home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
The Unsorted BBS Collection
/
thegreatunsorted.tar
/
thegreatunsorted
/
texts
/
txtfiles_misc
/
vamp13.faq
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1995-03-26
|
8KB
|
146 lines
The Butlerian Vampire
Dearest Children;
After Imaginos had finished writing the book review, it
occurred to him that he hadn't said much about what Jack Butler's
vampires where like. Herein, he'd like to remedy that situation.
Imaginos does not know who is keeping the non-fiction
archives, but he would like to request that who ever is, please
add this file to them as a FAQ on the Butlerian vampire. Thank
you!
Via en eterna lumo,
Imaginos
The Butlerian Vampire
In _Nightshade_ Jack Butler introduces us to John Shade, the
standard for a new type of vampire. The Butlerian vampire is a
scientific vampire, a mutation of the human norm, rather than the
embodiment of pure Evil that Stoker showed us in _Dracula_.
Born of human parents, the Butlerian vampire is
indistinguishable from a human throughout its life, and perhaps
beyond. For a Butlerian vampire to reach its full potential, it
must die in terror and pain. This seems to serve as a catalyst
for the transformation from human to metahuman, from victim to
vampire.
The stronger the need for revenge when death takes them, the
more likely it is that the potential is fulfilled and a Butlerian
vampire is born. As an interesting result of this, one of the
more frequent agents for creating a Butlerian vampire is another
Butlerian vampire. This is not because of some type of
communicable agent, but because of the terror and pain that are
part of the Butlerian vampire's blood-lust.
Referred to as 'The Need' by John Shade, the blood hunger of
a Butlerian Vampire is an infrequent thing, sometimes allowing
years between consumptions. Its infrequency seems to be matched
by its savagery though, as a Butlerian vampire will do anything
to obtain blood when the Need reaches its peak.
The consummation of this blood-lust is bloody, and
animalistic. With strictly normal teeth, the Butlerian vampire
usually answers its blood need by tearing its victim apart.
While it needs only the blood, fresh from a living source, it may
be years, or decades, before it understands this. During the
time before it learns, though, it will most likely have been
literally devouring part or all of its victim in its blood
frenzy.
One of the more interesting dimensions of Butler's vampires
is the result of their blood need. A Butlerian vampire needs to
very selective in choosing its victims, because in a way, the
Butlerian vampire becomes its victim. After fulfilling The Need,
a Butlerian vampire will enter the satisfaction trance, a trance
that can lead to either hallucinations, or berserk violence.
Once the trance has passed, the vampire seemingly returns to
normal. However, its responses now will be those of its last
victim. Take blood from a brave man, and the vampire will be
brave. Take blood from a coward, and the vampire may spend years
running in fear from its problems. Take blood from a willing
victim, and the vampire will respond passively to events.
Eventually, the vampire's baseline personality will reassert
itself, but the stronger the victim's personality, the longer
this will take. As a result, many of the longer-lived Butlerian
vampires have taken to selecting strong, brave, innocent victims,
though young ones are usually avoided. The more experience the
victim has, the longer it will be until the next cycle of The
Need arises.
The blood is not what they feed on, however, it is merely
what they are driven to consume. Occasionally, a Butlerian
vampire will feel an overwhelming urge for something odd, such as
rubber bands, or a few drops of iodine, or moldy grain. While
not requiring normal food, a Butlerian vampire still has a sense
of taste, and is able to eat normal foods.
The Butlerian vampire is capable of sexual function. Not
just sexual function, either, as two Butlerian vampires together
may have children. The children, however, will be purely human.
There is no mention of cross-breeding between humans and
vampires, nor is there mention of the children of vampires
becoming vampires.
There is also another function that the Butlerian vampire
shares with normal humans - dreaming. While a Butlerian vampire
doesn't need sleep for rest, it is needed to provide dreaming.
If a Butlerian vampire gets insufficient time to dream, it will
eventually begin to hallucinate. If the hallucinations go on
long enough, it is possible for the Butlerian vampire to die.
Extended dreamless states also hasten The Need.
In its normal mode, a Butlerian vampire is slightly faster
and stronger than a human. However, they also have another mode,
one that John Shade calls 'High Temporal'. In this mode a
vampire is able to react and move an order of magnitude faster
than a human. A Butlerian vampire is also capable of a finely
controlled shape shifting, one that even allows them to duplicate
someone else's face and form. The Need, if left unfulfilled for
too long, tends to force a shape-change into a nearly canine
form, a form that John Shade has labeled 'the dogboy'.
Both High Temporal and shape shifting are not without their
costs, however. Both drain energy at an alarming rate, and will
accelerate the cycle of The Need. Shape shifting can be done
between shapes of different masses, but the greater the
difference in masses between the starting and ending forms, the
sooner The Need will have to be fulfilled. Use of either power
also tends to magnify the symptoms of The Need, causing visual
hallucinations, and pain.
Nearly indestructible, a Butlerian vampire can survive
almost any wound. Nor is the Butlerian vampyre susceptible to
the classical vampiric weaknesses. Crosses and garlic, sunlight
and faith, the wild rose, and even the mountain ash stake, all
these are ineffective against him. A stake _might_ work against
one, if it was large enough to completely obliterate the heart,
and keep the wound from closing for long enough. Of course,
you'd have to figure out how to get something that big close
enough to him to drive it home...
There is one final difference that John Shade mentions
between normal humans and the Butlerian vampire. John is not
sure if it is because of the requirements of living for so long,
or is simply inherent in the vampire, but he has developed the
ability to mentally file and cross-reference any information in
an instant. He has become incapable of forgetting anything but
it is under complete conscious control. He can access anything
he has ever seen, heard, thought, etc., but these memories do not
intrude on his conscious thought processes unless he wishes them
to.
So, there you have it, the Butlerian vampire. Formerly
human, not necessarily evil, but forced to prey on humans. Is he
the next step in evolution, a dead-end mutation, or a different
species? You decide.
Shawn M Bilodeau
imaginos@imagesys.com