>>I chose Egypt specifically because of the mix of practical and mystical elements in their medicine.<<
That was clever.
>> When I was writing I was thinking it was more genetic, but they probably wouldn't have changed if it wasn't for the catalyst of the doctor, so he had an effect too. <<
Genetic predisposition with an environmental trigger, perhaps. That could relate to the fact that individual vampires can develop different abilities, and individual humans can respond differently to being bitten.
>> The four original vampires were likely to have gone to different places because they didn't get on well together. <<
I suspected as much. With four of them, perhaps one stayed in Egypt, and one each went to Africa, Europe, and Asia? Though they might have taken those journeys in stages.
>> I think I need to make a start on working out where each of them went and how they got there. <<
Excellent idea. That will help a lot.
>> One of those four vampires did begin the auctions, and I have a feeling Alice, Nick, and Nick's creator are all related to that one vampire. <<
That makes sense. Most vampires on a given continent would trace back to the same progenitor, until modern times when travel became more common. So whoever claimed Europe probably begat most of the vampires there, and started the auction system in Europe.
The auctions may have spread globally through vampire culture -- or the other continents may have developed their own, different customs. I suspect there are strong differences of some kind, given that the progenitors disagreed vehemently on how to proceed and couldn't get along with each other. So that really sets up for culture clashes that could make great stories.
Australia was invaded by England, so that's European line if vampires go there. South America, likewise, was invaded by England. North America was invaded by England but had a substantial influx from both Africa and Asia -- which makes it unique as a mixing bowl, because it's liable to have representation from at several lines.
I have to wonder if Nafratiri created any vampires accidentally and unknowingly. She chose not to do it on purpose, and preferred to feed from animals; but that might not have been possible all the time, and none of the slaves knew anything about vampirism to start with. A previous story hinted that vampires could be created accidentally from feeding too heavily on a victim, as a novice mistake. It could even be that Nafratiri influenced, not a human, but one of the animals. There are legends about vampires connected with dogs, cats, rats, bats, wolves, etc. I'm particularly remembering the Egyptian fascination with cats ... and cats having "nine lives" because they seem able to recover from things that should have killed an ordinary animal.
I'm also curious as to how the bond forms between maker and child, thus, whether it would be possible for a vampire to have more than one maker and perhaps more than one lineage of progenitor. That seems plausible if a human services multiple vampires, the way the blood whores do.
>>I need to start working on a 'family' tree for this I think, which will also help with the saliva chemical information.<<
Agreed.
Animal adaptations can get really extreme. Mammary glands evolved from sweat glands, for instance. Snake venom comes from modified saliva glands and is downright intricate in composition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_venom Vampire bat saliva contains anti-coagulants and vasodialators to keep the blood flowing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire_bat Some amphibians produce skin secretions with hallucinogenic qualities.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Wow!
Date: 2012-02-05 10:08 pm (UTC)That was clever.
>> When I was writing I was thinking it was more genetic, but they probably wouldn't have changed if it wasn't for the catalyst of the doctor, so he had an effect too. <<
Genetic predisposition with an environmental trigger, perhaps. That could relate to the fact that individual vampires can develop different abilities, and individual humans can respond differently to being bitten.
>> The four original vampires were likely to have gone to different places because they didn't get on well together. <<
I suspected as much. With four of them, perhaps one stayed in Egypt, and one each went to Africa, Europe, and Asia? Though they might have taken those journeys in stages.
>> I think I need to make a start on working out where each of them went and how they got there. <<
Excellent idea. That will help a lot.
>> One of those four vampires did begin the auctions, and I have a feeling Alice, Nick, and Nick's creator are all related to that one vampire. <<
That makes sense. Most vampires on a given continent would trace back to the same progenitor, until modern times when travel became more common. So whoever claimed Europe probably begat most of the vampires there, and started the auction system in Europe.
The auctions may have spread globally through vampire culture -- or the other continents may have developed their own, different customs. I suspect there are strong differences of some kind, given that the progenitors disagreed vehemently on how to proceed and couldn't get along with each other. So that really sets up for culture clashes that could make great stories.
Australia was invaded by England, so that's European line if vampires go there. South America, likewise, was invaded by England. North America was invaded by England but had a substantial influx from both Africa and Asia -- which makes it unique as a mixing bowl, because it's liable to have representation from at several lines.
I have to wonder if Nafratiri created any vampires accidentally and unknowingly. She chose not to do it on purpose, and preferred to feed from animals; but that might not have been possible all the time, and none of the slaves knew anything about vampirism to start with. A previous story hinted that vampires could be created accidentally from feeding too heavily on a victim, as a novice mistake. It could even be that Nafratiri influenced, not a human, but one of the animals. There are legends about vampires connected with dogs, cats, rats, bats, wolves, etc. I'm particularly remembering the Egyptian fascination with cats ... and cats having "nine lives" because they seem able to recover from things that should have killed an ordinary animal.
I'm also curious as to how the bond forms between maker and child, thus, whether it would be possible for a vampire to have more than one maker and perhaps more than one lineage of progenitor. That seems plausible if a human services multiple vampires, the way the blood whores do.
>>I need to start working on a 'family' tree for this I think, which will also help with the saliva chemical information.<<
Agreed.
Animal adaptations can get really extreme. Mammary glands evolved from sweat glands, for instance. Snake venom comes from modified saliva glands and is downright intricate in composition:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_venom
Vampire bat saliva contains anti-coagulants and vasodialators to keep the blood flowing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire_bat
Some amphibians produce skin secretions with hallucinogenic qualities.