NELAPSI

Lore

The Nelapsi is a vampire of Slovak lore, regarded as one of the most aggressive and physically powerful breeds of ghoul. Legends claim the creature can wipe out an entire village-livestock and all-in a single night. Outwardly, the Nelapsi is a walking corpse with no visible rot, its skin an unnaturally pale, "porcelain-death" hue. The vampire's build is gaunt, yet its muscles and tendons are drawn so tight that it can leap dozens of yards and move at speeds no human can match. Its hair is long, black, and hangs in matted clumps. The eyes burn bright red, granting perfect vision in total darkness. Thirty retractable, needle-like fangs line the mouth, made for severing arteries and crushing bone in an instant. Each limb ends in long talons suited for sprinting up vertical walls and across sheer surfaces. A forked tongue can sense the smell of blood from more than a mile and a half away; pointed, oversized ears provide natural echolocation.

Inside, the creature is even stranger: folklore says it has two hearts and two souls. The twin hearts explain its near-invulnerability and regenerative powers-if one is damaged, the other takes over. The dual-soul nature is interpreted in two ways: either the human soul is trapped alongside a demonic spirit, or the person was "double-souled" in life and inevitably became a vampire. The Nelapsi usually rises in ragged burial shrouds that, legend says, resist both fire and steel; some modern sources claim older specimens favor lavish yet outdated clothing to blend in with humans. By day, the Nelapsi lies in its grave.