Games - Malekith

	Games - Malekith

In the fictional world of Warhammer Fantasy, Malekith is the King of the Dark Elves or Druchii as they refer to themselves. He is also known as the Witch King of Naggaroth.

Malekith was the son of Aenarion, the first of the High Elf Phoenix Kings, and the mysterious and beautiful seeress Morathi. She became Aenarion's second wife after he rescued her from a Chaos warband. Unknown to Aenarion, Morathi is already a secret worshipper of Slaanesh.

He grew up to be a fine soldier and general like his father. Under his mother's tutelage, he became an accomplished mage. Malekith was brought up in a life of political intrigue in court, but he had little interest in High Elf political society. He preferred to lead armies and win battles in his father's name. After his father's death he seemed to be the obvious choice for the Phoenix Throne. However many in the court of Lothern doubted he would make a suitable ruler. Malekith was too volatile and preferred to settle disputes with violence. In the end, the council voted against his ascension and the throne was passed to Bel Shannar. Malekith was to become the commander of the Army of High Elves.

On the surface Malekith seemed to accept this well, but deep within he was seething with resentment and frustration. The future Witch King hid his true feelings and played his part well while he plotted to retake the Phoenix Throne. Finally, after many decades, he worked himself into a position of power second only to the Phoenix King's, and then he acted.

In the dark winter of -2751 IC he accused Bel Shannar as a Slaaneshi devotee during a feast, He have many convinced when Bel Shannar died of poisoning. Malekith claimed that Bel Shannar took his own life in shame while in fact he had him poisoned. Anybody who disputed his claims was immediately killed by his elite guards.

Believing that all he now had to do was crown himself as the new Phoenix King, Malekith marched into the sacred flame of the god Asuryan, the final test that each Phoenix King has to pass to prove their worthiness for the crown. The sacred flames would not accept his polluted body or let him pass. Horribly scarred and burned, he fled north to his stronghold on Nagarythe with his mother on her dark pegasi.

There, Morathi nursed her son back to health. With the aid of the sorcerers he had trained in the arts of Dark Magic and Hotek, a renegade Priest of Vaul, he forged a great suit of black armour which would lend strength to his withered and fire-blasted body. The suit was fused onto his body while still white hot from the furnace. After his torment on the flames of Asuryan, he felt little pain. When the suit was complete, few could look at him without feeling dread. From that day onwards, the fell elf lord was known as the Witch King.

Meanwhile the council had elected Imrik as the Third Phoenix King, who assumed the title Caledor I. Caledor and Malekith gathered their supporters and battled each other for the throne of Ulthuan. For more than a decade they fought a great civil war. Time proved to be Caledor's ally for as time passed Malekith's treachery became more evident and more elves flocked to Caledor's banner. In a climactic showdown Malekith was defeated by Caledor in single combat in the Field of Maledor. The Witch King's supporters retreated back to their fortresses.

Malekith decided to try one final mad gamble for the Phoenix throne. He instructed his sorcerers to undo the spells that bound the Realm of Chaos in a bid to secure aid from the Dark Gods of Chaos. For hours they struggled to undo the barrier. In the end, the task proved to be too great even for the combined might of Malekith and his coven. Their efforts were thwarted by a group of mighty elven mages trapped in the Isle of the Dead. A surge of raw arcane power struck back at Malekith's fortresses. Many of his sorcerors died from the magical flashback. The land itself buckled under the magical strain and a great tidal wave came crashing down on northern Ulthuan. Mighty earthquakes devastated the land and fine cities of Ulthuan. The land of Nagarythe and Tiranoc was submerged under water. Thousands of elves were killed in the cataclysm known as The Sundering.

The fortresses of the Witch King survived the catastrophe, being protected by powerful spells. The fortresses broke off from the land and floated out into the sea. Large as icebergs, they floated to the northern part of the new world where they grounded. Naming the desolate chilled land Naggaroth or "Land of Chill", the Witch King claimed it as his own new domain. The kingdom of the Dark Elves was born and there the Witch King continued to plot and wage a war against the Phoenix Kings of Ulthuan till today.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Malekith ]

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