Vampyres (an OtherSPORE Kith)

The Vampyre is a new Thallain/Cambion kith for OtherSPORE; it is compatible with other Changeling: the Dreaming chronicles--1st, 2nd, or 20th Anniversary editions.  They are a Thallain counterpart to Redcaps, based on the legend of the creation of the prodigal Vampires (and would, therefore replace Ghasts in any chronicle in which they are used).  Inspiration is taken from the Ghast, the Night Hag, the Sevartal, and the Weeping Wight.

Vampyres can trace their lineage to an unseelie redcap whose hunger for flesh mutated into a thirst for blood.  This drew the attention of a cacodaemonic prince, who gave that redcap a place in his court in the Underworld.  This redcap became the patriarch of a new lineage of cambion who shared his thirst for blood and compelling nature.

These cambions are responsible for the vampire legends that have spread among mundanes.  However, a lot of mundane mythology regarding vampires is a result of misunderstanding the vampyres kith--as well as Hollywood extrapolation on key stories.   While they are not undead themselves, they often use near death experiences (often through blood loss) to trigger chrysalis among fledglings.  Garlic allergy, fear of running water, and fetishes for sleeping in dirt and/or coffins have all been personality traits of individual vampyres, but are not universal.

Seemings

Childling vampyres (called waifs) would be described by mundanes as small for their apparent age--frail and sickly.  Their large, dark eyes simultaneously express innocence and sadness.  Waifs will use their appearance to inspire pity among those they manipulate.

Wilders are eternally youthful and beautiful.  They typically have lustrous black or red hair, full lips, bright eyes, and porcelain smooth skin.  They are commonly slim and graceful.  Wilder vampyres will manipulate others with their physical allure.

Grumps (called nosferatu) are lean and pale; hair is pale, stringy and thin--at least for those who still have it.  Fingers, nails, ears, and noses are all long and pointed and hooked; and fangs are prominent at all times.  Their complexion is blotchy and sickly, with bloodshot eyes and yellowing teeth.  Nosferatu will manipulate others with fear.

The Desecrated, Undead of OtherSPORE

World of Darkness: Mummy, Second Edition was an early take on alternate undead for the World of Darkness universe.  Written as a supplement to the early editions of Vampire: The Masquerade, this book allows players to create mummies--living dead whose bodies and souls have been ritually preserved, and are capable of rising from the dead no matter how often they are slain.  These rules in this book are more compatible with Changeling: the Dreaming and Freak Legion than those of Mummy: the Resurrection, so are used here to create The Desecrated, a class of Younger Things in the OtherSPORE setting.

For centuries after the Otherwords were separated from the Mundane World, humans still tried to achieve immortality.  One theory was that if a body was preserved, so was the soul--and so spells and rituals were developed to accomplish that goal.  However, while the fetch was able to be preserved with he body, the wraith was not (see below concerning fetch/ka and wraith/ba).  These spells shouldhave worked, though--it is only the separation of the Worlds by the daemons that prevents these methods from working properly.  Without a wraith/ba, these preserved dead are open to desecration by the awakening Elder Things: taking the form of a false wraith (a "bane spirit"), a Younger Thing (a descendant of the Elder Things) can possess a mummy, merging with its body and fetch/ka--forming a new life form.

An unintended side effect of this desecration process is that the Desecrated Younger Thing is bound to the customs surrounding the specific rite used to create the mummy.  Though references are made to mummies of other cultures, Mummy 2E primarily deals with Egyptian mummies--and the book is aware of that fact, identifying these "Shemsu-Heru" as ethnocentric in their use of the term "Others" to collectively refer to all other mummies.  Shemsu-Heru only represent one of the main Rites.  Here, I make an attempt to flesh out the other rites referenced in the original book, together with a few of my own.  These Rites are:

• Cabiri, the Greco-Roman Rite
• Incorrupt, the Abrahamic Rite
• Mallki, the Andean Rite
• Shemsu-Heru, the Egyptian Rite
• Sokushinbutsu, the Dharmic Rite

Kith of OtherSPΩRE

A Brief Description of Otherworld, OtherSPORE's "Dreaming"

The Otherworld is a parallel world that links all the realities of the TriCosm.  In the reality of GaiaSPORE it is called "Psychical Space"; while in LegacySPORE it is known as the "Astral Planes".  In all cases, these are the same "dimension", shared by all three settings.  This "transitive plane" (to borrow a term from Dungeons & Dragons) exists in three states:  one in "resonant harmony" with physical reality, another state at a "higher resonance", and a third at a "lower resonance."

The higher state is home to the benevolent, virtuous beings called eudamons; this state is known as Overworld or Celeste.  The lower state is home to the malevolent, vicious beings called cacodaemons; conversely, this state is known as Underworld or Chthonia.  The harmonic state is known as Middleworld or Limbo; its native residents (stereotyped as selfish and vain, though this isn't always true) are the agathodaemons.  All three "planes" are visited by otherkin and mundanes alike--particularly in a dream state.

In GaiaSPORE, the divisions of Psychical Space are called Hyperspace, Paraspace, and Subspace.  In LegacySPORE, the divisions of the Astral Planes are called the Higher or Upper Plane, the Parallel Plane, and the Lower Plane.

In most cases, the Dreaming refers to the neutral, harmonic state of the Middleworld; while Arcadia refers to the higher vibration of the Overworld.  Any unseelie holdings in the Dreaming would be the equivalent of the Underworld.

Concerning the Nature of Otherkin, OtherSPORE's "Changelings"

Tens of thousands of years ago, humankind was subject to the manipulative machinations of the Elder Things--ancient horrors from the far reaches of space and time.  Eventually, a group of humans would ascend to a power that rivaled that of the Elder Things; and they used that power to overthrow and imprison their oppressors.  These ascended humans were the first daemons.  The daemons and the Otherworld are inexorably tied to one another:  For it was the existence of an Otherworld that allows some humans to harness the powers that would make them daemons; yet it was the rise of the daemons that solidified the existence of the Otherworld.