Vampires are preternatural creatures that live on human blood. They are not immortal but can live forever. The oldest known was Mr. Oliver, who was about 1 million years old. The majority of old Vamps are in the range of several centuries old. In order to stay alive for centuries a Vampire must be discreet and ruthless. Vampires are practical so most stay near cities where it is easier to hide bodies, find willing donors, and to conceal new Vamps.
Never forget that they are monsters; no matter how human they look, they aren't. Don't take off your cross, don't let them touch you, and don't stare directly into their eyes.
~Circus of the Damned~
Two hundred years ago the Church joined forces with the military in Germany, England, and almost every European country except France. They burned out every vampire or suspected vampire sympathizer in a single day. The history books call is the Day of Cleansing. Vampires call it the Inferno.
It is believed that France did not join because the King of France had a vampire mistress. The French Revolutionaries put out propaganda that the nobility were all vampires at one point, which wasn't true of course. Some say that's why the guillotine was so popular. It kills both the living and the undead.
So Vampires learned to hide. They also learned to use their skills to gain wealth and political power. Ruthless Vampires flourished and spread. Eventually their "children" came to the New World. America being America could not let stand centuries of experience in dealing with the dead. In the 1990's the Supreme Court upheld Addison V. Clarke, a landmark decision that granted legal status and citizenship to Vampires, although they still do not have the right to vote. In the rest of the world they can still be hunted, so Vampires are driving the INS nuts by flocking to the US.
However, since the Supreme Court case Addisson V Clark, Vampires have become legal citizens of the United States with all the rights and privileges there of with the exception of voting. Of all the other countries in the world, only the United Kingdom has offered the same treatment of vampires. Everywhere else they are still hunted and killed on sight.
Vampires live on a diet of blood alone. That means no food. Vampires cannot digest food or drink at all.
Warning! Vampires don't need to kill your victims to enjoy their blood. If a vampire chooses to kill while feeding, an imprtant fact to remember is that it will be difficult to stop. People are like potato chips to vampires. Once you've tasted them, its hard to stop at just one!
Most vampires who do kill are very careful not to flaunt their victims. It attracts attention, usually with a stake in one hand and a cross in the other. Vampires are practical. You dont stay alive for centuries unless you're discreet and ruthless. Most vampires stay near cities where its easy to hide their victims.
One last thing to consider is that no vampire can bite a victim three times within a month without running the risk of killing them and raising them as a vamp.
The fastest growing religion in the US is The Church of Eternal Life. They are the only church that can prove their claim of offering life after death. The congregation is made up of Vampires and people who want to be Vampires. They have counselors to help adherents work though the transition. Human members sport their bites proudly as they see them as signs of salvation. Malcolm is the Master Vampire of the St. Louis Church. They don't appear to stress that the Vampire converts will be submissive to the Master who makes them, just like all other Vampires.
Not everyone, human or Vampire is thrilled with this situation. Some Vampires believe if they remain legal Vampires will eventually extinguish humans, there by destroying their food source, and forcing Vampires to take care of the menial tasks that have always been handled by humans. Many humans also see the danger in legal Vampires. HAV, Humans Against Vampires, work within the law to make vampires illegal again. Human's First is fanatics who believe all vampires should be hunted down and killed. They sometimes work outside the law.
When the liberals became upset about the high rate of unsolved preternatural crime the response was to create a showpiece program, the Regional Preternatural Investigation Team. (Pronounced "rip-it".) Poorly funded and with no special training it is a special police task force which handles all supernatural-related crime. Sometimes called the Spook Squad, most of the officers assigned pissed off some superior. Although they were not expected to actually accomplish anything, the team based in St. Louis has become the premier example in the nation. They actually take the task seriously. Anita Blake is a consultant with them and they now have a cop who is a witch.
Vampire Executioners are people legally licensed to execute vampires. Recently Vampire Executioners have become Federal Marshals. The FBI is establishing its own version of RPIT.
Quick Facts
* It's a mark of the new dead that they flash their fangs around. The like the shock effect.
* Coffin-bait is a whore that does vampires.
* To stay in a city, all lesser vampires must ask the permission of the Master of the City.
* A vampire who has been invited into a home can be forced to leave if the invitation is revoked. You will hear a sound like a low sonic pop. A great roaring will fill the room. The door will smash open and a wind will rush in like an invisible river. The vampire will be forcibly removed as if by an invisible hand. The door will slam shut behind him. A vampire invitation can be revoked only by the person who issued it.
* Anita has never met an older vampire that drives. The older vamps tend to be a bit technophobic.
* Vampires offer their throat, or wrist, or the bend of their elbow to each other as a formal greeting. The lesser offer up their flesh to the greater as an acknowledgment of power.
* When a vampire's companion places their hand on the pulse of the vampire's wrist, it declares their status. It shows that they are his human servant or lover and that the vampire considers them his equal
