thirst in a vampire. They appear darker and more obvious when the vampire has not recently fed.
?While vampires are frightening and deadly, they are also alluring. They can be beautiful; they can be sophisticated; they have qualities that we actually aspire to: eternal youth, strength, and intelligence. The dual side to vampires makes them hard to resist.? —Stephenie TEETH:
Vampire teeth appear the same as human teeth; the canines are not longer or more pointed than human canines. However, vampire teeth are unbreakable, razor sharp on their edges, and strong enough to cut through almost any substance, including vampire skin.
MOVEMENT:
Less noticeable than these physical features is the vampire‘s tendency toward stillness.
Unlike humans, who grow uncomfortable after holding one physical position for a time, vampires are most comfortable when perfectly motionless. A common vampire reaction to stress is a statue-like immobility.
Vampires breathe reflexively, as do humans, but they have no need for oxygen. They are able to consciously stop breathing for an indefinite period, but they find the sensation uncomfortable. Vampires rely on their sense of smell above other senses, similar to many animal predators. The lack of smell is what causes the discomfort from not breathing.
PETRIFICATION:
Some very old vampires are visibly different from others because of this stillness. If a vampire remains unmoving often enough over thousands of years, dust actually begins to petrify in response to the venom-like liquids that lubricate his eyes and skin. Eventually, a vampire‘s skin begins to appear thin and translucent, like the skin of an onion — though the strength of the skin is not compromised. A milky film covers the eyes, making the irises appear pink in color.
Again, the vampire‘s eyesight is not compromised.
FLUIDS:
Internally, the vampire‘s system contains many venom-based fluids that resemble, and in some cases perform the same function as, the human fluids that were replaced. Only the saliva-like liquid in the vampire‘s mouth is venomous. A fluid similar to this venom works as a lubricant between the hard cells of the skin, making movement possible. Another lubricates the vampire‘s eyes so they can move easily in their sockets. However, vampires do not produce tears, as tears exist to protect the eye from damage by small foreign objects, and those objects would not be able to harm a vampire‘s eye. Throughout the body, this pattern is repeated, with venom-like fluids performing the functions that are still necessary to the vampire. Most notably absent is the circulatory system.
Vampires are frozen in the state at which they are transformed.
PHYSICAL CHANGE:
Vampires are frozen in the state at which they are transformed. They do not grow older, taller, or wider, or experience any other physical change, including unconsciousness (vampires never sleep). Their fingernails and hair do not grow. Their hair does not change color.
ABILITIES AND LIMITATIONS
A vampire‘s physical and mental abilities far exceed those of a human being. Vampires can run in excess of a hundred miles per hour. They are able to lift objects hundreds of times their own weight. Their senses are similarly boosted, giving them the ability to see, hear, and smell things imperceptible to humans. Their skin is harder than granite, rendering their bodies nearly indestructible. Their minds work many times faster than humans‘ are capable of, and all vampires have perfect recall.
IMMORTALITY:
Vampires do not age from the moment their transformation is complete. Vampires have no natural life cycle; they exist in this progressionless status indefinitely. This is a conditional form of immortality, as they
One facet of the absence of aging is that vampires do not develop emotionally or mentally past the age at which they are transformed. A transformed child would remain childlike forever, unable to mature in any aspect.
NUTRITION:
Vampires do not have a circulatory system. Their bodies are harder than human bodies, but their cells are selectively porous. They receive nutrition only from blood, which, once drunk, is absorbed throughout the body. Blood satiates their thirst and makes them physically stronger, but it is not necessary for life. Vampires cannot starve to death; they only get progressively weaker and thirstier as time goes on. They are not able to digest solid food. If a vampire swallows a solid as a subterfuge, that substance will sit in his stomach until he forces it back out through his mouth.
Human blood is the most appealing to vampires — and hardest to resist. However, they can receive the same nutritional strength from animal blood. Vampires do not need to feed as often as humans do; drinking the blood of one human is enough to satiate a mature vampire for a week or two.
SUPERNATURAL ABILITIES
Most vampires find their key personality characteristics intensified by the vampire transformation in the same way their physical abilities are strengthened, but relatively few have abilities that can be classified as supernatural. More common would be a human with a love of learning becoming a vampire with an insatiable scholarly curiosity, or a human with a deep value for human life becoming a vampire with the strength to avoid human blood.
But a few vampires do develop additional abilities that go beyond the natural. These extra abilities are due to psychic gifts in the original human that are intensified in the resulting vampire. For example, a human who was very sensitive to other people‘s moods might develop the vampire ability to read thoughts or influence emotions. A human who had some limited precognition might develop into a vampire with a strong ability to see the future. A human with a good instinct for hunting might become a powerful vampire tracker.
The proportion of supernaturally talented vampires to ?normal? vampires is greater than the proportion of psychically gifted humans to ?normal? humans. This is due to the same factor of temperament that results in more beautiful humans being selected to become vampires.
Vampires are also drawn to gifted humans when they look to create companions. Some vampires actively seek out the gifted in the hope of utilizing that extra ability in their coven.
?I‘ve always loved superheroes, so the vampires I created actually have a lot more in common with
