Karanak, also called the "Hound of Vengeance," is a unique Flesh Hound of Khorne who is the incarnation of Khorne's vengeance. None can hide from the Blood God's favoured hound.
Karanak hunts them all down across the length and breadth of space and time, no matter where they hide or for how long they run. When not hunting, Karanak keeps watch over Khorne's Throne of Brass.
Unlike normal Flesh Hounds, Karanak has three heads, each capable of tracking unlucky prey by different means.
Role[]
For those that incur the wrath of Khorne, there is but one fate. Those who insult his pride, warriors that break his creed, cowards that refuse to shed blood -- Khorne's anger reaches them all. From the ends of realspace to the depths of the Immaterium, across space and time, Karanak is Khorne's favoured hound, the incarnation of the Blood God's vengeance.
Relentless, vicious and single-minded, Karanak is an implacable hunter who tracks his prey across the warped daemon realms and through the depths of realspace. No army can defend against him, and no wall can bar his path.
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Karanak is always ready to defend his master's realm.
When not hunting, Karanak prowls the shadows of the Blood God's throne room. Karanak is vigilant above all other Flesh Hounds, for he has no less than three heads above his brass collar. While one feeds on the bones of those sacrificed to his master, the other two keep watch.
None pass into Khorne's throne chamber without the leave of this watchful guardian. Sometimes, an unwary Bloodletter or Fury will stray too close, and Karanak pounces; it is a brutal end signalled by the crunching of bones, the spattering of blood and a tri-throated chorus of chilling snarls.
This restless guardianship is oft interrupted, for Khorne's ire is eternal, and when he is particularly offended by a mortal, he will seal their doom by loosing Karanak upon them. The beast can sense his master's rage, and lopes to his side. Then, with a roar, the Blood God unleashes Karanak, and the great hound lifts his heads, nostrils flaring as he catches the scent of his prey.
Each of his heads tracks his quarry in a different fashion: the first head follows the trail through space; the second tracks the scent through time; the third head, the most dangerous, senses the quarry through his thoughts and feelings, tracking them through dreamscapes and delusions. This guarantees that no prey eludes Karanak; those with wit, skill and technology can avoid spatial and temporal detection, but only the insane can outrun their own minds.
As Karanak lopes forth on his course, bounding from realm to realm, his multiple, dissonant growls echo and grow louder in the thoughts of his prey. Karanak's howls resound across space and time, leading the Blood Hunt of Khorne to the chase.
As the pursuit covers leagues and light years, a pack of slavering beasts, thundering Juggernauts and battle-hungry Bloodletters forms around Karanak, eager for the kill.
In a frenzy of fangs and blood, Karanak and the hunt strike, tearing through anything in their path before cornering the Blood God's quarry and ripping it apart.
With the flopping, shredded remains of his hapless victim clasped tightly in all three jaws, Karanak leaves the other daemons of Khorne to continue their bloodthirsty and cruel sport in realspace, and hurtles back to Khorne's throne room to present this gift to his master. There, a pleased Blood God adds the freshly collected skull to the ever-growing pile upon which his throne sits, whilst his faithful Hound is rewarded with the remainder of the corpse on which to feast.
Wargear[]
As befits Karanak's favoured status, he has been gifted with a superior version of the Brass Collar worn by other Flesh Hounds. Possessed of Khorne's hatred for sorcery, but the Blood God's wrathful vengeance, the thick metal band withstands psychic powers as easily as its wearer's scaled skin repels rainwater.
Karanak always remembers those psykers who dare cast their despised magics at him in battle; though it may take years, the hound will inevitably have his vengeance, and once his prey has been killed, will take great satisfaction in chewing upon its sorcerous bones.
Sources[]
- Codex: Chaos Daemons (4th Edition), pg. 55
- Codex: Chaos Daemons (8th Edition), pp. 41, 90