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==Overview==
[[image:Banshee Wargear.png|thumb|right|250px|Howling Banshee wargear.{{Fn|8}}]]
According to [[Eldar mythology]], banshees are the harbingers of woe and death whose cry, it is said, heralds ill fate, calling forth dead spirits from the [[Warp]] and forewarning certain death. A more sinister implication of the banshee's call is that it may even tempt spirits out from their [[Spirit Stone]] and thus lure them into the arms of [[Chaos]]. What is known is that the release of a spirit is accompanied by a shrieking call, one which is felt rather than heard, and that spirits have been known to disperse unexpectedly during the transference between spirit stones.{{Fn|1a}}{{Fn|2}} Legend says that the creation of the Aspect came when the Crone Goddess [[Morai-Heg]] desired the knowledge contained within her divine blood and thus sent her daughters to haunt their father, the war god [[Kaela Mensha Khaine]],{{Fn|Note 1}} as he was the only being capable of harming another god. Seeking to end his torment, he decided to grant Morai-Heg her wish and severed her hand which allowed her to drink the knowledge contained within. In exchange for his help, Khaine was granted the Howling Banshee Aspect and thus it came into being.{{Fn|4}} As such, it is only fitting that the Howling Banshees are perhaps the most feared of all of the Aspect Warriors.{{Fn|2}}
[[image:Wd127pg34-2.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Howling Banshee by [[Jes Goodwin]] (1990)]]
When [[Asurmen]] raised the first Aspect Warriors, he selected [[Jain Zar]] for her ferocity and speed, whereupon she became the first of the [[Phoenix Lords]]. Of all the Pheonix Lords she is the most devoted to her shrines, traveling the [[Webway]] to spread and nurture her teachings on all the large [[Craftworld]]s.{{Fn|1c}}
Unique to the Howling Banshees is the fact that they are almost always female,{{Fn|Note 2}} for the banshee of legend is itself a female spirit. Fast and athletic, Howling Banshee training emphasizes swiftness of foot and mobility in hand-to-hand combat. Their [[Aspect Armour]] is coloured bone-white contrasted with a flaming shock of orange hair, while their principle armament of [[Shuriken Pistol]] and [[Banshee Blade]] [[Power Weapon]] is a devastating combination in close combat. Their most notable weapon though is the [[Banshee Mask]], a powerful [[sonic weapon]] which uses a psychosonic amplifier to turn their battle cry into a howling shriek of psychic rage which attacks their enemies' central nervous system. An entire squad of Howling Banshees activating their masks all at once can cripple an entire enemy unit before a single blow is landed, leaving them paralyzed and helpless before their onslaught.{{Fn|1a}}{{Fn|3a}}
==Howling Banshee Exarch==
[[image:HowlingBanshee2e.png|thumb|right|200px|Howling Banshee Exarch.{{Fn|12}}]]
An [[Exarch]] is the leader of an Aspect Shrine. She is one that has traveled so far down the [[Path of the Warrior]] that she can no longer leave it and so dedicates herself fully as a high priest of Khaine. Exarchs wear more elaborate and ornate versions of Aspect armour which incorporate the spirits of past wearers, granting them not only wisdom and knowledge but a raw pool of psychic energy.
==Notable Howling Banshees Shrines==
[[Image:HBShrine.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Aspect shrine of the Howling Banshees{{Fn|10}}]]
*[[Bloody Shriek Shrine]]
*[[Crimson Scream Shrine]]
