Banu Haqim

The Banu Haqim have only been full members of the sect for the past two decades, and as newcomers, the Schismatics know they must make themselves useful, acquire allies and boons, and build their clan network from the ground up. It will be an upward climb with foes pushing back against them the whole way, but the alternative was worse. Their fearsome reputation precedes them, and often leads to them receiving a cool welcome in the Ivory Tower’s domains. Many of the Kindred expect bloodthirsty, murderous killers; they are surprised when most of the new arrivals are erudite, inquisitive scholars. All Kindred expect deception though, and they still watch for the knife when dealing with the Banu Haqim.

Warriors	Open
Sorcerers	Open
Viziers	Open, Camarilla Recommended

Content by H.A.R.D.A.C. (treeOfWoe)

The Schismatics

The Viziers

The majority of the Banu Haqim in the Camarilla are Viziers, the portion of the clan responsible for its scholarly and influential endeavors. These Viziers broke ties with Alamut for various reasons. Even before the rise of ur-Shulgi, the domineering arrogance of the Warrior caste was growing unbearable. With each passing year, factions of hardcore killers like the Web of Knives were treating the Viziers more and more like servants, and growing more and more dismissive of the essential services the Viziers provided for the clan. This discontent simmered with no outlet, for while a Vizier can be quite fierce, making war is not their ordained task.

Immersed in the culture of the Kine as they are, many of the Viziers had retained or adopted mortal religions. When the ancient ur-Shulgi arose and seized control of the clan, one of its strictures was the cessation of all faith practices except veneration of the clan’s Antediluvian founder. In response, most of the Viziers slipped the noose and decamped en masse for the Camarilla, forging a faction known as the Preservationist Conspiracy. Their departure was poetic in how it exposed the pricelessness of the very qualities that the Warriors of Alamut saw so fit to mock and abuse. Without the Schismatics, the Loyalists had no grip on mortal society, and Alamut’s intelligence network crumbled into disarray, leaving the Warriors unfit and unprepared to prevent their exodus.

The Viziers paid their way into the Camarilla with knowledge of the domains of the Middle East and West Asia, caches of lore and artifacts long thought lost. One Toreador Prince who was adamant that he would never accept a “blood-drinking Assamite savage” in his city was moved to bloody tears when the Viziers petitioning to settle in his domain presented him with cherished personal belongings he had thought lost when the Mamluks destroyed the city of Acre in 1281.

In Camarilla domains Viziers often gravitate to scholarly and investigatory roles - their affinities and disciplines make them superlative Sheriffs and possibly the best interrogators in the Jyhad. Their Weakness is also the Viziers’ strength: whatever the focus of their intellectual obsession, they will be without peer in their field, whether that be politics, computers, technology, ancient lore, music, art, writing… and the Camarilla is showing itself to be a more appreciative master than the Warriors ever were.

Sorcerers

Where the majority of the Banu Haqim Viziers joined the Camarilla, a slightly smaller fraction of the clan’s Sorcerers defected with them. Already the smallest caste, approximately one third of the Sorcerers joined the Camarilla. Another third stayed loyal to Alamut, and the last scattered to the winds, choosing to become dispossessed rather than submit to the Camarilla or ur-Shulgi. Like the Viziers, many sorcerers defected in the name of sincerely-held religious belief, or out of fear of the Warriors or of ur-Shulgi itself.

The Sorcerers arrived in the Camarilla at an opportune time. The hated Tremere were scrambling to make up ground after a costly war with a sect of mortal Magi; the Warlocks’ disadvantaged position led their many enemies in the sect to flex against them, calling in boons and undercutting their power in domains where they had been a dominant force for centuries. That meant that when a new cabal of sorcerers hung out their shingle in the Camarilla, they had no shortage of customers tired of being raked over the coals by the Tremere and their unchallenged monopoly on sorcery. The Sorcerers aren’t fools, and avoid overtly inciting the Tremere. Even after all their setbacks the Warlocks still have the advantage. For now.

In the Camarilla the Sorcerers continue to fill their traditional role; they provide firepower, occult support and coordination for clan operations and maintain the rituals that give the Banu Haqim clan its structure, in addition to providing occult services to Camarilla courts. The Amr and Grand Vizier have instituted a careful but rigorous program of seeking out worthy candidates to embrace as Sorcerers and training candidates from the ground up for embrace. While they are still a minority, the plan is to place the Sorcerers on an equal footing with the Viziers by the middle of the 21st century. They do this with full knowledge that it binds them more and more tightly to the Camarilla. Unlike the Gangrel, the Banu Haqim do not have the option of fleeing into the wilderness.

Warriors

The Warrior caste makes up a distant minority of the Banu Haqim of the Camarilla, and existence in the Ivory Tower is more difficult for them. But when asked, most Warriors of the Camarilla are adamant they made the right choice. As one put it, “I know it is right, because it is difficult. Staying at Alamut would have been easy; easy to kneel, easy to kill, easy to glut myself on vitae. Easy to throw away discipline, morality, honor, and faith. So I am in the Camarilla… where my life is difficult.” Schismatic Warriors tend to isolate themselves from the main body of the Camarilla’s Kindred, serving as the enforcers and bodyguards for sorcerers and viziers. They are, as a rule, deferential to members of the other castes.

Loyalists

The Loyalist faction of the Banu Haqim are the hard-liners who follow the methuselah ur-Shulgi, based out of the hidden fortress of Alamut. These Loyalists believe the blood of all vampires who will not recant their sins and embrace the worship of Haqim is forfeit. Loyalists function much as the clan traditionally has, by selling their services as mercenaries and assassins. While the Schism has bit into the clan’s bottom line, there are always Kindred looking for hired blades.

The Warrior bloodline dominates among the Loyalists, and in turn the Warriors are dominated by the ultra-hardline assassins of the Web of Knives. A sizeable number of Sorcerers have also remained with the Loyalists, and ur-Shulgi has rewarded their loyalty with a return to prominence and increasing emphasis on the importance of Sorcerers to the success of the clan’s endeavors.

Only a very few viziers have remained among the Loyalists, and they face a challenging road, one where they must prove their loyalty every night under suspicion of being schismatic spies, along with attempting to rebuild the intelligence and influence networks that were gutted when the rest of the viziers left, while teaching Loyalist warriors who lack the skill and patience for such intricate work how to carry out the necessary tasks once delegated to the viziers.

The Dispossessed

In the wake of the Schism a large number of Banu Haqim chose no side. While they could not bear bending the knee to ur-Shulgi, neither could they stomach joining the conniving Camarilla or the monstrous Sabbat. They chose to strike out on their own. The Dispossessed come from all three castes in a roughly equal mix. They seek shelter where they can, and patronage where they can find it - among the Ashirra, in the Red Courts of India, the Ebony Courts of the African Laibon, and in the places where it is strong, among the Anarchs.

Dispossessed Banu Haqim will often hide their light under a bushel, downplaying their abilities and pretending to be Caitiff or another clan (young viziers can easily pass for Toreador and will often do so). Both the Schismatics and the Loyalists have a vested interest in finding their dispossessed clanmates and convincing them to come in from the cold. Most simply want their freedom, if the Jyhad can be said to have such a thing.