Vampires (Immortal Desires)

The Vampires of Immortal Desires are supernatural creatures. They primarily live within the town of Crimson Beech.

History
"The laws of Crimson Beech are hereby designed with diplomacy and peace in mind, both for the resident vampires and the humans inhabiting the town. The following crimes are against the sanctity of Crimson Beech and must result in banishment. Revealing coven secrets, coven infighting... As few traditions stand the test of time, any law may be updated by a communal agreement and posted into the Chamber of Laws."

- Original agreement forged between the Clements and Venandis

Generally, there is only one coven per area protected by a ley line, and ley lines are dispersed relatively far from one another. Crimson Beech is an exception however due to the Clement and Venandi covens being hunted by vampire hunters in the past, their covens dwindling in population, and them forming an alliance in order to preserve themselves. In human history, settlers traded with the Mohican Nation to take possession of Crimson Beech, only to lose it to the founders in a bloody battle. However, that is only half-true according to the original Crimson Beech vampires. The settlers were the early Clements and Venandis, who traded for the land after fleeing from vampire hunters.

The vampire hunters knew of the vampires' weakness to sunlight. They would corner vampires in the day and stake them in their hearts. While vampires were forced to find shelter in caves and darkness, vampire hunters would torch the formers' sanctuaries and force them into the sunlight. When a Venandi vampire crossed the invisible threshold separating ley line powered land from unpowered land, word spread to the Clement coven as well. The two covens banded together to defeat the vampire hunters.

As they lived in peace, the town grew more prosperous and attracted others to settle in Crimson Beech. By the 21st century, the covens have regained its numbers since those days.

Vampire Hunters
According to town legend (for humans), Captain Adalhard - Gabe Adalhard's great-great-grandfather - was the town's protector who wiped all the vampires out. Truthfully, he had been involved in thinning out the vampire population when the vampires were running rampant, and reduced them to a controllable number. However, he became sadistic in his hunting, and began hunting vampires for sport, torturing them, and beheading them.

Laws
All vampires who reside in Crimson Beech are bound to the core laws, which include treating the humans that also reside there fairly. One of the core laws is to never turn a human into a vampire without approval from the covens. Regardless of intention, "a crime must have its punishment". Forms of punishment include being Silver Branded and banishment.

Humans who discovered vampires were almost always killed until a human helped the covens fend off a vampire hunter. From this, the law was amended to give humans the benefit of the doubt.

Vampires are allowed to act contrary to the law to preserve their dignity or their covenmates.

Creators
Unlike the Bloodbound universe, where the vampires have a single progenitor, in this universe there were many Creators, also known as the Supreme Ones, who each ruled over a vast territory in the ancient world and created hundreds of vampires, over whom they had absolute control. Some of the Creators were benevolent and their followers willingly joined them, but others turned their followers against their wills.

Over time, the Creators grew weary of having total control over the world, their might unchecked, so they decided to retreat to the sources of their power and return when the world has changed enough to be of interest once more. However, once the vampires were freed from the Creators' rule, they did not wish to return to how things had been, so they overthrew the Creators, tracking them down and slaughtering them one by one, their loyalty to their all-powerful makers a thing of the past. Still, a few Creators remain hidden in remote parts of the world and were never found.

Recently, one hidden Creator resurfaced in the US, and is behind the murders around Crimson Beech, which he and his forces are planning to conquer.

Current Politics
There have always been tensions between the two covens in Crimson Beech due to their differences in opinions regarding humans. The Venandis feel that the Clements are all "wannabe human sheeple in wolves' clothing".

Biology
Vampires (in vampire form) have silver eyes. While they must feed on the blood of humans, unlike in the Bloodbound universe, the vampires in this universe kill the humans they feed on and the feeding is not consensual. Vampires may choose to satiate their hunger by drinking blood through the use of blood bags, usually acquired from human hospitals. When vampires do not regularly feed, they are in danger of turning "feral", unable to reason with or talk to until the thirst for blood is quenched. Astoria and Lewyn limit their coven members to feeding once a month.

Another difference from the Bloodbound universe is that the vampires in this universe turn humans by using venom, which all vampires have in their bodies. Vampires must consciously inject venom into the humans to turn them, and cannot turn them by accident during feeding. Drinking vampire blood gives one vampire abilities but doesn't turn one into a vampire.

Turning
When the coven decides to turn a human, the entire coven is involved in the process. It symbolizes the new vampire-to-be being welcomed by all their new covenmates. The first bite is done by someone who is close to the human. Injecting too much venom will kill the human; thus each vampire only injects a small amount.

With the first bite, the vampire-to-be feels hot, then every inch of his/her body begins to tingle. However, only the first bite is euphoric; every bite after that is painful. One bite should inject enough venom to complete the process, and in the past, it used to be just the coven leaders that carried out the turning. Currently though, the ritual is conducted with all the covenmates.

Powers and Abilities

 * Enhanced Strength: Vampires are stronger than most humans.
 * Enhanced Speed: Vampires can travel faster than humans.
 * Ley Lines: Ley lines are underground sources of energy that vampires can utilize. They give vampires the ability to be resilient to sunlight.

Weaknesses

 * Aversion to Silver: Silver can burn vampires. Several vampire-hunting talismans use silver as a ward against vampires, and specifically prepared silver can paralyze them.
 * Decapitation: Dismembering or manually removing the head of a vampire will result in instant and permanent death.
 * Sunlight: Originally, vampires found sunlight to be debilitating and were greatly weakened under its gaze. This changed when vampires found ley lines of power that nullified this weakness.
 * Ley Lines: While the ley lines nullify the weaknesses vampires have to the sun, this is dependent upon contact with the ley line and if the vampire leaves Crimson Beech, they will swiftly lose this power.
 * Vampire Blood: Vampire blood is poisonous to other vampires. Even a drop or two is enough to make a vampire ill.

The Nexus
Located in a cave deep in the woods, the Nexus is the meeting hub of the covens, where they gather to discuss important vampire affairs.

Chamber of Laws
Located in the deepest part of the Nexus, the Chamber of Laws contains all the laws that govern the covens. It also contains the Hall of History.