A day after releasing the first official poster for season five of True Blood, HBO has gone ahead and truly upped the stakes:

Ready to meet the much-talked about Authority?

Led by former SVU star Christopher Meloni, this stable of vampires will play a key role on season five, going up against the new alliance of Bill and Eric. And who comprises these ancient rule-makers?

Carolyn Hennesy, Peter Mensah, Lucy Griffiths (as Eric's sister, Nora, a double agent), Jacob Hopkins and Christopher Heyerdahl. All are pictured below. Click through now for a closer look at their vital season five characters:

What do you think? Weigh in now and then visit our True Blood photo gallery, where more season five images await, including shots of Nora, Bill and Eric; along with looks at more new cast members:

Valentina Cervi as an ancient seductress named Salome and Scott Foley as Terry's Army pal, Patrick Devins.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.