vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Ahriman - Harvest of Calliope: Amongst Ahriman's countless atrocities, there are those that stand as true testaments to his subtlety, power, and ruthlessness. One such incident is known as the Harvest of Calliope. Calliope was a world of lost knowledge; an entire planet given over to the archiving of records from the earliest days of the Imperium all the way to its uncertain present.Stacks of rotting parchment filled caverns extending far beneath its crust, dataspool void stations ringed its orbits from pole to pole, and its cities sprawled around the Index Vaults. Every soul on Calliope existed to service the archive, from the hunters who stalked vermin in the deep parchment stacks, to the scribes who fought for control of the hundreds of contradictory indexes; all were bound to the ecology of the archive. So it had been for a time since before any could remember, and so it seemed things would continue. Until something changed.A new faction arose unexpectedly within the caste of indexers. This faction called for the unification of all the indexes into an endlessly extending formula. They called themselves the "Summation." Where the idea had first come from none were certain, but once it took hold it bloomed like a flower in sunlight.The Summation's power grew generation by generation until its rule of Calliope was uncontested. Centuries passed and billions laboured to further the Summation's goal. At last, they succeeded. On the day of the Emperor's Ascension, in the High Hall of Indexes, a scribe wrote the final line of symbols to complete the formula, and in that instant Calliope fell silent.When an Imperial voidship arrived at Calliope a solar decade later, it found a few starved people living amongst the dry corpses of the dead. None of the survivors could remember anything for more than a few seconds. Stranger still, the great archives were blank, every datastore empty, and every page of parchment bare. The only mark remaining to tell of the algorithmic seed Ahriman had planted to create the Summation, and then harvested millennia later, was a single image, hovering in the lost memories of the survivors' blasted minds: the image of a figure in a horned helm wreathed in flame stepping from a wound in the air to take from Calliope the fruits of their labour.
Ahriman - Death of Dianixis: Ahriman had long sought the skull of Lepidus, a dead hero of the 2nd Black Crusade, for reasons that remain his own. The skull, dipped in silver and engraved with ten thousand words of detestation, lay in the polar shrine city on the world of Dianaxis. A conspiracy to obtain the skull by guile had already failed, so Ahriman turned to more direct means.Since the end of the Scouring, countless billions have fought and died in the shadow of the Eye of Terror. For almost eight Terran millennia the remains of many of these honoured dead lay on Dianaxis. Heaps of charred bones, the serene bodies of Imperial martyrs, and the polished skulls of Space Marines all came to the mausoleum world.On the surface of Dianaxis, the plains of bones extended from shrine city to shrine city, and grew ever deeper with each passing standard year. The cities themselves were built from the skulls and bones of the most heroic dead. So sacred and revered was Dianaxis that a dozen Space Marine Chapters maintained honour guards and bastions on its surface. Star fortresses ringed its approaches, and millions of troops stood sentinel over the skulls of those who had died to hold the darkness in abeyance.Across the reaches of space, Ahriman burned worlds and sent souls shrieking into the Warp. As the murdered worlds spun into alignment with each other they created an arcane pattern in the stars with Dianaxis at its heart. As the great design locked into place, Dianaxis' sun was pulled from reality, leaving a howling wound in the sky of the mausoleum world.Blood and fire spread across the heavens. The bones of the dead howled the last thoughts of their lives, and rainbow-colored fire crawled across the ossuary towers. Daemons poured through the hole that had been the sun, tumbling onto the mausoleum world like falling stars. The Imperial defenders screamed as the children of Chaos ate their souls.Amidst the slaughter, Ahriman appeared outlined in lightning, ringed by sorcerers and Rubricae. Power rolled from the circle of sorcerers and they strode through the battle, killing the defenders and dissolving Daemons with arcane fire. Space Marine Chapter honour guards came against him, but were reduced to ashes and silent screams with a gesture.Fire Bane, the last Warlord-class Titan of the Legio Officium, strode to war from its shrine. The cry of its warhorns echoed across the damned world, and its weapons burnt a path towards Ahriman's circle. Drawing together the power of his fellow sorcerers, Ahriman forced the war machine to its knees, before pulling the core of its plasma reactor through its carapace.At last, Ahriman held the skull of Lepidus in his hand, as the battle between mortals and Daemons raged around him. Raising the skull to his eyes he found the one word he sought etched on the skull's surface. Letting the skull fall from his hand, he and his forces vanished, leaving the world of bones to the howls of Daemons and the cries of the dying.
Ahriman - Quest for the Black Library: For many centuries, Ahriman sought the ultimate prize in his search for knowledge about Chaos -- the Aeldari's Black Library, a secret craftworld hidden within the Webway that served as a well-guarded repository of all of the ancient Aeldari Empire's compiled knowledge of Chaos and sorcery.After years of gruesome crusades within the Webway searching for the location of the hidden craftworld, Ahriman approached the location of the Black Library one more time. But on this attempt, the Arch-sorcerer bypassed the hidden sanctum's fierce Harlequin defenders and spectral guardians by telepathically projecting himself inside the Black Library's halls, allowing his physical body to transcribe onto hermetic parchment what his astral self saw.In doing so, he was able to create a copy of the fabled Tome Labyrinthus, the Harlequins' own map to the hidden passages of the Webway.
Ahriman - Second War Within the Webway: Hidden daemonic spies seeded throughout the Webway draw Ahriman's eye to the Reborn of the Ynnari, for in their resurrection he saw hope for his own fallen brethren among the Thousand Sons Legion. In the wake of Cadia's fall to Abaddon the Despoiler during the 13th Black Crusade, the Arch-sorcerer led a contingent of Thousand Sons into the Webway, there to lay an ambush for the unsuspecting Aeldari forces that were rushing towards Klaisus, the ice moon and last world of the Cadian System where they sought to form an alliance with the Imperial survivors of the destruction of Cadia.Just as the Ynnari were entering the Psychedelta, Ahriman sacrificed nine hundred and ninety-nine captives to Tzeentch to complete his ritual of translocation, shifting him, his warriors and his Daemon thralls to the Ynnari's location.Warpfire, ensorcelled bolts and the flicker of monomolecular blades filled the fractal tunnels as the armies clashed. In the midst of the carnage, Ahriman created a void-like pocket reality outside the walls of the Webway, and into this emptiness he transported the champions of the enemy, the Triumvirate of Ynnead.As Ahriman prepared to wrench the knowledge he sought from his dying captives, Yvraine -- the Ynnari priestess and champion of the partially awakened Aeldari god of the dead Ynnead -- demonstrated the power she could offer by restoring to life a dozen Rubric Marines. The resurrected Thousand Sons were staggered by their sudden awakening, knowing not where they were or who they were fighting, yet they recognised their battle-brother Ahzek Ahriman whom they had not beheld with living eyes for ten millennia.Filled with a mixture of elation and grief at seeing his warriors restored, Ahriman yanked Ynnead's luminaries back inside the Webway before they perished. No sooner than the Triumvirate of Ynnead --Yvraine, the Visarch and the Avatar of Ynnead, the Yncarne -- were safe, than a Wraithknight sliced through the arcane superstructure of the Webway tunnel, creating a yawning chasm between the Aeldari and the Thousand Sons.The Yncarne inhaled mightily as the Aeldari forces withdrew, pulling the reanimated Thousand Sons over the precipice into the void. Ahriman screamed in horror as these flesh and blood warriors tumbled away. They were lost to him once more, but he now finally knew that the reversal of his Rubric was possible, and he knew who had the power to do it.
Ahriman - Road to Resurrection: Having witnessed the ability of Yvraine to restore the Thousand Sons afflicted by the Rubric, Ahriman began gathering his forces after the formation of the Great Rift.After ten thousand standard years he finally knew where to find the knowledge he had been seeking, and so he next trained his prescient vision on the Drukhari city of Commorragh.
Ahriman - Personality: Across a thousand worlds, Ahriman has sought the keys to save what he has already destroyed by his own hubris -- the Thousand Sons Legion. The methods by which he seeks to service his obsession to make right what he did to his battle-brothers have made his name a curse in the mouths of countless Humans and aliens alike. Scraps of sorcerous lore, relics both sanctified and profane, and rare souls of great psychic or mystical power draw his interest like a raven to a corpse.A master of subtle manipulation like the Chaos God whose interests he often unwillingly serves, Ahriman has seeded Chaos Cults on a hundred worlds, and bent the desires of the powerful to achieve his ends. With conspiracies and plots spread across the galaxy, he coils between them, a puppet master pulling invisible strings. When such subtle means are impossible he wages a sorcerer’s war, forcing armies to kneel with visions of terror, shattering war machines with invisible forces, and ripping the souls from mighty heroes.He knows the True Names of 9x9x9 Daemons, and possesses pacts which can bring daemonic legions flocking to his summons. Worlds have burned at his command, billions have fallen to the hunger of the Warp, and reality has bled at the fury of his power.Ten Terran millennia have passed in the realms beyond the Eye of Terror, and still Ahriman walks his path of exile towards the promise of a distant salvation. Ahriman has already tried to undo the damage of the past and failed, but, as the light of the Imperium gutters, his steps take him ever closer to the answers he has sought for so long.The shadow of secrets, lost since before Humans ever stared up at the stars, lingers on the horizon in the elusive Black Library, calling Ahriman ever on, down the road into the future.Flames light that road, and the bones of the dead and the ashes of murdered worlds pave its course. None, except perhaps Tzeentch, who watches all and laughs the song of fate, know what awaits Ahriman at the end of that road, but if he should reach its end, the universe will tremble.
Ahriman - Wargear and Abilities: Ahriman is a true master of sorcery and one of the most powerful psykers in the galaxy. His knowledge of the dark arts is rivaled only by the Greater Daemons of his patron Chaos God, the terrible Lords of Change.In addition to the multitude of Chaos-powered psychic powers he can call upon, Ahriman is armed with the Black Staff of Ahriman; an ornate Force Weapon which provides a potent focus for his psychic energy.He also carries an enchanted Inferno Bolt Pistol that fires powerful Inferno Rounds similar to the weapons used by the Chaos Space Marines of his Thousand Sons warband, the Prodigal Sons.Artificer ArmourBlack Staff of Ahriman - The Black Staff of Ahriman is a weapon capable of sundering reality. Created by the Arch-sorcerer himself, each separate component is a relic of immense power acquired through horrific wars and quests of despoilment. Its bladed tip is a remnant of the desecrated Spear of Shadows, taken from the dying hands of the Asuryani Farseer Kalrimon. Its haft is made from the charred fragments of Ahriman's own hequa staff that burned on Prospero during the Space Wolves' invasion. These and other relics were bound together in a profane ritual that brought the Black Staff into being, sending pained screams echoing through the Immaterium. Though imperceptible to mortal eyes, the staff appears to those with witch-sight as a blazing scar of darkness in the Warp, a black absence towards which psychic energy is inextricably drawn before being blasted out by Ahriman's destructive will.Inferno Bolt PistolFrag GrenadesKrak Grenades
Ahriman - Trivia: Ahriman, known also as Angra Mainyu and Aŋra Mainiiu, is the name of the "destructive spirit" or Satan-like figure of the dualistic Zoroastrian faith of ancient Persia. Within the even more ancient proto-Indo-Iranian religion known as Mazdeism, Ahriman is often referred to as the chief of all demons and embodies evil in this Manichean concept of the world.His opponent -- and according to several sources also his brother -- is Ahura Mazda, also known under the names of Ormuzdh, Ohrmazd, Ahuramazda, Hourmazd, Hormazd, and Hurmuz. Ormuzdh is the Avestan name for the highest divinity of the Old Iranian religion who was proclaimed as the uncreated God by Zoroaster, the prophet and founder of the ancient dualistic faith of Zoroastrianism.Zoroastrianism was the primary religion of the Persian Empire until the Islamic conquest of the 7th century A.D. Ahura Mazda is described as the highest deity of worship in Zoroastrianism, along with being the first and most frequently invoked deity, while Ahriman would be his equal and opposite.Many scholars believe that the Judeo-Christian concept of Satan or the Devil traces back to the Zoroastrian Ahriman, an influence that impacted the Jews during their exile in Babylon as part of the Persian Empire after the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II in 587 B.C.In the novel A Thousand Sons by Graham McNeill, there are many references to ancient historical Terran texts or curios related to the occult within Ahriman's private sanctum, including:Visconti-Sforza Tarot Deck - This is a 15th century A.D. Tarot deck and one of the oldest known to exist. It had a significant impact on the visual composition, card numbering and interpretation of modern decks. The surviving cards are of particular historical interest because of the beauty and detail of the design, which was often executed in precious materials and reproduce members of the Renaissance Italian Sforza and Visconti families in period garments and settings. Consequently, the cards also offer a glimpse of noble life in Milan which the two families called home since the 13th century A.D.Voynich Manuscript - This is an illustrated codex hand-written in an unknown writing system. The book has been carbon-dated to the early 15th century AD (1404–1438), and may have been composed in Northern Italy during the Italian Renaissance. The manuscript is named after Wilfrid Voynich, a book dealer who purchased it in 1912. Ahriman was said to possess a translated copy of this ancient text amongst his collection.
Ahriman - Sources: Codex: Chaos Space Marines (3rd Edition, 1st Codex), pg. 26Codex: Chaos Space Marines (3rd Edition, 2nd Codex), pg. 62Codex: Chaos Space Marines (4th Edition) pp. 50-51Codex: Chaos Space Marines (6th Edition), pg. 60Codex Heretic Astartes - Thousand Sons (8th Edition), pp. 29-31, 37, 67Codex: Chaos (2nd Edition), pp. 106-108Daemonifuge (Graphic Novel Series) by Kev Walker and Jim CampbellIndex Astartes I, "Psykana Librarius: Space Marine Librarians"Index Astartes III, "Masters of Forbidden Knowledge - The Thousand Sons Space Marine Legion", pp. 62-69Warhammer 40,000: Warlords of the Dark Millennium - Ahriman, pp. 3-4, 6-12, 25-29White Dwarf 202 (US), "The Sorcerer: Tzeentch, Ahriman", pp. 9-14White Dwarf 227 (US), "Chapter Approved - Ahriman: Chaos Sorcerer, pp. 73-80White Dwarf 230 (US), "Bitter and Twisted: Ahriman"White Dwarf 258 (UK), "Psykana Librarius: Space Marine Librarians"White Dwarf 267 (US), "Index Astartes First Founding: Masters of Forbidden Knowledge, The Thousand Sons Space Marine Legion"A Thousand Sons (Novel) by Graham McNeillBlood Ravens: Dawn of War Omnibus (Novel compilation) by C.S. GotoAtlas Infernal (Novel) by Rob SandersAhriman: Exile (Novel) by John French
Ailill Nuada - Ailill Nuada: Ailill Nuada is an Aeldari Harlequin Shadowseer. During the final years of the 41st Millennium, she represented the Harlequins in the Conclave of Tears, while also acting as the Conclave's figurehead.
Aiolos Missile Launcher - Aiolos Missile Launcher: The Aiolos Missile Launcher was a large, carapace-mounted Missile Launcher system that was used by the ancient Deredeo Pattern Dreadnoughts of the Legiones Astartes during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy era.The Aiolos Missile Launcher featured a highly sophisticated targeting system that was capable of tracking enemy targets independently of the Dreadnought's primary weapons system and regardless of intervening terrain.The Aiolos is still found in use by the various Space Marine Chapters and possibly the Traitor Legions that still maintain functioning Deredoe Dreadnoughts in the late 41st Millennium.
Air Caste - Air Caste: The Air Caste of the T'au Empire traditionally functioned as messengers, but now fill the ranks of the T'au Protection Fleet (the Kor'vattra) and the T'au Merchant Fleet, working as military and civilian pilots and voidship crews.The T'au use the titular prefix of kor to designate someone of the Air Caste.The Air Caste lives almost entirely off-world, and due to their constant exposure to zero and low-gravity environments, they have developed long, slender limbs and hollow bones. This results in their possessing a skeletal and muscular structure of reduced strength compared to the T'au genetic baseline.Prior to the unification of the T'au castes, during the time of the Mont'au, the Air Caste were said to possess membranous wings, allowing them to glide on warm air currents. They still possess vestigial remains of these membranes.They are amongst the least encountered of the T'au castes by outsiders, presumably because of their reduced muscle mass which makes life in a gravity well difficult and their duties within the merchant and military fleets of the T'au Empire. This is unlike the Water and Fire Castes' members who more often operate outside of the borders of the empire. As a result, the Air Caste is sometimes called the "invisible caste" among the T'au.T'au pilots tend to be superior in facing the rigours of air-to-air combat compared to their Human counterparts because they have better depth perception and higher acceleration-tolerance, but lack real combat experience compared to the best Imperial fighter-pilots of the Aeronautica Imperialis.
Air Caste - Role: T'au battle plans are works of holistic genius, carefully orchestrated manoeuvres that encompass great swathes of any engagement area. Central to many of these strategies is the establishment of total air superiority. Achieving this goal falls to the brave and selfless pilots of the Air Caste.Teams of Air Caste combat craft sweep through the skies above almost every battlefield the Fire Caste fight upon. Fighter and bomber teams are fully integrated into the combat strategies of the T'au military, coordinated centrally by Coalition-level command elements and working in perfect concert with the ground forces of the Fire Caste. Their efforts ensure that ground-based cadres can manoeuvre freely, pursuing their own objectives without fear of attack from on high.Nearly all T'au campaigns begin with a massive Air Caste combat deployment. Each team of fighters or bombers is tasked with achieving specific objectives and provided with ample support to achieve their goals in optimal time. Teams of Razorshark strike fighters switch between high altitude dogfights and ground attack runs, fearlessly scouring the skies of monstrous beasts or obliterating the war engines of the enemy.While the Razorshark Teams eliminate priority threats, whole contingents of Sun Shark bombers plunge low to perform daring bombing runs against key enemy installations. Airfields, generators, flak batteries and command assets are pounded into submission by energised ordnance to pave the way for full-fledged ground assault by the Fire Caste.Air Caste pilots display incredible selflessness, braving unbelievable odds to destroy their targets. They will gladly scream between the questing, building-sized tendrils of a Tyranid Hive Ship or dare the drumming fire of Space Marine Hunter squadrons, stoically accepting their casualties as sacrifices to the Greater Good.Still, the T'au do not believe in senseless martyrdom; their air groups never commit without a coherent plan and clear target, and they quickly pull out if it becomes apparent that no amount of determination and technology is going to win the day.Such judgments are left up to the pilots themselves, T'au Commanders relying upon the experience and wisdom of their flight crews in the field. Such trust is well placed. The pilots of the Air Caste are born into their role, biologically adapted to flight thanks to their willowy frames and hollow bones.Coupled with bodies that can absorb tremendous g-forces is the Air Caste pilots' exceptional training. These skyborne warriors have learned to fly from their earliest days, their entire lives devoted to the absolute mastery of the pilot's art. Most T'au team leaders and fighter aces have more experience than a whole squadron of other species' pilots, all of which they turn to the pursuit of victory for the Tau'va.
Air Caste - Notable Air Caste Members: Supreme Admiral Kor'O'Vanan - The Supreme Admiral Kor'O'Vanan commanded the T'au Navy fleet that confronted and defeated the Hive Fleet Gorgon at Kel'shan. He fought at Sha'draig, the first T'au colony world invaded by the Gorgon, and eventually deemed the situation irretrievable in 843.901.M41 and ordered a withdrawal. His fleet broke through the blockade and attempted to evacuate all the surviving ground forces, but Shas'el Vorcah remained behind and launched a series of suicide missions that eventually drove the Gorgon from Sha'draig, but not before it was almost completely consumed by Ripper swarms. Kor'O'Vanan engaged the Gorgon at the Battle of Sol'ai Rift as it left the Ka'mais System in 550.902.M41. At first the battle favoured the T'au, until a cluster of Ramsmiter and Razorfiend bio-ships appeared with near immunity to the T'au's Ion Weapons and the T'au fleet had to withdraw. The T'au managed to destroy many of the Gorgon's Narvhals, the bio-ships which the Tyranids used to travel faster than light, hoping to buy time for the Kel'shan Sept to further fortify against the imminent invasion of the Hive Fleet. Hive Fleet Gorgon was finally defeated at Kel'shan. However, three Hive Ships survived and fled towards the edge of the galaxy. Kor'O'Vanan ordered his fleet to pursue. He caught and engaged them at Delmarra, where he managed to destroy one, though the Custodian-class Battleship Firestar was lured into Delmarra's asteroid belt and irreparably damaged. The two remaining Hive Ships continued to flee and Kor'O'Vanan continued his pursuit, mistakenly believing that these surviving ships had to make physical contact with other Tyranids to transfer their knowledge of how best to combat the T'au with the Hive Mind.
Air Caste - Sources: Codex: Tau Empire (7th Edition) (Digital Edition), "The Castes"Codex: Tau Empire (6th Edition), pp. 8-12Codex: Tau Empire (5th Edition)Codex: Tau Empire (4th Edition)Codex: Tau (3rd Edition), pg. 9Codex: Tyranids (5th Edition), pp. 18-21Death from the Skies (7th Edition), pp. 20-21Fire Warrior (Novel) by Simon Spurrier, pg. 120Warhammer 40,000: Conquest (Living Card Game) (Tau Courier picture)Warhammer Community - Take to the Skies with the T'au Air Caste
Airbursting Fragmentation Projector - Airbursting Fragmentation Projector: An Airbursting Fragmentation Projector is an experimental weapon developed by the T'au Empire during the Third Sphere Expansion. The weapon operates by firing a proximity-fused explosive projectile on a trajectory computed by a simple on-board drone intelligence within the warhead itself.This AI full calculates the precise height and distance of each submunition it fires so as to provide optimum explosive damage across a wide area.The Airbursting Fragmentation Projector is currently still undergoing field tests and thus is considered a special-issue weapon to T'au forces due to its experimental nature.Its use is only entrusted to a number of senior Fire Caste T'au Commanders.
Airbursting Fragmentation Projector - Operation: The Airbursting Fragmentation Projector has undergone numerous improvements throughout its development period, but all versions are the same in that they fire scatterings of fragmentation bomblets over a wide area.These bomblets are fired at a height calculated by a simple drone-based Artificial Intelligence within each bomblet to cause optimum damage, and have a proximity fuse that is intended to detonate the explosive projectiles at the right moment.The weapon functions in a similar way to traditional artillery in that the munitions are fired at a high angle and explode directly above the target. Line-of-sight to the target is not needed due to the indirect fire trajectory of the munitions.This also means that the munitions will bypass and negate the effects of any cover the foe might be using. Airbursting Fragmentation Projectors are most effective when there is at least five metres of clear space above the enemy.Despite the Airbursting Fragmentation Projector having a far shorter range than conventional artillery, it is able to be used on the move far more effectively. An Airbursting Fragmentation Projector has a significant area of effect that is on a par with the far larger weapons used by many other intelligent races, which furthers its usefulness as a battlesuit-mounted weapon.This weapon is especially effective against hordes of lightly armoured troops such as Tyranid Gaunts, Ork Boyz and Imperial Guardsmen, as proven during the operations of Commander Flamewing who operated in the Zurcon System of the Jericho Reach during the Achilus Crusade.In Flamewing's hands, the weapon proved extremely effective against Tyranid swarms when the munitions were programmed to detonate over the centre of hordes where the enemies were most densely packed, causing maximum damage to a large number of foes.The Airbursting Fragmentation Projector has also proven useful against stealthy foes which make intelligent use of cover, and those gifted with chameleonic abilities; whether this is gained through the use of equipment such as Camo-Cloaks or an innate biological ability like that possessed by Tyranid Lictors.In these cases, an Airbursting Fragmentation Projector will bypass any cover used and also saturate the area with bomblets, meaning that a hit is almost guaranteed against the enemy even if they cannot be clearly seen.
Airbursting Fragmentation Projector - Known Variants: Microburst Fragmentation Launcher – A Microburst Fragmentation Launcher is a very rare and experimental variant of an Airbursting Fragmentation Projector, and has thus far been only entrusted and issued to T'au Commanders piloting XV46 Vanguard Commander Variant Void Battlesuits. A Microburst Fragmentation Projector features a similar range to a standard Airbursting Fragmentation Projector, but fires projectiles that detonate with more focused, concussive, explosive force, sacrificing a large blast for more power per shot. It also has a far faster rate of fire, and is smaller and more portable; allowing the XV46 to use it more effectively in the close confined environments it is designed to operate in.
Akrep Xie - Akrep Xie: Akrep Xie is a Deathwatch Chapter watch master who is the current watch commander of the Eye of Octos watch fortress in the Octarius Sector of the Segmentum Ultima. Prior to being seconded to the Deathwatch, Akrep Xie was a Veteran of the Jade Scorpions Chapter.In the Era Indomitus Xie led the Eye of Octos' Deathwatch kill-teams to aid the Pankallis Sub-sector, after it was invaded by the forces of the Tyranid Hive Fleet Leviathan. Xie is currently fighting to cleanse the xenos from the planet called Death of Bianzeer, in the Bianzeer's Hollow System.
Akrep Xie - Trivia: "Akrep"  means "scorpion" in the related Semitic languages of Arabic, Hebrew and Akkadian.
Aktôl Vatyk - Aktôl Vatyk: Aktôl Vatyk was a blind Brôkhyr of the Leagues of Votann, who created the relic called Aktôl's Fortress. It was painstakingly wrought by Vatyk and is considered to be the Brôkhyr's life's work.Crafted using conflicting harmonic abrasion fields rather than hammer blows, and shot through with a core of hyperdense stelanictite, this Armour Crest crest projects a complex gravitic repulsion field that can be directed by the bearer against their foes. Bludgeoned and restrained by the clashing grav-waves, the enemy is held at bay long enough for the crest's bearer and their comrades to press forward and lay them low.
Al'rahem - Al'rahem: Captain Al'rahem of Tallarn is a company commander of the 3rd Tallarn Regiment, the "Desert Tigers." This esteemed regiment has a long and honoured history amongst the annals of the Tallarn Desert Raiders regiments of the Astra Militarum.
Al'rahem - History: Al'rahem is an able commanding officer of the 3rd Tallarn Regiment, but entrusts the more mundane duties of company command to his subordinates as he likes to lead from the front, charging into the fray with the most daring and vital elements at his disposal. Captain Al'rahem has a natural affinity for tactical command, never faltering in the heat of combat. His calm demeanor and use of initiative is the envy of many an aspiring general. Stalking his prey from afar before awaiting the most opportune moment to strike, Al'rahem leads his warriors in well-planned attacks.This Tallarn Desert Raiders commander doesn't employ the standard tactics of charging the enemy head-on employed by his contemporaries, and instead Al'rahem employs cunning and patience. In the grandest traditions of guerrilla warfare, the Desert Tigers prefer hit-and-run tactics -- testing and probing their enemies' defences before committing themselves to the fight. When the Desert Tigers strike, they do so suddenly, then melt away once more before their foes can retaliate. They then wait for the next opportunity to strike. Al'rahem's forces have vanquished many a foe that were many times their number in this way.Captain Al'rahem employed these tried and true methods against the elusive Aeldari during the Battle for the Ruins of Esko's Moon, fighting a protracted guerrilla war that utilised this hit-and-run style of warfare. The Tallarn commander and a hand-picked platoon of his Desert Tigers trekked half-way across the moon's equatorial continent to strike at the ruin's lightly defended and supposedly unapproachable southern pass. Carefully constructing a crossfire for their erstwhile and elusive foes, Al'rahem himself claimed the head of the Autarch Kaliell after springing his deadly trap.
Al'rahem - Tallarn Desert Tigers: The Tallarn Desert Tigers fought alongside the 4th and 5th Tallarn Desert Raiders Regiments in the Macharian Crusade from 392-399.M41. This famed seven-year-long Crusade was led by Lord Commander Solar Macharius. The Desert Tigers regiment was subsequently devastated fighting for the Warmaster Solon during the Macharian Heresy in the early-400's.M41, in the midst of the civil war for control of the territory that Macharius had conquered during his Crusade which erupted between the 7 Imperial Guard army group generals after the death of Lord Commander Macharius. The Tallarn Desert Tigers earned their nickname on the planet Kallastin where the regiment fought a hard and successful war against human mutant rebels, receiving a commendation from the Inquisition for its part in the conflict.During the Macharian Crusade, an officer named Al'rahem led a company of Desert Tigers to the newly discovered Desert World of Thoth. This world was not unlike the desert planet of Tallarn, and so it was only natural for the Desert Tigers to be chosen from amongst the regiments in the Macharian Crusade to take part in the invasion. If the legends are to be believed, this commander purged the daemon-infested world with but a single company of Tallarn Desert Raiders, supported by the native tribesmen who united under Al'rahem's leadership. Some believe that the current Captain Al'rahem was named after this man, whilst others argue that he is only the descendant of this Imperial Guard hero. There are even those who insist that Al'rahem and the legendary Tallarn commander are one and the same man. This is a possibility, as Warp Storms and dimensional cascades have been known to distort and twist the passage of time, but no one knows for sure, and Al'rahem answers all inquiries on the subject with only an enigmatic smile.
Al'rahem - Personality: Captain Al'rahem is a natural leader and gifted linguist. He possesses the innate ability to instill respect and confidence using his charismatic charm and quick intellect. He has even been able to do this when fighting alongside other Imperial Guard regiments allied with the Desert Tigers. Even those as fastidious as the Catachan Jungle Fighters, who are known for their distrust and scorn for all off-worlders, have a high regard for Captain Al'rahem.
Al'rahem - Wargear: Al'rahem is known to carry a magnificent Power Sword known as the Claw of the Desert Tiger, whose curved blade was crafted into the shape of a scimitar. It was forged by master artisans and encrusted with the emblems of the desert. Its appearance has raised this weapon to legendary status, so that in the hands of Al'rahem it is regarded with awe by his friends, and with fear by his foes. He also carries a master-crafted Plasma Pistol which is equipped with an infrared targeter.
Al'rahem - Trivia: "Al'rahem" (رحيم) means "the merciful" in Arabic, short for "Abd ul-Rahim" ("Servant of [God] the Merciful").
Alaitoc - Alaitoc: Alaitoc is a major Asuryani craftworld known for having spread its influence further afield than other craftworlds, sending agents across the galaxy to act as its eyes and ears.On the battlefield its forces favour stealth and misdirection over brute force, killing silently and with guile wherever they can.The world-rune of Alaitoc depicts the sword of Khaine bisecting the Red Moon; the sign of the House of Eldanesh, borne in grim memory of the act that brought about the War in Heaven in Aeldari Mythology. The Red Moon is an ill omen for the Aeldari even now, used as a reminder of the fate of mortals who offend the gods.Alaitoc and its forces are associated with the colours blue and yellow. The craftworld is known to be currently located in the Ultima Segmentum that was once the heart of the ancient Aeldari Empire.
Alaitoc - The Behemoth Comes: Alaitoc's native homeworlds were located on the frontier of its species' ancient empire, and like the wiser Aeldari upon Mymeara, some of its people had also realised the depths their kin would soon fall to. Casting out into the stars almost too late, they barely survived the atrocity, and since then Alaitoc had also had to fight to survive.Amongst these dark days was an encounter with a splinter force of bio-ships from Hive Fleet Behemoth, the Tyranid Hive Fleet which would later go on to devastate the Ultramarines Chapter homeworld of Macragge in 745.M41. The swarm of Tyranid bio-ships had been discovered lying in the path of the Alaitoc craftworld by the fleet of Cruisers and Escort ships that scouted ahead of it. The spread of Tyranid ships was vast as it closed upon the forward Aeldari armada, but it had not counted upon the skills of its opponents.Perhaps never having encountered such a race as the Aeldari in its own galaxy, the Tyranid fleet was unprepared for the swiftness of the Aeldari vessels and the accuracy of their laser batteries and torpedoes. As the bio-ships vomited forth their lethal payloads of drones, squadrons of Alaitoc's Hellebores and Nightshades swept in to destroy them. In return their pilots found their vessels attacked by huge feeder tendrils which punched through their hulls, unleashing Tyranid Warriors into their midst.The furious battle raged on the ships and amongst the stars for many solar days, each moment seeing the Alaitoc craftworld move ever closer to being inside the range of the bio-weapons of the largest Tyranid ships. Knowing that an invasion of their craftworld would likely spell the end of their people, the Alaitoc fleet set itself to destroy as many of the largest Tyranid vessels as they could.With the massive form of the craftworld literally only solar hours away on their long-range screens, the Aeldari fleet succeeded by attacking the largest bio-ships, killing or seriously injuring largest of the Tyranid creatures within, including many synapse-creatures. With its command structure failing, the Tyranid attack on the Eldar craftworld lost its coherence, providing easier targets for Alaitoc's fleet to destroy.Yet the path before the craftworld had become saturated with the remnants of the Tyranid bio-swarm. Although most of its creatures had expired, there was still the very real risk that some might still be capable of drifting the short distance across space to infest the craftworld as it passed through the infested space.To prevent this, the Aeldari armada launched thousands of torpedoes into the area where the Tyranid bio-ships now drifted. These succeeded in destroying or blasting away any remaining Tyranid Mycetic Spores and bioforms. These efforts were so effective that the region is still marked upon Imperial Navy maps as a dead zone many Terran centuries after the Aeldari armament was unleashed.
Alaitoc - Defence of Betalis III: In 894.M41, a Ranger squad from Craftworld Alaitoc located the lost Mymearan craftworld. Finding an entrance to a portal in the Webway inscribed with symbols none of the Aeldari Rangers recognised, they sent one of their number to seek advice from Alaitoc's Council of Seers. The response came in the form of Alaitoc's greatest Farseer at that time. Realising that the Rangers had found a portal to one of the lost craftworlds, the Farseer called upon ancient knowledge he had learned many centuries before when he had first taken the Path of the Seer to break the seal which protected the portal.Just beyond it stood the Farseer of Craftworld Mymeara and his bodyguard of Shadow Spectres Aspect Warriors. At first the Mymeara Farseer wanted his people to have no dealings with Alaitoc for fear they were no different from those that they had fled from, and it seemed as if once more there would be a battle between Aeldari kin. However, Alaitoc was in many respects culturally similar to Mymeara and its Farseer was able to persuade his refound kin that this could be the basis on which they could strike up an alliance to each craftworld's benefit.Recently, whilst searching for resources to rip from the ancient Mymearan world of Betalis III, human colonists broke through into a massive cave system, the site, thousands of Terran years before, of the final battle against those destined to destroy the Mymearan craftworld. During the conflict Mymeara's enemies had been defeated but as the Phoenix Lord Irillyth saw in an earlier vision, it was at the cost of his and his war host's lives.When the colonists broke into the cave they triggered an ancient defence system within the Phoenix Lord's armour intended to protect it whilst its spirit was in a dormant state. This caused a cave-in which killed all the miners and also alerted those who still tended the Phoenix Lord's shrine on the Mymearan craftworld to his location.Without Alaitoc's aid, and that of its Corsair allies, the resurrection of Mymeara's Phoenix Lord would not have been possible. Not only did the craftworld bring the full force of its squadrons of Grav-tanks, Vypers, Nightwings and other vessels to bear against the Leman Russ tanks and Chimera of Company Vengeance, but its Pathfinders and Aspect Warriors also stalked the icy depths of the Tormus Delta against Company Retribution.Alaitoc's efforts kept the Imperium's forces away from the ultimate objective of the Mymearan Farseer, the retrieval of his craftworld's Phoenix Lord from the cave system below the Aresta IV mining complex. That he succeeded is in no small part due to the valour of Craftworld Alaitoc.
Alaitoc - Era Indomitus: Even after the void was stained with the crimson lifeblood of the cosmos with the opening of the Dathedian or the Great Rift as it was known to Humanity, the puritan Asuryani leaders of the Alaitoc world-ship espoused their long-held belief that it was still the Necrontyr who posed the greatest threat to the galaxy at large.They had scried the unravelling threads of the future in their own way, and found a geometric void that threatened to swallow all. Alaitoc's foremost visionary, Ylocu Shaie, had written the Prophecy of Risen Doom whilst half-conscious in afever dream, the intensity of the vision all but crippling her. Though it had taken her a lifetime to isolate the strand of potentiality that led to her worst nightmare, she had found it just the same, and it was of shocking potency.Shaie had brought her latest findings to the Seer Council of Alaitoc, singing of the Sea of Dead Stars at the climax of the hearing. Sobered by the vista of galactic destruction she painted, they accelerated their plans to allay the threat of the Necrons before their ancient enemies fully awoke from their Great Sleep -- even though they drastically weakened their craftworld's defences as a result.In doing so they destroyed the Hyrekh Dynasty on the very day of its awakening, killing the Necrons with systematic, overlapping strikes whilst they still clawed their way from the slumber of stasis. With the Pathfinder Illic Nightspear as their ambassador, they dealt extensively with the Harlequins of the Masque of the Frozen Stars, whose agenda aligned with their own. In doing so, they found they had but scratched the surface of a far larger threat.Even as they fought the Necrontyr on a dozen new fronts, the strike forces of Alaitoc were ambushed by the terror legions of the Slaaneshi Greater Daemon Sli'tha. The daemon monarch intended to strike at Alaitoc whilst it was vulnerable, yet found that the information network provided by the craftworld's Ranger cliques made it all but impossible to execute.Every time Sli'tha sent steed-riding Daemonettes on a mission of reconnaissance, they were picked off by pinpoint sniper fire that banished them back to the Empyrean before they could report back to their masters.With the Pathfinders of Alaitoc leading their Rangers in dozens of wars across the Imperium Sanctus -- that region of the Imperium that remained upon the Terran side of the Great Rift and was still illuminated by the light of the Astronomican -- the main body of Craftworld Alaitoc was left free to take the fight to the Necrons of the Eastern Fringe.
Alaitoc - Sources: Codex: Eldar (6th Edition), pp. 16, 21, 42, 48, 52, 55Codex: Eldar (4th Edition), pp. 19, 38Codex: Eldar (3rd Edition), pg. 27Codex: Eldar (2nd Edition), pg. 34Codex: Necrons (5th Edition), pp. 22-23, 27Codex: Necrons (3rd Edition), pg. 8Dataslate - Eldar Ghost Warriors (Digital Edition), pg. 12Imperial Armour Volume Eleven - The Doom of Mymeara, pp. 134-137Psychic Awakening - Phoenix Rising (8th Edition), pg. 12White Dwarf 138 (US), "Painting the Alaitoc Craftworld Army," by Mike McVey, pp. 22-29Path of the Warrior (Novel) by Gav ThorpePath of the Seer (Novel) by Gav ThorpeTraitor's Gorge (Novella) by Mike Lee
Alaric Prime - Alaric Prime: Alaric PrimeKnight WorldNoblesSanctus ReachSegmentum ObscurusIt is covered mostly in sulphurous seas, viscous chemical tides and currents devoid of all but the hardiest of lifeforms. Dotted across the burning acidic oceans, the planet is made up of islands strung together in hemisphere-spanning chains or standing alone thousands of Terran miles from the nearest foreign shore.Unlike many Knight Worlds, Alaric Prime boasts numerous Knightly Houses, each masters of a different region of the planet. Technology is limited on Alaric Prime as the result of ancient law, and most souls live simple lives of hard labour, scratching at the ground with tools of wood and iron.No law upon Alaric Prime has ever been repealed. It is illegal to yawn during daylight hours, illegal to talk when a Noble is speaking in earshot, even illegal to point at the stars in the night sky.So numerous and restrictive are the archaic laws of Alaric Prime that a full two-thirds of the planet's populace has been incarcerated or exiled by the over-zealous justicars attached to each Knightly house.At the centre of the biggest land mass is Sacred Mountain, a blessed peak that rises from the heart of Alaric Prime's largest island. Beneath the mountain there is rumoured to be a vault of archeotech and other lost lore, over which the notable Freeblade known as Gerantius the Forgotten Knight stands guard.Ancient and mysterious, Gerantius has defended the vault, and the world of Alaric Prime, since time immemorial. Whenever the planet is threatened the Forgotten Knight will rise from his tomb, and march upon the enemies of Alaric.
Alastor Rushal - Alastor Rushal: Alastor Rushal, called "The Raven," by his brethren, was a Space Marine of the Raven Guard Legion during the time of the Horus Heresy who later turned Traitor and joined the Night Lords Traitor Legion following the events of the Warmaster Horus' betrayal of the Emperor and the subsequent Drop Site Massacre of Isstvan V.At some point following the near-destruction of his Legion at Isstvan V, Alastor was either captured or willingly joined the Night Lords. Brutally tortured at the hands of the sadistic First Captain Jago Sevatarion, Rushal would later earn his place amongst this Legion of killers and murderers, rising through the ranks until he became a member of the Kyroptera, the VIIIth Legion's ruling body of senior officers.
Alastor Rushal - History: Once having joined the Night Lords in the wake of the Drop Site Massacre, Rushal was a captain without a company to command and a member of the Traitor Legion's elite Kyroptera. Terran-born, but not raised from the VIIIth Legion's gene-stock, Rushal still wore the Mark III Iron Power Armour of the XIXth Legion, cast in cold black, edged in dented white trim. The noble emblem of his former Legion, the Raven Guard, had been ritually broken by blows from a hammer, wielded by his own hand.A former captain of the Raven Guard's 89th Company, he was known by the Night Lords as "The Raven." It is not clear whether Rushal joined the Night Lords of his own volition or was captured. But what is abundantly clear is that he became a part of the VIIIth Legion following the Drop Site Massacre of Isstvan V.Apparently, he also suffered torture at the hands of the Night Lords' First Captain Jago Sevatarion, who brutally marked the warrior with vicious scars across most of his body as well as removing his tongue. All trappings of rank were gone from his ebon-coloured armour, scratched away during the massacre unleashed on Isstvan V's Urgall Depression. Like the Night Lords, his face was pale and his eyes were dark. Unlike the warriors he chose to stand amongst, his helm lacked the bat-winged crest sported by the VIIIth Legion's inner circle of captains.During the Thramas Crusade Rushal became a close ally of Sevatarion in the power struggle that erupted within the Night Lords following the crippling of Primarch Konrad Curze.
Alathresis - Alathresis: Alathresis is a watch master of the Deathwatch Chapter seconded from the Novamarines who serves as the current watch commander of the Balefortress watch fortress. The Balefortress is perhaps the last Imperial bulwark left that can stop the Ork WAAAGH! Nakkaslash from capsizing the sector.
Alaxis McKale - Alaxis McKale: Lieutenant Commander Alaxis McKale is an officer of the Imperial Navy who is stationed on the Fortress World of Pyrathas and acts as the de facto commander of the Imperial fleet stationed there.