The Sabbat

The Sabbat sees itself as the army of Caine and consequently is tightly organized, far more than the relatively anarchic Camarilla. The Sabbat consists mainly of Clans Tzimisce and Lasombra and numerous antitribu from Clans normally independent or associated with the Camarilla.   Although Sabbat vampires may sire childer as usual, and are no less picky than any other vampire about it, during a war effort, they often backdrop to use Mass Embraces for a steady supply of shock troopers. These unfortunate vampires are knocked over, Embraced and buried. By the time the so-called "shovelhead" has clawed himself up, he is usually confused and aggressive and then directed with the rest of the Mass Embrace in a first vinculum against the enemy. Most shovelheads do not survive their first weeks, they are considered False Sabbat and are not respected in any way by the members of the sect. Once they have proven themselves repeatedly, they are usually introduced into the sect and undergo the Creation Rites to become True Sabbat. Childer who are specifically chosen to be Embraced often receive this instructions much earlier directly from their sire.   The cornerstone of Sabbat organization is the pack; Sabbat packs are organizations of 3-10 vampires mutually bound through the standard blood-sharing rites of the cult. Packs have a ductus, who is the pack's warleader, and a pack priest who reminds the pack of its responsibilities to Caine. In addition, pack members are mutually bound in a vinculum – a sort of communal blood bond – created by the blood-sharing ceremonies. Packs generally occupy communal havens; given the Sabbat's rejection of human mores and its use of artificial loyalties enforced by the vinculum, there is less need for privacy.

Hierarchy:

Above the pack is a set of hierarchical titles specifically mocking the titles of the Catholic Church. Bishops oversee multiple packs and may also have a specific portfolio; overseeing Bishops are Archbishops, generally holding a position analogous to Prince for a city. Above the Archbishops are the Cardinals, who oversee large geographic regions (such as Canada, or the Eastern Seaboard) and who comprise the Consistory, the governing body that selects the Regent. Advising the Regent, Consistory, and Archbishops, or other leaders are the Prisci, a group of elders and other respected Sabbat who take an advisory and judicial role. The higher ranks of the Sabbat enforce their will through agents commonly called Templars or Paladins, depending on rank.

The Sabbat has many ways of identifying its members: the sect has an official color (purple), an official symbol (an inverted ankh), and dozens, if not hundreds, of specific signs, passwords, and gestures that theoretically let one member identify another. In practice, few Sabbat can recognize more than a few of these signs - most learn to identify one another by face at ritae or other sect gatherings.   Typically only a Bishop or Archbishop will be able to positively identify any vampire in their domain as Sabbat or non-Sabbat - in the case of nomadic packs, even this becomes a chore. Additionally, each of the individual packs of the Sabbat can assume their own particular symbol, gesture, or other way of identifying themselves. Pack members who are undercover have even more obscure and hard-to-spot ways of making their identities known or passing along information.   It has become quite the affectation among younger Sabbat (particularly those of Clan Lasombra) to wear crucifixes somewhere on their person - a necklace, an earring, even a tattoo. The irony of being damned but bearing the symbols of salvation is a source of great amusement to these vampires, especially if the bearer is a pack "priest". Older, more mature Lasombra regard the practice as irritating or outright blasphemous, even if they wear such a cross themselves. Their argument is that the neonates do not believe in their own damnation, or in God's immortal power over their souls.   Many neonates in the sect wonder why they have to bother with all these trappings of espionage: is not the Sabbat's mission statement to tear down the Camarilla and its Masquerade and rule humans openly? Sabbat elders who lived through the Inquisition do not dignify these questions with an answer, and even bishops are hard-pressed to come up with a convincing response.   The typical attitude is that being a True Sabbat is a matter of importance and distinction – you do not want just anybody coming in and claiming all the rights and privileges of Sabbat without having proven themselves first. Also, given the pack structure of the sect, many members think of themselves as a collection of gangs or neo-feudal warbands, complete with initiation rites and other ways of making themselves feel special.   The higher up one goes in the Sabbat ranks, the less frequently such symbols are seen, and the "us against the world" outlook of the young packs becomes more and more "me against the world". In order to survive long enough to achieve position and age within the sect, a vampire must learn how to live for themselves, and to fight for every scrap of profit or slightest advantage. Unlike the Camarilla, there is no rigid hierarchy in place to promote or control the ambitions of Sabbat vampires – the only rank and title a Sabbat holds is what they have the power to take.   Both the Tzimisce and the Lasombra encourage this dog-eat-dog culture, as it seems to ensure that only the strongest, smartest, and most capable lead the sect, and all the rest are fodder for the appetites of their betters. The only time Monomacy can be suspended is during a Crusade, and even then, all the reckless charges and Wild Hunts tend to have a way of weeding out the slow and weak from the Sabbat's ranks.   Countering this anarchic atmosphere is the Vaulderie. There are still a few elders who, in nights past, were members of the same pack, and will occasionally work together and share the Vaulderie. Younger vampires, who are living and fighting together as one unit, develop a fierce protection of one another, or else. If you cannot rely on your packmates, or their loyalty is in question, then the only thing stopping them from being ripped to shreds is the Vinculum bond they share with the rest of the pack. In the World of Darkness, being part of a pack is sometimes the only thing these vampires have going for them.

Ritae:

In general, much of the Camarilla's approach to maintaining order involve enacting the Traditions, which among other things means supporting a system of feudal domains and the responsibilities of sires for the conduct of their childer. The latter idea is often taken further to mean the sire has authority over the childe, and that elder vampires are intrinsically more deserving of respect and fit for leadership than younger vampires. Whatever the merits of that position may be, it has a tendency to instill great resentment among young Kindred and in the past has driven many to the Anarchs. Older vampires naturally support the social order which they have mastered over the centuries, and in fact much of the Camarilla's policies are designed to facilitate the activities of Kindred who have long ago lost touch with the mortal world.

The Sabbat was founded in 1493 CE, largely in reaction to the Convention of Thorns which founded the Camarilla. They are the remnants of the Anarch Revolt of the time.   Leaders of the endeavour were the Tzimisce and the Lasombra, two Clans that had ostensibly destroyed their Antediluvian founders and had accepted that there was no turning back for them. The Tzimisce would not cede their lands to the hated Tremere and submit the philosophy of Metamorphosism for the limited ideals of Humanity, while the Lasombra had invested too much in the Revolt to surrender their success to decrepit elders of other Clans (in the words of the Clan representative at the Convention of Thorns: "I came to negotiate, not to surrender.") Delegations of both Clans met at the island of Majorca and began their own negotiations,[2] aided by several malcontents among the Anarchs, who refused to surrender to the Elders or did not share the view of their main Clan. Others joined to escape the practice of the Blood Bond, among them venerable Elders like the Malkavian Vasantasena, the Tremere Goratrix, and the Ventrue Dominique Touraine. These groups existed as small packs in the wilderness that harassed the holdings of the Elders and those who had submitted to the Camarilla, called "Sabbats" by the superstitious mortal population for their rapacious behavior and proud display of their inhumanity. Slowly, these disparate packs were brought to heel by the spreading of the Vaulderie, uniting the remnants of the Anarch Revolt as the Sabbat, a sect devoted to warfare against the Antediluvians and the tyranny of their catspaws.   Bitter war raged between the vampires of the newly formed Sabbat and the not-much-older Camarilla. The Inquisition continued to claim victims while all of Europe's Cainites drew lines in the sand to mark their allegiance. As the Camarilla consolidated their hold on the major European cities, the Sabbat were thrust into the defensive. Within the Black Monastery in Switzerland, the sect formalized the modern Paths of Enlightenment in 1666 out of the old Roads that had become obsolete. Despite open protests against it as a tool of the Antediluvians, the Sabbat Elders realized the worth of secrecy in the modern night and the real danger of falling into Wassail in the face of the demands of the Beast, so they sought to accommodate to these circumstances without pretending to be human.   Besides Spain, which was controlled by a majority of Lasombra, and territories in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, which were claimed by the Tzimisce, most packs traveled across the sea to the New World. For a while, the sect flourished in the evolving colonies. Amid a revolutionary and radical mortal backdrop, the Sabbat's presence was easy to hide among the insurrectionists, fighting against the Cainite masters of the Aztecs, the dreaded monster Huitzilopochtli and his peers, as well as against the native Lupines.