Waylon's Crossing Forum

Hmm, the hormone you describe sounds a bit like a pheromone to me. Perhaps a vampire then has no "natural" fear of Krusniks, but rather that fear is socially constructed? A vampire senses from another vampire's pheromone biological facts such as age, sex and breed (normal vs Krusnik) and it is their knowledge and experience of what that information means that inspires fear or other responses?

You mentioned that the Krusnik's hormone works upon normal vampires as a kind of "stimulator". In that case, an idea? Perhaps it quite literally serves as a stimulant, effecting temporary but noticable changes in the vampire's body, such as causing them to take a break or two or their heart to beat once or twice, thus increasing circulation so that it become easier for the Krusnik to feed from the vampire? Such a biological response would be disconcerting to older vampires because it would make them feel more "human", while it would be comforting to younger vampires for precisely the same reason...

And yes, I have no problem with Alber giving Helena a sword to defend herself. The sword in and of itself will not make Helena "like" Alber, but if he perhaps spends 20 minutes teaching her how to use it, she'll feel more comfortable around him. She has a minimal understanding of swords... we'll say young noblewomen are taught fencing and other "gentle" arts, rather than actual swordplay? This will make her virtually useless in a fight at first, but at least it gives her a grounding in swordwork that can eventually develop into a more effective fighting style. And yes, Eliza will NOT approve of Alber giving Helena a gift. She may, in fact, even take him aside privately to express her disapproval, and she will certainly discourage Helena