Paradigm Shift [On-going]

Vampire 101

For centuries, vampires have become characters of folklore and popular legend suggests a vampire is a creature, often fanged, that preys upon humans in order to drink their blood, but myths and legends are not always accurate. Vampires have been featured in folklore and fiction for hundreds of years, but what is the reality of being a vampire and what should you expect?. This guide will help you answer those questions:

Appearance

Vampires share a close physical resemblance to humans however, a vampire's body differs from a human's in several ways. Vampires do not age physically. They do not grow older, taller or have any weight fluctuation and their fingernails and hair does not grow, the body essentially fixes in place. No deterioration. It simply continues to function as it is. Alongside this, the features are refined and perfected. The skin will have a slightly paler tone with perfect smoothness, marble-like texture that contrasts to the firmness of the surface. Freckles, scars, moles, birthmarks and age spots disappear during the transformation. Tattoos, however, remain in place. Vampires have a variety of skin tones. Vampires do not emit body heat or cast a shadow, and although vampires are hypersensitive to light, they can injure it with the right protective clothing. In cold weather, their breath will not be visible. A vampire cannot develop, mentally or emotionally, past the age they were transformed

Newborns

A newborn or newborn vampire is a vampire who is less than a year from transformation. A newborn's physical strength, senses and speed surpass that of an older vampire because they still have their own blood lingering in their veins. As time passes, however, the venom in them will consume that blood, and the newborn's physical capabilities and thirst will slowly diminish until it reaches that of a normal vampire. The newborn phase lasts for three months and human blood is essential for a vampire's health during this time. When stressed, a newborn vampire becomes completely motionless and freezers up. For the first year of a newborn vampire's life, the thirst they experience is maddening and all-encompassing. The smell of blood affects a newborn the same way it does a shark. They can become frenzied and once a vampire gets a taste of human blood, it takes a huge amount of self control for them to not drain a human completely.

Fangs

The teeth of a vampire are identical in structure to normal human teeth, but are slightly stronger. When thirsty or feeding a vampire's fangs will present as the canine teeth elongate and sharpen into a pointed shape. The fangs are strong enough to pierce course materials easily and aid the vampire during feeding. Venom (see venom and transformation) is inserted into a human in order to transform them into a vampire.

Blood and Feeding

Blood is an essential component of a vampire's diet. When they drink blood, it's absorbed throughout the body, and it satiates their thirst and makes them physically stronger. However, they can receive the same nutrition from animal blood, though it smells unappetizing and makes them physically weaker than human blood does. To a vampire, the taste of blood varies massively, but human blood is the most satisfying and hardest to resist. They usually prefer the taste of the blood group they had when they were human. Few vampires have a conscience or value for human life, but those who do usually choose to drink animal blood. By drinking animal blood, the competitive drive disappears and they value human life more. A vampire that abstains from drinking human blood and instead drinks the blood of an animal is referred to as a vegetarian. Some food can be consumed alongside blood, such as (uncooked) red meat and blood sausages. If a vampire does not consume blood for over 14 days by either choice (see suppression) or lack of availability, they will become incredibly irritable and dangerous and dark circles will form under their eyes. Each human scent smells different to a vampire. Some humans smell better than others, and younger humans have more appealing scents than older humans do.