Via Peccati
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Via Peccati, commonly called the Road of Sin, is one of the major Roads that kindred may choose to follow in Vampire: The Dark Ages and Dark Ages: Vampire. Followers of Via Peccati control their Beast by indulging their whims and desires, regardless of who they hurt. Failure to do as they please makes their condition worse, which means morals, ethics, and laws usually fall by the wayside as they make their way along this Road. Note that followers of Via Peccati are not evil per se; just completely self-indulgent. Followers of the Road of Sin are known as Sinners.
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[edit] History
The founder of Via Peccati is considered to be Tanitbaal-Sahar, a Brujah who wandered for over 300 years seeking the answers to life and humanity before settling in Carthage. There, he spent years in seclusion, compiling what he knew into what would become the main philosophies of the Road of Sin. He eventually invited by Titus Venturus Camillus, the Ventrue Prince of Rome, to share his teachings. In Rome, Tanitbaar-Sahar found the last of the pieces of knowledges he needed to complete his treatise, On Hunger and Its Satisfaction, which lead to the creation of Via Desideratio, the Road of Desire. Camilla and his followers in Rome eagerly embraced the new Road, and it spread quickly from there.
Soon after, Tanitbaar-Sahar was summoned to Tyre; he disappeared on the journey and his final fate was never found. Soon after, the roads of Via Regalis, which had been the first Road in Rome, and Via Caeli, a new philiosophy to the city, began competing with Via Desideratio for domination. The battle between the three philosophies ate away at Rome's foundation, and eventually became one of the reasons it fell. During this time, the Faithful of Via Caeli, acquired nothing but disdain and began calling the Road of Desire Via Peccati, the Road of Sin, and its followers Sinners.
[edit] Rules and Practices
To follow the Road of Sin means that a Cainite will put himself first and foremost. No pleasure is to be denied, no law is to restrain the kindred as long as it is for their benefit. As Sinners see themselves as already damned because of the curse of Caine, they figure that nothing they do can make their situation any worse. Followers of Via Peccati also seek to not so much control their Beast as dominate it and manipulate it.
The rituals and hierarchy of the Road mirror the debauchery one would expect from a group of moralless Cainites. The Aphrodisiac is a spring celebration of unlife, with some civiality, but also much debauchery. In contrast, Saturnalia is run by an elected Lord of Misrule, who presides over judgements, initiations, and sacrifies to sin.
Cults of Blood, used for feeding and rituals, and Cults of Personality, usually centered around one charismatic or famous Cainite, are the most common factions to form around the Road of Sin.
[edit] Paths
The four optional Paths of Via Caeli are:
- Via Voluptarius (The Path of Pleasure) - The Sinners of this Path are the most hedonistic of those that follow the Road of Sin. To them, pleasure is everything as far as their existance is concerned, and absolutely nothing is taboo.
- Via Crudelitas (The Path of Cruelty) - The followers of this Path are most cynical and hateful of the Sinners. Very much stemming from a "hurt them before they hurt you" philosophy, the Sinners here do not believe in mercy, compassion, or pity. Rather, the only pleasure they take is from hurting others.
- Via Adversarius (The Path of the Devil) - Not to be confused with the so-called Via Diabolis, these Sinners work to keep themselves from being manipulated. The ultimate control freaks, they will go to any end to protect their free will and, unusually, the free will of others. Many consider them the most "pleasent" of the Sinners.
- Via Quiritare (The Path of Screams) - The maddest of the Sinners and the opposites of Via Adversarius, the followers of this Path believe that as they are already damned, they are also already prey to the Beast, and therefore allow themselves to be manipulated by it and do its bidding. They are essentially walking examples of Hell-on-Earth; even other Sinners are loathe to associate with these madmen.
[edit] Holy Sites
- The Aphrodisum, Ancona.
- New Lacedaemonia
- Constantinople
- Alexandria and Memphis, Egypt
- Carthage
- The Baronies of Avalon
