"I think some vampires in my world are better than others about keeping track of their lines. Maybe they would be better if they did it that way, but they don't."

In his world, the strength of a sire doesn't necessarily dictate how strong the vampire they turn will be. So, there was never any impetus to keep 'bloodlines' pure or any such ideas like that. Strength could be something built from the ground up. His master Erik is proof of that.

"How old?" Max thinks on that. "To be considered and Elder like Erik, you have to have ten centuries under your belt. There's a decent number of those. I've met them during business meetings. As for the oldest... the oldest vampire anyone has heard of is Mother.

"She is ancient, even by immortal standards. She was there and old already when humans were just beginning to develop. All vampires are descended from her and her thirteen children. They all have her blood in them.

"It was Mother who struck the Accord with humans, by giving them some of her own blood. Doing that meant giving them power over any vampire they wield that blood against. It was a scared bond of trust. IOPSA is the custodian of that trust between humans and vampires."