The Undying

The Proto-Vampires or '**The Undying'** as they were called by their progenitor Gna-Limer, The Dull Bloodsucker to 'his children' affected by his Sanguinavirus. **The Undying** were numerous species mutated by the virus. At their species peak there were approximately 2 millions individual Undying (which gathered from several realms and planets) that answered the call of **Gna-Limer** before his death and consequently their own.

## Symptoms of the Undying virus

The skin or hide of the creature or being will lighten a few shades.

Regardless of their original diet will develop sharp canine teeth and long tongues to help with blood feeding.

The facial features will stiffen and even if the original creature was capable of emotion they will lose that ability instead having a cold manner which they will use to try and blend in with society.

They will gain a much wider vocal range being able to converse in the language of the vampires even without prior knowledge of how to speak it.

The Undying are the earliest known creatures of the Undead classification.

## Abilities

* **Proto-Vampire Physiology**:
	+ **Blood Consumption**: The Undying fed exclusively on blood, their saliva being a vector for **Sanguinavirus** to spread as such more intelligent Undying became the leader of 'families', implementing methods to prevent mass turnings which would overwhelm the **Undying's** food supply.
	+ **Contaminant Immunity**: As a creation of Stlanitherath, The Pestilant Discord, **the Undying** had complete resistance to all poisons, bacteria, and other diseases allowing them to move around the infected masses caused by their creator without consequence.
	+ **Natural Weaponry**: **The Undying** regardless of their original bodily configuration always developed natural weaponry to help them hunt prey.
		- **Fang Retraction**: **The Undying** would develop a sharp pair of canine teeth to puncture the flesh of its prey to allow feeding on blood. Though direct feeding was dangerous as non-expired prey had a chance of turning into another **Undying**.
			* **Infectious Bite**: **The Undying's** fang and/or saliva contain the **Sanguinavirus** that they can spread to others through their bite.
			* **Powerful Bite**: **The Undying** were predators as such their jaw muscles were strengthened to aid them in piercing the flesh of their prey.
			* **Venomous Fangs**: The **Undying's** fangs contained a venom that would give a feeling of euphoria to their prey but also if left alive would turn them into an **Undying**. An Undying created this way would be feral and not belong to a family as such it was dangerous to other Undying as it would threaten to expose them to their prey. By allowing the potential family member to feed off of their sire, this created a sire bond and a hierarchy for the family.
	+ **Reproduction via Conversion** (The Undying): **The Undying** were able to essentially reproduce via transmission of the **Sanguinavirus** which transformed a person or a creature into an **Undying**.
		- **Conversion Blood**: **The Undying** possess blood with conversion properties, allowing them to turn others into a **Undying** through transfusion or ingestion.
		- **Sire Bond**: **The Undying** formed powerful bonds with those they sired such as their progenies via the conversion process, making the sire able to sense their progeny's presence and compel them to follow orders (This could be overridden by the next oldest if the former leader was kept alive but in a weakened state). This particular ability linked all the way back to **Gna-Limer** who had complete control over his children and could summon them from any distance. 'Children' could feel the status of their 'parent' and vice-versa, the death of directly related **Undying** would cause the other pain.
	+ **Semi-Immortality**: **The** **Undying** as long as they fed and rested regularly could go on living practically forever.

## Weaknesses

* **Light Aversion**: **The Undying** become weaker when they come in contact with the light and/or light-based energies; UV/solar and even divine/holy light seems to be the main forms of light to inflict harm or some type of weakness in them. They become weakened by anything related to these things which can even nullify any existing powers the **Undying** may have, and/or physical effects on their bodies. Long-term exposure to the light may result in fatal bodily conditions and/or even death, which can include the **Undying's** body spontaneously combusting in fiery flames.
	+ **Fire**: Similar to the plasma from a star, fire could easily cause damage to an **Undying's** body. Cauterization would prevent limbs from regenerating as such **the Undying** instinctually feared fire.
	+ **Sunlight**: **The Undying** had a huge weakness to the light of day even a few seconds of exposure could heavily hurt or kill them, their bodies charring or in the cases of very old ones crumbling to ash
* **Metal**: Certain metals can affect The Undying.
	+ **Dalvinite**: A powerful metal that was completely resistant to anything an **Undying** could do, if pierce through with a dalvinite rod **the Undying** would be unable to remove it and if needed it could be used to pin one down for surgical examination. If given a sharp edge Dalvinite can also sever through **Undying** flesh and its properties make reattaching or healing a very difficult and time consuming process.
	+ **Silver**: Silver could slow down an **Undying** but not kill it without causing major bodily trauma like decapitation or piercing them through the heart, though the silver did make an **Undying** move at a more manageable speed to actually combat one.
* **Need to feed**: **The Undying** need to feed regularly though the frequency and amount needed depend on the type of Undying typically the larger they are the more they need to consume and the more often too.
	+ If an Undying was injured for example if their legs were smashed, they could not heal and recover without feeding, they also could not regrow body parts as is the case with one family that left their former leader in a cave pit without his legs occasionally returning to feed him though not enough for him to gain enough strength to escape, this individual was killed by a witcher who had accidentally ended up in his pit through a spontaneous time-space portal.
* **Specific Requirements for Nesting Soil**: **The Undying** had to die each night in special mounds of soil that had shards of crystalline rocks surrounding them that absorb any moisture in the soil preventing them from becoming damp or waterlogged. If the crystals were to be removed **The Undying** would have suffered damage from the moisture seeping into them as they slept turning their skin and flesh to slime as the decaying process had a vector to try to reclaim the body.
* **Rules**: There are rules that the Undying had to follow, the reasons were known only to them.
	+ **The Undying** were unable to enter a dwelling without an invitation. They would regularly feed on homeless beings and creatures though.
* **Trauma**: Significant trauma to the brain could temporarily addle an **Undying's** brain allowing a potential victim to escape.
	+ **Decapitation**: If an **Undying** was decapitated it could continue living for about five minutes if its body and head stayed intact as well as the head would have to be reattached, if the head was not reattached in that time period however **the Undying** would expire.

## Behaviors

### Families

A unit/pack of **Undying** that lived together, they could range in size from three to twelve members, back when the disease spread amongst the realms numerous species could make up a family but the structure usually consisted of the established leader, and his first two 'children', the rest of the family, if there was one, were usually the 'children' of the leader's 'children'. Being turned into an Undying essentially freezes a creature or person in time, so if they turned them when they were a child they would always physically be a child, because of the disadvantages this would give a new Undying this was rarely purposefully done.

### Feeding

Because of the infectious nature of the **Undying**, they were very careful when feeding, one of the smarter turned usually became the leader who would know that direct bites could lead to a new possibly unwanted family member, so they would bleed prey over a tub or basin of some kind to allow the family to lap up the blood without giving the victim the possible saving grace of turning.

### Lairing

Because the **Undying** had such a major weakness to sunlight and had such a specific requirement for their nests, they would often find or make caves and prepare chambers for their families. When on a planet with intelligent life, many shelters would be prepared spread out to allow the family to return to them safely before the light of day. At around sunup, the **Undying** would bury themselves in the salty earth and die, though around sundown they would reanimate and feel refreshed as if they slept.

### Turning

The usual way an **Undying** was made was the leader of a family or his/her 'children' would drink from a chosen victim and then the prospective would drink from their sire, then they would be laid to rest under salted earth which would pull out the essence of death permeating the body, turning them into an **Undying**.

## Notes

* **The Undying** are based on the Vampires from the story 'I Own A Motel And I Think I've Been Renting A Room To A Family Of VAMPIRES' by Youtuber Lighthouse Horror. All original credit for the creatures goes to them, I'm just giving them a Witcher twist to add them to the lore of the Multiverse.
* **The Undying** were different than **Gna-Limer's** actual children as they lacked specialized abilities and forms, which also included self-restraint and true intelligence that Gna-Limer's Lesser Old One children possessed, this distinction along with the virulent nature of their existence was the reason for the genocide of their entire species.
* **The Undying** and the Sanguinavirus that creates them was wiped out completely during the Protas-Cosmic Horror War alongside the disease's original contractor Gna-Limer, The Dull Bloodsucker in the year 892,580,230 BR by The Source and Cimbris.
* My articles are to cultivate storytelling and inclusion, should you want to include The Undying in your stories despite their genocide, its easily doable with space-time portals.
* The vampiric disease and affected creatures that would come to be known as **The Undying** are a purely fanon creation as such there is no official proof of their existence in the Witcher works outside the fanon community.