Vampires

An ancient tale about the first vampires

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Acre: The Nature of Vampirism

Fri Feb 13 16:05:35 2009

To: Knighthood

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Vampires are undead demons which inhabit the corpses of former living

beings.

The living being willingly gives their mortal shell to the demon and ceases

to be in control of that body. From this point, everything which made the

living being a human, elf or dwarf departs with the soul, and the undead

demon inhabits the corpse.

From this point the soul is removed and plays no further part or

association, wandering the ether in hope that the vampire is removed so that

it may return to its body. At this point wondering why it allowed the

undead demon control of its body in the first place.

Why any living being would willingly submit to becoming a vampire defies

reason and extends to folly.

The living being gives up their life, freedom and soul so that their mortal

shell, which they could no longer control, could be stronger. So long as

the vampire lives, the soul remains trapped in the ether.

St John, Clerist

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Acre: Morality and Vampirism

Fri Feb 13 16:08:44 2009

To: Knighthood

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In days of yore, Knights of Gareth considered vampires to be blasphemous

unnatural affronts to the laws of good. But let us consider the facts.

Vampires may only be evil. They are undead demons who inhabit the bodies of

those who would allow them a home to roost. Once they are in control of a

corpse, then who they were ceases to remain in the corpse, bar the memories.

The person is gone, and in their place a demon. Whatever made them kinsman

and comrade has departed with their soul, and what remains is an evil seed

which can only fester and turn others to this unholy state.

If there is any doubt to one being a vampire, and the consequences of one

going unoticed, then identification is easy and without the need for a

hysterical witch hunt.

They may also prey on the sleeping, and those who have been beguiled who are

the innocents who Gareth has sought to defend. This is in addition to their

already evil nature is added the more nefarious undead means.

It is a parasitic, undead demon who seeks harm to innocents. The call of

duty for a Knight of Gareth is to protect those whom it might seek to bring

harm to.

St John, Clerist

Arguments Against Vampires in the Conclave

In response to the White Wizard's request for arguments against vampires in

the Conclave, I present what reasons I've managed to formulate. What is

required is not just to convince everyone that vampires are evil terrible things,

which many already know, but to convince the Conclave that they are bad

for the Conclave. It must be established that their presence is detrimental to

the Conclave's mission in this world, and strength as a whole. At present they

are powerful creatures that provide great aid on the battlefield. This makes

the Conclave look strong, at least from an evil centric might makes right

perspective.

Dispelling Ignorance about Vampires

I still run across those who believe vampires today are like those of yesteryear.

The disease of undeath which ran rampant through Shalonesti and Eclipse years

ago was an unnatural plague which turned its victims into the undead. They

were still the same people, just afflicted with a terrible disease. Many found the

side effects of this disease useful in combat in our war torn land, and attempted,

rightly or wrongly, to make lemonade out of the lemons they were given. Some

felt the violent killing of these individuals to "cure" them was immoral. It

affected those good and evil, and transformed their bodies. If the victims kept

their minds sane through the disease, and able to control themselves in the less

savory side effects, that was entirely up to the force of will of the person

affected.

The vampires today are only similar in the method of drinking fresh blood which is

used to keep the undead corpse body functional. They are demons who have

removed the original souls of the body and masquerade as the original individual.

This knowledge must continue to be spread, so that people may make informed

choices regarding these monsters.

Unfair Representation

The Conclave is the sum of three parts. It suffers if any one part dominates,

thus preventing the other deities from being properly represented. The Black

Robes have these demons of Drakkara, but the White and Red Robes may boast

nothing of the same power to represent their gods. There are no balanxes of

Sebatis working in the library. There is no angel of Kantilles making daily safety

inspections of the labs. As a neutral organization which ultimately seeks to

steward and teach magic in a fair and objective manner, Drakkara's advantage

by having demons on her side to represent her ways is unacceptable.

Divine Beings Don't Belong in Mortal Organizations

Related to the above argument comes the idea that divine beings are not

welcome, or do not belong in mortal organizations. May we of the Knighthood

use our special papers to bring Azbogah into our ranks? No. Nor could the

Conclave use theirs to bring a balanx, angel, or even an ordinary demon into

their towers, no matter who they worship. It is only through the trickery of

stealing away a mortal's body that these particular demons may gain entrance.

It does not change what they are, and the fact they do not belong in mortal

organizations. Even Mariana (sp?), one of the Black Robes more infamous

members, left the tower when she was transformed into a demon of Drakkara to

work her evil goddess' will.

An Attack on the Conclave and Theft of Advanced Magical Knowledge

This line of thought brings us next to the idea that the demon's act of possessing

the corpse of a person and pretending to be that person is an attack on the

Conclave, or at least some hapless mage which the Conclave should have had

some hand in protecting. The means in which a demon prevents a soul from

recovering their corpse is left to the imagination. Demons being demons, some

sort of trickery or pact is likely, but the brute force slaying, consuming the soul,

and taking control of the body is possible. In any case, a mage was loan sharked

in the worse possible way, or they were brutally assaulted in both body and soul.

Possibly both.

No sane person willingly agrees to give up their life to a demon. The demons

inhabiting the corpses now may have some story claiming this is the case. From the

perspective of "we made a deal, and I got the corpse" the demon is correct.

However, as these demons are deceitful by nature, it is certain some form of

treachery befell the mage to cause it to make the pact. It is the Conclave's duty

to protect these mages.

Moreover, it is the Conclave's duty to protect the knowledge and use of Magic

from those unfit to learn it. As we considered before, a demon isn't permitted into

the Conclave under normal circumstances. They would normally be barred from the

advanced magic books and lessons the Conclave provides its dedicated and talented

mages. Not only have these demons stolen some hapless mage's body, but they've

used it to gain access to magical knowledge typically forbidden to demons. For a

clan who is supposed to be safe guarding the use of magic in this world, this is a

serious security breach. To use her as an example again; Mariana, when a demon,

no longer had access to her advanced spells or spell books. What you have on your

hands is a renegade demon-mage who has access to your towers' faculties still!

This is not acceptable protection of mages or magic.

Harm to the White and Red, and the Conclave's Overall Strength

Anything that harms one of the three towers of the Conclave, weakening it

significantly, is bad for the Conclave as a whole. True unity demands that the

Conclave is a blend of its three towers, and there are policies and activities that

encourage the growth of each. By having the vampire demons in the Black Robes,

this is damaging the attendance and enrollment in the other two towers.

Most followers of good are a little uneasy about associating with evil closely,

however, having an evil associate is rainbows and moonbeams compared with

proactively aiding a demon in combat, often against other good people. As a

recruiter for the Knighthood, I always inquire with magic users who wish to join us

why they would want to be a Knight instead of a White Robe. The answers

usually demonstrate a doubt in the scholastic seriousness of the Conclave, and a

doubt that they could actively do any Good in the world from the towers. The

vampires in the towers are seen as proof of this, that the Conclave would prefer

the heavy handed evil focused might is right method of proving they are strong.

I've talked with a few magic using Knights old and new who refused to join the

Conclave or left it because they would rather kill a demon than have it as a

clansmate.

Obviously I've only polled a small number of mages of a certain background. It

would be of great benefit to the White Robes if some study was done of all good

hearted mages outside the Conclave, or still officially enrolled, but never show up

to class, as to why their enrollment and attendance is not so good as it could be.

New policies or projects could be invented to attract them, and further, I expect it

would be discovered that the idea of having to ally with demons keeps many away.

This causes the White Tower to be weaker, and this weakening of the White Robes

is a weakening for the Conclave as a whole in their unique mission.

As for the Red Robes; while many followers of Sebatis use "neutrality" as an excuse

to "do whatever I want when I feel like it" there are also those who actively work

to keep a balance and prevent chaos in the world. The concept that vampires are

unnatural is something that bothers many such keepers of balance, especially elves.

Others will have less virtuous reasons: simply looking to go through life and avoid

any trouble. Demons typically cause trouble, thus should be avoided. Enrollment

may be down within the Red Robes due to Red Robed mages not wanting to be

involved in this morality quagmire. While those who just don't care may still remain

active, this in a sense, creates a lack of balance within the Red Tower itself as the

other philosophies and viewpoints of balance are not represented. This further

enables the Black Robes to dominate the Conclave. Everyone being evil or forced

to follow rules invented by evil is not unity, it is subjugation.

They are not Providing New Knowledge or Magic

It could be said that keeping the demons within the Conclave is an excellent

opportunity to study them. I have yet to hear of any serious, rigorous, scientific

and controlled testing of these demons. Have these demons explained their powers

in depth to Conclave scholars? Have books and papers about their powers been

published? If so, I would be very interested in obtaining these for our own library!

If they are being kept as "test subjects" then they should be treated as such, and

not granted access to advanced tomes of magic, or unleashed upon the general

populous. They most certainly should not be in any position of leadership. They

should be kept as demons are kept: bound by holy rituals of power in carefully

blessed and safe guarded chambers. This is very hazardous even in the best of

conditions. The current conditions hardly meet any sort of safety standards in

this regard. These demons should be killed and disposed of properly.

I expect the vampires' stay in the Conclave has been a very one-sided sharing of

magical information. Any knowledge that has been gained has probably been due

to careful, covert observations of these demons, or the occasional tipping of their

hand to ultimately gain more power or prestige for themselves. I doubt they have

any true interest in studying themselves, how their powers work, and sharing that

knowledge with others. No new schools of magic or books have become available

due to this "study" of vampires. They've provided nothing, and taken much in

terms of knowledge, power and credibility from the Conclave.

- Lorekeeper Datai d'Aggravaine