Layla of Copher, also known as the Silver Princess, was a female Vampire active in Stirland during the Age of Three Emperors that claimed to hail from the port city of Copher, in Araby.[1a]
History[]
In 2293 IC, the Empire was still in much disarray. Three Elector Counts laid claim to the Imperial throne, and barons warred with each other over power and land. The Vampire Wars had ended, and the bickering noble families had forgotten their unity against the dread threat of the Vampires, believing them destroyed.[1a]
In that year, a strange visitor came to the court of Stirland. The heralds announced her as Princess Layla of Copher, one of the Arabyan cities of the south. Her slim figure was swathed in black silk robes, which danced and swayed with a life of their own. A mask of silver depicting a beautiful yet stern expression concealed her face, beneath a thick headscarf of crimson wool. Olive-skinned retainers accompanied her, casting rose water upon her body and into the air. Soldiers dressed in black mail and enamelled plate, their heads covered by spiked helmets with blank faceplates, marched stiffly behind the princess as she made her way into the chamber of Count Ewald.[1a]
The Count was awestruck by the graceful apparition before him, and without question or hesitation, Ewald invited the princess to stay in his castle. The two dined alone, while the Count's men remarked upon the silence of her guards, who did not enter the barracks, but left her castle and stationed themselves in black tents in the archery fields outside. No fire burned in their camp and curious sentries on the battlements above could not hear a single voice. The only movement was of the endlessly patrolling soldiers.[1a]
The following morning, Ewald announced his betrothal to Princess Layla, to forge an alliance with the Arabyans. With these new allies, he promised, he would be able to take the Imperial Throne for Stirland. Many were heartened by this news, for the Count needed an heir, and Stirland's fortunes were waning in the fight for domination. There were a few, however, who did not like this turn of events. Chief amongst them was Gerhardt, the Count's Chancellor of the Treasury. He had heard of exorbitant dowries asked by Arabyan lords for the marriage of their daughters, and suspected that Layla was not even a princess. He set his agents to spying on the princess and her entourage.[1a]
Weeks passed, and Gerhardt had no word from his spies. Layla was rarely seen, though the Count spent almost all of his time with her. Gerhardt feared his agents had been slain and investigated for himself. That night he placed five of his sturdiest fighters outside the quarters given over to Layla. Then, by a hidden route known only to a few servants and courtiers, entered the chambers to see what was concealed within.[1a]
What he found was far more fearsome than a gold-hungry woman. Layla's silver mask lay upon the bed, her headdress cast back. In the glitter of the candle light, Gerhardt saw pale, bald skin. The princess hunched over something, and as she swayed to one side, the chancellor saw that it was one of his agents.[1a]
Blood trickled from a wide gash in his neck as the 'princess' let his corpse drop to the ground. The chancellor could not stop a gasp of amazement escaping his lips, and quick as lightning Layla spun and saw him. Fangs as long as a man's fingers jutted from her mouth, and scar tissue and cuts twisted her bestial face. With no rose water to conceal it, the air was thick with the stench of decay.[1a]
Gerhardt bellowed for his guards and fled back down the passage. The Vampire summoned her own warriors. Their fleshless faces revealed in the moonlight, Undead soldiers stormed the gates, while Layla stalked the corridors within. The Count himself was removed from danger, while battle raged across the walls and courtyard.[1a]
For several hours the brave men of Stirland fought against the skeletal soldiers. As the first rays of dawn began to spread, the she-Vampire rejoined her warriors, having sated her thirst on dozens of soldiers and servants. The Undead army withdrew eastwards into the glimmering pre-dawn gloom, heading towards the mountains, and was never seen again.[1a]