Looking for a Sire/Group RP for a Docks/City/Abandoned Cath. Turned Sanct. for Vamps

Dhampirs:


A Dhampir in Balkan folklore is the child of a Vampire and a Human. The term is sometimes spelled Dhampyre, Dhamphir, or Dhampyr. Dhampir powers are similar to those of Vampires, but without the usual weaknesses. In recent Vampire fiction, Dhampir refers to any Hybrid of one Human and one Vampire parent; they are half-breeds, not Vampires themselves.

The word Dhampir is believed to derive from the Albanian language where pirё means "to drink", and dhёmbё or dham means "teeth", thus Dhampir, "to drink with teeth".

The word "Dhampir" is associated with Balkan folklore, specially by Albania dham(teeth) pir(drink) in origin Albanian words of a dark prince used in zone of Dibra, Albania as described by. In other regions the child is named "Vampir" if a boy and "Vampiresa" if a girl, or "Dhampir" if a boy and "Dhampiresa" if a girl. In Bulgarian folklore, numerous terms such as Glog, Vampirdzhiya, Vampirar, Dzhadadzhiya and Svetocher are used to refer to Vampire children and descendants, as well as to other specialized Vampire Hunters. Dhampiraj is also an Albanian surname.

In the Balkans it was believed that male Vampires have a great desire for women, so a Vampire will return to have intercourse with his wife or with a woman he was attracted to in life. Indeed, in one recorded case, a Serbian widow tried to blame her pregnancy on her late husband, who had supposedly become a Vampire, and there were cases of Serbian men pretending to be Vampires in order to reach the women they desired. In Bulgarian folklore, Vampires were sometimes said to deflower virgins as well. The sexual activity of the Vampire seems to be a peculiarity of South Slavic Vampire belief as opposed to other Slavs, although a similar motif also occurs in Belarusian legends.

Some traditions specify signs by which the children of a Vampire can be recognized. Albanian legends state they have untamed dark or black hair and lack a shadow. In Bulgarian folklore, possible indications include being "very dirty," having a soft body, no nails and bones (the latter physical peculiarity is also ascribed to the Vampire itself), and "a deep mark on the back, like a tail." In contrast, a pronounced nose was often a sign, as were larger than normal ears, teeth or eyes. According to J. Gordon Melton, from his book, The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead, in some areas, a true Dhampir possessed a "slippery, jelly-like body and lived only a short life—a belief that Vampires have no bones."

All of this is rather Common Knowledge that can be gathered from anywhere if you just listen to your Elders and use the Internet.

Shifters:

In mythology, folklore, and modern fantasy fiction, shapeshifting is the ability of a being to physically transform into another form or entity. This can be done as an inherent faculty of a mythological creature, or by means of magic.

The concept is present in antiquity, and may indeed be a Human cultural universal. It is present in the oldest forms of totemism or shamanism, as well as the oldest extant literature and epic poems. The shape-shifting is usually induced by the act of a Deity; it persisted into the literature of the Middle Ages and the modern period. It remains a common trope in modern fantasy, children's literature, and works of pop culture.

By far the most common form of shape-shifting is Therianthropy which is the transformation of a Human being into an Animal (or conversely of an Animal into Human form). Additionally, there can be a transformation into a plant or object, another Human form (e.g. fair to ugly, or vice versa), but these transformations are more rare.

Weres:

A Were, also known as a Lycanthrope is a mythological or folkloric Human with the ability to shapeshift into a Wolf or a Therianthropic Hybrid Wolf-like creature or other type of Were, either purposely or after being placed under a curse or affliction (e.g. via a bite or scratch from another Were). Early sources for belief in lycanthropy are Petronius and Gervase of Tilbury.
The werewolf is a widespread concept in European folklore, existing in many variants which are related by a common development of a Christian interpretation of underlying Indo-European mythology which developed during the medieval period. From the early modern period, werewolf beliefs also spread to the New World with colonialism. Belief in werewolf develops parallel to the belief in witches, in the course of the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. Like the witchcraft trials as a whole, the trial of supposed werewolves emerges in what is now Switzerland (especially the Valais and Vaud) in the early 15th century and spreads throughout Europe in the 16th, peaking in the 17th and subsiding by the 18th century. The persecution of werewolves and the associated folklore is an integral part of the "witch-hunt" phenomenon, albeit a marginal one, accusations of werewolfery being involved in only a small fraction of witchcraft trials. During the early period, accusations of lycanthropy (transformation into a wolf) were mixed with accusations of wolf-riding or wolf-charming. The case of Peter Stumpp (1589) led to a significant peak in both interest in and persecution of supposed werewolves, primarily in French-speaking and German-speaking Europe. The phenomenon persisted longest in Bavaria and Austria, with persecution of wolf-charmers recorded until well after 1650, the final cases taking place in the early 18th century in Carinthia and Styria.

Slayers and Hunters of All Kinds:

A Vampire Hunter or Vampire Slayer is a Character in Folklore and fiction who specializes in finding and destroying Vampires, and sometimes other Supernatural Creatures. A Vampire Slayer is usually described as having extensive knowledge of Vampires and other monstrous creatures, including their powers and weaknesses, and uses this knowledge to effectively combat them. In many works, vampire hunters are simply humans with more than average knowledge about the occult, while in others they are themselves supernatural beings, having superhuman abilities. A well known and influential vampire hunter is Professor Abraham Van Helsing, a character in Bram Stoker's 1897 horror novel, Dracula.

The most widely known example of a Vampire Slayer is Abraham Van Helsing of the novel Dracula and in other works of fiction adapting or modifying that work. Other more recent figures include Buffy "the Vampire Slayer" Summers from the television show and film of the same name. Buffy's spin-off series Angel is also focused on a vampire hunter, the titular star, Angel "the World's Champion," a Vampire himself, is often portrayed battling Vampires. Vampire Slayers have also appeared in video games, such as BloodRayne.

Witches:

Witchcraft (also called witchery or spellcraft) is the use of magical faculties, most commonly for religious, divinatory or medicinal purposes. This may take many forms depending on cultural context. The belief in and the practice of magic has been present since the earliest human cultures and continues to have an important religious and medicinal role in many cultures today.

The concept of witchcraft as harmful is often treated as a cultural ideology providing a scapegoat for human misfortune. This was particularly the case in the early modern period of Europe where witchcraft came to be seen as part of a vast diabolical conspiracy of individuals in league with the Devil undermining Christianity, eventually leading to large-scale witch-hunts, especially in Protestant Europe. Witch hunts continue to this day with tragic consequences.

Since the mid-20th century Witchcraft has become the designation of a branch of modern paganism. It is most notably practiced in the Wiccan traditions, some of whom claim to practice a revival of pre-Abrahamic spirituality.

In anthropological terminology, a "witch" differs from a sorcerer in that they do not use physical tools or actions to curse; their maleficium is perceived as extending from some intangible inner quality, and the person may be unaware that they are a "witch", or may have been convinced of their own evil nature by the suggestion of others. This definition was pioneered in a study of central African magical beliefs by E. E. Evans-Pritchard, who cautioned that it might not correspond with normal English usage.

Historians of European witchcraft have found the anthropological definition difficult to apply to European and British witchcraft, where "witches" could equally use (or be accused of using) physical techniques, as well as some who really had attempted to cause harm by thought alone.

Vampires:

Vampires are mythical beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence (generally in the form of blood) of living creatures In folkloric tales, undead vampires often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths in the neighbourhoods they inhabited when they were alive. They wore shrouds and were often described as bloated and of ruddy or dark countenance, markedly different from today's gaunt, pale vampire which dates from the early 1800s. Although vampiric entities have been recorded in most cultures, the term vampire was not popularised until the early 18th century, after an influx of vampire superstition into Western Europe from areas where vampire legends were frequent, such as the Balkans and Eastern Europe, although local variants were also known by different names, such as vrykolakas in Greece and strigoi in Romania. This increased level of vampire superstition in Europe led to what can only be called mass hysteria and in some cases resulted in corpses actually being staked and people being accused of vampirism.

In modern times, however, the vampire is generally held to be a fictitious entity, although belief in similar vampiric creatures such as the chupacabra still persists in some cultures. Early folkloric belief in vampires has been ascribed to the ignorance of the body's process of decomposition after death and how people in pre-industrial societies tried to rationalise this, creating the figure of the vampire to explain the mysteries of death. Porphyria was also linked with legends of vampirism in 1985 and received much media exposure, but has since been largely discredited.

The charismatic and sophisticated vampire of modern fiction was born in 1819 with the publication of The Vampyre by John Polidori; the story was highly successful and arguably the most influential vampire work of the early 19th century. However, it is Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula which is remembered as the quintessential vampire novel and provided the basis of the modern vampire legend. The success of this book spawned a distinctive vampire genre, still popular in the 21st century, with books, films, and television shows. The vampire has since become a dominant figure in the horror genre.

Vampires are often portrayed having a wide variety of Weaknesses, though many have been disproved by those that actually have encountered those which are, in exceedingly Rare cases, considered by Society to be actual Vampires.