"Send the word out across the world. Celebrate and give thanks to the mighty Lord of Murder for delivering unto us his world-born son. We have been blessed and in His name we shall bare our blades in readiness for His will as voiced by His avatar. Hail Malekith, Eternal Khaine Incarnate."
- —Hellebron, High Priestess of Khaine.[4a]
Hellebron , also known as Crone Hellebron and called the "Blood Queen of Har Ganeth," is one of the most ancient of the Hag Queens of the Druchii Witch Elves and the high priestess of the Cult of Khaine, second only to Morathi in the sight of Khaine, the Elven god of war and murder.
Hellebron is known as a "crone" because for much of the year she appears as a withered, hideous and elderly Dark Elf. But come the Death Night, when countless sacrifices are made to Khaine, she is rejuvenated for a short time, and becomes the beautiful and potent Witch Elf of old.
History[]
Origins[]
Hellebron was born the daughter of Lord Alandrian, who had been a confidant of the future Dark Elven Witch King Malekith and was raised to be his regent in the city of Athel Toralien in the Old World. As a young Elven lady, Hellebron met Malekith's mother Morathi and asked to become part of her entourage. Morathi denied her request since she possessed no magical talent or other artistic skills.[5a]
During that time, the dark cults of the Elven sub-pantheon of the Cytharai took hold in Athel Toralien. Hellebron, like many noble Elves, participated in them. She was drawn to the Cult of Khaine, to the rites of bloodletting and battle.[5b] Dedicating herself to the Lord of Murder, she vowed to create a new Elven religious order with the Cult of Khaine at its top, reminding the people of Nagarythe of the ties between the Lord of Murder and its greatest champion, the Phoenix King Aenarion.[5c]
Fighting with the Elven colonial forces present in the Old World, Hellebron honed her battle skills alongside her sister Lirieth against Beastmen and Greenskins that still populated that continent. When she felt her mentor was getting too conservative and decrepit in the way he worshipped Khaine, she let him be sacrificed and introduced new rites to venerate the Bloody-Handed God, including fighting without armour and offering up to Khaine enemies slain directly on the battlefield as ritualistic sacrifices.[5d]
In time, most of the Elves in Athel Toralien converted to her new cult and the Cults of Luxury, Pleasure and Excess were persecuted for weakening the resolve of the people.[5e] When the Cult of Khaine was outlawed alongside all the other cults of the Cytharai during Malekith's campaign against them, Hellebron was imprisoned, but refused to renounce her god.[5f]
When Morathi was brought before the new Phoenix King Bel Shanaar by the prince of Nagarythe, Hellebron and her cult were reinstated by her father and tasked with finishing the persecution of those cults that they had started before. When her estranged mother Mirieth arrived and tried to convince her to abandon the way of Khaine, Hellebron sacrificed her mother to the god of murder before a large crowd of her followers.[5f]
During the great Elven civil war of the Sundering, Hellebron, along with other Elves in the Old World colonies that had pledged themselves to the cause of Malekith, arrived in Ulthuan to fight for their chosen king. During the battles against the few loyalists to the Phoenix King in Nagarythe, she allegedly slew the Shadow King Alith Anar and claimed his bow in Athel Yranuir, although this was later proven to have been a ruse. [7a]
Other exploits of Hellebron and her followers during the Sundering included landing in Cothique, where they unleashed untold carnage against the civilian population.[6a] She also fought during the Battle of Maledor against Caledor the Conqueror but was forced to flee after Malekith had been defeated. [6b]
Hag Queen of Har Ganeth[]
"Khaela Mensha Khaine, for hate's sake, hear our petition - as blood answers the throat slit. Keep the hearts of the Druchii cold and bitter, wherein the murderous will of our survivor-civilization be preserved for all eternity. Bring death, just and swift, to the weak. Daub the revenger's blade with the blood of enemies old. Watch over the inconstant north. Grant the wild men and their wilderness your darkness. Let blade and bolt bring sacrifice to your altar. Bless the druchii, ever your acolytes and assassins, with murder in your name and victories as certain as spite."
While the youth and beauty of Morathi never fades, that of Hellebron is now almost expended, for the Hag Sorceress deliberately withheld from her the deepest secrets of using the Cauldrons of Blood. It is chiefly for this reason that Hellebron hates Morathi, and her wrath at the deception is only deepened by the knowledge that she would have performed the exact same betrayal had their positions been reversed.[3a]
The Dark Elven Witch King Malekith considered Hellebron in her prime to be one of the most beautiful Elven maidens in existence and believed that the reason his mother Morathi held such emnity against her was simple jealousy.[4a]
Because of this subterfuge, more sacrifices are needed to fill Hellebron's cauldron each year,[3a] with only the blood of those slain during Death Night used for the rejuvenation,[3b] and yet the restorative effects last for less and less time with each use. Once beautiful beyond measure, the Blood Queen must now endure many dark months with the visage of an old and ugly crone for each stolen day of vibrant youth.[3a]
So it is that for many nights of the year, Hellebron holds court hooded and cloaked to conceal her haggard appearance. Only her closest attendants are permitted to see the full horror of her aged and withered form, and they are sworn to silence under pain of death.[3a]
It is only on the days following Death Night, where her flesh and form are renewed to full vigour, that Hellebron walks the mortal world unveiled, revelling in the power and sensations of youth. Those who wish a boon of her are well advised to seek it in this brief window of joy, for at other times her mood is capricious and sour, and an audience with her is very likely fatal.[3a]
Ugly and worn as she may be, Hellebron remains the greatest of the Witch Elves, the Brides of Khaine. Her mastery of the many ways of murder eclipses even that of Morathi -- who is often too distracted by her sorcerous pursuits -- and far outstrips the skill of the other Hag Queens. It is she who leads the Lord of Murder's unholy rites as his high priestess and dictates the holy creed that all Witch Elves must follow.
So steeped is Hellebron in the ways of death that her merest touch can kill, and a single whispered word from her withered lips can open up old wounds to bloody life. Wherever Hellebron treads, the gaze of Khaine follows. Inevitably, insane fervour sweeps over all those in her path, driving not only Witch Elves, but Dark Elves of all callings, into a maddening frenzy fit to drown the world in blood.[3a]
Storm of Chaos[]
Attention, Empire Citizens!
This article or this section of the article contains information regarding the Storm of Chaos campaign and its aftermath, which is now considered a non-canon, alternate timeline.
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In the alternate, non-canon Storm of Chaos timeline, Morathi had renewed and restored the Elven Cult of Pleasure, forging an alliance with the Slaanesh-worshipping barbarian tribes of the Hung in the northern Chaos Wastes. Thus empowered, the Cult of Pleasure took part in both the assault on Ulthuan as well as attacks into Lustria to plunder the Temple-cities of the Lizardmen.[9]
Hellebron, seeing the new cult dedicated to Slaanesh as an affront to Khaine's proper place as the chief god of the Dark Elves, marshalled her forces to move against the newly installed temple of Slaanesh in Naggarond, forcing Morathi to return north. It was likely that the encounter would be bloody, as followers of both sects sought to dispose of their rivals. A potential civil war could erupt if the situation was not brought back under control, especially with Malekith being wounded at this time by Eltharion the Blind.[9]
Wargear[]
- Deathsword - The blade of this long, black sword glistens with Dark Magic. When it is wielded in combat, the sharp tip of the sword leaves a gleaming red trail in the air.[2a][3a]
- Cursed Blade - Moving with a life of its own, the Cursed Blade, also known as the Parrying Blade, is a short sword or dagger that deflects the attacks of the enemy.[2a][3a]
- Amulet of Dark Fire - This amulet wreathes its wielder in a mystical flame that burns magic instead of flesh, providing some resistance to spells cast by a foe.[3a]
Sources[]
- 1 Warhammer Armies: Dark Elves (6th Edition)
- 1a: pg. 52
- 2 Warhammer Armies: Dark Elves (7th Edition)
- 2a: pg. 66
- 3 Warhammer Armies: Dark Elves (8th Edition)
- 4: Curse of Khaine (Novel) by Gav Thorpe
- 4a: Ch. 8: "The Witch King Demands"
- 5: The Bloody-Handed (Novel) by Gav Thorpe
- 6: Time of Legends: Caledor (Novel) by Gav Thorpe
- 7: Time of Legends: Shadow King (Novel) by Gav Thorpe
- 7a: Ch. 14: "Night of Dark Knives"
- 8: Archaon: Everchosen (Novel) by Rob Sanders
- 8a: Ch. 12
- 9: Storm of Chaos - The Loremaster's Journal