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"We see that which was and thus we know your secrets. We see that which shall be and thus we know your fate. The now is trivial to us -- we know the day we perish is not this day."

—Kairos Fateweaver[2a]

Kairos Fateweaver, known also as the "Oracle of Tzeentch," the "Keeper of the Destiny Scrolls," and even the "Mocking Watcher," is a two-headed Lord of Change, a Greater Daemon of Tzeentch, the Chaos God of change and intrigue. Fateweaver is the mightiest of the Lords of Change that serve Tzeentch and is blessed with access to all of his knowledge concerning the nature of fate and destiny.[1b]

Fateweaver has gained infallible knowledge of both the past and the future, but cannot see what will occur in the present. As with all the gifts of Chaos, however, there is always a catch. One of Kairos' two heads will always answer with the truth. Unfortunately, the other head simultaneously responds with a contradictory answer, the falsehood being as believable as the truth.[1b]

The Daemon now knows every spell in existence, and every action before it's conceived. Ever since he clawed his way back from the Well of Eternity -- the vast receptacle of all knowledge in creation that lies at the heart of the Impossible Fortress in the Realm of the Sorcerer -- after years uncounted within its depths, Kairos can see things that are hidden even to Tzeentch.[1b]

Kairos' right head sees possible futures as clear as day. No scheme is hidden from its sight and the infinite possibilities of tomorrow crystallise into irrefutable fact. Kairos' left head sees the past without the petty colourations of subjective perspective and bias. Past and future pulse through a body shrivelled and twisted by its passage through the Well of Eternity. Valuable as this vision is, it comes with a heavy cost. Both of Kairos' heads are blind to the present; he cannot see time as it passes -- only events that are to come or whose time has already lapsed.[1b][5d]

Kairos' blindness to the present makes him vulnerable to physical attack -- the future does not reveal itself swiftly enough to predict a battle's to and fro. Nevertheless, Kairos' unique vision allows him to stay one step ahead of his adversaries, pitting various assailants against one another in timestream-straddling duels.[1b][5d]

In the arena of magic, Kairos is unstoppable. He knows every spell in existence, every sigil, sign and quirk of mystical power; though even he cannot marshal them all without a modicum of preparation. Such ability makes him Tzeentch's favoured agent. On the occasions Fateweaver leaves the Impossible Fortress in the Realm of Chaos, it is always in the service of a dire task, be it the recovery of a magical artefact, the predestined crushing of an army, or some other ineffable purpose.[1b]

History

"We perceive the infinite. Your past is laid before us, mortal, every sin in plain view. We whisper to the gods, including yours, they know your seditions, due to us. There is no longer hope with them. Your fate dangles on a thread, let us weave you a new destiny. Stay still -- no sudden movements -- as we wrap our wings around your soul."

—Kairos Fateweaver, Keeper of the Destiny Scrolls[4]
Kairos Poster

Kairos Fateweaver, the two-headed Lord of Change, is the master of past and future, but never of the present.

Even Tzeentch, the Chaos God of change and intrigue, dares not enter the Well of Eternity, the vast receptacle of all knowledge that lies at the heart of his Impossible Fortress in the Realm of the Sorcerer. The Great Sorcerer, mighty though he is, cannot be sure of survival within the inky currents of infinity.[1b][5d]

Still, the Well of Eternity holds great sway over Tzeentch's mind, for it is the one puzzle he cannot solve, and the one mystery he cannot know -- a challenge almost painful in its intensity. It was in the cause of understanding that Tzeentch hurled Kairos, a Lord of Change known as the "Fateweaver" to mortals, into the foreboding depths of the Well of Eternity. While the Great Sorcerer was not prepared to risk his own existence in such a venture, he had no such misgivings at risking one of his Daemonic servants in such a fashion.[1b][5d]

Kairos Fateweaver now sits at Tzeentch's right hand, stirring the stygian depths of the Well of Eternity as he whispers aloud the secrets that only he can see. Nine times nine Lords of Change transcribe these insights with quills drawn from their own plumage and inked with Tzeentch's blood. Each Daemonic scribe jealously guards the secrets he hears -- every such facet of eternity is a powerful tool in the unending intrigue and collusion of Tzeentch's court. For his part, Tzeentch cares not about the scheming of his minions, for he knows all that they know. Each secret transcribed by a Lord of Change is made a part of Tzeentch forever and his understanding of eternity comes ever closer.[1b][5c]

Great Catastrophe

OraclesofTzeentch

Icon of Kairos Fateweaver and his Tzeentchian army, the Oracles of Tzeentch, in Total War: Warhammer III.

During the Great Catastrophe, when the Polar Gates collapsed and Chaos first entered the mortal world, Kairos Fateweaver was one of the generals of the Daemonic host that crossed into reality. Sent to lay siege to the Lizardmen temple-cities of Lustria, he obversed the magical defences of the Slann for centuries before finding a way to breach them.[5a]

Tzeentch loading screen - Total War- Warhammer III

Kairos Fateweaver leads the Daemonic legions of Tzeentch.

At Xahutec, Kairos ordered the entirety of his Daemonic armies to charge the protective barriers erected by the Slann and while the mage-priests were focused on maintaining the wards, he opened a minuscle rift into the Realm of Chaos by focusing his considerable arcane might. The Slann only realised their predicament once the rift opened and quickly widened, spilling hordes of Daemons into the interior of the temple-city.[5a]

The Slann found themselves overwhelmed and slaughtered, leaving the barrier to collapse and the rest of the Daemonic army to slaughter its inhabitants. No Lizardmen survived the onslaught, with Kairos Fateweaver devouring the arcane trinkets of the fallen Slann atop their great pyramids before shattering them in a maelstrom of Daemonic flame.[5a]

Kairos Fateweaver would take the temple-cities of Huatl, Tlanxla and Xhotl with the same tactic, before survivors from Xhotl brought warning to the surviving Slann. Because of this, Kairos failed to take the temple-city of Chaqua, which instead fell to the plagues unleashed by the servants of Tzeentch's rival Chaos God Nurgle.[5a]

When the High Elf Archmage Caledor Dragontamer began the ritual to form the Great Vortex and thus bleed off the Known World's excess magic which kept the Daemons anchored in the mortal realm, it was Kairos Fateweaver who was first alerted to the significance of the ritual and the danger of the deed to his kind. Leading his host from the jungles of Lustria to the Isle of the Dead in Ulthuan, more and more Daemons heeded his summons to prevent Caledor from completing his ritual.[5b]

Kairos Fateweaver was one of the Greater Daemons that challenged the Elven Phoenix King Aenarion of Ulthuan during the creation of the Great Vortex. Kairos fell when Aenarion plunged the Sword of Khaine into his head, but not before disrupting the multitude of enchantments within the Phoenix King's Dragon Armour.[3a]

Other Conflicts

Warhammer Kairos Fateweaver art

A horrific portrait of Kairos Fateweaver.

During the first phase of the Elven Civil War known as the Sundering, the Hag Sorceress Morathi, mother of Malekith, made a pact with Kairos Fateweaver during the siege of Anlec, where a coalition of the kingdoms of Ulthuan under the leadership of Prince Malekith attempted to bring her down. In exchange for sending envoys to teach the Men of the north Chaos Sorcery, the Lord of Change would grant her the power of the Everchanging Veil.[6a]

At the height of the Great Crusade Against Araby, during the climatic battle at Al-Haikk, Sultan Jaffar made a desperate pact with Kairos Fateweaver. As the knights of Bretonnia and the Empire charged the line of the Arabyans, the skies rained blood, living whirlwinds of sand emerged to wreak havoc and vast Daemonic pylons thrust out of the shifting dunes. Yet Jaffar's plan went awry, with his armies defeated when the Daemonic reinforcements he had summoned suddenly withdrew.[7a]

In 2031 IC, as recorded by the Bretonnian bard Tyness Evain, Kairos Fateweaver led a great incursion of Daemons against Montfort, leading to the Battle of Sky's Fall.[5c]

In 2512 IC, Kairos lured Lauraen the Sage, a High Elf seer of considerable power, into a trap by sending her visions of Avelorn in flames and the Everqueen Alarielle slain by Daemons. At a valley south of the Imperial city of Salzenmund, Kairos Fateweaver tore the seer asunder.[10a]

In 2522 IC, the Dark Elven sorceress Morathi attempted to bind Kairos Fateweaver to her will at the Wretched Altar. Due to the meddling of the Herald of Tzeentch known as the Changeling, the ritual failed and a host of Daemons took possession of many of Mortathi's acolytes. Morathi only barely survived the following battle.[10b]

Year of Woe

Warhammer Kairos Fateweaver

The twin-headed Lord of Change known as Kairos Fateweaver.

It was in the year 2520 IC, as the mortals of the Old World reckon time, when Tzeentch sent Kairos Fateweaver to steal the twelve enchanted artefacts once possessed by the Grail Companions of Gilles le Breton, the founding Royarch of Bretonnia. So important was this goal to Tzeentch that he dispatched the greater part of his Daemonic armies to the mortal plane. So began Bretonnia's so-called "Year of Woe," where the tombs of the Grail Companions were ransacked, nearby towns were razed and countless thousands of Bretonnians -- high and low born alike -- met their deaths at the tentacles of Tzeentchian Daemons.[1a]

Johan-grenier-tzeentch-half-page-copy9

Kairos Fateweaver is the greatest of the Daemons of Tzeentch.

Castles were of no defence, for their crude stones were easily tumbled by the sorceries of Pink Horrors or transmuted by the warpfires of Flamers. Only at Grail shrines, where the power of the divine Lady of the Lake still waxed strong, could any shelter be found. Worse, with each artefact recovered, Fateweaver's fellow Daemons grew ever more powerful.[1a]

In the initial battles about Montfort and Quenelles, the lances and valour of the Bretonnian Questing Knights cost the Daemonic hosts greatly. By the time eight artefacts had been seized, only the boldest dukes of Bretonnia would even consider taking the field. In the twelfth month, with only a single artefact outside of Fateweaver's clutches, only King Louen Leoncoeur chanced his arm -- and he lost far more battles than he won.[1a]

The final battle of the Year of Woe was the Siege of Mousillon, for 'twas in this city that the last of the artefacts lay. At the height of the siege, the Bretonnian armies made one last sortie against their abusers. As they did so, help arrived from a most unusual source. Nurgle had long been fond of Mousillon, for it had been the breeding ground for many of his favourite plagues. He could not bear the thought of the city being eradicated by the minions of his hated rival Tzeentch, and so the Plague Lord loosed his own Daemonic armies.[1a]

Unaware of the wider battle being fought, the Bretonnians gave no quarter that day. They saw only an army of Daemons given over to fighting amongst itself, and slaughtered everything that came before their lances. The Nurglish Great Unclean One Ku'gath Plaguefather bludgeoned Kairos Fateweaver to feathered ruin, only to find himself pierced on the points of a dozen blessed lances. With the destruction of their leaders, both Daemon armies vanished -- doubtless to pursue the battle on more familiar territory in the Realm of Chaos -- leaving only their battle-ravaged fallen and the very items Fateweaver had caused so much death and destruction to steal.[1a]

End Times

"You do not fight for the gods, but to avenge wounded pride."

—Kairos Fateweaver mocks Archaon[9a]
KairosPoster

Kairos Fateweaver, the two-headed Lord of Change, is the leader of the Daemonic forces of Tzeentch in Total War: Warhammer III.

During the End Times, after the thirteenth Everchosen Archaon had conquered the Imperial fortress city of Middenheim, Kairos Fateweaver came before him. Questioning the resolve of the Everchosen, he warned him that the Changer of Ways perceived all, even Archaon's innermost desires, such that he truly fought to salve his own wounded pride rather than to advance the cause of Chaos.[8a]

Kairos Fateweaver warned Archaon that the coming battles would not unfold according to his wishes. The Everchosen's furious reaction was to behead the Lord of Change with his potent blade, the Slayer of Kings, tossing the Daemon's lifeless body into a sacrificial pit to summon the Bloodthirster Ka'Bandha.[8a]

Miniatures

Canon Conflict

In Blood of Aenarion, Kairos Fateweaver is depicted as having only one head when he fought with Aenarion the Defender during the Battle of the Isle of the Dead. This would suggest that he was cast into the Well of Eternity some time after the birth of the Great Vortex, as his ability to perceive past and future requires having two heads. Whether the additional head was created from being struck by the Sword of Khaine, or a side-effect from escaping the Well of Eternity, remains unclear.[3a]

In the novel The Lord of the End Times, Kairos was not executed during the End Times by a frustrated Archaon, but instead was defeated by Supreme Patriarch Gregor Martak wielding the Sacred Flame of Ulric.[9a]

Sources

  • 1: Warhammer Armies: Daemons of Chaos (8th Edition)
    • 1a: pg. 23
    • 1b: pg. 43
  • 2: Warhammer Invasion (Collectible Card Game)
  • 3: Blood of Aenarion (Novel) by William King
    • 3a: Prologue
  • 4: Total War: Warhammer III (PC Game)
  • 5: Warhammer Armies: Daemons of Chaos (7th Edition)
    • 5a: pg. 15
    • 5b: pg. 17
    • 5c: pg. 29
    • 5d: pg. 52
  • 6: Shadow King (Novel) by Gav Thorpe
  • 7: Storm of Magic (8th Edition)
    • 7a: pg. 21
  • 8: The End Times Vol V: Archaon (8th Edition)
  • 9: The Lord of the End Times (Novel) by Josh Reynolds
  • 10: White Dwarf 368 (UK)
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