Vlad Von Carstein (2008 Edition)

Vlad von Carstein was the first and greatest of the Vampire Counts of Sylvania. It was he who tainted the once human aristocracy of Sylvania with the curse of Undeath, and in so doing created an Undead kingdom in the heart of the Empire.

Count Vlad was a towering figure of a man, with a mane of black hair and piercing eyes. Those who met him and survived described him as having a feral charm and being extremely intelligent, but with an evil temper that could turn into a berserk fury if he was thwarted in his endeavors. It was said that at such times only his wife Isabella could calm him without blood being spilt.

The first Vampire Count of Sylvania, Vlad had designs not only to create a realm of the dead, but also sought dominion over the living. Vlad waged his war in order to become Emperor, just as the other claimants of the time. With the might of the Empire at his command, he would have become one of the most powerful rulers in the world, and who can say how far Vlad's dominion of Undeath would have stretched across the globe? That he came so close to achieving his ambition should have been a warning to the other Elector Counts, but as soon as Vlad was destroyed they forgot the lessons of the first war and fell to bickering again, paving the way for Vlad's unholy successors. These descendants have continued to assail the Empire to this day.