The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide by Stephenie Meyer

tantrums, irresponsible activities, and a general lack of circumspection. These behaviors were incompatible with the law of secrecy, and immortal children often attracted the notice of humans.
    Another aspect of immortal children was their appeal; they were both beautiful and endearing. Covens were utterly devoted to their immortal children, and would protect them at all costs.
    The Volturi found themselves punishing individual covens for the behavior of their immortal children with a much greater frequency than other occurrences of lawlessness. Because of the devotion inspired by immortal children, the Volturi were forced to destroy full covens in order to destroy an immortal child. After some study into the matter, the Volturi decreed that immortal children were not capable of following the law, and therefore it was no longer legal to create an immortal child. Anyone responsible for creating such a child would be destroyed whether that child had broken the law or not.
    The Volturi continued to experiment with and study immortal children for centuries, but has never reversed its decision.
“The only time I really did any research on vampires was when the character Bella did research on vampires. Because I was creating my own world, I didn’t want to find out just how many rules I was breaking.” — Stephenie
     

V AMPIRE M YTHS

     
    T here are many myths about vampires, most of them created and put into circulation by the Volturi. Their purpose is to disguise the existence of vampires behind stories that could never be proven to have a basis in truth—and to make it possible for a vampire to easily “prove” that he is not a vampire to a human who believes the myths (by touching a cross or standing in front of a mirror, for example). Additionally, these myths give humans a sense of control over the supernatural. Though vampires are never in any danger from humans, the Volturi contend that human ignorance makes hunting more convenient for all.
MYTHS CIRCULATED BY THE VOLTURI INCLUDE :
    Vampires are burned by the sun.
Vampires are always unconscious during daylight hours.
Vampires have no reflection.
Vampires can be harmed by crosses, holy water, and garlic.
Vampires have visible fangs.
Vampires can assume the form of a bat.
Vampires must have permission to enter a house.
Vampires can be killed by a wooden stake stabbed into their hearts.
     
TRUTHS THE VOLTURI WERE ABLE TO ERADICATE OVER TIME :
    Vampires have red or black eyes (gold wasn’t a known option at the time).
Vampires reflect sunlight prismatically.
Vampires never sleep.
Vampires are nearly indestructible.
     
TRUTHS THE VOLTURI WERE NOT ABLE TO QUASH :
    Vampires are flammable.
Vampires are pale.
Vampires drink blood.
Vampires are beautiful.
Vampires are immortal.
     
    One benefit of the surviving truths is that there are humans who actually seek out vampires in an attempt to gain beauty or immortality. This benefits the Volturi when they want a human front as a façade.

V AMPIRE L IFESTYLES AND P SYCHOLOGY

     
    T hough there are a range of vampire lifestyles, the most common is nomadic. The majority of vampires move frequently, never settling permanently in one place. This pattern is partly an attempt to hide from the notice of humans. If too many humans disappear from one area, suspicion might be aroused and the Volturi might take notice. Also, if a vampire interacts regularly with humans, eventually the humans will notice that the vampire isn’t aging. Another aspect is boredom. Vampire lives are so long that many keep up a continuous search for novelty.
    A few covens are exceptions to this rule, and maintain semipermanent or permanent homes. Doing this requires a great deal of subterfuge—if the coven wants to avoid suspicion and keep the Volturi from becoming involved—and most vampires don’t care for the hassle.
BONDING FACTORS :
    Most commonly, a coven is made up of two members. One feature of the unchanging nature of vampires is that they