Characteristically vampires are cunning and wise with all the years they have behind them, their powers are more ones of subtlety and cunning than strength and force. They are a very organized society with a Royal government of Whole Vampires and a complicated legal system for ensuring their continued existence amongst humans. They do live and work around humans and it is often hard to identify them although there are signs that the trained eye of a hunter can spot. Vampires have heightened strength but mostly they are incredibly fast and agile, as well as this they have powers of persuasion and glamour, able to woo an individual by their voice and appearance and manner alone. Souless vampires only have this effect upon humans but once a Vampire becomes whole their powers of seduction are almost impossible to resist.
Soulless Vampires
The average Vampire has to drink blood to survive. By consuming a human's blood a vampire can get a taste of their soul which sustains them, even though they have no soul of their own. However it is a painful existence since they can never be quite satisfied. It is very rare, if not unheard of, for a Soulless Vampire to spare a victims life. There is no exertion of will that can stop them killing their victim once they have taken the first bite, no matter how strong their conviction or feeling for the victim might be.
Many Vampires take quite will to this life of killing, either accepting it as natural and forgiving themselves or embracing it wholeheartedly and reveling in the bloodshed. But some remain ill at ease with this way of life and wish to not kill for a living. These Vampires either find a way to their own destruction or add their name to a list, set up by the Royal Covern, that names the Vampires who wish for a soul. It is a dangerous choice though since a Vampire in a contract will definitely come across many dangers, such as Hunters and Werewolves, and have will to protect their Contractor even above their own life so they cannot flee when danger is near if commanded otherwise/
Many Vampires decide it is not worth the risk and simply remain as they are. Others have a different strategy. Once a soul has been taken the demon in possession of it becomes very powerful, however they are not indestructible and because it is not their soul they have no other form of defense. Humans have complete control of their soul, there is no power that can force a human to give up their soul if they do not wish to. A whole demon on the other hand, has no protection against someone stealing their soul but their body, once their body is broken there is nothing stopping the soul from being taken by any who wish for it. Therefore if a whole demon is killed by another, souless or otherwise, that Whole Demon's soul can be stolen by the victor. However, although this is a more common way for Vampires to pursue a soul, it is a less successful one since a demon with a soul will almost always be stronger than one without.
The strength of a Soulless Vampire relies solely upon whom created them. If a Whole Vampire has two souls then the Vampires it creates will be stronger than those created by a whole vampire with one soul, and so on and so forth. In this way a Soulless Vampire could be strong enough to defeat a Whole Vampire and take their soul for themselves, provided their mother was of immense power.
Bound Vampires
The relationship between a bound Vampire and their Contractor can be a very varied one depending upon the personalities involved, but characteristically the Vampire takes up a kind of Butler role, always standing slightly behind their Contractor and advising and protecting them until the contract is fulfilled. As the vampire has no soul they still need blood but they only take it from their contractor and since they have complete control over their vampire servants, a contractor can order a Vampire to stop and avoid death.
Human contractors are often introduced into Vampire society and are respected highly depending upon the vampire Covern in that area. The Royal Vampires normally have a definite view that Contractors should be respected and honoured for their contribution. However it happens in some Coverns that Humans are always to be looked down upon and usually in those circumstances they are kept in the dark about Vampire society.
Whole Vampires
Once a vampire gains a soul they double in strength and often gain abilities unique to them. As soon as a Vampire becomes 'Whole' they become a Vampire Noble, respected by all and given a place in the Government. They give opinions upon decisions that Soulless Vampires would be too biased upon and take responsibility for a certain area of Vampire populated territory. They have many responsibilities and those only grow as they become stronger. Sometimes a Whole Vampire will still make contracts with humans to gain more souls and more power and this factor gives rise to a kind of fear that one vampire will become stronger than the others, however the Royalty generally manage to keep a handle upon any who would try and disrupt the balance.
The most important characteristic about any whole demon is their ability to create souless of their kind. The Souless that they create have a special bond with their 'mother' which waxes and wanes depending on personalities and wants, but generally remains in some form or another. A new Vampire does not have to enter the Covern of their 'mother' but most often it is what they do.
One of the most important roles of Noble's is to protect their Vampire Covern by keeping the level of werewolves in that area to a minimum. Werewolves, when in their wolf form, are always stronger than Souless vampires and even when in human form they can be hard to kill. For safety’s sake Whole Vampires are given the task of culling them periodically so that they do not go mad and alert the human population to the presence of supernatural beings.
At the top of Vampire society sit the Royal Vampires, the Vampires that make decisions for all the Vampire race and are the strongest, wisest and oldest Vampires in the world. They are usually more than 500 years old and have gathered at least 20 souls, a great achievement. At the moment there are only 13 Royals and they are all scattered around the world. However just because a vampire is not in the Royal Covern does not mean they are not as strong as them. There are rogue Vampires who have been traveling for decades without care for the Vampire hierarchy, then there are Vampires who refuse the title in favor of simply helping the cause and finally there are those old and powerful Vampire whom the Royals do not consider suitable for the role of Royalty.