Re: Is Spell Trading the hallmark of a vampire squid? (was: Vampirism)

From: Jeff <richaje_at_4mPUXJbq7LkCQ4Ktzk8wmkJmvIyTiSzA8pKLcupDJ1gVUOOQ6DhxUdHFNvnK1X0UIQlU>
Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2011 06:42:13 -0000

> I'd like to make the point that there should not really be enough vampires to have different "breeds" or "populations" in a region. So the Vampire in Elder wilds is The Vampire in the Elder wilds. The 2 vampires in the Rubble are The two vampires in the Rubble. There is not IMO a population of 1000 vampires wandering around Sartar. I don't know how many there are but it is a low number. There may be a groups that shares an origin (eg the Dancers of Darkness) but still, my estimate woudl be for almost no vampires (eg. 2 or 3) in Sartar, apart from the Dancers (not sure how many there are)

Without getting into specific numbers, this is the right approach. Blood drinking undead monsters are pretty darn rare, *except* for a few places where they are comparatively common (but that's because of big-mojo magic going on). So in late First Age Tanisor, I suspect more than a handful of nobles embraced Vivamortism and Gbaji in order to live forever. Delecti has his Dancers in Darkness. Somewhere in the Lunar Empire is a special Chaotic magical unit comprised of blood-drinking sorcerer-wizards who serve the Red Emperor. And so on.

I'm not sure these various blood-drinking undead monsters are all the same "thing" or have similar origins and myths. But they are all called "vampires" for convenience.

Jeff