Path of Death and the Soul

The Roads

A Path on the Road of Bones

Nickname: Necronomists

The dead do not walk. The dead rot. Sometimes their souls linger in a tormented in-between state. But eventually even they pass, to Heaven or Hell or to whatever fate lies beyond earthly experience. And yet, vampires walk and vampires are dead. Their organs are rotted, vestigial things. The Embrace purges out every bodily fluid but one. Vampires are dead, but they walk. How can this be?

The simple, glib answer is that vampires are cursed by Caine's legacy. But a mere curse cannot defy the order of things.

Vampires are therefore something else, something not perfectly understood. Various undead have tried to solve this mystery. A few have made it an obsession. The necronomists are among them. Death, the afterlife, the strange anatomy of vampirism, the scinece of the soul - these are believed to be the Enochian keys to opening the secrets of the universe.

If only they could be understood.

Basic Beliefs: Vampires are dead things. They are cursed, animated corpses, but they are dead, cold and unliving. A vampire's soul is trapped, cut off from the mortal world in life, but unable to move on. This morbid state has been the subject of discussion by Cainite philosophers since the nights of the First City. Fascination with the issue has never wavered and Kindred of these Final Nights still pursue the secrets of their existence and the knowledge of death.

Vampire existence is a key to all knowledge. Straddling two worlds - the land of the living and the land of the dead - a vampire must claw the secrets of Creation from the night. To attempt to unravel such mysteries, a necronomist must first understand her own state and know what it means ot be undead. Necronomists do not speak of a "living world" and a "dead world." They speak of the rational universe and the irrational realm of secrets, spirits and pain. Students of this path must develop a deep comprehension of the soul, that spark of irrational divinity that exists in the rational universe. A necronomist must discover how the soul interacts with the body, and how the soul migrates from its clay shell to what lies beyond.

Necronoists may project a demeanor of cold rationality, but they believe that powerful emotions - hate, love, despair - are expressions of the spirit bubbling up from within. These powerful eruptions are to be treasured and explored. Followers believe the heart of the human romantic, and the physical, dead heart of the vampire. When a wooden stake is driven through an undead heart, a vampire is paralyzed. Thus, when the soul is violated, a vampire cannot move. The soul drives a vampire's corpse. Like the ghosts that necronomists study, vampires are driven by emotion, by the heart. Blood flowing from the vampire's heart gives power to his dead limbs. Blood transubstantiated from base liquid and iron becomes magical and fuels a vampire's powers. The blood literally is the life, and the fountain of all magic and might.

Like several other faiths, the Path of Death and the soul seeks to repress the Beast by denying it, and by pursuing knowledge and understanding against all else. But the knowledge these vampires seek is scientific comprehension of the vampiric state and the Beast that sleeps within. Necronomists repress the Beast and study death so they may at last confront and destroy their inner creature. The Beast is believed a visceral, animalistic ting and is diametrically opposed to the soul.

So, the soul is the key to a vampire's existence. If the soul can be understood, a scientist has a key to understanding the irrational universe. It is then his duty to pass that information along, into the rational world. Necronomists are therefore a group of academics. Though they are obsessed with death and the world beyond mortal perception, their interests are not the scrabblings of the occultist or the ritualism of the necromancer. They seek to categorize, dissect and experiment.

Avenues of Research: Two very promising lines of investigation into the soul have provide to involve the Asian ("Cathayan") vampires and the thin-blooded. Stories claim that the souls of both of these vampire "species" spend a little time in the Underworld before returning to life. Some followers of this path work on a "unified theory of vampirism" and seek knowledge from Noddists and others to establish the exact nature of the relationship between Cathayans and Cainites. Some necronomists suggest that Cathayans are actually childer of one of the so-called Second Generation whose curse has changed over the ages and miles. Instead of the "blood" being passed down from sire to childe, the Curse has become an expression of some predetermined destiny. Necronomists have recorded ghosts speak of things known as "death signs." Perhaps these marks designate all Cainites. Perhaps no vampire is ever Embraced randomly, but some other force of death or predestination leads sire to childe. Many vampires dismiss such possibilities, but to necronomists they remain tantalizing possibilities. Perhaps a fated Embrace is all part of an Antediluvian plan.

Another issue that the path faces but cannot seem to resolve is that few ghosts persist as long as ancient vampires. Spirits ultimately "move on" to some other plane or state, apparently transcending the in-between realm of the land of the dead. Do they merely cease to be, subject to some special case of thermodynamics or do they move beyond science? Is there a Heaven or Hell? Is there a God? Other path philosophies declare and define such tings, but the necronomists know what they don't know. Some path followers claim that the in-between state is a borderland between life and Hell, and that Hell is close, but heaven is eternally distant. Some adherents fear that their rational investigations and their perfectly categorized understanding is terribly incomplete and perhaps utterly flawed. Necronomists, despite their incredible array of sources and in-depth records, usually work from partial records and second- or third-hand sources. The power of Necromancy is greatly reduced from ancient times, if the tales are to be believed.

Scientists also apply their philosophy and research to the souls of diablerized vampires. The necronomists have spent decades debating and studying the fate of thse spirits. They have followed Caitiff diablerists and roamed with Sabbat war parties. The Sabbat tolerats - encourages - diablerie, but researchers, who are unwilling to taint their objectivity by committing diablerie on their own, wait until a subject runs afoul of Sabbat justice. Sect leaders have found that condemning traitors to necronomist laboratories is a useful way of maintaining discipline. The offender is experimented on, and investigators have developed ways of tormenting souls to see which is capable of the most response. No results have been released yet, but rumors and leaks abound. It is said that a powerful diablerie victim might overwhelm its murderer and make the attacker's body and mind its own. If this proves true, then the sect itself could be in danger. How many Sabbat leaders - the great heroes of the Anarch Revolt and the wars with the Camarilla - have powerful spirits inside them, consuming them from within?

By seeking the mysteries of the soul and the afterlife, students of death explore an array of secrets. There is far more to the mysteries of the irrational universe than any one vampire can understand. By obsessively seeking these mysteries, followers of this path distract the Beast, but few ever discover enough to conquer it. Some speculate that the Beast can never be overcome completely. As a result, some investigators perceive destruction as an escape, the only salvation from the ravages of the Beast. But until they can lay down that burden, they seek to understand as much of the road ahead as possible. Forewarned and forearmed, they can move on.

Necromancy and the Giovanni: The Giovanni despise the necronomists. The study of vampiric Necromancy may be older than the Giovanni, but the clan claims proprietary rights to it. The Giovanni do not tolerate family members either contacting followers of or studying the Path of Death and the Soul. The necronomists, for their part, would dearly love to gain access to Giovanni libraries. The scientists are at the forefront of the search for any lore left by the slain Cappodocians. Their intricate theories on the nature of the afterlife derive from what few Cappodocian texts remain.

Though family policy prohibits contact with necronomists, the Giovanni would be very interested in gaining access to the investigators' discoveries, too. Some clan members have attempted to infiltrate the Sabbat and the Path of Death and the Soul, but it is unlikely that any have survived.

History: The Path of Death and the Soul was the first faith codified by the Sabbat at the Black Monastery. It is an offshoot of older moralities - one followed by the Cappodocians and another (or possibly several "gnostic" or vampiric "mystery cult" philosophies all concerned with the nature of the vampiric condition) now lost to history. (For all their scientific bent, the Necronomists are clearly nto historians.) The Tzimisce believe that this path has always been theirs and that Tzimisce and his childer from the earliest nights were obsessed with these philosophies. There have always been Fiends who study death and the limits of pain.

During the Age of Enlightenment, the path adopted many mortal scientific methods - experimentation, documentation and empirical discussion - and used them as a bulwark against the sheer insanity of their investigation. The irrational universe is not easily understood in rational terms, they know, but ther has to be a series of rules that can be mapped and understood. By recording their studies, by obsessively calibrating and re-checking each experiment, and constantly refining their knowledge, the necronomists seek to distill the formulae and theorems needed to codify that other world.

Current Practices:This path has many elaborate rituals. Human and vampire sacrifices are common. Most necronomist experimentation has a ritualistic quality. Such ceremony and research seeks to bring the soul closer to the forte, where it can be examined, understood and dissected.

By testing willing volunteers and human and vampiric victims, scientists can better understand the spirit as it suffers. Such "tests" allow one first-hand experience with the nature of human mortality and suffering. Is there, as some claim, a state of clarity beyond pain? does every soul have access to that rarefied state? Is there a final limit to pain or can a mortal shell be made to suffer endlessly in an infinite crescendo of exposure? These are crucial questions. While mortals make interesting subjects for further studies, vampires are infinitely more malleable and repairable. Vampires, with their heightened senses and brittle emotions, are perfect test subjects.

Necronomists are not just sadistic scientists - they also subject themselves to the same rigorous intellectual and experimental scrutiny. Researchers frequently volunteer for experimentation by other interested parties. Indeed, a teacher may fulfill his role by submitting to the inquiries of those below him on the path.

Below these explorations of the physical world, necronomists study the afterlife. Of particular interest are the circumstances by which ghosts are formed. these wraithly presences seem to be remnants of strong individuals, or the last of people who perished with so much passion or frustration that something remained. Some scientists play games with chosen subjects before death, by interfering in the mortals' lives, taking away things that were loved, hurting them and then arranging one final accident. Others kidnap mortal test subjects and use them for experiments and then, when the time is right, torture them to death to enhance subjects' suffering. These efforts have proven effective in creating ghosts, but many seem possessed of a terrible inner darkness - perhaps otherworldly expressions of the Beast - and need to be destroyed. Necronomists also study ways to destroy ghosts and some explore necromancy for this purpose.

Academics classify their ritual practices into three distinct groups. The first involves public rituals, which are performed as much of the entertainment and enlightenment of the other Sabbat as for inquiry. These rituals are not totally without merit, but necronomists do not ascribe much value to them. The second class is the experimental test. These practices are somewhat ritualistic, but happen in private and form part of an extensive body of experimental work. Outsiders are not invited to watch, although they may participate in some cases. Finally, those who study Necromancy perform rituals to contact the next world. These are private rites and are not publicly acknowledged.

Necronomists are loyal to the Sabbat, but like some mortal scientists, they know that knowledge supersedes politics. They frequently correspond with like-minded researchers - mortal occultists, magi, mediums and other undead.

The scholars have moved much of their lore and activity to Toronto in recent years. That city has always been one of the Sabbat's prizes, with a reputation for experimentation and science amongst the undead. Necronomists there correspond with the Malkavian scholar Dr. Douglas Netchurch. The Bleeding Hearts pack of necronomists is one of the most accomplished groups of Sabbat scientists and researchers in the world. Their interaction with Netchurch has been fruitful. The Malkavian has provided the Hearts with several of his papers on the vampiric state, as well as a copy of the Encyclopedia Vampirica and a copy of Trimeggian's Encyclopedia Haemovoria. In return, the Bleeding Hearts have furnished Netchurch with the results of much of their experimental work, and extended and invitation to the Malkavian to speak at a convention of scientists. The pack has also, through Netchurch, established contacts with other like-minded vampires in North America and Europe. The Bishop of Toronto has been asked to extend guest status to these august investigators, as well.

Description of Followers: Most necronomists are curious, objective and somewhat callous. Yet they study human emotions and conscience, even treating their own fading humanity as the subject of scientific inquiry. They appear unemotional, but are actually very controlled. They are not bereft of emotions; emotion is one of the keys to the soul and must be studied. A necronomist whose emotions run rampant takes the risk of confounding his work.

Path adherents' detachment is notorious and many allies feel that in dealing with necronomists, they too are being studied. They are. Followers respect those with knowledge, but they do not form friendships. They are loyal to the Sabbat, but only because the sect allows them free reign to study. If the Sabbat were to banish the path, the scholars would leave without regret.

Toreador antitribu comprise the largest portion of this path's following, after the Tzimisce, but several Sabbat Malkavians and Harbingers of Skulls are also members.

Some Camarilla Malkavians and Tremere are said to be interested in the path's studies, but few of them could abstain sufficiently from Humanity to participate fully. Some Giovanni study this path, but Harbinger of Skulls followers have proved remarkably efficient in rooting these intruders out. Adherents of the path do not dispatch such interlopers immediately, but take them to a laboratory for testing and experimentation.

There are a few necronomists among Sabbat leaders. They typically serve to protect the path and allow its studies to continue, rather than use it to form Sabbat policy. Theirs is nothing like the influence of paths such as Caine, Cathari or Power and the Inner Voice. There are a few exceptions though. The (contested) Bishop of Dublin is repsected both as a temporal leader and a scholar. The Tijuana based philosopher Anisa Marianna Lopez has written extensively on science, spirituality and Sabbat Policy. And of course, the Priscus Sascha Vykos is one of the most influential personalities in the sect.

Other Sabbat accord quiet respect to followers of this path. Proponents of Death and the Soul regard codes such as the Path of Lilith and the Path of Cathari as contemptible, unscientific and weak. That of Caine is respected for its dedication to scholarship. Orders outside the Sabbat are ignored, with the exception of the Giovanni Path of the Bones. Necronomists and gravediggers are rivals, and do not break into open conflict because few of either group can operate openly in the cities of enemy sects. Observers believe that if the Sabbat attempts to conquer Venice, the scholars of Death and the Soul will get out their long knives and go hunting.

While necronomists recognize that theirs is just one of many ways, they do not consider their studies to form a Path of Enlightenment per se. They believe that suppressing the Beast is secondary to the acquisition of knowledge about the vampiric condition. Necronomists do not really consider Death and the Soul to be a moral code; they are simply too busy with the mysteries of the universe to worry about good and evil. The path requires followers to maintain their composure through obsessive study, but it's study that is important. A vampire following the tenets of Humanity who seeks to learn the truths of the universe is respected, despite his moral compass.

Following the Path: The heart of the Path of Death and the Soul is intense intellectualism. Dogma, wishful thinking and the reflexive acceptance of the obvious are all anathema. A follower should never assume, she must discover. An adherent should not rely on conclusions drawn from observation alone. she should experiment, study and categorize everything. Path teachers urge students to remember that insight can be found in the most mundane sources.

Systems

Virtues: Conviction and Self-Control

Common Abilities: As scientists and researchers of the mechanisms of death, necronomists need Science (Alchemy), various kinds of Lore, Medicine, Occult, Research, Science (Toxicology) and of course Thanatology.

The most important Disciplines for understanding existence through this path are Auspex, Necromancy and Thaumaturgy.

Necronomist Ethics:

• Beyond death lies the hidden world. The transition between this life and the next holds clues to the nature of things. Study the transition.
• As is above is not so below. The physical world is a pale reflection of that which lies beyond. By understanding the "irrational" or "astral" world, one can truly understand the hidden physics of this world.
• The soul, even a vampire's soul, is immortal. The vampire's undead state is not true immortality. Do not fear death, because true immortality lies beyond.
• The mind is the physical twin to the astral soul. By understanding the mind, one can glimpse the nature of the soul.
• God's plan can be revealed in all things. Attempt to understand everything. One has nothing if not time, and the rewards of such studies are bountiful. Everything contains a piece of the puzzle that is Creation. By learning, one can assemble the pieces. Learn to isolate the key truths and ignore the rest.
• The vestiges of a vampire's once-mortal self contain certain clues - in the form of conscience and emotion - that can allow one to examine the current context of existence. Explore these emotions as a scientist, but do not indulge them.
• Accept that all belong to a greater phenomenon, be it a consciousness, a plan or some pattern beyond mortal understanding.

Hierarchy of Sins Against Death and the Soul

Rating	Minimum Wrongdoing	Rationale
10	Attachment to the living world	Death is all that matters.
9	Fearing Final Death	Death is merely part of life.
8	Being guided by emotion	Emotion has no part in discovery.
7	Frenzying	The Beast is anathema to understanding.
6	Not killing when useful or necessary	Death must be studied, not avoided.
5	Not pursuing enlightenment	The search for the answer give existence purpose.
4	Showing an aversion to death	Death is not to be feared.
3	Showing Compassion	You must not be distracted from your search.
2	Killing without studying death	Waste no opportunity.
1	Preventing a death	Death is the question, and should not be avoided.