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Who am I?

A mistress of darkness...

A shadow of light.

A huntress-beast with the body of the same creatures you eat with, sleep with, live with and die with.

My body is human!

.. But I am not.

I am the damned.

My kindred undead are just as I -

The best of us live amongst you,

And we laugh with you and cry with you,

React in every way to the same dramas and jokes in the way you do.

But we feed on you, for you are our prey.

Our fatal kiss is to every bit your ecstasy as our vita - our life.

What ever other could such a beast be?

Vampire.

And I am as ..

the king is to the castle,
the magic of a mage,
the darkness to the night.

The firstborne of these very damned, chylde to the long dead spiritual Armonis.
- The first mortal to become a kindred, the first human vampire to exist..
And the third vampire to exist in this world and any other -
Armonis the first, Khalab the second.

But alas, they have long perished.

And this leaves me -

Chrishankhah, the Egyptian Vampiress

the eldest vampire to reign the worlds we know -

The Highest Monarch of the Kindred: La Regina Lamiarum..

The Queen of the Vampires.

These are my thoughts.

Enjoy - mortal, chylde and ancient alike.

Chapter One: Chrishankhah, The Egyptian Vampiress

I am Chrishankhah. Surely, by now you have read my story. The tale of my birth to this world of infinite darkness, and the death of my creator.

.My Home.

I was born in 8021 BC, outside of what was then the capital town. Then, 'Egypt' was much larger. It covered much of the north of the continent. The civilisation was far advanced, knowing magics and laws of physics which not even the mortals today have come to learn as of yet. Regardless of what science may state today, there was a civilisation then. Yet the corruption of government still resided then, as today. It was a monarchy - A Queen and Pharaoh, you might say. Armonis was the queen, and though the pharaoh was to have more power, she had power over him - and so she ruled the land more than he. We had different names for things, of course. A different language. Our power then could allow us to speak through the mind rather than sound should we wish. Our bodies as mortal humans had slightly different composition. Their ears were pointed where today they are round. Skin tone ranged from the whitish tan to brown, but also pure white, pure black, and reddish or greenish or bluish tones of flesh. When a human would die then, the remnants were little and decomposition was quick, and so today there is nothing to prove the advanced life there truly was then. The capital town of the land was Sanagis, where resided the two royalties.

.My Mortal Life.

I lived in what was meant to be a burial tomb for the ancient royalties when they would choose a time to pass. The tomb was in the vast sands now known as the Sahara, near the town of Sanagis. What I knew, and the rest of the town did not, was that the two rulers did not intend to choose such time. Not unless they had to. I knew what they were.

But my parents, I never knew. For all I know, I could have come to this world in a spontaneous birth - the type which was known to happen then, and accepted as normal. Birth under the stars, or the spirits, the godlike mages or the air itself - rather than a man and a woman. Some granted these children as holy - that they were created by the devout deities. Others thought of them as the birth of devils, and that any birth that wasn't as rational as that between a man and a woman was unlawful. I myself know not what brought me into this world. Have I or Had I real mortal parents once, I believe I will never know.

I was raised nonetheless, not by humans but by a tiger I knew as 'Tigresa'. Tigresa was a white female tiger, and my protector - As were two cats. Ezmerelda was the smaller of the two - a grey cat and a guardian of children and the innocent. Nefa was more a warrior spirit, a black cat who represented might, vengeance, and sanctity. Tigresa would teach me everything I learned as a mortal. She taught me of the history of the past, and the events of the present and the comings of the future. But she wouldn't tell me what was to become of me. I would sometimes wonder what would become of them when I would grow old and pass, for these cats were not mortal as I. They would live forever. And I.. Well, I knew not of the fate that would become of me.

.The Embrace.

There is no way to describe the power of the embrace to it's fullest.

Armonis had no time to spare, but this quickened the process none, for if done wrong the race of her kind would be no more. It was up to her, for had she taken too much of my blood in a process never before done by her or the history of this world.. We would be a myth.

She had taken me into her grasp, and I could feel her chilled breath brush past me. Her power could subdue fear. A vampire's kiss in the embrace must be done without fear, or the blood is rushed through a quickened heartbeat and the mortal cannot be saved.

There was no pain. The 'kiss' was gentle, and every bit of pain in the sensation of those two fangs, which sank into the main vein of my neck was soothed by her power. I could feel the very essence of my life draining from me in my blood - and into her. At that precise moment I saw all that she had seen in her ageless life, and she of my very short one. I felt it, as I felt my body dying..

But it was not over. A popular belief of the creation of the vampire is that one needs only to be bitten.

But that is not true.

For into her wrist, she made an incision with her own fang. The dark crimson blood contrasted with her pale skin. She was a sharp image amongst the rest of the world that now faded away. Only her, and the illumination of the dying sunlight behind her. She then came to my dying body, and let her own vita flow into me. The hunger that one feels in the final stages of death are overcoming - perfect for the creation of a vampire, for the mortal will take anything to drink. Even salt water, even bitter vinegar. Even blood.

And so I took her wrist to my lips, and drank. The burning sensation it gave as it slipped down my throat was unlike any thing I ever had or would taste. That strange elixir was the blood of an ancient. And it was my blood. My blood transformed into this strange liquid that would give me... Give me what?

Give me eternal life.

And so my body .. Died ...?

But I awoke within those few endless minutes that had changed my life, literally, forever.

She stayed only long enough to be assured the embrace was successful.

She left off into the dying sunlight, weak enough not to kill her – not yet.

Yet She would die in its powerful wrath the next day.

Chapter 2: The Ancient Lore: The Vampire

And so what are we? What makes us what we are? Or better, why? ..

The question is asked by so many. Odd enough, so few can answer.

.Eternal Darkness.

That day, the day she would perish in the sun and set belief that such "demons", or "witches" as we would exist no more, was the day that I became the only one of our kind. She taught me of the vampires.

There were few simple rules that we must abide. Only rules of survival.

It is a tradition amongst vampires to teach their newborne the way of the vampire. Perhaps through this I may set straight the myths and facts. Set to writing what and who we really are.

When Armonis embraced me, I had a devout and neutral soul.

I believed in being lawful, but balanced.

But because of my devout belief, my intent to do good, I was given the better of a two sided spectrum - for there are two sides to us, and the blood of the stronger or weaker is determined only through the embrace of the eldest - Who was she. Who I now have become.

.The Good and the Evil.

When I embrace, I determine this. If the soul of the embraced is good or neutral, the blood will be strong. The vampire will fall to only few weaknesses and take hold of many strengths. If the soul is dark, however, the vampire falls to many weaknesses, most of which are based on holy and sacred matters. And so, you ask, why are there powerful but evil vampires, and weak but good ones? The power as I've mentioned is only determined by myself. Once the bloodline is spawned, it is passed from kindred to kindred no matter the alignment of the spirit or the soul.

And what am I? Still of devout spirit and neutral actions. Have I killed the innocent? Yes, and most in my earlier years. By soul I stand for what is right over what is wrong. No longer can I bare to watch the blood of the innocent shed. In my presence, they are protected - but I can do none to stop the shed of their blood under my own kind. Not without upsetting the same balance that I am meant to keep.

.The Vampire's Purpose.

Research as many sources as you can uncover on the matter. I assure you, few will give you the true definition of a vampire.

Many will speak of us as wicked, evil undead creatures who walk the graves at night and feed on the blood of mortals. Many call us beasts who want nothing more than to murder you; steal your soul. Some definitions don't even speak a partial truth. Other sources call us creatures of both alignments, feeding on blood for our own life.

Then what are we?

The human race is at no mistake by stating there is a food chain. They are at one when they state that they are at the top. The human mind can not handle the differences in right and wrong. They are the rabbit, and we are the tiger. There are far more rabbits than tigers, but the tiger is the more powerful. I am not stating that we are here to keep the humans from over populating. Sickness and diseases and new untraditional acts made by humans themselves have aided them in destroying themselves. Political and Religious bands often broken have allowed them to wage war on each other. And so you say, this does not state at all what a vampire is, this only says what a vampire is not. But we do serve a purpose.

We are the protectors to the human race. And as hard as it is to accept, that we are the protectors of the same men and women that we feed amongst every day, there is a truth to it.

The evil of us are at a weakness for a reason. Destruction is far from our true reasons. The devout of us have done as little as feeding amongst the thieves and back-stabbers at night, to driving mad the corrupt and destructive humans, mad into suicide or the death we may provide for him.

I don't suppose you believe ‘Adolfe’ decided to kill himself all on his own.. ?

And so that is our purpose. We are the knights and crusaders of heaven and hell. The angels and demons who walk the grounds of Terra carrying out the balances on earth, and live there on the earthen grounds rather than the seas of tranquility and pain.

.Weaknesses and Strengths of the Kindred.

Each time I embrace, I create a new bloodline of vampires. Each is determined on the soul of the embraced. Beneath the obvious distinctions of good and evil may be the intentions to practice their power in certain ways. But I will tell you of this later.

When a vampire is created with a good soul, as stated that vampire is more powerful. The vampire will be weak to few things, including only the sunlight, fire, and decapitation. If drained of all blood, they will enter a long sleeping state and be easily weakened. A common myth is that a vampire can be changed human if in such torpor long enough.. Another version states that a vampire who can go without blood will become mortal. But this is not true. It's been tried by many, and it has failed as many times as tried.

If one of these vampires has lived long enough, they become an ancient and no longer fall to these weaknesses. Their blood is stronger and they create stronger vampires, especially if they have not embraced in long or if ever. And of them, my blood may be the strongest of them all. My embrace will only create a new kindred bloodline, but my blood to an already embraced can create a true immortal.

A vampire with an evil soul or of an evil bloodline can fall to the weaknesses that the stronger of us laugh at, should they be attempted upon us. Not only may they fall to those weaknesses that the good unfortunately do, they have a worse crave for blood. Some, those evil at spirit will be murderous. All vampires of evil bloodlines can fall to the holy cross or the Egyptian Ankh which has represented our kind since we have come to existence, and so such ankhs and crosses must be displayed upside down so as not to hurt the vampire. Vampires with good souls and evil bloodlines often regret what they are for this, though those with good souls and good bloodlines sometimes do the same. Oak wood will kill a vampire of evil bloodline as well - However silver or any other material will not. Holy water does nothing to them unless it is truly holy - And truly sacred water is created only when it is blessed by a being of high holy rank - such as an angel or a saint. But this same water can heal a mortal. Because these vampires are weaker, they often discover new weaknesses. Some have taken to the unfortunate way to become captive under mortal technology, meaning that their genetic make-up can be changed by some human drugs and technological and computerised pulses.

However, the blood of an ancient no matter his or her align has been said to have the power to transform the blood of the vampires who have good souls and evil bloodlines into that of the good, granting them a more deserved power. Though, I myself know of ways in my own power, to turn the evil over to their deserved bloodline as well.

.. But that is only one of my strengths.

The strengths of the kindred can be great.

All vampires can move faster than light, and it is said that a vampire at crack of dawn can escape the fatal beams of sunlight if he is aware quick enough. All have the power to heal their own wounds in mere seconds. The power to embrace, and create another of our kind - though for some it is not always successful, and is sometimes failed by those of the darker bloodline. All can speak telepathically with other vampires. All can hear a mortals thoughts, and some can hear those of another vampire, though not all. If untouched by a weakness, we can all live forever.

And though some in the darker bloodline have been bestowed with these strengths, most of those in the lighter have these as well.. We are untouched by sickness and decease. We can hypnotise mortals and bend them to our will. We are capable of great physical and mental strengths. The elder the vampire, the more mind power that vampire is capable of. Some of the ancients have innately learned without the use of the magics the power of telekinesis, spiritual possession, mental communication with those who are not mortal nor kindred or speak the languages we know. Some have the ability to cure a mortal of sickness or such with a touch, and the highest ancients have mastered fiery glances and freezing grasps.

However, vampires have for long practiced powers not innate to what they souly were. A popular practice of clans for example is to use certain magics based on the clans theme. Some have practiced shape-shifting, others necromancy. Vampires cannot change into bats, of course. Not unless that vampire has mastered the un-kindred wizardry in doing so.

And I?

As for weakness, I have none known… It was in my earlier years – perhaps the first two thousand that anything could destroy me, and so should have I ever wished to forfeit my role as what I am, it would have been then – then or never. I chose never. The next twenty centuries to follow, they still could deal a sufficient amount of pain.. But death was past me. After the length of time I have walked this world and others, and this time and others, I have yet to learn what in any of them has the power to destroy me. Yet still I have found nothing.

And my innate strengths are some of the greatest. Save those of every other bloodline of vampire, I have innately mastered the ability to turn any liquid into blood, to invoke the powers of fire from midair. But greatest of them, I have mastered the innate ability to restore a soul to its body for a short amount of time should they both be together. This ability to connect a soul to a dead body, combined with my embrace, and my practiced magics including the mage's spiritual ability to summon any desired spirit and the restorative clerical ability to return a decayed matter to it's strongest form has granted me the ability to bring back the dead in their own form, with their own soul, and embrace them provided the spirit of that person has not moved on.

But it is a magic I have only practiced once, but has once proved successful.

And this, as I know the abilities to use many practiced magics invented by both immortal and mortal mages in our times, however, I seldom use them.

For there is destructive risk in using most, and I only use my power when I know it absolutely necessary. For should these practiced magics be misused, risks far too unspeakable may be the fatal result. Perhaps not for myself, but easily so for mankind. Such destruction is the mirrored opposite for our reason here on earth.

.The Vampire - In Scientific Terms.

To some mortals, things cannot be spiritually explained. They want nothing more than facts, for they must see things to believe them. And so how do you scientifically explain what we are?

To an extent, you cannot. But I will do my best.

Often called creatures of the 'undead', in a way we are just that. To sum it up, our bodies are dead, but we are re-risen - and our soul has never died.

When a human is embraced, every cell in the body dies. There is only one bit of life left in that body, the spirit. The spirit, however, cannot escape. It is locked in, and can only be freed by the same means that you have come to know 'kill' a vampire. And so why our need for blood?

To us, the blood is a form of 'mana'. It is the fluid that grants us power. Without it, our spirit still lives, but rests in a somewhat incapacitated state. It is amazing that a vampire who even enters the state of sleep and has lost every drop of blood can recover enough to restore his soul to full – just by a few drops of living blood. But it has happened.

Because the body is dead, the spirit needs something to keep the body alive enough to act mortal. It needs a source of living fluid, and the blood of the living provides just that. Strangely enough, vampires have gone living on the blood of animals, or worse, dead blood. Yes, it is possible to live on blood that has aged like wine. But the power of the vampire will not be as nearly strong as it could be despite how sweet that vita may be. The vampire will starve more, in fact. To set matters straight, a vampire who has just fed is more likely to feel 'mortal', than a vampire who does not feed. A vampire who does not feed is not becoming mortal, he is merely building his hunger, instigating his ‘beast’. He is becoming more savage, if anything.

A vampire will always have the same spirit he or she had as a mortal. The spirit is merely imbued with the power. The spirit uses the blood as a fuel to keep the vampire from starvation, to keep him energised, awake, powerful, and of proper flesh tone. It does for the vampire what food does for the mortal. Without food, the mortal becomes sick. Without blood, the vampire is sent into an endless sleep, whereas the spirit, wide awake is weakened, desperately trying to get out. If the vampire is young, and goes without blood too long, the spirit can become too weak to gain the energy, thus leaving the vampire in an endless sleep - unconscious, but as alive as any vampire can be. A vampire must feed.

.The Ghoul.

When a mortal drinks the blood of a vampire, but has not died and has not been drained of blood, that mortal becomes a ghoul - much like his or her master, a creature of the undead - but still mortal. When the mortal does die, he or she is very likely to become a zombie. A ghoul is a weakened form of a vampire, and often considered the slave of the vampire they fed from. They are mortal, but share a minority of the power that their master has in his or her blood. For example, the ghoul can grow old and die, but he or she will never look old until they die. Unlike the vampire, they do not vanish when they die. They leave a body much the way they would without having ever had the kindred blood. They are generally quicker and stronger than the average mortal, but not as much their master. They do not feed off of blood, but eat and sleep as a normal mortal would. They are also not weakened by the sunlight and so are used often as the protector of a vampire's sleep during this time. Ghouls tend to practice the same arts and magics of their master. Some as simple as a hobby - such as painting or poetry, others as complex as wizardry and spells created for some of the more intense battling vampire clans that one may cross every now and then. If drained of blood by a vampire, the ghoul can also become a vampire, but if killed by any other means than age that does not completely destroy the body, the body will become a zombie - a generally weak creature who has no spirit, but controlled by a weak power in itself which still craves living flesh and blood.

Chapter 3: The Very Beginning

For some reason, the story of my creation is never good enough for those seeking true knowledge - where the vampire first came from. And I must regret telling this story, for at times it seems to be some of the only information I am credited for above all - odd enough. Tigresa is my teacher, though - and perhaps it should be she that is credited. She is no more human than I, after all. But very well.. I shall tell you how it all began.

In some religions, life started under one devout god, Jehovah, and humans were his creation. His sixth angel became the entity of the darker world with interest.

In older religions, life started under the Titans, and many gods ruled by the supreme deity Zeus would lead to the result of mankind.

I cannot begin to tell you how many religions there are or will be, and to exploit the truth of it all that I do know, (which is not all,) would throw off any balances I ever intended to keep. Regardless, I can tell you that there is or was a greater evil entity, and he was part of the fault of what came to be the vampire. Of course, evil can only be so much. What if I were to tell you that the greatest evil entity this world has or does know was not a deity of temptation at all? If he merely governed the darker souls and saw to it that they were punished in the ways they should be? An entity capable of love, of lust, and of any sin and deed of honour any mortal today is.

This darker entity was known by many names, but the only one he used cannot be spelt by a mortal language. Would you believe it if I told you that more than one very popular being was all in the same - him? He was known to some as 'Memnoch', ‘Satan’, or 'Lucifer', and many other names. had been banished from the world, however. Even the greatest beings made mistakes, and his were just as bad as any mortal or immortal alike. Overcome with the thrill of lust and whatnot, deemed forbidden by a greater devout deity, he did not obey, and hence was banished from the terra, never completing what he was sent to do because of his sudden self-temptation. But in all honesty, he is.. not pure evil. This world has not met the existence of pure evil (if there is such a thing,) and hopefully never will.

Due to his banishment, he had no Terran minions, no messengers, no knights. Nothing of his own creation. And with the consent and granted power of a greater entity, he summoned up a spirit, namely Armonis to aid him ...

Memnoch: Dear angel, Armonis, I am in need of an earthen race. For I have failed as an angel to bring balance and have since been banished forth here to sort those as corrupt as I was. Because of my error, an evil, the lack of innocence has been amplified more than ever on Terra. I am granting you a power that will allow you to walk the earth, so that you may set these balances straight.

Armonis: But I am a dark angel - a pure spirit, by what means shall I walk the earth? For I cannot be human.

Memnoch: Ah, you will not be human. That body is not one I cannot grant you, and for that, I have doubts you will last on the land forever - but you should, long enough to embrace another. You will need a companion, and a land to rule.

Armonis: And for what means need I this?

Memnoch: The land I grant you is the land ruled by a tyrant lord named Yiisath. A mage of extreme magics he intends to use only for destruction. In the womb to one of his maidens is a son of his own. This boy is a spirit much the same you are - and his name is to be Khalab. You shall raise this child until he is fair enough an age to be your husband, to which point you will then kill the tyrant lord, and take power through his son. You are destined to love Khalab, but I warn you that his father may have power through his son, and so you cannot let his son rule as equally as you. If Yiisath regains power over the land through these powers I shall grant you, the very hells you keep in order here may break loose where they cannot be kept in order on Terra.

.. Now Armonis was an angel maiden directly under this dark entity. She was among his most powerful, in fact. She had a ruler's mentality, but also had tendency to become cruel, and over protective. But because of these traits, he felt that she would be perfect, until the day would come.. When his power granted may finally make a way into a more permanent body. The embodiment of a human.

Memnoch: Armonis, you will become the free spirit form of what will become known as a race called the Kindred. If my prediction is correct, the race should be compatible to transform a human body to grant this power to the spirit of any mortal thus making them immortal. But you shall not attempt this right away, for when you do will be the night before the dawn of your death. You will be weak to sunlight, and fire only. These fiery elements can destroy your brittle soul, and so I advise you keep away from them for the good of the world. A human body housing a kindred soul will be known as a vampire, and will fall to decapitation (which releases the soul) as well as these weaknesses until he or she is old enough to overcome this weakness.

Armonis: And when will I know to give this gift?

Memnoch: The day you see your demise is clear. When your husband falls, you will the dawn of the next day under your very own people. It is up to you to give the gift after his fall - but before your own. It must grow as powerful as it can. You will know the day.

Armonis: Very well...

And with that, her body enlightened in a crimson red aura, and with that, she found herself in the dark, cold and barren desert of Egypt. This was the land that she was to rule. She was in the capital city of Sanagis. She would find shelter here, and when the time came to find the spirit child who would grow to be the same kindred spirit as she, she would take rule of the land. And when the time came for her to embrace the first mortal before her own demise, she would. And hopefully, that mortal would be the right one.

That One was I: Chrishankhah.