"Tree-cutter? Chayal would find your neck before you could pull that shiny toothpick from its sheath."
- —Korhil's response to Tyrion, teasing each other in good humour before the Phoenix King Finubar.[2a]
Korhil Lionmane, the Hunter-Captain of the White Lions
Korhil Lionmane, named "Charandis-bane" by the High Elves of Chrace[3a], is the current Hunter-Captain of the elite High Elven warriors known as the White Lions who serve as the Phoenix King of Ulthuan's honour guard. Lionmane is also the personal bodyguard and close friend of the incumbent Phoenix King Finubar the Seafarer.
When Korhien Ironglaive -- the previous Hunter-Captain of the White Lions -- met his death at the hands of the Dark Elf Khainite Assassin Urian Poisonblade, the bodyguard of the Phoenix King gathered to select a new leader from amongst their ranks. Their choice, approved and blessed by Finubar himself, was the warrior Korhil.[1a]
History[]
"The rage of a Manticore is legendary and to behold such a creature in its wrath is nothing short of awe-inspiring. Its roar alone can cause warriors to flee the battlefield."
- —Korhil Lionmane[6a]
Korhil Lionmane, captain of the White Lions, during the End Times.
The White Lions claim Korhil Lionmane to be the strongest High Elf in all of Ulthuan, and certainly his strength and stature are legendary. Yet Korhil is no lumbering giant, for he wields his long axe with a dexterity and grace that makes even his fellow White Lions appear cumbersome. His honest demeanour and noble bearing have won him many friends amongst the lords of Ulthuan, and the heroes of the other mortal races besides.[1a]
Korhil has ever repaid his friendship with the same loyalty he offers his liege, and gladly marches to his allies' aid should the Phoenix King consent to sparing his services. Thus has Korhil's axe spilt blood in many lands, and in the cause of many people not his own.[1a]
An illustration of Korhil Lionmane wearing the famed Pelt of Charandis.
Korhil was a famous warrior even before his rise to the position of the White Lions' captain. Years before, it was he who had hunted and slain the great lion Charandis. This was a particularly ferocious creature, mutated by the warping power of Chaos to an armour-hided brute that was mighty even by the standards of other white lions. Dozens of Chracian hunters had tried to bring Charandis down, but the beast had slain them all.[1a]
The young Korhil, however, was not to be deterred, and he headed into the Chracian highlands in search of his prey. Charandis' trail was not hard to follow, for it was marked with the bloody bodies of those who had attempted to end his rampage. When Korhil finally encountered Charandis, the lion was near-mad with bloodlust, and savage beyond belief. Yet Kurnous, the god of the hunt, was with the young hunter that day. Soon realising his axe-blows had no effect on Charandis' magical hide, Korhil shifted tactics. In a feat of physical strength unheard of for an Elf, he wrestled the raging beast to the ground and throttled the life from its thrashing body.[1a]
Korhil later explained that he had accomplished this feat by drawing Charandis farther and farther away from the mountains for days on end until the lion's strength was weakened enough that Korhil could finally choke him to death.[2a]
Korhil Lionmane wielding his twin, long-hafted axes in battle.
Korhil's first taste of battle came soon afterwards. A Dark Elf reaver band ran riot in Chrace until they came to Korhil's village where the young High Elf slew their leader Saurios Nightblade in single combat. This was reckoned a great feat of arms, for Saurios was a master swordsman schooled by the Assassins of Naggaroth, whilst Korhil was still but a young lad.[4a]
Korhil's success earned him an instant invitation to join the Phoenix King's White Lions honour guard. Only twice before had such an offer been made to so young a High Elven warrior, and Korhil was swift to accept. In the decades that followed, the young hunter grew into a grizzled White Lion veteran, proving his worth time and again against the Druchii's Khainite Assassins and the dread beasts of the Annulii Mountains.
Thus has Korhil served the Phoenix King Finubar the Seafarer with unfailing loyalty for many years, and has stood steadfastly beside him in many battles. Indeed, Korhil's gemstone-set belt was a gift from Finubar following the Battle of Tor Achare, where Korhil hurled himself into the path of the Dark Elf Morech the Black's Manticore. Korhil was badly mauled, but gave far better than he got, disembowelling the beast with a single swing of his axe before unconsciousness took him. When Korhien Ironglaive died during the Battle of Finuval Plain in the Great War Against Chaos, Korhil succeeded him as the White Lions' new captain.[1a]
In the year XI, 144 (2307 IC) the Khainite Assassin coterie of Gloreir Duskblade attempted to kill the Phoenix King. Finubar survived only through the selfless actions of his White Lion honour guard, who formed a wall of bodies about their liege until the danger had passed. Cheated of their prey, the surviving Dark Elves soon fled, only to be hunted down and slain in a series of running battles across the rooftops of Lothern. Gloreir himself was beheaded by a single swing from Captain Korhil's axe, and his ravaged body set within a gibbet at the foot of the Glittering Tower.[1b]
Wargear[]
- Chayal ("Lion's Claw") - The captain of the White Lions has carried this keen-edged and finely balanced battleaxe since the regiment's founding. Lighter than a child's wooden toy, a warrior of sufficient skill can wield Chayal with incredible speed, effortlessly hacking off heads and limbs with every stroke. Korhil is but the most recent of a long and honored line of Hunter-Captains to wield the axe.[1a][4a][5a]
- Pelt of Charandis - In return for Korhil Lionmane's loyal service, the Phoenix King Finubar directed that the pelt of Charandis, the Great Lion of Chrace that Korhil famously slew to earn his position in the White Lions, be fashioned into a magnificent, enchanted cloak.[1a]
Miniatures[]
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Armies: High Elves (8th Edition)
- 2: Sons of Ellyrion (Novel) by Graham McNeill
- 2a: Ch. 5
- 3: Deathblade: A Tale of Malus Darkblade (Novel) by C.L. Werner
- 3a: Ch. 19
- 4: Warhammer Armies: High Elves (5th Edition)
- 4a: pg. 90
- 5: Warhammer Armies: High Elves (7th Edition)
- 5a: pg. 70
- 6: Storm of Magic (8th Edition)
- 6a: pg. 88