Sounisian Vampires

[valiantarcher.livejournal.com]

I was looking through my copy of The Thief and ran across this passage*:

"There was no inn at Evisa, but there was a woman who served food to travelers at a collection of tables under the trees in the town square. Ambiades and Sophos were equally horrified at the lunch––wrinkled olives and hard cheese––but the bread was soft and good. The yogurt had enough garlic in it to kill every vampire in the country. I ended up eating almost everything. It was hard to be a picky eater in the lower city of Sounis and impossible in the king’s prison."

Which means there are at least vampire stories in Sounis and/or Eddis. Which is very interesting to me since it almost doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the culture, but that could reflect a lack of knowledge of vampire legends on my part. Does anyone know if any of the ancient cultures had any sort of vampire legends? How about the Mediterranean and southern European cultures up to the early 1500s or so?

And any thoughts on what vampire stories in the series' world would be like? How could Gen have learned about them? And the all important question, what would Gen do if he met a vampire? ;)

*which was apparently what it finally took for me to officially join this community and post. Hi!

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Well I know ancient India has the myth of Rakshasa, which are not like vampires but are more like massive demons and are sometimes depicted as able to shape shift, they are also sometimes depicted as cannibalistic.
Maybe Greek myths have a similar cannibalistic, bloodsucking demon.

I have a theory: Gen wrote down the Theif for Eddis and Sophos, he says (I think it is in the Conspiracy of Kings) that he was going to send it to Sophos but didn't and now doesn't know where it is. Maybe in a few hundred years someone will translate it into English and include he word Vampire.

In other news: has anyone tried to sort our main characters into Hogwarts houses.
Gen - Slytherin (Cunning, devious, liar, loyal to his own ambitions: fame and love)
Irene/Attolia - Ravenclaw (Smart, holds strong beliefs)
Eddis - Hufflepuff (Inspires loyalty)
Sophos - Gryffindoor (Incredibly loyal to his friends)

(BTW: this is my first post, I've been lurking for a while and want to say that the posts have made me notice things I haven't before)

[moetushie]

I remember reading about Greek vampires!
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vrykolakas

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Haha, I love the Hogwarts sorting you've done. I guess none of them could then play on the same quidditch team, which is a shame.

[sgwordy.livejournal.com]

I, too, have wondered about that very line but have not actually acquired any information regarding said. Looking forward to checking out the link someone else included.

And hello, welcome to both you and the commenter who has de-lurked. Yay for delurking!

:)

[anna-wing.livejournal.com]

There is a long vampire tradition in Hungary, Greece, Bulgaria, and the Balkan region generally. Including vampire watermelons.

[filkferengi]

If Gen ever met a vampire, he'd blather at it until it begged to be ganched & decapitated.

[chicleeblair.livejournal.com]

Vampire watermelons, you say?

[anna-wing.livejournal.com]

Yes, they are in apparently a genuine feature of Balkan vampire mythology. Though personally i feel that the anthropologist who recorded the information was having his leg pulled.