Vampires

Vampires, often classified as their own species, are humans infected with a hollow disease. The disease, known as vampirism, can be contracted during life, however it will not take effect until after its host dies. When the host dies, vampirism changes the complex biology of its victim, allowing it to sustain life once more. On top of bringing its host back to life, vampirism allows its victim to have abilities which pass the limits of mankind, but only when the host consumes blood. The most well-known of these abilities is immortality.

History
The origins of vampirism remain unknown to this date, though the history of vampires begin during the Warring Clans period in Arestoneiam. While the richer houses paid shapeshifting clans to fight their wars, smaller houses reinforced their militarizes with magic. In the country of Reikhafen, King Linus hired a Droggo Constantine to create a potion which would make his soldiers superior to all those in the Realm. Constantine used blood magic to summon a hollow to his tower and asked for what the King desired. Instead of giving a potion, the hollow infected Constantine with vampirism and killed him for his role in summoning the hollow. When Constantine woke up, he was stronger and faster than man with senses better than any animal.

Constantine’s thirst for blood resulted in him killing the King and his family. After his frenzy, he came to his senses and struck fear in the King’s court by showing off his abilities. Constantine was named the new King of Reikhafen and has ruled since. It’s unknown when exactly, but it’s predicted that sometime in the first decade of his rule that Constantine discovered that he could make more creatures like him by allowing others to consume his blood and killing them, like him. It became known across the land that these abilities could be obtained, so people from all throughout the realm ventured to Reikhafen to receive blood from Constantine.

Constantine wasn't in any hurry to forfeit the powers that made him great, however he needed gold to build his kingdom, so he forged contracts with nobles and commonfolk. Anyone willing to unconditionally work for him for a period of twenty years would receive his blood after their twenty years of service were up. A similar contract was forged with those who could pay gold, and that's how the first vampires were made. These nobles returned to their homes and formed similar contracts, these however included people serving as food banks. Vampires had several people providing them with blood so that none of their vessels died, and no one would be discouraged from serving a vampire. For these liberal reasons, vampires were never hunted for their blood drinking lifestyle, because their food was received with consent.

Abilities
Through the consumption of blood, vampires possess many abilities. Already mentioned was their immortality. Vampires are also immune to human diseases and can psychically surpass a human in terms of strength, speed and durability. These abilities are strongest right after they consume blood and die over lengthy periods of time when they don’t feed. Their senses surpass that of most animals, especially their smell and hearing. Their sight is nearly the same as man’s, though they can adjust to the dark. When a vampire is wounded, blood can grant them strength and it also makes their healing double that of man’s.

Physical Traits
Vampires are extremely pale no matter their skin color and oddly contract a visible aura in dark settings. Their eyes are blood red and over the period of several centuries their hair turns white, which is why old vampires can be confused for elves. Right after they drink blood, vampires gain some color in their face and throughout the rest of their body.

Weaknesses
Vampires are vulnerable to sunlight, especially after freshly feeding on blood. A moment of contact with sunlight can cause their skin to catch on fire, and several seconds can cause that part to combust. The longer they go without blood, the longer they can survive sunlight, however they are always weak to it. A common tactic to kill a vampire is with a flaming arrow to the chest. Vampires can easily be killed with wood penetrating the heart, such as with an ordinary arrow. They’ll turn to ash under these circumstances. There are also other diseases amongst the vampire community which are contracted by drinking poisoned bloods. Vampires can also be killed through decapitation. If an elemental, warg, siren of elf contract vampirism and die, they do not have their usual powers when they come back to life.

Biology
Despite what the realm of Idris thinks, vampires are by no means dead. Vampirism doesn't keep vampires dead, it rearranges their complex biology so that they can live off blood, resulting in two things: they can still live by consuming human food; the consumption of blood grants them abilities. Because they are indeed living, they can return to their humanity simply by not drinking blood. There is a simple rule for a vampire returning to being a human: for every year spent drinking blood, consume human food for a month. Over this time period, vampires lose their vampire abilities, but they too become humans and are able to grow and have children. This can of course be undone by drinking blood, however if a vampire dies in their human form, they cannot come back again as a vampire. As humans, vampires can contract human diseases.

Cultural Division
There is a unique culture in the vampire race. Vampires have historically been rich and influential members of society. Their immortality allows them to follow their desires and goals over lengthy periods of time, meaning they don't have the same spending habits as mortals. This has allowed them to save money historically, and because of the contracts they form with humans, they're able to use them to generate more money than they would have to spend on them. Most vampires never go beyond this simple point in life because it is known that the bigger they become, the more vampires will have to be made and the more of them there will be, decreasing the worth of a vampire and making survival a struggle in the long run. Though, that isn't to say that there are vampires who rise beyond this point. There are several powerful figures in Reikhafen who are vampires. Overall, most vampires, no matter the location, share the same aristocrat culture.

Public Relations
Surprising to most historians, vampires are on good terms throughout the realm. Species in general, this especially the case with mankind, have a tendency to fight things they do not understand, which is why it was rare to find that vampires weren't eradicated by a fearful lord or king who discovered a race which required blood to survive. Vampires were quickly able to find their place in society by offering work, food, shelter and necessities to those who worked for them, and this has historically aided in cleaning the streets of major cities. Essentially, having vampires increases the worth of a city by taking peasants off the street, and because of this, vampires are liked by nobles and gentries in society.