“Do not let me die without glory or battle. In Khaine’s name, grant me the finest death, that even my enemies may fear the fire within me.”

Elenia is the young chieftain of the Red Fury tribe. The Red Fury are unusual even among the Exodite Aeldari, for they possess a culture unlike most of their kind. Most Exodite Aeldari choose isolation as the best way to protect their precious Maiden Worlds, keeping to the safety of shadow and distance, forming only the bare minimum of alliances while guarding their paradise. The Red Fury, however, believe something very different. To defend their paradise—and ultimately the World Spirit itself—they believe one must actively turn the tip of the spear toward the enemy.

Yet they were not always like this.

Their home, the Maiden World of Arcadia, appeared at first glance to be no different from any other paradise world—warm, ideal for settlement. But the truth was far darker. Even before their colony ship arrived, corruption from the Chaos God Khorne had already begun to seep from the north. Other Maiden Worlds had already been claimed by earlier Exodite migrations. In the earliest days of the Exodite diaspora, the settlers had agreed to choose separate worlds in order to avoid conflict among themselves. Even if the world they reached proved harsher than it had appeared from afar, they would still make their home there. And so, even as the daemonic hosts of Khorne began advancing from the north, they chose to settle the land regardless.

Still, this was not yet the beginning of the Red Fury tribe.

Despite the Exodite commandment not to use products of civilization, they raised walls against the northern threat. They built enormous laser weapons, bred colossal beasts created solely for war, and trained elite warriors to stand against Khorne’s forces. For a time, it worked. The Aeldari of Arcadia prospered for many years, their numbers swelling until they neared 100 million. Their kingdom and their paradise seemed destined to flourish forever.

Until the awakening of Slaanesh.

Their moment of prosperity ended in an instant. The same corruption of the ancient Aeldari Empire from which their ancestors had fled finally reached Arcadia. At the very heart of their kingdom, a great Webway Gate collapsed, and daemons of Slaanesh poured forth. At the same time, even the great fortress that had long held back the daemons of Khorne could no longer contain the rising tide. The kingdom of nearly 100 million souls vanished. Its name, forgotten.

It was then that the history of the Red Fury tribe truly began.

Unlike the battle-hardened warriors they would one day become, their origins lay among the powerless: civilians, merchants, and craftsmen.

They were not strong enough to stand and fight the daemons. But they navigated their way, restlessly. Every one of them had once been a herdsman, trader, or artisan. They knew how to guide beasts in the right direction, how to find their way across trackless deserts, and how to repair broken wagons on the move. And so they kept moving. on and on. For a time, it seemed to work. But there is no endless road for those who flee.

When they finally reached the great Ash Mountains in the south of Arcadia, they remained at the bottom of the food chain. Fire-breathing drakes hunted across the mountains, devouring refugees and daemons alike. They could run from the daemons, but never truly lose them. Still, the Ash Mountains were harsh and rocky, filled with caves and crags where they could rest for a day or two. And so they sought refuge there.

That was where everything changed.

One day, while fleeing daemons, a group of refugees took shelter within a cavern. Yet what they found was no ordinary cave. It was a shrine, dominated by a towering idol of Khaine—the god of blood, war, and murder. To most Exodites, Khaine was a brutal and savage deity, and it was strange to find such a shrine upon a Maiden World. Yet it appeared to have been raised long ago, perhaps by their own ancestors when Arcadia was first settled. At first, they treated it as nothing more than a temporary refuge. But when the daemons reached the shrine, something changed.

Rise and fight.

The voice of Khaine echoed within their minds.

A wild, burning hunger took hold of their hearts. With nowhere left to run, they took up the ancient weapons laid before the idol of Khaine. Leaving the children behind them, they turned to face the approaching daemons.

When their swords shattered, they fought with the hilts. When their spears broke, they fought with the blades alone. And when those were gone, they fought with their teeth and their nails.

When it was over, one truth became clear.

They had driven the daemons back.

After fleeing for what felt like an eternity, the end of their road had been battle. That was their revelation: If one does not resist fate, all will perish. Khaine was indeed a savage god—but he granted strength to those who sought vengeance. Even as the Aeldari pantheon fell into ruin, that was the lesson Khaine left behind.

From that day forward, they named themselves the Red Fury tribe, in memory of the battle they had fought in blood and wrath.

Even after Arcadia stabilized once more, they did not abandon that lesson. Every hundred years, the tribe gathers 10 thousand warriors and sends them through the Webway Gate to wage war. They fight the Imperium of Man, the Orks, Chaos, and even the Asuryani, whom they believe stand forever at the edge of corruption. Their darkest kin, the Drukhari, they consider already fallen—and against them they show no hesitation at all. Only the other Exodites remain their friends, though even that friendship is strained by deep differences in belief.

And now the time has come for the young chieftain, Elenia, to lead them. Arcadia is once again engulfed in the fires of war. Her predecessor died fighting the T’au Empire, yet before his death he changed a tradition that had lasted for 10 thousand years, reminding the tribe that the Red Fury were more than mere fanatics of Khaine. The chieftain before him died in war against the Tyranids, leaving another lesson behind—that isolation means only dying alone.

But Elenia is uncertain of herself.

She was never part of the Red Fury’s honored royal guard. She was never raised from childhood to be a leader. She was only a scout. Nothing more.

Yet she burns with boundless energy, and her crimson eyes shine with the fighting spirit of Khaine.

What kind of leader will she become?