Level 1 RitaE
- Vaulderie - Breaks blood bonds and promotes unity between participants.
- Acceptance - A ritual to introduce new members into a pack.
- Welcoming - Similar to the Ritual of Acceptance only between packs; e.g. when a new pack is formed.
- Allegiance - For those new to the Sabbat; for them to pledge their loyalty to the Sect.
- Sermon of Caine - A discussion, debate or lesson in the philosophies of Caine and the Sabbat.
Vaulderie
The Vaulderie defines the Sabbat as a group. Vampires who partake show that they are part of the Sect; vampires who refuse the cup can never really belong. The Blood Bond as the Camarilla and independent vampires use it binds the subject as the slave of his regent. It reinforces the static hierarchy of Elder over Childe. The Vaulderie makes the participants equal, uniting them in their shared cause. It also introduces a constantly shifting mosaic of relationships as the vampire who held another in highest esteem last night has a new target of supreme devotion tonight. Bonds don’t erode; but they do gain rivals of equal or greater intensity.
Simply mixing vitae isn’t sufficient for the Vaulderie. The presiding Priest must use a cutting tool and cup dedicated to this specific purpose. Priests generally decorate their tools with hieroglyphics and artwork that expresses their pack concerns. (Artisans who produce tools that express a pack's shared sense of self gain high status. The Sabbat never has enough creators to match its ranks of corruptors and destroyers.) The Priest takes her ritual tools, makes a cut in herself and drains out as many Blood Traits as she cares to contribute. Once the Priest begins the ceremony, she passes the cup and tool to each participant in turn, who contributes as many Blood Traits as he chooses. Contributing only one Blood Trait looks bad - do you have something to hide? Contributing five or more Blood Traits, except when duty requires looks bad, too - are you angling for control? The Ductus must contribute at least one Blood Trait per participant (down to a minimum of one Blood Trait remaining), and generally aims to put in more than anyone else as a show of dedication and primacy of place.
Trying to put in someone else’s blood, from a concealed pouch or other source, doesn’t work. The cup erupts and splashes the blood everywhere. Everyone loses the blood they put in. The Priest must start the ritual again, and the offender probably faces swift destruction.
The Priest takes the filled cup and performs a simple ritual over it that merges the blood together. Real magic happens at this point. Even if the Priest was chosen on the spur of the moment by packmates interested in renewing their Vinculum, a Priest performing the ritual makes it work while someone not chosen as Priest could perform the same ritual but get no results. The Priest offers a brief blessing on each participant as she drinks from the cup. The ritual gives back to each participant as many Blood Traits as she put in.
Every Sabbat member takes the Vaulderie seriously. Even the most feral wanderers or rowdy urban punks settle down for this ritual even if they’re never serious at any other time. This is what it’s all about. The Vaulderie generates the Sabbat’s alternative to the blood bond, the Vinculum. Each vampire takes away from the ritual a special bond to some other members of the pack (or whatever group performs the ritual). In game terms, each participant has a Vinculum rating of 1-10 with each of the other participants. The stronger the bond, the more firmly the participants feel bound to each other. At the high end, the Vinculum ties individuals together even more tightly than the blood bond.
Note that Vinculum ratings aren’t symmetrical. Andrew can have a Vinculum rating of 6 to Bettina, indicating a very strong attachment to her, while she has only a rating of 1 to him, indicating the minimum possible result from sharing the ritual.
Acceptance
Acceptance ritae mark an individual’s induction to a pack, whether at the end of auctoritas Creation Rites, adoption of an existing Sabbat member separated from his old pack or as a reaffirmation of the pack's membership after a change of leadership. Each member of the pack acknowledges the newcomer with some personal token. Some packs offer vitae while others offer gifts, advice, favours or something else useful. There’s no innate magical benefit in the Acceptance ritual, just the social bond. Many packs include a short oath in which the newcomer acknowledges his debt to the pack and the Sect; in turn, his new packmates take an oath to treat him as an equal, with the same rewards for his successes and punishments for his failures that they all face.
Welcoming
The Welcoming ritual is, like Acceptance, a social occasion. Whenever two packs meet for a shared task, or a nomad pack enters a city, they have to establish some neutral space within which to become acquainted. The members of the packs name themselves and their homes. Vampires who recognise others with whom they have grievances promptly say so, and the packs’ Ducti and Priests attempt to mediate the dispute. A short, non-lethal duel often follows just to let the disputing parties deal with it. The packs’ leaders establish basic protocols governing access to havens and favoured feeding grounds. All the packmates then reaffirm their loyalty to the Sabbat’s twin emphasis on individual liberty and united action. In many areas, the pack leaders exchange blood; in areas with a very strong religious emphasis, everyone in the packs may immediately share the Vaulderie. After the Welcoming ritual, pack leaders feel more comfortable making plans for whatever their common purpose may be.
Allegiance
The Allegiance ritual bridges the gap between formal creation of a new Sabbat member and her acceptance into a specific pack. The new vampire must prove herself familiar with the Sect’s ideals and capable of acting effectively. While in this transitional period, the vampire occupies a distinctly secondary position. She stands at the rear during auctoritas ritual, drinks last at the Vaulderie (and generally can’t contribute her own blood) and cannot engage in discussion of the Book of Nod. Most packs administer a secret mark of some sort as part of the ritual, identifying the recipient as someone who’s begun to win acceptance and not yet completed the process. The trial period may last only a few weeks if the vampire proves remarkably capable or may stretch on for years. A vampire who never succeeds in impressing a pack enough to warrant Acceptance faces the threat of Final Death administered by her disappointed creators. Camarilla defectors spend more time under scrutiny and must complete tougher challenges of their new loyalty, often including attacks on their former comrades.
Sermon of Caine
Caine the historical (or at least mythical) figure matters very much to some Sabbat members, not at all to others. Among the vampires who care enough to argue theology, some treat Caine as the biggest, oldest and therefore worst menace of all, while others find in him the example of true freedom and individuality. Vampires who do care about origins and do take Caine as their inspiration gather regularly to listen to teachings about him. This ritual renews their conviction and provides them with the shared attitudes and ideas to resolve disputes. In some packs, the Priest always delivers the sermon. In others, pack members share the duties. Each one in turn recites some favoured passage from the Book of Nod and offers comments about its relevance to the pack's situation. Depending on the pack's preferences, the speaker may get an uninterrupted audience, or the rest of the pack may argue back. After the sermon, the priest may perform the Vaulderie. Enthusiastic pack members may continue the “discussion” until the approach of dawn. Vampiric society has very few written records. The Book of Nod isn’t a single text - it’s a mass of fragments and an attitude about Cainite origins. Sabbat packs argue constantly about the best, truest or oldest phrasing of a passage, and about whether a passage belongs in canon at all. Some believers argue that the sect must establish a single authoritative reading and make sure everyone studies it. Others claim, with just as much fervour, that the spirit of the work transcends any specific text, so competing searches for illumination serve the Sect’s best interests. Arguments on these points sometimes destroy packs and fuel inter-pack wars.