Where to begin? So much ink has been spilled down the centuries. I am constantly
amazed by the regularity with which you mortals stumblecross truths and
half-thruths- sometimes very profound ones- by the most haphazard and fallacious
thinking; and then, unaware of what you have incovered, proceed to expound
generalities of entirely the wrong order.
We are monsters to thee, yet heroes as well. We are the incarnations of dark
metaphors and surrpressed desires, yet we are also the nobility of fairy tales.
beloved of children. We are a baseless, superstition, an artistic genre, a
psychological condition, a yearning made flesh, an extrenalization of a
guilt-lust-violence complex, and many other things beside.
Our True Nature
Some two and a half centuries ago, a French churchman named Calmet sought to
collect all the information extant on the nature of vampires. It is not surprising,
then, that his treatise contains many contradictions and areas of uncertainty.
Quoting from the reports of Papal Commissions sent out to deal with 'plagues' of
vampires in Austria, hungary, Moravia, and Silesia, he reports that a vampire may
be destroyed by being transfixed with a wooden stake, followed by decapitation
and the burning of the remains. This will indeed destroy a vampire, just as certainly
as it would destroy a mortal. Such a clever man, Calmet.
Motion pictures have abbreviated this treatment somewhat, creating the fallacy that the stake is sufficient. Do not believe such tales. Transfixing its heart on a stake will immobilize a vampire, but some further treatment is necessary terminus sit. Whether this be burning or sunlight, its egal; but trust not the stake alone. Neither should you place your faith in weapons of metal, as did your American friend. Such things infure, but the wounds heal quickly- else I should not be writing now.
Sunlight, it is said, is infallible doom to my kind. Motion pictures show motely greasepaint vampires crumbling to dust at Sol's caress, or bursting into flames like those doused with Greek Fire. Sadly, this is true, if somewhat overstated. Sunlight burns our skin as does flame, and only the oldest and strongest can withstand it for long.
Thus we must sleep during the day and act only at night. During the day we are very sluggish, and find it difficult to do anything besides sleep. Only those of us who have not left our human nature very far behind are capable of taking action when the sun is in the sky. I myself have not seen the light of day in many centuries, and have nearly forgotten the gleam of the sun's golden rays. But I do not miss it.
Crosses, holy water, and other trapping of religion may be ignored- the Church is the first refuge of mortals faced by things beyond their comprehension, especially in former times. Ipso dicto, however, I have seen rare occasions where such items capable of causing considerable discomfort- their wielder alsmot glowed with faith in the Divinity, and I can only conclude that the religious items served somehow to channel the power of that faith. Ignore the tricks of the cinema, however, with their crossed candlesticks and shadows of windmills' sails.
The raputed properties of garlic, aconite and other herbs are likewise mere superstition. They repel vampires no more than they do mortals, for all the canting of the goodwives who peddle them. Like the Church, the village wisewoman was often required to use her 'magic' against vampires, and was just as successful.
Film-makers have made other fallacious legends part of the common parlance. For instance, we can see our own reflections in the mirror, though some of us pretend otherwise in honor of the great cinematic tradition. Likewise, we can appear on film. Indeed, some of my kind have appeared in movies, and one was even a director of no little repute.
It is eqully ludicrous to presume that a vampire would not be able to travel about as he would like. We Cainites (one of our race's terms for ourselves, the origin of which I shall later discuss) may enter any house and home we please at any time. It is likewise preposterous to think a vampire would not be able to cross running water. Indeed, water effects us not at all. We no longer breathe, hence we cannot drown. While being trapped underwater is unpleasant and may, if prolonged, result in some physical deterioration, no vampire has died of immersion alone, although some bloodlines are rumored to have a weakness vis-a-vis water. Belike this is how many of the rumors originated, for weaknesses have arisen in several bloodlines and have passed down from Sire to Get.
The cinematic vampire, it seems, may take several forms if the human shape suits not his purpose: wolf, bat, mist- in some legends, cat and night-bird also. The powers of the Elders are considerable, and they are seldom found in those of later generation. I have seen many wonders during my brief and unwilling involvment in their game of Jyhad, and I no longer discount the stories of shape-shifting. But I tell you this- a vampire who has plural forms will either be of a rare breed, the Gangrel clan, or will be very old, very wise and very powerful. I pray that such a one will never cross your path.
Many of us, however, have abilities wich a mortal would consider supernatural. As predators, our senses are sharp, and some have developed other talents to aid in the hunt. One example- the ability to inspire fear, stillness, obedience and other emotional responses- is a useful one, although popular writers have embellished it somewhat in the interests of their stories.
