Behold: the OoC- Tl;dr - vampires integrated into the modern world. What could go wrong?
- Style - best of both worlds, modern realism and campy gothic
- Discretions - violence, gore, sex
Though the stones had been rolling for a little while beforehand, it started on the first of January, 1980. The vampires declared themselves. Where previously they had been covert, true identities hidden from society altogether, those movers and shakers among them decided it was time to reveal themselves.
Those movers and shakers were well-placed. While some vampire dynasties are still yet to 'come out', many of those in the Western world with great power belong to the vampires' flock. While humans breed children, vampires breed those with proven power and influence to bring to the table. It was with surprise and, yes, some horror, to the average citizen that their historic rulers, financial dynasties and families of import were not of their own world.
At first there was outright global resistance, and, though it varied upon the country, Europe cracked first. With vampires in high places, it did not take long for vampires to attain legal status, and further rights until, in many European countries, vampires acheived equal status with ordinary breathers. Still, much of the world is not as progressive; while vampires enjoy safe existence from legal, religious, and vigilante persecution in South America, Japan, and most of Europe, the Americas, Africa, and the vast majority of Asia remain hotbeds of lynchings and witch-hunts, both literal and media-based. This is no doubt on account of the limited presence of vampires in the upper-echelons of those societies.
At around the turn of the Millenium, the so-called Age of the Vampire began - at least in Europe. Strict charters imposed by vampires internally and the law externally were naturally drawn up to regulate the process of feeding. It was no longer acceptable to simply slaughter one's way across a city, draining the homeless, the vulnerable, and the destitute. Though cagey at first, the vampire community was, on the whole, true to its word in the exclusive feeding from willing doners -
paid doners. The boom of the blood market was inevitable. Every human on the planet was eligible to blood-let, and with the vampire community as a whole having money to spend, prices were at a premium. The unemployed were no longer unemployed. Homeless hostels and suitable medical practices were bought out or established by vampires, exchanging services for the needy at the cost of excess blood. Nobody need die, and nobody need have their hand forced. Vampire and human cooperation - it was a utopia waiting to happen.
With vampires suddenly an economic and social miracle, they became, frankly, fashionable, and, where their social scene had been, in the darker days of the '80s, underground or at the very least segregated, humans were becoming more and more interested in vampire culture. Vampire bars serving, predictably, blood, suddenly had standard alcoholic drinks on the menu. The diffusion is mutual, with the top blood brands being served on draught in ever more human-oriented establishments. With the Netherlands having adopted pro-vampire legislation first, it benefitted first from the vampire integration and Amsterdam is now, without a doubt, the Vampire Capital of the world.
Needless to say, not everybody is happy. While progressives in the religious field have turned the other cheek and welcomed vampires into society, those more conservative movements, including, typically, the Roman Catholic Church, consider vampires aberrations to be eliminated from society. These movements lobby, as any religion does on those matters close tho their interests. At the same time, there are cells, like with many religious movements, that seek to take matters into their own hands and decrease the vampire population more directly - by force.
At the same time, many vampires resent the new world order, in which humans and vampires enjoy equal footing instead of vampires having a perceived superiority. In particular, vampire breeding is now regulated to prevent the total vampire population becoming unsustainable - just like having children in the traditional sense, breeding is a very emotional and heartfelt issue, and not one that many feel should require a license. At the same time, there are psychos that enjoy the hunt as much as the blood.
This RP takes place in Amsterdam, a modern-day metropolis speaking every language (conveniently, everybody speaks English!) with immigrants, human and vampire alike, from around the world, living and, usually, breathing as one. This vampire paradise, or 'vamparadise' if you will, is a fragile balance of respect, restraint, and cooperation. Wouldn't it be a shame if something upset that balance?
Okay, so this is just an interest check so I hope I've given a little bit of a flavour of the world and what kind of RP this will turn out to be. Given interest, I'll draw up more detail about laws concerning vampires and actual plot directions and stuff. At this point, the plot is currently in a little bit of flux (I'm working on it) but I'll try to tailor what we have to input I get here so get inputting... putting in... whatever. Honestly I feel like this would work really nicely as a slice of life RP against a slower-moving plot backdrop, but I'm interested to see what you guys think.
The only detail I'll give from here is vampiric lore: as in, what breed of vampires we're talking here. This bit is important to me because I understand vampires in quite a specific way. On the whole, the below hider is set in concrete, though I'm happy to chat about it and could be persuaded to amend certain features.
Blood: blood is like a bonus nutrient for vampires. Without it, their vampire-ness, and therefore, the vampire, dies. Exact reactions to blood vary: for some it's like a drug hit, for some it's a nice glass of wine, for some it's a sexual thing, and for others it's like having vegetables with a meal. Yes, vampires do eat, but very little, because the energy they gain from blood is largely sufficient.
Biology: let's not ask too many questions here, because I'm not a biologist and can't possibly justify this stuff. To all intents and purposes, vampires are living beings with beating hearts. They just don't necessarily actually breathe (except to talk).
Powers: yes, vampires come with powers, including bonus strength, bonus agility, speedy physical regeneration, and even a little bit of vague telepathy. None of this is crazy powerful (I didn't use the term 'super'), but a vampire will generally hands-down physically overpower the average human. The telepathy is more of a biological, pheromoney thing, and not directly controlled. In the same way animals can be 'on heat', vampires can evoke emotions in others, from fear through rage through arousal. Typically this emotive behaviour is more visceral and impulsive, rather than contempletive and mellow. Range of effects depend on the strength of the vampire and the willpower of the subject. Humans are more susceptible than vampires, though both can be effective.
Siring: or, breeding. A human dying of bloodloss that drinks the blood of a vampire will become that vampire's progeny, resurrecting shortly after their death. This doesn't simply create a fully-fledged vampire instantly; the resultant vampire, called a progeny, is weak, frail, and hugely dependent on their sire, just as a human baby is. It takes a progeny usually ten to twenty years (though it can certainly be longer) to become 'fledged' and to stop being dependent on their sire. During this fledgling period, they are typically emotionally unstable, highly compulsive, and extremely susceptible to their sire's telepathy, which can be so influential as to be considered out-and-out mind control. During this fledgling period, they usually live in service to their sire to a lesser or greater degree, and this is encouraged so as to form the bedrock of vampire social structure. They will usually continue to show their sire great respect and generally obey them even once fledged. Depending on the sire in question, their relationship may be formal or not. Conservative vampire society favours formal sire-progeny relationships; progressive vampire society favours more relaxed relationships. A sire in good control of his progeny completely sets out the path that that progeny will follow for the rest of their lives.
Weaknesses: On the whole, if you want to kill a vampire, do it thoroughly. Destroying the heart or the brain is the way to go, but they do have some kryptonites.
- Sunlight: not really. Vampires are typically paler than humans and so exposure to the sun is more damaging to vampire than a human, but not crippling. Fledgling vampires are even weaker.
- Holy relics: no
- Garlic: really no
- Running water: they can cross it
- Stake through the heart: anything through the heart
- Silver: no
- OCD: vampires are typically compulsive, and can be distracted by disruptive patterns. A folkloric measure against vampire attacks was to spill grain - they'd go batshit and have to count each grain while you made a getaway
- Entry without invitation: there's no real magic force stopping a vampire entering a dwelling without invitation, but fledgling vampires have historically had this rule drilled into them to the point that they really do have to ask for permission, on the whole, before entering a dwelling. How individual vampires interpret this may vary - you have been warned!
- Blood deprivation: will definitely kill a vampire
Age: Vampires do not age physically, but they do mature. As they grow older, they tend to grow more powerful in their general vampire superhuman-ness, and so the older the vampire, the more respected and feared. They do not die of natural causation.
Appearance: They look like humans, but slightly paler than their skintone would presume to the point of looking a little ill. Presumably, the blood isn't too close to the skin because it's off doing wonderful biological vampiric stuff. They're not just snow-white, though. A black vampire still has a darker skin-tone than a white human, natch. Fangs are a dead giveaway, and permanent, though they grow in during the fledgling state.
Bats: No correlation, beyond folklore.
Half-Vampires: Nope. Vampires are sterile. They cannot conceive. This has nothing to do with my violent and flagrant bias against half-breed characters and especially half-vampires. Honest.
