Arh....You are here.

The Talamasca Caste (or Order of the Talamasca or simply Talamasca) is described as a secret society set up to watch over and keep track of the paranormal, in particular, witches, spirits, werewolves and vampires. Rice describes them as “psychic detectives”.

Some information of the origins of the Talamasca is mentioned by David Talbot in the book “Merrick” where its written : “A humming sound distracted me somewhat, because I was afraid that it came from bees. I have a very great fear of bees, and like many members of the Talamasca, I fear some secret regarding bees which has to do with our origins, but there is not room enough to explain here.”

This can earlier be connected to the being that Pandora meets in the book “Pandora”, where in the ending Pandora meets a being described to have come to exist in the following way :

“Thus force rose out of the very bees themselves, out of their intricate knowledge and their countless sublime patterns, as though they had somehow accidentally evolved it, or empowered it with consciousness through the means of their endless creativity, meticoulousness and endurance”

This force is then transferred to a scarecrow. Pandora speaks some about the century that this happened as follows: “Once in the sixth Century - that is, five hundred years after the birth of Christ and three hundred years since I had left Marius”

Through this we can make out that this being came to life 500 years after Christ’s birth; thereby, the Talamascan was created sometime after this.

This can not be confirmed of course until Anne Rice decides to write a book solely about the Talamasca which she has stated on her Facebook page that she has tried to write before but has never been able to make it happen.

The word Talamasca comes from Latin meaning “animal mask”. It was also an old term to describe a witch or a shaman.

The Talamasca’s motto is “We watch. And we are always there. “

The Talamasca itself had “motherhouses” or bases in London, Amsterdam, Rome and other various parts of the world. The organization is said to have existed since the 1st Century (some said it was formally formed in the 11th Century, but existed before that).

The organization itself was described as having many influences in the suppression of paranormal information, namely the existence of vampires as is the case with Lestat, hoarding most of his diaries and other expository items that may have revealed the existence and nature of vampires in its vaults below the main motherhouse in London, England. Beneath the building are a number of museums in which the Talamasca house a substantial collection of artifacts, all connected with the supernatural in some way. Vaults accessible only by the eldest members of the order house paraphernalia connected with vampires. The Talamasca also housed several paintings of Marius’s “The Temptation of Amadeo”, and other artifacts from vampires such as Pandora, Armand, Louis, the infamous Lestat de Lioncourt, and Claudia.

The organization is also responsible for the suppression and cover-up regarding the Mayfair family’s fiasco concerning the Taltos birth anomaly. It may also have been responsible for covering the burning of the “Theater of the Vampires”.

Many vampiric characters from Rice’s novels once belonged to the Talamasca before accepting the “dark gift”. Jesse, David and Merrick, are the most popular of Rice’s ex-Talamasca characters. 

A similar secret society appears in the Highlander: The Series and Buffy the Vampire Slayer - the Watchers’ Council or Watchers - an ancient organization based in Great Britain and with much the same principles: to track and observe immortals.

Charming.

The choke pear (or pear of anguish,rectal pear) is the modern name for a type of instrument displayed in some museums, consisting of a metal body (usually pear-shaped) divided into spoon-like segments that could be spread apart by turning a screw. The museum descriptions and some recent sources assert that the devices were used either as a gag, to prevent people from speaking, or as an instrument of torture. The instrument was inserted into the victim’s mouth, and then slowly spread apart as the screw was turned.

There is no contemporary first-hand account of those devices or their use. An early mention is in F. de Calvi’s L’Inventaire général de l’histoire des larrons (“General inventory of the history of thieves”), written in 1639, which attributes the invention to a robber named Capitaine Gaucherou de Palioly in the days of Henry of Navarre. Palioly would have used a mechanical gag to subdue a wealthy Parisian while he and his accomplices robbed the victim’s home.

Further mentions of the device appear in the 19th century. They are also mentioned in Grose’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1811) as “Choak Pears,” and described as being “formerly used in Holland.”^[3]

They were also discussed in a book by Eldridge and Watts, superintendent of police and chief inspector of the detective bureau in Boston, Massachusetts (1897). While accepting that ordinary pear-shaped gags exist, they observed that contemporary robbers used no such device as Palioly’s Pear and cast doubt upon its very existence in the first place, saying that “fortunately for us this ‘diabolical invention’ appears to be one of the lost arts, if, indeed, it ever existed outside of de Calvi’s head. There is no doubt, however, of the fashioning of a pear-shaped gag which has been largely used in former days by robbers in Europe, and may still be employed to some extent. This is also known as the ‘choke-pear’, though it is far less marvellous and dangerous than the pear of Palioly.”

Another mention is found in Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) claims that “Robbers in Holland at one time made use of a piece of iron in the shape of a pear, which they forced into the mouth of their victim. On turning a key, a number of springs thrust forth points of iron in all directions, so that the instrument of torture could never be taken out except by means of the key.”

My, my….

Nicolas, nicknamed “Nicki” by Lestat, is described as having dark hair and eyes. He is a lifelong pessimist given to depression, in contrast to Lestat’s generally enthusiastic and wildly cheerful outlook on life.

Despite his cynicism, Nicolas is still convinced that the Christian teachings are correct, and he cannot understand Lestat’s unwillingness to believe. He delves deeper into his cynicism as his view of the world takes a darker turn. He claims that there is no good or evil, but rather only good or bad art.

Nicolas is crucial in explaining Lestat’s later fixation with Louis de Pointe du Lac, whom Lestat cites as seeming “in his cynicism and self-destructiveness the very twin of Nicolas […] Yet Louis gained a hold over me far more powerful than Nicolas ever had”. In The Tale of the Body Thief, Lestat refers to Nicki as his former lover, indicating that the two shared a romantic relationship as mortal men.

Nicolas grows up in a small town in Auvergne, France, the eldest son of a draper. His family is respectably middle-class, and he is educated.

Initially, Nicolas meets Lestat when they are both children and are participating in an outing to “The Witches Place”, a location where witches were burned at the stake in previous years. Lestat makes an impression on Nicolas when he begins to scream and cry during the outing. The two meet again as young men, after Lestat defeats a pack of wolves plaguing the village. Nicolas, acting as a spokesperson for the town, presents him with a red velvet cloak and boots lined with the wolves’ pelts.

Nicolas is intrigued by Lestat, and requests to speak to him privately so that Lestat can tell him how he achieved the impossible. Lestat is not interested until he learns from his mother that Nicolas, like him, is a rebel. He has returned to the village because he is in disgrace: he was sent to Paris to study law at the Sorbonne, but instead fell in love with the violin, abandoned his studies and sold his textbooks to take lessons from Mozart. Although he has returned to the Auvergne, Nicolas has not given up his dream and continues to play his violin at home, prompting his father to threaten to break his hands.

Lestat seeks Nicki out at the village tavern, and the two quickly become inseparable; They have long, soul-seeking talks together, which they refer to as “Our Conversation”. Eventually Nicolas and Lestat run away together to Paris. They find work in a small theatre on the Boulevard du Temple, called Renaud’s, where Lestat begins acting, and Nicolas plays the violin.

When Lestat is kidnapped by Magnus and transformed into a vampire, he hides from Nicki, seeking to conceal his dark nature. He attempts to watch over Nicki from afar, sending him expensive gifts, such as a Stradivarius violin, and buying him a new apartment. Believing that Lestat has abandoned him in spite of the numerous gifts, Nicolas sinks into a deep depression. One night Nicolas senses Lestat nearby and plays the violin in an unsuccessful attempt to coax him out.

Shortly thereafter, Nicolas is abducted by a coven of vampires led by Armand. They feed from him yet do not kill him, and his mind snaps irreparably, plunging him into a darkness from which he does not escape. Lestat comes to the catacombs under Les Innocents, knowing that Armand has Nicolas, and liberates him after some difficulty.

After being rescued and returning to Lestat’s home with him, Nicki pleads to become a vampire. Lestat refuses, but is finally convinced to turn Nicki into a vampire. As Lestat feeds from Nicolas, he is plunged into the darkness in which Nicolas resides. He describes the scene as a seamless black sea, where all colours have faded, and that he sees only a bird soaring over the void expanse. He describes a feeling of having lost all that was once cherished. He describes it also as worse than his moment of darkness at the Inn, and tries to recoil from it. He finally turns Nicki into a vampire, which strains their friendship.

After the transformation, Nicolas becomes catatonic. Lestat and his mother Gabrielle take Nicolas to Paris, where he slips from their grasp and disappears into the night. Lestat cannot read Nicki’s mind, but Gabrielle can, and tells him that the only things Nicolas thinks of are the funeral pyre under Les Innocents, upon which he was almost killed, and Renaud’s theatre. They deduce that he must have run to the theatre and they find him there, sitting alone. Lestat gives the violin he had retrieved for him and Nicolas begins to play, improvising dark and terrible music. Lestat describes the music as “the darkness exploded, the darkness molten” and is horrified by it.

The remaining members of Armand’s coven appear and begin to dance, and Nicolas joins them. Nicolas finally becomes vocal, and he demands the theatre, slinging insults at Lestat and finally admitting that he never wanted them to succeed in Paris. Nicolas proclaims his group to be the Theatre of the Vampires, and becomes the troupe’s playwright and composer.

Lestat grants Nicki his wish and turns over the theatre. He and Gabrielle decide to leave Paris and leave Nicolas in Armand’s care. The coven attempts to care for Nicolas, and Eleni refers to him fondly as “Our Divine Violinist”, but he becomes progressively more insane and difficult to deal with, accosting strangers on the street and making no attempt to conceal his vampiric nature. Armand finally resorts to restraining him in a cell and cuts off his hands to prevent him from playing his violin so manically. Once released, Nicki writes a stack of new plays, then demands that the coven build him a funeral pyre and hold a sabbat, else he set fire to the theatre and kill himself there. The coven abides by Nicki’s wishes and organizes a sabbat for him, where he dances into the flames, committing suicide.

Nicolas’s prized Stradivarius violin, as well as an account of his death, are sent on to Lestat. He keeps the instrument with him and, later plays it for Akasha. Centuries later, during Lestat’s journey to Heaven and Hell, he is unable to locate Nicolas in either realm.

In the 17th Century, jiá gùn (Pinyin; Wade-Giles romanization, kia quen) 夾棍 was reportedly a technique used in China for the interrogation of male suspects without putting their lives in danger.

The technique consisted of positioning three wooden or bamboo boards, connected by rope, around and between the suspect’s bare feet. The construction of the device enabled the boards to be either snapped open and closed (like the wings of a butterfly) or gradually tightened. Each time the prisoner refused to testify or confess, the rope was pulled smartly and the boards either whacked sharply at the ankles or slowly squeezed the feet ever more tightly. A similar device called the Tean zu, applied exclusively to women, employed essentially identical mechanics to squeeze and crush the finger-bones.

The torture was typically conducted while the prisoner was forced to painfully kneel on top of folded chains made of sharpened iron links.

(arch an brow, continue to take notes)

The brazen bull, bronze bull, or Sicilian bull, was a torture and execution device designed in ancient Greece. Its inventor, metal worker Perillos of Athens, proposed it to Phalaris, the tyrant of Akragas, Sicily, as a new means of executing criminals. The bull was made entirely of bronze, hollow, with a door in one side. The condemned was locked in the bull, and a fire was set under it, heating the metal until it became yellow-hot and causing the person inside to roast to death.

(smirk deepen as she take notes)

Pandora was born with the name Lydia in the Roman Republic in the year 15 BC to a Senatorial family. She is tall, with rippling brown hair and gold-brown eyes. Like many Patrician Roman females of the time Pandora was taught how to read and write and is well versed in epic poems, especially Ovid’s works. She meets Marius for the first time when he is twenty-five and she is ten. Marius asks for Lydia’s hand in marriage, but her father rejects Marius’ offer. Five years later, Lydia sees Marius at a festival and begs her father to allow her to marry Marius. Her father again refuses.

Pandora’s father holds a high rank as a Senator. But when a new emperor takes power, her family is betrayed by her own brother and killed. Only Pandora and her traitorous brother survive the massacre, and she is taken to Antioch (after changing her name) by a man who was very close to her father. There she meets Marius again, twenty years after their last encounter. Unbeknownst to her, Marius is now a vampire.

She eventually finds out what Marius has become, and also that he protects and hides the Queen and King of all Vampires. The vampire, Akabar, wants to steal the Queen’s powerful and ancient blood. Marius and Pandora try to prevent him from carrying out his plan. To gain access to the Queen, Akabar uses Marius’s love for Pandora against him and drains Pandora to the point of death. In order to save her, Marius is forced to make Pandora into a vampire and forced to let Akabar see the Queen, who then destroys Akabar. The pair stay together for the next two hundred years, taking care of the King and Queen of all vampires, before arguing and separating. Marius later characterized the breakup (of which he left her and she spent six months or more waiting for him to return) as being entirely his fault: He considers himself a teacher who longs to impart what he knows upon his pupils, but Pandora -being as free-spirited and highly educated as she was -had no patience to be his student. During their time together, against his objection, she did turn one of her beloved slaves into a vampire. As soon as he was turned he left the pair and was not seen again.

The next time they meet again is in a Dresden ballroom in the early to late-17th century. Marius tries in vain to make Pandora leave her companion and fledgling, Arjun, and come back to him. Pandora’s relationship with Arjun is of great concern to Marius, who fears Pandora is being held against her will. While she outwardly denies this, Pandora overcomes her embarrassment and admits to David in her writing that she could not bring herself to leave Arjun, citing that his stronger will propelled them both through time.

The next and last time that they meet is in 1985, when she is among thirteen vampires who survived Akasha’s killing spree and gathered at Maharet’s house in the Sonoma compound to battle against Akasha. Pandora remains quiet and withdrawn throughout the whole ordeal, staring out the windows and saying little, rousing herself only once to say that Akasha is trying to justify deplorable “reasons” for a holocaust.

Like many vampires, Pandora is a morose, despairing immortal who initially wanted immortality but soon regretted her choice and turns into a dark, indifferent cynic. Lestat thinks that Pandora was troubled in some deep, fundamental way even before she became a vampire, because she’s the only vampire who doesn’t receive visions of Maharet and Mekare in her dreams. During the confrontation in Sonoma, when Akasha directly asks Pandora to join with her or die, Pandora merely responds in a quiet, indifferent voice that she can’t do what Akasha is asking of her, and stoically accepts the idea of being killed.

Even after Akasha herself is destroyed and the thirteen vampires regroup in Armand’s Night Island in Florida, Pandora still acts withdrawn from her fellow vampire kin, watching music videos all day long and completely ignoring Marius, who dotes on her lovingly. There is no sense of recovery or security in her as there is with the other vampires, and she departs from Night Island alone, still just as morose as ever.

David Talbot encounters her in Paris. He asks her to write the story of her life, which she does in a cafe by writing in some notebooks he gave her. She recalls the details of her life before becoming a vampire and briefly discusses the period when she was with Marius. After she has finished, she writes that she plans to go to New Orleans to look for Marius and to look into the eyes of Lestat, and try to understand what it is he saw. She is last seen alongside Marius.

Avicus is far older than Marius, but he does not know his own strength, but it is implied that his powers are second to Marius. Avicus is from Egypt and some statements in various literature indicates that he was created by Akasha herself. The powerful blood he supposedly received and his age gives him his strength. If he was not created by Akasha he has most certainly received his power with age as he was a “God of the Grove” for hundreds of years.

When the druid priest Mael needs a new “God of the Grove” (due to Marius’ escape and the destruction of the old “God of the Grove” because they had Marius) it’s decided that Mael is to become the new “God of the Grove”. They learn about Avicus, who can be found in England, and they travel there. But Mael and Avicus makes an arrangement; Avicus will give Mael “the Dark Gift” if he is given a victim and freedom. Avicus wants to escape after learning (from using “the Mind Gift” on Mael) that Marius successfully escaped. Ultimately, it ends up with Avicus and Mael escaping together and becoming companions. They would eventually meet Marius and live together for a time.

In Constantinople, Marius, Avicus and Mael discover Zenobia, a vampire fledgeling of the ancient Eudoxia. Mael, Avicus, and Zenobia are left behind by Marius when he takes Those Who Must Be Kept out of Constantinople.

Over 1,000 years later, Marius learns from Mael that Avicus was in love with Zenobia he persuaded her to leave with him, abandoning Mael. Mael blames Marius for this, as he blamed Marius for all his misfortunes in ancient times.

Humph.

Tarquin Anthony Blackwood was born in 1980 to Patsy Blackwood who was only 16 at the time. Quinn is looked after by his grandfather Pops, grandmother Sweetheart and Jasmine, a servant, who helps run the house, Blackwood Farm just outside of New Orleans. Quinn has spent his entire life accompanied by a spirit named Goblin. The first clear memory Quinn has of Goblin was his birthday party when he was 3 years old which is also the first instance known of Goblin being able to physically touch Quinn by pushing his hand and forcing him to ruin a birthday cake. He is given a harmonica for his birthday by his grandfather, Pops which he loves to play although Goblin hates it because Quinn pays him no attention whilst playing it. At the age of 7, whilst playing in the old cemetary with Goblin, Quinn sees a group of ghosts huddled together. Quinn is quite interested in these spirits which fade only to come back again, but as they don’t move or talk he simply leaves them, much to the relief of Goblin.

It is around this time that it is decided that Quinn should begin his education. Pops takes him to a private school only for Quinn to be kicked out which Quinn is pleased about because all he wants is to stay at his home, Blackwood Farm. This process is repeated a few times until Aunt Queen comes to visit and meets Quinn for the first time. Quinn immedietly loves Aunt Queen and is also convinced she can see Goblin although she denies it. Quinn is taken to a psychologist for the first and last time, they say that Goblin is just his imagination and will fade over time. Whilst Quinn is being taught at home, by his family, to read and write , they discover that Goblin knows more words and their meanings than Quinn does. Goblin can now write quite competently using Quinn’s hand and can speak to Quinn in his mind.

Aunt Queen soon leaves Blackwood Farm but hires people to teach Quinn at home in Blackwood Farm. These people are soon forced away by Goblin and Quinn until at the age of 10, a teacher comes who they both love : Lynelle Springer. She pretends to talk to Goblin to keep him happy. Soon everyone in the house loves Lynelle, including Patsy who begins spending more time with Quinn on account of it. Soon Quinn gets a computer which Goblin can type on using Quinn’s hands. It soon becomes apparent that Goblin is getting stronger as other people can feel him touch them and can turn electrical things on and off. Quinn also discovers, with the help of Lynelle, that although Goblin learned words faster than Quinn when they were younger, he can’t understand the bigger words that Quinn uses.

When Quinn is 16 years old his Aunt Queen invites him to go to New York with her and he accepts the invitation gladly. On the way to New York Quinn notes that Goblin is getting weaker the further away from home they get. Soon , when Quinn is 17 years old, his teacher Lynelle dies in a car crash.

Soon before Quinn’s 18th birthday his grandmother, Sweetheart, becomes very ill and goes into a coma and dies soon after Quinn turns 18. Quinn finds out his mother Patsy was pregnant but had an abortion.

Quinn goes into the attic at Blackwood Farm and finds lots of things belonging to “Rebecca Stanford” who apparently lived at Blackwood Farm years ago and disappeared quite suddenly. Quinn is then visited by the ghost of Rebecca who sleeps with him and wants him to find out how she died, and also manages to trick Quinn into starting a fire which is quickly put out.

Quinn decides he wants to visit “Sugar Devil Island” which is part of Blackwood Farm but is in a dangerous swamp and no-one knows exactly where in the swamp the island is. Quinn soon manages to find the island and inside finds the remains of a woman (Rebecca) which is held up by a hook and suggests that the woman was tortured before she died. Quinn also, to his surprise, finds evidence that someone has been living in the house on the island.

Quinn returns home and tells everybody what he found. It is then that Aunt Queen explains the full story of Rebecca to him and that she was supposedly thrown out of Blackwood Farm by Manfred Blackwood, his great great great grandfather.

Quinn soon goes back to the island but there is still no sign of whoever has been living there. Quinn leaves a letter behind to explain that the house belongs to him and that he would like the trespasser to leave. Quinn falls asleep inside the house and dreams that he is Rebecca enduring the torture and dying. After waking, Quinn finds that it is dark and outside he sees someone in the swamp who appears to be dumping bodies in it. Goblin leads Quinn home in the dark.

Quinn insists on telling the sheriff what he saw but no-one seems to believe him. The trespasser from the island comes into Blackwood Farm and leaves Quinn a letter telling him to stay away from the island.

Quinn decides to open the island to everyone and the police search the swamp and take the remains of Rebecca away for analysis. Quinn’s grandfather, Pops, dies after arguing with Patsy. Quinn sleeps with Jasmine.

Soon the stranger from the island returns to Blackwood Farm and attacks Quinn but Goblin attacks the stranger and makes them leave Quinn alone. Quinn is hurt quite badly so is taken to Mayfair Medical where he witnesses the ghost of Rebecca again but this time he ignores her and tells her to leave.

Whilst still in Mayfair Medical Quinn meets his new teacher Nash. Here he also meets Mona Mayfair and Stirling Oliver who can both see Goblin. Quinn finds out that Stirling Oliver is a member of something called the Talamasca and that Mona is a “witch”. He also falls in love with Mona as soon as he sees her.

Quinn attends the reading of Pops’ will where Patsy is left a lot and Quinn learns that Pops had a child with a woman named Terry-Sue and the boy is called Tommy who would technically be Quinn’s uncle.

Quinn decides to go visit Mona Mayfair who is surprisingly waiting for him. Mona and Quinn sleep together and Quinn is surprised by Mona’s “experience”. Quinn also learns a little about the Mayfairs and takes Mona back to Blackwood Farm with him. Quinn says that he wants to marry Mona who then explains that she is already going to marry Pierce Mayfair. Quinn also finds out that Mona had a baby who was then taken away from her. Quinn says he’ll help her find her child but Mona doesn’t seem to think its possible.

Michael Curry and Rowan Mayfair arrive at Blackwood Farm to take Mona home and despite all Quinn and Mona’s protests she goes with them in the end. Quinn encounters the intruder from the island again who tells Quinn to get rid of all the people who are on the island and to refurbish the house there. The intruder says if Quinn does this he can have the island during the day but the intruder keeps it during the night.

Quinn orders that the Hermitage on the island be refurbished. Quinn goes to visit his uncle Tommy and leaves his mother money to put Tommy into a good school. Quinn goes to Mona’s house again and there encounters Julien Mayfair. Julien then tells Quinn that Quinn’s great grandfather was actually Juliens son which makes Quinn a blood relative to Mona. This is dangerous in the Mayfair family due to the fact if they had children they may not be entirely normal. Quinn then finds out from Rowan that Julien was a ghost.

Quinn has dinner with Rowan, Michael and Mona. Quinn then discovers that Mona is sick and is having ongoing treatment at Mayfair Medical. He arranges to visit her there the next day. Quinn then goes home to find the intruder from the island sitting with Aunt Queen who clearly doesn’t realise who she is talking to. The intruder introduces him/herself as Petronia and says that he/she is both male and female.

Quinn tells Stirling Oliver everything that has happened with Petronia and the island. Stirling Oliver visits Blackwood Farm and finds out Aunt Queen wants to take Quinn on a trip to Europe. Also Stirling Oliver tells Quinn that it will be Aunt Queens last oppurtunity to go with him as the doctor says she soon won’t be well enough for travel. Quinn therefore agrees straight away to go on the trip and also invites Tommy who accepts.

The trip is organised for the next day and when Quinn tells Mona he is leaving, she tells him she thinks its a good idea and they arrange to keep in contact through e-mail and telephone.

The trip through Europe lasts for 3 years which is longer than Quinn expected. At the beginning of the trip Goblin was forced to leave Quinn as he couldn’t travel that far. Goblin returns to Blackwood Farm and starts breaking things until Quinn, via computer(and Jasmine), tells him to stop and that they can speak through the computer, also by e-mail. There is also a night in Europe where Quinn thought he saw Petronia but wasn’t sure of it.

They return at the end of 3 years after Aunt Queen becomes too ill to travel anymore and has to go home. Quinn is also worried about Mona because she hasn’t been returning his e-mails recently. On returning he discovers that Mona’s sickness had got much worse and because she is too sick he isn’t allowed to see her.

Also Quinn is surprised to find that in his absence Jasmine has given birth to Jerome, his son. Quinn also makes a trip to the island and finds Petronia there again. Strangely Petronia welcomes Quinn this time and lifts him up and flying (!) takes him against his will. Quinn wakes up and realises he is in Italy and that there are people cleaning him. There are 2 girls and a boy doing this who tell him to stand up to “her” tests but Quinn doesn’t understand them. Quinn is drugged and upon awakening finds himself in a “glorified round cage made of gold”.

There are two men in the room and Quinn notes that they don’t look human. Quinn realises that he recognises one of the men and that it is in fact his great great great grandfather Manfred Blackwood. Manfred is annoyed that Quinn has been taken by Petronia and Quinn learns the other man is called Arion.

Petronia appears and ignores Manfred who is furious with her. Petronia makes Quinn fight with her until Quinn is almost dead. Then Petronia gives Quinn her blood to make him immortal.

Quinn is now a vampire and fledgling of Petronia. Soon after he is made, Arion (maker of Petronia) gives Quinn his blood so that Quinn is stronger. Arion tells Quinn that they must only feed upon people who have commited evil deeds (the “evil-doer” as they are commonly referred to). Quinn accepts this and is then told by Petronia to pick someone from the 3 servants in the house to feed upon. These are the same servants Quinn met when still alive so Quinn is reluctant to feed on any of them even though he can now see they have all commited some very bad deed. Quinn eventually kills the two girl servants and afterwards Manfred also lets Quinn drink from him.

Quinn then sees the ghost of Rebecca but ignores her now as he believes that to be finished now that he has died. Quinn is taken to hunt with Arion, Petronia and Manfred and here discovers that he can fly. The four of them arrive at a wedding full of “evil-doers” but Quinn mistakenly kills the bride who wasn’t evil at all. Petronia, obviously enraged by this, begins beating Quinn until Arion stops it.

The sun rises and Quinn sleeps during the day dreaming of killing his mother Patsy. The next night Arion teaches Quinn how to hunt properly and teaches him about what he now is, a vampire. On returning to Petronia and Manfred they explain “the rules” to him: that the talamasca is now his enemy and also that hunting in New Orleans is forbidden because Lestat won’t allow it.

Quinn decides to return to Blackwood Farm and even though Petronia and Arion ask him not to , he makes preparations to leave straight away. When Quinn arrives at Blackwood Farm Goblin attacks him and feeds on him, drinking his blood. Goblin attacks Quinn every time Quinn feeds on someone and his attacks are becoming stronger each time. Petronia visits Quinn at the island in the swamp and leaves him the vampire chronicles so he can understand things a bit better.

On reading the novels he decides to find Lestat to ask for his help in dealing with Goblin. Quinn writes a letter to Lestat explaining a little about him and Goblin and asking for his help. He also encloses a cameo of himself for Lestat. Quinn takes this letter to Lestat’s flat in New Orleans where he finds Stirling Oliver. Stirling can clearly see what Quinn is now and although Quinn tries to fight against it, he feeds on Stirling Oliver until he is pulled away from him. The person who pulled him away was Lestat who quickly deals with Stirling Oliver by warning him not to try it again and also not to make any mention of Quinn in any report he might make to the talamasca.

Lestat takes Quinns letter and then takes him to feed and afterwards Quinn is attacked by Goblin. Lestat goes with Quinn back to Blackwood Farm where they spend a bit of time talking to Aunt Queen about cameos and their history. When Lestat and Quinn are alone, Goblin returns to feed on Quinn but Lestat burns him as he does so. Quinn then tells Lestat the story of himself and Goblin (and his entire life). After the story is done they hear a noise and Quinn discovers Goblin has killed Aunt Queen. Lestat suggests Merrick can perhaps help get rid of Goblin.

At the wake of Aunt Queen, Quinn is alone as Lestat has gone to find Merrick. Quinn notices Petronia there who has left Aunt Queen a cameo. Quinn also witnesses the ghost of Julien Mayfair who warns him against turning Mona into a vampire. Quinn leaves after seeing Rowan and Stirling Oliver arrive.

Quinn is accompanied by Lestat and Merrick to the funeral where he speaks about Aunt Queen, as do many people. Also Quinn, out of habit, goes up to recieve communion and Lestat and Merrick follow him. After the funeral Merrick tells Quinn to go home with his family and to keep Patsy in particular at home.

When Merrick and Lestat arrive at Blackwood Farm, Quinn is told that Goblin is in fact the ghost of his twin brother who died shortly after they were born. Quinn doesn’t believe this until Patsy confirms it and says his name was Garwain and that it was Quinn’s fault that his brother died. Quinn hears the same story from Jasmine and her grandmother. Goblin leaves a message on the computer saying he wants Lestat and Merrick gone and that he hates Quinn. Quinn then gives Merrick all the information he can about Goblin so she can get rid of him.

Quinn kills Patsy and the ghost of Rebecca appears and is satisfied because he killed her and leaves. Quinn drinks from Lestat so he has enough strength for what is going to happen next.

A fire is built and Quinn and Lestat watch as Merrick performs a ritual which involves the remains of Goblin/Garwain. The ritual ends with Merrick jumping into the fire with Goblin and even though Lestat pulls her out and tries to save her, she is dead. Quinn and Lestat visit Oak Haven and speak to Stirling Oliver telling him about Merrick so that the talamasca know what happened to her. Stirling Oliver tells Quinn Mona Mayfair is dying.

Quinn and Lestat leave the talamasca to hunt. They arrive back at Blackwood Farm where they find Mona waiting for Quinn, dying. Quinn tells her what he is and Lestat makes her into a vampire for Quinn.

Mortals are what you see walking down the street every day. They typically have no powers. None at all. No mind reading ability, no telepathic powers at all. But, there are a few.. a very few that have such powers.. to read thoughts deliberately. Other mortals naturally hide their thoughs without knowing it at all, but of these there are even fewer. And fewest of all.. perhaps one in twenty thousand, have some of the abilities that Vampires have. The ability to set fire to things at will.. to read minds and to cause mental confusion on others…to hurl objects around. to kill with merely a thought. and to leave their mortal bodies and move around without them.

David Talbot of the Talamasca is the good example.

Humph, now I am very very intrigue about this Mr. David Talbot person.

A fledgeling Vampire has no real powers that S/He can control apart from the mind reading and superhuman strengths., Although, a human with extremely good telepathic powers to begin with would have these powers increased.(eg Jessica) Vampires of the first brood were never able to “Hear” each other with their telepathic ability, although they could with the younger generations. This is also the case with Sire and Chylder. They cannot communicate with each others minds.

Fledgelings:
Have superhuman strength and the ability to read minds. They can leap high into the air and move faster than any mortal can run.

†Fledglings
Now it gets a little complicated. All the references above are for Typically sired Vampires. Powers will differ with the age of the sire. For instance, if the sire is an ancient, it is fully possible that the chylde will be completely without thirst, although the want for blood is something that most Vampires have no matter what age or sire (eg Jessica).

A young Vampire that partakes of large amounts of the blood of an extremely powerful vampire will “Inherit” a degree of the powers of the host Vampire
(Marius, Lestat)

Young Vampires:
Have the abilities that Fledgelings have, but these are stronger. They can also use the illusion technique to a certain degree, causing mental confusion in a mortal, for example. A mortal notices the white skin and is suspicious, the Vampire can use the old razzle dazzle as it is oft referred to: Perfectly normal, what you see.

Arh…this is what Marius explained the other night.

All vampires are effected by sunlight and fire, but the older a vampire gets, the less he is affected by these. The oldest Vamps (4000 years plus) are not burned by the sun, merely browned (eg. Akasha and Enkil, and Lestat ) .And children of millennia (1000 +) are able to withstand some fire. (eg Pandora, Marius, Mael)In fact, they could walk through a huge bonfire and walk out the other side only cleansed, but if they stayed in it, they would eventually die.

The Blood is what animates a Vampire. If All the blood of a vampire is drained, the vampire is as good as dead. This is extremely difficult though as vampires contain huge amounts of blood and in some cases it would take hours to drain a vampire fully. Now, here is the tricky bit. All vampires are immortal. BUT, say for instance, a blood drinker was to be cut in half. Slices in two horizontally, then both halves would crawl around until they were finally joined back together again. Meanwhile, the blood loss from it would render the vampire almost useless. If an arm was to be cut off in battle, the vampire could pick the arm up and rest it on the stump, but it would take a long time to heal back on, even for the eldest vamp. (eg. Enkil, King of the Egypt, had an arm severed in battle.. he picked it up and put it back on, where it healed) Lost limbs do not regenerate. And the big question, the Beheading. If a vampire is beheaded, you might as well call it dead. For without the head on the shoulders, the creature can do little, for the shock of the instant blood loss would all but render the vampire unconscious. (eg, Akasha, the very first Vampire was attacked by Meakre , and her head was severed. She was powerless after it was severed and could not even reach the head to put it back on..)

However, If a limb is cut off and burned, the vampire may take the same limb from a mortal and use it. Although, the mortal arm will eventually die and need to be replaced. (eg. Maharets eyes were taken from her before she was given the Dark Gift. Until Thorne gave her his, she uses mortal eyes, but these give her irritation because the demon blood does not keep them alive)

I wonder if I need to ask Lestat about this…

The Blood inside a Vampire kills all Human cells. Slowly it destroys the physical host, replacing it with the physical traits of the Immortal Vampire. The brain is also effected, all senses being heightened immensely. With age, the blood drinkers powers grow, usually more than the vampire itself realizes.
The older a Vampire becomes, the stronger his mental abilities become.Physically, the skin hardens and whitens with age, the skin of the “Children of Millionia”, or Vampires that have survived over one thousand years, being white, cold and hard like stone,whereas younger vamps such as Armand although hard, is more like hard rubber and the young vampires skin is still being changed by the demon blood and is supple.

Both young and old Vampires alike though bear the same changed details to their eyes, hair and fingernails. The Eyes seem to sparkle, to be brighter, different to Mortals eyes and the Finger and Toenails have a glasslike sheen to them, as if glazed. The Hair is almost always the same length, as when cut, it will grow back out to it’s normal length within 24 hours. Almost all fledglings need mortal blood to feed the demon change inside them, their thirst being an almost uncontrollable desire, driving some insane. The exception to this is if the fledgling is sired by an immensely aged vampire (Lestat?). The older the Vampire becomes though, the less they feel the need for blood, but for most, the want never leaves. Even Khayman, the 3rd eldest Vamp, still took victims regularly.

Arh…(tap note pad)

When a Vampire chooses a mortal to sire, the process is something erotic and sensual. More often than not, the Mortal will feel no pain at all, rather a deep communicating with the blood drinker, as his/her blood is drained from them to the brink of death, from there, The Vampire will feed the mortal upon his/her own blood, the blood that was just taken. Within moments, the blood effects the body, the most common sensation, one of extreme warmness. As the mortal dies and is reborn, all telepathic links with the sire is cut and the two can no longer talk to each other with their minds, they can not communicate in any way with their mental abilities, and can only sense each other in the most basic of ways, see, hear, smell and touch.
When a mortal is Sired, the Mortal may have certain mental powers. I.E.: The Mind Gift. When S/He becomes a vampire, these traits are increased many times over, but only very few Mortals have this ability.

(arch brow, continue to take note)

Those who have lived for more than a thousand years are by far the most powerful of the vampires; they are called the Children of the Millennia. After several hundred years, and depending on the strength of their maker, vampires begin to exhibit special powers, referred to by most of them as “gifts”.

• Mind Gift (the combined abilities of telepathy and telekinesis). This is the ability to communicate and read thoughts, especially of humans, and to move objects with the mind. This gift is used largely to obtain blood – since via telepathy a criminal or amoral human can be sensed, and many of vampires refuse to feed on the innocent, this allows them to identify their prey. It is impossible for a maker or fledgling to contact each other directly, although in some cases it is possible for a vampire to seek out their master/fledgling by looking through the eyes of those near their fledgling, or by hearing the thoughts of their master/fledgling through others in a relay effect. A vampire of sufficient power or age may also unwillingly ‘hear’ the thoughts of all the humans within range of this power, leading to an old vampire saying: “If you do not learn to silence the voices, they will drive you mad.” Khayman of the First Brood possessed this level of telepathic power, but had trained himself to hear the multitude of thoughts as “one annoying noise.” Older vampires may also possess the ability to move objects with the mind.

• Spell Gift. This gift allows a vampire to cloud the mind of a human, bending the human to his or her will.

• Enhanced physicality and senses. All vampires have superhuman senses (sight, hearing, etc.) and strength, and are able to do things many times faster than humans can, with little or no effort. Eidetic memory from the moment of becoming a vampire seems to be natural, however, memories of their humans lives, particularly those relating to sensation, fade over the years. They can move faster than the human eye can detect, see in the darkest of nighttime, pick one sound out of even the noisiest area, and raise the volume of their voice to painfully loud levels.

• Fire Gift. Another power usually only developed by a Child of the Millennia. This gift is known to be possessed by Marius, Akasha, Eudoxia, Thorne, Khayman, Lestat, Mekare and Maharet, and later the vampires Merrick Mayfair and Quinn Blackwood. With the Fire Gift, a vampire can set alight an object or being of their choice. Use of the gift on humans was performed by Lestat, when he set aflame gunmen on the tropical island. The Fire Gift is specially fatal to vampires, as the “changed” blood found within their bodies ignites easily, thus rendering them extremely vulnerable to fire.

• Cloud Gift (flight). Not all vampires have this ability. Lestat, though young by vampire standards, gains this ability after repeatedly drinking Akasha’s blood. Quinn Blackwood was given the strength to use this gift by his maker, Petronia. Otherwise, flight is a power only exhibited by the Children of The Millenia. Louis, Gabrielle, and Santino are among a few that do not have this gift or are never mentioned having it. Most if not all vampires dislike or even hate flying, as they find it extremely unsettling due to it being a sign that they are truly no longer human.

• Killing Gift. Believed to be possessed by the eldest Children of the Millennia, like most gifts it comes with age. Known holders of this power are Akasha, Marius, Lestat, Maharet, Mekare, Khayman and Mael. This power was originally combined with the Fire Gift.  The exact nature of the power is unknown, but it seems to cause numerous fatal ruptures in the entire cardiovascular system.

• Immortality. Unless killed by one of the vampire’s weaknesses, namely sunlight and fire, or an elder vampire’s powers, it is said that they have the potential to live eternally. As they age they become more powerful and slowly their skin becomes whiter, smoother, and more reflective, resembling marble as seen with Akasha and Enkil, Maharet, Mekare, and Khayman. Lestat and Jesse Reeves share much of this ancient appearance due to receiving blood from Akasha and Maharet, respectively. During their immortality, vampires will sometimes go into a kind of hibernation, either because they have become mentally unbalanced from knowing what they have become, or because their surroundings have changed too much for them to cope with. This is hinted to usually happen within 100–200 years of being created, and is mentioned as the “dangerous time” by the elders. Many vampires commit suicide if they continually exist in the world. Maharet is the only vampire explicitly said to have never “gone underground”; she has lived, night by night, for over six thousand years, mainly by keeping the records of her mortal daughter’s descendants.

• Rapid Healing. Vampires are immune to most attacks other than their known weakness and even then are apparently able to heal quickly, especially if they feed or are covered in vampire blood. All vampires can potentially heal from any non-fatal wound, including decapitation, as proved by Mael, but time and blood are needed. A bullet wound, for instance, would heal within seconds, but serious burns from a fire would require decades, if not centuries, to heal. However, the greater the damage done to them, the stronger they will be when they are fully healed. An influx of blood from a vampire, especially a powerful vampire, can greatly speed up the healing process.

Humph.