"Death is a beautiful thing..."
Born of a number of wakes that celebrated slightly more than common decency generally allows, The Cult of Final Ecstasy is the result of some Euthanatos and Cult of Ecstasy mages discovering they had quite a bit more in common than they had previously thought. The Cultists realised that death was as natural a part of things as life, while the Euthanatos decided that perhaps they had been missing some of the joys in life due to their concentration on death. An uneasy compromise developed through future wakes and then suddenly blossomed when the Euthanatos realised that the Cultist' time abilities could greatly assist in determining candidates for the good death while the Cultists discovered that some of their "darker" instincts led to a lot of fun as well.
The Cultist dedication to free will and personal choice has, perhaps paradoxically, led to a much more constrained version of the Good Death being administered. Those who have reached low-points in their life are no longer adequate targets, as it is understood that they may very well escape the rut they are in. Instead, time and entropy are used together to determine whether any hope for this incarnation of the individual may be found. Ecstatics feel it is better to help someone in this incarnation than to simply force them on to another that may be no better. Through future sight they determine the best course of action and work to lift individuals' spirits through friendship or even fear or, if no other option exists, to help them on their way.
The major exception to this is that one may be considered for death if they are infringing on far too many others free-will, which has led them into conflict with the Euthanatos themselves. It is also the main difference between themselves and the Nephandi as, although they have little in the way of conventional morality, they believe everyone should be able to choose themselves. The Nephandi coerce their victims far too much for the Ecstatics liking. This has led to the Ecstatics infiltrating various Nephandi groups at times, which they seem to be able to accomplish successfully, only adding to the suspicions the Traditions hold about them.
Those who seek to cheat death also attract the attention of the Cult, as any faltering of the cycle of birth and death, destruction and renewal, is within their interest. This is the primary reason for conflict between the Ecstatics and the Order of Hermes who often use their power to try to live forever.
Amazingly enough the Ecstatics seem to get on remarkably well with vampires. While some of the Cult feel vampires are also cheating death the majority see them as existing permanently within the Ecstasy, that breaking down of illusions and heightened state of awareness that occurs at the moment of death, and so treat them almost reverently.
They also happen to be on very good terms with the wraith community as they feel it is their duty, as guardians of the cycle, to help the restless dead continue on their way and so assist them in the last vestiges of business they may have tethering them to the waking world. Spectres, having no wish to move on, must sometimes be shoved forcefully into the Oblivion.
They have been very active in the right-to-die movement and the doctors among them have no qualms about commiting euthanasia though it is still against the law. However they are very much against abortion, or anything else that may sever a cord before its time.
Unfortunately the hedonism of the Cultists, along with the proximity of death and the dead has led to the practises that hold them condemned among the mage community at large and frequently get them accused of being corrupted by the Nephandi. Cannibalism and necrophilia are not uncommon among the Cult of Final Ecstasy, causing revulsion and hatred among the more reserved members of society. The Ecstatics do not feel they are doing anything wrong, as the bodies are hardly needed anymore, but moral outrage against them has forced them underground. The primary reason the Cult does not feel it is doing anything wrong is that it never deprives anyone needlessly of their personal freedom. No-one is ever killed simply to feed their desires; the bodies belong to those that have been killed for other reasons, or obtained from other sources.
Since the inception of the Cult of Final Ecstasy they have found themselves hunted and hated by nearly all sectors of mage society, especially their parent groups who seem to take them as some kind of personal insult. Only the Verbena seem to accept them, passing the cup as it were, as the Ecstatics begin to bear the brunt of all the fear, misunderstanding and hatred that they have had to deal with over the years.
Due to their need for secrecy, their view of subtlety as an artform and the rather nasty nature of some of their foci they have a general rule never do vulgar magic with any witnesses and never allow any of the deaths they cause to be connected to them in any manner.
Philosophy: Life and death are a package deal. To forsake either for the other is not only stupid, but a denial of the true nature of the cycle. Embrace all that life has to offer, face death with a smile on your lips and experience the ecstasy it brings before passing on to begin the cycle once more.
Organisation: Due to the secrecy necessary to their survival the Cult of Final Ecstasy exists in very small groups which often take the form of very private clubs. It is rumoured that some of the Cult's future members have been reaching back in time mentally to point out promising candidates or warn of some individual who needs to be turned away from their current path before things develop any further. Being a fairly recent development the Cult is still led by those who created it in the first place, most of whom have a small group around them by now. There is a very slight variance in emphasis among those founders from a Cult of Ecstasy background and those from the Euthanatos.
Meetings: The doors of each club are permanently open to any member, and permanently closed to any other. Formal meetings are rare, but informal meetings, usually full of depravity, occur a number of times a week. The founders still get together every few months to discuss the "evolution" of their beliefs and any problems that may be occuring. A few of the founders still remain in their original Traditions, as their membership in the Cult has yet to be discovered.
Initiation: Some form of mind altering substance is usually added to a near death experience to help the initiate experience the Ecstasy for themselves. Sometimes this can be accomplished by an Elder placing the experience of the Ecstasy within their minds.
Chantry: No main chantry exists. Clubs within each city usually consist of one of the founders and a few others. Occasionally wealthy sleepers are allowed access to the clubs, though they are kept from knowing what the club's true purpose is.
Acolytes: The decadent rich, grave-diggers, members of both the right-to-life and right-to-die organisations, wraiths and vampires
Sphere: Both Entropy and Time, though they learning both Correspondence and Forces at the same rate as orphans as these lack any direct relation to The Ecstasy and the dead.
Pain is a wonderful way to focus the mind, and torture can bring remarkable turnabouts in other's opinions. The Ecstasy is the remarkable state of consciousness attained during death. Many Ecstatics "ride" the minds of any that die around them to experience this altered state of perception as the person passes into the Shadowlands and hopefully through to Oblivion. The strength of this as a foci allows the reduction of any difficulties it is used for by 1, and if used as a foci to either enter or deal with the Shadowlands, by 2.
All Ecstatics have at least one vice that they use to assist their concentration during magic, and to also have a lot of fun. Appropriate vices include cannibalism, necrophilia, torture, drinking human blood or anything else usually considered morally repugnant that is related in some way to death and pain, life and sorrow.
Due to the nature of their magick the bodies of the dead, or appropriate parts thereof, are powerful foci that can be used for any sphere and are involved in almost all conjunctional magick the Ecstatics do.
Correspondence: Dancing
Entropy: Bones
Forces: Weapon (Usually a knife, it's more up close and personal-like...)
Life: Vice
Mind: Pain / The Ecstasy
Matter: Bones
Prime: Vice / The Ecstasy
Spirit: The Ecstasy
Time: Vice
Concepts: Doctor, shaman, witch-doctor, playboy
Quote: "Does this hurt?... How about this?... Good, isn't it?"
Akashic Brotherhood: They seek to be whole in body and mind, yet deny their darker side... Where is the unity in that?
Celestial Chorus: They live and die like everyone else. They just have considerably less fun while they're at it.
Cult of Ecstasy: We are everything they are afraid to be. We do what they fear to imagine.
Dreamspeakers: Even Gaia has to go sometime, but they should get off their butts and make the most of what they have.
Euthanatos: They seem to have forgotten that life is as much part of the cycle as death.
Hollow Ones: A fertile recruiting ground; they are already halfway there...
Order of Hermes: They are already dead; they just don't realise it yet.
Sons of Ether: They enjoy what they do.
Verbena: Life, death, blood and flesh... What more could we ask for?
Virtual Adepts: Fantasy has its place, but the real world is much more... real...
The Nephandi: Everyone else gets us confused... Personally, I just don't see it.
Marauders: Some of these guys know how to have a lot of fun.
The Technocracy: It is their time. Soon their time will pass.
Wraiths: Pity the restless dead and help them on their way...
Spectres: The dead should move on. Sometimes they need a hand.
Vampires: Necrophilia has never been so much fun...
Werewolves: Two words... RUN AWAY! The pups don't seem to like us for some reason.
Mummies: Remarkable creatures. Who would have thought the cycle could be leashed in such a manner? I'd love to meet one.
Akashic Brotherhood: No control. They fail to control their own minds and bodies, and commit attrocities along the way.
Celestial Chorus: (Shudder) This evil must be stopped...
Cult of Ecstasy: Don't you think this might be taking things just a little too far?
Dreamspeakers: Gaia's nightmares are made from such as these.
Euthanatos: They mock us. Their behaviour is unseemly and they are a perversion of all we wish to accomplish. Show them none of the mercy you reserve for others.
Hollow Ones: They sound cool... I might check them out...
Order of Hermes: -Bah! Stupidity itself. This bastard child of the Euthanatos and the Cult of Ecstasy has inherited the worst parts of both its parents.
Sons of Ether: Who? Do you mind? I'm busy here...
Verbena: They offend others' petty morality, but not ours.
Virtual Adepts: The Cult of Final Ecstasy? That Nephandi group?
Garou: Grrrrr... Wyrm... Kill....
Eyes of the Blind: Correspondence 2
The Ecstatic alters his awareness, allowing him to see through the eyes of the dead. The eyes of the dead provide the main focus for this effect, though something once belonging to dead one, or another part of the body is needed to provide some kind of link. The linking item is held or worn, the eyes are closed and the awareness of the mage shifts to that of the corpse. This can be annoying if the deceased is under a sheet in the morgue or already buried, though it doesn't matter if the corpses eyes are closed or not. To get around this, members of the Cult commonly remove the eyes from bodies and leave them at places they wish to observe. The most interesting aspect of this rote however is that it also works with vampires.
Death Walk: Mind 5 Matter 4
The mage's consciousness leaves his own body and enters that of the corpse, enabling him to use the corpses body as if it were his own. This is often used in conjunction with "Eyes of the Blind" and/or "Restoring the Flesh" and may account for occasional reports of people getting up and walking out the morgue...
Taste of the Past: Mind 3 Time 2
By devouring the brain of the dead the mage is able to access the deceased's memories and learn whatever she wishes to know. The more successful she is, the more she can learn.
Gift to the Dead: Spirit 4 Entropy 1 Matter 4
In dealing with the Shadowlands the Ecstatics discovered that a few wraiths could be bribed with certain items from the real world. This rote allows them to take any object at all into the Shadowlands with them.
Becoming the Lost: Life 5 Mind 5 Time 2
The mage must dress in the clothes of the dead one he wishes to emulate and go to sleep with the deceased inside a coffin. When he awakes, his body has remembered the dead and changed to become an exact copy of the deceased, but more than that communing with the dead has created a surface mind that, to all intents and purposes, is that of the dead one. The mage's true mind is in full control of this surface one and directs it from beneath the surface. This rote is frequently used to infiltrate other groups by "becoming" one of their members. It is impossible to detect without magick and extremely difficult to detect even with. The main fall down is that the user retains his own spirit, though perhaps further studies will lead to the correction of this.
Voice from the Grave: Spirit 2 Entropy 1
The skull or still intact head of the wraith they wish to contact will begin to speak in a disturbing manner. Most bargaining with the dead is begun in this manner.
Wake the Dead: Spirit 4 Entropy 1
Mainly used in conjunction with "Restoring the Flesh", this rote will bring a wraith back into the land of the living. The Ecstatics commonly use this return to physical form as a bartering tool with wraiths, helping them complete business they still had on earth. Due to their unease at disrupting the cycle in this way, any body the Ecstatics may grant a wraith will only be temporary.
Paying the Boatman: Spirit 3 Entropy 1 Mind 1
By sleeping in a used coffin, still containing the bones of the deceased, with a coin over each eye the mage will wake within the Shadowlands. Going back to sleep in the coffin will allow the mage to return. Mind is used to allow sleep at will.
Hitchhiking on the Highway to Hell: Spirit 3 Entropy 1 Mind 5 Experiencing the Ecstasy of someone's passing the Ecstatic can send their mind along with the dying one, effectively astral-traveling into the Shadowlands.
Glimpse Beyond: Spirit 1 Entropy 1
Staring into the eye sockets of a skull the mage's perceptions shift and she begins to see into the Shadowlands. This can also be used without the skull but in conjunction with "Eyes of the Blind" to peer into the shadowlands anywhere.
Restoring the Flesh: Life 5 Matter 4 Time 2 Prime 2 The bodies of the dead contain the memories of their past. By means of this the entire living body can be reformed from any part of the corpse. This is frequently used to supply bodies for familiars, other spirits, or more commonly wraiths in tandem with the rote "Wake the Dead".