Asdrubael Vect

"Death is my meat; terror my wine."

— Adrubael Vect, Supreme Lord of the Kabal of the Black Heart

Adrubael Vect, Supreme Lord of the Kabal of the Black Heart

Asdrubael Vect is the Dark Eldar Archon of the Kabal of the Black Heart and the current Supreme Overlord of the Dark City of Commorragh. Considered the most devious of a race legendary for deviousness, Vect is possibly older than the Fall of the Eldar. It was Vect who shaped Commorragh from a sprawling corsair port and collection of autonomous sub-realms into what it had become by the late 41st Millennium, a vast and incalculably powerful and evil galactic metropolis located deep within the Labyrinthine Dimension of the Webway. Among the murderous hierarchy of the Dark Eldar race, and from the lowest of beginnings, Vect gained and holds on to his position with both an unmatched intelligence, murderous ambition and a talent for cunning that is said by some to rival that of the Chaos God Tzeentch. Vect knows the primary weaknesses of all the major sentient races of the galaxy, and those of his own species most thoroughly of all. Quite simply, Asdrubael Vect is one of the oldest, most powerful, and most deadly beings to walk amongst the mortals of the 41st Millennium.

History

Asdrubael Vect was born as a low-class underling in Commorragh and sold into slavery as a child. According to Vect's own account, related to a slave, he himself was witness to the Fall of the Eldar in the 38th Millennium, probably as a youth. Never accepted by the privileged high-born "betters" of his race, Vect was forced to climb the murderous hierarchal structure of the Dark City from the bottom, rung by tortuous rung. This incredible story of survival against the incalculable odds may explain his razor-sharp mind and infinite talent for intrigue.  It was during these times that Vect vowed to himself that he would one day rule the Dark City, even if it took an eternity. Vect's talent for subterfuge was exceptional. Vect's rivals had a propensity for being murdered in plots or for suffering apparent misfortunes, although events were never connected to Vect himself. By the time his rivals realised the threat of this upstart, it was usually an instant before heads had been separated from their bodies.

Kabal of the Black Heart

Banner of the Kabal of the Black Heart

Vect's power grew and in an unknown date in the 32nd Millennium, he founded the Kabal of the Black Heart, the first organisation to openly refer to themselves as "Eladrith Ynneas" or "Dark Eldar." Though the Black Heart began as a flickering flame, it has since been fanned into a searing firestorm. Thriving on being underestimated, Vect played a low profile as the Dark City fought a long civil war of its nobility against the Solar Cults who controlled the captured twin suns that powered the city, "The War of the Sun and Moon," in the 35th Millennium. The nobility were ultimately victorious. A Kabal like Vect's had almost no power compared to Commorragh's nobility, and Vect was was opposed at every turn by the most influential of the Dark City's noble houses -- Xelian, Kraillach and Yllithian.

Comorragh in Flames

At an unknown date in M35, Vect set a plan into motion that saw the Kabal of the Black Heart grow rich in plunder. Dark Eldar corsairs had long haunted the Desaderian Gulf, attacking and raiding shipping of the Imperium of Man. Vect sorely provoked the Imperium by raising the frequency of these raids tenfold and even strike at major Imperial Guard outputs in the area. Vect's detractors thought him a fool for provoking such a vast war engine, and seemed to have been proven right when the Salamanders Space Marine Chapter's Strike Cruiser Forgehammer was sent to deal with the Dark Eldar menace. Vect dealt with it in a typically unexpected and unprecedented way: the Astartes vessel was crippled with haywire bombs and transported directly to Commorragh, ostensibly to take the Salamanders as valuable prizes for the arena and their lethal entertainment of the Dark City's depraved inhabitants.  

As Vect had foreseen, the Salamanders proved no easy prey, and fortified their immobilised strike cruiser against its sadistic intruders. Deck by deck, passageway by passageway, compartment by compartment, they made the Dark Eldar pay in blood and corpses for every step into the ship. Drawn like moths to a flame, the Dark Eldar competed with each other recklessly to take the most slaves, harvest the most souls, and witness the most pain and death -- only to be slaughtered in heaps by the Salamanders' tenacious defence.

Lord Xelian, one of the most powerful Archons and part of the Dark City's ruling nobility, had initially claimed the disabled Forgehammer for himself; but as he quickly realised that he had underestimated the Space Marines as his warriors fell in heaps to the Astartes weapons, he "gifted" the right of salvage to the Kabal of the Black Heart. Xelian, trying to appear magnanimous, believed that Vect's Kabal would be decimated by the Salamanders, leaving both forces so depleted as to be completely vulnerable. Then, he reasoned, he could attack it and take both the Space Marine captives as prize, and destroy a hated rival along the way.

Xelian had underestimated Vect and been outwitted, however, as Vect knew perfectly well that the trapped Salamanders would have sent a psychic distress call the moment their ship was disabled and apparently had done nothing to prevent it. Indeed, Salamanders Librarian Hestion had done exactly that. As the Kabal of the Black Heart sacrificed the minimum of its Kabalite warriors and dragged out the siege, Vect's detractors again thought him a fool for not committing all his forces at once. Yet again, Vect knew exactly what he was doing. On the sixteenth day of battle the skies above Commoragh opened. A powerful relief force of Salamanders, Howling Griffins and Silver Skulls Space Marines had followed the psychic beacon straight into the Dark City. The unthinkable had happened, and the Mon'Keigh had invaded High Commoragh itself, in great force. Xelian was killed as the Salamanders Battle Barge Vulkan's Wrath, newly arrived, ploughed into the spire where he stood, crushing both it and him in an instant.

The Space Marines acted aggressively and quickly took the initiative, even when faced with the uncountable masses of that evil city. They used drop pods to invade High Commorragh, establishing a perimeter and holding firm against the sadistic masses opposing them. By now, five hundred Space Marines had entered High Commoragh, killing anything they encountered. Spinter weaponry, designed more to cause terrible agony rather than be instantly fatal, proved ineffective against Space Marine Power Armour.  Even those Astartes wounded through chinks in their armour merely gritted themselves against their injuries, their superhuman tolerance allowing them to keep fighting against the incredible pain.

High Archon Kraillach himself led a massed charge against the Space Marines, enraged at their destruction of his realm. He flew into them as an unstoppable force, cutting his way through their disciplined ranks, killing at will as force fields hid his true location. His rampage was unceremoniously halted by an apparently accidental stray blast from a Dark Eldar dark lance that vapourised him where he stood.

Although they were hopelessly outnumbered, the Space Marines bogged down the howling masses of the Dark Eldar Kabalite Warriors, Mandrakes, Scourges, Wyches and Hellions into a dogged war of attrition. Another powerful patrician, Archon Yllithian of the Silent Scream, joined the fight to prove his right to rule. He attacked the Space Marines along with Lelith Hesperax and her Wyches of the Cult of Strife. In a whirl of blades, they killed half of the Space Marines and forced them to retreat. In this moment of victory it was then, under Vect's orders, that Lelith and her wyches turned upon Yllithian and his retinue and cut them to pieces without pause or mercy, and none returned to report the treachery.

Dark Eldar attacks on the Space Marines intensified, with attacks from Razorwing Fighters, Ravager gunships and Voidraven Bombers, and the deaths of countless Dark Eldar, but they could not break the Space Marine line. The Space Marines were not intending a last stand, however. Teleporting Terminators of the Salamanders 1st Company into the Forgehammer, they wrested control back from the Dark Eldar boarders and used its powerful weapons systems to destroy huge areas of the city and its spires, and hence free the ship from its electrical moorings.

With the Forgehammer free, those Space Marines who could do so then teleported back to their ships, and those who could not sacrificed themselves to give their battle brothers time to evacuate. As Dark Eldar aircraft attempted to prevent the escape of the Forgehammer, they were shot down in large numbers from volleys of fire from the Salamanders Battle Barge Vulkan's Wrath. The Astartes fleet then made good its escape through the webway portal and back into real space, leaving High Commorragh in burning ruins -- and Asdrubael Vect as the most powerful being left alive within it.

The Coup of High Commorragh

In the Astartes assault upon High Commoragh, nearly all of the noble houses of the Dark City had been destroyed or sorely depleted -- with the exception of the Kabal of the Black Heart. The Dark City's aristocratic system, disgraced, had collapsed.  The most powerful Archons, Xelian, Kraillach and Yllithian, had been killed by Vect's plotting, and many minor rivals killed in the fighting while trying to prove themselves. It was into this power vacuum that Vect stepped and declared Supreme Overlord of High Commoragh. The aristocratic system was replaced by the Kabalite system pioneered by Vect, priveledge supplanted by ambition and murderous capability. Although several of the aristocratic houses survived by themselves becoming Kabals, they would never forgive Vect for usurping their power.

Uniting Commorragh

Yet Vect's ambitions did not end there and would not end until he had the entire city and all of its realms within his steely grip. In 677.M36, tricked Archon Kelithresh into opening a casket ostensibly presented as a bribe, and the black hole constrained within was unleashed to consume both him and his entire realm. In M37, Vect caused the hidden portals that linked each satellite realm of Commorragh to be revealed and built Great Gates around them guarded by elite Incubi and Kabalites. One by one, Vect forcibly united the sub-realms of Commoragh into his own powerbase, conquering each in turn over thousands of standard years of civil war and strife. Commoragh expanded into and throughout these once autonomous regions until they became integral to the Dark City.

In 984.M37, the last independent sub-realm, Shaa-dom, has been growing steadily in influence to the point where Archon El'uriaq, self-declared Emperor of Shaa-dom, declared himself more worthy of rule than Vect. Vect publically vowed that Shaa-dom would feel his blade, but seemed in no position to make good such a threat against Shaa-Dom's well-funded and elite military forces. Three days later a warp rift opened above Shaa-dom and a burning Imperial battleship emerged and collided into the city before its Warp drive detonated, destroying El'uriaq's place fortress. Daemons, exploiting the resulting warp rift, invaded the sub-realm, destroying and consuming all in their wake. In the matter of weeks Shaa-dom was reduced to haunted cinders. Vect is reported to have allowed himself a rare smile at the moment of its fall.

With the destruction of Shaa-dom, all of Commoragh's sub-realms became part of the Dark City -- and the newly unified city was now under Vect's complete control.

Present Day

Asdrubael Vect upon his throne with a human slave

Vect, through plots more labyrinthine than most mortals could hope to comprehend, is still Supreme Overlord of Commoragh in 999.M41. This achievement is perhaps even more impressive than his becoming Supreme Overlord in the first place: as a result of his low-born status, he had never been accepted by the nobility of Commoragh, and he is still hated fiercely by the Kabals he usurped power from. Yet even Archons, unimaginably devious themselves, have never been able to outwit him. All who have tried have died in indescribably horrible ways.

And yet, as M41 comes to a close, is believed by some that Vect's hold upon the Dark City is beginning to loosen: he visits uncharacteristically blunt retribution on those who defy him with increasing frequency. His realspace raids have become increasingly frequent as well, leading some to speculate that he has finally passed beyond the rejuvenation even that the agonised murder of thousands of slaves can bring. Typical of the Dark Eldar, theories abound that Vect may be tired of success, rulership, or even his long existence. Others say he may be gambling against himself as it is now the only challenge that he can find in a city that has never had his equal. More sensible Dark Eldar believe that he is only feigning weakness until his true enemies reveal themselves, at which point he will destroy them. Nothing is ever sure when it comes to Asdrubael Vect, except that if he falls, the Dark City will be torn apart by war.

Wargear

• Ghostplate Armour - Those Dark Eldar who desire a substantial amount of protection whilst retaining a high degree of mobility sport armour made of hardened resins and shot through with pockets of lighter-than-air gas. Ghostplate Armour also incorporates minor forcefield technology to better protect its wearer.
• Shadow Field - The Shadow Field surrounds its wearer in a dark miasma of energy that is almost impossible to penetrate. However, should a solid blow connect the shadow field will short out, leaving its wearer vulnerable.
• Splinter Pistol - This side arm is a smaller version of the splinter rifle. Often carried as a sidearm by assault and shock troops, it fire a hail of splinter-like shards of crystal at the enemy. The only disadvantage of its smaller size is a more limited effective range. Spinter pistols are often fitted with vicious combat blades, which the Dark Eldar use to slash and stab opponents in close combat.
• Plasma Grenades - These grenades negate the effect of cover in close combat.
• Haywire Grenades - Haywire Grenades are used for disabling or crippling enemy vehicles. They send out a powerful electromagnetic pulse that shorts out and destroys electrical circuits.
• Sceptre of the Dark City - This unique sceptre is the badge of office of Supreme Overlord of Commoragh and is an advanced Power Weapon that contains sophisticated pain-inducing devices.
• Obsidian orbs - Extremely advanced and rare soul-tech, that when used against opponents, can suck out their very souls and use their stolen life-energy to heal Vect's own wounds.
• The Dais of Destruction - When Vect deigns to lead a battle personally, he often does so upon the Dais of Destruction, a transport vehicle dedicated to his own use and armed with Dark Lances and force shields.

Sources

• Codex: Dark Eldar (5th Edition), pp. 13-15, 55
• Codex: Dark Eldar (3rd Edition), pg. 31
• Dawn of War - Soulstorm (PC Game)
• Games Workshop - Dark Eldar: The Torturer's Tale by Gav Thorpe