Malus Darkblade (WAR Lore) (WAR Lore)  

Malus Darkblade
Mob Type	Historical
Affiliations	Dark Elves
Race	Dark Elf

The son of a rich noble family from Hag Graef, Malus displayed all "virtues" expected from a Dark Elf - unscrupulousness, cruelty, cunning and ambition. Like all of his kin, he sought to extend his influence even more. In order to do so (and to escape the unfortunate consequences of an earlier business venture), Malus set off into the Chaos Wastes in search of an ancient treasure. He eventually found and took it, but by doing so awakened the daemon Tz'arkan, called the "Drinker of Worlds" by some. Possessing Malus and threatening to kill him, he left the Dark Elf only one chance: to gather five magical artefacts the demon needed to complete a powerful ritual. Tz'arkan set Malus a time limit of one year to succeed.

The first artefact was a brass medallion in the shape of an octogram which was covered in runes. This so called Octagon of Praan had the power to protect its wearer from all kinds of sorcery and magical wards. Malus had to fight his way through seemingly endless hordes of Orcs and even a Dragon Ogre until he finally found the Octagon on a beastman shaman whose herd he had slain.

Before setting out to find the second artefact, the Idol of Kolkuth, Malus returned to his home city Hag Graef. He equipped an expedition and set sail for the island of Morhaut, the headquarter of a Norse pirate force called the Skinriders which worshiped Nurgle. Slaying the Skinriders, Malus found what he was looking for - the entrance to a sanctum in another dimension, in which the sorcerer Eradorius had hidden the Idol. Made of brass like the Octagon and barely a foot in height, the Idol of Kolkuth grants its wearer the ability to warp space and time, theoretically allowing him transportation to whenever and wherever he wishes. Malus has only used it once because the experience of traveling with it was not to his liking and it did not work as accurately as he had hoped.

The third artefact Tz'arkan required was the Dagger of Torxus, a long, black curved dagger said to drink in light. It was hidden within the crypt of a long dead Dark Elf lord, Eleuril the Damned. Getting into the crypt was comparatively easy for Malus, although somehow another group of Dark Elves had gotten to the tomb before him. Malus managed to sneak by them and get into the tomb first It was when he picked up the Dagger that the problems started. The ancient lord awoke, took the dagger from Malus and slew all of his followers and him nearly with them. However, the dagger's vicious powers - ripping out the souls of any creature it wounds and binding it to the ripping point for all eternity - did not work on Malus. His soul had already been taken by Tz'arkan and thus could not be ripped out. Although Malus survived the wound, he fell unconscious. When he awoke, he found that the other Dark Elves had taken the Dagger. Following them to Har Ganeth, he eventually found the raiding party which had taken the dagger - and was surprised to find out that his own father, Lurhan, had led it. His half-sister Nagaira had conspired with his brother Isilvar; together they'd known of the five relics he needed to find in order to free the daemon from its prison and reclaim his stolen soul. They knew he would seek the Dagger of Torxus in the tomb of Eleuril the Damned, and so they'd arranged for Lurhan, his own father, to get it first. Malus had to slay his father (although he did not know it was his father at first) in order to retrieve the dagger, making his name known as one of a man who had committed patricide. Hunted by his father's followers, he fled, wounded, to Naggor, the city that was an enemy of Har Gaeth in a bloody feud, where he at first faced slavery. Bewitched by his half-sister, he eventually led Naggor's army in an attack of Har Graef alongside Fuerlan, the son of Baneth Bale, the leader of Naggor. With the help of his mother, Eldire, he was able to throw off the spell of his sister and to flee once again. However, he had now made an enemy of the Witch King himself. He had slain his father, the Vaulkhar (a military rank) of Har Graef and then marched on his very own home city. As Malekith regards all his servants as his possession, he does not take lightly to the destruction of a Vaulkhar.

Malus fled Naggaroth and ventured into the Chaos Wastes. More or less coincidentally, he found the fourth artefact within them, the Warpsword of Khaine. The name certainly is justified as the sword consumes the blood of its victims like one would expect from the Dark Elf god himself. However, the sword with the double-edged blade, a length similar to a draich, and a blade slightly wider at the point for extra cutting power is much older than Khaine, as indicated by Tz'arkan. Radiating invisible heat like the hottest Dwarf furnace, the hilt is always hot to the touch. The blade infuses the wielder with great strength, and can send its user into a murderous frenzy that will not stop until there are no enemies left in sight. Tz'arkan implies many times that the Warpsword is more than just a blade, perhaps meaning that it can do more than cut through steel and flesh as just as easily as it would butter. Though Malus has never used the sword for any large acts of power, it also seems to be able to effect magic, seen when Malus uses the blade to greatly weaken and afterwards even shatter a magical barrier.

With four artefacts in his possession, only the Amulet of Vaurog a heavy a heavy, red-gold torque that renders its wearer impervious to all weapons, though not to direct force such as bare hands. However, the location of the amulet was known to neither Malus nor Tz'arkan. Thus, Malus decided to enter Malekith's Palace itself to use the Ainur Tel, the Eye of Fate, a powerful scrying tool to discover the Amulet's location. But one does not enter the Witch King's palace without being seen. Malus was captured by the Endless, Malekith's personal bodyguard, which brought him before their master. Surprised that the guards did not kill him immediately, Malus figured correctly that the Witch King obviously wished him to stay alive. Telling Malekith the truth about the Daemon within him and why he killed his father, Malus wins the respect of the Witch King. The Dark Elf ruler decides to put Malus' talents to his own use. While being sent on numerous endeavors, Malus eventually discovered that the Amulet he seeks is worn by a Chaos champion. He immediately set out to bring the last artefact into his possession. However, he was unable to kill the champion of the dark gods. No matter how many supposedly fatal blows to the spine and abdomen he dealt with the Warpsword of Khaine, each time the Champion was unaffected. Malus finally killed her with his bare hands, calling upon Tz'arkan's power. After that, it was revealed that the Champion was Lhunara, a druchii woman who served as Malus' lieutenant (and, as hinted, maybe even his lover) who Malus murdered briefly after his possession by Tz'arkan. She was resurrected as an undead revenant and desired only to destroy Malus in revenge for his betrayal.

With all the necessary artefacts in his possession, Malus finally completed the ritual and freed himself from the Daemon. However, Tz'arkan had tricked him, and took Malus' soul with him when he left. Soulless, Malus wandered through the Chaos Wastes for 10 years, not caring for life or death, with only the Warpsword of Khaine having survived the ritual. Then, one day, a sorcerer approached him and told him he knew where Tz'arkan was. Fearing for his life, the sorcerer had tattooed the map to Tz'arkan's hiding place onto his back to make sure Malus would need him further. Ending the man's illusions by slaying him, skinning the skin from his back and feeding the rest to his ever-loyal Cold One Spite, Malus set out to face Tz'arkan. Facing numerous foes from all the Four Gods of Chaos, he eventually found Tz'arkan within the realm of the Screaming God Child, a crazed entity of Chaos. Malus was able to trick the God Child and flee, but when the entity noticed that, he imprisoned Tz'arkan in Malus' body once more as punishment. From then on, Tz'arkan took control of Malus whenever he went to sleep. Thus, Malus now drinks a magical potion that keeps him awake infinitely. Only when the strength and savagery of the daemon is required does Malus imbibe a sleeping potion to wake the daemon.

After many years, Malus eventually returned to Hag Graef, where, with the backing of Malekith, he become the new Drachau, the lord of the city. Traditionally, the Drachau of Hag Graef is also the general of the Witch King's armies. Nowadays, Malus is one of the preferred servants of Malekith, and upon his bidding, he rides to battle on his loyal and unusually intelligent Cold One Spite with the Warpsword of Khaine in his hand.