Benjyboy: Thank you.
Someguy300: Thanks. After talking with Deathwatch Razgriz, there is a high chance that I will create an actual story out of all of this. I still want to map out some things before I do, though, so that I can use this particular story/codex as a reference.
Officer Hot-Pants: Thank you for the ideas. While I was honestly stumped by what to do with the Priesthood of Mars, I just didn't know what to do with the origins of the Sisters of Battle. Yet, I will definitely take what you've said into account when I write about them.
Path of the Warrior
Alongside Mankind, the Eldar as a race are beset on every side by warfare. At one point, their numbers were so low, for Eldar generations are born all too few and far between, and what remained of the race could not afford to lose any more of their reduced numbers. However, the alliance with the Imperium has afforded the Eldar the time to recuperate and with that has come the vital boost to their population. What was once simply a battle for survival, has become a fight to retake the stars. Young Eldar often believe that they can rebuild their lost but once glorious empire with fire and passion and the Imperium makes use of them.
When the Eldar go to war, they do so as a group of specialists who perfectly complement one another's assigned tactical role in combat. Each unit plays its own part with masterful skill, their abilities combining to produce a true symphony of destruction and careful grace that is distinctively Eldar. From the most numerous horde to the the mightest enemy war engine, there is an Eldar squad with the skills and wargear that is perfectly suited to the foe's destruction. Combined with the prescience of the Farseers and the strategic skill of the Autarchs, even a small Eldar strike force can devastate its opponents before they can muster an effective counter-attack. This tactic is long been used with other forces such as the Imperial Guard, to devastate the enemy and allow foothold to be gained before expanding outwards. The Eldar martial ideal is to slaughter their foes without suffering a single loss of their own, for the usurpers of the galaxy are many and every warrior is needed for many a theatre of war.
Aspect Shrines
When an Eldar feels called to the path of the Warrior, he or she will join an Aspect Shrine, a cult of warriors who train themselves to embody an aspect of the Eldar War God Kaela Mensha Khaine. Each Aspect Shrine is led by an Exarch, an Eldar who has found his- or herself unable to leave the path of the warrior.
Aspect Warriors
The Path of the Warrior teaches the arts of death and destruction. Due to the inherent dark side of the Eldar psyche, this Path calls to almost all Eldar at some point in their long lives. Exactly what will draw an Eldar onto the Path of the Warrior, to put on his "war mask" as the Exarchs say, is uncertain. Perhaps it is the recognition of the innate destructive impulse in the dark side of their psyche that only the ritual training and vicious combat of this Path can purge. In ages past, the Phoenix Lords taught the arts of war to both male and female Eldar, and as such, Eldar Aspect Warriors come equally from both genders. As with many of the more complex Paths, the Path of the Warrior is divided into many different specialisations. Each these is known as a Warrior Aspect, representing a different facet of the Eldar God of War Khaela Mensha Khaine, and bringing with it unique fighting disciplines, wargear and abilities.
The Aspects differ greatly from one another in their methods of warfare, and offer many specialist skills intended to allow them to carry out specific tactical roles on the battlefield. Since joining the Imperium, the many of the Craftworlds have been turned into moving fortresses, allowing them to become homes to numerous Aspect Shrines. Each Aspect present on a Craftworld maintains at least one Aspect Shrine in which its adherents can practice the master of their version of the Path of the Warrior. When called to war, the Aspect Warriors fight in the predetermined manner associated since ancient times with their Phoenix Lord and their Aspect Shrine. They have their own warrior garb and wargear, distinctive ritual battle armour and highly individualised weaponry. Their minds and bodies are honed with endless exercise, both physical and spiritual, until they become suffused with the aspect of Khaine that their Aspect Shrine is intended to honor. The Aspect Warriors do not live in the Aspect Shrines, and when they "take off their war masks" they can live in peace. The Webway allows for easy travel so that Aspect Warriors may be allowed to rejoin their homes and communities throughout the Imperium during rare periods of rest. Only the keepers of each Aspect Shrine, the Exarchs, are forced to live within the shrines.
Dire Avengers: The first amongst the Aspect Warriors of the Eldar. They represent the Eldar War God Khaela Mensha Khaine in his aspect as the noblest and yet most merciless of warriors. The Dire Avengers show no mercy to their foes and are unwavering in their devotion to their people. These warriors are the least specialized and the most tactically flexible of all the Warrior Aspects, as they serve Eldar armies as elite ranged infantry. The Dire Avengers are also the most common of the Warrior Aspects amongst the Eldar, and their shrines are the largest to be found on all the Craftworlds. When in battle, Dire Avengers use their Shuriken Catapults to create an impenetrable storm of monomolecular shards. They have an uncanny knack of knowing when to follow this onslaught with a lightning-fast assault and when to carefully draw the enemy forward onto their blades. These patient, methodical warriors are equally well-suited for both offensive and defensive operations. Their training gives them the uncanny ability to read the ebb and flow of battle, knowing when to press the attack or feign retreat and fall back, luring their foes into a carefully prepared ambush. Dire Avengers are also trained in hand-to-hand combat techniques, though with the exception of their Exarchs who can become specialists in close combat techniques, this is not the primary focus of their training, which is bent towards generalized elite ranged infantry skills. Because of their adaptability, Dire Avengers are also the most common Aspect Warriors used to conduct special operations missions beyond the bounds of normal combat requirements. These missions can range from the necessity of aiding Exodites from an incursion by Greenskins to protecting a Farseer engaged in diplomatic negotiations with a hostile non-Imperial Craftworld.
Howling Banshees: The all-female Eldar Aspect Warriors who specialise in highly mobile melee combat and represent the Eldar War God Khaela Mensha Khaine's ability to instill fear in his foes. The banshee is a harbinger of woe and death in Eldar Mythology. Their cry is said to herald ill fate and can even wrench a soul from a Spirit Stone. It is fitting that these most feared of all the Eldar Aspect Warriors draw their inspiration from this creature. These lightly-equipped warrior-women are fearsome melee combat specialists who draw their inspiration from the unearthly creature with which they share a name. What the Howling Banshees lack in brute strength they make up for with their uncanny and inhuman precision and efficiency. The piercing warcry of these Aspect Warriors has heralded the coming doom of countless enemies. Howling Banshees are swift and athletic Eldar warriors who specialise in deadly hand-to-hand fighting. Howling Banshees wear armoured helmets called Banshee Masks that contain psychosonic amplifiers which magnify their keening battle screams into mind-destroying shock waves. The forces unleashed by the Banshee Mask can inflict severe damage to the central nervous system of a Banshee's foe; inspiring a feeling of mortal terror and causing momentary paralysis to take hold over a victim's body. A full squad of Banshees activating their masks in unison can cripple an enemy unit before a single blow is struck, leaving them paralysed and helpless before their onslaught. The Howling Banshees have been seen many times with the Sisters of Battle, aiding in rooting out dangerous deviants.
Striking Scorpions: Epitomizing the deadly attributes of their namesake, and they are the most skilled of all the close-assault Warrior Aspects on the Eldar Path of the Warrior. They are merciless killers without exception, reveling in the hunt and the kill, using stealth and shadow to cloak themselves from sight until the moment of attack. The Striking Scorpions represent the wrath of the War God Kaela Mensha Khaine, which can fall without warning and with extraordinary savagery upon his foes. The Striking Scorpions are one of the Eldar Warrior Aspects dedicated to close combat, particularly close combat during infiltration missions in which they must first close with the enemy undetected before unleashing their wrath. Many Striking Scorpions are physically more powerful than standard Eldar, and can match their Dark Eldar counterparts for sheer physical power. The signature attack of the Striking Scorpion is made by the weapon pods housed on either side of the warrior's helmet, known as Mandiblasters. These are small, short-ranged laser weapons used to deliver a deadly energy sting in close combat that can be psychically triggered. A Mandiblaster volley and the blistering storm of attacks from the Scorpions that follow it is enough to tear the heart out of an enemy force. Compared to their closest cousins, the Howling Banshees, Striking Scorpions are not as swift but instead more adept at moving through dense terrain, using every available nook and crevice to lie in wait for the enemy before unleashing their attack. Only those Eldar of strong physique can become Striking Scorpions in order to wear their armor and wield their weapons. Striking Scorpions are best deployed to deal with tactical situations in which they face off against large numbers of enemy troops who are weaker than they, though their unusual physical prowess for Eldar allows the Striking Scorpions to successfully battle foes head-to-head that most Eldar, even other Aspect Warriors, would avoid, like the larger and more powerful varieties of Ork.
Dark Reapers: The most most menacing of the Eldar Aspect Warriors. They exemplify the Eldar War God Kaela Mensha Khaine in his aspect as the Destroyer, and their skull-masked costume echoes that of their founder and Phoenix Lord, the "Harvester of Souls," Maugan Ra. They specialise in the use of highly-destructive, long-range heavy weaponry. The Dark Reapers' Aspect Armour is the color of midnight, and incorporates a complex set of interlocking plates. Although the Dark Reapers are comparatively slow-moving compared to other Eldar warriors as a result of their heavy armour, this is of little consequence, for their role on the battlefield is to serve as long-ranged heavy weapons fire support for the more mobile Eldar units. The Phoenix Lord of the Dark Reapers, Maugan Ra, teaches that the kiss of death can be delivered from afar. It is this credo that is central to the way of the Reaper. Their sacred weapon is the Reaper Launcher, a long-barreled missile weapon that can create a blistering firestorm of small missiles with a single salvo. The small armor-piercing missiles the Reaper Launcher fires are powerful enough to take down all but the most heavily protected of foes. The Dark Reapers pride themselves on their accuracy. To absorb the recoil of firing the Launcher and maintain a steady firing position, the powered limb supports include lower leg armour and boots fitted with stabilisers and clamps to secure the Dark Reaper to the ground. Their helmet incorporates specialised rangefinding sensor vanes which extends out of the helmet of their Aspect Armour and allows a Dark Reaper to achieve target lock on even fast-moving vehicles. This also creates a mind-link with the Dark Reaper's weapon, allowing them to "see" out of the muzzle of the launcher. The resulting increase in their already deadly accuracy means it is almost impossible for a Dark Reaper to miss his target. Their superb aim enables them to dominate the battlefield, pinning down enemy forces and destroying their chosen targets at will. The downside to all of their extra equipment, along with the weight of their heavy weapon, is that Dark Reapers are slower and less mobile compared to other Aspect Warriors. However, as their primary tactical role is to provide long-range fire support, this is not seen as significantly detracting from the Aspect's combat effectiveness. Operating in squads of three to five Dark Reapers, one of which may be an Exarch, these units are usually positioned in cover behind the main Eldar battle line, where they can best support the advance of friendly troops and target the enemy's heavy assets. For added mobility the squad can also be mounted in a Wave Serpent transport.
Fire Dragons: The Eldar Aspect Warriors who seek to embody the writhing, sinewy dragons of Eldar Mythology. No Eldar Aspect Warriors revel more in destruction than those who serve the Shrine of the Fire Dragons. Taking as their totem the fierce, fire-breathing creatures of Eldar legend, they epitomize the brutal, wanton destruction of war. When called to arms their goal is the total annihilation of their foes, to the exclusion of all else. Fire Dragons are aggressive and warlike close combat fighters who utilize heat-based weaponry to destroy enemy armoured vehicles and drive the foe from his fortified strongpoints. They have an unsurpassed mastery of their chosen and highly dangerous weapons, and take savage delight in the devastation they create. For this reason, the Eldar believe that the Fire Dragons are the embodiment of the Eldar War God Kaela Mensha Khaine's penchant for pure destruction. It is said that Fire Dragon Exarchs generate a corona of lambent flame around themselves when the battle lust is upon them. Fire Dragons take an unbridled, savage delight in the destruction they cause, and nothing short of the complete annihilation of the enemy will satisfy these embodiments of war's capacity for wanton destruction. Fire Dragons specialise in assaulting enemy war machines and fixed fortifications, as well as rooting out heavily-armoured infantry and weapon emplacements. In this role each Fire Dragon wields a potent Fusion Gun, capable of reducing an enemy to a cloud of superheated vapour in a second, or a battle tank into a pile of molten slag. Against targets too formidable to be damaged by even these fearsome weapons, the Fire Dragons carry Melta Bombs, disc-shaped fusion-based explosives which can be attached to any surface and detonated on command. However, the short range of their fusion-based weaponry limits the Fire Dragons' effectiveness, especially when speed and tactical flexibility are needed. It is also the reason Fire Dragon Aspect Armour is thicker compared to that of many of the other Aspects, including many spiny protrusions which make it stiffer and more resilient, so that the wearer can properly close with the enemy and deliver death and destruction upon him. Fire Dragon Aspect Armour is painted in fiery colours, such as red or orange.
Swooping Hawks: The aerial Aspect Warriors of the Eldar. They wear cunningly constructed anti-gravitic wings that enable them to launch high into the air at a moment's notice. They are able to launch lightning-fast aerial assaults against their foes, cutting them down with the deadly energy weapons known as Lasblasters in a blur of color. The Swooping Hawks take their name from the wild hunting birds of Eldar Mythology, who symbolize revenge and retribution. The Swooping Hawks are among the most mobile of the Eldar Aspect Warriors as a result of their Swooping Hawk Wings, which allow them to lift off into the air at a moment's notice and fly across the battlefield. Their wings are made from vibrating feather plates and incorporate small gravitic lifters. When the Hawks fly, these wings vibrate with such speed they turn into a blur of colour. The speed and agility that this technology provides the Swooping Hawks more than makes up for the fact that their Aspect Armor, compared to that worn by the warriors of the other Aspects, is less thick as a result of their need to keep their weight low and therefore offers less protection from enemy fire. Swooping Hawk Aspect Armor is typically coloured like the sky, a pale shade of blue or grey, with contrasting colors as well, especially on the wings.
Warp Spiders: Eldar Aspect Warriors who specialize in the use of a personal teleportation device built into their Aspect Armor to make a series of rapid jumps through the Immaterium that make them nearly impossible to target and allow them to attack the enemy suddenly and disappear before he can strike back. Taking their name from the same creatures who protected the Infinity Circuits of their Craftworlds, the Warp Spiders epitomize the concept of an aggressive defense.Like several of the other Eldar Warrior Aspects there is no known founder, or Phoenix Lord, of the Warp Spider Aspect Shrines, although the lore of the Kaelor Craftworld speaks of the Lhykosidae, the Wraith Spider, who might be a Warp Spiders Phoenix Lord perhaps even the Aspect's Asurya, the first Phoenix Lord. The truth of the matter may not even beknown to the Eldar themselves, lost in the mists of the ancient past. Using a compact Warp Spider Jump Generator housed within the backpack of their Aspect Armor and operating in squads of five to ten warriors which are sometimes lead by an Exarch, these Aspect Warriors can make short Warp-jumps, disappearing into the Immaterium and reappearing into realspace in the blink of an eye. This enables them to make totally unexpected attacks on their foes, though it does necessitate spending a short time unshielded in the Empyrean. Warp Spiders are also regarded as strange and terrifying, the furthest removed from the normal Eldar mindset of all the Warrior Aspects. Warp Spiders also tend to have a bleak outlook on life, and rarely mix with the warriors from the other Aspect Shrines. The ritual armament of the Warp Spider is the Death Spinner; a highly advanced weapon that extrudes a thick cloud of razor-sharp monofilament wire. The Spinner's magnetic containment field then spools the wire together and hurls it toward the enemy. The wire's own tension causes it to writhe and lash, and where it touches flesh or soft tissue, it slices through the victim's body, causing an agonizing and quite messy death.
Shining Spears: One of the rarest and most specialised of the Eldar Aspect Warriors. They represent the Spear of Kaela Mensha Khaine, the invincible weapon of the Eldar God of War that struck like lightning and killed any foe with a single blow. Shining Spears can be distinguished from all of the other Eldar Warrior Aspects for they are the only Aspect Warriors to make use of anti-gravity Jetbikes. The identity of the Phoenix Lord of the Shining Spears is not known to Imperial scholars. As with certain other Aspect Shrines, the Shining Spears have no known founder, or Phoenix Lord. They also have only a tiny presence on a few Craftworlds, including the major ones such as Ulthwé, but are regarded as an elite force, glittering exemplars of the warrior way. Shining Spear squads are relatively small, just three to five warriors, a number which sometimes includes an Exarch to lead them. Yet even a small unit of Shining Spears can turn the tide of a protracted battle, for their legendary charges hit home with the force of a thunderbolt. Few enemies can withstand such a devastating charge. Shining Spears ride sleek, gleaming Eldar Jetbikes to war, their vehicles' anti-gravitic motors allowing them to skim over even the roughest terrain at a breakneck pace. Each Aspect Warrior is so in tune with their Jetbike that they can execute complex, high-speed aerial manoeuvers with a single gesture. Even a small unit of Shining Spears can turn the tide of a protracted combat, for their legendary charges hit home with the force of a thunderbolt. Apart from the twin-linked Shuriken Catapults incorporated into their Jetbikes, the ritual armament of the Shining Spears Aspect Warrior is the Laser Lance. This elegant weapon can deliver intense short ranged energy blasts, and is usually used just as the Shining Spears deliver their charge.
Eagle Pilots: An Eagle Pilot is an Eldar Aspect Warrior who follows the Warrior Path of the Phoenix Lord Amon Harakht, of whom almost nothing is known. Like their fellow airborne Aspect Warriors, the Swooping Hawks, the Eagle Pilots take exultant pleasure in the arts of aerial combat. These Eldar are superb pilots of any type of Eldar aircraft or spacecraft, but especially excel in the aerial arts of war. Their skill and artistry in flight is nearly unmatched by the combat pilots of any other species, as they take to the skies in their Nightwing interceptors or Phoenix strike aircraft. Eagle Pilots serve as the combat pilots of the Eldar Craftworlds, performing combat air patrols and fulfilling air superiority and ground attack support roles for Eldar military forces in the field. Eagle Pilots possess the ability to fly nearly any aircraft but they primarily fly the Eldar's Nightwing Interceptor and the Phoenix strike combat aircraft. The Nightwing interceptor is the primary fighter aircraft of the Eldar, combining a speed and manouverability that no Imperial fighter aircraft can match, with considerable firepower and the sophisticated energy field protection that is common to Eldar vehicles. The Nightwing is a variable geometry aircraft capable of altering its wing position to shift between subsonic and supersonic speeds. The Eldar Phoenix is a heavily armed strike aircraft that is intended to engage both enemy infantry and armour on the ground, while its sophisticated energy field protects it from enemy fire.
Shadow Spectres: The Shadow Spectres are a recently re-discovered Eldar Aspect Warriors who specialise in the deployment of highly-mobile, infantry-based anti-armour firepower who are experts at striking at enemy vehicles from concealment and extreme long-range. Armed with Prism Rifles, each a potent anti-tank weapon, and equipped with Jetpacks, their mobility allows them to hunt down their chosen targets with the implacable patience of the dead, materialising seemingly from the very air to unleash their overwhelming firepower. The Shadow Spectres represent the Eldar God of War Kaela Mensha Khaine in his aspect as the Eternal Warrior, for whom death is no release from duty. Shadow Spectres are equipped and armed with Jetpacks, Holofield emitters, and Prism Rifles, which are infantry versions of the massive Prism Cannons deployed on Eldar Fire Prism grav-tanks. These weapons release highly focused blasts of laser energy that can vaporise the armor of even the heaviest vehicles. The Shadow Spectres use their Jetpacks to remain highly mobile across the battle space and to find the most advantageous terrain from which to strike against enemy armoured vehicles. Additionally, Shadow Spectre Aspect Warriors are capable of combining the power of their Prism Rifles using a sophisticated targeting matrix known as the Ghostlight. The Ghostlight combines each individual shot from a squad of Shadow Spectres into a single searing blast of energy with a greatly magnified range that allows the Aspect Warriors to destroy an enemy's armored support from an unseen location far across the battlefield. Instead of firing their Prism Rifles (or the Exarch's Prism Lance) individually the squad may take a single Ghostlight shot of greatly enhanced power which is particularly useful when used against the most powerful armored targets. The Shadow Spectres are masters of striking at an enemy's heavy armour forces from the unseen, using their Jetpacks, Prism Rifles, Prism Blasters and the Ghostlight targetting matrix to destroy armoured vehicles from far across the battlefield where retaliation is almost impossible because the Shadow Spectres will be long gone before the enemy can return fire to their location. The Shadow Spectres' use of shimmering Holo-fields also makes it very difficult for enemy targetting sensors to get a lock on them even if they can be visually located.
Exarchs
An Exarch is a former Eldar Aspect Warrior who has lost him/herself upon the Eldar Path of the Warrior and is unable to ever leave it again. At this point they are considered to have abandoned the Eldar Paths with their promise of new experiences and development of new skills in favor of a constant life of bloodshed. The Eldar becomes the elite warrior called an Exarch; simultaneously, an Exarch is a priest of Kaela Mensha Khaine, the Eldar God of War as well as a caretaker of the individual warrior shrine, and trainer, teacher, and instructor for other Aspect Warriors. The sacrifice of an Eldar Exarch can summon an Avatar of Kaela Mensha Khaine. He is equipped with ancient and powerful Eldar weaponry and armor. Each Eldar Warrior Aspect has its own particular kind of Exarch. On the battlefield, an Exarch commands an individual squad of Eldar Aspect Warriors. Exarchs are formidable opponents, and most of them can use their often potent psychic and combat abilities to help the whole squad of Aspect Warriors under their command. The very first Exarchs were the Phoenix Lords.
Those Eldar that fall down this path are unable to pass beyond the Path of the Warrior and are unable to resist the passionate lure of battle, leading to them developing an unquenchable lust for bloodletting. As such, they become trapped in the path they have chosen and are unable to leave the Aspect of the War God they represent whilst becoming addicted to bloodlust that only battle can satiate. This leads to the Exarchs being met with a mixture of awe and revulsion by their kin. The Eldar respect these individuals due to them dedicating themselves into the single-minded pursuit of a side of their nature which most of their kind fear. However, they are pitied as the Exarchs have, in essence, abandoned the Eldar Path that offers new experiences and constant development. There exists an even greater dread for the Eldar in relation to the Exarchs: the fact that each of them holds the potential of falling down the same ruinous path. Those that take this mantle represent one form of problem with those that walk down the Eldar Paths in the sense that they become obsessed with roles that they are ill-prepared for and thus can never leave it. Thus, the Exarchs and the Harlequins represent the universal peril though, in either case, they still hold a place within their society.
Exarchs remain trapped on the Path of the Warrior, but sometimes continue to cycle from one Aspect to another. During times of war, they can wear one of two or more armoured suits which represent the different Aspects that they have taken. On a similar basis, they can equip themselves with the appropriate weapons that represent these Aspects. Those that succumb to this constant cycle of events are sometimes known as "Menshad Korum" or "Lost Warriors" with the Eldar Lexicon roughly meaning "hunters in pursuit of themselves." However, in the majority of cases, an Exarch will only adopt a single Aspect, though he or she may pass through several different Aspect Warriors before finally becoming trapped in the Warrior Path.[2a] Upon being trapped in their final Warrior Aspect, they demonstrate a great level of battle-skills due to their experience in the other Aspects, making them more skilled compared to ordinary Aspect Warriors. Upon assuming the position of Exarch, these Eldar begin to adopt the ancient names that reflect their respective Aspect. These names are particular to Craftworlds and the specific shrines of the War God within each Craftworld. Only a single Exarch can bear a particular name at any one time which is associated with the armor they wear in battle. Only when killed can that name and armor be taken by another Aspect Warrior whereupon the new bearer takes the mantle of a thousand year legacy where they continue the legendary life of a single heroic identity. When not fighting, these individuals tend to the shrines of Kaela Mensha Khaine which are sites where they, along with Aspect Warriors, gather in times of war and undergo the ritual transformation where they adopt one of the many Warrior Aspects. In these sites, Exarchs not only serve as priests but as armourers as well as instructors to their kin with it falling under their responsibility to maintain the shrine's wargear along with the training of Aspect Warriors.
Phoenix Lords
A Phoenix Lord is one of the greatest warriors of the Eldar and the leaders of their particular group of Aspect Warriors. The Phoenix lords are Exarchs so ancient that they have no shrines and no Craftworlds to call home. They wander from world to world, instinctively driven by war, attracted by intuitive power to places of great danger and need. During moments of desperation they appear, sometimes alone but often several together, depending upon the perils faced. Using the Eldar Webway they move from Craftworld to Craftworld and from planet to planet, following in the path of the Bloody-handed God. The Phoenix Lords are immortal, after a fashion. When a Phoenix Lord is slain in battle, his place is taken by another Eldar who assumes his costume and identity. In this way the Phoenix Lord is reborn into a fresh cycle of existence. His suit includes a spirit stone which contains the spirits of all the Eldar who have become that Phoenix Lord. Yet, no matter how many different individuals a Phoenix Lord may have been, his mind is forever the same, driven by the dominant personality of the first and greatest warrior to wear the suit. The names of the Phoenix Lords are well known throughout the Craftworlds, and their deeds form part of the legends of the Eldar. No one knows exactly how many Phoenix Lords there are, for some are seen but rarely, while others disappear for millennia only to reappear suddenly and unexpectedly. Some have undoubtedly perished far away, their suits lying upon some hostile world awaiting discovery by some predestined Aspect Warrior doomed to don the armor and become the ancient hero for another cycle of his existence. Some of the Phoenix Lords are as old as the Fall. They were heroes during the cataclysm, and were the first to bear the spirit stones of the Warrior Aspects.[1a] It is said that Asurmen was the first of the Phoenix Lords and that he trained the first of the Aspect Warriors in the Path of the Warrior. The first Exarchs, known as the Asurya - the children of Asur, founded the shrines of the Warrior Aspects that remain to this day.
It is said that the Phoenix Lords will fight at the Rhana Dandra - the final battle between Chaos and the material universe. Uniquely, the Phoenix Lords are not tied directly to the Imperium. Instead, their loyalty is for the entire Eldar race, who the majority of have sided the Imperium. As such, the Phoenix Lords are welcomed by the Imperium and shown themselves have allies at the most crucial of times.
Asurmen: The 'Hand of Asuryan' who founded the first of the Aspect Shrines, the Shrine of Asur, the forerunner of the Dire Avengers Aspect. He was the penultimate warrior of all the Eldar, for his extraordinary powers placed him at the Pinnacle of Might. Prior to the Fall of the Eldar, Asurmen was the Eldar who led the Craftworlds away from the ancient Eldar homeworlds of their now lost interstellar empire and it was he who founded the first of the Aspect Warrior Shrines, the Shrine of Asur, upon a barren world of the same name his people initially settled. Asurmen found that he could not give up the Path of the Warrior to follow a different Eldar Path, for he desired to use his skills to protect what remained of his species after the birth of the Chaos God Slaanesh, "She Who Thirsts." From the Shrine of Asur sprang the first Aspect Warriors, and the Path of the Warrior was opened for the very first time to all Eldar. Asurmen then travelled amongst more of the different Craftworlds than any other member of his race, teaching those Eldar who wanted to learn the Dire Avengers' suite of combat skills. Those Eldar learned at the feet of their master, and in turn they assumed the mantle of Exarchs before spreading throughout the galaxy. The first Exarchs, the Asurya, the children of Asurmen, were the greatest of his students and went on to become the Phoenix Lords of the other Aspect Shrines, the first masters of the other specialised Eldar combat disciplines. It was then that the different Warrior Aspects were formalised within the culture of the Eldar Craftworlds, taking as their model the skills and teachings of their founders.
Baharroth: "The Cry of the Wind" is the founder and Phoenix Lord of the Eldar Swooping Hawks Aspect Shrine. He is believed to have been the finest pupil of Asurmen, the first Eldar Exarch. He is the Winged Phoenix, the oldest of the Swooping Hawks and the first of the winged Exarchs. Baharroth was the founder of the Eldar Warrior Path that is represented today by Swooping Hawk Aspect Shrines throughout the Eldar Craftworlds. It is said that he learned the arts of war from Asurmen himself, at the first and greatest Shrine of Asur, when the Fall was still a living memory in the minds of his people. Like all the Phoenix Lords, Baharroth has been reborn many times in the body of a new Exarch. Innumerable battlefields have felt his anger and countless foes have fallen before his might. Baharroth is also known for his speed and is said to be the fastest of all the Eldar who have ever lived, a formidable claim that would make him a deadly opponent indeed. He is a great friend of his fellow Phoenix Lord, Maugan Ra. His wings, like those of the Swooping Hawks, are made of small vibrating plates, which, as they vibrate, provide the wearer with a lifting surface for flight which is maintained by an anti-gravitic emitter incorporated into the wings. It is said that Baharroth will meet his final death fighting alongside his fellow Aspect Warriors at the Rhana Dandra, the final battle between Chaos and the Eldar of the material universe that will end with the destruction of both. Baharroth is known to be an especial foe of the Forces of Chaos and he has participated in many raids on Chaotic outposts and Daemon Worlds. Baharroth's family and much of his home Craftworld, Anaen, was destroyed in a massive Chaos assault led by Trarkh, a known Chaos Lord and Khornate Berserker.
Fuegan: "The Burning Lance," is the Eldar Phoenix Lord of the Fire Dragons Aspect Warriors. Fuegan learned the arts of war in the Shrine of Asur, under the eyes of Asurmen in that distant time, millennia ago, when the Warrior Aspects were first born. Fuegan founded the first Aspect Shrine of the Fire Dragons, and schooled the first Aspect Warriors of the shrine in the art of war with fire and flame. He was thought lost when the Shrine of Asur was destroyed by Arhra, the Fallen Phoenix. Fuegan disappeared for many centuries, before reappearing during the final battle at Haranshemash, "The World of Blood and Tears" in the Eldar Lexicon, to fight alongside the Eldar. After that conflict Fuegan vanished into the Webway, and has travelled its secret, labyrinthine passageways ever since, tracking down the enemies of his ancient forebears. In 999.M41 he was seen during the Medusa V campaign leading a retinue of Fire Dragon Exarchs in engaging the Ork forces. The eventual fate of Fuegan is foretold in the last stanza of the Asuryata, the legend of the Phoenix Lords, known in full only to the Bards of Twilight. This passage says that it will be Fuegan who calls all of the Eldar Phoenix Lords for the Last Battle, the Rhana Dandra, and he will be the last to die in that conflict, which will result in the final death of the Eldar race and their Gods alike as the price for the elimination of Chaos within the Immaterium.
Irillyth: The "Shade of Twilight," is the Eldar Phoenix Lord of the long-extinct Shadow Spectres Aspect Warriors. Lost for millennia, the Shadow Spectres were long forgotten and Irillyth's Aspect Shrines were abandoned. During the Betalis III Campaign in 894.M41, the Shadow Spectres of the Mymeara Craftworld returned from the mists of legend and managed to recover the armor of Irillyth, giving the Eldar new hope that other portions of their lost patrimony and culture might one day be recovered. rillyth was once one of these disciples of Asurmen, and became the founder of the Shrine of the Shadow Spectres Aspect on the Mymeara Craftworld. The Eldar mythic cycles speak of a time when, during his training under Asurmen, Irillyth was gifted with a terrible vision. In it he saw the destruction of the Mymearan Craftworld at the hands of an intelligent alien race that was, even then, still in its infancy. Still reeling from the near-destruction of the Eldar race during the Fall, Irillyth vowed not to allow any more of his kind to be wiped out, and he set out to find the threatened Craftworld and prepare it for the battles that lay ahead of them. Searching the pathways of the Webway for decades for his lost brethren, he imparted his skills to other Craftworlds as he travelled, but the location of Mymeara continued to remain elusive. During this time, the legends of the Phoenix Lords also tell of the many great battles Irillyth fought against the creatures of Slaanesh that had infiltrated the great Eldar Labyrinthine Dimension. Whilst exploring a particular region of the Webway that he had never come across before in his travels, Irillyth was confronted by a Greater Daemon of Slaanesh who had broken through from the Warp and had set about opening up sealed portals for its brethren to flood through into the Webway. Irillyth battled the Greater Daemon even as its infernal followers poured through the breach, searing away yet more of the protective Eldar runes from the bindings on the portals. It is unknown how long this battle lasted, but eventually Irillyth proved to be victorious and cast the terrible creature and its fell minions back from whence they came. The legends go on to tell that, exhausted by his titanic struggle, the Phoenix Lord fell into a long sleep, during which he was to be gifted with the knowledge of Mymeara's location. Once he awoke, Irillyth found the portal that led to Mymeara and set about training its warriors in his ways of war, namely stealth, swiftness and all-consuming firepower. Eventually the day came when the Phoenix Lord spoke to Mymeara's Council of Seers to reveal his true purpose for coming to their Craftworld. He spoke of his original vision and of the terrible fate that awaited the people of Mymeara, but he provided the frightened Eldar the hope of preventing such a terrible outcome if he launched a preemptive assault upon their enemy before they became unstoppable.
The Mymearan Council of Seers bowed to the Phoenix Lord's wisdom, allowing Irillyth to take with him a great war host composed of nearly half of the Craftworld's warriors. With a heavy heart, Irillyth left that day using the very same Webway portal he had arrived from, for since he had reached Mymeara his vision of the Craftworld's future had altered. He knew now that Mymeara would survive with his help, but at the cost of his own life and the lives of all those who came with him on his quest to find Mymeara's nemesis. What lay beyond the point of his own death was unknown, but Irrilyth feared that to lose so many of their own would still bring about Mymeara's eventual demise. Those left behind on the Craftworld waited for word of the Phoenix Lord and their war host's victory, but none came. After many Terran decades had passed, the Mymearans had to accept that their brethren had undoubtedly been killed and that the Phoenix Lord had fallen. In truth, Irillyth had succeeded in destroying the threat to the Craftworld, but had been struck down during the fierce fighting on that reptilian enemy race's homeworld, a place known in Eldar legend as Bethalmae, or later to the Imperium of Man as the Mining World of Betalis III. There, the Phoenix Lord remained unrecovered, the cave where his body and precious war panoply lay was slowly covered beneath centuries of glacially-deposited rocks as the planet's global Ice Age advanced. But the Phoenix Lord was not truly dead, for like all Phoenix Lords, Irillyth was immortal. He was no single warrior, but a psychic gestalt collective of those individual Exarchs that had become him over the centuries, their souls held within the Spirit Stones that adorned his armour and wargear. And so, Irillyth remained trapped within the cave, his spirit awaiting the day he would be rediscovered and the Shade of Twilight could be reborn to serve the Eldar race once more.
With the loss of the Phoenix Lord, Irillyth's disciples and Shadow Spectre Aspect Shrines began to wane on other Craftworlds, as one-by-one their shrines' Exarchs died in battle. Soon the Shadow Spectre Aspect Shrines were deserted, becoming dark, haunted places in the Craftworlds shunned by most Eldar. To them it was just another part of their culture lost in the continuing downfall of their race. Eventually, the Shadow Spectres Aspect became extinct on all of the known Craftworlds or so it was thought by the Eldar, who did not known that a small number of Shadow Spectres had remained active on long-hidden Mymeara. The discovery of the location of Bethalmae in the late 41st Millennium, known to the Imperium as Betalis III, meant that Irillyth's armour could finally be recovered. Bel-Annath, a Farseer of the Mymeara Craftworld, led a mission to re-animate the spirit host of the Phoenix Lord, and succeeded. The Eldars' reward at the Battle of Dawning Twilight, as the Betalis III Campaign is known to them, was the restoration of Irillyth, the Phoenix Lord of the Shadow Spectres, who was reborn into the service of his people, his destiny having come full circle.
Karandras: "The Shadow Hunter," is the Eldar Phoenix Lord of the Striking Scorpions Aspect Warriors. Legends of Karandras the Shadow Hunter tell of one of the most mysterious of all the Phoenix Lords. No one knows where he originally came from or where his shrine originally lay, but perhaps it was on one of the small Craftworlds which survived the Fall but was destroyed soon after. The Eldar mythic cycles tell of the legend of Karandras, "the Shadow Hunter," the mysterious Phoenix Lord of the Striking Scorpions Aspect. No one knows his origins or where he came from, for he was not the oldest or the most skilled of the Exarchs of the Striking Scorpions when he rose to become the Aspect's new master. It is said that this singular honour belongs to the one that came before him, Arhra, the "Father of Scorpions," the most sinister of all the Phoenix Lords. Arhra was lured to darkness and betrayed Asurmen and the other Asurya, the first Phoenix Lords, by bringing daemons into the First Shrine to wage war upon his fellows. Those loyal to Asurmen were defeated and scattered across the stars, but Arhra himself would eventually flee into the Webway, becoming "the Fallen Phoenix who burns with the dark light of Chaos." Whether he lives is still unknown, but many Eldar have their suspicions that after he began walking thePath of Damnation, Arhra fled to the Dark City of Commorragh where he became the first Dark Eldar Incubus Hierarch and founded the first Incubus shrine. Many Eldar believe that Arhra survived into the present and become Drazhar, the Master of Blades, the greatest champion of the Dark Eldar Incubi. It is also believed that Karandras was a Striking Scorpions Exarch, and the greatest student of Arhra, who took over control of the Aspect Shrine after the corruption of its Phoenix Lord. Karandras taught the Striking Scorpions the patience and discipline they needed so that they would not follow in their founder's wake and lose their immortal souls to Slaanesh, "She Who Thirsts," when their bloodlust and murderous desires overtook them. Karandras was last seen duelling for Drazhar for 17 standard days in 928.M41 amongst the shattered ruins of the ancient Eldar world of Zandros. The outcome of this epic confrontation is not currently known.
Maugan Ra: "The Harvester of Souls", is the founder and Phoenix Lord of the Eldar's Dark Reaper Aspect Warriors. When Asurmen first taught his brethren the arts of war and trained the first Phoenix Lords in the days immediately after the Fall, it was Maugan Ra that fell furthest from the fold. He fashioned baroque weapons of occult nature; not the blades of his brethren but dark and malefic artefacts that could slay his foes from afar. As his craft progressed, Maugan Ra learnt that even the mightiest weapon could be wielded with surgical precision. This led to the creation of the deadly Maugetar, the Harvester, a potent Shuriken Cannon fitted with an in-built Executioner Power Weapon and later to the disciplines of the Dark Reaper Aspect itself. On the planet of Stormvald in the Segmentum Tempestus, Maugan-Ra stood alone against a Tyranid swarm from Hive Fleet Leviathan and single-handedly triumphed over the horde of savage alien creatures. During the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41, Maugan Ra came to the aid of an Imperial strike force deployed against the Forces of Chaos. It is known that during this time, Maugan Ra was successful in finding and rescuing his long-lost home Craftworld, guiding Altansar out of the Eye of Terror and denying Abaddon the Despoiler his ultimate victory over the Imperium of Man. Unfortunately, many of the Imperium view the survivors of Altansar with suspicion after they were lost in the Eye of Terror for millennia, for they believe that no Eldar could remain untouched by the temptations of Chaos for so long.
Jain Zar: "The Storm of Silence," is the Phoenix Lord and founder of the Eldar's Howling Banshees Aspect Warriors. In the time after the Fall of the Eldar, she was the first warrior of her race chosen to serve at the side of the first Phoenix Lord, Asurmen, and the first to become an Exarch, those Eldar who can never leave the Path of the Warrior for they can never take off the war mask of Khaine. Jain Zar travelled the Webway after her time with Asurmen, teaching her skills to the rest of the Eldar, and leading others along the Warrior Path. Soon there were shrines to the Howling Banshees on all the large Craftworlds, and many Howling Banshees Exarchs to teach the warrior skills of Jain Zar to future generations. Of all the Phoenix Lords, Jain Zar is the most devoted to the shrines of the Warrior Aspects throughout the Craftworlds. She travels the Webway, visiting the shrines and nurturing her spiritual descendants. An acrobat at heart like the Harlequin, Jain Zar (which translates into Low Gothic from the Eldar Lexicon as "The Storm of Silence") is the fastest of all the Phoenix Lords save for Baharroth, the Phoenix Lord of the Swooping Hawks. Jain Zar She still travels the labyrinthine corridors of the Webway, spreading her particular martial knowledge to all but the most remote of the Eldar Craftworlds. As such, she is the Phoenix Lord who has been seen most often by the imperium. Although she is known to disappear for entire standard centuries at a time, she always returns, and the shrines of the Howling Banshees maintain a constant vigil in preparation for her coming. In the late 41st Millennium, Jain Zar ran afoul of the Chaos Space Marine Talos Valcoran, the commander of the 1st Claw of the 10th Company of the Night Lords Traitor Legion. When that warband of Night Lords laid waste to the Imperial colonists of the world of Tsagualsa in the Eastern Fringe, they were ambushed by an Imperial strike force looking to again kill the Soul Hunter before he could become a threat to their race. In the ensuing battle, nearly every member of Talos' warband was slain and he himself became embroiled in a desperate single battle against the Phoenix Lord Jain Zar who had led the Ulthwe Aspect Warriors. Talos allowed himself to take the Phoenix Lord's spear through his chest, and then detonated a grenade to kill them both. However the blast stopped short of killing the Phoenix Lord, whose crippled body was finished off by the Night Lords' Chaos Dreadnought Malcharion. Jain Zar's armour was recovered by the Imperium, and the Phoenix Lord will eventually return when a new Exarch is chosen to take up the burden of the Storm of Silence.
Amon Karakht: A term in the Eldar Lexicon that literally translates into Low Gothic as "fighter pilot." Little else is known about this Phoenix Lord other than that he founded the Eagle Pilots Aspect.
AN: Well, here's something to tide you guys over for some time while I start planning for what's next. Hope you enjoyed it. If anyone wants to suggest a battle that they liked to see, I'm open to suggestions.
