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"The blade that I wield is an extension of my self, as I am an extension of my blade. We both thirst for blood. We both seek only murder. Only in death do we find purpose in life."

— Klaivex Khyrassos, the Brotherhood of the Void
Kabalite Warriors battle

A Drukhari Kabalite Warrior slaughtering Orks.

A Kabalite Warrior is the basic infantry unit of the Drukhari Kabals, and form the primary component of Kabal strike forces during raids into realspace.

Utilising a wide array of exotic and fiendish weapons, these martially-gifted Drukhari are fierce warriors, tall and athletically built, more powerful in stature than the average city-bound citizen of Commorragh.

Role[]

The warriors of the Drukhari Kabals lie at the heart of every Drukhari strike force, pirate fleet and slave raider assault. They are the cruelest members of their caste, hungry for power over their fellows and thirsty to taste the suffering of others.

Each warrior will have forged a fearsome reputation for himself in the war-torn halls of High Commorragh, and has proven himself in multiple battles to be a merciless combatant. The more vicious and ruthless a warrior is, the better his chances for advancement within the Kabal.

Only a born killer can thrive within the backstabbing halls of the Dark City and only a chosen few of true skill and utter cruelty are selected by the Kabal leadership to enjoy the thrill and privilege of striking at the worlds of realspace and returning with living souls, the screaming booty that every Kabal requires for its survival.

Only the most skilled at arms among the Drukhari of each of the Dark City's sectors are selected to serve as Kabalite Warriors. Whether male or female in gender, Drukhari Kabalite Warriors are tall, whipcord thin and athletically built, more powerful in body and violent in temperament than those of their brethren who remain behind in the Webway.

When they go to war, each warrior encases him or herself in a sophisticated bodysuit of segmented, powered Aeldari armour, similar to the suits worn by the Craftworld Aeldari.

These suits are donned during long, and usually painful pre-combat rituals, the better to ensure the warrior's psyche has been honed to a single point of murderous intent, somewhat like those Aeldari Aspect Warriors who "put on their war mask" when they go to battle, though Kabalite Warriors express only the darkest and most violent extremes of Khaine's battle-madness.

Much of the armour is held in place using long metal barbs that penetrate deep into the warrior's nerve bundles, sharpening his senses by subjecting him to constant pain.

Great Kabals Symbols

Symbols of the Great Kabals.

It is pain that energises the Kabalite Warriors and it is pain they hope to inflict upon their prey -- and the more merciless and agonising, the better. To this end, Kabalite Warriors make use of a wide-array of particularly devious and deadly weapons.

Foremost amongst these is the dread Splinter Rifle, which is a long-barelled and elegantly-shaped kinetic weapon that fires a stream of jagged crystalline slivers, much like the Craftworld Aeldari's Shuriken Weapons.

However, each needle-like shard is impregnated with a wide spectrum of potential hypertoxins. A Splinter Rifle can slay its target over several extremely excruciating moments as the toxin does its work, allowing the jubilant wielder of the rifle to savour their victim's agonising death as a gourmand might savour a fine meal.

Though the distilled poisons of a Splinter Weapon can kill even the monstrous, biologically-engineered living weapons of the Tyranids, it is of little use against heavily armoured enemy vehicles.

A squad of Kabalite Warriors will usually carry a far more destructive weapon for this purpose -- the Blaster is a particular favorite, for it can destroy even a Space Marine Land Raider with only a single shot. All Kabalite Warriors are also experts in close combat-fighting, though few have the political pull needed to ensure that they can claim regeneration in the lairs of the Haemonculi.

As such, Kabalite Warriors often employ heavy ranged weaponry to avoid the severe injuries melee combat can bring. The sightlinks built into their Splinter Cannons and Dark Lances not only improve accuracy but also allow the wielder to watch his victim's agony as each weapon blast penetrates flesh and bone.

The more imaginative warriors use mnemonic scopes to record such events, replaying the hologhosts created upon their return and basking in the envy of their fellows at their skill and foresight.

Sybarite[]

Sybarite

A Drukhari Sybarite.

Each squad of Kabalite Warriors is led by an officer called a "sybarite," typically the most veteran and experienced among their number.

Sybarites are not only veteran raiders of realspace, but also the Kabalites who have the honour and duty of initiating each new warrior into the always-brutal mysteries of their Kabal.

While certainly no sybarite, or any Drukhari for that matter, can claim the loyalty of their underlings, the sybarites are obeyed for the simple reason that they are the masters of the craft of war and their orders when followed are more likely to lead to success in the raid...and survival.

Kabalite Trueborns and Halfborns[]

OW EOI Kabalite Trueborn

A Trueborn Kabalite Warrior

Naturally-born Drukhari are rare, due to the long gestation period of the Aeldari infant. The ones that are naturally birthed from their mothers' wombs, known as "Trueborns," are often very privileged in Drukhari society because of the circumstances of their birth.

As such, they are arrogant and see themselves as far better than the majority of Drukhari, who are born in amniotic gestation tubes and whom the Trueborn derisively call the "Halfborn."

Due to this prejudice, the Trueborn often gather only in squads of other Trueborn within the Drukhari Kabals, and serve as the elite Kabalite Warriors that escort their Kabal's ruling archon into battle and serve as their most elite unit of warriors.

Trueborns usually sport many more advanced weapons than their fellow warriors, such as the Shard Carbine, a Drukhari weapon design that hybridises the Splinter Rifle and a Splinter Cannon and possesses a shorter range than either. Trueborn also often make use of Dark Lances and Splinter Cannons as well as Blasters and Shredders.

The Trueborn are an elite group that excludes any "Halfborn" Drukhari birthed in an amniotic tube from their company. Led by an officer called a "dracon," these hardened killers carry a wide assortment of expensive and deadly weapons wherever they go, supposedly to better protect the life of their Archon but in truth only to better inflict more pain and death.

Trueborn delight in dramatic displays of firepower, sending powerful fusillades into the enemy's ranks and leaving bodies and the broken carcasses of armoured vehicles in their wake.

Wargear[]

  • Splinter Rifle
  • Shredder (Optional)
  • Blaster (Optional)
  • Splinter Cannon (Optional, 1 for every 10 warriors in a squad)
  • Dark Lance (Optional, 1 for every 10 warriors in a squad)
  • Phantasm Grenade Launcher (Sybarite only)
  • Splinter Pistol and Dark Eldar Close Combat Weapon (Any type, Sybarite only; replacement for Splinter Rifle)
  • Blast Pistol (Sybarite only; replacement for Splinter Pistol)
  • Venom Blade (Sybarite only; replacement for Close Combat Weapon)
  • Monomolecular Blade (Sybarite only; replacement for Close Combat Weapon)
  • Power Weapon (Sybarite only; replacement for Close Combat Weapon)
  • Agoniser (Sybarite only; replacement for Close Combat Weapon)
  • Raider (dedicated transport for squad)
  • Venom (dedicated transport for squad)

Sources[]

  • Codex: Dark Eldar (7th Edition) (Digital Edition), pp. 23-40, 90-91, 158-160
  • Codex: Dark Eldar (5th Edition), pp. 5, 26, 62, 89
  • Codex: Dark Eldar (3rd Edition), pg. 10

Gallery[]

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