Chapter Text
VAMPIRIC KNOWLEDGE FOR THE HUNTER
~ SECTION I: EVOLUTION & CHARACTERISTIC
Vampires are vicious, opportunistic hunters that have existed for millennia.
Their history is shrouded in mystery, with few valid theories on how the virus evolved and how vampires came to exist in this world. A cure has not been developed, and all attempts to kill off the remaining population of vampires have been futile. Well-trained groups hunt these creatures, keeping the population under control. At the same time, scientists work to develop preventive measures to either stop the creatures’ ability to spread the virus or to develop more straightforward ways to kill them.
Retaining human-like cognitive abilities but requiring human blood to survive, these creatures have accumulated wealth (despite worldwide legislation aimed to bar this), mastered the ability to blend in with humans, and persist in brutally slaughtering humans. Covert clubs exist for vampires to feed on humans—both unconsentually and seemingly consensually—with significant human-trafficking occurring around the globe for these clubs.
Within the past forty years, there has been a significant development of unusually well-trained, female vampires deliberately hunting sacred hunters and protectors around the globe. Almost no information exists about this hostile mob, and in recent years, hunters have prioritized their demise.
Vampires have evolved similar characteristics to humans, making it easier for them to hunt unsuspecting victims. Such attributes include:
- Warm skin, instead of the ice-cold bodies they once had.
- A heartbeat, albeit a very slow one. Theorists conclude that this developed in response to technology that can detect creatures that do not have one.
- The ability to be in the sun. However, a vampire’s skin burns significantly faster than a human's. A creature may be detected through this method (called the Burn Test).
- Deceitful emotional attachments. History has documented vampires owning pets and feigning friendships with humans. Scientific studies have shown that these emotional attachments are not real and usually result in death for humans.
Hunters are advised not to interpret a vampire's apparent affection for animals or humans as evidence of benign intent. It is not.
~ SECTION II: SLAYING, VENOM, & TYPES OF BITES
A facet that makes these creatures so malicious is that scientific studies have shown vampires to be capable of restraint and that the taste or smell of blood does not cause a vampiric frenzy—that is, the creatures do not lose impulse control upon contact with blood. Vampires can control how much blood they take, and a frenzy is solely caused by extreme starvation.
Vampires are lethal killers by choice.
As vampires have evolved to blend in with humans, making it easier for them to hunt, they have fortunately become weaker. Vampires may die from various illnesses, though these are not passed from human to creature. Additionally, through evolution, it has become harder for the creature to regulate its body temperature, which may result in death. Studies have shown this to happen closer to starvation. Vampires may also be killed by a wooden or silver stake/bullet/blade through the heart or beheading. Though not necessary after the heart stops, burning the remains is still preferred.
A vampire’s venom is extremely potent, no matter where the creature bites. Humans experience initial effects similar to psychedelic drugs. Such effects include false sexual desire, false euphoria, and false affection. The human does not experience these effects as false—they are indistinguishable from genuine emotion at the time of exposure and may persist for several days following a bite before fully dissipating. Hunters are strongly advised to account for this window and to treat any feelings of attachment or reluctance following vampiric contact as a symptom requiring clinical evaluation, not personal judgment.
As the human begins to bleed out, these effects instantly wear off.
Vampires do not experience these false emotions, for they are incapable of them. Animalistic urges may occur. However, feeding is not inherently sexual to vampires, contrary to popular belief and media portrayals. Cannibalistic tendencies between vampires have never been recorded.
There are four types of vampire bites.
1. Feeding: Feeding bites are made on or near a human’s artery. Favored locations on slain humans include the neck and inner thigh. A single vampire can cause a human to bleed out and die within four minutes. Almost all feeding bites result in death.
2. Turning: Turning bites are exceedingly rare, contrary to what the media portrays. Studies have shown these bites to be 97.3% fatal. Even if a human survives the initial bite, most perish during the brutal turning process. Turning bites consist of a vampire nearly causing a human to bleed out before another bite is made to a specific junction on the neck. Considerable turning bites fail because vampires do not puncture the specific part of a human’s body that sends the virus directly to the brain.
3. Defensive: Biting may also be used as a defensive measure, enabled by the creature’s capacity for self-control. These are seldom used in practice.
A claiming bite and subsequent mark is the last type and is discussed in the next section.
~ SECTION III: CLAIMING & MARKING
Note: There is very little knowledge on this topic. It is not well understood nor well recorded. The following represents the most complete compilation of existing documentation to date. No scientific studies exist. Hunters encountering a potential claiming situation should report immediately to senior command.
Centuries ago, humans were dying and massacring one another to survive prolonged periods of drought, hunger, and rampant illness. Vampiric history alleges that individual vampires took claim to individual humans—unconsensually and solely for their own survival, since humans were dying in the thousands and reliable feeding sources were scarce. One vampire may claim only one human. The human may not be claimed by another vampire. These claims manifest as permanent marks on the human’s body, most commonly at the site of the initial bite.
Claiming is territorial and survival-based. The vampire is akin to a parasite on the human. Contrary to what vampiric history sometimes portrays, and contrary to what venom-affected humans may believe themselves to be experiencing, a claim is not a romantic attachment. It should not be interpreted as one.
Only thirty-one documented claims have been recorded across all of vampiric history. A claim has not been recorded in over a hundred years. It is unknown whether any claimed vampires or humans are alive today.
A claim begins with an initial bite, though the precise mechanism by which a claim arises rather than a standard feeding bite remains unknown. What is established is that a vampire cannot deliberately manufacture a claim. It does not occur by intent. It transpires without the design of either party and cannot be predicted or reliably reproduced under controlled conditions. The initial bite of a claim may be indistinguishable from a feeding bite to both the human and the vampire at the time it occurs.
Claims may arise and exist in an incomplete state. The human bears the claiming mark following the initial bite. Effects of the claim may begin to manifest on the human’s side before the vampire registers anything at all. This asymmetry in early presentation has contributed significantly to the difficulty in documenting these cases, as the human may exhibit symptoms before either party has identified what has occurred.
An incomplete claim does not carry the full consequences documented below. For a claim to be considered complete and for lifelines to be tied, three conditions must be met: repeated feedings must occur; there must be mutual acceptance from both parties—the existing documentation does not equate this with consent and does not clarify the distinction; and there must be deliberate bites from the vampire to the human with knowledge of the claim’s existence.
Whether an incomplete claim resolves naturally in the absence of the vampire is not definitively established. Most accounts suggest the human deteriorates if the claim is left incomplete without resolution. Hunters presenting with an incomplete claim should not assume resolution will occur without intervention.
It is theorized that a completed claim ties the human’s life to the vampire’s and vice versa. The nature of this tie is poorly understood. It is further theorized—though not documented—that a claimed human may survive the death of the vampire, but that a vampire will not survive the death of a claimed human. If accurate, this represents a significant tactical consideration: the vampire has a biological incentive to keep the claimed human alive that does not exist in any other vampiric relationship with a human.
Symptoms in a claimed human are poorly understood and complicated by the difficulty in distinguishing genuine claim-effects from residual venom. Reported and theorized symptoms in the existing documentation include a persistent mark at the bite site that does not fade or resolve as standard bite wounds do; an audible or perceivable secondary heartbeat or rhythm that is not the human’s own; a sensation of warmth or low-grade affect with no identifiable physical cause; and a heightened awareness of or orientation toward the vampire’s location or presence that does not have a clear rational basis.
Hunters are advised that these symptoms may be gradual in onset and easy to initially attribute to other causes, including residual venom effects. If any combination of the above presents following vampiric contact, evaluation should be sought immediately.
A claiming mark should be considered a medical and operational emergency until proven otherwise.