Bael Clan

**Bael Clan** is one of the remaining 32 pureblood houses of the 72 Pillars. They are the highest-ranked house among the 72 Pillars, ranked at the first of the hexagram, and hold the title of [Great King].

## Summary

As the highest-ranked house of the 72 Pillars, the Bael Clan is famously known for their hereditary power, simply known as the **Power of Destruction**. Because of it, most members of the house are extremely prideful, looking down on other devils and daemon, and prefer the old tradition where strength determines everything, going as far as discriminating against their own members if they don't live up to their definition of strong or powerful.

The house was founded by the original Bael, who was one of the demons who fought alongside Lucifer during the Heavenly War. After he died, the title of [Great King] was passed down to his "son", Zekram Bael, and the royal Bael Clan was established.

During the Devil Civil War in the Netherworld, they were parts of the Anti-Satan Faction, as not only one of their leaders - Sirzechs Gremory - was the strongest devil to be descended from the Bael Clan through his mother, not to mention the Beelzebub Clan had made blood feud with the Baels when the Beelzebub heir, Alsap Pydar Beelzebub, kidnapped and raped their heiress, Elenei Bael, directly resulted in her suicide.

Several decades after the Devil Civil War, the Bael Clan formed the Great King Faction in order for the old pureblood aristocracy to maintain their power and influence. Because of this, the faction began to grow and became on-par with the new Four Great Satans and their main supporters.

Many centuries later, due to centuries-worth of inbreeding with their respective houses, Lord Argilac Bael's firstborn to Misla Vapula, Sairaorg, was born with an absurdly small amount of demonic power and he and his mother was disowned from the family. Several years later, Lord Bael took in his legitimized half-sister Ellyn as his mistress and gave birth to his second son, Magdaran, who he made the new family heir.

A decade later, Sairaorg returned and challenged his younger brother for the position of heir per the traditions within the pureblood houses and won, reclaiming his birth-right as Lord Bael's firstborn. With his victory also came many changes within the politics of the devil nobility, as the newest heir to the Great King Faction had become the new symbol of determination to the Low-class devils and reincarnated devils, who they regularly discriminated against.

In addition, the news of his and Misla Vapula's exile also came to light and the Vapula Clan declared war against the Bael Clan to take back their daughter. As an example for their claim, Lord Loreon Vapula commanded his troops to destroy over 65% of the Bael Territory's overall farmlands, heavily crippled their economy the Bael's power by destroying the major source of their income, forcing them to rely on supplies from other places in order to keep up with their people's demands.

This feud only came to a halt when Misla fell victim to the Elfegort Sleeping Disease and was immediately relocated to Lilith for special treatments, and the relationship between the two houses remains hostile and is speculated to only lessen the day Sairaorg took over as the next Great King Bael, much to the horrors of every other pureblood Bael, especially their first head Zekram.

## Traits

Members of the Bael Clan are known for their beautiful purple eyes. They are also known for being physically more robust in their chest area, as female members are known for their voluptuous breasts while the male members often have large pectoral muscles.

Later, it's revealed that they have another, lesser known, trait within all those who carry the Bael bloodline, which is their left index finger is longer than their right index finger by 0.5 centimeter.

## Emblem

The Bael Clan's emblem is a purple lotus-like flower called a **Lord's Lament**, which grows throughout the Bael Territory. Upon their banners and official insignia, they used an alternate emblem which is a cursive capital letter "B" in gleaming gold, typically on a dark-colored background while surrounded by a garland of seven Lord's Laments.

## Abilities

The Bael Clan possesses the hereditary demonic power simply known as the **Power of Destruction**. Like its name suggests, it allows the user to summon forth an intense aura of destructive demonic energy that can disintegrate all matter, both living and inanimate, upon physical contact. Due to its versatility, capable of being used for both offensive and defensive purposes, it is considered one of the most powerful hereditary abilities among the devil-kind.

## Locations

### Residence

**Bael Castle** (バエル城, *Baeru-jō*) is the ancestral seat of the Bael Clan and is located in the eastern side of the Netherworld and stands on a high white cliff overlooking the Boiling Sea. It is surrounded by a massive curtain wall, composed of a double course of pale-gray stone, and the wall is smooth and curving, stones so well-placed and perfectly fit together that the wind can find no purchase. There is no safe anchorage by the castle, and on the seaward side, there is a hundred-meters drop below the wall into the sea.

It has only one tower, a colossal drum tower crowned with formidable battlements, which make the tower looks like a huge spiked fist thrusting toward the sky from afar, and is so large that it comfortably contains the granary, barracks, armory, feast hall, and the lord's chambers at all once. Decorating the walls of Bael Castle are murals, tapestries, and statues that are as old as human civilization, dating back to the days of Ancient Sumer, which depicted various scenes in the Bael Clan's history.

### Bael Territory

The Bael Clan's territory is a land of harsh mountains, stony shores, and verdant forests, with the windswept plains and grasslands in south-west serve as an effective buffer zone between the Bael Territory and their old enemies. There are a few islands considered to be a part of the Bael Territory, and though ships avoid the notorious Boiling Sea and its storms, the seas along the territory can be clear and blue.

The territory has long martial traditions dating back to the day the Netherworld still connected to the Underworld, and many places within the territory are considered terrific training spots within the realm. Following the creation of the Rating Games, multiple stadiums are also built in the Bael Territory, which serve as a great boost to their tourism. According to Venelana, while the place isn't as fertile as the Gremory Territory or as technologically advanced as the Astaroth Territory, this is where "strong men are born and raised".

Due to the conflicts between the Bael Clan and the Vapula Clan, over 65% of the available farmlands were destroyed and the economy of the region has been severely crippled. Nowadays, most produce coming into the territory are from the Gremory Territory, which are cheaper than other regions due to Venelana's elopement with Zeoticus forming a bond between them and the Gremory Clan. Following the alliance between the Netherworld and the Norse gods, many Vanr gods are sent to help them with their Healing Magic#Fertility Magic, which has shown significant improvement. According to Sairaorg, while they can never be on-par with other regions, they won't have to be wholly reliance on other regions as much as before anymore.

## Trivia

* In demonology, **Bael** is ranked as the first and principal king in Hell, ruling over the East. He teaches the art of invisibility and commands 66 legions of infernal spirits. He is often depicted with three heads: a toad, a man and a cat, and speaks in a raucous, but well-formed voice.
* **Ba'al** (בַּעַל) is the Hebrew word meaning "master" or "lord". Since the Bael Clan is the top-ranked clan of the 72 Pillars, this can be related to the house's powerful position.
* The house, excluding Sairaorg and the people close to him, are hostile towards the Gremory Clan as their current generation have strongly inherited the Power of Destruction.
* Despite having lost their duel, Ellyn and Magdaran are still considered members as part of Sairaorg's (and Misla's) requests.
* According to Venelana, excluding their Power of Destruction, they are one of the weakest houses of the remaining 32 houses, military-wise, and would be *crushed* if the Vapula Clan decided to attack.
* The house's mascot is Bapple, an apple-headed anthropomorphic cat with bat wings.
* A traditional meal within the Bael Territory often consists of brown breads, goat cheese, cold mutton, alongside a bowl of steaming stew, typically made with goat meat, carrots, and potatoes.