I put this here mostly because, of the main groups, I expect Space Marines to be most likely to witness the awe that is a Phoenix Lord, on the battlefield; I pity the acolytes who run into such an advanced foe, as well as seeing one in an investigative setting, rather than combat, is unlikely, and don't imagine Rogue Traders fighting the kind of pitched land battles required to see one, but standing forces of the Astartes, or even formations of Guardsmen, have a decent chance, of the small percentage chance a Phoenix Lord will even be seen.

So, I was flipping through Children of Isha, and found the tweaks one can do to listed Exarchs, in order to simulate the great misfortune (for the opposition) that is engaging a Phoenix Lord, and I came upon a little RPG question. In the case of the Phoenix Lords, they are unique individuals, whom I like to describe as ancient Eldar heroes using their armors as spirit stones. Rather than being a construct, like a wraithlord, with an implanted spirit stone in it, they are souls in their armor, and an Exarch dons the suit, giving himself over to the spirit of his Phoenix Lord, and his powerful life force is a stronger connection that allows for the skill level we attest to a Phoenix Lord, while Wraithlords and Guard are a bit slow, and tend to require supervision. So, my question, I thought that each Phoenix Lord would have their armor stored in an Aspect Temple, on one of the Craftworlds, until such a time as he or she is needed, but if that is the case, how do the various Eldar get a hold of the right suit? If Maugan Ra is from Altansar, and his suit resides in the Reaper Temple there (now that the craftworld has been rediscovered), would Ulthwe have to petition them for it? Do they go through the Webway, bringing their chosen DR Exarch, and have him don it, awaken Maugan Ra, have him follow them to the place where they need to fight, and return it to Altansar, after the battle is concluded, or what? Even the Eldar get into battles they didn't forsee, and yet a Phoenix Lord might show up. If they are constantly wandering around the galaxy, animated, do the strands of fate just guide them to where they are needed, like so many heroes? I don't think that the Exarch dies, guaranteed, unlike when the Avatar is awakened, and imagine him being tired as hell, needing some time to recuperate, afterwards, while the Phoenix Lord goes back to sleep, and their armor is returned to their Shrine, but I can't be sure. Might any other Eldar fans in the know care to share the details with me, as they understand it? I think it could be rather cool, and terrifying, if a group traversing the fields of battle might catch a glimpse of one of these walking legends, and maybe even fight them, if that's the kind of grand hoorah you might want to end Rank 8 DW SMs with, but don't know how the various Craftworlds, who might not even all like one another, share their artifact suits of the Phoenix Lords. Thanks much.

The Phoenix Lords armour is never in storage. The Phoenix Lords are always wandering, lead by fate etc. When a Phoenix Lord is killed another Eldar dons the suit and loses his personality to the first one to don the suit. I do not know how the Eldar decide who will wear the armour when it is found. It could be a exarch of the same path. There have been stories of Eldar finding the armour on a world hundreds of years after the Phoenix Lords last siting.

With Eldar so embattled and dwindling I cannot imagine a Phoenix Lords armour ever being left idle. As how do the various forces get a Phoenix Lord he exits the webway and surprises the hell out of the Eldar force. Or they find his armour, conveniently for the upcoming battle, where he died last.

Fundamentally, the Phoenix Lords are extreme versions of Exarchs. Typically, the term Exarch refers simultaneously to the Eldar within - a being trapped on the Path of the Warrior - and to the gestalt entity formed by that being within the associated armour. The armour contains the souls of every warrior to wear the armour since its creation, their martial prowess and experience combined to create a being of supernatural skill and might.

A Phoenix Lord is more the latter than the former - an ancient suit of armour containing potentially hundreds of warrior souls all contributing to virtually unmatched might. The Phoenix Lord requires an 'inhabitant' of sorts to focus all of this psychic energy (disembodied souls alone lack a coherent view of the mortal universe, as demonstrated by Wraithguard and Wraithlords), but the dominant mind is the most potent of the soul within the armour.

Unlike Exarchs, however, Phoenix Lords have no shrine - that is one of the defining traits of Phoenix Lords, in fact. They wander the galaxy perpetually, moving as fate and need requires to fight upon battlefields all over the galaxy.

I would suggest reading Path of the Warrior by Gav Thorpe to get a real good idea of what a Phoenix Lord really is. At the end of the book he gives an amazing portrayal of exactly what the differences between just an Exarch and a Phoenix Lord is. His Path books are a very good example of a psychological study of Eldar, in the form of a story that is addictive.

Thank you all, very much. This was quite illuminating. 40Kwiki said something similar, about them disappearing into the Webway, and then appearing at crucial moments, when fate demands their hand in it.

venkelos said:

Not a problem. However, I would advise that if you plan to actually include the Phoenix Lords in a game of Deathwatch, that you seriously beef them up - they're ideal as Master-level adversaries, being amongst the deadliest combatants in the galaxy, with ten millennia and countless lifetimes of experience thanks to their particular form of immortality, armed with ancient relic weaponry the likes of which even the Eldar can no longer replicate. A Phoenix Lord and a squad of the associated Aspect (treating the Phoenix Lord as their Exarch) should be a formidable challenge indeed, particularly as the Phoenix Lord will probably contribute a load of Cohesion to his squad if you're using my Children of Isha rules.

In fact, ff time allows, I may well stat them up myself.