I think it has been done on purpose, as this is the start spell of Black Forest. All you need is 44 slaves and a pretender with death & blood, so no wonder the first vampire lord comes rather early.
I'm not saying its not overpowered, but it is just doubtful that IW didnt knew they handed a combo on a silver plate
I have a question on BF Ulm : Does the storyteller "lightningrod" effect against bad events are cumulated? What I mean is, does having 5 storytellers is better in your capital than only one, if you want to be protected against Lady Misfortune?