Blood Keep
Blood Keep is a ruined fortress which lay in the Grey Mountains, which separate Bretonnia from the Empire.
The ruins lie to the south of the city of Nuln in the Grey Mountains, and the keep could be reached only by a lonely mountain trail. [1c]
History
Before its destruction it was the fortress monastery of the knights of the Order of the Blood Dragon. The fortress guarded the mountain pass to Bretonnia, and the order's knights were pledged to the protection of the people of the surrounding area.[1a]
1887 IC the vampire Walach Harkon defeated the entire Order single-handed, in the order's own keep, the order fell to vampirism, and became the Order of the Blood Dragon. The living people of the area, long protected by the knights, now became the prey of the fallen Order. [2]
The truth was finally uncovered by the Witch Hunter Gunther van Hel[1c], the keep was put under a lengthy siege by an Imperial army. At the end of the siege the order was destroyed as an organisation, although a number of the knights, including Harkon survived, his consort Aurora did not. She was beheaded by the Reiksmarshall and his favourite son-in-blood, Mikael was killed by Warrior Priests of Sigmar. [1a]
Centuries later Walach gathered a new brotherhood of 16 knights and returned to the keep where once again they sat in the great feasting hall with their unearthly-beautiful brides, the walls guarded by Wights. [1a] He commands again as Grandmaster of the Ordo Draconis. [1b]
Sources
- 1: Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (5th Edition)
- 2: Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (8th Edition): A Lineage of Blood, pg. 23
