The Physiology of the Embrace
by Robert How, March 1999
All of us Kindred have been through the Embrace so we are
aware of the general principles, but given here is a more complex
treatment of the physiological processes of the Embrace.
Draining
There has been much debate over the centuries as to whether
the subject must be drained to death by the sire and given back
her own blood, or whether this does not matter as longer
as she is drained to death and receives Vitae in return. It seems
that it is not essential, as many have been drained by another
and given the blood of their sire, or been Embraced to save their
life. Of course, if the subject is not drained they merely become
a ghoul.
The Moment of Death
Like Cadaver Ghouls, it has also
been discussed how long after death the sire can wait until it
is too late to make the Embrace take hold. General evidence shows
that the blood must be drunk in the moments when the heart slows
just before death. The Vitae will not stop death, but the heart
beats long enough to take the Vitae into the system to do its
work properly before the subject dies, so that when the soul
departs (see Avatars) the Vitae slips
into the place once occupied by it.
However, general case studies show that the childe can be
Embraced up to several minutes after the heart stops, before
brain death takes hold. Depending on the general health of the
subject, the childe can be successfully Embraced up to two minutes
after the heart stops without any ill effects, although it will
need more blood to be certain. After this, brain damage begins,
at a loss of one intelligence point per minute thereafter. We
suspect that the legends of undead walking corpses robbing graves
in Eastern Europe in ages past were in fact these mindless creatures,
Embraced (perhaps through ignorance) long enough after death
that they have lost all human reasoning. Such legends are also
confused by witnesses of Cadaver Ghouls,
Gargoyles and just the poor homeless inhabitants of graveyards;
the convicts and the insane.
Death and Decay
The soul leaves the body, and it begins to die, but the Black
Avatar takes hold, preventing further decay and holding back
Entropy forever, from this point fixing the body in its True
Form, which it returns to at every dawn (barring sun, fire
and 12-bore shotguns, of course).
From this point the organs begin to whither at an advancing
rate, simulataneously both withering and compacting. Those in
the central chest cavity and intestines compact into the network
of membranes which become the blood-filtering system. (See Blood). It is important at this stage that
the childe does not drink too much, as although their thirst
is terrible, their new body is not yet sufficiently adapted to
be able to cope, and they will suffer pain and vomiting from
over-indulgence.
As the body dies it passes out all unnecessary fluids. Plasma,
skin oils and mucus seep out through the skin to become a sticky
foul-smelling layer which is particularly noticeable on waking
the following evening. The childe will experience severe abdominal
pains as the organs re-adjust and expel bile, mucus, the mucal
intestinal lining, and of course with it faeces and urine - a
disgusting mixture which the childe may have no control over.
The speed of the transformation varies with individuals, but
may be much more speedy the lower the generation of the sire.
Wounds of the Embrace
Thoughtful neonates occasionally wonder why the wounds they
often received during the Embrace do not remain with them for
all their unlives. There are two reasons for this. The easiest
explanation is twofold. Firstly, if the human has been drained,
the sire heals the wound as she would with an normal mortal Vessel,
by licking it. Also, the Vitae which the human ingests as the
Embrace begins automatically begins to heal damage, as it does
when given to any human.
The second explanation is involved with the True
Form, explained in more detail in the separate article. Here
we show that whether or not the new childe bears the scars of
the Embrace depends a great deal on the Sire's choice.
Breathing
One last point otherwise unrelated to Blood and the Embrace,
is breathing. Obviously vampires are dead, and so do not need
to breath. However on the other hand, we do need to breath in
order to speak or sing (curse those dreadful Daughters of Cacophony).
As a result our lungs do not wither as much as do the rest of
our useless organs, although they are much reduced from their
former capacity. Some foolish Kindred in fact still smoke cigarettes
(a 19th century Malkvian acquaintance is in the habit of smoking
a very large and evil-smelling briar pipe, which she will never
been persuaded to give up), although this is entirely affectation
as the nicotine is not absorbed through the lungs. Vampires do
not get lung cancer.
For some childer, giving up breathing can be a difficult process.
Despite being dead (or undead, more precisely), it takes time
for the brain to adjust to the fact that it doesn't need to be
emitting impulses to the lungs to breath. This can be very distressing
to the childe should she be thrust underwater for long periods,
or into a smokey or thin atmosphere. Although there is no physical
necessity to breath she still has the neual imperatives to, and
will feel all the terror and discomfort of suffocation even though
it will do her no physical harm. If deprived of air for more
than a minute she is in danger of entering Rotschrek, and must
make Courage rolls of increasing difficulty the longer she is
deprived. Stamina has no effect on this, as it is not a physical
endurance she is facing.
Losing the breathing urge is just a matter of time, and happens
within months or even days. But some never lose the urge to breath
at all, and this can be counted as an interesting 2-point Flaw.
"Order of Draco", (c) Robert
D How, 1998
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