- "There is no sweeter nectar than desperation, especially when it weeps from a thousand cuts. Some warriors will gorge themselves, but I prefer to be more....epicurean."
- —Zaviel
Heirarch Zaviel Vorluthus, better known by his title, The Blinded Swordsman, is a famous Incubus and Heirarch of the Shrine of the Killing Wind. Zaviel is a true Dark Eldar success story, having begun his life as a lowly vatborn citizen of the Dark City. Through ferocious willpower, scalpel-like precision, and a sadistic streak to rival some of the best torture-masters of the Haemonculi, Zaviel survived and thrived, despite many setbacks. Without much skill in the art of politics, Zaviel joined the Kabal of the Flayed Skull, before leaving to become an Incubus. His Archon had him blinded permanently for his betrayal, a virtual death-sentence in the cutthroat politics of Commorragh, but despite this, Zaviel became one of the most feared Incubi in his sept.
History[]
- "My fellow Commorrites like to play games. I prefer the straightforwardness of murder. It leaves very little open for discussion."
- —Zaviel
Upon being blinded for leaving the Kabal of the Flayed Skull, Zaviel knew that he needed some kind of edge to be accepted as an Incubus. He used every bit of influence, slaves and favors he had in the city to have a Haemonculus enhance the rest of his senses to the highest degree. Penniless, but now capable of detecting even the slightest change in atmospheric current, smell the sweat of his opponent and hear their every step and blade-swing, he made his way to the shrine.
Initially, Zaviel was rejected immediately, but he gained the Heirarch's attention by cutting the throats of two nearby aspirants, reasoning that he would take their places, as they were weak enough to be killed by a blind vatborn. Amused, the Heirarch allowed Zaviel to study with them, expecting the Eldarith to be burnt as an offering to Khaine. With his newly enhanced senses, Zaviel learnt the ways of the Klaive by listening to the air currents the blade made as it slashed through the air. As a result, his grasp of the Incubi combat forms evolved differently to those that could see, and ended up catching many of his opponents off guard. Eventually, Zaviel challenged an Incubus at the shrine, the fight being an extremely close dance of blades. Zaviel managed to wound the Incubus with an unexpected blow to the ankle, and before he could recover, Zaviel stabbed him through the chest, impaling him to the statue of Khaine where he burnt alive. Rewarded with a suit of Incubus armor, Zaviel modified it, rerouting power from the enhanced visual sensors into auditory ones.
For his final trial, Zaviel was required to kill an Eldar Aspect warrior and defile their soulstone. As a way of making amends for his earlier betrayal, Zaviel offered his services to the Archon of the Flayed Skull for free. As a gesture of good faith, the Archon agreed to hire Zaviel if he survived and ascended to the rank of a true Incubus. The Flayed Skull, with Zaviel attacked an Eldar outpost near an Imperial colony, eager to kill their kin and raid the Imperials in a joint venture. While the Kabal largely focused on the Imperials, Zaviel and his fellow aspirants lured the Eldar into the fray, where amidst the cacophony of battle, Zaviel managed to slay his Aspect Warrior.
Upon his return to Commorragh, Zaviel's services were hired by the Flayed Skull as their Incubus guard. Through contacts with the Incubi, Zaviel spent all the influence and resources he had earned further strengthening his senses and improving his reflexes. Perhaps because of the more ascetic lifestyle this forced the decadent Drukhari into, Zaviel developed a reputation for killing in manners that some considered more excessive than the typical Incubus efficiency. Zaviel was known for toying with his opponents, crippling them slowly and bleeding them to death inch by inch. Perhaps because of the way he had been treated by his fellow Eldarith, he took a special pleasure in feeding on the souls and pain of his own kind. As the Flayed Skull rose to power, Zaviel began to make plans to kill his Klaivex to take over his shrine.
After many centuries of training and experimentation with his own body, Zaviel finally challenged the Heirarch of the Killing Wind for his title. Never forgetting the slight the Heirarch had paid him by taking him in as a joke, Zaviel was determined to see the Heirarch pay. Their battle was incredibly vicious, lasting a full day and night as their fellow Killing Wind Incubi stood guard and watched. Zaviel finally paid the Heirarch back by gouging out his eyes through his helmet, before microwaving his brain with his Tormentor. Dipping his hands in the fallen Incubus' blood in tribute to Khaine's murder of Eldanesh, he then stapled his former mentor to the statue at the shrine's center, to slowly melt and be fused with the superheated metal.
Personality[]
- "I am a very straightforward man. You live because I wish it so. Should that change, trust me, you will know."
- —Zaviel
While to must other races, Zaviel would be considered a depraved, callous, sadistic psychopath, by Dark Eldar standards, he is surprisingly high functioning. Garnering a reputation in Commorragh as a reliable and deadly warrior, Zaviel is one of the rare few Dark Eldar with almost no skill in deception and politics. Zaviel has always been honest, even as a Kabalite warrior, and for his part, has no greater ambition than perfecting his craft. Because of this, Zaviel and his Killing Wind brethren have earned a reputation in the Dark City rarer than any other, that of trustworthiness.
Zaviel takes the art of murder very seriously, and spends hours each day perfecting it, practicing new ways of killing. He teaches his students to trust their instincts and senses beyond sight, and even encourages them to develop their own, unique combat styles, as he did. As the Klaivex of his Shrine, he treats the traditions of the Incubus with deadly seriousness, though is open to aspirants of all backgrounds. Unlike many Dark Eldar, Zaviel is known never to play favorites, and each of his students either keeps up with his teachings or is killed painfully and messily.
Zaviel does have vices, like any Dark Eldar, and is very fond of the arenas in Commorragh where he and his students advertise their skills to potential employers by pitting them against whatever xenos or vat-grown monstrosities are on offer.
Wargear[]
- Incubus Warsuit - Zaviel wears a modified Incubus Warsuit, with the visual senses rerouted entirely to hearing and to allow the user to feel air-currents on the skin of the suit. This suit is roughly equivalent to power armor without hampering the Incubus' dexterity. Zaviel's suit's non-functioning eyes emit bursts of light in a frenetic pattern, that can stun and disorient opponents.
- 'Agony and Ecstasy' - Twin Demi-Klaives that the Incubus dual-wields as his primary weapons. These power blades can be combined into one, immense weapon for two-handed use.
- 'Kiara's Lament' , Tormentor - A defiled Eldar soulstone, this Tormentor contains the tortured soul of the Aspect Warrior Kiara Kyalhev. With a command, Zaviel can cause the soulstone to emit waves of psychic torment, powerful enough to boil the minds of lesser beings.
- Glass Plague Vials - While believing in honorable combat, Zaviel is nothing if not a pragmatist, and carries several vials of the infamous Glass Plague. One of these vials getting anywhere near exposed flesh or open wounds will cause organic matter to instantly ossify to inanimate glass.
Quotes[]
Add your own!
- "I ask nothing more of my students than to match a blind man in skill. If they cannot even do that, they have no business being called warriors."
- —Zaviel
- "I believe that what remains of Khaine has blessed Zaviel. Truly there must be no greater humiliation for his enemies than to be struck down by him."
Trivia[]
Zaviel's theme song is Coffin Fodder