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The History of Vampires In Warhammer – Pt. 2

Old World Feature

In the second part of our 2-part series, Moog and MrLlamatastic finish rounding out an abridged version of a history of vampires!


Neferata

First of the vampires, Neferata is recruited by Arkhan in the plans to revive Nagash, she follows Arkhans plan to manipulate Balthasar Gelt into making a huge anti-chaos wall called the Auric Bastion by slipping him magical artefacts and plans in order to build it. This would ensure that the humans contained within could be ruled by Nagash at a later date.

She ends up realising if Nagash returns, that she would be forced to serve or be destroyed so stops aiding in the plans. Eventually filled with paranoia that if he returned and she hadn’t helped she would be destroyed anyway and after being attacked by daemonic forces she leaves in order to find a suitable offering to him, she finds this in the form of a Dwarven goddess after slaughtering the throngs of dwarves defending her she returns the goddess to the newly revived Nagash, in return she is made the Mortarch of Blood.

Using the power of the goddess Nagash shrouds Nehekhara in darkness and wages war on the Tomb Kings. Neferata is told to lead an army to Lahmia where she fights Khalida in the Temple of Blood, in the end Neferata is forced to flee but accomplished her mission of being a diversion for Nagash’s main force.

Once Nagash had conquered the Tomb Kings she is present in the battle for the Black Pyramid and is waiting to see if Nagash survives the backlash of his magical explosion to wipe out the daemon forces.

When the heroes of the world fail to stop the end of the world, she shares a kiss with Arkhan, who tells her to flee to Sylvania to be with their people in the final hours of the world, and guide them into their news lives.

After this she is last seen in Sylvania with a newly resurrected Isabella von Carstein and Khalida where the undead guard the last remaining mortals against the daemonic darkness engulfing the world.


Vlad Von Carstein

Yes, you read correctly, despite dying multiple times…he’s back….again! Bought back from undeath by Nagash he was reunited with his ring, which gives the ability to return to life each dusk, and a promise of the revival of Isabella his love in exchange for his services. Vlad agreed and became the Mortarch of Shadows, moving in accordance with Nagashes plans to “help” defend the empire.

Vlad starts helping the empire by murdering an Imperial General and taking his place to defend the “Auric Bastion” a large wall empowered by magic and faith, and shortly after abducted the leader of the college of magic Balthasar Gelt to attempt to sway him to study necromancy. Gelt declined these offers until the situation forced his hand, and he begrudgingly took to studying it, unfortunately, this, in turn, caused him to flee the empire after he was exposed to be studying necromancy whilst preventing an assassination on the Emperor, Karl Franz.

Eventually, the bastion fell when the forces of chaos entered the scene, attempting to sway the forces of the empire over to Nagash, he took this opportunity to take his army of the dead and help the Emperor fight off the forces of chaos. Unexpectedly, he had already been betrayed by one of his mortarch allies- Walach Harkon the Grand Master of the Blood Dragons, an order of the Blood Knights. Before Vlad was able to show the empire that he had assisted them in their defence, Harkon who had pledged his allegiance to Khorne had taken to the skies on his skeletal zombie dragon and seemingly killed the Emperor, Karl Franz in aerial combat.

Knowing that the people of the empire would lump him in with Harkon’s acts, Vlad had to change his plans, before leaving for his next ploy, he bested Harkon in a fight and had his own mount tear him apart and eat him. Justice.

Vlad travelled to the Imperial capital Altdorf and attempted to bargain with Kurt Heborg, who was acting in command with the emperor’s apparent death, his terms? To recognise Sylvania as a province of the empire, and Vlad as its count. Helborg repeatedly refused his deals until the situation became dire enough he accepted the vampire’s aid, once again raising the dead of the city he stood to defend its walls alongside the Brettonians and…the Emperor! Who wasn’t quite ready for death in the earlier battle. During the fight, Vlad swallows the tainted blood of the Glottkin brothers and slowly starts to feel the effect of the poisons within.  After fighting off the forces of chaos, the Emperor bestowed his wish and Vlad swore his loyalty to the empire.

Despite this, Vlad was also still in service to Nagash and had to go along with his plans, which in turn saw him unable to fully hold up his oath the Emperor and Altdorf fell. At this point he returns to his home of Sylvania where he is met with a message, that his wife Isabella Von Carstein has returned from death…. Unfortunately for him, she’s been possessed by a demon of nurgle after another of Nagash’s mortarchs betrayed him.

Vlad has a small reunion at an inn with his beloved son Mannfred who had previously betrayed him and Luther Harkon another of Nagash’s vampiric mortarchs. Despite the joyous reunion the forces of Nurgle close in on their positions and they start to become overwhelmed, unsurprisingly Mannfred betrays both Luther and Vlad yet again leaving him to die. Luther falls and Vlad flees.

Following Nagash’s orders he finds himself fighting in Middenheim in defence of Alarielle. During this battle he came face to face with his nurgle-possessed wife. Unable to kill his one love, he removes his ring and forces it onto her finger, and throws them both from the battlements onto the stakes below, killing them both immediately but freeing his lover from the possession of the demon.

This mirrors the way Vlad and Isabella had both died previously and shows us even a treacherous, undead, vampiric monster can still truly love!

And there we have it! Wrapping up our 2-part series on vampires wonderfully! A huge thanks to Moog and MrLlamatastic for their efforts and passion, I think we can all agree it comes through wonderfully through these articles, and like us here at The Hobby Room, I hope you are looking forward to seeing more!

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