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 alway swith an ear alert to deceptionn. 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.

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.

Pending...

Source

 * : Warhammer Armies: Dark Elves (8th Edition)
 * : 15

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