Bloodhomes

The Bloodhomes were isolated and largely self-sustaining communities of Vampires which were established in Nesaria once it became clear that the Vampires could not integrate themselves into the wider population without conflict. The Bloodhomes disappeared in the 16th century when the Vampires were massacred.

What exactly defined a Bloodhome is not entirely clear; whilst the Vampires referred to any community made up either exclusively or overwhelmingly of Vampires as a Bloodhome, only the largest of these communities - the ones large enough to be considered true realms in their own right - were recognised as distinct legal entities by the Kingdom of Ascaria, Republic of Nesaria and Nesarian Empire. There were fifteen legally recognised Bloodhomes, but Vampiric sources claim that anywhere between thirty and fifty existed in Nesaria, though most of these were little more than small villages. Bloodhomes were more common throughout the Lowerlands than the Upperlands.

When a Bloodhome came under the rulership of a state which looked upon the Vampires with some degree of kindness - or, at the least, begrudging tolerance - the state and the Bloodhome agreed to what was known as a Blood Contract. Although only the largest fifteen Bloodhomes had official Blood Contracts with the state authorities of the Kingdom of Ascaria, Republic of Nesaria and Nesarian Empire, virtually all the smaller ones had similar agreements with local rulers. The Blood Contract stipulated that the state would become the guardian of the Bloodhome and that the Vampires within would be treated equally under law and protected from attackers (whether they be enemy armies or murderous peasant mobs), and in return the Bloodhome would pay taxes to the state and agree to a number of conditions restricting where they could procure their food supply. The standard conditions which the Ascarian authorities dictated, and which remained unchanged throughout the ages, were that the Vampires could only feed off willing volunteers, prisoners condemned to death, or enemy soldiers slain upon the battlefield in service of the King/Senate/Emperor.

The Bloodhomes, whilst separate from each other, were bound together by a set of traditions and conventions which regulated conflict between Bloodhomes and aimed to unite them amongst common threats. When necessary, they came together at a meeting known as the Bloodmoot, which was presided over by the Shadowseer, the only individual which all the Bloodhomes were obligated to obey the authority of.

Under Emperor Hegaro II, many of the Vampires were accused of going out and attacking Humans in order to take their blood rather than only taking blood from volunteers or prisoners. There was little proof for this, but they were condemned regardless, and the rights of the Vampire Lords were steadily stripped away until they came together with a list of demands to present to Emperor Hegaro. Even though this was only a petition, the Vampire Lords were accused of declaring a rebellion and they were all executed, which prompted an actual rebellion from the inhabitants of the Bloodhomes. This resulted in an unofficial policy of extermination against the Vampires. Although the Vampires were considered extinct by the 1560s, isolated Vampire families are known to have persisted in hiding across Inecuria until at least the 1700s.