The Jesters' original squad was recruited from the undead guard protecting the estate. Ebon let U'bognthaotur choose his players freely, but strictly limited the number of higher undead withdrawn from his forces. U'bognthaotur, striving for a most efficient team, studied Gallheim's chronicles and necrology to identify the past residents who were in life involved in the ancient sport of Blood Bowl. He was assisted by a competent necromancer and dedicated Blood Bowl fan called "The Black Wolf", who later became his entrusted head coach.

Three months after the first match the Black Wolf recruited the first ghouls to improve the team's balling capacities.

When a portion of Eyer's forces came to Gallhain, they laid siege to the castle. There was little hope for those inside, but for the sake of pride, the castle held for much longer than expected. And perhaps if there had been any allies to save them, they would have held on even longer. But hopeless as the situation was, the nobility eventually decided there was no use in the foolhardy sacrifice of lives. They were ready to surrender.

However, the court jester could not cope with this idea. He was desperate, and in his desperation, he opened a portal to a parallel reality filled with Shadow & Death, and negotiated with a great Vampire Lord to chase away the invading force in exchange for a foothold on this plane of existence.

Much blood was shed, and the desperate gamble worked flawlessly. Eyer's forces were torn apart, and this was noted as Eyer's single great defeat during his Conquest, before his actual fall from grace later on. Alas, Ebon Xanic, the Vampire Lord, decided to set up his foothold right then and there in the castle. With brutal efficiency, Ebon slayed all serious opposition, and enslaved the rest.

He now farms the local human population like cattle, and only a precious few are indulged and treated like special pets rather than walking food - these are the thralls, and they accept their fate with as much as grace as they can muster, because very occasionally, one of them is accepted in the ranks of vampirism.


"The Grave" - Graveshade Stadium

While the vampires do find pleasure in the fine arts and refined craftsmanship, their own resources in this area are surprisingly scarce due to their blood lust and disrespect for human life. Not being able to find enough skilled laborers to build a stadium when Blood Bowl suddenly became interesting again, they made a virtue out of necessity: Their servants dug an oversized grave, wide enough for a regular Blood Bowl field, two dugouts and a small spectators area to take place in. While the latter is commonly used by lower and more rowdy folks, most vampires and and other who concern themselves as something better stay at the edge of The Grave, enjoying the better overview and comfort of decent stands.
After each match the bottom of The Grave is covered with a layer of fresh soil to hide the remnants of the last match. As the current stadium is filling up slowly, a new one is excavated nearby.


U'bognthaotur

Castle Gallheim's court jester was U'bognthaotur, a black-skinned dwarf from isles far away. In his original culture, defeat like Gallheim's intended surrender to Eyer's forces would imply a shame that would take ages to wash away, but U'bognthaotur had a frail body. He did not believe he could compensate for that shame before death would claim him, and thus the good side of the afterlife would be barred to him. Hence he could not cope with the idea of surrender and in his desperation, he grasped towards a rather radical 'cure' for the problem by inviting Vampire Lord into his plane of existence.

After Eyer's forces had been destroyed and Ebon Xanic established control over Gallheim, he turned U'bognthaotur into a special type of Grave Guard undead, ever to be the local lord of the undead in his name. Thereby, as kind of a cruel joke, he wanted to deny the dwarf the hope for any afterlife at all.