Noctian Vampires

Noctian Vampires
Born of darkness, despair and gloom, vampires are a strange and cursed creature of Entheria. Like werewolves, Noctian vampires are not quite men and are not quite animals either - A horrific abomination of both with the traits of intelligence and pure, raw brutality. While it is unclear where exactly they originated from, it is widely believed that they are the offspring of human and demons or monsters.

They appear in human form as sickly, pale, gaunt and thin, with their bones stretched tight against their skin. However, underneath this facade is an unseen primal strength. Their eyes, when they are most hungry, are coloured green-yellow with slitted pupils and have a back sclera. As they feed on mortal blood and flesh, the colour fades away. Other signs of a vampire include withdrawing from sunlight, an aversion to all forms of silver and holy magic, seeming to never age and the inability to heal in daylight. They can consume either to survive but flesh is less fulfilling and ultimately need blood. They will never die of starvation but will eventually go mad with rage.

Noctian Vampires are much more powerful during night hours, healing from battle wounds with ease and appearing to ‘fill out’ their skeletal like forms. Their eyes will also glow, much like a cat’s will in low lighting. Silver, fire and holy magic burns their skin, leaving permanent marks and decapitation is the only true one to cause their death. Only the strongest of vampires can assume a human form or lest they will remain beasts forever more.

Through sheer will or by experiencing a great surge of bloodlust, such as a battle being fought near them, vampires can gain a new form. Upon transforming, they gain a horrific bat-like body that only differs between two things - Prey and their own kind. Their bodies grow large and become like that of an anthropic bat, with their wings acting as forelimbs, wide heads with large ears and covered in fur. Their mouths host many serrated teeth and their fangs also have a vicious bite, tainted with a venom that allows them to paralyse their victims and drag them back to their nests for feeding.

Places of anguish, despair, gloom and death attract vampires like moths to a flame. Ruins, old battlefields and mass graves are the prime locations for vampires and thus, it is common practice for wanderers of these places to have silver weapons and holy symbols. Feral vampires, one binded to their bat form, will reside here in clans, operating together as the one unit. Male ferals are fertile while females are sterile and cannot breed.

The curse of a vampire is spread through two ways - Being bitten by either a feral or human vampire and having the venomous disease spread through the veins of the victim, or by being born as one. The latter is quite rare, due to the mothers of vampires often being killed by their families upon being violated. The disease takes three days to spread through a victim and is almost indistinguishable from the common flu, with hot and cold flushes, night sweats, body aches, fatigue and headaches. The only difference in symptoms is the presence of horrible night terrors that plague the victim.

While it is true that many vampires are perceived as vile, untamable beasts with no sense or morals or intelligence, there have been whispers and legends of vampire lords existing. These creatures are much more powerful than a common vampire, having near-perfect control over both of their forms and their bloodlust. While many of these vampires are centuries old, the term has extended to also include the leaders of clans. Lords appear bigger in their feral form and grow more powerful, gaining the ability to transfer the curse through a mere swipe of their claws.