| rdfs:comment | - These are the "gets" of Wsoran, scattered in their towers and studying necromantic lore. Their aim is to turn all life into death. As such, vampires of species other than humans can be created by overpowering those species stronger magical defences. In combat, they are weak but their spellcasting is very strong.
- Of all the trueborn Vampires, only W'soran, founder of the Necrarch bloodline and so-called “Father of Vampires,” was truly loyal to Nagash. Neferata worshipped Nagash for a time but felt betrayed by his choice of Vashanesh over her to lead the Vampires, and the others chose to ally with Nagash only out of convenience. So it was that when Nagash fell, W’soran was the only trueborn at his side to lay claim to the Great Necromancer’s works. With these, and a select group of Nagash’s acolytes, W’soran fled from the Land of the Dead to continue working towards Nagash’s dream in safety.[1a]
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| abstract | - Of all the trueborn Vampires, only W'soran, founder of the Necrarch bloodline and so-called “Father of Vampires,” was truly loyal to Nagash. Neferata worshipped Nagash for a time but felt betrayed by his choice of Vashanesh over her to lead the Vampires, and the others chose to ally with Nagash only out of convenience. So it was that when Nagash fell, W’soran was the only trueborn at his side to lay claim to the Great Necromancer’s works. With these, and a select group of Nagash’s acolytes, W’soran fled from the Land of the Dead to continue working towards Nagash’s dream in safety.[1a] W’soran began work on the Grimoire Necronium, which contained not only a distillation of Nagash’s magic but also a series of prophecies showing W’soran’s vision of the future: a world of bones populated only by the dead and ruled by his bloodline. There was one flaw with this dream of an empire of corpses — the lack of sources of blood. Thus, W’soran searched for ways to relieve himself of the red thirst. Powerful necromantic magic made him less dependent on feeding than other Vampires, so he could go for months or years without blood. There was a price, however. His reliance on pure Dark Magic, rather than blood alone, to give him power caused his visage to grow hideous and corpse-like.[1a] When W’soran granted the Blood Kiss to his aging acolytes, this curse was passed to them as well. By drawing on the power of True Dhar to a far greater degree than other Vampires, their forms grew as twisted as their master’s. Over time, their minds twisted along with their bodies, and many sank into madness. One such unfortunate was Melkhior, greatest of W’soran’s apprentices, who slew and ate his master.[1a] Fearing for their unlives after this coup, the Necrarchs separated. Each suffered paranoid delusions, and although they all worked towards the same end, none of them trusted each other. They settled in all the nations of the Old World, and the paranoid rantings that passed for communications between them slowly grew silent.[1a] Estalia was the chosen land of Nourgul, who had been with W’soran and Nagash in their earliest days. Even then, he dreamed of conquest and had observed Nagash’s techniques and tactics closely. In 1750 he followed through on his plans, raised an army of the dead tens of thousands strong, and waged war on the petty kingdoms of Estalia. Wherever he conquered, he gathered grimoires and artefacts, from the pettiest trinkets to the most potent tomes. His ultimate aim was to possess the Tome of Wisdom, which was kept in the city of Magritta. Nourgul’s army laid siege to the city for a month, at the end of which the defenders fell strangely silent. Victorious, Nourgul flew into the city on his steed, a gigantic Vampire Bat, and entered the temple of Myrmidia where the Tome of Wisdom was housed. It was in that temple, beside the book he so prized, that his burnt ashes were found. No one has ever explained this turn of events.[1a] Far to the north, in the Forest of Shadows, Melkhior the Ancient pursued the Necrarchs’ dream in a much more subdued fashion. Now hopelessly mad, he saw little but his bizarre visions, occasionally going on a rampage amongst his servants to avoid the tedium. One of these servants, the Necrarch Zacharias, sought to repeat Melkhior’s defeat of W’soran and fought Melkhior in a magical duel. Melkhior was the victor, but years later Zacharias returned, somehow vastly more powerful than he had been, and had his revenge on Melkhior.[1a] Such is the Necrarch way. They are masters of necromancy, alchemy, and all of the natural philosophies but are hampered by the depth of their madness and distrust.[1a]
- These are the "gets" of Wsoran, scattered in their towers and studying necromantic lore. Their aim is to turn all life into death. As such, vampires of species other than humans can be created by overpowering those species stronger magical defences. In combat, they are weak but their spellcasting is very strong.
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