The Bloody Countess- Steampunk Vampire

[weirdlet]

"My father murdered- rather a lot of people, rather than see me die," the countess murmured.  "I was kept alive- barely- hooked into machines that hurt me terribly, that ran my blood out from my veins and through other living persons, who had never been asked nor volunteered their aid or their lives, either to mine or to medical research.  When he chose poorly, or guessed incorrectly, I would be in terrible pain and fear for my life- and I could never go outside, never see the sunshine.  I could hardly even leave my bed to visit the library, and that on rare occasion.  And always, always- I existed knowing that somewhere else in the house, bodies that had once been men and women, regardless of station, were being cavalierly disposed of- and that with every day I lived, more would join them.

"It's not that I regret living, mind you- I am glad to be alive, and to have lived beyond what was.  But, shall we say- I find noblesse oblige to run rather deeper in me than the average young gaddabout."

......

Steampunk vampirism- a young lady with porphyria is kept alive by her mad doctor father.  Years later, she's made improvements to his methods, such that- with a large troop of very careful baggage-handlers- she's able to travel on her own personal airship, throwing lavish parties with a peculiar, mirror-based game as a method of finding new blood-donors to volunteer a pint or two for her infernal machine, full of glass tubing and filters.

Comments

[jade-mushroom.livejournal.com]

what sort of issues has she had with the fact that she once basically had to cannibalize others to survive, albeit against her will? What happens if she encounters reminders of this [missing posters, relatives of the missing?]

what happened to her father? is he still alive? if so, what is her current relationship to him?

[weirdlet.livejournal.com]

When her father died, there was an accounting as best she could perform for the people he’d taken. Since then she’s moved away from the area, after as much weregild as possible could be given to the relatives of those who had any, and there is a small memorial garden in the place where the old family mansion once stood and has since been razed to the ground. At least the public parts.

She’s very pragmatic about her survival- but is determined to do it ethically, to give her the time needed to pay back a very large debt to society-at-large, rather than society-as-law. When it comes down to it, there is a good little bit of crazy under the rigid good manners and cheer, but she regards the fact that her condition can still give her great pain as suitable penance- there’s kind of this iron curtain that comes down when someone starts questioning her fitness to exist, but she refrains from lashing out unless someone is really determined to remove her, at which point he moves from Righteous Complainant to Threat. And Threats are to be quietly eliminated.

[weirdlet.livejournal.com]

So, there’s guilt, but also a little warping. “I’ve lived this way for so long- it’s just a fact of my existence. I am somewhat of a parasite. But I don’t have to do it so- vulgarly.” This is her habit of speaking lightly over deep, gaping issues, but it’s the plain truth- and why she tries to give back under the table so much, doing good deeds to make up for the simple fact of the butcher’s bill she’s run up.

[jade-mushroom.livejournal.com]

that is very interesting... "I have to do this to survive, there's a limit to how much I can do for what's been done, but I can control what will be done." I seem to envision a person who demands to be in control of everything

[weirdlet.livejournal.com]

Not so much demands as politely insists, if it's relevant that she meddle.

[jade-mushroom.livejournal.com]

I meant as in, control of her life. Either she sets her schedule and follows it very closely, or she is deeply disturbed when plans go awry