Vampires

Vampires are often thought to be mere folktales, but in Red they are quite real. Individuals with vampirism are not common- but they certainly exist.

(Note: This page summarizes the agentfancypants body of headcanons.)

## Biology

Every vampire was once a human. Depending on the situations surrounding their turning, they may be a living or an undead type vampire. Either type has the same powers, only differering in some biological needs and appearance. A living-type vampire will become an undead type upon surviving something that would kill a human, but not a vampire.

### Powers

All vampires have the following powers:

* Glamour (see below)
* Regeneration of wounds
* Super strength, speed, durability
* Automatic darkvision
* Don't age

The first three powers (glamour, regeneration, superhuman abilites) require blood to fuel them. Dead vampires would cease to be undead and become true corpses if completely drained of blood, while living-type vampires would simply be unable to perform any of these actions.

#### Glamour

The main goal of glamours is to disguise vampiric nature and provide protection from the sun. It is a use of blood power to change skin tone, eye color, hide fangs. and manufacture body heat for undead-type vampires who have none naturally. It provides considerable sun protection, as well- even an undead vampire can withstand several hours of full sun with only a sunburn when glamoured, though such events are usually avoided.

#### Blood Power

Blood power is the power that blood is converted to by the vampiric body in order to be used. It is used to implement all vampiric powers, and the conversion happens automatically.

#### Regeneration of wounds

Almost any wound can be regenerated almost instantly by a vampire with enough blood to power the healing. Healing a wound takes about as much blood as would be required to fill the wound, and appears as blood pooling and congealing into healthy flesh inside the wound. Vampiric healing will not remove a bullet, instead, it will heal around it.

### Living type and undead type vampires

Living type vampires were given vampiric blood while still alive, while dead-type were either given blood and turned as corpses or were once living vampires who experienced an event that would have killed a human. There are several differences.

* Living vampires:
	+ More resistant to sun, even unglamoured
	+ Still need to eat, and can taste food almost as well as a human
	+ Pale, dull, but not gray skin
	+ Still need to breathe
	+ Produce natural body heat
* Undead vampires:
	+ Highly vulnerable to sun when unglamoured
	+ Do not need food other than blood and have severely dulled sense of taste for food
	+ Do not need to breathe
	+ Matte, gray skin
	+ No natural body heat
	+ Can and will torpor much more completely

#### Torpor

Torpor is an intense rest state, more often entered by undead-type vampires. Any vampire will enter torpor when unable to normally heal a wound due to lack of blood, or due to the shock of a would-be deadly wound. In torpor, any wounds will be healed before waking. Torpor healing is slower than conventional regeneration, but it also uses considerably less blood. It is still faster than human healing, however, and appears as blood congealing into flesh.

When torpored, an undead type vampire is nearly indistinguishable from a normal corpse save for any healing wounds. All breathing stops, any glamour falls, and the heartbeat is so weak as to be undetectable. Living type vampires do not torpor so intensely, continuing to breathe and have a heartbeat, though it is considerably slower than when awake or sleeping normally.

### Weaknesses

* Sunlight: Even glamoured, any vampire will sunburn easily. Living vampires can withstand minutes of sunlight with increasing discomfort, but upon prolonged exposure or being undead exposed vampire skin will burn intensely, almost gaining the appearance of boiling flesh. It hurts as much as it looks like it does.
* Fire: Vampires are considerably more flammable than humans, due in part to their lower water content (especially in the case of undead type) and the general animosity between the Blood and Flame.
* Destruction of head and heart: The only way to kill a vampire other than fire or sunlight with lack of blood to heal is destruction of both the head and heart. Injury, even complete removal, of only one of these two organs can be healed with enough blood, as can an incomplete injury to both of them. Only complete destruction of both will prevent a vampire from rising again.

### Appearance

All vampires have void-black hair, blood-red eyes, and fangs. Their skin is matte and a paler version of their original coloring for living vampires, or gray for undead ones.

### Psychology

In most respects, vampires are similar psychologically to humans. There are evil vampires, good vampires, and somewhere in between vampires, as there are humans. The more evil and scary ones tend to be more well known, as they more often prey on humans directly. However, one way vampires are the same is the presence of the Hunger.

#### The Hunger

The Hunger, as it is known, is the psychological manifestation of vampiric survival instinct. It has no concern for anything other than its own ends, mainly the next meal and surviving to get to it. It can and does take complete control of the vampire when they are especially hungry or scared. In such a state, a vampire can access all the information and skills they normally can, but process with (usually) different priorities. The concerns of other individuals is usually pushed to the wayside in favor of the vampire's need for blood. Even when not in control, most vampires hear or feel it in the back of their minds, constantly sizing everyone up as food or a threat and encouraging them to obtain the next meal by whatever means necessary. Hunger can and has been trained to some extent through conditioning, consistency, and occasionally brainwashing, but it is always a tenuous affair. The Hunger will always work to further its own interests.

## Origins

### As a whole

The origins of the first vampire or vampires is clouded, but it is agreed (and confirmed, if one asks) that the Blood God is responsible for it. Many vampires today are produced by Happenstance, as part of their Sector 50 project.

### Individually

Vampire origins on the whole are as varied as the vampires themselves, but the change is induced the same way for all of them. An existing vampire feeds them a decent amount of their own vampiric blood, and the change takes place over about a minute. It is variably described, but is often a not entirely comfortable but not horrible process. One vampire compared it to "The worst case of pins and needles, everywhere," while another described it as "waking up, but all over".