Haakon

Haakon
Third Archlord of the Darklands
Titles	Archlord Haakon Darklord Haakon Lord of Aarnak
Status	Dead (killed by Lone Wolf) Spirit trapped in the Plain of Despair
Became Archlord	MS 5053
Died	MS 5055
Domain	Helgedad (as Archlord) Iznogdazokim
Weapon	Power Crystal Lance
Affiliations	Darklords (as Archlord, subordinate) Zagarna (rival)
Previous Archlord	Zagarna
Next Archlord	Gnaag
Illustrations	The Darklands: p. 76

Darklord Haakon (IPA: /heɪkɒn/) (died MS 5055), was a Darklord and third Archlord of the Darklands. Originally he was the master of Aarnak, but became the Archlord of the Darklords in MS 5053 after the fall of Zagarna after a prolonged political struggle.

In MS 5055, two years into his Archlordship, Haakon agreed to provide Zakhan Kimah with the Orb of Death in exchange for Lone Wolf, who was traveling to Vassagonia to negotiate a peace treaty after Barraka's actions during the events of The Chasm of Doom; however, this capture attempt failed. Despite Kimah's failure, Haakon discovered that the Book of the Magnakai had been discovered in Vassagonia, and traveled there himself to destroy the artifact. In doing so, he came face-to-face with Lone Wolf, and was killed in combat. For his failure, Naar imprisoned Zagarna's spirit in the Plain of Despair to be tortured for eternity.

Appearance

Haakon had a hideous sepulchral voice and the face of a young human male with long skinny fingers. A helm as black as death with fiery red eye slits hid his face. His upper body was powerfully muscled and his intestines and blood vessels could be seen through his translucent skin. He was a master of using Nadziranim power crystals in combat. His emblem was a snarling Vordak.

Haakon's Nadziranim were among the most powerful in the Darklands, and he was one of the physically strongest of the Darklords, and he was not lacking in resources as well. He wore a black helmet at all times that obscured his features. The front of the helmet contained a pyramidal artifact, created by his Nadziranim, that allowed him to breath the air outside of the Darklands.

Biography

Arrival

Haakon arrived on Magnamund, with the rest of his fellow Darklords, in MS 3072. At some point before MS 5000, he became the primary Lord of Aarnak, in the realm of Iznogdazokim. However, due to his ambition, he preferred to spend most of his time scheming in Helgedad, neglecting Aarnak, and effectively putting Darklord Unc in charge. Due to his helmet, which allowed him to survive extended periods outside of the Darklands, he was sometimes sent as the emissary of the Darklands to their allies, and Zagarna sometimes dispatched him to V'Ka, to recruit Gourgaz from the Maakenmire. Of his own accord, Haakon also made alliances of his own, including Emir Kimah of Ferufezan, who would later become Zakhan of Vassagonia with Haakon's help.

Contest for Archlordship

In the succession war after Zagarna's death, Haakon emerged as one of the most prominent contenders for the title of Archlord.

Darklord Haakon considered several Darklords to be strong opponents; Kraagenskûl of Helgedad and Dakushna of Kagorst were strong contenders, for Kraagenskûl possessed a magical blade, Helshezag, or the Black Sword, and Dakushna possessed the most powerful of Doomstones, the Doomstone of Darke, mounted in a magical silver rod called the Nyras Scepter. At this time the other Darklords viewed Gnaag of Mozgôar and Nhorg of Gourizaga as the weakest Darklords.

Eventually, Darklord Haakon and Darklord Slûtar emerged as the frontrunners to succeed Zagarna. After they forced the other sixteen Darklords to give up their claims, war escalated between Slûtar and Haakon.

Haakon attempted to kill Lone Wolf in an attempt to impress the other Darklords. Haakon was successful in kidnapping Lone Wolf, and Slûtar retaliated by trying to kidnap the warrior Qinefer, but failed. Slûtar then helped Lone Wolf escape from Helgedad by using Carag, Vonotar the Traitor's Giak. Slûtar freed Lone Wolf on the very day Haakon had decided to have him executed, not only foiling Haakon's plans but also making Haakon look incompetent.

Haakon exposed Slûtar as a traitor by forcing Carag to reveal that Slûtar had helped Lone Wolf escape, and this caused Slûtar to be looked upon as a pariah by the other Darklords. Haakon ascended to the title of Archlord afterwards.

Downfall

When renegade Vassagonian noble Barraka failed in his bid to resurrect Darklord Vashna at the Maakongorge and the elderly Zakhan Moudalla of Vassagonia invited Sommerlund to sign a peace treaty, Haakon became aware of Lone Wolf's selection to serve as the Sommlending emissary. He took the unprecedented step of actually traveling to Vassagonia to meet with Kimah, an ambitious nobleman who was willing to ally himself with the Darklords to aid his rise to power. There, Haakon agreed to provide Kimah with a Nadziranim weapon — the Orb of Death — in exchange for Lone Wolf.

In the days leading up to Lone Wolf's arrival, Zakhan Moudalla died and Kimah secured the throne for himself. He was poised to capture Lone Wolf and turn him over the Haakon when the Vassagonian envoy Allani, who accompanied Lone Wolf to the capital city of Barrakesh, heard the name of the new Zakhan and alerted Lone Wolf to the threat. The young Kai Lord escaped, leaving Kimah with nothing to fulfil his end of the bargain he had made with Haakon.

Haakon might have at this point returned to the Darklands, perhaps punishing Kimah with death for his failure, had he not come to learn that the Book of the Magnakai had been found in Vassagonia. In his eagerness to obtain and destroy this ancient Kai treasure, Haakon sought out the book and ended up encountering Lone Wolf directly, the latter having also become aware of the book's whereabouts from Tipasa the Wanderer.

However, Haakon was unaware that Gnaag had ordered his Nadziranim to sabotage Haakon's armour, which allowed him to survive outside of the Darklands. Crucially, this also meant that Haakon could now be damaged by Lone Wolf, even though the Sommerswerd was ineffective underground. Haakon confronted Lone Wolf and was defeated, either killed by the Sommerswerd or banished by his own weapon after Lone Wolf seized it from him. When news of Haakon's defeat reached the Darklands, civil war resumed as those who had bided their time now made their own claims to the title of Archlord. This succession war was eventually won by Darklord Gnaag.

Lone Wolf encountered the spirit of Darklord Haakon again in The Curse of Naar, trapped in the Plain of Despair under the watch of Tzor.

In the gamebooks

Haakon is encountered in Shadow on the Sand, as the primary antagonist and final encounter. After defeating Haakon, the player obtains the Book of the Magnakai, ending the Kai series and beginning the Magnakai series, starting with The Kingdoms of Terror.

Haakon may be defeated without combat, if the player lacks the Sommerswerd and grabs a stone that Haakon drops. If the player possesses the Sommerswerd, they will eventually be forced to fight Haakon, who has the following attributes:

Darklord Haakon
Combat Skill 28, Endurance 45
↪Shadow on the Sand: §353

Haakon attacks mentally during this battle, requiring the player to reduce their Combat Skill by 2.