Who is Teynne the Usurper?
8th May 2026
Alex Gordon
Who is Teynne the Usurper?
Teynne the Usurper is coming to Kings of War.
This cruel and ambitious villain will soon make his tabletop debut as a brand-new unique Warlord choice in the upcoming Fracture expansion book for Kings of War – represented by a stunning new miniature, available to pre-order now.
But Teynne’s story didn’t begin on the battlefield. In fact, fans of the Tales of Pannithor novels may already know him well.
One of the things we’ve loved seeing over the last few years is the way the Tales of Pannithor range has steadily expanded the lore and background of the setting, weaving together an increasingly rich and interconnected world. Characters, locations and conflicts that began life in the novels are now starting to cross over to the tabletop game itself – and Teynne is one of the most prominent examples of that yet.
To help introduce this dangerous new demon, we’ve invited Mark Barber – author of the Sacred Ark novel series and creator of Teynne – to take us deeper into the background of the Usurper, his rise (or should that be descent?) through the infernal hierarchy of the Abyss, and the bloody trail he has carved across Pannithor.
Born of the Abyss
Mark: Not many hard and fast rules can be applied to understanding the teeming mass of evil that lurks within the Abyss, but one generalisation is that every demon can be categorised as either ‘mortal born’ or ‘Abyssal born’. Teynne the Usurper, like countless thousands of other Abyssal demons, began his existence as Abyssal-born; that is, created by his masters out of Abyssal matter to begin something akin to ‘life’ as a lower Abyssal.
Loyalty and comradeship are not virtues held in high regard in the endless wars between Abyssal warlords across the circles; if one wishes to better their position in this unholy existence, it is through sheer violence, and determination to stand out. And it was through fighting in these wars - with the occasional delight of wreaking havoc in the mortal world - that Teynne descended through the ranks to eventually reach the exalted depth of Abyssal Champion.
The Betrayal of Dionne
Teynne’s escapades were first highlighted in the novel Steps to Deliverance. Even with the constraints on an Abyssal’s ability to exist in the mortal world, Teynne saw an opportunity to exploit a falling hero in Basilea. Dionne, a disgraced ex-legion officer, had set up a band of warriors in the hills of Tarkis, ready to march against the forces of the Abyss under his own orders. Teynne, disguised as a human, infiltrated this band and tricked Dionne into a friendship that eventually culminated in him revealing his true form.
Dionne’s task was to lead an army that would open up a portal from the Abyss to Basilea, allowing Teynne’s hordes to ravage the very people who had betrayed Dionne. But after Dionne failed at the Battle of Andro, it was Teynne who betrayed him to an existence as a mortal-born lower Abyssal. At least, to begin with.
Relics and Necromancers
Teynne next appeared in the novel Faith Aligned where, concerned about the growing strength of the alliance between Basilea and the Brotherhood, he despatched agents to meddle in Basilean affairs once more.
Whilst his plan was a success, resulting in the capture of a sacred Brotherhood relic at the Battle of Peasant’s Hill, it was Teynne’s discovery of the underground operations of the necromantic ‘Coven’ that was far more useful to him.
The Usurper Ascends...and Falls
The last time we saw Teynne was as the chief antagonist in Last Light. Teynne took an army to Primovantor, where he challenged the Coven’s might. The secretive band of necromancers had raised Arteri the Plague - ancient elven necromancer and lieutenant to Mhorgoth himself - back to unholy unlife. Tricking Arteri into believing Teynne and his forces were defeated, Teynne slew Arteri in the very presence of the ancient gateway that restored his powers…and in the process, Teynne took those powers. As we mentioned earlier, there are not many ‘rules’ to existing in the Abyss… but there is a way. An understanding. And Teynne had found a way to usurp power without the permission of his demonic overlords, instantly elevating himself from a Champion to the exalted status of Archfiend, second only to the Wicked Ones themselves.
But Teynne’s success was not to last. He was defeated by a Basilean force under the command of Gnaeus Sallustis at the Battle of Dannean Hill, struck down by two legends of this age. And, returning back in defeat, shame and disgrace to the Abyss, Teynne was punished for this act of usurpation by starting the whole process again…centuries of fighting and scheming undone as he was reduced to the rank of lower Abyssal.
The Return of a Dark Power
But you can’t keep a bad demon down. It has been four years since the Battle of Dannean Hill; four years in the mortal world, but many more in the depths of the Abyss. Wars have been fought for decades. And Teynne has fought harder than those around him, once again descending the ranks to a position of dark power. The upcoming novel Blades of Samarik will tell the story of the lead up to the Abyssal siege of Samarik. Teynne is never mentioned in this novel. But if you look hard enough, he’s there…and his involvement in the violent Abyssal affairs across Pannithor will only grow in importance.
AG: A huge thanks to Mark for shedding some light on the twisted rise, fall and rise again of Teynne the Usurper. As Mark mentioned above, Teynne appears across several novels in the Sacred Ark series – specifically Steps to Deliverance, Faith Aligned and Last Light. Be aware, however, that these are parts one, two and four of the series respectively, so make sure not to miss Hero Falling, which forms part three of the wider story. All four books are available as eBooks from the Mantic webstore.
We think the new miniature for Teynne does a fantastic job of capturing the character’s dark charisma, arrogance and overweening ambition. I for one can’t wait to paint him up and unleash him on the tabletop in my own Forces of the Abyss army.
And we're only just getting started with all things Fracture. We’ll be revealing more about what you can expect from the upcoming Forces of the Abyss army list in a future blog post – so stay tuned!
