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This article, Shadow of the Phoenix, was written by SquishyGDI. This is an Expanded Universe article. The lore expands upon established canon, but does not contradict it. |
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This article, Shadow of the Phoenix, was written by SquishyGDI. Please do not edit or 'acquire' this fiction without the writer's permission. |
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This article, Shadow of the Phoenix, is currently under active construction. The author, SquishyGDI, apologizes for the inconvenience. |
- "It seems that our race is content to let itself burn out. Be it to selfishly indulge in their own momentary security, with a blind eye cast to those found out. Busying themselves in trivial toils, or burning the nights away to bring the end that much faster. I have for my life thus far been asleep to the cancer within our heart, to the shroud over our eyes, and bonds holding our hands, to our indifference. This is no death, this is no life. No stories, or myths to be had, no heroes, not even tragedy. Not to be proud of. There is just existence. Well I am awake now. I am awake and I am angry.
Fire burns within me once more and I realise that when I chased the nights for the ends of emotions, for feeling, for excess, it pales in comparison to the passion I have now. I will fight to the heat death of this universe, and see the radiant light of our race be the last seen therein."- —Ghrian's speech to the nobles of Aleo
Overview[]
The Shadows of the Phoenix are an united military force charged with protecting an alliance of Aeldari protectorates mostly located across the Eastern Fringe of the Galaxy around a cluster of stars known as the Lapis Surfs. In addition to this duty, they are fearsome sell swords and mercenaries to a variety of select clients, a habit borne to 'keep the blade sharp' when duty was light. From this military force a highly militant society has been born surrounding it; a distinct culture and identity nesting between the eclectic collection consisting mostly of, but not exclusively, Exodites, Outcasts and Corsairs; Which over millennia became the Dumnanarii. The Shadow of the Phoenix are known for their martial prowess and aggressive mindset, as well as advanced technology themed around firepower. Their military leader, Ghrian, enamoured with the restoration of the Aeldari and their mythical might during the War in Heaven, has always encouraged the development of new weaponry and advancing existing practices, as well as restoring lost technologies.
The Aeldari, being mostly Exodites, keep a martial competency and gruelling regime in place of their work in the fields, through this they stave off the evitable thirst of Slaanesh. The mythology of their warfare is in contradiction to their current practice, one of absolute slaughter and vindictive destruction of those that stand against them, as it was in past and many times since; But the reflection within their souls of this practice incited damnation, the Scaeth'Ra, as they refer to themselves internally, have had to adapt and build rigid codes of conduct likeable to romanticised chivalry to protect themselves. Their combat doctrines keep some of the old aspects; To instil terror in their foes by using camouflaged units and stealth centred tactics. But otherwise practise precise and clean destruction of their enemy. Those who are too strong to be killed outright are crippled in the 'old way' and educated in why they will never cross these Aeldari again.
The Shadow of the Phoenix are mighty, mightier than many of the Craftworlds and certainly Kabals, for their strength comes from the might of collaboration; Hundreds of voices that would in isolation be silenced but speaking together drown out others. However, they are still no match for the might of the Greater Craftworlds, such as the big six lauded in Imperial records. Further as the alliance has aged the balance of power and internal political bonds have decayed and broken down; Not that they were overwhelmingly strong to begin with.
From humble origins of likeminded warriors taking on the impossible because it was right, an allegiance was forged of the weak and small; Together led by a legendary quadrumvirate of heroes, the Shadows of the Phoenix strike back against those who would persecute Exodites, besiege the minor Craftworlds or predate on desperate Outcasts. Styling themselves as the rebirth of their people, a great Phoenix to illuminate the lost and protect them against the unforgiving galaxy. Their preferred quarry, the Drukhari, have suffered the brunt of the 'Shadows' fury, seeing their 'Dark Kin' as an abhorrent reminder of the darkness of their race and pathetic in their selfish preservation.
There is a darker image behind that noble facade however, an interpretation of selfish redemption seeking and the pursuit of violent indulgence through a just cause. Their champion kept their loathed past to the past, and their original companions, the founders of the Dumnanarii, resembled their favourite foes more than their chosen allies. The truth, as with all things, lives in the balance between.
Since their original inception as an alliance of four, one party for each faction aside Drukhari and Harlequin, the Shadow of the Phoenix has expanded more and more to even include members and factions outside of the Aeldari species, and to their own surprise even the Drukhari. Anyone who swears fealty to their cause is welcome to take a place in their military, which for a time was known as the Dumnanarii but after a decisive era of their early history it was replaced with a more structured military known as the Foiredite; The Dumnanarii becoming an independent faction and alliance member.
The root of the alliance's name came from Vix'Anna, there was a perceived rebirth for each of the alliance members and the quadrumvirate who led it; they arose from the Shadows they dwelt in. It was also coined in some irony, that the Phoenix lords were absent from this conflict; the true irony would only be revealed many thousands of years after their inception.
Etymology[]
Scaeth'Ra, Fein'Fhion - ‘In the shadow cast by brightness light remains, even if it is occluded. It does not strain to occlude the other, it shines because it can.’ From a selection of words that can be translated to the Fireborne Phoenix, the raging Light against Darkness, or Children Defiant, it is that which the members of the Shadow of the Phoenix champion as their name, but is rarely believed outside their number. As the Aeldari that are followers of the Shadow of the Phoenix are sometimes referred to in the shorthand as ‘Shadows’ or ‘His Shadows’ (Referring to Ghrian) they are often referred to as Scaeth’Ra.
Mardrasann Fhaisor'Shelwe - ‘A Song of Death, Fire, and Rebirth, a place within the unending cycle.’ Many Craftworlds refer to the Shadow of the Phoenix by this name, some with sorrow and and some is distaste; For they are seen within that fundamental of the death’s throes, the last gasp, the last spark, before the final death. However brightly they shine in their mission, it is a terminal one. The distaste is often in the belief that the Shadow of the Phoenix believe they are above that.
Polasa - ‘A common song’ is equivalent to a Polity, while often referred to as an alliance the Shadow of the Phoenix is also likeable to a cult, as anything from individual outcasts, to Aspect Temples, and Noble Houses within Maiden Worlds or Craftworlds align to their cause. Contracts can exist and their nature is flexible, sometimes it is protection in return for a tithe. Despite being initially made up of a conglomerate of Aeldari factions, the Shadow of the Phoenix has very quickly become its own identity and people, ideals and traditions, a Polity.
Riocht - ‘A redoubt of the heart’ Ranging from Fortress Keeps to small settlements to just an individual, a Riocht is the representation of the Shadow of the Phoenix upon the world or people that support their Polasa but remain independent, such as the Craftworld Erdinil and the Maiden World of Aleo. They may house a small contingent of warriors and administrators, as well as noble families that integrate with these people's court.
Dia'Maisíní - 'God Machines' as defined by the Imperium and the Aeldari are similar yet distinct, typically they are not exclusive either. For the Eldar a God Machine is one that is capable of ruling itself, one that has an AI. Artificial Intelligence within the Aeldari is common enough, well controlled and somewhat a trivial technology but is notably and simply inferior to an Aeldari presence. They are used to save manual labour and for service by the Asuryani and Drukhari principally and of course avoided by the Exodites. God Machines refer to warmachines that feature advance AI to pilot them, quite often developing personalities and histories as strong as any sapient life. Most often God Machines originate from the War in Heaven, where vast armies fought alongside the Aeldari who made them. As warfare is an experience, a necessity of their paths, for the Aeldari the use of AI entirely for warfare is disdained and typically underutilised, even if they would prove a valuable currency in saving lives. Again, they are inferior to their Aeldari counterparts, and can be considered a novelty and the God Machines still valued and utilised are the exception to these rules. To further confuse things, some God Machines can feature hybrid pilot and AI working together.
History[]
Drukhari raiders preyed upon the Eastern fringe, one Kabal, the Firmament Apparition had a special depravity for their Aeldari kin. Able to evade their kin's precognitiant defences they were merciless. Their raids against Corsairs, Exodite colonies and eventually a minor Craftworld unwittingly led to the creation of the Scaeth'Ra - who's first objective was the Kabal's eradication.
After a series of tragedies, the kindness of the Craftworld of Erdinil was abused. Through their careful strategic manoeuvrings, the Craftworld had known little of the strife of war. The Craftworld, still small in comparison to its peers, was known for its schools of logic and philosophy. The lack of war that faced the Craftworld meant that much of its young and brazen members became outcasts and corsairs, the majority of its warriors were those that had returned home. This did not extend to their fleet, a well drilled and experienced set of crews commanding equally martial vessels. They would engage and rout Imperial forces that were set upon a Drukhari raiding party. They had lost good warriors in this action, but they valued their morale principle. The Drukhari were grateful, the two parties shared drinks and company and agreed to meet again to trade and exchange knowledge. In this next meeting however, one that was between the Archon’s trueborn court and the Council of Erdinil’s nobility, the exchange would draw blood. For the Archon’s fragile ego was insulted by Erdinil’s interference, ashamed by the actions of his own splinter, and their expectation of hospitality was considerably baser than Erdinil’s. When the Aspect Warriors of Erdinil heard of the treatment of the servants they marched into the halls; The Autarch of Erdinil, a hero named Croga, slew a Hekatrix attacking the staff in a moment of fury while many of the other ‘guests’ were beaten into subjugation. Threatening to further slaughter the Archon’s court if they did not leave immediately, the function was disbanded. Despite the provocation of the Drukhari, Erdinil knew it had broken sacred laws of hospitality and the day was remembered with shame.
- "Ah what a shame, for the first time since I’ve arrived to this dreary place, something exciting has happened."
- —Archon Hietvan of the Firmament Apparition's response to the threat.
A year after this scandal the Kabal besieged the isolated Craftworld of Erdinil, dissecting their defensive fleet and washing over its unprepared defences. The battle would not be clean, despite their weak military the Craftworld’s core of Aspect warriors was formidable and their Autarch would not be easily defeated. While the Drukhari's own esoteric means were able to blind their Seer Council, the act put the Asuryani on their guard. The Craftworld, without its naval escort, accelerated to full speed; Forcing the Drukhari navy to repeatedly deploy in fleeting attacks. Further hampered as the Craftworld turned to leave it’s Habitation domes in the Umbra of a local star, hindering long range bombardment from above and allowing their remaining fighters to repeatedly ambush the Drukhari ships. The initial plans to capture several surface weapon batteries were thwarted and pure dominance of the void could not be established. At the Autarch’s assurance that the ground would hold the Craftworld’s navy had scattered, and had not been wholly eradicated, they persisted in fleeting raids and never released pressure on the Drukhari void fleet. However, the fire of Khaine was not burning with fury in the Craftworld’s heart, yet. While the Craftworld’s small number of veteran warriors faced down many times their own, the Guardians of the Craftworld were not so experienced with war and fell faster than the raiders, the Statue of Khaine remained cold.
Stagnation
- "The orbital weapon systems of Erdinil had never been tested in a live fire scenario before the Reprisal of the Firmament Apparition, they had however been fired in 84,000 live fire practices and 364,000 simulated runs. In the opening minutes of the battle these pulsar lances had already scored a confirmed kill on the Drukhari Cruiser, 'Malice Aforethought' despite its Shadowfield and continued to perform admirably until the closing minutes of the engagement. Though usually overlooked in the mythical transcriptions of the battle the Drukhari's failure to disable these guns had as much to do with the battle's eventual outcome as the individual heroes on the ground or void."
- —Excerpt of an analytical breakdown of the Invasion of Craftworld Erdinil.
The Kabal had initially overwhelmed the defenders by both deploying dropships from their void fleet and infiltrating forces through the Craftworlds webway gates. However, the Autarch Croga fought as easily against a dozen flanks as they did against just one while a dozen Dracons attempted to follow the unforgiving instructions of their Archon who viewed the battle intermediately from its orbit. In the Archon’s sadistic persecution of the raiding party that had befriended the Craftworld a year ago, he had sent this Splinter as the first wave of their attack; Their poor morale had crippled the momentum of the combined strike. In the first days of battle outcasts joined from the Webway gates and Corsairs joined the Craftworld’s Void fleet, notably Exarch Dia’Bhreithmah Mar’Shi and his school of Diving Harpies students arrived as well and routed one flank single handedly. It was complete chaos to the unskilled eye and an orchestra of moving pieces to the commanders.
Despite these turns to the Craftworld’s favour it was ultimately a moot achievement, the odds against them were too great. The Autarch Crago was encircled and resolved to bid their life to a ploy to eradicate a significant proportion of the Splinter; Trading their greater strategic intelligence for at least manageable numerical inferiority. The Archon descended to the Craftworld at last to personally see the Autarch humbled, their body wrecked and left to slowly die with their Craftworld. Without them the Craftworld’s military descended to guerrilla action, each Exarch leading their students alone to bleed the invaders. Particularly appetising targets remained to the invading Kabal, three habitation domes as yet unbreeched by their forces, along with the Craftworld’s Dome of Seers and Infinity Circuit.
Their victory still hinged on the orbital defence lines that sat around the habitation domes. The civilian populace that had not become guardians had retreated to these habitation domes. Riding on the Autarch’s defeat, the Drukhari forces broke into one of these domes. Their mission had been to capture as many slaves as possible, but as the battle was drawn out the Archon had redirected their mission to humble the Craftworld, and as the Kabalites and Hekatrix finally reached the soft flesh of the Craftworld their blood lust took them. The slaughter was disgusting, and it set the Infinity Circuit on fire with rage. The Statue of Khaine wept tears of blood and set ablaze in a thundering crescendo that silenced both sides of the battle. The war spirit of the Craftworld was finally present, and the attackers felt their rage; Even if it was too late.
With the ignition, three Exarchs individually made their way to the Temple of Khaine, through the splinter of the Kabals that also raced to hold the Temple. Both sides knew the ploy, but the skill of the Exarchs won out as one of their number reached the Temple, the runes already cut into their flesh, the Young King ready to make the Sacrifice. The Avatar of Khaine walked out, and slaughtered all before him, marching to the pass before the nearest Habitation Dome to stand in vigil over its entrance. The battles that had been fought in the meantime were not in the favour of the Drukhari anymore. Meanwhile Mar’Shi took the first step in becoming ‘The Dismounted Spear’ as the Exarch shrugged of a mortal wound, and two more after it, searing hot blood weeping from his eyes, his soul burning bright and enduring the unwinnable battle he had found himself in to the whim of the Craftworlds enraged spirit.
An Avatar could hold their ground forever, but it could be outmanoeuvred. It used the webway to quickly join and leave the battles but wherever it fought the other was at risk, and the Infinity Circuit was now vulnerable from the conquered dome. With defeat still imminent their Spiritseer Basilate, with the leading Bonesinger Kabela, raised the dead of Erdinil as Ghost Warriors to drive off the Drukhari, pushing them out of the breeched Habitation Dome and reinforcing the other. The call to arms was easy, it had only been dependent on the Wraithbone bodies Erdinil did not keep. Since the start of the invasion Kabela had led the Craftworld’s available Bonesingers to construct as many bodies as possible for their undead to populate; Hundreds sallied forth to join the living. It was a call made in flagrant disregard against the craftworlds most sacred laws and against direct countermands from the Seer Council to do otherwise. The raiders broke against the mighty wraithbone constructs, decimated, but feeding Slannesh with many of the noble warriors' souls. The battlefield was momentarily quiet, the Drukhari consolidating their losses and assembling for a renewed attack. The defenders could do nothing but wait. It was then that Ghrian joined the battle, emerging from the webway within the bowels of the Craftworld with a company of loyal outcasts. He embraced his long missed brother before he joined the battle. A Shadowseer, Ghrian identified as Vix’Anna, had been responsible for making Ghrian aware and guiding him through the illusive webway in time to reach the battle. She now returned to it.
Ghrian led his outcasts out into the streets, infiltrating the Drukhari battle lines, and picking off the Sybarite & Hekatrix officers. He took the weakest division, some squads of Guardians who had already been routed at the conquered Dome, and became their warlock and moved them to face the head of the Drukhari attack; Which had been forced to funnel into their defensive position as the Avatar of Khaine repositioned. The remaining Wraithguard had been put on the wings and directed by Basilate they broke through the enemy ranks and turned into the flank of the invaders host - their D-Cannon having great effect on the compressed ranks. Everything came together once more, the full potential of the Craftworld’s military awoken to Khaine’s will and steered once more that an individual who was all but an Autarch; The sight of the leading Drukhari Dracon slain and beheaded in single combat completed it and the flagging attack turned into chaos and this time put into a momentary flight.
- "Khaine's fury would not be tempered, the gods watched in horror as he marched to the people of Iltura. He would leave none alive, yet one of their number walked forward holding a half made sword. The humble blacksmith challenged the bloody handed god to single combat, who laughed at the defiance and accepted. But when they fought the blacksmith turned aside every blow, fighting with a clarity and strength beyond him.
How!?
He knew his people were behind him, and every second he stood they lived. Their hearts beated with his and with his family's life with his he was immortal. Ulthranesh was with him that day, guiding his action and turning the fates.
How did it end?
The Blacksmith died, cleaved in two by a single stroke. He died with a smile, for his people were already saved and hidden beyond Khaines sight. Now enough of that, here they come, we have our families behind us, let us show our dark kin their arrogance and their mistake. With me!"- —Ghrian at Erdinil, before the second wave.
The last act of the battle would be critical. Reinforcements were on their way, the Craftworld of Sigurow was making a swift journey with two of their Warhosts through the Webway, and would arrive the next day. However, the Archon had not given up their prize on any whim; They themselves had grown bored with the conflict and moved on to another soft target, but dispatched further splinters to reinforce the wasting forces on news of their defeats. Stalemate was the likely outcome, and attrition was in the favour of the Drukhari. They needed a clean victory.
Ghrian took a force of Aspect Warriors and with them he broke through the revised Drukhari battle lines and reached the isolated Dome of Seers that still endured thanks to the efforts of its Seer council and veteran aspect warrior defenders. He spoke to the Farseers who had done their best to steer the defenders and intervene with continuous psychic attacks and mind wars; Their effort thus far unseen had proved to be another decisive element to Drukhari,'s continued failure. The Seer Council were uncertain on what course to take, the appearance of Ghrian alarming occluded the fates; to them and the Craftworlds future Ghrian was one who walked in the shadow of death and was a harbinger of destruction. However his arguments could not be ignored, despite the turn around in the field, the Drukhari would eventually carry the day, their fleet would soon reunite in the Craftworlds orbit to provide direct bombardment and airsupport. Thanks to Ghrian’s Outcasts the invader’s established webway vectored reinforcements were pinned by sniper fire and to circumvent this they were moving to deploy their further forces only from orbit. Ghrian urged the council to use their gestalt psychic potential to create an Eldritch storm in the Craftworlds orbit as the Drukhari launched their next assault, timed perfectly Sigurow would be free to clean up those that survived.
The council was small and creating a storm sufficient to ruin the next wave was a questionable act, mitigated as the Craftworld's remaining civilian population joined the ritual and even directed the latent energy of the Infinity Circuit. Further the fallout of the storm’s attack could lead to catastrophic collateral damage to the Craftworld and its infinity circuit. However, the Seers knew that there was no better alternative and began their ritual. Ghrian for his part returned to the front lines and planned the organised retreat of the Craftworlds forces and the civilian population into excavations beneath the Habitation domes or secure sections of the webway.
Just as the Drukhari began to deploy and launch their assault a massive psychic lightning storm erupted in the middle of their ranks and fleet. Their landing craft and some of the warships were disabled or outright destroyed, sending burning wrecks crashing to the Craftworlds surface. The storm also ravaged the surface of the Craftworld, shattering the remaining habitation domes and obliterating squads of Drukhari. As the storm abated the defenders sallied forth in a combined offensive, with the scattered fleet - rallied and coordinated by Vix'Anna - joining their attack; Perfectly in time with the arriving Warhosts of Sigurow and saw out the last of the fight.
Victory
The battle was won. Potentially the Kabal could bring further forces to continue it but their advantage and momentum was long gone. In the final moments of battle, the surviving Drukhari Dracon had personally led a raid on the Dome of Seers and captured much of its exhausted council. The last spiteful act before their complete retreat.
The Craftworld was wrecked, the populace decimated, and its fleet was shattered. But their pain was eclipsed by the thought of what awaited those that had been captured. Their future most likely would be the same, they moved to hide the Craftworld within nearby nebula and could only hope to have it fully repaired before the Kabal found them. While the Warhost of Sigurow was formidable, the Craftworld itself was at War, and their forces had been already recalled to where they were needed.
But still, they had a Warhost, their remaining Aspect Warriors and the myriad more Outcasts made it strong. The will of Khaine still sung through their single heart and the drive for revenge was intoxicating. Ghrian became the leader of the faction that wanted to strike out in one last show of defiance. Without any kind of permission or direction from the Seer Council they set on their plan. Ghrian's first act in this was to utilise skills and mentality that he had left behind, that his people and Asuryani shunned, that of the Drukhari themselves. Hundreds of prisoners had been taken by Erdinil who naively harboured the hope that an exchange could be made. Ghrian stole and brutally tortured them systematically. They soon had an edge. The Firmament Apparition were not heading back to their satellite city, not before they visited other ripe targets. Between one of these was opportune territory for void raiding, where the Firmament Apparition had deployed Haywire nets to disable void craft.
When the Drukhari fleet arrived to reap what their haywire nets had caught they found surviving ships from Erdinil engaged with each other. They responded to hails, and the fleetmaster explained that they had survived and hidden during the retreat, to come here directly. With the Craftworld's ships disabled they were free to be boarded. With Vix’Anna’s ruse complete, the trap was set. The fleet joined them and boarded the Craftworld vessels, which promptly exploded. The crippled ‘Drukhari’ vessels then turned on their allies with repurposed haywire nets and leech missiles, leaving them dead in the void to be boarded one at a time. Led by the four heroes; Ghrian, Vix’Anna, Basilate and Kabela the warriors systematically purged the vessels. Ghrian would once more face down their leader and incapacitated the Dracon, after defeating his champion Klaivex in single combat; Though not escaping the fight without injury, as the Klaivex took his eye. Ghrian left the Dracon crippled but alive aboard his vessel to eventually meet his fate with She who thirsts. More importantly, the prisoners were recovered, and the depraved Drukhari were denied their sport. Their vessels had been a necessary sacrifice, but with the skills of Basilate the spirits inturned within the vessels had been wholly removed before the battle.
Phoenix Rises
The momentum was not lost, Ghrian for one refused to let it go. He had become the leader of the Warhost, and having only seized command of his outcast’s before travelling to Erdinil, this was his first true command and he was already deeply in love with the power and responsibility. As an Outcast who had drifted from one path to the next, running from his own daemons or even welcoming the embrace of death, this was a revelation. He asked the Warriors under his command if they would follow him again, to continue to fight the Firmament Apparition until one of the two parties were destroyed, almost unanimously they accepted. In that triumph was destroyed the last good will of the Craftworld's leaders. They were hiding and fighting for their very lives, miraculously their stolen people were returned but their new hero now stole the last line of protection they had left. One limited Warhost striking out at the Kabal would achieve nothing. Still, a portion of the population went out of their way to equip and supply them.
While Ghrian was fully committed to this endeavour his sister in law was not, Basilate had little choice in the matter having been exiled for alleged necromancy and as the only Spiritseer of the Warhost who could care for it's Wraith units he was obligated. Kabela was distinctly in demand by the Craftworld, to repair it and their fleet. While Ghrian asked her to join the Warhost she was not tied by direct oaths of blood and more importantly had her own family on her mind. Though she no longer felt secure in her home. Kabela stayed with the Craftworld, although her children and that of the rest of Erdinil were sent to Craftworld Szar'Gor, her birthplace, for safety. In between her work to the Craftworld Kabela made arms and supplies for the Warhost.
Some notable warriors had been 'acquired' by the previous battle. The first was Suam, a hardened Dire Avenger who had overseen the civilian evacuations before joining Ghrian on the front lines. The warrior was a veteran and fought with such ferocity and tenacity that no matter the odds put against him he had been the last standing. Another was Mar’Shi, who became known as the ‘Dismounted Spear’, he had survived his trials on the Craftworld and later led the boarding crews still dismounted. While he had been lost on the path of an Exarch the repeating near death experience had broken his focus, he followed his own path now, whatever it would be. A final warrior of note was Elika, a Swooping Hawk Exarch that had led suicidal raids on the Drukhari grav transports. Few, of the already undersized force, of Swooping Hawks had survived that day and each one was gifted with an unnatural luck - or incomprehensible skill - and Elika was the most foolhardy of them all. These warriors became officers, and later became known as the first of the ‘Heroes’.
The Warhost itself was a shamble to behold. Most of their weapons and armour were spoils of war, scavenged from their respective battlefields; With only cameoline cloaks provided by Ghrian's Outcasts, unifying their appearance. Among their numbers were already a handful of Mon’Keigh, liberated from the Drukhari cells; these Humans and Xenos had little other choice, not knowing how to return to their homes but feeling a similar intense need for revenge. While their time would be short lived within the Aeldari ranks it laid the foundation for the Bea Leonir.
The void ships they had captured in their ambush, although disabled and useless in their original function, contained a veritable mine of intelligence. They had access to star charts, webway maps, hunting grounds and military records. What more they had hours upon endless hours of combat footage. Meticulous recordings of every atrocity, battle and ambush was there to be relived and drunk in and Ghrian absorbed it all. His devoted study made him intimately aware of the Firmament Apparitions tactics and strategy, where they would strike, when and how to defeat them.
Ghrian had a warhost and a mission, but he was no fool. The Warhost was meagre and if their strategies failed them they would not have the numbers or flexibility to hold the line or withdraw. Ghrian knew that they would have one or two victories in them. He needed more forces, he needed an airforce, armour or the means to remove his enemies' advantages. There was no more support to come from Erdinil, and given the company of the Outcasts Ghrian brought with him as well as his own reputation as a thief and once Drukhari, few would be willing to help them. Ghrian offered Erdinil an oath of fealty, the word of one who had once been an Exodite Prince, to protect them but they refused. One place would likely still accept him and hear out his cause, his ancestral home Aleo.
The sheltered Maiden world was home to both Exodites and Corsairs, some of which were fine fighters and more who would be looking for adventure. The return of the twins Ghrian and Basilate at the head of a warhost, meagre or not, was a significant turn of events. Ghrian had not been seen since Aleo’s tragedy; When Drukhari raiders had set upon the people in a fluke attack. It was a day of misery still mourned nearly a millennium later. Ghrian's reappearance tore open old wounds, despite the controversy of his character, and his history, they welcomed him back and gathered the tribes.
Aleo is a bittersweet paradise, one which ultimately sees it’s young leave for adventures, and few ever return to settle for its tranquil life. Such is its curse and mechanism, life is easy compared to other hardier maiden worlds, and the population thrives. But the planet is small and cannot maintain a growing population. Because of the peace, the lack of challenge, the lack of sensation, the young flee to the wilds, allured by stories of the grizzled ‘retired’ Corsairs who guard its skies.
Ghrian, after explaining the prior events, offered a mutual solution. Though he would lead the youths to war, he would protect them, he would show them what the galaxy had to offer and push them to their limits, though not break them. There would be death, there would those who remained, enamoured with this life, and there would be those who would come home. But no more would their young be lost, to remain forgotten across distance worlds and mourned afar, their souls lost and their loved ones forever uncertain. Or worse allowed to lose themselves to depravity and become the very blight who had wounded the Maiden world so long ago. The tribes agreed to the offer, Ghrian would not be hindered in recruiting the young, any who wished could follow him on his mission. Retainers would accompany them to see them protected.
As well as Retainers, many of the Household Guards joined his Warhost, fresh arms and armour was sourced. While Aleo did not have many warriors, they were exceptional, each had wandered for centuries and lived through adventures and wars. To Ghrians delight he convinced many of the ancient Corsairs who watched over Aleo’s skies. The retinue of Mol’Dius, the Dha'Roth, were an ancient group of Corsairs that had seen the edge and width of what life had to offer, and come to settle with Aleo and find ‘retirement’ with its tranquillity. With ideals of one last mythical journey, and passing on their skills to a new generation, the warriors became enthralled and almost unanimously joined Ghrians warhost. For all this Ghrian bound his warhost to Aleo as it he had intended to with Erdinil, for their ‘tithe’ he would ensure their protection as a military ally until such time that either party failed to fufil their oath.
With Aleo’s forces, and a stronger Warhost Ghrian returned to Erdinil and made his offer again, this time the Craftworld’s leadership did acquiesce. They provided some of the Seer council to his Warhost, as well as fighter and bomber wings. The unison of Erdinil and Aleo through this Warhost that was without identity, was dubbed the Shadow of the Phoenix by Vix’Anna. Soon after Scaeth'Ra became their common short name.
The Drukhari Kabal of the Firmament Apparition operated from their own satellite city, they ran themselves with autonomy and their hunting grounds were wide and viciously defended. Such was their hubris, and power, that they considered their independent port greater than Commorragh itself. Now, though they could see none of it, they were at their weakest. Their readily available army had been shattered, and the considerable number of Splinters that remained were active and scattered across the hunting grounds. Their raiding parties disappeared, one by one. To the Kabal they simply did not return. For each Splinter they suffered a series of unfortunate events, as plans fell awry, their flanking or diversionary forces were lost. Their attacks were weak, fluke sniper fire cut down their officers, and enemy resistance was far too strong. It was only the larger splinters that learned the truth. When they would attempt to return through the webway loaded with loot and slaves they found their escape cut off by formidable resistance. The Shadows of the Phoenix would be an anvil against their escape, forcing the Drukhari's should-be fleeting attack to become drawn out and vulnerable to retaliation from local forces. Again and again the isolated forces were caught in the same trap and annihilated. With each victory warriors joined Ghrian, liberated combat slaves, and when the defenders had been Aeldari, many of the triumphant locals. Each maiden world that had seen off an attack with their help opened fresh contacts, and the coalition of two grew larger.
With the victories Ghrian’s forces grew bolder, and their deception took greater heights. However, the raiding parties were growing. Rather than scatter their forces as their original complacency had allowed, the Kabal had recalled them and now concentrated them again; Each battle was harder fought and with greater cost. Ghrian was not over confident and withdrew as needed. Vix’Anna was essential, her boundless knowledge of the Webway and its infinite labyrinth allowed the Scaeth'Ra to escape without consequence. The Drukhari’s morale was wounded, their new enemy wore the cloaks of rangers but fought with discipline and numbers beyond Outcasts. They had not collected any dead, any intelligence on their assailants, they were beginning to think that supernatural forces were fighting them. Every inherit advantage that they had was met, forcing the Drukhari to resort to strength through numbers. Worse, time was against them. Within their isolated satellite city the citizens were turning on themselves, old feuds were opened up and their leadership challenged. Where slaves could not be provided then the citizens were rounded up to replace them. Blood ran through the streets as a bursting river and the chaos bled through to the raiding parties. The final insult was the fate of the Drukhari wounded and prisoners, who were denied death and instead staked and crucified on the battlefield and elsewhere. Left alive they were denied immediate revival and left as traps or at the very least time wasters. Without the ready slaves to revive them, or the manpower to track the bodies down. Those who fought these malicious ‘shadows’ were guaranteed a true death and its horrific fate.
Ruination
Though the Kabal had been slow to respond, its conclusion would be swift. The next raid arrived to an Imperial world, but the raiders withdrew through an alternative webway gate many miles away; Even if they lost more forces to the longer escape route it circumvented the awaiting ambush. Ghrian’s Warhost did not take the bait however, to risk repositioning themselves, and let the Drukhari escape. This began a game of cat and mouse as the Kabal tried to bait the Scaeth'Ra into battle on their terms. With each bait resisted, the Kabal gained more slaves and recovered while Ghrian’s warriors grew increasingly restless. It was by this means attritional warfare, and one that could make the Scaeth'Ra a mockery. While Ghrian would stand and let Mon’Keigh fall to the Drukhari to hold his advantage, he would not stand by and watch this happen to his own kind.
The Shadow of the Phoenix would meet the Firmament Apparition on the Maiden World of Cad’Fael. Instead of ruining the Drukhari retreat, they met the raiders head on this time. The world was home to tall and deep forests whose floor was shrouded in permanent darkness. The Exodites had fled to the safety of the forests and to fight within their preferred terrain. With confirmation that their ‘shadows’ were here the Kabal deployed its reserve forces, who now consisted of en mass armed civilians desperate to sate their own thirst; 'The Dogs of War'. The majority of their professional troops were left to defend every webway access they knew of, in the end nearly the entirety of the Kabals remaining military was deployed around the world. While much of the nobility took to the sky to watch in anticipation. As militia forces engaged reserves would move pin the Scaeth'Ra. But again and again their forces entered battle to be routed or even annihilated before the reserves could reach them. The ‘Shadows’ could travel unseen, masked by their masterful Shadowseer and the window of engagement remained within her protection. Despite their significantly smaller air presence, the Dha'Roth held off the Drukhari wings and refused their advantage while inflicting devastating bombing runs of their own. Even in the void the few ships of Scaeth'Ra engaged and pestered the Drukhari dominance. Days passed with no significant victory to either side, just mounting casualties to the Kabal. The Archon had reached the end of his patience the world would burn in the fires of their orbital weaponry.
As the Kabal’s ships moved to the upper atmosphere to begin strategic bombardment they were assailed by the pulsars of Aeldari vessels. Corsairs, Craftworlders and Exodite vessels had gathered to destroy this Kabal once and for all, each called here by Vix’Anna, each had felt this blight's blade in their back at some time in history and were all too eager to take revenge. Amongst them was the fleet of Erdinil as well. Their tactical position was pitiful, trapped against the planet and sluggish within the gravity well while the attack was merciless. The void ships burned fast. The Archon was, to Ghrian’s disappointment, eviscerated within his prized battleship. On the ground warhosts arrived to flank the reserves of the Drukhari and washed over them.
The Kabal was demolished, raiding parties would never be seen to come from the satellite city again. But the cost was high. Ghrian’s warhost was nearly broken, a mere fraction of their forces remained standing, and none were free of injury or loss. Their victory would not be realised for some time however, for the time being they waited in vigil for the Kabal to return.
The Exodites of Tien'Bo were a strong people, having fought for countless thousands of years against foreign invaders, particularly those of the traitor legions. For whatever reason, to fulfil a prophecy, to enact revenge, or for the fun of it, they came nearly every century and were defeated every time. This had become the routine of Tien'Bo, ever since the Grand Crusade, they weathered these attacks.
However what they could not weather was attack from the Drukhari when their armies were occupied and their homefront was at its most vulnerable. This had been the first such attack and had caught the Exodites completely off guard. Hundreds of their innocent civilian population were left dead, and hundreds more were captured. Priceless relics and resources had been plundered, only the world spirit had remained untouched thanks to the valiant efforts of its defenders. The morale of Tien'Bo and it's still fighting army was shattered, their warriors had failed their single duty. This could never happen again, these predators had to be destroyed utterly before they returned for another try.
The collapse of the Firmament Apparition, and rise of the Shadow of the Phoenix were fresh tales spread by traders and outcasts. If these warriors could topple a Kabal, then they could help. The Exodites dispatched a messenger to find them, but before they had reached the webway Vix'Anna arrived.
As far as the Scaeth'Ra knew the Firmament Apparition had fallen silent and remained within their satellite city, but their victory could be temporary. It had been a strategic and tactical victory, but also a pyrrhic one. The warhost was shattered, the war had dragged on for months and they had fought continuously throughout, facing each Drukhari army in turn and sleeping under the stars between battles. This was the first rest they could enjoy and as their war spirits faded away they felt the cost. They remained under the stars and moured their triumph. No warrior free of the loss of the many who had not endured to the end.
With their warspirit diminishing many of the warriors had already separated to return to their respective homes, but more remained and looked to Ghrian for their next mission; it was Vix'Anna who supplied it.
When the Scaeth'Ra arrived at Tien Bo the Exodites were driving the last of their Chaos attackers into the dirt. Their elders met them and explained the crime inflicted upon them and their want. Ghrian accepted the mission before it was asked; To enter Commorragh and return their people, destroy the Kabal, and leave no trace. From one viewpoint it was clearly a cheque written by his growing ego, but the tools for such a job were available. Ghrian was familiar, as much as any traveller could be, with the Dark city; having stayed there twice before and lived as a Commorrite briefly. He knew how to endure the people, and how to act as one of them. He had the armour of a Drukhari Klavex, spoils from the Shadow’s first victory, and was initiated into their martial arts having once studied to become an Incubi. He was perfectly poised to assume a position as a fallen Klavex looking to regain fame and riches. The beginning of a plan was there and the impossible did not look so much to him.
Infiltration
Ghrian reconstructed the Klavex’s armour (which had been shared between those in need of such armour) and within a month assumed the mask of an Incubi, remastering the melee dance of the twin glaives and mentality of a Drukhari. No sooner than it was done he left for the Dark city, time was paramount, before leaving Ghrian removed his spirit stone and embraced the fragility of his afterlife. The prisoners would have already suffered, been scattered, but hopefully the majority would still be alive. Vix'Anna had travelled ahead to lead, at Ghrians insistence, some of his rangers to find the Kabal and the captives; Hopefully protect them in any way they could or secure the means to imminently free them. In the meanwhile, the Shadows would build their strength and recover, readying themselves for the future trial.
Ghrian arrived to an opportunity, as the Kabal of the Weeping Mask held gladiatorial games in the wake of their successful raids, and had only returned days before. Captive warriors of Tien Bo were soon to display their prowess in the field of battle against hundreds of sell swords and gladiators from rival Kabals. Ghrian joined the crowd of spectators, but leapt down to the sand, declaring himself a late arrival to the game joining battle with the opening acts, fighting beast and slaves alike. This in itself wasn’t that remarkable, as members of the crowd joining the Gladiator rings in fits of excitement or ego was common enough, but they were sport in their quick massacre. Ghrian earned his place in the ring quickly. He had a difficult play ahead of him, he made sure to play his part; To make a spectacle of his combat and his opponents, to feed the crowds want for hyper violence. But when he came against slave Asuryani, Exodites or even Corsairs he was loathed to comply. Ghrian refused to compromise or give in to his pragmatism, to risk falling into his mask or sacrificing needlessly. He would save every life if he could and so instead he enacted non-fatal wounds, but branded these victims as his. The right was not one practised by this Kabal but they respected the stranger’s wishes and right to them as slaves. However much care he took, he was still forced to kill some of his kin and quickly buried the grief. Ghrian was alone still standing in the arena, he was already popular amongst the crowd for his flair and traditional fighting style, saluting the crowd after each duel. In the lull between rounds, he addressed the watching Archon directly, declaring his loyalty, that he would serve the Kabal as their Klaive and that he would lead their troops.
Finally, the Tien'Bo captives were released, to face down a host of sell swords and gladiators across a shifting arena. The experienced warriors made short work of them, helped by Ghrian who turned on the crew, sewing chaos and infighting in what was scheduled to be a team battle. Ghrian now alone faced down the remaining Exodites again striking down each one with a non-fatal wound and branding them as his. The disruption to the expected order of events, one very much selfishly motivated, would come with a price. As further exotic beasts and challengers from the crowd were summoned to face Ghrian. As he overcame each one the Crowd turned to his side, and amidst their roaring cheers the Archon announced that his own champion would join the arena. The Champion was a former Howling Banshee and long serving gladiator slave, the two fought and the battle became bitter, both fighting on through injuries, losing their weapons and failing to gain leverage until the banshee's speed proved too much. Before she could land the killing blow however Ghrian confided in her his plan, swearing he would bring down the Kabal; Betting his life on the chance that she was a potential ally. She did indeed hesitate, and he struck her back, recovering from his defeat. The fight returned to a stalemate, both parties were severely injured, the Champion forfeited the current duel crying out to the crowd that such an entertaining duel should be enjoyed again when both parties were at their full capability again.
Within the Wolves nest
Ghrian was invited to join the Archon’s court and accepted. He joined a feast within the Kabal and while he had the Archon's attention explained his ‘history’, of betrayal, loss and abandonment by his own temple. He wanted to build his own coven, and wanted warriors to follow him. For now he would serve a Kabal, and earn a reputation. The Archon appreciated his honesty, everything that Ghrian had done at least lended to his story, and as an Incubi he should have had no political motive. The Archon accepted the Klaivex’s loyalty, and explained the price. For now it would cost Ghrian’s finger. All of his servants paid this price, the payment was taken away by the Archon’s Haemoncullus. If the Archon died, all of his followers would die with him.
Ghrian took a position in the Archon’s Court, but also was given command of a Splinter of his Kabal, to lead on raids and prove his value. With the slaves he had gathered he created a training school and started raising recruits. He slowly rose through the ranks, and began the careful building of the final act. But first he set to tracking down the Tien’Bo captives and the trails of those already sold on - accessing the Kabal’s meticulous records. Those slaves still within the Kabals slave pits disappeared from their records and temporarily would be reasonably safe there. His rangers stalked the dark city unseen, their reconnaissance invaluable, untaking select raids and infiltrations to retrieve them one at a time.
However, Ghrian acquired an unlikely ally early on. After he was confronted by a squad of Incubi who’s Klaivex challenged him to a duel. The fight was arduous, the Klaivex was an artist and when Ghrian had faced one down before he had his witchblade, psychic power and fury, none of which he had now. He suffered several wounds but was able to seize the upper hand, recognising the particular fighting style he caught the Klaivex’s glaive mid swing and disarmed his opponent, though he was quickly disarmed himself. The Klaivex ceased his attack, satisfied. Throughout the duel he had interrogated Ghrian about his fighting style and motivation, and also seemed to hold himself back. They now revealed their motivation, they were a Klaivex of the Coven of Mor’Mont. An ‘old guard’ of Incubi, ancient with deep traditions rooted in their regime. One of their Klaivex had been hired out as a bodyguard to the Firmament Apparition and had never returned. Their armour had been lost and by tradition the Klaivex could not be replaced. But they had recognised the armour on Ghrian, and now had established that he had won the armour in combat. Coupled with his training he had legitimate grounds for taking the mantle of the past Klaivex. By the rituals of the Coven, he had earned a position within their ranks, and clearly by his earlier duel was still worthy of this.
Ghrian’s new unexpected position within the Coven gave him authority over ten Incubi who became his students, and he immediately set them to tasks he could not trust of his servants within the Weeping Mask. These tasks were the same missions that his rangers were currently enacting. They eagerly accepted the challenge and infiltrated Kabals across the city, to find and extract the captured Aeldari; In contrast to the subterfuge of his rangers, they were a scalpel of brutality. The riskier and more challenging the task, the greater they performed and more eager they threw themselves into it. They did not care for the motivation, they simply relished the duty.
A third and perhaps the most critical of allies within the Dark City were a group of mercenaries Ghrian managed to recruit. The Outsiders were Corsair assassins, Shade Runners, known to make their home in the lowest districts of Commorragh. They typically operated on open bounties and were proficient, however as Ghrian needed to maintain secrecy within his motives he travelled to their rumoured hideout and allowed himself to be captured. He was able to meet Ordog, their leader, and open a confidential but lucrative arrangement. The type of heists these Corsairs pulled off were ones of extreme daring but also price, with meticulous planning they would infiltrate their targets with warp packs. Wherever the Rangers and Incubi could not go, the Outsiders could.
Within a month the combined actions of these three parties had secured the successful recovery of all the sold slaves who remained alive. Now it was just the matter of crushing the Kabal.
Ghrian was still not well trusted within the Kabal, but joining the Incubi Coven had done much to corroborate his story and his success in leading the Kabals raiding parties was earning him a reputation, though Ghrian had risked discovery many times. In fact he had been forced to take the Archon's Llhaemean into his confidence, as well as a number of other individuals. There was a sect with the Kabal that sought to end the Archon and assume control; With these allies he assumed authority over the Kabals security and translated every detail to Vix’Anna. Over multiple months Ghrian had learned the layout of the fortress, the guard’s patrols, and its every weakness. He had recruited trustworthy prisoners, those few of the rebellious sect in his trust and those he had branded into his service. It was during this time that Vix’Anna introduced herself to the Archon. The Archon agreed to hold a harlequin troupe’s play within his fortress, in hope to gain a Shadowseers council and catapult his political standing. Ghrian would later arrange certain cargo to pass uninspected amidst the Troupe's supplies.
The Play
The Shadows of the Phoenix arrived at Commorragh in the bright colours and shifting masks of Harlequins, led by Vix’Anna and other Harlequins in her trust. Within the Kabal fortress the Harlequins took to the stage, each performing multiple roles with a few of the Scaeth'Ra taking position in wings with limited roles. The remaining shadows shed their disguise and replaced their armour, they travelled freely through the fortress, its layout and patrols memorised. A webway gate, of the same design within the Stormserpent, was deployed and the warhost of Scaeth'Ra deployed from it accompanied by a Warhost of Tein’Bo; The Dragan Guard notably would fight alongside the Scaeth'Ra. With the warhost assembled the next stage began as the Shadows prepared for the coming slaughter; Traps were deployed, kill boxes established and fire lines formed. Sentries were isolated and killed, guard patrols massacred in ambushes, and every escape venue was cut off.
Under orders of Ghrian the Scaeth'Ra also travelled to the 'nursery' of the Kabal, where hundreds of cloned infants and the Kabal's true born children were undercare. They captured them all to be transported to Tien’Bo. The ethics behind this decision was not easy, the Kabal was sentenced to a total massacre, these juvenile and more innocent lives would be spared but many argued that the alternative was worse to a quick death. The vast prison was opened, with the Exodites and valuable hostages immediately extracted back to Tien Bo. The gladiators, as they had before in the war with the Firmament Apparition were offered to fight along the Scaeth'Ra and the warhost now waited for the finale. Vix’Anna began the final throes of the play, her psychotropic mist left the Drukhari dazed and sluggish. It had taken hold of them slowly, and in the last minutes of the play the strongest began to realise the imminent betrayal, desperate to stand, to draw their weapons, as Vix’Anna made the psychic scream and the Shadow of the Phoenix began their slaughter. Those in the crowd were utterly butchered, unable to defend themselves, gunned down by several minutes of sustained fire before blades were drawn to finish off the survivors. The Kabalites attempted to retaliate from their barracks but were hard pushed to break through, Dark Reapers and Grav platforms waiting at every exit. The Archon, safe within his viewing room, watched and grew vitalised from the slaughter, patiently waiting as the door was broken down while his Incubi took position. Vix’Anna led the way and threw a Witchblade into the group and Ghrian revealed his deception. Most of the Incubi were those raised by Ghrian to serve the Kabal, and their loyalty held for the Archon. They fought valiantly, falling with some of the Scaeth'Ra's best fighters. In the meantime Ghrian had faced down the Archon in single combat, the third duel of such kind and the greatest challenge to Ghrian yet; The Archon was an exceptional warrior with the finest equipment. Indeed it was his timely use of a Shadowfield that broke Ghrian’s defence and brought him down. Before the Archon could deliver the killing blow it was his champion gladiator who finished the fight. Her furious assault broke the Archon, blinded and dismembered him, but 'still alive'.
Escape
With its gates unbarred and its walls undefended the raptors of Commorragh descended upon the Kabal, storming its keep, and attacking the inhabitants as well as each other in their greed driven invasion. The Archons' rivals dispatched units to retrieve trophies and artefacts, or to settle old feuds. In the chaos the Scaeth'Ra retreated, each unit under the cover of the next, dragging the wounded from both sides, until only Ghrian and his guard remained, who retreated through the webway unprotected only for those gladiators and slaves lost in their blood lust. They triggered Distortion mines to bring the gate down afterwards. With Vix’Anna's expert guidance the Shadows made their way through the webway, any who pursued them, or those slaves who fled at the first opportunity and did not follow Vix’Anna’s steps were lost to the labyrinth.
The civil war continued, it drew more blood than the theatre's massacre and the evidence of the Invader's role became buried. No evidence remained of the cause of the Kabal’s destruction and among the greater populace it was recorded as a mysterious calamity, and a lesson in caution when experimenting with the unknown or the risk of entertaining Harlequins.
Resolution
The Operation had been a complete success, overall their casualties were light and the number of souls saved had exceeded Ghrians wildest dreams. Compared to the pyrrhic victory of the past this was a true triumph. The Aeldari drank in the exhilaration, their pain washed away at last, and they yearned for their next adventure and triumph. The warriors of Tein’Bo and the Shadows had fought with the beautiful harmony of lovers, the alliance did not even need to be discussed, the Exodite world had joined the Shadows of the Phoenix, and would become one of its most significant partners. Their shapers were exquisite and innovative, but their greatest strength was their warriors. The warriors of the Shadow of the Phoenix were already, irreversibly, walking the path that would become their identity; The never ending path of war. These Exodites had lived in the shadow of war for so long that they too had fallen into an unresting state. Until their next campaign the Shadow of the Phoenix were welcome to rest at Tien’Bo. Their relations with Erdinil were still fractious, and that craftworld was still repairing. Aleo was too small and resource poor to hold them, but more importantly the warrior spirit of the Shadows was not a welcome presence in a Craftworld or Maiden world at peace.
This decided there were a number of matters to resolve. The Archon was imprisoned, kept alive with the most basic of amenities for now; without death or revival his final act could not be enacted. Ghrian would, just to be sure, begin the tracking and hunting down of their Haemonculus to confirm the exact mechanism of the Archons curse. The kidnapped infants would begin indoctrination with intent on recruiting; It was a controversial move, which left many of the officers in disdain of Ghrian’s morality. There was a far worse ritual that Ghrian began, however that would test their loyalty further. Those Drukhari wounded and captured in battle had been dragged away, indoctrination alone would not be security to these unsavoury and damned souls. However, Ghrian had formulated a dark practice while in Commorragh, the ability to make an ally from one who had found his secret. This victim, as these captives would, was stripped selectively of his emotion and memory until only a loyal servant remained. They became known as Thralls, and were little more than mindless and half alive, much as Imperial Servitors. This would become practice for a long time, the Shadow of the Phoenix's enemies would fulfil the need for fodder in the larger scale battles of the future. Finally, the Gladiators as before would join the Shadows, they were welcome to attempt to return to their respective homes, and some did foolishly attempt to leave through the webway. Those with more intelligence bided their time. They would never forcibly hold a Gladiator or Slave within his ranks, but neither would they expend resources returning them to their home, however they could leave at any time if they encountered their own kind. There was one final act to make.
Ghrian returned to the dark city, to the coven of Mor’Mont. It was a bold and risky venture, but Ghrian believed that this coven could be convinced to join him. Their mentality and traditions were completely aside to that typically Drukhari, but principally that of the Incubi. They lived only for the purity of challenge and the testing of skills. Yet their coven was in financial ruin, and forgotten. Ghrian walked into the coven, to the surprise of the Incubi who assumed their new Klavex was lost in the Kabals collapse, he called the Klavex to meeting. The entire Coven, at that time just 30 students and a handful of retainers were gathered as Ghrian made his speech. He gave his final story, the truth, and he offered a partnership. He would ascend this coven as it rightly deserved, give it access to fine recruits, veterans, and challenge. To reverse the decay that they currently suffered from. The Coven was divided, the students Ghrian had tutored unanimously sided with him, while one Klaivex considered the offer the other rejected it. The two Klaivex could not agree and the debate grew heated. Ultimately trial by the blade would settle the matter, and the two duelled. The turncoat took the day, but spared his opponent after an impassioned speech of Ghrian stayed his blade. The Coven would join the Shadows of the Phoenix and Ghrian led them out of Commorragh.
Following the victory, Ghrian would spend a cycle in Aleo away from war, joining his people in farming, hunting and travelling. The time in the Dark city had paid a heavy toll on his heart, as his act threatened to consume him. The exhilaration of the ploy, the lies and the game had, along with refreshed memories, awoken the long buried mindset of his youth. In addition Ghrian had developed insomnia from obsessive paranoia, which he hoped would be cured by the tranquillity of Aleo.
Several would-be heroes of the Shadow of the Phoenix join their ranks during this time, the most significant, albeit insignificant at the time, was a student of Mor’Mont and Ghrian. Samm'Ich would eventually become Sovereign of the Dumnanarii, the single Autarch that Ghrian both trusted to lead the Dumnanarii out of his own shadow and to become greater, to follow the balance of obeying his Arbiter, but also debating his Autarch as an equal. Samm’Ich would become a warrior of unparalleled strategic insight and singular skill, for now he was one of several Incubi warriors. Il’Li’Rial was the champion gladiator of the Weeping Mask, once a Howling Banshee warrior, captured and tempered into a killing instrument for the Archons pleasure. Whatever path Il’Li’Rial now follows is her own, she would eventually form a school for Gladiators, before then and forever onwards she is the champion blade of the Shadows of the Phoenix alongside Mar'Shi. A’Lex’Zina is a member of the sisterhood of Lhilitu, a Lhamaean, who was a member of the Archons court, his chef and a diplomatic agent. Wickedly intelligent and shrewd, the courtesan saw through Ghrians deception though decided to side with the Exodite and betray her employer. Against their better judgement and reservations, A’Lex’Zina has become a valuable ally of the Shadow of the Phoenix, she has secured a foothold within the alliance and its diplomatic missions, becoming vital in bridging the diverse and increasingly fracturing factions, as well as recruiting new members. Ghrian’s only speculation for her apparent loyalty is the challenge of her chosen profession, and disdain for her former. Finally, though they would not become allies for many years to come, Ghrian encountered the ‘Children of Kurnous’ while leading a raid for the Archon. Realising that there were unwitting Aeldari on the field, Ghrian altered the mission's plans and parameters at the final second, barely avoiding the unnecessary slaughter of his kin without jeopardising his position within the Kabal.
The Shadow of the Phoenix continued to expand and evolve, while seeing their duty done by protecting their contractors from pirates and the like. The Shadows military structure was reimagined, while their initial missions had been united, they found by necessity the need to divide to cover many simultaneous operations. Ghrian divided the warhost into flexible cells to be combined and dispatched as needed. The warhost Ghrian had assembled was not suited for peace anymore, they craved adventure and violence, and many could not return to their former life. Those most addicted to warfare, who became restless and violent without battle, were formed into separate cells and if duty could not be found for them they would be allowed to find battle abroad. In their first prolonged peace the Scaeth’Ra began their now principle of mercenary work. These warriors had a further worrying issue; Initially they had made sure to return each warrior's spiritstone to their respective home, and infinity circuit, but for some their spirits were restless and disrupted the circuit much as the Spirits of Wraithblades. It would inflame the circuit and like a cancer inflame other spirits. The found solution was to give these Spiritstones to a warrior, who's own rage was well controlled. These spirits could be carried into eternal combat, until the spirit eventually came to be content; Though a few proved to still require sating. Further these Spiritstones could be placed into their own Infinity Circuit, though this required space and isolation and maintenance as their psychic energy was a liability. Ghrian was beginning to understand the consequences of constant war on the Aeldari and sought advice from myths and legends as well as Tien'Bo who were the most familiar with this lifestyle. A series of codes and doctrines were introduced, protecting their ideals and propagating 'honourable battle' to keep their warriors from falling into depravity; This would eventually evolve into the ‘Clean Blade’ methodology. Artisans from the path of Healing were integrated closely to the ranks, to monitor his warriors' well being and identify those who needed rest, and those who could not rest.
Ghrian had encountered many locations in his long wander as a youth, and few could support his growing warhost, he set out with a small retinue to find a permanent home. Vix’Anna, as was her want, had disappeared to her own calling. Kabela and Basilate would oversee the Shadow of the Phoenix and their contracts. Vix’Anna’s passing gift was tracking down a Corsair crew, known as the Tranquillity of Entropy, they were old comrades of Ghrian who’s experience and expertise were second to few, but their resources were abysmal. They would be crucial in finding a location that the Shadows could use as a base. They arrived aboard their single Shadowhunter the ‘Lam’Prog’ and eagerly accepted the quest.
The Station
Ghrian remembered an ancient station in the depths of space that he had discovered while travelling with Rogue Traders. With an appearance of Terran sea urchin, the ancient construction sat adrift in the void and was lost to records or general knowledge. The station had no strategic value but could accommodate the warhost within its hangars and halls. However when Ghrian arrived at the voidstation now, it was occupied. A significant pirate fleet was docked to its protrusions and hangars.
The Corsairs prepared to swiftly retreat when their Void Dreamer Gla’U advised them to remain. Scans identified weapons fire within the station, and the Void Dreamer confirmed the presence of an Aeldari soul. One of their own was within the station and possibly under attack. They were outnumbered by over a dozen small vessels, but the Tranquillity of Entropy were an exemplar crew of mad geniuses; The Lam’Prog was a heavily customised and finely tuned weapon. With millennia of experience between them the battle was closer than it had any right too. They led a merry chase away from the station, the Lam'Prog appeared to be an unlucky and routing vessel - ripe for pirating - however the pursuing pirates found themselves overstretched and systematically eliminated one by one. Their fighter wings were no match for the Corsairs own fighter wing, and without their fighter screen the pilots redeployed as bombers and set upon the helpless vessels. The poor quality vessels were burned in droves and despite focusing on speed they were no match for the corsairs' own.
However this engagement was only a diversion, from a cloaked transport Ghrian and a team of handpicked warriors infiltrated the hangar bay and stormed the station. The ill disciplined and poorly equipped pirates were no match and swiftly slaughtered. The team scoured the station until they encountered the Aeldari, who along with another Mon’Keigh prisoner had escaped and fought a guerilla war for weeks within the station. Before the crew could return to the Hangar the situation took a turn for the worse. The Pirate fleet that was docked at the station was only a fraction of its true strength. The true fleet promptly returned, with larger warships and fresh fighter wings. The Lam’Prog swiftly fled for real to hide within dust clouds and await opportunity. The cloaked transport would not escape the hangar, Ghrian and his crew went to ground, retreating into the abandoned reaches of the station and bleeding every search team that attempted to make chase. Days passed as the pirates attempted to root out the Aeldari and dozens upon dozens of their best warriors were left dead and often desecrated - as Ghrian took to psychological tactics. Their fleet was raided again and again by the Lam’Prog, burning a single ship at a time and escaping no matter the odds. With each passing day the Pirate King’s temper grew shorter, until finally it broke and he ordered that the station be fired upon. Believing the Shadows to be pinned in one quarter of the station, it was now a reasonable cost.
The station rocked with the rising fury of the bombardment but the rounds had no effect, at first. The station radiated energy, its pylons shifted around shattering the makeshift dockyards, iridescent green light shined out and within the station lifeless automatons of the Necrons emerged from the walls. Ghrian realised the fool he was, the Necron architecture had been covered up by millenia of visiting xenos until it had become unrecognisable. The battle became imminently dangerous as the indomitable Necrons turned aside their attacks, reforming and repairing from their wounds; Several of Ghrians chosen warriors fell to their gauss flayers. The Aeldari swiftly retreated, in the renewed chaos Ghrian gambled that the transport’s route would be clear. Indeed the pirates fleet was decimated, the station unleashing powerful weapons into the void ships ranks.
With the Lam'Prog unable to draw close the crew instead made for the Mon'Keigh prisoner's freighter. The human had been a rogue trader and his ship was a fresh addition to the Pirates collection. If his crew were still there, subjugated to the Pirates, they could commandeer it. In the chaos of the battle, burning ships and salvos of canon shells, missiles and green streaks of energy, boarding the freighter was relatively easy.
The team infiltrated the vessel and stormed the bridge. Much of the crew were indeed that of the Rogue Trader and turned on the Pirates, reaffirming their loyalty at the sight of their captain. The greater crew were completely unaware of the event and kept to their stations. They took the ship out of the battle, escorted unbeknownst to the pirates by the Lam'Prog. The striketeam moved through the vessel, purging the remaining pirates aboaqrd. As the Shadows fled, they left behind the extensive pirate fleet battling the station amid a rapidly increasing field of debris.
Union with the Me'Djai
The Aeldari liberated from the station revealed his story; He was a Me'Djai called Ardeth Bah'We and was a prominent leader before his capture, a Corsair Prince. Ultimately he had been imprisoned for hundreds of years before finally having the opportunity to escape. The Me'Djai were twelve fleets of Asuryani, now Corsairs, charged to defend twelve artefacts that held at bay an entire Dynasty of the Necrons. The star systems that the Dynasty occupied were captured in a temporal dilation field. Trapped in stasis, the surrounding maiden worlds were safe from their inevitable expansion. However the Necrons that the Shadows had fought that day were of the same Dynasty, Lockatrez. Ardeth feared that their mission was compromised, should this Necron force awaken enough forces from outside the Dynasties home system they could raid those forces defending the Artefacts. The Me'Djai must be informed, the Rogue Trader acquiesced to his wishes and escorted the corsair to reunite with his fleet.
Ardeth still had a reputation within the Me'Djai, and a loyal crew. He convinced their council of Princes and Void Dreamers to meet to discuss the incident and ultimately they agreed to dispatch a fleet to destroy the station. Ghrian volunteered his force to aid them, he doubted that even the superior weaponry of the Corsair fleets could break the enigmatic Necron armour and therefore planned his own method. While aboard their vessels the Scaeth’Ra 'acquired' weapons and armour from their hosts. Amongst them were significantly 'Voidwalker' Harnesses, which inspired the designs of Adherent Armour. For the upcoming battle they replaced the welding charges of their apertures with balelight charges.
Ghrian had an ambitious plan, a small strikeforce would teleport aboard the station through the warp. The jump would require exact precision, but they were already intimately aware of the Station’s layout. The first team would deploy webway runes and bring the remaining forces through cleanly. Wayseers and Bonesingers would construct a temporary webway portal to bring through a I.E.D constructed from Titan-class D-Cannon. The Scaeth’Ra meanwhile armed themselves excessively with fusion blasters and other powerful weapons to take any edge that they could.
Station Attack
When the Corsair fleet arrived they were interceded by the Lam'Prog which had remained behind to spy on the voidspace. They relayed that a significant collection of Necron vessels had collected around the station. The Prince no longer required convincing, he endorsed Ghrians plan. The fleet would make a single swift raid, deploy the Scaeth'Ra, then engage the Necrons at range to keep outside of the Station's weapon fire. This was initially successful and saw them infiltrate the station, but one cruiser was crippled as the station's energy beam swept across the fleet. While the Corsairs had numbers, each Necron vessel was a very lethal power house. Even if the Scaeth'Ra achieved their goal, they couldn't be sure they would have somewhere to return to.
Within the station the Aeldari, butchering the unending horde of warriors and scarabs with overwhelming firepower and devious warp pack ambushes. The intensity of the attack was such that the environment began to push the capabilities of their environmental suits. A number of Bonesingers who accompanied the strikeforce sealed the entrance ways and constricted the Necrons into kill boxes. Most importantly the Scarth'Ra did not overstay their welcome, the moment the I.E.D. was inplace and primed they fled back through the webway. The void battle was still on going, the Me'Djai were suffering, their casualties mounting as steadily as the Necrons. Each scheme and tactic was foiled, or simply was not enough, their battle was a forlorn one.
However they were saved, as the station imploded, engorged within a warp tear. The remaining Necron fleet quickly left in a flair of relativistic energy. The Corsairs were battered, the Lam'Prog too was barely flying - though given the heavyweight nature of the fight it was a miracle it had endured at all - all they could do was return to their docks and to attempt to track the Necrons down. Ardeth Bah'We raced ahead with his remaining ships, fearing the worst.
The Webway's labyrinthe had only allowed one of the fleets to quickly deploy to assault the station. The risk to waste time or significantly weaken one of the Artefacts defences had been carefully measured. They now reaped their gambit, the token defence left behind had been routed and the lock broken, a system of the Lockatrez Dynasty was liberated and in the beginning of awakening. Once the Necrons were awoken, the remaining systems would just be a matter of time.
Fool's Gambit
By most metrics the Me'Djai had failed, they readied a gathering of all 12 fleets to assault the star system, the coming war would consume them, but they would see the Necrons burn as well. It would take time for all the fleets to gather, so far only one had reached them. Ghrian offered another solution, telltale relativistic signals previously associated with the artefact were present within one of the tomb worlds. A small strike team could infiltrate the tomb and retrieve the device while they were still 'sluggish'. The Necron fleets had not fully mobilised, striking swiftly was paramount to the following fleet's success. However they risked being isolated and destroyed; and weakening their combined strike. If they were able to replace the time lock, then their mission would not have failed. Ardeth agreed, and the Me'Djai Princes followed, they would take the fool's gambit.
The remnants of the first fleet, combined with the second fleet would become the Fury of Wes'Twal, and immediately set out to commit sweeping raids across the system. Orbital bombardments and bombing runs were enacted with extreme prejudice against any emerged surface installations and orbital constructs. Whatever damage they achieved could not be verified, but it provoked the Necrons. Their awakening was beyond anything expected or calculated and the balance of power was precarious. While the Fury of Wes'Twal aggravated, the Scaeth'Ra deployed unseen across the tomb world's leading several warhosts of Me'Djai as well. While one team moved on the Artefact and assaulted the vault that held it, Ghrian identified a leverage to aid their void bound allies. The tombworld closest to full awakening contained massive hangars within deep subterranean caverns. Several had already disgorged their vessels into orbit, but the rest were still awakening. Ghrian used his bonesingers and wayseers to rent a webway opening within the caverns that was just enough to see a Shadow Hunter through, and the freshly repaired Lam'Prog obliged. As a predator within the nest it tore through helpless vessels before bringing the cavern down upon the wrecks and returning through the webway. Across other tomb worlds similar hangars were ambushed, or their fleets fired upon as they left the docks. The Necrons were overstretched and bamboozled, and while they desperately formed strategies and countermeasures the Artefact was retrieved.
- "The success of the 'Fool's Gambit' is still a matter for contention and surprise to scholarly examination of the events centuries after. The Necrons had numerical superiority, in the void and on the ground, the technological advantage, and time on their side. There are two trains of thought that dominate the debate, the first that is typically dismissed for it vagarity is that the necrons were too embroiled in some internal political strife to notice or focus on the eldar attack, the second one championed by myths and story weavers is the necrons were so incredibly arrogant that they failed to appropriately respond. My own feelings on the matter allows room for both having a degree of truth.
What cannot be understated is the role of the Me'Djai in this war. Scaeth'Ra centred documents naturally overlook the 'local forces'. These Aeldari had limited numbers of Titans, as well as God Machines such as War Masters and Battle Riders; Machines now lovingly adopted by the Scaeth'Ra as their championed warmachines. These machines and the elite forces behind them achieved miracles in their raids."- —Excerpt from a historical document including the military campaign against the Lockatrez Dynasty.
However the operation took another twist, as the retrieved artefact had been altered. It was Necron technology, and the Necrons had repurposed the device to accelerate their own awakening; Even now they were within a time dilation field and the events outside progressed much slower. In its current state it could not imprison them as before. The Aeldari did not have the knowledge or tools to reverse it. Ghrian asked the downright silly, could it be accelerated further. The final plan, the final gambit, would be to accelerate the device to such a severity that the system's sun would instantaneously erupt in supernova. Though the star was not destined for such a fate, the asymmetrical ageing would destabilise the gravitational-fusion balance and drive an unnatural supernova. It could be done, and the necessary alterations were made, an autonomous ship was produced and dispatched. The device activated and the crew fled to the webway. The effect, to the observers, was seen instantaneously, as the sun boiled over and disgorged across the system and blasting away half of it within the single moment and destroying the rest with severe heat and the sudden shift of gravity. When the remaining 10 fleets arrived to the burning system, they joined the bombardment of the still boiling planets to ensure no tombs remained.
Resolution
The two factions celebrated their victory and mourned those lost. However the relationship between the two was not smooth. While Ghrian had seen Ardeth returned, and been the driving force behind the resolution of the flashpoint conflict, he was also seen as the driving force of the conflict's initiation, and indirectly responsible for the many Me'Djai lives lost in it. If Ghrian had not interfered, Ardeth would be dead in the place of much of the first fleet - a trade the Prince would have happily made. A strong bond had been forged with the Fury of Wes'Twal fleet through the shared battle, but the remaining fleet had no such bond and spurned requests for a military alliance.
The first fleet was relieved of its duty. Their mission was done, each fleet was distinct and its duty was its own, there was no discussion of whether the first divided among the others. Ardeth wished to explore the galaxy again, to fight for another cause, his Me'Djai, with the 1st fleet flocking to his banner.
Ghrian was able to strike a deal with the twelve fleets despite the ambivalent reputation; Construction of voidships. The Shadow of the Phoenix needed to expand its navy, vessels were under construction at Erdinil and other craftworlds though the ship wrights were conflicted between their existing duty. The alliance was already fragile and reliance on member fleets would be inefficient or impossible. The Me'Djai would oversee this fleet's construction, helping with the designs and skilled labour, also lending their void stations. Though much of the labour and construction would be from the Shadow of the Phoenix itself. The Me'Djai vessels were distinct constructs of those typically seen amongst Corsairs (Fitting as they were Me'Djai, not true Corsairs), the vessels were well armoured and hard hitting, designed to hold ground go toe to toe rather than engage as a fleeting force. This design was particularly attractive to Ghrian and the planned defensive posture over the Lapis Surfs.
Ghrian and his escort continued their quest but were sent awry. They had not mafe any progress, having travelled to prospective moons, only to find heretic forces seeking the same goal. As they set out once more, the Void Dreamer Gla'U was assailed by visions, cries of help, of suffering; something was terribly wrong and the only name she could put to it was Brigan Tia. The Void Dreamer had yet to lead them astray, and when she asked Ghrian to resolve her fears he accepted. Scouts were dispatched and their growing Spy Network contacted, Brigan Tia was a Craftworld sailing close by - just a few star systems away - Ghrian decided to pay them a visit.
The Song's Carcass
They arrived at the Craftworld, finding their appearance ignored, the Craftworlds webway entrance was unguarded and even unmonitored. Initially Ghrian feared the Craftworld dead, but its settlers were found alive; They ignored the strangers, keeping to themselves with most remaining indoors. The Craftworld was poorly maintained, recovering from a battle scored with extensive damage yet the wounds appeared ancient. The Scaeth'Ra made their way through the streets, to the Dome of Seers, still unchallenged by anything short of unsettling fog that plagued the biodomes (Another telltale sign of poor maintenance). In the depths of the fog the mist whirled and shifting shapes took a sinister connotation. The warriors soon found themselves unnerved by their namesake, yet nothing attacked them. The Dome of Seers was undefended, still not a single warrior had been seen. While Ghrian and a single squad entered the Dome of Seers, his remaining entourage took position where the defenders should have been. They found it empty, Ghrian called the Seer Council to meet him, wondering if there was any leadership to the Craftworld at all. However a council appeared, less than half a dozen members arrived within the hour. Ghrian was unsure of what he would put to the council, something was deeply wrong with this Craftworld, but whatever was wrong was their problem not his. He told them what his Dreamer had seen, of pain, calamity and strife and the Craftworlds name. He asked them what warriors, defences they had to bear, did they have Seers that could divinate when this calamity would come, would they make preparations to summon the Avatar of Khaine to protect them. The answers were dismissive, they had no shrines to the Aspect Warriors, no defences, no shrine to khaine. Ghrian was baffled at their apathy, at the lack of fundamental workings to this Craftworld. His journey seemed wasted, though they offered the Prince accommodation. Ghrian now made his realisation, a disturbing suspicion had come from some of the responses of the council, a couple of which tried to hold back mocking. Ghrian drew his combat dagger, and with a brief apology cut one of his warrior's across their guts. With the scream of agony and shock at their betrayal the soldier released, those mocking members of the council sat forwards, vitalised at the savage display, their eyes hungry for more.
Deception
Ghrian moved to disable the Drukhari agents amongst the Seer Council, but at that moment the air turned cold and the light died as an unnatural shadow descended upon the Dome replacing whatever atmosphere was left with an aura of dread and despair. Ghrian had met this scourge before and steeled himself, speaking to his isolated host of warriors and stirring the courage he knew held out. ‘Mandrakes’, the warriors born of darkness emerged from the Scaeth'Ras and fell upon their namesake in a flurried attack.
- "A reckoning is with you ‘Little King’ and your kind, that Kingdom you have proclaimed to own is not yours. It is mine to keep. Mine to forge. Your place is to learn it Child."
- —The Mandrake leader to Ghrian as the battle commenced.
Each warrior took to another's back and with security behind them engaged the unnatural horrors, sending copious volleys of Balelight into their ranks. Outside the sounds of battle could also be heard. The Mandrakes were unlike any foe the Scaeth'Ra's had yet met, the fight was arduous, with many of the Scaeth'Ras best warriors falling to these devious foes, yet they kept their formation, and scores of Mandrakes were sent screaming back into their Shadow realm. One Mandrake, unlike any other there, seeked out Ghrian in single combat and threw himself against the Prince again and again, scoring grevious wounds upon the champion in return for his own. But despite their prowess their insatiable anger ruined their focus. It was only after the insane warrior was completely immobilised from multiple would-be life ending wounds that he was dragged back screaming by the Mandrakes into their realm, and with his attack gone the Mandrakes disappeared as quickly as they arrived. There was no time to rest or process what had happened, the doors flew open and behind a withdrawing squad of Scaeth’Ra came a horde of Wyches and Wracks. The melee continued in a new direction. While these foes were lesser than the veteran core that remained, they came in many times the number of the Mandrakes and mobbed any warrior that became isolated, bringing them down with savagery and nothing of the honour of gladiatorial combat. Ghrian gathered his warriors into a defensive Schiltron and pushed towards the exit, desperately hoping that his troops outside endured.
- "Hold onto your guts Meg'Re, while I take theirs."
- —Samm'Ich to the wounded Scaeth’Ra used to betray the Drukhari subversion.
Luckily those troops outside had endured, and even reengaged the entrance to finish off those that had broken through. The outside battle had been bloody, as both Mandrakes and Wychs had come from the fog to assail them in melee. But Ghrians warriors had excelled their reputation and held back the attacks. Coming back and withdrawing with the fog, the Drukhari regrouped once more and as they approached, thin beams of light fell upon them. Hundreds of rangers had joined the battle, firing from adjacent rooftops, and even from atop the Dome itself. Whoever these Rangers were they were a gift, and the Drukhari battle line staggered as scores of their warriors fell. The Scaeth'Ras charged forth and struck the hesitant mass of warriors, as the melee grew the Rangers beams kept falling upon the Wyches, saving countless as each warrior in a position to make the killing blow was cut down. They cut a swathe of bloody slaughter through their ranks until the Wyches retreated once more and both forces returned to a standoff.
Encircled and outnumbered, they bided their time. Their fortunate allies were Outcasts of Brigan Tia, each one had escaped the nightmare reality of this Craftworld but returned when they discovered that the Shadows of the Phoenix had arrived at the Craftworld. Vix’Anna had assembled them, informed them of this day and called them to arms. Ghrian both thanked and cursed the Shadowseer, who had both saved them and condemned dozens of his men to death. The cry for help had been bait though Ghrian would not know for some time that the Mandrakes and the strange leader were the inciters, the Wyches were unaware of this move, and simply reacting to the unexpected invasion - their own guards missing at the Mandrakes hands. The Drukhari force was deeply wounded and exhausted, despite holding the advantage in strength they withdrew from the fight and melted into mist. Soon afterwards the true leverage made its appearance as the Lam’Prog appeared in low orbit, prepared to bombard the city if required. The eleventh fleet of the Me’Djai had made short work of the token force of Drukhari vessels that orbited the small Craftworld. Fresh forces deployed around the Dome of Seers and Ghrian returned to the Seer Council to begin an interrogation.
Brigan Tia had been enslaved by a drukhari Kabal for centuries, such that it had become the only existence they had known. Its citizen population became a stock of slaves and victims for the Kabal’s thirst. The Craftworld had lost any heart or ability to fight, and without their passion went the Craftworlds beauty and health. Their Aspect Temples were neglected and looted, and the statue to Khaine - proving impossible to remove - had been chained and graffitied. The council were broken puppets, convinced of their fate, seeing only value in a swift death. Ghrian, close to fury, made an impassioned speech to the council beseeching them to make a stand, his warriors would sharpen the edge, but the people of Brigan Tia would liberate themselves. His words sparked the kindle of passion that still resided within the broken people, one that was already warming with the battle at the Dome, and one by one the council turned to his side. They would raise the militia, the people would rise up. With every second that the Scaeth'Ras remained on the Craftworld, their fury and militant passion bled through to the world spirit. The same mechanism that drove them away from their allies was the rebirth of this Craftworld. They would march to war. Across the Craftworld cells of Drukhari remained, uncertain on their next move they laid in wait, the Me'Djai deployed across the ship meeting the militia and distributing weapons. Many citizens were prepared to fight with nothing more than sharpened chunks of wraithbone but Ghrian wished to avoid unnecessary casualties. His men would be the unseen blade, guiding the citizens on to take victory themselves, not knowing that the Drukhari’s disorganisation came from assassinated leaders, suppressing sniper fire and disruptive sabotage. In a short week the Drukhari were purged from the city, each cell isolated and destroyed.
The war-like spirit of the craftworld had resurfaced and bellowed, despite cost, the citizens looked to the Scaeth'Ra now, yearning for the next battle, to kill more of their oppressors and retake paths of martial arts that was their birthright. Passion soared through the populace and Ghrian knew it had to be tempered. Such raw rage was a hazard and these Aeldari were not true Asuryani yet. He dispatched messengers to his allies, to bring artisans, seers and especially Exarchs that would see the city and its people rebuilt. However the war for Brigan Tia was far from over, the Drukhari would not relinquish such a source of souls without a fight. Ghrian already had an army waiting for his command, he set about forging it.
Those council members that had been Drukhari spies were made Thralls, as the wounded Drukhari on the field of battle. The Thralls openly divulged their once innermost secrets and with this Ghrian garnered knowledge of the forthcoming battle. The Me’Djai had been thorough in the void and no ships had escaped. With no update the Kabal would dispatch a fleet to investigate, it was not expected to arrive for at least another week. While training a militia Ghrian ordered that the surface biodomes be ‘wrecked from battle’, an easy feat given their existing damage, and brought his army from Tien Bo to join the battle; the civilian militia were evacuated to the catacombs of the craftworld. Though the Shadow of the Phoenix were deployed in full force, Basilate and Kabela both were preoccupied, they and their honour guard would not join the coming battle.
The raiding forces arrived earlier than expected, and in large numbers. To Ghrian’s surprise a Battleship had joined the patrol which surveyed the Craftworlds orbit. Probing forces scoured the nearby asteroid fields and nebulas and found nothing. Only a Craftworld seemingly dead and abandoned, its webway gates sealed shut. They quickly deployed ground forces and began an extensive survey while the fleet waited idle. The advance teams dispersed into the catacombs and fell silent, disappearing into the deep and darkest tunnels. Their rear guard and command posts also fell silent as the Scaeth'Ra emerged from the sealed webway gates, infiltrating the complacent reserves and slew them in brutal ambushes. As the Drukhari aboard the vessels began to register the alarming disappearance of their forces they themselves were ambushed as the Scaeth'Ra’s fleet emerged from the Craftworld itself, shattering thin wraithbone coverings that passed as the Craftworlds hull. The militia sallied forth from the Craftworlds depths and the ground forces found themselves fighting a battle on two fronts.
In the void the Drukhari had suffered for the ambush, but a number of their vessels endured and struck back hard, burning several Me'Djai vessels and crippling the Lam'Prog - their Battleship proving particularly problematic. The battle quickly broke down to chaotic boarding actions across nearly every vessel in the close range void-melee. Despite the risk to their own forces the Drukhari both bombarded the ground theatre and deployed their reserves through the Scaeth'Ra’s fleet. The savagery and disdain for their own force’s survival was appalling, but effective, the Scaeth'Ra’s attack was staggered and the clean kill became a mess.
However savagery met discipline, the citizens of Brigan Tia had nowhere to rout, nothing to lose, they threw themselves into the conflict with reckless abandon and the Scaeth'Ra held their own nerve, their endless practice and drilling taking over in the unnatural slaughter. The Drukhari died in droves to their hands and the streets ran with blood. The chains around the Statue to Khaine melted as the stone caught alight. A single Exarch, who had survived the original conquest of the Craftworld made their way to raise the Avatar. The ground battle was decided, in orbit the Me'Djai showed their worth, their hardy vessels enduring the close range bombardment and deadly weaponry of the Drukhari. Their voidsmen fought cleanly through the chaos and systematically purged their own vessels and disabled their enemies. It was a fight of strength against strength, and the Drukhari were broken.
- "Ariella Martu was an Exarch of the Striking Scorpions, and survivor of the conquest of Brigan Tia. For Millennia they were a vigilante, a harbinger of justice against the Sundered Heart and director of fate to protect those that could. They saved hundreds of lives and propagated the population of Outcasts. They made their mission content in the knowledge that their death would come, but they would be the catalyst for their peoples rebirth, they would be the Young King, and lead Brigan Tia to a new age under the protection of the Avatar of Khaine."
- —'A mausoleum of heroes', a catalogue of the lesser known figures that contributed to the Shadow of the Phoenix.
Aftermath
The bodies were piled high and the wrecked vessels were swept away before they could fall to the Craftworlds gravity well. The Drukhari Battleship was still intact, cleanly disabled, and even now Corsair teams purged the vessel of its occupants one compartment at a time. Only small teams had made the journey, though Ghrian desired the battleship for his own use he feared sabotage or a final defiant suicide. A more pressing matter took Ghrians attention, one of the Seer council was missing. Ghrian’s suspicion was that this member was a true traitor, not a victim, puppet or disguised agent. He wanted the gratification of slaying this vermin himself, and dispatched scouts to track him down. In the meantime he oversaw the recovery of Brigan’Tia and its people. The Battleship had been captured, the last Drukhari killed and captured in bitter combat.
News of the missing council member arrived, Ghrian was torn to remain but time was of the essence, a quick journey to take this potential traitor's head and return, then he would reunite with his Brother and Sister who were soon to arrive.
Ghrian followed with just a single squad of retainers, including Suam, to an Imperial Hive World called Dramos. The atmosphere was thick with dust, and shrapnel rained from the sky as an orbital station disintegrated in the atmosphere, a bad omen of what was to come. A Wanderer met him, the traitor was tracked to Dramos Tertias and hid within the underhive, the Aeldari moved swiftly slipping unseen into the city. Their rendezvous was missed and their escort soon tracked down, on the cusp of death the wanderer had been attacked and overwhelmed. Their comrade had been forced to retreat deep into the underhive. Ghrian prioritised recovery of the second wanderer over his hunt, seeing medical aid to the first as the highest. As the team descended into the hive, fighting and infiltrating past the warring tribes in equal measure, they soon realised that their quarry had manipulated the attacks. A hive wide bounty had been made on suspected xenos. Hundreds of gangers, hired guns and mercenaries descended into the lowest depths to kill the so far only identified target. Yet against the piled odds the single warrior had endured, the pathways to their appropriate lair thick with the corpses of over confident attackers. The target had accrued infamy in the short week and become known as the Widowmaker. Reunification was simple, but arduous, the delay dragging on into another week that would ultimately cost them all. Ignorant of the road ahead, Ghrian now had the location of the traitor and began his hunt. Deeper and deeper they travelled into the underhive, through industrial complexes, shanty towns, radioactive ruins and finally in the remains of a forgotten city they captured the target. The conclusion was brief, as after a curt exchange Ghrian tore the Aeldari's spiritstone from their chest and decapitated the nobleman. Worryingly the once noble council member had an escort of Drukhari, they could not have chosen this place by arbitrary means. Ghrian accepted that he had been likely drawn into a trap but was confident that he could fight his way out of whatever had been prepared. Taking the traitor's waystone for a more deserving carrier, they left the impaled Drukhari escort to rot in the forgotten city and headed back up to the wasteland of the hiveworld.
The Greater War
It had been nearly a month's excursion in the end, the simple objective delayed again and again. The team finally emerged from the underhive to be met by the wanderers they had again sent on ahead. The city was on fire, bombarded by an army that sat at its gate. A chaos invasion had swiftly seized control of the wastes outside and decisively crushed an assembled army that had challenged it. One Hive city had already been transformed into a necropolis, under cover of the burning space station and suppressed sensors. This city would soon join it. Several choices faced Ghrian, but it was not his war, it sickened him to see the Great enemy winning, regardless of the trivial scale, but they had to return to Brigan Tia and secure its future. They began an exfiltration of the Hive city, but the extent of the fortifications and patrols forced several flashpoint firefights. The Scaeth'Ra moved with ferocious speed, an unseen and bloody blade through the heretics ranks. They did not know that across the battleline a kill team of space marine blackshields made the same journey on a mission of their own.
Reaching open ground the Aeldari at last moved faster, racing across the wastes and passing bloody battlefields that had taken place. The sounds of battle were distant and they reached their webway gate. Yet the 'Widowmaker' called them off, with freedom mere metres away the squad held as the legendary scout stalked ahead and found his fear. Squadrons upon squadrons of Drukhari Kabalites laid in patient waiting, possibly more waiting beyond the veil. On this distant planet it was the only gate known to them. The traitor must have somehow sent a message ahead and arranged the trap, they withdrew for now.
They had few options to run with, the extent of the Drukhari’s forces and influence was unknown. In the open they were at their mercy, so swiftly the squadron reversed their journey and came to the back of the besieger’s battlelines. A ferocious firefight was taking place within the midst of their ranks, an Imperial strikeforce had attempted a raid and were now pinned within their camps. They were Astartes warriors of the Blades of Onyx, who had history and an uneasy relationship with the Shadow of the Phoenix. They were a potential vector to escape, and would likely be reasonable to cooperation. Though the Aeldari were just a squad, the elite warriors were perfectly positioned to ruin the enemies advance, after a volley of well placed sniper fire they charged the suddenly leaderless cultist squads into melee; Throwing Hallucinogen grenades before them. Their enemy was sluggish, Ghrian and another Warlock focused their psychic might to throw the enemy into deranged madness, while the Blackshields remained clear of mind. The cultists and traitor guard turned on eachother and their space marine masters, many of whom also fell to the blood lust they barely held in check. The battlefield became a bloodbath, boiling greater as minor factions turned on eachother and a thousand madmen took the opportunity to settle old scores. It took the personal intervention of the Chaos Warlord to steady the battleline once more and in which time the raiding parties both had swiftly escaped.
The Blackshields revealed that their operation had been an attempt to extract Imperial prisoners, the besieging chaos forces had been projecting their tortured screams across the Hive city to demoralise the defenders to great effect. One amongst them was a hero of the world and its defence and potentially a vital asset. Unfortunately they, and the majority of the prisoners, could only be given The Emperor's peace. The Blackshields had accepted that the city, the whole planet as well, was doomed and their actions were simply delaying the inevitable. One squad had already fallen to the battlefields of the plain, Hive city Dramos-Delta had fallen already, and the squad stationed there was likely dead as well. Void transport was out of the question as the space above was dominated by their enemy and the astropathic choir had been slaughtered by an enemy sorcerer, the daemonic abominations spawned by their desperate plea for help sowing more chaos amongst the defenders. Once more both parties were trapped within the city, they agreed to a truce however - both mercenaries and the two forces had more in common with each other than the Imperial city that tolerated their presence as a resource. Both parties fought against the invaders, assisting the defenders in a clandestine manner to delay the inevitable. Each day was won by the attackers, with fortune and favour disappearing more each day. The city burned to its spire, and as its lower floors fell the Aeldari secured an escape vector. The Imperial nobility would not join their city’s fate, and had private transports and military, but the prowess of the mercenaries won a place within the transports to protect these highborn, Aeldari and Blackshield would travel together or not at all and the Blackshields knew that the webway was a potential. While Ghrian pushed for a surgical strike to the Webway gate, and to face the ambush, the High Lords would not be convinced. They planned to travel to Dramos Primus, the only Hive City that comms confirmed had survived, and prayed to Their Emperor that this city held.
The air convoy that left would be at the mercy of the invaders, every air asset that could was repurposed for transport or escort to exact resources from the city. Naturally the civilian and guard transports would be used as an expendable screen to protect the nobles. The Blades of Onyx, and their Aeldari guests, would ride aboard their Storm Eagle at the column's head. The last of the guard and civilian population were by any official means ignorant of their fate and left to the mercy of the invaders.
The initial flight to escape the runways and city saw two thirds of the wing burn. The warbands own fighter wings set chase, and continued to burn the wing in sweeping strikes. When their countermeasures and ammunition ran out the riders took to the doors and protected the transport with their rifles. Heavy weapons damaged and destroyed several more fighters, and the Widowmaker sniped the pilot of one fighter through their broken canopy. Out of resources the Storm Eagles escort was burned and alone it weaved through attacking wings. The Widowmaker achieved another kill, guided by a blackshield sniper he struck a weakpoint of the heretics craft. As attacks landed again and again the venerable transport was stripped of its armour, its riders wounded and finally the indomitable pilot hit himself, chanting canticles of machine code as the storm eagle's spirit took hold and held them aloft. As a fighter wing returned once more to end it. Finally a fighterwing of Imperial fighters led by another Storm Eagle arrived and routed their attackers, they had reached the city.
Unseen Allies
While Ghrian and his team fought for their lives his allies were not idle. A cell was dispatched after their Arbiter within the week of his absence, these troops followed his steps and were soon ambushed by the Drukhari waiting in the shadows of the Dramos Gate. Off foot and constricted within the webway the cell fought hard to make progress but the odds were insurmountable, as further Drukhari forces surrounded them the Commander could only execute a successful retreat and save their remaining troops. Within the day a warhost returned and a vicious battle of attrition established as the two factions fought over the webway. Eventually the Scaeth'Ra pushed through the suffocating mounds of dead to the planet's surface and found a legion of warp corrupted humans waiting for them - the Drukhari had lured the planet's attackers to hold the gate for them in a final bitter move. Seeing the casualties that had already amassed for their side, Basilate withdrew, accepting that Ghrian would never accept the price of continuing this endeavour. They instead returned to a previous plan, where every pathfinder and explorer they had in their ranks and beyond searched to find an alternative way. In the meantime a ship would be dispatched to reach Dramos from the void.
The Last City
Any hope for salvation within the last city did not make itself known, the general charged with its protection admitting that their defences would last a week before their final death, an optimistic prediction. Still their available Blackshields had doubled in number, and while unwelcome and uninvited Ghrians squadron made the same difference. Again both parties had no actionable plan, and set about bleeding their attackers with gusto marine and xenos fighting side by side against the true enemy. Again each day passed with more of the city burned and the defenders pushed back. In the spire top the nobility had finally fallen to insanity (that of Dramos Prime had long been this way), convinced that victory was in their grasp they sent out contradictory and inaccurate commands and plans to the PDF’s generals who swifty ignored them to carry on the defence. The Blackshields and Aeldari began plans for a final defiance against the heretics and would have sabotaged the city's fusion reactors.
Pathfinders had found a second gate within the labyrinth around Dramos, the ancient and barely functioning portal emerged into a crawlspace buried within industrial ruin beneath Dramos Prime, and Ghrian’s squad received their news. Immediately the plan changed, and with the Blackshields help Ghrian convinced the Imperial survivors of the new escape vector. They would need the PDF to cut through the Heretics battlelines and their engines to extracvate the ruins to reach the webway. One clause of this agreement was that Ghrian and his Aeldari would have to be in the rearguard of the digging efforts and there would have to be amnesty through the webway. The Shadow of the Phoenix meanwhile began to dig up from the gate with a cadre of Bonesingers to stabilise their efforts. For days the Imperial attack held on, keeping a passage between their dwindling stronghold and outpost, before both parties reached each other and an exodus of evacuating civilians was made. The central spire was lost and all effort was put into the escape. Through the singular door the progress was agonisingly slow and despite the perturbation of his officers Ghrian kept to his word; Therefore a cell was dispatched to join the rearguard and his dwindling squad.
However, within their dwindling spire the madened and insane nobles detonated caches of explosives at the base to deny the spire to the heretics. The entire spire toppled and came crashing down upon the city, killing millions in an instance and burying the webway gate once again just a day before Ghrian would have left. His cell and the operation’s rearguard of ten thousand PDF were left alone to die, any hope of restoring access to the gate gone.
Ghrian settled on the original endgame and began to cut a path through to the city's fusion plants again as the heretic invaders still reeled from the spire's collapse. From the very aether it seemed a hoard of Drukhari ships descended upon the planet, slaughtering and capturing all. Their attacks focused on the Aeldari cell and to directly intercede their approach to the power station. With little time or strategy available the Exodites assaulted them with suicidal fury, cutting swathe after swathe through their blockades. With each frenzied melee more Exodites fell dead or behind until Ghrian and Suam alone fought on, and fought alone, finally cut down by dozens of assailants screaming defiance till the last second.
Days later a detachment of the Shadow of the Phoenix fleet arrived to the dead world, collecting the one survivor, the same Widowmaker that had first arrived to the planet who swiftly informed the reinforcements where the Scaeth'Ra bodies had been taken.
While Ghrian encountered the Me’Djai Basilate would have his own adventure. Along with Kabela, Basilate remained on Tien’Bo to oversee their Protectorates and fulfil contracts. Kabela worked tirelessly to see the Shadow of the Phoenix equipped to the standard of a standing army, while Basilate taught students in the ways of a Spiritseer and oversaw the World Spirit of Tien Bo and Infinity Circuit of Erdinil. Shortly into this endeavour messengers of Craftworld Hurul’Pa came to Tien’Bo seeking the ‘Necromancer’. Reputation of Basilate’s ‘Necromancy’ at Erdinil had spread wide and this Craftworld were desperate in seeking such skills. Basilate was not a Necromancer, his actions at Erdinil had been the actions of Spiritseer, an exceptionally skilled one, and an act that the Seer council had refused to be possible. Nevertheless if the Craftworld was so desperate as to seek a Necromancer to resolve their calamity, Basilate would help them and see done whatever they asked. He took his students and with a escorting cell he followed the messengers.
The Parasite
Basilate arrived at a Craftworld recovering from an attack, a council member met him at the webway and swiftly explained the time-sensitive situation. While Daemons and Heretics had assaulted the Craftworld a parasite had infiltrated the Webway and was growing fat from their undead. A contingent of Spiritseers were removing every spirit they could from the Webway, while a team of elite Warlocks attempted to track down and eliminate the parasite which was hopefully alone, though their efforts were hampered by warp tainted forces that had fled to make guerilla battle. The councillor wanted Basilate to join the Spiritseers and extract those souls that refused to leave the infinity circuit, to commit Necromancy and rip the souls from the afterlife to spare them. Basilate had never done this despite his infamy, but nonetheless could see it done. However, he had already formulated a risky venture and offered an alternative solution.
With the aid of the Warlocks they tracked where the Parasite would likely pass next. Basilate secured this section of the infinity circuit and with his escort both physically and psychically severed the section from the circuit bar one entrance. He then entered this isolated circuit and removed the souls that dwelt within through both coercion and necromancy until alone he remained. Basilate reached out with his psyche and screamed his psychic presence, flaunting it to the very eyes of she who thirsts. In an instant, his soul was at the mercy of Daemons and warp parasites. Whatever had invaded this infinity circuit, as Basilate had wagered, found him irresistible and immediately entered the sector to feed upon him. The entrance was severed and now Basilate and the parasite were alone in a miniature infinity circuit. His students pulled the Spiritseer back from the brink, just as Warp Creatures clawed at his mind and the warp realm tested his sanity. The parasite was no daemon but instead Tyranid, the creature had gorged upon the Aeldari souls until it had grown fat and would have continued to do so. The plan had been to leave the creature to starve or force it to return to the mortal plain where it could be more easily killed but the Spiritseer saw another way and pushed off the presence of his students to remain within the circuit. Basilate duelled the creature, one psyker to another in the now sealed tomb of the quarantined infinity circuit. The creature was unearthly and fed upon his power, glutting itself on the Spiritseer’s soul. Basilate allowed this, reaching out with his mind as to communicate with it, the created gorged and became unfocused and in that moment it sealed its fate. Basilate broke through to the psyche of the creature of itself and entered its mind. He could have destroyed the creature if he so pleased, but instead, he severed its intelligence, its will and its conscience until only memory remained. The creature could not feed or fight back, it listed within the soul realm in a state of living dead. Finally, Basilate emerged from the circuit to a waiting assembly of warriors. He had only a moment to communicate his plan before he collapsed from his psychic injuries. Every soul and every memory was within that creature, though digested they likely persisted he hoped that the Tyranid could be broken down and the Aeldari souls returned to their rightful place once healed. If not, maybe the creature's origin could be traced, and a blood tithe enacted upon the vile mind that had dispatched it. For now, he fought with every fibre of his remaining strength to remain alive.
The Rit’Rur’Ba
When Basilate finally recovered he awoke back on Tien’Bo, the Craftworld had made sure that the Necromancer they had asked for had not overstayed his welcome. He would not find out the outcome of his actions. The Spiritseer, and now truly Necromancer, did not dwell on the adventure and returned to work. However he found a Warlock awaiting his recovery. The Warlock was a so-called Chosen Warrior of the Rit’Rur’Ba and he seeked the Spiritseer's skills as well. He had been at Hurul’Pa, the Chosen Warriors purging the Craftworld clean of the Daemonic infestation, and they had another battle to face in the coming month, and would be required to destroy a Greater Daemon that would save countless thousands in the future. However to face this entity they required an unsurpassed weapon, a Wraithknight, and a Spiritseer to complete the bind of both living and undead twin to the war machine. Basilate accepted.
The Chosen Warriors assembled in Tien’Bo in a rare gathering to oversee the Ritual. Guided by a Seer, a Coven of Warlocks of unparalleled skill spent their entire existence in the service of fighting chaos, the Warlocks hailing from different Craftworlds. They brought forth the slain Warlock, and their Twin who did not hail from the Chosen Warriors and took an honorary position now. Basilate, joined by Kabela, oversaw the ritual and bore the Wraithknight Drak’Nor.
Before the Chosen Warriors left Basilate asked if they would honour the Shadow of the Phoenix by taking a volunteer of their ranks, they agreed.
While Ghrian encountered the Me’Djai and Basilate assisted Craftworld Hurul'Pa Kabela had her own mission, a separate endeavour to find a home. The original plan had been three separate attempts but Basilate never set off on his exodus. Kabela, as the only leader with good standing amongst the Asuryani and Exodites, travelled from Craftworld to Maiden world with a host of rangers and diplomats. They learned and they investigated and finally they achieved their goal.
The Void Station
Rumours were verified with intelligence and a potential home was identified. There was an ancient aeldari void station drifting ruined in the wastes of space. Without the Lam’Prog Kabela only had the recovered Drukhari vessels following the aftermath of Erdinil’s siege; These were ill suited for sensitive scenarios and barely operational but for investigating deep space were adequate.
Additional teams would travel through the webway to complete the mapping of the potential residence. It was unusual that the station was left intact, within imperial territory, potentially its location within the fringes of the Halo Stars left it unnoticed.
However their navy was not so blind to miss the Aeldari vessels, and a series of fleeting battles soon began. Each time their navy approached the station Imperial ships would intercept them. Refusing to commit to battle the vessels would engage at range, the aeldari vessels failing to break through the void shields and the imperial ships failing to hit them at all through their Shadowfields. It became apparent as this went on that the Imperials were defending the station, Kabela divided her forces and exploited the Imperial Navy's lethargy.
One ship passed through while the other retreated. Kabela was now dangerously within the enemy's guard, and without dropping speed passed by the station. A temporary void dock was established alongside it with a sizable merchant fleet docked. The station was in the midst of excavation with a number of sections reduced to skeleton threads of wraithbone.
The Webway team needed to be warded off. At most they now had a duty to see the void station destroyed. Recovery was beyond them with their current forces. Reunited the fleet was hidden within a nebulae, the webway access was their only way forward. Their marines and much of the crew abandoned the ships and took to the webway.
Meanwhile those teams already set along this path found the tunnels swarming with workers, millions of penal colonists and civilians attempting to dig into the webway. Mass executions had taken place and some unknown predators had also been massacring these workers. With sealed graves and skeletal corpses as way markers around the camp it was clear that this had been happening over decades. Some sort of civil war had fallen out within the Imperials as the camps besieged eachother. This chaos allowed the Aeldari rangers to infiltrate and selectively purge their way through the tunnels, bold and confident, ignorant of the scale of the calamity around them. Kabela was too late to ward them off, and followed the force in determined to be a ready extraction, taking time to purge all in their path and secure a viable retreat.
The ahead team, flying on their initial successes, boldly pierced further into the Imperial camps and found realspace again, emerging into the void station. They were appalled with the excavation efforts of the barbarians, the unnecessary damage to such a magnificent construct and damage to the infinity circuit that resided within - Warp spiders were endemic as a natural countermeasure to this damage, in numbers that they rangers had never seen before. Enraged, the Aeldari flew into a killing spree within the station, slaughtering every Imperial they came across, soldier or civilian it didn’t matter. Kabela’s forces were overstretched, and she made the decision to regroup, if they were going to extract the ahead team at all they needed to be a single cohesive unit, they pushed on into the station as well. Within the station the blood thirsty scouts were finally corralled, punishment could come later.
Excavation efforts had not been made for centuries, the Warp Spiders turning savage against the Imperials and leaving hundreds of psychically devoured corpses, their attacks now expanding in scope as they sensed Aeldari souls at last. The situation was rapidly devolving in complexity, the station housed an infinity circuit and they had a duty to see it protected, not destroyed. Between the two group’s reconnaissance, the Aeldari gathered that a cult of personality had overtaken the workers, or maybe those leading the excavation efforts. The situation devolved further, as exploiting the weakened defenders the third warring faction made itself known, a Slaaneshi cult cultivated in the bored minds of civilians and attracted by the suffering of the infinity circuit and the hunger for its contents. It had grown within the Imperial station and overwhelmed it utterly, turning the habitant blocks, barracks, and prisoner cells into a bloodbath; a vile slaughterhouse dedicated to excess and pain. The last vestige of Imperial control remained within the Aeldari station, the remaining Inquisition and leaders turned insane and deluded while their soldiers fought to the last. The Aeldari took to the defences to repel the invading cult.
Barely organised, rabid and unskilled the cult was a horde of fearless cultists that rushed to their deaths with eager abandonment, however the aeldari were not in much of a better position; the elite rangers were low on power cells, and beside the warriors acting the ship's marines were armed crewmen. Kabela played to her strengths, using the rangers and warriors to funnel the cultists into the crewmen who made a strong defensive centre. The first wave of cultists were swiftly crushed but the following waves would not be so easy, as they used landing craft and merchant freighters to flank, landing away from the original umbilical. Kabela withdrew her forces deeper into the station, by now the Rangers were forced to resort to only melee, striking from the shadows in fleeting raids in tandem with the warriors. Residues of the Imperial defenders remained, and swarms of warp spiders defended the damaged infinity circuit; The Aeldari manoeuvred around both to break the tide of the cult again and again. Their options were running dry, as they fell back to the once command station, and found themselves in a dead end. Here was remnant of the Imperial control, where the Inquisition had once commanded their efforts. Much of the command team was already executed, having attempted a mutiny, the rest deluded to a semblance of control. The Aeldari cut down those that turned on them, and bound the rest, readying their final stand. Should they endure the prisoners would be vital for intelligence gathering.
The final stand was not needed, as the cultists hammered and cut their way through the doors they erupted into panicked screams, the frothing horde thrown into terrified panic, the sounds of their slaughter drowning out every other sense until finally it was deathly quiet. For a moment terror held them back, but the Aeldari ventured out to meet their unknown saviours for better or worse. Each corridor was carpeted with dismembered limbs and pulped corpses, the cultists beaten to death. Within the gore were bonewhite humanoids, constructs of torn wraithbone that had pulled themselves out of the walls. They were wraithguard, crude abominations made by the sheer will of the station's undead finally able to channel themselves through the Aeldari. Suffering every second of their blind existence they had released centuries of impotent rage and pain. Swiftly the remaining warlocks made themselves conduits to the wraith beings, soothing their rage and giving them sight. Kabela used her artisan abilities to reforge their bodies in tandem with the warlocks. In their unnatural existence they had been fragile, and vulnerable to the predation of slaanesh - indeed some had already paid the ultimate price.
With a host of unarmed wraithblades, the Aeldari ventured back out, their constructs racing ahead to crush any skull presented to them, leaving only a trail of blood and bone in their wake.
March of the Dead
The tables had turned again, in good order the station was cleansed of the Cult and the remaining Imperial loyalists. However they were surrounded in space and in the webway. Those loyalists within the webway had finally been overwhelmed and the esoteric cult dominated the webspace; they were not invasive but blocked any escape. While the Aeldari team were in no hurry to escape to the webway they had a more pressing concern. The skeleton crew left behind on their vessels had made their own attempt to reunite, but had been pushed back by the cult. They were able to establish contact however and relayed that the vessels had been found by the Imperial patrol and destroyed; They had been forced to abandoned ship.
Expecting more raids from the Slannesh cultists Kabela dispatched their best pathfinder to infiltrate past their defences and summon Basilate and the Shadow of the Phoenix military. The umbilical had been severed, preventing further direct crossing of the cult from the habitation station, but dozens of freighters were readying to continue. For now the Aeldari could only hold on, making a roving defence. Kabela wasn't as helpless as the situation seemed. The command centre had still housed an astropath whose designation was to communicate with the guarding naval patrols. The Inquisitor had refused to call for help from his rival as he had descended into madness, Kabela would, should it be required, call for the Captain to destroy the station. For now the Astropath remained incapacitated. The first attacks landed, and the second battle for the Station began.
The Cavalry
The Pathfinder made good progress, after infiltrating through the cults' webway camps, they raced back to Tien Bo. The military of the Shadow of the Phoenix were departing for battle, travelling to the Craftworld Brigan Tia; Basilate was one of the last to leave. The coming battle would demand all of their forces, and time was a matter of urgency. Naturally Kabela came first but Basilate only had his students and honour guard available to join him. Tien Bo also dispatched a unit of their Dragan’s Guard to join Basilates sorte, particularly indebted to the two who helped heal their infinity circuit.
- "Situation's dire, what can we expect?'
'Three squads in all.'
'Not a warhost, or a fleet?'
'The Dragan's of Tien Bo walk by my side.'
'That'll do."- —Kabela to Basilate
Spearheaded by the Dragan’s Guard Basilates cell burned through the cultist blockades and security, swiftly reaching the station and striking the cult’s other flank as their forces fell upon the station. It was only a small host, but each unit was without peer, the precarious hold of the Station was finally tenable and most importantly, the host brought supplies. As well as power cells, ammunition and food Basilate brought seeds of wraithbone and the Ghost Axes and shields befitting the new Wraithblades.
Basilate and Kabela together were capable of making rudimentary repairs to the station; Basilate communed with the Infinity Circuit, and faced with an enraged and tortured sea of emotion he brought it to heel. Kabela's song reverberated throughout the station, every Aeldari there that could joined her in choir. The two efforts, spiritual and physical, worked in harmony. It was still slow, but the station healed.
The Slaanesh cult was not idle, seeing their attacks were not bearing fruit they regrouped, they saw that the Station was morphing and healing and took to their defensive installations. Turning their weapon batteries against the other void station. For a minute the, relatively, small arms battered the weakened wraithbone. However the healing infinity circuit replied, forging a shield of psychic energy. This could only ever be a temporary measure and Kabela needed to respond quickly. Basilate could not leave his union now and was stranded in the Infinity Circuit, using his own might to hold the tide together.
Docked within the Voidstation's hangar was a single wing of fighters, Imperial Lightnings and the Inquisitor's transport. While the technology was foreign to them, it was simplistic and quickly learned. The Singers deciphered the protective wards and failsafes that protected the machines, calling upon their psychic prowess to beat the machine spirits into submission. The fighters would be slow and cumbersome but they had no choice in the matter, they would do.
A strike team was assembled into the transport, those left behind cast a shroud around their allies, guided by the warlocks the cultists who manned their sensors simply did not perceive the approaching wing. They had a single opportunity, the transport landed unimpeded directly into the heart of their own hangar bay, and the fighters struck the cannons directly. With that gone, it became a frenzy.
The strike team was handpicked, the Dragoa's Guard spearheaded the Aspect Warriors and Pathfinders through the Cultists, slaughtering all. Warriors, cultists, unarmed workers, anything that passed their sights were cut down. In the void the fighters weaved between the spires, blasting the defensive weapons and cutting down transports and fighters as they left their hangars. They had only minutes of opportunity and the ammunition they carried. Exhausted, they withdrew. However without cover they were at the mercy of the Stations remaining defences, many of the few burned in the void before they reached the safety of the hangars. The Strikeforce was alone, cutting a bloody path from the hangar, across the station. Every second that they were there the greater chance they would be overwhelmed and crushed. Interrogations were made on the fly on chosen leaders, their minds burnt from their skulls with furious witch powers. Their plan was to identify power generators, ammunition stocks, and other vital infrastructure that would see the weapons silenced. They found something unexpected. The cultists had been slaughtering themselves in droves to form a stable rift corridor into the warp, they were close to succeeding. Whatever horrors they would summon would be assaulting their new station, and had to be destroyed now. The Dragan’s Guard took this threat upon themselves, with a handful of Aspect Warriors with them they descended into the pits of the habitation blocks. The remaining warriors tore through the station, each one seeking a separate system to destroy. The last words of the Tien Bo Exodites was that they had engaged Neverborn and Astartes. There had been no news since. There was no return from this, the last warriors drove on all the harder knowing that it was a suicide mission, knowing that they would soon be hunted down. Within the hour the strikeforce were dead to a man, the guns were not silent, but they were no longer a threat to the station. They had breathing room once more.
Kabela and the Shapers had not been idle, they had spent every effort to repair the Station, especially its engines. There was a gateway into the webway that was suitable for them, and the wreck moved. The Slaanesh cultists, their new Neverborn allies and Astartes - what was left of them at least - were powerless to intercept them. With the webway within reach, Kabela revived the Astropath, and forced communion with the Imperial Navy Captain, he would see the station burned to ash. She vowed that they would return, if a single spirit stone survived, it would be retrieved.
Kabela and Basilate returned to Tien'Bo, whose warriors had not long returned from Brigan Tia. The infinity circuit of the station had been tempered, and its raised warriors even returned to rest but the situation was still temperamental. While Basilate could leave the circuit once more, he was not willing to leave the station and worked on a plan to resolve the issue. While Kabela's skills were desired to repair the station's integrity this was no longer an urgent matter and could be handled by other Bonesingers. Kabela was instead called to Brigan Tia.
The situation the Bonesinger found was somehow immeasurably more dire than the one she had left. The Craftworld of Brigan Tia was still devastated from the battle that had taken place and the centuries, even millenia, of abuse that it had seen. Funeral pyres were stacked high and the smoke of the fires rose higher. Great rents of Wraithbone littered the void, and the ship's hull was wracked with injury.
The battle had been costly, enough to warrant a restructure of the Shadow of the Phoenix military. The Dumnanarii had been formed into an official entity, and the significant legion of outcasts that had flocked to the Scaeth'Ras would be its first wing. Ghrian had been present in every second of these reformations at first. But had disappeared with the news of a traitor escaping to the webway.
Kabela was left to pick up the reins of this shifting environment. Luckily the reshaping of their military was led by the well established heroes of the Shadow of the Phoenix, such as Mar'Shi, Elik'Ra and the young Samm'Ich who while studying the path of the Striking Scorpion was already leading forces on his own. Kabela realised the totality of the growing endeavour here and summoned Basilate and the Veil of Shadows, as the ancient station would be called, to join their orbit. Their priority was repairing the craftworld, restoring its engines to peak capacity, and leaving this hostile territory. Their newly designated Wanderers, a professional body of Rangers, had already mapped out the powerful empire of the 'Sundered Heart' and were still discovering the extent of their strength. The fleet they had fought with the strength of the Me'Djai was just one of many, they were simply outclassed by this powerful faction. Furthermore it was of no interest to the Shadow of the Phoenix to wage war against these Drukhari, aside from the satisfaction and principle of putting down their principal foe; Therefore they would not wage an unwelcome war.
Fortune did favour them, at first, for the Sundered Heart withheld a reprisal for their defeat. It was something the Drukhari would come to bitterly regret, but they themselves knew nothing of their new enemy's military power. The plan did not take long to go awry, as Ghrian failed to return. Cells were dispatched to follow the breadcrumb trail but were soon enough engaged within the webway by the Sundered Heart. Running battles began and every alternative was countered. Basilate tore himself away from his duty to lead a Wraithost through the most thickly defended path and finally punished their kin enough to retreat entirely. However the planet they reached was in the midst of war and even larger forces of chaos aligned guardsmen and astartes met them at the webway gate of the planet. The price was too much and they withdrew before the battle started. With a planet and its location scried however they deployed ships and Wanderers to find an alternative entrance. One was eventually found, requiring excavation to reach the surface. More importantly, communication was established; Ghrian was still alive and had secured a working relationship with the beleaguered Imperial forces. Together they would secure the site, dig it out, and escape.
The plan would very nearly succeed, but fall through at the last hurdle when the city itself collapsed upon the excavation effort. Millions had been evacuated, but the rearguard was left behind. Ghrian was not recovered, and later when voidships reached the desolate planet they only found the newly recruited Pathfinder now known as the Widowmaker still alive. Ghrian had been captured by the Sundered Heart.
In what would later be realised as a momentous moment of their history every single Dumnanarii warrior volunteered their oath to fight beyond the expiry of their natural life in the coming campaign. It was an oath asked of the first Warhost at the beginning of the campaign against the Firmament Apparition; But this time it was volunteered. In both cases it allowed the easy and guilt free summoning of the undead as Wraith Constructs. This would be absolute destruction of the Sundered Heart or the Shadow of the Phoenix, as it had been before. Kabela, Basilate and the rest of the Heroes set about forging the plan.
Opening conflicts
Little changed initially, the repairs to the Craftworld switched to readying it to a war footing, and the Wanderers began aggressive raiding and bleeding of Sundered Heart's forces. Suam returned from Si'Syph'Os, having fallen at Dramos as well he had been taken prisoner but released in a political move to curtail the Craftworlds involvement in the coming war - its reputation preceding it.
While the Me'Djai continued work on producing the full range of novel voidships, they redirected their workforce to completing what ships they could. Within the month a dozen Northstar frigates were completed though missing what would become their iconic weapon, the fusion beamer. They set to work in coordination with the cells. Unfortunately the planned Dreadnaught and Heavy Cruisers would not be available.
The Widowmaker meanwhile led a cell of the wanderers into the heart of their territory and stole aboard their ships while they harvested planets. For now they stayed their hands and infiltrated deeper.
The Barbed Sails
The war, and its perceived growing dynamic shifted violently when a Drukhari fleet made an attempted assault on Brigan Tia. The Shadow of the Phoenix had been preparing for this, but were still caught off guard. They were confident in their assessment of the Sundered Hearts strength and their fleet's positions. This attack came from a wholly new fleet, a reinforced scouting party designed for opportunistic raiding. It came, taking no advantage of the local terrain. Upon seeing the formidable forces of the Me'Djai fleet it scattered and made for the webway. Scouts pursued and discovered further forces gathering, and identified that they were a third party. The Shattered Remnants of the Barbed Sails had re-knitted themselves without the Tyrant of Amethyst, still outcasts of Commorragh they had grown strong in the merciless void.
Their raiding fleets would return again and again, probing the defensive net and scouting themselves. Dozens of skirmishes erupted, and a number of them turned into larger indecisive battles; Wherever possible the Me'Djai and Dumnanarii simply withdrew to force a clean engagement. As the scouts discovered more it became apparent that the Sundered Heart and Barbed Sails were the middle of a long and escalating conflict as the two fought over rich harvests and webway routes. The Barbed Sails being the invader to the Sundered Hearts former territory. If the Shadow of the Phoenix were forced to wage war on two fronts against two foes at the same time they stood no chance of bridging the ever growing gap.
Focus Shift
The Dumnanrii immediately set about on a host of new operations, false flag attacks on each party masquerading as the other, Mar'Shi leading many of these attacks personally alongside Samm'Ich. It was initially successful, the pressure on their own territory was relieved as retaliatory attacks flared up against either side.
During one such operation Samm'Ich achieved a strategically absolute but politically disastrous victory against the Sundered Heart. The target being a mining complex built into an asteroid that housed the Sundered Heart's surplus slave populations and contributed the majority of their raw material harvesting, as well as ship building enterprises. Samm'Ich managed to destroy the entire facility using a salvaged warp drive. The decided method of killing, along with the chosen targets, broke an unspoken rule with the Shadow of the Phoenix and initiated a shifting political state. Samm'Ich was denounced to be no better morally than those they were fighting and removed from the military; The warrior immediately became an outcast to continue the fight with a dozen loyal allies.
On the other side of the war Mar'Shi continued to make damning progress, cutting down much of the lower level leadership of the Barbed Sails. The remnants were led by two powerful generals, Mar’Shi had set his eyes on them but they careful and shrewd characters. Eventually an opportunity to decapitate one of them appeared and Mar’Shi led his Cell deep into their territory. It was a patiently laid trap, Mar'Shi's and their warriors were surrounded and annihilated, the Dismounted Blade himself disabled and taken alive to be made an example of.
With this victory it did not take long for the Sundered Heart and Barbed Sails to agree to a ceasefire. United by a common thorn, their fleets began to coordinate piercing strikes towards Brigan Tia.
The Second Battle of Brigan Tia
Again the Shadow of the Phoenix gave ground easily, the Craftworld was their only defensive objective and their forces would not be trapped. The void was the focus, though within the webway skirmishes on foot took place. Eventually the final battle came, and it did not proceed as expected.
The two fleets, one for each Drukhari faction amassed separately within striking distance of the Craftworld. Together they would be needed, the two factions had not resolved their conflict and the majority of their fleets still were ready to engage each other over their borders once this conflict was over.
The Shadow of the Phoenix did not sit idle as each Drukhari commander waited for the other to lead the charge and suffer the worst of casualties. The attack was three fold, the first attack eliminated communication between the two fleets, the webway tunnels blockaded and a cadre of warlocks inhibiting direct signalling through the void; A holographic fleet had been priorly made and postured before the Barbed Sails to keep them in their place; Finally the entire fleet of the Shadow of Phoenix boldly left Brigan Tia unprotected as they attacked the Sundered Hearts fleet in isolation.
The attack was brutal and swift, with one fleet routed they turned on the next, scattering the fleet with a charge of the holographic decoys. The victory was decisive and would be lauded in their history, but regardless was a fluke. The collaboration and preparation for the battle could not be centred on any single individual within the Shadow of the Phoenix. That said Prince Leonde of the Me'Djai proved a steady nerve and growing ability with their leadership during the battle, defending the Craftworld and Veil of Shadows against a flanking fleet sent during the last battle. With only a handful of ships against many they had achieved success with extraordinary manoeuvring that showed a natural gift in void combat. The Prince had been amongst those who had planned the segregated engagement and later accredited with the victory and was on her way to joining those lauded as Heroes of the Shadow of the Phoenix.
Escalation
Power had shifted once more, the Veil of Shadows was repaired, and returned to a fully operational battle station. The first resting place of the myriad of outcasts who had fallen in service of the Shadow of the Phoenix. The fleet of Northstars were growing, and their immediately trademark Fusion Beamers were developed and installed, retroactively to those pressed into service already. The slow bleed of the Cells were taking their toll with increasing ferocity, now in the void as well. The death's knell of the Sundered Heart would be agonisingly slow, but it was certain now, which made them desperate.
The once impossible agreement between the Barbed Sails and Sundered Heart was suddenly reasonable, and both sides began serious negotiation with each other. While militarily weaker, with a fleet a third of their size though individually stronger, the Barbed Sails were in a stronger political position as the Shadow of the Phoenix had only ever committed to false flag attacks against them and the defence of Brigan Tia, focusing primarily on destroying the Sundered Heart. In return for feeding grounds they agreed to a momentary military alliance and permanent ceasefire. The two fleets destined to destroy Brigan Tia would meet for social and competitive gladiatorial games, and witness most amusing of all a deathmatch between two high profile prisoners of their new enemy.
Both Mar'Shi and Ghrian had been made noteworthy gladiators in their time since capture, while Mar'Shi remained relatively sound in mind and body through the torture and blood thirsty demands of the Barbed Sails Ghrian had suffered a worse fate, he had been made into a grotesque. Whatever tortured semblance of his mind was left was buried behind the torture driven reprogramming, neurological dampeners and drug induced delirium set upon him since the start of the war; Though he had been spared an lobotomy, to keep the pain all the sweeter. His body mutated and surgically corrupted into an unnatural beast of skinless muscles and grafted armour he had become unrecognisable; Just another victim of the Haemonculli.
Aboard the Kabals equivalent to a spire fortress, an oversized and converted battleship, the games were held and the two parties met. Both of the Barbed Sails Generals joined the extended, though not central, nobility of the Sundered Heart. Around the gladiatorial arena thousands gathered as an entire shard of each faction killed each other for the sport, and finally the two champions were released.
The grotesque met the dismounted spear and the long duel began, agility against raw strength, discipline vs fury, ultimately the skill of the unaltered mind prevailed, a subtle message from one Kabal to another. Mar'Shi was ready to make the killing blow but held back in the last, as the Grotesque begged for death in a familiar voice. Ghrian had finally regained some clarity in his death throes, though it was by the design of his transformation. The timing had needed to be perfect, and the steady nerves of the Widowmaker and his Cell of Wanderers had held, along with Samm'Ich and Vix'Anna, the Aeldari in disguise turned on both sides of the stadium and opened fire, slaughtering droves. In the midst of the battle a dozen hallucinogenic grenades were detonated in the midst of the crowd. It was yet another false flag attack, and it worked, as leaders from both sides were cut down. Unexpected to all but the Barbed Sails their leaders were prepared killing machines, specialised Wracks disguised as their Generals, and turned on the Sundered Heart with cold zealotry. With the battle underway the survivors of the Cell stole away to the pits beneath the Stadium, to where Mar'Shi had dragged the body of Ghrian, where the slave pits and bestiary could be released to further the chaos; Much as it had before with the Weeping Mask.
For the Shadow of the Phoenix the operation was one of last minute discovery and exploitation. Their forces had moved swiftly, thanks to their small scale and focus on the webway thus far they were able to strike deep, but the objective would not be easy; Extracting forces from the Sundered Hearts Flagship, in the middle of the growing battle. The attempt to reach the flagship through the webway had been months of work and the triumph of patience and care, not the bull headed rush required right now.
However the Northstar yet again shined brightly, reinforcing long range bombing strikes into the fray to selectively cut a path towards the flagship, it was only a matter of time before the Me'Djai too joined the fray; Their larger ships necessitating longer detours and alternative avenues. They kept their distance, sniping with pulsars and rearming the Northstar led raids. Yet, it was a heavyweight fight, many coming heroes of the Shadow of the Phoenix and aged veterans fell victim to the over reaching plan as fighter wings and void ships were struck down. Finally they secured a strike route to the flagship itself and disabled it with a number of strikes, and specialist haywire weaponry. Boarding teams secured the infiltration team and the combined fleet did not linger. The Veil of Shadows arrived at the last and shielded their escape.
Though heavily outnumbered the Barbed Sails had quickly gained the upper hand, not losing coordination or motivation in the chaos and adapting their strategy to align with the Shadow of the Phoenixes independent assault. The Sundered Heart were left momentarily beheaded and rapidly dwindling.
Aftermath
The oath of 'Duty beyond death' was fulfilled, Ghrian had been recovered and the original plan to simply withdraw was returned. It would be years of travel but webway tunnels large enough to accommodate the Craftworld had been found that would allow the impossibly long journey to be somewhat reasonable, reaching them was the first length of the journey.
Ghrian himself was in a dreadful state. Worse than thee insult upon his body was that his own will had be utterly broken by a succession of factors; Addiction to excessive combat stims usage, physical trauma from his surgery and torture, and psychological torture from forced combat against his former squadmates and later prisoners from the conflict. Without the combat stims his transformed body wasted away, he refused food or medical aid, which were eventually forced upon him. The psychological recovery was slow, but nearly a year later it was made. Cooperating, Ghrians body was painstakingly repaired by followers of the path of healing. A strange complication was discovered, while Ghrian could be healed with the assistance of others, his own natural healing mechanism was corrupted, driving a return to his Grotesque self.
Returned to the fold the first act of the Sovereign was to clear Samm'Ich's reputation and return him to the fold, declaring that he would have made the same decision. Then he renounced temporarily an active role in leadership while he undertook the Path of Command, realising the responsibility he now had required full commitment to the role.
For the three way war, returned to two, the Barbed Sails were now left a clear dominance in the conflict. As a way of thanks to their unwitting comrades they returned all of their prisoners, though in their own words they could not tell apart the Shadow of the Phoenix warriors from the Sundered Heart and therefore to be safe they sent them all back, with their heads and hands missing, and no soulstones. Many of the corpses were long dead already, and once identified it still did not amount to their total missing warriors. Operations would continue in the region for years in the Shadow of the Phoenixes attempt to resolve every unknown and recover their dead.Campaigns[]
Residence[]
At the turn of the 41st millennium, and the height of their power, several places are home to the Shadow of the Phoenix. While numerous Craftworlds and Maiden Worlds contribute towards the alliance, its military and administration do their best to remain impartial and operate from independent locations. The Riocht are maintained to allow garrisons and recruitment, but not settlements or bases. Over the millennia since their inception the Polasa that formed the Shadow of the Phoenix and required residence has steadily grown. From refugees, sell swords, mercenaries and romantic idealists; Growing an even larger baggage train around them of family, suppliers, and traders, as well as pets. At first their void ships, and abandoned tracks of the webway would make do.
A region of the webway known as Nea’Mhni or the ‘Trackless Void’ is one that the Harlequin Vix’Anna knows well and through her the Shadow of the Phoenix too. It was a region notorious to the Harlequins, touched only by their feet, and this promised security to the Scaeth'Ra. It was also a region home to the webway predator known as the Mac'Ti, or Shade Wolves; Security through numbers was paramount here.
For a long time it was their home, the Scaeth'Ra mapped its twisting growths and migrating passages, identified the families of the Mac'Ti and settled bolt holes in the safe oasis between. Wayseers worked tirelessly to seed new tunnels and close the most perilous ones. The bolt holes grew and long lasting settlements remained even after alternatives were found. The Aeldari born and raised here naturally are gifted navigators and rangers, the webway an undaunting landscape, one traversed with everyday ease similar to the Harlequins. So close to Cegorach's call however, more than anywhere else, these Scaeth'Ra abandon the past lives to take on the Mask.
It was with excessive journeying of Nea'Mhni that the Shadows found the abandoned city of the Firmament Apparition. Ir’Kal is a city that exists within the trackless void, one initially established in the height of the Aeldari empire and then abandoned; To be much later repurposed as a satellite of Commorragh. This expansion became bountiful and expanded upon until the events of the Shadow of the Phoenix's birth, where the Kabal was eventually destroyed by infighting; Their raiding operations were blocked by the new enemy and now vulnerable Vect sealed their fate, closing the webway gates that connected them to Commorragh leaving the populace to starve. At the height of their civil war powerful and forbidden weapons were used by ever more desperate fringent factions. This included unrestrained use of the Glass Plague. It was centuries later that the Scaeth'Ra found the city, now a necropolis and began the slow process of converting it to their own use. At first a section of the Drukhari city was removed and their own wraithbone structures replaced it, grown to complement and pay homage to the original settlement beneath it. Over yet more centuries the city continued to be converted as need be. It is hoped that the Ir'Kal will be a true refuge and settlement for a colony to flourish, safe from any threat and calamity, as well as a chance to build a monument to the Scaeth'Ra's mission.
- "These creatures were made to hunt us within our own sanctuary, they are our predators.'
'Since when has that stopped us taming such beasts?"- —Basilate's reply to Samm'Ich.
Shade Wolves is the gothic designation for a predator seen within select territories of the webway. So named for their pack hunting tendency and their shadowy form. The Shade Wolves are a most dangerous foe, as ranged weapons often pass straight through them, and to engage in melee requires immense skill and speed. Their name is descriptive, they appear as shadowy apparitions and hunt in packs. As they reside within the webway little is known of them to the Imperium and they are simply listed alongside the innumerable other threats of the webway.
The Mac'Ti, as they are in the Aeldari lexicon, are a very unnatural creature as they are an artificial one. The Mac'Ti were made by a since forgotten Xenos species to eradicate the Aeldari within the webway, the two at the time at war in realspace. It was effective in a limited capacity but not successful, as any organised force was not deterred and organised extermination curtailed their spread. The Mac'Ti, like all of their creators designs, were a solely organic construct, though beyond the realms of any natural evolution and chasing the advanced sciences of the Aeldari’s own. In this case the Mac'Ti could vastly contract and expand their body without compromise of muscle or skeletal strength. They seemed to have, in a limited capacity, the same mechanism as the Webway Shunt Generator; Hoping in and out of the Webway through makeshift short lived tunnels. Further but finally, their hide has a protective property as it breaks up their silhouette into shadowy vapour, which is particularly powerful in combination with their ability to fold their own frame.
These powers were in part psychic in nature, the creature innately has a powerful psychic presence, while having limited intelligence of its own. It is intrinsic and comparable to genetically inherited skills. In combat they instinctively shield themselves with field of cold dread that can throw off Psykers. They are immensely powerful ambush predators, and hunt in packs, singling out lone travellers and often exhausting them in prolonged chases if a quick ambush cannot suffice. The Mac’Ti have learned to become wary of Aeldari war parties, those that survived the exterminations have completely adapted to the Webway; Typically their diet is focused on the other horrors that populate it. If the webway is considered a biome, with Medusae and similar creatures it's fauna, then the Mac’Ti are the Apex Predator of it.
The domestication of the Mac’Ti was a possibility widely overlooked by the Aeldari, the creatures have a stigma against them and eradication of their packs is the normality. The danger they pose to wandering Outcasts and their typical psychic anguish leading to the aforementioned stigma. Further their pelts are prized by Drukhari Beastmasters. When the Scaeth’Ra took to the Trackless Void they encountered large packs of the Mac’Ti, however they decided to refrain from exterminating them.
The Outcasts establishing the boltholes for the Scaeth'Ra had been pendling romanticised myths of heroes fighting and taming the beasts. As Exodites they had a greater care and respect for the animals, and the idea of a long lasting aegis against them through tamed beasts appealed to them. With great care, sorties were sent into the territories of the Mac'Ti and sought out their warrens. Stealing the infants and taking them back to the boltholes. This practice continued for years, the Mac'Ti were studied in great length and a domesticated population was established. Many of the Scaeth'Ra take Mac'Ti as familiars, or to guard their homes. Within the trackless void rangers patrol with packs of the Mac'Ti, driving off the wild beasts and using them to hunt unwanted guests as well. They keep the webway clear of pests and parasites, and their pack nature shows itself in their loving devotion to their 'family'.
Within the reason that ties the realspace to the Webway, the Lapis Surfs encompasses much of the Trackless Void. Known to the Aeldari as the ‘Garden of Sapphires’, or ‘Gairdí'Aut 'AzraIt’ in their tongue, is a cluster of stars and nebulae that notably contains a high number of blue giants, granting its name; Appearing as a field of beautiful blue to violet lights across a backdrop of a yellow nebulae said to the carcass of a God broken by Khaine. It was the favoured hunting grounds of the invading Firmament Apparition, until Craftworld Erdinil visited to restore their supplies of energy and the two began their dance of death. The maiden worlds scattered within, as well as the Corsair bands that kept boltholes here, were the founding members of the kindled alliance. In the death of their predator the once isolated Aeldari parties became united.
Since their inception a number of minor Craftworlds that have joined the Alliance have made their way to the Lapis Surfs, with many more Corsair warbands and Outcast parties joining as well. Additional maiden worlds have been seeded with the beginnings of terraforming, and suitable planets have been colonised in the meantime. What was once a sparsely populated area of space has become an Empire.
Though it spans hundreds of stars only a handful are inhabited by the Aeldari, though all of them know the scrutiny of the Shadow of the Phoenix. Many dozens of Imperial paradise worlds, as well as Cemetery and Frontier worlds reside within, outnumbering the Aeldari worlds that lay stake to it. With the 'graces' of the Scaeth'Ra they are permitted to exist, while it is reasonable that the alliance could eradicate them if it set its wrath upon them, the loss of life and inevitable attritional wars that would follow holds the Aeldari’s blades. Instead they have grown a rapport with the isolated Imperial worlds, leaving clear signals to them when they should turn a blind eye or remain within their garrisons. Limited trading and intelligence sharing had slowly become a normality over millennia, and since the Noctis Aeternae the Scaeth’Ra have even deigned to assist these isolated Imperial groups against the renewed invasions of Chaos; After all they need to be in a strong enough state to inform their Imperial overlords that they require no further aid.
As the Shadow of the Phoenix holds dominion over this space, they consider it their duty to purge it of Ork and heretic invaders. Referring to them as pests or weeds of their ‘Garden’ and considering themselves it’s gardeners. Listening posts carpet the space, using advanced gravitational measurement to map and track visitors that can then be ambushed. While invaders are typically destroyed deep within the Surfs, the carcasses of their fleets are towed to the fringes, leaving a morbid warning of the fate of invaders.
The Veil of Shadows was a forgotten and ancient void station that's classification was lost to both the Imperium and its Aeldari makers. Even since the discovery of Craftworld Penumbra the Veil of Shadows has remained a critical asset and is regarded as the 'first' colony. With the Dumnanarii rapidly forming their own distinct people, and as part of their recognition and ascendance of Samm'Ich, the Veil of Shadows was gifted to the Dumnanarii to be their colony.
For many years it was the Shadow of the Phoenix's only home and held their fledgling civilian population and kept their dead. The Station was constantly upgraded with the needs of the Scaeth'Ra, as well as joining battles and relocating as needed. Not only could move short distances under its own power but was able to open webway portals to travel further, with the assistance of void craft it could efficiently travel to wherever it was needed. When Penumbra was acquired the civilian population could move to the secure Craftworld and, its greater living space and quality, the station was transformed into an entirely military installation. Designed to act as a forward command centre and mobile space port that would have greater flexibility in navigating the webway thanks to its size.
The Veil of the Shadows has a considerably strong reinforced wraithbone super-structure and void-hardened surface armour that allows the station to trade and shrug off the powerful weapons of even enemy battleships. In addition to this a powerful forceshield has been built into the station, replacing any remaining holo-shield emitters, which can protect it and docked vessels. The shield is backed up by a significant rune shield, in the years that it was occupied a small infinity circuit was created from the Shadows resting spirits. The Circuit has continued to grow and has been fully integrated into the superstructure of the station, as such it will unreliably deflect attacks from the station with the undead’s psychic potential.
- "We'll take them under our wings, commencing extermination"
- —The cold voice of the gestalt mind of Penumbra as it acquires targets for the next salvo.
When news that a 'derelict Craftworld' had been found by Imperial Rogue Traders and was in the process of being towed back to the Imperium from the void between galaxies reached Ghrian, he realised he was within grasp of a hitherto unrealised aspiration. A Craftworld could fulfil an ocean of dreams, provide refuge for billions, house endless armies, feed them all and be a bastion as well. He knew the project could be a nightmare, and it proved to be such, but well worthwhile.
For starters the ship had been towed through the warp unprotected, throwing the psychoreactive material into cancerous growths. The ship had a historical wound, a weapon had nearly bifurcated the superstructure, and on top of this the Rogue Traders had applied tow hooks with no understanding of the ships structure; It was a miracle that the ship remained in one piece. It had to be completely repaired and overhauled.
While this was ongoing the Aeldari realised that the Imperial intelligence had been unsurprisingly obtuse. The ship resembled the cruise liners that the original Craftworlds had been borne from, but it was not truly one. For a time they harboured dreams that the vessel was a warship from the War in Heaven, they were close. The Amranca, the Estranged, or the Theliod as they are to the Imperium, are an ancient race that once rivalled the C'tan though were closer to it's prey. Some members of their race joined the Aeldari in the great war, and their ascended race with the old ones grafted great weapons for them to use. This ship was one such.
Though dreams of wielding such ancient and venerated technology from before the fall of the Empire were curtailed, barely anything remained functioning. It would prove to be a veritable gold mine of ideas and research, some of the technology later being retrofitted back into the ship, but for a long time it was worthless. The other ongoing issue of note with the Craftworld, designated Penumbra, or Fhaisorr'ko Scath'Mairnuisce, typically just Fhaisorr'ko, meaning 'In Radiant Darkness' in its short verse, was the difficulty in sending the Craftworld to its intended home, within the Garden of Sapphires. It proved to be an Exodus, and even now the Craftworld travels the line of the Cicatrix Maledictum in hope of crossing it. For years the power systems of the ship were not self-sustaining, and the Aeldari transported massive rechargeable batteries through the webway to nearby stars and sources of magma, or even stealing the power systems of others. Chaos raiders pursued them for decades, until they were finally destroyed. The historic injury reared its head as the ship sustained trauma from constant running, and emergency repairs had to be made in hostile territory. The vessel was paid for in blood, and this its inhabitants wear with pride.
As the population of the Scaeth’Ra have thrived, Fhaisorr'ko has grown with them. Its initial miniature scale now chases similarly sized Craftworlds, already exceeding some of the Alliance members like Erdinil. In the effort to repair the original wound the ship was transformed, ultimately the supporting structure supplanting the original skeleton. Now a hollow exists across its core around which the ship's citadel exists; The centrepiece being what appears to be a small star. It is entirely artificial, defying the accepted laws of stars, a ball of violet plasma the size of a hive city contained within gravity apertures. Through specially maintained webway tunnels and a shielded core the star is the Craftworld’s power source; A grand statement to the artistic mastery of the Shadow of the Phoenix. The citadel spire leads forwards into a massive garden that spans the front of the ship, forests and similar miniature biomes of every maiden world the Alliance knows is kept here, the geysers of Tien Bo at its bow, the favourite Tiaga of Aleo shortly after it, the vigilant blue meadows known to Sākāna-Loc, and the tundras of Draidheamh-Saar to name a few. A forest unifying dozens of worlds, with at its heart a prized Matr’Virs, a tree of the Golden Forest of the Dreviavilas acquired soon after the discovery of their distant relatives.
The citadel remains the primary habitation space of the Craftworld, with military encampments flanking eitherside; Mock battlegrounds spreading out to the wings. Smaller habitation domes exist scattered around the ship. Beneath lies massive hangar spaces to house the war machines of the Shadow of the Phoenix, as well as the workshops to support them and docks for warships.The Alliance[]
The Shadow of the Phoenix are an alliance, a conglomerate of factions united in shared military might, each faction remains distinct, and the Shadow of the Phoenix are the shared military pooled from each faction, and the greater Polasa around them. Each member contributing a tithe of warriors and resources in return for protection. Behind this military is a council of the member states who have representatives of Seers and Nobles. The council is typical of the Aeldari and faction politics in general in that it is a knife bed of political argument, backstabbing and power plays. Ghrian, as Arbiter, is the 'Final Word' of the council, decider of inconclusive decisions and enactor of its decision, he is their sword and dictator of their military. Political agents, chief among them A'Lex'Zina, work tirelessly behind the scenes of the council to secure the resources needed for the Shadow of the Phoenix. It's military is sworn to the Arbiter not the council and ultimately the political indecisiveness of the council has yet disrupted a campaign. A number of these members have prominent historical note or are particularly significant within the council and military.
Craftworld Erdinil, an original founding member of the Shadows of the Phoenix. Though they initially had no intentional military at all, having experienced millennia of peace facing no threat their fleet could not adequately dispatch, they would ultimately become a formidable military power following their Craftworlds siege. Repaired and significantly fortified, their Craftworld has expanded to adopt a growing population and become a haven for the alliance. Thanks to a permanent envoy of the Exuberant Executioners Aspect the Craftworld have developed into armoured warfare specialists, and are responsible for the construction of the Apocalypse tanks. Though war and military endeavours have dominated this craftworld they are still at their heart philosophers and artisans, trading debate for warfare from one day to the next. While it has expanded since its attack, the craftworld of Erdinil has always been small, a reflection of a small population.
Craftworld Erdinil was always known for the beautiful and elegant robes and dresses that their people wore, said to bear every conceivable shade of purple. Champions of the written word, where letters were the very fibre of their culture; They still bear purple across their armour, and white letters are embossed across much of it. Behind their military is a formidable court and array of diplomats and serfs that maintain the alliance in many ways; Though are also a common source for the disparate council.
Favoured units: Apocalypse tanks, Fire Prisms
The outcast allies of Ghrian that joined him to defend Erdinil; Their loyalty secured when Ghrian won a duel for the right of rule from the previous Sovereign. Before this they were old comrades of his raiding days, having taken him in. The Raid’Gei’Re were vicious raiders and pillagers that could put some of the most heartless and sadistic corsairs to shame. These rangers were expert saboteurs, navigators and assassins. Masters of deception, covert, and brutal in warfare. They also made their way by means of slavery and looting.
Some of their culture and ideology still persist even while their place and role in history has been shunned. The title of Sovereign is a hold over for example, and the use of their terrifying masks when engaged in terror tactics. Many other practices and their mindset have otherwise been eradicated, but may be seen within the Dumnanarii.
Their place in the history of the Scaeth’Ra is a short one. Officially they have since joining the alliance been wiped out through attrition. Secretly all their members that could not be coerced to change, or were a concern, were executed in a secret massacre shortly after the Commorragh heist; A direct retaliation to reports of their savagery upon the innocent Exodites of Tien Bo. The Wanderers have supplanted this formation, and owe their success to these Outcasts.
Favoured units: Rangers
The Exodites Aleo have chosen to send their young to fight, rather than let them wander and be lost to an unknown fate, their warriors are fresh and seeking adventure. While not holding esteem of shared campaigns and history with the Alliance, they are one of the larger contributors to both the Alliance and the Dumnanarii which along with their ancestral bonds to the Quadrumvirate earns them a venerated position. Their Household Guards are, paradoxically to their inexperienced ‘Light Foot’ are notorious for their skill and ability. Their forces are well motivated and known to soak up the stories of Corsairs and Outcasts, strengthening the bonds of the Polasa through sharing history and myths. Aleo also functions as a convalescent home of sorts for the wounded, both physically and mentally, as the world is known for being peaceful, amongst maiden worlds.
The ‘Light Foot’ of Aleo engage in ancient traditions of threading their armour with living plants, particularly native blossom, and are sometimes referred to as ‘sweet smelling’ by their peers, who consider their adherence to these traditions as ‘cute’. Aleo, as well as Tien Bo, are responsible for the common Scaeth’Ra tradition of worn bouquets of blossom to symbolise marital ties.
Favoured units: Household Guard, Dragon Riders, Light Foot
The Dha’Roth are an ‘infamous league of rogues and sellswords that ravaged the galaxy and taunted the very Gods at the end of it’; When they joined the Shadow of the Phoenix they were old and retired, taking up vigil of Aleo in return for living space and supplies. When Ghrian recruited his Maiden World he happened to arrive in years that the Dha'Roth looked back to the stars with the yearning for 'one last adventure'. They volunteered their services and after the Firmament Apparition were vanquished remained on. They had during this time taken on a large number of students and teaching the next generation had reignited their passion. The small number has grown large, though few of the original pilots still fly for combat. No aircraft has escaped their passions, but the Nightwings and Darkstars remain their principal talent. Most craft bear custom schemes of the pilot's own designs.
Favoured units: Helios Wyrm, Twilight's Song, Nightwings, Phoenixes, Void Dragons, Darkstars and Eagle Bombers
Though Tien’Bo was one of the later members of the initial alliance, it is one of the most significant of them. In mindset, the martial culture and dedication to warfare, they are most similar to the eventual Dumnanarii, but it was their innate control and culture that staved the new faction from damnation. Tien'Bo are Exodites of rarely matched skill and experience. Having beaten off expeditionary forces of the Great Crusade, they have since continued to fight off a nearly endless persecution of the heretic legions humiliated by them or drawn by their legend.
The Exodites of Tien Bo have a rich culture of their own better expanded upon in a dedicated document, but a number of their traditions have been appropriated where appropriate. A fascination with the collection of talisman trophies and feathers has come from them.
Favoured units: Light Foot, Dragon Riders, Retainer, The Dragon Guard
The Coven of Mor'Mont, is an ancient league of Incubi that upheld traditional codes and values of their original founders, much of which has been selectively abandoned by their peers. With their own honour system, and rules of engagement this coven had lived on and become obscure. Purity of combat is held above all else, and perfect execution is relished. By a twist of fate Ghrian earned himself a position as one of their at the time three ruling Klaivex. They did not care that he was not Drukhari and when he promised to restore their coven to its rightful place they accepted. Since then they have been expanded, given a place within Penumbra with the right to select candidates from the Shadow of the Phoenix military to which offer a place within the coven.
Favoured units: Incubi
The Dumnanarii are a distinct race of Aeldari and of an extreme militant mindset. Born of the Shadow of the Phoenix and growing into a distinct identity to eventually be a recognised member of its own right centuries after the alliance was formed. The military of the Shadow of the Phoenix did not stand down between conflicts, and a significant portion of their warriors became radicalised, addicted to the adventure and challenge. They could not be integrated into the infinity circuits of their homes once fallen and continued into battle as Wraith Constructs or carried by their brethren warriors to be tempered. Now with their own infinity circuit the Dumnanarii exist for war, living spartan lives with regimental discipline and drive. They have become the lynchpin of the alliance, its spear and shield. The most powerful military element that coordinates the rest, and makes the largest military proportion.
Much of the Scaeth’Ra tradition, and the design of their military runs parallel with the Dumnanari; The two twisted and intertwined and barely distinguishable at times. However in almost every capacity they exist at an extreme, and the Scaeth’Ra exist between them. Dumnanarii are striking in glassy black armour that is interlaced with holographic flecks of colour; The ‘Starsong’ as it is sometimes referred to that each Dumnanarii collects and some Scaeth’Ra also indulge into. They are also notable for transforming their hair into a ghostly white shade in honour of Khaine, sometimes decorated with iridescent feathers.
Favoured Units: Adherents, Wanderers, Adherent Wraith Guard, Heavy Wraith Lords
Colours: Black, Spectral patterns
The Corsairs Tranquillity of Entropy were but a small crew aboard a single heavily converted Shadow Hunter. These uniquely skilled smugglers have been elevated to operate the Shadows in house vessels, including their Dreadnaughts, providing exceptional void dreamers and pilots. Though like Raid’Gei’Re and Dha'Roth they have since been absorbed into the Dumnanarii and lost their historically distinct identity.
Favoured units: Mar'Ca'Iah Dreadnaughts
The Me'Djai Corsairs were an alliance of twelve fleets that had historically seen a Necron Dynasty trapped within a time dilation field; Hijacking their own technology. Gathered from craftworlds and maiden worlds, they had taken the duty of preserving this trap. Though they are by name Corsairs they are closer to individual fleets detached from their historic craftworlds & maiden worlds sworn to an eternal vigil; Losing bonds and ties to their original people. Superlative naval force but only one fleet is firmly aligned to the Shadows, the other eleven remain independent but opportune allies.
Favoured units: Voidcraft & Warships, Void Storm & Wasp supported ground forces
Once subjugated and enslaved to a Kabal of Drukhari the civilians of Craftworld Brigan Tia were downtrodden and defeated. However since being liberated the Craftworld has become a fanatical and progressive military force and key strategic asset to the alliance. Growing in strength and resilience with each battle.
Favoured units: Dire Avengers, Howling Banshees, Shield Guardians, Wave Serpents
The Kabal of the Sundered Heart were vanquished by the Shadow of the Phoenix, but ironically would serve their executioners. To curtail the expanse of the victorious Barbed Sails, and take revenge against their murderous actions the Scaeth'Ra allied with the survivors of the Kabal. Overtime they have progressively taken control and reshaped these Drukhari who remain distantly related and mercenary in action.
Favoured units: Scourges, Kabalites
The people of Craftworld Si’Syph’Os were a welcome addition to the member states of the Shadow of the Phoenix, fearsome hunters and warriors who took to war with twisting and shapeless strategy, enacting terror campaigns and spreading chaos throughout the enemies ranks. Often likened to that which gives nightmares to the beasts, the warriors of Si’Syph’Os wore muted iridescent armour over purple fatigues, their warlocks casting a mystic haze over their warriors image and enemies perception such that each one appeared as an apparition, melting into a heat haze. Those who fell in battle disappeared from the enemy's sight entirely. Their victims would become the warlocks puppets, to mindlessly shuffle back to their enemy screaming their innermost sins and secrets. Capture and indoctrination of the enemy was also a common tactic and used for random acts of terror, assassination and sabotage. With the survivors of combat against Si’Syph’Os, often a very deliberate decision on their part, driven insane.
The warriors of Si’Syph’Os seek out the most horrid and evil of the universe, to bring their justice and to humiliate them before their lessers, with their warhosts focused around striking scorpions and warlocks.
Favoured units: Warlocks, Striking Scorpions
Organisation[]
The Shadow of the Phoenix has a military that exists at several tiers, given that if the alliance was ever threatened with extinction the Warhosts of several Maiden Worlds and Craftworlds could in theory be brought to bear against their enemy. In reality the military strength of the alliance comes from the dedicated fighters and mercenaries of the Scaeth'Ra, which are colloquially referred to as the Storm Winds, or at least as they are now in their final reforms. At their inception a more traditional definition of Warhosts was practised.
The organisation of the Scaeth'Ra, their military, has undergone two reforms since its original inception, surviving a schism of its own military as well as changing ideals. While new military formations were drafted to define the place of its warriors and allies, the greater organisation of warhosts and later Storm Winds was a continuous and natural development behind the scenes.
The question was raised, after the Firmament Apparition was brought to its knees, that those warriors that knew no maiden world or craftworld to return to, and wanted to fight under Ghrian for the cause, what would they be. Initially it was forged into just one warhost, that combined these strays but also volunteers from the alliance members who wished to stay on and see more adventure. Ghrian eventually coined them to be his 'Dumnanarii', as well as his 'Shadows'. They had no common shape at this time, but it began the journey. Soon there was a standard; Through customised equipment, new technology and ideas; An identity of their own. There were many veterans to be called upon to train and redesign these warriors, which included the existing Heroes.
These feelings accompanied the nexus point of the expanding alliance and enclosing entity of the Dumnanarii. The established method relied upon volunteers and volunteered warriors, recruited into the Dumnanarii. The alliance members were not happy with the retention rates of this military; Most recruits became addicted to the adventure and volunteered to remain after their term. To retain their possession of the Lapis Surfs the Scaeth'Ra military needed to rapidly expand, but this would not be feasible if it was exclusively through the Dumnanarii in its current state.
The 'Schism', in brief saw the Dumnanarii become their own faction, they no longer represented the Shadow of the Phoenix, and for some time were not an alliance member either. The Foiredite were formed in their place, they would be the full time professional army of the Shadow of the Phoenix, formed chiefly from Peunumbra’s own citizenry, and after that from Outcasts and Corsairs, with a minimal supplement of further volunteers from their Alliance members. This new formation absorbed lessons from the Dumnararii, took their strengths but also cut away their weaknesses. Chiefly was the implementation of rotated duties regardless of whether a warrior wanted to remain in service.
The Storm Winds[]
The Storm Winds are themselves comprised of a number of Warhosts pooled or volunteered entirely from member factions as well as the adopted Outcasts and any arbitrary Scaeth’Ra and may be bolstered by Corsair mercenaries on a need to basis. Each Storm Wind is specialised in some capacity, or created with a specific governance in mind, but their place in the battlefield is overlapping and collaborative. Typically the focus of the Scaeth’Ra’s military is not one of total war but small scale skirmishes; To pick apart the foe with a dozen well placed wounds. Their enemies' invasions fail not because of total annihilation, but because the army starved as the supply chain was suffocated. Therefore the Storm Winds typically operate in a fashion referred to as the ‘Hailstorm’ where the Warhosts are divided into dozens of sorties, or ‘Lann’, composed of a few squads or vehicles alone who make many and rapid patrols and eliminate their foe in isolation. Combining the Lann as needed when ideal objectives identify themselves.
The Storm Winds include;
The Storm of Stars, the name of the Shadow of the Phoenix’s own fleet, while operating similarly to the Storm Winds and named likewise, exists on a grander scale with greater cohesiveness and a focus on central forces. As such they are not considered amongst the Storm Winds.
Rank Hierarchy[]
A leading position within the Shadow of the Phoenix will be referred to as Commander. The command of the Scaeth’Ra is not much different from that of the Aeldari. A single warrior will lead the Warhost as both strategist and a champion warrior, who may hail from any faction; be it an Autarch, Archon, Prince, Uasal (an Exodite leader) or Dumnanari Cea’Nna’Sach (Gothic Designation: Sovereign). A Commander will lead a warhost or coordinate a number of cells, those commanders who are Autarchs or Sovereigns are highly valued for their unparalleled capability. Each cell will lead by a suitably veteran warrior, such as a Warlock, Exodite Retainer, Felarch, Advocate, or Dracon; they are not limited to these examples, but no Exarch has led a cell before as their narrow view of combat is not suited to lead combined military elements.
A number of elements have been added that facilitate the adaptability and transition between conflict scale. Finally each Commander is given their own 'court' or better put command squad; Given the Scaeth’Ra’s own focus of decapitating their enemies command structure it would be foolish to leave their own leaders vulnerable. Ro'Hnaithe (Gothic Designation: Chosen) are hand picked veterans selected to see out the orders of their commanders. The equivalent of a lieutenant, two will be assigned to each cell. Individuals may lead the auxiliaries. While only two are afforded to each cell those Warhost commanders are given an escort of five. The escort typically includes Exarchs, Seers, Felarches and other similarly gifted individuals to both advise with battle strategy and maximise their capability.
Line Ranks[]
There is some controversy around the ready use of Guardians as soldiers within the Scaeth’Ra for a number of reasons; They are particularly attracted to war for one, as they seek to push their boundaries and secure a future for their race, to rely upon guardians, no matter how willing, felt like abuse of those who had not chosen war. The recruitment pool for these Guardians would almost unanimously be selected from a population that are not acting warriors from a culture that is almost unanimously warriors. For the second point, as the Foiredite exist, these volunteered warriors operate in this role and the use of Guardians have mostly become redundant outside of the Torainthe. However, needs must when the home is under threat. As a direct correlation to the notable strength of their warriors, the Guardians of Penumbra are notably inferior to the Guardians of other Craftworlds. Notably the Scaeth’Ra outfit their Guardians as a whole with void hardened plates over their thermoplas mesh and always fit additional celestial shield emitters regardless of the cost of this endeavour. Cuartha blades, as used by the Exodites, are also a common sight. For the below units it is of note that Shield Guardians represent the Citizen Militia of the Craftworld, but Guardians are not seen outside of this as the pilots of vehicles and such are dominion of the Torainthe and Foiredite.
Shield Guardians are the third style of Guardian centred warfare, though they are one typically in obscurity across many Craftworlds, they are championed by the Scaeth’Ra and modified to their own purposes. They resemble the basic infantry of Exodites, the 'Light Foot' in that Shield Guardians carry Laslocks however they are also accompanied by a Serpent Scale grav platform. They may also carry Holo grenades to blind their enemy in addition to standard plasma grenades.
The Cait’Eoi’R (Gothic = Wanderers) are to all outward appearances, Rangers. They are not however adventurers and travellers, they are a military formation of light infantry, scouts, saboteurs and assassins. Differing from Rangers in their discpline and strategies, as well as being typically better armed and armoured. Rangers fight alongside them and complement the Wanderers with their experience and skills.
The Dumanarii, and now the Foiredite, make use of the larger Skyweaver Jetbikes, suitably modified for their purpose in their Skyhunter squads; Which compete with Reavers and Windriders. Windriders, and Reavers to a lesser degree, still see usage in the Torainthe and for many heroes who prefer the small bike; It is common for the Wanderers to use Windrider Jetbikes to infiltrate and exfiltrate a combat zone for example, while completing a mission on foot. The Skyhunter teams are both considered rapid weapon platforms but also transports, as their reserve seat is converted into two side on perches. They are able to rapidly react in a support capacity to the infantry squads, or deploy them in a hunting fashion.
The Allauros bikes they rider feature two pillion seats, which allows Skyhunters to extract or deploy foot soldiers from the heat of battle. Given the small size of aspect and adherent squads that the Scaeth'Ra typically field, Skyhunter squads are typically adequate for such duty.
Skyhunters are armed with a heavy weapon, which they may choose from the same pool as that used by Grav support platforms. Their mirage launchers are replaced with general purpose grenade launchers that they use to barrage enemies as they fly by. Melee weapons or thrown bombs are a favourite supplement to these biker's fire power.
Sola’an’Scáth, the abridged translation being ‘Light borne from the darkest shadows’ (Gothic Designation: Honour Guard) are a unit born from Ghrian's admiration of Exodite Household Guards. Though in truth they resemble the Exodite Retainers more closely; Comprising almost entirely of elite Corsairs and Outcasts. Their prowess would be such that they could break the enemy’s attack no matter their advantage; At least that was the hope. Since their inception the Honour Guard continue to recruit from the best warriors of their allies, but not from the Foiredite, as they did not from the Dumnanarii before them.
The Honour Guard ride Tyrania jetbikes to swiftly travel from one battle to the next as well as using webway runes to quickly disengage or appear on the battle as needed. The Honour Guard’s Jetbikes are the pinnacle of the Scaeth'Ra constructs, holding several upgrades unique to them. With a significantly powerful spirit stone the bike has limited autotomy and can fire instinctively as well to the psychic command of the rider. The rider is able to steer with just their knee’s and mind alone and thus can even shoot their rifles on the move. The spiritstone also provides a reserve rune shield. With the power of the Spiritstone the bikes can be fitted with Neural Shredders as their primary weapon. They keep the secondary grenade barrage.
The Honourguard use Sunrifles and powerswords, they wear bespokely made Solaurun Warplate, said to surpass the armour of Incubi and Aspect Warriors and is notably fitted with mandiblasters. As the armour carries several designs from those used by Adherent it has two support systems, their chosen gadgets are holofield decoy and a rocket pod. With their veterancy behind these tools of death the Sola’an’Scath are a force to be reckoned with, and this was most keenly seen in the first campaign of Harmartia where they carved through the relentless chaos forces and astartes to reach the incapacitated body of Ghrian.Aspect Shrines[]
The largest shrine of Swooping Hawks Aspect available to the Shadow of the Phoenix is known as the Divine Wardens. The shrine grew strong after the first campaign of Hamartia; When the currently singular Exarch who had founded the Shrine fell in one of its innumerable battles, a chaos Champion crushed the Exarch’s spiritstone and cast their soul to the mercy of the Empyrean. In their violent death every one of the surviving students were thrown into a furious trance and sealed to the path of the warrior. Now each an Exarch they swiftly grew the Shrine in the wake of the war, such as it had never been before.
In memorial of their pain the Aspect Warriors permanently mark their white masks with crying streaks of black, otherwise their wings are grey and their bodies light red-brown. Their vigilance and patience is immense, and their reverence for the dead is second to few. The Divine Wardens do not swoop, they hover and glide across the battle unseen above their allies, watching over and protecting their kin. Often diverting to protect those fallen that they had failed to save. Their rifles have evolved, the original lasblasters were upgraded with pan-spectral sights of Ranger Rifles to give unparalleled scrutiny to the battlefield. They were later further upgraded, in simple terms the rifles are overcharged much as many Imperial las rifle variants, though of course the artistry of the Aeldari shapers is seen here; Their rifles fire more powerful shots, but each one must be measured and calculated for their charge packs drain all the faster; Making them synonymous with Laslocks. This measure is to compensate for the inflexibility that the Grenade Packs have in their tactica.
The Divine Wardens are beloved by their peers, they are their unseen guardians, ever tiring scouts and advisors. The Swooping Hawks themselves take no pleasure in it, endlessly toiling away in their duty, and bearing every loss with great mourning.
- "‘The duty I ask of you is simple. I want a monument to their sins. For every single one, every life in body or soul down on that wretched planet. I want one thousand of theirs.’"
- —Kabela to Exarch Feige, beginning of the history of the Wrathful Buzzards
Forged in the Second War for Hamartia, the Lady Kabela tasked a particular shrine of the Striking Scorpions with enacting revenge by a direct toll. The single surviving Exarch of the time undertook the duty with singular purpose. The Scorpions delved into that fury that only discipline and patience held back and discovered a terrifying hunger. They operated without break, without pause, and without mercy for their enemy or themselves. It took two years to see the job finished, and their finale was a spectacle. What was left of their enemy were staked out around the crater of the Great Portal, to look upon a pile of skulls made out of the millions of their victims. Their victims were those enemies that had left the world confident of the Aeldari's defeat or, as it was common later on, in fear of their lives. Brought low and dragged back to the place of their sin.
While the Exarch remained unchanged his impressionable students were forced down a radical departure of the Striking Scorpion mentality. The Shrine was reborn as the Wrathful Buzzards. They have the patience and discipline that Karandas introduced, but now they play into that darkness that Arhra fell to. A Striking Scorpion of the Wrathful Buzzard has insatiable hunger, they must hunt and do so. Rather than meditate and practice in times of peace they travel abroad and savage strangers, as a Hunter seeking Prey. They compete, they accumulate skulls in honour of their creation and their trophies show their prowess. They revel in the slaughter, and seek the satisfaction of defeating strong warriors in single combat; To collect their skull and add it to their trophy room.
It is a fine line they tread, skirting the very edge of damnation and it is not unknown for warriors to fall into it. Their loyalty shines through though, when such warriors become the same depraved and damned souls of the Drukhari and Corsairs they leave the shrine and are rarely seen again for the better, but they always return unseen to aid the Shadow of the Phoenix in battle; Cutting bloody swathes through the enemy’s backlines.
A number of esoteric design deviations have evolved from the Wrathful Buzzards. They discard their shuriken pistols and wear lighter armour, moving even faster than their peers; such that no terrain can hold them back. Power claws are often adopted in the place of their pistols, with the role of ranged weapons fulfilled by a ‘Starkiller’ mounts on their shoulder.
As Brigan Tia began to flourish after the spark of life had been reignited upon the Craftworld, Aspect Shrines were soon founded, in great demand, for a population that had much well deserved anger. Exarchs from dozens of Aspects arrived to establish temples but these were new times, fresh eyes and yearning for creativity and identity. Many entirely new shrines were founded that Brigan Tia wanted to make their own and over time they naturally settled into the commonly seen Aspects, as expected. The Avant Riposte would eventually fold into the Dire Avengers thanks to the similarities it held, but a number of features endured.
Communication[]
As an Aeldari faction the use of psychic communication is commonplace within the Scaeth’Ra. However in step with Ghrian’s own policies for redundancy and an absolute aside to a reliance on their psychic prowess alternative methods of communication were established. Taking inspiration from Tien'Bo's own communication systems.
Equipment[]
Standard Equipment of Torainthe[]
Whatever standards the Shadow of the Phoenix's allies or subjugates practice, they must adhere to the standard of Torainthe. While such a measure seems unnecessary for the Warhosts of Craftworlds, it is most effectively seen in the Outcasts, Corsairs, and especially their alien allies.
While well established allies are expected to provide and produce this equipment, the Shadow of the Phoenix will provide it for any that cannot - most commonly the outcasts that come to them.
The two principal items are the Solaris Pistol and Sci'Athra (A survival blanket) that serve in some regards as a badge of office. Then there are further miscellaneous pieces of equipment.
The Sci'Athra is a large scarf widespread and commonly associated with Exodites, effective in all environments, be they desert or taigas. Its capability both as a tool of survival, and as a distinctive fashion item has led it to be adopted as a standard of the Torainthe. The scarf is particularly large when unravelled, enough to cover the body entirely several times over; A practice taken upon the dead and therefore the Sci’Athra is sometimes referred to as Death’s Shroud. It is however made of a very thin material, such that the cloth can be folded tightly and stowed like a magazine. The material that constitutes the Sci’Athra is a marvel of the Exodites, despite its thinness it is weather proof, contains or releases heat almost to the will of the wearer, and can trap air and has a similar, if weaker, camouflage ability seen in cameoline cloaks. While Craftworld Guardian & Aspect armour’s undersuit provides full atmospheric and environmental protection, making much of this redundant it still has some value with these warriors; typically it is more important to them as a symbol of their allegiance.
Use of Sci'Arth include: As a survival blanket; As a death shroud; As a tourniquet; As a void seal; As a mask against dust or toxic gases; As rudimentary camouflage; For signalling if other communication is compromised.
Certain patterns or fashions have become commonplace for wearing Sci'Artha, the Shadow of the Phoenix's own warriors have a tendency towards wearing it as a simple scarf. While the warriors of Erdinil wear it over one shoulder across the chest to the opposite thigh and those of Brigan Tia wear it as a headdress.
In addition to a 'pistol and a scarf' the Torainthe are given a so-called 'infinite ration', a survival kit and shortsword.
Specialist Equipment[]
Sharu Talum are simplistic thrusters that can be deployed to the battlefield designed to graft onto Aeldari vehicles and assist in their extraction to the atmosphere as well as their deployment. Wherever it is possible the Aeldari will use webway gates to travel, but the advantages of this travel also convey its own restrictions; One that the Scaeth’Ra refuse to accept. Therefore the Shadow of the Phoenix utilise the Sharu Talum to allow an alternative method; Itself partially pre-existing technology that has a place in recreation. Used in both the small scale as sorties deploy covertly from their Northstar Frigates, as well as the large scale deployment of Warhosts in the middle of campaigns. The Sharu Talum are used in two ways. Aeldari Grav tanks are very nearly capable of flight, but are not well suited to the true skies. While a fire prism can be launched from orbit to land easily, it is a lengthy traversal as the vehicle cannot accelerate excessively without external brakes - for which these thrusters are for. The Shadow of the Phoenix vehicle pilots reduce the gravity field of their vehicles to a minutia of power and accelerate to the ground in near free fall, engaging the thrusters and full gravity field at the last. More often, the thrusters are used to extract vehicles in danger when no webway gate is accessible. In which case the tank diverts its power to the gravity field and the thrusters give it the required acceleration to escape the planet's gravity. In no way do the Sharu Talum supplant the use of Webways, they are simply less efficient, however they provide that edge whenever the webway fails to deliver and against the forces of the Drukhari they add a level of unpredictability, who otherwise would sit confident knowing the exact limitations both sides were held to.
A number of similarly themed variants have developed following successful uses of the Sharu Talum, the Droich is a personal rig with two small thrusters, gravitational plate and holoshield. It is a costly gadget, most closely resembling the recreational platforms of its inspiration, but it allows the deployment of infantry alongside vehicles in a high orbit drop. Originally designed for large scale use it has instead become a common infiltration method for the Force Recon. Unlike the Sharu Talum it cannot allow exit of the atmosphere, just enable flight.
The Stail’c Assanna is quite a departure from the others within its class, for it is a drop pod designed for Wraith Constructs. A large cocoon of Wraithbone is built around the construct, often double or thrice the mechs volume. This is simply dropped from orbit to land on the battlefield, guided by a couple of autonomous thrusters. The pod lands, with no deceleration, and the cocoon shatters, expending the energy and raking the surrounding area with shrapnel. The Wraithconstruct leaves unharmed and joins the battle. Such a delivery demands ready access to a Warlock already deployed, or a Wraithseer must join the deployment.
'Scrios' variant grav platforms, or as they are designated by the Imperium 'Mutually Assured Destruction' are lithe and quick in movement and remote operated in the same vein as those seen with Guardian squads. With a shallow profile they carry a powerful shockwave munition that, if the platform is destroyed, is safe amongst allies; Its damaging potential is only even seen if deliberately triggered and is mighty, shattering most targets they meet with a similar, if smaller, munition as the sonic bombs. Packs of these platforms will lie in wait for the opportunity to render their foes into fragments and dust. They also accompany tank columns, waiting behind the Embrace of Isha, to charge out and wreck havoc. It is also common to see in drawn out warfare jury rigged plasma charge Scrios that are considerably more deadly but a liability.
Specialist Vehicles[]
The Shadow of the Phoenix have become renowned for their military vehicles and expertise. It was not something that these Aeldari originally intended or strived to achieve but evolved as a consequence of their military doctrine and their history. Thanks to their ingenuity and want for innovation it is now swollen with novel designs to complement the original favourites of the traditional Asuryani military.
In their early days every tank was a precious resource that could not be squandered, as a result each vehicle was augmented and the pilots were handpicked after vigorous trials. Necessity drove them to spend that much more resources on each one, and as the vehicle pool grew pride made them keep it. The changeover to force shields instead of holoshields was a conflicted one, it conveyed little advantage and was made at a higher cost. The pilots argued that the consistency against the game of chance gave them better awareness in battle, when to fall back and when to push on. The addition of mirage launchers allowed them greater strategy, especially when these were amended to utilise the Miasmic Vespates Miasmic grenades.
The motorpool continued to grow larger, novel designs drawn up and the adaptation of cloaking fields to be used in covert operations. The pilots, known now as the 'Ugah'A Iarann' (Translated loosely to Born in Iron or Steel Hearted), refused to lose any of their quality or reputation, driving recruits harder and harder and securing more and more resources to their Warhosts and encampments. Ego drove them to achieve greater feats than their predecessors and exceed their rivals. Attempts to stymie the overgrowing budget were washed away with each game changer. The Apocalypse tanks, and the Ironside fighters most notably changing the tide of the wars they were born into. As it stands the Shadow of the Phoenix vehicular military is overly expensive and overly elite, but highly effective. Despite being a military focused on the small scale conflict and infantry centred first strikes, their vehicles are always ready to deliver the hammer blow and to quell the full scale war.
Designated as Megealo class, a 'Heavy' jetbike used in Mamba squads, and competitor in combat role with the Vyper, the Megealo is swift and hard hitting. Keeping speed with the Vyper and Windrider with powerful engines the Megealo's drawbacks are in its poorer agility, larger target, and compared to the Vyper its lack of turret. Resembling an oversized Windrider the bike is fitted with two Starcannons in its primary weapon mount underneath the bonnet. A suit of grenade launchers is mounted in either flank of its midriff for passing attacks or diversions if replaced with Mirage launchers. Finally an optional modular mount is built into the back that can be used against targets below. Most commonly a fusion bomb is fitted here that can be flung with deliberate deceleration or dropped. However small arms like a fusion blaster or reaper launcher are common choices along with supply stowage. Compared to the Skyhunter that can carry two additional bikers, the larger Megealo cannot carry a passenger in a pillion position, despite being larger than the skyhunter.
Sitting in a strange place within Aeldari mythology and the battlefield, Battle Riders fell into obscurity but remain revered. A Battle Rider competes with Exodite knights, though it does not feature their grace, flexibility or psychic potential. It is also a main line battle tank designed for long range operations but limited in the same way as walkers. In history Battle Riders were seen the most during the Great Crusade where they fought the Legions, following on from their legacy as God Machines of the War in Heaven. Likeable in mindset to chivalric knights, they achieved feats of legend but were sundered in vainglorious efforts.
The War Master was, alongside the Battle Rider, a God Machine of the War in Heaven. Truly competing with the Exodite Knights and Super Heavy elements of War it stands imposing over even the Wraithknight and carries a formidable array of weaponry to rend any warmachine into molten slag. The fall into obscurity, as with most of the God Machines of the War in Heaven, came to the War Master through attrition. It may have been supremely powerful but it could not be mass produced in the same numbers as the Battle Riders, and the same issues faced in recreating and maintaining the God Machines was manyfold for the War Master.
Each War Master carries a trio of Plasma Mortars, Heavy Starcannons that can be fired directly or indirectly at great range. With these it is capable of turning aside most Super Heavy Weapons, and their legacy within the War of Heaven saw squadrons of War Masters bringing low titans. Now it is rare for more than one to be seen at a time. Secondary armaments include two twin Scatter Laser turrets under the drivers canopy, and suites of grenade launchers for both holographic screen and short range bombardment. A superb shield protects the machine and it is still swifter than it’s peers within the Mon’Keigh factions.
War Masters are not a common sight within the Shadow of the Phoenix, but a handful of the machines remained in the ranks of Me'Djai and from them they have appeared in their allied detachments. Novel machines have been built since to support squadrons of Battleriders but they are not often required, they are designed for full scale war and are deployed accordingly.
A’Chara (Beloved friend), or ‘Pigeon Reliant’ as it was amusingly mistranslated into Gothic, is the unflavoured variant of the Falcon grav tank, unarmed short of the underslung turret; it is a high capacity transport and sees civilian or engineering use across the Craftworlds and Corsairs, a workhorse behind the scenes of the military. In the particular case the vehicle is seen in a support role behind the lines transporting the Embrace of Isha and housing the necessary crew required to guide the Grav Platforms.
The Cron’Nan fits as a jack of all trade light tank that can escort falcon grav tanks and accompany Cells or Warhosts; The Harrier has a particular focus on speed and firepower. Its primary weapons are its suite of turret mounted Phoenix missiles, that are reloaded from within the hull. Likeable to a skyray or whirlwind, though developed independently of them, the harrier is a deadly raider. Zipping in, unloading a full salvo of these powerful missiles, before withdrawing again. Reloading takes some time, but salvos can be fired prematurely. The Harrier can fire at targets indirectly and at considerable range. The missiles function as great AA, artillery and direct anti ground firepower, though they are outclassed in each of these roles by other vehicles such as the fireprism.
The Anu'As'Ka, or Downfall, is a variant of the Harrier Grav Tank with an alternative turret. Fitted with two Shuriken Trebuchets and two long barrelled Shuriken Cannons. These powerful weapons are the bane of light vehicles and low flying aircraft. The tank was a temporary measure to clear the skies while Shuriken Core missiles were developed, yet has remained a staple of their military; often Harrier pairs are joined by a Downfall, their respective abilities complimenting each other.
The “Faios Taibhse” or Dreadcutter grav tank came into being shortly after the Shadow of the Phoenix routed Imperial invaders of their territory. During the conflict the Aeldari had used the Webway to transport rebel imperial artillery regiments behind and around the enemy battlelines to release devastating salvos before vanishing once more. This devastating combination would be immortalised with this new design.
The converted grav tank carries a oversized linear accelerator that, when the tank is grounded and dug into the ground, can rapidly lob large munitions across the battlefield. Perfectly coupled with the typical stealth fields of the Shadows’ tanks they dart across the battlefield between launching their salvos. The Grav tank is outfitted with short legs that can deploy and dig into ground before firing, however the additional weight slows the vehicle down.
The cannon is fitted with an autoloader to allow bursts of rapid fire, and through the skills of the gunner practice multiple rounds to impact simultaneously. The Dread Cutter can use plasma charge or sonic charge based munitions; The latter of which has the greatest damage potential against single targets combining simultaneous impact with wave amplification.
- "Taste your mortality Mon’Keigh, the Apocalypse has arrived."
- —A pilot of the Apocalypse tank as he strikes an Imperial armour column.
The Stormbringer, or the Mobile Nexus Engine, is an ultimate culmination of the Shadow of the Phoenix’s technology and resources. Much as their Mar'Ca'Lah Dreadnaught, it is a singular powerhouse designed to dominate the battlefield. It is a God Engine, equivalent or considered more valuable than its peers, Titans and Super Heavy Grav tanks. At its simplest the Stormbringer is another Super Heavy Grav Tank, reinforced with thick wraithbone armour and carrying the 'Nexus Engine'. As with the Voidhunter the core of the vehicle is a pocket of the webway, paradoxically the inside of the vehicle is larger than the outside and can exist billions of light years away. Within this pocket, joined only to the tank and Penumbra, sits the Nexus Engine.
The Nexus Engine is a mastery of Webway technology, the height of Aeldari's reclamation projects and understanding of science. It is operated by a Cadre of Wayseers and Warlocks, with which they can manipulate the Webway forming novel tunnels and gates at will. The tank meanwhile houses a small infinity circuit, a battery of soul energy required to open the tunnels into realspace - a conduit for the Engine rather than its true power source. The infinity circuit is built into the tank’s hull and operated by two Spiritseers who also direct the tank, which thanks to the spirits held within is nigh automotive. The circuit and nexus engine work in tandem to manipulate the webway in their respective local environments ultimately allowing the tank to produce a Webway gate at will.
This can be used to sustain a consistent and stable path and potentially allow an entire warhost to deploy anywhere in realspace (Provided it is proximate to the tank). These portals can be made large enough to allow even a Titan to pass through. This utility allows the Shadow the Phoenix unsurpassed ability to deploy their forces - provided that they deem it necessary to deploy a Stormbringer. However it is more often used to form small webway gates that endure for only mere seconds or minutes at most. These gates can be connected to various other pocket realms designated as the Nightmare lands. The basic attack of the tank, that is otherwise completely unarmed, is to cast a webway portal onto an enemy squad and transport them against their will. Entire vehicles and squads simply disappearing in a blink of an eye.
Against targets that cannot be easily ‘gated’ into oblivion the Stormbringer will open unstable gates that violently collapse into explosions of warp energy. A number of alternative tactics exist that are often adopted by commanders on a preferential basis. One example is to capture a number of suitable foes, such as Orks or Tyranids, or a single monstrous creature, to eject back onto another battlefield; A strategy that can be extremely effective but requires extensive set up. Alternatively large inanimate objects can be dropped to crush an enemy.
The two leading strategies involve the cooperation of Penumbra. The Craftworlds weapons can be redirected through a portal for devastating effect. Alternatively the Seer Council can summon an Eldritch storm to erupt through a portal, a favourite to use against enemy air forces. Finally the deployment of en masse turrets or demolition grav platforms into the heart of the enemies forces.
Another utility of the Stormbringer, and one that earns it the reputation of a Guardian Angel, is to extract forces. From individual wounded soldiers to entire companies surrounded and outflanked, they are engulfed into a webway gate and transported to the safety of Penumbra. With the ability to lock on to the psychic mind of a warlock the range of these gates is considerably greater than the tanks own.
Veteran Stormbringers have become somewhat notorious for opening webway portals between themselves and the enemy and entering the combat instantaneously, or in the opposite vein extricating themselves from combat. It is often referred to as blinking. The process is particularly straining on the tanks infinity circuit, and requires the circuit and seers to be well versed with eachothers limitations.
The Stormbringer can decide the fate of battle, and is best used by the best commanders who will push its capabilities. It’s drawbacks are numerous, it fulfils the position of a God Engine in resources, but its utility is closer to a support role. Its ability and power weighs a toll on the spirit seers and infinity circuit; exhaustion of the crew can leave the craft vulnerable. The tank is slow for a Eldar Super Heavy Grav tank, as it is weighed down by the infinity circuit, and a heavy layer of wraithbone set around it for protection. Still its defence is heavily reliant on forming webway portals between it and incoming fire. Should a Stormbringer fall it is a tragedy, potentially costing two spiritseers and the lives of those entombed into its miniature circuit. Recovery is paramount with protocols to redirect operations to secure any fallen engine, as it is a concern that the Drukhari could reverse engineer the technology, or possibly reactivate the gate to Penumbra.
The Stormbringer was first deployed to the infamous campaign over Hamartia, and its maiden combat was its terminal one as it fell in the final pushes to close the heretics warp portals. It's achievement in sacrifice and actions throughout the beginning of the campaign earned the project to be continued and improved and now a handful of the God Engines operate alongside the Apocalypse tanks in full scale warfare.
The Sciathan (Gothic Designation: Helios Wyrm) is a founding pillar to the Shadow of the Phoenix military, as fundamental to their Lann sorties as the Northstar; The standard Lann consists of 20 to 30 warriors aboard a Northstar with 2 Helios Wyrm’s for transport. It is their workhorse transport, and guardian angel of their infantry divisions. The void capable dropship can only hold 14 personnel and surplus equipment, and therefore does not compete with the Vampire Hunter; the latter dropship oriented for full scale war and large troop deployments into hotly contested territory. The Helios Wyrm is ill suited for this, preferring to rely upon stealth instead, though it still carries a suit of weapons and is particularly well armoured. A downside of this redundancy is that the transport is larger than it needs to be, close to the Void Raven in size. Aesthetically it is visually similar to the Crimson Hunter or Hemlock Wraithfighter. Notably the Helios Wyrm is fitted with vectored thrusters with the same design philosophy of the Exuberant Executioners Remiges, located at nose & wing tips as well the tail, that allow the craft to turn on the spot and give it full VTOL movement. The troop bay is fitted with doors on each side allowing swift entry and exit, a fold away turret can be manoeuvred to any door to lay down suppressing scatter laser fire. A directed gravity well can secure troop deployment or extraction while at altitude, and banks of grenade pods allow them to evade fire; Initially with holo-grenades but after they were designed miasmic grenades.
The Helios Wyrm’s weapons systems include a nose mounted shuriken cannon, and wing mounted missile launchers. All light weapons for its peers but able to punish infantry and light vehicles. It is common for pilots to exchange the wing weapons for bright cannons to engage heavy vehicles however. Finally variants of the Helios Wyrm have been retrofitted with Gravimetric plates in place of their troop bay for vehicle recovery and Wrath of Vaul deployment.
The Helios Wyrm is devilishly quick, agile and manoeuvrable, even for the Aeldari. Crossing continents and atmospheres, whirling through maze-like canyons and dancing through the battlefield with ease. It is common for their pilots to become mentally bound to these craft, turning aside the thrill of aerial combat to the shock of those who have not flown the craft itself. All of its redundancies and countermeasures to secure the safety of its cargo are rarely needed, for the transport is a storm in delivery. While intensive warzones are expected the Helios Wyrm is relegated to back lines and reactive duty; The Falcon Grav tank and Vampire Hunter used to deliver to the battlefields heart.
The Ia'Rainn (Gothic Designation: Ironside) Hypersonic Combat Aircraft is another design of the tenacious Shadow of the Phoenix, to complement prolonged ground campaigns and air raids. The myth of its inception was as follows; The infamous Prince Ia'Rainn 'The Hail of Death' personally led a suicidal bombing raid on an Imperial Fortress, deploying his Eagle Bomber from the void and used the planets gravity to accelerate the already incredible speed of the bomber into a hypersonic velocity to bypass the extensive defenses and land a Void Mine at the command bunker. The fortress fell the next day after the follow up blow. The legendary commander did not remain idle in death and continued to lead. This unique airstrike provoked the generation of a new league of aircraft that were named in the Prince's honour.
The Ia'Rainn is a hypersonic craft, closer to a designation of class rather than a single craft as its three current iterations are significantly different from eachother in certain design aspects. Its speed is simply immense, greater than any other aeldari craft within atmosphere and with this it is capable of bypassing most defensive countermeasures. The pilot can only be a Warlock or similar in psychic capability, capable of learning an intuitive precognition that enables them to fly at these speeds at low altitude against interference. The esoteric mechanism of the Darkstar Fighter is employed to protect the pilot, but a further measure is installed to protect the pilot against the G-Force of its sharp turns and rapid acceleration and deceleration. The pilot is suspended in a specialist fluid form wraithbone that is itself linked with the spiritstone of the vehicle. The spirit reactively pressurises the fluid to reduce the G-Force effect for prolonged manoeuvres, it is further able to psychically induce a state of physical stasis for brief moments that protect the pilot - whose mind is still free to fly. The aircraft has numerous vectored engines linked to the main drive that allow thrust in any direction, their agility is immense.
All three variants have never surpassed the single flaw that is their short range of operation. Typically it is a single strike, delivering the payload and then withdrawing. For repeating strikes a temporary airbase must be maintained, typically within the webway, or sometimes a Northstar frigate is modified to allow rearming.
However the artisans of the Shadow of the Phoenix were not content with a flawed design and created the Sea'Bhac (Gothic Designation: Fire Hawk) Interceptor. The weapon system of this fighter is rather unconventional in that it utilises the inherent Sonic Boom of the Hypersonic craft. With eldritch technology of the Drukhari, ominously similar to the Taciturn Serpent Mute Field, the airwave of the fighters drag is contained and magnified. Despite travelling sometimes a dozen Mach over that required to make the sonic boom, the pressure wave keeps pace and follows. With sudden deceleration and deactivation of the device a massive earth shattering concussive wave is released. This weapon is both as deadly against ground units as the air. This is not their single arsenal however, the Hypersonic travel generates a considerable plasma charge against the aircrafts frame that previously was countered by shields, it was redesigned to channel the plasma and vent it from the wing via a gravity plate. The Ia'Rainn now had a cutting edge of plasma to use much as a Reiver cuts its foes with their bikes sharpened wings.
The Shadecaster is the abominable combination of the Wraithknight, Hemlock Wraithfighter, and the Ironside. A gunship sized hypersonic aircraft designed to provide low altitude artillery support to the battlefield. Called in desperation, to arrive at the drop of the hat, and rescue an awry plan; Or deployed in fleeting raids before a planned assault the Shadecaster provides a momentary eradication; Existing under the careful vigil of the Winds of Bone. Arriving with the thunderous roar of a sonic boom the Shadecaster unfolds its wings and deploys its considerable arsenal. Overcharging an internal plasma drive and redirecting its power to the weapons, slowing to a crawl, the undercarriage Suncannon and dual star cannons rake across the battlefield. The smaller frame demanded by its hypersonic flight prevents the Shadecaster any longevity in its bombardment, as its reactor burns hot.
Supplement Ranks[]
Radala are first responder non-combatants of the Foiredite and the Dumnanarii before them. Clad in specialist light aspect armour, and to the other standards of the Torainthe, they are excellent sprinters and runners. Their duty is to recover the dying and dead and return them to safety. They are not as psychically adept as a healer, and instead use a number of gadgets to stabilise the injured, and swiftly transport them to a true healer. Across their back, in the place of the traditional gadgets of Adherents or Aspect Warriors is a deployable grav-cart. This can be towed by a Radala as easily as a balloon by a child, they are gyroscopically stable and weightless. This way a Radala can, and regularly do, carry two patients across a distance, with the second lifted across the shoulder assuming that their injuries allow it.
The Radala only carry Shimmer Orb grenades to protect themselves and their charges, as well as the standard Solaris pistol. While not committed to the "Cheanal Agus'Anam" of the Healers they are not warriors marked by Khaine or emboldened by a warmind, they simply only have their defensive instincts.
When a Radala reaches their patient they have a number of tools to aid them, with a number or psychically attuned wraith cores - larger than those seen in the standard medkit - they can seal grevious wounds as the wraith moulds into the flesh and triggers protective but also undesirable calcareous growths. For less severe wounds they have reels of Hama'Rite cloth, the Exodite fabric is made from Cambium which forms a second skin. Further Wraithbone splints are carried that autonomously mould around the target, for severely injured patients broken bones and suspected neck injuries are immobilised with the splints.
- "'Cheanal Agus'Anam' refers to a phenomenon seen in Asuryani dedicated to the path of the healer. With their every will, purpose, and action dedicated to the healing of others the healer is rendered incapable of harming another while on the path. It is very much similar to the Hippocratic oath, and its equivalents, adopted by similar healers that transcends species and time. However it is an extreme and involuntary mindset that only Craftworlders find themselves with. They could not hurt a wild beast to defend themselves. When the ethical quandary has arisen, the absurdly rare instance where the healer would be forced to gun down an assailant to protect a patient rather than bodily shield or extract them instead, it has been seen that they are truly incapable of harming, even to save another."
- —
Macal Scigarthis or 'Pale Echos' are psychic tools as well as miscellaneous aids to Shadow of the Phoenix personnel. They are not a trivial retainer and somewhat rarely seen. While the technology exists widespread to the Aeldari it is rare that Craftworlds are so comfortable with the practice to apply it; Further the practice does not have merit in saving resources or provide such value to merit it to Corsairs or the desperate.
Macal Scigarthis are duplicates of a soul, wraithbone polarised and energised by individuals within the Infinity Circuit. Once achieved they are able to act independently of their original. The only advantage it holds is the application of a VIP to multiple avenues. They are no improvement over a Wraith Construct, far from it; Being more costly and time consuming to make.
However, as the Shadow of the Phoenix, particularly the Dumnanarii, have few qualms over resurrecting the dead and using them as a tool to their full capacity the typical taboo does not apply to them.
The exact process of creating a Pale Echo requires first the generation of a Wraithbone substance that is between liquid and gas, it requires a Bone Singer of particular skill to work the Wraithbone in such a way; It is a slow generation, during which time psychic energy is channelled into the Wraithbone - under the protection of the Infinity Circuit & it's Warp Spiders. Supercharged, the blank entity is introduced to a soul within the webway by the medium of a Spiritseer or Warlock, should they be willing, and the slow progress is made. Over a month, through repeated meditation, the psychic blank is polarised as it becomes a psychic mirror of the undead. It takes on their emotion and memories and eventually becomes intelligent and self aware. This is the centre of a lengthy debate around the morality of a Pale Echo and the whimsical generation of them. The life of Pale Echo is sometimes summarised as a cruel parody of living; The resulting consciousness not having the depth of the original, often polarised around a particular emotion or ideal. They speak and act sometimes as though they are dreaming, ignoring the threads of conversation or reciting obscure memories or knowledge. These mannerisms are related to a number of factors, the care and skill taken with the process, the strength of the soul copied and the amount of psychic charge put into the original wraithbone. If an aeldari was under the impression that a pale echo could comfort their loss, they would be gravely mistaken. That said the best of the Macal Scigarthis can be sharp witted, self aware and intelligent and because Basilate could regularly create such works alongside Kabela the use of them grew more common within the Shadow of the Phoenix.
While referred to as a reflection, copy or echo of the intended Host a Pale Echo never resembles the host in anything more than surface level details. They reflect the medium and their translation of the host, as well as the greater infinity circuit as well. It can sometimes be a deliberate choice to polarise a Macal Scigarthis with several Hosts to produce an amalgamated mind. They typically have their own names and deviate from their host with time.
The body of a Macal Scigarthis is shaped to their choosing, often subconsciously with the weakly made having little choice or awareness over their body (Delusion is common) while the strongly made have a greater decision. Given their typical small size it is common for them to take on the shapes of animals or even more abstract shapes. They have little mass and often objects will pass through them as if they were a heavy gas or viscous liquid.
The uses of Pale Echoes are many fold, even the most crudely made drifting dreams can play a role and the most common usage is as a focus of psychic power, much as a rune. The rune is cheaper and more expendable but the Pale Echo can provide greater feedback and direction, even specialisation of psychic powers. In addition to this they can make a good medium between the dead and living, in lieu of a true warlock or spiritseer a Pale Echo can knit an Aeldari to their Infinity Circuit or Wraith Constructs. The first routine use of Pale Echoes were aboard the Shadow of the Phoenix void vessels, to mediate between the ship's own circuit and the bridge crew.
Outside of this use they are used for their council, or as message relay, even surveyance. In war they have a limited ability, they are psychic and against psychically weak races they can have mild effects, being able to disorient or manipulate individuals, moreover they can manipulate weak machine spirits such as those seen in a humble rifle. Only the most powerful have ever achieved things close to directly killing an individual; They are powerless and vulnerable to any true psyker.
A pale echo is not a self sustaining construct, they require psychic energy to survive. Within a Craftworld this is never a concern for they have the Infinity Circuit nearby, when journeying away however they have to be paired with an Aeldari that they can 'leech' from, hence they are typically classified as retainers. The 'leeching' of psychic energy has proven to have no long lasting negative effect on the 'Host', but it does have a very real effect on the Pale Echo known as 'Drifting', and it is for this reason that Pale Echoes are outlawed, and severely punished, for leeching on others instead of their host; They are unable to leech without continuing to polarise. While leeching from the Infinity Circuit they barely drift, adopting the mood and intelligence of the greater soul within. When they leech from an individual they drift significantly taking on memories and the mood of their host; The strongly made will understand and compartmentalise to a degree; The weakly made become confused and fall easily to the new persona. A shortsighted Warlock may take their Pale Echo to the field of battle, and while under their war mask turn the Echo into an inconsolable rage. A positive feedback loop can easily run away if an Echo is polarised by strong emotions that drive a reciprocal response from their host; For example excessive arguing.
Macal Scigarthis are a topic of much contention, treated as sentient by some and dismissed as automatons by others. Many view them in a melancholic light, they are a shadow of the dead and one that highlights what has been lost in a number of subtle by wounding ways. Some Bea Lionir liken a Pale Echo to relatives with Dementia or Alzheimers. In this vein many Aeldari see it as sadistic or perverse to make them at all. Some appreciate the moments of recollection or insight they can share with the dead. It is rare to find two Aeldari with identical opinions on the matter, for ultimately it is a deeply personal matter.Beliefs[]
The Shadow of the Phoenix are many things to many people; Militant extremists, naive and foolhardy 'born again' fanatics, and disturbed necromancers to name a few. These all do have considerable truth behind them, and an underlying connection; Passion. The Scaeth'Ra are known for their burning passion, one that would have sent many of its members to the allures of Commorragh, or the myths of Corsairs, and certainly have ended in the cold isolation of the outcasts. This passion is exercised in war and tempered with discipline, combining the two hearts of the Corsairs and Exodites. While the Scaeth'Ra are as diverse as it comes, a few commonalities have naturally evolved across them. The self reliance and spartan mindset of Outcasts is seen in the utility of their dress and mindset. Quite banal to the social circles of other Aeldari, typically Scaeth'Ra are content to spin endlessly tales woven into song, around ritual fires and open gatherings amongst the cultivated gardens on Penumbra.
- "To all those who may suggest that they did or endured anything shameful, they can perish that thought."
- —Commonly quoted before destruction of targets when enacting mercenary work.
The fear of becoming the very thing you loathe was for a time overbearing to the Scaeth'Ra, it was when the name of their warriors took on a very new meaning and the 'Dumnanarii' of this kind left their responsibilities to find a war and battle to sake a blood lust unquenchable by the temporary peace the Shadow of the Phoenix had found. It would be the fate of nearly half of their original warriors, and forced the separation of them to keep both their talents and loyalty in one capacity and the purity of the alliance. Their ideal and passion bred a mirror of the Drukhari, that was only kept in check by the devotion held to the Scaeth'Ra. New ideas and laws had to follow the disbanding of the Dumnanarii and the formation of the Foiredite. The new method of war, simply called the 'Clean Blade' in Gothic ('Nichuireann an lannaon Chreacht' in their own lexicon) is a set of codes and honours that their warriors must follow in service of the Scaeth'Ra. Even when an 'Obligation of Destruction' is enacted, they are followed.
These tenets dictate and instruct on how every warrior can, as they must, kill quickly and cleanly. The Scaeth'Ra fight silently, and contain their anger when others would exercise it. They incorporate the well established traditions of creating and harnessing a 'war mind' to separate the battlefield and home. Decapitation, with both the blade and the rifle is the principle strike, but not one vainly held onto at risk of their own life. With technology they practise the use of fast acting neurotoxins that they coat their blades and shurikens with to cull the wounded. Particular practices are weighed against neccessity; Torture is only undertaken when mandated, amongst those given a warrant, in order to gain intelligence. The unarmed and helpless are only executed when it is mandated. The tennants are basic for the most part, but enforced.
The single unique element is the aforementioned use of anger. Scaeth'Ra, within the field of battle, only releases their anger when wounded. They use their enraged passion to heal, somewhat ironically like the Drukhari but completely opposite to it. As long as a warrior can draw from their rage, they can carry on into the fight. It is a practice not without its own peril however, as a warrior can become addicted to this release, and be inclined to self flagellation for similar releases; Something that has become a common practice within the Dumnanarii. These individuals, within the Scaeth'Ra, are rare and sought out in part by their peers and also through the Pale Echoes who are particularly perceptive to these emotions, and are re-educated.
The Scaeth'Ra typically release their passion harmlessly through their drills, labour and terraforming efforts. Their release to heal is something sought out, venerated,or to be abused.
Despite their reputation for Necromancy, perhaps even to spite it, the Scaeth'Ra have the utmost respect for the dead; With the caveat that the rest of the Infinity Circuit must be earned by establishing peace. While their dead walk amongst the living far too regularly and unnecessarily by other's standards, to the Scaeth'Ra it is always towards their final peace. It is just the temporary means to their secured victory. In its most extreme form, the 'Obligation of Destruction', it is asked of warriors to volunteer their service as Wraith Constructs should they fall in the war. Typically in response to wars of uptmost importance to the future or to the people, compliance is high and the agreement, this oath, allows a Spiritseer to draw souls from the Infinity Circuit with ease. This act, which to some Aeldari is contemptous, allows the Shadow of the Phoenix to avoid necromancy. Their respect to the dead extends somewhat to their enemies. To minimise the risk of Nurgle’s infections the bodies of their victims are incinerated wherever possible, non-combatants typically removing the bodies once the conflicts are resolved. They are taken to the trackless void, stripped of possessions and burnt upon pyres. The possessions sought on the bodies are letters, the private ones regarding loved ones; As some of the Aeldari believe that the height of sapient potential is seen in these. They preserve them within the 'Mausoleum to the Unknown' upon Penumbra. Any Mon'keigh race that shows similar potential are also treated this way. For the worshippers of Chaos, there is no such need to scrutinise the bodies, they are burned on site. The Drukhari are simply left to rot, even if booby traps were not a concern they are not considered to have anything of cultural value; The only value they have is as bait for further ambushes.
A particular cultural peculiarity in relation to this is in regards to treatment of Astartes bodies. ‘To the potential, the laughter and the tears, the bright eyes and ideas, to the life that wasn't but should have been’ is a common chant, given in Gothic, to their bodies. Translated and abridged from a Aeldari poem that is typically said to the funerals of their own stillborn children. A simple wraithbone trinket is burned with the body and a portion of the ash is collected to be buried on Penumbra. These traditions have stemmed from the ideology that the Astartes are the height of Imperial tragedy, children taken of their souls to become a parody of their death God. To which they pay respect to the lost life that wasn't.
'Argrach Nilgak' translates crudely into 'At all costs', it refers to ideological change in the Scaeth'Ra's mindset and approach to war. It is also referred to as an 'Obligation of Destruction' when referring to prolonged campaigns. It exists only when an objective eludes them and the 'Clean Blade' cannot be indulged into. This is the point where the Shadow of the Phoenix shows the side of them that is truly monstrous. To signal the end of the clean blade, where appropiate, banners of their Warhost are raised and burned. They will withdraw their forces, as completely as it is feasible, and conduct a ritual from the webway involving the blood letting of captured prisoners. Their armour is turned bone white and their clothes are stained black. A different war mind is embraced, a dark personality that is otherwise never accessed. They embrace the terror of the night, and the darkest atrocities of war. The enemy will be broken in mind and body. These are the natural extension and extreme of the ‘Leira Luaith’ tactics sometimes seen used by the Winds of Fire.
The first day of this new war is made with the infiltration of Mimes, with the 'Agaith' after the release of psychotropic gases on mass. Disappearing with their cameoline cloaks the mimes and deploying further psychotropic grenades the Mimes terrify the guards with visions of their lost loved ones, as well as nightmarish horrors. Warlocks drive psychic waves of anguish and guilt at the same time, engaging directly with those in power, driving paranoia; Against a foe such as the guard the Commissars are driven to execute their own soldiers en masse. Rangers and Wanders use Needle rifles to spread slow acting plagues, both lethal and non-lethal that spread like wildfire. As the carnage mounts the warriors begin their raids, capturing and slaughtering the weak and isolated; The cuts begin to collect. The dead are collected and piled, arrayed as scarecrows across the horizons, staked and crucified, mutilated and butchered. The screams of dying and left wounded filling the night, every dead and dying bodies booby trapped. Then the howling begins, as the warriors howl between battles, adding to the psychic crescendo crafted by the Warlocks, only ending with the battles.
It is a slow and agonising death to be rendered, an extended ritual and the finale is the dissolution of the 'Argrach Nilgak', the clean up. The bodies are gathered, cleaned, stitched and repaired as need be, into a pyre as massive as it needs to be. The warriors, still clad in white and black, though now their war minds are finally slipping with this meditative process, put the bodies to the fire and slips of paper named with their warmind's title. The beast is put to rest, until it is required again. As far as it is known, the Shadow of the Phoenix's Allies and Enemies are unaware of this facet of their warriors. It is their darkest secret.
The rise of the Ynnari under the ascended Ynnead has sewn a division throughout the Aeldari race. The division with the Shadow of the Phoenix was not a serious concern, at first. The discipline and resolve of the people was not divided, the community and their service came first, it was only select members of the command that made demands to join or assist the Ynnarii. The council however was thrown into turmoil. The member states were each in their own political civil wars, and divides in loyalty and opinion were reaching their elected leaders. Ghrian was determined to remain impartial, and personally did not want to be subjugated to another ruling. His personal history with prophecy and fates was one of pain and suffering, he personally did not care for the mythology of Ynnead, but welcomed their mission at least. When heralds and messengers of the Ynnarri came, ahead of a significant force, Ghrian amassed his warhosts ready to annihilate them if need be - much to the council's uproar.
Ultimately he would have little choice, Ghrian was outmanoeuvred as the Ynnarii did not come with violence, or religion or ideals. They came with gifts, a reincarnated Basilate, and asked for a contract to utilise the Shadows military in the future. Ynnead was master of life and death, Ghrian could not refuse.
As it stands now, some of the alliance members have pledged themselves to Ynnead, and drifted away from the Shadow the Phoenix, as much as their contracts allow. Many individuals have embraced Ynnead, while remaining within the Scaeth’Ra. Ultimately the bonds of the warriors proved stronger than the allure of the new cult, arguably many of its members having already found the answers sought by many of the Ynnarii within the alliance.Recruitment[]
The First Trial[]
When warriors join the ranks of the Shadow of the Phoenix, regardless of origin, they are heavily scrutinised and trialled by their peers before they can join the front lines. The first of these is very simple, a trial of will. The warrior is set to fight a routine wargame, one like many they would have already faced. Before each game the warrior has been marked with warpaint, that is a tradition amongst the Exodites of the Shadow of the Phoenix, using Gleo’Ine a natural stimulant. For this chosen combat the warriors are instead painted with Ai'Gélead, a poisonous plant. This plant is infamous for producing an effect of pure terror in its victims. The warriors will begin their game and slowly the drug will take affect, the maze like battlefield will shift and the opposing warriors will don the masks of Harlequins, exercising the terror tactics reserved for unfavourable war. All the warrior has to do is stand and hold their nerve against their innermost fear. It is widely effective, as after this trial no warrior will find themselves fearing even the worst horrors of the universe.
The Quadrumvirate[]
While not the direct leadership of the Shadow of the Phoenix, these legendary four were responsible for founding it and remain unequal in direct political influence. Each one of them has a place as a cornerstone in their faction's history, having a role in any major chapter. They are seen as agents of divinity, to corral the chaos of the fates and secure the singular future of the Scaeth'Ra.
Ead’Ranai (Gothic designation: Arbiter) of the Shadow of the Phoenix and Ruin of the Drukhari. As Arbiter he is the final word within the Council of the Shadow of the Phoenix, though has no authority to implement ruling, he can settle the indecision; Further he is the sword of their military, tasked to carry out their ruling with wrath. Pilot of 'Dunm'Haithe', Ghrian will be seen at the front of the charge and within the thickest melee. He is enslaved to war, likeable to an Exarch, though he now walks no Path, unable to comprehend or enjoy the peace he seeks to establish. A 'living weapon', grown through millennia of pain and battle that defies the very fates and stars, defying death itself with the turn of the 42nd millennia to be reborn alike the Phoenix Lords. Ghrian is a paragon of the height of passion and a husk of former self, but this imagery is the conclusion of a millenia’s journey in the making, it is the cost of his mission.
Ghrian has, and never grew out of, taking himself and his perceived duties too seriously, that is after his carefree and rebellious lifestyle came to an end. Understanding first hand the depths of depravity the Drukhari have, and particularly the disregard they have for the sanctity of shedding Aeldari blood; Ghrian has experienced and sympathised with that mindset, only to shed it himself and holds every Drukhari accountable to the same standard. They will redeem themselves as he has tried to, or face the consequences. His zealous fervour in this endeavour isolates him from most, he is not the empathic diplomat of his brother, or the sympathetic councillor of his sister in law. But he is a testament in strength of will, and there are few in the Scaeth’Ra who do not respect him, the rest only fear him. Complementing his overly serious mindset Ghrian is not one known for whimsical comedy or personality, though he does possess a dry wit thanks to a particularly blunt manner of speaking. He is honest to a fault and is able to conjure a speech or charisma whenever it is needed. Ghrian genuinely cares for his warriors, and the endless tally of those lost in his command, direct or indirect, weighs on him. His warriors follow him to the ends and depths of the galaxy because they know that he will not lie to them and he will lead them back out.
In war Ghrian is known for a singular brutality and ruthlessness, to leave his enemies so utterly destroyed that they may never dream to stand again; Such that many of the traditions and laws that protect the Scaeth’Ra from damnation were implemented to countermand the consequences of this method of warfare. Faytíos is the name of his adopted warmask, and one taken from Aeldari mythology pertaining to a creature that stalked the moonless nights and stole the hearts of heroes to turn them into monsters of war. While in his younger years it was one that Ghrian could control and tame, and now it is one that he reserves for when it is necessary, and casts a shadow still while it slumbers.
First amongst equals, Chief Spiritseer of the Shadow of the Phoenix and ill-regarded Necromancer to the greater Aeldari people. Wraithseer and Wraith Construct 'Dum'Haithe' since the infamous Hamartia campaign until 'transcended' by the Ynnarri to 'walk both realms at once'. Basilate is the connective tissue of the Quadrumvirate and its heart, an unparalleled psyker and library of knowledge.
Basilate's talents may never have surfaced or been tested as they were, should he have carried on living his peaceful and humble life within Craftworld Erdinil. After travelling as an apprentice for centuries he settled there for love, during both of these lifespans he never lost the roots of his home Maiden World. Since founding the Scaeth'Ra with his brother and wife his psychic powers have been tested, anytime he may or did fail to meet that which was demanded of him Aeldari would die. Driven by necessity his powers bloomed and accelerated, and it terrified those around.
Basilate's character is one of a living tragedy; The spiritseer rivals career diplomats with his emphatic nature and understanding, and wins the hearts of more with his jovial nature and wit. He is very much the kind father, and that mask is not one he sheds lightly. All of this, the easy friend, the defuser of conflict, the wise word or comforting joke, has diffused and faded, as he slowly joins the dead of the infinity circuit.
Once what could be ascribed to a spare, in regard to her position as a leader, Kabela was the armourer and builder of the fledgling alliance, their most venerated Bonesinger. However when it came to the Hamartia Campaign's resolution Kabela was thrust into the position of Arbiter, alone, and thrived against all odds. A commendable warrior and powerful psyker, the Quadrumvirate's backbone and last truly living member.
Kabela is very much the caring and sympathetic mother that has a fierce streak beneath the surface. She is never short of a sympathetic ear or kind word, and her efforts to protect the Scaeth'Ra through her technology and craftwork has saved countless. Kabela's artistic capabilities and work ethic is nothing short of commendable as she had made wonderful works of arts that marked every corner of Erdinil. This drive transitioned smoothly to war, as she supplied the growing juggernaut of the Scaeth'Ra military sometimes single handedly, both forging the weapons on mass and crafting them to a standard beyond her peers' expectations. If Basilate is one of the greatest seers of his generation, then Kabela is easily one of the greatest singers.
Kabela's nurturing nature does belie a great sadness, she was for the majority of the Scaeth'Ra's history lonely. Her work consumed the time she had used to raise her young children, her husband slowly drifted into the webway and became a living corpse, and she was left with just the company of warriors. As an artist and peacemaker she felt isolated for centuries and eventually it left a coldness to her character. To the point that she no longer took care of herself and was unrecognisable.
Perhaps too late, or perhaps just in time, the incursion of the Ynnarii resurrected Basilate to his former self and the healing process can begin.
The Heroes[]
Referred to as the Heroes, warriors of exception but more importantly value to the founding and evolution of the Scaeth’Ra. Whether it was for a single unequalled moment of history, where they carried the Alliance upon their shoulders, or millenia within the shadows of history, guiding and steers, as destiny willed it.
A greater dossier on the Sovereign of the Dumnanarii can be found within the files of that faction. Samm’Ich was raised by the new order, a trophy taken from the nurseries of the Weeping Mask. He lives their learned doctrines and is their culture personified, he, perhaps only he, can lead the Dumnanarii and remain free of their curse and weakness. For a long time Samm’Ich was Ghrians protege, the first of a number trusted so highly, until he was trusted to lead the Dumnanarii in his stead.
Samm’Ich was one of the patriarchs of the Miasmic Vespates, so it is no surprise that he still wields the Helix Core Battlerifle, a weapon modified from the staple of the Aspect’s armoury. Undertaking the training of the Incubi Coven Mor’Mont, and achieving the title of Klaivex, he still carries the Demi Klaives as a symbol of that coveted position. The one weapon not tied to the heritage of his history within the Scaeth’Ra is the Voice of the Sovereign, commissioned by Ghrian as a gift to celebrate his new position. A finely crafted power axe, a ‘Singing Weapon’, for him to channel his psychic potential.
Ghrian met Il’Li’Rial within the Gladiatorial arenas sponsored by the Weeping Mask; she was the favourite Hekatarii of their patron Archon. The former Howling Banshee was a gladiator slave, and one very good at her newly found profession; Becoming known as the White Wych, as she still wore some of her Bone White armour. Ghrian, when crossing blades with her in his path to infiltrate the Kabal, suspected that she could be an unknown ally and risked his plan to secure her loyalty. Indeed, Il’Li’Rial valued the idea of true freedom, and would go on to save Ghrian’s life during the sundering of the Kabal. With an uncertain future she joined the Scaeth’Ra, and later took on students and helped forge the Dumnanarii.
It was Il’Li’Rial that took charge of the kidnapped children of the Kabal, the youths of the Drukhari needed a firm, but understanding, hand to temper and steer them to join the next generation of the Dumnanarii. Ultimately this cemented her rise within the alliance, and her ideas would become founding tenets of their warriors codes.
The former Howling Banshee never moved on from the single remaining Mirror Sword she had held onto within the Gladiator pits, having never found the other half the Blade remained alone. She augmented her armoury with Solaris pistol and Fusion Blast Pistol, but maintained her armour much as it was during her time in the arenas, sharing designs of the Wyches and Howling Banshees.Originally a member of the sisterhood of Lhilitu, a Lhamaean, and another turncoat member of the Weeping Mask. One of the Archon's court, his chef and a diplomatic agent; Wickedly intelligent and shrewd, the courtesan saw through Ghrians deception immediately but decided to side and aid him to help bring down her employer. Ultimately it seems for the pure thrill of it. Against his better judgement and reservations, A’Lex’Zina has become a valuable ally of the Shadow of the Phoenix, the seemingly charming woman has secured a foothold within the alliance and its diplomatic missions, becoming vital in bridging the diverse and increasingly fracturing factions, as well as recruiting new members. It is a great irony that it took an unrepentant Drukhari to hold the Scaeth’Ra together, and the relentless task has kept her stimulated for millenia. Even if she has tired of it in recent centuries, much to her surprise, she is loyal to the regime.
- "No mercy, no code, no honour, no hesitation. You lose your weapon, your blade, use a rock, keep fighting. If they take your life, take them with you."
- —Suam initiates his students.
The 'Last Bastion' of Erdinil, Suam was once a Dire Avenger within the small military of the Craftworld. Whatever his life was before this duty he has kept his own; A man of few but choice words. He serves Erdinil, and to protect his adopted Craftworld he follows the Shadow of the Phoenix. His skills and expertise laid much of the foundations of the Adherents, though he never became a Dumnanarii, remaining always a humble Aspect Warrior.
Suam is infamous for his part in the battlefield, for he is savage in the fight; Joking they say that he wears the Mask of one embracing the ‘Argrach Nilgak’ at all times, certainly he does not compromise in his interpretation of the ‘Clean Blade’. No matter who won, no matter the odds, Suam would still be standing at the end, by sheer will if nothing else. Suam is armed with a Bladestorm Shuriken Catapult and Grenade Launcher.
- "We have the location of the enemy champion, ‘The Storm of Blades’, finest sword of the ‘Third Legion’ in their own words.
For now at least, he has claimed too many of our fine warriors, I would like the blight to be cleaned, immediately.
My pleasure Arbiter"- —The Dismounted Spear is unleashed
First Spear of the Shadow of the Phoenix, Wandering Exarch, Undying Champion of Erdinil, Orkfiend.
The Dismounted Spear is the product of a nomadic searching soul finally having found their mission, after becoming lost in their journey. Mar'Shi, like Suam, joined the Scaeth'Ra at their origin point, from Erdinil. However the warrior's place of birth was a maiden world called Duine-Thionól, that had been overwhelmed by roving Ork Waaaghs. His bond to Erdinil started when as an Outcast child the Craftworld gave him a home, though Biel Tan would temper the warrior's ravenous want for justice and barely contained rage. The Shadow of the Phoenix though would finally provide the warrior a true mission that aligned with his personal goals.
The former striking scorpion was a Diving Harpy Exarch at the time of Erdinil's invasion and returned to save the Craftworld. After the many skirmishes, Mar'Shi found themself crashed behind battlelines and victim of an impromptu gladiatorial ring, but he did not die. It is believed that he endured 17 otherwise fatal wounds in the duel, seemingly healed by the will of the Craftworld's infinity circuit. Others believe that he channelled the energy of the Avatar of Khaine, and more recently those that dismiss the myths believe he was simply so enraged that he healed through these wounds by psychic might alone. Certainly, his determination to keep his adopted home, after losing his first, was enough to see him through his wounds. The only evidence aside from questionable eye witness accounts is that Mar'Shi's armour had begun to melt by the psychic energy that flowed through him.
The traumatic experience was significant enough to bring him back from the typically terminal journey of an Exarch. Since which he has attempted to find his own path, as well as guide the Scaeth'Ra in their own similar journeys.
Mar'Shi still uses a Glaive in combat, notably having used a captured Glaive during his undying last stand. For the Shadow of the Phoenix he is their champion fighter, their duellist, to be sent out to kill the enemy champion or commander in single combat.
Outside of this Mar'Shi is an incurable culturephile and xenophile, endlessly scrying libraries, taverns and bazaars to gleam every minutia of history and myth, a habit borne from his own research into his lost homeworld. His own documented efforts led to the foundation of a highly esteemed library upon Penumbra, focused on the collection of lost civilisations.
Elika is the third and final hero found from the siege of Erdinil, like Suam they were present from the start of the engagement. The Swooping Hawks of Erdinil suffered catastrophic attrition as the Drukhari invaded principally from orbit and established aerial dominance for the most part. Their raids were suicidal, but every victory stemmed the tide of reinforcements. Elika is notable as having survived these conditions. She seems to have kept the streak of preternatural luck that kept her alive then. Daring raids and an agent of chaos her hallmark. Though she is less of a teacher of the Scaeth’Ra, her command over her Lann Cells is rivalled by few, a prodigious commander.
Elika carries a Sunrifle, and has modified their own wargear, carrying missile pods in place of the traditional grenade launchers. When coupled with the Melta bombs she carries in addition to this, she has formidable firepower.Prince of the Dha'Roth and still against all odds alive and active. Mol'Dius is an ancient and veteran warrior, having spent millenia raiding and conquering the stars, millenia retired in sentry of Aleo, he has returned to over a millenia of duty to the Shadow of the Phoenix. Mol'Dius still leads void wings at the helm of his personal eagle pilot assigned to the Ast'Raeus. Thanks to his mythology and experience the Scaeth’Ra are on good terms with the majority of the Corsairs they meet, Mol’Dius typically relegates himself to a position of command, or as an advisor, his reservoir of knowledge used in everything from navigation, to history, to repairing their ships. His journeys to the front line feeding the streak of youthful thrill seeking he has never lost.
Where exactly the story of the Widowmaker begins is unknown to the Shadow of the Phoenix. When he came to their growing ranks he was a humble Ranger, just making his way through the universe. He asked to join their mercenary attachments and they happily obliged. The Shadow of the Phoenix were ignorant, and still are largely, of this warrior's true history. They have however heard tales of a warrior said to have walked into the Gardens of Slaanesh to fight and retrieve his lover's soul. A warrior said to have single headedly destroyed an Imperial Crusade to protect an innocent maiden world. A warrior of seemingly unmatched skill, speed and strength, but above all, luck. These tales are widespread, and the truth is of course far more grounded though sometimes also more surprising. The tales of this hero, of Dreah'Ma, are his to keep and others to spread. Only a few have realised that the mythical Dreah'Ma and the humble Ranger Sia'Baharon are one and the same. The Ranger himself has no interest in confirming this, or talking of his past and the truth behind these absurd myths.
Sia'Baharon joined the Shadow of the Phoenix a short time before they fought on Brigan Tia, and quickly made his name in the two battles of that Craftworld. However he would earn his Moniker in the following battles, in the wretched Hive World Dramos. Sia'Baharon was isolated in the underhives of Dramos Prime, an open bounty upon his head and alone; his team mate incapacitated in a firefight. Sia'Baharon led the hordes of hive scum and villainy to their graves, a week of brutal slaughter until finally allies arrived. By such time the Hive had called him Widowmaker, amongst many other names of dread.
Following this Sia'Baharon was instrumental in the war against the Sundered Heart, and recovering Ghrian from their prisons. Operating behind the frontlines and alone for much of the war and constantly sabotaging the Kabal's military. This has become his hallmark, a singular entity of carnage and drive that requires no army to enable it. The Battles of the Shadow of the Phoenix, to Sia'Baharon, are likeable to a retired skilled labourer taking on a part time job to keep sharp. None of these tasks challenge him, he has been to hell and back already.
A final peculiarity of Sia'Baharon is that he does not fight wearing a Spiritstone, he belongs to a foolhardy cult of thought that is only seen amongst a few Aeldari. They say that to fight without guarantee of a safety net at your death forces a stronger will and conviction in battle. This defiance is certainly reflected in Sia'Baharon's approach to warfare. No odds are too great, no number of lives too small to protect, yet he gives his all to war and would sacrifice his own life in a heartbeat to save another. How exactly he remains defiant to this day may well be luck, be it wholly unnatural and possibly the will of some greater power.
Sia'Baharon bears a strikingly unusual helmet, an ancient design and relic of his people. It is referred to as the Mantle of Alberich, and has many advanced features and trivial advantages over its peers. Most notably however is a weapon mount, similar to mandiblasters, that can fire small but powerful missiles. Sia'Baharon's weapon of choice is a Needle-Core Sniper Rifle, another ancient relic of his people, requiring immense strength to wield; the powerful wraithbone shards it fires can punch clean through power armour, or shatter into a thousand monofilament shards. In reserve he carries a Mio'Lach Energy Sword, a gift of these warlike and honourable aliens in recognition of a worthy, if loathed, foe.
Clai'Om is arguably his strongest weapon, a Void Dreamer, in life she was of unique drive, and powerful, one who could never fall into the fatal meditation of some Farseers and even now views death as hardly an obstacle. Her spiritstone is simply a vessel from which she can continue her work. Sia'Baharon carries her, and protects the spiritstone above all else. Clai'Om in turn can shield the warrior with her psychic ability, guide him against the immediate future with her foresight and even will reach out and destroy enemies by direct psychic attack. Further she can help the warrior control vehicles, acting as a co-pilot and can even overwhelm and force the coercion of a Mon'Keigh machine spirit.Fleet[]
The Shadows of the Phoenix fleet has grown mighty with the passage of time. At their initiation they only had a couple of captured Drukhari raiders to call their own. They were never able to secure a tithe of vessels from their alliance members, only guarantees to berth them and tithes of resources or labourers to see them built. On a case by case basis the Scaeth'Ra can call on the support of any of their alliance members; Whenever they have come together it is truly formidable. But unless it is justified by a direct threat to them, they will not join them, therefore extensive negotiation is required before each planned offensive.
The vessels gathered and created for the Scaeth'Ra are referred to as the 'Storm of Stars', while as much resources are funnelled into creating new ships the majority of these vessels are reclaimed and captured from former battlefields; Though rarely from Space Hulks. Initially these vessels were fitted with 'junk cannons', traditionally used to jettison waste from ships and craftworld, these were crude to Aeldari eyes but easily made and repurposed rail weapons, with the plan to replace them with superior Star Cannons and Pulsars. However they proved to be effective enough to merit their own research which led to the Hammer class defences.
Much like their ground forces the fleet is divided into many dozens of raiding parties and long range patrols. As the webway and the Northstar Frigate transport the ground forces, the fleet exists entirely to neutralise enemy naval attachments.
Divided into two fleets, the first typically holding the Lapis Surfs and the second patrolling beyond it; Tre’Igean & Ne’Amhai.
The Mar’Ca’Iah Dreadnaught (Gothic Designation: Void Hunter) is explored in greater length within its own record. Created by the Shadow of the Phoenix, commissioning the powerful Corsairs of the Me’Djai with plans of a Dreadnaught to reflect their military might, and provide a tool to dispatch any fleet that invaded their territory; Having until then a worrying weakness for void warfare. It is a ship challenged to be a jack of all trades, yet master of them all and to be a fleet killer to boot; The demands of the design is quite ridiculous but against the odds the ship wrights achieved it. It surpasses the capabilities of most battleships, but unfortunately only two have thus far graced the navy of the Scaeth’Ra. The resource demand effectively blockaded the production of other capital ships or destroyers that prove to be much more versatile.
It is both a Carrier and Battleship, featuring as its trademark ordnance two ‘Spear of Light’ plasma cannons, which otherwise are seen on the Craftworlds as asteroid killers. Its capability as a carrier, thanks in part to large internal webway gates, gives it a further utility in deploying minefields and Void defences. The vessel has a multi layer defence that enables it to endure as much punishment as it can give out, but requires an external powerstation that provides the ship its power through the webway.
The Bhre’Na, or Fetch, Heavy Cruisers are the Hunting dogs of the Shadow of the Phoenix, and its guardians. Carrying no fighter craft, it is instead armed with a suite of support weapons. Its primary weapon is a massive linear accelerator cannon, a ‘Hammer of Vaul’, able to fire projectiles at variable speeds upto near relativistic speeds; The projectiles are unmanned wraithbone constructs. Long range, at high speeds these munitions are capable of piercing holes in enemy warships, while at low speeds the munitions imbed into the enemy hull. The cannon, after extensive development, was made to be turret mounted despite the size and velocities involved. The wraith munition is able to grow after impact, thanks to a residue charge of energy, infiltrating the target and encumbering it. On rare occasions it has even been used to repair allied vessels with friendly fire.
The Heavy Cruiser is further armed with a suite of long range Leech Missiles, which are an effective first strike measure to disable enemy engines. Its final armament comes from an array of Shadow lance batteries – more short ranged, they score across their targets like needles.The Heavy Cruiser itself has immense engines and speed, but has a short effective range.
The Heavy Cruiser is a support vessel, and not designed to operate alone; Typically two will accompany the Mar'Cah'Iah, with an adhoc pool of others typically escorting Penumbra available for reactionary operations. When Heavy Cruisers are expected to take part in heavyweight fights they have their leech missiles replaced with vorpal missiles instead.
- "Imperial databases will always drone endlessly about the power of Void Hunter, its shadow eclipses their navy and quite rightly. But the Northstar Frigates are what has won these Aeldari their wars. It is a workhorse, its dependable weapon, the lynchpin to its military."
- —Rembrancers footnotes on the Ralta'Thu
The smallest class of Void vessel used by the Shadow of the Phoenix yet its most widely utilised vessel. The Ralta'Thu (Gothic designation: Northstar) Frigate is the designated vessel for operating sorties, with each lann operating around a Northstar. It will house their equipment and support their air transports and vehicle detachments. Meanwhile the Ralta'Thu is small enough to travel through the vast majority of the webway and make operations within the atmosphere. Its size and incredible agility makes it a noteworthy opponent to those who have survived encounters against it. In large scale void battles squadrons of Northstars will join bombing runs against capital vessels.
The Northstar is a low maintenance vessel, for the most part, that can operate with a crew of three if needed. It holds a hangar bay at the stern that typically holds two Darkstar fighters, two Eagle bombers and two Helios Wyrm Dropships. It has a second internal hangar that holds four grav vehicles and the equipment to refit them as needed. Crew quarters can hold fifty warriors and a (potential) crew of twenty.
The Northstar is designed as a slender body with narrow hitbox coupled with a curved facing that can deflect munitions. It features composite armour, the outer surface is formed from regenerative wraithbone but underneath sits void hardened plates that would require replacing if broken. The four engines sit on short wings, with vectored thrusters, which combined with excellent inertial dampeners allow the pilot to turn on the spot as well as use full velocity thrust vectoring. In place of holoshields are stealth measures, chaff, signal inhibitors, signal jammers, and even visual camouflage that in no way makes the Northstar invisible, but make it difficult to find and track. Two holofied decoys can be deployed to misdirect the enemy as well as to directly protect the Northstar.
The Northstar is armed with a potent suite of weaponry, the primary and single most powerful weapon is the 'Than'Ix Array'. This Fusion Beamer can be deployed from the underside and is particularly short ranged for void warfare but exceptionally powerful given its size. With this the Northstar can engage voidcraft beyond the typical expectations of a frigate and grievously wound them. However these cannons require extensive maintenance and calibration to achieve their potential, with typically at least one dedicated crewmen working around the clock between engagements. In reserve are two suites of, typically vorpal, torpedoes mounted within the wings. These torpedoes make a formidable salvo but cannot be quickly reloaded. The final weapons available to the Northstar are automated turret mounted starcannons that can be deployed onto the top deck, which are its only countermeasures against interceptors aside from its own. In all, it is a raider within the void.
The Northstar has incredible utility, allowing the small sorties to travel far and wide, remaining self-sufficient. They can traverse much of the webway thanks to their side, and are capable of engaging a wide variety of targets. In larger scale warfare they can play their part, though may be at risk of being squandered. Northstars have seen utility as mobile air bases, rearming Ironside aircraft.
The Heart of Vaul is a term referring to a trifold defensive structure of void defences that have been adopted by the Shadow of the Phoenix in protection of Maiden Worlds under their custody. The Shadow of the Phoenix boldly challenges incursions into their territory and have invested heavily into their void defence networks. The Heart of Vaul is an effective deterrent against opportunists and that can otherwise delay organised invasions; gifting time to reactionary fleets to tackle such attacks directly.
The Heart of Vaul, or Croian Bhrionnu, is inspired from similar systems utilised by Corsairs; Notably the Me'Djai. Taking ideas from multiple sources of inspiration, three principle stations were formed.
Appearance[]
The appearance of the Shadow of the Phoenix is one of variety, in keeping with most Craftworlds. The Torainthe keep the colours of their respective faction, but are unified by the Sci'Athra they all wear; unless used for camouflage it will appear a teal colour. The Scaeth'Ra wear dark grey armour, teal clothe and a burgundy for select armour panels. Their Wraith Constructs have a stronger presence of burgundy across them. Hair plumes, while a personal preference have commonly seen either a iridescent pattern or white, as well as replacing the hair entirely with feathers. These traditions stem from a number of traditions of their member states. Specifically the adoption of astral patterns by the Dumnanarii and white hair in respect to Lileath and Khaine respectively, which remains a strong cultural root into the Foiredite. The use of feathers has bled into their culture from Tien Bo, who have replaced the role of plumes and stylised hair with manes of feathers.
Harkening back to the first days of the alliance and its war against the Firmament Apparition, Cameoline cloaks and by extension the Sc'Athra are nearly ubiquitous. They are often raggedy and well worn, as a preference and style; Their rangers have built a mythology of malevolent spirits, unnatural forces, and ghostly figures. The elite and veterans of their military often wear Shadeweave cloaks, whose smoky vapour only exacerbates this mythology. Similarly the Scaeth'Ra vehicles use their holofields to generate stealth fields in their raiding and small scale warfare, and on top of this fit mirage launchers armed with 'Miasmic' grenades to create clouds of inky smoke in battle. Overall the combination of grey and purple supporting iridescent and shocks of white against raggedy cloaks and coats, stealthed vehicles amongst disorientating fields of ink and smoke have given a supernatural reputation to the Shadow of the Phoenix in war.
Warpaint[]
The Shadow of the Phoenix have a particular regard and extensive use of Warpaint that originated from their numerous exodite members. While for the most part this was, and still is to a lesser degree, a ritual act tied to the members' culture it has become significantly more since. The most significant party behind this are the venerable warriors of Tien Bo, to whom warpaint is significantly more than a ritual, their warriors have over millennia of warfare and selective breeding of their native flora created warpaints with medicinal properties. While the boon from these herbal treatments cannot make a weakling into a warrior, nor have as drastic effects as the Drukhari combat drugs, they are widely accepted as significantly effective. Practically minded as always, the Shadow of the Phoenix immediately adopted this warpaint as standard practice for their tithed warriors and encouraged it amongst their allied forces. With many of their Exodite allies who already used Warpaint for purely cultural reasons adapting their dyes to incorporate the medicinal effects. It is up to the warrior who wears the paint how it will appear, many follow the traditions of their home, their peers, or whatever they find appealing. Gleo’Ine is the most widespread and simplest warpaint, the ghostly blue pigment is a simple stimulant that relaxes stressed muscles, focuses the mind and invigorates the wearer. As well as being directly applied, soaked strips of cloth are often applied instead. Gleo’Ine is also widely utilised for its minimal side effects, as the corresponding ‘crash’ seen with many stimulant uses is easily controlled and slow in action. The second most commonly applied warpaint is Och’Tiar, applied around the eyes the pigment’s medicinal effects include enhancing blood flow and neural connectivity that sharpen vision and reflexes, as well as reducing the time required to adjust to low or high light conditions.
While the majority of their true warpaint is never seen by enemies, and only seen in ritual gladiatorial combat, this hasn’t stopped a few of the warriors of the Shadow of the Phoenix customising their armour to show their personalised patterns, drawing the pigment or equivalent paints across their battleplate.
Colours[]
Lileath’s Veil refers, by the Aeldari, to a dream-like quality or appearance to a number of visual phenomena loosely grouped together. It is extremely vague in distinction, it includes iridescence, refracted spectrums and the astral displays of galaxies. All of them are such wonderful displays that by some means of optical illusion stand out; From this some also include in this definition the scintillating white hair of Khaine seen in some of his Avatars and artworks. It was once said that these materials were blessed by Lileath, or that they captivated her. Many myths, most debatable, are centred around her imbuing creatures or metamorphosed entities with her beauty. Indeed this forms a collection of surreal works known in one name to be the never ending dream; The greatest of them being the story of Lileath stealing the plume of Khaine, and his quest to retrieve it from her. Either way these colours and images are evocative of the Goddess and those who fixate or venerate the lost weaver of dreams are sure to represent her by such appearances.
One such individual was Kabela, the Bone Singer endlessly practised a variation of styles that captured her energy into her Wraithbone Constructs. Which she extended into her work as well, constructing for utility but decorating with Lileath’s Veil; Then which could be recoloured as need be. This was her habit, her style and signature to all of her work and therefore it was something that the Shadow of the Phoenix was over exposed to. While they may bear white shades at times to reinforce a ghoulish reputation, outside of this the colour scheme of the faction has simply listed. A commonality of teal and burgundy from the initial routes of their origin. When presented with the captivating imagery of Kabela's work many of the Scaeth'Ra found themselves leaving the original patterns in place, or even asking Kabela to return them after finishing a campaign. Many of the artists were inspired and designs of Lileath's Veil became commonplace.
The adoption of iridescent blues, using structural colour, in place of the old teal dyed cloth accompanied this mindset. Its ability to turn drab grey at their mere thought was an added advantage. The Dumnanarii, as they were the Shadow of the Phoenix's warriors then, created the 'Dreamer's Mask'. In short this appearance, which has become their singular style combined with scintillated white hair, appears as shifting reflections of astral lights across a glossy glass-like black. A dreamer's mask is personal to each warrior and unique, and while its exact style fell out of practice with the Dumnanarii's severance and tamed version is still commonly seen across the Foiredite's grey armour.
Rune[]
The rune of the Shadow of the Phoenix vaguely resembles a bird taking flight, it is more importantly the symbol of the Unyielding Custodian, the responsibility of putting one life before your own.
Badge[]
Relations[]
Were it up to Ghrian, and the like minded within the Scaeth'Ra, then the Aeldari and Imperium would exist in their separate lives. The rare glimmer of enlightenment that shows in their race is due course to spare them. However, such an equivalent attitude is rarely seen within the Imperium, not without good reason. When in conflict with the Imperium the Scaeth'Ra put down their foes as if they were dying animal; contempt and pity overriding any pleasure or thrill. Much of the Scaeth'Ra have adopted foremost the view that the Imperium is just an over glorified cult, a pervasive sickness that can only bring death. Whenever proactively engaging Imperial forces, for mercenary work or in preemptive strikes, the Scaeth'Ra wear no colours and practice the 'clean blade' to minimise the wound they inflict. However when fighting defensively, against incursions, or attacking in retaliation they practice an 'Obligation of Destruction', to render their wound so horrific that the Imperium will never make the same mistake twice. This has led to a few inflammatory exchanges as repeated revenge invasions were made to settle previous humiliations. Eventually an understanding was made once the Shadow of the Phoenix were recognised as more than just another Corsair Warband. Ironically enough some level of a good rapport was established after this, as the Scaeth'Ra freely gave the Imperium data caches on their enemies forces and a few rogue traders established direct trade. The boundary is made very simple, entering the Lapis Surfs without invitation will bring death.
Doubly ironic is that the success of the Scaeth'Ra's defence of the Lapis Surfs is down to a former Imperium Sector at its 'gate', which having separated from the Imperium provided a perfect buffer over which Imperial Invasion forces could be bled.
A knife's edge best describes the Shadow of the Phoenix and the Imperium's relation, false flag attacks have inspired wars more than once, and collaborations have made peace many more times. No matter what, the Mon'Keigh's priorities will always be below the Aeldari's own.
Quotes[]
- "They are nothing but a cancer, a blight, a mockery to what we are. They take founded tradition and necessity, twist it and pervert it. They have no place within our Craftworld, pay them and be done with it!"
- —Farseer Nultha, when Ghrians warriors returned along his own forces to Craftworld Ullurai, following the battle of Le’Letri.
- "Mmhhh yes. They are too aggressive to be an Exodite, but too disciplined to be a Corsair. Too wild to hail from a Craftworld, at least lacking that particular shade of red. Too too honourable to be one of us. So, what are you?
I am Dumnanarii. Cease your wasted monologue Corpse Surgeon and count your days, and know that you will get nothing from me.
We will see, we have plenty of time afterall."- —Haemocullus Draz’uc to Adherent Il’ua under interrogation.
- "I tried to steal it, before I wandered. I had desired the blade since the first day I saw my father wield it, slaying a mighty beast during my first hunt. He tracked me down and taught me why it was his blade. It would only be mine upon his death. It was not worth the price."
- —Ghrian's lament, upon seeing his reforged blade.
- "The Shadow of the Phoenix? Who are they again? .... Oh yes. If you think they warrant a display of their place in the universe Tim'Othy then maybe you should continue looking for employment. No, we only have reason to thank them. They have destroyed two Kabals, that we know of at least. The first one I would have seen destroyed anyway in a matter of months for their insult. Oh and the other embarrassment, an Archon foolish enough to be defeated like that would have been supplanted in due time.
No, if I were to do anything at all I would add them to the payroll. Let them continue to clean the weak from our streets for free.
Now, where is that wine?"- —Extracted dialogue of Asdrubael Vect and his opinion on the Shadow of the Phoenix.
- "He gasped for air, clutching his chest at where the dagger had been. The wound was dry, the armour restored. There was no pain.
‘Where was he?’
There was no snow, the cold icy air had become warm, and smelled almost sweet. The sun was gone and replaced with a high vaulted ceiling. There were stars in the distance, not clouds or blue sky. But he could see so far! Not since his youth had he picked out the dozens pinpicks of lights of each unique star. The micro pores of the wraithbone supports and vapour trails of void craft were clear and crisp. His eyes were that of a stranger, and had none of the weight of age that his had.
He was unfocused. Somehow, against every attempt that fate had thrown at him, he was alive. The Drukhari were defeated, he had survived their final attempt on his life and had recovered in the infirmary. What of Aleo, had the fleet arrived in time, he needed answers. There were others with him, Kabela amongst them.
'What happened? Is Aleo safe? Has Samm'Ich returned?' The voice was alien to him. Was he hoarse? It was deeper, accented, yet familiar.
The figures stared back silently.
'Answer your Arbiter!'
Samm'Ich stepped forwards. 'Your home is safe, I saw the last of the raiders routed last week'
Week? Had he taken so long to recover? His age was showing more and more. He leapt up lithely and walked up to the figures. Was he taller?
No. The thought broke through at last with a painful tear through his heart. He reached for his sword, it was lying on a plinth covered in cloth. It sung as he approached, the growling tones that typically accompanied it soothed in his hands, the stress he felt eased with the blade. He turned the blade to face him and saw Da'Nmar looking back.
'Was there a body to recover?' He spoke with his friend's voice, though he did not make it boom across the room as he once would have.
'There was only ash. We thought it was an effect of the venom' Kabela spoke at last. The memory of the venom came back, he had burned alive within his armour, such agony only their dark Kin could muster. Da'Nmar was his protege, he had trained him for over a century to take up the mantle of his position and lead in his stead. He had become a friend of rare closeness who Ghrian had come to love as a son. Now he had become the first of a possible infinite of sacrifices to preserve Ghrian's identity. He laughed. What else could he do?"- —Mythicised account of Ghrian's resurrection