Warhammer 40K: Lelith Hesperax Dark Alliances
Delve of the web of dark alliances that bind Lelith, Slaanesh, the Craftworlders and even the Deathwatch.
Lelith Hesperax
Lelith Hesperax is best known for her abilities in the Dark Eldar coliseums and is considered the undisputed master of the gladiatorial arenas. Instances have been recorded of her fighting up to ten opponents simultaneously without receiving a scratch. Her preferred combat dress is to expose as much bare skin as she can and to wear her floor-length hair loose in order to taunt her opponents into attacking, a fact that draws significant attention from spectators.
Away from the coliseums of Commorragh and on the battlefields of the 41st millennium she is unmatched in hand to hand combat and her speed and skill make her a truly deadly opponent. Unique amongst most of her kind, Lelith does not use any kind of enhancement drugs for combat. She prefers to fight up close and considers narcotics a sign of weakness. This mindset is usually suicidal for Dark Eldar, and says much about her battle prowess that she remains nearly scarless. Many in Commoragh insist her power comes from a dark source.
After defeating Yvraine in the arena, Lelith has gone on to join forces with the reborn prophet of Ynnead, committing much of the Cult of Strife to the Ynnari effort. While many think she simply wishes to erase Slaanesh with the rest of her kin, in truth she seeks to locate and capture Lucius the Eternal. Lelith believes that if she can strip Lucius of his daemonic armor and fight him in the arena, it would be the greatest duel Commorragh has ever seen. Lelith Hesperax was one of Yvraine’s defenders during the Battle of Iathglas.
Beautiful Betrayal
In the past, the Archon Sussarkh the Kabal Slayer ruled the Kabals and Wych Cults on the planet Hesperax. Sussarkh made the world run slick with blood as he turned them against one another in perpetual combat, bringing the world to the brink of its own ruin. While sitting on his throne on the highest peak of a volcano,Sussarkh asked his consort, the breathtaking Lelith Hesperax of the Wych Cult of Strife, to dance for him, as he watched the bloodshed below. As she began her dance, Lelith danced between Sussarkh’s retinue as lightning flashed and black rain began to pour down on them. Unknown to Sussarkh, Lelith had struck a contract with a Daemon of Slaanesh. She would be given the power to stop the mindless slaughter and instead have it done in a grand gladiatorial arena. All it would take to sign the contract was the soul of the Archon himself. As she finished her dance, Sussarkh noticed his retinue had stopped moving and began to fall apart. Lelith had killed them skillfully during her dance leaving Sussarkh undefended. He raised his sword to battle Lelith, only to find that he too, had been cut and he watched as his body fell apart. With a skillful dance, Wych Queen Lelith, became the new ruler of Hesperax.
In the coming years Lelith, and the Wych Cult of Strife, strengthened their hold on the planet and began to fulfill her contract with the Daemon. She had a gladiatorial arena built, into the very volcano, where she had killed Sussarkh. There Lelith had her throne built, so she could watch over the spectacle of the gladiatorial fights and watch the gallons of blood being spilled every day in her honor. Her Daemonic patron had already granted Lelith numerous favors and had offered her assistance to ensure the longevity of the Wych Queen’s rule on Hesperax itself. In return, Lelith had promised the Daemon enough souls to push its Slaaneshi army out of the warp and into the material realm.
Dark Aliances
Lelith began to send raiding parties out to find strong souls for the arena, including several on the nearby Craftworld of Ulthwé. For long centuries the Wych Queen accumulated the souls of warriors from various species and stored them up for a magnificent sacrifice to unleash her daemonic patron. As it turned out, she was still a vital few short. She began to increase the raids on Ulthwé and Eldrad Ulthran and the Seer Council found a way to rid themselves of their problem once and for all. The Council agreed to allow Lelith to raid the lower levels of the Craftworld where expendable Eldar were located. Using these raids as a reason to call for aid, they contacted the Ordo Xenos on the Inquisition substation Ramugan. Enacting the Coven of Isha, an agreement for mutual aid between Ulthwé and the Ordo Xenos, they requested a Deathwatch Kill Team be sent. The strength of their souls would be enough to release the daemon from the warp, if the Wych Queen was able to sacrifice them appropriately. Ulthwé would be safe and the Dark Eldar of Hesperax would have satisfied their Slaneesh patron.
The Kill Team landed on Hesperax, in pursuit of the Ulthwé Seers kidnapped during Lelith’s raid, in order to honor the Coven of Isha. Once they landed their Thunderhawks, the team, and the few Ulthwé Eldar sent to aid them, were quickly overwhelmed by Drukhari and taken to the gladiatorial arena. They were made to fight for the crowd and Lelith, but managed to turn the battle in their favor. Lelith herself fought and despite the Kill-team suffering several losses, including the Watch-Captain Quirion Octavius and their Eldar allies, the Deathwatch escaped the arena. In the chambers below, deep in the volcano, the Kill Team came upon Lelith in her lair with her spirit pool of all the souls killed in the arena were kept. Knowing of it’s importance, they deployed charges to destroy it with explosives, while battling the Wych Queen and the surviving Drukhari.
The Deathwatch mission was a success, and caused the volcano itself to erupt, in turn dooming the planet of Hesperax to disintigration.
