"Please, come in and join me for dinner. I can see from the way you dress, you are a man of exquisite...taste."
Isabella von Carstein, Countess of Sylvania and wife and eternal partner of Vlad von Carstein.[1a]
Isabella von Carstein, born Isabella von Drak, is a Vampire Lord and the wife and former Vampire Thrall of Vlad von Carstein. Isabella was one of the first Vampires of the von Carstein bloodline turned by Vlad and the heir apparent to the County of Sylvania.[1a]
Before she was married and eventually turned by her Undead lover's Blood Kiss, Isabella von Drak was the only daughter of Otto von Drak, the Count of Sylvania. Isabella was much like many of her noble counterparts in the Empire. She was vain, immoral and selfish, and cared little for anything that did not affect her personal comfort and standing. Though very intelligent, she had a classical, rather than practical, education.[1a]
In her youth she was considered somewhat strange for her love of those pursuits generally considered the exclusive purview of males, such as hunting and falconry, over needlework and music. In fact, outside of Sylvania, the only thing that made Isabella vaguely desirable as a wife was her stunning, cold beauty. This, however, was not enough to tempt suitors worthy of inheriting the throne of Sylvania, and Mad Otto certainly did not wish to give her hand to any of his rivals within the province.[1a]
History
Origins
"Let there ever be wine, and blood, and slaughter! Restraint is for mortals."
- —Isabella von Carstein[3a]
The heraldry of Sylvania, the Vampire Counts army commanded by Vlad von Carstein and Isabella von Carstein in Total War: Warhammer III.
When the Vampire Lord Vlad von Carstein arrived at Castle Drakenhoff on the night of Count Otto von Drak's death and offered to become the count's heir, Isabella von Drak was pleased that her conniving uncle, her father's younger brother Leopold von Drak, would not inherit rule of Sylvania, though she was far from happy at having to marry such a sinister stranger to grant him the right to the county. As the months passed, however, what had started out as a marriage of convenience developed into something far more. When it became clear that Isabella could not be merely seduced by Vlad's charms and rebelled against his will for the first time, the Vampire Lord fell instantly in love with her.[1a]
Vlad long resisted Isabella's requests to join him in Undeath, for he simply loved her too much for her to endure the curse that came with it, but when she lay dying several years into their marriage from a fatal, wasting illness, Vlad realised that he could not carry on without her, and reluctantly inducted her into the ranks of the Vampires with the gift of the Blood Kiss.[1a]
Isabella von Carstein as rendered for Total War: Warhammer.[5]
Upon awakening as a Vampire, Isabella's first meal was the very priestess of Shallya who had tended to her sickness. This woman, who also received the Blood Kiss because of her service to the dying Isabella, would become known as Elize von Carstein.[4a]
As a Vampire, Countess Isabella was forever at Vlad's side, feeding his ambition and teaching him the ways of the Sylvanian court and about the wider Empire. Isabella was Vlad's most valued confidante, and the only person, living or dead, whose advice he trusted.[1a]
Isabella von Carstein as rendered for Total War: Warhammer.[5]
When Vlad set forth on his mission to become emperor and claim the Empire of Man for his own, Isabella accompanied him on the road to war. She carried an heirloom of the von Draks with her -- a chalice made for her great grandmother, Countess Bathori. Corrupted by Dark Magic, this golden goblet was forever filled with fresh blood, from which Isabella drank even in the midst of the fiercest fighting.[1a]
Isabella von Carstein's sword and the Blood Chalice of Bathori as rendered for Total War: Warhammer.[5]
Those who dared confront her in battle would stare wide-eyed as her wounds healed within seconds, time seeming to flow backwards for the lithe Vampire Countess as blood crawled back into opened veins and alabaster flesh neatly sealed in its wake. Their hesitation would invariably cost them dearly, for when they returned to their senses, they would invariably find their throats slit or a sword driven right through their chests.[1a]
It is claimed that when Vlad died, Isabella was fighting atop one of the gate towers of Altdorf. Protected by a ring of Grave Guard, she battled against the self-declared Emperor Ludwig and his Greatswords. When the Wights suddenly collapsed around her, Isabella realised that her beloved had been finally destroyed and his necromantic power undone. So stricken was Isabella that she turned from the men battling against her and flung herself from the tower. Isabella's body was impaled on the stakes below, before crumbling into dust.[1a]
End Times
Concept art of Isabella von Carstein created for Total War: Warhammer.[5]
During the End Times Isabella was restored to unlife by the Dark God Nurgle, who warped and twisted her into an ideal tool for destroying the Undead of the mortal world who opposed Chaos. Possessed by a Nurglish Daemon, she led a huge legion of Nurgle's Daemons to invade Sylvania alongside the traitorous Undead spirit known as the Nameless.[2]
This Nurglish legion first defeated an army led by the Vampire Lords Mannfred von Carstein and Luthor Harkon, two of the Liche Lord Nagash's Mortarchs, from who the Nameless was able to wrestle control of their Zombie hordes. The Mortarchs, joined by Vlad von Carstein, retreated to an abandoned inn called the Dead and Buried where they and a small number of other Vampires fought a last stand against the Nurglish army.[2]
Eventually they were overwhelmed; Mannfred fled the battle, Harkon was killed by Isabella herself and all of the other Vampires were slain too. The exception was Vlad who taunted Luthor Huss, trapped inside the body the Nameless now controlled. He questioned the priest's strength and faith until eventually Huss broke free in a burst of fiery faith that immolated the Nameless. Together they fought the hordes and Vlad escaped the battle.[2]
Building on these victories Isabella led her forces into Sylvania where she marched on the Black Pyramid, the centre of Nagash's power. The battle however proved only to be a distraction after a Skaven team (who had now joined the forces of Chaos) led by Ikit Claw destroyed the Pyramid, a major repository of Nagash's death magic. This loss forced Nagash to finally join forces with the other Incarnates in Athel Loren. After the battle Isabella travelled to Middenheim to join Archaon's forces there.[2]
During the Incarnates' assault on Chaos-occupied Middenheim Isabella once again confronted her husband. They fought but he was unwilling to destroy his one true love. He removed the Carstein Ring, forced it on her finger and threw them both from the battlements onto the sharpened stakes below, mirroring his earlier death at the hands of the Grand Theogonist in Altdorf.[2]
Her death forced the Daemon from her body back into the Aethyr, freeing her of its influence while the power of the ring returned her to unlife. After the battle she was found by the Lahmian Vampire Lord Neferata who took her to Castle Stierniste in Sylvania where alongside Neferata's cousin, the Tomb Queen Khalida, she waited out the ending of the world of Mallus until its dissolution by the unrestrained power of Chaos.[2]
Wargear
- Blood Chalice of Bathori - Countless are the innocent souls whose life essence has flowed into this bewitched goblet. Those that drink from it are rejuvenated with new power, all their wounds and ailments healed.[1a]
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