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Vampirism

Vampirism has existed since before records began, with each culture and society bringing with it their own folklore and tales of immortal souls, denied peace in death to feast on the blood of the unsuspecting. The nature of vampirism is an object of debate between the scholars, some consider it an illness, perhaps one of the many caused by Boggereth, others consider it a curse of Astaroth or Lilith, perhaps even less evolved ancestors of the blood demons.

The Vampire is a creature of the night; dining on the blood of sentients to sustain themselves. They are ageless, cursed, or blessed, to maintain the appearance they held at the moment of their mortal death.

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Most vampires, at a glance, appear to be normal beings, be they humans or elves, though of a far paler complexion.

Upon closer inspection, however, more details come to light. They have no heartbeat, their skin is cold to the touch and they have no need to eat or drink. In fact, doing so will likely induce the vomiting of blood, forcing the poor creature to hunt for life’s nectar once more.

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A vampire is undying, able to regenerate even the most grievous wounds after feeding on the life’s blood of a sentient being.

The only believed way of vanquishing such a creature is thought to be to drive a wooden stake through their un-beating hearts.

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Behavior

The majority of vampires survive by maintaining secrecy, for they know that should they be discovered, it will likely be their doom. They are however able to replicate some anatomical functions as a means to fool the mortals around them, including an induced heartbeat, or faux breathing. In truth, vampires have no true bodily functions and as such, they are completely sterile.

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Vampires feed on the blood of living creatures by piercing their flesh with fanged canines, gaining access to the essence flowing through their victim’s veins.

The ‘kiss’ of a vampire is very much influenced by the individual feeding, the sensation is influenced entirely by the vampire, whether they wish to cause severe pain, a sensation of pleasure, or induce a trance-like state, rendering their victim a momentary amnesiac.

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These beings cursed with eternal life are said, with the passing of decades, to start losing interest in the common things of life, their sensations, desires, and even emotions numbing, until they are almost entirely deprived of their small humanity. While some surrender to this inevitable destiny, existing only to satisfy their insatiable thirst, others struggle to maintain their emotions, forcing them to more extreme measures to elicit feelings as the years go on.

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It is said that some vampires have the ability to create a ‘blood thrall’ by feeding them a sample of their own blood, directly from their open veins. The blood must be drunk willingly and consciously. Once tasted, the newly formed thrall will become addicted to the blood of its newfound Master. This renders the mortal an almost mental slave to their vampire, unable to betray them willingly, however, should a thrall not feed on that sanguine substance, they will suffer increasing withdrawal effects, ranging from fever to vomiting to complete fatigue, before finally after a month’s passing (1 IRL week), the bond is severed.

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On the other hand, a vampire feeding on the blood of some special creatures (Demons, or other 'rare races') is thought to become drunk with it, though whether that would make them stay away or desire it, even more, may depend on the individual.

Creation

A new vampire is created when an existing vampire sucks their victim completely dry of their blood, killing them, then purposefully gifting them a drop of their own blood, dropping it in the open mouth of the deceased person.

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The newly born vampire will for the first time feel in its whole strength that extreme need, the thirst for blood, and will be extremely weak until it will manage to replenish its own reserves of blood, possibly helped by its Sire, towards whom they may feel innate respect.

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It is said that as a vampire's blood is "diluted" in multiple lines of "progeny vampires", their strength may progressively decrease, and only the act of killing another vampire, drinking almost all of their blood in a semi-ritualistic fashion (called 'Diablerie'), would restore the original purity of their blood, or at least, making them stronger and 'more lively'. No vampire would however commit such an act lightheartedly, as it would likely mark them as enemies to the few of their own kin. However, this alone is a good reason why many vampires prefer to keep their identity secret even to other vampires not part of their own 'family' or 'line'.

Bloodlines

Whilst all vampires are likely to have come from one source, over time, they have evolved to better fit their surroundings. These variations take the form of ‘Bloodlines’.

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It is worth noting, that each bloodline has traits unique to it, and that a newly created vampire will take on the Bloodline of its sire.

Moroi

The Moroi, commonly known as The Elder Vampire, is characterized by their innate sense of self-worth and desire for power and lavish luxury.

As a result, these inhumans would try to climb the social ladder in positions of great importance, or at least becoming advisors, or to control or be a ‘parasite’ a person that has a particularly high position of power.

Part in parcel with their feelings of self-worth, the Elder Vampire looks down on all other beings, finding themselves to be the pinnacle of sentience. It is not uncommon for a vampire to become increasingly sadistic as time progresses.

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As a result, they find themselves tended to by servants, either willing or unwilling, and have little time for smallfolk.

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With the blood of an Elder Vampire, comes access to a host of new abilities that mere mortals would consider to be unnatural.

This type of vampiric creature has the capability to create thralls, influence the minds of their contemporaries through the use of charms, instill sudden feelings of dread, as well as the deathly ability to induce bleeding upon their foes.

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These powers come at a cost, however, for the sunlight is a Moroi’s weakness.

Exposure to direct sunlight for more than a minute will cause an unfed vampire’s skin to blister and burn. Prolonged exposure will cause them to burn to ashes.

A sated vampire can endure for a little longer, with the sun’s rays first causing the flesh to smoke, before eventually, following suit, the smoke becomes flame, and pale skin becomes ash.

Nosferat

*NPC Only

Despite the name of its more lavish cousin, the Nosferat is ironically, the oldest of the recorded vampires. Hailing from the far, frigid north, the source of various folklore tales told to scare children, monsters living in caves, haunting the night and tearing disoriented travelers limb from limb. The transition into a Nosferat vampire far from pleasant, after being reborn, the newly blooded creature is pained physically for days, their skin becoming as pale as ice, clumps of hair working free of their scalp as their teeth crack and protrude from worn lips.

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This ancient bloodline is not known for its ability to blend into society, rather, it is known as the most bestial of vampiric beings. Accurately so. The Nosferat, as the original vampire, possesses the very same magical abilities as the Elder Vampires, as well as the unique characteristic of being able to warp their form into a twisted, monstrous bat-like creature, for which they are famous in stories.

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It is not unheard of for devout followers or cultists to travel into the lair of the Nosferat, offering themselves as a servant, in exchange for the eventual promise of eternal life. These folk are rarely seen again.

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Far less accepting of the sunlight, the Nosferat gains immense power through his transformation, however, any exposure to the sun’s gaze will cause this being to catch fire immediately. As such, they are only a threat at night, spending their days hidden away within their lair.

Strigoi

The most human of the vampires, the Strigoi is believed by scholars to be an evolutionary offshoot of the Elder Vampire.

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As such, they share many of the same traits, including their ability to charm and induce bleeding. However, the Strigoi lacks any ability to create a Blood Thrall, nor can it transform into any manner of beast. Notably, they are also entirely unable to use their vampiric abilities whilst the sun is up. The Strigoi, also known as the Lesser Vampire, survives almost exclusively by blending into society, towns and cities are both their homes and their hunting grounds, preying on the very people they call their neighbors.

They are far less likely to seek positions of power, instead, preferring to remain hidden and fade into the crowd.

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Other than the loss of their vampiric abilities, the sun’s rays induce a sense of anxiety in the Lesser Vampire, with increasing effect the longer they are exposed.

Their skin, however, unlike their far more powerful cousins, does not burn beneath the light.

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It is believed that Lesser Vampires are required to feed far more often than other variations of vampire, perhaps owing to the fact that their cravings for blood are far harder to manage when surrounded by the very thing they desire to drink. Strangely, the Strigoi is far less successful in the creation of progeny, with more than half of the efforts to sire new vampires resulting in failure.

How to Play

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  • Fight against or give in to your thirst. Keep your condition hidden, as if revealed publicly it will likely bring to your end.

  • Trick, persuade or seduce people into becoming your victims and blood sources, perhaps even willing ones.

  • How do you deal with your slow yet progressive loss of physical sensations, feelings and emotions?

  • Create a Blood Thrall out of another person, providing you a loyal servant, at the cost of some of your blood.

Blood Thralls

  • A Blood Thrall acts as if under the constant effect of Charm II towards the Vampire.

  • They can not voluntarily betray their Vampire, which includes actively trying to break their bond.

  • Staying away from the blood of the Vampire will cause increasing withdrawal symptoms.

  • The bond can be broken by forcing a Thrall away from their Vampire for seven (IRL) days and going through all the withdrawal symptoms, the last ones being very severe, or by making the Thrall addicted to something else. The moment a Vampire moves a great distance away (Shelving, character deletion), the bond would also be instantaneously lost.

  • A vampire can have a maximum of 1 Blood Thrall at the same time. The moment they attempt to make a 2nd Blood Thrall, the bound with the first is removed.

Vampire Progeny

​Vampires created In Game will get a -1 Constitution penalty, which will increase to a -2 and further, when a "2nd generation vampire" creates another vampire.

(Note that Vampires by default get a +1 Constitution, so this penalty is rather weak at first)

A "1st generation vampire" (started with Character Creation) can create a maximum of 2 progenies ever. A "2nd generation vampire" can create 1, and a "3rd generation vampire" can not create any progeny. This limit is fully OOC, and simply a 'failsafe' to avoid potentially game breaking exponential growths. Exceptions to this may be granted for very old vampire characters that have shown good and longstanding vampire RP, if the in game number of progenies is reasonable!

Diablerie

Committing Diablerie (described above) gives a permanent +1 Constitution to the character that benefits from it, and a permanent -1 Constitution and -1 Strength to the 'victim'.

The ability requires no PK or mutilation ticket, only to open a Help Ticket to have the attributes be adjusted: vampires are High Risk characters, after all. The same aggressor/victim duo will not benefit or receive penalties from the same diablerie, but the same character might be victim of multiple cases of diablerie from different characters!

Note that if one of the two involved in a diablerie shelves/deletes/goes inactive suspiciously soon after the act, both characters will be investigated and will risk deletion.

Weakness: Dependent on Vampire type

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Other Weaknesses: Vampires are asked to pick 2 out of a small list of weaknesses and must specify them at character creation. This list is private for metagaming reasons and will be shown to players during Character Creation.

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Nosferat is currently only available to be played as an NPC

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Notes:

  • Vampirism can only affect Humans, Elves, or Ilthir. This is OOC knowledge.

  • Vampires are not available at character creation unless the player has been playing on the server already for at least one month.

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Note: This race is for a restricted number of characters, before submitting a character, check for availability by opening a Character Creation Ticket.

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Note: Vampires are High Risk characters. They may be killed more easily given their nature by certain other characters and races (e.g. by the Inquisition). Opening a ticket before a possible death however is still mandatory.

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Authors: Rashan, Creepio

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