This document has been compiled from conversations with Izzy the vampire. (See personnel Friends files)
What defines Life and Death you ask? Well that question has haunted philosophers for ages. I can say that in my studies of both the natural and the supernatural world that there are 4 definable elements to sentient life.
These 4 components are what make up most living beings, and always make up living humans. Note that I say "living beings" because dead beings are another story altogether.
Most supernatural creatures can be categorized by which of these elements they have too much or too little of in their make-up.
The following are examples of creatures that are lacking in one of the necessary elements; there are also many supernatural creatures
with an excess of one or more of these elements.
Ghosts are often referred to as "dead" when in fact; they are still partly alive. The vessel is no longer functional but some of the life
force has to remain to allow the ghost to remain and interact with the natural world. Without some small amount of life force the ghost's
soul would pass beyond our realm of existence. Ghosts need a source of energy to retain what little life force they have, and in most cases
it is energy converted from memories and emotions. This is the primary reason that ghosts tend to stay rooted to one location,
a location they inhabited in life or that was tied to thier death. Why you ask? Because ghosts need to remember being
alive and remember the emotions they once felt in order to stay in the physical world. Energies from the Mind and Soul
are transferred to the Life Force and that in turn allows the ghost to remain after the Vessel has been destroyed.
Vampires are called Un-dead because their Life Force and Soul have been lost or destroyed yet the Vessel and
Mind are still tied together. Vampires have to drain the Life Force of others to survive once their own
energy is gone. In (normal) animals, most of this energy is concentrated in the blood and thus blood is what vampires feed
upon.
Mages are categorized as having more than the normal amount of Life Force and the ability to project it outside
their own vessel; they use this excess Life Force to power their spells.
Psionicly active beings have more than the normal amount of Mind energy and are able to harness, alter
and project that energy to accomplish their mental feats.
The immortals (AKA Un-killable AKA e-mortals) have extremely high amounts of Life Force, which cannot be projected
beyond their own Vessel. Instead the excess Life Force is used to repair and maintain the vessel far beyond its ordinary limits.
Other supernatural entities, such as zombies, are lacking Mind and Soul, as well as using an artificial Life Force that
comes from the necromancer's spell.
