Dark Vampire

The common name given to such creatures is “Dark Vampire” or “Nightshade”, but these creatures are neither vampire nor shade. These extra-planar creatures were first pulled into this world during the Age of the Gods when Aesir opened a portal into the Land of Clouds and called forth the spirits of the clouds. Once on Miranda she bound these spirits into the mortal form she called the Jundari.

The Dark Vampires were the unexpected result of Aesir's disruption of the Land of Clouds. The Land of Clouds is a balanced and harmonious land where spirits of air float, dance, and swim along currents formed between two opposite poles. An large living sun gives off heat and light, while an equally large dead sun gives off cold and darkness. For each spirit of air that is born in the light, so is a spirit of air born in the darkness. Mortal concepts of good or evil have no meaning to such creatures - one simply is a heat and light while the other is darkness of cold. So, when Aesir drew the air spirits of light that would be her jundari - she also brought along air spirits of darkness.

Physically there are no defining characteristics for a Dark Vampire. They exist only as spirits of air and as such have no physical body. They shun the light and the warmth it provides and are typically seen as little more than wispy shadows in the dark places of the world (cellars, caves, mines). It is only at night that most of the spirits can travel in the world safely.

Over the millions of years they have lived on this world these spirits of air have adapted. Unlike the jundari who were given bodies by a god, the Dark Vampires learned to attach themselves to a mortal body. This body provided them with shelter from the sun; although they still preferred the cold and dark winter days. Over time most of the Dark Vampires learned to control their “host” bodies and consumed the mortal spirit of the body and replaced it with their own.

A dark vampire cannot simply take over any body. The stronger the spirit of the dark vampire the stronger the spirit of the body must be or its mortal form will rapidly decay. While it is possible for a dark vampire to keep their dead host's body intact for many decades it leaves them in a greatly weakened state and vulnerable to both heat and light.

There is no natural life cycle for these spirits of the air upon this world. The number of spirits brought into this world is all there will ever be in it. They are incapable of birthing more of their kind upon this world, but they are still bound by their nature. The nature of the dark vampires is to survive, consume, and grow as an individual, unlike the jundari who seek out communities of their own kind.

Dark vampires feed upon other dark vampires as they are driven to grow their own strength. A dark vampire will seek out weaker spirits of its kind and consume them - adding their power to its power, likewise it will avoid those spirits that are stronger than it. Dark vampires will never work together as there can never be such a thing as true equals.

Some of the mortal creatures that the mortals of Miranda call vampires were created by a dark vampire. As a dark vampire grows in power so does its intellect. In time it will understand that as its own power grows the mortal shell it inhabits will not be able to survive. In order for the individual to survive it must surrender a measure of its power. It does this by creating a new, and very weak, spirit of air from itself and putting it into a dead body.

This spirit contains the same drives as the individual it came from, but it would be nearly impossible for it to consume other dark spirits of air as its mortal shell leaves it weak and vulnerable. Instead it must consume the essence of other mortals to keep its own body alive. It was these first “vampires” that gave rise to the legendary vampires that can be found in the history of any mortal race. The body is unimportant as long as it once held a sentient spirit.

The Dark vampire that created this lesser vampire gains nothing from this as they are incapable of controlling only consuming. This simply happens to give the dark vampire enough time to find a more suitable host for its growing power.

Dark vampires do not gather in community nor can they work together. Even animal packs led by a powerful alpha are impossible for a dark vampire. A dark vampire must consume its own kind to grow and there is no higher order than the individual. This does not imply that all dark vampires follow the same path. Each spirit as it gains in power and intellect will follow its own path to survive and grow - at its core lays the survival of the individual, which requires an individual nature.

There is only a single species as the physical shell of a dark vampire is not the true nature of the creature. The true nature is always a dark spirit of the air and it is immutable. They are completely incapable of reproduction.

There is only a single race. This is a spirit of the air with no physical variations.