Vampires
The Bloodlines of the Undead
Origins
Vampires have been around for almost 12,000 years though no one, not even many of the vampires themselves, are aware of how they came to be. True vampires share nothing more really than the name and need for blood with some of their counterparts of myth, novel, or the big screen. But some of the tales spun of them have some truth in them, as all stories do.
The First
Many of the vampires of today are unaware of their true origins with the first of their kind. Contrary to popular belief that he is either dead or a myth, he still lives and roams the world, hiding his presence amongst the younger generation as he moves through them to see what the people he created have become over the centuries. To those that are aware of his continued existence, he is known as Nazar.
The Elders
Not as rumored to death and myth as the First, there are the six Elders: children of Nazar himself and founders of the six bloodlines to which vampires belong. Some believe them to have retreated from the world but when some problem arises within the vampiric community, one or more of them is there to either quickly crush or solve it.
Read more about The Elders.
Turning
It is uncertain how the process actually occurs but to be Turned, a vampire must drain the blood from a human until they are almost to the point of death. At this point they must feed them their own blood, which begins the process and can take anywhere from two to five hours to complete (generally). It is possible that despite having the blood in their system, that the human will die, their body unable to process the blood or unable to recover from the near death experience. Given as such, a human does not technically die during the process of becoming a vampire but comes back to life as something altogether new.
It is thought that the thing that determines whether a mortal is Turned or not is a bestial spirit within all Mortals that is called the Primal. How bloodthirsty a vampire may be is also thought to determine how much of the Primal they possess.
The stress of a failed Turning on a body can (and has) cause the body to turn to ash, this bringing rise to the myth of them doing so upon death. However, a normal vampiric body is no more prone to turning to ash than any normal mortal's body.
Merely feeding blood to a human is capable of granting them a few vampire abilities, the need for blood, and a lengthened lifespan. The amount of blood ingested and accepted by the body is tantamount to the length of the lifespan as well as the how many vampiric attributes they take on. This existence between immortality and mortality has been dubbed Half-Cursed as they are neither vampire nor mortal.
Also in the time between being mortal and vampire the process can be reversed by a witch with the knowledge of a certain ancient ritual. Many still alive do not know of this ritual's existence, however, and few Turned Mortals ever know a witch so this ever occurring in the few hours interim between the two states is highly unlikely. Given the near death state of anyone being Turned, it is not possible for them to seek out such help but it can be done by those around them. Those fed blood with the risk of becoming Half-Cursed can also have their transformation reversed before it is too late but it is still a rarity.
Traits
Vampires are unaffected by garlic, crosses, or holy ground. Nor are they required to have an invitation to enter a place with a threshold. Sunlight, however, can cause discomfort enough to provide the need for a good pair of sunglasses and some sunscreen on occasion but nothing so serious as spontaneous combustion. Some have a higher sensitivity for sunlight than others but this tends to only come out with greater age.
After being Turned, the strength, speed, and agility of a vampire will increase all-together but will also increase depending upon what the vampire was like in life. If agile in life, their agility as a vampire will be higher. If fast, they will be faster, and so on. All vampires also experience an increase in their five senses as well as healing. How quickly healing takes place, of course, depends on how recently a vampire has fed as well as how truly grievous the wound is; a stab wound, for instance, can be healed fairly quickly but a huge tear nearly severing a limb could take days or even mean permanent death.
Another trait after being Turned is that over the first few years of a new vampire's life the canines slowly become sharper so as to pierce skin but not so noticeable that it utterly gives them away.
Death can be caused to a vampire - it is simply rarely through aging unless they have ceased feeding altogether. Massive bodily trauma and decapitation are sure methods of killing a vampire but they can die in many of the same ways a human can - it simply takes more due to their high resilience and healing. Several gunshots to the head is the most recently developed method that will guarantee a death, as attested to by the Hunter Clans.
Because they do not truly die, a vampire's body continues to function much like it did when they were mortal. Thus they retain a pulse and blood flow and the heart continues beating in order to keep old and new blood circulating through their system as well as other nutrients. Because their body is now reprogrammed to survive most heavily off of blood, any taken into the system is absorbed into the bloodstream more quickly than anything else. Vampires can still eat food and drink other liquids as a means of nourishment but if consumed without blood it will make them considerably weaker. Being without a steady source of blood as a food source can also cause a vampire to lose any hint of color in their skin tone, giving them an appearance closer to a corpse.
Bloodlust
Bloodlust is the half-mad, somewhat drunken state of being vampires go into when they have not fed in a while (also called Blood Madness). If a vampire goes too far into this state, their body will begin to shut down unnecessary processes in order to keep their mental facilities for longer. During this time, the heartbeat slows to barely beating, breathing slows to nearly imperceptible, and the skin chills to almost deathly cold. It is perhaps thought that vampires in this advanced Bloodlust state are where these parts of vampire mythology sprang from.
Vampires younger than 40 to 50 decades can only go two-three days without drinking blood before they begin to enter the state of Bloodlust.
Vampires older than 50 can go from three days or up to a week without blood. It just depends on the vampire themselves how long they can last.
Vampire with strong Primal sides going into Blood Madness is a very bad thing. The first few times they will seem perfectly sane until they try to rip out the throat of anyone around them. Further times going into Blood Madness can cause the vampire to go Rogue and out of control - often with no way to regain it. This usually leads to death at the hands of one or more of The Elders.
Quick Terminology
THE FIRST
Refers to Nazar, father of all vampires.
ELDER
Refers to one of the six vampires from whom the Lines are named, all of whom are sired by Nazar.
ELDRITCH
Refers to any vampire of extremely advanced age (10,000+). Those this old have an eerie, off-putting aura around them.
ANCIENT
Refers to any vampire of advanced age (5,000+).
SIRE
Refers to any vampire who had Turned a mortal.
CHILD
Refers to the spawn of a vampire (ie: Djal is a child of Nazar).
FLEDGLING
Refers to a newly turned vampire.
BLOODSIBLING
Refers to those who have a common sire (ie: Djal is Issuru's bloodbrother).
PRIMAL
Refers to the name of the bestial part of mortal spirit that is believed to allow mortals to be Turned.
ROGUE
Refers to a vampire that has gone mad with bloodlust. Generally believed to be caused by them possessing too much of the Primal.
Three Laws
Like many creatures vampires are ruled by laws. Upon viewing their kind growing with the turning of his children and their subsequent children, Nazar created three laws to which all vampire are subject to. Those who break them are judged by him and the Elder of their Line...or more Elders if the insult to the laws is considered terrible enough. Honor and abide by the will of the First, the Elders, and your sire.
Respect the territory of your kin, no matter the Line or sire, and do not treat there if they do not allow such.
If you bring harm to another, he shall have the right to avenge that harm upon you in any way he chooses - whether he may have been the target or a loved one of his.
Vampire are one of my favorite genres and topic. Love what's you written here.
Thanks! I've been working on these guys for over two decades at this point, so they are definitely a labor of love. Nice to know they're appreciated!