Path of Retribution
A Path on the Road of Heaven
Sobrequiet: Crusaders (Christian) or Faris (Muslim)
"Vengeance is mine," sayeth the Lord of Heaven. The followers of the Via Vindicta take heed of this statement. The zealots who make up the Path of Retribution take this bit of scripture as both their motto and sacred creed. It is at once a divine curse, blessing, duty and birthright to act as God's wrath on Earth - one that falls to a devoted few among the Faithful to sustain until the End of Days. These chosen warriors mete out justice wherever they feel it is needed and rarely care about acting in error. After all, God will know His own. Among Christian Faithful, followers are often known as Crusaders, while those Ashirra who follow the path refer to themselves as Faris (holy warriors).
If all Crusaders commit any trespass, it is the hubris to presume that they know God's will. They believe that Cainites, having been stripped of their mortality, are the hands of God on the physical world (which many of them believe to be the realm of the Adversary). Just as angels are the Lord's heavenly children and messengers, so too are the Faithful His earthly children and soldiers. They recognize the Beast as Satan trying to draw them from the path, and they view their intake of blood as a divine sacrament in that the blood quiets the corruptive urges of the Beast. Of all the Faithful, Crusaders are the most at peace with their natures - a fact that makes them all the more unsettling.
In practice, the Path of Retribution borrows aspects of the Via Regalis (particularly the Path of Chivalry) and applies them as a sieve through which its Heavenly tenets are filtered. Like their Chivalric counterparts, Crusaders expect themselves (and others, to a lesser but dangerous extent) to abide by a certain code of behavior. The difference is, that code of behavior is handed down from God Himself as far as the Crusaders are concerned, rather than from some nebulous body of social regulations. Coupled with their duties to battle the Adversary on Earth, followers of this path tend to be austere in conduct, rigid in belief and quite unforgiving in the grim pursuit of each.
Practices: Like many Faithful, Crusaders seek to find fulfillment in brotherhood. The path thus follows a strict hierarchy and, with the possible exception of the Via Divinatis, is the most tightly organized path on the Road of Heaven. Its official title is rumored to be "The Right Knights of His Most Holy Order of Vengeance," but among the Faithful the path is most commonly known as simply "the Order." While it borrows structure from the various mortal holy orders, it refrains from culture or creed-specific titles and terms and otherwise maintains a strict policy of non-denominationalism. Cainite followers of the three Abrahamic religions comprise the body of the order, but pagan Cainites do find the path of their own accord on occasion and are thus grudgingly accepted into the order as brothers. Such Crusaders must still abide by all traditional rites, and a pagan Cainite who has not undergone an official Confirmation of Blood by one of the path's paragons will not be acknowledged by the corpus of the Order.
Nevertheless, the Path of Retribution is surprisingly broad in its appeal. Cainites from both High and Low clans find purpose in its tenets, and indeed, see the potential for the brotherhood in their common spiritual cause where there they may find none elsewhere. In particular, there seems to be quite a strong showing from among the Assamite, Brujah, Nosferatu, Salubri and Ventrue clans along the Path of Retribution.
Virtues of Retribution: Conviction and Self-Control
Additional Ethics of Retribution
- The Faithful exist to serve as heaven's righteous wrath.
- Clemency must be neither asked nor given where evil is concerned.
- Non-Faithful Cainites ultimately walk the path to damnation.
Hierarchy of Sins Against Retribution
| Score | Minimum Wrongdoing | Rationale |
| 10 | Neglecting an opportunity to exact vengeance. | Retribution is both your duty and your purpose |
| 9 | Failing to punish any corruption and sin | Sin is the road to the Beast |
| 8 | Acting out of pride, avarice, gluttony or some other sinful impulse | Sin is the road to the Beast |
| 7 | Allowing a moderate crime or sin to go unpunished | God demands that justice always be served. |
| 6 | Causing harm to a pious and virtuous person | God sees all and punishes such sins |
| 5 | Feeding from an innocent without permission | God protects the innocent |
| 4 | Blasphemous or heretical acts | Denial of God leads only to damnation. |
| 3 | Allowing a crime or major sin to go unpunished | "Vengeance is mine", sayeth the Lord. |
| 2 | The murder of innocents. | Slay only those found wanting |
| 1 | Aiding a demon or other agent of evil. | God demands such forces be laid to waste |
