Many different peoples fight under the banner of Order, but not all are the picture of disciplined soldiers fighting for hearth and home. There are some in the Grand Alliance who revel in the bloodshed of combat, wanton murderers in gleeful service to their bloody-handed divinity.
They are the Daughters of Khaine – gladiators, priests, and killers, and among the staunchest opponents of Chaos found across the Mortal Realms.
Their matriarch is Morathi-Khaine – once the High Oracle of the Cult of Khaine, and now its living goddess. As an ancient sorceress and mother of Malerion the Shadow King, Morathi acted as a not-quite-divine member of Sigmar’s pantheon in the Age of Myth. Her alliance with the rest of the forces of Order has always been uneasy, but now that she has schemed her way into divinity, she is a more unknown quality than ever in the Hour of Ruin.
Overview
The Cult of Khaine has existed since the first days of the Age of Myth, but where once it was a pitiful congregation worshipping the shade of a dead god, under Morathi’s control it has bloomed across the Mortal Realms, with enclaves in almost every City of Sigmar. Its followers were nurtured by Morathi to serve as her power base, long before her ascension to godhood, operating from her territory within Ulgu, granted by her once-mortal son Malerion, now the divine master of the Realm of Shadow.
The Khainites express their devotion to their Bloody-handed God through gladiatorial duels that hone their combat skills to a razor’s edge, and a mastery of blood rituals and shadowy sorcery. When Tyrion, Teclis, and Malerion schemed to entrap Slaanesh and prise out the aelven souls in its belly, they turned to Morathi for aid.
She agreed to help in return for a portion of the souls reclaimed, and used these stolen spirits to forge her Scáthborn – aelves twisted into monstrous new forms by Morathi’s ambition. When the Realmgate Wars ended the Age of Chaos, Morathi’s coven were some of the earliest allies of Order to fight alongside the Stormcast Eternals, eager to wreak vengeance on the Ruinous Powers.
Though their actions have saved countless lives and defended the domains of Order since time immemorial, the Daughters of Khaine are still mistrusted, and not without reason. Morathi serves her own ambitions above all, and nowhere was this more evident than the moment of her ascension.
After convincing Sigmar to send a joint attack into the Eightpoints to seize a massive vein of varanite – a magical material Archaon planned to use to break down the wards leading to Azyr – Morathi stole the prize and left her Stormcast Eternals allies to die. In a varanite-fuelled ritual, she seized countless more aelven souls from Slaanesh’s belly, and devoured them to rise to true godhood, and immediately launched a bloody coup on the free city of Anvilgard to claim it as her own.
In doing so, Morathi also fully usurped the Cult of Khaine by declaring herself Morathi-Khaine, the murder god reborn. Her flock – those who believe her claims, at least – now serve her with even greater devotion, throwing themselves into combat to offer up the blood of their enemies in glorious tribute, suffused with the power of their divine matriarch.
Battle Traits
When called to war, the Daughters of Khaine strike like the quicksilver lash of a serpent. They trust in speed and agility over cumbersome armour and brute strength, and weave deadly shadow sorceries to augment their razor-sharp combat skills.
The Daughters of Khaine draw strength from bloodshed, and as the battle wears on, the wounds they deal to the foe invigorate them further. Sacred Blood Rites performed before the battle grant them a portion of Morathi-Khaine’s divine power, and by the end of a battle, they hit harder and run faster than almost any living warrior.
Should a particularly worthy target need to be destroyed above all else, they can call for an All-out Slaughter once per battle. This gives a unit the ability to fight twice in the same phase, and when used on powerful close combat units like Melusai Blood Sisters, it all-but guarantees their prey will be wiped out.
Battle Formations
Of the four battle formations available to Daughters of Khaine armies, the Scáthcoven favours the elite Melusai and Khinerai troops who make up Morathi-Khaine’s Vyperic Guard. They strike at the heart of enemy armies with the Speed of the Scàthborn, endowing them with blistering speed.
Other formations instead spirit Khainite infantry across the battlefield with wisps of Ulguan shadow magic, use breathtaking acrobatics to ensure that charges hit home, or chaperone mobile cauldron-shrines to slam through enemy lines with mortal damage.
Arcana and Incantations
The priestesses and spell-weavers of the Daughters of Khaine have both shadow magic and blood rites at their command, using the Lore of Shadows to strip life from their enemies while Prayers of the Khainite Cult embolden their allies. Most impressive are the Manifestations of Khaine, however, which arise as constructs of living blood – taking the shape of giant serpents, bloody hands, and whirlwinds of blades.
The Bladewind is a phenomenal tool for dealing with the massed infantry of horde-focused factions, as it throws out a storm of accurate and deadly attacks that can strike an additional time whenever a critical hit is rolled. The Unnatural Edge of these magical swirling blades is particularly adept at slipping past a raised guard, mitigating any attempt to defend against their oncoming charge.
Unit Focus
The Daughters of Khaine reached new heights when their High Oracle achieved her apotheosis, though the transformation split Morathi-Khaine into two distinct entities.
Now that she must no longer maintain an illusion to cover her monstrous true form, her aelven aspect is free to cast powerful shadow magics while any damage that would be inflicted on her is redirected by the One Soul, Two Bodies ability. Even pinning down the regal sorceress only opens up a terrible trap, as she swaps places with her terrible twin in a Mirror Dance.
The dark reflection known as The Shadow Queen is all of Morathi’s bitterness and spite made manifest, towering over the battlefield as a colossal serpentine war queen.
Where Morathi-Khaine’s aelven aspect is a supreme sorcerer, this aspect is a deadly melee combatant who shrugs off damage with the divine energies of the Iron Heart of Khaine while whipping her Scáthborn brood into a frenzy with the Fury of the Shadow Queen.
The foot soldiers of the Daughters of Khaine hone their abilities in bloody gladiatorial duels, and the whip-wielding murderesses known as the Sisters of Slaughter exemplify this strike-hard, strike-fast mentality.
Like most units in their faction, the natural agility of the Sisters of Slaughter give them a WARD (6+), and when armed with Bladed Bucklers they can augment their resilience even further with a Dance of Diversion. These shields aren’t only for defence, though – a confident saving throw of 6 means they parry the attack and hit back with mortal damage of their own, piling even more pain onto their unfortunate opponents.
While Morathi-Khaine’s Melusai disciples slither across the ground, the winged Khinerai deliver her judgement from the air – suddenly dropping into combat to deliver Death from Above.
Khinerai Heartrenders are skirmishing specialists who hurl wicked barbed javelins after descending close to their targets. Their expertise with Fire and Flight tactics means they can always swoop out of harm’s way after unleashing a volley, forcing their foes to chase them through constant barrages of javelins.
The Word from the Studio
Jimbo: “The Daughters of Khaine are a real glass hammer army – fragile, but lightning fast and devilishly deadly. There are lots of options to buff your units in different ways, from spells and prayers to the mighty Cauldron of Blood, which makes them efficient killing machines when properly supported.
“You can’t take lumps like other armies can, as you have the benefits of neither numbers nor natural durability. You need to plan your attacks carefully, but when unleashed at the right time, the volume of buffed attacks you can inflict upon your enemy will result in plenty of blood being spilt.”
Spearhead Spotlight
The most zealous of Morathi-Khaine’s disciples range far and wide as Heartflayer Troupes, searching for the worthiest enemies to massacre as offerings to their goddess. They partake in holy Blood Rites before battle to earn a portion of her power, driving their forces to ever greater heights of ferocity as the violence continues and more blood is spilled.
The Spearhead is made up of 10 Witch Aelves, 5 Doomfire Warlocks, and 5 Blood Stalkers, led by a Melusai Ironscale – one of the most devoted servants of Morathi-Khaine. The entire force is lightly armoured to preserve their agility, and they are firm believers in the notion that the best way to avoid harm is to make sure there’s nobody left to swing back.
The Blood Stalkers are particularly deadly ranged units that can cover large portions of a Spearhead battlefield with their 18” range heartseeker bows. The ability to auto-wound on a critical hit is already potent, but thanks to their Heartseekers ability, they double the chance of activating it if they stay still.
Tomorrow, we’re back with more aelves of the Mortal Realms, but of an altogether different sort – the Lumineth Realm-lords of Hysh, whose aelemental magics and rigid discipline place them a world apart from Morathi-Khaine’s bloodthirsty brood.
