The Dark Prophets (Chaos Warband)

[Justcar]

The Dark Prophets

 

History and Founding:

 

The Red Blades

 

The Dark Prophets are the remnants of the Red Blades chapter of space marines, a once proud and noble group of warriors that have since fallen into the worship of Tzeentch.

 

The Red Blades were created in 999.M36, during the 24th founding on the planet Isgrad, in the Segmentum Obscurus. The chapter gained recognition shortly thereafter for stopping a group of chaos raiders that had been terrorizing the sector. Victory followed victory for the chapter and they began to gain prestige for their acts of valor and strategic genius, although some viewed the large number of psykers in their ranks with suspicion.

 

It was on the thousandth anniversary of their founding, during the agni bashara, the centennial feast celebrating their victories, that the chapter master of the Red Blades, Khorvash, received a vision, which he believed to be from the emperor himself. (How else could a non-psyker see the future?) He immediately called the librarius and told him what he saw: a great warp storm, unlike anything they had known, would envelope the sector and plunge them into the warp. He could not say when it would come, only that it would come soon.

 

The librarius could find nothing that indicated warp instability but, upon examining his mind, found no corruption in the Chapter Master. The chapter decided that, as a precaution, they would install a macro gellar field around Isgrad.

 

It was not until a century later that the gellar field was forced to be activated. As the chapter gathered for the agni bahsara once more, the libraries began to feel the disturbances that indicated a warp storm the likes of which only occurs once in several millennia. After gathering and informing the masters of the chapter that it was time, they activated the gellar field and waited.

 

The Storm

 

The storm hit with a fury that no living being had ever seen, enough to rip the veil between worlds and plunge the planet into the realm of chaos. While the storm passed in the material world as an explosion of unreality, those caught in it were plunged into the warp for years.

 

As time passed, the gellar field began to malfunction, it could not maintain it's integrity against such powerful forces over such a large area. Daemon's began to materialize, killing millions of innocents all across the planet. They had to reduce the area it covered or they would all be dead. With a heavy heart, Kel Agorna ordered the gellar field retooled to protect only the fortress monastery, consigning the rest of the world to destruction. But as time went on and the warp raged without end, the gellar field began to fail again.

 

It only took a nanosecond, but overstressed generators failed for a tiny period of time and it failed completely. The brothers of the Red Blades were suddenly surrounded by daemons and they, themselves, were not left unchanged. All of the battle brothers began to hear voices, the sibilant wishers of chaos. While some battle brothers were driven mad and others mutated, the librarius emerged from their meditations with a way to keep the chaos at bay. They had been in a secluded chamber researching ways to psychically reinforce the gellar field for 99 days, when they discovered a set of sigils and marks that would twist the chaotic energies and bind it against itself. Pleased with their discovery, Khorvash ordered them to implement the changes to the gellar generator and begin altering the armor of the Red Blades to keep them safe from the warp energies afflicting them. So armed, they began to turn the tide against the daemons. Seeing the success of the librarian's research the chapter master asked the most senior librarians (Chief Librarian Hormazd and 8 Epistolaries) to continue their research while the other librarians worked to repel the daemons.

 

As the weeks carried on, the librarians incorporated their findings more and more into the chapter's armor and generators. They began to discover that the brothers who formerly didn't have psychic powers were rapidly developing psyonic potential, and librarians powers were increasing every new ward they placed on their armor. Eventually, they extended the gellar field and cover the planet once more. Though it had become a twisted and haunted daemon world the new powers of the Red Blades were more than enough to repel them, and begin reclaiming their world.

 

The Dark Prophets

 

It was 9 days later, that the librarius discovered the most powerful sigil yet: the Mark of Tezen. Written in ancient scrolls form the earliest settlers of Isgrad, the ancient symbols decried not only the method of carving the Mark of Tezen but clues to the optimal way to align the other marks and sigil around it. They immediately began to distribute the knowledge and the Red Blades realigned their wards around the Mark of Tezen. Once the wards were realigned, the fire of the warp flowed around them, burning their armor black as midnight. The Mark of Tezen drew forth the power of the warp and the other wards bent, twisted, and bound the energy while keeping them safe from it's corrosive touch. After all of them had been the marked, Tzeentch itself revealed its glory to every member of the Red Blades. Upon seeing the true nature of chaos with their own eyes, and hearing their purpose from the lips of a god, the Red Blades devoted themselves to Tzeentch and renamed themselves "The Dark Prophets," for they are the harbingers of change.

 

With the consecration of Tzeentch, The Dark Prophets found their power and knowledge of the arcane (for the could no longer call it psychic abilities) increased dramatically. Then, suddenly, the warp storms broke and the empyrean receded. The remaining daemons found themselves isolated from the warp and bereft of power, isolated by the new wards surrounding the planet. (though the daemons of Tzeentch were nowhere to be found) The Dark Prophets swiftly went about their work, casting powerful spells to destroy and bind daemons to their will. When all was said and done, The Dark Prophets were left with a ruined world, where the veil between worlds was thin, there living forces, numbering less than half of the original chapter, and their libraries of ancient lore.

 

The scouring

 

Doing the will of their god, The Dark Prophets began constructing arcane sigils from the bones of Isgrad itself, forming an arcane geometry that only a being as old as time could fathom. The warp storm was powerful, but temporary, they would open a permanent warp gate, that would expand the Eye of Terror and create a daemon world.

 

Soon, fire began raining down from the skies, and the Grey Knights were upon them. The Grey Knights were powerful and implacable, but The Dark Prophets were devious and well prepared. Everywhere they went, The Dark Prophets' illusions and bound daemons attacked them. When they encountered the actual Dark Prophets, they proved to be...difficult opponents. The Dark Prophets had become the living conduits of change; reality warped at their very presence. Never the less, the Grey Knights were impossible to stop.

 

It was then, that The Dark Prophets revealed the true scope of their preparations. They vanished without a trace and in their wake, the warp erupted. Daemons exploded into reality and surrounded the Grey Knights. While the Grey Knights eventually managed to close the warp breach, it cost them dearly and The Dark Prophets escaped imperial justice. During the fighting Kel Abruna was slain by Grey Knight Brother Captain Ignatius and command of The Dark Prophets fell to chief librarian, now Sorcerer Lord and Annointed of Tzeentch, Hormazd.

 

They have been lose in the imperium ever since.

 

Appearance:

 

The Dark Prophets' armor is incredibly ornate, covered in scenes of battle, mythic beasts and daemons, corrupted sigils, and wards. The color of the armor is the darkest black, like deep space, but the runes and sigils glow with unnatural light. However, due to the warp energy surrounding them, It is almost impossible to to accurately see a Dark Prophet. As they stand in place, the wards on their armor constantly warp the air, causing illusions, unnatural darkness, and double images to appear.

 

Organization:

 

The warband, compared to most, is rather large. In order to accomplish their labyrinthine goals and fulfill their byzantine plots they have a fairly formal command structure.

 

The supreme commander of the warband is Hormazd, Annointed of Tzeentch. He leads the governing body of the warband, known as the council of 9, along with 8 Sorcerer Lords, who follow him in the chain of command.

 

Next in the command power sit the Sorcerers, divided into two class: Sorcerers Majoris and Sorcerers Minoris. These are the members of the warband, blessed by Tzeentch, with great power and control of their sorcerous abilities.

 

Finally, the vast majority of the warband, known simply as "Dark Prophet", has the blessing of Tzeentch and a minor or undeveloped ability to use the arcane.

 

Typically the warband operates in splinter groups lead by a Sorcerer Lord; however, the overall strategy and disposition of their forces is controlled centrally.

 

It should be noted that one cannot be sure of too much about any encounter with The Dark Prophets. They will constantly use spells and illusions to destabilize their opponent. Soldiers fighting against The Dark Prophets will suddenly find themselves firing at thin air and out flanked. What might appear to be a Dark Prophet turns into some daemonic beast. On some battlefields, the number of Dark Prophets could not possibly have been transported by the vessels in orbit, and an enemy commander will not know if they have hidden orbital forces or have created illusionary warriors.

 

Beliefs:

 

The Dark Prophets believe that their purpose is to show the galaxy the glory of Tzeentch. They do this by destroying its enemies and gathering its followers to their banner. They also worship Tzeentch by rapidly changing or manipulating worlds and organizations to their ends. It is not uncommon for them to turn on their allies as an act of worship, and teach those not aligned to Tzeentch about the power of change.

 

Their current plots and goals remain unknown.

 

Geneseed:

 

All original members of The Dark Prophets have Guilliman geneseed. It is unknown if they recruit new members or the methods which they would use to recruit new members. It is also unknown what type, if any, geneseed they currently use.

 

Combat Doctrine:

 

The Dark Prophets specialize in sorcery and deceit. They are well known for using illusions to confuse the opposition and sorcery to manipulate the minds of their enemies, as well as using their arcane arts to destroy their opponents in a more traditional manner.

 

They favor striking without warning and using the confusion in combination with their sorcery to utterly destroy their foe. After their goal is accomplished they withdraw as if they were never there.

 

They are also known for using a variety of auxiliary forces to augment their attack. Known auxiliaries include: cultists and traitor guardsmen, bound daemons of all stripes, possessed marines (it is believe that captured enemies are forcibly possessed), and illusionary marines known as "illusionaries" (It is also unknown if the illusions require any physical object to project and cause damage, or if they are entirely illusionary as both variants have been seen).