House Zobolzus

## Description:

House Zobolzus, overseers of the county of Erliokat in the Maughian Theocracy in the Drahran Archipelago, is a clan of Vampires derived from Dragonkin origins that operate in isolation from much of the rest of the world, even the rest of the Theocracy, by nature of their rarity and value among the magic community. As such, the House keeps to themselves and rarely ventures out of their assigned territories.

As the group is headquartered in the Drahran Archipelago of the Continent of Pilbo, public knowledge of the group beyond Pilbo's borders is nonexistent; within Pilbo, however, these Draconic Vampires are feared like the Bogeyman and treated like ancient ghost stories. Little do many people know, the group still exists and continues to hunt and expand, working in secret so as not to draw the public's attention to themselves.

### Organization:

#### Population: 1,900 citizens

Founded in: 100 PC

The group is led by Vampire King Indron the Red, a Red Dragonkin male. Below him sit his noble court of fellow Zobolzus Vampires, following the hierarchy associated with Dragons (Red and Gold Blue and Silver, Green and Bronze, Black and Copper, and White and Brass). At the bottom of the social hierarchy sit the unconverted Dragonkin citizens used as food for the Vampires. Unlike normal Dragonkin societies, House Zobolzus is not divided by color/metal of the individual; instead, House Zobolzus is united in their Vampiric states rather than divided by the color of their scales or element of their breath weapons. While the Draconic hierarchy is still loosely followed, the Vampiric members of House Zobolzus respect one another for being Vampires far more than they respect any other Dragonkin; members of House Zobolzus do not worship or revere any Dragon, either, and have no respect for the ancient beings of great size and prowess.

House Zobolzus recruits through methods far more restrictive than those of other Vampire Houses; due to their Draconic nature, Dragonkin bodies reject the conversion process that occurs after death following Vampiric infection, and as a result they take 14 days to reanimate. In addition, Dragonkin can only be turned by a Vampire Lord or True Vampire, as the potency of lesser Vampires is insufficient to turn a Dragonkin due to the Draconic physiology. As a result of these difficulties and extra obstacles that prevent widespread conversion, House Zobolzus rarely recruits new members, and only usually does so as a means of replenishing their ranks should a member manage to permanently die.

House Zobolzus is different to many other Vampire Houses in many ways, the least of which being their routine activities; where other Vampires are out stalking their prey, hunting, or growing their power or influence, members of House Zobolzus remain in their keeps and castles, isolated from the rest of the world and guarded by swathes of servants and soldiers. Members of House Zobolzus, who are often insane or deranged individuals, spend a majority of their time indoors, hiding from outside forces that may seek to hunt or kill them; as a result, House Zobolzus is not a public Vampire House, and maintains its secrecy at all costs.

House Zobolzus has not been actively engaged by the JPCU due to their refusal to speak with most mortals; all information acquired and posted here has been learned through ancient tomes and second-hand accounts.

### Equipment:

House Zobolzus possesses a very limited technological ability, maintaining only a Renaissance-era understanding of technology and preferring not to introduce higher levels of technology into their castle or the village they control.

While their level of technology is generally low, their magical access is almost unrivaled. Being immortal individuals, they have all the time in the world to improve on their magical knowledge and enforce their will upon the laws of magic; their Draconic nature gives them an affinity for magic, and their Vampiric nature grants them knowledge over blood magics and affiliated mystic fields.

House Zobolzus tends to refuse to engage in open combat or proper warfare, preferring to exert their demands on the field of diplomacy, politics, and intrigue or resolve their issues from a distance through servants or magic; a member of House Zobolzus engaging in combat personally is incredibly rare, and they are never without a servant or bodyguard to do the fighting for them as often as possible. This preference to avoid open violence is not out of cowardice or weakness, but a preference to spend as much of their time working to further their magical goals as opposed to waging war.

#### Military:

Due to their small numbers and the difficulty in bringing others into their ranks, members of House Zobolzus use mortal Dragonkin, other races of sentient humanoids, summoned creatures from other Realms, and entities of all kinds to make up their armed forces. The individual members of House Zobolzus act as leaders, generals and commanders, strategists, and mages on the battlefield.

#### Innate Abilities:

Like other Vampire Houses, House Zobolzus is gifted with many unique abilities; due to their Draconic nature, many of their abilities are a result of the conflict between their Draconic and mortal halves. Members of House Zobolzus are particularly powerful among Vampires, and are revered for their uniqueness and rarity. Despite these unique abilities, members of House Zobolzus do still burn up when caught in sunlight, except for Red and Gold Dragonkin, who are naturally immune to fire.

##### Corrupted Breath Weapon:

Like normal Dragonkin, members of House Zobolzus possess breath weapons like they did in life, depending on the color/metal type they were in life; as a result of their Vampiric transformations, members of House Zobolzus possess corrupted breath weapons, often consisting in some capacity the large quantities of blood they hemorrhage as a result of their body's constant rejection of their Vampiric mutations. These corrupted breath weapons are stronger than the breath weapons of mortal Dragonkin, and, thanks to their gaseous or liquid nature, can be stored and used in alchemy, spells and rituals, or traps. The various types of corrupted breath weapon, alongside a description of each, are provided below:

1. (Red) Hell-Fire Breath: Flames corrupted by Hell's influence that are far stronger than mundane flames and cannot be put out through conventional means; does not work against Demons or other Vampires (or any undead Demonic in origin), but deals additional damage to holy and divine entities. Red members of House Zobolzus, unlike their other counterparts, are immune to the deadly effects of sunlight.
2. (Blue) Corrupted Lightning Breath: Lightning enhanced with the chaotic and destructive nature of Hell, making the bolts stronger and more unstable, causing them to detonate in a large explosion upon impact.
3. (Green) Rage-Poison Breath: A cloud of poisonous miasma that influences the minds of those caught in the blast, driving them into a mad frenzy and removing their ability to differentiate between friend and foe.
4. (Black) Blood-Infused Miasma Breath: Where acid once melted whole armies, now a reddish-black mist rolls gently from the user's maw, affecting the minds of those in the blast and placing them under the user's will; victims have their blood slowly replaced by the mist with each breath, converting them into barely-living thralls that abide the user's every command. Should the user expel the mist from an enthralled victim, their lack of blood renders them deceased instantly.
5. (White) Necrosis Breath: Acid breath corrupted by death itself now necrotizes flesh on contact and reduces even the bravest of knights to withered bleached skeletons in mere moments.
6. (Gold) Hell-Fire Breath: Flames corrupted by Hell's influence that are far stronger than mundane flames and cannot be put out through conventional means; does not work against Demons or other Vampires (or any undead Demonic in origin), but deals additional damage to holy and divine entities. Gold members of House Zobolzus, unlike their other counterparts, are immune to the deadly effects of sunlight.
7. (Silver) Petrifying Breath: Cold and ice, corrupted by Hell's Slothful energies, now turns targets to a blackish Sulphur-smelling stone in a matter of seconds.
8. (Copper) Metal-Eating Acid Gas Breath: Acid that once burned flesh now only melts metals and leathers, eating away at a target's armor and shield like ravenous beasts devour a fresh corpse; even enchanted armors feel the melting sting of the strange fog.
9. (Bronze) Disintegrating Beam: Copper Dragons make use of lightning breath, but their Vampiric Dragonkin counterparts possess a far deadlier version in the form of a disintegrating beam that obliterates everything it hits; creatures killed with the beam have their bodies turned to ash, preventing healing or resurrection.

##### Sacrifice-based Magic:

Like some other Vampire Houses and nefarious creatures that stalk the darkness of the world, members of House Zobolzus can sacrifice some of their corrupted, mystical Vampire-Dragon blood to gain access to special, unique spells and abilities; these unique abilities differ between individuals, and increase in power the older and more powerful the user becomes.

##### Soul Expulsion:

The souls of members of House Zobolzus are entirely unique specimen; their Draconic halves reject the Vampiric transformation and seek to expel it from their physical body, but the mortal half of the soul accepts the mutation and becomes corrupted. This conflict drives most members of House Zobolzus insane, or gives them 2 separate identities corresponding to the two (2) halves of their souls, but also loosens the connection between the two (2) halves. With this loosened connection, members of House Zobolzus can extend the Draconic half of their souls beyond the physical bounds of their bodies in a manner similar to certain monks; this grants members of House Zobolzus access to powerful spectral abilities and potential. Particularly strong members of House Zobolzus can fully separate their Draconic souls from their bodies, putting them into phylacteries or other bodies, making them self-resurrecting or giving them a second life should their first body die; this permanent severance of the halves of their soul also further corrupts and mutates their original bodies as the curse of Vampirism is then able to take greater control over the host body.

##### Spell Absorption:

Members of House Zobolzus are often powerful magic-users, and make extensive use of blood magic, their innate Draconic magic and other abilities, and much more to dispatch their foes and enact their will upon the world; despite this great power and knowledge, members of House Zobolzus do not possess the ability to cast as many spells as most normal mortals, and must absorb the magic from enchanted items, places, or spells in order to gain the potential to use more of their own, more powerful magic. This interception and absorption of magic around them also occurs when a particularly powerful ritual or spell is cast by a member of House Zobolzus, as the life and magic in the surrounding environment is sucked into the spell as a supplement for a lack in the user's personal power; this ability means that the most powerful of the group's rituals and spells requires ready access to Ley Lines or similarly powerful sources of raw magic to perform properly. Through a simple touch, members of House Zobolzus can even prevent a target from regenerating from wounds if their innate regeneration is based in magic.