I dont know if your the right person to ask this, so im sorry if i should send this to someone else. On youre vampire puppet post you talked about Strigoi ? The vampire transformation. Is that a permanent thing? What happens if Count turns into that? Will he just be a monster forever?
Thank you
OOOOH, a puppet question. I don't usually get these.
Vampuppet Powers
If you don't want to read through all of that, Strigoi in regards to Vampire Puppets is the monstrous 'true' form of Romanian vampuppets.
The names differ by region or culture of that particular puppet vampires (In the Vampswap AU, Dr Birch and Leopold would use the word "Estries" or "Striyas" for their 'true' form). For simplicity sakes we'll continue to use the word 'Strigoi' here.
This form is not like when they shapeshift in and out of their animal forms. Becoming a Strigoi is completely involuntary, and is not something a vampire can consciously control.
The thing about vampirism is that it is a supernatural affliction; vampuppets do not suffer as much as most vampires in fiction, but vampirism is still a curse.
It's also a long winded metaphor for the rich preying on the poor, and how the term 'Dracula' is derived from Dracul which can mean devil but it's root word Draco refers to dragons, as a further hint to vampires being innately greedy; but these are questions for @aroace-get-out-of-my-face.
Vampire Puppets are inherently addicted to puppet magic, and they all have the potential to go into withdrawal and then a state of feral thirst, similar to bloodlust; the final, and most desperate stage of said bloodlust is taking their monstrous form.
Strigoi are the physical manifestion of the vampire's curse. All of their personality, thoughts, and morals are gone, all they are now is a never ending hunger for puppet magic that can never truly be satiated no matter how much it consumes and how many puppets they have to drain and kill.
Withdrawal symptoms first began when a vampire has gone a long period without consuming puppet magic, organic or artificial. Hunger itself does not automatically send a vampire into a spiral of turning into a Strigoi, but it is how it starts.
Most vampires when they start starving stave off further withdrawal symptoms using their vampiric rituals, or hibernating to conserve energy.
The problem with hibernation is that a vampire cannot just hibernate anywhere, they can only do so within a coffin or casket. Rituals are the most consistent and successful method of not transforming into a Strigoi.
However, should a vampire either not perform their ritual(s), or are somehow unable to, and they succumb to the curse?
Because the transformation is involuntary, changing back to normal is also something a vampire cannot do on their own. As even consuming magic and no longer being starving will bring them back - it is a curse of unending hunger.
It takes the efforts of their loved ones, often other vampires who can stand against a Stigoi's enhanced physical abilities, but is requires more than one vampire and/or a group of experienced vampire hunters.
To bring a Strigoi back to sanity and normal form, they would have to be reminded of how to perform their ritual; whether it is counting, spelling, whittling, or what have you.
Typically, those with simple rituals are easy to turn back, but-
