Phoenix Lords

Phoenix Lords:

Of all the warriors that are part of the Eldar warhost the Phoenix Lords are the oldest and greatest.  What an Exarch is to an Aspect Warrior the Phoenix Lord is to an Exacrh. They are in fact the founders of each Aspect Warrior shrine in the chaotic era immediately preceding the fall of the Eldar Empire, and have been active ever since.

Every Phoenix Lord is made of the souls, minds and experience of thousands of Eldar warriors, with the original personality being dominant. When the Phoenix Lord falls in combat, another Exarch will don the armor and assume the memories and abilities of the Phoenix Lord. So long as those exarchs of their shrines live the Phoenix Lord can reincarnate indefinitely, though this would of course be limited to the number of exarchs of their particular shrine are active, and how fast they can recover his armor.

Phoenix Lord offer mainly combat and some morale bonuses, which might seem trivial compared to overarching leader bonuses, however these are constant and throughout the entire campaign.  The Phoenix Lords are destined to be the last of the Eldar to perish, and even if the Eldar lose a battle they are likely to still be alive, guiding their species even in defeat. The shrines that the Phoenix Lords represent will walk with them without hesitation.

There are 7 Phoenix Lords who would take part of this battle, each of them a match for a champion on the other side. 

==Asurmen, The Hand of Asuryen==

Asurmen is the original founder of the Aspect Shrines, who taught all other Aspect Warriors. . It was he Prior to the Fall of the Eldar, Asurmen was the Eldar who led the Craftworlds away from the ancient Eldar homeworlds of their now lost empire, and it was he that first founded the very Path of the Warrior.

Asurmen’s deeds have become legend throughout the galaxy, both to the Eldar and the other races. He has appeared time and again on the battlefield to fight the eternal foe of Chaos, dying countless iterations but nevertheless ensuring great victories. He’s a champion and sometimes even a leader of Eldar fighting From the midst of the Eye of Terror to the galactic rim and everywhere in between.  

===Wargear==

-Twin-linked Avenger Catapult

Sword of Asur: This Power Sword can, like its brethren, rip through armor as if it was non-existent. The Sword of Asur contains within the spirit stone of Asurmen’s long-dead brother, Tethesis, so that they may together fight Chaos until the end of time.

Phoenix Armor: The Phoenix Armour is advanced and legendary Eldar battlegear worn by the Phoenix Lords. Containing the soul of the Phoenix Lord inside, this allows the warriors soul to be reincarnated into any new wearer. The legendary armour is so finely wrought that it can protect against almost all but the most overpowered weapons.

== Baharroth, the Cry of the Wind==

The founder of the Swooping Hawk branch of the aspect warriors, Baharroth is by far the most vibrant and energetic of the Phoenix Lords. Often is the sight of him suddenly appearing in the sky, the sun behind his back, like a golden champion of the heavens diving down to save the day. To the Eldar he is a sign of a victory about to be won, causing them to fight with renewed optimism.

Baharroth is renowned for his speed and is said to be the fastest of all the Eldar who have ever lived, a formidable claim that would make him a deadly opponent indeed. Soaring through the skies, in combat this Eldar let loose pointblank blasts into the cockpits of enemy fighters and knocking down those that attempt to enter his domain. As he strafes across the field the ground burns with fire as Barroth unleashes his fury on those that don’t dare join him above. Hell his radiance is so bright that many that see him are blinded by the experience.

===Wargear===

Weapons : Hawk’s Talon, plasma grenades, haywire grenades

The Shining Blade: Allegedly forged from a supernova by the daughters of a Eldar god, this sword can blind enemies with their own reflections as well as cleave armor with impunity.  

Armor: Phoenix Armor

===Additional Factors ===

So bright is this Phoenix Lord’s sudden appearance that most enemies trying to shoot in his direction would be blinded immediately.

==Fuegan, The Burning Lance==

The founder of the Fire Dragon warrior shrine, Fuegan represents his shrine’s tendency to advocate to selective, total destruction rather than fearing oblivion outright. In many ways Fuegan most embodies the Aspect Warriors obsession with their deadly craft, devoting himself completely to the systematic and total destruction of the Eldar's enemies. So dedicated is he that he has refused to flee when all other Phoenix Lords have in the past, which left him “dead” for much longer than normal.

Nevertheless he has returned, being instrumental in repelling the daemon assault on the Exodite world of Haran, killing scores of Daemon Lords. His appearances in battle are often sudden but quick and merciless affairs, for Fuegan does not mess around in combat. So formidable is he that he has been prophesized to be the last Phoenix lord to fall to death. 

Weapons: Firepike, Melta Bombs

Fire Axe: Allegedly forged by Vaul, the Eldar Smith God,  this massive yet light axe still glows hot from the day it was forged, counting as power and melta weapon. Fitting for one known for his love of fire.

== Irillyth, the Shade of Twilight==

Until recently this Phoenix Lord was forgotten, lost to the snow of an Ice World, only recently recovered after a bitter battle with the imperials.  For that reason his aspect shrine, the Shadow Spectres, is still in its throes of recovery, weakened by his long departure. Which is a shame as Irillyth is undoubtedly one of the most active Phoenix Lords, rivaling Jain Zhar 

Vowing to never let the Eldar suffer tremendous losses again, the Phoenix Lord was very proactive in dealing with various threats. A daemon incursion led by a Daemon Prince was repelled, with Irillyth doing more than any other to stave it off.  On the planet Bethalmae he destroyed a nascent race that would have destroyed craftworld maybe hundreds of years in the future. However he was struck down in the fierce fighting, his body lost for millennia. Again it was only recently recovered.

==Wargear==

Irillyth wields a unique, master-crafted Prism Blaster with an integrated Power Glaive known as the Spear of Starlight. The Phoenix Lord's expertise with this weapon allows him to use it equally effectively at extreme range or in close-combat, as well as on the move. The Spear of Starlight is able to be used in conjunction with a Shadow Spectres squad's Ghostlight.

Armor: Holosuit, Phoenix Armor, Jetpack

==Jain Zar, the Storm of Silence==

“She stepped from a heat shimmer in the air itself, falling a dozen feet to land on her toes, with arms outspread. Her armour consisted of silver plating, shaped like slender musculature over a black bodysuit that shimmered like fish scales. In one hand was a staff – scimitar-bladed at both ends and wet with slow ripples of liquid lightning. In her other fist, she clutched a throwing star the size of a battle shield, ending in three hooked dagger blades. The fire that danced along the alien steel was black, forged through a craft Lucoryphus wasn’t certain he wished to know.

Her face was shielded by a silver death mask, sculpted in the cold-eyed image of a screaming goddess. A high, long crest of black hair flowed down her shoulders and back, somehow immune to the wind sending dust-wraiths haunting through the ruins.

Everything about her radiated wrongness, even to a creature as warp-touched as he. For several seconds, the heat haze remained around her, as if she were at risk of being rejected by reality.

This is no eldar maiden, the Raptor knew. Perhaps she was, once. Now… she is something much more.

Lucoryphus’s claws tightened on the stone as the eldar war-goddess flew across the ground in a blurred sprint, her feet barely gracing the earth. One moment she was a silver blur in the ruins; the next she was gone, either vanished into thin air or descended underground – Lucoryphus wasn’t certain.

‘Talos.’ He opened the vox-link again. ‘I have seen what hunts us.’ – Void Stalkers

Jain Zhar is by far the most active of all the Phoenix Lords, constantly fighting alongside her own founded Howling Banshee aspect shrine. She has led hundreds if not thousands of engagements, pulled Howling Banshees from multiple worlds, and constantly travels around the galaxy to fight the great enemy.

In battle she is a fierce and swift opponent, darting in and out of combat faster than the normal eye can follow. In the novel Void Stalker she could cleave through entire squads of Night Lord Chaos Space Marines in but a few moments. Her weapons penetrated the Space Marine armor with absolute ease and she could even block fired bolter rounds, midmotion, with her spear. Her mayhem only ended after getting hamstrung by one, blown up with grenades by another, and finally in a near death state getting crushed by a Chaos Dreadnought. 

==War Gear==

Jainas Mor, or Silent Death, is a three-bladed throwing weapon, tempered within the warp itself. It is wreathed in black fire and is sharper than any mortal blade. It always returns to Jain Zar and never harms her, despite its deadliness

Zhai Morenn, or the Blade of Destruction, is a light, curved blade forged thousands of years ago before the Fall and shimmers with power. It is light and is wielded with dizzying speed.

The Mask of Jain Zar was the first Banshee Mask produced and all others have been copies. It is similar in its workings however is much more potent, being able to fry the skulls brains outright of lesser foes.

Armor: Phoenix Armor

== Karandas, The Shadow Hunter ==

Karandas was not the first exarch of the Stinging Scorpion shrine, but the second. The first , Ahra, was corrupted by Chaos, led Daemons against the other Phoenix Lords, and has been hunted ever since (note: he might appear in the Dark Eldar profile). Karandas restructured the broken shrine, tempering his successor’s murderous attitude with his own patient.

Karandras is the ultimate stealth warrior, able to draw the very shadows around himself and kill his prey with claw and blade before they were ever aware of his presence. Very few , be they Eldar or other, see Karandas and live, heightening his sense of mischievousness. Finally in a durability feat he dueled his predecessor Ahra for 17 days at his last sighting, artfully manipulating his predecessor to get into a blind killing rampage which resulted in the death of his rival’s disciples.

==War Gear==

Scorpion Chainsword, Scorpion Claw, Plasma Grenades :

The Scorpion’s Bite: Karandras has the most potent sting of any Striking Scorpion, for the Mandiblasters of his Aspect Warriors are but a pin-prick compared to the fearsome bite of this Phoenix Lord.

Armor: Phoenix Armor

== Maugan Ra==

Maugan Ra is said to be the only survivor from a minor expansion of the Eye of Terror which caught Altansar in its grip and sucked it in five centuries after the creation of the Eye of Terror. Already a mighty Exarch, he stayed with his craftworld until it was sucked into the Eye. When Asurmen taught his brethren the Path of the Warrior, it was Maugan Ra that fell furthest from the fold after Arhra himself. He took on a dark and sinister demeanor, and focused on a style of warfare that could slay his enemies from afar.

Maugan Ra is a vicious and driven fighter, driving straight into the Eye of Terror and eventually freeing his somewhat corrupted craftworld from it, much to the apprehension of other craftworlds. Then, in his most insane, awe-inspiring feat, he stopped an entire Tyranid “Swarm” by himself! Honestly I have no idea how he could even achieve such a feat and not run out of ammo, so it might have been thousands but regardless such a feat dwarves basically everything that isn't’t Kaldor Draigo.

== War Gear==
Weapon: Maugatar:  This scythe-like weapon was built into what is essentially a Shrieker Pattern Shuriken Cannon, but many times more powerful. Just a single one of hese mind-linked curve-shaped disks is capable of decapitating a whole swath of foes before fading into nothingness. A Blade hooked onto the end adds to its fearsome reputation and allows it to function as a close combat weapon. 

(Credit to Maugatar Munitorium for the below description)
The story goes that Maugan Ra was dissatisfied by conventional weapons so he decided to create a new one that could be extremely potent. Before he could build his mighty weapon, Maugan Ra first needed to gather the necessary materials: wraithbone touched by death, to craft the body of the cannon; metal tempered by the blood of a god, to form the scythe-blade; and the spirit stone of a powerful seer, to saturate the weapon with psychic energy.

For the first piece he headed to the old Eldar homeworlds known as the "Crone worlds". Here these worlds and the souls that remained on their "world shrines" were harvested leisurely by the demons. Knowing that this was no place for subtlety he and his Dark Reapers assaulted the shrine, with Maugan Ra single-handily  bringing down a Keeper of Secrets demon lord. Then turning to an exarch in the company, he plunged a shard of Khaine into him before jamming the blade of his new creation into the god made flesh. Then he turned the Avatar onto the approaching demon horde to buy himself time. 

What followed is known in the legends as the Night of Endless Slaughter. Maugan Ra battled his way across the crone world’s surface and through subterranean vaults, slaying the servants of Slaanesh. Countless Daemons fell to his weapons before he located what he sought – the sanctum of the Seers who had guided the people of this world to their deaths. There he found that those unfortunate souls were still alive, if their condition could be called life. Withered husks, unable to move but still possessed of ferocious psychic might, they attacked the Phoenix Lord with conjured beasts and magical fire, but he killed every creature, fighting through the flame and strangling each of the witches, an act of fratricide said to have torn Maugan Ra’s soul in two.

Then, taking the spirit stones from their desiccated corpses, Maugan Ra turned his back on that benighted world and returned to the light of gentler suns. Finally he captured the greatest bonesinger in the galaxy and forced him to teach his craft, which the bonesinger reluctantly obliged. In order to ensure the bonesinger could not create a better weapon Maugan removed his tongue, eyes and hands. 

Then he began his great work. He grew the dark wraithbone into the shape of a great shuriken catapult that whispered the words of the dead. He implanted the spirit stones of the murdered seers into its heart, so that it cried with the pain of eternity. Finally, he affixed to it the mighty blade, that it might deal death to those who strayed too close as well as from afar, and so that the blade that drank the blood of a god would never go thirsty.

Armor: Phoenix Armor