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"We do not serve! We rule!"

"And behold, the almighty god-king Settra did awaken from his sleep of blessed oblivion. His legions, long buried beneath the sands, did arise and stand to attention, awaiting his order. And he did say 'War', and the world did tremble..."

The Tomb Kings, known as the Priest Kings in their former lives, are the undying rulers of Nehekhara, an ancient Human civilization that formed a great and powerful empire some two thousand five hundred years before the birth of Sigmar Heldenhammer and the founding of the Empire of Man. Out of all the unliving creatures that would claim dominion and royalty over the dead, only the Tomb Kings could truly claim such masterful and undisputed sovereignty, they who once ruled a mighty and far-flung Empire during a time when the rest of Mankind were little more than savage barbarians.

Long ago, during an ancient and forgotten age, the civilization of Nehekhara stood as the shining beacon of civilization and Human achievement; a golden age where its cities shone with a majestic splendor, its buildings crafted from magnificent marble and limestone, its armies conquering entire kingdoms from the face of the earth and their mighty rulers reigning as living Gods amongst men. But this great realm was razed millennia ago through acts of great treachery and powerful sorcery. The living of the land had long ago perished in a single, mournful night, and in their absence, the dead stirred from their graves and claimed the land anew.

Even as their ancient civilisation now lies buried beneath the sand, their once verdant plains turned to searing desert and their mighty and glorious Empire fractured and in ruin, the Tomb Kings have once more awoken from their deep sleep. Rising from their decrepit sarcophagi, the mummified rulers of Nehekhara awoke with eyes of burning balefire, their thirst for power, conquest and vengeance just as strong in death as they were even in life. They are coming to reclaim that which was rightfully theirs, their legions innumerable, rising up from the scorching sand brandishing weapons of polished bronze and priceless gold. Ancient, emotionless and spiteful to all those that have slighted them, and woe betide those that would be foolish enough to stand before their silent onslaught.

Introduced in Total War: Warhammer II's Rise of the Tomb Kings DLC, the Tomb Kings are available in custom games, the Eye of the Vortex campaign, the Mortal Empires campaign, and in Total War: Warhammer III, the Immortal Empires mega-campaign.

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General Tropes

Khemri

Court of Lybaras

Exiles of Nehek

Followers of Nagash

Achilles' Heel: Factions that play aggressively, both in battle, and on the campaign map.
- In battle, Tomb King tactics encourage using the infantry to hold the line, while using their powerful constructs and cavalry to deal real damage. However, this means that enemies able to destroy their infantry early can often break the Tomb Kings lines, leaving the constructs and cavalry vulnerable. On top of that, while they do have decent ranged units, they are relatively average in terms of damage amount, meaning that if the infantry can't close the gap quick enough, they'll often get heavily damaged out early in battle.
- On the campaign map, their poor economies, abysmal growth rates, and the fact they are limited to a certain number of armies at a time, means that they are unable to field more than a couple armies at any given time. And those that they do field often have plenty low-tier units in them. Consequently, aggressive factions often overwhelm the Tomb Kings during the early game if the player doesn't move quick enough.
- Unusually they, along with the other undead factions, have a specific individual who acts as an Achilles' Heel; the Chaos Warrior Legendary Hero Harald Hammerstorm. Harald is specifically built to be anti-undead, stripping away their usual advantages. If Harald is on the field, avoiding him or (if you've got the juice for it) killing him should be priority one.
Adaptation Expansion:
- Hierotitans had rules but unfortunately they never got an official miniature release from Games Workshop (and the planned one from Forgeworld was cancelled) until the Tomb Kings Trailer revealed they will finally be playable. Creative Assembly actually collaborated with Games Workshop to come up with its official design.
- Similarly, while he had rules, Khatep never had an official design or model, which was rectified in-game.
- The Tomb Kings always had a problem with their unit tiers on the tabletop, specifically their infantry and cavalry, whose gap between low and high tier is rather large. To fix this, Creative Assembly created two homebrew units, the Nehekhara Warriors (Skilled soldiers duel-wielding two Khopeshes that serve as aggressive medium infantry), and the Nehekhara Horsemen (Riders who are more well-armored than the fragile Skeleton Horsemen) which fulfill that role.
Affably Evil: The average Tomb King still conducts himself with the sophisticated air of a highborn aristocrat, and tend to be very polite to their guests... as long as those guests aren't grave robbers.
Age Without Youth: Centuries ago, the Liche Priests of the Nehekharan Mortuary Cult used their magic to permanently bind their souls to their bodies. While this ritual gave the Liche Priests a measure of immortality, it did not stop the decay of their bodies so that, after millennia of existence, their physical forms are now those of withered and partially mummified corpses.
All or Nothing: There are only two outcomes for the Tomb Kings before committing themselves to a battle: They will either win or be annihilated. There is absolutely no retreat during the fighting.
Ancient Egypt: The Tomb Kings are heavily inspired by this time period, mainly the New Kingdom era, but it takes some influence from other time periods. They have mummies, sphinxes, pyramids, classical Egyptian styled equipment, they worship the dead, their weapons are Khopesh's, and they speak in classic Egyptian accents.
Ancient Tomb: Literally everything in their kingdom.
Animal Motifs: Since Nehekhara is a pastiche of Ancient Egypt, sphinxes, crocodiles, snakes and others feature prominently in Tomb Kings culture and even their army roster.
Animate Dead: Obviously, but the Tomb Kings have a unique army ability that causes their units to benefit from mass resurrections three times over the course of the battle as the still living souls of their undead warriors are released.
Arch-Enemy: A highly insular faction, the Tomb Kings spare most of their hatred for each other and anyone that dares steal from them. However they do despise the Vampire Counts, whose magic they consider obscene and an insult to the true undead.
Artifact of Doom: The Tomb Kings' super-unit is the Casket of Souls, an expy of the Ark of the Covenant as depicted in Raiders of the Lost Ark. A ornate golden sarcophagus covered in gems, it's used as special punishment for treasonous Tomb Kings as well as trespassers. To die near one is far worse than a mere physical death, as the very souls of those who perish become ensnared by the power of the casket, becoming just another of the countless lost souls held within its unholy confines for an eternity of torment. It is used on the battlefield to fling these captured souls towards the enemy line, a spectral barrage of tormented ghosts who drag their victims' souls back with them, acting as a magical artillery piece. On the tabletop, it couldn't move, but in Total War it floats off the surface, gliding across the sand. Because of their power, they can only be recruited through a special rite.
Ballistic Bone: The Screaming Skull Catapult, an artillery piece made from defeated enemies, fires giant Flaming Skulls at the enemy.
Be Careful What You Wish For: They got the immortality that they sought after for so many years. It's just a shame it didn't turn out the way they had hoped for.
Berserk Button: By all that is holy, do not touch their tombs! Just ask the Dark Elves from their trailer, who had their entire army in Nehekhara obliterated when all they did was take a single gem and open a single chest.^note
Beware My Stinger Tail: An optional upgrade for for Warsphinxes and Necrosphinxes. Natch for any actual scorpions in the army.
Big Creepy-Crawlies: The Tomb Scorpions are built out of wood, metal and bones to resemble giant scorpions. They also can summon giant swarms of large insects to consume and devour their enemies.
Blade Below the Shoulder: Necrosphinx possess giant arm blades made for killing other monsters.
Blessed with Suck: The Tomb Kings ultimately resent their status. They are now more powerful than ever and completely immortal like what they wanted, but they hate looking like dry husks and being unable to enjoy stuff like a fruit's taste or the flesh of a concubine.
The Blacksmith: Nehekhara was famed for its highly skilled craftsmen, who in life made some of the most beautiful golden jewelry in the entire Old World. They were also highly skilled weapon and armour smiths that forged some of the finest and most ornate equipment around. To reflect this they have their own crafting mechanic, the Mortuary Cult, that allows them to craft dozens of unique pieces of equipment, some of which are very powerful, and if you properly kit your lord with them, make them almost invincible. The desert sorcery used to enchant these pieces, however, requires canopic jars (preserved organs of slayed enemies), so to craft all this stuff, one needs to go out in the world to capture exotic resources, and (barring a few skills that let your Mortuary Priests generate them by themselves) harvest organs.
Bling of War: Since their empire was vast and wealthy beyond measure in its mortal prime, they have plenty of gold and jewels left over to spend on their expensive and mastercrafted wargear, even thousands of years later. Their Tomb Guard, specifically, are decked out in gold, ornate funeral masks, and assorted gems.
Blue-and-Orange Morality: Their lethal distaste for being stolen from is definitely this to other races, who typically see a single gem or gold coin as a Silly Reason for War. From the Tomb Kings' perspective, however, stealing from them is an affront to their honour and a declaration that you have none, ergo you must die along with anyone who helped you.
Build Like an Egyptian: Naturally. Their minor settlements are mastabas, their major settlements are pyramids, and their unit roster includes magically animated sphinx statues.
Buried Alive: The soldiers of the Tomb Kings were voluntarily buried alive in sand when their kings died, committing their lives to the eternal protection of their masters. Recruitment in the Tomb King faction is actually unearthing their tombs and raising these soldiers from their slumbers to serve once more.
Cannon Fodder: Their Skeletal Warriors, very similar to the Vampire Count's, act as disposable meat (bone?) shields on the battlefield, used best to hold up enemy units, absorb charges, and pin them in place.
Can't Kill You, Still Need You: The Mortuary Cult used their privileged position to protect themselves, making it so they were the only subjects exempt of execution. Even when he discovered his undeath and was seething with rage, Settra merely banished the Grand Hierophant Khatep from Nehekara with a directive to fix the Tomb Kings' undead condition instead of outright killing him.
Came Back Wrong: All of the Tomb Kings. They were supposed to return to life in perfect undying bodies to rule over a utopian golden age. Naturally, it didn't work out that way. Those who adjusted best are merely very angry about it. A few of them are apparently unable to accept their undeath and insist they are still alive, demanding food and drink they cannot consume.
A Commander Is You: A Spammer/Technical/Gimmick faction. The Tomb Kings are one of the most powerful defensive factions in the game, alongside the Dwarfs. They have access to hordes and hordes of hardy, if offensively weak, skeleton infantry which can hold enemies in place for long periods of time, whilst their more powerful and faster units such as cavalry and constructs focus on dishing out damage and disruption. They make heavy use of their magical lores to further support their infantry and make them last longer alongside a battlefield mechanic, Realm of Souls, that boosts their endurance even as units die. Unlike the Vampire Counts, they do have archers and powerful artillery, which let them turtle even more. Also, differently from everyone else, the Tomb Kings recruit units on the campaign for free and have no upkeep, but this is kept in balance by limiters on the number of armies they can field, as well as on how many of each kind of unit they can field that has a more flattering job description than "Meat Shield".
Curse: Whoever slays a Tomb King will be assailed by nasty curses, such as a swarm of scarabs devouring him, or a spell turning his blood into sand. In-game, there's a variety of different curse abilities, most of which can only be activated once the Tomb King or Tomb Prince is below a certain HP threshold, and allow you to screw over those trying to kill your Lord/Hero.
Dark Is Not Evil: Despite being a terrifying empire of sinister-looking undead, the Nehekharans are as diverse in morality as ordinary humans, and are in fact always classified as "neutral" in alignment charts. Whilst their individual leaders tend to be on the ruthless side, the same can be said for most "order" factions. Settra is trying to conquer the world, sure, but that doesn't make him worse than most other faction leaders and he is capable of benevolence and effective leadership. Queen Khalida is about as benevolent as people get in Warhammer.^note
Deadly Gaze: The Sepulchral Stalkers, statues shaped like Snake People, can turn anyone looking at their eyes into sand. However, the Stalkers themselves aren't immune. In-game this ability is represented by the Stalkers having a secondary Eye Beam ranged attack.
Death World: Nehekhara is particularly inhospitable even by the standards of Warhammer. Case in point, nothing lives there, only the undead. The land is a great Thirsty Desert, its waters poisoned by the war with Nagash. But then, the vindictive forces of the Tomb Kings are already hunting you down since you've trespassed into their lands.
Dem Bones: Their lower tier units are Skeleton Warriors and Skeleton Archers, shambling undead warriors who still retain a shard of individuality, and vestiges of their old personality. Not only that, but some constructs like the Tomb Scorpions or Screaming Skulls Catapults are entirely made of bones, and the Necrosphinx is occasionally sporting a skull for a head mask. Even their cavalry is skeletons riding skeleton horses.
Decapitated Army: As with the Vampire Counts or the Vampire Coast, the Tomb Kings' armies are heavily reliant on their leader's magic to keep them alive and fighting since they will crumble otherwise. In fact, they are even more dependant on their leaders than the Vampire Counts since the vampires have more units that can assist in such matters, such as the Corpse Cart and Mortis Engine.
Disproportionate Retribution: They can hold grudges over the most minor thefts just as well as the Dwarfs. In fact, one of their longest and still ongoing wars just happens to be against the Dwarfs over the possession of a single Dwarven pickaxe, that just so happens to have a Tomb King copper coin embedded into it. Due to both sides being completely obsessed with revenge and refusing to give up the pickaxe, the war is still going on over this one object.
The Dragon: The Tomb Heralds are the personal champions, bodyguards and standard-bearers of their respective Kings. As such, they speak with the authority of the Kings themselves and are generally their greatest enforcers. They are unique followers that are gathered on the Dynasty (research) page in Total War, and must be bought with canopic jars.
Early Game Hell: Between poor economy and growth rate, and the fact that they can only deploy a limited number of Lords with a limited number of certain units, the Tomb Kings are often unable to field armies of decent quality until at least a couple dozen turns into the game. Not helping matters for any of them, is that they are all surrounded by factions predisposed to be hostile towards them. It's not uncommon for the Tomb Kings to get wiped out early game if they're being played by the AI.
- Settra has it particular bad, as he starts the game with Skarbrand to his North, Mannfred and Volkmar to his South, and Repansse to his West, all of which have a tendency to play aggressively, especially towards him.
Elite Mooks: The Tomb Kings have not only the Tomb Guard, mummified elite soldiers clad in golden and bejeweled armor and weapons who to this day still keep all the skill and discipline that they had in life, but they also have upgraded versions of most other units called Legions of Legends, which are basically an even stronger version of Regiments of Renown (which the Tomb Kings have as well) that can only be used in the campaigns, much like The Blessed Spawnings of The Lizardmen.
The Engineer: Necrotects, hero units with a skillset focused on buffing and sustaining Construct units. In the lore they are focused on building and maintaining these constructs as well, along with directing the construction of the Tomb Kings' cities and pyramids.
Easy Logistics: Justified. Tomb Kings pay no recruitment or upkeep costs for their armies, but each unit type has a global cap set by the production buildings they have. This is because their armies are either undead raised from their tombs on demand, or constructs built from the plentiful resources in said tombs that only need a necrotect tune-up now and then. Also, unlike their Vampire counterparts their undeath doesn't turn them into mindless puppets who need the constant attention of an animating wizard, so such specialist units can simply be called up when necessary.
Everyone Has Standards: Apart from Arkhan and the Followers of Nagash, every single Tomb King faction hates and despises the necromancer Nagash, who was responsible for reducing them and their land to the sorry state it is now in.
Evil Is Not a Toy:
- Zig-Zagged regarding the enforcement of their borders. Depending on the ruler, sometimes you can go into their cities to partake of their culture if you want to, and sometimes you can study their secrets of Necromancy if you really have to, as Mannfred von Carstein did during his quest to expand his knowledge of the art, but all Nehekharan monarchs have one thing in common: steal even a single piece of gold from them and your life is as good as over. Running will only make it worse.
- Played dead straight in the background of the Casket of Souls, which is filled to capacity with the restless souls of those who have somehow crossed a Tomb King and been killed for it, suffering a Cruel and Unusual Death in the process.
Expy: Several of the Nehekaran gods are based fairly directly on ancient Egyptian deities, such as Ptra, the sun god and ruler of the pantheon (Ra), and Usirian, the ruler of the Underworld (Osiris).
Eye Beams: Hierotitans wade into combat incinerating the enemy with beams of light from their eyes.
Fantastic Racism: The vast majority of them, especially Khalida, hate vampires.
Fantasy Counterpart Culture: To Ancient Egypt.
Faceless Goons: Most Tomb Guard wear ornate, silver death masks which hide their decaying visages.
Feathered Fiend: Carrions are gigantic reanimated vultures, that follow Tomb King armies around for easy meals.
Fate Worse than Death: Those who have wronged those who have mastered death itself will find themselves on the end of fates far worse than merely the cessation of consciousness.
- There is the Casket of Souls, which draws in souls that die near it, trapping them within an eternity of torment. The only release is when its attendent Lich Priest chants the spell that causes it to launch some of the souls as deadly magic missiles, which agonizingly leach away the life essence of those caught in the blast - condemning them to the same fate.
- Then there is the Screaming Skull Catapult. They were devised by a particular Tomb King of Zandri who found himself repeatedly defied by kings of Araby. Their troops wound up as the titular screaming skulls that the catapult launches, but that wasn't the fate of the rebel kings themselves; they were mummified and granted eternal life, then nailed to the catapults just so they could be made to watch their cities be turned to smoking rubble. They are still nailed to the catapults, they are barely shreds of skin and jerky hoarsely begging for mercy that will never be granted.
Foil: To the other undead armies in the game, the Vampire Counts and Vampire Coast. The Vampire Counts have no ranged units or artillery but a lot of fast-moving cavalry, monsters and flying units, and their infantry are fairly strong but have a tendency to waste away over time; all this lends the Vampire Counts to being a heavy rushdown army meant to take the offensive and take the fight to the enemy army, aiming to overrun them quickly. On the opposite side, The Vampire Coast has a lot of ranged options, but they tend to take the Glass Cannon approach, with a variety of zombies wielding pistols, handguns, bombs and swivel guns alongside various sea monsters and more conventional-looking artillery pieces.The Tomb Kings on the other hand have both archers and artillery, and defensive skeleton infantry, with a lot of options for further enhancing their staying power; this makes them more suited to staying back in a good position and gradually wearing the enemy down with attrition. This also applies to each faction's unique Lores of Magic: the Lore of Vampires is thematically pure Black Magic and mechanically generalist, concerned with raising servants, healing them and debuffing the enemy, while the Lore of the Deep is a heavily thematic lore centered around hydromancy and has three offensive spells, with two debuffs and only one buff for allies. Lore of Nehekhara is effectively Religion is Magic with the Lich Priests invoking the gods of the Nehekharan pantheon to primarily buff their troops.
Gameplay and Story Integration:
- The technology of the Tomb Kings involves uncovering the accomplishments of lost dynasties of Nehekhara. The most immediate result of this is the ability to recruit a lord from that dynasty, all of whom are actual kings of that dynasty mentioned in lore.
- As mentioned below, the Tomb Kings are one of the only factions in the game that doesn't have an automatic diplomatic penalty with the Skaven. In the lore, the Tomb King Alcadizzar was given a gift of warpstone from the Skaven when they found out that Nagash's plan was to kill all life (including Skaven life of course). The Tomb Kings have no issue with the Skaven because they came to Nehekhara's aid against its greatest enemy.
- The Tomb Kings are extremely meritocratic, believing that a large, successful kingdom means the ruler is wise and should be respected while a small, weak kingdom is simply there to be conquered by someone stronger. This is a big part of why they all look up to Settra and also a big part of why they all hate Nagash. Accordingly, unlike every other faction in the entire game, you get a bonus to your diplomacy with them based on the size of your empire rather than a penalty.
Glowing Eyes of Doom: Like most other Undead, their eyes cast bright blue bale light.
Godzilla Threshold: During the “War of the Kings”, when every newly awakened Tomb King warred among themselves, Nehekhara was under real threat of disappearing forever in the pointless and internecine conflict. So they awakened Settra to put order, despite his express command to only be awakened once his paradise was available and his notorious Hair-Trigger Temper.
God of the Dead: Usirian, the lord of the underworld, is a faceless god who judged the souls of the dead and decided whether they would be permitted to enter paradise or condemned to eternal suffering. He was revered by the Mortuary Cult, and the increasing Nehekaran obsession with death made him one of the empire's most important deities.
God of Light: Ptra, an Expy of the Egyptian god Ra, was the Nehekaran god of the sun and the king of the gods, and was the most highly-revered deity in the kingdom until the Nehekarans' increasing preoccupation with death and the afterlife caused them to begin favoring Ushoran, the God of the Dead.
Hellish Horse: Skeleton Horses, which pull their Skeleton Chariot units and are used by Lords and cavalry units as mounts.
Heroic Neutral: "Heroic" may be pushing it a little, but when it comes down to it, barring a few exceptions, all the Tomb Kings really want is to be left alone. Invade their holdings, however, retribution will be swift and merciless. This is reflected in their gameplay, as the Tomb Kings are a very defensive faction, both on the campaign, and on the battlefield.
Horrifying the Horror: Norsca is the dreaded scourge of the Old World, a waste filled with endless hordes of raiders and superhuman plate armoured warriors as well as daemons and monsters. They have braved the Death World of Lustria and are the object of fear among the High Elves and all the Men of the Old World. But there is something they fear; Nehekhara, after Settra devastated Norsca to punish them for daring to steal his treasures. Only the most foolish of Chaos Lords and Norscan Chiefs would dare try their luck with the Tomb Kings again.
- A number of Norse Champions such as Scyla Anfingrimm, Kurt Sutenvulf and Wulfrik the Wanderer have successfully raided Nehekhara in the past despite Settra's invasion, however. To the Norse, it's seen as a mark of immense power to be capable of facing the Tomb Kings and survive to return home.
Horse of a Different Color: Necropolis Knights ride gigantic living snake statues.
Immortality Seeker: The Nehekharans, and Settra foremost among them, were obsessed with uncovering the secrets of immortality. Needless to say, they eventually got what they wanted.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: One of the sync kills for Tomb Scorpions is to spear an infantry unit on its tail and then drag its prey underground.
Immortal Genius: The Liche Priests of Nehekhara were charged with devising a means of guaranteeing the immortality of the kings they served, and to that end made themselves effectively immortal — or at least unable to die of old age. As such, their expertise is put to use in preserving the enchanted used to protect the tombs of their masters and resurrecting these ancient kings when the time comes. For good measure, the magic they practice is extremely complicated and can only be used by those old enough to have mastered their intricate arts.
Insufferable Genius: Crossed with The Engineer. The Necrotects were skilled architects, responsible for the prestigious task of building the Kings' pyramids. They are prideful beyond measure, and now extremely moody since all of their great works are now in ruins. They used to be extremely bad bosses too, given their liberal use of the lash and executions during construction. In-game, they are a Hero Unit that are absolutely needed in a heavy construct army, as they have a unique ability that lets them repair the monstrous statues mid-battle.
Item Crafting: The Mortuary Cult mechanic lets them craft a wide variety of unique, Tomb King, themed items.
Keystone Army: As with the Vampire Counts and the Vampire Coast, if a Tomb King army loses its general, the loss will greatly accelerate its crumbling.
Kill It with Fire: The embalming process used to preserve the bodies of Nehekharan nobles, and their favoured servants, has left their desiccated corpses particularly vulnerable to fire. In-game this is represented by most characters having the 'Flammable' special rule that means they take extra damage from fire attacks.
Living Statue: The Tomb Kings field a large variety of animated statues as war machines, and they act as their primary damage dealers.
- The first, and most common variant, are the humanoid Ushabti. Modeled after the many gods of ancient Nehekhara, they wear the skulls of various desert animals (such as Jackals, Hawks, and Crocodiles) as heads, and are primarily used as guardians to protect the perimeters of the necropolises and within the passageways of the great pyramids of the Tomb Kings. When there's dire need, the Liche Priests awaken them with ancient and powerful magic, causing them to come to life, the magical statues now bearing the souls of dead Nehekharan heroes. They come in two variants, ones who duel-wield large Khopeshs (causing armor piercing), and one who wield massive greatbows and act as Monstrous Archers (more armor piercing damage, this time from afar). Both varieties melt elite infantry when used properly.
- The second, and much rarer, are the Sepulchral Stalkers. Loathsome statues in the shape of Snake People, they were used in ancient society to mark the borders of a Priest King's realm. The long centuries eventually caused them to be consumed by the desert. To awaken a Stalker, a liche priest must perform a highly complicated ritual, which essentially amounts to binding a great warrior's spirit to the statue. If successful, the Stalker will awaken, and patrol the desert for all eternity. Excellent ambushers (with the stalk and vanguard trait), Sepulchral Stalkers wield deadly ranged poison attacks, alongside powerful spears, and are used as anti-large (alongside armor-piercing), making them excellent at killing monsters and cavalry.
- The rarest and arguably most powerful is the legendary Hierotitan. Colossal and imposing, Hierotitans are modeled after the Nehekharan God of Death, with some even stating they can hear shadowy laughter of dark gods when near them, and are giant statues made from black marble, gold, gems and bone. Like the Tomb Scorpion, they carry the body of a fallen Liche Priest, whose spirit controls the Hierotitan. The effigy was meant to guide kings through their journey to the underworld, but now are used as monstrous instruments of war. Retaining some of their magical skill they had in life, the Hierotitan is able to cast a handful of bound spells, as well as use powerful Eye Beams to obliterate anything that stands before it. It wields a magical staff, alongside a chained brazier that emits blue balefire, that it can use to bludgeon enemies to death, being both effective against large and small targets.
Mechanically Unusual Class: As a faction. The Tomb Kings do not have to pay any money for recruitment or upkeep because most of their units are a nearly perfected form of undead that can be endlessly restored. Instead they are limited strict caps on how many of each unit type are available. To balance this they have a deliberately terrible economy and a permanent money crunch limiting their expansion. Furthermore, they have an army cap, which limits expansion. The only way to increase that cap is to research dynasties, or use the Mortuary Cult to summon forth another army from the sands.
- While they are present in the Eye Of The Vortex campaign, they do not take part in the rituals like the other factions. They have their own set of objectives to complete.
Mighty Glacier: Most of their infantry units are really slow, but they're universally very hardy, and can take a lot of punishment (albeit at the cost of killing power). As such a Tomb King's army best strategy is to turtle up, and wait for the enemy to come towards them.
Magikarp Power: On a strategic level. It takes the Tomb Kings quite some time to gain access to their better units, and expand their armies. All Tomb Kings factions will be stuck with low-tier units and limited armies at the beginning. Once this is remedied they are easily one of the most powerful factions in the game, capable of rapidly churning out multiple armies of incredibly dangerous constructs, soldiers, and war machines. So an important thing to remember when you're playing as or against Tomb Kings is "Early start, easily swept. Later on, extreme danger."
Military Maverick: The Necropolis Knights were this in life, being unruly, yet effective soldiers who were eventually punished with either execution or exile. However, to keep their honor, they committed a rather painful form of ritualistic suicide through poison in order to one day serve their king again. They now ride the very source of their poison to battle.
Morton's Fork: A common trial used in ancient Nehekara to determine whether someone was guilty of murder was to throw them in a pit of scorpions and see if they were able to survive long enough to climb back out. If they did, they were judged to enjoy the favor of Sokth, the scorpion god of treachery and murderers, and to thus be guilty of the crime — and were thus swiftly put to death by being thrown in a pit of snakes.
Mook Horror Show: During the reveal trailer. The Dark Elves who try to plunder a Nehekharan tomb pay for their trespass with their lives in terrifying fashion, being cut down to the last man by Ushabti. One of them escapes the collapsing chamber and seems to be home free, only to be Impaled with Extreme Prejudice In the Back by a Tomb Scorpion, which heralds Settra and his endless legions pouring from the sands to slaughter the Dark Elf army that's been gathering.
Mummy: The ancient Nehekharans, in their obsession with surpassing death, become masters of the process of mummification (after thousands of years of research), and preserving the body long after its natural expiration. When Nagash unleashed his ultimate black spell, the hundreds of thousands of bodies that had been preserved from the various dynasties collectively woke up and to their horror, found themselves as reanimated mummies. In terms of units, all of their lords and elite troops are this while most of the others are skeletons, constructs and zombies of different sorts.
The Necrocracy: A type 1; undead rulers ruling over undead subjects. The lore states that a lot of them are in denial about being dead, and bringing it up is something of a Berserk Button.
- Type 2 in the case of the city of Numas, that has undead rulers and both undead and living subjects coexisting with each other. There is also a campaign event that has the Tomb Kings taking on a number of living subjects.
Nepharious Pharaoh: Almost all of the Kings, to a greater or lesser extent.
Non-Human Head: Ushabti are designed with the skeletal heads of assorted animals, such as birds or crocodiles.
Non-Human Undead: Many units make use of undead horses. There are also Carrions, enormous undead vultures. Some of the stranger Tomb King units like the Necrosphinx and Ushabti look like this but are actually statues inhabited by the souls of dead heroes.
Odd Friendship: While "friendship" may be a stretch, the Tomb Kings are one of, if not the only races who suffer no diplomatic penalties with the Skaven of all races, and on the campaign map it's common to see the two races cooperate, and have lasting relationships. Fridge Brilliance kicks in, if you look to their background history, the Skaven and the Tomb Kings have often been allies of convenience (mainly against Nagash), and the Skaven would have no interest in stealing Tomb King gold, which means they don't rile up the Tomb Kings (stealing Tomb King artifacts would be another story).
Our Gods Are Greater: Nehekhara has its own pantheon of gods, most of them inspired by Egyptian mythology like everything else about the Tomb Kings. These deities are invoked during each of the race's rites, including Ptra the Sun God.
Our Giants Are Bigger: The Tomb Kings can field Bone Giants, giant colossal statues of black stone crafted in the image of the great Sky Titans. They wield absolutely massive greatbows, making them practically walking ballistas!
Our Liches Are Different: The Liche Priests are an unusual sort of undead, being technically...still alive. Their soul cannot leave their body and so over time they become walking corpses without ever really dying.
- Arkhan and Nagash are more straight examples of the Skeletal Liche, with Arkhan's "phylactery" being Nagash, and Nagash's phylactery being his sheer power which makes containing him in the afterlife permanently impossible.
Our Sphinxes Are Different: Sphinxes don't exist as a race of actual creatures, but are the guardians of the Underworld in Nehekharan mythology and a popular motif in their architecture. The Tomb Kings consequently use two types of war constructs modeled after sphinxes. Khemrian Warsphinxes resemble enormous skeletal lions carved out of stone, and are used as both war monsters and steeds by Nehekharan rulers. Necropshinxes are centauroid statues with the bodies of lions, the upper bodies and heads of men, a pair of giant blades for arms and (non-functional) wings, and are used chiefly as monster-killers.
Pet the Dog: As vicious and ruthless as they're capable of being, as long as you haven't actually wronged them they have a surprising number of moments like this. See Dark Is Not Evil for a particularly good example. They'll also generally leave you alone as long as you in turn don't bother them, which is more than a lot of the factions in this setting.
Praetorian Guard: Tomb Guard serve this role to the local king, being the partially-mummified remains of his elite guard, entombed alive when their lord was buried.
Pyramid Power: Each Tomb King and Prince has had a great pyramid built for them, both as a symbol of power and refuge for their corpse and treasures in death. The two greatest pyramids in Nehekhara are the Great Pyramid of Settra and the Black Pyramid of Nagash, the latest of which is made of warpstone and serves as a giant magic conduit for Nagash. All of these pyrmaids are unique buildings a Tomb King player can build, each expensive, but providing massive faction-wide buffs.
Raising the Steaks:
- Carrions are the reanimated bodies of vultures the size of a grown man, which are mostly used as scouts and high-flying sentries and to harry ranged units and the enemies' flanks.
- Tomb swarms are formed from the desiccated husks and shed exoskeletons of the immense numbers of scarabs, scorpions and other arthropods that have lived and died in Nehekaran tombs over the ages, which are animated en masse by liche priests to serve as guards for the tombs and as chaff in times of war.
Rank Scales with Asskicking: The Tomb Princes and Kings are naturally the leaders of Nehekhara, and thanks to their blessed undead bodies, are the most powerful infantry units of the army, with few in the way of other Lords and Heroes who could best them in natural stats.
Religious Bruiser: Unlike his contemporaries, Settra chose to honor the gods in order to have the population back him while he conquered cities left and right. He later was named the Priest King of Khemri. In fact, every following King of Nehekhara was a Priest King.
Resurrective Immortality: The mummies can actually die, but Usirian's blessing enables them to magically reform in their sarcophagi.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: If you steal a single coin in their treasuries, they will send armies to reclaim their lost treasure in a fit of rage!
Royals Who Actually Do Something: All of the royals in the history of Nehekhara were raised as warleaders, a tradition they continue even in death with all the more impact thanks to their unnaturally strong mummy bodies.
Sand Is Water: The Nehekharan have a habit of burying their forces and move them beneath the sand to perform ambushes despite the open ground.
Scary Scorpions: Tomb Scorpions, giant scorpion constructs (whom are based on the giant scorpions of ancient desert legend) that are also sarcophagi for ancient Liche Priests, though unlike most statues, their made from a strange combination, stone, metal, lacquered wood, and fused bone. And yes, they are really creepy. When a Liche Priest begins to finally fall apart (or is mortally wounded), they're given a choice of passing on into the afterlife, or being interred into this horrifying abomination. (Which yes, makes them essentially Undead Dreadnoughts). A Stealth Expert, Tomb Scorpions are used best against infantry, which they slaughter with horrifying ease.
Sealed Evil in a Can: The dreaded Necrosphinx are said to be one badly cast spell of subjugation away from breaking free of the Priests' control and wreaking havoc on the country, possessing unnatural bloodthirst said to come from malicious gods.
The Sphinx: A common motif, with many sphinx statues dotting the battle maps, but they have two specific sphinx units.
- The first and more common is the Khemrian Warsphinx, which is a giant leonine stone construct built in the image of this trope and functions as a Monster unit. They were initially created to protect the tombs of great kings from graverobbers (and still fulfill this function to an extent) but are now used mostly as warmachines of mass destruction, using dark breath, their claws, and a scorpion stinger to tear apart infantry lines. They have have an armored howdah on their back, which houses several Tomb Guard who throw javelins at would-be attackers from above. In the lore, no Warsphinx is alike, and adopt many different features from various animals.
- The second and much rarer is the Necrosphinx, a Mix-and-Match Critters style bronze and ebony statue of dark origins said to house the vestiges of evil spirits within it. Based on legendary creatures that live within the underworld, the Necrosphinx is an abomination hated by all, but the Tomb Kings reluctantly tolerate their existence because of their usefulness in war. Unlike the Warsphinx, and being truer to its roots, the Necrosphinx statue takes aspects of a human and has a winged centauroid appearance. Said to be able to kill a Dragon in a single stroke of its huge scythe hands, the Necrosphinx is one of the most powerful anti-large monsters in the game.
Skeleton Motif: The Tomb Kings extensively use skulls as decorating motif for everything, from battle standards to their statues.
Spared by the Adaptation: More like Undead by the Adaptation but the recuitable Legendary Tomb Kings from the tech tree include Thutep, the brother of Nagash, and Lahmizzash, the older brother of Neferata as having returned as undead, when neither is mentioned as having been resurected in the previous lore.
Support Party Member: The Necrotect's primary job is to buff and heal their army's various construct units. Increasing their effectiveness in battle, increasing unit replenishment on the strategic map and can greatly increase their recruitment capacity as well.
The Swarm: The Tomb Swarm is an ability that can be used in battle, summoning a deadly swarm of flesh-eating scarabs, locust and scorpions.
Symbolic Blood: The Great Mortis River has red water and actually discolors the sea in an area around the Mortis Delta. This is due to Nagash's corruption.
Technically-Living Zombie: The Liche Priests (Khatep the very first and most experienced of them) have mastered the art of mummification to the point they were able to self-mummify while alive, making them technically still living humans (albeit in an Age Without Youth way). They are still treated, mechanically and lore-wise, like any other undead.
Thirsty Desert: Their homeland Nehekhara, otherwise known as the Land of the Dead, a barren, scorching desert bereft of living things. That's even before you factor in the dark magic inundating the environment and its undead inhabitants.
- Much of Nehekhara was formerly extremely fertile flood plains, fed by the Vitae River (so named for its red-silt and capacity to support life), similar to the Egyptian Nile from which the Tomb Kings derive inspiration. Then Nagash corrupted its source waters with Dhar, causing the land fed by the river to whither and die. The Vitae River was renamed the Mortis River in acknowledgement of this.
Tome of Eldritch Lore: Part of the campaign for the Tomb Kings involves tracking down the Nine Books of Nagash.
The Undead: One of the two major undead factions in the Warhammer world, the other being the Vampire Counts. In contrast to their estranged cousins, the Tomb Kings as a whole are neutral, and generally leave the world to its own devices.
Undying Loyalty: Puns not withstanding, the Tomb Kings provide a rare example for the undead with the Tomb Guard being sincerely loyal to their masters, instead of just mindless thralls.
Villain by Default: Notably defied compared to the other undead factions in the game - while both the Vampire Counts and Vampire Coast are almost universally portrayed as evil by virtue of being undead, the Tomb Kings are treated much more neutrally. It's especially evident in the Immortal Empires release trailer, where the Tomb Kings are implied by how their appearance is framed to be part of the forces of Order.
We Have Reserves: More so than the Vampire Counts, as low-tier Tomb Kings can muster skeleton spearmen and warriors quickly with no cost, making even the most devastating losses a minor concern, with it actually being easier to disband and recruit new units rather than waiting for them to heal in some cases.
"Well Done, Son" Guy: Some of the Princes seem to have been nursing millennia old grudges against their dads. Upon recruitment, they may bellow...
Prince: "You see father? I command!"
Worthy Opponent: In-game, they're one of the only factions that you actually gets a diplomacy bonus with from being a Great Power.
Yin-Yang Bomb: The Lore of Nehekhara, a lore of magic exclusive to the Tomb Kings, combines both the dark and light aspects of Nehekharan religion, utilizing both brighter protective and darker offensive spells from their gods.

Legendary Lords

Settra

Settra the Imperishable, High King of Nehekhara

"Settra does not serve! Settra rules!"

"Today we dispatch these faithless barbarians, these petty thieves, in tribute to Djaf, the god of war and death. He will feast as the jackal does, and grow fat their souls, for who dares to stand before Settra in defiance of his will? I am the King of Kings, the Imperishable, and I will see my crown returned!"

Voiced by: Richard Reed

Settra, known by many godly titles such as Settra the Imperishable, the King of Kings, High King of Nehekhara, Lord of the Earth, Monarch of the Sky, Ruler of the Four Horizons, Mighty Lion of the Infinite Desert, Great Hawk of the Heavens, Majestic Emperor of the Shifting Sands, Eternal Sovereign of Khemri's Legions, and so much more, is the mighty and absolute sovereign ruler of all Nehekhara, an ancient and powerful warrior-king who ruled a large and powerful empire some two-thousand five hundred years before the birth of the Barbarian Hero Sigmar Heldenhammer and the founding of the Empire of Man.

Settra was one of the greatest and most warmongering human rulers this world has ever known, having conquered, united and founded the Empire of Nehekhara through acts of unparalleled cruelty, arrogance, bloodshed and tyranny. The first and perhaps greatest human kingdom in history, the size and power of Nehekhara once stood as the shining beacon of all of mankind. Of all the Kings of Nehekhara, none could match the splendor, cruelty and arrogance of Settra. He was a vain and egotistical man, and demanded not only the obedience of his subjects but also their absolute and utter adoration.

Settra is as ruthless and tyrannical a ruler can ever be, whose thirst for conquest and power is only matched by that of Nagash himself. His power is far greater than any other Tomb King, and his unyielding will is such that he never needs to return to his sarcophagus to rest. The immortality he lusted after in life is now his, and the civilizations that flourished in his absence will soon known the full wrath of he who founded the first of mankind's civilizations.

Settra leads the Khemri sub-faction.

Abusive Parent: Settra excells at many things. The one thing he's not good at is parenting, having sacrificed his own children to the gods. More than once. The sacrifices ensured the prosperity of his kingdom but it demonstrates that one is probably safer as Settra's servant than his offspring.
The Ace: The mightiest king of Nehekhara and the one who unified it. He doesn't let the other Tomb King Legendary Lords forget that.
Adaptational Heroism: Settra is still the arrogant and ruthless Lord of the Tomb Kings we all know and love, but he's noticeably a bit more benevolent, examples include him sparing Khatep, who despite being exiled, arrives on time to assist his liege lord against the minions of Nagash, who did so in canon, and was executed for it.
Anti-Villain: Type I all the way through. A brutal tyrant yes, but Settra is filled with so many admirable qualities, he's practically The Good King to all of Nehekhara.
Ascended Meme: Settra, who both in-game and lorewise is famous for his chariot-based armies, can obtain an Easter Egg unique trait in-game by battling and defeating the Norscan chieftain Surtha Ek, who is infamous for using these armies in the fandom. Furthermore Surtha has a trait obtainable if you lose to him with Settra called 'true chariot master'.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: The high King of all the Tomb Kings, Settra is a terrifying warrior and a brilliant tactician; the only reason why so many Tomb Kings hold the title of king is because Settra allows it.
Badass Boast: Utters a variant of his iconic quote from the End Times, during the trailer.
Settra: We do not serve! We rule!
Badass Bureaucrat: Such a capable administrator that he makes Karl Franz look like a desk clerk. He's also an extremely accomplished warrior.
Badass Cape: An exceptionally royal one, dyed Lapis blue.
Berserk Button:
- The very proud and very arrogant Settra absolutely loathes the suggestion that he would be in service to anyone or anything. In the game, this translates into Settra's faction being impossible for other Tomb King player characters to confederate with.
- This applies to the Tomb Kings collectively but even by that standard, do not ever steal from Settra. The Norscans discovered this after Settra responded to their raiding and pillaging by completely devastating the Norscan lands.
Benevolent Boss: There's a reason why many of his soldiers and followers have genuine Undying Loyalty to him. Settra is noted to be incredibly rewarding to those who serve him well, and will offer second chances to minions who mess up (never a third, though.)
Blasphemous Boast: "Do not invoke the gods around Settra. They bow...to me!"
Blood Knight: Now that most earthly pleasures escape him, Settra only feels truly alive on the battlefield, and relishes in the ensuing bloodbath of war.
Catchphrase: He speaks his famous "Settra does not serve, Settra rules!" line frequently.
Came Back Wrong: The ritual that was to make him immortal should have given him a beautiful body made of immaculate golden flesh. He was revived well ahead of schedule, trapping him in a rotted corpse and he is not happy about it.
The Comically Serious: Some of his diplomacy lines. Given how boastful Settra is, it's hard not to laugh when he makes a show of introducing himself, and then asks "Who are you again?"
The Chosen One: Viewed as such by everyone when after the sacrifice of his own children, Settra is greeted by a river flood which washed away the populace's disease and resulted in a bountiful harvest.
Complete Immortality: It doesn't matter how you kill him, his body will always break into an infinite number of scarab beetles and go back to his tomb, whereupon it will reassemble.
The Conqueror: Carved out possibly the greatest human Empire in history with his will alone, and now that he's awake again he aspires to be this once more.
Cool Crown: The Crown of Nehekhara, a tiara decorated with a hissing golden cobra, which fills any followers nearby with a portion of Settra's indomitable will. Settra went on a mad rampage when it was stolen from him.
Cool Car: Not a car, but a chariot in this case. The Chariot of the Gods is a massive flaming Nehekharan chariot pulled by four skeleton horses equipped with massive blades on the wheels to better mow down enemies.
Defiant to the End: It doesn't matter if he's down to a single chariot, Settra will never confederate with anyone and be commanded. You know why.
Determinator: Settra's sheer force of will is unmatched by anyone in the Warhammer world. His crown instils his followers with the same level of determination.
The Dreaded: Really all that needs to be said is Nagash, one of the most powerful beings in the entire history of Warhammer Fantasy, is afraid of Settra. Settra also holds the distinction of being one of the few individuals the Norscans legitimately dread, as he was the first (if not only) person to not only invade Norsca, but tear the entire land asunder in his Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
Expy: Of the conquerors Qin Shi Huangdi — because of his later obsession with attaining immortality — and Alexander the Great, with Settra having been described to have once stood at the edge of his domain, seen all the lands he couldn't conquer because of his age, and cried in frustration. His obsession with building massive, unrivaled structures to his own ego, combined with his Egyptian motif, bring to mind Ramses II.
Founder of the Kingdom: Although the civilization of Nehekhara was founded by Nehek himself, it was Settra who turned it into an empire by conquering much of the Southlands and part of the Old World, bringing the many tribes together. Naturally, this means that Settra is the highest authority among the Tomb Kings, by dint of his seniority and having crushed a few uppity successors who figured otherwise. Even Nagash respected him for this, with part of his initial Start of Darkness stemming from a belief that the priest-kings of Khemri had grown weak since Settra's time. As founder, Settra gets bonuses in the campaign to hasten the rebuilding of his empire, including a bonuses to public order and growth along with the ability to build settlements more quickly.
Four-Star Badass: Settra was most distinguished as a general. He is said to have never lost a war in all his life, although he wasn't so invincible he didn't lose the occasional battle. The thing that did him in was age... which doesn't really matter anymore.
God-Emperor: He styles himself as one, God-King is even one of his titles.
Hero Antagonist: If the player is using Arkhan, Settra acts as the last obstacle before Nagash's pyramid. He's not the nicest man in the world but he is trying to stop the return of Nagash.
Heroic Willpower: Settra is quite possibly the strongest willed individual in the entire setting, his mind and will being a vault of unbreakable steel. Not only does he not have to sleep like the other Tomb Kings (his will sustains him), he gets a special skill that grants his soldiers around him extreme leadership bonuses.
High Collar of Doom: Goes with his Badass Cape.
The High King: Nehekhara, as a country, is divided into multiple domains ruled by multiple kings, but Settra is the undisputed ruler of them all, both by virtue of being the Founder of the Kingdom, and by being the most powerful of them by a sizable margin.
Horrifying the Horror: The Norscans terrify the men of the old world and the elves of Ulthuan. Settra however, terrifies the Norscans whom he gave a very thorough lesson in why it's a bad idea to try stealing from him. Nothing in Norsca could stop his vengeance and the only reason he left was because he had what he came for.
Hunter of Monsters: Hunting giant monsters has for the longest time been one of his favorite pastimes whenever there is not much else to do in his unlife. To give you an idea of how damn good he is at it in the lore, during Warhammer: The End Times he singlehandedly killed Kholek Suneater after a four day-long battle that leveled an entire forest. To reflect this in gameplay, he gets the "anti-large" trait, which makes him particularly adept at slaying large monsters and cavalry.
Immortality Seeker: In life, which was why he sponsored the Mortuary Cult and its practices. He eventually got what he wanted, but it wasn't as glamorous he hoped it would be.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: His sync kill involves stabbing an enemy through the chest with the Blessed Blade of Ptra, hoisting them over his head while they squirm to get free, and then flicking them aside before moving on to the next victim.
It's All About Me: Said to be a vain and egotistical man in life. It was his outrage at the idea of dying and having to give over his empire that led to the foundation of the Mortuary Cult. Really, most of his diplomacy quotes are him bragging about how awesome he is.
Kneel Before Zod: One of his quotes:
"Bow before your king!"
Knight Templar: Every action Settra does to ensure the welfare of his kingdom, and his people. This includes some really extreme things, though ruthless with dissenters he was generous when people came through for him. For bonus points, like the trope namers, he was very religious.
Large and in Charge: Just look at him; not only is he taller than the other tomb kings, he's way more muscular. In the tabletop his basic strength was 6, making him the strongest infantry-sized model. For perspective, Chaos Lords and Ogre Tyrants have strength 5, while a creature just as strong using the game profile is a DRAGON.
Large Ham: Settra doesn't let anyone forget who he is. His ego seeps into every sentance that comes out of his mouth.
Light Is Not Good: Counts as Dark Is Not Evil as well. Settra is often associated with light and the sun (he is highly favoured by Ptra, the god of the Sun, after all), and dresses in gold. He's still a cruel and arrogant tyrant who would slaughter thousands to restore his empire to its former glory.
Light 'em Up: His special ability allows him to send a wave of searing light around him, frying any poor soul unlucky enough to be caught in the blast.
Magic Knight: He is a Wizard who can wield the Lore of Nehekhara but is equally at home wading into battle... or riding into it.
The Magnificent: Settra the Imperishable, among many, many other such titles.
Nepharious Pharaoh: Downplayed. He is the first of them, in fact. Settra ruled as king of Nehekhara, and is obsessed with rebuilding his empire. His empire being the operative phrase, but he's still far from the worst, being a Noble Demon instead of The Caligula like many after him.
Noble Demon: Yes, Settra is extremely ruthless and egotistical, but he has many noble qualities, such as being an incredibly skilled administrator, very rewarding to people who prove their competence, and genuinely caring about his kingdom, which includes the subjects who live (or in this case "unlive"...) in said kingdom. It's noted many times in the fluff that Settra, whilst feared, is also loved by the people of Nehekhara, making him a rather dark example of The Good King.
"He who reigns within himself and rules passions, desires, and fears is more than a king."
Pet the Dog: He apparently recovered Alcadizaar the Conqueror's remains and had him entombed with full honours: building him a grand and magnificent pyramid of his own for him to rest in for all eternity. In a campaign event, he can even do the same for Alcadizaar's fallen soldiers. Considering how he usually acts, this is a rather major one for Settra.
Power Up Mount: He can upgrade to ride a Khemrian Warsphinx and eventually his unique chariot, the Chariot of the Gods, which has blue flaming wheels and is drawn by four skeletal horses — twice as many as the average Tomb Kings chariot. His personal chariot in fact provides a Charge Bonus of 100.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Settra is very rewarding to people who serve him well, and is generally, when not saddled by his ego, a reasonable ruler. Despite having him exiled, Settra is more than willing to accept Khatep's help in dealing with Nagash's legions, and seemingly doesn't execute him when it's all over, unlike the End Times.
Religious Bruiser: Strangely, despite his constant Blasphemous Boasts, he is greatly devoted to the Nehekharan pantheon, particularly Ptra.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Just ask the Norscans what happens if you try stealing from Settra. All Tomb Kings despise thieves, and Settra is the paragon of his people and their ideals. Norsca being a land renown for some of the greatest warriors in the world, horrific monsters and daemons, and Chaos energies around every corner could not save them from Settra slaughtering his way across their country to punish those who dared to steal from him. While this was enough to scare off most lesser chieftains from trying anything like that again, Norscans being who they are, more daring Champions and chiefs like Wulfrik the Wanderer were motivated to try their luck in pursuit of riches and a good fight.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: Even in life, Settra was known to lead cohorts of Chariots against the foes of his great kingdom, and it continues in death. Indeed Settra is such an effective/beloved/feared leader than his leadership bonus is double the usual size.
Smug Super: Everything that comes out of his rancid mouth in the diplomacy screen is dripping with condescending venom, fitting for one with an ego as big as Settra's. That being said, for one so accomplished and powerful, Settra's earned quite a bit of it.
Settra: Your tribute, thrall, for it is a privilege to be in my presence.
Third-Person Person: Befitting one so arrogant, Settra frequently refers to himself in third person.
Try to Fit That on a Business Card: "Settra the Imperishable, the King of Kings, High King of Nehekhara, Lord of the Earth, Monarch of the Sky, Ruler of the Four Horizons, Mighty Lion of the Infinite Desert, Great Hawk of the Heavens, Majestic Emperor of the Shifting Sands, Eternal Soverign of Khemri's legions..." and enough additional titles to make the full list take two hours to read out loud. The crazy thing is he's earned all of them. Here is a◊ "brief" sample of some more of his titles. Hilariously this is actually turned into a game mechanic. Settra has a leveled attribute called "The Imperishable" that increases income for his faction. The description for each level consists of more and more of his grandiose titles.
Übermensch: Settra does not follow normal ethics, as he considers himself long past human morality (being one of the most successful, and accomplished and powerful rulers in the history of the Old World will do that to you), and holds himself to an extremely high standard when it comes to his own morals. It's one of the reasons why he's capable of committing horrible acts of depravity one second (such as sacrificing his children to the Gods), and awe-inspiring deeds of heroism (defying the Chaos Gods despite being offered everything) another.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: A more generous interpretation of his actions.
"...though he was a tyrannical ruler, Nehekhara entered into a golden age of prosperity like never before."
Worthy Opponent: Is one of the very few beings in existence that Nagash respects.
You Have Failed Me: A nonlethal example. He sponsored the founding of the Mortuary Cult, out of a desire to achieve immortal life after his death. When the Tomb Kings were revived by Nagash instead, and it turned out life-after-death was far from what was advertised, Settra banished Hierophant Khatep and stripped the Cult of much of its power in Khemri, charging the Grand Hierophant to make good on his Cult's promise of immortality before he could return to Nehekara.

Khalida

High Queen Khalida Neferher, Champion of Asaph

"By Asaph, I strike out for vengance and justice!"

"Since time out of mind, the vampire thralls of my warped cousin have blighted Nehekhara. Today, we burn out that blight. Hear me, O Asaph! This slaughter I offer in your name! Let your venom flow in the sacred staff, so that I may shatter your adversaries for all eternity!"

High Queen Khalida Neferher, the Warrior-Queen of Lybaras, was highly respected across all the lands of Nehekhara and adored by her subjects. Her intelligence, temper and bravery were as legendary as her beauty, as was her intense sense of honour and justice. Her reign was tragically short, cut down as she was in her prime. All of Nehekhara mourned her passing, for they knew she would have brought great glory to the empire.

As the embodiment of the Asp Goddess in full fury, a wave of pure terror rolls over all those who would dare to look upon her. With divine energy flowing through her limbs, Queen Khalida brings war and death to any who threaten her realm and the greater lands of Nehekhara. Venom runs in Khalida's veins, and she moves with the speed of a striking asp. Only when all her foes lie dead at her feet does she lead her legions back to Lybaras and sit upon her throne as Queen once more. However, though Khalida sleeps, her soul is troubled. Deep within the High Queen burns a loathing for those tainted by Nagash's vile sorcery, and only when she finally kills her treacherous cousin and her vile race, will she finally know true peace.

Khalida leads the Court of Lybaras sub-faction.

The Ace: Was seen as this among the Nehekharans in-universe, being a combination of all of their culture's best traits, a highly competent and benevolent queen, as well as an extremely skilled warrior. This reputation deservedly continues in unlife, as her immortality just lets her get better at these talents.
Action Girl: A rarity among the distinctly patriarchal Nehekharans, which goes to show just how respected she was.
Animal Motifs: Heavily associated with Snakes, fittingly enough as she's a worshiper of the asp goddess Asaph.
Ambiguously Bi: With a heavy dosage of Incest Subtext. The closest relationship of her life was with her cousin, Neferata, who she utterly idolized and loved, before Neferata turned into her Arch-Enemy. They would spend all of their time with each other, and send each other locks of their hair as "tokens of their affection". It should be noted this is far less ambiguous with her cousin, who's a straight-up Depraved Bisexual, was heavily implied to have lusted after Khalida and whose attack on her was framed as an Attempted Rape in all but name.
Arch-Enemy: To Neferata, the first vampire and leader of the Lahmian bloodline. Who also happens to be Khalida's cousin, not to mention her killer, and former best friend. And there were implications they were...more, adding a much more complicated layer to her hatred.
"Bring me Neferata's HEAD!"
Better to Die than Be Killed: She considered vampirism to be a Fate Worse than Death, which is why with her dying breath she begged Asaph to purify her, which she did by replacing her blood with poison. Safe to say, she considers being a mummy the much better option.
Bling of War: Not nearly as much as Settra, but Khalida wears ornate gold and Lapis armor, alongside a golden deathmask, painted with elegant colors.
Broken Faceplate: Her deathmask is cracked in half, revealing a portion of her decaying face.
The Champion: To her goddess, Asaph.
Cool Mask: Khalida sports a magnificent death mask of shining bronze which reproduces her face, hiding her withered one beneath.
Dark Action Girl: A more benevolent example than most, but she's still a female Knight Templar Mummy; deadset on enacting revenge by exterminating an entire group of people.
Dark Is Not Evil: Probably the straightest example in the faction. Khalida looks about as sinister as you'd expect an ancient walking corpse who worships a snake goddess associated with vengeance and poison. However she's also wholly well-intentioned and benevolent towards mortals. So long as they don't provoke her first, at any rate.
Dying as Yourself: While dying and about to be turned to a Vampire by her cousin. Khalida pleaded with Asaph to prevent her from becoming a Vampire. Asaph heard her prayer and purged the vampiric taint from Khalida's veins, by turning her blood into virulent poison, killing her almost instantly, much to the shock and sorrow of her cousin.
Fantastic Racism: Khalida really, really hates vampires, though with good reason — her cousin tried to forcibly turn her into a vampire.
Healing Factor: Due to the blessing of her Goddess, she possesses the regeneration of a Snake.
The High Queen: Even in death she's a noble and capable ruler. In life, under Khalida's rule, Lybaras became a bastion of learning and faith, with the citizens building the first and greatest animated statues and clockwork servants as well as utilizing airships for travel. While most Ushtabi are merely robotic emotionless slaves or parodies of past rulers or gods, Khalida's were as intelligent and eccentric as any court sycophant. Khalida's leading style was apparently that of a paladin; being a wise judge who lived according to a strict code of conduct and had at some point made a name for herself on the battlefield. Lore notes that while she is still technically subordinate to Settra (the High King of Nehekhara), the distance of Lybaras from Khemri, and its geographic isolation, means Khalida is the most independent of Settra's vassals. This, combined with her own power means that while she may not openly defy him (she's too smart for that), she can ignore, or at the very least avoid his decrees.
Hunter of Monsters: A well known and highly capable Vampire-Slayer. She seeks the Books to exterminate vampirism altogether by removing the source of the magic sustaining her hated foe. Khalida will not suffer a single vampire to live. Her main insurance against Van Helsing Hate Crimes is that most vampires in the Warhammer universe are genuinely evil and deserve to be destroyed. Regardless, her Mortal Empires objectives require that she destroys all vampiric factions in order to win both the short and long versions of the campaign.
Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Her purification from Asaph has made her very resistant towards all sorts of corruption, which she uses to cleanse her lands from the taint of either Vampires, Chaos or Skaven.
I Was Quite a Looker: She was famed for being very beautiful in life. Even in her undead state, due to her ornate funeral mask, she's still quite a bit more attractive than her peers... apart from the cracks on one side that show the rotting mummy face underneath, naturally.
Lady of War: A famed Warrior-Queen, who was known for her great skills in battle and her elegant femininity.
Living Weapon: Her staff, The Venom Staff, is less of a pole and more of a live snake, providing Khalida with poison attacks and anti-large.
Long-Range Fighter: While Khalida is a melee fighter, she encourages long-range combat in her army. All ranged units she commands get a large bonus to ammunition and several of her unique skills increase ranged damage, a carry-over from her Tabletop rules.
Meaningful Name: "Khalida" is an Arabic name meaning "immortal" or "everlasting".
The Paladin: A somewhat unorthodox one, but she is divinely empowered by the Goddess of Beauty, Magic, and Vengeance to seek out and destroy evil.
Poisonous Person: Not only is her blood venomous, she has a special spell that lets her expel a cloud of poison around her. Also all units in her army gain the Poisonous Attacks rule.
Pure Is Not Good: Downplayed. Khalida is quite benevolent by the standards of the setting, but she's still quite ruthless, and blinded by her hate for Vampirism. She's also a follower of Asaph, whose venom courses through her veins, "purifying" her so to speak.
Reasonable Authority Figure: A wise, benevolent and highly capable ruler by all accounts. Among the Tomb Kings, she's easily the least hostile and egotistical, which is brought into game mechanics as a bonus to diplomatic relations with other Tomb Kings, reflecting the widespread respect she commands as a ruler.
Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Averted. She's the nicest Tomb King by quite a bit.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Though she is most of the time a kind ruler, her Vortex Campaign has her begin in quite the sour mood, since she has found out about the location of vampires allied to Neferata in Lustria. And she's not going to let anything get in the way of her hunt.
The Sacred Darkness: She's blessed by Asaph, the Asp Goddess, but this actually makes her one of the more respected and benevolent Tomb Queens.
Serpent of Immortality: Has a heavy snake motif and her abilities and character are based on snakes as tools of purification and medicine. She even rides a massive, stone Colossus in the shape of a snake as her unique mount.
Vampire Hunter: Khalida is dedicated to hunting the vampires responsible for Lybaras' fall, and is stated to dearly hate them.

Khatep

Grand Hierophant Khatep, Lord of the Mortuary Cult

"I have failed him once in the search for Unlife, but I shall not fail again!"

"These followers of Nagash have woven a web of deceit designed to entrap me, like a tomb scorpion waiting beneath the sands for prey... but I am no quarry! Let these bestial fleshings come! They will witness sand and stone, they shall see true might of the Mortuary Cult; the true masters of Undeath, the liches of Khemri!"

Khatep, known as the Liche Lord, is the current Grand Hierophant of Khemri, and the religious head of the Mortuary Cult's hierarchical council. Khatep is the oldest and wisest of all the Liche Priest and the first member of their order to truly deny death's embrace, if not the ravages of time. He is ancient beyond memory, cadaverous and hunched over as if he carries the weight of epochs upon his shoulders.

Following the casting of Nagash's Great Ritual, civil war threatened to destroy Nehekhara. Khatep therefore took it upon himself to restore order. He broke the magical seals of the Great Pyramid of Khemri and awoke the greatest of the Tomb Kings — Settra. At the end of the mighty incantation Settra arose and smote any who opposed him. Before long all bowed their heads to Settra, and though he sat once more upon the throne of Khemri, his wrath was great. Settra was angry foremost with the Mortuary Cult, believing they had whispered lies about the extent of their powers. In his fury, he exiled Khatep from Khemri and forbade him to set foot within any of the great cities until such a time as he could fulfill the Mortuary Cult's ancient promise and reinstate the golden age of Nehekhara. Thus, Khatep wanders the deserts in search of scrolls, inscriptions and relics of power that he believes will restore his beloved kingdom to its former glory.

Khatep roams the Land of the Dead to this day, lending his aid to the Tomb Kings when he can. When King Dhekesh of Mahrak battled with the Lizardmen of the south, their ferocity proved too great for his skeletal legions. As reptilian soldiers smashed through ranks of skeletons, and towering war-statues were hewn by powerful magics, Mahrak stood on the brink of destruction. Then, through a whirling cloud of dust a single figure appeared and he intoned a single word that silenced the sorceries of the enemy. This stooped being then raised his copper staff, and across the battlefield the broken bones of thousands of skeletons were whole again. The Lizardmen found themselves surrounded and outnumbered, and the sands were soon awash in their blood. Before King Dhekesh could greet the mysterious stranger, he had vanished back into the dust-storm. This and a hundred other such tales have been attributed to Grand Hierophant Khatep, the Liche Lord of Khemri.

Khatep leads the Exiles of Nehek sub-faction.

Adaptational Badass: Unlike the tabletop, Khatep has access to a unique mount, a Casket of Souls, turning him into a pseudo-artillery powerhouse that's quite capable of killing hundreds of enemies without spending a single magic point.
The Archmage: One of the most powerful Liche Priests ever, second only to Nagash in that regard. He is a master of both the secret life-preserving art of mummification (the first Liche Priest to do so), as well as the Lore of Nehekhara.
The Atoner: His purpose in unlife is to find a way to reverse the curse of Undeath that plagues his people, and restore himself in the eyes of his beloved king.
Big Damn Heroes: In the lore he is noted to arrive at the nick of time to help beleaguered Tomb King Legions, turning the tide on his lonesome, before disappearing into a sand storm. He arrives in the final battle at the last second to assist his liege lord, Settra, in battling Nagash's minions lead by Arkhan.
Cool Sword: He wields a really large Khopesh-esque longsword.
The Drifter: Khatep doesn't stay in a single place for long, as he's wandering the world, seeking knowledge that can put an end to the Tomb Kings' curse of unlife. In between that, he's usually helping any Tomb King Legion that needs him. In the game proper, he find himself all the way in the Grim Up North of western Naggaroth, about as far away from Nehekhara as its physically possible to get in-game.
The Exile: Cast out by Settra for failing to deliver on his Cult's promised immortality alongside all of his followers; Khatep now wanders the world seeking a means to grant his king what he desires and earn his way back into his favour.
Foil: To Arkhan. Both of them are powerful mages still loyal to lost masters they seek to resurrect, one noble and the other evil. In Khatep's case, he did manage to bring back Settra but has been cast out because it Went Horribly Wrong and he wishes to rectify that error. In Arkhan's case, Nagash is physically destroyed and Arkhan is trying to restore his body.
Godzilla Threshold: In Arkhan's Vortex campaign, Khatep is among the Lords summoned by Settra in the final battle. Meaning that either Settra considers the threat dire enough to suspend his exile, or that Khatep choose to ignore it and returned to aid Nehekhara on his own.
High Priest: Of the Mortuary Cult.
Magic Staff: The Liche Staff, a copper staff inscribed with the names of all the gods and goddesses in the Nehekharan pantheon.
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: He is the most loyal of Settra's followers and took it upon himself to resurrect him to restore order to Nehekhara. Unfortuantely Settra wasn't happy with the Mortuary Cult and held Khatep responsible, exiling him until he could find a way to fulfil the cult's promises. During the End Times, Khatep defied Settra's decree to deliver a warning to his lord and Nehekhara and was summarily executed for it. Luckily, when does something similar to reinforce Settra in the final battle, Settra seemingly spares him.
The Older Immortal: He's the oldest and wisest of the technically alive Liche Priests, being the first of the order to attain Age Without Youth. This also makes him technically the oldest living human in the world by an enormous margin, though his pseudo-undeath has made him debatably less human.
Persona Non Grata: Settra made him this from Khemri for not delivering on the Mortuary Cult's promise to Settra of returning from death to immortality and bodies of living gold. That isn't going to change until he fixes their current condition — an Impossible Task, but one he's genuinely trying to accomplish.
Pest Controller: His unique kill sync has him spit out a horde of locust from his mouth to rip apart the poor sod he's fighting, before finishing him off with a stab to the gut.
Sand Blaster: Begin the game with the bound vortex spell "Sandstorm", which he can use three times (later upgraded to four) per battle.
Squishy Wizard: Especially compared to Arkhan, Khatep, despite being a master of the arcane arts, is quite vulnerable in combat. Even his mount option is an artillery piece, making him extremely unfit for melee combat.
Time Abyss: He's the single oldest "living" human (the term being used very loosely), and has been around since the golden days of his kingdom.
The Theocracy: Since he is the High Priest of the Mortuary Cult, the subfaction he leads qualifies as one.
Undying Loyalty: Literally, of course, but also one of the more incredible cases in the lore. Even though Settra exiled Khatep for incompetence and saddled him with the (probably impossible) task of restoring true life to the Tomb Kings, he remains a devoted follower to his king.

Arkhan

Arkhan the Black, the Liche King

"Nagash, your servant calls!"

"Come, loyal thralls! Today we do Nagash's work. This pathetic rabble of reptiles presume to master the arts of resurrection! Their pitiful knowledge of such matters will die with them, here before the statues of the gods!"

Arkhan the Black, known now and forever as the Liche King, was the first and most loyal of the evil Nagash's followers. Arkhan helped lead the coup which brought the arch-necromancer to power, and he was the first, after his lord, to imbibe the Elixir of Life. Arkhan was the most adept of Nagash's pupils in the study of dark sorcery, and he quickly rose to become the necromancer's trusted vizier and principal lieutenant. Arkhan led many armies against Nagash's enemies and was never defeated in open combat. In the end, however, the sheer numbers of the Priest Kings' soldiers forced Nagash to retreat. It was Arkhan who led the suicidal counter-attack that gave Nagash the opportunity to escape.

For over an hour Arkhan held back the Army of the Seven Kings through feats of martial prowess and powerful sorcery. Arkhan finally fell, not to a hero's sword, but to a single spear hurled by an unknown soldier. Arkhan stared in horror at the shaft protruding from his chest, knowing that it had pierced his heart. With his dying breath, he threatened that a terrible curse would befall any who touched his corpse, and with that, he slumped to the ground. Within seconds, dark flames had consumed Arkhan's flesh leaving behind only a blackened skeleton.

Whilst the rest of Nagash's followers were beheaded and burnt, none dared risk desecrating Arkhan's remains, and so they covered them under a cairn of stones instead. Nagash did not forget his most able lieutenant, and when he returned to wreak vengeance on Nehekhara, Arkhan was reborn as the Liche King — the first of Nagash's nine Dark Lords. These foul beings were the foremost of Nagash's captains, and they brought despair and destruction to his foes.

Arkhan leads the Followers of Nagash sub-faction, unique in that it is actually a hybrid of Tomb King and Vampire Count units.

Affably Evil: Arkhan himself is actually reasonably kind and honorable. He just happens to owe his Undying Loyalty to an Omnicidal Maniac and doesn't feel bad about doing his work.
Arch-Enemy: To Settra, as Nagash's chief lieutenant, with their factions being permanently at war. To put that into perspective, even the likes of Malekith and Tyrion are capable of engaging in diplomacy. Not Arkhan and Settra (albeit only in the Vortex Campaign).
Badass Bookworm: He may be a wizard, but that doesn't stop him from being able to chop down people in hand to hand, having been a renowned warrior in life. Furthermore, he's mystically strong enough that he can hold out against the entirety of Settra's legions thanks to the power of his dark sorcery, having forced a stalemate in battle over a dozen times.
Big Bad: Acts as this in the other Tomb Kings campaign, hellbent on resurrecting the foul Nagash.
British Teeth: In his lifetime, Arkhan had poor dental hygiene thanks to his addiction to the juseh root leaving his teeth blackened and splintered, earning him the Embarrassing Nickname "the Black". The prostitutes he hired would have him double the fee before even thinking about letting him have his way with them because of this. He's also the only Tomb King who speaks with a British accent.
Composite Character: Like Morathi, this Arkhan combines aspects from different editions. He uses his look from The End Times and Age of Sigmar, alongside going by the title of Mortarch but gets his flying chariot mount from older editions, instead of his trademark Abyssal Steed.
Cool Sword: The Tomb Blades of Arkhan, a cursed blade which in the lore turns his victims into skeleton, but in-game just lets him summon Skeleton Warriors.
Dark Is Evil: Unlike the Tomb Kings as a whole, Arkhan is every bit as sinister as he appears. Furthermore, while other Tomb Kings characters wear lighter colors such as white and gold with vivid paint accents, Arkhan wears dark purple.
The Dragon: To Nagash.
Dragon Their Feet: Arkhan’s master Nagash has been slain several times over the millenia, always leaving Arkhan to survive, flee and hide, then plan the first necromancer’s eventual return.
The Dreaded: Its comes with being the right hand man to one of the most terrifying beings in history. One of his Unique traits, "Right Hand of Nagash" causes a leadership debuff to all enemy armies just by being in the same region as him.
Embarrassing Nickname: Initially. When Arkhan was still mortal, he had poor dental hygiene and was addicted to chewing juseh root, causing his teeth to become blackened and splintered. Hence the mocking nickname "Arkhan the Black". After his resurrection as a powerful lich, it borders on The Magnificent.
Evil Brit: Arkhan stands out from the other Legendary Lords for being the only Tomb King who doesn't speak with a Khemrian accent. This further underlines how divorced he is from the rest of Nehekhara as well as indicating he isn't from the same line of rulers as the others.
Evil Sorcerer: As a servant of Nagash, this comes with the territory, and he's one of the most powerful magic users in the entire world.
Evil Tower of Ominousness: His stronghold, the Black Tower of Arkhan, where he experiments with magic and his fortress against his enemies. He's actually lost it at the start of his campaign, and should he reclaim it, he unlocks a special building.
Expy: His faction's ability to hire Vampire Count units harkens back to the original Undead faction from Warhammer Fantasy Battles, before it was split into the modern Vampire Counts and Tomb Kings. It also serves as a Call-Forward to The End Times, where the revived Nagash forcibly re-unites the disparate undead factions as the Undead Legion.
The Friend Nobody Likes: While the other Tomb Kings grudgingly tolerate Arkhan's presence in Nehekhara, it's clear that none of them are too fond of him, and trust him about as far as they could throw him. To reflect this on gameplay, whilst Arkhan enjoys decent diplomatic bonuses to Vampire Count factions, he suffers a massive -50 penalty to diplomatic relations with the other Tomb King factions, as well as permanently being at war with Khemri. Just to really drive the point home, a lord who defeats Arkhan in battle grants their faction +20 to diplomatic relations with all other Tomb Kings, just for successfully smacking him down.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Originally Arkhan was merely a wastrel from a minor noble family who earned the nickname "The Black" from his atrocious dental hygiene, and was best known for gambling and whore-mongering. Then he joined with Nagash and learned the art of Necromancy, and is unquestionably the most feared necromancer in the world outside of his master.
Fully-Embraced Fiend: Has shades of this.
Gameplay and Story Integration:
- As a servant of Nagash, Arkhan begins the Tomb Kings campaign already in possession of one of the Nine Books, which is what allows him to build recruitment structures for Vampire Count auxilaries. His forces are also immune to vampiric corruption, and have easier relations with the Vampire Counts themselves (who collectively served Nagash at one point).
- The orc warlord Azhag the Slaughterer possesses the Crown of Sorcery, which contains Nagash's soul. As a result, the Followers of Nagash and Bonerattlaz have a diplomatic bonus with each-other.
- Arkhan's faction has a unique variant of the Great Halls of Nagash landmark, found in Nagashizzar, which grants them +100 unit cap for the Vampire Count auxiliaries. It comes with alternate flavor text to match:
  Arkhan went into the chamber alone, to gaze upon the husk of Nagash...
The Hedonist: Arkhan was a member of a noble family when he was alive, but he was more interested in gambling, drugs, brawling and whore-mongering than ruling over his family's lands.
Magic Knight: While not to the same as someone like Malekith, Arkhan has very decent combat stats, having both high armor and good melee attack, which means unlike a lot of other magic lords, Arkhan does not need to be babysitted whilst in combat. He was famed as a strong warrior in life, after all.
Magic Staff: Wields the jewelled wand of his master, The Staff of Nagash itself. It gives him a lot of hefty buffs to his casting abilities. The weapon is actually required for a campaign victory.
Mechanically Unusual Class:
- As mentioned above, Arkhan can recruit Vampire Counts units, being one of the few Lords in the game who can field units from two races. This remains special even after the third game introduced an Enemy Exchange Program, as he can recruit these units without building an outpost in an allied Vampire Counts city.
- Unlike other Tomb King Lords, Arkhan begins the campaign with one of the Books of Nagash. However, he must complete an additional quest to reclaim Nagash's Staff after collecting four of the other books in order to unlock the final battle.
Mook Carryover: The Followers of Nagash are a hybrid faction that can recruit Vampire Counts units through a special building chain. Arkhan's character selection video shows him accompanied by Dire Wolves, Fell Bats and Crypt Ghouls, and in the game proper he can also recruit Hexwraiths.
Necromancer: Arkhan's command of the Lore of Undeath is second only to his master Nagash who created it. In his absence, Arkhan is the greatest master and practitioner of Necromancy in the world. He even outpaces Kemmler, putting the relatively younger man into a distant second.
Noble Top Enforcer: Downplayed, as he rightfully earns his Dark Is Evil status, but compared to his liege lord, Nagash, Arkhan is saintly, and out of all of his lieutenants, he is the most noble, displaying instances of honor, kindness, extreme loyalty, and even love.
Non-Entity General: Played with. Unlike other faction leaders, who ostensibly give speeches to their followers at the beginning of a campaign, Arkhan instead directly beseeches Nagash in a manner that highly suggests that he considers the player controlling him to be the Great Necromancer guiding his quest. On the other hand, one of his selection lines is "You are not Him!"
Our Liches Are Different: As an undead Evil Sorcerer, Arkhan is a classic lich. However, rather than a phylactery his "life force" is bound to his master Nagash. That Arkhan still persists despite the Great Necromancer's defeat is held as proof that Nagash is Only Mostly Dead, and so Arkhan is driven to find a way to completely resurrect his master.
Power Floats: His unlockable chariot floats just above the ground.
Pretender Diss: Arkhan may sometimes give one to the player, stating that even though s/he controls the actions of his faction, the player is NO Nagash.
Arkhan the Black: You are not HIM.
Production Throwback: In early editions of the tabletop game, there was only a single "Undead" army book, which was eventually split up into separate Vampire Counts and Tomb Kings army lists. By combining units from both Vampire Counts and Tomb Kings, Arkhan is a bit of an organizational throwback to the older unified Undead army lists.
Purple Is Powerful: Unlike the rest of the Tomb Kings, who favor lighter colors, Arkhan wears dark purple armor.
Seeks Another's Resurrection: His ultimate goal is to resurrect Nagash. Which he's in the beginning stages of at the end of his campaign.
Sequel Hook: Like several other epilogues in II, Arkhan's post-game text alludes to the presence of the greater daemon N'Kari, who is hinted to have manipulated the entire campaign for an unknown purpose.
Token Evil Teammate: He's loyal to Nagash the Necromancer, for which the rest of Nehekhara rightfully despises him, and he gets a bonus to diplomacy when interacting with the largely villainous Vampire Counts. This is interestingly inverted, however, when you compare Arkhan to Nagash himself and the necromancer's other followers.
Undying Loyalty: Quite literally, hah! Even with his master long vanquished Arkhan remains his loyal servant and labors to bring about his rebirth. Of course, the fact that Arkhan's very existence is tied to that of Nagash may have something to do with it.
Villain Protagonist: If you play as him. While none of the Tomb Kings are exactly heroic (with the exception of Khalida), Arkhan is hellbent on resurrecting one of the most evil beings in existence and will go to any lengths to achieve it.

Others

Nagash

Nagash, the Great Necromancer

Nagash, known by many names such as the Great Necromancer, the Great Betrayer, the Usurper, the Undying King, the Supreme Lord of Undeath or simply He Who Shall Not Be Named, is the ultimate personification of death and the undead, an ancient, evil being who sought to conquer this cruel, chaotic world and bring about an age of undeath that will rule for all eternity. Nagash is darkness and unreasoning hatred given form, the father and creator of foul Necromancy and lord of all Vampire-kind. His every actions and deeds is self-serving, his achievement horrific and loathsome, and his every whim are bent solely to ensure that no one shall ever deny nor challenge his right to rule ever again. This dark, evil being came close to ultimate domination, but for the sacrifice of an unsung hero, this world would've been lost millenia ago.

Abusive Precursors: He's long dead by the time the game starts, but he's directly responsible for the destruction of Nehekhara, the rise of the Tomb Kings (whom he had intended to be mindless slaves), and the very existence of necromancy and vampirism (the latter originating as a flawed reverse-engineering of Nagash's experiments into creating an elixir of youth).
The Archmage: Arguably the most powerful wizard to have ever lived.
The Cameo: He briefly appears at the end of the Vampire Coast campaign, to offer Captain Harkon a place at his side as his Mortarch, in the fast approaching End Times.
Demonic Possession: A part of his soul resides in the Crown of Sorcery, which is currently worn by orc Azhag the Slaughterer. Nagash constantly attempts to take full control of Azhag, but the orc manages to resist Nagash every time. Nagash only succeeds in briefly controlling Azhag at times.
The Dreaded: After the Chaos Gods, Nagash is probably one of the most feared and powerful beings in the setting. Centuries after his death he is only spoken about in hushed whispers, and one of the only times the Skaven truly united was to try and kill him (and when that failed to stick, they put as much distance between him and them as they could).
Early-Bird Cameo: Nagash has technically been in the series as early as Game 1, being the disembodied whispers Azhag is constantly arguing with.
Evil Versus Evil: He makes it clear to Harkon, he will oppose the power of the Chaos Gods and save the world...but knowing Nagash he only wants to save it so he can dominate it himself!
Evil Sorcerer: The evil wizard of the Warhammer Fantasy universe, having been the inventor of necromancy (which vampirism is derived from), attempted to eradicate all life in Nehekhara to make it into its own empire of undeath (he succeeded at the "kill everyone and raise them from the dead" part, not the "bind them my will" one) and ambitions of godhood.
Godhood Seeker: His ultimate ambition is to become a god, or at least as close to one as to make no difference. Having invented necromancy and became a powerful liche to prolong his life infinitely, his Evil Plan is to kill the entire world and raise the dead as his loyal minions, thus starving Chaos of worship and leaving him as the only supreme being around.
Greater-Scope Villain: Nagash has been dead for millenia by the time that the game takes place, but his influence continues to linger. He created the entire discipline of Necromancy, sewed the seeds that led to the creation of vampires, and he even has some limited action on world events (unwillingly through Azhag, willingly through Arkhan and his followers). In the Tomb Kings campaign he acts through his lieutenant, Arkhan, without making a direct appearance.
Green-Eyed Monster: Nagash started his journey to villainy because his younger brother Thutep was made king instead of him (firstborn sons became priests in those days). His first act upon inventing necromancy and usurping Thutep was to brick him up inside his tomb and then take Thutep's queen for himself until he got bored and murdered her.
Haunted Castle: Nagashizzar (literally "The Glory of Nagash") is a warpstone-rich mountain that the Usurper King hollowed out and transformed into a vast fortress in the centuries following his exile from Nehekhara. According to its unique landmark, Nagash's physical remains can still be found there, slumped on his throne millennia after his "death", and its mere presence places an overwhelming +50 Vampiric Corruption upon the region.
Joker Immunity: Nagash has been killed three times in the past, (first by the combined armies of Nehekhara and inconvenient sunlight, the second time by the last mortal king of Nehekhara at the cusp of Nagash's ultimate victory, and the third time by Sigmar Heldenhammer during an invasion of the fledgling Empire) and every time he manages to come back to terrorize the mortal realm. He is already seen exerting a bit of influence over Azhag, and it's safe to assume that one of the first things Arkhan would do should he be victorious is resurrect Nagash.
Lack of Empathy: Even as a human Nagash had an astonishing lack of empathy and respect for anyone but himself, one example of this being how he murdered his brother by entombing him alive. He also gleefully has his followers fight among themselves so he can see who's stronger, bankrupted Nehekhara to build the Black Pyramid and then destroyed his people for spite and personal gain.
Laser-Guided Karma: Is on the end of this after a Tomb King victory; Settra makes his brother the new Lord of the Black Pyramid, which happily accepts him. In other words, Nagash is once again inferior to his brother.
The Man Behind the Man: He is this to many of the most powerful practitioners of Necromancy, such as Kemmler and Mannfred.
Murder the Hypotenuse: One of the two reasons Nagash had his brother Thutep murdered was because he wanted Thutep's wife.
Necromancer: The inventor of necromancy, in fact.
No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Nagash is suspiciously similar to the real life pharaoh Akhenaten. Both were son who were passed over but ultimately ended up as ruler, upended the state religion, and ordered a massive construction project in support of the new one. Also, the pharaohs of Egypt attempted to erase all traces of Akhenaten and his new religion, even going so far as to only refer to him in historical records as "the enemy", which is almost exactly what the Priest Kings of Nehekara did once Nagash was defeated.
Not Quite Dead: As revealed in the Tomb Kings ending, Nagash is not dead, but simply missing, with no one aware of where he actually is.
- He finally appears fully resurrected at the end of the Vampire Coast campaign, very much alive, and beginning the process of rebuilding his legions, gathering his Mortarchs to wage war against Chaos in the coming apocalypse.
Omnicidal Maniac: When he was alive, his ultimate goal was to destroy and reanimate every single living thing so that his would be the only will in existence. Even in death he's still plotting to make that a reality.
Predecessor Villain: To the Vampire Counts, whose forebears were turned into Vampires by a flawed version of his immortality elixir; all modern-day Necromancers, as he created the Magical Lore they practice and his writings documenting it were the basis for its modern interpretation; and even to the Tomb Kings themselves, who were initially resurrected by Nagash to be his servants after he had succeeded in wiping out Nehekhara, but gained free will after the necromancer was abruptly interrupted and slain before he could complete the ritual.
Pyramid Power: The Black Pyramid of Nagash, which lies just outside of Khemri. Rather than a mere tomb, the Black Pyramid is an immense, supernatural energy collector designed to draw the winds of magic to Nehekara (which otherwise lies too far to the south to facilitate tremendous acts of magic). It stirs due to the Vortex's reaction to the Twin-Tailed Comet, prompting the various Tomb Kings to pursue its currently vulnerable secrets. It is also the basis of a battlefield, and is capable of floating under its own power to serve as a mobile fortress.
Tome of Eldritch Lore: The original writings about necromancy, the Nine Books of Nagash, are key items in the Tomb Kings campaign. Normally, all nine are needed to access the Black Pyramid, but due to the Twin-Tailed Comet and its effect on the Vortex, only five are currently required.
Try to Fit That on a Business Card: Nagash the Great Necromancer, The Undying King, and Supreme Lord of Undeath. Also known as The Usurper and He Who Shall Not Be Named by his enemies.
Villainous Legacy: He invented Necromancy as an art and wrote books on the subject which are still used to learn about it today; his recipe for an elixir that granted the drinker immortality led to the creation of the first Vampire Counts after Neferata tried to recreate it, but botched the execution; the Tomb Kings as a whole are only active because Nagash tried unsuccessfully to resurrect them as his servants after destroying Nehekhara; and in spite of his death, he left behind plenty of followers to carry on his work in his name and see to his resurrection. Nagash may be gone, but his presence is still keenly felt... and now's he's returned.
Zombify the Living: He did this to the people of Nehekhara after poisoning the water supply, but the Nehekharans maintained their personality and free will as he was killed for the first time before he could complete the necromantic ritual.

Priest Nerutep

Nerutep, Liche-Priest

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/settra_does_not_serve_total_war_warhammer_2___tomb_kings_campaign___settra_1___youtube___2018_01_31_000505.png

"Sire, your forces dominate, thanks to your greatness!"

The Liche-Priest who assists in deciphering Nagash's nine black books, and assists the player on the campaign.

Canon Character All Along: As revealed in the Tomb Kings epilogue, he's actually Thutep, Nagash's younger brother, who was entombed alive by the Necromancer in a coup.
Continuity Snarl: Within the same game no less! Thutep also appears as one of the Legendary Tomb King Lords recuitable from the tech tree, with the flavor text explicitly mentioning his father King Khetep and his short reign. Yet he also appears as Lich Priest Nerutep at the same time, meaning either developer error or Thutep is following multiple careers in his un life and under different names....
Enigmatic Minion: He apparently has his own motives for gaining control of the Black Pyramid. Largely, it's to pull one over on his brother.
Inexplicably Awesome: To become a Liche Priest, one must be an incredibly skilled mage and know how to self-mummify. Thutep apparently did this to himself without much foreknowledge after Nagash threw him in his own tomb.
Mission Control: Gives the player missions to perform, other general information, and directs the player to find the Black Books.
Unexplained Recovery: It is never revealed how he managed to escape entrapment after being sealed inside his tomb by his brother, nor how he turned himself into a Liche Priest.
Walking Spoiler: It's hard to talk about him without giving away a twist.
Wham Line: "Of course you don't — a creation of Nagash, you know who I really am."

Characters / Total War: Warhammer - The Tomb Kings

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Legendary Lords

Settra the Imperishable, High King of Nehekhara

High Queen Khalida Neferher, Champion of Asaph

Grand Hierophant Khatep, Lord of the Mortuary Cult

Arkhan the Black, the Liche King

Others

Nagash, the Great Necromancer

Nerutep, Liche-Priest

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Characters / Total War: Warhammer - The Tomb Kings

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Click here to return to the main character page

Legendary Lords

Settra the Imperishable, High King of Nehekhara

High Queen Khalida Neferher, Champion of Asaph

Grand Hierophant Khatep, Lord of the Mortuary Cult

Arkhan the Black, the Liche King

Others

Nagash, the Great Necromancer

Nerutep, Liche-Priest

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Index

Next