Vampire

Vampires, also sometimes spelled vampyres, are individuals who have been inflicted with Vampirism. Vampires feed on the blood of nearly all living things, though tend to prefer mortals for their "taste". They are immortal creatures and while many (rightfully) associate them with the undead, they are an entirely altogether distinct entity.

Overview
According to the Encyclopedia For All Things: Monstrous, the condition of vampirism, also known as Galanos Hemophilia, is a disease that affects living things. While the disease can find home in animals and other beasts, they merely act as carriers for the infection. Vampirism primarily affects humanoid mortals, as they have been shown to be the most effective at spreading the contagion.

In truth while vampirism is a disease, that is only one small part of it. There are many written accounts claiming to know the origin of the vampire plague. Some such accounts claim it is simply a naturally occurring disease, stumbled upon by mortals who are now cursed with it forever. Others claim that it actually comes from demons; specifically dreadlords who enjoy striking bargains with mortals in exchange for power. This bestowed power is often promised alongside immortality in the form of vampirism. Others claim it is a failed experiment by one of the Ancients that we are now forced to live with.

Vampires are a plague upon the universe. They infect countless worlds and species all driven by the same innate need for blood. Most vampires are recognizable by their sharpened features, pale skin, and predatory amber glowing eyes. However, some vampire bloodlines have adapted to live among mortal societies. Masters of manipulation and infiltration, these vampires are virtually indistinguishable from their parent species.

There is a seemingly endless number of different types of vampires. Each bloodline, clan, or tribe, often exhibits different manifestations of the disease. Many gain innate abilities, such as the power to turn invisible, breath frost, or cast certain spells inherently. Others may experience physical changes, such as increased size, monstrous features, quickened reflexes, and so on. These traits are all inherited by the victim upon infection from a vampire.

Inherent Abilities
While each bloodline is their own, vampires possess many common physical traits regardless of who turned them.

Age
All vampires regardless of bloodline get stronger as they age. Their innate abilities grow more potent and less mortal as the years tick on.

Enhanced Strength
Most vampires tend to possess increased muscle mass and density, capable of lifting a fully grown human with one hand. Despite this increased strength, many vampires do not exhibit any outward physical changes.

Enhanced Speed
Many vampires have increased reflexes and movement, capable of reacting to things at inhuman speeds and outrunning even the most quickest of predators.

Enhanced Healing
The vampiric disease has the added benefit of speeding up the natural healing factor of its host species, making them immune to aging and disease. Vampires are capable of rapidly healing from even the most grievous of wounds. This healing ability increases or decreases depending on how recently the vampire has fed. The vampire is not immortal, however, and may still die due to extreme physical injury.

Fangs
Vampires gain a pair of vicious fangs that which allow the vampire to feed. These fangs are capable of piercing virtually any known material. When puncturing skin to draw blood, the vampire is also able to lick the wound closed to hide any evidence they had fed. Some clans are reported to have entire maws of razor sharp fangs, others merely possess a hidden pair of sharpened canines that descend instinctively upon feeding.

Disease & Paralysis Immunity
Upon being infected with vampirism, the disease immediately sets to curing the host body of any bacterial or viral ailment. Because of their healing factor, they are immune to any mundane disease or contagion. Additionally, the vampire is no longer subject to any effects that may paralyze or otherwise hold them in place.

Vampiric Gift
In addition to the aforementioned, bloodlines may possess unique abilities innate to their bloodline. These 'gifts' are often passed down to them from the pureblood who the vampires owe their entire existence to. This can take the form of virtually anything, from the ability to dominate minds, to even greater strength or speed, the ability to turn completely invisible, and so on.

Physical Resistance
Vampires possess a greater resistance to damage than mortals do. As vampires are technically undead, organ damage is far less lethal to vampires. While repeated physical trauma can kill a vampire, it is often more difficult to do so, especially as they age. As a vampire gets older, they become less susceptible to special materials such as silver or mithril. Older vampires require greater and more expensive weapons to be injured, while becoming highly resistant or outright immune to lesser materials.

Weaknesses
Vampires possess many weaknesses inherent to their condition. Certain bloodlines may possess more or less weaknesses, or may be completely immune to one weakness, and fully succumb to something entirely different. The most common weaknesses are as follows.

Fire
Vampires are weak to fire. When burned their healing factor is severely diminished. Even the most minor of burns will hurt for weeks or even months after they were inflicted. Lighting a vampire on fire is one of the most effective ways of killing them.

Sunlight
Vampires are cooked alive by sunlight. Prolonged exposure to sunlight will eventually cause the vampire to boil away. Younger vampires are less susceptible to sunlight damage, able to spend hours in direct sunlight before suffering fatal injury. In contrast, older vampires can only survive a minute or two in direct sunlight.

Decapitation
Cutting the head off of a vampire will not kill the vampire outright, but will put it in permanent stasis. The vampire will be effectively rendered inert, unless the head is reattached to the body. At which point the healing factor will kick in and repair any damage done.

Special Materials
Certain materials, such as silver or mithril, do extra harm to vampires. Holy items, such as those blessed by the Divine Light, also inflict greater harm on vampires. Magical weapons also inflict normal or increased damage to vampires as well.

Vampire Lords
For more information visit: Pureblood Vampires

Also known as purebloods, vampire lords are terrifyingly powerful creatures. Typically, they are created when a dreadlord approaches a mortal with promises of extreme power. In exchange for this power a task is given, one that is often for the benefit of the dreadlord. While these tasks could be something mundane, such as retrieve an item, they are often violent and bloody affairs requiring the deaths of many people.

Vampire lords are unlike their "half-blooded" cousins. They possess a sinister and often monstrous appearance, with an unnatural aura of terror about them that cowls even the most stalwart of mortals. Because of this many purebloods often take up illusion magic.

Vampire Clans
For more information on the various clans visit: Vampire Clans

Some bloodlines are more successful than others. Whether because they were created to serve a purpose, or simply adapted to their environment and reached large numbers. Most vampires live in tribes of 3-12, content to live and hunt together. They are often disorganized, hunting whenever they desire with little or no long-term plan. A Clan however, is when multiple vampire tribes all work together under a central authority. These clans can number in the dozens if not hundreds, and spread across an entire region. They out-hunt and out-perform other vampires, often hunting them down and driving them to extinction.

The following is the six most common vampire clans: Dushkari, Vikhrovoi, Qahtarin, Vranethi, Hirani, and Blood-Fang. These clans have managed to break away from the confines of their world and become interplanetary menaces known by countless cultures.

Vampire Society
The concept of a vampire society is a foreign one to most. While there have been some failed attempts at unified empires, vampires are more keen to live in small groups perfectly content with living day-to-day. Occasionally some enterprising young (or old) vampire will arrive and attempt to whip the various tribes into a fully fledged Clan. But more often than not vampires prefer the comfort of a small communal dens.

In truth vampires are just as likely to fight one another over territory and feeding grounds as would any other predator. There have been several recorded incidents where vampire tribes have slaughtered one another. Conflict between Clans happens when two or more groups lay claim to a region. These Blood Wars are often vicious and long lasting, and very quickly spill out into wider mortal society as the groups pit anyone and anything they can against one the other.

All of this isn't to say that vampires cannot or do not work together; the existence of Clans is proof that they can and do. Vampires are also known to put aside petty differences when faced with an external foe. Vampires who fail to organize in the face of vampire hunters very quickly meet their death. And if vampires love something more than blood, it's being alive.

While the most common form of vampiric society is the Den, it is not the only form. Bloodlines who are exceptionally skilled at blending in with mortal societies can flock together for protection and cooperation. These are known as Covenants. In a Covenant, the mortals remain entirely unaware that their entire lives are dominated from top to bottom by a vast horde of bloodthirsty predators. Covenants work together to ensure the long-term survival of both vampiric populations and mortal populations, as they work towards creating a system in which one cannot survive without the other.

It is unfair to characterize vampires as beasts, out for nothing more than blood and survival. While the most commonly interacted with vampire can be painted as such, any vampire worth their fangs learns to adapt to their environment. Knightly orders made up of vampires, religious priesthoods worshiping a central authority, or crazed cultists trying to wash the world in blood: vampiric society can be as varied as the mortals they prey upon.