Inanis Sanguis (In-an-is San-g-wis)
Blood drinker. Immortal. Or you can just call them vampires if it makes you feel better.
The Inanis Sanguis are recognizable as a creature from Old Terran lore: the vampire. However, beyond their longevity and blood drinking, that is where the similarities between the reality and the lore end.
While the origins of some of the Other or why they become what they are may be unknown, the Inanis Sanguis are well aware of their origin. At some point in the eons past, a Mageborn attempted to bind a demon. However, the binding was not properly done and instead of the demon being bound to the intended object, it was instead bound to the Mageborn themself. This binding drove her mad, filling her with the urge to hunt and kill that was natural to the demon. Those she attacked were changed...cursed, as they called it in those ancient days. Although they were more durable and had increased longevity, there were downsides to the curse. A mild sensitivity to daylight and an almost constant thirst for blood came with everything else, as well as certain physical transformations.
While the Mageborn herself was eventually slain, the damage was done. Those she cursed scattered to the winds and it continued to slowly spread in the years after that. The Sanguis Osculum, or Blood Kiss, was what the spreading of the cursed came to be called.
When the New Terra Mission began, several Inanis Sanguis signed up to go on the Mission. Most were hiding their nature...but some were known to certain governments that were involved in the Mission, aided by them to hide their nature from the majority of the crew. These government Inanis Sanguis also recognized those of their own kind and helped to filter out any that might have become problematic in the new galaxy.
Basic Information
Anatomy
The anatomy of an Inanis Sanguis is the same as any human. They maintain the same basic limbs and organs as any normal human but, due to the curse, the organs do display some differences. So long as they are maintained by a steady influx of blood, the organs will not decay or rot at all. The organs also develop the ability to consume and extract nutrients and other elements from blood, becoming entirely reliant on it for their sustenance and function. One of the major things in their anatomy that almost always changes is that they will quickly and painfully grow in a new set of teeth made up of sharp fangs designed to rip and tear. Some Inanis will also grow claws.
Genetics and Reproduction
Spreading the curse is the only way to create a new Inanis Sanguis. It does not spread by bite but purely by blood. If the blood of an Inanis infects the system of a human in any form or fashion, it will begin to infect them and continue duplicating rapidly until they become an Inanis themselves. However, not all who are infected successfully complete the transformation. While infection is almost always 100%, the transformation rate has only a 5% completion rate.
Growth Rate & Stages
When the curse reaches a 20% infection rate of the body, the infected will begin experiencing cramping hunger pains as well as a thirst for blood. This is the first true sign of the infection setting in.
At 50% infection, their heartrate will increase as their body attempts to fight off the infection. They will also experience their first boosts in their senses but these will be uncontrolled and come in bursts. This infection rate is usually where most transformations fail, the human body unable to take the strain of the increased heartrate, which sends them into cardiac arrest and then death.
70% infection rate is the beginning of the end. As the curse further invades the system, it will briefly shut down organs as they are infected. This process can lead to total organ failure and is the second point where transformations fail.
Once 100% infection rate is complete, the infected will lose consciousness as the pain overwhelms them. Their organs are rewritten by the curse to consume and function fully off of blood during this time, as well as the senses being heightened and their human teeth are pushed out of their mouth by a quickly growing new set of fangs. This state of torpor usually lasts approximately an hour, after which the new Inanis should awaken. If it lasts longer than an hour, the longer it goes marks the less likely that the Inanis will awake. Even despite reaching 100% infection, there are still a great number who reach this stage and never awaken. These bodies, despite being mostly Inanis Sanguis, quickly wither and die, leaving behind a dessicated corpse.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Blood.
It is what spurs life and thus the demon curse makes the Inanis Sanguis hunger for it.
Like the vampires of Old Terran myth, the Inanis Sanguis develop fangs in order to attack their prey. Unlike most vampiric lore, however, 99% of the victims of an Inanis attack do not survive. The fangs of an Inanis Sanguis are not designed to neatly puncture, they are the fangs of an animal, of a creature meant to rip and tear into its prey. Most of the victims of an attack are thus found with their throats torn open.
If a different area is opened up in the attack, it is possible to staunch the blood flow but not always likely. There is also always the chance that blood from the Inanis got into the victim and that they will only turn, leaving many victims of the attack killed by those who find them that may be aware of the predator.
Additional Information
Social Structure
The Inanis Sanguis have very little social structure beyond a connection to their own bloodline. Because there have never been a large number of them since their progenitor became possessed and they are rarely in the same place for long.
Any social structure they do have is simply a bond between the immediate generations around them. An Inanis Sanguis always has a permanent sense of any of the Inanis from two generations away on either side of them (the one that made them, the one that made their maker, and two subsequent generations that they might make themselves). There is usually a mutual respect between these generations but this does not, however, apply to all of the relationships amongst the Inanis.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Inanis Sanguis have an enhanced version of all of the basic senses. Each are typically capable of doing at least double what the senses of a normal human could do.
They also have a preternatural sense of others of their kind as well as demons. Most Inanis describe the sensation that comes with the recognition as an itch, usually along the back of the neck but sometimes it shows up elsewhere - like the back of the hands.
Credits: Banner was created using Illustrator with stock photo by Cottonbro from Pexels.
