Kol Rakhul
Kol Rakhul, also known as the Death of Saints, was a Chaos Lord of the Night Lords Traitor Legion.[1] He was the nemesis of the Order of the Argent Shroud and the biological twin brother of the Imperial Saint Athenasia.[2a]
Contents
History
Origin
Kol Rakhul was born a mortal human, the twin brother of the girl who would become Saint Athenasia. The two were described as "two halves of a divided soul"; where Athenasia was filled with holy light, Rakhul was born with a "hollow space" inside him that festered with darkness.[2a]
Raised in an orphanarium, the young Rakhul was tormented by voices and violent urges, possessing a deep-seated hatred for all living things except his sister. When he was approximately fourteen years old, a warband of Night Lords raided their facility; amidst the chaos, Rakhul gave in to his corruption and brutally murdered the abusive Matriarch Savra with a knife. This act of violence drew the attention of the Night Lord Legionnaire Merthok, who saw the potential in the boy's hatred and offered him a choice: death, or rebirth as an Astartes. Rakhul chose the latter, believing it would free him from fear.[2b]
The Long War
As an Heretic Astartes, Rakhul spent centuries waging the Long War against the Imperium, pursuing a personal vendetta against the Adepta Sororitas, specifically the Order of the Argent Shroud, earning the moniker "The Death of Saints."[2a]
His hatred was fueled by his past connection to his sister, as during their mortal lives, Athenasia had dedicated herself to destroying him. In a legendary confrontation, she blinded one of Rakhul's eyes, a wound that never stopped bleeding. Although Rakhul eventually defeated her and took her head with his axe, the "Emperor's Light" flowed through the dying saint, forcing Rakhul back and denying him his prize at the moment of her death. To compensate for this perceived theft, he spent the following centuries hunting holy figures, collecting the heads of saints and Battle Sisters to mount on his armour's trophy rack.[2a]
Invasion of Ophelia VII
In M42, Rakhul led his warband to the Cardinal World of Ophelia VII during the Triumph of Saint Athenasia, a massive religious procession parading his sister's skull in a reliquary. Rakhul’s primary objective was the retrieval of this skull, which he viewed as the return of his other half. This fixation caused animosity within his own ranks, as his warriors grew concerned by the warlord's obsession over the relic.[2a]
During the initial stages of the invasion, Rakhul’s fleet ambushed and destroyed the Battle Cruiser Lux Dominus in orbit, forcing the Abbess Sanctorum Morvenn Vahl, who was traveling aboard, to evacuate via drop pod.[2d] On the planet's surface, Rakhul personally sought out high-ranking targets, engaging and killing the Living Saint Hestia during the procession; he subsequently added her head to the center of his trophy rack.[2c] Rakhul eventually breached the defensive lines at Caelestis, seizing the reliquary containing Athenasia's skull. Upon returning to his camp, he mounted the artifact on the central spike of his armour, declaring his sister "returned" to him.[2f]
Throughout the campaign, he took a twisted interest in a captured Penitent slave named Lethe Fulmens, who had murdered her overseer during the chaos. Impressed by her hatred, he appointed her his "Herald of Slaughter."[2f]
Death
Rakhul’s reign of terror ended at the steps of the Convent Sanctorum on Ophelia VII, where he was intercepted by Vahl as he led the final assault.[2i] In single combat, Rakhul tore hydraulic cables from Vahl's warsuit and caved in its chestplate with his axe.[2i] However, Vahl grappled him and discharged a missile at point-blank range. The explosion obliterated Rakhul’s breastplate, severed his arm, and blinded his remaining good eye.[2i] Maimed and dying, Rakhul attempted to crawl toward his Herald, Lethe, ordering her to detonate explosives that would destroy the convent—and them along with it—but she refused him, choosing to live instead.[2i] Denied his final act of spite, Rakhul asked Vahl if his sister forgave him. She replied that there was no forgiveness for him and executed him with the Lance of Illumination.[2i]
His severed head was later presented by Vahl to the High Lords of Terra as proof of the threat the system had faced.[2j]
Wargear
He wore an helmet crested with monstrous, bat-like wings on top of an iridescent midnight-blue Power Armour trimmed in bronze. His most distinctive feature was a massive, spiked trophy rack mounted on his shoulders, adorned with the rotting heads and skulls of the saints and Sisters he had slain.[2c]
- The Headsman's Axe: A massive power axe wielded in his right hand.[2c]
- Lightning Claw: A claw wielded on his left hand, capable of catching power blades.[2c]
Sources
- 1: Warhammer Community: The Black Library Preview Online 2023 (Posted on 09/12/2023)
- 2: Morvenn Vahl: Spear of Faith (Novel)
