Vampires

Blood suckers

1. Core Values

The vampires and dhampirs rule a powerful, ancient kingdom known as The Crimson Dominion. Unlike the werewolves, who are divided into packs, vampire society is highly hierarchical, resembling a feudal aristocracy.

2. Government & Leadership

Vampire nobility is built on wealth, influence, and blood purity. Each Bloodclan is an ancient ruling family, constantly scheming to gain more power, and the Blood Sovereign is usually earned through coups and overthrow of power

Title	Role & Status
The Blood Sovereign	Supreme ruler, often the oldest, most powerful vampire.
The Crimson Council	High-ranking vampire lords, advisors, and enforcers.
The Bloodclans	Major noble families, each controlling a territory.
The Nightborn	Vampires from ancient lines or nobility, viewed as superior.
The Elite	Exceptional vampires who are deeply respected for their achievement.
The Broodless	Vampires without noble lineage, commoners.
The Thralls	Humans or lesser beings bound to serve vampires.
The Feral	Vampires who lost control and became bestial creatures.

Process

The Blood sovereign is the supreme ruler of the Crimson Dominion. The appoints high ranking officials into his crimson council, who job is to advise him. Every member of the crimson council are also his competition, ready to usurp his power.

In spite of this, placing a powerful vampire on the council can be a way to reduce their power, you keep them closer, you (and other people) see how they vote on critical issues, and more importantly, it's harder to play the outsider angle.

• Absolute Rule – The Blood Sovereign rules with iron control. Rebellions are crushed swiftly.
• Power Games – Politics is a deadly game, and assassination is an accepted form of negotiation.
• Blood Fealty – Swearing allegiance is done through blood pacts, binding one’s fate to their lord.
• Eternal Night – Their capital city, Dushkaven, is bathed in perpetual twilight, thanks to powerful magic.
• Fanged Elegance – Vampires embrace sophisticated decadence, attending lavish balls, indulging in exotic blood wines, and engaging in cruel entertainment.

3. Social Hierarchy

• Grand Matriarch: They are the figurehead in the family. They have reached aimapause, so they can't sire any other vampire, but they are the mother of a lot of vampires, so they have earned a lot of respect. They act as power brokers, behind the scene type.
• Matriarch: The wife, responsible for turning Dhampirs into full vampires to continue the bloodline.
• High Sire: The male vampire, usually genetically related with other male members and re the de-facto head of the family and/or house
• Dhampir Sons: The future head of the family, they need to prove themselves to the matriarch in order to become a vampire.
• Dhampir Daughters: Usually seen as a bargaining chip as future matriarch
• Old Vampires: In the brutal world of vampires, being old can be dangerous especially if you are a female and didn't end up as a grand matriarch, then you're considered a "useless" vampire. They are usually responsible for training dhampirs.
• The Patriarchal Role: Male vampires are the progenitors of the vampire family, fathering the next generation of Dhampirs who will eventually be turned into full vampires. However, because the turning process depends on female vampires, male vampires cannot ensure the continuation of the bloodline alone.

4. Family & Gender Roles

Family

• Marriage and Alliances: The marriage between male and female vampires is crucial to ensuring bloodline purity. Female vampires, once they reach maturity, will often marry into other powerful vampire houses. The primary purpose of these unions is to produce Dhampirs and strengthen the family legacy. These marriages are not about love, but about securing a powerful lineage.

• Role of Female Dhampirs: Female Dhampirs play an essential role in the vampire hierarchy. Once of age, they are expected to be turned into full vampires by their mother-in-law (or another powerful female vampire). This ensures that the next generation of vampire heirs is secure, and the family can continue to expand its power.

• The turning of female Dhampirs is crucial in maintaining the bloodline. Female Dhampirs, especially those born into noble vampire houses, are often married off to powerful males to secure alliances, and the transformation from Dhampir to vampire often happens post-marriage.

• The Pressure of Menopause: The clock is ticking for female vampires. If they do not turn enough Dhampirs before they hit menopause, they risk the decline of their house. It creates an immense social pressure for older female vampires to act quickly, creating tension in vampire families. Older vampires may even turn younger Dhampirs prematurely to ensure that they have enough full vampires to pass the torch.

• The Role of Older Female Vampires: Once a female vampire reaches menopause, she loses her turning ability and, with it, a large part of her power within the vampire community. These older vampires may be relegated to roles of counsel or advisors, but their reproductive usefulness is over. If they are without an heir, they might lose status within their families, as their influence diminishes.

• They are usually in a monogamous marriage, bonded by "blood"

• A male vampire may form a union with a female vampire. Unions are like marriages, and legally, every child fathered by the male is also the female's child.

• Choosing mates can be extremely vital, and it's usually made based on forming critical alliances to move forward or improve their stations

• Why monogamy is required, they usually practice open marriages with orgies and several sex partners

  • This is more common amongst the elite
  • The lower class are usually more faithful

• Only male vampires can give birth, female vampires are infertile, they cannot bore a child so male vampires usually mate with humans to give birth to

Fertility

• Only male vampires are fertile, females are sterile
• So, when it comes to reproduction, male vampires uses thralls to carry their child (handsmaid style)
• The child of the male is considered the child of the union, and the human is seen merely as surrogates
  • Elites can easily afford many human thralls, while the poor can find it hard to get a human thrall
• Children born like this are not vampires, they are called Dhampirs

Vampire transformation

• Only female vampires can turn a dhampir into a full vampire
• Usually, the mother in the union are responsible for turning their children when they come of age.
  • This happens in their 20s
  • It also makes sure the kids please their mother, otherwise, she would not turn them

Dhampirs

• Dhampirs are "half vampires", stronger that average human, but they don't need drink blood like vampires
• Only female vampires can turn dhampirs into vampires.
• Female vampires experiences aimapause (similar to menopause), where they can't sire another vampire

Political Implications of Menopause and Dhampir Turning

1. Urgency to Turn Dhampirs: Female vampires must act quickly to turn Dhampirs into full vampires before they reach menopause. This gives the society a sense of urgency around the age of young female Dhampirs, and it creates political alliances centered around the turning process.

2. Rivalries: Vampire families will compete fiercely to secure alliances with the most fertile and powerful female vampires to ensure their own line continues. This will spark rivalries between families, with marriages often determined by the need to reproduce the next generation of vampires.

3. Female Vampire's Role: In this society, female vampires hold a unique and incredibly valuable role. They are the bearers of family power, but only for a limited time. The race against time to turn as many Dhampirs as possible before menopause leads to cutthroat politics within vampire families, with younger female Dhampirs often being used as bargaining chips for powerful marriages.

5. Religion & Spiritual Beliefs

What they belief, may not be arrived at rationally, but makes sense in their world

6. Economy & Trade

• What their society needs
  • Between individuals (note, this is something specific, not general to any specie like food)
  • From the rest of the world
• What their society can give to the rest of the world

7. Military & Warfare

• How strong are they
• How is sub-territories formed (states, city, packs etc)
• How do they protect their sovereignty
• How they encroach on other kingdom's sovereignty, if they do

---

8. Views on Other Species

• Contrast their beliefs with the beliefs of other species

9. Justice & Punishment

Loyalty and power are all that matters, and most crimes are basically crimes against a superior. So a superior can usually kill someone under them without "legal" repercussion. Killing your subordinates might make you lose their loyalty and/or respect really quick. Furthermore, since they are very territorial, the leader of a clan is also the de facto protector of his clan, so if a member of his clan is attacked by a fellow member or from other clans, the clan leader will be expected to avenge the member.

In short, the vampires give their blood clans absolute power with the expectation that they will protect them. The Blood clans, using the power given to them by their clan members can use it to sway the council, demand retribution and push their agenda. So the bigger (and usually the more powerful a clan) is, the more sway they have.

10. Conflicts

Clans

Bloodclan Name	Specialty / Reputation
House Nocturne	The ruling house, known for intelligence, control, and diplomacy.
House Drakul	The oldest and most feared warriors, said to be direct descendants of the first vampire.
House Voss	Masters of magic, alchemists, and occultists.
House Valtheris	Wealthiest, controls commerce, banks, and trade.
House Ravenshade	Elite spies, assassins, and shadow manipulators.
House Morvayne	Ruthless enforcers and executioners, feared by all.
House Carmine	Most militarized, commands powerful armies.
House Sanguis	Known for extreme hedonism, excess, and indulgence.

Internal

• Noble Rivalries – The Bloodclans constantly scheme to dethrone the Blood Sovereign.
• Dhampir Uprising? – Some dhampirs believe they should rule, resenting their treatment.
• The Feral Problem – As vampires age or lose control, some become feral beasts, a growing concern.
• Human Rebellions – Some human thralls plot escape or rebellion, despite the overwhelming odds.
  • Due to reliance of vampires for food and childbearing, they used to be slaves, but over time, their rights should improve, and maybe give them some rights

11. Final thoughts

This system creates a society that is both patriarchal (with male vampires as the progenitors) and matriarchal (with female vampires as the ones who hold the power to turn and maintain the bloodline). The ticking clock of menopause adds urgency and social tension, while the role of female Dhampirs becomes pivotal in shaping the future of vampire society. How does this new approach feel for your vampire culture?

12. Notes

The following are factors that affects their strengths

• Age: It increases with age and rest
• Rest: After a rest, a vampire is at its strongest (100% of power), younger vampires need shorter rest and farther inbetween like 1 hour a day while really old vampires might need sleep for like months or even years
• Gender: Male are usually stronger than females if they are of the same age.
• Sires: their father and mother

How do vampires become feral?