Mal'akh: Difference between revisions
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|aka = Babewyns, [[Primord]], Grotesques, Nephilim, [[Peri (mythology)|Peri]], Rephaim, [[Vampire (mythology)|Vampires]] | |aka = Babewyns, [[Primord]], Grotesques, Nephilim, [[Peri (mythology)|Peri]], Rephaim, [[Vampire (mythology)|Vampires]] | ||
|affiliation = [[Sutekh]] | |affiliation = [[Vampire]]s, [[Sutekh]] | ||
|origin = [[Kingdom of Beasts]] | |origin = [[Kingdom of Beasts]] | ||
|first | |first cs = Inferno (TV story) | ||
|appearances = {{appears}} | |||
|appearances = | |||
|individuals = [[King of Beasts]], [[Jala]], [[Olena]], [[Krisztina-Judit Németh|Krisztina]] | |individuals = [[King of Beasts]], [[Jala]], [[Olena]], [[Krisztina-Judit Németh|Krisztina]] | ||
}} | }}{{you may|Malakh Empire}} | ||
{{you may|Malakh}} | The '''Mal'akh''' were a race of [[vampire]]s descended from the [[Yssgaroth]]. They were connected to [[human]]ity's [[noosphere|collective unconscious]] and capable of redefining themselves to suit their circumstances. They were often described as '''grotesques''' ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=Mal'akh|name=Mal'akh}}) or '''Babewyns'''. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Adventuress of Henrietta Street (novel)}}) | ||
The '''Mal'akh''' were a race of [[vampire]]s descended from the [[Yssgaroth]]. They were connected to [[human]]ity's [[noosphere|collective unconscious]] and capable of redefining themselves to suit their circumstances. They were often described as '''grotesques''' ([[PROSE]]: | |||
The Mal'akh were a significant force during the [[War in Heaven]]. ([[PROSE]]: | The Mal'akh were a significant force during the [[War in Heaven]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=Causalities of War}}) Some groups of Mal'akh worshipped [[Sutekh]] and fought for him. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Words from Nine Divinities (audio story)}}) Some War-time participants thought that [[the Enemy]] were Mal'akh hoping for payback for the [[Eternal War]], but [[Michael Simpson]] believed that the Mal'akh were only taking advantage of the War. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Pre-narrative Briefings (short story)|namedep=Briefing C}}) | ||
== Biology == | == Biology == | ||
The | The Mal'akh were almost impossible to kill due to their extreme [[regeneration|regenerative]] healing abilities. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Coming to Dust (audio story)}}) Any organic object could be simply assimilated into the Mal'akh body and rendered harmless; ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|name=Mal'akh}}) upon contact with a Mal'akh, many non-organic objects would start to rust or fall apart after a few minutes.{{source}} It was also very difficult to tell when they had actually died, so it was standard practice to bury them alive, leaving to [[mummy|mummify]] in the [[Earth]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=The Ottoman Purges|name=The Ottoman Purges}}) They were, however, susceptible to [[shadow-weapon]]s ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Coming to Dust (audio story)}}) and the "[[Sonic screwdriver|''screwdriver sonique'']]". ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Adventuress of Henrietta Street (novel)}}) | ||
The Mal'akh were masters of illusion, inhabiting folkloric otherworlds where time ran differently to time in the [[Spiral Politic|known world]]. Those who encountered them and survived consistently told of losing years of their lives. Their [[alter-time]] realm was encountered in the [[Maltese incident]] ([[PROSE]]: | The Mal'akh were masters of illusion, inhabiting folkloric otherworlds where time ran differently to time in the [[Spiral Politic|known world]]. Those who encountered them and survived consistently told of losing years of their lives. Their [[alter-time]] realm was encountered in the [[Maltese incident]] ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|name=Mal'akh}}) and briefly intersected [[London]] in [[1782]]-[[1783|83]], when it was named the [[Kingdom of Beasts]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Adventuress of Henrietta Street (novel)}}) | ||
The Mal'akh were capable of [[shapeshifter|changing their shape]] at will. According to the ''[[Liber Sanguisugarum]]'', there were two types of Mal'akh, categorized by diet. Rather than food or water, the Mal'akh needed to eat the [[blood]] and flesh of the living in order to survive. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|name=Mal'akh}}) Their own blood appeared like black bile. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=The Shelley Cabal|name=The Shelley Cabal}}) | |||
=== Djinn === | === Djinn === | ||
If a Mal'akh wanted to appear beautiful to human eyes, it needed to consume untainted and stable biomass: that is to say, human [[blood]] and flesh. The resultant ''Rephaim'' were unnaturally beautiful, [[angel | If a Mal'akh wanted to appear beautiful to human eyes, it needed to consume untainted and stable biomass: that is to say, human [[blood]] and flesh. The resultant ''Rephaim'' were unnaturally beautiful, [[angel]]ic creatures that could pass as exceptionally charismatic humans. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|name=Mal'akh}}) In the [[18th century]], they used this power to infiltrate the courts of the [[Turkish empire]] and [[Ali Pascha]]; ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=The Maltese Incident|name=The Maltese Incident}}) the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] army of [[Nicolopolis]] was known to be filled with Mal'akh as early as the [[15th century]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|name=The Ottoman Purges}}) In legends of the [[Arabia]]n and [[Middle East]]ern peoples, they appeared as the ''[[djinn (mythology)|djinn]]'' and ''[[peri (mythology)|peri]]'', the [[spirit]]s of the air and masters of desert storms. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=Djinn|name=Djinn}}) | ||
=== Grotesques === | === Grotesques === | ||
The ''Nephilim'' (metaphorical "[[giant]]s of the Earth" mentioned in the [[Book of Genesis]]) were Mal'akh who fed upon themselves rather than humans. Without the ingestion of a suitable, untainted biomass, the | The ''Nephilim'' (metaphorical "[[giant]]s of the Earth" mentioned in the [[Book of Genesis]]) were Mal'akh who fed upon themselves rather than humans. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|name=Mal'akh}}) Without the ingestion of a suitable, untainted biomass, the memetic field of the Mal'akh was stretched too far, distorting their [[body]] and [[mind]] in unpredictable, [[animal]]istic ways. The resultant [[ape]]-like creatures inspired many of the [[demon]]ic images of Middle Eastern legend. | ||
[[File:Primord 2.jpg|thumb|left|A [[Primord]], ([[TV]]: | [[File:Primord 2.jpg|thumb|left|A [[Primord]], ([[TV]]: {{cs|Inferno (TV story)}}) an example of a Mal'akh grotesque or babewyn. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Interference - Book One (novel)}}, {{cs|name=Mal'akh}})]] | ||
[[Richard Francis Burton]] encountered these Mal'akh during his journey to the [[Mountains of the Moon]], where he said that the more civilised Mal'akh would keep them as [[pet]]s or force the change upon an enemy. His private accounts reference [[John Hanning Speke|his companion]]'s ravings about "crowds of devils, giants, [[lion]]-headed demons who avert wrenching with superhuman | [[Richard Francis Burton]] encountered these Mal'akh during his journey to the [[Mountains of the Moon]], where he said that the more civilised Mal'akh would keep them as [[pet]]s or force the change upon an enemy. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=Grotesques|name=Grotesques}}) His private accounts reference [[John Hanning Speke|his companion]]'s ravings about "crowds of devils, giants, [[lion]]-headed demons who avert wrenching with superhuman force…" ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=The Mountains of the Moon|name=The Mountains of the Moon}}) The encounters inspired Burton to describe these Mal'akh as "grotesques", after the [[gargoyle]]-like statues; ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|name=Grotesques}}) in her diaries, [[Lisa-Beth Lachlan]] similarly called them "babewyns" after the [[French (language)|French]] word for the same statues. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Adventuress of Henrietta Street (novel)}}) | ||
[[Lord Byron]] described the grotesques he saw during the [[Maltese incident]] as [[human]]oid giants with wings and animal faces. However, since the [[bat]]-like Mal'akh [[hybrid]]s supposedly used by [[Faction Paradox]] for their [[Faction Paradox armour|armour]] were unknown to the [[Star Chamber]] and Earth mythology alike, this description was considered by scholars to be a later addition. ([[PROSE]]: | [[Lord Byron]] described the grotesques he saw during the [[Maltese incident]] as [[human]]oid giants with wings and animal faces. However, since the [[bat]]-like Mal'akh [[hybrid]]s supposedly used by [[Faction Paradox]] for their [[Faction Paradox armour|armour]] were unknown to the [[Star Chamber]] and Earth mythology alike, this description was considered by scholars to be a later addition. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|name=The Maltese Incident}}) | ||
== History == | == History == | ||
=== Origin === | === Origin === | ||
As recorded in | As recorded in [[The Monkey to Time Saga|''The Monkey to Time'' saga]], in [[Marnal]]'s era [[Time Lord]]s began having visions of [[Post-War universe|a future where they were erased]] save for [[Four surviving elementals|five scattered survivors]], with their primate shadows ruled "the spaces between moments" under the watch of [[great Black Eye]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Gallifrey Chronicles (novel)}}) | ||
The legendary origins of the Mal'akh were recorded in the [[Bible|Biblical]] [[apocrypha]], namely the [[Book of Noah]] and [[Book of Enoch]], where the ''[[Anakim]]'' were a highly advanced and civilised race. They remotely watched worldly affairs, but many of their members preferred to [[intervention|infere]]; led by [[Azazel]], two hundred rebels descended from "the [[High Place|high place]]" to live among the [[lesser species]], spreading their knowledge and taking wives. However, their offspring, created by the intermarriage of humans and the spirit world, were unstoppable monsters with a terrible hunger for flesh and blood. The watchers intervened to fight, capture, and exile the rebels; they bound Azazel headfirst over the abyss for all eternity, hanging by one leg. | The legendary origins of the Mal'akh were recorded in the [[Bible|Biblical]] [[apocrypha]], namely the [[Book of Noah]] and [[Book of Enoch]], where the ''[[Anakim]]'' were a highly advanced and civilised race. They remotely watched worldly affairs, but many of their members preferred to [[intervention|infere]]; led by [[Azazel]], two hundred rebels descended from "the [[High Place|high place]]" to live among the [[lesser species]], spreading their knowledge and taking wives. However, their offspring, created by the intermarriage of humans and the spirit world, were unstoppable monsters with a terrible hunger for flesh and blood. The watchers intervened to fight, capture, and exile the rebels; they bound Azazel headfirst over the abyss for all eternity, hanging by one leg. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=The Book of Enoch}}) | ||
According to other versions of the same legend in [[Arabia]], ([[PROSE]]: | According to other versions of the same legend in [[Arabia]], ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|name=Djinn}}) the [[djinn (mythology)|djinn]] were from the [[Dark Times|"world before the world"]] but survived the destruction of their reality by the grace of [[Allah]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Head of State (novel)}}) They were allied with the [[angel]]s until their leader [[Iblis]] refused to bow down to [[Adam (mythology)|Adam]], at which point they were cast out of [[Jannat|Heaven]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|name=Djinn}}) According to ''[[The Thousand and Second Night]]'', Iblis sent the djinn to wage war against the angels and steal the [[caldera|cauldron]] from [[Jannat]]. Allah then hid the cauldron in the Earth and placed [[human]]ity there to guard it. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Head of State (novel)}}) Indeed, the human magician [[King Solomon]] defeated the djinn at the [[City of Brass]] and made them his servants. However, upon Solomon's death the djinn took his harem of maidens and had bestial children. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs||name=Djinn}}) These children, the Mal'akh, would lie in wait until the day the angels returned to Earth to reclaim the cauldron. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Head of State (novel)}}) | ||
As the Mal'akh's alter-time structures suggested a connection to the [[Great | As the Mal'akh's alter-time structures suggested a connection to the [[Great House]]s, many commentators speculated that these legends gave a corrupted account of the [[Eternal War|war]] against the [[Yssgaroth]] and the flight from [[the Homeworld]] of those tainted by Yssgaroth biomass. [[Faction Paradox]] always claimed that their [[Faction Paradox armour|armour]] was created from the bones of such agents from an [[alternate timeline]] where the Houses lost their war; consistent with this idea, the Houses and the Faction alike regarded the Mal'akh as a small-scale "[[oxbow reality|oxbow lake]]" in the river of time. | ||
However, Faction Paradox's leading scholar on the Mal'akh, Father [[Richard Francis Burton|Abdullah]], disputed this claim. Noting the similarities between the Great Houses' [[regeneration]] abilities and those of the Mal'akh, he instead concluded that the Houses attempted to infect themselves with the Yssgaroth taint during their war to give themselves a biological advantage. He suggested that the Mal'akh were failed experiments during these attempts or, worse, future versions of the Houses' agents, finally overcome by the Yssgaroth taint. However, this interpretation proved universally unpopular and was suppressed by Abdullah's superiors in the Faction. ([[PROSE]]: | However, Faction Paradox's leading scholar on the Mal'akh, Father [[Richard Francis Burton|Abdullah]], disputed this claim. Noting the similarities between the Great Houses' [[regeneration]] abilities and those of the Mal'akh, he instead concluded that the Houses attempted to infect themselves with the Yssgaroth taint during their war to give themselves a biological advantage. He suggested that the Mal'akh were failed experiments during these attempts or, worse, future versions of the Houses' agents, finally overcome by the Yssgaroth taint. However, this interpretation proved universally unpopular and was suppressed by Abdullah's superiors in the Faction. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Mal'akh}}) | ||
In the [[post-War universe]], [[Aguta]] once told a story of what happened to the families of the Great Houses after their defeat by [[the Enemy]]: "They were left naked in the cold and they grew grotesque, woolly faces. In their hunger they began to hunt one another, and their skin grew too strong to be cut by stone or horn. When [[Faction Paradox|our ancestors]] came to this land, they drove them away with the help of [[Loa|spirits]], but they still roam the dark places, seeking their revenge." ([[PROSE]]: | In the [[post-War universe]], [[Aguta]] once told a story of what happened to the families of the Great Houses after their defeat by [[the Enemy]]: "They were left naked in the cold and they grew grotesque, woolly faces. In their hunger they began to hunt one another, and their skin grew too strong to be cut by stone or horn. When [[Faction Paradox|our ancestors]] came to this land, they drove them away with the help of [[Loa|spirits]], but they still roam the dark places, seeking their revenge." ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Cobweb and Ivory (short story)}}) | ||
In [[1857]], [[Richard Francis Burton]] and [[John Hanning Speke]] visited the heartland of the Mal'akh in the [[Mountains of the Moon]]. There, they discovered the first Mal'akh settlement on [[Earth]] at the [[High Place]]. The settlement's proximity to the birthplace of [[human]]kind led scholars within Faction Paradox and the [[Star Chamber]] alike to speculate that the Mal'akh influenced the development of humanity. | In [[1857]], [[Richard Francis Burton]] and [[John Hanning Speke]] visited the heartland of the Mal'akh in the [[Mountains of the Moon]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|name=The Mountains of the Moon}}) There, they discovered the first Mal'akh settlement on [[Earth]] at the [[High Place]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|name=Grotesques}}) The settlement's proximity to the birthplace of [[human]]kind led scholars within Faction Paradox and the [[Star Chamber]] alike to speculate that the Mal'akh influenced the development of humanity. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|name=The Mountains of the Moon}}) | ||
The Mal'akh and their fabled leaders, the [[Edimmu]], were deeply embedded in human mythology and legend. Burton found tales of the Mal'akh in the ''[[Arabian Nights]]'' fables as well as the [[India]]n cycle ''[[Vikram and the Vampire]]''; the [[Shelley Cabal]]'s stories of the Mal'akh inspired the first [[vampire]] novels, and Burton's knowledge of vampire legends likely contributed to [[Bram Stoker]]'s novel ''[[Dracula (book)|Dracula]]''. ([[PROSE]]: | The Mal'akh and their fabled leaders, the [[Edimmu]], were deeply embedded in human mythology and legend. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|name=Djinn}}) Burton found tales of the Mal'akh in the ''[[Arabian Nights]]'' fables as well as the [[India]]n cycle ''[[Vikram and the Vampire]]''; ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=Karachi}}) the [[Shelley Cabal]]'s stories of the Mal'akh inspired the first [[vampire]] novels, ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|name=The Shelley Cabal}}) and Burton's knowledge of vampire legends likely contributed to [[Bram Stoker]]'s novel ''[[Dracula (book)|Dracula]]''. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|name=Djinn}}) | ||
After awakening the Mal'akh in the [[15th century]], [[Sutekh]] claimed he had brought them to Earth. ([[AUDIO]]: | After awakening the Mal'akh in the [[15th century]], [[Sutekh]] claimed he had brought them to Earth. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Coming to Dust (audio story)}}) | ||
=== Before the War === | === Before the War === | ||
The [[Grand Families]] were five human bloodlines chosen by the pre-[[War in Heaven|War]] [[ruling House]]s to fight the Mal'akh throughout history. Though each Family had its official beginning during the [[Crusades]], ''[[The Book of the War]]'' speculated that they were descended from "untainted" Mal'akh rebels from the last [[Ice Age]] who were disgusted by the carnage of their offspring. In the medieval period, the Families founded multiple secret societies to combat the Westward spread of the Mal'akh. These included the [[Society of St. George]], the [[Star Chamber]], the [[Order of the Dragon]], the [[Order of the Golden Fleece]], the [[Thule Society]], ([[PROSE]]: | The [[Grand Families]] were five human bloodlines chosen by the pre-[[War in Heaven|War]] [[ruling House]]s to fight the Mal'akh throughout history. Though each Family had its official beginning during the [[Crusades]], ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=The Grand Families}}) ''[[The Book of the War]]'' speculated that they were descended from "untainted" Mal'akh rebels from the last [[Ice Age]] who were disgusted by the carnage of their offspring. In the medieval period, the Families founded multiple secret societies to combat the Westward spread of the Mal'akh. These included the [[Society of St. George]], the [[Star Chamber]], the [[Order of the Dragon]], the [[Order of the Golden Fleece]], the [[Thule Society]], ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=The Society of St. George}}) and the [[Society of Sigismondo di Rimini]]. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Coming to Dust (audio story)}}) The societies' collective knowledge was stored in the [[Liber Sanguisugarum]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=Liber Sanguisugarum}}) | ||
In the [[15th century]], Mal'akh infiltrated the [[Turkey (country)|Turkish]] [[Ottoman Empire]]. [[Vlad II]] led the [[Ottoman Purges]] against the Turks from [[1431]] to [[1447]] on behalf of the [[Order of the Dragon]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|name=The Ottoman Purges}}) | |||
In the [[ | In the [[20th century]], Professor [[Eric Stahlman]] began the [[Inferno Project]] to drill to the centre of the [[Earth]], ([[TV]]: {{cs|Inferno (TV story)}}) where an opening to the [[Spiral Yssgaroth]] was hidden. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Interference - Book One (novel)}}, {{cs|Head of State (novel)}}) The resultant [[Stahlman's ooze]] transformed any humans who touched it into bestial [[Primord]]s. ([[TV]]: {{cs|Inferno (TV story)}}) In a similar way, after the impact that killed the [[dinosaur]]s, [[the Wyrm]] was released from Earth's centre, tainting the blood of [[Earth Reptile]]s and transforming them into [[Wyrm Caller]]s. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Adolescence of Time (audio story)}}) | ||
While [[the Homeworld]] was still at peace, the [[Ghost Wars]] opposed the [[Malakh Imperium]], led by the [[vampire]] [[king]] [[Zadok|Zadok the Gory]], to "basically everyone else in and around the Horsehead Nebula". The Ghost Wars were a [[Change War]]: due too many parties being time-active, it was constantly being rewritten, its history "written in [[palimpsest universe|palimpsest]] and [[smoke]]". Because of this, the Homeworld considered it permanently "ongoing" despite its being bounded in time. At one point, [[the President Kodachrome]], a [[Lord President Emeritus]], "poked his head" into the Wars and was briefly killed for his trouble by [[Garglespike|Miss Garglespike]]. However, this only lasted for thirty-two days before another alteration to time saw him return to the Homeworld, gravely injured but alive. [[The Corsair (The Bloodletters)|The Corsair]] believed that the death of Zadok was a fixed historical part of the Wars, but ended up accidentally preventing it when he failed to recognise that a scheme from Garglespike that he was foiling was geared towards the king's assassination. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Bloodletters (novel)}}) Zadok's "mummified remains" were one of the exhibits at [[Dr Henry Fizzog's Museum of the Macabre]] in [[Sardicktown]] ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Honeymoon Horrors (short story)}}) by the time a [[Eleventh Doctor|post-Time War version of the Doctor]] visited the city. ([[TV]]: {{cs|A Christmas Carol (TV story)}}) | |||
=== During the War === | === During the War === | ||
When [[Faction Paradox|House Paradox]] made the [[Gregorian Compact]] in [[1752]], the [[Protocols of Linearity]] bound the next seventy years of their history to that of [[Earth]]. During this time, [[the enemy]] began [[War in Heaven|their war]] against the [[Great House]]s, and this was reflected in Earth's history as a return and rise in the power of the Mal'akh. As a result, by the [[19th century]], the Mal'akh were again a major force in the East, with more and more grotesque sightings in [[Africa]] and [[British Empire|Britain]]'s [[Indian]] territories, and Mal'akh influence spreading to the courts of the [[Turkish empire]] and [[Ali Pascha]]. | ==== A major party in war ==== | ||
When [[Faction Paradox|House Paradox]] made the [[Gregorian Compact]] in [[1752]], the [[Protocols of Linearity]] bound the next seventy years of their history to that of [[Earth]]. During this time, [[the enemy]] began [[War in Heaven|their war]] against the [[Great House]]s, and this was reflected in Earth's history as a return and rise in the power of the Mal'akh. As a result, by the [[19th century]], the Mal'akh were again a major force in the East, with more and more grotesque sightings in [[Africa]] and [[British Empire|Britain]]'s [[Indian]] territories, ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=Napoleonic Era}}) and Mal'akh influence spreading to the courts of the [[Turkish empire]] and [[Ali Pascha]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|name=The Maltese Incident}}) | |||
In response to this resurgence, the Star Chamber became the directors of [[the Service]]. However, after the Gregorian Compact, they incorrectly identified Faction Paradox as the leaders of the Mal'akh. As a result, they wasted many of their resources on attacking the [[Eleven-Day Empire]]; they only notably interfered with the Mal'akh in the [[1809]] [[Maltese incident]]. | In response to this resurgence, the Star Chamber became the directors of [[the Service]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=The Gregorian Compact}}) However, after the Gregorian Compact, they incorrectly identified Faction Paradox as the leaders of the Mal'akh. As a result, they wasted many of their resources on attacking the [[Eleven-Day Empire]]; ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=The Analytical Engine}}) they only notably interfered with the Mal'akh in the [[1809]] [[Maltese incident]]. | ||
In [[1822]], the Mal'akh attacked and killed most of the [[Shelley Cabal]] near [[Massa]]. ([[PROSE]]: | In [[1822]], the Mal'akh attacked and killed most of the [[Shelley Cabal]] near [[Massa]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|name=The Shelley Cabal}}) | ||
On one of his first missions for the Star Chamber, [[Richard Francis Burton]] travelled to [[Arabia|Araby]] to seek out information on the Mal'akh. There, he met the [[Lolita|Lady of the Last Night]], who gave him ''[[The Thousand and Second Tale]]'', the ''Tale of the Malakh''. This story told legends of the Mal'akh alongside anti-Faction propaganda. The Lady told him that she had dealt with the "Mal'akhs" and that they would no longer bother either the [[British Empire]] or the [[Eleven-Day Empire]]. ([[PROSE]]: | On one of his first missions for the Star Chamber, [[Richard Francis Burton]] travelled to [[Arabia|Araby]] to seek out information on the Mal'akh. There, he met the [[Lolita|Lady of the Last Night]], who gave him ''[[The Thousand and Second Tale]]'', the ''Tale of the Malakh''. This story told legends of the Mal'akh alongside anti-Faction propaganda. The Lady told him that she had dealt with the "Mal'akhs" and that they would no longer bother either the [[British Empire]] or the [[Eleven-Day Empire]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Head of State (novel)}}) | ||
In [[1845]] or [[1846]], a small group of young British army officers stationed in [[Karachi]] performed a [[tantra|tantric]] ritual that spiralled out of control, unleashing at least one full-blood Mal'akh. Burton, by then a member of Faction Paradox, helped the Faction capture the Mal'akh for study; it was transported to the [[Stacks]] of the Eleven-Day Empire, where it was kept in the hard-to-find [[1995]] [[Mornington Crescent]] platform. | In [[1845]] or [[1846]], a small group of young British army officers stationed in [[Karachi]] performed a [[tantra|tantric]] ritual that spiralled out of control, unleashing at least one full-blood Mal'akh. Burton, by then a member of Faction Paradox, helped the Faction capture the Mal'akh for study; it was transported to the [[Stacks]] of the Eleven-Day Empire, ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=Karachi}}) where it was kept in the hard-to-find [[1995]] [[Mornington Crescent]] platform. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=The Stacks}}) | ||
In [[1857]], the Star Chamber sent Burton to the [[Mountains of the Moon]] for his last mission. ([[PROSE]]: | In [[1857]], the Star Chamber sent Burton to the [[Mountains of the Moon]] for his last mission. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|name=The Mountains of the Moon}}) | ||
In one timeline observed by [[Morlock]], Mal'akh [[cult]]ists resurrected [[Vlad III]] ([[PROSE]]: | In one timeline observed by [[Morlock]], Mal'akh [[cult]]ists resurrected [[Vlad III]] ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|A Bloody (And Public) Domaine (short story)}}) after his death in [[1973]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=Vlad III of Wallachia}}) | ||
In the late [[20th century]], a section of the [[British Secret Service]] headed by [[Malachi Yarrow]] was responsible for dealing with Mal'akh. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[ | In the late [[20th century]], a section of the [[British Secret Service]] headed by [[Malachi Yarrow]] was responsible for dealing with Mal'akh. ([[PROSE]]: ''[[Colonel Malachi Yarrow (short story)|Colonel Malachi Yarrow]]'') | ||
In [[Michael Brookhaven]]'s [[1999]] film ''[[Mujun: The Ghost Kingdom]]'', the [[ainu]] aboriginals of [[Japan]] appeared with bleached skin and black eyes in a pincer-like formation around the slope of [[Mount Usu]] right before [[Gods of the Ainu|the Voice]] emerged from the mountain. ([[PROSE]]: | In [[Michael Brookhaven]]'s [[1999]] film ''[[Mujun: The Ghost Kingdom]]'', the [[ainu]] aboriginals of [[Japan]] appeared with bleached skin and black eyes in a pincer-like formation around the slope of [[Mount Usu]] right before [[Gods of the Ainu|the Voice]] emerged from the mountain. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=The Mount Usu Duel}}) | ||
In the early [[21st century]], [[Dave Larsen]] became convinced that [[President of the United States|Presidential]] candidate [[Matt Nelson]] was a Mal'akh after he read Richard Francis Burton's translation of ''The Thousand and Second Night''. He [[assassination|assassinated]] Nelson at his inauguration, and [[Lola Denison]] became President. ([[PROSE]]: | In the early [[21st century]], [[Dave Larsen]] became convinced that [[President of the United States|Presidential]] candidate [[Matt Nelson]] was a Mal'akh after he read Richard Francis Burton's translation of ''The Thousand and Second Night''. He [[assassination|assassinated]] Nelson at his inauguration, and [[Lola Denison]] became President. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Head of State (novel)}}) | ||
In [[2609]], [[Bernice Summerfield]] was attacked by [[Olena|a Mal'akh]] while excavating the [[Blood Citadel]] of [[Alukah]] and hypnotised into being subservient. The Mal'akh used Summerfield to get into the [[First Colonial University of Murigen]] and convert some of its scholars. A plot to use the university's experimental [[quantum channelling|quantum gateways]] to send Mal'akh to countless [[planet]]s across the [[galaxy]] was stopped by Bernice Summerfield, [[Imogen Tantry]], and [[Lloyd Doihara]]. ([[PROSE]]: | In [[2609]], [[Bernice Summerfield]] was attacked by [[Olena|a Mal'akh]] while excavating the [[Blood Citadel]] of [[Alukah]] and hypnotised into being subservient. The Mal'akh used Summerfield to get into the [[First Colonial University of Murigen]] and convert some of its scholars. A plot to use the university's experimental [[quantum channelling|quantum gateways]] to send Mal'akh to countless [[planet]]s across the [[galaxy]] was stopped by Bernice Summerfield, [[Imogen Tantry]], and [[Lloyd Doihara]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|De Umbris Idearum (short story)}}, {{cs|Predating the Predators (short story)}}) | ||
In the [[2640s]], the [[Catholic Church]] led the [[Beatrician Crusade]] against a resurgence of Mal'akh. The Church kept information on the Mal'akh in their [[Collection of Necessary Secrets]]. ([[PROSE]]: | In the [[2640s]], the [[Catholic Church]] led the [[Beatrician Crusade]] against a resurgence of Mal'akh. The Church kept information on the Mal'akh in their [[Collection of Necessary Secrets]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|De Umbris Idearum (short story)}}, {{cs|T. memeticus: A Morphology (short story)}}) | ||
==== The Osirians ==== | ==== The Osirians ==== | ||
After destroying the [[Eleven-Day Empire]] shortly after [[War in Heaven|the War]]'s fiftieth year, ([[AUDIO]]: | After destroying the [[Eleven-Day Empire]] shortly after [[War in Heaven|the War]]'s fiftieth year, ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Shadow Play (audio story)}}) the [[Great House]]s began to threaten the [[Osirian]]s. To force the Houses into a truce, [[Sutekh]] threatened to destroy the [[Earth]] by awakening the Canaan Mal'akh in the [[15th century]] and leading their infiltration of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. | ||
During this conquest, Sutekh enslaved [[Merytra Ellainya]], an agent of the Great Houses who commanded the [[Christianity|Christian]] forces. ([[AUDIO]]: | During this conquest, Sutekh enslaved [[Merytra Ellainya]], an agent of the Great Houses who commanded the [[Christianity|Christian]] forces. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Coming to Dust (audio story)}}) Merytra and these Mal'akh were freed by [[Upuat]], who set them on a crusade to erase Sutekh's name from the Earth. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Ship of a Billion Years (audio story)}}) | ||
In [[1763]], a grotesque Mal'akh named [[Jala]] surfaced in [[Posto di Ferragio]] and was kept by the town's mayor, Don [[Escuro]], as a tourist attraction. [[John Pennerton]] and [[Abelard Finton]] believed it had been summoned by the [[Society of Sigismondo di Rimini]]'s experiments in [[science]] and [[occult]]ism. Merytra Ellainya freed Jala and formed an army of Mal'akh to bring Upuat back to Earth and reclaim their promised destiny. However, Upuat didn't emerge from the [[time corridor]], having forgotten about the Mal'akh long ago. ([[AUDIO]]: | In [[1763]], a grotesque Mal'akh named [[Jala]] surfaced in [[Posto di Ferragio]] and was kept by the town's mayor, Don [[Escuro]], as a tourist attraction. [[John Pennerton]] and [[Abelard Finton]] believed it had been summoned by the [[Society of Sigismondo di Rimini]]'s experiments in [[science]] and [[occult]]ism. Merytra Ellainya freed Jala and formed an army of Mal'akh to bring Upuat back to Earth and reclaim their promised destiny. However, Upuat didn't emerge from the [[time corridor]], having forgotten about the Mal'akh long ago. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Coming to Dust (audio story)}}) Cousin [[Christine Summerfield|Eliza]] tortured Jala for days before realising he didn't work for Sutekh. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|The Ship of a Billion Years (audio story)}}) | ||
Cousin [[Justine McManus|Justine]] fought Sutekh's vicious [[crocodile|crocodilian]] Mal'akh in the delta. When they began attacking the Osirians, the light of [[Osiris]] shone through [[Horus]] to destroy them all. Crippled by Horus, Sutekh agreed to share with Justine his technology for breeding and controlling grotesques; with it, Justine attacked [[Lolita]]'s [[War Council|Council]] on [[the Homeworld]] with Mal'akh. ([[AUDIO]]: | Cousin [[Justine McManus|Justine]] fought Sutekh's vicious [[crocodile|crocodilian]] Mal'akh in the delta. When they began attacking the Osirians, the light of [[Osiris]] shone through [[Horus]] to destroy them all. Crippled by Horus, Sutekh agreed to share with Justine his technology for breeding and controlling grotesques; with it, Justine attacked [[Lolita]]'s [[War Council|Council]] on [[the Homeworld]] with Mal'akh. ([[AUDIO]]: {{cs|Words from Nine Divinities (audio story)}}) | ||
=== After the War === | === After the War === | ||
[[File:Mal'akh Political Animals.jpg|thumb|left|The "special kind of hunting dogs" used by the [[United States of America|Americans]] in [[1774]]. ([[COMIC]]: | [[File:Mal'akh Political Animals.jpg|thumb|left|The "special kind of hunting dogs" used by the [[United States of America|Americans]] in [[1774]]. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|Political Animals (comic story)}})]] | ||
After the end of the War, in [[1774]], the [[United States|American]] ambassadors to King [[George III]], led by Mr. [[Cleeve (Political Animals)|Cleeve]], brought several Mal'akh grotesques to his zoo for use in the hunt for [[George III's mammoth]]. They claimed they were "hunting dogs", but [[Isobel]] knew they were something else. ([[COMIC]]: | After the end of the War, in [[1774]], the [[United States of America|American]] ambassadors to King [[George III]], led by Mr. [[Cleeve (Political Animals)|Cleeve]], brought several Mal'akh grotesques to his zoo for use in the hunt for [[George III's mammoth]]. They claimed they were "hunting dogs", but [[Isobel]] knew they were something else. ([[COMIC]]: {{cs|Political Animals (comic story)}}) | ||
In [[1782]], "babewyns" began an invasion of [[London]]. They were interpreted by contemporary analysts as representations of ignorance being pushed aside in favour of enlightenment and [[reason]]. The [[Eighth Doctor]] ended the invasion in [[1783]] by decapitating the babewyns' leader, the [[King of Beasts]], with his "[[Sonic screwdriver|''screwdriver sonique'']]", the device representing a new power that the creatures couldn't understand. After the War was erased from history, these babewyns kept the [[Capitol|last fragment]] of [[Gallifrey]] within [[Kingdom of Beasts|their realm]]. ([[PROSE]]: | In [[1782]], "babewyns" began an invasion of [[London]]. They were interpreted by contemporary analysts as representations of ignorance being pushed aside in favour of enlightenment and [[reason]]. The [[Eighth Doctor]] ended the invasion in [[1783]] by decapitating the babewyns' leader, the [[King of Beasts]], with his "[[Sonic screwdriver|''screwdriver sonique'']]", the device representing a new power that the creatures couldn't understand. After the War was erased from history, these babewyns kept the [[Capitol|last fragment]] of [[Gallifrey]] within [[Kingdom of Beasts|their realm]]. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Adventuress of Henrietta Street (novel)}}) | ||
[[Sabbath Dei|Sabbath]] staffed the ''[[Jonah (ship)|Jonah]]'' with a crew of ape-like Mal'akh. ([[PROSE]]: | [[Sabbath Dei|Sabbath]] staffed the ''[[Jonah (ship)|Jonah]]'' with a crew of ape-like Mal'akh. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Adventuress of Henrietta Street (novel)}}, {{cs|The Infinity Race (novel)}}, {{cs|The Last Resort (novel)}}, {{cs|Timeless (novel)}}, {{cs|Sometime Never... (novel)}}) Even when not seen, the cries of the apes were sometimes heard coming from inside the ship. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Anachrophobia (novel)}}, {{cs|Camera Obscura (novel)}}) When recruiting [[Jaxa]] to be his agent, Sabbath mentioned his difficulties in finding a workforce and made a private remark involving paying [[peanut]]s and only getting [[monkey]]s. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Trading Futures (novel)}}) An alternate version of Sabbath under the sway of [[the Oracle]] similarly used Mal'akh apes as servants. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Domino Effect (novel)}}) | ||
=== City of the Saved === | === City of the Saved === | ||
In the [[City of the Saved]], the vampiric human-Mal'akh hybrids were | In the [[City of the Saved]], the vampiric human-Mal'akh hybrids were organised as the [[Sons of Tepes]]. They revered [[Vlad III]] for his reputation as [[Dracula]] despite his real-life animosity toward the Mal'akh. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|The Book of the War (novel)|namedpart=Sons of Tepes}}) | ||
Most of the humans infected by the Mal'akh [[Olena]] on [[Murigen]] reverted to their pre-Mal'akh selves when they were resurrected in the City, but [[Krisztina-Judit Németh]] remained in a vampiric state. Németh joined the Sons of Tepes ([[PROSE]]: | Most of the humans infected by the Mal'akh [[Olena]] on [[Murigen]] reverted to their pre-Mal'akh selves when they were resurrected in the City, but [[Krisztina-Judit Németh]] remained in a vampiric state. Németh joined the Sons of Tepes ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|Unification Theory (short story)}}) and became their Grand Dragon. ([[PROSE]]: {{cs|A Hundred Words from a Civil War (short story)}}) | ||
== Behind the scenes == | == Behind the scenes == | ||
Revision as of 00:02, 29 May 2024
- You may be looking for Malakh Empire.
The Mal'akh were a race of vampires descended from the Yssgaroth. They were connected to humanity's collective unconscious and capable of redefining themselves to suit their circumstances. They were often described as grotesques (PROSE: "Mal'akh" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"Mal'akh","namedpart":"Mal'akh","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) or Babewyns. (PROSE: The Adventuress of Henrietta Street [+]Loading...["The Adventuress of Henrietta Street (novel)"])
The Mal'akh were a significant force during the War in Heaven. (PROSE: "Causalities of War" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"namedpart":"Causalities of War","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) Some groups of Mal'akh worshipped Sutekh and fought for him. (AUDIO: Words from Nine Divinities [+]Loading...["Words from Nine Divinities (audio story)"]) Some War-time participants thought that the Enemy were Mal'akh hoping for payback for the Eternal War, but Michael Simpson believed that the Mal'akh were only taking advantage of the War. (PROSE: "Briefing C" [+]Part of Pre-narrative Briefings, Loading...{"namedep":"Briefing C","1":"Pre-narrative Briefings (short story)"})
Biology
The Mal'akh were almost impossible to kill due to their extreme regenerative healing abilities. (AUDIO: Coming to Dust [+]Loading...["Coming to Dust (audio story)"]) Any organic object could be simply assimilated into the Mal'akh body and rendered harmless; (PROSE: "Mal'akh" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"Mal'akh","namedpart":"Mal'akh","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) upon contact with a Mal'akh, many non-organic objects would start to rust or fall apart after a few minutes.[source needed] It was also very difficult to tell when they had actually died, so it was standard practice to bury them alive, leaving to mummify in the Earth. (PROSE: "The Ottoman Purges" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"The Ottoman Purges","namedpart":"The Ottoman Purges","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) They were, however, susceptible to shadow-weapons (AUDIO: Coming to Dust [+]Loading...["Coming to Dust (audio story)"]) and the "screwdriver sonique". (PROSE: The Adventuress of Henrietta Street [+]Loading...["The Adventuress of Henrietta Street (novel)"])
The Mal'akh were masters of illusion, inhabiting folkloric otherworlds where time ran differently to time in the known world. Those who encountered them and survived consistently told of losing years of their lives. Their alter-time realm was encountered in the Maltese incident (PROSE: "Mal'akh" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"Mal'akh","namedpart":"Mal'akh","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) and briefly intersected London in 1782-83, when it was named the Kingdom of Beasts. (PROSE: The Adventuress of Henrietta Street [+]Loading...["The Adventuress of Henrietta Street (novel)"])
The Mal'akh were capable of changing their shape at will. According to the Liber Sanguisugarum, there were two types of Mal'akh, categorized by diet. Rather than food or water, the Mal'akh needed to eat the blood and flesh of the living in order to survive. (PROSE: "Mal'akh" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"Mal'akh","namedpart":"Mal'akh","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) Their own blood appeared like black bile. (PROSE: "The Shelley Cabal" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"The Shelley Cabal","namedpart":"The Shelley Cabal","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"})
Djinn
If a Mal'akh wanted to appear beautiful to human eyes, it needed to consume untainted and stable biomass: that is to say, human blood and flesh. The resultant Rephaim were unnaturally beautiful, angelic creatures that could pass as exceptionally charismatic humans. (PROSE: "Mal'akh" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"Mal'akh","namedpart":"Mal'akh","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) In the 18th century, they used this power to infiltrate the courts of the Turkish empire and Ali Pascha; (PROSE: "The Maltese Incident" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"The Maltese Incident","namedpart":"The Maltese Incident","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) the Ottoman army of Nicolopolis was known to be filled with Mal'akh as early as the 15th century. (PROSE: "The Ottoman Purges" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"The Ottoman Purges","namedpart":"The Ottoman Purges","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) In legends of the Arabian and Middle Eastern peoples, they appeared as the djinn and peri, the spirits of the air and masters of desert storms. (PROSE: "Djinn" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"Djinn","namedpart":"Djinn","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"})
Grotesques
The Nephilim (metaphorical "giants of the Earth" mentioned in the Book of Genesis) were Mal'akh who fed upon themselves rather than humans. (PROSE: "Mal'akh" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"Mal'akh","namedpart":"Mal'akh","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) Without the ingestion of a suitable, untainted biomass, the memetic field of the Mal'akh was stretched too far, distorting their body and mind in unpredictable, animalistic ways. The resultant ape-like creatures inspired many of the demonic images of Middle Eastern legend.
Richard Francis Burton encountered these Mal'akh during his journey to the Mountains of the Moon, where he said that the more civilised Mal'akh would keep them as pets or force the change upon an enemy. (PROSE: "Grotesques" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"Grotesques","namedpart":"Grotesques","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) His private accounts reference his companion's ravings about "crowds of devils, giants, lion-headed demons who avert wrenching with superhuman force…" (PROSE: "The Mountains of the Moon" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"The Mountains of the Moon","namedpart":"The Mountains of the Moon","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) The encounters inspired Burton to describe these Mal'akh as "grotesques", after the gargoyle-like statues; (PROSE: "Grotesques" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"Grotesques","namedpart":"Grotesques","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) in her diaries, Lisa-Beth Lachlan similarly called them "babewyns" after the French word for the same statues. (PROSE: The Adventuress of Henrietta Street [+]Loading...["The Adventuress of Henrietta Street (novel)"])
Lord Byron described the grotesques he saw during the Maltese incident as humanoid giants with wings and animal faces. However, since the bat-like Mal'akh hybrids supposedly used by Faction Paradox for their armour were unknown to the Star Chamber and Earth mythology alike, this description was considered by scholars to be a later addition. (PROSE: "The Maltese Incident" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"The Maltese Incident","namedpart":"The Maltese Incident","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"})
History
Origin
As recorded in The Monkey to Time saga, in Marnal's era Time Lords began having visions of a future where they were erased save for five scattered survivors, with their primate shadows ruled "the spaces between moments" under the watch of great Black Eye. (PROSE: The Gallifrey Chronicles [+]Loading...["The Gallifrey Chronicles (novel)"])
The legendary origins of the Mal'akh were recorded in the Biblical apocrypha, namely the Book of Noah and Book of Enoch, where the Anakim were a highly advanced and civilised race. They remotely watched worldly affairs, but many of their members preferred to infere; led by Azazel, two hundred rebels descended from "the high place" to live among the lesser species, spreading their knowledge and taking wives. However, their offspring, created by the intermarriage of humans and the spirit world, were unstoppable monsters with a terrible hunger for flesh and blood. The watchers intervened to fight, capture, and exile the rebels; they bound Azazel headfirst over the abyss for all eternity, hanging by one leg. (PROSE: "The Book of Enoch" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"namedpart":"The Book of Enoch","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"})
According to other versions of the same legend in Arabia, (PROSE: "Djinn" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"Djinn","namedpart":"Djinn","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) the djinn were from the "world before the world" but survived the destruction of their reality by the grace of Allah. (PROSE: Head of State [+]Loading...["Head of State (novel)"]) They were allied with the angels until their leader Iblis refused to bow down to Adam, at which point they were cast out of Heaven. (PROSE: "Djinn" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"Djinn","namedpart":"Djinn","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) According to The Thousand and Second Night, Iblis sent the djinn to wage war against the angels and steal the cauldron from Jannat. Allah then hid the cauldron in the Earth and placed humanity there to guard it. (PROSE: Head of State [+]Loading...["Head of State (novel)"]) Indeed, the human magician King Solomon defeated the djinn at the City of Brass and made them his servants. However, upon Solomon's death the djinn took his harem of maidens and had bestial children. (PROSE: "Djinn" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"Djinn","namedpart":"Djinn","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) These children, the Mal'akh, would lie in wait until the day the angels returned to Earth to reclaim the cauldron. (PROSE: Head of State [+]Loading...["Head of State (novel)"])
As the Mal'akh's alter-time structures suggested a connection to the Great Houses, many commentators speculated that these legends gave a corrupted account of the war against the Yssgaroth and the flight from the Homeworld of those tainted by Yssgaroth biomass. Faction Paradox always claimed that their armour was created from the bones of such agents from an alternate timeline where the Houses lost their war; consistent with this idea, the Houses and the Faction alike regarded the Mal'akh as a small-scale "oxbow lake" in the river of time.
However, Faction Paradox's leading scholar on the Mal'akh, Father Abdullah, disputed this claim. Noting the similarities between the Great Houses' regeneration abilities and those of the Mal'akh, he instead concluded that the Houses attempted to infect themselves with the Yssgaroth taint during their war to give themselves a biological advantage. He suggested that the Mal'akh were failed experiments during these attempts or, worse, future versions of the Houses' agents, finally overcome by the Yssgaroth taint. However, this interpretation proved universally unpopular and was suppressed by Abdullah's superiors in the Faction. (PROSE: Mal'akh [+]Loading...["Mal'akh"])
In the post-War universe, Aguta once told a story of what happened to the families of the Great Houses after their defeat by the Enemy: "They were left naked in the cold and they grew grotesque, woolly faces. In their hunger they began to hunt one another, and their skin grew too strong to be cut by stone or horn. When our ancestors came to this land, they drove them away with the help of spirits, but they still roam the dark places, seeking their revenge." (PROSE: Cobweb and Ivory [+]Loading...["Cobweb and Ivory (short story)"])
In 1857, Richard Francis Burton and John Hanning Speke visited the heartland of the Mal'akh in the Mountains of the Moon. (PROSE: "The Mountains of the Moon" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"The Mountains of the Moon","namedpart":"The Mountains of the Moon","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) There, they discovered the first Mal'akh settlement on Earth at the High Place. (PROSE: "Grotesques" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"Grotesques","namedpart":"Grotesques","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) The settlement's proximity to the birthplace of humankind led scholars within Faction Paradox and the Star Chamber alike to speculate that the Mal'akh influenced the development of humanity. (PROSE: "The Mountains of the Moon" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"The Mountains of the Moon","namedpart":"The Mountains of the Moon","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"})
The Mal'akh and their fabled leaders, the Edimmu, were deeply embedded in human mythology and legend. (PROSE: "Djinn" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"Djinn","namedpart":"Djinn","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) Burton found tales of the Mal'akh in the Arabian Nights fables as well as the Indian cycle Vikram and the Vampire; (PROSE: "Karachi" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"namedpart":"Karachi","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) the Shelley Cabal's stories of the Mal'akh inspired the first vampire novels, (PROSE: "The Shelley Cabal" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"The Shelley Cabal","namedpart":"The Shelley Cabal","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) and Burton's knowledge of vampire legends likely contributed to Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. (PROSE: "Djinn" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"Djinn","namedpart":"Djinn","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"})
After awakening the Mal'akh in the 15th century, Sutekh claimed he had brought them to Earth. (AUDIO: Coming to Dust [+]Loading...["Coming to Dust (audio story)"])
Before the War
The Grand Families were five human bloodlines chosen by the pre-War ruling Houses to fight the Mal'akh throughout history. Though each Family had its official beginning during the Crusades, (PROSE: "The Grand Families" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"namedpart":"The Grand Families","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) The Book of the War speculated that they were descended from "untainted" Mal'akh rebels from the last Ice Age who were disgusted by the carnage of their offspring. In the medieval period, the Families founded multiple secret societies to combat the Westward spread of the Mal'akh. These included the Society of St. George, the Star Chamber, the Order of the Dragon, the Order of the Golden Fleece, the Thule Society, (PROSE: "The Society of St. George" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"namedpart":"The Society of St. George","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) and the Society of Sigismondo di Rimini. (AUDIO: Coming to Dust [+]Loading...["Coming to Dust (audio story)"]) The societies' collective knowledge was stored in the Liber Sanguisugarum. (PROSE: "Liber Sanguisugarum" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"namedpart":"Liber Sanguisugarum","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"})
In the 15th century, Mal'akh infiltrated the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Vlad II led the Ottoman Purges against the Turks from 1431 to 1447 on behalf of the Order of the Dragon. (PROSE: "The Ottoman Purges" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"The Ottoman Purges","namedpart":"The Ottoman Purges","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"})
In the 20th century, Professor Eric Stahlman began the Inferno Project to drill to the centre of the Earth, (TV: Inferno [+]Loading...["Inferno (TV story)"]) where an opening to the Spiral Yssgaroth was hidden. (PROSE: Interference - Book One [+]Loading...["Interference - Book One (novel)"], Head of State [+]Loading...["Head of State (novel)"]) The resultant Stahlman's ooze transformed any humans who touched it into bestial Primords. (TV: Inferno [+]Loading...["Inferno (TV story)"]) In a similar way, after the impact that killed the dinosaurs, the Wyrm was released from Earth's centre, tainting the blood of Earth Reptiles and transforming them into Wyrm Callers. (AUDIO: The Adolescence of Time [+]Loading...["The Adolescence of Time (audio story)"])
While the Homeworld was still at peace, the Ghost Wars opposed the Malakh Imperium, led by the vampire king Zadok the Gory, to "basically everyone else in and around the Horsehead Nebula". The Ghost Wars were a Change War: due too many parties being time-active, it was constantly being rewritten, its history "written in palimpsest and smoke". Because of this, the Homeworld considered it permanently "ongoing" despite its being bounded in time. At one point, the President Kodachrome, a Lord President Emeritus, "poked his head" into the Wars and was briefly killed for his trouble by Miss Garglespike. However, this only lasted for thirty-two days before another alteration to time saw him return to the Homeworld, gravely injured but alive. The Corsair believed that the death of Zadok was a fixed historical part of the Wars, but ended up accidentally preventing it when he failed to recognise that a scheme from Garglespike that he was foiling was geared towards the king's assassination. (PROSE: The Bloodletters [+]Loading...["The Bloodletters (novel)"]) Zadok's "mummified remains" were one of the exhibits at Dr Henry Fizzog's Museum of the Macabre in Sardicktown (PROSE: Honeymoon Horrors [+]Loading...["Honeymoon Horrors (short story)"]) by the time a post-Time War version of the Doctor visited the city. (TV: A Christmas Carol [+]Loading...["A Christmas Carol (TV story)"])
During the War
A major party in war
When House Paradox made the Gregorian Compact in 1752, the Protocols of Linearity bound the next seventy years of their history to that of Earth. During this time, the enemy began their war against the Great Houses, and this was reflected in Earth's history as a return and rise in the power of the Mal'akh. As a result, by the 19th century, the Mal'akh were again a major force in the East, with more and more grotesque sightings in Africa and Britain's Indian territories, (PROSE: "Napoleonic Era" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"namedpart":"Napoleonic Era","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) and Mal'akh influence spreading to the courts of the Turkish empire and Ali Pascha. (PROSE: "The Maltese Incident" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"The Maltese Incident","namedpart":"The Maltese Incident","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"})
In response to this resurgence, the Star Chamber became the directors of the Service. (PROSE: "The Gregorian Compact" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"namedpart":"The Gregorian Compact","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) However, after the Gregorian Compact, they incorrectly identified Faction Paradox as the leaders of the Mal'akh. As a result, they wasted many of their resources on attacking the Eleven-Day Empire; (PROSE: "The Analytical Engine" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"namedpart":"The Analytical Engine","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) they only notably interfered with the Mal'akh in the 1809 Maltese incident.
In 1822, the Mal'akh attacked and killed most of the Shelley Cabal near Massa. (PROSE: "The Shelley Cabal" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"The Shelley Cabal","namedpart":"The Shelley Cabal","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"})
On one of his first missions for the Star Chamber, Richard Francis Burton travelled to Araby to seek out information on the Mal'akh. There, he met the Lady of the Last Night, who gave him The Thousand and Second Tale, the Tale of the Malakh. This story told legends of the Mal'akh alongside anti-Faction propaganda. The Lady told him that she had dealt with the "Mal'akhs" and that they would no longer bother either the British Empire or the Eleven-Day Empire. (PROSE: Head of State [+]Loading...["Head of State (novel)"])
In 1845 or 1846, a small group of young British army officers stationed in Karachi performed a tantric ritual that spiralled out of control, unleashing at least one full-blood Mal'akh. Burton, by then a member of Faction Paradox, helped the Faction capture the Mal'akh for study; it was transported to the Stacks of the Eleven-Day Empire, (PROSE: "Karachi" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"namedpart":"Karachi","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"}) where it was kept in the hard-to-find 1995 Mornington Crescent platform. (PROSE: "The Stacks" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"namedpart":"The Stacks","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"})
In 1857, the Star Chamber sent Burton to the Mountains of the Moon for his last mission. (PROSE: "The Mountains of the Moon" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"name":"The Mountains of the Moon","namedpart":"The Mountains of the Moon","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"})
In one timeline observed by Morlock, Mal'akh cultists resurrected Vlad III (PROSE: A Bloody (And Public) Domaine [+]Loading...["A Bloody (And Public) Domaine (short story)"]) after his death in 1973. (PROSE: "Vlad III of Wallachia" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"namedpart":"Vlad III of Wallachia","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"})
In the late 20th century, a section of the British Secret Service headed by Malachi Yarrow was responsible for dealing with Mal'akh. (PROSE: Colonel Malachi Yarrow)
In Michael Brookhaven's 1999 film Mujun: The Ghost Kingdom, the ainu aboriginals of Japan appeared with bleached skin and black eyes in a pincer-like formation around the slope of Mount Usu right before the Voice emerged from the mountain. (PROSE: "The Mount Usu Duel" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"namedpart":"The Mount Usu Duel","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"})
In the early 21st century, Dave Larsen became convinced that Presidential candidate Matt Nelson was a Mal'akh after he read Richard Francis Burton's translation of The Thousand and Second Night. He assassinated Nelson at his inauguration, and Lola Denison became President. (PROSE: Head of State [+]Loading...["Head of State (novel)"])
In 2609, Bernice Summerfield was attacked by a Mal'akh while excavating the Blood Citadel of Alukah and hypnotised into being subservient. The Mal'akh used Summerfield to get into the First Colonial University of Murigen and convert some of its scholars. A plot to use the university's experimental quantum gateways to send Mal'akh to countless planets across the galaxy was stopped by Bernice Summerfield, Imogen Tantry, and Lloyd Doihara. (PROSE: De Umbris Idearum [+]Loading...["De Umbris Idearum (short story)"], Predating the Predators [+]Loading...["Predating the Predators (short story)"])
In the 2640s, the Catholic Church led the Beatrician Crusade against a resurgence of Mal'akh. The Church kept information on the Mal'akh in their Collection of Necessary Secrets. (PROSE: De Umbris Idearum [+]Loading...["De Umbris Idearum (short story)"], T. memeticus: A Morphology [+]Loading...["T. memeticus: A Morphology (short story)"])
The Osirians
After destroying the Eleven-Day Empire shortly after the War's fiftieth year, (AUDIO: The Shadow Play [+]Loading...["The Shadow Play (audio story)"]) the Great Houses began to threaten the Osirians. To force the Houses into a truce, Sutekh threatened to destroy the Earth by awakening the Canaan Mal'akh in the 15th century and leading their infiltration of the Ottoman Empire.
During this conquest, Sutekh enslaved Merytra Ellainya, an agent of the Great Houses who commanded the Christian forces. (AUDIO: Coming to Dust [+]Loading...["Coming to Dust (audio story)"]) Merytra and these Mal'akh were freed by Upuat, who set them on a crusade to erase Sutekh's name from the Earth. (AUDIO: The Ship of a Billion Years [+]Loading...["The Ship of a Billion Years (audio story)"])
In 1763, a grotesque Mal'akh named Jala surfaced in Posto di Ferragio and was kept by the town's mayor, Don Escuro, as a tourist attraction. John Pennerton and Abelard Finton believed it had been summoned by the Society of Sigismondo di Rimini's experiments in science and occultism. Merytra Ellainya freed Jala and formed an army of Mal'akh to bring Upuat back to Earth and reclaim their promised destiny. However, Upuat didn't emerge from the time corridor, having forgotten about the Mal'akh long ago. (AUDIO: Coming to Dust [+]Loading...["Coming to Dust (audio story)"]) Cousin Eliza tortured Jala for days before realising he didn't work for Sutekh. (AUDIO: The Ship of a Billion Years [+]Loading...["The Ship of a Billion Years (audio story)"])
Cousin Justine fought Sutekh's vicious crocodilian Mal'akh in the delta. When they began attacking the Osirians, the light of Osiris shone through Horus to destroy them all. Crippled by Horus, Sutekh agreed to share with Justine his technology for breeding and controlling grotesques; with it, Justine attacked Lolita's Council on the Homeworld with Mal'akh. (AUDIO: Words from Nine Divinities [+]Loading...["Words from Nine Divinities (audio story)"])
After the War
After the end of the War, in 1774, the American ambassadors to King George III, led by Mr. Cleeve, brought several Mal'akh grotesques to his zoo for use in the hunt for George III's mammoth. They claimed they were "hunting dogs", but Isobel knew they were something else. (COMIC: Political Animals [+]Loading...["Political Animals (comic story)"])
In 1782, "babewyns" began an invasion of London. They were interpreted by contemporary analysts as representations of ignorance being pushed aside in favour of enlightenment and reason. The Eighth Doctor ended the invasion in 1783 by decapitating the babewyns' leader, the King of Beasts, with his "screwdriver sonique", the device representing a new power that the creatures couldn't understand. After the War was erased from history, these babewyns kept the last fragment of Gallifrey within their realm. (PROSE: The Adventuress of Henrietta Street [+]Loading...["The Adventuress of Henrietta Street (novel)"])
Sabbath staffed the Jonah with a crew of ape-like Mal'akh. (PROSE: The Adventuress of Henrietta Street [+]Loading...["The Adventuress of Henrietta Street (novel)"], The Infinity Race [+]Loading...["The Infinity Race (novel)"], The Last Resort [+]Loading...["The Last Resort (novel)"], Timeless [+]Loading...["Timeless (novel)"], Sometime Never... [+]Loading...["Sometime Never... (novel)"]) Even when not seen, the cries of the apes were sometimes heard coming from inside the ship. (PROSE: Anachrophobia [+]Loading...["Anachrophobia (novel)"], Camera Obscura [+]Loading...["Camera Obscura (novel)"]) When recruiting Jaxa to be his agent, Sabbath mentioned his difficulties in finding a workforce and made a private remark involving paying peanuts and only getting monkeys. (PROSE: Trading Futures [+]Loading...["Trading Futures (novel)"]) An alternate version of Sabbath under the sway of the Oracle similarly used Mal'akh apes as servants. (PROSE: The Domino Effect [+]Loading...["The Domino Effect (novel)"])
City of the Saved
In the City of the Saved, the vampiric human-Mal'akh hybrids were organised as the Sons of Tepes. They revered Vlad III for his reputation as Dracula despite his real-life animosity toward the Mal'akh. (PROSE: "Sons of Tepes" [+]Part of The Book of the War, Loading...{"namedpart":"Sons of Tepes","1":"The Book of the War (novel)"})
Most of the humans infected by the Mal'akh Olena on Murigen reverted to their pre-Mal'akh selves when they were resurrected in the City, but Krisztina-Judit Németh remained in a vampiric state. Németh joined the Sons of Tepes (PROSE: Unification Theory [+]Loading...["Unification Theory (short story)"]) and became their Grand Dragon. (PROSE: A Hundred Words from a Civil War [+]Loading...["A Hundred Words from a Civil War (short story)"])
Behind the scenes
- The Mal'akh draws a clear, heavy influence from the Jewish mythology and Hebrew language. The word "mal'akh" in Hebrew is translated as "angel", "nephilim" as "giants" and "rephaim" as "ghosts".
External links
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