It has become popular in qusai-modern parlance in the Upyre-vampyre community and in some strands of popular culture to call the Upyre-vampyre that initiates another “sire” and the one initiated the “sired”. Sire and sired refer to the aspect of the relationship that is parental and, sadly, often that is as far as it goes. Beyond leading, guiding and nurturing the initiate, a sire must educate the sired, evoking the aspect of the sire to sired relationship that is mentoring. The sire has the duty to teach the sired to be independent and hone its skills and nature on its own; it is a weak Upyre that sires and does not educate its sired as a way of building a base of power. The term “sire” for some has connotations of kingship or royalty but those that play on that idea are again robbing the sired of what they need in order to endure as Upyre. A true sire forces the sired to educate and empower themselves by showing through action what to do and what the values are of an Upyre.

As one is sired, a bond forms between the two, empathy between beings that normally are not empathetic. Along with the bond of the sire and the sired comes the burden of the sire having to be sure of the sired, at times forcing them to mature if need be and preparing them to be and become sires themselves. Some sires run the risk of caring too much about those they sire and in so doing handicap the very souls they are trying to help evolve. Part of evolution is the goad that forces the process of evolution and in the case of an Upyre the goad of evolution takes two forms. The first form that the goad of evolution takes in the life of an Upyre is the challenges of life that are particular to the individual Upyre, as no two Upyreshi are alike. The second form of the goad of evolution in the life of an Upyre must be the sire of the Upyre itself. The sire must show the way for the sired and then demand that the sired Upyre follow the example of the sire, a part of which is personalizing the path that one is walking. Knowledge is what the sire gives; only the sired can cultivate and develop its own power. The sired must as a part of cultivating power make the knowledge of the sire its own.

The aim of the sire is not to create clones of the sire or robots that do the will of the sire, but rather the aim of the sire is to aid the sired in defining what and who the sired is as an Upyre and an individual like no other. In the beginning of the cycle between the sire and the sired, the sire must create a sphere of safety for the sired and the sire is responsible for the sired and what the sired does. When the sired Upyre starts to show its knowledge of the way and its investment in the way through action, the sire must step back in equal measure to the knowledge and power of the sired. The sire is the holder of secrets and the sired must seek and use them, but this is not the end of the process. The sired Upyre must develop its own secrets and power apart from all that comes from the sire. There are cases where the sired must be forced to develop apart from the sire or when the sire must be forced to let one of the sired go on its own. The bond between sire and sired never breaks and the sired should ever be welcome with the sire, but the burden of being sire must shift from responsibility for the sired to being expectant of the sired. Being a sire is not a perk of having knowledge and power; being a sire is an honor and a sacred trust.