~KINDRED ACADEMY GROUNDS~
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~SECTS~
Sects are groups of vampires and clans that supposedly share a common ideology. They are modern contrivance, but an important one. Sects as they are known in these nights first surfaced after the Great Anarch Revolt, a continent-wide upheaval which took place in Europe during the 15th century. Many elders accept sect membership grudgingly, deriding sects as "foolishness - the Blood is all that matters." In nights before the Great Anarch Revolt and the Inquisition, these elders claim, there were no sects at all. Other vampires argue that this is still true - a vampire in a sizable city may go a decade or more without ever seeing another Kindred, so of what use is a sect?
~THE CLANS~
If the myth of the Antediluvians is to be believed, Caine sired a number of pregeny, who then sired childer themselves. These childer, accordingly of the Third Generation, were the progenitors of the modern clans, and all vampires descended from them shared common traits and characteristics. Certainly this is true to some degree, as each clan has a set of vampiric powers its members learn more readily than others, and each clan also has a distinguishing weakness or character flaw by which its member may be identified.
Lineage is important to the Kindred. Though they are loners and typically shun each other's company by nature, the Damned place great value on their heritage. The honor a vampire is due stems from clan as much as generation, and even the most dull-witted Kindred is afforded some modicum of respect if his legacy demands it.
There are 13 known clans, each supposedly spawned by one of the Antediluvians, but whispers circulate through the Kindred world about "lesser" clans or bloodlines that branched off from their parent genealogies somewhere in the nights of history. Few vampires have ever met Kindred claiming to hail from these mysterious bloodlines, and few of these have turned out to be anything other than Caitiff with delusions of self-importance. It is widely accepted, however, that of the 13 "great" clans, six claim membership in the Camarilla, two belong to the Sabbat, and the remaining five abstain from sects entirely.
