he tale of the dreaded Vampire begins many thousands of years before the reign of Karl Franz, millennia before the coming of Sigmar and the founding of the Empire. It begins in the realm of Nehekhara, now an arid desert, known as the Land of the Dead amongst Men, Tar Uritharhain to the Elves and Grimaz-Ankor in the Khazalid of the Dwarfs.

Most mighty of the Nehekharan cities was Khemri, ruled over by the Priest King Nagash. Nagash rose to power after murdering his brother, and it was he who first created the lore of magic now known as necromancy. Nagash used his knowledge to raise up army of dead warriors and usurp the throne of Khemri. Yet Nagash had not achieved true immortality with his magic, for his body was still aged and withered.

To channel the dark energies he needed, the renegade Priest King began the construction of a monolithic black pyramid that dwarfed even the mightiest existing tombs.

The other Priest Kings of Nehekhara feared Nagash; they grew suspicious of his longevity and knew that he was growing too powerful. Soon he would no doubt conquer them. Prince Lahmizzar of Lahmia gathered the other nobles together for a secret council and they decided to unite their forces against Nagash.

Nagash hid inside his new monument and Prince Lahmizzar set guards outside the pyramid to wait for his inevitable surrender, but Nagash had other plans. The Black Pyramid had been constructed at the heart of the Necropolis of Khemri and that night Nagash used his dark powers to summon a vast legion of skeletal warriors. Soldiers and kings who had been buried centuries before rose from their tombs and warred against their descendants. Nagash led them, striking fear into the brave Lahmians' hearts as he rode at the fore of his army in a chariot made of bone.

That night many brave warriors died in the surprise attack, but the people of Khemri were so horrified by the Undead horde that they united with the gathered kings and marched against Nagash. In the ensuing battle Lahmizzar was killed by Nagash himself but his son fought a savage battle with the dark Necromancer and avenged his death. As Nagash's body fell to the ground, the Undead horde collapsed.

The victorious warriors raided the pyramid seeking to destroy the dark works of Nagash. Neferata, Lahmizzar's daughter and now Queen of Lahmia, was at the head of this raid when she came across one of the Nine Books of Nagash containing all of the Priest King's necromantic lore, now infamous across the world.

The cursed tome called out to her, beckoning her to save it from the purging flames. She took the book with noble intent; thinking to use the knowledge it contained to fight the evil that Nagash had unleashed, but the book was saturated in dark energies. She soon became fascinated by the macabre experiments which Nagash had worked on his slaves and, before long, Neferata found herself copying some of his simpler theories. At first it was innocent fascination but over time she became obsessed by Nagash's quest for immortality.

Neferata was foolish in her pride and believed that she could succeed where Nagash had failed. She followed his macabre rituals and created an elixir; a liquid as black as night that stank of grave dust. Uttering a prayer to her ancestors, she drank deep of it. For a moment nothing happened. Then she was gripped by a fearsome pain, her veins screaming with agony. The torture turned to ecstasy, her senses filled with vibrancy, her body quivering with unnatural energy. She felt her heart stop beating, though she continued to live and breathe.

Suddenly she felt her soul pulled to another world, the world of undeath. A whole new plane of existence opened and her mind raced as she marvelled at the beautiful images of the spirits of the dead. Her initial exhilaration was replaced by stark fear as Neferata realised that her weak and fragile soul attracted these spirits who surrounded her, seeking the warmth of the living.

They sought the essence of life that they once possessed and tore at her unprotected soul. Neferata tried to fend them off but was unprepared for such an assault and before long one spirit broke through her defences. When the Queen awoke, she found herself in the chamber where she had collapsed, but could feel the malicious spirit inside her. It was thirsty and sought the warm blood of the living to ease its pain.

Neferata, The Vampire Queen

For many years the young Queen managed to conceal her secret, limiting her nightly predations to slaves, servants and others who would not be missed. After a time, though, she could no longer contain her thirst, and it was then that she began to lure courtiers to her chambers, supping on their warm blood for relief from the torment of her possessed soul.

As the nobles of Lahmia grew older they began to question their queen's eternal youth. Neferata realised that alone she was vulnerable and so, one by one, gave her dark gift to the others by means of the elixir. Amongst those nobles were her brother Ushoran and her High Priest W'soran. Together they ruled over the people, believing themselves to be gods. And gods they were to the populace of Lahmia, undying rulers ordained to reign for eternity. Slowly the old religion died away, to be replaced by the worship of the living ancestors, the Eternal Queen and her Deathless Court.

Next: Part II