In myth and legend, those who seemed to walk between the worlds of the living and the dead were by their very nature confined by boundaries that governed their existence. Wandering the mortal realm these creatures for whom blood was the life found themselves relegated to surviving in the dark as light from which life sprang was an experience no longer theirs.

Forced to sleep in structures that housed the remnants of their souls they feared the symbols and portents of faith for only God should be immortal. They resembled the creatures of the night with their senses tuned to exquisite perfection, fangs to protect, and a supernatural strength because they no longer had the constraints of flesh. The undead had no fears except a stake through that which contained the essence of the human soul, that which governed our dreams and our path, the heart. Then again, these are only myths and legends.

The Vampire world catered to these myths as it supported and propagated notions of coffins, stakes, apotropaic objects, because a world secure in the knowledge that they had the tools to confine evil was never prepared when evil crossed their path. While many stories concerning Vampires were fantasy, some were not and after being ousted from enough irate villages these creatures of the night learned the value of discretion.

The Vampire world hid in plain sight, in literature, film, legend, and dreams, knowing that half-truths were always the best disguise. Stakes, holy devices, sunlight did not destroy a Vampire, their destruction was as simple as fire or beheading and as complex as grief. When unlucky souls encountered a Vampire, by chance or design, they found themselves failed by the very lore circulated by the fiends themselves. While humans appeared to be easy targets, they had enough advantages to ensure that they were approached with wary caution. Vampires were well aware of the psyche of their prey for it was the basis of their own ancestry.

The Vampire in the daylight was a weak and insipid creature for although the sun did not cause them to burst into a blazing inferno burning them to dust, it was the initiate of a life now foreign to them. Changed by survival, the virus that corrupted their blood reacted negatively to the bright rays and their human observers saw this as a reflection of the death of their humanity.

As Vampires aged so did their tolerance and while they were able to move about during sunlight, they were usually close to Ancient before they became stronger than humans were during the day. For the ordinary Vampire their strength increased as the sun waned and it was not until dusk that they became the creature of the night supported by their myths. Possessed of gifts that could only be described as preternatural by any human lucky enough to survive the encounter.

The Vampire was a strong, mesmerising being with the reflexes and nocturnal abilities of all the most successful predators. Unable to account for a human looking creature with superhuman skills Vampiric attributes were classed as Demonic, and considering the source of their infection the human world was oddly correct. Demons were not created by religious lore, but were from worlds of a splintered universe and had entered the human realm bringing a virus that left the mutation known as Vampire behind.

While the Vampire slept it need not be in a coffin as this was another illusion created for survival before the creation of Houses for protection. Vampires would find themselves hunted after their brazen attacks and often hid in places protected by superstitions—such as cemeteries. Where else to best to hide something rumoured to be walking dead but amongst corpses and once discovered there, the legends were born. The first Houses were created as a means of protecting both the Vampire and their assets while they supported the existing legends and created a few more to add to the confusion.

Holy images, relics, faith, or superstitions did not frighten Vampires. At first, they used to frequent churches in the hope of discovering an explanation of their existence from a higher power. In reality they only discovered the stink of man corrupting spirituality, so in retaliation priests became their favourite fare. Contrary to popular belief Vampires were not the undead and their souls were not lost for these myths were how uninitiated humans explained the seemingly supernatural creatures that walked amongst them. Vampires had reflections, were not repulsed by garlic, were not friends with wolves, all these were methods of confusing their human prey as to how to identify and battle the mutation that now lived amongst them.

As their unabashed attacks impinged upon even the most obtuse of souls, the Council of Aeternus, the Ghuvk, was formed to protect the Vampiric community from the indiscretions of fools. With discovery now the ultimate sin the new circumspect Vampire became an inconspicuous, ethereal creature relegated right back to the subject of myths and misconceptions.

The modern Vampire no longer killed because they had no need as the Vampire society owned many blood banks that delivered to their various Houses like takeaway food. There were those who still enjoyed the warmdri, which was drinking blood from a living being, but now they were only allowed to partake from willing victims bound by a protective pact. Vampires, contrary to stories, did not drain a body of blood for their requirements were scarcely more than a cup of blood.

Death was the most efficient method used for silence until mesmerism was discovered. Vampires evolved like the humans they lived beside while adapting to their ever-changing world and learning new skills as they aged until they were forced off-world by their Demonic appearance. The modern Vampire now lived a corporate life and owned banks, multinational companies, entertainment industries, controlling subtly behind the mask of humanity only to reveal their true self to those of their own House. The Vampire of today was no longer subject to the hysteria of ignorance and instead wrote the legends of their own being.