Cain is the ruler imposed on Diomirra after the lords of the lakes fell under the Great Khan: “a strong and tense man” with an iron fist. He shares his name with the Cain who, for some religions, “came thousands of years ago”, a byword for evil (“they are worse than Cain”).
| Type | Character |
| Spanish entry | Caín |
Office
His post began as “a kind of intervention”. Without noble roots there, he rests on trade and force. His guards wear “the uniform of the local governor of Cain”.
Rule
- He favors the nobility and passing merchants so that trade works, though not local nobility himself.
- “The only ones who receive any kind of true law and justice are those of his own lineage, or those who pay enough.”
- To young offenders he issues, “as governor”, a minor threat: “if they reoffend, he ought to have them flogged”.
- Seven hundred peasants nearby are squeezed by ever-growing tributes.
The Larch Forest
“A good part of the tribute loads” go to the Larch Forest (bosque de los Alerces), as alchemists’ shipments arrive. His lover lives there: “a kind of Morgana”, “a woman with hair black as a raven’s”, a legendary sorceress. Cain is divorced from his wife.
Sabbaths are held at night, and he and his people “tense up” then: “not all is well in the town”. A chain linking tributes, alchemists, forest and sorceress is suggested, not established.
Conflicting accounts
- His office is governor in one account, baron in another.
- The fief’s name wavers between Diomirra and “de Omirra”.
Open questions
- Whether the governor and the ancient Cain are heir, namesake or deliberate borrowing; his age, face and guards’ colors.
- To whom he answers, and whether a named authority of the Khan stands above him.
- How much “enough” is, what tribute is paid, what the alchemists make with it; the names of the sorceress and former wife.
- Whether “local governor of Cain” makes Cain also a place.