Vampirism: Society and Personality
There is no fanfare in this book's presentation. The title is printed plainly, in block letters, on the front. The author's name written underneath in an equal lack of exposition.
The book is bound well, to last the ages, like most of its kind on the Island.
[all text in this book is written in plain ink, with a quill, in a script so consistent it could have been done by a machine. Blocked letters and perfect spacing admit a distinct lack of personality in the handwriting]
Introduction & About the Author
By Anastasia Severyna
AR 176
Some may wonder why I have written this book. Am I foolishly exposing the belly of our underworld, or sabotaging our nefarious plans for world domination?
No, in fact with this book it is my argument that we are too diverse, like the many elves of the world, to have any kind of unified 'plan' or cohesive interest.
Besides - if this book is the first you have heard of Vampire Society then you are not a threat to 'us.' If you have already known of Vampire Society then this book will not reveal to you any more than you already know or cannot deduce.
The true purpose of this tome, like all my volumes, is an exercise in understanding. It is to draw the mortal and immortal world closer together, for good or ill, and expand what we know of ourselves and how we fit together.
If we fit together.
Day 17, Month 10 (Marpenoth (Leafall)), 178 AR
Anastasia
Vampire Personalities
This is a simple list of the personalities I have seen embodied in the vampires of Arelith. Bear in mind that any number of us can have any number of these qualities at the same time, and that I also have not personally met or come to know every vampire. I too am described by some number of these, but I will try to remain as objective as I can.
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The Decadent: They delight upon the indulgent, or fleshy, pleasures of life. Whether this is true satisfaction, or an echo of a life once-held, I do not know. It is said some might retain their cullinary refinement, or their taste for strong drink, but others are said to still try and bed with the living.
Often shared with: Any.
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The Superior: The folklorish reveler of immortality. They have embraced the condition, shed their humanity (or otherwise), and consider themselves somewhere between the divine and mortal worlds. Mortals are often considered little more than livestock. Vampirism is not a curse but a gift. For some, however, it is not just a mere gift but that of the silver spooned prince born to a king of the world; that he is to be its master by right.
Often shared with: The Familial, The Mad.
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The Memory: Stuck reliving what it was before they died. Like a perpetuating recollection, or the longing for a nostalgic moment to return, they continue as they once had - seeking to feel the vestiges of the life they once happily led.
Often shared with: The Mad, The Lost, The Loner.
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The Departed: Vampires that see their former life as something seperate, from their current state, similar to a perpetual out of body experience, a former era, or simply a different state of being. While they're able to relate to their previous life they still consider it as departed of themselves.
Often shared with: The Superior, The Loner, The Inhuman.
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The Inhuman: Or whichever they may have been before death. This is the vampire that regards themselves as no longer human, or otherwise, for reasons often personal to themselves. All vampires share this quality, at least to some degree, but it is worth noting as a distinct personality trait because of the degree in which all of us might 'cling' to what we used to be.
Often shared with: The Familial, The Lost, The Departed.
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The Familial: They see brothers and sisters in the rest of their kind. Some believe there is a single progenitor from which all of us can draw direct lineage from. Their vampire brethren will always be given the preferential treatment. Mortals are always of secondary concern, if they are to be of concern at all.
Often shared with: The Superior, The Territorial.
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The Mad: Their rarity is a product of their symptoms. Whether they were mad before the curse, or after, is unclear to me. Often to have confused their agelessness with complete indesctructability. They push too far and take too much before the living, holding the vast advantage of numbers when it comes to such obvious threats in their midst, simply destroy them.
Often shared with: Any, though I have such limited experience with these kind as they are either too rare or so openly hostile I cannot exchange words at all.
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The Lost: Those who consider that they have lost more than they have gained in their turning. Maybe they are a new vampire, or the weight of their deprivation was truly catastrophic, or maybe they did not seek undeath but it found them regardless.
Often shared with: The Memory, The Loner.
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The Loner: Opposite to The Familial, they do not see their kind as brothers as sisters. It could be they see them as competition, nuisance, or perhaps they accept their kind as family yet still wish to conduct themselves apart.
Often shared with: The Lost, The Territorial, The Memory.
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The Territorial: Whether it is a place or person, it is a thing that is owned or influenced by the same invisible boundary that a lion might claim. The vampire will likely jealously guard their thralls or regular prey from other vampires, or establish areas of influence that are theirs, and theirs alone, to sustain in. The Territorial almost entirely applies to inter-vampire relations, and they probably aren't going to hold living mortals to the same standards of dispute.
Often shared with: The Superior, The Loner, The Mad.
Day 17, Month 10 (Marpenoth (Leafall)), 178 AR
Anastasia
The 'New' Vampire
Now and then a new vampire comes to Arelith (or an old one arrives from afar, or has lingered here for much time and simply risen and reentered the collective consciousness).
My personal experience is limited, I believe this depends on local factors as well, but when I arrived to Arelith I had been the sole Vampiric resident in my region (Andunor) for a handful of years. However that did not stop the occasional mention of other names to me over the course of those years. Though I had not met any of my kind I was informed often enough that, ultimately, I knew I was not alone on the island.
The above accounts for the misconception that we are all the same, or easily related to one another, because we share the quality of being vampires. I am a vampire, and so I am told about other vampires. It is a natural conclusion to make.
Nevertheless it is a fact that we take a keen interest in being aware of the movements of our kind, and I haven't fully accounted for the reason why. Myself being the only vampire to be twisted into an image that is no longer human, that I know of, I have been directly sought out, probably being one who is easy to find, and visited by other vampires near and far for inconsistent reasons over the years.
Some have come to me just to ask a handful of questions and then depart never to be seen again. Others knew of me already, but did not seem interested in anything further than conveying their awareness. Those matching The Familial, of course, sought to establish more long-term relations.
There are too many variations in the ways and reasons we come to know of one another but the reality seems to be that, for one reason or another, news about the presence of 'one of us' spreads rapidly and accurately within the small network of our kind. Whether this is a deeper connection, a supernatural shared heritage, territorial manuvering, or leftover mortal curiosity, is unknown to me.
Day 17, Month 10 (Marpenoth (Leafall)), 178 AR
Anastasia
The 'Old' Vampire
Some vampires I have met, or been told about, number into the centuries or more of unlife.
I cannot determine the veracity of these claims, but will continue as if it were true. I have not been given any reason to think any such claim is a falsehood other than it is difficult to fathom how one could go so long without meeting their destruction.
Either way they exist.
Just like in life, when the eldest is often armed with more resources, more wisdom, and more experience - the question arises if it is the same case with those of us on the other side. Some sources of folklore even claim that the eldest vampire has a supernatural grip over those who are lesser in years.
It does not seem to be the immediate case that 'age' has any direct impact on the power a vampire holds over other vampires. Additionally, of those I have met, our respective 'age' rarely seems to be mentioned at all unless it is directly asked and thus is not used to influence those among us.
I will pen a volume on this subject, more in depth, should it be the case I am wrong here. It would be an important discovery.
Day 17, Month 10 (Marpenoth (Leafall)), 178 AR
Anastasia
Intra-Vampire Relations
Within any society, even the drow, comes the need to coexist. I have already outlined a series of vampiric personalities and some are in opposition to one another.
Just like mortals may find ideological differences among themselves, so too can vampires find cause to disagree. This is most often displayed in the manners of The Territorial, the Loner, the Superior and, of course, The Mad.
It can also be noted here that vampires can find ways to couple, or show a resemblance of affection, with one another. First in traditional methods, but secondly by sustaining upon one another in a show of trust or vulnerability. The taste of vampire blood, while not turning any other vampire into a thrall, still carries with it a unique decadence that cannot be found anywhere else.
Ultimately there is little of substance more to write upon this topic. We are still sentient, in some manners or others, and so much of our interactions are still riddled with the same troubles, affections, and alignments of the mortal world. To the outsider, however, it would likely appear to be so slow moving to not be happening much at all.
Day 17, Month 10 (Marpenoth (Leafall)), 178 AR
Anastasia
Extra-Vampire Relations
Vampires must interface with the mortal world as a necessity. It is hardly an option.
So every vampire must ask themselves how they will do so. Will they stalk the streets claiming victims in the night, or will they emerge openly as themselves and use their wits or powers to bring mortals into their embrace? Will they place themselves in the ranks of nobility and extract their due from the land in dubious secrecy?
All of us much choose our path to get what we need, but there is no question we need it. Within the depths of the Underdark it has been most often a trade of mercenary nature in my own case. I give myself, my wits and my powers, and in exchange I am given blood. Each party is hardly under any illusions of the reality of the agreement, and rare is it that confusion or anger is to arise from it.
Others are more secretive, fearful of discovery, making friends and associates and carefully revealing their true nature in the hopes that they will be able to claim a needed offering.
It is also notable here to mention that vampires and the living can occasionally find methods of bonding. In the traditional sense as one may expect, sometimes with difficulty, but also in a great multitude of other manners entirely - many of which are outlined in my other texts; specifically Predator, Prey, & Supplication.
Day 17, Month 10 (Marpenoth (Leafall)), 178 AR
Anastasia