Kindred who voluntarily abandon Humanity follow behavioral codes known as Paths of Enlightenment. Even those vampires who plumb the depths of immorality have some ethical bulwark they use to anchor themselves against the Beast. To accept utter randomness is to court the Beast, and no vampire wishes to sink into the clutches of mindless depravity. Whether or not a Kindred chooses to follow the moral tenets of Humanity, some sort of behavioral system must exist. These Kindred reason that they are no longer human, thus they have no need to apply the sentiments of the living to themselves. Some vampires forgo the petty mortal concerns embodied by the concept of Humanity. The difference is this: Unlike me, they have no place to run.Īlternate Virtues and Paths of Enlightenment
I will exact from them the same price they have exacted from me. Then, when the sun sets, I will rise and walk among the huddled mortals, who have burned their homes to destroy my childer. Here, all is darkness surrounded by cool stone. With the thunder of the stone coming down, the screams abruptly cease.
With a silent farewell, I descend into the sewers and close the trap door behind me. But there is no time, and he is already doomed. Behind me, I can hear one of my childer pounding in the door to my haven, pleading for entrance as the flames take him. With the help of the blood, I lift it, and see blackness below. There is an iron ring in the floor, attached to a stone door. Fortunately, I have foreseen such contingencies. Those will burn, no doubt, and I will burn with them if I do not move.
My haven is stone, yes, but the ceiling is shored with heavy beams. Some of the things are roasting are rats. Underneath it I can taste other scents - charred flesh, old ash. I am sluggish, confused, and the smoke smells is forcing its way into my nostrils. It is so hard to move when the sun is in the sky, so hard to force blood into my limbs. The scent of smoke has wafted down to my haven. Not a building will be left standing this side of the Thames, but they'll be happy, having destroyed the "monsters." Newer mind that with the wind whipping up from the south, these fires will take the whole city in a matter of hours - they will have caught their vampires. The damn fools will burn down all of London to get us, I think. The sun is in the sky, and we have nowhere to go, and they are routing us with fire.
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