ASCENDING
At any time, a Guardian can choose to Ascend, and move on to his afterlife. A Guardian does not automatically go to Heaven; like all humans and vampires, a Guardian will be judged.
See also: Falling
THE ASCENSION
In the course of Guardian history, there have been times when groups of several hundred or more Guardians decide to Ascend at the same time. This is called an Ascension. The last Ascension took place in the mid-1990s, when thousands of Guardians decided to move on to their afterlife.
A quality within a being that allows them to be teleported to different realms. Humans (including former humans, such as Guardians and vampires) have natural anchors to Earth, Caelum, and Hell. Demons have anchors to Hell and Earth. Nosferatu only have anchors to Earth.
Also, an anchor can be a psychic or physical connection that allows teleporting Guardians to go to a specific person or location.
A bargain is a formal agreement made with a demon — it is usually an exchange of some type. It can be dissolved by either party ONLY as long as neither side has fullfilled their part. Once one side has fulfilled their part, only they can release the other side from the bargain.
If a party dies before they fulfill their side of the agreement, their soul is bound to Hell, and they spent eternity in the field of frozen faces.
See also: field of frozen faces, wagers
BLOOD
Blood activates the shielding spell. In rituals, blood is drawn from the symbols and swallowed.
Vampires drink blood to survive; if they do not drink every day, their hunger and bloodlust becomes intolerable. They must drink living blood(directly from a living body, and not from animals), because only living blood carries the psychic energy from which they feed. Vampires can exist on animal or non-living blood for a short amount of time. If they rely on it for too long, however, their sexual libido is diminished, their bodies will lose strength, they become shaky and tired, and their mental capacity and intelligence is lowered.
Nosferatu do not have to drink blood to survive, but they suffer from bloodlust.
When a vampire or nosferatu is drinking blood, their psychic abilities become sharper and more powerful. It is impossible for a being to maintain psychic blocks while a nosferatu is drinking their blood.
Vampire blood has healing properties. If it is applied topically or given intravenously, it speeds in healing damaged tissues and can offer the recipient strength.
Vampire and nosferatu blood must be ingested to transform a human into a vampire.
See also: bloodlust, vampires, rituals, the symbols, the shielding spell, psychic abilities
BLOODLUST
An overwhelming sexual thirst that vampires and nosferatu experience. A vampire is not always struck by bloodlust when he drinks; it is less likely to hit if he is not hungry.
The bloodlust rids the vampire of choice. If a vampire is suffering from bloodlust, once he has started drinking he is not able to stop until the bloodlust is satisfied.
Drinking blood typically produces sexual arousal for both the vampire and the person he is drinking from (the exception to this is demons, who do not experience sexual arousal). If the victim desires a vampire suffering from bloodlust, the vampire will not be able to stop himself from having sex with the victim. If the victim resists, however, the vampire has a choice.
The bloodlust does not respect the free will of the vampire — only the free will of the victim.
See also: free will, blood, vampires, nosferatu
Vampires and nosferatu. Sometimes used as a derogatory term.
A psychic storage space. Guardians, hellhounds, demons, and nosferatu have caches. A non-living object can be vanished into the cache, but only if the Guardian possesses the object, or if the owner of the object has given permission. The object must be vanished whole; a Guardian cannot vanish pieces of something.
If a Guardian is killed, Falls, or Ascends without emptying their cache, everything within it is lost. When blood or dead bodies are vanished into a cache, the sensation is often described as uncomfortable or nauseating. When it is a demon’s or nosferatu’s blood, the sensation is worse — it’screepy.
A few novice Guardians have adopted video game terminology, and call their cache a hammerspace. An older term for it, occasionally still used by demons and nosferatu, is a hoard.
A vampire’s partner. “Consort” is typically used by older or more traditional vampires, or vampires who aren’t in an equal relationship with their partner. Can be male or female.
Curses are rare. They typically occur when a human accidentally stumbles across a demonic symbol and activates a spell (usually with blood and an invocation).
DAYSLEEP
Both vampires and nosferatu sleep from sunrise to sunset. Breathing and movement stops; only their hearts beat.
If a vampire or nosferatu is teleported from one time zone to another, he will either fall into the daysleep (if he’s teleported to a location where the sun is up) or wake up (if he is teleported to a nighttime location.)
Only the vampire Colin Ames-Beaumont can resist the daysleep, but even he must sleep once or twice a week. If a sacrificial rite is performed, it can also allow nosferatu and vampires to remain awake during the daylight hours, but only Lucifer knows the proper symbols for the ritual.
The ancient script for the Old Language. Most demons, Guardians, and vampires cannot read it.
In the correct formation and with proper activation (typically with blood), the symbols can be used to create spells. Rituals often consist of the symbols being carved into flesh, and the blood ingested. The shielding spell is the combination of the symbols for “silence,” “surround,” and “lock,” and activated by living blood.
THE DOYEN
The leader of the Guardians; the Guardian who transforms humans to Guardian, enforces the Rules in Caelum, and faciliates a Guardian’s Fall or Ascension.
Vampires who enforces their community’s rules. Typically, the elders and/or head of a community hires an enforcer when they do not want to do the dirty work of slaying any community members who break the rules.
ENTHRALLED
Guardians have powerful senses, which are not used to their full capacity in the sterile world of Caelum. When a full-fledged Guardian first returns to Earth, the bombardment of physical and psychic sensation can overwhelm them in a sensation not unlike intoxication or a chemical high.
The reversal of a Guardian’s transformation — if a Guardian Falls, he becomes human again. Depending upon the length of time he was a Guardian, a Fallen human will be stronger, faster, and heal more quickly than a normal human; his lifespan will also be extended.
A Guardian may choose to Fall at any time after the first hundred years of training have been completed or he has begun his service on Earth (a Guardian can choose to Ascend at any time, however, even if the century has not passed.)
The territory in Hell surrounding Lucifer’s throne. The surface is frozen and filled with the faces of the damned — those demons, humans, and vampires who have failed to fulfill their bargains. Only their faces are visible, and though they cannot move they are aware. No sound can be heard but the psychic noise of their screams. No one, Guardian or demon, can wear their wings while in the territory.
Although Guardians and vampires are also halflings (a term to describe any being who had once been human), it is typically a derogatory term used by demons to describe humans who have been transformed into demons by a ritual.
There are no demon halflings left; they have all been killed or are in the frozen field (only one was transformed back to human).
Humans and halflings are not affected by hellhound venom when it is injected into their bloodstream. The effect of ingesting it is unknown.
HAMMERSPACE (HOARD, CACHE)
A psychic storage space. Guardians, hellhounds, demons, and nosferatu have caches. A non-living object can be vanished into the cache, but only if the Guardian possesses the object, or if the owner of the object has given permission. The object must be vanished whole; a Guardian cannot vanish pieces of something.
If a Guardian is killed, Falls, or Ascends without emptying their cache, everything within it is lost. When blood or dead bodies are vanished into a cache, the sensation is often described as uncomfortable or nauseating. When it is a demon’s or nosferatu’s blood, the sensation is worse — it’screepy.
A few novice Guardians have adopted video game terminology, and call their cache a hammerspace. An older term for it, occasionally still used by demons and nosferatu, is a hoard.
With training, a Guardian possessing this Gift can instantly heal almost any injury — except for human-caused injuries, self-inflicted wounds, and naturally-occuring sicknesses.
A psychic storage space. Guardians, hellhounds, demons, and nosferatu have caches. A non-living object can be vanished into the cache, but only if the Guardian possesses the object, or if the owner of the object has given permission. The object must be vanished whole; a Guardian cannot vanish pieces of something.
If a Guardian is killed, Falls, or Ascends without emptying their cache, everything within it is lost. When blood or dead bodies are vanished into a cache, the sensation is often described as uncomfortable or nauseating. When it is a demon’s or nosferatu’s blood, the sensation is worse — it’screepy.
A few novice Guardians have adopted video game terminology, and call their cache a hammerspace. An older term for it, occasionally still used by demons and nosferatu, is a hoard.
The sword that Michael used to kill the dragon in the Second Battle. Indestructible, it can slice through rock and burst aflame. It still holds some of the dragon’s power, which can be transferred to people through their blood. The sword can be used as an anchor to Chaos.