The Cainite Heresy

The old guard of the vampires--some would say the oldest guard of the vampires. The Cainites claim to be the direct descendent of Cain, the first vampire, and bearing his Mark: the curse of vampirism. The Cainites are violent and hedonistic--even for vampires--and tend to carve out personal fiefdoms with the blood of small towns and remote communities. They were once the most powerful faction of vampires, before the strigoi of the Draculesti and the izcacus of the Children of the Blood drove the Canities from most of continental Europe in the 1500s, in what became known as the Vampire Crusades.