Vampires

Better to rule in blood than serve as cattle.

Vampires are monsters that were once humans, turned to a state of immortal power and grace by the benefience of greater monsters still. Though they're as varied as mankind can be, few vampires remain gentle for long, with their very existence one of blood-soaked dreams and murderous hungers. Worse still, the terrors that most know as vampires are the lesser kind and in the Beyond, blood-stained god-things hunger for humanity's blood and soul.

Lesser Vampires

Life without end, power without restraint, I live free now. What's a little blood to all that?

Mortals turned into monsters, Lesser Vampires are what most people think of when they think 'vampire'. Immortal, blood-drinking monsters in the guise of man, with terrible and dark powers. Neither dead nor alive, lesser Vampires stand at the precipice of darkness, and draws power from it.

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Young vampires are virtually indistinguishable from humans in either appearance or behavior, looking and acting like they did before their Metamorphosis. The immortal blood in their veins keep them in a sort of stasis, unaging and unchanging. As long as enough blood remain, a vampire can regenerate itself from even the most horrific injury and only extraordinary magic can force a change that the vampire can't restore. As the centuries turn, vampire become less and less human, until only a predator remains.
Most fictional accounts vampiric weaknesses, from garlic to crosses, are just that - fiction. Stakes to the heart work about as well as you'd expect if you hammered a yard of sharp wood into anyone's heart.

It isn't that Vampires are evil - it is that their existence requires them to do evil, just to survive. Murder, theft, betrayal, and worse are all inevitable aspect of even the most well-meaning vampire's unlife.

Beyond immortality, vampires are blessed with a slew of supernatural abilities, from superhuman strength to dark magic. Each bloodline has their own power, and vampires aren't above stealing from each other's blood and power, either. Worse still, mages who become turned retain their magical ability - at least, for a time. As the years pass and forgot who they were, those abilities are shed along with any semblence of past mortality.
A vampires strength has a simple measure - blood. The more they consume, the stronger they become. With practice, some hone their abilities to a razor's edge, learning a unique style of blood magic, or simply gorge themselves to bursting, fueling terrible feats of brutality. With their death, vampires are severed from the natural flow of magic that mages use for their magic, and replace everything with ever-increasing amounts of blood.
Most vampires don't think of themselves as 'lesser' and aren't even aware that for all their power, they're only a shadow of a far greater power. As humans are to vampires, so are the lesser leeches to True Vampires.

Greater Vampires

They are hunger made manifest. Predators without equal. We're just lucky they can't get to us.

Greater, or True, Vampires are the progenitors of all vampires. They are creatures of the Beyond, unliving monsters that dwell in lairs out the reach of our reality. Though some myths cast them as fallen figures - Caine slaying Abel and being cursed for the deed - the truth is that True Vampires were never human and have never been more then monsters. They are the grand-parents of all vampires, each sharing their blood and spark of their power with.

Of course, most mages don't know that... And neither do vampires.

The greatest among them are like bloody-handed gods, ruling entire realms in the Beyond. Each command a great deal of influence over their lesser children, able to send dreaming-visions to any vampire who has inherited part of their blood. In those dreams, the true vampire manipulate and influence their kin in Prime, granting boons or proclaiming curses.
Fortunately for everyone, the True Vampire are limited in their ability to affect the Prime world. Even in the Shadows, their blood-stained reached are stymied by whatever keep them contained in the Beyond... But not entirely.
Mages have recorded at least five True Vampires, and suspect more exist somewhere. Their interest in the mortal world varies from vampire to vampire, but they at best view humanity as walking snacks, and at worse as unruly cattle to subjugate and consume.

by Pixabay

Even beyond the dreams, the nature of the True Vampires influence the action of their lesser children. Lesser vampires feel the urge crawl in graves or feast on ashes through a faint stirring in their blood, giving rise to all manner of myth about the vampire and their weakness. Through blood, the lesser vampire are bound by chains stronger than any iron, and the day will come when they too become part of the feast.

by Unsplash (Jaroslav Devia)

Dark Metamorphosis

The act that creates a new vampire is called the Metamorphosis; a dark, blood-letting ritual that bring the would-be vampire to the edge of death through exsanguination before a long, death-like slumber that transform them to a vampire.
The Metamorphosis can take days or even weeks. During the time, the vampire is sleeps and dreams of the Beyond, recieving both visions and sometimes blessings from the progenitor vampire whose blood now run in their vein. It is a harrowing ordeal, and few vampires emerge the same.

And they all awaken hungry.

Such an ordeal always ends with a Pact, even if the Vampire doesn't remember it (and they seldom do). Those who refuse die without becoming vampires, instead transforming into rotting, bestial abominations.

by Rawpixel.com (Freepik)

Brood

Group of vampires are called Broods, and you won't find a more conniving bunch of sniping, backstabbing bastards outside of a high school clique. Some are more functional than others, united by common goals or ideals, but just as many as broken families that stay together because they don't know what else to do.
The older a vampire gets, the less likely they are to belong to a brood. As their power grows, so does their arrogance, and they're more likely to keep slaves than companions.

Bloodlines

Vampires divide themselves based on Bloodlines - as one vampires begets another and the cycle of violence continues, they form a chain of inheritence that can be centuries or even millenia old. Such bloodlines ultimately end at the feet of the True Vampire who first turned a mortal to their puppet.
Most of the time, these bloodlines are shrouded in myth and as much is hidden or misunderstood from the vampires as anyone else. Embellishments are common, with Broods beyond counting all claiming that the blood of Vlad Dracul himself flows through their vein.