Incubus

Dark Eldar Portal

Incubus^[3]

An Incubus is an elite Dark Eldar warrior, most commonly seen in service as an Archon's retinue in the field. Outside of combat, they act as personal bodyguards, protecting their client every second of the day.^[2]

Overview

Incubi with klaive

The origins of the Incubi are mysterious. One legend states that the order was founded by Arhra, the fallen Phoenix Lord of the Striking Scorpions some whisper today that Drazhar, the Master of Blades may be Arhra himself.^[11a]

Fully trained Incubui are the best warriors in Dark Eldar society. They are warrior-mercenaries living only to kill. Archons favor Incubi as bodyguards. They are also used extensively as enforcers in Commorragh. Many pleasure dens or smuggler's spires have been brutally destroyed by a host of Incubi to send a message to their employer's rivals. The reason for this is that in Dark Eldar society, one's place in the chain of command is only improved by assassinating the person above you. Therefore, the majority of Kabal leaders find it too dangerous to leave the protecting of their lives in the hands of a member of the same Kabal, as the bodyguard would have ulterior motives for not sufficiently protecting the Archon. Incubi, on the other hand, are completely neutral in matters of Kabal hierarchy, follow the code of their contract and their Klaivex leader zealously, and are elite warriors, all of which make them perfect bodyguards. But in Commorragh, even the finest blade can still sometimes cut both ways.^[7]

Incubi lead rigorously disciplined lives; and some even whisper that they can be trusted to keep their word. As such, their services are regularly sought after by the powerful within Commorragh. But despite their prowess as shock troops and duellists, even Incubi scorn a fair fight and will concentrate solely upon killing in the most efficient way possible. They are trained in multiple forms of combat with a wide variety of weapons.^[9]

Shrines of the Incubus

Incubi, like Mandrakes or Haemonculi, do not swear allegiance to any specific Kabal or Wych Cult. Instead, Incubi are trained in their dark shrines. These obsidian crafted shrines, all presided over by Hierarchs, are thronged by patrons and aspirants eager to steep themselves in the murderous arts. The smallest shrines have only a handful of Incubi, the larger ones are sprawling bastions full of howling marble statues with a central shrine where aspiring Incubi and other Dark Eldar come in their thousands to bargain for services or to join the order.^[7]

Training is extremely hard and grueling. Due to this, not every aspirant survives the training. These weaklings are burnt as an offering to the iron statue of Khaine at the heart of each shrine. The only way to stay alive is to quickly master everything taught. Should an aspirant live long enough to best a proven Incubus and take his armour, the final training will begin. Every aspirant must then kill an Aspect Warrior of the Eldar Craftworlds in single combat, shatter their quarry's precious Spirit Stone and rebuild it into a psychic torture device known as a Tormentor.^[2] Others talk of a requirement to kill an existing warrior of the shrine and to take his wargear.^[19] After that, the aspirant can be considered an Incubus.^[2]

Known Incubi Shrines

• Shrine of the Black Lotus^[15]
• Shrine of the Blade Indulged^[19]
• Shrine of the Coiled Blade — Follow the Ynnari^[8]
• Shrine of the Cursed Night^[5]
• Shrine of the Dying Dream^[19]
• Shrine of the Frozen Void^[14]
• Shrine of the Howling Skull^[19]
• Shrine of the Last Breath^[18]
• Shrine of Naked Hatred^[9]
• Shrine of the Red Dawn^[16]
• Shrine of the Scorched Soul^[19]
• Shrine of the Severed Spine^[13]
• Shrine of the Sublime Murder^[14]
• Shrine Unmade^[19]

Klaivexes

Klaivex of the Ynnari^[17]

The leaders of the Incubi are known as Klaivexes due to their unparalleled skill with the klaive. Each shrine has a different ritual for how a Klaivex is chosen, but all revolve around displaying absolute mastery of the ritual weapon. In the Shrine of Naked Hatred, those who would become leader must first disable an incumbent Klaivex in single combat. They must then show their skill by flaying the defeated in but four strokes of the blade – if they fail, they themselves are skinned with their klaive.^[9]

Equipment

Weaponry

Incubi are trained in the use of many different weapons unique to their warrior sect:

• Though they train in every form of blade, they favour great powered swords they call klaives. A klaive is a masterpiece of balance and form; the Incubi consider them to be the one true weapon.

• Their Klaivex war-leaders sometimes favour variants such as the versatile demi-klaives, which can be wielded either separately to increase the amount of strikes the user can make, or clasped together to form a much larger blade, thus increasing the force of the blows.

• Bloodstones, forged from the broken soulstone of an Eldar Exarch, are rare and exotic weapons which can boil the enemy's blood with a pulse of energy.

• The Punisher, a two-handed power weapon resembling a halberd, manufactured in such a way as to assist the wielder when swinging, effectively increasing the strength of their attacks.

A Master Incubus

Armour

Another aspect of Incubi equipment that is fairly unique is their use of power armour like the Incubus Warsuit. This warsuit is used only by Incubi and not even Archons have access to this kind of armoury. The warsuit is as tough as power armour and so perfectly designed it barely inhibits dexterity at all.

Notable Incubi

• Dark Father — The leader of the Incubi
• Drazhar, known as the Master of Blades, is the champion of his order. Drazhar is positioned as an Executioner and is probably the deadliest mortal in the galaxy... if he is mortal at all.
• The Visarch for a time served as an infamous Incubus in the Shrine of the Coiled Blade known as the Scarlet Incubi.^[11b]
• Morr — A loyal Incubus in the service of the Kabal of the Realm Eternal^[5]
• Bechareth — Former Incubus that was left behind during a skirmish with the forces of Craftworld Alaitoc. He surrendered and was allowed to undertake the Path of the Warrior and became a part of the Deadly Shadow Striking Scorpion temple. Bechareth is a symbolic name, meaning "Spirit on the Wind", a term for those that died without a spirit stone to guard them.^[6]

Images

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  3rd edition Incubi

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  5th edition Incubi

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  8th edition Incubi^[10]

Sources

• 1: Codex: Dark Eldar (3rd Edition), ^{[Needs Citation]}
• 2: Codex: Dark Eldar (5th Edition), pg. 31
• 3: Path of the Incubus (Novel), Cover illustration by Neil Roberts
• 4: Path of the Renegade (Novel), Chapter Five
• 5: Warhammer 40,000 6th Edition Rulebook, pg. 209
• 6: Dark Son (Short Story) — Path of the Eldar (Omnibus), pg. 765
• 7: Codex: Dark Eldar (7th Edition) pg. 20–21 — The Shrines of the Incubi
• 8: Gathering Storm: Fracture of Biel-Tan — Part 3
• 9: Codex: Drukhari (8th Edition), pg. 52
• 10: Warhammer Community The Klaivex Unleashed! - Posted 9/16/2019 (last accessed 19 September 2019)
• 11: Psychic Awakening: Phoenix Rising:
  • 11a: pg. 56
  • 11b: pg. 70
• 12: Warhammer Community: Pre Order Now: Legendary Aeldari Warriors (posted February 29 2020) (last accessed 3/7/2020)
• 13: Void Crossed (Short Story)
• 14: Codex: Drukhari (9th Edition), pg. 32
• 15: White Dwarf 85 (2015) — Parade Ground - Blade-Brethren of the Impaled
• 16: Lelith Hesperax: Queen of Knives (Novel), Chapter 6
• 17: Warhammer 40,000: The Ultimate Guide (E-Book), The Ynnari
• 18: Da Big Dakka (Novel), Prologue
• 19: Codex: Drukhari (10th Edition), pgs. 47-51