Puppet Masters • Deceivers • Bloodthirsty • In Control
To some covens, the first vampire to walk the Earth was Cain who bore his curse from God and see it spread through the blood of those that Cain felt deserved to walk his path. To others, the first vampire was as old as the rock we all call home, and when that first vampire beheld humanity, it didn't see just prey, but a fitting host. But what all covens can agree on is that if it wasn't for Humanity, they wouldn't be what they are now.
It was the Vampires that first brought up the notion of exposing themselves and the other immortals to humans as a way of preventing them from doing more harm to themselves, and it has been the Vampires that have gained the most out of the Revelation. Vampires have gained political power, station and recognition for being cunning and enticing immortals.
Although Vampires refer to their transformation into their current state as 'birth', they are not born in the same sense as Humanity or Werewolves. Vampires are created through a parasitic transference of blood from Vampire to Human. This is done through a ritual draining of blood and then a sire's blood is inputted into the body of the drained party. After a short period of transformation, a new Vampire emerges. This means that save for a few characteristics, Vampires could pass for Humans, especially the very young. As a Vampire ages, they tend to take on a more preternatural appearance, their eye color changes, and their skin almost takes on an iridescent quality in light.
Unlike popular folklore, they are not confined to the night and can in fact walk in some degrees of daylight. They are still allergic to sunlight, and prolonged exposure will make a Vampire extremely ill, it will not result in combustion. This illness does make a Vampire weak to attack, as the only way to truly kill a Vampire is to destroy the heart and remove the head. Vampires do possess a healing ability, the more severe the wound the longer and more stressful that will be upon the Vampire's body. In a broad sense, they are stronger, faster and more durable than the average Human. They do need a constant supply of fresh blood, Human preferred, to ensure they are strong and healthy.
Vampires are organized into covens or families, with a head Vampire or Sire acting as the leader of that coven. Some covens are small, others are large and many faceted with smaller covens acting as satellites to the main coven and Sire. Hierarchy and structure within the covens can vary from coven to coven, some don't even refer to themselves as covens but prefer to call themselves families instead. But the most widely seen structure is that at the center of the coven or family is the Sire, their seconds are usually a direct descendent or another older Vampire, standing within the coven is highly based around age. There is a council of sorts composed of the oldest Vampires in existence, the name for this council is not known, but it's said that this council controls the moves of the covens.
There are some Vampires that do not belong to covens, these Vampires are generally looked down upon by those that belong to a coven and often regarded as outcasts. Sometimes these solo Vampires are outcasts from covens, but most of them are simply products of an overzealous Vampire and remain in exile when that Vampire tries to join the coven.
Vampires on Gracefully Cursed are the puppeteers, used to pulling the strings on many puppets and controlling the winds of fate to make things more favorable for their future. A Vampire may be content to see their coven rise and survive, or they may be out to increase their own station within the coven or may even seek to usurp their Sire. One thing is certain, they are out to maintain and increase the control that the immortals have on Humanity. If a Vampire is the first character you choose to write, we ask that you please take a look at the Canon Characters first, and if none appeal to you that you create a Vampire that is a member of a coven as this will make it easier for you to plot and interact with the other members.
