Undead blood suckers who prey upon the blood of mortals!
Turning.
All vampires were once at least part human, and purposely turned by their maker. The process of turning a human into a vampire involves slowly draining the human of all blood while the human simultaneously consumes the blood of their maker. The human dies fully exsanguinated and is resurrected into unlife as the body accepts the blood of the maker as its own. Sometimes the body fails to accept the transformation and the person remains dead. It takes between 6 and 48 hours for the transformation to be complete, during which time they appear to be dead. The awake spontaneously at take a breath of unlife, which is the last breath they'll ever need to take.
Physical needs.
Vampires cannot gain sustenance from eating or drinking anything other than the blood of sapient mortals. Vampires need blood and sleep in order to regain stamina. They don't die of starvation, but the hunger drives them insane, which may or not be permanent. A vampire driven to insanity in this way loses all morality and regard for life and becomes a monster whose only drive is to feed. Regularly consuming sufficient amounts of blood over several days may bring a vampire back to their normal self, but sometimes this state is permanent. It depends on how long they starved, the strength of their will, and their age.
Vampires do not need to breathe to survive, but the brain still retains the automatic involuntary function of breathing, which a vampire can control just like a human can. A vampire can cease to function in the cold but will recover with sufficient warmth and blood. A vampire whose body temperature becomes too hot and is unable to shed the heat can also experience brain damage that results in sluggishness and delirium, but they also recover from this with time and blood.
Regeneration.
Vampires who are physically damage will recover with sufficient time and feedings. Stronger, older vampires recover more quickly, but newly turned vampires recover only as quickly as a human could, though they will still recover from anything given enough time. Sunlight and silver are exceptions to this.
Silver.
Silver feels far heavier to a vampire than it should. A vampire bound in thin silver chains may be unable to break out, even if chains made of other materials would take no effort for them. Contact with silver burns their skin. Injuries from silver weapons don't regenerate like other injuries do, it takes much more time and may result in permanent scarring or loss of motor function just like injuries in humans. A silver weapon in the heart or brain is always instantly fatal.
Sunlight.
Vampires cannot tolerate direct sunlight. Depending on the age and strength of the vampire, they will be burnt to death within ten minutes. Injuries from exposure to sunlight do not regenerate any more quickly than a human can heal from a burn. This can result in permanent scarring, nerve damage, or loss of function.
Senses.
Vampires can see in the dark as long as there is at least a little bit of light. They have an enhanced sense of smell that only works for the scent of people. They can identify the scents of mortals they know, even in trace amounts, but are no more sensitive to other smells than they were in life. The smell of mortal blood is overwhelming to them.
Other abilities.
Vampires can have a number of other abilities that develop over time. It depends on the individual; not all vampires will have all of these abilities, and some develop them more slowly or quickly or start to see them later in their unlife.
- Strength. A newly turned vampire is no stronger than they were as a human, but most vampires grow in physical strength as they age, even though their muscle tone is unchanged.
- Flitting. Running very quickly in a straight line.
- Calming charm. The vampire makes eye contact with a mortal, causing them to stand there slack-jawed. The experience is floaty and pleasant for the mortal and they often get a little giggly. The mortal will immediately forget that they've been charmed and everything that happens to them while they're under the effect, unless the vampire is bad at it or the mortal has had it done to them frequently. It's difficult for the vampire to maintain this for extended periods of time, and it takes a lot of energy. Some mortals may be able to fight through the effect with willpower.
- Memory charm. If the vampire with this ability has successfully used their calming charm, they can then speak to the mortal to rewrite their recent memories, typically no more than an hour.
- Flight. Only the strongest, oldest vampires can do this. They simply step up off the ground and fly without wings.