Post by Wysteria Edwin on Jun 30, 2009 0:50:03 GMT -5
Ok, here we go: everything you need to know about vampires in our canon. Now, I'm leaving the thread unlocked in case anyone has any questions about vampires or Wyst. Please feel free to ask if anything I write is unclear or contradicts with what I've written thus far. Also, I do not assume that I have thought of all the ins and outs of this canon. So, if you contact me saying you'd like to try something which slightly bends the rules or makes new ones, I'm open to it.
Before I begin, I'd just like to give a general guideline for how I see the vampires in this canon: their natural inclinations are not good. Vampires must fight very, very hard to appear, act, and feel as humans. Their overwhelming instincts are to drink the blood of live humans, and killing them in the process is not of any concern. These are not self-pitying Twilight vampires who can live on animals. Just wanted to clarify that
Food: Vampires need human blood to survive and be healthy. If necessary they can drink animal blood, but the taste is not satisfying and the need for humans becomes so strong they will eventually feed on one. The ministry and other government organizations provide vampires with blood bags if they are registered in the area. There are also blood bars in nearly all major wizarding communities which contain both real and synthetic blood. These measures made the vampires wishing to mainstream able to do so, but those with more violent appetites go underground.
Habitat: According to the ministry, around 125 vampires live within their jurisdiction. Wysteria will tell you their numbers are much higher, but those under the radar live deep in forests and do not attempt to go to blood bars and think living by the ministry's rules of registration are beneath them. They live in secluded clans, often in caves or buildings dug into a hill (this protects any sunlight from leaking in and helps their communities to stay hidden and unassuming).
Strengths: Their senses are as keen as any large predator, especially their sense of smell. Like any animal they must learn what different scents mean, but some are much easier for them to detect and discern. Fear, anxiety, and illness are quite distinct to their nose because that is the best way to select prey. Their strength is five time that of most humans, and three times as strong as any human could ever become. Vampires detect every infinitesimal movement, even facial twitches. This allows them to see fear, humor, sadness, with extreme clarity even when a person is attempting to hide the emotion. Expressions are more difficult to learn, however, if the vampire does not see examples. If a vampire never sees a living creature make a joke, they will not recognize the attempt at humor.
It's harder for vampires to read expressions of their own kind, since they rarely make them. Even vocal tone for lying is hard to detect, and their scents are different than those of living creatures. This is thought to be because only vampires who were very cunning were able to survive for more than a few decades among their own kind.
Weaknesses: Silver, the sun and less magical ability. Silver is the only substance that will keep a wound from healing but must be liquefied to truly hurt a vampire, at least temporarily, because once the silver leaves the body the wound heals. This is not true for the heart however, which explodes upon contact with silver IF it goes straight through and does not just puncture it. The sun the slowly burn a vampire to a crisp. They can stay out in full sunlight for about two minutes before it finally burns them completely. It also severely weakens them, so they can't do much within those two minutes. But during an intense thunderstorm vampires can be outside for as long as ten minutes before beginning to burn and half an hour before they die, simply because the sun is filtered out by the sun and rain.
In terms of magic, if someone was a wizard or witch before they were turned they can possibly learn vampire magic. Muggles have little hope of gaining vampire magic, however. But even vampire magic is very hard to learn and takes decades or even centuries to master. It almost always requires one to have a steady teacher. They only exception to this is the trance, which is picked up very early by instinct, but still takes a good deal of practice to master. Vampires who are extremely adept can even modify a person's memory, but this takes centuries to learn even those most vamps know they have the capability within them it takes technique to bring it out (no matter what Wyst thinks). Most of the magic relates to protection and health, not hunting or attacks. Mainstreaming vampires rarely learn this magic since they do not want to ministry to be aware of this skill they possess.
"Life"span: If not met by silver through the heart, vampires will "live" forever.
Alive or Dead? In this canon, vampires are dead. The only recognizable internal organ is the heart which is the only place to strike a fatal blow. Their reanimation is done with their own magic by the vampire germ (luka). This alters the DNA in humans to essentially tell the body to die and, while dead, convinces the body that being dead is the best way to function and to wake up once the genetic code has completed its changes.
Vampire Mythology and Origins
The First Vampire: The very first human to become one of the undead is unclear. Most of the older vampires have at least one story about the origin of their species, but the details vary from region to region. The area most commonly associated with being the birthplace of the vampires is in ancient Egypt, although some will argue it was eastern Europe and they traveled to Egypt because of the large slave population. The main idea, however remains the same...
During the early days of magic, wizards and witches dabbled in all aspects of light and dark magic. Mostly because they did not know any better and the more evil side of the dark arts had not been uncovered. They saw their powers as neither good nor bad, and the same went for any spell or potion uncovered: it was in the hands of the witch or wizard that the morality lay. One group of about 3 wizards and 3 witches, however, unlocked the doorway to a blood demon in order to capture its power and force it to do their bidding. This was uncommon for the time, as most magical people advised against resurrecting creatures that could do more harm than good, particularly demons.
The demon was hard to control, and the group was forced to destroy the blood demon almost immediately after the doorway was uncovered. But since the witches and wizards were in such closed quarters, the demon's blood (a powerful, early form of luka) seeped into their skin and through their eyes and mouth. This turned them into immortal beings with a severe lust for human blood. It was said that the female witch who absorbed the largest amount of the demon's essence became the first pharaoh.
How to Make a Vampire
There are two ways for a person to have vampire qualities: to be born from parents where at least once possess some vampire genes, or to be turned.
Born Part-Vampire: In this canon, the vampires become as they are because of a gene mutation, so it follows that these genes can be passed on to future generations. Now, it is not easy for a male vampire to impregnate a female one: a very lengthy and illegal (according to the ministry) ritual is performed prior to, during, and after conception. As one might imagine, only male vampires can become parents since females cannot change their body chemistry enough to bear children. Because the practice is illegal, not many of these children exist. Wyst was one before she was turned, and while she needed to drink a blood draft occasionally from the hospital wing to keep her strength up, she did not feel the need to feed on others. She had great athletic ability as well with a great deal of strength and agility. Part-vampire females may give birth with relative ease with the rather pleasant effect of healing and losing weight quickly afterward.
Turned Vampire: Vampires are turned when another vampire injects the vampiric germ into their blood system: usually by opening their skin with their fangs. The germ is contained in an oozy dark purple liquid and comes out of a small gland under the tongue. Vampires must work very hard to release this germ liquid (commonly referred to as "luka"), and it makes them very weak for days because they are essentially pouring out their lifeforce. But the human must receive the luka three times, so the process of making a vampire takes about a little over one week. The luka should come from the same vampire preferably, since different donors will confuse the genetic material already beginning to transform. It goes without saying, no two vampires are alike in their DNA structure. Whoever turned them will endow them with whatever specific strengths they possessed (whether very agile, more cunning, adept at vampire magic, etc.)
After receiving the luka three times, the human will go into convulsions and slowly die. The death is quite painful, as all of their human DNA is being changed, added to or deleted. Once they die, their body must remain undisturbed and underground for two days. When they rise, new vampires are hungry, vulnerable and confused. Most do not remember all the events leading to their transformation and must be reminded.
Once transformed, vampires lose most of their former ethics because new vampires are driven almost entirely by instinct. If left to their own devices, newborns would kill any humans in sight. Most stay with the vampire who made them, but really any vampire will do, in order to show them the ropes. New vampires must learn how to hunt (or, if mainstreaming, where to get blood bags and blood bars), to discern different scents, the laws of the community they've joined, and in general how to control their new urges so they don't fly off the handle and feed at random.
Aside from their physical and emotional changes, their memory is affected. While it takes a few weeks for a new vampire to calm down, once they do so their mortal memories will not stay with them for long. Usually within two years any emotions or ties to their mortal life are broken since they can't recall much from before they were turned. If a vampire does not stay in touch and reconnect with those he or she knew before, then their allegiances normally transfer to the one who turned them and their clan.
Turned Part-Vampire: If a human only receives one or two bites, they will develop some vampire characteristics, but not be one of the undead. They may have keener senses, a great deal more athleticism, etc. Most part-vampires who are only partially turned do not last that way for long. The one who first injected the luka knows their scent and will hunt them in order to complete the transformation.
Appearance
Vampires truly embody the old adage "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". For some, they have an unnatural beauty that humans cannot match. For others, the slight glow of their skin is unnerving. The variation depends on each person and there's no way to predict how a human reacts. I'll go over the basics first.
--Fangs are retractable and appear over the human canines. When the fangs emerge, the original canines are pushed slightly back into the mouth so the fangs are somewhat flush with the rest of the teeth. They pop out when the vampire catches a delicious scent of blood, has an intense though about feeding, or becomes angry or threatened.
--Skin is pale and for some becomes just a tiny bit ashen. Their skin has a slight glow but this trait is not glaringly obvious.
--Eyes will become an iridescent greenish blue when hunting or when a vampire wants to see better in the dark. Their night vision is better than jaguars; this is needed because they are on top of the food chain and nocturnal predators.
--Hair, nails, and body stay as they are on the eve of being turned. They cannot cut their hair or nails without them growing back to their original length within seconds. They do need to shower occasionally, however, depending on their activity level.
Because they do not have the normal discomforts of humans (their arms won't fall asleep, they don't really get cold or hot, etc. because their bodies run differently), vampires are often extremely still and expressionless. They must work to look human, but they usually emulate their company. For example, vampires living together look and act the least human unless they have a specific reason for appearing otherwise. Those who mainstream often adapt the mannerisms of humans, but mostly because they work to do so.
I'm going to quote Ethan and Sam because their descriptions were excellent for showing different perspectives on meeting a vampire for the first time without knowing it. For an example of what happens when vampires have a seductive appearance, I'll quote Ethan:
While Ethan senses there might be something a bit wrong with Wyst, even predatory, this is not what his mind focuses on. It's also important to note that Ethan's reaction calms down the longer he talks to Wyst. He would only be in danger if Wyst decided to act on his feelings; she could put him in a trance within seconds of their first meeting. The next few times someone like Ethan sees her his reaction might be similar but won't last as long, and will diminish with each meeting. This isn't to say someone won't think Wyst is pretty. She is beautiful, but the powerful yet superficial tug to her will not last. Like Ethan showed, a human will not fully understand why they are so intensely captivated, and to be sure vampires do not understand why it happens either.
Wyst mentions in a thread it might relate to the vampires have an evolutionary need to have willing donors, which is the most likely explanation. Vampires could not just continually attack humans whenever hungry: when this happens, wizards and muggles have rebelled and killed the suspected vampires (sometimes they succeeded, sometimes not). Even those in violent clans hunt animals (mostly for sport) and can often attract willing muggles or wizards for a meal. They do not need to kill their human, only to feed on them for a little while. Some are even seduced into living with vampires groups for long periods of time.
And for the much more common slightly nervous reaction, I'll quote Sam:
Sam's "uncomfortable stir" comes from Wyst's predatory aura that humans pick up on but cannot fully place. Ethan mentions this eerie feeling, but it is not something his mind focuses on. Animals also sense what vampires are VERY quickly. When Wyst was part-vampire she had a hard time with animals, but now they scatter at her presence, as they do with all vampires.
There's no way to know before meeting a vampire how one will react: it depends on the person and the vampire. If every human met every vampire, nearly all of them would meet at least one vampire they would be pulled to, if not several. Some vampires are inexplicably more seductive to humans than others, as some humans are more drawn to vampires than others. This stands to reason that Ethan would not have the same reaction to other vampires, and that Sam would have at least one vampire he was attracted to.
There are also those who are fascinated with vampires and inquisitive, often hounding them with questions and even accusations. This is generally due to a personal prejudice or vendetta against the vampire race.
After repeated encounters with vampires, especially if it is only one or two, a person will become less afraid and more likely to view them as a friend than a predator. This probably relates to the fact that the better a vampire knows another person the less likely s/he is to see them as a snack machine. The time needed to diminish their instincts around another human depends on many factors including the vampire's age, the willingness to regain their humanity, and the circumstances surrounding the encounters.
Vampire Pecking Order (aka Government)
Vampire government does not follow guidelines most humans would recognize, since their concepts of the rule of law are very old. While mainstream vampires heed to wizarding law, they would be wise not to make their governing body angry. Vampire clans spread across the globe usually have one leader who makes the important decisions within their group. Wysteria's grandfather is in this position in the Dradoon clan. Nearly all disputes can be settled within the clan itself, but for those that cannot, the leader will usually go to the head of the oldest and largest clan in the immediate area (usually within 200 miles). If the problem is still unable to be resolved, the incident goes to the highest authority on that continent (most vampires want to avoid doing this at all costs since they do not want to bother them with petty arguments). This person is also called the empire leader, and there are six empires in the vampire race
All of the major continents have some figure head or leader for their respective empire, and depending on the area the name will vary. In Europe, south Asia and the Americas they have either a king or queen; Africa has a pharaoh and east Asia has an emperor. These vampires retain this position for several hundred years at least and changes in leadership only occur in the even of death or a coup (which usually leads to death). Power struggles have occurred, but detailing them would be a huge undertaking and I doubt we'll need that information so I'll just keep it in my head for now
In the rare case that a problem falls under the authority of more than one queen, emperor, etc., then the pharaoh is brought in to rule even if their people are not involved in the dispute. There have been only five pharaohs, the first one starting his reign at around 3,000 BC. Vampires evolved side by side with the very first wizards in the Egyptian and Mesopotamian region (as mentioned earlier in the mythology section). I'll give a list of current kings, emperors and pharaohs of the empires here:
Pharaoh: Rashida (female)
Emperor of east Asia: Mei (female)
King of Europe: Lucas
King of South Asia: Tungesh
King of North America: Jerome
Queen of South America: Ixtab
The reason for the name difference in each region is partly cultural and partly from power struggles within the vampire race (hence why there are so many kings and queens--colonization happened at the same time for vampires as well).
But many vampires never meet these leaders and most hope they never do since their sense of justice is quite severe. So it keeps the peace relatively speaking and most traditional vampires obey their clan heads. The rules are slightly different for mainstreaming vampires, since while the larger community is a bit disgusted by their behavior, they also realize it's necessary for some of their kind to integrate into the wizarding community. This allows the vampires to keep under the radar more than was possible before, because if the ministry believes most of them are out in the open and want to be "normal", they're less likely to go out and actively hunt for any rogue vampires.
Most ministry officials leave vampires well enough alone since most do not realize the true cruelty that occurs in the more notorious clans. They hear whispers and rumors, but vampires have been good at covering their tracks for many millenia and very rarely do they have significant evidence against a vampire for murder. The murders that do occur within the clans honestly do not happen often, perhaps once every two months per clan. Vampires almost always pick muggles who are seen wandering off on their own; they rarely go into town or inside residences. Many humans, as explained earlier, are even drawn to the undead and willingly donate blood with barely a trancing spell placed on them. Some of the more violent clans include: Oktar, from Turkey, Trewitz from Russia, Dradoon from Germany and Poland, and the Blesse from the Czech Republic and Romania.
Mainstream Vampires:
If a vampire decides to mainstream, s/he must do so with the approval of their clan head. This process is known as "transitioning". Applying for mainstream status is usually met with some suspicion, mainly the clan head will wonder if the vampire is attempting to run away from something or someone. But if the vampire is in good standing within the clan and has had no serious charges against him or her, the transition usually goes forward. There may be exceptions, however, if the ruling king decides that a freeze on transitions is necessary (reasons on this vary from a possible fugitive to a personal whim).
For a vampire to register at the ministry (or whatever governing body in that area), they must prove their status as a vampire and claim a turner (the one who made them vampire). Uncomfortable questions about where the vampire has been prior to contacting the ministry often arise, but most transitioners are well rehearsed to name one of the clans known to the wizards and give intimate details that only a clan member would know. While some at the ministry suspect that their vampire friends are not revealing everything, they know better than to try and dig deeper. A war between vampires and wizards would be VERY ugly and brutal. The vampires keep their kind well enough in check that wizards view them more as a curious oddity than a danger.
The reasons a vampire might decide to mainstream varies from personal comfort (most clans live in remote areas and not all vampires love nature) to moral issues. While most vampires lose nearly all of their memory, some remember a great deal from their past and miss their old life and family. Some vampires have even claimed that, after many decades of struggle, they feel like "their old selves". This is quite rare, however, since vampires forget what it was like to be mortal within a few years. While there are various ideas about how a vampire remembers their moral foundations from before, there is no widely accepted method for mainstreaming vampires to follow. Therefore a few transitioners find the change quite hard even if it was much desired by them, and even return to their old clan in some cases.
Basic Facts
Before I begin, I'd just like to give a general guideline for how I see the vampires in this canon: their natural inclinations are not good. Vampires must fight very, very hard to appear, act, and feel as humans. Their overwhelming instincts are to drink the blood of live humans, and killing them in the process is not of any concern. These are not self-pitying Twilight vampires who can live on animals. Just wanted to clarify that
Food: Vampires need human blood to survive and be healthy. If necessary they can drink animal blood, but the taste is not satisfying and the need for humans becomes so strong they will eventually feed on one. The ministry and other government organizations provide vampires with blood bags if they are registered in the area. There are also blood bars in nearly all major wizarding communities which contain both real and synthetic blood. These measures made the vampires wishing to mainstream able to do so, but those with more violent appetites go underground.
Habitat: According to the ministry, around 125 vampires live within their jurisdiction. Wysteria will tell you their numbers are much higher, but those under the radar live deep in forests and do not attempt to go to blood bars and think living by the ministry's rules of registration are beneath them. They live in secluded clans, often in caves or buildings dug into a hill (this protects any sunlight from leaking in and helps their communities to stay hidden and unassuming).
Strengths: Their senses are as keen as any large predator, especially their sense of smell. Like any animal they must learn what different scents mean, but some are much easier for them to detect and discern. Fear, anxiety, and illness are quite distinct to their nose because that is the best way to select prey. Their strength is five time that of most humans, and three times as strong as any human could ever become. Vampires detect every infinitesimal movement, even facial twitches. This allows them to see fear, humor, sadness, with extreme clarity even when a person is attempting to hide the emotion. Expressions are more difficult to learn, however, if the vampire does not see examples. If a vampire never sees a living creature make a joke, they will not recognize the attempt at humor.
It's harder for vampires to read expressions of their own kind, since they rarely make them. Even vocal tone for lying is hard to detect, and their scents are different than those of living creatures. This is thought to be because only vampires who were very cunning were able to survive for more than a few decades among their own kind.
Weaknesses: Silver, the sun and less magical ability. Silver is the only substance that will keep a wound from healing but must be liquefied to truly hurt a vampire, at least temporarily, because once the silver leaves the body the wound heals. This is not true for the heart however, which explodes upon contact with silver IF it goes straight through and does not just puncture it. The sun the slowly burn a vampire to a crisp. They can stay out in full sunlight for about two minutes before it finally burns them completely. It also severely weakens them, so they can't do much within those two minutes. But during an intense thunderstorm vampires can be outside for as long as ten minutes before beginning to burn and half an hour before they die, simply because the sun is filtered out by the sun and rain.
In terms of magic, if someone was a wizard or witch before they were turned they can possibly learn vampire magic. Muggles have little hope of gaining vampire magic, however. But even vampire magic is very hard to learn and takes decades or even centuries to master. It almost always requires one to have a steady teacher. They only exception to this is the trance, which is picked up very early by instinct, but still takes a good deal of practice to master. Vampires who are extremely adept can even modify a person's memory, but this takes centuries to learn even those most vamps know they have the capability within them it takes technique to bring it out (no matter what Wyst thinks). Most of the magic relates to protection and health, not hunting or attacks. Mainstreaming vampires rarely learn this magic since they do not want to ministry to be aware of this skill they possess.
"Life"span: If not met by silver through the heart, vampires will "live" forever.
Alive or Dead? In this canon, vampires are dead. The only recognizable internal organ is the heart which is the only place to strike a fatal blow. Their reanimation is done with their own magic by the vampire germ (luka). This alters the DNA in humans to essentially tell the body to die and, while dead, convinces the body that being dead is the best way to function and to wake up once the genetic code has completed its changes.
Vampire Mythology and Origins
The First Vampire: The very first human to become one of the undead is unclear. Most of the older vampires have at least one story about the origin of their species, but the details vary from region to region. The area most commonly associated with being the birthplace of the vampires is in ancient Egypt, although some will argue it was eastern Europe and they traveled to Egypt because of the large slave population. The main idea, however remains the same...
During the early days of magic, wizards and witches dabbled in all aspects of light and dark magic. Mostly because they did not know any better and the more evil side of the dark arts had not been uncovered. They saw their powers as neither good nor bad, and the same went for any spell or potion uncovered: it was in the hands of the witch or wizard that the morality lay. One group of about 3 wizards and 3 witches, however, unlocked the doorway to a blood demon in order to capture its power and force it to do their bidding. This was uncommon for the time, as most magical people advised against resurrecting creatures that could do more harm than good, particularly demons.
The demon was hard to control, and the group was forced to destroy the blood demon almost immediately after the doorway was uncovered. But since the witches and wizards were in such closed quarters, the demon's blood (a powerful, early form of luka) seeped into their skin and through their eyes and mouth. This turned them into immortal beings with a severe lust for human blood. It was said that the female witch who absorbed the largest amount of the demon's essence became the first pharaoh.
How to Make a Vampire
There are two ways for a person to have vampire qualities: to be born from parents where at least once possess some vampire genes, or to be turned.
Born Part-Vampire: In this canon, the vampires become as they are because of a gene mutation, so it follows that these genes can be passed on to future generations. Now, it is not easy for a male vampire to impregnate a female one: a very lengthy and illegal (according to the ministry) ritual is performed prior to, during, and after conception. As one might imagine, only male vampires can become parents since females cannot change their body chemistry enough to bear children. Because the practice is illegal, not many of these children exist. Wyst was one before she was turned, and while she needed to drink a blood draft occasionally from the hospital wing to keep her strength up, she did not feel the need to feed on others. She had great athletic ability as well with a great deal of strength and agility. Part-vampire females may give birth with relative ease with the rather pleasant effect of healing and losing weight quickly afterward.
Turned Vampire: Vampires are turned when another vampire injects the vampiric germ into their blood system: usually by opening their skin with their fangs. The germ is contained in an oozy dark purple liquid and comes out of a small gland under the tongue. Vampires must work very hard to release this germ liquid (commonly referred to as "luka"), and it makes them very weak for days because they are essentially pouring out their lifeforce. But the human must receive the luka three times, so the process of making a vampire takes about a little over one week. The luka should come from the same vampire preferably, since different donors will confuse the genetic material already beginning to transform. It goes without saying, no two vampires are alike in their DNA structure. Whoever turned them will endow them with whatever specific strengths they possessed (whether very agile, more cunning, adept at vampire magic, etc.)
After receiving the luka three times, the human will go into convulsions and slowly die. The death is quite painful, as all of their human DNA is being changed, added to or deleted. Once they die, their body must remain undisturbed and underground for two days. When they rise, new vampires are hungry, vulnerable and confused. Most do not remember all the events leading to their transformation and must be reminded.
Once transformed, vampires lose most of their former ethics because new vampires are driven almost entirely by instinct. If left to their own devices, newborns would kill any humans in sight. Most stay with the vampire who made them, but really any vampire will do, in order to show them the ropes. New vampires must learn how to hunt (or, if mainstreaming, where to get blood bags and blood bars), to discern different scents, the laws of the community they've joined, and in general how to control their new urges so they don't fly off the handle and feed at random.
Aside from their physical and emotional changes, their memory is affected. While it takes a few weeks for a new vampire to calm down, once they do so their mortal memories will not stay with them for long. Usually within two years any emotions or ties to their mortal life are broken since they can't recall much from before they were turned. If a vampire does not stay in touch and reconnect with those he or she knew before, then their allegiances normally transfer to the one who turned them and their clan.
Turned Part-Vampire: If a human only receives one or two bites, they will develop some vampire characteristics, but not be one of the undead. They may have keener senses, a great deal more athleticism, etc. Most part-vampires who are only partially turned do not last that way for long. The one who first injected the luka knows their scent and will hunt them in order to complete the transformation.
Appearance
Vampires truly embody the old adage "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". For some, they have an unnatural beauty that humans cannot match. For others, the slight glow of their skin is unnerving. The variation depends on each person and there's no way to predict how a human reacts. I'll go over the basics first.
--Fangs are retractable and appear over the human canines. When the fangs emerge, the original canines are pushed slightly back into the mouth so the fangs are somewhat flush with the rest of the teeth. They pop out when the vampire catches a delicious scent of blood, has an intense though about feeding, or becomes angry or threatened.
--Skin is pale and for some becomes just a tiny bit ashen. Their skin has a slight glow but this trait is not glaringly obvious.
--Eyes will become an iridescent greenish blue when hunting or when a vampire wants to see better in the dark. Their night vision is better than jaguars; this is needed because they are on top of the food chain and nocturnal predators.
--Hair, nails, and body stay as they are on the eve of being turned. They cannot cut their hair or nails without them growing back to their original length within seconds. They do need to shower occasionally, however, depending on their activity level.
Because they do not have the normal discomforts of humans (their arms won't fall asleep, they don't really get cold or hot, etc. because their bodies run differently), vampires are often extremely still and expressionless. They must work to look human, but they usually emulate their company. For example, vampires living together look and act the least human unless they have a specific reason for appearing otherwise. Those who mainstream often adapt the mannerisms of humans, but mostly because they work to do so.
I'm going to quote Ethan and Sam because their descriptions were excellent for showing different perspectives on meeting a vampire for the first time without knowing it. For an example of what happens when vampires have a seductive appearance, I'll quote Ethan:
She was shorter than him, but only by a few inches. While the absolute details of her features were obscured, she was clearly beautiful. An almost otherworldly beauty that he didn't even fully understand. He could tell that she was ghostly pale, her smooth skin almost glowing in the darkness and contrasting sharply against her ebony hair. Her eyes, while brilliant and intense, were not necessarily hostile. Still there was something... else. Something predatory. Ethan took an unconscious step back as he cleared his throat again, trying to regain his train of thought...She thought he might recognize her. Ethan was fairly certain he'd remember a face that hauntingly lovely.
While Ethan senses there might be something a bit wrong with Wyst, even predatory, this is not what his mind focuses on. It's also important to note that Ethan's reaction calms down the longer he talks to Wyst. He would only be in danger if Wyst decided to act on his feelings; she could put him in a trance within seconds of their first meeting. The next few times someone like Ethan sees her his reaction might be similar but won't last as long, and will diminish with each meeting. This isn't to say someone won't think Wyst is pretty. She is beautiful, but the powerful yet superficial tug to her will not last. Like Ethan showed, a human will not fully understand why they are so intensely captivated, and to be sure vampires do not understand why it happens either.
Wyst mentions in a thread it might relate to the vampires have an evolutionary need to have willing donors, which is the most likely explanation. Vampires could not just continually attack humans whenever hungry: when this happens, wizards and muggles have rebelled and killed the suspected vampires (sometimes they succeeded, sometimes not). Even those in violent clans hunt animals (mostly for sport) and can often attract willing muggles or wizards for a meal. They do not need to kill their human, only to feed on them for a little while. Some are even seduced into living with vampires groups for long periods of time.
And for the much more common slightly nervous reaction, I'll quote Sam:
D’rorah had been reassuring that those encountered in this room were allies and thought was what turned in his mind as he examined the form of the pale girl before him. However, as he took in the sight and presence of the other figure there was something about her that drew a small uncomfortable stir in his stomach.
Sam's "uncomfortable stir" comes from Wyst's predatory aura that humans pick up on but cannot fully place. Ethan mentions this eerie feeling, but it is not something his mind focuses on. Animals also sense what vampires are VERY quickly. When Wyst was part-vampire she had a hard time with animals, but now they scatter at her presence, as they do with all vampires.
There's no way to know before meeting a vampire how one will react: it depends on the person and the vampire. If every human met every vampire, nearly all of them would meet at least one vampire they would be pulled to, if not several. Some vampires are inexplicably more seductive to humans than others, as some humans are more drawn to vampires than others. This stands to reason that Ethan would not have the same reaction to other vampires, and that Sam would have at least one vampire he was attracted to.
There are also those who are fascinated with vampires and inquisitive, often hounding them with questions and even accusations. This is generally due to a personal prejudice or vendetta against the vampire race.
After repeated encounters with vampires, especially if it is only one or two, a person will become less afraid and more likely to view them as a friend than a predator. This probably relates to the fact that the better a vampire knows another person the less likely s/he is to see them as a snack machine. The time needed to diminish their instincts around another human depends on many factors including the vampire's age, the willingness to regain their humanity, and the circumstances surrounding the encounters.
Vampire Pecking Order (aka Government)
Vampire government does not follow guidelines most humans would recognize, since their concepts of the rule of law are very old. While mainstream vampires heed to wizarding law, they would be wise not to make their governing body angry. Vampire clans spread across the globe usually have one leader who makes the important decisions within their group. Wysteria's grandfather is in this position in the Dradoon clan. Nearly all disputes can be settled within the clan itself, but for those that cannot, the leader will usually go to the head of the oldest and largest clan in the immediate area (usually within 200 miles). If the problem is still unable to be resolved, the incident goes to the highest authority on that continent (most vampires want to avoid doing this at all costs since they do not want to bother them with petty arguments). This person is also called the empire leader, and there are six empires in the vampire race
All of the major continents have some figure head or leader for their respective empire, and depending on the area the name will vary. In Europe, south Asia and the Americas they have either a king or queen; Africa has a pharaoh and east Asia has an emperor. These vampires retain this position for several hundred years at least and changes in leadership only occur in the even of death or a coup (which usually leads to death). Power struggles have occurred, but detailing them would be a huge undertaking and I doubt we'll need that information so I'll just keep it in my head for now
In the rare case that a problem falls under the authority of more than one queen, emperor, etc., then the pharaoh is brought in to rule even if their people are not involved in the dispute. There have been only five pharaohs, the first one starting his reign at around 3,000 BC. Vampires evolved side by side with the very first wizards in the Egyptian and Mesopotamian region (as mentioned earlier in the mythology section). I'll give a list of current kings, emperors and pharaohs of the empires here:
Pharaoh: Rashida (female)
Emperor of east Asia: Mei (female)
King of Europe: Lucas
King of South Asia: Tungesh
King of North America: Jerome
Queen of South America: Ixtab
The reason for the name difference in each region is partly cultural and partly from power struggles within the vampire race (hence why there are so many kings and queens--colonization happened at the same time for vampires as well).
But many vampires never meet these leaders and most hope they never do since their sense of justice is quite severe. So it keeps the peace relatively speaking and most traditional vampires obey their clan heads. The rules are slightly different for mainstreaming vampires, since while the larger community is a bit disgusted by their behavior, they also realize it's necessary for some of their kind to integrate into the wizarding community. This allows the vampires to keep under the radar more than was possible before, because if the ministry believes most of them are out in the open and want to be "normal", they're less likely to go out and actively hunt for any rogue vampires.
Most ministry officials leave vampires well enough alone since most do not realize the true cruelty that occurs in the more notorious clans. They hear whispers and rumors, but vampires have been good at covering their tracks for many millenia and very rarely do they have significant evidence against a vampire for murder. The murders that do occur within the clans honestly do not happen often, perhaps once every two months per clan. Vampires almost always pick muggles who are seen wandering off on their own; they rarely go into town or inside residences. Many humans, as explained earlier, are even drawn to the undead and willingly donate blood with barely a trancing spell placed on them. Some of the more violent clans include: Oktar, from Turkey, Trewitz from Russia, Dradoon from Germany and Poland, and the Blesse from the Czech Republic and Romania.
Mainstream Vampires:
If a vampire decides to mainstream, s/he must do so with the approval of their clan head. This process is known as "transitioning". Applying for mainstream status is usually met with some suspicion, mainly the clan head will wonder if the vampire is attempting to run away from something or someone. But if the vampire is in good standing within the clan and has had no serious charges against him or her, the transition usually goes forward. There may be exceptions, however, if the ruling king decides that a freeze on transitions is necessary (reasons on this vary from a possible fugitive to a personal whim).
For a vampire to register at the ministry (or whatever governing body in that area), they must prove their status as a vampire and claim a turner (the one who made them vampire). Uncomfortable questions about where the vampire has been prior to contacting the ministry often arise, but most transitioners are well rehearsed to name one of the clans known to the wizards and give intimate details that only a clan member would know. While some at the ministry suspect that their vampire friends are not revealing everything, they know better than to try and dig deeper. A war between vampires and wizards would be VERY ugly and brutal. The vampires keep their kind well enough in check that wizards view them more as a curious oddity than a danger.
The reasons a vampire might decide to mainstream varies from personal comfort (most clans live in remote areas and not all vampires love nature) to moral issues. While most vampires lose nearly all of their memory, some remember a great deal from their past and miss their old life and family. Some vampires have even claimed that, after many decades of struggle, they feel like "their old selves". This is quite rare, however, since vampires forget what it was like to be mortal within a few years. While there are various ideas about how a vampire remembers their moral foundations from before, there is no widely accepted method for mainstreaming vampires to follow. Therefore a few transitioners find the change quite hard even if it was much desired by them, and even return to their old clan in some cases.
