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Just a collection of fluff I'm going to build up about my Vampire count army, mostly only a few paragraphs long at a time, first detailing their history then their current campaigns (History while I'm building the army to be playable, and Current when I'm actually playing them.). I realize this bit is kind of confusing, so I'll clear a bit up. The Bloodborn Family (Valdros Family) is the leading "Council" in charge of the army, the Blood Born tribe is the vampires and Necromancers who serve them.

Just north of the Broken Tooth Ork tribe, along the Old Silk road near the river crossing lays a Decayed village, forgotten in all but the oldest of the empires documents. The homes, of which their where few and far between, had long since lost all signs of structural integrity, their once grandiose forms now rotten and decayed. Perched high above the village, upon a large hill over looking the ending point of the Black Gulf lays the Valdros manor. In the days of old, before Nagash had ravaged the earth, the village was ruled by the Valdros family, not a part of any larger kingdom. No mortal being knows what lead to the downfall of the village, and few even know it existed at all.
It is here that the Blood Born vampire family and their subordinates make their home, lead by Michael Valdros. The Blood Born "Tribe" is lead by the original Valdros Family (Named "Blood Born" due to them being "Reborn" through ascendance to vampiricism) which consists of: Micheal Valdros (The Blood Father, who is the only member aloud to give the blood kiss, and is revered by the followers of the family as a god) Victoria (The Crypt Keeper, commands the necromantic servants of the family, and assures their loyalty. Wife of Micheal), Ivan (The general, in charge of planning the military campaigns of the family. Son of Victoria And Micheal, youngest of the vampires), Aubry (The Huntress, incharge of infiltration campaigns and assuring a constant supply of "Cattle". Wife of Azazel, daughter of Victoria and Micheal), and Azazel (The Dishonored, the only family member to not genetically be Valdros, introduced to the family through his marrage to Aubry. He was lost to an inescapable rage after the failed assult on
Somjek, considered the greatest military failure of the family. He was intercepted during the raid by a force of Goblins from the Yellow Eye tribe, who destroyed every last member of the raiding party. It is because of this no new family members are accepted, and he is no longer considered part of the family. His current whereabouts are unknown.).


Common alternative names for the tribe include:
Clan Valdros
The Blood-Hounds*
*Only used by outsiders, who hear of it through myth or rumor, no actual well-respected vampire would call it such

Made a small stats sheet
Victoria: Vampire Lord, Level 4 wizard, Accursed Heirloom (Counts as Black Periapt), Master of the Black Arts, Summon creatures of the night. 465 points
Ivan: Vampire Hero, Sheild, Heavy Armor, Winged Terror, Master Strike. 156 points
Aubry: Vampire Lord, Additional hand weapon, Beguile, Quickblood, Aurua of Dark Majesty, Bloodborn Book of Tactics (Book of Arkhan). 319 points
Azazel: Vargulf
Micheal Valdros: Vampire Lord, Heavy Armor, The Bloodborn Legacy Sword (Great Weapon), The Scripture of Vampiric Ascendance (The Cursed Book), Fear Incarnate, Beguile, Master Strike, Coven Throne. 551 points

Ok interesting - I love Vampires

Sooo which Bloodline are they - or is the blood mixed?

Haven't decided yet, probably Lahmian (Though the males may cause an issue..) or mixed blood for the Family, what ever bloodline they can find for the tribe.

 Hive Fleet Cerberus wrote:
Haven't decided yet, probably Lahmian (Though the males may cause an issue..) or mixed blood for the Family, what ever bloodline they can find for the tribe.

There are a few males in the Lahmian blooline - especially with renegades.............your lord could be a discarded suitor of one of Neferata's chosen................. THe Vagulf may well point to some Strigoi blood?

The Valgruf is a Member of a different blood line than the rest of the family, as he isnt genetically related to the Family and wasn't turned into a vampire by the family, he was already a Vamp when Aubry met him (He hadn't devolved into a Vagulf until after his disbandment from the family)

A "huntress" and a strigoi would make a fun couple so there is mileage there

Just a small bit about the Belief system of the tribe, which is their main "Driving point", what really drives the army to fight and attempt to make a mark on the world. This is what a good deal of the fluff will be about, as I find the idea really interesting.

The Blood Born believe that Vampiricism is a blessing from the gods.
Their ultimate goal is to seek out humans that the Family deems worthy of ascendance, to create a society of highly skilled and well trained vampires, and purge or enthrall all else, whom they perceive as lesser beings and a blight upon Vampire kind.
Micheal is treated as a god by the tribe, being called the god of Vampirism, and it is believed that he is the only Vampire alive of "Pure Blood", as he is also belied to be the son of Neferati, and he alone should give the blood kiss lest all vampires descend into genetic impurity and mutation.

Some more fluff! Something about playing Just Cause 2 gets me in the mood to write, probably the long travel times.
The rules and teachings of the Bloodborn tribe are kept within the Tome Of Vampiric Ascendance, which serves as a Holy Bible and as a Code of Chivalry.
Every member of the tribe is expected to own one, and they are distributed freely. Every tribesmen is expected to follow the teachings of the Tome, and to act only by its guidelines.
It details the history of the tribe, the mythology, and a code of conduct when interacting with other Vampires, both Pure bloods and Vampires from outside the tribe. If a tribe member does not follow the teachings of the tome, they shall be brought to the town center, where they are announced as traitors to the tribe, and shall be executed to set an example of what happens to the weaker breeds.

Yet more fluff! Am I spelling Vampiric right by the way?
The Bloodborn wish to eventually overcome their Vampiric thirst, therefor removing their dependence upon humans to sustain them selves, allowing the complete conversion or destruction of mankind.
Long removed from the news of the outside world, they do not know of the Blood Dragons and their "cure". They believe if they slayed Emperor Karl Franz and drank his blood, that they would be free of thirst for the rest of their unnatural lives. This stems from the belief that Karl Franz is the mortal embodiment of Sigmar, the god of man. They think that drinking the blood of the patron god of man would be the ultimate defilement of human kind, and make them so far removed from their human origins that they would no longer require the blood of mortals.

More fluff? Too much fluff you say? Nope, never enough fluff!
The Blood Born believe that once a Pure Blood vampire dies, his essence is stored in an object on his body (Often one of significance the the vampire, like a family ring or favored weapon), where it is brought before Micheal Valdros. It is believed he absorbs the essence of the vampire, his soul in simpler terms, and when he gives the blood kiss, the Vampire is reincarnated within this New Vampire, hence the personality changes after transformation. Once his essence is transferred, it is believed the Vampire must fight subconsciously with the New Convert, the victor gaining control of the body. Thus, when ever going into battle, it is customary to always have an item of great sentimental value (Often blessed by a priest of Vampiric Ascendance) in order for your soul to be transferred. If a Vampire dies without an item for his essence to be transferred to, it is believed that they would roam the earth as Wraiths.

Last bit of Fluff for the night, or at least I hope so.
The Blood Born see Necromancers, and all other living servants of the tribe, as a means to an end. After the tribe controls the world, they plan to undergo a great purging, killing all but the strongest of Necromancers. The few they keep alive will either be turned or locked away till they are needed again.
However, despite being viewed as inferior by nature, a few necromancers have gained the respect of their superiors, some would even become Martyrs for the cause. Should a Necromancer gain enough of a following, he is offered the Blood Kiss, and if he refuses he shall go through a long and highly ceremonial Execution, and if he accepts he shall be treated as a full member of the tribe, with all the opportunities and privileges that entails

Thinking of a name change, should it stay Blood Born or be changed to The Ascendants (Or The Order Of The Ascendants.), the Order Of Ascendance, or something else entirely?

Micheal Valdros wears an ancient necklace, an heirloom of the great Nehekian empire forged at the height of its power and corrupted by the blood of the first Vampires, which would allow him to be reincarnated in his followers. After his death, his Essence is transferred to the nearest Non-Family member vampire (But only those loyal to him), Over the course of a week, the new host begins to transform physically to mach the appearance of the original Micheal. During this transformation, they battle subconsciously, often with the new host not putting up a fight and simply surrendering before his god. Should he fail this battle or if the host is killed he moves on the the next host. His belongings are retrieved by the scouts after the battle, and delivered to the Valdros Manor. His corpse however disintegrates into ash.

Not even a quarter of the way in and already retconning things! Progress!
The Founding
The village, named Lahmia, began as a small manor along a popular trade route in the days of old by an ancestor of the Valdros line. Travelers would often seek shelter in to manor, staying for no more than few days to gather their wits. The current Valdros' saw great oppertunity in this, and began to turn the surrounding area into a resting point along the road, where travels could safly hang their heads and drink away their sorrows. For a modest fee of course. At first they simply built a small trading post and a tavern, then expanded with a butchers shop, a blacksmith, and turning the small trading post into a fullblown trade center. They made a decent profit off the travelers of the Old Silk road, and gained a small reputation around the caravaners as a decent place to stay along the road. Eventually, they expanded with a few personal residences as quarters for the workers at the tavern and shops, as well as what ever travelers had the coin. Over the years, the town faded from memory, overshadowed by the towns beginng to rise in the area. The tavern would still make some decent coin, but the trading post was all but completly abbandoned to the wears of time. Eventually, after many years and a few generations of Valdros, all that remained in service was the Manor, given from one Valdros man to the next. It was never really used as a home, but rather as a reminder of what used to be, and what could have been. The wood of the buildings began to rot, and most of the town would be swallowed by vines and other vegitation. And, as the final nail in the coffin, the Valdros stopped the cycle of ownership, the last known owner setting blaze to the trading center, dying inside with the building, a flame that would destroy most of the village.



As you can tell, history and beliefs and ideals are my strong point (And even then its kinda weak), and I'm not very good at descriptions of events or places.

Isn't Lahmia already a place?

Perhaps it is, i just took the first name that came to me that made some sense. Sounded familiar, and if it is a place I'll find a new name.

 Hive Fleet Cerberus wrote:
Perhaps it is, i just took the first name that came to me that made some sense. Sounded familiar, and if it is a place I'll find a new name.

Lahmia is the birthplace of the Vampires and the city once ruled over by the first Vampire - Neferata, the city is now in the hands of the Tomb Queen Khalida (see the most recent Gotrek and Felxi novel) and the Queen of Silver Pinnacle still seeks to take it back through proxies from her once beloved cousin - its a game between the two of them that has lasted millenia.....

Naming new settlements after old one is not uncommon but the name does have importanace in Warhammer.............

Hmm, now that I think about it, that may be incorporated. Perhaps I'll make that not the original name, but what the Blood born renamed it as a testament to what would be a holy site for them.

Oh, and new fluff. This may contridict some previous fluff, if so, please do tell me. I'll find a clever way to cover it up... uh I mean solve the issue...

The majority of the Valdros fighting force is, as it is with any Vampiric fighting force, skeletons. The bloodborn have an abundance of corpses to work with, as they are located near the end of the Black Gulf. As such, corpses in the river eventually gather here, where they are brought back the Blood Born Necromantic Outpost to be resurrected.

The outpost was founded almost immediately after the tribe itself, as they quickly found them selves skeletons. They established a small out post around the bank of the river, as others would do around graveyards. The Necromancers of the outpost are left mostly undisturbed, aside from frequent visits by Victoria to pick up the newly dead and check in on progress. The outpost is a small building disguised as an Inn, jokingly named "Dead Mans Drink" by the Family. Due to not being located along any major roads, its hardly visited by any travelers. If an unlucky traveler should decide to enter, he'd find it a most appalling place. The upper floor is styled like your standard Inn, but it is hardly a welcoming place. It hasn't been cared for in many years, left to gather dust and cobwebs. A strong stench of death and decomposition will emanate from the basement, where one may just see a flicker of light or a flash of magical energy. If even this does not dissuade the weary traveler, then the Necromancers will often service the weary traveler, playing along with his stupidity. The traveler would find the rooms quite dissatisfying, as one would expect. The bed had long since given to the wear of time, and has been reduced to shreds. No torches adorn the walls, leaving the only light the occasional flash from the basement. It would often be filled with the sounds of chanting and odd sounding moans. If, by some stroke of incredible mix of bravery and stupidity should this traveler stay, he will awaken to find him self affixed to a large stone tablet, with dim lighting provided by magical wisp-like balls of light. A hooded figure would enter the room, and begin chanting in a language unknown to any mortal being. The figure would then draw a small, stone dagger with strange runes etched into the blade. He would preside* to carve a strange symbol upon the mans chest, and then paint (In blood) an open eye on his forehead. The traveler would then be killed, in sacrifice to Micheal Vadlros.


The Inn is part of a hidden cult within the Blood Born tribe, an extremist branch of the Church of Vampric ascendance, which itself is quite extreme. They sacrifice the living to Micheal, something he expressly forbids as he wishes not to be revered as an ethereal god, but a physical one. He believes that through sacrificing lives to him, they believe the life feeds his power. He'd much rather they just kill the living. The cult also believes Micheal to be an aspect of the Chaos gods, a great Champion sent by Khorne to eliminate all non-believers. Micheal himself has no opinion on the gods, seeing them as a tool which may be used, and if they should get in his way then a threat to be purged. The cult worships in secret across the tribe, often sacrificing smaller creatures for convenience (As bringing in a live human would cause suspicion). It is believed that Micheals own wife, Victoria, is apart of the cult, or at least knows of its existence. Such rumors spread quickly throughout the tightly knit cult, however the truth is known only by their leaders, the Circle Of Five.

*Authors Note**: Is that the correct word?
**Holy gak I just realized I can call my self an author.


Why have I written so much about something that is, honestly, a pretty minor part of the fluff, while more major things get single paragraphs dedicated to them? No clue! At least the Cults going to be a big part of the fluff, maybe this'll serve as their headquarters.

I love fluff - much more than stats - so this sort of thing is always interesting

Skeletons as primary forces works well for those of a Lahmian descent........

the Black Gulf - the Dwarf fortress of Barak Varr controls one end - major naval base...... I think the Ocean end is Tilean controlled and the other side is marsh and Tomb Kings? The Black Pennisular would be a good place - just West of the Border Princes proper?

The village I have a pretty good idea on where it will be, the outpost not so much, but I've thrown together some ideas below.

Also, since the pictures are taken using this, I figured it would be a good time to point out what I use for location finding, its a nice little zoom-in Google maps style thing, http://www.gitzmansgallery.com/shdmotwow.html.


(Also, I'll be posting pics of the models, only one picture of each type of unit, plus what ever unique variants that unit would have (Notable necromancers, the family, ect)

Yeah thats a cool map - few things missing but its an awesome resource and must have been a serious work of love

The second map extract shows the The Black Pennisular and that would make the most sense for me - although I can't recall much fluff about that area.

Look forwward to reading more

The Circle of Five, as the name may imply, consists of five members. They act as "Prophets" of the 4 major Chaos gods, as well as Micheal. They believe they receive visions from their respective god, and act upon them. Each member holds a different role, and if one should fall, they are replaced with a new prophet. The Prophet of Khorne handles the immediate Military actions, and if he should fall the strongest of the order, often his prodigy, becomes the new prophet. The Nurgle handles the zombies, corpse collection, and sacrifices, and the next is the necromancer who manages to show his dedication to Micheal in the grandest way (Often through self-mutilation or sacrifice of rare creatures). The Aspect of Slannesh, well, the less spoken about this the better*, but in the simplest form she acts as the aspect of Micheal's handmaiden. The Aspect of Tzeench handles the majority of the roles, the grand campaigns, the bulk of the magical property, and serves as the Right-hand-man to the aspect of Micheal. These aspects often have to be replaced often, as many betray the cult. The next is entirely random, Tzeench gives who ever the hell he wants the next set of visions, regardless of if they are in the cult of not. The aspect of Slannesh is sent to locate the prophet, and "Force" them to comply. Supreme leader of the Cult, The aspect of Micheal, has the final say in all matters, and provides the beliefs and records of the cult, and is immortal (It is unknown how, as the aspect is highly secretive and his/her gender is not known by any aside from the council.) and as such is never replaced. It was the being that founded the cult, and has ruled it since.

The circle operates of a large Frigate called "The Blessing of Lhamia", which they remain on most of their lives. It is constantly moving, and is completely outside of the view of the family. The ship is manned by a crew of skeletons, it maintains its supplies through piracy. The Council Guards are the only non-skeletal crew, which are the few Vampires who have come to serve the cult. The ship consists of grand, luxurious (As luxurious as a frigate room can get.) chambers for the council members, a mess hall (Manned by skeletal cooks most of the time, but very rarely the crew manages to capture a live Dwarven cook or Brewmaster, and it is truly a day to behold aboard the ship), and not much else aside from a small "Research" lab at the bottom level of the ship (Where necromancers test new fields and uses of magic. A current, and much ridiculed, project is attempting to resurrect a lost, humanoid form of marine life. They are being called "Fishmen", and the necromancer running the project is considered mad**).


*Read: Couldn't think of anything for her to do. Also, may not always be a her. Also, may not be a hand maiden. Also, this is a reaaaaly weak character.

** No reason for me to say this, but Hooray for references to previously retconed fluff!


This isnt all that will be said about the circle, just a basic overview as to WHAT they are. Not who they are, not how the act, not what they believe, just WHAT they are. As such, its not very detailed and isnt as long as the last one. Thats because their isnt really much to say.

Interesting

The Chaos gods really don't like Vampires for various reasons, your family would have to be careful that the acolytes don't get insructions and resoruces from the various powers to turn on the Vampires.....

Tzeentch especailly is not keen on "unchanging every youthful", Nurgle also not keen on the immune to disease aspect. Slaanesh tends to find them a bit staid and jaded, especially the older ones - Khrone probably has the least issues.....

could have the handmaiden as sometimes male and sometimes female - that fits with Slaanesh nicely.

I like the ship idea............they need to avoid Tomb King/Queens galleys and Dwarven warships

The cult believes what they want to believe, and as for now I'm remaining it undecided if the visions actually ARE from the chaos gods, or something else entirely (Or at least I was aiming for that, re-reading, I did kinda make it seem like they where.). They're a bunch of blind extremists, and extremists don't tend to be to phased by logical arguments. Hell, their chief "Deity" openly disproves of at least one of their core Practices/Beliefs (The sacrificing in his name part, at the bare minimum)

Edit: At least, that's the way I personally see it, not a concrete statement of how it is. Its still up for interpretations, and this isnt a solid part of the story, just the way I see it, which I may end up disproving.

You could have some fun plot developments that the cult is in fact a mere puppet of the Vampires and the Chaos Gods asepcts is just a screen - then an Acolyte starts getting some visions of the "truth" - internal conflict is a good plot driver

I've got a few possible plot lines to develop the cult, a few not even requiring much outside influence to set them off.

Will you also be writing stories about 'em?

 thenoobbomb wrote:
Will you also be writing stories about 'em?

I plan to eventually maybe get into stories, the problem is that I'm really, really bad with narratives and dialog, and overarching plots (I tend to work with what ever ideas come to me, which are often short and only breifly related, like whats happening now). If, by some strange chance, I get better at that style of writing, then sure. If, by another strange chance, some one where to ask to or just go ahead and write a story them selves (Which probably wont happen, and for perfectly justifiable reasons), I wouldn't turn them down.

You'll get better at writing the more you do it! I was bad at it myself (really bad!), but I'm alright-ish at it now. You've got some nice fluff, so you could definitely use it for stories and the like!