Beneath Blackthorn #4
Welcome to my series of posts aimed at avid fans of Blackthorn who want a little extra insight.
With the existence of vampires being recorded as far back at the 6th century BC, what is known about them varies from country to country and culture to culture. Most of what we now understand stems from 18th century Eastern Europe, the influences of Christianity and the success of vampire literature and films of the 19th and 20th century. There is no right and wrong when it comes to what vampires can and can’t do. There is just one rule – they survive by feeding on the blood of the living.
Look into the mythology of vampires and you will find reams and reams of information to support or dispute various claims regarding vampiric abilities. Throw the influences of literature and films into the mix and it all becomes incredibly complex. As a writer of fantasy, I can be selective about which aspects of mythology I want to apply. I can also create my own rules. What my vampires can and can’t do is as much about characterisation and plot as fitting in logically into the Blackthorn world I’ve created.
So, let’s start with…
WHAT BLACKTHORN VAMPIRES CAN’T DO.
They can’t live forever.
In case you missed it in the last post, Blackthorn vampires are not immortal. They are not the result of some evil spirit animating their undead body. They haven’t sold their soul in return for eternal life. They are a species in their own right.
They can’t shape-shift or change their features.
Blackthorn vampires can’t morph into another creature any more than their human counterparts can. They don’t change their features either. Eyes suddenly turning black or red, facial features becoming disfigured, or ears and nails elongating when they are harmed, angry or hungry is one way to represent the demon ‘outing’ during moments of stress. It gets used a lot on TV shows and films not only for that reason, but because visually it’s more interesting and generates more scares. With nothing to ‘out’ from my vampires, they stay looking the same aside from a few subtle differences. The ‘fangs’ I’ll be dealing with in another post.
They can’t be warded off by holy symbols.
Being warded off by holy symbols, primarily crosses or holy water, was established by the Christian Church to support their theory of the evilness of vampires. Again, mine don’t have any demonic association, hence no recoiling.
They can’t display superhuman abilities.
If Blackthorn vampires were a breed of supercreatures, then the tension in my stories wouldn’t exist. Introduce a few thousand super-vamps globally and it wouldn’t take too long for them to take over the world. They’re definitely more physically adept than us (more on that in Friday’s post), but not to the extent they can leap entire buildings, fly, knock through walls or bend steel. What would be the point of front doors, let alone border control?
They can’t read minds.
Vampires have been associated with hypnotic stares or an ability to compel as a way of controlling their victims. How sexy it is for a vampire to control another into doing what they want – especially in a romantic relationship – is down to personal preference. Personally, I think it’s much more powerful if an individual’s actions are generated out of free choice. What’s wrong with old-fashioned charm and a little bit of clever psychology? Hence no siring in Blackthorn! And if my vampires are psychic, where’s the tension? Most conflict in relationships arises out of trying to guess each other’s feelings, motivations or perspectives. It’s no fun if one side has all the answers.
They can’t develop disease, get drunk or be affected by smoking.
My vampires aren’t infallible but they can tolerant things our more vulnerable human bodies can’t. They can drink copious amounts of alcohol and smoke without any health or side effects because, basically, their resilience and self-healing abilities are more proficient. It’s one of the reasons the Global Council think it’s acceptable to leave vampires to cope in the pollution-riddled Blackthorn (whilst making the most of a few experiments here and there…).
However…
They can’t tolerate silver, garlic or hemlock.
A vampire’s allergy to silver is hugely debated. Some say it was borrowed from lycan lore. Some say silver is a repellant because of its holy connotations – one legend claiming that vampires originated with Judas Iscariot and that silver was cursed when he betrayed Jesus with 30 pieces of it. Others say it’s down to the mysticism surrounding silver’s lunar associations. According to Greek mythology, Goddess Artemis had cursed the first vampire on earth that whenever it touched silver, the skin burned. It also has a paralyzing effect. Whichever, silver upsets my vampires’ internal balance. And it hurts. They also hate hemlock. Hemlock is a genuine poisonous herb that causes paralysis (it was allegedly used to kill Socrates the philosopher) – hence why Caitlin laces her gun with it in Blood Shadows. Blackthorn vampires are allergic to garlic because the allicin compound it contains thins their blood to the extent of making them bleed internally and externally. It also gives them symptoms of low blood pressure. Very unpleasant.
They can’t turn you.
As Kane said in his interview on GraveTells: “…we sure as hell don’t turn you as your religious leaders would like you to believe, anymore than drinking cow’s blood would have you grow hooves and chew the cud.” They can’t turn people because they don’t carry a virus and, as stated at the beginning of the post, are not part of a transmittable evil lineage. Once a vampire, always a vampire. Once human, always a human.
I’ll be back on Friday with what Blackthorn vampires can do.
