Editing Arkhan the Black (section)

==Warhammer Fantasy==
===Early History===
Arkhan was born into a rich noble family of Khemri during the reign of king Thutep. Despite his lineage, Arkhan was the black sheep (geddit!) of the family because he often forsook his duties to enage in petty crime and serial gambling. On top of this, most of Arkhan's money was spent on drugs, the aforementioned gambling and whore-mongering at the temple of Asaph (which practiced ritual prostitution at the time, but reputedly he had to pay double before any of the priestesses went near him).

Black sheep joke aside, Arkhan earned the nickname "the Black" as a human from his appalling dental hygiene and his love of chewing juseh root, giving him the ancient equivalent of meth mouth. His teeth were reduced to black shards, and he probably had bad breath too.

Side Note: all official art depicting his skeleton form has normal (except for one piece with fangs) bone-white teeth. <strike>Mabye Nagash has a very good dental plan. Maybe that's why Arkhan's so loyal to him</strike> A later retcon made it so neither the teeth nor the skull on his skeleton from are his original ones - Arkhan's first true death was retconned into being from decapitation. Aforementioned retcon later got retconned again via the Black Library Trilogy "The Rise of Nagash". In it, it is explicitly stated that, after Arkhan got decapitated by Abhorash, he was buried along with his severed head. Said head was reattached when Nagash resurrected Arkhan.

===Vizier of Khemri===
When Nagash sought a cabal of followers to assist him in usurping the throne of Khemri he found them in Arkhan and his compatriots. They were convinced by a demonstration of Nagash's newly created art of necromancy, and first supported Nagash by kidnapping victims off the streets to both supply Nagash with test subjects and undermine his brother’s rule. Arkhan and the others started to learn rudiments of necromancy themselves during this time, and he was the first of Nagash's followers to partake of Nagash's elixir, becoming the first of Nagash’s so-called "Immortals".

When Nagash finally usurped his brother’s throne, declaring himself king of Khemri, Arkhan was appointed his vizier. Arkhan carried out Nagash's orders with a loyalty and alacrity he'd never shown before due to Nagash giving Arkhan everything he wanted and relying on Nagash for more of the elixir. This tyrannical regime led the Priest Kings of Nehekhara to form an alliance against Nagash, and Arkhan served as the great necromancer's foremost lieutenant in the struggle that followed, putting his newfound necromantic talents to use helping maintain Nagash's undead armies. Battle after battle was waged, but inevitably the more numerous forces of the Priest Kings proved too much, and Nagash and his armies were forced back into the city of Khemri.

In the battle for Khemri, Arkhan led the suicidal counterattack that allowed Nagash to escape the Army of the Seven Kings, single-handedly holding off his foes with spell-casting and swordplay for an hour before he fell. There are different acounts of Arkhan's defeat across the editions of Warhammer:
* Some random schmo managed to hit Arkhan in the heart with a thrown spear and Arkhan died, his body consumed by black flames and leaving behind a skeleton. While the Nehekharans destroyed the bodies of Nagash's other followers, they didn't desecrate Arkhan's remains out of respect for his badass last stand and simply built a stone cairn over them (first version).
* Same as before, except instead of respect for his last stand they didn't desecrate Arkhan's body because Arkhan gave a curse with his dying breath that anyone who touched his bones would die horribly (second version).
* Lamashizzar snuck up on Arkhan, carrying a prototype Cathayan gun. He used this to shoot Arkhan in the heart and incapacitate him for transport to Lahmia. The "spear thrown into the heart by an unknown soldier" was a cover story made up by Lamashizzar (most recent version, and canon as of the End Times).

===Imprisonment in Lahmia===

After his defeat, Arkhan and one of the Nagash's nine books were smuggled to Lahmia. There, Arkhan was restored to unlife and kept as a prisoner of Lamashizzar and his cabal buddies (including Ushoran, W'soran and Abhorash - the latter wasn't interested in immortality and is only there to protect his king) to teach them Nagash's magic. Lahmashizzar was not smart, and while W'soran was a capable student, he kept what he learnt to himself. Lacking magical ability, Lamashizzar brought in his sister [[Queen Neferata|Neferata]] to aid in the lessons (because she is a priestess of the moon goddess and they have knowledge on potion making). 

Neferata, caught between this and trying to prevent their [[Cathay|Cathayan]] trade partners from screwing Lahmia over, visited Arkhan to seek out his dark knowledge. She wanted Arkhan to teach her as well, and used her charm to try and persuade him. To their mutual surprise, Neferata sympathized with the imprisoned lich and formed a genuine rapport with him that grew into something more. Arkhan gladly taught her magic, and when Neferata offered a reward, Arkhan only asked for the chance to ride a horse with silver bells on its harness through the desert at night; Arkhan despaired of captivity and greatly appreciated any freedom he got. Eventually Arkhan's tutelage (and knowledge he gave Neferata about her brother's cabal members) led to Neferata overthrowing Lamashizzar, reducing him to a figurehead under her thumb, and taking the throne for herself. Neferata kept her word to Arkhan and granted his request right down to the silver bells.

This turned out to be a grave error however when the king, still with many supporters, tried to have Neferata assassinated with a deadly magical poison. At the time Arkhan had come back from a nighttime excursion on the outskirts, and only learned about this after two of the least intelligent members of the cabal tried to assassinate him. Although Arkhan manage to slay them, he realized they'd gone after Neferata too, and by the time he reached Neferata it was already too late.

Arkhan tried to save Neferata, roping a random servant girl named Aiyah into helping him with the ritual, but his methods reacted with Neferata's blood and she appeared to die. Furious and determined to have revenge, Arkhan snuck into the royal palace and assassinated Lamashizzar with the king's own Cathayan gun (the state he was in caused Arkhan to overlook Aiyah, who fled to Lybaras and spilled the beans to Khalida). The king’s bodyguard Abhorash, though too slow to save his king, beheaded Arkhan in personal combat for his crime. Unbeknown to Arkhan, his magic had in fact saved Neferata and turned her into the first vampire. With her brother dead, Neferata took over the throne and then had Arkhan's corpse discretely but respectfully buried in the Lahmian necropolis, despite Abhorash recommending that she cremate Arkhan.

===The Liche King===
Many years later Nagash, now secured in his northern fortress Nagashizzar and more powerful than before, decided to take his revenge on the Priest Kings of Nehekhara. Although generations had passed, he had not forgotten his most loyal lieutenant. Knowing he would soon have need of him Nagash had Arkhan rise from his tomb and join him in the north. Once again, he led his master’s forces against the united Priest Kings alongside W'soran. The two became bitter rivals, with Arkhan considering W'soran reckless and W'soran considering Arkhan cowardly, and argued often; when they weren't disagreeing on the best way to conduct the battles, they bickered over which of them was the better wizard, which form of undeath was best or who was Nagash's favorite. Between their mutual animosity and the great leadership and military prowess of king Alcadizaar of Khemri, they were unsuccessful despite a long campaign.

When Nagash enacted the first part of his Great Ritual, Arkhan commanded Nagash's undead army once more and this time easily defeated the plague-riddled Nehekharans, taking Alcadizaar prisoner. Staying in Khemri to take control of Nagash’s supreme army when the second part of the ritual raised all of Nehekhara's dead, Arkhan was instead put on the backfoot when Nagash’s assassination left the risen kings with their own willpower and later forced to flee when Settra returned. United under Settra, the wrath of the Tomb Kings was simply too great.

Intent on wreaking vengeance on the living for Nagash's death or becoming an undead ruler in his own right to relish his newfound freedom (depending which lore you follow), Arkhan ransacked Nagashizzar (fighting his long time rival W’Soran and other returned Immortals in the process) and left with a few of Nagash's most important books. He then marshalled an army and attacked Araby, battering its kingdoms for generations in what Arabian chroniclers would come to call the Wars of Death. Inhabiting the desert wastes that surround Araby, Arkhan would lead his armies upon an Arabian city, razing it to the ground before withdrawing again to the deserts. At some point Arkhan made himself a sweet new ride; a flying chariot made from the body, wings and still beating heart of a Manticore and pulled by four skeleton horses. It bears a resemblance to Settra's chariot of the gods, something Arkhan [[heresy|probably did on purpose]].

Later he established himself once again in Nehekhara in his fortress of old, the Black Tower. From here his repeated raids and incursions, while not a major threat, soon became more than just a mere nuisance. Repeatedly, Settra was be forced to do battle with Arkhan and whilst he had a vastly superior sense of strategy and better troops at his command, their battles always resulted in a stalemate as Settra could never hope to match the great necromantic power of Arkhan. Therefore Arkhan would submit to Settra's authority and swear fealty before once again defying him just a few years later. This stalemate might have been broken had the other Tomb Kings assisted, but Settra was too proud to ask for their help (and writer's bias ensured he forgot he could just order them to help him) and most considered Arkhan a valuable, if untrustworthy, ally. These constant battles against Settra did serve to improve Arkhan's tactical and strategic skills through trial and error.

Over the following centuries, Arkhan busied himself with hunting down various treasures of Nagash in order to serve his master on the day of his return. However, for some reason, he didn’t re-join Nagash when he was resurrected and engaged in his northwards campaign against Sigmar. When not doing something for Nagash or providing military aid to certain Tomb Kings, Arkhan stayed in his tower practicing magic or losing himself in years or even decades of introspection and reminiscing.

Arkhan had for a long time foreseen the End Times coming and knew Nagash was one of the few beings who could be relied upon to defeat the Chaos Gods. Nagash himself also recognized this threat, and after The Night of the Restless Dead fiasco, Nagash fast-tracked his latest restoration plan by several centuries and told Arkhan to get to work. In order to restore Nagash, Arkhan needed to gain many of the items Nagash had imbued with his power over the years. Already possessing two of his nine books, Arkhan sought Nagash’s staff. By allying himself with Khalida of Lybaras to attack the vampire lord Mandregan in Sylvania, Arkhan acquired one of Nagash’s lesser staffs, and soon learned the location of his primary staff Alakanesh; Bretonnia. Though being undead and serving Nagash dulled his emotions and killed his libido, Arkhan still loved [[Queen Neferata]] for all that time.

===The End Times===
With the coming of [[The End Times]], Arkhan made his move. To try and find Nagash's staff he backed Mallobaude's coup which resulted in Bretonnia's civil war, which was a failure for Arkhan due to the intervention of the Wood Elves and the return of Giles Le Breton. Since he already had two of Nagash's books, he entered Sylvanvia seeking the rest of them, but Mannfred took exception. After an amazing duel that resulted in a stalemate, they called a truce and the two formed an alliance. After much politicking, they arranged the plan to retrieve Nagash's treasures, with him and Mannfred leading several armies. Arkhan was the one who broke them out of the Wall of Faith trapping them in Sylvania through an ancient ritual; Mannfred had the power but lacked the knowledge of how to use it. The second time Arkhan tried to retrieve the staff he had to kill Kemmler for it because the necromancer had betrayed Nagash to serve the Chaos Gods. In the battle Arkhan lost one of the few things he cared about, a zombified cat he had adopted. Despite repeated assassination attempts from Beastmen led by Malagor and Mannfred's vampire knights, Arkhan succeeded and Nagash returned to the world.

During this time, Arkhan also established himself as a Hero Killer, killing Kemmler (magical duel), the Fey Enchantress (slit her throat and bled her out as the sacrifice to bring Nagash back), Eltharion (aged to dust by magic) and Nekaph (incinerated by magic). During the war for Nehekhara he took all the undead in Nagashizzar and conquered Mahrak and Quatar, [[FAIL|the latter in a big offscreen battle that's barely alluded to]].

At Khemri, he was the visible commander of Nagash's armies and managed to do alright despite being outmatched. Eventually he was cut in half by Settra and magically smuggled Nagash into Khemri within his own body (Arkhan's bisected body was taken to ritual that was supposed to stop Arkhan from being brought back, but one of the priests was a mole for Nagash). After the battle for Khemri ended with Settra's defeat and its destruction, Arkhan was made whole again and permitted to go to war wherever he wanted at the behest of his master once more. Now the [[Mortarch]] of Sacrament, trading in his old chariot for the Dread Abyssal Razarak, The Doom of Traitors, Arkhan still serves Nagash with dedication in his actions... though for the first time in millennia he started having second thoughts.

When Nagash entered his sarcophagus to absorb the wind of death after conquering Nehekhara, Arkhan led the undead in his absence. When Isabella and the Nameless attacked, Arkhan showed some tactical savvy and organized the defense, but was defeated after a vicious fight with Isabella and killed. After the destruction of the Black Pyramid Nagash was furious over Arkhan's failure, but knew Arkhan was reliable and intelligent so Nagash restored him and Krell. When Nagash traveled to Athel Loren to work with the living, Arkhan was silent but snickering to himself about the irony of Nagash's situation. Apart from some witty banter with Vlad, Arkhan is the one who speaks to the Incarnates on Nagash's behalf because Nagash doesn't want to, making Arkhan in effect the Mouth of Sauron. After a fight with the forces of the Chaos Gods, the Incarnates and their forces are sent to Middenheim.

Hilariously enough, while becoming the undead turns a person into an insufferable ass 99 times out of 100, it seems that it had reverse effect on Arkhan, who transformed from a degenerate wastrel and womanizer into a more-or-less decent human being, with actual standards and pragmatic thought. Too bad that his sovereign was a sociopathic retard... For example, when they launched an invasion to the north to capture chaos-infested Middenheim, they encountered captive soldiers and civilians. Arkhan suggested to free and arm them, and use them as auxiliary army, and this would also be a PR move aimed at the living, with message being "See? Being undead doesn't necessarily mean that you're a malevolent cretin." Of course, Nagash being [[Fail|Nagash]], just killed them and turned them into zombies.

Arkhan then helps to co-ordinate Nagash's army, just as Throgg came with an army of monsters. Nagash told Arkhan to take two Morghast hosts and hold them until dead. When Arkhan asked for any further instructions he sensed Nagash's doubt before Nagash said, "DIE WELL MY SERVANT." and abandoned him (to Arkhan's consternation in the gamebook, but his relief in the novel). Though it ends with Arkhan fighting, it's repeated that it's a fight he can't win.

In the Lord of the End Times novel, after the Incarnates fail to stop the rift, Neferata encountered Arkhan with an unconscious Isabella. Arkhan had survived Nagash's last order and driven back the army of Chaos monsters (with the unexpected help of Settra) but he was battered. Arkhan told her that Aliathra's magic gave him a vision of a mysterious figure who could save/restore the world even after it was destroyed, and that he would help them if he could. Arkhan then showed her his slowly disintegrating hand; with Nagash's destruction Arkhan was dying as well. He bade Neferata flee and try to avoid the world's destruction, and take Isabella with her, stating he thought it was possible she could survive the end of the world. Neferata kissed him, took Isabella and fled while Arkhan tried to buy her time with his magic. As Neferata escaped, there was a last burst of purple magic and she could no longer sense him and grieved, thinking him destroyed (OTP confirmed).