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Admin Note:This is an article on vampires that has been circulated through out the net for quite some time. It is preserved here for it's in depth notations regarding the vampire myth and do not necessarily endorse it's correlation in real vampirism and it's ties into mythological association.
The incessant questioning I hear regarding vampires amongst you acted as a catalyst in the writing of this document. However it is safe to assume I have other reasons as well. Mainly it can be said that certain myths and misconceptions pose more a threat to vampires than the reality ever could. Secondly such a thing as the "reality of vampires", which I know some of you might consider to be an oxymoron, should be subject to a gradual introduction to the public if it ever hopes to be accepted. Near five years online (and thousands of readers later) I have spent educating about vampires and I must say I am pleased with the overall response, even considering going to the next level and writing a book.
This here which you are reading now is the sixth version of the document containing information about vampires from myths to psychology and even genetics. I ask that you do not believe or disbelieve the information of this document without proof to either side and merely receive it as theory till otherwise. Most of you I would safely assume have no proof whatsoever though a few I'd imagine have all they need to believe every word of it. All the same, allow 6% of the enclosed information to be of error. In this document you should find information to answer most of your questions, and if you have any that were not answered, see any typos or other errors, or you just care to comment, please write back and do so. Feel free to pass this document on to anyone else, provided it is sent in it's entirety without change. Enjoy reading.
Sincerely,
Devilrhyms
The Untruth
"Superstition is the religion of feeble minds." -- Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke knew what he was saying, although I doubt he would have ever thought that his meaning could be ever applied to vampires. Superstition is the distorted and misconceived account of the truth. For instance, take the stereotype of vampires and the sun. You might picture a tall lanky thin corpse like creature bursting into flames at the mere glint of sunlight, or thanks to Anne Rice's misportrayal, a living marble statue of an eternal beauty groping the walls in fear as shattered sunlight creeps across the floor, and slowly roasts the poor misguided soul. I can assure you, that it is highly unlikely that a vampire would ever burst into flames at the touch of sunlight.
With Christianity, the ever portrayed foe of vampires, the cross and holy water have been said to be powerful weapons against a vampire. It is a rather absurd and irritating to have some religious fanatic show you his crucifix and spray you with stagnant water, don't you think? Garlic, although it may be related somewhat to the onion which has been known to produce teary eyes in humans, is nothing more than a bulb of a plant, and although it may smell a bit strong, it really does not keep any ward. And roses, what makes the people in the villages of Romania, who hang roses, along with garlic, across their doorways and windowsills, think that roses would ever deter a vampire from entering their home? If a vampire is determined to get in your house, he/she might do nothing more than wonder what holiday you're celebrating. Running water, although it may persuade a gorilla to stay away, also has no effect on vampires. A few stories might speak of this fear, but how do you think vampires would ever travel if they could not go over water? Stakes on the other hand, might do some damage. If a major organ of yours is impaired, your body just might go into shock.
Long associated with Satanism, demons and sorcery, vampires have come out with rather unjustified stereotypes. It is assumed often that one cannot dwell in places of holiness because the power of good holds over that of the evil they are made out to be. Vampires are not corpses but rather quite alive as humans and live by the very same rules regarding morality and actions. I thank the few authors of those vampire stories that showed life from a vampire's perspective for helping somewhat. To show that although they are different from humans and require blood, they too have feelings, needs, desires, and the conflicts of morality the same as any human.
The Mythology of Vampires
The myth of vampires has come a long way since ancient Sumer and Babylon. Yet the two basic beliefs in what a vampire is remain surprisingly the same. The Ekimmu which parallels the renevent belief in that those who die violently, fail to receive a proper burial or who are excommunicated from their church are doomed to wander the earth in search for victims and or vengeance. The Uruku parallel the belief that vampires are demons who seek to drink blood, corrupt and defile mankind and the earth. The following is an introduction into various myths to be found around the world, which isn't surprising at all. Of the Hebrews we have the ever popular legend of the female demon Lilith, one of seven demons borrowed from the Babylonians. Like Lamia, which there will be more on later, she took to drinking the blood of children though her reason was believed to be the angst over being rejected from the Garden of Eden. Some people believe that she was Adam's first wife who was rejected because of her will be to on the top in regards to sexual positions. The Talmudists though believe that she was Eve herself. Lilith is also believed to be the cause of wet dreams in men and is seen as the epitome of seduction. In the Bible, Lilith is only briefly mentioned in Isaiah XXIV, 14.
For much of the time Christianity's perception of the vampire was that of a renevent. A being that feared God and his places of worship. That suffered at the sight of his symbols and trembled at his words. It was believed that the wood of the aspen tree, which served as Christ's cross, could be used to impale a vampire. However there was one type of vampire of interest from this religion. The Children of Judas were red haired vampires that killed their victims by draining them with one bite. The bite marks left the symbols XXX which stood for the amount of silver that Judas sold Jesus for.
The Asanbosam of Ashantiland were the men, women and children vampires who bit the thumbs of sleeping people which was perhaps an attempt at explaining where the bite marks came from. Vampire bats rarely would ever bite a human being however if they do, it is typically on the thumb and usually these particular bats are rabid. Old demonic hags known as the loogaroo were a form of vampires in Grenada who supposedly formed a pact with the devil and were to supply him with large quantities of warm blood nightly. In Brazil a form of vampire called the Lobishomen was known to attack women, and upon the women recovering they became nymphomaniacs.
Of Malaysia and surrounding countries there are the stories of the male Bajang who assume the form of a polecat and mews outside the door of his victim (similar to folklore of the Banshee), and then the far more demonic female counterpart, the Langsuir. The Bajang come in two forms; hereditary Bajang which comes from just being in a certain family who's ancestors have done evil, and acquired Bajang which one stands over the grave of a stillborn child and summons the spirit to come forth. The Bajang are said to be able to be caught and become a familiar spirit of someone who would keep it somewhat like a pet. Imprisoned in a tabong, they are fed on milk and can be sent out to do harm to those who have angered its master. Catching the suspected sorcerer after many Bajang attacks is strikingly similar to a witch-hunt with such well known techniques as water dunking and others not so well known such as shaving an iron bowl with a razor. If the person under suspicion, who is placed in an adjoining room, loses hair in the exact same spot as was shaved on the bowl, then he is seen as guilty and would be killed. Occasionally sporting the shape of an owl, the Langsuir also was known for her green robes, black, ankle length hair, and a hole in the back of her neck through which she drinks the blood of children. It was said that by cutting the hair and nails of a Langsuir and placing them in the hole of her neck by a mortal, she would become cured of her condition.
India has a plethora of vampire mythology with such creatures as the grave wandering, flesh eating Rakshasas. Somewhat thought of as the blood drinking version of elves sporting fangs and drenched in blood, they were accepted as a reality by the Hindus who wrote of such a creature in the Vedas. They were also reputed to be extremely wealthy and would give money to mothers who had won their favor. The Vetala is an old hag vampire deformed with long slits for eyes, discolored skin and poison fingernails and will only drink the blood of mad and/or drunk women. There is also the Jigar-Khor who steals, with incantations, and eats liver, the Hanh Saburo which with the help of dogs, chase men into a forest where they drink their blood. A few other Indian vampires are the Hant-Pare which cling to the wounds of a person and sucks their blood in the manner of a leech, the Pisachas are a race of flesh-eaters and Mmbyu (Death), also know as Pacu Pati, who is the chief of all malevolent creatures of the night. Last but not least we come to Kali, a vampire-like goddess with dark flowing hair, an idiot's grin and four arms. Her vampirism is attributed to that battle with Raktaviya, the King of Demons, from who she had to drink blood in order to beat. For every drop of his blood that hit the ground, a thousand new demons would spring up for her to battle. Her followers, called Thugs practised, thugee and were eventually held responsible for quite a number of ritual murders in her name.
From Greece we have the vrykolakas, the apparently ever popular Lamiae, and also from Homer's "The Odyssey" we have reference that the blood of the living empower the dead to speak. The Lamiae attribute their name to the tragic tale of Lamia, the beautiful queen of Libya with whom Zeus (big surprise) fell in love and fathered children with (after all these myths of Zeus and his habitual mortal fornification, one wonders at the definition of love used). Hera, Zeus's eternally jealous wife (who is supposed to be the goddess of family here), yet again schemes up a method of extracting revenge and takes Lamia's children away. Lamia, unable to do anything, in turn believes then that all mortal women should suffer as she has and takes out her woe by wandering and drinking the blood of children. Though they shared the same habits, Lamia was only a normal women where the Lamiae were women with snake-like bodies.
The Dearg-due vampire of Ireland could only be kept in its grave by placing a cairn of stones over the top. Reminiscent to the Langsuir of Malasia, the boabhan sith (pronounced bovan she) of Scotland were vampires who assumed the form of a group of beautiful girls with long golden hair and green dresses who would surround their enchanted victim dancing with gaiety drawing a bit of blood here and there, and then would close in for the kill. The Dakhanavar is an Armenian vampire that assumes the role of a protector of a valley and drinks the blood of his victims through their feet. There can also be found the Chaing-shih of China, the Civateteo of Central America, and even the vampire of Russia.
On a less physical note, many of you perhaps have woken up to a feeling of strangulation or you couldn't move. Many authors attribute such "attacks" to a form of psychic vampire, who comes to someone in their astral bodies to take energy from their sleeping victims. However it's most interesting that these authors forget to point out to the reader that your body becomes paralysed when in REM sleep so as to inhibit one from acting out their dreams. Ever feel like you couldn't run fast enough while dreaming? That's why. When someone suddenly opens their eyes and become conscious, they're going to notice that they might still be paralysed from REM sleep. And like anyone, they're going to panic and try to come up with an explanation why. So the mind, still in a sleep state, will project images for the person to conclude as the cause of their state of paralysis. Such beings believed to be the cause of the paralysis and feeling of suffocation have been named in many cultures.
In Greece you have the terms of Ephialtes and Pnigalion, the former which sits on the victims and the later strangles. In Latin the Inuus. Christianity has possibly derived the names Incubus and Succubus from the Latin term. More commonly you come across terms with variations of mar, or mare. The mora in Poland, the cauchemare of the French and Cajun peoples, the kikimara of Russia and the nightmare of the english. From Denmark comes the Mara, a female vampire which by day assumes the form of a human and were some unfortunate man to fall in love with her, he would feel as though he were being strangulated. Sometimes these night attacks would arouse the victim and numerous names were given to such "friendly" vampires. If you recall Lilith, who is considered a Succubi, she was considered the cause of sexual arousal for sleeping men. The Stigoi or Strigae and Moroii of Rumania and Hungary were those who went out at night looking to fornicate with whoever they stumble across. King Stephen I of Hungary went to far as to make it illegal for a Strigae to be out. The Romanian Nosferatu would appear as an attractive person of the opposite sex who would enter the homes of their victims repeatedly. The victims slowly would lose vitality and die of illness and exhaustion. Some stories even depict them as those who have been torn apart in life, and in death the other seeks to be reunited with their love. Another form of sexual vampire is the Liderc, a female vampire resembling the Nosferatu.
The myth of the sexual vampire in Europe can possibly thank it's introduction to the Gypsy folklore of the Mule who are alive only at night and midday. The Mule, although dead men, aren't the corpses of their prior bodies. Instead they wander around in new bodies that are exact duplicates. The Mule, although they don't drink blood, would occasionally reappear to their tribe and ask for their wives. The resulting offspring were given reserved names. The Gypsies of Novopazarski Zandzak and Stari Ras called these children Vampijerovic and would name them Lampijerovic. The Orthodox Gypsies of Kosovo-Metohija called them Vampiric (little vampire) and would name the boys Vampir and the girls Vampirera. The Muslim Gypsies believed that anyone could see a vampire by looking through their legs and that a woman should not resist the sexual assault of a vampire. She may scream but everyone else had to sit still and allow it to continue. The children of such attacks were called a Dhampir and believed to have the power to see vampires and destroy them. Others could see vampires by having the Dhampir hand his shirt to them and looking through the sleeve while the Dhampir is hunting the vampire. It's also believed that a twin brother and sister, born on a Saturday, wearing their shirts inside out could see a vampire. There were many ways supposedly of dealing with vampires.
The Roles of the Vampire
From the erotic tales of the Lamia in Roman and Greek Literature to the decrepit depictions of the Raksashas by the Hindus Vedas, one can see a certain evolution of the role of the vampire that parallels humanity's concept of the forbidden and the evil. It is recognizable that the beliefs of an individual and culture would greatly determine just how a creature such as the vampire would be perceived. People of a polytheistic religion, with many gods and goddesses all assigned certain responsibilities, would most likely be able to recognize the various degrees of good and bad and the importance of all in life. Those of a monotheistic belief would most certainly have set definitions of what is good and what is evil in a black and white outlook.
With the Mesopotamians, Greeks, Romans and the Hindus one can see the wide spread definition of vampire. In fact each portrayed several types of vampire all of a varying degree of evil. The Ekimmu were merely humans who died deaths which broke certain taboos in the Mesopotamian culture such as violent deaths, and became tortured, wandering souls. The next step up on the degree of evil would be the Raksasha's and the Lamiae who were notably no longer human but still of a physical nature and who each preyed upon the helpless. Mmbyu and the Uruku were vampires of a demonic nature who would torment their victims through possessions. It should be pointed out here that demonic possessions were often attempts to explain the cause of psychosis and insanity and that Exorcisms were then believed to be the cure. The Uruku's were common enough to have their own exorcism incantation. Vampires have also attained the status of gods and goddesses. The Goddess Kali of India, Chicomecohuatl the maize goddess and Totec the moon god of the Aztecs all had their own worshippers and ceremonies of vampirism. The evil and the forbidden was glorified. With the onset of Christianity in the world the role of evil greatly changed. There was only one true God, one true way and one true strength. Evil was weak and all held much fear for such an awe inspiring truth. Anything and everything against the truth was sought out and destroyed. Vampires of seduction, possession and of death were all considered the minions of the Devil along with alchemists, witches, sorcerers and atheists. The devil, not the vampire is more of an interest during this period of time. It's the belief in the Devil who is subject to a certain evolution in role before the belief in the vampire can change.
With Dante's "Inferno" (1300 A.D.) one can see just how pathetic and miserable the Devil is. Thrown from heaven, he is stuck in the icy cold of the Cocytx at the lowest point of hell eternally eating the three most loathed people of that time. The most loved angel of God to the most tormented for his treason, the vampires up to this point were considered the damned unable to find peace. In Christopher Marlow's "Dr. Faustus" (1604 A.D.) the Devil is no longer a pathetic icon of evil, but has gained the standing of a stern and blunt, yet still demonic, businessman who has learned the art of contractual agreement. Instead of having a leading role he instead sends Memphistopheles to submit to the whims of Dr. Faustus showing his impersonal attitude of the whole affair. John Milton's "Paradise Lost" (1677 A.D.) suddenly throws an odd twist to the idea of the Devil. He is suddenly reminiscent to an unsatisfied youth, becoming the arch-rebel more than anything. In "Paradise Lost" evil incarnate becomes the subject with who people take sympathize in and relate to. He takes on the role of an Anti Hero for the first time.
After the epitome of evil gained such a status, the vampire in the western world could regain some of their lost standing. Vampires no longer were subject to the idea that they were mindless corpses seeking to harm and rape. Instead they were becoming more human and more alluring. "Der Vampir" by Heinrich August Ossenfelder was an early poem about the male vampire seducing women, published in 1748. Goethe's "The Bride of Corinth", published in1797, told of a man who had lost his soon to be bride to death and was visited by her at night. Burger's tale "Lenore" made a female vampire the subject of romantic fantasies. However vampires weren't much the notable characters of fiction until after Lord Byron, Mary Shelley and John Polidori came up with a contest of who could write the best horror story in 1816.
While Mary Shelley herself later came to writing the gothic novel "Frankenstein" based upon German folklore, Lord Byron and John Polidori both decided on the theme of the vampire."Vampyre" was the result. Lord Byron is accredited to having thought up the basic plot where John Polidori was the actual author of the novella. It is believed that Polidori's vampire, Lord Ruthven, was modelled after Bryon who was a notable womanizer of his time. The vampire's name for the novella was derived from another character fashioned after Byron in a novel written by Lady Caroline Lamb, who Byron had abandoned. Published in April of 1819, "Vampyre" was to set the theme for many future novels. Most notably Thomas Preskett Prest's "Varney the Vampire" which is also known as "The Feast of Blood" published in 1847, Sheridan Le Fanu's "Camilla" in 1872 and last but not least, Bram Stoker's "Dracula" published in 1897.
It was in modern times that the vampire took off the role of an irrational character blindly giving into his or her nature and desires. In such films as "Tale of a Vampire" and with Anne Rice's "Vampire Chronicles", the stories change to the point of view of the vampires and their struggle to come to terms with their nature and the consequences of their actions. Such a role was commonly seen in the popular 1960's series "Dark Shadows" with the character of Barnabas Collins (played by Jonathan Frid) who showed the many sides of his personality, invoking pity to the torn character. Donald Glut, a friend of Martin V. Riccardo, author of "Liquid Dreams of Vampires", mentions that many story lines have turned to the idea of a vampire seeking to be cured of his or her condition. This allows the audience to become all the more sympathetic to the vampire; that he or she loathes his or her condition and seeks to become normal again is a source of redemption. While a vampire isn't yet totally accepted for who they are, they are pitied if they express a desire to become "cured".
Such a theme is more noticeably used in the television series, "Forever Knight" based on the movie "Nick Knight", which portrayed a vampire, Nicolas Knight (played by Geraint Wyn Davies), who was a homicide detective working graveyard shift. While serving society by tracking down and catching criminals, he sought for a cure to his being a vampire. One person, his parent vampire Lacroix (played by Nigel Bennet), seemed to represent the negative force in his life, similar to a ID mixed with "fatherly" concern. He spent much of his time taunting and trying to convince Nick to give up on his quest. Another character by the name of Natalie (played by Catherine Disher), who was the morgue doctor, represented the positive force in his life, and like the super ego maintained much of his sense of direction and moral sanity. She spent time helping him deal with his dual life and sought for a cure.
Another common theme of redemption is when one good vampire kills other vampires. In such movies as "The Lost Boys" and "After Dark", there is the youth who finds himself attracted to a girl and unwittingly finds himself pulled into the lifestyle. Both in some form or another come at odds with the rest of the vampires and as expected, kills them and finds their cure. The ever popular Japanese animation "Vampire Hunter D" displays a Dhampir, after the Gypsy myth, who is pushed to a solitary life because of his dual existence. Wandering around he seeks out and destroys vampires. With Nancy A. Collins "Midnight Blue" which a compilation of three stories, a vampire by the name of Sonja Blue also wanders around killing vampires. Sonja Blue is a character with three personalities, one of which fights to maintain control, another seeks to give into her desires, and the third the lost personality of the child who existed before the body became vampire at the age of 16. Although not a Dhampir as the character D in "Vampire Hunter D", Sonja Blue is considered odd in that she is a living vampire and that along with her drive to destroy other vampires has pushed her away from the underground community. Her unusual behavior, inability to fully control herself and negative presence in turn drives her away from the human community. With Brian Lumley's "Necroscope III: The Source" we come across a vampire known as the Dweller, aka Harry Jr. who is the son of a necroscope and accidentally was given an egg (which supposedly grows into a sort of symbiont vampire). In an odd twist the Dweller, instead of running from communities, is the leader of his own people who he protects against the other vampires. A vampire that protects is far from the idea that they are creatures that destroy.
Some History
Many people throughout history have been associated to vampirism. Gilles de Rais, a national hero who fought side by side with Joan of Arch and at the incredibly young age of 24 was appointed Marshal of France shocked the world with his child rape, dismemberment, murder, sodomy and torture for five years until tried and sent to the gallows. Peter Kurten of Düsseldorf was described as a perfectly normal looking person of neat dress. However aside from this appearance, he suffered from haematodipsia (a sexual thirst for blood) and altogether murdered twenty-nine people by strangling them, raping them and cutting their throats. Countess Elizabeth of Bathory is said to have killed between 300-600 young women and use their blood in many methods to retain her beauty. Her trail in 1611, which she refused to attend, resulted in her punishment of life imprisonment within her castle by order of King Matthias II of Hungary. And lastly we come to Vlad Ţepeş who in his short career of six years as a ruler, managed to have 40,000 people killed. A saint to his own people, he was given the name Drăculea, which meant the son of the dragon or devil by his enemies.
Moving on to historical probabilities, Ur and Umma of Mesopotamia which is part of present day Iraq, Memphis of Ancient Egypt and even Shang in early China were prime areas for vampires to live. Feeding from the typical lowlife that one might have found easily then, the vampires slowly increased in numbers as each discovered their ability to create others. Older vampires often recall times of small human populations where they had to fight against each other to survive and feed, and as habit, stake out territories by which they will fiercely defend if they felt threatened. (Much similar in that of post Depression habits which effects some of the elderly populations in ways that include the hoarding of food and penny-pinching.) As a rule, the younger ones of such times of small populations, who would normally not stand a chance on their own, would either stay with their parent vampires, or join with others of their kind in the large cities to form a group strong enough for protection and strong enough to hold a territory. Mistrustful of outsiders, such groups would take on few others after the original gathering, and would mainly consist of the original members and their "children". These Families, or Bloodlines as it is referred to by those living in Europe, would establish social casts and customs partly for the protection against the group's falling apart and partly for their overall safety; often vampires would kill each other if they crossed into another's territory. Times of difficulty include the fall of the Roman empire and the rise of the Christian religion for the reasons that vampires were subject to witch hunts, exorcism, superstitious peasants, and greedy priests. Another low was when the "Black Death" and the Hundred Years War dropped the human populations of Europe and parts of Asia to about a fourth of its previous number reinstating violent territorial conflicts and the killing of any vampire that was considered menacing in any way.
The Four Races
There are also a few different psychic or telepathic abilities that you will see in certain kinds of vampires. They are telepathy (mind reading), empathy (suggestion, hypnosis, and emotion detection), clairvoyance (sensing objects), psychokinesis or telekinesis (mind over matter), pyrokinesis (mind over fire), and rheiki (aura or life-force manipulation). In theory, humans too have potential to use these abilities, but it is thought that these abilities are weak and lie latent for the better part of their lives. Crossbreeds are capable of developing operant but limited telepathy and clairvoyance and for some odd reason are skilled at rheiki (some almost as powerful as the Bodiless). The Born seem to have strong abilities with all of the mentioned skills although extremely talented with pyro and psychokinesis. The Created though, have more agility with telepathy and empathy than the rest, and the Bodiless have mastered rheiki to the point that they could kill with a thought.
The Born
A vampire that was born a vampire is a rare and intriguing being. Currently there are only couple known to exist in the world. You see, for someone to be born a full vampire, both his or her parents would have to be either Created of Born vampires themselves, and that's why chances of it happening are so rare. When a human becomes a vampire, the WVCs I explained about earlier introduces its RNA into the cells of the body, including the reproductive cells, and this in most cases kills all of the eggs or sperm. For a female, this means no more children because they cannot create any more eggs. For the male, this is not a problem because most retain the ability produce more sperm. There are very few female vampires that can have children, and very few male vampires that can't have children. If two vampires that are able to have children have sex (and I am talking about one female, and one male), then chances are the female can become pregnant. The resulting offspring, is then born within four to five months. After birth, a Born begins to grow, develop and learn with great speed, maturing at a rate almost three times that of a human. The WVC's RNA found in the Created are completely amalgamated for a Born; it is the Born's very DNA. Their physical abilities are greater than other vampires as well, being naturally faster, stronger, and even more agile. In appearance their skin is pallid with the lightest touch of yellowish tint, and their eyes are generally dilated and pale despite the color. Fingernails and hair are notably thick and fast growing. The way they might respond emotionally might seem strange and at times their sensitivity will no doubt appear "out there". Sometimes they make a sociopath seem emotional, and other times they make manic depressive people seem stoic. Their instincts are stronger and most have an intense fascination for the objects around them. Their personalities are often effected by their constant mood swings that I believe are caused by their quickened and forced emotional growth. Unfortunately a Born vampire's body being completely made out of vampire DNA, is extremely UV sensitive, and even as short a time as 30 seconds would be enough to inflict serious tissue damage to one. They also have no production of red blood cells because of lack of production of erythropoetin, and their digestive systems are made only for the ingestion of blood. They are unable to eat any food, and only a few types of liquids they can handle. Born vampires though, are capable of having children and making Created vampires. Their children if had with humans are often very similar to the Created vampires, and exhibit much the same traits and needs. If a child is had with a Created, then it as well can be considered a Born.
The Created
The Created are the vampires who are most commonly subject to fictional writings, and are perhaps the first to come to mind when one mentions the word, vampire. An estimated 2,000 - 3,000 exist in the world. Hundreds of different types, each were once fully human and now their DNA has been changed. Every sub-race is in an effort to survive; the vampire who burns easily in the sun is not as likely to live as long and pass genes as much as one who has a resistance. The characteristics of a parent vampire often predetermines the durability of the child vampire. Also, the nature of the pre-existing conditions of a person greatly influence the outcome of a Created vampire. A black vampire has more sun resistance than a white vampire due to the fact that the black skin is more sun resistant by nature, though for some odd reason vampires are more commonly of northern European descent. Color blindness, although a curse to humans, is often a blessing for vampires. Most predatory mammals are color blind in one form or another and this seems to increase their abilities to hunt. In the case of chemical dependency there may be slight residual effects, mostly psychological, however through time these effects will decay in exchange for the "addiction" for blood. The tendency to form habits previously though will likely cause these vampires to "need" blood more frequently than others. With manic depressants, their emotional instabilities will not be helped in anyway. More often than not they tend to become worse in some way or another for all Created vampires are prone to exaggerated emotional sways. It is important to know however, that during the first five years most vampires who are unstable or inefficiently able to fend for themselves will not survive without the assistance of others for very long. In most cases, they are killed. Some Created vampires have the ability to reproduce and eat food, and others do not. As a nocturnal species, few would ever go out in the day on a regular basis. In the dark, a vampire has advantages over a human such as the heightened senses, quicker speed and reflexes, and the forever useful psychic abilities. In the day, an advantage such as the sensitive eyes would become sore from the amount of light and could be easily turned against them. Pallid skin tone is a result of their nocturnal habits and anaemic condition though with great difficulty they can tan themselves. More often than not, they burn. The sun is harmful to a Created vampire. Not in the sense that it can cause spontaneously combusting (with a created vampire this is an impossibility) and I'm not referring to the dangers of skin cancer either. UV-light breaks down vampire DNA and causes aging. Sun block does offer some protection, but it's not always a 100% so.
On the topic of "fangs," I feel I should point out that there are a few different kinds. The canine teeth are most commonly located where the upper eye teeth of a human are. When changed into a vampire, often a persons eye teeth will fall out to be replaced by these canines, or the original teeth will be slightly forced down further than their original position. Those that come in are typically a little longer and by nature harder and sharper on the tip. One will find that grinding them down takes much, much effort. A Created vampire's teeth are also noted for constant growing to keep up with the wearing down of the enamel. The bottom teeth canines, which in all characteristics are the same as the usual top canines, are only different in which their location is the bottom of the mouth and occur as frequently as left handedness does for humans. It's been known that in a few cases, when a new pair of canines do come in, they might develop too far back in the mouth. If you were to look, you would see them slightly protrude from behind the originals. Another version brought to my attention are the incisor fangs, which occur in the same manner as the upper canines, only that they come in where the second pair of top incisors are. There are also some claiming that there are canines that fold up to the roof of the mouth when not in use, attracting no unwanted attention from suspicious onlookers. When ready to bite, muscle contractions pull these snake-like fangs down and out where they would protrude a little farther from the other teeth. There are also, those who have no canines all. These individuals often use sharpened fingernails, knives, or any other tool to make wounds to draw blood from. The vampires who have no canines whatsoever are usually quite old or the child of someone quite old. My guess is that the development of vampire canines was a recent (meaning past two millenniums) development. In an unusual change, even those with sharp teeth have begun to use sharpened objects for drawing blood rather than biting. Biting often bruises and tears the flesh needlessly and would often lead to the excessive loss of blood and even infection of a person. Killing is not desirable if you are wondering the reasons for this change in method.
Regarding the need for blood, I must say, a vampire's bone marrow is very different from that of a humans. During the change from a human to a Created vampire, the cells in which cause the change (which I will speak more on later) collect in the kidneys during the body's attempt to flush them out of its system. When this happens, a reaction of some sort terminates all production of erythropoetin, a hormone that regulates production of red blood cells in the bone marrow. Without erythropoetin, the body will produce no red blood cells. As you can see, this is not a desirable predicament to be in, for without red blood cells, one's body will suffer from anaemia to oxygen deprivation to shock, and then finally die. Other factors also contribute to the lack of red blood cells. A Created vampire in many cases doesn't eat food often enough, if they can even eat at all. To support it's body's metabolism and in an attempt to make up for this, the body will increase the number of red blood cells it destroys and use their material to feed the body. Also to make matters worse, the production of white blood cells in the bone marrow is increased, diverting much of the energy from red blood cell production. So one must seek other sources. Human blood is a the main source of red blood cells and erythropoetin, though pigs and a few various other animals would suffice. A Created vampire would often ingest blood after abstaining from food for a day or more, and when after ingested, the hormone erythropoetin would serve to re-stimulate red blood cell production. Fortunately for Created vampires, chemical changes in their body allows for their metabolism to be slowed and altered to accommodate for the small amount of nutrients in the system. Where areas up to 80% of energy created in a human is lost as body heat, a vampire only loses about 60%. However, the fact that many have increased activity in their lives, the production of heat is generally evened out. This accounts for the reason why the Created vampires have temperatures that are lower or higher than 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit and why they are so fond of warmth and cold. Another change that helps them is the alteration of the perspiration system. The kidneys themselves are unable to remove excess fluids as quick as required, and being that a vampires diet is usually fluid, over-accumulation is not desirable. Without a way to release it, the body would become swollen, so the perspiration system is altered so that it can absorb fluid through a process of osmosis from the blood system and release it through the sweat glands.
The following is a brief explanation of how a human is changed into a Created vampire. To be changed, all one needs to do is receive vampire blood into their circulatory system, either by undergoing a transfusion like process, or by drinking vampire blood. The more blood you receive, the quicker the change and often drinking the blood is a much slower process. Total body transfusion will guarantee a complete change within weeks while an injection of 8 ounces may take anywhere 4 years to the rest of their lives to complete the change. Chances of never eating food like a human again if one drank a Created vampire's blood is 65% while loss of one's ability to digest if they had undergone a transfusion only results 3% of the time. Little cells of a virus like nature (simply called WVCs, white vampire cells), comprised almost entirely of vampire RNA, are within the vampire blood and when within the humans circulatory system, they fool the white blood cells into absorbing them where they integrate their RNA. As we've covered before, when the WVCs collect in the kidneys, the reaction that results is the shutdown in the production of erythropoetin, which controls the production of red blood cells within the bone marrow. Within the white blood cells, the WVCs that survive substitute the vampire RNA for the white blood cells RNA, and create more vampire RNA. This manufacturing of vampire RNA allows the WVCs to distribute it amongst all the cells within the body. Throughout a vampires whole life, the WVCs are constantly increasing in numbers and introducing its RNA to other body cells. Unlike human DNA, vampire DNA does not suffer from genetic decay, therefore aging doesn't result naturally. A result of this, as perhaps guessed, is that Created Vampires are capable of living far longer than humans. If they survive the first five years, which only 80% do, more than half of those who survive can potentially live close to 200. As stated before though, vampire DNA is broken down when it comes into contact with UV radiation, or light, and this can cause the aging of a Created vampire.
Some of the abilities of WVCs is that they are highly intolerant of infections and disease, and they can act like white blood cells when it comes to the defence of the body. One problem that arises occasionally from this high sensitivity is allergies. The body becomes highly sensitive to all foreign objects and little things like pollen and even food can trigger irritating and unneeded reactions such as red eyes, rashes, hives, breathing difficulty, and severe stomach pain (another reason why some Created vampires stop eating). Another purpose the WVCs can serve is the regeneration of the body, also known as quickened healing. This is achieved when the WVCs, aware of a collection of platelets at a wound opening, trigger the DNA within the cells surrounding the wound to revert back into a stage where cell division is unchecked and continuous.
Partial vampires are Created vampires who received a small dosage of WVCs. All throughout their lives they produce more and more WVCs yet for many, they never fully become a true Created. As much vampire as they are, most only receive slightly increased strength and partially enhanced senses. A touch of psychic ability may surface as well, and better health and longer living have been attributed to such. Many Partial vampires however are the result of accidents. A person who was feed upon may have managed to cut and mingle some of the vampires blood within their wounds, and there is much evidence that sexual fluids contain enough WVCs within them that they could change a person enough to be considered a Partial. Saliva however is still under speculation as to whether it could serve as a carrier.
The Bodiless
First I must speak a little regarding souls and energy (or life-force, or life-energy). The soul, or the core of the life-force that resides within your body(often in the chest and brain), and the energy, which isn't as concentrated and is that field which your aura is made of. The energy is interchangeable between objects both living and non living, where areas the soul is found only in living beings, and rarely would ever leave it's body. Whenever you touch something, hold a conversation with someone, pet an animal, your energy is intermingling and you can come away with more, less, or the same amount as you did before. Living beings can survive without a soul, perhaps explaining comas, but they cannot live without life-energy. For some particular reason, this life-energy keeps the body itself alive, while the soul keeps the mind alive. A Bodiless vampire, as we will now cover, can feed off of life-energy, but rarely feeds off of souls. While taking life-energy from someone, it can be done in degrees to where the person notices nothing to seriously draining them to the point of death. They have a strong presence and can be felt easily, even by a human if they aren't shielding themselves.
There are a few different theories on how the bodiless came to be. From a vampire that refused to stay dead, to a human who discovered how to lengthen their life through the absorption of others'. The Bodiless species have the capability to posses a human body; for that whole life, or for a period of time. When for the whole life, they will absorb the soul of an infants body into their own. Almost all of the time, they will suffer corporeal amnesia. This occurs when for some reason or another, the Bodiless are unable to remember who they are due to a psychic and psychological memory block that the body builds up in defence to its takeover. This block dissolves around the ages of as early as 9 to as late the mid 20s. This is called the Wake, and with it comes the memories of previous bodies, and knowledge of one's abilities and needs for life-energy. Rarely the Bodiless will do a temporary takeover of the body, and when they do, they would choose the body of an adult. At this stage, they would rarely be able to absorb the soul for the adult's soul is too large and set on a particular vibration pattern. Neither could they eject the soul from its body because the body recognizes the soul as its animator and without it would cease to move. If they fail in absorption, The Bodiless will instead cover the soul, and wrestle for control of the body. This is also known as being possessed. The Bodiless however can only keep up for so long and is driven off after a time. Possessions that last a long time, even for decades are commonly misdiagnosed as Fugue amnesia because in these particular cases, the Bodiless denies the body's soul of any thought as a means of control. When the possession is over, the person has no knowledge of what happened during then, just like a Fugue amnesiac.
When a Bodiless does have control of a human body, the body will remain human, but the Bodiless inside will continue to feed off of the life-forces of others. Occasionally one will find a Bodiless that feeds off of blood at the same time because life-energy is concentrated around it. The Bodiless also have a longer life span than a normal humans when in body. Where areas a normal human commonly lives to be around 70 and can potentially live past 100, a Bodiless who has attained a human body from infancy commonly lives to 100 and can potentially live past 120 while within that body. Outside of a body, it is unknown how long a Bodiless is capable of surviving and it is unknown how long they live in total of all experience in and out of bodies. Newborn Bodiless vampires can be made by a person or vampire learning to take control of bodies and feed from life-energy. This is often done when a Bodiless teaches them, but it has been known that a few (almost always either a vampire or a crossbreed) have learned for themselves.
Who Gives A Damn
"The man who is always worrying whether or not his soul would be damned generally has a soul that isn't worth a damn." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes
Some of you may disbelieve me, and others hate me. Some may believe every word of it. It's all up to you how you receive this document, for each has their own opinion. If you refuse to not even at least be open-minded to the possibility of the existence of vampires, then there seems little chance you will ever fully explore the possibilities of any other aspect of life to gain a better understanding. I ask only that you keep your minds open and not fear or condemn that which you don't know or fully understand. Life's too short to be bottled up in our own visions of reality without looking up occasionally to see what we're missing.
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