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Sep. 13th, 2016 10:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hafucurrySo yesterday, I kind of thought up the rough outline of vampires in this game/story/whatever it is that I'm creating. Going over the guidelines for vamps in Night's Black Agents, the ones I am thinking of fall somewhat into two categories: supernatural and damned. I actually think more supernatural, because I see them more as something that has always been there. An off-shoot evolution of humans that couldn't attain the numbers that humans got because it was difficult for them to reproduce. They might appear like they are damned and there's legends that sort of reflect the fact that they existed from the time of creation. So there can definitely be some religious flavor too, but perhaps as a feint.
In some ways, these types of vampires seem to function more as mutants as described in the book. Where vampirism is a disease rather than an evolutionary thing. In some ways, there does need to be a biological component to it since they are a species the reproduces by changing humans. So let's look at the biology and how it works
Vampire Biology
Vampires as a species evolved alongside human, but due to their reproductive cycle never became as populous. In order for a vampire to reproduce them must consciously desire to transform a human into a vampire. Some catalyst of venom in the vampire's mouth and it's own blood is required. Basically we're talking a bite and sharing of blood kind of scenario. A vampire can drink from a victim, with the same venom in its fangs acting almost like a paralytic which induces sleep and short-term memory loss. A victim may not always be killed outright, though through the laws passed down since the Purge of Alexandria it is not advised to keep food alive unless you are hiding it or considering making offspring. Both are rare circumstances as vampires heavily regulate themselves on reproduction.
They must drink living blood to survive due to their bodies' own mechanics. Vampires are not undead, though even to a trained doctor they might appear it. Even with fresh blood inside them, their heart rates are so slow that it appears as if they will have no pulse. Their skin tone has the look of a corpse. Their internal organs would look entirely alien as the heart functions more like the stomach, processing blood into the nutrients needed to keep the body going.
I don't know enough about how biology to give a reasonable explanation on how this works. So I'll need to look that up. Basically, their hearts don't beat the same way a human's would. It might even have additional organs to function as ways to keep the body going. On thermal cameras they would show up as extremely cold sources unless they had fed recently.
Vampires would essentially need to drain a victim completely once every two or three days in order to maintain full body functions. Essentially a full blood transfusion. If they are extremely active and using their powers, they will use up the nutrients faster.
A vampire who does not feed enough goes into hibernation and become easy pickings. They can be killed in extremely mundane ways if they become weak enough. Only the very oldest or the very wealthiest willingly choose to enter hibernation as they can afford the protections necessary to keep them safe during this time. A vampire in hibernation looks and behaves just like a corpse. A vampire that entered hibernation on the streets might be mistaken for a dead vagrant and be buried/cremated with other homeless.
Vampires police themselves, with the leader of each cabal in each city having the final say. Those found reproducing without authorization are swiftly killed as are their offspring and any human servants they might have.
The conspiracy that will be at the heart of this story hinges on a faction of younger vampires who have amassed enough support that they can't be wiped out in one fell swoop. Their activities need to be so well buried that they can't be sniffed out.
Powers
First and foremost, vampires are functionally immortal. There are some that have existed since before the rise of Rome. All trace their bloodline from one of the original 12 leaders of the great cities.
They are extremely strong and fast. A vampire appearing like a slim teenage girl could easily tear apart any human. They also have heightened senses, to aid in their hunting. They can hear a heartbeat and smell a cut from miles away like a shark.
Because their senses can so easily overpower new vampires, they are taught extreme mental techniques to dampen their senses. Especially skilled vampires develop a mind over matter level of control, to the point that they can even train their bodies to resist sunlight by essentially willing their body to resist the damage caused by it. Their mental control is such that they can assert their will and dominate humans, effectively turning them into thralls. It takes at least a century for a vampire to master such feats.
Vampires sometimes choose human servants (called in the rule book Renfields) who exhibit some of the strengths and reflexes of a vampire while still remaining human. This is done by offering vampire's blood to the human, though the effect will wear off. Renfields become hopelessly addicted to the rush and are slaves to their master's will because of it. They remain loyal to the point of death.
They cannot change into bats, change to mist, or anything like that. However, some in more remote areas might go out of their way to encourage these myths.
How to Kill a Vampire
While some myths have been cultivated by the vampire leaders on how to destroy them are false, some legends do hold true.
Beheading or destroying the brain of the vampire is a surefire way to put them down permanently. However, their bone density is much greater than a human's so a great deal of force must be behind such a blow. A vampire's skull can survive most small caliber rounds. A high powered rifle shot to the head will drop a vampire, but it's a good idea to double tap to make sure. Beheading requires a lot of time to hack through spinal cord at the neck, so hand to hand weapons need to be almost otherworldly sharp. Unless the spinal cord is severed, the vampire can still heal itself given enough time. However, it might have a nasty scar in the meantime.
While they can regenerate, it does require a fair bit of time and concentration to do. So if you can't kill him in a single hit your best bet is to incapacitate him and carve out his heart. While they have a tougher than average chest bone, their skeletal structure is still the same as a human's and it is easy enough to go in underneath or between ribs to attack the heart directly. Hammering a wooden stake straight through his heart might be too time consuming if attacked from the wrong angle.
Something about their body chemistry makes vampires extremely flammable. Incendiary rounds would do massive damage.
Vampires have a severe allergy to garlic. It can be fatal to young vampires and causes parts of their system to shut down when in skin to skin contact with it. All the typical human body responses to an allergic reaction take place: hives, closing of the airways, etc. It is so severe to younger vampires that it will even cause muscle spasms which are what cause death in them. Older, stronger vampires will still break out into hives and have immediate reactions, but only extremely high doses will cause death. Powerful vampires who have mastered their mind over matter techniques will be able to teach their body not to react to any exposure. While they may still react out of instinct to the herb, it will not cause them harm.
Silver is often held as an effective weapon against vampires in myth, but it is no more effective against them than any other metal. Crucifixes, holy water, and the like have no effect on them. These are merely works of fiction created by religions like Christianity to calm the nerves of the uneducated masses. This led to many corpses being dug up as described in history books, but any local vampires knew well enough to move on once a town had a vampire hunter pay them a visit and stake a couple of fresh corpses in the cemetery.
Tomorrow I think I will try and talk through the vampire society's social hierarchy and start fleshing out the conspiracies that keep it hidden as well as the conspiracies that go on within it's own population.
In some ways, these types of vampires seem to function more as mutants as described in the book. Where vampirism is a disease rather than an evolutionary thing. In some ways, there does need to be a biological component to it since they are a species the reproduces by changing humans. So let's look at the biology and how it works
Vampire Biology
Vampires as a species evolved alongside human, but due to their reproductive cycle never became as populous. In order for a vampire to reproduce them must consciously desire to transform a human into a vampire. Some catalyst of venom in the vampire's mouth and it's own blood is required. Basically we're talking a bite and sharing of blood kind of scenario. A vampire can drink from a victim, with the same venom in its fangs acting almost like a paralytic which induces sleep and short-term memory loss. A victim may not always be killed outright, though through the laws passed down since the Purge of Alexandria it is not advised to keep food alive unless you are hiding it or considering making offspring. Both are rare circumstances as vampires heavily regulate themselves on reproduction.
They must drink living blood to survive due to their bodies' own mechanics. Vampires are not undead, though even to a trained doctor they might appear it. Even with fresh blood inside them, their heart rates are so slow that it appears as if they will have no pulse. Their skin tone has the look of a corpse. Their internal organs would look entirely alien as the heart functions more like the stomach, processing blood into the nutrients needed to keep the body going.
I don't know enough about how biology to give a reasonable explanation on how this works. So I'll need to look that up. Basically, their hearts don't beat the same way a human's would. It might even have additional organs to function as ways to keep the body going. On thermal cameras they would show up as extremely cold sources unless they had fed recently.
Vampires would essentially need to drain a victim completely once every two or three days in order to maintain full body functions. Essentially a full blood transfusion. If they are extremely active and using their powers, they will use up the nutrients faster.
A vampire who does not feed enough goes into hibernation and become easy pickings. They can be killed in extremely mundane ways if they become weak enough. Only the very oldest or the very wealthiest willingly choose to enter hibernation as they can afford the protections necessary to keep them safe during this time. A vampire in hibernation looks and behaves just like a corpse. A vampire that entered hibernation on the streets might be mistaken for a dead vagrant and be buried/cremated with other homeless.
Vampires police themselves, with the leader of each cabal in each city having the final say. Those found reproducing without authorization are swiftly killed as are their offspring and any human servants they might have.
The conspiracy that will be at the heart of this story hinges on a faction of younger vampires who have amassed enough support that they can't be wiped out in one fell swoop. Their activities need to be so well buried that they can't be sniffed out.
Powers
First and foremost, vampires are functionally immortal. There are some that have existed since before the rise of Rome. All trace their bloodline from one of the original 12 leaders of the great cities.
They are extremely strong and fast. A vampire appearing like a slim teenage girl could easily tear apart any human. They also have heightened senses, to aid in their hunting. They can hear a heartbeat and smell a cut from miles away like a shark.
Because their senses can so easily overpower new vampires, they are taught extreme mental techniques to dampen their senses. Especially skilled vampires develop a mind over matter level of control, to the point that they can even train their bodies to resist sunlight by essentially willing their body to resist the damage caused by it. Their mental control is such that they can assert their will and dominate humans, effectively turning them into thralls. It takes at least a century for a vampire to master such feats.
Vampires sometimes choose human servants (called in the rule book Renfields) who exhibit some of the strengths and reflexes of a vampire while still remaining human. This is done by offering vampire's blood to the human, though the effect will wear off. Renfields become hopelessly addicted to the rush and are slaves to their master's will because of it. They remain loyal to the point of death.
They cannot change into bats, change to mist, or anything like that. However, some in more remote areas might go out of their way to encourage these myths.
How to Kill a Vampire
While some myths have been cultivated by the vampire leaders on how to destroy them are false, some legends do hold true.
Beheading or destroying the brain of the vampire is a surefire way to put them down permanently. However, their bone density is much greater than a human's so a great deal of force must be behind such a blow. A vampire's skull can survive most small caliber rounds. A high powered rifle shot to the head will drop a vampire, but it's a good idea to double tap to make sure. Beheading requires a lot of time to hack through spinal cord at the neck, so hand to hand weapons need to be almost otherworldly sharp. Unless the spinal cord is severed, the vampire can still heal itself given enough time. However, it might have a nasty scar in the meantime.
While they can regenerate, it does require a fair bit of time and concentration to do. So if you can't kill him in a single hit your best bet is to incapacitate him and carve out his heart. While they have a tougher than average chest bone, their skeletal structure is still the same as a human's and it is easy enough to go in underneath or between ribs to attack the heart directly. Hammering a wooden stake straight through his heart might be too time consuming if attacked from the wrong angle.
Something about their body chemistry makes vampires extremely flammable. Incendiary rounds would do massive damage.
Vampires have a severe allergy to garlic. It can be fatal to young vampires and causes parts of their system to shut down when in skin to skin contact with it. All the typical human body responses to an allergic reaction take place: hives, closing of the airways, etc. It is so severe to younger vampires that it will even cause muscle spasms which are what cause death in them. Older, stronger vampires will still break out into hives and have immediate reactions, but only extremely high doses will cause death. Powerful vampires who have mastered their mind over matter techniques will be able to teach their body not to react to any exposure. While they may still react out of instinct to the herb, it will not cause them harm.
Silver is often held as an effective weapon against vampires in myth, but it is no more effective against them than any other metal. Crucifixes, holy water, and the like have no effect on them. These are merely works of fiction created by religions like Christianity to calm the nerves of the uneducated masses. This led to many corpses being dug up as described in history books, but any local vampires knew well enough to move on once a town had a vampire hunter pay them a visit and stake a couple of fresh corpses in the cemetery.
Tomorrow I think I will try and talk through the vampire society's social hierarchy and start fleshing out the conspiracies that keep it hidden as well as the conspiracies that go on within it's own population.
