Vampire

While rumours surround vampires the truth of their existence often has less overlap than villagers would care to believe. Vampires are pale-skinned beings who have part of their soul trapped in another realm forcing them to consume blood to continue their attachment to the Realm of Balance. They suffer a weakness from fire and heat as it burns away the blood within them, this disposition also leads them to be particularly susceptible to sunlight with their blood boiling as others would sweat. As such vampires tend to only travel at night remaining in carriages or indoors at day.
The creation of a vampire is a simple measure requiring only that the blood of a Higher Vampire be consumed. This knowledge however is heavily restricted with only High Vampires, and their most trusted kin, knowing that the ritual component of the process is entirely optional. As such most who would wish to become a vampire must perform a ritual within which are numerous additional layers of magic that bind the soul not to the Dread Plane of the High Vampire who forged them but to the realm within which the ritual offers it, most often the Realm of Darkness.
To perform the ritual one must first possess the a vial of the blood of a Higher Vampire which itself is a rare commodity and highly prized by those who possess it. Secondly the caster must possess a great knowledge of conjuration and most often the Infernal language which near all texts containing details of the ritual are written in. Acquisition of these texts is the third hurdle with such tombs being rare and often well protected by their owners, the easiest form of acquisition being a bargain with a Fiend and all the dangers that such an act includes. Fourth the caster requires access to a range of rare ingredients, including ten human sacrifices of equal age to the prospective vampire, and a substantial store of arcanum to amplify they, and their assistants, abilities. Finally the ritual must be cast over the course of ten days at the end of which the subject is killed, as the last drop of blood leaves their body they will transform awakening as a vampire with a thirst for blood that can be fulfilled by the spilt blood of their former mortality.
The ritual of vampirism can be cast on others with or without their blessing so long as they can be kept restrained for the duration of the ritual. This is often used by prospective vampires to practice the spell before they themselves transition releasing their subjects into the wilds of Aesalia to fend for themselves on its completion. Vampires need for blood is natural to them and those who attempt to live without soon surrender to the agonizing pain of withdrawal as their being is torn from the realm into its place of captivity.
A lesser form of vampirism can also be transferred through a bite to the neck. Named Lesser Vampires or D'hampir these beings are bound to the will of their creator and on the death of their maker find themselves faced with the natural effects of time often leading to their swift and painful death. Those whose makers are killed before the end of the natural life of the D'hampir are liberated from their vampiric condition though doing so is an extremely difficult task.
Those vampires who refuse to feed enter a state commonly referred to as a Ghast. In this form they lose all real sentience becoming beasts that desperately hunger for blood. Ghasts who do not feed for a week begin to entirely lose their minds and soon after exist only as a physical shell without any trace of their former personage to be found even after they feed. Ghasts are extremely strong, fast and ferocious, often more so than their standard vampiric form, with some vampires deliberately avoiding feeding when approached by a great threat so as to utilise the ghouls’ power.

Treatment

There is no known cure for vampirism besides death and many attempts to find a cure have led to vampires entering a state of deep discomfort and suffering sometimes transforming into Ghasts.

Cultural Reception

Most societies shun vampires fearing them to be monsters who prey on the weak, a view particularly furthered in Falarin by the legends of the famed vampire Count Strahd Von Zarovich. As such most vampires are hunted and executed by either gathered mobs or trained professionals representing a range of organisations and private interests. 
Some societies however do accept and in some cases venerate vampires as beings to be worshiped and praised. In the Golden City vampirism is accepted and tolerated so long as the vampire gains their blood through consensual arrangements. In the Lichdom of Morilliseum vampirism was seen as a demonstration of great magical ability and often had scores of willing thralls to satiate their bloodthirst.

Type

Magical

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Uncommon

Affected Species

• Mer