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Also, I'll be making terrain based around locations in the Fluff, like the Dead Mans Drink, the Town, and possibly the Blessing of Lahmia. It will mostly be GW stuff and not custom, but I may do some kit bashing and a bit of customization (Custom sign for the Deadmans drink, piles of skulls littering the town, small things like that)

Sounds pretty cool!

Indeed - all sound great - look forward to it.

At my FLGS last night, one of the players (The only other VC player there.) gave me his old wight king. The sword broke off, and he doesnt like using broken models, so I got it for free. Its all painted up, and looks awesome! I plan to work it into the fluff some how as a gift from another Vampire Clan, not sure how just yet.

Far to the north of The Deadmans drink, upon the Apuccini Mountains, lies an ancient catacomb, built by a civilization long since past. The catacomb is several layers deep, each a sprawling complex filled with the dead of this ancient civilization. The poor and unnoticeable dead would be buried in the top layers of the catacomb, while the nobility would be buried on the lower floors. The entrance to this complex is a long and complex maze, guarded by several wards and physical traps. The few scholars who have visited assume it to have been founded by some ancient Chaos tribe, and that it must be pre-empire at the very least. It is assumed to have been the sacred burial place of its civilization, every man who died in the kingdom would be brought here to rest. The peasants, bandits and criminals of the kingdom would be buried on the first floor, which would be a decrepit and nearly uncared for crypt. Just below them on the second floor was the every man, the working class. The floor would be kept regularly, and the dead would have their names scrawled upon their coffins. On the third floor would be the Militia men and other low ranking military persons. The floor would be treated just the same as the second, but each coffin would have a magical ward placed on it inorder to protect against necromancers. The forth floor would be the higher ranking military men, such as generals. Below that, the noblemen of the land. The halls of this final floor would be made of gold and covered in ornate jewels. Then, in the center of the final floor, would be a stair case down wards into a small room with an ornate coffin in the center. It is in this room that a King was buried, and 9 such rooms existed, one below the other, with the oldest king being on top and the newest being on the bottom. The room would be decorated with murals of the kings life, and many gifts of great value would lay apon the coffin of the king. 8 kings still sleep easy in their tombs, believing that they will be safe in death. Yet one king, the first king, still walks the earth, a tortured soul cursed to undeath. He was not summoned back by a necromancer, at least not as far as he could tell. One day, he simply awoke from his tomb, he knew not why, and never would. He was overtaken by a sudden hatred for all things living.

It is in this tomb, on the 3rd floor and below, that the Bloodborn find their Grave Guard. They have only recently breached the 4th floor, and know not of the resting place of the great kings, or the curse that lay upon them. They know only that they have found a Wight king walking the halls, and that it now serves them.

The kings of this land bear a curse, set upon them by a powerful necromancer of a rival kingdom. They are cursed with the knowledge that they will never rest easy, and that they shall rise from their eternal slumber. The curse was set upon the 4th king, a revered war hero in their fight against the necromantic kingdom, that he and his family may never find solace in death. His children, in their arrogance, thought nothing of it, believing it to be the ravings of a mad man. Knowing the kingdom would no believe him, he kept the curse hidden, telling the people that all was well. And it stayed that way until the reign of the final king, the most powerful of them all. He, with his dying breath, revealed the truth to the kingdom. Anarchy reigned in the streets, and no new king was crowned. The kingdom fell that day, but it would rise again.

Voting Time! I cant decide on clan colors (For sheilds, banners, and the like.). So far I've been doing White on silver, but realised that wont transfer well to anything beyond sheilds. So, what do you guys thing I should go with? I'm between Red Primary (The center of the sheild, the base color of banners, and such) with a blue secondary (Detailing on shields and Banners, and maybe the tops of capes), Blue Primary Red Secondary, White primary Red Secondary, Purple Primary White Secondary, Purple Prime Red Second, or something else?

Nice idea on the catacombs.

I'd go for Purple/red.

I was leaning for purple/red or red/purple, the next mini I paint will serve as a test for that heraldry. I would have done it sooner, but I got a box of ghouls as a gift and I wanted to try to figure out how to paint one.
Speaking of ghouls, I found that they where to interesting (IMHO) for me to restrain to a couple of paragraphs, so I decided I would make a spin off (Can there even be a spin off of something like this? Just consider it another chapter of the "Army book"). That one WILL have stories, to serve as a testing pallet for my writing skills, and if I consider my writing decent I'll start doing the occasional story for the Blood born (Is it just me, or is the name a bit lacking). It wont really connect much with the Bloodborn, aside from one of the characters here is going to show up there alot, and the ghouls do serve fight for the Family. Should be up in a matter of days.

Good to read - for me fluff and stories are vital - otherwise its just a list of stats

Thread is up, as well as the first bit of "Establishing fluff" as I like to call it
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/600779.page#6937390

Increadibly late here (Really, really late.), but I'd like to clarify something in the OP. By saying Azazel was the only one not genetically Valdros, I mean the only one not part of the "vampiric" valdros bloodline (Wasnt turned into a vampire by a Valdros). As I said, really late here, but after re-reading it I realised the way I originally worded it had some... unfortunate implications.

The Blood Born heavily associate colors with the assumed "meaning" of that color. This is often reflected heavily in the Heraldry of the Blood Born Counts, using colors that they feel identify with the General. While the Heraldry varies between the Vampires (Or necromancers, should they rise high enough to command their own army), they almost always include either red (Interpreted as Ascension, or Ascendant, as it is the color of blood) or white (Representing Purity, Strength, and Eternal, as it is the color of the vampires). Other common colors are Black, which represents undeath and magic, Gray, which represent a well-respected noble (Often respected because of the blood he's shed), Green representing Plague or Infiltration, Purple meaning Guile or persuasiveness, and as well as the colors of the winds of magic to represent a mage skilled in that wind.
The Family heraldry is White And Red, which represents the family as a whole, and is worn only by the Guards in the manor. Each member has his or her own heradlry, which their skeletons wear proudly when ever they march under that member. Micheals heraldry began as Red and Silver in his early years, before forming what is now known as the blood born, and is currently Red/White. Victoria is Black/Grey, Ivan is Red/Black, Aubry is Green/Purple, and Azazel wielding Copper/Silver, which is a scheme reserved for the condemned to single them out.

First in the series of kinda battle reports. Was my brothers first game, so I went easy on him, meaning most of this makes no sense tactically OR in a narrative sense.
On the 7th of Sommerzeit, the Bloodborn marched upon The Vaults, having heard tales of a skaven clad in armor made of warp-stone. The Clan cared little for its effects, they sought it simply so the beasts known as "Skaven" could not have an item of such power. The sun was just beginning to set when to two armys clashed, and what happened would remembered as the 7 hour war. The Vampires where lead by a young Vampire Count, whos name has been lost to history, aided by a horde of zombies and skeletons, as well as a few ghouls from the nearby caves. The Skaven sported a mighty Warplock cannon, as well as a Warlord and a Warplock engineer. The Vampires charged the skaven Clanrats, their undying horde of zombies proving to terrifying a site for the poor rats, as they where forced to flee immediately. The zombies gave chase, but failed. Upon the battlefield lay an ancient stone, covered in ruins of a long dead empire, rumored to summon the powers of the warp itself. While the battle raged on around it, the stone grew only more powerful, and eventually, during the 7th hour of fighting, the stone erupted in a geyser of pure energy. The Zombies had been at battle with the Warlord, yet in a flash the fighting stopped. No trace of the fearless warlord who stayed behind when his men fled, no sign of the mindless beasts that would surly destroy him in moments. Nothing. The remaining soldiers could do nothing, and the fight continued. All where weakened by this occurrence, though the Vampires where struck hardest. The only man to remain was the up-and-coming Count, refusing the flee till the last breath. The skaven retained the majority of their forces, losing only their leader. Most fleed, but a regiment of clan rats as well as the Lightning cannon remained. Was no more than 30 minutes later that the skaven where forced to flee, in-capable of facing his wrath.


Also, more fluff soon. Something about the Blood Angels or something.

The Bloodborn worship their own panthenon, which consists of: Micheal Valdros (The Blessed One, percived as a gift from the Old Gods and son of Neferata sent to purify the corrupted world), Queen Neferata (The Progenetor, the mother of all vampires and the bringer of Eternal life. God of Rebirth), Nagash (The Holy Father, all who recive the blessing of Vampirism do so by his will. They belive that in order to become a vampire, one has to be chosen by Nagash and then given the gift through one of his children. God of Creation), Vlad Von Carstien (Not as a god, but as a champion of the Panthenon, chosen to act as the messengar of the gods, and to strike fear into their enemys hearts.), Konrad Von Carstien (The Unpredictable, as well as the Great Betrayer. They belive his stealing of the Von Carstien ring is what lead the the downfall of the Von Carstien family. God of Madness and Betrayal.). On top of their panthenon of gods, they also worship a select few of the Old-Gods (Particularly those pertaining to death,shadow and the like.) and the Nehek Panthenon

But.. don't they worship Mannfred the Manly scholar?

It should be noted that they believe these gods to have existed before the Vampire who they are named after walked the earth. Before then, they where simply nameless gods, but still in full power. They believe these Vampires where the physical incarnations of the gods, not the gods themselves. They simply bare the name of their physical incarnations.

Ah. Well, poor Mannfred, then.

On a sidenote, how do you paint skeleton bones? 'Cause I'm going to get the start of my VC army today..

I tend to do a mix, to make a kinda "Graveyard" feel to the unit. For older skeletons, I use a base coat of Ushabt bone (Bones), Lead Belcher (Weapons) and the old Mephison Red (For the clothes), a highlight of Khorne red around the folds of the cloths and then give it all a Sepia wash. For "Younger" ones I do Rakarth Flesh bones instead of Ushabt (Some times using Ushabt highlights on the shoulders, some ribs and the spine if the skeleton is relatively old), and the rest the same.

Alright, thanks! Very useful for me

Oops, meant Mechrite red for the clothes, not mephison.

 Hive Fleet Cerberus wrote:
Oops, meant Mechrite red for the clothes, not mephison.

No problem, was wondering about the bones. And even if I would have bought paints for the cloth... well, let's just say that the lunchbreak over in GW Eastbourn is long enough for me to go away..

The bloodborn family posses a dagger made from a razor-sharp claw of the dragon slain by the Blood Knight Abhorash. The Claw is said to contain the might of the dragon still, allowing the dagger able to cut through even the thickest of armor with ease. It is said that Ivan Valdros recovered the artifact after a battle with the Blood Dragons, claiming it for the Family's personal armory, one of many artifacts he has claimed.
Counts as the Obsidian Blade.

The Bloodhunter Axe was crafted by a small barbaric chaos cult of Tzeench, hidden deep within the woodlands of the empire. It was crafted with the finest steel, and drenched in the blood of the Cults strongest Shaman, and imbued with the soul of a lesser Daemon of Tzeench. Those who wield it quickly go mad, the daemon deceiving the wielder into believing all his fellow soldiers are planning to betray him, that the enemy is lurking in the shadows, driving the wielder into an unstoppable fit of paranoia. The wielder, thinking everything is out to get him, is quickly driven into an unstoppable blood lust, slaying all in sight for daring to conspire against him. The Axe was recovered by Azazel, after raiding the barbarian camp, and besting their leader in a challenge.
Counts as Berserker Sword

The first (Well, first 2) of many detailings of the Blood Born armory (A Bloodborn version of the Magic Items available to Vampires (Core Rulebook + Maybe VC Armybook artifacts), as it never made sense why ANY army could have the SAME Obsidian Blade, the weapons cant get around that much, can they?

I like them - although I can see the Blood Dragons coming looking for that artefact

The Twin Blades, one forged by the elves of Lothern, the other forged by the Dwarven Kingdoms, are said to be connected through an ancient magic completely unknown to any wizard or enchanter today. When the two blades are separate they act as normal blades would, yet when both blades are wielded by the same person they show their true power. The Wielder gains the martial prowess of those who wielded the blade before him, tapping into their experiences with the blades, quickly allowing the wielder to master the way of the blade. The Blades are said to have been forged as a kind of peace treaty between the Elves and the Dwarves in ancient times. The Elven Blade was given by a Necromancer after the Bloodborn had discovered his cave, as trade for allowing him to live. The Bloodborn did not keep this promise, but they did keep the blade.The Dwarven Blade was recovered after pillaging a Dwarven Village on the outskirts of the Dwarven Empire, taken from the blacksmith (Who did not seem to know its true power). The connection was found shortly after, as the general of the raid had been wielding the Elvish Blade when the party had been ambushed by a group of empire militia men while returning to the Valdros Manor. The Militia proved to strong for his weakened party, having slain his second-in-command. In a bout of desperation, the General grabbed the Dwarven blade from one of his dead companions and charged head-first into the milita, ready to die in a blaze of glory. Only he survived from that raiding party, having slain the militia himself.
Counts as Fencers Blades.

What with the news of the return of Nagash to the table top, I've decided to come back to this (Not that I ever consciously decided to abandon it, that is). This news opens up a world of possibilities for the blood born, (One of their gods has literally returned to the earth) I think.

A tiny bit of fluff involving Nagash. Expect more, probably alot more, fluff regarding Nagash. Partly because Nagash is kinda their chief deity, but mostly because (And pardon my language here) holy feths, nagash is coming back!

Those seeking honor among st the clan must prove his dedication to the Blood-Father and to the Family. To do so, they go on the Pilgrimage of Nagash. They must travel the Blood Trail, a beaten old trail through the badlands and the Marsh of Madness, to the Land of The Dead, the fallen Empire of Nehekara. From there they shall visit the holy relics of Nagash (The Black Pyramid, Nagashizzar, and other such sites) eventually arriving at the Cursed city of Lahamia, avoiding the watchful eye of the Tomb Kings. And it is here, in the birthplace of the true undead, before the holy throne of Queen Neferata, that they must pledge themselves to the Blood-father and dedicate their life to the purification of the Old-World. Few return, and those who do are considered minor legends, having braved the harsh journey for his gods. Many survivors go on to become high priests of Nagash, a high honor among the Clan.

 Hive Fleet Cerberus wrote:
A tiny bit of fluff involving Nagash. Expect more, probably alot more, fluff regarding Nagash. Partly because Nagash is kinda their chief deity, but mostly because (And pardon my language here) holy feths, nagash is coming back!

Those seeking honor among st the clan must prove his dedication to the Blood-Father and to the Family. To do so, they go on the Pilgrimage of Nagash. They must travel the Blood Trail, a beaten old trail through the badlands and the Marsh of Madness, to the Land of The Dead, the fallen Empire of Nehekara. From there they shall visit the holy relics of Nagash (The Black Pyramid, Nagashizzar, and other such sites) eventually arriving at the Cursed city of Lahamia, avoiding the watchful eye of the Tomb Kings. And it is here, in the birthplace of the true undead, before the holy throne of Queen Neferata, that they must pledge themselves to the Blood-father and dedicate their life to the purification of the Old-World. Few return, and those who do are considered minor legends, having braved the harsh journey for his gods. Many survivors go on to become high priests of Nagash, a high honor among the Clan.

Love the idea of the pilgtimage - very warhammer.

According to BL (Gotrek and Felix: The Serpent Queen) Queen Khalida is presently occupying the city of Lahamia in full force so not sure that bits possible.

in case its of use . interest my review of that novel

Well, gak. Didn't they forsake Lhamia after the whole ordeal with Neff.?

They are supposed to keep an eye on it - however remember that BL is only a version of the Warhammer world and yours may be idfferent.

the TK army book says Khalida resides in Lybras (her own city) but recently awoke when Mannfred was sneaking around in Lahmia............

"The End Times have come. The winds of magic wax strong with necromancy and the dead rise everywhere. - Nagash is arisen, and nothing will ever be the same again"~ Jes Bickham, White Dwarf #30.
If the end times are apon us, and gak is truley going down, now is the time for the Bloodborn to take action. Nothing will ever be the same again, and this is true for all, even the Bloodborn. The return of Nagash has given me the perfect platform for expanding and bringing about a true plot to this bloodline.

With the return of Nagash soon at hand, the Bloodborn find them selves at a crossroads of faith. Every vampire feels the Darkness growing, hears the whisper of gods, the call to action. The weak-willed are driven to madness, unable to comprehend the magnificence of his voice. They are driven towards this storm of dark magic, to the service of Nagash. The Temple has declared the beginning of The Age of Transcendence, the purification of mankind has reached is full and glorious potential. Across the Tribe, the Bloodborn have begun gathering forces, preparing to march on the Border Princes. They begin an Eternal Crusade against the Living, eventually hoping to reunite with Nagash through their Pillaging. Yet all is not well among the Bloodborn, there are those, members of the Cult of Five, that resist the call of Nagash. They wish to serve the Chaos Gods, refusing to serve under him. They have been branded heretics by the Temple, banished from the lands of Clan Valdros. Yet some still remain, hidden in small pockets across the tribes, planning a revolt against the Family. They wish to take the throne for the Ruinous Powers, and bring about a new Alliance between Chaos and the Undead. The cult has already taken the outpost on the Black Peninsular, and have solidified their hold on the higher levels of the Great Crypt, as well as claiming most of the Bloodlines Necromancers. This is but the beginning, The End Times are upon us, regardless of who claims victory, things will never be the same again.