Vitae (World of Darkness)
Encyclopedia : V : VI : VIT : Vitae (World of Darkness)
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World of Darkness Vampire series |
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Settings [[Vampire: The Dark Ages|Dark Ages]] [[Vampire: The Victorian Age|Victorian Age]] [[Vampire: The Masquerade|Masquerade]] [[Vampire: The Requiem|Requiem]] |
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Mythology Caine · Lilith Book of Nod Revelations of the Dark Mother The Erciyes Fragments |
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Vampire history Cainite Heresy · Gehenna |
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Vampire society Antitribu · Blood hunt · Caitiff · Camarilla · Masquerade · Sabbat |
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Vampirism Blood bond · Blood point · Bloodline · Childe · Clan · Diablerie · Embrace · Frenzy · Rötschreck · Vitae |
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Requiem [[Clans in Vampire: The Requiem|Requiem Clans]] · Carthian Movement · Circle of the Crone · Invictus · Lancea Sanctum · Ordo Dracul · |
In White Wolf Game Studio's role-playing games about vampires, vitae is a synonym of blood, especially as the symbol of life (cf Latin vita, "life"—whence English "vital"—and the derived phrase aqua vitae, or "water of life").
Vitae is the blood of living creatures from which vampires feed, and also the blood that circulates within the undead vampiric body. This blood is indeed the only, absolutely necessary substance for the vampire, who gains no nourishment from food or drink (some vampires can tolerate ingesting other substances, but their bodies cannot process or dispose of them). Vitae is the vampire's single, eternal and constant obsession.
A vampire can only take a fixed amount of vitae within his body (the mechanics of the role-playing games measure this amount in "blood points"). Every night he loses a part of this reserve (one blood point), and feels the need for more.
If a vampire cannot consume vitae for some time, he will become more and more thirsty and may eventually enter a frenzy, during which he will lose control and attempt to get blood from whoever comes near, until the frenzy subsides. It is very possible that this does not happen immediately even after he is satiated. When a vampire loses all his vitae reserve, he will lose his ability to move or react, and his body will begin to deteriorate, until blood is supplied again (a frenzy might ensue as soon as the body is able to move again).
Vitae can be gotten from mortal human beings (called kine, as in cattle, by vampires), or from animals, or from other vampires. However, drinking another vampire's blood is potentially dangerous, since it may lead to complete dependency (a "blood bond"). Vampire vitae may be forced on mortal subjects to create ghouls or revenants, with effects similar to those of the blood bond.
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