"Let your blade be your only truth, let death be your only answer, and let your quest be for nought but to become more than what you are."
- —Creed of Abhorash[4e]
Abhorash, also called the "Dragon Slayer,"[4f] the "Scourge of the Greenskins," [4f] the "Blade Immortal,"[4f] the "Lord of Blood,"[4d] the "Great Dragon,"[11c] the "Red Dragon,"[10b] "Abhorash the Great," [4f] "Abhorash the Wanderer," [4f] and "Abhorash the Master,"[4f] is a Trueborn Vampire and a Vampire Lord who is the founder and the most legendary of all Blood Dragons, the infamous bloodline of Vampiric knights known for its martial prowess.
History[]
There are two mutually contradictional accounts of Abhorash's early history and his activities following the fall of the ancient nehekharan city-state of Lahmia where the first Vampires were born. Both are presented below.
Common Story[]
Abhorash was the captain of the palace guard in the ancient Nehekharan city-state of Lahmia, serving Queen Neferatem. In love with the queen he was sworn to protect, he was horrified once he discovered her true nature as a Vampire.[4a]
For her desire, he sought out victims to sate her blood thirst. For her protection, he sought out criminals and enemies, so the people would not rise up against their lords. And for her favour, he too drank of the flawed Elixir of Life she had created and joined his mistress across death's divide.[4c] He was the first to join W'soran and Neferatem as Trueborn Vampires.[5a]
In the name of Lahmia, Abhorash resisted the thirst for as long as he could, but eventually he could not hold back his dark desires. When he finally succumbed, his thirst was so great he slaughtered twelve men. The next day, and every year afterwards on that day, he lit twelve candles in the temple to remember the lives he had taken.[4c] He thereafter sated his thirst by hunting among the desert nomads instead of his own people.[1a]
Abhorash still felt twinges of morality from his former life and created a set of rules for the Trueborn to follow, ostensibly as a way of protecting themselves from discovery. They would only prey on criminals and slaves, not ordinary citizens of Lahmia, from then on. Also, they were forbidden from feuding amongst themselves, and no Trueborn could kill another.[4a] Yet Abhorash was the only one who strictly abided by his own code, with most of the other Trueborn and their progeny Thrall Vampires thinking themselves above laws, particularly Ushoran.[5d]
When Vashanesh reached Lahmia to warn the Vampiric court of the forces that began to array against them in the rest of Nehekhara, Abhorash was ready to strike the intruder down, with only Neferata's word hindering him.[4g] Abhorash despised the newcomer, for he was jealous of the bond Neferata and Vashanesh soon shared.[5b]
Once the Vampiric corruption of Lahmia had been discovered and Priest King Alcadizaar the Conqueror of the city-state of Khemri had marshalled the forces of all Nehekhara and their vassals against them, the Lord of Blood led the Lahmian defences. For months, Abhorash and his warriors held the much larger Nehekharan force at bay. Thousands of the attackers were slaughtered, yet it was not enough. Slowly, the army of Alcadizaar whittled down Abhorash's warriors, broke down the walls, and poured into the city, looting, burning, and killing.[4d]
The Lord of Blood had been the greatest fighter of his age and Undeath had empowered him even more. The dusty plains before Lahmia's gates became muddy with the blood of his foes, their bodies heaped at the bottom in a great mound of death. In his absolute fury, Abhorash fed on his enemies' life blood with savage abandon and his strength grew even more.[5c]
Abhorash led the defence of the Temple of Blood for a full week, withstanding the spells of Zandri's high priests and the alchemical fire of their war machines.[4b] Yet he came to realise that the battle was lost, despite personally being undefeated. Abhorash's city was in flames, his people butchered, and he had let it happen whilst defending a queen no longer worthy of that title, for she had failed to protect her people and had already fled in fear. With this realisation, Abhorash cast away all loyalty to his queen, her house, and her line.[4d]
He came to see all other Vampires as vermin, for their lack of self-control had doomed Lahmia.[6b] Abhorash also cast away all his love for Humanity, swearing to destroy them as they had destroyed his city. Gathering only his armour and weapons and his trusted lieutenants, he left the city of Lahmia to its fate. From then on, he lit the twelve candles only to remind himself that Humanity deserved their extinction, for they were nothing less than animals, and he was a fool to have ever grieved for them.[4d]
From that day, he refused to sate his thirst upon the weak, deciding to feast only on the strongest warriors. Slaughtering Orc warbosses, Human tribal chiefs, Champions of Chaos and more, Abhorash cut a bloody swath across the world of Mallus in search of martial perfection.[2a] Entire tribes of Greenskins were eradicated and the Dwarfs began to fear him as he fell upon isolated mines.[5d]
Some claim that Abhorash chose exile, rather than joining with the rest of the Vampiric survivors of Lahmia.[1a][2a][4b] He travelled far, and his slaughter of the Orcs of what later became the Badlands is still famed.[4b] Others claim that he joined the other surviving Trueborn at the Liche Lord Nagash's fortress of Nagashizzar in the southern Worlds Edge Mountains and served in the army of the Great Necromancer, until Vashanesh was cut down by Alcadizaar and the Vampires were free from Nagash;s iron control to flee.[5c]
Time of Legends[]
"No, you crave something far more elusive. You crave perfection. It is not enough to be the champion of the king, there are six others in Nehekhara who can rightfully claim such a title. No, you want to be the greatest of warriors, the epitome of fighting men."
Origins[]
In this version of the story of Abhorash, the great warrior served as the champion of King Lahmashizzar of the Nehekharan city-state of Lahmia.[8a] He had tutored all members of the city's royal family in the use of arms, including Princess Neferata.[10a]
When Lahmashizzar's sister-wife Neferata usurped the control of his conspiracy to unravel the secrets of the Great Necromancer Nagash's writings, Abhorash joined her, yet his main loyalty remained to the Lahmian throne.[8b] When Arkhan the Black assassinated Lahmashizzar after the former had poisoned Neferata, Abhorash struck the necromancer down and ended his life.[8c]
Initially, Abhorash refused Neferata's altered Elixir of Life, being content with the one that merely prolonged his lifespan rather than being transformed into a blood-addicted monster. When the queen tricked him by offering him her elixir instead of the inferior one concocted during the time of Lahmashizzar, he first tried to abstain, until he lost control and killed twelve people, including a small child. Afterwards, he left Lahmia, fleeing into the jungles of the Southlands to hide his shame.[8d] During that time, he was said to have been devoured by one of the great reptilian beasts of the jungles, but survived.[11e]
When King Alcadizaar came to Lahmia to destroy it after revealing the Vampiric corruption of its nobility to the rest of the cities of Nehekhara, Abhorash returned after 170 years to defend it, honoring his oath.[9a] When Neferata was struck down by Alcadizaar, Abhorash covered her retreat to the palace. He fought to allow the rest of the cabal of Trueborn Vampires, Neferata and Ankhat, to flee, hoping to find some redemption in death.[9b]
Exile[]
"I have left mercy long behind me, and am in no mood to take part in your damned fate, whatever it might be. Go back to your fell master and leave me be. "
- —Abhorash defies the summon of Nagash.[11b]
Abhorash, as well as four of his followers, survived the massacre at Lahmia and fled west. In -1152 IC, Abhorash made his home in Bel Aliad, having aided the local Arabyans in making the city their own. When the other Trueborn Vampires W'soran and Ushoran came to recruit him to serve Nagash, Abhorash refused. Ushoran warned Abhorash that, should Neferata insert herself in Bel Aliad as she had been allowed to do in Lahmia, she would bleed it dry, with Alcadizaar turning his gaze upon it and destroying it as he had destroyed Lahmia. To protect his new city, Abhorash agreed to incapacitate Neferata.[11b]
Abhorash destroyed the nomad tribes among whom Neferata had concealed herself and then hid her torpid body from the Great Necromancer's servants, refusing to allow her to be shipped to his fortress at Nagashizzar.[11c] Abhorash spent time among the kontoi of Bel Aliad, training them in the ways of war, before leaving for the Arabyan coastline.[10d]
When W'soran assaulted the Estalian city of Magritta in -1017 IC, Abhorash defended the temple of Myrmidia, armoured in the manner of the Myrmidons. When questioned why he did so, he answered mysteriously that he was "repaying a debt."[11f]
Neferata later came to suspect that Abhorash had also visited Grand Cathay, where he learned their arts of war.[10g]
Service to Strygos[]
Later, Abhorash joined forces with Ushoran, flocking to the city of Mourkain, from which a dark call emanated that drove Vampirekind to it, aiding him in founding the Vampire-ruled kingdom of Strygos.[11g] Abhorash served as Ushoran's executioner, publicly slaying those that defied the Lord of Masks.[10d] His prowess in arms earned him the admiration of the common people.[10d] Abhorash was part of the troop lead by Vorag Bloodytooth that discovered Neferata in the Badlands. Abhorash took her with him and brought her to Mourkain, informing her that Ushoran ruled there.[10b]
In -600 IC, Abhorash led the defence of Mourkain against an Orc Waaagh!, personally felling a Giant that served alongside the Greenskins. He had been recalled from the eastern front, where he had been defending Strygos' frontier against encroaching Ogre tribes.[10e] Abhorash later forayed against the Beastmen warherds that harried Strygos from the north. [10f] In the aftermath, he transformed the armoured riders of Mourkain into an elite force, drawing on knowledge from the kontoi of Araby and the Khazag tribe of the Eastern Steppes.[10g]
When Vorag Bloodytooth established his own realm, Abhorash was sent by Ushoran in -327 IC to destroy it. [10h] He pursued the Vampire rebels to the shores of the Sour Sea, before being recalled to Mourkain in -323 IC. Neferata had rebelled against Ushoran, too, and established herself at the former Dwarf hold of the Silver Pinnacle, with Ushoran preparing to wage war against her, too.[11a]
When W'soran led an assault against Mourkain in -260 IC, Abhorash defended it, slaying the Zombie Dragon that W'soran had used to cross the Badlands. Yet he did not hinder the Necrarch from entering the throne room to confront Ushoran, who was wearing the Crown of Sorcery. When asked by W'soran why he defended Ushoran still, Abhorash answered that he repaid a debt and warned W'soran that he might be the only one able to defeat Ushoran while the Strigoi wore the Crown.[11h] After W'soran fled, having been unable to defeat the Lord of Mourkain, Abhorash seemed shocked and saddened, but let W'soran go.[11i]
Ascension[]
Whatever the truth of his origins, in 253 IC, Abhorash's quest took him to a mighty peak in the Worlds Edge Mountains, its summit wreathed in fire and smoke. He scaled the daunting edifice in a single day, and came upon the lair of an ancient and immense red Dragon. Knowing then that he had finally found the martial challenge he had been seeking, Abhorash drew his sword and dared to enter the lair of the beast.[2a][3a]
The Vampire Lord and the Dragon threw themselves at each other. The monster's breath bathed Abhorash in flames, but his immortal flesh did not char. Its claws and fangs tore rents in his shield and plate armour, while Abhorash's sword cleaved immense gashes in the thick hide of the Dragon. They battled for the whole night, and the mountains echoed with the fierceness of the clash.[2a]
Just before daybreak, Abhorash's sword finally found the Dragon's heart and he dealt it a final, fatal blow. Even as the last of the Dragon's life bubbled from the wound Abhorash bared his fangs and burrowed his head into the gaping cut, gulping deeply at the lifeblood of the Dragon.[2a]
Abhorash drank and drank, filling himself with the Dragon's potent life force. He cast the monstrous beast's bloodless carcass from the mountaintop and gave a roar of victory that caused avalanches to tumble for many miles around. Invigorated by the blood of the Dragon, infused with its ancient strength, thereafter Abhorash no longer thirsted for the blood of Humans. Finally, after centuries of torment, he had freed himself from the blighted curse of Unlife Neferata had inflicted upon him.[2a]
Since that day, Abhorash's Vampiric followers have called themselves the Blood Dragons, in memory of the great Dragon vanquished by their mighty sire.[1b][5e][6b]
The Crusades[]
"I am something of a connoisseur of war, you might say. It has given me purpose down these many centuries, the pursuit of excellence in arms. The Bretonni were always a fierce people. You do your ancestors proud."
During the Great Crusade Against Araby, Abhorash came upon a dying Bretonnian knight in the desert, having observed the man dispatch several Arabyan assassins. Impressed and unwilling to allow such a warrior to die at the hands of cowardly assassins, the Vampire Lord gave the knight the Blood Kiss, not knowing whether the man would survive due to the poison already running through his veins, but sure that he would prove worthy of ascending beyond the frailty of mortal flesh and becoming something greater. He then left his get to his fate.[7a]
That Bretonnian knight, who was in fact the Duke of Aquitaine and brother to King Louis the Righteous of Bretonnia, would go on to become the infamous Red Duke.[7a]
Legacy[]
"I will watch you and when I decree that you are ready, I shall call you."
- —Abhorashs' parting words to his followers.[1b]
Long after the Crusades, Abhorash's location remained unknown. Some among the Blood Dragons say he wandered north, deep into the Chaos Wastes, or east into the land of the Giants to seek out even greater conquests. Others say he followed the path of Sigmar and became a god; still others say he still walks amongst their ranks in the disguise of a young Vampire Thrall, watching for the most worthy amongst them.[4f] Some say he holds court in a dark shadowy corner of the mortal world where the sun is never seen, waiting for the return of his immortal sons.[6b]
Still, others think of the tales of other Dragon slayers, like the mighty Gilles le Breton and the High Elf Lord Amara of Hoeth, and wonder how many faces their master might wear in a life as long as his. Whatever the case, none have seen or spoken to him in centuries, and his location and his plans remain mysterious.[4f]
End Times[]
"Abhorash fights. But he fights alone. He will not serve Nagash, or any man. Even so, some small part of the world will survive the coming conflagration, thanks to him. Where Abhorash stands, the enemy will never triumph. "
- —Vlad von Carstein about Abhorash.[12a]
In the final months of the End Times, the Vampire Lord Vlad von Carstein informed Duke Jerrod of Asareux that Gilles le Breton had made his last stand at a monastery in the Grey Mountains, fighting side-by-side with a knight garbed in crimson plate armour, to defend what remained of the Bretonnian people from the forces of Chaos, having sworn an oath and owing a debt to the founder of Bretonnia.[12b]
Vlad dispatched Duke Jerrod and the remaining knights of Bretonnia to the monastery, led by the Red Duke and accompanied by the rest of what remained of the von Carstein Vampires that had once congregated in Sylvania. Vlad asked Jerrod to tell Abhorash that he had been right in the end.
Wargear[]
During the Crusades, Abhorash wore a suit of plate armour, its steel enamelled with some pigment that made it impossibly dark, as though a piece of midnight had been torn from the sky and hammered into armour.[7a]
The breastplate and greaves were richly gilded with symbols and letters strange to Bretonnian eyes, as unlike the swirling script of Araby as the sharp runes of the Dwarfs. The open-faced helmet was both ornate and archaic; resembling those of the ancient horse lords of the Eastern Steppes that were interred in barrows.[7a]
While Abhorash had conquered most of his Vampiric weaknesses, he did not cast a shadow.[7a]
Notes[]
- Note 1: Lutr is described as of the Harkoni tribe, which indicates that he might be identical with the mad Vampire Lord Luthor Harkon of the Vampire Coast. Other evidence, in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Lustria, shows that Luthor Harkon most likely originated from the Empire, from the town of Bechafen, and thus has nothing in common with Lutr.
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (6th Edition)
- 2: Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (7th Edition)
- 2a: pg. 63
- 3: Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (8th Edition)
- 3a: pg. 22
- 4: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Night's Dark Masters (RPG)
- 5: Liber Necris (Background Book)
- 6: White Dwarf 234 (UK)
- 7: The Red Duke (Novel) by C. L. Werner
- 7a: Ch. 14
- 8: Time of Legends: Nagash the Unbroken (Novel) by Mike Lee
- 9: Time of Legends: Nagash Immortal (Novel) by Mike Lee
- 10: Time of Legends: Neferata (Novel) by Josh Raynolds
- 11: Time of Legends: Master of Death (Novel) by Josh Reynolds
- 12: Lord of the End Times (Novel) by Josh Reynolds