Shâhka Bloodless
Shâhka Bloodless, or simply the Bloodless, was a World Eaters Warlord, whose Butcher's Nails had driven him insane.[1a]
Biography
Recruited at some point after the Ghenna Massacre, Shâhka trained on Bodt and rose to the Captain of the World Eaters 3rd Assault Company during the late Great Crusade. He took part in the Battle of Isstvan III and then the Shadow Crusade, during which he witnessed Angron's ascension to Daemonhood. Though initially proud of his Primarch, this moment also broke something within Shâhka, starting his descent into madness. This manifested both as growing blood-lust as well as regret over siding with the traitors. He eventually led his forces to take part in the Siege of Terra. On the eve of the invasion of Terra, Shâhka experienced his last moments of sanity, and tried to kill himself by cutting his throat. However, Chaos had corrupted him to such an extent that he was unable to die, and he joined the ground invasion as there was nothing else to do. After the defeat of the traitors, Shâhka fled to Conqueror and retreated into the Warp. He left the rest of the 3rd Company stranded on another ship, including Sergeant Solax, even as pursuing Imperials fell upon them.[1b][1c]
After the Heresy, Shâhka became a crazed Berzerker and Warp-twisted monstrosity with a fragmented personality that left him barely able to remember who he was. He would even sometimes change personalities and become a completely different person. Adding to Shâhka's madness was that no matter what wounds he inflicted on others their blood would never stain him. Instead it simply slid off, leaving Shâhka spotless. This even extended to wounds he suffered himself, which is how Shâhka earned the name Bloodless.[1a]
In M42, he joined his Warband with those of his fellow World Eaters warlords Goreth, Drak and Tōrn in order to conquer the Imperium Nihilus world Tourmalin. They largely succeeded in doing so and met together, with members of their Warbands in tow, within the captured command room of the Astra Militarum forces defending the world. There, they discussed what they should do next, as the world fell into their grasp. Goreth and Tōrn both wanted to delay their final attack on the defeated Imperials in order to spend time sacrificing the last of their captives to Khorne, while Drak vehemently argued for quickly finishing Tourmalin off so they could leave, as he eagerly sought to travel to nearby Kalkin's Tribune and join the numerous World Eaters forces that were answering the summons of the powerful Chaos Lord Kossolax. Drak had missed the Traitor Legion's attacks on Cadia and Agripinaa and did not wish to miss the next battle Kossolax would lead them in. Shâhka at that point was already suffering greatly due to his Butcher's Nails, but the pain increased upon hearing Kossolax's name. The Bloodless always sought to forget his past and avoided fighting besides any of the more well-known members of the Traitor Legions like Kossolax.[1a]
It was the entire reason he had joined with Goreth, Drak and Tōrn in the first place, as he felt they were ultimately nobodies. Shâhka was then struck by more pain from his Nails, which caused him to realize something about the three Warlords. While Drak did want to join Kossolax's summons, he did not want to risk weakening his warband by finishing off the Imperials on Tourmalin without Tōrn's aid. And as for Goreth, the Bloodless thought the Warlord was just a simpleton who was greatly favoured by the Chaos Gods. It was then that the three Warlords looked at Shâhka and Tōrn asked the Bloodless what they should do. By then, Shâhka had become enraged both by their arguing when they should be out fighting, and the pain inflicted upon him by his Butcher's Nails. This caused the Bloodless to immediately think of killing them all and moments later his Butcher's Nails struck and he lost consciousness. When Shâhka next awoke, the twenty World Eaters who had been in the room with him had been butchered and their bodies were left scattered everywhere. Their deaths had completely covered the room in blood, but once more Shâhka lived up to his name, as he was left pristine amid the carnage he had wrought.[1a]
It was then that the Bloodless saw a hallucination of the Daemon Primarch Angron which he dubbed his "Angel", who told Shâhka to follow him.[1a] The deranged warlord did so and the journey took Shâhka and his forces[1c] to Kalkin's Tribune, where a massed gathering of World Eaters awaited. However it was not Kossolax, but Angron himself the Traitor Legion waited to serve, as the Daemon Primarch had just returned to Realspace from the Warp.[1b] Shâhka and his Warband entered[1c] the World Eaters' flagship, the Conqueror, along with thousands of other members of the Traitor Legion who hoped to meet with Angron. The Daemon Primarch would not do so, however, and instead Kossolax told the World Eaters that they were being gathered to take part in an attack, that Angron would lead. However the Conqueror was entering the Warp soon and so they would have no time to return to their own warships for the journey.[1b] So the Bloodless and his Warband stayed on the Conqueror as it journeyed to the Imperial world Malakbael.[1c]
While in the Warp, the Conqueror was assailed by Daemons of Slaanesh after a Gellar Field failure. During the mayhem, Shâhka reunited with Kossolax and the two engaged in a fierce battle that was only interrupted by a Keeper of Secrets. Shâhka managed to defeat the creature and gained some memory of his former self.[1d] Shâhka next took part in the assault on Hyades, inflicting massive butchery in Angron's horde. He managed to fight his way to the heart of the Imperial defences and witness the Grey Knights' trap take effect. A captured corrupted Astropath was used as a psychic bomb, swathing the world in the Emperor's holy light. As it swept over Shâhka, he was briefly cleansed of his corruption and madness. Realizing his mistakes and Angron's uncaring nature even as his body died, Shâhka happily said "Forgive" and gave the sign of the aquila before exploding into red mist.[1e]
