Chapter 8: Strigoi
Strigoi are creatures that are of a different class of beings in the supernatural world and differ greatly from shapeshifters. In one defining major difference, they are not part animal.
Firstly, the Strigoi originate primarily in Romanian mythology and folklore. It is said they are undead troubled souls that have returned back to the land of the living. The legends say Strigoi can also be living people who wield magical abilities as well. They are said to possess the power to be able to turn into animals and become invisible. They drain energy from their victims through feeding and sucking on their blood. The Strigoi are followed closely by their kin, the Moroi. Moroi are said to be a lesser being that also feeds on blood and is capable of the same powers but bow to the Strigoi, who are their superiors. Strigoi are the inspiration and origin for the myths and legends of the modern vampire.
Yet the actual truth is that the Strigoi and Moroi don't really feed on human blood as the myths say they do. No, what they feed on is something much more worse – their souls. They are humans that are able to maintain their youth, as well as power and grace by absorbing in souls of their victims. If they continue this then it would be possible for them to live forever. Unlike shapeshifters, Strigoi do not shift into a less than human form and forever look like a normal human, emphasis on forever.
Strigoi are born when someone with mystical power choose to eject their soul in exchange for eternal life and greater power. The common origin story is that an apprentice to a wizard or sorcerer gets impatient with the slow pace of their master's training or frustrated with the low amount of magical talent they possess and want more. This dark thought attracts a demon or even the Devil to them and they are offered a pact for them to gain the power they desire if they relinquish their soul. It isn't known if the demonic nature of the story is actually true or not as Strigoi don't share the secrets to their power and origin. All that is known for certain is that when a mystic ejects their soul through some secret process or ritual, they turn into a Strigoi, gaining more stronger magical powers and eternal youth. Like a vampire, they will stay looking the age they are when they are turned, forevermore. However, there is a cost and Strigoi must steal and absorb the souls of victims in order to sustain their life or they fade away into nothing. Once they strip and detach their soul, there is no way for the Strigoi to go back.
To steal and acquire the souls they need Strigoi commonly use an Athame, a special ritual dagger, when they kill their victims. The soul is absorbed into the blade after the person is killed and a Strigoi will then absorb the soul's energy into their own body within less than an hour after it was acquired before the dead soul's energy fades out. It is the easiest and quickest way to get the souls they need and the easiest to disregard as it looks just like a normal murder by stabbing. Originally, witchhunters and vigilante mobs were able to track and hunt down the young, weak and inexperienced Strigoi who drained souls directly. Strigoi originally used a spell or process to directly take in the soul by forcing it out of the victims' mouth as a ball of light which they would then consume themselves. Yet, this left the victim's body looking like pale and horrified husks that caused panic and hysteria when found. Yet, when modern science began to develop, this was logically explained and seen as people suffering and dying from anemic shock or common heart failure. Ironically, this made gathering souls by stabbing them with Athames more noticeable and attention drawing while their original method drew less suspicion and was more subtle for the Strigoi to feed themselves.
Yet, not all the souls that Strigoi take are from victims. Like the myth that a vampire can turn someone into one of their kind by sharing their blood, a Strigoi can do something similar. They can go to a normal human and offer them the opportunity to have everlasting youth and magical power if they surrender their soul to them and take in a sliver of their own essence. Should the person accept and willingly give up their soul to the Strigoi, that person will turn into a Moroi. Like the Strigoi, they will stay the age that were when they turned so Strigoi commonly go for youthful and prime aged individuals to turn. The Moroi will be bound to their Strigoi and serve them much like a beta werewolf answers to their Alpha. Like the Strigoi, once they bargain away their soul, a Moroi could never go back.
Unlike with shapeshifters, whose eyes glow a solid color, these beings' eyes let out a shimmer. It is very subtle and hard to detect if you are too far away when it happens. These shimmers are also the best way to tell a Strigoi and a Moroi apart. Much like with werewolves, the colors of their eyes are a symbol of their rank. A Strigoi lets out a golden like shimmer from their eyes when they use their powers or choose to show it. The eyes of a Moroi let out a silver colored shimmer when using their powers or choose to display it.
Strigoi can live for as long as they keep themselves sustained with souls. The oldest Strigoi on record lived for over 600 years and had been born around the time of the Black Plague in Europe. The longest that a Strigoi can go for without needing to replenish themselves with a new soul is about a month. For a Moroi, the time is much less, roughly a week. They also consume souls when they are drained of their vitality or wish to give their abilities an increase of power. An interesting fact is that Moroi can only consume the souls of normal humans. Should they try to take in the soul of a supernatural human, like a shapeshifter, they will break apart and burn up from the inside out and die. Yet, when a Strigoi takes in the soul of a supernatural, especially a very powerful one, they increase their power and gain additional abilities on a permanent scale. It is for this reason that the supernatural world is wary and even fear going against the Strigoi.
Strigoi and Moroi both have mystical abilities, in the same manner as conventional sorcerers. This includes casting spells and placing curses on people, if they have the knowledge on how to use them. They mostly prefer to use common known impulsive magical talents such as telekinesis and empathy. Strigoi learn and accumulate other powers over the decades and centuries such as pyrokinesis, cloaking, astral projection, precognition, and others. Therefore, the more older the Strigoi, the more powerful they are likely to be. Strigoi and many Moroi also have the power to glamour themselves in order to alter their appearance and even disguise themselves as other people. Mountain ash also doesn't effect them and they could even utilize its power against any supernatural enemy they might possess.
The power of a Moroi is significantly less than that of Strigoi as they only get the powers they have from their master Strigoi. Should a Strigoi wish, they can bestow additional magical gifts to a Moroi as a favor or reward for their loyalty, and also strip powers away as punishment or recompense. They commonly start with just one magical power to give them a taste for their new power and give them a craving for more. For this reason, often Moroi under a single Strigoi compete and come to loathe one another. It is also what keeps Moroi loyal to their Strigoi as if they were to try to betray or desert them then they would be stripped of their abilities, leaving them simply with their youth to sustain, making them easier prey for their enemies. Should the Strigoi that turned them be destroyed, they would also lose all their magic and powers as well.
Strigoi and their Moroi underlings are not invincible though. The magical powers they use can be dampened and rendered powerless through the use of Aspen wood. Doors and gates of wood of the aspen tree would make a Strigoi and Moroi's powers weaker or even useless on or inside the building or keep they protect. Boxes made of aspen wood would protect their contents of being reached, detected or manipulated by their powers as well. However, aspen wood doesn't repel them away like mountain ash does to most shapeshifters. Yet, a line of rosebush would bar them entry into a residence or keep much in the way a line of mountain ash works. While growing rosebushes in front and backyards of homes may commonly be decorative or for vanity, it does bar Strigoi and Moroi from stepping foot inside. Rose oil is also poisonous to them and will be toxic if it enters their body.
It is true that Strigoi don't age, but this makes them timeless, not immortal. They can be killed. The Strigoi and Moroi, at their core they are still human, so they are just about as vulnerable as normal people. However, they try to destroy their enemy before they can fatally harm them or tweak the circumstances in their favor with their powers. Yet, pride and arrogance are quite strong with them which could be another weakness if it is exploited. When a Strigoi or Moroi are slain, their bodies burn to ash and embers, leaving no trace of them behind.
Strigoi seem to plant themselves in or near seats of power or influence. Seeing as how they can live for a long time without aging and can easily influence people with dark desires, the modern high society is quite easy for them to infiltrate and manipulate to their whims. The 600 year old Strigoi I mentioned previously headed a secret shadow organization that had strong financial ties and influence in both the normal and supernatural world that span for centuries. Apparently, he along with his fellow Strigoi and their Moroi, had their hands in some of the darker aspects of human history such as wars and genocides like the Nazis in World War II. He, his followers and allies also seemed to find werewolves to be particularly distasteful. The only ones that were brave and strong enough to defy him were the Beast Pack.
My personal encounters with the Strigoi and their Moroi 'henchmen' haven't been much but those times were more than enough. I learned that wherever they go, death follows. Innocent lives were taken, some being friends and loved ones, and others corrupted beyond redemption. I can say without a doubt that Strigoi are pure evil and the Moroi who serve them are hardly any better. It's actually been said that Strigoi and Moroi get sent right to Hell upon their death, and the souls of the victims they consumed are said to be free to go to their final resting place, which actually seems poetically fitting. It's my personal theory that many of the stories of people selling their souls to the devil for wealth and power probably came from the Strigoi just like the vampire legends did.
A/N: Well that's it for the Strigoi and the Moroi. I find them to be an interesting myth and to be very interesting potential 'Big Bads'. I already have plans down the line for them in my Teen Wolves series. In fact, their hands are already weaving their way into things but they just haven't been noticed yet. The next entry of the entry will be Hellhound.