Vampire Conspiracy
I'm telling you, vampires have their fingers in all the pies. All of them! I bet they're even controlling the Emperor!Gothadrun, true to the 'goth' in its name, is a kingdom with a long history threaded through with spite and despair. The Aletheian Empire, though not quite so dark, has always been known for its oddities and acceptance of even the strangest people - the current emperor, Emperor Aneirin 'Cyne' of Aletheia, is a tiefling! Ordan is not left out of this trifecta: the beautiful nation of arts and music must surely gain its talents from somewhere deep within the shadows. (No, not those Shadows.) Folks have long since suspected that these nations - and potentially others - are ensnared within a vampiric web. House Marchelle, House Falkenrath: the former Aletheian, the latter Gothadruni. Two of the few publicly-known noble houses with strong ties to vampirism, and both unashamed to admit that. If two walk in the daylight, how many more lurk in the darkness?
What in the name of Sarenrae's flaming teats are you on about?!
Summary
The vampire conspiracy, in essence, is the suggestion that the vampires of Valathe have banded together in more than just their noble houses to take control of their countries from behind-the-scenes. It suggests that the leaders of at least three of the westernmost countries - Ordan, Aletheia, and Gothadrun - have their decision-making blinded and twisted by these vampiric spectres, and claims that the vampires have the end goal of subjugating the continent into slavery and oppression.
Further expansion on this rough theory - most often heard in small-town rumour mills - suggests that even the Medimian Empire has some level of vampiric manipulation: given that the Red Empire has openly welcomed vampires and other supernatural beings as previous Rubies Regnant, the rumour does have some grains of truth.
Historical Basis
Seriously? The entire founding declaration of Aletheia dictates I listen to all of my people, not just the racist humans. We're not dancing on the strings of vampire puppeteers, and the next person to bring this nonsense to my desk will be joining me in my next discussion with a Matriarch or Patriarch to prove it.Vampires are rare in Valathe and across Istralar in general. As they commonly give into base instincts, they find themselves hunted down by adventuring groups and staked through the heart for their hubris. The few who remain withdrawn and human-like in nature have little desire to be grouped with their wilder kin and naturally climb the social echelons by virtue of time, rarely finding the need to pass on their gift to mortals and feeding with significant care. Though they remain aspected towards evil (as all undead do), evil is ever more present the further one delves into politics and law. However, few rulers would be foolish enough to let a vampire's wishes control their own - particularly not when divine magic is so prevalent. Though Aletheia, Gothadrun, Medimia, Ordan and all of Valathe's other countries are quite different in society and standing, they do stand united in the dominant presence of divine forces (barring a few smaller nations that increase arcane dominance instead with much the same outcome). Paladins, warpriests, inquisitors, clerics, druids - all have innate ways of detecting evil forces like vampires, and provide necessary guidance in avoiding their pitfalls. This is not to say vampiric plotting does not continue on, as it most certainly does. But it is not so prevalent as to guide the course of a nation and her people, nor is it as harmful as the commonfolk believe. Vampires are selfish beings with their own interests at heart, but those interests do generally involve a pleasant world to live in with all the freedom they could wish for.
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I've got my eye on you, Cyne. You can't pull the wool over this warpriest's eyes!
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