"You and your masters are desiccated relics of a dead age. And what greater prospect do I have in Nagash's service, a future of mindless servitude in an unchanging world? The Great Necromancer is a selfish child. Though assured of his power, he remains forever terrified that another will take it from him. He will not be satisfied until his is the only will in existence, for only then can he be safe."
- —Heinrich Kemmler speaking to his nemesis, the Liche Arkhan the Black.
Lichemaster Heinrich Kemmler, one of the most feared Necromancers in recent history.
Heinrich Kemmler, the self-styled "Lichemaster," is a powerful and infamous Human necromancer who burns with the need to increase his arcane knowledge in the dark arts of necromancy. Having recognised the limits to his potential mastery of the arcane that mortality placed upon him in his early years, Kemmler made it his life's work to escape his mortal shackles and began to travel throughout the length and breadth of the Old World in hopes of achieving this goal.
He plunged into the world of necromancy as a young man, and by the time he had reached his fortieth year, he was able to raise entire graveyards of corpses as mindless Undead to do his bidding. Beneath Kemmler's robes, his body is covered with scars, cuts and abrasions from his years of madness. He is shrouded in a large, dark cloak that can carry its wearer across the veil between worlds.
Over the years of his travels, Kemmler acquired or plundered many great artefacts of power that granted him the power he craves. The artefacts he wields in battle include the ancient Chaos Tomb Blade, an evil Chaos-infused weapon that not only fills its wielder with unholy energy but also entraps the souls of those it cleaves, binding their fleshless remains in servitude to the Lichemaster. He also wears a magical shroud that covers much of his body, and wields in his left hand the Skull Staff, a potent magical relic that chatters and gibbers constantly, whispering warnings to Kemmler of the presence of any potential wizards that might dare to cast a spell against him.
With these artefacts and the necromantic knowledge that he has gathered during his journeys, Kemmler has made it his life's purpose to evade the clutches of mortality and achieve immortality. Alongside him stands a mighty warrior that Kemmler raised from an ancient tomb. Under the Lichemaster's command, the mighty Wight King known only as Krell, the Lord of Undeath, has aided Kemmler's search for immortality. Yet Kemmler has never realised that both he and Krell are simply pawns in the schemes of the Great Necromancer and ancient Nehekharan Liche Nagash, the creator of the necromantic arts and the one true Lord of Undeath on the world of Mallus.
Kemmler's intense research into necromancy allowed him to improve several of that black art's existing spells, leading to the creation of the magical Lore of the Lichemaster utilised solely by himself.
History[]
Origins[]
"The dead answer my call. When you are dead, you will answer too!"
- —The Lichemaster[6]
The heraldry of the Vampire Counts army commanded by Heinrich Kemmler, the Barrow Legion, in Total War: Warhammer II.[6]
During his unnaturally prolonged lifespan, Heinrich Kemmler has assembled a dark library, the greatest trove of necromantic lore in the world of Mallus, second only to the ancient magical lore that lies within the fortress of Nagashizzar and those libraries buried within the sands of lost Nehekhara in what is now the Land of the Dead. Kemmler has been an advisor and counsellor to kings and princes across the Old World, and he has fought against conclaves of other necromancers throughout his lifetime of ceaseless travel.
Kemmler began his rise to darkness in 2401 IC, when he initiated an expedition to the lands of anicent Nehekhara. From the local Tomb Kings who would treat with him, he learned a great deal of necromantic lore and returned to the Old World to create a realm to rival the necropolises of the south.[7]
Gathering a dozen lesser necromancers around him, Kemmler earned the emnity of the Necrarch Brachnar the Damned, who subverted several of Kemmler's followers and formed the necromantic Council of Nine. Kemmler and the Council of Nine waged war against each other in Estalia in a conflict called the "War of Blood," with the local militias being largely helpless against the Undead forces raised by the contending necromancers to fight each other.[7]
In 2420 IC, Kemmler finally crushed the forces of the Council of Nine in the hills beyond Quenelles in Bretonnia. Brachnar fled to town of Bögenhafen in the Empire and constructed a lair in the Reikwald Forest. Kemmler finally crushed his foe in 2422 IC, reducing Brachnar to dust.[7]
In 2440 IC, Kemmler was captured by the Liche Crovan when he attempted to raid the cursed Castle Vermisace for one of the Nine Books of Nagash. Crovan kept the necromancer as a prisoner for five years until Kemmler managed to free himself and defeated the Liche and his acolytes, taking the title "Lichemaster" after the battle.[7]
In 2460 IC, the construction of Kemmler's fortress, Krinal, within The Vaults was completed, from where Kemmler terrorized the northern lands of Tilea. After several Tilean dukes submitted to him to spare themselves the worst of his raids, Kemmler turned his eye back towards Bretonnia. Invading Carcassonne, he defeated an army of the Carcassonian duke after the destruction and reanimation of the town of Breganalle. He defeated several armies sent by Royarch Theobald II, who vowed revenge and gathered the most holy relics of the land in order to destroy the necromancer.[7]
During the Bretonnian siege of Kemmler's fortress of Krinal in 2480 IC, Theobald was slain, but the fortress was cast down and Kemmler's Undead armies destroyed. The wounded necromancer fled deep into The Vaults, only to be ambushed by his old enemy Brachnar. Kemmler once again proved victorious over his old rival after a magical duel that lasted three days and nights, but was driven to madness in the process.[7]
Kemmler fled into and wandered the Grey Mountains and the lands of the Border Princes for many long years afterwards as a half-sane beggar. He eventually fled back into the mountains of The Vaults where he sought a weapon of great power rumoured to be hidden in the multiple tombs dotting the mountain slopes. Some of these tombs dated to the time before the Dwarfs and Elves had walked those lands. Some quirk of fate eventually led Kemmler to the tomb of the long-dead Krell.
Krell in life was a great and mighty Chaos Lord, slain many millennia ago. When Nagash came north to find the Crown of Sorcery and went to war against Emperor Sigmar, he raised this great warlord from death and made him one of the Nine Dark Lords of Nagash, his favoured generals, acolytes and lieutenants. When Nagash was defeated by Sigmar and his armies thrown back, Krell took his legion and continued to plague the land for many years afterwards before finally being defeated and entombed. It is rumoured that Kemmler was guided by the hands of Nagash to raise Krell and join forces with him. From here, Kemmler had since struck a secret pact with the Chaos Gods who restored him to his former power and in return, he swore to sow destruction in their name.
The tales of these two monsters are many. In 2491 IC, Kemmler attacked the Bretonnian fortress-shrine of La Maisontaal Abbey which was said to contain a powerful artifact coveted by the Skaven. In an effort to steal the artifact without being detected, a Grey Seer named Meek Gnawdoom used a spell that teleported Kemmler into the battle as a powerful ally. As the Undead and Bretonnians fought each other, Skaven infiltrators were able to steal the artifact without being seen. It was only thanks to the skill and heroism of Duke Tancred II of Quenelles that the Abbey was saved from total destruction from the Undead hordes assaulting its walls. Kemmler escaped and fled back to the Grey Mountains while the Skaven returned to Skavenblight with their prize. Tancred returned to Quenelles with much honour and renown.
Kemmler later believed the duke to be slain at the Battle of Montfort Bridge, having defeated Kemmler's forces at the cost of his own life. In truth, the fallen knight was Tancred's father, Tancred I, resulting in the man's vengeful son dedicating his life to hunting down the Lichemaster.
The Wood Elves remember Kemmler for the "Winter of Woes", a season in 2497 IC when he raised a vast army from the many cairns in the forest, ancient Human burial mounds that contained mystical energies closely linked to the health of Athel Loren. By attacking in winter, the Elves were at their weakest and it was only thanks to the Grail Knight Amalric and the venerable Treeman Durthu, who roused the native wood spirits, that the Necromancer was defeated. In the end, however, much of the forest was left devastated by his invasion.
In the year 2503 IC, Duke Tancred II managed to hunt down and personally slay Krell, granting him yet another death. The news of Tancred's feat reached as far as the Empire and beyond, while earning the respect of the Dwarfs, who had long held a grudge against the former Chaos Champion. Greater still, however, was the news that Kemmler had also fallen to the Grail Knight's holy wrath, though some feared that his demise was an uncertain thing...
End Times[]
Ultimately, Kemmler was destroyed during the opening months of The End Times. The ancient liche and first servant of Nagash, Arkhan the Black joined forces with Kemmler to retrieve Nagash's staff from the vaults of la Maisontaal. Seeking revenge on those who had frustrated him for so long, Kemmler took part in an assault that saw the abbey destroyed and Duke Tancred II slain at Krell's hands.
However, in the last moments of the battle, Kemmler rejected the stale and empty future offered by Nagash in favour of Chaos. Once again demonstrating his loyalty to the Dark Gods, he attacked Arkhan to stop him getting the staff. In a titanic magical duel that annihilated their surroundings, Arkhan eventually proved the stronger Necromancer and Kemmler was killed.
Wargear[]
- Chaos Tomb Blade - 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.
- Cloak of Mist and Shadows - Kemmler is surrounded by a dark cloak that swirls and twists with a life of its own.
- Skull Staff - The jaws of the skull staff chatter and gnash, warning Kemmler of baleful magic in his vicinity.
- Staff of the Lichemaster - This most powerful Necromantic tool has the combined powers of a Skull Staff, a Power Familiar, a Spell Familiar and a Black Periapt.[9]
Trivia[]
Kemmler's name is a reference to Heinrich Kramer, author of the Malleus Maleficarum, ("Hammer of the Witches"), a fifteenth-century treatise on witchcraft and how to combat it. Kramer was a German inquisitor and monk, who was instrumental in organizing witch trials in the Early-Modern period. He also personally established the torturous procedures, and tests, which only could prove any supposed witch to be guilty. While Kramer was censured by the Inquisition for his actions, secular courts across Europe adopted the Malleus Maleficarum as a manual for dealing with suspected witches.
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (8th Edition), pg. 58
- 2: Gotrek and Felix: Shamanslayer (Novel) by Nathan Long
- 3: Gotrek and Felix: Zombieslayer (Novel) by Nathan Long
- 4: Warhammer: The Bretonnian Collector's Guide, pg. 6
- 5: Warhammer: The End Times Compilation
- 6: Total War: Warhammer II (PC Game)
- 7: White Dwarf 309
- 7a: "Return of the Lichemaster", pg. 11
- 8: White Dwarf 310
- 8a: "Return of the Lichemaster, Part 2", pp. 104-107
- 9: Games Workshop: Special Characters - Heinrich Kemmler, The Lichemaster (Archived)
Gallery[]
