" You are but a mortal speck. I serve you only so long as you lead us to slaughter. But there is no slaughter here, Everchosen. Where is the ocean of blood we were promised? Where are the skulls you have tithed to the Lord of Carnage? I see nothing before me but the dried leavings of crows and jackals."
Ka'Bandha, also called the "Huntsmaster," is a powerful and high-ranking Bloodthirster of Khorne, the Chaos God of war and murder. He served under the leadership of the thirteenth Everchosen Archaon, commanding the Daemonic servants of the Blood God during the conflicts of the End Times.
Ka'Bandha is said to be above even Skarbrand in status in the eyes of Khorne. Ka'Bandha personally considers the hunt for new victims more enjoyable than the actual kill.[1b]
History
"This beast and his master are mine to claim, bloodspeck. Flee now and I shall not seek your death until this night's work is done."
- —Ka'Bandha stakes a claim to Emperor Karl Franz's skull for Khorne during the End Times
Origins
Ka'Bandha has served Khorne for time out of mind, rising from the lowly ranks of the sixth host of the Blood God's Daemonic legions through many deeds of carnage and death. He was no mindless slaughterer, having long ago realised that careful strategy could make the blood flow far more freely than random rage ever could.[1a]
In ages past, Ka'Bandha had been tasked by Khorne to claim the skull of Magnus von Bildhofen, who would become Emperor Magnus the Pious of a reunited Empire of Man following the Great War Against Chaos. Magnus, through his faith in Sigmar, triumphed over the Greater Daemon and banished him back into the Realm of Chaos, where the Daemon was punished for his failure.[2c]
End Times
By the time Ka'Bandha came to Averheim during the conflicts between the forces of Chaos and the Empire during the End Times, Ka'Bandha aspired to the exalted ranks of the second host of Khorne's armies, and to attain that rank he needed to earn the Blood God's favour as never before. For that reason, and that reason alone, Ka'Bandha was content to feign service to the Dark Gods' thirteenth Everchosen, Archaon. There could be no greater gift to the Lord of Skulls than the blood of not just the Empire, but the entire mortal world.[1a]
Skarr Bloodwrath and Valkia the Bloody were associates of the Bloodthirster during the End Times, serving Archaon just as he did. Valkia notably despised Ka-Bandha and her Skaramor, since their goals were ultimately self-serving in her eyes.[1c]
During the battle for Averheim, Ka'Bandha was grievously injured in combat with Caradryan, the High Elven captain of the Phoenix Guard of Ulthuan and his Phoenix, Ashtari. He managed to kill the firebird, but Caradryn leaped from the saddle of his dead mount's back and carved through the Bloodthirster's crown and scalp, causing the Daemon to howl in pain for the first time in his existence. In return, the Greater Daemon broke Caradryan's legs as if they were mere twigs, swatting him to the ground and then stepping on him with one great hoof. [1a]
However, Caradryan set the Bloodthirster on fire, providing an opening for Sigmar, who had returned to the mortal world after possessing the body of Emperor Karl Franz at the moment of his death, mounted atop the emperor's Griffon Deathclaw, to strike. However, they too were smashed aside by the rampaging Daemon, and Deathclaw was rendered unconscious. Just as Ka'Bandha moved to finish the Sigmar off, the High Elven Incarnate Tyrion and his Elven Steed Malhandir arrived to stop the Bloodthirster's rampage. Infused with the power of Hysh, the White Wind of Magic, as its Incarnate, Tyrion proved all but unstoppable and therefore a better match for the great Bloodthirster of Khorne.[1b]
Ka'Bandha had already slain one Incarnate of the Winds of Magic, but Tyrion was a far more challenging foe. Even before the power of the magical Wind of Hysh had infused him, the High Elf Prince had been one of the mortal world's foremost warriors -- now, he was all but unstoppable. Thus he matched Ka'Bandha's strength with speed and skill. Again and again the Daemon's warhammer crashed down, throwing dust and wicked stone shards in all directions, but Malhandir's swiftness ensured Tyrion was never struck. The chain of the Daemon's hammer-flail whistled through the air with every strike, but each time, Tyrion's blade Sunfang's gleaming blade deflected the links before they could snare its wielder.[1b]
Tyrion managed to wound the Greater Daemon, Sunfang tearing through not only its wing, but three of its bony vanes. Ka'Bandha roared in pain and rounded on Tyrion, aiming to split the prince in two with his axe. Sunfang rose to meet it, and the two weapons clashed with an ear-splitting screech and flash of light. Once more, Sunfang proved the superior blade and sheared away a vast shard of Ka'Bandha's axe-blade, but the force of the blow knocked Tyrion from the saddle. As the Daemon raised his hoof to crush the life from Tyrion as he had Caradryan, the Liche Nagash appeared on the battlefield, unintentionally saving the High Elf prince. Ka'Bandha saw the Great Necromancer as the worthier prey and thus forgot about Tyrion, who was was borne away by his steed Malhandir.[1b]
Ka'Bandha's rampage was at last halted by Deathclaw and Sigmar, who finally slew the Bloodthirster after his skull was shattered by Ghal Maraz, the Heldenhammer's relic warhammer which was his to wield once more, and the Daemon was banished back to the Realm of Chaos.[1b]
Wargear
Like most Bloodthirsters, Ka'Bandha has been known to wield a vicious, flame-shrouded whip and a terrifying, hell-forged battleaxe.
Miniatures
Trivia
Ka'Bandha is also present in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, where he was banished back to the Warp by the Blood Angels Primarch Sanguinius during the Siege of Terra in the Horus Heresy, and has remained a persistent foe of the Blood Angels ever since.