Vampire Overview

## Characteristics

### Basic Information

Vampires are augmented humans with special abilities. The first Vampire was Michael who discovered a spacecraft over a thousand years ago and was changed there by the Alien TOM via Nanocytes. But the change didn't go as planned by TOM and therefore was very painful for Michael and for all the humans he or one of his children and grandchildren changed.

When being turned by vampire via blood the first stage brought agonizing pain throughout the nervous system. The body wasn’t physically hurt, but every nerve felt like it was on fire; rough and raw. It was as if the body had been dropped into a pool of acid and was being eaten from inside as well as outside. A lot of humans just died at this point.  While many died, some lived but failed to become vampires. They became nosferatu, mindless killers who can barely be controlled by their creators.

Vampires drop the pre-make last name either going by a just their first name or using the last name "Nacht", German for night.

Females are especially hard to make, which is why female vampires were extremely scarce.

Various references in the books imply it takes 3 days from consuming Vampire blood to being turned (or dead).

Vampires are the apex predator of the UnknownWorld. About 150 years before the beginning of Death Becomes Her there was a Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre. Alphas and their seconds and thirds had come down with a case of stupidity—and paid for it. It had taken almost two years for the packs to finally settle down after all the upheaval, with so many leadership positions open at once. Pack dynamics, normally changing every few decades at most, had suddenly changed for every pack and every Alpha, second and third at the same time. The worst of it had been over within eighteen months, but avarice, cunning, and long lives had left a few challenges remaining years after the original struggles. The other leader who had been smart enough to survive the massacre, Thomas, had suddenly gotten a case of “dead due to stupidity” about twenty-five years later. He increasingly suffered from arrogance as he got older, and one of Michael’s kids had taken umbrage to an offhand comment Thomas made regarding Michael. “Open Leadership Position: local werewolf pack needs new Alpha. Previous one caught a deadly case of ‘Mouthing Off Around Vampire.’”

### Abilities

The vampire nanocytes enhance longevity, strength, vision and hearing. When angered their eyes will glow red, fangs will develop and their hands become claws. As they gain experience eyes, fangs, claws and cutting surface forearms and hands can be partially displayed and concealed at will.

Vampires can heal from significant wounds. The more blood they have consumed (or Etheric after the Pod-doc) the faster they heal. The only sure way to kill a vampire is to remove its head.

The original Vampires have certain abilities which are getting weaker with each generation. All of the Vampires are significantly stronger than any human.

Until Bethany Anne and TOM fixed the nanocytes, only Michael and Stephen were able to walk in the sun without problems. Stephen's children had a certain resistance against the sun but it would become painful and deadly after some time. All the Other vampires would die when exposed to sunlight.

Every Vampire ages roughly one for every five years when he is awake and one for every ten years he is sleeping. To reverse the ageing it was long assumed the Vampire had to change another human. When the process was finished, their body would become about the same age as the new acolyte. However Bethany Anne asked TOM if it wasn't just the Etheric Energy that was needed and TOM agreed that was probably the case and the fact that they had compromised nanocytes when wasn't pulling in enough energy to keep them young. In the early days for Bethany Anne, she did need to drink blood when she needed some quick energy and with Stephen that drinking bagged blood can rejuvenate an older Vampire. TOM eventually fixes the nanocytes so that blood consumption becomes less needed.

Vampires can sleep months, years or even centuries. This slows their aging as well as allows them to avoid the boredom of extremely long life. When they wake they are very hungry. For some the change in the world when they wake up can be dramatic when an event like WWDE or the start of the Age of Madness happened while they slept.

Some very strong vampires like Michael can turn to a myst and infiltrate via small cracks. Michael also used mysting to hide in a secret compartment when traveling early in the series.

Some very strong vampires like Bethany Anne can travel through the Etheric dimension/environment for limited distances. They can "peek" out on the target environment to make sure they arrive in an open space. Bethany appears to keep a room in the ship or room where she can leave and arrive safely and without notice to others.

The introduction of the Pod-Doc allows all vampires to be full strength as well as be "made" without consuming another vampire's blood.

### Culture / Society

The original vampires are very hierarchical in their allegiances, with the new vampires being aligned to the vampire who created them at least when they are first made. Many vampires view Weres and humans as inferiors to be dominated. Some, like David and Peter who challenge Michael, feel they deserve more power in the vampire hierarchy too.

For the most part, vampires consider it impolite to ask how old they are.

## Summary

(Include highlights throughout the series. When were they introduced (series and/or book) what happened are they alias or enemies?
What is the resolution. )

By the end of the age of Madness there are very very few Vampires left. The many who became Forsaken were hunted down by Akio, his allies and the FDG. During the Age of Madness the corrupted nanocytes sent them insane where they were killed with the other members of the mad.

## Characters

* Yuko
* Bethany Anne
	+ Alexis
	+ Gabriel
* Michael
	+ Stephen
		- William (killed at beginning of Death Becomes Her by Adrian)
		- Gabrielle
		- Petre
			* Valentin
				+ Veronika
				+ Callen
				+ Marcos
				+ Svenn
				+ Danniella
	+ Peter
		- Bernard
		- ?
			* Minigawa
				+ Kamiko Kana
				+ Akio
	+ David
		- William "The Duke" Renaud
			* Valerie
			* Donovan
		- Stephano
		- Konrad
	+ Barnabas
	+ Anton
		- Clarita
			* Adrian, turned 1737
			* Claudia
			* Juan
		- Heinz
	+ Hugo
* Unsure
	+ Aaron (Akio Revelations)
		- Kent
		- Mitchell
		- Finn
	+ Royland the Merciless (Enforcer in NY)
	+ Gerald (Master Vampire of Cleveland Reclaiming Honor)

## References

1. ↑ Anderle, Michael. Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Set One: Books 1-7, Death Becomes Her, Queen Bitch, Love Lost, Bite This, Never Forsaken, Under My Heel, Kneel or Die (Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Sets) (pp. 68-69). LMBPN Publishing. Kindle Edition.
2. ↑ Sloan, Justin; Anderle, Michael. The Reclaiming Honor Omnibus (Books 1-8): A Kurtherian Gambit Series (p. 1029). LMBPN Publishing. Kindle Edition.
3. ↑ Sloan, Justin; Anderle, Michael. The Reclaiming Honor Omnibus (Books 1-8): A Kurtherian Gambit Series (p. 267). LMBPN Publishing. Kindle Edition.
4. ↑ Anderle, Michael. Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Set One: Books 1-7, Death Becomes Her, Queen Bitch, Love Lost, Bite This, Never Forsaken, Under My Heel, Kneel or Die (Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Sets) (pp. 103-104). LMBPN Publishing. Kindle Edition.
5. ↑ Anderle, Michael. Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Set One: Books 1-7, Death Becomes Her, Queen Bitch, Love Lost, Bite This, Never Forsaken, Under My Heel, Kneel or Die (Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Sets) (p. 68). LMBPN Publishing. Kindle Edition.
6. ↑ Anderle, Michael. Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Set One: Books 1-7, Death Becomes Her, Queen Bitch, Love Lost, Bite This, Never Forsaken, Under My Heel, Kneel or Die (Kurtherian Gambit Boxed Sets) (p. 557). LMBPN Publishing. Kindle Edition.