The Vaulderie
The Vaulderie
The vampires of the Sabbat take their nightly struggle seriously – so seriously that they tolerate no dissent in their ranks. From the lowliest new recruit to the most exalted priscus, the Sabbat ensure loyalty to one another through a bloody ritus known as the Vaulderie.
The Vaulderie is similar to a blood bond, though it differs in intent and function. No Sabbat would ever voluntarily succumb to a blood bond, reasoning that such bonds are the tools the elders use to enslave their childer. Rather, the Sabbat swear the Vaulderie to each other, bonding themselves to the pack instead of an individual, and thus, to the Sabbat's greater cause.
Those who are ignorant of the Vaulderie's finer details believe it to be a simple commingling of vampire vitae in a vessel and the subsequent drinking of it. In truth, the matter is far more mystical. To start the ritual, the priest takes a tool used specifically for the Vaulderie and nothing else and cuts her wrist. The ritual cutting tool could be a small knife, silver straight razor or awl. To impart more gravity to the ritus, many packs use elaborate ritual bloodletters decorated with engraved swirls, spirals or blood droplets. The priest then bleeds into a vessel and passes the cutting device to each Sabbat present, who pierces his own flesh and bleeds into the chalice. The vessel is then passed around the pack again and the priest recites an incantation over it, consecrating it as a terrible sacrament while every member of the pack draws a draught.
Vaulderies take place at any time – before assaults, during important Sabbat gatherings, at the initiation or Creation Rites of new members and almost infallibly at pack esbats. This ritus is perhaps the foundation of the sect's ritae, and it is afforded the most reverent status.
The result of this ritus is known as a Vinculum, or blood-tie. These ties connect each member of the pack to one another, engendering a mutual loyalty in addition to bolstering pack morale. Because of the mystical nature of the Vaulderie, however, Vinculi are imperfect – what one pack member feels toward another one night may pale in comparison to what he feels toward her the next. Vinculum ratings may change every time the ritus is observed.
Without the Vaulderie, the Sabbat would probably collapse under its own weight and dogma – the chaos and anarchy that follows the sect endemically would erode what little organization it has without the loyalty and sympathy created by the ritus. Those who refuse the Vaulderie or oppose it are not viewed favorably by other Sabbat. Vampires who refuse to partake of the Vaulderie at least monthly suffer ostracism from the pack at best – and may become vessels for Blood Feasts or destroyed outright at worst. System
The first time a character observes the Vaulderie (or during creation of a Sabbat character), roll a die for each character whose vitae is part of the ritus. That number reflects the Vinculum the character feels toward the individual whose blood she ingested; see the chart for effects generated by individual Vinculi. Every time a new member participates in the Vaulderie, each player should roll a die and record the score for her Vinculum rating toward that character.
Example: Lucretia, Vaughan and Dezra (characters created by three players) have just partaken of the Vaulderie. Each player rolls a die for the two other players' characters and records this score as their Vinculum to that character. Lucretia's player rolls a 6 for her Vinculum to Dezra and a 4 for her Vinculum to Vaughan. During the course of the game, a new character, Madd Killah, joins the pack, and after her first Vaulderie with him, Lucretia gains a Vinculum of 5 toward him.
Each time the pack partakes of the Vaulderie, each player should roll one die for each of her Vinculi. If the result is higher than the Vinculum score, increase that Vinculum score by one (to a maximum of 10). If the result is a 1, lower the Vinculum score by one (to a minimum of 1).
At times, a character may be at odds with herself over how to react to a given situation because of Vinculi she possesses toward another vampire. In cases such as these, the player should decide which party her character would favor outside the Vinculum. The character then rolls a number of dice for each party equal to her Vinculum score for that individual against a difficulty of 5 (for the party favored regardless of Vinculum) or 7 (for all other parties). The individual who receives the greatest number of successes earns the character's aid. Such is the nature of the Damned and the Vinculum – a character who knows better may sometimes be forced into an obviously bad course of action by following her emotions.
Example: Lucretia has Vinculi toward packmates Dezra and Vaughan. The pack has heard there is a Camarilla Ventrue spy in their city, and its members cannot agree about the best resolution to the problem, Dezra proposes that the pack hunt him down and drink his vitae while. Vaughan believes that the best option is to ask around and try to find out information about this so-called spy, believing the confrontation of a vampire of unknown power to be folly. Lucretia thinks Vaughan's option is the wiser of the two, though she must test her Vinculi to see if emotion sways her loyalty to Dezra. She rolls six dice (her Vinculum to Dezra is 6) against difficulty 7 and gains three successes. For Vaughan, she rolls four dice (her Vinculum to Vaughanis4) against difficulty 5 and gains only one success. Against her better judgment, she sides with Deya, saying "I'm following Deya," while flashing Vaughan a defeated look. Dezra smiles and crosses his arms. Note: It bears mention that, like the emotions engendered by blood bonds, these feelings are artificial, as they are created through ingestion of blood. It is quite possible for a character to utterly hate someone for whom she would risk her unlife, just as it is possible to have immense love for someone who has little in the way of Vinculum and everything in between. Players are encouraged to explore the full range of these complexities in their packs through roleplaying.
Note: Storytellers should require Vinculum rolls judiciously, and only in matters of dramatic significance. Too much reliance on Vinculum rolls strips free will from the players' characters, and instead of savoring the anguish of their emotional response, players may grow cross at being railroaded by dice rolls.
The Vaulderie can also corrode existing blood bonds. Multiple draughts of the Vaulderie may be required, but sooner or later, the pack's blood will overcome all but the most potent of vampiric vitae. A vampire wishing to break a blood bond via Vaulderie must have no more than one blood point in his blood pool, and must ingest six points of Vaulderie vitae. At that point, the old blood bond fades rapidly, replaced almost as quickly by Vinculi toward those whose blood composed the Vaulderie. A vampire attempting to replace Vinculi with a new blood bond is in for a disappointment – unless her blood is powerfully potent, Vinculi may not be so easily erased.
Unlike normal blood bonds, Vinculi do not fade over time – a Vinculum left after a Vaulderie with a vampire in nights hundreds of years past is still as potent as the night it arose. Indeed, many elder Sabbat have vast webs of Vinculi connecting them to sect members across the world. Some Sabbat whisper guardedly of a ritual that can break the Vinculum outright, though only members of the Nosferatu antitribu and the Inquisition are rumored to know this ritual. If these rumors are to be believed, the ritual breaks every Vinculum a vampire has, not just select ones. The Inquisition supposedly uses this ritual to break Vinculi toward infernalists, though its obvious other ramifications have many Sabbat worried about the true loyalties of their compatriots.
| Vinculum Ratings Vinculum | Effect |
| 10 | You will readily give your life – or take the life of another – for the individual. |
| 9 | You will do practically anything for the individual, including putting yourself in great danger. |
| 8 | You will gladly offer resources or influential assistance to the individual. |
| 7 | You may put yourself at moderate risk of harm for the individual and, depending on your code of ethics, may kill for him. |
| 6 | You feel strongly for the individual and help him even if it inconveniences you. You will gladly fight for the individual. |
| 5 | You respect the individual and help him out as long as it's no huge risk or bother. |
| 4 | You will aid the individual as long as it doesn't involve risk or anything out of your way. |
| 3 | You are loyal to the individual as long as that loyalty doesn't interfere with your own designs. |
| 2 | You have a minor sense of kinship toward the individual, but you're not going to go out of your way to help him unless something's in it for you. |
| 1 | Fuck 'em. This isn't necessarily hostility, but you don't care about this person on a Vinculum level, though you may on a personal level. |
