Blooded

Blooded are creatures of The Red Duke. They are cursed with an unnatural, insatiable hunger for the trappings of sentient life. While Blooded most famously feed on the blood of their victims, some eat the physical flesh while others prey on metaphysical concepts like memory or emotion.

The Red Dream

Every Blooded has been visited in their dreams by The Red Duke personally. Sometimes the duke is received with exultant expectation, such as by his closest faithful. More often, such dreams are a time of great fear and anxiety as the god of nightmares invades someone's sleep. Nonetheless, he will be received.

Those who have traversed the Constellation of Dreams knows that the dreamer is the ultimate power. Each dream its own private demiplane, a safe place for the master of such a domain once they have learned to harness their own inner power. Somehow, The Red Duke is immune to such norms. Any dreamer, no matter their strength or skill, is vulnerable to The Red Duke and by extension his cultists.

Their Blood

Vampiric blood is considered a poison across most of the world. It is so potently infectious that a single drop of it is considered dangerous. Some factions have a policy that vampires cannot be contained once infected, and so refuse all contact with their kind and will immediately cut off any of their own who have been infected. The most extreme about this are the Artificers, and the Valleymen.

Vampiric blood will sublimate when exposed to direct sunlight, leaving behind only an oily black smear. Inert vampiric blood can be used for rituals the same way regular vampiric blood can be, without the risk of infection.

Feral vs Noble

A Feral Blooded is like a mindless creature. It was once a living, sentient person but that privilege has been revoked. They, their soul, their mind, are totally bound to the will of The Red Duke. Very rarely, this means The Red Duke can choose to act through them in some limited capacity. More often, they are allowed to roam freely, perhaps under the sway of a vampiric necromancer or just on their own.

Noble Blooded are distinguished by being sentient. They retain much of their humanity, individualism, and they may even hate their circumstances. That doesn't mean they're safe. Noble Blooded are still pawns of The Red Duke, and are able to spread the Blooded curse wherever they reside. For more on them, see Vampires.

There are many types of special feral Blooded. Some of them are common knowledge.

Vampiric Ogres | Hulking behemoths, these creatures are nigh unstoppable.

Mimics | Able to assume the form and identity of anyone, Mimics are especially feared for their instinct to integrate with society.

Zombies/Undead/Fodder | The most common kind. They tend to cluster together, seek shelter during the day, and hunt at night. Fresh fodder have some glimmers of sentience left, but they quickly deteriorate into what appears to be madness. Famously, they are most of what's left of the Empyrean Empire, freezing over in the winter and then emerging in the spring like the most unpleasant of weeds. They bleed continuously from their gums.