The vampires of the Mortal Realms come in many shapes and sizes, from your classic aristocrat of the night with wild hair, scalloped armour, and wan complexion, through the lupine Vyrkos, to the monstrous beasts of the Avengorii.
Then there are the others, such as the abhorrent Lord of Masques, so twisted by the ages they have become their own kind entirely. The Summerking indeed views himself as nothing less than a resplendent liege, and in the upcoming Ushoran: Mortarch of Delusion, by Dale Lucas the Blood Rose Prince has a clash of crowns with a rival lord.
After spreading the delusion of the Flesh-eater Courts almost unchallenged for many years, Ushoran’s conquests come to a halt when the mortal Master Patriarch of the Howling Vale enters a battle of wits and wills with this most vile of Mortarchs. Only someone as crazed as Kosomir Vornarov would willingly stand against the Summerking, and the battle may yet consume him and his people entirely.
Ushoran: Mortarch of Delusion will arrive for pre-order next weekend, first as a limited edition with some truly gorgeous art on the cover, plus red foil lettering, red gilt page edges and a red ribbon bookmark – he is a vampire after all. There’s an authorial afterword, while each copy is signed and numbered. This edition will be available while stocks last.
As much as he would like to be the centre of attention, Ushoran is just one of a number of bloodsuckers who have graced the pages of Black Library. Drink deep of their escapades in Soulblight: Masters of Death which collates a selection of David Annandale’s novels about these avaricious aristocrats.
Neferata takes a starring role in Neferata: Mortarch of Blood and Neferata: The Dominion Bones, showing the many challenges faced by the queen of cunning and guile as she tries to keep her kingdom intact while her kin scheme against her and enemies throw themselves at the walls.
A Dynasty of Monsters takes a dark gaze at the twisted Avengorii bloodline. Councillor Atella Reigehren of the Colonnade free city petitions Lauka Vai, the Mother of Nightmares for aid as an unstoppable horde of Beastmen seek to wipe their city off the map – truly a case of better the devil you know.
The omnibus is completed by three short stories by David Annandale: The Threshold, Obsidian and The Dance of the Skulls.
There’s one last vampire that cuts a different path than the rest of the Soulblight Gravelords. For a different perspective on a cursed immortal afterlife, the stories of Cado Ezechiar are unmissable.
Cado’s kingdom and family were destroyed by a Chaos cult who worship Tzeentch, and on the precipice of death this deposed king accepted the gift of the Blood Kiss from Neferata herself, seeing it as a weapon for revenge. Since then he has dedicated his existence to hunting down the sorcerer known as the Burning Hand, haunted by the past both figuratively and literally as the souls of his closest allies are contained within rings he wears.
John French has told the tale of Cado and his accomplices – living, dead, and undead – as they seek justice in vast and uncaring Mortal Realms in the novels The Hollow King and The Dead Kingdom. Cado and two of his allies will shortly be arriving alongside Battletome: Soulblight Gravelords as miniatures.
Ushoran: Mortarch of Delusion and Soulblight: Masters of Death will be out soon – as will the Deathrattle Army Set.
