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London/New Orleans WIP: Balam of the al-Masīḥ ad-Dajj
āl
By: Raven Tepes Date: November 20, 2025, 8:52 pm
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“Two thousand years in the shadows teaches a simple truth: in
the Middle East, gold buys loyalty, but fear buys silence. I was
the thirteenth child, born unwanted—now I am the last whisper
your enemies ever hear. My blades speak in the dark, my fangs
finish the sentence, and by sunrise, only the desert remembers
your name.”
~ Balam of the al-Masīḥ ad-Dajjāl
“Civilizations pretend they are built on law and faith, but
empires truly rise on the quiet work of those who remove the
pieces that no longer fit. Assassins are the hidden hands that
keep the world from collapsing under its own lies. I do not kill
for chaos—I kill because order requires someone willing to walk
where others dare not look. In the darkness, I am merely the
balance that the living refuse to admit they need.”
~ Balam of the al-Masīḥ ad-Dajjāl
“The living cling to the illusion that every soul has purpose.
But in my long nights, I have learned a harsher truth: some
lives drift like refuse in the alleys, forgotten even by the
world that birthed them. When I feed on the homeless, I do not
feast on innocence—I erase what society already discarded. In my
eyes, I am not a monster, merely the final sweep of a broom no
one else has the stomach to lift. Darkness has its own form of
mercy… and mine is simply more honest.”
~ Balam of the al-Masīḥ ad-Dajjāl
“Werecreatures… feral half-breeds pretending at nobility. I have
watched their kind snarl through empires as if claws grant
refinement. They reek of earth and instinct, slaves to the
moon’s tug like animals on a chain. I am older than their first
howl in the dark, and I will be here long after the last of them
forgets how to stand upright. Let them rage and
gnash—aristocracy is measured in mastery, not in fur and fury.”
~ Balam of the al-Masīḥ ad-Dajjāl
“Werecreatures are never more entertaining than in the moments
before they die. I savor their twitching bravado, their
trembling rage as I toy with them—one cut, one whisper, one
calculated cruelty at a time. They are beasts wrapped in
borrowed humanity, and I delight in peeling that façade away.
The true battle is not the kill, but the exquisite fear that
blooms before it. Their final breath is merely the applause to
my art.”
~ Balam of the al-Masīḥ ad-Dajjāl
“Balam Hasan isn’t just an assassin—he’s a catastrophe wrapped
in silk and smiles. He kills with the patience of a scholar and
the enthusiasm of a sadist. You don’t hear him coming; you feel
the room surrender. He studies people like puzzles, breaks them
like toys, and walks away as if he’s done you a favor. Anyone
who thinks he’s just another blade for hire hasn’t watched him
enjoy himself.”
~ A rival assassin
Victim: So… you finally show your face. How much did they pay
you to end me?
Balam: “End you?” My dear, you misunderstand. They paid for the
final moment. He walks a bit closer with an arrogant stride
across the room. Balam: The rest—the anticipation, the dread,
the delicious unraveling of your composure—
that part is my pleasure.
Victim: You’re insane. There were easier ways to kill me.
Balam: Of course. But I do not practice easiness. I practice
excellence. And excellence demands… artistry.
Victim: Just get it over with.
Balam: You humans always beg for brevity at the end. You rush
through life, then cry for mercy when you see its curtain fall.
He tilts his head with an elegant cat-like smile. Balam: Tell
me—why spoil the most important moment you’ll ever experience?
Victim: Because I don’t want to die.
Balam: Mm. Adorable. But death is not a punishment. Not with me.
It is a privilege—to be remembered, even for an instant, by
someone as ancient as I.
Victim: You won’t remember me.
Balam: Correct. But for these last few heartbeats… you will
remember me. A whisper of steel, a flicker of fang. Silence.
Balam: Ah… Robert Jones. The mongrel who thinks himself a myth.
Your wife screamed your name beautifully, you know. I assume
you’ve come to sing the encore?
Robert: Keep her name out of your corpse-colored mouth, Balam. I
swear, tonight you pay for every breath you ever stole from my
family.
Balam: Family? Charming. I still have your son, you know. Quite
the quiet child. Not at all like his beast of a father.
Robert: Dark fire cr@ckling around his fists. You’re going to
tell me where he is. Or I’ll burn every last memory out of
what’s left of your mind.
Balam: How quaint—threats from a creature who sheds on the
furniture. Come then, pup. Show me your flame.
Robert: Gladly. The ground trembles as Robert lunges forward,
dark fire erupting in a spiraling wave. Balam flashes aside,
blades gleaming, but Robert’s fury drives him backward step by
step.
Balam: Impressive. You’ve grown since our last dance. Shame your
wife lacked such ferocity—
Robert: —You don’t speak her name! Robert’s roar shakes the air.
Dark fire lashes out, forcing Balam to drop his weapon and
retreat. Robert slams him into a wall, flame burning through
Balam’s coat, forcing a rare wince from the vampire.
Balam: Enough! You think this means anything? I have ruled the
shadows for millennia!
Robert: And tonight? You run from them. Robert hurls a torrent
of dark fire. It engulfs Balam, who shrieks— not in agony, but
in fury — before dissolving into a cloud of crimson sand.
Balam’s voice, echoing from the smoke: This is not defeat, wolf.
This is postponement. I will reclaim your son, and I will flay
your soul for this insult!
Robert: Run, parasite. Run far. When I find you again—there
won’t be enough shadow left for you to hide in.
The mist retreats into the night, thin, ragged… but vengeful.
Karun the Ifrit: You return, mortal. Thirteenth child of a house
that wished you swallowed by the desert. Why summon me again?
Most who see my flame once never dare twice.
Balam (human, scarred, desperate): Because you offered power.
Because I refuse to die forgotten. Because the world has taken
everything… and I want the strength to take something back.
Karun: Ambition—sharp enough to cut your own throat. Tell me,
Balam, what do you seek? Wealth? Armies? A throne buried in
sand?
Balam: No throne. No armies. I want eternity. I want to never
bow, never hunger, never fear. Make me more than human.
Karun: More? Mortals always ask for more. More power, more life,
more cruelty. Do you know the cost?
Balam: I know the cost of weakness. I’ve lived it every day.
Tell me your price.
Karun: Very well. You shall become what lurks behind the last
heartbeat. A creature of fang and shadow. Immortal, hated,
feared. Your blood will curdle sunlight. Your heart will blacken
until memory itself flees. And you shall carry one gift of my
choosing.
Balam: Name it.
Karun: Sand. Not as the world knows it, but alive—obedient,
hungry, bound to your will. You will command the desert as your
silent legion. A storm that kneels for no king. But—its loyalty
is not free. He floats into the air a bit.
Balam: What must I give?
Karun: Your humanity. Every laugh. Every sorrow. Every fragile
tether to those who loved or loathed you. Flames of Hellfire
begins to rise around Karun's body. Karun: You will feed on
blood to survive, and the sand will whisper for more. Do you
still accept?
Balam: After a long, steady breath. Strip it all away. Make me
the nightmare the desert remembers.
Karun: He gets a slow, blazing grin. Then kneel, Balam Hasan.
Kneel, and be reborn in shadow and sand.
Balam: I kneel for this moment only, Ifrit. When I rise… the
world kneels to me.
Karun’s flames erupt, swirling into a vortex of burning sand
that engulfs Balam, reshaping flesh into deathless hunger. The
pact is sealed.
Name: Balam Hasan
Nicknames: Alzalam Wahid
Age: 2,176 years old
Species: Vampire
Gender: Male
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 165 lbs
Vampire Clan: Masas Dima' Alrimal clan
~ Generation: 1st
Organization: al-Masīḥ ad-Dajjāl Assassins'
Guild
~ Rank: Founder/Leader
Family:
~ Father: Abdus Salam Hasan (Deceased - killed by rival)
~ Mother: Maryam Hasan (Deceased - died in childbirth while
birthing child number 13... Balam)
~ Siblings: Most siblings died of natural causes those players
may make a couple of the 12 who turned with Balam.
~ Creator: Karun the Ifrit
Basic Vampire Race Abilities:
- Vampire Dark Nature/Connection to Darkness: It's no secret
that most vampires are creatures of the night. And because of
their cursed and undead type nature, they have a natural
connection to the dark. This goes so far for many vampires that
they aren't even able to go out during the day. Vampires have a
natural connection to the dark, which is the source of many of
their darkness based abilities. This darkness nature is not just
a normal darkness nature though, but the darkness nature is an
unholy nature, which is something that makes them a type of
unholy creature that focuses on dark power. For the most part,
vampires don't have to be of clans like the Lasombra to take
advantage of this dark nature, as there are plenty of ways to
take advantage of this nature. With this nature comes a number
of abilities, and vampires end up being a unique kind of
creature with connection to the darkness do their natures. For
the most part, the vampire power is something of a curse to
most, but unlike werewolves, vampires have more darkness and
undead type power in their nature than cursed power. There are
many ways vampires take advantage of this, where some use
darkness manipulation in their arts like the Lasombra, or some
that utilize the dark nature for other things like dark arts or
dark magic. There are a number of ways one can learn to use
their dark nature, but almost every clan accounts for this dark
nature in some way, with exception of those like the holy
vampires who have holy natures instead of darkness type natures.
This is typically a type of cursed power with undead elements
(though not undead to the levels of creatures like zombies),
where this is a negative power that is on the same level as
unholy energy and basic demonic energy, and this is even
something that some vampires realize can combine with other
natures depending on the vampire, such as how some take demon
power in order to become demonic vampires. This dark nature is
the basis of most vampires, although there are rare occasions
where normal vampires may have different natures depending on
the vampire. Because of this nature, most vampires gain a major
weakness to sunlight, which burns them alive if they are not
true daywalker vampires, or vampires with ways to block the
sunlight from reaching them (such as how the Hazeldines use
darkness barriers to go out in the day so that the sunlight
doesn't reach them). As for countering this nature, holy power
is the best way to do so, where those that fight vampires will
almost always use holy weapons specifically since they are best
for killing vampires. However, there are weaknesses to vampires
that can be exploited, usually depending on the clan they come
from as each clan has specific weaknesses (more in weaknesses).
- Vampire Darkness Empowerment: Vampires, thanks to their dark
nature, gain empowerment in the dark. Most vampires can only go
out at night, so they often don't realize they can are empowered
by the dark, but those that go out in the day often realize that
they are stronger at night (if they are a vampire type with a
dark nature). However, this doesn't just apply to night, but
this works in any absences of light, due to the fact that their
dark nature works as long as there is an absence of true
sunlight. This grants vampires the ability to not just use the
night, but can use almost any dark area, whether it's
underground, in a building with no windows or lights, or using
even using shadows. Depending on how much darkness is around
them, vampires gain more power the darker it is. This means that
vampires are at their strongest when there is no light, and are
deadliest when they are in pure darkness. Of course, vampires do
have their own variation of darkness vision some races like
death wraiths have, which they use to see in pure darkness. When
this empowerment takes effect, this empowers the vampire's
abilities, both their physical and supernatural abilities. Any
abilities that use darkness or dark natures gain a boost in
power and ability, and some arts may be uniquely used with this
power-up. Of course, vampires also gain enhanced physical
abilities, where the darkness gives them better physical stats
the darker it is around them. Typically, vampires are usually at
their strongest during the nights of the new moon, where
vampires have an advantage due to new moons having very little
moonlight. However, areas that have no light also grant vampires
much more enhanced dark power, depending on the area. There are
different ways some may take advantage of this, depending on the
vampires. For the most part, this empowerment may be strong, but
strong enough light does cancel out this empowerment if one can
use light, or use sources of light nearby to reduce this
empowerment (opponents can use things like street lights or even
lights in buildings to reduce the darkness and weaken this
empowerment depending on how strong the light is.
- Vampire Darkness Manipulation: As one might guess from their
natures, vampires can also manipulate the darkness around them.
This is a basic darkness manipulation, where users are able to
use darkness energy, also known as shadow manipulation. Vampires
have the ability to manipulate darkness in some form, no matter
how little they can. Typically, this depends on the clan the
vampire belongs to, as clans can be born with more or less
darkness manipulation depending on the clan. For example, some
clans like the Gangrel clan don't really utilize darkness in
combat and many clans that don't use darkness often don't even
ever fully achieve their manipulation of darkness energy.
However, on the other end of the spectrum, those like the
Hazeldines and the Lasombra have specific arts for using the
darkness, which allows them to use the darkness much more
efficiently than others. When used, vampires are able to do
things like meld into shadows to use shadow travel, manipulate
the acidity of their shadows to make them more corrosive, or
even use darkness projectiles to try and spear opponents. Some
advanced users can use darkness for other things, such as
manipulating gravity and distorting time and space (which
requires a scientific understanding of how dark energy affects
gravity and distortions, and is typically a high level darkness
user power that not many achieve). Some master level users may
even be able to create small black holes using darkness to
absorb light and physical matter temporarily (though these black
holes usually cost a lot of energy to maintain, and this also
requires immense scientific knowledge where only the highest
level darkness users can learn this). When used, this darkness
can even be used with other forms of darkness, where some may
learn other darkness types if they have the affinity, such as
some can tap into primordial darkness if they utilize their dark
nature well enough. Typically, the only real danger of using
darkness is if the users connect to the shadow realm, which can
be dangerous and is usually avoided (even vampires often know
not to mess with the shadow realm unless they absolutely know
what they're doing). Avoiding this is like avoiding any other
darkness manipulation, such as using strong enough light
abilities, or some more creative people can use other powers to
counter it as well.
- Vampire Spirit Energy: There are many vampires that have
abilities that run on their spirit energy, such as how the
Darkfires have powers that let them combine elementals with
their spirit energy. This energy comes from the spirit of the
vampire, just as normal spirit energy would come from any other
soul. Most vampires have spirits that are cursed in nature, but
have positive and negative spirit energy much like other souls.
Depending on the clan and arts, vampires can learn to utilize
their spirit energy for specific arts. Thanks to this, vampires
can often learn different skills using their spirit energy,
depending on the vampire. This is one of the main powers a
vampire uses to power certain abilities, which works alongside
vampire psychic energy to operate as two of the major sources of
vampire power besides their darkness nature. This mostly depends
on the vampire, and the clan abilities they possess, as not all
vampire clans power their abilities on psychic power. For
example, some clans may focus more in physical combat, and may
not utilize spirit power. This energy is a basic energy which is
summoned by vampires when needed, usually to use special
techniques they gain from their clan. With the exception of
those like holy vampires, vampires almost always have their own
balance of negative and positive spirit, which must be
maintained if one is to use their spirit energy. Because of
this, spirit energy isn't too difficult to use, but vampires
often never tap into the full ability of spirit energy, since
this is usually used passively by vampires without realizing
what it is that grants them power. Those like the Darkfires know
that this is spirit energy, but most don't go beyond knowing
that which is a good thing at times because it makes them less
likely to be noticed by the spirit plane since they don't tap
enough into that plane. If they were to, they could essentially
learn to utilize spirit more carefully, such as learning spirit
user techniques. However, this is still countered like most
other spirit energies, with holy energy being the best thing to
counter the cursed nature of vampire spirit, or using counter
natures (such as using positive power to counter negative spirit
and vice versa).
- Vampire Psychic Energy: This is the second most common power
that vampires possess that they use. Not only do vampires use
spirit energy to power some of their abilities, but vampires
also possess a natural ability for psychic energy to do certain
things. For example, clans that utilize the Dominate discipline
rely on psychic energy to utilize their ability to influence the
mind. This is a basic power that vampires utilize that grants
them some psychic abilities, which are usually used in clan
techniques, such as the clans that use the Dominate or Presence
Discipline. A psychic energy isn't normally considered a "holy"
or "unholy" power, a vampire normally uses this as a neutral
power that is purely affected by the mind (though psychic power
has a tendency to be mystic in nature). In addition, what they
can do with their psychic energy often also depends on the
vampire, where different clans have different ways of using
this. Some may use this to hypnotize others, while others may
use this to project their presence on others, or some may even
have psychic abilities they can utilize as well. Some psychic
vampires may even have certain attack arts, such as telekinetic
blasts or other psychic abilities they can use to attack.
Depending on the vampire and their clan abilities, this is an
energy that can be quite versatile and used for a number of arts
that one can learn. Almost any vampire can utilize psychic
energy to the same degree, and what they can do it with depends
on the clan. This means that the weaknesses to their psychic
power also depends on the abilities and the clan (each psychic
ability has its own downsides and weaknesses). For example,
trying to hypnotize others may not work on those with strong
will, as those with strong will can resist hypnosis and psychic
influence and some may even have arts or technology to resist
psychic influence (such as how nanomachines used by Foxhound in
the Crow Mercenary universe can resist psychic influence by
regulating the mind). Typically, attack skills also have
weaknesses, where many can be blocked or avoided in some way.
Again, this mostly depends on the vampire and the abilities they
have.
- Vampire Dark Magic/Dark Arts Affinities: Due to a vampire's
dark nature, there are a number of darkness abilities that a
vampire can learn. Most vampires gain an affinity for darkness
in some form, where some gain special abilities based on their
dark nature. The first is a dark nature that allows darkness
manipulation, which is already covered under a vampire's
darkness manipulation. With this ability, vampires can learn
darkness abilities, but their abilities may depend on the clan
they belong to or the powers they are born with. The other two
things to note are dark magic and dark arts, both of which are
powered by dark natures. Dark magic is often powered by either
darkness or dark mana, and vampire with magic usually gain an
affinity for dark magic. While some rarely do gain normal magic,
many often gain dark magic instead of normal magic. Depending on
the magic, vampires often specialize in dark magic before other
forms of magic. However, some vampires do specialize in other
magics, such as some in psychic magic, some might focus chi
magic, or some may other forms of magic that don't convert to
dark magic. This depends on the vampire and their abilities. The
other thing to note is dark arts, where darkness users can learn
the dark arts if they are able to learn them. There aren't too
many known clans to specialize in the dark arts that are still
around though, as the few that did have either been wiped out
during previous Sabbat/Camarilla wars, or have been taken out by
the other groups. However, those that do may be able to learn
dark arts that they can utilize, which are arts powered by
darkness that can be used with a connection to the darkness.
While it should be noted that these powers are useful, not all
vampires have magic affinities or dark arts affinities, and this
mostly depends on the vampire and the abilities they are born
with. And of course, as one might guess, these affinities are
best countered by holy power, but also light abilities can also
counter these darkness powers fairly well, depending on the
powers used. There are other ways to counter darkness, but holy
power usually remains the best for fighting vampires.
- Vampire Shadow Meld/Vampire Teleportation: Vampires have a few
options when it comes to teleportation. The first is that
vampires with darkness manipulation can learn to shadow travel,
where they are able to connect to the shadows and travel using
shadows. This is a basic art for darkness users, which allows
them to use the shadows connection to the shadow realm to move
from shadow to shadow. Users can use shadows to travel around,
where they are able to connect to any other shadow in the world
they want to travel to. The second option is that some vampire
clans have unique teleportation arts that are used to teleport
around. The two most well known ones are the Tepes clan ability
to teleport using the power Demon's Gate and the Darkfire clan's
ability to teleport using their elemental teleportation.
Depending the vampire and the clan they are in, there are many
different arts out there that allow teleportation. Most usually
work in one of two ways. The first is that they connect to an
area somehow, in which their teleportation connects to an area
and they use it to go there. This method is usually a fairly
instant teleportation, where users can just teleport at will as
long as they have the energy to teleport. The second method is
teleport using portals where some vampires may do things like
creating dark magic portals, or some vampires may have arts that
create portals to other areas. This is usually done through
incantations or preparation, where a vampire creates a portal
that connects two areas. Typically, teleportation using portals
is more reliable than just teleporting, since this focuses on
connected two areas and doesn't usually require as much
concentration. Depending on the art, there are different ways to
use this, but almost all arts usually end with the same result
of allowing a vampire to get from point A to point B by
teleportation rather than having to travel there by normal
means. However, no matter the art, a vampire usually has to know
where they want to go, and if they don't, they may end up
anywhere in the world if they either don't have a location in
mind, or they get messed up at certain moments while
teleporting. And depending on the level of error, some have
ended up in random areas without meaning too. Also, most
teleportations cannot usually travel to other universes or
through time, unless the vampire has some form of distortion
power or some way of breaking the time-space barriers that
separate the universes and timelines.
- Vampire Life Force/Soul Energy Absorption: Vampires have the
ability to utilize life force and soul energy, which is usually
dependent on the vampire. This ability allows a vampire to
absorb life force, usually through blood, to sustain their own
life. While part of this has to do with their feeding, vampires
also can use their ability to absorb life force to absorb more
power from others by taking their life energy. This is usually
done when drinking their blood, where they bite into someone and
drain their life energy through their blood. However, there are
some vampires who develop arts to absorb life energy normally,
in which some do have energy drain abilities through physical
touch. The other thing to note is that vampires can also take
souls, where vampires have the ability to take souls and either
use them as sacrifices if they are about to die, or some
vampires use souls to gain new abilities or even to use as
familiars. Depending on the vampires, many vampire clans have
different arts for this if they utilize it. Some examples
include the Tepes family being able to use life energy to create
familiars out of the people's life energy, or the Darkfires
taking souls and putting them into demon or holy armor
familiars. Different clans will all have different ways to use
this if they do use this, and some may even use this without the
need for using clan arts depending on the vampire. However,
there are some downsides to using this. Those that use life
force absorption or soul absorption for new abilities will also
gain whatever weaknesses of the powers they gain, and depending
on the power, some powers may require a slight physiological
change to their bodies (such as dragon power turning a vampire
into a dracopyre). Those that use familiar arts using life force
or souls can summon familiars, but most of the familiars can be
taken out by holy powers, or any weaknesses that the person's
original life force or soul had (IE a dragon familiar would have
dragon weaknesses). Absorbing souls also comes with its own
weakness, where those that absorb souls become unbalanced in
life and death energies that requires them to continue devouring
souls or else they will rapidly age until they die. Absorbing
life energy is usually safer in that there aren't a lot of ill
effects, but doesn't grant as much power as soul absorption
does.
- Vampire Familiar Creation: Depending on the vampire, vampires
have a number of arts that allow them to gain familiars. Most
vampires have some way of making familiars. One example is how
some may use the life force or soul absorption technique to turn
those they absorb into familiars, such as how the Tepes family
art allows them to absorb the life force of others and turn them
into familiars. This method is usually the most common for
creating familiars, due to the fact that vampires can turn those
they've fed on into familiars. There are many different methods
of creating and maintaining familiars, depending on the vampire
and clan they belong to, but the end result usually involves
turning those they feed on into some form of familiar. When
used, familiars are very useful in that they can fight on behalf
of the vampire, usually using the powers the familiar is created
from, and the familiars act according to the will of the
vampire. Depending on the art, this could be as simple as
manifesting an image of the person that became a familiar, or
some like the Darkfires have specific ways to use familiars like
attaching souls to demon or holy armors in their own familiar
art or even the Gangrel clan that can make familiars out of
animals. No matter how its used, those that are turned into
familiars become permanent additions and extensions of the
vampire that the vampire can summon and de-summon at will. With
this, the vampire could use these familiars in battle to fight
enemies, or they could use them for other purposes, such as
sending a familiar to scout an area. Depending on the familiar
art, most vampires usually have a connection to their familiars
where they can usually connect with them in some way, and many
vampires often have ways to share their senses with familiars.
There is usually no limit to how many familiars a vampire can
store up, as this mostly depends on if they want to. However,
there are some familiar arts that may limit how many a vampire
can summon at once. For example, some users cannot summon more
than a few familiars at a time due to the power required to keep
familiars manifested. And even though familiars are useful,
opponents can still destroy familiars with certain abilities
depending on the familiar, such as soul based familiars can be
destroyed with spirit destruction abilities, or some familiars
that take physical form can be destroyed like normal beings.
Typically, when destroyed, many familiars often cannot be
summoned for a while, or take more energy to summon a familiar
again after it has been destroyed.
- Vampire Feeding Ghoul Creation: When vampires feed on someone
that they either don't turn into a familiar or they don't turn
into a vampire servant, they usually kill the person they feed
on. However, when dead, the person doesn't die, but instead
becomes a vampire-like zombie creature known as a ghoul. When
turned into a ghoul, people fed on by vampires are turned into
another kind of servant of the vampire, where they become
creatures that only care about feeding on human flesh due to
their zombie-like nature. When in this state, the person dies,
but the body remains animated, depending on the vampire and
their arts to create ghouls. For general vampires, feeding on
someone without completely absorbing their essence usually
creates ghouls, and depending on the vampire clan, some may use
the ghouls to their advantage. These ghouls are under the
command of the vampire who creates them, in which the vampire
tells them what to do and they obey. While ghouls aren't smart
by any means, many ghouls are at least smart enough to be able
to use weapons like blades, guns or any other thing they can use
to attack enemies. For the most part, people who become ghouls
lose all personality and become undead creatures who cannot
interact anymore with people. Most ghouls only care about eating
human flesh, and will turn those that they kill into ghouls as
well (allowing ghouls to make more ghouls by feeding and killing
others). Most ghouls can take heavy damage, where they will keep
going even if most of their body is destroyed. However, like
most undead, holy power can destroy them, where holy power and
holy weapons are the best way to kill ghouls. Destroying the
heart or brain with a holy power or weapon usually kills them,
with silver usually being the best way to kill a ghoul (which
can be used by anyone). Another thing to note is that in most
cases, the ghouls only last a certain amount of time after being
created. After a certain amount of time, they will return to
being dead, once the power that they have has faded. And if the
vampire who created them dies, usually the ghouls will die as
well (except in certain cases like the Freakchip vampires).
- Vampire Intangibility/Mist Form: Many vampires also possess
some form of intangibility, which is another power that they
have. There are two major things that many vampires have. The
first is intangibility, where they can phase partially into the
spirit plane. When doing this, they can pass through objects
almost as though they were a spirit depending on the vampire and
the intangibility art used (different clans may have different
arts to use intangibility). The most known intangibility is the
art the Tepes family uses. There is also another major
intangibility art to note, and that is how some vampires can
turn into mist as part of their basic vampire abilities. This is
most often noted with the Nosferatu, who have abilities centered
around being able to turn into mist. This is an art not all
vampires learn, but many can learn to turn into mist if they
learn to focus their intangibility properly. There are a number
of intangibility arts out there, such as how the Lasombra can
fuse to the shadows, or how the Darkfires can turn into
elemental forms. For the most part, intangibility can be useful
for going through objects, but is also useful in battle where
users will often use intangibility to avoid attacks (usually by
allowing attacks to phase through them depending on the
intangibility art used. There are many ways to use this
depending on the vampire, and many clans have techniques that
utilize intangibility in some fashion. However, while this is a
very useful skill, some vampires can only stay in this state for
a certain amount of time before returning to normal (depending
on the vampire as some arts are different). Another thing to
note is that almost all intangibilities can still be attacked if
one knows how to attack. The best way to attack someone who is
intangible is to use some form of attack that attacks the
spiritual plane, as this can attack a vampire even if they are
intangible. Another thing to note is that vampires have to be
careful when they use this, as vampires have to be careful they
are not in solid objects when they return to solid form. If they
are, then the solid matter will often override their bodies, and
they will take damage or lose parts of their body. For example,
a user could put a sword through a vampire's body, and if they
become tangible again, the part of the body where the sword is
will usually be split by the sword if the sword is still in
their form when they return to normal.
- Vampire Coffin Dark Sleep: When a vampire is near death, or
sometimes if the vampire dies, the vampire goes into a special
sleep. They go into a dark place, where the light won't reach.
The most common example is how some vampires sleep in coffins,
in which vampires may choose coffins for the lack of light. When
using this, vampires can usually cheat death by going into a
regenerative sleep where they will slowly recover over time the
longer they are in sleep. Some also use this to go into
hibernation, usually as a means to not have to feed for long
periods of time. Depending on how its used, this has even been
known to bring some vampires back to life where vampires will
often be put into coffins, and they may eventually come back to
life after enough time has passed. This has to do with the dark
nature of vampires, where they can sleep in dark areas and use
their darkness empowerment to regenerate their bodies. Some
vampires may have different arts for this depending on the
vampire and whatever clan they belong to, but most vampires can
use this in some form depending on the clan. There have been
reports of some vampires going into sleep for a hundred years
and then awakening, or some that will use this sleep to recover
from deadly injuries by going into sleep. Vampires are able to
use this as needed, where they only need a dark place where they
can sleep where they won't be affected by light. This is why
some chose sealed coffins, due to the privacy that they allow
since they can seal themselves inside and others cannot easily
get them out. Depending on the vampire, some actually can store
the soil of their birth place in their dark area where they
sleep, in which they can use this to boost their recovery. It
isn't known why this helps them recover faster, but this,
combined with this sleep, can often help regenerate vampires
even faster, where some have even been able to avoid having to
drink blood for longer periods of time while doing this.
However, there is always the danger of being interrupted, and
vampires are usually most vulnerable when they are asleep. If
sunlight hits them when they are sleeping, it can destroy them
(usually), and those that take it upon themselves to kill a
sleeping vampire can usually do so with the right weapons, like
silver or wood (depending on the weakness of the vampire).
- Vampire Blood Rage: This is an ability that tends to be more
of a weakness to a vampire, in most cases, than a strength. A
blood rage is what happens when a vampire goes into a frenzied
state, usually either losing their mind temporarily, or they may
go into a frenzied state for a certain period of time. When used
vampires in this state often gain enhanced physical stats, where
they gain power that makes them stronger when in this state.
Typically, vampires in this state are much harder to kill, and
with their enhanced state, they will often have highly enhanced
physical stats. It's not entirely known what causes a blood
rage, as triggers may be different depending on the vampire. One
known trigger is that some vampires go into these rages when
they smell or see blood, where some vampires who go a long time
without human blood may be at high risk of going into this state
as their bodies tries to force them to consume blood for their
own survival. Some vampires also go into this state out of anger
or desperation, where some will go into this state based on
their emotional state. If used in this manner, their anger often
amplifies their state even more than blood rages caused by
seeing or smelling blood. Because of this, vampires can be very
dangerous when this state, because not only do they not have
control over themselves, but they can be very unpredictable.
This is usually a problem with younger vampires without as much
experience, as some freshly turned vampires may go into this
state while not being used to the vampire states they are in and
what certain triggers will do to them. As vampires get older
though, they go into this state less and less, and usually only
go into this state when in extreme hunger and they smell or
sense blood. However, there may be some vampires who utilize
this rage in some way, where some may gain empowerment by anger
to gain a frenzied state, or some may use this to gain enhanced
amplification to fight certain enemies if they tap into this in
desperation. However, while vampires in this state are harder to
kill, vampires usually cannot pull themselves out of this state
on their own, and usually either require someone close to them
to talk them out of the state (if the person has anyone they
care about), or they must continue in the blood rage until the
blood rage subsides, which usually happens after enough time has
passed that the trigger that caused the blood rage has passed,
or the emotional state that caused the rage has passed.
- Vampire Shapeshift: Just like other races, vampires have the
ability to shapeshift their bodies using their ability to change
form. This is an art that lets a vampire take a new form,
whether it's human or some vampires can take other forms like
those of animals or other supernatural creatures. This is an art
that is used for basic form changes, where the specific changes
can usually depend on the vampire. Many are familiar with
angelic and demonic shapeshifting, and this is very similar in
nature. Those that use this can change into almost anything if
they know the form they want to take and how the form works.
Depending on the skill level, some vampires can even disguise
their aura to sense as though they are something else, where
some users can change their presence almost entirely with this
art. One such example is the Tepes shapeshifting art, where they
will often use this to take other creatures forms and sense as
other creatures, such as using an animal disguise and changing
their presence into that of an animal. This can also be used in
battle, where vampires can shapeshift their bodies in certain
ways, where some can do things like shapeshift their claws, or
shapeshift their body into other forms like summoning wings to
fly. There are arts for using shapeshifting, such as how the
Gangrel clan uses shapeshifting to shapeshift their bodies to
gain animal-like traits, such as using webbed feet to swim, or
using claws to attack enemies, or even using certain creatures
eyesight to see more efficiently. And some other clans have
unique shapeshifting abilities, such as how the Darkfires have
elemental shapeshifting where they can take the forms of their
elementals (by combining with their intangibility art). This is
a very useful skill if a vampire is creative enough, as vampires
can take all kinds of forms. However, while they can take all
kinds of forms, they cannot do things like changing their
abilities (for example, changing into a dragon won't give them
dragon abilities) depending on the arts used (Some may have arts
to gain special abilities through transformation). Also, a
vampire's mass stays the same when they change, so changing into
larger beasts may sound useful, but vampires who go into larger
forms often take more damage and cannot hit as hard as they have
less weight when in larger form. Typically, while all vampires
have this, most don't use it unless it's for a clan art that
uses this power.
- Vampire Unique Forms: Some vampires have arts that grant them
unique forms, which could be any number of forms some of which
may come with special abilities. For example, the London Branwen
clan and the Darkfire clan both have unique forms they can gain
through shapeshifting arts, where they gain unique forms they
can change into that have special abilities that they can use
depending on the form. This depends on the vampire, and many
vampires may have different ways of using this, such as the
Gangrel and Branwen vampire clans have arts that allow them to
take unique animal forms. And there are some vampires who can
gain other unique forms, such as enhanced forms that can be used
in battle. For example, the vampire ninjas suppress the entirety
of their vampire form, and release their full vampire selves in
their battle form where they extend their vampire wings and
their eyes change to a red or yellow glow (red if they survive
on human blood or yellow if they survive on animal blood). There
are some vampires that utilize this as a means to keep a
relatively human form, where they save their vampire form for
fighting enemies. There are also transformed states like vampire
released forms, used by clans like the Darkfire and Tepes clan
who can release their full vampire power. For the Darkfires they
use their Darkfire released form which is unique to the
Darkfire. And for the Tepes, they usually have a form of level
restraints where they can go to Level 0, where those restraints
are completely gone and their full vampire form takes effect,
such as how Alucard Tepes's form takes the form of Count
Dracula. There are many ways to use this training, where
vampires will often have different arts depending on the clan
they are born into, and any other abilities the vampire might
have. However, most of these forms have weaknesses, depending on
the art. Such as how the Darkfire full release form is only a
temporary power-up, or how the vampire ninja's full vampire
battle form grants them more weakness to vampire weaknesses
(such as holy silver or holy weapons) since they release their
full vampire power. And unique forms may have unique weaknesses
as well.
- Vampire Blood Powered Abilities/Blood Power Amplification: One
reason for vampires to drink blood, is for the effect blood has
on their special abilities. This is something that typically
works differently depending on the clan. For most clans, the
first and main reason blood is used is that blood is used to
power a vampire's abilities. In this method, vampires take blood
not only to sustain their bodies, but also to maintain their
power, where the blood of those they drink become the source of
their power. By using blood like fuel, most vampires power their
supernatural abilities on blood, and this is used to allow
vampires to keep using their power. In much the same way food
fuels the body, and certain foods fuel the body's ability to
carry out tasks, blood also works this way to power a vampire's
abilities. This is something that almost all clans use, where
their blood powers their abilities, and is a passive skill. The
other skill that not all vampires have, is to use blood as an
amplifier, in which clans like the Tepes clan have been able to
use blood like an amplifier to essentially allow them to use the
blood they take to amplify their power rather than simply
sustain it. In this method, vampires usually store the blood and
power up the more blood they have, usually in combination with
skills like soul steal or life force drain. When using this
method, this is another passive skill, and is used alongside
powering their abilities. For the most part, this is a basic
passive skill vampires have that most don't think about, unless
the vampire clans have a way to utilize this like certain clans
like the Tepes family do. However, this does mean that vampires
do have to drink blood in order to sustain their power, and most
vampires (exceptions must be stated) drink blood to survive.
Typically, this depends on the vampire, as some survive on
animals, some on humans, and some may even drink the blood of
other supernaturals. And those that use blood as an amplifier
have a dangerous side effect. Certain abilities being amplified
can amplify them to a state beyond the vampire's control, or
certain abilities being amplified could cause unexpected things
to happen, such an amplified power could go out of control
because the blood amplification was too much. When this happens,
the only way to stop the power is to drain the blood of the
vampire until the power lowers to a level they can manage.
- Vampire Hypnosis/Charm: Many are familiar with some vampire's
who have the ability to hypnotize their human victims. Most
vampire do this with psychic power, where most vampires have
some psychic power that they can use. Depending on the clan,
there are disciplines specifically designed around this
hypnosis, such as the presence and the dominate disciplines.
Typically, this is designed to manipulate humans, where vampires
will often use this to hypnotize humans to do a task for them,
or they may use this when feeding on a human so that the human
doesn't try to fight or run away when the vampire is feeding on
them. This art is usually done through eye contact, in which
many vampires will usually use some sort of visual hypnosis to
put their victims under this power. This power is a fairly basic
vampire power, but can be quite useful depending on how it's
used. Typically, the use of this depends on the vampire, and how
they want to use this, as most vampires don't rely on this
unless they either have specific disciplines or skills, or they
have a real use for this skill. Those with strong wills are able
to resist this power as one would expect, and those with
immunity to hypnosis abilities would, of course, be immune to
this. This power usually only works with simple commands,
depending on the hypnosis art (again, different vampires have
different arts for this), and typically, stronger commands will
result in tougher resistance. Usually, the best way to use this
is to make simple commands that are easy to follow that fall
within what the person being hypnotized would do, as some more
complicated ones will meet heavy resistance. For example, a
simple command like having someone grab something for them would
be less likely to be resisted than if the vampire used a command
like ordering a person to kill another if the person doesn't
want to kill. Typically, the more risk to the person being
hypnotized, the stronger their minds will be able to fight
against the hypnosis as a defense mechanism to preserve their
own life. It is also worth noting that this typically only lasts
a certain amount of time depending on the hypnosis, as some
special arts will use this longer than others.
- Vampire Third Eye: Vampires have a unique ability, where they
gain a special sixth sense known as the Third Eye. Those
familiar with the concept will likely be familiar with how this
works, where vampires naturally have this to gain a passive
sense that lets them sense the world around them. One major use
of this is that vampires are able to use this to sense the world
around them, usually being able to sense where things are, and
sense the presences of living beings. This lets a vampire sense
the presence of others, and not only read their presence, but
the vampire can also read what they are and how strong they are
by the presence. For example, some vampires can recognize
dangerous threats others wouldn't be able to sense, such as
vampires may be able to sense powerful beings most beings cannot
sense, and this also even gives vampires the ability to sense
the spiritual plane to a degree (though not nearly to the degree
of those like spirit users unless they go through special
training). However, this also has the ability of seeing through
the world, where vampires can see through things to see the
world around them as it really is. This allows a vampire to use
this ability not only to sense presences, but they can also do
things like sensing deception, or they can even sense things
like illusion skills or they can sense other skills being used
by a being. Unlike other beings with presence senses, vampires
specialize more in sensing the world rather than focusing on
individuals, and this can allow a vampire to gain a very strong
sense of the world using this skill. Vampires using this skill
can also tell where things are at farther distances than other
creatures, and can use this to more easily target certain people
or objects. This skill uses mental focus to focus on images, and
allows vampires to see the world in a bit of a unique way.
However, there are ways this power can be deceived, such as
other vampires may be able to affect the vampire's mind, or some
may be able to outmaneuver this sense if they are fast or
skilled enough. Also, certain presences cannot be sensed,
specifically among those that have a presence suppression skill.
Vampires with this skill can be deceived by it, where some have
ways to fool these kinds of senses.
- Vampire Darkvision and Enhanced Senses: Vampires have highly
enhanced vision, and gain highly enhanced ability to see in the
dark. Vampires are able to see in the dark as easily as in the
light thanks to their dark natures, and are able to operate even
in complete darkness thanks to their ability to use similar
darkvision to creatures like death wraiths. Vampires may have
varying degrees of this power depending on the vampire and the
clan they belong to, with some having stronger vision than
others in the darkness and some can strengthen this vision over
time and training. All vampires have this darkvision to some
degree, though depending on the vampire, some may not see as
well in total darkness as others with stronger darkvision. In
addition to this though, vampires also have highly enhanced
senses depending on the vampire. The second thing to note is a
vampire's enhanced senses, where vampires all have enhanced
senses thanks to their vampire enhanced states. Each vampire may
have a different balance of senses, but all of their senses are
enhanced to some degree depending on the vampire and sometimes
depending on the clan. This can also depend on training, as
vampires can train their senses through combat training in order
to get the most out of their combat training. However, while
most vampire do have highly enhanced senses, a vampire's
enhanced senses can be overwhelmed by certain things, such as
enhanced sight and darkvision could be overwhelmed by a
flashbang (which can work quite well against a vampire), or a
strong sense of smell could be overwhelmed with a strong enough
smell such as chlorine gas. This depends on the vampire and
their senses, but most vampires can be overwhelmed in their
senses in some way with almost all being vulnerable to
flashbangs due to their darkvision and enhanced vision. However,
there are some that are more balanced in their enhanced senses,
and these senses may not be as easy to overwhelm. However, as a
tradeoff, those with lesser enhanced senses cannot match those
with higher enhanced senses. Depending on the vampire and clan,
some may even gain special senses that are unique to them or
their clans as well.
- Vampire Claws: Many don't often realize it, but just like
werewolves, vampires have claws as well that extend from their
fingernails that they can use. While vampires don't show off
their claws, and most don't use them unless they have arts to do
so, these claws are still usually present in most vampires.
Typically, vampire claws are as much of a weapon as a werewolf's
claws, where vampires can use their claws in much the same
manner. Depending on the vampire and abilities, certain vampires
may have arts that can utilize their claws effectively, such as
some clans may keep their claws maintained and sharpened, or
some may have specific disciplines to use their claws like the
Gangrel clan has specific arts using claws. While a vampire's
claws are naturally sharp, vampires, like werewolves, can
sharpen their claws to deadly effectiveness, where their claws
become deadly weapons that they can use. Depending on the
vampire, some claws may be different sizes, or some might have
slightly different capabilities, but there are plenty of ways
for a vampire to use their claws in battle if they choose to
(though not all vampires may have claws, depending on the type
of vampire). Most vampires can be very dangerous with their
claws even if they don't use them much, and can easily rip
people to pieces with their claws if they have the skill too.
Typically, the level of skill using a vampire's claws depend on
the vampire, as not all vampires use their claws, and some may
even not realize they have claws depending on the vampire if
they passively keep them suppressed. If one wants to avoid the
claws though, avoiding the claws just requires the opponent to
avoid the strikes of the vampire when the vampire is using their
claws in battle, as their claws are a type of short-range close
combat move (unless it's a case where they can fire slashing
waves from their claws using things like physical attack waves).
Most long distance claw slash attacks, if used, can also be
dodged or blocked (Depending on the vampire and their abilities
if the opponent can account for the vampire's enhanced strength,
and their abilities), though opponents should be careful of
vampires who have claws that are able to cut through metal, as
some vampires do have much stronger claws that can claw through
metal objects.
- Vampire Discipline Affinity: Depending on vampire, and their
training and clan, vampires are able to learn the vampire
disciplines of any vampire clan that they have an affinity for
(usually determined by the vampire clan they belong to. Every
vampire clan has their own set of abilities and disciplines,
which vampires can learn if they are trained. There are a number
of vampire disciplines out there that vampires can learn
depending on the clan. One category of disciplines usually uses
supernatural abilities, where vampires utilize different
enhancements to their vampire abilities (Such as the Lasombra
using disciplines to enhance darkness control or the Gangrel
clan using clans to grant them better shapeshifting powers to
give them animal-like features). There are a variety of vampire
disciplines, from physical combat, to transformation abilities,
to even alchemic abilities that exist, and these are
specifically designed to be used by vampires. This depends on
the vampire, as their training usually depends on the clan they
belong to, or the training they receive (as there are general
vampires not part of clans that may use individual discipline
abilities). Most vampires usually learn vampire disciplines in
order to find ways to enhance their power further and take
advantage of their skill affinities, so that they can use their
abilities to their maximum. As one might expect, each discipline
has its own set of strengths and weaknesses, which depend on the
disciplines. For example, combat based disciplines are usually
only used in close combat, where they often don't gain long
range attack skills with combat based disciplines. What
disciplines a vampire can learn is dependent on their vampire
heritage and their training, as well as the clan they train in
since they will most often learn these from a vampire clan. Some
disciplines may require specific training before a vampire can
use it, in which case the vampire must usually train for
whatever power is required to use the discipline. For example,
those vampires without certain magic affinities that are
required for alchemy won't be able to learn any thaumaturgy
skills, or vampires without good control of darkness cannot use
the oblivion discipline.
Masas Dima' Alrimal Clan Abilities:
Sand Manipulation:
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