Kizoku

A kizoku wears the shape of a strikingly handsome, powerfully built man of the eastern lands, with lush hair, noble bearing and impeccable dress and jewelry. He always seems rich, assured and worthy of trust. Most pose as samurai or other warriors; a few play wizard or priest instead. His one flaw is a tiny jet-black mole in the shape of a crescent, always in plain view, usually on a hand or the face.

Each woman he consumes leaves him able to speak every language she knew, so most kizoku command a great many tongues.

He carries a samurai's swords, or a fine staff or dagger matching his guise, but avoids melee and would rather flee than fight. When pressed he relies on magic to hold, charm or confuse foes or to escape. Once per day each he can use alter self, audible glamer, change self, charm person, confusion, darkness 15' radius, dimension door, forget, friends, hold person, hold portal, hypnotism, improved phantasmal force, slow and wraithform. He also has 90-foot infravision and can fly and turn invisible at will.

For lifting, bending bars and forcing doors he counts as having 18/00 Strength, but unlike a vampire he gains no attack or damage bonus from it.

Only a stake of weeping willow wood driven through his heart ends him for good. Any other blow that drops him to 0 hit points is temporary; even a destroyed body reforms and rises 24 hours later.

Solitary, with no kin or companions, kizoku make their homes in the hearts of human cities, where victims are plentiful. Having chosen a woman, he visits her secretly, brings gifts, praises her talents and flatters her endlessly, and may show her the treasures of his house, promising them all if she will renounce her husband or betrothed. Time means nothing to him; driven off by her guardians, he just comes back later.

His attention leaves her giddy with love, energy and beauty when he is present and gray, restless and dissatisfied when he is absent. He never orders her to kill, but in her weakest moments he murmurs that only her lover's death will let her truly be his. When she finally commits the murder, he carries his new bride to his lair, and with their first kiss he pulls out her spirit and drinks her life force.

Scholars argue over whether the kizoku is related to the vampire. It shares the stake through the heart and feeds on the vitality of the living, yet it is not undead: it breathes, and its skin is warm.