The Path of Cathari
| Followers of the Path ofCathari, who call themselves Albigensians or Gnostics, hold to a mystical tradition which identifies two Gods. The pure and good God of Light made everything spiritual while the corrupt and evil God of Darkness made everything material. The idea surfaced again and again among believers in Classical and medieval times: Zoroastrianism and Manicheism made the two Gods equal while Gnostic groups within Judaism and Christianity declared the God of Darkness doomed to ultimate destruction. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the Cathar heresy's version of this dualist view of the world displaced mainstream Christianity in southern France. The Albigensians Crusade marked its violent end - the Bishop of Citeaux gave the famous advice "Kill them all; God will know His own" to the soldiers who then slaughtered every suspected heretic. The idea surfaced in future centuries, but never as successfully as during the Cathar era. Some desperate Cathars accepted local vampires' offer of shelter or escape and were Embraced. As the truth of their new condition sank in, those Cathars who didn't give themselves up to the sun set about systematically defining their place in the world. Vampires are the perfect creatures of Darkness, their spirit locked in flesh forever and their existence confined to the hours when darkness rules. They therefore took up the burden of being the foremost servants of Darkness. They test the weaknesses of Light: Anything that they can destroy deserves to perish. Since former Cathars created the Path as an actual codified doctrine, it bears the name of Cathari. Older vampires who'd already developed similar views adopted the practice without necessarily endorsing the name, and even in the Final Nights, followers of the Path still argue about its most proper title. The Path of Cathari directs adherents to engage in every form of vice and indulgence... but not capriciously. Cathari vampires fight on the front lines of the cosmic war. They must tempt every child of the Light, then destroy all who prove weak or uncommitted. Private sins don't matter to the Cathari, only the sins that lead others to fall. Some Cathari believe that in the last moment of history, the Light will prevail and they'll be destroyed like Darkness itself. They accept this and focus on doing their duty in the meantime so that what remains in that final moment will stand strong, tested and purified. Other Cathari believe the outcome of the cosmic war is in doubt and that if Darkness wins, it deserves to. Cathari do not kill anyone lightly. An imposed death interrupts the process of a soul's collapse from within, unlike suicide, being shot while resisting arrest or any of the deaths that come from a falling mortal's own actions. Cathari practice mastering frenzy to avoid strengthening the forces of Light with the ill-timed removal of a new recruit to Darkness. Sometimes a follower of this Path decides, after calm reflection, that a mortal or Cainite must die to further the overall course of the war. The Gnostic then kills deliberately and coolly, trying to derive as little pleasure from the process as possible. Like the mortal dualists they once were, the Cathari teach that souls reincarnate. They want to make sure that people reincarnate badly rather than well, which means letting corruption flourish fully. Vampires on the Path of Cathari practice Conviction and Instinct. |