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# Vampires

Story
The lanterns of Blackmere’s streets guttered in the autumn wind, their flames dimming one by one. Siren bells rang faintly from the harbor, yet the alleys seemed too quiet, as though the city held its breath.
A lone watchman leaned on his spear, muttering about the cold, when a woman’s voice drifted from the shadows. Smooth, low, inviting. He turned, and she stepped forward, her cloak heavy with rain, her smile soft.
“Are you alone?” she asked.
The watchman swallowed, his grip faltering. Her eyes caught the light of the last lantern, gleaming red for an instant, and the night folded around them. His spear clattered to the stones.
When dawn came, the patrol found him still alive, pale as milk, sitting against the wall with a dazed smile. He would not speak, but when they tried to lead him home, he begged to be left behind. His lips were stained crimson, and when he whispered, it was a prayer not to the city’s saints, but to the Queen of the Blood Harvest.

Vampire portrait

Predators clothed in elegance and shadow, vampires are both feared and mythologized. They walk the night as hunters of blood, yet cloak their hunger in ritual and faith.

## Supernatural Abilities

Vampires are well known in folk lore, and their strengths and weaknesses are often told.

### Strengths

- Vampires see perfectly in darkness, their eyes catching even the faintest glimmer of light.
- They can fade into shadow, slipping from notice unless watched with unwavering focus.
- Their gaze can ensnare the weak-willed, bending thoughts and stilling resistance.
- Drinking blood heals their wounds with unnatural speed and restores their strength of body and mind.
- Time cannot touch them. They do not age and carry centuries of memory.
- Mortal weapons harm them little, save those touched by divine power or true sorcery.
- By feeding sparingly, they can bind mortals with hunger and longing, creating slaves who crave their touch.
- Their pain tolerance is inhuman. They can mask their breath, still their hearts, and endure blows that would shatter mortals.
- They move with unnatural grace, able to leap far and strike with a speed that defies expectation.
- They can create vampires by giving people some of their own blood.
- They can take the form of mist, bat, or wolf.
- They can fly.

### Weaknesses

- Sunlight burns them, searing their flesh to ash. Even a few breaths under its glare leaves scars.
- Hunger gnaws at them constantly. Without blood, they grow frenzied, mindless, and violent before collapsing into a deep, helpless hibernation.
- Fire wounds them more cruelly than steel, though it cannot end them without holy or enchanted aid.
- Symbols of true faith, wielded with conviction, scorch their skin and repel their advance, no matter the creed.
- Though hard to kill, their ashes scatter easily. A vampire caught in their death-throes may be lost forever if burned or broken before feeding.
- Their shadows sometimes stir of their own accord, stretching or whispering toward prey.
- Vampires can't sire children.
- They cannot cross a threshold uninvited.
- Garlic wards them away.
- A simple stake through the heart kills them.
- Running water destroys them.
- The cock’s crow turns them to dust if they are still awake.
- Silver is their bane.
- Mirrors cannot reflect them.
- They live only by killing.

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