by Irina Argo
Avengers
The highly trained, highly feared Amiti assassins of the Order of Eye of Ra. The Avengers are driven by their conviction that vampires and Amiti are children of a single goddess—Hathor–Sekhmet—and that vampires’ practice of keeping bloodstock is an atrocity beyond measure because it is a crime perpetrated on their own people. (In contrast, most vampire and Amiti recognize in the abstract that Hathor and Sekhmet are two manifestations of the same goddess, but in practice view Hathor as the Mother of Amiti and Sekhmet as the Mother of vampires.)
The Avengers’ ultimate goal is to free Amiti from being bloodstock or living in terror of becoming bloodstock. During the early stages of the war between vampires and Amiti, the Avengers’ strategy involved manipulating vampires to blood-bond with them and then using the blood-bond as leverage to secure the release of those vampires’ bloodstock. However, this strategy evolved to include blood-bonding with and assassinating vampires simply to lower their population and, eventually, to exterminate them completely; it also incorporated assassinating Amiti who blood-bonded with vampires and anyone else the Avengers perceived to be a traitor to their cause. Accumulating and assassinating blood-bonds also develops and refines Avengers’ powers.
The Avenger’s trademark image is the Erinyes, the three Greek goddesses of revenge, represented as winged women in Greek tunics with writhing serpents emerging from their heads instead of hair.
Blood-bond
The blood-bond is a powerful physical and spiritual connection between a vampire and an Amiti, triggered when a vampire drinks from an Amiti’s vein. It is intended to take place within loving relationships of any kind, including romantic relationships but also relationships between friends or family members.
Blood-bonding opens a communication channel between the Amiti and the vampire, enabling the pair to locate each other (unless the Amiti shields from the vampire) and to sense each other’s thoughts and emotions. Moreover, if they choose, Amiti can share their powers with their vampire blood-bonds, heal them, resurrect them, or kill them, any of which can be accomplished without bodily contact. The higher-caste Sekhmi forbid Nightwalkers blood-bonding with Amiti, in part because the blood-bond also enables Nightwalkers to tolerate exposure to the sun.
Amiti can blood-bond with multiple vampires, and will produce as much blood as needed with no adverse effects. A vampire, in contrast, can only blood-bond with one Amiti; if another Amiti’s vein is taken, the prior blood-bond is severed. If an Amiti dies after sharing powers with a vampire blood-bond, the powers remain active in the vampire, diminishing gradually over up to two decades.
Both vampires and Amiti experience an extremely powerful urge to blood-bond. Hathor created the Amiti with the express purpose of making them complements to vampires and incorporated this attraction into their creation. Known colloquially as the pull of the blood-bond (or blood-bond pull), it emerges with particular potency during lovemaking, when Amitis’ blood production increases dramatically in preparation for feeding vampires.
The blood-bond can represent a loving, trusting relationship between vampires and Amiti (referred to by vampires as “real” or “true” blood-bonds), with practical benefits to both: for vampires, an ideal blood source and the possibility of accessing Amiti powers; and for Amiti, a catalyst for enhancing their powers. However, blood-bonding ultimately tips the balance of power in the Amiti’s favor by giving them the ability to kill the vampire. This power imbalance was part of Hathor’s plan, intended to protect Amiti from vampires, who are predators by nature. In that respect, vampires are both attracted to the prospect of blood-bonding and terrified of it.
Bloodstock
A term coined by vampires—combining blood and livestock—to describe Amiti who are captured and imprisoned for use as vampires’ blood source. Blood is extracted from the Amiti via catheter in a process similar to human blood donation, although more blood is removed. This method also depletes Amitis’ powers, enabling the vampires to maintain control over them. Bloodstock are kept locked in bloodstock cells, generally underground, and like animal livestock can be sold, traded, or killed. Vampires avoid interacting with bloodstock, hiring human bloodstock handlers to see to the bloodstock’s basic survival needs and perform the blood draining. Under vampire law, only members of the more powerful caste, the Vampire Elite (or Sekhmi) are allowed to keep bloodstock. The lower caste, the Nightwalkers, are forbidden to do so under penalty of death.
Code of the Confederation (The Code)
The Code was created by the Confederation to protect immortals from humans. It consists of just two laws: No-Kill (not killing humans) and No-Show (not demonstrating one’s powers in front of humans). Violation of the Code is punishable by death.
Confederation of Immortals
A governing body created in the 18th century with the purpose of protecting immortals from discovery and persecution by humans. General governance of individual subspecies (e.g., vampires, fay, elves, demons, shifters, wereanimals, sorcerers, demigods, etc.) is the purview of each group, each with its own system and set of laws; the Confederation is an umbrella organization whose jurisdiction is limited to enforcing The Code, the laws of No-Kill and No-Show, and performing a small number of related functions. The Confederation is led by the Council, and its law-enforcement arm is the Legacy of Tyr.
Council
The Confederation’s governing board and judicial body. Its members include elected representatives of all immortal subspecies. The head of the Council is the Chief, who is elected by Council membership.
Gift of Ra
The unique power granted to the Amiti Queen by the God Ra. The exact nature of the Gift is hidden. It becomes activated in extreme circumstance by the strongest intent of the Queen (or a vampire with whom she has blood-bonded and shared the Gift of Ra) and can unfold in unpredictable ways (for example, creating powerful energy blasts or explosions, shifts in time and space, opening portals to other realms or dimensions).
Guardians of the Lioness
The vampire security organization created four millennia ago to protect vampires from all potential enemies. The Guardians include several thousand highly trained warriors stationed in facilities worldwide. Their headquarters are in Brussels.
Hathor
One of the most important and popular deities in Ancient Egypt, personifying the principles of love, joy, and sexuality. In her aspect as Sekhmet, she was the warrior goddess. Hathor created the Amiti as a counterpart to vampires, to save humanity from the bloodthirsty children of Sekhmet. Hathor’s consort is the god Ra.
Inner Circle
The Amiti’s ruling body. The Inner Circle is composed of all of the Keepers, the Avengers and three representatives selected from among the Amiti elders.
Keepers of the Key
Five Amiti named by Hathor to be Keepers of the Key of Life, the Ankh. As the ultimate safeguard to protect the Amiti people, the Keepers may unite and turn the Key, which will unlock the powers of the Egyptian gods. There is controversy among Amiti as to whether these powers would be the Amitis’ to command, or whether turning the Key would unleash total chaos and destruction. Keepers are appointed by the Queen and can surrender their powers back to her for reassignment to new Keepers. In order for their powers to fully manifest, Keepers must complete a three-stage quest. After that, Keepers at full power can communicate to each other telepathically and can locate each other at all times.
Each Keeper is connected to a major Mystery of the Universe and is granted additional powers related to their particular Mystery. The Keepers and their powers are as follows:
Keeper of the Hidden: knows undisclosed secrets and can open large portals or wormholes in space through which people or objects can travel.
Keeper of the Revealed: can create illusions.
Keeper of Death: can command the elements to create natural disasters (for example, tsunamis, hurricanes).
Keeper of Life: can create and restore life within twenty-four hou
rs of an individual’s death.
Keeper of Balance (the Amiti Queen): can create and restore balance.
Legacy of Tyr
An immortal law enforcement organization. The Legacy of Tyr has existed for several thousand years, but it rose to prominence following the establishment of the Confederation of Immortals, when it took as its primary goal enforcing the Code of the Confederation: the laws of No-Kill and No-Show. The Legacy consists of several thousand elite, highly trained warriors of different immortal subspecies who operate in groups of four or five called families and are stationed all over the world. The Legacy also created Sanctuary, providing shelter for abused immortal females.
The Legacy’s patron god is Tyr, the Nordic god of justice, law, and order who protects the two realms—of gods and humans—and keeps them from collapsing into each other and being annihilated. In homage to Tyr, Legacy warriors have his rune, Tiwaz, an upright arrow, tattooed on their right hands.
Life-Force
A living essence in immortals’ bodies that constantly regenerates and is the means by which they avoid aging. Vampires can exchange life-forces with each other by drinking from each other’s veins in a ritual called Shay-Nefer (Good Destiny), considered the ultimate expression of devotion. After completing the Shay-Nefer ritual, if one partner dies, the other dies as well because their life-forces have intertwined.
Mirror Skill
A power granted by Hathor and accessible to any Amiti over five hundred years of age; it allows them to teleport through and communicate with each other using mirrors or other highly polished surfaces. Teleportation using the Mirror Skill requires two mirrors of sufficient size for the Amiti’s body to fit through, one installed at the point of origin and one at the destination. It also requires either another Amiti at the destination point, serving as an “anchor” for the teleporting Amiti to travel toward, or near-perfect visualization skills so that the Amiti can project an image of the desired destination onto the mirror in front of them.
Nightwalkers
The lower of the two castes of vampires. As distinct from Sekhmi, Nightwalkers are not pureblood vampires, making their vampire characteristics (heightened speed and strength, hypnotic power) inferior to Sekhmis’. Sekhmi used their superior powers to establish dominance over Nightwalkers and reinforce this dominance by commissioning sorcerers to develop a curse preventing Nightwalkers from tolerating exposure to sunlight and being able to sense Amiti energy.
Nightwalkers are forbidden, under penalty of death, from blood-bonding with Amiti or keeping them as bloodstock. Although some Nightwalkers obey this law, feeding only on humans or other immortals, others ignore the risks and find ways to obtain sources of Amiti blood. Indeed, blood-bonding with Amiti renders their powers equal to those of Sekhmi and nullifies the effects of the curse—effectively erasing evidence of their difference from Sekhmi so that they can survive undetected as Nightwalkers.
Order of the Eye of Ra (The Order)
A secret Amiti organization created several millennia ago with the goal of freeing Amiti bloodstock from the vampires. All Keepers of the Key and all Avengers are members of the Order, but other than that, the exact number and identity of the Order’s membership are unknown.
Pink Sunset (or Red Sunset)
The most popular drink among vampires, commonly offered at social and business functions. Pink Sunset is a blend of Amiti blood and alcohol, usually Champagne. It is mixed in different proportions; with a higher concentration of blood, it is referred to as Red Sunset.
Pride
The name given to Sekhmi family units who live together, borrowed from the term used for lions’ social units in honor of the lioness goddess Sekhmet. Prides may include blood relatives, close friends, and Amiti blood-bonds. The strongest member of the pride is the Alpha. Sekhmi in general are very wealthy, and members of Sekhmi prides share assets including real estate, bank accounts, businesses, vehicles, and bloodstock.
The Project
A secret international research organization run by humans. The Project conducts scientific research on immortals with the goal of unlocking hidden potential in the human brain and achieving immortality for humans. The Project’s staff includes ambitious scientists from various fields (medical doctors, neuroscientists, geneticists, biologists, physicists, etc.), entrepreneurs who believe in the Project’s work and provide financial support, and shadows, humans with highly developed psychic and other paranormal powers who serve as the Project’s guards. The Project owns thirteen laboratories worldwide, all of which are disguised as research stations conducting more conventional scientific research.
Queen of the Amiti
The ruler and protector of the Amiti people and the most powerful of the Amiti. In addition to possessing individual powers like those granted to all Amiti, the Queen has the Gift of Ra, is the Keeper of the Mystery of Balance, and has the power—and responsibility—of naming other Keepers of the Key. All of the Queen’s powers are transferable only from mother to daughter at the time of the Queen’s death.
Ra
A primary deity of ancient Egypt, consort of Hathor, and god of creation and of the sun. The threat to Ra made by humans served as a catalyst for Sekhmet to manifest and almost destroy the word. Ra assisted Hathor in creating the Amiti people, granting a part of his power, the Gift of Ra, to the Amiti Queen, so that she could more effectively protect her people from the dangers and challenges of life on earth.
Sanctuary
A system of providing shelter for high-profile immortal females whose lives are at risk and who lack other sources of protection. Most commonly, Sanctuary is provided to females who face abuse and whose abusers are too powerful for them to escape by other means. Sanctuary was created by and is provided by the Legacy of Tyr. Females granted Sanctuary live as members of Legacy families, with Legacy warriors forbidden to pursue them romantically or sexually. A female leaving the family to which she has been assigned loses the privilege of Sanctuary.
Sekhmet
Egyptian warrior goddess; also goddess of destruction, healing, and the sun. Another aspect of Hathor, Sekhmet was locked in Hathor’s consciousness and broke free when the life of Hathor’s mate, the god Ra, was threatened. Sekhmet created vampires during her deadly rampage, and is vampires’ only deity. She is worshiped by both castes of vampires, Sekhmi and Nightwalkers.
Sekhmi
Also known as the Vampire Elite or simply the Elite, Sekhmi are the upper class of vampires, as distinct from the Nightwalkers. Sekhmi are all pure-blooded vampires, direct descendants of Sekhmet, from whom they took their name, which also translates from ancient Egyptian as powerful. The offspring of Sekhmi-Amiti unions are also regarded as Sekhmi; because Amiti were created to complement vampires, their offspring maintain all the powers of their vampire parent. Sekhmi are much stronger than Nightwalkers and they are immune to sunlight.
Shadows
Humans with highly developed psychic powers and other paranormal abilities who serve as the Project’s guards. Shadows also kidnap immortals to be used for the Project’s research.
Shay-Nefer
Shay-Nefer (translated from ancient Egyptian as Good Destiny) is a Sekhmi ritual involving exchange of life-forces. This exchange creates a mutual commitment that lasts until death: once the life-forces are intertwined, one partner’s death will result in the other’s death as well. It is considered the ultimate expression of devotion between partners—and because vampires generally do not believe in life-long commitments, it is extremely rare. Shay-Nefer can be established between any two vampires independent of gender and their relationship (e.g. blood relatives, friends), but it most commonly occurs within romantic relationships, viewed as a type of wedding and called the Shay-Nefer Mating Ceremony.
Shield, or Energy Shield
One of most important of Amitis’ powers, enabling mature Amiti to block the unique energy they emit from detection by vampires. Amiti gradually develop their shielding ability beginning in their ear
ly twenties. As with other powers, shielding powers can be enhanced by blood-bonding. Skilled Amiti can shield the energy of other Amiti as well as themselves; for example, until shielding is mastered, Amiti parents shield their offspring.
Silver Steel
A common metal alloy to which Amiti are vulnerable, silver steel is used by vampires to temporarily suppress Amiti’s powers. Used as a material in constraints such as chains or cuffs, it can weaken Amiti; a much more effective use is to introduce it to the bloodstream via weapon or injection. The extent and duration of silver steel’s suppressive effects varies widely, on average suppressing an Amiti’s power completely for a few hours.
Three Doors to the Mystery (Quest, Keepers’ Quest)
The name of the quest every Keeper of the Key must undertake in order to claim their full Keepers’ powers. After being named a Keeper by the Amiti Queen, a new Keeper faces three challenges—difficult decisions or actions—related to the Mystery she or he was appointed to Keep. Typically the Keeper is unaware of which decisions or actions constitute the Three Doors, and their status can change to reflect changing circumstances. As soon as the third task is completed, the third door is opened and the full power of the Keeper is unlocked.
Vampires
Immortal subspecies who must feed on the blood of humans or other immortals in order to survive. Vampires grew from drops of Sekhmet’s blood spilled during her rampage across Egypt eight millennia ago. They have an unlimited lifespan and can reproduce with each other, other supernatural subspecies, or humans. When born, they are virtually identical to humans, coming into their powers when they reach full physical maturity at around twenty-one years of age, at which time they also begin to require blood. Their preferred blood source, and the only source on which they thrive physically, is Amiti. Vampires are split into two castes: Sekhmi, or Vampire Elite; and Nightwalkers. The vampire leader is the king or queen, who wins the title in a physical battle for the throne.
