Vamprire Field Notes

VAMIRE VOCAB

bagger: a vampire in the medical field who has access to blood donations and sells blood to other vampires

“She’s still recovering so she has to get her blood from a bagger.”

drainer: a vampire typically not in the medical field who drains humans of their blood in order to sell it

“Drainers are sketchy, but man, the stuff tastes better.”

flashing fangs/showing off fangs: going around telling humans that you’re a vampire

“You can’t just flash your fangs to anyone that listens.”

fang flasher: someone who shows off their fangs

“That fang flasher is gonna get us all staked.”

vampiric nationalism: a belief originating in Romania that vampires are the rightful occupants of a country

“I dunno about all that vampiric nationalism stuff, but I guess we did come from Romania.”

viaţăsânge: a vampiric religion originating in the Carpathian mountains, translates to “blood life”

“I can’t go out, it’s the full moon and I practice Viaţăsânge.”

fangy: feisty, sassy

“Alright, don’t get all fangy with me.”

turn day: the day of a vampire’s turning, equivalent to a birthday

“My turn day’s next week, what’re you gonna get me?”

SETTING

GEOGRAPHY:
ARCHITECTURE:

The myth of vampires living in isolation is wrong. Dwelling in a large castle or mansion by oneself is not ideal due to a lack of humans to feed from. Instead, vampires prefer to live in large cities to avoid suspicion and have a steady supply of blood.

Many vampires prefer architectural styles reminiscent of their home country or culture, as culture is important to them (whether it be the culture of where they’re from or vampire culture). Some also prefer homes that were built in the years before they were turned into a vampire due to nostalgia, but to some it does not matter.

CULTURES AND SOCIETIES

POPULATION:

Out of an estimated 7.2 billion people on Earth (2014 statistic), 5% are vampires, making about 360 million. When vampires originated in 18th century Romania, they made up less than 1% of the population. As globalization started, vampires expanded out of Romania and their numbers started rising slowly. Although most of the world’s vampires still live in Eastern Europe, many have moved to other countries, namely America. There was a notable spike in the vampire population in the 1990s and 2000s, during the vampire craze. This brought the number up to 5%, where it sits today. The population is still rising, but incredibly slowly.

Although vampires are immortal, only 30% live past 300 years old, 7% live past 500, and less than 0.0001% live past 1000. This is due to both murder and suicides.

CULTURE:

Vampires greatly value their roots in Transylvania, and honor the first vampire, Carmilla. Vampiric culture stems from Romanian traditions as when vampires were first emigrating from their birthplace they passed traditions down to the people they turned, even if they were not Romanian. The traditions got passed down from person to person, grew, and evolved to become vampiric tradition. Eventually, a religion stemmed from this called Viaţăsânge. It's important to note, different countries and regions have their own traditions, or variations of a tradition.

Traditions and celebrations include but are not limited to:

SOCIAL STRUCTURE:

Older vamps are typically respected, as they have more experience with the vampiric. Vampires that have been undead for a shorter amount of time often seek elders out for advice. There is no definitive hierarchy, although there are certain power dynamics that will be discussed in future sections.

Vampires that live in larger cities have a community of people around them. This could be a group of friends that they live with, friends they hunt with, or even just acquaintances from a club or bar they frequent. It is common for a group of friends to consider each other family, even if they aren’t blood related. Although new vampires usually make friends on the sole basis that they are also vampires, it is encouraged to branch out and find others with shared interests or goals.

HISTORY

TIMELINE:

Note--I am biased in focusing on Slavs and Americans.

POLITICAL SYSTEM

GOVERNMENT TYPE:

Vampires do not have their own government. There are, however, a few select exceptions. Small communes have been known to start up all around the world, though their popularity is fading. The nature of these varies by region, influenced by the surrounding political system and history. Most societies like these in the Americas and Western Europe have distinct leadership roles and set rules, many in Eastern Europe and most parts of Asia either do not have a distinct leader or only have one for ease of communication. Each group of vampires is unique in their political beliefs and has their own opinion of how they should function. There have been movements in Europe to unify all vampires in an area under their own set government system, whether it be out of vampiric nationalism or simply a need for an organized government, but they have failed.

LAWS AND REGULATIONS:

As there is no government, there are no laws. There are unspoken rules, though, that, if broken, could get one cast out of a group. I am focusing on beliefs common in the United States, but different regions have different rules.

Notable beliefs are:

CONFLICT AND TENSION:

There have been clashes between vampire communes or tribes in the past. These are usually caused by either political differences or because a commune member hurt someone from another commune. Clashes like these are common in Romania, as it has the highest concentration of vampires and many vampire nationalists. They mostly go unnoticed by the human population or simply brushed off as regular gang violence. In the 1950s, a number of mobs, especially around New York City, were vampire-run, and often fought.

ECONOMY AND TECHNOLOGY

ECONOMIC SYSTEMS:

When dealing with human matters, vampires follow the monetary system of whichever country they reside in. For example, a vamp running a business in Ukraine would still use hryvnias when selling things. When dealing with other vampires, however, things are different. Money is not invaluable, as it could still be used to purchase things from humans, but bartering is preferred. It is common to barter items such as clothes or jewelry in order to get blood, as well as exchanging different blood types. Of course, most people prefer to hunt for their own blood, but some either don’t want to go through the trouble or are physically unable to. Blood traders, also known as baggers due to the bags they carry blood in, hold positions in the medical field and take a percentage of blood donations for the purposes of drinking it. Drainers are blood traders who use more unethical ways of getting blood. Some say it tastes better.

TECHNOLOGY LEVEL:

Vampires mainly use modern technology, and whatever is around them. Though some are confused by new tech and like to use the tools their generation used, it’s easier for a vampire who looks 20 to blend in when they aren’t squinting and poking at their phone screen.

RESOURCES:

Blood is the most valued resource, as explained previously. This puts baggers in a position of power in a vamp community. If someone is unable or doesn’t want to hunt for blood, it wouldn’t be ideal for them to make a bagger mad. The same goes for drainers, although unlike baggers they're often seen as barbaric. Blood’s value is determined by source, freshness, and type (although blood type comes down to personal preference).

CONFLICT

INTERNAL CONFLICTS:

There are often aforementioned clashes between groups that often lead to injury and sometimes even death. A similar source of tension is fighting between vampires that are in positions of power and vampires that are not. If a vamp has a government position or runs an important business, they often have the skills to protect or take the hits for their fellow vampires. When they don’t, problems arise.

Another very real point of conflict is self-hatred. Most vampires that are turned against their own will commit suicide within the first year. Even those that make the choice to be turned take their own lives at some point, whether it be out of genuine suicidal ideation or simply because they believe their time on earth is done. Being a vampire is exhausting, between finding food and dealing with the limitations and threats, one might get tired of it very quickly. Besides, nobody really wants to live forever.

EXTERNAL CONFLICTS:

Vampires have been the target of extremist groups throughout history, and there have been many mass murders both of vampires and of people suspected to be vampires. Many times, a conflict escalated between groups of vampires that led to everybody getting found out and slaughtered. Religion has also played a part in this, as vampires are harmed by religious objects. Attempts to exterminate vampires motivated by religion have been made, whether it be in the form of crusades, exorcisms, or other events.

SCIENCE AND MAGIC

ORIGINS:

Nobody is sure of the exact year, as stories were passed down long before anything was written down, but sometime in the 18th century, a ritual went wrong. A woman named Carmilla (not the Carmilla of Carmilla, although she is the namesake) in a small village in the Carpathian mountains died of a disease now believed to be tuberculosis. Distraught, her father searched for any way to bring her back until he found an ancient resurrection ritual. There is no written record of how to do this ritual.

Carmilla came back, but she was ressurected as an unholy creature. And as much as her father loved her, he was terrified and rejected what he’d created. All the woman knew when she woke up undead was that she was hungry, scared, and alone. Not fully knowing what she was doing, she turned those around her, starting with her father, just looking for someone to recognize her as a person instead of a vile thing to be feared. This only made things worse for her, as those she turned only feared her more and eventually word spread of a demon lurking in the mountains which led to her being hunted down and killed before she even got to lead a full life as a vampire.

RULES:

Vampirism is rooted in religion as it stems from a ritual. Vamps are repelled or harmed by religious icons, no matter what human religion. A vampire could still believe in whatever religion they wanted, but they would be very limited in interacting with said religion. Any physical religious item causes physical damage such as burning the skin, and prayers specifically intended to drive away harm or unholy things cause extremely intense discomfort that may lead to physical damage.

But it’s still a disease, even if it’s a religious one. Vampirism doesn’t give the subject superpowers, as much as eveyone would like to believe. It grants people immortality, but things get complicated when talking about exactly how immortality works.

If someone is ill before they get turned, the illness will most likely persist. For example, if someone has chronic back pain, their anatomy will not change just because they’re undead. If someone has cancer, there is a very small chance that the cancer will die out on its own, but most likely, the person would have to get chemotherapy from another vampire if they don’t want to be incredibly weak and sick forever. Vamps cannot catch serious illnesses after they are turned, although they may be sick from a few hours to a day if they get sick immediately after feeding.

Ordinarily, there is little to no blood in a vampire’s body, and what blood they may have has a much lower concentration of red blood cells. When a vampire feeds, the new blood immediately goes from their stomach to their veins. The circulation of blood is not done by the heart, but rather as the body as a whole as the blood is absorbed and spreads throughout. Immediately after feeding, vampires feel stronger and are able to do more things that require the circulation of blood.