Post by Melissa Foxworthy on Dec 3, 2007 23:56:47 GMT -5
D, a sort of lone wolf-like knight-errant, wanders through a far-future post-nuclear Earth that combines the best of pulp genres: western, science fiction, horror and high fantasy with a good dash of H. P. Lovecraftian mythos, folklore and occult science. The planet, once terrified by the elegant but cruel Nobles (vampires), ancient demons, mutants and their technological creations, is now slowly returning to a semblance of order and human control — thanks in part to the decadence that brought about the downfall of the vampire race, to the continued stubbornness of frontier dwellers and, to the rise of a caste of independent hunters-for-hire who eliminate supernatural threats.
The year is approximately 12,090 AD. Some time in 1999, a nuclear war occurred and nearly ended all life on earth. The Nobility were vampires that planned for a possible nuclear war and sequestered all that was needed to rebuild civilization in their shelters. They use their science combined with magic to restore the world in their image. Nearly all magical creatures are engineered, with a very small number being demons who survived the holocaust. Despite their technology being great enough to create a blood substitute, they still prefer humans. As such they create a vampire-human civilization, eventually reducing the planet to parklands and cities. The society eventually stagnates when vampire technology perfects prophesy and determines they are at their zenith and are doomed to fall, and be overthrown by humans. The human race was also transformed at this time, with fear for the vampires being woven into the genetic level, and the inability to remember vampire weaknesses like garlic and crucifixes.
Unlike vampires from traditional lore, the Nobility have the ability to reproduce sexually, although their offspring will permanently cease aging after reaching physical maturity, in keeping with their immortality.
D is a dhampir, the half-breed child of a vampire father and human mother, therefore he makes the ideal vampire hunter. He is renowned for his consummate skill and unearthly grace, but feared and despised for his mixed lineage: born of both races but belonging to neither. Often underestimated by his opponents, D has surprising power and resourcefulness, possessing most of the strengths and only mild levels of vampiric weaknesses. Unlike most dhampirs, D is able to live as a "normal" human, though marked by his unearthly beauty and powerful aura, and thus rarely accepted by humans. His only notable weaknesses are that he is, while not unfeeling, emotionally remote. He is also (far more rarely than other dhampirs) randomly susceptible to sun-sickness, a severe type of sunstroke, about once every five years. Otherwise, D does not suffer from vampiric weaknesses usual to dhampirs, possessing an imposing supernatural aura to his opponents and godlike reflexes surpassing even vampires.
The parasite that resides in D's left handD is the host for a sentient symbiont, Left Hand, a wise-cracking human face residing in his left palm, who can suck in massive amounts of matter through a wind void or vacuum tunnel. Left Hand enjoys needling the poker-faced D, but only appears as needed, rarely witnessed or heard by anyone other than D, yet aware of many of D's thoughts and actions. At all other times, D's left hand appears normal. Besides providing a contrast to D's reserved demeanor, Left Hand is incredibly useful, possessing many mysterious powers such as psychometry, inducing sleep, determining the medical condition of a victim, and the ability to size up the supernatural powers or prowess of an enemy, even beyond D's keen senses. In the first and second novels, Left Hand can also revive D when his physical condition is suffering, by consuming the four elements and converting the resulting energy into life force. This ability even saved D from the usually fatal stake through the heart he received from Rei-Ginsei in the first novel. Left Hand has its own mind and will, and acts as D's guide and sole permanent companion, providing a reservoir of knowledge pertaining to the lost Noble culture. So far, Left Hand's origins are unknown, and it is unclear how they came to be joined. However, some of its nature is revealed in the third book, which features a similar creature; it is implied he was one of the Barbarois (human/monster hybrids) who served in the personal retinue of Dracula.
D's horse in BloodlustD rides a cybernetic horse with mechanical legs and other enhancements, wields a crescent longsword which looks similar to Yonutsaka Amano's scimitar sword design found in many of his artworks, but the sword has a hefty length to that of a Japanese nodachi, and always wears a mystical blue pendant. The pendant cancels many automatic defenses, such as laser fields and small nuclear blasts, produced by vampire technology, and will allow him to enter their sealed castles. In the novels and game, he also uses wooden needles which he can throw with super speed. He protects his milk-white face from the noonday sun with long black hair, flowing black clothing and cape, and the shadow of a wide-brimmed hat. Though he appears to be only 17 or 18 in the first novel (slowly aging as the series goes on), D's age is unknown (although he is implied to be at least hundreds of years old, and possibly over ten thousand years old). His beauty is mesmerizing, usually wooing women unintentionally and sometimes even making men flustered.
Very little is known of D's parentage, or his past. Some Vampires whisper dark rumours about the Sacred Ancestor, Count Dracula, being in love with a human woman named Mina the Fair, yet making a maid in his household bear his children and then killing them. Dracula conducted bizarre crossbreeding experiments (involving himself and countless human women), with the only successful product of the experiments being D. D, wanting nothing to do with his father save for killing him, refuses to go by his true name. Instead, he shortens it to the first letter.
Dracula's role in the novels is very mixed, appearing both as bane and savior to isolated towns, and deified as an ancestral god-king to the vampires, many of whom never even met him. D quotes Dracula's precepts ("Transient guests are we" — implied to refer to the Nobility, obviously) in the first novel. Dracula appears both as a lawgiver honored for his intelligence, who showed some interest in preserving humans, and as a ruthless scientist in the second novel, conducting hybrid breeding experiments with humans in order to perpetuate his own dwindling species. D appears to have encountered his father on at least one occasion, as when at times D reaches a place where the imprint of Dracula's power remains, D remembers Dracula telling him that "You are my only success." Like D, Dracula is portrayed as a mysterious and handsome young wanderer, who deals out both life and death.
The year is approximately 12,090 AD. Some time in 1999, a nuclear war occurred and nearly ended all life on earth. The Nobility were vampires that planned for a possible nuclear war and sequestered all that was needed to rebuild civilization in their shelters. They use their science combined with magic to restore the world in their image. Nearly all magical creatures are engineered, with a very small number being demons who survived the holocaust. Despite their technology being great enough to create a blood substitute, they still prefer humans. As such they create a vampire-human civilization, eventually reducing the planet to parklands and cities. The society eventually stagnates when vampire technology perfects prophesy and determines they are at their zenith and are doomed to fall, and be overthrown by humans. The human race was also transformed at this time, with fear for the vampires being woven into the genetic level, and the inability to remember vampire weaknesses like garlic and crucifixes.
Unlike vampires from traditional lore, the Nobility have the ability to reproduce sexually, although their offspring will permanently cease aging after reaching physical maturity, in keeping with their immortality.
D is a dhampir, the half-breed child of a vampire father and human mother, therefore he makes the ideal vampire hunter. He is renowned for his consummate skill and unearthly grace, but feared and despised for his mixed lineage: born of both races but belonging to neither. Often underestimated by his opponents, D has surprising power and resourcefulness, possessing most of the strengths and only mild levels of vampiric weaknesses. Unlike most dhampirs, D is able to live as a "normal" human, though marked by his unearthly beauty and powerful aura, and thus rarely accepted by humans. His only notable weaknesses are that he is, while not unfeeling, emotionally remote. He is also (far more rarely than other dhampirs) randomly susceptible to sun-sickness, a severe type of sunstroke, about once every five years. Otherwise, D does not suffer from vampiric weaknesses usual to dhampirs, possessing an imposing supernatural aura to his opponents and godlike reflexes surpassing even vampires.
The parasite that resides in D's left handD is the host for a sentient symbiont, Left Hand, a wise-cracking human face residing in his left palm, who can suck in massive amounts of matter through a wind void or vacuum tunnel. Left Hand enjoys needling the poker-faced D, but only appears as needed, rarely witnessed or heard by anyone other than D, yet aware of many of D's thoughts and actions. At all other times, D's left hand appears normal. Besides providing a contrast to D's reserved demeanor, Left Hand is incredibly useful, possessing many mysterious powers such as psychometry, inducing sleep, determining the medical condition of a victim, and the ability to size up the supernatural powers or prowess of an enemy, even beyond D's keen senses. In the first and second novels, Left Hand can also revive D when his physical condition is suffering, by consuming the four elements and converting the resulting energy into life force. This ability even saved D from the usually fatal stake through the heart he received from Rei-Ginsei in the first novel. Left Hand has its own mind and will, and acts as D's guide and sole permanent companion, providing a reservoir of knowledge pertaining to the lost Noble culture. So far, Left Hand's origins are unknown, and it is unclear how they came to be joined. However, some of its nature is revealed in the third book, which features a similar creature; it is implied he was one of the Barbarois (human/monster hybrids) who served in the personal retinue of Dracula.
D's horse in BloodlustD rides a cybernetic horse with mechanical legs and other enhancements, wields a crescent longsword which looks similar to Yonutsaka Amano's scimitar sword design found in many of his artworks, but the sword has a hefty length to that of a Japanese nodachi, and always wears a mystical blue pendant. The pendant cancels many automatic defenses, such as laser fields and small nuclear blasts, produced by vampire technology, and will allow him to enter their sealed castles. In the novels and game, he also uses wooden needles which he can throw with super speed. He protects his milk-white face from the noonday sun with long black hair, flowing black clothing and cape, and the shadow of a wide-brimmed hat. Though he appears to be only 17 or 18 in the first novel (slowly aging as the series goes on), D's age is unknown (although he is implied to be at least hundreds of years old, and possibly over ten thousand years old). His beauty is mesmerizing, usually wooing women unintentionally and sometimes even making men flustered.
Very little is known of D's parentage, or his past. Some Vampires whisper dark rumours about the Sacred Ancestor, Count Dracula, being in love with a human woman named Mina the Fair, yet making a maid in his household bear his children and then killing them. Dracula conducted bizarre crossbreeding experiments (involving himself and countless human women), with the only successful product of the experiments being D. D, wanting nothing to do with his father save for killing him, refuses to go by his true name. Instead, he shortens it to the first letter.
Dracula's role in the novels is very mixed, appearing both as bane and savior to isolated towns, and deified as an ancestral god-king to the vampires, many of whom never even met him. D quotes Dracula's precepts ("Transient guests are we" — implied to refer to the Nobility, obviously) in the first novel. Dracula appears both as a lawgiver honored for his intelligence, who showed some interest in preserving humans, and as a ruthless scientist in the second novel, conducting hybrid breeding experiments with humans in order to perpetuate his own dwindling species. D appears to have encountered his father on at least one occasion, as when at times D reaches a place where the imprint of Dracula's power remains, D remembers Dracula telling him that "You are my only success." Like D, Dracula is portrayed as a mysterious and handsome young wanderer, who deals out both life and death.