Topic: Mallobaude

[Cèsar de Quart]

Hi there, I've got a question regarding Mallobaude: is he a vampire? I'm not sure if it's hinted at or outright stated that he turned into a vampire. I don't remember this being made clear in the End Times, and previous material is very spotty when it comes to events in Bretonnia by 2522.

Some material seems to make him sympathetic, like this quote from the wiki:

"He had been lied to since the day he was born, and worse, he had lived that lie. But he could do something about it. If he overthrew the crown of Bretonnia and abolished the worship of the Lady of the Lake, he could put right the wrong that had been done to Bretonnia. But to do that he first needed to gather an army and challenge for a dukedom, so that he could eventually seek out the throne of Bretonnia for himself."

He seems to have seen the truth about the Lady when drinking from the Grail. Awfully strange, that the Lady showed him a vision of the truth that the End Times confirmed (and that was always heavily hinted in both Bretonnia and Asrai lore). Unless it was Lileath's plan all along. But that makes little sense if he's a vampire...

I've got plans for him in my alt End Times, but having him as a vampire before 2522 or after makes all the difference. I think that the Serpent can be more than a Mordred stand-in, or what I like even less, just another generically evil vampire lord or chaos-influenced pawn. Mallobaude can be a hero (more like an anti-hero) in the End Times. But the relative lack of concrete lore on all this means there's a lot that need to be made up.

Thanks for any insight!

[Fidelis von Sigmaringen]

GW is known for its inconsistencies in background stories, but there is an additional factor here. The basic background concerning Mallobaud comes from WFRP 2 "Barony of the Damned," and the WF 6th edition Bretonnia AB, when nobody at GW could or would even contemplate the End Times. Therefore, the End Times (which I personally abhor) does not confirm, but re-interprets, or rather shoehorns previous fluff into its own setting.

That said, the Wood Elves AB p. 33 has this to say:

Now Mallobaude finally gave the Elves cause to pay attention to their borders. Desperate for victory, he had struck pacts with the forces of the Undead, and there were soon more Ghouls and Wights in Mallobaude’s ranks than there were living men, and rumours abounded that the traitor had even received the Blood Kiss and thus become a Vampire himself. Where the armies of Mousillon trod, the world withered and the Weave cried out in pain. Already, much of the land west of Quenelles was dead or dying. Unless Mallobaude was stopped, Bretonnia would be reborn as a realm of the Undead on Athel Loren’s borders.

If the rumours are true, then that seems  to have been the price to pay for Undead support.

[Cèsar de Quart]

Interesting, thanks. I think I'll tinker with Mallobaude's backstory, retcon a thing or two.