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"Arrogant mortal, I let you live once so I might experience the sensation of defeat. Now I am gorged on ten thousand souls and I am invincible. Be honoured! Your soul will learn agony and ecstasy under the lash of the Dark Prince of Pleasure once I send it to meet him."

—N'Kari to the Phoenix King Aenarion[2]

N'Kari (pronounced: "nuh-KAH-ree"), sometimes spelled N'kari, also called the "Soul-Flayer," the "Flesh-Tempter," the "Arch-Tempter," the "Bejewelled One," the "Chosen of Slaanesh", the "Herald of Dismay" [11a] and "Lord of a Thousand Songs," [11a] is the greatest Keeper of Secrets among the Daemonic legions of the Chaos God Slaanesh.[2]

He has pursued a millennia-long vendetta against the descendents of Aenarion and the High Elves of Ulthuan following nearly six millennia of imprisonment within the Great Vortex in the wake of his second battle with the very first Phoenix King, Aenarion. [2]

History

Great Catastrophe

SeducersofSlaaneshIcon

Sigil of N'Kari's Slaaneshi army, the Seducers of Slaanesh, as depicted in Total War: Warhammer III.

N'Kari has long been considered the greatest Keeper of Secrets in service to the Dark Prince Slaanesh, the Chaos God of pleasure and pain, for it was he who led the Daemonic assault on the island-continent of Ulthuan during the Great Catastrophe in the early days of the mortal world.[2]

N'Kari had been a general of the Daemonic army on Lustria and found the Elves easy pickings. Unlike the Lizardmen, the Elves had no experience in war, with their weapons being designed for hunting, not slaying Daemons. Despite their courage, the Elves were slaughtered when the Daemons first spilled from the forests of what is now the kingdom of Cothique.[7a] N'Kari released his followers to rampage across the island, beginning what became known in later generations as the "Rape of Ulthuan."[2d]

During that great struggle, the first Phoenix King Aenarion faced N'Kari at the Battle of Korumel, in present-day Ellyrion.[4a] Carrying the blessings of a god, Aenarion fought without regard for himself. Focusing his rage, Aenarion smote the Daemon with a mighty blow that clove N'Kari almost in twain. As the deathblow fell, N'Kari threw his head back and gave a piercing shriek that could be heard all over Ulthuan, and the Elves believed themselves free at last from the Daemons' assault.[7b]

This was not to be. Upon his return to the mortal world, N'Kari led his forces against Avelorn to destroy the spiritual heart of Ulthuan, the Everqueen Astarielle and her children. As Avelorn burned, Durthu, one of the Treemen's Elders, brought his kind to battle to fight alongside the Elves. They could have fled back to the great forest of Athel Loren, but chose to stand with their allies.[9a]

Many were destroyed, others were driven mad with despair, yet still the spirits of the forest battled on. The Everqueen knew her forces could not stop the Daemonic assault and thus entrusted her children to the care of the forest spirits. Kissing her children once last time, the Everqueen gave them hurriedly into Durthu's keeping. As the spirit led Morelion and Yvraine away, Astarielle summoned what little of her magic remained unspent and went calmly down into the battle to meet her destiny.[9a]

Aenarion and N'kari

N'kari on the Isle of the Dead

N’Kari and Aenarion would face each other once again on the Battle at the Isle of the Dead during the creation of the Great Vortex, the Phoenix King now armed with the dread Widowmaker blade of Khaine, the Elven god of war and murder. The Phoenix King cut open the chest of the Keeper of Secrets and crushed its heart with his mailed fist.[2b]

The poisonous blood of the Greater Daemon scorched Aenarion's left hand, rendering it useless, but N'Kari was defeated. N'Kari cast its essence into the roaring magical energies of the Vortex to escape destruction, its very essence having been seared by the Widowmaker of Khaine. WYet when the Daemon tried to return to the Realm of Chaos, N'Kari found that he was trapped in the Great Vortex. Faced with eternal imprisonment, N’Kari swore vengeance on Aenarion and all of his bloodline.[2b]

N'Kari's Revenge

In the year 2173 IC, scarcely ten years after Finubar the Seafarer ascended to the Phoenix Throne of Ulthuan as the latest in the line of the High Elven Phoenix Kings, a black storm swept across that fair island-continent. The seas boiled and the skies rained fire down upon the land. Many High Elves drowned in swollen rivers, were crushed beneath collapsing buildings or incinerated by bolts of polychromatic lightning. Great was the ruin wrought on Ulthuan that night, but the worst was yet to befall the land.[1a]

The Keeper of Secrets had used an instability in the Great Vortex due to an increased influx of Dark Magic to replenish himself, having drawn the needed magical power from the extradimensional Paths of the Old Ones that crossed the Isle of the Dead.[2b] Using the growing strength of the building storm, he sent dreams to various Chaos Cultists across Ulthuan, drawing them to a place where the web of leylines created by Caledor Dragontamer, the creator and sustainer of the Great Vortex, had grown weak.[2c]

At the storm's height, the great waystone atop Mount Antorec was uprooted and hurled into the valley below. Before the broken shards of the monolith had come to rest, a cloud of Chaos Furies clawed their way into the mortal world, tearing reality apart like wet paper. Moments later, a far more monstrous form forced its way through -- the Keeper of Secrets N'Kari was reborn into the mortal realm.[1a]

The first High Elf town to feel the wrath of N'Kari's horde was Tor Annan, a provincial holding in the valley beneath Mount Antorec. The defenders fought back, but could not hope to prevail against that unholy fury. Furies dove and wheeled through the sky like misshapen bats, their shrill cries freezing the blood of all who heard them. Rage-maddened Bloodletters and Bloodcrushers hurled themselves again and again at the defences, splintering wood and shattering stone, desperate to slay the High Elves that cowered inside.[1a]

Nkaricutscene

N'Kari seeks to divine the future to better serve Slaanesh.

N'Kari waded through the bloodshed and the High Elves scattered before his coming -- all save Eanith, Lord of Tor Annan, and his household guard. They formed a wall of spears against the Daemon's onslaught, only to have their weapons splinter on his hide. Snapping Eanith's sword beneath the pincers of one massive claw, N'Kari thrust his fist into the Elf's chest. Closing his fingers about Eanith's heart, the Daemon tore the still pulsating organ from the High Elf noble's body. N'Kari brandished the heart briefly before the Elf's dying eyes, bellowed in triumph and swallowed it whole. Casting the limp corpse aside, the Keeper of Secrets turned his back on the ruins of Tor Annan, and sought out his next victim.[1a]

Scarcely had the echoes of battle about Tor Annan ceased when N'Kari struck once again, riding the tides of magical energy to instantly emerge on the other side of Ulthuan, scant leagues from Tor Yvresse. Once again, the High Elves responded swiftly. Although sorely pressed, the defenders of the fortress were able to hold the Daemons at bay while aid arrived from Cothique and the Tower of Hoeth. N'Kari withdrew his forces at the battle's height, retreating into the Annulii Mountains.[1a] He moved his followers through the labyrinth-like dimensional Paths of the Old Ones tp position them for the next attack faster than could be achieved on the mortal plane. [2d]

Over the next month, the pattern continued. N'Kari struck at outposts in the Dragon Spine Mountains, Avelorn and many other provinces of Ulthuan. Indeed, few areas of the High Elven realm remained unscathed. Yet each time N'Kari would suddenly abandon the battle, often within minutes of achieving a devastating victory. With no end in sight, and Ulthuan in a state of terror, the Phoenix King ordered every seer in the realm to focus their powers of divination on ending the threat, lest the Daemon's dread presence befoul Ulthuan entirely.[1a]

Vick-gaza-nkari-beautyshot-vert-by-vickgaza-03

N'Kari as depicted in Total War: Warhammer III.

After much meditation, the cause behind the attacks became clear. With horror, the High Elven seers realised that this abyssal monstrosity was the very same being who had led the Daemonic invasion of Ulthuan over six thousand years before, slaughtering millions and shaking the Elven civilisation to its core. The seers believed that N'Kari had been reborn a thing of vengeance, consumed with a need to settle old scores. As such, the incursions that had recently plagued Ulthuan were far from random, and were in fact directed by the cruellest of motives.[1a]

N'kari was carving his vengeance on the descendents of Aenarion, bringing High Elf towns and fortresses to battle long enough to spirit his victims away to face the eternal torments of Slaanesh. Over the many thousands of years since the time of the first Phoenix King, Aenarion the Defender, the hallowed bloodline had prospered. Not all the scions were of noble rank and had little to connect them beyond their lineage. As such, their disappearance on battlefields where many hundreds of other High Elves had been slain had gone unnoticed and unconsidered by all but kith and kin.[1a]

The seers believed that almost all known scions of Aenarion's line had now been accounted for -- either lost to N'kari's rage, or they were away from Ulthuan and therefore, hopefully, safe for a time. The remaining heirs were twin High Elf Princes, scarcely beyond childhood by the exacting standards of the Elves. Their names were Tyrion and Teclis. Each carried Aenarion's mark, though in different ways.[1a]

Tyrion had learned his lessons well and already had both the skill and confidence of a warrior born. Teclis, though weak of body, had proved himself adept at the myriad magical arts. The princes were hurriedly summoned from their home in the Cothique woodland and spirited away to the safest place in all Ulthuan -- the Shrine of Asuryan. There an army drawn from the finest troops the High Elves could field would defend the princes against all possible peril.[1a]

As divined, N'Kari's attack came soon. Scarcely a day after the Shadow Warriors first brought reports of Daemons in the mountains of the Eataine peninsula, the Keeper of Secrets' vanguard marched within sight of the shrine. As the Daemons advanced, N'kari sent intoxicating visions flowing over the walls of the shrine to bedevil the dreams of those within. Many High Elves succumbed to these illusions of desire and phantasms of fulfilment. Some fell into deep comas, never to awaken. Others threw aside armour and weapons, marching blindly into the Daemonic hordes and being torn to shreds, or casting themselves from the cliffs to perish on the jagged rocks below.[1a]

Within moments, the stony slopes of Asuryan's Isle were engulfed by N'Kari's hordes. Daemons darted and leapt across the jagged rocks, paying no heed to the clouds of arrows launched into their ranks from the shrine's walls. Lords of Change hurled bolts of sorcerous fire at the defenders, cawing with delight as Elves twisted and burnt in multi-hued flames. Flocks of Furies swarmed across the defenders, plucking unfortunate High Elves from the walls and casting them onto jagged rocks. Nurglings oozed their way through gratings and coverlets to tear and bite at the ankles of the defenders. Asuryan still watched over his shrine, however, and Daemonic flesh blackened and burnt wherever it touched the walls and fortifications. Yet still the horde came on.[1a]

Vick-gaza-nkari-beautyshot-wide-by-vickgaza-02

N'Kari and the Witstealer Sword as rendered for Total War: Warhammer III.

Through it all, the High Elves fought without hope, knowing that to yield was to deny the sacred trust of Aenarion. Along the walls, each strove without thought for his own life, hacking at Daemonettes and Plaguebearers until armour and stone were stained with Daemon blood. A hundred unnamed heroes struggled and died that day. Archers from Yvresse and Swordmasters from the White Tower of Hoeth fought alongside High Elf knights from Caledor and Ellyrion. Wherever the fighting was thickest, there stood the Phoenix Guard, striving as if to drive back the foe by their valour alone. Yet the Daemons cared not for their losses.[1b]

Finally, the High Elves were undone not by a lack of courage or skill, but by the timbers of the shrine's gate. Battered by sorcery and Daemonic might, the gate collapsed under the immense weight of a Beast of Nurgle. The battle now devolved into a primal contest of survival. Groups of High Elves fought back-to-back as Daemons swirled and slaughtered their way through the shrine. Now the balance of arms began to tilt in favour of the High Elves. The merest wound left Daemons vulnerable to the holy power of Asuryan's shrine, and the weakest of N'Kari's horde were consumed by cleansing fire. N'Kari stepped through the ruined gate and drank in the heady scent of fear and slaughter. None could stand before him, and he strode swiftly through the chaos of battle, climbing the Stair of Eternity and into the innermost sanctum of the Shrine of Asuryan where his prey waited.[1b]

At the last, only twenty Phoenix Guard stood between N'Kari and the twin princes, yet the High Elves did not yield. They fought bravely, on stones already slippery with carnage, yet N'Kari would not be denied his vengeance. As one arm darted to block the guards' halberds, another gracefully disembowelled half a dozen opponents. Bolts of shrivelling fire burst from N'Kari's eyes to consume the rest of his foes. As the last desiccated corpse fell, the young Tyrion knew his defence, and that of his twin, fell solely in his hands. He mouthed a prayer to Asuryan, drew his sword, and went to meet his destiny.[1b]

Vick-gaza-nkari-beautyshot-wide-by-vickgaza-01

N'Kari as rendered for Total War: Warhammer III.

Promising warrior though he was, Tyrion was overmatched from the first. N'Kari parried Tyrion's desperate thrusts with mocking ease. In lilting tones, he taunted the High Elf Prince with every cheated blow. Yet N'kari had made one fatal misjudgment. So focused was he on Tyrion that the Daemon had all but forgotten Teclis' presence. As Tyrion was knocked sprawling by the sweep of a massive claw, Teclis unleashed an attack of his own.[1b]

While Teclis did not have Tyrion's strength and vigour, his crippled frame harboured a mastery of the mystic arts. Now Teclis hammered at the Daemon with all the sorcerous fire he could muster. As the magical bolt struck, the creature was blasted clear off its feet. N'kari tumbled across the plinth where Asuryan's flame burned, one mighty arm passed through the eternal flame, and the Daemon screamed in agony. No ordinary flame could mark N'Kari's hide, but against this, the sacred fire of Asuryan, the creator god and king of the Elven Pantheon, the Daemon had no defence. The fire coursed across the Daemon's body, burning ever fiercer as it spread.[1b]

N'Kari screamed as his skin blackened and crackled. Rising to his feet, Tyrion struck the Daemon again, and his sword took up the flame. Each new cut opened up fresh wounds, lancing the cleansing divine fire into the Daemon's core. Crippled with pain, N'Kari was able to do little except stagger away from Tyrion's onslaught. With each stroke, the High Elf prince drove the Daemon towards the great arch that overlooked the Sea of Dreams. With a final scream, N'Kari's monstrous bulk toppled through the arch and plummeted the thousands of feet into the sea below, where the waves swiftly stole the Daemon from sight.[1b]

Tyrion and Teclis emerged from the sanctum to find the battle won. The Daemons of Chaos could not easily endure in that holy place, and only N'Kari's maddened will had sustained them even this long. When the Keeper of Secrets was lost to the sea, the magical power that sustained his Daemonic horde in the mortal world faded, and the Daemons were swiftly consumed by the power of Asuryan, leaving only piles of blackened ash. As dusk fell, the High Elves celebrated their desperate victory and mourned their losses. Through it all, Tyrion and Teclis stood in silence. They knew their destinies had been forever altered, and that one day they would have to face N'Kari again.[1b][8a]

Dark Elf invasion of Ulthuan

"You are attempting what I once did. I suspect your results will be much the same."

—N'Kari to the Witch King Malekith[3d]
Nkariwh3

N'Kari, the Keeper of Secrets, is the greatest of Slaanesh's Daemonic servants.

The Witch King Malekith of Naggaroth had studied N'Kari's assault on Ulthuan with great interest and sought a way to harness the Greater Daemon of Slaanesh for his own dark designs during the Druchii's invasion of Ulthuan during what Men would later call the Great War Against Chaos, beginning in 2301 IC. With a potent ritual, Malekith summoned and bound the creature to his will a century after its defeat. N'Kari raged against this new form of imprisonment, but bidded his time. Malekith offered him vengeance against the twins of Aenarion's line and the Keeper of Secrets believed himself capable of turning the tables on the Witch King eventually. Even the Dark Elf king was still only a mortal, after all.[3a]

Malekith intended to use N'Kari and his knowledge of the interdimensional Paths of the Old Ones to quickly move his troops across Ulthuan, striking and retreating without retaliation.[3b] Under N'Kari's guidance, General Dorian Silverblade assaulted the heart of Avelorn to slay the new Everqueen Alarielle. [3e] When he didn not receive news of success or failure, the Witch King ordered the Greater Daemon to transport four of his agents to Avelorn.[6a]

When news reached the Witch King that his agents had been slain by Prince Tyrion, the Witch King decided on a gamble. He released N'Kari from his bounds, sacrificing the mobility the Daemon allowed Malekith's troops in order to have him slay not one, but two descendants of Aenarion, the Everqueen herself and the prince that had defeated him before.[6b] N'Kari, for his part, was willing to follow Malekith's command, and only resented the fact that he had to return quickly to the Witch King's side once he completed his task.[6c]

During his pursuit, the Greater Daemon found himself harried by unseen assailers. A host of Asrai under the command of Scarloc had been sent through the Worldroots by Queen Ariel. While the Wood Elves usually remained neutral in the struggles of their kindred, to risk one of the chosen vessels of Isha was a threat to their home forest of Athel Loren, too. Scarloc and his companions ambushed N'Kari from the woodland shadows and goaded him to spend his rage on an army of Dark Elves that also searched for the Everqueen.[9a]

N'kari

N'Kari assaults Avelorn.

A few days later, the Daemon located its prey. Tyrion had suffered a poisoned wound and the new Everqueen, Alarielle, was still young and inexperienced in wielding her divine power. The two would have been lost had not Teclis arrived. While N'Kari was still mighty beyond any of their individual capabilities, he was also limited by the magical chains Malekith used to control him with. With a simple spell of opening, Teclis removed the chains. This empowered N'Kari, yet also made him temporarily vulnerable to the instability all Daemons suffered when away from their native dimension. Increasing the now returning instability of the Daemon many-fold, Teclis banished N'Kari, breaking his bond with Malekith and denying the Greater Daemon its vengeance once again.[6d][8b]

When the Witch King was forced to flee into the Realm of Chaos after having been bested by Teclis at the Battle of Finuval Plains, the Greater Daemon awaited him, eager to claim another descendant of Aenarion and gain vengeance for being enslaved. The pair fought in the shadow of the Marcher Fortress, the Daemon at the height of its might, while the Witch King languished near death. Malekith managed to esape only narrowly.[10a]

Night of Pleasure and Pain

In 2452 IC, at the height of the Season of Decadence, when the rites of Atharti, the goddess of pleasure, were at their excessive peak, the Witch King Malekith brooded in his tower in his capital of Naggarond. Desire for vengeance had long ago burnt away his desire for gratification, and Malekith spent the eve plotting his next masterstroke.

Yet he soon sensed that something in the celebrations had turned sour. Walking to his chamber's iron balcony, the Witch King looked down into the tangle of dark streets and saw what he had suspected -- the anarchy was no longer that of revelry, but of battle. Daemons were loose in Naggarond, drawn by the night's indulgences. No, that was not quite true, the Witch King corrected himself, catching sight of a broken-horned Keeper of Secrets. This was an attack borne not of opportunism, but of revenge, for none other than N'Kari led the host to take Malekith's soul.[10a]

As the people of Naggarond attempted to form a defence, Malekith set out to join. It was then that N'Kari bellowed and charged directly at the Witch King. The Daemon cared not for the outcome of the battle -- he had engineered this slaughter merely to claim's Malekith's corrupt soul. Without a word, the Black Guard moved to block the Keeper of Secrets' onslaught, but N'kari was the mightiest of his kind and would abide no obstacle.[10a]

A glancing blow sent Kouran Darkhand flying; other Dark Elves were trampled to bloody ruin beneath the Daemon's hooves or pulverised by the impact of its monstrous fists. With a triumphant howl, N'Kari pushed on to personally confront Malekith on the steps of the Black Tower. As the Greater Daemon closed with him, Malekith laughed for the first time in many long centuries. When he had last fought N'Kari, it had been beneath the walls of the Marcher Fortress in the Realm of Chaos. There, the Daemon had been at the peak of its power, whilst the Witch King had been near death. Now the tables were turned, and Malekith was determined to take his own revenge.[10a]

N'Kari Warhammer III

N'Kari, the Keeper of Secrets, reaching to claim another damned soul, as depicted in Total War: Warhammer III.

The Keeper of Secrets did not slow as he approached Malekith, but lowered his head and charged, seeking to impale the Witch King on his remaining horn. In response, Malekith sent dark fire to stagger and blind the Daemon. As N'Kari thundered past, Malekith darted to one side, a savage backswing from the Destroyer cutting deep into the Daemon's flesh. N'kari bellowed in pain and turned to face his prey, claws slashing out. Malekith retreated across the steps, the Destroyer flashing as he parried each strike. Again and again, he sent magical black flame against the Greater Daemon, but this time N'Kari was prepared and the fire spattered off hastily raised magical defences.[10a]

Malekith now fought with his back to the colonnade. N'Kari struck out once more, but the Witch King ducked low. The blow shattered the ancient stonework behind, sending rubble flying in all directions. Taking advantage of N'Kari's momentary confusion, the Witch King hefted the Destroyer's black blade and pressed the attack with a flurry of knife-quick blows. With each strike, the Destroyer glowed dully as it sapped the Daemon's magical lifeblood.[10a]

Weakened, N'Kari stumbled and bellowed in pain as the Destroyer lunged to pierce his shoulder. With one last effort, the Greater Daemon rose to his feet. His lower arms whipped out once more, and this time Malekith was too slow -- N'Kari's vice-like hands clamped about the Witch King's shoulders, pinioning his arms, and the Destroyer, to his sides.[10a]

N'Kari leered with sadistic joy as he heaved the struggling Witch King from the ground. His serpent-tongue flickered out to caress his captive's armoured cheek, leaving a trail of foul-scented drool in its wake. When a handful of Black Guard charged up the steps to their master's aid, N'Kari gestured lazily with a claw and sent a cloud of magical shards to tear the flesh from their bones. As their lifeless bodies crumbled, the Greater Daemon brought his other claw up and clamped it around Malekith's armoured throat.[10a]

With a last, lingering smile, N'kari began to squeeze, but the Witch King was not yet done. For the last few moments he had marshalled his sorcery, and now he unleashed it in a single display of devastating power. A bolt of black lightning arced from the sky and smashed into the Greater Daemon, shattering his defences and wreaking ruin upon his flesh. As N'kari staggered with the impact, Malekith burst free of his grasp. Before the Daemon could recover, he brought the Destroyer around in a mighty, two-handed blow that severed N'Kari's foul head.[10a]

Thus, Naggarond was delivered. Malekith stood before the Black Tower and proclaimed that, in victorious celebration, the Rites of Atharti would continue for another day and night. The Witch King then strode to the temple and gave N'Kari's headless corpse as his offering. He could think of no greater tribute to the goddess of delights than the body of a vanquished pleasure Daemon.[10a]

Battle at the Blighted Isle

"You are mine, Prince Tyrion. My vengeance is about to begin."

—N'Kari to Prince Tyrion[4d]
N'kari Poster TWW III

N'Kari, one of the Legendary Lords of Total War: Warhammer III.

N'Kari would meet Tyrion again on the Blighted Isle. The Greater Daemon led a Dark Elf host against an army lead by Tyrion, apparently seeking to claim the Shrine of Khaine.[4b] Tyrion and N'Kari engaged in a duel, with the Greater Daemon using its sorcerous might to gain an advantage over the High Elf Prince.[4c]

As Tyrion was near to being overwhelmed, new vigour flew into his limbs, though he could not say if it was from the amulet upon his chest or the dread Sword of Khaine upon the altar. Splitting N'Kari's head with Sunfang, Tyrion banished the Daemon once more from the mortal world.[4d]

End Times

N'Kari returned to the Known World at the beginning of the End Times, leading the armies of the Dark Gods against Ulthuan. Coming from the devastated ruins of Chrace, the Keeper of Secrets led the Siege of the White Tower of Hoeth. There, he faced Tyrion again, who had suffered a grievous injury at the battle of Cairn Avon before. The Dragon of Cothique was saved only thanks to the interbention of Korhil Lionmane, who managed to cleave off one of the Daemon's arms. When the High Elf Archmage Teclis arrived to relieve his brothers' forces, N'Kari fled.[11a]

Tyrion then lead the Wars of Reclamation to free Ulthuan from the Daemonic legions. Daemons were slain in their thousands, dozens of armies cast back into the Realm of Chaos by courage and steel. From Teclis, Tyrion had learned that it was N'Kari's presence that anchored the Daemonic armies to Ulthuan and that with the Greater Daemon's destruction, their Daemonic enemies could be banished back into their home realm. [11b]

N'Kari had seized Moonspire, a temple dedicated to Lileath, the Elven goddess of dreams and fortune, and it was here that Tyrion's armies met with the Daemonic legions. Tens of thousands of Daemons mustered beneath the ancient tower. They had been drawn hence not by loyalty, but the desire to share in N'Kari's bounty of souls. The Lord of Dismay had taken many slaves since his emergence into the mortal world, and their agonised terror was a heady brew to Daemonkind. In his arrogance, N'Kari had forgotten that the Dark Gods were not the only ones in the firmament, nor the ones with power. Teclis drew upon Lileath's moonfire and together the twins faced the Daemon.[11b]

N'Kari was a mighty demigod of suffering and despair, but in that fight it availed him naught. As the Greater Daemon waded into the Phoenix Guard's ranks, Teclis sent the moonfire coursing across N'Kari's body. Flesh blackening, the Daemon bellowed and charged towards the archmage, but Tyrion gave a battle cry of his own and touched his heels to Malhandir's flanks.[11b]

Ducking low in the saddle, the prince passed beneath N'Kari's mighty claws and Sunfang flashed out to open a deep wound in the Daemon's belly.[11b] The Phoenix Guard charged, distracting the Keeper of Secrets so that Tyrion could stab his blade into N'Kari's spine, bringing him to his knees and then beheading him.[11b] Teclis used the severed Daemon head to cast a spell to banish every Daemon that remained on Ulthuan back into the Realm of Chaos.[11c]

Wargear

N'kari Screenshot TWW III

N'Kari leads the Daemonic legions of Slaanesh into battle.

  • Witstealer Sword - The Witstealer Sword that is wielded as N'Kari's primary melee weapon was forged by the will of Slaanesh from the power of raw desire itself and cooled in the Chaos God's own blood to arm N'Kari for a battle against the Bloodthirster Skarbrand. Unfortunately for the Dark Prince, N'Kari was defeated in the duel and the Witstealer Sword was lost, its location unknown.

Notes

N'Kari was able to glean Malekith's thoughts, despite the potent runes on the Witch King's helmet shielding him from such efforts. It is unclear if this is due to the Keeper of Secret's sheer power, its nature, or if the Greater Daemon was just that skilled at psychology and reading body language to tell such things by mundane forms of observation, even without the aid of magic.[3c]

In the Greater Daemon's eyes, Malekith is "unusual" among the Elves, as he feels that every Elf "always needs to talk, to boast, to vaunt their pride. Elves are worse than Humans in their way." Malekith, meanwhile, feels no such requirement to speak his thoughts to anyone, least of all a lackey.[3c]

N'Kari claims to have lain with Malekith's mother Morathi many times, in many forms, more than even the Dark Elf sorceress herself knows. When telling this to the Witch King, N'Kari even insinuated that perhaps Malekith wasn't truly Aenarion's son, but his own.[3c]

Whilst enslaved to Malekith, forced to take the form of a she-Elf, N'Kari said he was becoming more and more like Malekith; living, breathing, and claiming the realm of his birth was becoming an ever fainter memory.[3c]

To summon N'Kari requires a specific sacrifice of virgins in a correct ritual manner, but even then the Greater Daemon often allows himself to be called only to destroy the impudent mortal who dared try to control him.[3a]

N'Kari is also present, like most of the named Daemons, in the universe of Warhammer 40,000.

Videos

Sources

  • 1: Warhammer Armies: Daemons of Chaos (8th Edition)
    • 1a: pg. 20
    • 1b: pg. 21
  • 2: Blood of Aenarion (Novel) by William King
    • 2a: Prologue
    • 2b: Ch. 5
    • 2c: Ch. 7
    • 2d: Ch. 14
  • 3: Sword of Caledor (Novel) by William King
    • 3a: Prologue
    • 3b: Ch. 7
    • 3c: Ch. 8
    • 3d: Ch. 11
    • 3e: Ch. 18
  • 4: Warhammer Armies: High Elves (5th Edition)
    • 4a: pg. 15
    • 4b: pg. 58
    • 4c: pg. 60
    • 4d: pg. 61
  • 5: Total War: Warhammer III (PC Game)
  • 6: Bane of Malekith (Novel) by William King
    • 6a: Ch. 10
    • 6b: Ch. 18
    • 6c: Ch. 19
    • 6d: Ch. 20
  • 7: Warhammer Armies: Daemons of Chaos (7th Edition)
    • 7a: pg. 16
    • 7b: pg. 17
  • 8: Warhammer Armies: High Elves (8th Edition)
    • 8a: pg. 28
    • 8b: pg. 29
  • 9: Warhammer Armies: Wood Elves (8th Edition)
    • 9a: pg. 31
  • 10: Warhammer Armies: Dark Elves (8th Edition)
  • 11: The End Times: Khaine (8th Edition)
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