by Devilrhyms
I could not help but to bring out what is true, so that the myths that have been wrought through the ages can die their well deserved deaths. The incessant questioning I hear regarding vampires amongst you perhaps acted as a catalyst in the writing of this document, but I can see it is time to bring out the hidden to the public nonetheless. Here it is, The Truth about vampires from history to genetics. Keep in mind some information is theoretical only and make allowances for 6% of the enclosed information to be of biological error. In this document you should find information to answer most of your questions, and if you have one that was not answered, see any typos or biological errors, or you just care to comment, please write back and do so. Feel free to pass this document on to anyone else,provided it is sent in it's entirety without change. Enjoy reading.
Sincerely,
Devilrhyms@aol.com
The Truth
The Untruth
"Superstition is the religion of feeble minds." --Edmund Burke
Edmund Burke knew what he was saying, although I doubt he would have ever thought that his meaning could be ever applied to vampires. Superstition is the distorted and misconceived account of the truth. For instance, take the stereotype of vampires and the sun. You might picture a tall lanky thin corpse like creature bursting into flames at the mere glint of sunlight, or thanks to Anne Rice's misportrayal, a living marble statue of an eternal beauty groping the walls in fear as shattered sunlight creeps across the floor, and slowly roasts the poor misguided soul. I can assure you, that it is highly unlikely that a vampire would ever burst into flames at the touch of sunlight.
With Christianity, the ever portrayed foe of vampires, the cross and holy water have been said to be powerful weapons against a vampire. It is a rather absurd and irritating to have some religious fanatic show you his crucifix and spray you with stagnant water, don't you think? Garlic, although it may be related somewhat to the onion which has been known to produce teary eyes in humans, is nothing more than a bulb of a plant, and although it may smell a bit strong, it really does not keep any ward. And roses, what makes the people in the villages of Romania, who hang roses, along with garlic, across their doorways and windowsills, think that roses would ever deter a vampire from entering their home? If a vampire is determined to get in your house, he/she might do nothing more than wonder what holiday you're celebrating. Running water, although it may persuade a gorilla to stay away, also has no effect on vampires. A few stories might speak of this fear, but how do you think vampires would ever travel if they could not go over water? Stakes on the other hand, might do some damage. If a major organ of yours is impaired, your body just might go into shock.
Long associated with Satanism, demons and sorcery, vampires have come out with rather unjustified stereotypes. It is assumed often that one cannot dwell in places of holiness because the power of good holds over that of the evil they are made out to be. Vampires are not corpses but rather quite alive as humans and live by the very same rules regarding morality and actions. I thank the few authors of those vampire stories that showed life from a vampires perspective for helping somewhat. To show that although they are different from humans and require blood, they too have feelings, needs, desires, and the conflicts of morality the same as any human.
The History and Myth
One shouldn't be surprised to see the myths of vampires all over the world with variations. The Asanbosam of Ashantiland were the men, women and children vampires who bit the thumbs of sleeping people. Old demonic ladies known as the loogaroo were a form of vampires in Grenada who supposedly formed a pack with the devil and were to supply him with large quantities of warm blood nightly. In Brazil a form of vampire called the Lobishomen was known to attack women, and upon the women recovering they became nymphomaniacs. Of Malaysia there are the stories of the male Bajang who assumes the form of a polecat, and then the far more demonic female counterpart, the Langsuir. Occasionally sporting the shape of an owl, the Langsuir also was known for her green robes, black, ankle length hair, and a hole in her neck through which she drinks the blood of children. India has a plethora of vampire mythology with such creatures as the night traveling Rakshasa's somewhat thought of as the blood drinking version of elves. The Vetala is another old hag vampire who will only drink the blood of mad and/or drunk women, and there is also the Hanh Saburo which with the help of dogs, chase men into a forest where they drink their blood. There can be found the Stigoi and Moroii of Rumania, the Chaing-shih of China, the Civateteo of Central America, the vrykolakas of Greece, and even the vampir of Russia. From Denmark comes the Mara, a female vampire which by day assumes the form of a human and were some unfortunate man to fall in love with her, he would feel as though he were being strangulated. The Dearg-due vampire of Ireland could only be kept in it's grave by placing a cairn of stones over the top. Reminiscent to the Langsuir of Malasia, the boabhan sith of Scotland were vampires who assumed the form of groups of beautiful girls with long golden hair and green dresses. The Dakhanavar is an Armenian vampire that assumes the role of a protector of a valley and drinks the blood of his victim through their feet.
Many people throughout history have been associated to vampirism. Gilles de Rais, a national hero who fought side by side with Joan of Arch and at the incredibly young age of 24 was appointed Marshal of France shocked the world with his child rape, dismemberment, murder, sodomy and torture for five years until tried and sent to the gallows. Peter Kurten of Dusseldorf was described as a perfectly normal looking person of neat dress. However aside from this appearance, he suffered from haematodipsia (a sexual thirst for blood) and altogether murdered twenty-nine people by strangling them, raping them and cutting their throats. Countess Elizabeth of Bathory is said to have killed between 300-600 young women and use their blood in many methods to retain her beauty. Her trail in 1611, which she refused to attend, resulted in her punishment of life imprisonment within her castle by order of King Matthias II of Hungary. And lastly we come to Vlad Tepish who in his short career of six years as a ruler, managed to have 40,000 people killed. A saint to his own people, he was given the name Dracul which meant the son of the dragon or devil by his enemies.
Moving on to historical probabilities, Ur and Umma of Mesopotamia which is part of present day Iraq, Memphis of Ancient Egypt and even Shang in early China were prime areas for vampires to live. Feeding from the typical lowlife that one might have found easily then, the vampires slowly increased in numbers as each discovered their ability to create others.
Older vampires often recall times of small human populations where they had to fight against each other to survive and feed, and as habit, stake out territories by which they will fiercely defend if they felt threatened. (Much similar in that of post Depression habits which effects some of the elderly populations in ways that include the hoarding of food and penny-pinching.) As a rule, the younger ones of such times of small populations, who would normally not stand a chance on their own, would either stay with their parent vampires, or join with others of their kind in the large cities to form a group strong enough for protection and strong enough to hold a territory. Mistrustful of outsiders, such groups would take on few others after the original gathering, and would mainly consist of the original members and their "children". These Families, or Bloodlines as it is referred to by those living in Europe, would establish social casts and customs partly for the protection against the group's falling apart and partly for their overall safety; often vampires would kill each other if they crossed into another's territory. Times of difficulty include the fall of the Roman empire and the rise of the Christian religion for the reasons that vampires were subject to witch hunts, exorcism, superstitious peasants, and greedy priests. Another low was when the "Black Death" and the Hundred Years War dropped the human population to about a fourth of it's previous number reinstating violent territorial conflicts and the killing of any vampire that was considered menacing in any way.
The Four Main Races
Vampires have many different races, and each race has its own distinct characteristics. Categorized, the four main areas in which a vampire might be found are the Born, the Created, the Crossbreeds, and the Bodiless. Relatively simple terms, they allow for a universal translation and understanding and are not be considered the "true" names by which vampires would care to be known.
There are also a few different psychic or telepathic abilities that you will see in certain kinds of vampires. They are telepathy (mind reading), empathy (suggestion, hypnosis, and emotion detection), clairvoyance (sensing objects), psychokinesis or telekinesis (mind over matter), pyrokinesis (mind over fire), and rheiki (aura or lifeforce manipulation). In theory, humans too have potential to use these abilities, but it is thought that these abilities are weak and lie latent for the better part of their lives. Crossbreeds are capable of developing operant but limited telepathy and clairvoyance and for some odd reason are skilled at rheiki (some almost as powerful as the Bodiless). The Born seem to have strong abilities with all of the mentioned skills although extremely talented with pyro and psychokinesis. The Created though, have more agility with telepathy and empathy than the rest, and the Bodiless have mastered rheiki to the point that they could kill with a thought.
The Created
The Created are the vampires who are most commonly subject to fictional writings, and are perhaps the first to come to mind when one mentions the word, vampire. An estimated 2,000 - 3,000 exist in the world. Hundreds of different types, each were once fully human and now their DNA has been changed. Every sub-race is in an effort to survive; the vampire who burns easily in the sun is not as likely to live as long and pass genes as much as one who has a resistance. Ethnic backgrounds and the characteristics of a parent vampire often determines the durability of a vampire. A black vampire has more sun resistance than a white vampire due to the fact that the black skin is more sun resistant by nature, though for some odd reason vampires are more commonly of northern European descent. Some Created vampires have the ability to reproduce and eat food, and others do not. As a nocturnal species, few would ever go out in the day on a regular basis.
In the dark, a vampire has advantages over a human such as the heightened senses, quicker speed and reflexes, and the forever useful psychic abilities. In the day, an advantage such as the sensitive eyes would become sore from the amount of light and could be easily turned against them. Pallid skin tone is a result of their nocturnal habits and anemic condition though with great difficulty they can tan themselves. More often than not, they burn. The sun is harmful to a Created vampire. Not in the sense that it can cause spontaneously combust (with a Created vampire this is an impossibility) and I'm not referring to the dangers of skin cancer either. UV light breaks down vampire DNA and causes aging. Sun block does offersome protection, but it's not always a 100% so.
On the topic of "fangs," I feel I should point out that there are a few different kinds. The canine teeth are most commonly located where the upper eye teeth of a human are. When changed into a vampire, often a persons eye teeth will fall out to be replaced by these canines, or the original teeth will be slightly forced down further than their original position. Those that come in are typically a little longer and by nature harder and sharper on the tip. One will find that grinding them down takes much, much effort. A Created vampires teeth is also noted for constant growing to keep up with the wearing down of the enamel. The bottom teeth canines, which in all characteristics are the same as the usual top canines, are only different in which their location is the bottom of the mouth and occur as frequently as left handedness does for humans. It's been known that in a few cases, when a new pair of canines do come in, they might develop too far back in the mouth. If you were to look, you would see them slightly protrude from behind the originals. Another version brought to my attention are the incisor fangs, which occur in the same manner as the upper canines, only that they come in where the second pair of top incisors are. There are also some claiming that there are canine's that fold up to the roof of the mouth when not in use, attracting no unwanted attention from suspicious onlookers. When ready to bite, muscle contractions pull these snake-like fangs down and out where they would protrude a little farther from the other teeth. There are also, those who have no canines all. These individuals often use sharpened fingernails, knives, or any other tool to make wounds to draw blood from. The vampires who have no canines whatsoever are usually quite old or the child of someone quite old. My guess is that the development of vampire canines was a recent (meaning past two millenniums) development. In an unusual change, even those with sharp teeth have begun to use sharpened objects for drawing blood rather than biting. Biting often bruises and tears the flesh needlessly and would often lead to the excessive loss of blood and even infection of a person. Killing is not desirable if you are wondering the reasons for this change in method.
Regarding the need for blood, I must say, a vampire's bone marrow is very different from that of a humans. During the change from a human to a Created vampire, the cells in which cause the change (which I will speak more on later) collect in the kidney during the body's attempt to flush them out of it's system. When this happens, a reaction of some sort terminates all production of erythropoietin, a hormone that regulates production of red blood cells in the bone marrow. Without erythropoietin, the body will produce no red blood cells. As you can see, this is not a desirable predicament to be in, for without red blood cells, one's body will suffer from anemia to oxygen deprivation to shock, and then finally die. Other factors also contribute to the lack of red blood cells. A Created vampire in many cases doesn't eat food often enough, if they can even eat at all. To support it's body's metabolism and in an attempt to make up for this, the body will increase the number of red blood cells it destroys and use their material to feed the body. Also the make matters worse, the production of white blood cells in the bone marrow is increased, diverting much of the energy from red blood cell production. So one must seek other sources. Human blood is a the main source of red blood cells and erythropoietin, though pigs and a few various other animals would suffice.
A Created vampire would often ingest blood after abstaining from food for a day or more, and when after ingested, the hormone erythropoietin would serve to restimulate red blood cell production. Fortunately for Created vampires, chemical changes in their body allows for their metabolism to be slowed and altered to accommodate for the small amount of nutrients in the system. Where areas up to 80% of energy created in a human is lost as body heat, a vampire only loses about 60%. However the fact that many have increased activity in their lives, the production of heat is generally evened out. This accounts for the reason why the Created vampires have temperatures that are lower or higher than 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit and why they are so fond of warmth and cold. Another change that helps them is the alteration of the perspiration system deal with the over accumulation of plasma in the blood. Without a way to release it, the body would become swollen with too much fluid, so the perspiration system is altered so that it can absorb fluid from the blood system and release it through the sweat glands.
The following is a brief explanation of how a human is changed into a Created vampire. To be changed, all one needs to do is receive vampire blood into their circulatory system, either by undergoing a transfusion like process, or by drinking vampire blood. The more blood you receive, the quicker the change and often drinking the blood is a much slower process. Total body transfusion will guarantee a complete change within weeks while an injection of 8 ounces may take anywhere 4 years to the rest of their lives to complete the change. Chances of never eating food like a human again if one drank the Created vampire blood is 65% while loss of one's ability to digest if they undergone a transfusion only results 3% of the time. Little cells of a virus like nature (simply called WVCs, white vampire cells), comprised almost entirely of vampire RNA, are within the vampire blood and when within the humans circulatory system, they fool the white blood cells into absorbing them where they integrate their RNA. As we've covered before, when the WVCs collect in the kidneys, the reaction that results is the shutdown in the production of erythropoietin, which controls the production of red blood cells within the bone marrow. Within the white blood cells, the WVCs that survive substitute the vampire RNA for the white blood cells RNA, and create more vampire RNA. This manufacturing of vampire RNA allows the WVCs to distribute it amongst all the cells within the body. Throughout a vampires whole life, the WVCs are constantly increasing in numbers and introducing its RNA to other body cells. Unlike a humans DNA, a vampires DNA does not suffer from genetic decay, therefore aging doesn't result naturally. As stated before though, vampire DNA broken down when it comes into contact with UV radiation, or light, and this can cause the aging of a Created vampire.
Some of the abilities of WVCs is that they are highly intolerant of infections and disease, and they can act like white blood cells when it comes to the defense of the body. One problem that arises occasionally from this high sensitivity is allergies. The body becomes highly sensitive to all foreign objects and little things like pollen and even food can trigger irritating and unneeded reactions such as red eyes, rashes, hives, breathing difficulty, and severe stomach pain (another reason why some Created vampires stop eating). Another purpose the WVCs can serve is the regeneration of the body, also known as quickened healing. This is achieved when the WVCs, aware of a collection of platelets at a wound opening, trigger the DNA within the cells surrounding the wound, to revert back intoa stage where cell division is unchecked and continuous.
Partial vampires are Created vampires who received a small dosage of WVCs. All throughout their lives they produce more and more WVCs yet for many, they never fully become a true Created. As much vampire as they are, most only receive slightly increased strength and partially enhanced senses. A touch of psychic ability may surface as well, and better health and longer living have been attributed to such. Many Partial vampires however are the result of accidents. A person who was feed upon may have managed to cut and mingle some of the vampires blood within their wounds, and there is much evidence that sexual fluids contain enough WVCs within them that they could change a person enough to be considered a Partial. Saliva however is still under speculation as to whether it could serve as a carrier.
The Born
A vampire that was born a vampire is a rare and intriguing being. Currently there are only couple known to exist in the world. You see, for someone to be born a full vampire, both his or her parents would have to be either Created of Born vampires themselves, and that's why chances of it happening are so rare. When a human becomes a vampire, the WVCs I explained about earlier introduces its RNA into the cells of the body, including the reproductive cells, and this in most cases kills all of the eggs or sperm. For a female, this means no more children because they cannot create any more eggs. For the male, this is not a problem because most retain the ability produce more sperm. There are very few female vampire that can have children, and very few male vampires that can't have children. If two vampires that are able to have children have sex (and I am talking about one female, and one male), then chances are the female can become pregnant. The resulting offspring, is then born within four to five months. After birth, a Born begins to grow, develop and learn with great speed, maturing at a rate almost three times that of a human. The WVC's RNA found in the Created are completely amalgamated for a Born; it is the Born's very DNA.
Their physical abilities are greater than other vampires as well, being naturally faster, stronger, and even more agile. In appearance their skin is pallid with the lightest touch of yellowish tint, and their eyes are generally dilated and pale despite the color. Fingernails and hair are notably thick and fast growing. The way they might respond emotionally might seem strange and at time their sensitivity will no doubt appear "out there". Sometimes they make a sociopath seem emotional, and other times they make manic depressive people seem stoic. Their instincts are stronger and most have an intense fascination for the objects around them. Their personalities are often effected by their constant mood swings that I believe are caused by their quickened and forced emotional growth.
Unfortunately a Born vampire's body being completely made out of vampire DNA, is extremely UV sensitive, and even as short a time as 30 seconds would be enough to inflict serious tissue damage to one. They also have no production of red blood cells because of lack of production of erythropoietin, and their digestive systems are made only for the ingestion of blood. They are unable to eat any food, and only a few types of liquids they can handle. Born vampires though, are capable of having children and making Created vampires. Their children if had with humans are often very similar to the Created vampires, and exhibit much the same traits and needs. If a child is had with a Created, then it as well can be considered a Born.
The Crossbreed
These are people who are in some way or another descended from a vampire. Usually the mother is a human in the case of halfbreeds, but not always. The Crossbreeds are noted for growing either slightly faster or smaller than normal child. It depends on which vampire genes they inherited. Their psychic abilities have been known to cause confusion, and many develop anemia at least once or twice within their lives. Jaundice at birth is also common amongst them as well as various anemic deficiency disorders. Hereditary Spherocytic Hemolytic Anemia is perhaps one good example. In some families a plethora of genetic disorders can be linked to a failure in vampire DNA to appropriately connect with human DNA. The genes that encourage faster healing and adaptation, may make a child grow faster, but the others that discourage bodily aging and growth might slow or even stunt it. Growing faster though, does not mean taller just in case you mistook my words. Of course their height would depend on their parents genes, and if one child was to have a father who originated from the medieval period, it is likely that he would not be very tall.
Like the Created, most Crossbreed tend to be of European descent. Their eyes can be more light sensitive and their skin might develop a natural pallor to it as well. Naturally precocious, faster maturing emotionally as well as physically, they learn quicker. Even a small child can be faster and stronger than a normal human twice his or her size. A young child more intelligent than a person twice his or her age. Their awareness of themselves, others, and their surrounding is remarkable, sometimes losing their innocence too early, or holding onto it until the last possible moment. They are more humane than most people with a strong understanding and empathic sensitivity, and yet at the same time, can be as insensitive as a Born in becoming somewhat sadistic due to the vampire instinct in them. If one parent was a Born, then they are often the equivalent of a Created vampire. Crossbreeds often know they are not fully human because of their physical and mental differences from others. In particular cases, some Crossbreeds even fall to drinking blood like the Created and Born, and others because of instability often resort to violence, rape, and murder as outlets for their frustration and instinctive needs. There are many people out there who are Crossbreeds and whether or not this is good or not, I don't know. So far this planet is holding out nicely.
The Bodiless
First I must speak a little regarding souls and energy (or lifeforce, or life-energy). The soul, or the core of the lifeforce that resides within your body(often in the chest and brain), and the energy, which isn't as concentrated and is that field which your aura is made of. The energy is interchangeable between objects both living and non living, where areas the soul is found only in living beings, and rarely would ever leave it's body. Whenever you touch something, hold a conversation with someone, pet an animal, your energy is intermingling and you can come away with more, less, or the same amount as you did before. Living beings can survive without a soul, perhaps explaining comas, but they cannot live without life-energy. For some particular reason, this life-energy keeps the body itself alive, while the soul keeps the mind alive. A Bodiless vampire, as we will now cover, can feed off of life-energy, but rarely feeds off of souls. While taking life-energy from a someone, it can be done in degrees to where the person notices nothing to seriously draining them to the point of death. They have a strong presence and can be felt easily, even by a human if they aren't shielding themselves.
There are a few different theories on how the bodiless came to be. From a vampire that refused to stay dead, to a human who discovered how to lengthen their life through the absorption of other's. The Bodiless species have the capability to posses a humans body; for the whole life, or for a period of time. When for the whole life, they will absorb the soul of an infants body into their own. Almost all of the time, they will suffer corporeal amnesia. This occurs when for some reason or another, the Bodiless are unable to remember who they are due to a psychic and psychological memory block that the body builds up in defense to its takeover. This block dissolves around the ages of as early as 9 to as late the mid 20s. This is called the Wake, and with it comes the memories of previous bodies, and knowledge of one's abilities and needs for life-energy. Rarely the Bodiless will do a temporary takeover of the body, and when they do, they would choose the body of an adult. At this stage, they would rarely be able to absorb the soul for the adults soul is too large and set on a particular vibration pattern. Neither could they eject the soul from it's body because the body recognizes the soul as it's animator and without it would cease to move. If they fail in absorption, The Bodiless will instead cover the soul, and wrestle for control of the body. This is also known as being possessed. The Bodiless however can only keep up for so long and is driven off after a time. Possessions that last a long time, even for decades are commonly misdiagnosed as Fugue amnesia because in these particular reasons, the Bodiless denies the body's soul of any thought as a means of control. When the possession is over, the person has no knowledge of what happened during then, just like a Fugue amnesiac.
When a Bodiless does have control of a human body, the body will remain human, but the Bodiless inside will continue to feed off of the lifeforces of others. Occasionally one will find a Bodiless that feeds off of blood at the same time because life-energy is concentrated around it. The Bodiless also have a longer life span than a normal humans. Where areas a normal human commonly lives to be around 70 and can potentially live past 100, a Bodiless commonly lives to 100 and can potentially live past 120. Newborn Bodiless vampires can be made by a person or vampire learning to take control of bodies and feed from life-energy. This is often done when a Bodiless teaches them, but it has been known that a few (almost always either a vampire or a crossbreed) have learned for themselves.
Who Gives A Damn
"The man who is always worrying whether or not his soul would be damned generally has a soul that isn't worth a damn." --Oliver Wendell Holmes
Some of you may disbelieve me, and others hate me. Some may believe every word of it. It's all up to you how you receive this document, for each has their own opinion. If you refuse to not even at least be openminded to the possibility of the existence of vampires, then there seems little chance you willl ever fully explore the possibilities of any other aspect of life to gain a better understanding. I ask only that you keep your minds open and not fear or condemn that which you don't know or fully understand. Life's too short to be bottled up in our own visions of reality without looking up occasionally to see what we're missing.
