Storms of Dread
Dark elf vocabulary
Druchii – Tar Eltharin name for Dark Elves
Khaela Mensha (The Bloody Handed God) – Elven god of unleashed violence worshiped by the
Malteeras as the god of war, murder, hatred and destruction
Kryrnaa - initially fanatics of Khaela Mensha, now an order of Scouts and Assassins
Masperon – Kryrnaa dedicated to infiltration and assassination, also known as “shadows”
Heith - Kryrnaa dedicated to spirit travel
Marsis – Kryrnaa dedicated to close and mounted combat
Tulluch – Kryrnaa dedicated mastery of lore + sorcery
Raikin - terrible creature of the deep whose sleek forms and elegant manner belie its terrifying
viciousness and strength
Krynraa raikin – Krynraa dedicated to hunting, raiding and capturing ships and ports, also known as
“dark corsairs”
Malekith - the Witch King and founder of the true nation
Nashathiri - clanless elves
Sith’ Rionnasc – Tar Eltharin name for Marienberg
Uraithen - repeating crossbow favoured by Kryrnaa
Nagarythe – promised land from which the foolish High Elves drove them
Malteeras – Druchii’s true name (people of the north)
Dru Perim (Black Pilgrims) - Dark Elf council and founders of Naggaroth
Naggarond – capital of Naggaroth (Land of Chill) built on the very slopes of Mount Naggaroth and
where Malekith, the Witch King, would hold court, seated in the tallest tower of the city.
Har Ganeth - City of Executioners with its martial schools + sacrificial pyres
Hag Graef (Dark Crag) - mining city where thousands of slaves are forced to hack at the rock in order
to find the iron and stone
Clar Karond (Tower of Doom) - principal dockyards of Naggaroth where thousands of slaves are
forced to work the surrounding pine forests for the wood necessary to build the raiders
Arond Kar (City of Despair) - a bastion of beastmasters where the monstrosities of the world are
brought to and trained by the Malteeras, not to mention where thousands of slaves go for distribution
to other Dark Elf cities
Black Arks of Naggaroth – mightiest of all the sea-going vessels in the Warhammer World, they are
enormous craft: sinister floating fortresses, covered in eldritch carvings that are painful to behold
Rhudd Cynhaef - thousand-year-old high priestess of Kryrnaa. Claims the title of Witch-queen on the
grounds that she is the true daughter of Khaine. She proclaims that the years of rebuilding are over
and that a holy war or blood crusade should be launched against the elven kingdoms
Hellebron– Hag Queen of the Witch Elves, leader of the Tulluch
Shadowblade - Master of Assassins, leader of the Kryrnaa Masperon
The Harvest of Souls: One of the most popular times of year is the Harvest of Souls. Each noble
family must try to outdo each other in the number of slaves they sacrifice to Khaine (a Dark Elf family
may own from one hundred to as many as a thousand slaves.) The more slaves a family sacrifices the
less chance that they will feel the knife of the Witch Elves’ blade on Death Night (see below.) Once the
slaves have been sacrificed, excited Dark Elf children wait at the doors of the Temple of Khaine for the
priestess to hand them the severed heads of those sacrificed. The children would then race each other
to the spikes that dot the city walls where they would plant their gruesome trophies. Inside the temple
the victims are disemboweled and their entrails and hearts placed on sacrificial pyres. The Witch Elves
then remove the skin of the victims and sow it together to make one large sheet. A family’s status
could then be measured by the size of these macabre decorations as they are draped along the city
walls.
Death Night: One of the nights when the Witch Elves (Malteeras: Tulluch) are unleashed upon the
citizens of the cities of Naggaroth. Be they a highborn noble or a child, no one is safe on the streets
when it is Death Night because on this night everyone is equal just as death can come to anyone be he
noble or beggar. When Death Night comes all the citizens of a city bar themselves in their homes for
ten nights (the duration of Death Night). However, the Witch Elves do break into the houses and drag
away their victims to the temple of Khaine where they are ritually sacrificed to the Bloody-Handed
God. Newborn babies, however, are offered to the Lord of Murder in the Cauldron of Blood. Most
perish this ordeal but those who survive are taken by the temples where they are inducted as
assassins. The morning after Death Night, the survivors celebrate their escape by sacrificing one of
their own household to Khaine - usually a slave or an elderly relative - as thanks for sparing their lives
and those of their children.
Hunting: This isn’t so much a festival but a regular pastime for most Malteeras families. All families
have slaves, the more a family has the greater their status, and from time to time they will release one
or two into the wilds of Naggaroth and hunt them for sport. The Dark Elf huntsmen usually ride on
horses and use strange mutated beasts to track and find their quarry for them, so that it is virtually
impossible for any slave to stay free for long and even then the freezing temperatures at nighttime is
enough to kill anyone as well as the mysterious Shades who lurk in the mountain passes. Dark Elf
children, or those approaching adulthood, accompany the hunts, eager to prove themselves, and once
a slave is found their fathers blood them as a sign of their maturity and bravery. But the Malteeras
don’t only hunt slaves; they also hunt the beasts of the forests and mountains. Being so close to the
Realm of Chaos means that there are many warped and, frequently, dangerous monstrosities lurking
in the wilderness for the Dark Elves to either capture or slay for sport. The bones of particularly
mighty beasts are used to decorate Dark Elf houses and are even used as eating tools.