And now we're getting the part where things become really problematic now when you now try to rewrite already established lore just to make sense of the gameworld itself. Carmilla is a Vampire not a Elf (sure is hell she doesn't have elf ears) period, thanks for ruining the legitimacy of the story.
Otherwords this "explanation" can go to the trash bin.
You do know that the story of Carmilla is fictional, right? You
are correct that I wasn't describing that story, because I've never read it. I was actually referring to one of the legitimate historical figures that the story of Carmilla was based on, Elizabeth Bathory. The
completely real Hungarian aristocrat that purportedly murdered many young women and bathed in their blood so that she could supposedly retain her youth.
And not all elves have pointy ears, they can be Human-looking. Plus I was referring to an actual thing in the Shadwrun lore, there is such a thing as Immortal Elves that survived from the previous age of magic through to the 6th World in which Shadowrun takes place.
Because it's implied that HMHVV is a recent thing?
implied doesn't mean it is, there are a lot of things in the Shadowrun universe that supposedly couldn't have existed pre-awakening, but there is evidence that it did. That's the point I was trying to make.
It is a problem because they are different, Virus Vampires are clearly not Undead that's for sure hence they actually don't function the same way or rather they have don't have the same aesthetic appeal to it and especially because there's a difference that carrying a Virus and being actual walking corpse that already died or rather something that actually cheated death itself that now exists something beyond it (like as if death has no longer a inevitable fate where Final Death is now avoidable)
So, you rambled there a bit, but the general gist that I got was: "Because it being a virus doesn't have the same aesthetic appeal. Vampires should be a walking corpse that died and then somehow cheated death." Is that about right?
For that I have two responses. For one, contracting HMHVV in Shadowrun
does nearly kill you. In the case of some of the forms of the Virus, successfully staving off the infection just means that you die instead of turn.
For two, classic Vampires aren't usually known for being the "walking corpse" that you imply. Many vampire stories have vampires passing themselves off as human, and they certainly aren't simply animated rotting corpses. As was mentioned before, the SR lore does feature a concept similar to Zombies, animated corpses. These are usually the result of Spirits possessing the dead bodies.
Also for example, Vampires from VtM can leave their victims perfectly healthy whilst SR Vamps can't not to mention I don't think SR Vampires have the same abilities like turning into bats, wolves, mist and such.
They totally do, or at least they can. Mist Form is a classic ability that Vampires can learn. And certain forms of Vampire can learn Compulsion, Fear, or Influence (classic vampire mind-tricks). Many vampires are magicians and some forms of HMHVV cause the victim to become a magician if they weren't already. That means they can learn spells to allow them to take Animal form (Bat Form, Wolf Form, etc).
Most of the Vampires also gain Immunity to Aging, so they do become "Undead" by that account, they will no longer die from old age.
Finally, because many people don't realize it, the Classic Vampires
are a voluntary infection. HMHVV Strain 1, the strain responsible for classic Vampires and their ilk (Nosferatu, Banshee, Wendigo, etc) can only be transmitted by the Infection Power, which is voluntary. Strain 2 and 3, which creates the more monstrous creatures like Loup-Garou, Harvesters, and Ghouls are the ones transmitted by being bitten or by blood contact. This would be the source of legends like Werewolves, and some of the classic Zombie infection stories.
