A Field Guide to Vampires (2 page)

Okay, now we’re talking. Finally, something cool.

Swords and Daggers:

Another holdover from our medieval days, swords and daggers can slow a vampire down long enough for a strike to the heart. They are not ideal, though, as vampires heal quickly and are faster and stronger than we are. Decapitation will kill a vampire but it is a surprisingly difficult maneuver, and messy.

Also, it makes them cranky if you miss. I’d like to see them try it with Helena!

Holy Water:

This is not the traditional holy water blessed by a priest or other holy person. Such water is not effective and is a product of legend and wishful thinking. The Helios-Ra has developed water charged with UV rays and large doses of vitamin D that is harmful to all vampires. It burns and
eats away at their skin, slowing their healing process while inflicting pain. These wounds do not always heal entirely.

Aunt Hyacinth still has the scars to prove it. Stupid Hope and her stupid rogue unit.

UV Bullets:

In the last few decades, we have also developed bullets filled with Holy Water, which fit most guns and rifles. This is the cleanest kill, if the bullet catches the heart. As with archery, aim is crucial.

Nose Plugs:

Do not underestimate the power of vampire pheromones. Nose plugs will save your mission and likely, your life.

Hypnos:

This is the strongest and most current weapon at our disposal. This powder is made from a sample of blood from the oldest known vampire, Enheduanna (Sumerian origin), as well as several zombie herbs and a powdered form of horse tranquilizer. The magical ingredients cannot be discussed with anyone outside the Paranormal division of the order.

Hypnos works by hypnotizing whoever breathes in the powder. Vampires are especially vulnerable, due to the addition of Enheduanna’s blood, even at such a small quantity. For a short amount of time (about 10-15 minutes reliably) the vampire is completely unable to do anything but follow orders. This is especially good for general disarming as well as disbanding
Hel-Blar
nests. It is also effective for wiping memories of human victims or bystanders, for their own protection. The use of Hypnos is strictly regulated; not every graduate will be awarded a portion.

Kieran dosed me once. It’s even worse than it sounds. It makes you feel claustrophobic and anxious. You can think clearly but you can’t seem to make your body do what you want. You literally have no choice but to obey. It’s awful.

Pepper Eggs:

Eggs are a relatively new invention, based on ninja-style weapons. Helios-Ra "eggs" are made of thin putty made to break upon impact and are filled with a mixture of ground glass, cayenne pepper, and Hypnos.

From Folktale and Family Stories:

Agrippa
(Roman)

Roman slave girl named after the Empress Agrippina, also a slave girl before she married Claudius. Nero, her son, had her murdered. Agrippa dove for pearls and was trained by her Roman lover, a centurion stationed in the area. By all accounts she was beautiful and deadly, taking out several vampire nests.

Dugan
(Celtic)

Druid priest believed to be from either the Caledonii tribe or the Brigantes. He trained on the isle of Mona and was adept at many forms of magical healing and recognizable by his numerous woad tattoos. After his sister was killed by a rogue vampire, he turned to vampire hunting. Legend says he lived to be 192, but there is no corroborating evidence.

Eirik the Shield
(Icelandic)

Viking warrior and sailor who traveled widely, hunting vampires in the Netherlands, Britain, France, and, occasionally, Spain.

Documented Hunters of Note:

Conrad the Black
(British, sixth-century)

Rumored to have fought alongside King Arthur.

Alric Skallagrim
(Norse, 870-913)

Famed vampire hunter and founder of the Helios-Ra. See "A Short History of Helios-Ra." Born at the foot of a lightning-struck oak tree said to be sacred to Thor. Lost his twin sister, Astrid, to a vampire attack, which fueled his creation of the Helios-Ra League.

Hakeem Mamoud
(Egyptian, tenth century)

Founded the first League Headquarters in Egypt in an abandoned ancient temple to Ra.

Marie-Adelle Chevalier
(French, sixteenth century)

Brought the League to North America (specifically, New France).

Cheng-Hu
(Chinese, seventeenth century)

Trained noblewomen in the secret arts of vampire hunting until he was beheaded for trying to run away with a married woman.

Yoska Shandor
(Roman, eighteenth century)

Relayed messages between vampire hunters all over Europe by means of his family caravan. Joined after his son was found drained of blood.

Ravi Srinapadam
(Indian, eighteenth century)

Married daughter of Amrita clan (see Raktapa Council). Amrita vampires give birth to daughters the way Drakes give birth to sons. Ravi married their eldest daughter in 1789 and wrote the first League-vampire treaty after being disbarred. He was reindicted into the League on the strength of this treaty.

Zachariah Jones
(American, eighteenth century)

One of the first hunters to settle in the Violet Hill area, after tracking the Drake family to the town in 1752. When his lover died, Zachariah retreated to the mountains and was never heard from again. His journals are still being searched for today.

Philippa Drake, nee Philippa Wallace
(British, nineteenth century)

Founded a Ladies Paranormal Society in 1888, after marrying Thomas Drake and being exiled by both her family and the League. Her father was the Head of the Helios-Ra at the time.

Current Families with Unbroken Service (Western Division):

Chevalier, Wallace, Shandor, Reeves, Stephenson, Black, Greenberg, Olafson, Wild.

Other Hunters of Note:

Sisters of the Sanguine Heart

A sect of vampire-hunter nuns, founded in France in 1222. They whittled the crosses of their wooden rosaries into stakes and taught hunting along with catechism. Later became famous for saving a small village from a
Hel-Blar
infestation after Montmartre passed through the area. Currently inactive.

Richard the Lionheart, Joan of Arc, and Emily Bronte were said to have been members of the order but this has never been definitely proven.

Habitat:

-Anywhere as long as soil from homeland is nearby—a jar’s worth is enough (debunked)

-Old castles and basements preferred (debunked)

Characteristics:

-Pale skin

-Fangs

-Cast no reflection (debunked)

Of course they cast a reflection. Do you think Logan could dress the way he does without a mirror?

-Shapeshift into bat, wolf, or mist (debunked)

-Sleep in coffins (debunked)

Strengths:

-Very fast and strong

-Can fly or levitate (debunked)

-Strong sense of smell and sharp eyesight

And they can smell a lie.

Weaknesses:

-Cannot enter without invitation (debunked)

-Wooden stake in the heart

-Decapitation

-Garlic (debunked)

-Traditional holy water (debunked)

-Crosses, churches (debunked)

-Sunlight

This handbook focuses on the two major types of vampires generally dealt with by the Western Division. This is meant as a brief introduction as there are too many vampiric creatures across the world to properly explore in this handbook.

I’ve heard that there are vampire watermelons in the Balkans and that in Russia, vampires can turn into butterflies. That’s seriously weird. Now I kind of want to keep a butterfly in my room and freak out my roommate Sarita by telling her it’s Nicholas.

Habitat:

Any topography, nighttime preferred. Rarely found in desert settings. Live in tribal family groups. Some prefer to live together for safety; others are more solitary by nature. Look for blacked-out windows.

Distinguishing Characteristics:

-Sunlight weakens the young; elders can withstand indirect light for short periods of time.

-Elongated retractable canines (fangs)

-Vampire pheromones not consciously detectable to human noses but still have effect. A few vampires have exceptionally strong pheromones, which may be processed through the body as the scent of lilies and chocolate. In insect and animal populations, pheromones are used to trigger alarms before an attack, to mark territory, or to call a mate. In vampire populations, pheromones are used to attract victims and make them willing and/or forgetful.

-Irises of eyes grow paler with age; common eye colors are blue, green, gray, and hazel

-Age very slowly

-Low body temperatures

-Pale skin

-Vampires cling to the fashions and traditions of their youth.

Ever seen a vampire turned in the 80s? It’s not pretty.

-Find it difficult to resist fleeing prey

Food:

-Blood, both animal and human

-Human blood preferred when ill or wounded

Strengths:

-Heal quickly

-Move with incredible speed

-Well-developed sense of smell and sight

-Extremely strong, especially during newborn hunger frenzy at sunset

Weaknesses:

-Allergic reaction to sunlight

-Wounds through heart do not heal; vampires disintegrate entirely at moment of death. (This is thought to be a natural stealth process meant to hide their presence from the general population, even in death. Research is understandably difficult to apply.)

-Decapitation leads to instant death.

-Vampires sleep or are unconscious during daylight hours.

-Transformation ("bloodchange") can be painful and leaves the victim vulnerable.

Reproduction:

-Vampires are created when a vampire drinks a human’s blood, usually through a bite, and offers his or her own blood to the human in return. The bloodchange can be quite violent, and subjects do not always retain sanity, should they survive.

-In rare ancient families (currently surviving: Drake, Joiik, Amrita), vampire children are born to human females. In some cultures, they are known as
dhampirs.
The ancient families are not traditional dhampirs, in that they transform on their sixteenth birthday. Regular dhampirs are
born vampiric. The Council families have been known to change, as families occasionally die out and are replaced.

Young:

-In those rare families, the children born to human mothers age naturally until their sixteenth birthday, when they weaken and die unless human blood is given to complete the transformation into a vampire.

-Once transformed, vampires age normally up to and through puberty, until they reach a biological age equivalent to their early twenties. Some variations occur.

Political Structure:

-Family/tribal groups are generally ruled by the oldest member of the lineage and his or her consort. If their leader is incapable of ruling, consensus rules generally apply. In some cases, the successor is named well in advance; in other cases trial by combat still prevails.

-A nation of families/tribes can be ruled by a single king or queen. This is not necessary and may cause intertribal warfare. This is to our advantage as it weakens them and makes it easier to hunt and dispatch.

The basic structure of vampire society is a combination of feudal medieval values and tribal autonomy. Vampires cling to their youthful cultures and deeply respect tradition and ritual.

They can be ruled by a king or queen and their royal court. Primogeniture is not the general mode of royal succession, though it can sometimes be relied upon. Usually the right to rule is determined by political worth and/or usurpation. There has never been, to our knowledge, a monarch that rules over all the vampires of the world. Usually, kingdoms are determined by modern country territory lines, though some earlier historical lines may also be used. Most families are more concerned with following their matriarch or patriarch, or their personal sires.

Solitaries and renegades reject the power of the family unit, the sire, and the royal courts.

Royal Crest:
Ruby crown with sword

Current Queen
(self-styled): Lady Natasha (long white-blond hair)

Not in power anymore, thank God!

Lady Natasha was abandoned by her sire, the shaman-king Leopold, in 1722, Switzerland. She survived and was adopted into a Russian vampire family (Romanikovs) in 1851. She took over the North American vampire throne in 1957 when the king (Edward Gopi) was mysteriously chained to a tree and died at sunrise. The culprit was never found though popular belief points to Lady Natasha. "Lady" is a title she appropriated from her aristocratic foster family. The only remaining family member is her step-sister Juliana Romanikov.

She ate a raw deer heart thinking it belonged to Solange. She was way scary.

The Araksaka:

Lady Natasha’s personal guard. Marked with a tattoo of three raven feathers on the left side of their faces.

Reapers:

In the 1980s Lady Natasha sent her reapers through the streets of Violet Hill. She was staying in the royal caves inside one of the more remote Violet Hill mountains, once said to belong to the Hounds (see section 12), and demanded victims be brought to her to feed on. Her favorite reapers were the Domokos siblings, Elisabet and Lyle. They were dispatched in 1983.