Vampirism
Contents
Symptoms
Vampdragons have both reflections and shadows. They also possess the ability to control their own shadows and can change the shape of it or also make it seem as if it wasn’t there. Sometimes the vampire can lose control or just not care what it’s shadow does, so vampire shadows can often be seen changing shape at will.
When one becomes a vampire they develop heightened senses, depending on the pendragon some may only have a few heightened senses. All vampires can see well in the dark and can hear the faintest of sounds (like heartbeats). The scent of blood is very strong and overpowering for all of their kind. It is a smell they all love, or in some rare cases, detest.
Vampires have a naturally fast healing rate. They don’t control it themselves it just happens if they get injured. A vampdragon will automatically heal faster then a normal pendragon. Because they have this power, normal healing magic does not work on them and if anything could make then sick.
Not all vampires react to the sun but many tire easier during the day or feel a bit of a burning sensation on their skin. Neither of which would kill them but it does make them all prefer the cover of darkness over light.
Those that are born vampires are more susceptible to the sun. Since they have had vampire blood all their lives, the burning may be more dangerous and light could be quite painful to their eyes. Those who have been a vampire longer may also feel more pain from the sun than others.
Vampires who have also recently fed may feel less damaging effects from the sun because there bodies are in a better state to repel any sort of light attack on them.
Feeding
Hunger may not seem like an obvious trait but it’s one shared amongst all vampire kin. When they haven’t eaten for weeks it’s hard for them to control their actions. Their natural instinct is to hunt and drink. Its temptation is one of the few weaknesses a vampire can’t deny. Sometimes when it’s the first hunt of a new vampire or has been the first feeding after a long amount of time, a vampdragon may lose control and kill until they can’t stop even when they don’t need to feed.
All vampires need the blood of another pendragon to survive. They can live on the blood of an animal for some time but it’s not enough to keep them alive forever and they would also need more of it than in a normal feeding on a pendragon.
Vampires can eat normal food but it doesn’t do them much good. Most have given it up altogether saying that it has no nutritional value to their system. Some will sometimes pretend to eat in order to try and fit in while in a big group.
Becoming a Vampire
There are three main ways for one to become a vampire.
- The most common way is to be bitten by a vampire. If the vampire leaves its bitten victim with enough blood to survive, the victim will slowly begin to develop vampire characteristics. This process can take multiple bites over a long period of time, or just one single draining bite depending upon the strength and power of the biter.
From then on the victim will have the same thirst for blood that they will need to stay alive. However, if the vampire who is giving the bite gets either carried away, or has the wish to kill the victim, and accidentally (or on purpose) drinks all their victim’s blood, the victim will die. Any attempts to heal a vampire’s victim can result in extremely negative effects for that victim, as healing magic appears to hurt and weaken them even more.
The bite of a vampire can be both painful or pleasurable. If the victim is fighting back the bite will most likely hurt. However, if both pendragons are wanting the transformation, or if the vampire that is doing the biting is adept at mind manipulation, both the victim and vampire will find the bite to be pleasurable for both of them.
Under rare circumstances a pendragon may have an allergic reaction to the transformation because of a strange chemical substance in the saliva of the vampire. In this case the bite can be very painful and often after the bite the victim will still feel resonating pain. Sometimes this reaction can be so bad that it can cause death.
- Another way is to become a vampire is to be born one. Often the mother and father are both already vampires and the child will be raised by their ways. At rare times it may just be the mother or just the father who is a vampire (resulting in a vampire halfling) and the other doesn’t know or doesn’t care about the offspring. Many vampires look down upon this type of situation and find it unclean to mate with someone who is not a vampire.
- The third, and most unlikely way to become a vampire, is of course, to have been a vampire all along. Only the eldest of eldest of vampires know for certain the exact origin of where their species came from. Whether they were blessed by some god, or cursed with the lust of blood, or slowly just developed an affinity for it‘s metallic taste. Whatever the case, it is extremely unlikely that this is how your character became a vampire.
Ways to Repel Vampires
There are spells out there that can cause a bit of protection against vampires but just like all spells, they can be broken. Vampires do of course take damage from all forms of magic, but it may take more power from the spell caster in order for it to do more hurtful damage to them if the vampire is strong. Healing magic, as said before, has a negative effect on all vampdragons. It usually just makes a vampire lethargic or sick, but in some rare cases it can kill a vampdragon if he / she is weak.
Some vampires may have their own unique allergies to some plants or foods and in most cases if that vampires bites another and transforms them, their victim would most likely have the same allergies.
Reproduction and Social Life
There are a few small clans and cults scattered around Ramath-lehi. They all have their own rules and systems and most like to keep themselves secret, not wanting to draw attention from non-vamp pendragons.
Even with the choice of joining a clan or cult, most vampires like to hunt on their own or in small select groups of two or three. Most vampires tend to be antisocial. Habitat
Vampdragons may be found all across Ramath-lehi. Though for one reason or another, many can be found haunting the continent of Bhim where a strong vampire force appears to have centralized. Religion
As far as the stories go there is no one specific vampire god. There are stories of there being ‘A First Vampire’ who many vampires look up to. A few even say prayers every now and then for the ‘First’, but none really worship him / her. History
Not much is known about the origins of vampdragons, but it is a common belief that all vampires have stemmed off from a "First" vampire, that was said to exist thousands of years ago.
Death of a Vampire
When a pendragon is turned into a vampire their soul is in put into a type of limbo, they aren’t really alive and are not really dead. Their body remains on the planet as a vampire. Once they are killed as a vampire they have a chance of getting themselves into Fronima. If they have the willpower they can push their own soul into Fronima. If not, which is usually the case, their souls will just fade away and never reach the peaceful resting place in Fronima.
