Vampire 101

There are many different types of vampires. The only real universal trait, is that they are blood drinking former humans, risen from the dead to prey on the living, with a variety of diverse superhuman powers which grow stronger with each passing year. They are vulnerable to fire or wounds to the heart caused by wooden or silver weapons. They dislike garlic, can be repelled by religious icons wielded by people with faith, and are burned by holy water and sunlight. That is about where the similarities end. Generally they are turned by being bitten 3 times on 3 subsequent nights and then taught by their master on the rights, rituals and general rules of "living," which includes a blood oath between the master and subservient vampire (read: does not necessarily require a newly turned individual). This generally in turn leads to the vampire hierarchy of master to Master of the City. These master vampires in turn owe their allegiance to the top of the vampire hierarchy the Vampire Council.

Also included are feral vampires who have either been without blood, tortured and subjected to holy items for too long. Once a feral state, the vampire loses its ability to reason and only becomes obsessed with feeding. When this state is reached by a vampire, it is nearly impossible to reverse or control without being destroyed.

---

Ranks with in the Vampire Hierarchy

Vampire Council
The Vampire Council acts as the governing body of the vampires, and as a court or police.

It is located in far-off France, near Paris. The council members are the first and oldest vampires, the most powerful. Sourde de Sangs or founders of vampire lines.

These council members are masters at finding that which terrifies you most and using it against you. They will use your desires against you and twist everything you are into a shape of their choosing. They are the nightmare on which all vampires are based. The thing that even other vampires fear. And to top it off they hate each other a lot.

The Council consists of seven powerful vampires plus the first vampire - The Sweet Mother. The current Council leader is the Queen of Nightmares.

Their purpose is to rule and pass judgment over the actions of all the vampires in the world. They punish or destroy any of the vampire-kind who draw unwanted attention to the undead ranks.

The primary rule among vampires is: "Thou shalt not draw attention to thyself."

Harleqein

The Harlequin are the closest thing to police that the vampires have. But they are also spies, assassins. It was they who slew the Master of London when he went mad.

They are ghosts, bogeys, walking nightmares of vampirekind. The Council does not tend to use them lightly.

Vampires can't speak of them without being killed. All the vampires everywhere are under this restriction; it is a Council law. The only exception to this rule is if you are contacted by them, even then, it is something that they can only discuss among themselves, but not to outsiders, and once the Harlequin leave town the secrecy takes effect once more.


The Mother of All Darkness made the Harlequin, and when she did, she gave each of them a small piece of herself.

There is only one Harlequin at a time but there are others as part of the Harlequin group. No one knows how many are in the Harlequin's raid. It is a deep, dark secret who is, and who is not, one of the Harlequin. They are spies, and secrecy is their lifesblood. Most of the time they will only appear in nearly featureless masks of black and white. They will simply say, 'We are the Harlequin.'

If you get a mask of Harlequin you'd better watch out and pray that you get a White one.....

White Mask: observation

Red Mask: pain, punishment

Black Mask: death

White with little gold musical notes on it: they wish to meet, not to kill, or torment, but to talk

Master of the City

A master vampire with enough power to hold a large group of vampires and the territory they occupy together.

A Master vampire who is strong enough to control other vampires in a territory. Lesser masters have to ask permission to stay in the city. This vampire is answerable to the Vampire Council.

They live in groups of varying sizes. These groups are known as a Kiss outside of the Vampire Court, and they are controlled by a powerful master vampire. These vampires may consist of a combination of both unrelated and related individuals and may come from more than one bloodline. (A related group shares a common bloodline.) This group may be stationary - settled, or it may be nomadic - roaming. Most groups are of the mixed, settled variety.

When this master vampire controls a large territory as well as a group of vampires, the vampire is known as the Master of the City. These territories are generally granted by the Vampire Council , though they may be also be taken by force.

It is this Master's responsibility to both provide for and control the weaker vampires under his sphere of influence. This Master must also pay homage to the Vampire Council and to his own Sourdre de Sang or 'fountainhead' of a bloodline.

Master of the City's second in command and Third in command who support the Master and is apart of his or her power base.

Human Servant

Human servants are the daytime eyes, ears, hands and voice of the master vampire to whom they serve.

Only a master vampire has the strength to create this bond with a human and they can only have one human bound to them at a time. Only those who have proven themselves invaluable are made into servants. It is considered a great gift to be bestowed upon a human.

Their word and wishes are considered to be that of the vampire whom they serve.

Human servants are often created by master vampires to increase their power.

It is not only the vampire that gets more from this bond. As a result of the vampires sharing of themselves with their chosen servant - the servant also gains more power, more strength and a longer life.

It makes them harder to hurt, allows them to heal easier and makes them resistant to many poisons. It also gives them immunity to the voice, mind and glance of the vampire that marked them. Because of this, the Human Servants must willingly serve the vampire they are bound to.

Despite the substantial increase in strength, if the Human Servant doesn't know how to use it, a skilled average human can beat them.

They age almost as slowly as vampires do, when they have full marks.

There are four Marks needed for a human to be fully bound to a vampire. Once the marks are given, they cannot be voluntarily removed.

Until all four marks are given, it is possible that another master vampire can mark the same human. The human is fully bound to the vampire who bestows the fourth mark first.The fourth mark will dissolve/disrupt the marks of any other vampire.

Although this is generally a voluntary relationship, the marks can be given totally against the humans will.

First Mark - The vampire shares his/her life-force with a human. There are no visible signs of this being done, and can be unnoticed by the human in question. The human may also feel like they have 'fallen' into the vampires eyes. Though this mark is generally done in person, it is not necessary for the vampire to be physically present.

Second Mark - The human sees two spots of flame the shade of the vampire's eyes coming towards them, until they over lap their eyes. The human sees the world in the shade of the flames for a moment. In that moment, anyone looking at the person's eyes will see them glow the flame's shade. Though this mark is generally done in person, it is not necessary for the vampire to be physically present.

Third Mark - The vampire ceremonially takes blood from the human and shares their memories with the human and vice versa. It is believed that it is necessary for the vampire to be physically present for this mark to be bestowed.

Fourth Mark - The human drinks some of the vampire master's blood, while the vampire says something like - "Blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh, two minds with but one body, two souls wedded as one."

Each vampire may have a slightly different version of the ritual words but the overall meaning is the same - the two are as one. It is believed that it is necessary for the vampire to be physically present for this mark to be bestowed.

The Results of the Marks
In addition to the increased power and strength that accompanies each Mark.

First Mark: This mark imparts greater healing abilities on the human and makes them harder to hurt. The human has a higher threshold for pain, and more stamina. They are more durable. They are immune to almost all vampire tricks of the vampire that imparts the mark - including their glance, their voice, their minds - and they are more resistant to that of other vampires.

The vampire gains very little from this mark except perhaps a link to the human.

Second Mark: The human is immune to more powerful vampire tricks, and again, gains more stamina.

The vampire can be sustained by their servant through this mark, syphoning energy from them to keep them sane and healthy even if kept from feeding. They can enter their servant's dreams as a way of communication.

Though unable to bewitch their servants with their eyes or voice, vampires can still trick them using their minds, though it is difficult and requires skill and concentration.

Third Mark: The vampire and human a have more direct mind connection and can now also communicate directly with each other when the human is conscious. There is also a sharing of thoughts, emotions and memories.

It also provides even greater healing ability to the human, and an immunity to poisons. The vampires can also taste the food their servant eats. Many find this very sensuous and rewarding.

Fourth Mark: The final mark, the last link, fully binds the life-forces of the two individuals together. Injuring or killing either one will have a detrimental effect on the other. They also gain the ability to know their counterparts mind (know what they are thinking, how they feel, etc.)

After the fourth mark, the human servant will not age, though still remaining human, with the ability to still wear blessed symbols and enter holy buildings such as churches.

A strong master vampire may survive the death of the human servant, but they will be greatly injured and weakened. A human may survive the death of the master, but will often be insane. The longer the relationship has existed, the greater the likelihood of this outcome.

Miscellaneous facts from the books about Human Servants:

~ Vampire Masters cannot bet against their own Human Servant when Humans Servants fight.

~ Just being close to their servant increases the vampire master's power, touching ramps it up even more.

~ The Vampire Master cannot force the Human Servant to do his bidding though there may be a strong compulsion.

~ The master vampire may siphon energy through the servant in such instances as attack or on long sea voyages.

~ By giving the human the marks, the master vampire gives up much of their vampire influence on the human

---

How to Kill and Punish a Vampire

Vampire Punishments

~ Denied permission to feed
~ Locked in a cross wrapped coffin
~ Chopped into tiny pieces but the head and heart left intact
~ Given as gifts to others
~ Forced servitude

Methods of Killing Vampires

Younger the easier to Kill:

~ Some younger vampires can be killed by a simple bullet to the head or chest.
~ Cut off the head and removed the heart, burn the body and scatter the ashes in separate areas.
~ Pierce or otherwise destroy the heart, the stake must be left in place - this is difficult and messy
~ Fire - best method for Rotting Vampire form
~ An injection of silver nitrate into the blood stream
~ If you kill a master vampire, none of the younger, non-master vampires bound to them will rise at the next sunset.

Older and the more powerful vampires are much tougher to Kill:

~ Masters and long lived vampires can survive a massive wound to the heart.
~ Older vamps can also survive a bullet to the head - they can still be alive even if most of the brain is gone.
~ They must be able to feed or pull power from their followers to heal.
~ The greater the size of their Kiss the more damage they can withstand.
~ Rotting vampires, those that can cause their bodies to rot, must be burned to ensure that they are truly dead. They can withstand multiple bullets, and being fully dismembered.

---

Vampire Powers

Vampires have a variety of mental powers, most of which depend on eye contact. Vampires also typically gain more power over time. This can be in the form of additional strength to the powers that they already have, or they can acquire new powers.

Though it is rare for an older vamp to gain a totally new power without some other metaphysical input/cause being present to account for the up-swing.

Some of these powers all vampires have to varying degrees; others have or develop them depending on their siring blood line.

Common Vampire Powers

Unnatural strength, fast moving, quick healing, great hearing, improved sense of smell and vision. This is what every vampire gains.

Vampire's Bite: A vampire's bite can provide the vampire with mental control over the victim if the vampire enters a victim's mind during a bite. After a few bites, this control over the victim can be absolute. The effect of the bite can be removed by disinfecting the wound thoroughly with holy water. This is a painful process. A vampire's bite can be sexual.

Empathy - Most can also 'smell' emotions, though they can also describe it as a sensation against their face and mind. Vampires refer to being able to "smell" emotions such as fear and lust, and some vampires are able to detect lies. It is not clear precisely how much of this ability involves literal scent and how much involves mental powers. However, mental powers are clearly a significant component; once Jean-Claude makes Anita his human servant, he is unable to read her emotions, which suggests that the technique is not purely physical.

Enthralling/rolling - this is when a vampire captures the mind of a person. Usually, eye contact is needed but a powerful vampire can do it without. Pain and other distractions can help a strong-willed person break free of this trick. "Rolling" typically refers to a temporary hypnotic state in which the vampire can give commands to the victim, or to reduce the pain of a vampire's bite.

Victims with supernatural power, such as other vampires, animators, human servants, and lycanthropes, display varying amounts of resistance to this technique, but most people avoid the technique by not looking vampires directly in the eyes.

Deep trance -a sufficiently powerful vampire can put a victim into an effectively permanent hypnotic state. The vampire who puts a person in deep trance can call them anytime, anywhere, and they would answer.

Vampires sometimes pretend to release a rolled human to appease the police, but if they have been "deep rolled" they can still recall them. The only thing to break the hold is the death of either the vampire or the victim.

Glamor - an illusion to make their appearance more attractive to humans, or in some cases less attractive 

Mass Hypnosis - Some vampires are able to exert a hypnotic effect over an entire crowd. Mass hypnosis is not a widely known vampire power, and has its limits. This is considered non-permanent and legal. It is often used as part of an entertainment venue.

Master Vampires

After a period of time - often a few centuries, some vampires reach "master vampire" status. Not every vampire will become a master no matter how long it lives.

A vampire becomes a master when it develops enough inner power to be able to raise itself from the dawn death and no longer has to rely on a more powerful vampire to keep it alive. Master vampires are more powerful than typical vampires with regard to the general abilities discussed above. They also have the ability to control lesser vampires, and may also develop additional powers.

Animal to call - master vampires gain an affinity to an animal and are able to call that animal to them and influence its behavior. This ability extends to the were animal of that type if it exists. Only the most powerful lycanthropes can resist or block the effect of the call. Some Master vampires have more than one animal to call. The animal does not have to be a true beast.

Human Servant - Most or all master vampires appear to be able to create a "human servant", but not all do. By marking a human with four successive "marks", the vampire makes the human into a human servant. A vampire can only have one human servant at one time, and cannot remove a mark once given.

A vampire's human servant functions similarly to a witch's familiar in that when the servant is nearby, the vampire's abilities are stronger - even more so, when they are touching. Most vampires seem to be able to exercise some control over their servants, but a necromancer servant, such as Anita is, has complete free will. The death of either the servant or the vampire may injure or kill the other member of the relationship.

Rising Early, or being able to delay the dawn death - Some master vampires are able to wake, move, and use their powers during daylight (but must remain in shadow).

Resist Silver - Some vampires are not hurt as badly by silver and some are not affected at all. It depends on how much power the vampire has and how old the vampire is, though age alone rarely has that effect.

Drain Power - A master is capable of drawing all of the power from vampires that he has personally sired, reducing them to a weakened, near-skeletal state.

Projecting emotion/sense - such as hunger or lust on to others.

Master vampires have almost total control over their Kiss, can force them to hunt as a pack for two reasons - either the older vamp is teaching the younger to hunt, or the Master is using the joint kill to solidify the bond of the group.

Less common powers

Using Voice with physical sensation - the ability to form an emotional or hypnotic connection with their voices.

Call Shadows - Some master vampires can call shadows, cloaking an area in darkness.

Telepathy - rare outside of permanent bonds.Many master vampires can send telepathic messages to their 'get' like this. Masters can also communicate with their servants.

Mind Reading - Some vampires have a mind reading power. Some need physical contact for this power to work while others can hear every thought.

Alter memories - a vampire can make a person forget certain things or remember them differently.

Levitating - the ability to fly. This power is often kept quiet from the majority of the population.

Telekinesis - able to move objects without physically touching them.

Wind or other aspects of weather - there are few examples of this.

Feeding via the mind - A vampire can gain sustenance by entering a victim's mind.

Feeding via touch - A vampire can gain sustenance by having close, continual, almost sexual contact with a human.

Compulsion - makes the victim want to be touched by the vampire or to obey the vampire's instructions.

Ability to waken from sleep if required or disturbed. Older vampires have a lighter form of 'day death' and can rise from it if stimulated.

Daywalking - the ability to both stay awake during the day and to be able to tolerate certain amounts of sunlight. It is a rare talent.

Ability to inflict wounds from a distance - by using their own aura or the aura of their victims, vampires can inflict various sized cuts without physical contact.

Multiple power bases - most vampires can only draw power from blood, however, some of the older vampires can gain sustenance from emotions such as lust and fear.

Vampire Weaknesses

Like vampire powers, some weaknesses are shared by all vampires, and some are not.

Vampires can typically be killed by fire, decapitation, or a stake through the heart, or any other form of extreme physical trauma to the head or heart.

Blessed holy symbols: examples: crucifixes, bibles, prayer beads, repel vampires, but only if they are blessed and the wielder has true faith. When pressed to or put close to a vampire's skin, the item heats up, then catches fire with a white-blue flame, so hot only a few seconds contact will result in a second degree burn - any longer and it gives 3rd degree burns and can get hot enough to melt the metal of the symbol. When not touching the vampire's flesh, the item glows a brilliant white, the glow of which hurts and damages vampire eyes.


Silver: it can harm them and force them to heal almost as slowly as a human, but not necessarily kill them unless they are head or heart shots. Those may be fatal especially in younger vampires. The metal added to fresh wounds will make the scars permanent. Weapons without silver on or in them have no effect on vampires.

Holy water: it burns and corrodes their flesh like strong acid, leaving ugly, twisted scars of melted flesh. As soon as it touches them, their flesh starts to bubble and boil.


Sunlight: exposure to sunlight causes them to burn. Only vampires with a specific power (day-walkers) or enough power or who are old enough, like Mr. Oliver, can be awake during the day but still, they generally need to be in a protected location, away from direct sunlight.


Fire, Flame: vampires are highly combustible and will quickly burn to just ash. Flame is the only way to truly kill the rotting form of vampire.

Garlic is very strong to a vampire so they try to avoid it when possible but it does little harm.

---

Back to Thronos Rokke