Editing Nobledark Imperium Notable People (section)

== Khaine ==

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Khaine. Khaine. Kaela Mensha Khaine. Khaine the Bloody Handed.

In order to fully comprehend the functioning of the Imperium, it is necessary to understand Khaine. Khaine is noteworthy one of the few extremely powerful entities still fully aligned with the Imperium, not to mention worshipped as a god of war by a significant minority of its population. However, in order to fully understand Khaine it is necessary to have some understanding of the War in Heaven…

The War in Heaven is by far the most popular part of the eldar collective consciousness. However, the eldar’s penchant for favoring dramatic license and poetic justice over accuracy and sixty-five million years of oral tradition has made the history of the original events all but lost to time. It is often said, even amongst the Eldar, that at any given time in the Imperium there are at least three different versions of the War in Heaven being performed and all of them are wrong. In some versions of the story Khaine was a valiant warrior, whereas in others Khaine sided with the C’tan to make war upon the eldar gods. Distinctions between the war between the Old Ones and the Necrontyr and the later quarrel between the eldar gods are similarly murky. Perhaps the only people who know the true events of the war between the eldar gods are Cegorach, Isha, and the Harlequins of the Black Library, preserving the memory in the event that truth proves more important than fiction.

When the eldar and their gods returned from their exodus into the Webway at the end of the War in Heaven, they found the galaxy to be an empty place. The Old Ones, the Yngir, and all of the other races had seemed to disappear. The eldar did manage to make contact with the K’nib, who had survived the war mostly intact, but shortly after [[Nobledark_Imperium_Notes#Apep|the K’nib completely vanished and the eldar never heard from them again]]. The eldar had virtually free reign over the entire galaxy. And as expected it almost immediately devolved into in-fighting.

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Khaine, lesser twin to Asuryan, did not handle the end of the War in Heaven well. Originally a god of murder elevated to include war in his portfolio, his mind struggled to reconcile the concepts of honor and discipline in battle with the fact that war, at its core, boiled down to systematic murder. In addition, despite having being victorious, his body has been injured in his legendary battle with the Kaelis Ra, the Nightbringer, bringing a great sickness upon him. Never one to exhibit great self-control even before the War in Heaven, Khaine was nearly driven to madness by the time Lileath came upon him.

Shortly after the eldar emerged from the Webway and began building their empire, Lileath, Lileath the maiden, Lileath the dreamer, Litheath the schemer, had a vision. She saw that one day, in the future, the actions of the mortal eldar would strike Khaine and destroy him. It is not entirely clear why Lileath acted the way she did on this knowledge. She might have succumbed to the foolishness of youth or, more likely, she had some sort of plan in mind. Nevertheless, she did what most would consider the absolute worst thing one could have done with this knowledge. She told Khaine.

Khaine’s wrath, as expected, was fiery and immediate. The eldar never stood a chance. Khaine had been a war hero to the eldar, a symbol of eldar strength in the face of unimaginable adversaries. Now he was cutting them down like they were crops for the harvest. Isha wept at the sight of the slaughter, and she and the rest of the eldar pantheon immediately petitioned Asuryan to stop Khaine, as he was one of the only beings with the power to reign in his bloodthirsty sibling. Asuryan responded by decreeing a barrier of separation between the eldar and the gods. The eldar gods were no longer to walk among mortals, and mortals were no longer allowed in the realm of the gods. The mortal eldar were no longer being killed, Khaine no longer had anything to fear, and by Asuryan’s reckoning everyone should have been happy.


Khaine was pleased by the turn of events, but Isha was not. Cut off from her mortal children, she wept at her plight, and her husband Kurnous could do naught but console her. Vaul, the kind-hearted smith god, could not stand this, and forged Isha’s tears into the first spirit stones so that gods and mortals could still communicate with one another from across the veil. Khaine was infuriated when he discovered Isha and Kurnous violating Asuryan’s decree, and demanded that Asuryan punish them, going so far as to ask his brother that he be made an arbiter of Asuryan’s wrath. Asuryan reluctantly agreed, allowing Khaine to do with them as he wished, and he tortured Isha and Kurnous in a pit of hot fire. Vaul could not stand this, and bargained with Khaine that he would give Khaine one hundred blades of the finest make as payment for Isha and Kurnous’ release and reparation for their offense.

Vaul worked for almost a year to get the gift ready, finishing ninety-nine of the one hundred swords. However, he was unable to finish his masterpiece in time, and slipped the finest blade of mortal make into the gift, hoping that it would act as a good enough placeholder and the splendor of his masterpiece would be enough to not only make up for it, but to win over Khaine himself. Unfortunately, Khaine immediately noticed the mortal blade and decried that he had been tricked, and that because of this he would not release Isha and Kurnous. What’s more, he claimed he would visit Vaul personally for his treachery. Vaul was similarly incensed at Khaine’s sadism and oathbreaking, using his anger to fuel the final forging of his masterpiece, Anaris. When Khaine arrived at Vaul’s forge, Vaul stood before the war god, wielding his masterwork blade, and said he would repay Khaine’s missing blade with interest, point-first. Vaul was an artificer without measure but he was not the duelist that Khaine was, and despite Vaul’s ferocity Khaine crippled the smith god and chained him to his anvil.

These actions caused a flurry of activity and division among the gods. Some decried Khaine, saying that he had gone too far in the pursuit of justice and his actions had become cruel and petty. Others argued against their kin, saying that Isha, Kurnous, and Vaul had sinned and it was Khaine’s right to extract satisfaction from them. The disagreements soon became too much to bear, and the gods came to blows. The mortal eldar were soon divided among similar lines as the gods went to war. Only Asuryan and Lileath stayed neutral in the conflict, and both soon realized that something had to be done.


The War in Heaven produced many mortal eldar heroes, among all others the twin brothers Eldanesh and Ulthanesh. The two were legendary for uniting the Eldar people to fight off the monstrous cannibalistic Mon-Keigh even before the Old Ones arrived. Eldanesh had fought alongside Khaine numerous times including Khaine’s legendary battle with the Nightbringer, to the point where the war god regarded him a friend and a blood brother. Uthanash stood with Vaul when he faced the Void Dragon and was one of the few mortal survivors of that fateful conflict. Each was granted a boon for their service in the War in Heaven. Eldanesh, for his fame and legend, was elevated to demigodhood, not truly immortal but able to walk side by side with the gods. Ulthanesh on the other hand was named the supreme leader of the mortal eldar peoples. Despite this great honor, Ulthanesh saw this boon as playing second fiddle to his brother and resented him for it, souring their relationship.

Asuryan decreed he would call upon Eldanesh, who as a demigod was the only mortal still allowed to set food in the realm of the gods, to act as a third party to judge Khaine’s actions. Khaine agreed to this, believing that the validation of one mortal was all that he needed to show his actions had been justified and that as his blood brother Eldanesh would defend him. But Eldanesh took one look at the situation, and while he reaffirmed that Khaine was his friend and he loved him, told him that the other gods were right. He told Khaine that he needed to act less like a child, and more like an adult. Enraged, Khaine struck Eldanesh across the face for his blasphemy. But Khaine was a god, whereas Eldanesh was but a mere demi-god. The blow broke his neck, and Eldanesh died on the spot.

When Khaine struck Eldanesh, the rage lifted from his mind and he saw in horror what he had done. Asuryan swooped in, punishing Khaine for betraying a sworn blood brother and striking them down in cold blood. On Shaa-Dome, Uthanesh felt the loss of his brother and vowed retribution against Khaine, and the eldar people were once more united. And so Khaine became Kaela Mensha Khaine, the bloody handed, forever cursed to drip blood from his hands in punishment. In truth, the meeting between Khaine and Eldanesh was little more than a plot by Asuryan and Lileath. They had hoped the mortal comrade of Khaine could talk the war god down, but were more than willing to entertain the possibility of Khaine striking down Eldanesh if that failed. Either way the rage of the war god would be quelled and the increasingly ridiculous war between gods would be over.


The history of Khaine post-War in Heaven is much better known. In the millennia since the War in Heaven Khaine worship had dramatically decreased (especially once the eldar had few serious threats left in the galaxy), to the point that by the time the Fall occurred Khaine worship had actually been banned (and subsequently reversed) on several separate occasions. Even when Khaine worship was allowed, Khaine was often seen as a deity that was to be appeased rather than beseeched, and was only openly worshipped by some segments of the Old Empire’s military.

Khaine himself had slightly mellowed by the passing of Eldanesh. He was still the short-tempered god of murder and war, but following the death of Eldanesh Khaine seems to have purged the madness from his system and become more disciplined. When Slaanesh was born, Khaine took up the unlikely position of protecting Isha from Slaanesh after Lileath, Asuryan, Morai-Heg, Qah, and all the other gods had fallen. Khaine fought valiantly against Slaanesh, despite Slaanesh being powered by the souls of nearly the entire Eldar pantheon and 90% of the Eldar race. However, Slaanesh was prevented from devouring Khaine by the intervention of Khorne, who claimed that as the Blood King of the Galaxy and undisputed lord of all forms of war Khaine was rightfully his vassal, and the neonate god/dess needed to know their place. Unfortunately in the ensuing battle Khaine was shattered into pieces, which eventually found their way to the various Craftworlds in the form of iron and wraithbone idols emerging from the Craftworld’s Infinity Circuit.


In terms of battle, the Avatar of Khaine is one of the strongest singular entities the Imperium can field. Only the Emperor, Empress, or Cegorach can match Khaine in raw power, and even a Custodian, Grey Knight, Handmaiden, or Harlequin Troupe Master would be likely to fall before the Avatar’s onslaught. The Avatar is a juggernaut, a living mass of molten rock and metal, trampling anything that stands in its path. In M38, the Avatar of Iyanden was awakened to face down Hive Fleet Kraken in Iyanden’s darkest hour and cut an ichor-slicked path towards one of the Hive Fleet’s Hive Tyrants before being dogpiled by a dozen carnifexes. The Avatar eventually went down, but took six of the carnifexes with it (crushing one’s skull beneath its heel and vomiting molten slag on another) and managed to take the Hive Tyrant’s head from its shoulders. The Avatar wields the Wailing Doom, the favored weapon of Khaine dating back to the days of the War in Heaven, which gets its name from the ethereal howling the weapon makes as it is swung through the air. The Wailing Doom is capable of transforming into virtually any simple weapon, a sword, a spear, a mace, a bow, whatever it feels is best suited to harming its foe.

Yet awakening the Avatar of Khaine is not without cost. Creating an Avatar of Khaine requires two components: the iron and wraithbone statue at the heart of every eldar Craftworld that hold Khaine’s essence, and a suitable mortal host. Every year, one among each Craftworld’s most skilled Aspect Warriors is elected to a position called The Young King, named in honor of Eldanesh’ sacrifice. This is a position of great respect, but potentially one of great danger. For if the future is threatened by great danger, and there is no other choice, the Young King enters the Avatar’s chambers to awaken it and become one with Khaine.

Awakening an Avatar of Khaine is essentially the same kind of possession that created Macha-Isha, and although each avatar is only a fragment of Khaine’s power, Khaine is not gentle like Isha. Short channelings of the Avatar are survivable with immediate medical attention. Longer bouts run the risk of severe brain damage. Extended channelers are lucky to survive as Soulstones, or are outright consumed by the Avatar. However, once an Avatar is awakened, it remains active so long as there are enemies to slay and the host’s willpower holds. The longest an Avatar has been active was the Avatar of Biel-Tan in 892.M41, which {DATA EXPUNGED BY ORDER OF THE INQUISITION}. If the physical avatar is destroyed, its totem eventually reforms in its respective Craftworld, unless the Craftworld itself is lost.


Today, worship of Khaine is unsurprisingly much more popular among the eldar. The eldar have been laid low and the galaxy has been in a state of war for more than ten millennia. Even if this were not the case, Khaine is one of the last remaining connections the eldar have to their pre-Fall culture. Khaine is even worshipped as a war god by humans and other species in some highly eldar-influenced parts of the Imperium. Indeed, Khaine actually likes humanity and approves of the relationship between humanity and the eldar, if for all the wrong reasons. Khaine’s animosity towards his own people comes from two factors: the fact that Lileath prophesized that the Eldar would be responsible for his own downfall, and the fact that the Craftworld and Exodite eldar deny their darker natures and try to downplay any acts of violence through self-justification (the Dark Eldar don’t worship him at all, seeing him as weak due to being shattered by Khorne and Slaanesh). No such prophecy exists regarding humanity or the other races and Khaine actually likes how humans are more in touch with their baser instincts and are less likely to dress up their killings with false tears or excuses. For most humans, who don’t see themselves as a species of murderers and try to hold themselves to higher ideals, this is rather disturbing. Khaine has even showed respect for several individual non-Eldar, such as Marneus Calgar, who he fought alongside several times and was enraged when he was brought low by the Swarmlord.

The future of Khaine is uncertain. Some say that Khaine shall be reforged and made whole again (either by the Phoenix Lords or by the forges of Vaul himself, which makes no sense), no longer molten metal and half-baked rock but pure fire and red-hot iron, in preparation for the Rhana Dandra. Others say he will fight side by side with another god of war to strike down Khorne, though who that could be nobody knows. Some even say he will claim the Skull Throne at the end of Rhana Dandra. While many wonder how that could be a good thing others say at least Khaine is a known quantity, and better he claim that mantle of power than anybody else.

Grand Empress Isha, as might be expected, isn’t a big fan of Khaine. She pities him for his situation, for he is still her kin, but she has not and will not forget what he did. Cegorach’s opinion of Khaine is as opaque as always. It is clear he disapproved of Khaine’s actions after the War in Heaven, he did side with Vaul after all, but at the same time Khaine is one of the few beings left in the galaxy he can call family. Even if he disapproves of his methods, it may be necessary for the Laughing God to stay on Khaine’s good side for his plans to come to fruition. The Emperor has only ever met Khaine on a scant few occasions, never long enough to have any meaningful discussion, and never without supervision from Isha. Isha knows what happened the last time Khaine was allowed access to a demigod unattended.

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