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"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]
Warhammer W'Soran

W'soran, the Father of Vampires

W'soran, also called "W'soran the Wicked," the "Father of Vampires" and Nourgul the Wamphyro in the lands of Araby, Estalia and Tilea, is the Vampire Lord who is the founder and leader of the Necrarch bloodline of Vampires.[1a]

W'soran, once a prince of Rasetra and a secret follower of the Great Necromancer Nagash, used his position as high priest of the Mortuary Cult of the Nehekharan city-state of Lahmia to poison the mind of the young Princess Neferatem, who was destined to become the 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 had learned at Nagash's side.[1a]

After Nagash's fall, Neferatem 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 own rule of Lahmia, and behind the locked doors of the palace, she studied the scrolls and began to emulate the simpler necromantic magics described within. 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 magical 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 and his lieutenants their immortality. They eventually found success but in an unexpected form. The version of the elixir they created did indeed grant them immortality, but it had been formulated incorrectly and so also fundamentally changed the nature of their beings, and created a dark craving for Human blood that was necessary to maintain their unlives. 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, a prince of Rasetra, was a servant of and spy for Nagash who held the position of high priest of the city-state 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 other priest-kings of Nehekhara, saving them from destruction and bringing them to Lahmia, where she started studying the dark arts of necromancy on her own.[1a]

With W'soran's aid, Neferata concocted an almost but not quite perfect copy of Nagash's Elixir of Life, and by drinking it she was granted immortality, but its impure mixture also transformed her into the first Vampire. Neferata tried at first to hide her unnatural condition, but realising that couldn't last for long, she gave the rest of the flawed Elixir of Life 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 Lahmian Undead Court established the Temple of Blood, ruling the city of Lahmia as gods and hunting its inhabitants to feed. However, they were all unwittingly manipulated by W'soran, who in turn had 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 terrible vampiric secret of the Lahmian court was discovered and the rest of the cities of Nehekhara launched their armies against the Vampires to eliminate their curse from the land. 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 Nehekharan 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 great deal about the netherworld beyond life.[1a]

Unfortunately for W'soran, 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 transcribed his notes into the Grimorium Necronium, which not only included a distilled 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 an Undead empire had a flaw: it lacked the blood of living mortals that Vampires required to survive. Because of this, W'soran started using Dark Magic in order to permanently sate the terrible Blood Thirst that all Vampires suffered from. Although his potent necromancy allowed W'soran to depend less and less on blood to survive, his abuse of raw Dark Magic began to warp his body and mind, and he grew horrible and ghastly, his body increasingly coming to resemble the walking corpse that he was. 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 apart from the mortal world for centuries as he studied the art of necromancy. Using the knowledge from the Nine Books 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 into long trances, while his soul travelled freely through the realms of the dead. 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, his Vampiric bloodline, the Necrarchs, scattered and spread throughout the Known World.[1a]

However, W'soran did not truly perish, and instead his potent spirit returned from the netherworld to possess the body of his murderous pupil...[2]

Siege of Magritta[]

In -1017 IC, W'soran, known in the south as Nourgul the Wamphyro, was killed by Abhorash inside the Temple of Myrmidia of Magritta in Estalia. Aborash and some of his companions were disguised as members of the long-forgotten order of the Myrmidons. Once again how he managed to survive, and why he attacked the south of the Old World and Araby under the name of one of his old allies, remains a mystery.[4a]

Canon Conflict[]

Nourgul the Wamphyro was the name used by Arabyans, Estalians, and Tileans for W'soran in ca. -1000 IC, while in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Night's Dark Masters, Nourgul is described as an entirely different Vampire who was an ally of Nagash and W'soran. This could be intentional as W'soran seems to be able to possess other individuals' bodies. They both died in the Temple of Myrmidia at Magritta, but at different times.[1a][4a]

In Warhammer Fantasy Battle army books, W'soran was a prince of Rasetra in his mortal life. However, the Black Library novels in the Time of Legends series claim instead that he was a priest from Mahrak.

Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts for 5th Edition claims that W'soran died in Lahmia when he tried to save its burning libraries. 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 dead, trapping him there.

The Time of Legends series implies instead 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 Roleplay 2nd Edition: Night's Dark Masters (RPG)
    • 1a: pp. 28-36
  • 2: Time of Legends: Nagash Immortal (Novel) by Mike Lee
    • 2a: Ch. 16: "A Howl from the Wasteland"
  • 3: White Dwarf 74 (SPA)
  • 4: Blood of Nagash - Master of Death (Novel) by Josh Reynolds
    • 4a: Ch. 13
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