Windchaser Character Bio: Darkmalian

Darkmalian was born on the island Shire of Riis off the southern coast of Coriathir. Orphaned at an early age, he was raised by a grizzled old soldier who he knew only as Uncle Athartes. Growing up in the foothills of the mountain range known as Magg's Spine, Darkmalian knew peace only in his early years.

Athartes taught him many things as a child, from basic fisticuffs and woodsmanship, to reading, writing and arithmatic. However, at the age of seven, Darkmalian's Jhi ignited, attracting the attention of a daemonic xavant and the Wraithlord Aesric.

Aesric arrived to collect the boy in the company of the Windchaser Arius Jhaydn, but too late. The xavant had already killed Athartes and was about to kill the boy, but Arius saved his life - an action that would form the basis of a lasting friendship.

Taken by Aesric into the Half-Realm of Na'ath, Darkmalian's Windchaser training was harder than most. Constantly harangued by the Loro'cai fledgling Luhzael Nu'Madryn and unable to control his fiery, unpredictable rage, Darkmalian struggled to unlock his potential. A Windchaser's power comes from Jhi, and Jhi is most poten when summoned in rage - making the ability to control and tap into one's rage of the utmost importance.

After 7 years, Aesric was forced to put Darkmalian through the "Trial of Rathrock", a Loro'cai training technique that forces a prentice to rely entirely upon their rage to survive. As a result, Darkmalian was "darkened", his soul infected with ethereal shadow. Three years later, his feud with Luhzael reaching a dark and unexpected conclusion, Darkmalian was banished from Na'ath without being taught the final meditations that would allow him to heal his soul and replenish his stamina.

Shortly thereafter he met the Windchaser Shara Belayn, whom he fell in love with; and Warwick Munmartyr, a young Windchaser who became his best friend. When Munmartyr fell to Havoc and turned Rogue, he took Shara with him and the two embarked on a debauched, blood-thirsty affair. The betrayal led to Darkmalian severely wounding Munmartyr, forcing the latter to flee with Shara and not return to Darkmalian's life for several years.

After an altercation with a daemon inside the walls of Lothos Par led to the accidental death of a young woman named Marni Valentine and Darkmalian's banishment from the city, he went south, becoming a bounty hunter for the Snike spymaster Val Khali. However, when the bounties turned to assassinations and the targets became personal and not political, Darkmalian left Khali's service and journeyed north once again - a course of action that led to him returning to Lothos Par in breach of exile, directly before the events of The Heartstone Chronicles.

During the events of Windchaser, Darkmalian is described as tall and lithe, his body balanced and powerful but slim - the body of an athletic dancer or martial artist. His hair is jet black, his jaw angular but strong. His eyes are of such pale green that they give the impression of ice, and are so cold and remorseless that they earn such a comparison. He fights daemons with twin shadowsteel blades, and mortals with a pair of ornate shortswords named Malice and Torment.