A question about the dark elves lore

[Veg]

Perhaps my knowledge of the warhammer lore is incomplete, but I have always wondered: what makes the druchii so evil? As far as I'm aware, they are not corrupted by Chaos, so what's the reason for them to be so irrationally wicked and obssessed with cruelty? Is it the use of the dark magic, or the legacy of living under the rule of Aenarion wielding the Sword of Khaine? It seems to me, this question is just not well explained in the lore, or may be I'm missing something important on that matter?

[Conflagration]

Malekith and Morathi. They foster evil, so even those who wish to live under less brutal rule can't hope to escape it, either their peers or their numerous enemies will kill them should they show it.

[KokocinskiTRV]

Druchi are warlike people as they are descendants of warrior caste from Nagarythe and also they are just Elves being Elves to the extreme i.e. arrogant and racist. They treat other sapient species as animals. I think it's not "irrationally" wicked and obssessed with cruelty though. A lot of irl humans do harm animals today with no buisiness, and slavery and genocides were the things in human history so the Druchi just have similar cruel culture to our ancestors'. It's quite realistic without Chaos neither Dark Magic involved. They are brutal because they can and perhaps insomuch as they became bitter for losing civil war with High Elves.

[Veg]

Originally posted by Neurotoxin:

Malekith and Morathi. They foster evil, so even those who wish to live under less brutal rule can't hope to escape it, either their peers or their numerous enemies will kill them should they show it.

I guess being an ordinary dark elf is worse than being an ordinary Empire citizen who lives in a well-defended city like Aldorf. The Empire, at least, has the criminal law, unlike the Druchii :)

[Father Ribs]

I recommend grabbing the Legendary Lore mod; the flavor text will give you a lot of background.

They're a race that was "betrayed" (so they say) kicked out/fled from their fertile homeland, living in the most unhospitable land, suffering constant chaos incusions. There's a lot of unspoken social engineering going on to make the strongest, smartest, quickest, bravest, most cunning move to positions of power...over the bodies of the weak and rivals.

They're constantly beating back chaos, reiving to capture slaves and other forms of wealth, Their entertainments are blood sports, their religions are bloody.

Frankly, everything about DE is a crucible to strengthen the DE as a whole, to serve the ends of Malekith, but there are also other factions with their own goals. Heck, Morathi keeps screwing over her son in order to make him even more cold, more strong, more of a leader of a very cruel and warlike people.

[AurumHawke]

Originally posted by Neurotoxin:

Malekith and Morathi. They foster evil, so even those who wish to live under less brutal rule can't hope to escape it, either their peers or their numerous enemies will kill them should they show it.

Reads like the Asur agitprop they used to justify sending Alith out to harass them.
As Drycha notes, the Druchii simply do not mask their Elven malice beneath a sanctimonious "greater good".
Malekith is in fact Aenarion's lawful son (by Aenarion's lawful second wife Morathi - later divorced) and heir. The Phoenix Court plutarchy schemed to prevent a hereditary monarchy from disrupting their power.

Originally posted by Veg:

The Empire, at least, has the criminal law, unlike the Druchii :)

Incorrect, the Har Ganeth Executioners enforce punishments under the criminal law. These are temporarily suspended for Death Night but its related curfew is strict.
Malekith himself also renders judgements, as is his duty as king - if he determines petitioners are wasting the court's time, as in petty rivalries, he may well punish all involved (including with lectures on how the law works).

[Kel'Thuzad]

Not sure about "not corrupted by Chaos". Morathi has some ties to Slaanesh

[Lokaror]

Dark Elves not only don't supress the natural elven malice but have turned it to 11 as a point of pride and a survival tactic. Combine this with their harsher environment, feelings of betrayal and generations upon generations of this sort of attitude to build and simmer...

Their society is pretty much built on hatred, spite, betrayal and cruelty.

[Dagy47]

Originally posted by AurumHawke:

[
Malekith is in fact Aenarion's lawful son (by Aenarion's lawful second wife Morathi - later divorced) and heir.

Ye, thats just the thing, he is not the firstborn, so by our rules he aint inheriting sh@t aslong as the bloodline of the rightfull firstborn is alive. That being said, theese are fantasy elves, they dont rly need to folow our customs.

Anyway... lets be real here, nobody in their right mind would want Malekith as phoenix king..

[AurumHawke]

Originally posted by Dagy47:

Originally posted by AurumHawke:

[
Malekith is in fact Aenarion's lawful son (by Aenarion's lawful second wife Morathi - later divorced) and heir.

Ye, thats just the thing, he is not the firstborn, so by our rules he aint inheriting sh@t aslong as the bloodline of the rightfull firstborn is alive. That being said, theese are fantasy elves, they dont rly need to folow our customs.

Anyway... lets be real here, nobody in their right mind would want Malekith as phoenix king..

Haven't seen anything indicating Malekith had any siblings or step-siblings, living or dead - though he is Morathi's only child if I'm remembering correctly - and if there were any, they are more than likely long-dead. Which still makes Malekith the sole surviving son of Aenarion, so his legal claim is ironclad.

Findubar, the current Phoenix King (at game's timeline), has zero relation to Aenarion and zero hereditary claim. He's a puppet figurehead installed by the nobles of the Phoenix Court - as they did with the countless Phoenix Kings after Aenarion that Malekith has watched die over the milennia.

Nobody in their right mind would want Alarielle as Everqueen.
Well, her consort Tyrion would, but adultery already indicates an obvious misstep in judgement and relationship occurred somewhere.

[Dagy47]

Originally posted by AurumHawke:

Originally posted by Dagy47:

Ye, thats just the thing, he is not the firstborn, so by our rules he aint inheriting sh@t aslong as the bloodline of the rightfull firstborn is alive. That being said, theese are fantasy elves, they dont rly need to folow our customs.

Anyway... lets be real here, nobody in their right mind would want Malekith as phoenix king..

Haven't seen anything indicating Malekith had any siblings or step-siblings, living or dead - though he is Morathi's only child if I'm remembering correctly - and if there were any, they are more than likely long-dead. Which still makes Malekith the sole surviving son of Aenarion, so his legal claim is ironclad.

Findubar, the current Phoenix King (at game's timeline), has zero relation to Aenarion and zero hereditary claim. He's a puppet figurehead installed by the nobles of the Phoenix Court - as they did with the countless Phoenix Kings after Aenarion that Malekith has watched die over the milennia.

Nobody in their right mind would want Alarielle as Everqueen.
Well, her consort Tyrion would, but adultery already indicates an obvious misstep in judgement and relationship occurred somewhere.

Malekith is Morathis only child yes, but Morathi is the second wife, Aenerion had family before that and their decendants still live, Tyrion is the rightfull heir of Aenerion, Malekith still has 0 claim.

Phoenix King is not a position that can be inherited, they are chosen by the elven princes, so whoever is the heir is completly irelevant anyway.

Everqueen is the position that gets inherited so....

[Egro]

Originally posted by Veg:

Originally posted by Neurotoxin:

Malekith and Morathi. They foster evil, so even those who wish to live under less brutal rule can't hope to escape it, either their peers or their numerous enemies will kill them should they show it.

I guess being an ordinary dark elf is worse than being an ordinary Empire citizen who lives in a well-defended city like Aldorf. The Empire, at least, has the criminal law, unlike the Druchii :)

Nah, They only particularly cruel toward Slaves. It's a the strong rule over the weak world and everyone have their role in a very rigid unchanging society. They are High Elves but without any restrains and their love for Khaela Mensha Khaine make them very nasty. Not to confuse them with their 40k version where they have to be extremely cruel and their life is miserable, fantasy dark elves on the other hand are having the time of their life.

[Ashardalon]

Originally posted by Dagy47:

Phoenix King is not a position that can be inherited, they are chosen by the elven princes, so whoever is the heir is completly irelevant anyway.

they arnt chosen by the elven princes
thats the perversion of the rituals, removing the validity of the title and the original reason for the elven civil war
the title is king, and just like the claim was in medieval times
kings are appointed by god
its just that the elven gods are very real, and they have the fire to prove it
malekith got out of the fire too soon, but he went in and survived the fire honestly
unlike the pretender on the throne now who needed to be covered in multiple layers of warding magic to survive his gods wrath at using him for their political games

[Dagy47]

Originally posted by Ashardalon:

Originally posted by Dagy47:

Phoenix King is not a position that can be inherited, they are chosen by the elven princes, so whoever is the heir is completly irelevant anyway.

they arnt chosen by the elven princes
thats the perversion of the rituals, removing the validity of the title and the original reason for the elven civil war
the title is king, and just like the claim was in medieval times
kings are appointed by god
its just that the elven gods are very real, and they have the fire to prove it
malekith got out of the fire too soon, but he went in and survived the fire honestly
unlike the pretender on the throne now who needed to be covered in multiple layers of warding magic to survive his gods wrath at using him for their political games

Realisticly all phoenix kings (except Aenerion) were appointed by elven princes, since again they cheated the fire with magic
also Malekith couldnt handle the fire, wheter its because gods deemed him unworthy (old lore) or he couldnt handle the pain since hes a lil wuss (new lore) is irelevant, the result is the same - u cant handle the fire, u aint a king, theres no room for doubt or discussion in that rule

Either way, if Malekith rly wants to be king he should do it the old way and just qonquer everything with force, instead of going around rambling abut claims....
but wait, he cant do that, since he loses everytime... feels sadge man...

[Ashardalon]

the reason why malekith couldnt handle the fire was because he went in without the wards,
because the general public isnt told about how the kings (after aenerion) all cheated
fact malekith survived at all is a sign he isnt that unworthy, only reason he failed is he got out too soon
wich does make him a failure, but not a failure the gods rejected

[Zeek]

It's a mix of elven superiority complex, the druchi's exile from Ulthuan, Morathi's insidious corruption across several hundred years, Malekith's tragic existence after being burned by the fire, and living in Naggaroth where it's kill or be killed.