Swallowing Up the Weak
Long ago , we were painted as abominations — the boogeymen who lived in the woods , snatching up children and summoning demons to slaughter those Cainites who would dare track us down . To the Greeks , we were creatures from Hades , and when the monotheistic religions took root , we became followers of the Devil . Rumors aside , we were at the fall of Rome . We saw the fires of Pompeii , and we ’ ve witnessed genocides from Cambodia to Germany . The fact that we are there whenever something cataclysmic has occurred could just be coincidence , but the Baali believe our very presence brings with it the end of the world and a possible return of the First People . Holy symbols work on us because we are not like other Cainites . We are worlds apart .
Now , I ’ ve been talking about God , but the truth is that no one really knows where vampires are from . Caine could have been one of the First People for all we know , and the Embrace is but one of a thousand possible versions . History is written by the victors , after all . All of that illustrates my point : the Baali have never been the devils that everyone thinks we are . Our bloodline is a lot more anti-God than it is pro-Devil , especially since the idea of the Devil is preposterous . We control demons and devils , and never have we even heard of one like what has been described in the Bible .
But I know more than your average Baali , since I ’ ve heard voices from beyond the veil . Only a few of us have . The ignorant say there was a third original Baali besides Nergal and Moloch , and that the fall of our bloodline had to do with sibling rivalry instead of Moloch ’ s cowardice . Some say God personally reached down and cursed the Baali twice what other Cainites suffer . I believe it is what makes us truly unique . We suffer the most , and still reject God ’ s authority .
Swallowing Up the Weak
I ’ d be remiss if I didn ’ t mention our revenant family , the D ’ Habi . They were instrumental to the Baali ’ s continued existence through much of the Dark Ages . Turns out , it becomes even harder to survive when the world blames you for causing the Black Plague . The D ’ Habi aren ’ t really one family , but are instead scattered from shore to shore and cultivated by individual Baali circles to serve in whatever manner they choose . It is said that some of them were originally fed droplets of Nergal ’ s blood , making them intensely loyal to the Baali bloodline . Nergal ’ s vitae was so potent that even the humans ’ offspring were willing to serve before taking they own taste . Coupled with the fact that the families have instituted their own measures to keep each other in line and loyal to the Baali , we know the D ’ Habi won ’ t stray any time soon .
Of course , what were once humans that helped us to blend into the world are now just as corrupted as we are . Stand a D ’ Habi next to your average everyday person and you can instantly tell the difference . Our revenants are often sniveling , crawling beings . That is as we like it , since we do not make any illusions to keeping those close to us away from our darkness or the truth about the world ’ s utter spiral into chaos and destruction . You can imagine what that can do to a weak mind , right ? This makes them less useful for espionage , since cracking under pressure doesn ’ t make one a great spy . However , we have many , many other spies .
The Baali eventually gained fellow infernalists among the rest of the Cainites . Azaneal was a powerful Baali who infiltrated the intricacies of the Catholic Church , eventually gaining the highest authority he could without becoming the pope himself . Along the way he corrupted and converted several with the Baali bloodline into his own heresy , believing that vampires were the tools of Satan against the world . It became his responsibility to play out his role until judgement day arrived , and he brought hundreds of Baali ( called Azaneali ) and Lasombra ( called Angellis Ater ) together under one banner . These half-Baali , these Angellis Ater , manipulated the shadows , as obsessed with the idea of darkness and the abyss as they were with the infernal .
When the Baali rose recently from their hiding ( just as Moloch said they would ), their first order was to absorb this group into the bloodline once more . It took a number of calculated strikes against the Inquisition to do so , but only a handful of anything but pure Baali exist now .
You seem confused . How do we re-Embrace other vampires , you ask ? Well , unlike other Clans , our blood runs with the power of the First People , allowing us to Embrace with our own vitae which can override another ’ s weak blood . The process is the same , however ; we drain the initiate of their blood , cut our wrists , and feed them our own . Our vitae rewrites their supernatural makeup , thus re-Embracing them into our bloodline . It is rumored that lower Generation Baali actually have pieces of the First People ’ s flesh they can feed to an initiate that causes the change instantly without the exchange of fluids . This is the real reason other vampires fear us . Because they know , with little more than a choice , they can be us .
Modern Devils
For the longest time , the Baali stayed hidden in the shadows , hiding from the likes of other Kindred looking to take us out . To them , we ’ re irredeemable beings who are out to destroy the world with demonic legions we have at our beck and call . Let me tell you how it really is .
12 BAALI