The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

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Awaken to darkness on this place we call Earth,
One vampire's bite brings another one's birth.
A vampire wakes with blood thirsty needs
On the warm rich sensation he feels when he feeds.
He stalks in the night like a disatrous beast,
And what once was alive will soon be deceased.
So when the last bit of sunlight disappears from the sky,
You better watch out unless you want to die.

"They aren't real, I heard you say,
But in my heart is where they'll stay.
And as long as to the dream I resist
They will in my mind forever exist."
-Kris (LettoDamor)

"But first, on earth as Vampire sent,
Thy corpse shall from its tomb be rent:
Then ghastly haunt thy native place,
And suck the blood of all thy race;
There from thy daughter, sister, wife,
At midnight drain the stream of life;
Yet loathe the banquet which perforce
Must feed thy livid living corpse.
Thy victims are they yet expire
Shall know the demon for their sire,
As cursing thee, thou cursing them,
Thy flowers withered on the stem."
-Lord Byron (Giaour)

"I had seen my becoming a vampire in two lights: The first light was simply enchantment... But the other light was my wish for self-destruction."
-Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire

"I never knew what life was until it ran out in a red gush over my lips, my hands!"
-Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire

"I am neither good, nor bad, neither angel nor devil, I am a man, I am a vampire."
-Michael Romkey (I, Vampire)








Famous Vampire Places

Transylvania

Every childhood lover of vampire movies will remember the chilling line, "I come from...Transylvania!" No other place is so easily identified with vampires as Transylvania. Bram Stoker made this area famous by making it the homeland of his fictional character Dracula. Vlad Tepes, a historical figure upon whom Dracula was loosely based, was from Transylvania.

Transylvania is territory in central Romania; in fact, it's the largest territory in the country. It's surrounded on three sides by the Carpathian mountains. Romania has strong Hungarian and German influences as well. One of the more famous cities in Transylvania is Sighisoara, a beautiful medieval town. Of particular interest in the town in the house where Prince Vlad Dracul, father of Vlad Tepes, was born.

Throughout history, Romania has enjoyed a rich folkloric belief in vampires, even up to one hundred years ago. Emily Gerard, a Scottish woman stationed with her husband in Transylvania, did extensive research into practices surrounding death. In her book, she says: "More decidedly evil is the nosferatu, or vampire, in which every Romanian peasant believes as firmly as he does in heaven or hell." (The Land Beyond The Forest, published 1888)

Although Transylvania is a integral part of Dracula, Bram Stoker never actually traveled there. He did, however, do extensive research before he chose it to be the site of Castle Dracula. The castle was a fictional addition to the countryside, thanks to Stoker. However, the attention it has garnered is very real. Today, millions of people journey to Romania, and many of them go on tours of the castles in the area. Tourism has become a big business in Transylvania, with lots of souvenirs available for those with money to spend.


Carfax Abbey

Carfax was the home that Dracula purchased through Jonathan Harker near London, England. Again, Carfax was a fictional residence in an otherwise very real area. It was located near Purfleet. And it was here that Dracula would come to meet the lovely Mina Murray, and spread his vampiric reign of terror beyond Slavic soil.

Movie adaptations of the book combined the asylum Stoker had located next to Carfax with the residence itself, and it became known as Carfax Abbey. This provided a much richer environment in which to stalk the Count. The most obvious example of this is in Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), where the vampire hunters, led by Van Helsing, enter the Abbey to destroy the crates of native soil that Dracula had brought over with him.


New Orleans

With the modern age of vampire tales, it seems only natural that the vampire lairs would move on to the new world. And so it is with New Orleans, home of The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice. Although the series takes you all over the world, it is this place which seems to mean the most. Site of the first book, Interview With The Vampire, New Orleans was a perfect hiding place for vampires during the years when the United States was young. Immigrants were arriving by the thousands, and disease was rampant. A few more dead bodies here or there wouldn't make any difference...

New Orleans has some of the most fascinating cemeteries in the world, yet another reason why it is beloved by vampires and vampire fans alike. Because of the swampy nature of the New Orleans area, nearly all graves are above ground, in crypts. But it wasn't always so. In the early days of the city, the coffins were still buried underground (or underwater, to be more accurate); however, the water would cause the coffins to float on the surface. In order to get the coffins to sink without delay, large holes were made in the bottom of the coffins so that water could get in quickly and force the coffin to sink.

By the 18th century, this practice had been abandoned in favour of above ground crypts. Today, there are 42 cemeteries in the metropolitan area. Lafayette Cemetery is by far one of the most beautiful.





Vampires are NOT human.
From the moment of their awakening following the embrace, they are profoundly aware that they are different. It is more than just facts such as lack of heartbeat, pulse, or warmth. It is a complete physiological change that can be felt from the first few seconds and stays with them their entire unlives.

Some of the more mundane aspects of this difference are:

1) Your organs and glands, including your heart, do NOT work. Therefore you do not breathe, eat, sigh, swallow, blink, fart, or pee. Remember this when you are playing - 'She sighs and says…' is WRONG. You do need to draw in air when you speak, but that is not the same as breathing, and that spoken breath will not steam on cold winter air, because…

2) Your blood does not circulate, and your cells do not burn energy, therefore you are COLD to the touch. Only the unobservant will fail to notice this even when just shaking hands. A freshly fed vampire will be somewhat warm for up to an hour, provided they consumed a LOT of blood in the feeding (as in a whole person, 8 to 10 pints, or 8 to 10 BP). If it was only a small amount (a pint or two, meaning 1 or 2 BP) then it makes no difference - you're cold. At best a vampire will feel room temperature, about an average of 70F or 20c, nearly 30% colder than a normal human being.

3) You do not have saliva or any other bodily fluid. The only way to mimic these things is to force blood through the appropriate tissues. All orifices of a vampire are normally dry unless recently lubricated with blood. That means that any contact with these orifices for another person is either a) dry and cold, or b) bloody and cold. Think about that before you kiss, or whatever.

4) The outer tissues of a vampire's body are unusually dry compared to humans, since all endocrine systems have ceased functioning. This means that fire is a real fear for them. A burn for a human is a blistering and cracking of the skin under heat. For a vampire a burn means CATCHING ON FIRE! A vampire can be as easily ignited as the wick of a candle, even with a common match or lighter. The only way to prevent this, as in the Sabbat firedances, is to waste precious vitae (at least a BP) to force blood to near the surface of the skin, and even then it is a risky undertaking. Therefore vampires do NOT smoke or play with matches except with extreme caution.

5) The feeling of being 'tired' for humans arises from a buildup of what are called 'fatigue poisons' in the system. These are waste byproducts in the cells and blood that come from cellular activity, and once they reach a certain level, they impair function and the body shuts down to clean them out. These are the same chemicals that cause 'muscle burn' when exercising. Since a vampire's cells do not function and burn nothing, no such poisons are produced. Therefore a vampire NEVER feels tired or fatigued (save perhaps mentally, which is psychological, not physical). From sundown to sunrise, you are at your peak. You never experience fatigue, aches, stiffness, muscle cramps, or any other side effect of activity. You feel 100% at all times as long as you have a sufficient amount of blood in your system.

6) The vampire body no longer requires human food or drink. It gains no nourishment from these things, and by consequence it will not react to them with feelings of longing when they are present. Food does not smell good any longer, except in purely psychological ways. The vampire body DOES require blood, however, HUMAN blood. Therefore, humans smell like FOOD. No vampire needs to be told the difference between a vampire and a mortal under normal conditions, one strong whiff of either one and the Hunger will supply the answer.

7) Speaking of scent - the human body produces scent in dozens of different ways, from hair oil to sweat to breath to less savory means. The entire combination of scents produces a unique signature smell, just like in any other animal. Vampires have none of these means of producing scent, but it does not mean they are without a distinct smell. Most importantly they would smell like BLOOD, especially near their mouth and nose, and they would smell like the environments in which they spend their time. Foreign scents like smoke and incense still cling to them normally, and if they wear perfumes or use common toiletries like shampoo, then all these smells combined will form a unique scent for each vampire.

8) Last but not least - a vampire's skin is unusually pale and smooth (unless they are of a clan that specifically makes it otherwise). The paleness comes from the fact that there is no blood circulating near the surface. The smoothness comes from the same effect that is observed in corpses where the skin takes on a smooth and waxy feel shortly after death. It is possible for a vampire to waste vitae and make themselves appear more human, but they would not be inclined to do this except when hunting or when absolutely necessary.

(Some vampires have the 'Eat Food' merit which allows them to mimic consuming human food, but at some point in the evening they have to throw it back up again, because they do NOT digest it in any way, and it does NOT pass through them. Some also have the 'Blush of Health' merit that makes you appear somewhat more human, and your skin is only slightly cool to the touch, it does NOT mean you breathe or your heart beats. Vampires do 'swallow' blood, but this is a muscular effort of the body akin to a vacuum cleaner, not an effort of the throat. This is why a strength roll is involved to diablerize, the final bit of vitae requires more 'pull' then the rest.)