Be'lakor

Be'lakor is a daemon in the Warhammer Fantasy tabletop game. He is known by several names in the Warhammer world: The Harbinger,The Shadowlord, One Who Heralds the Conquerors, the Foretoken and the Bearer are a number of examples.

Early History

Be'lakor was the first mortal of the Warhammer world to receive the gift of daemonhood. After his ascension, Be'lakor held the world in an iron fist, commanding hordes of daemons in the name of Chaos. As absolute ruler of the world, Be'lakor began to look upon mortals with disdain. Be'lakor being of such unsurpassed might himself began to see himself as an equal to the four Chaos Gods and not their servant. His arrogance led to his downfall, incurring the ire of the Dark Gods when he began to defy them, seeing himself as being their equals. Tzeentch The Lord of Magic cursed Be'lakor with madness, the four Chaos Gods stripped him of his power, denying him physical form and forcing him into mindless subservience to their will. As a final twisted curse, they forced Be'lakor to become the Harbinger, the one who would crown the Everchosen. Tzeentch granted the hate-filled spirit access to the secret paths to the Crown of Domination - an ancient battle helm that was the symbol of the Everchosen, attainable only by running a gauntlet of Daemons and Chaos Spawn at the First Shrine to Chaos, deep in the World's Edge Mountains. But Be'lakor would never wear it himself a fact that incensed him more than his bodiless state.

Crowning The Everchosen

Be'lakor first conducted his dark coronation thousands of years before the rise of Archaon. The first Everchosen, Morkar the Uniter, had raised a great army and, with the blessings of the Dark Gods, was given the task of making the world a permanent beacon of Chaos. Screaming his rage to the winds, Be'lakor descended into his own realm of madness - not seeing the battles won by Morkar.

Avoiding The Coronation

Because of the fickle nature of Chaos, Be'lakor was able to avoid fulfilling his hated role and possessed the body of Kharduun the Gloried (the second Everchosen, before Asavar Kul). With a physical body at last, Be'lakor morphed the mortal form into a being known as the Shadowlord. Believing he had defeated the Dark Gods' curse, Be'lakor grew enraged (much to the amusement of the Gods) when he could not reach the Crown of Domination in his physical form. His fury and his insanity eventually destroyed his physical body, and he was forced back into the shadows to guard the Crown of Domination.

The Rise of Asavar Kul

Hundreds of years later, Asavar Kul the Anointed became the next Everchosen, leading a campaign of death and destruction through the decadent and corrupt lands of the Empire. However, as in ages past, a champion of light rose to challenge Chaos at Mankind's darkest hour. Magnus the Pious, the future Emperor of Sigmar's Empire, joined with Ar-Ulric Kriestov, the Tsar of Kislev and High King Alrikson of the dwarfs to oppose Kul's horde. At the climax of the siege of Kislev, Magnus and Asavar Kul met in single combat and once more the Everchosen was slain by the Champion of Light.

Be'lakor, watching from the heavens, screamed in fury as the chosen conqueror again fell in combat for he knew that if the Dark Gods had not cursed him, with his full might he would have proved victorious.

The Rise of Archaon

Be'lakor was subject to another End Times prince when Archaon started to subjugate the northern tribes while claiming the necessary relics to be named the Everchosen. Be'lakor held the Crown of Domination, and was the only one who could conduct the coronation - and only the Everchosen could receive the crown.

Be'lakor, in his guise as the Dark Master, had planned to take the Crown of Domination for himself, gather enough power to gain physical form by holding Albion in his grip, then descend on Archaon and feast on his soul in the view of the Dark Gods. However, his plans fell apart and, his immortal spirit filled with fury, Be'lakor was once again forced to perform the dark coronation. Descending like a dark angel, Be'lakor knelt before Archaon, hatred and rage filling his soul. He had gained enough power to keep himself from falling into madness and more than that he was more corporeal than he had been originally and so he continues to plot against the Chaos Gods.

The Storm of Chaos

Be'lakor resurrected the slain former Theogonist of Sigmar, Volkmar, and chained him to his battle standard. Be'lakor led a force of daemons across the Empire, facing the personal army of Emperor Karl Franz.

However, the High Elves under the banner of Teclis, the emissary of the Phoenix King, arrived on the field. Teclis brought with him three hundred of the vaunted Swordmasters of Hoeth. Outnumbered by their foes, the Swordmasters' casualties began to mount until Teclis stepped forward and made a mighty conjuration. The Elf mage held a glowing sphere aloft, its power pulsing with unimaginable energies, and released it. A tidal wave of scented flame engulfed everything daemonic on the battlefield; in moments, not one daemon remained. Be'lakor was the last daemon to disappear, banished back to the Realm of Chaos.