Editing Daughters of Khaine (section)

==History==
===Age of Myth===
Being a theocracy founded by [[Morathi]] and given her character, Morathi is behind or involved in every pivotal moment of the Daughters of Khaine in history. After leaving the Great Alliance because [[Nagash]] outed her true monstrous form, Morathi sought to establish her own dwellings in Ulgu. Her son Malerion cruelly rejected her suggestion of splitting the rule of the thirteen Dominions, for he claimed of all Ulgu as his own. Morathi persisted until, as either a joke or a plot to get rid of her, Malerion granted his mother a small parcel of land in the middle of the Umbral Veil. This was the darkest and most impenetrable region in all Ulgu, so dangerous that only Malerion himself had ever returned from those cloying mists with their sanity intact. Morathi went there and exceeded her son's expectations. She bent the shadows into a protective shroud around her new land and led settlers there.

Her only followers were the aelven witch-cults that had maintained their worship of [[Khaine]]. While Morathi knew Khaine was dead, since the blood rituals no longer rejuvenated her, she supported the religion to get people to help her. To ensure their loyalty, Morathi built a temple to Khaine, naming it Hagg Nar, and over time a city grew up around it. Morathi taught them the secrets of navigating the murky currents. Hagg Nar began as a pitiful kingdom, and Morathi brooded over her mean existence.

As she sought power, she soon found a hint of Khaine's power in her dreams while scrying. Though Khaine was dead, she knew the elven gods were cyclial and could be reborn given enough power. Morathi began a secret quest that was long and difficult, but eventually brought her to the literal heart of Khaine himself. The heart was intact and throbbing with resurgent power, but it was guarded by Kharbytr, the godbeast father of Kharibdysses. Morathi suspected Kharbytr would be resistant to sorcery, and was despearte to claim the heart before anyone else could, so she used seduction instead (yes, really), but angered Kharbytr when she tried to grab the heart. The fight between them was an epic clash that lasted thirteen days and ended when Morathi constricted Kharbytr in her coils. The godbeast dealt her a lethal blow before losing consciousness, but Morathi survived by drawing energies from Khaine's heart to sustain herself.

Heading back to Hagg Nar with her prize, Morathi declared herself Khaine's High Oracle, claiming that she spoke for the god of murder and that she was his voice in this world. With that she solidified her hold over the Khainites and reshaped the society into the Daughters of Khaine. The Daughters of Khaine would often be sent out to hunt for fragments of their missing deity on Morathi's orders (unbeknownst to them, these were snipe hunts for the most part).

She continued this way for a time until Malerion arrived. He said that he and the other aelf gods had had, at last, found the lost aelf-souls from the world-that-was, and they needed her shadow magic and knowledge of Slaanesh in their grand plan. For the first and only time, Morathi spoke of the unspeakable horrors inside Slaanesh and how she'd escaped. Using this knowledge and themselves as bait, the four lured Slaanesh into a trap and started extracting elven souls from the deity.

For her role, Morathi was allowed to take souls for herself to shape into elves, who went into swelling the numbers of the Daughters of Khaine. However, some of them had been [[monstergirls|altered by their time with Slaanesh]]. There were those with [[Lamia|serpentine mutations akin to Morathi]], these became the [[Medusa|Melusae]]. Others had bat-like wings and long tails, these became the [[Harpy|Khinerai]]. Around this time Morathi reintroduced the Cauldrons of Blood and created the Mathcoir, the master cauldron, in Hagg Nar. Secretly, she made it as a repository of power only she could access. To start this, Morathi [[Drow|cursed every male born to the Daughters of Khaine to have part of their soul siphoned away and stored in the Mathcoir]].

Unbeknownst to her erstwhile allies, Morathi had added her own deceptive magics to the undertaking, so that the soul division was skewed slightly out of the agreed proportions, with extra spirits siphoned to Hagg Nar. This subterfuge was subtle, but slowly, inevitably, [[Not as Planned|altered the eldritch balance that kept the Dark Prince perfectly imprisoned between Hysh and Ulgu]].

===Age of Chaos===
As Chaos invaded the Mortal Realms, the Daughters of Khaine marched out from Hagg Nar to ambush them, using shadowshifting magics to reach Realmgates to travel anywhere the forces of Order needed them. Although Morathi and her followers weren't liked, beggars could not be choosers and they were one of the few allies the Sigmarites had during this time. To keep the more mutated members of her coven secret, the spellcasters and priestesses of the Khainites used shadow glamors to make them look like ordinary elves (how this worked when the Khinerai were flying is anybody's guess).

The Daughters of Khaine were bold and fearless in battle - willing to cross blades with any enemy, no matter how numerous or monstrous. Despite heroics by Khainite forces at many battles, the forces of Order were on the backfoot, the final retreat happening after Nagash betrayed Sigmar at the Battle of Burning Skies.

As the Chaos invasions set about their task of destroying and enslaving entire civilisations, the Shadowlands of Ulgu suffered the least after Azyr. Khorne, Nurgle and Tzeentch all devoted the greater portion of their forces to different realms, the minions that were sent into Ulgu boasted none of the most fearful greater daemon commanders and Malerion himself sent Archaon packing with his tail between his legs. This gave the Daughters of Khaine plenty of time to prey on the Chaos forces that made it to their realm; reavers of Khorne, magic-seeking conclaves of Tzeentch or followers of Slaanesh tracking calls from their god that only they could sense. They reaped a large harvest of Chaos minions, leaving mass graves from all the sacrifices (this would come back to haunt them - pun intended - in the Soul Wars, see below).

But Morathi's trickery with the soul extraction came back to bite her. Taking too many souls caused Slaanesh's prison to drift towards Ulgu and weaken it. This enabled Slaanesh's most faithful servants catch the scent of their missing god/dess. More and more Slaaneshi armies penetrated the Shadowlands searching for their lost god. So began what the aelves of Ulgu named the Cathtrar Dhule - the War of Shadows.

For the major battles of the War of Shadows, Morathi led the Daughters of Khaine from the front. She cast down the Keeper of Secrets Glittus and his Legion of Excess, and the whip-handed Krulla Sha'vhr and her Flayerhost. Battle was not her only recourse, however, for against the unbeatable six warhosts of the betentacled Bovaxx the Despoiler, Morathi's coven of Medusae summoned a gaiste-maze - a shadow labyrinth that still covers part of the Umbral Veil, a dark cloud in which those hordes presumably still wander.

Yet the Daughters of Khaine did not win every battle. As larger and more-powerful armies invaded, Morathi called the first of the Caillich Covens - the gathering of forces from all the sects. This was required to defeat Luxcious, a Keeper of Secrets so powerful that many Slaaneshi considered her a replacement for the missing Dark Prince. The daemon was defeated, but not until after the exalted fiend destroyed the Temple of Druchxar.

===Age of Sigmar===
Luxcious may well have continued her scouring search of Ulgu had Sigmar not begun his war to reclaim the Mortal Realms, drawing off many Chaos forces. The Cathtrar Dhule paused, before once more erupting anew in the bitterly fought War of the Shadowpaths.

The Daughters of Khaine win more allies during this time, for despite their brutality in battle (and occasional team-killing among their allies) they're just ''that'' good at kicking Chaos. The Stormcast, Idoneth and Sylvaneth to name a few ally with the Daughters of Khaine.

During this time, some elves start to [[Heresy|worship Morathi alongside Khaine, which causes dissent]] (an uncommon case of a heresy charge in a Warhammer setting that fits the actual definition). Ironically, those who disapprove get [[Blam|quickly silenced]] by Morathi or the Medusae as [[Heresy|heretics]] (usually by a knife in the vitals or getting turned into living crystal by a Melusai).

===Soul Wars===
Prior to the Soul Wars there are increasing build-ups of death magic. Whenever there is a large gathering of Scathborn, the spirits of the dead rise up and attack them. Also, remember those mass graves full of sacrificed Chaos worshippers? Now they're fodder for armies of vengeful skeleton warriors and/or ghosts seeking vengeance against the Khainites. When Nagash sent vampires and necromancers into Ulgu as a diversion tactic, they were all too happy to exploit these mass graves for armies.

The Daughters of Khaine were also called on by the forces of Order in other realms to help fight off the increasing undead attacks. Morathi herself extolled the Daughters of Khaine to greater zeal, for she remembers the taste of Nagash's pimp hand and is eager to avenge the slight.

===Broken Realms===
The Daughters of Khaine worked with Scourge privateers to get information about the Idoneth Deepkin the same way as their kin in the World-That-Was; lots of torture and mind-invading magic. From this they learn the location of a valued Deepkin artifact, the Ocarian Lantern; made by - and stolen from - Teclis, it acted as a lure for souls. Morathi sent sixty of her best soldiers to get it from its heavily guarded underwater temple; two survived, one as an Idoneth prisoner and the other returned to Morathi with the lantern.

She fused with Khaine's heart and became the goddess Morathi-Khaine. Thus Khaine as he was is gone forever, and Morathi - now Morathi-Khaine - is their goddess instead of just their High Oracle (albeit now split into two bodies, Morathi-Khaine and the Shadow Queen after [[Aenarion|her hubby's soul]] [[Rip and Tear|took exception]] to Morathi's plan while in Slaanesh).

Morathi's first action was to broker an alliance with the [[Idoneth Deepkin]], offering Volturnos the souls of his fellow Cythai elves to sweeten the deal. She then ended her alliance with Sigmar by launching a coup that brought Anvilgard under her rule and renaming it Har Kuron. The Daughters of Khaine/Morathi-Khaine now fight with a newfound zeal as they launched a <s>crusade</s> <s>jihad</s> holy war to expand Morathi's empire. When Sigmar found out, he sent a Stormcast army to re-take Har Kuron, the fighting raging until the Celestant-Prime arrived and offered to parley with Morathi. The two disappear for a night, and when they returned an agreement had been reached. Morathi was allowed to keep the city, and what she promised in return is unknown. Following her ascension, Morathi also began [[1984|slowly re-writing the Daughters' scriptures and records of history, plus remodeling their religious iconography, to put herself at the center of everything]].

Morathi subsequently led her forces in alliance with a group of Scourge Privateers to help lift the siege at Excelsis, which was close to being overrun by [[Gordrakk]]'s WAAAGH!. With her Shadow Queen form at the forefront Morathi and her army did well in pushing back the forces of Destruction in the city, with her Shadow Queen form having little trouble taking out lowly Orruks. That was until she came face-to-face with [[Kragnos]] himself. The earthquake god had made common cause with Gordrakk and attacked her Shadow Queen form head on. Morathi-Khaine managed to track down [[Lord Kroak]], who had also arrived to defend the city, and proposed that they needed to divert Kragnos from the city before he killed them all, as he was far too powerful for either of them to defeat. Just as Kragnos was preparing to finish Morathi off, they managed to lure Kragnos through a portal and led him away from the city. Without him, the Destruction army was thrown into disarray and subsequently dispersed after a lengthy battle.

Following the battle, Morathi was put on trial, overseen by the Celestant-Prime himself on Sigmar's behalf. She was a little annoyed Sigmar himself was not present (and the not so subtle implication that it meant dealing with her was beneath his time). Morathi was charged with treason for her coup in Anvilgard. She defended her actions by arguing that Anvilgard was technically never Sigmar's alone. She also stated that the city prior to her annexation was barely staying alive to begin with and would have fallen eventually, and that under her rule it was guaranteed to survive outside Chaos control. When the Celestant-Prime rejected this, Morathi retorted that as a god she wasn't answerable to Sigmar. At this, winged Stormcast sprung from ambush and the Celestant-Prime took up Ghal-Maraz and was about to sentence Morathi to death before Grungni entered the room. He announced his presence by calling for clemency for Morathi before joining them. He beseeched both sides to put away their bitterness and pride and realize they were fighting for the Realms' very survival, not simply trivial things like land or cities or petty pride. Though Morathi did not appreciate Grungni's condescending tone, she agreed with his proposals and both she and Celestant-Prime agreed to stand down.

===Era of the Beast===
Following this, the tentative alliance between Morathi and Sigmar was maintained, though with much more animosity than before. Morathi was allowed to retain control of Anvilgard for the moment, as Sigmar could ill afford another battlefront opening in Aqshy with the forces of Destruction on the rampage. As a show of good faith, she released all the Stormcast prisoners she'd taken unharmed (while also secretly having a look at their stormforged creation as well). In addition, any citizens of the former Anvilgard were permitted to leave to any nearby Sigmarite strongholds should they so desire. Unfortunately only a few of the citizenry were strong enough following the siege and drop in supplies after the war to make the long journey out of Har Kuron, and many of the poorer citizens had nowhere else to go anyway as their homes/livelihoods had always been in the city. So many still decided to take their chances with their new overlords.

While the Daughters' rule of the new city is tyrannical and harsh, for her part Morathi does not want to simply dominate her new subjects but hopes to win converts to her cause. To that end, she stages free arena battles to appease the masses and has Hag Queens go out and preach to the people about Morathi's divinity. However, cracks are beginning to form in her rule. Many of Anvilgard's original population did not survive the original coup, and of the survivors many were Sigmar loyalists, even among their former Scourge Privateer allies. That, combined with the Daughters and their Idoneth allies continuing to purge the surrounding countryside and coastal regions of dissenters, has fueled a growing resentment amongst humans and aelves against Morathi's authority. These once disparate groups of Freeguild soldiers, Wanderer Aelves and even Scourge Privateers have formed resistance movements who try to undermine or completely sabotage her rule.

On top of this, her taking the mantle of Khaine has not been universally accepted by her followers. Many devout Daughters of Khaine have started to see her as a usurper trying to claim the mantle of Khaine himself (the rewriting of history might have been a giveaway). One of the biggest challenges so far came from the ruling Hag Queen of the Kraith, who challenged Morathi directly upon Hag Narr itself before Morathi killed her (though this had the unfortunate side-effect of driving her opponents further underground and making them harder to root out). Even among her loyalists, some consider taking Anvilgard to be too costly in the long run, since it's put them on Sigmar's shitlist. And then members of both groups don't approve of her alliance with the Idoneth Deepkin, who many Daughters of Khaine distrust (and the feeling's mutual), and see their soul-tithe as too extreme even for them. The amount of Khainites working against Morathi has been steadily growing. Ironically, her ascending to godhood has actually caused a greater fissure in her control than when she was mortal. And it's possible Sigmar still plans to make her answer for what she did to Anvilgard; even Grungi realizes he can't act as peacemaker between them forever...

This has also been compounded with disturbing developments with Morathi herself. Witnesses have reported her apparently arguing and screaming at herself in private, and she seems to fluctuate between calm and enraged seemingly at random. Since the splitting of her soul during the Broken Realms saga her essence now resides in two separate individuals, the cunning and charismatic Morathi-Khaine and the angry and embittered Shadow-Queen, and both have been increasingly warring for dominance of their shared soul. Most disturbingly, her Shadow-Queen aspect apparently took her loss to Kragnos harder than originally thought. Feeling humiliated after being dominated in combat by the earthquake god, the monstrous Shadow-Queen in a rage smashed her way out of her own temple and made a beeline straight for Thondia in Ghur to get revenge on the Destruction god. Morathi-Khaine was highly disturbed by this incident and immediately set off with a war host in pursuit of her enraged other half (while also being very worried as her other aspect seems to be developing a will of its own).

Whatever happens things are looking to get a lot bloodier in Thondia very soon...........

While Morathi was gone Har Kuron was once again put into peril. Nagash found out about all the souls she stole from him to ascend to godhood as well as all the ones she gave to the Idoneth to make peace with them. Enraged at the theft of what he saw as his property, but far too weakened to deal with the matter himself, Nagash decides to summon Kurdoss Valentian, the Craven King, since while he’s competent he’s not one of his more powerful generals; thus he's unlikely to try anything after learning of Nagash’s weakened state (plus he knows Kurdoss is desperate to get on his good side). He then tasks Kurdoss to reclaim some souls specifically from Morathi since Nagash still doesn’t know where most of the Idoneth are located. Kurdoss ambushes the city with a massive Nighthaunt army led by both himself and Vayon of the Withered Quill, one of the dreaded Scriptors Mortis, while the majority of the city's standing army are distracted with a grand gladiatorial contest. Reaping a heavy toll on the cities civilian population (especially with the help of Kudross' personal Craventhrone Guard) they cut deep into the city, causing heavy damage. Unfortunately for the Nighthaunt the reaping of souls is cut short when the Daughters realize what’s going on and retaliate faster than anticipated, with High Gladiatrix Yelena and company chasing the Nighthaunt back into the underground catacombs and eventually pushing them out of the city. Regardless, Kurdoss succeeded in his missio by claiming many souls from both the Daughters of Khaine and Har Kuron's civilian population, while also sending a message to Morathi and her allies that Nagash was not finished with them, not by a long shot.