Malack is a recurring villain in the webcomic Order Of The Stick. He was a long-term friend and an associate of Tarquin, Nale and Elan's father, and despised the former for murdering three of his vampire spawn.
Despite claiming to be a lizardman, he was closer to a yuan-ti, as he had a tail rather than legs. He was referred to by Hel as Nergal's snake.
Biography
Malack was a priest of Nergal, and was intending to sacrifice a thousand people daily to his god after Tarquin and his adventuring party (whom he was a member of) had passed away.
Prior to the events of the comic, Nale murdered three of his vampire spawn so that he could figure out the best way to kill him later on, having wanted to do so since he was nine years old.
Furious at the death of his vampire offspring, Malack vowed that he would one day slay Nale.
Malack almost got this opportunity when Nale returned to the Empire Of Blood to get what he believed was his rightful inheritance. However, Tarquin persuaded Malack to temporarily allow Nale to live, telling him that it was business.
Malack also met Durkon, whom he considered to be a friend and a brother. However, after Durkon realized that he was a vampire that drank the blood the innocent. Malack realized that their friendship could not continue due to their alignment differences and that they were now enemies. According to him, in his past life, he was once a barbarian shaman.
He proceeded to kill the dwarvern cleric and reanimate him as another vampire so that they could continue being friends, planning to relinquish his control over him once he and his partner's mission was completed. He also admitted to drinking the blood of his seven brothers in the past.
Recalling how Durkon had told him to spare the lives of his friends, Malack decided not to alert Nale that the Order Of The Stick were hiding from him using an illusionary wall.
After the pyramid exploded, the now thralled Durkon asked him if they should look for the gate inside another pyramid, to which he politely told him no.
Death
Unfortunately for Malack, he assumed that Nale would allow him to avenge his offspring and that he would never see his death coming, which ultimately led to his downfall. Turning his back on Nale, the evil twin seized the opportunity to snatch his staff and throw it in the distance, and ordered Zz'dtri to remove his Protect From Daylight spell, causing him to begin to burn alive in the sun.
Instructing the thralled Durkon to retrieve the staff, and realizing that due to the explosion of Girard's Pyramid he did not have anything to shield himself from the sun's rays with, he decided to slay Nale for betraying him and to avenge his vampire spawn if it was the last thing he ever did, but he had anticipated this and drank a Negative Energy Potion to shield himself from Malack's dark magic.
Ultimately, Durkon arrived a few seconds too late, and he died begging his god to save him. As a result of his death the spirit possessing Durkon was taken control of by Hel, and Tarquin was left alone to rule over the Empire Of Blood.
Nale was later killed by Tarquin for slaying him.
Powers And Abilities
As a vampire, Malack naturally possessed superhuman strength, and could see through illusions with his vampiric gaze, and could use it to mesmerize others as well, such as Belkar Bitterleaf.
As a cleric, he also possessed the Flame Strike spell, as well as dark spells, most notably the Harm spell, which he could use to both heal himself or attack his enemies, as he was undead. He was also capable of flight.
Malack also possessed a Protection From Daylight spell, which he could use to shield himself from the sun's rays. He possessed two of these spells in his staff, and prepared this spell twice a day in case of an emergency or in the event he created another vampire. He could also use his staff to hasten the process of creating a vampire.