"The vampire equivalent of Percy Shelly’s Ozymandius" - the vampire of the Old Sun Dome

[MOB]

[I posted this over on the RuneQuest Facebook group; posting here too, for ease of future retrieval]  

As one of the co-authors of the 'Old Sun Dome' scenario in RQ3's Sun County, I was gratified to read @Andrew Logan Montgomery's remarks that the ancient vampire in that adventure has left an impression that has "stayed with him for decades".*

Drew said he sees it as the vampire equivalent of Percy Shelly’s Ozymandius, "a terror made somehow sad and wasted by the desolation of centuries", and I think that's an excellent summation of this deathless horror that is so old it no longer remembers its name. It cannot recall where it came from or what deeds it did in mortal life. It has forgotten what tongues it once spoke.

Its one delight is its undead state. The vampire revels in eternal life, mocking (though no longer fully understanding) the mortal races who are cursed by death. Whereas other Vivamorti have used the immortality to make themselves feared lords of power, the essentially selfish, introspective ego of this vampire has allowed it to remain content with just possessing what few others can have: an ageless, deathless existence.

The vampire sleeps in a sealed chamber in the vaults of the Old Sun Dome, having dropped its funeral earth down there through a tiny fissure literally one grain at a time (you can do tasks like this when you literally have eternity to get them done). It spends years at a time in its safe, silent, secret crypt, coming out only to feed.

Our vampire is described as "completely naked, its body covered in a fine filigree of armouring enchantments... hidden under centuries of grime." So in the art direction we wanted to ensure there were none of the usual visual tropes you see with vampires. Here's the finished piece from p.116 of Sun County - I think Roger Raupp did a brilliant job!

*see Andrew's recent review of the solo game 'Thousand Year Old Vampire'.

Edited May 30, 2021 by MOB