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Anointing/Blood Baths
Used whenever a Sanctifi ed obtains a new rank or position, the Anointing, which must be
conducted by a Priest or recognized covenant offi cial, involves little more than a recited litany,
a series of formal responses offered by the supplicant and the drawing of any one of several
religious symbols on the supplicant’s head. The drawing is done in blood, and the supplicant
is forbidden from washing it off until the next night. (Recently Anointed Sanctifi ed do not
frequently go out among kine.) This ceremony is why many Lancea Sanctum offi cers, offi cials
and agents are referred to, collectively, as the Anointed.
Among some young Sanctifi ed, the Anointing assumes a more primal form. They celebrate
such events not with a simple touch of blood but with what is called a Blood Bath. The Blood
Bath serves the same purpose, but the subject (often along with the other participants) is
literally drenched in blood. Those who do not enter frenzy are accorded great respect, while
those who succumb are mocked for their lack of control. Elder Lancea Sanctum members
consider the Blood Bath a corruption of an ancient tradition, but as long as young Priests
do not conduct it in such a way as to threaten the Masquerade, critics bite back their distaste
and “let the whelps play.”
Midnight Mass
Led by one of the highest Lancea Sanctum offi cials in a city, a Midnight Mass is simply
that: a prayer service to God, held in the dark of night. Some truly devout Sanctifi ed domains
hold such a mass several times a week, but they occur only once or twice a month in most
Sanctifi ed-dominated cities. All covenant members in the region are expected to attend on at
least a semi-regular basis. Many other rites, rituals and celebrations, often including Creation
Rites and Anointings, occur at Midnight Mass.
Others
Among the dozens if not hundreds of other rites not listed here are the Fire Dance (a ceremony
popular among young Sanctifi ed in which they dance around or even through fi re to
prove that they can master the vampiric weakness), the Mysteries (a yearly festival of celebration
and thanksgiving that all local Sanctifi ed are expected to attend), and acceptance and
allegiance rites (trials and sworn oaths when fi rst joining the covenant or a particular coterie).
In addition to those rites that are more or less universal, domains and even individual coteries
often have their own rites, developed internally and not shared with the rest of the faction.
Titles and Duties
As with the Invictus, many of the Lancea Sanctum’s titles overlap with local positions of
authority. Many do not, however, and those that appear common often have a unique take
on them.
Bishop
The religious leader of the Lancea Sanctum in a domain is called the Bishop. The Prince
may rule the city, but the Bishop is the highest authority where the Lancea Sanctum is
concerned. Many Bishops hold other positions in the city power structure (such as Regent,
Seneschal or Primogen), even if that power structure is not Sanctifi ed-dominated, as most
Princes are wise enough to recognize the substantial power a Bishop holds.
Bishop duties include all those of a Priest, but he is also responsible for managing the local
activities of the covenant as a whole.
Archbishop
This is simply the title that most Sanctifi ed Princes choose for themselves, as Archbishop
fi ts the Lancea Sanctum mentality far better than the secular title of Prince. The Archbishop,
surprisingly enough, is usually not the same person as the Bishop, as the responsibilities of
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chapter one: society of the damned