Spacekitty
Recently Resurrected Divine Feline Entity.
Physiology of the Bloodline Tiresias
Characteristics of the Blood - Psychology
When one is given the Dark Kiss, when a mortal ASCENDS to the status of an Aishite, what and who they are is changed forever. Both their physiology and psychology are irreversibly altered.
The “blood” or elixir of each Bloodline has it’s own unique effects on the recipient's character. Its own quirks it bestows upon them, it’s own emotions and traits that it amplifies. These traits and characteristics can be beneficial to the subject, or cause them to become strange, easily agitated or worse.
For the Tiresians, ascendancy tends to cause the extreme traits the subject already held to be amplified, in a way making them both MORE “them” but also a caricature of themselves in a way. This is why the blood tends to breed eccentrics. More than this, almost universally Tiresians are cursed with an obsession. Stereotypically, this is with an occult pursuit- the finishing of Tiresian’s unified theory of magic a prominent example, though this obsession may be anything. Additionally, the elixir makes it’s hosts more inclined towards astrological beliefs and even shifts the subject’s personality closer in line with their astrological symbol.
Of course, whether or not these effects are actually true or not, or simple coincidence based on who a bloodline born of eccentrics would even choose to bestow upon their gift and the curses of immortal life, is up for debate. The Old Tiresians believed firmly in these features of the blood, many dedicating their works, their obsessions being its study. The New Tiresians on the other hand, are just as likely to cast these beliefs aside as believe in others.
The “Binding” of the Vampire, Sun-Bound, Moon-Bound or Star-Bound, were also believed to influence the personality of the Childe by the Old Tiresians, with Sun-Bound seen to be more rash, Moon-Bound more stoic, and Star-Bound particularly disposed to be reclusive eccentrics.
Characteristics of the Blood - Powers
The gifts of the elixir go beyond simple immortality and eternal youth. The old, though their features may remain wrinkled and worn, are given the vitality and strength of the youth. All are made strong, both of fortitude and might. Supernatural speed matches their strength and constitution. Mundane blades do little to a vampire, and those wounds that are sustained heal quickly.
However, the gifts come at a well known price- the sun's gaze turned hateful and a vulnerability to silver.
These are the standard traits that all vampires gain, to greater or lesser degrees depending on their generation. The traits will remain as strong as they are the first night the vampire is “reborn” until the vampire is put to final death. Contrary to common belief, a vampire's strength comes from their generation, how close they are through blood to the chalice itself, rather than from age. Those of older generations may be unbelievably powerful, with strength beyond giants and speed beyond comprehension. But their weaknesses are equally as great. The sun will turn them to ash in the blink of an eye and silver will permanently scar their flesh. Those of a newer generation cannot match the strength nor speed of their elders, but may only find their sunburn rather easily and silver simply causes minor irritation. As the chalice is diluted, so are it’s gifts and curses.
Beyond these traits, what gifts are given by the Chalice is strongly determined by the bloodline of the Vampire, as the characteristics, personality and skills of the Progenitors greatly determined how their bloodlines manifested. Though the unique traits of the subject themselves also influence how the blood manifests.
For Tiresians, there is an astrological component to the powers granted by the chalice. Depending on when the subject was turned, where and under what constellations, the blood may manifest in several various ways. These are generally separated into three “types” of Tiresians; the Sun-Bound, the Moon-Bound and the Star-Bound, with each tending towards differing abilities.
The Sun-Bound
Ironically touched by the very thing that seeks to erase them, it is less surprising when one considers how important and central an astrological symbol the sun itself is.
The Sun-Bound are fueled paradoxically by the sun itself. They are less affected by it’s rays, and find that their power grows as the sun rises and wanes as the sun sets. The solar eclipse is a grave time for the Sun-Bound, as their source of power is cut off and under a total eclipse, they once again become mortal for a short time. They are often gifted pyromancers as well as astral mages. Like all vampires of the Tiresian bloodline, they have control over specific animals, with the Sun-Bound able to command and transform into Lions and Eagles; those animals which symbolize the sun. The Sun-Bound are often the physically strongest of the Bloodline with the greatest fortitude, though are the slowest. Capable of flight, they may spread out great eagles wings.
They are often most active during the day and sleep during the night. This is the newest variation of the blood, though some propose that this binding ahs always existed, but when the blood was more potent it’s members were simply vaporized by the very thing that fueled their power.
Common Powers:
Ability to ignite objects by touch
Scalding touch - mere touch can cause severe burns
Ability to flush their skin with color and warmth
The Moon-Bound
The Moon-Bound are closer to stereotypical vampires, though share some traits with werewolves that sometimes see Moon-Bound Tiresians hunted for the wrong reason. Though perhaps justifiable regardless.
Moon-Bound Tiresians find their power tied to the waning and waxing of the moon, finding greatest power under the full moon. Therefore nocturnal, they have a great affinity for the creatures of the night, often possessing great nature magics and the ability to control and shift into Wolves and Owls. The Moon-Bound are known for their speed and stealth, though are physically weaker than other vampires of the same generation. They are somewhat more affected by the sun than others as well, losing some of their abilities such as mistform. The most powerful Moon-Bound vampires are capable of becoming Ethereal for a short time. Capable of flight, their wings are those of great owls.
Common Powers:
Lack of footsteps (sounds and imprints)
Ability to turn into a semi-corporeal shadow
The Star-Bound
The stereotypical Tiresians, these are the eccentric seer-mages. A mostly dead lineage, the Star-Bound are the most capable astral mages, and mages in general, of the Tiresians. It is rare for a Tiresian to be born a star mage, usually only being born to those blessed during or around important astrological events, or those who were already powerful astral mages or seers.
Star-Bound find their powers amongst the constellations, and often seek out dark, quiet and tall places from which to gaze up at them. They can often be found cloistered together like monks in a monastery high on mountain tops, but instead of a monastery it is an observatory prone to astral accidents. Their physical abilities all around tend to be weaker, though their astral powers and abilities of seers more than make up for this. They can control and shift into wolves and ravens.
Common abilities:
Mind Reading
Hypnosis
Manipulation of Emotions (Empathic abilities)
Full Mind Control
True Divination
Psionics
Most important of the powers granted to the Tiresians and most unique to them are their proficiency with psionic magics. The stereotypes of a vampire being able to speak telepathically, being able to hypnotize their victims and to tell the future, these all come from the Tiresians.
All Tiresians, regardless of sign, have at least some proficiency with psionic powers, with the Star-Born being the most proficient by far.
Psionics powers, from common to uncommon, include:
Telepathy
Telekinesis
Foresight/Precognition
Pyrokinesis (for the Sun-Bound)
Though these abilities are “common”, not all Tiresians have all of these abilities, and some may not even have any (especially those of very young generations).
What all Tiresians have, even if to a very light degree, is an inherent connection to one another through which they can, consciously and subconsciously, share thoughts, feelings and images with one another. This ability is referred to as “The Aether”.
The Aether is a pseudo hivemind, a very light connection through the astral sea that connects Tiresians. Through this, each Tiresian may act as both a transmitter and receiver of psychic communications, with their power related to the potency of their blood. Through the aether they can send broad concepts and strong emotions in an area around them communication, with stronger vampires having stronger broadcasts over longer distances. As Tiresian vampires draw closer to each other, communications get more detailed until complete and clear messages and thoughts can be sent.
While this enables ease of communications, especially when subtly is required, it also poses risk. Sending signals through the astral sea is not as risky as it sounds of course. More thoughts and emotions are small blips across a swirling hurricane of astral energies. But when large numbers of Tiresians gather, or when powerful Tiresians enter rages or when they gather, their larger footprints can act as beacons to attract horrors. As a result of this and other described catastrophes, there are not many Tiresians of older generations left.
Other Tiresians, especially the Star-Born, have psionic powers beyond simple parlor tricks. They can hypnotize with a glance, control the very thoughts and emotions of mortals, divine the future from the stars or project their spiritual forms far from their bodies and potentially, ascend to a state beyond their mortal form know as “Gnosis” in which the soul is unbound from the body, existing as a sort of “Astral Lich” which may travel through the ethereal planes and possess bodies and objects much like a ghost.
Psionic powers, from uncommon to rare, include:
Mind Reading
Hypnosis
Manipulation of Emotions (Empathic abilities)
Full Mind Control
Astral projection
True Divination
(Note that most of these powers almost exclusively belong to the rare Star-Born Tiresians).
Characteristics of the Blood - Appearance
Tiresian vampires typically appear as pale mortals of whatever species they were in life. Partly due to their arguably undead nature, and partly due to their aversion to sunlight. Sun-Born Tiresians tend to have more color to their skin and feel warm to the touch, helping them to pass better for mortals while others produce no heat, warming to whatever the temperature of the room they are in is.
Unlike most vampires, Tiresians have no fangs or claws.
Feeding:
All Vampires feed off of vitae- energies of the soul. While most drink of this through the blood, the Tiresians feed off of mortal vitae via feeding on mental energy. Different types of mental energies are more vulnerable/accessible to be feasted upon psychically. The easiest are emotions. Emotions radiate off of people, composing a significant portion of their aura. The stronger the emotion, the more prominent it becomes in their aura and even causes the aura to grow in size. Psychic vampires tend to feed off of this readily available emotional energy. They tend to stalk places rich with an emotion they find particularly tasty. Ever found yourself particularly tired out after a moving tragedy? That comedy have you laugh so hard your now spent? Just worn out after the funeral? A psychic vampire probably has a full stomach thanks to you.
But emotions are like a snack. Tasty sure, and you can fill yourself up on them certainly. But you're not going to get strong off of junk food. You’ve never seen a bodybuilder with a diet of chocolate milk and skittles.
Thoughts, dreams, desires are the charcuterie boards of mental energies. A little more substance, but really just the teaser for the main course of deeper mental energies; the self. Eating thoughts, dreams and desires may leave the subject feeling a little sluggish and dull, but they will recover. They are feeding off the energies from these thoughts and dreams, not the core of the person.
More powerful vampires can suck the emotions and thoughts of a subject dry, and then begin to feed on the prey's personality, eating of their ego. Emotions are generated. Eating them too deeply can tire out your prey but it won’t ever kill them. Eating someone’s personality won’t kill them either- but it will leave them a bland husk of their former selves.
When all emotions are drained away, after the shell is cracked and the meat is eaten; their personality slurped like an oyster, the soul is laid bare.
Ravenous vampires, those in the throes of the beast, or those cruel or spited by the victim may then drink of the soul itself. Consuming it in a fit of immense ecstasy. This will leave the person SOUL SLAIN.
Eating emotions just requires the vampire to be in the same room as the victim. They can go out to a crowd at a festival and just passively consume emotions. This act is essentially invisible. One can only detect such a feeding is occurring through its effects.
But if they want to start eating thoughts, dreams and desires they need to be much closer, forming a physical connection. Lady Alcina for example prefers to eating Desires… which she loves to generate. It’s why she runs such a… *physical* cult.
When a psychic vampire begin to feast on the personality, it becomes readily evident that something is happening. The vampire's eyes begin to glow softly and you can see strands of psychic energy leaving the victim's body and entering the open mouth and nostril of the vampire. Soul eating is this but more, as one can see the victim's astral self leaving their body and entering the vampire.
Starvation - The Beast
A psychic vampire that does not feed begins to slow down mentally. Their minds grows dull, thoughts begin to grow foggy, their thinking disjointed, while their body remains as it is. This is stage 1 of starvation. Next, reason begins to leave them. Their actions no longer fall in line with rationality and they start to experience symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia as they enter a stage of mania. They become unpredictable and often violent, and will feed without regard or restrain on whoever, whatever they can. This is stage 2. In stage 3, their schizophrenic symptoms intensify. But their thinking begins to dramatically increase in speed. In fact, their mental faculties and psychic abilities increase exponentially, surpassing their previous normal levels. This is known as the Rapture, as the psychic vampire “sends” victims to the next world (oblivion). A psychic vampire in the throes of Rapture is disproportionately psychically powerful; able to directly feast on the soul regardless of prior feeding or original strength. All previously latent or possible psychic talents manifest in a barely controlled fashion. Psychic energy crackles around them in maelstroms, objects and people alike whip around them in telekinetic storms and thoughts and emotions are physically manifested as the vampire drinks all at once.
While this may ensure that the vampire feeds and leaves the throes of the beast, it acts as a shining beacon in the astral sea. It is immensely fortunate if the vampire does not attract horrors to its location and if it does not become HORROR MARKED. Those vampires that recover from this stage are universally killed save rare luck in escaping the mark- such a thing is a death sentence for the bearer as much as those around them.
If the vampire, for whatever reason, still cannot feed, and is not killed by horrors, in Stage 4 it will begin to CONSUME its own soul, rapidly withering away psychically until it blinks out of existence, possibly leaving a tear in the fabric of the astral sea.
The Dark Kiss
To “give the gift of Ascendance” is the highest honor a vampire can bestow upon a mortal.
In the process the mortal is drank deep, drinking away their emotions, thoughts, desires and personality until all that is left is their bare soul. Then, rather than drink deeper or cease, the vampire RETURNS the mental energy of the recipient through the psychic connection, giving with it a part of themselves- a fraction of the elixir. This is in part why a Childe will in some ways come to resemble their Sire, even if they were very different in life. They may gain some of the same ticks, interests, or suddenly develop a talent or yearning for something they had never before, including for the arcane arts. However, this process of returning their vitae, the Rebirth/Remewal, is an imprecise act. It is difficult to control what is returned. Some things may be lost, or things that did not belong to the recipient given. The essences of others recently fed upon can find their way mixed with the essences of the recipient, giving them the thoughts, memories, talents, or even personalities of others. This is a risk unique to Psychic vampires, and especially prominent if the Blesser has recently drank deep of a prey.
ACTIONS:
1. [Redacted]
2. Lady Alcina and Thyra will attend The Gil-Galit Academy of Magic, Sorcery, and Philosophy (G-GAMSP). Both will train their Nature magics.
A beacon of higher learning, gleaming in white stone and mosaics. Those who study here to upgrade their Paths may roll twice and take the higher result. Currently open to citizenry for a pittance, but foreign exchange students may be negotiated...
