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'Danse Macabre'
'Awake O Dead, for there can be no rest for ye beneath the earth. Let the splintered bones burrow from the grave pall. Let cold fingers grip time-worn blades, and unseeing eyes survey the fields of slaughter. For your time has come once more. And the dead shall walk.'
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In the forsaken lands of Sylvania, the undead battalions of the Vampire Counts gather. Upon fen and moor, creatures of darkness that have haunted the nightmares of Men for millennia break free from ancient cairns and age-worn mausoleums, shaking the ground beneath them and eclipsing the moon as they spread their tattered wings and take to the skies. In the eternal gloom of ancient tombs can be heard the scrape of bone on bone, wordless moans, and the clank of rusted armour. The unliving host advances, a tide of resurrected corpses, driven on by necromantic magic and the immortal will of the Vampire Counts.
The presence of the living dead is a corruption upon the face of the world and as they expand their holdings, the very land they occupy is transformed. Their advance is heralded by encroaching mists no wind can displace, trees twisting and buckling as though in agony, and a gathering darkness of supernatural perpetuity. In battle, they are a fearsome force to behold. Legions of moldering soldiers wear down their enemies without fear or hesitation whilst colossal, contorted aberrations and bat-winged beasts crush all who dare stand in their way.
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All tremble before the unliving masters of Sylvania, for they are a blasphemy against nature and reason. Those that attempt to stem their relentless onslaught will soon learn that there are fates in this world that are worse than death. The Midnight Aristocracy are masters of Death Magic and Necromancy and those that fall before their might will soon rise again. Where once stood defiant enemy soldiers now stand twitching corpse-puppets devoid of any determination save to serve the morbid fiends that now command them.
With their solid melee infantry, fast cavalry, powerful monstrous units and excellent flying units, the Vampire Counts are masters of aggressive attacks and bold maneuvers. Many of their units fill their foes with terror and devastate their morale while being immune to morale damage themselves, causing enemy forces to panic and falter, and any losses taken are inconsequential as they can be easily replaced by raising their own dead against them. And that is not even getting into how they can recruit incredibly powerful lords through the rituals known as The Blood Kiss. However, great care must be taken to protect the leaders of these armies as should they fall, so too does their army quickly crumble as the dark energies animating them dissipate and the undead minions return to their rest. The Vampire Counts field no missile units unless they offer enough Blood Kisses to the Von Carstein bloodline.
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Introduced in Total War: Warhammer, the Vampire Counts are playable in custom games, the Grand Campaign, and Mortal Empires.
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- Achilles' Heel: Fire, Light and fearless units. The vampires take extra damage against units who possess fire damage, but they also take extra damage from magicians who use the Lore of Light. And since they are so reliant on frightening their foes away from the field, they can have a very hard time against foes that are either Immune to Psychology (which means they are not affected by the Fear or Terror trait that many vampire units have) or are Unbreakable (which means they will fight to the death).
- A Commander Is You: A Spammer/Technical/Espionage faction. The Vampire Counts have a combination of strong, expensive units and weak, expendable fodder, all of which are heavily dependent on their hero units in battle who can support them with a variety of buffs. They have no ranged units whatsoever — not even artillery — but boast some excellent flying units to compensate. Outside of combat, their strength comes from exploiting the use of Vampiric Corruption on the strategic map to shift advantage to themselves, which means their offensives require a higher degree of pre-planning.
- And I Must Scream: Some vampires, after being defeated by their siblings, are sealed in stone coffins for centuries, slowly going mad. By the time they're released, they have degenerated fully into the Vargheists, vicious, mindless bat-like monsters.
- Animate Dead: Can be used outside of battle to gain troops. Its advantage over basic recruiting is that it can be used anywhere and it's instantaneous—you can use your new troops the same turn you raise them. However, the quality of the troops you can raise depends on your location—you can get low-level skeletons and zombies anywhere, but high-tier units can only be raised at old battle sites, with the level of the troops that fought there determining what troops you can raise. Your Lords can also raise the dead in the middle of battle, though to prevent the ability from being a Game-Breaker it's limited to a single unit of zombies (or skeletons) — expendable Cannon Fodder only really useful for absorbing projectiles or blunting the charge of an enemy unit.
- The Grim and the Grave adds two variations of this spell - 'Awaken from the Grave', unique to Helman Ghorst, which summons Grave Guard or a Wight King; and 'Command of the Unliving', unique to the Strigoi Ghoul King, which summons Crypt Ghouls or Crypt Horrors.
- The Arch Mage: The Necrarch Bloodline are some of the most powerful practitioners of Black Magic in the setting, at the cost of being blisteringly insane. Not only do they combine several extremely powerful spells in their spell list, all of their bonuses are related to increasing the players magical capabilities, and have several skills dedicated to giving you insane reserves of magic in your mana pool.
- Artifact of Doom: The Mortis Engine superunit is essentially one. A dark, magical device (similar to a chariot) pulled by a host of vengeful, horrific spirits. It usually holds the remains of a powerful necromancer (in the ultra powerful Regiment Renown version, remains of Nagash himself), and is pulled into the thickest of battles, as the ghosts who man it can inflict terrible damage. It provides an area of effect aura that damages any enemy unit' inside said aura, and another aura that heals friendly units. If destroyed, the Mortis Engine explodes in a fury of balefire, damaging anything nearby. Very powerful units that cost a ton.
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: Since they entirely lack missile units or artillery, Vampire armies don't have a lot of use for standoffs. Instead, the undead opt for overpowering, brutal onslaughts designed to overwhelm the foe before their magic degrades too much.
- Ax-Crazy: Blood Dragons, whether they be Blood Knights or Blood Dragon Lords, are seething, cackling, blood crazed monsters on the battlefield, Noble Demon or not, with their unit quotes suitably blood hungry. Blood Dragon Lords all start with the Frenzy special rule.
- Bat Out of Hell: Fittingly for a Vampiric army they have access to no less then four different bat-esque units.
- Fellbats are 'small' (bird-of-prey sized), expendable, and attack in large groups, used to harass, target warmachine crews, and 'tarpit' units. Many Vampires treat them akin to how a hunter views his prized falcon, and are often used by the Midnight Aristocracy as pets.
- Vargheists are degenerate, utterly nightmarish creatures that serve as something akin to Flying Monstrous Shock Cavalry, being very large, pale bat-like winged monstrosities that have an insatiable lust for blood. They are actually corrupted Vampires who have degraded to a 'purer' much more bestial form of Vampirism, having gained much physical power, at the cost of their mind, and the ability to use magic. Most Vargheists become the way they are through imprisonment (inflicted by wayward relatives or a failed coup against their betters) and starvation, slowly transforming over the course of centuries. They are considered the most infamous of all the Vampiric horrors the Counts can unleash.
- Varghulfs are flightless, tank-sized horrors that prowl the dark forests, devouring entire village in a fruitless quest to satisfy their unending hunger, feasting on raw meat, and turning over mass graves to consume rotting corpses. Often compared to Vampire Bears, like the Vargheist, Varghulfs are a more 'pure' breed of corrupted Vampire, yet unlike their cousins, Varghulfs are turned willing having simply embraced their animalistic urges, and forsake their former identities, eventually morphing into these horrors after decades of going crazy in the woods, away from their castle. They act as living siege weapons, and incredibly hard hitting monsters.
- Terrorgheists are the undead husks of dragon-sized bats that live in the Sylvanian wilderness, big enough to prey on horses, pegasi, and even Griffins. They make underground caves their lairs, and once they die, Vampires commonly resurrect their cadavers to forge a mighty beast capable of taking to the skies. Not only being a standalone unit, they are often used by Ghoul Kings as powerful mounts. Mortal Empires gives them a sonic shriek as a special ability.
- Back from the Dead: Almost all Vampire Units are resurrected humans, brought to unlife by Black Magic. Well, they are undead. More specifically, the Carstein Ring lets vampires who wear it come back from even stuff that would normally kill vampires.
- The Invocation of Nehek spell in the Lore of Vampires, which all Vampire Count lords start out knowing, heals members of an undead regiment. If the unit's current warriors are already at full health, the surplus healing instead brings back slain members of the unit.
- Battlecry: 'Kill them!Raise them!'
- Another is Danse Macabre!translation , which comes from the Middle-Age allegory that no matter one's station in life, death unifies all.
- The Beast Master: Von Carstein Bloodline Lords all have special trees dedicated to giving their various monsters and dark beasts hefty bonuses to stats, and Flavor Text describes they and their bloodline having very close ties to the dark beasts that haunt Sylvania. Their ultimate skill even lets them summon a Varghuf.
- Beauty Equals Goodness: Inverted by the Legendary Lords. Vlad von Carstein looks like a walking corpse and, while not exactly a heroic figure, he does have genuine good intentions behind his bid for the Imperial throne. Contrast to his son Mannfred, who wants to dominate the Empire just to appease his ego. Isabella looks mostly human and shares her husband's cause, but her personal motivation in the campaign is revenge against her traitorous son. Helman Gorst's body is hideously twisted and eyeless, but he has a tragic, sympathetic backstory that paints him as driven to madness rather than purposeful evil. Lastly Kemmler, who is a physically normal human, is a despicable necromancer only interested in becoming more powerful and spreading destruction.
- Black Knight: The name of their primary cavalry unit, being recently slain Knights twisted and broken by dark magic.
- Black Magic: The Lore of Vampires is unique to the Vampire Counts, and is available to every Lord and Hero aside from the Banshee and Wight King. Ironically, it's much more defensive, than most examples, being primarily used to buff undead soldiers, and heal them.
- Blood Knight: They have vampiric cavalry called Blood Knights, members of the infamously violent and aggressive house of the Blood Dragons.
- Burn the Undead: As many undead units have regeneration, fire does extra damage to them.
- Civil Warcraft: As of the Old World Edition, the Vampires are split between the main faction, led by Mannfred and backed by Kemmler and Ghorst, and the Von Carstein power couple of Vlad and Isabella. As Mannfred is occupying Isabella's ancestral castle, the first order of business for the Von Carsteins will be to defeat or subdue Mannfred.
- Chill of Undeath: The Undead are commonly associated with the cold, and two of their regiments of renown have a chilling aura (Which slows down enemy units around them).
- Close-Range Combatant: They have no ranged units whatsoever, not even artillery, and can be reliably whittled down from afar.
- Council of Vampires: The Von Carsteins as a whole serve as one, governing the former Imperial Province of Sylvania as Counts and Dukes. The Lahmians also indulge in this, albeit more clandestinely.
- Crapsack World: Even compared to the rest of the Old World, Sylvania is a really nasty place. Bloodthirsty monsters lurk in the dark woods and vampire lords maintain seats of power in haunted castle ruins, freely preying on a helpless populace who live in run-down communities, constantly fearing for their lives behind heavy doors laden with multiple bolts and incantations to ward off the horrors of the night.
- The Corrupter: Their agents and heroes can spread corruption on enemy territory, thus allowing Vampire Count armies to safely traverse enemy territory without the danger of attrition.
- Dark Is Evil: Whilst heroic Vampires can and do exist, on the whole the faction is unquestionably villainous.
- Dark Action Girl: Lahmian Vampire lords, Vampire Heroes and of course Isabella herself.
- Daywalking Vampire: Vampires prefer the comfort of Night, and whilst night falls on most of their battles, occasionally you can get a sunny battle map, with no averse effects for the Vampiric Units.
- Decapitated Army: While all factions have this to a certain extent, the Vampire Counts suffer the harshest penalty for losing a lord, as most of the army is sustained by their magic, and once that's gone, nothing is keeping them from becoming just another pile of bones
- Dem Bones: They can field a wide variety of skeletal units, ranging from cheap Skeleton Warriors up to the elite Grave Guard. Lower tier skeletons will even walk in sync like an old horror movie!
- The Dreaded: Vampires are things every Imperial child fears, and are the living nightmares of the people of Sylvania. Fittingly, almost every Vampire Count unit, even the lower tier ones, cause fear or terror, making them In-UniverseNightmare Fuel.
- Dracolich: Zombie Dragons are available flying mounts for Vampire Lords. Unlike most examples of this trope, Zombie Dragons are mindless puppets, and command no magic of their own, although they have powerful rot breath.
- Dual Wielding: Vampire Lords of the Blood Dragon Dynasty dual wield longswords.
- Elite Mook: The ferocious, and heavily armored, Graveguard serve as this, which are a clear step above standard Vampire Count infantry. They retain their old fighting skills that served them in life, and as such, act as elite heavy infantry in Vampire armies.
- Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: The Vampire Counts apparently have a penchant for grave puns.[failed diplomacy]'You have made a 'grave' error, and for that a punishment is needed.'
- Fearless Undead: While they have morale values, undead units will not rout or flee when broken. They'll keep fighting to the bitter end, but they'll start slowly losing health and eventually fall apart.
- Foil: To the other undead armies in the game, the Tomb Kings and the Vampire Coast. The Vampire Counts have no ranged units or artillery but a lot of fast-moving cavalry, monsters and flying units, and their infantry are fairly strong but have a tendency to waste away over time; all this lends the Vampire Counts to being a heavy rushdown army meant close to melee range quickly, and hopefully overrun them. The Tomb Kings, on the other hand, do have archers and artillery, and their own skeleton infantry are offensively weak but very resilient, with a lot of options for further enhancing their staying power; this makes them more suited to staying back in a good position and gradually wearing the enemy down with attrition. The Vampire Coast, meanwhile, boasts an even greater emphasis on (somewhat inaccurate) ranged weapons, with multiple types of artillery, Sword and Gun infantry, and a selection of monsters that either have gunners riding them or are lugging around heavy weapons themselves, but are quite brittle in melee and fare poorly once their ammunition is expended.
- Geo Effects: Vampire Count armies, heroes and certain structures spread 'Vampiric Corruption', which steadily terraforms the local province into an Überwald that strengthens the walking dead. In gameplay terms, provinces with low corruption deal constant attrition damage to undead armies and inflict public order penalties to their settlements, while provinces with high corruption inversely penalize the living - with an added caveat that any rebel armies that form in the province will be undead-themed, instead of themed on the local empire. Spreading and maintaining corruption allows the Vampire Counts to keep a solid grip on their territories, while softening up foreign regions for later conquest.
- Glowing Eyelights of Undeath: Many of their units possess these, colored teal blue.
- Haunted Castle: The Midnight Aristocracy bases itself in these. As of Mortal Empires there are three notable examples in the Old World with unique buildings for vampires: Castle Drakenhof, ancestral seat of the Von Carstein bloodline and Mannfred's starting position; Castle Drachenfels, home of Constant Drachenfels the great enchanter (and necromancer) and Kemmler's starting postion; and the haunted dukedom of Mousillon, the start location of the Red Duke.
- Heavily Armored Mook: In contrast to their lower-tier Cannon Fodder, late-game Vampire Count foot soldiers, such as the disciplined Grave Guard, wear heavy, black plate armor.
- Hero Killer: You do not want to get your lord into a duel with a Blood Dragon Lord. Just don't.
- Horror Hunger: One of the prices of vampiric immortality is the need to feed on fresh blood. Young vampires need to feed frequently to sustain their transformation, often to the point that the urge to do so overpowers their own will and they are prone to reckless behavior that makes them easy targets for witch hunters. As vampires mature, this need satiates as they come more fully into control of their undead form, and an elder vampire only needs to feed once every few years or so. One of their initial combat skills titled, 'The Hunger' grants them supernatural regeneration whilst in combat, implying the Vampires are slurping up Blood from fallen soldiers.
- Injured Vulnerability: Vampire units in battle are essentially a wasting asset: the longer they're in combat, the more their magic and leadership degrades, which leads to the unit weakening, which leads to more stat degradation, eventually entering a death spiral that terminates with the unit lying in a pile of dust. Undead units therefore depend heavily on overwhelming assaults scattering the enemy in relatively short order; an opponent that can withstand an Undead army's initial onslaught stands a much better chance of victory.
- The Juggernaut: Those of Strigori blood are towering behemoths of muscles, fangs, and claws, being noted as physically the strongest of all Vampires (whom all already posses Super Strength) being able to slaughter scores of enemy soldiers on their lonesome.
- Keystone Army: All armies take the death of their general poorly, but there aren't many that actually crumble to dust over it. A vampire army that has lost its general can only hope to defeat its enemies quickly before its time runs out. Of course, said keystone can either be a squishy necromancer that is usually kept back and out of enemy range or a powerful vampire capable of mowing down units by himself, so tearing them down is easier said than done.
- Les Collaborateurs: Von Carstein Lords can field a select number of human levies within their armies. Though instead of true loyalty or money, most of these peasants serve their vampiric overlords because of fear.
- Lightning Bruiser:
- Varghulfs. Their attacks deal a lot of damage, they regenerate health over time, and they are quite fast for their size, in addition to getting a powerful charge bonus. Varghulfs also able to shove their way through crowds of infantry, which makes them difficult - if not impossible - to tie down using 'tarpit' tactics.
- Terrorgheists are faster than any cavalry unit, extremely powerful, have excellent defenses (properly armored, they take reduced damage except from armor-piercing and anti-large damage) and regenerate health to boot. They got an even stronger boost in Mortal Empires, getting enhanced stats, as well as an ultra powerful Sonic Shriek breath attack.
- Looks Like Orlok: Some of the more bestial vampires are very nightmarish, including the insane, bat-like Strigoi, and the downright monstrous Vargheists. Even the much more fair Von Carsteins have twisted visages.
- The Necrarch Bloodline is made out of these exclusively, and each of them are very powerful users of necromancy who are on a whole different level than both hero Necromancers and Necromancer Lords.
- The Lost Woods: A general motif. Dark forests spread across the land corrupted by the Vampire Counts, and the Haunted Forest is an available building necessary for raising Terrorgheists.
- Make Me Wanna Shout: The Terrorgheists' scream, which can scare units to death or sap their morale.
- Master Swordsman: Blood Dragon Lords are some of the finest swordsmen in the setting, wielding their twin blades like no other. A vast majroity of their skills are centered around improving their mastery and unmatched killing capabilities with the sword.
- Monster Knight: The Blood Knights; a cavalry unit consisting of armored vampire knights riding undead warhorses. Their considered one of - if not the - best shock cavalry in the series, being dangerous against anything (though they truly excel at killing other knights and monsters), with only Grail Knights contesting the claim.
- The Blood Dragons Bloodline in general, from which aforementioned Blood Knights come from, are this combined with Noble Demon below and Proud Warrior Race Guy, though they lean far to the Knight portion of this trope, being obsessed with martial prowess and the mastery of the blade. Currently, their Lord variants arethe most powerful non-legendary lords in the game, combining decent durability with insane damage output, using their twin blades to carve through other lords like cheddar.
- Mooks: A number of basic units, such as zombies and skeletons, which can be recruited for a low cost or even just raised in the middle of battle. They’re useful in the early game, but later on their only real use is for swarming and bogging down enemies while higher-tier units work.
- Mordor: The lands they conquer gradually transform into dark, forbidding Uberwalds that inflict attrition damage on non-undead armies. From a narrative perspective, meanwhile, the twin provinces that compose the cursed land of Sylvania are the proper undead Mordor due to serving as Vampire Counts' seat of power, and starting the campaign with 100% corruption that is difficult to purify. Attempting to wipe the Counts off the campaign map will inevitably involve fighting your way into Sylvania.
- The Necrocracy: Sylvania, Lahmia, Mousillon and any other lands controlled by vampires are Type III necrocracies (undead rulers, with both living and undead subjects). The von Carsteins in particular are known as 'The Midnight Aristocracy', since they only hold court after the sun has set and never after it rises, as well as being the ones most inclined to rule (and sometimes even well) over human subjects.
- Necromancer: Available as both a Hero Unit and a Lord that can be placed in charge of armies. Lore-wise, necromancers are humans who learned death magic from the books of Nagash, the first necromancer, and were eventually chased out of society by angry mobs and the witch hunters and forced to seek sanctuary among the vampires. The vampires themselves hold the human necromancers in contempt but, unlike most Fantasy works (who have Vampires and Necromancers at odds with each other) find them useful, although many vampires are necromancers themselves, and some humans have achieved a fair degree of power. Quite fittingly, both share the same Lore of Magic, the Lore of Vampires.
- Night of the Living Mooks: The armies of the Vampire Counts consist almost entirely of legions of undead horrors with little to nothing in the way of independent will. Fighting them means fighting endless ranks of corpses, wraiths and vampires that will never break ranks, show mercy or give quarter, and can never be reasoned with.
- Noble Demon: Blood Dragon knights, who are basically a cult of martial vampires who have a code of honor which states that only cowards prey on the weak and defenseless, and so they travel around picking fights with worthy warriors and monsters and feeding on their blood instead. They retain much of their previous nobility and honor (as most of them are former Imperial and Bretonnian Knights), and their progenitor, Aborash the Blood Dragon was a downright Token Good Teammate. They're still bloodthirsty (metaphorically and literally), undead monsters, but if you're a woman or child, they'll leave you alone.
- Mighty Glacier: They are certainly slow moving, but slow moving like an avalanche. Not only do their units have large health pools, they have truly ridiculous healing and regeneration options available to them (with spells, unit abilities, passive aura's from support Corpse Carts), meaning they can take alot of punishment, and can simply resurrect their fallen with magic.
- Our Banshees Are Louder: Banshees are available as a Hero Unit, and their primary purpose is to hunt down enemy heroes and lords; either by attacking them on the battlefield or assassinating them on the campaign map. They take the appearance of ghostly young girls with horrifying visages.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: The Vampire Counts can field a variety of ethereal units, like the Cairn Wraiths which have a chance of outright ignoring non-magical attacks in combat. While this makes them highly deadly against heroes and other slow-hitting-high-damage units, they tend to be vulnerable to cheaper and more numerous enemies, who can simply surround them and slowly hack away at their partial invulnerability. In the lore, all wraiths are either extremely dark spirits, or Necromancers who attempted to make themselves immortal, only to succeed in the most horrific way possible.
- Our Ghouls Are Different: Technically Living Zombies that feed on carrion and carry large bones as clubs. They actually have a lot in common with trolls—besides a visual similarity, both types of units regenerate damage over time and have an acid spit attack. There are also Crypt Horrors, monster-sized Ghouls who are given a dosage of Vampire blood to make them physically much more stronger then a regular Ghoul.
- The Strigoi Bloodline are this combined with Tragic Monster. Before they became the Ghoul Kings they are, the Strigoi ruled over a great kingdom where people loved them for being just rulers. Then way too many tragedies happened (among which their progenitor Ushoran getting killed), their kingdom fell into ruin and the survivors were hunted by both mortals and other vampire bloodlines. It was so bad they had to resolve to feeding on the blood, and later, flesh of the deceased. Needless to say this degenerated the Strigoi into animalistic, bestial juggernauts. Some do retain most of their sanity and try to rebuild the Strigos Empire. None of them however managed to pull it off.
- Our Vampires Are Different: While they look and act much like typical fantasy vampires, if they succumb to their bloodlust entirely (either willingly or from starvation), they'll mutate into hideous, barely-sentient monsters. They is also a multitude of vampiric sub-races, each with their own cultures, strengths and weaknesses.
- Our Wights Are Different: Wight Kings are available as a Hero Unit, being ancient warlords and chieftains who died long before the time of Sigmar. In gameplay, they serve as a beefier alternative to Vampires, but have no access to spells.
- Our Zombies Are Different: A weak, cheap and expendable basic unit, only really useful for bogging down the enemy battle line while your more elite forces do their jobs.
- Out of Focus: In the base game Vampire Counts were all of the Von Carstein family, which is only one of five families in the tabletop game. This trope then got slowly phased out over time as The Grim and the Grave added Strigoi Ghoul Kings as generic lords, Vlad's FLC added Blood Dragon Knights as recruitable units, and in the second game Mortal Empires introduced a 'Bloodline' mechanic that let the player hire unique Blood Dragon, Necrarch, Lahmian or Strigoi vampire lords as well.
- Savage Wolves: Vampire Aristocrats of the Von Carstein bloodline breed savage packs of Undead Direwolves within their dark castles, bloodthirsty parodies of real wolves, infused with dark magic to make them more aggressive. As they're often used as hunting hounds, they make decent scouts, as well as light cavalry and archer hunters. In the lore, Von Casteins can shapeshift into wolves, which is mentioned in the Flavor Text of one of the Bloodline Lords skills.
- Stronger with Age: Vampires get stronger as they get older, as they drink more and more blood to build up their power.
- Support Party Member: Necromancers. Much weaker than a Vampire Hero, yet they have a myriad of passives that buff the undead around them, alongside their access to the Lore of Vampires. They become even better at this role when mounted on a Corpse Cart, which gives them even more passive bonuses to units nearby. Necromancers are best put behind lines, close enough for them to support units with their abilities, yet far enough away from the battlefield.
- Corpse Carts themselves are very similar, which are rickety carts stuffed with fresh corpses, that are pulled along the Vampire Counts lines to give certain magical auras. There's no less then three variants. The normal one which provides regeneration to undead units around them. The second, which has a balefire brazier attached, which makes spellcasting more difficult for enemy wizards. And the third, which holds an Unholy Lodestone, doubles the regeneration undead receive.
- Technically Living Zombie: The ghouls. Unlike most depictions of ghouls, they aren't a type of undead or an evil spirit, being instead descended from humans who have turned into degenerate monsters through generations of inbreeding and cannibalism, and who are drawn to the Vampire Counts' armies by their ever-present dark magic and by the promise of fresh food. They especially like to follow Strigoi Vampires, who are equally hideous and depraved.
- Überwald: The territories they conquer turn into haunted wildernesses carpeted by thick, dark forests broken only by the fortresses of the local vampire lords and necromancers and by villages of oppressed peasants kept around chiefly as renewable sources of blood and corpses.
- The Undead: One of two undead factions in the tabletop (and one of three in the game proper), the other being the Tomb Kings, and the first one playable in the game itself. In contrast to the eastern styled Tomb Kings, and the nautical themed Vampire Coast, they collectively gather the standard stock of European Gothic Horror monsters (Ghosts, Wraiths, Vampires, Zombies Skeletons), putting them into a single army. Most are also simple puppets, commanded by the dark magic of their masters.
- Undeathly Pallor: All pure vampires have sickly pale skin, which just adds to their creepiness.
- Undead Laborers: Much of the Vampire Counts infrastructure buildings are crewed by undead slave laborers, going by their names. (Abandoned Wood Shed, for example.)
- Vampire Monarch: The Von Carsteins in particular tend to style themselves like this, as they're organized as feudal lines, with fine clothing and armor, legions of servants, and being the rulers of the Midnight aristocracy. Some even wish to become the Emperor of the Empire, though none have actually succeeded in this. The Lahmians get in on the act too, with Neferata styling herself as a queen.
- Vampire Variety Pack: The vampires of the Warhammer world are split into five distinct bloodlines, each descended from Queen Neferata or one of her four lieutenants, who were the first true vampires. The Von Carstein bloodline is the focus, but you can also recruit vampires from some other bloodlines:
- The Von Carsteins themselves are nobles and aristocrats, and are descended from Vashanesh; better known as Vlad von Carstein. More of a clan than a bloodline, the Von Carsteins frequently accept worthy outsiders into their fold. All generic vampires, vampire lords and vampiric legendary lords of the faction are Von Carsteins, and in Mortal Empires the Von Carsteins can also hire limited numbers of human serfs as missile units.
- The Blood Knights unit is composed of vampires from the militaristic Blood Dragons dynasty - originally an order of Imperial knights, until they were corrupted from within by Abhorash, the Blood Dragon. The Red Duke and (according to at least one source) Luther Harkon are also Blood Dragons, and in Mortal Empires you can 'awaken' the bloodline for military boosts and the ability to hire unique Blood Dragon lords.
- The Strigoi descend from Prince Ushoran, the brother of Neferata, and once ruled a mighty kingdom known as Strigos. However, the other bloodlines conspired to destroy Ushoran's work, and today the Strigoi are degenerate, scavenging beasts that closely resemble ghouls. Strigoi Ghoul Kings can be recruited to lead Vampire Count armies.
- The Necrarchs are the most seldom seen of their kind, an entire bloodline of powerful practitioners of Black Magic. They are also the closest Vampires still in touch with their Nehekhara roots, retaining use of the old language. In Mortal Empires the bloodline can be awakened for research and winds of magic boosts, and letting you hire unique Necrach vampire lords.
- Neferata's own descendants, the all-female Lahmians, are inhumanly beautiful and skilled at manipulating humanity from behind the scenes. In Mortal Empires the city of Lahmia is present as a ten-slot provincial capital, and awakening the Lahmian bloodline lets you hire unique Lahmian vampires.
- Vengeful Ghost: Wraiths who aren't dead necromancers, are incredibly dark spirits that had something horrible inflicted upon them, and now want to make everything living pay for it.
- Victory by Endurance: Most early-game battles will be this for a Vampire army, as their first and second tier units lack most redeeming qualities save for quantity and mass. They make up for it with their heavy health pools, and powerful support magic, which lets you keep resurrecting fallen soldiers. Played to the hilt in Vampire vs Vampire battles, which quickly devolve into a brutal attritional mess.
- Was Once a Man: All undead units, obviously, but Vargheists and Varghulfs were both once vampires—Vargheists were driven mad by centuries of imprisonment, while Varghulfs willingly surrendered themselves to their bloodthirst. The carrion-eating Ghouls are also notable as they're Technically Living Zombies - they're the result of several generations of human inbreeding and cannibalism mixed with Black Magic.
- Weaksauce Weakness: Ironically, despite never routing from combat, focusing on morale damage is actually extremely effective against undead armies, as their broken units will constantly lose health while fighting - which will result in their Leadership values decreasing from lost members, which will then make them easier to break again if they ever recover, and so on..
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Some Vampires are driven by noble goals. This was the general idea of Vlad von Carstein, who aimed to take over the Empire and convert it to undead to end its corruption and internal power struggles once and for all (also denying the Chaos Gods tens of thousands of souls to consume), a task which he almost managed to succeed with before he was betrayed by Mannfred on the evening before the final decisive battle.
- We Have Reserves: Low-tier Vampire Count armies in the campaign can play this trope by using the 'Raise Dead' mechanic between battles to instantly replace destroyed zombie/skeleton units with fresh ones. Bonus points if the previous battle was large enough to warrant the creation of even stronger undead at the site.
- Zombie Gait: Subverted. Zombies are fully capable of running in this game. That being said, they still aren't particularly fast.
Count Mannfred von Carstein, True Elector Count of Stirland
'The dark is my realm! The grave, my throne!'
Mannfred Von Carstein exhibits a characteristic that, in addition to his Vampiric speed and strength, is exceedingly dangerous. That characteristic is cunning. Whilst others of his bloodline spent aeons bickering and infighting, nearly destroying the dynasty in the process, Mannfred devoted his efforts to deepening his knowledge of necromantic lore. He made unholy pilgrimages to the ancient tombs of Nehekhara and the forgotten city of Lahmia, where the secrets of the Liche Priests were wrested from desiccated papyrus and ancient scriptures written on sheaves of tanned human skin. During this time he was able to conceal his dark gifts by travelling in the guise of an Imperial Lord. The only hints left to his true nature were hushed whispers of exsanguinated corpses found here and there where an unnamed Lord of prodigious wealth had passed through not long before.
When Mannfred returned and revealed himself fully, he was transformed almost beyond recognition -– his face contorted and corpse-like, his bare scalp writhing with necromantic power.
When Mannfred returned and revealed himself fully, he was transformed almost beyond recognition -– his face contorted and corpse-like, his bare scalp writhing with necromantic power.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: See Benevolent Boss.
- A God Am I: In a quest battle against the Bretonnians, he declares himself a god of undeath in his pre-battle speech. It fits well with his ego.
- Ambition Is Evil: He intends to conquer and subjugate the Empire, seeing Sigmar's throne as his by right of his blood.
- Animal Motif: Mannfred is often associated with vampire bats. Like them, Mannfred is cunning and stealthy and the style of his armor resembles bat wings. There's also the obvious.
- Animate Dead: Like all users of the Lore of Vampires, he has the ability to raise the corpses of the dead to do his bidding. Notably, he casts this spell in both the Vampire Counts cinematic trailer and in his faction's campaign intro, both times for the sake of flaunting his considerable power in front of a mortal.Mannfred: Thy brave corpses shall make a fine addition to my army!
- Antagonistic Offspring: Begins the Grand Campaign, as of the Old World Edition, as an enemy of his vampire parents Vlad and Isabella. Of course, he sees them as the exactopposite tropes.
- The Archmage: Noted as being the most mystically inclined of the Von Carstein bloodline, likely one of the most powerful vampire sorcerers in the entire world. He spent centuries being taught the Black arts in Nehekhara, so he's earned it. He's a master of two separate Lores of magic, the Lore of Death, and the Lore of the Vampire.
- Badass Boast: His claims to godhood.Mannfred: The flower of Bretonnia shall wither, and the tomb that holds my prize be broken open! And those inside shall serve me! They shall know a true deity! I am a GOD! Let thy gravebound and thy living worship ME! Mannfred the Wise, Mannfred the Unliving, Mannfred the Merciless!
- Badass Bookworm: Spent centuries pouring over old arcane tomes, and in the old Flavor Text when Vlad was part of the Vampire Counts faction, it mentions that Mannfred has returned to his castle to pour over old volumes of sorcery, while Vlad leads their armies.
- Back from the Dead: Was killed long ago but later resurrected when a necromancer's blood was spilled on his body. In-game, his Resurrection just happened.
- Badass Cape: Wears a tattered black cloak.
- Badass Teacher: He schooled Helman in the dark arts, and is indeed an extremely powerful vampire,
- Bald of Evil: Or Bald of Awesome if you're playing the Vampire Counts. It's self-inflicted, to signify his maturity as a vampire.
- Benevolent Boss: Amazingly enough, he seems to be this in this incarnation of the universe. Not only does he love giving his minions rousing speeches, he treats his dragon, Ghorst, with respect and even kindnesses (taking the young man under his wing during his darkest moments, and rewarding him an extremely powerful Tome of Eldritch Lore), enough the necromancer has Undying Loyalty to him. At the start of the game, it's even mentioned he offered to give the adviser the Blood Gift, a very high honor.
- Black Magic: Has complete mastery of the Lore of Vampires and the Lore of Death (the only Vampire with the ability), the most outwardly evil magics in the setting outside of Chaos Magic and Dark Magic, the sorcery of the Dark Elves - which, in the lore, served as the original basis for necromancy.
- Blasphemous Boast: 'I will take Sigmar's throne!'
- Casting a Shadow: Mannfred's body is wreathed in black vapour.
- Cool Sword: The Sword of Unholy Power, which Mannfred creates by slaughtering several hundred orcs and goblins at the foot of the Pillar of Bone, in order to charge the Winds of Magic with necromantic energy. In-game, it allows Mannfred to replenish his army's reserve of magic during battles as long as he remains in melee combat.
- The Corrupter: To Helman Ghorst, whom he taught the art of Necromancy.
- Dark Is Evil: Wears a set of blackened platemail, is heavily associated with the night, a master of two separate forms of Black Magic, and is one of the most sinister Vampire's to have walked the forests of Sylvania
- Dragon Rider: He has a zombie dragon as his highest tier mount; a barded, resurrected dragon that breaths unholy pestilence.
- Dual Wielding: Wields a Sinister Scimitar and a black scythe in unison, the scythe doubling as a magic staff.
- Evil Overlord: As the ruler of Sylvania, head of the von Carstein vampire clan, and one of the most powerful wizards in the Old World, with aspirations of world conquest.
- Evil Sorcerer: A powerful and accomplished necromancer with nothing resembling morals. When his kin brother was ruling their ancestral home, Mannfred on the other hand was traveling the world learning the dark arts.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Damn right he does. Mannfred's voice is very dark and throaty.
- Fantastic Racism: He despises Greenskins, calling them vermin and claiming they make for terrible undead minions.
- Flowery Elizabethan English: Speaks this way on occasion.Mannfred: Mortals! Thou have trespassed! Thy words had best hold prominence, or death shall visit thee!
- Looks Like Orlok: Due to his lack of hair. That being said, he still looks decidedly less overtly monstrous than most of the generic vampire lord variants, who are also bald.
- Magic Knight: Is proficient in both spellcasting and physical combat. Mannfred, is infact, one of the most powerful Lords in direct combat, especially when mounted on his Zombie Dragon.
- Manipulative Bastard: He maintains leadership of the Von Carstein vampires by playing off their desires and flaws, or even pitting dangerous rivals against each other.
- The Necrocracy: Rules one and hopes to expand its borders.
- Necromancer: An able student of the necromantic arts.
- Noodle Incident: The Battle of Hel Fenn - where a younger Mannfred was defeated and 'killed' by Count Martin of Stirland - is brought up a few times but never described in-game, making it this. Mannfred isn't terribly happy when his first quest battle takes place on the same battlefield.
- Plato Is a Moron: Makes this claim about Nagash.
- Rightful King Returns: A decidedly evil version: Mannfred doesn't just consider himself to be the true Elector Count of Stirland; he claims that he is the rightful emperor as well, and that Karl Franz is a craven usurper. His brief Motive Rant at the beginning of the Hel Fenn quest battle summarizes it rather nicely:Mannfred: Franz, the son of whores and tumorous burgomeisters, thinks the crown is his! But the house of the Reikland electors is tainted. As the last great count of Stirland, my claim is the truest! I should be emperor! I will be emperor!
- Sinister Scythe: Other than his sword, he also wields a hook scythe.
- The Starscream: It's been insinuated more than once that he was involved in the mysterious 'disappearance' of Vlad von Carstein's magical ring, he arranged for the loss of the ring and did so to engineer Vlad's downfall so he could take over. One of the reasons why Vlad wants his head is this very fact.
- Sorcerous Overlord: The ruler of Sylvania and the Von Carstein vampires and aspiring ruler of the Empire is also a necromancer of considerable power, a master of both Lore of Vampires and the Lore of Death.
- Vampire Monarch: The undead ruler of Sylvania and the von Carstein bloodline of vampires.
Heinrich Kemmler, The Lichemaster
'Where is Krell?'
It is said that the end goal of power is power itself. In no being, living or dead, is this personified more singularly than in Heinrich Kemmler. An avid enthusiast of the necromantic arts from his youth, by the time he was a man his command of the nefarious, morbid magics that rule the dead were powerful almost beyond equal. His ascendant star led him to defile the most ancient and secret of tombs in search of the forbidden knowledge that he sought so fervently. In time, his rivals banded together to engineer a defeat that left Kemmler broken in both body and mind. Half-sane and disfigured, the man who once called himself Lichemaster spent a great many years wandering the Grey Mountains as little more than a beggar. In due course, subtly guided by forces unknown, the haggard necromancer came upon the monolithic burial mound of a once-great Chaos Champion.
Here, Kemmler struck a terrible pact with the gods. They would restore his health and give to him power greater even than he had previously lost, and in exchange he resolved to do their bidding, becoming a tool of unilateral destruction. Now, once more, hushed whispers of the Lichemaster send shivers of fear down tavern-goers' spines, and plague their children’s minds with terrible nightmares.
Being first available from the start in Total War Warhammer in both Custom Games and The Grand Campaign and in Total War Warhammer 2 in Mortal Empires as a member of the main Vampire Counts faction, he eventually got to lead his own subfaction, The Barrow Legion, upon the release of The Vampire Coast, starting near the borders of Bretonnia, in the mountains that surround it.
Here, Kemmler struck a terrible pact with the gods. They would restore his health and give to him power greater even than he had previously lost, and in exchange he resolved to do their bidding, becoming a tool of unilateral destruction. Now, once more, hushed whispers of the Lichemaster send shivers of fear down tavern-goers' spines, and plague their children’s minds with terrible nightmares.
Being first available from the start in Total War Warhammer in both Custom Games and The Grand Campaign and in Total War Warhammer 2 in Mortal Empires as a member of the main Vampire Counts faction, he eventually got to lead his own subfaction, The Barrow Legion, upon the release of The Vampire Coast, starting near the borders of Bretonnia, in the mountains that surround it.
- Adaptational Wimp: In the tabletop, Kemmler was a kind of budget vampire with a master necromancer's powers — he would never be able to stand up to a vampire lord but could easily defeat most necromancers in hand-to-hand combat (and was also much cheaper than Mannfred while still having Loremaster of Vampires). His cloak (depending on edition) could also make him either able to fly, teleport, or become ethereal. Here, he's actually worse at melee combat than a generic necromancer lord, and his cloak only grants him Strider. Thankfully, Krell is always there to back him up.
- His update with the release of The Vampire Coast granted him many powerful buffs, including a Barded Nightmare (his lack of a mount was previously his greatest weakness), immunity to untainted attrition, and upgraded him from one of Manfred's Co-Dragons to his own power near Mousillion. His power in the lore was also given increased focus, with the inclusion of skills that give zombies a Healing Factor and a 0-cost upkeep.
- The Archmage: The greatest living necromancer in the lore, Kemmler has always had at least one kind of special rule to aid his spellcasting and had a White Dwarf-only exclusive lore (issue #311) called the Lore of the Lichemaster that was made up of improved versions of Nagash's original spells from the Lore of Vampires. In-game, Kemmler can become a Loremaster of the Lore of Vampires, greatly reducing cooldowns on spells.
- Beard of Evil: Has a white beard and is hideously evil.
- Badass Cape: His Cloak of Mists and Shadows, which has Kemmler surrounded by a dark presence that swirls and twists the cloak with a life of its own. In the lore it grants true Flight, but in game it only gives him protection and the Strider trait.
- Brains and Brawn: The Brains to Krell's Brawn. Though Krell is actually a lot smarter than he lets on and Kemmler's sanity is suspect, Kemmler is still the one who calls the shots.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: While nowhere as bad as, say, Luther Harkon, Kemmler's quotes are a little out there.
- Kemmler: Quiet skull staff! I know what I'm doing..
- Cool Sword: The Chaos Tomb Blade, which is taken from Krell's resting place. This evil weapon not only fills its wielder with an unholy energy but also entraps the souls of those it cleaves, binding their fleshless remains in servitude.
- Co-Dragons: Was effectively this in the vanilla game with Helman Ghorst, as they are both human necromancers in service to Mannfred von Carstein. As of the Vampire Coast update, like Vlad, he's seemingly had enough of Mannfred and has become his own master once more, leading his own faction, and averting this.
- Consulting Mr Puppet: He can be heard arguing with his Skull Staff during combat. Then again, lorewise the skull staff is actually talking back..
- Deal with the Devil: He made a pact with the Chaos Gods that he would spread destruction in their name if they gave him back his wits and magical skills. This is even reflected by one of his new campaign bonuses: he gets a whopping thirty bonus to diplomacy with factions that worship Chaos, making him the only Chaos-aligned Necromancer in the series so far.
- Dragon with an Agenda: In Heinrich's Warhammer 1 campaign intro, it's essentially stated that his alliance with the vampire lord is one of mere convenience. In Mortal Empires, he's not allied with Mannfred at all.
- Evil Old Folks: An old man and a power-hungry necromancer.
- Evil Sorcerer: Obviously.
- Evil Sounds Raspy: Has a wheezy, rasping old-man voice to underline his sinister nature.
- Genuine Human Hide: His robes are made from human skin.
- Lampshade Hanging: In one of his in-game quotes he can be heard asking 'Where is Krell?'. This makes fun of the fact that his Chaos Lord-turned-Wight bodyguard was missing from the game at launch. In the lore, Krell is almost always with Kemmler everywhere he goes. He was finally made playable after the 'Old Friend' FLC was revealed to be him.
- Magikarp Power: Kemmler is completely outclassed at the start of every Vampire Counts campaign by every other Legendary Lord. Once he begins investing skill points into making the already formidable Krell even more powerful, he begins pulling his weight a lot more during the mid-and-late game, bringing a free (and permanent) powerhouse of a summonable hero to the battlefield.
- The Minion Master: Kemmler can temporarily summon Krell once per battle as a powerful Legendary Hero unit. He also has a skill chain dedicated to improving Krell's attributes, which culminates in making Krell immune to the usual life-decay of summoned units.
- Mythology Gag: His Mortal Empires faction, 'The Barrow Legion', takes it's name from a semi-canon armylist written in White Dwarf for Kemmler a very long time ago.
- Necromancer: The greatest living necromancer in the setting. Emphasis on living.
- Obviously Evil: It's notable that even in a faction made up of the living dead and their monstrous masters, Kemmler comes off as the most obviously evil of the bunch. His lines sound like a Saturday morning cartoon villain.
- Overshadowed by Awesome: Kemmler had a bad case of this in the first game, which only got worse with the release of Vlad and Ghorst. With the release of Krell in the Old Friend FLC Kemmler got an unique factor back, and as of Mortal Empires he's now in possession of his own faction and immunity to attrition.
- Predecessor Villain: A meta example. Kemmler was the first named character ever created for the Warhammer universe, and set the precedent for the creation of unique named characters for use in the game's army lists. In a roundabout way, every single Legendary Lord in the game can be traced back to Heinrich Kemmler.
- Robe and Wizard Hat: His are, appropriately enough for a necromancer, adorned with bones, skulls and human skin.
- Skeletons in the Coat Closet: His hat is wrapped in what appears to be a snake skeleton, with it's skull resting at the tip.
- Squishy Wizard: Especially when compared to Mannfred. Heinrich's statline is actually slightly worse than a generic Master Necromancer at the beginning of the campaign, and he cannot ride mounts; making him extremely vulnerable and requiring constant protection. Fortunately, he has Krell to offset this weakness.
- Took a Level in Badass: Meta example, and one of the most shining examples in the series so far. Kemmler in the Warhammer 1 days was basically the laughing stock of the entire fanbase; an absolutely garbage Legendary Lord that was never picked, didn't feel like his lore at all, mocked for being an underling of Mannfred, and had worse stats than the generic Necromancer Lord! The Old Friend FLC, however, gave him his own little niche as The Minion Master, but even then, people were far more afraid of Krell then Kemmler. Mortal Empires, however, not only gives him a host of very powerful buffs, such as a mount, a bunch of way more useful campaign bonuses, proper abilities that reflect his lore, alongside the powerhouse that is Krell, it finally made him his legitimate power in his own right, no longer a subordinate to the Vampires. Kemmer has gone a very long way.
- Vampire Wannabe: Averted, which is unusual for necromancers in the Warhammer universe. A lore piece in the 4th edition reveals Kemmler thinks of necromancers who join up with vampires for the promise of immortality are all idiots. While Kemmler is an Immortality Seeker, he wants a living form of immortality.
- Wild Card: Kemmler explicitly serves no-one but himself, and has only aligned himself with the Midnight Aristocracy out of convenience..which as Mortal Empires has ended, and has Kemmler striking out on his own.
- Who's Laughing Now?: One of Kemmler's lines on the campaign map are 'They will ALL pay..'
Helman Ghorst, Necromancer Lord
'Death is only the beginning!'
Helman Ghorst was once a man, the youngest of five brothers living in the village that would one day be Castle Templehof. The loss of his father and brothers to a plague sent Ghorst into an obsessive madness; he began studying the black arts in the hope of returning his lost kin to life. Coming to the attention of Mannfred von Carstein, the Count taught him necromancy, transforming Helman into something beyond the grief-maddened man from Templehof. Now, he is carried through the night on a bone-ridged cart; pulled not by horses, but by the brothers he so desperately wished to save – each a once-handsome farrier restored to a mockery of life, forced to stumble along at the head of their brother’s unliving host.
Helman Ghorst is a Legendary Lord available to those who purchased The Grim and the Grave DLC.
Helman Ghorst is a Legendary Lord available to those who purchased The Grim and the Grave DLC.
- Adaptational Badass: Of a sort. In the background lore Helman was a capable, but not exceptional necromancer. Certainly not of the level of someone like Heinrich Kemmler. In this game however not only are his spells every bit as effective as those wielded by any other caster with the lore of vampires, he possesses a number of unique traits and skills that allow him to outshine Kemmler in nearly every respect.
- This was eventually phased out at the game progressed. With the addition of a massive slew of buffs aimed at Kemmler (Including his trademark dragon, Krell Lord of Undeath), the opposite has happened, and now Kemmler and Helman are at their proper levels of power, with Kemmler by far the superior Lord choice, with Helman an powerful, but lesser, Necromancer that serves as a secondary support character to his liege lord, Mannfred's.
- Animate Dead: All users of the Lore of Vampires can do this, but unique to Ghorst is the spell Awaken from the Grave, which instead summons a unit of Grave Guard or (when overcast) a Wight King.
- Ascended Extra: On the tabletop, Helman is nothing but a bit of flavor lore relating to the Corpse Carts◊, and has no model, rules or presence in the greater setting. In Total War: Warhammer, however, Helman is a Legendary Lord capable of commanding armies.
- Badass Bookworm: Is both a powerful sorcecer, and a well read scholar. To reflect this he grants a very useful bonus to research via his Neophyte trait. Combine it with another unique trait he can unlock at a very early level (level 4) and you gain twice the research bonus from him. Quite useful if you don't have Necromancer Towers yet or you have them too few.
- Bastard Understudy: He's actually Mannfred's apprentice, having learned everything he knows about Necromancy from the dark Vampire Lord, and he remains his most devoted follower.
- Cast from Hit Points: The Liber Noctus allows Ghorst to boost his power recharge rate and shave sixty seconds off all of his current ability cooldowns, at the cost of suffering damage.
- Co-Dragons: Is effectively this with Heinrich Kemmler, as they are both human necromancers in service to Mannfred von Carstein. Though he is the only one of the pair stated to be explicitly loyal to Mannfred.
- The Dragon: By Warhammer II and the launch of Curse of the Vampire Coast, however, Kemmler struck out to form his own sub-faction, leaving Ghorst as Mannfred's official second-in-command.
- Driven to Suicide: When his brothers died, Helman attempted to contract the plague as well from their dead bodies. It didn't work.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite being a sinister necromancer, he sincerely loves his brothers.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: He started as a mere peasant who wanted to bring his brothers back from the dead. Now he leads armies of the undead on behalf of Mannfred von Carstein.
- Magic Knight: His unique skill tree is focused on giving Ghorst more survivability in combat, by heavily buffing up his melee defense and melee attack, turning him from a Squishy Wizard into this.
- Necromantic: Platonic example: Helman's Start of Darkness was a desire to resurrect his four brothers, who had died from a plague in their home village. Now they pull his personal Corpse Cart in battle.
- Poisonous Person: If Helman is chosen as your starting Lord, all units in his army gain poison attacks.
- Poisonous Friend: Mannfred was seemingly this to him, being solely responsible for his Start of Darkness. Though it does appear Maanfred fondness for him is genuine.
- Start of Darkness: His was the loss of his family to the plague, which eventually drove him to the study of necromancy in a desperate attempt to revive them.
- Tome of Eldritch Lore: The Liber Noctus, a tome of necromancy that was bestowed upon Ghorst by Mannfred von Carstein, after he graduated from his apprenticeship as a gift. The book is derived from one of Nagash's own tomes.
- Undying Loyalty: What he's noted to have for Mannfred, he's genuinely very loyal to his master.
Vlad von Carstein
Vlad von Carstein, former Elector Count of Sylvania
'Surrender and serve me in life, or die and slave for me in death'
Vlad von Carstein was the first Vampire Count of Sylvania, and the founder of the Von Carstein bloodline. He was dreaded by many as the monster that has brought the darkness upon the lands of Sylvannia after his marriage with Isabella von Drak, daughter of the late Imperial Count Otto von Drak. His bid for power and the desire to rule the whole Empire as his own have ensured the total collapse of the Imperial province, and heralded the beginning of the first Vampire Wars from 2010 IC onwards. Though his death signaled the end of the grueling conflict in 2051 IC, the lands of Sylvania were forever cursed with the powers of the Undead, becoming the breeding grounds for a multitude of Necromancers, Vampires, and other dark creatures. As the years go by, the land will forever be shunned by the other Imperial provinces, and every other century another one of Vlad's own blood-line rises up and challenges the Empire in hopes of fulfilling that which Vlad could not.
Vlad Von Carstein is a FLC legendary lord available to everyone after Update 3, and may be used in the Grand Campaign, Custom Battles and Multiplayer. Together with his wife, Isabella, he also leads the sub-faction of the Von Carsteins, which can be played in custom games and the Grand Campaign.
Vlad Von Carstein is a FLC legendary lord available to everyone after Update 3, and may be used in the Grand Campaign, Custom Battles and Multiplayer. Together with his wife, Isabella, he also leads the sub-faction of the Von Carsteins, which can be played in custom games and the Grand Campaign.
- Affably Evil: Underneath his unlimited ambition, infinite ruthlessness and other vampire-related evilness is a decent person, who Vlad occasionally lets show.
- Archnemesis Dad: As of the Old World Edition, he starts as an enemy of his vampire son Mannfred, whom he sees as an uppity littletraitor.
- Authority Equals Ass Kicking: Led the von Carstein family because he was the most powerful of them, which does say something. And now he aims to again by showing his son who the true lord of Undeath is..
- Back from the Dead: Died at least four times during the Vampire Wars (the last one sticking due to the lack of his ring) before returning at the onset of the game.
- Battle Couple: With Isabella von Carstein. When reinforcing/being reinforced by Isabella's army, both characters gain bonuses to their combat prowess.
- Vlad and Isabella also start out able to recruit the other right off the bat, and at a discount. Every other faction in the game need to do something to unlock whatever Legendary Lords they didn't start with.
- The Berserker: On the battlefield, Vlad seems to let his animal instincts get the better of him, becoming a raging ball of unholy death, complete with screaming, and erratic swords swings.
- Big-Bad Ensemble: Vlad rules the Von Carstein subfaction with Isabella, while Mannfred rules the primary Vampire Counts faction.
- Blood Knight: Easily the loudest and most aggressive of the undead Legendary Lords introduced, to the point where one of his quotes when commencing a field battle is to simply scream 'Blood!'. Were it not for his name and appearance, you could easily mistake him for the actual crazed Blood Knight of the von Carstein family, Konrad.
- Bling of War: His wargear, is extremely ornate, a heavy set of gold and iron plate armor, covered in Vampire iconography.
- Comeback Mechanic: The Von Carstein Ring can be activated to give Vlad an insane 90% ward save, giving him a few seconds of effective invincibility. Paired with the Invocation of Nehek and his Blood Drinker sword granting Regeneration, he can gain a burst of healing without his opponent being able to hit him.
- Cool Sword: Blood Drinker, a vampiric blade that exudes an unearthly green glow and constantly regenerates Vlad's health.
- Cultured Badass: Vlad is genteel and well-traveled. When he took rulership of Sylvania, he was eager to learn the cultures of the Empire from his wife. On the campaign map, he speaks with both refinement and sophistication.
- Damage-Sponge Boss: Even among other Vampire Lords, who are all Magic Knights that can learn 'The Hunger' to gain a Healing Factor in direct combat, Vlad can learn that skill and gain two artifacts that boost his health regeneration even further.
- Demoted to Dragon: Initially played straight, as Mannfred was still the leader of the Vampire Counts despite Vlad's return, but later subverted once he and Isabella were moved into their own subfaction.
- Depending on the Writer: Being one of the oldest Warhammer characters (not as old as Kemmler, but still), Vlad has had many interpretations over the years, from an Ax-CrazyThe Caligula who took control of Sylvania by butchering its ruling class in a Nasty Party and literally bathed in the blood of imperials during the Vampire Wars, to an Anti-Villain who wants to protect humanity from Chaos (the latter especially in The End Times, which saw him join the Forces of Order long before Nagash did). About the only thing that's remained consistent is his geniune love for Isabella, and the fact that he started the Vampire Wars by invading the Empire during the time of the Three Emperors. The Vlad shown in-game is closest to as he's presented in the Vampire Counts army books, a bloodthirsty and ruthless conqueror who nonetheless wants to rule the living instead of killing them all.
- Disc-One Nuke: Vlad is frighteningly powerful out of the gate, with his high melee stats, all-army vanguard deployment and siege attacker trait, his low-level unique skills that give free XP to his entire faction (including garrisons) and his extremely powerful starting army (including vargheists and a unit of blood knights). He also starts two turns away from Castle Drakenhof, and can easily take it on his own if reinforced by Isabella. In terms of the lategame, however, he is less of a One-Man Army than a dragon-mounted Mannfred, and lacks Isabella's synergy bonuses to specific army builds.
- The Dreaded: Can unlock the Supernatural Horror trait that grants him Terror.
- Elite Mook: Turns all regiments in his and all Vampire Counts armies into these via his Coven of The Undead trait he unlocks on level 4.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Deeply loves his wife Isabella and the feeling is mutual, to the point that Isabella was Driven to Suicidenot long after Vlad's initial destruction. Fortunately, they both got better. Averted with Mannfred.
- Facial Horror: His skin features patches of decay, his hair is limp and stringy, and his nose has either rotted away or has deformed into vampire bat-like nostrils.
- Founder of the Kingdom: Vlad is the founder of the Von Carstein bloodline and the first vampiric ruler of Sylvania.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: In-universe: Downplayed as Vlad and Vampires are clearly dangerous, but the question is how dangerous they are. Vlad went from a strangely accented foreign nobleman of indeterminate origin to a conquering Vampire Lord. Vlad also did this to Vampires as a whole in regards to how the Empire views them. Vampires went from being seen as undead monsters who occasionally cause people to go missing from villagers and towns to conquerors of nations with armies of undead at their beck and call.
- Genius Bruiser: Not only is he a highly skilled swordsman, a competent mage, and a wrecking ball of speed and strength, he's a brilliant military genius that nearly conquered the entire Empire. He makes sure to instill his legions with some cunning, training both his own army with a massive experience gain each turn, and a still considerable experience gain for every army in his faction.
- Game-Breaker: He can easily become one due to his capabilities and magic items that turn him into a Damage-Sponge Boss, as well as gaining a set of unique skills that make him incredibly useful. He grants his entire army Vanguard deployment allowing them to be placed almost anywhere on the field, when attacking and defending. The most useful, however, grants every non-Lord/non-Hero undead regiment experience every turn, essentially turning them into Elite Mooks. Vlad's army gets 230 experience points, while the rest get 150. This may result at one point in getting extremely experienced armies much earlier and with less effort. He can steam roll the early game with his vanguarding armies, and snowball from there as he begins passively buffing his troops into murder machines and turns into an incredibly tanky lord.
- The best part about these traits? They can be unlocked at level 4.
- I Was Quite a Looker: Vlad was known to be very handsome in life, and looked quite normal in his 4th-5th edition incarnation◊ (keeping in mind the earlier editions had a much more exaggerated style). His in-game version is more in leaning with the model used from 6th edition onwards◊, implied by the tabletop game to be his Game Face.
- Join or Die: As per his quote, he's big on this. When the army of Otillia III chose to fight him at the beginning of the Vampire Wars, Vlad killed everyone in the army for their defiance, whether they died fighting, fled, or surrendered when the battle was lost.
- Master Swordsman: By far the most gifted Von Carstein when it comes to swordplay, Vlad is highly skilled with the broadsword, and can reliably fight against most opponents. It's said that only Aborash the Blood Dragon could surpass his own skill, who happens to be theMaster Swordsman of Warhammer.
- Magic Knight: Leaning more towards the knight than Mannfred, as Vlad is most well known for his melee prowess and insane durability.
- Mighty Glacier: Vlad has no mount options, unlike Mannfred and Isabella, and is stuck footslogging it. In between Blood Drinker and the Von Carstein Ring he is immensely difficult to put down, and having an infantry model makes him much less vulnerable to massed ranged fire.
- Multiple-Choice Past: It's unclear who Vlad was before becoming a nobleman in Sylvania. Some say he was sired by Queen Neferata's husband. Others say he is Neferata's husband using a different name. The End Times go with the later interpretation, but the game itself offers no hints..barring having a diplomacy affinity with Servants of Nagash.
- Nerf: Vlad Von Carstein was almost single-handedly responsible for the introduction of a regeneration cap to the game's mechanics: Without the cap (and while the Von Carstein Ring gave regeneration) he was Nigh Invulnerable.
- Our Founder: To the Midnight Aristocracy of Sylvania and the von Carstein vampire clan that rules it.
- Predecessor Villain: As the founder of the von Carstein bloodline, Vlad is this to Mannfred von Carstein and the Midnight Aristocracy itself. He's also responsible for the current state of Sylvania by using an incarnation from the Books of Nagash (and a giant pile of Warpstone) to blight the land and cloud the skies.
- Pro-Human Transhuman: Vlad is said to have cherished his tenants as a peasant family cherishes a beast they are fattening for a Midwinter Feast, and put a great amount of time and effort into making Sylvania better than it was run by his predecessor. In-game he can get downright courteous to his living allies, even Empire or Dwarf ones.Vlad: The Men of the Empire are always welcome in my court!
- Rasputinian Death: In the lore, Vlad's final death involved him being thrown off Altdorf's battlements into a pit of wooden spikes (impaling him) by the Grand Theogonist of Sigmar (who landed on top on him just for that extra impalement). His body had all his limbs broken, tied into a bundle with silver wire, holy wafers and garlic was stuffed in his mouth, and he was buried in sacred ground beneath said Grand Theogonist. In-game, Vlad's high HP, Leadership and melee stats, coupled with his Ring and regeneration, more or less ensures he'll always be the last casualty on his own side.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Contrasting with Mannfred, who has Prophet Eyes.
- Replacement Goldfish: Over the course of one of his quests, Vlad will request that a vampire hero be attached to his army — ostensibly to serve as one of these to Isabella von Carstein. Curiously due to an oversight, this quest remains even with Isabella back (and thanks to their Battle Couple mechanics, almost certainly standing right next to him)!
- Revenge:
- In the original edition, if you didn't chose him as your starting Lord, the only way to unlock him was by razing Altdorf — the site of his previous defeat — to the ground.
- In the Old World Edition, he's coming after Mannfred for being The Starscream.
- Ring of Power: The Carstein Ring, which bestows a Comeback Mechanic upon Vlad, and in lore, made him Nigh Invulnerable.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Canonically, Vlad was defeated and destroyed at the Siege of Altdorf in IC 2051, over five-hundred years before the events of this game. While Vlad does eventually return to life in the setting, it won't actually happen until the opening months of the End Times, twenty years later.
- Spikes of Villainy: Has several massive spikes protruding from the back of his armor, in the style of Blood Dragon armor.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Meta example. As of The Old World Edition, Vlad has gotten a lot nicer, and is very courteous on the diplomacy screen, and seems to be genuinely warm towards his allies, unlike Mannfred who always has an undertone of mocking. He's still a maniac on the battlefield, however..
- Unholy Matrimony: With Isabella, being the setting's triumphant (or to be specific, only) example of an evil character with a completely happy home life.
- Vampire Monarch: The first of the Vampire Counts of Sylvania.
- Vampire Vords: Downplayed, but Vlad has a noticeable Hungarian accent, unlike the English accents of his descendants. This is justified by the fact that, unlike most of his descendants, Vlad is not imperial by birthnote and as such affected a fake accentnote in order to pass himself off as a foreign nobleman when he went to claim the hand of Isabella.
- Worthy Opponent: Defied. In the speeches for one quest battle he curses that he hasn't found one among the men he's fought; wishing for someone like the warriors of his time.
Isabella von Carstein, Heir of the Mad Count
'Bring me what I am owed!'
Isabella was the daughter of Otto, last of the mad von Drak counts of Sylvania. On his deathbed, without a male heir, he swore he would rather marry his daughter to a daemon than let his brother Leopold inherit. Then, one stormy night, a black coach arrived at Castle Drakenhof and a stranger demanded entry. He had a strange accent, but he was a noble and called himself Vlad. He had come to claim Isabella's hand. Unwilling to give his daughter to any noble from Sylvania, and because of his oath, Otto agreed to the marriage. The ceremony was performed before the dying count's bed, and when it was complete, the last von Drak expired. With his death, Vlad von Carstein became the new elector count of Sylvania. However, what began as a marriage of convenience had, over time, grown into something much more. After a few years of his rule, Isabella had fallen sick with an incurable illness. Unable to be cured by the doctors, Vlad dismissed them. He could not imagine spending the rest of eternity without her, and so gave her the Blood Kiss. She was ever afterward pale and never left her chambers save by moonlight.
Together, Vlad and Isabella firmly ruled Sylvania for many years and were unchanged by time. In the meantime, many of the nobles were also plagued by the same disease the Isabella had, and soon, castles in Sylvania were home to nocturnal and long-living folk. When Vlad assembled a nightmarish army to commence the Vampire Wars, Isabella stood at his side, and took her own life when she learned he had perished at the climactic Siege of Altdorf. Now, centuries later, Isabella rises again to be with her beloved, and to take vengeance upon the craven Empire and those among the vampires who had abandoned them to their fate.
Announced on Valentine's Day 2017, Isabella became available at the release of Bretonnia's grand campaign, and is part of a Vampire Counts subfaction — the Von Carsteins — alongside her husband Vlad.
Together, Vlad and Isabella firmly ruled Sylvania for many years and were unchanged by time. In the meantime, many of the nobles were also plagued by the same disease the Isabella had, and soon, castles in Sylvania were home to nocturnal and long-living folk. When Vlad assembled a nightmarish army to commence the Vampire Wars, Isabella stood at his side, and took her own life when she learned he had perished at the climactic Siege of Altdorf. Now, centuries later, Isabella rises again to be with her beloved, and to take vengeance upon the craven Empire and those among the vampires who had abandoned them to their fate.
Announced on Valentine's Day 2017, Isabella became available at the release of Bretonnia's grand campaign, and is part of a Vampire Counts subfaction — the Von Carsteins — alongside her husband Vlad.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Both Vlad and Isabella's tabletop models were given a more feral-looking makeover between the 5th and 6th editions of the tabletop game, but Vlad resembles his new model while Isabella resembles her old model.
- Adaptational Badass: In the tabletop game Isabella was a hero unit rather than a lord and was only a level 1 wizard note . In this game however she is not only a lord choice, but is also every bit as effective a spellcaster as her husband note .
- Admiring the Abomination: Makes such a remark during one of her quest battles, in regards to the Beastmen, stating that 'They might be beautiful if they weren't so terribly disgusting'.
- Ascended Extra: A downplayed example compared to Ghorst and Duke Alberic, but Isabella in the tabletop can't be an army general and instead forms a dual unit with Vlad (who will always be the general instead). Here, she is a Legendary Lord in her own right.
- Battle Couple: With Vlad von Carstein. When reinforcing/being reinforced by Vlad's army, both characters gain bonuses to their combat prowess.
- Vlad and Isabella also start out able to recruit the other right off the bat, and at a discount. Every other faction in the game need to do something to unlock whatever Legendary Lords they didn't start with.
- The Beastmaster: Many of her Army skills are geared towards buffing Vargulfs, Dire Bats and Terrorgeists, and it's noted in Flavor Text that she surrounds herself with the natural predators of Sylvania because she adores them so much.
- Bowdlerise: Her tabletop model◊ had pronounced, visible cleavage as well as exposed panties, but her armor in this game - much like her official art for the tabletop rule book◊ - makes sure to keep most of it covered.
- Somewhat ironically however, the generic vampire hero unit seems to be directly modeled after Isabella's tabletop look, complete with Absolute Cleavage.
- Dark Action Girl: Isabella is one of the only two female Legendary Lords available in the first game; the other being Morgiana le Fay of Bretonnia, and unlike the Fey Enchantress, Isabella is a highly sinister figure, an inhuman monster who fights with both powerful magic and quick swordplay.
- Dark Mistress: Acts as this to Vlad von Carstein, though they technically are married.
- Depending on the Writer: Similar to her husband, especially with regards to the opinion she held her father in. Some stories even go so far as to portray her as the calmer of the two, tempering Vlad's hotheaded side.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She and Vlad deeply love each-other, to the point that Isabella was Driven to Suicidenot long after Vlad's initial destruction. Fortunately, they both got better. Again, averted with Mannfred.
- Evil Matriarch: Served as the 'mom' to Vlad's vampire children, including Mannfred and Konrad. Still does, but not to Mannfred anymore.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: The only vampire to have them, to boot. Isabella's irises glow a vivid teal, similar in color to the Glowing Eyelights of Undeath found throughout the Vampire Counts' army roster.
- Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Just because you have to wear armor, doesn't mean you can't make it look stunning together with a dress.
- Magikarp Power: In contrast to Vlad being a Crutch Character. While she picks up steam a lot slower, with her lower melee stats and worse starting units, Isabella has mount options, a unique red tree that makes an army made out of vampiric beasts frighteningly effective, and her faction bonuses to vampire hero damage means she can load an entire army full of vampire heroes and curbstomp practically anything the AI can throw at her.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Finally reunited with her husband, what is her first order of business? Simple. To ravage through the lands of Sylvania until she can get her hands on that ungrateful bastard Mannfred and tear him to shreds for betraying his parents at Altdorf!
- Spared by the Adaptation: Canonically, Isabella committed suicide following Vlad's death in IC 2051, over five-hundred years before the events of this game. She does come back in the setting during the End Times, but with a daemon of Nurgle possessing her and fighting for the Forces of Chaos.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Vlad is a decayed, snaggle-toothed monster, but Isabella remains beautiful, if eerily doll-like. There isn't a single blemish on her entire body.
- Unholy Matrimony: She and her husband Vlad have shared a genuinely happy, loving marriage for all the centuries they've spent as undead abominations leading armies of horrors in their attempts to force the Old World under their dark rule.
- Vampire Vords: Like her husband, Isabella has an Eastern-European accent.
The Red Duke of Mousillon
'You reek of anguish, or hopelessness, haha! Yes, let us parley!'
The Red Duke, also known as the Scourge of Aquitaine, was the former Bretonnian Duke of Aquitaine during his mortal life. An avid crusader and mighty warrior, he contracted a mysterious illness during his participation in the Great Crusade against the Arabyans. Falling mortally ill, he was taken back to his realm by his loyal knights, there to die in bed after three nights. Mourning the loss of their beloved Duke, the people buried him in a tomb fit for a king. However, this was not the end for the duke. Three nights later, the door of the tomb opened and out stepped the duke — reborn as a dread vampire.
The Red Duke is the leader of the NPC faction Mousillon in the Grand Campaign, and is playable in custom games and multiplayer after beating the 'Season of Revelations' mini-Campaign in the Realm of the Wood Elves DLC.
The Red Duke is the leader of the NPC faction Mousillon in the Grand Campaign, and is playable in custom games and multiplayer after beating the 'Season of Revelations' mini-Campaign in the Realm of the Wood Elves DLC.
- Ascended Extra/Promoted to Playable: In much the same vein as Boris Todbringer, the Red Duke was originally a generic Vampire Lord in charge of Mousillon — a Vampire Counts minor faction within the lands of Bretonnia you probably wouldn't even fight in the average Grand Campaign. Now he's a minor Legendary Lord that can be unlocked by completing a challenge campaign.
- Ax-Crazy: As any proper Blood Dragon, he also gets the Frenzy special rule.
- Blood Knight: Both literally, and figuratively. He's a a Blood Knight of the Blood Dragon order, and someone who hungers for blood and slaughter, the Red Duke being one of the most infamous members of the entire order.
- Evil Gloating: As he shares his dialogue with the generic Vampire Lord, he's fond of doing this when you come to negotiate with him:'You reek of anguish, or hopelessness, haha! Yes, let us parley!'
'Morrslieb glows.. I can tell, for you come thinking to bargain; but I have already won!'
'There is desperation in your pitiful eyes! That knowledge alone will be leveraged against you!' - Fallen Hero: Formerly a brave, heroic duke of Bretonnia, and is now a horrid monster of the Night.
- Non-Player Character: The Red Duke cannot be selected as a Legendary Lord in the Grand Campaign — instead, he exists as the leader of an AI-controlled minor faction.
- No Name Given: The only Legendary Lord without a proper name; he is known only by his title.
- Palette Swap: There is not much differentiating him from a regular Vampire Lord outside of better stats and one unique spell. The faction of Mousillon itself is a palette swap of the main Vampire Counts faction, only with all the red markings replaced with yellow.
- Spikes of Villainy: His armor is covered in them.
Krell, the Lord of Undeath
'Krell ishere.'
In life, Krell was a Lord of Chaos, the master of a bloodthirsty warrior kingdom that existed within the lands of the Empire over fifteen-hundred years before the birth of Sigmar Heldenhammer. With Khorne as his patron and the night goblins as his allies, Krell attempted to storm the lands of the dwarfs, ransacking the holds of Karak Ungor and Karak Varn before being slain at the battle of Karak Kadrin.
Millennia after his demise, Heinrich Kemmler discovered Krell's tomb and managed to restore his powers and abilities by forging a pact with the gods. So it was that Krell rose from the dead once again as a wight, to fight alongside his new master.
Introduced in the Old Friend Free-LC, Krell is a Legendary Hero that can be summoned by Heinrich Kemmler as a special ability in singleplayer and multiplayer battles.
Millennia after his demise, Heinrich Kemmler discovered Krell's tomb and managed to restore his powers and abilities by forging a pact with the gods. So it was that Krell rose from the dead once again as a wight, to fight alongside his new master.
Introduced in the Old Friend Free-LC, Krell is a Legendary Hero that can be summoned by Heinrich Kemmler as a special ability in singleplayer and multiplayer battles.
- Ax-Crazy: Krell still has the mindset of a Norscan berserker, all he cares about is inflicting violence.
- An Axe to Grind: Benefiting a former Champion of Khorne. The Black Axe, is his weapon of choice, a massive two handed battleaxe that glows with baleful blue light. In the lore the axe is a vile weapon that leaves shards of metal in the wound, which slowly worm their way towards their victim's heart.
- The Berserker: Krell's undeath has changed little when it comes to fighting style, which is relentlessly powerful strikes with his axe until his victim is nothing more then a bloody pulp.
- Black Knight: Has the appearance of one, as do all wights, but he gets the look even better, as unlike other wights Krell wears ancient, yet expertly forged, Chaos Warrior plate armor which has been modified to sport Vampire Count iconography and colors rather than symbols of the Ruinous Powers.
- Brains and Brawn: The Brawn to Kemmler's Brain. Krell is actually a lot more sentient and independent than he lets on, but remains firmly aligned with Kemmler and lets him call the shots despite the necromancer's.. Eccentricities.
- Brick Joke: One of the very first memes in Total War: Warhammer's community was inspired by Kemmler openly lampshading Krell's absence during a developer gameplay preview. As Creative Assembly geared up to release Total War: Warhammer II, they released a free DLC that finally included Krell in the base game, as a summoned companion for the Lichemaster.
- The Dragon: Is both Kemmler's bodyguard and primary enforcer; though many have questioned Krell's true loyalty.
- Enigmatic Minion: Krell rarely speaks, and usually carries out Heinrich's orders with brutal efficiency, with a certain coldness that contrasts with his status as a Norscan Champion of Khorne. He seemingly has little personal loyalty to the Lichemaster, barring some gratitude for raising him so he can slaughter once more, it's just convenient to serve him. The End Times, and his summon spell's Flavor Text, reveal his first, and only true loyalty is to his old lord Nagash.
- The Ghost: He was mentioned quite a bit in the early days of the game, even before he became an actual Hero Unit, mostly by his 'old friend'.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: Like all wights, his eye holes are inhabited by spheres of cold, blue energy.
- Herd-Hitting Attack: Though most Lords, Heroes and Legendary Lords have this, Krell has this to an even bigger degree, able to send about a fifth or quarter of an enemy squad flying with each swing of his axe.
- Hero Killer: Despite being an excellent source of crowd control with his Herd-Hitting Attack, Krell is very adapt at fighting other heroes. Any other hero who tries to face Krell in a straight fight, will be subjected to a Curb-Stomp Battle. In the background, Krell holds the honor of being the one who almost felled Gotrek Gurnisson, a legendary slayer, and inspired an aura of dread that almost made Gotrekfear him.
- Horny Vikings: A Norcan Chaos Champion in life, he still wears a great horned Norscan-styled helm, which has giant protruding horns from it's side.
- Right-Hand Attack Dog: His role to Kemmler.
- Undying Loyalty: Not to Khorne or Kemmler, but to his true liege lord Nagash. He alongside, Arkhan are among his most fanatic and loyal followers.
Index
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Page 248 of 1134
Threadmarks
ThreadmarksReader ModeThreadmarks
ThreadmarksReader ModeUnit Name Corpse Cart |
Main Unit Key wh_dlc04_vmp_veh_corpse_cart_0 |
Land Unit Key wh_dlc04_vmp_veh_corpse_cart_0 |
Naval Unit Key wh_main_shp_transport |
Land Unit Group Magic Chariot |
Naval Unit Group Magic Chariot |
Soldiers 1 |
Caste Chariot |
Category War Machine |
Class Chariot |
Custom Battle Cost 500 |
Recruitment Cost 500 |
Upkeep Cost 275 |
Engine Missile Damage 0 |
├ Engine wh_dlc04_vmp_veh_corpse_cart |
├ Missile Weapon |
├ Projectile |
├ Missile Damage |
├ Missile Ap Damage |
└ Base Reload Time |
Accuracy 10 |
Range |
Reload 0 |
Shots Per Minute |
Ammunition 0 |
Melee Attack 10 |
Weapon Strength (Weapon Damage) 26 |
├ Melee Weapon wh_main_emp_luminark |
├ Melee Damage Base 20 |
├ Melee Damage Ap 6 |
├ Armour Piercing No |
├ Bonus vs Cavalry 0 |
├ Bonus vs Elephants 0 |
└ Bonus vs Infantry 0 |
Charge Bonus 8 |
Melee Defence 22 |
├ Base Defence 22 |
├ Shield none |
└ Shield Defence 0 |
Armour 45 |
├ Armour wh_main_vmp_cloth_barded |
├ Armour Defence 45 |
└ Shield Armour 0 |
Health 4456 |
├ Man Entity Use of half inch ecmo tubing. Products Packaged to Meet Your Unique NeedsCustom Packs from Medtronic are designed to meet your clinical and operational needs—by offering quality components assembled to your exact specifications, packaged with consideration to setup efficiency and respect for the environment. Our world renowned Gold program offers one of the fastest delivery timeframes of product from specification design through to utilization in the OR. From cannula tip to cannula tip, Medtronic Custom Perfusion Systems can be designed using and coated components. Meet the challenge of cardiopulmonary bypass. wh_main_infantry_standard |
├ Man Speed 31 |
├ Man Health 8 |
├ Bonus Hit Points 4440 |
├ Mount wh_dlc04_vmp_mnt_zombie_corpse_cart |
├ Mount Entity wh_dlc04_vehicle_zombie_corpse_cart |
├ Mount Speed 23 |
└ Mount Health 8 |
Leadership (Base Morale) 55 |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/TotalWarWarhammerTheVampireCoast
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'Hoist the Black Flag!'
'Yar, the blood runs cold
We take our loot but don't get old
YO, yo HO! YO, yo HO!
All HAIIIILLL the Mighty! He's a-risin' from the deep
With tattered sails
And incredible tales
We're caught in endless seas!'
We take our loot but don't get old
YO, yo HO! YO, yo HO!
All HAIIIILLL the Mighty! He's a-risin' from the deep
With tattered sails
And incredible tales
We're caught in endless seas!'
Advertisement:
Night falls on Lustria. As you stand on the dock and peer seawards through the gathering mists, strain your ears. The jungle sounds behind you fade, and in their place comes a wet thudding, as of rotten rigging against a mouldy mast. The sound multiplies, and with it, the groan of a thousand breathless voices, joined in something part-shanty, part-dirge. Dread prows pierce the gloom ahead, and the ghastly truth is laid bare: upon the ghoul-winds come the swollen hulks and decaying vessels of the Vampire Coast! Run now — run hard and fast. For it is all you can do.
It was the undying lord Luthor Harkon that laid claim to a stretch of Lustria's east coast. Bordered to the east by the Great Ocean (also known as the 'World Pond') and to the west by the steaming jungle, the Vampire Coast remains fairly wild. To the north, a jungle-filled peninsula separates the Vampire Coast from the Tarantula Coast. Near the shoreline, the reawakened City of Huatl of the Lizardmen dominates the treeline while Tlax, the City of Ghosts, remains shrouded within the jungle. At the southern end of the Coast, east of the delta of the River Lambada, one finds the Volcanic Islands. West of the delta lies the ruins of the City of Axlotl, empty and despoiled by Luthor Harkon's undead hordes. Ever since, it has been a domain where the dead stir, leading expeditions into the jungle interior or setting sail across the Great Ocean to commit wanton acts of piracy. But the insane Arch-Commodore Harkon is not the only unliving admiral who takes to the seas with pistol-armed crews of zombies, vampiric depth guard, syreens and mournguls.. there are other pirate lords who command dreadfleets of their own, packed to the gunwales with crews press-ganged into eternal service.
Advertisement:
These tyrants ply the seas seeking plunder of blood and gold. However, now that the vortex of Ulthuan weakens, the captains search for more than mere treasure.. for the Star-Metal Harpoon lies in the deeps, a weapon powerful enough to bring the greatest Merwyrm of them all to heel!
Introduced in Total War: Warhammer II, the Vampire Coast are playable in custom games, the Vortex Campaign, and Mortal Empires if Curse of the Vampire Coast has been purchased.
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- Achilles' Heel:
- Ironically, archers. While it is true that very few factions can sport as much gunpowder and artillery as the Vampire Coast, they tend to take a lot of damage when anyone decides to shoot back with anything that has longer range. And then they also have the same weakness the Vampire Counts have against fire, light and unbreakable enemies.
- In a similar vein, the Vampire Coast places so much emphasis on guns and artillery that their melee options are limited and/or outright inferior to the other factions' melee units. Any melee horde or monsters that can make it through all the bullets and shells intact can dominate the Vampire Coast in close combat.
- A Commander Is You: A Spammer/Ranger faction. The Vampire Coast are very reliant on being able to quickly summon hordes of cheap infantry and a few monsters to support their waves upon waves of cost-efficient and plentiful gunners on the field with most of their melee units being mainly used in order to keep their the foe bogged down and open for bullets and cannonballs. They may not be as accurate as Dwarfs, Humans and Elves, but they make up for this weakness by drowning their foes in a far bigger hail of projectiles than anyone else can muster, as well as having horribly powerful, yet still plentiful artillery.
- Action Bomb: Bloated Corpses; their sole purpose is to charge into the enemy ranks and violently explode. To put it in perspective, these things are extremely cheap, and can essentially erase a unit of elite infantry in a single instant, making them extremely dangerous. Luckily, they can be easily countered with ranged units, and are a risky unit to bring, as killing one triggers its detonation, which, if there's friendly units around, can deal a horrifying amount of friendly fire.
- Adaptational Badass: Meta and setting wise. They were a serious threat to be sure in the original lore, but it's specifically noted they're a completely local problem around Lustria (as Luthor Harkon had no aspiration to expand and be a major power), and the only ones who fear them are the Lizardmen, the faction that gets the brunt of the Vampire Coast's attacks. In the Total War game? They're a major player in their own right, and a global threat to all. Furthermore they have a lot more tools than they did in the tabletop: the Zombie Pirates army list was considered fun but very noncompetitive, while here they have massively expanded army options and their own unique lore of magic.
- Adaptation Expansion: The original Vampire Coast army list from White Dwarf #306 has been massively expanded with the addition of the Mourngul and Corpse Giant from the Monstrous Arcanum supplement for Storm of Magic; an undead version of the Promethean from Man O War to fill the place of the Rotting Leviathan; nautical versions of the Vampire Counts' Fell Bats and Terrorgheist; a host of original units; and three additional Legendary Lords, two of which are from Dreadfleet while the third is an original creation.
- Ambiguously Human: Bloated Corpses. They have the body type of an Ogre, are tall enough to be Ogres, and fight in an army that does include reanimated Ogres, but unlike the Animated Hulks are never explicitly referred to as Ogres.
- Ascended Extra: Probably one of the most notable examples in the series. The Vampire Coast had a semi-official army list in White Dwarf #306, but it was very limited and mostly served as an auxiliary to a 'regular' Vampire Counts army. Here, they have become a major faction in their own right. This is also true within the game, as the Coast was original a minor Vampire Counts faction.
- A-Team Firing: With the exception of units like the Gunnery Wight, the pirates of the Vampire Coast aren't very good shots, and miss a lot of what they shoot at. However, they shoot quite a lot and what they do hit takes a lot of damage, and some of their abilities and spells will briefly avert this by buffing a unit's accuracy by significant amounts for a short time.
- Ax-Crazy: The entire faction is more than a little bonkers to be honest, but what really takes the cake are the Depth Guard. Being Blood Dragons, all they really live for are mayhem and slaughter and their lines are very enthusiastic whenever in combat.
- Bayonet Ya: The Black Spot, a Regiment of Renown of Zombie Pirate Gunnery Mob with Handguns, are probably the only non-hybrid gunner or archer unit who can win a fight against charging cavalary as a result of them having placed long bayonets on their guns.
- Badass Longcoat: A popular choice of clothing for this faction, with Vampire Fleet Admirals wearing particularly badass armoured leather longcoats.
- Bat Out of Hell: Much like their land-bound cousins, the Vampire Coast possesses several bat-themed units:
- Fell Bats are 'small' (bird-of-prey sized), expendable, and attack in large groups. They're used to harass, target warmachine crews, and 'tarpit' units. Many Vampires treat them akin to how a hunter views his prized falcon, and they're often used by the Midnight Aristocracy as pets.
- Deck Droppers are particularly massive Fell Bats that carry zombies in their claws as they fly. They live under the decks of the Pirate Zombie ships, and are goaded into battle using black magic. The zombies are equipped with flintlock rifles and shoot at targets below, and, if they're forced to, can descend onto the ground and use their rifles and talons to deal quite a bit of damage. Variations swap out the rifle for a Hand Cannon or explosives, allowing them to serve as crude strafing bombers akin to dwarf gyrocopters.
- Terrorgheists are the undead husks of dragon-sized bats, big enough to prey on horses, pegasi, and even griffins. They make underground caves their lairs and, once they die, vampires commonly resurrect their cadavers to forge a mighty beast capable of taking to the skies. The Death-shriek Terrorgiests employed by the Vampire Coast are covered head to tail in green algae, suggesting the beasts' remains were dredged out of the ocean.
- BFG: A lot of them. They may lack the overwhelming horror of their parent army, but they more then make up for it with a massive assortment of big guns.
- The 'Queen Bess', a one-of-a-kind unique cannon captured from an Imperial Destroyer and modified by Luthor for his own personal use in a rare moment of clarity. Its cinematic model looks big enough to fit several regular-sized cannon inside its muzzle, must be pointed to the sky and fired like a mortar, and is covered in pirate and vampiric iconography. This thing is such a powerful gun, it causes tremors when fired, which slow down any units unlucky enough to be caught in its destructive blast radius, and can annihilate practically entire units with each blast! As of right now it's the strongest artillery piece in the game, and that's no small feat. There can only be one active at any time in-game being counted as a Regiment of Renown, and it's spawned through a special rite, making it almost irreplaceable.
- Zombie Pirate Deck Gunners hulk around dismounted swivel guns (miniature cannons that are designed to be latched onto ship decks) as Chainsaw Grip BFGs. While horribly inaccurate, when they hit they are devastating.
- Blunderbuss's are the Hand Cannon variant of this trope, some Zombie units carry these massive handguns that act like shotguns, very short range, but damaging as all whole.
- They also have access to relatively smaller pieces of artillery: mainly stolen Imperial pieces, such as Mortars and Carronades refitted and customized for their use.
- Hell, their monsters get on the action too, with the Necrofex Colossi and Rotting Prometheans having access to rusting cannons. The Necrofex in particular has 4 cannons bolted together, which it uses at ranged and melee combat.
- Body Horror: Good lord, they might as well be theBody Horror faction.
- First is the Animated Hulks. Rotting Ogre corpses, blue from water exposure, with giant parasitic sea creatures sticking out of their guts, which makes the already hideously obese ogres even more ugly.
- Second, the Mourngul. Horrifying Wendigo creatures neither living nor dead, with disgusting giant, jerking maws covered in razor sharp teeth, that are missing their bottom half, showing off their leaking guts and organs in full detail.
- Third, the Bloated Corpse. A hideously obese Zombie, whose skin has gone blue from constant water exposure, and is so fat it can barely walk without being dragged down by its weight. Its body is coated in arrows, boils, and leaking gas, as it's completely bloated with noxious gas that explodes onto turning itself, and everything around it into Ludicrous Gibs.
- Fourth, the Zombie Pirates themselves. Hideously malformed corpses, they look decayed alright, but unlike regular Zombies, they're absolutely covered in various sea growths, like barnacles and algae, giving them an even more disgusting appearance then regular ones.
- Canon Foreigner: The Vampire Coast has access to a unique lore of magic, the Lore of the Deep, which is the first original lore made for the video games, as well as many units that never existed in the tabletop game. One of their Legendary Lords, Cylostra Direfin, is also a completely original creation.
- Canon Immigrant: The faction draws major elements from the separate naval boardgame Dreadfleet, which is set in the Warhammer universe.
- The Captain: Vampire Fleet Captains are female ship captains that act as a Hero Unit. They command ships, and are both competent fighters, marksmen, and spellcasters, making them a rather extreme Jack-of-All-Stats when it comes to heroes. Then there's the Vampire Fleet Admiral Lord variants of this, coming in both male and female flavors.
- Cold Sniper: The Gunnery Wights, a powerful Hero Unit. Zombie officers who wield a powerful musket and are excellent at picking off targets from afar (on ships they usually occupy the Crows Nest) and sniping enemy leaders. They provide a host of buffs to Zombie Pirate Units, being able to give them special gunpowder that buffs their damage and reload speed, and replenish their ammo, a unique ability exclusive to the Coast.
- Cool Boat: Like you wouldn't believe. They travel around in the decaying hulks of sunken Imperial Galleons, whose black sails are now tattered, and their hulls covered in coral and decay. Necrofex Colossi are also boat-like Golems made from converted shipwrecks. Each Legendary Lord possesses their own unique pirate ship which can be upgraded similar to the Dark Elves' Black Arks, essentially turning the Legendary Lords into Chaos-style horde armies within an otherwise standard faction.
- Cool Gun: Many of them wield flintlock pistols, handcannons or rickety muskets.
- Cursed Item: The Pieces of Eight are all cursed relics that are connected to the Regiments of Renown in some way. Whoever holds these can summon the undead or monsters whose souls are eternally bound to each piece.
- Dead Weight: The Bloated Corpse is a swollen, waterlogged zombie that serves as an Action Bomb. In the lore, these corpses are fished out by the Zombie Pirates, resurrected, and used as suicide bombers, for their bodies are swollen with dangerously explosive gasses.
- Decapitated Army: Out of all the undead factions, they suffer this more than anyone else. Where the Vampire Counts have supporting units to keep their army going in case their leader bites the dust, such as The Mortis Engine and Corpse Wagon, and where the Tomb Kings have the Realm of Souls to allow them extra healing after a few losses in troops, the Vampire Coast as no way of supporting their dissipating necromantic magic once the general bites the dust, putting them on a very' strict race against the clock in case that ever happens.
- Demoted to Extra: Van Gheist, one of the undead lords from Dreadfleet, is not a playable unit in the game, but he does appear with his ship with the Lore of The Deep spell Van Gheist's Revenge where he blasts apart entire units of enemies with ghostly cannons.
- Death from Above: What Deckdroppers specialize in. They carry a Zombie Pirate Gunner in their claws, ranging from bombers to hand cannoners, and they float above the field of battle, letting their charges fire below. And if the need too, they can wade into combat themselves, attacking from the air!
- Dual Wielding:
- A variant of Zombie Pirates carry a rusting scimitar in each hand, as do the members of the Sartosa Free Company.
- Depthguard duel wield boarding axes.
- Dressed to Plunder: Tri/Bicornes? Check. Eye patches? Check. Hook Hand and Sea Dog Peg Leg? Check and check. Just about the only one missing is the Seadog Beard, probably because being undead isn't good for your hair, though Count Noctilus skirts around this by having a pointy metallic beard strapped to his chin.
- Enthralling Siren: Syreens, a nautical cousin of the banshee that lures in sailors to crash their ships on rocky shorelines. Unlike banshees, however, syreens of the Vampire Coast congregate in units of fast-moving spectral infantry, enjoying a bonus against infantry and a horrifyingly brutal armour piercing bonus.
- Elite Mooks: Depth Guards, drowned members of The Blood Dragons who now serve as the strongest infantry unit that the Vampire Coast has to offer. They are very few in numbers, but since they hit like trucks and are able to rapidly regenerate as long as they are in combat, they can arguably end up besting most other factions strongest infantry if left to their devices for too long.
- Eye Patch Of Power: Several of they're heroes wear these, and some variants of regular Zombie Pirates do too. Hey, they're pirates!
- Flying Dutchman: Really all of their ships could count, but the thing that takes the cake is Vangheist's Revenge, a spectral warship crewed by literal Ghost Pirates (whom you can hire as a Regiment of Renown) and captained by Vangheist, a revenge obsessed ghost captain. The ship can be summoned during battle with the spell of the same name, letting you obliterate entire regiments of infantry with it's ghostly cannons.
- Foreshadowing:
- The most infamous pirate on the seas during their Eye of the Vortex Campaign is named 'Khalil Lothreef' (he's also mentioned as the Mysterious Stranger spying on the Coast midway through the campaign). This is a Significant Anagram for Lokhir Fellheart, who serves as the final boss of the campaign.
- The return of Nagash is all but spelled out in the playable epilogue of the Eye of the Vortex Campaign, where Luthor Harkon begins to hear a new voice in his mind. One foretelling the rise of a vast undead empire, and promising him a place at the side of the new god of death.
- Ghost Pirate: Well, Zombie Pirates, but a fine example regardless; a bunch of reanimated sailors led by Vampire Captains plundering the coasts of the New World for booty! The Shadewraith Gunners are literally these: a Regiment of Renown of ghostly, ethereal Deck Gunners with magical swivel cannons, extremely expensive but incredibly dangerous when used properly. They are in fact a Continuity Nod to Dreadfleet, being crewmen of the infamous ghost captain, Vangheist (whose was The Dragon to Noctilus in the tabletop game)
- Giant Enemy Crab: In this case we mean absolutely giant crabs. Rotting Prometheans and Leviathans are the re-animated husks of Prometheans, a species of colossal sea crab that lurks off the coast of Lustria and can devour a small ship whole, and are the most dangerous creatures found on the coastal islands that surround the continent! The former are a lot smaller, but still rather large, while the later is a Sea Monster unto itself — it's colossal, large enough to wear a wrecked galleon as a shell. Pirate Zombies goad these massive horrors, which can shatter enemy lines all by themselves, into battle while riding atop the remains of sunken galleons on the backs of their shells and firing below with muskets or hand cannons. Some Lords also have them as mounts.
- God Is Displeased: The reason for The Tide of Skjold, a Regiment of Renown of Deckhand Mob. They were Norscans that the Chaos Gods saw unfit for sacrifice and decided to let them suffer in the deeps until a cursed Pearl was used to bring them back to the surface.
- Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: Played Straight with the Vampire Fleet Admirals. Male Admirals are equipped with a halberd, while female Admirals prefer Sword and Gun.
- Hand Cannon: A variant of the Zombie Gunners carry a what's essentially an oversized Blunderbuss, and it operates like a Shotgun, very deadly at short distances, but having one of the shortest ranges in the entire game.
- Hook Hand: A variant of the Fleet Captains has a hook for a hand, suitably very piratey!
- Humongous Mecha: The Necrofex Colossus is a wooden, Magitek version: a galleon converted into a massive bipedal monster stuffed full of drowned corpses, complete with a literalArm Cannon.
- Kill It with Fire: The Gallows Giant Regiment of Reknown has its tri-cannon swapped out with a magical flamethrower. Unlike the Dwarf Irondrakes, this thing fully avertsVideo Game Flame Throwers Suck, being devastating against all infantry (armored or not) both at long range and short distances, and tall enough to fire over your other infantry without catching them in the flames either (most of the time).
- Kraken and Leviathan:
- The ultimate goal of their Vortex campaign is to find the Star-Metal Harpoon, an artifact which will allow them to bring even the mightiest of all sea creatures under their control — the beast in question being an utterly colossal merwyrm named Amanar, who in the lore is a ancient but benevolent beast who owes his allegiance to the High Elves. Their intention is to use the harpoon to kill Amanar, and bring him back from the dead under their control with forbidden Black Magic. He actually appears in the final battle, looming over the battlefield with hungry eyes, and roars in primal hatred.
- One of the spells in the Lore of the Deep has the spellcaster summoning a giant squid horror from the depths, as a stationary vortex of sorts, that uses its Combat Tentacles to rip apart enemy formations and slow them down.
- Long-Range Fighter: Slightly Downplayed, but they're still a strong example. Sure they have a selection of very powerful melee units, but ultimately their strength lies in their endless supply of ranged units; unlike the Vampire Counts army, these vampires can produce zombies with ranged weapons, in which they have a truly staggering amount of different variants (To be specific, Pistols, rifles, handcannons, grenades, and swivel guns). They also have artillery support, which includes rusty Mortars, their own cannonades, and the utterly massive Queen Bess. Hell, most of their monsters have limited ranged capabilities. To top it off, they're the only faction in the game that can resupply their ranged units' ammo mid battle, and can buff them with special gunpowder.
- Monster Knight: The Depth Guard are the naval version of this trope, being dismounted Blood Knights, and drowned members of the Blood Dragon order. Described as being given the Blood Gift personally by Harkon for their loyalty, they put on heavy suits of black and bronze plate armor, and serve as heavy shock soldiers for the Vampire Coast, wielding boarding axes, as well as halberds.
- More Dakka: A major appeal for playing the faction is their ridiculous firepower through massed guns and cannons. This is due to their Admirals managing to raise all their zombies with the ability to fire guns, but the zombie crews lost the knowledge of how to properly aim the blasted things in the process. Accordingly, the Coast fields large units of infantry equipped with guns, with the intent of forming a wall of lead and cannonfire. Even some of their monsters have zombie crewmen with guns riding them. Who needs aiming when you can fire 300 or more bullets a volley?
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: An entire faction of them, being Ghost Pirates led by vampire pirates and supported by lovecraftian terrors of the deep and ship-hulks animated by the souls of the tormented dead. And guns. Lots and lots and lots of guns.
- Not-So-Safe Harbor: In the campaign, the Vampire Coast can create coastal buildings called Pirate Coves inside captured settlements. Instead of flipping the settlement to the Vampire Coasts' control, the Coves instead siphon income to the Vampire Coast and provide global bonuses.
- Our Ogres Are Hungrier: Animated Hulks are resurrected husks of drowned Ogres, with the added 'bonus' of having parasitic sea creatures placed inside their powerful stomachs, resulting in truly horrific maws and tentacles of Sea Monster sticking out them. This is the first appearance of Ogres in the trilogy, and is presumably an Early-Bird Cameo for them.
- Our Vampires Are Different: As the factions name suggests, the Vampire Coast is led by Vampire Admirals and Captains, with suitably naval themed outfits and weapons, as well as the ability to cast magic. It's ambiguous what bloodline they belong too, but they all have the same creepy eyes as Harkon, meaning they were most likely sired by him, making them of the Blood Dragon bloodline. Count Noctilus on the other hand is a Von Carstein, which makes it likely that so are some or all of his Admirals and Captains.
- Our Zombies Are Different: The Zombies of the Vampire Coast are the reanimated corpses of drowned sailors, marines killed by Harkon and his hordes, and people 'press ganged' into the Coast's service, all covered in disgusting barnacles and algae, and are the mainstay of the faction as a whole. The original name for the army in tabletop, was infact 'Zombie Pirates of Lustria' which just goes to show how important they are to the army. What makes them different from regular Vampire Count zombies is they still retain a vestige of their old personality, making them more similar to the Skeletons of the Tomb Kings. As such, not only are they far more cunning than their Sylvanian kin, they actually remember how to use guns! It's actually mentioned in Flavor Text that the Zombie Pirates freely engage in drunken debauchery as they did in life, implying they still enjoy drinking alcohol too!
- Pirates: Should be perfectly clear by now; a naval based faction that engages in piracy to supplement their poor economy though looting and raiding. They fit the romanticised version to a tee, clearly bloodthirsty and ruthless buccaneers to be sure, but a jovial and personable lot to be around, minus the whole business of them being mostly zombies anyway.
- Pirate Booty: The Vampire Coast occasionally loot treasure maps after battles, which can eventually lead to massive pirate hoards. There's also their Pieces of Eight system, in which they need to battle an Elite Army to steal its doubloon, granting access to an Elite Regiment of Renown. One of their income buildings is a treasure horde of your own, and they have a unique stance that lets them dig for buried treasure!
- Pirate Girl: There is no sexism in undeath, it seems. With Aranessa or Cylostra, you can even have a pirate fleet made up entirely of female admirals and captains. Notably, while admirals can be either gender, captains are exclusively female.
- Sea Monster: The absolutely massive Rotting Leviathan, which takes the form of a reanimated Promethean, a giant crab horror the size of an Imperial Galleon, and one of the biggest dangers on the Lustrian coast. In the lore, the Rotting Leviathan can be formed from a Sea Dragon, Killer Whale, or Kraken, but due to the cost of implementing all of those, the only one in the game is the Promeathean, which is still mighty impressive. It's noted that instead of killing these beasts themselves, since these pirates are very pragmatic, the Vampire Coast simply waits for their dead husks to wash up on shore before reanimating them.
- Talk Like a Pirate: Extremely present. Not only is every pirate-y word you can think of present somewhere, but most of the narration for events and missions is written in pirate talk. Expect to be hear 'Landlubber!' more than once in battle.
- Undying Loyalty:
- An option in the campaign. When initially hired, standard Vampire Admirals have a Loyalty mechanic that rises based on what they like doing. If this Loyalty drops to zero, the Admiral will defect and take their army with them. A skill only available at level 30 makes it so that their Loyalty will never decrease, turning these vampire scallywags into a literal example of this trope when paired with the Immortal skill.
- This trope was also the reason for The Black Spot, a Regiment of Renown for Zombie Pirate Gunnery Mob with Handguns. A captain, having had enough of his disobedient and undiciplined crew, decided to kill everyone except for his second in command before raising them as loyal undead. His second in command, fearing his captain had gone mad, killed him in retaliation for this, but by that point the Black Spot were still loyal to their now dead captain, avenging him by riddling the second in command with bullets and throwing his carcass overboard.
- Useless Useful Spell: Subverted. Nearly every unit in their roster has the 'Aquatic' trait, allowing them to ignore the usual penalties of wet terrain and giving them a buff from fighting in shallow waters. While this seems like a complete non-factor given how few land maps have any water on them, many of the island maps used for naval battle possess shallow lakes and ponds. Making the Aquatic trait very useful when fighting at sea, which is the Vampire Coast's main territory.
- Villain Cred: The lynchpin of the Vampire Coast campaign is to become the undisputed master of the Warhammer world's waves by building Infamy through fell deeds. This allows you to challenge other pirate captains and nab their MacGuffins.
- Weapon of Choice: As they are pirates, they primarily make use of flintlock pistols, rickety muskets, and of course, Sinister Scimitars.
- Wendigo: What the utterly nightmarish Mournguls essentially are. They're mostly found in the rigid frozen North, where desperate people who engage in the cardinal sin of cannibalism and die from hunger anyways sometimes undergo a horrifying transformation, becoming unspeakable spirits that haunt the cold places of the world. They try to satisfy their unending hunger and end their cursed existence by consuming the living. Not only are they hideous, they're missing their body's bottom half, showing off their hanging guts and organs, and their lower jaws are hideously distended and seemingly boneless. The ones in the Vampire Coast army are presumably the spirits of marooned or shipwrecked sailors who devoured their mates to try and stave off hunger. They come as monstrous infantry as well as a hero variant, the Mourngul Haunter (which is a white, giant ghost version of this). The Night Terrors, a Regiment of Renown variant, are a band of former dwarf miners turned into these things because of the cursed mountain they tried to dig in. They are not only practically the size of the Haunter, but are glowing red and have the Rage special rule.
- We Have Reserves: Similar to their parent army, but different in that it's based on gathering mass ranged units. Whilst they have impressive elites, the best tactic for any Coast army is to bring legions of horribly inaccurate, but still plentiful Pirate Zombies, mainly their ranged variants, and they have the largest unit sizes in the series for ranged units. While their accuracy is poor, well, you don't really need accuracy when there's so many zombies. What melee units they do possess exist mostly to hold enemies in place, allowing them to get shot even more.
- Wooden Ships and Iron Men: They are a distinctly naval-based and -themed army, from zombie sailors and Vampire Admirals to giant ship-based constructs and Giant Enemy CrabSea Monsters. Their faction mechanics are all heavily tied to the sea, their campaign is centered around gaining supremacy of the waves, their units are all sea-based, and their exclusive lore is about channeling the power of the ocean and the horrors lurking in the deep. While there have been naval-flavoured factions before (the High Elves and the Dark Elves), the Vampire Coast is the first faction in the game to be completely centered on the sea. The theme music of their trailer is even a sea shanty about how awesome it is to be an undead pirate! It's very telling that their arrival onto the campaign heralded a patch that heavily updated the previously lacking naval aspects of the game, including Island Battles, Black Ark Battles, a new puzzle system for islands, a new treasure hunting mechanic, travelling pirate bands of all races, and a host of more things!
- Wreathed in Flames: The Gallow's Giant, a perpetually burning Regiment of Renown, Necrofex, covering in blackened, charred wood, and eternally everlasting embers. It's potentially one of the single strongest Monsters in the game, being able to massacre most infantry with its flamethrower.
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Luthor Harkon
Arch Grand Commodore Luthor Harkon, Mad Pirate King of the Vampire Coast
'Fortune favours the infamous!'
The stretch of Lustrian shoreline known as the Vampire Coast owes its name to a luckless Norscan raiding party which, as is the way of their kind, attacked an Empire Merchant ship and took everything of value from its holds. Unfortunately for the raiders, their plunder included the sarcophagus of Luthor Harkon, a Vampire of unknown heritage.
By the time the longship broke apart on the shores of Lustria, all its crew had undergone a marked change in both allegiance and vital signs. Luthor never looked back and took his newly indentured vassals on a march of conquest. Before long, the Vampire Coast had its own pirate fleet, crewed by the dead and the damned. It is possible that Harkon might have become a great power in the world but for his colossal pride and greed.
Determined to augment his magical abilities, Luthor took an expedition to the ruined city of Huatl, where he hoped to find some secret that would increase his might. It was on the third week of his excavations that his servants uncovered an undisturbed chamber, sealed tight with ancient and powerful glyphs. Convinced that this vault concealed great secrets from him, Luthor commanded his servants to break down the doors, but the power of the glyphs thwarted him. Enraged, Luthor assailed the vault with his own dark magic, but the seals had been placed to defeat even the greatest of sorcerers. Faced with a direct assault, the wards responded in kind. The magical backlash shattered his mind and severed his connection to the Winds of Magic.
Now Luthor teeters on the brink of insanity — his personality fractured in a dozen different facets that battle for dominance in his mind. In the years since, the only common goal that Harkon's various personalities have been able to work toward is that of finding a cure for his condition. To this end, he has bent his obsessions to seizing Slann artifacts, hoping that their power can undo the damage wrought upon him.
By the time the longship broke apart on the shores of Lustria, all its crew had undergone a marked change in both allegiance and vital signs. Luthor never looked back and took his newly indentured vassals on a march of conquest. Before long, the Vampire Coast had its own pirate fleet, crewed by the dead and the damned. It is possible that Harkon might have become a great power in the world but for his colossal pride and greed.
Determined to augment his magical abilities, Luthor took an expedition to the ruined city of Huatl, where he hoped to find some secret that would increase his might. It was on the third week of his excavations that his servants uncovered an undisturbed chamber, sealed tight with ancient and powerful glyphs. Convinced that this vault concealed great secrets from him, Luthor commanded his servants to break down the doors, but the power of the glyphs thwarted him. Enraged, Luthor assailed the vault with his own dark magic, but the seals had been placed to defeat even the greatest of sorcerers. Faced with a direct assault, the wards responded in kind. The magical backlash shattered his mind and severed his connection to the Winds of Magic.
Now Luthor teeters on the brink of insanity — his personality fractured in a dozen different facets that battle for dominance in his mind. In the years since, the only common goal that Harkon's various personalities have been able to work toward is that of finding a cure for his condition. To this end, he has bent his obsessions to seizing Slann artifacts, hoping that their power can undo the damage wrought upon him.
- Ace Custom: He actually personally modified the Queen Bess to his liking, the original weapon being a Hellhammer Cannon (a giant deck mounted cannon intended for an Imperial Galleon), though instead of 'modified' it's best described as completely rebuilt from the ground up to be used in the Lustrian jungle.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: More like Adaptational Distinctiveness. Luthor Harkon had no model in the tabletop and what few canonical images◊ have been made presents him as a hideous abomination, more akin to a beast than a vampire, and someone of the Strigoi bloodline instead of a Blood Dragon. The Total War version sports an eyepatch, a much more human look, and a pirate coat in addition to his armour and Spikes of Villainy.
- Adaptational Badass: In the tabletop, Harkon's Anti-Magic translated into personal magic resistance. Here, it's been upgraded to drain magic from entire battlefields at a time, buffing units around him with the same dampening, alongside his personal magic resistance.
- Affably Evil: At least one of his personalities takes the form of a very jovial pirate, happily telling his backstory to an Empire soldier in his trailer.. who is later revealed to be dead. Since he's quite insane, it appears to be genuine, unlike most Vampire Counts. He is also shown to give a polite bow on the faction select screen, after shooting the camera.
- Always a Bigger Fish: His backstory. A crew of Norscans, the boogeymen of the Old World, boarded the ship carrying his sarcophagus, killed its crew and took its treasure. Then Luthor awoke, killed the Norscans and turned them into his undead servants.
- Anti-Magic: See Cursed with Awesome below.
- Arch-Enemy: As might be expected, none of the minds inside Luthor like Lizardmen very much. In the Lizardmen timeline he's described as having attacked several temple-cities over the years, and in-game his army enjoys bonuses (and a hefty diplomacy penalty in campaign) against Lizardmen.
- Ax-Crazy: To put it very, verymildly, Luthor has a few screws loose. Luthor's fragmented mind has rendered him unstable even by Vampire standards, and can go from jolly to murderously homicidal in an instant. In the tabletop, he suffered from a special rule where his personalities would begin clashing mid-battle, with the dominant personality giving him different advantages and drawbacks. In-game, this is reflected both on the campaign and the battlefield, he has a unique mechanic which has him being taken over by certain personalities, affecting his stats and other aspects. During battle he has a unique set of animations that have him violently jerking around, flailing about and making random gestures, as well as possessing the Fury special rule.
- Badass Longcoat: As a pirate captain, this is kind of a given. Not only is it classy, it looks even more cool as he wears dark armour alongside it.
- Bat Out of Hell: Harkon can ride into battle atop a Death Shriek Terrorgheist, a more nautical-themed version of the regular Terrorgheist. He's infact the only non-Strigoi to ever ride one in Warhammer.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Letting his outward quirkiness lure you into a false sense of security is almost always a fatal mistake, madness or not, he's still one of the most powerful and dangerous Vampires in the entire world, he's in fact a second generation Vampire that was sired by Abhorash himself.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: In the tabletop lore he had the potential to become a major player in the world, but lacked the ambition, and was content to terrorize the waters of Lustria. Subverted in-game where he can expand his influence across the world and is competing with other pirates to obtain an artifact which will grant him control of the seas.
- Cool Boat: He scourges the waves on the The Dread Abyssal, his personal flagship, a large blackened warship, complete with giant harpoon emplacements, and a frontal tri-cannon.
- Composite Character: Harkon takes different aspects from every incarnation he's had in Warhammer Fantasy, but he's most similar to his End Times portrayal, having a similar physical appearance, a second mate named Drekla, being of the Blood Dragon line, and finally becoming one of Nagash's Mortarchs.
- Cursed with Awesome: Doubles as Discard and Draw. Sure, the curse laid upon him by the Slann removed his ability to cast magic and he's, to put it mildly, raving mad, but it's turned him into a walking Anti-Magic dampener. Just by being around him, enemy mages are disconnected from the Winds of Magic, and they lose much of their power. This is reflected in-game by enemy spell casters having a large debuff to their pool of magic, which can be increased further by a second skill, and heavy bonus defense against magical damage.
- Cloudcuckoolander: See Affably Evil. Harkon has more than a few screws loose.
- Dissonant Serenity: His intro trailer has him happily digging for treasure and Talking to the Dead while ignoring the major battle raging not five feet behind him. At one point his fleet even launches a broadside directly above his head, and all Harkon does is laugh and get back to digging.
- The Dragon: Has one in the form of his second mate, Drekla. A fearsome, if dimwitted Vampire in his own right, he's noticeable for his Undying Loyalty for Harkon, and being originally from the End Times. He's represented in the game as a unique follower for Harkon. He becomes this to Nagash, as his Mortarch of the Abyss, at the end of his campaign.
- The Dreaded: The Slaan themselves fear Harkon. His notoriety is so far-reaching that ships from half the world away avoid his domain.
- Evil Sounds Raspy: Goes for a raspy, dry voice as opposed to Mannfred and Vlad's baritones.
- Evil Laugh: Let's out a very jolly one in his introduction trailer, just as cannons fly past his head.
- Eyepatch of Power: Wears a black eyepatch over his left eye.
- Funny Schizophrenia: As funny as a millennia-old and thoroughly evil undead monster is allowed to be, at least.
- Gentleman Thief: Somewhat; fittingly his introduction movie has him doing a polite curtsy, going well with his Affably Evil nature.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: A distinct pair of them at the top and bottom of his ghastly pale face.
- Hand Cannon: Wields a heavy and ornate flintlock pistol with an underslung blade. An upgrade for Harkon gives him Explosive Shots on par with a cannon, making his pistol into a literal hand cannon.
- Insane Admiral: Both a highly skilled ship captain, and a raving lunatic!
- King of Thieves: The self-styled Pirate King of the Vampire Coast, commander of an entire fleet of undead pirates.
- Magically Inept Fighter: Because of his brush with Lizardman magic, Luthor is unable to cast spells in combat.. not that he really needs it. In the campaign this is downplayed, as two of his variable personalities grant Harkon the ability to cast a single spell from the Lore of the Deep, but the player has no control over when these personalities surface.
- Master Swordsman: Crazy or not, Harkon is quite possibly one of the greatest duelists in the entire world, a master fencer and expert with the blade. He was personally taught by AbhorashtheBlood Dragon after all.
- Mythology Gag: The fact he rides a Terrorgheist references a bit of obscure lore where it was In-Universe speculation that Harkon was actually of the Strigoi bloodline, who are the only ones known to ride the giant flying beasts.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: A vampire lord who happens to be the admiral of an undead pirate fleet.
- Pirate Booty: He has a trove of Slaan Gold as a special item, a teeming collection of cursed Lizarmen doubloons which he stole from a ruined temple. It provides a myriad of bonuses, including reducing the cost of raising the dead, increases magic resistance, and reduces the Winds of Magic starting amount for enemy armies.
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: His color scheme, his leather longcoat being dyed red, and his armor bits black as the night. And yes, he's hideously evil.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: In contrast to Mannfred's milky whites, Harkon's remaining eye is very noticeably red. Doubles as Black Eyes of Evil, as the white of it is pitch black as well.
- Screaming Warrior: On the battlefield, he screams out like a lunatic randomly.
- Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You: His selection video has him aiming and shooting at the camera, which even drops to the ground with a pained groan for extra measure!
- Spikes of Villainy: His armour sports several spikes, with three larges ones resembling the talons of a giant beast on his back, signifying his allegiance to the Blood Dragon order.
- Split Personality: His mind was shattered into multiple different personalities after he tried to breach a Lizardman temple that was protected by magic. This is to the point where he doesn't refer to himself as 'I' anymore but as 'we' and 'us', though 'my' does occasionally pop up.
- Still Wearing the Old Colors: Luthor was originally made a vampire by Abhorash, Monster Progenitor of the Blood Dragons bloodline. Despite having become the complete opposite of his bloodline, the Blood Dragon Order, he still wears pieces of his old Blood Knight armour over his coat.
- Sword and Gun: Wields a sabre and a brace of pistols, being highly proficient with both.
- The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: The only Legendary Lord on the faction select screen to notice the camera and shoot it. The bow he gives afterwards is likely directed at the Player themselves.
- Time Abyss: He was turned into a Vampire during the fall of Lahmia by the sire of the Blood Dragons, and is thousands of years old.
- Try To Fit THAT On A Business Card: As stated above, his full formal title is 'Arch Grand Commodore Luthor Harkon, Mad Pirate King of the Vampire Coast'.
- Underestimating Badassery: Luthor is often not taken very seriously because of his crippling insanity, and the fact he tends to stay in his part of Lustria. This never ends well for the individual in question, as he is a highly dangerous swordsman, and a fearsome seaman. Only the Lizardmen seem to understand how truly dangerous this man is.
Count Noctilus, Grand Admiral of the Dreadfleet
'All shall bow to my Necromantic supremacy!'
Captain of the Bloody Reaver and undisputed master of the Dreadfleet, Count Noctilus is a highly powerful, and ruthless Vampire pirate of the Von Carstein bloodline, Noctilus was once known by another name — Nyklaus von Carstein, whose own home was the distant land of Sylvania.
Nyklaus sought the maelstrom festering in the distant heart of the ocean, a skull-strewn vortex that was a tempest of magic which drew the dead to it like a lodestone. Mastering the art of Shadow Magic, one particularly baleful Geheimnisnacht he enacted a mighty ritual that translocated not only Nyklaus himself, but also his castle and all his Undead minions.
Feasting upon the dark magic of the Maelstrom, Nyklaus raised up the shattered remains of dead warships to form the hull of the Bloody Reaver, and just as his realm was reborn within the Galleon's Graveyard, so too was Nyklaus reborn as Count Noctilus.
Noctilus leads The Dreadfleet sub-faction.
Nyklaus sought the maelstrom festering in the distant heart of the ocean, a skull-strewn vortex that was a tempest of magic which drew the dead to it like a lodestone. Mastering the art of Shadow Magic, one particularly baleful Geheimnisnacht he enacted a mighty ritual that translocated not only Nyklaus himself, but also his castle and all his Undead minions.
Feasting upon the dark magic of the Maelstrom, Nyklaus raised up the shattered remains of dead warships to form the hull of the Bloody Reaver, and just as his realm was reborn within the Galleon's Graveyard, so too was Nyklaus reborn as Count Noctilus.
Noctilus leads The Dreadfleet sub-faction.
- Adaptational Wimp: Zigzagged, Noctilus is portrayed as a truly powerful Evil Overlord to be sure, but in Dreadfleet this guy was basically the second coming of Nagash, in terms of raw power, being able to de age people in his vicinity, summon giant typhoons that could eat up legions of ships, and basically raise entire fleets of sunken vessels in the blink of an eye. On the flip side, unlike in Dreadfleet, Noctilus actually won his conflict with the Heldenhammer. Noctilus' epilogue suggests that he plans to use the magic of the Maelstrom to sail through time. He even states his intention to kill Jaego Roth's ancestors.
- An Axe to Grind: Very atypically for a Vampire, Noctilus wields an ornate halberd covered in vampiric iconography. Doubly-so as his artwork in Dreadfleet depicted him with a rapier.
- The Archmage: One of the most powerful users of the Lore of Shadows in the entire setting, and he draws a sickening amount of Black Magic from the Maelstrom. He's such a powerful mage, he's modified the Lore of Vampires to include his own special variant of Summon Dead, the Drowned Dead.
- Badass Beard: We don't know if he has a real one, but he wears a piece of beard armour on his chin, which is undoubtedly as cool, if not cooler than a real one.
- The Bad Guy Wins: In Total War'sAlternate Universe, he is all but confirmed to be the canon victor of Dreadfleet, having slain Captain Roth, succeeded in maintaining his control over the Galleon's Graveyard, and possessing the hulk of the Heldenhammer as a unique resource.
- Badass Cape: Wears a regal red one.
- The Bermuda Triangle: The Galleons' Graveyard is the Warhammer equivalent; a swirling vortex at the center of the Great Ocean, drawing to it dark magic and undead undersea horrors. Noctilus is the master of the dark, watery realm, and it is his starting position in both Mortal Empires and the Eye of the Vortex campaigns. In-game, the Graveyard itself takes the form of a huge attrition-dealing reef swirling with magical energy, with a ten-slot major settlement floating in the water at its heart. It also doubles as an Eldritch Location, as the Flavor Text for its building chain mentions it's actually sentient and self-aware.
- Blood Knight: Count Noctilus possesses a great thirst for war, plunder and conquest. To represent this, Noctilus' faction receives special 'declare war on faction X' missions that offer unique rewards, encouraging a very aggressive playing style on the campaign map.
- Canon Immigrant Alongside Aranessa Saltspite, Noctilus hails from Dreadfleet, a naval boardgame set in the Warhammer universe.
- Casting a Shadow: Noted as a powerful user of the Lore of Shadows. In-game he wields a mix set of spells, drawing from the Vampire Counts Lore of Vampires, and the Lore of Shadows, taking the most powerful spells from each lore.
- City on the Water: The Bloody Reaver, which is more of a Base on Wheels than an actual ship; it's a gargantuan Black Ark-style vessel that was originally Noctilus' Sylvanian castle, until he transported the entire structure to the ocean and fused it with leviathan bones and the wrecks of countless sailing ships. Count Noctilus' army enjoys a bonus to horde growth to represent the castle's superior infrastructure compared to a conventional pirate ship.
- Cursed Item: He's in possession of Captain Roth's Moondial, a powerful, but cursed, navigational tool that Noctilus presumably took from Roth's corpse. In the lore, it allows people to find practically anything hidden. In-game, it gives a massive bonus to campign line of sight, and movement, but on the battlefield it can summon a horde of Zombie Deckhands (with rifles) from a long distance.
- Dark Is Evil: Not only a wielder of the Lore of Shadows, a dark, gloomy Wind of Magic, he's clad head to toe in thick, red and black plate mail, and is an extremely evil vampire.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Doubling as Foreshadowing, Count Noctilus has been mentioned in random events throughout the series before his appearance in Curse of the Vampire Coast: In the first game, he arrives as Nyklaus von Carstein during a Vampire Counts campaign to requisition funds for his quest to find the Galleon's Graveyard. In the second, the Pirate Booty he amassed as Count Noctilus can be uncovered on a Skull Reef in the ocean, netting the player 10'000 gold and a random weapon. He was also visible on one of the first released images of the Vampire Coast, riding his Necrofex Colossus mount.
- Evil Overlord: He is a Von Carstein by blood after all, so he fits this trope much more than the other Coast Lord. He's not only a Count, but conducts his naval campaigns from an evil castle and dresses like a stereotypical vampire villain.
- Evil Sounds Deep: His voice is extremely deep and menacing.
- Four-Star Badass: The others may be badass ship captains, but none are as skilled in naval warfare and commanding fleets as Noctilus, being a highly gifted tactican. There is a reason why he led the Dreadfleet as its Grand Admiral. His skills in warfare are reflected in his skill tree.
- Genius Bruiser: A terrifying melee powerhouse wearing heavy armour, but also a highly gifted tactician and a very skilled spellcaster.
- Healing Factor: Has innate regeneration from his Von Carstein bloodline, which he can share with his army through a lord skill to increase replenishment.
- Hero Killer: Is all but stated to have killed Captain Roth, the leader of the good-aligned faction in Dreadfleet, and possibly all of the other heroic captains save for Aranessa. The wreck of Roth's ship, the Heldenhammer (a massive vessel originally intended for Volkmar the Grim), is present as a landmark building in the Galleon's Graveyard, while Roth's arcane moon dial is a quest item for Noctilus. In game his halberd does a sickening amount of armor piercing damage, making him an ideal hero killer.
- Magic Knight: When have you ever seen a Vampire wizard drag around a massive battle axe? He's also covered from the neck downard in thick, heavy plate armour, overgrown with algae and coral. All this, while being a master of the Lore of Shadows.
- Mighty Glacier: He's weighed down by his armor, and isn't too fast, but has a massive amount of health points, a frightening armor rating, and can deal tremendous damage with his armor-piercing halberd, making him the ideal tank for the faction. When mounted on his Necrofex, he instead becomes a Lightning Bruiser, losing none of his tankiness but now able to stride across the battlefield faster than ever in his primitive dark mech.
- Monster Lord: A Von Carstein, who are infamous for their kinship to the dark beasts that haunt the wild. He actually specializes in this as he starts the campaign with a Necrofex Colossus and grants bonus damage to large units in his army.
- Nice Hat: Noctilus is never seen without his giant red captain's hat. Taken to Interface Spoiler levels before release, when the identities of the Vampire Coast Legendary Lords were kept a mystery and were only shown in silhouette, but Noctilus' iconic chapeau gave him away.
- No-Nonsense Nemesis: All the other Vampire Coast Lords have quirks that make them all rather goofy: Luthor is batshit crazy but silly and Affably Evil in nature, Direfin is a ghostly opera singer that lives off Large Ham and is extremely goofy, and Saltspite has a certain naivety about her, acting somewhat like a child in regards to her 'father' and 'uncle'. Noctilus on the other hand, is a darkly grim figure, an Evil Overlord with no comedic traits whatsoever, a vampire that's been waging nonstop naval warfare for centuries, and someone who takes everything seriously.
- Praetorian Guard: The Bloody Reaver Deck Guard, a Regiment of Renown for the Depth Guard with Polearms, are the strongest and most capable vampires that serve upon his floating fortress. Unlike regular Depth Guard, these guys have an ability that ensures they get 44% damage reduction upon activation.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Same colour scheme as Luthor Harkon: Red cornea, with black sclera and pupils.
- Saved by Canon: In the original Warhammer canon, Jaego Roth and the Grand Alliance defeats Count Noctilus and the Dreadfleet. Here, Roth and the Golden Magus are dead, Red Brokk and Prince Yrellian are unaccounted for, but Aranessa Saltspite is still alive albeit much more jaded and cruel.
- That Man Is Dead: It's said when he consumed the power of Galleon's Graveyard, Nyklaus von Carstein was killed, and Count Noctilus was born.
- Tin Tyrant: Unlike the other Lords of the Vampire Coast, who are all somewhat lightly armoured, Noctilus hulks around in a set of incredibly heavy plate armour, overgrown with seaweed and other watery-related growth. It's as if his armour is the hull of an incredibly weathered ship.
- Vampire Vords: Despite having long abandoned his identity as a Von Carstein, he still speaks in a deep, Sylvanian accent, resembling Vlad's a lot.
Captain Aranessa Saltspite, Queen of the Tides
'Ready the Swordfysh!'
Queen of the Tides, Aranessa Saltspite is one of the most respected and feared pirate captains of Sartosa. Some say she is the daughter of the sea god Manann himself and he whispers to her to take control of all the world’s oceans. Now, many a sea-bloated corpse washes up against the Swordfysh’s hull, and so the Vampire first mates breathe unlife into them, creating a vast rabble of loyal crew, ready to serve at Captain Saltspite's command. As part of the living realm rather than the undead, she commands a human pirate crew known as the Sartosa Free Company, otherwise reluctantly sharing control of the denizens of the Vampire Coast.
Aranessa leads the Pirates of Sartosa sub-faction.
Aranessa leads the Pirates of Sartosa sub-faction.
- Adaptational Ugliness: Her description in Dreadfleet suggested that she's beautiful (in a very much Take Our Word for It sense, since she had no model and the only piece of art depicting her◊ made her look pretty much as gritty and grimy as everybody else). In game, her mutations are more pronounced and she's given a far more realistically athletic, powerful body, with almost no hint of traditionally feminine beauty. She's not hideous, but she's not exactly a seductive mermaid, either.
- Adaptational Villainy: In Dreadfleet, Aranessa commanded a normal human crew and was out fighting a fleet of undead villains, but here she has vampiric officers and supplements her human crew with undead, essentially making her a proxy necromancer, though it is mentioned that she does so 'reluctantly', and she could hardly be considered a hero at all even back then. Andy Hall, when asked why she was suddenly such a dark character, stated she was simply Evil All Along.
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Somewhat noticeable when compared to the other Vampire Coast legendary lords. Aranessa's goal is to wipe the seas of the undead, even if it means using them to that end. This goal is shown in her Mortal Empires victory condition, requiring her to get rid of the other Vampire Coast factions, along with wiping out Norsca and a Dark Elf faction. Averted in the Vortex Campaign, however, as she suffers from Motive Decay and will likely remain in a prolonged war with the High Elves.
- Her quest also involves her forming an alliance with the Empire to deal with Norscan raiders led by her father, though said alliance is purely out of convenience.
- Blade on a Stick: Kraken's Bane, a serrated halberd partially made from bone which increases the melee attack of nearby allies and gives them a bonus when fighting 'large' enemies.
- Canon Immigrant: Alongside Count Noctilus, Aranessa hails from Dreadfleet, a naval boardgame set in the Warhammer universe.
- Cool Boat: She rides the waves on the Swordfysh, a smaller vessel than the other lords, but even more intimidating as it hull is almost skeletal, and has a massive bladed ram on the front in the shape of a Swordfish's blade.
- Dark Action Girl: A horribly ruthless pirate, a mutant, and one of the most skilled sea captains in the entire Old World, there are few women more dangerous and unscrupulous than Aranessa. By the end of the campaign she's a follower of Stormfels, one of the most evil deities in the Warhammer world.
- The Dreaded: While she's certainly a feared Pirate Captain, the real reason she's this is because the Norscans are scared shitless of her, as she operates with increased brutality and wickedness when plaguing their coasts. She's infamous throughout the entire Old World as one of the most ruthless and mean spirited pirates that's ever plagued the waves.
- Enemy Mine: During her personal quest, she agrees to a temporary alliance offered by an Imperial General, Kolt Ludenhof, to deal with Norscan raiders slaughtering sea creatures en masse. This happens regardless of whether or not her faction is currently at war with The Empire. Ludenhof's cavalry army will reinforce Aranessa's in the quest battle should it last long enough.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Jumping Off the Slippery Slope aside, she becomes enraged upon discovering that a band of Norscan raiders were slaughtering innocent sea creatures. This eventually lead to her Enemy Mine situation above and though she hated it, the alliance remained amicable to the end.
- Evil All Along: Apparently, she's always had aspirations to conquer the waves in the name of Manaan, and just needed a push to do so. She's still reluctant to use necromancy, though, and continues using a living crew at the start..
- Evil Feels Good: At the end of her campaign, she reflects that being a marauder with the control of legions of undead, and rich from the plunders she's taken by killing thousands of innocents, feels good.
- Evil Uncle: How she views Stromfels.. which has some extreme lore implications about Manaan.
- The Exile: She was exiled from her tribe as a child because of her extreme mutations, and she never looked back.
- Fantastic Racism: She despises the Undead, very reluctantly using Vampires and Zombies to supplement her own forces as a kind of necessity in a Fight Fire with Fire sort of way.
- Fallen Hero: She was never really a hero to begin with, but she started as someone who valued friendship, and wanted to scourge the waves of the Dreadfleet. By the end of the campaign, she declares that she needs no friends, that all the death she's caused is glorious, revels in hedonism, embraces undeath, and forsakes Manann in favour of worshipping the God of Storms and Sharks.
- Giant Enemy Crab: Saltspite rides ontop a Rotting Promethean as her final, and only, mount upgrade.
- Hearing Voices: She hears the calls of the sea, which she interprets as her father, Manaan, the God of the Ocean. It's revealed in the ending that these whispers are indeed real, and she's been hearing the Shark God, Stromfels, as well. She gradually begins ignoring Manaan's calls, listening only to her malevolent uncle.
- Horny Vikings: She is Norse by birth, though she was exiled from her tribe at a young age.
- It's Personal: Having been thrown out of her tribe for her mutations, Aranessa harbours a deep bitterness against all Norscans, enough that she was willing to wade into a massive two-way war between them and an Imperial fleet just to kill some of them and operates with increased brutality when attacking them. In turn the Norse have come to hate and fear her.
- Her personal quest is essentially a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against her biological father for not only throwing her out of her tribe but also for slaughtering innocent sea creatures en masse to spite Manaan when he heard of her survival. The act enraged her enough that she joined forces with an Imperial General to take him down, no matter her faction's standing with Empire at the time.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Hoo boy does she...
- The Last of These Is Not Like the Others: The only human Lord among a cast of undead pirates, and the only one with a set of human units.
- Mook Carryover: Her version of the Vampire Coast's roster includes Sartosa Free Company, an infantry unit dual wielding a set of cutlasses, and Sartosa Militia, another infantry unit this time a hybird melee and ranged unit with a sword and a flintlock pistol. These represents Aranessa's conventional human crew, all pirates from Sartosa.
- Mystical White Hair: Her hair is completely silver, rather unusual for a mostly non-magical human, and Aranessa is widely believed to possess the blessings of Manann the sea god.
- Not-So-Safe Harbor: Sartosa is an island city founded, ruled and populated by cutthroat pirates from across the world. This island is a notorious haven for criminals, harbouring all manner of pirates, brigands, lawless mercenaries and anyone wanting to avoid the various legitimate powers of the Old World. It is a tremendously dangerous place, where drunken pirates press-gang unsuspecting individuals, brawls and duels are an hourly occurrence, and thieves ply the dirty, crowded docks looking for easy marks. Despite the risks, however, it is a place where someone with the toughness and willpower to survive can not only live but thrive, far from the yoke of unfair taxes, overbearing noblemen, and stringent laws. It's her starting location and the name of her faction in both Mortal Empires and the Vortex campaign.
- Our Mermaids Are Different: Part of her Multiple-Choice Past is that she was a Norscan girl born with a mutation that joined her forelegs together as a grotesque mermaid tail. Upon becoming a pirate, she cut the disfigured limbs off and replaced them with peg legs.
- Pirate Booty: Saltspite is such a prolific reaver that her faction enjoys bonuses to the money earned from sacking and razing settlements, and she can unlock a skill that increases the rewards from investigating ocean anomalies.
- Pirate Girl: A feared pirate woman for most of her life, Aranessa was also the sole female captain of Dreadfleet.
- Seadog Peg Leg: Two of them made from serrated swordfish bills, replacing the parts of her legs where she removed a birth mutation which joined them at the forelegs as a mermaid tail. She uses them during in-game battles, and even has a special animation where she catapults herself forward with her spear to attack with her legs!
- She-Fu: When not riding her giant crab, Aranessa fights using impractical but deadly acrobatics. This starts with pole-vaulting into enemies peglegs-first, and extends to jamming her halberd into the ground and spinning herself on it to turn into a blender when surrounded.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Originally anyway. She wants the seas clear of the Undead, and is willing to use them as a means to an end. In a case of The Dark Side Will Make You Forget she all but abandons these noble aspirations in favour of depraved hedonism, fully embracing her undead crew, and the worship of an evil shark deity.
- In Mortal Empires, her faction's victory condition requires her to destroy all other Vampire Coast factions along with Norsca, Wintertooth and The Blessed Dread; all evil factions. This aligns with her original goals before her Motive Decay. She's currently the only Vampire Coast faction that does not require the destruction of any good-aligned factions.
Cylostra Direfin
Madame-Captain Cylostra Direfin, Siren of the Storm
'I shall submerge Ulthuan!'
Legend has it that the sea witch Cylostra Direfin was once the favourite court singer of the Bretonnian king. Sent on a voyage across the ocean to sing for the Phoenix King, they were hit by a fierce storm. The madame's notes turned to screams of fury as the ship sank, and all onboard drowned. Decades later, a Bretonnian galleon of rotten wood and tattered sails can be seen navigating the seas even in the most savage of storms. It is The Lamprey, the ship of the vengeful spirit Madame Cylostra and her crew, the Drowned.
Cylostra leads the Drowned sub-faction, a hybrid faction between the Vampire Coast and Bretonnia, giving her access to ghostly knights.
Cylostra leads the Drowned sub-faction, a hybrid faction between the Vampire Coast and Bretonnia, giving her access to ghostly knights.
- Affably Evil: She's extremely self conceited, but still remains quite polite, and genuinely friendly to others..as long as you praise her enough and don't provoke her. Which is, sadly, far too easy to accomplish.
- The Bard: Her battlefield role, she has a special ability related to her singing abilities, and she's constantly practicing her songs as a voiceline during battles.
- Berserk Button: Never insult her musical talents. Just don't.
- Brawn Hilda: Despite the fact that she's mainly a magician, this ghostly lady has put on quite the bulk. Fitting considering her opera singer theme.
- Canon Foreigner: She's the first completely original Legendary Lord created by Creative Assembly.
- Cool Boat: The Lamprey, a rotting Bretonnian vessel that has an incredibly large figurehead at its forefront of Direfin herself. The previous owner of the ship was a knight who attempted to have undead Prometheans by slaying living ones and bringing them back from the dead with the aid of magic amber form Athel Loren. He managed to revive them, but didn't think ahead for a way to control them, leading to the now pissed off zombie crabs eating him alive. These crabs now serve Direfin's crew, being named The Lamprey's Revenge, a Regiment of Renown for the Rotting Prometheans Gunnery Mob.
- Combat Hand Fan: Her unique item is the Bordeleaux Flabellum, a highly ornate fan she carries in her offhand. She of course has a special animation were she uses it to bludgeon anyone unlucky enough to be around her, and it grants a passive buff that lowers the recharge rate of all her abilities when casting a spell.
- The Champion: Has this in the form of a Damned Paladin, a special Hero Unit available to her faction alone. It's a ghostly Paladin, unchanged from the regular Bretonnia variant, besides having the Ethereal special rule. She also serves as this to Stromfels, the Shark God.
- Divine Intervention: A tweet from Andy Hall (Lead writer for Total War Warhammer 1/2) has hinted that Cylostra's resurrection may have been possible thanks to the malevolent sea deity Stromfels; known as the Shark God, Wrecker, the Lord of Predators, and the God of the Dangers of the Seas (this counting storms among other hazards out at sea). This would later be confirmed via a short story released a few days later, though this could more been seen as a Deal with the Devil.
- Enthralling Siren: She is a syreen, a particular type of banshee known for luring sailors to their doom. With certain skills, units of syreens in Cylostra's army receive stat bonuses.
- Evil Is Hammy: As expected from an egotistical undead opera singer, she truly does love the sound of her voice in battle.
- Evil Sorceress: Was granted mastery of the lore of the deep as part of her pact with Stromfels.
- Fat Bastard: As evil as she's hideously obese.
- Fate Worse than Death: What her Paladin considers his unlife serving her as, with the Flavor Text describing the poor Ghost Knight despising music.
- It's All About Me: Out of all the playable natives of Bretonnia, she is the one who fulfills the stereotype of the nobles being a bunch of egomaniacs the most. Refusing to be late to her concert in Ulthuan, she threw the captain of her ship overboard for refusing to pilot through a severe storm, took command of the vessel herself and steered it into certain doom, not caring about the risks she put everyone else on the ship through. And even in death she refuses to take responsibility for her suicidal actions, blaming the storms of Ulthuan for her ship sinking instead of herself, and now attempts to drown Ulthuan, fully intent on killing everyone on the island so that she may finally perform for the Phoenix King in undeath. And then there's her tendency to look into her mirror-staff during battle.
- It Is Pronounced 'Tro-PAY': Cylostra says her own last name with French pronunciation. It does make some degree of sense since she's from France-analogue Bretonnia, but her last name is not very noble when pronounced any other way, and she's exactly the kind of woman/siren who'd try to appear more refined.
- Magic Mirror: When the player selects a hero unit, Cylostra might comment that she's 'seen this one in [her] mirror,' implying that her mirror staff has some magical properties.
- Magic Music: Her singing is stated in flavor text to paralyze those who hear it, leaving them helpless to her undead crew. In gameplay this takes the form of her 'Song of Enthrallment' ability, which greatly lowers the speed and melee attack of nearby enemy units.
- Magic Staff: Her staff is this crossed with a Magic Mirror.
- Mook Carry Over: Has access, through a special ability, to Damned Knights: fallen Bretonnian Knights who drowned with her, and now continue to serve their mistress for all eternity. Depending on which upgrade you choose, she has access to Damned Knight Errants, Damned Knights of the Realm, and Damned Questing Knights. She also has a unique, ghostly Paladin Hero Unit.
- Monster Knight: Her Damned Knights, though they are better described as Ghost Knights.
- Never My Fault: Of course it's not her fault for throwing her incompetent captain overboard and then forcefully taking command of the ship, steering it into a deadly storm! Mere captains, peasants and underlings shouldn't argue with nobles of Bretonnia without punishment! And it's not her fault that she tried to sing the storm away with her legendary voice instead of just steering the ship away! It was Ulthuan's fault for having such nasty storms and now the High Elves have to pay!
- Original Generation: The very first Legendary Lord and faction leader to not be an existing character in the Warhammer universe.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: She focuses on using spectral units far more than any other of the Pirate Lords, making her the most literal case of Ghost Pirate.
- The Prima Donna: A lifetime of not only being a member of the notoriously spoiled and self-centered upper classes of Bretonnia, but also being known as the greatest singer in all of Bretonnia, possibly the greatest in the World, and so renowned that even the Phoenix King of the High Elves wanted to hear her sing, left her with quite the ego. Hell, upon her watery demise during a storm as she was on her way to Ulthuan, she was not horrified or saddened that she would meet her cruel and untimely end, but furious beyond reasoning that the greatest concert of her life was cut short. Death only made that ego mightier.
- Stone Wall: She might not be the hardest hitting Legendary Lord, but she is close to being the tankiest one in the game once she gets onto her Rotting Leviathan mount, giving her a big pool of health and a massive bit of armor upon her already ethereal form.
- Stout Strength: Despite being the very definition of obese, Cylostra was able to lift her sea captain (a heavily armored knight), and bodily throw him off the deck of his ship in a fit of extreme rage. One of her main forms of attack is even to deliver slaps that sends soldiers flying.
- Unfinished Business: Cylostra plies the waves at the head of her fleet of undead pirates not for loot or glory, but to right the one final regret she had in life. She wages war to perform a concert for the Phoenix King, not caring one whit that he's presumably not interested in having Ulthuan invaded by the undead, or that he would probably also not approve of her plan to sink the whole island to set the stage for her final performance.
- Familiar: Is Direfin's, though it serves as an adviser to all the playable Vampire Coast Captains.
- Maniac Monkeys: A viscous, mean spirited Zombie monkey, who will happily devour human flesh if given the opportunity.
Index
Note-This story is AU, the characters are OOC, and this story will NOT follow canon. Elements of canon will be extracted, but canon will not be what this story is about.
Note: found a good cover image for my fic, all rights reserved.
Count.
That, more than anything, will be something that Liz and Red will have to confront. It’s not only about why Tom died and who is behind his death and the more surface-level questions that we’ll confront about what really happened. Blacklist redemption release date. And yet, she’s been sucked into this world that she’s having a hard time fighting back against. But deeper than that, the bigger question is: Who is Elizabeth Keen?” The Blacklist Season 5 Release DateThe series will return from its midseason hiatus to a significantly altered playing field on NBC on January 3, 2018.The 22-episode run of The Blacklist Season 5 premiered back on September 27.
Chapter I.
Many say that children are innocent in their parents' mistakes. In Naruto's case… he wasn't only cursed with unimaginable demonic power, given to him by the beast, sealed inside of him, but also curse of his vampiric blood, inherited by him, through his terrifying grandfather, Vlad von Carstein.
Many years ago, Vlad tried to create the species of Vampires, who will lack the weaknesses of the normal ones, but will keep all their strength. He tried countless rituals and finally used them on a woman and himself. Old Vampire Lord selected a natural breeding for this cause, desiring a true heir for Von Carstein line. However, the child, born from that union was absolutely normal.
In fury, Von Carstein casted the spell that was supposed to rip child into shreds, but winds of Warp were always unpredictable. Instead of dying, child appeared in another place. There he was taken into the orphanage and then, much later he will become a great warrior of nearly unmatched skill.
Minato. Namikaze Minato, that will be his name. Unknowingly, his true name was Minato Von Carstein. Even if Minato didn't inherit powers of Vlad, experiment didn't fail, next generation was successful where the previous failed. Naruto, Minato's son, unknowingly to his parents, was born with powers of Von Carstein's line, just as Vlad wanted. Human and vampire, both yet neither. He had all the strength and absolutely no weaknesses.
Except one flaw. His thirst. Thirst for blood didn't disappear and with sealing of giant demon in his gut, his father just increased it. Vlad started to sense his progeny from time to time, but he failed to understand where he was and from where the call came, so the first twelve years of his life Naruto suffered in Konoha.
However, later, he will remembered them as the brightest days of his life. Because, no matter how high the wall between him and society was, he was still surrounded by humans and not night predators. Everything, however, will change, as Vlad will take him.
During twelve years in Konoha, Naruto endured the lone fate, forced upon him by his father and as he will later say, it prepared him to even loner existence of Vampire Lord. During his early years, he managed to make a first step to recognition that he so desired and deserved.
He saved countries, fought enemy ninja, gained friends, but as some people say, life is like zebra, and Naruto's life reached it's black line and hell, it was really long.
First call was defection of his so-called rival and best friend, Sasuke. Group of genins under Shikamaru's command sent to return him back… He was among them. He was the only one, who managed to reach Sasuke. After the long exhausting battle he prevailed due to his completely awakened blood.
However when Kakashi arrived, there was only Sasuke, who was unconsciously floating on the water.
Naruto on the other hand, summoned by Vlad, through the teleportation circle, became his apprentice, before he was properly trained and introduced to other 'relatives'. Vlad's sons-in-darkness were classical vampires. Arrogant, bloodthirsty, too ambitious rulers of the necromancy.
They all wanted to create the Empre of the Dead. Well, all, except Konrad, he just wanted to butcher everything in sight. Naruto became powerful warrior and mastered arts of necromancy, however, unlike his relatives he just disappeared on the territory of Empire.
Unknown to anyone, he lived through all Vampire Wars, fighting as mercenary against undead. During the reign of Karl Franze, he became the leader of mercenary band. His black knights, created by black sorcery and necromancy, quickly became a feared heavy cavalry unit.
He was there, when Emperor the young Emperor called to arms and marched to the north. Karl was very… enthusiastic man when it came to battle and he never let his enemies do as they please if he had a say in it.
Conquest after the conquest, battle after the battle, victory after victory. Karl Franze bested every foe, who had thrown himself against him or Empire. Even if he was always a supporter of peace, there were still plenty of those, who wanted to destroy Empire.
Countless conflicts gave Naruto fame and money. Even if he was considered a mercenary, he had answered Empire's call much more eagerly even if he was promised less money. He was also known for the fact that his small regiment managed to overcome enemies much greater in numbers than his own. Some whispered about sorcery, some, that he wasn't even human, but both sided agreed that it was good to have him and his men on the Empire side.
During his travels he had also acquired a strange ally, female Druchii. It was during the times when he traveled the world, somewhere after the Third Vampire War. He went north and naturally came upon something really interesting Group of Chaos Dwarves , who guarded some kind of cage, hidden by cloth.
Of course, slaying followers of Chaos was always a big plus to your karma and a good deed in eyes of all good deities. So Naruto just slayed the Dwarves and ripped the cloth from the cage. To his surprise, his eyes met the equally surprised and scared eyes of beautiful elven maiden. Correction, a Druchii woman.
She asked him if she wanted a company in his travel and for the first time in his life, Naruto didn't know what to say to this simple question. Nevertheless, he desired company and said 'yes'. Thus she followed him, loyally and wordlessly, something that he wasn't expected to see from Druchii.
Maybe it was all the play, maybe… but until she will not betray him, he will not cut her head off, but hours turned into days, days into months and months into years and she still was his most loyal supporter.
He never asked how she got herself into the situation that led to their meeting, but she once told that her family deemed her weak and the head of her family ordered her death. That's how he received his own sorceress and one of his most trusted allies.
However, like all von Carsteins he started to thirst for more. His current style of life gave him everything he needed, money, women, food. However, in his dreams he saw himself as ruler of his own Mark, as Elector Count in Empire, with one of the two vacant Runefangs in his hands.
Naruto had enough examples of his wayward kin to understand that illegal and forceful ways to position of power will not give him desired throne. During his travels, through completing several tasks for the Emperor's family, or various Electors and their families, he managed to get himself enough of a good credit to be recognized as non-hostile vampire, very much like Lady Dieudonne and receive a right to live among humans.
Of course, Templars didn't like this.
However, Naruto managed to deal with such problem. Over several centuries of his existence, he managed to forge some 'alliances' that helped him during the tough times. His connections with some influential and powerful lectors gave him so needed freedom, for some.. services.
After all, when you kill… a vampire, for example, his or her nest nearly always declare the vengeance on those, who did it and usually it ended in massive raid on territories of human kingdoms.
However if vampire slayed vampire… it was just the fight for the territory for others. Nothing big. So Naruto slayed the other vampires, thus keeping his territory clean and getting the Witch Hunters from his tail.
So… right now, marching to the throne room of the Emperor himself, he was questioning himself what caused the sudden call of his services…
Dark lands. Plain of Zharrduk.
Mordain the Headtaker was in a way, a dwarf of his word. Why in a way? He was a Chaos Dwarf, but even in their society, loyalty to your word still was valued. Moreover, a man of his position must show that he always keeps his promises. Especially if he promised to make someone's life miserable.
His benefactor, Gakroth, one of the sorcerers of Chaos, who served as priest of Hashut, struck a deal with Malekith, Witch King of Naggoroth, for slaves they will trade their heavy weapons, which fallen prince wanted to use against the elves of Ulthuan.
It was no secret, how much the elves despised the dwarves and everything connected to them. However, Malekith's hatred to High Elves overpowered his hatred to bearded midgets. Thus, he agreed to trade slaves for weapons of the Chaos Dwarves. Deal was highly profitable for both sides.
However, there was one part of their deal, written in fine print: Malekith ordered his grandniece to be given to the dwarves, to be tortured for disobedience and show of weakness. Girl secretly helped slaves. Tolerating something like this in his family? It was beyond Malekith's understanding of the world and family values.
However, the brat disappeared from the caravan, with all her guards were mercilessly slaughtered. Dwarf showed his tusks and growled. Now it was his turn to deal with the girl and her mysterious protector, after all, if you want the job done, do it yourself.
After brief praying to Hashut, Chaos Dwarf went to gather provision and men, his path led into the last place, where the damned druchii was seen. Empire.
Altdorf. Emperor's chambers.
Naruto knelt in front of the man, to whom he swore his allegiance many years ago.
'Naruto… old friend. Please, rise.' Said Karl Franz, current Emperor of the Human Empire. 'It is unbecoming for a man, who saved my life several times, to kneel in front of his friend.' Said Karl, stretching his arm and raising his friend to his feet.
'It's normal for a vassal to show respect for his Emperor.' Countered Naruto. 'I'm loyal to Empire and you, my Emperor.'
Karl Franz turned to the window and started to walk to the window. 'Were you successful?' asked he.
'Yes.' Answered Naruto. 'I did as we agreed. Many years ago, Emperor Ludwig decided that fighting undead shall be prerogative of the undead. As Elector Count of Reikland he ordered me to create an order of elite undead warriors. I did as he ordered. Thousand warriors. Black knights, whose martial skills are ensured by countless soul imprints gathered by me.'
'You took the souls of men?' instantly turned to him Karl Franz.
'Souls? Sigmar forbid, no! I collected soul imprints, taking copies of their skills, leaving their souls intact. Of course, I didn't hunt them down, they hunted me. Therefore, I took powers from greatest knights of Bretonia and professional vampire hunters.'
Emperor scratched his chin.
'You will lead them into battle. By the way, how do they look?'
'Animated armor. Basically, it's my variant of magical golems.'
'Hmm… maybe we will be able to use it in new war.' Said the Emperor. 'Recently Empire suffered from the increase of Greenskins' raids. Grimgor Ironhide leads his Black Orcs to our borders, even now he assaults our keeps. Take your order…'
'Of Black Chalice.'
'Of Black Chalice, and get them to the borders. Countless Knight Orders of Empire had already arrived to the Black Fire Pass. You will go there and you will assist Empire's army. Your goal is to prevent the Orchish WAAAAGH, from passing to the Moot.'
Naruto also walked to the window and looked down, at the noisy streets of the Altdorf. 'Will we receive any reinforcements?'
'Moot will send their representatives and rangers, we can form recon divisions from them.'
'That we can do.' Said Naruto. 'When Reiksmarshal will arrive there alongside Reiksguard?'
Situation on south was dire. Since other conflicts thinned all reserves of manpower that Empire had, Karl Franz was forced to spare small forces from each garrison of other keeps and Empire's cities to protect the Moot, that provided provision for nearly entire Empire.
'Kurt will get there as fast as possible.' Assured him the Emperor. Naruto shrugged. He didn't like the Reiksmarshal and the feeling was mutual. Only the fact that they both loyally served the Emperor stopped them from fighting each other.
However, he was in good terms with Mad Count and this fact infuriated Reiksmarshal even more than the fact that in his presence was a vampire, who he couldn't behead.
'So, I will go first and Kurt will go just behind me.' Finished Naruto. 'Anything else?'
'No. Try to not let them enter the territory of the Moot.'
Moot. Several days later.
Naruto beheaded another orc and commanded his forces to take the defensive formation behind him. When he arrived to the Balck Fire Pass, Black Orcs had already managed to destroy the shattered forces of Empire. Moreover, they somehow managed to force several bands of Beastmen to join their cause.
Now, shattered army of the Empire struggled against two forces that thirsted their destruction. Originally, their plan wasn't that bad, but Beastmen managed crush their plans. Naruto was ripped out of his thoughts by loud roar.
His sword, Blood Drinker, flashed under the faint light of the moon, beheading the charging beastman. Suddenly Naruto heard the sound of horn and he sighed in relief.
'Helborg! Never thought that I will glad to see you, but… well… I'm really glad to see you.' Screamed Naruto kicking another beastman into his chest and with satisfaction listening to cracking of his bones.
'Later, pale boy!' screamed Kurt. 'Where the hell is the army?!'
'We are the army, Mustache!' answered Naruto, continuing to cut down the Beastmen. 'Greenskins managed to persuade the Beastmen to take their side. Those bastards hunted down the Empire's forces… I saw countless altars with helms of our commanders. Maybe there are still those who fight against them, but all I can be sure of… that there are your forces and mine.'
Kurt sighed, Beastmen retreated under the combined assault of the Black Chalice and Reiksguard.
'So…' asked Helborg. 'You are here longer than us, how did it happen? I need details.'
Naruto looked around, still unsure that Beastmen left them alone. 'I arrived when everything was already lost. Orcs invaded the Moot, Beastmen carried the helms and skulls of our men on their banners. I started to hunt them down, also searching for survivors, but as you can see… for no avail. Moreover, I still have yet to see any Black Orc.'
'Not even one?' asked Helborg.
'Not even one.' Nodded Naruto. 'It looks like whatever force made it through the Black Fire Pass, Black Orcs stayed behind and it is rather unusual.'
'I would rather say: troubling.' Noted Kurt, checking how easy his Runefang gets out of its sheath. They heard sounds of battle at the same moment and touched the horses with spurs at the same time. After several minutes of non-stop riding, they saw a surrounded squad of Imperial Longswords.
First survivors that both parties met. Without a doubt, these people passed through a lot, and they also were invaluable sources of information. After they finished patching up the survivors, Naruto and Helborg had finally found out what happened. Somehow, Greenskins and Beastmen knew, exactly where the Empire forces were gathering.
Someone sold them up.
Commander of the Greatswords had also informed them, that there were other surviving warriors nearby. Several more squads of the Greatswords, Pistoliers and survivors of the Knightly Orders. Helborg and Naruto managed to gather the survivors and kick the Beastmen out of the occupied territories.
However, the Greenskins occupied keeps, near the Black Fire Pass and still managed to get the reinforcements through mountains with no effort. Naruto and Helborg were greatly troubled by the fact that Black Orcs were still absent in the Orchish horde.
Fortunately, Moot continued to support them, so death from starvation wasn't something that awaited them in near future. They had sent the runners to the city of Altdorf, in hopes that the Emperor will send them either reinforcements or war machines to deal with the walls of the keeps.
Five days later, Naruto had finally lost his patience, he ordered Empire's forces to wait in the forest and when his knights gained attention of the Greenskins, he climbed the wall and, after slaying all guards, opened the gates of the keep.
Empire's army smashed the Orcs and invaded the keep that was taken from them nearly a month ago. Naruto had spent another month there, alongside Reiksmarshal, rebuilding the keep that protected the Black Fire Pass and cleaning the territory from the last Orc warbands.
Black Orcs didn't pass the mountains and that sprung the Reiksmarshal's paranoia. By his orders, Naruto returned to the Altdorf and went to the meeting with the Emperor.
Empire of Man. Great city of Altdorf. Royal chambers.
When Naruto heard the loud screams from the cabinet of his Emperor, he heard loud female voice. Realization struck him like lightning and not caring about his image, hid in the darkest corner, behind the massive knight armor.
When he heard, how rustling of long female dress disappeared somewhere away, he turned into a thick black mist and got inside Karl Franz's cabinet, he had found his Emperor pouring large glass with some strong alcohol of dwarven brewing.
'Why the hell didn't you tell me that she is here?!' asked he.
'You would have left me to suffer alone, if I told.'
Maria Holswig Schliestein. Fourth child of the Karl Franz. Only daughter of his. Always unruly, rebellious and hyperactive, Naruto acted as her swordsmanship teacher, when she was younger. However, when young princess hit puberty, started problems.
At first she wanted her Naruto as her official lover. When she received a polite decline, Maria asked her father to speak with Naruto. After two men spoke, Maria was sent away from the Altdorf, to female monastery. She was followed by countless female teachers, whose prerogative was to make a proper lady out of her.
Unfortunately, Maria had other plans. She denied their attempts and focused on military training and science. Moreover, to worry of her teachers, young princess spent too much time in company of females, rather than males.
Moreover, princess started to gather around herself a group of loyal supporters. Slowly, but surely, group of different specialists turned into an army. Emperor bothered the fact that his unruly daughter gathered so many forces and denied him any kind of explanation.
'Yes. I know I'm a jerk.' Said the Emperor, catching Naruto's annoyed gaze. 'Unfortunately, it comes with a job. Nevertheless, my dear daughter isn't the cause of you being here. Your annoying relatives had once again decided that powers in the Sylvania are shared unfairly.'
'And?'
'Normally I wouldn't have cared, but my spies report that there is a vampire, who claims to be of famous von Carstein bloodline.'
'There are countless vampires of that bloodline. Moreover there are many imposters.'
'The one, we are interested in, is calling himself Mannfred and he looks exactly like the bald bastard is portrayed in historical chronicles.'
'And you need me to go there and check, if it is truly uncle?'
Emperor sighed. True surname of his trusted champion was one of the guarded secrets, even his name was changed to Nathaniel and only Emperor knew that his true name was Naruto von Carstein. Instead of answering Emperor silently nodded.
Sylvania. Week later.
Naruto, atop his nightmare, looked at the battlefield from above. His cavalry followed his orders and destroyed another horde of skeletons. By the time he had arrived to Sylvania, Mannfred and it really was his uncle-in-darkness, already controlled all East Sylvania. Other notable Vampire counts weren't so eager to follow him and waited till his battle against High Necromancer Ceilig von Kruger.
Mannfred, with his charisma slowly was winning sympathies of his fellow brothers and sisters of the night and his talents on the battlefield, quickly raised his popularity. Son-in-darkness of Vlad von Carstein was gathering armies of undead and forces of Kruger didn't manage to hold his unrelenting rage.
Right now, Mannfred was dealing with forces of Empire, stationed near Hel Fenn, leaving East Sylvania without his attention and this fact was used by Naruto to the fullest. His forces were mobile, even if much smaller than Mannfred's, he still managed to destroy many infrastructures that provided his relative with riches that he wanted to use in future war with Empire.
How did he find out this valuable information?
Several bold Vampire Lords dared to challenge him. Their heads soon were attached to his nightmare's saddle. Now, wherever he went, clip-clop sound of attached skulls followed him. Also captured Vampire lords told him that Mannfred wanted some artifact, which might will let him rise countless undead soldiers without enormous amount of warp-stone.
What was really interesting, the artifact was actually a holy object, powerful enough to clean up the entire territory of Sylvania from curse of undeath and curing the earth. Such power was exactly what Naruto needed, to deal with Mannfred. So he followed Mannfred's agents to the Kingdom of Bretonia, in hopes to get the power of the artifact for himself.
Bretonnia. Chapel of the Lady of the Lake.
'Onward men! Onward! Protect the inner chambers of the chapel!' Guiche de Boute was one of the many Grail Knights, who protected the chapel of the Lady. This chapel held the piece of the map, written by the hand of the Gilles le Bretone himself. It will show the path to the domain of the Lady, filled with artifacts of godly power.
However, such immense power can be used in both ways. Those, who wished to use it for evil, finally came to their lands. Guiche traveled for a lot of time and he instantly recognized their opponent. When he recognized them, blood ran cold in his veins.
Vampires. Scourge of Sylvania.
Warriors, clad in bloody red armor, ornamented with different images of bats and leather wings. Vampire knights. Just the right guys to get his day any better, if he will not die in battle he will certainly be turned into a snuck, or risen as undead.
Suddenly he noticed that among the red-armored figures, there were others, clad in armor of Bretonnia's Grail Knights. Betrayers. They sold their friends, comrades and oaths for some sort of fake immortality. He pitied them, but it didn't mean that he will stay his hand.
Knight blocked another strike with his sword and hit smiling bastasrd's face, beating out his fangs, with sharp side of his shield. However, he was just one man; other fellow brothers-in-arms had already fallen in battle.
Soon, swords of his enemies found weak points in his armor and pierced it. From immense pain, last knight fell on the floor.
'Quick! Secure the map! Master Mannfred will have our heads if we will stall the progress of the mission even for a second.' It was strange for vampires to not even drink the blood of the fallen. Guiche, however was in too much pain to care about it.
His head hit the stone floor and darkness finally claimed him.
…
Naruto finally reached the chapel. Heh had lost his steed, when he passed the border. All this time he had followed the tracks of the vampires from Sylvania, but their squad always divided, so Naruto followed the one, who he sensed first. Kulphos von Carstain. He didn't belong to a direct bloodline of von Carstain family, like Naruto and his uncles did, no. Kulphos was one of the many 'distant relatives', cannon fodder and errand boys, whom Mannfred so liked to use.
However, Mannfred always gave his trustworthy champions some perks and Kulphos didn't fail his master, not even once. With his demonic steed, he and his men were part of Mannfred's logistics divisions. Fast as wind the black riders were, but Naruto's nightmare was relentless. Due to him, young lord of the night managed to follow his targets.
However, Kulphos ordered his men to ambush Naruto and in quick battle one of the vampires managed to kill the steed. Forced to walk, Naruto reached the chapel too late. It was already sieged and vampires took what they wanted. However, one of the knights still breathed. It was promisisng. He needed information and he will receive it.
Naruto get the potions out of his bag…
…
Guiche de Boute was a true exemplar of the Grail Knight, because I saved his life, he swore an oath of servitude to Naruto! Creature of the night! Moreover, he didn't feel any kind of deceit from the knight and vampire learnt to trust his six sense.
From the Knight, Naruto had found out about the holy place, where resided the Lady of the Lake, if vampires were heading there, then both of them will just wait for undead there.
'I highly doubt that we will get there in time.' Said the knight. 'With all due respect, but you had lost too much time, saving my life.'
'Ah, Guiche, always a true knight, mission and oath before his personal well-being. Fortunately, you have such awesome suzerain as me. You would have died there, was it naught for my help. So… if you have a plan, please share it with me.' Said Naruto.
'There is a witch…' started Guiche.
'Witch?' raised his brow Naruto. 'As in real one, or one of those charlatans, who use crystal orbs to fool a common folk to get their money?'
'Real one, sire. She lives in the forest nearby and she has the blessing of the Lady. People say that she has a way to get into her realm, a backdoor, in a way…' Kusanagi font free download.
'Then why didn't vampires consider attacking her?' asked Naruto. 'She is a common legend around here, isn't she? They would have already heard about her.'
'She is powerful. Royarch once sent his best knights to get her out of our lands and none of them have returned, then Lady came and claimed that the witch is under her protection.'
'Appearance of the goddess isn't something that we can ignore. Okay, let's see that witch, after all, without horses we will manage to get them only near the border.' Said Naruto.
Both warriors slightly changed their way, leaving the road behind, to get further into the heart of the forest. The deeper they came, the stranger was everything around them. Naruto was enem more aware of this fact than sir knight. He felt, how ancient magic filled the air. Magic quite different from the one he used to unleash on his enemies.
He felt it… it was like a shadow. Strangely, for vampire, who was master of shadow and darkness and governed over blood, these shadows seemed somehow alien.
They didn't notice her, until she was so close that Naruto could stretch his hand and touch her.
Naruto expected anything from the witch, but he had never expected her to be this sexy. Moreover, her choice of wardrobe was very… revealing.
Naruto looked into her golden eyes and couldn't move his gaze. Witch also seemed to be somewhat hypnotized by his gaze. Only calm coughing of the knight made them turn in his direction.
'Sir Guiche. Looks like finally keep your promise you did.' Witch turned her back to them and and moving her hips walked away, two men followed her. Sometime later all three reached the witch's hut. When they entered, first thing that Naruto noticed was the large mirror.
It had some strange aura, like it was much more than a mirror. Like it was a door, which led… somewhere.
'Do you like it?' asked the witch. 'Eye-catching isn't it? At least for those, who knows where they must look.'
Naruto took his place behind the table.
'My lord, this is Morrigan, Witch of the Wild. Lady Morrigan this is…'
'Grandson of Vahanesh, I know. Ravens told me, winds of magic roared when you were born. Creature of nether night nor day, Vampire and human, both yet neither.' Witch made a pause. 'Truly, rewarded will be my long wait.'
'Rewarded? Wait? And how the hell do you know the true name of my grandfather?' asked Naruto, trying to find the hilt of his sword.
'Told you I did. Ravens, birds of war told this to me. I'm Witch of the Wild, in my power to order them.' Answered Morrigan, 'But enough of these silly questions, came here you with certain intention. To lady's temple I can lead you by shortest of ways. Dangerous this path is, but time will it give you that you so sorely lack. In return… of simple task do I ask.'
'And what is that 'simple task'?' asked Naruto.
'Very simple it is.' Answered Morrigan. 'With you I will go. Saw I that my help in future will you require.'
Naruto scratched his chin. He knew that witches were rather… strange and always had a hidden agenda, but he will be in profit, if he will get another witch to his side, right now, his druuchi friend is commanding his forces in Sylvania, attacking Mannfred's posts. However, his uncle had too many necromancers and other vampire lords under his command. His army was simply too big for his small knight order.
Of course, his knights were perfect and know he had commander for them, who actually knew what needed to be done, but there were so many undead that they will simply overwhelm Naruto's forces with numbers.
Moreover… he still had a lot of money, thus he can afford himself many additional forces. I form of dogs of war.
'So… how do you plan bring us there?'