The Mark of Cain

And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.

And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.

And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

Adam's firstborn son was named Cain, and the curse said to have befallen him is well-known in medieval times, taken directly from the account in the Bible. Many of the specifics of the story are confusing to those who might investigate them, however, and there are many mysteries buried in these simple verses. For example, what was the exact nature of Cain's curse? What was the mark that God placed upon him, and how did those who saw it know what it meant? Who was Cain's wife, and where did she come from?

This section outlines possible answers to these questions, to make it possible for the characters to find Cain and talk to him, and perhaps convince him to teach them his native language.

And the Lord said unto Cain, Where [is] Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: [Am] I my brother's keeper?

And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

And now [art] thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;

When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment [is] greater than I can bear.

Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, [that] every one that findeth me shall slay me.

And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

— Genesis 4:9–15

In jealousy, Cain slew his brother and lied about it to God. As punishment for this, the tiller of the ground was forced to become a fugitive and a vagabond, rejected by the earth which he had dirtied with Abel's murder, trembling and moaning according to some translations of the text, and was banished from his family and their society.

One interpretation of this curse is that Cain was physically changed by it; that it made him into a monster. Since the ground would not yield its bounty to him, he was forced to feed on flesh and blood. He could father children and build a city, but he had to go far away from his father and mother to do so, for he could no longer bear the presence of God that

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Characters fluent in the Adamic language who also know how to write (that is, who have a score of 1 in Artes Liberales) may name objects or beings in writing rather than words. They inscribe the symbols that mean a thing's name upon it, and this is the same as naming it in Adamic, creating an Arcane Connection that the magus can use to target it more effectively in the future.

The mark of Cain might be said to mean "Cain" in the Adamic language, and inscribing it upon a thing is essentially the same as naming it Cain, so long as the character is fluent in the magical language of Adam and has some understanding of the ancient alphabet from which the symbol derives. This creates an Arcane Connection between the magus and the object, but also gives the target a prophetic association with Cain, a magical destiny that might not be desirable.

surrounded their home. Worst of all, unless he repented and atoned for his evil deed, his sin could never be forgiven and he would not join God in Heaven upon his death, but would be forced to remain on earth, soulless, for all eternity.

Many medieval authors describe the "trembling and moaning" that Cain was forced to endure. According to the story, Cain began to shake and wail, and became agitated, driving himself into madness and frenzy, and it is in this state that he protested to God that his punishment was too harsh; apart from his existence being unbearable, he would be a pariah, and that anyone who found him would surely kill him. If this was to be his fate, why did God not just kill him outright? Instead of explaining, God placed a mark upon him as a sign to others that he was not to be harmed, and as a warning that any person who was to slay him would also suffer.

The Bible says nothing beyond that simple word, "mark." It is the same word as for "sign," also used to describe a single letter of the Hebrew alphabet, as well as a brand or scar, a message from God, an ill omen, or an astrological event. The symbol for the word "mark" was a simple cross. It was also an ancient custom to brand criminals on the forehead with a symbol of their crime, and perhaps this practice originated with Cain's mark. Thus, Cain has the sign of the cross on his forehead, raised as a scar and burned like a tattoo onto his skin.

Some scholars have suggested that Cain's mark was not a physical symbol, but rather a metaphorical one, like an aura of evil about him, or a wild look in his eye. Many believed it to represent some sort of supernatural protection, designed to keep Cain safe from harm until he finally repented of his crimes. And some described it as an unnatural manifestation of these qualities upon his body, making him look like a wild beast, with sharp teeth or horns growing out of his head. These ideas may be confirmed in the mind of any person who encounters Cain; they may perceive him as a predatory animal at first, before recognizing him as a man.

And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.

And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.

And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.

And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one [was] Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and [of such as have] cattle.

And his brother's name [was] Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.

And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain [was] Naamah.

And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.

If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.

— Genesis 4:16–24

A puzzling question left by the Bible is Cain's wife, who is mentioned in the story of Cain, but her origin is never explained. If Adam and Eve were the first man and woman, where did Cain's wife come from? Many scholars learned in ancient lore believe that she was Lilith, the first woman created in the Garden of Eden, who was exiled from it before ever Eve came to be. Many stories also describe Lilith as the mother of all tempting demons and dark spirits, and a wicked witch who practiced evil magic and kidnapped babies in the night. (For more about Lilith, see Realms of Power: The Infernal, page 27.)

Another possibility is that while Adam and Eve were the first man and woman, they were not the only man and woman; they were simply the first man and woman who knew God, were privileged to live with him in the Garden of Eden, and were blessed with his favor though they had sinned against him. When they left the gar-

According to popular legend in Mythic Europe, the giants and ogres that are common in stories from medieval times all the way back to the classics of antiquity are the descendants of Cain, specifically in the epic poem Beowulf, where the phrase is used to describe both the monstrous beast Grendel and his mother.

The term "descendant of Cain" is ambiguous. It could mean that these creatures were descended from the daughters of Cain, who it is said bore children to the angels who remained on earth. Or, it could be that the creatures are the fiends of the night said to be the children of Lilith, who may have been Cain's wife. Alternately, it could be that they were others who inherited Cain's curse, perhaps by killing Lamech, becoming seventy and seven times more monstrous than Cain and doomed to suffer seventy and seven times his punishment. Or perhaps more than one of these circumstances are the case — perhaps Lamech, the descendant of Cain and Lilith, had other children with his two wives, siring a race of monsters who inherited the curse of his ancestor.

The names of Lamech's children, as recorded in the Bible, may hint at other interpretations as well. One of them, described as a master artificer who worked in brass and iron, is named Tubalcain. The "b" sound is often interchangeable with the "v" sound in early European languages, which could suggest that this famous smith's name might have developed into "Vulcan" over time.

den, perhaps they found many other people already living in the world that they had inherited, just as there were plants and animals and all the other things that God created spread all throughout the world.

Whatever the case, Cain and his wife had a son named Enoch, and they built a city of the same name in the land of Nod, far to the east of Jerusalem. No one knows where this land is, but some think it is in Persia or the mountains of the Caucasus. Others suggest it was in Europe, in Novgorod, that these nomads wandered north as well as east. Cain and his wife also had many daughters, for it is said that the angels who did not join with God or with the Devil were beguiled by the daughters of Cain, and had children by them.

Cain's great-great-great-grandson was named Lamech, a man who in the Bible sang that he slew a man and a boy, and declared that if any who harmed Cain were to suffer sevenfold, those who harmed him would surely suffer seventy and sevenfold. According to Biblical apocrypha, this is because the man he killed was Cain, and the youth was his own son. Lamech was a hunter, and when he and his son were in the forest, the boy spotted a wild animal in the brush, and called to his father to shoot it. The arrow struck soundly, but they found that the target was not a beast, but his ancestor, who they recognized by the mark on his forehead. In fury, Lamech beat the boy to death with his bow.

Thus, Lamech inherited the curse of his ancestor, for by slaying Cain, he was as doomed to suffer God's vengeance as he had been. Lamech suffered the same physical transformation as Cain, and it affected him much more severely, transforming