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The Visarch is a masked Aeldari swordsman who serves as Yvraine's champion and bodyguard. With Yvraine and the Yncarne he forms the Triumvirate of Ynnead.
He wields Asu-var, the Sword of Silent Screams, a Cronesword taken from Biel-Tan's infinity circuit. He leads the Soulbound Vanguard of the Ynnari and is famed as one of the finest swordsmen among the Aeldari. He rarely speaks, letting his blade and his loyalty to Yvraine speak for him. Before he was the Visarch he was Laarian Starspeaker, a Dire Avenger Exarch of Biel-Tan's Silvered Blade shrine. He taught a young Yvraine the sword. When she became the Emissary of Ynnead he did something no Exarch is supposed to be able to do: he left his shrine to follow her. He disguised himself as an Incubus in Commorragh, struck down a Klaivex to take his place, and helped her escape the Dark City. He now carries the Cronesword Asu-Var and guards her with fanatical devotion. Ghost Warrior shows how close that devotion runs to the war god Khaine.
Origins
His identity is deliberately mysterious. He first appeared as a Drukhari swordsman who approached Yvraine in the Crucibael.
Before he appeared at Yvraine's side, nothing about him was recorded publicly. His fighting style suggests long years in the arenas and the corsair fleets. Since joining Yvraine, he has fought in every major Ynnari campaign, and his history has become bound to hers.
Psychic Awakening: Phoenix Rising (p. 70) tells the story of his devotion. As Laarian Starspeaker, Exarch of Biel-Tan's Silvered Blade shrine, he had taught Yvraine swordsmanship when she was an Aspect Warrior and grew deeply attached to her. Her departure from the shrine, first to become a witch and then an Outcast, saddened him. When she joined the killers of Commorragh, his spirit broke. In an almost unheard-of step, he left his shrine and gave up his place as Exarch to follow her. In the Dark City he posed as an Incubus of the Shrine of the Coiled Blade, the Scarlet Incubi, and took the Klaivex's position by killing him. The codex suggests that this was when he first felt a deep connection to the Whispering God.
Key events
- Fought his way to Yvraine's side amid the chaos in the Crucibael and offered her a temporary alliance.
- Escorted Yvraine and her Bloodbrides out of the arena to Sec Maegra.
- Became part of the Triumvirate of Ynnead.
- Protected Yvraine through the fracturing of Biel-Tan, the Battle of Iyanden and Guilliman's resurrection.
- Was among Yvraine's defenders when Shalaxi Hellbane cornered her.
Gav Thorpe's Rise of the Ynnari: Ghost Warrior adds the shadow over his loyalty. During the search for the last Cronesword on the lost Craftworld Zaisuthra, the Harlequins of the Masque of the Midnight Sorrow tested the Ynnari leaders' minds. Only the Visarch was found wanting, and Shadowseer Laedellin Starshone predicted that he would betray Yvraine. Before that came true, it was the Visarch who pulled Yvraine back when Ynnead's wrath nearly consumed her in the battle against genestealer-corrupted Aeldari. He went with her to Kalisus and on to Macragge, and later fought on Agarimethea in Wild Rider. He fights with the Cronesword Asu-Var in Bel-Anshoc armour, a style from before the Fall. White Dwarf (February 2017) credits his miniature to Jes Goodwin and Neil Langdown.
Battles & campaigns
- Escape from Commorragh: He fought as Yvraine's protector as she fled the Dark City.
- Iathglas: Shalaxi Helbane nearly killed him; his apparent death helped summon the Yncarne.
- Tomb of Eldanesh: Khaine's rage took him and turned him on his mistress.
Personality
Stern, protective and taciturn, utterly devoted to Yvraine.
He is intensely protective of Yvraine and distrustful of anyone who might threaten her. He is a disciplined, patient warrior who prefers action to speech. His mask hides whatever doubts or memories he carries, and he gives his followers little sense of who he truly is. He is famously reticent and seldom explains himself, as though his whole being is bent on the single task of keeping Yvraine alive.
Weapons & Vehicles
A master-crafted blade sheathed in a crackling molecular disruption field that parts ceramite, bone and steel with effortless lethality…
The graceful wraithbone gravitic-accelerator firearm of the Craftworld Aeldari, slicing targets to ribbons with silent, monomolecular s…
The nerve-shredding neural whips and moisture-vaporising Huskblades of Drukhari Archons and Succubi, turning close combat into an arena…
Faceless mercenary swordsmen of Commorragh who serve whoever pays and live only to perfect the killing stroke with the klaive.
Stealthy Aspect Warriors who embody Khaine the patient stalker, ambushing prey from deep shadow with whispering chainswords and stingin…
All-female Aspect Warriors founded by Jain Zar whose psychically amplified war cries paralyse enemy nervous systems before their power …
Explore all 48 entries in the Weapons & Vehicles armoury.
Connections
Characters (3)
Roboute Guilliman witness · UltramarinesThe Visarch accompanied Yvraine when the Ynnari helped bring about Guilliman's resurrection.
Factions
- Ynnari primary faction
Related units (1)
Some links are thematic parallels (marked "parallel") rather than recorded meetings. See the connections web.
Legacy
The Visarch is the Sword of Ynnead, Yvraine's silent protector and a warrior whose origins remain a guarded secret. He is the martial pillar of the Ynnari Triumvirate. His unquestioning devotion gives the Ynnari a living blade at the heart of their cause, and his mysterious past shows how much of the Ynnari's story is still concealed. He fights with the Asu-var, the Sword of Silent Screams and is utterly devoted to protecting Yvraine wherever the Ynnari fight. The Visarch is proof that Khaine's fury never fully leaves a warrior, even one sworn to the god of the dead.
Appearances & sources
- Codex: Aeldari (9th Edition)
- Psychic Awakening: Phoenix Rising
- Ghost Warrior (Gav Thorpe)
Contested & retconned lore
Codex material leaves his true identity unrevealed. His true identity is never confirmed. Fans and in-universe characters speculate about who he once was, but no official source reveals it.