Vampire Society, Part 1
In many Vampire Stories, Vampires are social or even political creatures.
In Nightborn, Vampires organize themselves into groups for both categorization and relationship purposes.
What is a Nightborn?
Nightborn is term Vampires use to refer to themselves. Some see "Vampire" as a term used by Mortal Humans to refer to their kind, though many modern Nightborn embrace the term Vampire, with its relatively recent (for an immortal) conceptual romanization.
That is not to say all creatures which a Mortal might call a Vampire is considered Nightborn. The word Nightborn is in reference to a Vampire indoctrinated to a Lineage by their Maker, the Vampire that made them.
Nightborn blood is born of dark magics and the turning of a new Vampire is a ritual which results in a compulsory Pupil/Mentor bond. For this reason, it is custom for a Nightborn to refer to their Maker as Mentor and the Maker to refer to their Spawn as Pupil.
What is a Lineage?
That's a secret. No really, the Lineages all guard their origins with tight lips and ferocious denial.
What is taught to fresh Nightborn, is that their Lineage akin to a Family or Line of Succession where Mentors train their Pupils. Mentors are responsible for their Pupils and Pupils are beholden to their Mentors. By extension, all within a Lineage have some minor semblance of responsibility over each other.
You might ask what enforces these customs and this sense of responsibility. There is magic in the blood and Spawn feels the pull of their Maker. It is this psychic connection that grows into a compulsion to obey, serve, and give everything to your Lineage. Of course, Nightborn may attempt to resist this urge, but doing so would result in cutting ties with the only kin have in a dangerous world which sees you as a monster.
Serving in a Lineage has its perks. Each Lineage has an Inheritance, a suite of Dark Powers handed down and taught through the Blood of their Makers. While Inheritances are unnervingly powerful, they come with trade-offs are Nightborn advance. These Powers are discussed in the Vampire Powers announcement in other sections.
There are Ten Lineages with certain Reputations, as follows:
Lamia - Sly and Cunning Faustian Dealmakers
Strix - Otherworldly Doomsayers and Sages
Marra - Morbid Deathdealers and Ritualists
Bruxo - Mystical Cultists and Revelers
Draugr - Grim Wardens and Warriors
Barabbas - Mysterious Troublemakers and Revolutionaries
Orlok - Ruthless yet Pragmatic Cartel
Carmilla - Artful and Spacy Dilettantes
Dracul - Controlling Bureaucrats and Soldiers
Ruthven - Romantic yet Tragic Idealists
Nightborn of any of the above Lineage don't necessarily live up to their Reputation, yet that does not stop them for taking advantage of others' preconceived notions. It is not uncommon for a Nightborn to lean into their Lineage Stereotype to get their enemies to underestimate them.
That is not to say a Lineage's Reputation is completely unfounded. These Reputations have been earned from past events, and the actions of powerful representatives of these Lineages. Mentors have been known to ask their Pupils to fall in line to fit in with their Lineage's "culture", though in modern nights that is considered an outdated method of Mentoring.
Lineages are not without bonds between the other Lineages. Long ago, all Ten Lineages realized they had more in common with each other than the other Supernatural Creatures roaming the night. They have made deals with each other, sworn oaths, and cast powerful blood magics to enforce them.
Over the ages, enshrinement of these bonds have lead to a code of conduct for all Nightborn. This has lead to the rise of three political Affiliations of the Night:
The Establishment which advocates for stability and maintaining the status quo by controlling both the supernatural and mortal worlds.
The Libertines, who wish to experiment, explore, and improve upon the Nightborn Society and their undead condition.
The Orthodoxy, which wants the old ways back where mortals cower from the creatures of the night while the Nightborn mind their own.
There are those Nightborn who don't want to get involved in Vampire Politics, which are often referred to as Unaffiliated. There are no largely common beliefs between the Unaffiliated.
There will be more about what these rules of the night are, and how each Affiliation interprets them in Part 2 of this series.
There is one more social unit Nightborn commonly use I wanted to mention before we close out and that is the Circle. A Nightborn Circle is the close unit of Vampires the Nightborn associates with.
A Nightborn's Maker may be in their Circle if they are close, but mutually beneficial deals, interests, and magically bound oaths led to common interactions between Vampires and Nightborn refer to those involved, informally, as their Circle.
A Circle might seems like a friends group from the outside, but that is not often the case. Though it is not uncommon to see lovers in a Circle together, Circles usually based around business and/or necessity. Nightborn are blood sucking monsters after all.
In Nightborn, Vampires organize themselves into groups for both categorization and relationship purposes.
What is a Nightborn?
Nightborn is term Vampires use to refer to themselves. Some see "Vampire" as a term used by Mortal Humans to refer to their kind, though many modern Nightborn embrace the term Vampire, with its relatively recent (for an immortal) conceptual romanization.
That is not to say all creatures which a Mortal might call a Vampire is considered Nightborn. The word Nightborn is in reference to a Vampire indoctrinated to a Lineage by their Maker, the Vampire that made them.
Nightborn blood is born of dark magics and the turning of a new Vampire is a ritual which results in a compulsory Pupil/Mentor bond. For this reason, it is custom for a Nightborn to refer to their Maker as Mentor and the Maker to refer to their Spawn as Pupil.
What is a Lineage?
That's a secret. No really, the Lineages all guard their origins with tight lips and ferocious denial.
What is taught to fresh Nightborn, is that their Lineage akin to a Family or Line of Succession where Mentors train their Pupils. Mentors are responsible for their Pupils and Pupils are beholden to their Mentors. By extension, all within a Lineage have some minor semblance of responsibility over each other.
You might ask what enforces these customs and this sense of responsibility. There is magic in the blood and Spawn feels the pull of their Maker. It is this psychic connection that grows into a compulsion to obey, serve, and give everything to your Lineage. Of course, Nightborn may attempt to resist this urge, but doing so would result in cutting ties with the only kin have in a dangerous world which sees you as a monster.
Serving in a Lineage has its perks. Each Lineage has an Inheritance, a suite of Dark Powers handed down and taught through the Blood of their Makers. While Inheritances are unnervingly powerful, they come with trade-offs are Nightborn advance. These Powers are discussed in the Vampire Powers announcement in other sections.
There are Ten Lineages with certain Reputations, as follows:
Lamia - Sly and Cunning Faustian Dealmakers
Strix - Otherworldly Doomsayers and Sages
Marra - Morbid Deathdealers and Ritualists
Bruxo - Mystical Cultists and Revelers
Draugr - Grim Wardens and Warriors
Barabbas - Mysterious Troublemakers and Revolutionaries
Orlok - Ruthless yet Pragmatic Cartel
Carmilla - Artful and Spacy Dilettantes
Dracul - Controlling Bureaucrats and Soldiers
Ruthven - Romantic yet Tragic Idealists
Nightborn of any of the above Lineage don't necessarily live up to their Reputation, yet that does not stop them for taking advantage of others' preconceived notions. It is not uncommon for a Nightborn to lean into their Lineage Stereotype to get their enemies to underestimate them.
That is not to say a Lineage's Reputation is completely unfounded. These Reputations have been earned from past events, and the actions of powerful representatives of these Lineages. Mentors have been known to ask their Pupils to fall in line to fit in with their Lineage's "culture", though in modern nights that is considered an outdated method of Mentoring.
Lineages are not without bonds between the other Lineages. Long ago, all Ten Lineages realized they had more in common with each other than the other Supernatural Creatures roaming the night. They have made deals with each other, sworn oaths, and cast powerful blood magics to enforce them.
Over the ages, enshrinement of these bonds have lead to a code of conduct for all Nightborn. This has lead to the rise of three political Affiliations of the Night:
The Establishment which advocates for stability and maintaining the status quo by controlling both the supernatural and mortal worlds.
The Libertines, who wish to experiment, explore, and improve upon the Nightborn Society and their undead condition.
The Orthodoxy, which wants the old ways back where mortals cower from the creatures of the night while the Nightborn mind their own.
There are those Nightborn who don't want to get involved in Vampire Politics, which are often referred to as Unaffiliated. There are no largely common beliefs between the Unaffiliated.
There will be more about what these rules of the night are, and how each Affiliation interprets them in Part 2 of this series.
There is one more social unit Nightborn commonly use I wanted to mention before we close out and that is the Circle. A Nightborn Circle is the close unit of Vampires the Nightborn associates with.
A Nightborn's Maker may be in their Circle if they are close, but mutually beneficial deals, interests, and magically bound oaths led to common interactions between Vampires and Nightborn refer to those involved, informally, as their Circle.
A Circle might seems like a friends group from the outside, but that is not often the case. Though it is not uncommon to see lovers in a Circle together, Circles usually based around business and/or necessity. Nightborn are blood sucking monsters after all.