Vampires -Beautiful and terrible, they are seductive and destructive. Whether the prey is willing or not the vampire must feed. The more intelligent vampires will congregate themselves at the Los Angles branch of the Church of Eternal Life, where those wishing to live forever can go and get this wish fulfilled. Others take to the streets in search for the freaks, vampire junkies and coffin bait. do not breath a sigh of relief, as Vampires are above all monsters, and they will feed upon the unwilling at random. Trust in your senses as the sensualism of the Vampire can draw you in no matter your sexual preference. Yet those with strong will can fight the Vampire off, mentally that is, but it all depends upon the strength of the Vampire, for once the Vampire passes a certain age, your fighting may be in vain.
Vampires are long lived. The oldest one known was at least a million years old, but most are in the range of several centuries old. They can withstand most attacks and can be killed with a wooden stake through the heart. However, thanks to modern technology, other means have been discovered. They can be sawed in half with an uzi. They can be killed with a bullet if it is injected with silver nitrate. A hypodermic needle filled with silver nitrate is also effective. They should also have their head cut off and their heart cut out and burnt, the ashes sprinkled over running water. Vampires are unable to enter a dwelling until they have been first invited inside. Once invited inside, however, they can return whenever they wish, until the invitation is revoked. If they are in the house at the time, the removal is swift and magical, with the door opening and a wind driving them out.
Master Vampires possess additional powers above that of the normal vampire.
They can call an animal to their aid, including lycanthropes of that animal.
They also usually have an additional power, depending upon what vampire created
them. Some can use sex as a means of gaining power or obtaining nourishment.
Others use fear. Still others have the ability to lose their form and rot,
like a corpse. In this form, it is very difficult to kill them, and they can
reform at a later time to their original state. Master of the City is a term
used for the master vampire in charge of the other vampires in a city. It
is a term of power, but it also gives power to the master vampire that wields
that title.
Vampires cannot face holy objects if faith is used to back them up. Not only
crosses, but also holy items from other religions. When they confront them,
a bright light shines from them and the object will burn, especially if it
comes in actual contact with the vampire's skin. A religious symbol can include
crosses as well as miniature holy books, like the Torah.
When a master vampire is part of a pack feeding and the victim dies, in three
days they will rise from the dead as a an animalistic vampire; a revenant.
It's like they are on PCP. Pain doesn't stop them. Even the pain of confronting
a cross. Against one such vampire, a hole was burnt into a woman's chest because
the heat of the cross reacting to the vampire was too great.
When a vampire victim dies, he/she is brought to the Kaiser Medical Center.
It is no longer being used as a human hospital, as only the morgue is being
utilized now. There is a vault, built in the 1930s that contains a glass tank
full of animals and a vampire counselor to welcome the newly dead.
A master vampire has certain powers over the lesser vampires that they bring
over. These include being able to completely weaken the lesser vampire by
act of will alone and putting them to sleep in their coffins. It is possible
for a male vampire to mate with a female mortal and produce children. However,
in order for this to occur, the body temperature of the vampire needs to be
closer to human norm. Another drawback is the possibility of Vlad's Syndrome,
which is a child born as a revenant. Most of the time, children of such unions
spontaneously abort. Female vampires cannot bear live young. More often than
not, their bodies absorb the fetus back once again. The dead cannot give birth
to life.
Vampires can have different forms. For example, Janos, Bettina, Pallas and
Yvette have a form that is rotting, which is not an illusion, but a true form,
according to Jean-Claude. They can rot and reform and are therefore much harder
to kill. Fire is the only sure way of killing them. Some master vampires have
the ability to feed by means other than blood. Some can use fear as a secondary
source of "nourishment" and are called night hags or moras. A very
few are able to use lust as a source, and were once known as the incubus/succubus.
A pomme de sang (apple of blood) is a sobriquet given by the Council to individuals
who are considered willing food for the vampires. It is against the rules
to kill one and the repercussions can be severe depending upon which one is
killed.
The Vampire Marks
(taken from the Anita Blake Compendium)
"The third mark, without your... help would be like rape to making love.
You would hate me for all eternity if I took you by force."
I turned my back on him and grabbed the curtain.
"You got that right."
(Circus of the Damned, page 241, paragraph 9)
When a vampire wants a human servant , he/she must give their intended four
vampire marks. Only a master vampire can have a human servant.
First Mark
The vampire shares his/her "life force" with the human. This makes
the human immune to their vampire's glance, voice and mind tricks. However,
they might still be susceptible to other vampires. Anita, being a necromancer,
became immune to almost vampires with this mark. In addition, it becomes much
harder to hurt the human servant.
Second Mark
Two points of flame from the vampire come and overtake the human. They merge
into the human's eyes, causing them to glow briefly with color, and then they
vanish. After this point, the dreams of the human can be invaded by the vampire.
Also, the vampire can feed off the human from a distance, and can sustain
their life energy by using the life energy of the human servant as opposed
to drinking blood. The human will tend to eat much more than normal and the
extra energy is siphoned off by the vampire and the vampire can taste the
food that is being eaten.
Third Mark
The vampire drinks the blood of the human, not to death, but close enough.
During this time, the initial bite might hurt, but then the scents take over.
Depending upon the vampire, or depending upon whether there is another focus
(ie a werewolf or some other third in a triumverate ) a scent is detected.
Sometimes flowers ( Alejandro ) and sometimes earthy, woodsy scents ( Richard
). This establishes a more firm link. Direct mind contact can now be opened
between the vampire and his/her human servant.
Fourth Mark
The vampire opens a blood supply, usually in the chest, and the human servant
drinks from it. Usually a phrase of power is chanted at the moment of the
feeding.
"Blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh, two minds with but one body, two
souls wedded as one."
( GP p. 225)
"Blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh, the two shall be as one. One flesh,
one blood, one soul."
( CD p. 317)
The human servant is now very difficult to kill and will live as long as
the vampire lives. Some human servants have been known to be several centuries
old.
The result is, the human lives as long as the vampire does and possesses his/her
strength and stamina, without giving up the daylight. Wounds heal much more
quickly and they can withstand greater levels of physical pain. They are linked
to the vampire telepathically, but the vampire cannot 'roll their mind' anymore.
A human does not necessarily need all four marks to become a human servant.
For example, Anita Blake was considered Jean-Claude 's human servant when
she had no marks, and now, with only three of the four marks, she is still
referred to as his human servant.
Anita's Marks
First Mark - (Jean Claude) GP-44
Second Mark - (Jean Claude) GP-70
First Mark - (Alejandro) CD-182/240
Second Mark - (Alejandro) CD-269
Third Mark - (Alejandro) CD-317
Fourth Mark - (Alejandro) CD-317
(At Alejandro's death, all the marks were cancelled)
First Mark - (Jean-Claude and Richard) KD-370
Second Mark - (Jean-Claude and Richard) KD-371
Third Mark - (Jean-Claude) KD-381
A vampire can only have one human servant. If the human servant is killed,
it is possible to kill the vampire at the same time from the action. However,
the stronger the vampire, the less likely he/she will die with the death of
their human servant. When a vampire is killed, a human servant will follow
him/her to death as well, again, unless they are strong enough to withstand
the psychic separation. For example, when Anita killed Alejandro, she should
have died, as her heart had stopped. However, Edward performed CPR on her
until the paramedics arrived, thus saving her life. When Oliver was killed,
Karl Inger died along with him.
When a vampire makes a human servant, it's not as 'freeing' as Jean-Claude
made it out to be. Since Anita is a Necromancer , she has free will within
the relationship ( LC-320 ). Other humans in such a relationship must obey
their vampiric masters (eg: Nikki )
If a vampire has an animal to call, he can bind a lycanthrope of that variety
to himself/herself with marks and possibly create a triumverate if they have
enough power.
Triumverate
A triumvirate is a group of three preternatural creatures who combine their
powers in order to create an even bigger whole. When the powers are combined,
they create a unified force that is greater than the sum of the parts.
There are three triumvirates that are described in the series. The main one,
being Anita, Jean-Claude and Richard, and two others. One in KD consisting
of Sabin, Cassandra and Dominic and the other in BO consisting of Padma, Thomas
and Gabriel.
The combination appears to consist of the following:
Animator/Necromancer, or
Human Servant Anita Dominic Thomas
Vampire (Master) Jean-Claude Sabin Padma
Lycanthrope Richard Cassandra Gideon
The participants need not be the strongest of their respective groupings,
but the higher the level, the more powerful the triumvirate.
In order to activate the triumvirate, one of two venues are needed: a ritual,
or sex. It then must be finished with blood.
When Anita, Jean-Claude and Richard first shared power, it was a shock to
all of them. Anita acted as the conduit between Jean-Claude's power, a cool
rushing wind , and Richard's power, all warmth and electricity . When the
power was pumped into her, she had difficulty controlling it, her natural
inclination was to channel it into an activity, namely, raising the dead.
She ended up not only raising zombies, but also raising vampires, namely Willie
, Liv and Damian .
When Anita and Richard made love, this served to bind both of them closer
to each other, and closer to Jean-Claude. It is a detail that the vampire
told to Richard, but not to Anita.
Damian admitted to Anita that with the fourth mark, she could gain all of
Jean-Claude's powers without having to give up her humanity, but Anita is
not willing to go that far.
If the participants are strong enough, holes can be formed in their auras
if the marks are not "married." Mystical defenses will be down unless
they are touching each other.
Marrying the marks involves closing the holes at one's chakra points, the
points at which each participant in the triumvirate is linked to the other.
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