The developers of Total War: Warhammer II announced the upcoming release of a free Night Elf legendary lord, Beastlord Rakarth. Offered through Total War Access, the Rakarth FLC will be available for download on March 18 through the Total War Access dashboard.
According to army guides published by Games Workshop, Rakarth is the greatest tamer in Karond Kar, filling most of the space in the city’s dungeons with his beasts. He proved his abilities as a very young child with the Black Dragon, Bracchus. Rakarth’s father, a Beastmaster himself, failed to tame the beast which nearly killed him in his attempts to ride it. The elder Beastmaster intended to have the dragon killed, but Rakarth wanted the dragon for himself. Promising he would tame and ride the dragon, Rakarth asked to keep the beast as a prize if he succeeded. His father agreed.
Approaching the dragon, Rakarth simply stared the creature in the eyes. On an instinctive level, Bracchus recognized an unmitigated cruelty and thirst for blood in the Dark Elf child. He allowed Rakarth to fly with him not out of fear, but out of kinship with the cruel and vicious young Druchii.
In the 4th edition of Warhammer Armies: Dark Elves, there is a bit of a contradiction. The 4th edition states that Bracchus was the name of a vicious Dark Steed Rakarth tamed as a child. When the mount died in battle, Rakarth gave the name to his replacement mount, the Black Dragon.
Once he came of age, it was Rakarth who hatched, raised, and trained the dread black dragon Seraphon, personal mount of Malekith, The Witch King.
In the tabletop lore, Rakarth has a particular hatred against the High Elves because of a lost battle against the High Elf wizards Liandus, Ellyunnor and Aliana. With their combined magic, the High Elves exterminated his massive army of War Hydras, the largest in history at that point, forcing Rakarth and the three surviving beasts to flee. Forging a pact with Morathi, the witch carved runes into the hide of one of the surviving hydras, turning the beast, Daerlythe, into the very first Spellthirster Hydra. While neither Naerlythe or the Spellthirster Hydras are likely to be incorporated as part of a FLC that already features a free legendary lord, it is likely Rakarth will feature some manner of magic resistance in reference to this part of the lore.
In addition to the Black Dragon, Bracchus, Rakarth will also have an option of a Scourgerunner Chariot as a mount option in the game or a Manticore. As for items, developers stated in an email announcement that Rakarth will have access to the Whip of Agony, which temporarily cancels enemy monsters’ ability to cause terror or fear. In addition, the Whip of Agony also makes these monsters vulnerable to the fear and terror caused by monstrous units in Rakarth’s own army.
Although Rakarth’s release is scheduled in just a few days, CA has promised more announcements and details on the character on Total War’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.
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