Glossary

All terminology is listed alphabetically. Entries marked [insult] carry pejorative connotations and are not acceptable in formal discourse. Entries marked [archaic] remain in limited circulation. Entries marked [colloquial] are informal but not offensive.

A

Animus (n.): The formal measure of a Vampire's retained humanity; the degree to which their mortal character and conscience persist after Undeath. Used in institutional and Council contexts. See also: The Quick, Undeath.

B

Bastion (n.): The subterranean headquarters of a Society. Typically fortified and concealed beneath urban infrastructure. See also: Catacomb, Crypt.
Black Matter (n.): The fundamental essence of the Vampire Curse; the metaphysical substance responsible for Undeath and its attendant properties. Scholars dispute its precise nature.
Bloating (n.): A pathological condition resulting from excessive feeding, producing physical distension and diminished function. See also: Overfeeding.
Bloodletting (n.): The act of incising a prey item for the express purpose of blood collection. A Vampire may perform it in advance of consumption, distinguishing it from feeding proper. See also: Feeding, Stock.
Book of Phoenix Song, The (n.): A mythical text purporting to contain the secrets of resurrection. No verified copy exists. Scholars dispute its existence entirely.
Bottom-feeder (n.) [insult]: A derogatory term for a Vampire who feeds exclusively or preferentially on small animals, rodents, birds, and comparable fauna. Distinguished from Farmer in degree: where a Farmer is regarded with mild disdain by some, a Bottom-feeder is regarded with contempt by most. See also: Farmer, Feeding, Prey.
Breaching (n.): The involuntary lapse of a Vampire's Visage, causing their true appearance to surface. Distinct from Unsheathing in that it affects the whole countenance rather than a specific feature, and occurs without the Vampire's intent. See also: Unsheathing, Visage.
Brood (n.): A group of Fledglings residing under the authority of a common Sire. See also: Brood Mother, Sire.
Brood Mother (n.): A Vampiress who has Sired multiple Fledglings, all of whom remain in her residence. The designation lapses upon their departure. See also: Brood, Sire.

C

Cat (n.) [colloquial]: A Vampire with an abrasive or rough manner. A neutral descriptor; carries no inherent pejorative weight.
Catacomb (n.): A subterranean network of corridors through which a Society administers and delivers its services. Distinct from the Erdstall, which serves no institutional function. See also: Bastion, Erdstall.
Charter (n.): A formal written agreement between two or more Societies governing shared territory, mutual aid, or the treatment of Rogues crossing jurisdictional boundaries. Charters require ratification by all relevant Councils. See also: Council, Rogue, Society.
City Branch (n.): A division of a Society operating within a defined urban area, functioning under the authority of the parent Society's Council while maintaining its own administrative structure suited to the density and complexity of city territory. See also: Council, Society.
Cold Sleep, The (n.): The three-day comatose state a living being enters prior to rising as a Vampire. A necessary stage of Undeath. See also: Undeath.
Coo / Coos (n.) [colloquial]: A shorthand for "Cuckoo"; denotes a Vampire excessively dependent on their Sire. Not to be confused with the Scottish vernacular coo, meaning cow. See also: Sire.
Corporeal (n., adj.): An undead creature inhabiting a tangible physical body. Functions as both noun and attributive adjective. Plural: Corporeals. See also: Ethereal.
Council (n.): A governing body of Vampires that administers the affairs of a corresponding Society. All Counts and Countesses of the relevant region hold membership. See also: Count, Society.
Count / Countess (n.): The legally recognised vampiric authority of a given county or region. Holding a seat on the Council is a requisite of the title. See also: Council, Viscount.
Crypt (n.): An underground chamber constituting the lowest floor of a Vampire's Lair. See also: Bastion, Lair.

D

Daycrawler (n.) [insult]: A derogatory term for a Daywalker, implying an unseemly eagerness to inhabit the human world. See also: Daywalker, Trawler.
Daywalker (n.): A Vampire who habitually conducts activity during daylight hours. See also: Daywalking.
Daywalking (n.): Vampiric activity conducted during daylight hours. Direct sunlight kills no documented strain; however, it suppresses vampiric abilities until sunset. See also: Daywalker.
Dhampir (n.): A Vampire created by artificial means, invariably through the agency of a Relic. The term derives from the tradition that the original creators of such Relics were a Vampire-Human pairing. See also: Relic, Undeath.
Donor (n.): A human who offers blood to a Vampire voluntarily and without a formal service arrangement. Distinct from a Familiar in that no domestic obligation exists on either side. See also: Familiar.

E

Erdstall (n.): A narrow earthen tunnel, used principally for discreet or secretive travel. Unlike Catacombs, Erdstalls serve no institutional function. See also: Catacomb.
Ethereal (n., adj.): An undead creature inhabiting an intangible body. Functions as both noun and attributive adjective. Plural: Ethereals. See also: Corporeal.
Exsanguination (n.): Death by loss of blood. The standard method by which Vampires kill prey. See also: Feeding, Prey.

F

Fagnir (n.) [insult]: A derogatory term for a Vampire of excessive wealth, particularly one who hoards it with possessive ferocity. The name deliberately invokes Fáfnir, the Norse dragon who guarded a gold hoard in the Völsunga saga, coupling that allusion with a slur whose currency among Vampires predates the term's current offensiveness. Its use is considered objectionable. See also: Goldarse, Leech, Snuff-Huffer.
Familiar (n.): A human in the domestic service of a Vampire, whom they must address as Master or Mistress. See also: Master, Mistress.
Farmer (n.): A Vampire who feeds exclusively on animals rather than humans. The term is neutral and descriptive; it carries no inherent pejorative weight, though some use it dismissively. See also: Feeding, Prey.
Fealwing (n.): A Vampire between ten and one hundred years of Undeath. The third stage of vampiric age, succeeding the Hwīting. Derives from the Old English fealuwe, meaning a pale or fallow yellow; the third stage of the alchemical Magnum Opus, Citrinitas, provides the conceptual basis. See also: Hwīting, Rēading, Swearting.
Feeding (n.): The act of consuming blood; the primary means of vampiric sustenance. See also: Group Feeding, Overfeeding, Reaping.
Feral (n.): A Rogue Vampire of wild or unaffiliated disposition; one who has never engaged with Society and shows no inclination to do so. Distinct from a Stray in that the Feral has not departed a Society but never joined one. See also: Rogue, Stray.
Filet (n.) [insult]: A derogatory term for a human, implying they present so little resistance as to be effectively boneless. A deliberate culinary allusion.
Firstling (n.): A Vampire who has not yet fed since their Undeath. The designation applies only in the interval between rising and the first feed. See also: Fledgling, Undeath.
Flaring (n.): A threat display a Vampire adopts in response to agitation or fear, characterised by a specific physical posture. See also: Unsheathing.
Fledging (n.): The period spanning a Vampire's Undeath to its tenth anniversary. See also: Fledgling.
Fledgling (n.): A Vampire within the first ten years of their condition. The designation expires on the tenth anniversary of Undeath. See also: Fledging, Sire.
Fledgwhore (n.) [insult, archaic]: A highly offensive term for a Vampiress who Sires prolifically. The expression holds that she produces Fledglings at the rate a whore produces bastards. Archaic and considered deeply objectionable in contemporary usage. See also: Fledgling, Sire.
Forfeit, The (n.): A Vampire convicted of a Tenet Violation and sentenced to execution. See also: Tenet Violation, The Lorn.

G

Goldarse (n.) [insult]: A derogatory term for a wealthy or ostentatious Vampire, typically one who affects aristocratic manners. Shares social territory with Snuff-Huffer, though Goldarse targets pretension more broadly rather than a specific habit. See also: Snuff-Huffer, Varnish.
Gourmet (n.): A Vampire who consumes human food as a matter of preference. Human food provides no nutritional value; Vampires pursue it for the heightened sensory experience their physiology affords. See also: Feeding.
Group Feeding (n.): An arrangement in which multiple Vampires feed simultaneously or in concert. See also: Feeding.

H

Harem (n.): A group of Vampires cohabiting with their Sire for romantic and sexual purposes. A recognised domestic arrangement. See also: Keeper, Sire.
Haunt (n.) [colloquial]: A slang term for an area of pronounced ghostly or incorporeal supernatural presence, analogous to a Mauso' but pertaining to Ethereal rather than Corporeal undead. The two designations are not mutually exclusive; a location may qualify as both. See also: Corporeal, Ethereal, Mauso'.
Hocker (n.): A Vampire who feeds exclusively or preferentially from sleeping victims. Derives from the German Aufhocker, a demonic creature said to leap upon and crush sleeping persons. See also: Feeding.
Husk (n.): The desiccated remains of a Vampire who has reached True Death by starvation. See also: Starvation, Wither.
Hwīting (n.): A Vampire within the first ten years of Undeath. The second stage of vampiric age, succeeding the Swearting. Derives from the Old English hwīt, meaning white; the second stage of the alchemical Magnum Opus, Albedo, provides the conceptual basis. See also: Fealwing, Rēading, Swearting.

I

Immurement (n.): A penal colony situated at maximum remove from established Society territory, used for the exile of Vampires who have committed offences beneath the threshold of a Tenet Violation. Conditions are harsh and prey is scarce by design. See also: Immured, Immuring, The Lorn.
Immured (n.): A Vampire serving exile in an Immurement. The designation persists for the duration of the sentence. See also: Immurement, The Lorn.
Immuring (v.): The act by which a Council sentences a Vampire to an Immurement. See also: Council, Immurement.
Initiation (n.): The formal process by which a Vampire gains admission to a Society. See also: Society, Society Member.
Invisobitch (n.) [insult]: A pejorative term for a Vampire who specialises in illusionary magic. Implies both cowardice and an overreliance on deception.

K

Keeper (n.): A male Vampire who assembles and presides over a Harem. At present, the designation applies exclusively to male Vampires. See also: Harem.

L

Lair (n.): The primary residence of a Vampire; may sit above or below ground. See also: Crypt, Roost.
Leech (n.) [insult]: A derogatory term for a Vampire who hoards blood stock in excess of any reasonable requirement. Implies miserliness and an obsessive disposition. See also: Stock.
Line (n.): A Vampire's lineage; the traceable succession of Sires from which they descend. A long and distinguished Line carries social weight in most Societies. See also: Sire.
Litter (n.) [colloquial]: The collective term for Vampires who share a common Sire. Used informally; carries a faintly diminishing connotation, implying the Sire produced them indiscriminately. A single such Vampire may be referred to as a Littermate. See also: Brood, Line, Sire, Sireship.
Littermate (n.) [colloquial]: A Vampire who shares a Sire with another. The term implies no ongoing obligation or affinity , merely common origin. See also: Brood, Litter, Sire.
Living, The (n.): The mortal population in aggregate. Used as a collective designation for humanity, particularly in contexts that emphasise the distinction between the living and the undead. See also: Prey, Undeath.
Lorn, The (n.): A Vampire sentenced to exile in an Immurement for offences that fall beneath the threshold of a Tenet Violation. The term derives from the Old English loren, meaning forsaken or abandoned. Plural: the Lorn. See also: Forfeit, Immurement, Immured.

M

Making pancakes (v.) [colloquial]: A euphemism for the act of hunting and killing the living for blood. Used casually among Vampires for whom the practice is unremarkable; occasionally deployed as deliberate provocation in mixed company. See also: Exsanguination, Feeding, Pancake.
Marbling (n.): A condition in which a Vampire's skin becomes uniformly pallid, approaching the appearance of white marble. See also: Mottling.
Master / Mistress (n.): The form of address a Familiar must use for the Vampire they serve. See also: Familiar.
Mauso' (n.) [colloquial]: A slang term for an area of pronounced vampiric density; a location in which the concentration of Vampires, their Lairs, and their activities has become sufficiently heavy as to be perceptible to those sensitive to such things. An abbreviation of mausoleum. See also: Haunt, Lair.
Mottling (n.): A condition in which a Vampire's skin becomes discoloured and uneven in tone, resembling that of a decomposing corpse. See also: Marbling.
Mutation (n.): An atypical trait manifesting in a Vampire, outside the common parameters of their condition.

N

Nocturnal (n.) [archaic]: A Vampire. Victorian-era Vampires favoured the term. Plural: Nocturnals. See also: Vampyre, Wight.
Nocturne (n.): A collective term for a group of Vampires.

O

Overfeeding (n.): Feeding in excess of nutritional requirement, liable to produce Bloating. See also: Bloating, Feeding.

P

Pale, The (n.): The understood boundary of a Society's effective authority. To act within the Pale is to operate under Society protection and obligation; to act outside it is to forfeit both. See also: Rogue, Society, Tenet Violation.
Paling (n.): The earliest recognisable stage of vampiric hunger; a mild but perceptible deterioration preceding active Withering. Characterised by increasing pallor and diminished function. A Vampire in this state is said to be paling. See also: Starvation, Wither, Withering.
Pancake (n.) [colloquial]: A living being that has been fully exsanguinated; a corpse drained to the point of near-total collapse. The allusion is to something flattened and emptied of substance. See also: Exsanguination, The Quick.
Pancake batter (n.) [colloquial]: A shortfall in one's stock of blood drawn from living prey; the expressed need to replenish it. Typically used in the construction running low on pancake batter or out of batter. See also: Pancake, Stock.
Peerage (n.): The collective body of titled Vampires within a Society , Counts, Countesses, and Viscounts taken together. Distinct from the Council in that Peerage denotes social standing, not governance function. See also: Count, Council, Viscount.
Pit-Dogs (n.) [colloquial]: Vampires who make their permanent residence underground. Carries an insulting connotation in general use, though many subterranean Vampires reclaim the term as one of solidarity or endearment. See also: Lair, Roost.
Pit-Lord (n.): A Vampire who owns and leases subterranean properties. A functional title rather than an honorific. See also: Lair.
Prey (n.): A collective designation for all organisms belonging to the Kingdom Animalia, insofar as they constitute potential sources of sustenance for a Vampire. See also: Prey-Drive.
Prey-Drive (n.): The instinctive compulsion in a Vampire to locate, pursue, and subdue prey; an involuntary biological function. See also: Prey.
Pudsy (n.) [insult]: A mocking term for a Vampire who habitually processes blood into culinary preparations , soups, reductions, baked recipes , rather than consuming it directly from a source or in its unaltered state. The name implies fussiness and an unseemly domesticity. Used dismissively, though some Gourmets reclaim it without embarrassment. See also: Gourmet, Feeding, Stock.

Q

Quick, The (n.): An older term for the measure of a Vampire's retained humanity; the living spark that persists after Undeath. Where Animus is the institutional designation, The Quick is the older and more poetic expression of the same quality. Derives from the Old English sense of quick as living. See also: Animus, Undeath.

R

Rēading (n.): A Vampire of more than five hundred years of Undeath. The fourth and terminal stage of vampiric age, succeeding the Fealwing. Derives from the Old English rēad, meaning red; the fourth stage of the alchemical Magnum Opus, Rubedo, provides the conceptual basis. See also: Fealwing, Hwīting, Swearting.
Reaping (n.): The act of feeding upon the dead or dying, distinct from feeding upon living prey. See also: Feeding.
Relic (n.): An object a Vampire has enchanted. Its properties depend entirely on the nature of its enchantment. See also: Dhampir, Tome.
Rogue (n.): An umbrella term for any Vampire holding no formal affiliation with any Society. Subdivided into Ferals and Strays depending on circumstance. See also: Feral, Initiation, Society, Stray.
Roost (n.): A Lair configured specifically for communal habitation. See also: Lair, Roosting.
Roosting (n.): The practice of sleeping in an inverted position; most common in communal living arrangements. See also: Roost.

S

Satano-Vampirism (n.): A collective designation for all vampiric adaptations of Satanist doctrine or practice. The term originated in reference to Vampire-operated Hellfire Clubs.
Scav (n.) [insult]: An abbreviation of "scavenger"; a derogatory term for a Vampire who practises Reaping. Implies an absence of standards or self-respect. See also: Reaping.
Scucca (n.) [archaic]: A Vampire. Derives from the Old English scucca, denoting a demon or malevolent spirit. Predates Wight as the oldest known term for a Vampire in the English language. See also: Wight.
Seconding (n.): The act by which an established Society Member formally sponsors a Rogue's Initiation, assuming partial responsibility for their conduct in the period immediately following admission. A sponsor who Seconds unwisely courts social damage. See also: Initiation, Rogue, Society Member.
Senseshock (n.): A state of acute sensory overload in a Vampire, typically producing flight or temporary paralysis. An occupational hazard of heightened vampiric perception.
Sire (n.): A Vampire who has elected to create another Vampire. The term implies no ongoing obligation beyond the act of creation, though conventions vary. See also: Brood, Fledgling, Siring, Trophallaxis.
Sireship (n.): The formal bond between a Sire and the Vampire they have created. Distinct from Siring, which denotes the act of creation, and from Line, which denotes the broader chain of descent. See also: Fledgling, Line, Sire, Siring.
Siring (v.): The act of creating a new Vampire. Encompasses the full process from the initial decision through to the Cold Sleep and the Fledgling's rising. See also: Cold Sleep, Fledgling, Sire.
Snuff-Huffer (n.) [insult]: A derogatory term for a wealthy Vampire, specifically one whose affluence manifests in conspicuous habits such as the consumption of snuff tobacco. The allusion to Varnish is deliberate. See also: Goldarse, Varnish.
Society (n.): A national clandestine organisation of Vampires, operating on principles of self-sufficiency and charged with the protection of Vampires within its jurisdiction. See also: Council, Initiation, Tenets.
Society Member (n.): A Vampire who has completed Initiation into a Society. See also: Initiation, Society.
Soil-Painter (n.) [insult]: A derogatory term for a subterranean Vampire who affects the manners, tastes, or social ambitions of surface-dwelling Vampires above their station. Implies pretension and social climbing. The analogy is to one who merely daubs at a world they do not inhabit. See also: Pit-Dogs, Trawler.
Starvation (n.): The progressive deterioration a Vampire undergoes through prolonged absence of blood. Fatal if untreated. See also: Husk, Wither, Withering.
Stock (n.): A Vampire's reserve supply of stored blood. See also: Bloodletting.
Stray (n.): A Rogue Vampire who has either departed a Society or remains undecided about joining one. Distinct from a Feral in that the Stray has prior or potential engagement with Society. See also: Feral, Rogue.
Swearting (n.): A Vampire upon their initial Undeath; the designation applies from the moment of rising until the first anniversary. The first stage of vampiric age. Derives from the Old English sweart, meaning black; the first stage of the alchemical Magnum Opus, Nigredo, provides the conceptual basis. See also: Fealwing, Hwīting, Rēading.

T

Tenets, The (n.): A body of universal law governing the Vampire species, established for its preservation. All Vampires must comply, regardless of Society affiliation. See also: Tenet Violation.
Tenet Violation (n.): Any breach of the Tenets. The relevant Council determines the gravity of a given violation and its consequences. See also: Tenets.
Tome (n.): A volume from which a Vampire studies and acquires magical practice. See also: Relic.
Torpor (n.): A voluntary state of profound sleep; historically, Vampires have entered it for centuries at a time. The minimum duration for a sleep to qualify as Torpor is six months.
Trawler (n.) [insult]: A derogatory term for a Vampire who has deliberately and thoroughly integrated into human society, to the point of adopting human habits, associations, and identity. Implies an abandonment of vampiric nature. See also: Daycrawler, Visage.
Trophallaxis (n.): The mouth-to-mouth transfer of blood between Vampires. Sires perform it most commonly for Fledglings in the early stages of Fledging. See also: Fledgling, Sire.

U

Undeath (n.): The transformation from a living human into a Vampire, or more broadly into any form of undead creature. In common usage, the term denotes Vampirism specifically. See also: Cold Sleep, Fledgling.
Undeath of Man (n.): A historical text addressing the origins of Vampires and the spread of Vampirism throughout the world. Scholars treat it as a foundational work.
Unsheathing (n.): The act of revealing a Vampire's fangs, barbed tongue, or proboscis. Voluntary or involuntary. See also: Flaring.

V

Vampire Hunter (n.): A human who dedicates themselves to the pursuit and destruction of Vampires. Societies treat the occupation as a hazard rather than a formal threat classification.
Vampiress (n.): A female Vampire.
Vampyre (n.) [archaic]: An orthographic variant of "Vampire," associated principally with Victorian-era usage. See also: Nocturnal, Wight.
Varnish (n.) [colloquial]: Snuff tobacco; favoured predominantly by Vampires of means.
Vessel (n.): A collective term for coffins, caskets, and analogous funerary containers Vampires use for sleep.
Visage (n.): The human appearance all Vampires can adopt, deployed for concealment among human populations.
Viscount (n.): The principal assistant to a Count or Countess. See also: Count.

W

Wight (n.) [archaic]: A Vampire. The term predates the English adoption of "Vampire," conventionally dated to 1732. See also: Nocturnal, Vampyre.
Wither (n.): A Vampire in an active state of Starvation. See also: Husk, Starvation.
Withering (n.): The process of Starvation in a Vampire. See also: Starvation, Wither.