Driven by the urge to gather ever greater power, Dark Elf ship captains and glory-hungry princes set out across the oceans seeking plunder and adventure. Century by century, generation by generation, the hidden sects flourished; a dark canker at the heart of Ulthuan that remained unseen by those who reigned. Guided by Morathi's counsel, Malekith accepted this new city. Those cultists who surrendered were sent to the castles of Nagarythe to be released from their delusions. She lavished lustful attentions on the tribesmen and gave them jewellry and slaves. From the north came a great host of savage humans riding upon vicious dogs and in war chariots drawn by giant predatory cats. When his loyalties were uncovered, Girathon assassinated the Phoenix King before he was himself slain. The Blighted Isle Falls. A dark elf with a slightly overwhelming love of faith. Besieged, the desperate defenders held out, praying to the gods for salvation. Over the following decades, sporadic fighting between the Dark Elves and High Elves erupted across the Shadowlands. He promised rule of the south coast of the Sea of Malice to the rulers of Hag Graef.
Their Helldrakes glided effortlessly through the tossing seas and their crews cut out seven merchantmen from under the guns of Rijker's Isle, the port's keep. As word spread, tribes travelled hundreds of leagues to seek out Morathi, and she created a palace of frozen ice and jet black rock to welcome her visitors. A dark elf with a slightly overwhelming love of war. Volumes / Chapters:? He ordered his Corsairs to target the Dwarf trade convoys, and provided maps of their secret routes that he had learnt whilst he was ambassador to Snorri Whitebeard. With every year that passes the power of Naggaroth ascends to greater heights, built upon the backs of slaves and fuelled by a constant stream of plunder from far-off lands. Upon the floating castles of Nagarythe -- the terrible "Black Arks" as they would be called in later years -- the Witch King and his minions fled the wrath of the cataclysm they had unwittingly unleashed.
Few of these expeditions returned, and none came back to Naggaroth unscathed. Fires burnt as the High Elves ran amok, killing and razing what they could before stealing away into the pre-dawn shadows. A dark elf with a slightly overwhelming love of christmas. In temples filled with beating drums, haunting pipes, and narcotic vapours, they danced and feasted and sang blasphemous praises. At the top of the steps, the altars flowed with blood as sacrifices were made on an almost industrial scale.
Malekith had another reason to be confident. For nearly ten years, the High Elf fleets sunk any Naggarothi ships that approached the northern coast. As Malekith's followers fled north with his remains, war erupted. All the while, they began to spread their poisonous beliefs, and the ancient Ulthuani cults of pleasure began to grow again. Yet the gods remained silent. Bloodwrack Medusae - Bloodwrack Medusae are horrid half-snake creatures that have serve the whim and desires of Morathi, the Hag Queen of Naggaroth for many thousands of years. Malekith was to be outdone, however, as Tethlis' whole attack and flight had been feigned -- a lure to bait the Witch King from his fortress. At sea, the burgeoning High Elf fleet grew bolder and reinforcements and supplies from Naggarond were often intercepted, further weakening Malekith's grip.
Hatred of their kin and fear of their king had driven the Dark Elves this far, but it could drive them no further. Naggarothi forces occupied these kingdoms. Dark Elves abhor weakness of any sort, so those youths that fail to make their mark during this time do not endure long thereafter. Only in Athel Loren did their honeyed words fall upon deaf ears. His Dragon, Nightfang, went berserk and the Dark Elves were scattered by the Dragon's rampage. It was time for the armies of Naggaroth to vent their full fury upon Ulthuan once more -- the Age of Vengeance had begun. The other Great Gates of the Annulii followed in the coming years, and soon the passes between the sundered lands and the Inner Kingdoms of Ulthuan were separated by ramparts hundreds of feet high, held by stalwart defenders, ingenious war machines and powerful spells of protection. Ranks of spearmen advance remorselessly across the field, a shadow of death that consumes all who stand in its path. Such bitter fighting came to a head at the Siege of Tor Lehan. At one unfortunate port, the Dark Elves encircled the town and barred all escape, before the Witch Elves were unleashed to wreak havoc within the walls. Caledor and Malekith finally met at the field of Maledor. Malekith asked the Phoenix King to convene Ulthuan's council of princes. Driven mad by his dreams, overwhelmed by the terrors unleashed by the Dark Elves, Morvael committed suicide.
Malekith struck back with ferocious counterattacks and twice was forced to face Tethlis outside the gates of Anlec itself. The Sorceresses sent mystical word to their mistress in Naggarond, though many were slain in the attempt by Daemonic entities brought south upon the winds of Chaos. It was perhaps untimely, then, that Caledor chose to heap pressure upon Malekith by launching an offensive against the Shadowlands in a bid to reclaim the Blighted Isle for Ulthuan. He had faked his own death so that he could continue to operate within Naggaroth and Ulthuan in absolute secrecy. We live for the Witch King, and to set the ancient wrongs aright. Freed from their long stasis, Caledor Dragontamer and his mages so long trapped within the vortex's stasis returned to the realm of the living. In the latter case, the slave revolt is usually focused on stealing ships and escaping rather than taking over the Black Ark. Chotto dake ai ga omoi Dark Elf ga isekai kara oikakete kita. That wound of old, the hideous burning that would never leave him, raged anew through Malekith's body, searing his flesh and mind. Any Dark Elf with the right blend of determination, bravery and ruthlessness could make his or her fortune fighting on distant shores. Terror of this unseen foe gripped the land, paralysing the High Elves.
Dark Riders - Dark Riders are the eyes and ears of Malekith's army, acting as lightning fast scouts that can outrun even the fastest horsemen. As the wealth of barbaric lands flooded into the Witch King's treasury, the Dark Elf fleets expanded once again, ultimately eclipsing the all but forgotten glories of yore. Outright aggression would only stir them from their introverted decline, while the Witch King could use more subtle means to defeat his foes from within. Black Arks beached across Nagarythe and the armies of darkness smashed through Phoenix Gate and Unicorn Gate.
As magic swirled through the world, Caledor set the priests of the smith-god Vaul to bind the mystical energies into weapons with which to fight the Daemons. This is encapsulated in the Elven belief of yenlui, or "balance;" a philosophy that dictates that there must be harmony between the light and dark natures of the Elven spirit. To this day, the shrieks of the Witch King's victims still haunt the waves of that coast, terrifying sailors who dare cross those seas. The Elves were defenceless against this surprise onslaught, untouched as they were by the depravities of war, their queen a figure of peace and healing. Season by season, the dreams inflicted upon Morvael became darker and ever more disturbing, turning the Phoenix King into a nervous, gibbering wreck. His experience at war was equalled only by his hatred of the Dark Elves, who had left him an orphan after one of their many raids. Even as the tide turned against his army, Caledor led the counterattack. Advised by Morathi, Malekith poured support into the many cults and sects that the Dark Elves participated in, openly supporting High Priests and High Priestesses like Hellebron, Aegethir and Kherathi. Thus will the Dark King fall, slain by neither blade nor arrow but by a sorcerous power of darkest magic and so shall his body be consumed in the flames and for all eternity burn.