== II. The 'blood-sucking' model of vampyre physiology ==
It would seem that there are two possibilities for how a vampyre feeds. One would be that he/she simply drinks the blood after opening a blood vessel. This blood would simply be digested in his/her vampyric digestive tract, and whatever mystery substance in that blood that the vampyre needed would be extracted. The other possibility (and the one addressed in this section) is that the vampyre takes the victim's blood directly into his/her cardiovascular system.
Let me propose a model for a 'blood-sucking' type of vampyre and then relate that model to blood types. We will assume that species *Vampyrus sanguinosuctioni* has hollow fangs that connect into his/her venous system, and note that veins have quite low blood pressure (about 7 millimeters of mercury) as opposed to high-pressure arteries (mean pressures of around 100 millimeters of mercury). A vampyre as a predator should be quick, silent and deadly. . .after all, it probably isn't a good idea to linger over a kill for several hours while risking some busy-body named Van Helsing coming along. Thus, for a kill, *V. sanguinosuctioni* would drive these hollow fangs into the victim's high-pressure carotid artery.
The pressure difference between the victim's artery and the vampyre's venous system would cause most of the victim's blood supply to enter the vampyres vascular system with extreme rapidity (a few minutes would be all that was required). If the vampyre wished not to kill, but rather to make a new vampyre, he/she would simply change targets from the carotid artery to the jugular vein. Since pressures would be about equal, instead of 'emptying' the victim, the vampyre would simply allow a few minutes of gentle 'mixing' of their respective venous blood, thus 'infecting' the victim.
Relative to blood types, *V. sanguinosuctioni* would have some obvious problems to overcome. What if a Type A vampyre emptied a Type B victim? Unless some special mechanism is there to deal with this problem, our poor vampyre would end up like our late friend in the lab of Dr. Nightingale. I propose the following as one (of many possible) models for how the vampyre might get around the immune response problems:
One of the immediate effects of making a new vampyre is that the gene sequences that code for antigens A and B, if present, are *permanently* turned off. Thus, all vampyres would have Type O blood (neither the A or B antigen), and their red blood cells would thus be immune from attack by a victim's plasma antibodies.
Normally, an individual with Type O blood would have both the A and the B antibodies in their plasma. A vampyre would have to have the ability to produce these antibodies turned off, so as not to have nasty clots of his victim's blood floating around in his blood stream. Thus, there *would* be a blood test to detect a vampyre. . .look for a Type O individual who lacks the A and the B antibodies you would normally expect.
== III. The 'blood-drinking' model of vampyre physiology ==
A model of vampyrism where the vampyre simply drinks the victim's blood (*V. sanguinoslurpii*) into his/her digestive tract would eliminate (pardon the pun) any immune problems in feeding. However, this species of vampyre would probably suffer from chronic indigestion and heartburn. Another Malox Moment for poor *V. sanguinoslurpii*!
Fact and Theory on Sanguinarians
by Tattunigma
There have been and still are several misconceptions about the blood vampire, or what is commonly referred to as a sanguinarian. Among those misconceptions is the very popular belief that a blood vampire is an evil creature, demonlike in it's endeavours to feed, and feeding for the purpose of evil's gain. This is not true by any stretch of the imagination. All creatures must feed in one form or another to survive. A blood vampire merely feeds primarily on living blood to survive. Note the use of the word "living". Let's focus on that for a moment, by researching what the reasons are for the vampire's thirst for blood in the first place.
As nature has mutated a different "species" of human, or as I prefer to say, an offshoot, certain nutritional requirements became evident. With the mutation, or evolution as I believe it to be, differing aspects in human characteristics have generated the need for different levels of nutritional values. Each species is created, or evolved, to withstand the rigors of a particular environmental setting. And in this way, vampires were born. At some point in time, long ago, there must have been some need for the humans in that area to evolve. Perhaps it was a lack of normal nutrition, solid food sources, lack of vegetation, etc. that caused Nature to step in and help to adapt these humans to living on alternative food. Blood. Readily available from any other human, or animal, and full of the essentials needed for survival. Vitamins, minerals, white blood cells, but most of all, liquid energy. The legendary accounts of super strength and speed, enhanced vision, hearing, etc; were all very much true, and in many cases, remain true to this day, having been passed down from generation to generation. Vampires, in common with other predators, had to be stronger, to suppress their prey, had to be faster to catch it, and each and every sense had to be sharper, more like an animals than a humans, thereby the enhanced hearing and sight. These abilities are not supernatural, but rather, very natural indeed, and very explainable.
A peculiar twist to the evolution comes in the form of the energy requirement. As time went on, the need to actually hunt became less and less, what with the advent of willing donors. Slowly, the need for proteins and vitamins in the blood lessened with the onslaught of the need for energy, in order to keep the high maintenance body alive. Energy was now the prime nourishment extracted from blood, although, as with any species, there remained a select few, through breeding, who retained the need for blood as sustenance as well, and these, irrefutably tend to be the purer form of vampire, a true sanguinarian. Those who feed on blood as a source of energy, have migrated back to solid foods for their nourishment, and while they seem to retain some of the physical strengths and enhancements, they are not for the most part, as strong as their predecessors. However, many of these have adapted many new characteristics, like mild telepathy, enhanced mental attributes, probably due to the overflow of naturally occurring energies.
It is interesting to note, that many of these "lesser" sanquinarians, for lack of a better word, do at times continue in their evolution to becoming complete sanguinarians, they grow and mature to this level. This is not however, to say that all of them do. Throughout time, there have been accounts of vampires, in every culture in the world, all with the same basic characteristics, yet with subtle differences. And those differences were quite simply, the results of the purity of their particular bloodlines, denoting at birth their strengths as a vampire, if they carried the genes at all. Too much pure human DNA has without doubt diluted many bloodlines, and many it has not.
This explains the different levels of sanguinarian vampirism as seen by this vampires eyes, through hours and hours of not only personal, but other's research efforts as well.
