The Known History of the First City

  What we know of the First City comes from a tiny selection of tablet fragments, vase shards, and carved monuments uncovered after two thousand years of burial. The First City was unique in its vampiric nature. There, the two generations of Caine’s Children, the second and the third generation, created for themselves a society which adapted to their particular vampiric customs, needs, and powers.

  From what has been unearthed, we know that the Kindred of the First City were the upper rung of the hierarchy, with Caine, of course, being at the top. Although the three Children of Caine (Enoch, Zillar and Irad) were supposedly the next "rung”down, several of the Third Generation, Caine’s Grandchilder, enjoyed special status (notably Saulot, who was always at Caine’s side, especially in the later days) equal to the Second Generation.

  Below all Kindred were the Children of Seth, that is to say the humans, except for one. That one was the Master of Servants, the original one-who-serves, called Jabal in some myths. Jabal was equal to one of Caine’s Grandchilder because he was so close to Caine. There was very little of Jabal’s own blood in his body, it was all mostly the Blood of Caine.

  Those-who serve, the latter-day ghouls, were the next lowest rung, followed by all mortal servants who attended the Kindred. The rest - those who farmed, labored, etc. - were the least.

   Do not, however, misjudge the Kindred of this time. They were doing what their father, Caine, told them to do. Caine truly felt as an uncle to these orphaned children of Seth’s, and he saw it as his duty to protect them and guide them. He took his duty seriously. A few of the legends show Caine the Lawgiver as a tiger, and a wolf, and a hawk, attacking the enemies of the people. They show him also sitting in judgment on an Ivory Throne in the midst of  a great Court - apparently the powers of Auspex at that time were considerable enough to allow Caine (or the residing Kindred) to look into done right or wrong.

  Caine was also able to see when one of his children’s Powers had worked on a human. He was also able to cancel the effects of any Discipline used in his vicinity. It was this total mastery of all Disciplines that kept Caine in power, truly, for although he was a decent king and an honest law-giver, his Disciplines ensured that the rest of powerful Kindred stayed in line.

  Caine had the ability to create new Disciplines on the spot if he wished. It is thought that his power to do this was the forerunner of the Thaumaturgy Discipline and the various Thaumaturgical Paths.

  Slaves

   It is thought that the slaves in Enoch were captured natives of the nation of Scth, the tribe of herders that evcntually spawned Noah and his kind. This would add meaning to the biblical idea that the earth was becoming corrupted by evil around the time of  Noah, for certainly Caine was indulging himself and his children in the height of this period.

  Most slaves labored in the fields to produce food for the human servants of Caine and his children. They were mostly captured outlaws and barbarians and were probably Dominated into submission. It is only through the name for the slaves that we know that they are slaves: all pictograms depicting slaves in Enoch show them as being collarless and free.

  Feeding

   I was shocked to learn that the custom of the Blood Feast that the Sabbat are said to partake in was duplicated in ancient times by Caine and his court. At a feast. Caine would have several condemned criminals tied by their ankles to beams above the table. The Kindred present would feed at leisure off these prisoners until they died of the treatment. Drawings depict Caine and several of his childer drinking from a pool of blood that is fed by three inverted mortals bleeding into it.

   We know, as well, that much was known during that time about the taste of blood and how to improve it. Several of the "cooks" of Enoch s time learned the various savory herbs and foods and drinks that would, when ingested by the feeding-slave. cause the right balance of sweet and salt, fullness and thinness for the blood of the feeding slaves.

  Slaves unable to work in the field were invariably made feeding slaves. These slaves were probably very lovely to look at (one glyph shows a feeding-slave dressed in a veil and jewels) and highly conditioned to respond to the Kiss.

  Calendar

  Enoch observed the planting seasons, like all agricultural communities. There is evidence that there was a great celebration io the High House of Caine eveiy new moon. and a great thanksgiving night on the day after an eclipse. This may have been when the werewolves were most likely to attack, if indeed it is werewolves that were around during this time, and not demons as some have suggested.

  Caine provided a very advanced calendar for the time. On Midsummers Eve one year. Caine painted a red line of his own blood on the circular wall of his High House. The line magically moved day by day, slowly circling the house until it came back around to the Solstice again. It was through this auspice that Caine provided the citizens of the First City a calendar.

  Breeding

  Much was learned about the breeding of humans with other humans and either Kindred or kine developed birth control. Humans were bred for specific purposes, such as being strong for feeding, or being a good warrior, or being a good laborer. If you were frequently successful in your tasks, you might get selected to further your line. This would be done in a house called the Temple of Lilith, which was neither a Temple and was probably not even dedicated to Lilith. Two humans would have ritual sex here and then never see each other again, especially if they served two separate masters.

  Kindred with Auspex were apparently able to tell immediately that a woman had gotten with child from a union.

  Religion

  Unlike most cultures of ancient times, there was no religion in Enoch. Caine forbade the worship of the One Above. having turned his face from Him, and allowed his subjects no trips to the temple to become scrubbed from sin. Indeed, Caine would often hold forth in open court about how they were all doomed to rot in hell, about how their plight would fall on deaf ears when the time for Armageddon comes and about how truly evil the Kindred are as a race.

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