Unrelated Vampire Stuff

Origin- unknown
Four disasters descended on the world, written of in history as the Fourfold Apocalypse. (No creature is inherently immortal, this is not our world)

• War- Werewolves under the full moon at first, but their forms remained longer and longer after. Humans randomly becoming mindless fur-covered beasts and fighting, killing, destroying for the simple sake of it, weakened by white lily (peace), can obtain new physical traits through slaughter. Base powers: enhanced speed, strength, various stages of wolf transformation
• Famine- Zombies rising from the grave. Flesh, soulless bodies clawing their way free and consuming anything and everything living within their reach, weakened by gold (abundance), can regenerate through feeding. Base powers: enhanced speed, endurance, durability
• Death- Ghosts, spirits tied to the world with no reason or purpose, dragging the living into themselves and forcing them into enternal sleep, weakened by garnet gems (life), can gain memories through absorption. Base powers: invisibility, telekinesis, mist form
• Pestilance- Vampires, beings whose sole purpose is to consume blood like parasites and spread their poison. The only fully sentient species capable of reason and directed strategy, weakened by cedar wood (healing), can absorb abilities through blood. Base powers: enhanced strength, enhanced speed, glamour, shadow control
• All are weak to fire and noon sunlight

Each of the apocalypses was headed by a different 'Command', the progenitor of the rest or the cause of their appearance
None of the apocalypses worked with one another and often fought just as much as they attacked humans, who learned to fight against them. An alliance with vampires was struck as the only sentient species that included a 'central' government structure under their Command.
Origin of current vampire powers- Zombies were the first to be destroyed and vampires gained perfect regeneration. Ghosts were second and vampires aquired mind reading. Lastly, werewolves were exterminated and vampires took on the ability to control animals. As vampires aged, their powers grew. Perfect regeneration became immortality, mind reading became hypnotic control, control of animals became shapeshifting. The older and more powerful the vampire, the more advanced these powers became.
Vae, the Vampire Command (will be expanded into coherent backstory later)- Sometimes simply called 'Pestilance'. Appeared in the world 1000 years before the Fourfold Apocalypse and began slowly turning others into vampires. Was mindless and only lived to infect others, but gained sentience and passed this trait to his progeny. When he became aware, so did they. The first vampire to gain powers from consuming the blood of other creatures. Learned how to devise battle strategy from larger and larger fights with humans. Accepted the alliance due to the threat of the other three Apocalypses. Control of the vampires derives from power advantage, but also bond between infecter and infected. After the defeat of War, Famine, and Death, turned on humans and began treating them like semi-sentient cattle, leading vampires to become the dominant species. War between vampires and humans continues to the present, 400 years after the advent of the Fourfold.
Vampire designatons- First generation: any vampire turned directly by Vae regardless of age, second generation: turned by a first generation, third fourth fifth etc follow same pattern
Age designations- neo (0-50 years), youngling (51-100), apprentice (101-300), fullmoon (301-600), elite (601-1000), elder (1001-1400) , superior (1401+, only command is currently at this age, other age groups added as necessary)
Examples: a vampire created directly by the Command and 153 years old would be called a first generation apprentice. a vampire "great-grandchild" of the Command and 485 years old would be a third generation fullmoon. The Command is considered generation zero.
Rough timeline (Beginning of the Fourfold is now considered year zero)

• -1000: 'pestilance' appears in the world
• -950: first stable vampire offspring created, deceased in -800
• -925: second offspring created
• -818: 'pestilance' begins rapidly turning others, first hints of power absorption, current offspring are mindless and small in number (about 100 total)
• -794: 'pestilance' gains sentience, closest offspring follow quickly, then their progeny, and down until the most 'recently' turned
• -650: vampires organize into a small colony with their Command at the center, continue to move underground and take humans. despite their innate need to expand 'pestilance' orders they work slowly so as not to deplete their food source
• -639: first werewolf, 'war', appears, thought to be a mutation of rabies from infected wolf
• -525: first underground encounter with zombies, vampires wipe out the the offshoot, but take heavy losses themselves, more zombies begin to appear in other areas, unable to locate 'famine'
• -492: third generation werewolf begins sentience, is killed by second generation
• -427: first vampire and werewolf battle over human prey, small skirmish
• -388: werewolves track fourth generation vampire to main base, surprise attack, decimate vampire ranks, Command, first, and second generations forced to burn the base and flee, many younger generations could not escape
• -330: ghosts and 'death' appear around the world
• -357: zombies attack werewolves
• -300: ghosts and vampires begin fighting
• -290: werewolvs and zombies locked in combat for months in remote tundra
• -281-130: intensity of fighting between the four increases, small bands of humans begin hunting them, but wider world is still in the dark
• -83: human combatant groups merge under one international banner
• -50: heads of human combatant group starts working with their governments for a plan in case the fighting spills over
• 0: Fourfold Apocalypse begins with the fighting between the four commands spilling into the human world, humans at large find out about the supernatural
• 20: humans developing first mass produced anti-apocalypse weapons
• 30-100: humans fight war on four fronts, attempting to subdue all apocalyspes
• 103: vampires propose alliance with humans under guise of a common enemy, but what they want is to take in all of the other apocalypses powers, humans agree due to heavy losses
• 263-275: human/vampire alliance kills the other three Commands, vampire Command consumes each, spreads power to other generations through 'infector connection'
• 280: vampires betray humans and begin attacking their former allies to turn them into livestock
• 303: 'pestilance' is captured by humans, tortured, hands cut off with cedar oil sword and left to burn in the sun, then left to die, but survives burning until night and escapes with assistance from first through third generation. on return, 'pestilance' falls into a coma while healing from extensive full body wounds
• 304-309: vampires lose ground without Command at their head, first generation forms a 'council' to act in his place
• 310: council officially becomes head of vampires
• 313: 'pestilance' wakes and regains control of vampires, council remains as advisors only
• 314: seeking revenge for his near death, 'pestilance' begins atrocities against human populations as revenge and a tactic of fear, recapturing many to serve as food for his offspring
• 347: suffering severe losses, humans attempt a desperate, controvertial peace, many humans want to keep fighting, but continued destruction has demoralized them
• 366: some human nations surrender to/ally with the vampires against their own species
• 423: present, humans are split, some nations continue to fight the vampires while others have allied with them. 'pestilance' has ruled a stable vampire society for nearly 1100 years, continues to try to subjegate all humans

Vae origins expanded, possible idea: The progenitor of vampires was never human. 1400 years ago, he was formed as energy coalesced around the chaos and primordial hunger of the world, the concepts of manipulation and infection given form in one being whose sole purpose was to infect other living creatures. Operating on pure instinct, he spent the first years of his existence attacking and biting anything he could find, trying to pass along his infection to a stable host. However, his bite and rate of infection were too strong and his attempted hosts died within hours. The first stable vampire he created was 'born' fifty years after he first came into the world. Together the two continued to travel, searching for others to bite. Vae experimented with shadow control and glamour, working with them like a predator worked with fangs and claws.
The second stable vampire was born from Vae's bite only twenty-five years after the first, while the first had yet to create another. With a third joining them, they operated like a small pack, attacking any humans or other prey that came into their path. Only a small fraction were fully turned as none had determined the best way to ensure a full infection. However, the rabid offspring bit others and by 818, Vae's 'rate of success' had increased and the total number of vampires reached approximately 100, all living as a pack of predators.
In -794, he began to gain sentience. Some suspect this was due to his consumption of human blood, much like later devouring of other species would grant vampires their power. However, nothing concrete has been confirmed and the true mechanism remains a mystery. Through his connection with his progeny, they gained sentience as well going down until the youngest was able to rationalize. Since then, all vampires have remained sentient after their turn. By -650, sentience had become normal and the vampires, numbering around 300 at the time, organized themselves into a small society under Vae's rule. He ordered that his vampires hunt sparingly and be discerning in what who infected in order to keep their food from dying out. If living creatures disappear, especially humans, there will be nothing to infect and thus their main reason for existence is erased.
Between -650 and -520, when the werewolf and zombie Command's appeared, respectively, vampires kept to themselves, but continued to secretly spread through the world. They used their sentience and power to infiltrate human society when needed. However, most stayed within vampire territory, luring prey back.
In -525, zombies suddenly appeared and overran the vampire commune. Surprised and unaccustomed to such durable creatures, the vampires were unable to stem the initial tide and about half of their number was wiped out before they were able to destroy the invading zombies. Distraught and furious at the attack, Vae attempted to find the source of them, but was not able to locate Famine and instead turned from revenge and moved his progeny to another location. There, he worked to strengthen the species, reestablish their luring of prey, and increase their number, a task all vampires were taught was honorable and good, their existence predicated on spreading the vampire virus.
Over the next approximately 100 years, Vae and his descendents increased their numbers, reaching 500 by -427 when a small hunting party first encountered a group of werewolves also stalking the same humans. A fight broke out with both sides sustainting injures. A captured werewolf was brought back to Vae and he drank its blood, gaining a small rush of new power before killing the prisoner. This began the initial feud between vampires and werewolves. Vampires attacked the beasts using various battle tactics and drove them back, dwindling their numbers in many encounters. However, in -388, werewolves tracked a fourth generation vampire to the new settlement. Prepared for a surprise attack, the vampires lured the werewolves deep into the cave system and set the whole settlement on fire. Sadly, some younger vampires became lost in the battle and burned as well while the rest were able to flee, an outcome that still haunts Vae.
For the next hundred and fifty years, Vae worked to ensure the security of the vampires and fight against the other apocalypses. He sent scouts and spies to monitor their activity and attacked when strategically advantagous. With their sentience as compared to the others, they won several battles and soon were turning their attention to human combatant organizations. In general, Vae left them alone and told his vampires to do so as well. Hunting them for food was permitted and they should be monitored, but, to him, the other apocalypses were a greater threat and fighting continued to increase until, in what came to be known as year zero, it could no longer be hidden and the Fourfold Apocalypse spilled into public view.
Humans had become adept at hunting the apocalypses and Vae hated how mere food was rebelling against its place. In 103, he ordered his vampires to stand down and negotiated with the centralized human combatant organization for a ceasefire and subsequent alliance between the two species, promising that they would help eradicate Famine, War, and Death as a mutual goal, with Vae citing the humans' heavy losses and his own desire for the mindless apocalypses to be disposed of after their attacks on his people. After this, a new truce was to be negotiated for the two species to live cooperatively.
Between -263 and -275, the human-vampire alliance hunted down and destroyed the other apocalypses. During the final battles, Vae strategically placed himself in a position to kill the other Commands and consume them. Through this, much like his sentience, he was able to spread the powers of Famine, War, and Death to his progeny, making the species far more powerful with each apocalypse he consumed. Celebrating with humans, he kept his newly obtained abilities secret. Although the top level hunters knew about vampiric power absorption, they did not know how quickly or how thoroughly Vae had done so. The weaknesses of the other apocalypses were only partiall absorbed, giving vampires a partial weakness to gold, garnet, and lilies. 
When the last of the apocalpyses had been defeated, Vae honored his original treaty, pulling his people back and entering into a resource sharing pact with humans. However, this was only a facade and instead, he secretly had his vampires continue the final construction on underground housing for human livestock. They had begun during the last decade of the war, hidden away and secret from their 'allies', and, in 280, he turned on the humans, sending vampires to capture hundreds in a single night and drag them into the 'farms'.
Stunned, humans were slow to react to the surprise attack and mass disappearances. Vae oversaw the various farms and security, concerned with their new livestock rebelling, and taught his progeny how to utilize the powers they received from him. All went well until 303, when humans outside intercepted his travel from one site to another. They used grease fire and magically produced flash grenades to stop the carriage, then burn it to force him out. His escort was drive off or killed and Vae himself was captured, a garnet collar and cuffs forced around his wrists and neck and cedar oil poured over his body.  
Inside one of the united combatant compounds, he was starved, tortured, and his hands cut off with a cedar oil covered sword. Before they could regenerate, the stumps were submerged in more oil to permanently destroy the tissue. After two months of continuous torture, he was left in a pit to burn in the sun. Unbeknownst to the humans, he found a minimal amount of shade by pulling in a small amount of shadow into the hole. His whole body burned, but he survived until night when first and second generation vampires found and freed him. Unfortunately, his injuries left him completely incapacitated and he fell into a ten year coma while his body tried to heal itself.
During this time (304-309), the vampires began losing ground against rebelling humans both inside and outside of the farms without their Command, or any other central authority, leading them. In 309, a group elder first generations came together to form a small council and act in Vae's stead while he recovered. By 310, they had established themselves as the new central authority.
Four years later, Vae woke, resentful, bitter, in pain, and desiring absolute vengence. For some tense hours after his waking, the vampire court wondered if the council would attempt to maintain power, but they ceded authority without a fight. His time asleep had changed him emotionally and physically. Instead of his primary goal being to protect and grow his species, all he wanted was to bring humans completely to heel.
Physically, while most of his body had healed, the skin around his left eye had melted, nearly fusing the eye shut and the right side of his lips and cheek were mutilated by burns. Around the rest of his body was more of the same, but what enraged him most was the loss of his hands.
Using magic, he had intricate metal prosthetics made that attached over the remains of his wrists and connected to his broken nerves. While the new hands functioned, it took several months for him to use them naturally, a fact that only fueled his anger more, and in 314 he began his attack.
For just over thirty years, Vae ordered, and participated in, not just attacks, but absolute destruction across human nations. Whole town populations were captured or slaughtered, humans burned alive, drowned, suffocated, tortured, limbs broken, eyes removed, impaled, bodies drained and displayed as a threat to other humans. The age of the human made no difference to him. In Vae's eyes, all were equally guilty and deserved the pain, from the newest infant to the oldest village elder. Entire populations of nations were destroyed to satisfy his need for revenge. Those who not killed were dragged into the renovated farms and locked away for use as food and playthings.
Over the decades, he shut himself off from his descendents, becoming colder, crueler even to them. Many in the vampire court who had known him before his capture were concerned, but his erratic moods, long stretches of seeming numbness followed by intense outbursts of aggression, made them fearful. Instead, they concentrated on their own feelings of hatred for humans and desire to see them all locked away as cattle.
By 347, the human population had been depleted by a third, with the vampires showing no signs of slowing. Any concern Vae had once had for keeping their food source thriving was all but gone. In the summer of that year, representatives of four human nations arrived at the vampires' central manor in a desparate attempt at peace. Vae had them starved and kept fully awake for three days before he would speak to them. The initial negotiations were strained and he ultimately sent the representatives back, only willing to accept surrender unless they could prove they could be useful to him.
For another twenty years, varying human nations sent delegates to work with him and in the end three nations in which destruction was most severe surrended and Vae allowed two neighboring states to become allies of the vampires, the terms essentially making them into vassal states. All five were to send humans regularly for feeding and vampires were to move freely within them. Any attack on a vampire would receive the nation's full force to bring in the perpetrator, who would be turned over to vampiric authorities.
At present, in the year 423, Vae's rage has cooled slightly, although he remains cruel and closed off. His rule over human nations is strict and brutal, but stable. Outside of vampiric teritory, he continues to direct his progeny to fight both the now outlawed human combatant organization and the nations still resistant to his spreading pestilence and subjugation.
Personality: As a newly formed being, Vae was intelligent, but instinctual, hunting as any predator or virus would. When he gained sentience, he used his intelligence to begin employing strategy. Always, he has cared about those who became vampires like him, wanting to keep them safe, fed, and able to continue spreading the vampire infection. His descendents respected him as their progenitor and leader, a fair, if strict ruler. However, beginning with the zombie invasion and then the unforunate deaths of his progeny during the lair burning, he began to crack. Able to feel at least some of the deaths of each one, his drive to provide stability and food led to the creation of human farms and the first hints of his eventual cruelty.
During his capture and months long torture, his mind slipped further and nearly dying from being burned alive in the sun broke him completely.
After waking, he became both stoic and erratic, at times numb and at others standing on the edge of hair trigger temper. Cold and utterly cruel, he continued to attack humans, but also saw no issue in using force and fear to keep his progeny obedient. In a way, this is a twisting of his former caring nature toward the vampires he created.
As an inhuman being, something formed from energy, he has very little understanding of sex or intimacy, likening them to infection and flummoxed by how much value humans and the turned vampires place in them