Records of the Hunger have been long lost with the dawn of a new era. Wives tales still spoken amongst the common folk are shards of what once were. The stalking silhouette of a beast much larger than you or I, the ashen corpses left behind as the sun crests over the horizon. One thing all these tales have in common are...

The Hunger. The Blood.

This affliction can currently only be acquired from an existing Hunger, via player or NPC event interactions.

Levels of Growth:

The Hunger naturally grows as she ages, this growth can vary from Hunger to Hunger, but there are a handful of ways to circumvent the time needed to gain power.

• Newborn (Time: 6 hours)
• Fledgling (Time: 2 weeks)
• Kindred (Time: 2 months)
• Elder (Time: 6 months)
• Ancient (Time: 1 year)

Feedings

The Hunger reduces the amount of time required for their growth by a week for every mortal they completely drain of blood. A vile yet efficient path to power, the bodies they leave in their wake just another side-effect of their insatiable appetite. Upon reaching Elder, the Hunger is able to further reduce the time required by an additional week.

Embracing

The Hunger are averse to sharing their affliction, but nonetheless can benefit from it. By draining a mortal completely of their blood and feeding them with but a drop of her own tainted strain will she create her own progeny. Upon this newborn reaching fledgling, the sire will grow in power.

The newly sired Hunger will remain lethargic for the next 6 OOC hours as their body will reform into its new horrific shape. Progeny cannot harm their sire, unless the sire is putting their life into danger. It should be noted that players must OOCly consent to their characters becoming infected.

Obfuscation

A magic unique to the Hunger, inherited to hide their true form from the unsuspecting. The stronger the blood, the harder it is to mask.

The Newborn grows rapidly, often forgetting her new found powers:

Passive: Ecstasy of embrace. While most Hunger remain ignorant of this power they possess, preferring to cause as much pain and grief as possible, they are able to make feeding as painless as possible. Should the Hunger choose to use her magic and feed in a gentle manner, she is able to mask this as pleasant for a mortal. Characters are able to react as they wish, but will naturally view the feeding in a positive light, but the player must be informed ahead of time that this power is being used.

Should the Hunger attempt to take more than a single blood point, the illusion she creates will shatter and the horror will return.

Passive: A face in the crowd. Willing the shadows to her, the Hunger can cloak her true form in passing. She can avoid the eye of those not actively seeking her, allowing for safe passage through towns, cities, and other weary travelers, appearing as nothing more than a passing face.

The Fledgling has adapted to her form, accessing new depths to her abilities:

Passive: One of the Night. As a hunter of the night, the Hunger becomes adapted to her environment. Her senses are honed, allowing for better vision during the dark hours. The Hunger is able to see in the dark as they do during the day.

Active: Keeping up appearances. The Hunger, at the start of each night, can will the blood she consumes into her face, in doing so she is able to change her outward appearance, making it into whatever she might desire, however, this change is only present for those not of the blood. To herself and her kin, she appears as monstrous as ever. This change is superficial and does not adjust her physical form to match the appearance.

The Hunger can expend a blood point at the start of each day to maintain this appearance, but the cost increases each time it is cast within the same 24 hour timeframe.

The Kindred can spread her affliction and haunt mortal lives:

Passive: Embrace. The Hunger is able to afflict mortals, spreading her tainted bloodline.

Active: Face of Horror. No one knows better than the Hunger how haunting their visages are, and as such, they have learned how to weaponize their fearsome appearance. A mortal who stares into the true face of the Hunger runs the risk of having the image haunt them. If the Hunger and a mortal lock eyes, the Hunger can impose herself into the dreams of the mortal, causing nightmares that will span a week, and leave the victim without the benefits of restful sleep. This can not be contested, however it can be avoided by simply breaking eye contact.

The Elder has eyes where no one might suspect:

Active: Familiar. The Hunger may impart a portion of their blood into a creature no larger than a rat. In doing so this creature becomes an extension of their very being. The creature can be fully controlled by the Hunger, seeing through it's eyes and using it as the Hunger wills. Mechanically, this reduces the total number of blood points a character has by 2 until the creature is destroyed.

The Ancient can be anywhere:

Active: One with the night. With enough finesse over her power, the Hunger can truly claim that she is a creature of the night. She can expend 5 blood points to coalesce with the shadows around her, melding into the darkness. Over the course of 2 turns the Hunger takes on a form of pure black, after which she will move up to 100 blocks away to another shadowed location.

This movement is akin to teleportation, moving faster than the mortal mind can comprehend between shadows until she reaches her desired destination within range.

Cost

The cost of the power the Hunger has access to is paid for in blood, each active spell requiring a blood price.

Each mortal is assumed to contain five blood points. The Hunger can safely drain a single blood point without any effect to the victim beyond a lingering tiredness. Draining two blood points results in the victim struggling to maintain consciousness. After draining three blood points, the victim will have a lingering debuff for the next 24-OOC hours, increasing the difficulty of all rolls by a step. At four blood points, the victim is inflicted with a lethal wound. At five blood points, the victim is considered dead.

Each blood point requires two actions of drinking to obtain, and the Hunger is only able to have ten blood points accumulated at a time. Mortals regain a blood point every 24-OOC hours, should they remain alive.

Traits

Functionally Immortal.  The Hunger is functionally immortal, assuming one is not staked, beheaded or caught out in the sun. Each Hunger is aware of exactly how they are capable of dying, and have a deep seated fear of death.

Each wound obtained takes a different amount of time to heal. Minor wounds are healed over the course of an OOC hour, not requiring any blood points. Moderate wounds are healed over the course of 12 OOC hours, requiring a blood point each. Major wounds regenerate over the course of 24 OOC hours, taking three blood points each. Lethal wounds, barring the specifically mentioned, will heal over the course of 1 OOC weeks, taking 6 blood points. For the first 24 OOC hours of this week, the Hunger is considered to be dead mechanically. After this period has passed, the player can resume RP in an injured state.

Disgrace of the Gods. The Hunger is hideous, an affront to the Gods of Nature, Life and Death. Each Hunger has its own unique appearance, but all of them are equal in their visage of terror. 

Insatiable hunger. The Hunger is never satisfied, it may have a personal herd to feed from, cultivate the finest blood one can by feeding cattle the finest wines and foods the world can offer, but it will never be enough. This hunger is the drive behind the Hunger’s existence, even if they may not know it. 

Predators of mankind. The Hunger is at its core, a predator, and it’s prey knows it is hunting them. Mortal races will have an innate foreboding feeling when viewing the Hunger, as if something is not quite right. They are compelled to avoid the Hunger without knowing why. 

There are many creatures and races that evoke this feeling, so it is considered meta-gaming to immediately know that someone is tainted by the blood.

Shunned. The Hunger are removed from the faithful and enkindled paths. With hunger becoming their insatiable urge and desire, less time is spared for anything else. This reduces their occupational slots by one.

Nocturnal. The Hunger are creatures of the night, and as such will begin to burn under the light of the sun. This can be avoided by covering with a thicker cloth, but any exposed skin will immediately catch fire. Over the course of three turns, should the Hunger not find a way to avoid sunlight, they will become completely engulfed by flame. After an additional two turns, they will perish.

Roleplaying the Hunger. 

The story you’re deciding to tell, is no fairy tale. There is no happy ending for a character electing to walk this path, only isolation and fear.

Playing the Hunger is similar to playing the villain, you are a de facto ‘bad guy’, you should be prepared for such, it will take you far more work to build relationships with other players, unless you happened to have those relationships before becoming the Hunger.

On top of this, you have some rather serious weaknesses to work around, for one, you burn in the sun, this is rather limiting on the ability to role play with your fellow players, so, for the sake of fun, so long as the Hunger’s skin is covered from direct sunlight, they won’t burn. 

Another limiting factor is the need to feed. We do not expect mortal characters to roleplay out each meal they’re assumed to eat off screen, so Hungers are no different. It is assumed the Hunger can sustain herself off screen from peasants and the like, but to gain blood points one MUST feed on another player character.