Caine



In Vampire: The Masquerade, Caine, the Dark Father, is considered to be the first vampire. He can be identified with the biblical character, Cain, who is mentioned in the Book of Genesis; after becoming a vampire, the letter 'e' was added to the end of his name. Before the formation of the Camarilla, most vampires referred to themselves as "Cainites" in recognition of their origin. However, by the 20th century it is common belief that the story of Caine is the vampire-equivalent of a creation myth.

Tales of Caine
The bulk of Caine's history is covered in the Book of Nod, the Erciyes Fragments, the Lilithian, and the Luciferian. These books conflict on Caine's motives, but all agree he killed his brother Abel. Days of Fire describes how Caine gave himself a "gift," and the gift was delusion. Using this gift, he thought he killed Abel in an act of love when it was really an act of hate. He used this gift to make pride out of shame, which resulted in being outcasted. The Gangrel scholar Beckett is also known for interpreting the Caine mythology as a conflict between farmer and hunter tribes.

Land of Nod
A farmer named Cain prepared a sacrificial offering to his god, of his finest fruits and vegetables. His brother Abel also prepared a sacrificial offering, it being of the finest animals that he had raised. Either there was a dispute over whose offering was better, or their god really favored Abel's over Cain's. The final result ended in Cain "sacrificing" Abel on the sacrificial alter, his brother being the "finest" offering he could give. Needless to say, Caine's "Father" cursed him with a mark, and cast him out to wander in darkness in the Land of Nod.

Roaming the Land of Nod, Cain encounters Lilith. She sees that he is cold and hungry, and she welcomes him into her warmth. She identifies herself as Adam's first wife, the original wife of Cain's father. After staying with her for some time, the two become lovers. He realizes that she has powers and magic that he too would like to possess. So he pleads to her for these gifts. The hesitant Lilith then prepares an Awakening ceremony by cutting herself with a knife, bleeding into a bowl, and giving it to him so that he may drink.

After Cain partakes of Lilith's blood, he is visited by three angels who are agents of God. Each angel offers Cain a chance to repent for the murder of Abel. However, Cain rejects each of them. And for each angel he rejects, a curse is added on to him. He and his children are cursed with a weakness to fire, vulnerability to sunlight and the Beast Within that hungers for blood. A fourth angel then appeared to offer the way of Golconda, the only way to "light", by the mercy of God. After the experience, Caine becomes officially "Awakened", possessing the following Disciplines: Celerity, Potence, Fortitude, Obfuscate, Dominate, Presence, Protean, Animalism, and Auspex. Caine then became aware of the Path of Blood, the Final Path from which all paths stem. And with all these powers, he breaks his bond with Lilith and leaves her.

Caine continues to wander the Land of Nod in loneliness. The memory of his sin drowned him in sorrow. It wasn't for many ages until he decides to be amongst mortal men again. His powers and his mark were well known to mortal men and some even worshiped him. Finally, Caine settled in a small agricultural community, named Ubar. It was here, in this First City that he became the Dark Father.

The Dark Father
Caine finally settled in a city, once known as Ubar. It was inhabited by the "Children of Seth" and ruled by King Enoch. The people of Ubar were aware of Caine's mark and both marveled and feared his power and thus came to worship him. Upon arrival to the city, Enoch relinquished his kingship, so that Caine may rule instead.

According to a Toreador legend, being amongst the mortals, Caine noticed a couple who were very much in love. Seeing their love amplified his own loneliness and sin. After having dwelt on his sin for an eon, Caine thought that maybe he could reconcile something in his nature by embracing them with the gift of immortality, so that their love would live for all eternity. However, when the lovers discovered that they could not have children together, after having been embraced, in an act of despair, they both walked into the sunlight to their Final Death. Caine was so heartbroken over the event that he forbade anyone to speak their names. Thus, their names were lost to history.

The former king, Enoch, desired Caine's power and requested it as such. However, Caine showed some reluctance because of the loss of the lovers he had embraced decades ago and Uriel's warning. Yet the raging of the Beast within, the yearning to be with others like him, and Enoch ultimately begging for the embrace, Caine turned the young man. In honor of his new found vampiric son, Caine declared that Ubar now be known as, the City of Enoch. After some time, Enoch desired Kindred brethren. With Enoch's insistence, Caine embraced his second childe, Irad, imparting to him a strength unlike any other. Irad thus became Caine's arm, a commander of armies. Soon to follow, was Zillah.

Zillah was so beautiful, Caine couldn't resist the embrace. Interestingly, even after the embrace, Zillah did not desire him. It frustrated Caine to the point that he was ripping his hair out of his head. He did anything and everything to make her desire him. Yet, she would not have him. Finally, Caine sought the Crone's magic, who ultimately tricked him into a blood bond. This discovery of the Blood bond is what finally bonded Zillah to Caine so that he could get her to marry him.

Now there were three Second Generation childer who co-existed in the City of Enoch: Enoch, Irad, and Zillah. They in turn learned the ways of making progeny and had embraced the Third Generation. Under Caine's order, he declared it law that no more childer be made. Supposedly they obeyed and the city prospered for ages, becoming the First City of vampires.

The city's economy thrived on the technology and the agricultural "know-how" that Caine brought to the First City. One, having wandered throughout the Cradle of Civilization, he was able to bring Sumerian technology, namely "the wheel". Two, being a farmer most of his life, Caine had cultivated wondrous and perfect groves. So for generations, under Caine's rule, the economy prospered, and the city became a mighty Empire. The Third Generation Antediluvians even built statues, shrines, temples, a grand library, and pools all surrounding a large five level palace, that Caine ruled from, upon his lofty ivory throne.

The Deluge changed everything. It destroyed the City of Enoch and all of the "Children of Seth". Caine was so upset, that he disappeared. His surviving childer and grand-childer sought him out, and when they found him, Caine told them to go away. Left to fend for themselves, the Antediluvians ended up "killing" Caine's second generation childer. When Caine discovered what happened, he sought out the Antediluvians who had rebuilt a new city, known as the Second City. Unbeknownst to them, the Dark Father Caine cursed his descendants with the characteristic weaknesses of each clan.

Caine's Return
According to Noddist mythology, there are claims that Caine will return at the end of time to judge his descendants: the Antediluvians and all vampires descended from them. This event is known as Gehenna, the end of all vampiric races!

In the Sabbat's epithet, The Sword Of Caine, it refers to their belief that they will aid Caine in striking down the Antediluvians when Gehenna comes.

The Camarilla, however, deny any existence of Caine, even going as far as concealing or destroying books that even refer to Caine's return, thus promoting skepticism amongst modern Kindred.

Appearance And Abilities
Caine's capacities are usually described as being outside the ability of the Storyteller system to model. Given that he is two generations beyond the power of the Antediluvians, it is reasonable to assume that he has completely mastered all Disciplines potentially to a greater degree than 3rd generation and may possess the ability to create new Disciplines on the fly. Basically, whatever Caine wants to do, Caine can do. He also most likely has a massive blood point and burn ratio and high levels in nearly all attributes

Almost anything else about Caine's attributes follows the Biblical description: if Caine is harmed, the damage is returned sevenfold. In addition, Caine is marked with a sign of God's displeasure.

One V:tM rulebook has an entry on "Rules for Fighting Caine", which consists entirely of "You lose."

Canon Appearances
Caine figures in one scenario in Gehenna, where he is explicitly targeted and drawn out by Lilith for vengeance. In that scenario the Biblical curse does apply, and Lilith prepares a victim to strike the killing blow on Caine and then get squashed by the ineffable thumb of God. Caine is mentioned in passing in two other scenarios and presumed dead in the remaining one.

Caine also appears in the Gehenna novel, in a general positive interpretation under an assumed name. This Caine travels with Beckett while witnessing the end of vampiric civilization.

Interpretations
Common interpretations of Caine are:
 * Dark Father: Emphasizing the eschatological aspects of Noddism. This Caine is a dark god who wreaks havoc and judgment on his descendants.
 * Fisher King: The standard "regretful Caine". The Fisher King interpretation feels remorse for his actions and now seeks a way out.

Appears In

 * Time of Judgement: Gehenna, "Fair is Foul" and "The First Vampire"
 * Vampire: Gehenna - The Final Night, Caine is a cameo character in this novel.
 * The Book of Nod, Ostensibly penned by Caine.
 * The Erciyes Fragments, an alternative telling of the Book of Nod.
 * Revelations of the Dark Mother, a "Book of Nod"-style creation myth, focusing on Lilith.
 * Days of Fire, a book covering the history of the world and its coming end, ostensibly written by Lucifer.