Shalaxi Helbane: A new Keeper of Secrets named character, created by Slaanesh as the living manifestation of its longstanding rivalry with Khorne. It has slain countless Bloodthirsters, and rumor has it that they have even defeated Skarbrand. Ur-Slaanesh and Sigmar meet at an extraplanar motel. Keeper of Secrets A Keeper of Secrets is a greater daemon of Slaanesh, a consummate warrior and spellmaster of the Dark Prince’s hosts. Their four powerful limbs move languidly as they slink forwards – only to explode into lethal motion when their prey is in reach. DAEMONS OF SLAANESH KEEPER OF SECRETS. 1 star 2 stars 3 stars 4 stars 5 stars. 1 star 2 stars 3 stars 4 stars 5 stars.

If you thought the Daemonettes were sexually perverse, you haven't seen a Keeper of Secrets, the Great Daemon of Slaanesh. Keepers of Secrets have generally the same body, albeit several times larger, with four arms and the lower pair ending in snapping claws. What makes them unique is that the head is based on Slaanesh's mood at the time he/she formed the Keeper. As such, it can be anywhere from hauntingly beautiful to insanely grotesque. Like the rest of Slaanesh's followers, Keepers of Secrets seek sensation in all forms, either sex, drugs, rock and roll, or just killing everything around them in a wild frenzy.

On the tabletop, the Keeper of Secrets is a fast CC killing machine. Compared with the Bloodthirster, it's more focused on killing rank and file troops because of its Witstealer Sword due to it's lacking of the Bloodthirster's beefiness, and it's not as survivable as it due to not being a Flying Monstrous Creature.

It should be noted that they are armed with Elegan/tg/reatblade.

Known Keepers of Secrets[edit]

• Amnaich the Golden: A very powerful KoS who tried to pull the entire Golwyn Belt star system into his little corner of the Warp and farm the souls of the inhabitants. He is very charismatic and all things Slaanesh and he Sauroned the people of the Golwyn Belt into worship him and his daemonettes as angels while he was still getting shit ready. The cult of Amnaich developed into a Jehova's Witness kind of situation as they travelled around converting people Galaxy wide. This shit went on for like a thousand years mind you! And he had at least a hundred worlds worshiping him. Eventually the Inquisition came in the picture. He had giant statues(of himself) built all over by his fanatical worshipers and mass sacrifices ensued as he was going to split himself and get inside the statues. It all makes sense of course. The Imperial Navy stopped the ritual by bombing the statues from orbit since they were so huge. Now he is literally like a false emperor with pieces of his soul/daemonic astral being/shards splintered here and there. His cult thinks there will be a second coming as one does.
• Asteroth: Featured in Daemonifuge, Asteroth is one of the most powerful Keepers of Secrets ever encountered by the Imperium, discovered in a supernatural prison on a barren planet. The Order Pronatus of the Adepta Sororitas attempted to study it in order to better learn how to defeat Chaos (something they were marginally successful at), but despite the Sister's faith, several were subtly turned to Slaanesh worship. When the time was ripe, the traitors freed the daemon, who crafted the surviving loyalist sisters into a horrific thing called the Screaming Cage, which caused their pain to be shared, but incidentally allowed their faith to be shared as well. Asteroth displayed an incredible talent for corruption; once it was freed, it was able to quickly convert almost any mortal, even those as pious as Sisters of Battle, and it ran a fairly large and well-concealed Slaanesh cult whose influence even extended to Ophelia VII, one of the most devout worlds in the Imperium.
• N'kari: A Keeper of Secrets (originally said to be a Daemon Prince) responsible for who took credit for the destruction of Craftworld Malan'tai before getting his ass handed to him by the Grey Knights. Also an Elf who was so vain, she wanted the attention of Slaanesh him/her/itself and in modern times has been killed by Teclis and Tyrion in the plural.
• Zarakynel: Responsible for corrupting the planet Sherilax and one of Slaanesh's most powerful Keeper of Secrets. Enjoys eating the occasional soulstone and Eldar rape.
• Daemon of Laeran: A Keeper of Secrets responsible for the corruption of the Emperor's Children. It was found bound to a sword found on Laeran, and had corrupted the Laer into the embrace of Slaanesh. Fulgrim took it as a trophy, and the Daemon corrupted the Primarch. When Fulgrim realized how far he had fallen after killing Ferrus Manus, the Daemon tricked him into lowering his mental barriers and possessed Fulgrim, subsequently impersonating him and committing all of Fulgrim's following atrocities, including the mass debaucheries during the siege of Terra and the seemingly permanent incapacitation of Roboute Guilliman...wait, does anyone else hear clapping? Retcon time! A Horus Heresy novella tells us that after a while, Fulgrim was able to overtake it and trap it in a portrait of himself painted from shit and spinal fluid. Ferrus was Fulgrim's last link to any sort of morality and barrier from a life given over entirely to Slaanesh, so instead of breaking his spirit (which it did for a while), the Daemon of Laeran just set the groundwork for its own dicking over. In the end, the swell and cultured Warlord Fulgrim became a planet rapist and sense freak sadist without a pussified daemon pulling the strings...That clapping is even louder now.
• Heartslayer: A Keeper of Secrets who was largely responsible for the downfall of the Eldar Craftworld Kher-Ys and possessing an Avatar of Khaine. Kher-Ys was protected by a particularly powerful set of runes that prevented an invasion. To pave the way for an invasion: Heartslayer disguised itself as a handsome eldar male and seduced the daughter of an Autarch who guarded Kher-Ys. Heartslayer then stole the key for the the runes protecting the craftworld from the sleeping Autarch and deactivated them, basically causing the entirety of the craftworld crap their mesh-armored pants by commencing a full-scale daemonic invasion. The Craftworld tried to summon an Avatar of Khaine, but Heartslayer managed to reach the Avatar's chamber just before the birth of the avatar. For some reason, an avatar has no soul at the moment of its conception, so he/she gouged the avatar's eyes out and proceeded to possess the husk and turn it against the Craftworld's defenses. Needless to say, genocidal hilarity ensued.
• Kyriss the Perverse: A Keeper of Secrets responsible for enslaving the Signus System during the Horus Heresy. Committed all manner of unspeakable perversions before Sanguinius and the Blood Angels arrived to fuck him up, only to in turn be attacked by Ka'bandha the Bloodthirster. Horus and Ka'Bandha intended Kyriss to be sacrificed as part of their plan to kill Sanguinius and turn the Blood Angels to Khorne. When Ka'Bandha was thrown back into the Warp, Kyriss told Sanguinius that it would spare the Blood Angels if Sanguinius took the hate of one of his lost sons into him, but the Apothecary Meros did instead. Kyriss proceeded to go absolutely apeshit on the Blood Angels in rage before Sanguinius cut its head off. Interestingly, even Kyriss couldn't seem to decide which sex it was.
• The Sapphire King: The physical manifestation of the pent-up grief and pride of the Iron Hands or something like that. I don't know, I was having trouble following exactly why this guy is so fascinated with the sons of Ferrus. Well, besides the fact that he was born when Fulgrim went all chop-chop on Ferrus' neck. Point is, he has a fetish for machines made of fleshy bits and turning Iron Hands into Chaos Spawns so he can-oh shit OH SHIHJKGASDFKGHBGELJWBKC
• Emeli Duboir: The Chaos cultist that a certain Hero of the Imperium banged and subsequently killed. Later returned as a Keeper of Secrets hell bent on sucking the soul of the brave commissar and the planet he was on straight into the warp.
• Luxscious: A Keeper of Secrets who was the first to decide it was Slaanesh's replacement, called the Ur-Slaanesh, following his/her/its kidnapping by Elves Aelves in Age of Sigmar (no, seriously, that's actually canon). Luxscious and the other Keepers who decided they themselves were the only one worthy of that position had to play down their ambition as Archaon, now supreme boss of all Chaos (no, seriously), won't accept a pretender to a position that he himself wants to take...for some reason. Apparently being HNIC rapeviking means perfection and pride now. Well, the Vikings were actually pretty vain about their appearances, so it isn't that far fetched.
• Manushya-Rakshasi: A Keeper of Secrets brought forth during the Heresy by an Emperor's Children apothecary who dabbled in daemon summoning as a hobby. Converted a ton of noise marines into daemons and attempted to kill as many White Scars as possible, invading their ships whilst they journeyed in the Webway. Jaghatai Khan gutted it with its own sword.
• Shalaxi Helbane: A new Keeper of Secrets named character, created by Slaanesh as the living manifestation of its longstanding rivalry with Khorne. It has slain countless Bloodthirsters, and rumor has it that they have even defeated Skarbrand.

• Ur-Slaanesh and Sigmar meet at an extraplanar motel.

Gallery[edit]

• The old (Forge World) model that's a prime example for showcasing Slaanesh's multi-tiddy fetish.

• Daemonettes with a Keeper of Secrets.

• Not even a KoS can shock Empire militiamen.

Daemonic Forces of Chaos
Gods	Greater Daemons	Lesser Daemons	Daemonic Beasts	Daemonic Steeds	Cavalry of Chaos	Chariots of Chaos
Bloodthirster	Bloodletter	Flesh Hound Slaughterbrute	Juggernaut	Bloodcrushers	Blood Throne Skull Cannon
Great Unclean One	Plaguebearer Nurgling	Beast of Nurgle Plague Toads Molluscoid	Battle Fly Rot Fly	Plague Drones Pox Riders	Palanquin of Nurgle
Keeper of Secrets	Daemonette	Fiends of Slaanesh	Steeds of Slaanesh	Seekers of Slaanesh	Hellflayer Chariots Seeker Chariots
Lord of Change	Flamers of Tzeentch Horror	Screamers Mutalith Vortex Beast	Disc of Tzeentch	Burning Chariots
Verminlord
Daemon Prince	Fury Daemon Brute	Chaos Beast Chaos Hound

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Remember use your mouse cursor over Italicizes words for more information!

Slippery when wet...

The Keeper of Secrets is often been the odd man out when it comes to Greater Daemons; beset by its inherent fragility, the main culprit for its current predicament.

It doesn't help when the current model is as dated as P.O.D. and has all the elegance of a turtle.

Still, there are a few redeeming qualities to this specific lord of excess, you just have to look pretty darn closely.

It all starts with the improvements the Keeper of Secrets got between 2008 and 2013; here are the rules for comparison.

(Click to Enlarge)

Compare & Contrast

• Stat Changes
• Less expensive 200 to 170
• Deamon of Slannesh
• Gained Preferred Enemy
• Deamonic Rewards
• Mastery Level One

--Cosmetic Surgery--

The Keeper of Secrets got some tweaks not really amounting to much. The Keeper of Secrets gained an extra wound and WS9, but still one change looms large; like all Greater Deamons there invulnerable save has taken a hit, but hurt goes to Keeper of Secrets most of all. The Keeper of Secrets has always lacked the defensive capabilities of the other Greater Daemons and not having a 4+ save really hurts.

--The $2 French of whore of Deamons--

Rightfully, the Keeper of Secrets cost was corrected from the overpriced levels in the previous codex. All the savings doesn't prevent cost creep when you factor in , but being 30 points less does have an advantage: cheap Daemon Princes.

--Speed before Beauty--

See Full List On Wh40k.lexicanum.com

The biggest defensive ability the Keeper of Secrets has is being a . The run bonus and distance re-rolls means you shouldn't have a problem getting the Keeper of Secrets to assault by turn two, now surviving to turn two is another story.

--Thirsting for Space Elves--

This little added bonus is pretty much a throw away, if it wasn't for Eldar being the current hotness, makes this little fluff induced gift can go a long way to inflicting a ton of pain on a unit like Wraithknights.

--Pain has its own Rewards--

have replaced the old Deamonic Gifts that provided some great utility for the Keeper of Secrets, namely Hit & Run. are overall an improvement, especially when you consider taking , but you must balance the Keeper of Secrets point savings with the possible benefits of going all in with .

Slaanesh Keeper Of Secrets

--Telepathic Sensuousness--

The gift of psychic powers for the Keeper of Secrets is a major boon. Telepathy is one of the best disciplines and has a great Primaris power if all else fails. Investing mastery levels into the Keeper of Secrets doesn't necessarily translate into survivability, but can instead translate into a bigger target.

The Keeper of Secrets is often been the odd man out when it comes to Greater Daemons; beset by its inherent fragility, the main culprit for its current predicament.

Putting it all Together...

The Keeper of Secrets on the surface has some major problems, mostly because of its terrestrial nature, but finding the right utility for this beauty is quite rewarding.

As with every unit knowing what it can't do is often the best way to focus on what it can do.

What the Keeper of Secrets can and cannot do is depended on starting placement. You should never have your Keeper of Secrets in the open, ever. What I mean by 'in the open' even relates to cover. Don't bring the Keeper of Secrets to a game that doesn't have at least one LOS blocking terrain piece, with all the shooting armies the Keeper of Secrets will be an easy target. It doesn't mean hide for the entire game, just be sure for the first turn your Keeper of Secrets has a chance to live. As a Monstrous Creature the Keeper ignores terrain (for the most part) and when moving out in to LOS try to jump from ruin to ruin if at all possible.

This is now the time where being a kicks in. The threat range of a Keeper of Secrets is often hard to judge, even the most experienced players, and the random element makes the Keeper only more dangerous. Once in combat only the Bloodthirster can take more skulls than the Keeper, and if you are lucky enough to get Hallucination becomes down right broken. Choosing targets that guarantee victory are also very important as one Deamonic Instability roll will down a Keeper of Secrets lickidy-split. Thus, avoiding high strength wielding targets with good invulnerable saves is the best idea.

The Keeper of Secrets assault prowess is self-evident, but that alone isn't a compelling enough reason to take it. The biggest for reason taking a Keeper of Secrets is the points savings you make with Daemon Princes. Between the cost efficiency of the Keeper itself and the upgrade you can pack a flying circus into as few points as possible. In smaller point games this is critical as you can get more bang for your buck. Contrast with a Fateweaver based circus and you will be saving around 200 points when all said and done. Besides losing Fateweaver in lower point games is more detrimental than a Keeper of Secrets in the same game.

It also gets to the second important thing about using a Keeper of Seeker: keep it cheap. It is tempting to throw a bunch of points at the Keeper of Secrets to boost its defenses. The risks of point investment on units like a Great Unclean One or Bloodthirster can only amplifies an already decent survivability, but with a Keeper of Secrets there are no good guarantees what you will get. There is a big difference between losing a 170 unit with no upgrades and a 260 point one with stuff you couldn't really use. An exception is because you know exactly what you are getting, and still leaves points for on more important Daemon Princes. Then there are the psychic powers, where temptation to get Invisibility or Hallucination can override good judgement. Remember we are about maximizing potential; there is no shame with just staying at Mastery Level 1 and taking Psychic Shriek or take a 50/50 chance and go for the power in the Excess discipline.

Alas, the Keeper of Secrets really on excels in specific type of lists with very élite units don't need force multipliers the other HQs provide. Leaving the Keeper of Secrets out of the purview of horde based armies, as you will be better off with Heralds.

The Keeper of Secrets is made for Daemon Prince buddies or a companion for a more formidable Greater Deamon. That doesn't mean taking another Keeper of Secrets, unless the goal is a pile of as many Monstrous Creatures one list can possibly take, when you don't have anything better to do.

-- Keeper of Secrets Sample Lists--

Keeper of Secrets Sample List 3

A Word about Allies

The Keeper of Secrets isn't the best of choices for an ally unless you just want a cheap Monstrous Creature to run around. The Keeper of Secrets doesn't give an ally force much of anything it cannot get with another Deamon Prince or Battle Tank.

Keeper Of Secrets - Wahapedia

Remember unlike other Battle Brothers Daemons ICs cannot join with Chaos Space Marine units under any circumstance.

Final Thoughts...

Overall, the Keeper of Secrets is almost there. It would have been nice if the Keeper of Secrets was given something that would really differentiate it from the other Greater Deamons. As it is this was a lost opportunity, the Keeper of Secrets deserves more and having random Preferred Enemy is going special enough... and another thing, it deserves a new plastic model ASAP!

Warning

It's Like Tactics is rated theory hammer because these are general observations and assumptions based on only few tested games.

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