Weaknesses

Vampires are not so much immortal as they are extremely long lived. Forever is a concept that Vampires bandy around a great deal, but even the majority of them do not truly conceive of what forever is. They consider themselves to be Immortal, but immortality holds a sense of 'never dying.' Vampires can not die of natural causes, but there are still those things in the world that can harm them or bring out their permanent demise.

Invitations are required for a Vampire to enter the home of any living person or being.1 There is a work around, and Vampires have been known to compel the resident of the home to permit them entry. The keyword is that the invitation must be extended by a resident of the home, although it does not need to be the home owner. Additionally, Vampires can be uninvited but the means of doing this is not common knowledge and most believe that an invitation given is an invitation forever.2

Sunlight is the anti-thesis of Vampires. Aside from those few gifted with day walking, Vampires cannot stand to be in the sunlight. Upon entering into direct sunlight, a vampire's skin will begin to crackle and burn, and will continue to do so until the Vampire is a charred, crisp husk. Sunlight inflicted injuries heal more slowly than other injuries, with the exception of silver, and require fresh blood for a quick healing.

In addition, it is challenging for a Vampire to remain awake during the day, depending on the age of the Vampire. While it is not impossible for a Vampire to remain awake when the sun rises, their natures rebel against it, and their bodies will attempt to 'shut down' the longer they are awake. Fresh blood and age aid with this, but even the oldest known Vampires tend to spend some part of the day in slumber.3

Silver is toxic and harmful to Vampires. Merely coming into contact with silver, be it jewelry or weaponry, will cause burns on the Vampire's skin where it has contacted the metal. Prolonged contact with silver weakens the Vampire (in addition to burning them), and for this reason silver is often used as a means to restrain Vampires.

When wielded against Vampires, knives made of silver leave particularly nasty wounds behind. These are wounds that do not close up and begin to heal in the normal allotted time, and often such wounds lead to mild to extreme silver blood poisoning. Wounds from silver can take double to triple the time to heal, depending on the residual strength of the vampire, the wound and how quickly and often the Vampire may ingest fresh blood.

Fire can cause a great deal of pain and injury to a vampire. However, unlike sunlight and silver, Vampires can heal from fire damage provided that the fire is extinguished and they are allowed time and receive a great deal of fresh blood.4

Wood can be an exacerbation to wounds or fatal, depending on how it is used. A wooden stake through the heart is one of the surest methods of permanently destroying a Vampire. When the stake is driven through the heart, the Vampire immediately begins to shut down. The body ceases to function, the Vampire turns ashen and then comes death. Within hours of death, the body will crumble into dust. This all happens quite quickly, however, so it appears as though death by staking is instantaneous.

Wooden bullets can disable and slow down a Vampire. Vampires do not heal from wood, and therefore wounds inflicted in this manner will continue to bleed out until the source of wood is removed. A wooden bullet through the heart is the same as staking. As with all injuries, short of death, a vampire can heal with time and enough fresh blood.

Beheading is the other certain method of killing a Vampire. When the head is severed from the body, the body becomes ashen and will crumble into dust.

Those who hunt and kill Vampires like to use a stake and decapitation method, thereby ensuring that the Vampire is well and truly dead.

Bites from werecreatures (werewolves, wererats, etc.) act as an allergy to some Vampires. Upon being bitten, the wound will become inflamed. It will take on the look of an infected wound, including turning green, becoming swollen, and sometimes taking on a foul stench. From there, the reaction will spread, leading the vampire to experience flu-like symptoms, though the worse of it is the delirium. The bite is not fatal, however, an unrestrained Vampire suffering from delirium can be viewed as a threat.

Juniper is the one plant that is harmful to Vampires. Any and all parts of the plant will affect Vampires in some way. The needle-like or scale-like leaves will burn a vampire much as silver and sunlight do. Ingesting juniper, the juice, or the berry fruit will cause the Vampire to have a reaction that mirrors human anaphylaxis. Though breathing is not required, the Vampire will begin to experience shortness of breath and choking. Eventually, it will lead them to a vastly weakened state, followed by a period of paralysis until the herb can be purged from their systems.

Magic is not something to which Vampires have an immunity. Vampires are affected by magic, as are any humans or other supernatural creatures, unless they have magical protections of their own.


Notes

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