Garden of Eden

History
In the worlds of the 27th Reality and its subsidiaries, the Garden of Eden is a pocket dimension somewhere between the Silver City of Heaven and the mortal plane of the planet Earth. It is likely Eden predates both of these realities as it was in Eden that the Presence created the archangels. In Eden, the Presence dwelled while the angels carved out the Kingdom of Heaven and carried out their duties in shaping the universe. When the Silver City became home to the Throne of Heaven, the seat of the Presence's power, Eden became a private workshop - a place to escape the burdens of Heaven.

The Archangel Uriel was tasked with protecting the Garden when the Presence was not laboring therein, studying the mortals of the true reality. Many thousands of years ago, the Presence realized that in order to continue creating, the Kingdom of Heaven would need to grow and worship was needed to fuel that growth. So the Garden was relocated to Earth, its metaphysical structure was superimposed on reality. With it anchored to the mortal realm, but still rich with essence from the Void, the Presence used Eden as an observation post, studying the mortals of the 27th Reality and eventually created two mortals from the clay of Earth and the energies of the Void.

The man Adam, was shaped of clay and infused with supernal energy. The second, a female, was named Lilith, and infused with Infernal energy. The two were quasi-mortal beings, but it was the hope of the Presence that the opposing energies would cancel one another out and their progeny would be truly mortal beings, equipped with functional souls. Adam and Lilith were given the Garden of Eden to live, play, and work as the Presence studied the creations, ensuring both were properly made. In order to further test the mortal's capabilities, the Presence sent the Archangels into the mortal world and return with lessons to impart upon Adam and Lilith. The first lesson was given by the Presence and in this lesson, Adam and Lilith were forbidden from eating the fruit of the trees at the center of the Garden as these trees belonged to the Presence alone.

Over time, however, Lilith's Infernal nature became addicted to the Supernal energy of the Garden and Adam. When Adam's innate energy could no longer sustain her through physical contact alone, she began killing the creatures of the Garden, devouring their meat, and ritualistically burning the remains as she inhaled the smoke. Even this did not satisfy her and she began looking for alternative means. When she brushed up against one of the Archangels and felt an immense surge of supernal power. Lilith attempted to seduce the Archangels, hoping such intimate contact would satisfy her craving, but she was rebuffed again and again. Lilith was exiled for her behavior and Adam was given a new wife, Eve.

Eve was made of clay and Supernal energy much as Adam was given a token piece of Adam's energy taken from his breast to ensure the two would live in harmony. However, Lilith conspired with Lucifer to seek vengeance upon the Presence. Lucifer sent a demon named Ophur the Serpent to Earth to rendezvous with Lilith and enter into the Garden of Eden. It was their hope to use the Garden to sneak through a passage and steal fruits of the trees at the center of the Garden. However, with every attempt, Lilith and Ophur were met with failure due to the intervention of the Archangels.

In their observations, Ophur noticed Adam and Eve were free to come and go, unhindered by the angels, but had little interest in the fruits of the trees at the center of the Garden. As Adam would recognize Lilith and knew all the archangels, the two approached Eve instead, deceiving her by claiming to be angels she had yet to meet. Ophur told Eve that Adam had been injured and the only way to save him was to have him eat of the fruit at the center of the Garden. Lilith told her if she did not, then Adam would surely perish and Eve would be left alone for eternity.

Fearing the death of her husband, Eve did as predicted. Uncertain of which fruit was needed, she grabbed several from each of the trees, tasting one of each as she went in an attempt to deduce which one would help Adam. When none seemed to have much immediate effect, Eve grabbed what she could and ran back toward where she had left Ophur and Lilith. Eve stumbled into Adam wandering in the Garden on her way back to Lilith and Ophur and gave Adam one piece of the forbidden fruit. She begged him to eat it quickly. Presuming this was a game, Adam did so. Unsure if it worked, Eve gave him another and another. As he swallowed mouthful after mouthful, he noticed Lilith approaching with Ophur, picking up the fruit Eve had dropped her haste to heal Adam. It was then that the fruit Eve had eaten gave her the insight to realize she had been deceived and she called for the Archangels to cast the intruders out of the garden.

Ophur was captured by Michael and Uriel, but Lilith managed to escape with the help of Lucifer who held off Gabriel and Saraquael. Lilith and Lucifer would later divide their spoils, with Lilith becoming immortal and incredibly more powerful and Lucifer having some bargaining chips to use against his father. Lilith would also bear a child later, the daughter of Ophur, who would later go on to serve in Lucifer's court, but that is a tale for another time.

Life After the Garden
In the aftermath of the heist, the Presence decided that the Garden should no longer be kept on Earth and so Adam and Eve were cast out to go live among the true mortals of Earth and put their lessons to use. Gabriel was sent to continue their instruction and help them in finding mortals on Earth willing to worship the Presence. It was no easy task. For years it was a church of two, with Adam and Eve alone. Then it became a church of four when their sons Cain and Abel were born and raised to practice the same rituals.

Eventually, the practice did spread and worship of the Presence took root in the city after Adam and Eve took in a young boy named Seth whose parents had abandoned him, they raised Seth with mercy and kindness, and he soon grew into a charismatic young man able to convert others to the embrace of the Presence. Neither Adam nor Eve, or their two sons, were truly mortal having minor supernal graces by merit of their creation and having been given additional powers by ingesting the forbidden fruit, they felt detached from the mortal world and were strangers in a strange land. Their sons Cain and Abel were much the same as Adam and Eve, having immortality and other powers not native to Earth's mortal men. As the faith was in good hands with Seth at its helm, Adam and his kin to retire to a rural setting more reminiscent of the Garden that Adam and Eve missed so very much, intent to build a new garden.

However, Lilith was still at large, waiting for her chance to take revenge against Eve for the capture of Ophur. She would get her chance when Cain and Abel left their hidden sanctuary to venture into the mortal world and find wives to bring back. Not far from their home, Lilith stopped the two immortals on the road. Having been made by the Presence's hand, Lilith knew she was the most beautiful woman the two had ever seen and she used this fact to her advantage, convincing the brothers that she would make an excellent wife. The brothers agreed, but could not decide which of them should marry her.

Lilith accompanied the two on their travels as they continued to search for another woman whose beauty could match Lilith's. As their journey continued, Lilith conspired to pit the two brothers against one another. Until the two erupted into a fierce argument and in his rage, Cain struck Abel dead with a sharp rock. Lilith descended upon the downed brother, quickly feasting upon his remains, desperate for its supernal nourishment. Cain was horrified by what he had done and in such a state of shock that when Lilith invited him to join her, he did so.

When the two had their fill of gorging themselves on supernal rich flesh and blood, they embraced one another in the madness of their depraved high, tore the clothes off one another, and became lovers under the moonlight. At sunrise, Abel returned to life by way of a power he had inherited from his parents' ingesting of the forbidden fruit. His missing flesh vanishing from the stomachs of Cain and Lilith, leaving them hungry and weakened in the daylight. Discovering Cain and Lilith in a naked embrace, Abel cried out to know why his brother had done this to him, cursing Cain that if he had wanted Lilith so much then he could have had her. Cain became so frustrated with Abel's cries, he killed his brother again and buried the remains.

As Cain and Lilith returned to confront Adam and Eve, concocting a tale of how Abel had chosen to establish himself elsewhere and flourish in isolation, but their progress was slow as Cain felt too weak and tired to travel by day and spent his waking hours at night hunting, feeding, and enjoying Lilith's company. When Cain finally did return to the home of his father and mother, he was shocked to find Abel there, having already told his parents of his brother's treachery. As Cain's actions were exposed, Lilith revealed how she had manipulated him and had infected him with her own thirst for blood, in essence marking him as the First Vampire. Furthermore, as Cain had gorged himself with the tasting of Abel's supernal rich blood on his first feeding, he would forever crave that same essence-rich blood and all other forms of nourishment would taste like ash in his mouth. Lilith then departed, proclaiming she would always torment the sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve and so would her offspring, explaining that she had become the Mother of Monsters, a being of such unholy power that all of her children were beasts designed to torment mankind.

What Became of Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel?
Feeling as though he were responsible for Lilith, Adam chose to exile himself and dedicate himself to fighting against the darkness wherever it may be. He studied the occult, learning to use his forbidden powers for good and though he would always feel a stranger among mankind, he knew he could find value and purpose in acting as a guide and mentor to their champions. Sometimes he would make his presence known, other times he would work from the shadows like a phantom in the night. Whether overt or unseen, Adam never gave his name and so his name was lost to history and esoteric lore. He became an anomaly among the Lords of Order, a mysterious stranger and an unnamed phantom, but an appreciated ally.

As for Eve and her sons, they tried to make things work. They searched the world for a cure for Cain's affliction and paid for their travels by becoming storytellers by day. By night, Cain would resist the urge to kill his brother but would often given and strike Abel down to satisfy his dark hunger. Abel would always return, though, cursed to be a continual victim. Soon the three were approached by Dream. Their immortality had allowed each one them to become prolific storytellers and the Lord of Dreams needed more stories to fill his library and to fill the expanse of his Dreaming. Morpheus could not cure Cain's affliction as the curse of vampirism had been given to Lilith by Desire, Dream's own sibling, but he could offer them each a magnificent estate in his realm in exchange for their stories and the promise to collect more for the Dreaming's library. The three accepted the offer and have been regular residents of the Dreaming ever since.

Cain's vampiric progeny live on, descended from those which Cain and Lilith fed upon before Cain learned his true nature. Their potent powers make them one of the deadliest of supernatural plagues upon the face of the Earth.

Trivia and Notes
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