The Children of Caine

I appear before the two of them, and they look at my sudden appearance in startlement. "Who are you?" asks Vistri.

"My name is Aviel Tintallia," I introduce myself. "I've been watching you, and I wish to help you."

"Why?" Vistri wonders. "And why did you not appear before now?"

"Things were going well enough at first," I say. "But then there was this. I didn't want to let you do this, Vistri. You don't have to do this."

Vistri stares at me. "Why do you care? And what does it matter what happens to me?"

"Stop and think for a moment, Vistri," I tell him. "Don't let your emotions get the better of you. Certainly, this would make Caine strong, but it would also cost him his only friend. Do you really want to do this? Is it really worth the price?"

After a long moment of silence, it's Caine who answers instead. "No. It's not."

"I..." Vistri says. "You're right, Aviel. And thank you for your intervention. You've prevented me from doing something foolish. If I want him to be strong, I can teach him myself instead."

I watch the progression of events on Earth. Caine and Vistri. Caine learns quickly, and his suggestions bring about thoughts which Vistri had not considered. I had thought to prevent the rise of certain clans of vampires in the future, but I see now that that may not be necessary. This Caine is happy, despite his curses. This Caine will not readily withdraw from the world and leave his childer to their own devices. This Caine does not need to face the world alone.

While wandering the wilderness, Caine encounters Lilith. "Well, hello there, handsome," Lilith practically purrs.

"And who might you be?" Caine wonders.

Vistri shakes his head. "Do not trust this woman, my friend. She is Lilith, a temptress who was your father's first lover. She will lead you astray, if you allow her to."

Caine narrows his eyes at the woman. "What do you wish with me?"

"Oh, don't listen to your friend there," Lilith says. "He offers to teach you, but there are so many things which I could teach you as well. And we would have far more fun together, I daresay..."

"No," Caine says flatly.

"There's so much that we could do... we could rule the world together, you and I..."

"I said no," Caine repeats, giving her a hard look that makes it clear that she should not press the issue.

"But-"

"Get out of my sight."

This is different. I can see the future quietly rearranging itself even as Lilith skulks away once again. This is a greater victory against the Void than I had realized at first.

Caine and Vistri continue to wander for many years, teaching and learning, and I occasionally gave them company rather than merely watching them. They finally come to settle in the first city of mankind, currently called Ubar. It's not really much of a city, by more advanced standards, but it's impressive to see what humans have managed to build in such a short period of time.

It is here that Caine creates his first childer and spreads the blood of vampirism. But things don't transpire quite as they might otherwise have. The changes I have already wrought are growing and building, shifting the course of history.

It's not to say that the current state of affairs is all peace and happiness, but things happen drastically differently. Different vampire clans are founded, and there is no uprising of childer to slay their sires. Instead of the clans being founded by thirteen of the third generation, they are instead founded by the new seven of the second generation, although this new group is at least partially made up of those who would have become vampires before. The clans are: Venari, Telana, Korata, Astakal, Glemarn, Handene, Mevrasi.

I have to blink for a moment when I realize what has happened. Those names sound familiar to me. Is this how things were originally meant to play out, and something had caused it to shift away from that? I can't be certain. But I know those names have turned up again and again on the edges of my perceptions. What might their emergence here and now portend for the future? One thing is for certain, though. The future will not be the same as it would have been.

For now, I sit back and cast my gaze to the present and future, seeing where things might go from here. For all that I had spent three million years putting down roots here and getting used to my new position, I have found myself surprised by the differences even a small change, in the right place, might produce. I cannot hope to anticipate every possible outcome that might arise from my actions. It has only been by instinct that I have recognized the hinge points to which I might be able to nudge history in the direction I wish it to go, and even then, I have failed to notice them until they are upon me. This makes me feel somewhat inadequate as a Time Mage.

And then the Deluge appears and washes away the city of Enoch, that was once called Ubar.

The vampires survive, of course. A little water won't generally do much to a vampire.

It isn't until after the Deluge that the differing natures of the fledgling clans truly become apparently, once they have the time and numbers to emerge. Pardon the following irrelevant info dump.

The progenitor of clan Venari, Irad, develops such a fear of water due to the flood that his descendants become particularly weak against it. Their attunement to the element of fire comes afterward. The closest thing I could correspond them to is the later clan Brujah, but even then it's not nearly the same thing.

Clan Telana, founded by a previous unknown by the name of Tamerlane, is associated with darkness, shadows, souls, and time. Although I've forbidden actual temporal manipulation, they have developed usable future-sight. They remind me somewhat of Lasombra, and perhaps Giovanni. But they don't seem to be interested in necromancy itself, but in manipulation of souls instead. They will bear watching. That path is a dangerous one.

Saulot's childer, the clan Korata, dedicate themselves to being healers and protectors, defying their vampiric nature. They are not called Salubri here, but nothing else appears to be different.

Clan Astakal, the descendants of Ennoia, takes to the forests and wilderness, bringing themselves closer to the earth. They are similar in many ways to what would have been the Gangrel, but there's a tranquility and contemplativeness to them unknown to the Gangrel.

Enoch is the progenitor of Glemarn. This clan is bent toward wisdom and knowledge, seeking peaceful contemplation and learning. They are associated with the element of water. I don't see any clear connections between them and the vampire clans of the original timeline.

The Handene, the childer of a young woman named Revina, are associated with the element of air, and illusions. There are things about them that remind me of Toreador, and Ravnos, and others, but they are none of these. They have a certain carefree, childlike nature about them, and many of them are playful pranksters.

Finally, there is Zillah's clan. The Mevrasi are also oriented toward the mental disciplines, but unlike Glemarn, they focus upon charisma and control rather than simply knowledge. They might have been the Ventrue, but they are not the Ventrue. Their love of manipulation will make them major players in later days, however.