Be'lakor

Be'lakor holds a distinction shared by no other being in all the pantheon of Chaos: he was the first mortal ever elevated to the rank of Daemon Prince, raised up in ages long past by the combined will of all four Ruinous Powers acting as one. Each of the great gods poured a measure of its own strength into him, so that he became a creature of Chaos Undivided, mightier than any champion before or since. For a time the gods doted upon their creation, and Be'lakor revelled in their favour, playing one against another and binding himself wholly to none, growing ever greater on their divided attentions.

But such power gathered in a single vessel could not be controlled, and the gods came to rue what they had made. Rather than risk raising another rival to match him, they changed their design, choosing thereafter to elevate only those champions who would swear themselves body and soul to a single patron. As the Dark Gods invested their might in a thousand lesser princes, the power they had lent Be'lakor was spread thin, and his supremacy waned. He remained the strongest of his kind, yet he was no longer strong in the way he had been, and he understood at last that he had been cast aside.

From that betrayal was born an eternal and consuming jealousy. Be'lakor cannot abide the sight of any mortal who wins the favour he once held, and he has made it his purpose to torment, manipulate, and undo the champions the gods raise up in his place. He is a paradox of Chaos, a being of nearly boundless power who is nonetheless powerless to seize the one thing he most desires, for the same gods who made him ensure he is forever thwarted at the very threshold of triumph. The greatness that once exalted him has become the wellspring of his unending torment.

And so the First-Damned schemes, as he has schemed across uncounted millennia. He weaves plots of staggering intricacy, plays the Dark Gods against one another, marshals daemon legions and bends mortal champions to his designs, and time and again claws his way to the very brink of freedom and dominion. Yet always he is cast back down, often by the hand of the very powers that created him, and always he begins anew. Known as the Dark Master and the Shadowlord, Be'lakor is patience and spite made manifest, and he will scheme until the stars themselves gutter out, certain that one day the galaxy will kneel to him at last.