Vampire Marks

"The third mark, without your... help would be like rape to making love.
You would hate me for all eternity if I took you by force."
I turned my back on him and grabbed the curtain.
"You got that right."

(Circus of the Damned, page 241, paragraph 9)
Commentary * When a vampire wants a human servant, he/she must give their intended four vampire marks. Only a master vampire can have a human servant.

First Mark
The vampire shares his/her "life force" with the human. This makes the human immune to their vampire's glance, voice and mind tricks. However, they might still be susceptible to other vampires. Anita, being a necromancer, became immune to almost vampires with this mark. In addition, it becomes much harder to hurt the human servant.

Second Mark
Two points of flame from the vampire come and overtake the human. They merge into the human's eyes, causing them to glow briefly with color, and then they vanish. After this point, the dreams of the human can be invaded by the vampire. Also, the vampire can feed off the human from a distance, and can sustain their life energy by using the life energy of the human servant as opposed to drinking blood. The human will tend to eat much more than normal and the extra energy is siphoned off by the vampire and the vampire can taste the food that is being eaten.

Third Mark
The vampire drinks the blood of the human, not to death, but close enough. During this time, the initial bite might hurt, but then the scents take over. Depending upon the vampire, or depending upon whether there is another focus (ie a werewolf or some other third in a triumverate) a scent is detected. Sometimes flowers (Alejandro) and sometimes earthy, woodsy scents (Richard). This establishes a more firm link. Direct mind contact can now be opened between the vampire and his/her human servant.

Fourth Mark
The vampire opens a blood supply, usually in the chest, and the human servant drinks from it. Usually a phrase of power is chanted at the moment of the feeding.

"Blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh, two minds with but one body, two souls wedded as one."
(GP p. 225)

"Blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh, the two shall be as one. One flesh, one blood, one soul."
(CD p. 317)

The human servant is now very difficult to kill and will live as long as the vampire lives. Some human servants have been known to be several centuries old.

* The result is, the human lives as long as the vampire does and possesses his/her strength and stamina, without giving up the daylight. Wounds heal much more quickly and they can withstand greater levels of physical pain. They are linked to the vampire telepathically, but the vampire cannot 'roll their mind' anymore.

* A human does not necessarily need all four marks to become a human servant. For example, Anita Blake was considered Jean-Claude's human servant when she had no marks, and now, with only three of the four marks, she is still referred to as his human servant.

Anita's Marks
First Mark - (Jean Claude) GP-44
Second Mark - (Jean Claude) GP-70

First Mark - (Alejandro) CD-182/240
Second Mark - (Alejandro) CD-269
Third Mark - (Alejandro) CD-317
Fourth Mark - (Alejandro) CD-317
(At Alejandro's death, all the marks were cancelled)

First Mark - (Jean-Claude and Richard) KD-370
Second Mark - (Jean-Claude and Richard) KD-371
Third Mark - (Jean-Claude) KD-381

* A vampire can only have one human servant. If the human servant is killed, it is possible to kill the vampire at the same time from the action. However, the stronger the vampire, the less likely he/she will die with the death of their human servant. When a vampire is killed, a human servant will follow him/her to death as well, again, unless they are strong enough to withstand the psychic separation. For example, when Anita killed Alejandro, she should have died, as her heart had stopped. However, Edward performed CPR on her until the paramedics arrived, thus saving her life. When Oliver was killed, Karl Inger died along with him.

* When a vampire makes a human servant, it's not as 'freeing' as Jean-Claude made it out to be. Since Anita is a Necromancer, she has free will within the relationship
(LC-320). Other humans in such a relationship must obey their vampiric masters (eg: Nikki).

* If a vampire has an animal to call, he can bind a lycanthrope of that variety to himself/herself with marks and possibly create a triumverate if they have enough power.