Concerning Vampires

Vampires are magical creatures in that they are undead--their magic sustains their 'life' while they have no heartbeat. They do have circulation, but, powered by magic, it flows continuously rather than in pulses. Their magical also allows them exceptional regenerative abilities; this is what lets vampires maintain the age at which they were turned. It also allows them to heal at an exceptional rate and thereby increases their physical ability, sometimes to phenomenal levels. Although this does not give them the ability to regenerate limbs, vampires have much higher success rates with reattachments and transplants. Because their magic holds them in a near-suspended-animation, vampires are unable to bear or sire children. Also, due to their status as magical creature, vampires are unable to cross threshholds.

The canine teeth of vampires are sharpened compared to those of normal humans. Although they are unretractable, most experienced vampires are able to hide them under simple glamours.

Vampires' bodies are incapable of producing blood; therefore, they are forced to consume the blood of others to survive. A victim need not be drained, and in fact rarely is except out of malice. Newly-turned and the very thirsty, however, have a difficult time controlling their bloodlust, and are therefore more likely to make kills. The blood need not be human, either, as the magic that propels a vampire can adapt any manner of blood. Human blood, however, especially of the vampire's original blood type, is magically far easier to digest, and is therefore a favorite, largely illegal dish of sorcerer vampires.

A human becomes a vampire by exchange of blood. It must be mutual and of significant quantity--the minimum varies around a cup to a pint--by both victim and sire. However, the amount is usually unbalanced in favor of the sire. Oftentimes, the victim will be drained almost to the point of death and is forced to drink of the sire in extreme thirst. This excess of blood on the sire's part gives the sire a hold and power over the newly turned. This will wear off in time as new blood is mixed into the sire's system, but it can also be negated by drinking more of the sire's blood to equalized the exchange of fluids. No matter how traumatic the turning, an affection tends to form between sire and turned, oftentimes to the dismay of both.

Quickly after blood has been exchanged, the newly-turned takes on many of the symptoms of death as certain systems are modified to accommodate for vampiric 'life'. This lack of heartbeat, nearly absent breathing, and unnoticable circulation have, in the past, resulted in many vampiric burials. Also, due to the reduced oxygen as their system switches from physical to magical circulation, it is not uncommon for new vampires to temporarily or permanently lose memories of events prior to their turning.

There are many myths regarding ways to injure and/or kill vampires, many of which are false or exaggerated. Vampires are extremely sensitive to sunlight, such that more than a minute in direct sunlight can cause serious burns, and sunscreen has little to no effect. Indirect sunlight, however, is not overly harmful--the danger is perhaps as much as a human might experience unprotected in direct sunlight.

Silver is also a problem, though it is generally disregarded by popular culture. It can be said that vampires are magically allergic to silver; that is, the magic which fuels their 'life' is disrupted by the presense of silver. In most cases, the symptoms are mild, such that a vampire can wear a silver object for several hours without being overly affected, but situations have occurred where a vampire has been killed by prolonged exposure. This magical allergy is also the origin of the myth that vampires have no reflection, as many old mirrors were made of polished silver or had silver backing. As most reflective surfaces manufactured now are backed with aluminum, this is largely no longer an issue.

The majority of vampires are also physically allergic to garlic, much as any person might be allergic to a food product. Certain medications have been designed to combat this allergy, but they can be otherwise troublesome and only those especially fond of the food tend to take it.

More obvious means of killing are generally effective--decapitation, stake through the heart, death by fire, etc.--but it could be argued that anything might die from such a wound. Holy objects, however, have no specific effect on vampires; in fact, there are many devoutly religious vampires. A vampire, despite its method of 'life', is not inherently evil, just as humans, and it is only the strength of faith magic that inflicts damage through holy symbols. These symbols would be equally effective against other creatures, magical or otherwise, but their effect depends on the faith of the person weilding them.

When a vampires dies, they do not invaribly turn to dust, as some would have you believe. Usually, they leave a corpse, though these corpse tend to vary in resemblence to a human depending on the chronological age of the vampire. Many reported cases of spontanious combustion, however, were in fact vampires who remained far too long in direct sunlight and simply went up in flame and smoke. Oops.