CW announced the spin-off of the hit drama the Vampire Diaries.  The spin-off, the Originals, follows Klaus and Elijah Mikaelson as they travel to New Orleans where vampires rule the streets and witches plot against them.

The original pilot was part of the Vampire Diaries, in episode 4×20 entitled “The Originals”.  In this episode, Klaus (Joseph Morgan) traveled to New Orleans and runs into his protégé Marcel (Charles Davis) who is running the town.

Klaus and Elijah are soon joined by werewolf Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin), who once had a romantic entanglement with Klaus in the Vampire Diaries, but she falls into the clutches of a powerful witch named Sophie (Daniella Pineda).  Klaus is shocked when Sophie reveals that Hayley is pregnant with his child, an unheard of anomaly.

New Orleans falls prey to a power struggle as a conflicted Klaus forms an alliance with the witches in order to put the Original family back in charge.  Klaus is joined by his siblings Elijah (Daniel Gilles) and Rebekah (Claire Holt), both of whom he shares a complicated past.

The series is executive produced by Julie Plec, Leslie Morganstein, and Gina Girolamo.  Plec also wrote the pilot with was directed by the Vampire Diaries’ Chris Grismer.

The Originals will premier on CW this Fall.