| The Organization of the Sabbat
* The Regent The regent of the Sabbat is responsible for the large-scale master plan, and strategy of the sect. A council of powerful vampires, called the consistory, supports him. Among the regents responsibilities are deciding what tactics to use, reviewing reports, entertaining Cainites of importance, and plotting against foes within and without of the sect. * The Cardinals Cardinals are responsible for Sabbat affairs in vast regions. Under them they have the archbishops, who take care of matters on a more regional level. The Cardinals' task is to further the cause of the Sabbat and to account for the advancement of the crusades. It is their responsibility to bring new areas and cities under the Sabbat's sway. Taking over a city is a quite difficult; the acquisition of a new city may take several years to plan, and prepare as we saw with Las Vegas. The cardinal also have to make sure that the newly acquired cities aren't turned into hellholes, by the 'zealous' Sabbat masses, as this would diminish their worth. So naturally they pay special attention to new cities like ours. * The Prisci The prisci are selected by the consistory, and are powerful vampires who have proven themselves to be of invaluable to the sect. Although many prisci attain some degree of political influence, the prisci are not ultimately responsible for the maintenance of any domain, or the coordination of strikes and war efforts. The prisci are instead are the advisors of the Sabbat, sharing their wisdom with the cardinals, regent and archbishops. Most of the prisci hail from the Lasombra, the Tzimisce, or the Toreador antitribu, and many were strategists, lords and conquerors in life. There are no prisci younger than 200 years, which reflects the difficulty of attaining such a position. At this time there are 20 prisci including one for each Sabbat Clan. * The Archbishops The archbishops are appointed by the area's cardinal to serve as the leader of a specific city or region. Archbishops bear the responsibility of all under him, and also must maintain the city in the Sabbat's best interest. Most archbishop upholds a 'Masquerade' of sorts, although less strict than that of the Camarilla. After all, the Sabbat is not stupid. We may disdain the mortals, but we recognize them as a serious threat should they ever rise united against the Cainite population again. (I’ll tell you about the mortal Inquisition some other time.) The archbishop is also the spiritual leader of a given city, and most of them have a history as pack priests before attaining archbishopry. Archbishops therefore preside over, or actively participate in many auctoritas ritae within their city, and may be responsible for local ignoblis ritae as well. * The Bishops If a city has no archbishop, it generally houses a council of 3 to 5 bishops. If a city is particularly large or busy the archbishop may name lesser bishops to help organize the city. Bishops are generally less experienced or not as powerful as archbishops, and might have a more limited area of expertise. Therefore if they are gathered in a council, it is expected that one's abilities make up for another's flaws. Bishops are directly answerable to their archbishops or if there is none, their cardinals, who have no problem beating troublesome bishops into their place. Like the archbishops, the bishops are responsible for the spiritual growth of the Cainites within (besides the purely administrative duties). Also like the archbishops, bishops are often previously pack priests, but many bishops also come from the ranks of the ducti. * The Ducti The ducti are pack leaders of the Sabbat, and as such are in charge of the day-to-day management and goals of the individual packs. They assign tasks pack members, and judge the progress of the pack. The ductus also organize regular Esbats (a Sabbat pack meeting), to keep the pack focused, and partake in ritae. We have pack meetings in Vegas at least once a month, but often twice a month. * The Pack Priests The pack priest is the spiritual leader of the pack. He presides over the packs ritae, and keeps the pack members off the road to infernalism. The pack priest is also second in command, and if the ductus gets killed, he becomes the temporary leader of the pack, until a new ductus can be appointed. The ritae the pack priest arranges are intended to increase pack loyalty towards each other and the sect. Ritae may differ from pack to pack, as the pack priest adopt different set of ritae, or create their own. There are those ritae that all pack priests knows and use. The most common is the Vaulderie. * The Templars/Paladins The Templars are a group of deadly bodyguards that serve the elders of the Sabbat, Prisci, Cardinals, Archbishops and Bishops all have Templars who serve them directly. They do not have any organization as such, making it more a title than anything else. Being bestowed the title of Templar is a great honour, and names you a strong and capable vampire of great fighting skill. A Templar is forbidden membership in the Black Hand, since this is seen as a conflict of interest. * The Black Hand The Black Hand is an elite military force at the disposal of the elders of the Sabbat. They are the 'Black Op' team of the Sabbat. They are also secret police of the sect. They specialize in methods of warfare such as assassination, intrigue, intelligence, terror and breaking the Masquerade, or covering it as need be, as well as hand to hand combat. Black Hand “units” are only called upon when there is great need, or the objective is of great importance, and usually in small teams, who never remain active for long periods of time. Often Black Hand members are not active and reside in cities serving their bishops and archbishops until such time as they are called to service. Do not be alarmed, but you may never know someone is a member of the Black Hand. They are not “required” to tell anyone lesser than an Archbishop they are a member of the Hand, and then only when working on behalf of the Hand. * The Sabbat Inquisition The Sabbat Inquisition is a group of dedicated to finding and punishing infernalists in the ranks of the Sabbat. It was founded when the Sabbat noticed an increase of members following the Path of Evil Revelations (thereby communing with, and serving demons). The inquisitors wield a large amount of power, being free to go as they please, usually arriving unannounced, so as not to give the guilty the chance to prepare. Occasionally they won’t announce their affiliation, but due to the nature of their cause it is often pretty clear why they are in a particular city. A vampire accused of being an infernalist can count on being branded, rendered limb from limb, beaten, burnt and generally tortured, sometimes for years. On the other hand, a vampire who admits to being guilty will experience an infinitely slow, and excruciatingly painful Final Death. Infernalism is not freedom, it is slavery pure and simple. It is an anathema to the ideals of the sect and will never be tolerated. * The Consistory The consistory is... very much like the senators of ancient Rome. Only the majority vote of the consistory can grant membership to the consistory to someone however the Regent and prisci may "suggest" someone. There is no status for belonging to the consistory. Your word being heard by your peers should be enough. Anyone "may" be a member, but it is very unlikely they will discus it with you. The consistory represent the "bulk" of the mass of the Sabbat. Generally they try to keep it 1 for every 100 of a particular clan, and about three in every major city, one to every minor city. They make it as their duty to support the Regent with an even greater dedication than the average Sabbat. Most Cardinals, and some Archbishops, many elders, and some particularly cunning and powerful members of the Sabbat make up the consistory. * Brothers and Sisters That is you. All members of the Sabbat refer to themselves as “Brothers and Sisters.” That’s right we are all one big happy family. If you ever can’t remember someone’s special title or fancy name you can always refer to them as “Brother” or “Sister” as a general sign of fellowship and respect. All Sabbat members have the status INITIATED. |
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