Brief History

Lady Erzsébet Báthory was a Hungarian countess that was accused of torturing and killing hundreds of innocent girls and women between 1590 and 1610. While she didn't go to prison she was imprisoned in her own castle, Castle Čachtice. She was said to have bathed in the blood of her victims and is frequently fictionalized as a vampire and connected with Dracula who based on Vlad the Impaler, the Voivode of Wallachia. After her death it's said that it was forbidden to mention the her name.

Fictionalization

In one account Dracula encountered Elizabeth Bathory the Blood Countess and sought to make her his vampiric servant. However, Bathory's practice of bathing in blood made her immune to him, and she porposed an alliance with him instead. Elizabeth then betrayed Dracula by placing garlic on his coffin. Dracula turned into mist to escape and in retaliation, he turned Bathory's journals to authorities. Bathory was arrested and was placed in confinement within her own castle. Dracula confronted her and drained her blood, aging her to death in seconds.

Big Dog Ink

Ursa Minor

Naomi meets Lady Bathory for the first time in hundreds of years.

Graphic India

Empire of Blood

An alternative history version of the British Empire is ruled over by "The Blood Queen". She is impervious to illness and injury, thanks to a serum called Aqua Vitae.

Night Phoenix Press

Origin

After her infamous imprisonment in Csejte Castle, Countess Elizabeth Báthory, known as the Blood Countess, languished in isolation. Her once luxurious life, filled with power and terror, had been reduced to a dark, cold cell where she was left to die. However, her legend had not been forgotten, and it attracted the attention of one of the most powerful and feared beings in existence: Count Dracula.

Dracula, the Vampire Lord, had long been aware of Báthory’s horrific deeds. Her sadistic pleasure in bathing in the blood of young women had sparked rumors that she was not entirely human, that perhaps she had already tasted the dark gift of vampirism. Intrigued by her legacy and sensing her potential, Dracula decided to visit her.

One stormy night, as the wind howled and the castle walls creaked under the pressure of the elements, Dracula appeared outside the window of Báthory’s room, that had been converted into a cell. He spoke to her, convincing her to let him enter. She was excited to find out what manner of man was this, as no books had been written about him only myths and word of mouth. He did not enter through the door but materialized from the shadows, a tall and imposing figure with eyes that glowed red with ancient power. Báthory, weakened but unbroken, looked up at him with a mix of fear and curiosity.

Dracula spoke to her in a voice that was both mesmerizing and terrifying, offering her a chance to escape her mortal coil and the suffering it brought. He praised her for her cruelty and her thirst for blood, qualities that he valued in his own kind. He told her that her imprisonment need not be the end, but rather a new beginning. If she joined him, she would gain eternal life, unimaginable power, and the freedom to continue her bloody legacy on a far grander scale; to be what she wanted to be.

Desperate to escape the grim fate that awaited her and enticed by the promise of eternal life and with it eternal youth, Báthory accepted Dracula’s offer. Within a blink of an eye, he sunk his fangs into her. Unlike other younger vampires, that's all it took to Báthory into a vampire, awakening within her a new kind of hunger, far more powerful than anything she had ever known. The transformation was painful, but it also brought with it a resurgence of vitality and strength that Báthory had not felt in years.

Once the transformation was complete, Dracula introduced Báthory to his coven, a group known as "The Sisters," three vampire women who had been with him for centuries. These women were powerful, cunning, and loyal to Dracula, and they welcomed Báthory as one of their own. The Blood Countess, now an immortal being, became an integral part of their coven.

Together, they traveled across Europe, leaving a trail of blood and terror in their wake. Báthory, once confined to her castle, now roamed freely, indulging in her thirst for blood without fear of retribution. She learned to harness her new vampiric abilities, becoming even more formidable than she had been as a mortal. The Sisters taught her the art of seduction, manipulation, and the darker aspects of vampiric magic, further enhancing her power.

Under Dracula's guidance, Báthory refined her methods of torture and bloodletting, taking pleasure in the hunt and the exquisite agony of her victims. The coven became notorious, their names whispered in fear throughout the lands they passed through. Dracula, Báthory, and The Sisters formed an unholy alliance, bound by their shared love of blood and power.

For centuries, they continued their reign of terror, becoming legends in their own right. Báthory’s name, once associated with the grim tales of her mortal life, now became synonymous with the supernatural horrors that plagued the night. She had become more than just the Blood Countess; she was a true creature of the night, a vampire who would forever be remembered as one of the most terrifying figures in history.

After centuries of terrorizing Europe, Count Dracula, Countess Elizabeth Báthory, and The Sisters set their sights on America, drawn by the promise of new hunting grounds and the anonymity offered by the growing cities. They first settled in Los Angeles, blending seamlessly into the glitzy, decadent underworld of Hollywood. There, they preyed on the city's elite, reveling in the hedonism and corruption that mirrored their own dark desires. As the decades passed, they relocated to New York, where the nightlife and endless flow of fresh blood kept them sated and hidden among the shadows of the city's towering skyscrapers. However, their attention was soon drawn to Chicago, where whispers of a powerful ward had driven out all vampires, making the city a no-go zone for their kind. Intrigued and enraged by the audacity of mortals to defy them, Dracula used his ancient magic to unravel the ward pact that protected Chicago, nullifying the powerful barrier that had kept them out. With the ward shattered, they, united with several others placed under her control (see Knights of Elizabeth Bathory) and descended upon Chicago with a thirst for revenge, determined to reclaim the city and remind the world that no place could ever be safe from their wrath.

Powers and Abilities

Bathory has powers similar to Dracula: superhuman strength, speed, hypnotic gaze, shapeshifting (into a bat, wolf or mist), the ability to command nocturnal creatures and mainly her immortality and regeneration making her nearly impossible to kill by conventional means. When paired with Dracula, and spinning as one, their combined power creates a tornado of fire, a devastating elemental attack that combines their dark magic and mystical prowess, wreaking havoc on anyone caught in its path. This fiery tornado is not only a physical threat but also a magical one, capable of destroying wards, barriers, and other supernatural defenses.

Martial arts mastery peeked her interest and she has trained in various disciplines, but her favorite is bladed weapons, already having some training with a blackened rapier, she is proficient with it and the samurai sword, learning Kenjutsu from Dracula. While she is almost unbeatable with a sword, she discovered Kali, particularly the knife fighting portion, and took to it immediately. She is a master at it, making her unshakeable when it comes to close quarter combat, with sticks, hand to hand or any of her many daggers and knives.

As a vampire she is a magic adept and now all her magic works, blood magic being her most skilled discipline. Like Dracula she has a "Nightmare Mod" magi-tech enhancement that significantly mitigates some of the traditional vampire weaknesses. She can summon spirits, control the undead, cast powerful curses and spells and has a magic blast that mimics telekinesis. She also makes powerful charms, amulets and enchant weapons.

In any form of combat, physical or mystical Bathory's skill level and abilities make her a deadly foe on par with Dracula himself.

Major Story Arcs

In Victor Locke Demon Hunter #1 - Dinner is Served Bathory had come to Chicago with Dracula, after Chicago's Vampire Alliance was destroyed along with many other vampires in the city, she sought to aid Dracula as he sought revenge on forced out the city's vampire population. They are seen rededicating themselves to their goals of revenge. These pages were later moved to an updated version of Decoy #1 - Secrets and Sanity which is considered the canon version, though technically this was all happening at the same time.

Readers see them actually coming to the city in CurseRisen #1 - Communion of the Fallen Part 1 but only in the form of bats.

In Victor Locke Demon Hunter: Demon Noir #1 she is seen with Dracula as they use pages from a demonic spell book called the The Sefer Hhoshekh a.k.a "The Demon Noir" to invoke a Grigori.

Dracula carves a bloody path through Chicago calling out those involved in the vampire expulsion. This is slightly retconned as their vengeance starts in CurseRisen #2 - Communion of the Fallen Part 2 as opposed to Hexcraft Mechanics #1 or Demon Noir. These are still canon, but come after the events of CurseRisen COTF issue 2.