Vampires

Since I understood the basic facts of life, such as human mortality and the opportunities life reserved for me until my time arrived, I wanted to be an engineer. Help preserve the legacy of humanity brough by the explorers more than a thousand years ago. Talk with the High AIs in the core of internet. Help them find a way to make contact with the real civilization beyond the limits of this stelar system. Neither of my parents had a noble family name attached to the possibility of pilot a Mecha. Some distant ancestor of us was navigator in one of the space vessels that arrived in this system, but that was long time ago, and is the most important ancestor I can brag about. I could do the Math, but not well enough. The student positions in Royal Academy are few, and to reach one you need to either be a genius or have the self-discipline of a Seelie. I liked to fight, didn’t cared who. By the age of 12 I had committed enough mistakes for my family start being honest with me: plain and simple. Royal was not an option for me anymore. If I still wanted to be an engineer I would have to apply for one of the Castles. The lesser academies, kept by Mecha-Lords. That would mean that I would have to leave the Austin, to enter an internship in one of the provinces. I was reluctant to do that, because I wanted to stay close to my parents, and to my friends. The capital is an amazing place, of dreamlike beauty, and even having lived up there all my life I was aware that I had only seemed a very small portion of what I wanted to see up there. Vast plains didn’t attracted me half as much. Besides, all that sacrifice would not get me what I wanted. My dream of being an engineer had everything to do with space program. To find a way back to the rest of the galaxy. Reopen communications with the colonies in other systems. With Solar System itself! Mecha-Lord Families have nothing to do with any of that. I was a good fighter, a strong runner, figured that I could learn how to shut a gun. “Army is a contract of slavery, with a pretty uniform on top” mom used to say. Her father and two brothers had signed such contract, she must have know what she was saying. Municipal Force gets less prestige, pays less, but comes with a great deal more of personal freedom and free time. I started organizing my plans in that direction, before discuss the matter with anyone. Picking the disciplines that could help with the admission to Municipal Preparatory three years later. That was when I was noticed, and selected to a different program. No one told me it at the time. I was tested in my dreams, and they found out that I had some talent for magic. However, not enough for my mind to open to it, and give me access to the fantastic worlds where mages learn their Supreme Art. My potential suggested ratter another direction. One I would have rejected immediately if someone had approached me openly, with clear words. Instead, they seduced me with rare opportunities. Educational programs for select few, impossibly beautiful and sophisticated woman interested in expend time with me. “Know me better”. Without realize it, I was gradually elevated beyond what should have been the normal possibilities for someone with my skills and background. At same time my familiarity with vampire culture grew from normal apprehension and impersonal indifference to something close to understanding. They even got me those years in the Royal Academy I wanted so much. My girlfriend was thrall of an important member of vampire community in the city. Trusted adviser of a Duke, veteran of one thousand hard battles against shadow invasions. She got us two months in an Heliopolis to celebrate my graduation as Engineer, those are the oldest constructions made in this planet. The closest I would ever came from “true civilization” beyond this system. With 20 year of life experience I barely noticed that. In fact, despite having succeeded in Royal Academy and reached the degree of Engineer the doors to the High AIs was closed for good. Enter the Royal with a letter of recommendation from vampire community made me a security risk for any human government. Vampire community has its own laws, costumes, and economy. Human money flows cheap enough among them. Vampires never age, they provide a service for humanity that cannot be replaced, and is essential for human survival. And, in addition to that, vampires can change humans into thralls: that spares the human the inconvenience of aging or dying from factors correlated to age. Many humans would give anything for that, and some rich, influential, talented humans do just that every year. Signing for a timeless existence of obedience, with a distant possibility of eventually ascend back to the status of a person with rights. Just no longer in human society, in the nocturnal courts. When the offer was made to me, for “no cost”, I said thanks. But no thanks. Fall from luxury to my sister’s sofa (mom had died during my years in Royal Academy, father moved back to his small city in the provinces. To try drink himself into an early grave and catch up with her, I think) was unexpected. I guess the experience taught me that I am not a proud person. Realize that Meg had been with me all this time only because her “benefactor” wanted it was more painful than work for a year repairing garbage recyclers and other old things for people too poor to buy new ones. After one year of that I applied to Municipal Preparatory, and was the oldest person in the room doing those tests. To be fair during all that process my brother-in-law was a very generous fellow. He had every right to not be. We “big city” people do not usually carry that sort of baggage to a relationship. That’s “provincial”. I moved to the preparatory, a bed in the middle of 30 beds in a big room. Where I was the only grow man surrounded by 15 years old boys. The course takes two years, and after one year you start working as a cop “in training”. However, I never reached that far. Because one night after two months I was called by the “night shift”. My ex-girlfriend’s benefactor was up there with a woman. I recognized her from a social event years before. She was a Vampire Duke. Dukes are the connection between vampire society and human authorities. Above them are the Kings, the only human vampires who have the power to create new vampires. Above the kings there is only one thing: the Elder Vampires. Dukes are the most trusted advisers of Vampires, their hands, mouths and eyes. The most powerful vampires you can find in the papers. No one outside Vampire community would know the face of vampire kings or where they expend their days and nights. Only the Dukes have their large strongholds, with gorgeous architecture that you can see from great distance. Usually inspired in an Earthling story about the vampires of one mythology or another. To say this lady had authority would be an understatement. Vampire Dukes are the kind of person who can get audiences with the King of Amaterasu with one call, and for the same night. This particular Duchess in addition to that was also a great, great, great aunt of our highness. As the royal arms in her earing proclaimed. To carry that particular symbol in your person without being royal family is a crime punishable by death in this country.
Duchess Zhao was no criminal.
She made me the last offer I would hear from the Nocturnal Court. By her word I had no retaliation to fear if I rejected the offer. I would live my life, die my death, as fortune dictated.
That night I moved from the Preparatory to Zhao’s Castle. Weeks later I met Zhao’s benefactor. The ageless man one step bellow an Elder Vampire.
From this conversation to my transformation into a vampire was a few months. Little is lost to you in the fact that I cannot speak details about the transformation. It is tacky, as most ceremonies in vampire society end up being. They lack this flavour, I must suppose.
Is hard to remember everything for a period of time longer than half-century. When memories start making sense is because sanity is coming back. Rebuild.
In old movies and stories about humans enduring the “embrace”, or what ever they call the transformation of a mortal human into a vampire, the contact between the vampire and his family is always a serious issue. Sometimes it is forbidden, sometimes it is dangerous for both. In reality it would be fatal for the humans, and not registered by the new-born vampire.
When we came back to being a person, we already are nothing more than a distant memory to anyone who used to know us before transformation.
Once you can think straight and control yourself enough to be responsible by your own actions there is no restriction to have contact with your human friends and family. That’s the advantage of being publicly acknowledge as an essential part of society. Well, there is a contract between vampires and humans!
Everyone knows that. Vampires will enter homes and feed on humans, each family is free to fight as well as they can, but that does not means much. There is really nothing humans without magic can do against the weakest and most clumsy of vampires. No one will hunt vampires for that, no authority will intervene.
That’s feeding, no malice is allowed. We are supposed to do our best to not harm the prey. Not hunt more than we need, and take as much nutrition as possible from blood banks to reduce the need for hunts. Is well understood that sometimes a vampire will lose control and kill the human. Cannot be avoided. Each one of us is a murder of defenceless innocents.
There is actually little a human could do against the average vampire during the night, even if the humans in question was the toughest special-forces veteran armed with the best techno-magic guns and bullets black market has to offer. If he knew the vampire is coming, and when. If the vampire didn’t knew what he was dealing with, them this veteran would have a chance to destroy his foe. He would probably scary the vampire away, that’s way more likely. That thing about “no malice” means you cannot, in good faith, look for vengeance after.
The shadows that attack and kill humans in a desperate frensy of never-ending starvation are just as resistant as vampires are. They may attack us without provocation, but seldom do that. We can hurt them, and they can hurt us. By contract vampire community provides soldiers to fight the shadows and protect the human cities every night. That’s our part in the deal. Well, there is more, but that’s the part that concern most vampires. The rest is between Nocturnal Kings and human governs.
I was wanted because my organism has a rare disposition to some aspects of vampiric existence.
Mages seldom became vampires, what ever the astral body is, it is something that vampiric blood destroys when it forms inside the physical body. For those how are mages that’s a painful experience to the point of braking their minds beyond repair. Very few former mages ever recovered from transformation. Those who did, are immensely useful and important for Nocturnal Dukes and Kings.
Is possible for a vampire to enter the astral plane with his body, changing it from physical to astral. All Elder Vampires do that naturally but for us human vampires it is a rare and difficult art. Even rarer is the power to create astral projections separated from the body. However, a vampire must be able to do one of those things, at least, in order to manipulate magical energy and create techno-magical items like ephemeral mages do.
Mages need our blood to fix their magic into physical objects for longer than a few days, usually it lasts hours only. However, they do get easier access to the astral plane. Whit that comes the huge advantage of experience the equivalent to many days every night. They learn a lot faster than other humans, or than vampires.
To deal with astral projection was easier to me than it is for most vampires. Came naturally. With a little dedication I learned the art to make magical items with my own blood, and use the astral plane in my favour. Change my flesh into astral substance was harder for me than that, but still not as hard as it seems to be for almost every other vampire. As a thrall they would use my services in their projects, and I would have no saying in any subject. However, as a member of vampire community I am still bond to obligations.
I am learning to fight the shadows, using weapons I have build with my hands and blood. There is a lot to learn, and I would have no chance to see a fraction of what I saw as a thrall. Don’t even mention understand it.
My status in Nocturnal Society still is the lowest possible for someone who is no longer a mindless beast. And has earned the right to leave the stronghold without supervision.
Most “nocturnal children” are invited to leave the Domains of their Duke eventually. Most make their own lives, doing whatever they please, and only perform tasks for their community when the Duke sends for them. Some work as agents, soldiers or diplomates, for a Duke. Or for their King, directly.
Duchess Zhao seems to have used her superior status to take me from the hands of her knight. That’s something she would have had difficulty to do, without bend social etiquette, had I accepted to became a thrall. She made clear enough her intention to have me working in her stronghold, in close contact with the ephemeral mages who work for here. For a vampire that’s the best path for obtain high status at low risk. Depending on the circumstances I could one day became a Duke myself, assuming our king expands his territory or some duke end up destroyed at a convenient moment for me.
However, climbing the social pyramid was never my intention as an ephemeral. It still isn’t.
I am learning what I can, and what I have learned so far is fascinating. On the other hand, I am also learning how to fight and defend myself. Against shadows, techno-magic, and other vampires.
Now that I no longer age, my dead line for space-exploration has moved considerably. I certainly have no intention to give up the dream to leave this stellar system. And reconnect with human civilization in the rest of the galaxy.
Of course, there is the problem that I will no longer be able to enter human civilization. The Consensus of Alexandria do not apply to me anymore, it is only for humans.
Still, that’s a problem I have countless millennia to address and solve properly.
Meanwhile, I must deal with the Nocturnal Folk. So allow me to explain what I can about what I have learned so far. About those who call themselves “vampires” with neither irony nor intentional metaphor.

WHY “VAMPIRES”?
Needless to say, there is no relation of common causality between us and the many legends on Earthling cultures about vampires. If is true that those legends share a common element it could have some deep unconscious origin. The astral plane “leak” or “infiltrate” in the dreams of humans. Possible in the dreams of other species too. And the connection between what the Elder Vampires are and the Astral Plane are too obvious to be dismissed. However, is wore likely that there is no actual connecting element between different myths about “vampires”. To say that they are about “vampires” is probably just a bad translation. Human perception forces the emergence of patterns for the sake of economy, to reduce the amount of data our brain must deal with was essential to make the specie viable during evolution. That makes us “find” tales about “vampires” where what exist are tons of different stories about fictional creatures_ that have nothing to do with each other_ except being symbolic representations of aspects of human condition.
There is no actual evidence of humans leaving their physical bodies to astral exploration before we reach Mystery System, and took three generations here for the first mages succeed in doing that. Up to this point astral projection and conscient dream where nothing more than fantasy. The fact that some of those fantasies registered in distant periods resemble a lot real experiences of mages in the astral plane is another example of the laziness of human brains.
Don’t get me wrong. This fantasy is just as prevalent among vampires as it is among ephemeral. Most people like to fool themselves in believe that universal connection between archetypes in “deeper” levels of existence. Vampires are no exception.
Perhaps that’s the ultimate reason behind the tacky decoration and fashion design favoured by most of my kind. Some even pretend that it is for the benefit of ephemerals, “gives them a familiar image to associate to us”. The familiar image of a predatorial monster?! Right! Let’s pretend that you would want them to thing about us that way.
There is a base to support the association, with is pure coincidence but works.
Like in many legends from popular culture “vampires” of real world burn in contact with the light of our star. Like the shadows we are not affected by that light when we are not in the atmosphere of some planet or satellite massive enough to have an atmosphere worth write home about.
We also need to consume the vital energy of intelligent species, of living people, and to drink their blood seems to be the most practical and intuitive way to do that. In absence of nutrition we don’t die, we fall into coma. Or we fall into a bestial state of mindless predators, if we have living prey and what is lacking is just intelligent ones.
Finally, as I mentioned, we are dangerous killers. Despite our will to avoid that, when that will exist.
We are not affected by anything else that usually limits the existence of fictional vampires. Religious symbols, rules of hospitality, compulsion for counting grains of rice. Fire, guns, blades, grenades, rockets, nuclear bombs, you cannot hurt a vampire with anything of that. Not even the weakest of the vampires. Not permanently, anyway.
Whenever you stab, cut, shot of explode a vampire beyond this vampire’s resistance you buy yourself time. Fractions of second or days, depending on the vampires and what skills he has developed. But the fellow will recover. In the most extreme cases his body will reform in the astral plane and he will awake back into the physical world some night, in somewhere safe. Usually in his own bad if that still fits the description.
Only the light of Lira inside atmosphere, other vampires, shadows and techno-magic can hurt vampires. A Mecha steps on me, I am not coming back. Some big rock hundreds of times heavier than that Mecha would not hurt me permanently. We do heal from techno-magic wounds, if they are less than enough to destroy us, the same is valid to all other sources of damage. However, you seldom hear about anyone who has healed from sunlight burn. And in any case takes a lot of blood, and a decent among to time for us to recover.
A neonate vampire without learning is just a little stronger than he was as an ephemeral. Has a lot more stamina, but isn’t much faster. The most impressive difference is the resistance to damage. You few invulnerable.
As time passe we became better, but those vampires who don’t invest time and effort in learn “vampire magic” of some kind, or are refused instruction by other vampires, improve very slowly. They change little over centuries. Doing the right exercises that develop the best potential of each vampire, we can improve considerably in a couple of years. Decades, or centuries.
The medieval theme is transparent enough with our Kings, Dukes and Knights. Of course, Mecha-Lords don’t fall too far away from this tree. When visiting vampires you are likely to see a lot of naked stone and concrete. Back, crimson and grey. Some silver. Oil paintings are popular, with nocturnal animals and monsters. Shadows are common in the paintings as well. You would imagine that former humans who have lost the capacity of enjoy the touch of Lira would ratter surround themselves by pastoral scenes of summer mornings. I certainly prefer light tones of yellow and blue both in my walls and in my clothes. However, as I mentioned, most members of the community stick to the archetype. Whit variated levels of elegance and taste.
Speaking about taste, is possible for a vampire to learn how to eat and drink like a human. It provides no sustenance but can be pleasant in some level. Also, it is a valuable skill, essential for any sort of diplomat. As far as I can tell not one in each 10 vampires bother to dedicate time to learn that. I intend to, but have not yet.
We consume living animals, and plants in some cases, I was told. Different life styles and projects of personal development demand adaptations in died. About one night in every five a vampire must consume human blood. It is the very minimum, and assumes you are getting something close as substitute. Blood from large dogs, gorillas, something in that line. How many times you may drink your blood from a sac, or from a voluntary, before you have to actually hunt, varies from person to person. And from moment to moment.
One hunt for each four risk free meals is a viable formula for most, I believe. Most vampires do hunt more often than that, perhaps half the time they have to feed from human blood. Also, most vampires prefer hunt instead of drink from voluntaries despite the second being less likely to end up in dead for the human. Because, naturally, a human who would take the risk is someone you would miss. And the small risk is still significant.
Hunting is pleasant, and some vampires will not bother to variate the diet with anything else. Some can get by with that, for being useful enough for their community. However, that’s not the proper way to behave, but an abuse of the norms.
Vampires watch each-others closely. Your pairs will let you know if your habits are exceeding the binderies of socially acceptable behaviour.
Our justice is more medieval than the taste of most vampires in terms of fashion. Those who refuse friendly advices will usually get one unfriendly advice. Them someone with official authority granted by their Duke will explain exactly what they are doing wrong and how to not repeat the mistake. Next offense, if it happens, ends up in public destruction of the offender.
In that, as in most things, the duke has the definitive world. And when dukes judgements collide them their royal judgement is necessary.
If the conflict is between dukes who have different kings, it can be solved by talk. Or escalate to war.
Wars are exactly what you would expect. Vampires from opponent factions killing each other, night after night. Ephemerals are not involved, at least in theory. However, mercenaries are used from time to time. And human governs have strong reasons to do their best to help “their” local vampires in the fight as well as they can, without being caught helping them.
Vampires and Mecha-Lords have conflicts as well. The Mecha-Lords families are too precious for the human governs and in those cases the effort to put an end in the conflicts is more explicit.
Like anyone else we don’t want the land to be left without their Mechas, that leads to humans slaughtered by immense shadows and subsequent lost of viable territory for us. That when the shadows don’t take us with the humans in the area. Therefore killing of Mecha pilots or pilots in training is a serious taboo in vampire society. Conflict must find indirect ways.
Mecha-Lords are bold and aggressive by nature, and they sometimes came against vampires after little to no provocation. The usual response is give them space, and tolerate their offenses.
When that is not possible you may attack their relatives who aren’t pilots. Their friends and servants. Their properties as well. Problem is that: you must make every possible thing to avoid escalation. Because your vampire pairs will turn against you if they decide that you are neglecting that effort.
Conflicts with other ephemerals are way less complicated for vampires. If a vampire abuses too much that may lead to his destruction, but usually the mortals have a lot more reason to worry. In that relation they are the ones avoiding conflict.

Vampires:

The “elder” vampires are those aliens who awaken when humanity started using magic and human mages begun searching deeper than they should in the astral plain. Those are the rulers of vampire race, way more powerful and wise than their creations.
They are the only ones who can create human vampires with the capacity of create new vampires. The kings and queens of vampires are way less powerful than the non-humans who shared the gift with them, and those vampires created by them are not able to change other humans into vampires.

Vampire Elders usually change their appearances to look like humans. Originally they were more similar to the monsters of space. They have all sorts of conflicts with each other, but above all their goal is to prevent the rest of their specie from awake. Because they want to keep consuming humans in relative peace and the large number of their relatives would soon destroy the abundance they like so much.

Nocturnal Kings 

The “nocturnal kings/queens”. Created by the Elders to be their generals and connection with the human governs the Vampire Kings and Queens are naturally more powerful than their children.
 However, this contrast isn’t as extreme as the contrast between them and the elders. What makes them extremely powerful is political position, connections and the capacity of use the nocturnal children created by them as soldiers and supporters when circumstances demand it. Human governs recognize the kings and queens, since they have extreme need of their powers. While the elders are not affiliated to any country or organization, and hardly talk directly with humans officially, kings and queens are part of military structure in most nations. They don’t answer do any human authority but neither rule over humans, usually. Their shrines are untouchable fortresses and their commands take precedence of any others regarding their children. On the other hand they honour requests from the human authorities and send vampires to serve as guardians when necessary.

Red Barons 

 Nocturnal Dukes, or Vampire Dukes: trusted representatives of nocturnal kings they deal directly with human authorities in regular basis and select candidates to became vampires. Barons strongholds are points of reference in maps, unlike Royal Palaces which as a general rule are kept secret and visited only be vampires. And also place of training for special forces that include vampires and thralls. Those forces are usually smaller than the national armies but exquisitely trained and very well armed. They answer to the Barons, Vampire Kings and in last instance at least theoretically to the Vampire Elders. Usually Red Barons distribute advise their kings about the aspirants and they distribute the new vampires to suitable mentors when time is right. A Barony is a centre of military command, a hospital, school and a Cathedral in one single structure.

Nocturnal children

Are subjected to the authority of a vampire king or queen first, and foremost. In any case they can appeal to this authority and became untouchable by human law. However, that is seldom a wise move. Usually vampire children live their lives with little to no contact with their court. Dealing with other nocturnal children and human authorities. Most of them get a “letter of service” with a mission from royalty, it may bring a specific task like guard a place against attacks, or kill a particular person, but more often it just demands that they keep a good image and present themselves every 30 years to an official ceremony in the barony.
Most children eventually came back to the barony with the request of have some human changed into vampire. Some ask for more knowledge about vampirism, wanting to became more powerful and control themselves better. Those requests are usually granted in exchange for additional services and loyalty.

Vampire thralls

Not vampires, but humans who have been granted some power and extended longevity by a vampire. In exchange they fall under the control of their vampire master, and became willingly servants. Contracts are made and registered. Is a crime in most places for a vampire to make thralls without the consent of the human, and only sane adults can give up their freedom like that. Generally speaking. However, is common enough for a vampire sergeant to have all soldiers fighting under his command transformed into thralls: one can say consensus is likely in those cases because be a thrall do improves a soldier’s chances for survival by a significant margin, but it is still somewhat shady.
In any circumstance thralls enjoy no actual, legal, right in vampire society. They are, for all purposes slaves who sold their personal freedom for eternal life, and a realistic perspective of luxury and influence in mortal society. However, those are slave who need no chains or whips to be kept obedient and in captivity. The same magic that makes them eternally young and gives them some supernatural powers keeps them loyal and obedient to a vampire master, or mistress.  

The Transformation into Vampire 

The process for a King transform a human in vampire is fast, and it is usually done to a couple hundred of aspirants at the time. People who succeeded at a long and difficult process of training and selection. However, newly created vampires are mindless beasts and the process to regain the power to think and remember its own identity seldom takes less than 20 Earthling years. Some vampires never recover their human minds, and remain blood thirsty beasts for ever. No one knows why some suffer that fate, while others don’t.
After that point the development of self-control and discipline, necessary to became a member of society as a vampire, varies from individual to individual. In rare cases it take only another 30 years. Usually a period between 50 and 100 years is necessary. About 1 in each 5 vampires never reaches this level. They grow in strength and physical capacity but remain locked under the control and supervision of mentors. Those “irresponsible” vampires are kept away from vampire magic and have no rights, but they usually remain in comfortable mansions. Well fed and well treated. If circumstances demand a force of attack to be send deep in enemy territory, to create chaos, those irresponsible vampires will be the ones send. No one expects them to follow complex plans, much less came back. Those are suicide missions.

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VAMPIRES IN THE ASTRAL PLANE

Vampire magic is more grounded in the physical reality and more intuitive than mage’s magic. Most vampires never learn how to enter the astral plane, those who do use it only to small walks to enter locked spaces or escape from them. That, considering most vampires by far are nocturnal children. All Elder Vampires know way more about the astral plane than any human mage ever will. They are famous for keep several astral bodies at same time, and can easily pretend to be human mages. All but the most perceptive mages will fall for it. However, Elder Vampires have been in this stelar system long before humanity came into existence on Earth, they slept for a long time, but are active since the third generation of humans woke them. The first human mages learned magic from them, and any Mage Cabal has Elder Vampires as benefactors and mentors of their founders. Vampires don’t rule the Cabals, at least not in most cases, and some of them are certainly more welcome than others. Still, the Elder Vampires in general are highly respected in most circles of human mages. Like dangerous trickster deities able to share great gifts but also destroy those who accept them without a clear reason, sometimes. Nocturnal Kings know their magic. Most of them can move in astral bodies, and can change their physical bodies into astral matter without effort too. They all know enough magic to make their strongholds safe from almost any threat. And their powerful blood gives their fortresses considerable advantage over any work made by human mages. Their magical defences endure centuries, while those made by human mages must be renewed constantly or they will fade in a few days or weeks. However, for those who know what to look, and have sharp astral senses, vampire kings are easy to spot in the astral plane. Is difficult from them to hide their nature, and pretend to be human mages. And for all their advantages they are way less powerful in the astral plane than they are in the physical, compared to everything else walking around. Therefore the kings seldom leave their own fortresses in the astral plane. Inside those places they are more dangerous than a entire cabal of mages, but everywhere else in the astral plane they are little more powerful than a human master of magic. Bellow the Kings knowledge about the astral plane is rare among vampires. They get more practical skills to develop, that are both easier to learn and more useful. “Vampire Magic” usually changes the vampire’s body, affects the mind of their victims, or causes some minor change in the physical world. All vampires are stronger, faster, and harder to hurt than humans, and they all can hurt shadows with their bare hands and with their fangs. Vampire magic allows them to multiply those advantages many times, grow sharp talons, wings, even steal vital force from the shadows like they steal from humans. Not as easily. Because the shadows keep fighting back after you bite them. Drinking from the shadows a vampire can lose sanity and end up as a shadow himself. On the other hand that is the way for advance vampire powers beyond the scale reached for those who reject the risk. Some vampires centuries old, dedicated to fight shadows, have grow to twice their original size, and can assume a “shadow form” five times larger than that. Stronger than most shadows twice larger than them. Some ad advanced armour and weapons to it, what results in a sort of mini-mechas for all practical purposes.

WEAKNESSES AND STRENGS

All vampires, even newly created children, are all but completely impossible to hurt for normal, non-magical means. You can empty a revolver on them, throw a grenade or a missile, results will be momentary at best. You can slow down a vampire that way, not harm him. Sun, any contact with the sunlight, even indirect, will destroy them in a couple of seconds. And just happens that is even harder to hide from the sun in the astral plane than in the physical. The sun don’t affect vampires outside atmosphere, but that’s where the big shadows stay. Most astral weapons and spells cannot hurt a vampire either, unless he happens to be in astral form. Generally speaking you need magic entangled with the physical reality to hurt or kill a vampire without use sunlight. Vampires and shadows can hurt each other just fine, and they do so often enough. Is possible to imprison a vampire using just normal technology. If this vampire don’t know how to change his body to astral matter. And is possible to protect yourself from vampires by staying in a fortress, build without magic, if the walls are strong enough and the vampires in question cannot change into astral matter. Some vampires can change their shape drastically, but even those will not find their way into a room hermetically locked if they are not strong enough. Vampires never age. They need to consume vital energy, and usually do so drinking blood. Humans are necessary to keep a vampire sane, but consume other animals is enough to keep them active. Without sustenance a vampire will lose his mind as attack any source of vital energy in reach. If kept without any prey for long enough the vampire becomes inactive in a endless coma, until some vital energy drops on him. Unfortunately vampires only keep their sanity and their ability of talk and reason if they hunt and drink from humans a couple of times every week. Most those hunts leave no permanent harm in the prey, rarely any memory of what happened remains, save for the sensation of immense physical pleasure. The prey will stay tired and somnolent for a few days, but recovers after that just fine. Most the hunts end that way, but all vampires will sometimes lose control over their actions and drink the prey empty. This experience is very rare for some, and way too frequent for others. But all vampires will know it. Every single one of them is a murder of defenceless humans.

Vampires are vulnerable to the light of Lira (the "Sun" in this system) and extremely so. They are vulnerable to the claws and powers of each other, those of the shadows, and the diferences in power between individuals are determinant in those interactions. Finally, vampires are vulnerable to techno-magic. That's all, nothing else can hurt a vampire in this setting. Anything else will, at very best, take the vampire away from the physical world for a few days (or seconds, depending on the vampire and what powers he has).
One question that remains is: how powerful techno-magic is against vampire? How serious a treat it is for you, when you start your nocturnal existence?
Well, generally speaking they will place the destructive techno-magic in weapons. Guns, swords, grenades, missiles, and so on. The techno-magic version of those things are a lot more effective than the conventional ones against anything and anyone, not just vampires. They are dependent of luck and the art of the mage who created them, you cannot make magic in line of production. And they are very, very, short lived. Will brake and became useless after days if left without the maintenance of a mage.
This makes techno-magic unpractical in most contexts. Only reliable items are those made with vampire blood, and those are expensive and demand more specialized skills.
Vampires can take shots from a techno-magic gun about twice better than humans can take those from a conventional gun. And the techno-magical .22 will blow the upper body of a human wearing a conventional bolletproof vest leaving little to forensics work with 9 times in 10. Meaning that vampires still have a significant advantage over ephemerals when dealing with techno-magical sources of damage.
Mind you: that is a conversation about your average vampire, during his first nights in that capacity. A callow nocturn children.
Vampires can learn to suck bullets and other techno-magica sources of damage and walk away from that. About the same way you (and them) can learn to solve Mathematic problems without electronic help. Given the right instruction, personal effort, time investment and talent that children of night can became able to resist dozens of times more damage without slow down. Hundreds even.
Nothing that a proper bullet of adequate calibre will not fix, when the debate falls in that area you must keep in mind that this is a setting with 400 metres tall mechas caring guns appropriate to their size and fighting shadows sometimes way larger than them. There is nothing any human vampire can learn that would make him invencible in this setting. The right techno-magical weapon will put down ANY vampire, possible even an Elder Vampire (but I don't recommend risk your life in that bet if you can avoid).
But you will not find such a weapon on the hands of every other military special forces. Much less being carried by your average street cop.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST : 

One thing you must keep in mind, and I cannot stress too much: VAMPIRES DO USE TECHNO-MAGICAL WEAPONS. Weapons in general as well. 
They do not fight enemy humans armed with techno-magical guns just with their claws and fangs. That sense of sportive-spirit found in so many settings involving vampires is completely missing here. They use guns, they use swords, they use rock, bars of metal, and anything else they can put their hands own if it will reduce the risk for them and end their fights faster. 
Vampires live a very pleasant existence in this setting, compared to the expectations of most other characters. They do not feel very often the inclination to end their existences in stupid suicide for the sake of attack with their claws who is shooting at them, like mindless beast would.