Vampires

[Mel *]

Vampires are monsters in every way possible. They might act and look human, but they're still predators with a hunger that is ever present and always trying to claw its way up and gain control. The more time passes between feeding, the stronger the "inner beast" becomes. The smell of blood and the sound of someone's heartbeat could be enough to tip a vampire over the edge. Once a human is turned into a vampire, a lot of their human traits (compassion and emotions), but everything that helps enhance a vampire's humanlike presence will ebb away over time. How quickly, however, depends on how fast a vampire give in to their ever present nature.

Vampires are stronger and quicker than the average human, though this doesn't mean they're capable of lifting trucks or smash houses into pieces with one punch. Their senses are greatly enhanced, such as smell, sight (vampires can see better in the dark) and hearing. A vampire cannot teleport or zap themselves away, but they are capable of moving faster than the average human, as well as able to move silently around.

Despite being "technically dead" a vampire uses the blood it has fed on to pump blood through its system, keeping the skin and organs from rotting. Vampires aren't incapable of being hurt either, and the same blood pumping through their system helps them heal wounds. This means that the blood it uses to heal its wounds will be lost and vampires get weaker, which means they'll have to feed shortly after getting hurt. If they don't, their mind and body will grow sluggish and slow. 

Weaknesses:

Fire and beheading are the only ways to kill a vampire. A stake to the heart will force the vampire's body into hibernation, or a deep form of sleep, as the body's last ditch effort to survive. This can last from a few hours to several days, depending on how strong or badly hurt the vampire was prior to getting staked.

Vampires won't immediately die upon breaching sunlight, though their skin will easily burn and prolonged stay under the sun rays will eventually kill them. The stronger the vampire, the more resistance they have. However, it's still a rule of thumb for vampires to stay outside the sun as the strongest of vampires could only last for a few hours and being spotted is much easier in the light. Most vampires, those stupid enough to be awake during the day, usually stick to the shade.

Appearance:

When a vampire has turned, they can feel their fangs grow from their gums. It's their bones stretching and sharpening - this is very painful. Vampire fangs are much stronger than regular bone and doesn't damage easily. A vampire's fangs usually come out (often involuntarily) whenever they're very emotional (angry, frustrated, etc), hungry or about to feed - which means that vampire fangs aren't visible constantly.

Once turned, a vampire’s appearance doesn’t change much overall. Their eye color stay the same and the only significant change is that their skin turn paler the longer they go without feeding, because there will be less blood pumping around their system. Basically, besides the fangs, a vampire will look more or less the same as they did when human.

Turning:

A human turning into a vampire is a physical and mental change. A vampire needs to drain a human of their blood and before the human dies, the human has to feed off of the vampire who drained their blood. The feeling of turning is incredibly painful and to the human, it will feel as if their insides are on fire. The body will fight against the changes, as if the changes that are about to occur acts like a disease. A turning can go three ways; becoming a vampire, permanent death or the human turns into a Gangrel. Once the turning is complete, the newly turned vampire needs to feed immediately.

Gangrel:

Gangrels are very similar to vampires, though in many ways, they're not. Where vampires are able to maintain many of their humanlike traits, Gangrels are feral beasts, with no rational thought. Gangrels are "failed turnings" that are animalistic and cold. Gangrels also look less human, their skin completely pale and they usually walks on all fours. No one really knows why it happens, but it's a 'natural' occurrence that has, according to some vampires, started happening around the same time as the plague.

Feeding:

Vampires can only feed on human blood - both fresh and bagged. They cannot drink animal blood nor eat human food as it'll make them very ill - such as nauseous and throwing up. Vampires have to feed at least every 14th day, otherwise the beast within will take over and turn vampires into mindless murderers. A vampire's saliva has a natural numbing and relaxing effect, causing its victims to feel a sort of pleasant, calming sensation. This stops them from thrashing around and struggling.

Blood bags/pets:  

A term often used about humans, usually the ones who willingly or forcefully has to act as a vampire’s constant source to blood. Though both terms are often used as an insult towards humans, given their obvious inferiority towards vampires.

Blood Bond:  

This is a bond felt by a sire and his or her “blood children”. It’s a sort of pull that grows stronger the closer someone get to their sire and/or “blood child”. This goes both ways, meaning that a blood child can feel a pull towards its sire, the same way a sire can feel a pull towards its blood child. Blood siblings (vampires created by the same sire) can also feel a pull towards each other, though this is usually weaker than the pull towards the sire. The vampires who share a blood bond are usually referred to as a “family”.

Sire: 

The creator (mother/father/mentor) of another vampire. A sire usually takes up the role as a guide and teacher for new and inexperienced vampires and helps them through their “awakening”.

The Beast/The Bloodlust:  

The primal, instinctive, animalistic and bestial nature of a frustrated, desperate, angry or hungry vampire, where the vampire will go into sort of a frenzy. This means that said vampire will go berserk, ripping people apart and draining them of blood. This is very destructive and “cold” and if a vampire don’t control it, then the vampire will be controlled by it.

Lifespan: 

Vampires are technically immortal, given the fact that they’re already “dead”. This means that unless killed, a vampire could live forever, given that they feed. What keeps a vampire’s body from rotting and decaying, is the blood they feed on, which is pumped through their system, keeping their tissue and intestines “alive”. This keeps their body and limbs from growing stiff and also helps vampires keep a somewhat normal body temperature.

Coven: 

Groups of individual vampires or a set of vampires that share a certain lifestyle. These covens are usually, but not always located within a certain geographic area, who have banded together under a specific theme, set of ideals, traditions, havens, membership requirements, hierarchy and/or rites. Covens range in size from as few as three members to as many as hundreds.

The hierarchy of a coven: 

The leaders of a coven are usually referred to as a king or queen, granted that they have control of a certain area or sector; Kings and Queens are vampires who reign supreme over the walled-off cities that now litter the planet. After them comes the princes and princesses, usually working underneath the kings or queens. Anything below princes/princesses can be anything from lords/ladies to simple mongrels/commoners.

Types of Vampires:

• Type 1 (Elder): The strongest vampires, although, not much stronger than the rest. These are usually the ones who achieve positions such as kings and queens. These vampires have a higher chance at creating vampires, rather than creating “Gangrels”. These are also the rarest types of vampires.
  
• Type 2 (Master): The next in line - weaker than number one, but stronger than number two. These are usually the ones that achieve the status of princes and princesses. These vampires are created directly from vampire number one.
• Type 3 (Mongrel): These are the weakest of the weak, created directly from type two vampires. These vampires have a 99% chance of creating “Gangrel” when creating new vampires. These are usually commoners within the vampire world.

Becoming a type 1 vampire:
This is a process that happens naturally - either immediately, or over time. A vampire doesn’t necessarily notice it themselves, though there are certain things that can help make it more noticeable, such as the amount of time it takes for a vampire to wake up from hibernation (It takes a shorter amount of time the higher ranked the vampire is). However, elder vampires are somewhat rare and this isn’t something that happens often.