Bael Clan

"The Old, the True, the Brave."

- Bael Clan's house words

The 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 known simply as the Power of Destruction. Because of their power, most members of the house, especially those from the main house, are extremely prideful, looking down on other devils and prefer to stick to the old tradition where strength and demonic power determine everything, going as far as discriminating their own family members if they don't live up to their definition of powerful.

The house was founded by the original Bael, who was one of the demons who fought alongside the original Lucifer during the Heavenly War. After he was killed, the title of Great King Bael was passed down to the cardinal devil he created, Zekram Bael, and the royal house of Bael started from then.

They, the Agares Clan, and the Marbas Clan were once vassal houses of the Lucifuge Clan until their liege-lords' fall from grace when their founder was killed and the majority of their territory was lost when the Ouroboros Barrier was created, sealing up the Underworld and imprisoned the remaining demons inside for seemingly eternity.

They were originally the main supporters of the Old Satan Faction during the Devil Civil War, swearing their loyalty to the Beelzebub Clan. However, they quickly switched side to the Anti-Satan Faction when the son of the original Beelzebub - Bidleid Bashalun Beelzebub - raped and impregnated Elenei Bael, the heiress of the Bael Clan, resulting in her suicide. Seeing this both as a betrayal and an insult, they switched sides to the enemy faction, and with their support, the rebels emerged victorious.

Several decades after the Devil Civil War, Argilac Bael, the current Great King Bael and younger brother of Elenei Bael, formed the Great King Faction to maintain the power and influence of the pureblood devils and the nobility, and the faction became politically on-par with the new Four Great Satans and their supporters.

Several centuries later, Lord Argilac had his first son Sairaorg to his wife, Misla Bael née Vapula. However, as time went on, it was revealed that Sairaorg was born with a minimal amount of demonic power and not inheriting the Bael Clan's hereditary Power of Destruction, as the results of a genetic disorder from centuries-worth of inbreeding within his parents' respective houses.

Because of this, Sairaorg and Misla were unofficially banished to the outer reaches of the Bael territory and became social pariahs as a result. A few years later, Argilac took his half-sister Ellyn as his mistress and had his second son, Magdaran, who he made the heir after he displayed his Power of Destruction at the age of 4.

A decade later, Sairaorg returned to the Bael Castle on his younger brother's twelve birthday and demanded the title of heir as it is his birthright as the first son of the current lord. When being laughed at, he demanded a Trial by Combat between him and Magdaran and the loser would not only lose all of their rights but would also be exiled from the Bael territory for all of their and their descendants' lives. Amused by the prospect, Argilac agreed to his request, as he wanted to sever their parent-child bond and to create an acceptable excuse to publicly divorce Misla and raise Ellyn from the status of a concubine to official wife. His plan, however, was foiled when Sairaorg was able to overwhelm and defeat Magdaran, forcing Argilac to make him the new heir while Magdaran was forced to leave the Bael territory in exile, only keeping the name Bael per Sairaorg's request.

With his new status as heir being publicly announced across the Netherworld, the politics of the devil nobility was abruptly and devastatingly changed, as the newest heir to the Great King Faction now became the symbol of hope and power to the smallfolk and the less fortunate - the people who they discriminated against.

In addition, with the news of Misla and Sairaorg's pseudo-exile came to light, the Vapula Clan led a revolt against the Bael Clan and demanded back their daughter, lest they want another civil war to happen that would undoubtedly destroy the Netherworld. In addition, they also want the heads of Argilac and Ellyn as payment for Misla's humiliation. As an example for their claim, Lord Loreon Vapula commanded his troops to permanently destroy over 40% of the Bael territory's overall farmlands, crippling their economy for years to come.

This blood feud between the houses only came to a halt when Misla fell into a coma because of the Elfegort Sleeping Disease and needed to be immediately relocated to the Serafall Memorial Hospital for treatment. Despite this, the relationship between the two houses remains hostile until this day and is speculated to only lessen the day Sairaorg took over as the new Great King Bael.

Traits
Members of the Bael Clan are known for their purple "moonlit" 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.

Hereditary Ability
Like other pureblood devil houses, members of the Bael Clan possess a unique hereditary power known simply as the Power of Destruction. Like its name suggests, it allows the user to summon forth an aura of destructive energy that disintegrates matter, both living and inanimate, upon physical contact. It can be used both for offensive and defensive purposes, making it an immensely versatile power in combat.

Despite this, due to Venelana Bael's elopement with Zeoticus Gremory, her children and descendant also share this exclusive power with their Bael cousins, though at a much higher degree of mastery to the point where the devil smallfolk have begun to associate the power with the Gremory Clan as well.

Emblem
The Bael Clan's emblem is a cursive capital B in gleaming gold, typically on either a black or purple background. Upon their banners and official insignia, the letter B is surrounded by a garland of purple flowers, reminiscent of the ones that grow throughout the Bael territory.

Residence
The Bael Castle ( バエル城, Baeru-jō ) is the seat of the Bael Clan, located on a broad verdant hill overlooking the Bael territory. It is surrounded by three rings of white stones whose crenellated curtain walls increase in height, and between the outer and middle walls is a famous briar labyrinth which serves to entertain as well as slow invaders. The castle's structures are covered in ivy, grapes, and climbing roses.

The palatial keep is decorated with statues and colonnades, and within the castle's walls are groves, fountains, and courtyards. The castle is filled with flowers, singers, pipers, fiddlers and harpers. There are fields of purple flowers that stretch as far as the eye can see, all planted by Magdaran Bael to use in his experiments prior to his exile. Fruits are also grown in the castle's glasshouses including melons, peaches, and the special golden apples exported by the Bael Clan in a small supply every decade called the Ba'alah apples.

Gehenna Stadium
The Gehenna Stadium ( ゲヘナ・スタジアム, Gehena Sutajiamu ) is a grand colosseum roughly the size of three football stadiums combined, designed in an ancient Roman architectural style. It was built entirely from priceless gold and ivory and has seven walls surrounding it, each wall is at least a hundred-meter taller than the one before them, creating a spiral-shape from afar. Decorating the courtyards laid in-between each wall are statues of the seventy-two demons that the 72 Pillars descended from. It is used as one of the 23 Stadiums for the Azazel Cup.

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 (Hebrew: 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 Bael territory is heavily modelled after France, both geographically and culturally.
 * 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 being exiled, Magdaran still retains the surname "Bael" as parts of Sairaorg's request.
 * According to Venelana, 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.
 * Ba'alah apples roughly translated to "Mistress' apples".
 * The house's mascot is Bapple, an apple-headed anthropomorphic cat with bat wings.