Vampire (ˈvamˌpī(ə)r)
Nocturnal Crimson Dukes
Historically, the term "vampire" has been used to categorize a large selection of various blood-drinking supernatural species across the globe that are usually completely unrelated to each other. The vampire, as you are likely imagining it, is what is known as Homo Vampiris nosferatu, and it stands apart from its contemporary blood drinkers as their own separate species.
Once humans themselves, vampires are a sort of undead leech, nearly indistinguishable from a normal human save for their pale skin and enlarged canines. For hundreds of years, the people of central Europe have lived under the shadow of fear cast by these infamous shapeshifting blood drinkers that walk among them. Although thought of as only mythical, general knowledge about vampires is common among human societies. Giving them an infamous reputation that is succeeded only by that of dragons.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Because of their long history of frequent interactions with humanity, vampires have had centuries worth of knowledge documented about them, their biology, culture, and their history, even before the foundation of the Organization. This currently makes them one of the most well-understood supernatural species ever recorded.
Vampires retain their human forms but with a number of subtle physiological and anatomical changes that facilitate their predatory nocturnal lifestyle. Vampires almost universally resemble a recently deceased corpse. Yet, they are generally considered to be beautiful in appearance by human standards. With their pale skin, piercing eyes, and slim figures due to having less fatty tissues than their original human forms.
Vampires exhibit extended mandibles and numerous other anatomical features. Starting with the vampire's most prominent feature, their characteristic teeth. Both their upper and lower canines are longer and sharper than a human's due to an enamel buildup during their initial transformation process. As a vampire ages, fluid loss shows a noticeable recession of the gums, making the teeth appear longer. Due to their inability to die of senescence, this can be a key factor in determining how long someone has been a vampire. The inability to die of age is caused by the vampire's cell structure no longer degrading over time but is still able to regenerate new cells.
The muscular composition is radically altered, with over 90 percent of their muscle fibers having transformed into the fast-twitch variety. Not only does this mean that vampires are disturbingly fast, but they are nearly inexhaustible. Interestingly, the heart and circulatory system of the vampire remains inert even after transformation. Vampire blood is instead pumped by the contraction of skeletal muscles. This is why, even when at rest, the vampire's extremities, such as the fingers and toes, will involuntarily twitch and why the epidermis of a vampire is so pale in color as blood is drawn away from the body's surface. This also causes the vampire to have a lower body temperature than a normal human. Vampire skin has a high concentration of organic compounds known as porphyrins, which may account for the almost ethereal radiance vampire skin is said to have, but also plays a key role in one of the vampire's more famous weaknesses. Going back to the fingers, you may have seen vampires alternatively depicted with and without claws in place of their fingernails. This is due to vampires having the unusual ability to turn their fingernails into sharpened weapons in seconds and then return them to a normal state. Unlike the claws of similar transformed-human species, such as lycans and Windigo, this remarkable feature is not created by extensions of bone and is instead a result of increased production of keratin. When needed, the vampire will flex their palms and curl their fingers in a gesture that can easily be mistaken for a melodramatic flair, but is actually quite necessary as the contraction of those muscles cause an increase in the circulation of blood to the fingers. Sending large groups of proteins with it to the matrix unguis of the finger. This triggers a rapid increase in the production of keratin cells that cause the nails to quickly grow into sharpened claws in a matter of seconds. These claws are used not only to help restrain prey but also for navigating the rugged, mountainous terrain that they normally inhabit. When not needed, the vampire's body reabsorbs the new keratin cells, causing the nails to revert back to their normal state.
The vampire digestive tract is greatly reduced with the stomach nearly atrophied. But is able to absorb the high levels of iron in their liquid diet thanks to a lengthening of the small intestinal tract. The kidneys, specifically, are proficient at filtering and excreting the high amounts of nitrogen waste that is a product of this hemotropic diet. That same nitrogen waste also gives vampire urine a noticeable ammonia smell. A change in the bacterial gut biome and enhanced resistance to prion viruses gives vampires immunity to bloodborne illnesses.
Vampire eyes feature hyper-dilated pupils and an increased reflectivity that causes them to shimmer even in low-light conditions. The eyes feature four types of cones compared to the human eye's three. This fourth cone is tuned to near-infrared, allowing for superior night vision, though this makes them sensitive to bright light. Hypertrophic cerebral neurons and additional receptor cells dramatically increase the vampire's hearing range and the same is true of smell.
Many of the subtler differences between vampires and humans can be found in the brain. Serotonin, the chemical for controlling urges, is lowered in the brain and the pathways for dopamine and endorphins are strengthened in response to feeding behaviors. The visual cortex and amygdala are also enlarged, giving vampires enhanced perception. The corpus callosum is also enlarged allowing for near instantaneous communication between all regions of the vampire's brain. In short, vampires are vastly more intelligent than their human contemporaries.
Biological Traits
Immortality
The vampire's ageless longevity is believed to be caused by the abundance of telomerase, an enzyme that repairs long repetitive sections of DNA sequences at the ends of chromosomes, referred to as telomeres. Telomerase is expressed by most vertebrates during embryonic stages but is generally absent from adult stages of life. However, unlike most vertebrates, vampires express telomerase as adults through most tissue, making them biologically immortal.Supernatural Powers
While most of the vampire's abilities are a result of their unique biology, some are indeed of supernatural and magical origin. A frequently cited physical characteristic is the inability to cast a reflection or shadow, which often translates into an inability to be photographed or recorded on film. They can defy gravity to a certain extent to float in the air. Vampires are known to have powerful hypnotic, telepathic, and illusionary abilities. Within limitations, they have the ability to vanish and reappear elsewhere at will.Only during the hours of night, can vampires change form at will. Able to grow and become small, with the most popular forms being those of bats, wolves, or large dogs. When the moonlight is shining, they can travel as elemental dust within its rays.
Weaknesses
Perhaps the vampire's most famous weakness is sunlight. While there are biological processes that explain this weakness, its origin lies in the supernatural. The very first vampire was once a human being. A knight who sold his soul to a demon in exchange for immortality and power. This selling of his soul represented him turning his back to the love of the Abrahamic god, Yahweh. Who's love and forgiveness have often been associated with the light and warmth of the sun by his followers. (This is also why vampires can also be repelled by holy water or the crucifix.) This curse manifests itself in vampire biology through the excess of porphyrins accumulated in the skin. Porphyrins are photoactive molecules and exposure to sunlight results in the promotion of electrons to higher energy levels. When these return to the resting energy level or ground state, energy is released. This accounts for the property of fluorescence typical of porphyrins. This causes local skin damage in the form of burns, blisters, and scars when directly exposed to sunlight. As such, the powers of all vampires are weakened during daylight hours and direct exposure to sunlight will cause a vampire's body to rapidly disintegrate if exposed for more than two minutes. Leaving only dust and the skeleton remaining. There are, of course, loopholes. Moonlight, which is just sunlight reflected off Earth's moon, has no negative effects and in fact, strengthens the vampire's powers. Sunlight filtered through cloudy or overcast weather similarly has no fatal effects, though it still weakens their powers and causes minor skin damage. Artificial UV light can weaken a vampire and burn away the epidermal layer, but cannot kill them outright. Interestingly, the flashes that occur during lighting strikes also trigger the porphyrin reaction in vampire skin and a split-second negation of their powers. This has led to some rare tragic, or humorous depending on your view, instances of a vampire falling out of the sky while attempting to fly in a thunderstorm.
Arrogant, vampires love to flaunt that they are immune to mortal weapons. While that may have been true during the Medieval and Victorian eras, when blades and small firearms were ineffective against vampires and their regenerative abilities, it is not so anymore. As man has evolved, so too has his weapons. Anything that can severely mangle or shred a vampire's body beyond what its regenerative abilities can handle will kill it. This includes; explosives, shells, high-caliber weapons, plasma, and any other supernatural creature with the physical abilities to naturally cause such damage. Venom from other supernatural species, primarily from those specialized in some variety of neurotoxin or myotoxin, are highly effective at killing vampires, with neurotoxins being the best. Hemotoxins of any source are ineffective against vampires.
The popular historical method of piercing the vampire's heart with a wooden stake is also an effective method. It is best to attempt this while a vampire is resting or otherwise incapacitated.
Genetics and Reproduction
When they become such, there comes with the change the curse of immortality; they cannot die, but must go on age after age adding new victims and multiplying the evils of the world. For all that die from the preying of the Undead become themselves Undead, and prey on their kind. And so the circle goes on ever widening, like as the ripples from a stone thrown in the water. Friend Arthur, if you had met that kiss which you know of before poor Lucy die, or again, last night when you open your arms to her, you would in time, when you had died, have become nosferatu, as they call it in Eastern Europe, and would for all time make more of those Un-Deads that so have filled us with horror.
— Dr. Seward's journal, Dracula, Chapter 16
A Refined Breed
Due to their territoriality, reproduction via mating between vampires is exceedingly rare. Instead, vampires more commonly reproduce via a mutagenic virus found in their saliva and transmitted into a new host's bloodstream via the vampire's bite. Assuming the vampire's victim does not perish from exsanguination, they will become afflicted with vampirism.
Due to the species' sense of superiority combined with their unique reproduction method, vampires have developed their own form of sexual selection. When looking for a human to turn, vampires search for the following characteristics:
- General physical attractiveness.
- High social status. Generally from noble, aristocratic, or otherwise wealthy classes
- High intellegence.
Vampire breeding is heavily monitored and controlled among themselves in order to both remain hidden and prevent a worldwide depletion of resources that would inevitably occur as a result of overpopulation.
Dhampir
Despite their elitism and taboos against intimate relations with outside species, it is possible, though exceptionally rare, for a vampire and a human to produce offspring. The resulting hybrids are known as dhampir (Sapiens x Nosferatu dhampiraj). Legends state that dhampirs are, for the most part, normal members of the human communities that they were born into. But dhampirs, especially males, of paternal vampire descent could see invisible vampires and practice sorcery. Often starting careers as vampire hunters, which would be practiced for generations from father to son. They are not attracted to blood and can eat normally like other human beings. They also are not vulnerable to sunlight.Ecology and Habitats
Dietary Needs and Habits
Scarlet Feast
Perhaps the most well-known trait of vampires is that they are consummate sanguivores. As the price for their immortality, a vampire must consume a body's worth of blood on a bi-weekly basis. While humans are the most popular prey, any animal will do as long as it has red hemoglobin. To prevent wasteful blood loss, vampires will do their best to avoid wounding victims prior to feeding. Even so much as bruising them can be detrimental, since the blood becomes trapped under the skin. Upon locating slumbering prey, vampires will use their enlarged fangs to make incisions in their prey's skin. Preferably over a major blood vessel, which is why the neck is a popular area for vampire feeding. The saliva of the vampire not only contains the virus that allows them to propagate but also an anticoagulant and anesthetic to subdue prey. Once blood begins to flow freely, they use their tongue to guide the blood into the throat. Assuming the victim does not meet the vampire's standards for turning, a vampire will drain the victim completely of blood. Leading to death.Behaviour
Creatures of the Night
Nocturnal, the circadian rhythm is reversed in vampires. While their muscular composition makes them nearly inexhaustible while active, vampires consequently need lengthy periods of rest in order to recharge. Typically, a vampire requires a full twelve hours of sleep in order to remain healthy. In terms of comfortable places to sleep, vampires prefer tight claustrophobic spaces. This is why coffins and catacombs are such popular choices for their beds. They are known for having an appreciation for ancient architecture.Although they often live reclusive public lives, vampires are known for their charisma and veneer of aristocratic charm and romanticism. Their civilized sophistication lies in contrast to the cruelty of their blood-sucking ways. Due to the lack of serotonin in the brain, vampires have trouble tempering their urges. Which often makes them slaves to their individual vices in spite of their great intelligence. Combined with the strengthened dopamine receptors, feeding is made an intensely pleasurable act that can be difficult to disengage from, even if the intent is for propagation. A side effect of their enlarged amygdala increases vampires' disposition toward forming obsessive habits like collecting various items, raising animals such as bats, and counting. While vampires often act with cold and callous behavior, they do retain the ability to feel human emotions. Such as happiness, grief, anger, joy, and nostalgia for the past. Though their ability to feel empathy or remorse, especially towards their victims, is greatly diminished. Vampires who have been recently turned tend to act with confusion and paranoia before coming to terms with their new bodies. Younger vampires tend to act with flamboyant hedonism. Taking every advantage afforded by their mystique and charming ways. Older vampires who've been alive for several centuries tend to be more depressive and full of self-pity, due to emotional issues acquired from the hundreds of years they've been alive. They're prone to self-destructive and cruel tendencies.
Vampires are highly territorial creatures. Acting with hostility to other members of their species. Due to a desire to have a monopoly over the resources in their territories, it's rare to see vampires cohabiting. The only exception is when a vampire has a newly turned ward under their wing. Due to the period of confusion and paranoia those recently afflicted with vampirism experience, getting used to their new body and lifestyle may take some time. With their newfound powers and corresponding limitations manifesting in unintuitive ways, new vampires spend the first few months living with their progenitor learning the ins and outs of the vampire way of life before setting out on their own. Recently-turned and young vampires who did not have a mentor are more likely to become intoxicated by their newfound power. Often leading to their swift end or capture by humans. Like virtually all mammals, vampires assert their dominance through display behavior and fighting. They will hiss and growl, bare their fangs and claws, draw weapons, and showcase their prodigious strength, speed, and leaping ability to intimidate rivals. They tend to have a primal and predatory worldview and a complex relationship with humans.
Additional Information
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Average Intelligence
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Civilization and Culture
Major Organizations
Populist vs. Elitist philosophies
Because of their territoriality, vampires rarely occupy the same areas as each other but do maintain loose communication with each other. Contrary to the clichéd notion of good and evil vampires, it's arguably more useful to categorize them as either Elitists or Populists. Naturally, the vast majority of vampires are Elitists who want to keep their numbers small to avoid drawing attention or rivalry. Occasionally, a Populist will emerge to promote the idea of significantly expanding the ranks of their species. Nevertheless, Elitists have always controlled the agenda and they brook no dissent. Because many of them hold ancestral titles of nobility, they behave as regional governors ruling over isolated populations of local humans. These human subjects may or may not be aware as to their ruler's vampirism. Some vampires live in symbiosis with their human subjects. Posing as a human and only occasionally kidnaping one to be used as sustenance. Others are more overt and use fear to keep their subjects from rebelling. These more malevolent vampires tend to keep armies of night creatures as bodyguards and enforcers.
Beauty Ideals
Common Dress Code
Sharp Dressers
Despite pop culture having a running joke of vampires wearing antiquated and conspicuous clothes, they have adapted well to modern fashion. Having traded in their gothic capes and attire for expensive three-piece suits.Culture and Cultural Heritage
Tracing Bloodlines
Vampires have their own unique way of recording family lineages. Due to their reproductive method and abstinence from mating, family lines are not recorded through traditional means of genetic relations. But, instead through recording the pathogen transmission of vampirism from a host to a newly infected individual in what is known as sirelines. Sirelines are essentially a long list of "who infected who." Contrary to popular belief, killing the progenitor of a sireline will not result in the deaths of their progeny.Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
Killer Parties
The aristocratic vampire is known for being romantic, flamboyant, and fabulously wealthy. Using their wealth to maintain their vampiric lifestyle. Among the younger generation, it is common to throw lavish parties whereby they prey on their impressed, but unsuspecting guests.Common Taboos
History
A Bloody History
Despite the vampire's seeming ubiquity in modern culture making it appear as though they are an ancient evil that has stalked man from the shadows since the dawn of time, Vampiris nosferatu are among the youngest species of the Vampiris family. Most of their dreadful reputation is inherited from their ancestor species. Like the revenant (Inferi revenire), the extinct vrykolakas (Vampiris brycolac ), and the strigoi (Vampiris strixoi) and even appropriated from ancient divine entities. However, V. nosferatu's reputation is not completely unwarranted. They have walked alongside man for several centuries now. Lurking in the dark of the night and preying on him, but also helping him commit some of the worst evils in Western history.They say that "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions" and it appears this was the case for the origins of the vampires we know. Records recovered from the libraries in some of the oldest known vampire castles indicate the first member of V. nosferatu was born sometime in the 15th century. We know little about his life other than he was a human knight whose country was nearly overrun by an invading army from the Ottoman Empire sometime around 1431. In a moment of desperation, he turned to the dark arts instead of his faith to save his country. He made a deal with a powerful demon lord in Hell for the power to defeat his enemies and save his country in exchange for his soul. Seeing in this man's desperation, a chance to damn even more souls than this singular knight's, the demon accepted. Needing a way for this curse to propagate itself, the demon lord looked to an earlier creation of his, V. strixoi, as a source of inspiration. Devising for this knight, a curse suited for one of a more refined status. The resulting powers imbued upon this human turned him into the first modern vampire. It is unknown if the progenitor vampire used his newfound dark powers to defeat the Ottoman incursion as he intended. But, we know that he claimed victims from both sides and created the first generation of vampires. The mutagenic virus carried in his saliva allowed the vampiric curse to spread far and wide. All vampires, regardless of their human ethnic origins, can trace their sirelines back to him as their forefather.
Vampires have walked along man through Europe's history, although mostly hidden in its annals. There was a time when they were more populous and rarely gave the same care to hiding their nature as they do now. Which turned out to be detrimental to them in the long run as humans spread knowledge about vampires and their weaknesses through the trade routes, to the point where it started to become common knowledge even among peasants. As seen in the rise of human vampire hunters. This knowledge became so widespread that vampires were unable to make a foothold in India. As Indian-led advancements in science allowed for the creation of several weapons designed specifically for the purpose of combating vampires. It was late in the 16th century when the Elitist philosophy began to become widespread among European vampires in order to adapt. In line with this new philosophy, vampire populations began to decline around this time and become more secretive. While European vampires had a large presence in the aristocracy of its various countries, with nearly every individual vampire holding at least some title of nobility, they had little interest in the politics of the region and were content to be left alone to lord over their human subjects in the regions they inhabited.
When Europeans started immigrating to the New World, some vampires came with them. As the voyage across the Atlantic to the New World took six weeks or more, this caused a few ships to mysteriously arrive in the Americas with their crew and passengers missing, save for one. Vampires were moderately successful at establishing populations in South America and the West Indies. In the Caribbean specifically, a combination of adaptations for island life, a thriving population, interaction with the supernatural spirits known as jumbies from Africa, and local forms of witchcraft, gave rise to V. nosferatu's first genetic descendant species in the form of the soucouyant (Vampiris asema). In North America proper, things were a bit different. At first, vampires saw the settlers on the frontier along with the indigenous peoples, who had no previous knowledge of them, as a feast for the taking. But this view changed as missionaries brought Christianity and with it, knowledge about how to slay vampires. This knowledge, combined with their cultural inclination towards cooperative defense among individual tribes and experience in dealing with things much worse than vampires, made the various Native American nations living along the eastern seaboard of Canada and what would become the United States adept at identifying disguised vampires through behavioral patterns and at repelling their attacks than the bloodsuckers had anticipated. Incorporating vampire weaknesses into their traditional weaponry, some of the New World's most skilled and prolific vampire slayers hailed from the Iroquois and Wabanaki nations. Now that they were going to have to fight for their food along with the fierce competition from the native flavors of supernaturals in the north slowly drove the immigrant vampires down south and back into more populated areas.
Many of the vampires who settled in the New World upheld their wealthy status by getting involved with the triangular trade between Europe, the New World, and Africa. The reason behind their involvement was the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Seeing the influx of enslaved peoples imported from Africa as a way to keep a convenient stock of food close by whose deaths would not be questioned by other humans. Consequently, the need for money to buy new slaves meant that New World vampires also got into the export business. Owning large plantations for growing crops in order to gain capital. Unlike their European counterparts, American vampires got themselves deeply involved in the country's politics. During the American Civil War in 1861, American vampires almost universally sided with the Confederacy to protect their interests. Many vampire hunters began enlisting in the Union, taking with them the means to slay vampire soldiers. The commonality of steel bayonets coated in layers of silver among Union forces made helped even the playing field for human soldiers during Confederate vampires' nocturnal charges into close-quarters combat. The following four years saw a severe decline in American vampire populations and those that remained started to see the wisdom behind their European cousin's Elitist way of thinking.
In the modern age, where titles of nobility mean very little anymore, vampires have adapted. Now vampires are still quite wealthy by keeping a close watch on the economic trends. Similarly, a large number of vampires have gotten themselves deeply involved in the human black market and criminal enterprises. Primarily human trafficking and organ harvesting as a means to feed. This is one of the reasons why vampires residing in the Trench's Upper-Levels have done so well for themselves by continuing to run their own operations.
Common Myths and Legends
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Humanity
"Really? That's what they think of us now?" - An elder vampire disgusted after reading modern human literature featuring vampires
The vampire's relationship with humans is a complex one. Vampires tend to view themselves as superior to humans. As they are, by their own admission, a human being in the most extreme form. And with their supernatural powers, agelessness, and general immortality, it is not hard to see why they hold humans in such low regard. Reveling in the fear they create in the minds of humans. But humans are still vital to vampire survival. As they are not only a staple food source, but also the instrument through which the vampiric reproduction process occurs. Why else would vampires pay such special attention to monitoring their own feeding and reproductive habits, if not to ensure that humans do not go extinct?
In modern times, humans have begun to develop a perverse fascination with vampires thanks to modern media. Something vampires themselves find repulsive but are still willing to play into this new stereotype if it means prey will now willingly fling themselves into the vampire's grasp.
The vampire's arrogance is often their undoing. Being popular in modern culture has its downsides as it also makes your weaknesses as a species common knowledge among your enemies. The Organization often had little trouble in capturing vampires and imprisoning them within the Trench. Using the threat of UV lights lining their cells to "encourage" them to be cooperative with their human jailers and their research.
Anything you can do, I can do better
They tend to have competitive relations with any supernatural species that feed on humans. The exact level of animosity depends on whether the rival species is currently outcompeting them or not.No Love for Your Family
An undead blood-drinking species that vampires have frequent contact with due to geographic overlap and shared ancestry is the strigoi (Homo Vampiris strixoi). As one of the older members of the Vampiris family, strigoi are often considered to be the prototype for whatever demon made the vampiric curse and share a number of traits with their younger cousins. However, vampires tend to look down on strigoi for a number of reasons. Namely, the strigoi's repulsive appearance combined with their common lower-class origins. This leads to many strigoi being driven out by a vampire looking to claim new territory.Rivalry of Fangs, Fur, and Claws
With their cold intellects and aristocratic status, vampires within Pharaoh's Empire commonly find themselves in leadership positions. Armies led by these undead officers often partake in more deceitful strategies. Sharing a similar seat of power in the Empire to the Kuwakens' has bred an intense rivalry between the two. The animosity between the two species is so intense that the armies they each command have to be separated and serve on different fronts from each other.Vampire's Best Friend
As mankind domesticated the dog, so too has the vampire domesticated the Southwestern American breed of chupacabra following its discovery and subsequent population bloom in the early 2000s. While vampires are known for chasing other bloodsuckers out of their territory, it seems that they've made an exception for the canine chupacabra. Just like its antisocial Puerto Rican equivalent, the Southwestern chupacabra does not see humans as prey and is much more interested in their domesticated livestock. Thus the vampire has tamed them in the same way prehistoric man tamed the dog. The popularity of chupacabra as pets among vampires has led to their species being sighted as far away from their native environment as Russia.Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
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