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Below are the myths and legends of the supernatural. Please keep in mind it's your own decision what you believe, but here is a little history on the myths and legends of the following subjects.
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~Vampires~
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 The myth of vampires dates back more than 4,000 years ago. Our ancient ancestors were even believing in the stories of vampires. The majority of these legends stem from Eastern Europe, and most of the literature's versions of vampires come from Greece, the Balkans, the Carpathian mountains, which includes Hungary and Transylvania.
People used vampires for explanations of murders that would occur and they could find no logical explanation behind. Depending on where one lived would determine the type of vampire myth the people believed in. In different countries, people thought of different reasons why a person would become a blood-sucking fiend after their death, but there are many that different countries shared in common. Some of these were due to medical conditions, such as being born with a red caul around a person's neck, or missing a finger or hand. Some of the most common methods for a person to become a vampire was by being bitten by one while alive, or if the funeral wasn't performed correctly.
The people eventually began truly believing in the myths and began digging up coffins, looking for evidence of vampires. The bodies that were considered vampires normally were bloated, or the decaying process hadn't set in right away, or there would be blood around the corpse's mouth. Today we can prove these as ordinary things that happen to a corpse after death, but back centuries ago, this matter was not taken lightly.
A common thing back, centuries ago, was that people would be burried alive. There were illnesses where people would go into a coma-like state for a long time and people would consider them dead, then burry them. When the person awoke, they would find themself under pounds of earth and in panic and fear, would begin clawing at their coffin lids and sides, trying desperately to escape. The person would eventually suffocate and die in the coffin, but if their coffin was dug up, many would find fingernails in the coffin lids, or finger nail marks all over the inside of it, evidence of the person trying to escape. Instead of thinking the person had been burried alive, they turned directly to the excuse that the person was a vampire.
The word "vampire" didn't enter the English language until the eighteenth century, the exact estimate being at 1732. Little was known in places such as Britain about the vampire myths and it seems as if they didn't exist. Many events occurred, but there are two rather famous cases that would bring the word "vampire" into our language. It is said that a translations of a German report of a famous Arnold Paole vampire staking in Serbia is what mainly brought the word into the English language.
The first event that occured involved a gentleman by the name of Peter Plogojowitz. He was said to have died at the age of 62, but he returned a few times after his death, asking his son for food. When his son refused, he was later found dead. After this event, it was said Pologojowitz returned and attacked neighbors who happened to die of loss of blood.
The second case was the one involving Arnold Paole. Paole was an ex soldier who had became a farmer and it was said he had been bitten by a vampire. He died while haying one day and after his death, people nearby began to die and their deaths were blamed on Paole, claiming he had risen and attacked his own neighbors.
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The way bats have come into the myth are by the simple fact that one paticular species feeds off of animals and drinks the blood, therefore winning them the title of vampire bats. One thing that is not commonly told is once the bat has bitten an animal, it then laps up the blood and doesn't "drink" as most picture when they think of this.
Literature and films certainly have increased the general public's fascination with vampires. Authors such as Bram Stoker (Dracula), Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake Series), Anne Rice (The Vampire Chronicles), and many others have helped. TV and films that have contributed to this interest are Underworld, Van Helsing, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and there's more than likely others out there.
To summarize, vampires, whether mythical or real, have been a part of the human culture and beliefs for years and as time grows on, no matter how distorted the image becomes through the media, they will always remain a mystery and an interest to the common people.
| ~Werewolves~
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 Werewolves are considered creatures of the night in some legends. Ancient people believed in these creatures, men who changed into wolves under a full moon or during periods of immense anger or excitement.
One of the technical terms for this condition is called Lycanthropy. Beliefs are that a person can only become a lycanthrope, or werewolf, by being bitten by another werewolf, cursed by a spell, or by being born to a lycanthrope.
It is said werewolves are immortals, like vampires, who can live forever unless their heart is pierced by a silver bullet. Silver is a werewolf's worst enemy. It also can weaken them when they touch it or are hit with it, but only a direct wound to the heart will kill a werewolf.
Werewolves are considered oversized dogs who howl at the moon on specific evenings and have the lust for blood. This could be true, but also the werewolf is a person the majority of the month. From sun down to sun up on a full moon night, the infected person will shift into their werewolf form and stay that way until the first light of dawn.
These creatures work similar to a pack of wolves, being that they cling together in a pack. There is the leader, the Alpha male. He is the wolf that has started the bloodline. The others below him are the Beta wolves. Then the Alpha's mate is the Lupa and there are other names, but as you go down, it gets more complicated. There is a challenger, one under the alpha that will eventually attempt to fight the alpha and win in order to become the alpha wolf of the pack. The fight ends in death.
There are certainly movies and stories that have made werewolves become more popular, just as the vampire has become popular through novels and the media.
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~Magick~
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In this section, you will not be told about what witchcraft is today or the beliefs in it, but rather the history of it.
The most famous incident involving witchcraft would be the Salem Witch Trials, which occured in 1692. A total of 24 people were killed during this time. 19 were hanged and 5 mostly died in jail.
This all took place in the little village of Salem, being started off when two young girls, the niece and the daughter of the town minister (Reverend Samuel Parris), began acting strangely, screaming of being tortured. Mainly women, but some men, were accused of this and imprisioned for the practice of witchcraft. They were tried in many different ways, most of the ways resulting in death, whether they passed the test or not.
In our role play, the witches contain power which lets them do different things. Some can orb, which is transporting themselves from one place to another magickally, and others can do complex things such as spells that would bring someone back from the dead. The amount they can accomplish would depend on how powerful the witch is.
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