Malus Darkblade

Malus Darkblade is a fictional character in the "Warhammer Fantasy" setting. He is an archetypal Dark Elf, displaying profound amounts of cruelty, hatred, and a vicious cunning. He is most well known for his appearances in the "Tale of Malus Darkblade" series of comics and novels, which detail his possession by the daemon Tz'arkan, his eventual escape from possession, and the reclamation of his soul.

Basics

Appearance

Malus is of average height for a Dark Elf, approximately 5ft 10in (By Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Heights for Elves), is incredibly light and tough, with a very powerful build for his stature. Since his possession by the daemon Tz'arkan, Malus's appearance changed drastically. His skin is a chalky white, with his veins standing out in stark black contrast. This has worsened as he periodically invokes the power of Tz'arkan during his quest to rid himself of the daemon. Malus mostly wears a suit of black plate-mail, though this is eventually replaced by a set of ensorcelled armor that has great defensive capabilities. The armor was given to him as a gift by Malekith; it also has three golden skulls affixed to the armor as a sign of Malus's status when he becomes the Witch King's champion.

Personality

Outwardly, Malus is normally calm and composed, though his can swiftly change to an iron-hard hatred and viciousness if the situation warrants it, which, in the Dark Elf society, it often does. He is particularly vicious with his enemies even after they are dead. At the end of each novel, he normally takes a trophy or memento from the corpse of the main antagonist of the novel: eating the heart of the beastman shaman, skinning his brother's face for a mask, and drinking wine from the brain pan of Fuerlan Bale are some examples.

Most of the time he endeavours to bring his treacherous family down by any means necessary, and has killed numerous siblings and relatives of him, including his two elder half-brothers, Urial and Bruglir, his half sister Nagaira, and his own father, Lurhan.

Abilities

Until he acquires the Warpsword of Khaine, Malus changes weapons and equipment regularly. He is a talented with swords, axes, and dual-wielding, even with dissimilar weapons. He has shown some proficiency at archery, but Malus rarely carries a bow or crossbow. His favorite tactic is to charge an opponent mounted on the Cold One, Spite, and fighting from the saddle.

He is a rather talented general, and is awarded command of a banner of Cold One Knights during the third book, and overall command of an army as well, managing to save it from a disastrous rout while simultaneously slaying the enemy general. He is also granted brief control of the Witchking's northerm forces by virtue of Malekith's writ. A large portion of this army is destroyed in battle with the Chaos Hordes, and even more so during the siege afterwards. To be fair, there is no way Malus could have come out of that battle with any degree of victory, considering the vast difference in numbers.

Malus has a good grasp on Dark Elf psychology, able to inspire troops to battle with brief speeches.

Malus has some innate talent for sorcery, though he dislikes it and has no formal training as a wizard. He has managed to figure out several magical puzzles, as well as the uses of the artifacts he is sent to find for the daemon Tz'arkan. Malus also uses the demonic abilities of the deamon Tz'arkan although only when was absolutely nessary.

Reactions

His name, Darkblade, is a surname given to all illegitimate Druchii. To this, Malus loathes most of his family (with the exception of his mother, the sorceress Eldire) and much of the novels of his adventures chronicles his attempts to gain power over his rivals. Numerous members of his family have died by his hand, including his father, two of his half-brothers and one of his half-sisters.

The Witchking Malekith seems to be unusually tolerant of Malus, neither killing or torturing him when Malus displays his usual brevity towards him, although it is worth noting that Malus' 'punishment' has rendered him a life-servant of Malekith. It has been noted that Malekith has warned Malus that one day "'You will pay for your crimes, Darkblade'."

Morathi seems to find Malus rather amusing, laughing when he displays bluntness towards Malekith within his own throne room, and again at a meeting of generals.

Magical items

Malus acquires several magical artifacts during his travels to rid himself of Tz'arkan, as well as his character from the Warhammer Fantasy universe, though these differ significantly, as Malus's character is stagnant in the tabletop game, and has changed throughout the novels in which he acquires most of his items.

Though not a magical item, one of Malus's constant companions, and viewed as an item by Malus, is the Cold One Spite. Spite is considered a runt for a Cold One, being smaller in size than the rest of his species, though he makes up for it in intelligence and raw viciousness, as well as a certain degree of empathy and self control. Spite does not fly into a rage as easily as other nauglir, and returns to Malus even if they are separated during a fight. He has even brought kills for Malus to eat, after taking his lion's share of course, during times when Malus was to weak to hunt for his own food, though their relationship is tested throughout their journey, as Spite often refuses to obey Malus and even tries to attack him while Malus is under the influence of the demon.

Octagon of Praan

The first artifact Malus acquired shortly after his possession by Tz'arkan was the Octagon of Praan, which he took from the shaman of a herd of beastmen at the end of the first novel. It is a medallion made of brass, carved in the shape of an octagon and covered with runes. The Octagon protects the wearer seemingly from all magic, though Malus has not worn it during every interaction he has had with sorcery. While wearing it, he is immune to most spells and can pass through magical wards without ill effect.The Octagon is eventually destroyed by Tz'arkan in a single blast, reducing it to slag, showing just how powerful the daemon truly is when compared to those of mortal spellcasters, who could barely even warm the Octagon even with their most powerful spells.

Idol of Kolkuth

Malus recovered the Idol from the Tower of Kolkus on the island of Morhaut, used as headquarters by the Skinriders, a force of sea-raiding Chaos pirates dedicated to the Chaos God, Nurgle during the second novel. The idol is barely a foot in height, made from brass, created by the sorcerer, Eradorius, who fled to the island and made a sanctum in another dimension to hide both himself and the idol from Tz'arkan. The Idol has the ability to warp space and time for the wielder, allowing for transportation to wherever, and perhaps even whenever, the user wishes to go, primarily by force of will. Malus has used it successfully, though he loathed the experience and it was not as accurate as he hoped it would be.

Malus only ever used the Idol twice in the series, once on the Isle of Mohaut to escape the tower it was placed in, and the second time to escape a party of murderous autarii out to kill him in revenge. The Idol was lost beneath the rubble when the Temple of Tz'arkan crumbled.

Dagger of Torxus

Malus recovered this dagger from a Dark Elf lord's crypt at the beginning of the third novel, when Malus touched the Dagger, he awoke the lord and his guards, who rose and nearly killed Malus. Shortly afterwards, graverobbers broke into the tomb, stole the dagger and fled, forcing Malus to give chase. The Dagger of Torxus is a long, black kris dagger, said to be so dark that it appeared as a shard of the Outer Dakness itself. The Dagger works by ripping out the soul of any it stabs and binding that soul for all of eternity to that spot, meaning even a scratch is lethal. Malus survived being stabbed by virtue of the fact that he no longer had a soul, it being taken by Tz'arkan. The Dagger's power still managed to render him unconscious for several hours. Tz'arkan refers to the dagger once as "The Reaper of Souls".

“Compared to the cruel power of the dagger I am the most benign of tyrants.”-Tz’arkan

The dagger is used by Malus Darkblade to destroy Tz'arkan's corporeal form, the two's energies somehow tearing one another apart; how exactly the dagger was able to affect the daemon to such a degree is still unknown. It is unknown if the dagger survived, but it is unlikely.

Warpsword of Khaine

Though this weapon is presumably older than Khaine, as Tz'arkan indicates, this weapon certainly takes after its namesake, the blade seemingly able to somehow consume the blood of its victim; it is called 'Khaine's own hunger given form' by Tz'arkan. The relic that Malus uses the most, the Warpsword of Khaine is a double-edged blade, almost as long as a draich, the blade is slightly wider at the point than at the hilt, giving it extra cutting power. It is a two-handed weapon, decorated with a cabochon ruby placed where the hilt meets the blade. The sword radiates invisible heat like a furnace and the hilt is always hot to the touch. The blade infuses the wielder with great strength, and can send its user into a murderous frenzy that will not stop until there are no enemies left in sight. Tz'arkan implies many times that the Warpsword is more than just a blade, perhaps meaning that it can do more than cut through steel and flesh as just as easily as it would butter, though Malus has never used the sword for any large acts of power. It also seems to be able to affect magic, seen when Malus uses the blade to greatly weaken, and even shatter a magical barrier. The blade is, according to Tz'arkan, said to always turn on its wielder at some point as they can never slake its thirst for blood sufficiently.

The blade's energies and that of the daemon Tz'arkan's appear to be antithesis of one another as the blade has driven off the daemon's possession of Malus multiple times. Most likely because Tz'arkan is a daemon of Slaanesh, while the Warpsword appears to bear the powers of Khorne, or a creature with similar ideals. Tz'arkan hints that the blade has a tiny bit of consciousness, as the blade is said to 'remember' the taste of Tz'arkan. This consciousness is also shown through how the blade can take control of the wielder and his actions for periods of time, even guiding the wielder's hand in battle. It is said that the 'Scourge' a prophesized warrior will one day take up the Warpsword of Khaine and use it to usher in an age of blood and death. Malus Darkblade is believed to be this 'Scourge'(in the novel, Warpsword, the Temple of Khaine claim that Malekith is the Scourge, this was done for political reasons on both sides: Malekith received the blessing of the Temple in establishing legitimacy of his rule, and the Temple received the power and backing of the Witch King in establishing themselves as the principal religion in Naggaroth).

Malus acquires the sword from a cave in the Chaos Wastes, where a cadre of renegade Dark Elves had hidden it and placed a Dragon Ogre to guard it. When Malus's own sword broke on the monster's scaly hide, he drew the Warpsword in an effort to defend himself, killing the monster with a single slash.

Any relation between the Warpsword of Khaine wielded by Malus, and the Sword of Khaine in Ulthuan is still unknown at this time.

Amulet of Vaurog

A heavy, red-gold torque that while worn renders the wearer impervious to all weapons, though they may still be killed through direct force, i.e. bare hands. The torque is first seen being worn by a Chaos champion, who had it given to them by Nagaira to seal an alliance between the pair; it is not known where it came from before that. Malus attempts to take the Amulet from the Chaos champion multiple times, each time ending in failure, despite the champion having a sword going clean through her spine and abdomen, and numerous other blows that would have killed any other warrior. Malus is finally able to retrieve the Amulet when he uses Tz'arkan's power to crush the Champion's skull with his bare hands, helm and all.

The Champion is revealed to be Lhunara, a druchii woman who served as Malus's lieutenant, and it is hinted, was his lover, who Malus murdered briefly after his possession by Tz'arkan. She was resurrected as an undead revenant and desired only to destroy Malus in revenge for his betrayal.

Ainur Tel

Also known as 'The Eye of Fate', it is an obscure artifact, reported to have been carved from the root of the world aeons ago, it was taken by the druchii when they fled from Nagarythe, and is currently in the possession of the Witch King. The Ainur Tel is a large uncut crystal, about as large as a dark elf that glows with an inner white light, it was only used once by Malus Darkblade, when he was brought before the Witch King for punishment. It's capabilities are never fully explained, but it can be used as a very powerful scrying tool, allowing Malus to examine events taking place hundreds of leagues away from him when he utilizes it.

Publications

Comics

* "Darkblade: Reign of Blood" (by Dan Abnett and Kevin Hopgood, Black Library, 256 pages, 2005, ISBN 1-84416-206-0) includes:

Novels

*"Tales of Malus Darkblade" series (by Dan Abnett and Mike Lee)
** "The Daemon's Curse" (2005, ISBN 1-84416-191-9)
** "Bloodstorm" (2005, ISBN 1844161927)
** "Reaper of Souls" (2006, ISBN 1844161935)
** "Warpsword" (2007, ISBN 1-84416-194-3)
** "Lord of Ruin" (September 2007, ISBN 1844161951)

Future novels

Mike Lee (along with Black Library) has expressed interest in continuing the Malus Darkblade series.Fact|date=October 2008 Due to his current workload, Lee has stated this won't be possible until the year 2010, or possibly even later.