The People defy categorization. Part cult, part corporation, part a scientific institution, the People concern themselves with necromancy: study, raising, and care of the undead. Like the Order, the People have a national presence, with bases in most major cities.
The People are obscenely wealthy and seemingly interested solely in increasing their wealth. They control the largest vampire stable on the continent and are not shy about wielding their influence.
Vampires
Vampires are mindless creatures. They have no ego, no consciousness, no ability to formulate thoughts. Left to their own devices, they would slaughter every living things until nothing was left and then they would turn on each other. Because their brains do not atrophy like most of their internal organs, vampires provide an ideal anchor for a person gifted in the necromantic magic. Such people are called navigators. The navigators “ride” the mind of the vampires, experiencing the world both through their own eyes and ears and through the eyes and ears of the vampires. Vampires hunt purely by sight and hearing. They have no sense of smell.
Vampire creation is a strictly controlled process, overseen by the government. A person may legally choose to become a vampire after his death, provided they are of sound mind when they make the contract. To replenish and expand their stable, the People offer a sizeable amount of money to the prospective “vamps-to-be” and they are never short on applicants. The prospect of money usually attracts terminal patients. Once the contract is signed, the applicant may terminate the contract at will at any point. The applicant is closely monitored. In the moment of clinical death, he is injected with Immortuus pathogen. His body is then secured for the duration of the incubation, which usually takes 10-12 days. Upon undeath, the vampire becomes the property of the People.
Journeymen and Masters
To become a member of the People, one has to pass rigorous ability tests. If the applicant demonstrates necromantic ability, he is hired as a journeyman. Journeymen are assigned to a Master of the Dead, an experienced necromancer, who is able to raise and navigate the undead. The journeymen do the grunt work of the vampire care and receive instruction in navigation. Most do not possess enough talent to ever reach Master of the Dead status. Journeymen often adopt goth attire and make up with a strong preference for bright, blood-red accesories.
Masters of the Dead weild a great deal of power. They have the authority to select their own candidates for the vampires out of the pool of potential applicants. Because People pursue wealth with single-minded dedication and often own casinos, funeral homes, and security firms, most Masters of the Dead are wealthy. However, the People’s agenda runs deeper than their surface addiction to material comforts. The People are ruled by Roland, a shadowy figure unknown to laymen. Roland is rumored to possess an almost god-like powers. The People are his creation and he uses them to further his own means. What those means are, nobody knows.
Kate also wants to kill Roland. behind the fact that she is Roland biological Daughter.plus he did kill Kate’s mother. she has a dislike of vampires
Do the people live a long time or is it only Roland and his concubines? Roland is said to be thousands of years old so does that mean Kate will have the same type of life span since she has his blood?
It’s mentioned in one of the books, I think Magic Strikes, that Roland has a spell/power/ritual which let’s people (aka Nick, the Crusader/Current Warlord of Roland) live for a long time by binding them to him through an exchange of blood. So his blood is probably what lets him live for a long time, thus Kate will live for a long time as well, as she is his daughter (assuming he doesn’t kill her first).
Rachel-
I’m not 100% sure but I think something in Roland’s blood allows him to live a really really long time
I’m quite interested to see Roland’s story develop also. I don’t even know what to imagine. The information is so sporadic, but I’m loving the suspense. Suspense means there is more story. More story makes very happy readers like me
I think the vampire dude in the picture has some old blood stuck between his teeth.
Oooo- intriguing.
So basically, Kate is the daughter of Roland the most powerful guy (probably) in the world and in control of the vampires. Oh ddearie dear. I’m soooo wondering what Curran’s gonna do when he finds out that he’s basically ‘courting’ the daughter of shapeshifter’s ultimate enemy. Oh dear.
he marries her
i think some people want 2 know Roland’s pov. bout Kate
will kate have the same life span as roland?
yeah that has been eluded to in several of the books that all of the children of Roland and Erra have extremely long lives so i think that she will live that long as well as anyone she gives blood to
sigh* I’m confused. The Masters aren’t vampires? They just live a really long time? And instead of putting themselves out there to find information or get beat up or hurt, they use the vampires as messengers or cannon fodder?
the Masters are ‘Necromancers’ and they use the Vampires they control for various things, this is hardly new though. It is not uncommon a device in Fiction to have users of Magic live longer. It is also quite common that the more power you have the more likely you are to use subordinates to do the heavy work.
The Masters don’t live an extra long time; that’s just Roland’s family
@ Alexis, I don’t want to try to climb inside Ilona’s mind and say one way or another. If she is indeed the biological Daughter of the Person known as Roland (we know that is not his real name) she likely has a ‘potential’ lifespan of roughly equal length. But!…. Unlike Roland she has this habit of putting herself into the middle of Dangerous situations and Merc’s no matter how magical are hardly known for their long lifespans.