The Scarlet Rite
“If you think that felt good, just take one of these and follow me.”
Where some factions express their understanding of the Adversary through acts of systematic brutality and cruelty, the Scarlet Rite chooses a softer shade of indulgence. While many such sarx-affiliated cults existed before, the faction truly came into its own amidst the perfumed parlors and salons of the early 18th century. The so-called Hyletics seek out ever-increasing carnal pleasures in order to satisfy the flesh that calls out for it. Although often dismissed by fanatics of more visceral cults as mere perverts and junkies, the path to Hyletic enlightenment is one of unrestrained lust, of both personal and material excess. While not as fixated on murder and mutilation, the limits of sexual deviance mark the point at which the ceremonies of the Scarlet Rite begin.
Undeniably the newest of the major factions of the Forsworn, the Scarlet Rite found its rise to prominence among the occult societies of the Age of (so-called) Enlightenment at the beginning of the 18th century. Where society still maintained its veneer of piety and higher thinking, in England, two organizations calling themselves “The Hellfire Club” surfaced with an agenda that frightened the prudish minds of the day. Although neither of these societies performed the Black Masses and satanic rites for which they are so infamous, one did consciously work toward undermining conventional morality to the best of its ability. Nonetheless, many of the members who were interested in more visceral satisfaction departed at this time. These degenerates then created their own society, called the “Scarlet Rite,” which focused on acts of immorality instead of words. However, on the evening of January 18, 1723, a Kindred calling herself the Chalice of Babalon arrived. After that evening’s events, half of the society’s membership was dead and the other half had become the most powerful covey the ideology had ever seen. This covey, more than anything, was responsible for the rise of the Scarlet Rite as a major Brood faction. The Rite has grown rapidly ever since, taking powerful root in every debauchery human civilization has had to offer.
Undeniably the newest of the major factions of the Forsworn, the Scarlet Rite found its rise to prominence among the occult societies of the Age of (so-called) Enlightenment at the beginning of the 18th century. Where society still maintained its veneer of piety and higher thinking, in England, two organizations calling themselves “The Hellfire Club” surfaced with an agenda that frightened the prudish minds of the day. Although neither of these societies performed the Black Masses and satanic rites for which they are so infamous, one did consciously work toward undermining conventional morality to the best of its ability. Nonetheless, many of the members who were interested in more visceral satisfaction departed at this time. These degenerates then created their own society, called the “Scarlet Rite,” which focused on acts of immorality instead of words. However, on the evening of January 18, 1723, a Kindred calling herself the Chalice of Babalon arrived. After that evening’s events, half of the society’s membership was dead and the other half had become the most powerful covey the ideology had ever seen. This covey, more than anything, was responsible for the rise of the Scarlet Rite as a major Brood faction. The Rite has grown rapidly ever since, taking powerful root in every debauchery human civilization has had to offer.
Structure
Organization: Overall, the Rite is non-hierarchical, though Sentinels and eunuch Ghouls are often used for security at important events. Temporary officers called “patrons” often host such galas and are responsible for procuring havens and holdings. The Therion (called “Perfecti” among the Hyletics, and often by non-Hyletic Brood scholars, as well) are often used as unliving centerpieces at orgy rites, as the infertility of the Priest caste serves as symbol and crux to the meaninglessness of all the frenzied lust and sex.
Culture
Rites of the Hyletics
The aim of most Hyletic rites is to consume and devour without care or consequence, focusing almost exclusively on the satisfaction of appetite. The zealous among the Hyletics are marked by a total and constant gluttony, denying the present moment and the past in favor of a future of more and more flesh. While Hyletic rituals may not be as horrifying as those of The Roaring Serpent or The Pandaemonium, what makes them truly powerful is how easily others, human and Kindred, are lured to participate.
The Scarlet Rite practices The Vaulderie in a number of ways. Because the drinking of blood and blood play are considered a high-risk activity for humans insofar as the spreading of disease is concerned, indulging in such a ritual would be a rare opportunity for the human libertine. In some extra decadent performances of the Hyletic Vaulderie, am exceptionally attractive ghoul may serve as the vessel, with participants taking their fill from the ghoul’s mouth or from incisions made in his body. In addition, performances of The Vaulderie will often take place in the midst of mass orgies, where the desire for flesh and the thirst for blood can be satisfied simultaneously.
Although undeniably a sarx cult, the Scarlet Rite also encourages the heavy use of hallucinogens and uninhibitory drugs during the faction’s rituals. Not only do such substances relax the moorings around the moral foundations of the participants nearly to collapse, but they also create a dreamlike atmosphere where what is actually happening is difficult to discern. Under these conditions and the provocations of persistent Hyletics, what would normally be a little drug experimentation and exotic sex among consenting adults can be taken to a much more ominous level.
Despite the parties and kink of the Hyletics, however, the Trials of Hunger among the Scarlet Rite are no less terrifying than the most debased rite of any other faction. In the private ritual chambers of these Forsworn, ritual rape, pedophilia, bestiality and even necrophilia are commonplace. In some cases, a victim will be restrained for several nights of ceremony, repeatedly subjected to ritual abuse for the fulfillment of the Scarlet Rite’s insatiable carnal appetite.
Appearance: Despite the bestial nature of their pastimes, the Hyletics still maintain fairly human standards of dress and attractiveness. Depending on the stock from which they feed, devotees of the Scarlet Rite will wear anything from designer suits to stylish club wear to couture fetish accessories. Unlike the more brutal Pandaemonium, members of the Scarlet Rite are often too vain for excessive piercing or tattoos, generally only indulging in such body play in the interest of making themselves more attractive or as a sexual enhancement. There are always exceptions, however, as sometimes remaining completely innocuous serves the faction to better effect.
The aim of most Hyletic rites is to consume and devour without care or consequence, focusing almost exclusively on the satisfaction of appetite. The zealous among the Hyletics are marked by a total and constant gluttony, denying the present moment and the past in favor of a future of more and more flesh. While Hyletic rituals may not be as horrifying as those of The Roaring Serpent or The Pandaemonium, what makes them truly powerful is how easily others, human and Kindred, are lured to participate.
The Scarlet Rite practices The Vaulderie in a number of ways. Because the drinking of blood and blood play are considered a high-risk activity for humans insofar as the spreading of disease is concerned, indulging in such a ritual would be a rare opportunity for the human libertine. In some extra decadent performances of the Hyletic Vaulderie, am exceptionally attractive ghoul may serve as the vessel, with participants taking their fill from the ghoul’s mouth or from incisions made in his body. In addition, performances of The Vaulderie will often take place in the midst of mass orgies, where the desire for flesh and the thirst for blood can be satisfied simultaneously.
Although undeniably a sarx cult, the Scarlet Rite also encourages the heavy use of hallucinogens and uninhibitory drugs during the faction’s rituals. Not only do such substances relax the moorings around the moral foundations of the participants nearly to collapse, but they also create a dreamlike atmosphere where what is actually happening is difficult to discern. Under these conditions and the provocations of persistent Hyletics, what would normally be a little drug experimentation and exotic sex among consenting adults can be taken to a much more ominous level.
Despite the parties and kink of the Hyletics, however, the Trials of Hunger among the Scarlet Rite are no less terrifying than the most debased rite of any other faction. In the private ritual chambers of these Forsworn, ritual rape, pedophilia, bestiality and even necrophilia are commonplace. In some cases, a victim will be restrained for several nights of ceremony, repeatedly subjected to ritual abuse for the fulfillment of the Scarlet Rite’s insatiable carnal appetite.
Appearance: Despite the bestial nature of their pastimes, the Hyletics still maintain fairly human standards of dress and attractiveness. Depending on the stock from which they feed, devotees of the Scarlet Rite will wear anything from designer suits to stylish club wear to couture fetish accessories. Unlike the more brutal Pandaemonium, members of the Scarlet Rite are often too vain for excessive piercing or tattoos, generally only indulging in such body play in the interest of making themselves more attractive or as a sexual enhancement. There are always exceptions, however, as sometimes remaining completely innocuous serves the faction to better effect.
Assets
Scarlet Rite Domains
Unlike a good number of Forsworn, the Scarlet Rite prefers to take up residence among the swarming masses of modern society. Where other factions need spend many years entrenching themselves and setting up operations to insure their functionality, the Hyletics often find that they can jump right into most mortal social environments and turn them on their ear.
In North America, the Scarlet Rite works on two fronts. On the coasts and in the major cities of the Midwest, the Hyletics establish their havens and cultivate surges in vice that they can steer toward greater menace. In places such as New York, Montreal, Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago, drugs, prostitution and black market pornography are spread out before Hyletics like a garden of earthly delights. However, the rare jewels are found in America’s Bible Belt. In the repressed, quiet towns of the Midwest, a covey of the Scarlet Rite can demolish the social norm, using their Ghouls and cultists to coax a quiet hardware store owner into an incestuous relationship with his own daughter or push a church activities director into secret atrocities of abuse and molestation.
In Central and South America, the Hyletics have entrenched strongholds in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. In these cities, the rich can come and enjoy unimaginable debauchery in luxuriously furnished compounds without any worry of legal scandal or legal consequence. In such places, the Hyletics and their cults have access to influential politicians, powerful corporate executives and famous entertainers, and the Hyletics infuse them with sugar-coated versions of their own dark philosophies that can later be disseminated to their social circles when they return home.
In Asia, Bangkok serves as Mecca for the Scarlet Rite. As anonymous connoisseurs of flesh and sin crawl like ants over the sex trade districts of the Sodom of the East, the Forsworn of the Scarlet Rite sit at the top of the hill. It is said that the “sacredness” of Bangkok is so significant to the Hyletics that more than a dozen permanent temples have been established throughout the city, and have been maintained since the end of the 19th century. The Scarlet Rite has also made itself strong in Hong Kong and Tokyo, although these strongholds do not play host to nowhere near the magnitude of the faction’s activities in Bangkok.
The fall of the Iron Curtain also resulted in heightened Hyletic activity in that region. In addition to legal and illegal prostitution, drug-related crimes have also seen an increase. In the city of Prague, young people are turned out for prostitution and hardcore pornography regardless of age, and every form of perversion can be met with but a few American dollars. It is not by chance that an increase in such things directly correlates to the arrival of Hyletic cults.
While zealous in their explorations of the limits of pleasure, the Hyletics are not stupid. In the areas of the world where sexual misconduct can be met with torture and death at the hands of religious fundamentalists, the Scarlet Rite stays clear. To wit, few Hyletic cults maintain power bases in any major city of the Middle East. During the early 1800s, the Scarlet Rite had a significant presence in China, but there has been precious little Hyletic activity there since the beginning of the 20th century.
Haven: The Hyletics, though wanton and reckless in their ways, prey on two levels of society — the estranged and desperate of the sex trade and the curious and deviant of high society. The havens the Hyletics select reflect this focus. The most common sorts are private residences of the rich. Enormous mansions with all the amenities prove more than adequate playgrounds for Hyletic gatherings. On one occasion, a Hyletic Therion seized control and influence over a preparatory academy in rural Massachusetts. The resulting scandals still precipitate to this day. While such opulent atmospheres are highly desirable, the Hyletics most often hole up in weekly rent apartment complexes in close proximity to red light districts, hourly fee motels located near truck stops and biker bars, as well as “massage parlors,” “escort services” and actual brothels. In addition, it is not uncommon for members of the Scarlet Rite to establish temporary settings of excess in the form of private, underground sex and fetish clubs. Entry is for members or by invitation only, and the experiences that lie within are beyond the imagining of even the most jaded. Nonetheless, the Hyletics generally select their havens because of the ease of their maintenance, as most cannot be bothered with exhaustive record-keeping or business management, and will rarely devote more than a mortal servant or two to such things.
Unlike a good number of Forsworn, the Scarlet Rite prefers to take up residence among the swarming masses of modern society. Where other factions need spend many years entrenching themselves and setting up operations to insure their functionality, the Hyletics often find that they can jump right into most mortal social environments and turn them on their ear.
In North America, the Scarlet Rite works on two fronts. On the coasts and in the major cities of the Midwest, the Hyletics establish their havens and cultivate surges in vice that they can steer toward greater menace. In places such as New York, Montreal, Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago, drugs, prostitution and black market pornography are spread out before Hyletics like a garden of earthly delights. However, the rare jewels are found in America’s Bible Belt. In the repressed, quiet towns of the Midwest, a covey of the Scarlet Rite can demolish the social norm, using their Ghouls and cultists to coax a quiet hardware store owner into an incestuous relationship with his own daughter or push a church activities director into secret atrocities of abuse and molestation.
In Central and South America, the Hyletics have entrenched strongholds in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. In these cities, the rich can come and enjoy unimaginable debauchery in luxuriously furnished compounds without any worry of legal scandal or legal consequence. In such places, the Hyletics and their cults have access to influential politicians, powerful corporate executives and famous entertainers, and the Hyletics infuse them with sugar-coated versions of their own dark philosophies that can later be disseminated to their social circles when they return home.
In Asia, Bangkok serves as Mecca for the Scarlet Rite. As anonymous connoisseurs of flesh and sin crawl like ants over the sex trade districts of the Sodom of the East, the Forsworn of the Scarlet Rite sit at the top of the hill. It is said that the “sacredness” of Bangkok is so significant to the Hyletics that more than a dozen permanent temples have been established throughout the city, and have been maintained since the end of the 19th century. The Scarlet Rite has also made itself strong in Hong Kong and Tokyo, although these strongholds do not play host to nowhere near the magnitude of the faction’s activities in Bangkok.
The fall of the Iron Curtain also resulted in heightened Hyletic activity in that region. In addition to legal and illegal prostitution, drug-related crimes have also seen an increase. In the city of Prague, young people are turned out for prostitution and hardcore pornography regardless of age, and every form of perversion can be met with but a few American dollars. It is not by chance that an increase in such things directly correlates to the arrival of Hyletic cults.
While zealous in their explorations of the limits of pleasure, the Hyletics are not stupid. In the areas of the world where sexual misconduct can be met with torture and death at the hands of religious fundamentalists, the Scarlet Rite stays clear. To wit, few Hyletic cults maintain power bases in any major city of the Middle East. During the early 1800s, the Scarlet Rite had a significant presence in China, but there has been precious little Hyletic activity there since the beginning of the 20th century.
Haven: The Hyletics, though wanton and reckless in their ways, prey on two levels of society — the estranged and desperate of the sex trade and the curious and deviant of high society. The havens the Hyletics select reflect this focus. The most common sorts are private residences of the rich. Enormous mansions with all the amenities prove more than adequate playgrounds for Hyletic gatherings. On one occasion, a Hyletic Therion seized control and influence over a preparatory academy in rural Massachusetts. The resulting scandals still precipitate to this day. While such opulent atmospheres are highly desirable, the Hyletics most often hole up in weekly rent apartment complexes in close proximity to red light districts, hourly fee motels located near truck stops and biker bars, as well as “massage parlors,” “escort services” and actual brothels. In addition, it is not uncommon for members of the Scarlet Rite to establish temporary settings of excess in the form of private, underground sex and fetish clubs. Entry is for members or by invitation only, and the experiences that lie within are beyond the imagining of even the most jaded. Nonetheless, the Hyletics generally select their havens because of the ease of their maintenance, as most cannot be bothered with exhaustive record-keeping or business management, and will rarely devote more than a mortal servant or two to such things.
History
Background: Although promiscuous in almost all other matters, members of the Scarlet Rite are rather narrow when it comes to the stock from which the faction’s adherents are drawn. Sex trade professionals (both legal and illegal) and the wealthy constitute a strong majority of the faction’s membership. Among the Kindred, Daeva are preferred for any number of reasons, though Gangrel and Ventrue likewise find the Rite appealing. Among the covenants, members of The Lancea Sanctum and Carthian Movement are most susceptible to the Scarlet Rite’s allure.
Type
Secret, Religious sect
Alternative Names
Hyletics
Ruling Organization
Parent Organization
Concepts: Blood junkie, club owner, dominatrix, fetishist, pornographer, prostitute, serial rapist, starlet, trust fund dilettante.
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