Dark Elves (Warhammer)
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In the world of Warhammer Fantasy, the Dark Elves are a race of harsh, warlike and vicious elves. Unlike many other dark elves in modern fantasy fiction, they do not dwell underground, nor are they dark-skinned; instead many of them are pale skinned and have raven black hair. They call themselves the Druchii. The Druchii live in Naggaroth, the geographic equivalent of North America in the Warhammer World, and are cruel raiders with much hatred for all other races, especially their former kindred, the High Elves. In older versions of Warhammer they were known as Chaos Elves.
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[edit] History of the Dark Elves
Thousand of years ago, the Dark Elves and High Elves were a single race living on the island kingdom of Ulthuan.
The first Phoenix King, Aenarion the Defender, was the greatest elven warrior to walk the earth. It was by his hand that the first great invasion of Chaos was thwarted. During this war, he rescued an elven maiden from a Slaaneshi warband. Her name was Morathi, and she was beautiful beyond description. Aenarion fell deeply in love with her, and she bore his only son, Malekith.
According to birthright, Malekith was the rightful successor to the throne of Ulthuan. When the Phoenix King passed on, Malekith attempted to assume the throne. However there were many nobles who didn't want him in power. A vote was cast among the nobility and another king, Bel-Shanaar, was chosen instead.
Malekith was relegated to the rank of High General and controller of the armies. This suited him well, as he was warlike in the manner of his father. But after many years, he became discontent. It was his philosophy that the elves of Ulthuan must be a warlike people to face the ever-growing menace from the forces of Chaos. Thus he became ever more critical of the nobles, who grew soft and complacent under the protection of his armies.
The High Elves say that Malekith then poisoned Bel-Shanaar, whereas the Dark Elves say that the nobles framed Malekith in the hope of removing him from power. Whatever the cause, Bel-Shanaar was killed and Malekith again attempted to assume his rightful place as king. But to be a Phoenix King, one had to walk through the Sacred Fire of Asuryan and survive, but Malekith was burned beyond recognition in his attempt. Again, the Dark Elves claim treachery - they say that the Fires were corrupted by sorcery to reject even the rightful heir. The High Elves say that Malekith was tainted by evil and rejected by the gods.
Near to death, Malekith was taken to one of his mother's temples. There Morathi called upon Hotek, a renegade priest of Vaul, to forge a suit of armor that would give life and strength to his flame-ravaged body. It would be a sorcerous shell that gave him superelven powers, yet could never be removed. Once revived, Malekith was consumed with a bitter hatred for those who deposed him and denied him his birthright. He summoned those elves who were still loyal to him to take the throne by force. This included most of the standing military and a large fraction of his home province of Nagarythe.
Civil war raged across Ulthuan for many years. Malekith was nearly successful in his coup, casting aside all reason and mercy for victory's sake. Near the end, he attempted to unleash on his enemies the hordes of Chaos that his father had thwarted and contained. To defeat the threat, the mages of Saphery chose to sink the entire province of Nagarythe beneath the ocean.
Thus was Malekith defeated, but not before several of the great fortresses of Nagarythe were pulled from the bedrock and kept afloat by sorcery. Malekith and the surviving loyalists were exiled from Ulthuan. They sailed their fortress-ships to the new world and established a new kingdom that they named Nagarroth in honor of their fallen home.
The overriding obsession of Malekith (and by proxy much of the Dark Elf society) is the death or subjugation of the High Elves of Ulthuan and the restoration of Malekith to the throne of the Phoenix King.
[edit] Naggaroth, Land of the Chill
When the Dark Elves were driven from the Elven homeland of Ulthuan following a cataclysmic civil war, they fled northwards to the dark and forbidding lands of Naggaroth, the Land of Chill. The name is an appropriate one, for the unwelcomimg home of the Dark Elves is a harsh wilderness of frozen tundra.
After exterminating the native barbarian tribes of Naggaroth they constructed six heavily fortified cities; Naggarond the Tower of Cold, Ghrond the North Tower, Karond Kar the Tower of Despair, Hag Graef the Dark Crag, Har Ganeth the City of Executioners and Clar Karond the Tower of Doom. The Dark Elves also constructed a series of fortified watch towers along their northern border to ensure the forces of Chaos did not trespass into the domain of the Witch King.
These cities have innumerable black towers rising like pinnacles of ice from the cold, hard rock of Naggaroth. All these cities are dark and evil places, steeped in death and agony. Their black dungeons are crammed with captives whose wailings fill the air and whose moans seep through the thick walls of the high towers, saturating the place with pain and despair. At the tips of these towers , soaked with evil and doom, the sorcerers of Naggaroth cast their malign magic over the world.
The Druchii society is a hierarchical one, with their Witch King, Malekith, at the top. At his right hand is his mother and consort, Queen Morathi. It has been argued, however, that the Dark Elves are in truth a Machiavellian society, with one man at the top and several powerful underlings in competition with each other, all vying for power but simultaneously preventing others from getting it. Malekith allows this to continue because it keeps all sects strong, but also in line.
[edit] Dark Elf Economy
Dark Elves have one major source of income: plunder. Dark Elves raid all other lands, particularly Ulthuan, home of their enemies the High Elves. They take food, money, and slaves. Slaves are a large part of Druchii society, and do most of the menial chores that an enterprising Druchii will not deign to do himself. Slaves also make up the ritual sacrifices so necessary to the workings of Druchii society and worship.
One notable vessel used by the Dark Elves when undertaking a large raid is the Black Ark. During the civil war in Ulthuan, a cataclysm was unleashed so great that much of the province of Nagarythe sank under a gigantic tidal wave. As the mighty flood swept over the land, the Witch King and the strongest Dark Elf mages cast powerful spells on their fortress palaces, shielding them from the deluge. The castles tore free from the very bedrock of the land and floated on the rolling waters, held together by titanic binding enchantments. These spells have kept the fortresses afloat for centuries. Now they prowl the seas, drawn by titanic monsters from the deep.
The Black Arks travel far and wide to procure slaves. Each Black Ark is home to a small army of Dark Elf warriors and a small fleet of raiding vessels, which can be landed on the coast of an unsuspecting kingdom, perform a lightning raid, and be away before any of the local defence forces are able to react. In this way countless millions of doomed souls have been taken back to Naggaroth to a fate worse than death.
[edit] Religion
The Druchii primarily worship the Elven god Kaela Mensha Khaine, the Bloody-Handed God and Lord of Murder. The Druchii are a harsh and unforgiving race, and thus make devoted followers of Khaine. While their kindred, the High Elves of Ulthuan, may invoke this god from time to time as needed in times of war, the Dark Elves are wholly devoted to him. The most savage sect of Khaine worshippers are known as the Brides of Khaine, more commonly called Witch Elves (or Maibd in the Dark Elf language). Witch Elves consider the battlefield to be a holy place and are suicidally fanatical in proving their worth to Khaine by bloodshed.
However, a sizeable portion of the population has also secretly kept alive worship of the Chaos God of Pleasure, Slaanesh. The Cult of Pleasure played a major role in the Sundering of the Elves of Ulthuan, but was considered heretical after the founding of Naggaroth and was driven underground as the rule of Khaine ascended. Centuries passed, and the Cult grew stronger in the shadows and secret places of the Six Cities. During the Storm of Chaos, the Cult was given new strength by a new and powerful leader - Morathi, the Queen Mother. Using her supernatural beauty and charisma, she forged an alliance between the human worshippers of Slaanesh and the Cult of Pleasure to form her own personal army and invade Lustria.
Though they were repulsed, the Cult of Pleasure returned to Naggaroth in strength and openly displayed their status as devotees of Chaos. Because of this, and with the armies of Malekith in Ulthuan, Naggaroth currently stands on the brink of civil war. The High Priestess of the Temple of Khaine, the Hag Queen Hellebron, would certainly like nothing more.
[edit] Army Composition
Dark Elf armies, much like the Druchii themselves, are fast and fragile. They are more fleet of foot than humans and favour light armour. Characteristics of Dark Elven armies include armour forged with all manners of wicked barbs, hooks and blades, and their uniforms tend to be dark sombre colours such as purple, indigo or black. Human skin is a highly prized material for durable military garb, and their graceful swords and spearheads tend to be hooked and serrated for skinning and inflicting severe wounds.
Druchii infantry consist of spear phalanxes and repeater crossbow regiments which are supported by shock infantry such as Executioners, who wield two meter long beheading blades called Draich, heavily armed Corsairs, or scores of Witch Elves that are drugged into a killing frenzy. The most elite fighters are chosen to join the fanatic bodyguard of the king, the infamous Black Guard.
Cavalry often plays a key role in engagements. The elite Druchii cavalry are the Cold One Knights: Druchii nobility that ride carnivorous reptiles called Cold Ones into battle. Not used by the elves prior to The Sundering, they are native to the caves beneath the Blackspine mountains and are a separate breed from those used by the Lizardmen of Lustria. These fearsome beasts are also used to pull heavy Cold One Chariots. They are often deployed alongside Dark Riders; fast and highly manoeuvrable warriors swathed in black robes who ride upon swift elven steeds.
These units are supported by a rather vicious war machine known as a Reaper. Developed from the original design for the Repeater Bolt Thrower of their High Elven cousins, the Reaper is a large, ballista-style torsion weapon. It is capable of hurling either a single harpoon-like projectile with devastating force or a volley of multiple smaller bolts. They are usually found mounted on the bow of Dark Elf raiding ships or on the parapets of a city wall. However, they are also frequently taken into major combat engagements, as they are both lightweight and extremely effective in the hands of a skilled crew.
Dark Elves also display a talent for taming and training the gigantic monsters that stalk the mountain ranges of their homeland. It is not uncommon for a Druchii beastmaster to drive a monstrous, dragon-like Hydra or a towering, winged manticore into battle. Off of the battlefield, these beastmasters are also responsible for training Cold Ones and elven steeds, and the subjugation of the endless supply of slaves.
Sometimes the Dark Elves call upon the evil Harpies of Klarond Khar, the city of beastmasters. These winged beasts possess a savage beauty and are believed to be the reincarnations of slain Witch Elves of Khaine.
Magical power on the battlefield is supplied by the six Convents of Sorceresses, who refine the inherent magical aptitude of Dark Elf women into a deadly force. Though the Sorceresses are vulnerable in close combat, the sinister power that they wield is potent enough to ensure that almost every significant Dark Elf force will have at least one Sorceress as an officer.
Overall, the Druchii are devastating on the offensive. Every Dark Elf spends their entire life constantly drilling and training in military manoeuvres. Units working together in concert can break or destroy nearly any enemy that dares underestimate them, yet their fragile constitution means they are not able to absorb much damage in return. This forces Dark Elf commanders to rely on sound tactics rather than brute force, and so Druchii generals are considered some of the best strategists in the Warhammer world.
[edit] References
- Johnson, J., Blanche, J. 1998. Warhammer Armies: Dark Elves. Nottingham: Games Workshop Ltd. ISBN 1-869893-16-6
