Vampires

A distinction needs to be made between the primordial vampires, also known as Blood Seraphs, and the creature known as vampire, although they are related.

Blood Seraph

In ages past, a group of Seraphs (note: name will be replaced with name of beings that reside in Ilsare's part of the Heavens in due time) of Ilsare were duped by Corath into consuming a pure and innocent child.

The Seraphs couldn't bear the weight of their actions and sacrificed themselves in an attempt to purify their actions. However Corath wanted just that, and in the process they came back as an Unliving under the service of the Mad God's priesthood. Ever since then, the Blood Seraphs have existed to every night drink from the blood of a living being or otherwise be tormented with the images of the glory of the heaven they were forsaken from. These Blood Seraphs, as they became known, are now the primordial vampires. The only named one known at this time is Saproprias.

Blood Seraphs do not fear the sun, nor garlic, nor wooden stakes. They will be disgusted with normal food, with things coming from nature, and will shy away from faithful creatures, particularly those who follow deities of benevolent demeanor. They despise Ilsare and her followers.

A Blood Seraph cannot really be killed. The best one can do is separate the head from the body and bury them in separate places in sanctified ground. If you burn them or chop them to pieces eventually they turn to ash and reform after a certain number of years has passed. To permanently rid the world of a Blood Seraph, an Ilsaran priest or priestess of sufficient power needs to stand vigil over the burial site for one month to redeem the creature. Alternatively, an Az'attan priest or priestess could perform this vigil. Nobody else can however.

Blood Seraphs can procreate, but the process is thought to require the living body of someone pure, good and innocent as it did in the creation of the initial ones. 

Vampires

Every so often Blood Seraphs afflict their victims with the taint, instead of draining their blood entirely. They do this at what seems a whimsical manner, but often it is to beautiful men/women. This is simply because they cannot bear to see beautiful creatures as they used to be and desire to have everyone “share” their pain. This also means however, that they will keep “ugly” beings as servants and often people with less than attractive looks are safe from a Blood Seraph.

Beings so transformed become lesser versions of the Blood Seraph, and are known as vampires. In twisted irony of the goddess of love they once followed, the transformation of somebody into a vampire kills of all their organs, except for the heart. Vampires are not as powerful as a Blood Seraph, and therefore much more vulnerable. They stand against anything that's beautiful, pure and sacred. Not only do they detest the same things Blood Seraphs do, they actually get hurt by those things in many cases.

The bright rays of the sun that bring life to the world and make everything grow are anathema to a vampire. The sight of the sun is already enough to make them sick. Exposure to the sun will make them feel like they are being beaten by fists and soon make them crawl into a fetal position. They quickly start to lose stamina and power and enter some catatonic state. Their bodies start to burn and smoke, and exposure for more than several minutes will kill them. Of course the stronger a vampire is, the longer he will last before he turns to ash. One other way to permanently kill a vampire is by killing the only part of it that still has a resemblance to life, its only remaining organ, the heart. Driving a stake through it will kill the vampire and have it turn to dust.

Popular belief has it that strong smelling herbs or vegetables, like garlic, onions, lavender or mint can serve as wards against vampires. Whether there is any truth to that remains to be seen, as few have been willing to test it.

Vampires can also pass on their taint to others, if they so desire. That is their only way to procreate.