Vampires

Yukiko, an example of a vampire.

“
*The best advice I can give you: Show a vampire respect and keep to any promises you make to it.*
”
— The Aagta on dealing with Vampires.
**Vampires**, pejoratively referred to as **blood-drinkers** and **bloodsuckers**, are a type of humanoid undead. Vampires share traits with both groups: they are sentient, like humanoids, and they are highly resilient, like undead.

Although united by a common heritage, vampires can be very different from each other. Vampires in the Shogunate are honorable to a fault, and tend to coexist with mortals rather than preying on them; vampires elsewhere in the world tend to be less respectful and more predatory.

Outside of the Shogunate, vampires are almost universally feared and hated. As such, most vampires abroad choose to hide their identities and 'blend in' with mortal society.

## Biology

### Appearance

Most vampires resemble the features of the original host, albeit with long, protruding fangs and a deathly pallor. Vampires living in civilized lands will often seek to hide or disguise these features, hoping to elude discovery.

### Creation

There are three primary types of vampire, and each is created differently:

* Thralls: When drinking, a vampire may circulate its own blood in its prey to create a thrall. These pseudo-vampires serve as slaves to their creator, obeying their master's every command without question. This activity is practiced carefully, as overindulgence can reduce a vampire's blood quality.
* True: Most vampires are made in Shinsei Sanctum through an ancient and esoteric ritual. In order to create a vampire, a body (usually a corpse) and ample vampiric blood are both required. Whether additional ingredients are required is unknown.
* Trueborn: The rarest kind of true vampire is one born from existing vampires. A true vampire child may take many years or even decades to be conceived.

### Regeneration

Vampires are able to regenerate at an incredible rate. The process of regeneration varies depending on the damage suffered: minor wounds can be healed in seconds, but the destruction of the entire body can take days, years, or decades. Younger vampires regenerate much faster than older ones.

The process of regeneration may be accelerated by another vampire, but most vampires are loath to sacrifice their time, energy, and most importantly blood unless the vampire in question is a close relation. Many pure-blooded vampires refuse to heal or be healed in such a way to avoid any risk of sanguine contamination.

### Death

Vampires are impossible to kill through ordinary means. Their physical body may be completely destroyed and pulverized, submerged in blessed water, and their coffins or graves ravaged and destroyed, and the ashes scattered in twenty different places; nonetheless, vampires will regenerate anew in the depths of Penumbra.

A vampire may only be truly killed by another vampire, or with the use of unknown variants of Soul magic, a dark and profane ritual known to only a select few. This ritual is believed to be similar, if not identical, to the ritual used to create vampires--hence why it is such a closely-guarded secret to those who know it.

## Culture

### Blood purity

Most vampires are obsessed with blood purity. Vampires seem to believe that pure-blooded vampires—those with a sanguine pedigree going back millennia—are the most powerful vampires. While vampires with higher blood **quality** are statistically stronger, vampires with higher blood purity are not necessarily so.

### Honor and tradition

There is nothing more important to a vampire than honor. Vampires universally tend towards lawful ethics, although their morality varies substantially. Some vampires are deeply racist and xenophobic; others are stalwart defenders of the downtrodden. Most lie somewhere in the middle of either extreme.

Morality, for most vampires, primarily relates to how a vampire should treat other vampires. A vampire who betrays his word or acts dishonorably towards other vampires can be exiled from vampire society. While vampires care less about honorable conduct with mortals (who they view as inferior), most vampires believe that one should avoid causing them unnecessary harm.

Vampires see the shedding of vampiric blood as a terrible waste, and are loath to do so without good reason. Under ordinary circumstances, vampires are only executed if they commit a particularly heinous crime, or if they have returned to the Shogunate after being exiled.

### Young vampires

Younger vampires occasionally live lives of decadence and debauchery, but they tend to grow tired of this after a mere decade or two. Most of the vampires that trouble civilization are of this sort: they care little for the established order of society, and while they do seek to elude discovery, they are generally violent and unreasonable. Thankfully, young vampires are but a small portion of vampirekind.

Older vampires are the first to criticize younglings for their reckless tendencies, often meting out punishment by forcibly weaning young vampires from blood. Older vampires hate to be reminded of their youthful days, as memories of their first years are often unpleasant.

### Regarding mortals

Outside of seasoned adventurers, mortals rarely present any real danger to vampires. However, vampires are fond of peace and solitude and hate to be annoyed by pitchfork-and-torch-wielding mobs. Generally, mortals fear vampires with an unnatural and (vampires would argue) undeserved zeal. For this reason, vampiric circles and societies often punish vampires who incite conflict with mortalkind.

Interestingly, older vampires often regard mortals with the affection one would have for a pet. Often, these older vampires are the most stalwart protectors of mortals from other vampires.

## History

The origins of vampirism are shrouded in mystery. Some believe Khona-Neftis was the first vampire. Others believe it to have been a long-lost count of forgotten memory. Whatever the case, vampires first arose within the lands of the Shogunate. Most vampires believe the Crimson Moon to be their creator.

## Religion

Vampires *per se* have no established religion. Most vampires regard the divines with disgust: they see the gods as fickle, capricious, and self-absorbed, unworthy of the adoration of mortals. Some individuals often confuse the vampires' esoteric social etiquette, code, and behavior for a religion. However, this is no religion: these are more so elements of a culture and society that has existed continuously for many thousands of years, thus accruing many strange and peculiar beliefs and practices.

## States

Whether covertly or not, many states are controlled by vampires, or house powerful vampiric statesmen. Vampires are shrewd and masterful politicians: their endless lives, cautious *modus operandi*, and limited moral quandaries, make them excellent at playing the long-term political game.

The only nation that is openly controlled by a caste of true vampires is  The Shogunate, a great power in eastern Vantion. The Shogunate is home to a large percentage of all vampires in the world, and most vampires outside of the Shogunate are vampires that have been exiled from it.

## Types

### Ancient Vampires

Ancient vampires, also known as archvampires, are vampires of very high blood quality. They are beings of peerless intellect and near-invincible power. Such inscrutable beings are rarely seen amidst the clamor of civilization, which they find garish and distracting. These vampires, more often than not, care most about the flow of causality, and seek to transcend into even higher beings.

### Trueborn vampires

Trueborn vampires are vampires born from existing vampires. They tend to have a very high blood quality from birth, as opposed to true vampires, who have a low blood quality when created.

### True vampires

True vampires are the most common type of full vampire; there are many thousands of them. They have been turned into vampires at Shinsei Sanctum as part of the ancient and mysterious ritual through which man becomes vampire.

### Vampiric thralls

Thralls are willing or unwilling attendants to vampiric society. Imbued with a modicum of vampiric essence, they display minor traits of vampirism, but they remain more like mortals than vampires. Thralls are most often used for the purpose of nourishment.

## Appendix

Soulbound Peoples
**Dragonborn** (Chromatic, Dual, Metallic) • **Heavenborn** (Aasimar) • **Hellborn** (Tieflings) • **Khem** (Yuan-Ti) • **Lycanthropes** (Werebears, Wererats, Werewolves, etc.) • ****Vampires**** (Trueborn, True, Thralls)