Antonio Vega || Original Character || Part 5charitaslamiaJuly 24 2011, 06:00:47 UTC
Vampires in Antonio’s world, at least the oldest, can trace their roots back to prehistory. Always creatures of seclusion, they were once much more monstrous in nature. Almost identical to humans in appearance save a slight sheen to the pupils in direct light, much like the eye-shine in a cat’s eyes, and a nearly unnoticeable elongation of the incisors at first glance. If one were to examine the teeth closely, they would find they would find the eye teeth to be thin and razor sharp. Contained within their saliva is a strong coagulant designs to keep their prey from bleeding out after feeding as well as adding a more viscous texture to the blood the consume. The saliva also contains a mild anesthetic, which renders the wound painless during feeding. Like snakes, they only have to feed once or twice a week.
As the civilizations of the world began to grow, vampires (who call themselves the Sanguis), began to move into a more sedentary lifestyle with them, claiming entire cities as their territories and doing their best to blend into human culture. Throughout history, this task was thwarted by the Sanguis crippling vulnerability to sunlight, which contains lethal amounts of Ultraviolet radiation of subjected to prolonged exposure. Due to this weakness alone, and the suspicion of the unknown natural to humans, their numbers have dwindled has mankind’s has risen. The decline of belief has weakened them as well. Once capable of colossal feats of strength, movement speeds capable of being confused with teleportation, and nearly instantaneous healing abilities, with the decline of belief in the gods that created them and with that decline, those gods’ power, the Sanguis have slowly weakened.
They have an established, although secret from humanity, culture of their own. Though part of their survival instinct allows them to emulate human nature very well, at their base, the Sanguis are a savage, nearly animalistic people. The males are very territorial and there territories are known to encompass hundreds of square miles. Females tend to live in small groups of two or three, though the population of vampires has dwindled in the several centuries of the Spanish Inquisition. When a male and female meet, they tend to mate for life and raise their offspring, if any is produced from the union. Very seldom are females fertile, and a family is most vulnerable in the first seven years after the child is born, as it is being taught how to blend into human society.
History: Antonio was born in 1467 to a very ecstatic mother and father. It was very rare, even in those times, for two vampires to find one another, let alone fall in love and be lucky enough to have a child. His father was an architect of great renown whose strictly nocturnal meetings were scrutinized, but tolerated in light of his designing genius. Antonio began apprenticing under him at the age of 13. He learned the intricacies of arithmetic, geometry, and the like. He fell in love with his father’s trade.
One cold, October night in 1492, his father left for a business meeting and never returned. His mother, fretting for her husband’s life combed the city for him, but was forced to return because the dawn was fast approaching. The mob came just after dawn. His mother told him to hide, he complied. They burst into their home and dragged her out, out into the sun. Out into death. He watched from a shaded window as she died, convulsing, screaming, being beaten with clubs until she stopped moving.
He still can’t accurately recall how he fled the house, avoiding the sun, though he can recall the nights thereafter, sleeping in caves to avoid the killing rays, subsisting on animals. He fled east. He avoided towns for the most part, but when he reached the City of Venice, his life was changed forever. He met a man named Leonardo, a gifted anatomist, mathematician, sculptor, and painter. He befriended the lost and lonely Antonio almost immediately, fascinated with his very nature.
As the civilizations of the world began to grow, vampires (who call themselves the Sanguis), began to move into a more sedentary lifestyle with them, claiming entire cities as their territories and doing their best to blend into human culture. Throughout history, this task was thwarted by the Sanguis crippling vulnerability to sunlight, which contains lethal amounts of Ultraviolet radiation of subjected to prolonged exposure. Due to this weakness alone, and the suspicion of the unknown natural to humans, their numbers have dwindled has mankind’s has risen. The decline of belief has weakened them as well. Once capable of colossal feats of strength, movement speeds capable of being confused with teleportation, and nearly instantaneous healing abilities, with the decline of belief in the gods that created them and with that decline, those gods’ power, the Sanguis have slowly weakened.
They have an established, although secret from humanity, culture of their own. Though part of their survival instinct allows them to emulate human nature very well, at their base, the Sanguis are a savage, nearly animalistic people. The males are very territorial and there territories are known to encompass hundreds of square miles. Females tend to live in small groups of two or three, though the population of vampires has dwindled in the several centuries of the Spanish Inquisition. When a male and female meet, they tend to mate for life and raise their offspring, if any is produced from the union. Very seldom are females fertile, and a family is most vulnerable in the first seven years after the child is born, as it is being taught how to blend into human society.
History: Antonio was born in 1467 to a very ecstatic mother and father. It was very rare, even in those times, for two vampires to find one another, let alone fall in love and be lucky enough to have a child. His father was an architect of great renown whose strictly nocturnal meetings were scrutinized, but tolerated in light of his designing genius. Antonio began apprenticing under him at the age of 13. He learned the intricacies of arithmetic, geometry, and the like. He fell in love with his father’s trade.
One cold, October night in 1492, his father left for a business meeting and never returned. His mother, fretting for her husband’s life combed the city for him, but was forced to return because the dawn was fast approaching. The mob came just after dawn. His mother told him to hide, he complied. They burst into their home and dragged her out, out into the sun. Out into death. He watched from a shaded window as she died, convulsing, screaming, being beaten with clubs until she stopped moving.
He still can’t accurately recall how he fled the house, avoiding the sun, though he can recall the nights thereafter, sleeping in caves to avoid the killing rays, subsisting on animals. He fled east. He avoided towns for the most part, but when he reached the City of Venice, his life was changed forever. He met a man named Leonardo, a gifted anatomist, mathematician, sculptor, and painter. He befriended the lost and lonely Antonio almost immediately, fascinated with his very nature.
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