You know what the problem is? The bloated, obese, decadent aristocratic vampires who hog all the resources and leave nothing for the common vampires! #ShareTheBlood #SanguineSocialism -- >Transylvania is in Romania >Romania was, for the large part of the 20th century, under a communist dictatorship >peasants have to decide whether they want to continue living as thralls of the local vampire baroness >or join the side of the revolution - which, in Romania, would eventually lead into a mass, centralized urbanization known as Systematization (ostensibly to boost the industrial labor force, but also, to destroy mixed-ethnic communities in Transylvania, which is why it was known as the "Village destruction plan" in Hungary) >the communist government (under the nepotistic Ceaușescu) would initially make concessions to the vampire aristocrats (to keep them in power, just under more "proletariat-friendly" titles) >since this gives them access to blood banks, and allows the more lonely ones to mingle with the locals, many vampires join, leading to many a Eastern bloc apparatchik to refer to the Romanian communist elite as "friendly bloodsuckers", especially after Romania breaks away from the Eastern bloc following the Sino-Soviet split >the "holdout" barons and baronesses are tolerated under the request of their former peers, but, without their social network of vampire nobles to hold on, these ladies of the night fall into stagnation, and by the time the Systematization is announced, their castles are in a state of disrepair, they've become reclusive hermits, hostile towards almost everyone, and have grown fat and decadent from years of living off the support of their fellow vampires (who sometimes had to substitute human blood with pig blood in order to feed their increasingly ravenous appetites) >it goes without saying that their dilapidated palaces end up as targets of the new urbanization scheme >and thus, a new conflict arises -- >>their castles are in a state of disrepair, they've become reclusive hermits, hostile towards almost everyone, >>it goes without saying that their dilapidated palaces end up as targets of the new urbanization scheme >"Take that you mummified fossils!" >"Time for a few malls!" -- Wasn't really malls - they just knocked down villages and relocated the people elsewhere, into larger towns and cities. There was a reason why it was dubbed as "village destruction" ("falupusztítás") in Hungarian. In any case, I can see the communist government justifying their actions by wanting to open new mines and the like in the place of the often mountain-side or mountain-top palaces. >they send in their best soldiers with a few AFVs that could be squeezed onto the mountainous roads, along with what remains of the countryside clergy (the operations large covered and overseen by the Securitate, the secret police) >they expected a fight like no other, a true combat between the modern, proletariat forces versus the decadent feudal occult >...what they got instead is a pale, morbidly obese woman wearing what looks like medieval get-up several times too small for her, half-drunkenly demanding with an antiquated vocabulary that they leave her property >the soldiers were... almost disappointed (the secret police definitely was, so whoever gave them the info about the "dangerous vampire baroness" would get a stern talking-to, at the very least) >however, they APC came in handy, when they had to deliver the multiple-ton woman from the property before sunrise, lest they'd want to have an "incident" at their hands, and ruin the good rapport they've built up with their more patriotic nocturnal comrades >the castles were demolished, largely without a trace, with only a few remaining (which would come in handy for post-communist Romania as tourist destinations, thanks to SLIGHTLY irredentist Hungarian tourists, and a certain book by a certain Mr. Stoker) >as for what became of the disgraced baroness and her peers? >well, even now, several decades later, Romania could boast about having the cleanest meat packing industry in Europe (aside from the occasional horse-meat fiasco), with not a drop of spilled blood to be found in their many slaughterhouses! -- >a once proud and respected vampiric baroness >reduced to a bloated blood disposal unit for a meat packing plant How times change. -- >it's a bizarre sight >the lowly-payed worker sent into the "blood disposal unit" was only told that it's a simple cleaning duty >inside he only found a hose and a mop-handled scrubbing brush... >...and a great, quivering mass of pale flesh, beyond the walkway, a set of spiral staircases leading down to the vast room's depth >as his eyes adjust to the darkness, he's shocked to realize he's staring at an enormous pair of flabby, sagging breasts, resting atop gargantuan, multi-roll stomach >the body groans and gurgles, ripping juggles running through it's folded, cellulite-laden surface >in the distance, at the center of the mass, he sees a pipe descending from the ceiling, currently disconnected and hovering above the churning blob via a crane arm, blood dripping from it's end >and underneath it, atop a duvet of jowls and multiple chins, with enormous cheeks pursing fattened, blood red lips is the head of a woman, her long, black hair descending down behind her in a wet, clamped-together curtain >she gurgles, and lets out a loud belch, a red cloud emerging from from her cavernous mouth >her eyes creep open deep red irises glowing slightly, as she squints, spotting the stunned worker >she growls, but it merely comes out as a whining groan, another rumbling belch errupting from her >"You there! Boy!" she barked, her massive body rattled by another outburst "Clean... Me!" >at her everdeep voice's prompt, the man stirred, and dashing towards one of the stairs >the former baroness closed her eyes, her mind slipping back into dreaming of the good old days of conquests and blood feasts >a small smile spreads on her lips, as she remembered her harems of virgin men and women, and the orgies she would have before her feasts... >...and the ones after them >her face briefly crunched up, her body tensed, as a vulgar noise came out from her enormous rear, her whole mass sent into a pleasant, jiggling frenzy, as a red mist spread behind and beneath her -- >Vampires should be more careful in what lifestyle choices they make lest they begin mutating to better mach them >many of those mutation are permanent >a lifestyle change will not revert a previous mutation but merely be added on top of it The baroness will be stuck there. Forever. Only growing fatter and fatter as the decades pass. -- I've always loved the idea of an immortal being gorging herself to massive size, only to end up stuck wherever she is with no way of getting out, e.g., a vampire who's drunk so much blood that she's too fat to fit through the door of her crypt. She then has to play the long game and wait it out until she's slimmed down enough to leave. After months (if not years) of waiting, she's finally free and escapes... and promptly learns nothing from her lesson and goes right back to binging. -- That's a nice angle to go with as well. -- >>extracting them from the basements of the buildings had been difficult alone, and they're not sure where to continue Clearly the only logical solution is to repurpose the plants into crypts and let them sleep it off. Though I'd hesitant to agree with former vampire aristocracy that's clearly biding their time. -- >with no immediate way to reverse them, the Romanian government decides on a bold move: under the pretense of making them "diplomatic envoys", they basically sell the enormous vampires to various countries with still-active, but underdeveloped meat packing industries >the vampires are then shipped out to them through the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, arriving in various locations, such as China, Brazil, South Africa, Nigeria, and even more developed locations, such as Russia, Finland, Japan... >and the United States, where the baroness herself was headed >they required for her an empty container ship, and a set of mirrors, so that she could get an "even tan" on the way there, with several hunky sailors catering to her needs along the way - after all, while the others could be shipped like animals, she had to be convinced, and was made to believe that she's a "peace tour" to the United States - her hazy mind making her believe that her own country was still under communist rule, and that she would be sent, as the embodiment of Romania's success, to the "decadent and backwards West" >upon arrival, a cheering crowd of paid actors awaited her, so she wouldn't notice that she was at an industrial port, rather than a proper dock - or if she did, she paid no mind to it, as the container crane struggled to haul her to the superheavy mover, designed to carry entire buildings on it's back >by the time she had woken up from her next slumber, she found herself at "home" - or what she thought it was, seeing the concrete walls, metal walkways, and the crane with the pipe above her >with a sad sigh, she accepted that the whole thing was just a dream, and waited for the pipe to lower again - her enormous stomach growling for food >once the nozzle landed between her lips, though, she noticed something odd... >the blood tasted different, and there was a LOT more of it... -- >they realized all-too-late that they've made a mistake - years of studies done by eastern bloc scientist on the genetic properties of vampires had been ignored, or tossed out into the garbage, wholesale >warnings from medical experts and animal rights groups gone in one ear, and out through the other >when they began pumping the vast reservoirs of blood they had into the their new, "organic recycling unit", they've taken no account of everything that had been going into the nation's animal stock since practically the '50s >within a week, workers began to hear strange noises from unknown locations, across the facility >a month later, cracks began to appear on the foundation of the main processing building >a week after that, butchers began to notice a strange, putrid smell, lingering around the outside of the building >several inspections were called, but turned up empty handed - it was clearly coming from the outside, as there was no trace of the smell inside the building >the noises workers kept hearing became increasingly frequent >by month two, tremors were being reported, and the foul smell had spread to the entire facility - strangely, always confined outside, as opposed to coming from rotting products, as many expected >as the tremors increased in frequency an ferocity, workers began to suspect that a sewer pipe may have ruptured, as the smell on the outside had grown into the putrid stench of manure... and, strangely, bacon and jerky >in the middle of the third month, a quake like no other shook the facility >everything was shut down, and the workers were sent away to other packing plants or on unpaid leave (of course), whilst a more thorough investigation began >it was only then that questions about the new, "organic disposal unit" were brought up >one descend into the depths of the facility gave them yielded immediate answers -- >much of the building's basement was emptied out for the "receptacle" - they were informed of "potential growth" (or rather, were warned about definite growth, but chose to ignore it), leaving an empty cistern... >the walls of which were now cracked and pushed out, the staircase leading up to it crushed from the middle down allowing the men to venture into the murky depths through it's demolished wall >what they found inside was beyond anything they've expected >when she arrived, the woman was literally the size of a house - an enormous gut, huge, cellulite-lade ass and thighs, multiple shelves of back fat, ginormous boobs, useless bingo-wing arms and padded shoulders, atop which sat a head, half-submerged in it's own adipose, with a long, flat, wet curtain of hair that had been dyed red at the tips by the woman's iron-smelling expulsions >now, she was probably the size of a football field - and as tall as a smaller stadium (like, something out of Europe, perhaps?) >upon arrival, she was tanned all-around (surprising for a vampire, to say the least) - by now, her pallor had returned, and appeared even more sickly than before >her belly took up most of the room, crisscrossed by stretch marks, and gurgling, bubbling and churning angrily like a giant cauldron >her breasts have grown even larger, and had seemingly stopped sagging; sitting turgid atop her zeppelin-sized stomach, and leaking what appeared to be milk, and of a slightly pinkish hue from the pressure >while her legs weren't visible, her arms have been completely fattened into uselessness by now, weighed down by adipose-laden shoulders, the arm fat enveloping the fattened hands like a thick coat, the lower arm telescoping into the upper arm's fat >her swollen lips, cheeks and jowls and multiple chins were splattered with dried blood, as she panted, breathing deeply, but seemingly without much struggle - albeit her exhales where replaced by belches that sprinkled more blood in front of her -- But how can the once common vampires use this shitshow to rise to power again? -- >it was the perfect timebomb >as communism slipped on its deathbed in the '80s, so did the vampires of Romania become disillusioned with the promises of utopia - much like everyone else >once the people revolted, and the Ceaușescus were executed, they welcomed the prospects of democracy - only for their hopes to be dashed again after the decades of corruption that followed >many of them became spokespeople for those whose homes were destroyed by Systematization >other tried to use their influence to quell the volatile relationship between the newly free Hungary and Romania >but when news broke over how the old government "handled", and the new governments continued to handle their disgraced peers, the outrage was more far-reaching than anyone would've suspected >though vampires were now deeply integrated into society (and gained a few handy genes that would allow them to do so, thanks to genosynthetics), the Blood call rang out - it called for revenge, revenge for their disgraced and abused kin >thus, a plan was formed - not a grandiose one, or even an overtly EVIL one, but clever one indeed >using their now bloated masses of brethren to distract the world's powers (and then some), they utilized the ensuing chaos of them outgrowing their containment to gain a foothold within the Romanian government - a lot of damphyrs, either fellow travelers or fully a part of the cause, did their bests then, to become diplomats and "experts" in handling their massive former aristocrats >as news arrived of the baroness collapsing the US meat packing plant on top of herself, they sprung into action, their personable offsprings everywhere >truth to be told, the children of the night have learned a lot from the "red years" they've spent among the people they once fed upon >they grown fond of these darkness-fearing, yet inventive folks, no longer seeing them as livestock - but, indeed, as subjects that needed to be taken care of -- >the rise of the vampires is now a global conspiracy on par with the Illuminati >they slowly influence and overtake governments, putting themselves in a leading position >...still have no clue what the fuck to do with the now city block-sized blobs like the baroness -- >in a matter of years, vampires and dhamphyrs had effectively become the elite of humanity >while the world wasn't peaceful, a number of countries had managed to stabilize, and were now developing steadily >Europe itself now span around the axis of the V4+ Group, which, naturally, included Romania as well >a lot of work still needed to be done, but the vampires felt that they were now on the path of their own utopia... >...except when it came to the matter of their fattened peers >with their minds addled from consuming animal blood for so long, there were serious doubts about their recovery - and thus, many were placed in "cold storage", modern crypts designed to be nuclear-proof, to hold the enormous masses inside >"Time heals all wounds.", so said the proverb - they hoped that in time, the minds of the disgraced nobles would clear as well >however, it would take a LONG time before they could return to everyday life - they've calculated that even the smallest among them would need several centuries to slim to where they'd be mobile again >the largest ones could "look" forward to a slumber lasting over a millennia, or two >but far, FAR surpassing any of the was the baroness >her mind still clear (to an extent), her body remained, wedged inside the opened cistern that was once the plant's basement - the local area rumbled from her expulsions, now trapped within the crumbling confines of her former "home" >she was awake, though, she spent long periods in slumber, her hunger sated from the intense and continuous feeding that got her to that size >"I was almost nauseated away from blood!" she would say, her voice, though deepened and muffled by her fat, still carrying some nobility, long since thought lost to the ages >it took her decades to loose enough weight for the cistern to become less of a trap and more of a tub for her, as it constantly filled with water >once deemed safe (after some processing), her milk would be drained regularly for export -- Old lass never quite returned to her slender form. -- She was still among the lucky ones >millennias later, when the industrial "crypts" were opened, they were disappointed to find only haggard (and sometimes potbellied, or otherwise somewhat overweight) individuals, still with the minds of animals >attacking everyone on sight >only the baroness, who had lived through it all, remained conscious, her mind kept active through interactions with the outside world >once she she was small enough to be lifted (some 1000 years later), she was requested to take part in the European Council - to celebrate the (20th) reformation of the EU >she hope she would see some of the old aristocrats, and was disappointed to find out that only her mind survived to "Long Exile" >for the next millennia, she traveled the globe, finally gaining a taste for adventure - especially when she heard how her kin had taken the wheel of leadership from humanity, and had brought upon them an era of prosperity and relative peace (though, still marred by war, here and there - even vampires would disagree on things) >she used the money she gained from her new role to reconstruct her old castle, stone-by-stone, on the side of the mountain range it stood >once it was finished, she retired there from her job, hoping to wait out the last millennia needed to return to her original form... >...though she regained her mobility, and her body had adjusted to the increased weight, the genetic changes she had undergone hat permanently left her at the weight (and "udders") of a cow, with the fat distribution of a swine >beauty standards across the world had shifted a lot, especially when the mainstream fashion industry suffered a crackdown for it's unhealthy practices >when she was offered (despite her weight, which surprised her, though, she hadn't exactly kept abreast with modern technologies) to take part in tour on Earth's spacial network, she was eager to join >thus, she officially became the first (and last) vampire in space -- >her ability to sleep for long periods of time without sustenance COULD come in handy... >...if she could fit into the hibernation pods -- Megaship crypts. Or entire asteroids repurposed into vampiric crypts. Floating in space, as eternal fortresses. That's how vampires played the integral role into long distance pre-FTL space travel and colonization. Overseeing the millions of humans in stasis pods, feeding off the drip-fed blood gathered from the all. -- By around 5500 AD, most of humanity is actually composed of dampers - there are only a few "pure" humans and vampires left. It was simply more practical: damphyrs, while their lifespan cannot be extended indefinitely, still live 4-5 times longer than humans, and remain in peak health until the very last year of their lives. They also don't require blood as much as vampires, nor are they sensitive to sunlight or have any trouble entering churches - in fact, after the end of communism in Eastern Europe, many of them became faithful followers of religions. The last few humans really only remained by accident - some isolated families, clans and the like, who refused to mingle with the "bloodsuckers". The country of Tibet, liberated in the late 21st century, remained a recluse, it's people decimated by inbreeding. The baroness, now a captain of a FTL exploration vessel (tailor-made to her expanded dimensions) would travel the vast depths of space, looking for new resources and habitable planets - she had been rather bored, ever since the colonization of the Andromeda galaxy, and was looking forward to new adventures... ...And, secretly, new species to sink her teeth into. After trying ever source of blood the planet Earth had to offer (and that of a few species on different planets), she longed for something new. Even regularly feasting (and fucking) her first mate (a cloned human male as muscular as a body builder or male model, the consciousness of whom was tailor made for her tastes, with each subsequent clone offering a different flavor), she could only abate her hunger for something new. -- >dhampirs Can dhampirs become full fledged vampires? Full immortality is a pretty alluring thing after all. -- Vampires are only immortal through the consumption of blood (their bone marrows can't produce new blood cells - or, if it can, only at a highly reduced rate -, which is what led them to the consumption of blood in the first place), whilst damphyrs, while often anemic, do not require regular blood consumption to keep themselves alive and healthy - they just need a diet rich in iron, vitamin D and proteins. Vampires were created through a mixture of alchemy and dark magic - sciences and rituals lost to time, especially after the aristocracy effectively died out, apart from the baroness. For all intents and purposes, a damphyr is the evolution of a vampire - given a reasonable longevity and limited abilities (no transforming into bats, wolves or mist), in exchange for being able to live their life in human society. This may have flown into the face of aristocratic traditions, but, psychologically, it's more healthier to be a dhamphyr, and be among humans (it also makes it much more easier to acquire blood, being able to survive under the sun, whilst retaining the "vampiric beauty"). However, I could definitely see some dhamphyrs, several generations down the line, hoping to become full-fledged vampires (and knowing nothing of the drawbacks), being tricked by one of the last remaining "pure" vampires - only to effectively be turned into ghouls or living blood banks for the older vampire (as well as fuck toys, of course!). -- Of course, such trickery is highly illegal, which means that the now renegade vampire would eventually have to face the law... ...And who better to bring them to justice (or even carry out the sentence), than the baroness herself? -- >Vampires were created through a mixture of alchemy and dark magic - sciences and rituals lost to time, especially after the aristocracy effectively died out, apart from the baroness. Surely someone must have raided the old castles and secured the arcane texts? Though I'd still pick to be a full fledged vampire than a half breed. -- Most of the castles were destroyed or emptied out during the Ceausescu years, and since reclusive vampires usually don't keep track with technology, most of their spells, alchemical discoveries and rituals were on vulnerable parchments. The Securitate may have secured some old documents from them, but how useful these were without the vampire mages themselves is debatable - and they could've easily become victims of a paper crusher, if some bureaucrat deemed them to be useless - albeit, with the increased integration of the vampires, they could've been saved (although I seriously doubt that the regime would allow a feudal and magical people (who are known to be parasites), who come from a region populated by Hungarians and Szekelys (whom the a sequence of Romanian governments didn't exactly treat kindly) probably wouldn't be allowed to take part in an organization responsible for the regime's security and integrity...). A lot of the castles themselves were demolished, and rest were only kept around as museums or tourist traps, before the vampires and dhamphyrs began to rebuild their heritage. A lot of info was also kept in heads, rather than written down. Depending on the ritual, vampires may become infertile upon transformation, meaning that "offsprings" could only be adopted. Technically, you COULD create a new vampire... But you'd need a human for that (who also increasingly rare), as the rituals have not taken dhampirs into consideration. Who knows what would happen? -- >vampire tricks dhamphyrs into becoming thralls, turning them into fatties to be fucked and drained >keeps a bunch of ghouls around to carry her own massive ass around Unf... >vampire ritual goes awry, turning dhamphyr into a fat slob instead of a graceful vampiress UUNFF... -- >she was promised eternal life, and powers beyond her imagination >now, she was stuck there, sitting on a bed and weighing close to a ton, beet red from all the blood within her >of course, storing all that of the Reddest Wine required extra "space", more veins and cells to fill >more meat >with the ritual complete, she soon realized that what she thought was her power growing was actually her flesh >her legs buckled underneath her, as the vampiress watched her struggles with a soft smile - no cold sneer or laughter, just pleased to see the developments >once all her clothes have burst off, she ordered, in a tongue composed of hisses and shrieks, and upon that, a bunch of fresh ghouls appeared - still relatively beautiful-looking, which tipped her off >they were dhampirs, just like she was! >victims of the same hope, no doubt, tricked into becoming the older woman's servants >and now, there she was, naked as the day she was born, fed on an exclusively meat and blood diet (god, how she HATED the taste of black pudding!), with her new mistress periodically feasting and having her way with her >while the sex was pleasant, and her fat-filled arteries did feel a lot cleaner after each feast, she still hated it >judging from the moans she sometimes heard from underneath the thick door (no doorsteps), she wasn't the only feed bank >how many ghouls there were, she didn't know >her only hope now was that someone would come to rescue her... >...Pffft! As if! >the castle was a 1:1 recreation of a medieval Hungarian fort, floating in space on one of the old asteroid-based waystations from before FTL travel >if the matron had the money to buy one of these relics, and tailor it to her own tastes, then surely, she'd know how to keep the law of her back >with a sigh, she closed her eyes, hoping to fall asleep in the warmth of her own body - the mistress will surely be hungry, and when she gets hungry, she gets horny, too... >better get some rest while she still can -- >a mysterious trend is sweeping the sanguine world >damphyrs from all over are growing bigger and softer while retaining their strength >the damage to city infrastructure is immeasurable -- >every villain makes a mistake - that was a lesson the baroness learned herself >in the renegade's case, she left ample clues with her victims, allowing others to track her down with ease - the messages leading to an abandoned and privatized way station, adorned by a space-resistant replica of a castle >once inside she made short work of the ghouls... and it wasn't long until she found the "blood banks" as well >her encounter with the culprit did not end well for her - a battle of wits, an exchange of magic, and she was knocked out >this gave her ample time to devise a punishment, since she was given the task to neutralize the target... >...when the renegade vampires woke up, she found herself, suspended in a large room, with only a pipe reaching down from the ceiling >held up by a crane arm, it descended, the nozzle landing between her lips, magically sealed >looking up, she saw the ceiling withdraw, giving way to reveal the actual height of the room - and the others standing in it >from wall to wall, her bloated blood banks stood, a pipe leading from their bellybuttons, and each pipe joined in a big one... >...the one leading to her >before she could protest, the baroness threw a switch - pumps whirred into life, and the blood began to flow >soon enough, the renegade found herself forced to feast upon the veritable, carefully saved blood and fat >it had an immediate effect on her, as her tight clothes burst off after three gulps, allowing her ass, thighs, calves, breasts and upper arms to be freed in their engorged form >but far surpassing all of them was her belly, now stretched like she was expecting sextuplets, and still growing >barely into the feast, but the suspension already strained under her increased weight, and before long, she began her descend toward the ground, her feet gingerly touching upon the cold ground, before it was lifted up and up again - this time, by her own fat, filling the room she sat in -- >by the time all the thralls have been emptied, the baroness had returned the consciousness and free will of the damphyr ghouls, and was busy guiding them, and the other, deflated-looking victims (with lots of excess skin) to her ship >once they were all on board (with the former blood banks departing towards the med bay to seen their stretched flesh reduced), she stepped back into the castle one last time >walking through the hallways, she admired the tapestry and lighting: a perfect blend of style and practicality >...nothing less, would she expect, nay, demand, from one of her oldest rivals >her symbol was omnipresent: elements of the coat of arms of the clan that once ruled across the other side of her mountain - an uneasy agreement reached between them and her kin, and the main reason why she (and her) never left the castle, even when the country's feared secret police showed up at her gate >they couldn't allow the other to gain even an INCH >it was with this knowledge, and the gleeful satisfaction that she entered the improvised feeding chamber he assembled in the largely empty dungeons, using the castle's largely useless cisterns >there, spread across several square meters and rising up a couple of stories, sat the renegade, fattened beyond belief, her stomach red from being force fed so much so suddenly >she struggled under her new weight, her now fatty, saggy breasts weighing down on her chest, and her stomach - a balloon of blood - churning to process it all >and, she was still growing >as her stomach slowly lost it's red hue and it's fullness decreased, so did the decadent fat envelop her every being - the curse, as it seems, no passed onto her >she cared not for the presence of the baroness - no, despite her fullness, she still kept suckling on the pipe like a teat, hoping to gain more of the delicious Reddest Wine she glutted herself on >to fat to move, too hungry to care - their feud thus ended (for the Baroness), and laid to rest ---------------------- What's the hummie point of view on the vampires and damphyrs? -- >so, vampires are real >no news about zombies, werewolves, mummies, or all the other old school Hollywood tropes >apparently, the first ones among them have been around since Bronze Age collapse, and they've progressed in history alongside humans, periodically disappearing from history entirely, and only re-emerging and rising in numbers properly during the crusades >they actually found a really old Arabian guy who had once worked in the Library of Alexandria, and could recall every last book there - well, he could re-draw every last page, having a photogenic memory, but not the ability to read or write >Vampires really only begun to emerge in the 18th century (after Napoleon made a mess of Europe, where the vast majority of them were located), and they've only become well-known figures of society by the late 19th century >initially, they had the dubious honor of being known as the "People hated more than the Jews" across the world, which MAY have contributed to their reclusion and dwindling numbers >by the 20th century, only a handful of countries had their own vampire populations, and the politics of the era made them fragment along national and political lines >so, basically, every country could claim that "they're bloodsuckers, but they're OUR bloodsuckers" >after WWII (which wiped out most of the Germanic vampires and aristocracy, Romania remained the country with the largest (self-declared) vampire population >somehow, the vast majority of this population was convinced to join the communist cause (and human society, in general), and so, other nations' vampires followed suit >by the end of the 20th century, vampires have largely given up their occult ways (save for a few hold-outs) and have integrated into human society... >...though not without a few hiccups >as a targeted minority group, they often sided with leftist causes, making the a subject of scrutiny in the west -- >in the east, Romania's distancing from the Eastern Bloc after the Sino-Soviet split also made them a target of government espionage (especially in neighboring and "thawing" Hungary) >the Chinese under Mao effectively killed off what remained of the Jiangshi during the Cultural Revolution, with the remained hiding away in Tibet and Taiwan >less-than-human looking Vampire creatures were hunted down across the globe, while human ones were integrated into society, wherever possible >while they were powerful, their obvious weaknesses (and scientific knowledge about them becoming more widespread) made the public simply not fear them as much anymore - which the vampires found to be advantageous, as co-operation with the humans quickly became a social symbiosis >while the aristocracy remained isolationist (and often hostile), the now growing broader population had grown fond of humanity as a whole - and the feeling seemed to be mutual >hereditary vampires (vampires borne of, and not transformed by, their parents) became increasingly common, and the increased numbers of "natural" births eventually began to stabilize the vampire gene pool, as it the afflictions caused by their occult origins - inability to enter religious buildings or walk upon holy grounds, requiring invitation to step inside, not being able to cross running water, etc... - began to slowly fade >but the true genetic and social breakthrough came with public appearance of dhamphyrs, or half-vampires >the first one recorded 1955, in what was then the Romanian People's Republic, being borne out of the marriage of a Romanian collective farm manager and a former Hungarian lesser vampire noble (rumored descendant of the countess Báthory, though other vampire nobles generally denied her vampiric status), their child was the first public recorded dhamphyr in modern history - and it also did well for the two country's diplomacy at the time -- >in the '60s, both East and West began a serious scientific research into vampires - biological, sociological, and historical >vampirism was, once and for all, defined by the scientific method >it included various afflictions and abilities meant to combat said afflictions - however, the more supernatural, occult elements, such as transformations, the lack of a mirror image, levitation, etc., were never properly explained >all the while, as sunscreen technology developed, and occult "traits" faded, more and more of the Children of the Night were drawn into the light >for many, they represented the apex of human beauty, while for others, they were the very manifestation of impossible, unnatural body image standards >historians adored them for their knowledge, while sociologist found them to be a challenge >and since they were integrated in the East first (and seemed to lean towards the left), for the Soviets, they were a definite proof of the sociological superiority of their political systems - though, the strict monitoring for any anti-vampiric pogroms did help a lot, especially since in the west, vampires became the target from basically all sides >groups like the KKK and Neo-Nazis rejected them (yet, strangely seemed to worship their feudalistic, hermit-like aristocrats), conservatives had seen them as a direct attack upon Christian values by sheer existence, other minority groups felt that they were getting too much attention (despite the awareness many vampire activist have raised for all of them), old school leftist were paranoid because of their feudal origins, and the New Left wasn't appreciative of their often old-fashioned ways and strong traditionalism >dhamphyrs, on the other hand, were the "Golden Children", deemed the "best of both worlds", due to their "vampiric beauty", mixed with a more human like lives and living standards >because of this, a growing rift became present between the dwindling "full-blooded" vampires and the "half-breeds" -- >in the east, Vampires and dhamphyrs were both treated as "equal to, but different from" humans, with dhamphyrs being a bit more easier to take care of >aside from the reclusive remnants of the aristocracy, they had no trouble integrating, and were widely accepted everywhere, especially when dhamphyrs and later-generation "hereditary" vampires began joining religious groups >while this did increase the government scrutiny on them, it finally managed to win over the superstitious country folk of many Easter Bloc countries, leading to a perfect integration >since Soviet science also touted that "dhamphyrs are next step in vampire evolution" (and since vampires tended to have dashing good looks), there was no need for cross-breeding natalist enforcement >from a meager population counting only in the tens of thousands, the global vampiric population slowly grew to a large diaspora of damphyrs and "later-gen" counting in the millions >this even led to an oddity called the "whitening of Asia", where, while local vampiric creatures were killed off, European, Eurasian and other vampires not from the region were increasingly sought after... >with the end of communism, and the revelations as to what happened to the last of the vampire lords, there came a global outcry for an investigation into abuses and atrocities done to the Children of the Night >the "slaughterhouse investigations" (as the Romanian news media called it) quickly burgeoned into a global movement set to set the record straight on how the vampire population was treated >while they found attacks done on hostile, predatory clans justifiable, the increased social presence of vampires from the 19th century onward (and the attacks on their communities, culminating in the eradication of the Germanic clans in the final months of WWII) was exposed to the broad public -- >while the world was distracted by the now ginormous blobs of disgraced vampire aristocracy crippling the U.S. meat packing industry (and causing trouble elsewhere), the "silent takeover", that began in the world's governments was often underplayed (with some well-placed bribes) as just a disaffected community finally joining the ranks of others >then, the news broke that the dhamphyr genes have made "pure humanity" a recessive trait >after a few rocky years, the world slowly accepted that this was, indeed, just the next step in evolution - aside from their anemia (which itself could be solved by healthy eating), dhamphyrs were objectively better, without being supremacists, or going to the same, superhuman extremes as vampires >"later-gens" were a bit more contentious about the news, especially as their own status as "purebreds" was now, once again, stigmatizing, rather than something to be proud of >but, in the end, they couldn't do anything about it - the children of a vampire and a dhamphyr were more often dhamphyrs, and even even "later-later-gen" have began to loose the traits that made them "more vampires" >for humans, this was seen as a pleasant outcome - not only where their species were evolving (as, culturally and sociologically, dhamphyrs were effectively humans), but they also didn't need to worry about "special needs super-humans" anymore >the last few holdouts of human purist were typically worse-off than the isolationist vampire "purebreds", and, unlike the vampires, had nothing to help their eventual inbreeding problems, leading to an ever-decreasing population >purebreds, on the other hand, fell into decadence: with the modern amenities of "new humanity" at their hands (such as cloning facilities, blood banks and modern home entertainment), and their nobility now essentially amounting to "hobby traditionalists with titles on government support", they soon became victims of a new obesity epidemic -- >it was puzzling for many, but as the last of the human purists died out, many began to wonder if the same fate would befall their fattened peers eventually >considering their virtual immortality, it seemed unlikely, however, as rumors began to spread about these last, anachronistic holdouts tricking desperate dhamphyrs into becoming their thralls, so did the discontent among the public begin to grow >at also didn't help that those who weren't reclusive tended to act like spoiled, washed-up celebrities, staggering from one scandal to another, whether it was wild parties, sex scandals, or truly obscene blood orgies made from cloned servants >however, as news of the baroness' way of dealing with the renegade noble had spread, so did the authorities began to consider a way to put and end to the disgrace of their "blue blooded" freeloaders >there were protests, of course - anyone who could recall the archived reports about the "slaughterhouse receptacles" would try to shut down the idea >finally, while the lawmakers fumbled amongst themselves, the public and the media turned to the baroness - after all, she had been the largest of the "blood disposal units", and while her expanded, fattened form was instrumental in the Change (how they called the takeover now), she suffered from several unwanted mutations due to the animal blood >after some consideration, the baroness sneered >"If I learned the hard way..." she said "So should they. It benefited me, greatly!" and she slapped her own, jiggling apron of a belly >and with that, the die had been cast >the public's opinion had been tipped in favor of the "Storage Confinement" scheme, and the governments could hesitate no more >of course, the reaction was strong, with many, previously merely reclusive "nobles" no openly going renegade, and dipping under the radar, and the authorities going full alert >the baroness set out again, this time, leading a task force dedicated to shutting down the resistance -- >the campaign was over >the last of the rebels had been cleaned up >and while the bureaucrats did their paper pushing, and politicians did their speeches, the baroness went for a walk >it had been a long journey - the unorganized, fractured rebels proved to be more annoying to round up than to defeat >but now, it was over >as she walked down the stairs, she considered her long past - her past as a peasant girl, pulled up from the field by a handsome older lord, raising her to be his lover and successor >her time as a rising noble among many others, fighting to gain her position >the golden days of their reign >...and the decline... >...and the seclusion >the wars, the reds, the years of nothing >the darkness, the concrete walls, the taste of animal blood... >the time she spent as a shrinking public monument >her long recovery over the millennia >the glorious moments when she could stand up again >and her first time leaving the old Earth behind >...and now, here she was >as she marched across the narrow walkway (well, narrow for her), her eyes on the prize: >the throne >turning around, she lowered her prodigious buttocks onto the soft seat, and leaned back with a soft sigh >before her were the enormous blobs of the rebels - fed through the same pipes she had been fed in the past, all sweaty, churning balloons of blood and fat >the baroness smiled >at long last, she had her throne --------------------------------------- >vampire finds a fountain of eternally flowing blood; a legendary item among vampires, after a long and arduous journey >in her starvation, she gluts on it until she passes out completely; her face still completely submerged in the crimson pool >by the time she wakes up, she's grown massively; too fat to fit back out the door. >for hundreds of year she's stuck there >just her and the fountain >after the first 200 years she goes completely insane >every once in a while someone will discover her; a deluded, mindless, babbling slob who's long since past the point of no return >completely harmless, as the flies that occasionally reach the fountains chambers could (and often do) outsmart her >nothing more but a jiggling fuck-toy who occasionally guzzles her own weight in blood. ---------------------------------------- >Dhampirs >half vampires haft human >easier to make than full fledged vampires >easier to turn a human into one too >remain youthful and healthy till the moment of their death due to severe untreated anemia or other accident >don't burst into flames in the sun but also don't have the powers and volatile mutations of vampires Dhampirs ftw -- You can't really "turn" people into dhamphyrs - they're the offspring of a human and vampire, or a human and dhamphyr. They can (like many hereditary vampires, who's families didn't dabble in the dark arts for generations) also enter churches and holy grounds, worship human religions, and can sustain themselves without blood (albeit only by following an iron-rich diet recommended for people with anemia, meaning they'll gravitate towards a healthier diet by nature). Also, vampires don't burst into flames under the sun automatically - some, unhealthy ones do, with two much grease and slime buildup on and in their bodies from a poor diet -, but rather, it's like they have an extreme case of albinism. They're incredibly sensitive to UV light. Dhamphyrs don't drink animal blood all that often, either (well, apart from those into the body-modding scene), because, while their DNA are stronger, the primarily reason why they drink blood in the first place isn't sustenance (like with vampires), but to boost their own, lacking amount of red blood cells. They need a compatible blood. Strangely, even without occult "assistance", neither vampires or dhamphyrs have to worry about blood types, although both sides claim that OO, RH+ blood "tastes the best", while AB, RH- blood "can only be consumed in small amounts at once". -- >You can't really "turn" people into dhamphyrs - they're the offspring of a human and vampire, or a human and dhamphyr. Science will always find a way. Mad science will find a very unethical way. -- Well, with occult knowledge getting lost over time, they may have to rely on science in the end. A vampire can turn a human into a ghoul (basically a vampiric zombie that needs constantly consume fresh, bloody meat (or corpses) to stay alive and sate it's hunger), by feeding them his or her blood. Injecting vampiric blood into a human would still probably turn them into ghouls. Injecting vampire blood into a dhamphyr, on the other hand, does little aside from giving them a bit of an adrenaline boost, and increasing their abilities for a short while. You could try injecting dhamphyr blood into humans, I suppose. -- Time to recreate the occult rituals for making vampires via the scientific method then. What's the worst that can happen? -- Sorry, I have to phone post - I'm apparently banned for using a proxy (which I didn't, I'll appeal it tomorrow). But yeah, not sure how that would work - unlike with vampires or dhamphyrs, you gotta watch out for the right blood group in case of humans. Dhamphyrs can produce their own blood (just not enough of it), and, in more modern time, would use synthetic blood instead of human (which would most likely be based on OO RH+ blood). Also, scientist regularly rebuked dark magic as "irritating bullshit", since it relied on faith and emotion alongside knowledge (which is why the religious hated it). I'm not sure if there's any way of turning someone into a dhamphyrs besides them being born as such... But that has never stopped mad science, now had it? And while we're at it: if dark magic IS involved, vampires can turn dhamphyrs into ghouls, but unlike humans, their bodies won't suffer from the same, deteriorating necrosis (won't "zombify") however, they do become feral. -- >Also, scientist regularly rebuked dark magic as "irritating bullshit", They'll put up with it when potential eternal life is on the table. -- >eternal life At the expense of a constant need for blood infusions. Besides, dhamphyrs already live 4-5 times longer than humans on average, and remain in good health (and beautiful) until the very end of their lives. Not to mention that "pure" humanity had proven to be a recessive trait, once vampire/human and dhamphyrs/human crossbreeding became mainstream - and it was simply a matter of generations from then on. Interestingly, vampire/dhamphyr children had a 50/50 chance of becoming vampire or dhamphyr, with the hereditary vampires born to these couples also gaining some dhamphyr-like trait, such as a somewhat more stable DNA, increased UV resistance (when compared to normal vampires), and the ability to ingest food to supplement their need for blood. And they still retained their quasi-immortality (but, on the long run, even hereditary vampirism became a recessive trait). -- >dhamphyrs already live 4-5 times longer than humans on average Still pales in comparison to the millennia that vampires have lived and will live. There may very well be vampires who predate the fall if not the creation of Atlantis. -- There was one old Arabian vampire guy who basically copied down the whole content of the Library of Alexandria when asked (and he did so while being illiterate, solely relying on his photographic memory: >>29845117) The baroness may not be the oldest, but she's the last conscious and active vampire left from the old nobility, and had used the campaign against the renegades to capture and fatten the last of her feudal opponents. She had several millenia's worth of blood stored in the now impossibly obese blobs. Let's just hope she doesn't get greedy. -- >but she's the last conscious and active vampire left from the old nobility What if there's another. An antediluvian, lurking in the shadows without anyone ever noticing? -- It could make for an interesting rivalry. By the end of our story, the vast majority of humanity are now effectively dhamphyrs, the rest are either cloned or synthetic servitors customdesigned as flesh-and-blood personal assistants and playthings, or reclusive purist communities on Earth that suffer from inbreeding. Hereditary Vampires have long abandoned their occult ways, and are now only different from dhamphyrs that they still require blood regularly, and can live forever, at the expense of still being UV-sensitive and even more anemic, but with enhanced senses. If there's another vampire out there (especially one from before the biblical Flood - most likely the end of a micro-ice age), they're binding their time for nothing. Feudal titles are largely relics off the past, and the modern world has more to offer for them than their castle-dwelling, hunting, nocturnal ways ever did. If they see an opponent in the baroness, well... How well they'd do largely depends on how quick-witted they are, how much they understand modern technology, or how secret they've kept themselves... And, if they can resist the Hunger, in strategic times. The baroness' blobby blood receptacles could serve as a flypaper for any remaining renegade - Avery fattening flypaper.