Vampire

Vampires on Drimore, are a race of beings that know no one parent race, as they have no separate race except the one they are born from. In other words, Vampires are born out of another race, always possessing traits of their parents race and having their own unique traits.
Vampires were also created out of hatred to spread evil in the world by the deity, Fovos, god of fear and dread. Vampires often unwittingly serve the eternal purposes of Fovos to spread great fear across the world, giving Fovos more power until the day he can exact revenge on the other gods and the Creator.
Vampires, despite this, are relatively rare, especially at the current day and age on Drimore, and for now, few have seen a vampire, much less will know they've seen one if they're unfortunate to encounter them.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Vampires take on the general physical appearance of whatever race they are born out of, except for two features their race never had: Retractable double fangs and bat-like wings. Besides these two features, if they are not careful and if they choose to show their dark form, they can also have glowing eyes and paler, cracked skin. All other features are determined by the parent race.

Genetics and Reproduction

Vampires generally tend to breed together with one-another, but sometimes they are forced to reproduce with non-vampires, especially if there is a very low vampire population in the area. When that is the case, a vampire will select a mate after drinking from their blood and mixing it with a special pheromone. This makes the mate fertile to produce two offspring which will always be twins. One is a pureblood vampire, the other is a Dhampir. This is so it makes it harder to figure who is the Vampire and who is the Dhampir.
The gestation period before the Vampire is born depends on the parent race entirely.

Growth Rate & Stages

Vampires are immortal, and unlike their long-living cousins, they physically age very slowly until they eventually physically look like elders very late in their endless lives.

For the average vampire, a newborn baby is born without their vampire teeth and generally do not need blood to live. Vampires go through a latent phase not needing to drink blood from birth to age 20. At age 20, the vampire looks like a 10 year old child and their vampire teeth finally come in. These new teeth are dull and their need for blood is very minimal. Despite their appearance, vampires at this age have all the knowledge and wisdom of a normal 20 year old. Baby and child vampires are not affected by the sun.

From age 20-50, vampires go through their preteen and teenage years. During these years, their fangs sharpen and lengthen, and their wings begin to develop; however, it is not until their 30s that they gain the ability to hide their wings. Also during their 30s, vampires gain the ability to blend in better by developing a second pair of normal teeth to force in the place of their fangs, and their fangs can retract up through a special hole in their skulls, lined with muscle to help pull the teeth up and push them back down. In these years, the vampires have all the knowledge and wisdom of someone their age, but with the hampering hormones of a teenager, making them volatile at the smallest infractions sometimes. Their need for blood however is still not fully developed, and they can go without drinking blood for months at a time. Teenage vampires are sensitive to the sun, but suffer no ill effects from sunlight.

From age 50-1,000 vampires have fully matured and look like normal, young adults, with a full thirst for blood to survive. Most vampires this age can only go about two weeks to a month at most before needing more blood to remain sane. Young adult vampires are mildly damaged by sunlight, burning harder than an albino in the sun, gaining a second degree sunburn in half the time it takes for a normal person to be burned that bad.

From age 1,000-5,000, vampires look much like older adults and the middle aged. At this point, their need for blood doubles and they can only go a week to two weeks before needing to drink blood. Adult and middle aged vampires are moderately damaged by the sun, and can be reduced to ash after violently being scorched to death by midday sunlight.

From age 5,000 until they are finally killed, vampires end up looking like elders finally. Their need for blood is once again doubled, only able to go about a half a week before needing to drink blood, and with each passing millenia they keep on living, this continues to worsen until finally they need to practically be hooked up to a blood bag just to survive. Despite their very old age, vampires are at height of their power, especially at night. Vampires that have made it this far are able to move faster than the speed of sound, possess great strength and wisdom, and are god-like, except for their crippling need for blood. IF an elder does not get blood fast enough after losing sanity from not regularly drinking blood, they will die within a day. On top of this, these vampires have become so sensitive to sunlight, that being out during a full moon can cause them to get a moonburn! If caught in the sun at this age, it can set them ablaze in just a minute's time and they will burn to ash anywhere from a few minutes to 30 minutes.

Ecology and Habitats

Vampires can live almost anywhere, but they definitely thrive in dark environments. Places with very clean water are a danger to Vampires.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Vampires need blood to survive, without it, they will go into a eating frenzy after a while and then eventually die.
When a Vampire is really young, they actually won't need blood at all until they reach their adolescent years to survive. At this point, the can consume normal food just fine and actually need to regularly eat to survive just like anyone else. However, the older the Vampire gets, the more blood it needs to consume, and the more frequent their feedings. By late, late age, a Vampire would virtually need to be hooked up to a constant stream of blood in order to remain sane.

Biological Cycle

A Vampire is not affected by seasons unless their parent race is. They do, however, thrive during the fall and winter due to shorter days and cooler temperature.

Additional Information

Facial characteristics

All Vampires have anywhere from two to four fangs that are able to retract into special pockets of muscle and tissue. Some Vampires, when showing their dark form intentionally or otherwise, have a dry face with cracks around their lips.

Average Intelligence

A Vampire's knowledge can be very extensive depending on how old they are. Being eternal beings, a Vampire will continue to learn and fine tune their knowledge so long as they live. Their only mental limitation is that is that of the races they are born of.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Vampires have all the usual sensory skills as their parent race, but they also have the natural ability to see in very dim lighting as they usually prefer to only be active during the night. On top of this, Vampires have very sensitive skin to the eventual point that it is flammable, giving cause for them to only be active in the night.

Civilization and Culture

History

The first Vampire was born in 1005 BD to an Alatash mother. Conceived between a mortal and a god, this particular patriarchal Vampire is especially hateful, yet also shrewd.
Given that the current year in our story is 1050 BD, the oldest Vampire is only 45 years old, and there are an extremely few Vampires in existence. Almost nothing is known about them in the world, unless the holder of knowledge is their Dhampir sibling.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Vampires are completely reliant on interracial relationships, because they technically are a parasitic race, and not one of their own. This is a source of constant shame and resentment for them, always trying to establish their own heritage, but always knowing they will forever be the race their patriarch was born from.
That being said, a Vampire will still try to marry and select another Vampire as a mate if they can.

Origin/Ancestry

Drimorian and Alatash

Lifespan

Eternal until killed or unable to feed.

Average Physique

All Vampires, no matter their race, have retractable bat-like leathery wings that are able to be hidden within their own skin after adolescence.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Vampires, when not hiding their dark form, have pale skin with black veins.