Path of Cathari

The Roads

A Sabbat adaptation of the Road of Sin

Nickname: Albigensians

The Path of Cathari is ironically named. It draws its technical and spiritual terminology from the so-called Albigensian heresy of the Middle Ages. The path claims to accept one of the core consepts of the mortal Albigensians and then, heretically, twists it to its own ends.

Historical Note: The Catharist or Albigensian Heresy: The Catharist Heresy was a Medieval flowering of a much older set of spiritual and religious beliefs. Mortal scholars trace the heresy's development from Persian Manicheanism to Bulgarian Bogomilism to the more familiar Catharist Heresy of Languedoc. Manicheanism was a revival of much older Zoroastrian beliefs. The Manicheans believed that the Holy Spirit appeared in the shape of an angel to a Persian prince named Mani. The spirit said that he was the last in a long line of prophets (including Zoroaster and Jesus). Oddly enough, this is similar to what the angel of Gabriel would tell the Prophet Muhammad a scant few centuries later.

The Manicheans married Gnostic tradition with zoroastrian myth. God (as both the Tetragrammaton IHVH or "Jaweh" and the Lord of Light "Ahura Mazda") stood against Sakhlas (the Lord of Darkness, Satan, the Ahriman). The Lord of Darkness created the physical world and God stood outside it, in the spiritual world. God was being tortured by the darkness. Thus, the manicheanists said, those who followed God must suffer, too. They rejected the flesh - total celibacy, poverty and vegetarianism. Those who were holy transcended to be with god, and the weak were doomed to suffer and reincarnate until they too achieved holiness.

This heresy survived in various forms until it blossomed in A.D. 950, in what is now Bulgaria and Serbia. It presented itself as a unifying alternative to the fractious Orthodox and Roman churches, but preached a form of Manicheanist belief. The term "Bogomillism" meant "dear to God" but most of its followers merely described themselves as Christians. By the turn of the first millennium, Bogomil missionaries arrived in southern France - at Languedoc. Their teachings found read converts. There had already been a long tradition of Manicheanist belief there. By 1200, this new flavor of manicheanist doctrine was powerful enough to challenge the established church.

Centered on the French cities of Toulouse and Alibi, the Catharists (meaning "those who are pure") spread their beliefs throughout western Europe. By 1149, bishops held Catharist Mass in defiance of Rome. The Cathars taught that the Devil, whom they named as the chief Archon Jaldabaoth was the Demiurgic spirit that created te Earth to entrap and enslave humanity. This Demiurge masqueraded as God and led humanity away from the beliefs and spirituality that could free them from the worldly prision.

The Church of Rome called a crusade that saw the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in an effort to stamp and the heresy. Indeed, the crusade resulted in the official formation of the Inquisition.

Basic Beliefs: The path of Cathari is heavily influenced by the religious dualism of the Cathari creed. The faith holds that there are two creators, a good one (God) and a bad (the Demiurge). The good creator was responsible for the spiritual world. The bad creator was te son or the creation of the "good" God, and the Evil One created (or is) the material world. The Cathari believe the body to be evil, but the soul to be good. They accept the physical world, but consider all within to be evil.

The path teaches that vampires are Lesser Aeons, Archonic spirits of the Demiurge. The undead are God's jailers and torturers, placed on Earth to ensure that humanity remains trapped away from the Sophic light of divinity. As instruments of spiritual imprisonment, vampires are set above humanity. Mortals are lesser, there to be used.

Vampires are the creation of the "evil" god, or Demiurge, to try the souls of mankind and force them to lose hope and succumb to the corruption of the material world. The God who cast Caine out of the Garden (obviously a metaphor for the spirit world) was the evil God, who damned Caine to physicality and mortality. The Sabbat on this path practice the same philosophies as their mortal forbears, the medieval Cathari, but they believe vampirism must be predestined. To have been chosen for the Embrace means one was fated to be. If you are so fated, one was weak or evil in a past life. Now, as punishment in this life, vampires are tied to the material world. The evil nature of vampirism only adds credents to the belief in the innate evil of the material world.

As jailors, vampries should explore and enjoy the "false" world and the decadent pleasures of flesh and sin. By experiencing the delights of this world, the Aeons work to strengthen the bonds that trap mortals. By seducing humans and awakening their innermost desires, the Cathari ensure that mankind will never transcend this plane.

Followers of this path wholeheartedly accept evil as innate to their immortal existence, since they are denied the spiritual plane after death. To the Cathari, Earth is hell and they want to make the best of it. They have developed a religious morality based on original Cathari beliefs on how to avoid the evil of the world. The Cathari seek out the evil against which their predecessors acted, and accept it.

Vampires are creatures of hunger and physicality. Their passion is dark, exploring extremes of eroticism and obsession that mere mortals are incapable of. Perversion is inherent to undead existence - a reductionism, a state of voyeurism that demeans the human participant and dismisses humanity itself to a mere caricature. The Cathari revel in this dominance and depravity. It means they are doing their job.

Mortal victims feel pleasure when fed upon. Are tey therefore victims of a violation, or are they willing submissives? Is humanity nothing but food for the gods and devils of the night? How far does human submission go? Human sexuality is merely an evolutionary trick to force procreation. It is the seduction, the trap that vampires use when they steal blood, soul and life. How could vampires be anything but creatures of physicality, sin and imprisonment?

The Cathari way is not a specific set of behavioral laws. It merely draws whatever urges a vampire may have to the surface. These compulsions are diverse and plentiful. Some sinners indulge the senses, even to the extreme of temporarily removing other senses to experience one to the fullest. They seek out artists and inventors to create new and more vital expressions of these sensual experiences. Indeed, European followers of this path bewitch artists and designers from great fashion houses to create exquisite things to indulge the senses.

Such pursuits are ultimately tedious, however. True followers seek to recruit mortals into their games and have new experiences vicariously through their pawns. Some have perfected Thaumaturgical rites that allow a vampire to "ride" a mortal as she goes about her daily pursuits and then, slowly, use the insights an dsecrets gained to lure the mortal into a vicious, deadly game. Others study the Dominate Discipline to attain the power known as "Possession" (Dominate 5) for the same purpose. These seductions - be they magical or purely physical - are intended to play mortals like violins. Some sinners even collect "prizes" of beautiful kine who have been completely broken to the vampires' will. These victims have been stripped of all dignity and identity and now serve merely to populate a "harem" of slaves.

Other Cathari are more direct. They kidnap mortals for sport, using them as "blood" for the "hounds" - other, young adherents of the path who seek to prove themselves.Some merely involve mortals in torture rituals, seeking to explore human limits.

Nothing is forbidden, everything is permitted, devotees of this path cry as a mantra. The only things that are frowned upon are failing to indulge and losing one's self to the Beast. By struggling against one's vices, the Beast grows hungry. When the Beast is loosed, the self is lost for a time. Followers of this path treasure the self above all else.

Cathari seek to spread corruption, torment and evil out of respect for their beliefs, and because indulgence is a releif from the stress of and conflicts with the hunger.

History of the Path: The Path of Cathari may hearken back to the Albigensian heresy of medieval France, but the notion that vampires exist merely to indulge is far older. The undead have followed the "Road of Sin" for millennia, as long as vampires have acknowledged that there is little reward in fighting the lusts, hungers and temptations of the Beast. Since vampires are Damned, why bother fighting? If Heaven is always denied, why waste time and shed tears to appeal to a reward that's unattainable? No, adherents of this path have claimed, it is much better to exult in one's power and satisfy one's every impulse.

As Inquisitors tore through the lands of Languedoc, putting thousands to death in their quest for religious and political hegemony, the followers of the Path of Sin (or the Via Peccati as it was known) found it amusing to identify themselves with the puritanical mortals who rejected all sensual pleasure. When the Sabbat defined the Paths of enlightenment at the Black Monestary, the Road of Sin was re-developed as the Path of Cathari.

As previously discussed, the path takes much of the philosophical and spiritual basis from the Albigensian heresy. During the initial conflicts that became the Albigensian Crusade, vampires on the Road of Sin took it upon themselves to fulfill their destiny as purveyors of the physical world's corruption. Their efforts to involve clergy and nobles - on both sides - in their games may have contributed to the ferocity of the Inquisitions that followed.

At one point, the path did stray close to infernalism. IN the 18th century, several followers in Germany and the New World took their worship of the Demiurge too seriously and attracted the attention of dark powers. This extremity was stamped out by the Sabbat, and the Sabbat Inquisition has kept a "weather eye" on the path ever since.

The following has, like other Paths of Enlightenment, waxed and waned over the years, depending on Sabbat politics and other factors. In the decadent Final Nights, it is stronger than ever. So strong, in fact, that the course has undergone a schism of sorts: one heretical offshoot lead by the Widows of Montreal, and a "canonical" path as practiced by several European bishops. Members of the "canonical" path are considered "lost" to the material world by their opponents, while the Widows and their followers believe there is a reason they call themselves Cathars. The European elders counter that they are the true heirs of the Via Peccati, declaring themselves "sinners," and naming their calling the "Path of Sin" again.

The split, between the influential elders on one side and the Widows of Montreal and their followers on the other, could threaten the Sabbat itself.

Current Practices: All adherents of this path seek to lead others into temptation, to ensnare them into cruel and sadistic games of emotional need. Once a victim is trapped, a practitioner uses him for her own purposes.

The faith has a divergent and heretical offshoot, overseen by the Widows. This "deviant" path teaches that as jailors, vampires are God's angels. The undead can unlock the sleeping divinity inside vampires and mortals by understanding and embracing evil and cruelty. Vampirism is not an excuse to "merely" revel in pleasure and depravity. By unlocking that divinity within themselves and others, the Catharists believe they can throw off their lesser forms and take their place at God's side, as His new angels. this version of the path plays down the concept of God as the demonic Jaldabaoth, instead placing God as a harsh but loving father, a sculptor who seeks to chip and burn and cut away the dross of His creation. Good and evil are meaningless concepts. Sin is an arbitrary, mortal notion, based on arbitrary, mortal laws.

Those who still call themselves "Cathari" use their victims as vehicles toward an ultimate enlightenment. Those who see themselves as heirs to the old Road of Sin use theri trapped lovers as toys to be played with until broken.

Two particular victims are favored: those who are powerful and already corrupt, and those who are innocent and pure. The former are perfect entertainment because they are so inured to the world, insulated from everything with wealth and influence. the latter make good toys since tearing away their illusions and kissing away their tears is always a pleasant, decadent experience.

The most important ritual performed by the Cathari is the consolamentum. This rite is conducted by two perfecti who absolve a vamprie of all the sins she has committed, ths allowing her to suffer Final Death without fear. The consolamentum is usually performed on a follower of this path once every few years.

The so-called "sinners" of Europe perform the consolamentum as a blasphemous joke. The Montreal "Widows," as leaders of the more spiritual form of the path, perform their own form of the rite and welcome pilgrims to their temple and encourage other followers throughout the world to use the ritual as a part of pack Vaulderie. Unlike most Vaulderie, though, this rite has been augmented with Disciplines such as Dominate and Dementation, and with bloos magic. Participants are forced to relive their most shameful and painful memories. The perfecti are bound into this emotional trauma and are usually driven into frenzy. They turn on the credentes - followers - in a violent expression of lust and pathos. Weak credentes rarely survive this physical and emotional ravishing. Thsoe who do are absolved of their sins and allowed to progress further on the path.

As the Widows' variant of the path grows more popular, credentes from all across North America and Europe travel to Montreal to participate in the consolamentum. Few survive, but more always seek to be absolved and still others search for further purpose in their unlives. The weak are rooted out and the strongest advance.

In their own way, both factions believe the world is doomed to collapse into its own corruption, and they take pleasure in a job well done.

Description of Followers: Those who have progressed sufficiently down the path to become truly influential are called perfecti, again in mockery of the most pious of the medieval Cathars. (Perfecti have path ratings of 8 or higher.) Those lower in the hierarchy are called "credentes" or sometimes simply the "holy." (Credentes have path ratings of 7 or lower.) Followers of the Path of Cathari are typically highly materialisic. They usually care little about spiritual matters - but there are many exceptions to the rule. the Sabbat is an important outlet to indulge in an extreme and hedonistic manner without fear of retribution or judgement. The Sabbat, practitioners say, know they are damned and revel in it. The Cathari merely take this acceptance a little further.

Lesser members strive to achieve the influence and power of the perfecti and work hard to gain notice. No follower of this path is lazy. Sloth is the one indulgence upon which the Cathari frown. Laziness achieves nothing, corrupts nothing and hods no interest for one's peers. Besides, it's boring. All are hedonistic and indulgent. Several are noted Thaumaturges - they have worked hard to re-awaken dead vampiric sexual organs and taste glands.

It is a duty to embody thevices of the material world, and it is a glorious destiny to use these vices to entrap and enrapture innocents Other vampires must force themselves to appreciate the depths of Cathari games. If they do not, they will only become victims.

Followers of this path make no distinction between elder and neonate. What matters is success in the calling. An adherent of the 13th generation with 20 years in darkness can be more influential than a centuries-old, 7th generation being - if the game is played well.

Toreador antitribu and Tzimisce, in particular, are attracted to this path. The philosophy allows Tzimisce to indulge in their most perverse desires, all the while crafting themselves, spiritually and physically, into potent servitors of the Demiurge. Some Tzimisce view this path as an opportunity to hone their zulo form. With its emphasis on physicality and dominance, the form is recognized as an extension of the path.

For many Sabbat, the Cathari offer all the best elements of other paths, without the hypocritical spiritual baggage.

Followers do anything in the pursuit of pleasure. Cathari have no qualms about killng since they believe in reincarnation, and Final Death releases the soul from its entrapment in the evil body. Supporters usually ahve no wish to die, however, since existence as vampires is much better than that of mortals.

One of the more notable path followers is Fabrizia Conteraz, who has written extensively on the subject of Cahtari morality, but whose adherence to the path is known to be weak, to say the least. At different points in the last decade, she has followed Humanity (albeit at an exceptionally low level) and the Path of Cathari. Both the Montreal Cathari and the European "sinners" respect her writings, but she herself is regarded as something of a loose cannon. Cathari have come to refer to her in correspondence as "Augustine" after St. Augistine (as in "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak"). Conteraz knows of these gentle insults, but remains the Archbishop of Miami and has better things with which to be concerned.

Following the Path: The Cahtari - be they adherents of the Widows' heresy or the European "canon" - are all incredibly passionate. This vigor emerges in many forms; they are sensual, lustful, hedonistic and adventurous. Their emotions ride close to the surface. They have no time for angst or sadness. When a sinner or Cathar is upset, she is not sad; she is viciously, violently angry. When an adherent is pleased, she is not merely happy or content, she is delirious, abandoned or on a high.

Adeherents of this path see the world as a vast playground, and humanity (and lesser vampires) as playthings. The world is there to satiate one's urges, to feed the Beast.

Members respect other paths but view them as over-serious and obsessive about the wrong sorts of thigns. They regard the Path of the Beast as an interesting diversion from their own philosophies. The Beast is, after all, something to be accepted and indulged. Practitioners are among the most violent opponetns of the Path of Revelations and enthusiastically co-operate with the Sabbat Inquisition to hunt down infernalists. The Cathari believe in sin, not in submission to ancient powers. The Cathari are strong proponents of the Sabbat philosophy of freedom. In freedom, followers say, the worst excesses are permitted and encouraged. Some accuse the Cathari of using the Sabbat as a tool for advancing their own agendas.

However extreme adherents' behavior might be, they are all highly social and know how to insinuate themselves into others' lives, by force or seduction. They know not to scare potential victims away. Terror can come later, when a victim has nowhere to run.

Systems

Albigensian Virtues: Cathari should be strong in Conviction and Instinct

Common Abilites: A hedonist may be called upon to feast, revel and debauch nearly anywhere, and in so doin gis expected to be an entertaining participant and a knowledgeable conversationalist. Area Knowledge, Expression, City Secrets, Finance, Masquerade, Grace, haggling and Seduction may all be called for.

Heretics can take advantage of nearly any Discipline and do not dogmatically favor any one. Animalism, Dominate, and Presence are most commonly seen among their ranks.

Cathari Ethics

• Indulge in vice and all that is forbidded. Wealth, excess, sensuality, material power and sadism are the watchwords of the Demiurge's world.
• "Nothing is forbidden, everything is permitted." The night belongs to vampires. One is already damned, already lost to the darkness. Enjoy it.
• Lead others into games of sensuality and dominance. As innocents are corrupted, the Demiurge's world grows stronger.
• Choose those with great passion and great potential for future depravity. Do not fear to Embrace new childer - they will ensure that the curse lives on and the world's shackles are never loosened.
• Be part of the world. If it is corrupt, be corrupt along with it. If the world is indulgent, indulge. Expect no less of anyone else.
• Trust no one. Do not love. A vampire is evil and has no concept of such things.
• The undead are creatures of evil, Archonic creations of a dark god. Accept that destiny and one's role in the scheme of things.
• The Beast belongs to the individual; he is not bound by it. Let the Beast prey, but do not let it rule.
• Do not hesitate. Act. The Devil take the hindmost.
• Death leads to reincarnation. Do not fret over killing mortals. They will come back. Similarly, slaying weak vampires serves the Demiurge by making their souls part of the prison of the world. But avoid death one's self. Do not be reincarnated as a mortal.

The undead body is a temple, a potential for utter pleasure and utter experience. Enjoy it.

Hierarchy of Sins Against Cathari

Rating	Minimum Wrongdoing	Rationale
10	Showing moral restraint	Restraint weakens the Demiurge's world
9	Showing trust	This is the Demiurge's world. Such things as honor, virtue, and trust have no place here
8	Failing to Embrace remarkable mortals	Unlife is a gift to be shared with the greatest.
7	Failing to "ride the wave" of frenzy	The Beast belongs to you, not you to it.
6	Acting against another on the path	All Cathars have the same goals.
5	Impassioned murder	Death frees the dead from the Demiurge
4	Being selfless	You are the angel of the Demiurge. Such things have no place in your heart.
3	Denial of pleasure	You must understand and partake of every debauchery to better understand how to seduce others.
2	Refusing to feed when hungry	Deprivation is the tool of the Diety, not the Demiurge.
1	Encouraging restraint or virtue	No creature of the physical world would ever consider such blasphemy