Path of Orion

The Roads / Road of the Beast

A Path on the Road of the Beast

Nickname: Stalkers

Basic Beliefs: Vampires, at their core, are hunters. Predators. But in the modern nights, they often accept the roles of scavengers, preying on mortal society's castoffs. Rather than relishing in their glorious destiny at the apex of the food chain, they can cling to the tatters of their former lives or lose themselves to frenzy.

Stalkers consider such debasement pathetic. They loathe their own kind who do not stand up and seize their deathright. For vampires on the Path of Orion, Humanity and the Beast alike are the greatest offences to the Children of Caine. Both are impediments to a Cainite's understanding of her destiny and place in the natural order. The species as a whole will progress, they say, only when those who lose their intellect to passion are wiped from the ranks of the undead. It is the stalkers' holy crusade to be the instrument of purification, and to test the extremes of their own capabilities.

Followers of Orion are the hunters of hunters, the kings of predators. For them, unlife itself is a great safari, a mythic journey into the wilds of the unknown. By confronting and destroying the Beast in other Cainites, stalkers hope to confront and quell the creature within themselves. By facing and destroying vampires who cling to the weakness of their own Humanity, they seek to overcome their distractions of nostalgia and sympathy.

Sometimes acting in packs, sometimes alone, stalkers stand slightly apart from the ranks of their fellows, even among the Sabbat. They must be ever vigilant against the human or Bestial taint that can bring down the most perfectly evolved predatory species on Earth. It is not only the beast within that must be overcome, but the Beasts that reside in the souls of all Vampires.

Description of Followers: A marginal calling among the Sabbat and independent Gangrel, the Path of Orion appeals to vampires who are alienated loners, even among their fellows. Stalkers see themselves as lonely outsiders, grim vigilantes who protect the vampiric race from themselves.

Followers come from any clan, but the path has a natural appeal to Brujah, Nosferatu and Gangrel, and a fair number of Panders. Few members of more effete clans adopt it.Adherents must be capable fighters and hunters, capable of acting alone or as part of a pack.

Among the Sabbat, Stalkers are prized as Paladins and Templars - agents who can be trusted to not baulk at dangerous assignments against the sect's enemies, even those who originate from within the sect. Among the Black Hand, they are considered unreliable, more likely to make "executive decisions" about their targets than to act in support the sub-sect's often opaque goals. Few stalkers rise to leadership positions in the Sabbat: they tend to see the politics necessary as signs of human tendencies.

Stalkers have begun to find their way into the Sabbat's Inquisition, though for less than pious reasons: Demons are simply another manifestation of the Beast, or perhaps something even worse, against which to test ones mettle. Thus, Stalkers have begun to attract the notice of the followers of Evil Revelations and other Infernalists who hide within the sect.

While path followers seek to correct the behavior of the most extreme "deviants" among vampires, they do not do much to recruit new members. Within the Sabbat, they recognize most of the sect's Paths of Enlightenment as legitimate expressions of the vampiric condition, and understand that not all vampires are cut out for a Stalker's lonely road. Those few independents who cling to the path are less likely to be as understanding of paths such as Cathari, which encourage human pleasures even as they reject humanity. Among either group, a sire whose childe displays aptitude for another path will usually allow the neonate to go with her blessing.

Stalkers are viewed with suspicion by many Sabbat, particularly by young or degenerate ones (those with low path scores). They have been known to anticipate likely target's fall to the Beast by learning her habits and otherwise marking their prey before the fall actually occurs. Some of these potential targets have taken steps to discredit or harm their would-be judges.

History: The Path of Orion developed slowly, over time, in places where both civilized and natural forces remained strong and at odds. It came to the attention of vampiric scholars during the first half of the 20th century, when the Brujah antitribu, Lord Aaron Wesley Wilkshire, a a member of the British Aristocracy and a "Great White Hunter," codified it and introduced it to the Sabbat. Some claim that variations of the path were noted on both sides of the Sabbat-Camarilla wars during the 17th century. Lord Wilkshire dabbled in the paths of Harmony, Honorable Accord and Power and the Inner Voice, before disappearing for two decades, only to return with his new Gift to the Sabbat.

Following the Path: The hunt is everything for those on the Path of Orion. Their unlives focus on tracking the most dangerous game - vampires of either very low or very high Humanity, Lupines and similar prey. The hunt is not always a physical challenge, however. It can involve decades of subterfuge and infiltration as easily as a crazed chase down back alleys. No matter its form, a pursuit must be maintained single-mindedly. By focusing on the task at hand, a follower can drown out the call of both the Beast and memories of life.

Stalkers are very selective about siring. In this sense, the adherents employ something akin to the traditional Camarilla model of pursuing, Embracing and nurturing a childe. It is important that a creation be a credit to the vampiric race, and a path follower who sires poorly looses respect among his peers. Lord Wilkshire himself spent three decades tracking and eliminating one of his own childer who'd dared to stray from the path in favor of Golconda.

Some Sabbat simply come to the path. Those who do are typically targets of suspicion among their old packmates. The path is relatively new, poorly understood, and its followers are sometimes branded as fanatics more interested in personal vision quests than in the good of the sect. Orion is therefore most popular among loner and nomadic Sabbat.

To progress as a Stalker, one must understand the hunt not only in the physical sense, but in the emotional and spiritual sense. Predation is a metaphor for all of existence. As one enters the unknown night in search of victims, he undergoes the hero's journey for spiritual purity. He leaves the boundaries of the known world behind.

All features of the hunt have mystical resonance. A vampire must stay alert for the smallest signs, portents or chance meetings. Each outing has a lesson to teach, and as a follower accepts increasingly challenging quests, deeper insights are gained.

Beyond hunting, a vampire must remain alert for dangerous lapses among his own companions. They much be cautious and subtle in dealing with others. Stalkers are not, nor do they wish to be, perceived as crazed cultists or Inquisitors who accuse everyone of "sin." Only when they're sure a vampire has degenerated to the point that they pose a threat to the species do they act - swiftly, surely, and mercilessly. They've proved correct frequently enough that most archbishops grudgingly give them leeway to conduct such purges.

Systems

Predatory Virtues: Conviction and Instinct.

Ethics of Orion:

• The vampiric species is the height of evolution - it should always be strengthened, never weakened. While stalkers accept that vampires have weaknesses and penchants, qualities such as compassion and the Beast are akin to an appendix - parts of one's self that should atrophy from disuse. Their urges must be suppressed in one's self and others. Vampires who have been poisoned by either "humor" must be corrected or destroyed for the good of all. Likewise, vampires who display weakness (not cunning or the ability to dissemble, but genuine failing) should meet Final Death.
• Those who have fallen to the beast are atavisms and must be eliminated. These undead are threats to Cainites as a whole. They are as feral and dangerous as any predator, but they are out of control, like rabid dogs. They must be put down for the good of the species.
• The mark of the ideal predator is its capacity to conduct the perfect hunt. Vampires are much more than killers, but hunters first and foremost. One's skills can be honed on the streets, in the clubs or in high society, and are always foremost on the mind of the perfect stalker.
• The Beast is a guide and a tool, not a master. It is useful to a point; it would not be a part of vampiric makeup if it weren't. The mark of a true vampire is one's capacity to leash the Beast, drawing on its strength without letting it run rampant.
• Vampires who seek to retain ties to their past morality - or worse, who seek Golconda - are deluded and must be shown the error of their ways or be destroyed. Golconda is not only a myth, it is a fatal distraction. It keeps a vampire focused on ideals directly counter to those in his best interests - survival, strength and power.
• Do not sire needlessly. Vampires are a species in transition. Best not to Embrace many before the Beast has been thoroughly purged.

Common Abilities and Disciplines: Nearly every Ability in the Talent column is of some use to the Stalker. In the modern nights, Firearms, Stealth and Survival also rank up there. Those rare modernist stalkers who track their quarries electronically might get more use out of Computer, Finance and Investigation than most.

Animalism is of paramount importance to Stalkers who participate in Sabbat war parties. Auspex and Protean rank similarly. And although most followers of the path of Orion would prefer that they never get into an actual fight (making the Perfect Kill, instead), Celerity is valuable when things go wrong.

Hierarchy of Sins Against the Stalker

Rating	Minimum Wrongdoing	Rationale
10	Failure to hunt an overwhelmingly powerful foe	Fear is weakness. Weakness precludes evolution.
9	Failing to hunt Lupines	A true hunter turns the tables on those who would hunt him.
8	Siring an unworthy childe	Siring is the most important action you can take to benefit the Vampiric Race. Siring the wrong vampire can cause great damage to this goal.
7	Failing to hunt a more powerful foe	To evolve you must push yourself beyond your current limits.
6	Failing to hunt a high-Humanity (8+) Cainite	Only when vampires stop cling to their past can the race evolve.
5	Failing to hunt a Beast-ridden Cainite	Such failures must be destroyed.
4	Failing to hunt a vampire in Golconda	Golconda is abomination to the Vampiric condition.
3	Allowing frenzy to lead you astray	The Beast is a tool, never a master.
2	Showing cowardice	Cowardice is a function of excessive humanity or an out-of-control Beast. A vampire must master this unworthy impulse.
1	Hunting only beings weaker than yourself	The ultimate predator must test himself and grow.