I have a seedling for a vampire story, and I'm trying to decide on the vampire's attributes. I could use some advice on my own take on the "stake to the heart" tradition.
The idea is that a heart-stab isn't enough to kill a vampire, but causes it to lose much of its stolen blood and leaves it weakened; an important first step in destroying it.
How much blood could one store in a dead, inert heart, maybe assuming it was unnaturally swollen? And how easy is it to drive a blade into it? Would one have to slide a knife between the ribs, or can a fairly strong man puncture through them? And finally, would a heart-stab cause a very visible bleeding, or would it be mostly internal?
The idea is that a heart-stab isn't enough to kill a vampire, but causes it to lose much of its stolen blood and leaves it weakened; an important first step in destroying it.
How much blood could one store in a dead, inert heart, maybe assuming it was unnaturally swollen? And how easy is it to drive a blade into it? Would one have to slide a knife between the ribs, or can a fairly strong man puncture through them? And finally, would a heart-stab cause a very visible bleeding, or would it be mostly internal?