<strong>Sabien Theunissen</strong><br/><br/>She shrugs slightly at Carol's comment.  "I do not claim any degree of moral high ground compared to any other.  Most have some reason for acting the way that they do, whether that is an overzealous hunter who was hurt by a vampire or a vampire with a mother complex sating some vacuous need, it matters little.  I attempt to intercede when things become too much.  The newly whelped vampire that has yet to come to grips with their new hunger should not be faced with lunatic, fanatical hunters mere hours after their first death, nor should vampires be permitted to simply kill and slaughter their way through the population.  We each have our place, I simply aim to maintain that balance.  As for desires..."<br/><br/>She smiles slightly, "I may give the impression of coldness, young one, but do not mistake such for a lack of desires.  I would dare say that the passions of vampires runs much nearer the surface, restrained only by the strength of ones will.  Imagine, if you can, having the strength and power of some of the strongest men in the world.  Now, consider the one thing that you most value in the world, be that food, money, power or justice.  If you had the strength that only a few could stand against you, could you resist the urge to take what it is you desire most?  And if you had to indulge that desire or die from its lack, could you restrain yourself to only what you need?  If it is something you want, that you covet, but also that you need merely to survive, could you stop yourself?  And how long, then before your desires led you to break the fragile vessels that you took from.  It is only by constantly chaining our passions by our will that the world is not bathed in blood and mankind slain...or vampires hunted to extinction.  I am...perhaps not comfortable, but I am intimately aware of what it is that I am and have no miscomprehension of that."<br/><br/>She allows Theresa to read for a bit, then smiles, "that has long been a matter of discussion...I've heard a number of theories on such, but none that I would be willing or able to vouch for as, well...most of us are busy with our own personal matters much of the time and have little to spare for attempted breeding projects.  Most of them were attempted at one point or another centuries ago, though most of us never stop indulging in passions of the flesh.  I don't suppose you know your parents?  Any pictures or documentation that might help with such?"  She smiles somewhat amusedly.<br/><br/>"Yes, all evidence that I have found indicates that vampires, male or female, are utterly sterile.  Males cease production of sperm as cellular mitosis comes to a halt, and menstruation ceases at the moment of death, the egg cells dying within the first day or so as the change overtakes them.  The process of life after death seems...inimical to the process of reproduction."  She begins pacing the room, her hands behind her back as she talks, "there are a great number of theories, though I cannot speak of all of them.  A male who is changed in the midst of the act of intercourse and his death climax able to take root as it were.  A woman, early in pregnancy, brought to the edge of death by a vampire, but surviving.  Infusions directly into the umbilical cord or placenta of vampiric blood.  A mortal brought to the very brink of death by a vampire, the change beginning, then somehow brought back from the edge leaving them partially changed.  Then, of course, there are the more esoteric or unusual theories.  A male vampire who manages to find themselves in true love with a mortal, wed within a sanctified church, blessed by a priest and so forth.  A male vampire who dies by sunlight at the moment of climax.  Various possible blessings, curses, enchantments, voodoo, magic, spirits and so forth causing such to be able to occur.  The humor of a somewhat disturbed deity."<br/><br/>She shrugs slightly, still pacing, "as I said...more theories than answers, and without some idea about your lineage, I do not see that we would be able to answer with any degree of accuracy what it was that happened in your case.  The only thing that I<em>am</em>certain of is that you mark the first and possibly the only one of your kind that I have ever heard of or seen with any degree of veracity in my life."  She gestures at the book, "I have studied that tome, written by a mad vampiric prophet, and found a number of things that bore striking similarities to events both historical and modern, though it is all out of sequence and most of it borderline incomprehensible.  That tome is responsible for at least one of the major cult factions of my kind.  A group I was, in fact, on my way to meet when I found your trail.  My assistant was adamant that there were a number of rumors going around, and to soothe her youthful eagerness I thought to go and show her the error of her ways."  She smirks a bit, "in the future, though, I would appreciate the decency to not go proving me wrong before my lab assistant.  Too much of that will go to her head and then where will I be?"