Eldar - Encyclopedia/K
|
KABALS
Dark Eldar Kabals comprise the main bulk of the Dark Eldar race. Led by the depraved and self-serving Archon and their Dracon lieutenants, Dark Eldar warriors are all skilled blood-thirsty warriors who fight for survival in a society built on corruption and deceit. On the battlefield, the warriors deploy rapidly in their Raider transports, killing or crippling those who oppose them, before enslaving prisoners to take back to Commorragh (see Commorragh; Dark Eldar).
KAELA MENSHA KHAINE
Kaela Mensha Khaine (Khaine) is the Eldar War God, and with Cergorach the only Eldar god to survive the Fall. Khaine was instrumental in the Eldar legend 'The Tears of Isha', first hunting down the Eldar race, as he was jealous of the attentions they received from Isha. He imprisoned the mother goddess and her consort Kurnous. Attempts to rescue the gods from Khaine by the Smith God Vaul initiated the War in Heaven, pitching the War God and his allies the Yngir against the Eldar pantheon. Khaine freed Isha in exchange for a gift of one hundred enchanted blades from Vaul.
Khaine finally saw the error of his ways, and took up arms against the Yngir as they sought to utterly destroy the Eldar, leading the great Eldar houses in battle. In the final battle, Khaine's host broke, let down by the one mortal blade in the hundred used by Vaul to bargain for the freedom of Isha. Khaine stood strong as Kaelis Ra swept down upon them, but his spear could not pierce the shadow of the Nightbringer. However, Khaine had heeded the counsel of the Laughing God, and as the form of the Nightbringer became solid to deliver his blow, Khaine drove his spear clean through the chest of the Yngir, shattering him into many hundreds of shards. These shards were driven deep into the body of Khaine, poisoning his physical incarnation with the aspect of the Reaper.
Following the ending of the War against the Yngir, Khaine battled with Vaul for vengeance over the deception of the blades that nearly resulted in the destruction of Khaine's host. He crippled the smith-god, and chained him to his anvil. The Eldar hero Eldanesh confronted Khaine and was torn asunder. Khaine was then forever cursed by Asuryan and his hands were made to drip eternally with blood as a reminder of his deeds, earning Khaine the title of 'The Bloody-Handed God'.
When the Fall took place, Khaine as the strongest of the gods battled with Slaanesh to protect the Eldar he had once tried to destroy. Slaanesh proved stronger and Khaine was shattered into a thousand pieces and thrown out of heaven. Each shard of the War God took root in the Craftworlds in the form of the Avatars of Khaine (see Alean; Asuryan; Avatars; Cergorach; Eldanesh; Fall of the Eldar; Isha; Kaelis Ra; Kurnous; Slaanesh; Vaul; Yngir).
KAELIS RA
Also known as the Destroyer of Light, this is the Eldar name for the Yngir or C'tan referred to by the Imperium as the Nightbringer. Kaelis Ra led the Necron constructs against the Eldar in order to obliterate them from the universe, but was opposed by Khaine and his hosts. At the final battle, Khaine defeated, but did not destroy the Nightbringer, whose essence polluted that of the Eldar war god. Enraged at his defeat, the essence of the Destroyer of Light also entered every one of the Eldar race, cursing them with a terror of the grave, setting up their downfall and closing the way of reincarnation to them (see also Fall of the Eldar; Kaela Mensha Khaine; Yngir).
KARANDRAS - THE SHADOW HUNTER
Karandras is one of the most mysterious of the Phoenix Lords. No-one knows where his shrine originally was, but he is not the oldest of the Exarchs of the Striking Scorpions. Arhra the Father of the Scorpions fell into darkness and waged war upon his own kin before fleeing into the Webway. Karandras is equipped with a fearsome variation of the Scorpions' mandiblasters, called the Scorpion's Bite (see also Exarchs; Fallen Phoenix; Phoenix Lords; Striking Scorpions; Webway).
KARLAEN SHADOWBOUND
Commander of the Storm of Khaine Nightshade Destroyers in the Gothic War and renowned for his final suicidal ramming of a Retribution Class Cruiser his final words were "I have seen far worse than the death that lies before me. I shall not surrender." His description of how the Eldar pilot their ships in harmony is well known: "To become as one with the winds of space and strike with the speed of the sandsnake, the is the beauty of the Nightshade. Harmony in design and elegance of function must be the cardinal virtues of all wargear, and nowhere is the aesthetic so gloriously blended with the efficient, as in this most versatile warship." (See also Nightshade Class Destroyers; Pirates).
KHARIS
Formerly an Eldar tomb city, this ancient burial place was looted by Orks and bears the scars. Among the rubble can be seen the ruins of Eldar sphinxes.
KNIGHTS
The conditions on the Maiden Worlds called for an adaptation of the farming techniques employed by the Exodites. Armoured suits known generically as Knights were created to herd megalosaurs and other huge dangerous creatures.
Although almost no two knights are the same, there are three main types of Exodite Knights. The Fire Gale is the most common type of knight, tactically able to perform a great number of tasks. Towering Destroyers are a mobile firebase, dedicated to supporting infantry. Bright Stallions, easily recognisable by their four legs, have greater speed than any other Knight. Eldar Knight suits contain a spirit stone which supplies the personality for the machine. When linked to the lone Eldar pilot, this lends Eldar Knights a fluid grace lacked by Human Knights. The spirit stones in Eldar Knights are often ancient artefacts dating back to the time of the Fall and contain the souls of many long dead heroes. When an Eldar Knight links with his suit, he exchanges a portion of his consciousness with those in the stone. This makes Eldar Knights strange characters often speaking in archaic tongues and referring to past ages with unnerving familiarity.
Eldar clans frequently use a combination of two or three classes within the same detachment. The most common mix in Eldar detachments is Fire Gale and Towering Destroyer classes; if the detachment also includes Bright Stallion Knights, it means the Stallions can't make use of their superior speed (See also Exodites; Maiden Worlds; Spirit Stones).
KURNOUS
Kurnous was the Hunter God of the Eldar. The second of the Eldar Homeworld's moons was dedicated to him (See Gods; Homeworlds).
