Corpse Collector

While all vampires desire to feast upon the blood of the living, some cannot bring themselves to do so. Nor, however, can they resist the urge entirely. These creatures find that they can momentarily satiate their need for blood by devouring the bodies of the recently dead. They are compelled to dig up newly-dug graves, clawing at the soil to reach the corpse buried below. These vampires are known as Corpse Collectors, mostly for their habit of storing parts of decaying bodies in hidden spots for later consumption. The discovery of such grisly caches is often a sure sign that one of these beings is nearby. While a cooling corpse holds no real vitality to drain, it can nonetheless temporarily ease the ache of a vampire’s unholy need. But only temporarily. Indeed, each feeding only suffices for a quarter of the time, meaning that the Corpse Collector must eat more often than other vampires. As such, they are often drawn to places where they can indulge in their ghoulish addiction undisturbed; cemeteries are their preferred haunt, and many seek out isolated villages to reside in, employing their vampiric charms to blend in with the inhabitants. But the vampire’s activities inevitably draw the attention of the local authorities, as their habit of digging up graves attracts rats and other vermin, resulting in sudden outbreaks of pestilence. Few Corpse Collectors are willing to stay and confront these hunters when they arrive, instead preferring to flee at the first opportunity. But some are more stubborn, unwilling to abandon their territories without a fight. Such was the case for Dara Sagar. A daughter of a lord of Kaerok, Dara was skilled in the art of manipulation. She stoked the flames of jealousy among her many suitors, pitting them against one another for her own sadistic amusement. But when plague came to her father’s lands, Dara became deathly ill. Delirious with fever, she was visited in her dreams by a shadowy presence that offered her an end to her suffering, and immortality besides. Desperate to save her own life, Dara agreed without asking about the price of her salvation. After a miraculous recovery, Dara found herself afflicted with an inhuman hunger that she was at great pains to conceal. She preyed on her servants for months before one of her suitors discovered her in the act. Dara slew him without hesitation, but when she realized what she’d done, she fled her father’s lands and sought refuge in anonymity. Not because she felt guilt for her actions, but because she feared retribution. Wary of being discovered again, Dara sought less visible means of sustaining herself. Through trial and error, she found that eating the dead could temporarily sate her hunger; it was also easier to hide her predations. She soon settled in a tiny village on the frontier, and confined her feedings to the newly dead, even as she used her wiles to charm the local populace. But when evidence of her hunger was discovered by a visiting priest of the Sacred Order, Dara was faced with a choice: flee again, or defend her newfound territory. Dara, as arrogant in Undeath as she had been in life, chose to make a stand, even when the priest returned with sufficient forces to potentially destroy her. She fought the hunters of the Sacred Order with noxious sorceries, even calling down hailfire upon the village before she was forced to make her escape. It is said that she still stalks the hinterlands of Kaerok, seeking out lonely villages to sate her ghoulish hunger.