Hexwraiths

[Sanai]

I am particularly curious about these guys. There isn't a terrible lot of information on them, apart from that they come from the underworld on Hexensnacht to hunt down those who have cheated death, and that various vampires have learned how to bind them (which to me seems particularly ironic- those vampires by dint of being vampires have cheated death and lived well beyond their natural span, so could well be the ones those hexwraiths were after)

My questions are;
1# Do you think Hexwraiths are connected at all to Morr? Are they in fact his servants?
2# Are Hexwraiths true undead? They show no evidence of having lived in the first place, so may well be more a form of Daemon or spirit for want of a better term.
3# I wonder if the priesthood of Morr is fully aware of their role, if they perhaps even venerate such creatures as servants of Morr... perhaps they see the vampiric binding of Hexwraiths as a particular vile sacrilege...
4# I also wonder how dogged their pursuit of those who live past their time is. Do you appear on Hexensnacht, chase you for the duration of the night then disappear? Do they appear on the night then chase you till you either die, bind them or defeat them? Will a new pack of them spawn every Hexensnacht to hunt you down for cheating death, or just the one?
5# Do vampires perhaps bind Hexwraiths not because they are effective on the battlefield... but because this way they keep the pack of hexwraiths that is after them under control......?

 

[Corien Sumatris]

Hmm, interesting for sure!

1. No clue lol
2. I'm leaning towards no they are not undead. They are more-so along the line of a demonic entity.
3. No clue yet again!
4. I'm thinking that they get released and they hunt until their victim is dead!
5. I think so! They search for souls of beings that have lived to long right? What has lived too long? Vampires. If they can control their hunters then they won't get hunted, at least not by the hexies.

Sorry Sanai, I'm not great at fluff, but this is just kinda how I see it.

 

[Bullhax]

As far as I know their lore is new as an infant and hasn't been mentioned before.. In general I find it to be farfetched at best. If you introduce new lore you have to do it properly, they could've added a small lore box besides their army book lore info. Getting some more info other than the very sparse bit we have now would be nice.. Introducing/inventing a realm "the underworld" and just walk past the fact it makes little sense is rather frustrating..

Your questions are very good and if GW had taken better time relating them to something would make them more belivable..

If question 5. in fact is yes, it would make sense as to why vampires would take their time and skill to add them to their fold.

Right now I'm confused to say the least, which is sad considering how awesome the model and rules are. The awsome and unique playstyle deserves much better lore than what we have!

Sorry I couldn't answer your questions in the slightest.!

 

[Sanai]

I feel they are one of those units that would benefit from a little e-book, like the ones they have for a lot of 40k characters/units/wargear now.

 

[Irisado]

The background for the Hexwraiths is very poor in my opinion. It was the most disappointing aspect of the latest Vampire Counts book for me. I wanted to know so much more about them, and was left with so many questions which could not be answered.

I think that the questions you pose fall into the same category, in that I don't think that we have enough information to even speculate that much. I'm dubious about the connection to Morr personally, but, and this is just my own perception, I suspect that Hexwraiths were alive. I view them, more or less, as Wraiths which have been cursed, and are even more bitter and twisted, if that's possible. That's not really of that much help regarding providing definitive your questions though.

 

[Minty]

Hexwraiths are amongst my favourites, perhaps my favourite element of the army after actual Vampires. I love the models and the fluff.

However, when it comes to fluff I've always thought that less is more, because it leaves plenty of space for the imagination. I've considered your questions and similar ones before and I know the answers - but my answers are only true so far as I and my inerpretation is concerned (as we Traveller GMs say, in my Warhammer Universe...)

My questions are;
1# Do you think Hexwraiths are connected at all to Morr? Are they in fact his servants?
Yes. They're Daemons of Morr

2# Are Hexwraiths true undead? They show no evidence of having lived in the first place, so may well be more a form of Daemon or spirit for want of a better term.
No. They're Daemons of Morr.

3# I wonder if the priesthood of Morr is fully aware of their role, if they perhaps even venerate such creatures as servants of Morr... perhaps they see the vampiric binding of Hexwraiths as a particular vile sacrilege...
Yes, yes and very, very yes.

4# I also wonder how dogged their pursuit of those who live past their time is. Do you appear on Hexensnacht, chase you for the duration of the night then disappear?
Yes. Mostly. Being Daemons they cannot naturally exist in the physical realm, except during times or in places of great magic. Hexensnacht & Geheimnisnacht are two such times. Other than this, they require a directing will to bind and maintain them in the physical world.

If you can dodge them for one night, you're good, until next year...

5# Do vampires perhaps bind Hexwraiths not because they are effective on the battlefield... but because this way they keep the pack of hexwraiths that is after them under control......?
Because they're useful. A Vampire's soul is physically and unbreakably bound to his physical body. Not even the Chaos Gods can remove it. What hope has a Hexwraith?

In game-rules a Vampire might be vulnerable to Soulstrider, but in fluff terms, clearly not.

One imagines that doesn't stop the Hexwraiths trying, though.

Geheimnisnacht, a pack of Hexwraiths tear out of the night and try to steal a Vampire's soul. It doesn't work, but the Vampire sees useful tools and binds them to himself.

It's either bind them and make them do something useful or just accept that a pack of glowing green yahoos are going to come and bother you once a year for the rest of eternity like the Jehova's Witnesses from Hell.