Bashirites is a lineage descending from the Ravnos Methuselah, Bashir. A lineage whose members were apocalyptic Christians. Most turned and joined the Sabbat.
A branch that originated in a Ravnos known as Bashir. They believed in a combination of Christian doctrine and the tenets of the false Path of Paradox, and saw themselves as harbingers of the Apocalypse. They believed that Judas was the first of their kind, cursed by God for his betrayal with eternal wandering. Many of them later joined the antitribu.
Overview[]
The Charlatans who call themselves the Bashirites follow the teachings of the Methuselah named Bashir of Damascus, and exclusively Embrace Christians. Bashir's teachings preach of a coming apocalypse. These teachings weave Christian conviction into Cainite traditions, and presage the return of the Antediluvians, whom they believe will the bring the world to its end. Bashir was said to have met Christ Himself, who forgave Bashir's sins and charged him to prepare for the Second Coming as his penance. For centuries, Bashir preached his message of a coming Apocalypse, gathering his own flock and working to spread the word; he vanished centuries after, and many assume he was the first Cainite to truly achieve Golconda.
The specifics and details surrounding the coming day of reckoning cause so much contention among the jati's members that there has been an ideological split within the Bashirites, resulting in a slow power struggle and intermittent open conflict between the two prevailing schools of thought. The majority of Bashirites follow Bashir's teachings as presented by his childe Varsik, who professes to speak for his sire for the duration of Bashir's absence. Varsik's opponents see his doctrine as antihetical to Bashir's initial message.
Varsik resides in Jerusalem and teaches a bastardization of the Via Paradoxi that heavily incorporates Christian symbolism and parables into Cainite teachings. According to Varsik, Bashir knew that Christ would return when the world is filled with a boundless magnitude of strife, and forgive all their sins. He argues that it is the jati's obligation to fan the flames of discontent wherever they travel to speed the return of the Savior.
The small but vocal opposition composed mainly of elders and newly Embraced Ravnos condemns Varsik's vision as potentially blasphemous. They walk the Road of Heaven as Bashir taught and see their role as much more reactive and instructive, focusing on encouragement of the virtues that mirror the vices they know so well. These "Lambs of Bashir" see Varsik's machinations as an attempt to force Christ's hand, which they feel is an abominable approach to the matter of the world's end. As Bashir taught, the Apocalypse is foreordained, and the great Day of Judgment will come regardless of the jati's attempts at degradation.
