Vampires continued, what makes them tick.

And now for the next installment in vampire lore.

With vampires, it's all about the blood. Not just as food, but litterally, a vampires power is in the blood.

As a vampire ages, he or she becomes more powerful. Yet there are some relatively young vampires out there, stronger than vamps twice their age.
How have they become stronger? They've taken the power of an older, stronger vampires. drank his blood and taken his power.

Okay, this is a rather complicated issue, I think better start with the basics. How does someone get turned into a vampire?
By being bitten, drained to the point of death and granted a measure of the vampire, who bit you's blood. The vampire blood mixing with what little you have left as you die and you will rise as a vampire.
Just getting bit doesn't affect you. (except for possibly dying if they feed enough, varies from vampire to vampire)
Now a newly turned vampire, it's body drained of blood will seek to feed as soon as possible, most people will feed on the first person handy as soon as they realize what they need. (the vampire doing the turning will often have a snack handy, as his newly turned servant can't be running through the streets killing at random)
The newly turned vampire is bound to it's master, the one who turned them. via the bond of blood. depending on the strength of the vampire, they can utterly control their subjects and are in telepathic contact with them.
But keeping such a hold on a servant or more is taxing, each time a vampire creates a bound vampire offspring, he divides a little of his own power into the new vampire and grows a little weaker for it. So there's a natural limit to how many bound vampires, one master can hold. well technically their ain't but a vampire that grows too weak will have his slaves turn on him or other vampires take advantage of his weakness. so it's a self maintaining system.
Now, there is one way for a bound vampire to be freed from his masters bond. His blood, another measure of his masters blood will set him free. Given or taken doesn't matter, but it's safe to assume that when taken, it doesn't stop with the one sip. see the reference to young vampires with old vampire strength earlier.

A vampire can use his blood to bind living people to his will. Giving a measure of blood to a living human, will like with the babyvamp, take a measure of the vampires power and bestow it on the human, giving the vampire some control over them. essensially creating a loyal familiar on the fly. 
Familiars arn't living vampires, they're just regular humans with a small powerboost from the bond to the vampire and the blood.
There's actually some brotherhood of hunters that siphon captured vampires for their blood and use it as a combat drug, giving them greater strength and speed. ... EW if you ask me.

A person drained dead by a vampire, can be raised by a bit of vampire blood as a feral undead creature. They're like rabbit dogs and will attack even former loved ones without hesitation if their master commands it and gorge themselves on their blood afterwards.

A vampire can also use it's blood to raise a corps as a zombie like creature. The body having no real mind of it's own, just a puppet of the vampires will acting as it's master without thought or qualm.

That is the power of blood. It binds the vampire Courts together.
At the top of the hierarchy in a coven is the Count, or duke or baron or Marquis. For some reasons they insist on these titles, possibly to infer what rank one master vampire has to another amoung the covens, a collection covens is refered to as a Court. Now the strongest vampire of a Court is called the King (or Queen) who is also the leader of the strongest and/or oldest Coven in the court.
Below the master of a Coven are his liutenants. His confidants and advisors, some bound by blood, others with free will. it varies. Below the liutenants are the rank and file vampires, the real body of the court.
The Master and his liutenants range between 3 and 7, The rank vampires are usually three or four times that in the coven. 
The familiars make up the bottom of the hierarchy, but top of the food chain. Some may even be turned if they've served faithfully and well. Otherwise they'll be feed on and disposed of when their usefulness is at an end.