Original Vampire Mythos: Sire/Fledgeling Relationships
Basic Info:

Usually, the relationship between a newborn vampire and their Sire is incredibly strained – often, newborn vampires are resentful of the one who Changed them, thanks to the trauma and the sudden change in their mental landscape. This resentment usually goes both ways, with the increase in selfishness, impulsivity and often cruelty making the fledgling seem like an entirely different person than they had been prior to the transformation in some cases.

Additionally, since the newborn vampire is suddenly acutely aware of the nature of their curse (and often reeling from guilt after killing their first human) they may find it difficult to be around their creator at all.

This problem is compounded by the fact that the presence of the older vampire’s blood within the newborn’s body creates a sort of psychic link between the two. The effects of this link include:

• Insight into the mood and general condition of both parties

• The intense desire to be near one another (feeling a sort of “pull” in the veins when they’re apart for too long)

• the elder vampire gains a sort of mental control over the fledgling vampire. Those with weaker wills generally find it impossible to refuse a direct order and will find themselves acting in accordance with their creator’s will even without the older vampire saying anything. Those with stronger wills will be able to resist commands but won’t want to. (A decent creator will use this control to keep a newly born vampire under control, stopping them from engaging in unchecked bloodlust or frenzy)

As the young vampire grows stronger in their powers and becomes more capable of being independent, the strength of this bond will wane, eventually fading entirely.

IMPORTANT NOTE: In “Feral” vampires, this bond will never weaken. In fact, because the “human” portion of the Feral never resurfaces after phase three of the Change, the Feral’s consciousness is entirely beholden to the will of the vampire who Changed them as long as the two are around each other. Because of this, there are certain, more solitary, bloodlines of vampires that became known for creating scores of Feral vampires to defend territory. This practice became far, far rarer after the Veil fell during the late Middle Ages.

(for information on the creation of Feral Vampires, see “Basic Vampire Info: The Change”)

As a general rule, no matter how close to people might be when someone is Changed, they will (due to the effects of the Curse) grow apart over time. There are of course, exceptions to this rule but they are few and far in between and often rather sinister in their nature.

The Effects of the Curse on the Sire/Fledgeling Relationship:

While the bloodline one’s Sire belongs to will determine what bloodline the fledgling belongs to, the reasoning behind the Mortal’s transformation will usually have some kind of effect on the way the curse manifests in the newly changed vampire.

The Vampire Changed out of Love:
Regardless of Bloodline, vampires created out of love tend to be more compassionate and emotionally driven than other vampires. Emotions in Love-Turned vampires are dialed up to 15, as opposed to 11. More likely to value human morals and dislike human suffering.

Regardless of bloodline, vampires who were Changed out of love (or perceived love) will be:

• More emotionally driven than the average vampire of their bloodline, having their emotions dialed up to 15 as opposed to 11 (like most vampires).

• Have a tendency to deeply dislike seeing others suffer (though they generally aren’t opposed to causing suffering in others, they just don’t like to see it).

• May have a stronger sense of compassion or morals than the average vampire of their bloodline.

• Have a magnetic “aura” about them that tends to attract others to them, and cause those with weaker wills to feel an intense infatuation/admiration for them… This causes them to accumulate obsessive stalkers and have incredibly jealous partners.

• Have a bite which has a similar effect to the Siren’s, creating a sense of obsession in those that the love-turned vampire feeds from frequently. (in Sirens, this trait causes the obsession to kick in immediately and if the vampire is not careful, their prey may become murderously obsessed with them.)

The Vampire Changed to Preserve Beauty:
Vampires who are Changed to preserve their beauty are generally visually driven – they want to be surrounded by the best and most beautiful things, don’t want to be around anything that they consider aesthetically “displeasing” and are generally very shallow.

Regardless of bloodline, vampires Changed to preserve their beauty will:

• Be incredibly self-obsessed and assured of their own superior beauty

• Be incredibly beautiful/attractive, often finding that whatever trait their Sire most appreciated about them will be exaggerated (a mortal with beautiful eyes will have eyes capable of entrancing people with a mere glance as a vampire and etc.,)

• Be abnormally obsessed with appearances, will fidget constantly with clothing/hair/makeup, check their reflection in every mirror they pass, constantly talk about their beauty, be worried that they don’t look their best and etc.,

• have a tendency to accumulate admirers and stalkers

• have a tendency to be incredibly pretentious

The Vampire Changed out of Hatred/For Vengeance:
Vampires who are Changed because their Sire desired vengeance against them or hated them tend to be more bestial in nature. These vampires will:

• Have an “aura” of rage around them that drives others to violence or anger – whether against the vampire in question or against others.

• Be physically stronger than most other vampires.

• (if belonging to a bloodline with a euphoric bite) have a diminished euphoria to their bite, instead causing a vague sense of pain. in bloodlines where the bite is painful or paralytic, the bite of hate-changed vampires will be excruciating.

• Hold grudges longer than any other vampires.

• Be more violent in taking down their prey.

• Tend to be less attractive than they were in life.

• Be incredibly quick to anger.

• Experience bloodlust not as similar to sexual lust but rather as all consuming desire to “destroy” the object of their hunger.

The Vampire Changed out of Admiration:
Are usually exacting perfectionists with an exaggerated sense of ego… They will also generally find that their addictive personality turns more quickly towards work or creative endeavors than simple pleasures. They tend to be workaholics. These vampires will:

• Have an inflated sense of their capabilities (especially when it comes to whatever their Sire most admired about them)

• Tend to inspire a sense of perfectionism and dedication in others

• Become incredibly despondent or enraged if anyone insults their abilities or doubts their chosen craft/cause/etc.,

• Develop an obsession with the thing that caused their Sire to choose them

• Often develop rigid patterns of behavior.

The Vampire Changed for Lust:
Very similar to the love-changed vampire, vampires turned out of lust tend to be very driven by their id and pursuit of pleasure. These vampires will:

• have a magnetic aura similar to that of the Love-Changed but rather than inspiring devotion and admiration, the Lust-Changed vampire will inspire intense sexual lust.

• Have a far, far lower sense of self-control than the average vampire of their bloodline.

• tend to leave broken (physically and emotionally) mortals in their wake, feeding on them once or twice, becoming bored and moving onto the next (newest) thing in their endless search for pleasure.

• Like the love-changed, their bite inspires obsession in their victims.

• Have difficulty with respecting boundaries.

• be incredibly “touchy-feely” and often very physically affectionate

• Often become infatuated with mortals

The Vampire Changed out of Pity:
These vampires are among some of the saddest of vampirekind – self-loathing and often unable to act on their wishes, rather hoping someone else will take care of them. These vampires will:

• Have an immense sense of self-loathing.

• A stronger sense of compassion than most vampires but immense difficulty in taking action to help others. They often have an intense sense of "learned helplessness".

• a tendency towards deep depressive episodes stronger than other variants.

• have an “aura” around them that inspires others to feel pity or sympathy for them, regardless of the situation.

• Generally seem sad or lonely.

• Have difficulty forming long-term bonds of any kind.

• More likely to avoid feeding for long periods of time.

The Vampire who has Stolen their Immortality:
On the rare occasion, a mortal will steal immortality from a vampire, thus taking the curse upon themselves in its entirety. When this happens, the cures manifests with far more virulence than in other variations. These vampires will:

• often be almost entirely numb to positive emotions.

• be incredibly selfish

• be incredibly cruel and callous

• have almost no self control

• feel negative emotions to a deeper extent than any other bloodline.

• often develop intense obsessions with horrifying or macabre subjects and become addicted to things like murder, torture and etc.,

• Have very pronounced claws and fangs, regardless of bloodline.

• have a paralytic bite that causes feelings of pain and dread in their victims that may persist for years after the initial bite.

These aren’t the only variations that exist (there are vampires who have been forced into vampirism by a Witch’s curse, for example) but these are among the most common variations.

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