The Path of Those With a Clue

by Handel W. Care and Mr Badger

Quote:

"Sheesh. What is it with the I-know-it's-wrong-but-I'll-do-it-anyway brigade?"
"Good question, really."
"fear. fear makes them have to explain themselves."
"Not enough of it, you mean? I agree."

- Three With a Clue, on occasion
Nicknames: Contributors, IC's, The Man, Those [insert expletive of choice]'s, They Who Dwell Above in Shadow.
Most, in fact, have their own nicknames, as The Path of Those With a Clue tends to be followed by those with enough character to stand out on their own.

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History:

Once upon a time, a long time ago, there was a group of Malkavians who had a very special thing. It was called a Clue. Now, this Clue wasn't one of your bargain basement clues, nor one of your murder mystery clues, or any of the condition specific clues. This Clue was special in that it could be used for many different occasions and never got used up. It didn't immediately let you know that Professor Plum was the killer, and had committed the heinous deed in the ballroom, but it did let you catch you on that a murder had been actioned and that only some of the people present could have done it. In some situations it could be referred to as the ability to see the bloody obvious; while in others it could be likened to common sense; in still others it was able to allow people to see that their actions might force a reduction in the delight in life that others enjoyed and it could then be known as consideration. Its uses were manifold, and brought a degree of happiness and a sense of true community to those who bathed in its not divine, but at least quite useful radiance. It was not a panacea, neither was it flawless, but it did work. With the Clue there was a sense of balance, and so the group prospered and expanded, welcoming others into the fold, that they too could interact, and it was good.

The Clue was felt by all within their souls and being. Having a Clue was almost the initial reaching out that brought members together. Some scraped at the very edges of their Clue, playfully toying with its abilities. Mistakes were made where in the Clue was temporarily lost from their grasp. Like new born babies missing the touch of their mother those without a Clue by their own rash actions adjusted their behaviour till the boon of the Clue returned. The Clue was not a solid object which could be touched and quantified; instead it was more a code of behaviour, as in this Path. Myriads of behaviours could all be found enveloped within the Clue. Practices and observances might be vastly abstract from one another but all rested upon the keystone qualities of common sense, courtesy and creativity. Understanding had to be earned, but without the other three factors it would be slow arriving if at all. To fully understand another person it was, and is, necessary to be first be an individual yourself.

Alas, all good things seem to come to an end, and thus it was with the community and their Clue. In their inexperience they lowered the barriers to entrance and allowed wave upon wave of outsiders to enter their, until then, private domain. Even the light of the Clue was not enough to turn back the tide; in fact, the sheer weight of numbers meant that its powers appeared weakened or too widely drawn upon. In truth, there were still those who kept a measure of the Clue in their hearts, but they were few: some among those who had been there nearer to the beginning and those few who joined as time went by and could resist the pull of the unenlightened mass that had built up. These brave and stalwart souls attempted to do what they could to bring a Clue to the greater majority, but their efforts were largely a failure. Even now, they soldier on, battlers in a fight against the uncaring Clueless.

Passage from the Book of Nodding:

"And yea, did the mindless hordes raise clamour and squealed around their betters. Like feral animals the hordes did shout and scream without thought of using the sounds they made for even mildly significant uses. Time and time again those With a Clue attempted to guide those Without, but to no avail. A clear separation became visible between those With a Clue and those Without; a rift that was difficult to ever be crossed, but not impossible. Yea, some crossed from the Clueless and became With a Clue, but rather than learn from these gifted few the Clueless ignored and scorned those who had escaped their ranks. Like the first golden ones those With a Clue could be betrayed from within. Thrown down into the abyss they were, by own action stripped of their Clue. The Clueless gathered in numbers once more. "

Translation, continuation and comments:

The Clueless envied those With a Clue and attempted to mimic them. Rather than create for themselves they copied others and thus Forwards were hurled upwards. These items marked those ever flawed for their inherent lack of creativity and yet they were favoured amongst the Clueless as a poultice for the void in their souls. Those who used Forwards in this way showed the lack of wit and imagination necessary to be able create for themselves, and thus suckled at the teat of those who did. To add to this self induced ignominy the Clueless underwent public arguments concerned more with status and imitation rather than with learning or understanding. Like a colony of parrots the Clueless chattered and squawked, recycling the words of others, never understanding what it was they spoke of or that they should do it elsewhere.

In an attempt to justify their existence they proudly trumpeted that diversity is all, that variety is the basis of creation; from there the logic strain snapped and the rants turned towards cries that all examples were good examples and that all behaviour was allowed. To some these poor souls became known as the Antiglibu, being as they were, without the wit, polish, and the courtesy shown by others - without that necessary spark of creativity and conscience, the spark known as a Clue.

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Basic Beliefs:

Followers of The Path of Those With a Clue are generally a creative bunch, and thus see creativity as a good thing. In the absence of creativity, a void in the community, they are happy enough to provide some as an example to all. When this doesn't work, as is frequently the case, they tend to get tetchy. Tetchiness leads to all sorts of irascible behaviour, such as poorly hidden meanings in public expression intimating that non-Contributors are a bunch of useless no hoping misbegotten sons and daughters of an age where the term no willpower is out of practice among the masses and attention deficit disorder is used instead. This is not to say that all the Clueless are Neonates, nor that all those With a Clue are Elders, but they do frequently appear to be that way. Senile Dementia is widespread among Contributors.

Having a Clue allows the Path members to be able to distinguish between the living and the undead in the way that surprisingly few Kindred without a Clue seem to be able. A Clueless may find itself talking on the topic of root canals, relationship troubles or other mundane topics as if it were a mortal itself. Many has been the occasion when a convocation has gone silent to observe a Clueless blathering about their cell phone call signature or a similarly inapt topic when the reason for the gathering was to be able to talk on less everyday issues. The truly saddening thing to those With a Clue is that this action invariably leads to others treating the event as if it were a secondary school party of some description. Cluelessness is catching - it's the simplest path, after all.

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The Ethics of the Path:

Expect standards of conduct. Good standards.

Define these standards and follow them yourself first before all others.

Do not become complacent. Past behaviour has NO weight concerning current behaviour.

Don't go for the lowest common denominator. The easy Path is for the weak.

Consideration is more important than etiquette, but try for both.

The terminally stupid sometimes need to be hit with a 2 x 4. If consideration cannot be taught gently it must sometimes be hammered home. (Many Contributors have the equivalent of a timber yard in psychological storage.)

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Common Description:

As a collection of individuals as well as followers of a Path, those With a Clue tend to dress as they wish, with as little regard to the all-black-all-the-time dictates that so many Kindred fall into as they do to any other. Being mostly Malkavians their personal appearances are widely divergent. However, followers of the Path often sport deep wrinkles atop their brow from witnessing the fetid performances of the Clueless. In addition, their eyes may appear squinted as those With a Clue ready themselves for the disappointment sure to come.

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Views on other Paths:

"They all borrow from our teachings. Having a Clue is present in all Paths. The clothing may appear different but the heart within remains the same. Common sense, courtesy and creativity; all key factors in truly sentient behaviour."

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Following the Path:

Following the Path requires exact patience. Patience as it is always clear the Clueless have the benefit of numbers and the armour of their own ignorance. Those With a Clue must first pierce the armour of ignorance before they can show the others the error of their ways. Following the Path of Those With a Clue requires showing a clear and correct example. Leadership comes from within. One does not chastise another unless you can perform as you wish all others to do. The Clueless cry for more stories yet write none themselves. Do not follow the road towards losing the Clue.

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Suggested Abilities:

Etiquette (differentiation between public and private), Empathy (giving a damn), Performance (writing), Intimidation (intelligence as a weapon), Leadership (setting an example), Survival (bloodymindedness), Investigation (seeking ringleaders).

Suggested Disciplines:

Auspex (seeing the obvious), Fortitude (patience enough to try teaching), Potence (ramming the point home when patience and teaching doesn't work), Vicissitude (growing from within rather than becoming nothing more than walking memories).

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Hierarchy of Sins

10 Expecting anything resembling honour or understanding from a non Path member.
9 Suffering the inconsiderate to live.
8 Turning away from your duties
7 Allowing ignorance to foster and be used as an excuse by letting imbecility slide 'this time' in case the Clueless 'learn'.
6 Forgetting to laugh.
5 Not pitying those who feel the need to use any of the terms: "Bite me.", "Deal with it.", ""Get over it.", I don't care." or "It's a free world." and the like who are over 8 years in age.
4 Not judging others on a case by case basis.
3 Being uncreative/ committing plagiarism.
2 Failing to give others the chance to better themselves/ not setting a good example.
1 Failing to judge yourself before all others. _______________________________________________________________________

And now, as an extra, added feature to our main presentation:

The Path of the Clueless

"Let "Do as thou wilt" be the whole of the law."
- an inconsiderate buffoon.

[OOC, CH2CH2OH, FUBAR]

If you don't want to read this message delete it now as I don't want to cause a flame war by my thoughtlessness. I don't care if you don't like it. No one is forcing you to read it. Bite me.

Hey Dave, I couldn't be bothered looking for your address as that would be too easy so I'm sending this to 200 people so they can all see how useless I am.

My boyfriend broke up with me at school today after we saw this really great movie where there was this great joke. Hey, I'll forward you the entire script so you can see it.
[/OOC]

[IC, CH2COOH]

Growl! I am mean and worldly! Look at my teeth! I hate what ever you're talking about because I am mean! I think I'll smoke at you now to prove it!

[/IC]

[OOC, CH2CHO, TUIFU]

Hey, you can't shout at me, I was in character and I'm allowed to say that! Fuck you! I've been on this list for lots of years and I've sent in lots and lots of really kool posts before. So fuck you! *

[/OOC]

* Some spelling has been corrected to protect those of a delicate temperament, and in the interests of people being able to understand what is being said without the use of a cryptography machine.

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