How best to explain the modern Path to someone who's never read Darwin. . . ? Those who follow the Path of Metamorphosis seek to climb closer to Heaven and farther from humanity, though few of them believe in such a place. Unlike the Eastern Buddhists imitating Siddhartha, Metamorphosists have few role models in search of Azhi Dahaka, the name given to this higher state by the eldest of Fiends. Azhi Dahaka is not some Nirvana where the Metamorphosist achieves oneness with the universe, but rather the opposite - to undergo Metamorphosis is to completely separate oneself from Creation, to be a self-sufficient will in a universe that holds no more power over the ego.

Some believe so, anyway. Metamorphosis is a lonely pursuit. Many Fiends on the Path refuse to share their wisdom or even mislead those who seek it. Can you imagine a paranoid sire teaching his childer "secrets" that invite their own Final Deaths? My own sire once told me, "Anger is the judge among the undead. If another Cainite enrages you, he offends the predator within you." That was the least of his lies, though 1 hope he found Azhi Dahaka under my fangs.

Some Metamorphosists aren't so stingy with their discoveries. A few traditionalists still remember the times when Metamorphosists were the roving sages of the clan and met at "Black Churches" to consult their enlightened fellows. Noddists have since usurped the learned reputation of the Metamorphosists - among the youngest of Cainites exploring the modern Paths, self-mastery is less popular than the power of Caine. But teachers still exist in the more populous cities; some followers have even formed "schools" of Metamorphosis to test their theories, learn from their peers and transmit their techniques to the young.

For most Metamorphosists, physical change precedes spiritual change. Some believe, despite the obvious evidence of their undead existence, that no creature possesses a soul and that the Curse of Caine represents flesh run rampant, flesh liberated from the obliterating cycle of life and death. Others hold that the soul is just the body summarized. The diehard evolutionists (ask Ezra) believe that they must suit their bodies perfectly to their environments, usually to the nighttime metropolis and their suspicious prey - human and Cainite alike. Regardless, most Metamorphosists rely heavily on the fleshcrafting arts of our clan to affect their transfonations.

I do not know what these Metamorphosists were like in your day, ancient one, but in the Final Nights, they seem to take whatever form they please. My sire, himself the childe of an Exsanguinist, saw self -sufficiency as the precursor to enlightenment - a lofty goal for a creature that depends on the life-blood of kine. He made increasingly esoteric attempts to mold himself into a being that sustained itself efficiently. At first, he fashioned. . . tentacles, that's the closest word to what they really were, from his lower intestines, each with its own mouth full of incisors. He kept himself attached to three ghouls at all times, constantly ingesting their blood. He quickly abandoned this form - even the hardiest ghouls dried up under his ravenous appetites. Instead, he crafted leaky membranes in the backs of his childer. Each night, he sent us out to feed. When we returned, he attached his hungry tentacles to us and claimed our blood for his own. Though the regular infusion of our blood made him a doting sire, I showed him that his offspring were not mere extensions of his undead organism. Such is but one example of the changes Metamorphosists inflict on themselves.

Metamorphosists see potential in the undead form. They strengthen their bones to weather crushing blows or sharpen them into pikes for impaling enemies. They relocate their vital organs to make their digestion of blood more efficient. They improve their eyes and ears to make them more sensitive to changes around them. Others rearrange themselves to conform to more esoteric concepts, imitating many-armed Hindu gods or molding their bodies into forms accordant to feng shui.

Others ignore the physical element and, instead, seek to exploit the peculiar nature of undeath. Some such Metamorphosists feed only on their fellow Cainites, believing that an aversion to mortal blood is a sign of metaphysical superiority. Some believe that following certain precepts, such as "learn the characteristics of all stages of life and death," will lead them to a reward similar to that mythic Golconda.

Metamorphosists often face a different problem from those who walk other Paths: Rather than struggling to uphold the tenets of their Path, Metamorphosists struggle to discover just what those tenets are. Azhi Dahaka is a poorly lit road. While many Fiends encounter similar difficulties, the forms these difficulties take depend on the Metamorphosist. A Fiend attached by bloodsucking tentacles to his ghouls interprets the denial ofhis feeding urge differently than a Fiend with no mouth would.

Metamorphosist philosophy is so diverse that informal schools have sprung up allover the world. These schools debate the matter eternally and instruct their students in tlleir findings, each espousing a slightly different Path of Metamorphosis.