- "Lamashizzar? Do you think I would call that capering fool my master? No, I speak of Nagash, the Undying King! I have seen him! All this time, I have searched for him, but I was looking in the wrong place! He could not be found among the souls of the dead because he still reigns upon this earth!"
- —W'soran, Servant of Nagash.[2a]
W'soran, the Father of Vampires.
W'soran the Wicked, known also as the Father of Vampires, is the founder and head of the Necrach Bloodline of Vampires. W’soran, once a Prince of Rasetra, used his position as High Priest of Lahmia to poison the mind of the young Princess Neferatem, destined to become Queen of Lahmia. Neferatem was a wilful girl fascinated by magic and death who was frustrated by the Mortuary Cult’s unwillingness to pass on their teachings to women. Secretly, W’soran nurtured her thirst for this forbidden knowledge, coaching her in the magical knowledge he learned at Nagash’s side.[1a]
After Nagash’s fall, she was only too willing to save several forbidden scrolls from the pyres. After her father took Nagash’s position as King of Khemri, Neferatem began her rule of Lahmia, and behind the locked doors of the palace, she studied the scrolls and began to emulate the simpler necromantic magic. All the while, W’soran was testing the waters of Lahmia’s Mortuary Cult, learning which priests were sympathetic to his ends and which would have to be dealt with. Those who could not be twisted to the teachings of Nagash, he warned of Neferatem’s dark practices, a calculated act of betrayal that the queen would not learn of for many years. So it was that the priesthood fractured, some loyal to their queen and others set against her.[1a]
This culminated in an attack on the palace, a rebellion that was only thwarted when Neferatem herself emerged, surrounded by a crackling nimbus of dark energy, and unleashed the full fury of her burgeoning necromantic abilities on her foes. The remaining rebels were rounded up and executed, leaving only those in the Mortuary Cult whom W'soran could trust. With their aid, he and Neferatem continued their studies, focusing on one ritual above all others: the creation of the Elixir of Life that had granted Nagash his immortality. They eventually found success but in an unexpected form. The version of the Elixir they created gave them immortality, but it also fundamentally changed the nature of their beings.They became the first Vampires.[1a]
History
- "All this time, the Undying King has been rebuilding his strength in secret, far from the eyes of men. He has taken a great mountain and made it his fortress. I have seen its towers wreathed in the smoke of countless forges, where his servants make ready for the day of Nehekhara’s demise! And that day swiftly approaches! Already, Nagash is clad in the panoply of war, and he holds a dark and terrible crown in his hand! The days of mankind are numbered..."
- —W'soran, true servant of Nagash.[2a]
W'soran, prince of Rasetra, was a spy of Nagash that held the position of high priest of Lahmia. From this vantage point he began to corrupt the then-princess Neferata's mind as he instructed her in the magical arts he had learnt from Nagash. This manipulation drove Neferata to recover some of the Great Necromancer's treatises when he was defeated by the Priest-Kings, saving them from destruction and bringing them to Lahmia, where she started studying the dark arts on her own. With W'soran's aid, Neferata concocted an almost perfect copy of Nagash's Elixir of Life, and by drinking it she became the first Vampire. Neferata tried at first to hide her dark condition, but realising that couldn't last for long, she gave the rest of the Elixir to several members of her royal court -- and W'soran was one of the first to drink it. W'soran and the rest of the Undead Court created the Temple of Blood, ruling the city of Lahmia as gods and hunting down its inhabitants to feed. However, they were all unwittingly manipulated by W'soran, who in turn received instructions from Nagash.[1a]
Vampires of Lahmia
- "He is coming... And when he does, you will grovel like a worm at his feet."
- —W'soran, true servant of Nagash, speaking to Neferata.[2a]
Eventually the secret of the Lahmian court was discovered and the rest of the cities of Nehekhara launched their armies against the Vampires. After a determined defence, the city fell and the surviving Vampires fled to Nagashizzar, where they joined Nagash's hosts as army commanders when he tried to exact revenge on Nehekhara and reconquer the kingdoms. This invasion failed, however, and most of the Vampires fled again to escape the Great Necromancer's wrath. Only W'soran remained at his side, and during the time he spent in Nagash's company he learnt a lot about the netherworld beyond life. Unfortunately for him, Alcadizaar killed his master only a year later, and somehow W'soran made his escape with many works of Nagash. Unlike the other Vampire lords, who dreamed of creating a new, great nation of their own, W'soran chose some of the most intelligent priests of Nagash, turned them into his Vampire pupils and taught them the dark arts of Necromancy.[1a]
W'soran studied many of his master's scriptures, and with the help of his acolytes transcripted his notes in the Grimorium Necronium, which not only included a distillated version of Nagash's magic, but also a series of prophecies that showed W'soran a vision of the future -- a world covered in bones, populated only by the dead and ruled by his vampiric clan. But his dream of a corpse empire had a flaw: it lacked blood. Because of this, he started using Dark Magic in order to permanently sate the Thirst that all Vampires suffer. Although his powerful Necromancy allowed him to depend less and less on blood to survive, his abusing of the raw Dark Magic began to warp his body and mind, and he grew horrible and ghastly. When W'soran gave the Blood Kiss to his acolytes, he passed this curse on to them as well, and in time many of them succumbed to madness.[1a]
Little is known of the place where W'soran hid after Nagash's defeat. He stayed away from the rest of the world for centuries as he studied the art of Necromancy. Using the knowledge from the Book of Nagash, he spent most of the time walking through the spirit world of the dead, and this would be his doom. In order to cross the barrier that separates the world of the living from that of the dead, his body fell in long trances, while his soul travelled freely through the realms of the deceased. It was his best student, Melkhior, who took advantage of this to put a stake through his heart and devour his body. It is unknown whether this was due to manipulation from the Book of Nagash or simply an act of madness. Be that as it may, after W'soran's death the Necrarchs disseminated and spread throughout the world.[1a]
However, it is ultimately implied that W'soran did not truly perish, instead possessing the body of his murderous pupil...[2]
Older Canon
- In the army books, W'soran was a prince of Rasetra. The Black Library works "Time of Legends" instead claim that he was a priest from Mahrak.
- Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (5th Edition) claims that W'soran already died in Lahmia when he tried to save its burning libraries.
Trivia
- Later sources revealed that he lived after Lahmia's fall, served again at the side of Nagash and was slain by his apprentice Melkhior when his spirit travelled through the realms of the deceased, trapping him there. Time of Legends later implied that W'soran overtook Melkhior's mind and body after being slain, meaning that "Melkhior" is merely a body possessed by W'soran.
Sources
- 1: Warhammer Fantasy RPG 2nd ED -- Nights Dark Masters
- 1a: pg. 28 - 36
- 2: Time of Legends: Nagash Immortal (Novel) by Mike Lee
- 2a: Chapter Sixteen: A Howl from the Wasteland
- 3: White Dwarf - Issue 74 (Spanish Edition).
