"What sort of powers do vamp - I mean Kindred - have?" you ask.
"These really are things that Tereza should be telling you. It is, after all, her responsibility to instruct you through these first few nights. It's a wonder that you made it this far at all on your first night. But, if needs must...very well.
"Kindred have certain skills that mortals do not, which are passed down through the generations. One power you know of: a mild form of mind control. This is known as Domination, and it works by entrancing the victim by your stare and inserting thoughts and ideas into their minds. However, mortals are weak minded, and it is simple to Dominate them. It is not so simple for Kindred, and often one can do little more than push slightly."
"So I can make mortals succumb to my every whim?" you interject.
Ginger smiles and continues. "It is true that some great Kindred developed their Domination skills and learned to control small armies, but alas many of us have more modest skills, and perhaps reducing a mortal to a suggestible, mesmerised state is the extent of our powers. Don't expect to read people's minds, however, or control people like puppets: the idea is placed in the victim's mind, it fills their thoughts, but they still have the ability to disregard it, albeit with great difficulty.
"Of course, this skill is most beneficial, and has a range of uses. It allows us to freely seduce mortals: to present ourselves as beautiful creatures in our victims' eyes and to be willing to submit to our every whim to gain our affections. We can insert thoughts that make a bad idea seem like a good one, but it can be a frighteningly dangerous power if misused. Imagine, for instance, making a mortal believe that thousands of cockroaches are crawling under their skin, or that everyone around them wishes to kill them.
"Kindred also possess incredible strength, far greater than prior to our embrace. We also possess preternatural speed and agility and a greater awareness of our environment. With practise, you can sense others even when you cannot see them. As you may have guessed, Kindred are rarely surprised and even more rarely overwhelmed. As a neonate, these powers are comparatively weak, but over time you will hone them, just as I did with my pupils and for myself. I may have the body of a slender nineteen-year-old, but if I chose to, I could crush you before you were even aware." Ginger smiles and winks at you. "It comes in useful at times."
"Sounds like we have everything we need for our unlife," you quip.
"Yes, our condition is most beneficial. However, we have several weaknesses that can prove most...inconvenient."
"Please tell me it's not holy water and crucifixes?"
Ginger giggles. "No, not at all! You would do well to forget what Christopher Lee has taught you. We may be supernatural, but Final Death comes to us in a more physical, rather than spiritual, form. Sunlight, fire and beheadding are what we fear. We are injured by guns and other mortal weapons, but we have some tolerance to it. Should we suffer enough wounds, we fall into a torpor until our body recovers, but recover we do. A stake through the heart will also put us into torpor, but once that stake is removed, we shall wake up immediately."
"So no watching the sun rise anymore?"
"No. Not if you wish to see another night." |