Warhammer Lore: Morathi – The Hag Sorceress
Once the mother of darkness incarnate in the World That Was, Morathi has found a twisted rebirth in the Mortal Realms.
Morathi the Hag Sorceress is the mother of Malekith. She was the second wife of Aenarion who rescued her from a Slaaneshi warband in the days of the first Chaos invasion before The Sundering. She is also the first Hag queen of the Witch Elves. Morathi can be seen as the indirect cause of The Sundering as it was she who introduced the pleasure cults to Ulthuan.
World-that-was
After the The Second Great Chaos Incursion, the princes of Ulthuan needed to elect a new Phoenix King. Though Malekith was the obvious choice, the princes instead passed it over to Bel Shanaar since they needed a ruler who was less warlike (Despite Morathi Protesting against it). Bel Shanaar then married Yvraine (Aenarions daughter from his first wife), causing Morathi to lose her title as Queen.
As Malekith set sail for the Old World, Morathi founded and secretly led the Cult of Pleasure (A chaos cult greatly devoted to the worship of Slaanesh). The cult’s influence spread to nearly all parts of Ulthuan. Its influence affected many thousands of elves and even to some of the noble princes of Ulthuan. While the cult was growing, Malekith gained popularity amongst the Old World colonies by leading successful victories against orcs and the forces of chaos and also made an alliance with the dwarfs (With him befriending the dwarfs then High King Snorri Whitebeard). Morathi visited her son in the city of Athel Toralien after she heard that he was setting an expidition to the north. She gifted him with a massive Dragonship called “Indraugnir” (naming it after Aenarion’s Dragon mount). She eventually returned to Ulthuan after her sons departure where she continued to secretly lead the cult.
Malekith later returned to Ulthuan after his expedition, and took charge of purging the cults existence from Ulthuan forever. Morathi’s position as leader of the pleasure cults was eventually exposed when Malekith captured one of the cults bases at Ealith (Though she escaped by the use of her sorcery). She fled to the city of Anlec where a large number of cultists resided. Malekith led an army,consisting of both his own army and the supporting armies led by the princes of Ellyrion, Yvresse, Chrace and Saphery. Malekith was successful in breaching the cities defences and confronted his mother in the cities palace. Though Morathi had the upper hand with her great sorcerous powers, she was defeated. Morathi was spared from certain death by convincing her son that she would give him her full support of the cults and help him gain the Phoenix throne.
She was brought before the court of the Phoenix king in the city of Tor Anroc. Though she would have been executed for her Crimes, Malekith convinced Bel Shanaar to imprison her instead (Despite Imrik of Caledor’s insistence to have her severely punished). After years of planning, Malekith decided to set his plan in to action. With Morathi’s help,he poisoned Bel Shanaar and killed anyone who resisted. Malekith confidently marched into the sacred flame of the god Asuryan, a trial that marks each Phoenix King as the chosen of the Elven creator god. Yet the flames refused to suffer Malekith’s presence and he was horribly scarred. Malekith’s followers carried him to his fortress in Nagarythe where Morathi nursed him back to health. She instructed a renegade priest of vaul to forge him the Armor of Midnight and his blade the Destroyer.
She has since been assisting her son during the Sundering,and after Malekith and his followers were exiled to the cold lands of Naggaroth.
She lived in the court of Nagarythe for many years prior to the Sundering she is very learned in scheming and politics, being an immensely powerful sorceress and making numerous daemonic pacts to further her own power. Morathi is second in power only to her own son. She has spent 5000 years teaching her son all she knows of statecraft and magic, and works continuously to maintain his grip on the throne of Naggaroth.
Morathi was claimed by Slaanesh along with Caledor during the unmaking of the Great Vortex in Ulthuan during the End Times.
Mortal Realms
Eons after the loss of the World that Was, she awakened. Morathi was found by Malerion, a twisted form of her son Malekith, at the centre of a glade filled with shadow daemons. She was still of flesh and blood, but had changed since he last saw her during the End Times. This reunion was hostile and filled with recriminations and anger and even through neither trusted the other, they managed to make an uneasy truce.
Eventually Morathi joined Sigmar‘s Great Alliance. She leads the Daughters of Khaine sect.
~ With the Daughters of Khaine at her command, what will Morathi do under the protection of Sigmar?
