Worldbuilding Spotlight: Vampires

Worldbuilding Spotlight: Vampires

Biology and Magic

WIP: Unnamed (doc 3)

Biology:

Vampires are nocturnal humanoids from the darklands of Velsaid. The darklands are, as their colloquial name suggests, lands shrouded in eternal darkness. It is always night there, which is why vampires are weak to the sun- they are evolutionarily not suited for harsh or bright light in general, let alone the heat of the sun. This is also why many of them are unnaturally pale.

Enhanced senses and echolocation abilities allow them to navigate in the dark. Poor eyesight is also a common trait among vampires, particularly those born outside of the darklands. Vampires have adapted to have night vision, but this trait often goes somewhat dormant in those who have been exposed to daylight since childhood. This leads to improper vision, in both day and night times. 

Vampires, while maintaining a much lower internal temperature than a human and living much longer on average, are neither a form of undead nor a condition spread through bites. They are naturally resistant to most human illnesses, and are on average faster and more durable than an average human. Full-blooded vampires must drink blood, and only blood. Half-vampires live off a balance of blood and iron-rich food, wherein the blood acts as the vegetable part of the “food pyramid” and iron-rich foods as the “meat/protein”. 

While it is possible for vampires to consume the blood of other creatures, it’s neither healthy nor recommended, and is not a sustainable diet plan. It’s to the same level of a “fad diet”, such as keto or paleolithic or no-carb. 

Vampires live an average of 300 years. As such, there are comparatively fewer of them than most other species, as well as a lower birth rate.

Magic:

Vampires are puppeteers. Their magical abilities typically lie in the realm of manipulation and control. The most common is Charm, a type of hypnotism/persuasion. It’s a magic similar to but much weaker than a siren’s Allure; once casted, those in range find themselves drawn to the caster, are more inclined to heed the caster’s words, and might not even recognize obvious dangers or threats in their vicinity. 

More powerful vampires are able to transform into bats and fly. They typically cannot do this for long periods of time, as doing so can impair their ability to return to their original form. In extreme cases, those who have morphed for too long may forget their original selves, even when forcibly transformed back.

The rarest few are able to use Puppeteering. As they’re weak to sunlight, Puppeteers use the corpses of humans to do their bidding in the day. They can then use this puppet as a hunting machine or blood vessel of sorts, sending it out to drink the blood of living humans, then returning so the vampire can consume the stored blood. Not every vampire is capable of this level of magic, and those that are, are unable to sustain it for long periods of time or incredibly long distances. Even among Puppeteers, it is uncommon to be able to command more than two at a time. 

Only one vampire is capable of the use of Hive Mind. This is the Vampire Monarch, a special being that is more powerful than the rest of the vampires. Hive Mind allows the Vampire Monarch to control and command all mature vampires so they may all work as one unit, similar to a superorganism. In turn, the Vampire Monarch’s life and magic is bound to the book of law during their coronation, so that they cannot utilize this ability in a way that violates their rules.

(Art isn't mine)

Welcome back! Nice to meet a fellow fantasy and worldbuilding lover! I think I'd rather say I have some morally questionable characters amongst my numerous WIPs, but if you're interested, I'd love another writeblr friend!

looking for writeblrs to follow! i’m tris, coming back from a year+ hiatus and would love to start interacting with the community again 🥹 i write mainly fantasy (wip tag here) and love worldbuilding but i also am a sucker for morally grey characters so if u’ve got any of that i’d love to check ur wip out!

Find the Word Game

Thanks @anyablackwood for the tag!

My words: breathe, run, bridge, soft

Breathe

Here, they lingered for a moment, before their eyes met. At Bran’s subtle nod, Aneiric slipped into one of the servants’ passages, away from the throngs, away from the eyes and all the exhausting conversation. Bran crowded him through without a word spoken. They followed the winding passages, Bran taking the lead, dodging the occasional servant before finally emerging into cool night air. Aneiric looked up at the stars and breathed deeply for the first time in hours.

Run

“There you are!” That was Saewor, standing in the doorway and crossing her arms, eyebrows raised. Some blond strands were escaping from her untidy braid, just like she’d run through the castle in search for him. Or managed to carry a cask of mead to his rooms. The cook once again looked horrified but Aneiric only levered himself up and handed her the bowl with a bow.

Bridge

“Tides, I didn’t mean to keep you this long, Highness. Only –” He looked around. Aneiric was ready to head him off at the pass when he darted to one of the rose bushes. He found a blossom that hadn’t fully unfurled yet, white but the ones beside it showed a middle of pastel pink and yellow. He deftly plucked it just above where the thorns started growing and turned back to Aneiric. His hands were shaking, but something had set in his face. He bridged the space between them and leaned up to tuck the blossom behind Aneiric’s ear.

Soft

She was laughing, a soft hand laid on Aneiric’s arm. Bran averted his eyes. There would be no absconding tonight. “Are you brooding again?” Rolaine asked. All her focus was on her hands, but he could see her amusement even so. “What do I have to brood about?” Rolaine cocked her head. “A myriad of things, I suspect. It’s no matter. The least you could do is enjoy yourself a little.” “As you are?” His answer may be a slight bit broody, but if so, Rolaine didn’t reprimand him. Instead, she said, “I am enjoying myself quite well, captain. Now, shoo, go.”

New words: drink, sunlight, bold, spread

(gently) Tagging: @boundedsea, @charlesjosephwrites and @fayeiswriting

Thanks for the tag, @anoelleart! This one's a short one, lol.

Sentence: There was no way out.

Word count: 5

Tagging (no pressure!): @theunboundwriter, @justnerdy15, @yors-truly, @draugrbite, @thebewingedjewelcat

Last Sentence Game

I was tagged by @daughter-of-inklings (thanks!!)

Rules: write the last sentence you wrote on your wip, and tag as many people as there are words in te sentence!

She could not just leave it, even if it was doing her more harm than good to keep it on.

Words: 20

Tagging @sm-writes-chaos, @bluberimufim, @leisoree, @flock-from-the-void, @fatexweaver, @writingamongther0ses, @macabremoons, @cheeto-flavoured-pasta, @firesmokeandashes, @2d-dreams, @angelicminds, @unclear-contributions, @squarebracket-trick, @neoncherryblossom, @frostedlemonwriter, @tea-and-mercury, @halfbit, @digital-chance, @mjparkerwriting, @mjjune! Those are 20, but of course anyone else who wants to play is free to do so!

Writeblr Introduction

Hi there! I’ve been on this car crash of a site since 2012, and somehow I still never dipped more than a toe into the writer side of things, but I wanna change that this year.

So, hi, I’m Susanne (she/her), 30. I work in a library and enjoy being outside, single player video games, and also putting my silly little thoughts on paper, so to speak. I’ve been writing in some form or other since I was a kid, although I’ve never shared much of my original writing online. A lot of fanfic stuff, though. You can still find it if you know where to look. I want to share my original stories as well at some point in the future. No publishing aspirations as this is all for fun.

I’m mainly an enjoyer of fantasy and romance, with a dash of queerness on top. But I’m interested in pretty much anything. I’m one hell of a sucker for friends to lovers as well as a good heaping of building yourself a home where you least expect it. Me and YA have a … complicated relationship.

So, if you wanna be friends or just want a new follower, please interact with this post! I’ll be sure to check out your blog! I’m always open to asks and tag games, as well as just talking, so please don’t be shy. I’m not the best at interacting first, but I’m happy to jump in!

My blog is a bit of a mix of everything but all tagged for your blacklisting pleasure. For writing stuff, you can look out for #writing, #writing inspo, and the project tags for my own stuff.

I’ll leave you off with some descriptions of my projects under the cut. I’m really bad at titling things, so don’t be surprised that they’ve all got project names instead. ;)

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