As I’ve previously said, War of Nytefall: Ravenous deals a lot with Clyde not wanting the Dawn Fangs exposed to the mortals. I’ve explained his plain many times. In case you missed those posts, he has Dawn Fangs living among mortals and will eventually reveal his people to prove that they are not a threat. Not the perfect plan, but decades of living in harmony with neighbors can help his case. So, how are they hiding?
Honestly, this is an odd question to answer because I think it’s kind of obvious. Yet, I have been asked this. Well, the Dawn Fangs can be in the sunlight, eat mortal food, have heart beats, and look mortal. All they have to do is move into town, find a place to live, and forge a niche while getting to know their neighbors. These people may be powerful, but they aren’t warriors. They are vampires who have more of a background in farming, smithing, and other trades that they possessed before turning. Many have kept up with changes in their old professions while others have retained lost skills, so they are rare artisans. Dawn Fangs arrive as couples, single, or in small groups. A recent change is that they arrive as families now that there are teenage womb-born that are able to function in the real world. Nobody would know they’re anything other than mortal.
That doesn’t mean this is easy. Dawn Fangs still have trouble with holy magic, especially if it’s combat-related. Healing spells don’t have much of an effect on them and they can’t touch holy items. So, they have to be careful about discussing the gods or goddesses that they follow. Safest bet is to claim a deity that doesn’t have a shrine or temple in the area, so you can say you pray in private. It gets difficult in the big cities where a large presence is needed and many temples have locations. The saving grace is that nobody really pries too much into that part of one’s life. An exception would be Gods’ Voice where every deity has a shrine or temple. Only Dawn Fangs who were born with or developed a resistance to holy magic can go there until the world knows they exist.
Another issue is that Dawn Fangs don’t age. So, Clyde’s plan definitely has a time limit unless he does something. While it isn’t mentioned in the books, he has had people fake their own deaths and leave their children in their place. It isn’t hard to bury a Dawn Fang that has turned off their life signs and retrieve them later. Most simply tunnel out and head for Nytefall or the Scrumptious Siren. Some go back to Nytefall for good because they aren’t ready to create a public life and lose it again. Others will pick a new town far away and try a new path. With so many immortals, it’s easy for them to jump into a totally different life because they have multiple skill sets. Even with this system, it is taxing on the spirit of these beings that wish to join the open world. That is a big reason that Clyde is pushing for the war to end.
I like this. I have some of my monsters hiding in plain sight in a few of my books. I thought about it as living where the food is, like so many predators do.
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That does work. With Dawn Fangs, it’s more about blending in and being a part of society. They don’t have to eat blood and can get it without killing the source. So, the only real reason to hide is fear of mortals flipping out and treating them like feral monsters.
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Different than mine, by far. I have vamps living among the street people and such.
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Dawn Fangs are fascinating creatures, Charles.
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Thanks. 😁
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Would it be possible for them to claim they follow some new god or goddess who bestows such great longevity on their most faithful followers? Or even a friendly deity who might be able to give the Dawn Fangs cover?
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That wouldn’t really be possible. Gods and goddesses are still around, so they’d be aware of what’s going on. Claiming a new one that doesn’t exist wouldn’t last for very long, especially if mortals begin to pray to it and don’t get the same results. There would be no holy power coming to the followers as well, so it would be clear that it’s a hoax. A friendly deity wouldn’t be able to give them cover either. Doing so would break the ‘Law of Influence’ and get that god sealed, so their followers would learn about what is happening. As it stands, the Windemere pantheon isn’t sure what to do about the Dawn Fangs and Clyde doesn’t want to bring them into the situation. If he angers them, they would decide that his people aren’t protected by the ‘Law of Influence’ since they’re immortal. That would make life a nightmare for Dawn Fangs.
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