Rules

The Inquisition has unprecedented power to accuse, interrogate, and judge cases of heresy and infernalism. An Inquisitor may accuse any member of the Sabbat save the Regent, and may take anyone thus accused into custody. The individual’s priest must be present to witness interrogation, trial, and destruction, and may advocate on their packmate’s behalf. Typically, the Inquisition prefers to perform trials in public, and they are conducted with all the pomp and circumstance the Sabbat can muster.

The Inquisition listens to any accusations brought forth by a member of the Sect, but are known for putting both accused and accuser through similar degrees of torturous interrogation. While Judges perform questioning,

Knights scrutinize the rest of the Sect. The accused can request an ordeal as proof of innocence, or some form of contrition if the charges are purely heretical and do not include infernalism. However, an Inquisitor has no duty to grant such a request.

The illusion of impartial justice is important, but it is rare that an Inquisitor brings a Sect member to trial unless she is certain something will be found. Typically, the highest-ranked Judge Inquisitor judges the trial, while another Inquisitor (Judge or Knight) serves as prosecution against the accused. On particularly prominent or high-profile cases, a panel of three Inquisitors (who are never from the same pack) will jointly hear the case and render unified judgment.

An individual who has been investigated and determined to be free of infernal taint (or heresy) is given a writ of innocence called the ad cautelum. A writ of ad cautelum is an ornate document on flesh-parchment, its words written in blood and ash, which details the specific crimes and the individual’s innocence of them at the time of the writ’s creation. It is sealed with the Inquisitor’s mark and the stamp of her reliquary on blood-red wax. The security of the writ lasts for three months, during which time the individual is expected to be particularly penitent and atone for any other sins he has committed against the faith. Once the ad cautelum has expired, this individual is no longer protected by the Inquisition. He is to be watched, like any other member of the Sect, and may be investigated again if new evidence surfaces.

If found guilty, the accused is tortured and executed. Heretics are killed by gruesome means, while the sentence for infernalism is always death by fire. These punishments are made public, to revitalize the Sect’s fear and encourage other members to avoid similar fates.

Every trial is reviewed by the Regent, regardless of the trial’s outcome. If the conclusions of heresy or infernalism are found to have killed a member of the Sabbat who is innocent of either, the Judge Inquisitor who administered that punishment is destroyed for incompetence.