History Literature / Drachenfels

That's just the ''prologue''. Twenty five years later, Detlef Sierck, the Empire's greatest playwright, is rescued from debtor's prison by the Crown Prince Oswald. Oswald, the aforementioned brave prince, has a simple proposition for Detlef: he wants to produce a play about his defeat of the Great Enchanter Drachenfels, and he wants Detlef to write and star in it. The original band who travelled with Oswald are reunited for the play's premiere, a one-time performance staged in the very walls of Drachenfels' abandoned fortress, attended by all the nobility of the Empire. WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong

''Drachenfels'' is a ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' novel by Creator/KimNewman under his Jack Yeovil pen name, first published back in 1989. It occupies a bizarre place in the Warhammer canon, suffering from a huge, setting-wide case of CharacterizationMarchesOn. Constant Drachenfels hasn't been mentioned in the background for years, having long since been displaced by Nagash the Black as the setting's necromantic BigBad. Details like goblins being willing to work for humans and vampires mingling relatively openly in Imperial society will look like massive errors to anyone who got into the fandom any time after the early nineties. Thing is, people ''really'' like it, so Creator/GamesWorkshop keep it in print and other authors give it {{Shout Out}}s on a regular basis.

** Castle Drachenfels [[spoiler:(long after Constant Drachenfels' death)]] also shows up in VideoGame/TheEndTimesVermintide as a DLC area, now infested with Skaven.
* CanonWelding[=/=]AlternateUniverse: Alternate versions of Genevieve are a main character in the ''Literature/AnnoDracula'' series, and a secondary character in the ''Literature/DiogenesClub'' series. The ''Diogenes'' universe also has a version of Drachenfels himself, although Constant Drache is drastically less powerful than his counterpart, simply being a crazed architect with a fondness for AlienGeometries. Elder Seth, the BigBad of ''Literature/DarkFuture'' is also an alternate Drachenfels, as revealed in ''Krokodil Tears''.
* ContinuitySnarl: The later stories name drop ''Literature/GotrekAndFelix'' as contemporary heroes and ''Beasts in Velvet'' follows up on plot threads from ''Skavenslayer'', but this series is treated as having happened before Felix's lifetime there.

* EyeScream: All the people who die on the way to Castle Drachenfels have their eyes removed... [[spoiler:and then Laszlo Lowenstein ''eats'' them]].

* ModestRoyalty: Emperor Karl Franz.

* PrimaDonnaDirector: Detlef.

* RichBitch: Lily Nissen.

** Castle Drachenfels [[spoiler:(long after Constant Drachenfels' death)]] also shows up in VideoGame/WarhammerEndTimesVermintide as a DLC area, now infested with Skaven.

** The creepy actor brought in to take the role of Drachenfels is named Laszlo Lowenstein, the birth name of PeterLorre.

* CanonWelding[=/=]AlternateUniverse: Alternate versions of Genevieve are a main character in the ''Literature/AnnoDracula'' series, and a secondary character in the ''Literature/DiogenesClub'' series. The ''Diogenes'' universe also has a version of Drachenfels himself, although Constant Drache is drastically less powerful than his counterpart, simply being a crazed architect with a fondness for AlienGeometries.

* CanonWelding[=/=]AlternateUniverse: Alternate versions of Genevieve are the main character in ''Literature/AnnoDracula'' and a secondary character in ''Literature/DiogenesClub''. The ''Diogenes'' universe also has a version of Drachenfels himself, although Constant Drache is drastically less powerful than his counterpart, simply being a crazed architect with a fondness for AlienGeometries.

* DwindlingParty: twice, for different reasons
* ExpositionOfImmortality: ''Drachenfels'' has this a couple of times, between Genevieve and the eponymous villain. Drachenfels himself has his immense age pointed early on; the adventurers reminding themselves that he was around when Sigmar Heldenhammer was still alive, a least two thousand years ago and coming across the remains of his infamous [[AndIMustScream Poison Feast]] in which an ancestor of Oswald's was a victim.
* EyeScream: All the people who die on the way to Castle Drachenfels have their eyes removed...[[spoiler:and then Laszlo Lowenstein ''eats'' them]].

* {{Troperiffic}}: Again... Creator/KimNewman novel.

** As of the End-Times books they seem to be totally back in continuity (at least in BroadStrokes), with a resurrected (although amnesiac) Drahenfels serving as one of Nagash's generals against the Hordes of Chaos. He's ultimately destroyed by holy power in the last book, but it's not like it's the first time. An unidentified vampire heavily hinted to be Genevieve also pops up a few times to give the heroes significant intelligence.

That's just the ''prologue''. Twenty five years later, Detlef Sierck, the Empire's greatest playwright, is rescued from debtor's prison by the Crown Prince Oswald. Oswald, the aforementioned brave prince, has a simple proposition for Detlef: he wants to produce a play about his defeat of the Great Enchanter Drachenfels, and he wants Detlef to write and star in it. The original band who travelled with Oswald are reunited for the play's premiere, a one-time performance staged in the very walls of Drachenfels' abandoned fortress, attended by all the nobility of the Empire. WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong!

A RagtagBunchOfMisfits travel to the HauntedCastle of the EvilOverlord, Constant Drachenfels. One by one they fall to his minions and his {{Death Trap}}s, until only the [[PrinceCharming brave prince]] remains to fight the sorcerer and vanquish him at last.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The Emperor Karl Franz. He isn't the griffon riding {{Badass}} of later versions of Warhammer (mostly on account of being considerably younger in this book) but he seems like a humane and capable individual.

** Genevieve Sandrine [[InterViewWithTheVampire Du Pointe du Lac]] Dieudonné.

** As of the Nagash End-Times books they seem to be totally back in continuity, with a resurrected (although amnesiac) Drahenfels serving as one of Nagash's generals against the Hordes of Chaos. He's ultimately destroyed by holy power in the last book, but it's not like it's the first time...

** As of the Nagash End-Times books they seem to be totally back in continuity, with a resurrected (although amnesiac) Drahenfels serving as one of Nagash's generals against the Hordes of Chaos.

A RagtagBunchOfMisfits travel to the HauntedCastle of the EvilOverlord, Constant Drachenfels. They fall to his minions and his {{Death Trap}}s one by one until only the [[PrinceCharming brave prince]] remains to fight the sorcerer and vanquish him at last.

That's the prologue. Twenty five years later, Detlef Sierck, the Empire's greatest playwright, is rescued from debtor's jail by the Crown Prince Oswald. Oswald has a proposition for him: he wants to produce a play about his defeat of the Great Enchanter Drachenfels, and he wants Detlef to write and star in it. The original band who travelled with Oswald are reunited for the play's premiere, a one-time performance staged in the very walls of Drachenfels' abandoned fortress, attended by all the nobility of the Empire. WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong

''Drachenfels'' is a TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} novel by Creator/KimNewman under his Jack Yeovil pen name, first published back in 1989. It occupies a bizarre place in the Warhammer canon, suffering from a huge, setting-wide case of CharacterizationMarchesOn. Constant Drachenfels hasn't been mentioned in the background for years, having long since been displaced by Nagash the Black as the setting's necromantic BigBad. Details like goblins being willing to work for humans and vampires mingling relatively openly in Imperial society will look like massive errors to anyone who got into the fandom any time after the early nineties. Thing is, people ''really'' like it, so GamesWorkshop keep it in print and other authors give it {{Shout Out}}s on a regular basis.

''Drachenfels'' is a TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} novel by KimNewman under his Jack Yeovil pen name, first published back in 1989. It occupies a bizarre place in the Warhammer canon, suffering from a huge, setting-wide case of CharacterizationMarchesOn. Constant Drachenfels hasn't been mentioned in the background for years, having long since been displaced by Nagash the Black as the setting's necromantic BigBad. Details like goblins being willing to work for humans and vampires mingling relatively openly in Imperial society will look like massive errors to anyone who got into the fandom any time after the early nineties. Thing is, people ''really'' like it, so GamesWorkshop keep it in print and other authors give it {{Shout Out}}s on a regular basis.

* ShoutOut: It's a KimNewman novel, people. Don't make a drinking game of them unless you want to wake up having your stomach pumped.

* {{Troperiffic}}: Again...KimNewman novel.

''Drachenfels'' is a {{Warhammer}} novel by KimNewman under his Jack Yeovil pen name, first published back in 1989. It occupies a bizarre place in the Warhammer canon, suffering from a huge, setting-wide case of CharacterizationMarchesOn. Constant Drachenfels hasn't been mentioned in the background for years, having long since been displaced by Nagash the Black as the setting's necromantic BigBad. Details like goblins being willing to work for humans and vampires mingling relatively openly in Imperial society will look like massive errors to anyone who got into the fandom any time after the early nineties. Thing is, people ''really'' like it, so GamesWorkshop keep it in print and other authors give it {{Shout Out}}s on a regular basis.