Jered Cain

For Deckard Cain's son, see Jered Cain (The Order).

For information on the memory duplicate, see Memory of Jered Cain.

"Preparation is the key to victory. While no plan is without flaw, having no plan is ruinous."

- Jered Cain^(src)

Jered Cain
Gender	Male
Race	Human
Affiliation	Vizjerei Clan (formerly) Horadrim
Class	Mage
Occupation	Initiate (formerly) Leader of the Horadrim
Relatives	Unnamed father Unnamed sisters Aderes Cain, Deckard Cain, Jered Cain (descendants)
Status	Deceased
Appearances	Diablo Immortal (flashback only) Diablo III (mentioned only) Book of Tyrael The Order (mentioned only)

Jered Cain was a member of the Horadrim.

Biography

Early Life

"Though I had seen 10 summers, my family knew my perspicacity; since I was a child, my sisters had asked after spare vellum for me, and my father bargained for parchment from travelers. They heeded my words when the plague swept through our town, and remained healthy while others fell to the disease, with awful sores blossoming in their mouths and underarms."

- The Memory of Jered Cain^(src)

Jered grew up in a village alongside his father and sisters. From his youth, he was known for his perspicacity; his sisters tried to get him spare vellum, and his father bargained for parchment from travelers. Despite this, Cain resented his family's superstitions.

When he was ten years old, plague swept through his village. Heeding his words, Cain's family remained healthy, while the rest of the villagers succumbed to the plague. He experimented on cadavers in search of a cure, and it never occurred to him to sit and pray for salvation.

At some point, Jered joined the Vizjerei Clan, becoming a great Mage. Some accounts state that he was troubled by a terrible event in his past (it is unclear if this event was the plague or something else).

The Dark Exile

Jered was among the Horadrim that took part in the hunt for the Prime Evils during the Dark Exile. Deckard Cain would express the belief well after Jered's death that through the Horadrim, Jered found a new purpose in his life.

Cain and the other Horadrim bind their essence

Jered was among the Horadrim that bound their essence into vessels. As the Horadrim could not conquer death, these vessels would store their memories for future Horadrim.

While in the group, Jered documented his experiences with Zoltun Kulle; the Horadrim who had been entrusted with the soulstones. At some point, a prophet told Jered that his bloodline would end the Horadrim.

After Tal Rasha used himself as a surrogate soulstone to seal Baal, Jered took leadership of the Horadrim and led them into Khanduras, where they defeated Diablo, and sealed him in a series of catacombs beneath the surface, above which they constructed a cathedral. Jered would spend the rest of his days living inside the monastery, and would later write on his experiences, and reflected on Tal Rasha. How if he ever escaped, Baal would have the Mages powers added to their own. That in sealing Baal in this manner, the Horadrim may have created an evil greater than the one they originally contained.

In time, leadership of the Horadrim passed from Jered to Iben Fahd.

Legacy

"I was once told that my bloodline would end the Horadrim...and yet here we are. Further proof that prophets are full of nonsense."

- The Memory of Jered Cain to the Shard-seeker^(src)

Jered's line would continue through the decades. Deckard Cain named his own son after him. Much of Deckard's own knowledge of the Horadrim, angels, demons, and various arcana, came from the texts that Jered had written and passed down. However, Deckard reflected that he knew very little of Jered's early life.

In 1270, the Shard-seeker activated the Memory of Jered Cain, which imparted tales of its progenitor.

In-game

Diablo Immortal

Jered Cain's Vision is Jered's correspondent vessel in the Legacy of the Horadrim system. It corresponds to the Memory of Jered Cain.

Diablo III

Jered is referenced in the "Hope of Cain" recipe for Kanai's Cube in Diablo III.

Personality and Traits

Assuming that the Memory of Cain's personality is accurate to his progenitor, Jered was inquisitive from his early childhood, and apparently irreligious (or at least, had contempt for the idea of praying for salvation). Despite saving his family from the plague, Jered apparently resented them. He also appeared to resent angels and demons, given that they were slaves to their natures, while humanity had the ability to choose its own path.

He valued knowledge, and its ability to improve the world, though noted that everywhere light's reason shone, there were forces that would snuff it out. His cynicism extended further, as he wary of compliments, his memory even commenting that it was better that the mighty remain ordinary, given that so many used power for their own ends. This showed in his emphasis on planning for the worst. He considered his fellow Horadrim to have "ungainly rhetoric."

Despite this, Jered also had a virtuous side, stating that if one led a good life, they need not worry about what came after death, and that it was incumbent on those who could improve the world to do so.

Jered lost a number of his writings over the years. Hence, he resorted to tatooing his own body to record them.

Trivia

This section contains facts and trivia relevant to this article.

• From a certain point of view, the prophet's claim that Cain's bloodline would end the Horadrim could be considered accurate, given the context of Diablo III. With the death of Deckard Cain, then the last Horadrim (discounting Zoltun Kulle), the line of Cain could be said to have "ended" the Horadrim through Deckard's death (not counting the new Horadric order that Tyrael later founded).