The Sabbat and it's Present State

The Sabbat are the dark remnants of the 1st Anarch Movement. Not content to abandon the revolution to bring Cain's children out of the shadows and into their proper place of dominance over the kine in preparation for the return of the dark father The Sabbat exist as a dark cleaving blade to the Camarilla's honed dagger and the Anarch's blazing hot hammer. Lead by the Lasombra and Tzimisce the Sabbat subverts the doctrine of The Masquerade and prepare for Gehena, the coming of Caine. 

History

The Sabbat was founded in 1493 CE, largely in reaction to the Convention of Thorns which founded the Camarilla. They are the remnants of the Anarch Revolt of the time.
Leaders of the endeavour were the Tzimisce and the Lasombra, two Clans that had ostensibly destroyed their Antediluvian founders and had accepted that there was no turning back for them. The Tzimisce would not cede their lands to the hated Tremere and submit the philosophy of Metamorphosism for the limited ideals of Humanity, while the Lasombra had invested too much in the Revolt to surrender their success to decrepit elders of other Clans (in the words of the Clan representative at the Convention of Thorns: "I came to negotiate, not to surrender." Delegations of both Clans met at the island of Majorca and began their own negotiations, aided by several malcontents among the Anarchs, who refused to surrender to the Elders or did not share the view of their main Clan. Others joined to escape the practice of the Blood Bond, among them venerable Elders like the Malkavian Vasantasena, the Tremere Goratrix, and the Ventrue Dominique Touraine. These groups existed as small packs in the wilderness that harassed the holdings of the Elders and those who had submitted to the Camarilla, called "Sabbats" by the superstitious mortal population for their rapacious behavior and proud display of their inhumanity. Slowly, these disparate packs were brought to heel by the spreading of the Vaulderie, uniting the remnants of the Anarch Revolt as the Sabbat, a sect devoted to warfare against the Antediluvians and the tyranny of their catspaws.
Bitter war raged between the vampires of the newly formed Sabbat and the not-much-older Camarilla. The Inquisition continued to claim victims while all of Europe's Cainites drew lines in the sand to mark their allegiance. As the Camarilla consolidated their hold on the major European cities, the Sabbat were thrust into the defensive. Within the Black Monastery in Switzerland, the sect formalized the modern Paths of Enlightenment in 1666 out of the old Roads that had become obsolete. Despite open protests against it as a tool of the Antediluvians, the Sabbat Elders realized the worth of secrecy in the modern night and the real danger of falling into Wassail in the face of the demands of the Beast, so they sought to accommodate to these circumstances without pretending to be human.
Besides Spain, which was controlled by a majority of Lasombra, and territories in Eastern Europe and Scandinavia, which were claimed by the Tzimisce, most packs traveled across the sea to the New World. For a while, the sect flourished in the evolving colonies. Amid a revolutionary and radical mortal backdrop, the Sabbat's presence was easy to hide among the insurrectionists, fighting against the Cainite masters of the Aztecs, the dreaded monster Huitzilopochtli and his peers, as well as against the native Lupines.

Civil War

The relative prominence of the Sabbat in the Americas faced opposition, though, as disenfranchised Camarilla vampires also journeyed across the oceans, hoping to carve out legacies for themselves away from the ironbound holdings of European princes. Due to a lack of organization within the American packs, internal struggle between the Lasombra and Tzimisce resulted in the events of the First Sabbat Civil War.
The war weakened the sect enough that the Camarilla was able to seize much territory from them, before, after 30 years of conflict, the Purchase Pact officially forbade it to attack other Sabbat members in 1803. Cool heads never prevail in times of war however, and another wave of infighting broke out, which culminated in the Second Sabbat Civil War, a conflict grounded in simmering animosities that still rumbled on beneath the Purchase Pact. Convening in New York, which the sect had managed to hold against all the best efforts of the Camarilla, high-ranking Sabbat reconsidered their commitment to the sect's causes.

Organization

The Sabbat sees itself as the army of Caine and consequently is tightly organized, far more than the relatively anarchic Camarilla. The Sabbat consists mainly of Clans Tzimisce and Lasombra and numerous antitribu from Clans normally independent or associated with the Camarilla.
Although Sabbat vampires may sire childer as usual, and are no less picky than any other vampire about it, during a war effort, they often backdrop to use Mass Embraces for a steady supply of shock troopers. These unfortunate vampires are knocked over, Embraced and buried. By the time the so-called "shovelhead" has clawed himself up, he is usually confused and aggressive and then directed with the rest of the Mass Embrace in a first vinculum against the enemy. Most shovelheads do not survive their first weeks, they are considered False Sabbat and are not respected in any way by the members of the sect. Once they have proven themselves repeatedly, they are usually introduced into the sect and undergo the Creation Rites to become True Sabbat. Childer who are specifically chosen to be Embraced often receive this instructions much earlier directly from their sire.
The cornerstone of Sabbat organization is the pack; Sabbat packs are organizations of 3-10 vampires mutually bound through the standard blood-sharing rites of the cult. Packs have a ductus, who is the pack's warleader, and a pack priest who reminds the pack of its responsibilities to Caine. In addition, pack members are mutually bound in a vinculum – a sort of communal blood bond – created by the blood-sharing ceremonies. Packs generally occupy communal havens; given the Sabbat's rejection of human mores and its use of artificial loyalties enforced by the vinculum, there is less need for privacy.

Culture

The Sabbat has many ways of identifying its members: the sect has an official color (purple), an official symbol (an inverted ankh), and dozens, if not hundreds, of specific signs, passwords, and gestures that theoretically let one member identify another. In practice, few Sabbat can recognize more than a few of these signs - most learn to identify one another by face at ritae or other sect gatherings.
Typically only a Bishop or Archbishop will be able to positively identify any vampire in their domain as Sabbat or non-Sabbat - in the case of nomadic packs, even this becomes a chore. Additionally, each of the individual packs of the Sabbat can assume their own particular symbol, gesture, or other way of identifying themselves. Pack members who are undercover have even more obscure and hard-to-spot ways of making their identities known or passing along information.
It has become quite the affectation among younger Sabbat (particularly those of Clan Lasombra) to wear crucifixes somewhere on their person - a necklace, an earring, even a tattoo. The irony of being damned but bearing the symbols of salvation is a source of great amusement to these vampires, especially if the bearer is a pack "priest". Older, more mature Lasombra regard the practice as irritating or outright blasphemous, even if they wear such a cross themselves. Their argument is that the neonates do not believe in their own damnation, or in God's immortal power over their souls.
Many neonates in the sect wonder why they have to bother with all these trappings of espionage: is not the Sabbat's mission statement to tear down the Camarilla and its Masquerade and rule humans openly? Sabbat elders who lived through the Inquisition do not dignify these questions with an answer, and even bishops are hard-pressed to come up with a convincing response.
The typical attitude is that being a True Sabbat is a matter of importance and distinction – you do not want just anybody coming in and claiming all the rights and privileges of Sabbat without having proven themselves first. Also, given the pack structure of the sect, many members think of themselves as a collection of gangs or neo-feudal warbands, complete with initiation rites and other ways of making themselves feel special.
The higher up one goes in the Sabbat ranks, the less frequently such symbols are seen, and the "us against the world" outlook of the young packs becomes more and more "me against the world". In order to survive long enough to achieve position and age within the sect, a vampire must learn how to live for themselves, and to fight for every scrap of profit or slightest advantage. Unlike the Camarilla, there is no rigid hierarchy in place to promote or control the ambitions of Sabbat vampires – the only rank and title a Sabbat holds is what they have the power to take.
Both the Tzimisce and the Lasombra encourage this dog-eat-dog culture, as it seems to ensure that only the strongest, smartest, and most capable lead the sect, and all the rest are fodder for the appetites of their betters. The only time Monomacy can be suspended is during a Crusade, and even then, all the reckless charges and Wild Hunts tend to have a way of weeding out the slow and weak from the Sabbat's ranks.
Countering this anarchic atmosphere is the Vaulderie. There are still a few elders who, in nights past, were members of the same pack, and will occasionally work together and share the Vaulderie. Younger vampires, who are living and fighting together as one unit, develop a fierce protection of one another, or else. If you cannot rely on your packmates, or their loyalty is in question, then the only thing stopping them from being ripped to shreds is the Vinculum bond they share with the rest of the pack. In the World of Darkness, being part of a pack is sometimes the only thing these vampires have going for them.

Hierarchy

Above the pack is a set of hierarchical titles specifically mocking the titles of the Catholic Church. Bishops oversee multiple packs and may also have a specific portfolio; overseeing Bishops are Archbishops, generally holding a position analogous to Prince for a city. Above the Archbishops are the Cardinals, who oversee large geographic regions (such as Canada, or the Eastern Seaboard) and who comprise the Consistory, the governing body that selects the Regent. Advising the Regent, Consistory, and Archbishops, or other leaders are the Prisci, a group of elders and other respected Sabbat who take an advisory and judicial role. The higher ranks of the Sabbat enforce their will through agents commonly called Templars or Paladins, depending on rank.

Sabbat Political Hierarchy

False Sabbat
 A False Sabbat is a vampire who has not undergone the Creation Rites (an additional ritual conducted after the embrace to truly join the sect), or someone who had his status among the sect revoked. Often used as the laborers to conduct the worst of dirty work.
True Sabbat
 A True Sabbat is a vampire who has undergone the Creation Rites. In opposition to the False Sabbat, these are considered worthy Cainites who have proven themselves in combat or intrigue against their rivals 
Ductus
 Ductus (plural Ducti), is a title held by a Sabbat vampire who acts as the leader of an individual pack, which is more a position of honor than one of responsibility. 
Pack Priest
 Priest is a title held by a Sabbat vampire. They are the leaders of the sect's ritae in a given pack.
Templar (or Paladin)
 The templars are an elite force of bodyguards appointed by a bishop or greater leader of the Sabbat. Also called bloodhounds or button men, they serve exclusively the higher ranking members of the sect, always in a martial capacity. Paladins are the elite membership of the Templar's often tasked with leading missions on behalf of the higher ranking members of the ecclesiarchy. 
Bishop
 Bishop is a title held by a Sabbat vampire, who serves or advises an Archbishop, or a vampire who maintains Sabbat influence in a city with aid of others of equal status.
Archbishop
 Archbishop is a title held by a Sabbat vampire who has claimed a given expanse of domain as his own, generally a city, and supports that claim against all others. The term can refer to a Cainite of any gender.
Priscus
 Priscus is a title held by a Sabbat vampire that acts as advisor to the local authority figures of the sect, with no formal role in the internal politics but great practical influence.
Cardinal
 Cardinal is a title held by a Sabbat vampire who oversees sect affairs in large geographical regions.
Regent
 Regent is a title held by the Sabbat vampire who has the ultimate authority over the entire sect, ruling it from the Sabbat stronghold in Mexico City.
These titles are formally recognized, but also generally involve a certain degree of self-selection. The Sabbat has a formal rite for recognizing Bishop and higher ranks, but any Sabbat may claim a title and try to defend it. However, the higher the rank claimed, the more likely the claimant will meet a gruesome end. The Prisci, in particular, are selected only by other Prisci.
As with all Vampiric organizations, organization eventually bows to the demands of power. While most Sabbat belong to packs, elder Sabbat are more likely to live and work without packmates. At the higher levels of the organization, the difference between Camarilla and Sabbat elders is negligible, regardless of how different it may appear in the trenches.

The Sabbat in 1863 

The Sabbat have been silent since the end of their civil war. Wounded, the Sect has been licking its wounds in what few strongholds left in the world they managed to hold on to as Anarch and Camarilla alike like carrion birds pecked at their holdings while they were too over stretched to defend anything. 
The general leadership of The Sabbat are unknown to members outside of the sect as the shuffle of the end of The Sabbat Civil War are unknown to Anarch or Camarilla spies. It is known though, that a Regent and his council of advisors has left Mexico, to destinations unknown.  
In the Old World the Sabbat maintain deep ties in far eastern Europe in the shadow of the Russian Empire, Spain, and the Jungles of Indochina.  In the New World the Sabbat maintain few holdings in Mexico and are a known element in Texas, California, and the Carolinas. 
With the world coming close to another age of kine conflict the Sabbat, the same as every other group of kindred may well try to take advantage of the coming blood shed. War is often a great time of Sabbat expansion as it allows them to covertly conduct their mass embraces on battlefields. A dying man is often so desperate he will often never ask what salvation the cleric speaking of allowing him to cling to life truly represents.

Type

Religious, Organised Religion

Related Ethnicities

• The Lasombra
• The Tzimisce