Strathloch is a vampire. He is one of 300,000 or so people worldwide who consider themselves practitioners of a vampire religion. Strathloch comes from a Welsh father and a Russian-Romanian mother, but he was raised by his druid grandparents in Wales. Three of his 14 brothers are also vampires. India has a sizable following of vampires devoted to Kali, the Hindu goddess of creation and destruction.
Vampires experience a calling to the darker forces and an affinity to a nocturnal lifestyle.
Many claim psychic powers and the ability to leave their own bodies and take up residence in others' bodies. Some say they can actually fly and enter people's dreams. A few vampires claim to suffer from porphyria, a rare metabolic disorder whose symptoms may include reddening, pain and blistering of the skin upon exposure to sunlight. Strathloch has malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer caused by excessive exposure to the sun's radiation. Vampires consider themselves immortal.