VAMPIRES
Vampires are an effectively immortal predator with supernatural origins and a taste for blood that have plagued humankind since the dawn of time. Though they began as a demonic infestation over the millennia the influence of magic, and later science, has led to a great diversity of vampiric manifestations across the globe. While most vampires keep their natures hidden and operate from the shadows, with the rise of metahumans there are now some who operate in the open to a greater or lesser degree including the hero Night Flick of Justice Inc., Scream Queen of Scare Tactics, the assassin known as Tai of the Hell-Raisers, and Bloodsucker of the Graveyard Shift.
HISTORY
The first vampire was a demonic entity who claims to have preyed on countless worlds before coming to Earth at the dawn of humanity. This being sired the first generation of vampires on Earth and ruled them as their King, a title he retained even after vampire-kind splintered into countless varieties. Those sired by the King Vampire and his immediate scions were the most powerful and possessed the abilities most associated with traditional vampires while lacking many of the traditional weaknesses, with the exception of sunlight which was the one lethal vulnerability that even the King Vampire suffered from.
As humanity spread across the Earth from its birthplace in Africa the vampires went with them, and as humanity evolved so did the vampires that went with them, developing new powers and new vulnerabilities. Every culture on Earth has legends about vampire-like creatures, and despite the differences they are all descendants of the King Vampire. What unifies the vampires is their desire and need to consume blood, especially human blood, to survive and an instinct to prey on humanity.
The descendants of the King Vampire spread the curse in the same way, first the vampire must kill their prey by draining all the blood, then imbue the victim with a portion of their own vampiric power; traditionally by feeding the victim some of the vampire's own blood when the victim is at the cusp of death, but as vampires evolved this process changed for some. Some hours or days later the deceased victim would rise from the dead as a newborn vampire, possessing the same abilities as the vampire that sired them, though usually not as powerful as their sire. In addition to the physical transformation, the victim also suffered a spiritual transformation, with their soul corrupted or outright replaced by a demonic spirit that would turn the newborn vampire into an amoral creature that viewed other humans as prey. Particularly strong-willed victims could sometimes retain their original natures, resisting the demonic instincts and influences of their vampire nature, but this is a lifelong struggle for the vampire, a daunting prospect for one who is now effectively immortal.
Bloodlines
As humanity developed the vampires remained alongside them, preying on them from the shadows. While most humans feared the vampires some were more fascinated than afraid, and some even coveted the power of the vampires. Over the centuries several different individual and groups of sorcerers have endeavored to steal or duplicate the power of vampires, and some have succeeded. In some cases these sorcerers became vampires themselves, complete with the demonic aspects, but others they were transformed into something akin to a vampire with the powers and vulnerabilities but not the immortal undead. The latter are the progenitors of the vampire bloodlines.
Among those individuals who were transformed by magic into vampires were some who were able to interbreed, resulting in children who were born vampires, in addition to still being able to create new vampires in a similar manner to traditional vampires. With this these vampires began to form clans, many of which were formalized over the years and became known as Bloodlines. Within the clans of the Bloodlines (sometimes referred to as the Vampire Houses) those who were born vampires were referred to as Pure Bloods who saw themselves as superior to those who were humans later turned into vampires.
The more formal Vampire Houses operate within modern society, engaging in political machinations both amongst each other and with human governments in bids to accumulate wealth and power. Outside of these groups there are small clans and groups that simply try to survive, sometimes living among humans while keeping their true natures hidden, and sometimes forming their own small communities where they try to stay clear of humans. In many parts of the world these smaller communities are often hunted by humans who want to wipe out all vampires, either due to superstitious fear or religious zealotry. Scream Queen comes from one of these small vampire communities.
The Science of Vampires
Much as sorcerers in centuries past used magic to create vampires, in the last century there have been efforts to do the same with science. These often try and view vampirism as a kind of disease rather than a magical curse of some kind. By applying modern biology and chemistry scientists have tried to define and categorize vampires, in some cases to find a cure for the condition and in others to replicate the powers and abilities of vampires. Many of these efforts have been at the behest of various national governments, including the United States with Project M during World War II and the attempts by the Soviet government to create vampire super soldiers in the latter half of the Twentieth Century.
The Vampire Wars
Through all of this the King Vampire and his followers remained. They operated from deep underground, in a cluster of mystical caverns and tunnels that let them travel anywhere they wanted on Earth. The King viewed the changes in humanity and vampire alike with amusement, as it was a pattern he had seen before on countless worlds before and would again. He tended to commune with the higher mystical powers, having a certain affinity with the ruling powers of Hell, many of whom viewed the King Vampire as kin if not equal. The Vampire King presumed that he would outlive this world as he had so many others, but this would not be the case.
Vampire society suffered a seismic shift in recent years when the King Vampire crossed paths with the rogue mystic John Constantine in London, and like many beings of power greatly underestimated his foe. Constantine weakened the King and was able to keep him on the surface as the sun came up, destroying the Vampire King. This was a terrible blow, but some of the King's most trusted offspring, the thousand year old vampire Darius and the beautiful Mary took charge. Darius led the followers of the King to Gotham City, which at the time was cut off from the rest of the United States after a devastating earthquake and declared a No Man's Land by the US government. Darius planned to turn Gotham into a new vampire homeland with the denizens who had been unable to flee before the declaration becoming cattle to feed the vampires. A collection of gunmen from the Cauldron section of Gotham led by Tommy Monaghan (aka the Hitman) raided the church the vampires were using as a base of operations and, after disabling the vampires with a ridiculous amount of firepower, tore down the church roof and walls to expose all the vampires to sunlight. This wiped out Darius, Mary, and all the remaining senior scions of the Vampire King.
In the power vacuum that this created across vampire society one figure emerged attempting to fill that space. A powerful elder vampire who called himself the Blood Scion sought to unite all vampires under his rule and lead them in a war of conquest against humanity. Needless to say not all vampire groups were keen to bend the knee to a new Vampire King so the conflict was initially between those loyal to the Blood Scion and those vampires that opposed him. Even at this stage this Vampire War was spilling over and endangering lives. The hero Night Flick became aware of the conflict and joined up with Scream Queen and the centuries-old vampire Andrew Bennett to try and stop the war. Night Flick also called in his allies in Justice Inc. and together they were able to stop the Blood Scion and end the Vampire Wars.
