Types of Vampires
- Demon-Vampires
- These are both humanoid demons, with concomitant magickal abilities,
and vampires, requiring human blood to live.
The magickal abilities and limitations of each Demon-Vampire are unique to that individual.
Generally, Demon-Vampires are created directly by the Elder Demons, or
Old Ones,
setting a deep curse on some human.
Demon-Vampires are usually the founders of a vampire lineage;
however, the vampires of that lineage do not have the same
powerful abilities as their progenitor.
Lillith is the first Demon-Vampire and probably the most powerful. She is the Queen of the Vampires, the progenitor of all Lilith-vampires. Her demonic abilities include raining down the plagues (fire, hail, locusts, frogs, and so forth). She can also transform into an owl form. She has an especially strong connection to magick, so she has innumerable other tricks. In addition, as the First Vampire she commands the loyalty of all vampires, considering all of them, even those of other lineages, under her authority. The other lineages may object, but they still have to face her power and wrath.
Kern, Lillith’s son whom she thought was dead, is another Demon-Vampire, resurrected by the same Elder Demons that cursed her. His powers are limited to the “classic” Lilith-vampire style, including being able to operate as a practitioner. However, his special exception is that he is immortal and cannot die in any way: his unlife will persist to the end of time. He is the progenitor of the Nosferatu, a somewhat bestial and vulnerable lineage. Kern himself, however, is intelligent, has wizard-level spell-casting abilities, and hates his mother with a passion.
- Lilith-Vampires
- Those vampires sired by Lillith are the original variety, appearing first in antiquity. They have a connection to magick, but do not have the special abilities of Lillith. Lilith-vampires can take up the Craft and often do, but their real power is that they are incredibly hard to kill. These vampires are more reminiscent of those found in traditional folklore. They are not really evil, but their self-centred motivations do sometimes give that impression.
- Tepes-Vampires
- When Vlad Dracula Tepes
rose as a vampire in 1476 CE, he was the first of a new lineage.
This was verified when he spent some time in the society of Lilith-vampires.
All Tepes-vampires, from Dracula to those he sired
to those they sired, cannot gaze upon or touch Holy objects.
Holy water, blessed by a priest, can hurt them.
Tepes-vampires have a dark magick all their own that comes from their progenitor Dracula himself. This gives them the ability to ride on a moonbeam, turn into mist, and change form becoming a wolf or large bat. Tepes-vampires also can use normal magick, but only in a negative manner. They treat everything as a conquest using manipulation and scheming to gain what they desire. Even if a desire is simple and intentionally harmless the Tepes-vampire will still scheme to get it. They are like wolves hunting prey, plotting the strike and enjoying their victory. The older they get the more pronounced this desire for conquest becomes. Therefore a recently-sired Tepes-vampire may not exhibit these traits right away, especially if it is untutored, a common problem among Tepes-vampires. Also Tepes-vampires must slowly come into their dark magick, developing it over time. It can take as much as twenty-five years to begin using the major tricks. Tepes-vampires who use magick will generally not exhibit practitioner traits as a morph or Lilith-vampire will. Instead, spells cast to do good will simply fail for no apparent reason, while spells with selfish or evil intent will succeed as if the vampire were a grand wizard.
They are a bit easier to kill than Lilith-vampires. They can be paralysed with fear by Holy objects, thereby rendering them helpless. Then they can be disposed of at one’s leisure. It is said that the reason for all of this is that God cursed Dracula into becoming a vampire. Tepes-vampires are evil with a purpose: their intent is to destroy anything having to do with God, whether it be Christian or otherwise. Their “evil” is connected with religion and religious symbolism.
For those interested in minutiae, since “Tepes” is a Romanian word it is pronounced as “Tep-esh”.
- Nosferatu
![[Nosferatu]](img_support/v-nosferatu.gif)
In 1892 CE, Kern appeared on earth for the first time since his death.
He cannot be killed in any way,
but those vampires he sired, the entire lineage, are not as lucky.
Nosferatu cannot stand being in the sun at all.
Once bathed in sunlight they burst into flames
and burn until consumed.
They are also, of all vampires, the easiest to kill:
simply staking them, beheading them, or setting them on fire seems to do the trick.
Nosferatu vampires do not act very intelligent.
They seem to be more beast than humanoid.
They do not tend to practice the Craft.
The Nosferatu acquired their name soon after F.W. Murnau’s film of the same name came out in 1922. This is in part due to the physical appearance of Nosferatu, which is somewhat similar to Murnau’s depiction. While other vampires tend to continue their undead existence with much the same physical appearance as the person had in life, Nosferatu rise in a rather grotesque form which cannot be mistaken for a living human under most circumstances.
It seems that a Nosferatu will follow any sufficiently powerful master. Tepes-vampires often used them as henchman or cannon-fodder.
How to Become a Vampire
There are four ways to become a vampire, but only the first is common.
- Turning
- A human must be turned to become a vampire.
This is typically called the “Vampire Wedding”.
First the vampire bites the human and drinks his blood, but not enough to kill.
Then the vampire cuts itself to let the human drink its blood.
Finally the vampire will drink from the human again, killing him or her.
This must happen immediately during the “Wedding” and
if the human is killed by any method other than the vampire’s bite
he or she will not be become a vampire.
The next evening the human will rise as a vampire.
The fledgling vampire should have blood available immediately upon rising.
The blood can be given or the fledgling can be made to kill for the blood.
If the fledgling does not have blood within six to twelve hours
(depending on its constitution),
its heart will stop and it will die.
The new vampire is the same type as its sire (except for Demon-Vampires): that is, a Lilith-vampire (or Lillith herself) begets a Lilith-vampire, a Tepes-vampire begets a Tepes-vampire, and a Nosferatu (or Kern himself) begets a Nosferatu.
A person can be forced or deceived into becoming a vampire against his or her will. This is especially the case with Tepes-vampires, since they can hypnotise their victims. While the broad stereotypical powers and weaknesses associated with vampires in the movies correspond to Tepes-Vampire abilities, Lilith-vampires can also use trickery, deception, or force to sire a vampire.
Drinking the blood of the vampire causes a type of sedation in the victim and thereby renders him or her helpless to the second, fatal bite.
- Magick
- A sufficiently powerful practitioner can turn someone into a Lilith-vampire. Essentially, the practitioner performs the vampire wedding using ritual athemes and goblets rather than the bites. The process still requires blood from a vampire. The victim still has to die before rising to unlife.
- Ritual
- There is a ritual spell that can turn a human into a Tepes-vampire.
It requires invoking the unknown name of God
and thereby risks complete retribution from the forces of magick and nature.
The ritual was used only once, on a monk guilty of betrayal. The ritual succeeded to the extent of turning the monk into a vampire, but immediately afterward the invokers spontaneously exploded. The current whereabouts of the victim, now a Tepes-vampire, are unknown.
- Deep Curse
- There are two types of deep curse, both rather rare.
One can only be imposed by the Old Ones,
ancient, very powerful, non-humanoid demons.
Lillith and Kern are
both under such deep curses,
accounting for both their powers and natures.
The other type happens when magick and nature (or God) imposes a deep curse on an individual for violations of his own self-nature or conscience, thus creating a new lineage of vampires. Dracula has been so cursed, so far the only such instance.
A vampire does not necessarily have to kill directly after it is sired. This is left up to the sire vampire. Some are like parents and wish to nurture their “children”. They will feed them and gradually introduce them to the concepts of “the Hunt”. Others make their fledgling kill directly after being “born”. The psychology is that the new vampire will need to kill in order to survive, so it might as well start hunting as soon as possible. Others vampires will leave their sired fledglings on their own. This is mostly done as revenge upon a mortal enemy, but some vampires just don’t care. They will leave their children to fend for themselves. Lilith-vampires seem to be more prone to be nurturing types.
Morphs and practitioners can be turned into vampires.
However, morphs are rarely turned because it will change the morph into an extremely dangerous creature. Most morphs kill in order to survive, just like humans. Morphs generally do not need to kill humans in order to survive and most are content taking only what they need. A vampiric morph goes insane with the bloodlust and goes on a rampage, killing humans, other morphs, and even other vampires. So, this practice is considered a taboo.
A practitioner can be turned,
but the resulting change in the person’s focus
(from the Craft to the Hunt)
will limit the practitioner’s abilities.
Even if a powerful practitioner is turned,
the individual will lose much of its interest in the Craft,
and centre its attention on the blood Hunt.
Lilith-vampires have a connection to magick.
They lack the special abilities of Lillith,
but they can take up the Craft and often do.
However, the vampire’s main concern is blood and where and how to obtain it.
To be a powerful practitioner, great amounts of time must be devoted to the Craft.
There must be great focus and concentration.
The vampire’s bloodlust is usually the prime factor of its existence.
Therefore, it is very rare to find a
Vampire-Practitioner of great power, though it does happen.
The seeming bestial nature of Nosferatu implies
that they cannot practice the Craft.
As Netherworld creatures, they still have a connection to magick,
but they cannot apply that power to any but the simplest spells.
Generally, vampires do not associate with practitioners or morphs,
preferring to keep to their own secret society.
Of course, many vampires choose to be semi-solitary,
mingling with humans to feed but avoiding Netherworld complications.
A special application of vampire blood is the Vampire Covenant.
First the vampire drinks a little of the victim’s blood,
making sure that the victim does not die from the attack.
Then the vampire’s blood must go into the body
of the victim directly from a wound.
Infection by a Nosferatu vampire’s blood
makes the victim into a type of zombie.
With a Tepes- or Lilith-vampire,
the vampire covenant can evoke emotions and desires
which the victim is trying to hold back.
This is not ritual magick in the sense of a spell,
but it is magick through the blood.
In much the same way a vampire turns a victim,
the vampire covenant releases all the victim’s inhibitions.
So if someone has feelings about someone else,
these feelings will be released.
Also it’s not so much that it releases emotions,
but the victim is unable to deny them.
Like the “hunger” for blood that vampires have,
the feelings become something that cannot be ignored.
After the covenant is completed,
the vampire has no control over the victim
or over what emotions and feelings are released.
The covenant only releases suppressed emotions.
In the case
of Chelsea Chattan, she could no longer deny her feelings for Rose.
Unfortunately she was also no longer be able to deny the darkness within her.
The reason why Chelsea was so attracted to Rose
wass not so much that Chelsea was in love with Rose,
but more that Chelsea saw her own darkness
reflected within Rose and was attracted to that.
Each vampire contains the blood of his sire and their sire and so on.
Rose’s sire is Morana and her sire was Dracula.
Therefore a miniscule amount of Dracula’s blood now flows through Chelsea.
The Esteemed Author thought we might like to know that little tid-bit.
If the vampire meets with a nasty accident,
such as having its head cut off or being blown up
(but still having major body parts intact),
the vampire would go dormant and ultimately starve
and then wither away completely, unconscious of anything happening to it.
These creatures are extremely difficult to kill,
so why are they not ruling the world?
The main reason vampires are not our enslavers is because they are (to a degree),
people just like us.
They are neither good or evil, they just are.
The biggest problems with vampires are that they,
first of all, need human blood to survive.
Secondly, their entire existence revolves around that blood and obtaining it.
They are both cursed with that gnawing thirst and a very strong will to survive.
This makes the vampire both untrustworthy and a formidable foe.
It is best to simply stay out of their way.
CotC vampires lack most of the legendary vulnerabilities,
for example, they can cross running water, eat garlic, and reflect in mirrors.
It’s worth mentioning that Tepes-vampires are slightly easier to deal with than
Lilith-vampires for the simple reason that Holy objects can
almost paralyse Tepes-Vampires with fear.
It’s a lot easier to deal with a foe who is not
able to fight back very effectively.
The Nosferatu vulnerabilities are even more pronounced.
All vampires have a soul, but it is trapped within the body.
This doesn’t make a vampire more prone to good or evil.
However, it causes many vampires to feel trapped and even morose and melancholy.
Just take a look at Lillith’s attitude.
At the destruction of the body, different types of vampires have different fates.
When a Lilith-vampire is destroyed the soul trapped inside is released to move on.
Therefore, Lilith-vampires cannot be resurrected by ritual.
All that is left is ash.
The individual is completely gone.
The same fate applies to Nosferatu.
On the other hand, Tepes-vampires can be resurrected by ritual.
This is due to the fact that Dracula himself is in essence eternal.
He can be killed, but his soul is still trapped within the ash.
All Tepes-vampires share this same fate: their souls remain with the ash of their bodies.
This one fact is what makes the silver urn of Dracula’s ashes such a dangerous artefact.
For the record, Lillith herself can probably be destroyed
by the methods effective with Lilith-vampires.
However, her inherent power makes it unlikely that anyone would get the chance.
Her magickal nature prevents any fire or plagues from affecting her.
Kern, on the other hand, is totally immortal and cannot be destroyed by any means.
He will likely suffer some damage from fire, explosives, and similar attacks,
but he will always regenerate and pull himself together.
Sunlight may cause him pain, but it’s unlikely to cause damage.
Vampires have many secrets.
For example, the exact method used to sustain Mina Harker’s life
without turning her into a vampire.
On a more prosaic level, a vampire acquaintance of
Elemental-Wizard Jacob Livingston
has a recipe for pig-blood
cocktails
that can effectively sustain a vampire’s unlife.
There are many creatures of many types
that subsist on blood or other substances (spirit, life force).
Most of these were probably born-witches, wizards, or morphs
that were cursed by the Elder Demons that cursed Lillith.
There are probably only be a handful of blood suckers that are not Lillith-spawned.
The Lamia for instance is half woman and half serpent.
The reason for this is that while vampires are lone beings
they still need to have a kindred to connect with.
Vampires need family.
Other creatures do not.
Vampires are not totally limited to consuming blood.
A good gourmet meal from time to time is a nice change.
Lillith herself appreciates good
Indian food.
See also:
Demon-Vampires:
Lilith-Vampires:
Nosferatu:
Vampires and the Craft
![[Plague of fire, a specialty of Lillith]](img_support/lil-rainfire.gif)
The Demon-Vampires are in a class of their own
when it comes to their magickal powers.
Lillith’s connection to magick is incredibly powerful.
She can rain down fire and plagues.
Regardless of the power she employs,
she will never harm herself as a protective shield of magick surrounds her.
Kern lacks these strong powers, being more of a Wizard-level Vampire-Practitioner.
However, his demon-granted ability is his complete immortality,
something not even Lillith possesses.
![[Tepes-vampire casting a negative spell]](img_support/magick-separation-spell.gif)
Tepes-vampires have a dark magick all their own, originating with Dracula himself.
Their abilities are thus limited to turning into mist or wolves or bats and riding a moonbeam.
These powers can take twenty-five years and more to manifest in a new Tepes-Vampire,
especially if the vampire is not tutored by its sire.
Tepes-vampires have a connection to magick and therefore can also use normal magick,
but they always use it in a negative manner,
in accord with whatever scheme is brewing at the time.
They generally will not exhibit practitioner traits as a morph will.
Tepes-vampires cannot become practitioners of great general power,
but their magick is still formidable in their own area of dark magick.
The Vampire Covenant
How to Kill a Vampire
Other Notes
People
Tepes-Vampires:
References