Vlad von Carstein was the first and greatest of the Vampire Counts of Sylvania. A master swordsman and skilled general with no small aptitude in the magical arts, it was he who tainted the aristocracy of Sylvania with the curse of vampirism, and in doing so, created an Undead kingdom at the heart of the Empire. Count Vlad was a towering figure, with a mane of long hair and piercing eyes. Those who met him and survived described him as possessed of a feral charm, but with an evil temper that could turn into a berserk fury if he was thwarted in his endeavours. It is said that at such times, only his wife, Isabella, could calm him without blood being spilled. No records tell of Vlad's origins before his coming to Sylvania. Even the Vampires of that realm know nothing of his life before that fateful night in Drakenhof, and Vlad certainly never recounted or wrote down his personal history. That he knew much about the workings of the Empire, and its internal division at the time of his arrival, attests to knowledge of the dealings of mortal men for many years.