QUOTE(Acadian @ Feb 26 2015, 07:04 PM)
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Vampiric afterlife? Not sure, except that Buffy's generally happy to help them get to wherever that is.
Seriously, I'd like to imagine it can vary. In Oblivion, five of Azura's followers killed the ancient vampire Dratik and his kin holed up in Gutted Mine. In the process though, all five were infected. Azura sealed them up in the mine until her Slayer came along to give them the freedom of death. Buffy would like to think that somehow their spirits reside eternally with Azura, just as the five candles Azura placed above her shrine in their honor burn eternally.
Interesting thought. Azura had the power to transform an entire race of elves and all of their progeny through the ages. It is not unreasonable to think that he/she/it could reclaim five souls from the fires of Coldharbour.
My opinion (and I stress that it is my opinion) on the subject comes down on the opposite end of the spectrum. I feel that a vampire gives up his/her ‘mortality’ through the act of transformation... voluntarily or otherwise. Once transformed the vampire is already undead, quite literally a reanimated corpse. ‘Afterlife‘ for such an individual begins the moment he/she awakens to his/her new form and does not end even when the vampire is claimed by Oblivion.
I admit to the glaring flaw in that argument which is the fact that even stage four vampirism can be cured. But let’s face it, Bethesda has never really been rock solid in the logic department. The lore surrounding the Nightingales, for example, makes no sense whatsoever. Why must I be bound to protect a sepulcher that is absent a corpse? The idea that I must protect the entrance to the Evergloam falls apart when one realizes just how many mortals have made the journey to steal Nocturnal’s sacred trinkets through the ages. Seriously, the place must have a revolving door by now!