Path of the Adversary
Also Known As: Path of the Devil (Via Adversarius)
Description: The Beast rages. It hurls itself ceaselessly against the cage of a Cainite's will, rejecting the right of anything but itself to rule, control or command it. It is a creature of wrath and rebellion, driving its bearer to acts of destruction and rejection of all that is "virtuous" and "holy."
Followers of the Path of the Devil (originally the Path of the Adversary) lend and ear to all the lessons that their Beasts try to teach them, but consider this one the most important: In the end, your existence and your soul belong to you and you alone. Neither God nor man possesses the right to condemn you. No prince has the right to rule you, no clan nor cause is innately worthy of your unthinking obedience or loyalty. To feed and tame their Beasts of wrath and rebellion, devotees of this path lash out against institutions and individuals that enslave the soul and mind, that compel obedience with the threat of torment and damnation and that exalt mindless obedience to arbitrary authority over the exercise of one's most precious gift -- free will.
Adherents of the Path of the Devil tend to be thoughtful monsters. Other Sinners may deride their more obviously pronounced inward-turning focus as pointless navel-gazing, but the Adversaries rarely care. They value both personal introspection and external scholarship, often amassing vast philosophical libraries and deliberately seeking out discourse with followers of other moral and ethical paths, the better to understand the strengths and weaknesses of their foes and to use those weaknesses against them. In action, the Adversaries are often the most relentless and patient of all Sinners, voluntarily devoting centuries to the task of undermining flawed or corrupt religious and social systems, of defiling a single human or Cainite soul, of converting others to the practice of the Road of Sin or of any other goal they set their minds to. Once engaged in the struggle to open another being's eyes to the truth of their own nature, Adversaries are rarely content to surrender short of total victory.
Additional Ethics of Rebellion
You belong solely to yourself; suffer no man, vampire or god to claim himself or herself your ruler.
Free will is your most valuable possession -- allow none to defile it.
Destroy that which enslaves the souls and wills of others, and teach them a better way.
Practices: The Adversaries are, in a way, the least intrinsically selfish of all the Sinner types. Yes, they believe in pleasing themselves and seeing to their own comfort, but in many ways, they feel they owe something in return to others, as well. They balance the destructive urges of their Beast against an ethic that requires them to build something to replace those things that they must tear down. They feel it their responsibility to raise both men and Cainites above the muck of an enslaving faith and a society in which all creatures are trapped. Adversary - Prometheans are among the most idealistic of the type, fighting the war against ignorance and fear from the bottom up. Adversary-Furores are often the most ferocious of their kind, taking the battle directly to the forces of stasis and slavery, intent on shaking both the pillars of Heaven and Cainite society.
Virtues: Conviction & Instinct
Hierarchy of Sins against
10 - Acknowledging the laws of God or man. (Morality imposed from without enslaves the will and mind.)
9 - Failing to indulge your desires. (Pleasure and passion are gifts of the soul; cultivate them.)
8 - Failing to ride the wave of a frenzy. (Through its lashings, you may come to understand the Beast.)
7 - Refusing to aid a lost soul in need. (It is your duty to aid those who are struggling to understand their nature.)
6 - Refusing pleasure that injures no one. (There is no wrong in seeking to please yourself.)
5 - Seeking material gain at the expense of higher concerns. (Material gains are transitory and replaceable; enrich your soul first.)
4 - Refusing to act when necessity demands it. (Temporary inconvenience and self-sacrifice can yield long-term rewards.)
3 - Refusing to kill when it is in your best interest. (Sometimes, destruction is necessary to achieve greater growth.)
2 - Refusing to feed when necessary. (See to your personal needs without shame or hesitation.)
1 - Encouraging false virtue or aiding its agents. (Virtue is an enslaving lie; expose and thwart it at every opportunity.)
