Vampire

Vampires are known to exist all over Serrus and take on many different forms depending on the culture. The Elan that raises a body to become a vampire is unknown and differs from country to country. The one commonality all variations share is the need to drain victims of their vitality, whether through blood or their Elan essence.
Most vampires are intelligent and maintain their memories from life. They no longer age, but given enough time, memories of their former life will slowly fade. Vampires, as intelligent beings, albeit dead ones, have their own goals and agendas. Some might want to rule over man and form great petty kingdoms in back-water areas of Serrus. Others seek to be left alone and only feed when necessary. Others still may give in to their primal urges to feed and wander Serrus as mindless killing machines drenched in the blood of humans.

Cultural Variations

Some scholars believe the Elan of a culture and a country influence the type of vampire and its abilities that will manifest. This leads to extreme variation to what to expect when encountering a vampire.

Strigoi

Strigoi are known throughout Cardovia and are especially feared by the Peschneg gypsies. It emerges from the grave, returns to their family and behaves as in their lifetime, while weakening relatives until they die in their turn. Some of the properties of the strigoi include: super strength, super speed, super senses, weather manipulation, shapeshifting, immortality, invisibility, immunity to sunlight (unlike their cousins to the west), spell casting, and the propensity to drain the vitality of victims via blood loss similar to other vampires.

Pricolici

Pricolici are a variation known throughout Um Bilaschca and parts of eastern Argau. While some vampires possesses anthropomorphic qualities similar to the ones it had before death, a pricolici always resembles a wolf. Malicious, violent men are often said to become pricolici after death, in order to continue harming other humans.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Varies, but for the most part vampires still look as they did before they died, only more pallid. They also typically have larger than usual fanged canine teeth to extract blood from victims. Some can retract these fangs, others cannot.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Vary greatly, but common abilities are night vision, flying, shape shifting, illusion, command over animals, weakness to running water or sunlight, super strength and agility, and aversion to some apotropaics.

Destroying a Vampire in Cardovia

Exhume the strigoi.
Remove its heart and cut it in two.
Drive a nail in its forehead.
Place a clove of garlic under its tongue.
Smear its body with pig fat killed on a certain Peschneg holiday.
Turn its body face down so that if the strigoi were ever to wake up it would be headed to the afterlife.