Stratagem - The Blood Hunt

Vein
When it comes to hunting vampires, the old adage remains true of every living being on earth. "If it bleeds, it dies. If it doesn't, we will find a way to kill it." You have to love mankind.

Vampires are an extraordinary enemy in which to hunt. When hunting the world's most dangerous prey one must take great measures to ensure ones own safety. Falling into the hands of an enemy so bold and terrifying will land you in a world of pain and anguish you will regret as long as you live. The Vampire Nation is a very cold, unforgiving race and as such must be treated in the same manner. Thus those who hunt vampires are usually cold blooded killers, detached from society on varying levels.

The vampire itself is a rather simple foe. Most vampires are often thought of as super humans with perfected skills and nothing more. This is generally a correct assumption unless dealing with the higher aristocracy of the night which engages in the black arts and other forms of paranormal practice. Even though most of the vampires a hunter encounters will be of the lower variety, their speed, strength and decades of perfecting unusual combat techniques makes them far more deadly then anything man has generally encountered.

Killing vampires is a rather straight forward ordeal and somewhat similar to killing a human. Drain the vampire of its life blood and its body will fail eventually withering away. Second, sever the vampire's head from its body and it will lose the ability to fight although its head may live for quite some time in and of itself. Third, inflicting damage to a vampire's brain causes instant loss of cognitive abilities and higher reasoning. Although a vampire may survive and regenerate brain matter over a long period of time, wounds of this severe nature leaves vampires completely vulnerable on the field of battle.

The notable difference between killing a vampire and a human is of course, a vampire is not human. A vampire's blood courses through their veins at an incredibly slow pace thus leaving their bodies temperature rather cold. Thus when combating a vampire and hoping to bleed such a being dry, one must go to great lengths in opening grievous wounds. This gives the vampire a great advantage in longevity during battle unless of course it is fighting other vampires. In which case the fighting might be quite bloody and last for hours until a single vampire drops dead, completely drained.

It is important when engaging vampires to not let them retreat. The vampire that lives to run away will eventually stem its blood loss and regain its strength, thus coming back to haunt you yet another day. Because of a vampire's high tolerance to pain, self surgery is plausible when necessary. Although a vampire cannot re-grow wholly missing bone and body fragments, they heal much faster than we could ever anticipate. Wounds that would normally kill a human must be inflicted upon a vampire multiple times to have a similar effect. Lengthy pauses during battle with fresh corpses lying about are enough for many vampires to recover from blood loss, eventually sealing grievous combat wounds within mere hours.

Even though the last century of man has opened new doors for the vampires to control the world, it has also opened new areas of weaponry that makes fighting the vampires less tasking. Powerful explosives, anti personnel mines, grenades, motion detection, personal communication, rapid firing weaponry and a plethora of destructive ammunition has turned the vampire hunter into an arsenal of death. Even an untrained hunter may still get lucky with such destructive weaponry at their side.

Although the vampire is best beset upon during the day due to their weakened state, they more often than not make up for this lack of strength with heightened security. To combat the vampire during the night is often thought of suicidal although many a time necessary concerning movement and exposure. Night fighting with vampires can often be a tricky affair. These beings of the dark are at home under the moonlight. Their vision is as perfect during the night as ours is during the day. Their strength is peaked when they first wake. Pending their feeding habits they will stay awake for several days, often resting and becoming rather sluggish during the hottest times of the day.

A vampire's strength is that of legend. Pending upon the ritual with which the vampire was imbued they may possess above average to extraordinary feats of strength. From jumping extraordinary heights to having the strength to cling small parts of jutting wall with ease, the vampire is a freak set apart from nature. When one vampire fights another the combat may often lead to a dizzying battle of quick engagements utilizing hand to hand combat, cover, and ranged weaponry all within seconds. Many experienced vampires have been fighting for decades showing no sign of dwindling strength. Thus the more experienced vampire is able to read and predict their opponents in a most unnatural and efficient way, sometimes countering an enemy's every move. To engage such a being one must fluidly adapt to their given situation, showing no signs of relenting, showing no mercy.

When hunting, the best trait a hunter may employ when engaging the Vampire Nation is not that of action, but rather observation. Vampires use the world in which we live as a veil to hide their true work. We as a human race occasionally notice anomalies from time to time that we cannot explain. Disease suddenly being spread, mysterious figures in the woods at night, moving spheres of light in the sky recorded for centuries. We have often been witness to extraordinary events we push back into the hallows of our minds.

Those who are natural studies of the environment in which we live may notice these odd occurrences on a more regular basis. Civilians disappearing. Faces looking as if they haven't aged in twenty years. Strange howls in alleys. Dark specters disappearing into seemingly thin air. All but a calling sign of the Vampire Nation. The closer you are to a vampire stronghold, the more frequent these anomalies may present themselves.

Observing vampires, when and how they move, classifying various types of vampires and then using fierce ambush and surprise to overcome are the hallmark of successful hunters. Use your enemy's tactics against them. Like your enemy choose when and where to attack, then fading into the endless framework of life like a ghost.




Fang
Although vampires are relatively simple in the procedure of killing, there are many techniques which may be utilized to greatly reduce their supernatural features. Well publicized anti-vampire methods are for the most part, well publicized by the Vampire Nation itself. Many an ill informed hunter has died with the laughter of a vampire ringing in their ears whilst clutching a cross or wooden stake. Such weapons are not useless, but have been shown in a public light being used in an incorrect manner. As we all know, entertainment mimics that of real life. Yet we in turn have looked at entertainment as if it were real. The chasing of hollow stars and withered dreams has cost the lives of many a man.

Garlic
The vampires love it. Its extremely potent taste reminds them of a time when they were most human. At best ingesting large amounts of liquid garlic may cause abdominal pains which may further a vampire's fury thus losing some focus in combat. Hardly a weapon, garlic is best used on food instead of vampires.

Cross
A cross is simply a cross. Its metal or material matters not. Unless the cross or object is a sacred artifact and recognized as such then it will be of no use to a vampire hunter. Some sacred artifacts exist but are hardly common place. Some artifacts may be recognized as an ancient bane to the Vampire Nation causing confusion and panic on sight alone. Other artifacts may actually posses super natural properties or may imbue their possessor with powers beyond that of the norm.

Holy Water
Water, oil, liquid, it is what it is and no more. A holy man may no more bless water then he may bless a stone or any other object. Whether an object is sacred however and how it became that way is another matter.

Light
Generally no form of light, either naturally or artificially produced will hurt vampires. Sunlight merely weakens true vampires to a mere average human state. Prolonged exposure to heat will further weaken vampires to a sub human state. They are still capable of great stamina in times of crisis even though sluggardly in heat and light.

Wooden Stakes
The type of wood or condition it's in is of no matter. Staking a vampire is a mere hindrance to such an unnatural being. Driving a stake into a vampire then pulling the stake however opens a massive wound through which much blood may pass. As wood is cheap, easy to find and easy to form, it was a rather popular material with which to hunt vampires in the past. Masses of men with pikes or stakes had a decent chance at killing lone vampires from time to time. Modern materials such as alloys or synthetic plastics may pass through more easily and be re-used with minimal material failure. Further advancements such as injecting toxins or liquid fuels into the vampire's body act as performance inhibitors as well.

Modern Weaponry
Many modern weapons such as shotguns, machine guns, large caliber rifles and the like are used when fighting vampires. The goal of a hunter is to start bleeding a vampire to the point its strength rapidly deteriorates, thus becoming vulnerable to more deadly weapons such as blades, chemicals, explosives etc. The more wounds that are opened, the faster a vampire will lose any super human benefits it may possess. Thus the application of opening wounds through firearms acts as a primary engagement tool in most vampire encounters.

Many hunters have turned to technology or the supernatural in order to exploit the vampire during battle. Aerosol inhibitors that quicken the beating of a vampire's heart will cause much more blood loss and are relatively easy to employ. That being said, they are equally easy to counter if the vampire is prepared. Other measures such as drugs, blood thinning agents, projecting blessed items into vampire's bodies and chemical warfare will wreak havoc within a vampire's biology. Pending the hunter and their study of paranormal arts or supernatural feats, they too may be capable of inhuman traits or abnormal powers which rival or surpass the vampires own.

Technology may be used in a great many ways from motion detection, night vision and ground sensors. Even hacking networks of information. Since hunting vampires is a rather clandestine, lonely affair, vampire hunters have been known to produce a wide variety of methods concerning weaponry and ways in which to use it. This has kept the vampires on constant guard for quite a while as they never know what they will face next, let alone how they will face it. Attacks could be up close and personal or as indiscriminate as a deadly bomb planted under a vehicle followed by a hail of gunfire.




Postmortem - Life After Death
As the Dark One and the Vampire Nation struggle to control and eventually take over human existence, other pieces on the chess board of life are being played. Not all powers of the dark are happy with the Dark One's rise to power on an earth they too, sought to manipulate. And of course there is the matter of the Light, which cursed the dark and cast it down. The Dark One and his minions are careful to play by the rules which have been set upon the earth by its Creator. They do not want to end up in a spiritual prison as did other fallen angels. The Light is still a most fierce bastion by which crusaders still stand. And it is by this Light that many who hunt the night call upon to aid them in their fight.

When all is said and done, the world knows not the hunter's deeds. The world knows not of the hunter's sacrifice. But make no mistake; every evil being that is felled by those who stood against the tide is counted in the end. Even a mere stone, slung by a simple sling, swung by a steady hand, may yet turn the tide against the face of all that is evil. We cannot know, unless we stand...


For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. - Ephesians