The Gelid Blade

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Friday, June 17, 2011

Fluff Update: Character Bios- Lady Lady Meridiana Ranunium

Name: Lady Meridiana Ranunium “The Hydra Queen”

Occupation: Succubi

Gender: Female

Species: Eladrith Ynneas

Allegiance: Kabal of the Gelid Blade

Physical Descript: Lilin’s twin sister, she looks exactly like her except her right eye is green, she does not braid her hair, she wears it loose or in a simple pony tail and she has some visible scars.

Personality: Meridiana is quite personable and friendly on the surface but she is really quite cold. She has no qualms about throwing whole groups of her underling at powerful enemies, even if they haven’t a chance of surviving. She is very vain and arrogant and is always attempting to unseat her sister Lilin as archite, as she believes herself to be more fit to lead the cult.

History: Meridiana had a very affluent upbringing. She received all her parents’ attention and praise which made her the envy of her sister Lilin. She was waited on by the most obedient slaves and trained by the finest warriors Commorragh had to offer. She always strove for more however.

One fateful night, she single handedly killed her mother and father, a prominent Dracon, and just to possess all her family’s wealth and status. It was still not enough however. She began marrying and killing countless prominent Dark Eldar keeping their fortunes for herself. She became the richest and most sought after bride of the Mazada realm.

This time of plenty would not last for her though. The Archduke of Mazada grew jealous of her wealth, which was beginning to rival his own. Instead of sending his finest assassin to kill her however, he concocted a far more devious plan. With the gift of a rare and dangerous Donorian Hydra, he asked for her hand in marriage.

With her new husband, she became one of the most influential women in Commorragh, even being chosen to host the supreme Overloard Adubael Vect himself on one of his trips to the arena of the Cult of the Bloody Kiss to witness what promised to be one of the most exciting Reaver jetbike exhibitions in centuries.

The Archduke however had all the while been siphoning off her assets into his own vast accounts. Soon she had no more than the clothes she wore. Her towers were now the Archduke’s warrior’s barracks and her slaves were instructed to never wait on her again. Everything was lost, save for her the Hydra, which she had rightfully hidden from the eyes of her underlings, and her husband’s.

With nowhere else to turn, she sought out the only person she felt she could exploit, her sister Lilin. She petitioned to become a member of her wych cult, saying it was to make up for their distant relationship as children, but really to eventually take control of the cult and get her revenge on her lying husband.

Lilin agreed to accept her into the cult as a blood bride, as she was a powerful warrior in her own right and her fights would bring wealth and recognition to the cult, however she had one condition. Her first battle was to be against her own wedding present, and she was to fight alone.

The arena was packed to capacity as the main event began. Meridiana strode onto the sandy battlefield dressed in the red leather and black armor of the cult. Her arms were incased in long, shoulder length gauntlets covered in small green crystal spines that seemed to glow with a living light.

Suddenly the gate on the far end up the arena burst open and the massive hydra galloped onto the killing grounds. The cults beast masters, who circled above him on their skyboards, cracking their whips and jabbing him with their shock prods, had fasted him for a week in advance to ensure he was in the mood to fight.

Meridiana crouched into a fighting pose and flexed her arms. The small green spines on her gauntlets sprang to life and extended becoming long, wickedly sharp blades. The hydra took notice of the sudden movement and charged. The crowd grew silent in anticipation.

The beast’s massive heads crashed down to the earth where just moments ago Meridiana has been poised to attack. Great chunks of the arena floor were gouged out by the monsters massive jaws. It shrieked in disdain and began hurling the huge chunks of stone at Meridiana as she tried to circle the creature. The hydra three bladed tails swung at her. She gracefully leapt over the first one, transitioning into a tight forward roll to pass under the second. The third was positioned perfectly to slice her in half at the waist. Despite her forward momentum from the roll, she was able to quickly plant her feet and perform a graceful but swift backwards handspring, allowing to the boney blade to pass a hairs width above her.

As her feet touched down, she burst to the creature’s side. Half of the beasts heads came round to stop her but she juked and swerved, side stepped and ducked, evading every killing blow. The hydras keeled scales however did leave deep wounds wherever they grazed her.

Finally she reached the massive animals body and vaulted up its leg, kicking off its knee to reach higher. The rough scales cut though her boots and split the soles of her feet but she pressed ever upwards to the monsters back. Her long blue grey hair was so wild it looked to be mimicking the hydra.

With a bestial scream the gauntlets crystal blades extended to great lengths. She could barely even support the weight of them as she dove forward, through the creatures many necks. The blades passed though scale, flesh and bone with equal ease. Many of the beast’s head toppled to the ground, still trying to slither away from the tiny attacker. Blood spurted from the severed neck stumps with each of the final pumps of the hydras massive heart.

The crowd, all frozen at the edge of their seats, sat motionless with jaws hung low in amazement. Blood rained down on the first dozen rows of the coliseum but the audience paid it no heed. As Meridiana rose from the ground the trance was broken and the crowd exploded into cheers and applause.

Meridiana quickly rose to the rank of Succubus, half because of her extreme skill in battle and half so Lilin could keep a close eye on her. She became known as the Hydra Queen both because of her exceptionally powerful gauntlets and her wild untamed hair that seemed to move out of it on free will. Now she awaits he chance to take control of the cult and finally get her revenge on her arrogant husband.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Fluff Update: Character Bios- Lady Lilin Namaak

Name: Lady Lilin Namaak “The Crimson Whip”

Occupation: Archite

Gender: Female

Species: Eladrith Ynneas

Allegiance: Kabal of the Gelid Blade

Physical Descript: Tall, very slender but muscular, and graceful with long elegant limbs. Facial features are sharp; high cheekbones, a narrow nose, pointed chin, etc. Eyes are large and heterochromic. Her left eye is black while her right eye is blue. Hair is dyed a light blue-ish grey, and worn in a waist long braid. Her skin is milky white and flawless. Fingernails and toenails are painted crimson.

Personality: Lilin is very distant from her subordinates. She has no bonds and feels no compassion for anyone, including herself. She accepts any challenge presented to her in hopes that she will be killed but is also unwilling to just give up out of fear of death.

History: The elder of the Ranunium twins, Lilin was largely ignored by her affluent family as her younger sister Meridiana showed much more potential to succeed in The Dark City. They claimed she was too soft.

She struck off on her own at a young age and fought her way into a prominent wych cult, The Cult of the Liar’s Blade. She soon became a favored blood bride of the succubus, Renya Namaak. They grew very close, each considered the other a friend and lover, and they enjoyed a fierce rivalry always trying to outdo each other. The two were favorites in the arena. The crowd would loudly cheer whenever Renya would crack her crimson agoniser and they would applaud when Lillin would dance though a hoard of alien gladiators with her twin razor flails only to have her opponents fall apart a moment later. The two became an unbeatable team.

Unbeatable teams however tend to become stale in the arena so it was decided that the two would battle to the death. Before the match began the two vowed to fight to kill.

The two fought and bled to the roar of the crowd. In the end however it was clear that Renya had the advantage. With a sweep of her leg she tripped Lilin and left her vulnerable to a killing blow. She raised her agoniser to finish off her lover. She looked down at the fear in Lilins face as she reached blindly for her fallen weapons.

The finishing blow never came though. Renya just stood there with her weapon raised and smiled but it was not a Dark Eldar smile. It wasn’t cruel and twisted grin like the rest of her dark kin had. There was no joy in it seeing her prey splayed out before her. It was a sentimental smile. The kind of smile you get after you finish a great book, happy to have read it but sad that it’s over.

Blood sprayed from Renya’s neck. Lillin looked up in horror as her face was covered in the red mist. She had found her blade and swung blindly and the woman she had the closest bond with slumped to the ground in front of her, felled by her own hand.

The Archite of the cult strode majestically into the arena to declare the winner and appoint her new Succubus. She grasped the weary and shocked Lilin’s sword bearing arm and hoisted it into the air. The crowd was defining. The world seemed hazy in Lilin’s head as the Archite turned her for all her fans to see.

When she caught a glimpse of her fallen lover the world became perfectly clear again and she smiled. It was not a sentimental smile however. There was much joy in seeing her prey standing vulnerable next to her. It was exactly the cruel and twisted grin of her dark kin.

The segmented blade of her razor flail separated and the dagger studded lash dropped, wrapping itself around her leaders arm. With a quick side step and a flick of her wrist the blade snapped back into shape severing the Archite’s arm in several places. Chunks of Eldar bone and flesh plummeted to the sandy floor. The warrior queen shrieked and tried to flee. Lilin, however, would not allow her to leave the arena this day.

Lilin discarded her weapon. There was not enough left of the Archite to feed to the Beast Master’s kymeras. She walked back to Renya’s body, bloody foot prints in her wake. Kneeling down beside her fallen lover, she lifted her head which was, despite the brutal fight, still flawless and unstained. Hers however was stained red with the blood of her former love. She leaned down and gave Renya a final kiss, leaving a perfect bloody print on her pale lifeless lips.

Under her rule, Lilin Namaak as she now called herself, renamed The Liars Blade the Cult of the Bloody Kiss in memory of Renya and her own rise to power. She remains undefeated in the arena. Every foe she faces inevitably falls to her crimson whip.

Cult Description: The Cult of the Bloody Kiss is a fairly well known and competitive cult to become a part of. Most applicants are turned away or killed during try outs.

The cult has a full armada of raiders and venoms that it has won or earned in its competitive career. They are particularly well known for the skills of their reaver jetbike pilots and their arena has one of the finest racetracks in Commorragh.

The arena itself is located in the bustling Port of Mazada, far from the cold and instability of area surrounding the Gelid Blade; it is the gateway to the main city and many other realms of Commorragh.

Due to the high demand for their services and the steep price to attend one of their battles, they have an excellent supply of beasts and aliens to fight.

What sets this cult apart from others is that after every battle, the wyches go to each of their victims and leaves a bloody kiss on the defeated opponent’s body the location of which acts like a signature and helps keep tallies of everyone’s kill record.

Appearances

The wyches of the cult wear form fitting red leather body suits with black armored sections. After allying with the gelid Blade however the armor was changed to the same deep blue with ice blue highlights. All the wyches dye their hair a light blue-ish grey as a sign of their devotion to the cult.

Fluff Update: Character Bios- Laziurel

Name: Laziurel aka “The Clone” aka Laziurel Vect

Occupation: Archon and Hierarch

Gender: Male

Species: Eladrith Ynneas

Allegiance: Kabal of the Gelid Blade

Physical Descript: A physical doppelganger to Vect, save for the appearance of barely visible scars crisscrossing his paper white skin that he amassed during his reckless life.

Personality: Due to his flawed birth, Laziurel has a fractured personality. Often time he can be described as having a murderous exuberance. He is almost always smiling and laughing, even while in battle. Often very wry and showy to a theatrical degree, he acts so unlike a normal Dark Eldar that no one has been able to predict his actions and despite his fractured psyche he is an exceptionally skilled combatant and takes great pleasure “playing with” skilled opponents be them friend of foe.

He also suffers from bouts of short but terrible depressions and extreme rage, but whether or not this is put on remains in question.

Mandrakes seem to be drawn to Laziurel for some unexplained reason. They seem to have an unnatural hatred for his existence but never seem to harm him and will often obey him, almost out of necessity. He himself does not know why he has this effect on the shadow creatures, but he finds it very amusing. There are three particularly aggressive nightfiends that have made it clear that they wish to possess different parts of Laziurel. One longs for his innards to add to his robe of flesh, while another would like nothing more than to hold the archons eyes in his hand. The last wants to replace its own hair with the clones. They are always hiding in the shadows near their hated prey, wishing to end his life but seemingly unable to do so. Laziurel treats them as pets and regularly mocks them. When it seems he is talking to himself, which happens quite often, he may actually be talking to them.

History: Laziurel’s past is shrouded in much mystery, save for Lady Belila Malak, a former consort of Vect’s and the deranged Haemonculus Vekorian, the self proclaimed “Master of Pain”. Even he himself does not know the full story of his “birth” if it can even be called that. Malak and Vekorian never speak of the events that transpired for fear it may reach the ears of Asdubael Vect.

Laziurel has no mother or father. He was artificially grown by Vekorian, using the blood of Asdrubael Vect, stolen by Lady Malak. The price she paid the twisted Haemonculus was steep but here goal was a lofty one, to create a perfect clone of the supreme overlord that she could control and use to take Commorragh for herself. She knew if Vect were to die The Dark City would collapse in on itself, but with her “Vect” as a stand in, it would appear that Vect was still very much in charge but in reality she would be pulling all the strings.

Unfortunately for Malak something did not go as planned. Whether it was simply because there was not enough genetic material to use as a base, or if Vect added a failsafe to his blood incase such an attempt was ever to take place no one knows for sure but the “clone,” once completed was unimpressive to say the least. Scared, gaunt and weak but as Malak and Vekorian would soon discover, not helpless, as the pathetic life form vaulted over a group of wracks and escaped into the depths of Commorragh and most likely to his death.

Years later he resurfaced and was found by Malak. He was no longer thin and helpless. He spent those years killing and feeding off the pain of his fellow elder and had become a physical doppelganger to Vect. His personality however was not the same as his “brothers.” While Vect was cruel and cunning, his clone, named Laziurel by Malak, had an air of murderous exuberance. To him life was a game. He didn’t have the normal fear of death that most of the Dark Elder race shared, and took many unnecessary risks, often very theatrically, always with a smile on his face and laughter in the air.

Laziurel eventually went on to single handedly infiltrated the Incubi temple, The Gelid Blade and slew the Hierarch, taking the title for himself. He then “borrowed” a small armada from Malak and began the Kabal of the Gelid Blade.

He is currently recruiting generals for his armies and has been forming alliances with the wych cult of the Bloody Kiss and the Haemonculi coven of the Melded Flesh, along with hellion gangs and an army of trueborns, called “The Vyper Wyrms,” led by the Archduke of Mazada, the Venovingian.

Kabal Description:

The Gelid Blade is a fairly new and lesser known kabal, having only been formed sometime in M38. It is named for the former incubi temple that now acts as the kabal’s home.

The Gelid Blade is located in the Mazada region of Commorragh, a large valley that was originally built as a storage facility for the elder race when it was in its prime. However due to webway instability it was abandoned. The area is now flooded with ice and dust drawn into into the realm by cyclones that reach into real-space, sucking in shards of ice, the size of djin blades from an impenetrable ring of ice meteors. The brutal valley is surrounded on all sides by a forest of jagged stone needles carved into the landscape by the swirling ice storms. In the center of the massive valley the Gelid Blade rises up from the ice fields like an enormous klaive buried hilt first into the ground.

The Kabal has had several bloody encounters with 2 separate ork WAAAGHS!!! and has been a thorn in the side of both the Blood Angels and Imperial Fists chapters, always being just fast enough to escape with their prey.

Appearances
The armor of the warriors of the Gelid Blade is a deep, dark blue that glistens ice blue in even the smallest glint of light. Their fabric is the color of freshly spilled blood while their insignias and squad markings are often a bright glowing green and are the only things their unfortunate victims ever see during their night raids besides their gleaming fiery orange eye lenses.

The Kabal is well known for personalizing their transports and other vehicles.