The Red Death

## Description:

The Red Death is the only known title for the strange and shadowy entity, feared by mortals and Vampires alike. "He" is an independent Vampire who boasts no House affiliation. The figure is considered an Avatar of [REDACTED], the Vampire god, and is worshipped as a form of living saint by the Cult of Sanguinity, spreading his Magic Vampiric disease, the Red Death, wherever he goes.

Descriptions of the figure are rare and inconsistent. The only known description of the entity is provided by Edgar Allan Poe's story; although witness accounts of the being's appearance exist, such testimonies are considered untrustworthy due to the insanity suffered by the individuals responsible for providing such testimonies. The Red Death, being a Vampiric entity and Elemental, is also capable of taking on multiple alternate appearances. A description of the figure's true form is provided here for use by Personnel in the field. The Red Death is said to appear as a cloaked figure, draped in a crimson red robe that extends from the hood over the head to the floor; under this robe sits the fleshy beige skin of the true entity. The figure has no eyes to speak of, nor does it have ears; holes in the side of its head are theorized to mimic ears, and the holes in the front of its "face" are believed to act as a nose. The figure, should it be totally disrobed, actually appears as a horrifying pillar of flesh, with several large flaps of skin that hide its bloody red interior; its legs are instead short tentacles which extend from the bottom of its form, which can separate into proper "legs" or actual tentacles should the need for such limbs arise. Underneath the many flaps of skin are the being's tri-hinged split jaws, covered in sharp teeth, and the several additional holes which run vertically down its terrifying body; these holes produce the anomalous "Red Death" virus, and the being's jaws and mouth are said to be capable of producing an insanity-inducing scream. Each of the entity's teeth are Vampiric fangs, allowing the creature to suck a mortal man dry of blood in mere moments. The being stands at around six (6) feet tall; its weight is unknown. The figure's age is heavily debated among JPCU Personnel; while the figure's literary debut is estimated to have taken place in the fourteenth (14th) Century, ancient Roman, Germanic, and Egyptian texts recovered from previously undiscovered sites provide descriptions of a "Demon" similar in appearance and function to The Red Death.

The Red Death's intelligence is entirely unknown; its intellect, ability to plan, intentions, understanding, and psychology are all entirely eldritch in nature. The entity's hypothesized status as an Avatar of [REDACTED] could grant it access to the god's intelligence, making it far smarter than any mortal being. However, the creature could just as easily be a mindless puppet, a tool for its master to spread Undeath and disease and destruction. The figure's level of wisdom is also unknown. Similarly, it is unknown if the entity is capable of speech.

The entity's knowledge of technology is unknown, and it has not been observed or described as ever using such devices.

While The Red Death is known to possess many innate Magic abilities, the entity's knowledge of Magic is unknown. Due to being a Vampire and therefore a class of Undead Sorcerer, the specific means of The Red Death's spellcasting is also unknown.

### Personality:

The figure's goals are unconfirmed and strange. JPCU researchers theorize that The Red Death hibernates for long stretches of time before being awakened or somehow summoned, at which point he will seek out a large population center and infect it with the paranormal Red Death virus, wiping out the area's residents. Once the entity slays this population center, it disappears and restarts its hibernation. Given its status as an Avatar of [REDACTED], researchers believe that the entity's prolific killing and strange manner of Vampirism stems from the large amount of energy required for the entity to properly manifest in the Material Realm; its only goal seems to be the spreading of its disease and the continued incitement of chaos and death.

As The Red Death has not been heard speaking any known language, the entity's ego and temperament are unknown. The only observed behavior that could lend insight into this attribute is the figure's known habits of infiltration; only when discovered and confronted does The Red Death reveal its true nature and unleash the virus upon those nearby.

The figure has not been observed participating in any acts of hedonism or pleasure aside from its mass murder and acts of Vampirism.

The psychology of The Red Death is complex and enigmatic. However, JPCU researchers claim that the figure can become hostile to other Vampires, and claims that the Red Death virus is harmful even to other Vampires. The reason for this is unknown.

### Abilities:

Physically, The Red Death is described as superior to normal mortal humanoids. The entity's fleshy covering is resistant to most forms of harm, and the strength of its skinlike flaps enable the beast to fly, which implies a great amount of strength; those very same flaps of "skin" also enable the creature to fly. The Red Death's senses are unconfirmed, but believed to be equivalent to those of other Vampires; special senses likely include blood flow vision and night vision.

It is believed that The Red Death's unnatural skills in infiltration and disguise are likely the result of an anomalous "Unnoticability" trait and the entity's nature as an Avatar of [REDACTED], which allows it to gain access to even the most heavily guarded of locations.

#### The Red Death Virus:

The figure is most well known for the incredibly dangerous and lethal Magic virus which it produces through unknown means within its body. The virus is incredibly potent and unnaturally infectious despite its supernatural lethality and one hundred percent (100%) mortality rate, able to spread through an entire city in a matter of days.

Symptoms of the Red Death virus include: sharp body pains, dizzy spells and vertigo, profuse and sudden bleeding from the pores, hallucinations, and finally death. The virus takes its course, from infection to expiration, in only a half an hour (~30 minutes). There is no known cure for the virus, although the presence of Pantheonic Magic or hallowed/sacred ground is known to slow the virus's effects dramatically; infected individuals who remain alive when The Red Death leaves and returns to hibernation are miraculously cured of the ailment, a strange feature believed to originate from the entity's inability to properly feed from the virus while hibernating.

## History:

The first found records of The Red Death come from ancient Egypt, [DATE REDACTED] BCE, discovered in a hieroglyphic depiction along the walls of [REDACTED]. The Egyptians, having their own Vampire House Set to secretly rule from the shadows, attested The Red Death to some Demon or spirit of death summoned by the other Vampires or as a consequence of an unhappy god/goddess.

The next confirmed sighting occurs in the early [REDACTED] CE, where Germanic oral traditions and illustrations upon pottery provide a fantastical account of a plague responsible for wiping out several villages in the span of only a couple of weeks.

Only a few decades after the sightings by the Germanic tribes, ancient Roman records in Gaul (*Note: Modern day France*) note the exact same plague, although the Romans appeared ignorant of the Germanic tribes' previous interaction with the virus. The Roman outbreak of the Red Death wiped out multiple large cities across Gaul before suddenly and mysteriously stopping.

The next instance of The Red Death occurred during the fourteenth (14th) Century, the beginnings of the European Renaissance. This outbreak began in northern Italy, and wiped out an entire kingdom before disappearing as suddenly as it manifested. Official historical records of this event were not kept in Italy, but were instead discovered by SCP Foundation explorers to the Kingdom of Alagadda only a few years prior to the time of writing. Edgar Allan Poe's story is the original account of this outbreak.

The most recent outbreak occurred in [REDACTED] and [DATA EXPUNGED]