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I looked upon the scene before me - upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain - upon the bleak walls upon the vacant eye-like windows - upon a few rank sedges - and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees - with an utter depression of the soul, which I can compare to no earthly sensation… - Edgar Allan Poe * There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy - William Shakespeare * No Man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks. - Mary Wollstonecraft * Tell me the news, again, whatever it is... sorrow and I are hardly strangers. I can bear the worst. ― Sophocles






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Path of Bones
Topic Started: Aug 15 2015, 07:17 AM (235 Views)
Featherstone
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Interventionist Mod
Nickname: Gravediggers

Virtues: Conviction and Self-Control

Ethics of the Path

Vampires who follow this Path seek the knowledge of precisely what death is: Is it simply the end of life? The transition of the soul to what lies after life? Is it the end of the soul’s desire to exist? These questions haunt the followers of the Path of the Bones each night.

Human, Kindred, or otherwise, every being sooner or later ends up in death's arms. Accept, and do not fear its inevitability. When you kill, do so meticulously and in such a way that you may study and learn from the death. Act in accordance with logic. Be comfortable enough with death and unlife to study them avidly while remaining emotionally detached. Use your study and understanding of death to seek out the meaning and nature of death and life, as well as the place and purpose of the deceased individual in the universe. Study different types, ways, and causes of death (not just those you cause). Let death happen in all its permutations. You should hasten death's arrival, should it seem to be unnaturally delayed.

This is truly a scholar’s code, as the Kindred who follow it forsake even their own comfort to advance their understanding of mortality’s mysteries. It is a Path of knowledge and power, and many who support it learn to wield great influence over the living and dead alike. Many among the Path become quite erudite in the ways of ghosts, but even these odd beings fail to answer many of the Gravediggers’ questions — what, for example, happens to a ghost that resolves its psychic struggle or discorporates into the void? Many Gravediggers, in fact focus completely on that what is on the other side of the veil, studying bodies and their like only when it helps with finding out more about the other side. To this end, practitioners regularly consult with wraiths and use Zombies as servants. Some also focus on the interaction of the Shadowlands with the Spirit World.

Many vampires believe the Path that encourages followers to participate in all manner of murder and deviance. However, followers are often genuinely curious creatures enforcing control on their Beast. Sating it with the blood it desires, but do not letting it overcome them. They wish to learn exactly the nature of death and its purpose, and thus the roles individuals play in the greater scheme of the world, the Beast would not allow that. This Path is quite introspective, and greedy, but these Kindred are not necessarily cruel — they merely value comprehension more than human life. They should be detached yet inquisitive. Although they are not cavalier about death, Gravediggers seldom aid anyone about to die, preferring to watch and learn. Less fatalistic vampires may take issue with this, and the Kindred on this Path will not act against them should they seek to aid the dying individual as, obviously, their time has not yet come.

A Path like the Path of Bones not only denies that murder is a sin, it actually holds death as a concept worthy of worship and praise (in the correct circumstances, an attitude that would horrify any rational human being.

Path of Bones
ScoreMoral Guideline
10Showing fear of death.
9Failing to study an occurrence of death.
8Accidental killing.
7Postponing feeding when hungry.
6Succumbing to frenzy.
5Refusing to kill when an opportunity presents itself.
4Making a decision based on emotion rather than logic.
3Inconveniencing oneself for another's benefit.
2Needlessly preventing a death.
1Actively preventing a death.

Note: The Sabbat claim their version of the Path is distinct, but most outside observers have difficulty telling the difference between adherents of Path of the Bones and Path of Death and the Soul. As such, the mechanics for both Paths are functionally identical.

- Featherstone & Roofie
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