Post by Lerochelle De La Fae on Mar 1, 2010 6:49:09 GMT -5
AnitaVerse Vampires
VAMPIRE SOCIETY -
In general, vampires are organized in a strictly hierarchical structure, both as a matter of social organization and as a matter of the magical power that animates them.
With the exception of rogues and members of Malcolm's Church of Eternal Life, all vampires are bound to a master. In most cases, that master will have his or her own master, resulting in a hierarchy of control. Although a sufficiently powerful master appears to have some ability to control subject vampires through purely magical power, there are numerous vampires in the novels who demonstrate an ability and willingness to disobey their master. The brothers Wicked and Truth managed to kill their master and were basically free agents, even though a vampire usually doesn't live through the death of their master.
Each area large enough to support a social group of vampires is controlled by a single Master of the City. Assuming this position increases a vampire's magical as well as social power, as the master draws a share of power from all the vampires under its control. This position is typically transferred only by the death of the existing master. A vampire traveling to a new area must have the permission of that area's master, and when masters of different cities visit one another, they often engage in detailed negotiations of terms.
All of the individual masters of the various cities in turn owe allegiance to the Vampire Council. The Vampire Council is based in Europe and is composed of several extremely powerful vampires. Normally, a vampire assumes a position on the council by killing an existing member.
Other than obedience to their masters, the rules among vampires vary. For centuries, the Council required vampires to act with discretion, going so far as to kill Vlad Tepes for drawing unnecessary attention. After the United States began recognizing legal rights for vampires, the Council has supported limited cooperation with legal authorities. Vampires living in the U.S. are forbidden to commit crimes, and many city masters engage in vigilante activities to control vampire crime, often delivering criminal vampires to authorities, frequently in pieces.
First, vampires gather power directly by feeding, primarily on blood, although some master vampires can also draw power through fear, lust, or directly from their human or animal servants. Vampires also appear to draw power from their subjects.
In return, a vampire receives its animating force from its master, who in turn receives his or her own animating force from his or her own master. A vampire at the head of a bloodline is known as a Sourde de Sang and need not draw its animating force from any "upstream" master.
Vampires interact with humans in a variety of ways. Vampires may mentally dominate humans, forcing them do their bidding. Vampires refer to these humans as Renfields or more simply slaves. Another term for this ability is "overshadowing" . Vampires also take blood from willing humans. Some vampires are in romantic relationships with humans who willingly donate blood. Others take blood from humans who have a psychological need to supply blood. These latter humans are known as vampire junkies and attend freak parties where they meet vampires.
VAMPIRE TERMINOLOGY
Pomme de Sang - A pomme de sang, or "apple of blood," refers to a person who has agreed to feed a vampire regularly. In vampire society, the pomme de sang is a submissive but valued position, similar to a "kept man or woman" among humans. Pommes de sang are protected from interference by other vampires, and are typically given gifts and otherwise treated as a human might treat a lover.
Sourdre de Sang - A sourdre de sang, or "fountain of blood", is a vampire capable of supporting his or her own bloodline. A sourde de sang generates his or her own animating power, and also provides animating power for all vampires that share a bloodline or have taken blood oaths to members of the sourde's bloodline. A sourde de sang is owed a duty of fealty by all vampires that draw power from its bloodline.
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BLOODLINES
1. Belle Morte (beautiful death) - Beautiful, pale skinned, dark haired, with eyes the color of dark honey, a Vampire Council member and apparently personally responsible for the rise of "sexy vampires" in the Anitaverse. She is known to be at least 2,000 years old. Her abilities include the power to induce lust from a distance (extending to at least hundreds of people at a distance of miles), the ability to draw power from lust, and the ability to call all of the "great cats" (presumably lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, etc.). All members of Belle-Morte's bloodline tend to be selected for their beauty, and some of the vampires in her line are visited by the ardeur, becoming incubi or succubi that need to feed off of lust as well as blood, but able to also project the ardeur to control others. Belle-Morte can make mental contact with all new vampires of her bloodline, and can serve as a mental "bridge" between willing members of her bloodline. In some cases, Belle Morte has shown the power to actually "resculpt" the features of vampires in her bloodline, making them still more beautiful than when they were chosen. Jean-Claude, Sabin, and Asher are all of Belle Morte's bloodline.
2. The Dragon - This female member of the Vampire Council is somewhat enigmatic. She is an old vampire, having created Primo in ancient Roman times. She has the power to draw all of the energy from another vampire, killing it permanently. Like Belle Morte and Morvoren, the Dragon can project her power, and did so in an attempt to force Anita to feed on Jean-Claude's vampires.
In Blue Moon, Damian states that the Dragon had formerly sired many vampires, but has remained largely secluded during recent centuries. In Incubus Dreams, the Dragon sent Primo to St. Louis in an attempt to dethrone or destabilize Jean-Claude. Once Jean-Claude and Anita overcame Primo, the Dragon permitted Primo to remain as their servant and expressed a desire to discuss "Council business" with them.
3. Marmee Noir - Generally known as The Sweet Dark or as the Mother Of All Darkness, Marmee Noir is the leader of all vampires and the head of the Vampire Council. She is both a vampire and a lycanthrope at once, and is apparently a were-sabre-toothed tiger. According to several of the vampires, she was the first vampire, which means that, like Mr Oliver, she predates the evolution of homo sapiens. However it has also been hinted that she is the Mother vampire in a metaphorical, rather than literal sense, having created the rules and culture that governs the vampire race.
It has been suggested that she is a unique type of vampire, distinctly different and more powerful, from all later descendents; perhaps not even a vampire, per se, but a unique type of monster with vampiric traits. Her powers include control over several species of vampire/lycanthrope mixes, the ability to project her attention and mental powers, and a deep control over darkness.
Marmee Noir and her vampire/lycanthrope followers have been "sleeping" for centuries, for unknown reasons, in an underground tower that looks out on a wide open space. They are now beginning to awaken, spurred at least partially by Noir's interest in Anita.
Merlin was turned by Marmee Noir, and appears to have some idea why she went to sleep, but has not revealed his theory to Anita. Anita believes that Belle Morte is gathering her power to challenge Noir for leadership of the Vampire Council, but Belle appears to be naively underestimating Marmee Noir's true nature and powers. Belle Morte claimed she was the reason why some of Mother Dark's followers had woken, but it was later thought by some familiar with Marmee Noir to be merely coincidental. **(THIS IS MERELY FOR RP INFORMATION. WE ARE NOT ALLOWING PEOPLE TO RP AS THIS LINE WITHIN THE RP)**
4. Morte D'Amour (lover of death) - A member of the vampire council; although translated in the novels as "lover of death," his name more accurately translates to "death of love" or "death from love." (For example, Aloysius Bertrand's poem "Madam de Montbazon" includes the line "Elle était morte d'amour, rendant son âme dans le parfum d'une jacinthe," which translates to "She had died of love, leaving her heart in the perfume of a hyacinth.")
Morte D'Amour is a rotting vampire with the ability to cause corruption with his bite, and all vampires with either ability appear to be of his bloodline.
5. Mr. Oliver (earthmover) - Also known as "the Earthmover," Mr. Oliver was a member of the Vampire Council and, to his knowledge, the oldest living vampire. Oliver was approximately 4 feet tall, with a sloping brow, absent chin, and expensively cut blow-dried hair. Because it was suggested that Oliver was member of the Homo erectus species, a pre-human vampire, Anita estimated his age at approximately one million years.
A master vampire, Oliver's abilities included the ability to cause earthquakes, the power to "draw blood from a distance," levitation of himself or others, the ability to remain awake during the day and mask his vampire nature almost totally, voice powers similar to Jean-Claude's, and the ability to call snakes and snake-like supernatural creatures. His retinue included Alejandro, Melanie the Lamia, and his human servant Karl Inger.
An opponent of the liberalization of vampire laws, Oliver planned to kill Jean-Claude, become master of St. Louis, then force all vampires in the city to engage in a killing spree to create a political climate hostile to vampire legalization. Oliver defeated Jean-Claude, but Anita killed him before he could sacrifice Jean-Claude and begin his plan. She defeated Alejandro and Oliver by ripping out their hearts and throats.
Currently, no vampire has been named as taking Mr. Oliver's place on the Vampire Council.
6. Padma - Padma, also known as the Master of Beasts, is originally Indian and wears a turban, He is one of the weaker members of the Vampire Council, whose power is the ability to "call" all animals, not just a single species. Using this power, Padma can bend animals and shapeshifters to his will, and can also use the power as if it were a shapeshifter's "beast" - forcing his power into another, controlling their shapeshifting, and even killing them. He is a member of the only other surviving triumvirate in the novels, with Gideon and Captain Thomas Carswell. Anita successfully demanded that Padma surrender his son, Fernando in return for Anita sparing Padma's life. Anita then gave Fernado to Sylvie, a woman he had raped in an attempt to capture the werewolves, to do as she wished. Sylvie killed Fernando and now keeps his bones in a box in her room.
7. The Traveler - It is unknown what the Traveler's true name is. He has the ability to possess other vampire's bodies, though that vampire's consciousness is still awake. This seems to be limited only to vampires considerably weaker than himself; Jean-Claude was once the victim of this ability. He also has the ability to lend power to lesser vampires temporarily, bolstering their inherent strengths, and he can shield others from sensing him. The Traveler's own body was not present on his visit to St. Louis, only his consciousness possessing other vampires, and it was suggested that the Traveler's body is hidden away someplace.
The Traveler was the only member of the council who is revealed to have known Oliver's plans to take over St. Louis and then use the vampires to make them illegal in the states there. He did nothing, stating that council members do not fight other council members. He also does not like Padma.
He is a strictly homosexual vampire, whose human servant, Balthasar, is also his lover. A large part of their relationship appears to revolve around the enjoyment they each derive from The Traveler possessing new bodies for use in their sexual antics.
8. Morvoren (Nighthag) - Morvoren is a pale blond vampire, described as beautiful but terrifying. She is the master vampire who made Damian. Morvoren was ruler of her land when Damian was made and so is well over a thousand years old. She is a nighthag and can generate and draw power from fear. Morvoren can walk in daylight, and was able to share this power with Damian and a fellow Viking-turned-vampire, Perrin. Morvoren tortured Damian for centuries, and destroyed Perrin by forcing him to stand in the light, then withdrawing his resistance to sunlight. Morvoren can project fear over great distances, sometimes enough fear to kill. In some cases, mentioning her name will draw her attention and her fear.
Morvoren was offered Mr Oliver's seat on the Vampire Council, but refused it. In Blue Moon, Damian claims that he and Morvoren were descended from Belle Morte's bloodline. However, in Incubus Dreams, Jean-Claude claims that Damian is not descended from Belle Morte. At a minimum, Morvoren seems likely to be a sourdre de sang in her own right, this would exclude her from being of Belle Morte's line irrespective of whether she was originally sired into it.
The spelling of Morvoren's name has varied over the series. In Cerulean Sins, Musette refers to her as "Morvoren," but in Incubus Dreams, the characters refer to her as "Moroven." Morvoren's true name is Nemhain, so she is presumably related to the mythical figure Morrigan (Irish War Goddess) who in some instances is also known as Nemhain), whose name means "frenzy" or "panic."
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POWERS - [ B1 (B=bloodline specific, #=which bloodline), G - general ]
Non-Master Vampire - these are all GENERAL
1. ROLLING: Vampires can "roll" victims by making eye contact. "Rolling" typically refers to a temporary hypnotic state that vampires can use to conceal their movements (giving them the illusion of instantaneous movement), to give commands to the victim, or to reduce the pain of a vampire's bite. Victims with supernatural power, such as other vampires, animators, human servants, and lycanthropes, display varying amounts of resistance to this technique, but most people avoid the technique by not looking vampires directly in the eyes.
2. DEEP ROLLING: Given time, a sufficiently powerful vampire can put a victim into an effectively permanent hypnotic state. Vampires sometimes pretend to release a rolled human to appease the police, but if they have been "deep rolled" they can still recall them.
3. MASS HYPNOSIS: Some vampires are able to exert a hypnotic effect over an entire crowd. Mass hypnosis does not have the same permanent effects as "deep rolling". Mass hypnosis is not a widely known vampire power, and has its limits. This form of "mind control" is the only one currently considered legal.
4.VAMPIRE'S BITE: A vampire's bite can (but apparently does not always) provide the vampire with mental control over the victim. In Guilty Pleasures, Nikolaos bites Anita and states that after a few bites, her control over Anita will be absolute. Anita is able to remove the effect of the bite by disinfecting the wound with holy water. In Circus of the Damned, Anita states that a vampire must enter a victim's mind during a bite to gain control over the victim. A vampire's bite can be sexual.
Master Vampire Powers
1. Call Animals (G) - Some master vampires have one or more animals to call. Mr. Oliver had the ability to call snakes, Belle Morte can call felines, and the Master of Beasts can call nearly every animal. This ability also allows them to summon and command animals and lycanthropes of that type. A sufficiently powerful lycanthrope can interfere with this call, however. For example, Nikolaos had the ability to call rats and wererats but Rafael temporarily blocked her call, preventing her from calling the wererats of his Rodere against their will. Some masters can call non-animals: Samuel, for example, can call mermaids and mermen.
2. Rise Early (G) - Some master vampires, such as Nikolaos, Mr Oliver, and Warrick, are able to wake, move, and use their powers during daylight (but must remain in shadow). It is unknown, however, how far Warrick's power extended. Aubrey, although not a master vampire, was capable of at least reflexive motion during daylight if threatened. Damian, Anita Blake's vampire servant, was able to move and survive in the sun in Incubus Dreams after receiving another mark from Anita.
3. Empathic Voice Manipulation (G) - Jean-Claude and Mr Oliver have the ability to form an emotional or hypnotic connection with their voices. Anita characterizes Jean-Claude's voice as having an almost physical sensation, and typically describes his voice as "silk against skin" or "fur against skin." Asher also has this power, but while Jean-Claude is able to portray joy and pleasure better, Asher is able to portray sadness and bitterness better. It is somewhat unclear whether this difference is inherent in the power, or simply due to the individual vampire's personality.
4. Resist Silver (G) - Some vampires are not hurt as badly by silver and some are not affected at all. It depends on how much power the vampire has and how old the vampire is, though age rarely has that effect.
5. Draw Blood From A Distance (G) - This ability allows a vampire to cut or skin an opponent, but only if that opponent has a magical aura. In Bloody Bones, Serefina says she usually accomplishes this by using a vampire's own 'aura of power' against itself, and that humans normally lack the aura and therefore cannot be harmed this way. As necromancers, Anita and Larry each have an aura of power, which enables Serefina, for the first time, to cut humans from a distance just as she does vampires.
6. Drain Power (G) - A master is capable of drawing all of the power from vampires that he has personally sired, reducing them to a weakened, near-skeletal state. (Examples: Jean Claude; Belle Morte; Obisidian Butterfly.)[Every Master has this power over their creations that they have NOT released.]
7. Call Shadows (G) - Some master vampires can call shadows, cloaking an area in darkness. Serefina conceals her orchard this way in Bloody Bones.
8. Pyrokineses (G) - Some vampires have a minor level of pyrokinesis, but major pyrokinesis is almost unheard of among vampires because flame is an element of purity, with the exception of Warrick who believed it to be a gift from God in Burnt Offerings.
9. Read Minds (G) - Some vampires have a mind reading powers. Some need physical contact for this power to work while others can hear every thought.
10. Rotting Vampires (B4) - Rotting vampires, such as Janos, have the ability to allow their body to rot into a decaying corpse or even fall apart without suffering damage. As a result, they are almost impossible to kill without fire (or, presumably, sunlight).
11. Corruption (B4) - Morte d'Amour and selected members of his bloodline are able to cause "corruption" with their bite -- unless the victim is sufficiently powerful to resist, even a single bite can cause a victim to decay and die.
12. Orgasmic Bite (B1) - the vampires bite is literally orgasmic, and his victims often are addicted to the experience and/or experience "flashbacks" of the orgasms received from his bites.
13. Ardeur (B1)**(THIS POWER IS CURRENTLY CLOSED FOR RP. THIS IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION)** - The greatest of the powers in Belle Morte's line is the ardeur. Like all the powers of Belle Morte's line, the ardeur is a double-edged sword, affecting both the user and its target/s. The most basic aspect of the ardeur inspires intense sexual passion in all it touches. Those under its thrall are gripped with an intense desire to have sexual intercourse with the user of the ardeur, or else the nearest person. When used lightly it is possible for a person to choose the one they have sex with, but the more powerful the ardeur becomes, the less picky its victims become (to the point where they would have sex with those they are normally not attracted to i.e. straight people would choose same-sex partners). The ardeur can be extremely addictive, making those in its grips do anything to have another taste of it. At more powerful levels the ardeur can also inspire intense love and devotion towards the wielder of the ardeur. At its most powerful, the ardeur can home in on its victims deepest desires and reshape their personalities to better accommodate those desires. It was through this that Micah and Anita found exactly what they wanted in each other as lovers, helpmates and companions.
The ardeur seems to have a primitive awareness in that it must regularly feed on the lust of its user and others. If it is not voluntarily fed, the ardeur unleashes itself without the volition of its user (often at full strength as well) and forces its user to feed it. This is a necessity as those who wield the ardeur gain power when they feed it and weaken and eventually die if they do not. If the ardeur is mastered it can only be unleashed by the will of its wielder, but the wielder will still decline in health and power if it does not feed. The ardeur can be used to feed on peoples lust from a distance without having to have intercourse with them. This process is described as being akin to "pulling velvet through an open wound" and is thus not as pleasant as the more usual method of feeding the ardeur. Furthermore it is not nearly as effective. In the latest novel of the series, "Harlequin", the ardeur is revealed to be able to feed on a master vampire or alpha lycanthrope and thus feed on anyone who has metaphysical ties to said master vampire (all its vampire underlings, human servant, animal to call etc) and alpha lycanthrope (all its pack/group etc), thus accumulating enormous amounts of power.
The ardeur drains the energies of those it feeds on and can potentially drain a person to the point of death. Thus those who possess the ardeur must have several lovers if they wish to properly feed the ardeur without killing anyone. Jean Claude and Anita can only spread the ardeur to other people (and anyone who touches said people) through physical contact. Belle Morte, who possesses the original ardeur (of which all others are but pale imitations), can spread its influence over great distances (even through dreams and metaphysical connections), affecting people even if they are not touching her. She has been said to have once used this version of the ardeur on several hundred people with only a fraction of its full power. All those in Belle Morte's line that possess the ardeur are called "incubi" (if male) or "succubi" (if female). It should be noted that other vampires automatically assume that all belonging to Belle Morte's line are incubi and succubi.
14. Triumverate (G) - When a vampire binds a human servant and a lycanthrope who is also their animal to call, within a sufficiently short period of time, the three may form a triangular relationship called a triumvirate. This relationship forms a virtuous circle that magnifies and shares the abilities of all participants. It also seems possible for Anita to create a second triumvirate with her animal servant, Nathaniel, and her vampire servant, Damian. In the case of a triumvirate, the one who binds the animal servant and the other servant, whether vampire or human, uses their energy to keep the others alive and be able to have mind-to-mind communications. For Anita's case, if she does not eat, or feed one of her many other hungers, she will begin to feed off of Damian and then Nathaniel until she feeds those hungers.
15. Animal Servant Creation (G) - A vampire with the ability to call animals may also form a vampire-servant relationship with one animal or lycanthrope subject to the vampire's call. The series does not provide many details about animal servants, but the process and relationship appears similar to that of a human servant. The nature of a triumvirate, however, implies that the two are different enough that a vampire can have both at the same time.
16. Human Servant Creation (G) - Most or all master vampires appear to be able to create a "human servant." By marking a human with four successive "marks," the vampire makes the human into a human servant. A vampire can only have one human servant at one time, and cannot remove a mark once given. A vampire's human servant functions similarly to a witch's familiar in that when the servant is nearby, the vampire's abilities are stronger. Most vampires seem to be able to exercise some control over their servants, but a necromancer servant, such as Anita, has complete free will. The death of either the servant or the vampire may injure or kill the other member of the relationship.
First Mark: (the victim "falls" into the vampire's eyes) the vampire shares energy with the servant. The first mark grants the human servant greater resistance to injury and to vampire mental powers, and an almost complete immunity to their own vampire's mental powers.
Second Mark: Anita experiences this mark as a pair of floating points of flame in the color of the vampire's eyes that merged with her own. The second mark allows the vampire to draw power from the human servant, to experience food and drink consumed by the servant, and to enter the servant's dreams.
Third Mark: The third mark is made by the vampire drinking the servant's blood. It conveys increased healing, immunity to poison, and allows the vampire and servant to communicate mentally even when awake.
Fourth Mark: The fourth mark is made when the servant drinks the vampire's blood. It conveys immortality (from age and illness) to the servant, almost complete mental communication, and allows the servant to draw on the vampire's strength.
Copyright © 2010 by Rameaus Renard for the Anita Blake Roleplay in Wood Bourne
VAMPIRE SOCIETY -
In general, vampires are organized in a strictly hierarchical structure, both as a matter of social organization and as a matter of the magical power that animates them.
With the exception of rogues and members of Malcolm's Church of Eternal Life, all vampires are bound to a master. In most cases, that master will have his or her own master, resulting in a hierarchy of control. Although a sufficiently powerful master appears to have some ability to control subject vampires through purely magical power, there are numerous vampires in the novels who demonstrate an ability and willingness to disobey their master. The brothers Wicked and Truth managed to kill their master and were basically free agents, even though a vampire usually doesn't live through the death of their master.
Each area large enough to support a social group of vampires is controlled by a single Master of the City. Assuming this position increases a vampire's magical as well as social power, as the master draws a share of power from all the vampires under its control. This position is typically transferred only by the death of the existing master. A vampire traveling to a new area must have the permission of that area's master, and when masters of different cities visit one another, they often engage in detailed negotiations of terms.
All of the individual masters of the various cities in turn owe allegiance to the Vampire Council. The Vampire Council is based in Europe and is composed of several extremely powerful vampires. Normally, a vampire assumes a position on the council by killing an existing member.
Other than obedience to their masters, the rules among vampires vary. For centuries, the Council required vampires to act with discretion, going so far as to kill Vlad Tepes for drawing unnecessary attention. After the United States began recognizing legal rights for vampires, the Council has supported limited cooperation with legal authorities. Vampires living in the U.S. are forbidden to commit crimes, and many city masters engage in vigilante activities to control vampire crime, often delivering criminal vampires to authorities, frequently in pieces.
First, vampires gather power directly by feeding, primarily on blood, although some master vampires can also draw power through fear, lust, or directly from their human or animal servants. Vampires also appear to draw power from their subjects.
In return, a vampire receives its animating force from its master, who in turn receives his or her own animating force from his or her own master. A vampire at the head of a bloodline is known as a Sourde de Sang and need not draw its animating force from any "upstream" master.
Vampires interact with humans in a variety of ways. Vampires may mentally dominate humans, forcing them do their bidding. Vampires refer to these humans as Renfields or more simply slaves. Another term for this ability is "overshadowing" . Vampires also take blood from willing humans. Some vampires are in romantic relationships with humans who willingly donate blood. Others take blood from humans who have a psychological need to supply blood. These latter humans are known as vampire junkies and attend freak parties where they meet vampires.
VAMPIRE TERMINOLOGY
Pomme de Sang - A pomme de sang, or "apple of blood," refers to a person who has agreed to feed a vampire regularly. In vampire society, the pomme de sang is a submissive but valued position, similar to a "kept man or woman" among humans. Pommes de sang are protected from interference by other vampires, and are typically given gifts and otherwise treated as a human might treat a lover.
Sourdre de Sang - A sourdre de sang, or "fountain of blood", is a vampire capable of supporting his or her own bloodline. A sourde de sang generates his or her own animating power, and also provides animating power for all vampires that share a bloodline or have taken blood oaths to members of the sourde's bloodline. A sourde de sang is owed a duty of fealty by all vampires that draw power from its bloodline.
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BLOODLINES
1. Belle Morte (beautiful death) - Beautiful, pale skinned, dark haired, with eyes the color of dark honey, a Vampire Council member and apparently personally responsible for the rise of "sexy vampires" in the Anitaverse. She is known to be at least 2,000 years old. Her abilities include the power to induce lust from a distance (extending to at least hundreds of people at a distance of miles), the ability to draw power from lust, and the ability to call all of the "great cats" (presumably lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, etc.). All members of Belle-Morte's bloodline tend to be selected for their beauty, and some of the vampires in her line are visited by the ardeur, becoming incubi or succubi that need to feed off of lust as well as blood, but able to also project the ardeur to control others. Belle-Morte can make mental contact with all new vampires of her bloodline, and can serve as a mental "bridge" between willing members of her bloodline. In some cases, Belle Morte has shown the power to actually "resculpt" the features of vampires in her bloodline, making them still more beautiful than when they were chosen. Jean-Claude, Sabin, and Asher are all of Belle Morte's bloodline.
2. The Dragon - This female member of the Vampire Council is somewhat enigmatic. She is an old vampire, having created Primo in ancient Roman times. She has the power to draw all of the energy from another vampire, killing it permanently. Like Belle Morte and Morvoren, the Dragon can project her power, and did so in an attempt to force Anita to feed on Jean-Claude's vampires.
In Blue Moon, Damian states that the Dragon had formerly sired many vampires, but has remained largely secluded during recent centuries. In Incubus Dreams, the Dragon sent Primo to St. Louis in an attempt to dethrone or destabilize Jean-Claude. Once Jean-Claude and Anita overcame Primo, the Dragon permitted Primo to remain as their servant and expressed a desire to discuss "Council business" with them.
3. Marmee Noir - Generally known as The Sweet Dark or as the Mother Of All Darkness, Marmee Noir is the leader of all vampires and the head of the Vampire Council. She is both a vampire and a lycanthrope at once, and is apparently a were-sabre-toothed tiger. According to several of the vampires, she was the first vampire, which means that, like Mr Oliver, she predates the evolution of homo sapiens. However it has also been hinted that she is the Mother vampire in a metaphorical, rather than literal sense, having created the rules and culture that governs the vampire race.
It has been suggested that she is a unique type of vampire, distinctly different and more powerful, from all later descendents; perhaps not even a vampire, per se, but a unique type of monster with vampiric traits. Her powers include control over several species of vampire/lycanthrope mixes, the ability to project her attention and mental powers, and a deep control over darkness.
Marmee Noir and her vampire/lycanthrope followers have been "sleeping" for centuries, for unknown reasons, in an underground tower that looks out on a wide open space. They are now beginning to awaken, spurred at least partially by Noir's interest in Anita.
Merlin was turned by Marmee Noir, and appears to have some idea why she went to sleep, but has not revealed his theory to Anita. Anita believes that Belle Morte is gathering her power to challenge Noir for leadership of the Vampire Council, but Belle appears to be naively underestimating Marmee Noir's true nature and powers. Belle Morte claimed she was the reason why some of Mother Dark's followers had woken, but it was later thought by some familiar with Marmee Noir to be merely coincidental. **(THIS IS MERELY FOR RP INFORMATION. WE ARE NOT ALLOWING PEOPLE TO RP AS THIS LINE WITHIN THE RP)**
4. Morte D'Amour (lover of death) - A member of the vampire council; although translated in the novels as "lover of death," his name more accurately translates to "death of love" or "death from love." (For example, Aloysius Bertrand's poem "Madam de Montbazon" includes the line "Elle était morte d'amour, rendant son âme dans le parfum d'une jacinthe," which translates to "She had died of love, leaving her heart in the perfume of a hyacinth.")
Morte D'Amour is a rotting vampire with the ability to cause corruption with his bite, and all vampires with either ability appear to be of his bloodline.
5. Mr. Oliver (earthmover) - Also known as "the Earthmover," Mr. Oliver was a member of the Vampire Council and, to his knowledge, the oldest living vampire. Oliver was approximately 4 feet tall, with a sloping brow, absent chin, and expensively cut blow-dried hair. Because it was suggested that Oliver was member of the Homo erectus species, a pre-human vampire, Anita estimated his age at approximately one million years.
A master vampire, Oliver's abilities included the ability to cause earthquakes, the power to "draw blood from a distance," levitation of himself or others, the ability to remain awake during the day and mask his vampire nature almost totally, voice powers similar to Jean-Claude's, and the ability to call snakes and snake-like supernatural creatures. His retinue included Alejandro, Melanie the Lamia, and his human servant Karl Inger.
An opponent of the liberalization of vampire laws, Oliver planned to kill Jean-Claude, become master of St. Louis, then force all vampires in the city to engage in a killing spree to create a political climate hostile to vampire legalization. Oliver defeated Jean-Claude, but Anita killed him before he could sacrifice Jean-Claude and begin his plan. She defeated Alejandro and Oliver by ripping out their hearts and throats.
Currently, no vampire has been named as taking Mr. Oliver's place on the Vampire Council.
6. Padma - Padma, also known as the Master of Beasts, is originally Indian and wears a turban, He is one of the weaker members of the Vampire Council, whose power is the ability to "call" all animals, not just a single species. Using this power, Padma can bend animals and shapeshifters to his will, and can also use the power as if it were a shapeshifter's "beast" - forcing his power into another, controlling their shapeshifting, and even killing them. He is a member of the only other surviving triumvirate in the novels, with Gideon and Captain Thomas Carswell. Anita successfully demanded that Padma surrender his son, Fernando in return for Anita sparing Padma's life. Anita then gave Fernado to Sylvie, a woman he had raped in an attempt to capture the werewolves, to do as she wished. Sylvie killed Fernando and now keeps his bones in a box in her room.
7. The Traveler - It is unknown what the Traveler's true name is. He has the ability to possess other vampire's bodies, though that vampire's consciousness is still awake. This seems to be limited only to vampires considerably weaker than himself; Jean-Claude was once the victim of this ability. He also has the ability to lend power to lesser vampires temporarily, bolstering their inherent strengths, and he can shield others from sensing him. The Traveler's own body was not present on his visit to St. Louis, only his consciousness possessing other vampires, and it was suggested that the Traveler's body is hidden away someplace.
The Traveler was the only member of the council who is revealed to have known Oliver's plans to take over St. Louis and then use the vampires to make them illegal in the states there. He did nothing, stating that council members do not fight other council members. He also does not like Padma.
He is a strictly homosexual vampire, whose human servant, Balthasar, is also his lover. A large part of their relationship appears to revolve around the enjoyment they each derive from The Traveler possessing new bodies for use in their sexual antics.
8. Morvoren (Nighthag) - Morvoren is a pale blond vampire, described as beautiful but terrifying. She is the master vampire who made Damian. Morvoren was ruler of her land when Damian was made and so is well over a thousand years old. She is a nighthag and can generate and draw power from fear. Morvoren can walk in daylight, and was able to share this power with Damian and a fellow Viking-turned-vampire, Perrin. Morvoren tortured Damian for centuries, and destroyed Perrin by forcing him to stand in the light, then withdrawing his resistance to sunlight. Morvoren can project fear over great distances, sometimes enough fear to kill. In some cases, mentioning her name will draw her attention and her fear.
Morvoren was offered Mr Oliver's seat on the Vampire Council, but refused it. In Blue Moon, Damian claims that he and Morvoren were descended from Belle Morte's bloodline. However, in Incubus Dreams, Jean-Claude claims that Damian is not descended from Belle Morte. At a minimum, Morvoren seems likely to be a sourdre de sang in her own right, this would exclude her from being of Belle Morte's line irrespective of whether she was originally sired into it.
The spelling of Morvoren's name has varied over the series. In Cerulean Sins, Musette refers to her as "Morvoren," but in Incubus Dreams, the characters refer to her as "Moroven." Morvoren's true name is Nemhain, so she is presumably related to the mythical figure Morrigan (Irish War Goddess) who in some instances is also known as Nemhain), whose name means "frenzy" or "panic."
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POWERS - [ B1 (B=bloodline specific, #=which bloodline), G - general ]
Non-Master Vampire - these are all GENERAL
1. ROLLING: Vampires can "roll" victims by making eye contact. "Rolling" typically refers to a temporary hypnotic state that vampires can use to conceal their movements (giving them the illusion of instantaneous movement), to give commands to the victim, or to reduce the pain of a vampire's bite. Victims with supernatural power, such as other vampires, animators, human servants, and lycanthropes, display varying amounts of resistance to this technique, but most people avoid the technique by not looking vampires directly in the eyes.
2. DEEP ROLLING: Given time, a sufficiently powerful vampire can put a victim into an effectively permanent hypnotic state. Vampires sometimes pretend to release a rolled human to appease the police, but if they have been "deep rolled" they can still recall them.
3. MASS HYPNOSIS: Some vampires are able to exert a hypnotic effect over an entire crowd. Mass hypnosis does not have the same permanent effects as "deep rolling". Mass hypnosis is not a widely known vampire power, and has its limits. This form of "mind control" is the only one currently considered legal.
4.VAMPIRE'S BITE: A vampire's bite can (but apparently does not always) provide the vampire with mental control over the victim. In Guilty Pleasures, Nikolaos bites Anita and states that after a few bites, her control over Anita will be absolute. Anita is able to remove the effect of the bite by disinfecting the wound with holy water. In Circus of the Damned, Anita states that a vampire must enter a victim's mind during a bite to gain control over the victim. A vampire's bite can be sexual.
Master Vampire Powers
1. Call Animals (G) - Some master vampires have one or more animals to call. Mr. Oliver had the ability to call snakes, Belle Morte can call felines, and the Master of Beasts can call nearly every animal. This ability also allows them to summon and command animals and lycanthropes of that type. A sufficiently powerful lycanthrope can interfere with this call, however. For example, Nikolaos had the ability to call rats and wererats but Rafael temporarily blocked her call, preventing her from calling the wererats of his Rodere against their will. Some masters can call non-animals: Samuel, for example, can call mermaids and mermen.
2. Rise Early (G) - Some master vampires, such as Nikolaos, Mr Oliver, and Warrick, are able to wake, move, and use their powers during daylight (but must remain in shadow). It is unknown, however, how far Warrick's power extended. Aubrey, although not a master vampire, was capable of at least reflexive motion during daylight if threatened. Damian, Anita Blake's vampire servant, was able to move and survive in the sun in Incubus Dreams after receiving another mark from Anita.
3. Empathic Voice Manipulation (G) - Jean-Claude and Mr Oliver have the ability to form an emotional or hypnotic connection with their voices. Anita characterizes Jean-Claude's voice as having an almost physical sensation, and typically describes his voice as "silk against skin" or "fur against skin." Asher also has this power, but while Jean-Claude is able to portray joy and pleasure better, Asher is able to portray sadness and bitterness better. It is somewhat unclear whether this difference is inherent in the power, or simply due to the individual vampire's personality.
4. Resist Silver (G) - Some vampires are not hurt as badly by silver and some are not affected at all. It depends on how much power the vampire has and how old the vampire is, though age rarely has that effect.
5. Draw Blood From A Distance (G) - This ability allows a vampire to cut or skin an opponent, but only if that opponent has a magical aura. In Bloody Bones, Serefina says she usually accomplishes this by using a vampire's own 'aura of power' against itself, and that humans normally lack the aura and therefore cannot be harmed this way. As necromancers, Anita and Larry each have an aura of power, which enables Serefina, for the first time, to cut humans from a distance just as she does vampires.
6. Drain Power (G) - A master is capable of drawing all of the power from vampires that he has personally sired, reducing them to a weakened, near-skeletal state. (Examples: Jean Claude; Belle Morte; Obisidian Butterfly.)[Every Master has this power over their creations that they have NOT released.]
7. Call Shadows (G) - Some master vampires can call shadows, cloaking an area in darkness. Serefina conceals her orchard this way in Bloody Bones.
8. Pyrokineses (G) - Some vampires have a minor level of pyrokinesis, but major pyrokinesis is almost unheard of among vampires because flame is an element of purity, with the exception of Warrick who believed it to be a gift from God in Burnt Offerings.
9. Read Minds (G) - Some vampires have a mind reading powers. Some need physical contact for this power to work while others can hear every thought.
10. Rotting Vampires (B4) - Rotting vampires, such as Janos, have the ability to allow their body to rot into a decaying corpse or even fall apart without suffering damage. As a result, they are almost impossible to kill without fire (or, presumably, sunlight).
11. Corruption (B4) - Morte d'Amour and selected members of his bloodline are able to cause "corruption" with their bite -- unless the victim is sufficiently powerful to resist, even a single bite can cause a victim to decay and die.
12. Orgasmic Bite (B1) - the vampires bite is literally orgasmic, and his victims often are addicted to the experience and/or experience "flashbacks" of the orgasms received from his bites.
13. Ardeur (B1)**(THIS POWER IS CURRENTLY CLOSED FOR RP. THIS IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION)** - The greatest of the powers in Belle Morte's line is the ardeur. Like all the powers of Belle Morte's line, the ardeur is a double-edged sword, affecting both the user and its target/s. The most basic aspect of the ardeur inspires intense sexual passion in all it touches. Those under its thrall are gripped with an intense desire to have sexual intercourse with the user of the ardeur, or else the nearest person. When used lightly it is possible for a person to choose the one they have sex with, but the more powerful the ardeur becomes, the less picky its victims become (to the point where they would have sex with those they are normally not attracted to i.e. straight people would choose same-sex partners). The ardeur can be extremely addictive, making those in its grips do anything to have another taste of it. At more powerful levels the ardeur can also inspire intense love and devotion towards the wielder of the ardeur. At its most powerful, the ardeur can home in on its victims deepest desires and reshape their personalities to better accommodate those desires. It was through this that Micah and Anita found exactly what they wanted in each other as lovers, helpmates and companions.
The ardeur seems to have a primitive awareness in that it must regularly feed on the lust of its user and others. If it is not voluntarily fed, the ardeur unleashes itself without the volition of its user (often at full strength as well) and forces its user to feed it. This is a necessity as those who wield the ardeur gain power when they feed it and weaken and eventually die if they do not. If the ardeur is mastered it can only be unleashed by the will of its wielder, but the wielder will still decline in health and power if it does not feed. The ardeur can be used to feed on peoples lust from a distance without having to have intercourse with them. This process is described as being akin to "pulling velvet through an open wound" and is thus not as pleasant as the more usual method of feeding the ardeur. Furthermore it is not nearly as effective. In the latest novel of the series, "Harlequin", the ardeur is revealed to be able to feed on a master vampire or alpha lycanthrope and thus feed on anyone who has metaphysical ties to said master vampire (all its vampire underlings, human servant, animal to call etc) and alpha lycanthrope (all its pack/group etc), thus accumulating enormous amounts of power.
The ardeur drains the energies of those it feeds on and can potentially drain a person to the point of death. Thus those who possess the ardeur must have several lovers if they wish to properly feed the ardeur without killing anyone. Jean Claude and Anita can only spread the ardeur to other people (and anyone who touches said people) through physical contact. Belle Morte, who possesses the original ardeur (of which all others are but pale imitations), can spread its influence over great distances (even through dreams and metaphysical connections), affecting people even if they are not touching her. She has been said to have once used this version of the ardeur on several hundred people with only a fraction of its full power. All those in Belle Morte's line that possess the ardeur are called "incubi" (if male) or "succubi" (if female). It should be noted that other vampires automatically assume that all belonging to Belle Morte's line are incubi and succubi.
14. Triumverate (G) - When a vampire binds a human servant and a lycanthrope who is also their animal to call, within a sufficiently short period of time, the three may form a triangular relationship called a triumvirate. This relationship forms a virtuous circle that magnifies and shares the abilities of all participants. It also seems possible for Anita to create a second triumvirate with her animal servant, Nathaniel, and her vampire servant, Damian. In the case of a triumvirate, the one who binds the animal servant and the other servant, whether vampire or human, uses their energy to keep the others alive and be able to have mind-to-mind communications. For Anita's case, if she does not eat, or feed one of her many other hungers, she will begin to feed off of Damian and then Nathaniel until she feeds those hungers.
15. Animal Servant Creation (G) - A vampire with the ability to call animals may also form a vampire-servant relationship with one animal or lycanthrope subject to the vampire's call. The series does not provide many details about animal servants, but the process and relationship appears similar to that of a human servant. The nature of a triumvirate, however, implies that the two are different enough that a vampire can have both at the same time.
16. Human Servant Creation (G) - Most or all master vampires appear to be able to create a "human servant." By marking a human with four successive "marks," the vampire makes the human into a human servant. A vampire can only have one human servant at one time, and cannot remove a mark once given. A vampire's human servant functions similarly to a witch's familiar in that when the servant is nearby, the vampire's abilities are stronger. Most vampires seem to be able to exercise some control over their servants, but a necromancer servant, such as Anita, has complete free will. The death of either the servant or the vampire may injure or kill the other member of the relationship.
First Mark: (the victim "falls" into the vampire's eyes) the vampire shares energy with the servant. The first mark grants the human servant greater resistance to injury and to vampire mental powers, and an almost complete immunity to their own vampire's mental powers.
Second Mark: Anita experiences this mark as a pair of floating points of flame in the color of the vampire's eyes that merged with her own. The second mark allows the vampire to draw power from the human servant, to experience food and drink consumed by the servant, and to enter the servant's dreams.
Third Mark: The third mark is made by the vampire drinking the servant's blood. It conveys increased healing, immunity to poison, and allows the vampire and servant to communicate mentally even when awake.
Fourth Mark: The fourth mark is made when the servant drinks the vampire's blood. It conveys immortality (from age and illness) to the servant, almost complete mental communication, and allows the servant to draw on the vampire's strength.
Copyright © 2010 by Rameaus Renard for the Anita Blake Roleplay in Wood Bourne