Bloodletter

"Slay without pity; triumph without remorse. You are the legions of Khoren, His favourite warriors. You shall bring defeat and death to His enemies. You shall crush their worlds under your heel. To battle! Let blood flow in His name!"

- Rorath'rath the Skullweaver

Bloodletters, known as the Chosen of Khorne, Slaughter-kin and Crimson Death, are Lesser Daemons (Khak'akamshy'y) that serve as the eager daemonic foot soldiers of the Blood God Khorne. As a host, they march as one, in formations with supernatural precision, but in battle, they try to outdo each other in ruthless acts of cruelty and savagery. The daemon hordes of Khorne are largely made up of ferocious Bloodletters. These Lesser Daemons are deadly warriors believed to have been foremost amongst the Blood God's followers in mortal life and whose will is as implacable and blood-hungry as that of Khorne himself. Sharp, needle-like teeth stud a Bloodletter's slavering jaws. Its serpentine tongue constantly flickers to taste the spilled blood of those it slays. Rippling muscles lie barely concealed beneath the Bloodletter’s scaly red hide, knotted sinews that give the strength sufficient for its jet-black claws to pierce the most unyielding armour. This might is guided by a killing instinct that surpasses that of mortal men. A Bloodletter is unburdened by any other thought or compulsion than to reap the lives of Khorne’s foes and claim skulls in the name of its lord.They carry great blades known as Hellblades, great two-handed weapons that cut effortlessly though any armour created by mortals.

Overview
The most numerous troops among the daemonic hosts of the Blood God are the scarlet-scaled blademasters, the Bloodletters of Khorne. Though they are roughly humanoid in shape, that is where the similarities to Men, Eldar, or Orks end. These fell creatures possess bestial, snarling faces. Their wiry, iron-muscled frames are the hue of their master's favoured red, reeking of spilt blood. Black horns thrust out from the flesh of their heads, acting as cruel-edged weapons in their own right. Their fingers end in wicked claws, sharp enough to make a mockery of armour as easily as flesh. Ebon tongues flick across teeth that have dined on the hearts of a thousand warriors from a thousand worlds, the taste of each lingering in the memories of the fiend.

A soldier who locks eyes with a Bloodletter is often frozen stiff with fear, unable to look away as the beast's soulless, black orbs guide the strokes of its vicious black hellblade through the neck or guts of his victim. Wherever these Daemons exist, blood is sure to flow and headless corpses stack upon the wet earth like trees after a tremendous storm. Only the most skilled of warriors would have any possibility of surviving battle with a Bloodletter, but the furious battle itself only serves to bring them one step closer to following the Lord of Skulls.

Like all of Khorne's creatures they are formidable and ferocious warriors, but they are also capable of vile and low tactics. The Heralds of Khorne, the most veteran group of Bloodletters, lead the vast daemonic legions of the Blood God to battle. Unlike the armies of other Chaos Gods they tend to march in disciplined regiments accompanied by horns and drums, a living example of Khorne's militarism. However, the craving for skulls, bloodshed and personal glory in battle usually turns this discipline into frenzy once they charge the enemy. Bloodletters are notorious for their fearsome advances, and, being Daemons, exhibit enormous strength considering their body mass. Each Bloodletter is a master of combat, naturally from constantly fighting their brethren in the warp as well as their enemies.

Heralds of Khorne
The Heralds of Khorne are the strongest of Bloodletters. They are rampaging combat masters, more than capable of single-handedly taking down entire squads of lesser fighters in shows of martial skill and sheer savagery that only the best mortal warriors could hope to withstand. Heralds of Khorne are powerful foes who delight in decapitating their prey and plunging their wailing blades deep into the bleeding hearts of their enemies. However, their role on the battlefield is as directors of the massacre, and to this end, these daemonic officers imbue their followers with a portion of their own eternal malice, heightening the inherent bloodlust of the minions of Khorne to fever pitch.

Bloodcrushers
Only the strongest Bloodletters can hope to claim a Lesser Daemon of Khorne known as a Juggernaut as their mount. Such an undertaking is not for the weak, for a Bloodletter must drag forth its chosen mount from the Blood God's stockade and survive long enough to break the homicidal steed. Many an aspiring Daemon has leapt upon the back of an enraged Juggernaut, only to be thrown and crushed into an unrecognisable smear. However, once mastered, a Juggernaut becomes the most lethal of all war-mounts. Those who succeed become Bloodcrushers, Daemonic Knights of the Blood God, the resulting daemonic cavarly adding a new weapon to Khorne's arsenal. They are feared for their almost unstoppable charges. They rush headlong into the thickest part of a battle, scattering opposition as pounding hooves pulverise those not quick enough to avoid the charge. Stunned enemies are relieved of the burden of their heads as the rider’s black hellblade comes crashing down through their necks. The resultant spray of arterial blood rains down into the crushed forms that lie beneath the Bloodcrushers' feet, creating rings of carnage that leave behind a battlefield dotted with crimson circles of suffering.

Notable Bloodletters
"Fight or flee psyker, it matters not. I will rend you with my blade and revel in your blood. I will tear out your skull and flog you with it even as you die before I place it on the throne of Khorne!"

- Final message transcription decoded by Astropath Sukord


 * The Huntsman - The Huntsman is a hulking, savage Bloodletter, notable for his fierce hatred of Psykers, for only Khorne and some of his greatest champions despise the witch more. Whenever a particularly troublesome psyker crosses the Lord of War, the Huntsman is dispatched to visit the wrath of Khorne upon him. To assist the creature, Khorne has blessed it with a pack of fearsome Flesh Hounds that can track his quarry even through the Warp itself. Once the Huntsman marks a psyker as his prey, that wretched individual is doomed to be hounded by the Bloodletter champion and his pack for the rest of his days, as few as they may be.
 * Kinslayer - Kinslayer, is an infamous Bloodletter and Herald of Khorne. Even amongst other Bloodletters, Kinslayer demonstrates an exceptionally profound talent for destruction, earning the recognition of the Lord of Blood and becoming one of his Heralds. Kinslayer has become one of the most powerful Heralds active on the world of Crucible. He engages in a never-ending quest to find opponents who have pledged to the other Ruinous Powers. This offers his followers an endless opportunity to utilise their rage to actively weaken the other forces on Crucible. He deliberately herds vast numbers of mortal souls into the incipient battlefields as well, where they can share in the joy of combat through their agonising wounds. Some believe that Kinslayer receives additional blessings from the Lord of Rage for each Daemon skull he presents to his master. Others watch his ascendency with baleful senses, trusting that those who have embraced one of the other Dark Gods have surely made Kinslayer a target for destruction.
 * Skulltaker - Skulltaker, also known as U'Zuhl, is an infamous Bloodletter Champion who has claimed a Juggernaut Daemonic Steed as his mount and has been anointed as the Blood God's own Sacred Executioner. It said that when Khorne first created U'Zuhl, the Bloodletter's first act was to chop the head from the first creature he met -- another Bloodletter. So began an existence of decapitation that has spread terror throughout the mortal and immortal universes. In the midst of battle, Skulltaker always seeks out the mightiest of the enemy's warriors. He fought alongside the Daemon Primarch Angron on Armageddon felling a quarter of the Grey Knight Space Marine Chapter's Brother-Captains. On Agripinia-6, Skulltaker slew the Ork Grimsnag Urk after butchering the Warlord's armoured bodyguard. Seventeen Eldar Exarchs fell to his blade during the fighting at Haranshemash. Every race has its legends concerning the Skulltaker, and all are filled with terror.

Wargear

 * Hellblades - Bloodletters wield these powerful Warp-forged blades. On very rare occasions a mortal has bested one of these Daemons and claimed this potent weapon. A jagged metal sword, blackened but edged with glowing red embers, a hellblade is the physical manifestation of the sheer bloodlust of the user. Few mortals have the strength of will to wield such a weapon. However, the more blood it sheds the more powerful it becomes, glowing with ever-stronger crimson hues as blood flows. Collar_of_Khorne.jpg
 * Collar of Khorne - A brass collar, cruelly spiked and engraved with the sigils of the Blood God is worn around the neck. Forged in Khorne's weapons-foundries, it may never be removed, but its blessings will protect the recipient from enemy sorcerers.