Warhammer 40K: Vashtorr the Arkifane – Master of the Soul Forges
Come and learn of the neverborn who may yet ascend to the sit at the table of the Chaos Gods – Vashtorr the Arkifane.
Vashtorr the Arkifane is a powerful Daemon and the ruler of the Forge of Souls. He claims to forgo allegiance to any Chaos God and commands his own army known as the Cult of the Arkifane.
Vashtorr’s Creation & Background
Having long kept himself shrouded from most races, Vashtorr is a demi-god of inventors, engineers, scientists, and artisans. He is empowered by acts of curiosity (like Slaanesh) and innovation (like Tzeentch) in the Materium, shorn of morality and driven to its darkest extremes. He has only manifested a handful of times in galactic history, and some crypto-scholars maintain he was created amidst the reckless arms race of some ancient galaxy-spanning war. Others propose he was brought about by the horrors of the Dark Age of Technology, where he proved a patron to many of its technological horrors. He is also said to have been empowered by events such as the rise of the Necrons, the Cursed Founding, and the creation of Primaris Space Marines.
Vashtorr is not a slave of any of the four great Chaos Gods, instead maintaining his own sphere of influence and unique role within the Warp. He is the lord of the Forge of Souls, having grown powerful bartering souls with any Daemon or damned individual that seeks his services in the acquisition of Daemonic weaponry. Other are simply enslaved to his will and forced to join the ranks of his own armies.< Unlike most of his kind, Vashtorr rarely lies or conceals his true objectives. He establishes explicit contracts with clear terms and conditions. He has kept the wrath of The Four at bay due to the usefulness of his Daemon Engines to the armies of the Great Game, serving as its premier arms dealer. However, he is far from defenseless, and sports his own host of powerful techno-daemonic monstrosities. His activities have nonetheless attracted the ire of other Daemons, most notably Be’lakor.
Vashtorr & The Arks of Omen
Despite all he has achieved, Vashtorr has grown dissatisfied with his status. He seeks to become a fifth Chaos God in his own right. To that end, he seeks to fulfill a prophecy involving fragments of the mysterious Key and entered into an alliance with Abaddon the Despoiler. His proposal to Abaddon initiated the construction of the Arks of Omen and the war involving them.
During the Arks of Omen Campaign, Vashtorr led his own Ark Orac Unleashed in an invasion of The Rock, Fortress-Monastery of the Dark Angels and home to a Key-Fragment. However, his carefully laid plans were spoiled as the Arkifane was on the cusp of victory thanks to the intervention of his hated rival Be’lakor, who suddenly appeared aboard The Rock with a host of his own. Be’lakor’s forces were able to stagnate Vashtorr’s advance into the Rock long enough for Imperial reinforcements to arrive. Enraged, Vashtorr engaged Be’lakor in a great duel that was largely even, with the Dark Master’s shadow-sorcery a match for Vashtorr’s technological abilities. However, after scolding Vashtorr for his hubris, Be’lakor departed the war zone, and seeing his plans were in ruins, Vashtorr quickly left as well. Afterwards, the Arkifane told Abaddon that not all was lost, and he began devising a new plan focused around the Somnium Stars.
In the Somnium Stars, the vengeful Unforgiven fleet discovered that Vashtorr had converted the ruins of Caliban into a mechanical monstrosity known as the Wyrmwood. In the subsequent Battle of Idolatros, Vashtorr lost his Ark of Omen Orac Unleashed and saw Angron defeated by the returned Lion El’Jonson, but succeeded in activating The Key. Now, the Arkifane seeks The Lock and with it The Weapon.
Vashtorr’s Known Abilities
Vashtorr has demonstrated several unholy powers, the most mundane of which is his power to fly extremely swiftly without aerodynamic wings – his wings are made up of four metal scythe-like blades. These blades are also capable of projecting destructive energy, arcing like lightning. He can exude a cloud of foul-smelling fog – industrial pollutants – to hide his form and choke his enemy’s airways. He is capable of perceiving every single component in an enemy’s technologically advanced weaponry, and absorb the energy that they fire at him. He can then redirect that energy, both to heal himself of his wounds, and to send it back at his opponents as energy blasts. He can emit scrapcode warcries that infect enemy wargear, weapons, and vox systems which corrupts those devices against their owners.
Vashtorr’s Weapon
The Hammer of the Soul Forges is a Daemon Weapon, that is wielded by Vashtorr. It is also a tool that the powerful Daemon uses to create and destroy as he sees fit.
Vashtorr’s Domain – The Forge of Souls
This domain is unaligned to any of the four main Gods of Chaos, and is located in the Formless Wastes of the Realm of Chaos, where it is perpetually cloaked in a pall of black, oily fumes and dominated by the wailing of uncountable tortured spirits. Blind, ever-mutating Daemon craftsmen work the forges, while their black fires are fueled by the souls of the damned and the colossal screaming bellows are manned by legions of semi-sentient nightmare creatures.
Among the Forge’s creations are the terrifying Soul Grinders. For the chance to be fused with a mechanical construct and become a Soul Grinder, higher-ranked Daemons duel with each other in a never-ending battle in the ash plains outside the Forge. The Masters of the Forge providently make newborn Soul Grinders take the three Oaths of the Iron Pact before releasing them:
- All the souls harvested by the great blades of the Soul Grinder will be used for the fueling of the Forge;
- All the wrecked remains of all war machines destroyed by the adamantium claws of the Soul Grinder will be offered to the Forge;
- Should any of the Chaos Gods attack the Forge of Souls and try to rule it, the Soul Grinder must discard all of their previous loyalties and fight in its defence.
Chaos Space Marine Warpsmiths are able to utilize the power of the Forge of Souls to construct their Daemon Engines.
All Hail the Primordial Annihilator
