"Bow, pilgrims, bow before the Wisdom of Asaph made flesh, the Voice of the Vengeful, the Lioness of the Hills, She Whose Legions Blot Out the Sun With Their Arrows, High Queen Khalida, Guardian of Damned Lahmia, the Watchful Soul and the Serpent Queen. Kneel, so that you might bask in her radiance!"
- —Djubti, Liche Priest of Lybaras, following the resurrection of High Queen Khalida.[3a]
Khalida Neferher, the "Warrior-Queen," was the high queen of the ancient Nehekharan city-state of Lybaras who was later resurrected as an Undead Tomb Queen. She has a deep and abiding hatred for necromancy and all its works, and a particular animus towards Vampires.[1a]
Despite her gender, Khalida was highly respected across all the lands of Nehekhara and adored by her subjects. Her intelligence, temper and bravery were as legendary as her beauty, as was her intense sense of honour and justice. Her reign was tragically short, cut down as she was in her prime. All of Nehekhara mourned her passing, for they knew she would have brought great glory to the empire.[1a]
As the mortal embodiment of the Asp Goddess Asaph in full fury, a wave of pure terror rolls over all those who would dare to look upon her. With divine energy flowing through her limbs, Queen Khalida brought war and death to any who threatened her realm and the greater lands of Nehekhara.[1b]
Venom runs in Khalida's veins, and she moves with the speed of a striking asp. Only when all her foes lie dead at her feet does she lead her legions back to Lybaras and sit upon her throne as queen once more. However, though Khalida sleeps, her soul is troubled. Deep within the High Queen burns a loathing for those tainted by Nagash's necromancy, and only when she finally kills her treacherous cousin, the Lahmian Vampire Lord Neferata and all of her vile Vampirekind, will she finally know true peace.[2a]
Quick Answers
What is High Queen Khalida Neferher known for in the lands of Nehekhara?
Who is the Warrior-Queen of Lybaras in Warhammer 3?
What is the significance of High Queen Khalida in Warhammer 3 Khalida?
Who is the Guardian of Damned Lahmia in Warhammer 3?
What are the titles attributed to High Queen Khalida Neferher in Warhammer 3?
History[]
"One hundred and thirty-six of her followers have raised armies, fleets and beasts to hurl themselves against my walls. Sometimes they come north, sometimes east, or south. They come from the sea, and the sky and Great Desert, from the jungles and the mountains. They pour forth in a limitless tide and they are broken on my walls."
A depiction of the ancient Warrior-Queen Khalida Neferher of Lybaras.
Khalida was slain by her cousin and beloved friend Neferata, the Trueborn Vampire who was Queen of Lahmia, in ritual combat during a great celebratory feast in Lahmia. The sensuously beautiful and alluring Queen of Lahmia falsely accused Khalida of treason and of attempting her assassination, and proclaimed these allegations loudly during a banquet feast. Khalida had risen to defend her honour, and in her anger had refused to nominate a champion, accepting the challenge personally.[1a]
Neferata desired the death of Khalida, for the Warrior-Queen had grown suspicious of Neferata and the nature of her Lahmian court. Indeed, Khalida was right to be suspicious, for Neferata had been studying the blasphemous texts of the Great Necromancer Nagash, and had drunk from a defective variant of the cursed Elixir of Life -- she had been reborn into a cursed existence, becoming the first of the Vampires, and if Khalida was not silenced then the Lahmians' deadly secret would become known.[1a]
The two women fought before the shocked Nehekharan nobility, their blades weaving a delicate and deadly dance. Khalida was a skilled and powerful warrior, and yet she could not match the preternatural speed or unholy strength of the Vampire Lord that Neferata had become. As Khalida lay on the tiled floor, her blood flowing from a terrible wound in her stomach, Neferata sank her sharp teeth into Khalida's neck, sucking deeply. Biting hard on her own tongue, the Queen of Lahmia placed her lips over Khalida's, and her Vampire blood flowed down the dying queen's throat, granting her the Blood Kiss.[1a]
As the life began to leave her dying body, Khalida knew that Neferata's cursed blood now flowed through her veins. In desperation, she cried out to the gods to save her from the same abominable fate that had taken hold of Neferata. Asaph, the goddess of the asp, heard the Warrior-Queen's pleas and appeared to the dying queen in a divine vision. The blessing of the goddess purified the Vampiric taint from Khalida's veins, though it drained the remaining life from her as well. In sorrow, she was borne back to Lybaras.[1a]
Beloved of the Asp[]
"And every time, she sends with them a token of her affection, one cousin to another. A lock of her hair, a book of poems by a philosopher of our acquaintance, the crown of Lahmia taken from her husband’s head, the amulet of Asaph stolen from my crypt, or... a sword she used to shed my blood. There is no magic in this thing. It is merely old steel, and badly cared for – still sharp, however. She stole it in order to let me know we had begun the old game again. It is a gift from one player to another. A sign that she has not forgotten me, and to ensure that I do not forget her. In all the world, down through the long corridor of centuries, there has only been this game. And she has been my only opponent. You were right, before, on the walls, when you said you were a puppet. But not of fate... You are her puppet, her pawn, and this is her gambit."
- —Khalida Neferher, speaking to Nitotris, spawn of Neferata.[3b]
Tomb Queen Khalida as depicted in Total War: Warhammer II.
The priests and priestesses of the Asp Goddess undertook the burial of the High Queen, for they recognised that the blessing of their divine mistress was upon her, even in death. Khalida was embalmed and placed in a seated position within a specially made reliquary within the temple of the blessed asp in Lybaras. There she sits unmoving, her face concealed behind a beautiful death mask created in her likeness.[1b]
In times of dire need, when her homeland is threatened, the power of the Asp Goddess infuses her ancient limbs. Gracefully, she rises from her seated position, and glides across the temple floor, commanding the doors to open with a delicate motion of her hand. Her flesh slowly starts to return to its former beauty, gradually becoming as pale and hard as pristine white marble.[1b]
The famed archers of her Legions of the Asp, buried in vast tomb pits beside the temple, arise at her bidding, marching alongside their immortal Warrior-Queen as they did in life, bringing death to those that intrude upon her realm.[1b]
Wargear[]
- Venom Staff - Shaped in the form of an asp, this staff writhes as if alive and spits at its enemies with the anger and spite of Asaph herself.[2a]
Miniature[]
Trivia[]
Khalida's name is the Arabic word for "immortal" (خالدة).
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Armies: Tomb Kings (6th Edition)
- 2: Warhammer Armies: Tomb Kings (8th Edition)
- 2a: pg. 68
- 3: Gotrek and Felix: Serpent Queen (Novel) by Josh Reynolds
Gallery[]
