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Until recently, the Children of Haquim have all but
ignored the Traditions of Caine. This is common knowledge in the Camarilla, which collectively regards the Assamites
as lawless renegades. However, less widely known is that the Children have their own set of codes, handed down by the
Founder himself.
The original copies of the Laws are a set of five clay tablets engraved in Enochian, the language
of the First City. They are one of the most treasured relics of the clan's history. The magi and viziers who tend
Alamut's library have used many techniques, magical and mundane alike, to keep them in pristine condition. They have
been moved from the vault, and now occupy Alamut's great hall at the right hand of the Black Throne.
Every Child
of Haquim who claims loyalty to the clan must commit the laws to memory. Only young dispossessed are wholly unaware
of them.
The Law of Leadership
Honor the Eldest among you,
for he is to rule my House when I am absent.
The Law of Protection
Ward the mortals from Caine's descendants
and treat them with honor in all things.
The Law of Destruction
Slay not those of the Blood, for that judgement
is for the Eldest alone.
The Law of the Word
Decieve not those of the Blood, for my House is founded on Truth.
The
Law of Judgement
Judge those of Caine's blood and punish them should they be found wanting.
The recent split in the clan can be attributed
to a matter of interpretation over the final law, the Law of Judgement. Although other factors exist, the heart of the
split between loyalist and schismatic is the responsibility for evaluating and punishing the Kindred that Haquim assigned
to his judges so long ago.
Ur-Shulgi's interpretation is that all other vampires have failed to live up to the
standards of honor and integrity put forth by Haquim in the nights of the First City. The Kindred have become a blight
upon the mortal world, and thus they unilaterally violate the Law of Protection. Untimately, only the penitent Cainites
who adopt the Path of Blood and turn on their former peers should be allowed to survive.
The schismatic argument
against this interpretation is that Haquim never intended his Children to be an external control mechanism for Cainite affairs,
nor did he see them as innately superior to other Kindred. In order to properly administer justice, a sense of perspective
is necessary. This, argue al-Ashrad's supporters, means moderation, and it requires an ability to work within the system.
The system best suited to such purposes is the Camarilla.
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