A horrific portrait of a Varghulf drawn during the time of the Vampire Wars.
A Varghulf is a powerful yet devolved Vampire Lord who has succumbed willingly to their most primal urges, transforming their once Human forms into a monstrous, bat-like creature larger and far more powerful in body, but weaker in mind.
Quick Answers
What causes a Vampire Lord to transform into a Varghulf?
What are the physical characteristics of a Varghulf?
How does a Varghulf's mental capacity compare to a Vampire Lord's?
What drives a Varghulf to feed on the blood of the living?
How do most Vampires control their primal urges to prevent becoming a Varghulf?
History
Within every Vampire's black soul lurks a slavering monster, driven to feed on the blood of the living time and again. Most Vampires seek control over this side of their existence, clinging to the trappings of aristocracy, privilege, or -- in some extreme cases -- a debased form of martial honor.[1a]
Yet not all Vampires care for the trappings of mortal life or seek to control their inner urges. There are a few Vampires who allow the animalistic hunter within them to consume their personality completely. These feral predators abandon their citadels in order to run unfettered through the forest, hunting at the head of packs of Dire Wolves or even stranger beasts.[1a]
Those who revel in such behaviour become physically changed beyond recognition by the necromantic magic of the Vampiric curse. Hence are born the creatures known to the peasants as Varghulfs.[1a]
Varghulfs are the result of a Vampire repeatedly overfeeding on blood. Over the centuries, these most devolved of Vampires become blood-mad killers that exist only to feed. Like enraged, starved beasts, they run rampant, devouring whole villages and yet never sating their thirst. They slaughter without mercy, luxuriating in bloody carnage.[1a][2a]
As well as devouring the living, a Varghulf will ransack graves and feast upon the bodies of the dead. Other Vampires consider them no better than Ghoulkin, though the terrible changes wrought by their surrender to the rage within make them deadly in battle.[1a][2a]
Role
In battle, the Varghulf becomes a whirlwind of rage. Though voracious and unpredictable killers, Varghulfs are far from mindless. They do not possess the aptitude or inclination for magic of their Vampiric cousins, but their presence still acts as a conduit for Dark Magic, and they are able to re-knit themselves with the raw stuff of necromancy should they suffer injury.[1a]
Pack animals will instinctively follow Varghulfs, recognising the apex predator in their midst. Crypt Ghouls in particular are drawn to Varghulfs, recognising something of their own unwholesome nature in the massive beasts. Hence, the caverns of the Strigoi Ghoul Kings often play host to a Varghulf or two.[1a]
On occasion, a Varghulf will become a leader of its own pack of Crypt Ghouls, sharing its lair with a loathsome court of flesh-eaters. From a secret cave or decrepit mausoleum, the Varghulf leads its gruesome attendants in midnight hunts that always end in the slaughter of the living.[1a]
For their part, the Crypt Ghouls gain a powerful protector, something the cowardly creatures value highly. Though the hidden armies of Ghoulkin that lurk in the catacombs of the Known World prefer to skulk and hide than to wage open war, when they boil out of the darkness, a Varghulf's presence can be the difference between victory and defeat.[1a]
Appearance
A Varghulf has a monstrous body, swollen by a constant diet of red meat. Unbound by Human form, a Varghulf is a contorted mass of packed muscle, giving it the strength to crush a chariot or bowl over entire ranks of those stupid enough to try and pen it in. Powerful legs and broad wing-flaps allow Varghulfs to chase down their kills in swift, gliding leaps, and they can lash out at enemies around them with shocking speed.[1a]
They use their immense claws to strip flesh from bone, the better to suck at the juicy marrow of their prey. A Varghulf's main weapon, however, is a wide mouth filled with dagger-like fangs capable of puncturing armour and crushing skulls.[1a]
Notable Varghulfs
- The Old One - The Old One is an ancient Varghulf that once ruled the dark city of Mousillon in Bretonnia. It was ultimately slain by the resurrected Duke Merovech.
- Albrecht Nictus - Nictus was the former Grandmaster of the Drakenhof Templars. Albrecht eventually devolved into a Varghulf. Retaining much of his personality, however, he continued to aid the Blood Knights in battle.
Notable Regiments
- Bloodbeasts - An infamous trio of Vargulfs that followed the Strigoi Druthor.
Miniatures
Sources
- 1: Warhammer Armies: Vampire Count (8th Edition)
- 1a: pg. 44
- 2: The Lord of the End Times (Novel) by Josh Reynolds
- 2a: Ch. 12
Galery
