Sigmar has unleashed the Ruination chambers to combat the Skaven threat as billions of ratmen swarm across the Mortal Realms. With their souls and memories scoured by countless Reforgings, these veteran Stormcast Eternals are his ultimate weapons, and each warrior's forgotten tragedy is shouldered by a new character, the taciturn figure called Iridan the Witness.
A former Azyrite scholar with an unnaturally strong memory, Iridan was both blessed and cursed upon Reforging with eidetic recollection. This once empowered them as Lord-Celestant, but the associated cost of remembering their fellow warriors as they had been during their prime always weighed heavily upon Iridan.
No longer able to watch life-long friends suffer, Iridan beseeched the gods for aid. It was the death god Morrda who finally answered them, inviting them on pilgrimage to a remote and forgotten temple where they met the Morrgrpyh Ariax, took a sacred flame filled with Morrda’s essence, and bore witness to mysterious visions.
Iridan learned that only through a final, ultimate death could their comrades be free of the endless cycle of suffering, and with the God-King’s blessing they became a compassionate arbiter. They created the Ruination chambers along with Ionus Cryptborn, founded the Memorian Order to aid their grizzled allies, and personally assumed a grim responsibility: remembering the heroic histories of every Stormcast Eternal to succumb to the curse.
In battle, they wield the Axe of the Final Threshold from atop the obsidian form of Ariax with both fury and compassion. Their Prayer of the Witness is whispered to the Bleak Raven, healing Ruination Chamber warriors after they have entered the thick of combat.
Prayer of the Witness (4)
Your Hero Phase
Iridan serves as a beacon of light that guides the souls of those in the Ruination chambers,giving their actions purpose and calming the storm that churns within each of them.
Declare: Make a chanting roll of D6.
Effect: For the rest of the turn, each time a friendly Ruination Chamber unit uses a Fight ability while it is wholly within 18" of this unit, after that ability has been resolved:
• Heal (D3) that unit. If the chanting roll was 8+, Heal (3) that unit instead.
• That unit has Ward (6+) rest of the turn
Keywords: Prayer
Ariax conveys Irirdan from one hotspot to another, their Dark Flight signalled by the slaughter of some unlucky foe, before the great Morrgryph returns to the skies.
DARK FLIGHT
Once Per Turn (Army), End of Any Turn
A hapless foe is crushed in the talons of Ariax before the Morrgryph takes flight once more with a beat of their ebon wings.
Declare: Pick an enemy unit in combat with this unit to bethe target.
Effect: Roll a dice. If the roll exceeds the target's Health characteristic:
• 1 model in the target unit is slain.
• This unit can immediately use the 'Retreat' ability without any mortal damage being inflicted upon it.
Keywords: Rampage
Iridan will join Stormcast Eternal forces from the Bleak Citadels, but can also lead their own Army of Renown – the Ruination Brotherhood. This army can be composed of any Ruination Chamber units, alongside Liberators, Knight-Questors, and any other non-Hero Warrior Chamber units.
The Hallowed Presence of Ruination Chamber units – tragic but venerable warriors with multiple lifetimes of combat experience – is shared with nearby Warrior Chamber units, granting a Ward (6+). Warriors from the Bleak Citadels rely on accompanying Heroes to help them Temper the Flaw, coming back from the brink of death if they are Guided, or becoming Tormented if they stray too far from their warden’s light.
HALLOWED PRESENCE
Passive
While fighting alongside the Ruination chambers, those of the Warrior chambers are granted a measure of the incorruptible nature of their solemn brethren.
Effect: While friendly Warrior Chamber units are wholly within 12" of any friendly Ruination Chamber units, those friendly Warrior Chamber units have Ward (6+).
TEMPER THE FLAW
Once Per Turn (Army), End of Any Turn
The warriors of the Ruination chambers must be shepherded by the mentors of the Bleak Citadels, else they risk losing what little remains of their soul.
Declare: You must use this ability at the end of each turn. Each friendly non-Hero Ruination Chamber unit that used a Fight ability this turn is a target.
Effect: For each target, pick 1 of the following effects:
• Guided: If the target is wholly within 12" of any friendly Ruination Chamber Heroes return 1 slain model to it.
• Tormented: If the target is not wholly within 12" of any friendly Ruination Chamber Heroes, it becomes tormented until the end of the next turn. While a unit is tormented, add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of its melee weapons but it cannot contest objectives or use commands.
When Iridan and their Lord-Veritant subordinates band together in this army, they invoke their power from Morrda himself, accessing a corvine Prayer Lore. They can summon a Murderous Flock of spectral ravens, and grant allies Raven’s Flight on pitch-black wings – increasing their movement speed or allowing them to run and charge in the same turn.
MURDEROUS FLOCK (4)
Your Hero Phase
A flight of phantasmal ravens is summoned from the darkened skies, diving down into the enemy's ranks to peck out eyes and pierce throats.
Declare: Pick a friendly Ruination Brotherhood Priest to chant this prayer, pick a visible enemy unit within 12" of them to be the target, then make a chanting roll of D6.
Effect: Roll a dice for each model in the target unit. For each 5+, inflict 1 mortal damage on the target unit. If the chanting roll was 10+, inflict 1 mortal damage on the target unit for each 4+ instead.
Keywords: Prayer
RAVEN'S FLIGHT (4)
Your Hero Phase
Wings of jet black frame the priest as they summon a chill wind that speeds their allies.
Declare: Pick a friendly Ruination Brotherhood Priest to chant this prayer, pick a visible friendly unit wholly within 12" of them to be the target, then make a chanting roll of D6.
Effect: Add 2" to the target's Move characteristic. If the chanting roll was 8+, in addition, for the rest of the turn, the target can use Charge abilities even if they have used a Run ability in the same turn.
Keywords: Prayer
Iridan will be available to pre-order on Saturday alongside Battletome: Stormcast Eternals and a gleaming host of other Stormcast Eternals. Stay tuned for news on Tornus the Redeemed, and the Regiments of Renown this new battletome unlocks.