Taktaal

Taktaal
Member of the Darklords
Titles	Darklord Taktaal Lord of Helgedad
Status	Dead (killed by Lone Wolf) Spirit trapped in the Plain of Despair
Died	MS 5070
Domain	Taktaal's Sector
Weapon	Crystal Mace
Affiliations	Ghanesh (rival) Zagarna (third-in-command of) Gnaag (second-in-command of)
Illustrations	The Darklands: p. 84

Darklord Taktaal (died MS 5070) is a Darklord who was the second-in-command under Archlord Gnaag's reign. In MS 5070, he was slain by Lone Wolf.

Appearance

Taktaal had a smooth, ice white head, with a distending muzzle full of razor sharp fangs, and eyes that burned black fire. His fur covered, serpentine body was riddled with disease. His weapon of choice a black crystal mace, hung from his neck.

Personality

Taktaal possessed a rare, almost not-evil trait: loyalty. Taktaal used this trait to secure positions and allies, and his commitment was so well-known to the extent that Taktaal was able to inform his former allies when his allegiance changed. Taktaal possessed no personal agenda of his own, besides his fierce rivalry with Ghanesh, and this made him a valuable ally for virtually every single one of his fellow Darklords at various points in time. However, unusually, Taktaal seemed to come out on the better end of many of these arrangements; Taktaal was almost as calculating and patient as Darklord Gnaag. Haakon, however, saw this as a weakness, and Taktaal's rival, Ghanesh, was the only Darklord who could see through Taktaal's plots.

Biography

Taktaal arrived on Magnamund with his fellow Darklords in MS 3072. He served as Zagarna's third-in-command, where he was put in charge of the defences of Helgedad and the Lajakeka traffic of the Darklands. Later, under Gnaag, Taktaal became his second-in-command.

In MS 5062, the Darklords revealed the power of the Tanoz-tukor, which allowed the Darklords to operate freely outside of the Darklands. Taktaal, however, stayed behind in Helgedad to guard the Transfusor, which powered them. In MS 5065, he repaid a favour from Darklord Shebnar, who had tortured a powerful servant of Taktaal's rival, Ghanesh, by sending him a Lajakeka. Shebnar enhanced this with various weapons, including cannons spewing lava from the Nengud-kor-Adez, and he raised the dead as Kaggazutaagon.

In MS 5070, during the events of The Masters of Darkness, he was killed by a disguised Lone Wolf just before the Kai Lord's final confrontation with Darklord Gnaag. For his failure, his spirit was trapped and tortured in the Plain of Despair by Naar.

In the gamebooks

Taktaal is encountered during The Masters of Darkness, as the penultimate Darklord before Gnaag.

If Lone Wolf possesses a Bow and a Zejar-dulaga arrow, it can be used to instantly kill Taktaal. Otherwise, he will be fought in combat. As a Darklord, Taktaal can only be wounded by the Dagger of Vashna or Helshezag, and it is still too dangerous to use the Sommerswerd. Lone Wolf wounds Taktaal before the fight, giving him the following combat attributes:

Darklord Taktaal (wounded)
Combat Skill 36, Endurance 40
Immune to: Mindblast
↪The Masters of Darkness: §230

The Project Aon errata suggests that the Combat Skill bonus for using the Dagger of Vashna or Helshezag should be +12 (rather than +7), as its power is greatly-enhanced within the walls of Helgedad for the fight against Gnaag, and for consistency reasons, should also apply to the fight against Taktaal.