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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
deleting morai heg and banshee lore as it belongs on appropriate pages
|Combat Speciality=Swift melee fighters
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[[Image:HowlingBansheeColor.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Howling Banshee]]
'''Howling Banshees''' are one of the types of [[Eldar]] [[Aspect Warrior]] who represent a facet of the war god [[Kaela Mensha Khaine]], in their case the fury of the Murder God as well as the cunning of his daughters with [[Morai-Heg]], the [[Banshee]]s.{{Fn|7}} These lightly-equipped warriors are fearsome close combat specialists who draw their inspiration from the unearthly creature with which they share a name. What they may lack in brute strength they more than make up for in precision and efficiency, and their piercing warcry has signaled the doom of countless foes.{{Fn|1a}}{{Fn|2}}{{Fn|3a}}
==Overview==
[[Imageimage:HowlingBansheeColorWd127pg34-2.jpg|thumb|right|250px200px|Howling Bansheeby [[Jes Goodwin]][[Image:Banshee Wargear.png|thumb|right|250px|Howling Banshee wargear.(1990){{Fn|814}}]]According to [[Eldar mythology]], banshees [[Banshee]]s 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 Unique to the creation of Howling Banshees is 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]]fact that they are almost always female,{{Fn|Note 12}} as he was for the only being capable banshee 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 legend is only fitting that the Howling Banshees are perhaps the most feared of all of the Aspect Warriorsitself a female spirit.{{Fn|21a}}[[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}}
==Wargear==[[Image:Banshee Wargear.png|thumb|right|200px|Howling Banshee operate wargear.{{Fn|8}}]]Fast and athletic, Howling Banshees are the most lightly equipped aspect{{Fn|14}} training emphasizes swiftness of foot and mobility in squads hand-to-hand combat. Their [[Aspect Armour]] is coloured bone-white contrasted with a flaming shock of five to ten warriorsorange hair, including sometimes an while their principle armament of [[Shuriken Pistol]] and [[Banshee Blade]] [[ExarchPower Weapon]] to lead themis a devastating combination in close combat. While fleet of foot on their ownTheir most notable weapon though is the [[Banshee Mask]], these squads may also take advantage of a powerful [[Wave Serpentsonic weapon]] transportswhich 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==
*[[Woven Storm Shrine]]
===Notable Howling Banshees===
*[[Kalistri (Exarch)|Kalistri]], [[Exarch]]
*[[Mieqo]], [[Exarch]]
*{{Endn|12}}: [[Codex Imperialis (Background Book)]], pg. 70
*{{Endn|13}}: [[Champions of Fenris - A Codex: Space Wolves Supplement]] - ''Vengeance for Gnosis''
*{{Endn|14}}: [[White Dwarf 127 (UK)]], pg. 34
{{EldarUnits}}
