Followers of the Path of Cathari, who call themselves Albigensians or Gnostics, hold to a mystical tradition, which identifies two Gods. The purse and Good of Light made everything spiritual while the corrupt and evil God of Darkness made everything material. The idea surface again and again among believers in Classical and medieval times: Zoroastrianism and Manicheism made the two Gods equal while Gnostic groups with Judaism and Christianity declared the God of Darkness doomed to ultimate destruction. In the 12^th and 13^th centuries, the Cathar heresy's version of this dualist view of the worlds displaced mainstream Christianity in southern France. The Albigensiam Crusade marks its violent end -- the Bishop of Citeaux gave the famous advice "Kill them all; Good will know His own" to the soldiers who then slaughtered every suspected heretic. The idea surfaced in future centuries, but never as successfully as during them Cathar era.

Some desperate Cathars accepted local vampires' offer of shelter or escape and were Embraced. As the truth of their new condition sank in those Cathars who didn't give themselves up to the sun set about systematically defining their place in the world. Vampires are the perfect creatures of Darkness, their spirit locked in flesh forever and their existence confined to the hours when darkness rules. Their therefore took up the burden of being the foremost servants of Darkness. They test the weaknesses of Light: Anything that they can destroy deserves to perish. Since former Cathars created the Path as an actual codified doctrine, if bears the names of Cathari. Older vampires who's already developed similar views adopted the practice without necessarily endorsing the name, and even in the Final Nights, followers of the Path still argue about its most proper title.

The Path of Cathari direct adherents to engage in every for a vice and indulgence… but not capriciously. Cathari vampires fight on the front lines of the cosmic war. They must tempt every child of the Light, then destroy all who prove weak or uncommitted. Private sins don't matter to the Cathari, only the sins that lead others to fall. Some Cathari believe that in the last moment of history, the light will prevail and they'll be destroyed like Darkness itself. They accept this and focus on doing their duty in the meantime so that what remains in the final moments will stand strong, tested and purified. Other Cathari believe that outcome of the cosmic war is in doubt and that if Darkness wins, it deserves to.

Cathari do not kill anyone lightly. An imposed death interrupts that process of a soul's collapse from within, unlike suicide, being shot while resisting arrest or any of the deaths that came from a falling mortal's own actions. Cathari practice mastering frenzy to avoid strengthening the force of Light with the ill-timed removal of a new recruit to Darkness. Sometimes a follower of this path decides, after calm reflection, that a mortal or Cainite must die to further that overall course of that war. The Gnostic then kills deliberately and coolly, trying to derive as little pleasure from the process as possible. Like the mortal dualists they once were, the Cathari teach that souls reincarnates. They want to make sure that people reincarnate badly rather than well, which means letting corruption flourish fully.

Vampires on the path of Cathari practice Conviction and Instinct.

The Ethics of the Path

• Sin gloriously. Indulge every capacity of your senses, reveling in the potential of the material world. The world is corrupt, and it is yours to rule.
• Lead other into temptation. Everyone who succumbs is your lawful prey.
• Embrace the most passionate mortals. Strengthen Darkness with the fire of conviction and desire.
• Fate made you want you are. Accept your destiny -- fulfill it, don't try to flee it.
• Until the final victory of Light or Darkness, all souls reincarnate. Mortals return so you can kill them again and again. If you meet Final death, you'll return as mortal yourself and may no earn your current status again..

Following the path

Cathari take satisfaction in their role as masters of the world. They move freely and easily through mortal society. Nothing human beings do surprised old Cathari: there are no new sins, only new application of the same failings. Cathari almost all agree that Darkness' triumph grow nearer every night.

The Path of Cathari calls its practitioners to deal with others. Almost all Cathari emphasize Social Attributes and Abilities, Subterfuge and Streetwise let Cathari fine their next victim and set up the target's falls. Finances and Bureaucracy help out when Cathari aim for the upper classes. A handful of scholarly Cathari -- almost all of whom either practiced that path's various pre-Albigensian forms or ate the childer of such old Cathari -- study the historical and Theological context of the Path and rely on Academics and Occult.

Cathari favor that Disciplines that let them corrupt and control others. Dominate and Presence are essential. Not many Cathari get the opportunity to learn Chemistry, but those that do treasure it. Animalism's ability to interfere with sentient souls pleases that Cathari; only the most profoundly dedicated followers of the path worry about willing the souls of animals to Darkness.

The First Impulse

Some people leave the living world gladly. Whether they expressed their loathing loudly (perhaps supported with firepower) or lived with quiet curse, they hate humanity and everything beneath the sun. People like this accept vampirism eager for the chance to separate themselves from the daylight world and bring it all down. They're natural adherents of the path of Cathari if they'll accept training about hour to transmute raw hatred into specific ethical precepts.

(Mind's Eye Theater, Laws of the Night - Sabbat Guide White Wolf Pub. 2001 Pg. 78-80)