ORDOG:
Vampires, Werewolves, Lycanthropes, etc.
by Prof. V.H. Stoker of the International Paranormal Institute.
The Nature of the Ordog condition:
A genovirus infects and mutates the victim's cells, destroying his ability to produce lifeforce naturally. The victim (now an Ordog) must then rely on lifeforce taken from others, which is converted to Ordog Energy by the Ordog's altered biological processes.
Contraction of the Ordog genovirus:
To become fully infected, the victim must first be weakened to the point that his immune system cannot fight off the virus. Then a sufficient amount of an Ordog's bodily fluids must be infused (swallowed or injected) into the victim's body. Repeated dosage may effect infection with small doses and/or a less weakened victim.
Ordog powers:
Immortality: Providing that he feeds regularly, an Ordog can resist or reverse the effects of age. Some Vampires have used this extended lifespan to develop occult skills to a level that mortals could never live long enough attain.
Strength: The accumulation of Ordog Energy, combined with telekinesis and the ability to ignore physical pain gives an Ordog abnormal physical strength.
Seventh Sense: Ordog develop advanced telepathy, primarily in the form of being able to project thoughts, illusions, and suggestions into the minds of others. Their ability to read the conscious thoughts of others is less developed, but they can usually sense the presence of others, and may be influenced by the strong faith of mortals.
Ordog also develop telekinesis. Very powerful Ordog may levitate or even fly.
Bodily Control: Ordog are less dependant on their bodies than mortals. They have almost complete control over their biological functions, and can direct them to rapidly heal wounds (even reattach limbs), and to effect limited physical alteration of form. Such transformations are limited by the Conservation of Matter & Energy law of physics.
Animal control: Ordog telepathy can be used to control animals, particularly nocternal predators. (Prey animals tend to go into a panic state at the first contact of an Ordog mind.) In some cases, an Ordog can see and hear through the animal, within the limitations of the animal's sensory organs and brain perception.
Feeding:
Ordog feed on the living blood (and sometimes flesh) of their victims. Their bodies get some physical material from the blood, but primarily they digest the lifeforce out of it, converting it to Ordog Energy. Blood is the most efficient way to ingest what an Ordog needs, and Vampires usually feed on it alone. Werewolves, being too mindless to know this, often devour blood and flesh. Bottled blood or the blood of a corpse is of no use to an Ordog.Weaknesses of the Ordog:
Staking/Decapitation: Physical injuries such as these, which cause instantanious death in mortals, can be effective against an Ordog. Particularly a young one who has not fully become accustomed to the ability to control his body from "outside". Normally, any Ordog can survive and recover from injuries that would take more than a few seconds to kill a mortal. If they have time to become aware of a fatal injury, they can "disconnect" their mind from their body, then consciously, mechanically, direct physical recovery, providing they have sufficient Ordog Energy. Physical destruction is most effective against the Ordog at midday, when his power is at its lowest.Sunlight: Ordog energy is completely incompatible with certain kinds of solar radiation... It seems that this solar radiation is not reflected by the moon, nor is it produced in known artificial light sources. Exposure to sunlight causes Ordog Energy to rapidly fade, leaving the Ordog to his "natural" state. An Ordog within the range of a mortal life span will be reduced to his true age and a very weak, anemic condition. An Ordog who is beyond the range of a mortal lifespan will be reduced to a corpse, or even dust. The more Ordog Energy an Ordog has, the longer it takes for it to be drained away.
Holy Talisman (Cross, Star of David, Holy Water, etc.): Because the Ordog have almost complete power over their physical bodies, anything that they believe can harm them effectively can do so. An involuntary effect of Ordog telepathy is that they can be influenced by the beliefs of any mortals they may be confronting, so that even an atheist Ordog may be injured or repelled by a talisman in the hands of a mortal with strong faith.
Silver: The nuclear resinance of silver makes it immune to all effects of Ordog Energy. An Ordog cannot move or repell siver telekinetically. Mere contact with silver does not hurt an Ordog, but can cause numbness of the skin. Silver weapons tend to be very effective against the Ordog, and injuries from silver projectiles cannot be healed until the projectiles are removed, which the Ordog cannot do telekinetically like he can with lead bullets.
Fire/Acid/Radiation: Total destruction of an Ordog body can destroy the Ordog. This is not a very effective means of destruction, since a powerful Ordog may be able to telekinetically repell flames (etc.) for some time before being physically damaged, and the Ordog has to be reduced to little more than a charred skeleton before all hope of regeneration is lost.
Garlic / Wolfsbane: Certain aromatic plants are especially repellant to Ordog, being incompatable with their altered biochemestry.
Mirrors: Ordog often use telepathically-induced illusion to alter their appearance to mortals. These illusions effect how mortals see the Ordog, but not how they see his reflection if he is seen in a mirror the Ordog was unaware of. So an unexpected glance of an Ordog's reflection shows the mortal how the Ordog really looks. If an Ordog knows that he will be seen in reflection, he can extend the illusion to include the reflection too.
Vampires and Werewolves:
All Ordog are the result of the same genovirus. The differences between Vampires and Werewolves are the result of differences in the natures of the infected persons. There are also non-Ordog Vampire & Werewolf-like human subgroups.Vampires:
Vampires are individuals who are fully aware of, and psychologically able to accept their nature as Ordog. They are not all "evil", but they do all possess the ability to kill. Because they accept their nature and feed often, while shunning daylight, Vampires accumulate power quickly and can live for centuries.Living and Undead Vampires: Vampires who are not entirely dependant on Ordog Energy for life, normally those under 120 years old, are considered "Living Vampires". Those Vampires who have survived beyond the normal mortal potential of 120-140 years are completely dependant on Ordog Energy for existance, and are considered "Undead".
Infection Technique: Vampires usually pass the Ordog infection on intentionally, choosing mortals who are mentally capable of becoming Vampires for the "gift", then helping them adjust to their new state. Thus, Vampires tend to produce new Vampires rather than Werewolves. The fact that Vampires feed consciously and efficiently (relatively few victims, usually killed outright), they rarely leave accidentally infected survivors from feeding. There are various, somewhat ritualized, means for passing on the infection...
A common, quick, and effective means is for the Vampire to take enough of the victim's blood to render him too weak to resist the infection (almost dead), then the Vampire has the victim swallow a substantial quantity of the Vampire's infected blood.
In another, gentler method, the Vampire takes less blood from the victim and inoculates the bite wound with his infected saliva (and sometimes blood from an intentionally bitten tongue or cheek lining). Repeated "bites" on successive nights (traditionally three or seven) results in a more gradual, less traumatic transition from mortal to Ordog for the victim.
Werewolves/Lycanthropes:
When an Ordog is unaware of, resisting, or unable to consciously accept his nature, the drive to feed will eventually overpower the conscious will and drive the Ordog into temporary insanity. This hunger and insanity is manifested in a physical change, with the Ordog taking on some beast-like attributes, often those of the predator his culture identifies with savagery. In the western world, this is usually the wolf.Actually, Werewolves rarely look very wolf-like, favoring instead a sort of hairy Neanderthal type. But the mortals of any given region tend to identify these mysterious beast-men with the wolves, lions, or bears that are native to the area.
Because they resist feeding as long as possible, and tend to try and continue their mortal lives in the daylight, Werewolves rarely accumulate great power or live even to a normal human lifespan. Suicides as the horror of their true nature becomes undeniable are common, as is destruction by mortals due to the careless (unconscious) behavior when hunting.
Infection Technique: Werewolves hunt like half-crazed animals. They sometimes leave a half-dead victim to chase after another, and are often injured and bleeding, or maniacally drooling as they feed. As a result, they sometimes leave behind severely weakened victims who have been inoculated with the Ordog genovirus. Because these victims have no mental preparation for the transition, and are infected at random from the general population rather than being selected for suitability, they tend to become Werewolves rather than Vampires.
Ordog Spawn:
No Ordog female has ever carried a baby to term. Living Vampire and Werewolf (in "human" form) males have sired children of mortal mothers. The nature of these children is highly unpredictable.Faux Ordog:
Cultists: Various groups of disturbed persons (usually teenagers) or religious fanatics claim to be "Vampires" and play at drinking blood (often bottled animal blood). A few real Vampires have found these cultists useful as "fronts" or to help cover their hunting activities. Most find them silly and stay away from them.Freaks: There are certain physiological and/or pschological conditions that can mimic Ordog infection, causing transient madness, hair growth, and/or extreme sensitivity to sunlight. These have nothing to do with true Ordog infection.