Church of Ba'al

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

"Control someone by telling them lies and you risk losing all when the truth is discovered. Control someone with the truth, particularly the truth of his own needs and desires, and nothing in the world can release him … except himself, of course. And the odds against that are greatly in your favor."

—Prince Ba'al, To Walk in Shadow

"Okay," Jessup said. "But why him? Why serve the Prince of Shadow?"
"Because he's the one who told me the truth," Tara said. "Everybody else who wants you to give them your freedom, they've all got a line of bullshit to sell you on the deal. 'Come work for us, it'll be a great career move for you.' Or, 'Oh, we're just public servants, you're not serving us, you're serving your country.' Or, 'I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.' They all want you to swear your loyalty to them, to serve their needs above your own, but they try to hide it behind all these other things." She shrugged. "Prince Ba'al told me straight up: here's the contract, here's what I want from you, here's what I'm giving you in return. No spin, no bullshit. Gods, I can't tell you how refreshing that was."

—Tara Douglas, To Walk in Shadow

Symbol: The pentacle of Ba'al, also called the Star of Ba'al

Seat of Power: Arabarb City, Arabarb

Adherents: Unknown number

Introduction

The Church of Ba'al is known to most of the world as a pleasure-seeking sect of secretive daedra-worshipers. Little is known of their private rituals, but they are notorious for the wild parties that they host in some of the world's biggest cities. Many people who are not in the cult believe that it is simply a more extreme version of the Church of Hedonism, founded by Ba'al because he couldn't stand to let his former underling Suspira get all of the attention.

Little does anyone suspect that the Church of Ba'al serves a much more serious purpose: it is Ba'al's recruitment arm for the desperate struggle taking place on the Plane of Shadow.

Doctrine

Ba'al is known as a god of revelry, but he is also an intensely lawful creature, and the doctrines of the Church of Ba'al reflect this side of his nature.

Note: It's not a requirement to be evil to join the Church of Ba'al. In fact, good people will join the cult for the clear precise nature of the contracts (see Tara, in the Known Members section).

Willing Submission to Authority

Baalites believe that their lord is the rightful master of the Earth, and that someday every knee will bow in submission to him. Rather than try to force subjugation through conquest, though, the Church emphasizes the importance of willing submission. Baalites believe that everyone is in service to someone, but that most people are in denial about it, thinking themselves free and independent beings. The Church focuses on teaching people to strip away the layers of societal expectation — the submission that we engage in without thinking about it — so that they can then consciously and willingly submit themselves to a master of their own choosing.

Contracts and Oaths

Baalites take their word very seriously. Once a contract is made, it must be fulfilled to the letter of the deal, or they will incur their master's great displeasure. Because of this, Baalites are very careful about the contracts that they enter into. The church offers free legal assistance to members who need help creating, understanding and revising contracts that they intend to enter into, especially with outsiders. Similarly, a Baalite who takes an oath is honor-bound to fulfill it precisely.

While some Baalites will engage in lying when they stand to gain from it, Ba'al generally frowns on the use of overt lies. Dissembling is a better way to misdirect and manipulate one's opponents and rivals. Even better is to control them by speaking the absolute truth, but in a time and manner that guides them in the direction you want them to go.

Secrecy

The Church of Ba'al shares very little with outsiders. If a Baalite is giving you information, it is because he or she intends to get something from you in return — probably something of greater value than the information itself.

Scriptures

Ba'al's writings are not widely known by name, since they were suppressed by the Lothanasi for centuries and most copies were destroyed. The cult does have some of Ba'al's books, including more recent texts that he has authored since the Great Fall, but they are extremely protective of them, and only serious adherents are permitted to read them.

Ba'al has also authored, or inspired, a number of magical treatises on illusion and Shadow magic. These are more popularly distributed, with copies insinuated into the libraries of illusionists' guilds around the world. The spells within them carry "fine print" provisos, however, that indebt the user to Ba'al for drawing on his magic. Ba'al had these books created to try to ensure that anyone who uses Shadow magic will be safely under his control, instead of falling under the influence of the Underworld.

Ritual & Ceremony

Text

Baptism/Infant Dedication

Text

Rite of Passage

Text

Joining the Church ceremony/Confirmation/Dedication

Text

Marriage

Text

Ordination

Text

Funeral Rites

Text

Organization

Text

Discipline

Text

Internal Conflicts/Schisms/Controversies

Text

Known Members

  • Tara Douglas *deceased, willingly sacrificed by Ba'al in a ritual to establish a Shadow Road to Estarini.

Author's Notes

text


Sources:

To Walk in Shadow: To Walk In Shadow, Part 1, To Walk In Shadow, Part 2A, To Walk In Shadow, Part 2A (Series continuing, June 2015))

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License