DONORS GUILD
The Donors Guild was set up out of necessity during the Black Death, in 1449. The humans were falling at a phenomenal rate the disease estimated to have killed between 30-60 % of the European population. And this made the act of feeding very difficult for Vampires. The humans didn’t understand the way diseases spread and were carried from one place to another, and believed there to be a supernatural reason for the plague. This put them on their guard, the normally superstitious people whipped up into a paranoid frenzy, blaming everything and anything on the devil and his demons ( The Demon factions were completely innocent of any and all wrong doing during this time) , including Vampires.
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Of course, if a Vampire had been caught feeding, or someone who had not been infected died, there was no telling the trouble that would erupt. The Vampires were starving, growing weaker by the day as the council enforced stricter rules on when and where they could feed, leading to unrest within the fanged community.
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In answer to the problem, the Donors Guild was created. Donors were selected, treated by healers to make sure they carried no risk of disease and then set up in small villages , segregated from others, protected by powerful charms, keeping them safe and creating a haven for the Vampires to feed in peace.
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This worked quite well to start with, for the first few years everyone was happy, the Donors were well fed, provided with clothing, a roof over their heads, they didn’t have to worry about the threat of a painful and prolonged death, and the Vampires had a willing food source on tap. They didn’t have to worry about hiding what they really were, didn’t have to risk getting caught sneaking into a village or a house, it was win win.
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That was until the inevitable happened, and by that, I mean sex. Yes , the Vampires and the Donors couldn’t stay apart for long, the very act of feeding itself is a very pleasurable experience, one of the reasons the Donors were so happy to live this pampered lifestyle, and before long they had moved on to more and more pleasurable experiences.
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But as always seems to happen when sex is involved, some of the Donors grew attached to certain Vampires and jealousy sparked. They didn’t understand that it wasn’t possible for a Vampire to feed solely from one human (unless it is their soul mate) and did not wish to share. On their part, the Vampires saw it as they were doing nothing wrong, they had never made any promises to the Donors and therefore the Donors had no right to demand or throw a hissy fit any time they spent time with another.
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The Donors began to take matters into their own hands, fights breaking out amongst the humans , leading to a few deaths, including that of a Vampire who’s Donor had left the cottage door open when they had left for the day, allowing the sun to creep in and slowly cook the Vampire as it was held prisoner in its death sleep.
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The Council then banned donors from sleeping with their feeders and new rules were imposed and the most trusted Donors were promoted, charged with enforcing the rules and policing all the new Donors.
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The threat of the plague finally lifted and Vampires were free to go back to their own homes, to feed and hunt as they had before, but many missed the convenience and the safety of using Donors to fulfil their needs, and so the Guild continued on to this day.
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The Donors themselves are better compensated than they were back in the grim days of plague infested Europe, no longer content with simply a house and a garden in which to grow vegetables and keep a few chickens, no, now they receive payment in the form of money, educational fees, rent or whatever other help they need. But the rules are still clear, they are not prostitutes, they are not offering other services, though of course, sex does still occur, they were never going to stamp it out completely, but now that the idea of sex before marriage isn’t such a taboo thing, it causes less problems and so long as both parties are willing and acting like adults about the situation, the Guild will turn a blind eye.
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The Donors are carefully monitored, each session is either booked via the area’s office, if a Vampire isn’t picky and doesn’t feel the need to choose a specific donor, through the Donor themselves if a feeder requests a regular day, then the Donor simply logs that on their account via the Guilds website, almost like a work timesheet, or the feeding would take place at one of the Guild approved feeding spots, such as Night Walkers, where Donors are assigned different days in which they can make themselves available or if they are on permanent rotation.
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The Donors themselves have all the power in the feeding, they have the right to refuse a feeder if they feel uncomfortable or change their minds. Vampires must never force themselves on a Donor or continue past a safe point in the feeding. Donors are within their rights to ask not to be paired with certain Vampires, just as the Vampire has the right to request not to be sent certain Donors.
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Each Donor is required to register and is given a thorough background check and a mental health evaluation before they are approved as a Donor, not all applicants are successful, and once they have been accepted they are required to sign a secrecy contract which states that if they break any rules or endanger the lives of a Vampire or another Donor, they agree to a memory wipe and will be returned to a mundane state.
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The rules have changed over time but the principal of the Guild remains the same, to provide safe and easy nourishment for Vampires everywhere.