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1 / 4 · Click to enlargeLore & origins
The Shining Spears are among the rarest and most specialised of the craftworld Aspect Warriors, and the only shrine that goes to war on jetbikes. They embody the spear of Kaela Mensha Khaine, the war god's invincible weapon that struck like lightning and killed any foe with a single blow. Aeldari myth is full of noble heroes at one with their steeds, and in the Shining Spears those legends ride again. Their virtue is said to be bright and clear, marking each warrior as a hero and a champion of the Aeldari race. The Aspect has only a tiny presence on a few craftworlds, among them great Ulthwé, but wherever it is found it is regarded as an elite, a glittering exemplar of the warrior way.
Their Phoenix Lord is Drastanta, the Tempest of Starlight. Before the Fall he was one of the first warriors to fight at Asurmen's side and became one of the first Exarchs. He was always over-proud and too fond of needless lone battles. Accounts of the end on Asur differ. One tells that Drastanta came late to Asurmen's last stand against the legions of Slaanesh and found his mentor already slain by the Keeper of Secrets N'Kari. Keening with grief, he destroyed the daemon with his crystal Celestial Lance. Another says Asurmen fell to N'Kari through Drastanta's own error. Either way, Drastanta founded the Shining Spears shrine on the surviving craftworlds and then vanished into the war-torn galaxy. His Celestial Lance has passed from shrine to shrine since, to keep the ancient tales alive.
Under an Exarch, a Shining Spears squad of three to five riders delivers devastating hit-and-run charges. Each rider is so in tune with their jetbike that a single gesture produces complex, high-speed manoeuvres. They careen past the foe and wheel round for another pass, much as the duelling Dragon Knights of the Exodite worlds do.
Appearance & wargear
Shining Spears ride sleek, gleaming jetbikes. Their Aspect Armour is traditionally painted white, and their helms are shorter and more aerodynamic than most Aspect helmets, with a pan-spectral targeter built in. Like all Aspect Warriors they wear psycho-sensitive plates that harden instantly on impact, with a spirit stone on the breastplate to catch the soul at death. Exarchs wear more ancient and elaborate armour that holds the spirit stones of their predecessors, whose souls lend wisdom and raw psychic power.
Weapons & Vehicles
The psycho-crystalline force-blades and hurled Singing Spears of Craftworld Farseers and Warlocks, humming with resonant Warp-harmonics…
The graceful wraithbone gravitic-accelerator firearm of the Craftworld Aeldari, slicing targets to ribbons with silent, monomolecular s…
A master-crafted blade sheathed in a crackling molecular disruption field that parts ceramite, bone and steel with effortless lethality…
Aspect Warriors who leap through the Warp itself to ambush the enemy, risking their souls with every jump.
A towering wraithbone walker steered by two Asuryani twins, one living and one dead, who fight as a single mind.
Explore all 48 entries in the Weapons & Vehicles armoury.
Battlefield role & tactics
Shining Spears are anti-gravitic heavy cavalry. Their ritual weapon, the laser lance, delivers short-ranged energy blasts strong enough to pierce the thickest armour, unleashed at the moment of the charge, while twin shuriken catapults on their jetbikes cover the approach. Exarchs may carry a star lance, named for the weapon Asuryan wielded from his flying steed, or a paragon sabre, and their jetbikes can mount a shuriken cannon. An Exarch can steer a squad unerringly around tree trunks, down twisting gorges and through rubble-strewn corridors, and judges the best moment to break off so the squad is ready to strike again.
Munitorum & Ordo Xenos Technical Dossier
Classified under Ordo and Departmento Munitorum threat-index protocols as a primary Shining Spears are anti-gravitic heavy cavalry. Their ritual weapon, the laser lance, delivers short-ranged energy blasts strong enough to pierce the thickest armour, unleashed at the moment of the charge, while twin shuriken catapults on their jetbikes cover the approach. Exarchs may carry a star lance, named for the weapon Asuryan wielded from his flying steed, or a paragon sabre, and their jetbikes can mount a shuriken cannon. An Exarch can steer a squad unerringly around tree trunks, down twisting gorges and through rubble-strewn corridors, and judges the best moment to break off so the squad is ready to strike again. asset of Craftworld Aeldari, Shining Spears relies on a tightly coupled symbiosis between operator conditioning and primary armament. Field maintenance and biological recovery logs indicate that extended deployment without liturgical recalibration or bio-stasis rest degrades targeting and metabolic stability by less than 4% per solar week—far outperforming standard sector baselines—while post-engagement recovery teams prioritize the immediate extraction of their core wargear, neural/gene-seed components, or machine-spirit memory cores before enemy scavengers can exploit them.
Notable battles & users
- Drastanta, the Tempest of Starlight: the lost Phoenix Lord of the Aspect, wielder of the Celestial Lance.
- The Swift Kill Shrine: wears dark azure helms in memory of Drastanta's prized helm, the Crown of the Seventh Sky.
- The Blooded Blade Shrine: often rides to defend Maiden Worlds, laying low great foes just as their Exodite wards slay the beasts of their homelands.
- The Riders of Khaine Shrine: its warriors are swept up in visions of past glories as they charge, renewing their vigour.
Related
Characters (2)
Asurmen · Hand of Asuryan, first Phoenix Lord
Eldrad Ulthran · High Farseer of Ulthwé
