the Goddess in a fight for supremacy, demon NEWT changed how Rachel’s soul resonates, to hide her aura from the mystics who would otherwise swarm Rachel and force her to join the Goddess, which would destroy Rachel in the process. It’s believed that elven magic is currently not working well because Newt is now the governing force in the Goddess.
Vampires: Rachel is currently enjoying a balanced to good situation after thwarting the latest elven attempt at world domination—when the elven dewar and enclave under the leadership of LANDON worked to pull the souls of the long undead from “storage” in the ever-after, allowing them to roam in reality until finding their original bodies and committing suncide.
Morgan remains a person of interest to the I.S., as she was successful in capturing the departing soul of a living vampire (NINA LEDESMA) at her first death and installing it within the body of living vampire IVY TAMWOOD. It has resulted in a surprisingly stable undead vampire who, unlike her undead brethren, remembers how to love and therefore has a reduced need to feed. Ivy and Nina remain under observation as this new kind of “undead master vampire and scion” pair holds the potential to end the vampire curse—but it is fraught with its own complications and there’s much resistance from the old undead.
Under the original curse, living vampires are molded by the vampire virus before birth, giving them increased strength and sharp, normal-length canines useful in dealing with the undead on a daily basis and serving as their main means of acquiring blood. Being alive, living vampires have no light or religious limitations, and are accustomed to doing the daylight work of the undead, as is expected. An undead’s favorite, or scion, maintains special privileges as well as enjoying heightened strength and senses, as well as an increased blood drive due to sharing blood with their master on a regular basis.
After their first death, living vampires become true undead. Even reflected light will cause their second death, and they must feed on the living to take in not only blood but, to remain emotionally stable, the auras of those they feed upon. Though having no morals, they police themselves and hide much of the ugliness from humans lest society become afraid and take action against them.
With Ivy holding Nina’s soul in addition to her own, Nina is in the unique position of taking in her own aura while feeding on Ivy, resulting in an almost normal emotional baseline. It has been noted that though Nina displays many of the sultry, powerful characteristics of the undead, she looks to Ivy for direction, not the other way around. Simply put, because Nina is dependent on Ivy for her aura, Nina is recessive and Ivy is dominant. This needs to be examined in detail before allowing any more such master/scion pairs to develop, as, in time, the living may control the dead, not the dead control the living.
NOTE: Emotionally damaged by the thought of regaining his soul, RYNN CORMEL is no longer effective as Cincinnati’s master vampire. Replacements are being considered, and the master/scion pair of Nina Ledesma and Ivy Tamwood is fulfilling his function in the interim with surprising efficiency.
Weres: Rachel no longer has a contractual link to the Weres after abdicating her alpha position in DAVID HUE’s pack. Though it’s not widely known, Hue still retains the focus artifact that Morgan gave him, enabling him to gather multiple Were packs under his will at his discretion. Hue is savvy enough to know to lie low, but he should remain under observation for future problems.
The Order: Morgan is currently a potential target of this humans-only, highly funded vigilante task force that has been illegally catching, judging, and incarcerating Inderlanders.
The Dewar: The elven religious order, currently under the leadership of Landon after BANCROFT’s mystic-induced suicide. The dewar is actively trying to discredit Morgan to gain political security. Having once enjoyed moderate sway with the dewar, Kalamack is on the outs with them due to his association with Morgan.
The Enclave: The elven political faction is also currently siding against Morgan, though that stance is beginning to shift to neutral as Kalamack works to rebuild his once-considerable pull with them and regain his Sa’han status. It’s unlikely that Kalamack will ever regain his past strength if he continues to shun his responsibilities with Ellasbeth Withon in order to create good relations with the demons, something neither the elven nor the demon societies are interested in.