The Inquisition is an organization within the Roman Catholic Church tasked to rid the world of evil and heresy in all its forms in the name of God.
Followers of the Inquisition are referred to as "inquisitors" and are generally mortal, though there are exceptions (naturally no such exceptions have been acknowledged by the Inquisition).
Active from 1209 to 1229, the Albigensian Crusade was, for all intents and purposes, a completely mundane crusade against Cathar heretics in southern France. However, the discoveries made by the crusaders in the area revealed to the Catholic Church the fact that vampires were both real and, more importantly, far more widespread and influential than any mortal had previously thought. Initially keeping this information close to their chest, the Church quickly began laying the groundwork for subsequent inquisitorial movements.
Founded before the official beginning of the Burning Times, the Shadow Inquisition investigated into the nature of supernatural evil and collected large amounts of information. Divided into several Orders brought together by papal decree, the Shadow Inquisition lasted until the formation of the official Inquisition, at which point it was dissolved and the various orders either joined and were reorganized, seceded or were even hunted themselves.
Taking place a century before its European equivalent, the Purge of Baybars was a period between 1260 and 1277 in which Mamluk Sultan Baybars sought to purge his kingdom - consisting at the time of Egypt, the Levant, and parts of Arabia - of all non-Muslims, especially supernaturals. This led to a mass exodus of diasporic supernatural beings who refused to convert, who remained dispersed until decades after Baybars' assassination and the end of the purge itself.
The First Inquisition[]
What most vampires refer to when they simply say "the Inquisition". Active during what is commonly referred as the Burning Times, the first Inquisition raged throughout Europe and forced the various supernaturals into hiding. Not all inquisitors of that time knew they were up against supernatural beings and several innocents burned along with monsters.
A phenomenon of the 21st century, the Second Inquisition is a union of intelligence services with the remaining witch-hunters of the Vatican that has managed to drive the great sects into the defensive, destroyed the headquarters of ClanTremere and has become one of the greatest threats to the supernatural. The Vatican and its allied orgs consider it a direct continuation of the first (and only) Inquisition, albeit now spread out across the world and incorporating assistance from various powerful governments.
Description[]
You know what lit the fires of the First Inquisition that raged from the Middle Ages through to the Renaissance. Perhaps an ancestor spoke in fear of those nights. Maybe you own texts chronicling those terrible times, or you have designs on recreating them by turning the Church against your enemies.
Your knowledge of the Inquisition is such that you may have the capacity to manipulate the Second Inquisition of tonight, though their methods and some beliefs have changed. You know how best to evade the group and how to turn them against your foes. Such actions do not come without risk, just as your ancestors who attempted the same feat discovered.
Loresheet[]
Mistakes of the Past: You know Kindred history and can cite chapter and verse of the domains and Princes the Inquisition destroyed in its original incarnation. You can educate any vampire on the Inquisition's historic dangers. Once per story, you can ask the Storyteller for one piece of information regarding the original Inquisition.
Names of the Guilty: Your knowledge of vampire and Inquisition relations extends to include Kindred manipulators. Though most are dead by these nights, many of their descendants survive, and they are at risk of blackmail for their sires' treacheries. Once per story, you can ask the Storyteller for the name of one descendant of these traitors in your domain, if there is one.
The Sect of St. James: You have contacts who consider themselves "old Inquisitors." The Sectus Sancti Jacomi harbors a deep resentment for their fancy modern counterparts, acting with greater fanaticism and suicidal zeal than the more controlled Second Inquisition. Their abbé is a four-dot Contact, whom you can contact once per story.
The Second Act: You have a Contact within the Second Inquisition or the local Catholic archdiocese: a file clerk, scout, hunter, exorcist, armorer, etc. You have no power over them, but you know how to pump them for information—or prime them with disinformation—if need be.
Black Spot: You have identified a location within your domain that the Second Inquisition fears to tread. Once per story, if you or anyone targeted by the Second Inquisition hides out at this location, the hunters call off the search. This anomaly seems to be a blessing, but it does raise the question: What is so holy or unholy about this place that it deters the greatest threat to Kindred tonight?
