Editing Phoenix Lord

The '''Phoenix Lords''' are the founders of the [[Eldar]]'s [[Aspect Warrior]] shrines, and are ''the'' authorities on what it means to practice their respective Aspects. They embody their Aspects so completely that their students often get trapped in that Aspect and become [[Exarch]]s. Think of them as legendary (im)mortal heroes of Khaine.

As of the 41st Millennium, the Phoenix Lords are not properly alive any more; their spirits have integrated themselves with their armor, so if they do fall in battle, they can be resurrected by having someone new don the suit, and they're back in action, though the unfortunate Eldar who dons the suit gets overwritten by the original Phoenix Lord's personality and memories. Yes...that does suck as much as it sounds.

On the battlefield, they wield upgraded versions of their Aspect's weapons and have all of the powers available to their Aspect's Exarchs (unsurprising, considering that they taught their Aspect everything) and strike a variety of fantastic battle poses. It has been years since the models have been updated though so come on GW; tear yourself away from the new ultramarines for a moment and give us some kickass new phoenix lord models!

Supposedly, these Lords will be heavily involved in the final battle against [[Chaos]]; given that Phoenix ''King'' is one of [[Asuryan]]'s titles, there may be something to this rumor. Yet for being such rumoured big characters in the endgame, GW continues to underuse them in the fluff, which is a crying shame. 

It's generally agreed that the Phoenix Lords' stats are distinctly unfitting of their background and more suited for very experienced exarchs rather than the embodiments of each aspect. But barring forgeworld making a Phoenix Lord line, this isn't likely to change any day soon.

== Asurmen ==
[[File:WhatAPimp.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Hat? Hat.]]
'''Asurmen, the Hand of [[Asuryan]],''' was the first Phoenix Lord and the one who led the flight of the Craftworld Eldar from the collapsing Eldar empire, and later founded the Dire Avenger Aspect and the [[Paths of the Eldar|Path of the Warrior]]. To the Eldar he's seen as the paragon of what a warrior can be, and many of his proteges went on to found Aspects of their own. Before the [[Fall of the Eldar|Fall]] Asurmen led the Craftworlds away from the Eldar Homeworlds. We know he's a humble fellow, as he named himself Asurmen which means "hand of god" and after the fall he renames his newly chosen homeworld to Asur. After the fall he spent all his time traveling between the Craftworlds, teaching any who would learn the Path of the Warrior and kicking the ass of any threats to the Eldar. Asurmen was killed during the fall of Asur when the world was overrun by the demonic legions of a certain [[Slaanesh|rapey god]], though like a boss Asurmen shouted "Fuck death!" and started the Phoenix Lord tradition of keeping their souls in their armor. He's also responsible for the massive fetish all Eldar have for huge pimped out hats. 


'''On the Tabletop'''


{| class=wikitable
! || Pts || WS || BS || S || T || W || I || A || Ld || Sv
|-
| '''Asurmen:''' || 220 || 7 || 7 || 4 || 4 || 3 || 7 || 4 || 10 || 2+/4++
|}


In game Asurmen is a good all rounder, being good in melee or ranged, and great in a challenge. Like all Phoenix Lords Asurmen is fearless, fleet, counterattack, and Eternal Warrior. He has a twin-linked avenger shuriken canon for ranged, the Sword of Asur (a S+1 AP2 MC power sword), and Shield of Grace that ups his invuln to a 3++ in a challenge. He's also as tactically flexible as you'd expect, as he rolls D3 warlord traits from the Craftworld Eldar choices. His sword also has a fun rule called "soulrazor" that forces anyone who takes a wound from his sword to take a leadership test for every unsaved wound or they're removed from play (note: removed from play, so not instant death). With his AP2 and great WS and I, he's good in a challenge, and if you stick him into a unit of Dire Avengers he can make them much more formidable. For some bizarre reason he doesn't have assault grenades, though his Dire Avengers do, so... Moving on.   
== Jain Zar ==

'''Jain Zar, the Storm of Silence,''' was one of Asurmen's first students and later founded the Howling Banshees Aspect. She still visits all of the shrines to her Aspect every century or so. Also notably an unholy god of rape and win on the tabletop. By mathahammer she'll beat Abaddon, Lysander, Draigo, Smashfucker, Logan, Dante... Pretty much every assault character in the game save for Primarchs. Her pimped out Banshee mask throws your epic melee dude's WS and initiative out the window.

== Baharroth ==

'''Baharroth, the Cry of the Wind,''' founded the [[jump pack]]-toting Swooping Hawks aspect. He was the youngest (and most energetic) of Asurmen's first class of students. On the table he's the cheapest Phoenix Lord, though he's got a lot of utility. Though not a combat powerhouse, he adds mobility to his squad, making them absurdly fast, even compared to other eldar units.

== Arhra ==
'''Arhra, the Father of Scorpions,''' (also called '''the Fallen Phoenix''' and '''the Dark Father'''). A shady one, as two stories of his life exists and [[Alpha Legion|no one is sure which (if any) is true]]. Craftworlders teach that he founded the Striking Scorpions Aspect. Somewhere along the way, he fell to [[Chaos]], and left the [[Craftworld]]s. Dark Eldar Incubi tell the different story, that Arhra founded the Incubi from the start and was not corrupted but just angry and eager to fight Chaos, so he recruited from all Eldar factions, but mostly Commorites, since they fit his brutal standards better. When the other Phoenix Lords decided to focus their attention on craftworlders only and defend the status-quo rather than fight Chaos, Arhra pretty much said "fuck it" and started fighting his anti-Chaos war by himself, until he was eventually corrupted as all things tend to be after being exposed to Ruinous Powers for too long. Then the Chaos Arhra turned on his Incubi students and ordered them to kill him as their final trial, in which they succeeded. Then they they built a fucking temple out of his bones and flesh. To make things even more complicated, Craftworlders also have a story about Arhra fighting his pupils, but rather than teaching them a valuable lesson of "everything can be corrupted and should be killed if it is" he's just somehow "tricked" into doing this by Karandras.
Some imply that Arhra survived or reincarnated as a [[Dark Eldar]] character named [[Drazhar]], Master of Blades and Hierarch of the Incubi (which he got by killing the previous Hierarch and his bodyguards), though Drazhar may as well be a Dark Eldar equivalent to Karandras who was trained by Arhra. Nobody knows what is true or not in his case.

== Karandras ==

'''Karandras, the Shadow Hunter,''' is the current Phoenix Lord of the Striking Scorpions. Arhra's greatest pupil, he took on his master's role after his master fell and became the Dark Eldar Incubus master Drazhar (exactly how he did this is unknown). While he is more loyal to the Craftworlds, he is no less mysterious than his predecessor. On the table, he's about what you'd expect from an uber ninja. Brings the pain in melee; notably has what is more or less a power fist '''that can strike at initiative.'''

== Fuegan ==

'''Fuegan, the Burning Lance,''' founded the Fire Dragons Aspect. He was thought lost when Arhra tried to destroy Asurmen's shrine, but he turned up later to fight [[Chaos]] on an [[Exodite]] world. He is supposed to be the one to call the other Phoenix Lords to the final battle against Chaos, and will be the last of them to die. On the table Fuegan is more or less a typical Fire Dragon, but he has infintely more bite in melee. He carries what more or less boils down to a master crafted melta gun, but he also has an AP1 power axe that strikes at initiative. He also has FNP and a fun rule that adds +1 S and A every time he takes a wound.

== Maugan Ra ==

'''Maugan Ra, the Harvester of Souls,''' founded the Dark Reapers Aspect. He was the first Phoenix Lord to include ranged weapons as part of his Aspect; his personal weapon is the Maugetar (which is a great name for a musical instrument), which is a beefed-up shuriken cannon with a scythe-like built-in power blade, thus achieving the ultimate fusion of [[dakka]] and [[choppy]]. His Craftworld, [[Altansar]], got sucked into the [[Eye of Terror]], but during [[Abaddon]]'s thirteenth [[Black Crusade]], he managed to drag it back out. Maugan Ra also managed to somehow solo a [[Tyranid]] [[Hive Fleet]]. Between this and the legends surrounding him, he's the Eldar version of Chuck Norris. He's also a teamkilling fucktard who murdered the Bonesinger who taught him how to forge the Maugetar just in case he decided to make something better. On the table he's exactly what you'd expect: a walking storm of shooty death. 195 pts. YMMV.

== Irillyth ==

'''Irillyth, the Shade of Twilight,''' founded the Shadow Spectres Aspect. He had a vision that his craftworld, [[Mymeara]], would be destroyed unless he took action to end the threat preemptively. He gathered up a bunch of warriors from Mymeara and went to find them, and they were victorious, but they also never returned, so everyone figured that that was the end of the Shadow Spectres. Later, they found the world that he and his army had invaded, an ice planet colonized by the [[Imperium of Man]] in the meantime, and so they raided it and got his armor back, thus reviving him and his Aspect (and explaining why neither he nor his Aspect were represented in the [[Eldar]] codices to date). On the table he's a charge focused character, as you'd expect, and he also has some ST7 AP2 shooting. Nice.

Irillyth (along with the Shadow Spectres) was created and sculpted by [[Forge World]] for [[Imperial Armour#Volume Eleven - The Doom of Mymeara|Imperial Armour Volume Eleven: The Doom of Mymeara]].

== Drastanta ==
'''Drastanta, the Tempest of Starlight,''' was lord of the Shining Spears. Drastanta was really full of himself and liked to go on needless solo battles. This backfired horribly during the Fall, when because of this, it got Asurmen killed for the first time. After blowing up the Keeper of Secrets who did it, Drastanta went out to found the Shining Spears and then went into self-exile leaving his weapon behind. His lance is currently with Craftworld Iyanden. 

Living proof that Matt Ward can add a character without canon rape. Guess even a broken clock is right twice a day.

== The Unknown Warp Spider Phoenix Lord ==

Bizarre as it is, while most Aspect Warriors can tell who their Phoenix Lord is or at least believe who might be, the Warp Spiders don't have a known Phoenix Lord (even more so, there are a lot of Eldar that actually believe that the Warp Spider Phoenix Lord never existed). 

Though it is strange as it may seem, there are theories on who might be the founder of this Aspect Warrior shrine. It is theorized that it might be the legendary warrior of Craftworld Kaelor known as '''Lhykosidae the Wraith Spider'''. 

Of course one cannot actually believe in this wholly due to the fact that Kaelor forgot most of its history (for some bizarre reason, not to mention that even they aren't completely sure if Lhykosidae was actually a Phoenix Lord or not), though they do have the copy of The Arc of Destiny that shows the Craftwars against Saim-Hann being won by them thanks to the arrival of the Wraith Spider [[Legion of the Damned|at the right place, at the right moment at the right time]].

Additionally the Wraith Spider Lhykosidae may not even be a traditional Phoenix Lord in the same way as the rest of the above mentioned guys, but he may not even be an Eldar altogether.

From Kaelor's point of view the whole Wraith Spider thing is probably actually a spiritual awakening that manifests itself exclusively in the Warp Spider Exarchs, supercharging them to the point of them becoming similar to the Phoenix Lords in power and capabilities instead of donning their helmets and fabulous armor. Others even point out that the Wraith Spider may actually be linked with the same small critters after which the Warp Spiders are named after. To be more specific, the Warp Spider critters purge the systems of an Eldar Infinity Circuit/Webway from non-Eldar psychic energies, and the Wraith Spider appears when the Craftworld suffers from great impurity and anthropy. 

Another theory is that the Wraith Spider may even be a wraith construct that is a organic personification of the Warp.

Most Eldar and Imperial experts on Eldar don't actually believe in this and take it with a giant pinch of salt. Thus the truth will probably be never known for a very long time...

==Why the Phoenix Lords are Badasses==

Well, let's start with '''Asurmen''':

# He is the start of all this Aspect Warrior stuff and personally led the first Craftworld Eldar out of their doomed worlds, so the entire reason the [[Eldar]] still exist is due to him.
# Kinda like the [[Ultramarines|Smurfs]], they wear the hat of tactical adaptability. Unlike them, however, they don't lord themselves over the rest of the shrines like chumps. And they especially don't slave themselves over [[Codex Astartes|an oversized book.]]
# He is SO BADASS that even lesser races have legends about him. We don't know what these feats are, but they must be impressive if people OTHER than eldar are talking about them.
# Apparently at some point he defeated a c'tan shard [[AWESOME|by simply stabbing it to death with his sword]].

'''Jain-Zar, the Storm of Silence''':

# She's considered the second-oldest of the Phoenix Lords, so she's definitely got a ton of experience and respect under her belt.
# Head of perhaps the most populous of the Aspect Shrines, a bunch of sword-and-spear swinging ladies, and unlike some of the others, still teaches her students the ways of the shrine.
# In [[Aaron Dembski-Bowden]]'s novel ''Void Stalker'' she actually makes [[Night Lords]] feel a mild reaction of fear.
# Her mask liquefies brains. That is all.

'''Baharroth, the Cry of the Wind''':

# Fastest fucker in the known galaxy. No nid, no [[Doomrider|Warp-cocaine addict]], no [[White Scars|White Scar]] on some super-bike, could potentially capture him.
# Dude was considered the best of Asurmen's students, and considering the responsibilities these Aspect Warriors hold, that's a high expectation that they have to live up to.

'''Fuegan, the Burning Lance''':

# He and his shrine have probably the most brutal of guns, capable of cooking holes in fortress walls and turning tanks into puddles.
# Has fought one-on-one with a Greater Daemon, [[AWESOME|and won. Several times]].
# He soloed a Gargant. OK, a steam Gargant, but still...
# Fuegan's prophesied to be the last of the Phoenix Lords to go down during the Eldar's sparkly-elf-pocalypse, so to keep that up, he's gotta be the most ruthless of bastards; and with a gun like his, expect to see everything you know and love reduced to ashes.

'''Arhra, the Fallen Phoenix''':

# You know those fancy Incubi everyone with a [[Dark Eldar]] army uses? Well he's the granddaddy to those elite face-stompers. Have fun with that.  

'''Karandras, the Shadow Hunter''':

# Considering that Arhra got fucked up, it's a miracle he's able to hold on to his job, considering the grudges Eldar hold.
# Dude at one point fought Drazhar (who may or may not be Arhra) for almost three weeks before deciding to piss him off so royally that he just decided to let the bastard [[RAGE]] at anything he found in his way, most of it being his own students. Reports heard him laughing all the way back about how it was all [[just as planned]].
#Kinda was hit by a Dreadnought, killing him. That might sound like [[FAIL]], but he was holding up one of the Dreadnought's feet. A dreadnought's. Foot/claw/whatever. He was supporting part of the Dreadnought, while pushing a Dark Eldar warrior out of the risk zone. That being the Dreadnought's foot. Did I mention he was holding up part of the Dreadnought? I didn't? Well he was.

'''Maugan Ra, the Reaper of Souls''':

# Maugan Ra dragged Altansar, his Craftworld, out of the Eye of Terror.
# He defeated an entire Tyranid invasion swarm by himself.
# Killed a [[Trygon]] by fucking standing beneath it, raising his gun, and taking the [[AWESOME|ENTIRE WEIGHT OF THE ENTIRE FUCKING THING ON HIS GUN, BISECTING IT!! SERIOUSLY, THIS DUDE HAS MORE BADASS MOMENTS THAN ANY OTHER CHARACTER!!!]]
# Forging his badass scythe/gun by dicking around in the Eye of Terror (Even had an Exarch to morph into an avatar of Khaine and stab its heart to have his scythe tempered).
# He had the harlequins to have his story published to the Eldar kind so they would piss themselves every time when the story was told.
# He cut down (in)famous daemonprince Periclitor the Foresworn. Thus he also unintentionally avenged Howling Griffons Space Marines chapter.

'''Irillyth, the Shade of Twilight''':

# Has a very damn fancy concept for a shrine: Mini stealth battlesuits with enough weaponry to make the Tau's stealth suits blush.
# Guy had to be seriously patient if he was able to survive decades, if not centuries, stuck in his armor, just waiting, ''waiting'', for the time he'd get out and then just go back to fighting when he does.

'''Drastanta, the Tempest of Starlight''':

#Killed a Keeper of Secrets, stabbing it so hard its soul EXPLODED. He is therefore, of all the Phoenix lords, the most metal.

Having considered all of this, it is mind boggling that GW doesn't expand their fluff a bit more and give them more their due. The most badass space elves ever!

{{Eldar-Forces}}