Vampires

**Vampires**, also known as the **Children of the Night**, are a species of Downworlders. Along with werewolves, vampires are humans infected with a demon disease. However, unlike the former, vampires are considered "undead".

## Description

Being reanimated corpses, they do not have a heartbeat and do not need to breathe, although they are still able to inhale and exhale oxygen, in order to utilize their heightened sense of smell, to pass as human, or to blow on something. Their lack of breath makes them impervious to such things as asphyxiation, drowning, or gases.

A vampire and their sire also have some sort of connection.

The dirt of the grave where a vampire was buried holds special properties for that vampire. Vampires may use this to communicate simple messages, even without the other's presence—for instance, breaking a container of a vampire's grave dirt could be used to alert and summon that particular vampire. Clans sometimes even have a spot where a jar of every member's grave dirt is hidden, used for emergency purposes for when a leader needs to call on all their vampires.

Like warlocks, vampires are immortal and sterile; though unable to bear children, they are able to continue their vampiric bloodline by turning humans into vampires.

## Abilities

Vampires, like werewolves, possess superhuman strength, grace, and speed, and are able to heal quickly from most mundane injuries. They also have enhanced senses—smell, sight, and hearing. They can track others through scent. Vampires also gain sharper eyesight than humans, and any fledgling who wore glasses in life will no longer need them as a vampire.

Vampires are several times stronger and faster than they ever could have been in life. New vampires must learn to control their new strength, lest they hurt others unintentionally. They can also move with such unnatural celerity that they appear as mere blurs of motion; crossing large distances in mere seconds.

Vampires also have the power of the encanto—the ability to mesmerize and essentially control others through a combination of eye contact, vocal commands, and hand gestures.

One of the main trademarks of vampires is their immortality; their souls are preserved within their own animated carcass and they no longer physically age or decay, though they possess some characteristics of the dead, such as their pale and cold skin.

Vampire venom has a relaxant property, enough that it was used as an ingredient for the strong, albeit still weaker than pure vampire venom, drug yin fen.

## Creation

A human who has been bitten—with the transformative properties of vampire saliva able to Turn them—or has consumed enough vampire blood, known as a fledgling, will not abruptly Turn into a vampire. To be reborn, the human must first die a mortal death, during which the undead body will enter into a state of transition. They must then be buried, during which they will reanimate while in the ground, and then must make their way out of their own grave to be 'truly born'. They must then feed on an exceptional amount of fresh human blood within the next 24 hours to complete the transition, or else they will fade and die. Because of the vampire blood, the demon "disease" and energy, and saliva in their bodies, their corpses are kept intact and animated.

Because of this, a killed fledgling should have someone familiar with the process to support the fledgling and ensure a smooth transition, specifically by being present for the vampire's rising, to ensure that the fledgling would successfully rise of the grave, and supply them with blood and take him or her to a safe place to recover.

An orphaned fledgling—one with no guidance or clan to support it—will have little to no idea about what's happened to them, and won't know how to feed safely or even to stay out of sunlight. The importance of a clan is highlighted because of those instances, and in case this doesn't happen immediately, a Praetor is dispatched to a spotted new vampire to help.

## Diet

Blood is the main component of a vampire's diet; all vampires need to drink some kind of blood for their survival. Whether it is the blood of humans or animals is up to the vampire. To feed, their retractable razor-like fangs are deployed from their upper canines when their bloodlust is roused.

## Weaknesses

Their immortality does not make them immune to other forms of death.

Vampires are extremely vulnerable to the sun as well as fire. A ray of sunlight will cause blisters and burns on a vampire's skin, but full exposure to the sun or being exposed fully to unblocked sunshine will cause them to explode. A known exception to this are Daylighters, who are immune to forces that would typically destroy his kind, such as the sun and the Soul-Sword.

As stated by tradition, the use of a wooden stake to pierce through a vampire's heart will slay them instantly.

## History

The first vampire was Cain, son of Adam and Eve, and was made a vampire by the demon Lilith.

Simion the Scribe of the Cluj Institute in the late 15th century described an all-out war between the Nephilim and the Romanian vampire clans, with vampires chained to the ground in village squares and left to burn in the rising sun, and other such acts. Shadowhunters, especially those already experienced in hunting Downworlders, traveled to Transylvania for the sole purpose of vampire slaying. It was the first real contact between widespread vampiric disease and Shadowhunters.

The war ended with no clear victor. Knowledge of the vampiric disease grew, vampirism spread to other parts of Europe, and Shadowhunters returned home to sign treaties with local vampire clans and keep the peace in their own territories. Transylvania remained a devastated battleground for hundreds of years, where mortality rates for both vampires and Shadowhunters remained the highest in the world, and where the authority of the Clave was tenuous at best.

Exposure, the practice of binding vampires outside to be burned by the sun, was banned in the Third Accords of 1902 after the popularity of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, which led to an enthusiasm for hunting and brutally killing innocent, Law-abiding vampires.

As other Downworlders, Vampires were hunted for sport, with their fangs being a popular trophy.

## Society

Vampires may band together and form a clan. As with any organization, there are politics involved and leaderships and loyalties may shift. Clans also typically align themselves with the Clave and conform to the Accords—sometimes dubiously, if small loopholes can be found—to maintain peace and remain undisturbed by Shadowhunters.

It is against the Accords to feed directly from humans. Blood should typically be from blood bags, which many Downworld establishments and clans have supplies of. However, some vampires may have secret, illegal vampire dens where they keep around subjugates, which is a direct violation of the Shadowhunter law. Bleeder dens, where mundanes willingly go to be fed on to feed their addiction to their blood, falls somewhat into a gray area as long as no one gets hurt, killed, or Turned.

For some reason, vampires and werewolves also have a long-standing rivalry and antagonistic relationship with werewolves.

Though vampires are sterile and cannot bear children, the new vampires they sire are considered by some to be their children. A vampire has a connection with their sire. One such connection is having the same blood running through their veins.

## Known Vampires

* Brad
* Camille Belcourt
* Daniel Quinn
* Elle
* Eloise
* Griffin
* Lily
* Maria
* Masego
* Raphael Santiago
* Simon Lewis
* Vampire woman with motorcycle  †

## Trivia

* Contrary to popular belief, vampires are able to observe religion.
* Vampires can get intoxicated on the plasma of blood.