The Vampires of Morrowind

Vampires of Morrowind
Whilst the origins of the three bloodlines are shrouded in complete mystery, the Vampires of Morrowind at least have a recorded history dating back to the Second Era, during the time of the Alliance War. They are split into three Clans, each with their own dark blessings unique to their respective lineages; the mystical Aundae, the shadowy Berne and the brutish Quarra. Whether it is a testament to the prowess of the former Tribunal’s Ordinators and Bouyant Armigers or their own secrecy, the activities of the Clans seem somewhat negligible in the grand scheme of things. Indeed, for the most part, much of the activities the Clans have engaged in have been to guarantee their survival...and to the waging of an ancient shadow war between them that has been raging on, with it being most personal between Quarra and Berne. As a result, compared to their cousins in Cyrodiil and Skyrim, the Vampires of Morrowind have yet to do anything so grand as the Tyranny of the Sun Prophecy or the infiltration of Imperial society of the Ordo Cyrodiil Vampyrum.

Throughout history, very little has been written in regards to the bloodlines of Morrowind, and even then, even survivor accounts are not exactly the most reliable at providing insights about each one; indeed, the only truly reliable account that exists are the papers of the vindicated Galur Rithari, a former Bouyant Armiger was himself afflicted until receiving the cure for the condition. However, this constant feuding would change as the 4th Era came and brought the Red Year with it; as Vvardenfell burned, so too did the Clans of Morrowind, all of whom had their chief citadels burned out by the fires of Red Mountain. Whilst some of them managed to escape, since the sun was blotted out by the ash clouds that had been belched out by the eruption, the majority of those who survived the Red Year were on mainland Morrowind. Regardless, the Aundae, Berne and Quarra Clans were forced to halt their ancient war so as to rebuild themselves...but it has been painfully slow, for the Clans are loathed to spread their curse in a manner that would see them overrun with abominable fledglings, for those born of their strain of Porphyric Haemophilia are seen as worse as vermin. Even worse, whilst an extremely rare occurrence back during the 3rd Era, there has been an increase in Morrowind Vampires who show none of the marks of the Clans...a result of the blood thinning out with the passing of generations born from clumsy feeding.

Traits of the Vampires of Morrowind
Given that the three Clans, as well as the Clanless, are all born of variations of Porphyric Haemophilia, all of them share core traits between them. To begin, all of them display enhanced strength, speed and strength of will, since the Curse instils them with a strong instinct to survive whatever is thrown at them. Swiftness and stealth are also abundant amongst the Bloodlines. Like other types of Vampire, the Morrowind Bloodlines are undying, with all the benefits such a state would bring about. They are also a hardy breed, capable of taking an obscene amount of damage from mundane weapons before they finally die. It isn’t just their physical traits that are so enhanced, for the strains also instil a potent affinity for the arcane; even a Nordic brute who had contracted the condition displays a grasp of certain forms of magic he would never have displayed in life. All of them also possess an inherent knowledge of Drain Life spells, which, alongside their fangs, can be used to satiate the thirst...though it requires frequent application to whet their appetite. Even without their gifts, a Vampire is never unarmed, for they all have claws to aid them in combat. Naturally, all of them do also have enhanced senses, namely night-vision and a good sense of smell mostly attuned to blood. All Pure-blooded (in this case, the term also applies to those who express the traits of a particular clan) Morrowind Vampires express the full extent of their powers, their curse ever at the front...but power has a price.

Being a curse, the strains of Vampirism borne by these Vampires bear their fair share of flaws, not to mention that each of the Clans themselves bear their own unique weakness. To begin with, they are unable to use their stolen blood to ease the pain of the sun, its caress will always burn them no matter how much they glut themselves upon it. Furthermore, fire remains a scourge upon them, but since the strains lack the stages of other forms of Vampirism, it never intensifies or weakens with time. Furthermore, unlike other Bloodlines, they are completely incapable of natural healing; only through the blood they feed upon, or healing potions and magical items, can they mend their dead flesh. Furthermore, all of them are haunted by nightmares, something they share with their strain-cousins in Cyrodiil. Unfortunately, whilst they do manifest their full power, they unfortunately lack the ability to blend in with mortals. Nothing short of Illusion magic or concealing clothing will hide the glowing red eyes, deathly pallor and vicious fangs of the Vampire, thus ensuring that the individual will be unable to interact with their prey as nothing more than that. Furthermore, not only do they need blood to heal, they still require it so as to keep their minds from breaking; meaning that the Vampires of Morrowind are more enslaved by their hunger.

The Aundae, Clan of Darkest Sorcery
The most mystically-inclined of the three Clans, the Vampires of Clan Aundae display a grasp of magic that would make even the Mages of Summerset and High Rock green with envy. Being the most elitist of their kind, stemming from their Altmeri founder, they have always been the smallest of the clans, with their primary citadel hiding within a cave in the Sheogorad region on Vvardenfell. When the Red Year came at the beginning of the 4th Era, the Aundae were hit the hardest, with their stronghold being subject to massive cave-ins and floods of lava. Indeed, for a while, even the Quarra and the Berne believed the Vampiric Mages to be extinct...but it seems their old rivals were more durable than previously thought, since their old enemies had been spotted in the Stonefalls region. As a result of their Bloodline’s strain of Vampirism all Aundae display a very powerful talent for magic, mastering a form of Blood Magic too dark and nightmarish for even the Telvanni to contemplate performing as such. Even if they did though, no non-Aundae would be able to cast such spells, for the Blood Magic will only work for one who bears the Clan’s blood. In terms of membership, the Clan’s few remaining Elders, including their now-deceased former leader, Dhuanayne Aundae, are Altmer, but its membership base is more diverse nowadays. However, even then, the Aundae only choose the best of the best for the Blood, and even then, the Ancients themselves are biased towards their Altmer offspring. As a result, it has caused a number of the Vampiric Mages to go rogue from the Clan.

As a result of their proclivity for dark knowledge, the Aundae Bloodline carries with it a strong proclivity towards extreme obsession. So potent is this obsession, the Vampire can display signs of maladaptive behaviour in order to feed it. There have even been cases of Aundae forgoing blood in the pursuit of their obsessions...so much so that the Aundae are wary of such individuals; feral madness and arcane might are rarely a good combination. Furthermore, the Clan itself has a major Clanless problem; with so few remaining Elders, and their founder dead, each prospective Vampire brought into the fold by the Elder’s own begetting always risks the chance of the Aundae blood being too thin to express the gifts of the Clan. As a result, their recruitment process is extremely stringent, deeming whether a potential candidate is worth the risk. Should the recruit show signs that the Blood has thinned within them, they are often destroyed so as not to pollute the herd with their tainted blood.

The Berne, Clan of Shadows
A Vampire lineage born of the shadows, Clan Berne see themselves as the true predators who stalk the night. Indeed, they see both the Quarra and the Aundae in a rather insulting light; the previous as nothing more than frenzied animals, and the latter as an outdated relic that has squandered its Vampiric gifts. Indeed, out of all three of the Clans of Morrowind, it is the Berne that had survived the Red Year more-or-less intact, with many of its Elders still unalive, though most of its original strongholds were buried deep beneath the lava flows of Red Mountain. In recent centuries, they’ve managed to retake their original headquarters, the Dwemer citadel of Galom Daeus, from a Daedric cult devoted to Vaermina. Peculiarly, some within the Clan have lost interest in the ancient shadow war between Morrowind’s Bloodlines and are showing interest in expanding into acquiring power within the mortal population; with their shadowy gifts, perhaps the Berne are indeed in the best position to do so. Racially, they are very diverse...though the Elders that directly survived the Red Year are mostly of Imperial stock, the Berne allow their members much autonomy, and as such, rank is more of a formality than anything. Naturally though, it is advised that one would listen to an Elder...they’ve lived so long for a reason after all. Now, as for their lineage’s gifts, much of it revolves around the shadows. Instinctively, the Vampires of Clan Berne are capable of bending the shadows to their will so as to better conceal themselves. Most of the time, a Vampire is capable using the darkness to obfuscate its presence from mortal eyes. With refinement, some are capable of masking their Vampiric features and ‘withdrawing’ the shadows they cast. Amongst the most gifted Berne, the individual can even manifest shadows where there are none...and even intensify it into pure darkness for the best advantage over their foes. They’re also considerably more agile than most of their kind and are completely silent when they move. To this day, they are still led by Raxle Berne...and under him, the Clan continues to enjoy their success.

However, the Berne have their own weaknesses unique to their Bloodline. Due to their affinity with the darkness, they are considerably more scorned by the light. Whereas sunlight would burn most Morrowind Vampires to a less dramatic degree, when a Berne is exposed, they catch on fire, thus ensuring that they suffer from both flaws at once. Furthermore, this affinity for shadows has ensured that the Berne knack for deception becomes a compulsive one; as a result, one can never truly trust what a Berne says unless they come across as straining themselves to say it. Due to their larger numbers, it also ensures that they’ve also produced a larger number of Thinbloods over the years. However, whilst the Aundae tend to purge theirs whilst the Quarra use them as cannon-fodder, the Berne exploit their Clanless’ unique traits to the full; this is to the point where they will take on the castoffs of the other Clans as well, thus adding more assets to their ranks. Of course, there will be some prejudice between ‘Purebloods’ and Thinbloods as well, but as the Elders decree, they are still Berne, even if their blood lacks the qualities of the Bloodline.

The Quarra, Clan of Blood-Drenched Berserkers
The most vicious and bloodthirsty lineage in both senses of the word, the Vampires of Clan Quarra are the least wrote about of the three Clans of Morrowind, generally because they are at least known for leaving little to no survivors in their extremely violent attacks. Whilst they’ve suffered nowhere near as badly as their Aundae counterparts, they still were not as fortunate as their most hated enemies, the Berne. Their stronghold at the Dwemer citadel of Druscashti, whilst having survived the Red Year, was stormed by Redoran forces so that the area could be resettled in the 5th Era. Wisely, their founder and Daughter of Coldharbour, Volrina Quarra, decided to retreat, lest House Redoran finish what the Red Year could not. Now, the Quarra are scattered, both by the Dunmer and by their frustration at Volrina’s obsession with revenge against the Berne; back during the Interregnum of the Second Era, when she was still mortal, her brother was slain by Vampires from the Clan of Shadows and has long since vowed to wipe them all out...so much so she was willing to go before Molag Bal to achieve it. Now with several broods led by an Elder or two each, the Quarra now war with themselves as well as their old enemies; Volrina’s faction seeks to bring the rest of her wayward brood whilst the others try to remain free from her iron fist. As such, the Quarra are the most physically blessed of the Vampire Clans of Morrowind; all of them are monstrously strong, to the point where they can break bones with little effort. Such is the fire in their blood, the Berserker are incapable of feeling fear, with even meek individuals becoming fearless as the Quarra strain changes them. Furthermore, all of Volrina’s descendants have the ability to draw upon this inner fire to enter into a berserk rampage where their already potent strength and endurance are magnified considerably. It is the source of their reputation, for the rampage leaves very few victims alive. However, what is their greatest strength is also their chief weakness. The Quarra are the most hot-headed of the three Clans; stubbornness, irritability and impatience are characteristics that many of them exhibit. Furthermore, such is their temper, that to even irritate a Quarra risks accidentally triggering a berserk frenzy, something that even the coolest heads among them have difficulty with. Also, the strain has another effect on the Vampires psyche. All of Volrina’s descendants are afflicted with a strong love of bloody slaughter; it is not enough to take blood, it must be taken straight from a heart ripped from its owner’s chest. Whenever a Quarra slays a victim, they feel a strong euphoria that encourages to keep of the slaughter, something that also serves as a trigger for their inherent berserk state...hence they have so few Thinbloods amongst their ranks. Indeed, such dregs are generally used by the Clan to wear out their enemies; though, unwittingly or uncaringly, this drive many of their impure kin into the arms of the Berne...the irony of which isn’t lost on Raxle Berne.

Clanless and Thinbloods. Outcasts of the Blood
To begin with, for clarity’s sake, Clanless is both a political term and a lineage term. First, it can refer to a Vampire who expresses their Bloodline’s traits, but for some reason or another, are not aligned with them. This is often the case for those who are not turned without the blessing of an Elder or find themselves no longer agreeing with their Clan. Ironically, Volrina accuses her wayward descendants of such a thing as well, much to their fury. However, for the most part, Clanless generally refers to those in whom the blood of the three Clans flows weakest, though Thinblood is a more popular term for such individual. Despite the term, they aren’t weaker than their pure kin in terms of baseline Vampiric gifts, it is merely the case that they do not manifest the gifts of their Bloodline. As such, even in the tolerant Berne as much as they’d say otherwise, Thinbloods are generally at the bottom of the ladder, or rather in case of the Aundae, a buried secret altogether. Generally, the Clan of Sorcerers tend to cull their Thinbloods, whilst the scattered Quarra use them to take the brunt of a fight. The Berne, at least, seem to use them for greater purposes, as their gifts would show.

Unlike their pureblooded cousins, the Thinbloods seem to exhibit the same Stages of Vampirism exhibited by their cousins in Cyrodiil...it means that, when well fed, they can do what the Clans cannot; walk openly amongst mortals within (still uncomfortable) eye of the sun. As such, they still suffer the bulk of Morrowind strain weaknesses, which, unfortunately for them grow more intense when they are blood-starved. However, if they are well-fed, then they do not suffer as badly as the Purebloods when exposed to fire. It is this gift that makes them prized by the Berne...especially those with more political ambitions in the long run.