Welcome to the Sangsuine
Compendium -- this section of my website is
dedicated to, essentially, being to my vampire
mythos what the Vampire Companion was to the
Vampire Chronicles. The vampires that I focus on
in my fiction are, primarily, the
"European" vampire variants which are
most commonly found in Europe and in places that
were colonized by the Europeans (i.e., the United
States).
In my original universe, the
beliefs humans have can have a strong effect on
the supernatural creatures around them. Vampires,
having originated as humans, are particularly
strongly effected by these beliefs.
Quick & Dirty FAQ
A quick list of
questions about vampires and the answers to those
questions. Most of these questions don't have an
in-depth enough answer to warrant an entire page
to explain them.
Can
Vampires consume mudane food/drink?
Some vampires can and some vampires
can't. Whether or not they're capable of
eating solid food is determined by two
factors: how connected the vampire is to
their humanity and how willing they are
to put in the effort to force it down if
they've lost that connection.
For vampires who are still very connected
to their humanity,solid food will still
have a pleasant taste to it and will be
able to consume it without any real
side-effects, though it provides
absolutley no nourishment to them. Solid
food can be a challenge for vampires who
have distanced themselves greatly from
their former humanity -- its taste will
be greatly diminished (it may even taste
like ash or rot) and they'll find it
incredibly difficult to stomach.
All vampires, regardless of how human,
can still consume liquids that aren't
blood, however. A lot of vampires who are
human enough to enjoy food will eat it
just for the sake of enjoying it as
vampires have a strong tendency towards
hedonistic behavior.
Do
vampires still have normal digestive
function?
No. Vampires cannot process solid food
whatsoever. Their digestive system has
completely converted to processing blood
in such a way that it is completely
absorbed by the body and goes immediately
into the bloodstream from the
stomach/digestive tract. Any solid food
or non-blood liquid that a vampire
consumes will have to come back out the
way it went in eventually.
Can/do
vampires fuck?
Yes -- even vampires who are greatly
detached from their humanity can
experience sexual attraction and can have
a sex drive. The strength of this drive
is impacted heavily by how they
interacted with this drive as a human
(i.e., an asexual human will be an
asexual vampire 99% of the time), though
they might find their drive increases due
to pleasure-seeking nature of the curse.
For vampires who are heavily distanced
from humanity, sex and sexual attraction
is folded into their bloodlust and sex is
almost always an aspect of or a prelude
to feeding.
Are
vampiric bodily fluids blood?
A fun fact is that most human bodily
fluids are just heavily processed/diluted
forms of blood. That said, yes. They are.
Vampiric bodies don't really process
liquids like human bodies do so the
process of diluting and processing blood
that leads to things like urine, tears,
saliva and genital lubricant don't occur
for vampires. More human vampires will
tend to have bodily fluids that are just
blood-tinged or slightly pink and taste
metallic whereas much more detached
vampires have bodily fluids that appear
almost indistinguishable from blood (the
effects this would have on the appearance
of their eyes are hidden from Mundane
humans by the Veil but other vampires can
see these changes).
Do
vampires have heartbeats/breathe?
Yes, actually. At least, they do when
they're awake. A well-fed vampire's
resting heart rate is usually around
40-55BPM and their respiration is usually
around 4 or 5 breaths per minute.
Strenuous activity will increase that
heart rate and respiration rate to near
human levels, depending on how intensive
the activity is. Fear and emotional
stress cause the same reaction.
How
cold is a vampire's skin?
A well-fed vampire will have a core
temperature of about 75-85 F, though
their skin will often feel more like room
temperature (70-60 F)
Can
vampires touch/wear silver?
Most vampires can, yes. There is a strain
of vampirism that runs within all the
bloodlines that comes with a sort of
allergy to silver, the origins of which
are unknown but some Christian vampires
refer to it as "Iscariot
Syndrome".
Can
vampires reproduce sexually?
Generally, no. The only way for vampires
to reproduce without outside interference
is with the Ritual of Transformation.
However, there are ways for vapires to
"cheat" and reproduce sexually
via magical interference... However,
these rituals are generally incredibly
difficult to pullof and may have
side-effects for both the vampire and the
future child. (I will eventually write a
page on Dhampirs)
Are
vampires effected by holy objects and
sacred imagery?
Depends. The efficacy of holy
objects/symbols on vampires is determined
by two variables: the faith of the
vampire, the faith of the wielder.
If a vampire had strong faith as a mortal
and believes strongly that items of faith
will harm them with enough dedication
then they yes, they will have an effect.
If the vampire has no such belief, even
if they had faith as a human, then
generally speaking, those objects/symbols
will have no effect.
If the person wielding the symbol/object
has a strong belief that the object will
harm the vampire, it can -- even if the
vampire has no belief in it (though the
effectiveness of the symbol/object will
be lessened by the vampire's lack of
faith)
What
will kill a vampire?
The following are the most effective ways
for humans to kill a vampire: cutting off
the head*, reducing the vampire to ash,
destroying the heart**. A vampire can
also be killed by complete exsanguination
but the chances of a human being able to
pull this off are pretty low. Notably --
fire is the most effective way to damage
a vampire. While it takes around 2800? to
reduce a human corpse to ash (and even
then the bones must be pulverized), a
large enough bonfire can be used to
destroy a vampire.
*there are vampires who can survive this.
** simply piercing the heart will not
succeed din killing a vampire. The heart
must be completely destroyed
Can
vampirism be reversed?
Not without the use of incredibly rare,
incredibly heavy-duty magic and even
then, it's not possible for all vampires.
if the vampire in question has both a)
killed another human by draining them of
blood and b) created another vampire, it
will be impossible to reverse the curse,
no matter what magics are used.
Can
vampires turn into animals/mist/change
their shape in other ways?
Yes, though it depends on the bloodline
and age/power of the vampire. Very
old/powerful vampires of any bloodline
can learn to turn into mist or other
incorporeal forms.
Vampires within the Stryzga bloodline are
capable of changing their shape in
various ways though full-body
transformation generally takes at least a
century to master. From the beginning,
however, they're capable of slightly
changing facial features, hair length,
eye color and a few other
"surface" details.
Felis bloodline vampires are capable of
transforming into a housecat from their
first night but they maintain cat-like
features even when they aren't in cat
form... As such they generally remain in
cat form.
It's believed that at one point, Lamia
were capable fo turning into snakes or
"naga"-like creatures but since
the waning of Magic during the
middle-ages, they've lost the ability to
do so.
Do
vampirekin/"human" vampires
exist?
Yes. Someone who was a vampire might be
killed and because their curse wasn't
fulfilled* their soul was able to reenter
the Cylce of life/death/rebirth which
means they would be reincarnated as a
human (probably). However, the curse
leaves an indelible mark on the soul
which carries some effects with it into
the next life and all lives thereafter.
*the curse becomes "fulfilled"
when a vampire kills a human via draining
and has created a new vampire. Until
then, their soul remains
"tethered" to the cycle. Once
the curse is "fulfilled" the
vampire's soul is removed from the cycle
and if they're killed, will become a part
of the Myriad Eyes.
Do
vampire ghosts exist?
This is really, really rare. It's
difficult for human ghosts to manifest to
begin with (most hauntings are just
echos/psychic recordings with no will or
though, just a moment in time replaying
over and over for whatever reason) but
there are very ocassionally ghosts that
are the earthbound spirit of a vampire.
There are also rare ocassions where a
vampire's spirit becomes bonded to
another vampire, usually because they
were exsanguinated and their soul is
still "connected" to their
blood (referred to as a bloodbound
spirit)
Can
vampires do magic?
It depends on the type of magic. Mundane
magic -- like the kind that real world
witches and Wiccans do can be performed
by anyone, including vampires. Inborn
magic -- such as control of the elements,
reality manipulation and etc., are far
more difficult for vampires to utilize.
There are very few vampires capable of
doing these things that aren't a part of
the Stryzga line and even that is very
specific magic.
|
 The Origins of
Vampirism
General Vampiric
Traits
A Note on "The
Veil"
The Curse
The Change
The Hunger
Vampiric
Relationships
Thralls
Dhampir
The Bloodlines
The Nightingales
The Revenant
The Siren
The Stryzga
The First
The Felis
The Lamia
The Feral
Mixing Bloodlines...
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The Sanguine
Compendium