World: BloodBags takes place in a gothic modern setting. The world is made up of human and paranormal creatures (gods and angels inclusive), and has advanced technology rather like our world now. Magical creatures and beings co-exist with the lesser humans. Magic is still in use, and some have managed to successfully combine both technology and magic, incidents which are rare.
Our Master, Nikolai, comes from an old world family, and has lived for centuries adhering to the old ways. He is kept up to date on the latest developments around the world and his castle has been renovated and equipped as it should. He hires servants (humans and paranormals) to run his castle. He has almost no personal interaction with his servants other than his butler and head maid who oversees the others.
Crimson: In BloodBags, most vampires feed on the synthetic blood called Crimson. It is not as satisfying as real blood, and vampires need at least three bags a day to maintain normal energy levels. A side-effect of daily consumption: it turns the skin pink. The more Crimson that is drunk, the darker the pink hue of the skin. Most common vampires these days live only on Crimson.
Premium blood: Aristocratic vampires, or those rich enough, snub Crimson and some buy premium blood, which is real blood. Blood magic is one of the most destructive magicks in BloodBags, and is usually called the umbrella term black magic. In BloodBags, no one donates blood because of this, hence the premium prices for real blood. Premium blood is only sold via blood centers, or on the black market. Vampires are required to register themselves at blood centers in order to make a purchase.
Blood donors: These are beings who will sell their blood to blood centers. Blood donors are required to pass several health screenings, but they can be of various entities. Most blood donors are humans and a small number are animal shifters.
Bloodbags: Old school vampires also snub at having to purchase premium blood. They see it as a point of pride to be able to maintain living blood donors, affectionately called bloodbags. In the olden days, bloodbags were treated as nothing but ‘pets’, and some go as far as to treat them as blood slaves. When the rights of bloodbags were established, most opted to leave the service of their vampire masters. Some vampire households have refined their bloodbags system so that they are treated as fully paid staff with extra benefits, but most households will not tolerate the full independence of those in their pay, so bloodbags are getting quite rare. Nikolai’s personal goal is to have a full retinue of bloodbags he can feed from daily.
Current blood situation: Over the decades, when technology made globalisation fact, premium blood has gained a bad reputation. It has come to light that some centers will kidnap donors, and that half of those who donate never leave. As such, centers are under high scrutiny, and the price for premium blood is even higher. There are some vampires who will not buy premium blood because of these issues; Nikolai is one of those.
Note: A lot of the stories on the site happen before technology began to change the world as we know in so little time.