Vampires and their Kin

Vampires, also known as the Children of the Night, are a species of Downworlders. Along with werewolves, vampires are humans infected with a demon disease. However, unlike the former, vampires are considered "undead"; that is, their bodies are no longer alive in the sense that living humans' are. Their undeparted human souls reside within their own animated corpses, kept intact and animated by the demon disease and energy. Within the vampire race there is a sub-race called Moroi, Moroi are a small race of vampires born from the demon that created the race herself Hecate. Unlike the cursed undead the Moroi are living vampires that may walk in the sunlight and have minor magic even, through these vampires are born the Dhampir.

Vampires generally tend to look pale, sallow, and thin, as though weakened by malnourishment or disease. Contrary to this semblance of death, their blood shimmers a bright red, brighter than the blood of humans; they even shed blood instead of tears when they cry. Being reanimated corpses, vampires do not have a heartbeat, nor do they need to breathe, although they are able to inhale oxygen in order to utilize their heightened sense of smell, to pass as human, or to blow on something. Their lack of breath makes them impervious to such things as asphyxiation, drowning, or gases. Like werewolves, they possess superhuman strength, grace, speed, and the unnaturally accelerated healing abilities inherent in most other Downworlders and are able to heal quickly from most mundane injuries. Their most prominent ability is their raw physical strength, which allows them to subdue any human prey with little effort. Allegedly, their abilities increase and grow stronger as they grow older.

Despite the significant experience and strength older vampires have over new, younger ones, it is possible for the latter to overpower the previous, especially if the killing is meditated or unexpected. Power from a sire, the one who gave them the vampire blood that enabled them to turn, is also seemingly shared or transferred, to some extent, to those to they turn, mainly because this is how vampires pass their powers to each other—through blood.

The blood of different supernatural beings can have varied effects in vampires. Werewolf blood tastes foul, compared by some vampires to a wet dog, and is more nutritious than the blood of a regular human, but drinking it makes the vampire more likely to fall into a rage state, and makes them stronger than normal. Fae blood is a powerful drug, causing a vampire to quickly fall asleep and giving them incredibly vivid and surreal dreams. The blood of an ascended Mage gives a vampire a strong case of synesthesia and a temporary connection to the arcane realms. The most dangerous, though, is drinking the blood of another vampire. Similarly to werewolf, it greatly empowers a vampire, but it is incredibly addictive, and drinking it creates a vinculum between the two vampires, making the drinker easily succeptible to the control of the other. This effect happens not only on vampires, but on humans, animals and other beings as well. Many vampires use this to create servants, bodyguards and guard beasts.

Most Moroi do not feel comfortablebeing in tuthe sunlight, though they still can be outside during the day time. Often Moroi can use magic, the length of this magic depends on the age and study of the Moroi. Most of the magics rely on earthly elements and tend to highly mimic them, such as casting fire spells or the ability to control the movements of water. Spirit increases compulsion, making it so they can work compulsion very easily. Other powers that come with spirit include aura sensory, dream walking, healing, creating illusions, telekinesis, and mind-reading. Rarely spirit users can also bring the dead back to life, though this tend to leads the user into insanity or suicidal states. Most spirit users do end up taking their own lives as the effects of spirit take a drastic toll upon ones mental state.

Vampire Lords and Feral Queens

Vampire lords are vampires who are experts at blood magic, siring other vampires, and over all beings of intense power. Vampire lords are extremly rare, very few of them are known of in the modern era. Mainly due to the extensive hunting that has followed them, however even if little is known about them there is one sure fire way to kill them. Put a stake through its heart, cut off the head, burn the corpse, and scatter the ashes at a crossroads. However silver can be substituted for the stake, and pure holy fire will also do the trick. However if the head is cut off using a nonconsecrated blade the Vampire Lord will become a feral Queen. Feral Queens give birth to packs of four legged feral blind vampires, that are barely humanoid. They are among the most savage types of vampires due to not having ever been human. They are born to kill and feast, to remove large sects of humanity from the world by feasting upon their blood.

Creation

A human who has consumed enough vampire blood, known as a fledgling, will not abruptly turn into a vampire. To be reborn, the human must first die a mortal death, during which the undead body will enter into a state of transition. In tradition, most older vampire sires will bury the fledgling. During which the fledgling will awaken, thus dragging itself from the grave to symbolize it's new life of being undead. Though, most modern sires tend to ignore this practice. In truth being buried has shown increased strength, sense, and over all powers including blood magic in the undead. The sire's powers, strengths, and over all knowledge can even be passed down to the fledgling through training or over all the transition period itself.

The Moroi how ever are born by two Moroi mating, now if a Moroi mates with a human the child shall become what is known as a Dhampir. Dhampir are half vampire/half human beings that have increased speed, strength, and over eye sight. Most dhampir are taking in to be used as body guards for the royal Moroi that make up a small council that has been crafted by elections, unlike the undead who kill one another to run clans, councils, or entire sectors of vampire clans. If a Moroi kills a human while drinking it's blood or kills another Moroi by the same means, then it shall become a Strigoi. Strigoi are a much different race than the cut of the line and the Moroi. Strigoi are undead but tend to have triple the strength of a normal vampire, they do not have any abilities to use magic however. They crave an endless amount of Moroi blood, even being sickened by human blood in some cases. This is why the Dhampirs are taken from birth to be raised as warriors that can match the Strigoi blow for blow, though in some cases Dhampirs are not taken and left with their human parent.

Powers

Like mentioned before, vampires are naturally stronger, faster and more resistant than humans, to a level comparable to a the best a human can reach. The transformation also gives most of them a natural allure and charisma, allowing them to subtly influence and control humans. As long as they have blood in their system, vampires can regenerate almost any wound: gunshots and lacerations take few hours, while more complex wounds like amputated limbs take from some days to a few weeks, depending on how fed they are. Decapitation and piercing of the heart are almost impossible to heal, instantly knocking a vampire into a state of torpor that may last from months to even decades, depending of the age of the vampire. Returing from torpor nearly always requires external help, usually from one of the vampire's servants.

Depending on the bloodline of the vampire, it can have more specific, active powers. Derived from the mystical properties of vampiric blood, those powers can vary wildly. Some of the most common are active improvements of a vampire's strenght, speed and resilience; allowing them feats like breaking a stone wall with one's fists, outrunning a car or becoming impervious to bullets. Others, rarer, but still common to multiple major bloodlines include invisibility/stealth, mind control of humans, mind control of animals, supernatural allure and emotional manipulation, supernatural senses, incuding aura vision and telepathy to skilled users, and an improved talent to use Blood Sorcery.

Blood Sorcery, similarly to other powers, come from the magic of vampiric blood, but it is capable of things unnatural even to vampires Unlike the powers, sorcery is far more complex, requiring rituals of varying complexity to use it, but it's far more versatile, often replicating the effects of any powers the user lacks, and less dependant of one's bloodline. The most common and simplest form of sorcery is the direct manipulation of blood, both of the user and of others. Other forms include controling the elements, the weather, the minds of others, and necromancy, among many other rarer and more esoterical kinds of magic. Some decadent, power-hungry vampires may even fall to diabolist forms of magic, making pacts with demons for even greater power.

Some abilities are very rare, usually exclusive to a single bloodline, or to a bloodline and it's derived lesser ones. Those include things like warping the flesh of living beings and sculpting into horrible shapes and creatures, using one's insanity to inflict madness and confusion onto others, shapeshifting, and manipulating the shadow of the abyss