Vampire

Created to be the perfect warrior, vampires subsist on blood alone. First created during The Great War, they have since developed a highly sophisticated society.

Basic Information

Biological Traits

Only two visible traits differentiate a vampire from a human. Vampires have long canines they call fangs, and their irises are always red.

Genetics and Reproduction

Vampires are infertile, and the only way for a vampire to propagate is to turn another human.

Growth Rate & Stages

If a human is successfully turned into a vampire, they stay eternally at the age of when they were turned. Because of this, it is generally frowned upon to turn children.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

All vampires, whether they had magical ability before they were turned or not, are able to touch one of the six elements listed below.

Common Elements

• Chalybs
• Obscurum
• Terra

Uncommon Elements

• Aquas
• Spiritus

Rare Elements

• Natura

Civilization and Culture

Common Etiquette Rules

Because vampires are extremely long lived, they have an extensive social structure.

Purebloods

Pureblood vampires are those who were part of the group of humans who were originally turned by Dunstan, Arch of Obscurum, and the Sphinxes. There are very few left, as most of them died in the Great War. The ones who survived are immensely powerful and nigh impossible to kill. Purebloods are never targeted by the Hunters, since they are the only vampires who can reliably rein in a rogue. When the Hunter Society became official, they made a pact with the Purebloods: if there was ever any rogue who could not be killed by the Society, a Pureblood is to be summoned to take care of the issue. Purebloods are fickle creatures, however, and taking care of the issue may not result in the killing of the rogue.

Purebloods are the ultimate authority of vampires. Due to a quirk in the magic that helped create them, all vampires except other Purebloods are compelled to follow a direct order from a Pureblood. Due to this, vampires have a way of talking that has them never giving a direct order to another unless it is necessary.

Given their capricious nature, one must always be polite when talking to a Pureblood, no matter how well one knows the Pureblood. The politest form of the language in which they talk must always be used, and they must always be referred to as Lord/Lady Pureblood. Often, the name of the Pureblood is omitted unless one is on friendly terms with the Pureblood.

Eminents

Eminents are vampires directly created by Purebloods, and are rarely under 500 years old. There are a few left from the humans turned during the war, but most Eminents were created after the Great War officially ended. They were the ones who set up the idea of clans amongst vampires. This idea turned into what is know known as a Consanguinity - a group of vampires who can trace their lineage to one Eminent. The Eminent decide the name of the Consanguinity.

Like the Purebloods, Eminents have the ability to directly compel vampires, but their ability is a little more restricted. Eminent cannot compel any Pureblood, nor can they compel any vampire outside of their Consanguinity. Because of this ability, however, they too must be addressed with polite language and be referred to as Eminent vampire name of the Consanguinity name.

Aristocrats

As the title suggests, Aristocrats are those vampires who are considered the upper echelon of vampire society. They are any vampire made by an Eminent that is over 500 years old. Mortals are unable to tell the difference between Aristocrats, Matures, and Fledglings; vampires are trained from the day they are turned to understand the subtleties that tell the difference between the classes.

Aristocrats also have the ability to compel other vampires, but like Eminents, they can only compel vampires with a direct lineage underneath them. They do not utilize this ability nearly as much as Eminents and Purebloods. Younger vampires, including other Aristocrats who are younger than the vampire in question, must address an Aristocrat as such: Sir/Madam vampire name of the Consanguinity name.

Matures

Vampires between the ages of 100 to 500 years are considered mature. By this time in their new life, they have learned to control their bloodlust to an acceptable degree, and their skill in their element is adept at worst. They are considered the commoners of the Consanguinity, and are the most numerous class of vampires. Using polite language around them is only reserved for Neophytes, who must always address them as vampire name of the Consanguinity name.

Neophytes

Vampires under the age of 100 years are Neophytes. They can be created by any of the other ranks of vampire, but are almost always created by Aristocrats or Matures. In some ways they are considered the most dangerous vampire class, for Neophytes are unable to control their bloodlust around living humans. They must always be under constant watch by a Mature or Aristocrat vampire, and are considered the slaves of the Consanguinity. Other vampires in the Consanguinity only address Neophytes as Neophyte/servant/slave/boy/girl, unless they have taken a special liking to the Neophyte.

Neophytes are not allowed to use the Consanguinity name in conjunction with their own name until they have proven they have full control over their bloodlust. Also, they are not allowed to use their magic outside of training sessions unless their own life is in peril.

Rogues

Rogues are not an official class recognized by vampires, but they are a class where the Hunter Society is concerned. These are the vampires that indiscriminately feed off humans with no regard for proper working of vampire society. They are considered lower on the hierarchy than Neophytes, and generally ignored by most vampires. Rogues are normally younger than 500 years old. Once they are determined to have gone rogue, by either vampires or a group of humans who feel vampires are attacking them indiscriminately, the Hunter Society is informed. Their life expectancy drops significantly after this event.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

When talking about a vampire's age, the age the human was when they were turned is irrelevant. They are considered reborn once they are turned, and start to recount their years. Their birthday also shifts to the day they were reborn, although Neophytes still attempt to celebrate their "living birthday" for a couple of decades before abandoning the tradition.

Common Taboos

It is taboo to kill a Pureblood for any reason. Any who do, or even severely injure one, is hunted by any and all vampires who learn of this transgression. The Hunter Society.

History

During the War

Vampires were the second species to be created during the Great War. The Sphinxes wanted a soldier who's immortality rivaled theirs, but could also withstand major injuries on the battlefield. A creature with the fighting spirit; a creature with blood-lust. They gathered up their most dedicated human followers and, taking the idea of blood-lust literally, had the humans drink some of their blood. All of the humans who took part in this little experiment, about 30 in total, fell deathly ill over the next few days. They simultaneously had fever and chills, their faces became gaunt and sunken in, their eyes became bloodshot red, and their skin turned exceedingly pale. All had very little appetite, and most stopped eating altogether. By the fifth day of this sickness, all the humans had died. The Sphinxes wrote off their dead followers as a failed experiment and started to plan again.
The very next day, much to the surprise of the Sphinxes, most of these humans got up and continued with their lives, as if they had only been sleeping. Excited, the Sphinxes ran some tests on the new creatures, wanting to see if they had immortality and could withstand injury like they had originally planned. The new species had almost instantaneous healing abilities and could withstand higher levels of pain than any other species. All five of their senses outstripped a humans and rivaled the elves. They were smart, they were fast, and they were strong. There were some issues, both major and minor. The creatures were indefensible against fire, and the first subject tested died before the Sphinxes could halt the experiment. The second test subject sustained major burns that took a long time to heal, longer than a normal human would heal from burn wounds. They also were adversely affected by sunlight. The longer they were out in the sun, the weaker their powers, healing abilities, and senses would become. These problems the Sphinxes considered minor, a small trade-off for near perfect invulnerability.
The major issue, the one that nearly killed the new species before it received an official name, happened about seven days after they first rewoke from death. For those seven days, not one of the new creatures showed any signs of being hungry nor thirsty. That seventh day, as they were starting to be fitted for new armor, four of them attacked the humans who were fitting them, biting at any point that had an easily accessible artery with sharp canines and draining the humans of all their blood. The Sphinxes were elated that the new creatures had literal blood-lust, but also worried. What if the creatures, like the lycanthropes, attacked their fellow men? With the lycanthropes, the attacks only occurred during the full moon, and not even every full moon. With these new creatures, the attacks appeared to stem from hunger. They were clearly more dangerous. The Sphinxes were conflicted. On one hand, they needed stronger soldiers, for they were losing more battles than they were winning. On the other hand, they could not have the creatures give in to their hunger in the middle of a battle, especially since the smell of blood appeared to set off the appetite in others. A day later, their decision was made for them. Like the original test subjects, most of the humans who were attacked rewoke like nothing happened. The Sphinxes ran the same tests on these new creatures, and found their strength and healing ability were only slightly less than the originals. Happy with the idea the creature could propagate in this way, the Sphinxes cast a spell over the species. It lowered their blood-lust so that they could go days without feeding without any adverse effects. It also made it so the only way the creature could create a new one was to transfer some of their own blood to the human they fed off of, and to make sure they did not draw so much blood that the human died before the transfer. The spell did decrease their war-like tendencies, but the Sphinxes were still satisfied with their fix. They termed the new creatures "vampire."
As the war went on, the original vampires proved time and time again that they were just short of impossible to kill. The vampires they created were only slightly easier to kill. The vampires appeared not to age, frozen in time at the age they were "brought over." Their power, both physical and magical, did grow the longer they were a vampire, and their need to feed decreased the longer they were a vampire. During the war was when the original vampires learned they could compel any vampire they created, and the beginnings of their sophisticated society started. They became more selective on whom they feed and whom they brought over, and learned there were limitations to who could be turned. Lycanthropes could be turned, but they lost any of their wolf features after they rewoke. Elves and Drow fell incredibly ill, but thanks to their innate healing abilities, would not die from the infection, so they never turned. Dwarves died instantly if any significant amount of vampire blood entered their system. The poison was too much for their smaller bodies. Faeries, whether under the direction of Dunstan or the opposing Arches, stayed as far away from vampires as possible. For reasons unbeknownst to even vampirekind, the blood of a faerie was incredibly intoxicating, almost like an addictive drug. If a faerie spent too much time around a vampire, they would not make it out alive.

After the War

Arch Ananda wanted to rid Tilandrial of any and all creatures the Sphinxes created during the war. Her human followers caught wind of her feelings and decided to help her out as a way to show their worship. They formed a band of vampire hunters, and were able to kill more than their fair share of vampires. When Ananda heard of the hunters, she decried their actions. Vampires, like any other creatures the dragons or Sphinxes had helped create, were intricately woven into the fabric of magic in Tilandrial. Wiping out an entire species would cause irreparable damage. Instead, she forced the original vampires into a kind of hibernation, hiding them all over Tilandrial in the hopes no one would find them. Ananda tried to force the other vampires into hiding as well, but because they were more numerous, the vampire hunters had killed most of them before she had a chance. The idea of being a vampire hunter had spread over all of Tilandrial, and Ananda had to unhappily deem the matter solved. Years later, a few original vampires had been accidentally woken from their hibernation, and started to propigate their species once more. Ananda found out the Hunter Society had secretly started back up in response to lycanthrope attacks, and she allowed their official reformation. With the new Arch of Ignus, they set down stricter laws of who they were allowed to hunt.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Vampires have a sense that they are more important than any other species, and tend to view others as below them. Lycanthropes are on the lowest level, even under goblins. The two species hate each other more than any other two species ever have on Tilandrial.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Human
• Sphinx

Lifespan

Essentially immortal

Famous Vampires

Kyuukatsuki