You've entered a little dark room, only lit by a pair of candles in a silver candelabra standing on an oaken table at the eastern wall. On the table next to them lies an open book with a black binding. The single window is hidden behind long curtains of black velvet, keeping out the sunlight. On the other side of the room stands a closed ebony coffin, covered by a pallor of soft red velvet. This dark chamber has a solemn and mysterious atmosphere, and you are quite certain that a creature of the night must inhabit it. A small black chest is standing unobtrusively in a corner of the room.

On the withered parchment of the open book you recognize some words written in arcane letters, reading: "That is not dead which can eternal lie, for with strange aeons even death may die."

This must be

the black book of vampirism in the Realm of Magic *

Prolog *

The embrace – or how does the eternal unlife start *
The Hunting Ground – or good places to be *
Vampires in the Realm of Magic – or places to find creatures of the night *
Artifacts – or equipment to help you through the night *

Epilogue *

Being a creature of the night for many years now and nearly dying from the black arts a evil old hag cast upon me I decided to share my knowledge of us vampires and the Realm of Magic we live in with the readers of this book. I had to admit after this incident, that I for sure cannot die of old age, but I will only live forever, if I keep away from fire-magics. So I started writing some time ago and I know for sure this will be a never ending story, but I have all enternity to finish it. For sure I missed something important for now, but after some years I will have gathered all useful knowledge or died trying. So have fun with the information I can provide you with today and be sure there will be some more in a century or two. No need to hurry if you live an eternal unlife…

Some decades ago I was a young elven mage studying the magic arts and the creatures of the night. I was fascinated by the possibility of studying and doing research for all eternity. No need to hurry, cause the years are for a vampire what days are for the mortal men.

So I started searching for a way to become a vampire myself. After some years of research I found a vampiric archmage, who was willing to embrace me and made me one of his kind.

The embrace was painful and sweet at the same time and I will never forget my last moments of the Realm as a mere mortal. I bared my neck to feed him with my blood. As I was nearly sucked dry at the edge of dying he offered me his life-essence and I accepted eagerly and drank with passion to pass at death’s door from mortality to eternal unlife.

Now I thought I was like him, but I couldn’t be more wrong, he was a vampire lord, not even harmed by the sun anymore, I was a newborn vampire and would be dead in an instant if ever exposed to the sunlight. So I waited for the night to fall, and lived from this time on until nowadays from dusk til dawn…

On my journeys I learned fast, that some places are suited better for the creatures of the night then others.

Best suited for young vampires, especially for warrior and clerics among them, is the greater Moonglow area on Omelos. This place is my favorite because of a single fact. North of Moonglow there is the mighty castle of the Fellowship, an order of helping hands in the realm. In the public part of the castle you can find a magical fountain of blood, that never runs dry and may nourish you for all eternity. You can even take some blood with you, if you travel to distant places. There are rumours, that in ancient times vampires had a portable canteen of blood, but these times are long past or from the times of legends. But unless you find such a vampires canteen I think the fountain of blood is the best you can get and the inhabitants hopefully don’t mind you feeding there, if you behave properly…

I had never any problems with them…

On omelos you might find some interesting places to explore and many mobs to hunt down…

Second best is the pirate town Fanhir. These pirates drink so much rum, that always some of them are passed out and snore out in the streets. A vampire can feed from the sleeping drunks without any problems. This is not very interesting, if you are a trained thief and can use knockout to send your victim to the land of dreams or a master of the black arts who can sleep them by magic. If you don’t have these possibilities you might find sleeping mobs very useful…

But apart from this the pirates from fanhir are always good sports to hunt down. There are pirates for every one tiny ones for beginners and mighty pirates for the professional hunters…

But I have to warn you, be careful in fanhir, so you do not fall down the stairs. I heard of more then one unlucky adventurer that fell down the stairs and ended his career really early. You won’t have any problems with the stairs if you fly. So I propose that you should always fly in Fanhir. If you cannot use the magic arts to do this you should go to Mara Tom on the Fanhir market and buy an energy drink. This will do, believe me…

And if there’s no sleeping pirate to feed you, you may always buy a bottle of chateau de sang at … -I can’t remember the vendor’s name, you have to find him/her yourself…

Another region I found suited for my kind is Grassy Lands. There are no sleeping mobs or magical blood fountains there, but at least most of the rooms there are not exposed to the sunlight, so a vampire may walk during the daytime without being burned to ashes by the sun… 

Well hidden from the eyes of the mortal citizens are the vampires of atalia. The vampires princess and her followers are still planning to take over the city via intrigue and seduction. To find them is quite an adventure and you may find some useful equipment there, but I can tell you from my own experience, they won’t give it to you willingly…but this is another story.

Boldy out in the public is the vampire castle near Darkheim. I learned , that the inhabitants do not fear their mortal neighbours cause the puny mortals do not have the valour or fighting force to raze the dreaded citadel of my kind…

If you travel down the road and leave the border of the desert behind you, you may find a bar that’s open from dusk till dawn. Everybody has heard of it. It is the famous Titty Twister. And this is the last place I want to tell you about, but for sure not the least. It takes good arguments to make the bouncers of this ‘private’ club to let you in. Once inside you may have some nourishing vampire’s guts for dinner. But beware or you will end as food for the dreaded gecko brother’s…

If you are very bold you may go backstage and find the Spice-Girls before the start their gig, but the girls are no fun, as I was told from reliable sources. But this you may know already…

As I roamed the realm looking for useful artifacts to increase my power I found some nice pieces of equipment. The knowledge of these items I want to share with you. I’m really fond of equipment that is somehow tied with my kind. So here are some items, that add flavour to our existence and are suited best for vampires in my humble opinion. Maybe, when I am some hundreds years old I may change my mind on these, but this only time may tell…

Most important ist the vampire’s cloak. It is made by the god Necron himself to shield us from our nemesis the sunlight. Without it only the most powerful of my kind can endure the sun, but with the cloak only our power to cast spells is drained and we may live to another day or night…

But beware, if you ever run out of mana, you will burn like the stake of a witch.

The cloak is the item for a vampire, there’s nothing, that could be more important for him. I can tell myself how dear a cloak is. When I lost it fighting against an nearly unbeatable dragon I offered nearly everything I had to a mighty hero, just to get it back…

You may beg Necron for the cloak, e.g. you may buy one for 15 quest-points at the quest shop in Midgaard temple. I propose to buy a cloak before anyone becomes a vampire, so you are able to rush from shadow to shadow and don’t have to wait until sundown…

Best would be to save 15 quest-points for an emergency-cloak, if you should ever drown or hit a Deathtrap.

If you are very lucky you can get your hands on the eye of a vampire. This wonderful artifact is an infinite lightsource that grants you the benefit of spying into adjacent rooms which is very useful while exploring as you may know from your own experience…

This item is the property of a inhabitant of the dreaded vampire castle, but it may have another owner as I write this page…

Another item you can find in the castle is the vampire’s book of sorcery. From my research I can tell you, that you are able to sense hidden life forms when you use the book. So nothing will be hidden from your eyes anymore, if you use this magical tome…

When fighting you should exchange the book for the teeth of the vampire. The fangs of a long dead ancient vampire grant you extra powers in fight, as they increase your damage and hit probabilities. On this artifact I must admit that I bought it at Urul’s. But it may also be found at the vampire castle, if I remember correctly…

But take care, the kindred living there is not very fond of intruders living or unliving. This I can tell you from my own expierience…

The vampire princess in atalia was so nice to give me her sleeves, so I could do some research on them. Unfortunately she wasn’t able to take them back afterwards if you understand me.

The sleeves are cursed, they can’t be used by a good aligned person, vampire or not… But they increase your hit probability and help you to distinguish good from evil.

The Scythe was another item I obtained from the princess. This item is not for the pure of heart. But it is a really powerful two-handed weapon. You feel like the reaperman with it…

For lowlevel vampires that are not trained thieves or mages this item is very useful, though very expensive, too. It can be obtained at the Mage-shop in Midgaard if my mermories are still correct, but the decades go by and I has been a long time I have been to the shop. You can sleep a mob with it, to feed, if you have no other means of getting nourishment. Unfortunately there isn’t a blood-shop in every town to feed at, but maybe sometime there will be one…

Very useful is a transparent potion and for sure lots of them. Such a potion will give you 100 mana back, very useful, if you should ever be stuck in the sunlight with a cloak and your magic is drained rapidly. About other uses of mana I could tell you legendary tales, but this is a book about vampirism not about the magic arts, though they are the reason I choose the eternal unlife, but this is another story…

Of interest may be the place to buy these. You may buy them at Kessira’s, north of Atalia.

The stories about vampire’s being nearly unbeatable at night are true. The creatures of the night regenerate mana and life like the devil himself after sundown and I can tell you that my skin hardens during nighttime. But during daytime we are very vulnerable, cause hardly get back any mana or hitpoints until the sun is set again.

This is the reason why I was searching for artifacts that could solve this problem.

My personal favorite is the cap manufactured by the god Deathlock himself. This item does not only regenerate your hp all the time, it does also increase your maximal lifeforce and mana. You may beg Deathlock for the cap at the quest-shop. You need 20 quest-points to obtain this item.

Another item that helps regenerating is the Belt of Earth-Power. It also increases your strength a little bit. This item you may not buy in a quest-shop or any other shop. You have to find a sailor in Atalia who tells you about a quest. Should you solve the sailor-quest, you have earned this very powerful item. But beware only the best Explorers can solve the quest, as I had to find out myself. So only start it, if you have enough knowledge about the Realm of Magic.

This should be the name of another regeneration-artifact. I must admit, I don’t know a lot about it, cause I was never able, to get it, but I will continue my search…

Another possibility to regain lost mana and lifeforce is the use of the deadly dagger. This wicked blade, the weapon of a malevolent seductress, drains the energy of your victim and channels the stolen energy to you. I tested it myself and can tell you this is more than just useful to regain spent mana. If you can get your hands on it, take it, but beware the woman wielding it, she’s deadlier than a black widow…

Last but not least you can pray to Esmeralda the goddess of halflings in the temple of Shire. As I found out she’s not willing to grant you lifeforce unless you have obtained the ring of halfling friendship. I am the lucky owner of such a ring and the goddess doesn’t care that I am a vampire, damned to eternal unlife, and me neither…

Being a vampire made me patient. Gone are the days I roamed the streets 24 hours a day, never really resting, never sleeping. Though I still need no sleep, a gift of my elven heritage, things have changes a lot, since I am part of the vampiric society.

When the sun is up in the sky I usually stay indoors, protected from the sun. I have time to read the boards or the "Atalian Today" and I can talk to the other inhabitants of the realm without any hurry, knowing I won’t miss a thing until sundown. And should I miss something, it doesn’t matter, cause I live forever.

I met others of my kind on my endless journeys through the realm. Looking through my gathered knowledge I think that elves are the most common race amongst vampires and trolls are the rarest. Comparing classes I would say that thiefs and mages are more suited to become a creature of the night on low levels than cleris and warriors.

The two main problems with vampirism are the mana-drain if you are out in the sunlight and feeding.

To be able to walk outside during daytime you need a lot of mana. Only the most ancient and powerful vampires are unharmed by the sun. If you have lots of mana or little mana is a question of your race and class.

Elves get the most mana. Trolls have a very low mana, Orcs are better than Trolls but far worse than elves.

Additionally mages and clerics gain more mana than thieves and warriors do. Keeping this in mind you can say concerning mana elven mages and elven clerics are unbeatable. I can tell you from my own experience, that I had about 300 mana at level 17, and stayed at these until I got staymortal. Troll warriors are the worst. I heard they have about 50 mana until they reach staymortal-status.

The other problem is feeding. You can only feed from passed out mobs. The best ways to do this are knockout - which thieves can learn before they are Pick-Pockets - and for Followers of Morpheus or higher mage-classes the sleep spell…

Warriors and clerics do not have a skill or spell to prepare the mobs. They have to wait until they become thief or mage themselves or until they are a mature vampire and can transfix their victim and order it to bare his or her neck.

That’s all for now,

Don’t forget to read the help file on vampires.

Have fun in the Realm of Magic and if you have any ideas about topics you think I missed, just mud-mail me.

Eternally yours,

Tek the daydreaming vampire of clan shadow

Thanx for all helping me with this guide. Especially Merinid.