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Description
FIRST: The Triumvirate
PREVIOUS: Dracula Dragon Form
NEXT: The Precursors

LEFT TO RIGHT:
Countess Mircalla Karnstein
Carmilla
Panther Carmilla
Modern Carmilla

CARMILLA
Real Name: Mircalla Karnstein
Aliases: Carmilla Karnstein, Millarca Karnstein
Year Born: 1680
Year Turned: 1698
Country of Origin: Austria
Titles: Countess, Vampire Lord
Vampire Sire: Unknown
Height: 5'8"
Generation: Three
Strength Level: 17
In life, the young Countess Mircalla Karnstein of Styria was engaged to the Baron Vordenburg. But one night in 1698, the Countess attended a masquerade. There, she encountered a stranger. As it was a masquerade, she never saw their face or learned their true identity. It was a magical evening of mystery and romance, but it would end it tragedy. The stranger was gone and Mircalla was dead. The heartbroken Baron buried his love, but she would arise as a vampire, just like her masked killer.
As a vampire, Countess Mircalla would found the Vampire House of Karnstein, the shadow of her former noble house. Over the years, she would perfect her hunting technique. Aided by her new family, she would stage an accident and take advantage of the charity of well meaning families, targeting the families' daughters. She would form relationships with her victims in hopes she will finally find her one true love. With each new hunt, she would take on a new alias. She is most well known by the name Carmilla.
In the nineteenth century, Carmilla began to prey upon Laura, a descendant of the Karnstein Family. Twelve years later, when Laura had grown to the age of eighteen, Carmilla reentered her life by using her stratagem. After taking Carmilla into their home, the two girls began to develop feelings for one another, but Laura noticed oddities about Carmilla's behavior. Carmilla's true nature were exposed by General Spielsdorf, a uncle of one of Carmilla's previous victims, and the decedent of Baron Vordenburg. Finding the tomb of Countess Karnstein, they drove a stake into the vampire's heart.
After the ordeal, Laura's father would take her on a year long vacation in Italy, but Laura would never fully recover. The doctors say it was because of the fright of encounter with the vampire, but Laura was burdened by guilt. Though Carmilla was vampire that was draining her life, she had truly grown to care for her and was conflicted about her feelings. Eight years later, Laura recounted her story to one Dr. Hesselius. However, she did omit some details and changed others, particularly about the demise of Carmilla. She had told the doctor that Carmilla was beheaded and her body burnt, but in truth, only a stake was driven into her heart. After this "confession," Laura died shortly afterwards from a mysterious illness.
In truth, Carmilla's followers had removed the stake, resurrecting their Countess. In the years following her near destruction, Carmilla has become far more cautious. During the Vampire Purge of the early twentieth century, her vampire house suffered many causalities. In the power vacuum created when Dracula was seemingly destroyed, many Vampire Lords have tried to claim the throne for themselves. One of the more powerful contenders is Countess Báthory, who sees every other female vampire as a rival. With Báthory as the head of one of the more powerful factions, House Karnstein formed an alliance with House Ruthven and House Varney to ensure their survival.

Notes:
I based Carmilla's design mostly off of her design from the Castlevania games and Lenore from Netfilx's Castlevania. Funnily enough, I didn't base her off of Carmilla from the Netflix show. I used that for Báthory, who I think matches her personality better. Like Lenore, Carmilla is a lover, not a fighter, and Báthory is the schemer. Since she is more "social" that most vampires, I gave her a more lively skin tone. Pale, but not colorless. All the better to blend into human society. I also added the detail of her having a mole on her neck and her hair being dark but with hints of gold as mentioned in the book
The first design is of Carmilla when she was still human as indicated by her healthier complexion, round ears, and having a shadow. The mask she's holding is is a reference to the Castlevania video games.
The second design is her during the events of the book. I based it off of the original illustration of the story. As you might have noticed, I try to have a color motif for the vampires. Dracula's color is black, Báthory's is red, and Carmilla's is blue. I chose blue a reference to the magazine the story was published in, The Dark Blue.
For Carmilla's beast form, I was going to draw both the large cat from the story and a large gargoyle to match the others. I tried going for a winged Sphinx look, but after a few sketches, I felt it didn't fit her. Instead, I made her cat form larger. In the story, her cat form is described as being four to five feet long. In the modern times, her cat form is now the size of a tiger as her power has increased. The beast form is supposed to be a reflection of a Vampire Lord's true/inner self. I felt that the panther suited her better than a gargoyle or sphinx.
For modern Carmilla, I had her wear ordinary clothing despite being a Vampire Lord. Unlike the showy Báthory, Carmilla likes to keep a low profile.

Description
FIRST: The Triumvirate
PREVIOUS: Dracula Dragon Form
NEXT: The Precursors

LEFT TO RIGHT:
Countess Mircalla Karnstein
Carmilla
Panther Carmilla
Modern Carmilla

CARMILLA
Real Name: Mircalla Karnstein
Aliases: Carmilla Karnstein, Millarca Karnstein
Year Born: 1680
Year Turned: 1698
Country of Origin: Austria
Titles: Countess, Vampire Lord
Vampire Sire: Unknown
Height: 5'8"
Generation: Three
Strength Level: 17
In life, the young Countess Mircalla Karnstein of Styria was engaged to the Baron Vordenburg. But one night in 1698, the Countess attended a masquerade. There, she encountered a stranger. As it was a masquerade, she never saw their face or learned their true identity. It was a magical evening of mystery and romance, but it would end it tragedy. The stranger was gone and Mircalla was dead. The heartbroken Baron buried his love, but she would arise as a vampire, just like her masked killer.
As a vampire, Countess Mircalla would found the Vampire House of Karnstein, the shadow of her former noble house. Over the years, she would perfect her hunting technique. Aided by her new family, she would stage an accident and take advantage of the charity of well meaning families, targeting the families' daughters. She would form relationships with her victims in hopes she will finally find her one true love. With each new hunt, she would take on a new alias. She is most well known by the name Carmilla.
In the nineteenth century, Carmilla began to prey upon Laura, a descendant of the Karnstein Family. Twelve years later, when Laura had grown to the age of eighteen, Carmilla reentered her life by using her stratagem. After taking Carmilla into their home, the two girls began to develop feelings for one another, but Laura noticed oddities about Carmilla's behavior. Carmilla's true nature were exposed by General Spielsdorf, a uncle of one of Carmilla's previous victims, and the decedent of Baron Vordenburg. Finding the tomb of Countess Karnstein, they drove a stake into the vampire's heart.
After the ordeal, Laura's father would take her on a year long vacation in Italy, but Laura would never fully recover. The doctors say it was because of the fright of encounter with the vampire, but Laura was burdened by guilt. Though Carmilla was vampire that was draining her life, she had truly grown to care for her and was conflicted about her feelings. Eight years later, Laura recounted her story to one Dr. Hesselius. However, she did omit some details and changed others, particularly about the demise of Carmilla. She had told the doctor that Carmilla was beheaded and her body burnt, but in truth, only a stake was driven into her heart. After this "confession," Laura died shortly afterwards from a mysterious illness.
In truth, Carmilla's followers had removed the stake, resurrecting their Countess. In the years following her near destruction, Carmilla has become far more cautious. During the Vampire Purge of the early twentieth century, her vampire house suffered many causalities. In the power vacuum created when Dracula was seemingly destroyed, many Vampire Lords have tried to claim the throne for themselves. One of the more powerful contenders is Countess Báthory, who sees every other female vampire as a rival. With Báthory as the head of one of the more powerful factions, House Karnstein formed an alliance with House Ruthven and House Varney to ensure their survival.

Notes:
I based Carmilla's design mostly off of her design from the Castlevania games and Lenore from Netfilx's Castlevania. Funnily enough, I didn't base her off of Carmilla from the Netflix show. I used that for Báthory, who I think matches her personality better. Like Lenore, Carmilla is a lover, not a fighter, and Báthory is the schemer. Since she is more "social" that most vampires, I gave her a more lively skin tone. Pale, but not colorless. All the better to blend into human society. I also added the detail of her having a mole on her neck and her hair being dark but with hints of gold as mentioned in the book
The first design is of Carmilla when she was still human as indicated by her healthier complexion, round ears, and having a shadow. The mask she's holding is is a reference to the Castlevania video games.
The second design is her during the events of the book. I based it off of the original illustration of the story. As you might have noticed, I try to have a color motif for the vampires. Dracula's color is black, Báthory's is red, and Carmilla's is blue. I chose blue a reference to the magazine the story was published in, The Dark Blue.
For Carmilla's beast form, I was going to draw both the large cat from the story and a large gargoyle to match the others. I tried going for a winged Sphinx look, but after a few sketches, I felt it didn't fit her. Instead, I made her cat form larger. In the story, her cat form is described as being four to five feet long. In the modern times, her cat form is now the size of a tiger as her power has increased. The beast form is supposed to be a reflection of a Vampire Lord's true/inner self. I felt that the panther suited her better than a gargoyle or sphinx.
For modern Carmilla, I had her wear ordinary clothing despite being a Vampire Lord. Unlike the showy Báthory, Carmilla likes to keep a low profile.