Almire Apostasy Chronology

Presented below is the **Almire Apostasy Chronology**, an exhaustive listing of all known campaigns and battles that occurred during the fifty-five year long, galaxy-wide conflict known as the Almire Apostasy in the early 31st Millennium. By no means is this list complete, as much of the information presented in various canon sources is often ambiguous and even at times contradictory.

Therefore, this is merely a rough guide to the chronological order of the events during this conflict and no date should be taken as absolutely final should new evidence come to light.

## Chronology

### Prelude to the Apostasy

Below is a chronology of the events immediately preceding the start of the interstellar civil war later called the Almire Apostasy. Though Almire turned to the service of Chaos long before before the start of the conflict, alongside the other archetects of the conflict such as Gaius Augustus Caligula and Surmah Nyyrik, the Apostasy is considered to have officially begun in M31.055, with the atrocity known as the Night of Blood.

* **M31.053 - M31.059 The Eastern Fringe Campaign** - Contact between the Sirens of Kastar and the rest of the Imperium becomes more and more infrequent as they drift ever further from the Galactic Core, taking Kastar with them as a base of Operations. In their push out into the Eastern Fringe of the galaxt, numerous xenos worlds are found and purged, before being left for future colonisation. Unknown to those who would follow in the legions footsteps, these worlds were not found by chance, Caladrial and his sons still following the Star Map the Primarch had found centuries earlier.

* **M31.053 The Muster at Istvaan is Ordered** - The Palatine Wings are ordered by Almire to muster in the Istvaan System, whispers of the Rangdan Resurgent speeding their flight.
* **M31.054 The Kraken Lords return in strength to Osyris** - Heeding a call to meet with the Primarch Surmah and his Hounds, The Kraken Lords return from their crusade in exile after the events of the Silencing in M31.006. Having been away for so long the Legion arrives early, giving them time to unearth a sect of cultist worshippers planted years prior by Surmah himself. Nautis is enraged at the resurface of his planet's old faith in his absense and condemns them to public execution by legionaries, unknowing of the extent of the cult's spread on the planet, or who lit the embers of their rebirth.

* **M31.054 The Council of Vision** - Called together by an increasingly unstable Galvarian, numerous Primarch's including Gaius Augustus Caligula are called to witness a 'contest' of sorts, asked to produce their greatest warriors to face off against a helmed giant wearing the colours of the XIth. When the giant wins each bout with seeming ease, Galvarian reveals that beneath the armour is no mere Astartes, showing instead his newest creation; the Abaze. A combination of xenos, astartes, and even Primarch DNA, Galvarian believed that such a warrior was the future of the Imperium, expecting all assembled before his to wholeheartedly agree. Instead, cries of treason sounded out, Galvarian only narrowly escaping being taken into custody by those present by the ministering words of Gaius, the Primarch of the Consul Exemplar publically ensuring his brothers that Galvarian would return to Terra of his own volition, but to the broken minded Galvarian, instead whispered of the Warmaster's certain acceptance of such a new weapon. Unsure of what the correct course to take was, Galvarian was allowed to leave the Council of Vision alone, his mental deficiencies becoming exponentially worse in the following weeks.
* **M31.054 The Strike on Verivaltas** - Informed by Surmah of the weapons hidden on his homeworld he has deliberatly kept from the Mechanicum, a breach of the Treaty of Mars, Shaaa Hydrades orderes his elite Hydradyne units to conduct a covert strike on the XXth Legions homeworld of Verivaltas, hoping that by capturing or destroying the weapons, he can ensure a third legion is not striken from the records of the Imperium. The strike sees initial success, before Surmah himself arrives. Many of the weapons are destroyed, but many more survive, almost all of the Hydradyne being killed or captured in the attempt. Only a handful escape with the only recovered weapon, but are forced to crach land their damaged ship on an uncharted world, unable to call out to the Imperium at large for recovery.

### The Early Apostasy

Presented below is a chronological listing of the events of the Age of Darkness which fell upon the Imperium of Man during the Almire Apostasy of the early 31st Millennium. The following information was compiled by manifold and diverse hands at the order of Malcador the Sigillite and the Acting Council of Terra following the outbreak, as well as during, the major events of the Almire Apostasy. As more information surrounding this dark era of human history is uncovered in newly discovered Imperial records, it will be added to the chronology.

* **M31.055 The Night of Blood** - The Light Bringers, Consuls Exemplar, Silver Basilisks and Warmasters Justicars unexpectedly turn on those within their own legions who would never follow their sires into betrayal, slaughtering many of them in their sleep, as they trained, or in other places when their guard was at its lowest. Tens of thousands are slaughtered in those first few hours of betrayal, only a handful escaping to bring word of what was on the horizon to the Imperium. When history looked back at the events of the Great Crusade, all point to this singular event as not only the end of the Great Crusade, but the beginning of a far darker period of history within the galaxy, the Almire Apostasy.
* **M31.055 The Ashen Betrayal** - Still reeling from the failure of the Council of Vision, Galvarian's mind finally snaps, the Primarch refusing to return to Terra despite the demands of his brothers, and even many of his sons. A brief but brutal skirmish breaks out between the warriors of the XIth, Galvarian and his loyalists fleeing, leaving the loyalists to try and follow his trail.
* **M31.055 The Siege of the Ring Begins** - The Ring, homeworld of the Star Guardians comes under attack by a small force of Brotghers Encarmine widows. The initial attack is blunted, but the XIIth have other things in mind.
* **M31.055 Lu Yueh and Khnum Clash** - On Route to the Istvaan System, Khnum is invited to speak to his brother Lu Yueh, the Ist Primarch meeting Lu Yueh aboard the *Fènnù zhi Zi*. Though he attemps to hide his motives, Lu Yueh soon tells Khnum of the storm that is already approaching, begging Khnum to join the Warmaster. Khnum refuses, and after a brief but brutal fight, escapes from the flagship of the Blight Wardens, his own ship jumping into the warp, determined to bring word of this betrayal to his legion, so that he may return in strength to bring Lu Yueh to justice. The Blight Wardens lament this turn of events, but do not stray from their plans, setting course for the Istvaan System.
* **M31.055 - M31.056 The Ambush of the Sunstone King** - As Khnum and his inner council flee into the warp to bring word to their legion, a hidden strike team of Consuls Exemplar warriors, clad in the armour of the IInd Legion, reveal themselves, sabotaging the ship and stranding it in the warp. Soon, daemons pour into the mighty vessels halls, the death toll rising, threatening to forever strand the warriors in the otherworldly realm. Eventually however, the Watchers manage to force their vessel back into realspace and clear the remaining neverborn, galvanised even further to strike at the only ones they believe to have betrayed the Emperor, the Blight Wardens, remaining unaware of the wider Apostasy.
* **M31.055 The Ritual of Achcauhcapalli** - The Claws of Xipac return to their homeworld, conducting a mighty ceremony to celebrate their victories. At the apex of the ritual, those who have been identified as being unwilling to betray the Emperor are seized and brutally sacrified, their blood sprayed across the worlds capital city. As the ceremony-turned-ritual reaches new heights of blood-letting, daemons of Khorne force their way into reality, adding their fury to that of the IIIrd Legion and bringing the violence to its apex, setting the Claws upon a path down which there can be only one outcome.
* **M31.055 The Hounds Arrive on Osyris** - The Hounds of Surmah arrive at Osyris in an attempt to sway the Kraken Lords to their side. Their initial plans had revolved around them revealing the Chaos Cults they had planted during the attempt, but with the Kraken Lords arriving early, their attempts fail almost immediatly. Hostilities break out across the world, the Hounds of Surmah bidding the rest of the hidden cults to rise up, this time against the Kraken Lords. Outnumbered and abandoned by their brother legions and Imperial forces, the Kraken Lords fall back into the worlds oceans. There, in the crushing black depths, an ancient and unknowable starship is found larger than even the greatest starforts, and at its core, a single, fractured portal to another realm, the source of "The Deep" that the VIIIth Legion had always feared, a malaign influence upon the world. Faced with no other option, the VIIIth smashes the portal wider still, allowing the forces contained to burst free. Soon, the entire world is enveloved in rolling storms of warp energy, no communication possible with the surface through technological or sorcerous means. Eventually, the world is declared lost, Surmah believing that all on the surface of the world, the Kraken Lords included, have perished.
* **M31.055 The Warmaster's Bloody Enforcers** - The Wisps of Archeron recieve orders from Almire to purge multiple worlds, the legion agreeing and moving to carry out the orders without question or hesitation. Soon it becomes clear these worlds are not rebelling against the Imperium, but are instead loyal to it, their only crime being to stand against the Warmaster. Charon shuts himself off from his legion to contemplate their actions and where their next move shall take them.
* **M31.055 Camelous becomes Aware of the Growing Storm** - Camelous hears reports of what is happening in the galaxy, his immense psychich potential allowing him to listen to the pleas for aid across the galaxy, though their messages are veiled and garbled, all conflicting one another and making little sense. Gabriel is dispatched to Terra to get to the truth, while Camelous orders the bulk of the legion to muster at Pax.
* **6-102.55.M31 The Istvaan Massacre** - Joined by their brother legions, the Blight Wardens and the Brothers Encarmine, the Palatine Wings are caught in a deadly and unexpected ambush. Forced to ground Istvaan V, almost all of the XIVth forces present are slain, including the Primarch. In the wake of the Massacre, agents of Surmah conduct a grand ritual, feeding off the chaos within the galaxy to give life to first strands of the Ruinstorm.
* **M31.056 The Bears and the Hounds** - The War Bears recieve a distress beacon from Osyris, making all speed for the system, only to see the deverstation that has been wrought on the world. The Hounds of Surmah soon reveal themselves, talks breaking down between the two legions as hostilities errupt, the two savage legions viciously mauling the other before both are forced to withdraw, licking their wounds to fight another day.
* **M31.056 The Wisps Civil War** - With Charon still in contemplation over the actions his legion took at the Wamrasters orders and not giving his sons direction, a brutal civil war engulfs the legion. Those who believe that the Primarch would follow Almire clash with those who believe he would follow the Emperor in a brutal struggle that only ends when Charone finally emerges. Those who stood for the Warmaster are diposed and executed or imprisoned, Charone vowing that the Wisps will remain true to the Emperor, though in their shame, refuse to show their face, striking against the traitors alone.
* **M31.056 The Ashen Crows Encounter the Apostasy** - Still attempting to find Galvarian and bring him to justice, the Ashen Crows fleet encounteres fleeing loyalists of the Warmasters Justicars Legion, coming to their aid and fending off the pursuing traitors. With full knowledge of the Apostasy now in their possession, the Ashen Crows make the descision to split their forces. The majority of the legion would continue to hunt down Galvarian, as well as bring word of the Warmasters betrayal to other legions loyal to the Emperor, while a smaller force, comprising many of the legions Apothacary elite, the Ablaze and Durath, head to Terra alongside the survivors of the Night of Blood to bring word to the Emperor and the Praetorian or the betrayal.
* **M31.055 - M31.056 The Siege of the Ring** - Using the *Purest Intent*, the Widows of the Brothers Encarmine launch a new attack on the Ring, detonating the vessel and tearing a hole in reality. Millions of daemons pour onto the station, the Widows watching with uncharacterisitc glee. The Widows continue to hold the blockade of the system as the warriors on the great space station fight in a war they cannot win.
* **M31.056 - M31.057 The Second Squat War** - The Consuls Exemplar, alongside a substantial force of traiterous Squats led by the Chaos corrupted Durnan launch an all out attack on the Squat Empire. Durnan, having only recently returned from his self-impossed exile in the wake of the First Squat Wars, aids the Consuls in securing many early victories over his one time kin. The Squats have little defence against this new foe, swollen as both forces are by the power of Chaos.
* **M31.056 Shaaa Hydrades is named the Lord Commander of the Imperium** - The Ashen Crows and Warmasters Justicars loyalists reach Terra. The force is immediatly imprisoned on Luna, questioned relentlessly by Malcador the Sigilitte and Shaaa Hydrades. Soon, the full scale of the Apostasy is made clear to the pair, Shaaa moving to speed the construction of the homeworlds defences, named as the Lord Commander of the Imperium, commander of all forces still loyal to the throne, a Warmaster in all but name. Meanwhile, Durath is spirited away by the Sigilite, Malcador naming him his Hand, setting him upon his own, shadowed tasks.
* **M31.056 - M31.059 The Bloody Road to Terra** - The Brothers Encarmine are placed in the vanguard of the push towards Terra, their casualty rates spiking as a result. Almire is well aware of the link between the widow companies and the corruption seeping into the XIIth Legion, and seeks to capialise on this, forcing the XIIth to endure more and more of the agony of the widows to further bind them to his service.
* **M31.056 The Revenge of the Sunstone King** - Still angered by the betrayal of Lu Yueh, Khnum and the rallied Ist Legion launch an all out attack on the main Blight Wardens fleet, seemingly catching them unawares and engaging in a vicious orbital battle. Though the Watchers have greater numbers than the Blight Wardens, they are unable to gain any meaningful advantages before the traitors play their hand. The Claws of Xipac burst from the warp, catching the Watchers in a brutal pincer between the Blight Wardens and their own forces. Understanding that the battle was not one he could win, Khnum ordered his forces to retreat, and though they managed to, it was not without its own cost in lives. Khnum, now aware of the wider betrayal, vows to reach Terra, even through the Ruinstorm.
* **M31.056 The Deverstation of Pax** - The Light Bringers are sent by the Warmaster to Pax to sway the Dragon Lords into joining his cause. Records of what transpired in the system are sparse, but soon both legions engage in a short lived skirmish before retreating, the Light Bringers revealing a new weapon, the *Monad Emananation*, capable of destroying an entire star in mere hours, Pax's sun going supernova as the legions withdraw.
* **M31.056 The Daemon Invasion of Prospero** - The Consuls Exemplar's research world of Prospero is attacked by a brutal daemonic invasion, unleashed by the experiments being conducted upon its surface.
* **M31.057 The Dragon's Flight** - In the wake of Pax, Camelous vows that his sons shall reach Terra to aid in the defence there, forseeing that his place is upon the throneworld, now more than ever. Much of the Dragon Lords fleet is damaged, and is sent to the allied forge world of Lucius for refits and repairs, while Camelous gathers those ships that are still capable to his side. During this muster, the Watchers of Akhet arrive, Khnum demanding that Camelous guides his vessles through the warp as well as his own, though Camelous laments that even with his prestigious powers, he can only lead a small number of vessels through the ruinstorm. Relenting, Khnum instead sends some of his best sons with the Dragon Lords, vowing that he will rally the other loyalists and reach Terra another way. As Camelous prepares to leave, the Brothers Encarmine break from the warp, threatening to delay or even halt the mission before it begins. The Watchers fend off the XIIth Legion for long enough for Camelous to jump into the warp, before withdrawing themselves, unwilling to get dragged into a fight with little to gain.
* **M31.057 The Assassination Attempt** - A Consuls Exemplar strike team, disguised as Star Guardians, succeeds in infiltrating Ceres, the heart of the Solar Guardian Array, coming upon Shaaa while he is not only without his armour, but without his cybernetics legs as well. The resultant assassination attempt sees all ten of the Consuls struck down by the Breacher Lord, but Shaaa is also heavily injured.
* **M31.057 The Second Squat War End** - Gaius finally hears about the invasion of Prospero. Within days, he has mustered the entire force invading the Squat Empire to his side and made all speed for Propsero, leaving Durnan and his warriors to continue the war alone. Having lost so much of their power with the legions disapperance, Durnan is unable to continue the invasion, bringing the Second Squat War to an end.
* **M31.058 The caging** - The Ashen Crows, guided by Malcadors agenst, finally track down the renegade Galvarian. Here, they find the Silver Basilisks also hunting the rogue Crow, seeking to slay him. A running battle between the Ashen Crows loyal to the Imperium, those loyal to Galvarian and the Silver Basilisks breaks out, culminating in a clash between Galvarian and Artellion. Galvarian manages to escape with the help of Eldrad Ulthran, a Farseer of the enegmatic Eldar race. Eldrad uses his immense psychic power to heal Galvarians ruined mind, binding the Primarch to his service, both having alligning goals for the time being.
* **M31.058 The Veltari Crusade** - Now free from attack, the Squat Empire musters a gargantuan invasion fleet of their own under the command of Ehrin Veltari, Ancestral Lord of the Veltari Clan. The fleet soon leaves the Squat Empire, though struggles to make headway through the Ruinstorm, heading for the previously stable warp route known as the Hydian Way.
* **M31.058 The War in the Webway Continues** - The War in the Webway errupts once again, the barriers put in place by the Custodes and Sisters of Silence are shattered as Malalite Daemons and corrupted Kraken Lords spearhead a renewed attack on the Imperial Webway. Guided by their god, the legion fractures the walls of the webway as they proceed, alowing the Sunken Realm to expand behind their advance.
* **M31.058 The Dark Mechanicum Attack Kastar** - The Vth Legions homeworld of Kastar comes under attack by renegades of Mars, now calling themselves the True Mechanicum, though the machine cult of Kastar refers to them only as the Dark Mechanicum. Though the attack is driven off, some relics are stolen from the world, but more importantly, the Sirens of Kastar are made aware of the wider war engulfing the Imperium of Man.
* **M31.058 The Siege of Æsce** - The Blight Wardens strike at the Ashen Crows homeworld of Æsce, having been informed of the Cloning Technology hidden beneath its surface. With such a technology, the traitors would be able to rapidly replace their own losses and boost their forces considerably before the Invasion of the Sol System. The Blight Wardens also believe that if they can secure the genetic base code of the cloning process, they can develop a specific virus to target the Ashen Crows entire legion. The Siege is brutal, the Blight Wardens fighting against a mortal planetary defence force, but the outcome is never in doubt, even as the defenders of the world unleash hellish experiments against their attackers. As the Blight Wardens advance, the chemical attacks they unleash cause the corpses of the fallen to rise as plague zombies, their science now infused with the power of the Plague God, Nurgle. However, when the Blight Wardens are on the cusp of victory, galos, Galvarian's atoptive mother, plays her final card, unleashing the Vementor. Though the Blight Wardens boasted an impressive defence against such weapons, even moreso than other Astartes, the Vementor was a deadly foe, seeping into the breaches in many of the Blight Wardens armour that had been gained throughout the siege. Despite his skills with such chemical weapons, Lu Yueh is unable to halt the agonising deaths of his closest sons alone, instead pledging himself and his sons souls fully to Nurgle, securing his blessings to survive rising again as the Plague Gods chosen, Lu Yueh struggling to hold on to the last remants of his mortal frame, staving off ascension to daemonhood, for now.
* **M31.059 The Watchers of Akhet, Sirens of Kastar and Ashen Crows Join Forces** - The Watchers of Akhet, Sirens of Kastar and Ashen Crows manage to muster their forces together, representing an extremely potent force to strike against the traitors. The three legions begin to push towards Terra, though the Ruinstorm is still raging across the galaxy, making travel sow and dangerous.
* **1-432.59.M31 - 1-049.60.M31 The First Solar War** - Traitor forces finally reach the edge of the Sol System and strike with everything at their disposal. Against them stands the might of the Star Guardians and Dragon Lords, alongside elements from many other legions, from legions loyal to the throne or in open rebellion, and billions of mortal forces. Though they fight valiantly for close to six months, they are unable to hold the traitors at bay. When the Light Bringers revealed their betrayal of the Warmasters forces and made to destroy Sol as they had the star of Pax, the Star Guardians are forced to abandon the throneworld to stop this assault, the traitors finally able to land on the suface of Terra, ending the Solar War, and beginning the Siege of Terra itself.
* **1-840.59.M31 The Betrayal of Mars** - Mars, homeworld of the Mechanicum and one of the Lynchpins of the Solar guardian Array, shows its true colours and swears its allegiance to the Warmaster. Though Shaaa Hydrades personally leads an assault on the Red Planet, he is unable to slay the rebel Fabricator General, leaving Mars firmly in the hands of the traitors, providing them with a powerful bastion within the Wider Solar War, while denying its powers to the loyalist forces.
* **M31.059 The Fall of the Ruinstorm** - The Watchers of Akhet, Sirens of Kastar and Ashen Crows on their way to Terra manage to tear through the Ruinstorm, unravalling the mighty ritual Surmah had shrouded the galaxy with. However, as it clears the three Legions find themselves in orbit of a heavily fortified world, held by billions of traiterous Imperial Army soldiers and led by warriors of the Silver Basilisks. Unable to destroy such a numerous force and still reach Terra, Khnum orders the Watchers to engage the foe, allowing the Sirens of Kastar and Ashen Crows to slip past and continue on to Terra.
* **0-120.60.M31 The War in the Webway** - Nautis, swollen by the power of Malal and empowered by being within his realm, enters the war, slaying any who come before him and breaking the Imperial lines, forcing them to retreat towards the Imperial Dungeon. To slow the advance of the traitors, the Emperor himself stands from the Golden Throne and enters the Webway, engaging Malal. However, the power Nautis now wields in his gods realm is immense, Nautis succeeding in injuring the Emperor himself, forcing the Imperium completely out of the webway and laying siege to the Imperial Dungeon itself, attempting to breach the now sealed portal.
* 0**-049.60.M31 - 0-155.60.M31 The Siege of Terra** - Traitor forces land in force on the surface of Terra. though the newly promoted Lord Commander Camelous holds the line well, the defences of the world are under-prepared at best, the orbital defences given priority. At the apex of the Siege, the Emperor emerges from the webway, wounded by the forces of Malal. When the triaotrs, now led directly by Almire, breach the Throneroom, Camelous places himself inbetween the Chaos empowered Warmaster and the wounded Emperor. Though he is slain, his sacrifice allows the Emperor to be carried to an evacuation craft, the Siege coming to a close shortly afterwards.
* **1-093.60.M31 Sol's End** - In the light of Sol itself, the battered Star Guardian fleet clashes with the renegade Light Bringers. Though the IVth are successful in stopping the Light Bringers super weapon from destroying the sun, the cost is almost too heavy to bear. Only 10,004 Star Guardians survive the clash, over 9,000 of them with extreme injuries, both Crikon Hanfer and Shaaa Hydrades amongst the latter. Neither wake as the legion joins in the evacuation from Terra.
* **1-172.60.M31 Caladrial's Treason** - Kastar, homeworld of the Sirens of Kastar and its lord, Caladrial Hex, performs an impossible warp jump into the Sol system, revealing the existence of the Xenos Star Map and the Sirens Lantern that the Vth Legion has kept hidden from the wider Imperium for centuries. Despite this, the Sirens of Kastar and Ashen Crows are able to reach the Sol System, and provide the battered loyalist survivors of the First Solar War and the Siege of Terra with a rally point.
* **1-199.60.M31 Flight from Terra** - With the survivors either on board the fleets of the Vth and XIth Legion, or on the least damaged vessels that they brought with them, Kastar leads the survivors through the warp once more. However, due to the approaching traitor forces, the Sirens are not able to properly prepare their mobile homeworld for warp transit, the engines threatening to explode as the Gellar Fields fail. All across Kastar, and to a lesser extent its attendant fleet, daemons clash with loyalist forces. The Sirens of Kastar and the Ashen Crows take the brunt of the fighting, those other warriors who are in a state to do so lending what little aid they can. In the end, Kastar manages to pull itself from the Warp, its engines inoperable, leaving the world stranded in the galactic east.
* **2-210.60.M31** **The Siege of the Ring Ends** - The Squats Veltari Crusade, now free from the grips of the Ruinstorm, reaches the start of the Hydian Way, finding the Brothers Encarmine Widow company still holding the Siege of the Ring. In a fierce but one-sided battle, the Widows are routed, the Squats moving in to aid their one time mortal enemies. Through the use of their Psy-Stone technology, they manage to seal shut the rift to the warp that the daemons were attacking through, before aiding the few survivors of the station finish off those foes who are left. With the Ring secured, the Squats prepare to repair and rearm their fleet before continuing to Terra, but before they can, they recieve a single, terrible, message. *Terra has Fallen*.

## See Also

* The Unification Wars
* Unification Wars Chronology
* The Great Crusade
* Great Crusade Chronology
* The Almire Apostasy