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 Vampires
are the lords of the dead, and all the Vampires in the
Old World are descendants of one of the great Masters.
Men dread these mighty creatures, for Vampires are immortals
with great powers who require only blood to sustain
themselves. They are physically stronger than any living
man and can endure wounds that would slay a mortal in
an instant. They have a natural ability to command necromantic
magic and to bind Undead to their will. The greatest
among them are also able to command the skies, so that
when their armies march to battle, the skies darken
with heavy storm clouds. This casts dismay in the hearts
of the mortals facing the Undead and protects the the
Vampires and their minions from the touch of the sunlight,
which is the bane of their kind.
 Like
all Vampires, the origin of the Necrarchs can be traced
to the ancient city of Lahmia, where they once ruled
as undying overlords of that distant land. It is said
that Necrarchs claim descent from W'soran, who they
revere as the father of Vampires.
With the fall of Lahmia, the kingdom of Vampires came
to an end and the Great Library of Lahmia was burned
to the ground. The accumulated knowledge of ancient
Nehekhara was destroyed, and many of the Necrarchs died
in the flames, reluctant to abandon their work. However,
a handful fled and survived the pursuit of the armies
of Numas and Zandri, taking with them books and scrolls
of the dark lore that Nagash had created.
The Necrarchs scattered and hid themselves to continue
their studies and patiently wait for the death of their
enemies. They built tall towers from where they could
study the stars and defend themselves if attacked. From
these towers, they cast great spells during the dark
nights of Geheimnisnacht. The purpose of these sorceries
is to kill all living things within the reach of their
magic. From their dark abodes, corruption slowly spreads,
withering forests and causing animals and men to sicken
and die.
 Those
who study such things suspect the hand of the Great
Necromancer, Nagash the Black himself, behind the slow
corrupting work of the Necrarchs. It is known that this
dread Necromancer desires to create a world in which
no living creature walks under the sun, and only Undead
eternally bound to his service remain. This is why the
witch hunters revile the Necrarchs above all other Vampires
and spare no effort trying to eradicate them.
Only very rarely do the Necrarchs openly march to war,
but at such times they are more dangerous than any other
lord of Undeath, for with their necromantic lore they
can raise huge armies of Undead. Such wars are fought
not for earthly gain or temporal power, but rather for
acquiring knowledge and magical lore.
 Necrarchs
are incomprehensible even to their own Undead brethren,
and most seem utterly insane. Their madness is tempered
by their undeniable genius and mastery of alchemy and
necromantic magic. Whereas many Vampires seek dominion
over the kingdoms of men either by cunning or might
of arms, the Necrarchs wish to see the end of all living
things. They differ from their immortal brothers in
many other aspects. The most obvious is their appearance:
they are reeking and rotting, and few men can gaze at
their horrifying visage without trembling. Another difference
is subtler, but perhaps more important. Of all the Vampires,
Necrarchs can resist the longest periods of time without
the blood of men to sustain them. How they defy that
which dominates the existence of all Vampires is unknown,
but it likely has something to do with their mastery
of the necromantic arts. Thus, they can hide far from
prying eyes and concentrate upon their study of black
magic.
A Necrarch may be included in your Vampire Counts army
as a Vampire Lord (as both a Lord and a Hero choice),
a Vampire Count (as a Lord choice), or a Vampire Thrall
(as a Hero choice).
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