Vampire

"*words*"
—speaker[src]

**Vampires** are magically reanimated corpses that must drink the blood of the living in order to remain sentient They are possessed by the spirit of the deceased human that had inhabited the body whilst alive. Vampires are a viral species. They are the most known species in the supernatural world.

They are the primary supernatural species in *The Pureblood Legacies*.

## History

Sometime during the 31st century BC, Ileana's husband Dumitru fell terribly ill. Desperate to save him, Ileana sought the help of her friend Amara, a witch. Amara then offered to heal Dumitru as well as create an elixir that would prevent Dumitru from dying. Ileana, afraid of losing Dumitru, agreed. After Amara healed Dumitru, Ileana gave him the elixir before taking it herself.

Over the next 24 hours, both Ileana and Dumitru fell fatally ill before dying. However, a few hours later, the two came back to life completely healed despite their earlier conditions. Not soon after coming back, however, did Ileana and Dumitru realize that something wasn't right as they could not bear the sun without burning nor could they seem to satisfy a burning hunger.

Once the sun was gone from the sky, the two ventured to Amara's, where they told her of what happened to them. Amara then realized that the Celestials had reversed the effects of the elixir as punishment for gaining immorality and that because they had cheated death by coming back from it, the Celestials had made Ileana and Dumitru's "vitality" dependent on the consumption of the essence of human life: blood.

## Creation

Vampires can be created two ways: biologically or artificially.

The transformation occurs upon the entry of vampire blood into a person's body. Vampire blood can be administered either via consumption, injection or by reproduction.

The transformation occurs over a time frame of 24 hours that begins immediately after the entry of blood into the body. There will be no physical evidence of this at first despite immediate activity. Once administered, the blood will spread as it attacks and weakens the body. About 12 hours later, the body will succumb to the blood as it begins its penetration of the immune system. At 20 hours in, the blood starts to attack the heart. Due to the overwhelming power of the blood, the heart gives out, resulting in death. As the 24 hours come to an end, the corpse reanimates itself with the help of the blood's resurrective properties.

The transformation process can also be sped up if the subject dies within the 24 hour period.

### Convert Vampires

A large majority of the vampires in existence were converted, meaning that they were either born as a human or another supernatural species and became a vampire later in life. While most convert vampires are alive and healthy at the time of conversion, few were converted prior to death with the intent of saving their life. In this case, transformation takes place immediately following death and takes the standardized 24 hours.

### Dhampirs and Purebloods

#### Dhampirs

*Main Article: Dhampir*
Dhampirs, being only *part-*vampire, are not considered actual vampires. They are born with full exposure to their powers, and thus do not need to undergo any sort of transformation in order to do so. Dhampirs have been known to attempt vampire status, but rarely do dhampirs come back to life after death. Such attempts at becoming vampires are frowned upon within the dhampir race, which is known for hunting vampires.

#### Purebloods

*Main article: Pureblood Vampire*
Purebloods are vampires that were born to two vampires. These vampires are born without access to their powers and appear as humans. They were born with vampire blood in their DNA which, when released into the body, begins the transformative process of evolution. This process completes their transformation and grants them access to their powers. Evolution occurs either over the 24 hours prior to turning the age of 20 or before then in the event of death, in which case evolution occurs in the 24 hours following death.

## Physiology

When they pick up on either the scent or sight of blood, are angry, their eyes become a blood-red color. Their fangs also develop immediately.

Due to being dead, their heart does not beat and therefore, they do not breathe. They are room temperature and grow stronger with age. Also, their being dead is the reason for which sunlight repels them: sun represents life, and as they're not living, the sunlight burns them.

### Diet

Vampires must drink the blood of the living in order to remain sentient. Despite this, they can eat human food but do not gain any strength from it. It also is flavorless to them.

## Sociology

Because vampires are the most powerful supernatural species known, they tend to regard themselves as superior to others. Such ideas and behaviors have greatly affected inter-species communication, allowing for prejudice and stereotyping regarding vampires.

### Vampire Interaction

Most vampires isolate themselves from other vampires, however, there are some who take to joining covens.
Exchanging blood with another vampire is regarded to be an intimate and personal experience. When two vampires who are romantically involved with each other exchange blood, the sensation is said to match that of sexual intercourse.

### Human Interaction

Most vampires belittle humans and even detest vampires who choose to associate themselves with humans or even adapt to human culture. This is done typically because of the desire for human lifestyle or in effort to avoid exposure. Ways that such vampires go about this can include using Solis Clipeum to walk in the sunlight, consuming human food in public or eating only animal blood.

### Supernatural Interaction

#### Werewolves

Due to the Regiment's pro-vampire stance, as well as the War of the Night, many vampires have come to despise werewolves.

### Human Awareness of Vampires

It is actual vampire law that humans remain unaware of vampires.

## Powers and Abilities

### Traditional Abilities

* **Immortality** - Vampires possess an infinite lifespan and do not age physically.
* **Mind Compulsion** - Vampires have the ability to both control and influence thoughts, actions, and behaviors, as well as alter or erase memories. They can compel humans and dhampirs but not other supernaturals or other vampires. Compulsion is a power that cannot be acted upon immediately without knowledge of knowing how to do so. Repeated compulsion can lead to negative effect on the mental stability and/or functioning of the victim.
* **Enhanced Speed** - Vampires are able to move faster than any other species, often exceeding the limitations of human sight. Both long and short distance traveling appears as blurs to humans. Short distances, in particular, can be covered almost immediately. Similar to strength, speed only increases with age.
* **Enhanced Strength** - Vampires are physically stronger than any other species, and only grow stronger with age. They can move, carry and throw dense, lengthy or overweight items without much work. Older vampires can easily overpower younger vampires with hardly any effort. Vampires automatically have the upper hand when in physical combat with humans regardless of their age. Other astonishing feats include being able to throw fully grown humans as far as the length of a football field, uproot trees, dismember humans, lift greatly weighted objects such as cars or large rocks, and rip out internal organs, all with little to no effort.
* **Enhanced Agility** - Vampires are known to have superhuman agility and reflexes. They can go from one motion to another effortlessly, effectively dodge attacks, swing from things easily, sprint, do back-flips and numerous other gymnastic, athletic and martial implements without effort or exhaustion.
* **Enhanced Durability** - Vampires possess a physical durability that is stronger than that of any other species. They can take numerous blows of internal and external assault without being slowed down.
* **Enhanced Senses** - Vampires have extremely sharp senses of smell, sight, and hearing that exceed those of humans and werewolves. They are able to hear conversations that tack place in distant buildings. They can also hear phone conversations as if they were on the standing right beside the person on the other end of the line. Over time, they learn to control and block out noises that they do not want to hear or are not related to their current actions. In terms of smell, vampires can pick up the smell of blood and many other things that are several meters away. They can also smell what kind of species another person is and can also track a person with their scent. The sight of a vampire can extend to being able to see colors more vibrantly, see in complete darkness, and being able to see well from great distances.
* **Enhanced Reflexes** -
* **Enhanced Memory** - Vampires possess a near-perfect ability to recall events with great detail and are also unable to forget things. The only way a vampire would be able to forget something is if a Pureblood compelled them into doing so.
* **Regenerative Healing Factor** - Vampires can recover damaged tissues after a physical blow within seconds, but still feel the pain of a wound prior to healing. Vampires can also snap broken bones back into place and are able to recover from more severe wounds such as gunshot and stab wounds that have not struck the heart. Physical injuries are the only type of injury that can be recovered with this power. Human blood has been known to increase the speed of healing.
* **Blood Empowerment** - Upon consuming blood, it will temporarily strengthen their powers whilst the blood remains in their system.
* **Memory Absorption** - Vampires have the unique ability that allows them to absorb the memories of their victims when they feed directly from them. This can only done if the victim is currently thinking of a memory while being fed on.
* **Retractable Fangs** - Vampires have elongated retractable fangs that may come out when they pick up on the scent or sight of blood though control over this can be learned. They can also be exhibited when they are angry or about to bite a person or animal.

### Unique Abilities

* **Insight Link** - When a vampire feeds on another vampire with whom they share a biological connection, a mental connection can be formed (typically without knowledge of either party) which allows the vampire feeding to share their visual perspective with the other vampire. During such times, the vision of the afflicted becomes clouded with the current visual perspective of the vampire with whom the afflicted is linked to. Such visions occur only in the event that the vampire whose visual perspective is being shared is in a state of immense emotion, such as rage, despair, or euphoria. Such a power is rare between converted vampires, but not so much with Purebloods.

## Weaknesses

* **Sunlight** - Vampire skin is highly sensitive to UV light, which can quickly flame and cause death if exposed.
* **Fire** - The skin of vampires is known to be sensitive to fire and thus highly flammable and fatal.
* **Silver** - Silver can severely harm vampires as it can render them incapacitated for longer than other weapons, and a silver stake or bullet to the heart can kill them. Because of the danger it poses to vampires, objects are often dipped in silver for protection against them. Injuries from silver take longer to heal than other wounds.
* **Wood** - Vampires are susceptible to wooden weapons such as stakes and bullets. Injuries acquired from wooden objects will, like silver, take longer to heal than other wounds. However, if a wooden stake or bullet is driven into a vampire's heart, the result will be instantaneous and permanent death.
* **Decapitation** - Vampires can also be killed by manually removing their head.
* **Heart Extraction** - Another method of killing a vampire is by removing their heart, which causes instant death. Only vampires themselves are strong enough to do this.
* **Magic** - Vampires are susceptible to the power of magic, which can range from harmful to fatal depending on the magic being used.
* **Physical Trauma** - Physical injuries such as gunshots, stab wounds and broken bones will cause pain to vampires and slow them down for a brief second. Minor ones such as cuts and bruises show little to no effect.
* **Blood Deprivation** - A prolonged lack of blood intake will severely weaken a vampire over time. They grow paler as time goes by and eventually become immobile and look more "dead". Once they feed on blood again, the skin color returns to normal as well as their strength.
* **Draining** - Being drained of blood weakens vampires as it places them into a state of immobility where they can only be revived once they feed on blood.
* **Animal Blood** - While it may sustain them, drinking animal blood does not strengthen a vampire as well as human blood.
* **Dhampir Blood**- While it may sustain them, drinking the blood of a dhampir does not strengthen a vampire as well as human blood.
* **Vampire Blood** - Drinking a vampire's blood does not sustain nor strengthen a vampire.

## Enhancements

Vampires can become stronger by utilizing specific resources such as:

* **Solis Clipeum** - A magical potion that protects vampires from sunlight, thus allowing them to roam freely during the day. The effects of the potion can only be obtained by bathing in it, using one drop per day. The effects of the potion last 24 hours, and if one forgets to or does not bathe in it daily, the fatal effects of the sunlight will reemerge until the potion is absorbed into the vampire's skin again.

## Trivia

* While vampires are able to have children, the chances of a vampire becoming pregnant are slim.
* The offspring of any race of vampire will always inherit vampiric abilities.
* They are not drawn to the blood of their biological relatives.