Vampirism

History is full of tall tales, legends, and lessons passed on from generation to generation. One such legend involves a cautionary tale where one should be careful what they wish for, for it may come true one day.

Once freely shared, this myth is now forbidden, having been suppressed by the Inquisition. Three versions of this tale have managed to survive, each originating from a different region of the Empire. One is about a count who revels in bloodshed, another pertains to a queen who stops at nothing for beauty, and the last one is about a courtesan consumed by the need to be desired by everyone.

What they desired went beyond mortal means, so they beseeched an ancient goddess, a mysterious ‘Red Goddess’. for help, and She granted them their wishes. In time, however, the Goddess wept when she saw the atrocities these three had committed in her name. Enraged and struck by grief, she wrought upon the three mortals a curse disguised as a blessing. They would be eternally beautiful as the queen wished, eternally desired as the courtesan wanted, and blood would be that which would bring the most joy for all of eternity as the count hoped. Oh, it was indeed a blessing to them for a time. But as years went by, they realized something.

Their eternal youth became unnatural to those they had surrounded themselves with, the ones that coveted them the most. The same was true for the trail of bodies that followed in their wake. As time passed, the corpses stacked higher and higher until their sins could no longer be hidden. Consequently, they had no choice but to go into hiding and live in the shadows, with none to witness their beauty and covet them, hunted for their transgressions.

Indeed, the Goddess had punished them for all the innocent souls who died at their hands. The few foolish enough to embrace these desires and show true love for the cursed monsters did not escape the curse either. Thus, a new kind of monster was born, one that goes by many names: the Vampire or Blood Cursed.

Behavior

Aside from feeding on the fresh, warm blood of living creatures, their behavior is similar to that of the races they were born into because they survive almost exclusively by blending into society. Towns and cities are their homes and hunting grounds, where they prey on the very people they call their neighbors. As hunger increases, they become more desperate to find a suitable target to feed on. A prolonged thirst eventually results in weakening and visibly accelerated aging. If the hunger goes on for too long, they risk becoming feral and attacking innocent victims. In that state, they will do anything to satiate the maddening hunger that plagues their minds, however, most of the time they will prefer seduction and other subtle methods to locate suitable candidates to feed on.

The experience of a Vampire's bite is influenced entirely by the Vampire and the intent behind it, their victims feelings ranging from severe pain, bordering on agony or pleasure. The bite per se has nothing magical and, as such, will leave a mark, usually similar to a snake's bite. For that reason, Vampires often prefer to bite their victim's neck, where it is arguably much easier to conceal the twin puncture wounds with long hair, a collared shirt, or even a scarf. However, there is something in the bite itself, which renders the victim momentarily amnesiac and unable to recall the moment when they were bitten in detail.

The curse alters the afflicted person more and more as time passes. The cravings result in decreased empathy and a declining capacity to experience the full range of emotions. Consequently, the Blood Cursed become increasingly more self-centered and egotistical. Decades in, they start to lose interest in everyday things, sensations, wants, and activities. As the emotional numbness grows, it slowly strips them of their humanity. Some surrender to this inevitable destiny, existing only to satisfy their insatiable thirst; others struggle to maintain their emotions, often forcing them to take extreme measures to feel anything. Interestingly, Blood Cursed find the blood of other supernatural creatures, be it Demons or Monsters, to be unconsciously particularly attractive, and might tend to want to feed more often on these creatures, despite not being aware of the reason for this tendency. (Note: vampires are not 'supernatural detectors')

Vampires can see well even in darkness and experience a rush of energy after they consume blood. Those abilities might seem like a gift, but they are, in fact, part of the curse and have inherent downsides. In the days following the feeding, Vampires are unable to sleep. They must endure constant wakefulness until the satiated state fades and torpor and weakness begin to take over. Due to the disruption to the circadian rhythm, those recently affected by the curse are often moody, anxious, and plagued with persistent fatigue. It takes decades for a Vampire to become desensitized to most feelings and, thus, find a way to cope with the lack of sleep.

Being trapped in unchanging bodies due to the curse renders vampires sterile, denying them the joys and experiences of parenthood. This further contributes to their sense of isolation and struggle with the meaning of their existence as they are cut off from the natural cycle of life. The curse can however be propagated, at least to the legend, in a few specific cases, to a 'cursed progeny'

According to rumors, a Blood Cursed’s blood becomes "diluted" across the many lines of ‘progeny.’ This means that the strength of the curse seemingly progressively decreases, leaving the distant progeny to suffer more of the negatives of the curse. It is said that only drinking blood from another Vampire can restore the purity of the curse, even if this will not only cause the victim vampire to suffer from extreme thirst, but also to immediately and permanently lose some of their vital force. Some more knowledgeable vampires, calling this act 'Diablerie', claim that it might even allow them to regain their ability to experience emotions. Consequently, in a twisted turn of fate, the greatest threat to a Vampire is often another Vampire.

How to play

Keep your condition hidden. If revealed to the public, it will likely bring you to your end.
Trick, persuade or seduce people into becoming your victims and blood sources.
How do you deal with your slow yet progressive loss of physical sensations, feelings and emotions?
Create a Blood Thrall out of another person, providing you a loyal servant, at the cost of some of your blood.
Fight against the curse and its thirst, or fully give in and embrace it.

Eternal

Cursed with eternal life, vampires retain the exquisite and alluring appearance they possessed when the curse first affected them. Their physical features remain frozen in time, making them seem ageless, at least as long as they continue to sustain themselves with the blood of other sentient creatures. Feeding allows them to live indefinitely. Blood consumption is not just a means of sustenance for vampires; it is also a source of some of their abilities. It lets them regenerate hair and other tissues, allowing them to recover from any wound in hours or days instead of weeks or months. Given enough time and energy, they can even regrow entire limbs. The curse protects them from the consequences of exposure to toxins and pathogens, at least as long as their hunger is sated.

Blood Thralls

Vampires can 'create' a special 'bond' with an individual, called a 'Blood Thrall'. A Blood Thrall acts as if under the constant effect of Charm II towards the Vampire:

They can not voluntarily betray their Vampire, which includes actively trying to break their bond or talking, even indirectly, about the bond.
Staying away from the blood of the Vampire will cause increasing withdrawal symptoms.
The bond can be severed by separating the Thrall from their Vampire for 7 (IRL) days. The Thrall will have to endure all the withdrawal symptoms, the last ones being very severe. The other way to sever the bond is by making the Thrall addicted to something else.
The bond is instantaneously lost when a Vampire moves a great distance away (Shelving, character deletion).
A Vampire can have a maximum of 1 Blood Thrall. The bond with the first one is broken when they attempt to make a 2nd Blood Thrall.
A Blood Thrall has a very clear mind, there is no amnesia associated with the period, with the exception of any ‘bites’, as per how the ‘bite’ works.

Cursed Progeny

While selfless love is said to be one of the few ways to gain redemption from the Red Goddess, wanting to keep a person close to the point of making their life equally miserable, seems to be considered by the Deity only an act of immense egoism. An foolish enough individual, egoistic or narcissistic enough to want to take advantage of eternal youth, or willing to assist a vampire in its nefarious existence, might even have their wishes granted, in the form of the curse being similarly bestowed upon them during the next new moon.

Vampires created In-Game will get a -1 Constitution penalty, increasing to a -2 and further when a "2nd generation vampire" creates another vampire. (Note that Vampires, by default, get a +1 Constitution, so this penalty is relatively weak at first)

A "1st generation vampire" (started at Character Creation) can create a maximum of 2 progenies. A "2nd generation vampire" can create 1, and a "3rd generation vampire" can not create any progeny.

This limit is entirely OOC and simply a failsafe to avoid potentially game-breaking exponential growths. Exceptions to this may be granted for ancient vampire characters with excellent and longstanding vampire RP if the In-Game number of progenies is reasonable!

Diablerie

Committing Diablerie (described above) gives a permanent +1 Constitution, +1 Persuade, +1 Mana to the character that benefits from it, and a permanent -1 Constitution and -1 Strength to the 'victim'. The vampire who does a successful diablerie, counts as if it has recovered 1 'generation' respect to before, in case they were not of '1st generation'. The ability does not require any PK or mutilation ticket, only to open a Narration Ticket to adjust the attributes: vampires are High-Risk characters, after all.

The same aggressor/victim duo can have only 1 act of Diablerie committed between them. Still, the same character might be a victim of multiple cases of Diablerie from different characters! Note that if one of the two involved in a Diablerie shelves/deletes/goes inactive suspiciously soon after the act, both characters will be investigated and risk deletion.

Spells

Blood Cursed are able to channel some simple magic through them, although only during nighttime.

Weaknesses

From 8:00 to 18:00, during outdoor activities, Vampire players must activate the "Bright Light" ability, which triggers Weakness to Light I.

Vampires are better equipped for nocturnal activities, thanks to the surplus of cones in their eyes. This makes them very efficient night predators and allows them to decipher colors and shades trice better than an ordinary mortal. However, their ocular enhancement becomes a hindrance in daylight. From 8:00 am to 18:00, when exposed to brighter light outdoors, they experience a sharp decline in visual acuity.

Vampires face significant challenges during the day. The strain on their enhanced eyes from direct daylight leads to constant headaches, making them irritable and less adept at social interactions. This can affect their ability to focus on conversations or maintain a composed demeanor, thereby impacting their social skills.

In the Underworld, Vampires instead show a strong aversion to any form of bioluminescence. Exposed to it, their vision is slightly impaired, similarly as to under the sun, and more importantly, it causes irritation and rashes on their skin.

Hunger for blood

Vampires endure an insatiable thirst for blood, a fundamental necessity that governs their existence. The absence of regular feeding directly correlates with a decline in their physical and supernatural abilities and willpower. This diminished state extends to mental acuity, increasing vulnerability to errors, impeded decision-making, and the accelerated deterioration of their physical appearance. Prolonged hunger eventually drives them mad. The need to feed becomes a constant motivator, shaping their actions and decisions.

Other Weaknesses

Vampires are also asked to pick 2 weaknesses from a small list and specify them at Character Creation. This list is private for metagaming reasons and will be shown to players during Character Creation.

NOTE FOR CHARACTER CREATION

Vampires are not available at character creation unless the player has been playing on the server already at least since 1 month. Character Registration Sheet: Link Note: This race is for a restricted number of characters, before submitting a character, check for availability by opening a Character Creation Ticket. Note: Vampirism can only affect Humans, Elves, or Ilthir. This is OOC knowledge. Note: Vampires are High Risk characters. They may be killed more easily given their nature by certain other character and races (e.g. by the Inquisition, or the Ilthir). Opening a ticket before a possible death however is still mandatory.

(Authoring for Vampires has become complicated as at this point many contributed: Rashan, Creepio, Xiravian, Atramedes, Arrakeen being its contributors!)