Long ago the Dark Elves were one and the same as the High Elves of Ulthuan, noble warriors who fought steadfastly in the war against the Daemons – a cultured and enlightened people whose cities were wonders and whose lord was none other than Aenarion, greatest, and most tragic, of the Phoenix Kings.

The Dark Elves originally descended from the Elves of Nagarythe, the people of the Shadowlands of Ulthuan. In ages past, Nagarythe was a glorious realm and the seat of Aenarion's power. From there came the most skilled and steadfast of the High Elves warriors, veterans of the War against the Daemons whose efforts had helped deliver the Elven people from the ravages of Chaos. When Aenarion died, in that final struggle to save Ulthuan, the council of Ulthuan saw fit not to elect Malekith, Aenarion's son and heir, but to choose another to reign as the Phoenix King of Ulthuan. For the proud Nagarythe this was too much to bear and a great and terrible civil war erupted.

Long and bitter was the struggle of the Nagarythe, for while Malekith, was both a superb general and a mighty sorcerer, and their realm boasted fine warriors, the other realms had Dragons, Mages and the legions of the Phoenix Guard at their disposal. For blood-soaked decades the war raged, ravaging Ulthuan and bleeding her people dry. Eventually, fearing final defeat, Malekith launched upon a desperate gambit – one that ultimately failed, tore the land of Nagarythe asunder and narrowly avoided drowning all of Ulthuan beneath colossal tidal waves. The Nagarythe survivors were cast adrift from their homeland upon gargantuan vessels made from the very rock of Ulthuan, to seek sanctuary elsewhere.

Those exiled Elves found respite, of a kind, in the distant land of Naggaroth – known also as the Land of Chill – and there they forged a new, darker kingdom. Life in the Land of Chill proved hard, for the landscape is merciless and cold, and utterly unforgiving. Despite this, the Dark Elves have endured.

Thousands of years later, the Dark Elves still plot their revenge. Hundreds of small wars have punctuated the centuries, and still the Dark Elves' hatred of their kin burns undimmed. Malekith, the Witch King, is no longer content merely to overthrow the false Phoenix King and claim the throne of Ulthuan, he is now driven by the need to raze all of Ulthuan to the ground, to destroy the cities of the High Elves and enslave their people. So it is for all Dark Elves – all that remains to them is an insatiable thirst for slaughter and bloodshed.

Living as they do in a land of meagre resources and foul climate, the Dark Elves take what they need from the soft, fat kingdoms across the seas. They hold all races in equal contempt and care nothing for the suffering and carnage they leave in their wake. Towns and villages across the Old World and beyond are razed and burned, livestock, foodstuffs and slaves taken back to Naggaroth to feed the appetites of the Dark Elves. No fortress or hiding place is safe from the Dark Elves, and the greater the challenge, the more satisfaction they derive from the ensuing slaughter. As befits this lifestyle of reaving and plunder, the armies of the Dark Elves are swift and deadly, borne across the seas upon the colossal Black Arks, they boast warriors armed with spears and repeater crossbows, deadly cavalry on swift Dark Steeds or foul-tempered Cold Ones. Elite warriors throng their ranks, with fanatical Witch Elves and deadly Executioners standing firm beside monstrous War Hydras and the fearsome Black Guard.

It is wise to fear the Dark Elves – for they loathe all and their only joy is bought with the grief and suffering of their victims.

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