Editing War in Heaven (section)

== Eldar Mythology ==
[[Eldar]] legends also refer to a War in Heaven between [[Khaine]] and [[Vaul]], the gods of war and smithing, respectively. After [[Asuryan]] sealed the Eldar and their gods apart from each other, [[Isha]] and [[Kurnous]] (parents of the Eldar) were caught crossing the barrier anyway. As punishment, they were given over to Khaine, who promptly started torturing them. Vaul spoke up for them, and struck a deal with Khaine: one hundred <s>[[Baneblade]]s</s> swords in exchange for Isha's and Kurnous's freedom. Since the only thing he liked more than causing pain was weapons, Khaine readily accepted, on the condition that Vaul delivers the blades within a year. Inevitably, when the year was up, Vaul only had ninety-nine blades ready, and so he grabbed a mortal sword and stuffed it in the middle of the pile. Khaine released his prisoners as promised, but when he discovered the fake, he sought bloody vengeance against Vaul, and thus began the War in Heaven.

In the end, Vaul did forge that hundredth blade, and he made it better than all the others because he intended to use it himself. Unfortunately, war was Khaine's domain, and even though ''Anaris'' ("Dawnlight") was by far the superior weapon, Khaine overpowered and crippled Vaul, chained him to his own anvil, and thus won.

[[Games Workshop]] doesn't seem to have a problem with having two big events both called the same thing; the war between the Necrons and Old Ones is called the War in Heaven in both the Third and Fifth Edition Necron [[Codex|Codices]], while the War in Heaven of Eldar mythology is mentioned by name and told in the Second, Third, and Fourth Edition Eldar Codices. It is not known if there is a connection between the two, though the Eldar Codices mention "immortal demigod giants" called "Yngir" taking part in the War in Heaven, and the Third Edition Necron Codex says that "Yngir" is the Eldar word for [[C'tan]] and that the Eldar legends about their gods say that they were created during "a time of war in heaven" -- though given that the C'tan basically got shoehorned into the setting at the end of Third Edition, and that the Yngir-C'tan connection is not mentioned in the new Necron Codex, who knows if they are separate events or the same event seen from two perspectives? Perhaps the Necrons and C'tan were so successful because the Old Ones were going through internecine strife of their own.

There's also a combination of those two events, that the reason Khaine bargained Isha and Kurnous for one-hundred swords is that those swords were "living swords" to be used against the Nightbringer (or as the Eldar call him, the Deathbringer). According to this story, it was Khaine who shattered the Nightbringer into pieces.