Playing Assamite Antitribu Characters
In many ways, the Assamite antitribu are closer to the general stereotype of the Assamites than any other faction of the clan. Until the past year, they were exclusively warriors by caste. While some Assamite antitribu who were not combat specialists did become True Sabbat, such as the secure couriers who keep the Mexican and Canadian Sabbat connected, no sorcerers or viziers were among their numbers. Many subscribed to the Path of Caine, which set them in direct opposition to the more “humane” elements of the Camarilla — not to mention the main body of their own clan. The antitribu kept to themselves, maintained a high average level of combat prowess and generally regarded outsiders as potential meals (with the exception of their fellow Sabbat members). Under the leadership of the hulul and his shakari advisors, they claimed to be maintaining the only pure line of the Assamite clan.
When the shakari and their contemporaries parted with the Sabbat, their actions eviscerated the Assamite antitribu’s claims of purity and jeopardized the survival of the descendants they left behind. The only thing that saved the vast majority of Assamite antitribu loyal to the Sword of Caine from a merciless purge was a rapid investigation spearheaded by Jalan-Aajav himself that cleared those who remained of any complicity in the departure of their leaders. In his report to an assembly of archbishops and Black Hand leaders, the Seraph pointed out a clear line of demarcation between the loyalists and the deserters within the antitribu. With only a handful of exceptions, none of those who left was Embraced after the Sabbat’s first century of existence. The Vaulderie ensured the loyalty of most later inductees — which makes many Sabbat question just what the original Assamite antitribu did to escape their bonds.
The Assamite antitribu are still a major component of the Sabbat’s paramilitary arm, though their role is somewhat diminished in the Final Nights. The faction as a whole is disorganized and demoralized, though several charismatic young leaders are taking steps to forge scattered elements into a cohesive whole once again. Most Assamite antitribu in the modern nights are young (under a century of age), competent (else they would not have survived the initial wave of uncoordinated reprisals) and highly motivated.
The Sabbat would do well to not count them out of the running to regain leadership of the Black Hand.
A few all-Assamite antitribu packs still claim membership in the Sabbat, mostly those that existed prior to the elders’ departure. New arrivals from Alamut are usually inducted into existing cosmopolitan packs, the better to keep an eye on the new recruits until the Sabbat can determine their true motives. Most arriving warriors attempt to gain positions in the Black Hand or as templars. Vizier defectors have established cabals or loose packs in Sabbat-dominated cities in Central America, though at least three are suspected to have taken up residence in Montreal. Any sorcerers who have joined the Sabbat are keeping low profiles, possibly in Chapter Two: Prayers to Broken Stone the company of Tzimisce koldun with whom they can exchange information and share facilities.
The Dispossessed More a catchall category than a rigidly defined faction, the dispossessed are traditionally Assamites who choose their own paths over the clan’s internal hierarchy. The first recorded use of the term dates to the eighth century B.C., when the warrior caste’s historian, Thucimia, wrote of her rebellious childe as “a wanton and wild thing, heeding no authority save that of the spear, dispossessed by his own hands and lips of the safety of Alamut’s hearth and the comradeship of Haqim’s Children.” In the early Middle Ages, dispossessed warriors seeking mercenary employment in the Cainite courts of Europe gave birth to the first tales that cast the Assamites as hired killers. Several centuries later, a group of honor-conscious individuals briefly earned the label of “dispossessed” before establishing themselves as the Assamite antitribu. Assamites who claimed Inconnu membership were always considered dispossessed, as were those rare few who gave the Camarilla their loyalty or fled east to attempt alliance and coexistence with the Cathayans.
The greatest numbers of dispossessed existed during the Long Night. In this era, perhaps as many as one in three Assamites was dispossessed, though the clan has never kept exact records of the number of newly Embraced members who turned their backs on Haqim’s legacy. This population boom could not last, however, and the nascent Camarilla’s crusade against the Assamites fell heavily on the dispossessed. Many nonaligned Assamites met Final Death prior to the Treaty of Tyre for no reason other than their heritage. Dispossessed elders were favored targets of Assamite-hunting coteries by virtue of their unnaturally dark skin. By the time the treaty was signed in 1496, less than a few score dispossessed remained in existence across Europe and North Africa. The rest had either perished, renounced their iconoclasm and rejoined Alamut, entered torpor or sought sanctuary with the Inconnu.
Owing to recent events, the dispossessed may now make up a portion of the clan close to that of a millennium ago. Although many members of all three castes fled Alamut for the relative security and stability of the Camarilla, roughly as many chose to follow no leader rather than submitting to a power structure that they had known as the enemy since receiving the Blood.
Alamut and the Camarilla are two polar extremes, with the Sabbat lying somewhere off the scale, and many Assamites feel that none of these options are acceptable. Both faction heads are scrambling to bring these diverse individuals back to the fold — as are the various leaders of the Assamite antitribu.