40K Lore: The Times Are Changing – So Are The Lords
Today Loremasters, we delve into the extra forbidden lore of the Lords of Change. Recite your Litany against Corruption thrice to be safe.
Heresy! Treachery and heresy! Treachery and heresy and double heresy! These are the weapons of the ruinous powers. As you’ve doubtless seen over the last few weeks, the enemy has plenty of each available to them–however, we have saved the deadliest for last. Oh certainly, the Bloodthirsters of Khorne and the Great Unclean Ones of Nurgle and the Keepers of Secrets of Slaanesh are all deadly, and alone one of them can bring about the ruin of an entire world if left unchecked.
But there is one thing and one thing alone that makes the Feathered Lords far deadlier than any of their brethren. One thing that beats within their fowl, warp-twisted hearts, which makes them more of a Doom than even the mightiest plague, the deadliest axe, the most sensuous corruption of desire–Loremasters, the weapon they wield is: truth.
Heresy! you might be crying–but it’s to be watched out for nonetheless. The truth is among the deadliest weapons in the Imperium, and for the Lords of Change to wield it so maliciously, so deftly, makes them among the deadliest of daemons. Where the others might be able to bring about the ruin of a world, a Lord of Change can end a society without destroying it.
Lords of Change, more fully known as the Watching Lords of Change and also as the Eyes of Tzeentch and the Feathered Lords, are the Greater Daemons of Tzeentch. The most powerful servants of their master, Lords of Change are in many ways essentially minor embodiments of all the characteristics of Tzeentch, renowned for their long-running and intricate schemes that weave across time and fate.
Lords of Change are notable for being allowed access to Tzeentch’s very own reserves of wisdom and for essentially being expressions of his cunning, which gives them great power. As individuals, they are all said to possess the attitude of wicked children; playful but mischievous and even openly malicious towards the lesser beings they delight in manipulating. Nothing is more pleasing to a Lord of Change than to break open fate and re-shape it, be it by manipulation of individuals or direct action. Even without access to Tzeentch’s knowledge of fate, they are said to be deeply intelligent and understanding of life’s mysteries.
They are powerful sorcerers and resourceful manipulators who appear to mortals as omniscient beings. Their magical abilities are so strong that the most powerful sorcerous incantations of mortals are reckoned to be but simple tricks to a Lord of Change. They are said to be able to turn scores of men into boneless spawn at a mere glance, destroy an armoured vehicle with a flick of a finger, or wrench the soul out of even the mightiest warriors with a simple word. For nothing is made that cannot be unmade, or changed, and such areas are the domains of the daemons of Tzeentch. Furthermore they are capable of seeing the near future which allows them to predict their foes’ and allies’ every move. Confrontations with these Greater Daemons almost always occur with their foreknowledge; getting the drop on a creature that is an embodiment of the Master of Destiny is unlikely. Thus a Lord of Change can only be defeated when it is part of one of Tzeentch’s grand schemes, when he tricks his own Daemon by sending it false visions of the future.
Though they are mighty, these servants of Tzeentch are known for their manipulative ways. Why simply wrench the soul from a man, when you can change the course of history?
Indirect action is their preference; manipulating things from the shadows. Minor heretics, dedicated cults, revolutionaries, the actions of Planetary Governors, Inquisitors and even other daemons have all been the victims of the subtle manipulations of a Lord of Change. Those who become playthings of the Feathered Lords often have no inkling of that what is happening to them is all part of a manipulative scheme of a daemon, and even if they do learn of it, to attempt to escape from the clutches of a Lord of Change is to wander through a mist of deception and lies, unsure of the firmness of one’s convictions.
But the most foul lie of all comes wen they reveal a truth. The truth, carefully deployed in the wrong place can ruin empires. The truth–and by extension knowledge, and so on–is power. Read on about these powerful Lords of Change who have plagued the Imperium, see how their truths have ruined swaths of the galaxy.
Aetaos’rau’keres, also known as the Slayer of Souls is a Lord of Change, a Greater Daemon of Tzeentch. Reclusive and secretive, Aetaos’rau’keres is dreaded and feared among his fellow Daemons. An insane demigod who gradually rose to the rank of Lord of Change, he is the harbinger that heralds the end of sanity and life on any planet to which he is summoned. Though known by many names, the true history of this creature is not even known to the arcane scholars of the Ordo Malleus. To keep his true nature and history a secret, the Lord of Change hunts down any who may discover the truth. It is said that only Tzeentch himself knows Aetaos’rau’keres’s true nature and origins.
Elhe’eladrax, known as Elhe’eladrax of the Eternal Change, is a Lord of Change of Tzeentch. During the many wars part of the Great Game in the Warp, Elhe’eladrax led a host of Tzeentch Daemons into the Garden of Nurgle. However once his forces were lured into the poisonous maze of plants of the Garden by Ku’Gath, his forces were defeated.
M’Kachan (or M’Kachen) is a Lord of Change and is amongst the most cunning and devious of all Tzeentch’s servants, leading the Great Changehost. Although most Greater Daemons have broadly similar powers, they are by no means identical. M’Kachan, for example, disdains physical combat and relies on his formidable psychic powers and mastery of illusion and trickery to defeat his foes to an extent unparalleled by any other Lord of Change. He particularly relishes matching his intellect and cunning against those of a worthy foe, and has even been known to spare such opponents in order to allow himself the pleasure of matching wits against them at some time in the future.
Skra’kalichaust, known as The Schemer, is a mischievous Greater Daemon of Tzeentch who seems to take delight in the ongoing struggles for glory amongst the warbands of the Screaming Vortex. This daemon is one of the enigmatic Lords of Change who serve Tzeentch, a matchless sorcerer who appears to be using warbands in the Screaming Vortex as pieces in some greater game. Skra’kalichaust has made bargains with a number of Warbands within the Vortex, granting them power or passage from one world to another in return for seemingly innocuous services or favours.
Vexwing is a Lord of Change that was part of the Sorcerer Ahriman‘s forces, when they attacked the Ynnari Eldar during the War in the Labyrinth. When the battle began, Vexwing teleported behind the Phoenix Lord Maugetar and was about to slay the unsuspecting Lord, when Karandras suddenly appeared and hacked the Lord of Change apart.
The Lords of Change are a loathsome plague–but one to watch out for, their deeds are hidden, their motives secret, known only to the Great Deceiver himself. Question everything you know to be true, Loremasters. Even this.
Especially this.
