Sun-Gold Blood - Vampire Lore
Vampires created via Alchemy
'Elixir of Life' made with gold, created to elongate life
Instead of drinking it, it replaces the blood in the person's body (embalming style)
1st tried on a corpse, created a zombie, then tried on a living person, which created a vampire
'Eau de Vie' - water of life, distilled like liquor
Need for Blood
'Hot and Wet' iron found in blood needed to maintain balance w/in the vampire's body
'hot' and 'wet' - alchemical concept of the properties of elements and humans, blood = hot and wet
Sharp Teeth
All bones harden and elongate by a small percentage, including teeth. Makes them somewhat uncanny looking, but only if you look at them long enough.
Silver
Body does not react well to 'non-perfect metals' (anything but gold). The further the metal is from Gold (in an alchemical sense) the less of a reaction the vampire has (lead does basically nothing); the closer it is, the more of a reaction the vampire has (silver is very painful).
Hunger
Any vampire that has not had enough blood will experience symptoms that are commonly associated with vampires, such as the inability to cross running water and red eyes. These things can also be associated with rabies symptoms, such as hydrophobia and violent behavior.
Red eyes caused by color draining from the iris, exposing the red muscle tissue. Generally the first sign visual sign of a hungry vampire, followed by pigment draining from their skin and hair, causing them to appear very pale and vascular.
Vampires can easily recover from this stage if they are able to get an adequate amount of blood. If they can't, they will quickly devolve into deeper stages of rabid behavior (senseless violence, inability to comprehend language, ect). Eventually, they will calm (think lucidity before death). This stage is unrecoverable. The vampire will rapidly age and decay, left as nothing but tight skin pulled over bones, like a living corpse. They will still be conscious, but unable to communicate.