Alchemy - Vampires

The understanding that humans are prey as well as predator has been with the species from the earliest days, and while so many today speak of humanity as the apex of the food chain, in their darkest hours they know this is not true. The vampire feeds upon humanity, and while different types of vampires sup on different parts of the human creature, all of them rely on humans for food.

While there is a fairly wide variety of creatures that feed on humans, even ones technically classified as dead, players have available to them three types of vampires here on Alchemy.

Blanco: These are the most human of the vampires, with beating hearts and the need to breathe, though there are some subtle physical difference. These are vampires that feed upon human passions and emotions. The powerful emotions revolving around love and sex are the most common foods, though some subsets have found a preference for feeding on fear.

Sanguine: These are the “modern stereotypical” of the vampires. Beautiful, elegant looking on the outside. But beneath they are inhuman nightmares that feast upon the blood of humans.

Todesgericht: At once the most powerful and the most vulnerable of vampires, these are the more classical of type. Dead humans, and undeniably so, they are also the strongest of vampires, the most difficult to destroy through normal means, and the most inclined to magical aptitude and necromancy. They also are most vulnerable to traditional banes.

There are other kinds of human predators out there, but these are the ones open for players.

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Vampire Common Strengths

There are some common traits between the different kinds of vampires that should be addressed. Vampires are effectively immune to physical aging. Vampires tend to be quicker, stronger, and tougher than humans, though to what extent and how those abilities come into play depends on the type of vampire.

Vampire Common Weaknesses

While each type of vampire has its own traits, there are some common weaknesses shared between all three of them. Sunlight is the traditional bane of vampires, though not always the same. While sunlight will cause the Todesgericht to crumble to dust if they aren't old enough, and cause the Sanguine to burst into flames, the Blanco find themselves merely in a state of extreme discomfort and unable to use their inhuman abilities.

Symbols of faith are still another bane, though more rare in these days. Not only does it need to be a symbol of a person's faith, the person wielding it must possess an unshakable faith as well for the symbol to be of any protection against a vampire.

Fire is a wonderful bane of vampires, but then again, fire burns just about everything.

The need to feed is rarely thought of as a bane, but it truly is one. Without steady feeding vampires start to lose access to the energy to fuel many of their abilities, they tend to grow bestial and erratic

Methods of Becoming a Vampire

The Blanco are the most unusual vampires due mostly to this aspect of their still living nature. Blanco are able to breed with humans and other blanco, their offspring generally emerging into their vampiric heritage during puberty.

The Sanguine and Todesgericht are more traditional, passing on the infection of vampirism through an intentional act of feeding to the point of death while not crossing that final line. It takes three such feedings to infect a human.

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The Blanco:

The Blanco, also knows as the vampires of the White Court, are the most human like, and in some ways the most dangerous because of it. They eat, they sleep, they breathe, they bleed (even if their blood is too pale to look right). In respects of raw physical strength and speed they are the weakest of vampires, and while tougher than mundane humans a properly used bullet will put one down.

The Blanco feed on the passions and strong emotions of humans. Most focus on a single emotion or urge, the most popular being lust. A subset of the Blanco have developed a taste for fear, though they are looked down upon as deviants by the rest of the court. It is this passion that is the true lifeblood of a Blanco. Deprived of the chance to feed for long periods they eventually grow weak and withdraw into a catatonic state from which they are unlikely to emerge. Doesn't sound too bad, does it? Sadly its not simply passion that the Blanco feed on, but the passions of a human soul. Every feeding, every draining of a mortal's passion steals a bit of their soul, their very life as well. Restrain yourself and you might feed shallowly for years, though never would you be satisfied, constantly teasing yourself without a true satiation. Feed deeply, and leave behind a husk of a person, deprived of passion, of vigor, of any drive they might have possessed. And for the truly hungry of the Blanco, it is possible to feed upon a vessel to the death, an event which always happens in the first feeding of an emerging vampire.

Still, the passion, the energy taken can be used in many ways. Blanco are all physically stunning, all supermodel quality and looking like the subject of lustful dreams everywhere. All Blanco are, as well, quite fair complexioned, no matter their parentage. They can add to even that effect, arousing lusts and libidos alike. Ones that feed upon fear can subtly spread worry, concern, even touches of paranoia. When focused upon a single subject they can use their own stolen fears to try and incite more in their victim. Once the passion of need is sparked and burns under its own power, then the Blanco may feed. A benefit for the Blanco is that those that experience such a sparking of passion tend to become addicted to it. They crave it. That rush of feeling and living. Whether lust or fear, they start to desire more and more of those feelings the Blanco can cause.

The Blanco may also use the stolen energy to enhance their physical capabilities. For short bursts they can become significantly stronger and quicker than humans, they can heal wounds quickly, and they can even enhance their senses using these stolen passions to superhuman levels. The use of this passion is not subtle though. The more they use, the sharper their features become, angling towards the inhuman. At great use of energy the Blanco will actually begin to glow with a white light from beneath their skin, flesh looking smooth and inhuman, like marble made animate.

Even being the weakest of the vampires has some benefits though. Due to their unusual nature, Blanco are discomforted by sunlight, but it will not physically harm them. Holy symbols wielded in faith can drive them back, but will not set them aflame.

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The Sanguine:

The Sanguine are also known as the vampires of the Blood Court , some of the most stereotypical of vampires as they are understood in modern culture. Beautiful, powerful blood drinkers that harbor their truly monstrous forms beneath a shell of humanity, they are the most wide spread type of vampire. The need of the Sanguine at is base is simple compared to the feeding upon last and passion that the Blanco require. The Sanguine feed upon human blood, and nothing else will do. Oh, there are the trappings of a comfortable life, money, power, accolades, but in the end, after everything else is stripped away, there remains simply the need for fresh blood.

The Sanguine have a variety of abilities granted to them by their state and the blood that they steal. The Sanguine are stronger than humans by several orders of magnitude, and several times quicker than humans. While they find most injuries unpleasant, it takes fire or sunlight or a beheading to actually kill one of the Sanguine (although emptying their blood swollen bellies of the fluid they need to survive will almost immediately incapacitate them). While most Sanguine lack any kind of direct mental influence on those around them, their saliva contains compounds similar to that of powerful opiates which will swiftly soak through skin or enter the bloodstream. Not only does the victim become disoriented, buzzed, and feel like they are floating, the substances are highly addictive, bringing nasty withdrawal effects several hours later. Thankfully for the mortal world the addictive qualities of the saliva dissipate rapidly, making it a substance that is only used in person.

Beyond the traditional banes of sunlight, fire, faith, and the like, the Sanguine also have a particular vulnerability not to their existence, but to their ability to blend in with the masses of humanity. Just beneath the skin of each Sanguine lurks not muscles and sinew, but their true form. Their human appearance is simply a mask for their true being beneath. A hairless creature, with rubbery black skin, long, multi-jointed arms, a wide maw of long fangs, looking almost like some poorly created anthropomorphic bat from the worst nightmares of humanity. Rarely will the Sanguine discard their shells to let their true selves be seen, though in times of extreme duress many will abandon their skins for the extra motion it allows.

The Sanguine in many ways are also the most organized types of vampires, existing not in a series of houses as the Blanco, nor in the independent scourges of the Todesgericht, but in an interlocking series of Courts. Each Court is most independent of others, but each derives its authority to speak for the Sanguine as a whole from the more powerful vampires above them. Mimicking the titles of bygone years, a Baron might oversee and protect the Sanguine of a city, while offering fealty to a Count above her who in turn gives tithes and loyalty to the Duke above him in exchange for support and protection. At the top is the supposed King of the Sanguine Courts, based somewhere in South America if the current stories are to be believed.

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The Todescgericht:

The Todesgericht, known to most as the Court of the Dead, is the smallest population of vampires in the modern age, even though they are the first to appear in written records. The advent of video capture, artificial lighting, and a whole host of other modern conveniences have made existence every more difficult for vampires that can only blend in with humans in the roughest of ways. The Todesgericht do not disguise themselves as humans, nor do they have the sensual elegance of the Blanco. The Todesgericht appear just as they are: dead corpses which haven't had the grace to lay down. Their eyes swiftly grow cloudy, their hair brittle and dry, the skin tightening. In time they may become desiccated bodies, never rotting as other creatures, but unmistakably dead. In addition, they never develop the hallmark often thought of as being that trait of all vampires: fangs. The Todesgericht must chew their way through the skin and flesh of their victims to reach the blood they need.

In addition, the Todesgericht are the most vulnerable to the popularly known banes of vampires. Sunlight crumbles them to dust, fire burns them, symbols of faith may be used to repel them with far greater efficacy then the other Courts. Immersing a Todesgericht in free running water will literally peel the flesh and the life from them.

How have any Todesgericht survived to this day and age? Power. Simply put, the Todesgericht are the most saturated with the very essence and power of Death, and they make ruthless use of it night to night. The Todesgericht are physically the strongest, quickest, and most enduring of all breeds of vampire. The Todesgericht are the only breed of vampire that seem to show a natural inclination for magic, including the forbidden study of the necromantic arts. Veils, mental domination, projection, curses, raising of undead are all known skills within the Court of the Dead.

As a result of the odd mix of personal power and difficult times for the Todesgericht, rarely are they found to be a major power in any area in these times. Most often they can be found as councilors, neutral parties, or professionals for hire, especially by the Sanguine and Blanco courts. Often seen as terribly outdated, few tend to ask after the personal projects that nearly every Todesgericht pursues with a brutal touch.

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Vampire Servants:

Vampires feed upon humans. That is the nature of their very being. Humans have more use than just food though, and far more than any other preternatural creature do vampires make use of human servants.

For the Blanco they have their Paramours, humans that they have deeply fed from that are tied to their Blanco's moods and needs. Such humans gain a craving for their patron with knows no end, a desire to please them, a want to feel the pleasure of feeding again and again, and an almost intuitive sense of where their patron is and what their mood is. For the patron, the exhausting process of investing some of their personal will and passion into a human grants them an utterly loyal companion who has the habit of showing up when and where needed, and who never need be told what kind of mood the patron is in.

The Sanguine are far more straightforward than the subtle Blanco. Their saliva contains compounds that create powerful physical addiction. They use this hold on who ever catches their fancy, from businessmen to gangbangers or whatever is needed. A dangerous game to play, a Lamb as these addict-servants are called will generally submit to anything their patron wants, and perform any service, just to get another hit.

The Todesgericht create the most dangerous, if most limited, human servants. Their original name has been forgotten in the wake of the Stoker's novel, and those outside of the Court of the Dead call them Renfields today. The Todesgericht simply call them servants. Most of their humanity scoured away, they become little more than pit bulls on PCP and peyote stuffed into a human body. Vicious, powerful, violent, knowing no pain, knowing no desires save that of their masters. To become a Renfield is the work of three nights, but it utterly erases the person who once was. (NOTE: We are NOT accepting applications for Renfields.)