Eve

Eve was one of the first mortal souls created by The Presence. She is not the biological mother of the human race, but rather the ancestral spirit of all mortal souls that came after her.

The First Man, Adam, asked The Presence for a companion in The Garden. The first woman The Presence made was empty of purpose, little more than a physical comfort to Adam. He requested of The Presence another mortal he could connect with spiritually; They relented and created the Mother-of-All, Lilith.

But Adam was unsatisfied with Lilith, who refused his dominion and pursued her own desires. When she would not bow to Adam's sovereignty, The Presence ordered Uriel to chase Lilith out of the Garden. A third and final attempt was made, using a rib from Adam's own body. He loved this woman the moment he saw her. Her name was Eve.

Adam and Eve walked the garden and enjoyed it with innocent delight. The Presence evaluated them carefully; every other attempt at mortals had failed badly. To this end, They kept back the last ingredient of true free will: Doubt.

When Samael learned of the betrayal of the Lilim, he rushed to the Garden to have his revenge. He disguised himself and lured Adam to the Tree of Knowledge, and tricked him into eating the forbidden fruit. Adam realized the impact of what he had done, and decided to lure Eve to the Tree so she would share some of the fault that would fall on him. When Eve sampled the fruit, she instantly understood what Adam had done and how he had used her for selfish ends. The Presence ordered them both to leave The Garden. For a time they took refuge in The Dreaming.

They remained together for a time, and the first of their children were Cain and Abel. As other mortal sparks gathered, new souls found their way to the First and took on the form of first wives for the two sons, then others to be their children. When Cain murdered his brother, Eve's heart broke and she declared that the trickery Adam had wrought on her would echo through all mortality until the end of time.

Dream had sheltered mortality long enough, and recognized that mortals could not live true lives if they lived only in dreams. Cain was sentenced to an eternity of service gathering the mysteries that plague mortal minds. Abel's spirit had not fled The Dreaming, and insisted on living near his brother as long as the sentence was maintained. He was tasked with being the custodian of Secrets.

Eve would spent her existence at the furthest edge of The Dreaming. There she could enjoy solitude, watch her distant progeny go about their lives across the cosmos. On the rare occasions she stepped out, it was to visit her sons or seek the company of Dream and his minions.