Meet the creatures that inhabit the Night Huntress world…
Vampires
Vampires originated from Cain, the brother of Abel. God put a mark upon Cain after Cain murdered Abel, so that any who saw him would not kill him. That “mark” was his transformation into becoming undead. Cain regretted killing his brother, and the children he ‘reproduced’ were vampires and ghouls, who then made others of their kind, and so on. Cain is the undead version of the Man Upstairs. No one knows if he’s still in existence, or if he’s long dead.
Vampires need to drink blood in order to survive, but they don’t need to kill their donor. They can walk in daylight, have no aversion to crosses, and silver, not wood, through their heart is lethal. Vampires live in pyramid-like societies ranked by the strength of the head of the line – the oldest Master vampire.
“The birth of a new vampire – a vampire mortally drains a human of blood. Before dying, the human drinks large quantities of vampire blood, replacing all the human’s blood loss with vampire blood. Afterward, the human dies to mortality but rises as a vampire.
Ghouls
Ghouls are a sister race to vampires. They have the same societal structures as vampires, and they conform to the same rules. But there are a few things different about them:
Ghouls eat raw meat with the occasional body part supplement.
Ghouls can only be killed by decapitation.
The birth of a new ghoul – A human is mortally wounded and then given a small amount of vampire blood to drink. Once dead, a ghoul switches his/her heart with the human’s heart. Vampire blood is then poured over the donated ghoul heart to “activate” it, and the dead human rises as a ghoul.
Ghosts
Most ghosts are impressions of energy that mindlessly repeat the same action. These ghosts are commonly found in cemeteries, battlegrounds, or geographical “hotspots” where a thinner membrane for separating the natural from the supernatural exists.
Sentient ghosts are rare. They are usually people who experienced some strong emotion (anger, unrequited love, need for revenge, etc.) at their time of death. Combined with dying in a supernatural hotspot, it anchors them here. Sentient ghosts remember their former lives, and can interact with other ghosts, ghouls, or vampires. In both cases, the average person can’t see ghosts, but vampires, ghouls, and psychics can.
Demons
Demons come in two forms: corporeal (solid true form) or non-corporeal (a spirit). Most demons are non-corporeal and contained in the underworld, but some cross over by possessing humans. Each possession and death of the human host gives the demon more power. With enough power, a demon will cross over completely in its true corporeal form.
Corporeal demon weaknesses: aversion to sunlight, can’t enter a home unless invited, highly allergic to salt.
Corporeal demon strengths: almost unkillable, incredible speed and strength, unique individual powers (some can shapeshift, read minds, or manifest illusions).
Non-corporeal demon weaknesses: battling the human host for control until they are deeply embedded. Once embedded, they can’t jump to another host until their current host dies. Vast quantities of salt act as a natural containment cell.
Non-corporeal demon strengths: no weakness in sunlight, can enter any residence, can manifest incredible strength and speed through their human host. Killing the human host also doesn’t hurt a demon; it will just jump into the nearest living person or creature.
Demon brands: Corporeal demons can brand a human with their essence, usually in exchange for a favor. The brands tie the human to the demon and give the human part of the demon’s power. Until the demon removes the brands, the tie is permanent and cannot be undone.