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The infamous blade, Widowmaker.
The Sword of Khaine, known more famously as the Widowmaker is a cursed magical sword that was said to be forged from a fragment of the war god's original sword. It is sometimes considered the most powerful weapon in the Warhammer World, even more than Ghal Maraz or the Axes of the Dwarf Ancestor God Grimnir, capable of even killing the gods. The weapon is considered so powerful that if it were wielded again it could change the course of the history of the Elves and of the whole world.
Overview
Crafted by Vaul himself, this blade is a fragment of Khaine's own sword. The sword drips blood constantly, the drops smoking when they strike the ground. The poisonous nature of the blade is invariably fatal to the bearer.
With this mighty blade in hand, a warrior is invincible. It was kept on the great black Altar of Khaine on the Blighted Isle until Aenarion, the first Phoenix King, took it up in order to destroy the forces of Chaos invading his beloved Ulthuan. After defeating four Greater Daemons at the Battle of the Isle of the Dead, a mortally wounded Aenarion returned the blade to the Altar of Khaine, driving it into the altar before perishing.
History
At the beginning of the second age Khaine had locked in the deepest abysses of his dungeons Kurnous and Isha, where he made them endless torments to feed their anger with their pain.
Of all the gods, not even Asuryan, who at first allowed the torture and then did not know how to stop it, dared to challenge Khaine to free his brothers. That was when Vaul, the blacksmith, discovered the way to save them without having to fight against the mighty god. He agreed with Khaine to forge a hundred divine swords before the next Moon of Khaine.
At the end of the term Vaul had only prepared ninety-nine swords, so he mixed among them a deadly sword so as not to break his commitment and free the gods.
Khaine was satisfied and Kurnous and Isha came out of the fire and pain. Freshly fed and strengthened in their respective celestial kingdoms, Khaine realized the deception and mounted in anger, swearing vengeance.
The whole pantheon was wracked by the wrath of Khaine. None dared again to face him as the Bloody God shattered everything in his wake with the ninety-nine Vaul swords. While searching for the solution the world reached the brink of destruction.
Then Vaul forged the last sword, and made it more powerful than all the previous ones, and captured within it the essence of the same death, along with the hatred of all the demons and the power of the gods. The forged sword was so powerful that its greed for death could reach gods and worlds alike, destroying the essence of its enemies, but also of the one who wielded it.
At such power the gods feared the sword even more than Khaine. Then, when all seemed lost, Eldanesh, the greatest of all the elven heroes who existed or will exist, knelt before the gods and offered to be the Bearer of the Sword.
Isha wept for his death, and Asuryan tried to persuade him, confessing that the sword contained all the destruction and hatred in the world, and that his thirst was so great that he would not settle for the death of his enemies and corrupt his own soul; taking him down the paths of hatred to his own darkness. The darkness would invade him and the demons of the sword would devour his soul while he himself became a demon. In spite of everything and having to face Khaine, Eldanesh, to the astonishment and admiration of gods and men, drew the sword and advanced towards the Desolation of Khaine.
When he saw him, for the first time since he had wielded the ninety-nine swords, he came out of his state of savage fury and laughed at the mortal who was trying to face god. But at that moment he saw the black edge that Eldanesh held in his right hand, and saw his death reflected on the edge of that weapon, of a spirit so close to himself.
The fight was titanic. Eldanesh, despite being a god among the elves, was a mortal among the gods, but his sword broke all the others, breaking the same reality with each of his blows. The destiny was written, and after feeling for the second time in his life fear, Khaine crossed with the last of the ninety-nine swords, the best of them, the Death that Cries, the heart of the hero, the demigods ... Eldanesh's blood flowed through the wound as life escaped from his shattered body, merging with the souls of his ancestors in the lakes of Isha, beyond the knowledge of mortals where only the gods have vision and mandate.
Khaine, however, could not forget that elf who had the courage to fight him, and admired and honored him. And he did not want to use the Sword, giving it to the people of the mortal elves, as a throbbing curse and homage to a time. Remembrance of the greatest of his lineage and at the same time of the eternal and immortal power of his gods; Cursing the one who dared to take back the Sword of Khaine.
By the will of Asuryan the shed blood of Eldanesh accompanied forever to Khaine, so that he saw the reflection of his courage and boldness in the blood of the Sons of the Gods, and he will never try again to destroy the world; therefore from then on he was called Khaela Mensha Khaine, the Bloody-Handed God.
Description
The weapon is fused to the Altar of Khaine on the Blighted Island north of Ulthuan. According to the Elvish myths, the sword was forged by Vaul, expressly for the use of Khaine, the elven god of war and murder. This would mean that the sword was not designed to be used by mortals, as it has a power beyond its control.
Although traditionally regarded as a sword, Khaine's sword appears as a weapon different from every individual who sees it, always dripping blood coming out of the blade of the weapon itself. To Aenarion, for example, appeared to him like a sword, to his son Malekith it appeared to him like a jeweled scepter, although it did not wield it. For Tethlis it seemed like a spear, although also it was successful in the elaboration of the weapon.
It is said that the sword is hungry for the destruction and blood of others, exerting its influence and appearing in the dreams of all the Elves (in particular the soldiers), calling them. Tyrion, for example, was tempted numerous times by the Sword, tempting him to take her, but he rejected it.
The first Phoenix King, Aenarion, drew his sword from the altar because of the pain and rage he felt from the murder of his wife and (as he thought) his children Yvraine and Morellion, using it to defeat the forces of Chaos. Thinking that his offspring had died (actually they were safe), when taking out the weapon, Aenarion not only cursed himself, but his descendants as well.
The sword exerted its insidious influence on the bloodthirsty Aenarion, turning it into a cruel and proud being that establishing its court in Nagarythe. Just after the final battle against Chaos, after the creation of the vortex, Aenarion realized the corrupting influence of the sword and decided to return it to the altar, to die shortly thereafter.
The Sixth Phoenix King, Tethlis, traveled to the Blighted Isle during his war against the Dark Elves and was assassinated under mysterious circumstances near the Altar of Khaine. Some claim that he rejected the call of the sword and being murdered by a Druchii assassin while others say he fell under his influence and when he tried to draw the sword, he was killed by his own White Lion bodyguards, fearing that he might unleash a new era of death.
Sources
- Warhammer Armies: Dark Elves (4th Edition)
- pg. 7
- Warhammer Armies: Dark Elves (7th Edition)
- pg. 8
- Warhammer Armies: High Elves (5th Edition)
- pg. 17
- pg. 18
- Warhammer Armies: High Elves (7th Edition)
- pg. 17
- pg. 18
- Warhammer Armies: High Elves (8th Edition)
- pg. 17
- The End Times III - Khaine