The verbal history of the Kindred - though some insist that it is more legendry than history - occupies a position of great reverence in vampire society. The most popular and widely accepted myth is that of Caine, the First Vampire and slayer of his borther. An elusive text known as The Book of Nod, though little exists to corroborate the book or its validity.

**In the beginning there was only Caine. Caine who sacrified his brother out of love. Caine who was cast out. Caine who cursed forever his immortality. Caine who was cursed with the lust for blood. It is Caine from who we all come, Our sire's sire. For the passing of an age he lived in the land of Nod, In loneliness and suffering. For an eon he remained alone. But the passing of memory drowned his sorrow. And so he returned to the world of mortals, To the world of mortals, To the world his brother and his brother's children had created.**

As Caine returned to the Children of Seth (the name that vampires came to call the kine), may believe that he went about the construction of a great city, in which vampires coexisted with mortals. Some Kindred historians speak of this period as an idyllic time of harmony, though more cynical Cainites say that the vampires inflicted themselves upon the children of Seth like a plague. It is believed that the 13 clans came into existence at this time, as Caine's childer sired childer of their own. Breaks in the narrative suggest that there may have been more than 13 members of the Third Generation, or more than three members of the Second Generation. Cainite cults dedicated to the progenitor's myth claim that there may be as many as 100 members of the Third Generation, but no evidence is forthcoming.

**Though he became ruler of a mighty nation, he was still alone, For none was as he. His sorrow grew once again. Then he committed another great sin, for he begat progeny, [Of whom there were only three].* But from them came more progeny, Caine's grandchilder, And then Cane said, "An end to this crime. There shall be no more." And as Caine's word was the law, his brood obeyed him. The city stood for many ages, And became the center of a mighty empire.**

The city's nights were numbered, the tales continue, and God sent the Great Flood to erase the wickedness Caine's childer brought to the world. Mortal Biblical accounts place this event as the one in which Noah built his ark to escape the fate humanity had brought upon itself. The vampires who survived became known as the Antediluvians, for they had received the Embrace before the Flood.

**But then came the Deluge, a Great Flood that washed over the world. The city was destroyed. And its people along with it. Again Caine fell into a great sorrow and went into solitude, Becoming as a dog admidst the wastes, And leaving his progeny to their own ends. They came to him and begged him to return, To help them rebuild the city. But he would not come with them, Saying the Flood had been sent as a punishment For his having returned to the world of life And subverting the true law.**

Without their father Caine, the vampires fell to petty bickering and warring among themselves. Murder and avarice became the rule for Kindred, and though they treid to re-create the glory of the First City, the resulting Second City was a den of intrigue, treachery, bloodlust and diablerie.

**So they returned alone to what mortals were left And announced that they were the new rulers. Each created a brood, In order to claim the glory of Caine, Yet they did not have his wisdom or restraint. A great war was waged, the elders against their children, And the children slew their parents.**

It was these kinslayer vampires who gave rise to what are commonly referred to as clans, siring the Fourth and lesser generations. Their lack of wisdom, however, prevented them from seeing what their childer would rise against them as they had against their sires. As this became obvious, the Ancients adopted the great game, their war of supremacy, the Jyhad, and went into hiding to direct their movements from secret havens. Inevitably, this terrible war resulted in the collapse of teh Second City, and the Kindred and the Children of Seth scattered to the ends of the Earth, where they could exist relatively free from the monstrous influence of the Anteduvilians. This belief was folly, however, as the power and influence of the Third Generation know no bounds. Thus, as the stories say that to his very night the Jyhad continues to rage, with all Kindred put pawns in the cannibalistic war of the elders.

**The rebels then built a new city And brought to it [13] tribes.** It was a beautiful city and its people worshipped them as gods. They created new progeny of their own, The Fourth Genearation of Cainites. But they feared the Jyhad, And it was forbidden for those childer To create ohers of their kind. This power the elders kept for themselves. When a childe was created, it was hunted down and killed And its sire with it.

Althoug the city was as great as Caine's, eventually it grew old. As do all living thinfs, it slowly began to die. The gods at first did not see the truth, And when they last looked about them it was too late. Their city was destroyed and their power extinguished, And they were forced to flee, their progeny along with them. But many were killed in the flight, for they had grown weak. With their authority gone, all were free to create their own broods, And soon there were many new Cainites, Who ruled across teh face of the Earth. But this could not last.

Over time, there came to be too many of the Cainites, And then there was war again. The elders were already deep in hiding, For they had leraned caution. But their childer had founded their own cities and broods, And it is they who were killed in ther great wave of war. There was war so total, that there are none of that generation To speak of themselves any longer. Waves of mortal flesh were sent sent across continents In order to crush and burn the cities of the Cainites. Mortals thought they were fighting their own wars, But it is for us that they spilt their blood. Once this war was over, All of the Cainites hid from one another And from the numans who surrounded them. In hiding we remain tonight, For the Jyhad continues still.**

Several Kindred historians believe this line to have been mistranslated throught the millenia between the First City and the modern nights. The notes of early vampire historians indicate this line has been interpreted as "Of whom there were as few as three" in some transcriptions of the Book of Nod.
**

Most Kindred accept this number as 13, seeing as how there are 13 clans known in existence, but at least one of the fragments of The Book of Nod alludes to "three by 10" instead of "three and 10" with reference to the Third Generation. This indicates, to some Kindred, that there once may have been as many as 30 distinct "clans," if indeed they have passed into extinction at all.