Night's Omen

Lunar vampire traits

This is the information currently available on the vampires of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' world. Everything here are things that she has said, as well as interpretations of what's been said. Why are they specified as "Lunar vampires"? It's because in Nyeusigrube there are Solar vampires as well. We have chosen to not incorporate these into the RPG since there is too little information available on them.

Most of this information is taken directly off of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' info page, whereas some other things come from what's been said at the message boards. So while the information has been gathered together by us, we're not trying to take credit for either coming up with the information or phrasing it.

Please bear in mind that this is a lot of information, but we have attempted to make it as easily read as possible, and since most of the information is fairly interesting, we hope it won't be too daunting to read it all. If you feel the need to cut down on what to read, here is a list of the topics covered in this thread, with direct links to the post containing that information.

Posts in this thread

• General vampiric powers and weaknesses
• 
  Kalika, Renaei and Jazlyn -- the vampires without fledglings
• 
  Silver's line
• 
  Mira's line
• 
  Kendra's line
• 
  Akka's line
• 
  Katama's line
• 
  Bloodbonds
• 
  Frequently Asked Questions
  

Information provided by AHAR and compiled by Sarel

General vampiric powers and weaknesses

Background

• The whole story started with Leona, a fire elemental who was bound by brother and sister Zadre and Diosa in approximately 33,000 BCE. Her immortality is what gives power to all the greater and lesser Nyeusi. In return, they feed, maintaining her mortality, her tie to the human realm. However, since fire elementals are bound through blood, it required a sacrifice of that to bind her fully. While Diosa and Zadre sought immortality together, it soon became evident that Zadre was willing to go further to achieve it. In the ritual with Leona, it was Zadre who actually offered his blood for sacrifice. Diosa lived through the ritual; Zadre “lived” afterward only through the new, immortal power. Thus, their abilities varied. Zadre is the stronger of the two, though he and his creations are all limited by the need to feed from living, mortal power, and it is from him that vampires and Triste witches are descended.
  

Vampiric traits

• Physiology:
  
  • A lunar vampire is, quite simply, a dead body, animated by immortal power, and sustained through stolen mortal power. The heart does not beat. The cells do not divide. Hair and fingernails do not grow. On the other side of the equation, the cells do not die. Hairs and fingernails do not break, unless the vampire wills it. In this way, a lunar vampire is a complex collection of particles, held together by consciousness, like iron filings attracted to a magnet. How many of these particles actually match the original body varies by age. However, a vampire subconsciously remembers his "true" form, and thus maintains it without even intending to.
    
    Over time, the mortal, physical power that is the vampire’s body begins to dissipate. When a vampire feeds, the blood that is taken in does not go through the stomach and intestines. Its essence is used in the formation of the body, a raw rearrangement of matter, instead of the messy process of conversation that is human digestion. A lunar vampire who goes without feeding will slowly lose physical form, until he reverts to pure consciousness, which will dissipate over time unless restored to a body.
    
  How to kill a vampire:
  • The most common way to kill a lunar vampire is by destroying the heart. Why, if the heart is not needed for blood circulation, will its destruction kill the vampire? The power that animates a lunar vampire is from a fire elemental, and hence is bound in blood. The center of blood is the heart, so that is where the power rests regardless of what that muscle did once upon a time. In most vampires, putting a knife through there is enough of a rude shock to the power that it gets disassociated from the body. In others, it takes the complete destruction of the heart, and occasionally magic, to kill. In a very few, it takes even more, because they are more thoroughly saturated with power. Provided he held still for the procedure, you could probably rip out Silver’s heart without killing him. This is where the "take the heart, take the head, burn it all" idea comes from... some of them simply don’t die until the last of the blood is gone. Why the head? Because it is very difficult to concentrate without a head, which makes it very difficult to stop the person who is trying to burn you.
    
  Vampiric powers and flaws:
  • With the exceptions of Akka’s and Katama’s lines, pure vampires are identical in their potential ability. Differences between vampires’ apparent supernatural abilities come from individual differences (personality, conductivity), distance from progenitor (how many levels you’ve gone through, ie, Silver would generally be stronger than someone who was changed by someone who was changed by someone... etc... who was changed by Silver), and strength of progenitor (Silver’s descendents are generally stronger than Mira’s who are generally stronger than Kendra’s).
    
    The key words to note are "pure vampires" and "potential ability."
    
    Pure vampires: This means a vampire who was once a human with no unusual abilities, i.e. not a witch, shapeshifter, shaman, spirit-worker, telepath, psychic, linked to an elemental, linked to a nyeusi, having spent an excess of time around those linked to elementals and nyeusi... etc. Non "pure" vampires have a tendency to demonstrate abilities beyond those that a pure vampire in identical circumstance would have.
    
    Potential ability: A vampire's potential ability is often very different than their actual strength. Remember it was said age of progenitor made a difference? Well, it does, but most members of Mira's line are weaker than most members of Kendra's line, because as individuals, for a variety of reasons, they lack the ability to fully wield that power.
    
    So, again, with the exception of Akka's and Katama's, there is no lineage-specific difference in potential ability between vampire lines. Mira's line has the exact same potential abilities as Kendra's. The drastic, recognizable differences are entirely due to personality and tendency and other traits covered in the relevant section of the World essays, not a magical predisposition- even the strength of Silver's line.
    
    All vampires have the ability to move instantly from place to place, dissolving their mortal forms for a moment in order to travel. All vampires have the ability to sculpt their bodies, though most only do so unconsciously. Only a very few very powerful vampires can change their forms completely. All lunar vampires naturally have black eyes, though again, some of the more powerful can mask that telltale sign with illusion. Due to the nature of their power, a lunar vampire’s body is not cold; the average body temperature for their kind about one hundred degrees, slightly above a normal human temperature. Lunar vampires, both male and female, cannot breed, though both are fully physically functional- again, the mind controls the body, so the body does what it expects to do in response to stimuli.
    
    Vampires in general are extremely strong, and even a weak vampire can benchpress the equivalent of a ten-wheeler. They also have exceptional senses, being able to see farther than a human, scent things no normal human could (glass, for example), and also sense auras. They have a higher pain threshold than humans, naturally, but can feel pain. Most injuries, however, heal so quickly that they barely have time to feel it before it's healed, making it more difficult to disable a vampire long enough to get to their heart.
    
    They can shield their existance from mortal eyes, making them look past the vampire as though they weren't there, though some sensitive humans can sense that there is something around. They can also shield their aura temporarily to various degrees (depending on strength), from dampening it to seem younger to appear completely human. A vampire can also influence -- almost effortlessly -- humans into being attracted to them and not react negatively to frightening displays of inhumanity. This also works to a lesser degree on witches and shapeshifters, depending on their familiarity with vampires.
    
    If a person is a witch or shapeshifter when they become a vampire, they retain the powers of their previous form. For example, a witch still has his magic, and an elavie can still shapeshift.
    
    Note: If someone is killed by being drained by a vampire, it's not noticable as such. the two puncture wounds heal, so they really just have a body missing a couple pints of blood. This is probably why vampires can manage to remain undetected for so long even when they do kill people.
    
  How to become a vampire:
  • The process by which a human being is transformed into a lunar vampire is well-known: the vampire drinks the human’s blood, and then the human drinks the vampire’s. The drinking of the blood weakens the human system enough that the vampiric power can take over; in order to weaken it so substantially, the human needs to be at the brink of death... but not quite there, since they need to be alive long enough to drink the vampiric blood. If the vampire does not take enough blood to kill the human, the survivor will end up tainted but not changedâ€"usually, bloodbonded (see essay on bloodbonds). The quantity of vampiric blood necessary for the change depends on how powerful the vampire is. Also, the more blood is given to the new fledgling, the faster and easier the change will be. The act of drinking blood, in itself, has nothing to do with the change. The same result could be achieved through a transfusion of vampiric blood into a host dying from other causes. All that is truly necessary is death, in such a way that the host body is not too damaged to accept, and be accepted by, the vampiric power.
    
    Generally, humans who are nearly but not quite fully physically mature make the strongest and healthiest vampires. A ten-year-old who is changed will remain, physically, a ten-year-old forever. I agree with the popular theory that children made into vampires probably won’t survive mentally. Their brains weren’t fully developed when they were changed, and what’s there is trapped in a body that isn’t mature, so it seems a setup for failure. On the other hand, once the body has fully finished maturing (in humans, this happens around the late-twenties, mid-thirties), it becomes nearly impossible to change that human. The body will die rather than accept the intrusion of the parasitic, immortal power.
    
    Once changed, the amount of power a vampire has is controlled by two primary factors. One is the ability to hold power, which can be considered like conductivity -- the amount of “juice” that can be in the body at a time. The other is the willingness to acquire power. Mortals who have both traits very strongly are rare, and no matter how potentially strong, a vampire’s actual power will never grow unless it feeds well. A vampire who feeds off of animals, or who does not kill, will never be as strong as one who kills regularly, even if the latter is younger and with less potential.
    

Canon vampires vs. Night's Omen vampires:

• As is noticable in for example In the Forests of the Night, even younger vampires have "special abilities" in addition to what is listed above, and they are also not limited to one such power. At Night's Omen, we have chosen to limit this to one special ability for vampires older than four hundred years. Why? Because we do not want vampires to be too powerful, and so that players of other types of characters will be able to enjoy playing here as well. However, it is not that you turn four hundred and poof, you level up and get to pick a new skill. It is more that you gradually grow stronger, and somewhere around the age of four hundred -- give or take twenty or so years -- your special talent begins to develop, but it takes a while for it to surface completely, and might in some cases be difficult to control. Keep in mind, if you please, that while it is alright for an older vampire to have had their power develop early, we don't want to see 350-year-old vampires with powers, since this would break the 400-year limit we've set.
  

Direct links:
General Traits - Kalika, Renaei and Jazlyn - Silver - Mira - Kendra - Akka - Katama - Bloodbonds - FAQ

Kalika, Renaei and Jazlyn -- the vampires who did not start a bloodline.

Siete, one of Zadre's foundlings and the father of all Lunar vampires, created eight fledglings. Only five of these got fledglings of their own, however. For various reasons, The first two, Kalika and Renaei, as well as the last one, Jazlyn, did not create any fledglings, and as such it is impossible to play for example a Renaei vampire.

Kalika

• Kalika was the first vampire Siete made, and was time-wise contemporary with both Vida (Macht's daughter) and Aric (Triste's first student). In fact, the three of them were from the same village; Kalika and Vida were half-sisters, and Aric was Vida's lover. Kalika and Vida's father was the leader of their village, a seer of sorts -- a wise man or shaman or whatever you care to call him. Kalika was to have inherited his position, but living at the center of the newly-powerful Nyeusi’s playground ruined her plans somewhat. Vida -- spurred on by her lover, Aric -- made a play for power, and Kalika was driven out, to live or die as Fate willed, in the desert. Naturally, someone who was hated by both Macht’s child and Triste’s first initiate interested Siete greatly, and he decided to try his hand at playing god -- and he changed her. It was more of an experiment, and he didn't exactly tell her what he was doing or ask her permission, so after he changed her, they parted ways and pretty much never met again, and as such never forged any type of relation. Nor did she learn anything from him.
  
  Several years later, Kalika returned to her village, and argued with and finally killed Vida, failing to realize until after she had done so that Vida’s daughters were looking on. Kalika fled, and that is when the Macht witches come to power and why especially the Vida line hate vampires with such passion.
  
  As for the rest of Kalika's story, she wandered for a while. At one point, she fostered a human child named Taja, and in later years when Taja was an adult, Kalika attempted to change her as Siete had changed Kalika. It didn't work out, and Taja ended up as the very first bloodbond. A little later, Kalika ran into -- guess who -- our favorite Triste, Aric. They had an interesting relationship for a number of years that rested mainly on the fact that they were among the only immortals on Earth, and Aric had discovered that vampires put off an energy that's great to feed on.
  
  Over time, Aric became jealous of Taja's constant presance and precidence in Kalika's affection. Eventually, he fought with Taja (not exactly a fair fight) and would probably have killed her, except that Kalika returned. They fought.
  
  Now, the problem is that very powerful vampires and very powerful Tristes rarely fight face-to-face because it simply doesn't work well. Kalika managed to attack Aric in his larmaen (his private chambers, and also where a Triste is strongest), but succeceded in dragging him out of it and transporting them both to an underground cavern, which caused an unexpected power-flare from Aric, which caused many of the crystal formations in the surrounding stone to become saturated with Triste power (firestone), which meant Kalika then couldn't get them from the cave, where they both managed to starve to death. Except vampires and Tristes don't really starve to death; they simply lose their mortal forms, after which they can be summoned by someone who either really knows what they're doing (Moira was summoned back once by Fala and Aubrey, for example, after she starved in such a manner) or by someone who really doesn't know what they're doing, such as Rene, protagonist of one of Ms Atwater-Rhodes' unpublished stories.
  
  Since Kalika has been locked up in that cave with Aric since that time, and didn't really develop
  

Renaei

• There isn't much information available on Renaei. She was born around 7000BC. Siete fell in love with her and changed her, and even today, nine thousand years later, he loves her. Her main love, however, has always been Silver, no matter how much he despises her, and it was she who asked Siete to change him. The reason why she didn't do it herself was partly because she didn't know if she could. There is more on the Renaei/Silver relationship in the information post on Silver.
  
  Appearance-wise, she's of average height, with medium-dark skin, long black hair and soft facial features. All-in-all, she gives a rather pampered impression. Well, as pampered as a predator can look.
  
  It's not canonically known why she's chosen not to create any fledglings even after Silver proved it was possible to do so, so until further information is disclosed, assume that she simply hasn't felt like it.
  

Jazlyn

• Jazlyn shows up indirectly in Demon in my View, so if you haven't read that book yet, be aware that this may contain spoilers.
  
  Jazlyn was Siete's last fledgling, and was born around 1935. She got to know Siete fairly early in her life, and was offered immortality many times, but always refused. She was still young and had a husband she loved, and had no wish to change her life. Since Siete had twice before had bad experiences with changing humans against their will, he accepted her refusal -- well, barely, since he still asked her now and then.
  
  However, this changed the night her husband died in a car accident in 1960. Since her parents had died years ago, and she didn't have many friends, Siete was the one she turned to in her grief. She still refused immortality, however. She didn't want to face forever without her husband by her side. All she wanted was to be left alone and given time to grieve. Even this, however, was denied her. One week after her husband's death, she found out that she was pregnant. Unable to face this, to live on to raise their child on her own, she finally accepted Siete's offer.
  
  Later, of course, she regretted her choice, but there was little she could do. She disliked the darkness of her new world, the almost enforced cruelty, and she always remained weak, disgusting to most other vampires who had to "babysit" her.
  
  Then, in February 1983, a choice was given her. A Macht witch, Monica Smoke, found her while she was visiting her husband's grave, and offered her a sympathetic shoulder and then the opportunity to become human again. She accepted this, of course, and was happy to leave the vampiric world behind, even if she was probably somewhat sad that Monica died in the process.
  
  It is currently not known whether Jazlyn is still alive or not.
  

Direct links:
General Traits - Kalika, Renaei and Jazlyn - Silver - Mira - Kendra - Akka - Katama - Bloodbonds - FAQ

Silver

Background

• Born around 6800BC, Silver was discovered by Renaei, Siete's second fledgling. While she fell in love with him, he was unaware of this -- barely noticing her presence. He had a wife and children, and was devoted to his family. Renaei would have been content to see him happily live out his life, but fate had other plans, and after the deaths of Silver's wife and children she begged Siete to change him in order to save him from himself. Siete tried to argue that making immortal someone who wanted to die wasn't the best idea in the world, but Renaei was still very young at this point and a little less than compleatly reasonable.
  
  Why didn't Renaei change him? The answer is kind of two-fold. The simplest part is that she didn't know she could. Silver was the first of Siete's vampires who actually tried that experiment... actually, the second, but the first try, by Kalika, failed, and no one but her knew about it anyway. But that's off the subject. Neither Siete nor Renaei knew that it would be possible. I imagine Siete had his suspicions, however, which brings us to the second part of the answer: Silver was going to hate whomever changed him. Siete knew this. He hoped to spare Renaei that, if he could. It didn't work, but he tried.
  
  So Silver hated Siete for turning him into a vampire, but this hatred also spread to Renaei when he found out it was because of her love for him. Because of this, and because he as a result treated Renaei very badly, Siete grew to hate Silver in return.
  
  Though Silver’s line has some of the oldest vampires in it, they did not choose to work together until the late sixteen hundreds, when they founded Mayhem. Silver’s line banned the slave-trade, and gradually began to gain power. They lost much of their support in the early 1700s, when Mayhem burned, but rallied and held enough political power in 1804 to take control and keep Midnight from regaining control after it was destroyed. Since then, Silver’s line and New Mayhem has been considered the ruling line of Nyeusigrube. They do not attempt to keep control over the witches or shapeshifters, but enforce a few simple laws, such as blood claim.
  
  Silver himself currently keeps in touch with New Mayhem, even if he's not seen there too often.
  

Social traits

• Silver’s line usually chooses its fledglings for potential power, and often for the desire for power; that, combined with the fact that Silver is the strongest of the five progenitors, is why the vampires of Silver’s line are the strongest. Potential power includes both having power from some source before turning -- witch or shapeshifter blood, Triste training, dealing with elementals and similar things -- and being changed against their will. Generally speaking, however, it's not necessary that the person fights the actual transformation, but that it's enough that they fight the draining/spilling of blood. Therefore, it's enough with having been (for example) lethally wounded in battle.
  
  Because of this preference for somehow unwilling fledglings, Silver's line contains many warriors and/or strong-willed people. Other than that, there are no real common ground for them.
  

Special talents

• As mentioned above, vampires of Silver's line tend to be stronger than other vampires. This means that they are the ones most likely to have talents like shapeshifting -- voluntarily changing the way your molecules fit together is, after all, one of the more difficult things to do when you only stay in your shape because you subconsciously remember that this is what you should look like. They are strong both physically and mentally, even if they somewhat lack the finess that for example Katama's line has. Thus, they are able to control human -- and also weaker nyeusi -- minds better than some of the other lines are. Aubrey in Demon in my view, for example, has no problem influencing a crowd of students into liking him, while at the same time shielding most of his vampiric aura and speaking to someone mentally.
  The downside to having this much power, however, is that they start to lose touch a little with certain aspects of the mundane world. This means that after a while, their image in mirrors start to fade, and by the time they're two or three hundred years old, their image is very faint, almost misty.
  

Playing a Silver at Night's Omen

• Silver's line is actually one of the least prolific line. This means that outside of canon, there aren't many vampires. This more or less means that the Silver vampires on this RPG will be fairly few, and unless you have discussed it with a player of another Silver vampire to be their fledgling, we suggest that you first look to the other lines if they would work instead.

Direct links:
General Traits - Kalika, Renaei and Jazlyn - Silver - Mira - Kendra - Akka - Katama - Bloodbonds - FAQ

Mira

Background/Social traits

• Not much is known about Mira. What is known is that she's a rather peaceful vampire, who doesn't particularly like violence. This doesn't mean she's weak, but since all her fledglings are chosen among the peaceful and pacifistic humans -- they aren’t likely to change people they think will turn into killers, or train new fledglings in how to kill -- and feed off of animals and willing humans, rarely (if ever) killing their prey, they tend to be weaker than other vampires.
  
  History-wise, not much is known other than that Fala once in a fit of rage killed most of Mira's fledglings, leaving her with a very small number, and causing her to start over again, so to speak. This means there are few Mira vampires older than maybe five hundred years -- those who managed to run away or hide from Fala, or who simply were elsewhere at the time. Most Mira vampires these days are involved in some way with SingleEarth.
  

Special talents

• While Mira vampires have the same potential strength as other vampires, they seldom reach this potential. This doesn't mean they're comparable to humans -- they still heal almost instantly, and they can still lift a ten-wheeler. Due to the fact that they live more or less peacefully, their strengths tend to lie along those lines, and they would probably be better at concealing themselves as humans than they would be at controlling a human mind.
  

Playing a Mira at Night's Omen

• Mira's line is one of the prolific lines, which means that there are plenty of vampires in it, despite Fala's "culling" of the line. It might not seem too tempting to play a vampire who won't fight, but just because they don't harm others doesn't mean they're boring. There is still plenty of intrigue and verbal combat available to them, and if you look at the hippie movement, it was mostly non-violent (or at least meant to be), but definitely not boring.

Direct links:
General Traits - Kalika, Renaei and Jazlyn - Silver - Mira - Kendra - Akka - Katama - Bloodbonds - FAQ

Kendra

Background

• Siete created Kendra because they had an enemy in common- actually, this is again a continuation of the Silver/Renaei/Siete triangle, only now it brings in Silver's relationship with a shapeshifter named Mongeska and her brother Kalmanu who enslaved Kendra - but anyway, it all makes sense in a great many more pages than are here, and the moral is that Siete changed Kendra primarially for purposes of revenge. Which she achieved quite messily, and while Kendra liberated a land from a tyrant, who demanded blood-sacrifice and conquest, and in whose name thousands had been killed, I think few would call her a hero. In retrospect, Siete regrets Kendra's creation, but he'll still protect her if she's threatened.
  For a description of Kendra herself, see here.
  

Social Traits

• Kendra was an artist, and as such she always had a weakness for other artists, and preferred them when choosing her fledglings (she's also quite possessive, but fickle, and tends to cling to what's hers until it bores her, from when on she couldn't care less). Unfortunately, she's also always been a little insane, with the results that most of her fledglings and descendants have had a leaning towards some kind of insanity themselves. This doesn't mean that all of Kendra's line are raving lunatics, but it does mean that they're almost always bound to have some mental quirk that sets them apart, whether it be extreme possessiveness, a preference for a certain colour over all others, OCDs, or darker things like sadism or preferring blood with a taste of fear in it. In some cases, this is because Kendra and her offspring choose the eccentric artists who already have some kind of "insanity", or because they're drawn to those weak-minded enough to develop such a trait during the traumatic experience of becoming a vampire -- sometimes toying with them to make it even more traumatic.
  

Special talents

• Vampires of Kendra's line might not be as strong physically as some other lines -- artists in general tend not to be as strong as for example warriors, so it's no big wonder -- but they have the mental strength to compensate for it. They can quite easily "roll" a mortal mind, imposing their will on them, but they tend to lack the finesse that (for example) Katama's line has. If they do have that finesse, it's because their personality demands it of them.
  

Playing a Kendra at Night's Omen

• Now this is fairly easy. Kendra's line is one of the most prolific, and even Kendra herself had more fledglings that are on the tree, but that she simply doesn't care enough about to actively acknowledge these days. They're also generally very variable, in that they can either choose to affiliate with either Midnight or Mayhem or remain relatively free from both.

Direct links:
General Traits - Kalika, Renaei and Jazlyn - Silver - Mira - Kendra - Akka - Katama - Bloodbonds - FAQ

Akka

Background

• Again, there is little known about Akka. She was born around 300AD, and was fairly early in her unlife -- unless information is given to refute this -- cursed by the Triste Pandora. Further information on the traits bestowed through this curse will be given below. No canon fledglings of this line are currently known other that there is an individual named Leon. There is no information on whether he's a direct or indirect fledgling, however, nor around which year he was born. It is however, more or less known that because of their many weaknesses, few Akkan vampires survive for too long, and there are probably very few of Akka's early fledglings (and their early fledglings) who are still alive. Akka herself is practically disowned by Siete, due to a falling-out they had a while ago (in vampire measures), and as such neither she nor her bloodline can really expect any friendly assistance or advice from him.
  

Social traits

• There isn't really much here to say -- vampires of Akka's line don't really tend to have a line-specific talent or anything outside of what the curse has bestowed. Personality-wise, most tend to grow rather embittered after a while, since they can't really live a normal life, even compared to other vampires. Most who still have their humanity probably think that they are doomed never to be happy and might grow reclusive from that, whereas those who relinquish any attempt to remain humane might become indiscriminate predators (and thus targeted by hunters before too long). In general, however, they tend to be too aware of their own disadvantages to really draw attention to themselves -- unless they have a deathwish.
  

Special Talents

• This will be divided into separate paragraphs, since there's a lot of it, and not only talents, but also severe weaknesses.
  
  Advantages:
  • Akkan vampires have two shapes in addition to their human ones; mist and a bat. Even very young, relatively weak vampires of this line have these forms, in contrast to the other Lunar lines -- this is in addition to any other talent they may have. The bat probably came from Pandora (it is one of her other forms) when she messed with Akka's magic in the first place. The origin of the mist form isn't known even to the author herself, but she imagines it too had to do with the process of tying the weaknesses to their power.
    
  Sunlight:
  • Akkan vampires will not combust in the sunlight, but they will become very drowsy and likely fall asleep.
    
  Holy symbols:
  • Akka's line is highly susceptible to religious symbols and parephanalia, if (and only if) it is presented in a holy location, or by a person of faith. So, a puddle of holy water on the floor is harmless; a bowl of holy water by the door of a church (even if splashed on them by someone of non-faith) is problematic; holy water tossed on them by a devout individual would be intensely painful; and holy water tossed on them by the Pope (assuming the Pope is as devout as one would assume he is) in the Vatican might be deadly.
    
    Religious items do not have to be Christian in nature; what is required is that the item is holy in the situation. I imagine a vampire in Akka's line would be very reluctant to be trampled by a cow in India.
    
    Similarly, a vampire in Akka's line will be weaker in areas that have been consecrated -- presuming there is still enough respect/worship of the area going on to keep it "charged."
    
    This religious weakness actually extends in some ways to places we might consider more secular -- any place that has some kind of "worship" or "faith" attached to it. The Grand Canyon would be a weak place for someone in Akka's line. Mardi Gras beads in New Orleans would have an almost holy item effect. The Mona Lisa would be a holy item, and an artist in her presance, in a museaum where she was on display, would be much like a devout individual in the church of his faith.
    
    Needless to say, this is problematic.
    
    Further problematic, an item the vampire regards as holy will be very weakening to them -- thus, a vampire with faith in Christianity will not be able to walk on hallowed ground without almost crippling weakness, will shy from crosses and priests, etc. A vampire with a deep, intense, worshipful love of art will no longer be able (physically) to stand the sight of it. It really wasn't a pleasant curse, that Pandora thought up. And love... well. What do you do, when, the more you love someone, the more poisonous they are to you?
    
    This is why many Akkan vampires are very very bitter individuals.
    
    Garlic, and other tools that have a reputation of being useful against vampires and the demonic, are also effective in proportion to the faith of the vampire and the attacker.
    
  Thresholds:
  • Akkan vampires cannot cross into inhabited areas -- someone's home, whether temporary or more permanent -- without an invitation. Definition: This is much like the religious thing. If someone living in the area considers it "theirs," their space, it in a way becomes a personally "holy" area, and cannot be breached without permission.
    
  Other:
  • For whatever reason, the power in an Akkan vampire is very concentrated, meaning it is more easily shared. Any one individual who is fed upon more than a couple times will soon start picking up traits like a bloodbond. If said individual continues to be fed upon over the course of a couple years, they will develop bloodlust, and if they feed, it is likely that they will develop fully vampiric traits as an Akkan vampire, even without ever consuming vampiric blood.
    

Playing an Akka at Night's Omen

• There isn't really much to say here, other than "read up on the strengths and weaknesses." It might at first glance seem very intriguing to make an Akkan vampire, but it can also be very difficult -- which can, of course, in itself be fun. We ask that you think twice on how you combine personality and age, however, so that an old vampire of Akka's line doesn't have a -- in the context -- nature so self-destructive they'd have died within two centuries or less.
  

Direct links:
General Traits - Kalika, Renaei and Jazlyn - Silver - Mira - Kendra - Akka - Katama - Bloodbonds - FAQ

Katama

Background

• Much of this information is going to center around Jeshickah, as well as Midnight. This is because Jeshickah, while not the founder of the line, has made enough impact on the vampiric society in general that the line is half considered hers, and Midnight has played too large a part in their lives to be ignored.
  
  Katama, Jeshickah and Acise (Katama's second fledgling) were sisters while alive; the former two were twins. Jeshickah and Katama were born in 1136 and changed in 1152, at the age of 16 (granted, 16 in 1152 was a good deal older than 16 is today). Acise's physical age is currently unknown.
  
  Though Siete and Katama had been in a relationship for several months, she had no desire to become a vampire. Jeshickah was the first to learn what Siete was. She asked him to change her, tried to deal with him, and he turned her down on the basis of the fact that he thought she was crazy and he would regret changing her because she might do something like try to rule the world and dominate everyone -- and what do you know, he was right!
  
  Katama 'allowed' him to change her only after she learned that Jeshickah would probably be dead in a few months. Siete changed her on the provision that she would absolutely not change Jeshickah, which is why she did so within hours of when she was changed, while he was away and she was supposed to be sleeping. Siete was furious that Katama changed her, but most of the energy of that anger was directed at Jeshickah, since the process nearly killed Katama.
  Acise, the last sister, wasn't changed for any pressing reason (like health), but simply to stay with her family-- her only 'surviving' family. Siete had no strong feelings either way about her change.
  
  The three sisters acquired a mansion which they titled Liadan, or Twilight. This, while being Midnight's predecessor, was nothing like the later slave empire. If anything, it was comparable to any noble's mansion. The ladies of the manor ruled firmly but fairly, treating their serfs better than most did at that time. Later, Liadan became home to a pride of lions, who acted as bailiffs, police, and knights. In the fifteenth century, the Inquisition came to Liadan. One of the lions, hoping to protect himself and his pride, betrayed the vampiresses, giving their names to inquisitors and detailing how they could be killed. He was immediately arrested, and tortured until he also revealed the names (and weaknesses) of the others of his kind. As the lions were systematically wiped out from the area, Katama and Jeshickah abandoned Liadan and founded a less-friendly empire. Enter Midnight.
  
  Midnight quickly became a force to be reckoned with, and by the sixteen hundreds, Midnight had physical, political and economic control over the other vampires, the witches, and all but a very few shapeshifters (the shm'Ahnmik, the Azteka and the Shantel, to be precise). In addition to controlling all trade routes, Midnight also became the heart of the vampiric slave-trade, where humans, witches and shapeshifters were bought and sold.
  
  Many people from Mayhem blamed its destruction in 1704 on Midnight (they were wrong, but since when does that matter in terms of wars and policy?). Even those who knew what really happened, which was a very small handful of people, recognized that it was time to strike back at Midnight before Mayhem weakened any further. It is not a coincidence that Midnight burned in 1804, exactly one century later, in an assault on its primary building. However, that assault would never have worked if it just destroyed property. The empire was weakened from within first, though power-plays from Mayhem and defection by Kendra's line. When the central building, the symbol, of Midnight burned, it spurned all the shapeshifters and witches to fight back, as well. It destroyed the image, the fear.
  
  Jeshickah's personal manor was hit that day, as well. Jeshickah and her trainers may have escaped, but all of Jeshickah's property, including all her slaves, burned. Even so, Midnight might have pulled power back. Jeshickah simply didn't have the heart for it. Thus it was in the early 1900's that Jaguar was approached by his brother Nathaniel, and told that a number of Kendra vampires had plans to organize Midnight's resurrection, and that they had the political power to succeed.
  
  Unwilling to allow this to happen, Jaguar stepped in and recreated Midnight himself, with a few minor adjustments to suit his own rebuilt personality. Since he was a direct fledgling of Jeshickah's, no one argued with his right to do so, and he ruled as the Master of Midnight for almost a century before Jeshickah put in an appearance.
  

Social traits

• Jeshickah chose her fledglings with fairly specific traits in mind. Apart from picking handsome men -- and men only, as she has no greater love for women -- she also picked men with the same talent she had: being able to see and exploit human weaknesses.
  
  Also, Jeshickah broke almost all her fledglings, essentially making them her slaves, her property. However, if Jeshickah is going to spend the rest of eternety with them, they need to be relatively independant so they aren't constantly hanging off her and needing her to tell them what to do. It would be nice if the people who live forever with you can engage in interesting conversation. It would also be bad if they ceded their will to any person who happened to get authoritative with them. So Jeshickah's trainers were broken such that they would never challenge her outright, but they retained their ability even to argue with her -- as counsel and such is necessary to the successful running of an empire.
  
  Nathaniel and Gabriel were both mistakes -- though they were made in different ways. Nathaniel was easily tamed; he was a slave before she bought him, and knew it was in his best interests not to fight too much. Yes, he was scared of her, but he was never broken. Long story short, Jeshickah lost her temper and nearly killed him; after being teased by Acise over not being able to break him, she changed him instead of letting him die.
  
  Gabriel was a very different scenario. From the start, their relationship, while not quite between equals, was less of a owner-slave setup. He challenged her; he wasn’t afraid of her. Repeatedly, he refused her. If Jeshickah were capable of falling in love with a man, one might say she fell for him. They were for a while each other’s obsessions, still are in a way, despite the fact that they hate each other. Either way, Jeshickah wasn’t about to give him up by killing him.
  
  However, later generations weren't necessarily chosen for the same qualities, so it's not really possible to generalize like that.
  

Special talents

• Katama's line is another of the lines who has special talents above the standard vampiric powers. While Jeshickah was still alive, she managed to gain some power over an earth elemental, Leshan, by Naming him. Later, after Midnight's destruction and before Jeshickah's return to it, she bound this elemental to her fully, strengthening her ties to him.
  
  Due to Jeshickah's bond with the elemental, all vampires coming from her -- as well as her twin sister Katama -- have the ability to dreamwalk. Neither higher Nyeusi nor Zadre's descendents dream- that means lunar and solar vampires and Tristes. They remember; they relive. However, a vampire of Katama's line can share a mortal's dreams or, if she's strong enough, manipulate or change the dream to suit her fancy. Once you get past the first level of fledglings (Jeshickah's direct fledglings) the ability to control dreams changes, but even the weaker fledglings can share them.
  
  The bond with Leshan also gave Jeshickah and her offspring the ability to feed by touching their victim -- without needing to bite them. This talent, however, is mostly used subconsciously; weaker vampires or those of younger generations might not even be aware that they can do so.
  

Playing a Katama at Night's Omen

• Since Jeshickah put a ban on her fledglings creating fledglings of their own, there aren't many openings for non-canon Katama vampires. Why we say "many" is because there are some of her fledglings who have disobeyed her -- either they created fledglings before the ban was put in place, or they simply do not feel bound to do exactly as they're told. We will not allow any direct fledglings of Jeshickah's fledglings, nor any fledglings of Acise's unless Ms Atwater-Rhodes tells us different, but the lower ranks, especially Xeke, are quite prolific, leaving possibilities for young vampires of Katama's line.
  

Direct links:
General Traits - Kalika, Renaei and Jazlyn - Silver - Mira - Kendra - Akka - Katama - Bloodbonds - FAQ

Bloodbonds

As previously mentioned, sometimes a human, given vampiric blood, is not changed but bloodbonded. Usually, this is intentional; very rarely (see, for example, the information about Kalika), it occurs because a somewhat under-educated vampire didn’t do all that was necessary to change the human.

Creating a bloodbond

• The creation of a bloodbond is far simpler, and less physically stressful for vampire and bond, than actually changing a human. The vampire still needs to take blood from the human, but only enough to create a connection- so, a very small amount, less than you would give in a regular blood donation. The vampire also needs to give blood, but again, only enough to infect the still-living human system with its power. The exchange does give the human some minor vampiric strengths, but the primary change is the creation of a powerful, nearly unbreakable mental bond.
  
  Whether or not the victim is willing doesn't matter; the procedure and the result is the same.
  

Physiology

• Due to the vampiric blood they were given, bloodbonded humans will not age, though for slightly different reasons than full vampires. Here we get back into biology. The bond’s cells divide and use nutrients just like any human, at least for a while. What doesn’t occur is the cellular breakdown that causes humans to visibly age. The body retains its original form, each cell replicating perfectly, living and dying perfectly... unlike in we true mortals, where the growth and death of our cells occurs imperfectly, leaving flaws and eventually causing marks on our skin, weakened muscles and bones, and finally organ failure.
  
  For this reason, bloodbonds can and must do everything that regular mortals do. They need food and water, warmth, etcetera. They also can breed. However, if their master is strong enough, and they (the bloodbond) are old enough, they may also start to need bloodmeals, as well. At this point, the body begins to stop aging, and to in effect "freeze" the same way a regular vampire’s will. In short, the human power eventually does begin to die out, and over the course of many thousands of years, the bloodbond may become close enough to a true vampire to make the distinction difficult.
  

Master/Bond relationship

• A bloodbond is never equal -- even should there be emotional equality between the two, the power is not. This means that while the master can always sense the bond if he chooses to, the bond cannot sense the master if the master doesn't want her to. Likewise, the vampire can shield himself from sensing his bond, but the bond cannot protect herself should her master want to project something mentally. Nor can she keep the vampire from finding out where she is, should he wish to know that.
  
  If the vampire cares to do so, he can sense if his bond is hurt or in danger, but it's more an intellectual understanding of it; he doesn't feel his bond's pain, he's simply aware of it. If he's strong enough, he might even be able to tell what kind of pain or danger, but usually this isn't possible. He can also, should he wish to, control or influence his bond to do what he wants her to; these commands do not need to be issued openly, and the bond need not necessarily understand why she does it.
  

Breaking a bloodbond

• There are only two ways to break a bloodbond: through the death of the vampire, or through magical means. In the former case, it is unfortunately very likely that the bonded human will die as well, as she has no mental block between herself and her master, and will likely experience his death- something that will almost certainly throw her body into shock, and possibly cause outright cardiac arrest. However, if she survives, the vampiric infection inside her will eventually fade. The amount of time that takes will depend on the strength of her master, and the duration of the bloodbond, and may vary from a few months to a few thousand years.
  
  Some Macht witches (the Smoke line being most likely to try), and certainly Triste witches, are able to break a bloodbond. For Macht witches, it is a very difficult and potentially dangerous procedure, though if done within the first hours of the bond, it is usually fairly effective. For Tristes, it’s a piece of cake... kind of literally, since they can feed on the vampiric power... but joking aside, it is a fairly simple flex of their power, provided they are strong enough and have enough control to break the bond without alerting the vampire and getting killed, and without killing the human accidentally.

Direct links:
General Traits - Kalika, Renaei and Jazlyn - Silver - Mira - Kendra - Akka - Katama - Bloodbonds - FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Note: If you have a question you would like answered, please feel free to PM it to me. If I know the answer, I'll post the question and the answer here; if I don't, I'll tell you so and you can either go ask at the Den of Shadows, or ask me to do so.

General

• Vampires and healing:
  • Q: How quickly does a vampire heal from different wounds and attacks? [When Midnight burned,] did the vampires just transport out of harm's way, walk out unharmed, or did their flesh burn but heal?
    A: Without magical assistance, very few things can seriously harm a vampire. Fire alone wouldn?t do it, though I imagine the magic-induced fire that burned Midnight would have had more lasting effects, if any of the vampires had been stupid enough to stick around and test it.
    
    Q: What about crushed and broken bones?
    A: These are more of an inconvenience, but again, only take a couple seconds to heal.
    
    Q: Gunshot wounds?
    A: It depends on what kind of gun and what kind of bullet. The bigger the hole, the longer it will take to close.
    
    Q: A cut from a magickally protected blade like Aubrey's in In the Forest of the Night?
    A: These will take longer to heal, and severe wounds may be fatal, especially to younger vampires.
    
    Q: A blow to the head?
    A: That depends on how strong a blow. Things that would knock out a human probably won?t hurt a vampire, but if you drop them off a building and the whole skull goes *squish* it?s going to take a while to re-form, and during that time they will be unconscious. If you're talking repeatedly bashing at their head with a baseball bat, most vampires would stop you after the first hit, and be pretty pissed about it.
    
    Q: Beheading?
    A: This will kill almost all of them, exceptions being Kalika, Silver, Renaei, *ponders* That?s probably it.
    
    Q: Being hit by a car (if that is possible; something tells me they'll easily move out the way)?
    A: I?m sure it?s possible; everyone gets distracted sometimes. Is it a big car? I?d refer to the questions about blow to the head and broken bones.
    
    Q: Do you need a magic blade to kill a vampire?
    A: Most of even the stronger vampires can be killed without magic, if you hit the heart right and destroy it before they can stop you. Few vampires are going to be able to get past pain and the shock to their system in the moments between putting a knife in their heart and twisting it to finish the job -- though that?s why one should not use a non-magic blade with Katama's line: they almost invariably have an even higher pain threshold than other vampires.
    

Kalika, Renaei and Jazlyn

• Q: If Kalika was shut in a cave, and vampires can teleport... Why didn't she simply teleport out?
  A: The cave itself was a geode, and through a glitch (occuring when a vampire teleports a fighting Triste directly from his larmaen) the crystal in the walls became saturated with Triste power... in short, firestone. The "bubble" of Triste power was strong enough to lock Kalika inside.
  

Silver (and Mayhem)

• Q: Don't humans freely reside in New Mayhem?
  A: This is actually one of the major differences between Mayhem and Midnight. Humans not only are allowed to live in New Mayhem, but many do, and it is considered crass to harm them. Yes, vampires can feed on humans in Mayhem, but again, it is considered inappropriate for anyone (outside Silver's line, one assumes) to harm one of Mayhem's humans, so said humans are not killed and indeed are generally only fed upon in specific locations. So long as they don?t do anything stupid and irritate the vampires, Mayhem is probably one of the safest places for humans to live. Of course, you?re not supposed to leave, either.
  
  Q: Why aren't the humans allowed to leave Mayhem?
  A: Some humans are allowed to leave Mayhem. However, those who are aware that there are vampires in Mayhem, which is actually only a small segment of the population, are not allowed to leave as they are at that point a danger to Mayhem. Presumably, they could bring back hunters or other threats.
  

Mira

• None yet...
  

Kendra

• None yet...
  

Akka

• None yet...
  

Katama (and Midnight)

• Q: Can masters sense one of their slave's presence after a while or find them instinctually? Like how Jaguar could find Eric if he wanted or needed to without being bonded to him.
  A: This is actually a fairly unique trait of Jeshickah's line. The trainers of Katama's lines have the ability to form mental links with people they work with. It isn't quite as strong as a bloodbond, and can be broken through psycic training, etc, but it's still pretty powerful, and not only enables the trainer to find those he owns, but also works like a back door, providing a pathway past any mental defenses the other person has.
  
  Q: If Jeshickah regards her fledglings as merely pets and political structure as far as a line and etc, would she care if someone tried to kill her fledglings because they could fend for themselves or would she intervene because she'd lose her protection? 
  A: Imagine if you bought a brand new, top of the line car- a Jaguar, or Lamborghini, or something along those lines. You drive around in it; people see you in it. It?s an expensive car, so it denotes wealth and privilege and power and prestige. You also probably worked very hard for a very long time so you could afford it. You personally maintain it, you buy it the best gasoline, give it synthetic oil. Then someone keys it and slashes the tires.
  That?s kind of how Jeshickah would feel about someone trying to kill one of her trainers. She isn?t in love with them, but it would be a mistake to assume she is not emotionally attached just because they?re politics and property.
  
  Q: The only trainers in Midnight are all Jeshickah's slaves originally correct? And if so are they technically still Jeshickah's slaves? Does she have rights over them?
  A: Midnight?s trainers include Taro, Varick, Gabriel and Jaguar -- and of course Jeshickah. Taro, Varick and Jaguar belong to Jeshickah. Gabriel, as a vampire, does not. If you change a free human (and in this case I mean not broken, not just unclaimed by law) he becomes a free vampire. As broken is considered a permanent condition, if you change a human who has been broken, you still own him post-change, as well as anything he owns and hence all fledglings he later creates.
  Trainers not of Katama's line aren't counted here, as they are a creation of Night's Omen and not really canon.
  
  Q: If Taro and Varick are dead Jeshickah doesn't have much of a line left does she? And Midnight must not have many vampire residents?
  A: The majority of Midnight's subjects have always been from Kendra's line. Katama's line was simply the ruling class.
  
  Q: How does Xeke not remember his creator? Didn't someone have to feed him blood when he awoke or tell him of how Nyeusigrube worked? 
  A: Yeeeeh, you'd think he would remember it, wouldn?t he? He claims he was really, really drunk. I?m not sure I trust him.
  
  Q: Why doesn't anyone want to claim him? 
  A: Xeke is a rabble-rouser. He breaks the rules by following them. He irritated powerful people but has enough powerful allies that no one can get rid of him. Who would want to claim responsibility?
  Oh, and there's the fact that Jeshickah absolutely forbid her fledglings from creating their own. And there's the fact (this goes back to a previous question) that technically, as Jeshickah owns most of her fledglings and Xeke is descended from one of them, she owns him, everything he has worked for, and everyone he protects. When Jeshickah came to town, Xeke got out of the way. If he is lying and does remember his creator, Xeke doesn't want to claim that progenitor any more than that vampire wants to claim Xeke.
  

Bloodbonds

• Q: Can nyeusi be bonded?
  A: No, Nyeusi cannot be bonded- at least to another Nyeusi. Technically, they'll all already bonded to Leona, in a far more powerful sense than a bloodbond.

Direct links:
General Traits - Kalika, Renaei and Jazlyn - Silver - Mira - Kendra - Akka - Katama - Bloodbonds - FAQ