The Dark Elves are a very chaotic race, given to plotting and scheming. Dark Elves are constantly guarding their backs against the daggers of rivals. It is an environment that does not breed trust. The Dark Elves are one of the most powerful races, yet doomed to failure by their ambition, pride and arrogance.
The Dark Elves have a very black and white social structure. Every Elf knows their place in the hierarchy, though most if not all would not mind improving their station. Many noblemen spend all their time trying to pull down higher ranked nobles so they can take their positions. Commoners serve the noblemen, hoping to gain adoption into one of the royal families. That rarely happens.
Though Dark Elf Society is based upon ambition and self-gain they are held together by their hatred of their former kin. When the Witch-King sends the Black Arks to war the entire Dark Elf population sets aside its plotting and await the upcoming slaughter with anticipation.
There are five distinct levels to the Dark Elf social structure and they play an important part in the Dark Elves infernal society. The first level is that of King. It has been, and probably always will be, Malekith the Witch-King’s position. No one has come close to unseating him from his throne. The next highest level is that of Dark Lord. There are seven Dark Lords, one for each city except Naggarond and three for Clar Karond. The Dark Lords run the cities and rule them in the name of the Witch-King. Under the Dark Lords are the Lords, lesser nobles who still wield a lot of influence and power. The last level occupied by Dark Elves are the commoners, who make up most of the population. The lowest level is that of slave, and they are treated accordingly.
Despite being a chaotic race the Dark Elves have had strong, consistent leadership since their birth (if you count a maniacal lunatic as consistent). Since he first brought the Dark Elves to Naggaroth the Witch-King has ruled with an iron fist. He is the king of all the Dark Elves and their purpose while in exile has been his purpose, the reclamation of their home of Ulthuan and the extermination of their treacherous kin. For over five thousand years he has ruled, his power growing, waiting for the day he can reclaim his rightful homeland from the High Elves. Malekith is also the official Dark Lord of Naggarond but he prefers to be called the Witch-King.
Each of the Dark Elf cities except for Naggarond is ruled by a Dark Lord. Malekith rules Naggarond personally.
Har Ganeth
The ruling Dark Lord of the City of Executioners is Ruerl ‘the Butcher’. The Dark Lord Ruerl has used his position as the leader of the dreaded Executioners to maintain his control of the city. Vandess, the ancient Hag Queen of Har Ganeth and her legions of Witch Elves also support Ruerl. Because of his strong ties to the powerful Hag Queen and the dire reputation of his own legion Dark Lord Ruerl has been able to rule Har Ganeth with very few plots against him and very few attempts at his life.
The Dark Lord has also shown himself to be shrewd economically as well, securing Har Ganeth as the leading economic centre behind Naggarond. As the halfway point between Hag Graef and Karond Kar, Har Ganeth is able to control the trade in slaves and iron making it the second most powerful city in Naggaroth.
Ghrond
Ghrond is not ruled by a Dark Lord but a Dark Lady, the Crone Hellebron herself. As the second oldest Hag Queen next to Morathi and the ruler of the northern garrison overlooking the realm of chaos Hellebron wields considerable power. With Morathi’s near total seclusion in her tower in Naggarond Crone Hellebron is effectively the ruling High Priestess of the Brides of Khaine, the Dark Elves most prominent and powerful religion. Hellebron also enjoys the protection of Shadowblade, the greatest master assassin since Urian Poisonblade, and one of the most feared individuals in Naggaroth.
Hag Graef
For all of its history the city of Hag Graef has been ruled by one Dark Lord, Kaledor Maglen. As a wanderer and explorer Kaledor has gained much power in his discovery of the Underground Sea. Kaledor also discovered the Broken Lands and the Boiling Sea, which teems with the sea monsters that are so vital to the Dark Elf fleet. Along with passages to many previously inaccessible areas has come the addition of Cold Ones, which the Dark Elves use for heavy cavalry. The Dark Lord Kaledor rules his city efficiently, using slave labour to mine the iron and coal that arm most of Naggaroth’s soldiers.
Clar Karond
The Tower of Doom is unlike the other Dark Elf cities in that it is not ruled by one Dark Lord, but three. The three Dark Lords of Clar Karond are the greatest Black Ark Captains. Because of the inevitable plotting and backstabbing among the Corsairs the positions of Dark Lord are constantly changing as Black Ark Captains die in battle or are murdered by rivals. The political instability in Clar Karond is much greater than the other Dark Elf cities and makes the Tower of Doom an extremely dangerous place.
Karond Kar
Since the mysterious death of his father while attempting to subdue a supposedly tame scorpion the great port city of Karond Kar has been ruled by the Beastlord Rakarth. While Rakarth is younger and relatively inexperienced he has managed to rule Karond Kar effectively and stop the many attempts to replace him by the greedy factions that are inevitably part of any Dark Elf city. So far there have been no open challenges to his power, probably owing to his skill in battle and fierce dragon mount Bracchus.
In each Dark Elf city there are numerous lesser lords. As one would expect of them these lords are constantly trying to become the ruling Dark Lord of that city and eventually the undisputed Lord of All Naggaroth. Unfortunately for these lords, most of the Dark Lords of Naggaroth have retained their seats for millennium, proving too strong and resourceful for their servants. The exception to this rule is Clar Karond and many overly ambitious young nobles travel there hoping to gain power in the politically unstable city.
The lesser lords are constantly plotting, though their intricate webs of deceit and subterfuge seldom bring them any concrete gain. At any time one faction of nobles could be working against the Dark Lord while another undermines their attempts to protect their own interests. The Dark Lords take great pleasure in watching these attempts and rarely interfere unless they are endangered. Over the years the Dark Lords have become quite skilled at playing one group of nobles against another.
Generally speaking there are about 10-20 lesser lords in each Dark Elf city. This number tends to fluctuate as lords are slain in battle or assassinated by their peers.
The lesser lords provide many duties to their Dark Lords. They help run the city, provide taxes to help pay for troops and even help command the local garrisons. Most Dark Elf armies have one of these lesser lords as their generals. To help train them in the arts of war they are sent to the Watch Towers overlooking the Realm of Chaos. Here they protect Naggaroth from Chaos warbands and gain valuable battle experience.
Dark Elf commoners are organised into fairly large families. The typical family contains about twenty members. Dark Elves reproduce at a much higher rate than other Elves but this is offset by the many sacrifices made to Khaine and the fact that more Dark Elves die at the hands of other Dark Elves than their racial enemies.
All Dark Elves are skilled warriors. In fact they can be considered a race of elite warriors. As a race that is almost constantly at war with someone the Dark Elves offset their low population by making every Dark Elf, male or female, ready for battle. All Dark Elves consider themselves soldiers before their mundane everyday careers.
As a race the Dark Elves come very well equipped. Every regular citizen owns their own armour and weapon making it cheaper for their lords to use them in battle.
The bottom caste in Dark Elf society is not made up of Dark Elves but of slaves. Slaves play an integral part in Dark Elf Society. They provide the labour, sacrifices and war fodder that a slave race such as the Dark Elves need to survive.
Dark Elf slaves provide all the labour in Naggaroth. The slaves do all the jobs that are beneath the Dark Elves dignity. They work in the forests and fields of Clar Karond, providing wood for the Dark Elf fleet and food for each of the Dark Elf cities. They toil in the mines and quarries of Hag Graef, excavating the metals that are used for Dark Elf weapons. Slaves are also used by Dark Elves to provide for their needs, doing menial labour such as fetching and carrying. When a slave is judged to be useless for working, have attempted to escape or have annoyed their masters they are sent to the alters of Khaine to meet their destiny.
Except for Death Night all of the sacrifices made to Khaine are slaves. Thousands of slaves are killed in each city every year so the need to acquire slaves is constant. Khaine does not mind that followers of other gods are killed, he will accept any sacrifice as long at is in his name. Dark Elf slaves can also be used in another type of sacrifice, that of sacrificial war fodder.
When Dark Elf armies march to war they usually take slaves along with them. These slaves help to carry supplies and rations, are used for dangerous scouting missions and are then sent to soften up the enemy before the Dark Elves, the real warriors fight. The standard tactic when using slaves is to send them ahead of the rest of the troops and then after the enemy has destroyed them to charge in.