Annals of the Black Tower

The history of the Dark Elves is the history of the Witch King himself. Without his long-remembered insurrection against the callow Phoenix Kings, there would be no kingdom of Naggaroth and no Dark Elf race to rule it.

Malekith's long reign has been one of blood and terror, of iron-fisted rule backed by assassination and subterfuge. His will, and his will alone, guides the Naggarothi onward to their dark destiny. The Witch King may court the opinions of the Dreadlords who bask in his reflected glory, but only when it amuses him to do so. Only Morathi's sibilant voice does he heed, and then always with an ear alert to deception. Even the eldest of his other courtiers has strode the world world for but a fraction of Malekith's existence, and the Witch King hangs upon their words no more than he would consider the counsel of a clever child. So long has Malekith lived - and so generous has he been with his blood - that few of Naggaroth's nobles do no claim descent from his line.

At Malekith's command, the Dark Elves have brought war to hated Ulthuan many times, their goal to claim by arms the birthright that was denied to them. Time and again, the Witch King's armies bring ruin beyond imagining upon their hated foes, only to be cast back across the western ocean through the vicissitudes of fate. To a mortal ruler, even one such defeat would be a tragedy, the undoing of a lifetime's work. For Malekith, who long ago achieved immortality, they are but setbacks that create fresh opportunities. When brute force failed, the Witch King sent infiltrators and assassins to undermine Ulthuan from within. When subversion did not yield lasting results, Malekith reached out to other realms, bribing their armies to make war in his cause.

To date, Ulthuan has endured every attack, but has each time paid for its survival with slaughtered warriors and ravaged kingdoms - yet it will not be able to do so forever. The fires of war that have left Ulthuan scarred serve only to temper the Witch King into ever more powerful forms. From every death, Malekith emerges stronger than before, and ever more determined to triumph. Where the High Elves despair for each of their warriors that fall, the Witch King spends the lives of his followers without care for their survival - they are the weapons of his vengeance, nothing more.

The Dark Epochs
Having known only the guidance of Malekith's firm hand, the Dark Elves cannot reckon time according to the rule of kings, as is custom with the High Elves. Rather, they record the great epochs of the Witch King's rule, ages of the world that turn on deeds of fire and slaughter. Only the first of these epochs - the Age of Glory - tallies exactly with the rule of a Phoenix King. Aenarion was father to both the children of Ulthuan and Naggaroth, and is revered as such in both lands. Other ages might end in conjunction with the close of a Phoenix King's reign, but only in order to celebrate his death.

Dark Elf Calendar
The Dark Elf Calendar contains four seasons, though they are not founded in changeable weather - bleak Naggaroth is ever cold and wracked with storms, no matter the time of year. Dark Elves therefore dedicate the seasons (Blood, Despair, Decadence, and Savagery) to their four most worshipped deities (respectively Khaine, Ereth Khial, Atharti and Anath Raema). In Naggaroth, dates are therefore recorded by age, then year, then season and finally the day (though the latter two are seldom used in regard to momentous occasions).

I: Age of Endless Glory, 1 - 80 (c.-4500 to -4419 IC)

 * I, 44 (-4461) -- Aenarion, the first of the Phoenix Kings, rescues the seeress Morathi from an army of Chaos Daemons. They make their court in the fortress of Anlec.


 * I, 47 (-4458) -- Birth of Malekith. Morathi bears Aenarion an heir. The seers of Nagarythe fortell he will know a long life and a glorious reign.

II: Age of Betrayal, 1-1696 (-4419 to -2723 IC)

 * II, 1 (-4419) -- Aenarion is slain at the Battle of the Isle of the Dead. The princes of Ulthuan refuse Malekith his birthright, and appoint Bel Shanaar as the new Phoenix King.


 * II, 256 (-4164) -- The foundation of the first colonies across the Great Ocean, lands later known to Man as the Old World. Malekith defeats the Orc warlord Gritok Redfang and saves the city of Athel Toralien.


 * II, 423 (-3997) -- Malekith fights alongside the Dwarf High King, Snorri Whitebeard, against a horde of Beastmen besieging Karaz-a-Karak.


 * II, 1001 (-3419) -- Worship of the Underworld Gods, the Cytharai, begins to spread in Nagarythe. Over the coming centuries these grow into dark cults that spring up across Ulthuan.


 * II, 1581 (-2839) -- Malekith is made ambassador to the Dwarfs.


 * II, 1631 (-2789) -- Malekith begins his great period of exploring the world. In the northern wasteland he finds the Circlet of Iron in the ancient ruins of Vorshgar.


 * II, 1646 (-2774) -- Malekith returns to Ulthuan to lead the war against the Cults of Excess and denounces his own mother as a traitor to the Elves.


 * II, 1669 (-2751) -- Malekith murders the usurper Bel Shanaar and enters the Phoenix Flame. Rejected by Asuryan and horribly mutilated, he flees to Nagarythe. Later that year a band of Naggarothi assassins attempts to slay Prince Imrik, chosen successor to Bel Shanaar, but are foiled by Chracian hunters. Imrik passes through the flame of Asuryan to become the Phoenix King, taking the name Caledor.


 * II, 1670 (-2750) -- Civil war erupts as Malekith's armies march in their prince's name.


 * II, 1671 (-2749) -- The armies of Nagarythe occupy Tiranoc and much of Ellyrion. The eastern kingdoms hesitate, whilst Caledor I fights a series of desperate battles to stall the Naggarothi advances.


 * II, 1673 (-2747) -- Battle of Dark Fen. Naggarothi princes loyal to the Phoenix King fight against the army of Morathi and are defeated. They become exiles under the leadership of Alith Anar, the so-called Shadow King.


 * II, 1678 (-2742) -- War breaks out in Saphery between mages loyal to Caledor I and wizards corrupted by the powers of darkness. The lands are desolated by their magical battles.


 * II, 1680 (-2740) -- The Dark Elves, as the Naggarothi are now called, are pushed from the Inner Kingdoms back into Tiranoc and Nagarythe.


 * II, 1681 (-2739) -- A renegade priest of Vaul, Hotek, steals the Hammer of Vaul from the shrine in Caledor and travels to Nagarythe. Sorcerers loyal to Nagarythe flee the Sapherian Mages.


 * II, 1684 (-2736) -- With the aid of the renegade Sapherians and Hotek, Malekith's Armour of Midnight is forged and the Prince of Nagarythe becomes known as the Witch King.


 * II, 1685 (-2735) -- Led by the Witch King atop the Black Dragon Sulekh, the Naggarothi armies push into the Inner Kingdoms once more.


 * II, 1696 (-2724) -- Malekith and Caledor I finally meet upon the field at Maledor. Sulekh is slain and the Witch King is forced to retreat.


 * II, 1695 (-2723) -- The Sundering. The Witch King fails to destroy the Great Vortex, and the magical backlash shatters Ulthuan.

III: Age of Restless Spite, 1-2032 (-2723 to -692 IC)

 * III, 1 (-2722) -- The Witch King founds the city of Naggarond upon the western shore of the Sea of Malice and creates the kingdom of Naggaroth. The Dark Elves begin to raid the shattered lands of Tiranoc for slaves to build their new city.


 * III, 124 -- Morathi founds the Dark Convent of Sorceresses and begins the construction of Ghrond.


 * III, 1058 -- Battle of Despair. A vast Chaos army sweeps out to the north to besiege Ghrond. Morathi's sorceries defend the city until the Witch King can lead his armies to crush the invaders.


 * III, 1125 -- The Witch King rebuilds Anlec and begins a fresh assault on the High Elf mainland.

IV: Age of Hateful Peace, 1-1816 (-692 to 1123 IC)

 * IV, 1813 -- The eighth Phoenix King, Aethis, is assassinated at Malekith's command.


 * IV, 1815 -- A retaliatory High Elf fleet invades Naggaroth, and is utterly massacred.

VII: Age of Vengeance, 1-Present (2300 IC to Present)

 * VII, 1 -- War of Vengeance.


 * VII, 2 -- Battle of Finuval Plain.


 * VII, 3 -- Year of Blades.


 * VII, 40 -- Battle of Tor Dranil.


 * VII, 76 -- Ritual of Awakening.


 * VII, 81 -- Chaos rises in the Human lands, and the High Elves send aid. Malekith sends Morathi to forge an alliance with human Chaos worshippers, and the combined armies invade Ulthuan once more. Unbeknownst to his allies, Malekith withdraws his finest troops shortly after the invasion, using his erstwhile allies - and many untrustworthy Dreadlords - to test the defences of Ulthuan without committing the bulk of his armies. With the High Elves ravaged and reeling, the stage is now set for Malekith to finally claim his due.

Source

 * : Warhammer Armies: Dark Elves (8th Edition)
 * : pg. 15
 * : pg. 26
 * : pg. 27
 * : Warhammer Armies: Dark Elves (7th Edition)
 * : pg. 13
 * : pg. 28

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