Vampire

Lexicon

There exists among the Cainites a distinct patois, drawing on many tongues and giving new shades of meaning to certain mortal words. One can often tell what generation a vampire is by listening to the parlance that she employs. There is a sharp distinction between the words used by neonates and those of elders. The wrong word in the wrong circumstances is often considered a serious breach of etiquette. The next two sections list the most frequently used terms (Common Parlance and terms from an ancient time (Old Form).

COMMON PARLANCE

These are the terms that are rmost commonly used among vampires during the Dark Ages.

Becoming, The: The moment one becomes a vampire; the metamorphosis from mortal to Cainite. Also called The Embrace.
Book of Nod, The: The "sacred" book of the Cainites, tracing the race's origins and early history. It has never been published in its entirety, although fragments are known to exist in various languages.
Beast, The: The drives and urges that prompt a vampire to become entirely a monster. Vide Man infra.
Blood: The vampire's heritage. That which makes a vampire a vampire.
Blood Oath: The most potent bond that can exist between vampires; the receiving of blood in an acknowledgment of mastery. This grants a mystical power over the one who is bound.
Caitiff: A vampire with no clan; frequently used in a derogatory fashion. To be clanless is not a virtue among the Cainites.
Childe: A term used for a young, inexperienced or foolish vampire. The plural form is Childer.
Clan: A group of vampires who share certain mystical and physical characteristics.
Domain: The fiefdom claimed by a vampire.
Elder: A vampire 300 years of age or older. Elders consider themselves the most powerful Cainites and usually engage in their own Jyhad.
Elysium: The name given for the places where the elders meet and gather, commonly public places of culture.
Embrace, The: The act of transforming a mortal into a vampire by draining the mortal's blood and replacing it with a small amount of the vampire's own blood.
Fledgling: A young, newly created vampire. Vide Neonate Whelp.
Generation: The number of steps between a vampire and the mythical Caine. Caine's get were the second generation, their brood the third, and so on.
Gehenna: The end of the Third Cycle; the impending Armageddon when the Antediluvians shall awaken and devour all vampires.
Ghoul: A servant created by allowing a mortal to drink Cainite blood without the draining that would give rise to a progeny.
Haven: The home of a vampire or the place where it sleeps.
Hunger, The As with mortals and other animals, the drive to feed. For vampires, though, it is much more intense, and takes the place of every other drive, urge and pleasure.
Jyhad, The The secret war being waged between the few surviving vampires of the third generation, using younger vampires as pawns. Also used to describe any sort of conflict or warfare among vampires.
Kiss: To take the blood of a mortal, or the act of taking blood in general.
Lupine: A werewolf, the mortal enemy of the vampires.
Man, The: The element of humanity which remains in a vampire, and which strives against the base urgings of the Beast (qv).
Prince: A vampire who has established a claim to rulership over an area, sometimes called a fief, and is able to support that claim. Though prince is the most common term, some rulers are referred to as the overlord, suzerain, baron, or sheik of the area. The feminine form is still prince.
Sire: The parent-creator of a vampire, used as both the female and male form.
Vessel: A potential or past source of blood, typically a human.

These are the words used by the elders and other vampires of antiquity. Though these terms are rarely used by the newly created, they are still the fashionable vernacular among the more sophisticated Cainites. Elders may often be identified simply by their vocabulary.

Amaranth: The act of drinking the blood of other Cainites.
Ancilla: An "adolescent" vampire; one who is no longer a neonate, but is also not an elder.
Antediluvian: One of the eldest Cainites, a member of the third generation. A warlord of the Jyhad.
Autarkis: A vampire who refuses to be a part of Cainite society and does not recognize the domain a prince.
Cainite: A vampire.
Canaille: The mortal populace, especially that element of it which is the most unsavory and lacking in culture (whom the Cainites largely feed upon).
Coterie: A group of Cainites who protect and support one another against all outsiders. Vide Brood.
Consanguineus: One of the same lineage (usually a younger member).
Diablerie: The act of feeding upon other vampires, out of either need or perversion. Vide Rogue.
Golconda: The state of being to which many vampires aspire, in which a balance is found between opposing urges and scruples. Many Cainites see it as the only path to salvation. Like the mortals' Nirvana, it is often spoken of, but seldom achieved.
Kine: A contemptuous term for mortals, often used in opposition to Cainite.
Lextalionis: The code of vampires, allegedly created by Caine. It suggests biblical justice--an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
Lineage: The bloodline of a vampire, traced by Embrace.
Methuselah: An elder who no longer lives among the other Cainites. Many Methuselah belong to the Inconnu.
Neonate:A young, newly created Cainite. Vide Fledgling, Whelp.
Osiris: A vampire who surrounds himself with mortal or ghoul followers in a cult or coven to better obtain sustenance. The practice is less common than it once was.
Progeny: A collective term for all the vampires created by one sire. Less formal, and less flattering, is Get.
Praxis: The right of princes to rule, as well as the rules, laws and customs enforced by a particular prince.
Regnant: One who has a Blood Oath over another Cainite, through giving said Cainite blood three times. Vide Blood Oath.
Retainers: Humans who serve a vampire master. They are generally either ghouls or mentally dominated by their vampire master. This control is sometimes so complete that the mortals are unable to take any action of their own volition.
Siren: A vampire who seduces mortals, but does not kill them and takes only a little blood after putting the mortal into a deep sleep.
Suspire: The dream dance during the final stage of the quest for Golconda. Caine, the progenitor of all vampires, according to the Book of Nod (qv).
Third Mortal:
Thrall: A vampire who is held under a Blood Oath, and thus under the control of another Cainite.
Vitae: Blood.
Whelp: A contemptuous term for one's own progeny.

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