Lexicon

Bestia Breed (Plural: bestiae) – A blanket modern term for non-pureblood vampires typically born of shapeshifting beings like lupines(werewolves) or shifters(shapeshifters). Humans turned by bestia breed vampire do become bestiae themselves though they are never as powerful and do not inherit all the capabilities of shifter-born or lupine-born bestiae. All bestiae are considered a lower breed of domini sanguinis and are thus generally are of a lower social status, most often living as slaves to the purebloods that created them. Unlike purebloods they can never be elevated to patrician status even if liberated from their masters or makers and granted plebian status.

Contubernium - The smallest unit of organization in ancient roman army, consisting of eight men led by a decanus with two support staff. Among the domini sanguinis it refers to smallest unit of organization in a legion, auxilia, or other military or paramilitary unit.

Custos (Plural: Custodes) - Pureblood, vampires’ sworn to the service of a particular vampire or House. Usually from the plebian population and those not associated with any house. They act typically as bodyguards though can sometimes act as captains of their master’s or mistress’ guard.

Centuria (plural: centuriae) - Smallest standard formation of Legion and Auxilia forces whose specifics can vary depending the specific units. Typically consisting of a unit of eighty thralls with twenty to forty human support staff providing specialist skills in roles such as medics, mechanics, armorers, and even cooks. This in addition to serving as emergency blood reserve for the vampire officers attached to the unit.

In Auxilia units and non-legionary units, the organization is different, instead consisting of eighty to one-hundred normal humans or in rare case even lupine warriors, again supported by a staff of typically twenty human support staff. In these units the officers are typically thralls rather than vampires. Though in the case of lupine unites the officers are usually lupines themselves.

Centurio(fem: Centuria/plural: Centuriones) - Commander of a century, always a vampire in Legion units while typically a Thrall, or in rare cases a Lupine in Auxilia Units.

Decurio (fem: Decuria/plural: Decuriones) - Commander of a group of equites known as a Turma.

Di Inferi – Latin for “The gods below”, referring to the gods of the Underworld and Death. The term was reappropriated to refer to the rebellious houses, most of whom, but not all, were associated with gods of death. In modern times it is common to simply say Inferi when referring to rebels as a whole.

Domini Sanguinis – The proper word for vampires, meaning Lords of the Blood. This is a reference to their original name for themselves, Children of the Blood. They changed this to Lords of the Blood during the early days of their empire, roughly six thousand years ago at a time when Sumerian and later Akkadian were their primary languages. It was later translated into Latin when it was adopted as their primary language.

Eques(Plural: Equites) - Traditionally the elite calvary of Ancient Rome. In the Imperium Sanguinis, as well as among forces of the Inferi, they represent professional or semi-professional domini sanguinis soldiers who fight in all vampire unit. Typically, a core group of purebloods with a mix of supporting lesser breeds, usually bestiae. These are typically only active during particularly tense campaigns or exist a standby status as a reservist unit in whatever city they call home.

Imperium Sanguinis – The formal Latin name of the Domini Sanguinis Empire. Based in a massive necropolis of Roma located miles beneath the surface city of the same name. Its influence spreads across nearly the entire world.

Lex Sanguinis – The codified laws of the Imperium Sanguinis. An extensive set of rules that defines not only vampire society but also the society of other supernatural creatures which fall under the Imperium Sanguinis’ influence, most typically werewolves and djinn.

Lictor – An official position within a recognized Imperial territory, existing at local community and city level as well as at the provincial level, whose role is the culling of stray, unsanctioned turning of vampires and thralls that have fallen into starvation and gone rabid.

Lupinotuum - Or simply Lupines, are werewolves as they are known to vampires. Technically subjects of the Imperium Sanguinis, they are in practice semi-independent, living in loose and culturally relatively diverse tribes each subdivided into clans that are assigned territories called Reserves. These are located rural areas far from any large human populations center. These tribes are roughly organized into two broad factions. One being the Northern Tribes who are part the Lupine Confederation and consists of those tribes that originate in Europe and the Middle East. The other being the Southern Tribes, which are in fact part of the Southern Djinn Kingdoms of North Africa and are also typically distinctive from other werewolves in that they resemble tall, bipedal jackals rather than wolves.

Lupinotuum Sanguinis – Vampires born of werewolves, to either other Lupinotuum Sanguinis or, more typically to pureblood vampires. They are physically powerful and gifted with the ability to shift into multiple animal and hybrid forms and thus are favored as elite shock troops and soldiers. In modern nights they are simply referred to as lupine-born bestia as to distinguish them from their weaker shifter-born or human-born kin. They always bear wolf-like features, typically in the form of wolf-like eyes, permanently extended canines, and small tuffs of fur spread across their body.

Magus/Maga Sanguinis – A blood mage, created when a human mage is turned into a vampire. Though they are visibly indistinguishable from pureblood domini sanguinis, they are considered a lower breed and thus of lower social status. While they typically sit above their bestiae and noctis breed counterparts in the hierarchies of the families they serve, they are always subservient to their pureblood maker or relatives regardless of relative age or position on the family tree. They also forbidden independent status unlike other non-pureblood breeds.

Noctis Breed – A lower breed of vampire that is the result of a Thrall that has gone too long without vampire blood and lost control of their hunger. Typically such thralls die, having rotted away into mindless zombie like creatures, but if they do taste the flesh of a living being they die and are reborn as a disfigured noctis breed.

Paterfamilias(plural: patresfamilias)/materfamilias(plural: matresfamilias) - Head of a household or an entire clan or gens in ancient roman society. Among the domini sanguinis, this is the formal title of both the head of a patrician house as well as the eldest pureblood member of said house in a particular city and or province. Thus there can often be multiple patresfamilias/matresfamilias of a particular family in the same region with the more senior individual holding the higher status position, such as in the case of the eldest pureblood in a province compared to the eldest pureblood in a particular city within that province.

Patrician – The upper echelons of domini sanguinis society, these vampires are granted additional legal rights including the right of forming extended families to spread their influence beyond their home city. There are three categories of patricians, local or regional patricians, major patricians, and imperial patricians. Local patricians are only recognized in a particular city, territory, or province. Major Patricians are recognized by the Empire as a whole, and Imperial Patricians consist of the six original ruling houses that founded the Empire: Jove, Mars, Venus, Juno, Neptune, and Dis Pater.

Pleb – The majority of domini sanguinis. This included all liberated bestiae and noctis breeds, as well as pureblood of non-patrician bloodlines. While technically still domini sanguinis and thus legally of higher status than other supernatural creatures such as Djinn and Lupines, their rights are very limited compared to patricians. They do have the right to own and hold property and sire children, though their children are granted independence after the age of majority. From that point on they are legally considered a separate individual and cannot share or combine their wealth or influence.

Pontifex Maximus (feminine: Pontifegina Maxima) – The ruler of the Imperium Sanguinis and leader.

Praefectus/Praefecta Urbanus – The commander of a city responsible for enforcing the Empire’s laws.

Praefectus Stipatorum – Commander of a personal bodyguard or stipator, of a dominus sanguinis. Not to be confused with a praefectus praetorio, who can command either the entirety of the praetorian guard of the Pontifex Maximus, a Chief General or Imperator of a family or Imperial Legion, a Commander or Legatus of a Legion, or one of the Imperial Families. In the last case the priority would be the protection of the true pater or materfamilias of said house and their immediate household.

Praefectus Vigilum - The commander of the city watch. An archaic position in modern times which traditional consists of domini sanguinis who commands a group of thrall soldiers whose purpose is to operate within the organized law enforce organizations of a human city, primally tasked with helping the Praefectus Urbanus monitor the human world and policing the Velum Umbra and providing a means of directly controlling local human security forces. Thus freeing the Praefectus Urbanus up to focus on policing the supernaturals within the city.

Praetor Urbanus – The official leader of a city and its surrounding territory, often simply referred to as Praetor, though that title is technically used in other context as well.

Rector{trix} Proviniciae - The appointed governor of a province. A position always held by a member of one of the six Imperial families or one of their offshoot branch families.

Servus Famulus – Or famulus for short, is the technical term for humans who have been given vampire blood but not fully turned. Still considered property of their vampire master, they are the only humans that have any formal recognition in the vampire social and legal structure, though only in relation to their master. They are also known as Thralls.

Servus Sanguinis – The legal term for vampires in permanent or semi-permanent service to another vampire. Typically this is used to refer to lower breed vampires of the same bloodline as their master but can also refer to pleb vampires in service to a particular patrician, though in the case of the latter, the term custos is more commonly used.

Servus/Serva – A broad term used to refer to servants and slaves of a vampire. This can refer to everything from humans, thralls, contracted lupines or Djinn, or other vampires, including one’s children.

Shifter or versipellis– Humans that are born with the ability to turn into different animal forms. The number and specific animal form as well as the exact mechanism that causes the change varies from individual to individual, but one thing is true of all shifters, their lack the ability to control the process. This shapeshifting most typically is brought on by lunar or solar cycles and always results in the human blacking out and existing in their animal form for set period of time before eventually turning back with no memory of what happened. Eventually a shifter will have a final change in which they retain their personality and memories but are trapped now in their non-human form. The Lex Sanguinis legally requires that all shifters are to be turned into bestiae on sight. This is viewed as a mercy by vampires as doing so grants the shifters the ability to control their shape shifting, though at the price of their freedom and humanity.

Thrall – A modern slang term for a Servus Famulus or human who has drunk vampire blood but not been fully turned.

Turma (plural: Turmae) - In ancient Rome this was the calvary equivalent of a century typically consisting of thirty calvary men. In the Imperium Sanguinis this can refer both to actual calvary units as well as all vampire units. The distinction being as follows:

Turmae equites - A unit of ten to Equites, see above for more information.
Turmae auxiliorum - A unit of human or thrall calvary or mechanized infantry and some rare cases of air calvary. In modern times it as just as rare to see actual horsemen as air calvary units, with the most commonly seen type of thrall turmae unit being light infantry mounted in light armored or even unarmored vehicles, most typically simple SUVs or even vans.

Vacca (plural: vaccae) - Latin for cow. Used by the domini sanguinis to refer to humans, specifically those of surface world, who are not maintained in the possession of a dominus sanguinis for military use, other critical means, or for potential recruitment as a thrall or progeny. While technically this term does apply to humans that are maintained as part of a herd, in practice the word vas, Latin for vessel, is preferred. Humans living the necropolises of the domini sanguinis who are not directly owned by a dominus sanguinis or a particular civic institution are simply referred to as mortals or sometimes derogatorily as pecus (pl: pecora), a generic word for a herd of livestock or work animals.

Velum Umbra - The Shadow Veil, or simply just the Veil, is the law forbidding supernaturals from revealing the truth of their existence to the humans living on surface or outside of direct supernatural influence. It was a law enacted after the population of the domini sanguinis split themselves between those still living on the surface and those living the vast necropolis deep underground.

Verna (plural and genitive: vernae) - Technically, house-born slaves or children of slaves born in a roman house. In domini sanguinis society this is used to refer to humans that are not maintained as part of a herd but still live in an individual dominus sanguinis’ home. Often either children of thralls or other human servants who will mostly like become thralls themselves once they reach an appropriate age.

Versipellis Sanguinis – The word for bestia breed vampires born of shifter (see above). Like lupine-born bestiae they always bear some bestial physical traits and mannerism, though these features are as varied as the number of shapes they can assume and can vary in severity based on how close to their final change they were when turned. Also unlike their lupine-born or human-born kin, they can assume more then three forms beyond their human form.