Vaeternus is a realm in the Mortal Kombat video game series. It is the Homerealm of fighter Nitara, and the birthplace of the vampiric “Vaeternians.”
Description[]
Vaeternus is a dark realm that is seemingly perpetually shrouded by clouds and plagued by lightning storms. The architecture of most of if not all buildings is gothic or perhaps Gothic Revival in appearance.
About Vaeternus[]
Vaeternus was a realm that was conquered long ago by Shao Kahn and was incorporated into Outworld, in the original timeline.
It was home to the vampires, and one of their kind, Nitara, sought a mysterious orb within Outworld that would permanently release her dimension from Shao Khan’s control. She was successful in her goal, later freeing her homeworld with the aid of the cyborg ninja Cyrax.
In the new timeline, Vaeternus is once again an independent realm, governed by a choice group of Elder vampires known as “The Coven.” Originally, the Vaeternians were a race of mortals who existed much the same as others in the realms. However, fear of aging and death drove them to use dark sorcery to develop a kind of specialized affliction which would make all of them biologically immortal. The cost, however, was far greater than any could have realized. The newly transformed Vaeternians discovered soon enough that thought they were now immortal, though could never again set foot in sunlight, and all would be cursed to consume mortal blood for sustenance, for foods that would satisfy a mortal's hunger (such as chili dogs, fries, Edenian pie, cheeseburgers, etc.) were now delicious but largely useless to the Vaeternians, as it could not quench their bloodlust.
The Vaeternians quickly found that immortality, while having its upsides, carried with it an additional problem; though they were now all functionally immortal—being immune to the effects of aging and disease— the vampires were still capable of traditional procreation. This caused the birthrates of the Vaeternians to skyrocket, as none were now dying of old age or disease to make room for new souls. This soon caused the ruling Covens of Vaeternus to begin hunting their world indiscriminately in search of new sources of fresh blood to feed everyone, but despite their best efforts, there were simply too many mouths to feed, and Vaeternus could not provide for all of them.
Unwilling to give up their immortality, the Vaeternians instead took to invading other realms to capture their population as food stock, although this did little to stem the problem, as the numbers of the vampires simply continued to rise. The coven thus entrusted their agent Nitara with finding a way to stave off extinction, by hunting the realms for newer, richer feeding grounds.
Notable residents[]
Nitara is the only Vaeternian known so far in the series, though many individuals of her realm are known to exist.