AAMSHED
AAMSHED
Real Name: Aamshed
Identity/Class: Human sorcerer/spirit;
Post-Hyborian and modern eras
Occupation: Sorcerer, warrior
Group Membership: Formerly Noah van Helsing's vampire hunters (Benjamin Alomii, Blade, Enzo Ferrara, Lucas Telling-Stone, Noah van Helsing, Michiko Watanabe)
Affiliations: Mortuus Invitus, unidentified pet cat
Enemies: Dracula, vampires (including the Adze, Charniputra, and Yiki Onna), Varnae
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Divinity Drake
Base of Operations: Mobile; formerly
First Appearance: Tomb of Dracula IV#1 (December, 2004)
Powers/Abilities: Aamshed is a master sorceress, able to create powerful spells and talismans, slow her aging to survive for millennia, and create a false identity for herself that submerges her true identity and memories to the point that she is unaware of them. The full range of her abilities is unrevealed.
As Divinity Drake, she was a world class biochemist and vampirologist, as well as an expert in bioweaponry and gene manipulation, and a three-time hap-ki-do champion.
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 140 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
History:
(Tomb of
Dracula IV#1 (fb) - BTS /Tomb of Dracula IV#2 (fb)
- BTS/Tomb of Dracula IV#4 (fb)
- BTS) <2000 BC> - Varnae
coerced the Sumerian sorceress Aamshed into creating the Ritual of Ascendance,
which would vastly amplify the power of a vampire. However, Aamshed managed to
twist the spell so that it could only be performed every two thousand years and
that it must be performed on by the current vampire lord on his or her home soil.
The ritual would markedly weaken the vampire who performed for it for a period of three days after which, on completion of the ritual, they would shed their humanity and become demonic and virtually invulnerable (see comments).
As Varnae's home soil had long ago sunken beneath the surface of the ocean, he was unable to perform the ritual.
Aamshed further detailed that the vampire's Ascendance could be thwarted by "the smallest parts of the greatest fire."
(Tomb of Dracula IV#1 (fb) - BTS) - Before the vampire's transformation could be complete, he would have to merge with a living female. This would produce a new breed of vampires immune to sunlight.
(Tomb of Dracula IV#2 (fb)) <0 AD> - Varnae attempted and failed to raise Atlantis to perform the Rite of Ascendance; he failed (see comments).
(Tomb of Dracula IV#4 (fb) - BTS) - Aamshed realized that eventually a new vampire lord would come, one she could not keep from his native soil. She hibernated for two millennia, marshalling her energies and prolonging her years so she might stop this new threat. She created a weapon, a type of supernatural lodestone, a magnet to attract the souls of those who had died at the hands of vampires: "the smallest parts of the greatest fire." (The fire being the incandescent glory of God).
(Tomb of Dracula IV#1 (fb) - BTS /Tomb of Dracula IV#4 (fb) - BTS) - Taking the alias
Divinity Drake and pretending to be a descendent of Dracula as well as a world
class biochemist and vampirologist and a three-time hap-ki-do
champion, Aamshed hooked up with Noah van Helsing, the
alleged descendent of Abraham van Helsing. She joined with him in a mission to
destroy Dracula before he could perform the Ritual of Ascendance.
In reality, Aamshed merely wished the others to bring her to
Dracula so she could follow through on her plan to destroy him.
(Tomb of Dracula IV#1) - Divinity Drake
attracted the attention of Blade and then led him to a bar catering to vampires
and wannabes. Blade (incognito) mistakenly identified Divinity as one of the
true vampires but was then distracted by Hector Santos, a vampire grabbed Divinity and
prepared to bite her while showing off his abilities. While Blade destroyed
Hector, Divinity escaped back to her apartment. Curious as to why she had the
scent of the undead, Blade tracked her there and confronted her. She challenged
him to a swordfight, he overpowered her, and was drawn to kiss her, at which point she "confessed" to
being a halfbreed. Just then Noah summoned her, so she left and met up with Noah
and his vampire hunters: Benjamin Alomii, Enzo Ferrara, Lucas Telling-Stone, and
Michiko Watanabe.
Blade beat her there and was none too pleased to learn of her
alleged ancestry, feeling that she could turn into a vampire at any moment. He
also warned of Dracula's warrior prowess and how taking him down, even in his
vulnerable state, would me no easy feat.
(Tomb of Dracula IV#2) - During a training
exercise, Blade shot Divinity at close range in the face with a paintball,
trying to teach her of the danger of what they were doing. Shortly thereafter,
Noah showed her a plexiglass bullet filled with silver nitrate that would
explode past a vampire's epidermis. She swiftly turned and shot Blade in the
chest, knowing his Kevlar would save him, but that it would hurt nonetheless, as
payback.
Later, Divinity, Blade, and the others listened to Noah
detail the Ritual of Ascendance. Blade argued against Noah's interpretation of
"the smallest part of the greatest fire" as the uranium atom and his back-up
plan to nuke Castle Dracula, but Divinity told him to trust Noah. Before they
departed for Romania, Blade warned the others to keep an eye on Divinity, and on
himself as well. En route to the airport, they were ambushed by an army of
vampires serving a vampire general under Dracula, but they were saved by the
Mortuus Invitus, a sect of vampires for rejected the corruption of their flesh
and opposed Dracula and other vampires.
Soon after, their plane took off. When the sun set on them,
they were pursued by Charniputra vampires.
(Tomb of Dracula IV#3) - Noah's vampire
hunters made it safely to the ground in Romania, though they had to abandon
their ship, which crashed. Divinity encouraged Noah not to lose faith and Blade
led them across the Carpathian mountains towards Castle Dracula. En route, Lucas
sensed something awry with Divinity and warned Blade. After they found transport
to a town, Divinity attacked Blade, accusing him of staring a hole in her the
whole trip. As she bared her fangs to him, Noah calmed her and stopped the
fight. The group was then beset by a group of Yiki Onna vampires. Michiko
sacrificed herself slaying one of their number, and the rest fled after
abducting Noah, and they brought him before Dracula who exposed his
illegitimacy.
Blade prepared to search for another vehicle to take them to
Castle Dracula, but Divinity then pulled a gun.
(Tomb of Dracula IV#4) - Divinity shot one of the Adze vampires, revealing them to be under attack again. Enzo and Lucas both fell before them, and Divinity grabbed Noah's nuke and headed towards Castle Dracula. However, she then seemed to fall under the sway of Dracula, who commanded her to come to Castle Dracula anyway. Another sect of the Mortuus Invitus finished off the rest of the Adze, and Blade arrived at Castle Dracula soon after Divinity. Blade failed to stop Dracula from metamorphosizing into giant form and mocking Noah's theory about the uranium atom. Dracula then summoned Divinity for the merging, but she then revealed herself to be Aamshed and explained her true mission. Announcing that her lodestone held 6000 souls, she unleashed them against Dracula, who began to spasm. Blade staked Dracula's giant form in the chest and it exploded. The souls slew all nearby vampires, including the Mortuus Invitus.
Comments: Created by Robert Rodi, Bruce Jones, Jamie Tolagson, Tom Palmer, and Jay Leisten.
According to Tomb of Dracula IV#1 and 2, the
Ritual of Ascendance can take place every thousand years, and that Varnae
attempted to use it around 0 AD and then again in 1000 AD. However, in Tomb of
Dracula IV#4, Aamshed states that by foiling Varnae she kept humanity safe from
the coming of the vampire lord for two thousand years. References from #1 and #2
were coming from copies of old texts, while the info from #4 comes straight from
the horses mouth.
Aamshed further stated that she gathered souls for millennia
to oppose a later vampire. I'd take that as she did so after last foiling Varnae,
though if she did so after first foiling Varnae 2000 years ago, I guess that
counts as millennia...
Also, I believe Sumeria was around from 3200 - 2000 BC, so it
would make a lot more sense to have her have first encountered Varnae in 2000 BC
than 2000 years later, though I suppose it could be argued that if she could
live for 4000 years after encountering Varnae, that she could have lived for
2000 years before meeting him.
At any rate, I've e-mailed Rodi to get clarification.
Noah van Helsing
Aamshed has an entry in Mystic Arcana: The Book of Marvel Magic.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No KNOWN connections to:
Appearances:
Tomb of Dracula IV#1 (December, 2004) - by Robert Rodi & Bruce Jones (story),
Robert Rodi (script), Jamie Tolagson (pencils), Tom Palmer and Jay Leisten
(inks), Warren Simons and John Miesegaes (editors)
Tomb of Dracula IV#2-4 (January-March, 2005) - by Robert Rodi & Bruce Jones
(story), Robert Rodi (script), Jamie Tolagson (pencils), Tom Palmer and Scott
Koblish (inks), Warren Simons and John Miesegaes (editors)
Mystic Arcana: The Book of Marvel Magic (2007) - David
Sexton & Jeff Christiansen (head writers/coordinators), Madison
Carter, Michael Hoskin, Eric J. Moreels, Ronald Byrd, Chad Anderson, Al
Sjoerdsma, Mark O'English, Chris Biggs & Stuart Vandal (writers),
Michael Short & Cory Levine (assistant editors), Mark D. Beazley
(associate editor), Jeff Youngquist & Jennifer Grunwald (editors)
First Posted: 01/27/2007
Last updated: 02/22/2022
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and
© 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you
like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!