Paths of Enlightenment

It is in the nature of the children of Caine to live according to a code that betters our lives while avoiding those behaviors which degrade us. We struggle for the righteous path, that we may be free from sin. The Road of Typhon would have us believe that in doing so we live but half a life.

The defiler’s logic is seductive. Beware his honeyed words, and his brotherly demeanor! To do good works is of course a vital part of life, but what about our tendencies for evil? If we are not exploring these parts of our soul, can we say that we are truly living full lives? How can it be wrong to indulge our sinful urges – did not God put them there for us? Only by fully exploring our natures can we find our way to Heaven. More than one domain has fallen in fire and blood to the workings of the Followers of Set, after the indulgence of such entreaties as these.

The defilers abandon themselves to evil, seeking to corrupt everything and everyone around them. Rather than resist the urges of the Beast, they actively seek to lose control of themselves and reject all self-control or restraint. In this way, they open themselves to degeneracy and decay.

A defiler is driven to spread the taint of corruption to everything he touches. By the ruination of his victims, he learns to understand the nature of evil. Defilers are thus naturally drawn to people of great virtue or influence; members of the Church are favoured victims, as is the nobility. A defiler works with patience and craft, learning his victim’s secret desires and hidden hatreds, and then exploits them without mercy. He gives his victims everything their hearts desire, knowing that by feeding their dreams he builds ever-greater appetites. Before long, their needs turn to demands, and from there the descent into evil truly begins.

By definition, it seems the defiler is free from ethics of any kind. His beliefs demand that he divorce himself from any sense of structure or control. By the same token, he is driven to attack those institutions that seek to maintain authority. More than one domain has been rotted from within, its prince driven to cruel excesses while a defiler provokes the elders to rebellion. When the fires finally dwindle, nothing remains but ashes and sorrow.

The Followers of Set seek out mortals whose natures are self-interested and ruthless. Any manner of rogue is favoured for her selfishness. Autocratic individuals are chosen for their desire to control the lives of others. Fanatical minds are valued for their unquestioning devotion.

Of all the Cainite clans, only the Followers of Set can be said to cultivate the Serpent’s Road. They in turn spread its taint wherever they can, luring other vampires down their dark and twisting path. All too often, they are successful.

In appearance, most defilers seem innocuous, even harmless, and are often handsome and charming. They wear attire that will appeal to their victim of the moment. There are dark tales of defilers, well-advanced along the Road, who are so riddled with corruption that their appearance becomes a thing of terror and madness.