The Yncarne

This article is about the Incarnation of Ynnead. For other uses of Avatar, see Avatar (disambiguation).

The Yncarne is an Avatar of the newly awakened Eldar God Ynnead.^[1b] The triumvirate of the Ynnari is made up of Yvraine, the Visarch, and the Yncarne.

Overview

The Yncarne^[1a]

The Yncarne embodies the greatest hopes and fears of the Eldar. Eldar myth foretell that Ynnead will one day bring doom to Slaanesh, but only when every Eldar has perished. Such a pyrrhic victory would come at a huge cost.^[6]

The newly manifested embodiment of the God of the Dead is singular, unlike the hundreds of fragments of Khaine's Avatars. A valid comparison, but flawed. Where Khaine is a fallen god, Ynnead's power only grows with each new death, and the Yncarne is only a fragment of a god yet to fully manifest.^[7] Where the Avatar of Kaela Mensha is a being of fire, iron, blood and fury, the Ycarne is a shuddering chill that both invigorates and shocks, like a deluge of ice water, inspiring icy determination.^[1g]

The terrifying and unsettling physical form of the Yncarne blends elements of male and female, light and dark, hope and despair, and mortal and daemonic, representing the delicate balance of life and death entwined.^[6] Death takes all in the end, regardless of age, gender, or status. This chimeric form is a direct result of the fracture of Biel-Tan due to the immense psychic trauma caused by the daemonic invasion during the ritual. Some of the detractors against the Ynnari have speculated that her form was polluted by her nemesis, She Who Thirsts, noting the comparative similarities between the features of Slaaneshi daemons such as the strange androgyny and horns. Such opinions voiced within earshot of a Ynnari would spark an immediate honour duel to the death to settle the matter, reminiscent the Saim-Hann tribal practices.^[7]

When not at war, the Yncarne will fold itself between dimensions, haunting the periphery of vision in the veil between realspace and the warp. Only excessive deathly energies can call it back, bursting forth into the material realm with dramatic and shocking negative energies. With a hideous tearing sound that splits ears, the Ycarne's form will burst forth from blood-soaked ground in a raging ectoplasmic storm.^[7]

Birth of a God

Birth of the Yncarne and Fracture of Biel-Tan.

Yncarne was the first step to the Seventh Path, a method of awakening Ynnead without sacrificing the entire Eldar race. However, his birth required the sacrifice of many souls within Biel-Tan's Infinity Circuit. Nonetheless, the leader of the Ynnari, Yvraine, successfully undertook the ritual.^[1b] The Yncarne was able to save Biel-tan's remaining Infinity Circuit from The Masque. After its birth, Yncarne fought alongside the Ynnari on their quest for the Crone Swords.^[1c]

The prescient Eldrad Ulthran and the Seer Council of Ulthwé opened a sorcerous Warp Portal between Craftworld Biel-Tan and Ulthwé for the Ynnari to travel through. Lead by the Yncarne, the Ynnari floated through the maddening but serene channel that carried the devotees of the God of Death. So anathema was the energy the Ycarne was made of that denizens of the Warp couldn't look directly at nor perceive the avatar. It's mere presence translocating through the Warp caused Imperial vessels hundreds of light years to have their Gellar Fields ripped open and distort the light of the Astronomicon, indirectly killing thousands of humans every second it was in the warp.^[1f] Through the Ulthwéan seer's aid the Ynnari had crossed the span of the galaxy in a matter of hours.^[1g]

Known Activity

However, while on the way to Kalisus, the Ynnari were assailed by the Thousand Sons of Ahriman. Though successful in fighting off the Chaos Space Marines, the Yncarne went missing after the battle.^[1c]

Yncarne was later partially reappeared in spirit on Zaisuthra by the combined efforts of Yvraine and Iyanna, who used Yncarne to purge the lost Craftworld of Genestealer Cult infestation.^[4a] By sacrificing her life, Yvraine was able to fully summon Yncarne in the tomb of Eldanesh shortly during the Ynnari's battle with the Warshard. Yncarne was able to resurrect Yvraine and with his power the Ynnari were victorious over the Warshard.^[4b] He was also summoned by Yvraine during the battle against Daemons on Agarimethea.^[5]

Yncarne later reappeared defending Yvraine from Shalaxi Helbane during the Battle of Iathglas, summoned to the battlefield by the apparent death of The Visarch.^[3]

Powers

The Yncarne drifts towards its prey, accompanied by a psychic hurricane that drains life from its enemies. The Yncarne's mortal foes face inevitable doom, either turned to dust by its gaze or reduced to soulless husks. Those who escape these fates are cut down by the Yncarne's Crone Sword Vilith-zhars, a morphing blade. The Ynnari fighting alongside the Yncarne are empowered by its chilling presence, gaining a steely resolve.^[1d]