Original Vampires (The Vampire Diaries)

The Original vampires, in the universe of The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, are a family of vampires from which all current vampires descend, as well as being the most powerful and indestructible. According to ancient mythology, they were created in ancient times through an occult blood ritual performed by the powerful witch, Esther, after the death of her youngest son Henrik at the hands of werewolves. In order to protect them, she turned her husband, Mikael, and her five surviving children, from oldest to youngest (Finn, Elijah, Niklaus, Kol, and Rebekah) into vampires.

The family comes from 10th century Viking-era Europe, from the Kingdom of Norway where a young witch named Esther and her sister Dahlia were captured by Viking raiders. They were the only survivors and were kept alive so Dahlia could aid them by using her witchcraft. Esther was allowed to live freely. She turned her back on her magical heritage to marry Mikael, a wealthy landowner and powerful Viking warrior. She and her sister Dahlia, who since childhood had been her best friend, had sworn an oath to protect each other always and forever. They used to hum the song of the starlings together. Dahlia was distraught that Esther would rather lay with their captors than escape with her, as she lived like a slave. A year later Esther discovers she is barren, and her desire for children ended in failure. Desperate, Esther turned for help to her sister. Dahlia performed the ritual at a high price, and Esther became fertile. She gave birth to a daughter named Freya, who was quickly followed by a boy named Finn. By the time they left the Old World for the New World, Esther was pregnant with their third child, a boy named Elijah. Mikael was a good husband and a doting father, who adored his children but especially loved his daughter Freya. However, during Esther's third pregnancy and while Mikael was away, Dahlia came to collect her price: the first child of the first generation, just as Esther had promised. She had also promised that she would give up every first child for every generation to come. Dahlia took Freya, and Esther lied to Mikael, telling him their daughter died of the plague and that she burned the body to stop its spread.

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