Changes

[[Image:HHKhan.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Young Jaghatai Khan{{Fn|14c}}]]

===Youth===

To the west of the Palatine's empire was the Empty Quarter, a barren grassland with little resources, and as such was never invaded. It was home to wandering tribes of vicious horsemen who fought each other for their ancestral lands. The Palatine would sometimes lead forces in to capture slaves or merely to hunt the tribesmen for fun. Khan's legacy began here. He was found by Ong Khan, leader of a small tribe, who saw the Primarch as a gift from the gods. It is said he had a fire in his eyes, the sign of a great warrior. He was hated by the other tribes because of his ability to see beyond the constant warfare on the steppes.{{Fn|1}}

It is said the most influential moment in his life was the slaying of his father by the rival Kurayed tribe. Khan, even as a young child, was the greatest warrior of the tribe and gathered troops to avenge the death of his father. They moved on the Kurayed tribe and razed it to the ground, killing every man, woman and child in a killing frenzy. Khan took the head of the enemy tribe leader and mounted it on his tent. This is what shaped him into a man of fierce honour, loyalty and ruthlessness. From then on he swore to end the fighting, unite all the people of the steppes and bring an end to brother fighting brother. He fought hundreds of battles against other tribes and defeated hunting packs sent by Palatine. Each tribe they conquered was absorbed into the Talaskars and he made military service mandatory while splitting tribes up and merging them with others to remove tribal differences. His warriors were fiercely loyal to him and he promoted from the ranks based on merit and ability. Ten summers later as the tribe moved to their winter settlements, the Primarch was travelling on a mountainside with a group of his followers. A vast avalanche pushed him and his group back down the mountain, killing the normal men. Jaghatai survived, but could not get back up the mountain in time before the tribe moved on. Khan was caught by one of the Palatine's hunting band. All that returned of that band was one mutilated rider with the head of the son of Palatine (who had accompanied the hunting band) and a note saying that the people of the steppes were not his toys any more.{{Fn|1}}

When the snows cleared, an enraged Palatine gathered a massive army and determined to march west to wipe the tribes from the face of the planet. He had however underestimated the power and ability of Khan and brought his usual highly disciplined army of heavily armoured warriors. This proved to be his downfall as they could not catch the lightly armoured tribesmen. The constant rain of arrows from the tribesmen took their toll on the tight ranks of warriors. Eventually the tribesmen defeated the army of Palatine, who escaped back to his capital with a select few bodyguards. The rest of the army was slaughtered, almost to the last man. After the battle, the tribal elders gathered and announced that Jaghatai Khan was now Great Khan of the whole land.{{Fn|1}} It was during this time that Jaghatai met comrades who would serve with him for centuries to come such as [[Qin Xa]], [[Hasik Noyan-Khan|Hasik]], and [[Targutai Yesugei]].{{Fn|4}}

===Horus Heresy===

====Choosing a Side====

Despite the fact that [[Horus]] felt that Khan was the most likely to join him over all remaining loyalist Primarchs, Jaghatai in fact never intended to switch allegiances and stayed true to his father. However he did receive conflicting [[Astropath]]ic message as to what had transpired in the [[Isstvan System]], and decided to initially hold back his forces under he could determine the true nature of things. When [[Rogal Dorn]] sent a plea for all remaining loyal Astartes forces to make their way to [[Terra]], Khan followed suit, reluctantly leaving the nearby [[Space Wolves]] to fend for themselves against the [[Alpha Legion]] while also ignoring calls by Horus to attack his brother [[Leman Russ (Primarch)|Leman Russ]]. The Khan most of all sought answers for what could have led to this bloodshed before he would take any side in the conflict.{{Fn|3}} However for a time the White Scars became [[Chondax Campaign|bogged down]] against [[Orks]] and [[Warp Storm]]s in the [[Chondax System]] as part of an elaborate trap by the Alpha Legion. Jaghatai eventually managed to break the Alpha Legion blockade and made his way to the source of all of these troubles to investigate it for himself: [[Prospero]].{{Fn|3}}