The event occurs on Winter Solstice night. In larger Sabbat-held cities, nomad packs in the region attend with the local founded packs. If possible, this important ritus is overseen by a member of higher status than pack priest, like a bishop or archbishop. Ideally, the rite takes place at a beach, riverbank, or by a waterfall. If such is impossible, a fountain will suffice. Especially desperate packs may use a simple square of white cloth. The water (or cloth) present represents the implacable nature of the sect – water always finds a way to flow around an obstruction, just as the Sabbat will one night find a way to surmount its terrible progenitors. The ritus often ends with an observation of the Vaulderie and the swearing of an oath to protect the Sabbat's secrets unto Final Death.


 * Vaulderie
 * The vampires of the Sabbat take their nightly struggle seriously — so seriously that they tolerate no dissent in their ranks. From the lowliest new recruit to the most exalted Cainite, the Sabbat ensure loyalty to one another through a bloody rite known as the Vaulderie. The Vaulderie is similar to a blood bond, though it differs in intent and function. No Sabbat would ever voluntarily succumb to a blood bond, reasoning that such bonds are the tools the elders use to enslave their childer. Rather, the Sabbat swear the Vaulderie to each other, bonding themselves to the pack instead of an individual, and, thus, to the Sabbat’s greater cause. Those who are ignorant of the Vaulderie’s finer details believe it to be a simple commingling of vampire vitae in a vessel and the subsequent drinking of it. In truth, the matter is far more mystical. To start the ritual, the priest takes a tool used specifically for the Vaulderie and nothing else and cuts her wrist. The ritual cutting tool could be a small knife, silver straight razor, or awl. To impart more gravity to the rite, many packs use elaborate ritual bloodletters decorated with engraved swirls, spirals, or blood droplets. The priest then bleeds into a vessel and passes the cutting device to each Sabbat member present, who pierces his own flesh and bleeds into the chalice. The vessel is then passed around the pack until everyone has poured their blood in, before the priest recites an incantation over it, consecrating it as a terrible sacrament before every member of the pack draws a draught. Vaulderies take place at any time — before assaults, during important Sabbat gatherings, at the initiation or Creation Rites of new members, and almost infallibly at pack gatherings. This rite is perhaps the foundation of the Sect, and it is afforded the most reverent status. The result of this rite is known as a Vinculum, or blood tie. These ties connect each member of the pack to one another, engendering a mutual loyalty in addition to bolstering pack morale. Because of the mystical nature of the Vaulderie, however, Vinculi are imperfect — what one pack member feels toward another one night may pale in comparison to what he feels toward her the next. Vinculum ratings may change every time the rite is observed. Without the Vaulderie, the Sabbat would probably collapse under its own weight and dogma — the chaos and anarchy that follows the Sect would erode what little organization it has without the loyalty and sympathy created by the rite. Those who refuse the Vaulderie or oppose it are not viewed favorably by other Sabbat. Vampires who refuse to partake of the Vaulderie at least monthly suffer ostracism from the pack at best — and may be destroyed outright at worst. The first time a character observes the Vaulderie (or during creation of a Sabbat character), roll a die for each character whose vitae is part of the rite. That number reflects the Vinculum the character feels toward the individual whose blood she ingested; see the chart for effects generated by individual Vinculi. Every time a new member participates in the Vaulderie, each player should roll a die and record the score for her Vinculum rating toward that character. Afterwards, each time the pack partakes of the Vaulderie, each player should roll one die for each of her Vinculi. If the result is higher than the Vinculum score, increase that Vinculum score by one (to a maximum of 10). If the result is a 1, lower the Vinculum score by one (to a minimum of 1). It bears mention that, like the emotions engendered by blood bonds, these feelings are artificial, as they are created through ingestion of blood. It is quite possible for a character to utterly hate someone for whom she would risk her unlife, just as it is possible to have immense love for someone who has little in the way of Vinculum. Players are encouraged to explore the full range of these complexities in their packs through roleplaying. At times, a character may be at odds with herself over how to react to a given situation because of Vinculi she possesses toward another vampire. In cases such as these, the player should decide which party her character would favor outside the Vinculum. The character then rolls a number of dice for each party equal to her Vinculum score for that individual against a difficulty of 5 (for the party favored regardless of Vinculum) or 7 (for all other parties). The individual who receives the greatest number of successes earns the character’s aid. Such is the nature of the Damned and the Vinculum — a character who knows better may sometimes be forced into an obviously bad course of action by following her emotions. Storytellers should consider Vinculum rolls for matters of dramatic significance, but too much reliance on Vinculum rolls may leave players upset at being railroaded by dice rolls. The Vaulderie can also corrode existing blood bonds. Multiple draughts of the Vaulderie may be required, but sooner or later, the pack‘s blood will overcome all but the most potent of vampiric vitae. A vampire wishing to break a blood bond via Vaulderie must have no more than one blood point in his blood pool, and must ingest six points of Vaulderie vitae. At that point, the old blood bond fades rapidly, replaced almost as quickly by Vinculi toward those whose blood composed the Vaulderie. On the other hand, a vampire attempting to replace Vinculi with a new blood bond is in for a disappointment — unless her blood is powerfully potent, Vinculi may not be so easily erased. Unlike normal blood bonds, Vinculi do not fade over time — a Vinculum left after a Vaulderie with a vampire in nights hundreds of years past is still as potent as the night it arose. Indeed, many elder Sabbat have vast webs of Vinculi connecting them to Sect members across the world.


 * War Party
 * The Sabbat thrives on diablerie and the destruction of elders, and this dangerous ritus serves to facilitate both of those urges. War parties consist of multiple packs that vie for the blood of a non-Sabbat elder. Packs participating in the War Party compete against one another for the privilege of killing and diablerizing the elder, but rarely do the packs come into deadly conflict with each other, reserving their violence for their target. In preparation for a War Party, the participating packs gather and celebrate. They may also perform the Fire Dance, listen to Sermons of Caine, and participate in a Blood Feast or Vaulderie. The chief of the War Party, usually the most accomplished or highest-ranking priest among the packs, offers the assembled packs the challenge. She stands before the individual packs, each lined up behind their leaders, and asks each of the packs’ leaders in turn, “Do you come freely to war, and do you take up this noble cause, never resting until the blood of our enemy is spilled?” The leaders respond with a forceful “We do!” Only after the packs have committed to the hunt does he reveal the identity of their target. A pack suffers great humiliation if it backs out of a challenge after its members have committed themselves to this most dangerous game. For the remainder of the night, the vampires hold a revel, preparing themselves for the hunt the next evening holds in store. The War Party sets out after its prey on the night following the challenge — the hunt has begun. Sabbat vampires on the warpath stop at nothing to take down their prey. They kill, burn, smash, and overturn anyone or anything that stands between them and their target. The winning pack is the one whose member consumes the elder’s blood first. The target, unliving or dead, or some recognizable portion of the target, must be brought back to the place where the packs accepted the challenge. The Chief of the War Party accepts this trophy and bestows her blessing over the winning pack. Once the chief recognizes the winner, all bets are settled and another celebration is held.
 * Wild Hunt
 * One of the greatest crimes a Sabbat can commit is to turn traitor, and the Sect protects its secrets. If a member reveals a Sect secret to the enemy, she is punished severely. If a Sabbat leaks information of a vital nature, a priest may call for a Wild Hunt. The Wild Hunt is much like the blood hunt, but ends with the eradication of the offending Sabbat Sect member, as well as anyone — Kindred or kine — who may have knowledge of the betrayal. The gravity of the Wild Hunt depends upon the traitor in question — the packs are expected to police their own ranks, while high-profile turncoats receive the attention of Archbishops, Prisci, Cardinals, and all those who serve them. The priest assembles the local Sabbat and formally calls them to the hunt, which is sometimes similar to the preface of a War Party. Once caught, the offending Sabbat is staked and immobilized. The pack takes her before the Ductus and Pack Priest (or Bishop, etc.), who recite her crimes to her packmates. The pack then torments the offender in whatever manner it deems appropriate — hot irons, Vicissitude, and mutilation are the least-creative forms of vengeance a righteous pack can inflict on a traitor. Finally, the pack destroys the traitor by throwing her (still staked) on a consecrated burning pyre. After the traitor meets her end, the Sabbat pursues those who either learned of the secret or were involved. Sabbat justice is relentless — the Sect stops at nothing to ensure their security. Naturally, the Sabbat cannot know about every little (or even many of the big) secrets that slip through the cracks. Frustration over this fact often makes things doubly bad for those they do catch.

Ignoblis Ritae

 * Asp’s Blessing
 * In some accounts, the Sabbat likens itself to a serpent, and many packs practice ritae that involve snake-handling. This ritus, however, fits with the more traditional and occult ritual of the sect. The priest raises a (usually poisonous) snake before the pack, asks for Caine’s watchful eye to preside over the assembled vampires, kisses the snake and holds it before every member of the pack, who must kiss it themselves. If the snake bites an unfortunate vampire, it is believed that Caine holds disfavor for that vampire, and that he has caused the snake to bite her for some past or secret transgression. Some Sabbat even bring humans into this ritus, in hopes that the snake will bite them and symbolize Caine’s disdain for mortals, the Children of Seth.
 * Calling the Directions
 * This ritual hearkens back to the Native American shamanic practices adopted by the Sabbat upon the Sect’s arrival in the New World. The Loyalist faction had the strongest ties with the native peoples of the Americas, from the tribes to the north to the huge cities of South America, and the rituals and philosophies learned from those shamanic practices still influence loyalist thought. Calling the Directions is a means of invoking the spirits of the four winds (usually East, South, West, and then North), beckoning these cardinal spirits. By doing so, the participants of this ritual reconnect themselves to the elemental, primal nature of the world, asking to – for a short time – feel as if they are a part of the cycle of the living world. This ritual often involves dancing, drumming, and ecstatic practices. This ritual requires at least four participants, one to stand at each quarter and call specific winds. Participants in this ritual gain a benefit according to the direction they invoke during the casting of the ritus. If there are more than four participants, the additional practitioners may choose which of the four directional points they are assisting, gaining the benefit of that quarter. These benefits last until the next sunrise.
 * East: The wind of speed and mental swiftness. The participant gains a +1 to their initiative rating.
 * South: The wind of passion, emotion and breath. The participant gains a +1 to their Humanity aura for purposes of interacting with mortals (or loses all negatives to interaction with mortals, if on a Path of Enlightenment).
 * West: The wind of wisdom and knowledge. The participant gains a +1 to any non-combat skill, chosen at the time of the ritual’s casting.
 * North: The wind of the mountains and of physical constancy. The participant gains one additional Healthy wound box.
 * Samdi’s Dark
 * Many local Sabbat rituals begin with this vitae-laced rum. Modified from a setite ritual, Typhon’s Brew, it has been tailored to fit more in like with the practices of the Serpents of Light. This rum sustains ghouls as if it were true vampiric vitae and cainites may drink it, too, with similar results. By itself, the rum has no other properties. It cannot be used to Embrace a mortal, nor to blood bond. The brewing process negates this aspect of vitae.
 * Purity of Babel
 * The Loyalists see absolute unity as another type of slavery, and reject conformity. The Purity of Babel was created to strengthen the pack, allowing secure communication even within a larger gathering. The fact that public conversations using the ritus tend to frustrate those who do not understand them is just a bonus. Only members of the Loyalist Faction may participate in this ritus. For the rest of the night, those who participated in a specific Purity of Babel ritus (up to ten Loyalists) may choose to communicate with one another in a manner that is indecipherable to all those around them. These vampires have the capacity to literally speak another language, one that cannot be deciphered by any means. Further, this communication does not have to be verbal. The participants in this ritual may signal to one another clearly so long as they can see, hear, touch, or otherwise clearly sense one another, even over video cameras, cellphone or other electronic means, and those who were not part of the individual’s ritus cannot gain meaning from these gestures. Vampires who participate in one Purity of Babel ritus may not decipher the communication of those using a different form of the ritus. This communication is as obvious as any other conversation; only the meaning is obscured.
 * Ritus of Acceptance
 * This ritus welcomes a new member to a particular pack, to recognize the ascension of a recruit, or any time a change in power or membership occurs (such as a new Ductus or Pack Priest). Each member of the pack must recognize the new position of their fellow Sabbat in a personal manner, be it by sharing blood, the giving of a gift, or whatever. The Sabbat being accepted must make an oath of allegiance to each member of the pack, and to the Sabbat cause in general. The Acceptance Ritus differs from the Creation Rites because it is more social than supernatural. A Sabbat may have received his Creation Rites, but may be snubbed by a pack that refuses to extend him the ritus of acceptance.
 * Ritus of Allegiance
 * Before the Acceptance Ritus occurs, a vampire already Embraced but not yet Sabbat must go through the Allegiance Ritus. This ritus is especially important for Camarilla defectors. The Allegiance Ritus is long and involved, and it may go on for years before the recruit is permitted the Acceptance Ritus and welcomed as a full member of the sect. Part of the process involves the implanting of a secret mark on the body of the defector (a tattoo, scar, brand, etc.) through the use of Vicissitude so it will be permanent. Before receiving this ritus, the initiate must sit or stand to the rear of his packmates during auctoritas ritae. He must drink last at the Vaulderie, and may not contribute himself. He may not read or discuss passages from the Book of Nod aloud. The time involved in confirming the initiate’s commitment to the Sabbat makes it all the more difficult for him to leave the sect.
 * Ritus of Contrition
 * Even Sabbat commit sins and indiscretions, for which they sometimes need to atone. The Contrition Ritus allows for this, much in the same manner a Catholic confession works. This ritus is perhaps the most important of the ignoblis ritae, as many Inquisitors, Black Hand operatives, Pack Priests, and Ducti offer a choice of contrition or death to Sabbat who have committed wrongs upon the Sect. All sensible Sabbat take these ritae as seriously as they would any other, for only by the grace of their betters can they continue to exist. Of course, many disingenuous Sabbat may make an insincere act of contrition, but they might not be extended the option next time
 * Ritus of Farewell
 * Used when bidding a fellow Sabbat farewell, when a pack leaves a city, when a pack member leaves for an extended period of time, you get the drift. Typically they involve the leader praising the one(s) leaving.
 * Ritus of Stealth
 * In the interests of maintaining silence, some packs take extra precautions and invoke favorable omens. In the Stealth Ritus, all participating vampires bite out each other’s tongues and spit them into a fire. Though this causes no health levels of damage, the immediate bleeding and healing consumes one blood point. The Pack Priest or Ductus usually bows out so he can issue orders, but some packs have developed complex hand signal systems so they may communicate silently while on stealth-intensive activities.
 * Ritus of Thanksgiving
 * This ritus is actually less a thanksgiving than a session to boast of one’s exploits. The thanksgiving usually comes under the auspices of “I thank Caine for his favor when I... ” stories, which usually exaggerate or aggrandize the speaker’s prowess. The Ritus of Thanksgiving generally precedes esbats or other gatherings of the Sword of Caine.
 * Ritus of Welcome
 * Used to greet other Sabbat. Welcoming rites of both packs are combined with each bringing something new to the gathering. These rites are more like a party but two points of protocol are carried out during them. A the beginning of the rite all pack members greet each other individually, presenting their names and their home. At the peak of the celebration a gift is usually exchanged from pack to pack. The leaders often use this ritual as a time to discuss Sabbat plans.
 * Martial Ritus
 * In times of war, a Sabbat pack tries to increase its strength in any way possible, often by creating the sense of kinship found only in combat. The Martial Ritus serves to whip the Sabbat into a fervor that heralds destruction for its enemies. The ritus begins with chanting a mantra such as “strength,” “fire,” or “muscle and hate.” The beating of drums, usually led by the priest, accompanies the chanting. Packs sometimes decorate each others’ faces and bodies with blood, paint or henna.
 * Spilling of Blood.
 * When two or more Sabbat feed together, they sometimes recognize the sharing of their blood meal, saying together, “Hot blood that spurted from Abel at his time of death, sustain us for the will of the Sabbat.”
 * Tests of Pain
 * Sabbat priests use these grueling ritae to test how strong of spirit their packmates are. Different packs use the ritae in different ways, some for those claiming leadership, others as punishment. One such test is the Indian Stick trial: The pack suspends the subject from a timber forced through his chest at dusk, and he remains immobilized until they release him just before sunrise. (Truly brutal subjects tear their bodies from the pinion before sunrise, and may subject themselves to other tests.) The Trial by Fire involves the ritual singeing of various body parts by the pack priest. The Gauntlet sees Sabbat Cainites line up in two rows while individual vampires run between them, suffering punches, kicks and stabs from the vampires in line. Priest characters and Storytellers are encouraged to create their own Tests of Pain for use in their packs.
 * Truth Revealed
 * This ritus ensures the honesty of a statement to be revealed (much like the swearing in of a witness at court — it doesn’t truly “compel” truth in a mechanical manner). If a priest doubts an individual’s statement’s veracity, the victim writes her statement on a piece of paper given her by her accuser, in her own blood. The priest then burns the paper, sometimes in a censer. If the smoke burns black, the statement is a lie. If white, it is truth. In truth, the power of the pack’s belief in their packmate and his statement determines the outcome of the revelation, and this ritus is seldom employed for truly grave matters.
 * Sun Dance
 * The Sun Dance tests Cainites’ endurance and bravery. During the ritus, vampires writhe and gyrate in a hypnotic dance around a symbolic inscription of a fiery sun from sunset to sunrise without pause, until they collapse in exhausted heaps, covered in blood sweat. The ritus always takes place during a full moon, and pack members usually dress for the occasion, wearing frightening masks or red body paint. Pack members prove their courage by seeing who among them, after an exhausting night’s dancing, can remain in the open the longest. A Blood Feast sometimes follows the Sun Dance (especially when it is performed at heavily attended Sect functions), as the vampires must replenish their spent energy constantly for the duration of the ritual.