Vampire

"...vampire."

Jim frowned and leaned back, putting his head out into his room. Had he heard that right? Neither of his boys seemed like Twilight fans, although with Adrian, you never knew where the lines were drawn. And ordinarily, he would have let it go. But he hadn't believed in angels, either.... until he frickin' became one.

"You saying I need to invest in garlic?" he shouted out."

-Jim Heron learning of the existence of vampires

Vampires are an ancient race that has lived side by side in secrecy with humans for centuries. For the most part, they are a separate society from humans; in a general sense, vampires are more animalistic than humans, with much stronger instincts and a far greater likelihood of following their instincts over their heads.

Creation

At some point after the Earth and Homo sapiens were created, The Scribe Virgin went to her father, The Creator (the ultimate deity in The Black Dagger Brotherhood and the Fallen Angels series), and begged permission from him to be given the power to create life, too. Her request was granted, but with the caveat that The Scribe Virgin's creations did not compete or eventually come to dominate Homo sapiens or disturb The Creator's plans for the world He had created. The Scribe Virgin agreed to the pact, and with the power of her will, she magically made the vampire species.

Her brother, however, was jealous of her gift of creation, having only the ability to corrupt and destroy. Thus the Omega created the Lessening Society to eradicate all vampires, creating the need for the Black Dagger Brotherhood.

Abilities

Dematerializing

Most vampires, and angels, can disincorporate their molecules to move quickly from place to place. Iron, such as grates and even wounds embedded with it, interferes with this ability. Since this is not instantaneous, they can't use it during the day. Extra weight such as a bag, or strong emotions, can make dematerializing more difficult or even impossible.

Vampires are encouraged to try a few weeks after their transition, although it can take up to a year for the ability to develop. Some half-breeds can't dematerialize at all, such as Butch.

Mental Capabilities

Vampires have a kind of telekinetic minor control over their physical surroundings. They can ignite and extinguish candles, and lock and unlock doors; however, this ability doesn't work on copper items.

They have to ability to erase human memories, implant commands, and even knock them out. Although particularly groups or strong-willed individuals present more of a challenge. A rare few can read the minds of other vampires.

In an extreme emotional state, Wrath, the sole remaining pure-blood vampire on the planet, has generated a type of cold wind that he can wield telepathically to move objects around. Under similar circumstances, John Matthew and Zsadist have also emanated an icy blast.

Culture

Hierarchy

• The First Family: The King, Queen, and their children.
• The Chosen: The religious order.
• The Black Dagger Brotherhood: The elite guards of the First Family and protectors of the race.
• The Glymera: The aristocracy.
• The Professional Classes: White-collar workers.
• The Warrior Classes: The soldiers. Like the Band of Bastards and other non-Brotherhood members who fight as a career.
• The Working Classes: Blue-collar workers, doggen, and serving staff.

Etiquette

Sons-in-law typically show respect to their mothers-in-law by bowing, clasping her extended hand and brushing her knuckles with their forehead.

Festivals

Apples are featured in their winter solstice celebrations. They also observe the summer solstice.

History

• The Chronicles consist of 20 volumes of vampire history

• There are two instances of bringing people back from the dead.
  • Some piece of the Omega, fresh blood, and electricity
  • One was a murderer brought back to use as a weapon
  • A female was brought back as a form of revenge.

• They contain the Dhestroyer prophecy:
  • "There shall be one to bring the end before the master, a fighter of modern time found in the seventh of the twenty-first and he shall be known in the numbers he bears. One more than the compass he hath perceives though mere four points to make at his right. Three lines has he, two scores on his fore, a single black eye, in one well will he be birthed and die."

Honour

Vows are taken very seriously in vampire culture and tend to be phrased in formal, formulaic formats such as "on my honour and by the blood in my veins." The downside to this virtue is that the honour of females, especially those in the glymera, is associated with their chastity.

In cases where a wrong has been done to a person or house, they may form an honour guard of four people to beat the offender as reparation. The offender may fight back and the guard is not supposed to kill them because it's meant to be an eye for an eye.

The King

The King has absolute power and wears a black diamond ring.

Laws

The laws mentioned in the series are as follows:

• All sympaths, including those of mixed race, found living among the general populace are deported to the sympath colony up north.
• An affidavit is signed in blood.
• If anyone's found guilty of treason, their assets automatically go to the king.
• The king may sleep with any female of the species.
• Slavery was outlawed as a mating gift to Zsadist.
• It's a capitol offense to associate with a known traitor.
• The law used to forbid the King from fighting alongside the Brotherhood, but that was changed partly out of necessity and partly because Wrath is a warrior at heart.
• It is forbidden to feed a human vampire blood.
• A commoner who takes the virginity of a female from a Founding Family could be put to death.
• The vampire king may declare a female of the aristocracy under sehclusion as a result of a petition by the female's family or the Princeps Council. This places the female under the sole discretion of her ghardian, typically the eldest male in her household. He then has the legal right to determine all aspects of her life, restricting at will any and all interactions she has with the world.
• A vampire is legally a minor until one year after their transition.
• Assault and murder are punishable by prison and a fine, the size of the fine depends on the "worth" of the victim
  • The highest fines are when the victims are members of the Brotherhood or pregnant noblewomen
  • The next bracket is occupied by young, post-trans males who are the- first son of a founding family
    • In the case of Lash, it was $5 million.

• A birth certificate is basically a family tree.
• The offspring of a human and vampire have historically been "held to a different standard" by the law and accorded less rights and privileges.
• If someone dies without issue, the estate goes to the next of kin, no matter how distant the relation. If the person is murdered under those circumstances, however, their property, real or otherwise, goes unto the Council. The intent of the law was to discourage heirs who were not first-degree offspring like sons or daughters from killing their benefactors, on the theory that direct issue have enough of an emotion connection to their blooded parents to avoid matricide or patricide no matter how large the inheritance. In fact, however, the law served as a fundraiser for the Council.

The Glymera

The social core of the aristocracy, roughly equivalent to Regency England's ton.

Prison Camp

It was mentioned in The Jackal, that the glymera created and was in charge of the prison camps before 1808 (two decades before the start of the book). The glymera became bored with prisons and no longer controlled them. Eventually, a prisoner that gained power controlled the prison.

Language

The language historically used by vampires is referred to as the Old Language. The written language has been described by humans as an amalgamation of Mandarin characters and Egyptian hieroglyphs. See Terminology for more vampire linguistics.

Music

There's a lullaby from the Old Myths about the four seasons of the year, which is also used as a metaphor for the stages of life.

The spring's pale green cloak...the summer's bright-flowering veil...the fall's chilling weave...the winter's blanket of cold...Seasons not just of the earth but of every living thing, the peak to strive for and the victory of fruition, followed by the fall from the crest and the soft, white light of the Fade that was the eternal landing.

Princeps Council

Princeps are the highest level of the aristocracy second only to members of the First Family or the Scribe Virgin's Chosen and one must be born to this title, it is not conferred. Only those of the first six families may vote on the Council, which is led by the Leahdyre, all other members are non-voting but may provide arguments when it comes to passing resolutions. Females may not become Leahdyre.

The charter, which was drafted in 1790, states that the council must be seated in Caldwell and hold its meetings there to ensure that the power base doesn't move.

Once a resolution passes unanimously, it goes to the King as a recommendation. While the King has the right to veto, the Council can also hold a vote of confidence in retaliation. If it was no confidence, then it would lead to social upheaval.

Known members:

• Alyne, former member
• Havers, non-voting
• Ibix, former Leahdyre
• Lohstrong, former Leahdyre
• Marissa, voting
• Montrag, former member
• Rehvenge, Leahdyre
• Sampsone, former Leahdyre

Rituals

Birth

Safe and successful births are celebrated for weeks. The front door of the home is draped with fabric in the family's colours and flower wreaths are hung on every door in the house, including closets and cabinets, to represent the young passing through to this side. Fireplaces burn sweet-smelling, long-lasting logs treated to burn red to symbolize the new blood of the family.

24 hours after the birth, friends and family tie a ribbon bow of their family's colours to the crib with the tails hanging to the ground as a pledge to watch over the young.

Cleansing

Blood is burned as part of a cleansing ritual.

Death

• Prayers are recited for a peaceful transition and rest in the Fade.

• The person preparing the body traditionally wears a black robe

• Starting with the right hand, arm, shoulder, and leg, they wrap the body in 3" wide linen strips that have been soaked in rosemary, lavender, and sea salt.
  • When binding the groin, anyone present of a different gender to the deceased turns their backs out of respect
  • The salt acts as a sealant against leakage and helps preserve the body, the herbs mask odors and represent "the fruits of the earth and cycles of growth and death."

• If cremated, the ashes are scattered rather than kept.
• At the Fade ceremony, the attendees all wear white to represent the unending light of the Fade and the hopes that they'll reunite with their loved one there.
  • The name and bloodline of the deceased is read
  • If the deceased is survived by a male mate, a hot branding iron is pressed atop the name of the shellan carved into his back. Like when the name was carved, the burn wound is set with saltwater to ensure scarring. Unlike a mating, the male is supposed to scream from pain as his final good-bye.

• Households in mourning will drape black cloth over any mirrors, burn incense, and paint the front door jam black.

Mating

• The king signs off on mating requests.

• Children are listed on the marriage scroll.

• Warriors have the name of their shellan carved into their back so everyone knows to whom they belong and the wounds are set with salt to ensure scarring.
  • They're supposed to bear in the pain in silence to prove they're worthy of their shellan and the mating.

Superstitions

Vampires, especially the glymera, can be a superstitious lot. Here are some examples:

• Pregnant females are never depicted from the breastbone down.
• The birth of a set of healthy twins is seen as a bad omen because that's too much good fortune at once and something tragic will inevitably happen soon after to maintain balance.
• It's considered unlucky for a female of a Founding Family to touch anything related to death, particularly if she's pregnant or of child-bearing age.
• To ward off evil, one kisses their knuckles and raps the veins on either side of their neck.

Physical Characteristics

Vampires are an extant genera of hominid, like Homo Sapiens. As such, they have almost all the same characteristics as human beings: they are mammalian, walk on two legs, have a higher functioning brain and the ability for speech, etc. Notable differences include:

• Their hearts with six chambers
• They don't react well to Demerol.
• They have no body hair save for that on their head, their eyebrows, and occasionally facial hair on males.
  • Half-breeds may have body hair until they transition, at which point it all falls out.
  • Others may have some body hair, such as on their lower legs.
• Their blood pressure's lower than that of a human's.
• They're very stable under heavy sedation because it puts them into a sort of dormancy.
• Their blood is untypeable by standard human blood tests.
• They have two livers.
• Their sexual response to a female in her breeding time is more passionate than a dozen normal human sex sessions combined (they are easily stimulated and multi-orgasmic). Read more about it in Sexuality and Fertility.
• Their internal organ function is far superior to that of human beings.
• They also have a vastly expanded longevity (~1,000 years—more than ten times that of humans).

Vampire bodies are, on average, considered tall. Most males stand at or around six feet, and most females are close to that six-foot mark as well. As a result of breeding powerful characteristics over the generations, the warrior classes of Vampires all tend to be giants, even among the race (Wrath tops off at 6'9", Butch and John Matthew at 6'8", Xcor at 6'6", etc.), and they are all thickly muscled. However, this is not in such freakish proportions that they appear alien.

Vampires are stronger and faster than the other species: Humans, Sympaths, Lessers, and Shadows being the other four; only their cousins, the Shadows, come close to matching them when it comes to physical strength and fitness. Members of the Black Dagger Brotherhood have been known to be able to bench 500 lbs and lift free weights of 275 lbs.. when lifting weights and to run five-minute miles on the treadmill without breaking a sweat. Even the non-warrior class and the females of the species seem capable of benching an average human's weight with ease, as evidenced by Marissa's show of strength when handling Butch.

Fangs

Vampires, as is expected of the genre, have fangs that only come when they go through the change. They are retractable to an extent, appearing as oversized incisors when fully contracted. At full extension, they prevent the mouth from being fully closed. They use their fangs to intimidate, fight, and of course, feed, although they are sometimes used more creatively in intimate settings. Fangs can extend without conscious volition when the vampire is angry, aroused, frightened, or hungry.

Physical Strengths and Weaknesses

Vampires are stronger, have better vision in low light, and have a more acute sense of smell than humans. They can detect blood, even from minor wounds, oil leaks in vehicles, and other subtle scents. They can also determine if a female is fertile or pregnant. Vampires don't leave fingerprints, which helps them avoid the notice of human authorities.

Death and Disease

In addition to being resistant to infections, vampires are impervious to getting:

• Sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
• Cancer
• Human viruses
• Most other human illnesses

Vampires can develop

• Dementia/Alzheimer's
• A form of Parkinson's disease
• Mental illnesses such as PTSD, manic depression, and suicidal ideation such as those who seek treatment at Safe House

There are some diseases unique to vampires such as:

• Crane's Lethargy
  • An autoimmune disease that causes the immune system to attack the digestive system.
  • Evidence suggests that this is a recessive trait that typically presents in males, especially in the glymera due to inbreeding.

• Freezing Disease
  • Unique to the Chosen of the Sanctuary

Vampires do have their own versions of the cold and flu. Also, they are not impervious to sustaining bodily damage, and can die from:

• Bleeding out
• Massive systemic trauma
• Organ failure
• Food starvation
• Dehydration
• Blood starvation
• Burning
• Freezing
• Poisoning
• Sepsis
• Brain damage
• The transition to full adult vampire
• Complications resulting from the birthing process

While vampires can heal from many wounds with little to no scarring, salt will set a wound and ensure that scar tissue forms.

Sunlight

Vampires are not allergic to garlic or religious objects of any faith. That is, as they say, superstitious nonsense. They do, however, burn in sunlight, which allows the species to be kept in check, per the pact the Scribe Virgin made with the Creator.

Depending upon the purity of their vampire blood, most vampires are allergic to sunlight. Full-breed Vampires and those turned from human to vampire seem to be unable to tolerate sunlight, while some genetic half-breeds seem quite capable of going out in sunlight without damage.

As a warning if they're out just before sunrise, vampires get a tingling down their spine and start to shake if they don't seek cover, almost like an adrenaline dump from a fight or flight response.

Effect on Full Bloods

Adult vampires get third-degree burns when exposed just a bit to sunlight, and prolonged exposure can lead to instantaneous combustion and disintegration. For example, Rhage receives second and third-degree burns on his body after accidentally falling asleep in Mary's apartment while the window shades were open. When the dawn's light touched him, he was burned and rushed for cover. We see this again, in a flashback scene in Lover Enshrined, when The Omega impregnates a nameless female Vampire and leaves her dead body exposed to the sun (she died giving birth to Lash, The Omega's son). The female Vampire's body spontaneously combusts as the sunlight touches it, and the fire eventually consumes the house, eradicating all traces of her ever having been there and her death.

Effects on Half-Breeds

Beth can go into the sunlight without sustaining any damage, only her eyes seem mildly affected by the sun's brightness.

Effects on Turned Vampires

Butch is the only recorded half-breed to have ever been turned. Vishous sliced both of Butch's wrists and drained him of his blood, injected him with Wrath's blood, and then resuscitated him using an AED and CPR. Afterwards, he was in blood lust, lost all body hair, and could no longer bear sunlight.

On the flip side, Lash was half-Vampire and half-Lesser; when he came back to life, he was able to go out into the sunlight without sustaining damage, just as Lessers do.

Eating Habits

Vampires, while they do require blood, must also eat on a regular basis much the same as humans. Vampires do not tend to call meals 'breakfast', 'lunch' and 'dinner', but rather (more literally) 'First Meal' and 'Last Meal'. It is unclear as to what they call their version of lunch, as it is rarely mentioned in the series.

There has been no mention of vegetarian or vegan vampires in the series.

Blood

Vampires need to drink the blood of the opposite sex to sustain themselves, and while they can survive on human blood it is very weak in the qualities they require and forces the vampire to drink far more frequently. With very few exceptions, vampires feed off other vampires.

The taste of their blood has been described as that of red wine or port, and can act as an intoxicant.

During the blood exchange, both parties can share emotions or induce an emotion in the other party. While feeding isn't necessarily sexual, it usually is since it's a form of intimacy. Vampires can track those who have taken blood from them.

There are homosexual and bisexual vampires like Qhuinn and Blaylock. However, all vampires regardless of sexual orientation must drink from the opposite sex, per their biology.  Some cases in the novels have shown that male vampires bonded and either have a human partner or a partner of the same sex have called out to the Chosen to have a willing female to feed from. There has even been a case where a pregnant bedridden bonded female's partner has chosen to feed from another to protect his own.

A well-fed vampire can go without food for a number of days. Typically, a vampire needs to take blood about every eight weeks, depending on their stress and activity levels. If they go too long without it, then they became thinner and thinner, wasting away no matter how much they eat.

Bloodlust

If a vampire goes too long without taking blood, they can go into bloodlust. Vishous describes it as akin to really bad food poisoning. Signs and symptoms include:

• Aching fangs
• Aggression
• Blurry/dim vision
• Dry mouth
• Fatigue
• Painful stomach cramps
• Vertigo

Relations with Other Races

Humans

The vampires need to keep their existence a secret in order to protect themselves from being targeted out of fear or for scientific experiments. This is easier due to the fact that vampires tend to look down on humans as "rats without tails." There are laws against exposure such as feeding the blood of a vampire to a human. When it comes to the Brotherhood, humans must prove themselves trustworthy otherwise they're seen as little more than potential lessers.

Lessers

The Omega's followers are the number one risk to vampires since they exist only to eradicate all vampires.

Shadows

Although they're an evolutionary off-shoot of vampires, Shadows prefer to keep to themselves. Trez is the only known Shadow to have mated outside of their subspecies. The Queen of the Shadows and the King of the Vampires are on amicable terms.

Sympaths

The law dictates that all sympaths, or anyone with sympath blood, must be exiled to their colony. The only known exceptions are Xhex and the King of the Sympaths, Rehvenge, who is on amicable terms with Wrath.

Sexuality and Fertility

Bonding

Bonding male vampires release an aroma of dark spices that marks their intended lover as theirs and warns off other males; the scent acts as a pheromone. Other males tend to stay away from newly bonded couples in order to avoid conflict. If the male's bonded female is in harm's way or another male threatens to poach, he becomes animalistic in his aggression to protect his mate, attacking even friends if they're a perceived threat. There is nothing more dangerous than a bonded male with a pregnant shellan.

Even otherwise logical and level-headed males develop a complete set of instincts that are impossible for them to overcome. For example, a bonded male would never take food intended for his shellan, not even if she won't eat it and he was faint with hunger. When a shellan cooks for her mate, it's an almost sacred act to him because of his own need to provide for her, first and foremost. While bonded males can be aggressive and domineering, they follow their shellan's every command as long as it doesn't interfere with her safety.

Once bonded, a male won't be attracted to, let alone be able to perform with, anyone else.

Needing

Aside from the Chosen in the Sanctuary, female vampires are only fertile once every ten years, starting approximately five years after their transition. They have an extra hormone that creates a system-wide response similar to a heat in certain animals so human contraceptive drugs don't work on females. Conception during the needing is not guaranteed.

A needing lasts approximately 16-24 hours. During a needing, the female in heat will experience debilitating cramps if they're not engaged in intercourse. They'll also have elevated body temperature and will produce strong pheromones to attract a mate of the opposite sex to fulfill the biologic need to reproduce the species. The total circumference of the pheromonal range is unknown, but appears to be at least twenty-five to fifty meters, as it tends to be felt all across the Brotherhood's mansion.

The pheromones have an immediate and powerful effect on all males caught within its vicinity no matter their species or mated status; they become instantly primed for sexual intercourse, which can last for some time even after being removed from the area of effect.

Needing can be triggered in other females in the vicinity much like female humans' menses synchronizing when in close contact for long periods of time.

Traditional conservatives believe that the female vampire and her unborn young belong solely to their mate and therefore no medical decisions regarding a pregnancy, including preventing one, may be made without the male's consent. Those who are less burdened by the sake of tradition for tradition's sake believe in the autonomy of the pregnant vampire.

While male vampires are always fertile and occasionally impregnate human females, there have been no known cases of female vampires being impregnated by human males.

Aside from abstinence, there are no known birth control options for vampire females. There are three methods for dealing with a female in her needing:

1. Using drugs to sedate the female in her needing until the needing has passed. This is mainly to prevent her suffering since her body will continue to produce pheromones whether or not she's conscious.
2. Have a male service her.
3. If a female vampire chooses not to use drug cocktails to render herself unconscious during the needing, and do not wish to be serviced, she will suffer the painful effects of the needing naturally until the needing passes.

Pregnancy

Since children are rare, the entire race seems to hold the issue of conception and pregnancy to be almost sacred, and females who do become pregnant are often revered and cared for with great attentiveness by all of the species. However, pregnant females who are unmated are morally judged, especially by the glymera.

If a female vampire does conceive and manage to carry to term she will carry the baby for 18 months until she is due, rather than the typical 9 months of female humans. It is a rarity, as the entire pregnancy is tenuous for a female vampire. Dematerializing after the sixth month is discouraged as is feeding males after the 16th.

Twins are rare, and triplets are virtually unheard of. Occasionally, a second fertilized embryo will implant, but not develop at the same time as the first egg, instead quickening at a later time.

Birth is incredibly dangerous to both the female and the young. Many die in the effort or the mother's health may never again be fully rejuvenated after the birth, regardless of whether the child is born healthy or is stillborn. Sometimes, the fetus can die, but remain in utero and medical intervention is required before infection sets in.

Stages of Life

The stages of life are a recurring theme in vampire culture, typically depicted, respectively, as a baby, a young post-transition male, a father holding his son, and an elder with his grown son standing beside him.

Infancy and Childhood

Although vampire infants physically grow at the same rate as their human counterparts, their cognitive development is faster. A two-month-old baby vampire is mentally comparable to a nine-month-old human baby.

Typically referred to as "young," vampires go through rapid growth spurts more so than their human counterparts, who have more of a steady progression in comparison.

Pre-Transitioned

A vampire's body ages very similarly to a human's during infancy and childhood. Unlike humans though, vampire sex attributes and the usual changes with puberty do not occur until they transition, like:

• Vocal changes.
• Sexual arousal heightening.
• Development of breasts and hips.

It should be noted, however, that half-breeds appear to develop physically before transitioning as Beth and Jo were noted to both have the bodies of adult females before they went through the change. Butch had developed as a human before turning, although he did grow taller and put on more muscle during his.

The Change

When a pre-trans is approaching the change, they can experience:

• Aching canines
• Aching muscles
• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Increasing aggression
• Restlessness

During the change, they are likely to experience:

• Changes in vision
• Fever
• Loss of their canines
• Extreme pain for males as their bones undergo rapid growth and put on muscle

Immediately afterwards, the vampire is starving and typically craves bacon and chocolate. Their skin becomes extremely sensitive for about a week.

Transitioned

Typically vampires are known to transition around twenty-five, though there have been cases where they have transitioned earlier or later. If the vampire survives Transition, their bodies morph during the process into that of a fully grown adult vampire. After Transition, Vampires age very slowly. They tend to age no more than a single year for every fifty years they live. Their average life span is 700 years.

Their bodies on average are considered tall. Most males stand at or around six feet, and most females are close to that six-foot mark. That is as a result of breeding powerful characteristics over the generations. The warrior classes of vampires all tend to be muscled giants, however, their proportions are not viewed as freakish. The Brothers are on average well over six feet tall with Wrath standing the tallest at 6'9".

Old Age

After Transition, Vampires age very slowly, appearing to age no more than a single year for every fifty years they live. At the very end of their lives, sometime around the last decade or so, the aging process rapidly increases. At that point, vampires begin:

• To wrinkle.
• Develop liver spots.
• Muscle strength decreases.
• Develop dementia
• Internal organs begin slowing down and preparing for death.
• The hair on their head turns grey/white.
• Their energy levels decrease until many are left bed-ridden (e.g. Rehvenge and Bella's mother).