Path of Pleasure

The Roads

A Path on the Road of Sin

Sobrequiet: Voluptuaries (ancient), Hedonists (modern)

The Beast lusts. It is a creature of the senses, driven by the instinctual desire for pleasure and comfort, eschewing physical pain and emotional distress. why resist that primal urge? Why cling to a way of existing that denies the comforts of the flesh, considers pleasure and desire to be sins, defames all things of beauty not first defined as "holy"?

Adherents of this path tame their Beasts through the application of sensual excesses of all types, exploring the outer limits of both human and Cainite sensuality. They do so in the most explicitly physical ways possible, engaging in blatantly sexual feeding rituals with vessels of both genders, exerting the effort necessary to engage in sensual activities other than feeding, experimenting with pleasure-inducing (or refining) Discipline applications and simply leading their unlives floating in a sea of immediacy and physical bliss. They favor comely companions/consorts, beautiful and well made clothing, rare incenses, warm beds, perfumed baths, larders stocked with rare mortal 9and, occasionally, immortal) vintages to please their refined palates and unlifestyles that permit them to pursue all of these things. They shun the physically unappealing, the graceless, the vulgar and the plain, as well as circumstances where regular contact outweighs any possible pleasure that might arise from the association.

Practices: When other Cainites think of outrageously hedonistic Sinners, they're thinking of the adherents of this path, to whom no form of physical pleasure is taboo, unwelcome or left alone for very long. The Voluptuaries often practice a form of "sacred prostitution" in which they teach others to appreciate the gift of their bodies and senses, as well as pleasing themselves, teasing new understanding of the Beast's lusts out of their social interactions. In Cainite society, they often occupy the role of procurer for other vampires, seeking out and training vessels, supplying aphrodisiac substances and performing other such pleasure-providing tasks.

Virtues: Conviction, Instinct.

Additional Ethics of Pleasure:

• The Beast is a creature of the senses, best tamed by feeding it the pleasure it desires.
• Feel no shame or inhibition when seeking fulfillment; all acts of pleasure are sacraments to yourself.
• Avoid these things that bring you no pleasure, for they arouse the Beast to wrath.

Hierarchy of Sins against Pleasure

Score	Minimum Wrongdoing	Rationale
10	Feeling shame for any reason	Shame is a thing imposed by the disapproval of others; you exist only to pleasure yourself.
9	Failing to indulge a new desire	No pleasure should be denied you.
8	Failing to ride the wave of a frenzy	Self-denial strengthens the Beast.
7	Any display of modesty	Modesty, like shame, is a morality imposed from without. Reject it.
6	Associating with those who bring you no pleasure	The graceless adn vulgar drain the joy from unlife.
5	Turning down a chance for material gain	Your own needs outweigh all others.
4	Acting against your own best interests	Nothing is to be gained from self-sacrifice.
3	Refusing to kill when it serves your interests	No life is more important than you own.
2	Refusing to feed when the opportunity arises	Do not refuse your greatest need and deepest pleasure.
1	Encouraging virtue or the agents of virtue	Virtue is a lie, and its followers are agents of self-denial.