ARCHETYPE – Any of the members of the nine original vampire families who arrived on earth from the Progeny realm. Archetypes were created by the Progeny as Barons of the Underworld for Hades. This term is used to describe any natural born vampire, and since only Archetypes can breed naturally, their number is few.
BLOOD TWEEKERS – A human who is addicted to vampire blood and/or obsessed with vampires and their lifestyle. Blood tweekers offer themselves up as a food source to a vampire in hopes that someday the vampire will turn them or make them into one of their human servants/surrogates.
CONCLAVE - The Conclave is a group of chosen Vampires that serve on a senate—similar to the one formed during the Roman Empire. They answer directly to the Elders and vote upon any and all major issues which come before the Conclave. Each member of the fifteen-member Conclave is in charge of a district around the world, which is in turn run by a Lord.
CONCLAVE LAWS - The Conclave have laws which are decreed in their Pact. Some of these laws include:
- Vampires are to conceal themselves from humans at all costs unless to turn them
- Vampires are not allowed to drink human blood directly from unwilling donors
- Vampires are not allowed to fraternize or interact with Lycans in any way
- Vampires are not allowed to delve into the past
- Breaking these laws require a judgment from the Conclave
THE ELDERS - is any head member of the nine Archetype Vampire Families, including the first Vampire and ruler, Caligula. These nine Archetype Vampire Families are: The House of Caligula, The House of Obyiafu,
HUMAN SERVANT/SURROGATE – A trusted human chosen to serve a specific vampire in exchange for super human abilities and immortality. A human surrogate is only different from a servant in that they travel around the world independently of their vampire master and act on the vampire’s behalf in business matters. A human surrogate is often selected due to a physical resemblance to their vampire master. Not all humans who serve vampires are officially human servants/surrogates.
LORD OF THE CITY – The ruling vampire of a major city or territory. This vampire is of the master class or a natural born vampire—the most powerful of vampires.
LYCANTHROPE – Any human or humanoid who can morph into an animal. The older the lycan the more control they have over the transformation and can change at will, although on nights of a full moon the change is involuntary. Lycanthropy is transferred very much like vampirism (through blood exchange). Lycans are not immortal like vampires, but extremely long lived.
LYCAN ABILITIES – Lycans also known as Werewolves display a number of greatly enhanced physical attributes. As with their rivals, the Vampires, Elder Lycans are immortal. They possess enhanced senses of smell, hearing and sight that are superior even to those of wolves, not just humans. Lycans are also able to sense Vampires in close proximity to themselves and possess physical strength, durability, reflexes, and speed superior to those of most Vampires, and can break through solid concrete walls. It should be noted that Lycans seem to be far physically stronger than the Vampires, as every hand-to-hand confrontation between the two races under normal circumstances has ended with a Lycan victory with the exception of Archetype Vampires. The Vampires controlled the second generation of the Lycan race for centuries, making them slaves. A first-generation Lycan was able to send a fully armored Vampire flying at least ten feet through the wall of a villager's hut (without even yet being fully transformed). Werewolves can also use their claws and strength to scale sheer surfaces, having been seen to crawl along walls at great speed in pursuit of prey. Lycans possess superb physical resilience and remarkable regenerative abilities; however their recovery abilities are hampered by the presence of silver in their bodies. Silver is fatal if it penetrates the internal organs. Silver is the Lycans' only weakness, as they seem to be violently allergic to it. A new variation on this is the use of Silver Nitrate Bullets to inject the silver directly into a Lycan's bloodstream.
MARKS – The manner by which a vampire can turn a human into a human servant or surrogate. Marks are transferred psychically and transfers a small portion of the vampire’s life force to the human subject, granting them certain super human abilities. Three marks are required to make a human a permanent human servant/surrogate. The first mark psychically links the human to the vampire and causes them to secrete a pheromone that warns other vampires that they are off limits to others. The second mark gives the human incredible strength, stamina and agility. The third (and final) mark grants the human immortality which is tied to the lifespan of the vampire. If the vampire experiences true death, so does their human servant/surrogate.
MASTER VAMPIRE – A natural born vampire or a turned vampire who is at least 500+ years old. A master vampire is generally the head of a family and/or lord of a city.
NEO-HUMAN – A human with a recessive Progeny gene born with at least on parent who is a carrier and is descended from a Progeny ancestor. Neo-humans don’t display any super human characteristics unless they experience some sort of catalytic event which triggers their Progeny gene to activate. Unlike the Neo-Progeny, they aren’t granted immortality and don’t have to die to have their dormant genes triggered
NEO-PROGENY – A being with one Progeny parent and one human parent. Neo-Progenies are in essence demi-gods and often exhibit abilities similar—though not usually as powerful—as their Progeny parent. Their Progeny abilities remain dormant unless they experience a catalytic event (usually death) that activates the dormant gene that grants them immortality and super human abilities.
NEOTERIC – A newly turned vampire. The incubation period for a Neoteric is a year. During this time the Neoteric is adjusting physically and mentally to the transformation from human to vampire. The blood lust in a Neoteric is extremely strong and many have to be held in captivity before their minds and self-control adjusts enough for them to function.
THE NIGHT SHIFT TREATY – An agreement entered into between the preternatural races and humans, which outlines how interactions and encounters are handled.
PROGENY – A being from another dimension who has assumed the identity/personification of a mythological god. The Progeny are in fact an advanced race who have developed the means to grant themselves immortality and super human abilities. They monitored humans and altered themselves to fit the persona of the world pantheons of mythological gods. The Progeny exhibit the ability to feed off of the adoration and admiration of humans and this gives them almost omnipotent abilities. Since the human population turned their faith away from the world pantheons, the Progeny have been drastically weakened. Some of them simply died out due to lack of sustenance, while others have secretly assumed positions of power so as to consume the praise and admiration humans bestow upon them.
PROGENY GENE – Humans eventually discover that the latent Progeny Gene was passed down in the bloodlines of any and all Progeny and human children. This makes it possible for a direct descendant to carry the latent Progeny Gene unknowingly. The dormant gene lying within these descendants allow those with it to become Immortal if the gene is activated.
Silver Nitrate Bullets - This type of ammunition is used by the human government to kill Vampires and Lycans. When shot, Silver liquid is released and enters the target’s bloodstream. It should be noted that silver nitrate is actually clear in liquid form however, a mercury additive is used to give it a silver appearance and speed up its spread through the bloodstream.
VAMPIRC ABILITIES - Vampires possess superhuman physical powers, including superhuman strength, speed, agility, reflexes, endurance/durability and accelerated healing. They can leap from very high places - at least 10 stories - and landing without injury or harm. They can move with enough speed to evade gunfire and can outrun an enraged Lycan. Archetypes and Master Vampires have the ability to obtain memories through blood ingestion.
It can be assumed that all Vampires possess various degrees of these abilities, depending on their age and experience. Their heightened senses manifest in acutely increased depth perception, sense of smell, hearing, and night vision; which manifests as red eyes. Archetypes and Master Vampires can cling to flat surfaces if necessary. Ultraviolet ammunition is a type of bullet used by humans and Lycans to kill Vampires. They are hollow bullets filled with a special irradiated fluid that emits ultraviolet light. The advent of Ultraviolet ammunition gives the Lycans a significant leg up in the arms race against the Vampires, equaling how the Vampires use silver nitrate ammunition against them.
THE VAMPIRE CIVIL WAR—commonly known as the Blood War—split the vampire community into two large covens, one referred to as the Old World Coven, housed in the Carpathian mountain range of Easter Europe, and the New World Coven in Chicago. After their Civil War erupted, the Vampires who branched off into smaller, groups known as Dens, aligned and swore allegiance to one Coven or another.
VAMPIRE PHYSICAL APPEARANCE - Vampires are capable of transforming their physical appearance when agitated, however, their transformation is relegated to their eyes, teeth, face and hands. In their normal or "relaxed" state, a Vampire's appearance remains undistinguishable from a normal human's, except that they have slightly larger teeth and sometimes pale skin. When they become upset, their canines elongate, and their eyes turn red. Their facial features contort into a hideous demon-like visage, and their hands become claw-like.
WORLD ACCESS TRANS-COMMUNICATION SURVEILLANCE OPERATIONS NETWORK (WATSON) - A artificial intelligence operated, sattelite system used by GENESIS to provide clandestine surveillance around the globe and grant GENESIS agents with instantaneous information on any and every shred of recorded data within the GENESIS Database.