Kaela Mensha Khaine - Avatar of Khaine: The Avatar of Khaine is the living embodiment of war for the Asuryani and awakens in times of conflict to aid the armies of the Craftworld Aeldari against their foes. Filled with the spirit of the Bloody-handed God, the Aeldari's fearsome god of battle, the Avatar towers over the battlefield; a fiery juggernaut of death standing three times the height of a man and clad in molten armour of baroque and eldritch design.In one hand it clutches a flaming blade inlaid with potent runes of death while the other constantly drips blood from a clawed fist, a grim reminder of Khaine's own unquenchable thirst for carnage and bloodshed. The most terrible aspect of the Avatar are its eyes, burning pits of rage which embody the very soul of destruction and fill all those which gaze upon them with an inescapable terror and despair. To see the Avatar of Khaine striding across the battlefield leaving a trail of flaming footsteps in its wake is to look upon the face of death and feel the ancient alien anger of the Aeldari made manifest.In battle, the Avatar of Khaine is usually only encountered at the head of a large host, leading scores of warrior Asuryani and Aspect Warriors into the foe, using its size and strength to punch holes in the enemies' lines or smash their fortifications to pieces. Such is the power of the Avatar of Khaine that its blade can cleave main battle tanks in two or hack apart even fortress gates, leaving only scraps of molten metal in its path. Its flaming aura is equally deadly and those that stray too close to the Avatar feel the heat rolling off its ancient armour, hot enough to burn flesh and set hair and cloth aflame if its passes too near.Between the plates of armour, the skin of the Avatar appears as magma, deep reds and glowing blacks which move with the ponderous motion of lava as they ebb and flow across its body. Understandably, the Avatar suffers little from fiery weapons; their heat and destructive power wash across it like water might slide off Human skin. Those who witness it and live have seen a true god of war on the mortal plane.The Avatar of Khaine only awakens in times of need, and dwells for most of its existence as little more than a hollow shell, devoid of life or purpose in the heart of an Aeldari craftworld. Each craftworld has its own Avatar of Khaine, cold and lifeless, seeming merely a charred suit of ancient armour kept within a sacred chamber deep beneath the wraithbone spires and domes. It is a tradition as old as the Aeldari themselves that awakens the Avatar of Khaine and brings vengeful life into its form so that it might march to war against the Asuryani's foes.When war approaches, the Craftworld Aeldari choose a bold warrior from among their Exarchs, a member of their species with the will and courage to embody the Aeldari's own skill at arms and thirst for victory. Known as the "Young King," this chosen warrior is taken to the deep chambers of the craftworld where the Avatar's shell resides and in a secretive and complex ritual is given over, mind, body, and soul to Khaine, so that his essence might fill the Avatar with life and give it the rage and power to go to war.At the completion of the ritual, the Young King is completely consumed by the Avatar and ceases to exist as they once were, their psychic essence instead mingled with that of the Bloody-handed God and funnelled together into the Avatar, giving it the strength and will to move and fight. Almost at once, the Avatar's armour begins to smoke and heat while the runes on its flesh and weapons begin to glow. Finally, the Avatar's eyes burst into flame and it rises from its tomb to answer the Asuryani's summons and lead their warriors against the enemies of the craftworld.Once its task is complete and if it has survived the combat, the Avatar of Khaine returns to its craftworld, its armour cooling and the fire fading from its eyes to sleep once more. Of the Young King there is no sign, their soul extinguished by the ordeal, perhaps to sit at the side of Khaine himself like so many Young Kings before them or perhaps lost forever on the tides of the Immaterium, another soul spent in the Aeldari's slow and inevitable decline toward extinction.It is rare for Humans to encounter the Avatar of Khaine, unless they go to war against the Craftworld Aeldari or accompany those who do. To its lament, the Imperium of Man has faced the Asuryani many times during the long and bloody history of the two species, and records of the Avatar and the carnage it has wrought against Humanity can be found by canny Rogue Traders among the accounts of the Administratum and the sacred writings of the Adeptus Ministorum.There are as many interpretations of the Avatar of Khaine as there are accounts, however. Those who seek to learn more are likely to find that many of these explanations conflict, some likening the Avatar to a mechanical engine of war or robotic construct while others claim it is a Daemon of battle given the form of a giant Aeldari warrior. What they all can more or less agree upon is the effect the Avatar has upon those Craftworld Aeldari which march beside it, boosting their courage and filling the normally fragile aliens with a deep and violent lust for war.It is also agreed that the creature seems to be the very essence of fire itself, its blood like magma and its flesh hewn of burning rock. While there are rare instances where it has been felled in battle, the flame vanishing from its flesh and the light going out of its blade, it always seems to return, rising again like the anger of the Aeldari themselves to once more stride into battle.