Arkhan the Black

"You have read the signs as clearly as I. The growing power of Chaos makes no distinction between the living and the dead. Nagash must rise, or our realms of silence will fall."

- Arkhan the Black, loyal servant of Lord Nagash



Arkhan the Black, Mortarch of Sacrament, also known as the Liche King, was the first and most loyal of Nagash's followers and his first lieutenant. Arkhan has been known to have fought alongside Nagash for much of his life, eventually dying in a sucide mission that gave Nagash a chance to escape immenent destruction. Following his death, Nagash felt compelled to resurrected his loyal companion and grant him immortal life as a powerful Liche. Ever since then, Arkhan had lived a long and ardious life, looking for any way to resurrect and bring back his master into this world after he was killed by Alcadizaar, Last King of Nehekhara.

After many centuries upon centuries have passed, Arkhan became a pivotal agent in the final resurrection of Nagash during the cataclysmic apocalypse known as the End Times. From the lands of Bretonnia, Arkhan crossed the World's Edge Mountain and made a pact with Mannfred von Carstein. With his aid, the two gathered all the remaining powerful artifact's Nagash once held in his former life, placing them in a bloody ritual. The final phase of the resurrection demanded the blood of the most holiest of mortals, and though the armies of Men, Elf and Dwarf stood togather to stop him, they inevitably fail and Nagash was returned back to this world.

History
Arkhan grew up in the Kingdom of Khemri in ancient Nehekhara  as a low born noble. As he grew up, he quickly became a heavy gambler and lost most of his family fortunes. In desperation, he plead his alligeance to Nagash along with several other low-born noblemen in hopes of regaining his families riches. Arkhan helped lead the coup which led to the death of the Nagash's brother King, which allowed Nagash to siege power. Ever so loyal to his powerful master, Arkhan was the first to partake of Nagash's elixir which granted him eternal life. As first lieutenant, Arkhan led many battles against Nagash's enemies and was never once defeated in open battle.

During the rebellion of the High Priests of Khemri against their immortal Lord, Nagash. Nagash was defeated at the Walls of Mahrak. When it finally fell, Arkhan led a suicidal counter-attack. Arkhan and his body-guards held the enemy long at bay, giving Nagash time to escape. Where his bodyguard fell he fought for more than an hour in the name of his master Nagash. Finally he was slain, not by a hero's sword, but a bullet shot by one the lahmian dragon staves. He was taken prisoner by lamashizzar and helped him learn from the nine books of Nagash.

Arkhan was resurrected as a Liche and returned to Nagash who had mustered a great Undead horde at Nagashizzar. He became the first of the "Dark Lords of Nagash", the foremost of Nagash's captains and apprentices. Together with the first Vampires, Arkhan led the first assault against Nehekhara but was defeated by the armies of King Alcadizaar. They retreated to Nagashizzar to return and launch a second attack on Nehekhara, now weakened by a plague. Arkhan and Wsoran, the only Vampire who had remained at Nagash's side throughout the campaign, were victorious.

When Nagash was assassinated by the Skaven, Arkhan turned his back on the world of the living and was determined to wreck havoc among them. He led an undead army into Araby and sacked the capital Bel-Aliad, which would never recover to its early glory. For the following 1000 years, Arkhan roamed the deserts, reducing the once proud civilisation of Araby to a few weakened city states and a handful of desert tribes, a time the Arabians call The Wars of the Dead.

When Nagash was reborn, he found that the Tomb Kings of Nehekhara rebelled against his rule. Arkhan returned to assist Nagash in his battle against Settra the Imperishable, but as the Tomb Kings united against them, they were driven back to Nagashizzar. Here, Arkhan drove off the Skaven, who were trying to recapture the warpstone hidden under Cripple Peak, at the batlle of Death Rock. He once more joined his master's undead army as second in command to go north and recapture the Crown of Sorcery and was last seen battling Sigmar's army at the Battle of River Reik. 

Source

 * Warhammer: Nagash, Volume I (The End Times: Book I) pg 58 - 64