Malassa — the Dragon of Darkness is the Faceless Foe, the Slithering Shadow with a hundred faces and a thousand whispers. She is the most intelligent dragon and is also called "Keeper of the deadly secrets". She is also one of the two oldest and strongest children of Asha, the other being her twin brother Elrath.
Malassa is a fickle and dangerous mistress and perhaps the most dangerous of Asha's children. Darkness may seem meaningless and formless, but she knows. She has always been here and there, watching from close or afar, drinking the words and screams of the mortal races. In her abyssal womb lie all the forgotten memories and the buried secrets of the past. Malassa skulks, drinking in words, thoughts, and deeds. Secrets that the wicked try to bury, Malassa covets and keeps.
Malassa is mostly worshipped by madmen and doomsayers, fearless spies and assassins. But also by "dark heroes" (those who never get their tales sung in taverns) and magicians due to her intelligence and extensive knowledge. Her worshippers are usually most proficient users of magic, expect maybe wizards of Silver Cities.
Malassa holds sway over the shadowy and mysterious Faceless, but they were almost brought to extinction during the Elder Wars. In the Historical Age, she has made a sinister pact with the dark elves (Dungeon faction) after the War of the Bitter Ashes.
Malassa's children are the Shadow Dragons and the Black Dragons; her more powerful children, like Malsara, can act as guides for her worshipers. One of her first sons is believed to be a Faceless warrior named Caliban.
Malassa has been at least once been in bitter conflict with her brother Elrath. This is due to her servants, the Faceless, attacking the Angels during the War of the Primordial Twins, when they were close to wiping out demons. She did it because had demons, children of Urgash, been destroyed and Urgash driven away, the whole of Ashan would've imploded upon itself (see Vein's Campaign Mission 4). There had to be balance between Asha's Creation and Urgash's Destruction. This conflict (that would become known as the Elder Wars) was stopped by Sar-Elam and the Twilight Covenant. It is unknown why Asha let it happen or if she didn't know what would happen if Urgash and the demons were destroyed. The latter is possible, since she "cried tears of joy" when Angels were close to killing her brother Urgash. If that is so, it would mean Malassa is at least somewhat more knowledgeable than even her mother.
Although some of Ashan's inhabitants seem to view Malassa or at least her worshippers as evil, she also expects her worshippers to fight relentlessly against Urgash's demons. Her children, the Shadow Dragons and the Black Dragons, abandoned Thralsai when he returned to demon worship. When Ylaya called them back to fight demons and their worshippers, they expressed how glorious it is and that it is their duty and desire.
She is known for her knowledge and healing her mother's mentality, as well as her children promoting the idea of not treating "darkness" and "evil" as same.