The Vampire Coast is the next faction to feature in Total War: Warhammer 2. The new playable faction is set to be added to the game with the launch of Curse of the Vampire Coast, an upcoming DLC released earlier this month by Creative Assembly. The new faction features four new lords; Luthor Harkon, Count Noctilus, Aranessa Saltspite, and Cylostra Direfin. Of those four, Direfin is particularly interesting, as she is the first completely original character to feature as a lord in the Total War: Warhammer franchise. Now, Creative Assembly have released “The Siren of the Storm“; a new work of fiction about the spectral singer.
The Siren of the Storm: A Tale of the Vampire Coast Lord Cylostra Direfin
Cylostra Direfin is unique among all of the Legendary Lords of Total War: Warhammer 2. Not only is she the first lord not based on an existing canonical character from the Warhammer Fantasy universe, but she is also the first Lord to be a ghost. She is the spectre of a Bretonnian singer whose ship was sunk during a great storm on its way to Ulthuan. Such was Cylostra’s fury at her situation that she returned from death as a ghost. The new “The Siren of the Storm” tale relates that story as told by a sailor. He and his companions have come across Cylostra’s ship, The Lamprey, seemingly abandoned in open water.
Upon realising whose ship it is, the pirate tells the terrible tale to his companions. Of course, it’s already too late for them; “she was there appearing through a sphere of frozen water that quickly lost its shape,” reads the tale, as Madame Cylostra makes her appearance; “splashing onto the deck. A large ethereal presence hovered before the raiders. Even in death she looked gluttonous and imposing, carrying a staff topped with a small mirror in one hand and a flabellum with a razor’s edge in the other.”
The tale gives fans an excellent sense of Cylostra’s backstory and personality. She will be the Vampire Coast’s most magic-oriented character, with access to the faction’s new Lore of Magic; the Lore of the Deep. Curse of the Vampire Coast will launch in early November.