Lorgar's role - Satanic tempter?

[Lucifer216]

Greeting fellow bearers of the Word,

 

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the precise nature of our glorious Primarch as he is now. Out of all the characters in the 41st millenium, I would argue that he has the most interest in the study of the warp. While Magus and the Thousand Sons focus is Sorcery, which in effect involves almost exclusively learning the words, gestures and thoughts that resonate with the warp and have an effect on our reality, the Word Bearers worship Chaos Undivided and focus on understanding it by mediation, spirit quests and direct experience. Now, given that Lorgar has ascended to Daemonhood, despite not following anyone of the great powers, you have to wonder as to what extent this was achieved through self-mastery. There is also the question as to what the next logical step is. In my mind, that would involve becoming a Chaos God. Getting the Word Bearers to actively worship him might tip the current crop off as to what he's doing. This also fits in with his apparent disregard for his own Legion, (see Dark Creed) and the fact that he hasn't interrupted his mediations despite the heavy casualties it has recently taken as a result of infighting, which as Primarch he would have sensed.

 

This then raises the point, that although Khorne, Slaanesh, Nurgle and Tzeentch are all very good at what they do and awesome arch-types, there seems to be a niche for a Satanic tempter/wheeler-dealer. Perhaps given the Word Bearer's hatred of the Ecclisarchy and the existing devil-imagery that Lorgar conjures up, he might be a good fit for this. In Dark Heresy, dark pacts are the remit of powerful, but sector specific daemons. Is there any reason why Lorgar can't make dark pacts of his own?

 

I guess one issue with this is that his sheer power means that actually trying to summon him in order to finalise a pact, is going to be nigh-high impossible, but then again, it's doubtful as to whether a daemon actually has to be physically present for a dark pact to become binding.

 

On the other hand, that raises the point as to whether or not Lorgar might be able to create Daemons from his own essence. Given that his daemonhood is granted by Chaos Undivided, this could be a very real possibility, given that the power that he wields does not belong to any one Chaos God and therefore could be considered to be his and his alone. Obviously these might be weaker and extremely limited in number compared to those of the four, but it certainly seems plausible to me, especially given that the nature of undivided daemons suggest that relatively little coherent emotional energy is needed to create them in the first place (witness furies).

 

I think it would be rather interesting if there actually was a daemon acting as a Herald for Lorgar, in a sort of Seneschal capacity, which perhaps offer Dark Pacts on behalf of its master.

 

Thoughts?

[Lucifer216]

I should add that one of the arguments that my friends have put forward as to why Lorgar might not be seeking Ascension to the level of a Chaos God, is that he is essentially portrayed in the Index Astrates and during the Horus Heresy as essentially submissive. He wanted a figure to worship and when the Emperor provided unwilling to serve, turned to the Gods of Chaos.

 

While I concede that this was how he was before, during and immediately after the Heresy, I'm not sure that this would be the case after 10,000 yearss. I'd make the point that it's a lot harder to keep this frame of mind, when you're a Daemon Primarch. After all, familiarity breeds contempt and it's a bit hard to worship your next-door neighbour, even if he/she/both has a much better, larger and more richly appointed hell dimension than you do.

[randian]

The Daemon Primarchs are among the most powerful entities in the warp, bested only by the Big 4 and a (very) few Greater Daemons and Daemon Princes. Of course they can make pacts, that's one of the ways daemons gain power and influence beyond that of their initial creation. With specific reference to Lorgar, I'm sure many of the older Word Bearers have made pacts with him. He probably had a few Chaos cults going too. It reinforces their loyalty to him, and their increased power improves Lorgar's influence in the Materium. Unfortunately, no Word Bearer or cultist has made a pact with him in thousands of years. See Dark Creed for details.