Baharroth

"May the winds of fate guide my sword."

—Baharroth

Baharroth, "The Cry of the Wind," Phoenix Lord of the Swooping Hawks.

Baharroth, "The Cry of the Wind" in the Aeldari Lexicon, is the Phoenix Lord and founder of the Asuryani Warrior Path that is represented by the Swooping Hawks Aspect Shrine. He is the oldest of the Swooping Hawks, and the first Craftworld Aeldari Exarch to master aerial combat.

History

Baharroth engaged in aerial combat.

Asurmen, the "Hand of Asuryan," was the first Phoenix Lord of the Craftworld Aeldari. Prior to the Fall of the Aeldari, it was Asurmen who led the craftworlds away from the ancient Aeldari homeworlds of their now lost interstellar Aeldari Empire and it was he who founded the first of the Aspect Shrines, the Shrine of Asur, upon a barren moon of the same name located in a region of the Webway that his people initially settled.

Asurmen found that he could not give up the Path of the Warrior to follow a different Asuryani Path, for he desired to use his skills to protect what remained of his species after the birth of the Chaos God Slaanesh, "She Who Thirsts."

From the Shrine of Asur sprang the first Aspect Warriors, and the Path of the Warrior was opened for the very first time to all of the Asuryani. Those Aeldari who wanted to follow this new path learned at the feet of their master, and in turn they assumed the mantle of Exarchs before spreading throughout the galaxy.

The first Exarchs, the Asurya, the children of Asurmen, were the greatest of his students and went on to become the Phoenix Lords of the other Aspect Shrines, the first masters of the other specialised Asuryani combat disciplines.

Baharroth is believed to have been the finest pupil of Asurmen, the first Asuryani Exarch. He is the Winged Phoenix, the oldest of the Swooping Hawks and the first of their winged Exarchs. He was the most vibrant and youthful of the Phoenix Lords, revelling in the sensation of the sun on his wings.

Baharroth and Maugan Ra, the Phoenix Lord of the Dark Reapers, are brothers as the sun is to the moon, and many of the Craftworld Aeldari's deadliest foes have met their doom on the edge of those two Phoenix Lords' blades.

Like all the Phoenix Lords, Baharroth has been reborn many times in the body of a new Exarch. Innumerable battlefields have felt his anger and countless foes have fallen before his might.

Baharroth is also known for his speed and is said to be the fastest of all the Aeldari who have ever lived, a formidable claim that would make him a deadly opponent indeed. Though he moves with the subtlety and grace of a zephyr, he attacks with the force of a hurricane.

The Asuryani consider his presence a sign of victory to come, for he appears above the battlefield as a glorious hero, shining with a brilliance of his own making. Looping and soaring through flak-churned skies, the Cry of the Wind looses pinpoint blasts of blinding fire into the cockpits of enemy aircraft and into those warriors who dare to venture into his domain, sending the airborne interlopers hurtling to an unmarked grave amongst their brethren below.

The Phoenix Lord Baharroth takes to the skies.

Where Baharroth passes, the ground burns with blinding white fire, for the weapons of the Swooping Hawk are many, and his eyes are sharp enough to spy evil wherever it may be found. This glare is often the first and last warning his victims are granted, as he plunges like a falcon to engage his opponents before leaping skywards once more.

His wings, like those of the Swooping Hawks, are made of small vibrating plates, which, as they vibrate, provide the wearer with a lifting surface for flight which is maintained by an anti-gravitic emitter incorporated into the wings.

It is recorded in the Asuryata that Baharroth's final death will come during the Rhana Dandra, fighting alongside his fellow Aspect Warriors, the final battle between Chaos and the Aeldari of the material universe that will end with the destruction of both.

Baharroth is known to be an especial foe of the forces of Chaos and he has participated in many raids on Chaos outposts and Daemon Worlds. Baharroth's family and much of his home craftworld, Anaen, was destroyed in a massive Chaos assault led by Trarkh, a known Chaos Lord and Khornate Berserker.

All Asuryani secretly fear that the long foretold events of the Rhana Dandra will be played out within their lifetime. Given the portents of the Farseers, and the frequency with which the Phoenix Lords have been sighted in recent years, their fears may yet prove well placed.

Baharroth's Tempest

Baharroth, Phoenix Lord of the Swooping Hawks Aspect Shrine

Baharroth's name has become synonymous with deliverance and he has turned the tide of many battles in the Craftworld Aeldari's greatest times of need. Being one of the legendary Phoenix Lords, Baharroth tends to appear when his people need him the most, oft times while leading a group of elite warriors, chosen from across the craftworlds.

They are amongst the most skilled students of the Swooping Hawks Aspect Shrine. This specialised battle formation is known as a "Tempest," for Baharroth chooses only the fastest and most agile Swooping Hawks to serve beside him.

This is because their appointed task, the manoeuvre known as the Bahurkan -- "the hawk strike" in the Aeldari Lexicon -- requires speed above all else. Baharroth has delivered the Asuryani from aerial assaults on countless worlds with his Tempest, for it is difficult for the Asuryani to retain air superiority in the face of the overwhelming numbers which their foes like the Orks and the Imperium can often bring to bear.

With a piercing cry, Baharroth and his Tempest leap into the sky, streaking towards the Phoenix Lord's chosen prey. The Swooping Hawk's Haywire Grenades are specially fitted with gravitic motors, effectively turning them into highly-effective, short-ranged aerial mines intended to short-circuit enemy aircraft.

The Phoenix Lord and his companions easily dodge incoming fire from enemy aircraft, attaching their deadly payload to their targets and then they gracefully peel away, leaving the doomed aircraft to its fate.

Wargear

• Phoenix Armour - The legendary Phoenix Lords wear ancient, invaluable Aspect Armour so finely wrought it is proof against almost any weapon. The helmet of this suit contains the Spirit Stones of Baharroth which hold the souls of every Swooping Hawks Exarch to become the Phoenix Lord since Baharroth left the tutelage of Asurmen at the First Shrine on Asur himself millennia ago.

• Shining Blade - Legend tells that Baharroth's Power Sword, the Shining Blade, was forged by the daughters of the Aeldari smith god Vaul in the dying fires of a supernova, and that some of that long-gone star's astral might lives on in its blade. Those the sword judges as impure in heart and deed find their own blinding reflections burning painfully into their eyes.

• Lasblaster

• Shuriken Pistol

Sources

• Codex: Eldar (2nd Edition), pp. 40, 85
• Codex: Eldar (3rd Edition), pg. 42
• Codex: Eldar (4th Edition), pg. 56
• Codex: Eldar (6th Edition) (Digital Edition), pp. 201-204
• Warhammer 40,000 Apocalypse Reload (6th Edition), pg. 32