| “ | As Neanderthals are to human beings, the Turok-Han are to vampires. They're primordial, ferociously powerful killing machines, as single-minded as animals. They are the vampires that vampires fear. An ancient and entirely different race. | „ |
| ~ Charles Tesla |
The Turok-Han were an ancient species of vampire that lurked about in the darkness of the Antediluvian Earth.
Overview[]
The Turok-Han are a species of vampire believed to have evolved alongside other primeval races including the hominids and early humans among many others. They are regarded as among the first plagues of mankind that brings death and sickness to Adam and Eve's descendants.
The early civilizations of the Earth feared the Turok-Han, considering them amongst the most feral beasts of the night, apex predators perfectly adapted to drain the blood of other creatures. In fact, recordings of their existence has shown to date all the way back to Mesopotamia. The Persians were one of the first civilizations believed to have tales exposing the terror of the Turok-Han to the rest of the world; creatures attempting to drink blood from men are depicted on their excavated pottery shards.
History[]
Origins[]
The Turok-Han are quite possibly some of the oldest, if not the oldest, known species of vampire. They emerged early in the history of the Antediluvian Earth shortly after Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden when they disobeyed God which Lilith was also a factor in. After rebelling against God and her husband, Adam's first wife Lilith abandoned her life in the Garden of Eden and travelled beyond its borders, encountering many ancient beasts and monsters which roamed the Antediluvian Earth. Because of her defiance towards Adam and God, Lilith was denied dominion over the Earth and its creatures, as such she opted to create beasts of her own that will be even greater than those who dwell on Earth. She was fascinated by their physiology, particularly bats.
While the methods of the Turok-Han's creation are unknown it is believed that Lilith mixed either the blood or semen of the 'Pre-Dead' with her own, she would then burn a bat using the mixture which in turn birthed the first known monsters; although an alternative account states that they were instead spawned by Naamah after mating with Adam. She stated that their strength would be greater than an elephant, they will be swifter than a cheetah, more agile than an ape, more venomous than any serpent or fish/mollusk, will envelop in numbers greater than insect colonies, and more efficient hunters than nocturnal animals.
In the Erciyes Fragments, it is said that Lilith created the Turok-Han under the darkness of the night, which led them to have an aversion towards the sun. It further goes on to say that whereas they will become monstrous killing machines in the night, they will be greatly weakened under the light of the sun, reducing them to easy kills for early humans. However, an alternative account regarding their background states that they were instead spawned by Naamah when she mated with Adam which would identify them as the "Plagues of Mankind". It is also said that Lilith used the blood of the Turok-Han and that of a demon to create the Rabisu, a species of demonic vampires in Akkadian mythology.
Mesopotamia[]
4,000 Years Ago[]
In the beginning, one of the great civilizations of Mesopotamia known as Akkad attempted to conceal the identity of the Turok-Han from others but they were so fearsome they needed to warn other neighboring kingdoms. When the Persians dominated most of Mesopotamia, they discovered the buried pottery shards detailing the Turok-Han and spoke of the fear the Akkadians felt whenever they emerged from deep beneath the ground which to them was believed to be the underworld. Around 4,000 years ago, at the time of their hibernation beneath the earth, a temple was soon erected on its spot, built by the Akkadian God-king Naram-Sin.
In the war between the Akkadians and the Gutians, the Turok-Han are awakened by the blood and noise caused by the battle. Thanks to a solar eclipse at the moment, which blocks the sunlight, the beasts safely make their way onto the surface. They stage a massacre, killing Naram-Sin and many soldiers of both sides, and then sneaking into the temple. They would take many of the soldiers within the catacombs to devour them. Throughout the possible existence of Akkad, the Turok-Han made it onto the surface several times during the eclipse. As a consequence, the Akkadians began to associate the eclipse with the harbinger of trouble.
3,000 Years Ago[]
In the temple they would notice carvings of Lilith creating these vampires by one of the Turok-Han likely as their own version of Genesis. From this, ancient Babylonian tales of Lilith, known to them as Lilitu, would describe her as subsisting on the blood of infants, an ability that the Turok-Han inherited which was then passed down throughout all vampires. In the beginning Akkad attempted to conceal the identity of the Turok-Han from others but they were so fearsome they needed to warn other neighboring kingdoms. It is also said that the Turok-Han have fought in the Deathless War and have purportedly been not seen since the Bronze Age Collapse 3,000 years ago.
The Babylonians' tales of the Turok-Han would be passed down through paintings and carvings upon murals or pottery to other great kingdoms and empires such as the Persian empire. When the Persians dominated most of Mesopotamia, they discovered the buried pottery shards detailing the Turok-Han and spoke of the fear the Akkadians felt whenever they emerged from deep beneath the ground which to them was believed to be the underworld. Additionally, they also began to consider the Turok-Han as underworld demons and tried to fight them, preventing them from spreading death and disease beyond the borders of Akkad and the lands of Mesopotamia.
Modern Vampires[]
It is believed that modern vampires are descended from the Turok-Han. The first vampire ever to be sired by the Turok-Han was a human, who was a slave during Ancient Egypt's prominent rise to glory and power, known as Akhenaten who is currently named Hector van Neck. Akhenaten discovered what looked to be burial grounds beneath the foundations of the pyramid and upon closer inspection as well as his lack of judgment was attacked by a hibernating Turok-Han who dragged him into the depths of the tomb. Instead of outright killing him, these ancient vampires bestowed him with a new life and purpose by feeding him their blood and in the process created the first ever vampire, dubbed as a Lasombra.
It was from Akhenaten that vampires descended from with his siring of Judas Iscariot resulting in the creation of traditional vampires with their aversion towards silver, sunlight, and holy crosses. Regardless, many vampires loathe the Turok-Han, a stance mutually held by the two rival species. Hector himself prefers those that embrace the inner darkness and power of being a vampire as well as those with a true understanding of what it means to be a vampire. Surprisingly, despite the Turok-Han's creation by Lilith, a majority of the vampire do not believe in the existence of Lilith which often has the vampires debate and argue amongst one another in regards to the origins of the Turok-Han.
Appearance[]
The skin of the Turok-Han is completely pale, their sternum and rib cages visibly pronounced despite their superhuman musculature. Their arms end in two fingers and one thumb armed with razor sharp claws, they lack hair and eyes, and possess two inch long fangs, with a second smaller pair behind the first, and are capable of injecting a tranquilizing venom to paralyze their victims as they feed.
Powers and Abilities[]
As the first known vampiric monsters in history, the Turok-Han are among the strongest and deadliest vampires to have ever terrorized the Earth. Their strength is so great, that they are described as being incomprehensibly stronger than regular vampires and can eviscerate a group of adult humans in a matter of seconds. Their speed is phenomenal, known for being one of the few predators capable of hunting Arrachs and easily capturing the normally elusive creatures. They are capable of overpowering most werebeasts, and have been known to also feed on large land mammals like lions and bears.
Traditional vampires have been known to refer to them as the animals of the vampire world. However, despite their extreme ferocity and power they still bear weaknesses. While immune to sunlight they can be repelled by holy items. The earliest known method of repelling the Turok-Han were apotropaic wards like the names of the three angels etched onto doors.
- Intelligence: While they may seem entirely feral, Turok-Han do possess predatory sort of intelligence and are capable of communicating with one another and even making strategies like a pack of wolves or lions. As savage and ignorant as these beasts may be, they also shows a level cunning and resourcefulness when it comes to hunting its prey. The Turok-Han are known to remain keenly aware of the darkness and shadows at all time, and use them to their advantage whenever facing a capable threat. They lived on peripheries of human settlements and tribes, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
- Hibernation: Turok-Han do not need to feed fully every night - in fact, they could "shut down" for weeks at a time, sometimes even years if food became scarce enough. This both allowed them to not overhunt their food source, and gave them time to recover while their prey forget about their presence, making the next hunt that much easier. During these periods of hibernation, Turok-Han were known to sleep on the ceilings of dark cave systems that could house an individual or an entire colony. It is during this vulnerable state that the Turok-Han were easiest to kill.
- Toxin: When feasting upon sleeping creatures, the Turok-Han will inject their prey with a with a sedative toxin that keeps the victim asleep while they drink their blood. This venom is so effective that it can even allow the Turok-Han to drain the entire lifeforce of a human without any resistance. Due to this nighttime threat, early humans are believed to have slept in groups to diminish the chances a Turok-Han attack.
- Echolocation: Perhaps the most terrifying ability possessed by the Turok-Han is their ability to sense their surroundings through echolocation. Much like ordinary bats, Turok-Han achieve this by emitting a high pitched screeching sound. Turok-Han use this guttural screech to produce sound waves that map out their surroundings, giving them a detailed view of their hunting grounds which can extend for miles, depending on the duration of the screech. Turok-Han only use this ability at the beginning of a hunt in order to avoid having their lairs tracked down by other predators. They will use this ability to locate prey from a distance and then pursue them silently. This also makes it extremely difficult to escape being pursued by a Turok-Han, as throughout the chase the creature simply use their echolocation to relocate a target if it has somehow lost its trail. The Turok-Han predominantly used this ability to locate human population centers, then lay in wait for them to fall asleep, at which point they would launch their deadly attack.