The Great Mortis Delta, the river estuary which separated Khemri from the Great Ocean, a land marked by desolation and the wails of jackals long since gone. For months Vlad Von Carstein has marched his army south in pursuit of the trail left by his late wife’s stolen chalice and now after all that, he arrived here.
Vlad looked around through this ruinous landscape as his loyal standard bearer Estroth the Silent sent the hounds off to re-discover the trail but all was for nought as after 3 days of searching, the trail had truly vanished.
However, this changed on the fourth day when two figures appeared atop an immense sand dune upon the horizon. Vlad approached them alone, telling Estroth to remain alert and to come to his aid should the situation deem fit. And so after 4 days of searching through this vile region, Vlad finally discovered what he was looking for.
He approached the two skeletal sorcerers who as he neared, began to speak in unison:“Hail Vashanesh, fallen King of Lahmia. We humbly bow before your grandeur mighty majesty. Listen to our words and rejoice for you shall soon stand before the Undying King, your worthless life given purpose anew. Please, follow us.”
The two led Vlad across the dune and revealed a portal to him which they commanded him to enter. He followed them, firing a single flare of energy from his sword into the air as a sign for Estroth to hold back on leading an attack, before entering the portal.

Vlad woke mere seconds later inside a dark chamber of hieroglyphed stone, a chamber without so much as a single gap in its walls to let the outside light in, let alone any windows. He stood to his feet and paced through the labyrinth of stone and then Vlad heard him.
“I still endure. You walk through my domain. A home occupied by spiders and worms who burrow through my chest. Yet I survive, I still stand against my enemies. I shall always do so, for I can do nought else. My will simmers like an exhausted flame, my power broken in two upon the altar of fate yet still the Great Necromancer remains vigilant. Nagash endures.”
Vlad followed the voice, guiding his hand along the stone walls to better grasp his senses and then he turned a final corner and came face to face with his master, no matter how he denied it. Before him sat the great skeleton of the Undying King, three times the size of any mortal man, upon its throne, totally motionless without the simplest glimmer of life or true existence within its frame. Yet the voice continued, emanating not from the skeleton but from the air above, just as stale and devoid of passion as the voice it carried.
“Nagashizzar is toppled. It’s great tower and obelisks turned to dust. Where it once stood rests only broken earth and the streets where a thousand warriors marched now heralds only the wailing of jackals and the wing-beats of carrion. Yet Nagash still endures. You could pull down the Sun or drain the oceans and I would still endure. Nagash is risen. The dead are mine. I rule the dead and the soon to be dead.”
Vlad interjected into Nagash’s monologue, proclaiming that the vampires needed no supreme ruler, only for Nagash to continue “The deceased known not of what they need. They will know their master and heed his call. However, even knowing this souls still slip my grasp and spirits flee my voice while thieves and invaders stalk this land in the night, digging up my tomes and taking from me that which is mine. You know what it means to be stolen from, do you not vampire?”
Vlad was almost startled for a moment as Nagash consciously directed his monologue towards him for the first time. “I stand here in search of my wife’s remains. I implore you tell me of their whereabouts or suffer my wrath.” Vlad commanded in response.
Nagash heard his demand and responded in kind as the echo of a chuckle danced across the air “You are in no place to make demands. What would you offer for her return?”
“Anything.” Vlad responded.
“Very well Von Carstein…but providence requires action. What will you offer me for Isabella?”
“If you truly have her, I could offer a declaration of fealty… across my entire bloodline if necessary, to you.”
“You and all your lineage would serve as mortarchs through all existence, through both death and undeath?”
“Where is my wife?”
Suddenly, the lifeless skeleton opened the fingers of its left hand, opening a stone doorway up until now hidden by the dark to the right side of the room. As the door unlocked, the two robed necrarchs entered once more, now followed by a Strigoi carrying a wrapped body over its shoulder.
“See how Nagash unites his mortarchs, whether master and duplicitous student as in W’Soran and Melchior or through the second wedding of lovers.” the voice of Nagash bellowed. It was then that Ushoran unwrapped the body, revealing a crude, empty shell akin to Vlad’s wife. Forged from the stretched skin and bones of Neferata, taped together by the webs of an Arachnarok Spider hunted and killed by Ushoran near Mount Arachnos, her hair constructed from the fibres of the reeds that grew next to the River Mortis, her mouth slightly skewed to make up for all the marble chips which replaced her missing teeth,… truly this body Nagash’s minions had created was an abomination to every memory Vlad had of his departed wife.

Vlad instinctively moved his hand towards the hilt of his blade, intending to strike these monstrosities down for the insult that had befallen him.
“Stay your hand Vashanesh, for your King alone holds the power to revive the woman you love.” the Necrarchs spoke once more, still in unison.
“How?”
It was at this moment that the Necrarch apprentice Melchior lifted his robes, revealing that he had been carrying Isabella’s Chalice all this time while W’Soran clawed at a specific hieroglyph in the Pyramid’s wall, triggering another door to open which in turn opened an observation deck. It was now that it finally dawned on Vlad, the Black Pyramid was hovering directly above his army, far above the clouds. All this time it seems the chalice’s path had not faded, his army had simply never thought of checking this high above their heads.

“Approach his majesty” the three mortarchs commanded. Vlad stepped forward and knelt before the Undying King.
“From here on, my will shall match your own. Make of my enemies your enemies. Make of my mortarchs your allies. You will find the fiends who stole my power and strike them down before filling their bodies with mouldering air such that I may own them. Now, confesss your loyalty and I shall reunite you with your love once more. The Von Carsteins instilled with purpose anew. Do so or your bloodline will end.”

• Love React: Vlad considered his position deeply before finally agreeing, pledging his loyalty to the Great Necromancer.

Nagash accepted his pledge, for through it Vlad’s soul would now be his and so Nagash’s skeletal body opened its mouth to unleash a stream of green energy which poured into Isabella’s makeshift body.
And so the vampire countess rose to her feet, revived into undeath. However, upon inspecting his risen wife’s body, Vlad discovered a terrible truth. Isabella was wholly sentient and conscious, yet she didn’t recognise who he was!
“I know not to trust the pledges of Vampires, Vashanesh. I have revived her mind but if you want her heart, you’ll need to earn it by finding my tomes. Prepare your armies my mortarch, the gates of Khemri await!” spoke Nagash before recoiling into his decrepit skeletal once more…..

• Wow React: Vlad initially agreed to the Great Necromancer’s offer, waiting until Nagash had resurrected Isabella to the point of sentience before pulling his sword out and plunging it straight into Nagash’s chest. The Blood Drinker’s necrotic magics seeped into Nagash’s body, stunning the Lord of Undeath in place as Vlad ran over to the semi-revived Isabella, dodging blasts from the necrarchs and avoiding Ushoran’s pounces.

From there he picked Isabella up and lifted her over his shoulder as he ran back to Nagash to reclaim his blade. He withdrew it, causing Nagash to instantly regain mobility who proceeded to rise from his throne to attack the insolent vampire. However, rather than waiting for Nagash or his mortarchs to kill them, Vlad swung Isabella into his arms and dove from the observation deck/balcony of the Black Pyramid.
As the two former spouses fell to their deaths, Vlad wrapped his ring-bearing hand around Isabella’s own, hoping it would revive the both of them upon impact. Meanwhile Nagash and his Mortarchs looked down upon Vlad’s army on the surface and prepared their own…….

• Angry React: Vlad rejected Nagash’s offer outright, swearing he would never serve the Necromancer again and plunged his sword deep into Nagash’s chest. The sword dug into Nagash’s body and begun to drain Nagash of his essence while Vlad leapt towards Ushoran and proceeded to beat the Strigoi with his blood soaked, armoured fists.

W’Soran and Melchior came to Ushoran’s aid and began to blast their gaze spells at Vlad only to discover that their spells were significantly weaker than usual on account of their master’s weaker state. After one final cracking of Ushoran’s skull, Vlad stood up and grabbed onto Melchior’s right arm, tearing it from his socket with ease before kicking both necrarchs to the floor with his greaves.
Finally, Vlad returned to the stunned Nagash who despite complete silence, Vlad could tell was in utter agony. He stared into Nagash’s nebulous black eye sockets and spoke “I hope you can hear me. I hope you know what I’m about to do to you. You took my wife’s remains from me, robbed her of her death, replaced her body with one almost as grotesque as your own. You made her nothing more than a message in a bottle to bring me hear and you broke my heart in doing so. You violated something more important than mere life and death, you used our love against us. For that, you die!”
And so with one final move, Vlad grabbed the hilt of his blade and pushed it further into Nagash’s body, unleashing its full sapping potential as Nagash’s cold form finally burst into a storm of necromancy, setting millions of souls free to rest as red winds of death gushed around the room. Meanwhile, without their master’s binding Ushoran, W’Soran and Melchior all began to crumble before finally disintegrating, leaving nothing but a pile of sand beneath where each of them had stood. ….

• Laugh React: Vlad rejected Nagash’s offer outright and charged towards the three mortarchs. Filled with rage for what they had done to his wife, Vlad shrugged off the Necrarch’s spells and thrust his blade toward Ushoran as he pounced, causing the Strigoi Ghoul King to impale himself upon the Blood Drinker. Having dealt with Ushoran, Vlad approached the two necrarchs who in turn each withdrew a khopesh-styled tomb blade from their robes in unison. Vlad engaged them in battle, hacking and slashing at what little remained of their bodies, parrying W’soran’s blade as his other arm scraped against the steel of Melchior’s spellblade until he eventually managed to grip Melchior’s chest with that exposed hand. Having grasped Melchior’s chest, Vlad moved his hand up the Necrarch’s body and wrapped his claws around its neck before finally snapping Melchior’s neck bones and ramming his skull against W’Soran’s head to knock him down before finishing the elder Necrarch off with a single sword strike.

Having defeated the three mortarchs, Vlad turned to Nagash and plunged the Blood Drinker in his chest. However, nothing happened, nothing suggested that Nagash was experiencing even the slightest bit of pain. Vlad inspected Nagash’s body, totally motionless, totally silent, except for one feature. His hand was still open from when he opened the door to his mortarchs but his fingers were starting to close!
Vlad did all he could to prevent Nagash from closing his fist but it was useless for these brittle fingers held untold hidden strength until finally, Nagash closed his fist and crushed Vlad’s hand inside. The closed fist sent shockwaves of burning energy through Vlad’s body, scorching his skin and blazing through his armour before spreading and shattering Vlad’s ring. And so after enduring hundreds of lifetimes, Vlad Von Carstein died for the final time at Nagash’s fingertips. ….

• Sad React: Vlad rejected Nagash’s offer and plunged his sword through the Great Necromancer’s chest only to discover there was no effect whatsoever. “A pity. You would have served me well.” Suddenly, both Necrarchs blasted Vlad off his feet with Gaze of Nagash spells, causing him to drop his blade which Ushoran picked it up and threw it away.

Vlad rose to his feet and answered the Necrarchs’ spellcasting with his own spells. Lore of Vampires and Lore of Death spells were flung between the parties as each attempted to dispel their foes spell until Ushoran pounced once more, this time landing behind Vlad so he could grab the Von Carstein patriarch’s arms and pull them up behind his back. Vlad struggled to free himself from Ushoran’s lock hold but it was too late for without his own magical prowess he could not protect himself from W’Soran and Melchior who were unrelenting in their death magic. Finally, Vlad dropped dead, having had his spirit completely leeched and his body blasted by dozens of successfully-impacting damage spells.
With Vlad dead Nagash raised Isabella though this time without any knowledge of who she was or the people she knew in her former life. Instead, he replaced all of that with a deep-seated longing to fulfil the will of Nagash, something he wished to rest by sending her and his three mortarchs down to claim Vlad’s former army for their own…