Malakai
Some legends speak of Malakai, the twin sister of Malkav, who shared his curse, but not his control. According to these legends, she was both his mortal sibling, and his partner in the Embrace. Where Malkav was able to utilize his madness, Malakai was not nearly so fortunate. When it became clear that Malakai was unable to control her abilities, Caine ordered her locked away where she could harm neither the children of Caine nor the children of Seth. While Malkav protested, he understood Caine’s decree and stood aside. Some scholars believe that this is the incident that ultimately compelled Malkav to join the other Antediluvians in slaying their sires. With Malakai’s abilities, it proved nearly impossible to hold her. Her madness would eventually erode any prison in which she was locked. But one among the 3rd Generation, Cappadocius, knew of a location deep within the Underworld where Malakai could be kept safely. With Caine’s blessing and the aid of Malkav, Cappadocius took Malakai into the Labyrinth, where he imprisoned her for eons to come.
Millenia later, when Cappadocius was diablerized by his childe, a portion of his soul escaped into the Underworld. Desperate for safety, Cappadocius ran to the Labyrinth and visited Malakai’s prison. He had hoped that millenia of solitude would have softened Malakai, and that isolation from the Jyhad would make her a potential ally. He was mistaken.
As soon as Cappadocius arrived, Malakai read his mind, prying forth the secret to her location and escape. Before he could even make his plea for aid, she broke free of her bonds and escaped into the Underworld. From there it was a simple matter to return to the land of the living where she intended to find her brother and seek revenge on Caine.
Once Malakai arrived in the lands of the living, she discovered a world quite different from the one she had left. The children of Seth had spread far and wide and the children of Caine followed them. Humans had formed nations and the Kindred were no longer openly ruling. It quickly became apparent that she would need someone native to this world to serve as a guide. Seeing little other option, Malakai found a small group of traveling merchants and Embraced them. Malakai had never Embraced before, and due to her paranoia, she immediately blood bonded her newborn childer to ensure their loyalty. In turn, they inherited her paranoia, but served as much out of love as out of fear. Thus, were born her followers, the Nahema.
After a few dozen years of wandering the Ottoman Empire, Malakai discovered the existence of the nascent Camarilla, the state of the Jyhad, and the details of the Anarch Revolt, including the destruction of two of her fellow Antediluvians. Armed with this knowledge (and her trademark paranoia) Malakai chose to explore the other realms, hoping to discover Lilith, whom she recalled hated Caine nearly as much as she did. Malakai abandoned the lands of the living, instructing her childer to await her return before doing anything exceedingly foolish.
Since Malakai’s exodus, the Nahema have hidden among the Malkavian clan. Some have claimed to be of an odd offshoot bloodline, but most simply claim to be Malkavians. Interestingly, they are able to access the Malkavian Madness Network (likely due to Malakai’s close relationship to Malkav) which helps sell their ruse.
In fact, many younger Nahema are not even aware that they belong to a separate bloodline. Their sires told them they were Malkavian. They can tap into the Network like every other Malkavian. They’re all clearly just as nuts as the other Malkavians, so if it walks like a dog and it talks like a dog…
Those Nahema who are aware of their true lineage gather influence, followers, and resources while they await the return of Malakai, in the hopes that she will bring some insight back to them (or at the very least, keep them from getting eaten by the other maniacs in the Jyhad.)