"You will pay with your life!"
Exarch Maladaar was the sole surviving member of the original Council of Exarchs, the main governing body of the draenei prior to their conquest by the Orcish Horde. As Exarch, Maladaar was in charge of the Auchenai, the priests and paladins who defended and maintained the draenei necropolis of Auchindoun, and ensured the sanctity of the souls held within it.
Auchindoun, along with the rest of the draenic civilization on Draenor, soon fell to demonically corrupted Orcish Horde. Desperate to hold on to what little was left, Maladaar and the remaining Auchenai retreated to the depths of Auchindoun, to the most sacred crypt where the remains of the naaru,
D'ore, were entombed. The final straw came when
Grandmaster Vorpil and the agents of the Shadow Council who had taken up residence within Auchindoun summoned
Murmur. The power unleashed by the primordial essence of sound shattered Auchindoun, and lay waste to the region surrounding it. The great necropolis of the draenei was left broken and ruined, with the remains of the dead, and the spirits of the now restless dead, strewn across the newly formed Bone Wastes.
"You have defiled the resting place of our ancestors. For this offense, there can be but one punishment. It is fitting that you have come to a place of the dead... for you will soon be joining them."
Having seen his people slaughtered, their cities and temples razed or corrupted, their world destroyed, and finally witnessing the destruction of the site he was sworn to protect was too much for the Exarch to bear. Desperate to at least preserve the memory of his people, Maladaar turned to necromancy in a desperate bid to preserve what was left. To that end, he constructed
Shirrak the Dead Watcher to help watch over the souls that remained within Auchindoun.
In time, however, the souls within Auchindoun began to conspire against him, seeking a way to save themselves from Maladaar's experiments in necromancy. Additionally, Horde adventurers, seeking a means to help the tormented souls of the ancestral spirits of the orcs at Oshu'gun, travelled to Auchindoun to seek the aid of the naaru, D'ore, who had been entombed there. Exarch Maladaar was killed, and D'ore released from his sarcophagus.
"You were merciful in seeking my death. Forgive me..."
Using its mastery of the light, D'ore redeemed the mad Exarch's soul. Now freed from his madness, the spirit of Exarch Maladaar sought out the souls he had wronged, and asked for their forgiveness.
"There is no turning back now."
In an alternate past where he had not yet suffered through the tragedies that led him to madness,
Exarch Maladaar still leads the Auchenai. Betrayed by one of his own comrades, Maladaar had been captured by the Iron Horde, and tortured alongside the orc shaman, Drek'thar. The situation had seemed dire, until a group of adventurers came along, blew up the Iron Horde's Dark Portal, rescued him, Drek'thar, and numerous other draenei and orcish slaves the Iron Horde had captured in order to sacrifice to empower their portal. Together, they were able to escape the wrath of the Iron Horde's Warlords and retreat to the safety of Shadowmoon Valley.
Maladaar returned to Elodor, only to detect the taint of fel magic in the air. He enlisted the aid of the Alliance Commander who had helped rescue him from the Iron Horde to find the traitors, while he tried to convince the rest of the Exarch Council to lend their aid to the Alliance against the Iron Horde. The Council's deliberations were interrupted however, when one of its members, Exarch Hataaru, was found dead with a knife in his back. Maladaar sought to commune with Hataaru's spirit, in order to learn the identity of his murderer, however Exarch Akama refused to allow him to do so, feeling that Hataaru had suffered enough already and deserved his rest. Exarch Othaar was quick to agree with him. Unwilling to wait for a more conventional murder investigation, Maladaar took matters into his own hands.
Although the ritual was fraught with peril, Maladaar learned from Hataaru that another Exarch had orchestrated his murder. With the help of the Alliance Commander, Maladaar was able to uncover the treachery of Exarch Othaar, who now styled himself Socrethar. Concerned about the safety, and the possible presence of yet more traitors, Maladaar left Elodor to return to Auchindoun to see to the necropolis' defence.
"The dead grow... fearful. Something truly dark is coming."
On his return to Auchindoun, he found it under siege by the forces of the Shadow Council and Burning Legion. The work of the traitorous Saregei was already apparent, as someone had disable Auchindoun's defensive shields, as someone had stolen the crystal that empowered it. With the help of the Alliance Commander,
Lady Liadrin, and the blood elves, they were able to recover the crystal, and successfully repel the Burning Legion's attack. Unfortunately, they didn't realize that it was largely a diversion to allow
Teron'gor to infiltrate Auchindoun.
With Auchindoun mostly safe, Maladaar and Liadrin travelled north, to Shattrath City, which was now under attack by the Burning Legion. Leading the Burning Legion's assault was none other than Socrethar, who had formerly been in charge of the city's defence when he held the position as Exarch. Together, Maladaar, Liadrin, and a Horde or Alliance Commander, confronted and killed Socrethar.
He also oversaw the trails given to Yrel when she sought to become an exarch and join the Exarch Council. He also helped to command the ground invasion of the Tanaan Jungle, breaking through the Iron Horde's defences in Talador and forcing the Iron Horde to split their remaining forces between three fronts.