Vampire Hunters, and How to Slay the Damned Dead

“Come, we must see and act. Devils or no devils, or all the devils at once, it matters not; we fight him all the same.”

The scourge of vampirism, is a plague to life itself. It is an abomination of all that is wholesome and good in this world. It sees men become naught but beasts, driven by carnal hunger, and turning entire villages into orgies of blood and gore. Only the sun can keep the vampire at bay, but even that can be tricked and avoided. Who, then, shall defend the living from the damned dead? It is those that take the call that has no reward. The souls who pledge themselves into the suicidal task of hunting these beasts, and driving blessed stakes through their hearts. They are rarely sound of mind, but they have seen the other side, the looming shadows creeping on the walls, and thus they swear to fight it, or die an unmourned death in the dirt and rock of old tombs and crypts. They are the Vampire Hunter, the deranged few who hunt the damned.

The Desperate Measure

Few can say they know vampire hunters personally. Murton is perhaps the only place that has an openly public vampire hunting organization, and even that is an affront to the true calling of the hunt. The Sacred Blades, as they are called, are a duke-sanctioned guild chartered to fight the Deadlands with specialists men and women into a militia like force. However, they have become but a racket, plagued by corruption from within into being little better than state sponsored bandits. Some even whisper that vampires have infiltrated their ranks long ago, and as such should not be considered real hunters.
Instead, we look to those sometimes called "True Hunters". These hunters come from nearly any walk of life one could imagine, be it farmer or noble or pilgrim, the lives they once lived now are lost to them forever. The only thing every hunter has in common is one pivotal event in their life leading them to discover the true horror of the undead, and the vow to kill them. Many swear the oath of the hunt after losing loved ones to the vampiric menace, some for some vague idea of personal glory, some out of holy fanaticism, and those simply having a death wish. Regardless of the moment, when they swear upon the crimson hunt, their lives are forfeit. Rare is the hunter that survived to old age, and none have ever "retired" from such a business. No, to become a hunter is to know that you will die, and yet your rage burns so bright that you simply do not care. There are no official organizations to help them, and often they must learn on their own, and many die on their first hunt, however for those that study and learn the means of combating the enemy, they are a force of death itself.

The Weaknesses of the Foe

Though they are powerful and terrible to behold, they are like any creature: they bleed, thus they can die again. Even unlife may cease, and be sent into the black abyss of true death, though the vampire is a stubborn foe to keep dead. There are countless weaknesses talked about in folk tales, but few of them actually work.

• The Sun: Perhaps the most commonly known weakness of the vampire is the sun. Light itself is not enough, it is the sun's beautiful rays alone that can banish the scourge. To stay in the daylight is to burn to ash and cinders in agonizing pain. Though even this, can change, as vampirism is a curse of endless mutations and variants. Some vampires are rumored to be able to withstand the rays of the sun, but these are ancient vampires indeed, and the stories may not even be real.
• Silver: Silver has long since been known as the bane of the beast. It is pure and good in its application, and when made into a weapon, it becomes a wondrous tool to slay beasts and vampires alike. Even throwing silver dust on a vampire, while not incredibly lethal, will cause them to burn and recoil in pain.
• The Wooden Stake: Wood is life, it is the thing with which man becomes civilized, and rejects the beasts' nature. While truly a stake driven into any living thing's heart would kill it, for vampires it is special. While not instantly slaying them, it paralyzes them completely, allowing them to be butchered and purified with ease as they cannot resist whatsoever.
• Holy Water and Holy Symbols: Holy water, and really any water blessed by appropriately divine beings, can burn and irritate the skin of vampires, and some hunters have even used darts to inject holy water into a vampire, causing terrible pain as the blood runs in their veins. Holy symbols are a bit more tricky, as it can be seen quite often for vampires to carry symbols of religions, indeed some are even devoutly religious, even if the gods have long shunned them. Yet, holy symbols and places wielded by righteous men and women still burns and repels them. It is believed that it is not only the symbol that repels the beast, it is the belief in the symbol's power that gives it the ability to ward off the damned. If one does not truly believe, then it will do nothing.
• Special Herbs: Garlic has long been reported as the thing that repels the vampire, but it is little more than a joke. Such rumors are said to have been spread by vampires themselves to cackle at peasants desperately trying to defend themselves. Any hunter worth their salt knows that the real herb to repel vampires and in truth many undead is Gravesweed. This is typically found near graveyards and in places of worship to gods of death. Lacing the windows, fireplace, and door with this herb will keep out most vampires, and very few have been known to resist this herb. Though the herb does release a foul stench, and so there have sometimes been "misidentifications" of what someone thought was a vampire.
• Invitation: Many vampires have a strange, almost supernatural need to be invited into a place. While they can sneak in without invitation, if they wake their victim who has most assuredly not invited them, they suffer severe mental pain and are forced to retreat. To avoid this, many vampires will ask to be invited, usually disguising themselves as mere travelers or old friends. While some may think the owner has to invite them into a pace, this is not the case. Anyone inside can invite them in and once in, the vampire has free rein of the house. They can even have a minion open the door for them and invite them, a common tactic some use to great effect. Likewise, any place considered open to the public has effectively already "allowed" them to enter, and so they are unbothered by it. Be warned that spotting a vampire seeking entrance is not as easy as it sounds, as some will use clever wordplay to gain entry, or set up scenarios in where they need to enter lest some tragedy strike.
• Running Water: While listed as a weakness, in truth it is very much not a hard and fast rule, as some have been known to not mind running water all together. For those that are weak, it is said landing in running water (running water being any natural body of water that is moving with swift haste) will melt them slowly and painfully. They can however cross such rivers via boat and bridge, as they simply need not touch it. The one instance of every vampire being weak to water, however, is the vast oceans. It is said the goddess of the sea hates the vampire, and so the ocean itself is poison and death to them. To travel across the sea, the vampire needs to hibernate in a coffin or box with dirt from their homeland.
• Sleep Patterns: Vampires are nocturnal creatures, much like the bats they enjoy oh so much. While they can be awake during the day, it is dangerous, and so many only operate in the late afternoon at the very earliest. They tend to sleep in coffins, though this is not necessarily required. It is, however, thought that the coffins provide some level of comfort and security for them, though many also pad and fancily their coffins with cushions and the like. Regardless, wherever they sleep, to feel truly rested they most have dirt from their homeland. It need not be of their exact place of birth, but it needs to be at least close to what they themselves consider their home. If on the road, some vampires simply get a bag of the dirt and use it as a rough but serviceable pillow, but many simply slot it under or in their coffins and mattresses.
• Decapitation: The complete removal of the head is said to be able to kill the vampire the quickest, although this is easier said than done given their toughened skin. Even this, there are some rumors that even if naught but a head, they can regrow their body slowly and painfully, though these are mere rumors
• Compulsions: Many vampires have compulsions or aversions to some items or actions. Mirrors are of course the most famous, being able to remind the vampire of his unlife. Silver mirrors, though dubious in their legitimacy, have been said to also reflect magic away from the person wielding it and can even cause it to strike the source it came from. Some compulsions can be strange indeed: some vampires are said to not be able to suffer the tears of virtuous mortals. Some have been said to be obsessed with counting, and can be distracted by throwing grain or rice on the ground, forcing them to count unless attacked, even counting until the sunrise where they then burn.
• Fire: Gods bless that man's greatest invention, that of fire, can repel the night beasts as well as it can the darkness. Fire kills slow, but it messes up their healing factor, and can help overwhelm the vampire and keep them from being able to heal from their injuries quick enough.

How to Find and Kill A Monster

To properly fight this vampire, one must be adept at finding them. The Deadlands is probably the only place vampires feel comfortable enough to openly walk about without hiding their nature, and even then they are careful. It is the fool that rushes them in the open, and many hunters have had their throats torn out within a blink of an eye due to foolish bravado. No, to hunt in the deadlands and indeed any land they may suspect a vampire being, they must hunt from the shadows the vampire uses themselves. 

• The most common tell is that of pale like skin, and red tinted eyes. Many vampires can hide these traits, and some people are just paler than others, either due to disease or simply birth.
• Vampires cast no reflection in the mirror, and so using glass can be a good way to spot a vampire, though risky as they are always on their guard.
• Some hunters can master an ability called "Witchsight". A hunter can cut open a small wound on their skin, and take gravesweed they have mixed with bone and then turned into a paste. When applying it on the wound, it burns and throbs, but allows them to now have a warning device in case of contact. This "blood warning" can be a good if risky play to spot a vampire, and it says that when finding one, the figure will appear as a black fog of eyes and other ghastly things. Be warned, that this wound can raise eyebrows and grab attention, and trying to cover it too much can cause the wound to worsen. Effects of Witchsight typically last for 2 months.
• Vampires like to use magic to cast dark overcasts in areas they may be if they need to go about in the day. Unnatural weather patterns can just be caused by errant magic of wizards fooling around, but it can also be a sign of something worse.
• A trick picked up from the Wierd Killer squads and inquisitors, some small items can be enchanted for relatively cheap to preform actions when an influx of magic or necormantic energy is detected nearby. The most common being a small cracked wristwatch that only ticks when in vicinity of a vampire.

At this point, one has likely found the foe, now the question is, how is it killed?

• Do the best you can to not engage in a straight fight, as this is highly dangerous, and vampires rarely play fair. They are most vunerable when sleeping, and can easily be dispatched in this state.
• While powerful, they are still men, and the younger vampires are not as strong as the older generations. Fighting alone is near suicide, but fighting in a group can help to overwhelm the foe and keep him on the defensive.
• Vampires have an ability to heal from nearly anything. Even having a crossbow bolt buried in their skull is naught but a minor inconvience to them. If fighting one directly, the goal is to attack, and to never once stop. The healing they have is powerful, but taxing over long periods, which can tire them out if in prolonged skirmishes. Rend and slash, flay skin and break bone with speed and ferocity, and even though they will heal it all at first, they will slow, allowing you to get truly killing blows in on the beast
• Holy magic, and even demonic spells for those truly damned, can be a life saver in a fight against a vampire.
• Do not fight fair, fight dirty, use every trick you have at your disposale, and try your best to cut off all points of escape for a vampire, or try to lead them into an area to easily trap them. Vampires are powerful, and many are smart enough to know when they should make a hasty retreat.