From: [morris 113] at [postbox.acs.ohio-state.edu] (The Livewire)
Newsgroups: alt.games.whitewolf,rec.games.frp.storyteller
Subject: The Cathari (new group of Hunters)
Date: 15 Dec 1995 13:10:07 -0500

Here's the first draft on a history for the Cathari I mention in IC posts. I
could use input, especially since I'm rather ignorant on WOD history, so
please be kind.

Oh, disclaimer.  This idea comes from Marvel Comics _Blade: Vampire Hunter_
I think its mutated past what they wrote into something completely
unrecognizable, but this is CYA so I don't claim to challenge their rights :)

History:
        Long before the inquisition, long before the Akratai, Judges, and perhaps
even before the Watchers, stood the Cathari.  The Cathari were Hunters from
the Mythic age, and like much of the mythic age, their history has been
obscured by both time and the Technocracy.  They were defenders of the weak,
protecting humans from the creatures that hunted the night, working in and
with the Byzantine Empire.  They claimed swaths of land as their dominion,
much of what is now today Southeastern Europe.
        To combat the monsters that roamed the lands an order of warriors were
formed, the Nightstalkers.  Equipped by their mages with weapons of magical
strength, the Nightstalkers rode forth, to take back the night from the
supernatural creatures that claimed it.
        Unfortunately the Cathari were doomed to defeat, both from within and
without.  When the Arabs first expanded north and the Bulgars expanded west,
some of the Cathar lords, seeing their power base threatened, sent their
Nightstalkers to fight against the invaders.  The leaders did not notice
their loss of Numina, and the mages that supported them backed their leaders
with Mind magic, through their talismans and foci.  The Cathar were slowly,
but inexorable driven back, until at last a peace was signed.  The
Nightstalkers were betrayed, left to die by their corrupt leaders, and the
Annex in Constantinople was allowed to survive, under the careful monitoring
of the conquers.
        Many of the Nightstalkers were killed by their former leaders, and many
others by the Vampires and Garou they had hunted, but a few found refuge in
the new Arab rulers and their tolerance.  This tolerance was shattered in
1074 by the rise of the Seljuk Turks, in part influenced by the actions of
Settite Vampires, reversed the liberal policy of the Arabs.  The Last known
Cathar priests and few Nightstalkers still in the city were killed trying to
defend their Annex.  The Annex was seriously damaged and left for destroyed
by the attackers.  Many of the Mages had escaped, again abandoning their
faithful and leaving them to perish.  Some of these mages later went on to
fill out the ranks of the Verbena, Celestial Chorus, Order of Hermes, and
the fledgling Technocracy.  This left defense of the Annex to the warriors
and Hedge Wizards, who were unable to complete their tasks and as a result
took what they could into hiding.
        The true end for the Cathari came at the hands of the Church.  Empowered by
the Crusades, and gearing up for the inquisition, the Crusaders sacked
Constantinople, and razed the Annex to the ground.  They believed the
Cathari destroyed and began including their name with heretical sects such
as the Bogomils, Novatians, and Albanese.
        Unknown to the members of the inquisition, some of the final defenders of
the Cathari survived, and escaped with their artifacts north, to the city of
Kiev where they helped form the Akratai.  Even this flight was short lived
as the last of these were killed in 1240, and the Akratai was forced to
retreat to Moscow.

The Cathari today:
        As far as is known the Cathari no longer exists.  Though their might be
some who remember it (Immortals, Vampires, Oracles, possibly some Gargoyles)
It is generally assumed that there are no surviving annexes, or practicing
members.

Awakened in the Cathari:
        Like the Church itself the Cathari did have a few Awakened members.  Most
were mages, members of what later would become New World Order and Iterrion
X, but some Orphans as well.  A legend persists that one or two Vampires
were members, and maybe even revered figures in the lore.  Another Legend
persists that a Ronnin Werewolf was also a member of the Cathari, but this
is again, speculation.

Livewire