Weeping Stone

The Sacred Pilgrimage site for the Lost Tribe (a.k.a. the "True Black Hand"), found in the mountainous region of Iraq. It is believed to be the resting spot of Zillah the Fair who was turned to stone by Caine.

The Weeping Stone
[Caine's Chosen: the Black Hand, p. 10-11]

I remember reading somewhere that mortal Bible scholars think Iraq was the site of the Garden of Eden. If so, that's good, because it means our Stone is exactly where it should be: East of Eden, at or near the site of the First City, where the Clan Founders rose up and slew their sires. Or supposedly did. The Tribe's legend actually had an added wrinkle. It said that the founders succeeded in killing just two of their forebears, Enoch the Wise and Irad the Strong. When Zillah the Fair saw that her brothers were dead and she was next, she wept and cried out to Father Caine. He heard her pleas and took pity on her, changing her into a stone so that she wouldn't be found and killed. But still she continued to mourn, and her blood-tears continued to flow from the Stone, just as they do to this very night.

Yeah, I know. It's all terribly archetypal, but you know the mortals had to have gotten their old myths from somewhere. Maybe this was the original story. I'm certainly not going to try to convince you now. You haven't tasted the Stone. Look me up again when you have.

The point is, to taste the Stone is to taste the last remaining Blood of the faithful generation. To taste the Stone is to share in the promise Father Caine gave to his beloved Zillah, that she would walk the night again at his side when all was mended. The Lost Tribe took this very much to heart, which is why they named themselves the way they did. They also called themselves Zillah's Tears. And they guarded the secret of the Stone most closely, only revealing it to those few who had proved absolutely faithful to Father Caine's word.