Sanguiri (singular Sanguir), commonly called vampires, are living humans whose bodies have been altered by a blood-borne parvovirus. The condition, known as Sanguirism, produces exceptional strength, heightened senses, rapid reflexes and greatly reduced aging. Their usual diet consists mainly of ordinary human food and drink, supplemented by fresh human blood. They are strongest in the absence of ultraviolet light.
Sanguiri occur throughout the galaxy wherever human populations are large enough to sustain their blood requirements. Their distribution follows human settlement, including planetary societies, stations and interstellar communities. Sanguiri retain a human appearance and can live for hundreds of Cycles. In many interstellar societies, Sanguirism is treated as a human medical condition, allowing Sanguiri to live openly and obtain blood through medical services. Elsewhere they conceal their condition. Sanguiri on Veyrath live in secret.
Sanguiri is the formal name, with Sanguiric used as the adjective. Vampire is the more common term in everyday speech, journalism, folklore and religious accounts.
A turned Sanguir is a human transformed through a deliberate blood exchange at another Sanguir’s bite. A trueborn Sanguir, often called pure-blooded within Sanguiric society, is the child of two Sanguir parents. The offspring of a male Sanguir and a human woman is termed a hybrid.
Humans who supply blood are generally called donors, a term that encompasses both voluntary and coerced arrangements. A thrall is a human who has developed a persistent emotional bond to a particular Sanguir through repeated consumption of that Sanguir’s blood. Donors and thralls may overlap, although feeding and blood bonding are distinct processes.
Sanguirism is confined to the human lineage. The virus can enter non-human bodies, but only human physiology supports full transformation.
Turning is a deliberate blood exchange controlled by a Sanguir at the bite. The Sanguir bites the intended recipient and drains nearly all of their blood, bringing them close to death. The Sanguir then bites their own tongue or cuts it along a fang, and uses pressure from the mouth and tongue to force their blood into the recipient’s bite wound. This blood enters the recipient’s bloodstream directly, carrying the virus that begins the transformation.
Turning exposes the recipient to near-fatal blood loss and extensive physiological change. Survival depends on the recipient’s vitality and the strength of the turning Sanguir’s blood. A successful transformation produces a Sanguir; failure is fatal.
Sanguirism extensively alters human physiology. An established Sanguir’s own cells continually produce new viral particles, making the altered body a continuing source of the virus. Clearing those particles does not undo the changes to the body or stop it from producing more.
Stopping the infection before transformation is complete could, in principle, prevent Sanguirism, although no established preventive treatment or precise treatment window is defined. Once transformation is complete, reversal would require safely restoring human physiology as well as addressing viral production. There is no known safe, reliable way to do this.
A treatment that destroys viral particles alone would face continued replenishment by the Sanguir’s cells. Complete eradication would probably be fatal rather than restore human physiology; the mechanism remains unknown.
Trueborn Sanguiri develop with Sanguir physiology from conception and have no previous human physiological state to restore.
Sanguiri have living tissue, a functioning circulatory system, a pulse and normal respiration. Their body temperature varies within a human range, and their outward anatomy allows them to pass as human in ordinary social contact. Transformation extensively alters the muscles, skeleton, senses, digestive tract, skin, immune response and aging process.
Their skin is generally clearer and more resistant to blemishes, discoloration and visible fatigue than human skin. This can give a Sanguir an unusually healthy or well-rested appearance. Body weight varies with energy intake and exertion; both obesity and emaciation occur, though less commonly than among humans.
Sanguiric muscle tissue is approximately twice as dense as human muscle tissue. A typical Sanguir is at least four times as strong as a human of comparable build, with further gains possible through training. Denser, stronger bones support the greater forces generated by the musculature.
Rapid reflexes and short bursts of movement allow a Sanguir to cross a room, evade an attack or seize an opponent before most humans can respond. These advantages are greatest at close range and do not provide equivalent sustained speed over long distances. Combat training and experience can develop these abilities over a prolonged lifetime.
Sanguiri heal efficiently, but their bodies remain susceptible to severe injury. Gunshot and blade wounds, fire, crushing injuries, drowning and suitable poisons can incapacitate or kill them. Their survival depends on the extent of the injury as well as their physical resilience.
Sanguiri can hear a heartbeat across a room and, under favorable conditions, follow quiet conversation inside a house from the street. They can detect the scent of fresh blood from a block away. Their sight is sharper than human sight in ordinary light and especially effective in darkness.
A reflective layer in the eye, the tapetum lucidum, improves vision in low light and produces eyeshine under directed illumination. This is among the most readily observed signs of Sanguirism. Turned Sanguiri retain their original eye color, which may darken over hundreds of Cycles. Trueborn Sanguiri have dark blood-red irises that often appear brown at a glance.
Ultraviolet light weakens Sanguiri without burning or otherwise damaging their tissue. The severity depends on the light reaching the body: indirect or filtered exposure has a milder effect than direct, bright exposure. Natural and artificial sources produce the same response.
Sanguiri reach their greatest physical effectiveness when ultraviolet light is absent, whether at night or in interiors that exclude it. Shade, clothing, coverings and filters provide protection according to how much ultraviolet light they exclude. Enclosed vehicles and protected interiors allow Sanguiri to manage exposure while traveling or working.
Ordinary human food and drink provide the bulk of a Sanguir’s nourishment. A typical Sanguir requires several thousand calories each day to support dense musculature, rapid movement and heightened sensory activity.
In addition to ordinary meals, a Sanguir requires approximately one litre of fresh human blood every 72 hours. Blood requirements increase with physical exertion, particularly during healing.
Only fully fresh, biologically intact human blood satisfies a Sanguir’s blood requirement. Once drawn, blood remains suitable for no more than four hours at room temperature. Blood that has ever been refrigerated or frozen is unsuitable, even after warming or thawing. Spoilage, cooking or chemical treatment that compromises its biological integrity also makes it unsuitable. Unsuitable blood provides no effective blood nourishment and does not reduce Thirst.
Sanguiri can drink freshly drawn blood from a container; direct feeding from a person is not required. Most modern Sanguiri prefer this method because feeding by bite has a powerful sensory and emotional impact on both the donor and the Sanguir. Blood collected for separate consumption must meet the same freshness requirements.
Blood deprivation causes progressive weakness, beginning after 72 hours without blood and worsening with each further 72-hour period.
Sanguiri can survive entirely on human blood. Meeting the full daily calorie requirement this way requires completely draining one adult each day, or dividing that day’s intake among four or five adults to avoid injuring individual donors. This level of consumption can rapidly exhaust the local supply. A diet consisting entirely of blood produces no ordinary digestive waste.
Regular feeding requires control of blood loss, donor rotation and adequate recovery intervals. Repeated excessive blood loss can cause weakness, pallor, fainting, prolonged illness and death.
The urge to consume blood is known as Thirst. Its usual progression has four stages: Sated for less than 24 hours without blood, Peckish from 24 to less than 48 hours, Ravenous from 48 to less than 72 hours, and Bloodthirsty from 72 hours onward. Healing an injury advances Thirst by one stage, so an injured Sanguir can reach the later stages sooner. Bloodthirsty is the most intense stage.
Consuming approximately 250–350 mL of fresh human blood reduces Thirst by one stage. A Bloodthirsty Sanguir requires approximately 750–1,050 mL to become Sated.
From the Peckish stage onward, the sight or smell of fresh blood can provoke compulsive feeding. The presence of a potential source of fresh human blood becomes increasingly difficult to tolerate as Thirst develops. Physical contact can provoke the response in a Peckish Sanguir; at the Ravenous stage, sharing a room is sufficient. A Bloodthirsty Sanguir may be provoked by any source they can see, smell or hear.
A Sanguir who loses control is compelled to feed on the nearest available source of fresh human blood. The compulsion persists until they feed or regain control. Each full 24 hours without blood and each healed injury prompts another attempt to retain control, including at the Bloodthirsty stage.
A Sanguir’s bite induces intense euphoria in the person being bitten. Accounts describe the sensation in sexual, narcotic or religious terms, and the experience commonly produces pleasure and a desire to repeat it. Recollection of the encounter is often indistinct or incomplete. Direct feeding is also an intensely sensory and emotionally charged experience for the Sanguir.
This physiological effect suppresses resistance and facilitates repeated feeding. A person may develop affection for the Sanguir, rationalize the encounter or seek another meeting while remaining unaware of the reasons for those feelings.
After feeding by bite, a Sanguir can close the puncture wounds by licking them, leaving little visible evidence. The closure of the wounds conceals the injury while the effects of blood loss persist.
Humans who drink Sanguiric blood experience modest, temporary improvements in strength, senses, reflexes and memory recall. These enhancements diminish as the blood leaves the body.
Consumption also encourages emotional attachment to the Sanguir who supplied the blood. Early effects may take the form of gratitude, fascination, trust, affection or sexual fixation. Repeated exposure can establish a lasting bond, at which point the human is described as a thrall.
Thralls retain independent thought, speech, judgment and the ability to disagree. The bond alters their loyalties and their interpretation of the Sanguir’s conduct: criticism becomes difficult, excuses come readily, and the Sanguir’s interests increasingly take precedence over their own. To observers, this attachment can resemble ordinary devotion, gratitude or love.
Thralls usually remain capable of maintaining their occupations and social relationships. Their positions in households, businesses, public offices, religious institutions and the professions can give a Sanguir access to information, protection and influence.
Sanguiri retain sexual function and fertility. A female Sanguir can conceive only with a male Sanguir; her altered immune response rejects human sperm. Two Sanguir parents produce a trueborn child, who develops at the human rate until sexual maturity, around 16 Cycles of age.
A male Sanguir can also father a child with a human woman. These hybrids inherit enhanced strength, speed, reflexes and senses without depending on blood for survival. Their response to ultraviolet exposure is milder than that of full Sanguiri, as is the increase in their abilities when ultraviolet light is absent.
After transformation, or after maturity in trueborn individuals, Sanguiri undergo approximately one Cycle of visible aging per 100 Cycles elapsed. Turned Sanguiri retain the age and general appearance they had at transformation; the condition does not rejuvenate them.
Sanguiric communities vary with local law, medical provision, language, religion and social structure. Some live openly within human society, while others form concealed networks. There is no universal Sanguiric government or hierarchy.
In many societies across the broader galaxy, Sanguiri are regarded as humans with a distinctive medical condition. They can disclose their condition, participate openly in society and use medical resources such as blood banks to meet their blood requirements.
Many Sanguiri accord higher status to trueborn individuals. Beliefs about the superiority of inherited Sanguirism influence marriage arrangements, inheritance, bloodline politics and attitudes toward turned members. The strength and expression of these distinctions vary between communities.
Blood banks serving Sanguiri provide freshly drawn human blood for consumption from a container. Collection and distribution must allow it to be consumed within four hours at room temperature, without prior refrigeration or freezing. Conventional refrigerated or frozen stocks are unsuitable for Sanguiric nourishment.
Donor arrangements include voluntary donation, payment and personal relationships. Some participants in direct feeding seek the bite’s pleasure or become dependent on it. Other arrangements involve deception, coercion or thralls whose judgment is affected by blood bonding. Drawing blood without a bite avoids the bite’s sensory and emotional effects; blood loss still requires appropriate limits, donor rotation and recovery intervals.
Many Sanguiri lack dependable access to blood banks or other sources of drawn blood and must obtain blood directly from people. Some secure willing donors; others prey on humans through coercion or violence. Most Sanguiri who prey on humans avoid killing because deaths attract attention and investigation and can expose them. Some deliberately kill for the thrill of the act or the intense sensations associated with feeding.
On Veyrath, Sanguiri conceal their condition and organize chiefly through local networks. Communities are concentrated in human population centers, where access to donors, accommodation and trusted intermediaries can support long-term concealment. Veyrathian networks may center on bloodlines, aristocratic households, private clubs, medical establishments or criminal organizations. Some use contacts in theaters, brothels, shipping, prisons, poorhouses and military hospitals to obtain blood and accommodation or conceal their activities.
On Veyrath, public knowledge of Sanguiri comes largely from folklore, religious warnings, crime reporting and rumor. Accounts may portray them as undead, demonic or cursed. Secrecy and the incomplete memories associated with the bite contribute to conflicting accounts. Veyrathian physicians, governments, religious authorities, dragons and Erynari scholars possess varying degrees of knowledge. Their responses include medical investigation, religious condemnation, criminal prosecution and the discreet employment of individual Sanguiri.
In Occara, Sanguiric influence is chiefly local and operates through human households, professions and institutions. Dragons have a broader role in the region’s political order. Persistent anemia among dependants, irregular death records and unusual inheritance patterns can reveal concealed Sanguiric activity.