Vladiyad Draculesti

Lord Vladiyad Armand Draculea I is an elder vampyre. He is best known for being the founding father of the House of Draculea as well as being Alucard Draculea's maternal great grandfather. He is also the first and current Dark Lord.

Lord Draculea is very proud and arrogant. Though he prices ruthlessness above all traits and disregards mercy and compassion, he is still rationable and will only engage in combat when utterly necessary. He will not waste his time on foes he does not consider worthy of his might.

Early Life
The origins of the vampyric race remain a mystery and thus information about Vladiyad Draculea's early life and age is non-existent. Though he claims to be older than time itself, the first accounts of his existence date back to the early Second Age, around the time of Lord Lowerniel Vergidiyad Drakan's arrival to Gielinor. Draculea is said to have been one of the earliest vampyre settlers, together with his then-wife Vermilla, his daughter Demetria, his granddaughter Claudia, and his great grandson Alucard.

Second Age
While not fully inclined to do so at first, Draculea allied himself with Zaros. This turned out to be very beneficial for him and his family; granting them their own castle overlooking the woods of Kharyrll after a rather quick and well-planned climb through the Zarosian ranks. Eventually the god turned his attention towards the war with the Kharidian Empire in the south. Draculea, who by now had become quite an influential and powerful figure, took the oportunity and began scheming plans of his own.

Here showing an excerpt from a set of documents written in Draculea's hand, kindly donated to the Library of Varrock by an anonymous adventurer;

"17 Bennath, year 1103 of the Age of Zaros

''My Lord, thou growest restless by the hour as war stirs in the south. One doth not dare to think what hardship thou must endure, for one knows even a god doth weep. What would thou say if, when these times of hardship hath gone, thy land was no longer thine to rule? One begs of thee, do not blame he who walks in the shadow of death for these traitorous thoughts, for they art not only his; one knoweth of one other child of the night than himself who would usurp the power of his Lord should the tide turn. Thine enemies art closer than what is beknownst to thee. One hath foreseen what thou feareth; the dawn of a new empire by the will of thy kinsman. And one promises thee, when that day cometh, one will make haste to seize what hath been rightfully his. Until then, one shall venture into the darkness of Daemonheim and obtain the power to successfully see his treachery through.''"

This hints towards Draculea having foreseen the fall of Zaros by the hand of Zamorak. It is also believed that this might suggest similar ambitions by Lord Drakan as early as the mid Second Age.

However, should this be correct, it could with much probability have been Draculea, not Drakan, who invaded the Hallowlands in the Third Age. But as the history books read, that's not quite what happened. Nonetheless, Draculea and the members of his family did indeed grow very powerful by the end of the Second Age and the power mentioned in the excerpt above is believed to be a reference to an event that would take place in the early Third Age.

Third Age
As Draculea is thought to have foreseen, Zaros fell. Gielinor was thrown into chaos and those who did not swear fealty to Zamorak were persecuted. There are not many sources of information on what befell Draculea during this time, but it is said that he abandoned his search in Daeomheim and sided with Zamorak to stay amongst the living. Hoping to gain access to Hallowvale through the alliance with Zamorak, he soon realised Drakan had been allowed to lead the invasion in his stead. This enfuriated Draculea beyond reason and his hunger for power grew even stronger, leading him to speed up his search within Daemonheim. He chose to lay low until Zamorak turned his attention to the Godsword and waited until Lord Drakan invaded Hallowvale, then he returned to Daemonheim.

The Curse of Darkness
After centuries of searching, Draculea finally found the power he had sought to obtain and claimed the title of Dark Lord. The abilities attributed to the mastery of the darkness were said to be far greater than even that of the Dragonkin. Draculea, believing this, sought to overthrow Lord Drakan and claim the land now known as Morytania as his own. But the costs were far greater than he had imagined; the powers of darkness being an unforgiving curse – strong enough to force him to cut out his heart and leave it behind in a chest as payment. It is said that the one who finds Lord Draculea's cursed heart and stabs it will ultimately kill him but be cursed themselves – there must always be a Dark Lord.

Ensealment
Still weak from the ritual he had undergone, Lord Draculea slowly made his way up to the surface. Shortly after, while making his way back to his castle in Kharyrll, he was overpowered by Saradominist forces who instantly proceeded to execute him with silver weaponry. This, however, failed – due to him no longer being a simple vampyre. The priests of Saradomin realised this and returned him to Daemonheim and placed him in a silver coffin. With the energies of an imminent solar eclipse they sealed Lord Draculea and his coffin away, hoping it would be enough to keep the corrupted creature away for ages to come. And it was, for many a thousand years.

Fifth Age
It was not until the year 169 of the Fifth Age, when a strange power was released from within Daemonheim, that the seal broke and Lord Draculea emerged, greatly aged and weakened. He learned that his wife, daughter and granddaughter had been executed during the God Wars – by the very Saradominists who had sealed him away.

Driven by grief and hatred towards the gods he vowed to avenge the deaths of his loved ones with all the powers of darkness. After receiving word from Morytania that his great-grandson Alucard had survived and ensured the continuity of the Draculean bloodline, Lord Draculea descended from the Daemonheim peninsula. With the little power he has left he is to this day searching for a candidate to the new Dark Lord, one who will release him from his cursed existence and inherit his true power, his burning hatred and wish for bloody revenge.