Vampires

Vampiric origins are shrouded in mystery, although some Changelings and Hunter archivists believe they could be the result of a demonic pact made by a long-lost blood cult some millennia ago. The Vampires themselves, well- the most ancient ones are not ones to generally share information that could put them at a disadvantage, while the younger ones are also in the dark, although they might have heard old stories from their elders in a coven.

Wherever their initial origin, the first British Vampire coven was seen in Londinium, shortly after its founding during the first century AD. Since that time, Vampires have continued to make London their home, with the largest population found in the city, although they have a presence throughout the entire country.

All Vampires identify with a coven, which is a loose family headed by a sire and includes all of his or her fledgelings, which are the Mundanes turned into Vampires by the sire. Covens do not necessarily live together and often Vampire households try to maintain some distance from one another, in order to reduce the number of suspicious deaths in an area.

A Vampire is created when a sire sucks a Mundane dry of blood, and just before the body dies, gives a bit of their blood back to the Mundane. This is a fragile, tricky process and it is not always successful, therefore it is difficult to create a Vampire accidentally - most turnings are deliberate. Along with Changelings, Vampires are functionally immortal. Once they are turned, they have no heartbeat and cannot be killed unless a wooden stake is driven through the heart.

A Vampire does not always have to kill every Mundane they drink from, but they gain more power the closer a Mundane gets to death- which is why it is an inevitability that they will kill some of those they drink from. A minority of Vampires, known as Cruors, relish going into a town to stalk their victim but the majority prefer to have ‘retainers’, Mundanes belonging to their household who can be fed on regularly.

Some Vampires prefer to have their retainers from the same family, while others pick their retainers from the edges of society- orphans, criminals, drunks. The former are treated typically well by the Vampire (although they have few rights), as it would be a shame to have to find and train new retainers… While the latter are more likely to lose their lives in the process, although some are only kept a short while by the Vampire before being mesmerised and abandoned on the streets.

While not deadly to Vampires, sunlight is draining and saps a Vampire’s ability to use mesmerisation. A newly created Vampire fledging finds sunlight painful but the older a Vampire is, the easier it is for them to go out during daylight hours, although they also find their powers much reduced during this time.

British Vampires achieved their height of influence during the Middle Ages, with various covens posing as nobles in feudal society, which was a perfect system for them to gain retainers and consolidate wealth. In the years since, their influence has waned as the world has modernised but many covens still wield considerable power, due to their vast wealth, political connections and ability to mesmerise Mundanes to do their will.

In recent years, some Vampires have tried to modernise their way of life, refraining from drinking Mundane blood and keeping retainers. Enacting this change has been a fine balancing act and many early pioneers of this movement perished, due to being driven mad by drinking solely animal blood. These sad specimens had to be hunted down by Hunters and their own kind. Those who do follow this practice now supplement their animal-blood drinking with Mundane blood- some by posing as doctors who practice ‘blood-letting’ as a cure for various medical ailments. They are constantly in search of a better solution.

Blood Magic

Along with a natural ability to mesmerise Mundanes- which allows them to keep a low profile and keep on retainers, Vampires utilise blood magic. This is a short rite performed over vials of blood, which helps imbue the blood with the essence of the spell. The origin of the blood also plays a key part, ie. to increase their physical strength, a Vampire might drink a vial of blood from a ferocious warrior.

The older the blood, the more potent the spell and most covens keep their own libraries of blood, with a member of the family taking on the role of ‘Vintner’ and being responsible for curating the collection. Other members of a coven will take assignments every once in a while to update the collection; visiting the home of the up and coming poet or new politician to take a sample.

Inherent magic

Vampires have the ability to use mesmerisation. On Mundanes, this is basically mind-control, but for the other factions, the effect is not as potent. Once per two hours, Vampires can compel another character to answer a question truthfully.

The most prominent Vampires will identify as a Sanguine or a Claret Vampire, and most come from an indolent, aristocratic background. Sanguine Vampires prefer to stick with the old traditions and are not keen on changing their lifestyles. They have various retainers that are either treated like pets or food.

A Claret (pronounced Clah-ray) Vampire tries to adapt and change how they live. They may try to reduce the amount of live Mundane feeding they have to do and believe that while having retainers was a valid choice historically, in this day and age, having a more equal relationship with those they feed on is important. Potentially, they might someday find a way not to have to feed on Mundanes.

Less common are Cruor Vampires, who shun their covens and walk the streets of newly industrialised Britain. Cruor are not necessarily evil or malicious, perhaps only dining on criminals, but they are a wild card and do not care for the intricacies of Vampire or mundane politics.

As might be expected, Vampires have had historically had a poor relationship with Hunters, and there has been concentrated efforts by the most powerful covens to wipe out their local Hunter Citadels at several points in history and vice-versa by the Hunters. An uneasy cold war has held for the past 100 years- with the Vampires having held enough political power and public presence as members of the aristocracy (some have even held positions in the House of Lords) to make it difficult for Hunters to pursue many hunts against them.

The view towards Werewolves has been more nuanced, with covens and packs forming pacts to work against Hunters at various points. However, a Hunter ambush during the reign of Elizabeth the first that wiped out the entire Armandi coven was done in conjunction with the help of the two Romulus packs. The Vampires have had long memories and have since regarded the Werewolves with suspicion.

Changelings and Vampires generally avoid one another but often have no quarrel with the other. That being said, rivalry or resentment can arise when the two immortal factions come into contact with the other.

Most Vampires, no matter their outlook, dress in sumptuous clothes with rich colours. These do not have to be from the modern era- it could be from the era where they lived as a Mundane or their favourite decade. Regardless of whether they are an ancient or a newly created Vampire, they are very pale. Only fledgelings have prominent fangs, as a Vampire gains experience, they become more adept at keeping their fangs hidden except at times of feeding.

All Vampires will also wear a badge with their faction’s symbol.

As the retainers gained rights through the Accords, it has prompted a huge shift in vampire society. The old, rigid hierarchy has broken down, save some of the oldest Sanguine covens who still follow the old ways, although they’ve had to be more secretive about it. Elsewhere- well, it didn’t descend into anarchy but vampire society became more chaotic and laissez-faire, mirroring to some degree mundane society, where social class has become more mutable with the rise of the merchant class.

As few follow the old ways, and the retainer system is more of a reciprocal need now, the vampire population has increased. This could have led to issues with food sources but luckily as the mundane population has become more transient with more people moving to cities, which have a large underclass, it’s led to easier hunts as when people go missing... no one comes looking for them. More Cruor vampires exist now, with no ties to a coven.

Cities have been a boon as the Accords introduced a loophole, with London, Edinburgh and Cardiff being neutral. Another side effect has been vampire attacks have often become more deadly, as the Accords legislated for assault- but didn’t introduce punishment for murder. As a technicality, if a vampire kills someone, they’re fine under the Accords.

But these loopholes have come at a price - the Hunters have noticed these increased activities and are coming after vampires, especially the Gabrielites. But tensions have also risen with the new alliance between other Hunter factions and Romulus werewolf squads. Some elder, strategic vampires have also created new fledglings as proxies - and direct the Hunters to deal with them, while they carry on as before.

And lastly, some Claret vampires have looked at all this with dismay, and have engaged with mundane science (and perhaps a Changeling or two?) with the goal of reducing the need for blood and bringing more order to their society.

Themes we expect this faction to deal with:

- Do you want safety or do you want power?

- Conservative vs progressive, which works better for your society?

- Tragedy of the commons situation