We're All Monsters Here
Posted: Wed Mar 23, 2016 3:58 pmThe introduction to the supernatural life is often a harsh one. Vampires prowl the night and werewolves just prowl. They’re not the only creatures, but they are by far the most numerous. And they hide from the world at large whenever possible. When a mortal stumbles into their realm, they’re frequently inducted in one manner or another. Some are dominated or intimidated into service. Others are transformed by fang or claw or secret rite. Some people who *think* they know what’s going on seek out that change, only to find nothing at all. Occasionally someone takes pity on them and changes them, but no one ever makes that decision lightly.
We vampires value the mortals. They are, after all, what we feed on. It’s rare to find a vampire who doesn’t have at least a few mortals hanging around to feed from, kept there by either loyalty, domination, or any number of other reasons. In general, we’re faster, stronger, and tougher than humans and we exhibit all sorts of strange abilities that tend to travel from sire to child. All this power is not without its cost though. The sun hates us and we hate it in turn. Wooden stake through the heart paralyzes us. Cutting off our head kills us permanently. Garlic? Nothing. Crosses? Not unless you have that faith that moves mountains that they talk about. Fire’s an absolute bitch though.
Werewolves are a different thing entirely. Some are born, some are bitten. Their first change is a hellacious time for them or so I’m told by a friend of mine. It’s not unlike when we’re first turned. They’re the worst cases of “hangry” the world ever sees. Once they’ve calmed down though, they can be very useful. My friend calls it as much an infection of spirit as of body and given their propensity for seeing ghosts and other spirit-y type things, I’m inclined to believe her. Werewolves are strong, fast, and tough as nails even in human form. If you’re going to get on one’s bad side, I suggest bringing some silver or some high explosives. A spare set of arms might not hurt either to replace the ones they’ll rip off of you.
I’ve heard there’s some other things. My sire claimed to have met a mummy ages ago. One of my vampire “aunts” claims she knows a demon. The occasional mad scientist crosses lines that man was not meant to cross and all sorts of horrors come from that. I’ve never had direct experience, but I hear stories.
Now someone’s rattling the cage and everyone is starting to feel it. We’re about to play the big game and no one even knows what the sides are and that scares us all.
-Wanda Johansson, First Daughter of Alexander Rathbone
I've had modern supernatural on the brain. I blame the books I'm listening to and my re-immersion into the World of Darkness. While I've taken some cues from that property in this write-up, I made some alterations and in general avoided its meta-plots.
Vampires are dead and drink blood. They don't age, they go up in flames in the sun, and they exhibit strange abilities from growing claws to flesh shaping to crafting illusions to mental domination to minor shapeshifting. They tend to organize into "family" groups following the "bloodlines" of the people who turned them.
Werewolves are strong, tend to be a little wild, and are vulnerable to silver. Part of their "curse" makes a part of them touch the spirit world and some of them don't recover well from that exposure. They tend to organize into packs with little formal structure other than that. They also seem tied to the moon in some way, though that may be just an excuse for their behavior.
There's room for other things if someone has an idea. Mutants as such don't exist as this feels like an opportunity to explore a character in a somewhat different context.