In the silence, in the darkness, a few still remained. "In the beginning was the Logos" both Heraclitus and the disciple John tell us. "And so I shall begin anew with some words." And so Vox Dei, Vox Populi speaks. "As Malkavians, we are iconoclasts by nature. We tell ourselves that it is our job to break people out of old, stale ways of thought and to show them a new way. But how many of you, of *us*, take the time to learn what this means. To learn what the "Ikons" we are breaking really are?" "Francis Bacon, not a Malk, not a Vampire, not even a Magus, although they will claim him when asked. (Trust me, I have. Of several different magical traditions. They all claimed him. Either he was a greater polymath than he let on, or the wizards lie as much as we do.) Bacon explained (He always explained. He never simply talked. It was a character flaw.) that all human endeavor to understand Truth, and in particular, Natural Truth were hindered by four Idols - patterns and flaws in thinking that blinkered and blinded us to the underlying truth of what we perceived." "As I said, these Idols numbered four - they were the Idols of The Tribe, The Cave, The Marketplace, and The Theatre. All of these idols are present in every sapient being - including us. We simply are aware of them (most of us are aware in only the most inchoate and instinctual form. This is the blood of Malkav at work. Perhaps we, as Vampires, have an additional Idol, that of The Blood, blurring our vision. I shall examine *that* idea more closely at the end of these discussions.) than most. Each Idol must be smashed before we can see the pure truth behind reality. It is a difficult, some would say impossible, task to do so." "I don't know about you, but as the undead, I do at least one impossible thing every night..." "I also don't know if these will be discussions, or the simple whistling in the dark of an entity who believes that while he feels alone, he may *not* be. I encourage you, my kin, to voice your thoughts as I traipse idly through the Idols' temple, but! and I cannot emphasize this enough, do not be so eager to speak that you stop listening to what I say. We cannot have the thoughtless yammering of the ignorant distorting the careful building blocks I am putting together with these Words." The darkness returns to silence. Anticipation returns?