Proud of their perceived ascension, ageless skin, and ability to spawn, they soon outnumbered their withered forefathers, and are what most people mean when referring to "vampires."Ī few strigoi too proud to feed on the filthy fluids of lesser beings starved almost to extinction, but from among these evolved the vetalas, vampires able to consume the pure humanity from their victims' minds. These became the moroi, the most common among vampirekind.
In time, some spurned the animalistic ways of their brethren and embraced the cult of youth that pervaded their mortal prey. Enraged by their own hunger and decay, these villains fell with bestial fury onto the bodies of Golarion's inhabitants and supped on their warmth and blood millennia ago. Over thousands of years, these ancient creatures died out, returned to their homeland, or evolved into the modern vampire races that now prey on the lives of mortals.Īmong the first vampiric descendants of the strigoi were the nosferatu. What brought them into the light has long been forgotten, though hissed secrets of the Whispering Way hint at a portal made by a primal necromancer who imagined vampirism as the secret to unlife. These first vampires bled into Golarion from the Plane of Shadow. The many distinct vampire races of Golarion all share a common ancestry: the strigoi. Vampiric influence is seen, or whispered of, across Golarion, and with such a long life and keen mind, the typical vampire leaves a mark upon its environment that goes beyond mere butchery.
After all, the promise of the vampire is not death, but an eternity of wicked decadence and powerful sensuality.Ī vampire who can manage its vulnerabilities and dependencies is free to roam far and wide in search of prey, power, or even adventure. We fear not only the physical harm they can inflict, but also that we may not be able to resist their tempting gifts. Their very nature drips with our desires-to be like them, to be with them, to destroy the parts of us that they represent. From the base, bestial nature of the nosferatu, to the delicate, perfumed cravings of the vetalas, vampires are creatures of unbound desire and subjects of endless fascination for mortals.
The legendary hunger of vampires stretches across endless years and countless tales. In the vampire, such comforting words take on a terrifying cast, for once freed from the fears and cares of the living, only the basest hunger and unsatisfied lusts survive, desires that transform even the most virtuous souls into monsters.
Priests often call death a release, a liberation from the bonds and concerns of life, allowing one to pass on into a state of rapture.