Red Duke Novel

[Duke Danse Macabre]

RE: Red Duke

When He first went to Slavania as Prince Vladmire he taught Van Hal Necromancy which was during the great plague and skaven invasion which is why they were fought off.
You have to remember one of the greatest warp stone supplies to be found anywhere is Under Drakenhof, The Slavaina Nobles used to build their keeps and castles over such supplies.
I can not recall the name ut the one under Drakenhof is Called the Jewl of something...

His plan by the look of it was to Rule the Empire as its true leader, he hated the infighting and wanted to unit the peoples, recall back in the homeland of the original vampires he was the one who created the laws to stop vampires feeding on their own people and sought to manage the country itself and make sure if could survive politically and strategically but the other vampires off spring did not like to refrain from what they wanted.
If you want to get technical however Vlad has 2 wives, Neferata and Isabella.

In prior issues vampires were more powerful, the first vampires were almost god like but Vlad just really suffered from GW nerfing, he sucks stat wise compared to what he was in the bad book, never mind what it says in the lore.

When GW writes something they say it bypasses all prior lore, reason being, they can't ever get even their own sources write, I have it down as incompetence.
They just love to ruin things.

 

[Sokar]

RE: Red Duke

Ahh, I didn't know about the Drakenhoff warpstone supply. That explains some things. I'm not really up to date on my novel-reading...

And yeah, the whole Vampire Emperor for the greater "good" agenda certainly seemed to be in line with what you'd expect Vashanesh to want, I could just never reconcile Vlad's apparent weakness with the possibility of him being Vashanesh himself. That GW inconsistency of lore leads to much confusion. :zombie:

He must've been really drunk or something on the night he decided it was a good idea to make Konrad a vampire.

 

[Duke Danse Macabre]

RE: Red Duke

Well the books vary with Konrad, some say he was a mad butcher before then but it was probably more political gain than anything else as Vlad had a number of weak children but in lands they were powerful, it allowed him to dominate Slavania and bring him the power he needed to subjugate the other lords without fear of reprisal or showing his hand too soon.
however in the Books Konrad was not mad, to start with.
Mannfred used his agents to drive him mad with paranoia and set him against his allies (the precious few) but as Konrad would frequently speak his fears allowed in the rookery of Drakenhof finding it granted him a peace (Vlad said they should always have a home at Drakenhof and enjoyed watching them, Mannfred also used the as his minions and even used them to feed on when on his return trip from the land of the dead) they started talking back driving him more and more insane creating lies and plots in the dark, of course this was Mannfred playing brain ninja from afar but begs to differ the question, why was Konrads cloak made of bats when he never had a personal affinity with them and why in the books does he die by being pinned down and killed because he forgot his swords but in the army book it says he was busy in one of his delirious where he was licking blood from his Armour and weapons.
GW fail yet again.

Either way though you have to remember Slavanina was the safest place to be during the great plague even afetr the large amount of warpstone that fell there, because of Van Hal being taught necromancy in order to raise the dead (of which during a plague there was little shortage of) to defend his home lands it makes sence why the castles and fortifications were built around these warpstone hubs by the new generations of wizards and necromancers that used them, way back in the days where the empire hated all magic.

Vlad was just allot weaker in the Books than he should of been but GW love to kill none empire characters, you have to remember the tinkering with the rules over the years, for instance Isabella never had the grail originally, it belonged to Walach in the first ever Vampire Counts Rule book and had 3 effects it could choose from: 1: Heal a single wound, 2: Gain a additional attack, 3: coats his blade in the liquid which gives flaming attacks and makes each unsaved wound cause 2. (The last is my personal favorite but is also the origin of Konrads Sword as well)

Our book has been torn apart many times and each time it becomes weaker than the whole.

 

[Vengeance Crusader]

RE: Red Duke

I am really enjoying The Red Duke- currently about 3/4 through it and its a great real- C.L. Werner has definitely improved since his Mathias Thullman series (which I love too- but was a tad floored in its writing style...)

So yea- great book- I just hope that the Red Duke makes an appearance in our new Army Book

 

[Zephyr]

RE: Red Duke

Only started reading Werner's work with his Thanquol books(love the Skaven as well) so I cannot comment on his works before that but just finished the Red Duke and darn it's good.
So good actually that I might one day start an army completely based around him. Always been a hardcore von Carstein fan(hey the name itself is just cool if you know your Hammer Horror) but the Red Duke now also has a special place in my dark heart.

The Carstein Trilogy was a bit of a letdown as most characters didn't at all behave like I imagined them. It also irked me that Konrad seem pretty much sane before Mannfred started teasing him constantly. All the background makes it perfectly clear he was nuts before he was turned, not eccentric noble crazy but burning peasant villages because they smelled kind of nuts. There were a lot of inconsistencies with the fluff and though I did like the books they weren't the von Carstein's to me. As a regular vampire trilogy they were okay though and worth reading.

The Red Duke is much more descriptive in not only the roar and grr-side of a vampire but also the anguish of it. The part where he discovered his old castle was a ruin now and the portrait of his wife gone was heartbreaking. Yeah I'm a softie when it comes to romance especially when it's someone last link to what is still human inside.

As for Konrad I always thought Vlad turned him for political reasons as well. It isn't mentioned clearly but I thought he was the Count of Waldenhof or at least the heir to its throne. Most of Vlad's thralls were people of political import, actual counts and countesses.
There are some hints at Konrad's past here and there but never really confirmed apart from the last army book where he now has possession of the sword of Waldenhof confirming my beliefs. I can't remember if it was also in the first "black marble" VC army book but I don't think so. Have to look it up.
I also don't think a lesser noble could get away with the things he did in life like...oh bricking up his own mother inside the castle!

I too always thought that Vlad was Vashanesh. I love Black Library books but sometimes the lore is altered or plain wrong. Some writers are more guilty of this than others. From the books I read C.L. Werner is really good at including tiny details from the fluff.

 

[Narp]

RE: Red Duke

It seems to me that Konrad wasn't mad to begin with, he was just very eccentric, arrogant and unstable, and fairly easy for strong-willed individuals to dominate and manipulate(I expect this was all because he's a member of the high gentry, and therefore extremely in-bred). I think becoming a vampire just pushed him over the edge into being slightly mental. I expect he was turned because of political reasons, and , even as a vampire, he was easy for Vlad to control and manipulate.

I say he's only slightly mad because if he was REALLY mental, he would not be able to fight in battle, let alone attempt to direct one.

 

[El Syf]

RE: Red Duke

I thought the book was a great read, especially the red dukes sire being revealed and all the other revelations. Shame there's no offical rules for him.

 

[Zephyr]

RE: Red Duke

I thought the book was a great read, especially the red dukes sire being revealed and all the other revelations. Shame there's no offical rules for him.

I have a feeling we might see him in the upcoming army book...would also love a new miniature as the old bald one was okay for its time as a general Blood Dragon but it ain't the Duke!

 

[El Syf]

It's been mentioned previously i think, but I for one didn't think the red duke would turn out to have so many screws loose. Although by the end/begining (how many timelines actually went on?!) he seems a bit more rational. Hopefully new model and rules in January!