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Post by Moderator on Aug 9, 2008 16:08:28 GMT -5
THE TEMPLE OF KAELA MENSHA KHAINE In ancient times of Naggaroth it was the Cult of Pleasure and reverence to the Chaos God Slaanesh which was the be all and end all of Druchii society. But with the influence of the Dru Perim finished, though their titles exist only as ceremonial tradition, the worship of Khaine has thrived, in no small part due to the powerful Tulluch. In a bloody coup the fanatics of Khaine, known as the Kryrnaa (today an order of assassins), wrestled control from the Slaanesh-dominated Dru Perim to the Temple of Khaine. Malekith did not interfere because he did not want to see Naggaroth torn apart in a civil war; better for the factions to fight it out than cause the destruction of the Dark Elf race (he was also quite glad to see their power reduced.) Khaine is worshipped by the Elves of Ulthuan, but only as a way of harnessing their violent nature, before a battle for example. But for the Druchii, Khaine is everything and it is the way they live their lives. Where the citizens of the Empire live as dictated by the diocese of Sigmar, the Druchii are the same with the scriptures of Khaine. Indeed, one of the scriptures dictates that one slave in ten brought to Naggaroth must be sacrificed to the Temple of Khaine, where their chests are opened with knives purified with dark venom, by the Tulluch. Each of the six cities of Naggaroth has a temple of Khaine, each one headed by a Hag Queen and assisted by the Tulluch and Kryrnaa. In a temple of Khaine the Tulluch and Kryrnaa perfect the arts of death. When not preparing for battle, the Tulluch wear plain robes and torture their captives. On the eve of battle, or when there is to be a sacrifice, the Tulluch cast off their robes to reveal their athletic, lithe and beautiful figures. The blood of those tortured is ritually sprinkled on their bodies, then a sacrifice may take place. Before a major battle one of the Cauldrons of Blood is taken from the temple of Khaine at Ghrond where the blood of those sacrificed is poured into it. Then the Witch Elves, in turn, bathe in it believing that Khaine will look upon them and bless them. A temple of Khaine, like in all the cities of Naggaroth, attracts those evil creatures called harpies who roost in the highest towers and spires of the building. They are seen as the creatures of Khaine and a blessing, some even see them as the souls of slain Witch Elves given form.
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Post by Moderator on Aug 9, 2008 23:28:22 GMT -5
The Druchii primarily worship the Elven god Kaela Mensha Khaine, the Bloody-Handed God and Thousand Faced Lord of Murder. While their kindred, the High Elves of Ulthuan, only invoke this wrathful god in times of war, the Dark Elves are wholly devoted to him. Each city has temples and shrines devoted to Khaine where blood sacrifices are made. Dark Elves are required to donate a percentages of the slaves they capture on raids to the temple but most Dark Elves make several additional sacrifices a year.
The most savage sect of Khaine worshippers are known as the Brides of Khaine, more commonly called Witch Elves (or Maibd in the Dark Elf language). They are an all-female cult of warrior priestesses. Witch Elves consider the battlefield to be a holy place and are suicidally fanatical in proving their worth to Khaine by spilling the blood of their enemies. The cult is lead by high priestesess called hags, who bathe in blood to retain eternal youth. Morathi founded the cult of Khaine, yet it is currently led by Crone Hellebron, eldest of the hags.
The holiest time of the year for Dark Elves is Death Night. During this night the Witch Elves rule the streets of the Dark Elf cities, capturing anyone they find (whether they are slaves or Dark Elves) and dragging them back to the temples as sacrifice to Khaine. The Witch Elves will even go so far as to break into houses, which has led to Dark Elf families barricading windows and doors during this night. On Death Night the Witch Elves will also steal away a number of children. Girls captured like this will be trained to become Witch Elves. Boys are tossed in a cauldron of boiling blood. Those that survive are trained to be true adepts of Khaine: the feared assassins. As dawn breaks after Death Night it is customary for those who lived through the night to make a sacrifice from their own houshold (usually a favoured slave or elderly relative) as a thanks to the Lord of Murder for sparing their family.
Besides the worship of Khaine, a sizeable portion of the population has also secretly kept alive worship of the Chaos God of Pleasure, Slaanesh. The Cult of Pleasure, led by Morathi, played a major role in the Sundering of the Elves of Ulthuan, but was considered heretical after the founding of Naggaroth and was suppressed as the worship of Khaine became prevalent. Centuries passed, and the Cult grew stronger in the shadows and secret places of the six cities. The Convents of the Sorceresses, also headed by Morathi, are implied to be power bases for the Cult (this is why there is a sect enmity between the Convents and the Cult of Khaine). As the Storm of Chaos engulfed the old world, the Cult rose to prominence once more when Morathi and her sorceresses recruited warbands of Hung tribesmen (human followers of Chaos) to the Cult, and marched them through Naggaroth. In response to this, underground members of the Cult openly joined Morathi's growing war host. Using her supernatural beauty and powerful magic she turned the Cult and its allies into her own private army and invaded the lands of Lustria to the far south.
Though they were repulsed, the Cult of Pleasure returned to Naggaroth in strength and openly displayed their status as devotees of Slaanesh. Because of this, and with the armies of Malekith attacking far-off Ulthuan, Naggaroth currently stands on the brink of civil war.
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Post by Moderator on Aug 10, 2008 0:02:20 GMT -5
The Harvest of Souls:
One of the most popular times of year is the Harvest of Souls. Each noble family must try to outdo each other in the number of slaves they sacrifice to Khaine (a Dark Elf family may own from one hundred to as many as a thousand slaves.) The more slaves a family sacrifices the less chance that they will feel the knife of the Witch Elves' blade on Death Night (see below.) Once the slaves have been sacrificed, excited Dark Elf children wait at the doors of the Temple of Khaine for the priestess to hand them the severed heads of those sacrificed. The children would then race each other to the spikes that dot the city walls where they would plant their gruesome trophies. Inside the temple the victims are disembowelled and their entrails and hearts placed on sacrificial pyres. The Witch Elves then remove the skin of the victims and sow it together to make one large sheet. A family's status could then be measured by the size of these macabre decorations as they are draped along the city walls.
Death Night:
One of the nights when the Witch Elves (Druchii: Tulluch) are unleashed upon the citizens of the cities of Naggaroth. Be they a highborn noble or a child, no one is safe on the streets when it is Death Night because on this night everyone is equal just as death can come to anyone be he noble or beggar. When Death Night comes all the citizens of a city bar themselves in their homes for ten nights (the duration of Death Night). However, the Witch Elves do break into the houses and drag away their victims to the temple of Khaine where they are ritually sacrificed to the Bloody-Handed God. Newborn babies, however, are offered to the Lord of Murder in the Cauldron of Blood. Most perish this ordeal but those who survive are taken by the temples where they are inducted as assassins. The morning after Death Night, the survivors celebrate their escape by sacrificing one of their own household to Khaine - usually a slave or an elderly relative - as thanks for sparing their lives and those of their children.
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Post by Moderator on Aug 12, 2008 17:09:07 GMT -5
thanks go out to Alluvian Est-Endrati at only-war.com, truely a loremaster for compiling a huge amount of lore.www.only-war.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15731Khaine, the very mention of the name of this god brings forth terribly images. Though he is revered by a few cultists in some parts of the Old World, it is among the High Elves and especially the Dark Elves that the worship for Khaine reaches its peak. While the Asur do revere Khaine as their god of war and battle, they are also wary of falling too deeply into the throes of his worship, lest they become even more like their estranged kindred in Naggaroth. The greatest glories to Khaine are those given unto him by the Dark Elves, for nearly entirely as a culture they all revere this dark god and all he symbolizes. Khaela Mensha Khaine, as his full name is given, is a brutal and a vengeful god; a demander of continual sacrifices and bloodshed in his name. His lust for battle and death rivals even that of Khorne; the hedonistic nature of Khaine and his cultists, including their wanton infliction of pain and suffering upon all their victims, has been known to put even some Slaaneshi to shame. Among the Dark Elves of Naggaroth certain select women are chosen each year to be initiated into the cult of Khaine. Each city has at least one great temple devoted to Khaine, where countless brutal acts of murder and torture are undertaken hourly. In these temples the young initiated are baptized in unthinkable horrors, for though outsiders know little of what occurs within the walls of the temples ones imagination and the horrors it can conjure shall have to suffice; yet I fear the truth is indeed far worse that anything conceived even by my most hideous nightmares. The most savage and the most powerful members of the Cult of Khaine are the Brides of Khaine; more commonly known as Witch Elves. These all-female priestesses are exemplary warriors, shunning armor in favor of great mobility and lethal effectiveness with their weapons. Their savage nature rivals that of their god and the horrors their kind have inflicted upon others is legendary. This cult of warrior priestesses is lead by a select coven of high priestesses called Hags, powerful dark sorcerers blessed with great magical ability by Khaine himself. A great many of these Hags are ancient beings, many thousands of years old; but they retain their beauty and their deadly power through ritual bathing in blood, an act which ever closer ties them to their dark god. The Cult of Khaine is disrupted in its leadership, with both the Queen Mother Morathi and Crone Hellebron claiming sole power. It is only through the will of the Witch King that these two have been kept in check, lest the Cult of Khaine fracture itself and spark a new civil war. Due to the worship of Khaine being so ingrained into every aspect of Dark Elf society, it is thus no mistake that the Holy Days of the Cult are widely celebrated throughout their lands. One of these times is known as Death Night, a period when Witch Elves turn to the streets of their own cities for the collection of sacrifices to Khaine. No Dark Elf is immune and the Witch Elves have been known to even break into their homes; for none are safe from the slaughter when the Blood God demands his due. As may be expected, the Cult of Khaine does not limit its atrocities to their own people. When the Dark Elves march to war, often they are accompanied by the Brides of Khaine or, on rare occasions, by one of the Hags; to oversee the fighting and to take ample sacrifices from the enemy as offerings to their god. Even to the shores of the Old World have these horrors come, most often to the coastal regions of countries such as Bretonnia and other western nations of the Old World. In recent years there has been increased tension, not just within the leadership of the Temple of Khaine, but also among the whole of Dark Elf society. The worship of Slaanesh has also been a long standing religion and aspect of Dark Elf society and the Cult of Khaine has gone to great lengths to root out and destroy these 'traitors'. Khaine, like the chaos gods, is jealous of hi possessions and will broker no peace with anyone who would deny him his due. The symbol of Khaine has always been a difficult topic to discuss. Many times it has been seen and described and it seems that the symbol of Khaine bears great resemblance to that of another power; being much alike to the symbol of Khorne. This fact has lead many scholars to believe that Khaine may simply be an aspect of Khorne, a topic which doubtless any Dark Elf, most especially the devotees of Khaine, would care to hear. Regardless of what the truth may be on the matter, the Cult of Khaine is a deadly one whether its members be Elven or Human.
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