Creaking bones and clattering armour herald the imminent arrival of those dusty legions of the Barrow Kingdoms. These exhumed armies have been press-ganged into eternal service through ancient bonds made to the Soulblight Vampires, as we’ll see in the upcoming Battletome: Soulblight Gravelords.
Yet more mendacious bloodsuckers are joining the fight: Black Library antihero Cado Ezechiar and his companions: the Blades of the Hollow King.
Considered a renegade by the Nulamians, Cado Ezechiar stalks the Mortal Realms in pursuit of those who worship the Dark Gods – a vengeful revenant who walks a fine line between accepting the Soulblight curse and retaining his honour until his mission is complete.
After the destruction of his kingdom and the death of his family, Neferata offered him the opportunity to hunt his enemies. He accepted without pause, unaware of her famously cruel and possessive nature, and was eventually forced to leave her court to begin his life as an exile.
Wherever he goes he is accompanied by the souls of former mentors, counsellors and companions, bound to his rings. The scholar-mage Solia, his closest confidant and confessor, still retains her free will, and literally has his back in this new miniature
The Blades of the Hollow King box also contains two other regular accomplices. The ruthless Sissendra is a merciless duellist who has fully given herself over to the Soulblight curse. Her violent indulgence marks her as a curious companion for Cado, but it was the Hollow King who turned her many years ago and he feels a sense of obligation to the terrifying rogue.
The third is not a vampire at all, rather a loyal mortal agent of Neferata. The death mage Aurelias is a powerful sorcerer accompanied by the twin-headed serpent Kennistrix, which means the Mortarch of Blood has at least six eyes on the Hollow King at all times…
The Blades of the Hollow King have their own warscroll in Battletome: Soulblight Gravelords which brings all three characters together with powerful abilities to boost Cado’s spellcasting and their survivability. They will be playable as a Regiment of Renown for the Flesh-eater Courts, Nighthaunt and Ossiarch Bonereapers.
And you can read all about Cado’s previous exploits in The Hollow King by John French, and its sequel The Dead Kingdom.
