[ B a ' a l ]
Clan Baal is an organization on the Aardwolf MUD. Created in December of 1996, Aardwolf is host to hundreds of players worldwide. Many clans exist on Aardwolf, of which Clan Baal is one of them. Our official mud name is: [The Children of Ba'alzamon] But we are colloquially known as Baal. We are one of the older of the clans on Aardwolf, created in March of 97, among the second wave of clans added (6 in the first wave, 4, including us, in the second wave).
Aardwolf is _not_ a WoT based MUD. It is more of a generic enjoyment MUD. While there are 3 areas based on the widely popular WoT series there, Clan Baal is the only WoT based clan. It's a mad romp for the forces of evil. Though admittedly there are plenty of Children of Light wanna-be stylized clans. We have taken some creative liberties with the WoT series in order to help create a better environment. Most noticeable is the Ebony Dagger branch. No where in WoT is this mentioned, but it is an integral part of our clan. It was added to give our warriors and PKers a focus, some organization. We don't need mindless killers, we need focused assassins. We need people willing to be part of a team.
What we do as a clan is focus on the aspects of gaining power that most consider to be traditionally evil. We raid other clans, we engage in the limited PK available, and we try to gain power both through the politics of clan life, as well as through the leveling and adventuring system. Our rules tend to be focused on advancing these goals. Unlike what might be considered normal PK clans on average MUDs, we enforce a set of standards to keep ourselves for self-disintegrating like so many other groups have done. We do not allow the belligerent behavior that normally goes with these activities.
[ Lore ]
During the Age of Legends, no one knew who or what the Dark One was. His power, long trapped outside the Pattern by the Creator, had never touched the world. There were Aes Sedai though that disliked the limitations placed on their power by the world in which they lived, a world without the One Power. They longed for more, wanted to feel a source of power beyond the two sides of the True Source, saidin and saidar.
A group of researchers began to look for ways to reach beyond the Pattern itself, to the One Power. The One Power was the Holy Grail. It was a source of power that was not constrained by the limitations of the True Source. It was not restricted to male or female, it was not limited to the Pattern, it was a power all of its own. This small Aes Sedai led research group found a way they hoped to access the One Power. A place where the Pattern was thin and vulnerable. Using saidar and saidin, this group of researchers bored a hole into the Pattern. Their efforts were the beginning of the end. It was not a source of One Power they had uncovered, but rather, the place outside the Pattern where the Dark One had been long imprisoned by the Creator. And while the hole bored in the Pattern was not enough for the Dark One to escape, it now allowed him to touch a world that had never known evil, never known hatred, or never known war. The world would learn soon enough the meaning of each.
Men and women of ambition were the quickest to learn of the Dark One. He embraced those who wanted power. These people, having given their souls for power, knew their new master by a name never heard before in the world - Shai'tan. Only the most hardy and devoted can say that name without fear though. The rest simply call him the Great Lord of the Dark. The strongest Aes Sedai to join the Dark One became Dreadlords. These fearsome opponents led the armies of Shai'tan, destroying all in their way. But even among the Dreadlords, there were those who were stronger, smarter, than the rest. Those 13 strongest Dreadlords, those Chosen by the the Dark One, were given immortality, a reward for their eternal service.
Foremost among those Chosen was Ishamael, meaning "Betrayer of Hope." Known by many other names; Ba'al, Heart of the Dark, and Soul of the Shadow, he was Shai'tan's highest General. He was the strongest of the 13 Chosen, stronger than even Lews Therin Telamon, though fools believed otherwise. Ba'alzamon was the first man to side with the Dark One. His public pronunciations of the destruction of the old order were many of the Dark One's first real strikes against the world during the Age of Legends. The chaos that Ba'alzamon created for the Dark One has never been truly matched. When the fool Lews Therin tried in vain to seal the Bore, Ba'alzamon narrowly escaped imprisonment. Since that time, he has been steadily preparing the world for the return of the Dark One, when the seals on the Bore can be destroyed. Through his influence, and by the command of the Great Lord of the Dark, we prepare the world for their return, to a world in chaos.
[ Clan Theme ]
The clan's theme will be to facilitate the return of the Great Lord from his prison in Shayol Ghul by waging war upon the known world and corrupting all that we see with the taint of our Dark Master. We will work through all available avenues, pursuing good while it works towards the greater evil, doing all things necessary to gain influence, power, status and riches to bring it all before the feet of our Lord when He returns through our efforts. We are the children of darkness, the taint in every person's soul come to pursue them, to consume them, to bring them to the Dark Master's embrace through servitude or by sending their souls to him by our blades and dark magic.
The clan will have separate branches that answer to the leaders, the Chosen Ones of Ba'alzamon- Mendaloth, Wire, and Kers. The Ebony Dagger are the soldiers and murderers who become the hand of the Dark One. They gallop across the plains on their steeds striking fear into mighty cities, and are the dark whisper in the night that keep kingdoms awake. The Daggers are led by Kalsch. The Black Ajah is a gathering of Aes Sedai and Asha'man magic users who experiment and practice with the dark powers given to them by their master to facilitate their unholy endeavors. The Ajah are led by Sath. The Darkfriends are those who seek their goals through the gaining of status, influence, and power through dealings with man. They slip through the night unseen and unheard gathering information to bring about the return of our Master. The Darkfriends are led by Guinness.
In the end, though, that is all fluff. The most important aspect we try to maintain is a close friendship. We are not the most popular kids on the block (how many 'evil' clans ever are?), so our ties to each other are our most important objective. We are a powerful clan, we'd have never gotten there if we were not committed to each other.