Vampires

**Vampires**, more properly called **Blood Elves**, are a race of Elfkin hominid which are distinguished by their exclusive consumption of the blood and flesh of other intelligent creatures. They are native to Nesaria and Roulonne, but small communities of them can be found dotted across most of southern Inecuria.

Though the origin of Vampires is shrouded in uncertainty, it is commonly accepted that they were created as a mutated variation of Elves, and their physical appearance reflects this. Their basic features are the same as Elves; they are tall, with long pointed ears, slanted eyes and a gracile build. However, Vampires have a few key mutations that set them apart.

Most obviously, Vampires universally have extremely pale skin, jet-black hair - something Elves cannot have, but Half-Elves can - and completely black eyes, which are typically slightly larger than those of Elves. They have a more gaunt and yet muscular build, and have noticeably (though not significantly) longer arms and fingers. Whilst Vampires have slender noses like Elves, their noses do tend to protrude outwards more.

The most substantial physical mutation of Elves is their mouths, which other hominids often find grotesque. Vampires have wide, large mouths which take up much of their face, with sharp teeth and long pointed tongues, and they can open their jaws much wider than is normally possible for hominids. They also possess extremely strong biting force, capable of easily ripping chunks out of flesh or crushing bones; some Vampires have even been recorded as being capable of completely crushing a person's head between their jaws.

Additionally, Vampires are universally hermaphroditic; it is generally assumed that this was a response by whoever designed the Vampires to the notoriously low birth rates of Elves. Whilst hermaphroditism theoretically enables a greater rate of reproduction, in practice the Vampire population has always been kept relatively small by the limited and unstable nature of their food supply.

The creator of the Vampire race is not known. The most obvious candidate, the Titan known as Silaris the Great Raven - a long-time guardian of the Vampire race who semi-regularly communicated with them through the Shadowseers - has never been regarded by the Vampires themselves as their creator at any point in their history. The *Secret History of Stragos Nightbearer* kept in the Red Library of Feronar asserts that the race was created by Stragos Nightbearer, but since this source has an anonymous author and is of dubious authenticity.

## Name

The term "Vampire" does not truly exist in Inecuria, and is an exonym used by Europeans, particularly in the English-speaking world. The endonym used by Nesarian Vampires is *Liyev* (pl. *Liyeva*), and the one used by Roulonnais Vampires is *Mourralfe* (pl. *Mourralfes*); both of these literally translate as Blood-Elf.

The names used by other nations of Inecuria are either corruptions of the endonyms used by Vampires or are local translations of Blood-Elf. For example, in Nesarian they are called *Liyeva* or *Lieva* (pl. *Liyeve*/*Lieve*) depending on the dialect, and in Saverian, Epsilucian and Avamorican they are called *Meralfa* or *Meralva* (pl. *Meralfe*/*Meralve*). Onshians refer to them as *Nagayabi*, their own translation of Blood-Elf.

Most Vampires are unbothered by being referred to as "Vampires", and consider it an acceptable translation of their name. While a minority do consider the comparison to the blood-sucking monsters of European folklore to be insulting, many of the online youth have come to adopt it as a nickname for themselves (typically Elvicising it as *Vampira*); in some cases this is an effort to reclaim a term they find offensive, but most Vampires use it simply because they find it amusing. Vampires universally do not find the term "parasite" amusing, however; this is a millennia-old slur that is still considered intensely offensive, often equated with the N-word in the western world.

## Physiology

The exceedingly pale skin of Vampires burns easily under sunlight, forcing them to cover their entire bodies during the daytime, particularly in the summer months when the sun is strongest. Hoods and wide-brimmed hats have featured prominently in Vampiric fashion since time immemorial as a result. Infamously, a Vampire by the name of Asavi Milisa who served in the army of Emperor Athdus III was captured by Adwani soldiers, who removed her coverings - not knowing of their necessity - and was exposed to the harsh desert sun for a full ten minutes. When she was recovered by her kin, the severe burns and blisters she had suffered put her in so much pain that she begged for death, which was promptly delivered.

Vampires have a lifespan slightly longer than Elves, having an average lifespan of approximately 120 years, a lifespan which historically could be prolonged by magic to as long as 170 years. Much like Elves, they tend to show little signs of aging after reaching maturity until approximately 90-100 years of age, at which point their bodies begin to deteriorate rapidly. On average, Vampires spend ten and a half months in the womb, and they begin puberty at 14 and finish puberty at 25-26.

They have a significantly elongated menstrual cycle compared to other races; whilst for Humans it takes around a month, and for Elves it takes two and a half to three months, Vampires take approximately four months to complete their menstrual cycle. They are only fertile in any capacity for approximately two weeks (experiencing bleeding if they are not fertilised during this time), and are utterly incapable of bearing children outside of this window, though their male sexual organs experience no such restriction.

Vampires are on par with Elves when it comes to intelligence, their IQ averaging at 111. However, they do not have the same intense emotions which affect the Elves, experiencing emotions and feelings to the same extent as Humans and other intelligent folk. Though this makes the mental state of Vampires more stable than their Elvish cousins, back when magic could be utilised it greatly reduced their ability to harness Chaos to increase their magical power.

## The Two Nations

Much like with the Elves, there are two highly distinct nations of Vampires; those who migrated alongside the Eshérians into Nesaria, and those who found a home elsewhere, ending up in Roulonne. As mentioned earlier, some did migrate across the south of Inecuria, but the majority of Vampires reside in their native lands.

The Nesarian Vampires, the *Liyeva*, have substantial cultural differences with the Roulonnais Vampires, the *Mourralfes*. The *Liyeva*, for the most part, retained their native language and customs, though they were heavily influenced by the Eshérians they travelled and settled alongside, and most *Liyeva* in the modern day only speak standard Nesarian (so they would call themselves the *Liyeve*). However, since the *Liyevi* language is closely related to Eshérian - and, therefore by extension, Nesarian - the two were already mostly mutually intelligible to begin with.

On the other hand, the *Mourralfes* entirely lost their native language, adopting the speech of the Roulonnais folk they settled amidst. They retained some of their native traditions, but for the most part assimilated entirely into the ways of Roulonne. Most of them forsook the Elvetan gods for Asarebian ones, and began to treat their Titanic guardian, Silaris, progressively more as a goddess as the centuries went on. In addition to Silaris, the *Mourralfes* also came to worship the deity Cavien, the god of blood and slaughter, who to most other Asarebians is a minor deity. The *Mourralfais* depictions of Cavien appear to have influenced the way he was seen across Roulonne, as the most ancient depictions of him make him out to be clearly masculine, whereas the *Mourralfes* turned him into a largely androgynous deity, and occasionally even depicted him as hermaphroditic.

The two nations of Vampires not only differed substantially in their culture, but also in the way they interacted with their neighbours. The *Liyeva* were historically a famously isolated people and even in the modern day continue to be reclusive, inhabiting close-knit Bloodhomes made up solely of their kin and typically only going beyond these to acquire food or fulfil military obligations. The *Mourralfes*, on the other hand, whilst still reclusive and generally preferring the company of their kin to other races, have always coexisted alongside other races, and historically often made themselves the rulers of them. Prior to the unification of Roulonne, there were several small but significant realms which were ruled by *Mourralfes* but had an overwhelmingly Human or Orcish population, and many *Mourralfais* dynasties continued to enjoy positions of privilege and power both under Draconic and Roulonnais rule.

Since Vampires are Elfkin, the *Mourralfes* ranked as the highest caste of *Kiisana* ("little creatures") under Draconic rule - and unlike the Black Elves, who abhorred slavery, the *Mourralfes* used this to their advantage, acquiring many Human and Orcish slaves. However, despite abandoning the Elvetan gods, they still inherited many of their teachings; whilst they had no qualms about the existence of slavery, they tended to put in place strict regulations surrounding the treatment of slaves and harshly punished any masters who mistreated their property.

## Settlers and Wanderers

In both the nations of Vampires, there is a common phenomenon of Vampires being distinguished between Settlers and Wanderers. Briefly put, Settlers are those who live in communities consisting of Vampires, and Wanderers are those who live amongst other creatures (usually Humans). The vast majority of modern Wanderers have settled down into a sedentary life, but historically most of them were nomadic in nature, regularly moving between cities. Wanderers, understandably, are usually highly integrated into the culture of their host nation, and as such are occasionally looked down upon by more conservative-minded Settlers for abandoning their ancestral traditions. Whereas Settlers live exclusively in their native lands of Nesaria and Roulonne, Wanderers can be found in almost every corner of Inecuria.

Wanderers descend from those who left the settled communities of Vampires either voluntarily or through banishment - a common punishment for crimes in ancient Vampiric societies. Wanderers could not rely on the organised systems of procuring food that Settler communities established, which relied either on treaties with or dominion over non-Vampires. Some Wanderers lived largely normal lives and earnt coin in the outside world with which to purchase blood and flesh, but most found this to be infeasible and instead sought out professions that provided a more immediate source of food.

Historically, most Wanderers were bounty hunters, mercenaries or undertakers - the latter of which remains the predominant profession amongst Wanderers in the modern day, to such an extent that the majority of undertakers throughout Inecuria are Vampires, despite the race making up a miniscule fraction of Inecuria's population. Some Wanderers also found success as doctors specialising in treating wounds, so that they could collect and drink the blood of injured patients (so long as they were not infected).

As with any popultion, desperate Wanderers sometimes turned to crime to feed themselves. Some would simply assault people they found to take their blood by force, whereas others joined gangs of bandits. Wanderer bounty hunters had a particular hatred for their kin who behaved in this way, since such acts were considered to violate all laws of decency. The extreme hostility that Wanderers - and Vampires generally as a race - had for criminal "blood-bandits" also helped to preserve the image of Vampires in the eyes of others, who felt safe in the knowledge that the aggressive Vampires were rogue outcasts from their own society and did not represent the entire race.

## Red Plasma

Vampires were incapable of using air or frost magic and had little in the way of healing magic, but they were proficient at casting shields and had a distinct type of plasma magic known as "red plasma". Red plasma, as the name would suggest, was bright red in colour rather than the purplish-white, sometimes blue-tinted plasma which other magical races wielded. Red plasma was often described as having a smoother shape, flowing more like a liquid than the lightning-like bolts which normal plasma created, and it could be wielded with much greater precision and accuracy than normal plasma; even fairly unskilled mages were capable of making complex manoeuvres with it which would take years of practice with standard plasma. Red plasma also possessed some mass and therefore had physical force, whereas standard plasma was massless.

With red plasma, the mage had a far greater degree of control over the heat that the plasma produced; red plasma could be toned down to a level that did not even boil water, whereas even the softest attempt to cast standard plasma was at least two hundred degrees celsius. Despite the greater control over the temperature, the maximum temperature that could be achieved was significantly lower; whereas most standard plasma mages were capable of melting iron, the most powerful red plasma mages struggled to melt gold.

The final area of differentiation was that red plasma was much dimmer, producing far less light, whereas standard plasma was extremely bright, causing significant eye strain if one looked directly at it. This difference in particular is often assumed to be an adaptation to the pale skin of Vampires; the significantly lower brightness of red plasma - specifically, the lower output of UV radiation - was unlikely to burn their skin, whereas prolonged exposure to standard plasma could cause significant burning, and is precisely why Black Elves developed their eponymous black skin.

## Vampirism

The most distinctive characteristic of the Vampires, from which they take their endonym (*Liyev*, "Blood-Elf") and their English name, is their exclusive consumption of the flesh and blood of intelligent folk.

According to the traditional knowledge, it is not actually the flesh and blood itself which Vampires digest and are sustained by, but rather they consume the "life-force" or "life-essence" within, much like a Succubus. This is the traditionally given reason why Vampires are only capable of consuming the flesh and blood of *intelligent* creatures rather than merely any creature, as only they contain potent enough life-force to sustain a Vampire. Whilst Vampires almost exclusively feed from their fellow hominids, they have been recorded as successfully feeding from Limkas, and theoretically they should also be able to feed upon Cisens, Na'Quahesto, Dragons and Dreadfolk.

Following this line of logic, it has been suggested by some - most notably 4th-century Eshérian scholar Bacasan Canedas - that other bodily substances which are believed to contain concentrated life-force can also act as food sources, with "other bodily substances" usually being understood to be a euphemism for semen. This suggestion is typically treated with ridicule by the Vampires themselves, who perceive such suggestions as merely poor attempts to have sex with Vampires. Although there is no recorded evidence as to whether this would actually work, the commonly held theory is that semen does in fact contain life-essence, but nowhere near enough to actually provide a Vampire with enough sustenance to survive.

Vampires drink their mother's milk during infancy, but after reaching approximately 3-4 years of age they can only take sustenance from an intelligent being's flesh and blood. This does not mean they cannot consume other foods - they can, they simply do not gain anything useful from doing so, and in excess it can make them ill. Many Vampires eat fruits or sweets because they enjoy the taste, and they can still become intoxicated from alcoholic drinks - though not easily, as a trait they share with Elves is an extremely strong liver. Vampires will also eat fibrous foods such as bread or oatmeal for the sole purpose of providing more filling to their excrement, as consuming little other than blood makes their stools watery and uncomfortable.

Fortunately, Vampires do not need to eat as frequently as other races. Though of course a Vampire would prefer to eat regularly, they are capable of functioning normally for extended periods of time without eating; they only truly *need* to feed approximately once every two to three weeks before they begin to feel seriously hungry, and can go without food for about a month before beginning to physically suffer from starvation.

### Feeding from the Dead

If a Vampire wishes to feed from a dead person - much easier than feeding from a live one, for obvious reasons - they have a limited timespan in which to do so. Though the meat and blood spoiling is a concern, the primary issue is the decay of the life-force contained within.

Life-force does not decay linearly; it degrades rapidly over the course of six to eight hours after death (sometimes termed the "half-life", but it is unclear whether the amount of life-force is actually truly halved in this timeframe) before decaying more slowly over the course of the next 24 hours, after which it disappears completely in the span of the next 2-3 hours. A Vampire must consume the corpse within six hours of death for maximal life-force intake, but they can still attain a worthwhile amount of life-force for up to 12-14 hours after death, whereas they get nothing at all after 30-32 hours.

Historically, it was believed by outsiders that Vampires would salt the flesh of those they ate to slow down the life-force decay. It is now widely understood that this is not true; salting merely slows down spoilage of the meat itself, and it has no impact on life-force decay. Refrigeration, however, does have an impact on decay; frozen flesh can retain its life-force for up to six hours longer, and frozen blood is even more affected, still retaining life-force up to 72 hours after death or after extraction from a live person.

Vampires have experimented with trying to cook the flesh and blood to preserve it, but never to any success. Whereas this can preserve the physical food itself for much longer, the act of cooking seems to burn away any life-force contained within, making it immediately useless to Vampires. The only use cooking can have is a light sear on the surface of flesh; this only burns off the life-force at the very edges of the meat, and encases the useful flesh in a cooked "shell" that spoils less quickly. This was historically a technique often used when the weather was hot and humid and likely to make the meat rot within hours rather than days. It is sometimes still occasionally done for the sake of taste, but refrigeration has taken over the role of searing and salting in preservation.

### Procurement of Flesh

Vampires obtain flesh from corpses, a process which requires a great deal of tact and respect due to the extremely sensitive attitudes surrounding their food source. Since the 2nd century AD, it has been Imperial Law that a Vampire can only consume the flesh of someone who has obtained a Writ of Consumption, which gives permission for their corpse to be eaten after their death. Before that point, it was still common for Vampires to only legally be allowed to eat the flesh of someone who had given permission whilst they were still alive, or who had been given up on the mutual consent of all of their immediate kin.

In most of Inecuria, Vampires typically offer financial incentives in return for corpses - that is, they promise a sum of money to the family of the deceased in return for being allowed to eat their flesh. In Roulonne specifically, the political influence of the Vampires has resulted in a law which exempts an individual from inheritance tax if they obtain a Writ of Consumption. This generally means that in Roulonne, a large number of corpses the Vampires receive are from the wealthy, as it is the wealthy who have the greatest proportion of their wealth taken away through inheritance tax, whereas the poorest are not affected by this tax at all.

The sole exception to the laws concerning Writs of Consumption are prisoners condemned to death. Imperial Law stipulates that the death sentence not only includes execution but also offering the flesh of the deceased to the Vampires, regardless of whether they have a Writ of Consumption or not. This includes rebels who have openly taken up arms against the Empire, resulting in many Republican soldiers during the Imperial Civil War being eaten. Imperial Law also, by implication, allows Vampires to freely eat enemy soldiers from another country; since they are not subjects of the Empire, their corpses are not protected by the Empire's laws.

Under Imperial Law, Vampires are obliged to follow standards of respect towards the dead they consume - standards which were already widely practiced before they were passed into law. A Vampire must say a prayer for the soul of whoever they consume in the tradition of whichever religion they follow (it should be noted that this law makes no provisions for atheists), and they must leave intact and untouched the heart, brain and bones, returning them to the family of the deceased after the meat has been carved off and the inedible guts have been disposed of. Although there is no real religious reason for the bones to be left intact - it is mostly just for sentimental value, to give the family more parts of the departed - most religions of Inecuria believe that the heart and the brain physically house the soul, and so it would be extremely immoral to eat them. It is also a traditional convention, but not a legal obligation, for a household of Vampires to attend the funeral service of someone who pledged their flesh to that household, to pay their respects and give thanks.

### Procurement of Blood

Blood is significantly easier to acquire from the dead than flesh, both socially and legally. Vampires are only legally permitted to procure blood from the living through their natural feeding mechanism (explained in the next section), since blood that has been donated to blood banks is reserved solely for medical purposes, but they are free to procure blood from licensed undertakers; since part of an undertaker's job is to drain all the blood out of the bodies they receive, this blood is sold to Vampires, since it would otherwise go to waste. Because of this, Vampires are significantly overrepresented in this industry, making up the majority of undertakers (and, in the Elvic countries and Roulonne, the *overwhelming* majority) despite only being a tiny proportion of the total population of Inecuria. Vampiric undertakers obviously do not have to pay to consume the blood they extract, and it is not uncommon for them to give away excess blood stocks to other Vampires free of charge.

### Feeding from the Living

Vampires can only realistically obtain flesh from the dead, but they can obtain their other food source - blood - from the living. Though the sharp and long canine fangs of Vampires aid in tearing apart flesh, their primary function is to puncture the skin to procure blood.

The feeding process is distinguished into three stages by academics studying the process, during which different chemical substances from the Vampire's numerous saliva glands are administered to the one being fed from, referred to here as the Provider, to make the experience more comfortable.

#### Stage I

The first stage of the feeding process involves the Vampire swallowing and clearing their mouth of Saliva Type A, their primary digesting saliva, and producing Saliva Type B, which contains a strong anaesthetic. The site which the Vampire intends to feed from - almost always the neck - is covered in Saliva Type B before the skin is punctured, in order to anaesthetise the area and reduce or eliminate the pain. Working the saliva into the flesh through licking greatly increases the effectiveness of the anaesthetic, but this particular practice can be deeply uncomfortable if both parties are not emotionally intimate with one another, so it is not often done.

#### Stage II

The next stage of the feeding process is when the Vampire punctures the skin of the Provider with their fangs, ceasing to produce Saliva Type B and ejecting all of the saliva that is left in their mouth into the wound, to further anaesthetise the flesh. Through their fangs, they inject a substance academically referred to as euvenom (a combination of *venom* with the Greek prefix *eu*, meaning "good"), whilst the Vampire begins to produce Saliva Type C (explained in the next section). The euvenom contains a mixture of two chemicals, a substance very similar to Cannabidiol (CBD) referred to as Vampirocannabidiol (VCBD), and an opioid similar to heroin but milder in effect referred to as Vampirodiacetylmorphine (VDCM). The euvenom serves to relax the Provider.

#### Stage III

After the a few seconds to allow the euvenom to make its way into the Provider, the Vampire then withdraws their fangs and begins to suck blood directly from the wound, which causes Saliva Type C to flow into the wound and to soak into the surrounding area. Saliva Type C contains a small amount of VCBD (but not VDCM), but is primarily composed of an antiseptic to prevent infection of the wound, and a substance which is initially inert but has a latent reaction with oxygen to turn into a coagulating agent. The coagulating agent helps the Vampire to not accidentally suck out a dangerous amount of blood, as it makes it impossible to draw out too much; the blood will clot and thicken and stop flowing out of the wound after a certain amount of time has passed. Once the mouth is withdrawn and the feeding is complete, the Vampire will cease producing Saliva Type C and will revert to producing the normal Saliva Type A.