Ba'ali
Contents
Introduction
Even monsters have their bogeymen, and Kindred are no exception. Sires often attempt to keep neonates from growing drunk on their own power as vampires, and one method for doing so is to explain to them what sorts of twisted, evil power awaits them in the dark. The Baali are one such power.
History — or legend, perhaps — claims that the childe of an Antediluvian made a pact with forces beyond human understanding in order to make war on the thirteen Clans. He took the name Baal-the-Destroyer, and he led his apostles against the Second City. The battle was terrible, and none caught in its wake were spared — Demon and Kindred alike perished. But the Baali and their unholy allies were routed and fled, and over the millennia, they faded from memory, to legend, to cautionary tale.
The Baali do still exist, though. The Inquisition weeded out the stupid and the careless, but left the clever and the patient. Some went into torpor, while others simply claimed membership in another Clan and begged for sanctuary. Now, in modern nights, the bloodline sees more concentrated activity than it has for centuries. Baali are explorers and seekers of secrets. They will do almost anything and sacrifice almost anyone to gain access to occult mysteries. They squander the wealth they have accumulated, they make deals they cannot possible hope to live up to, and they do so with no apology and no attempt at excuse. They seem to know that they are in decline, and that their bloodline is disappearing into the mists of time.
The bloodline has enemies, after all. Infernalists — those who call up and worship demons — are one of the very few beings that can be called “common enemies” by most of the denizens of the World of Darkness, Kindred and otherwise. Despite their small numbers and host of enemies, the Baali are dangerous. They are not Faustian bargainers, looking for comfort or even knowledge. They do not wish to reign in Hell. They believe — they know — that the world is doomed. The End Times are here, and every sacrifice they make, every murder they incite, is one more chink in the dam holding back the deluge of blood called Gehenna. If they have to die to break that dam, so be it. They die knowing that what they do is what must be done.
Nickname: Demons
Sect: While individual Baali might pretend to membership in the Camarilla or, less commonly, the Sabbat, the bloodline as a whole claims no Sect.
Appearance: Some neonates adorn themselves with Satanic paraphernalia. Some Baali dress in expensive clothing, and some don’t bother. Some become so fixated that they neglect outer appearance. Older Baali surround themselves with insects, rats, or other vermin.
Haven: Baali tend to nest in places of antiquity. Libraries, universities, and stately homes attract the Demons. No matter where the Baali make their havens, though, the vampire’s very presence changes the place. Vermin creep in first, and no amount of effort can keep them out.
Background: The Baali value temperament above profession. Teachers, defrocked priests, laborers, artists — all have joined the ranks of the Baali. The bloodline even breeds their own recruits, drawing from ghoul families raised over the years to produce offspring suckled on the unholy truths that the Baali recite as gospel.
Character Creation: Mental Attributes, especially Perception, are usually primary. A Baali’s ability to tempt and entice depend on his insight into what a person truly wants. Social Attributes are also helpful, as the Baali need both to keep their identities a secret and convince others to open up to them.
Clan Disciplines: Daimonion, Obfuscate, Presence
Weakness: Baali cannot bear to look upon or handle objects of any faith. Demons must avert their gazes from such objects, and touching them burns their flesh. In addition, should a Baali run afoul of True Faith, any hindering or damage effects are doubled.
Organization: The Baali gather in cabals numbering three to 13. Supposedly, these cabals answer to the bloodline’s founder. Any Demon is willing to die to protect his cabal-mates; not out of any loyalty or affection for them, but because they’re all doomed anyway.
Quote: ‘And behold, a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.’ Ever noticed it’s in past tense? That’s not a mistranslation.
3rd Generation
Mythology: According to those brave vampiric historians who have delved into the dubious historical accounts of this rancid bloodline, one of the third generation did create the Ba'ali in a fit of peak; the identity of that progenitor remains a significant question.
4th Generation
- -- <<Shaitan>> --
- -- <<Moloch>> --
- -- <<unknown>> --
5th Generation
- -- <<Camazotz>> -- Also known as: Nezahualcoyotl. Progeny of Huitzilopochtli. Sire of Tlazolteotl. He is an Aztec vampire. He is Hummingbird of the Left. (The Bat God)
- -- <<Annazir>> -- Progeny of Moloch. Elder of Damascus during Dark Ages. Dimly recalls the great nights of his clan. Remembers the Shaitan and longs for those times again. He also longs for power, to watch events unfold directly; in essence, he's forgotten the lessons that made him an elder.
- -- <<Cybele>> -- Believed to by the progeny of Shaitan and sire of Petaniqua. It is said, that it was she who sealed Troile and Moloch beneath Carthage. She had a taste for the blood of men who castrated themselves in her frenzied orgiastic ceremonies. It is rumored that she was present for and gave her blessing to the Blood Curse of the Assamites when it was cast upon that clan. It is widely believed that for much of her existence that she poses as a Malkavian Methuselah. She was killed by a group of thirteen vampires that were said to be of the True Brujah bloodline.
- -- <<Mary the Black>> -- Also known as: Ma-ri-ah. The probable progeny of Anaduk of Babylon. She killed many Toreador in Constantinople. Diablerised Michael in 1204.
6th Generation
- -- <<Anaduk>> -- His sire remains unknown, but he is believed to be the sire of Mary the Black.
- -- <<Petaniqua>> -- Progeny of Cybele. She was the princess of Epirus, mother of Alexander the Great. She was embraced the day Alexander assumed the throne of Macedonia. She was called Myrtale, then Olympias, then Petaniqua The Black Eyes of the Wyrm. She is totally corrupted by the Wyrm. She is the 2nd of the Red List and poses as Malkavian.
- -- <<Hortator>> -- Also known as: Tlazolteotl (Goddess of Vice). Progeny of Nezahualcoyotl. Sire of Delfonso. She is an Aztec vampire.
- -- <<Antonio DeFigio>> -- Sire of Giotto Verducci.
7th Generation
- -- <<Azanael>> -- Lasombra turned Ba'ali. Sire and childer unknown. Ruler of Chorazin.
- -- <<Darak>> -- Sire of Elihu.
- -- <<Delfonso>> -- Progeny of Hortator. Sire of Don Benedict and Domingo.
- -- <<Giotto Verducci>> -- Progeny of Antonio DeFigio. Leader of the Abbey of Mount Zion.
- -- <<K'thstl>> -- Sire of Sargon.
- Ma-ri-ah -- Mary the Black {Constantinople -- medieval}
- -- Varro Senex -- The appearance of this enigmatic infernalist in November of 2022 in Quebec City may serve as a harbinger of dark portents.
8th Generation
- -- <<Al-Harim>> -- Sire of Ansen.
- -- <<Don Benedict>> -- Progeny of Delfonso. Loved the Nosferatu Dowager of San Francisco.
- -- <<Domingo>> -- Progeny of Delfonso.
- -- <<Elihu>> -- Progeny of Darak. Under the orders of Giotto Verducci.
- -- <<Sargon>> -- Progeny of K'thstl. Under the orders of Giotto Verducci.
9th Generation
- -- <<Ansen>> -- Progeny of Al-Harim. Often referred to by his fellows as: The Devil's Advocate.
- -- <<unknown>> --
Those of Unknown Generation
Admonition: It is presumed that the Ba'ali regularly cull their ranks to maintain a small but productive bloodline. Its ironic that of all of Caine's blood, it would be the Ba'ali that practiced such a rigorous masquerade. The vampiric scholars and historians of the thirteen clans would be horrified to discover than the infernal bloodline not only still existed, but that it has managed to maintain its blood purity, as there are no Ba'ali of the 10th generation or weaker.
