- This article is for the court. For its vampires, see White Court vampire.
The White Court is a Vampire Court. White Court vampires are the most human-like of the Vampire Courts. They feed off the emotions and life force of their prey.
Description
Unlike the other Courts, the White Court prefers to avoid direct confrontation with their enemies. They are for the most part, a court of schemers who prefer to stab each other in the back and use "Cat's paws" in exquisitely detailed plots to impress the others in the Court, to the extent that direct confrontation is looked down upon and socially damaging.[1]
As of Changes, the White Court is possibly the largest of the three remaining vampire courts, with the Red Court destroyed, the Black Court having been nearly wiped out and the Jade Court's power and influence unknown.
White Court vampires are able to cross a threshold but it cripples their ability to draw on their Hunger for strength and speed.[2]
The Hunger fuels their power, strength and near immortality—they are born with it.[1] Using their power makes them Hungry and they need to feed or it causes: moodiness, anger, violent behavior, and paranoia.[3] Long term lack of feeding causes them use up their reserves of life force, then the Hunger takes over, and they go insane if they can't hunt.[3]
The people they feed on get little pieces of their life nibbled away causing some degree of spiritual damage. It leaves them vulnerable to the allure so that the Whites can easily make return visits. If they keep getting fed upon, they go into a mindless daze and eventually die, possibly from a heart attack during sex.[3]
White Court Houses
There are different Houses within the White Court, each comprised of a close-knit family. There is much in-fighting between the Houses, but House Raith is considered to be the most powerful, with Lord Raith acting as King of the White Court. The Houses are mainly distinguished by their choice of emotion to feed upon, but this has been represented as a strong preference rather than a restriction.(reference needed)
House Raith
Those of House Raith are sexual predators, using their supernatural good looks and psychic aura to attract both men and women. During intercourse, or any direct physical contact where emotions like lust are heightened, they feed off their prey - specifically, off the intimacy. Victims of the feedings of House Raith grow to enjoy the experience and become bonded to their predator, not unlike a drug addiction.
Like the vampires of the other houses, the vampires of House Raith have a weakness to the opposite emotion of the emotion they feed on. Members of this house cannot touch someone who truly loves another, and is truly loved in return, or objects that represent a true love in some way (such as a wedding ring).[1]
It is possible for the members of House Raith to kill their Hunger if its done at a certain point. To do so, they must feed off someone they love who loves them back, as long as it is their first feeding. This happens to Inari Raith, younger sister of Thomas and Lara in the novel Blood Rites.[4]
The tradition of the White Court is to not tell a young potential succubus what they will become, or even anything about the supernatural world. In their childhood and early teens they are raised as a vanilla human. Their first feeding, which is always fatal, comes as a surprise to them, and introduces them into the world of the White Court.[4]
House Malvora
House Malvora Court vampires subsisting on fear. Their head is Lady Cesarina Malvora, the mother of Vittorio Malvora.[5]
Most prefer very strong fear, such as that of being in a potentially deadly situation, but some (such as Thomas's cousin Madrigal Raith) satisfy themselves with smaller scares like those created by horror and slasher movies, of which Madrigal was a writer and director.
Like the vampires of the other houses, the vampires of House Malvora have a weakness to the opposite of the emotion they feed on. Members of this house will, as stated by Jim Butcher, "get bad effects from real courage".
House Skavis
The vampires of House Skavis feed on despair, preferring to drive a victim into the depths of depression and in many cases driving them to suicide.(reference needed) They gun for already lonely people.[6]
Like the vampires of the other houses, the vampires of House Skavis have a weakness to the opposite of the emotion they feed on. Members of this house will, as stated by Jim Butcher, "choke on hope".(reference needed)
The Fourth House
The role playing game strongly implies that there is a fourth house that prefers to feed on anger, which has not yet been referenced in the novels. If this house exists, it will likely be weak to feelings of serenity.(reference needed)
History
They presumably originate in the Etruscan civilization of ancient Italy, as they use the Etruscan language for all of their formal court functions.(reference needed)
At the moment, Thomas's father is the King of the White Court in name only. In reality, Thomas's older sister Lara is in charge, pulling the strings from the background to keep up appearances.(reference needed)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Blood Rites, ch. 20
- ↑ Ghost Story, ch. 9
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Blood Rites, ch. 5
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Blood Rites, ch. 21
- ↑ White Night, ch. 36
- ↑ "Love Hurts"
See also
Template:Vampire Courts Template:Unseelie Accords