Politics in the Sabbat

Depending on who you talk to you will hear a great many things about politics in the Sabbat. Some say it doesn’t exist, some there are no politics, some say it’s more vicious than Camarillia politics, and some say it is far more complicated than that math problem that Good Will Hunting solved. All of it is true.

The best way to describe how politics in the Sabbat works, would be to give you an example, and one of my favorite examples of all times would be Cardinal Richelieu of “The Three Musketeers”. He made every effort to be the true power of the France. He used spies, assassins, intimidation, black mail, and manipulation to control the King.

This was based of two things. A base desire for power, and his true belief that his idea of what was spiritually best for France was in fact really was what was best for France. This is a base requirement for anyone wanting to be a leader of politics within the Sabbat, particularly outside of the pack.

When he knew that the King’s wife was having an affair, in attempt to rest even more power from the King, he convinced the King it was a great idea that he needed to host a ball, where the Queen would be required to wear a set of Jewels she gave to her lover. If the Queen had not been able to wear these Jewels her infidelity would be exposed and the King would have lost face publically. This would not have been enough to give the Cardinal absolute control of power, but every small loss of face the King suffered from a Morality and Spiritual stand point was another nail in his coffin and each nail that was hammered in gave more and more control to Cardinal Richelieu.

This is what Politics in the Sabbat is. The Sabbat is a Sect that is based on war, a war of freedom and spirituality. Its tactics are in war are brutal and vicious. But its politics are often times more subtle than that of the Camarillia. Take the example given about Cardinal Richelieu. This is just one example of the subtle politics that Cardinal Richelieu employed. Blatant attempts at trying to destroy someone within the Sabbat world of politics often times will backfire.

Example: I do not like the path that the current Bishop is on, and believe this makes him a bad leader of my fellow denizens spiritual well-being (because the Bishop or higher does have the duty of ensuring the Spiritual Well- Being of his Diocese.) yet his path is not heretical so I could not go to the Inquisition to have him removed. I have nothing worthy to declare Monomacy on him as of yet, because he isn’t doing anything “wrong”. I know his path, and it requires him to pursue certain lores. So I arrange for him to hear about a tasty treat of information that is crucial for his path. What the Bishop does not know is that I planted that information, and also set a trap. When he went to claim this scroll, that contains the information he so desperately wants, the entrance to the cave somehow decides to cave in trapping him inside. While there is always the possibility of him getting out eventually, I managed to have this trap set two nights prior to Palla Grande. The most visited and spotlighted Ritae of our glorious sect. How do you think the Archbishop is going to react if one of his Bishops is not present for arguably the most important Ritae outside of Vaulderie?

We’ll take it one step further, I don’t want to be Bishop but I want my old pack mate to be Bishop because I have faith in their Path, and their hold on that Path. It so happens that this Bishop I trapped was the Bishop that had been placed in charge of the Blood Feast for Palla Grande. This Bishop had entrusted me in helping gather the vessels, so I then let my former pack mate know where the vessels are and that he should be the one to present these vessels to the Archbishop. So know the Bishop I don’t like is most likely not going to be Bishop, and there is a higher than average chance that my former pack mate is going to be his replacement.

I have potentially replaced the one I dislike with one that I trust, and have a potentially high Vinculum to me. And they will owe me a favor for their sudden rise to power.