++ The Dark Council - A Word Bearers Community ++

[Slave to Darkness]

Welcome sons of Lorgar; brothers of Chaos. the Dark Council has been convened and I , SlaveToDarkness and my fellow Brother in Arms Dark_Apostle_XVII call upon thee, fellow Dark Apostle's of the XVIIth to marshal your hosts in service to the Dark Pantheon.

http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120126091109/warhammer40k/images/d/de/Aurelian_closeup.jpg

Lorgar Aurelian - Primarch of the XVIIth Legion 'Word Bearers'

"From the fires of betrayal unto the blood of revenge we bring the name of Lorgar, the Bearer of the Word, the favoured son of Chaos, all praise be given unto him. From those that would not heed we offer praise to those who do, that they might turn their gaze our way and gift us with the boon of pain, to turn the galaxy red with blood, and feed the hunger of the gods!"

— Excerpt from the three hundred and forty-first Book of the Epistles of Lorgar

Pre Heresy Chapters/Hosts/Company's

Chapter of Consecrated Iron/Formerly the Graven Star Chapter - Battle Captain Baphos (Slave to Darkness)
Piercing Gaze Chapter - commanded by Belzas Azalon, Saviour of Thranx (Kraut)

Post Heresy Hosts/Warbands

11th Host - Commanded by Ankh-Heloth

12th Host - Commanded by Dark Apostle Baphos (Slave to Darkness)

18th Host - commanded by Dark Apostle Azalon and Coryphaeus Gemnon (Kraut)

30th Host - Commanded by Belagosa

34th Host - Commanded by Marduk

I would like to thank Dark_Apostle_XVII and Forte for making this thread possible, and extra credit to Dark_Apostle_XVII for the nicely worded text at the beginning and for throwing his ideas into the cooking pot. As already mentioned in the title this thread is WIP so there is plenty more content to be added to this first post, E.G. the different Chapters that make up the Word Bearers legion, the Pre/Post heresy listings where all you lovely people will be recorded for all time and lots of other stuff, I would also be chuffed if someone could help me with the Novel listings, as there is still many book, audio dramas I'm yet to get around to digesting, even if it just has one Brother of the Word in for a few paragraphs we need to know for completions sake.

Word Bearer Novels

• Word Bearers Trilogy - Dark Apostle, Dark Disciple, Dark Creed, Tormented (Short story)
• Battle for the Abyss
• The First Heretic
• Aurelian
• Know No Fear
• Mark of Calth
• Betrayer
• The Purge
• Fear to Tread
• Chosen of Khorne by Anthony Reynolds
• Legion of the Damned by Rob Sanders
• Perfection by Nick Kyme

Oh yeah...

[Kol Saresk]

One thing to help your progress, The Purge by Anthoney Reynolds is also a Word Bearers novella.

[Slave to Darkness]

Notable Dark Council Members

• Kor Phaeron - First Captain and Black Cardinal (High Priest)
• Erebus - First Chaplain
• Ekodas (Deceased) - Grand Apostle and secret member of the Brotherhood
• Ankh-Heloth - Dark Apostle 11th Host
• Belagosa - Dark Apostle 30th Host
• Sor Talgron 'The Warmonger' - (Dreadnought) Ex Dark Apostle of the 34th Host
• Jarulek (Deceased) - Dark Apostle of the 34th Host
• Marduk - Current Dark Apostle of the 34th Host
• Mothac - Dark Apostle (Host unknown) 
• Paristur - Dark Apostle (Host unknown)
• Sarabdal - Dark Apostle (Host unknown)

 

Other Word Bearers of Note

• Burias Drak'Shal - Former Possessed Champion and Icon Bearer of the 34th Host, Member of the Brotherhood and now entombed in a Dreadnought
• Kol Badar - Coryphaus of the 34th Host
• Ashkanez - First Acolyte of the 34th Host Member of the Brotherhood

Specialty Ranks and Units

 

• Dark Apostle - The Dark Apostles are the corrupted Chaplains of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion, who gleefully redirected the Legion's fanatical zeal from preaching the divinity of the God-Emperor to howling the praises of Chaos. They serve as the spiritual and overall leaders for their own Word Bearers Host. In battle they are skilled demagogues, able to exhort their followers to greater acts of bravery and depravity; enemy commanders have often found out to their cost that the only way to truly blunt an attack by such fanatics is to either remove the Apostle, or destroy each and every Word Bearer facing them. Their strategies sometimes border on psychic prescience.

 

• First Acolyte - The First Acolyte serves as an apprentice to a Dark Apostle and will inherit a portion of the Host when the Dark Apostle and the Dark Council see fit to allow it. There are only three ways for a First Acolyte to become the Dark Apostle of his own Host: to wait for the current Dark Apostle to die in battle, to be elected as the new Dark Apostle by the Dark Council on the Daemon World of Sicarus or for the First Acolyte to kill the Dark Apostle himself and await the Dark Council's appointment as the new Dark Apostle. In any case, the Acolyte will need the Dark Council's blessings to become a Dark Apostle.

 

• Coryphaus - The largest known Host of the Word Bearers numbered over 2000 Chaos Space Marines at its peak. The size of this force required that the Dark Apostle be served by two chief lieutenants, his First Acolyte and a Chaos Champion called the Coryphaus. A symbolic title, this position was only granted to the most trusted and capable warrior leaders and strategos within a Host. The Coryphaus served as the Dark Apostle's senior war captain and the voice of the congregation. A Coryphaus served as an intermediary between the Dark Apostle and his Host, expressing his master's moods and opinions by leading them through the chanted responses and antiphons in ceremonies and rituals. This allows the Dark Apostle to be seen primarily as a spiritual rather than a martial figure. Furthermore, the Coryphaus is essentially the Host's military commander on the ground and is responsible for making the majority of the tactical decisions on the battlefield, freeing the Dark Apostle to commune with the dark powers, fuel the hatred of the Host and ponder more strategic matters.

 

• The Anointed - The Anointed are the most favoured warriors within the Word Bearers Traitor Legion and are an elite cult within the broader Legion. The Anointed wear fully enclosed, ancient suits of Terminator Armour. Each suit is a relic of holy significance, as to don this armour is considered a great religious honour. Once a warrior-brother entered the ranks of the Anointed, he is a member for life, and with lifespans extended indefinitely through a combination of their Astartes conditioning, bio-enhancement and the warping power of the Chaos Gods, the Anointed were only replaced on the rare occasion that one of their number fell in battle. Many of them had fought alongside older members of the Legion and their holy Daemon Primarch Lorgar at the great siege of the Imperial Palace during the closing days of the Horus Heresy in the Battle of Terra. Unsurpassed warriors with the hearts of true fanatics, the cult of the Anointed had won countless battles for the Legion. Their glories were sung in the flesh-halls within the temples of Sicarus, and their deeds recounted in the grimoire historicals housed in the finest scriptorums of Ghalmek. Additionally, a Host often possesses an Icon Bearer and an elite unit of The Anointed, consisting of over 200 Chaos Terminators. It is also common for Anointed warriors to accompany important figures within the host, such as the Coryphaus or First Acolyte.

 

Specialty Units

 

• Gal Vorbak (Colchisian for the "Blessed Sons") - The Gal Vorbak are the surviving Space Marines of the Serrated Suns Chapter of the Word Bearers Legion who ventured into the Eye of Terror Warp rift and brought back the Primordial Truth of the existence of Chaos to their Primarch Lorgar. The Gal Vorbak were originally the 1,000 Space Marines of the Serrated Sun Chapter of the Word Bearers lead by their Chapter Master Argel Tal. Their Power Armour was painted red as opposed to the standard pre-Heresy Word Bearer colour scheme of grey, which differentiated them from the rest of the Legion. During the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V when the Traitor Legions betrayed their Loyalist brethren, the Gal Vorbak underwent another change. When Lorgar attacked Corax, the Primarch of the Loyalist Raven Guard Legion, all of the members of the Gal Vorbak, possessed by daemons since their journey into the Eye of Terror, revealed their true, dual nature; their flesh and Ceramite fused as their bodies warped into new, bestial forms. This marked the Gal Vorbak as the first of the Possessed Chaos Space Marines who would become increasingly common amongst many of the other Traitor Legions. The Gal Vorbak resumed the normal forms of Space Marines again at the end of the conflict, though the battle had proven costly and only six of their number had survived taking on a Primarch in battle to continue to fight in the service of Chaos throughout the rest of the Horus Heresy. The remaining members of the Gal Vorbak became the most feared unit in the Word Bearers Traitor Legion after the end of the Heresy.

 

• Vakrah Jal - Thousands of the Gal Vorbak were left to die, alone and unsupported, on the surface of the devastated world of Calth when First Chaplain Erebus fled the infamous conflict later known as the Battle of Calth that the Word Bearers had fought against their hated rivals the Ultramarines on that benighted planet. Argel Tal, the Crimson Lord, was the sole surviving original member of the Gal Vorbak, having been seconded to the World Eaters Legion for temporary duty before the Word Bearers' assault on Calth. Argel Tal forsook his oaths to the annihilated Serrated Suns Chapter and gained permission from his Primarch Lorgar to form a newly constituted formation, known as the Vakrah Jal, the Chapter of Consecrated Iron, who rose from the ashes of Word Bearers companies devastated on the killing fields of Istvaan V.

 

• The Ashen Circle - The Ashen Circle was a unique formation created for a unique purpose; the destruction of a world's original culture, learning and faith. Serving alongside the Word Bearers' Legion Destroyer Squads, the Legionaries of the Ashen Circle were members of the Legion's original Iconoclast faction, charged beyond the battlefield with hunting down works of false doctrine and those who purveyed it, consigning both to destruction and eradicating flame. On the battlefield, they were tasked with seeking out those things which gave the foe the heart and courage to fight: charismatic leaders, priests, battle flags and champions. Once singled out, they were dragged down with the hook-blades of the Ashen Circle Astartes' axe-rakes and destroyed with brutal fervour, often far in advance of their own lines in order to do so, with no thought as to their own survival.

 

• The Annunake - "Annunake" is a Colshisian term which means alternatively "Princely Sons" or "Judges of Hell", and was used within the Word Bearers Legion to denote those Legionaries granted the honour of continuing their service within the armoured shell of a Dreadnought.

[Slave to Darkness]

The Pilgrimage 

 

The truth of the events that followed the razing of Monarchia can be pieced together by those scholars willing to seek out potentially heretical sources of knowledge. Feeling betrayed by the Emperor, Lorgar withdrew to his private chambers aboard his flagship, the Fidelitas Lex, refusing audience to all but Kor Phaeron, the Word Bearers' First Captain and Cardinal. Kor Phaeron was Lorgar's adoptive father and had raised him from infancy on Colchis as a member of the Covenant. Kor Phaeron had served as Lorgar's chief lieutenant and primary advisor since his time as the ruling theocrat of Colchis. Lorgar also called the Legion's First Chaplain Erebus to his side, who had long been another trusted advisor. Kor Phaeron and Erebus sympathised with Lorgar's unrequited religious longings, and felt that the Word Bearers Legion should serve gods truly worthy of their worship. Kor Phaeron and Erebus explained that they knew of such gods, the divine beings once worshipped by the Old Faith of Colchis and thus, Lorgar learned of the existence of the Chaos Gods, who not only accepted the zealous worship he offered, but demanded it. Thus the seeds of the Horus Heresy were first sown amongst the Word Bearers. Intrigued, Lorgar demanded that the Legion find these gods, and Kor Phaeron and Erebus, both of whom had been secret devotees of Chaos for decades, proposed a pilgrimage.

 

The idea of "the Pilgrimage," a journey to the legendary place where mortals could directly interact with the Gods, was an ancient mythological trope on many human-settled worlds of the Milky Way Galaxy, including Lorgar and the Word Bearers' homeworld of Colchis. Of course, such a place, the Warp, did exist, and one could discover the Primordial Truth of the universe there, i.e. that the Immaterium was dominated by the powerful spiritual entities known as the Chaos Gods. Prompted by Kor Paheron and Erebus, Lorgar journeyed with his Word Bearers Legion's Chapter of the Serrated Sun to what was then the fringes of known Imperial space as part of the 1301st Expeditionary Fleet of the Great Crusade. At this time, Lorgar had not yet fallen to the corruption of Chaos, though he had turned against the Emperor of Mankind as a deity no longer worthy of his worship. Lorgar believed that the Emperor was wrong to condemn Mankind's natural instinct to seek out the divine as an unworthy superstition and he intended to discover if there were truly deities worthy of humanity's respect. To this end, though Lorgar no longer had any love or loyalty for the Emperor, he and his XVII Legion rejoined the Great Crusade but did so only as a front to mask their pursuit of the Pilgrimage.

 

The Word Bearers were also accompanied on this Pilgrimage by five members of the Legio Custodes who had been set by the Emperor to watch over everything the Word Bearers did to prevent them from falling back into error once more. The Word Bearers' pursuit of any scrap of information that could be found on the Primordial Truth or the nature of the place where Gods and mortals could mingle ultimately led the 1301st Expeditionary Fleet to the Cadia System near the largest Warp Storm in the universe, later known to the Imperium as the Eye of Terror. The Expeditionary Fleet's Master of Astropaths advised Lorgar that unusual "voices" in the Warp were heard in the vicinity of the great Warp rift, voices that spoke directly to the Primarch as well. These were the voices of the Chaos entities within the Immaterium. It would be in the Cadia System that Lorgar would learn that his suspicions had been correct and that all of the religions across the galaxy that possessed so many similarities to the Colchisian Old Faith were not coincidences, but expressions of worship in the universal truth that was the existence of Chaos.

 

The decision was made to hold orbit over Cadia and for the 1301st Fleet's elements to make planetfall on the unknown world, designated as 1301-12. The landing force was comprised of Imperial Army, Word Bearers, Legio Custodes and Legio Cybernetica elements. The landing party, led by Lorgar, was greeted by a large number of barbaric human tribes, tribes described as "dressed in rags and wielding spears tipped by flint blades...yet they showed little fear." Most notable were the barbarians' purple eyes, which reflected the colour of the Eye of Terror itself in the spectrum of visible light. Despite the Custodian Vendatha's protests and request to execute the heathens, the Word Bearers approached the natives. A strange woman emerged from the crowd and addressed the Primarch directly, calling him Lorgar Aurelian and welcoming him to Cadia. This woman, the Chaos priestess Ingethel, would ultimately lead the Primarch down a path of spiritual enlightenment that actually marked the beginning of Lorgar's fall to heresy and Chaos. Later, the Priestess Ingethel of Cadia would initiate a ritual that would see her transformed into the Daemon Prince known as Ingethel the Ascended, Viator of the Primordial Truth, and then lead the 1,301st Fleet's scout vessel Orfeo's Lament into the Eye of Terror.

 

Within the Eye of Terror, the Serrated Sun Chapter of the Word Bearers Legion witnessed the failure of the ancient Eldar empire first hand in the form of the Crone Worlds that had been scoured of all life that littered the Eye's region of space. Ingethel, of course, lied to the Word Bearers about how the Chaos God Slaanesh had truly been born and warned that the Eldar had failed as a species and suffered the Fall because at the moment of their ascension they were unable to accept the Primordial Truth, i.e. serve Chaos. They gave birth to a God of Pleasure, yet they had felt no joy at her coming. Their new God, Slaanesh, had awoken to consciousness in the 30th Millennium to find its worshippers abandoning it out of ignorance and fear, and from the Prince of Pleasure's grief was born the endless storm of the Great Eye (the Eye of Terror), an echo of the birth-screams of the Eldar's new and rejected God. The nature of the Primordial Truth was revealed to the Word Bearers in the ashes of the Eldar empire, and Ingethel warned them that in order for humanity as a species to survive they must not commit the same sins the Eldar did, and must instead accept the worship of Chaos.

 

The surviving Space Marines of the Word Bearers' Serrated Sun Chapter eventually returned to Cadia and related to Lorgar all that had happened and all that they had learned within the Eye, the place where mortals and Gods could meet. Following the visits into the Eye of Terror, Lorgar ordered a cyclonic bombardment of the planet, wiping out the Cadians and leaving the planet abandoned so that no others could stumble upon the secret of the Primordial Truth that had been entrusted to him alone by the Chaos Gods. However, the planet's extremely strategic location meant that it would prove useful to the Imperium and in the 32nd Millennium Imperial colonists were dispatched to resettle the world, becoming the ancestors of the present-day population of Cadians. Perhaps as a result of the Eye of Terror's proximity this later population of Cadians also soon developed the unusual violet-coloured eyes that had marked the first human inhabitants of the planet.

 

This "truth" changed Lorgar and the Word Bearers forever as they were exposed to the Ruinous Powers of Chaos and slowly corrupted, the first of the Legiones Astartes to worship the Chaos Gods and become Traitors to the Emperor in their hearts. Lorgar and the Word Bearers spent the remaining years of the Great Crusade attempting to enlighten humanity about the true spiritual nature of Creation, ultimately resorting to manipulation and deception to sway nine of the Primarchs to the cause of Chaos as their Gods demanded, the most notable being the Warmaster Horus. When it became clear that Mankind could not be enlightened by Chaos without first being forcibly weaned at a great price in blood from the Emperor's false Imperial Truth, Lorgar willingly helped orchestrate the terrible Battle of Istvaan III and the Drop Site Massacre at Istvaan V as well as the larger Horus Heresy itself. When Horus openly declared his rebellion against the Emperor, the Word Bearers were once of the first Legions to support him and his cause. The worlds they had conquered since their conversion to Chaos also joined the side of the Traitors, having been secretly corrupted to the worship of the Ruinous Powers in the final days of the Great Crusade.

 

"All I ever wanted was the truth. Remember those words as you read the ones that follow. I never set out to topple my father's kingdom of lies from a sense of misplaced pride. I never wanted to bleed the species to its marrow, reaving half the galaxy clean of human life in this bitter crusade. I never desired any of this, though I know the reasons for which it must be done. But all I ever wanted was the truth."

— Opening Lines of the "Book of Lorgar", First Canticle of Chaos

 

 

 

Chapters of the XVII Legion

 

Before their fall from grace, it is recorded that the Word Bearers were not considered particularly different from the organisation of the other Astartes Legions, apart from the unusual number of zealous brothers who served as Chaplains. Outside of their Legion, the Word Bearers' current organisation is not known or understood by Imperial savants. Before the Horus Heresy, the Word Bearers Legion, like many of their fellow Space Marine Legions, were sub-divided into Chapters. A full Chapter consisted of 1,000 Astartes, sub-divided into 10 companies, each 100 strong and led by officers designated as Captains. It has also been noted that not all Chapters consisted of the standard 10 companies of 100 Astartes each. The Serrated Sun Chapter, for example, seems to have consisted of only 3 companies which each originally comprised 100 Astartes. The order of the numbered companies in these Chapters is non-linear. For example, the Serrated Sun Chapter includes the 7th, 15th and 37th Companies of the Legion. Other Chapters are known to have possessed 20 or more companies. Despite being part of the greater Word Bearers Legion, every Chapter has its own cultural traditions and its own role within Lorgar's "Word." Furthermore, each Chapter has its own iconography, symbology, and specific tactical role within the Legion, giving each their own distinct appearance. Four of these Chapters remain known to the Imperium today, bearing these logos:

 

• A quill with a drop of blood at the nib
• An open hand with an eye in the palm
• A burning book
• A sceptre crowned with a skull

 

Known Chapters of the XVII Legion

 

• Chapter of the Coiled Lash - Nothing is known of this Chapter's particular function or specialty.

 

• Chapter of the Crescent Moon - Nothing is known of this Chapter's particular function or specialty.

 

• Chapter of the Iron Veil - Nothing is known about this Chapter's particular function or specialty. This Chapter was wiped out during the Underworld War that took place after the end of the formal Battle of Calth. The Iron Veil's Chapter badge was a face, pale against a dark background, shaped as a sorrowful masquerade mask.

 

• Chapter of the Opening Eye - The Chapter of the Opening Eye was commanded by Chapter Master Faerskarel. Nothing is known about this Chapter in Imperial records.

 

• Chapter of the Osseous Throne - The Osseus Throne Chapter iconography is that of a makeshift throne comprised of skulls with a golden flame burning behind it. The Chapter of the Osseous Throne specialised in infantry wave attacks.

 

• Chapter of the Void - The Chapter of the Void was commanded by Chapter Master Tenaebron. The Chapter of the Void was probably the least respected amongst the Chapters of the Word Bearers Legion for it was by far the smallest, with less than 700 Astartes. There was little glory in its history, since it was used as a reserve force that enacted its missions behind the front line. This dishonourable purpose fell to the Void and Chapter Master Tenaebron. The Void's Master did not complain, for he knew that his Chapter's true role was to create and test new weapons and tactics for the rest of the Legion. Lorgar ordered Tenebron to also concern himself with the exploitation of the Word Bearers' psychic resources.

 

• Asps of the Sacred Sands - Nothing is known about this Chapter's particular function or specialty. This Chapter was wiped out during the Underworld War that took place after the end of the formal Battle of Calth. The Asps of the Sacred Sands' Chapter badge was a red palm print.

 

• Burning Hand Chapter - The Burning Hand Chapter was commanded by Chapter Master Deinos. In keeping with the name of his Chapter, Deinos's gauntlets were permanently wreathed in flames from gas jets built into his vambraces. Nothing is known of this Chapter's particular function or specialty.

 

• Crimson Mask Chapter - The Crimson Mask Chapter was commanded by Chapter Master Rukis. The Battle-Brothers of the Crimson Mask were known to have the faceplate of their helmets wrought to resemble fearsome red-skinned, snarling daemons.

 

• Ebony Serpent Chapter - The Ebony Serpent Chapter was commanded by Chapter Master Skolinthos. Nothing is known of this Chapter's particular function or specialty.

 

• Exalted Gate Chapter - The Exalted Gate Chapter was commanded by Chapter Master Ungol Shax. Nothing is known about this Chapter's particular function or specialty. This Chapter was wiped out during the Underworld War that took place after the end of the formal Battle of Calth. The Exalted Gate's Chapter badge was a portcullis or gate.

 

• Flayed Hand Chapter - Nothing is known about this Chapter's particular function or specialty. This Chapter was wiped out during the Underworld War that took place after the end of the formal Battle of Calth.

 

• Graven Star Chapter - Nothing is known about this Chapter's particular function or specialty. This Chapter was wiped out during the Underworld War that took place after the end of the formal Battle of Calth. The Graven Stars' Chapter badge was the Octed or Star of Chaos.

 

• Perpetual Spiral Chapter - The Perpetual Spiral Chapter had a proud and illustrious history dating back to the time of their precursors, the Imperial Heralds. Garrisoning worlds brought to compliance by the Legion became the primary function of the Perpetual Spiral, though this was said to have displeased Silak, who saw such a task as lacking in martial honour. Nevertheless, it was a role at which they excelled, and the Chapter was praised by the Primarch Lorgar Aurelian on many occasions. The Chapter was later attached to the 47th Expeditionary Fleet, during which time it led the final assault upon the world designated Forty-Seven Sixteen. It was later after this compliance action that the Primarch took a special interest in Captain Sor Talgron, Lorgar decreed that the captain would lead almost half of the Perpetual Spiral back to the Solar System, ostensibly taking his 34th Company to garrison Terra in the name of the XVII Legion. More astute Imperial Remembrancers noted that the move was likely to be politically motivated -- Sor Talgron, already noted for his disregard of the Legion's excessive reverence of the Emperor, was living proof that the Word Bearers had taken to heart the concerns expressed so forcefully at Monarchia. Though these Legionaries presented an officious face to Imperial commanders, in reality they were secretly committing acts of sabotage entrusted to Talgron by Lorgar himself. The Perpetual Spiral Chapter's badge is a flaming spiral.

 

• Quillborn - The Quillborn were so named because their traditions emphasized their birth, created in the laboratories and Apothecarions of Colchis. They believed themselves to be written into existence, born as syllables of the Word. A dedicated naval formation, the Quillborn were true marines, fighting ship-to-ship, completely at home battling through the cramped structure of a starship. The Quillborn's Chapter badge was a quill with a drop of blood at its base.

 

• Serrated Sun Chapter - The Serrated Suns Chapter's iconography is that of a golden sun, centered on a black lozenge, on a field of maroon. The Serrated Suns Chapter accompanied Lorgar during his Pilgrimage. The Serrated Suns was ultimately lost to the predations of the first Imperial expedition known to ever enter the chaotic eddies of the Eye of Terror and treat with the Ruinous Powers and their daemonic servants directly some forty standard years before the start of the Horus Heresy. The survivors of the Serrated Sun would become the infamous Gal Vorbak, the first known Possessed Chaos Space Marines. The Serrated Sun Chapter's specialty was tactical drop strikes.

 

• The Broken Scythe - The Broken Scythe Chapter's iconography is that of a broken black-coloured scythe centered on a maroon coloured circle. This Chapter's specialty was infrastructure reduction.

 

• The Inscribed - Nothing is known about this Chapter's particular function or specialty. This Chapter was wiped out during the Underworld War that took place after the end of the formal Battle of Calth. The warriors of the Inscribed were known to decorate their armour with gold runes -- sigils representing various concepts of Chaos on a background of arterial red.

 

• The Star of Judgement - The Star of Judgement Chapter's icon was a crimson-coloured gauntlet wielding a mace, centered on a crimson-coloured gardbrace, painted with flames. This Chapter's specialty was scorched earth assaults. The Star of Judgement bore a mantle of dark renown within the Word Bearers, and were deployed only to those war zones where it was deemed that the populace of a world did not deserve the honour of Imperial Compliance. At Istvaan V, the full arsenal of proscribed toxic munitions available to the Star of Judgement was utilised against the unsuspecting Loyalists of the assault's first wave during the Drop Site Massacre.

 

• The Tri-Fold Crown - The Tri-Fold Crown's symbol was a cracked bleached skull with flames wreathing its head like a crown. The Tri-Fold Crown Chapter's specialty was attritional warfare.

 

• The Unspeaking - Nothing is known about this Chapter's particular function or specialty. It was said that the Word Bearers of this Chapter were warrior-sages to match any others, stilling their tongues with proud oaths of silence. To honour their masters, the Unspeaking's oath-sworn serfs would ritually mutilate and remove their tongues. This Chapter was wiped out during the Underworld War that took place after the end of the formal Battle of Calth.

 

• Twisting Rune Chapter - Nothing is known of this Chapter's particular function or specialty. This Chapter was wiped out during the Underworld War that took place after the end of the formal Battle of Calth. The Twisting Rune's Chapter symbol was a mangled Chaotic sigil of eldritch power.

Shown here is a selection of icons showing some of the Word Bearers Legion's Chapters known to have been present at the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V in 006.M31

 

 

Notable Campaigns

• The Fall of Orioc (Unknown Date.M30) - Orioc was a city-state of Old Earth. Buried in a hallowed-out mountain in Ancient Terra's ice-bound south, it stood throughout the darkness of Old Night, weathering the storms of strife for thousands of standard years. The people of Orioc believed they were the chosen of Ancient Terra's blighted children, and that they alone would outlast the anarchy that had broken so much else. This certainty came from their faith in protection from the spirits of death and life, an ancient pantheon of gods worshiped by the people of Orioc. During the Unification Wars, when the Emperor's eye finally turned to the mountain city, He seemed to have known that soft words and diplomatic overtures would be of little use. The XVII Space Marine Legion, the Imperial Heralds, came to the city and gave it a choice -- kneel and accept the Imperial Truth, or be destroyed. The Priest Kings of Orioc did not even hear the message before they gave their answer. Fire met the Imperial Heralds' transport and as it fell to the ice plains, the XVII Legion began their attack. Macro bombers came out of the snow-filled sky and the mountain cracked under a rain of seismic charges. On the mountain's flanks, siege tanks coughed shell after shell into fractures in the rock, breaking them wide open. Behind the wind came the grey armoured warriors advancing in a relentless drum roll of gun fire and the hiss of flame. After three solar hours of battle, the remaining populace was a huddled flock, crammed intro the central cavern. With every other tunnel and cavern district wiped clean of life, the XVII Legion halted, sealing the ways in and out of the central cavern. As the survivors waited in fretful silence, they wondered what fate awaited them. Their answer came in a rain of shattered stone and red fire, as the Ashen Circle descended on the last idolators like comets flung from a destroyed heaven. All burned, none were spared, and when it was done, the XVII Legion overloaded the geothermal power plants beneath the mountain, causing lava to fill the caverns, swallowing the stone idols, and exploding the city-state from the wounds in the mountain's flanks. So fell Orioc, and the message of its death carried across Ancient Terra and beyond: faith in false gods would bring only ruin and ashes.

 

• The Melkeji Salvation (Unknown Date.M30) - The world of Melkeji was a planet on the trailing edge of the galactic rim which had retained many of the technological marvels of Mankind's lost Golden Age of Technology. Star docks ringed its orbit and moons, and electric lights bathed its cities which rose in metal and stone from plains, mountains and blue sea shores. Winged craft skimmed its atmosphere, while genecrafts and bio-cleansing technologies allowed much of its population to live for many Terran centuries. On the surface Melkeji was a jewel of light still burning in the night, but darkness coiled at the heart of this perfect realm. A parasitic alien race held control over Melkeji. Accounts describe these creatures as clouds of shattered black crystal when glimpsed without their hosts. Unable to exist outside of a biological sentient host, these nameless creatures ruled Melkeji through a class referred to as the Ascended. Wearing the faces of human men and women, the Ascended ran their domains with a single purpose guiding their every action: the maintenance of a pool of future hosts. Such was the Melkeji world's ingrained devotion to their parasitic masters, that when the Great Crusade found them, they rose up to resist the invaders who sought to free them. Initially, the Imperium's Expeditionary Fleet encountered heavy resistance and the armada withdrew with a small number of human captives. From these captives the nature of the Melkeji's enslavement soon became clear. Knowing that they could not capture the planet, the Grand Marshal of the Expeditionary Fleet sent an Astropathic message asking for aid. When that aid came, it was more than the Grand Marshal could have dared to hope for. Lorgar himself came to Melkeji with eight full Chapters of his XVII Legion. Having talked to the captives in person, the Lord Aurelian is said to have given a single order: "Light the first fire." Perhaps out of fear that their human cattle might one day turn on them, the Ascended dwelt in a chain of nine orbital cities far above the planet's surface. Approaching without power, the war barge Castigator slid towards Melkeji from its system's edge. Once it was deep behind the planet's sphere of defences, it fired its payload, a Nova Shell and a cluster of Melta and plasma-tipped torpedoes timed to strike at the same moment. Revealing itself after launching its payload, the Melkeji warships turned to chase the Word Bearers vessel. Meanwhile, Lorgar's fleet met them, the void battle lasted a single hour, and at its end the Melkeji ships were scattered fragments of debris. The Word Bearers moved past the orbital cities to land their armoured cargoes of Astartes upon the planet's surface. Five thousand Word Bearers and 100,000 Imperial Army auxiliaries fell on the planet in a single drop. Even in the face of such might, the Melkeji resisted. Several million died in the first hour of engagement. Then, just as the defenders reached into their reserves of will, Lorgar attacked the remaining cities of the Ascended. Boarding companies in Astartes gunships punched through the turret fire and armour, and began to advance through the cities. Throughout the assault the Ascended called on their forces to resist, their voices reaching across the planet on signal waves. Lorgar made no move to stop the signaling voices, but his Assault Companies reached the orbital cities' plasma reactors. Then, one after another, the Ascended's voices were silenced and a chain of explosions ringed the besieged world. In a single moment the people of Melkeji knew that their masters were gone and that they were facing a power greater and more terrible than they any they could have dreamed in their wildest nightmares. Most of the Melkeji surrendered at that moment, the rest a few days later. A decade after, Melkeji was a world faithful to the God-Emperor. Half a century later, half a million of its sons and daughters would come to Ultramar in 005.M31 with the names of alien gods on their lips and aid the Word Bearers in the assault upon Calth and other worlds within the Realm of the XIII Legion.

 

• Razing of Monarchia (964.M30) - During the Great Crusade, the world of Forty-Seven Ten, also known as Khur, was brought into Imperial Compliance approximately a Terran century before the events of Istvaan III at the outset of the Horus Heresy (approximately 005.M30). The beautiful capital city of Khur known as Monarchia, called the Perfect City by the Word Bearers, was built by the people of Khur at the direction and exhortation of the Word bearers to demonstrate their faith and devotion to the God-Emperor. Nearly six decades after being brought into Compliance, some forty-three years before the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, the XIII Legion, the Ultramarines, utterly destroyed Monarchia on the order of the Emperor as an example to both Primarch Lorgar and his Word Bearers that violations of the Imperial Truth through the encouragement of the continued error of religious faith and the spread of idolatrous doctrine would not be tolerated. This action crushed Lorgar and his Space Marines and led them to seek out new gods more worthy of their worship -- the Ruinous Powers of Chaos.

 

• Pilgrimage of Lorgar (ca. 964.M30) - The Pilgrimage of Lorgar was the spiritual quest undertaken by the Primarch Lorgar of the Word Bearers Space Marine Legion during the Great Crusade. Its object was to discover whether humanity's ancient collective beliefs in supernatural entities were true or whether his father the Emperor of Mankind's atheistic, rationalist Imperial Truth was the correct philosophy to guide Mankind's future. In the course of his Pilgrimage, Lorgar learned that the Emperor had lied and that supernatural entities, the Chaos Gods, did exist. Since they were the only deities seemingly in existence, Lorgar believed that they were worthy of humanity's worship. Lorgar would spend the next 40 standard years seeking to turn his fellow Primarchs to the service of Chaos and this Pilgrimage was ultimately responsible for setting in motion the events that brought on the cataclysmic Horus Heresy.

 

• Purge of Forty-Seven Sixteen (ca. 964.M30) - Forty-Seven Sixteen was the first world brought into Imperial Compliance after the rebuke of the Word Bearers by the Emperor on the world of Khur. The lost human world had at first rejoiced to be reunited with their long-lost brothers from the stars. For over four thousand Terran years they had thought themselves alone in the universe until the arrival of the XVII Legion. They had greeted the Word Bearers' envoys with open arms, gazing upon the immense, grey-armoured Astartes warriors with awe and reverence. Upon their return to their orbiting vessels, First Captain Kor Phaeron commented that the people of Forty-Seven Sixteen were, "Irrevocably corrupt worshipers of a heathen deity." The humans of this world appeared to venerate a large profane titanic colossus known only as the "Storm Lord." Since the Emperor had rebuked their Primarch and the entirety of the XVII Legion for their slowness in bringing worlds into Compliance and violating the Imperial Truth, the Word Bearers could not again refuse the will of the Emperor. The XVII Legion did not have the time necessary to convert the population of Forty-Seven Sixteen to the Imperial Truth, and since their profane beliefs were deemed incompatible with the Imperium's order, the world of Forty-Seven Sixteen would have to be purged. Less than 24 hours later more than a 190 million people were dead – over 98% of the doomed world’s population. Only one city survived the 12 hour orbital bombardment, in which entire continents disappeared in flame. This was the seat of the planet's governance and centre of its blasphemous worship. The world's profane palace-temple was protected by a bubble of coruscating energy. Five full Word Bearers companies were deployed to the planet's surface to finish the job. Battling through the masses of artificial intelligent war machines unleashed by the desperate defenders, Captain Sor Talgron and his 34th Company spearheaded the assault and eventually forced their way inside, while taking more casualties than initially expected. Within the dome of the temple were gathered hundreds of human survivors as well as the political leaders of the people of Forty-Seven Sixteen. Sor Talgron spoke with the head priest and discovered, much to his shock, that these people worshipped the Emperor as a God, and that they wanted to join the Imperium! Sor Talgron felt guilty for the genocide that had been committed by his Legion because of this misunderstanding. Informing the Primarch of what had transpired, the First Captain Kor Phaeron and a cadre of 100 Terminators teleported to the surface, materialising inside the dome, their weapons trained on the human worshippers. Then Lorgar and First Chaplain Erebus materialised, making their presence known. The Primarch dismissed the fact that the people of this world worshiped the Emperor as a God and that they had somehow obtained a copy of the Lectitio Divinitatus scribed by Lorgar himself. Lorgar informed Talgron that he had been penning a new magnus opus, something that would make everyone forget the now-obsolete Lectitior Divinatus. This was to be the profane Book of Lorgar. The people of Forty-Seven Sixteen were condemned, for ignorance was no excuse for violations of the Imperial Truth. The Primarch explained to Captain Talgron that sometimes sacrifices had to be made, and with a signal to his First Captain the survivors of Forty-Seven Sixteen were massacred in a hail of Storm Bolter rounds.

 

• The Pyre of Corrinos (Unknown Date.M30) - The Corrinos Campaign is one of many that were seen at the time as shining examples of the Word Bearers' renewal after their censure at Khur. Now, with the fires of treachery still casting a lingering shadow ten thousand standard years later, this ancient victory can be read in a very different light. Corrinos was a star system of inhabited worlds that lay close to the major Warp routes linking the Sol System to the Eastern Fringe. Discovered after a previously unstable Warp route had opened, it at first seemed Corrinos might be brought into the Imperial fold without bloodshed. The light Imperial scout fleet who first made contact with the trio of worlds reported that the populations of all seemed open to reunification with Terra. Given the levels of technology and industry, they became a waypoint for greater exploitation of the eastern galactic zones, and a small force of Ultramarines was dispatched to link up with the scout fleet and bring Corrinos into the expanding Realm of Ultramar. The Ultramarines were becalmed in the Immaterium while en route to the Corrinos System, which delayed them by several solar months. When the forces of the XIII Legion finally reached their destination, they found its three worlds covered in the ruin of war. All that remained was a lone Imperial voidship lingering in orbit around one world. The Imperial survivors' account given to the Ultramarines, and the one that entered the War Council's archives, was that the scout fleet had been ambushed and destroyed after being lured into a false parley. The scout fleet's Astropaths had broadcast a garbled message that called for help and spoke of treachery. A Word Bearers Crusade fleet, under the command of Chapter Master Hasdrubal, had responded, racing to the system to find that the worlds of Corrinos were waiting for them. Far from open compliance, the population was riddled with the taint of renegade psykers. These witches had clouded the minds of the Imperial scout force, seeding them with lies that would draw more victims to Corrinos. It had only been chance that the Astropath's message had broken through. As soon as they were in range of the first world, the Word Bearers Crusade fleet began their bombardment, hammering the surface of the first planet from orbit with relentless fury. A mass Astartes drop had followed to clear the remaining life from the surface. With the warships above shaking the ground with fire, the Word Bearers made a last advance before withdrawing to orbit again and leaving the first planet of Corrinos in flames. It was said to have been done in less than a single transit of the world's sun, and then repeated twice more until the Corrinos System was cleansed of life. These were the facts the Imperium believed at the time, which signified nothing but the strength of a loyal Space Marine Legion. That Corrinos could have provided a key mustering ground for later Loyalist forces seeking to strike out of Ultramar towards the systems around Terra to protect the homeworld of humanity from an attacking force never occurred to anyone. Only later, after the terrible events of the Horus Heresy, does the account of the Pyre of Corrinos now taste of lies when one speaks of it.

 

• Compliance of Fortrea Quintus (Unknown Date.M30) - The world of Fortrea Quintus had been isolated from Imperial rule for several centuries, and when the leading edges of the Great Crusade reached the frontier of their star system, the planet's governing monarchy proved unwilling to submit itself to Imperial rule and had the Emperor's representatives executed. The Word Bearers were the nearest Legion to the world, though they were already heavily engaged in fighting Orks in the Chairak Nebula. Lorgar despatched 2,000 Astartes to Fortrea Quintus with orders that the planet be pacified within three months. The Word Bearers quickly established fortified positions on the planet and found the populace to be living in abject poverty, while their corrupt and ruthless rulers grew fat off their hard labours. A well-trained and disciplined army defended the planet's rulers, equipped with advanced weaponry and artificially-intelligent war machines. Under the command of Captain Jarulek, the Word Bearers steadily pushed their enemies back, their captain rousing the populace against their rulers with stirring speeches and fiery oratory. In ever-increasing numbers, the people of Fortrea Quintus joined Jarulek's march until his army numbered more than a million people. A month after the Word Bearers had landed, Captain Jarulek, together with his millions of new followers, launched his assault on the planetary ruler's last bastion, the Palace of Light. The casualties amongst the populace were horrendous,with thousands dying every minute as they charged the heavily defended walls, armoured bastions and labyrinthine trench systems of the main gates armed with little more than pistols and spears. As the carnage continued at the main palace gates, the Word Bearers attacked on another front, catching the defenders off-guard and striking for the heart of the palace. Nothing could stand before them and Jarulek himself captured the planet's ruler, throwing him to the blood-maddened survivors of the battle at the gates where he was torn to bloody shreds. Fully 90% of the people who had joined Jarulek's march died in the battle for the main gates, whilst barely a handful of Word Bearers had been killed. Following the victory, Jarulek began the Imperial indoctrination of the populace. When the Adepts of the Ministorum arrived to bring the word of the Emperor to Fortrea Quintus, they were horrified by the Word Bearers careless use of the populace, but found the people as well versed in the culture of the Imperium as any Loyal world could be. But when the Horus Heresy began, Fortrea Quintus would be revealed as a hotbed of Chaos worship secretly planted by the Word Bearers. After the end of the Heresy, the Ultramarines Legion would be forced to purge the planet of its festering Chaotic corruption by exterminating its population.

 

• Battle of Calth (005.M31) - The Battle of Calth, also referred to as the Calth Atrocity, was the name given by later Imperial scholars to the treacherous campaign conducted during the early stages of the Horus Heresy in the 31st Millennium by the traitorous XVII Space Marine Legion, the Word Bearers, on behalf of the Warmaster Horus against their hated rivals, the XIII Space Marine Legion, better known as the Ultramarines. The campaign was launched by the Word Bearers' Primarch Lorgar Aurelian with the goal of exterminating the XIII Space Marine Legion outright. The purpose of the Word Bearers' invasion of the Ultramarines' Realm of Ultramar in the Eastern Fringe of the galaxy was to tie down the XIII Legion and prevent them from reinforcing their fellow Loyalists as the Traitor Legions marched relentlessly on Terra itself. The crux of the campaign came on the Agri-world of Calth in the Ultramar Sector, where the Ultamarines successfully broke the Word Bearers' surprise assault after a viciously-fought siege action, though at the cost of terrible casualties and the complete destruction of Calth's atmosphere and once-verdant biosphere. As a result of the devastation wrought by the Word Bearers during the Calth Atrocity, future generations of Calth's people were required to live deep underground in massive subterranean hive cities to escape their world's radiation-scorched, airless surface. While both the Ultramarines and their Primarch Roboute Guilliman survived the Word Bearers' assault, the campaign successfully prevented the Ultramarines from participating in the Battle of Terra as Horus had planned. During the invasion, the Word Bearers conducted a blasphemous Chaos ritual which summoned massive Warp storm disturbances known as the 'Ruinstorm,' which would isolate and trap those Loyalist forces caught within it like the Ultramarines, preventing them from coordinating their efforts and supporting one another as the Traitor Legions moved towards Terra. It would even prevent them from warning each other, for a time, of the Warmaster's betrayal and the civil war that had begun to consume the Imperium. The Ruinstorm would leave Terra alone in the void, infinitely vulnerable to the approaching shadow of Horus.

 

• Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V (006.M31) - Noted as one of the most devastating defeats in the history of the Adeptus Astartes, the Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V saw the Raven Guard and Salamanders Legions nearly annihilated as effective fighting forces and only the quick thinking and initiative of the Salamanders allowed a bare few Space Marines of these two Legions to escape that dreadful day. In response to the treachery of the Warmaster Horus and his betrayal of the Loyalist Astartes in the Sons of Horus, Emperor's Children, World Eaters and Death Guard Legions at Istvaan III, the Primarch of the Imperial Fists Legion, Rogal Dorn, on the direction of the Emperor who had learned of Horus' actions from the Loyalist survivors aboard the Eisenstein, ordered 7 Loyalist Space Marine Legions to Horus' base on the world of Istvaan V to challenge the Traitors. They would attack in two waves and fall under the supreme command of the Iron Hands' Primarch Ferrus Manus. The Legions comprising the first wave were the Raven Guard, Iron Hands and Salamanders. The Legions comprising the second wave were the Alpha Legion, Night Lords, Iron Warriors, and a large contingent of Word Bearers that their Primarch Lorgar had stationed in the star system. Unknown to Dorn and Ferrus Manus, the Night Lords, Alpha Legion, Iron Warriors and Word Bearers had all turned from their service to the Emperor and secretly pledged their loyalty to Horus, and been instructed to keep their new allegiance to Chaos a secret. The Iron Hands, Salamanders and Raven Guard were deployed in the first wave of the assault on the planet. The first wave secured the drop site, known as the Urgall Depression, though at a heavy cost. Horus ordered his front line troops to fall back in a feint, tempting Ferrus Manus to overstretch his already thin lines. Against the advice of Corax and Vulkan, Manus led his Veterans against the fleeing Traitor Marines unsupported. Manus then brought his brother Fulgrim to combat. As the two Primarchs drew their weapons, the Raven Guard and Salamanders fell back to regroup and allow the second wave's Legions to advance and earn glory. However, as they returned they were mowed down by the four Traitor Legions that had landed to supposedly support them, thus revealing their new allegiance to Chaos. At the same time the apparent rout of the Sons of Horus, the World Eaters, Death Guard and Emperor's Children suddenly halted and the Traitors pressed their attack. As Horus pressed the counterattack he managed to sandwich the Loyalists between the two Traitor forces, killing most of them. As the black-armoured Astartes of the Raven Guard Legion were cut down by the Traitors' sustained volley, the traitorous Primarch Lorgar ordered his Word Bearers Legion to attack the Raven Guards' unprotected flank. Corax charged into the ranks of the Traitorous Word Bearers, a blur of charcoal armour and black blades, butchering with an ease that belied his ferocity. Argel Tal, the Crimson Lord and leader of the daemon-possessed Astartes known as the Gal Vorbak, Lorgar's "Blessed Sons," leapt forward to meet their end at the hands of the enraged Primarch. Lorgar soon noticed that Corax was wading through the Gal Vorbak, ripping his daemon-possessed crimson warriors apart. Despite the protestations of both Kor Phaeron and Erebus, Lorgar disregarded their counsel and sprinted forwards across the churned earth and dead bodies of his brother's Legion to engage in a battle he had no hope of winning. The two Primarchs fought in furious combat -- Corax fighting to slay the Traitor, while Lorgar fought simply to stay alive. The Primarchs traded vicious blows, but the Raven Lord had the advantage not only of speed and finesse, but also of being a gifted warrior with decades of fighting experience. Lorgar did not, for he had always been more of a scholar than a warrior, and his lack of experience cost him dearly as Corax impaled Lorgar through his stomach and out his back. As Corax stepped closer, he raised his one functioning Lightning Claw to execute his brother, but was thwarted by the timely intervention of the Night Lords' Primarch Konrad Curze. Weakened by his battle with Lorgar, Corax took advantage when the Night Haunter was momentarily distracted and fired his flight pack, burning his fuel reserves to escape Curze’s grip, soaring skyward away from Curze’s rising laughter. Meanwhile, the Iron Hands were cut off and slaughtered to a man -- the Veteran Morlock Terminators cut down while Ferrus Manus was beheaded by Fulgrim. The Salamanders and Raven Guard could do nothing to help the Iron Hands, and were forced to make a costly break-out with precious few of their forces. Those Thunderhawk and Stormbird gunships that lifted off and escaped Istvaan V were far fewer than those that had landed. Corax was badly wounded and Vulkan's fate was unknown for some time. The remainder of the Iron Hands Legion arrived to find their Veterans and Primarch dead and the Salamanders and Raven Guard reduced to a fraction of their full strength, with both Legions nearly wiped out.

 

• Shadow Crusade and the Purge of Nuceria (006.M31) - In the wake of the Battle of Calth, the Word Bearers Legion, led by their Primarch Lorgar, linked up with Angron and his World Eaters to launch a Shadow Crusade against the Realm of Ultramar's Five Hundred Worlds in an attempt to spread the massive Warp Storm known as the Ruinstorm that had been conjured by the Word Bearers at Calth across the Eastern Fringe. This would split the galaxy in half and deny needed reinforcements to the Loyalists as Horus drove on Terra in an attempt to overthrow the Emperor of Mankind. But Lorgar noticed that the mental stability of Angron, the Primarch of the World Eaters, was rapidly deteriorating because of the damage caused by the Butcher's Nails, the cortical implant that had been forced upon Angron by the slavemasters of his homeworld of Nuceria. With the savants of the Traitor Legions and the Dark Mechanicum unable to divine a way to either remove the implant without killing the Primarch or to prevent the escalating deterioration of Angron's mind, Lorgar suggested that the Word Bearers and the World Eaters return to Nuceria to gather knowledge about the implants and then raze the world to the ground. When Angron returned to his homeworld, he learned that in the Terran century since the Emperor had rescued him unwillingly from certain death beside the rebel band of gladiators he had led, the Nucerian slavemasters had concocted a story that he had cowardly run away from the rebels' last stand and left them to be slaughtered alone. Enraged by the lies that had been told about him over the last century, Angron ordered his Legion to kill everyone in the city of Desh'ea, the masters of which had once claimed to own him. Then they were to kill everyone on the planet. At the height of the final battle against the last city on Nuceria, Lorgar was confronted by his wrathful brother Roboute Guilliman, who had been chasing him and the XII Legion since the destruction of Calth. As the two Primarchs fought, Guilliman gravely wounded Lorgar and was about to deliver a killing stroke to his wretched brother. But Angron intervened, facing the Lord of Ultramar in single combat. As the two fought, Guilliman landed a glancing blow, his fist pounding across Angron's breastplate. One of the skulls of Angron's fallen kinsman that hung from the chain worn across his breastplate was partially shattered and scattered across the ground. Guilliman stepped back, his boot crushing a skull's remnants to powder. Angron saw it, and threw himself at his brother, his howl of wrath defying mortal origins, impossibly ripe in its anguish. Lorgar saw it, too. The moment Guilliman's boot broke the skull, he felt the Warp boil behind the veil. The Bearer of the Word started chanting in a language never before spoken by any living being, his words in faultless harmony with Angron's cry of torment. Lorgar enacted his dark plan to save his brother's life, summoning the Ruinstorm to the world of Nuceria, tearing the sky open and unleashing a crimson torrent, formed from the ghosts of a hundred murdered worlds, raining blood. Lorgar focused his concentration on the triumphant form of his mutilated brother, calling for the Neverborn, the entities men called daemons, to answer in kind. He locked Angron’s muscles, setting fire to the synapses in his brain. The first spasms wracked their way through Angron’s sinews, turning his blood to quicksilver, then to lava and at last to holy fire. His cries of thwarted rage were tainted by an agony beyond comprehension. His body started tearing itself apart, growing, rising. Perfecting, after a lifetime of broken torture. This was the moment of Angron's apotheosis into daemonhood. The World Eaters Librarians, those few who had never been implanted with the deadly Butcher's Nails implants which were inimicable to psykers, sensed the fey powers summoned by Lorgar from the Warp. In an attempt to halt Lorgar's dark plans, the 19 remaining Librarians harnessed their collective psychic powers to manifest a psychic entity known as the Communion, the gestalt consciousness of 19 psychic minds. In the midst of Lorgar's incantations, the Communion pulled the soul of the Primarch from his body. The two psychic entities confronted one another within the Warp, locked in a deadly contest of wills, each convinced that they were the one responsible for saving Angron. But ultimately, the Communion failed, for Lorgar was just as powerful in the Warp as he was in the material universe. After Angron's completed metamorphosis into a new Daemon Prince, the Daemon Primarch turned his attention to the Librarians. The Daemon Primarch's rage killed the remaining Libarians, each of them tasting a different doom. Angron killed the last of the Librarians, expunging his Legion of the mutant weakness that had plagued his gene-sons since his reunification with them a century earlier. The Librarius of the World Eaters, the last fragment of the War Hounds within the XII Legion, was no more. Lorgar had offered up the World Eaters as the Blood God's new servants. Now there would only be blood, an ocean of blood carried on a tide of eternal slaughter.

 

• Battle of Terra (014.M31) - The Word Bearers took part in the climactic battle of the Horus Heresy, the Battle of Terra. The walls of the Imperial Palace seemed to touch the very sky, so tall were they. Before the walls milled the combined forces of the Traitors, an army so vast and terrible that its like has never been seen before. Nor will its like be seen again until the end of times, and the final battle. All manner of corrupted mutants, all the Greater and Lesser Daemons of Chaos, and the Traitor Legions in their fell might surrounded this last bastion of the Loyalists on Terra. The walls of the Palace were ultimately breached by the Titans of the Death's Heads Legion. Even as the Emperor fought Horus above the ruins of Terra, fought like never before, intent on slaying as many of the Loyalists as they could, sacrificing their souls to the Ruinous Powers. In the wake of the Warmaster's defeat the Word Bearers withdrew with the other Legions after Horus' fall and fled to the sanctuary of the Eye of Terror. Here, they founded a new homeword, the Daemon World Sicaraus, where the Word Bearers raised up blasphemous monuments and cathedrals to the glory of Chaos Undivided and to continue to launch their holy war against the hated Imperium of Man over the next ten millennia.

 

• Invasion of Tanakreg (Unknown Date.M41) - Carrying out a dire prophecy he had received ten millennia earlier during the Horus Heresy, the Dark Apostle Jarulek led his formidable Word Bearers Host in the invasion of the Imperial world of Tanakreg. Though the planet possessed a formidable air defence network protecting it from orbital attack and a large number of local Planetary Defense Forces (PDF), numbering approximately 200,000 soldiers, they were subsequently slaughtered by the invading Word Bearers. The Word Bearers Host only suffered minimal casualties as they had seeded the planet before their invasion with a large number of Chaos Cults and then incited them to rise up against their Imperial overlords when the time for their invasion had arrived. This cancerous rot had spread into the upper echelons of the Tanakreg PDF, whose members sabotaged the world's air defence network so that the Word Bearers could launch a deep strike planetary assault. With the successful subjugation of Tanakreg, Jarulek had the remaining populace enslaved and forced them to build a massive obelisk known as a Gehemehnet. This foul structure was designed to channel Warp energy directly into a planet, effectively transforming it into a Daemon World. Jarulek used the Gehemehnet to channel enough Warp energy to shatter the crust of the planet, exposing a dormant Necron Monolith beneath its surface. Accompanied by his First Acolyte Marduk, the Dark Apostle managed to recover a powerful artefact from the Necrons' stasis tomb, but was slain by the awakened Necron Lord as Marduk made his escape.

[Slave to Darkness]

Planets of Importance

 

• Colchis

http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131117184634/warhammer40k/images/thumb/e/e8/Colchis_Galaxy_Map.jpg/250px-Colchis_Galaxy_Map.jpg

Ancient Departmento Cartographicae map depicting the location of Colchis in the Segmentum Pacificus

 

The world of Colchis was one of the first worlds settled in Mankind's exploration of the stars. Located to the galactic northwest of Terra within the region of space later known as the Segmentum Pacificus, Colchis was located towards this Segmentum's westernmost region along the border of the neighbouring Segmentum Obscurus. Colchis' continental masses were dotted with strange, crumbling edifices, and no amount of exploration and research could fathom their purpose. At three times the size of Terra, with a fraction of the population, it took almost five standard years to turn once around its merciless sun. And it turned with great patience; a day lasted a Terran week, a week lasted a Terran month. From orbit, its skin was a visage of unforgiving mountain ranges and auburn desert plains, veined by threading rivers. It was in dry lands like these that that humanity's ancestors -- the very first men and women on the world no longer called Earth -- rose in lands that would become known as the cradle of civilisation.

 

Mechanicum Explorators at the time of the Great Crusade in the late 30th Millennium put the date of its first human settlement sometime during the 16th Millennium, though it is impossible to be certain. Imperial scholars and historians believe that the world of Colchis was once highly advanced technologically during the Dark Age of Technology like much of the rest of human-settled space, but fell into anarchy during the turbulent time known as the Age of Strife and that its population regressed to the level of a pre-industrial, feudal society.

 

When the Ultramarines returned to Colchis to purge it after the Horus Heresy they found a collapsed world. All of the industries were destroyed and people barely clung on to life. The Inquisition ordered the cleansing by the use of cyclonic torpedoes, disrupting Colchis's delicate geological structure, and thereby triggering a catastrophic explosion that annihilated the planet.

 

Colchisian Society

Few records remain of the Colchisian society that arose from the ashes of the Age of Strife. Various fragments of these records are reproduced in the Speculum Historiale, the exhaustive history of the Great Crusade penned by the historian Carpinus. In his description of Colchis, Carpinus tells of a caste of priests calling themselves the Covenant who rebuilt the shattered society of Colchis on the promise that a great leader would one day come to deliver them from the darkness their world had descended into. With harsh religious observance, the Covenant's strict dogma became a gigantic, monolithic belief structure that permeated every facet of daily life on Colchis. Colchis was a world of peace and law, and the people of Vharadesh, the capital city of the world also known as the City of Grey Flowers, respected its holy leaders above all.

 

Over the generations, civilisation had spread itself thin across the arid continents of Colchis, with most of its city-states clinging to the coasts. Each city-state maintained links to the others though sky trade and ocean freight, on a world where roads across the desert plains would be little more than folly. Unlike much of the emergent Imperium, Colchis was unprotected by vast orbital weapon platforms. More tellingly, it also had little in the way of the industrious space stations responsible for feeding and refuelling parasitic expeditionary fleets in their crusades through the galaxy.

 

Colchis at this time still bore the scars of long-forgotten greatness -- an age of wonders, ended in fire. In that sense, it was a future echo of what Khur would eventually become following the rebuke of Lorgar and his entire Word Bearers Legion by the Emperor of Mankind. The world's surface was bruised dark by the bones of dead cities, fallen in unrecorded ages, never resettled. New cities had risen elsewhere with the genesis of a simpler, quieter culture. The ancient ruins suggested a machine-driven empire had once ruled Colchis, though little evidence ever came to light regarding its destruction. The lost kingdom's legacy was evident even in orbit, where drifting, dead hulks -- locked in orbits that would still take millennia to completely decay -- marked the graves of interstellar shipyards.

 

At that time, few Imperial fleets ventured near Colchis, and not merely because of its lack of resupply capacity. Rumours circulated, citing unreliable shipping lanes, and the disappearance of the 2188th Expeditionary Fleet in a nearby region added fuel to that particular fire. Colchis seemed a world focused upon looking inwards, even backwards, refusing to clear its skies of wreckage from the Dark Age of Technology, and resisting all Imperial edicts to establish new orbital bases. The planet's one concession was to allow the Mechanicum of Mars access to those serene hulks, letting the Tech-priests plunder whatever they desired. The region was not haunted. No Imperial commander would ever give voice to a laughable superstition, when such words were holdovers from a more indecorous age. Yet still Colchis saw scarce traffic, and its resistance to supplying the Great Crusade remained inviolate.

 

It was said this defiance could only have come from Lorgar, the Emperor's Seventeenth Son, for no other authority would allow a planet to remain so curiously provincial. In the capital city of Colchis, Vharadesh, a golden plaque was fixed to the immense doors leading into the Spire Temple of the Covenant. This tablet marked the Primarch's supposed words -- words he had never admitted, yet never denied, speaking to his father. It was also said, by the few that witnessed such rare moments, that the Primarch smiled each time he passed those words, and reached out to stroke his golden fingertips across the etched lettering.

 

Colchis was hardly devoid of technology. It enjoyed the benefits of Imperial life and culture, despite its master's hesitance to supply materiel for the Emperor's war. Auspices in the skytraffic towers of Vharadesh tracked the activity in orbit, with scanner consoles lighting up at the sudden pulse of so many signals. Word from the XVII Legion's Expeditionary Fleets was constantly cycled back to Colchis, for the people of the homeworld took great interest, and great pride, in the conquests of their chosen champions. Mothers and fathers listened in the hope some chronicle would detail the glory of a son taken from them in childhood and reshaped as one of the Astartes. Covenant clergy listened for inspiration to preach of the primarch's righteousness. This network was maintained by astropaths, sending short psychic-pulses of information back to their counterparts on the home world. Several times a week, broadcast from speaker towers across the Holy City, updates of the Legion's progress drew flocks of listeners. City-wide celebrations were declared by the Covenant, the world's religious-caste of rulers who gained control over the world after being led by Lorgar, each time a XVII Legion expedition completed an Imperial Compliance action upon a new world in the name of the God-Emperor.

 

On Colchis, as on many of the Imperium's dryest worlds, the indigenous life coped with the climate however it could. For the human population, it was a matter of coastal cities, immense water filtration facilities, irrigation farming, and dealing with the seasonal floods from the rushing rivers that acted as blood vessels for the arid plains. Vharadesh, the Holy City, was the nexus of such industrious efforts. Swathes of irrigated farmland reached out from the city walls, a triumph of ingenuity over nature. Colchis was an arid, thirsty world, but the perfection of the human form showed in all things.

The Coming of Lorgar

Of Lorgar's coming, Carpinus speaks of a fiery comet smashing into the foremost temple of the Covenant bearing the infant Primarch, while Lorgar himself often made oblique references to his 'pilgrimage' to Colchis. Another tale tells of the arrival of a strange, golden-skinned child at the doors of the Covenant's largest temple, asking to be schooled in their ways. The child was taken into the temple and given the name Lorgar, growing to manhood within its walls and quickly mastering the many tenets and codes of faith imposed by the Covenant. The truth of the matter will, in all likelihood, never be known, and though the answers may lie in the blasted words of the Liber Malum which is sealed in the deepest vaults of the Library Sanctus on Terra. Its pages must never again be opened. Lorgar became a devout member of the Covenant, taking fiery words of faith to every corner of the globe, where the power of his oratory and charisma won him many supporters. He rose rapidly through the ranks and though the people of Colchis loved him, he had enemies within the Covenant who grew jealous of his popularity and challenge to their power.

 

Wars of Faith

His enemies had vastly underestimated the depth of belief in Lorgar's words and the Covenant split into two factions, each deeply opposed to the other's belief, and each believing that only they could save their people. A holy war of horrific proportions erupted, with more and more of the population forced to choose sides as the battles grew larger and spread across the planet. For six years the fighting raged across Colchis and many were the atrocities carried out in the name of holy righteousness.

 

The Arrival of the Emperor

With the end of the war, the people awaited the arrival of the divine being prophesised by their saviour Lorgar, and less than a year after the final battle, a mighty, sky-borne vessel descended to the temple on a trail of fire. The Apocrypha of Skaros tells that the Emperor and the Primarch of the Thousand Sons Legion, Magnus the Red, descended to Colchis with two squads of Thousand Sons Astartes, to meet its mighty war leader. Lorgar dropped to one knee, immediately recognising the Emperor from his visions, and swore his undying fealty to him. Under Lorgar's rule, every facet of the Covenant's belief structure was devoted to the worship of the Emperor and the population of Colchis rejoiced, united behind their new and wondrous god.

 

The arrival of Lorgar had brought with it both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because the Primarch's presence later brought the world into the fold of the Imperium, a curse because his arrival signed the planet's death warrant many hundreds of years later. Under Lorgar's brief rule the planet prospered, but when the Emperor came to Colchis and put Lorgar in command of the XVII Legion, who Lorgar renamed the Word Bearers, those officials of the Covenant Lorgar left behind to govern the world allowed the planet's civilisation to fall into decline.

 

The Fate of Colchis

During the Horus Heresy, when the Ultramarines took the fight to Colchis, they found a devastated world, its industry in ruins and its people clinging desperately to civilisation. Given Lorgar's treachery and the Imperium's fear that his Chaotic taint had spread throughout the population who had converted to the Word Bearers' heretical faith in the Ruinous Powers, the newly-formed Inquisition ordered the planet to undergo Exterminatus and the Ultramarines' Battle Barge, Octavius, bombarded Colchis with Cyclonic Torpedoes. The geological structure of Colchis was highly unstable and the resultant seismic activity caused by the torpedoes' detonations split the planet apart. Nothing now remains of Colchis and where it once existed is still a closely guarded secret by the Inquisition.

 

Indigenous Life

For the other forms of life on Colchis, lacking the capacity to affect their own environment, adaptation and evolution went hand in hand. Many plants in the drought-wracked scubland had leaves with a layer of fine hairs to catch and hold more moisture from the infrequent rainfall, and as a defence against the wind's drying touch. Colchis demanded much from its native life.These forms of plant life had been catalogued by Imperial scholars over the years, and promptly ignored. All except for one wildflower growing in the alluvial deserts -- a flower that couldn not be dismissed so readily when it meant so much to the Colchisian people.

 

The moon lily bloomed with leaves of silver, white and grey -- all to reflect more of the sun's harsh light, stunting its own photosynthesis in the name of survival. Fragile, beautiful, the moon lily was a gift between Colchisian lovers, a decoration at weddings and festivals, and those trained in its breeding and care were as respected as teachers and priests among the populace. Across balconies throughout the capital city, especially on the spires claimed by the Covenant, great hanging gardens of white and silver blooms contrasted against the tan stone walls. Vharadesh was the Imperial designative name for the capital city, and in the ruling caste's religious sermons, it was referred to with passion and pride as the Holy City. But to the people of Colchis, Vharadesh would always be the City of Grey Flowers.

 

 

• Khur

The world designated Forty-Seven Ten was the tenth world brought into Imperial Compliance by the 47th Expeditionary Fleet of the XVII Space Marine Legion, under the command of Primarch Lorgar Aurelian. The Word Bearers not only brought the knowledge of the Imperial Truth to the people of Khur, but their zealous religious fervor and beliefs in regards to the divinity of the Emperor of Mankind, whom they referred to as the God-Emperor.

 

The people of Khur willingly embraced the Word Bearers as their saviours. The greatest Chaplains of the XVII Legion extolled the divinity and righteousness of the Emperor, and Lorgar himself delivered countless speeches and sermons, converting millions to the Emperor with his words alone.

 

At the direction of the Word Bearers, the Khurians demonstrated their faith and devotion to the God-Emperor by building their new planetary capital city of Monarchia, which would come to be known as the "Perfect City" -- the model city of perfect, abject devotion to faith in the God-Emperor.

 

Judgement of Khur

 

"People of Monarchia, capital city of Forty-Seven Ten, hear these words. We, the warriors of the XIII Legion, are oathed to this moment, honour-sworn to this duty. We come bearing the Emperor's decree to the tenth world brought to compliance by the Forty-Seventh Expedition of humanity's Great Crusade. Your compliance with the Imperium of the Man has held for sixty-one years. With the greatest regret, the Emperor of Mankind demands that all living souls abandon the city of Monarchia immediately. Moments ago, your planetary leaders were given the same warning. This city is to be evacuated within six days. On the final day, your planetary leaders will be allowed to send a single distress call. No one is to remain in Monarchia by dawn of the seventh day. Go now to your homes. Gather your belongings. Evacuate the city. Resistance will be met with bloodshed."

— Proclamation by Primarch Roboute Guilliman of the Ultramarines Legion during the castigation of Khur

 

After the Horus Heresy

 

Like all of the worlds tainted by the influence of the Traitor Legions, Khur was subjected to an Exterminatus during the Great Scouring of the early 31st Millennium by the Imperium. This was done to eliminate all remaining Chaotic corruption within the planet's population, as they had remained staunchly loyal forever after to the "angels" from the stars who had first taught them the potent power of faith. Khur today is a Dead World, though its location remains a highly classified secret of the Inquisition, to prevent any from searching out whatever Chaotic relics and artefacts might remain upon the planet.

 

 

 

• Cadia

Some 40 standard years before the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, Cadia was a world inhabited by a primitive race of violet-eyed humans who worshipped the four Chaos Gods, probably a remnant of Mankind that had turned to the Ruinous Powers during the hardships of the Age of Strife. Prompted by the so-called Pilgrimage of the Primarch Lorgar of the Word Bearers Legion to discover whether or not the Gods once worshipped by adherents of the Old Faith of the Word Bearers' homeworld of Colchis actually existed, Lorgar journeyed with his Word Bearers Legion's Chapter of the Serrated Sun to what was then the fringes of known Imperial space as part of the 1301st Expeditionary Fleet of the Great Crusade. At this time, Lorgar had not yet fallen to Chaos, though he had turned against the Emperor of Mankind as a deity no longer worthy of his worship after the Emperor and the Ultramarines had personally humiliated him and the entire Word Bearers Legion on the world of Khur 43 standard years before the start of the Horus Heresy. The Emperor had come to Khur personally with Malcador the Sigillite after ordering the Ultramarines to destroy the Khurian city of Monarchia where the Emperor was worshipped as a God as a result of the teachings of the Word Bearers. He made his displeasure known to Lorgar about the Word Bearers spreading the religion of Emperor-worship to every world they brought into the Imperium, in direct contravention of the rationalist, atheist philosophy of the Imperial Truth. The Emperor forced the entire Legion to kneel against their will through the use of his psychic might and then explained that they were the only Astartes Legion to have failed his purpose on the Great Crusade. After this humiliation Lorgar, on the advice of his First Captain Kor Phaeron and the Word Bearers First Chaplain Erebus, decided to undertake a Pilgrimage to discover if the Gods worshipped by the ancient Old Faith of Colchis were real and worthy of the Word Bearers' faith and allegiance.

 

The Word Bearers were also accompanied on this Pilgrimage by 5 members of the Adeptus Custodes who had been set by the Emperor to watch over everything the Word Bearers did to prevent them from falling back into error once more. The 1301st Expeditionary Fleet exited the Warp near the largest Warp Storm in the universe, later known as the Eye of Terror. The Fleet's Master of Astropaths advised Lorgar that unusual "voices" in the Warp were heard in the vicinity of the great Warp rift, voices that spoke directly to the Primarch as well, the voices of the Chaos entities within the Immaterium.

 

The decision was made to hold orbit over Cadia and for the 1301st Fleet's elements to make planetfall on the unknown world, designated as 1301-12. The landing force was comprised of Imperial Army, Word Bearers, Adeptus Custodes and Legiones Cybernetica elements. The landing party, led by Lorgar, was greeted by a large number of barbaric human tribes, tribes described as "dressed in rags and wielding spears tipped by flint blades...yet they showed little fear." Most notable were the barbarians' purple eyes, which reflected the colour of the Eye of Terror itself in the spectrum of visible light. Despite the Custodian Vendatha's protests and request to execute the heathens, the Word Bearers approached the natives. A woman emerged from the crowd and addressed the Primarch directly, calling him Lorgar Aurelian and welcoming him to Cadia. This woman, the priestess Ingethel, would ultimately lead the Primarch down a path of spiritual enlightenment that actually marked the beginning of Lorgar's fall to heresy and Chaos. Later, Ingethel of Cadia would lead the 1301st Fleet's scout vessel Orfeo's Lament into the Eye of Terror and thus change the Word Bearers forever as they were exposed to the Ruinous Powers of Chaos and slowly corrupted, the first of the Legiones Astartes to worship the Chaos Gods and become Traitors to the Emperor. The Cadians, primitive as they were, used a language which was akin to the Word Bearers' own Colchisan tongue. Many traditions of the Word Bearers were mirrored by the culture of ancient Cadia, leading Lorgar to believe that the original settlers of both his own homeworld of Colchis and Cadia shared a common heritage.

 

Following the visits into the Eye of Terror, Lorgar ordered a cyclonic bombardment of the planet, wiping out the Cadians and leaving the planet abandoned, so none within the Imperium would know what had transpired there.

[Forté]

Few BL titles for ya ;)

 

Dark Apostle by Anthony Reynolds
Dark Creed by Anthony Reynolds
Dark Disciple by Anthony Reynolds
Chosen of Khorne by Anthony Reynolds
Legion of the Damned by Rob Sanders
Perfection by Nick Kyme

[Slave to Darkness]

Ok so to get the Ball rolling I shall put up some rough ideas I'm working on for my Host...

 

Battle Barge 'The Hand of Night'

Strike Cruiser 'The Blood of Darkness'

Strike Cruiser 'The Worm that Walks'

 

Cardinal - Chaos Lord 'Baphos'

 

Dark Apostle 'Sho'goth'

 

Terminator Champion - Coryphaus 'Azathoth' - Leads 'The Pure'

 

Possessed Champion 'R'yleh'  - Leads 'The Divine'

 

Csm Squad 1 champion 'Azamet 

 

Csm Squad 2 Champion 'Gahhl

 

Csm Squad 3 Champion 'Yu'goth'

 

Cultist Mob 1 Champion 'Krull'. Cult name 'The Eye of Death'

 

BACKGROUND

Cardinal Baphos has fought for the chaos gods since the 'Purging' of the legions Terran loyalists. Over the years he has risen to the rank of Cardinal,

 Raising many Imperial worlds to the ground in a storm of fire and blood.

The Companys 'Spiritual' leadeship comes from Dark Apostle Sho'goth.

 

Currently Baphos' company are searching for the legendary 'Cube of Chaos', an artefact that pre-dates the Great Crusade. 

Rumored to contain the power of the Gods, if found it could be the one thing needed that could leave a trail of destruction over many systems and raise Baphos 

to Daemonhood, with power to rival that of the Gods most powerfull champions.

 

Legend says the Cube was once in  the Lennonvast system, an Artefact for a cult who didnt know the power they posessed. 

The 12th company speared through the small system (four planets orbiting a small sun) 

making planetfall and striking straight for the major military and strategic objectives.

 It waslater discovered that the cult had split, and the part that went off world had the Cube in their posession. In anger for this setback Baphos put

the system to the torch, Men, Women and Children, none were spared... 

 

The trail led them to the Stallinvast system, currently at war. A system wide Cult uprising being supressed by the Ultramarines.

 Relishing this chance to crush the Sons of Gulliman, Baphos followed the Warp energy trail to the planet where the Cube is hidden, 

the 12th launched a full assault on the Ultramarines lines.

 

After a swift campaign lasting only 3 weeks, a Hate fuelled assault on their prefered enemy, and mass hordes of Cultists infiltrating enemy lines allowing easy 

access to parts of the Ultramarines lines thought to be secure. After a final battle of sheer brutality, 

Baphos crushed the life out of the enemys Company Master, holding 'Bigus Dikkus'' Heart in front of his eyes as he Died. 

 

Finally Baphos had the Cube in his hands,and he fasted and prayed to the Dark Gods, alone with the Cube.

 He had a vision of a bloody battle with the dark Sons of Dorn. He knew that the Cube will lead him straight to the Black Templars,

 so he can be tested in the Eyes of the Gods. His quest to attain Daemonhood drawing ever closer. 

 

 

When the 12th re-entered real space, they were approaching a system as war, The great devourer were invading, and the black templars were fighting a desperate 

campaign, holding off the advancing tyranids as the surviving citizens were evacuating the system. The templars base of operations was the planet

closest to the systems sun, so far untouched by the xenos invaders. Baphos launched a swift planet drop on the templars base, tearing the heart out of the 

imperial command structure, capturing supplies and many slaves, pdf to be indoctrinated into the cultist mobs and many astartes for blasphemous rituals

amongst other uses, as the warriors of the great pantheon were returning to the drop ships the tyranids made planetfall, and the sons of lorgar fought a 

desperate rearguard, using the captured pdf as a meat shield to tie up the aliens as the rest of the company returned to the orbiting battle barges. 

 

Returning to the safety of warp space, Baphos returned to his quarters to commune with the gods of the either to guide him to his next victory... 

 

 

My Word Bearers thread 'Tenets of Hate' can be found here - http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/285699-tenets-of-hate-word-bearers/?hl=%2Btenets+%2Bhate&do=findComment&comment=3646034

 

Reinforcements yet to be included in the thread can be found here - http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/290504-slaves-etl-iii-wip/page-2

[incinerator950]

Some insight of council loyal marines in Demon World.

[Forté]

Er...have you been possessed Slave?

[Slave to Darkness]

Er...have you been possessed Slave?

no but i am starting to itch

[Forté]

 

Er...have you been possessed Slave?

no but i am starting to itch

 

Normal for someone dabbling with dark things

[incinerator950]

If your arm sets on fire, soritas cream helps.

[KrautScientist]

Ah well, this thread was bound to happen sooner or later, wasn't it?

 

Though my own Word Bearers warband has been dormant for quite a long time now, it still factors heavily into the background of my World Eaters, and so it's only a question of time until it'll resurface. Therefore:

 

(Pre) Heresy era

 

"Piercing Gaze Chapter - commanded by Belzas Azalon, Saviour of Thranx"

 

Post Heresy era

 

"18th Host - commanded by Dark Apostle Azalon and Coryphaeus Gemnon"

 

http://eternalhunt.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/propaganda-6.jpg

 

Cultist propaganda discovered on the fallen world Sammnon IX , supposedly containing corrupted XVIIth Legion iconography [ref. 18886/4482 Piercing Gaze Chapter]

 

 

 

Dark Apostle Belzas Azalon:

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2013/10/12/546503-Belzas%20Azalon%2C%20Chaos%2C%20Chaos%20Lord%2C%20Chaos%20Space%20Marines%2C%20Chaos%20Undivided.JPG

 

Coryphaeus Gemnon:

 

http://images.dakkadakka.com/gallery/2013/10/11/546192-Chaos%2C%20Chaos%20Lord%2C%20Chaos%20Space%20Marines%2C%20Chaos%20Undivided%2C%20Conversion%2C%20Coryphaeus.JPG

 

Hear the word!

Obey the word!

Spread the word!

[incinerator950]

Where did you get that magnificent backpack?

[Xenith]

Where did you get that magnificent backpack?

Old School plastic Chaos Warrior Musician instrument

[Dark_Apostle_XVII]

Finally got an overview to my own Host written up so I may join the Roll Call. Did not realise there was a canon 30th Host but not to worry, I don't think there was much written about it so hopefully this can take precedent. Either that or the Canon Apostle is the one that died and has since been replaced by my own. who has brought a new order to the Host. Not all of my Characters are named yet however those that are have an expanded fluff in my project log: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/294637-from-the-maelstrom-a-word-bearers-project-log/ - Please do visit if you wish to follow my progress and the histories of the 30th. I'm currently looking for opinions on my next project anyway, I have a few options I'm deciding between so all thoughts are welcome.

 

The 30^th Host of the Word Bearers:

(The number 30 was chosen as it is the sum of the numbers of the four Chaos Gods – 6, 7, 8 and 9 respectively).

 

Origins:

 

The origins of the 30^th Host are unknown. Whilst the Imperium has been aware of their existence since mid M35, it is believed they were formed post-Heresy as the Word Bearers Legion broke down into a number of smaller, organised warbands known as Hosts, each led by a Dark Apostle appointed by the Dark Council; the Word Bearers ruling body.

 

The 30^th Host are currently active within the Maelstrom and have been so since 256.M35; following their dispatch by the Dark Council to help secure the Daemon World of Ghalmek. They are known to have relations with the Dark Mechanicus that now maintain the factories of Ghalmek due to their role in securing the planet, although it is unknown where their primary base of operations is located.

 

Members of Note:

 

The Host’s current Dark Apostle (as of yet unnamed), has held his position for a relatively short time; being appointed by the Dark Council in late M39 following the untimely death of the Host’s former leader. He had previously held the dual roles of First Acolyte and Champion of the Host’s First Coterie as is ceremonial in the 30^th Host.

He has proven to be a most capable leader and skilled orator and has already gained the favour of both Tzeentch and Khorne in his journey along the eight-fold path, despite what is considered but a short time as Dark Apostle.

 

The role of Coryphaus is an honoured position within the Word Bearers. As the highest ranking military commander of the Host and tasked with protecting the Dark Apostle, he must be a skilled and loyal warrior and canny tactician. As is customary, the Host’s current Coryphaus (also unnamed) was selected from the Hallowed to serve as War Captain.

A tactical genius whose qualities of leadership where first recognised as a Sergeant during the Great Crusade, he had been touted as a potential successor to leadership of the Host before being marked by Tzeentch, who obviously had other plans for the Champion.

Having accepted the inevitable loss of succession, he had since dedicated his life to becoming the greatest warrior of the Host, forming a strong bond with the current Dark Apostle whilst he was still First Acolyte, having saved his life during an Ork incursion within the Maelstrom. This all but secured his position of Coryphaus upon the Apostle’s promotion and set his fate upon a new path.

Gifted with a powerful Daemon blade as a token of his new position and clad in the scripture daubed Terminator Armour he had worn as a member of the Hallowed, he leads the Host from the front lines; testing his martial prowess against the strongest champions of the enemy in single combat he has proven to all the superiority of the Primordial Truth as he leaves their corpses trodden in the cursed earth.

 

The Host’s First Acolyte (unnamed) has only recently been appointed to the position after the mysterious disappearance of his predecessor. It is widely believed throughout the Host that he was involved in order to secure the position for himself yet no one dare speak out against him due to the position he holds; he had always been in the shadow of the previous First Acolyte despite much promise and much resentment lingered in his traitorous heart. Since his promotion however, the new First Acolyte has surpassed the former in his faith, zeal and dedication to the gods; finally proving himself a worthy, if ruthless, successor.

 

Akem Manah is the Chief Sorcerer of the 30^th Host and a veteran of the Horus Heresy. As one of the Host’s oldest members he acts as an advisor to the Dark Apostle and often leads the rituals of summoning in his place, having long possessed an affinity with the entities of the Warp.

 

 

Mammon the Faceless is another Sorcerer in the Host. Gifted with power beyond his years by an artefact recovered from the Daemon World of Vor’Te and mutated by the experience, he has since been locked within the shell of his Terminator Armour, kept alive by the souls that inhabited the featureless Masque that has now fused over his face.

 

Host Organisation:

 

As is common amongst the Word Bearers, the formation and organisation of the 30^th Host is at the whim of its Dark Apostle although loosely based around the standard Space Marine battle company.

 

As always, the 30^th Host is led by its Dark Apostle who leads the congregation in their worship of the Gods; relaying their instructions and guiding them on the eight-fold path.

 

Second only to the Apostle is the Coryphaus; the most senior war commander who supervises the Host at war, freeing the Dark Apostle up to communicate with the Gods.

 

In the 30^th Host, the First Acolyte, the man deemed worthy to succeed the Dark Apostle as leader of the host takes on the mantle of Champion of the First Coterie.

 

The Host also has various Sorcerers in its ranks to assist the Dark Apostle in his rituals and a Warpsmith to see to the upkeep of its vehicles and the production of Daemon Engines.

 

The Hallowed are an elite body of warriors within the 30^th Host. Though they number but 30, these veterans are collectively considered chosen by the Gods and are some of the few permitted to don an ancient suit of Terminator Armour. To be inducted into the Hallowed is to be considered one of the greatest warriors in the host for it is these men that guard the Dark Apostle with their lives. It is an honour reserved only for those who have been marked by the Gods and it is from this elite guard that the Dark Apostle selects his Coryphaus.

This is a long standing tradition in the 30^th Host as it ensures the utmost loyalty – being favoured by a God makes him illegible for the position of Dark Apostle and thus there is no fear a Coryphaus will seek to supplant him as leader of the Host. Furthermore, having been picked from the elite of the Host, a newly promoted Dark Apostle can trust that the military affairs of the Host are left in good hands.

 

The body of the Host is made up of 13 squads called Coteries. They are broken down as follows:

 

1^st – Led by the Host’s First Acolyte, the First Coterie is made up of those warriors most likely to progress into the elite Hallowed. It is believed that for the future Apostle to serve amongst his potential future bodyguards is to build the bonds of brotherhood and loyalty through faith, battle and bloodshed that the Host relies upon.

 

2^nd-5^th – These four Coteries make up the main fighting strength of the Host.

 

6^th-9^th – These are the Possessed Coteries of the Host; those who have given every aspect of their being to Chaos. The Coterie’s number corresponds to that of the God the possessing Daemons serve. For example, the 8^th Coterie consists of 8 Possessed Marines that are all possessed by Daemons of Khorne.

 

10^th-11^th – These two Coteries are made up of traitors that once formed the Legion’s Assault Squads. Now known as Raptors, they are tasked with hit and run missions, sabotage and are experts in covert operations and terror tactics.

 

12^th-13^th – The last two Coteries are the Host’s Havoc squads.

 

The 30^th Host possesses a vast quantity of supporting vehicles, Helbrutes and Daemon Engines with which they reap destruction upon their enemies. They make great use of summoned Daemons to augment their forces and have a large, permanent auxiliary force of Traitor Guardsmen and Cultists that accompany the Host to war.

[incinerator950]

I've debated on either Beasts of Ahnnihilation or a Word Bearer host.

 

Mainly I just need nudging in plot.

[Kor Megron]

The Dark Council has summoned and I have returned to answer their call.

 

I, Kor Megron, once again renew my vow to the Dark Council: That I shall never waver from our glorious calling! That I shall not rest until the Imperium and its precious Corpse-God lay in ruin! That I shall not cease until all of its citizens bow before and give praise to the Dark Gods!

 

I once more pledge The Foresworn to the service of the Dark Council.

 

Glory to Chaos!

 

Also, nice banner. ;)

[Imperialis_Dominatus]

Lord Coryphaus Sor Gholesh and High Consecrator Kar Gholesh of the 8th Host of the Word Bearers Legion

Superior flesh begets superior warriors, and it was as common during the Great Crusade as in the 41st millennium for two humans of the same family to be selected for induction into the Legiones Astartes. Rarer was for both- or any- to survive the enhancements, and yet rarer still was it that the two might see a long record of service alongside one another, unbroken by reassignment- or, more commonly, death, after the Warmaster's rebellion, the Siege of Terra, the Scouring, and the innumerable wars in the Eye for resources, supremacy, and bitter recrimination for the defeat of the Legions.

But Sor and Kar Gholesh both rose in the hierarchy of the Word Bearers, and fate has seen them grow to complement one another and never forsake their vows of brotherhood: in blood, in Legion, and in service to Chaos. Their positions in the 8th Host form two of a triad of power in the great brotherhood, with the post of First Acolyte to their master Dark Apostle forming the third- though that position has seemed a dangerous one these past centuries, with First Acolyte after First Acolyte suffering some tragic death so early in a promising reign as spiritual deputy of the Host. Sor and Kar Gholesh make little comment on it, but it is more to the consternation of the other Dark Apostles that their master refuses to acknowledge it either- for it is common that First Acolytes will be influenced by more venerable Apostles so as to buy the Apostle influence when the Acolyte succeeds his master.

Some in the Legion whisper the ancient and revered Apostle of the 8th Host is delusional and foolish, forsaking an easy induction into the hallowed synod of Sicarus for control of only a single Host. The less foolish suspect he is up to something more ambitious, for which mere influence across a number of Hosts is not sufficient, and breathe the words heretic and apostate so slightly. The wisest of all stay silent and watch, for such a powerful and driven Dark Apostle is not one to cross.

Sor Gholesh

Sor Gholesh is a commander as supremely gifted as he is a mighty warrior. He leads only from the front, with his glowing axe and roaring maul leaving behind balefire contrails and broken bodies. Always remembering his first promotion- to Champion of the Host during the Great Crusade- he stands firm before any foolish enough to challenge the might and honor of the Word Bearers, glory be. But his tactical and strategic mastery are what truly set him apart in the eyes of his peers- and of Kor Phaeron, Keeper of the Faith, who eyes Sar as a potential vassal should his devotion ever stray from his master. Sor is capable of adapting his forces to whatever is necessary to gain victory in the holy war the Host fights, though his defeats at the hands of the Iron Warriors have tempted him ever so slightly to abandon his devotion to maintaining the honor of the Host and demanding his warriors always best the enemy on their strength and skill and not any under-handed guile.

Kar Gholesh

Less taciturn than his brother and less martially specialized- though no mean warrior in his own right- Kar Gholesh has honed his innate powers to the summoning and binding of Daemons to flesh and weapon. It was he who helped Sor Gholesh wrestle the eight Furies bound to his mace, wrapping their essences with chains of sooty iron, dipping them in the blood of crippled old men to sap their strength, and drawing them to the smoking weapon with cords of twisted tendon and gristle. It is he who throws the bones and reads their portents upon the floor of the Dark Basilicum in the 8th Host's Battle Barge Lorgar's Light, determining the wisest rituals to perform in order to draw the gifts of the Gods most potently. And it is he who imbues warriors with the monstrous will and fury of Daemons, counseling them in the control of their inner entity and performing the sacrifices and enchantments necessary in order to channel such creatures through mortal flesh without destroying it. His confidence in his abilities is so supreme he is willing to bind daemons to the Anoionted- the mighty veterans of the Legion who don Terminator armor into battle, and whose each death is a crippling loss for the Host.

[Daemon2027]

I am here to pledge my soul to the Gods. I was once an Iconclast, the False Emperors lap dog, spreading his message across the stars. Then we found the Lord Farther, and he showed us how the False Emperor was more then a man, he was an avatar of the Imperial Truth. And we served once more, bringing Enlightenement to the stars. I was named Paladin, one of 12, we served the Aurelain as his Warrior Priests. Then the False Emperor revealed himself as a Demiurge, a false God, he burned our perfect city. And so we found the new gods. And to them I now pledge my soul, a Paladin still, but one of Chaos. I have even been granted to lead some of the most holy warriors, the Gal Vorbak. I will burn the False Emperors Imperium to the ground, and force the Enlightenement of the Gods on the vermin human.

 

 

[Knight of the Raven]

Word Bearers Contemptor spotted at incoming Warhammer Fest.

[Kol Saresk]

Huh. Not really that awe-inspiring.

[incinerator950]

The last couple Contemptors weren't.

[Kol Saresk]

Eh, towmaytoe tuhmahtoe. I liked the NL one. But the Word Bearers is so.... "eh". Everyone else gets raised symbols and designs and here they barely get a flame.

[Daemon2027]

I think the pose on the Word Bearer contemptor is very off putting. Hopefully will look better in person. I'm going to convert the crap out of it anyway.