Vampires are a humanoid species. They have the superficial appearance of abnormally pale, black-haired and black-eyed half-elves, but the underlying physiological differences are significant. Notably, vampires have no circulatory or digestive systems, can turn into bats at will, and subsist on the blood of other species (which they consume by sucking it through straw-like fangs, painlessly to the donor due to anaesthetic properties of the fangs). They are considerably stronger and faster than other humanoids. Vampires (other than lights) are easily harmed by sunlight; they can tolerate even direct sunlight for several minutes with significant discomfort but no lasting harm, but thirty to forty-five minutes of exposure is generally fatal. Vampires can fall asleep only when hanging upside-down in bat form, although in their humanoid forms, about 60% of vampires have the ability to "trance". Trancing is triggered by a specific physical contact, such as pinching the bridge of the nose or stroking the eyebrow, and is similar to sleep, except that it cannot replace sleep over long periods of time, allows for some limited responsiveness to the vampire's surroundings, and is quicker to enter and exit than a state of true sleep. Vampires are generally considered to reach adulthood at around age 20, at which point they cease to age. They have variable lifespans: they age at the same rate as humans, but how long they live depends on the lifespans of the people they bite. For example, a vampire whose meals are elves half the time and humans half the time will live about as long as a half-elf. Vampires have a gestation period of about 5 Elcenian months (245-250 days).

There is no recognizeable ethnic variation among vampires. Sometimes, there are half-vampires; these tend to suffer from a high rate of miscarriage, stillbirth, infant mortality, and poor health problems even among the survivors because of basic biological incompatibilities between vampires and other humanoids. However, vampire thudias are reasonably commonplace and do not suffer these problems.

Vampires throughout Elcenia share a language, "vampire" (with some regional dialecticization). They also universally subscribe to a single religion, about which they are extremely secretive. Little is known about their faith except that it forbids feeding off of unwilling blood donors, that it is operated under the supervision of a pontiff whose identity is not generally known, and that it requires the adherence of vampires and forbids the admittance of non-vamipres. (For theological purposes, vampire thudias count as vampires and other half-vampires do not; more than 50% vampire ancestry, except in a parunia, qualifies one as a vampire too.)

The following characters are vampires:

Hihhliir Khaaaia
Leekath Hhirheek (see image)