Lancea Sanctum

World of Darkness > Vampire: The Requiem > Covenants > Lancea Sanctum

The Lancea Sanctum borrows heavily from the early Christian church, adopting many of its institutions and practices, such as canonical offices, monasticism, certain theological arguments, and its ritualistic mien so important to the Lancea Sanctum’s identity tonight. The covenant is the de facto Church of Longinus, and on account of its association with the Roman Apostolic Church and alliances with other covenants like the Invictus, it has become a force in domains the world over. It offers its members a sense of being special, even chosen, filling a void in an often-lonely Requiem. Its catechisms and rites provide spiritual fortification and play to a vampire’s desire to be morally at peace with his frequently inhuman actions. Every member is not just Sanctified, but a Priest who stands as a model of propriety for his fellow Damned — at least as the Lancea Sanctum defines what is right and what is wrong.

The Lancea Sanctum, once the "Lance and Sanctum," or Lancea et Sanctum, is the modern Covenant with the longest history, touting an unbroken lineage stretching all the way back to the Kindred of ancient Rome.

A Bygone Era

Despite the covenant’s refusal to accept it, the time of the Lancea Sanctum’s ascendancy is long past. While the covenant certainly claims power here and rises to supremacy there, its message feels fundamentally dated and often inflexible. These nights are cynical and often faithless, two immediate strikes against the Sanctified’s power base.

Still, this doesn’t mean the Lancea Sanctum is doomed to failure. Rather, this position works for members seeking to be dramatic underdogs who still have the fire of conviction. Indeed, many people (Kindred and their players, even) perceive the Lancea Sanctum to be stronger than it truly is. They see the efficacy of its rituals and hear the strength of the Sanctified sermons… and they buy into the myth. They fail to see its imperfect message, its misleading philosophy and the deleterious effects of its impositions of guilt and original sin.

Can the Lancea Sanctum survive? Certainly, as you’ve seen time and again (and will continue to) in Vampire material. But can it again claim the power it once held in the nights of a less impious age? The forecast is against the covenant. Then again, despair is a sin, and the righteous fervor of the covenant may prove to be an advantage in their battle for survival and supremacy.

Monstrous Mindset

The Lancea Sanctum exists under a rather peculiar dichotomy. On one hand, they believe in propriety and sobriety. On the other hand, their absolutist self-righteous prejudices color everything about them. Although he Testament of Longinus doesn't explicitly encourage unnecessary violence, the Testament does state that it is a vampire's duty to feed upon the kine without regret or mercy, for the Curse is a mandate from Heaven. The Lancea Sanctum book purports to represent the alien mindset of these most inhuman of vampires in order to portray them in all their bloody resplendence.