Giovanni: The Last Supper

Viziers, Warriors, Sorcerers - but each and every one a killer in the shadows?

Foreword: The Children of Haqim are one of the more poorly represented clans found in the Vampire game world - due to the culturally insensitive handling of their origins throughout their development. For this reason, players will need to meet certain criteria to request a canonical vampire of a marginalised ethnicity. More details on this can be found here: www.thechildrenofthesun.com/prejudice

However the clan have been Embracing new vampires of European descent in the recent centuries. So you are very welcome to submit your “Own Character” who is themselves a vampire Embraced into the Banu Haqim/Children of Haqim, even if you are of white ethnicity <3 Please read the above page that has been linked. 

Still bearing the name of their progenitor, the Children of Haqim are a loyal, insular and often misunderstood clan. Many other clans stereotype the Children of Haqim as dangerous assassins, but the truth is far more nuanced and complex.

The Children of Haqim spurn the petty bloodshed of the Jyhad - the eternal conflict between vampiric factions - instead wishing to focus upon spiritual and mental development. Unlike many Cainites, most of this Clan despise the way in which many vampires waste and overindulge in the blood of mortals, and declaim the viewpoint that humans are but playthings. Children of Haqim see themselves as protectors of mortals from the evil of other vampires, and that it is their duty to punish Cainites that perform such sins.

Their bloodline long predates the Islamic faith that many European Cainites consider the Children of Haqim to be synonymous with; Unanimous Muslim spirituality being only one falsity in a long list of assumptions often made by other vampires about this clan. Other clans refer to them as Assamites - a sobriquet that they despise - and swallow vile rumours of the clan’s murderous and cannibalistic practises. 

In truth, the culture of the Children of Haqim is as complex and varied as the history of the very lands they call their own. Their physical and spiritual home is based in their impenetrable mountain fortress of Alamut in modern day Iran, historically Persia. All anyone knows about Alamut is that it is a secret fortress hidden somewhere - deep in the Middle East. There the Children were taught by their father Haqim to remove themselves from the petty bloodshed of the vampiric Jyhad and to focus instead on their own spiritual, magical and mental development. Perhaps as a result of his teachings, the Children of Haqim have often remained distant from their other vampiric cousins and concentrated their energies on their own.

Indeed from the very beginning, the Children of Haqim (or “Banu Haqim” as some call themselves) were an isolated, proud lot. Considerable mystique surrounds this elusive clan, but the Renaissance has brought them into close, unhappy contact with the rest of the Cainite world again - as Europe expands and seeks to dominate.

The Crusades have let them in - and with it Western vampires have invaded. Western greed and corruption has diminished the mortal herds the Banu Haqim have so carefully tended to all these centuries - and damaged the mortal families that the clan hold in good regard. In response, the Banu Haqim have worked to rid themselves of these invaders and restore their own power through the Dark Ages.

Now, in the wake of change, with all the dramatic political upheavals of the Renaissance, throughout the Ottoman Empire and the rest of Europe, the Children of Haqim find themselves at a crossroads.

Years of Christian crusades have deeply wounded relations between this clan and their European cousins, and those flames have only been stoked fiercely by the fall of Constantinople - a matter that many Western vampires blame the Assassins for, at least those who are Ottoman Turks. Not all Assamites belong to the Ottoman Empire, but certainly a large number do. They maintain a strong presence in the Middle East (their place of origin) and tend to remain separate from many courts of Europe.

The Renaissance

By 1454, centuries of Christian Crusades in the 12th and 13th centuries had devastated relations between the Children of Haqim and their western cousins. Long separated from European vampires by distance and culture, the political and spiritual tumult that the Crusades left in their bloody wake deepened the existing divide into a bloody, gaping maw. 

Though the Children of Haqim have much to rebuild following these waves of assault on their lands, they have at least been spared the destruction of the Inquisition. While Europe burned, some Children of Haqim chose to leave their traditional rejection of the Jyhad behind and began to grow their power through the rise of the Ottoman Empire. This conquest has come to a head with the fall of Constantiople to the empire last year (1453) and the Ottoman forces are now branching out into the Balkans, bringing the Children of Haqim who have allied with them into contact with European Cainites for the first time in many centuries.

The clan has developed a caste structure to divide duties and interests between them according to each Cainite’s blood, character and passions. The castes are equal but - like the members of any large family - there can often be disagreement between them on their strengths, weaknesses and duties.

Viziers

Scholars, judges, artisans and seekers of knowledge. These peaceful Children blend in with mortals with ease and often dedicate themselves to learning, perfecting a craft or understanding law or religion.

Warriors

The marshal caste often skilled in the arts of war and assassination, but equally they stand as protectors to the clan’s values. They are rumoured to be diablerists by tradition - consuming the souls of worthy enemies to take their power into themselves - but in reality few of these proud arch combatants would ever consider dirtying their blood with that of a lesser foe’s.

Sorcerers

Thaumaturgic blood magic pulses through the veins of these clanmates. Their power resonates with such potency that any individual with even the mildest sensitivity to magic can sense their energy immediately. Aside from living and breathing the practice of blood magic, the Sorcerers are also key to internal clan communication as they specialise in telepathy over long distances.

Though the Children of Haqim avoid involving themselves amid the social politics of other clans, the Auction might just provide an exception. As protectors of mortals that seek to keep them separate from Cainite machinations, some might be in attendance in order to ensure they are not abused by those who would pervert their blood the most. Some might be openly outraged at this misuse of magical blood - or seek to research it themselves as many Children of Haqim are adept practitioners of the occult. Some may simply wish to take advantage of this great gathering of powerful Cainites to assess the strength of the other clans should their paths cross in battle in years to come.

Canonical Note — for Vampire Veterans!

The Children of Haqim have not yet been cursed by the Tremere as per the canon timeline; the Treaty of Tyre (1493) has not yet occured. Indeed the Camarilla has not yet been founded. The Blood Hunt of 1486 has not yet been called, although the Tremere may well be trying to villanise the Banu Haqim in other ways. Clan Tremere's attention is currently taken up by the Omen Wars and their battles against Clan Tzimisce.

The Children of Haqim are still furious for the pains they have been dealt during the Crusades, but no vengeance has yet been taken against any Western vampires because the Anarch Revolt has not yet occured. All of this is around the corner, and tensions are rising. Here is the gathering breath before brutal redistribution - here is the silence before the storm.

Another note: The Children of Haqim do not have skin that grows darker with age in our setting. In addition: in the past the canon material named them ‘Assamites’ but Children of Haqim/Banu Haqim is the preferred name within this game. 

Clan Opinions on... 

The Embrace

The Children of Haqim select potential Childer from small communities of mortals that they monitor near their territories. Those mortals selected undergo a lengthy apprenticeship under whichever Caste their potential Sire belongs to, often being ghouled for many decades or centuries prior to the Embrace. Warriors value faith and loyalty, Sorcerers look for mortals with exposure or talent in magic and Viziers select fledglings who have sharp minds and value ambition. The occasional foreigner has been judged to have such strong qualities that they have been deemed worthy of Haqim’s blood - it is almost certain that there will be mortals at the Auction who will be just as impressive.

ON RACIAL AND GENDER SELECTION

“Do you think us so foolish as to ignore all but a small section of humanity, and then only half of those? No, fully two-thirds of our clan gives the gift of the Blood to all those whom we deem deserving, regardless of such considerations of mortality. The warriors have adopted some mortal foolishness of late, but they will certainly give it up within a century as their ranks become depleted.”

Contrary to popular myth, the Banu Haqim do Embrace women. The largest numbers of females are within the viziers, with the warriors holding the fewest. Among the Muslim-dominated warriors, the practice of Embracing women fell out of favour in the late eighth century as they came to believe that it was immoral to curse women with unlife. The Caliph, the head of the warrior caste, only recently re-sanctioned the Embrace of some women as an "experiment" - a proclamation that greatly amused some female viziers and sorcerers who are older than the Caliph himself. However, this has had the effect of ensuring that any female Banu Haqim of the warrior caste either predates the prohibition or is a neonate twice as capable as any of her male peers.

As for Europeans, the Banu Haqim have likewise never shied from bringing deserving mortals into the ranks of the viziers and sorcerers. This is especially true in those territories where the Banu Haqim are in direct conflict with other clans, such as the Iberian kingdoms and the northern Byzantine Empire. Prior to the Crusades, the warriors were equally egalitarian, but since 1096, they have refused to Embrace all but the most truly deserving Westerners - and these few hardy souls, as well as their predecessors, are subject to no small amount of scorn from their "brothers" for Europe's crimes against the Arabs and the Islamic faith.

The Auction

Claudius Giovanni’s invitation reached this clan just as Constantiople has fallen to the Ottoman Empire. Many Children of Haqim who have allied with the Empire believe that in order to act out their clan’s bloodright of judges of vampires and protectors of mortals from their schemes, they must engage again with the Jyhad if only so they can act against it. 

These idealistic clan members may be horrified at Claudius’ plan to auction off gifted mortals to the highest bidder, seeing it as a waste of their potent blood and a dangerous development in the Jyhad. Children of Haqim who focus their energies on knowledge and blood magic, on the other hand, are more likely to be genuinely interested in The Black Dawn and the blood powers of the mortals born under it. Clan members of the Warrior caste may attend the Auction to size up the actions of other clans, as the time may soon come when they must face them on the open field to dole out their righteous judgement.

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