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Vampires are feared everywhere. Considered to be ancient parasites,
vampires are universally considered evil. There are some vampires, however, through various adventures and circumstances,
who have retained or attained mortal souls, making them champions of good in the darkness.
Stats:
Species Type: Humanoid
Primary Language:
Common
Lifespan: Immortal
Dominant Sense: Smell
Land of Origin: None
Average Height: Five
feet ten inches (female); Five feet eleven inches (male)
Primary Religion: None
Social Standing: Outlaws
Eating
Pattern: Vampires can eat anything, but only blood sustains them
Unique Abilities:
Vampires are essentially,
stronger, faster, and tougher than average humanoids. They possess great potence which better enables them to feed off
of their living victims. In addition, they have celerity which allows them to outrun both danger and prey. Perhaps
most important, vampires possess the auspex of heightened senses, allowing them to detect the presence of other living beings
nearby. Aside from these basica abilities, vampires can have additional powers, based on their species of origin.
A
Hylian who has been turned into a vampire has the auspex of aura perception. This individual will be able to read the
emotions of others based on the color of their surrounding aura. In addition, Hylian vampires possess what is known
as presence, allowing them not only to enthrall their victims, but also to induce others to be swayed. This presence
extends to the point where Hylian vampires have been known to mentally summon others from whole kingdoms away.
Humans
who become vampires are gifted with great fortitude, making them able to endure circumstances that even the strongest of species
couldn't normally tolerate. A select, elite sect of Human vampires learn a power called dementation which allows them
to project thoughts into the minds of their victims. This is a dangerous skill to use, specially on Hylian victims who
can use the channel of thought to strike back.
Vampires rarely come from Risan origin, due to the fact that the Risan
symbol protects the individual from loss of soul. When a vampire is Risan, this vampire has the gift of animalism, communication
with animals. In addition, Risan vampires possess an ability known as "cloak of shadows" giving them the power to literally
vanish from sight as long as they refrain from physical movement.
History:
Vampires have no real history, as they have been around for as long as people can remember. According to myth,
vampires were created when the last of a race of demons known as the Turok-Han mingled her blood with the blood of a Human
boy on the run after the murder of his brother. He then proceeded to sire three childer and each of these three sired
more until the vampire community had been firmly established.
The legend further goes on to tell that, the Powers That
Be, taking note of the vampire problem, decided to curse vampires with the following weaknesses:
1) The inability to
enter a person's home without a direct invitation
2) No tolerance for sunlight (a vampire in direct sunlight will burst
into flames and turn to a pile of ash)
3) Violent aversion to garlic
4) No reflection in any reflective surface
In
addition, several ways to kill a vampire were created, including decapitation, a wooden stake through the heart, and immersion
in fire. An elite order known was the Watcher Council was further established to keep tabs on the vampire community,
protecting ancient lore and history.
Briefly, during the time of the Imprisoning War, hundreds of vampires banded together
in a crusade for a mythical artifact known as the Gem of Amara, rumored to grant any vampire wearing it total immunity from
weakness. The quest proved unsuccessful and the vampire community splintered again.
In general, vampires either
live in large packs or in complete isolation. They have no real place in the world of the living, as soul-less vampires
live merely to feed and occasionally cause chaos. There are three ways in which a vampire can attain a soul, the first
being through a Risan symbol, the second by passing a series of trials, and the third through being cursed.
Vampires
with souls face a difficult existence, being neither a part of the mortal world nor a part of the vampire community.
Unlike their soulless brethren, vampires with souls are burdened with a conscience. Those with a soul from the beginning
merely suffer isolation while those who attain a soul later on suffer intense guilt over their past crimes. As a rule,
vampires with souls consume animal blood instead of mortal blood. Since they are outcasts from the vampire community,
they occasionally will become obsessed with destroying all soulless vampires, but as they are in a distinct minority, this
has had little impact on the world at large.
Appearance:
Part of what makes the vampire threat so deadly is the fact that vampires can appear
as perfectly normal people, moving through the world. A vampire retains the exact same physical appearance from mortal
life, although they may change their hair color or aquire physical wounds. It is only when a vampire is about to feed
or engage in intense battle that their true nature appears.
Vampires in this state remain more or less the same, except
for notable changes in the facial area. In frenzy, a vampire's forehead will contract, getting lumpy and wrinkled.
Eyebrows disappear and the canine teeth become enlarged and sharp. A vampire showing vampiric features will have yellow
eyes.
Reproduction:
Although capable of humanoid sexual activity, vampires,
both male and female, are innately sterile and incapable of producing offspring by conventional means. Instead, the
vampire population increases through a process known as The Embrace.
The parent vampire, called the Sire, will select
a mortal who they wish to turn into a vampire. This mortal, called the Childe, will usually be someone with a distinguishing
feature that catches the attention of the Sire. The Sire will generally corner the Childe and sink immensely sharp teeth
into the Childe's neck, slowly sucking out all blood. Right as the Childe is on the brink of death, the Sire will slice
open a vein of his or her own and force the Childe to drink vampire blood. After this, the Childe will die and the very
next night will rise again as a vampire.
Vampires can sire any humanoid species that isn't immortal. There is
a universal hatred between demons and vampires, so the two tend to avoid each other. A vampire of any origin can sire
a mortal of any origin with no real impact on how the Childe develops. Usually, the Childe is subserviant to the Sire
for an extended period of time before being granted freedom. There are, on rare occasions, Sires who will abandon their
offspring. These abandoned vampires are known as Caitiffs and are forced to learn about vampiric life on their own.
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