The Red Duke, Lore & History of El-Syf, the Northern Blade (Vampire Counts) | Warhammer

[@barbiquearea]

The Red Duke's story at the end reminds me of an episode in Futurama where Fry learns of how his brother who was always jealous of him had after he was frozen taken his name and stolen his magical clover that had always given him luck. As a result it was his brother who became famous and successful, and this made Fry felt betrayed as he assumed his brother had stolen his identity, his clover and the life he could of had. So in retribution he and his friends decide to go rob his long dead sibling's grave to retrieve Fry's lucky clover, only to discover after digging him up that the person he was angry at the entire time wasn't his brother but actually his nephew whom his brother had named after Fry so his memory would live on.

[@CheshireSnake]

Don’t you, forget about me~

[@runeh3022]

Luthor Harkhon IS a decendant of Abhorash. He was the Harbourmaster at Lahmia under Neferata's reign. Possibly also the nephew of Abhorash if memory serves...

[@pontiff7322]

"And so The Red duke slaughtered his way through the british peasants as his armour became stained with gore" - Totally Accurate Historicus

[@orochirel]

Pontiff French ? No?

[@thatonepsycho5157]

@@orochirel French-British, essentially. Breton is essentially an archaic term for Britain.

[@pontiff7322]

it's related to what he's saying in the video, he accidentally says british instead of bretonnia x)

[@angelusumbra5741]

Every feudal lord with any sense knew that no less than 70% of ones peasants were for endless toil, and the remaining up to 30% were for "sport" (to massacre at your leisure). Mowing down the peasantry was both the greatest of sports and the noblest of traditions, but at the same time you shouldn't butcher too many of them as you'll not have enough of them left to work to death.

[@dubuyajay9964]

*Bretonnian.*

[@hollowgetsuga425]

Maybe his sword could have like an ability you can pop that speeds up his attack animations to make 3 hits happen in rapid succession. Could be one use or have a cool down. So like instead of the usual attack..posture..attack. You pop the ability and it’s like Attack..Attack..Attack.

[@Superniemeyer]

as somebody who is just getting into warhammer because of total war this is a life saver just to get an explanation for everything thump up from me

[@ed8212]

Crysnos’ Faction unlocker + Mixus Lord pack is all I gotta say

[@italianspartacus]

Want me to do a challenge campaign with that?

[@ed8212]

ItalianSpartacus Dew it That’d be amazing :)

[@arthurdaffos1490]

I have read a version in a VC online book that the Dark Knight was an arrogant knight who got executed after having killed a priestess of the lady or something like that. Then he got resurrected and served as a wight king

[@whiskeyjack9646]

I'd always thought "Yeah, the Red Duke seems cool and all, but the Vampires have enough Lords, so I'd prefer CA prioritize something else". But after seeing this, I REALLY want to play a campaign as the Red Duke, so I can name a couple of Wight Kings "Lord Falk" and "Ser Corbinnion", and a Vampire Lord as "The Dark Knight", then go conquer all of Bretonnia, rename The Red Duke to "The Red King", ally with Arkhan and reenact the crusades in the Southlands (this time against the Bretonnian Crusader States), or launch an evil crusade against Ulthuan and purge the High Elves.

[@Carandini]

Few corrections. The holy knight in the novel is a Black Guard of Morr, a templar of the god of death (there is some overlap with the Old World gods in Bretonnia, especially among the peasantry and in particular with Morr and Shallya). So he isn't a part of the entire Grail Knight and Bretonnian code of chivalry, making him even more a kind of hero to the peasants. The Red Duke was thought to be dead when he was entombed by the king. Where the king failed to do what needed doing was to destroy the vampire's body. He couldn't bring himself to do that and as a result the Red Duke revived. The blessings place on the tomb though don't allow him to escape. So you have a vampire - awake, aware and hungry - stuck inside his grave, incapable of leaving or sating his thirst, for hundreds of years. When he is freed by the cult, his ordeal has driven him utterly insane, incapable of differentiating between the past and the present and continually mirroring the two atop one another. There is another depth to why his son was hidden from him. While El Syf was away in Arabry, his poistion as Duc of Aquitaine was being undermined by the ambitious Baron de Gavaudan, who was going so far as to try to marry the duc's wife. She feared the baron would have their son murdered if he knew there was a legitimate heir, so the son was taken away in secret. Should also be noted that the Red Duke's first victim was the treacherous baron.

[@MrSpartanspud]

If the Red Duke is trapped for so long why does he not become a Vargheist? Just a lore oversight?

[@Carandini]

The Vargheist was not part of the lore when the Red Duke's background in the Circle of Blood was developed and that supplement formed the main source material for the novel. You could rationalize that the armour's magic qualities interfered with the process, making even that degeneration impossible for him.

[@e.hanker193]

@@MrSpartanspud Doesn't it say i the lore for Vargheists that you need warpstone dripping into their coffins as well as going without food to become one? Don't know much about the actual lore, but at least in the game, warpstone is mentioned.

[@coreyd4482]

"He looks like Pitbull" 😂👌👍🔥

[@nohbody987]

Wack that the guy did such a quick 180 from being a great and virtuous knight to wanting to slaughter everyone

[@mikeybrokie1516]

ooo CL Werner I like the Mathias Thulman series from him the Vampire also had a tragic story that made me feel for the beast.

[@RazielRaziel]

God i hope that Abhorash eventually appears in the game along with Neferata and Nagash.

[@aidanrosier47]

I would love to see Neferata. So sad that they have this amazing character that is Neferata and don't use her as they should. A playable Lahmia ? That would be beautiful.

[@hughgedney3393]

A very extremely awesome video as always ItalianSpartacus.

[@darko-man8549]

Make the Red Duke available for campaign single player please CA!!! Also who was the vampire that actually was an ally of bretonnia throughout history? I remember there being one. Was it Abhorash?

[@jacobbaileyt]

I think a video on the lore of curze would fit in nicely for your theme this month.

[@colonelsanders1349]

The Red Duke wasn’t a Grail Knight. His brother was

[@dylanmann7351]

Italian what is the background music here, i noticed it in the undead lore background as well, its beautiful

[@darko-man8549]

I really love Abhorash - he didn't want to be a vampire but was tricked into it. All he does is go around the world looking for the best fighters and just turns them when they accept his offer.

[@callumjennings6336]

Araby DLC would be so sick to tie in to Brettonnia. After Vampire Coast i'm near certain we'll get them eventually.

[@swampybogard9368]

Man, I REALLY fucking hope they add him into the campaign and make him more than what he is now (Boris too but particularly the Duke). Also, could you link the track played over the video?

[@tonyclark1922]

Damn, The Red Duke is cool AF

[@DeadMarine1980]

Sounds like a classic Greek tragedy.

[@runcmdexe7765]

You know your audience so well, someone would've brought up Lord Falk for sure hehe

[@travisshaffer6623]

Aww I feel bad about the Red Duke man! Gosh darn it!

[@Dorkyorcy]

Every time you say dooke a gnoblar dies

[@julberryjuan4534]

Red Duke should be playable in campain it would be wonderful!

[@swedsteve93]

I've played a campaign as him. It's called mods.

[@OGdutch973]

Wow dude! Never knew the Red Duke’s story, his twist at the end with his sons is almost George R.R. Martin - ish! Lol

[@Lankysz56ms]

youtubers who confederated with Mousillon get the red duke as a legendary lord so maybe ca will release him when the vampire coast comes out

[@liamnaughten8465]

The red duke?! More like the red nuke, get it Bc he’s a badass

[@sheevpalpatine2732]

I got it

[@whiskeyjack9646]

Never change, Queek...

[@jiado6893]

"Leaping Gold" make me think of Gehenna’s Golden Hounds. But he's not really associated with magic, is he? Maybe it could be reworked so that Arabyan general he dueled actually had ties to that. It just sounds like some kind of alchemist's weapon.

[@scoopjackson]

The constant Pitbull references. To some a point that need not be made but every so often. However, to others.... DALE ALL DAY BABY

[@levivanderveen4671]

Could you maybe do a lore video on rogal dorn?

[@italianspartacus]

Absolutely! :)

[@ed8212]

Levi Van der veen rogal Dorn? You must be talking about the famed lord adorable

[@kenobijursthebadass5233]

You should do a modded coop campaign with red duke and Heinrich

[@MrSpartanspud]

If the Red Duke was locked away for so long why did he not become a Vargheist?

[@Carandini]

The Vargheist were added to the lore sometime after the Red Duke's story was established. As far as an in-universe explanation, you could say that the armour's magic properties disrupted his degeneration into a Vargheist.

[@dubuyajay9964]

No warpstone exposure.

[@AAlejandro15]

So Elon has stock in Bretonnian pottery? How much can this man do!?

[@dinisnascimento4929]

you know who as the best moustach Boris Todbringer

[@whiskeyjack9646]

Sweet.

[@DeadMarine1980]

Can you do a lore video on the Chaos One Eyed Trouser Snake? I promise it's very spoooooooooookyyyyyy!

[@JasonWolfGames]

Be cool if he showed up in TW Warhammer.

[@jamreal18]

I prefer Abhorash though

[@italianspartacus]

Dude who doesn't

[@jamreal18]

@@italianspartacus if some would become playable and represent Blood Dragons, it should be Abhorash.

[@electricbayonet2]

Right now, my biggest annoyance with the Red Duke in-game is that he's bugged in much the same way Boris Todbringer is, and for the life of me I have no idea why it hasn't been fixed given that- -well, first and foremost, the issue: the El Syf ability is broken. Maybe I'm the only one, but when I confederate with Mousillon as either the Von Carstein or Vampire Counts, the Red Duke loses his El Syf ability if I put him on any kind of mount. He still has it on foot, but anything from a horse to a zombie dragon, he loses it. He doesn't lose it in multiplayer when you put him on a mount, so...what's going on? Same-ish thing with Boris Todbringer. I confederate with Middenland while playing as the Empire, and for some reason Boris gets hard-capped at a Barded Warhorse (assuming he wasn't too low of a level when I confederated, at which point he gets stuck on foot with no options for mounts). You can put him on a griffon in multiplayer, but he doesn't even have the option of unlocking a griffon when I get him via confederation. And, as a lesser issue, was there ever a stated reason why he only gets a generic Runefang in campaign? Near as I can tell, the Middenland Runefang doesn't even exist outside of multiplayer (where it's a huge reason to pick Boris because it gives regeneration). I could sort of get it being locked as a quest item if CA wants him to eventually become a proper, playable LL, but...is that a reason to hold it back in the meantime? I mean, there's precedent in the current game for unique items not being tied to quests. EDIT: Oh, hell. I spent so long complaining I forgot to compliment the video. Thanks, Spartacus! I continue to appreciate your work both as a lore-junkie and someone who likes having vids like this on in the background as I do housework and such. Keep up the good work, please!

[@tsayguy]

The Luck of the Fryish

[@JLNergard]

I really got to know, what music is it that you play in the background? Anyway keep up the good work =)

[@blazindragon1833]

What was his name before he was dubbed The Red Duke?

[@dirtfilthy5860]

what? every generation had one child for 1000 years?

[@Carandini]

I think you may be confusing Bretonnians for elves. The Red Duke had one son, Duke Galand. Gilon is the descendant of Galand - by several generations.

[@kelefane6233]

Will this dude ever be a playable LL?????

[@swedsteve93]

Mods and some mods and a mod or two more

[@ThatOneGuy1024]

"Interpretated"

[@AzoiatheCobra]

a dark knight that is a vampire? batman?

[@italianspartacus]

I'M NOT WEARING HOCKEY PADS!

[@alecadanglao8386]

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH

[@chiisgreat2067]

The last battle. Go do some last shit.

[@masterwesty]

I’m currently reading the book so I can’t watch this one.

[@matthewchristiansen9978]

Eh, there's only one other VC lord I want them to add. Neferata.

[@WatchesYouAtNight]

Abhorash for me

[@Bear-88]

I love you man