WI real HomoVampiris ?

Nik

Never mind the movie parodies with cross-phobia, garlic allergy, flying, transmogrification etc etc, what if there really was a crypto-zoological Vampiric NightHunter Human sub-species ??

( A bad pun, not a DBWI !!)

I've explored some of the implications with Bete Noir (short) and and its sort-of prequel Project Lorraine (on-going) in the AH Writers' forum.

Okay, these are splendidly non-canon Vampires, but it was the only way I could find to make them 'work'...

eg I've kept The_Bite, but it delivers a variable mix of anti-coagulants and neuro-toxins, plus assorted oral nasties acquired from previous snacks. Three hits of those, and you might be convinced of anything-- assuming TB3 or similar infection hadn't yet killed you !!

As for these Vampires' blood-need and frequent crankiness, think 'Madness of King George'...

Now that my Project Lorraine is approaching a dozen chapters, I'd appreciate some feedback from your wider readership.
 
Fenwick

Fenwick

So you mean vampires as like having a blood disease? Maybe Syphilis without the weakening of the body and rapid damge to the mind and nervous system.
 

Nik

Porpyria variant.

I've put a POD waaay back in pre-history:

Hypothesis:

My non-canon Vampires evolved from our pre-Homo ancestors. They lived beside and preyed on our ancestors as DayHunters and NightHunters. Their existence helped force pre-hominids out of the trees. At some stage, as with Cheetahs, their populations bottle-necked. The last DayHunters died out ~~2000 BCE, when NightHunters had a recessive Porphyria mutation 'locked in'...

They've kept out of the way during recorded history-- Our ignorance being their bliss, their existence stayed the stuff of myth & legend.

They managed this by a nocturnal existence, plus a Bite that could deliver a variety of neuro-toxins in addition to the obligatory anti-coagulants.

Also, they had 'Glamour': They could just slip by, un-noticed by the general population.

Lately, though, electronic surveilance for terrorists has begun to un-mask them. Out of the resulting chaos and panic, different countries and communities found different solutions...

Explore...
 

Max Sinister

Banned
This sounds a bit ASBish. If you want that your "vampires" have a pale skin, larger (or larger-looking) teeth, need for drinking blood, and some other symptoms, OK. But a complete subspecies (how do they mate, if they're a tiny minority among humans, and can be easily confused with them?)? Or glamour? What's next, flying?
 

HelloLegend

Banned
I think it is plausible for a different kind of homo species to have existed that is on par with homo sapien sapien intelligence.

If these creatures do exist. Then they must be keeping it a secret,
and living in a secluded place like Siberia.
 

Umbral

I'd advise to scratch the "Glamour", unless you can come up with a strong scientific explanation.

As for how they would find each other, sense of smell should work. Homo Sapiens are nearly noseblind. These goys would have a real problem with speciesjumper diseases too. If they are going to be both on par with us for intelligence, and look like us, odds are they would be very, very close genetically.

I'd have given them somewhat different looks -enough to be considered ugly in most cases, but not nonhuman. And somewhat lower intelligence. Something of a communications gap. Better strength, sense of smell, and nightvision.
A jock, really.
 

NapoleonXIV

Banned
Willya all please stop with the Porphyria as Vampirism. :mad: Jesus, don't these poor people who really have this affliction have enough problems? The resemblance is no more than superficial on close examination and it doesn't need to be mentioned in any case. Any of you have more than the miniscule talent required to make up a disease which mimics vampirism much more closely.

That being said I've been working on a vampire short story of my own for some time. My vampire is an old man, who lives alone in a hotel and is being victimised by young toughs and the hotel detective, and then the exsanquinated bodies start turning up.

But might not that be the case? If there were real vampires wouldn't they likely be pitiful examples of marginal people, forced to live miserable lives on the periphery of society by their affliction?
 

Umbral

Depends.

If we are talking vampirism as a disease, yes. Maybe a dysfunction of the digestive organs.

If we are talking vampire as a predator evolved to feed on humans, or primates, the picture changes a bit. A species-specific predator which does not come with some armament to subdue its prey would simply fail to evolve.

However, I think it unlikly that an evolved primate predator would have anywhere near our intelligence. Intelligence is our thing, and it was a hideously expensive biological investment. The paralell evolution of our brains, plus a poison bite (expensive in itself), plus strength and senses...evolving all those refinements isn't going to happen.

What we could have is something that split off after we got our intelligence, about 200 000 years ago. Some cannibal tribe that lost the ability to digest most stuff after a few generations. In 200 000 years we could get some crude physiological modifications.

Strength, size and enhanced olfactory sensitivity is cheap biologically. We could throw in the traditional vampire teeth as well.

I could see these guys almost dying out after humankind drop in numbers after the Toba eruption. A low number survive outside of Africa by preying on other kinds of animals. By now they are a bit locked into their prey pattern after 130 000 years of preying on only one species though, so when they meet humans again, humans will still taste and smell mouth-wateringly good.

With their size and carnivorous habits, they would likly be best adapted for cold places, so Siberia is a good place for them.

Without human prey, they will have a problem with amino acids, so the surviving remnant population will stay small for some time. Give a few hundred thousand years they could likly get past that, but they should do better when they get in contact with humans again.

So rather than the suave vampire of legend, we get a kind of...sabretooth human. A vampiric ogre.
 

Nik

Sorry, it *is* more complex...

" Willya all please stop with the Porphyria as Vampirism. Jesus, don't these poor people who really have this affliction have enough problems? The resemblance is no more than superficial on close examination and it doesn't need to be mentioned in any case."

Okay, we've covered this before, and I'll apologise again for any ambiguity.

Porphyria is a most unpleasant metabolic condition, which can result from single or multiple failures in a complex enzyme cascade. It can vary from chronic to acute, may be triggered by many factors, can present with many oft-bizarre symptoms, is so easily mis-diagnosed...

I'll make it clear: People with Porphyria are NOT Vampires, canon or otherwise. That's reality.

These *FICTIONAL* HomoVampiris have a specific and terrible dysfunction of their metabolism which falls into the category we call Porphyria. It resembles HomoSap Porphyria as SmallPox does ChickenPox.

Please, read Bete Noir & Project Lorraine, decide if I have done the issues justice...
 

Nik

Help !!

Folks, I'm approaching a cusp-point in Project Lorraine, must set the scene for a crucial chapter.

That's a done-draft, almost complete, but the rest of my tale has to catch up with it. I'll need a couple of chapters to put the pieces in place...

Now I really am desperate for some input from our wider AH.COM community, a spread of opinions beyond my small, but faithful band of HomoVamp watchers...

So, please, don your non-canon HomoVamp Avatars and quiz this unlikely RogueBane.

If you want to take a Nest-Name, have an attitude, express an opinion, moan about the menu, offensively 'dis' Chris and/or set specific questions, please PM me...
 

Nik

A dozen chapters.

In passing, I've tried to explain SOTM's role in Amnesty system.

Hope this helps...
 

Nik

Bump...

I'm still working on the next chapters of Project Lorraine, still need some input...

I require questions from different points of view.

Help !!
 
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