Vampirism
Vampirism is a disease created as a punishment for an Ambrogio Vampire who ascended to lichdom and taunted his triumph over death towards Jhetal. Displeased by this Jhetal cursed him by turning his immortality into a disease. They modelled it after their bat like body and cursed him to feed to live. His skin turned grey and his body went into a relentless hunger.
He slaughtered many people to prolong his life and caused a great many to be cursed. The afflicted became known as vampires, this was based on his surname.
The typical feature of a vampire is a more diluted grey skin tone often paler than before. The eyes turn grey and change colour to match the colour of blood that they feast on making it a dead giveaway once one has feated. They grow sharp fangs and their mouth produces saliva that destroys platelets preventing the puncture wound from sealing up.
The body stops ageing and loses its heart rate creating a dependency on feasting on blood. In its place the body's senses increase and the nails become thicker to be used as natural weapons.
The body itself like all undead have sunlight sensitivity in addition to a weakness to fire.
The body also rashes up when in contact with garlic thought to either originate from Ambrogio as an allergy or from the alchemy tested upon their kind.
This transformation renders the individual incapable of conceiving or incubating children.
Many different bloodlines are present with different attributes created by different species and environments. The common feral vampire was Jhetal's doing but it was through powerful magic that the disease was able to be controlled by those with a certain strain. This split the vampire's control into five ranks: Feral, Thrall, Unbound, Master and Count. It is rare but one can progress higher through the ranks.
The Feral have no control over themselves and are unable to control their own thoughts and body when hungry.
They generally look more bestial and behave in extremely uncommon ways.
The Thrall have some form of control over their body and can restrain themselves until their hunger is brought to a climax. Unlike the Unbound they are under the control of a Master or Count. While under this control they know they can't disobey them or harm them, but they are fully aware that they have control over them. It is through control that helps them keep their sanity. Once the Thrall's Master is killed they either become Unbound or with a slight chance of becoming Feral.
The Unbound have no Master and are free to go where they please. Unlike the Thrall they struggle more with controlling their hunger and sanity in tough situations. Their freedom is limited to their hunger and how long they can go without feeding.
The Master is much like the Unbound except for its born into a powerful bloodline allowing them to create Thralls. Their hunger can be sustained for great periods of time. Most Masters will create settlements or hideouts for vampires to meet up in, often built by their thralls.
The Count is the most potent with only an extreme minority existing. They can command any Thrall they see even if they didn't create them, the Thralls still won't disobey their Master making the Thrall unable to assist. They also can give their hunger to other vampires allowing them to indefinitely go without feasting on blood.
Transmission & Vectors
It is transmitted by feeding on prey and letting the disease spread through the saliva into the preys blood stream.
Symptoms
- Pale diluted grey skin.
- Eyes lose tone and match the colour of blood once fed.
- Sharp fangs.
- Loss of pulse.
- Dependency on feasting on blood.
- Thicker nails.
- Sunlight sensitivity.
- incapable of conceiving children.
- Rashes when reacting to Garlic.
Treatment
Through a divine blessing.
Prevention
The most common protection method is to keep garlic nearby as it is believed they would far sooner prey on someone without the garlic than one with it. Consuming garlic might also make the vampire release instantly after biting reducing the amount of time the disease would have to spread.
Cultural Reception
When a vampire is seen a bunch of hunters will go out to seek it and will impale it with stakes to prevent it of moving and carry it back to their settlement to burn it in front of everyone.
Children
Origin
Mutated
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