Soul Drinkers
Amidst the spiritualist fervor of Victorian London, one group
of neo-mystics managed to do what hundreds of their more educated
peers couldn't: they discovered real magic. A blood rite with
roots in the prehistoric religions of Sumeria granted them
authority over the spirits of the dead. At first, they merely
used their new slaves to impress the rich and gullible with
poltergeists and phony seances. Eventually, they branched
out into more lucrative businesses, like spying on dignitaries
and breaking into banks. Finally, they learned how to cheat
death itself by offering up a captured soul in place of their
own.
Soul Drinkers are perfectly human, just immune to the ravages
of age. Any time they develop an illness or suffer a life
threatening injury, they just cut one of their bound souls
loose. This allows their own soul to remain in the land of
the living, and resets their body to its unspoiled, youthful
state.
Their sole abnormality is only visible to those who can see
into the spirit world (psychics, shamans, and the like). Soul
Drinkers are usually surrounded by a swirling vortex of ghostly
lights. All those tortured, screaming souls will give a sensitive
mystic a splitting headache... and a reflexive urge to kill
the vampire.
Binding a soul requires drinking the blood of the living.
Usually, this kills the victim. Once bound, Soul Drinkers
can command their spirits, by word and gesture, to move objects
and to spy on people or places. By drinking only part of a
soul, the vamp can use it to read the thoughts of a living
person and influence their actions.
However, they cannot cross running water with bonded souls;
they must release their souls first. Of course, this leaves
them in a dangerous state: mortality.
After a century of gluttony, a Soul Drinker could have hundreds
of souls enslaved. With such power, they are virtually impossible
to kill. A better tactic is to immobilize or incapacitate
them. Tasers, sedatives, and 2x4's to the back of the head
are all good options.
The only reliable way to kill them is submersion in running
water. Since spirits cannot cross running water, this temporarily
separates the Soul Drinker from their slaves... and leaves
the vamp vulnerable to things like stabbing, gunshots, and
(conveniently enough) drowning. |
