Despite the eternal nature of the Cainites, surprisingly few records of their history exist. Those who do remember the great moments of Cainite history have undoubtedly twisted their remembrances to suit their own agenda, and the eldest of all slip into torpor and incoherence as they age.
For most vampires, investigations into the nature of vampirism tend toward practical purposes, such as cultivations of Disciplines and blood magic. Those Cainites who pursue pure philosophical research into the origins and nature of the vampire may follow the Road of Bones.
The Road of Bones is dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge above all else. Followers wish to unlock the secrets of life, death, and the Cainite condition through a variety of means.
Necromancy is a common tool for investigating the threshold between life and death, as are vivisection and necropsy. The vampire is caught between the living and the dead, after all, and understanding what that means requires introspection and assessment. Others take a historical approach, attempting to deduce the nature of vampirism by unlocking the secrets of their origin. The Necronomists scour the landscape of the Anarch Revolt, searching for fragments of the Book of Nod and other historical artifacts in hopes of learning the truth in the midst of chaos.
The Cappadocians were foremost among the natural historians of the Cainites, but since their betrayal by the Giovanni, only some few Tzimisce and Malkavians really carry on their work.
Sobriquet
Necronomists
Preferred by
Giovanni, Malkavians, Tzimisce
Ethics
- Study the mysteries of life, death, and undeath
- Explore the mysteries of the soul, but do not be enslaved by its passions
- Protect knowledge from those who would destroy or distort it
| Level of Sin | Description |
| 1* | Refusing to share knowledge with a worthy recipient; wanton destruction and cruelty |
| 1 | Refusing to kill when useful or necessary |
| 2 | Being swayed by emotion; succumbing to frenzy |
| 3 | Pursuing power, prestige, or mortal attachments instead of knowledge; allowing compassion or pity to influence you |
| 4 | Needlessly preventing a death |
| 5 | Destroying irreplaceable sources of knowledge; showing fear of death |
*: only for someone with Road rating of 6
Initiation
Historically, non-Cappadocians seeking to learn the Road of Bones were subjected to intense scrutiny by their Graverobber mentors, who demanded that they present worthy scholarship or discoveries before the Necromancer would share their libraries. In the absence of any Cappadocians to teach this Road, new Necronomists must undergo similar trials to those their mentors undertook.
Organisation
Excluded from the Cappadocian conferences at Erciyes, others on the Road built and maintained informal networks of scholarship typically revolving around monasteries or other places of learning. By the time of the Anarch Revolt, there are Necronomists in the University towns and cities of Bologna, Cambridge, Cologne, Erfurt, Glasgow, Heidelberg, Kraków, Lisbon, Modena, Montpellier, Naples, Orleans, Oxford, Padua, Palencia, Paris, Pisa, Prague, Salamanca, Siena, St Andrews, Toulouse, Valladolid, and Vienna.
They are not formally represented among the Anarchs, but tend to have good relations with the Bahari, who will occasionally put their points across.
Aura
Silence. The stillness of the grave and the hush of quiet study surround followers of this road. Their aura modifier applies to all Stealth rolls.