Kindred Vampire

The sting of pain
the rush of pleasure
letting my blood drain
severing my tether.
When I get to wake
from this fleeting nether
shall we waltz hand-in-hand
bloodily forever?

The blood-sucking masters of the night, Vampires are the primary social masters of this world of darkness. While they may not have the raw strength of others, they are masters of weaving in the shadows, sprouting amidst the cracks of corrupt society, and pulling all the right strings as deftly or roughly as they need to in order to get what they want.
A biblical curse? A genetic mutation? The next stage of evolution? Who knows the logical origin of the vampire, but one thing is for certain: to be a vampire is to be a master of the night, but a slave to yourself, and the horrific beast that lies just beneath your skin.

Basic Information

Anatomy

When a human is turned into a Vampire, a process known as the Embrace, they effectively become a corpse, with their internal organs withering away, and their bodily fluids replaced entirely by their enhanced blood, also known as Vitae. They also develop sharpened canine teeth to act as their fangs and main blood-drinking implement.

Genetics and Reproduction

Making a new Kindred is a rather simple process. You must first drain the blood of your target completely, and then give them your vampiric Vitae as well. After an indeterminate, albeit usually quick, amount of time, the target will then rise as a Vampire, undergoing biological and mental changes in the process. This new Kindred, hungry and pained after the process, will usually go on a frenzy until they get their first feed, after which it will begin to settle. This process is known as The Embrace.
The embraced target is known as a Childe (plural: Childer) and will share the same Clan as their embracer, also called their Sire, allowing them the same inherent abilities and weaknesses. They will also be one generation higher, counting how many Kindred are between the youngest and the hypothetical First Vampire, often attributed to beings of great notoriety such as the Biblical Cain or the Egyptian God Set. For Kindred 13th generation and higher, this runs the risk of them becoming Caitiff or Thin-Bloods, weaker Vampires with their own unique abilities that're seen as lesser or even sacrilegious in certain ideologies.
Notably, once one becomes a Kindred, they can no longer reproduce normally, as their organs are essentially dead and their bodily fluids are solely replaced with blood.

Growth Rate & Stages

When embraced, a human transforms into a Kindred nigh-instantly. The change can take some time to finish, especially in the cases like the Nosferatu or the Salubri who have additional physical changes. But, once the change is done, Kindred are entirely static creatures. Unaging, unchanging, and totally unmalleable. Aside from simple immortality and regeneration, hair that is cut will grow back in your sleep, dye will fall from your hair, and tattoo ink will leak from your skin. No changes can be made to a Kindred body once it has transformed except in very rare cases.
The only internal thing that can grow as Kindred life continues is mastery over their blood. Not only can a Kindred increase their inherent clan abilities, but they can also learn new ones outside of their clan, and they can even increase the base power of their blood, known as Blood Potency, although the eternal hunger of a Kindred grows pickier and more selective as its power increases.

Ecology and Habitats

Kindred are incapable of being in sunlight. If exposed, the body will begin to burn and wither, and unless they can escape in a short amount of time the damage will be immense. Similarly, fire in any form is the most harmful thing to Kindred.

Dietary Needs and Habits

An embraced Kindred body cannot digest normal food or drink. Attempting to will result in immediate regurgitation usually, with the hardier Kindred being able to stomach it for some time, although it never stays down enough to even try going through the rest of the digestive process.
The only thing a Kindred can "eat" and the only thing they need to live is blood. Human blood is, of course, the main standard, although for Kindred of lower potencies, animal blood can satiate the endless hunger for a time. Most of the time, the blood needs to be fresh from the source, still warm and full of life, although some Kindred are able to stomach bagged or rotten blood, which is sometimes seen as the more humane option (that is only effective for, once again, lower potencies.)
While the Kindred condition is to be eternally craving blood, eternally hunting to sate the base hunger, it is avoidable for some time, although the longer it goes unsated the more wild and unpredictable nightly life gets, with the most prolonged states being prone to violent feeding frenzies. But a part of this eternal curse is that the hunger of a Kindred can only be fully sated by killing the person they're feeding on (and this only works on human victims). By drinking the last pulse of life within a living person, the hunger can be fully silenced.
For a time.

Behaviour

While there is a lot of cultural division between Kindred, both vampiric clan-based and mortal cultures, the constant for every vampire is that they're a predator. An eternally hungry, wanting creature that stalks the night, wishes to control and manipulate their hunting grounds, and feeds to silence the trembling Beast within. No Kindred can escape that voice, mocking them or spurring them to violence, especially when they call upon the blood.
Every use of their power, every wound taken, every insult and injury healed, it all calls for the blood, and the blood will always ask for more. Every Kindred, from the most debased murderer to the most saintly martyr will hear the call of their Beast, and unless they meet the final death quickly, it will always win in the end.

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

In the modern day, you can find a Kindred just about anywhere and everywhere, and the top dogs of the Camarilla certainly accept no substitutes when it comes to Vampires. While there are some groups that give themselves a different name for a variety of reasons, most Vampires have the same, or at least very similar, core traits.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Vampires are predators, first and foremost, and have slightly increased senses, especially smell. However, not all Kindred develop supernaturally powerful senses, despite common fantasy depictions of them. While it isn't impossible, and many of the Kindred abilities known as Disciplines lend themselves to increasing the user's senses, it isn't a guarantee or a default.

Civilization and Culture

Major Organizations

The Kindred have organized themselves into four main political factions.

• The Camarilla - An authoritarian feudal-esque structure that respects Seniority and Power whether it is financial, social, or physical. In Camarilla-ran territories, the word of the Prince is law, and if someone does not follow their Six Traditions to the letter (or at least, gets caught not following them), they are liable to be sentenced to death.

• The Anarch Movement - A rebellious counter to the Camarilla style of ruling where Kindred are free to live how they see fit, so long as they don't break one essential rule: Don't break the Masquerade and get the rest of us killed along with you! The only form of "rule" in Anarch-ran territories is the Baron, which is more of a manager and mediator than a dictator.

• The Sabbat - A religious cult that believes strongly in the supposed biblical origins of Kindred and seeks to wipe out the other Kindred Clans spawned from the rebellious children of Caine. They tend to be sociopathic maniacs who only keep up the masquerade to avoid being fire-bombed. Their influence has been waning in recent years, but they are still a credible threat.
• Independents - Kindred who do not belong to any one particular sect or faction, and instead let their loyalty and standards of practice change as they need to.

You can also refer to this fun, albeit simplified, infographic:

Relationship Ideals

Many claim that Kindred do not feel any positive emotions once they are turned. While this is a shaky statement, it is a fact that living in a cutthroat society with a ravenous monster constantly talking inside your head doesn't make for healthy dynamics. Therefore, it's very rare for Kindred to approach truly romantic relationships, and even "sexual" ones run a risky line, as the only form of intimacy Kindred can truly engage in is feeding on one another, which is another can of worms related to the concept of the Blood Bond.
But it is still possible, and if you and another Kindred are able to adjust to a new understanding of romance and intimacy in the face of bestial eternity, all the power to you! Most people do it just for power though, more like a business merger than a statement of romance. But, that kind of partnership is equally as valid at the end of the night.

Common Taboos

While the Camarilla's traditions are only iron-clad for the Camarilla, there is one that applies in some extent to all Kindred, and that is The Masquerade.
Put in place after The Inquisition, the masquerade is the directive to hide vampires from the world. While they run the businesses, influence the government, and feed on the populace, it all must be done quietly, stealthfully, and gracefully to avoid the attention of the public, a truth that has become all the more real after the rise of Project Firstlight and The Second Inquisition.
Camarilla and Anarchs alike follow this rule, and even the Sabbat for all their insanity and bombast know to keep somewhat of a low profile to avoid the harsh consequences before the cult is ready to be the army of Cain.

Historical Figures

While the influence and existance of Kindred stretch far and dip their fingers into plenty of influential pools, as a species there's one major historical figure: Cain. Allegedly, anyway.
According to theoretically ancient history, he was the first Kindred, transformed as a punishment from God after killing his brother Abel, and later siring the first generations of Kindred, which went on to eventually spawn the main bloodlines of modernity. While many Kindred don't believe this, just as many strongly believe it, especially in the Sabbat, and the name of Cainite overall is in reference to this supposed origin.
Other Kindred have different stories of their origins, such as The Ministry holding the belief that they come from the God, Set, or Clan Gangrel having a large variety of different potential origins. At the end of the day, the Eurocentric society of Kindred largely operates off of the belief that they all descend from Cain, giving Kindred the fancier title of Cainites, but there's only so many ways to genuinely know, and many of them are largely inaccessible.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Kindred are essentially the red-headed stepchildren of the supernatural world.

• The Awakened (Mages) are the kindest, being mostly ignorant to their existence and viewing them as oddities at best, although most in the know consider them more trouble than they're worth, and practice a more live-and-let-unlive mentality so long as their shenanigans don't interact with other plots.
• The Garou (Werewolves) actively despise them, viewing them as agents of their destroyer deity and greatest enemy, The Wyrm. This causes it to be on-sight between the two, although the Kindred's urban preference and the Garous' rural preference let them pass in the night easily enough.
• Wraiths (Ghosts) are fully neutral since the vampires pose no threat or benefit to them. Since they're already dead. The one exception is the few Kindred skilled in Necromancy, who can actually cause problems but can also be worked with.
• Changelings (Fairies) see Kindred as fellow fae due to their strange powers and immortality but twisted by the corrupting force of modernity and bleakness known as Banality. Some try to strike deals to get their immortality back, but it never ends well.
• The Fallen (Demons) See them mainly as competitors for influence over humanity, and Kindred don't like them much either. Despite both being cursed by God (allegedly on Kindred's part), many supposed Cainites don't want to push the envelope and don't see Infernalism as a worthwhile risk.
• And The Imbued (Hunters) are, I mean, they're hunters. While they fend off all kinds of threats, vampire hunting is the name of the game for a lot of them, especially as Kindred societies grow more prevalent.

But despite this large-scale bad press, it has never been impossible for individual Kindred to work with a number of other Supernaturals, especially if everyone is a bit more agreeable and less invested in their specific politics.

Scientific Name

Homo Sapiens Sanguineus

Lifespan

Eternal, if circumstances are ideal.

Related Organizations

• Caitiff
• Clan Banu Haqim
• Clan Brujah
• Clan Gangrel
• Clan Hecata
• Clan Lasombra
• Clan Malkavian
• Clan Nosferatu
• Clan Ravnos
• Clan Salubri
• Clan Toreador
• Clan Tremere
• Clan Ventrue
• The Anarch Movement
• The Camarilla
• The Ministry a.k.a The Setites