Balam

Jaguar Warriors

Prospect, CA is in the Northernmost reaches of Jaguar territory, far from the struggles of the Amazon.

The Balam of Mexico are a proud Aztec bloodline, steeped in Religion and War. In the days of the Aztec Empire their ancestors chose mates from the legendary Jaguar Warriors, and waged an endless feud with a bloodthirsty clan of vampire sorcerers tribal lore refers to as the Tlacique. They made war with the Uktena Garou over magic and secrets, and maintained an uneasy peace with the Pumonca and Qualmi who shared their territory. Their strongest alliance was with the Camazotz; the Werebats were the spiritual counterbalance to the ferocity of the Balam.

When the Spaniards invaded and conquered the native peoples, the Balam went into decline. The extant branches of the tribe were forced to merge, and many retreated into the Amazon--but not all. The Tlacique, for so long untouchable among the Aztec priests, fought a losing war against foreign vampires; some Balam stayed to exact a vicious end to ages of struggle. Others adapted, refusing to abandon their Feline and Human Kinfolk. They sensed the ruthless strength of the Spaniards and took it for themselves, adding the blood of the new nobility to their lineages.

To the Balam of Mexico, things are much as they always were. The land is infested with bloodthirsty vampires who revel in human sacrifice--there is nothing new there. Criminal cartels war with the government and drench the land in blood--it's merely a new form of the old conquests, the old sacrifices. The tribe tries to hang onto its ancestral tona and the old ways, especially in the southern reaches of the country, but endless warfare is nothing new to the children of Tezcatl--in fact, they relish it.

The Balam of Mexico are more urbane than the southern tribe, and they have a claw deep in the criminal cartels currently tearing the country apart--as well as the government vainly trying to hold things together. Those with high Pure Breed tend to be short and stocky, with dark eyes, prominent hooked noses, epicanthic folds at the corners of their eyes, and nut-brown skin. Their Rites and Sorceries evoke the bloodier practices of the Aztecs, and they particularly enjoy stretching Sabbat vampires across their altars and cutting out their hearts as offerings to their spirit-father, Tezcatlipoca. Their most ardent grudge, of course, is against the Shadow Lords; every heart cut from the chest of a living Lord is payback for the slaughter of the Camazotz. There may not be enough heart's blood among the entire tribe to quench the burning hate of the Jaguars, or slake their thirst for vengeance.

Balam Gifts

Level One:

• Curse of Aeolus (Hunter's Mists)
• Storm of Pests: Player's Guide to the Changing Breeds pg. 70
  

Level Two:

• Ancestral Wings: Bastet pg. 107
• Farsight (Smoking Mirror)
• Perfect Cover: Player's Guide to the Changing Breeds pg. 69
• True Fear (Terrors)
  

Level Three:

• Touch of the Tree-Frog: Bastet pg. 107
• Trackless Waste (Wandering Forest)
  

Level Four:

• Vision Cloud: Player's Guide to the Changing Breeds pg. 70
• Jungle's Vengeance: Player's Guide to the Changing Breeds pg. 70
  

Level Five:

• Redeem the Waste (Heal the Wounded Land)
• Feed the Gods: Player's Guide to the Changing Breeds pg. 70