Blades of The Shadow

Blades of the Shadow armorial with lightning iconography.

Blades of the Shadow Heretic Astartes

The **Blades of the Shadow** are an infamous Chaos Warband comprised of former members of the infamous Night Lords Traitor Legion. After the death of their Primarch, Konrad Curze, the Night Lords Legion retreated to the Eye of Terror where they would be safe. The warband was formed after a large argument split 20% of the legion away from the main group.

The Warband is Chaos army of which was formed in 39th Millennium and are perhaps best known for their part in the 13th Black Crusade alongside the Black Legion and Warmaster Abaddon the Despoiler. They are mainly now mercenaries but will only fight when it is in their best interests to do so.

They have one goal in mind: to retrieve the *Corona Nox* and revive the Night Haunter.

## Warband History

#### Founding

Shortly after the death of their Primarch, Konrad Curze, and the killing of the assassin M'Shen, the Night Lords retreated to the Eye of Terror for safety from any Imperium threats and so that they could recuperate strength. During the many years in which they stayed hidden, the Legion all had an argument over what course of action the Legion should take to get revenge. The marines who came to become the Blades of the Shadow believed that the finding the Corona Nox was the way they would revive their dead primarch and get revenge on their loyalist enemies.

In return their brothers laughed and believed they were fools that were weak minded this heavily conflicted with Zso Sahaal's belief that he should inherit the crown as a icon of his office.. Due to this outburst they decided it best to leave their brothers and form their own Warband which they named the Blades of the Shadow, due to their affinity for melee weapons and striking from the shadows.

They decided to name their only Lord their leader, his name was Omena Jacarius, he was a man best known for his skill with a chainglaive and leading a large force of Raptors, many of whom decided to join him. Omena immediately declared that the war band would do whatever was in the best interest of Konrad Curze in order to revive him.

#### Early Work

Unlike the majority of the Night Lords they chose not to leave the Eye of Terror until 40th millennium when it seemed the war was truly taking off. They decided, as they needed funds and favours from other legions if they were to retrieve the Corona Nox and revive Konrad, that they needed to become mercenaries.

The first battle, after they had emerged from the Eye of Terror was the 11th Black Crusade of 301.M39, where they were given the task of capturing 5 Weirdboyz, by The Despoiler himself, for his experiments with their Waaagh! energy.

They successfully paralysed (with fear) and captured the Weirdboyz and killed all of their companions. Upon their success The Despoiler was incredibly impressed and asked them to help him with his subsequent Black Crusades.

They agreed not wanting to incite the wrath of The Despoiler and his Black Legion, however they also asked for one thing. They wanted 50 Astartes who would help them with their goals whenever they needed it, but would stay loyal to the Black Legion. Abaddon agreed as it was a good offer.

Whenever they weren't fighting alongside their Black Legion brethren they chose search for the Corona Nox. One way was to follow Zso Sahaal's battles with the Aeldari, in order to find the Corona Nox. On occasion they were spotted by their Night Lord brothers and sometimes even a fight broke out between, although this was rare and there was never a decided victor and only a few casualties on either side.

#### Recent Work

   The warband grew quite significantly after searching Nostramo for clues of the Corona Nox's whereabouts. They came across a group of Nostraman civilians all of whom were starving and slowly dying. The Blades of the Shadow decided to give them help, which was highly uncharacteristic of them however Omena Jacarius told them to do so and he always managed to persuade them. They also, however, forced all of the men to create a cult dedicated to them and it was to be named 'The Shadow Dwellers'. They are now a huge part of the warband and fight alongside the Blades in battle to repay them for the kindness they showed to them and their people. The cult has grown a lot since then to an unknown number.

The Lord Omena has gifted ranks to some of his soldiers who have fought well in battle or found important clues that have greatly helped in the search for the Corona Nox. Examples include First Captain Adias Bethar, Raptor Master and Jorah Zequus, Commander of the Shadow Squad. These men are both prime examples of pure Night Lord, they are both raging murderers who show no hatred in killing. There is also Jacarius's Left Hand, Raame Idolius, a Cataphractii terminator who never replaced his old armour as he believed it was stronger.

Only once has there been any uprising in their own ranks, this occurred during Kapua rising of M41. A small group of cultists had forgotten what brought them to join the Shadow Dwellers and turned their fire onto their Astartes brothers. They were quickly killed and only one Astarte retained any damage from this betrayal. However, in response to this Omena Jacarius was quick to wear parts of the bodies to remind his own men what betrayal can result in.

Most recently the Blades have joined the forces with Zso Sahaal on an ongoing mission where they are fighting Aeldari in order to gain more clues on the whereabouts of the Corona Nox. This has managed to bring the two forces closer together. They have not found much information but are working endlessly to find the Crown of The Night Haunter

## Warband Homeworld

### Nostramo

**Status:** Destroyed

**Population:** None

**Tithe Grade:** Unknown

**Locations:** N/A

**Moons:** Tenebor

**Further Information:** Few people still live on the remnants.

## Warband Organisation

### Specialists

* **Shadow Squad**- Shadow Squads are specialist squads of Space Marines utilised exclusively by the Blades of the Shadow. When the warband desire to unleash maximum punishment and retribution against the enemy in the most visceral and personal way possible, the Shadow Squads of the warband were unleashed. Head hunters and torturers, flayers and mutilators; within their ranks were found both the most coldly dispassionate and darkly imaginative of the Blades brethren, and where once the terrifying arts of murder and mayhem they perpetrated were a coldly calculated means to an end, as the decades progressed, the Shadow Squads became a sink-hole for the most unstable and unsubtle elements within their warband, many within them standing under their own sentences of death -- commuted so long as they proved useful to their macabre master.

* **Raptors**- Raptor squads were a caste apart from the warband -- not so much a martial elite as a bloody coterie of murderers wedded together by similar proclivities and chosen styles of warfare. The Raptors were equipped with Jump Packs and an array of close combat weapons, all of which they utilised to bring unfettered savagery down upon the heads of their foes in a single, overwhelming onslaught. The Night Raptors were the ancient precursors in many ways of the later Chaos Space Marine Raptor assault troops found in all of the Traitor Legions

### Ranks

* **Shadow Lord**- Held by Omena Jacarius, the leader of The Blades of the Shadow. He has been able to retain his strong leadership among his comrades, despite all the adversity faced by them.
* **First Captain**- Held by Adias Bethar. He has high power in the warband as he has fought hard and tirelessly searched for the Corona Nox.
* **Raptor Master**- Also held by Adias Bethar. He holds this position as he is one of the first raptors ever in service and has high skill with a raptor jump pack.
* **Shadow Squad Commander**- Held by Jorah Zequus, a veteran who used to lead a small terror squad. He now runs the entire Shadow Squad for the Blades.
* **Sorcerer of Shadows**- Held by an unknown individual, who is the leader of the sorcerers in the ranks of the Blades.

## Warband Culture

There is very little known about the culture of this warband however from what can be seen they believe heavily in their sorcerers psychic abilities. So much in fact, that before every decision they will check with the chief sorcerer if they have seen anything bad coming from any of the options and if one option is condemned they will not use this option.

They also take some of their culture from their Night Lord brothers. They wear the body parts of their enemies just like their brothers, to make their enemies fear there own death which they more than often do as the Blades have a reputation for ruthless murder and hellish behaviour. They always leave their calling card behind, a skull with a small crown embedded into it.

The one thing that is exclusive to them is that will only do anything if it is in the best interest of their primarch, despite the fact he is no longer alive. They believe that whatever would help find his crown will be in his best interest as, they believe it will revive him...

## Warband Beliefs

The warband don't believe in much other than fear and their father. They, like the Night Lords, believe heavily in the power of fear and that it is as good a weapon as any other you could ever find. They, in fact, knew this as they used it very often and they even had their Shadow Squads dedicated to researching fears and how to use them to their advantage in combat.

Their primary and father, Konrad Curze, also known as the Night Haunter is of utmost importance to them, they believe that his revival will not only bring them glory but unify the Night Lords and will be the salvation of the galaxy. Some of them believe he is in the soul stone of the Corona Nox, some believe he never truly died, no matter their thoughts they are all united in his memory and hope he will return.

## Warband Gene-Seed

The gene-seed of the Blades seems surprisingly pure, bearing the least evidence of mutation. Before their fall to Chaos, the only notable physical abnormality was their jet black eyes and pale skin, which became even more prevalent with the introduction of the genetic material of the dour people of Nostramo.

Surprisingly, of all the Traitor warbands, the Blades of the Shadow seem to bear the least evidence of mutation. This is perhaps due to an unusually stable gene-seed stock, or perhaps due to the fact that they rarely associate themselves with a particular Chaos power for any length of time. However, the real legacy of their mad Primarch may have been psychological, as there was a tendency for paranoia and self-destructive behaviour displayed by many within the Night Lords. They thrive in the use of psychological warfare and fear tactics, merely for the sheer, sick joy of it.

It is also said that their Chaos Sorcerers have a pronounced vulnerability that causes them to be wracked with painful seizures in which they experience visions, oblique or not, of the future. The Night Haunter was believed to have only been able to see the darkest path of all possible futures, a terrible curse, and the visions tended to be self-fulfilling. It is hoped that the Night Lords' sorcerers suffer the same fate. This is as yet speculation. However, given their Primarch's susceptibility to such prophesies, it seems more than likely.

(Modified from Night Lordsas the gene-seed does not change)

## Notable Campaigns

* **301.M39** — The 11th Black Crusade.[2x]
* **???.M41** — The Kapua Uprising
* ???.M41 —**The Sons of Grendel**
* **143-151.M41** — The 12th Black Crusade. Otherwise known as the Gothic War. Ultimately defeated, however the Blades retreat before damage was done to their numbers.[2x]
* **750.M41** — **Search for Shadeblight**
* **777.M41** — The Battle of the Iron Labyrinth
* **813-830.M41** — The Siege of Vraks
* **999.M41** — The 13th Black Crusade. Cadia destroyed.[2x]
* **???.M42** — The destruction of Raeddon
* **???.M42** — The Battle of Gandor's Providence
* **???.M42** — The Battle of Aralest
* **???.M42** — The Battle for the Echovault
* ???.M42 — **The Long Night**
* **~100.M42** — The War of Beasts. Haarken Worldclaimer invades Vigilus.

## Notable Members

* **Omena Jacarius**- Shadow Lord
* **Adias Bethar**- First Captain, Raptor Master
* **Jorah Zequus**- Shadow Squad Commander
* **Raame Idolius**- Left hand of Omena Jacarius, sworn protector of his Lord
* **Sorcerer of Shadows**- An unknown sorcerer who's psyker abilities have surpassed his comrades.
* **The Night Brothers**- Two brothers both of whom are originally Emperor's Children, after seeing the Blades in battle they decided to swear themselves to them.

## Warband Fleet

* 1 Carnage Class Cruiser (*Nightmare Hauler*)
* 5 Infidel Raiders
* 20 Doomfire Bombers
* 25 Swiftdeath Fighters
* 50 Dreadclaws
* 7 Heldrakes

## Warband Relics

* ***Cultor Nemorum***- Chainglaive that can cut through the toughest material, wielded by the Shadow Lord, it was from a strange metal smelted in the depths of Nostramo, just like the Stormbolt plate.
* ***Virgam Posterum***- A staff wielded by the Sorcerer of Shadows, it helps him see in to the future events. An idea crafted by the Sorcerer of Shadows, who was trying to recreate the Curze's Orb, but needed to use the staff to ground it's energy.

## Relations

### Allies

* Night Lords
* Black Legion
* Emperor's Children

### Enemies

* Imperium of Man- Any Imperial sworn forces
* Aeldari
* Tyranids
* Orks