"Chaos. Dissention [sic]. Disagreement. Sympaths fed off that. Ate it like cake."
-Lover Unveiled, Ch. 22[1]
Also known by the more derogatory term "sin-eaters," the sympaths are a species of mortals closely related to vampires in The Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR. Ward.
The Colony[]
The Territory of the shadows is just 20 miles south and on the far side of a mountain.[2]
Directions[3][]
- Drive north on the Northway until you're about 30 miles from the Canadian border
- Once off the highway head west through orchards and cow farms
- GPS stops working near Ilene Avenue, which is a dirt road amidst cornfields
Farmhouse[3][]
Exterior[]
- A white and dark green sign reads: "TAOIST MONASTICAL ORDER, EST. 1982."
- Trees surround a white farmhouse with four chimneys and dark green shutters and roof
- Rocking chairs and evergreen topiaries adorn the porch.
- The floorboards inside the house are cherry
- Spiderwebs inhabited by white spiders hang in every window
Sitting room[]
- The only furniture taking up the glossy floorboards are four Shaker rocking chairs in a semicircle around the fireplace
Labyrinth[]
Entrance[]
In the barn there's a single stall with a stone slab marked with a geometric pattern set into the concrete floor. Underneath that's a stairway leading to a smooth stone corridor lined with black candles[4] that branches in three directions after 100 yards.[5]
Living Quarters[]
Their living quarters and common areas are to the right.[5]
Mechanical Rooms[]
Straight ahead are rooms for HVAC systems and other infrastructure. Smaller tunnels branch off for heating, air circulation, etc. There's a hidden door to the cavern where Rehvenge was kept prisoner.[5]
Prison[]
Prisoners are kept in glass cells[6] down the left corridor.[5]
Creation[]
How the sympaths, also referred to in the pejorative as sin-eaters by vampires and shadows, first came into existence is yet unknown. Since they can breed with vampires, they are possibly related, however, they are as close to shadows "as a human is to a chicken." They do not appear to worship the Scribe Virgin, or the Omega or the Creator.
Culture[]
When a sympath commits patricide, they are marked with a star tattoo; for matricide, it's a circle. Commoners get black ink, whereas members of the royal family get red ink.[7]
In cases of sexual infidelity, the cheating mate is put to death.[3]
Hierarchy[]
There is no middle class. There's the servant class, which are essentially slaves who're encouraged to breed in order to form the base of the social pyramid. Above them are the royals and the aristocracy.[5]
Clothing[]
All sympaths, no matter their gender, wear long robes with floor-length sleeves and their long hair up.[7] Masks are worn during ceremonies.[6]
Rituals[]
Death[]
Funeral pyres are built on a triangular base of nine 9' vertical posts with a sturdy platform of nine 6' lengths. The upper portion consists of ninety 9' long logs set nine zemuhs (about 9") apart and six 6' logs all laid in perpendicular layers. This complex structure is to ensure airflow and a bright fire.[8]
History[]
They have their own colony with a royal family where they keep to themselves. If Sympaths are found outside of the colony, they are to be reported so that the colony can collect their kind. What is done to them from there is unknown, but half-breeds don't have a long life expectancy there.
The King[]
The king of the sympaths rules from a white marble pedestal seat.
When a king dies, they will typically choose their successor in their will, however, the colony may choose to ignore the directive and choose their new king. Part of the ceremony includes masks, chanting, and the sympaths present themselves mentally to the new king.[6]
The king has the ability to establish mental control over his subjects and commands the spiders and scorpions that inhabit the labyrinth.[6]
Rehvenge is the current king.[9]
Mental Capabilities[]
Sympaths can read the emotional grid of other sentient beings. These grids are described as being points laid out in a three dimensional pattern that indicate their current emotional state and are unique to each person; so unique, in fact, that people who have been reincarnated can be recognized since they have a grid identical to their previous life, albeit with a shadow sub-pattern that's slightly off from the main grid. Most sympaths, however, can block others of their species from reading their own grids.[10]
They feed off of the emotions they are able to elicit in a being; usually, these are not pleasant emotions, such as guilt, anger, sadness, etc. For example, Xhex makes a lesser feel remorse for what he had done and killed himself on her command. This ability allows them to look into someone's mind and see their past, which they use on their prey.
They can create defenses similar to mhis that creates a feeling of dread instead of an illusion.[11]
Physical Characteristics[]
- Sympaths have freakishly long hands with six fingers on each hand and three knuckles on each finger.
- Like vampires, they are also hairless save for the hair on their head.
- Their tears are red blood but their actual blood is blue.
- Unlike vampires, they are not susceptible to the sun.
- Sympaths are immune to poisons and venoms, using them to enhance themselves like perfume.[7]
- Their fingernails grow out red.[7]
- Sympaths are outwardly androgynous
- Their vision is two dimensional and in shades of red; the emotional matrix of people, however, presents three-dimensionally.
Sexuality and Fertility[]
Symphath mating is a civil chess match with an exchange of body fluids at the end. Upon orgasm, the male's barbed genitalia triggers to lock the male and the female together to increase the chances of conception, which causes pain for the female; the barb is an erogenous zone. The Princess was sexually sadistic, although most sympaths tend to get off on emotional and mental anguish rather than the physical.[7]
Female fertility cycles are weird and unpredictable, and when they are pregnant, their vagina develops a raised pattern.[12] Male sympaths have been able to impregnate female vampires without any known issues in fertility, although the female still faces the same dangers of pregnancy and childbirth.
References[]
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=328632185295627&set=a.320475536111292
- ↑ The Shadows, Ch. 20
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lover Avenged, Ch. 15
- ↑ Lover Avenged, Ch. 67
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Lover Avenged, Ch. 68
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Lover Avenged, Ch. 70
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Lover Enshrined, Ch. 35
- ↑ The Shadows, Ch. 70
- ↑ Lover Avenged, Ch. 74
- ↑ Where Winter Finds You, Ch. 11
- ↑ Lover Avenged, Ch. 23
- ↑ Lover Mine, Ch. 22