Level 2 RitaE

Fire Dance

Fire is one of the great enemies to vampire, a danger to flee. The Sabbat believes in mastering that fear. In times of war, Sabbat vampires use fire as a weapon against their enemies. In between battles, they perform the Fire Dance to show their triumph over the weaknesses in their souls.

A Priest can call a Fire Dance at any time, whenever she judges the pack in need of some morale boosting. Bishops generally celebrate a Fire Dance just before a War Party, bringing together all the packs who will fight in the upcoming assault. Given the Sabbat’s emphasis on individual freedom, the convening priest never forces a vampire to take part in the ritual until she feels truly ready for it. Most vampires somehow find the resolve to participate anyway; their packmates do not tolerate cowardice, and too many refusals of the Fire Dance can get a vampire exiled or destroyed.

The convening Priest lights a bonfire somewhere away from mortal eyes. Participants set a rhythm with drumming, chanting or other regular music. They circle the fire, working themselves into a trancelike frenzy. They close in on the flames until primitive instinct forces them away; some make obeisance to the fire as if it is a god they hate but still venerate. As each participant feels ready, she jumps through the flames. The more vampires make it through, the more they encourage (and challenge) the remaining participants to do so. Particularly devoted or entranced vampires jump again and again; some perform the most exotic stunts along the way. The ritual ends when every vampire has jumped.

Sometimes a vampire simply can’t muster the courage to jump. Tolerant packs throw him through so as to honour the spirit of the occasion. Less tolerant packs slaughter him as an inferior breed or pin him down in the fire to help him overcome his weakness.

Effect: Successful dancers gain +1 Courage Virtue Trait for the evening.

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Truth Revealed

The Truth Revealed ritual hangs on the edge of auctoritas standing; its efficacy depends on the ability of the Priest administering the ritual. A vampire under suspicion of dishonesty writes out a statement with her own blood. The priest takes the paper and burns it, usually in a ceremonial censer. If the smoke turns black, the statement was false while white smoke indicates truthfulness. Even when the Priest does nothing special, the ritual produces accurate results more often than chance would allow. Sabbat scholars theorise that the ceremony taps into the latent mystic powers of the Pack united in the search for truth. Priests who possess three or more levels of Occult or Rituals may make a Mental Challenge against the subject of the inquiry. If the Priest succeeds, the ritual always generates the right colour of smoke.

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Contrition

The Contrition ritual is most likely to win promotion to auctoritas status soon; very nearly every pack practices it in some form. Sabbat members who’ve committed offences against the sect confess their failings and accept any punishment short of Final Death. Minor failures earn no more than a beating and assignment to unpleasant duties. Breaches of sect security might win dismemberment and the restoration of just enough vitae to let the contrite vampire begin healing. Packs vary in their willingness to accept repeated performance of the Contrition ritual, whether for the same offence again and again or for a diversified but sustained pattern of clueless conduct. Packs whose leaders show too much leniency face condemnation themselves. The sect is, after, all, at war.

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Spilling of Blood

A ritual created by starving Cainites when food was scarce during the black plague. It created a mystical bond between the vessel and the feeder. This bond was so strong the victim and the feeder felt like family, and more often than not the feeder has wept blood, still this ritual is often used as a means of sustaining life of the Cainite when blood stores run dry.

"Let the blood run free
Let not a drop be wasted
For we feast to live
And we live to feast

Our hunger is not sated
Our appetite is massed
For our ferocity is unmatched
Let us feed the Beast."

Effect: The ritual group can drink 15 blood points from a single mortal.

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Fury of Caine

The power of the Beast is a potent tool, though rarely used for though the vinculum remains strong, the urge to destroy the enemy is so great that even basic safety measures are ignored. The use of this Ritual ensures that the Beast is released but at the same time controlled to ensure carnage and common sense reign together.

"We shall bite the hand that feeds us
For the blood we crave is as life
Uncontrolled is the dog that lashes out
Temperance is for those with souls
Direction shall fill our lust for blood
We are animals and with tooth and claw
We shall destroy our enemies."

Effect: The Ritual group automatically go into Controlled Frenzy in the next scene.

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Nose of the Bloodhound

This Ritual was created in recent nights as Elder blood has become scarcer. Those vampires who seek to escape the passage of time through Torpor hold the most potent blood. This Ritual is of course of limited use; as Torpored vampires within any given area are limited.

"The blood of our Elders lays hidden deep
The blood of our Elders is ours by right
The bonds shall be broken
The bonds shall be shattered"

Effect: The ritual group gains the ability to 'sniff' for torpored vampires, within an area equal to the Priest's Ritae level x 200 metres.

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