Lokhir Fellheart, the Dark Elf Kraken Lord of Karond Kar and commander of the Black Ark Tower of the Blessed Dread.
Lokhir Fellheart, the "Krakenlord," is a Dark Elf corsair of noble birth, hailing from the mighty house of Fellheart of Karond Kar. He comes from a long line of raiders and admirals. He is a relative of Laithkikir Fellheart, a raider and cartographer active around 1103 IC whose maps allowed other Dark Elves to raid the rich coasts of Ind and Cathay.[1a]
History[]
Lokhir Fellheart wearing the Helm of the Kraken, as rendered for Total War: Warhammer II.
Some Dark Elves take to the seas in search of plunder or revenge, but many more do so to escape the dangers of Naggaroth. Not so Lokhir Fellheart -- he was born to ply the rolling seas, to bring fire and terror to the shores of other lands. It was his great-great-grandfather, Menreith Fellheart, who first commanded the Black Ark Tower of Blessed Dread, and the doom-bringing flagship has answered to a Fellheart ever since. Lokhir is the latest in his line to rule over that great vessel of war and, by all accounts, the most daring.[1a]
Icon of the Blessed Dread, the Dark Elf army commanded by Lokhir Fellheart in Total War: Warhammer III.
Following his father's death at an Assassin's hand (which was surprisingly not a patricidal commission, the Fellhearts being one of the few Naggarothi families who hold blood to be thicker than water), Lokhir inherited command of both the Tower of Blessed Dread, and its mighty fleet. He acted quickly to ensure both the loyalty of his crew and the favour of Mathlann by sacrificing the chief troublemakers to the sea god's glory. That very night, with the decks of the Black Ark still slick with its first officer's blood, Lokhir led his new fleet out onto the open sea and a glorious future.[1a]
Lokhir Fellheart in combat with his fellow Dark Elves in Total War: Warhammer II.
Tales soon returned to Naggaroth of ports set ablaze, fleets scoured from the seas and whole cities put to the sword. The High Elf port of Tor Canabrae,[3a] whose Dragonships had long been the terror of Naggarothi Corsairs, fell in a single night once Lokhir Fellheart set his attention to it. Such deeds, and many more, earned Fellheart not only more glory than that of all his forebears combined, but also wealth beyond measure.
Lokhir Fellheart as rendered for Total War: Warhammer II.
Slaves and treasure flow into Karond Kar as never before, earning Fellheart the grudging respect, if not quite the loyalty, of the city's masters. The best plunder he keeps, but there is always plenty more for lavish rewards and bribes.[1a]Fellheart is much admired by his Corsairs, not just for his generosity, but also because he fights at the forefront of every battle -- a dangerous habit many Dark Elf admirals lose as soon as they can.
The burdens of command have done little to blunt Fellheart's swordplay, and he fights as naturally as he reads the oceanic temper, feinting towards one foe before changing direction mid-thrust to cut down another. Always aware that his crew's loyalty will last only as long as his reputation, Fellheart strives to slay enemy heroes and add their severed heads to the growing collection festooned about his command deck. He knows full well that every skull adds another tale to his legend and, more importantly, gives mutineers a compelling reason not to cross swords with him.[1a]
Tor Canabrae and Lustria (2387 IC)[]
Since his great-great-grandfather first fought in the Battle of the Waves, Lokhir's destiny has been set -- to rule the Tower of Blessed Dread and prove his worth on the dangerous oceans. When Lokhir first took command he led his followers in an attack on the High Elven port of Tor Canabrae in the kingdom of Eataine. In the deepest winter the Black Ark and its fleet crept out of Karond Kar, shrouded by blizzards and storms. Bringing snow and lightning with them, Lokhir's warriors descended upon the town and razed it to the ground as a message for the world that the Fellhearts had returned.
When Lokhir's fame from the Tor Canabrae raid began to dwindle, he set out southwards in search of treasure with which to decorate the Fellheart palaces. The Warlord bypassed the High Elven colony of Arnheim, leaving it for other, lesser raiders to despoil. Along the Vampire Coast he sailed, sinking ships crewed by the dead and fighting off boarding parties of rotted Zombies and animated Skeletons.
Lokhir's target was not the settlements of Pirate's Cove, nor the teeming temple-cities of the Lizardmen. He was intent upon the sunken city of Chupayotl in southern Lustria, the watery grave of the Old Ones' secrets. Lokhir led his fleet to the coast where the sunken city lay, and anchored his fleet above Chupayotl. With seven sorceresses hired from the Dark Convent, he cloaked his warriors with magic that allowed them to breath underwater.
Thus protected, Lokhir led the most daring raid ever on the drowned city of the ancients. In the submerged ruins of the city, the Dark Elves battled with aquatic beasts. Gigantic squids and immense manta rays assailed them, and they fought amongst the jagged ruins against the disconcerting aquatic descendants of the ancient rulers of the jungle. Against this adversity, Lokhir triumphed, returning to the surface with chests laden with gold, magical artefacts that would fetch a high price in Ghrond, and ancient stone plaques containing the secrets of the Old Ones. His place in history had been sealed.
Sea Lord Aislinn's Downfall []
The Black Ark Tower of Blessed Dread, flagship and mobile base of Lokhir Fellheart, as rendered for Total War: Warhammer II.
After several weeks shadowing the Black Ark Tower of Blessed Dread through the Sea of Serpents, Sea Lord Aislinn signalled his fleet to attack. Alas for the admiral, his trap was not all he thought. Though Aislinn's mages could conceal the High Elf vessels from sight, they could not mask the telltale ripples they caused in wind and wave -- to Lokhir Fellheart, they could scarcely have been more obvious had their ships been afire.
The Black Ark Tower of Blessed Dread, flagship and mobile base of Lokhir Fellheart, as rendered for Total War: Warhammer II.
So it was that as Aislinn's ships moved in for the kill, the great portal at the rear of the Black Ark burst into life. Sorcerous black fog flooded from its depths and slicked across the ocean, and with it came a dozen Doomreavers -- iron-sided war towers bound to the scaled backs of gigantic Helldrakes.
Cries of warning rang out across the approaching Hawkship, and the swift vessels scattered -- but Fellheart had timed his counterattack perfectly. The three hindmost Hawkships were smashed apart by a hail of bolt thrower fire, and the hull of a fourth was snapped like matchwood by a Helldrake's tail. With a thin smile, Fellheart ordered the Tower of Blessed Dread to come about and engage Aislinn's flagship -- the mighty Dragonship Kalendirian.
Lokhir Fellheart as rendered for Total War: Warhammer II.
Aislinn should perhaps have broken off his attack at that point, but pride goaded him on. Ordering the Eagleship Isha's Mercy to battle the Doomreavers, he set the Kalendirian upon a broad arc intended to cross the Black Ark's bows and then loop abaft. As the Dragonship cut effortlessly through the water, Aislinn watched as the enchanted bolts of his Eagle Claws rained down against towers and battlements, unseating stones and shattering fortifications. On the Tower of Blessed Dread, Fellheart laughed. Aislinn was a daring foe to bring his vessel in so close, but it would not save him.
Upon the highest point of the Black Ark's central tower, a coven of Morathi's most skilled sorceresses awaited Fellheart's command. For days they had planned this moment, offering countless slaves in blood sacrifice to ensure Hekarti's favour. At Fellheart's signal, they reached into the roiling Winds of Magic, conjured a bladed cloud of crystallised hate, and sent it against the Kalendirian. Across the water, the Dragonship's mages saw the sorcerous attack, almost as soon as it was launched, and wove their counterspells -- but not quickly enough. Whilst the Doomreavers duelled with the Aislinn's fleet, they had seeded Assassins amongst the flotsam.
Lokhir Fellheart as rendered for Total War: Warhammer II.
Many had perished in the chill of the seas, but others had survived long enough to latch onto the Kalendirian's hull as it surged past. Using scaling claws, they climbed the ship's alabaster flanks, vaulted its gunwales and fell about the mages with wicked determination. Too late, Aislinn saw the murder upon his decks -- even as he led warriors of the White Lion s and the Lothern Sea Guard against the Assassins, the last mage's words of power was stilled by the slash of a silent dagger. With a burst of light, the counterspell collapsed. Moments later, the cloud of blades engulfed the Dragonship and the decks ran red. Hundreds died as dark magic washed over the ship. Many Assassins died also, swept into oblivion's embrace with mad laughter upon their lips.
Aislinn, though cut and bloodied, had found shelter in the lee of the bridge, and he swore that the battle was not yet done -- he had many more soldiers safe on the lower decks, and the Kalendirian was still a formidable vessel of war. Then he looked up and saw that the Dragonship's sails were all but gone, torn apart by the dark magic that had engulfed his ship.
Lokir Fellheart is a scourge of the seas of the Known World.
With a hollow heart, he turned his gaze to the Tower of Blessed Dread. The Black Ark's weapons now lay silent, but its decks were thick with scale-cloaked warriors. As the rough waves dragged the Kalendirian to a halt directly before the Tower 's Dragon-skulled prow, scores of grapnels arced high from the Black Ark's decks and drew the two ships into a lethal embrace.
Lokhir Fellheart was the first to reach the Kalendirian 's deck, his Red Blades flashing to disembowel and decapitate before his boots had even found purchase on the rolling decks. In his wake came scores of his Dreadblades -- the most savage and merciless of his Corsairs. With their ruthless captain at their head the Dreadblades scythed through the mustering ranks of Lothern Sea Guard, their wicked swords flashing as they drove the High Elves back. Here and there, the Sea Guard held firm, their nerve steadied by one of the Dragonship's officers, but one by one, these anchors of resistance were silenced.
The surviving Assassins now passed through the raging battle like shadows, effortlessly evading the attacks directed their way and striking out with bloody precision in return. With Sea Guard to his port side and his bodyguard of White Lions to starboard, Sea Lord Aislinn charged into the Corsairs, never once slowing his pace nor losing his footing to the heaving deck.
Aiming to sever the Dark Elves' foothold, he fought his way through to where the grapnels bit into the Kalendirian 's flank. An Assassin sprang from a hiding place below the gunwale, only to be cut in two by a mighty two-handed strike from Aislinn's long sword. The admiral's Sea Guard were dying now, cut down by curved blades or pierced by repeater handbow bolts. Protected by thicker armour and their heavy cloaks, the White Lions fared better but they were too few to make a lasting difference. Little by little, Aislinn's warriors were whittled away, and soon, the Sea Lord stood alone.
The Corsairs pressed in, undaunted by Aislinn's quick blade or the pile of dead at his feet, but shrank back instantly at Fellheart's barked command -- the Tower 's black-hearted captain sought the admiral's life and would permit no other to take it. So began a duel of legend. For nearly an hour, Aislinn and Fellheart fought, insensate to the screams of the dying. The Kalendirian caught ablaze, yet neither gave the fires any heed.
Scarce a league distant, Isha's Mercy and her entire crew were dragged to the inky depths by a tentacled beast, yet its fate did not merit even a glance. Blow and counterblow, the defeat of the upstart Sea Lord had become all that mattered to Fellheart. Both let fly with every feint at their command, but still neither could claim victory. Aislinn struck one of the Red Blades from Fellheart's grasp.
The Corsair merely laughed as the sword's magic returned it to his outstretched hand, and he cut back with a double sweep that nearly sent Aislinn tumbling into the water below. Regaining his footing the Sea Lord hacked down with all his might, cleaving Fellheart's Kraken helm and slicing deep into the Dark Elf's skull. The wound healed in moments, leaving not even a scar behind, and the metal of the Kraken helm rippled back together. Aislinn cut down again. This time his blade shattered into three pieces, but the admiral at least had the satisfaction of seeing his opponent knocked to the ground.
Taking up the axe of a fallen White Lion, Aislinn advanced, but before the Sea Lord could take advantage, Fellheart hamstrung a Corsair and cast the wretch into Aislinn's path. Now it was the Sea Lord's turn to be knocked off balance, and he was given no chance to recover. With his Red Blades whirling, Fellheart knocked Aislinn's axe aside and plunged both swords to their hilts into the Sea Lord's chest.
Fellheart laughed with joy as the axe fell from Aislinn's nerveless fingers. Bracing one foot against the Sea Lord's ribs, the Corsair heaved the admiral's body off his blades and over the gunwale. An hour later, the Tower of Blessed Dread was underway once more, its holds full of slaves destined for Naggaroth. Of the High Elf fleet, only scattered wreckage remained; of Aislinn, there was no trace.
A Game of Reavers[]
In the year 183, the Dark Elf Black Ark Corsair captains Lokhir Fellheart and Dastan Coldeye challenged one another to a contest of plunder they called the "A Game of Reavers." Each chose a province of the Empire -- Ostland in Fellheart's case, and Nordland in Coldeye's -- and had a year to claim whatever bounty they could.
Coldeye swiftly took the lead, thanks largely to the presence of an Imperial fleet, its holds bursting with stolen Nehekharan treasures, at anchor in Debneitz when his Corsairs descended. Fellheart was not so easily bested, however; and drove his crews mercilessly until there was neither village nor town in northern Ostland that had not learned to fear his crews.
Nonetheless, as year's end approached, Fellheart still lagged behind, so he did what any Dark Elf does in his situation -- he cheated. Fellheart sent word to King Akkateph of Zandri, informing him of the stolen Nehekharan treasures that now lay in Coldeye's possession. Akkateph's reaction was everything Fellheart could have wished for and soon, Coldeye's Black Ark was pursued, harried, and ultimately sunk by a fleet of Zandrian war dhows.
Coldeye survived that battle, but with his vessel gone and his treasure taken by Akkateph's fleet, he had to cede the contest. At the next high moon, he and his immediate family were sacrificed to Mathlann and Loec, for Fellheart knew full well his victory could not have been achieved without the consent of the god of the sea and the god of deception.
Notable Events[]
- 1907 IC - Lokhir Fellheart inherits the Black Ark Tower of Blessed Dread from his father. His first act was to have his father's officers sacrificed to the sea god Mathlann.
- 2087 IC - Lokhir raids the Indan Temple of Gildadresh and forges his Red Blades from its statues.
- 2422 IC - Lokhir loots the sunken ruins of the Lizardmen city of Chupayotl and finds the Helm of the Kraken.
Wargear[]
Lokhir Fellheart's Red Blades as rendered for Total War: Warhammer II.
- Helm of the Kraken - This golden helmet pre-dates the civilisation of the Elves, and was recovered by Lokhir Fellheart from the sunken ruins of Chupayotl off the southern coast of Lustria. It is fashioned in the likeness of a terrifying sea beast, and makes the bearer as resilient and dread-inspiring as its namesake.[1a]
- The Red Blades - When Lokhir Fellheart sacked the Temple of Gilgadresh, he took a statue made from Indan bloodsteel. Upon his return to Naggaroth, he had the metal forged into the deadliest pair of swords on the high seas.[1a]
Miniatures[]
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Armies: Dark Elves (8th Edition)
- 1a: pg. 58
- 2: Warhammer Armies: Dark Elves (7th Edition), pp. 29, 33, 69
- 3: White Dwarf 37
- 3a: pg. 80
- The End Times Vol. III - Khaine, Book 1 (8th Edition), pp. 22, 122
Gallery[]
