Vampirism is a curse that affects humans, causing them to become vampires upon death. There are five
vampire lineages, each created under different circumstances and in different parts of the world. They all share the need for human blood to sustain an individual, are undead creatures, and grow more powerful over time. Their other traits vary greatly. The details of these different lineages are described in their respective entries.
Vampiric Traits
Each lineage has different vampiric traits, but a few are shared among them. These core traits are the reason, that all these different lineages are called vampires with the same name. The vampires themselves do not always agree that there should be a kinship between their lineages. However, as they face similar challenges in the world and have often come into conflict in the past they cooperate heavily at the highest levels through the
Elder Council.
Thirst for Human Blood
All vampires have to feed on human blood regularly. Without the blood the vampire will eventually dry out be mummified making them unable to move. However, for as long as the dark magic remains in the body and the body is not completely destroyed the vampire can return to full movement if they are fed some human blood. How often and how much blood the vampire has to consume depends on their age and other factors. Older vampires can reduce their blood intake without any negative consequences, while a vampire who has just risen has to drink blood every few hours in significant quantity.
Eternal Undead
Vampires are undead creatures that can continue to exist forever in theory. However, they are not immortal as they can be killed by either destroying their bodies in a significant way or by removing the magic that keeps them moving. As undead creatures vampires do not have to breath, drink any water or eat any food. Only human blood can quell their first and keep them going. Ingest food or water is problematic as their body is not capable of processing it. Meaning that if they choose to eat food they will have to get it out again somehow. Causing themselves to throw up is the easiest way to achieve this.
Enhanced Physical Abilities
Vampires are much stronger, faster and more perceptive than humans. This enhancement comes from the dark magic that flows through them. Over time these physical enhancements grow more potent, making the vampire more dangerous as they age. This growth is not affected by the amount of blood a vampire drinks and there isn't any other way to accelerate this growth.
Age Classification
The
Hunter's Guild classifies vampires by their age. This classification was introduced in the 1950s by researches to unify the many different classifications that existet before. Each age group comes with a description of possible abilities and recommendations on how to fight them.
The
fledgling is a new vampire for less than five years. In this time the vampire is already physically stronger and has faster reflexes than humans, but has very poor control over their movements and strength. A veteran vampire hunter can easily kill most fledgling vampires. These vampires usually have a very strong thirst for blood and require almost daily blood supplies. Very few vampires survive this stage without support from older vampires.
Up to two hundred years a vampire is considered
young. These vampires are much stronger and faster than any hunter and must only be attacked in a group with as much advantage as possible or the use of magic. However, as these vampires often test their powers they often come in conflict with others and die quite frequently as they often overestimate their own capabilites.
An
old vampire is up to five hundred years old. Hunters are generally no longer capable of challenging these vampires without magic or powerful weapons. However, vampires at this age are fairly rare and most vampire hunters will never encounter on in their lifes. They are stronger and faster than most other beings in the world.
A
very old vampire is up to 1'000 years old. Their physical strength, reflexes and perception is unrivaled at this point. These vampires usually only listen to the
Elder Council and should not be engaged directly. There are only a few thousand vampires of this age in the world.
An
ancient vampire is more than 1'000 years old. These vampires are considered
eternals and are extremely powerful. Only a handful of individuals would dare to challenge an ancient vampire. There are fewer than 100 ancient vampires in the world the oldest among them is
Kaynyn who has walked the world for more than 7'000 years.
Comments