Path of Bones

Path of Bones
Nickname	Gravediggers
Faction	Giovanni
Bearing	Silence
Virtues	Conviction, Self-Control

The Path of Bones or Path of Bone is a Path of Enlightenment that suppresses the Beast by studying the true nature of death and its relationships with other states of existence.

Adherents are called Gravediggers.

Currently, the path is followed by the Giovanni and traces back to the time of the Cappadocians. The Path of Death and the Soul can be regarded as a variant of this path.

Overview

In contrast to other paths, Gravediggers neither exult in nor abhor their undead state, viewing it as a part of the whole that falls eventually to Final Death. Drawing from the spirituality of their forebears, the Gravediggers struggle to find the answer to Cappadocius' question of the exact nature of death. As they regard vampires as mortal as humans, they pay little heed to the Jyhad and the machinations of the Antediluvians, and even Gehenna, concluding that this follows the natural way of all things to be.

The Beast is regarded as the last vestiges of humanity within the undead body that it is trapped in and is to be seated through meditation. The fascination of death in all its forms unnerves many kindred and even within the Giovanni, only elders practice the path. The clan draws use from this, usually dispatching gravediggers to watch over family members, in order to ensure their welfare and to grant the practitioner a test subject for his observations of the slow transition from youth to old age to death. Many Gravediggers also travel to places of dying, acting as catalysts for violence in order to observe the transition first-handed.

In contrast to the Path of Death and the Soul, the Gravediggers focus completely on that what is on the other side of the veil, studying bodies and the like only when it helps finding out more about the other side. To this end, practitioners regularly consult with wraiths and use Zombies as servants. Some also focus on the interaction of the Shadowlands with the Spirit World.

Ethics

• Study Death in all its vast permutations
• Determine, when a death has occurred and define it (not merely limited to medical symptoms)
• Search for a purpose in death and in the life that precedes it
• Quantify the differences of death among various causes (for example through the study of a wraith's deathmarks)
• Achieve a comfort with life and death
• Hasten death's arrival should it have been delayed

Hierarchy of Sins

Path of Bones
Rating	Moral Guideline	Rationale
10	Showing fear of Death.	Fear inhibits learning.
9	Failing to study an occurrence of Death.	Refusal to learn indicates refusal to understand.
8	Accidental killing.	There's no opportunity to gain insight.
7	Postponing feeding when hungry.	Denial of the self serves no greater purpose.
6	Succumbing to Frenzy.	The Beast is irrational, and emotion serves little to advance understanding.
5	Refusing to kill when the opportunity sets itself.	Experimentation proves theory, and without proof, there's no conclusion.
4	Making a decision based on emotion rather than logic.	Vampires are dead; so, too, are their emotions.
3	Inconveniencing yourself for another's benefit.	Death is inevitable; what meaning does easing another's doomed discomfort have?
2	Needlessly preventing a Death.	One must not prevent the cycle, but should learn from it.
1	Actively preventing a Death.	Such emotional ties befit humans, not Kindred.

Gallery

The Path of Bone VTES card. Art by Michael Gaydos

References

• VTM: Chaining the Beast, p. 39-43