Vampirism

Transmission & Vectors

• Blood

• Bite

• Scratches

• Bats

Causes

There is a certain stage in a vampire's life cycle that happens once a year where it's vampirism is most contagious. If blood to blood contact or a bite is made the vampirism will begin.

Symptoms

• Unrecognizable thirst

• Watering/Foaming/Drooling of the mouth

• Canines grow rapidly longer

• Sensitive to all kinds of light

• Blue/Pale skin tone

• Flu like symptoms

• Hallucinations often of the underworld

• Reoccuring dreams of death, blood, or other necrotic related situations

Treatment

In the early stages of Vampirism it can be cured easily by visiting a holy man and having any kind of contact with holy water, but the most effective way is drinking holy water. It will burn on the way down but the symptoms will recede within a weeks time. But the later stages and full on Vampirism are much harder to cure.

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The blood must be drained entirely from the afflicted member and replaced by the blood of a living healthy person of the same species (elf blood for elf vampires, human blood for human vampires, etc.) the blood donor will die but the vampirism will recede and be cured within a few days.

Prognosis

This condition could lead to death or becoming a Vampire. It's a gradual transformation that takes around 4-6 weeks and starts immediately upon contraction. You first begin to have a strange thirst the first week. The second week you grow fangs. The third week you become sensitive to all light. The Fourth week you gain a blood thirst and become sensitive only to sunlight. The fourth week onward the victim will become a vampire and is uncurable through normal means.

Sequela

Some bodies cannot handle the transformation and the victim will instead drink their own blood and eat its own flesh and eventually die. Some victims become vampiric abominations and are mistaken for demons. Vampiric victims will be more prone to skin related and heart related diseases.

Affected Groups

Mainly doctors, adventurers, traveling merchants and bounty hunters.

Hosts & Carriers

Vampire

Prevention

Any holy symbol as a cross around the neck or anywhere on your body. Most priests get a cross tattooed on their neck. A belt full of holy water vials also acts as a bug spray on Vampires. Only going out during daylight hours is a very common but effective method.

Epidemiology

During the winter when daylight hours become shortened raises likelihood of coming across a Vampire. Cities with a high number of adventurer or bounty hunters could carry Vampirism unknowingly. Most doctors have a high chance of contracting Vampirism through excessive contact with the blood of an unknowing victim.

History

Vampirism has been recorded as early as the year 22. The first recorded victim being Alvaremony Robinson. She contracted a weak strand of vampirism and accumulated 14 victims in her short lifetime including her parents and younger sister. The first recorded major outbreak was in 1433 in Andowell when an invading vampiric force sneaked inside of the wass passing on Vampirism to over 400 citizens but only 250 survived transformation. The remaining survivors then tried to attack the Empire from inside of their own city but ultimately failing.

Cultural Reception

Those afflicted are feared and avoided at all costs.

Type

Viral

Origin

Divine

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired & Congenital

Rarity

Uncommon