Vampiric Undead

They eagerly attempted the ritual, sacrificing the wizard in the process. However, the ritual did not result in their immortality but instead turned them into the first generation of Tyria's Vampires. The Vampiric Nobles, lacking a clear leader, shifted the blame on each other for the ritual’s failure and soon fought for dominance over the rest. These Vampires viewed their mortal subjects as mere cattle, useful only as nourishment and a means to create more undead. 

When the Rift opened, some whispered that the Stranger’s old patrons had returned, seeking revenge. Meanwhile, from the east, one of the Emperor’s own children arrived in the Marches as an undead immortal. Desperate and weary of their endless internal conflicts, many Vampires have submitted to him, hoping that they might unite together to protect themselves and expand their realms once more. 

How will you harness your power over death itself?

The Western Marches

Before the Havoc Wars began, the hill region that the Vampiric Undead ruled over was known as the Western Marches; forming a natural barrier between what would become the Human Empire and the lands to the west of Tyria, with the sea on its south and high mountains to its north, sat a hilly region that would become known as the Western Marches. Far from the Imperial Heartland, they were underdeveloped and often forgotten, raided by Ogres and other neighbours.

Havoc Wars

When the Havoc Wars broke out, the Emperor called on all of his vassals to provide soldiers for the Empire; the leader of the Marches, known as Fevrig I, answered the call. This left the Marches almost unguarded, and it was soon threatened by marauding outlaws and Ogres encroaching upon its borders.

The Stranger

Desperate to defend their lands, the remaining nobles listened to the promises of an exiled wizard, who promised them the armies they needed in exchange for an oath of loyalty to his mysterious patrons. The Imperial nobles who agreed would see their enemies driven out and their graveyards emptied as this wizard raised the dead to fight, with many coming to know this mysterious figure as Shradzotezyaban, or the “Stranger”.

Secrets Beyond the Plane

The Stranger introduced the nobles who followed him to his patrons, the Ossified Undead, who had transcended death and sought to expand into Tyria. They demanded that the wizard and his noble followers create a realm for them in Tyria. In exchange, they would teach the nobles the secret of eternal life.

Conquest

Eager to claim their reward, the nobles led their armies of the dead against their neighbours. Villages were given the choice of accepting their rule and allowing the Stranger to plunder their graveyards or being killed and rising to serve in his army. By the time the Havoc Wars concluded, the Empire’s army was too weakened to mount a serious campaign against them.

Betrayal

Satisfied with the realm that their mortal servants had made, the Ossified Undead revealed the secret of immortality to them, promising to complete the ritual once they arrived. The wizard began to prepare for his masters’ arrival, only to be betrayed by his mortal allies, who sacrificed him to perform the ritual themselves. The ritual did not turn them into true immortals, however, but rather the first generation of undead vampires in Tyria.

The Gentry

The newly vampiric nobility did everything that they could to seal off the Ossified Undead before carving out their own realms. Without clear leadership, the vampiric nobles began to fight among themselves, treating their mortal subjects as cattle, useful only as nourishment and as a way to create more undead.

The Rift

With the opening of the Rift, a number of new Voidgates were revealed. The Ossified Undead had found a way into Tyria and were eager to avenge their betrayal by the Vampires. At the same time, however, one of the emperor’s own children arrived in the Marches as an immortal himself. Desperate, many Vampires have submitted to him, hoping that united, they might stand a chance against the Ossified Undead.

Timeline

• ‍437 BR – Eastern Marches Annexed by the Empire
• ‍215 BR – Rise of Fevrig the First
• ‍190 BR – Arrival of the Stranger
• ‍178 BR – The Ritual
• ‍177 BR – The Zhanye Pass Slaughter
• ‍7 AR – The Rise of the Vampire King

Society

The Vampiric Undead are a society led by cursed nobles from the Western Marches, turned into Vampires after betraying the Ossified Undead to steal their secret of immortality. During the Havoc Wars, their territories were left unprotected, while the majority of the nobles’ troops were off fighting the northerners. So the nobles struck a deal to obtain help from the Ossified Undead in exchange for ceding them part of their territory. However, the nobles decided to betray their allies after obtaining the steps to their ritual of immortality, yet the action would result in them being cursed. The Nobles were turned into Vampires, forced to feed on the living to maintain their strength and power.

This curse only reinforced the weight of the social hierarchy. The Vampires are the absolute ruling elite in these dominions, having the right of life and death over everyone. 

The Beast Inside

The curse affected all those present during the ritual, not only the nobles but also the captains and the servants that were present. It instilled in all of the Vampiric Undead a constant thirst that threatens to drive them mad. Vampires insist on maintaining a facade of luxury and civilisation to distance themselves from the curse's influence, which drives them to become blood-drenched, mindless monsters. 

Vampires

The leaders of the Marches are overwhelmingly vampires. Most of them have been in place since the Curse began and were turned during the Ritual. They are a fraction of the nobility of that time, as many of them have since fallen, particularly during the tumultuous years of the Vremyasag.

Vampires are far stronger than regular Humans and deeply attuned to necromantic energy, but they are also beset by predatory urges and fits of rage as well as an insatiable thirst for blood. Only extreme willpower and the Vampire King’s antidote can somewhat temper this curse.

Werewolves

Werewolves are what remains of the forest people, known as Volshoboz or “wolf-kin” even before the Curse turned them into Werewolves. Though many in the Marches look down on them as mere beasts, some Werewolves have secured key positions at the court of important nobles.

Necromancers

Despite the gloomy atmosphere of the Marches, defeating death is a dream that attracts many a young, arrogant scholar. No Vampire’s court is complete without several of them acting as advisors, doctors, generals, and more.

Some of them are Vampires themselves, as their unique connection to undeath makes it easier for them to learn necromancy.

Skeletons

The art of necromancy allows a wizard to ensnare and bind the fragments of a spirit to its decomposed remains, commanding it to rise once again. Most are easily pliable, little more than an assembly of bones carrying out the will of their master, but particularly strong-willed warriors can rise with their personality intact.

Ghouls

The first Ghouls were created from the servants who were exposed, unprotected, to the Ritual. They were the first victims of the phenomenon, as Curse sickness causes Humans to act in strange, wretched ways before, ultimately, dying. Necromancers have discovered spells and ointments that could halt the progress of the sickness, stabilising the victims into the distorted creatures now known as Ghouls.

Drained

The Drained are what remains of the Marches’ human population. They are serfs; they owe absolute obedience to the lord of their domain. The Vampire King added to these duties what is called the Blood Right, a law that entitles a Vampire to drink as much as one pint of blood a month from their subjects, but in return, they have their lives lengthened by the ritual known as Dogozmenye, the Pact.

Stitched

While technically channelling the same energy as Necromancers, Corpse Masters are despised by most because they work with rotting flesh. They are able to animate dead bodies by roughly binding together scraps of spirit. This is far from true undeath, and the resulting Stitched are mere tools that need to be constantly overseen, lest they fall back to their natural dead state.

The Rift

While the Rift cut through the Marches, as well as a handful of abandoned vampiric castles, the event is best known as heralding the arrival of a mysterious new undead lord, one of the emperor’s own heirs. The man adopted the name Fevrig III and united the vampires under his rule, offering a method to ease the pangs of their curse, known as the King's Gift, while crushing any he perceived as a threat.

This brought an end to the long period of chaos that followed the Curse, known among the Drained as Vremyasag or the Era of Thirst. Some have come to refer to the time which followed the Rift as the Era of Resurgence, though rumours abound that the patrons of the Stranger have returned through the Rift well, threatening this delicate prosperity.

Language

The language of the Vampiric Marches was formed out of the patchwork of dialects and tongues of the various tribes who settled in the region over the long course of its history. Most Tyrians refer to it as Vampiric, or Marcher tongue if they seek to avoid offending any Drained within earshot, but in the region itself, it is known as Agyaraztzi.

Peasants and the lower classes tend to use shortened nicknames; addressing a noble by anything but their full normal name and title is a grave insult. Female names tend to end with an “-i” or a “-y”, while male names tend to end with a consonant, with nicknames often ending with an “-ik”, an “-o”, or an “-ir”. The ending of these surnames will depend on its bearer, with female members adding an “a” at the end. 

Rustic villagers and many Volshoboz still use the old system for naming, taking their father’s name and an "-oz" or "-oza" at the end.

Examples

Noble Name Examples

[Title] [Personal Name] [Surname] - [Lord] [Fetzhmyir] [Kryamovoz]

Male Noble Names

• Lord Fetzhmyir Kryamovoz
• Count Mizhron Azemovez
• Baron Alukyul Svamroskoz

Female Noble Names

• Lady Ozhrmiya Dsumroskeza
• Duchess Krelerya Oskilozhoza
• Marchioness Alushyi Udvatsaveza

Commoner Name Examples

[Personal Name] [Surname] - [Mizho] [Prezuzhez]

Male Commoner Names

• Mizho Prezuzhez
• Zhekso Udvabazhoz
• Pezhki Milyozhoz

Female Commoner Names

• Udrimyi Skaveskoza
• Klujya Kryamoveza
• Laksta Vrizhukstoz

Note that characters are usually referred to by their first name (in italics).

Trivia

Notable Locations

• Kyeletmark - The eastern borderlands of the Marches, most closely tied to the Human Empire.
• Zalmark - Located in the west of the Marches, Zalmark is a land of windswept hills, patrolled by mounted vampiric hunting parties and Werewolf packs.
• Krovotiya River - Cutting through the Marches, this river divides the land between the east and west, with Fevrig's castle standing on a lake-bound island along its path.
• Erdozad Forest - A forest along the north of the Marches, filled with secrets and Volshoboz Werewolves.
• The Blood Coast - A rocky, windswept strip of land between the forest and the sea; it is home to many vampiric pirates.

Notable Characters

• Vlasmyir (Darkness Within) - A Necromancer in service of Fevrig III, eager to serve his vampiric masters and expand their domains into the Empire.
• Duke Razvran the Conqueror (Darkness Within) - An errant Skeleton Champion raised by the magic of the monolith which he tried to lay before his untimely demise.
• Gremyir Azetovoz & Lady Milyazha Imruskoza (Vampiric Undead Faction Book) - A Volsheboz commander turned Werewolf who once served under Fevrig during the Havoc Wars alongside the last survivor of a Marcher noble family, transformed into a Vampire as a teenager.
•  Latmyir “the Mad” Yustizhtez (Vampiric Undead Faction Book) - A Necromancer who was once an apprentice of the mysterious Stranger who seeks to perfect the art of raising skeletons.
• ‍Navleva Svatoveza (Vampiric Undead Faction Book) - Once a mortal woman until her husband embraced her and made her a Vampiric Lady, now she is determined to avenge his death at the hands of mortal humans.
• Ekvanyik “Blackfang” Tsaveskoz (Vampiric Undead Faction Book) - A lowborn soldier turned into a Vampire noble. Now, he sails the seas in search of treasure despite his fear of water.

Proverbs

• “Through the blood of the righteous I am freed from damnation. I pledge unto Him the soul He saves.”
• “The greatest prey is that which tests its hunter. All else merely serves to feed him.”
• “Lowly Drained or haughty Margrave, few are those who escape the grave.”
• “Life is short. But after that, things get interesting.”
• “Death is inevitable. Undeath is a choice.”

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