Vampire Population
Notes From The Dark Chapter
While The Dark Chapter’s network is international in scope, it works with a particular focus on Great Britain, Europe, and the United States. It is very rare for vampires to inhabit equatorial territories. The European and Asian continents grant them ease of movement across the land. As the population of the US grew, it too became an attractive proposition for those who could make the journey.
Despite The Dark Chapter’s main base of operations being situated in the heart of London, it is thought that only 5% of Great Britain’s vampires reside in the capital. Commercial and Imperial connections allow for ease of movement for The Dark Chapter’s agents, particularly into Europe, where most vampires reside.
Britain itself is home to approximately 1.5% of the world’s vampire population—an estimated 300-500 vampires in various states of activity and dormancy at any time. Europe is said to be home to 16,000 to 17,000 vampires, with 26,000 to 27,000 thought to be the vampire population of the world.
Experience suggests these numbers are grossly overestimated, and probably provided by the upper echelons of vampire society to give the impression that the extermination of their kind is an impossible objective. The numbers likely include humans in elected service of vampire kind, as well as those held in thrall. It is more likely that the true population of vampires is between one third and one half of those numbers given. Approximately one sixth of all vampires belong to the elite groups known as thrones, while the rest are considered to belong to one of six tribes.
That over 25% of the vampire population belong to a subset known as Kanvoran, is both a blessing and a curse. Kanvoran is a term used within vampire society, loosely translating to ‘blood devourers’. It denotes the predatory, fearsome vampire who feeds to survive, with no particular mission or grand design. Kanvoran are usually independent of vampire society, or on its very fringes. Most Kanvoran are therefore unaware that this term exists and applies to them. Indeed it has been suggested that the term has derogatory connotations among the vampire population and is used as an insult.
They are not considered an organised tribe, but are occasionally found in small collectives, hunting together. Some are ordered, others present as feral creatures. Many of these have been converted accidentally, and are merely survivors of vampire attacks who were both bitten and consumed vampire blood in the struggle, or who were bitten by a powerful vampire, not drained, and managed to consume human blood shortly after succumbing to the bite. Where this occurs, it is what vampire society refers to as Kanvoran may in fact be an individual vampire of any other tribe. Only the capture and study of the creature to determine specific indicative traits would enable one to associate it with a specific tribe.
There is a suggestion that at the core of the Kanvoran is a vampire class with consistent traits who would have operated as an organised tribe, but that this tribe broke apart centuries ago. Their lack of organisation means they are usually lone operators, fairly easy to destroy once found. However, their lack of integration into wider vampire society means they have not been schooled in the ways of their kind.
Kanvoran on occasion make more of their own kind, usually through undisciplined feeding. This poses a risk to vampire secrecy, and although some Kanvoran bond with other tribes and thrones, they are largely considered a liability by vampire kind. In cases where Kanvoran populations have grown rapidly, this has led to the wholesale slaughter of humans in that area. Organised vampire tribes, and particularly the thrones, seek to avoid this, for if the vampire population explodes, mankind would diminish, and without their preferred food source, vampires would face extinction.
The Dark Chapter encounters more Kanvoran than any other class of vampire, due to their proliferation and their unrefined behaviour.
To support The Dark Chapter’s valiant efforts in battling the vampire horde…
Or don’t. Run the risk of succumbing to the hunger of a Kanvoran. Or worse yet, become one yourself.
Drink deeply of The Victorian Vampire Chronicles here.
Too late, I am already one…