Did Dark Elves once worship Khorne?

Hello,

This morning I was looking at the Talisman 3rd Edition figure of the Witch Elf:

mini_3rd_alt_witch_elf_em.jpg


(Picture from White Dwarf #190)

I noticed she had what looks like the symbol of Khorne on her headpiece. I looked up the front cover of the first Dark Elf Army Book, which depicts a very similar character and noticed she categorically has the symbol of Khorne in the same spot.

Did Dark Elves worship Khorne back in 1995, or was this some weird anomaly?
 

Fimm McCool

Member
Re: Dark Elves Army Book (1995) Query

I was reading an article on this just the other day in WD 11and something... will see if I can find a pdf.
 
Just had a read of that article. Very interesting. So Khaine was literally Khorne by another name back in 1988.

Was this still the case in 1995, when the Dark Elf Army Book was released? I suppose I should read it and find out!
 
The earlier stuff was less explicit about how the metaphysics actually functioned.
It isn't certain how many gods of Chaos there were, the big 4 might be the most powerful, or the most familiar out of thousands, or all aspects of the same God or force.
There were Gods of Law which may or may not have been Chaos Gods.

My personal interpretation is that the Chaos Gods don't have a distinct identity, they are shaped by the beliefs of their followers in the mortal world, subsequently their gifts influence the mortals and the whole thing becomes a feedback loop. I believe Khaine and Khorne were functionally identical until the Elves had enough contact with other mortal races to arrogantly look down on them and make a distinction between the proper civilised God of blood and murder, and the cruder blood God the other unsophisticated hicks of the world worship.
 
Interesting thoughts.

I had a look at the 1995 army book just now, and while there is no explicit mention of Khaine being Khorne (unlike White Dwarf 108), there is still that Witch Elf on the front cover, and the corresponding miniature, which clearly have the symbol of Khorne on her diadem, as opposed to an Elfish rune.
 

Fimm McCool

Member
Gallowglacht":1eh28pdj said:
My personal interpretation is that the Chaos Gods don't have a distinct identity, they are shaped by the beliefs of their followers in the mortal world, subsequently their gifts influence the mortals and the whole thing becomes a feedback loop. I believe Khaine and Khorne were functionally identical until the Elves had enough contact with other mortal races to arrogantly look down on them and make a distinction between the proper civilised God of blood and murder, and the cruder blood God the other unsophisticated hicks of the world worship.

That certainly fits with the idea of warp entities being nourished by the existence of those whose actions feed them. Initially the aspects of behaviour and belief associated with Khaine could have been a part of Khorne's nourishment but when they grew significant in strength and number 'split' as a different entity came into being. But yeah, one of the things about chaos is it's not at all clear-cut or defined. Otherwise it'd be order!
 

Tullaris

Member
This is from the Battle Bestiary, which was included with the 4th edition game, before the army books were released, page 56 "The wildest of all are the witch elves - a warrior sisterhood devoted to the Chaos God Khorne who they call Khaine Lord of Murder."
This was not repeated when the Dark Elf Army book was released, but some of the witch elves depicted in the 'eavy metal display section had the mark of khorne on them.

This is from Liber Chaotica vol 1 Khorne, which was first published in 2003.
Here's an excerpt from a report by witch hunter captain Mathias Thulmann: "A God named Khaine, a God of Murder and death and bloodshed, only the willfully blind could not see that this is none other than the Blood Lord (Khorne) himself, cloaked in one of his many guises, to beguile and trick those who might otherwise repel him."

Hope this was helpful:)
 
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