The Drainers
The most well-known of the Drainers is the Vampire. However, this group also contains other Kin Groups such as Mermaids and Sun Chasers. Drainers all share certain key characteristics, but what sets them apart from other Bloodlines is that their Gifts and Curses are only active during half of the day. Depending on their kin group, they will either have access to their Gifts during the day and will be limited by their Curses at night or vice versa.
Drainers are fairly strong and have good vitality, but have more magical potential than Shifters and Undead. In particular, Drainers have a talent for magics that impact the mind and have historically used these abilities both to hunt and evade detection from hunters.
Mermaids (Shallow vs. Abyssal)
Though Mermaids are well-known in myths, the fact that they are part of the same Bloodline as Vampires is something that the Unbound have somehow never put together. Shallows mermaids are diurnal, whereas Abyssal mermaids are nocturnal. Though both types of mermaids are able to breathe underwater and can come on land at will (their tails will automatically transform into legs once out of the water), shallows mermaids tend to have many more interactions with the Unbound. Abyssal mermaids usually only come on land once or twice a month to hunt or to attend a Conflux to acquire Ambrosia. Some Shallows mermaids choose to live on land in coastal towns, whereas almost all Abyssal mermaids live in villages hidden deep in the oceans.
Regardless of their variety, all types of mermaids have some scales across their cheeks, arms, hands, and/or legs while on land. Additionally, all mermaids will have gills on their necks. Some mermaids may have oddly shaped ears or webbed hands even on land, though this depends on the mermaid. Shallow sea mermaids tend towards bright neon colors, whereas deep sea mermaids often have darker and more muted tones. Like sunchasers, Shallows mermaids must charge themselves with a blacklight (once an hour for a minimum of five minutes) at night if they want to avoid any penalties, and will have some glowing patterns in their scales. Like Vampires, Abyssal mermaids must cover most of their exposed skin and use sunscreen, hats and parasols to avoid being damaged while the sun is up.
Sunchasers
Sunchasers are a less well known but fairly well-established Drainer Kin group. Sunchasers are diurnal, and so get benefits during the day and negatives at night. For this reason, historically Sunchasers have either congregated in covens around the equator or have formed small covens of 5-10 individuals who live a migratory lifestyle, constantly moving to maximize daylight. In the US, many Sunchasers choose to live in coastal areas and have adopted the “surfer bro” culture. Despite this laissez faire attitude, Sunchasers who feed on the Unbound do so in a particularly brutal manner: by cracking open their victim’s bones to eat the marrow.
Sunchasers have fangs like vampires. However, they tend to have bronzed, glowing complexions – literally. They sparkle when in direct sunlight. During the day, they will often try to have as much skin showing as possible to directly absorb sunlight, though they do keep it street legal when outside of their covens. At night, in order to avoid the worst of any ill effects, Sunchasers must regularly (once per hour for a minimum of 1 minute) charge themselves with a blacklight. This hit of extra UV light is enough to keep them going. When a Sunchaser is charged, they will literally glow in the dark. They have patterns on their faces, necks, chests and arms. These glow in the dark patterns are often invisible during the day, but become obvious at night.
Vampires
Vampires are the most well-known of the Drainers. They are nocturnal by nature, though with proper precautions they can be up and about during the day. Many Vampires will choose to live in milder climates so that they can more comfortably cover their skin throughout the year. Since the publication of Dracula in 1897 and the proliferation of Vampire myths in popular media, Vampires keep the locations of their covens a closely-guarded secret. Like the myths suggest, Vampires who choose to hunt feed on their victims by draining their blood.
Vampires have pale or ashy skin and fangs. Some have pointed ears and long, claw-like nails. In order to avoid taking damage and other ill effects during the daylight hours, vampires must cover at least 70% of their exposed skin, wear sunscreen (most tend towards caking it on at high SPF), and sunglasses. Most will also wear some kind of hat or visor. Many carry around parasols to block out the sun. Unfortunately for Vampires, cloud cover does not diminish the sun’s effects as the UV radiation does penetrate the clouds.
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