Chapter One: The Language of Adam

And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought [them] unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that [was] the name thereof.

And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

And Adam said, This [is] now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

— Genesis 2:19–23

And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

— Genesis 3:20

According to traditional legends about the beginning of the world, the very first man was named Adam, and lived in a fantastic garden called Eden created for him by God, where his every need was served. God brought all the animals before him, and Adam gave them their names. These were specific words that best described them, terms that meant "horse" or "lion" or "crow" or "salmon," that each encompassed the entirety of the beast's essential nature in a few specific sounds and the concept in Adam's mind. It might even be said that the name defined the beast, that each name had mystic significance that determined the qualities of the particular animal's species.

Yet though they all had fine qualities, none of the animals was found to be the perfect companion for Adam. And so God created another like Adam, a person to live in the garden as he did. As Adam called himself "Man," his companion was called "Woman," and both she and he inherited all the traits that these names represent. And in time, just as Adam was called Adam and not just "Man," he also gave the "Woman" a name for her own: Eve, meaning "mother of all living." From this, Eve developed other unique traits, not just the traits of a woman, but qualities particular to her own identity, and together she and Adam had mastery and dominion over the land.

Many medieval scholars believe that there is great power in the language that Adam spoke, as it is the original language of all things, perhaps the language spoken by God himself to bring about the creation of the universe. The power of naming, of assigning a being a name that truly and succinctly describes it, might be considered to be the very first form of magic, the most ancient magic in the whole world. Uncovering this lost tongue, known as Adamic, is the focus of this chapter, an epic quest that will surely earn the magus who does so a place in Hermetic history and legend.

The power of the first language is simple, but direct. A character who is fluent in Adamic — that is, who has at least a score of 5 in the Dead Language (Adamic) Ability — can give anything within range of his voice a new name, which he may use as a permanent and lasting Arcane Connection to that target from then on. He also has an Arcane Connection to any mundane thing he knows the name of (anything without a Might Score). For Penetration, this second connection is valued as if it lasted "hours," though it is effectively permanent.

A character with some knowledge of Adamic receives a +1 bonus to his Penetration multiplier whenever he uses his magic on a target with Magic Resistance, as a form of sympathetic magic. To do this, he must name the target while it is within range of his voice, working this name into whatever ritual he performs to produce the magical effect, and if he is not fluent in Adamic he must have an Arcane Connection to the target, just as with other sympathetic bonuses. For example, a character with Adamic 1 and an Arcane Connection that lasts hours (+1) would have a Penetration multiplier of +2 when naming his target within Voice Range. A character with Adamic 5 would have a total Penetration multiplier of +5, because he is fluent in the language, he always has a lasting Arcane Connection to his target.

Story Hook: The Language of Innocence

A few ancient and contemporary theologians have theorized that the first language of man is that of pure innocence, of a mind unsullied by sin, and have sought to recreate the first language through experimentation, reasoning that if a child were to never hear any other words, what he would develop would be a language based in instinct, a reasonable facsimile of the language of Adam. Roman historians wrote legends of an Egyptian pharaoh who had two children raised in the wilderness, and who, when summoned, pointed to their mouths and said "becos," the Egyptian word for bread, which supposedly proved that Egyptian was the oldest language in the world. Frederick II, king of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor in 1220, is said to have conducted a similar experiment, but the results were inconclusive as the children disappeared after being left in the wilderness and were never heard from again.
In Mythic Europe, an imaginative child who has The Gift and is raised without any other linguistic influences develops a special language of his own in the first few years of his life, and this language is very similar to Adamic. However, as he grows older and learns to communicate with others he necessarily loses much of the innocence that mimics Adam's state before he was cast out of the garden, making it impossible for him to develop his vocabulary beyond the primitive ideas associated with his childhood.
To represent this in the game, instead of beginning with a Living Language score of 5 during character creation, a child with The Gift and a positive Intelligence who was raised in controlled conditions or the wild may begin with a score of 2 in Dead Language (Adamic). Unfortunately, he is unable to develop this language any further than this, as by age 5 he has lost the innocence that allows him to create this knowledge. Like with other Dead Languages, he may increase his understanding of Adamic through formal instruction, if he can find a teacher. He can also teach the basics of his made-up language to others once he learns to communicate with them. In this way, other characters may acquire this rudimentary knowledge of Adamic if they wish.
This method is a good hook for a storyguide to draw a character with an interest in ancient magic into the quest, and one way to do this is by having him discover and adopt a child who intuitively speaks Adamic, perhaps one of the children used in King Frederick's experiment. From this child, the character may learn the basics of the original language, and thus gain a slight increase to his Penetration Ability, though to gain the full benefits he must eventually become fluent in it through one of the other means described in this chapter.

Whenever a character fluent in Adamic names something for the first time, such as a newborn baby, a piece of art, or a newly discovered land, the name he gives it subtly influences its destiny, causing its true nature to change and conform to his image of it. This birthright is something the storyguide should eventually integrate into the story in a subtle way that makes the name meaningful, as if it were a divine prophecy or an inheritance of some sort. Aside from choosing the concept associated with the name, however, the character has no direct control over this effect; this capability is simply to allow the player to use his character's powers to help create new stories.

Hermetic Integration

Adamic does not need to be integrated into Hermetic magic, because learning it gives the character the power to make use of it immediately. The Adamic language is extremely difficult to study, however, because it is truly a dead language. There are no humans still living who speak it, and there are no written records to suggest how it would have sounded. How, then, are interested characters to recover the secret? The sections below contain three suggested means of learning the language, any of which characters might come up with on their own or have suggested to them by others who hypothesize that the original language of man has arcane significance. Each path follows a different route to this knowledge, but they all overlap in various ways.

The first method is to reconstruct the language from contemporary sources. Much like the qualities of a person's ancestors may be divined by studying their effect on the descendant, so too can Adamic be learned by studying the different languages into which it has transformed over the years. This quest begins with the story of the Tower of Babel, the monumental structure built to touch Heaven itself, thwarted by God's intervention and the invention of a babble of many different tongues.

A second method is to seek out the Garden of Eden, the idyllic and timeless place that was the origin of humanity and from which Adam and Eve were exiled forever. The inhabitants of the garden may still speak the original language, and a character who can find his way there may be able to learn to speak it from them. Tracking down this place requires that the characters travel to Mesopotamia, seeking out the place where four mighty rivers once converged, and somehow convincing the angelic guardians to let them pass.

Finally, there is one being remaining on earth who lived before the fragmenting of the language and who thus still speaks Adamic: Cain, the firstborn son of Adam, who killed his brother and whom God cursed, giving him a mark that signified his crime and doomed him to wander forever. The third method of learning Adamic is to find Cain and convince, trick, or force him into teaching the characters the lost language of his father.

The Tower of Babel

And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime [bitumen] had they for mortar.

And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top [may reach] unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

And the Lord said, Behold, the people [are] one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off building the city.

Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

— Genesis 11:1–9

The Bible explains the development of different languages as a curse, an act of God designed to prevent the people of Babylon from building a great tower to touch the sphere of Heaven. They had the materials necessary to construct this impressive structure, and aspired to set themselves upon it like rival gods above the rest of the world. But God caused them to scatter in every direction, each group developing its language in a different way, and even the name of their city, the word bab-ilu that had meant "gate of the god," came to be associated with the term balal, "to confound or mix." From this babble of languages eventually emerged every tongue that is now spoken in Mythic Europe.

Thus, a character interested in tracing the first language back to the time before the folly of the Tower of Babel must discover the roots of that language in contemporary speech. By studying the similarities found in different ancient languages, the character can reconstruct how Adamic must have been spoken.

When the people of ancient Babylon scattered, some of them went west into Israel, some went south into Egypt, and some went north into the mountains of the Caucasus, while others went east and eventually north and west into Europe. This created four different groups of original languages, each with its own distinct structure and vocabulary. These were Semitic, named after Noah's son Shem, from which Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic developed; Hamitic, named after Noah's son Ham, from which Egyptian and Coptic have descended; Scythian, related to the languages spoken by the people who lived in the area between the Black and Caspian seas, descended from Noah's son Japheth, and from which developed the languages of Slavic, Baltic, and Persian; and a fourth language, the language of the nomadic people who traveled around the Caspian Sea into the far north and eventually settled all of Europe, who were the ultimate origin of Greek, Latin, and the Germanic languages. This fourth language has never had a name, but it might be called Cainite after Cain, thought by some to be the ultimate father of these nomadic people.

To discover the Adamic language through research, the character must first become fluent in two of these four ancient languages via linguistic research (see the sidebar), and then develop those two languages to reconstruct the original language they have in common. For most characters, these two languages are likely to be Semitic and Cainite, as it is relatively easy for a character in Mythic Europe to learn Hebrew, Arabic, Latin, and Greek, since there are a great many excellent texts and teachers available.

Before he can research Adamic, however, the character must also become more familiar with ancient Mesopotamia, to gain the required Area Lore score of 5 that is necessary to develop his linguistic research, and this probably necessitates a journey to the Levant, since apart from brief mentions in a few tractatus by Roman historians, there have been very few books written on the subject.

Linguistic Research

The process of reconstructing an ancient language from contemporary ones is difficult, but can be done, although it requires a special seasonal activity. This works much like the process of original research, except that instead of performing a magical project in the laboratory, it requires a season of study, during which time the character experiments by matching the words and sentence structure of one language with the other, sounding out what older words might have been like and inventing linguistic notions to describe the similarities and differences between the two. This gives the character two points of Exposure experience in the common language Ability, but the character must be fluent in both derivative languages, and must also be familiar enough with both cultures to understand the conditions that could have caused them to change over time. This is represented by a required Area Lore score of 5 for the birthplace of the common language.
With these requirements met, the character may also experiment with the lost language in the lab as if he were researching a Breakthrough. For every two points or fraction thereof by which the character's score in the related languages exceeds 5, the player may modify the results of the experimentation roll by +1 or –1, to a maximum of +3 or –3, but if he rolls a 0 he must still check for a botch. If the result of this roll is "Discovery," the character receives 15 experience points in the common language, or perhaps enough experience to increase his score to the next level. A botch means that the character has ruined some of his work, by making a faulty conclusion or a mistaken translation, and he both gains no experience that season and loses 15 experience points in the shared Ability — this represents the fact that he must later discover his error and redo his work for that season. Other results, such as "Side Effect" or "Story Event," might give the character experience in a related field like Area Lore or Artes Liberales, or have other appropriate effects at the storyguide's discretion.
As an example, a magus has a score of 5 in Dead Language (Egyptian) and Dead Language (Coptic). He would like to analyze these two languages to discover a working knowledge of Hamitic, the language from which these two other languages developed. He also has Area Knowledge (Ancient Egypt) 5, indicating that he understands how local conditions would have influenced the two languages. Every season he spends examining their similarities he gains two experience points in Dead Language (Hamitic). After only 38 seasons of this careful study, he becomes fluent in the lost form of speech. If he experiments, he has the chance of gaining 15 additional experience points each season, and so it may be more worth his time to risk cutting corners.

Seeking Lost Babylon

In order to gain sufficient knowledge of the culture of Ancient Babylon, to give the characters necessary insight into the mindset of the people who built the great Tower of Babel before they were scattered throughout the world, the characters need to investigate the ruins of the once-great city and explore their environs. This might involve excavating historical artifacts of the ancient world from beneath the centuries of sand that cover them, or speaking with the loremasters of the region to hear stories and legends, or exploring the land to get a sense of how the people lived in the most ancient times. It takes about 15 seasons of exploring Babylonia to gain a score of 5 in Area Lore (Ancient Mesopotamia) through Practice.

At one time, Babylonia encompassed the entire Fertile Crescent, the lands of Mesopotamia that enclose the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and extended as far west as the Mediterranean Sea in Syria and north into Cappadocia. To the east, much of the northern part of the region is mountainous, descending to flat steppes in the southeast, and thick marshland in the south near the confluence of the two rivers and the Persian Gulf.

At the center of the region is the city of Baghdad, which is also the religious and political center of Islam, the seat of the caliphate. The Exilarch, the spiritual leader of all the Jews, also lives there, and there are many Christian colonies in the surrounding area.

The city of Babylon was located about 50 miles south of Baghdad, and in the 13th century the area is almost entirely deserted. There are many dried-up riverbeds throughout the region, signifying that at one time the ground was much less arid than it is now, and Babylon lies on the plain directly in the path of one of these, which splits from the Euphrates approximately 20 miles northwest. Careful exploration within the region reveals the paths of at least four different rivers throughout the lands between the Tigris and Euphrates. Closer to the Persian Gulf, where the two rivers join and meet the sea, there is evidence that thousands of years ago the shore was about 100 miles northwest of its present position, perhaps because of a rise in water levels subsequent to the Great Flood.

Strange pictures of a many-stepped tower may be discovered on the artifacts unearthed throughout the region, including clay tablets, stone cylinders with sunken writing used to officially seal documents, kudurrus or stone blocks ornamented with reliefs and inscriptions, amulets, bas-reliefs, and jars. The Tower of Babel is shown as a great ziggurat that is usually depicted as sacred, often with a sun shining down at the very summit, perhaps indicating that the top of the tower would have surpassed the heavenly spheres. Magi may discover that many of these ancient artifacts contain a pawn or more of Terram vis, if the inscriptions remain readable and the objects have not been disturbed.

It is said that the base of the great unfinished building remained intact for ages, but was completely demolished by Xerxes almost 500 years before the birth of Christ, and that the site was later partially cleared by Alexander the Great. The area of the city itself is often called Babel in the local tongue, and all of it lies in ruins, though streets still extend some 30 miles out from the former palace of Nebuchadnezzar, which can still be seen on the horizon. Local legends tell of a curse upon the place, and say that the area is infested with snakes and scorpions, but it is also a fine quarry for the people of the valley, and there are plenty of strong, baked bricks still hidden beneath centuries of dust. There is scarcely a house in the entire region that was not built from stones hauled away from that place. The closest settlement is a community of 20,000 Jews who live within about 20 miles of Babel, and perform their worship in the Synagogue of Daniel, a great building said to have been built in antiquity by the great prophet, constructed of the same solid stones and bricks taken from the ruins of the Tower.

Beneath the site of the ancient city is a deep pit in which, according to Muslim legends, two fallen angels named Harut and Marut hang suspended upside down by their feet, necks, and knees. These angels were responsible for teaching magic to the descendants of Adam and Eve, in accordance with God's wishes, but when God observed that they did not have compassion for humankind, he gave them human emotions and sent them to earth to be tempted as people are. Both angels sinned, and as penance they were given the choice of punishment in this life or the next. They chose the former, and so they hang there until the end of the world.

Rubble and bricks supposedly cover the great rock that blocks the entrance to the pit. It is said that one man once managed to gain entrance, by digging around the edges. He had been warned by his guide not to speak the name of God in the area, but upon beholding the greatness of the two angels he could not help himself, and Harut and Marut became so agitated that they almost broke their chains. The man and his guide fled and never returned again.

In fact, the pit and the two angels are hidden within an Infernal regio of level 3. At the top of the well, there is a level of the regio with an Infernal aura of 1, where the well was once sealed. Although the stone has been broken, at this level the pit only contains thousands of scorpions. On the mundane level, there is only a thick slab of stone, nine by nine paces across, beneath the rubble, and the entire city has a faint Magical aura of 1.

Mongol Trooper

Characteristics: Int –1, Per +1, Pre 0, Com –1, Str +1, Sta +2, Dex +1, Qik +2
Size: 0
Age: 30
Virtues and Flaws: Puissant Ability (Ride), Puissant Ability (Bows), Warrior; Reckless; Disfigured (scars), Infamous
Personality Traits: Brave +3, Reckless +3, Loyal +3
Reputations: Murderous 4 (local)
Combat:
Dagger: Init +0, Attack +7, Defense +6, Damage +4
Composite Bow (mounted): Init +0, Attack +16, Defense +13, Damage +8
Composite Bow (on foot): Init –2, Attack +13, Defense +10, Damage +8
Saber (mounted): Init +4, Attack +14, Defense +12, Damage +7
Saber (on foot): Init +2, Attack +11, Defense +9, Damage +7
Spear (mounted): Init +4, Attack +11, Defense +10, Damage +6
Spear (on foot): Init +2, Attack +8, Defense +7, Damage +6
Soak: +4 (armor and Stamina)
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (20+)
Abilities: Animal Handling 3 (horses), Area Lore Mongolia 3 (geography), Area Lore Persia 2 (geography), Area Lore Russia 2 (geography), Athletics 3 (running), Awareness 2 (in combat), Bargain 2 (livestock), Bows 5+2 (composite), Brawl 3 (dagger), Craft Bows 3, Hunt 3 (tracking), Living Language Mongolian 5, Ride 3+2 (battle), Single Weapon 5 (saber), Survival 3 (steppe)
Equipment: composite bow (Load +2), metal reinforced leather half-armor (Load +2), saber (Load +1), daggers, spear (Load +1)
Encumbrance: 2 (3)
Appearance: A fierce-looking eastern warrior on horseback, his upper body lightly covered by fur-lined leather armor, with an acorn-like metal helmet also fringed with fur. He carries a bow in a quiver on his saddle, a saber, and a short spear with a small hook at the base of the blade.
While there are younger soldiers in the Mongol army, this trooper represents the finest specimen that the characters are likely to encounter, the sort of character who would fight in the van during a group engagement or who might be found singly acting as a scout or guard.

The Encroaching Mongols

The lands surrounding ancient Babylonia are a very dangerous place to explore in the middle of the 13th century, for there is another power converging upon them: the great army of the Mongols, nomadic invaders from the Far East. Fierce warriors with lance, bow, and sword; practically raised on horseback; and hardy as the steppes on which they were born, this force has united under the banner of one supreme chieftain named Genghis Khan, Lord of the Earth, a brilliant tactician, a charismatic leader, and a ruthless opponent.

In 1218, the governor of a Persian frontier province seized a Mongol trade caravan, killing the drivers. Genghis sent ambassadors to the shah demanding that the governor be turned over to him for retribution, but these ambassadors were humiliated by the shah and sent back, with the leaders of the deputation put to death for their insolence. The Mongols declared war, and more than 100,000 Mongol horsemen rode westward, obliterating resistance when it was offered and bypassing areas where there was none. The speed and viciousness of the attack caught the shah and his troops completely by surprise, and soon all of Persia was in utter chaos.

Orlock (Mongol General)

Characteristics: Int 0, Per +1, Pre +2 (1), Com +1, Str 0, Sta +2, Dex +1, Qik 0
Size: 0
Age: 40
Confidence Score: 2 (5)
Virtues and Flaws: Affinity with Leadership, Clear Thinker, Improved Characteristics, Inspirational, Puissant Ability (Leadership), Puissant Ability (Ride), Self-Confident, Strong-Willed, Warrior; Enemies (Europe); Outsider; Vow (loyalty to Great Khan); Disfigured (scars), Infamous
Personality Traits: Resolute +3, Ruthless +5, Cunning +4
Reputations: Murderous 4 (local)
Combat:
Dagger: Init –1, Attack +7, Defense +4, Damage +3
Composite Bow (mtd.): Init –2, Attack +14, Defense +9, Damage +7
Composite Bow (on foot): Init –5, Attack +11, Defense +6, Damage +7
Saber (mounted): Init +2, Attack +12, Defense +8, Damage +6
Saber (on foot): Init –1, Attack +9, Defense +5, Damage +6
Spear (mounted): Init +2, Attack +9, Defense +6, Damage +5
Spear (on foot): Init –1, Attack +6, Defense +3, Damage +5
Soak: +4 (armor and Stamina)
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (20+)
Abilities: Animal Handling 3 (horses), Area Lore Mongolia 3 (geography), Area Lore Persia 2 (geography), Area Lore Russia 2 (geography), Athletics 3 (running), Awareness 3 (in combat), Bows 5 (composite), Craft Bows 3, Brawl 3 (dagger), Folk Ken 2 (nobles), Guile 3 (elaborate lies), Hunt 3 (tracking), Intrigue 3 (alliances), Leadership 6+2 (7) (battlefield), Ride 3+2 (in battle), Artes Liberales 1 (military communication), Craft Siege Equipment 3 (catapults), Single Weapon 3 (saber), Living Language Mongolian 5, Living Language Persian 3 (negotiations), Survival (steppe) 3
Equipment: composite bow (Load +2), metal reinforced leather half-armor (Load +2), saber (Load +1), daggers, spear (Load +1)
Encumbrance: 3 (3)
The Mongolian generals are experts in strategy and tactics, and most of their successes may be attributed to their superior military intelligence and their ability to quickly assess the nature of the battlefield. They constantly patrol the borders of the Empire and often send out groups of scouts in every direction, watching their enemies carefully for weaknesses and familiarizing the army with the lay of the land. They also maintain an excellent communication network, using a semaphore system to signal across great distances, and a series of horse posts to keep units of soldiers in contact with their leader.
The army can employ a great many forms of misdirection extremely well, such as a smokescreen across a battlefield with flaming arrows, or riding their horses in fast flanking motions across rugged terrain. They typically have so many spare horses that they can often send out decoy forces of a few men that look like a whole legion. Many of their enemies are fooled by their organized retreat, their finest maneuver, wherein they pull back, drawing their opponents out behind them in a long pursuit, exhausting them, and then suddenly turning around and attacking.

Mongolian Bows

A great part of the military might of the Mongols comes from their unusually strong bows, rarely seen before in the West. These are double recurve composite bows made of layers of sinew, horn, and wood that can have a pull weight of over one hundred pounds. A warrior usually carries two, in special quivers on the saddle of his horse: one is a short-range bow called a horse bow used for shooting from horseback, and the other is a composite bow with a greater range used for shooting long distances. In addition to extra arrows — usually about 60 for each type of bow — many warriors also carried arrows with specialized purposes, such as armor-piercing arrows, blunt stun-arrows, flaming arrows, and even whistling signal arrows.
In the table on the following page, one asterisk (*) indicates a bow that requires two free hands to load and fire, two (**) indicate that you should add the values of the bow and arrow to determine the final modifier, and three (***) indicate that the arrow deals non-lethal damage.

Mongolian Bow, Continued

Weapon Ability Init Atk Def Dam Range Str Load Cost

Bow, Composite* Bow –2 +4 0 +7 30 –1 2 Exp.

Bow, Horse* Bow –2 +5 0 +8 15 –1 2 Exp.

Arrow, normal** Bow 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Std.

Arrow, Armor-piercing** Bow –1 –1 0 +2 –15 +1 0 Exp.

Arrow, Blunt** Bow –1 –1 0 +2*** 0 0 0 Exp.

Arrow, Flaming** Bow –4 –1 0 +1 –15 0 0 Exp.

Arrow, Signal** Bow –1 –1 0 –3 +10 0 0 Exp.

Mongol Spirit Shaman

Characteristics: Int +1 (1), Per –1 (1), Pre +2 (1), Com +1, Str –2 (1), Sta +2 (1), Dex –1 (1), Qik +1 (1)
Size: 0
Age: 55
Decrepitude: 1 (5)
Confidence Score: 1 (3)
Virtues and Flaws: Wise One; Summoning (see Realms of Power: The Infernal, page 114); Ghostly Warder (homeland spirit); Puissant Ability (Ride), Warrior; Enemies (Europe); Outsider; Disfigured (scars), Infamous, Vow (loyalty to the Great Khan)
Personality Traits: Resolute +3, Ruthless +5, Discerning +4
Reputations: Murderous 4 (local), Spirit-worshipper 3 (Infernal)
Combat:
Dagger: Init +1, Attack +4, Defense +4, Damage +1
Composite Bow (mounted): Init –1, Attack +12, Defense +10, Damage +5
Composite Bow (on foot): Init –3, Attack +9, Defense +7, Damage +5
Saber (mounted): Init +3, Attack +10, Defense +9, Damage +4
Saber (on foot): Init +1, Attack +7, Defense +6, Damage +4
Spear (mounted): Init +3, Attack +7, Defense +7, Damage +3
Spear (on foot): Init +1, Attack +4, Defense +4, Damage +3
Soak: +4 (armor and Stamina)
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Inc. (20+)
Abilities: Animal Handling 3 (horses), Area Lore Mongolia 3 (geography), Area Lore Persia 2 (geography), Area Lore Russia 2 (geography), Athletics 3 (running), Awareness 3 (in combat), Bargain 3 (spirits), Bows 5 (composite), Craft Bows 2, Brawl 2 (dagger), Faerie Lore 2 (spirits), Guile 2 (elaborate lies), Hunt 2 (tracking), Infernal Lore 3 (spirits), Leadership 2 (battlefield), Magic Lore 3 (spirits), Penetration 4 (spirits), Ride 3+2 (in battle), Single Weapon 3 (saber), Living Language Mongolian 5, Living Language Persian 3 (negotiations), Survival (steppe) 3
Arts: Summoning 22
Equipment: composite bow (Load +2), metal reinforced leather half-armor (Load +2), saber (Load +1), daggers, spear (Load +1)
Encumbrance: 3 (3)
A few of the Mongols in the army are tribal shamans versed in the power of the spirit world, and can summon spirits to aid them in scouting out the area, attacking supernatural enemies, and spying on their opponents. More complex rules for summoning spirits in this way are found in Realms of Power: The Infernal, Chapter 11: Ars Goetia, but for the sake of simplicity you may assume that the shaman can easily summon an appropriate Faerie, Magical, or Infernal spirit of Might 30 or less and bargain with it to convince it to do his bidding. These spirits might agree to be bound to a weapon, creating a sort of enchanted device, or commanded to perform a task for the shaman. The shamans employ whatever sort of spirit is convenient to help them accomplish their objectives, even demons.
All shamans have a personal familiar spirit, usually an ancestor spirit associated with their homeland that follows them and aids them. For examples of these sorts of beings and the powers they have at their command, see The Mysteries Revised Edition or Realms of Power: Magic.

It is said that the caliph of Baghdad, who was hostile to the shah, sent Genghis a regiment of Christian prisoners taken in the Crusades as a show of support. The Mongol army had no need for infantry, however, and these men were released. Those of them who made it back to the Holy Land eventually carried the first descriptions of the Mongol invaders to Europe. Thus, characters researching the local area lore might hear of them and prepare themselves.

By 1221 the shah flees for the Caspian Sea, but is pursued and soon caught by the Mongol army, which swells to nearly 200,000. Then, while Genghis hunts down the shah's son — for the Mongols always seek to destroy any nobles to whom their enemies might rally — his great general Subatei secures the region and begins to scout out their surroundings, sending a force of 40,000 horsemen on a reconnaissance mission into the Caucasus.

For the next fifteen years, all of western Persia is a military staging area and heavily guarded camp, as the Mongols first advance tentatively into Europe and then later invade it with their full strength. Constant patrols of mounted scouts watch the western border of the Empire carefully for threats to their army and signs of easy conquest. Information-gathering sorties periodically make their way through Mesopotamia, and overt displays of magic or heavily armed soldiers certainly attract their attention, perhaps even altering the course of Europe's history if the Mongols are forced to respond.

The Garden of Eden

And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.

The name of the first [is] Pison: that [is] it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where [there is] gold;

And the gold of that land [is] good: there [is] bdellium and the onyx stone.

And the name of the second river [is] Gihon: the same [is] it that compasseth the whole land of [Kashshu].

And the name of the third river [is] Hiddekel: that [is] it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river [is] Euphrates.

— Genesis 2:8–14

In medieval times, the Garden of Eden is seen as an idyllic paradise, a place very similar to Heaven, where cares and age are stripped away and all human needs are provided for by God. There, the lion lies down beside the lamb, and the hunter puts aside his bow, for he has no need to hunt. Legends tell of men and women who have located this blessed land on distant shores, in dark forests, under deep waters, or within great mountains — but those who know the lore of the faeries imagine that these stories refer to Arcadia, the realm of the fae, and not Eden, the legendary birthplace of mankind.

Yet just as people seek Arcadia, others may yearn to reach Eden, especially those who wish to learn the Adamic language, for it is shown in the Bible that the serpent could speak to Eve, tempting her to eat the fruit of knowledge, and so brought about the fall of man. Outside the garden, most animals seem to have lost the power of speech, but it is a common hypothesis that all of them could talk while within the land of Eden, and the language they spoke must surely have been the same as Adam's.

Scholars who are familiar with the first chapter of the Bible know where Eden is said to be located, for the passage in Genesis is quite clear that it was to be found at the joining of four great rivers: the Pison, the Gihon, the Hiddekkel, and the Euphrates. Of these names, only the Euphrates is still in use, and those who know something of ancient geography may know that the city of Babylon was built near its banks. From there, it is only a question of journeying down the river until this confluence is found, and there, presumably, an entrance to the regio in which Eden resides may be discovered. Characters already exploring the area of lost Babylon and seeking knowledge of the history and geography of ancient Mesopotamia might also stumble across the edges of this regio in their travels.

The Guardians

And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

— Genesis 3:22–24

Guardians of Eden

Choir: Cherubim
Divine Might: 50 (Vim)
Characteristics: Int +5, Per +5, Pre +5, Com +5, Str +4, Sta +5, Dex
+4, Qik +2 Size: +2
Confidence Score: 3 (7)
Virtues and Flaws: Greater Immunity (fire), Second Sight, Sense Holiness and Unholiness
Personality Traits: Love of God +5, Contemplative +4, Wise +4, Righteous +2
Combat:
Flaming sword*: Init +4, Attack +17, Defense +15, Damage +30
\* The sword is not affected by Magic Resistance of any kind.
Soak: +16
Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (20+)
Abilities: Area Lore (Eden) 7 (animals), Area Lore (Ancient Mesopotamia) 3 (geography), Awareness 7 (approach), Dominion Lore 4 (angels), Etiquette 6 (humans), Magic Lore 4 (magical beasts), Great Weapon 7 (sword), Penetration 7 (mortals), Philosophiae 7 (natural), Second Sight 7 (illusions), Sense Holiness and Unholiness 7 (demons), Theology 7 (Eden)
Powers:
Angelic Mantle, 2 points, +12, Corpus: The guardian takes a human form, apparently flesh and blood.
Divine Insight, 3 points, +0, Mentem: May temporarily grant the Clear Thinker, Free Expression, or Inspirational Virtues.
Enfolding, 2 or 10 points, +10, Vim: The guardian protects the target's mind or body from all harm.
Envisioning, 1 or 5 points, +0, Mentem: The guardian may appear in a dream (or a daydream) to the target.
Fiery Form, 1 point, +16, Ignem: May become a fiery shape at will, doing +5 damage to anyone who approaches within five feet.
Turn the Unworthy, 0 points, +16, Vim: The guardian forces the target to return immediately to the next lowest level of the regio. This is a miraculous power, and thus cannot be resisted with Might or other kinds of Magic Resistance.
Equipment: flaming great sword
Encumbrance: 0 (2)
Appearance: The guardians appear differently to each person who confronts them, always taking a shape that inspires awe and implies authority. This is typically the shape of an angel, a great androgynous human being with a powerful presence, an aura of light, four sets of wings, and a flaming sword. They can communicate differently with multiple characters at once, seeming to say one thing to one character but something completely different to another.
The guardians can understand any language (including Adamic), and can speak directly into the mind of anyone who wishes to speak with them. Their sole purpose is to forbid entry to the garden to those who have been barred from it, though they might be willing to engage characters who approach the regio in conversation, and may even answer questions about the Garden, and who may enter it, if they are asked. "None of the sons of Adam or daughters of Eve may enter," they might say, "nor any of the Serpent's kin. All other animals are welcome." They may also warn the characters not to touch the trees that grow at the center of the garden.

It may be that Eden, as a concept, is literally part of paradise, where righteous and holy souls spend eternity after death. In the Bible, the garden is "eastward in Eden," implying that there were once other parts of Eden that were not the garden. In Ars Magica, this may be explained by the fact that Eden is a Divine regio, a piece of Heaven on earth, a place that is typically hidden from mundane eyes beneath the waters of a great sea. It may be reached by passing through a boundary found somewhere along the southern part of the Euphrates River, by traveling towards the place where four rivers once joined into one.

The regio has three levels. The mundane level is under water, in the middle of the Persian Gulf. Level 1 is still flooded, but the ground is muddy marshland and is close enough to eventually swim and wade back to shore. On Level 5, the four rivers are clearly separated, coming together to form a large island, covered with grass and brush. Finally, on Level 10, the island is larger than the whole city of Baghdad, thickly forested with tall trees, and gnarled roots and trunks create an impenetrable barrier around the entire perimeter, except on the east side, where there is a clear opening forty paces across. Beyond this entrance, the great primeval garden can be clearly seen, but before they can pass through, the characters are confronted by one of the guardians.

The guardians do not allow entry to any human beings, whom they call "sons of Adam" and "daughters of Eve." They also do not permit any reptiles to pass into the garden, or "Serpentkin," as they call them. There are four guardians surrounding Eden, preventing anyone who is forbidden to enter from passing into the regio from any direction, and they descend upon any who somehow emerge inside without passing through the boundary, using their Turn the Unworthy power to immediately eject them into the lower level of the regio.

Other Edens

This version of the Garden of Eden is not necessarily the only version of Eden the characters could discover. For example, there may be a Magical Eden, a primordial forest to which the first animals, plants, and people may be traced. There could also be an Infernal version of Eden, a tempting garden full of sinful delights and corrupting illusions. Such a garden could appear anywhere, but visiting it would be perilous to the characters' souls. There could even be a faerie version of Eden, a part of Arcadia made real from legends and stories about it — though such a faerie paradise would have very little grounding in reality, and it would be impossible for characters to learn Adamic from the inhabitants. It might seem as if they could, but this knowledge would be like learning from a dream, and would vanish as soon as the characters returned to the real world. Characters searching for Eden might seek out or stumble upon one of these other versions of it first, which might lead them into exciting and challenging alternative adventures.

There is a way for human characters to access the garden, though: non-reptilian animals are not prevented from coming and going as they will, and characters who watch the entrance long enough to see an animal approach and enter may recognize this fact. If the characters can change their shapes through Muto Corpus magic or appropriate Supernatural Abilities, they can enter. Changing their shape tells the guardians that they identify themselves with another form, communicating that they should be treated as animals rather than people, but this must be a complete change or the guardians see through it — that is, the characters cannot simply change their appearance to make themselves look like animals. They must also remain in this shape the whole time they are in Eden, for if any of them ever adopt a forbidden form, the guardians immediately remove them.

The guardians can see into the spirit world, and prevent all non-corporeal humans from entering (ghostly warders, spirit familiars, and so on), as well as all faeries and demons, including animals that have Faerie or Infernal Might. This is because the guardians view Faerie as essentially associated with people, and faerie beings cannot separate themselves from humanity enough to seem like real animals to the guardians. Demons and characters with Infernal Supernatural Virtues are always considered Serpent-kin and are denied entry no matter what their shapes. Characters with Divine Might can enter and leave whenever they wish, and characters associated with Faerie but who do not have Faerie Might may still enter if they adopt an appropriate shape.

The Animals

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

But of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

— Genesis 3:1–5

Inside the regio, Eden is a magical paradise, a garden of vibrant color and life. It is a timeless, immortal place, where day and night pass as normal but the seasons never turn. Years may pass outside of the regio, but within the inhabitants never hunger or thirst, and indeed never want for anything. They are not cold or warm, they do not need to hunt, and none of them must sleep, though nocturnal creatures stir when the sun is down and others rest in comfort until the dawn. Everything is peaceful and tranquil, and visitors who upset this balance find themselves removed by the guardians.

Magi who enter in animal form find that they no longer have The Gift while within the garden; they are not offensive to other animals, but they cannot work magic either. This does not cancel magical effects that are already upon them, but they cannot cast spells, including the Parma Magica, and they cannot experiment as if in a magical laboratory. Enchanted devices they bring that have continual effects remain active, but those that must be activated by the wielder or that trigger in response to conditions besides night and day fail to function.

All the animals who make their way inside are blessed with the miraculous power to speak as humans do. If they know a language, they find that they may communicate with others through words and gestures. All the beasts who live in Eden can speak Adamic, but none of them know any others.

The power of the garden does not give an animal an Intelligence score, only the ability to communicate and a heightened sense of cunning. They do not have supernatural Might or any special powers. At one time there were two of each kind of animal, one male and one female, though many of these have departed over the years, and others have entered the garden. All of the animals here are essentially domesticated, though they are not necessarily tame. They are not hostile, but ambivalent to the characters. They have no sense of time passing, and while they may recognize newcomers from day to day, if the characters leave the garden and come back, they need to reintroduce themselves.

The beasts know nothing of good or evil, right or wrong, or virtuous or sinful, and have great difficulty understanding these concepts. The closest concept the characters may be able to communicate is "instinctive" — the animals follow their instincts as proper behavior, and recognize that acting against their instincts is improper. Attacking each other is improper here, for example, because the animals' instincts to attack each other are suppressed; the characters may be able to communicate the idea that there are things that are proper here but improper in the world outside, and vice-versa.

By befriending the animals, the characters may be able to convince them to teach Adamic to them. This is difficult, because they need nothing from the characters, and so there is little that students can offer in exchange. They may threaten the animals, but if they attempt to harm them they find themselves outside once more. The animals may enjoy hearing stories of their descendants in the world beyond, and may be willing to speak with the characters in exchange for tales. The animals may also be willing to teach the characters if they somehow acquire a sense of responsibility to them, such as if the characters conveyed the idea that the animals and characters are somehow related.

Most likely, the characters learn Adamic via Exposure, which is a slow process, since it only gets them two experience points each season. However, it is the surest way to discover this knowledge. If they can convince the animals to interact with them directly and intensively through speech and gestures, they can begin to learn through Practice, which gives eight experience points per season, a dramatic improvement.

The Fruits

And when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, and that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make [one] wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

— Genesis 3:6–7

Besides the animals, there is also an amazing amount of vegetation growing in Eden, including two unique trees that may pique the characters' interest. They grow in the center of the garden, a short distance apart from one another: one of them what seems to be a pomegranate tree and the other apparently a fig tree. The former is the Tree of Knowledge and the latter the Tree of Life. Hanging from each are about a dozen ripe

Talking to the Animals

Animals in the mundane world do not typically have a score in a Language Ability, unless they have been trained by a human to simulate or recognize particular commands, and even then it is doubtful they could have more than a score of 1. Most animals can communicate fluently with others of their species, however, and a similar concept allows the animals in Eden to communicate to each other in Adamic.
Since they do not have Intelligence scores, however, effects like the spell Thoughts Within Babble (InMe 25) do not make sense of the words the animals speak unless they are designed with an Animal requisite. Likewise, characters with Supernatural Powers that allow them to understand other languages do not automatically understand what the animals are saying.

fruits, most of them easily within reach of even small animals.

All of the animals native to the garden know not to touch the fruit of these trees, and they warn others to stay away from them as well. It is "not proper" to eat anything here, they say, or to remove the fruit from the branches, and they immediately distance themselves from any characters who do so. They instinctively guide characters away from the area, so that only those who specifically seek it out or set out to explore the garden stumble across the trees.

Intelligent characters find the scent overpowering and irresistible. The fruits call to them like the most powerful desires they have ever had, virtuous or base, for they represent all of humanity's greatest wants. It requires great strength of will for the characters to come within range of the trees and not succumb to the temptation, for they were all born with a taste for them. The storyguide may ask for appropriate Personality Trait rolls if the characters seem genuinely hesitant, or simply give the players a choice of which of the two fruits their characters eat. Once they begin down the path toward these trees, however, it is almost inevitable that they eventually give in; the only question is which of the two fruits they pick.

Characters who eat either type of fruit immediately disappear from the garden, but the storyguide should wait to describe what happens to their players until everyone has chosen which fruits their characters eat. If some characters resist, wait until they leave Eden to reveal what has happened to their companions. (In the meantime, allow the players of those characters who tasted the fruit to believe that they have died, smitten by God's wrath — a bit of disappointment and regret at this point might heighten their appreciation for the actual consequences when they're revealed.)

The pomegranate tree is more appealing to spiritual characters, especially magi who are interested in esoteric pursuits such as discovering the Adamic language. This is the Tree of Knowledge, and curious characters, or characters who usually study or teach, find it the most difficult to resist. Eating the juicy pomegranate seeds brings with it the feeling of incredible power, as well as an intense feeling of guilt. All characters who partake of it gain an Intelligence score if they have Cunning, or gain The Gift if they are already intelligent. They also receive 1 Warping Point plus enough additional Warping Points to increase their Warping Score by 1 (which ensures that all magi gain at least 2 Warping Points and must make a roll to avoid Twilight).

Other Trees of Power

It may be that the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life are only two of several different trees of power that may be found in Eden, for though they are the only two mentioned in the Bible, it stands to reason that the other fruits of the garden could have undiscovered supernatural properties, since it is not necessary for the animals to eat while they dwell in Eden. These trees might be found in other parts of the garden, perhaps hidden in such a way that characters cannot simply stumble over them, but if they seek them out, they can discover them.
These additional trees might include a vine called the Tree of Truth, with rich, round grapes that produce a sweet wine that is heady but not intoxicating, and a dark bramble known as the Tree of Falsehood, with prickly, thorny trails and black berries, which produces a sticky juice that can drive a person mad from just the scent. Tasting either fruit could change a character in much the same way as the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge or the Tree of Life, altering him as appropriate, perhaps giving him Divine or Infernal Virtues like True Faith or Chthonic Magic (see Realms of Power: The Infernal, page 123), or perhaps Magical or Faerie Virtues like the Gentle Gift or Faerie Blood.

The fig tree is more alluring to characters who are drawn to the physical and earthly. It is the Tree of Life, and calls to characters who seek to become closer to nature. The tender pods are squishy and the innards sticky, and the taste carries a feeling of intense contentment and carelessness, like a pleasant daydream. It is such an overwhelming experience that the character falls into a deep sleep from which he cannot be roused. He must make a successful Aging roll (one which does not cause him to gain an Aging Point) to wake up. If he does, he appears outside the garden and finds that he has a Magical Might score equal to (10 – Size). If he already had a Might score there is no other effect.

In either case, a character removed from the garden for eating either the fruit of Knowledge or Life is thenceforth prevented from entering it again. The character also soon realizes that he has permanently become the shape he was when he ate the fruit. That is, he has lost his human form (if he had one), and is from then on only an animal, albeit one with human abilities. Magi can use their magic to transform themselves into a human shape, using a Muto Animal spell with a Corpus requisite, but it is no longer their true form and so this can never be a permanent change.

In addition, all animals of the same species as the character who ate the fruit are cast out of Eden, and prevented from returning by the guardians. For example, if a character in the shape of a hound eats the fruit of the Tree of Life, all other canines living in the garden are instantly transported out of the regio at the same time as the character. In the same way that all humans and reptiles are forbidden from entering because of the actions of their ancestors, all canines are similarly punished for the character's transgression.

There may be other ramifications of the characters' taste of the forbidden fruit. Theologically speaking, it could cause great turmoil within the Church, as the effects suggest that The Gift is born from original sin, and

Story Seed: The Serpent's Desire

The characters have previously encountered a powerful, ancient dragon who has something that the characters want in its hoard. It is willing to make a bargain with them: if the characters bring it a piece of fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, it will give them what they ask, for it and its kin have been cursed by God ever since their ancestor was driven from the garden, and it believes that if it were to eat this fruit, its eyes would be opened, and it would gain a soul like humans, able to choose between good and evil.
This may be an impetus to make the characters decide to travel to Eden, and though they can take the fruit with them if they resist its allure, they find that it loses its special properties outside of the garden. The dragon keeps its part of the bargain if they bring the fruit to it, but finds that like everything else it turns to ashes in its mouth ("...and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life," per Genesis 3:14).

supports the idea that some animals have souls. Religious authorities are unlikely to take characters' reports of entering and being cast out of Eden seriously, though, so even though the characters might be able to spread new ideas among thoughtful characters associated with the Order, they are unlikely to have an impact on Church dogma or teachings.

And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee [shall be] his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

— Genesis 4:1–8

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.

Cain's Curse

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

23

Adamic Writing

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.

Cain's Children

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 garden, 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.

The Descendants of Cain

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.

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

Story Hook: Ancient Devices

Verditius magi seeking unique enchanted items as part of a Mystery Quest might learn of an ancient device made of brass and marked "Tuvulcan", but written in Hebrew and dating back to the ancient times long before legends of the Roman deity ever came to be. Perhaps this leads them to speculate that all or many of the pagan gods and goddesses of the classical world were actually the children of Lamech, and directly descended from Cain.

him into a hideous, wild creature. He fled his homeland, traveling far away, and it is said he died in the Great Flood, though whether or not he did, or passed on the curse to anyone else, is unknown. In any case, like Cain, Lamech is never mentioned in the Bible again.

Finding Cain

Cain was shot through the heart, and he should have died. Yet he was not welcome in paradise, for he had never repented of his crime, but he had also already received judgment and punishment from God directly, and so neither could his soul be consigned to eternal damnation. Thus, Cain arose from where he fell, a shadow of himself, both living and dead but neither living nor dead, a man but not a man, a being something else entirely. He became a ghost of sorts, solid enough but also unreal and otherworldly, a living corpse forced to live in places steeped in fear and hidden by the night. In short, he became a faerie, a legendary creature of darkness and death.

Cain, the Fugitive

Faerie Might: 10–70 (Corpus)
Characteristics: Int –2, Per –1, Pre
+4, Com +2, Str +3, Sta +5, Dex
–1, Qik –1
Size: 0
Age: n/a (120)
Personality Traits: Murderous +7, Bloodthirsty +3, Envious +3, Fearful +3, Hateful +3, Reckless +3, Thieving +3, Vengeful +3
Reputations: Murderer 9 (local), Cursed by God 6 (local)
Combat:
Dodge: Init –1, Attack n/a, Defense +6, Damage n/a
Fist and Nails: Init –1, Attack +6, Defense +7, Damage +4
Bite: Init –2, Attack +7, Defense +6, Damage +8
Club: Init +0, Attack +8, Defense +7, Damage +6
Soak: +5 (Stamina)
Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Inc. (20+)
Abilities: Animal Handling 3 (oxen), Area Lore (any) 3 (geography), Area Lore (Ancient Mesopotamia) 8 (geography), Athletics 3 (running), Awareness 5 (watching from a distance), Brawl 7 (grapples), Dead Language (Adamic) 5 (agricultural terms), Guile 5 (lying to authority), Hunt 7 (long distances), Single Weapon 6 (club), Stealth 6 (hide), Survival 8 (desert), Swim 3 (rivers), Teaching 2 (children)
Powers:
Desperate Speed, 3 points, +2, Corpus: Cain can move with astonishing speed when necessary, traveling twice the distance a normal man could move in the same amount of time and adding +7 to his Initiative.
Supernatural Fury, 3 points, +2, Corpus: When driven into a murderous rage, Cain may ignore all wound penalties and add +4 to his Attack.
Rush of Strength, 3 points, +2, Corpus: Cain summons a sudden burst of angry vigor, increasing the amount of damage his next blow deals by +4.
Shadow of Cain, 0 points, +2, Corpus: One of Cain's "shadows" separates from his body and goes elsewhere, taking away 10 points of Might and one of his +3 Personality Traits. This is for all purposes a different being, a specialized instance of Cain that is unaware of the actions of any others, with its own agenda and its own desires. It rises from Cain's body, however, so Cain cannot do this if he is bound or imprisoned. Each of these shadows can join together with the others, so that it is possible for there to be two versions of Cain in different parts of the world, one with 40 Might and another with 30. When all of his shadows are combined, he has his maximum Might Score of 70.
Appearance: Cain can appear in many forms, but most commonly he looks like a crooked old man in a dirty, kilted tunic and hood, with which he covers a black scar in the shape of the cross branded into the center of his forehead. Most of the hair on his head has fallen out, though his eyebrows are unnaturally bushy and he strangely does not have a beard. He bears signs of a nasty arrow wound on the right side of his neck. His remaining teeth are long and sharpened to points, and his fingernails are like claws. His skin is pallid and cold, like a dead body.
Cain does not regain Might like a normal faerie. He must sleep to recover lost Might, replenishing 1 Point per hour if he sleeps for more than six hours. During this time his body is indistinguishable from a corpse. Killing and eating a living thing also restores some of his Might, approximately 1 Might Point for each two points of Size above –15. If his Might Score has been diminished from its default value, each night it is increased by one. Also, he heals very quickly when he is incapacitated, completely recovering from all wounds as if they were Light Wounds, though they often leave unpleasant scars on his body.
Like other faeries, Cain does not age, and he does not suffer Fatigue. He suffers pain from exposure to the elements, but does not need warmth to survive and has no need to breathe or eat. He may walk all day and all night without stopping. If he is not sleeping, he must concentrate on remaining in one place, or he is compelled to travel. He prefers the night, since he is less noticeable then, but also prefers settlements and cities to the wilderness.
Cain's shadows wander throughout all of Mythic Europe, but he is often drawn back to Mesopotamia, his homeland. Characters investigating the ruins of Babylon or searching for the Garden of Eden may stumble across his body huddled within a Faerie aura, appearing to all medical and magical examination to be dead (apart from his Faerie Might), or discover him lurking in the dark of night, watching them from a distance.
Cain's original curse was a sort of faerie blood, which he passed on to his descendants and which associated him with the Faerie realm while he was still living. When he died, however, he became a true faerie creature, wholly belonging to that realm. This version of Cain was a very different sort of faerie from the other faeries of the time. It might be supposed that Cain was the first "dark faerie" of the ancient world.
In fact, part of Cain's curse is that there are as many as seven shadows of Cain loose in the world, each of them slightly different, but all of them wicked and frightening. All of them are Cain: they know what he knew when he died, and they want what he wanted when he was still alive. Thus, while there is only one Cain, he may appear in several places at once; this is the sevenfold vengeance mentioned in the Bible.
Cain's seven aspects usually travel individually, though they can also come together to create a more powerful whole, and in fact they always do when two or more of them meet in the same place. In the many ages since the original Cain lived, each instance has developed a particular Personality Trait, which is its primary reason for killing. These break off from the whole when Cain appears to sleep, each pursuing its own form of murder. For example, the Wrathful Cain hunts those who have slighted him, seeking revenge, while the Fearful Cain hides in shadows, striking from darkness so that he is not seen.

The main reason characters might seek out Cain is because as a son of Adam, he is a native speaker of Adamic. In fact, while he can speak and understand any language by virtue of his faerie nature, Adamic is the only language with which he is fluent, as it is the language he spoke when he was alive. When convinced to talk, he communicates in a strange garble of words and dialects, often cursing to himself in his own tongue. Characters may be surprised to hear their own names spoken among this stream of sounds under his breath if they listen carefully, even if they have not introduced themselves to him. They may deduce that many of these words are spoken in Adamic, and through exposure to Cain's bizarre manner of speaking, they can pick up experience points in the language. This is an absurdly slow process that may require the characters to dog his steps across all of Mythic Europe, but it is one method by which they may recover the original language of man.

The Faerie Cain

Cain is depicted here as a faerie for several reasons. Firstly, Cain is a character of myth, though he appears in the Bible, and after his death he is primarily a bogeyman used as a frightening example of someone who committed a terribly evil act and suffered the consequences for it. It is even possible that this faerie version of Cain came into being after the real Cain's death, in response to stories told about him. In any case, this version of Cain is a legendary figure, a living character from a famous folk tale. Secondly, Cain is depicted as essentially amoral; he does not wish to corrupt others or lead people into sin, but sates his own desires. If he were a demon, it would be impossible for the characters to ever save his soul, and would conclusively answer the question of whether or not Cain had been forsaken by God. Interacting with Cain as a demon would be a mortal sin and a Hermetic crime. Thus, this version of Cain is morally ambiguous. Finally, as a faerie, Cain's appearance is mutable, so that his curse is not necessarily tied to his skin color or his nationality — the idea of Cain as a murderous being cursed by God can appear in any culture, and this makes clear that his mark is not tied to his race or tribe. This version of Cain is one taken from European myth, but as a faerie creature he could just as easily appear in a different form recognizable to people living in other parts of the world.

A better way to learn Adamic is to convince Cain to teach them, for though he is a mediocre instructor, it is faster than picking up a word or two here and there over the course of a season. However, Cain is unlikely to do this, for he is vengeful and petty, and he may treat people with whom he empathizes even worse than those he dislikes. Yet some medieval scholars speculate that Cain still has his soul, for God has given him a different punishment than Hell for his sins, and thus he may yet be saved from eternal damnation if only he can be made to repent. If Cain understands and believes this, perhaps he would be willing to tutor the characters in exchange for their hearing his confessions. He may even enjoy it, as it gives him an opportunity to brag about his exploits. Characters who listen to him non-judgmentally may befriend him, at least temporarily, long enough to learn what they need.

Then again, it may be that the only way for the characters to learn what they want is to force Cain to cooperate, perhaps by capturing him and threatening to hurt him. Cain is especially susceptible to the Dominion and holy things, for Divine auras cause his head and limbs to tremble and shake, and turn his voice into a series of unintelligible screams and moans. The touch of a holy relic burns him, leaving black marks upon his skin. This torture may cause him to yield, bitterly but pleadingly, though he nurses his vengeance and vows to cause his captors all the suffering they inflict upon him and more. He has all the time in the world to get even, and he ensures that those who punish him eventually suffer much, much more than he did.

Should any character slay Cain, that character inherits Cain's curse, as a kind of Greater Malediction. He becomes twisted and deformed, driven from the Dominion by the same trembling and groaning that Cain suffers, and doomed to become a shadow of himself when he dies. So too will Cain the faerie eventually raise himself from the slumber that for him mimics death, his desire for vengeance against his killer sated by passing on his curse. This process of death and rebirth might take only a few days or many generations, but Cain ultimately resumes his wanderings as if nothing had happened.

Conclusions

Once the characters have learned to speak Adamic fluently, the information will probably begin to spread throughout the Order, possibly attracting the attention of scholars in more academic circles. Given that it is supposedly the first language of man, and presumably the language of God, representatives of the Christian Church, Judaism, Islam, and other faiths may also take an interest, perhaps declaring that it is a holy language, sacred and not to be profaned by wizards and magicians for use with their heathen rites. This could lead to great conflict within and without the Order.

As more and more magi learn the language, another idea that is likely to surface is the suggestion that Hermetic magic incorporate Adamic instead of Latin, for magic is so much more powerful when cast using the words of the first language. It is unlikely that Adamic could ever replace Latin completely, since all the greatest books of the day are written in Latin, as are all the authoritative tomes of their Hermetic predecessors, but in time it could become a sort of secret sign among magi, used among their own to help them hide their Arts within the populace.

Because of the incredible Penetration advantages that Adamic gives magi, widespread knowledge could lead to the downfall of the Order, since it negates the value of the Parma Magica as an equalizer. Then again, it could also ensure that Hermetic magic achieves supremacy over all other forms of magic, since magi would have both superior resistance and unstoppable strength. Ultimately, it is a discovery that would transform the way magic is used, and how magi are perceived by all other supernatural beings.

Magic in Other Languages

Hermetic magic is based in Latin, because that is the language of learning in Mythic Europe, and has been since before Bonisagus developed his theory of magic. Magi can certainly cast spells without speaking Latin, but they suffer a penalty to their casting totals, just as if they were not incorporating their voice at all. To integrate another language into their magic, they have to perform original research, experimenting in the lab. This process is based on the rules described in Houses of Hermes: True Lineages, page 26.
Like other means of adapting non-Hermetic magic into Magic Theory, the magus must begin with a project, perhaps inventing a spell using another language that he speaks fluently instead of Latin. He is seeking to achieve a Discovery on the Extraordinary Results chart, and each time he does so, he produces a spell that he may cast using the new language. He may then attempt to stabilize this discovery, and if he does he receives a breakthrough point for each magnitude of the invented spell. Completely integrating this new language into Hermetic magic is less work than a Minor Breakthrough, requiring only 15 breakthrough points to achieve, and unlike other forms of original research, the magus does not gain Warping Points from this procedure.
Adapting a language to Magic Theory is not that onerous, and it is unlikely that the result will be considered a true "breakthrough" by other researchers in the Order of Hermes. Perhaps it has been done before, and exotic magi in lands further east have already converted their spells into Greek or Arabic, even using this language to teach their apprentices magic. Once this process has been completed, a character with the Living Language Ability at a score of 4 or more and Artes Liberales–based knowledge of the associated alphabet can learn the newly translated spell from a Lab Text, and from then on may invent his own spells in that language.

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Ancient Magic Chapter One: The Language of Adam

See Also

Chapter One: The Language of Adam

Story Hook: The Language of Innocence

Hermetic Integration

The Tower of Babel

Linguistic Research

Seeking Lost Babylon

Mongol Trooper

The Encroaching Mongols

Orlock (Mongol General)

Mongolian Bows

Mongolian Bow, Continued

Mongol Spirit Shaman

The Garden of Eden

The Guardians

Guardians of Eden

Other Edens

The Animals

The Fruits

Talking to the Animals

Other Trees of Power

Story Seed: The Serpent's Desire

The Mark of Cain

Cain's Curse

Adamic Writing

Cain's Children

The Descendants of Cain

Story Hook: Ancient Devices

Finding Cain

Cain, the Fugitive

The Faerie Cain

Conclusions

Magic in Other Languages