Bene Ashmedai

The Bene Ashmedai -also called Diabolists -are a Legacy among the Mastigos and the Silver Ladder that embraces their goetic demons in order to gain power over them and other spirits. They refer to an apprentice of Solomon as their founder, who consorted with the subjugated demon-king Asmodai. They deal heavily with Spirit.

History
In the year 5490 by the reckoning of the Hebrew calendar -- 1730 to those who held to Gregory's count of years -- a Clavicularius by the Shadow Name of Ahab chanced upon a handful of the surviving disciples of the nameless Sabaean in North Africa. Upon first encountering these willworkers, Ahab's wrath was vast, and he resolved to destroy them and their heretical knowledge. While he went with murderous intent into the sanctum of those he most despised, the willworker emerged from that hidden place wise in the sorcery of Asmodai, and calling himself Ba'al Hammon. To this day, none know for certain how it was that Ahab abandoned one Legacy for another. Almost immediately, Ba'al Hammon set out to ingratiate himself with the local powers within the Silver Ladder, to counter the inevitable backlash from those he had betrayed. His ploy earned the Warlock the protection of the Hierarch, who became one of his first students. Ba'al Hammon was a prolific teacher, and he demanded that each of his apprentices adopt similar practices, until such a time as the numbers of what he came to call the Bene Ashmedai -- the Children of Asmodai -- were strong enough both to weather the enmity of the first Diabolist's former Legacy and to have something of substance to offer the Silver Ladder as an order. To counter the natural (and dangerous) desires engendered by such close communion with the demon within, Ba'al Hammon set forth an unyielding policy of service for his disciples: Through indulgence, they would make of Asmodai's lessons a beacon by which to light the way for the long, dark journey of the human soul. In keeping with the traditions set forth between Asmodai and Solomon's nameless apprentice, most Diabolists educate their students through a combination of beneficence and cruelty. They act as friends, confidantes, and, sometimes, lovers to their protégés, as well as tormentors. The desired end result of this staccato flow of both positive and negative attention is intended to make each such willworker self-sufficient and capable of dealing with the slings and arrows of life among the Bene Ashmedai. Because the Diabolists are often confused with Left-Handed mages by the ignorant, they avoid any large-scale organization, preferring instead to work in ones and twos, occasionally swapping stories, advice and new magics when they happen to encounter one another, whether in the world of flesh or in the realms of the mind and the spirit.