Renunciation
Ritual · Vampire
The Renunciation is a solemn, formal ritual casting out all previous beliefs and doctrines, and swearing an oath before Caine to be loyal to the Ultra Conservative faction. This ritual (like all faction ritae) may only be performed by an Ultra Conservative, but may be cast on any other consenting vampire. An individual who undergoes this ritus is forgiven their previous sins against the Church of the Dark Father, and begins a new life as an Ultra Conservative. This ritus should be performed publicly. The priest who performs this ritus does not have to believe in the petitioner’s sincerity; elder vampires of the Sect have long used this ritus to ensure the loyalty of allies who have fled from the Camarilla’s ranks.
In order to fulfill the Renunciation, the vampire must swear a formal oath of allegiance to the Ultra Conservative faction. Thereafter, the performing priest stakes the petitioner in a public display of trust in the priest (it does not matter if this is against the petitioner’s will, so long as it occurs). While the individual is transfixed, the priest recites a short Sermon of Caine over their unmoving form. When the stake is withdrawn, mythically representing the vampire overcoming death (a symbolic Embrace), the vampire rises and is welcomed into the faction by her peers.
The formal oath of the Renunciation is as follows:
“I (name), pledge to uphold the Sect, its rightful clergy, and its sacred goals, in the name of the Dark Father. Stability through discipline. Unity through constancy.
Victory through relentlessness. I will prove my worth.
I swear it, upon the altar of Caine.”
System
A vampire who has undergone the Renunciation ritus gains a permanent die on all Self-Control or Instinct rolls, so long as they are a member of the Ultra Conservative faction and doing something that upholds the ideals of that faction. A priest who begins the Renunciation ritus but does not complete it (for example, kills the petitioner while they are staked) is considered to have broken the ritus, and will be punished severely by her superiors.
In recent years, a campaign of renewed religious fervor has swept the Sword of Caine. These Kindred advocated a return to the dedication of the ritae and an emphasis on the Priest’s position within the Sect (above the more militant positions, such as Ductus). They postulate that the Sabbat has somehow displeased the Dark Father, by turning away from the ritae, relying too much on modern technology, or by allowing heresy to enter the Sect.
This faction’s priorities are spiritual, based upon an ideal that the Sabbat’s leadership should be solely comprised of the most devout and faithful priests. As adherents of this school of thought have grown more public in their arguments, they have gained a tremendous amount of support from mystics, spiritualists, and scholars of the Sect, and the Orthodox faction was born.
Orthodox Sabbat advocate a greater use of the ritae, more authority for pack priests, and a narrower description of “heresy” – the better to allow the Sabbat to research new and powerful weapons and blood magic for the ongoing war.