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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
→Operatives
The Culexus Assassins are the most sinister, feared, and hated of all [[Imperial]] Assassins. They are [[blank|null-entities]] in the [[warp]], and their unnatural lack of a presence inspiring a sense of unease even in non-psykers. To [[psyker]]s their mere presence is terrifying, invoking panic. In the confusion caused by this fear, the assassin can move in on its target and eliminate them. To purely psychic entities like [[daemon]]s, they are invisible.{{Fn|2c}}
The Culexus Assassins possess the "[[Pariah]] Gene", making them for all intents, essentially "soulless," accounting for their lack of warp-presence. This gene manifests itself very rarely, in a single individual among a billion, or more. This extreme rarity, coupled with the inevitable losses during training, makes the Culexus assassins the rarest of all Imperial assassins.{{Fn|1}} The Culexus temple is known to hunt down and recruit these [[Pariah]]s but also to vat-grow them. Due to the nature of being parentless, combined with the pariah gene making them seem soulless, these Culexus struggle with social interaction. Whilst able to mimic predictive [[human]] behaviour of a character they are playing as part of a mission, they may not actually feel emotions.{{Fn|3}}
The location of the Culexus temple is a closely guarded secret, said to be located on a planet which orbits no sun, and which is beyond the reach of the [[Astronomican]].{{Fn|2a}} The [[Eldar]], whose leaders are usually psychics, fear the Culexus greatly. [[Farseer]] [[Alladrios Kulcassian]] of [[Craftworld]] [[Alaitoc]] coordinated a centuries-long effort to locate and destroy this temple. Somehow he discovered the location and dispatched the ''[[Legacy of Eldanesh]]'', a [[Shadow]]-class [[cruiser]]. However, using his precognitive powers, he discovered to his amazement that the temple's destruction would lead to the Annihilation of Alaitoc. Choosing the lesser of two evils, he re-called the cruiser home.{{Fn|1}}