The Eris vampire (Émile: S. Erisi) is the most common vampire subspecies in Offetstine, known for its fairly unassuming appearance and inherent conduct, making it uniquely well-suited for the Masquerade. The name derives from Eris, the Greek goddess of strife and discord, and was coined by Émile, herself an Offetstine resident, as one of the foremost taxa of her then-nascent system. Eris vampires are typically immortal and propagate by turning humans into their kind, conducting a sort of ad-hoc blood transfusion through their fangs.
Physiology
Eris vampires have few remarkable and highly visible physical traits, and as such typically have an extremely easy time passing for human. They subsist on blood, optionally but typically human, through fangs that are easily retractable, and take the place of their canine teeth. Their skin is marked by a slight pallor, appearing grey under certain lighting conditions, but is otherwise unaffected. When their fangs are bared, their irides luminesce a particular visible color, often saturated and non-spectral, which depends on the specific vampire. Most commonly, their eyes take on a warm yellow or red hue, although less commonly, this may be purple, blue or green. Eris vampires commonly exhibit sectoral heterochromia while their fangs are bared.
Eris vampires' magic aggressively rejects foreign organic tissue and viral matter in their bodies, providing them a high level of immunity to human pathogens, although occasionally causing its own complications similar to transplant rejection in humans. Furthermore, many newly turned Eris vampires report a persistent gastrointestinal unease and lack of appetite for human food as their gut flora is purged.
Feeding
Eris vampires usually require in the range of 400 milliliters of human blood, equivalent to 800–1000 mL of blood of other mammals, on a weekly basis. They may draw this amount nonlethally through their fangs, although this is culturally not stipulated and many Eris vampires are more comfortable to kill their human prey. As their fangs pierce the skin, they briefly secrete a hemostatic and hypoesthesic magical agent from venom sacs located above the gumline. Some human victims of Eris vampires also report a sedative effect from the bite.
From there, they may release their fangs and clasp their mouth around the affected region. They are usually able to draw the necessary volume of blood in 1–3 minutes, and the wound rapidly clots and heals after exposure to air. Eris vampires' saliva is usually completely sterile, containing no genetic material of their own and mostly devoid of any pathogenic material, as their magic is resilient to most human pathogens. Eris vampires commonly report no loss of palate for human food, and typically describe the taste of blood as fresh, tart and verdant, similar to raspberries. To that extent, culinarily inclined Eris vampires commonly use blood as an additive to chocolate, wine or coffee.
Progeny
Eris vampires are traditionally completely infertile, and cannot conceive without further magical means. To that extent, Eris vampires usually propagate by infecting other humans with their magic, turning them into Eris vampires themselves. It is fairly rare for Eris vampires to turn humans, as fledgling vampires may be unsuited to the responsibility vested in them and there is otherwise little benefit. However, Eris vampires do often turn humans they are especially intimate with to share immortality with them, and do rarely turn humans who are otherwise fatally injured to preserve their life. Eris vampires may only turn humans, not other demi-humans.
While feeding, Eris vampires may inject their own blood through their fangs as it passes through blood vessels in their fangs. During this process, their heart rate typically momentarily increases to facilitate the rapid transfusion, and their masticatory muscles receive the excess bloodflow. The transfused blood has rapidly anesthetic properties, and the human rapidly loses consciousness, often reporting a sense of nausea or lightheadedness. For a period of time ranging from 1–3 hours after transfusion, the human is rendered effectively clinically dead, exhibiting neither bloodflow nor breathing, and braindead.
Despite this, an abundance of magical activity can usually be discerned from their corpse, and they do not exhibit typical post-mortem conditions aside from pallor mortis. Whether or not this state ought to be regarded as death or unconsciousness is widely disputed. Eventually, however, the human reawakens as a vampire and may be considered undead. During this state, they typically report a momentary lapse of memory, general discomfort or nausea, and hunger for blood.
Compulsion
One of the most notable magical powers of Eris vampires is their ability to bring about a state of hypnosis[1] in humans through eye contact, commonly referred to as "compulsion" (v. "compel"). While demi-humans, especially those who have a similar magical power over the human mind themselves, are generally immune, even magically empowered humans are often left vulnerable to Eris vampires' compulsion. While under compulsion, humans remain fully conscious and behave as their former selves. Unless explicitly instructed, they often commit the moment of compulsion to memory and understand they are not acting under their own free will.
This power is most commonly used to elicit lasting servitude out of humans, although may also be used on a per-case basis to override an affected individual's will. Repeated subjection to compulsion typically brings about a state of reduced cognitive abilities similar to dementia, sometimes leading to senses of paranoia and recurrent nightmares. However, this is usually limited to fairly extreme cases and many humans who have been subject to infrequent compulsion by Eris vampires do not typically notice barring recollection of the moment of compulsion.
The specific effect of compulsion on an individual is highly subject to their personal interpretation of the instruction given to them. It is usually impossible for an Eris vampire to compel anyone without a shared spoken language. Under preexisting duress, a human may misinterpret instructions given during the process of compulsion and behave erratically as a result. It is typically understood that forms of communication aside from in-person speech, such as writing, sign language and radiotelephony, are insufficient to effect compulsion. Furthermore, it is usually impossible to compel multiple people at once.
Culture
As their species does not mutate their morality, Eris vampires typically exhibit a kinship, mercurial or holistic, towards humans, similar to how they behaved as a human. While the desire to feed on human blood does drive many Eris vampires to abandon their human sensibilities while feeding, this is usually considered improper. However, it is considered highly typical for Eris vampires to leverage their power of compulsion to elicit the servitude of an entourage of humans, deriving from their wealth and living lavishly as a result. This lifestyle, often described as reminiscent of feudal lordship, is sometimes considered the quintessence of Eris vampirism.
Real life
Eris vampires are often associated with cats in community discussions outside of roleplay, as a pertinent meme. In-universe, some Eris vampires occasionally exhibit stereotypically feline predilections, such as a proclivity to sleep, and a habit of purring while relaxed. This behavior, however, is unrelated to the nature of the fictional species.
Notes
- ↑ Here referring to the fantasy fiction concept, as distinct from the real-world condition of hypnosis or concept of brainwashing.