Ancient Sylvanian icon representing the Vampire Counts of that realm
History
Some two and a half thousand years before the birth of Sigmar, the ancient civilisation of Men known as Nehekhara dwelt along the banks of the great River Vitae. Of all the kings of Nehekhara, none could match the splendour, cruelty and arrogance of Settra, the first Priest-King of the city-state of Khemri. Under his inspired leadership and unparalleled ruthlessness, the many priest-kings of Nehekhara's city-states were conquered and forced to pay tribute and acknowledge Khemri as the greatest city of the land. But Settra was unsatisfied, knowing that one day death would rob him of all he had accomplished. In his arrogance he vowed that the grave would not claim him and proclaimed that he would cheat death, setting his wisest and most powerful priests towards working on a means of preventing his passing. Soon all of Nehekhara became preoccupied with death and the afterlife, building many huge temples and monuments to the dead. These huge tombs became so frequent and huge that the rulers blocked them all into the giant cities of the dead called Necropoli.
It was into this culture that Nagash was born, brother of the Priest king of Khemri. Nagash was the first son and was given to the mortuary cult as tradition demanded. He soon rose to the position of high priest. He observed the morticians as they prepared the dead for internment. He learned all of their ancient spells but because nehekarra was so fa south the winds of magic were too weak to cast them. But then, when a group of dark elves were blown off-course and captured by the Zandri navy then given to Khemri as a gift to be sealed in with Nagash's father in his tomb, Nagash only pretended to poison them he then proceeded to learn in secret all they knew. Nagash kept them sealed in his fathers pyramid as a bargain: he would learn their sorcery and they would get out alive.They taught him how to reap souls and use their energy to cast spells on his own he created the elixir that made him immortal as long as he continued to drink it. Nagash took to unspeakable experiments in his quest for immortality and soon all the citizens of Khemri shunned him. Nagash's experiments met with limited success, he prolonged his life so that he didn't die even though he still aged, but there was something missing, something that evaded Nagash He shared his elixir with depraved noble men, building support for himself before he finally killed his brother and seized power in Khemri. He and his immortal supporters soon became overconfident and killed many citizens of Khemri before constructing the Black Pyramid, the largest structure ever built by man. Slowly the other priest kings became afraid of Nagash and formed a confederation against him. After a bloody war that accumulated in the battle at the walls of Mahrak in which Nagash severed the connection to the gods by killing Neferem the representation of the covenant between mortals and the gods so he could shatter the wards protecting Mahrak and nearly a century of warfare Nagash's power was broken and he fled north to avoid destruction. Unknown to the priest kings however, Nagash rebuilt his power and constructed a vast citadel that became known as Nagashizzar in the mountain known as Cripple Peak, seeking to take advantage of the huge reserves of warpstone there. The Skaven, also desiring the warpstone, tried many times to sack Nagashizzar and take Cripple Peak for their own, but they couldn't take the fortress, but neither could Nagash drive them away. Finally, after many years of fighting ground to a stalemate, Nagash formed an alliance with the Skaven, supplying them with warpstone in exchange for aid with his plans.
The rulers of the city of Lahmia, Queen Neferata and her brother Lamashizaar had been part of the confederation against Nagash. After Nagash was defeated outside the walls of Mahrak known as the City of the Gods. Lamashizaar allied with Arkhan the black in secret. They traveled to the black pyramid of Nagash, Lamashizaar entered the Black Pyramid of Nagash with Arkhan the Black in secret with his troops and plundered his library taking the nine books of Nagash lamashizaar enslaved Arkhan after he attempted to kill him. HE brought the books and Arkhan back to Lahmia where he sought to create Nagash's elixir and become immortal. Unwilling to kill humans to fuel the elixir because of a fear of being found out. He and his cabal of followers instead used animals. They extended their lives but did not make themselves immortal. Neferata was frustrated with the lack of progress and desiring power for herself, she allied with Arkhan in secret and with his help created a new elixir then used it to turn the cabal to her side and took power. Lamashizaar eventually attempted to kill her using sphinx venom with its magical properties could overwhelm the elixirs power. Arkhan however using sorcery and blood was able to save her, Arkhan then sought and killed Lamashizaar in his bedchamber, after which Arkhan was found and cut down by Abhorash, Lahmia's most formidable warrior. Neferata through a combination of the sphinx venom and elixir turned into the first vampire she then proceeded to turn the rest of the cabal consisting of Lord Ushoran, W'soran, Naaima, Lord Ankhat, Zurhas, Abhorash and several others into Vampires using the same method (though Abhorash had to be tricked into drinking the elixir). Each of the twelve masters (Nefereta included) bore particular traits, and they could expand their lineage by creating vampire servants, but through each successive generation, the powers of the vampire weakened. Abhorash became the first Blood Dragon Vampire, W'soran the first Necrach Vampire, Neferatta become the first Lahmian Vampire.
The vampire cabal engineered their own deaths and then used the cult of Asaph as a cover for their operations. Neferata ruled as queen behind the scenes using her mortal descendents to issue her edicts. The vampires defended their homeland but were ultimately pushed back to Lahmia itself. Alcadizaar's armies then broke through the gates of Lahmia and set about the city. The library of Lahmia, the centre of the vampires' lore and knowledge, was defended stoically by some vampires, who were slain and died in the flames. Accepting Lahmia as lost, the vampires fled north. Of the twelve Masters, only seven survived the sacking of Lahmia.
Heading north, the remaining vampire masters encountered Nagash, who was secretly pleased with the havoc they had wreaked. Making them his captains, they lead the Undead into Nehekhara. The might of Nagash combined with the power of the vampires was awesome to behold, but they faced one of the greatest leaders of all time, Alcadizaar the Great. Through a brilliant campaign, he smashed the Undead armies, and sent the vampires fleeing from Nehekhara. Nagash, furious at being defeated, cursed the Vampires to be burnt by the rays of the sun. The Vampire Masters separated and fled into hiding.
Nagash then unleashed a plague upon Nehekhara: many hundreds of thousands died and were raised to swell the ranks of undead under Nagash's control. Nagash used this new army to invade Nehekhara: easily overwhelming the meagre defences, he captured Alcadizaar and took him back to Nagashizzar in chains. After consuming massive amounts of warpstone, Nagash began the Ritual of the Waking to transform the whole world into an undead realm. Fearing destruction, the Skaven of Cripple Peak betrayed Nagash, freed Alcadizaar, who then (apparently) killed Nagash with the Skaven's Fellblade. In actuality his spirit survived, though it took him nearly a thousand years to regenerate his body. When he was reborn in his Black Pyramid, he tried to seize control of Nehkhara once more, but the other Tomb Kings, outraged by what he had done and united under the leadership of the resurrected Settra, drove him out. Defeated, Nagash returned to Nagashizzar, only to find the Skaven had occupied it. Nevertheless, in a single night, Nagash destroyed the Skaven Clan that ruled his fortress, Clan Rikek, and seized Nagashizzar. The Skaven decided they didn't want another war with the necromancer and left him his prize. Nagash remains in his fortress, biding his time and gathering his strength.