About the Species

You can choose to be a vampire, werewolf, or human in the beginning. Below are listed the basic lore for each:

Vampires

- Ability to regenerate more quickly than a human, unless a vital point is hit (i.e. decapitation) or a good portion of their reserve of blood is depleted before they can feed. Their regeneration depends then on them feeding soon after their injury.
- Aging happens, but it is more of a count of years rather than physical appearance. Some vampires will remember their exact age, while others only an approximation due to their long lives. If left entirely alone, it is believed they could outlive every life-form on the planet.
- Age also determines the potency of items such as, but not limited to: holy water, garlic, a crucifix, etc.
- Blood is their source of food. How they obtain blood, or which sources of blood they prefer is up to the individual vampire/clan mandates.
- Humans believe in the hypnotic/seductive power of the vampires, and caution against looking them directly in the eye. However, some believe that this is also dependent on the age of the vampire, as well as the actual personality and 'methods' used by the vampire to lure prey to them.
- Sunlight is anything from deadly to extremely irritating, depending on the newness of the vampire or the UV-blocking technologies possessed by their clan/the vampire individually as well as the season/time of day. The newest vampires would not survive exposure, while older vampires might experience bad burning/scarring but survive. However, it is usually cautioned that they reserve their outings for the nighttime, to avoid having to worry about the intensity of the sun and risk unnecessary injuries.
- Vampires are capable of having sexual relations, though feeding is usually a necessity beforehand.
- Due to mixed ethnic groups living in the city, the mystic lore surrounding the vampires is equally mixed. The human hunters are typically looked to for guidance in order to sort which facts to believe, and which to ignore.
- Vampires are able to shape-shift. The general accepted lore is that they tend to shift into nocturnal creatures, but research is being done into possible exceptions to this rule. Any quirks a vampire posses will also be present when they shape-shift. (See the Rules of the Realm for more details on shape-shifting)

(Normally I wouldn't just recommend wikipedia, but [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] is a list of the traits, strengths, and weaknesses...and the difference in folklore...all bundled into charts. They include both folklore references and fiction references. So if your country of origin is different, your 'beliefs' about vampires could be different. As you can probably see, most is drawn from European folklore, but some from North American.)

Werewolves/Lycanthropes

- They, like their vampire counterparts, have significantly longer lifespans than humans, due to their ability to regenerate faster. However, it is also possible to kill them.
- In wolf or human form, they are warm-blooded and able to survive in any climate. However, they prefer cooler or moderate climates, since they retain heat well in both their forms.
- Werewolves are carnivores and need to eat meat (fake stuff won't cut it guys XD)
- They can control their transformations unless it is a full moon, and then they are forced to transform. Emotions often play a key role in transformations.
- The effects of wolfsbane (i.e. irritation, forced transformation, etc) depend on where the werewolf is from (as that would depend on the abundance). However, one known effect is that it can be used to track and reveal werewolves. The trait revealed is most often physically noticeable, though it does not have to be an entire transformation. Werewolves are strongly cautioned to avoid it so as not to take unnecessary risks.
- Though subtle, humans believe that some traits (i.e. shape of the eyes, particular way of walking) remain and can possibly help to identify a werewolf in human form.
- Typically stronger and faster than humans, a werewolf's most vulnerable time would be after it has transformed back from a wolf to a human. In this time, the returned human often suffers from depression and is temporarily weaker.
- The effect of silver on a werewolf also depends on their age. Silver can be anything from deadly to a mild irritant.
- The Hunters caution against challenging a wolf that appears to be larger than average, with visible intelligence on par with humans, and that may or may not be capable of human speech. Werewolves are capable of it in their wolf form, but may choose not to use it.
- Due to mixed ethnic groups living in the city, the mystic lore surrounding the werewolves is equally mixed. The human hunters are typically looked to for guidance in order to sort which facts to believe, and which to ignore.

(Again, there is a lot of difference in lore here. So if you are unsure of the lore of your specific country's origin, at least follow the rules outlined here)

Humans

- Humans are easiest able to move about in daylight, though they cannot adapt as well to temperature changes or regenerate.
- The human is the weakest of the three species, but important for the survival of the werewolves and vampires. They are the highest producers of technology, and the most adaptable to change in that respect.
- They can be turned into either a vampire or a werewolf, or remain human if they are able.
- A ghoul is a human infused with vampire blood that is almost supernaturally loyal to a specific vampire. It is possible for humans to be 'turned' into this as well.
- The Hunters are a group of humans trained in the art of combating the werewolves and vampires. They act as the experts on vampire/werewolf lore and as the law. The location of their HQ is unknown.
- Among the humans (Hunters included), there do exist some sympathizers to the vampire and werewolf cause. They are frequently the best 'ambassadors', and are attempting to work with all species to form agreeable laws and practices.

(Any questions should be posted below)

I was wondering if we could get more details about the Hunters. Since Antonio treats regular humans much different than he treats Hunters, he needs to be able to identify them. So my questions are:

1) Do Hunters have a uniform? What does it look like?
2) Do the Hunters live at their HQ? (If they mingle often, they might have a common smell)
3) Do they have certain mannerisms like hand signals or code words that regular humans don't use?
4) Are they issued the same kinds of weapons (there can be a large variety) or are they in charge of providing their own weapons?

I might think of more questions later...Any information you have can help!

There are a few more details in the 'About The Realm' post, but if those aren't enough/still leave you with questions, I shall work up answers once I get home (on the ipod atm ^^)

Ah, thanks~ I read through it the first time, but didn't remember the finer details. So that answers the uniforms/weapons questions (and from Feli's description, I get an idea of what they look like). I'm still kind of curious about their lifestyles- whether they have shifts like police officers or are only called for missions. If they live and train at the Headquarters like a military base, I think that would be interesting.