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RPGs and Real Vampirism
An article about RPGs and real vampirism? Of course, I would opt to write this piece. Why? Because it is fun. I would ask of the esteemed reader now, that those of you with prejudices against Vampire: the
Masquerade, clear your minds, forget your misgivings, and for the duration of this article consider the information before you. It is rather peculiar to have resentment towards the game anyway. That
is akin to realtors being angry with Monopoly™. The inventors and innovators of V:tM (Vampire: the Masquerade) did not set out with the intent to destroy the validity and integrity of the real vampire
community when they conceived the role-playing game that has achieved so much fame / infamy. In the spirit of these creative minds, I quip a phrase from "The Inevitable Disclaimer" located on the inside of the cover page of the core book for Vampire: the Masquerade, edition WW2300: "For the 99.9999+% of you who are sufficiently well-adjusted not to need such a ridiculous disclaimer, have fun."
And read on.
Allow me to begin our journey here with the understatement of the century. Mark your calendars folks, I'm making history here: There are some obvious differences between the vampires of Vampire: the Masquerade and the real vampires that we know here at Vampire Church. I suppose the primary variation that comes to mind is the nature of the vampire. V:tM displays the vampire as an undead
monster, a supernatural creature with superpowers that survives on the blood of others. These fictional vampires are predators and victimizers. Real vampires are nothing to that effect. Rather they are simply human beings who are born with an energy deficit, a physiological condition, which requires that energy be obtained from outside sources. We can also take a step back and see that while the vampires are vastly different in these two arenas, there are real vampires who victimize others and who are energy predators. Let's not kid ourselves and pretend that all vampires are just gentle people trying to fulfill their energy needs. Likewise, in V:tM, depending on the player's character creation, the vampire can be
quite humane and docile.
Along with the nature of the beast, so to speak, the feeding methods of the fictional and real vampire are also dissimilar. While the fictional vampire will use their whiles to snare a person to bite and drain blood from, thus sustaining their vitality, the real vampire uses their energy to wrap around energy from an outside source, either sexual, sanguine, elemental, psychic or empathic in nature, and incorporate this foreign energy into their own energy fields, thus maintaining their well-being. Now, we can hope that all real vampires are discreet and use good judgment in choosing their donors when feeding from another person(s) through sanguine, empathic, sexual or psychic means, however, to my dismay, this is not always the case. There are those real vampires that are not careful in choosing donors and feed from others without regard for the person whom is good enough to donate their energy or for themselves. There are also those vampires, as mentioned before, who will take donors against their will or knowledge. I cannot stress enough folks, that when you are choosing a donor, you should fully explain your vampirism to them and discuss any questions they may have. Between the two of you, an agreement on the nature of your relationship should be reached. I.e. are you simply a donor-vampire relationship, or are you lovers? Are you exclusive? You should also let them know if you have other donors. I do suggest having more than one if your only feeding option is to feed from others. Screen your donors for blood-born pathogens and other illnesses. Make sure they are sound of mind and fit to handle the responsibility that they are undertaking.
Another perceptible schism within real vampires and those of the V:tM nature is the subject of turning / embracing / siring. Masquerade vampires require another vampire to bite them, drain them
fully of blood and then drink a portion of the vampire’s blood in order to become a vampire. Now despite numerous claims of rituals, incantations and curses, no one has proven that they are able to
create a real vampire. It is a controversial idea that in some rare instances, in which after severe trauma, a person's energy fields can suffer great damage and so a state of vampirism can be induced. However,
since this vampire-like state is conceived through unnatural means, It is feasible that these peoples' energy fields could be healed and so curing their pseudo-vampirism. Vampirism is a natural state, a
physiological condition, the origins of which are clouded in obscurity. This is unlike the fictional vampire, of whom the origins are based in Biblical mystery figures such as Caine, Lilith and Set and places these figures at the root of vampirism.
Yet another differing aspect of the V:tM vampire and the real vampire is the "curing" or "absolvement" of vampirism. Real vampirism is not a sin or an illness. In the Masquerade, a vampire can gain complete control of their bloodlust by achieving a state called "Golconda" but can never be rid of their vampirism. Likewise, regardless of the many assertions by those who claim to have exorcised or cauterized their vampirism, no real vampire has ever proven to have been able to rid themselves of their energy deficit. There are ways to reduce the amount of times a real vampire must feed or to cope with the energy cravings, but no way to "cure" vampirism.
Now that I've blown your minds and rallied your support and agreement, I’ll give a controversial opinion: there are some parallels between the fictional and non-fiction worlds of vampires. In both arenas, the vampires have created communities, societies even. I found it particularly amusing while re-reading some of my RPG materials that the Nosferatu clan of V:tM fame created a vampire-information network online called "SchrekNET" to keep up to date on community happenings. While in the real vampire community, we do not have Clans based on common blood lineage and shared superpowers, we
do have Houses based on common interest and goals. Our Organizations may not be at an ageless war with one another however, they do attract people with different conceptions as to the nature of vampirism.
There is most likely not a vast and organized cult or real vampires bent on enslaving all non-vampires, but there are a good amount of real vampires who abuse their donors and take a supremacy attitude to non-vampiric people. If anything, perhaps the bulk of the vampire community can be compared to the Camarilla, a large group dedicated to living in peace with humans. But, we go beyond that in the real vampire community. While we do not hide, we are select in revealing our vampiric natures to others. We advocate the education of others on vampirism. We value our donors and give them a place in our community. Though we are not sired by other vampires, many of us will find solace and companionship within others like ourselves and some of us may find a seasoned vampire to be a mentor
and help guide us through our awakening to our natures.
While there is no set code of conduct for real vampires to live by (though Michelle Belanger has been wrongfully accused of imposing such a code through the penning of "The Black Veil"), the fictional world of vampires has a nominal code called "The Six Traditions". Interestingly enough, if our community would take time to consider most of these, it might make things a bit more pleasant
in the waters if you get my drift. I offer you all my take on these traditions and how they apply to our own community:
The First Tradition, The Masquerade: "Thou shalt not reveal thy true nature to those not of the Blood. Doing so shall renounce thy claims of Blood."
Now I will not suggest that you never tell a non-vampiric person about your vampirism. That would cut you off from a great deal of support that you will need throughout your life-long awakening. But, I do urge you to use caution and common sense. If you feel that someone is not open-minded enough to accept your vampirism, then don't set yourself up for disappointment and try to force acceptance
upon them. Now they may come to that acceptance in their own time, but remember, everyone grows at their own pace. Just because your closest relations and loved ones don't know about your vampirism does not mean in anyway that they do not love you.
The Second Tradition, the Domain: "Thy domain is they concern. All others owe the respect while in it. None may challenge thy word in thy domain."
I am a considerably territorial person. When I am in my house or my favorite hangouts, I appreciate it if people respect my personal space. I am certain that others reading this appreciate the same from others. But that doesn't give me the right to be a complete psycho-hosebeast and demand that things go just my way. Life is about compromise. Learn that early and you'll be a happier person. Not that you shouldn't aim to please yourself first, just know that if others are in your space, then you are a host/ess, so try and have a social clue and be a bit gracious.
The Third Tradition, the Progeny: "Thou shalt sire another only with the permission of thine elder. If thou createst another without thine elder's leave, both thou and thine progeny shalt be slain."
Okay I know right now people are saying, what in the *insert blue streak of curses* hell could this possibly have to do with real vampirism. I'll tell you - some of us have the unique capacity of causing awakenings in others. If you are aware that you are causing this, then you are giving this person an enormous wake-up call that for which they may be unprepared. It's good to get the advice of someone
who is more experienced with vampirism than you in these situations. You may have to distance yourself from the person to whom you are causing an awakening.
The Fourth Tradition, The Accounting: "Those that thou create are thine own childer. Until thy progeny shall be released, thou shalt command then in all things. Their sins are thine to endure."
So let's say that you are mentoring someone. You are helping to guide them through their awakening. They look to you to aid them and encourage them. If they seriously screw up, I'm sorry to say that you are, in part, at fault. Mentoring someone is not a joke. It really is like adopting someone. If you do not look out for your little "vampling" there are not a whole lot of good Samaritans in the vampire community that will do so in your stead. Understand the pact you are making when you agree to mentor someone.
The Fifth Tradition, Hospitality: "Honor one another's domain. When thou comest to a foreign city, thou shalt present thyself to the one who ruleth there. Without the word of acceptance, thou art nothing."
What a concept, be respectful of other's spaces. Hopefully, your mother or some other good figure of authority in your life has taught you this excellent idea. Now, I am not the most well mannered person. I am told I can be pretty disrespectful by nature, which is most likely true. However, on or offline, if I enter an area that belongs to someone else or where I know another House or Organization frequents, I'll do my best to make nice and be pleasant and overall respectful.
The Sixth Tradition, Destruction: "Thou art forbidden to destroy another of thy kind. The right of destruction belongeth only to thine elder. Only the eldest among thee shall call the blood hunt."
Hmm, where am I going to go with this one? Well I am all in favor of not killing someone without being in desperate peril at their hands. But even to this point, I see a lot of vampires slandering and just generally trying to tear down others to get up the social ladder or avenge some personal vendetta because they didn't like what Lord Sourass from House of the Purple Pendulums said about their cousin
Sharon's bad teeth , even if she did have awful teeth. Honestly, there is a lot of backbiting and general nastiness that goes on in our community and people use their vampirism as an excuse for this blatant poor behavior because it makes them aggressive or competitive or something. To that, I say "Nonsense". Stop using your energy deficit to get out of behaving with some decency and common respect and regard for others. Try to pull your head out of your energy deficit, take your happy pills and try to get along with one another.
I'm sure that some of my analogies here are a bit of a stretch. I am glad that you have had enough respect and regard for me to read on to this point. I hope that you can see Vampire: The Masquerade as the entertainment it is intended to be and the role-playing game that your mother warned you about.
Namaste to you readers.
By Laura Kabella
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