Vampire

## Origin

Legend says that a depraved human named Cain killed another human and became Ancyra's first murderer. Cain developed a taste for blood, going on to slay a great many people before nearing the end of his natural life. Desiring to remain alive in order to further perpetrate his own bloodlust and depravity, Cain inflicted a curse upon himself using his own significant dark power. The curse (which came to be known as 'vampirism') granted him immortality and the ability to inflict the curse upon those he murdered, but only in exchange for further depravity and killing. It is unknown whether Cain still lives to the present day, but if he does, he is certainly Ancyra's most feared and prolific killer, having claimed countless lives over the centuries of his life and un-death.

## Traits

Almost all Ancryians know of the distinct physical traits of a vampire - pale skin, sanguine eyes and elongated canines are all hallmarks of the dreaded creatures that once haunted Ancyra. However, as little as a concealing cloak and a face-mask can allow a vampire to move undetected through civilisation - past rulers of the land often instituted laws preventing their citizens from having their faces covered in public for this very reason.

As per the original conditions under which Cain cursed himself with vampiric immortality, vampires are constantly driven to depravity and murder. Committing any kind of 'evil' act brings euphoria to the otherwise-dulled emotions of a vampire's mind, with the vampire in question feeling pleasure proportional to the magnitude of the act - kicking a small animal, for example, would barely bring about a smile, whereas torturing a human to death may well cause the vampire to break out into fits of hysteria. They are not biologically required to commit these acts - that is, they won't lose their curse (and thus, die again) if they fail to kill - but their urges to murder, sin, torture and oppress are akin to a human's instincts to breathe, eat and drink and cannot be ignored.  In addition to being immortal, the curse that sustains vampires also grows more powerful over time. There is no known 'cap' on a vampire's power growth in this manner, with some paranoid Ancyrians theorizing that no single human in all of Ancyra - or indeed The Heavens of Elysium - could take on an elder vampire alone.

Though Vampires are compelled to the feasting of blood as a byproduct of the curse, it is not a biological need. A vampire can never die from not feeding. However, this comes with severe drawbacks; While the Vampire's body will remain forever frozen at the age they were turned, if they do not feed the body will begin to weaken, their appearance aging at a rapid rate. For newborn vampires, this can happen in a matter of weeks. For ancients (those that have lived for 200+ years) this would take months. Even older vampires could presumably go years without feeding.

As the vampire neglects its desire to feed, its powers will begin to regress. This is not a permanent loss, and full power will be restored if the vampire feeds in enough excess to bring it back. As the aging process happens, the vampire will start feeling sluggish, as if it's harder to move. Their skin becomes leathery and hard, their hair begins to grey, and their overall appearance will look aged and ragged. After enough time without blood passes (again varying with age) the vampire will be unable to move at all, and thus will require an immense burst of will or some sort of outside aid to become mobile again. A vampire could potentially exist for an eternity in this stasis.

## Abilities

A vampire's mana circuit is destroyed beyond repair upon their mortal death, forever prohibiting them from utilising magical abilities, but it is the curse of Cain that grants them their unnatural power when they join the ranks of the undead. The curse gives them mana, feeding on depravity, and as such, re-works their mind so that a vampire's every thought is with the end result of inflicting pain. A benefit to the curse is that they're immune to other curses, as well as the effects of Sin magic.

All vampires have agility and strength that far surpasses that of any human, along with lightning-fast reflexes and the unique ability to regenerate flesh very rapidly compared to conventional healing, at a rate that averages several minutes depending on the severity of the wound. It isn't unheard of for a vampire to regenerate an entire body from just its own severed head - of course, such a process would take several weeks of undisturbed regeneration.

Vampires are capable of flight through the curse of Cain, allowing them to position themselves however they please.

A vampires ability to turn completely physically invisible is unmatched by even the greatest of illusionists. However for young vampires unable to hide their depravity radiation; this ability is almost moot in viability against those who are wary. It also does not prevent them from being sensed by those with abilities specifically meant to identify and detect vampires.

The potency of a vampire's abilities is magnified as the vampire ages and the curse sustaining them becomes more powerful. New abilities may also manifest with enough time.

* Three years after being turned, a fledgling Vampire is capable of hiding their depravity as well as being able to control their blood lust to a much greater extent than as a newborn. This is also the point in which Vampirism becomes irreversible.
* Vampires older than 150 years can regenerate wounded flesh in mere seconds, with a full-body regeneration taking a day at most rather than the weeks required for a younger vampire. They are also capable of flight for prolonged periods of time and are able to take control of the minds of lesser men and beings.
* Vampires that are fortunate enough to age beyond 300 years gain a further upgrade to their regeneration abilities, allowing them to reconstruct lost flesh in the blink of an eye - re-creating their entire physical form below the neck would likely only take a number of seconds for these immensely powerful creatures. In addition, they can transcend their physical form and become a gaseous mist for as long as they please, and may also shapeshift into any form for a temporary period of time.

## Infection

The vampiric curse is transmitted through blood - a vampire's blood must enter another's bloodstream for the curse to take hold. This is usually perpetrated by a vampire after the murder of a victim. If the victim somehow gets vampiric blood into their system before their death, the cursed fluids will kill them in short order. Infection is frequently unsuccessful - often the victim dies outright. Only a few 'fortunate' vampire victims re-awaken after their initial death. Human sub-species, such as Gnomes , Dwarves, Etc. Can become vampires. This comes with the cost of losing all ties to their respective racial skills.

A non-Magi has little to no hope of surviving the infection process. Lesser Magi, those new to their craft or just otherwise inept, are most likely to turn into ***Ghouls.*** Ghouls are vampires that never evolve past the newborn stage, and are slaves to their impulses and their master's will. Generally speaking, they are mindless killing machines with little semblance of their previous humanity.

If the infection succeeds, the supposedly-dead human re-awakens into their newly vampiric form after only a few hours, granted a second life after death by Cain's curse. For a full week after their re-awaking, a newly-born vampire will be consumed by an all-encompassing hunger for blood. This thirst cannot be sated for the duration of the week - a new vampire will think of nothing except their next meal, no matter their circumstances or how much they've consumed already. During this period, the vampire lacks its memories from its past life, thinking of loved ones or past friends it may encounter as nothing more than food. If fortunate, the vampire will be held captive and fed frequently by the vampire that turned them in order to prevent an untimely re-death at the hands of city guards or other hazards. When this insatiable bloodlust subsides, the vampire regains their senses and memories, but their personality is forever warped beyond recognition by the curse - even the most virtuous paladin becomes the sadistic embodiment of evil upon infection.

The curse of Cain can only be reversed by killing the vampire who infected the one who requires their curse to be removed. However, there is only a short window of time within which this method will work - it takes three years of vampirism for the curse to fully manifest and become independent of the cursed individual that spawned it, after which the death of the infecting vampire will do nothing to the infected. There is no other way to reverse the curse without permanently killing the cursed individual.

* + The overall success rate of infection is fairly low. The stronger the magi in question, and the stronger the vampire whose blood is being used, the more likely they are to survive. The only guaranteed chance at infection is through using the blood of Cain, the original vampire. The victim of Cain's blood would be a super-charged newborn, much stronger than any other newborn though not quite at Cain's level.

## History

Vampires first came to Ancyra in 565AC in the form of the ancient vampire Vlad, believed to be one of Cain's first victims, who washed up on a Ancyra beach with a small entourage of fellow vampires. True to the vampiric instinct of murdering, sadism and general depravity, Vlad and his followers proceeded to bring the vampiric plague to Ancyra In full force. Vlad's entire entourage - along with those they had turned - was eventually destroyed by humanity, but it is unknown whether the ancient vampire himself survives in Ancyra to the current day. Some believe that he is simply in a long slumber - a hibernation of sorts, perhaps awaiting the day upon which he may once again rise and bring great ruin to Ancyra once more.

The vampiric survivors of the purge that followed Vlad's attack on Ancyra are persecuted and hunted constantly, but a select few remain still hidden in the shadows, waiting for their opportunity to emerge and satisfy their depraved urges, true to the curse that gave them a second life in the first place.