Known Vampiric Subtypes of the Sinopean Continent

Charisians:

Named for their grace and charm, this bloodline is relatively new as vampires go, having first emerged in the late 8th century in Guienne, Westria and the Western Isles. Some believe it is a development from older lines, others believe they began as mortal cultists who sold their souls to the dark for eternal youth and power.

What is known for certain is that the Charisians are almost always drawn from the aristocracy. Like the nobles they were, Charisians are slothful, and are almost never encountered outside their lairs while the sun shines in the sky. Some hunters report that these vampires are weakened by the rays of the sun, while stories claiming they are actually burned by daylight are unconfirmed.

Like most vampires, if they are staked through the heart, they remain ‘dead’ and inanimate, though this is not sufficient to finally destroy them. Staking, beheading, burning the remains, have thus far proved efficacious.

Unlike the more bestial blood-drinkers, Charisians are suave, sophisticated, poised . . . although they can be driven to excesses by the sight or smell of fresh blood. They prefer to feed via seduction, though they are more than strong enough to subdue most unwilling victims.

As for their weaknesses, they possess no breath, and neither reflection nor shadow, and they are pale and cold unless they have recently fed. Although they are always ravenous, they can go years, even centuries, without blood, sometimes sleeping the years away as they wait for prey. Silver does not kill them, but will slow their healing. Animals fear them, and small creatures and plants die in their wake.

It is said that they draw vital energy from the soil of their homeland, and hunters reports finding them asleep on beds of it during the day. That they sleep in coffins seems to be sensationalist nonsense . . . or the perverse amusements of individuals.

What one fears most about a Charisian, though, is their skill at seduction. Their voices cajole, wheedle, suggest, making folk do things that they never would otherwise. It is even said that they can change memories and beliefs, and make a human into a permanent thrall.

Nachzerher:

The Nachzehrer becomes undead through misfortune, often by being the first to die during a plague. After death, they do not decompose, though some do lose their hair. In addition, they are fairly obviously dead...unless seen only in dim light. As they are nocturnal (although not harmed by sunlight), seeing them in the dark is fairly likely. The Nachzehrer is feral, bestial, driven by hunger and other urges. Like nosferatu, some of these creatures visit their former spouses for amatory purposes . . . but it is even more terrifying, because they prefer to prey upon their own flesh and blood. And that is to be taken literally. Though they only need to drink blood to survive, they have a nigh insurmountable compulsion to eat human flesh as well. Some, occasionally, manage to limit this to corpses, though most no longer care, their humanity burned away by death and return. The Nachzehrer can take the form of a wild boar, or sometimes a feral hog, and can enter and exit their own grave (and only their own grave) without disturbing the soil. Unlike some vampiric types, they are not particularly graceful or agile. Nor are they in any way seductive. Some even develop the large tusks of their porcine shape. One of the most terrifying qualities of the nachzehrer is their shadow...it damages and kills those upon whom it falls. Luckily, the creature rarely uses this in any intentional way. The nachzehrer can only heal by feeding, but it is still very, very hard to destroy. In fact, it can only be destroyed by beheading, either after it has been badly damaged or if it is found during the day, beheading it after a silver coin is placed in its mouth. In fact, a silver coin in the mouth saps its strength, rendering it helplessly somnolent over time . . . though this takes too long to be much use in combat. Usually. If they cannot feed regularly, they weaken and eventually die, and they can also be destroyed (albeit slowly) by the destruction of their burial shroud, as they must for some bizarre reason chew on it during the day, in the grave, to survive.

Nosferatu:

Jagged fangs. Pointed ears. A bald skull, a ratlike face. The Nosferatu is the vampire of plagues and pox, the carrion kind, the lord of rats. They are hideously strong, as cold as death. They move in total silence, accompanied by eerie waves and swarms of vermin. Those that die from their attentions return as their thralls. The sun burns them, as does pure, clean, running water.

Plague precedes them and follows in their wake.

Strix:

Vampiric witches that take the form of owls to hunt by night, the Strix are mortal by day, though they still have their magic. Like many vampires, they fear garlic. They can be killed by normal means, but they have many varied powers granted them by their devotion to the dark. Also called Bruxsa, in Ebora.

Upir:

The Upir is a classic vampire of the older kind. It is not romantic, or sexy, or scheming. It is a rotting corpse risen from the grave to feed on the living while trying to go about the business of the life it has lost. Perhaps it died of disease, or was cursed, or was buried improperly, or any number of other reasons. Maybe it was slain by the bite of another Upir. 

As much zombie or ghoul to modern sensibilities as vampire, it nonetheless drinks blood and does not
eat flesh, though it will rend an enemy limb from limb with its sheer super human strength if threatened.

The Upir can also let loose a bloodcurdling scream that stuns those that hear it, and sometimes kills. In the stories, they would climb bell tower to do this.

An upir feels no pain, no fear, no remorse. Even overwhelming damage will not slay one, unless they are burned, or staked and decapitated, preferably all of the above. The stake might be iron or wood, but must pin the creature to the ground. They recoil from holy symbols, garlic, wild roses, and hawthorne, and can be distracted by scattered seeds or knots, which they have a hard time not stopping to count or untie.

While they are infectious, turning others into more like themselves, as well as simply exposing them to the diseases carried by a dead body, they have no control over any such creature they spawn.

In addition to being an obvious rotting corpse, they generally are active in their own original communities, and are known to be dead. They must rest in their own grave daily, which does leave them vulnerable to hunters . . . but they have no particular difficulty with sunlight.

Ustrel:

Vampire children, they became so because they died unbaptized. They appear to be pale and thin children, at first, but reveal monstrous jaws and long talons when they attack. Most often, they feed on cattle, until they get too hungry, or until someone gets too close to the herd. They fear fire, are hunted by wolves, and rise from the dead over and over again unless properly disposed of, by complete immolation. They are also called Kallikantzaroi.

Vampir:

Perhaps the oldest known, they are blood drinking corpses, risen from their graves, neither monstrous nor beautiful, only dead and refusing it. They must be staked (to the ground) and beheaded, but need not be burned. In fact, burning them won’t even destroy them, their flesh is often still . . . moist. They are also called Vyrolakos.