The Night World isn’t a place. It’s all around us.

It’s a secret society of vampires, werewolves, witches, and other creatures of darkness that live among us. They’re beautiful and deadly and irresistible to humans. Your high school teacher could be one, and so could your boyfriend.

The Night World laws say it’s okay to hunt humans. It’s okay to toy with their hearts. It’s even okay to kill them.

There are only two things you can’t do with them:
1) Never let them find out the Night World exists;
and
2) Never fall in love with them.

NIGHT WORLD CONCEPTS
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AUTHORITATIVE BODIES/ COUNCILS/ ORGANISATIONS

Circle Daybreak:
Circle Daybreak started out as an organisation for witches but over time it has come to encompass humans, vampires, shape-shifters, and anybody else who is willing to help Night People get along with humans.
The main objective of Circle Daybreak is to help the Night World and the human world unite and live in peace with each other.
Many Night People who have broken Night World law by falling in love with a human have become Circle Daybreakers. But, because these Night People have broken the sacred laws of the Night World, they are constantly targeted for assassination by other Night People.

Witch Circles:
The witches of the Night World formerly belonged to either Circle Twilight or Circle Midnight. In the past, witches had to make a decision as to which Circle they would permanently belong to when they turned eighteen.
Today, most of the witches have seceded from the Night World. Many have followed their Maiden, Mother, and Crone and have joined another Circle, called Circle Daybreak. Only the darkest witches of Circle Midnight still belong to the Night World. These witches no longer answer to the Inner Circle; they are governed by the Night World Council.
Inner Circle:
The witches of the Night World are governed by the Inner Circle. The Inner Circle consists of respected members of the witch community. The three highest ranking positions of the Inner Circle are Crone, Mother, and Maiden, respectively. The Crone of the witches was Edgith Harman, the oldest descendant of the Harman family. But since her death, Mother Cybele has become the leader of the witches.
The Inner Circle is responsible for ensuring that witches uphold Night World law. This authoritative body also makes decisions and imposes punishments.
The darkest witches of the Night World recognise the Night World Council – not the Inner Circle – as their leaders.
Circle Midnight:
The witches of Circle Midnight were notorious for using their powers to gain personal benefits, even if this meant hurting others in the process.
Circle Twilight:
The witches of Circle Twilight were known to use their powers for the greater good.

First House of the Shape-shifters:
The Drache family forms the First House of the Shape-shifters. They are the rulers of all shape-shifters, including the werewolves and the panthers. This royal family are the only shape-shifters according to historical writings, to still have dragon blood running through their veins.
The ancient dragons are the strongest shape-shifters, having powers no other shape-shifting animal can possess, such as the ability to shape-shift into any animal form. Even though the witches put the dragons to sleep over thirty thousand years ago, the Drache family still possess some of the powers of dragons – in diluted form however. The Drache children, for example, have the choice to choose which animal they would like to call. They also have telepathy; the ability to connect with any animal mind. This is because members of the Drache family are the descendants of the only dragon that was left awake by the witches. This dragon was a young Princess.

Night World Council:
Previously, the Night World Council was the joint ruling body for all vampires and witches. But now that the witches have seceded from the Night World, the Council is the authoritative body for all vampires and only the darkest witches who still belong to the Night World.
All Night People are bound by serious laws and when these laws are broken, the Night World Council is responsible for punishing those responsible. The Council also ‘cleans up’ the mess made by their disobedient people. For example, if a Night Person has told any humans about the Night World, the Council has these humans killed.
The Council will do anything to cover up the existence of the Night World. They also have elders who make sure that Night World laws are being strictly followed by Night People.




SPECIES

Humans:
Humans are the creatures that live amid the Night World. Most humans know nothing about the Night World or about Night People. But some do. Night World laws state that if a human finds out about the Night World, all those involved in sharing knowledge must be killed. Therefore, the humans who are aware of the Night World know better than to tell other people. Night People are everywhere and there is no telling who is human and who belongs to the Night World.
Humans who have a Night Person as their soulmate, usually join Circle Daybreak.
Some humans become vampire hunters.

Old souls:
Humans who have been reincarnated are known as old souls. Old souls are not immortal. They are able to die during their current life but are born again during a different period of time, as a completely different person.
Sometimes, an old soul may be born with identical appearances or even remember previous lifetimes. If an old soul is made into a vampire, they cannot be reincarnated anymore.

Shape-shifters:
Shape-shifters are Night People who can shape-shift back and forth from their human form to their animal form. The most powerful shape-shifters are the dragons. Other shape-shifters include werewolves, panthers, and leopards.
All shape-shifters have the senses of the animal they call, which are often extraordinary. They can smell differences between foods, feel things many times the intensity than humans, and can hear both higher and lower pitches. They also have excellent night vision. All shape-shifters are governed by the First House of the Shape-shifters.
The shape-shifters are treated like second-class citizens by the vampires and witches. Over thirty thousand years ago, the ancient dragons succeeded in their attempt to destroy the first world because they did not want witches to gain control of the world.

Vampires:
Vampires are powerful, blood-sucking immortals that can heal from any injury, except those inflicted by wood. Wood can seriously harm and even kill them. Burning is also deadly to vampires.
Vampires run faster, see better, and even hear better than humans. They can also control minds, even erase memory. Sunlight however, inhibits all vampire powers, especially in newly-made vampires. Sunlights does not burn or kill them though.
Vampires need blood to survive. Quite simply, drinking more blood means being more powerful.
There are two types of vampires;
Made vampires:
A human who has been bitten by a vampire (made or lamia) and has exchanged blood with that vampire then transforms to become a made vampire. Only young humans can be transformed into vampires. Older persons (ages 35+) cannot make the change. Made vampires stop growing as soon as they fully become a vampire. They are also unable to have children.
Converting a human to a vampire without obtaining permission from the Night World Council is illegal. Night People who do this can be punished.
Each species of the Night World has a flower as their symbol and made vampires are symbolised by a black rose.
Lamia vampires:
Just as humans are born human, lamia vampires are born as vampires. They are not made into vampires by being bitten! Lamia vampires have a few advantages over made vampires, such as the ability to grow to whatever age they like (this is, they can choose when they want to stop growing), and, they can also reproduce, unlike the made vampires.
All lamia vampires have descended from Red Fern, the son of Maya, the ancestress of all vampires. Because of this, lamia vampires have greater potential to be more powerful than made vampires because they are the direct descendents of Maya. (Every vampire after Maya, born or made, has a bit of her blood. Her direct descendents though, have her blood in a less diluted fashion than made vampires.)
Each species of the Night World has a flower as their symbol and lamia vampires are symbolised by a black iris.
The most famous lamia vampire family in the Night World series is the Redfern family.

Werewolves:
Werewolves are shape-shifters that can shape-shift back and forth between their human form and their wolf form. When werewolves hunt, they eat the internal organs of humans, such as the heart and liver. For this reason, Night World laws specifically state werewolves may only hunt and kill other animals. Werewolves who disregard this law are considered renegades, and Night People have the right to kill them. The werewolves are viewed as the lowest class citizens of the night world.
Werewolves dislike silver and fire. Both can kill them.
Each species of the Night World has a flower as their symbol and werewolves are symbolised by a black foxglove. Like all other shape-shifters, werewolves are governed by the First House.

Witches:
The witches of the Night World are actually humans but humans with special powers in their blood. Witches practise the art of witchcraft. They use herbs, crystals, candles, and other equipment, to cast spells.
Each species of the Night World has a flower as their symbol and witches are symbolised by a black dahlia.
There are two types of witches;
True witches:
True witches know their heritage. They know they have special powers within their blood that enables them to practise the art of witchcraft. They use herbs, crystals, candles, and other equipment, to cast spells.
Lost witches:
Lost witches are those witches that do not know their heritage and thus do not practise the art of witchcraft because they do not know they have the power to do so. A lost witch may never discover his or her powers.
A lost witch who finds out about their heritage and tries to use their powers may have difficulty working with the art.


NPCs

Dragons:
The dragons are the oldest and most powerful of the shape-shifters. They were put to sleep a long time ago by witches because they were considered too evil and destructive. Since the dragons were put to sleep, the First House has been commanding the shape-shifters of the Night World.
The strength of a dragon depends on how many horns it has on its forehead. The more horns present, the more powerful a dragon is. An average dragon has no more than three horns. The way to kill a dragon is by removing all the horns present on their forehead. When all the horns of a dragon have been removed, it is no longer immortal.
Dragons are the only shape-shifters able to send out black energy. They also have the power of telepathy.

Ghouls:
A ghoul starts out as a human who then exchanges blood with a vampire. However, as their body begins to transform, the human does not receive enough vampire blood to complete the change. Instead, they convert into the walking un-dead. They become brainless and hunt for only one thing; human blood. They also start decaying and smelling. A ghoul cannot survive for more than a few weeks because their body just degenerates.