Vampire

Vampires are a very unique type of blood-drinking undead descended from the ancient shifters, who now reproduce by spreading their gift (or curse) to others.

History

A unique case in the history of the shifters is presented by the vampires. The dark and mysterious vampire bat shifters were shunned even during the days of Wulfgard, when shifters ruled much of the mortal realm, for their love of the taste of blood. When the old gods were defeated and the shifters cursed, the vampires sought to avoid the fate of beastfolk and retain their shape-shifting gifts, by selling their souls to the Demon Lord Arashk, Prince of Pride. As a result, they remained able to change shape at will and gained immortality, at the price of being undead, and thus unable to reproduce naturally or ever see the light of the sun.

Powers

A vampire in his man-bat form.

The vampires retained all of their former powers and became virtually immortal in their state of undeath. As with most creatures, the power of a vampire varies from individual to individual; however, it is also influenced by how long a person has been a vampire. Contrary to some tales, vampires do not have enhanced physical attributes across all forms. When in human form, a vampire is physically on par with an ordinary human in every respect, save perhaps for a heightened sense of hearing. To achieve flight and use their bestial strength, they must shift into their beast-man form. When in this form, they can also send forth a sonic blast that may stun their victims.

Psychic Abilities

All vampires have at least a few minor psychic abilities, which their Shifter ancestors also possessed. The most powerful vampires can use these psychic abilities to dominate the minds of weak-willed individuals, while lesser vampires can only use them to persuade or mislead. Contrary to some legends built around them, however, vampires cannot read minds or move objects with only their brain, and their psychic powers are limited to sentient creatures alone; they have no control over animals, which is why vampire hunters often bring dogs. Also, it is very difficult for a vampire to control the mind of beastfolk or anyone infected with lycanthropy, due to their somewhat half-animal nature.

Bat Forms

Vampires are able to transform into the forms of a bat, a human, or a man-bat. They only have increased strength, speed, heightened senses, and the ability to fly when they are in man-bat form, not in human form. Their man-bat form is stronger than most mortal men, but their strength is exceeded by werewolves and most beastfolk. Also, unlike a werewolf's uncontrollable transformations, a vampire's shapeshifting is voluntary and painless, though still not instantaneous.

Blood Addiction

A vampire must drink the blood of the living in order to survive. The bite of a vampire induces a pain that paralyzes the victim, which gives them time to feed. However, vampires must carefully balance the amount of blood that they drink, lest they slip too deep into undeath or too close to their animal side. Vampires who drink blood in moderation can pass as normal humans, but those who do not drink enough will enter Deep Undeath, while those who drink too much may turn Feral.

Life-blood

The vampire's victim must be alive at the time of the feeding - or else very recently dead, killed only seconds or minutes ago - in order for the vampire to gain any life force; otherwise the blood is useless to them and only weakens them. This is why vampires must feed from the living and why powerful vampires keep human cattle from which to feed. A vampire who attempts to bottle blood and use this to sustain themselves would suffer the same disadvantages as if they were drinking blood from a corpse, as the blood is stale and no longer true life-blood.

Deep Undeath

Vampires who do not drink enough life-blood go very deeply into a weakened state of undeath, their movements slowing, their skin becoming pale and aged-looking, their muscles withering. Eventually they become little more than corpses, entering a state of hibernation until either killed by some means or returned to “life” by the administering of life-blood.

Feral State

Opposite of Deep Undeath, a vampire who drinks too much will blood become more and more ravenous for it, losing control until they go Feral. They begin to exhibit bat-like features even in "human" form, and will eventually enter their man-bat state perpetually so long as their hunger continues to be fed.

Reproduction

Since vampires are descendants of the Shifters, only those of human blood can become vampires. As undead, however, vampires cannot reproduce through normal means. Rather, they spread their curse by bite, similar to werewolves, but they choose which victims gain their curse. In order to do this, they must drain the victim of nearly all his blood, effectively killing them, and then drip some of their own blood back into the victim and call upon their innate demonic magic to seal the curse. Some time later (six days, most tales say), the dead individual will arise as a vampire. The new vampire is extremely susceptible to the psychic suggestions of the master who created them, unless their will is strong enough to break free, or their master is destroyed. There is no known cure for vampirism.

Weaknesses

As a combination of undead and Shifter-kin, vampires have numerous weaknesses, but they are nonetheless extremely difficult to kill, since even "mortal" wounds may heal over time, especially with the application of life-blood, which can often bring a vampire back from a state of "death." However, although vampires often shun the food of mortals, rumors about them being unable to eat garlic or drink wine are entirely unsubstantiated.

Sunlight

The chief weakness of a vampire is sunlight. As creatures of the night, vampires prefer the darkness, where they can take advantage of their acute sense of hearing. Even more than this, however, vampires cannot be touched by sunlight because they are undead. Like all undead, they begin to burn and crumble when exposed to the sun, and eventually will disintegrate.

Holy Objects and Running Water

Also as undead, all things blessed by the higher powers will cause harm to vampires. These objects include holy weapons, holy water, and holy symbols. Holy weapons and holy fire can kill vampires permanently, as can a holy stake being plunged through their heart.

Silver

As descendants of the Shifters, vampires share their weakness to silver weapons. Injuries caused by silver will be extremely painful, take a very long time to heal, and are far more likely to be fatal wounds than injuries inflicted by ordinary weapons.

The First

As the Six are the most powerful werewolves, the First are the most powerful vampires. Their group is comprised of the first vampires ever to come into existence – the eight vampire bat shifters who originally made the demonic pact with Arashk that caused them to become members of the undead. They have existed since the days of Wulfgard, and their power is immense. However, of the original four males and four females, only two males and one female are known to still be “alive” for certain: the others may have entered a state of dormant hibernation or been killed. The three known to still be active are Duke Draculea, who still rules over a section of the Empire, hiding his vampiric nature; Grimwing the Warlock, who leads a group of feral vampires that live in the mountain caves near the city of Dhuum; and Lady Nefertari (known as Lady Carmina in the Empire), who currently leads a coven of female vampires in Kemhet. All three of these ancient vampires command many followers and thralls.