Nosferatu

Nosferatu or Vampires are a species of Other that flounders due to the rules of the magic system. With their prey protected by the Seal of Solomon, vampires are forced to either hunt for scraps; or take from innocents and accept the bad karma it generates. The original vampires may have found ways to harvest a decent amount of nourishment, but modern vampires are absolutely pitiful. Their bodies are atrophied, their minds deteriorated, with all the classic vampire weaknesses and more.<ref name="R1.2"/>

Origins

They are speculated to be the natural counterpart to Banes. Born through the blight of blood. Spirits of death incubate inside of them and pass on to the victim upon being bitten.<ref name="12.4">:…care must be taken, as the Bane is a thing of blight, and will blight all it touches. Many will alter their Banes to make this contact easier. Fire will serve if the Bane was carelessly wrought, but many will be coated or painted to protect their flesh. One might surmise that the Nosferatu are a natural variation of the Bane, insofar as they are natural. The Nosferatu, if this theory were correct, would incubate spirits of death within them, and depositing them within a victim, inviting them to and from the veil of death. The blight, both pre-existing and given, would be one of the blood.

As such, consider the same methods that function on the Nosferatu. A length of green wood will serve as a conduit for the living energies to vacate the dead prison that confine them. Natural energies, too, will suffice, with daylight, running water from a natural source, lightning strikes, clean fire if the Bane is not pre-treated, a spike of crystal, or a stalagmite with a history of attachment to the ground serving to provide this conduit of natural forces. Like the Nosferatu, the Bane is a wretched thing, and death should be seen as a mercy. - Excerpt from Duress 12.3</ref> On the other hand, some speculate that they are descended from life-drinking Heartless.<ref>The second answer is that monsters are practitioners. We know about

some cases. See Mara in the files for Jacob’s Bell. It’s a common theory with Faerie, and obviously the likes of vampires and werewolves, which are much rarer and more monstrous than conventional media would have us believe. - excerpt from Gathered Pages: 10</ref>

Appearances

None have appeared so far.

Some Fae have been known to roleplay as these wretched beings. They adopt the best traits of vampires, while mixing in their own. A group of such, who had lost themselves in the illusion, were among the tougher enemies Andy and Eva faced.<ref>She can go toe to toe with a faerie that’s glamoured itself up as a vampire, harboring some of the best traits of both, and still cut the thing’s head from its shoulders. - Interlude 10</ref><ref>“Cold-forged iron,” he responded, a little sullen.  “Bone.  Paper.  Every other

follows different rule.  What looks like a goblin could be a demon, or a
wraith, or a glamour.  I mean, you remember those ‘vampires’ from out 

west.”
“The faerie?  Sure.”
“You’re not getting what I’m saying.  If they can fool themselves into thinking they’re vampires, and believe it to the point it becomes sort of true, sparkly skin aside, then they can fool us.  This is what bothers me about all this.  You can’t make any guarantees, you can’t slap on convenient labels.  It’s why we call them others.  You can’t plot-”
“We can try.  And if we can murder self-deluding faerie, we can murder whatever this is.” - excerpt from Bonds 1.1 </ref>

Maggie Holt has or will likely meet one of them at some time.<ref>A parasitic, sad wretch of a vampire like in those bad Maggie Holt movies, finally with a willing victim? - Reference to Pactverse in Ward ch 4.4, another of Wildbow's stories</ref>

Uses

Horrible creatures to be pitied but never confronted when they can bite you.<ref name="R1.2">Vampires exist in the classic sense, but in the Pactverse, they're wretched things. They're not the kings and queens of the Pactverse, but the bottom feeders. They may have been decently strong before, but the Seal of Solomon barred their access to humanity and sustenance.

They're strung out meth addicts without a steady supply. Their bodies are long gone, their past relationships destroyed, they have next to nothing, the authorities crack down on them any time they start to figure anything out. They're stupid, ugly, smelly, and weak, and many of the things you've heard about diminish them or bar them, with many other things besides- it's to the point where many new vampires are still discovering new things that screw with them, even 20-30 years after being turned. - Comment by Wildbow on Reddit</ref>

Abilities

• Magic Resistant: Most magic curses and hexes will simply glance off of them.
• Supernatural Strength: It is noted to have a level of above average strength.<ref name="12.4" />
• Supernatural Durability: The body is stronger than ordinary.<ref name="12.4" />
• Conversion: By biting victims it can make them into a creature like itself.

Weaknesses

• Natural Energies: Natural energies can be used as a conduit to allow the life energy to escape the dead prison.<ref name="12.4" /> These include:
  • Green Wood
  • Fresh Bone
  • Lighting Strikes
  • Running Water (Natural Source)
  • Fire
  • Daylight
  • A spike of crystal
  • A stalagmite with a history of attachment to the ground
  • More all the time.

Trivia

• The cinematic Nosferatu is one of the codifiers for the popular imagination of vampires. The term itself is an old Romanian one for vampire, popularised in English by Bram Stoker's novel Dracula and subsequent adaptations.<ref>Wikipedia - Nosferatu (word)</ref>
• The author has expressed a distaste for this type of creature.<ref name="R1.1">I think some characters make passing mention of vampires - at the time I was conceiving of the Pactverse, modern supernatural fiction was taking off. I grew sick of the mention of vampires, so I definitely wanted to downplay them in Pact. - Comment by Wildbow on Reddit</ref>

References

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