Vampire

Vampires are physically similar to the humans they once were, with the main differences being enlarged canine teeth and eyes of an unusual colour that indicates their rank (see below)

Vampires possess a number of advantages over their mortal counterparts. They are vastly stronger and faster than a baseline human, they possess sharp extended canine teeth, they heal at incredible speed, excellent night vision, smell and hearing, and they possess an array of strange, mystical abilities.  

Blood Castes

The exact extent of these advantages are governed by two factors: age (in the sense of how long they have been a vampire, not the time since their mortal birth) and blood caste. The Vast majority of vampires are the so-called "weak blooded". These vampires begin their immortal existence with blue eyes, which turn green after a few centuries, and amber after a few millennia. Weak blooded vampires possess fangs only on the upper jaw, unless in their berserk state (see below), in which case the canine teeth on their lower jaw also extend. Above them sit the "strong blooded", who begin with green eyes, and ascend through amber to finish at red on a comparable time scale. Strong blooded have four fangs, two in the upper jaw and two on the lower. In their berserk state their entire mouth fills with sharp pointed teeth. Finally, the rarest and strongest of the vampire castes are the "high blooded". These vampires begin with amber eyes, and progress through red to finish on violet. Two vampires with the same eye colour will have comparable physical strength and speed, which means that high bloods are essentially born with the physical prowess a weak blood will take centuries to develop, and only get stronger from there. Their fangs are identical to strongblooded vampires in both states.   In addition, caste determines how many of the Five Arts a vampire is able to attain. Weak blooded vampires have an affinity for a single art, strong blooded have an affinity for three, and high blooded can use all five.  

Weaknesses

They are not without weakness, however. Sunlight weakens them, reducing their strength and speed to near mortal levels and drastically reducing their mystical powers. The higher castes can fight this to some extent, but doing so is tiring and reduces the time until they mist feed again. Their healing factor is suppressed by injuries made with items composed of silver or wood, or by fire, and such injuries cause them pain that they otherwise barely feel. Driving a wooden or silver stake into their heart can cause them to haemorrhage blood and can drive them into a comatose state in some cases. Decapitation (or rather, any injury that separates their brain from their heart) can likewise render them in an inert state, and recovery from this can be difficult as it requires an outside party to reattach the organs and supply a very large amount of blood to kickstart the regenerative process. Fully immolating their body is one of the few ways known to consistently kill them permanently,

The Vampiric Arts

  Every vampire has access to at least one of the following five powers. As mentioned previously, those of higher castes can use more, which allows for unusual combinations and esoteric tricks.

The Art of Mind

The art of Mind allows a vampire to read the thoughts of those around themselves, to implant commands and alter memories.

The Art of Heart

The Art of Heart allows a vampire to manipulate the emotions of others, usually to inspire either fear or lust, but some vampires also find inspiring indifference is useful when they wish to remain incognito.

The Art of Flesh

The Art of Flesh allows vampires to alter their own forma and that of others. At it's most basic it allows a vampire to take the form of anything they have consumed the blood of, but with practice it can be used to mould both servants and oneself into powerful monstrosities not found in nature.

The Art of Light

The Art of Light allows a vampire to craft illusions, making themselves invisible or appearing as another or just generally disorienting their foes.

The Art of Shadow

The Art of Shadow allows a vampire to manipulate the shadows around themselves, allowing them to be used as powerful tendrils, handholds to climb sheer surfaces or, with practice, to use the night itself to fly.  

The Beast Within

In times of stress a vampire's human mind can recede, leaving only a primal, instinct-driven consciousness which exists only to eliminate threats to its existence and to feed. In this state the vampire's skin becomes pale and corpse like, their fangs increase in number (to a degree that varies by caste), claws extend from their fingernails, their features become sharp and pointed and their physical power increases dramatically, but the lack of higher brain function renders all but the most basic applications of their Arts unusable. The longer a vampire goes without feeding, the less is required to trigger this state. Newly-transformed vampires almost always find themselves overcome by the beast until they feed for the first time.   Highbloods work slightly differently. Instead of a feral, bestial mind, their version of this state retains its intelligence, stripping away only their sense of restraint and guilt so produce cunning, sadistic monsters who often refrain from actually feeding as long as they can, knowing doing so risks bringing them back down to normal. They also retain full use of their arts, making them even more dangerous.

Vampires reproduce by transforming humans who they feed upon. For most people, those with low affinity who will become weak blooded, the transformation requires the subsequent imbibing of the vampire's own blood and a conscious act of will. Those who will become members of the strong blooded caste require the full ritual if turned by a weakblood, but can sometimes transform from bite alone when fed upon by a fellow strong blood, and will always transform when bitten by a highblood. Highboods will always transfrom when bitten by a vampire of any caste. In all cases, the transformation occurs the next time the sun sets, regardless of the state of the human at that point.   Due to the chance of accidental siring, strong blooded and high blooded vampires tend to keep several humans around that have proven safe to feed upon, as well as feeding from lower caste vampires when they can. This is the reason a lot of weak blooded vampires were sired in the first place.

Vampires routinely consume the blood of other creatures. Technically they don't need to consume anything to live, but abstaining will eventually cause them to enter their mindless feral state where they will attack the nearest viable target, usually fatally. If trapped somewhere where no such targets are available the vampire will weaken and eventually enter a dormant state, which ends when some unfortunate sap eventually stumbles across them.   As such, most opt to consume as much as they need to retain their rational mind. Fresh human blood is preferred. Whilst the blood of animals will do in a pinch, it's effectiveness will gradually decay over time, and cold (or, as many prefer, reheated) blood stored for long periods will likewise only satisfy a vampire who has recently fed properly. The blood of other vampires is unpalatable to those of equal or lower caste.

As a product of both their age and caste combined, eye colour is used as a indicator of rank in vampiric society. The experience of the lower caste elders is seen to compensate for the inherent power and nobility of the higher caste neonates, and so vampires who share an iris hue are typically considered equals. Familial ties can muddy this, of course. A low-caste sire is still expected to show their high-caste childe the ropes, and the childe is expected to listen to their sire on these matters. At the same time, however, a vampire who outranks their sire can expect a lot more independence than one who does not.   In addition to vampires, the society of the living dead also plays host to mortal thralls. These individuals find themselves sucked into the orbit of vampires for various reasons, and serve a number of purposes for their masters. The most common position is the so called "blood doll", a human whose primary purpose is to provide a vampire with a reliable source of blood to feed upon. When not being used as a living juice box (feeding must be infrequent to keep them relatively healthy) they usually serve as general dogsbodies and pets to the undead. Other mortals are brought in to the fold for more specific purposes. Many serve as bodyguards for their masters during the day, when they are weakened and often dormant. These thralls are selected for their physical prowess, which is often augmented by the Art of Flesh. Others serve more peripherally, being inside men in banks, hospitals and security to enable vampires to manipulate these organisations in their favour.  

Ghouls

Using all five Arts in concert allows for the creation of powerful undead servants called ghouls. The vampire takes the corpse of one or more mortals and uses the Art of Flesh to repair the body and shape it to the task required. Then the Arts of Light and Shadow can be used in concert to imbue the creature with an artificial pseudo-soul, reanimating it. The creature is ruled by base instincts and will lash out at anything in the area, so the Arts of Heart and Mind must be used to calm it and implant a semblance of reason, allowing it's creator to control it.   Since creating a ghoul properly requires all five Arts to be used, only Highbloods can create fully functional ghouls by themselves. Other vampires must team up to cover all the bases (typically two strongbloods or one strongblood and two weakbloods, although teams of five weakblooded vampires are not unheard of) lest they create flawed "incomplete" ghouls who are either mindless, feral or physically damaged in some way. The Arts of Light and Shadow are required to animate the body in the first place, so ghouls who lack these elements simply aren't possible, although a heavily modified living thrall may be considered a "pseudo-ghoul" by some.

Global

Vampires will periodically take a new name, typically appending it to the front of their full formal moniker. As a result said full name can become extremely long in the case of elders.

The first vampire was once a mortal human, born in the neolithic era. Discovering an aptitude for magic, he became a mage, and then a sorcerer. He extended his lifespan extensively with magic, but true immortality eluded him until he designed an elaborate ritual to convert his soul to a quasi-demonic state, suspending his body eternally at the moment of death.   The ritual was a success, but came at a cost. He found that sunlight now robbed him of his power and forced him into dormancy unless he resisted with great effort, and that he now craved the blood of other humans. Worse, when he succumbed to this thirst, some of his victims would rise the next night, transformed into creatures like that which he had become.