Knightverge

The Vampire Migrations

STAGE XV · TODAY

The modern world

Rail, air and container routes make every port a hub, and the old roads fall away.

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?DubaiMumbaiVladivostokLagosDakarJohannesburgTokyoSão PauloLos Angeles
New places: , , , , , , , , and 4 more
Moves: The Gulf hub, Across the Arabian Sea, The Trans-Siberian railway, Along the West African coast, To the Atlantic and 8 more

Dashed routes are rumoured, dash-dot routes are disputed. Routes follow trade and human migration and are approximate.

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The Vampire Migrations

Where the blood went, and how it travelled: from Mesopotamia to every corner of the world, following trade and human migration.

This is the Society’s record of the vampire spread. It begins in Mesopotamia and follows the roads, rivers, sea lanes and human migrations that carried the blood across the world.

  1. Chapter I: Where it began

    c. 3500 BCE

    Ground zero. The first of the blood wakes in the river cities of Sumer.

  2. Chapter II: The river cities and the Nile

    c. 3000 BCE

    The blood spreads along the rivers, and across Sinai to Egypt on the first long trade road.

  3. Chapter III: The Gulf and the Indus

    c. 2500 BCE

    Sea traders carry it down the Gulf to Magan and east to the Indus cities.

  4. Chapter IV: The Levant, Anatolia and Crete

    c. 1800 BCE

    Desert caravans reach the coast, climb into Hittite lands, and cross by sea to Crete.

  5. Chapter V: Phoenicians, Greeks and the Incense Road

    c. 1000 BCE

    Ships carry it across the Mediterranean. Frankincense caravans link Yemen to the sea.

  6. Chapter VI: The Royal Road and the upper Nile

    c. 500 BCE

    Persian roads open the interior. Up the Nile, the blood follows gold and ivory south.

  7. Chapter VII: The Silk Road, Rome and the Red Sea

    c. 100 BCE

    China is linked to Rome. The blood crosses into India, Gaul and Britain, and into Africa’s highlands.

  8. Chapter VIII: Migrations and the fall of Rome

    c. 400 CE

    Rome splits and peoples move. In Africa, the Bantu migration carries the blood south and east.

  9. Chapter IX: Caliphs, caravans and the coast

    c. 700 CE

    Baghdad is the hub. Pilgrims, camel caravans and monsoon ships link three continents.

  10. Chapter X: Vikings and the eastern seas

    c. 1000 CE

    Norse rivers reach Russia, ships reach Greenland, and monsoon trade ties India to Java and Madagascar.

  11. Chapter XI: The Mongol peace

    c. 1300 CE

    One empire from sea to sea. Steppe roads, Venetian ships, plague ships, and gold from Zimbabwe.

  12. Chapter XII: The Atlantic and the Pacific

    c. 1500 CE

    Iberian ships open the Atlantic, the African coast, the Americas, and the Pacific crossing to Manila.

  13. Chapter XIII: Russia’s long road

    c. 1600 CE

    Moscow rises. Fur traders push over the Urals and across Siberia to the China tea road.

  14. Chapter XIV: Empires and settlement

    c. 1700 CE

    Northern empires reach the Cape, India, China, the far south and the Pacific islands.

  15. Chapter XV: The modern world

    Today

    Rail, air and container routes make every port a hub, and the old roads fall away.