Topic: Vampire and feelings

[Russ, Gue'Vesa from the Tiny Red Dot]

Alright, this is a warhammer FB fluff. I have read over the Von Carstein's book and found it quite interesting. In the warhammer army book, vampires are seen as creatures that kill without any pity or whatsoever(even for Abhorash the first blood dragon, who actually harm others except for his countrymen). They are said not to have any emotions, so this is the question, is it true. If it is true that they cannot have emotions such as love as their heart stopped beating? If it is, how is it possible that Vlad succumbed to blinding rage, and Isabella to love for her husband? Or are they just thinking that they are emotionless because they think their heart is the one that control emotions(like people of old.) which in fact is the mind that control these emotions?

[Irandrura]

I see no reason to assume vampires can't feel emotion. As you say, the examples of vampires feeling and being driven by emotion are many, and I'd add Genevieve Dieudonné as another vampire that clearly has emotions. What's the reference on them being emotionless, out of curiosity?

[Bumbles]

In the Buffyverse, the one thing that seperates a Vampire from a Human, behaviour wise, is the absence of a soul.
The soul in this case is a sort of "conscience" without which you're driven more by impulse then morality.

[Irandrura]

...and? My keen message board senses cannot fail to alert me that we're not talking about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. What's the relevance of that to Warhammer Fantasy?

[Russ, Gue'Vesa from the Tiny Red Dot]

I read it from the novel, and a vampire said they are stronger because they can't feel or something like that. So i was wondering if only the strongest of them had more mundane feelings like humans. A little something like a necron lord, only the strongest of them retain their memories but are a shadow of their former self.

Anyway, i was also guessing because the addiction to blood is so strong that they cannot control their emotions well enough.

[Bumbles]

...and? My keen message board senses cannot fail to alert me that we're not talking about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. What's the relevance of that to Warhammer Fantasy?

What I mean is, a similar situation could be occuring here, GW not being about nicking from other sources for their fluff.

[Larandil]

I read it from the novel, and a vampire said they are stronger because they can't feel or something like that. So i was wondering if only the strongest of them had more mundane feelings like humans. A little something like a necron lord, only the strongest of them retain their memories but are a shadow of their former self.

Anyway, i was also guessing because the addiction to blood is so strong that they cannot control their emotions well enough.

If the hunger for blood were the only thing a vampire could keep his mind focussed on, they would make pretty poor warriors. Always on the verge of forgetting objectives and tactics in favour of ripping open some victim's throat for the blood inside, just like your average Khorne Berserker ...
That said, I see no reason why they should not take a good drain before moving into battle.
And if you know from experience that there are pretty few things around that can actually kill you, you tend to worry less about what the other guy can throw at you - unless it qualifies as "vampire-killing".

Feelings are not caused by the beating of a heart.

[Hashulaman]

Look and Vlad as Isabella von Carstein. They loved each other with such a passion. One of the special rules was if one died, the other would be under hate.

[Chuckles, The Space Marine Clown]

Night's Dark Masters provides a much more detailed and interesting description of Vampires and their moods, feelings, etc. They do feel, but they aren't human, and any attempt to ascribe human ambitions or emotions to them is ultimately futile. They crave power like humans crave water, with blood coming in as an excellent source of that power (for themselves and also over others). Vampires are, for the most part anyway, scheming, manipulative and power-mad. They mostly lack empathy and are generally self-absorbed to a nicety. They do feel love, as in the case of Vlad and Isabella, but that's about the closest they come to humans.

[Irandrura]

They do feel, but they aren't human, and any attempt to ascribe human ambitions or emotions to them is ultimately futile.

Incidentally, am I the only one getting rather tired of that line from GW? Nothing is ever human or subject to judgement by human standards. Not that it's particularly relevant to this discussion, but still, I find it irritating.

Come to think of it, how does Genevieve fit into the above? The model of vampirism in those books is different to the norm, particularly in that they seem to actually be tolerated in the Empire, but she didn't appear to necessarily crave power, nor did a few of the other vampires there either. Honorio, I recall, was one of them.

[Heretek]

She does seem to break the mould somewhat, doesn't she?

And it wasn't just Honorio, there was a whole 'convent' of what I guess you could call pacifist Vampires. They pretty much just wanted to be left alone. Certainly Genevieve was peaceful enough to be allowed near the Emperor himself on multiple occasions, and they knew full well what she was.

[Jehan-Reznor]

Genevieve is often more humane than the fanatics of the imperium.
it is just lake many fluff by GW that is set in Stone there are many exeptions.

[Caerolion]

I think it's mainly put down to the fact that most Vampires seeing humans as just cattle, nothing more. As such, they are generally uncaring of their fate. Outside of that, the Vampires seem to have full emotions. Mind you, I've only read the Liber Necris, not Nights Dark Masters, so it might have changed, or something.

Also, GW Vampires definately have a soul, its just that it resides entirely in their body, rather than how a normal persons soul is equally between their body and the Realms of Chaos/Warp/whatever you want to call it.

[Xeal]

Im pretty sure the liobre necris says about vampires and emotions.  I don't have a copy with me to check, but im quite sure it claimed that vampires could only feel emotion when they had drunk blood, otherwise they were emotionless.

[Chuckles, The Space Marine Clown]

Come to think of it, how does Genevieve fit into the above? The model of vampirism in those books is different to the norm, particularly in that they seem to actually be tolerated in the Empire, but she didn't appear to necessarily crave power, nor did a few of the other vampires there either. Honorio, I recall, was one of them.

Assuming that is, that Genevieve's actions aren't part of an elaborate deception meant to ingratiate her amongst the citizens of the Empire. Taking things at face value is a pretty rookie move when it comes to vampires.