Choir of the Damned

## The Choir of the Damned

Badge of the Word Bearers

Typical colours of the Word Bearers

"*You call us damned, corrupted, fallen. You curse us and deny our right to exist. You believe that your faith in the God Emperor keeps you safe from the terrors. You are a fool, your eyes are made open to the truth. The God Emperor is nothing but a false idol, a corpse on a throne, he cannot keep the terrors at bay, And it comes doesn't it? The dawning realisation. We are not fallen, we are Ascendant! And we will bring humanity with us!*"
—Charnek, Dark apostle and leader of the Warhost The Choir of the Damned
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## Warband Organization

Like other War Hosts the Choir of the Damned is organised into squads of 12 warriors.

 File:Word-Bearers.jpg
At the very top of the hierarchy of the squads is the Terminator Squad known as the Brotherhood of Damnation, these 12 Terminators form the personal bodyguard of Charek and are among the most fanatically devout and veteran within the Host. They ensure non disturb his prays and ensure his word is heeded.

Below the Brotherhood stand 2 squads of Chosen known as the Chosen of the 8, these Chosen are the elite of the Host and the personal retinue of the Coryphaus, Baruk. These warriors distinguish themselves from their fellow warriors by their colours, they use gold trimmings and have their helmets painted black. Unlike the Brotherhood the Chosen are far more focused on the art of war than they are upon spreading the influence of Chaos. They dedicate themselves to battle instead, becoming avatars of War. These Veterans form an elite group that enforce Baruk's will and who help him lead the Choir in battle.

The Host has 2 squads of Raptors, The Harvesters of the Faithless. These brazen and merciless hunters like all Raptors live more for the hunt and to soar above those they see as weak. Reveling in the brutal slaughter the commit. The Harvestors additionally see themselves as like Angels of Chaos, soaring down to bring righteous wrath and fury upon their enemies.

The squad of Havocs known as the the Iconoclasts form the heavy firepower of the Host, used to help destroy enemy heavy targets and fortifications. the Iconoclasts also hold the special honour of being the destroyers of the greater Symbols of the Emperor on any world they desecrate.

Below these are the rank and file Marines, 72 astartes broken into 6 squads, each a devout warrior of Chaos, their loyalty to the Host and Charek is fanatical. These squads make up the majority and the core of the host.

The host also has a large number of Possessed, seeing them as blessed by chaos and respected highly. Led by the Host's Master of Possession and First Acolyte Verok, these Blessed of Chaos as they are known are comprised of 5 squads of 10 regular possessed with 2 greater possessed each. Verok uses them as his personal army within the Host, commanding them himself alone and taking orders only from Charek himself.

Below the Astartes of the Host are the innumerable Cultists that have gathered around the host. The majority are nothing more than mobs with no real structure or organisation, not that the Astartes care about such things. There are however those who have risen above their peers and have earned a privileged place besides the Astartes, chief among these are the Dark Communes. These communes are the priests and their retinue who act as the mouths of Charek, and preach his words to the mass of Cultists and lead the cults, they are also amongst the only non astartes permitted to stand by Charek at anytime, a privilege many scheme and murder for. Another group are the Accursed Cultists, or the Blessed Children as they are known, these mutants and torments are put under the command of the Blessed of Chaos, where they are mixed with the possessed to combine their horrific fury.

## Warband Recruitment

As the majority of the host are made of legionaries from the heresy whose gene-seed is corrupted the Choir of the Damned like other Word Bearers are unable to create new astartes and must rely on recruiting astartes from other Warbands or taking uncorrupted gene-seed and using that to create new astartes.

## Warband Combat Doctrines

The Choir of the Damned fights in rather typical Word Bearers fashion, with extreme fanaticism and zeal

The Choir uses it's vast hordes of cultists as cannon fodder, using them to screen their astartes and overwhelm the enemy with overwhelming numbers.

## Warband Gene-Seed

The gene-seed of the Word Bearers was originally thought to be pure, but events subsequent to the Horus Heresy revealed the weaknesses inherent in their genetic make-up.

The Space Marines of the Word Bearers displayed a marked tendency towards dogged, unquestioning belief and fanaticism that verged on insanity during the Great Crusade.

Since the end of the Horus Heresy, their gene-seed has become corrupted and mutated beyond any hope of redemption by constant exposure to the energies of the Warp and the Word Bearers' original negative personality traits have been magnified to hideous proportions.

The Word Bearers do not display a particular tendency towards mutation, though those who are gifted with such "blessings" of Chaos are much favoured amongst the Host.

## Warband Beliefs

Like the Word Bearers as a whole, the Choir of Damned's beliefs are rooted in the beliefs of Lorgar himself, the see themselves as the heralds of a terrible new age for Mankind of religious servitude to the Chaos Gods. Only when united behind the teachings of these divinities and offering the obeisance that they require can the masses of humanity be saved from the perils of alien menace, Imperial tyranny and internal schism, thus achieving Mankinds manifold destiny of galactic dominion.

To them there is only one power in the galaxy worthy of submission, and that is the dark majesty of Chaos.

Each warrior of the Choir is a missionary bringing the darkness of Chaos with them, preaching the one true faith to those that will hear it and exterminating those who will not.

Their belief is simple: Humanity must tread the path of Chaos Undivided or die. The Choir hold the *Book of Lorgar* as their most sacred text and the foundation of any faith in Chaos.

They often inscribe heretical passages from this unholy tome upon their Power Armour, and will provide copies of it to every world they assault in order to spread the message of the Urizen and convert more of Mankind to the service of the Dark Gods.

It is also common for passages from the *Book of Lorgar* to be read by Charek on the battlefield, propelling the warriors of the Choir of the Damned onward, no matter the odds against them.

## Notable Members

* **Charek:** A Dark Apostle and leader of the Choir of the Damned
* **Verok:** A master of Possession and the First Acolyte of the Host, Verok leads the Possessed of the Warband
* **Baruk:** The Coryphaus of the Host, Baruk is the most tactically and militarily minded of the Host. Like all Coryphaus, it is Baruk that see's to the military affairs and ensures Chareks orders are achieved

## Gallery

 Tzeentch Warbands
 Nurgle Warbands
 Slaanesh Warbands
 Chaos Undivided Warbands
 Malice Warbands
 Minor Chaos God-Aligned Warbands

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