Azure Viziers

The ourobouros, the symbol of Magnus' sons

The blue and gold livery of the post-heresy XVth Legion

The Azure Viziers were a Thousand Sons thrallband that was part of the Cult of Manipulation. The number of Chaos warbands and Imperial foes these devious traitors have destroyed cannot be counted. However, their over-confidence eventually proved their undoing and they were annihilated in a battle in the Eye of Terror.

## Warband History

Little is known of this warband's history. Information recovered from the wreckage of their ships by Word Bearers hereteks reveal that these sons of Magnus did not aid the Rubric of Ahriman that forever enslaved their legion to the will of Tzeentch. As such, they were unlikely to have been exiled by a furious Magnus the Red. It is possible that they maintained a relationship of some kind thereafter with the Crimson King and may have been hostile to Ahzek Ahriman.

They are known to have sided with Abaddon the Despoiler shortly before the 1st Black Crusade, rather than the Nurglite champion Thagus Daravek, though what role they played in the first and subsequent Black Crusades remains a mystery.

The Azure Viziers had watched as the newly formed Bloodbound made their way into Eyespace. Devoted to the Blood God, these renegades were a potential threat to the thrallband; so the sorcerers opted to manipulate the Bloodbound into the paths of numerous enemies - Chaos and Imperial alike - who were better placed to destroy them. Against the odds, the renegades triumphed in the face of each adversity.

As the apathy of the Blood God bit deeper into Aricellon's soul, the Viziers' subtle psychic nudges inflamed the ambition of Seraphon Kaelor, the former Chapter Champion who was secretly devoted to Slaanesh. He soon bested the bitter Khornate leader for control of the warband. When the Viziers directed a warband of Noise Marines into their path in 700.M37, the results were rather unexpected: the young Seraphon Kaelor not only triumphed by killing his opposite number, the surviving Emperor's Children accepted the weak-blooded renegade's leadership. With two large groups of Astartes devoted to rival gods under an inexperienced war leader, the stage was set. Rather than relying on external forces which had so far been unsuccessful, the sons of Magnus opted to destroy their foe from within, confident that an army that dies from treachery can never truly rise again.

After months of fomenting division with psychic trickery and sorcerous misdirection, the original Sable Templars and the Emperor's Children had formed two very distinct factions and were almost at one another's throats. When the Bloodbound Chorus embarked on a scavenging mission on a Crone World in 702.M37, the Azure Viziers decided now was the time to strike. To reduce the risk of infighting and cover more ground, Kaelor had split his warband into multiple smaller groups. The Azure Viziers launched numerous simultaneous teleportarium and drop pod attacks to keep their prey off-balance. Numerous skirmishes and running firefights broke out as Kaelor's fractured forces sought to regroup or find cover.

The Azure Viziers had left their ships vulnerable at a critical time, however: the Apostates of Ash had tracked the thrallband to this system. As the Azure Armada clashed with the Bloodbound Fleet in orbit, neither force planetside noticed additional ships join the fray. The ambushers found themselves ambushed in turn as drop pods slammed down, disgorging the dread Dark Apostle Ilios the Black and heavily armed squads of warrior-brothers. To make matters worse: the Viziers' Terminators were found wanting as Ilios' Anointed Chaos Terminators were smart enough to prioritise the Scarab Occult Sorcerers leading them. Out of pragmatism. the Bloodbound Chorus refrained from firing on the Word Bearers, using the distraction to regroup their forces. Realising they had been pitted against one another all along, Kaelor's followers swallowed their petty squabbles in the name of vengeance and struck back hard.

With their fleet in disarray, the Azure Viziers were left with nowhere to go. Outgunned and outmaneuvered, they were whittled down by bolter, plasma and melta fire.

### Destruction and Legacy

As the battle played out, Seraphon Kaelor realised that he had been outsmarted by a much smaller warband. Numerical superiority was not the only key to victory in this ragged hellscape. Power could be gained by other means, and he badly needed to heal the dissension in his ranks if he were to live long enough realise that power. As the last Rubric fell, Kaelor sought out the Dark Apostle and after a brief parlay the Bloodbound Chorus agree to serve the Apostates of Ash as mercenaries. Through the Dark Apostle's ministrations, the warband eventually accepts Chaos Undivided as a belief and the rifts are eventually healed.

It is not clear whether the larger Cult of Manipulation plans to retaliate against the Azure Viziers' killers, or if they have already done so.

## Notable Campaigns

* **Sealed in Blood (702.M37)** - The Azure Viziers track the Bloodbound Chorus to a Crone World where they attempt to destroy them once and for all. The battle does not go as swiftly as planned, and the Thousand Sons are themselves the targets of an arriving warband of Word Bearers. Following the thrallband's destruction, their two foes reach a mutually beneficial agreement.

## Homeworld

### Prospero

Once a seat of learning and high culture for the Imperium of Man during the Great Crusade, the planet was rendered lifeless when the Space Wolves attacked under the arch-traitor Horus Lupercal's orders. The Thousand Sons were forced to unleash devastating sorceries, exposing the planet directly to the Warp and killing thousands on both sides.

## Warband Culture

Little was known of the warband's culture beyond its living members devotion to the God of Change. What little can be gleaned from the drifting hulks of their warships indicates they were lovers of the arcane and of accumulating knowledge.

## Warband Beliefs

### Cult of Manipulation

The Azure Viziers were fastidious members of the Cult of Manipulation. This cult uses a vast web of influence to sway the actions of its enemies. Vast networks of mortal and daemonic spies allow the cult to oversee their plots as they unfold through assassination, possession and the wreaking of pure havoc.

## Warband Gene-Seed

Most members of this warband were Rubricae whose gene-seed was destroyed with their physical bodies long ago. The few Astartes still alive possessed the gene-seed of Magnus the Red which was irredeemably corrupted by the immaterial energies they channelled regularly.

## Warband Organization

Thrallband structure typically revolves around 9, the sacred number of Tzeentch. Beneath the Magister - a thrallband's leader - sits nine lesser sorcerers who command various squads of followers; invariably Rubric Marines or, more rarely, Scarab Occult Terminators.

## Warband Combat Doctrine

The Azure Viziers's preferred method of war was to manipulate their foes into destroying themselves; or to weaken them to the point they could be easily destroyed by the thrallband.
In the event of success, the sorcerers would descend to acquire what they need; be it materiel or information.

In battle, the preferred tactic was to let the Rubricae advance slowly, absorbing the majority of fire and whittling down the foe with relentless bolter shots. The sorcerers would channel infernal magicks to disorient and destroy the enemy while strengthening the thralls. More specialised warriors such as the Scarab Occult Terminators were used for lightning strikes and to break key enemy positions through weight of fire and sheer endurance.

## Relations

### Enemies

* **Bloodbound Chorus** - Having foreseen the potential threat this band of mercenaries might one day pose, the Azure Viziers attempted to destroy the Bloodbound Chorus when they were weakened. Ultimately, the failure of this plan was the Viziers' undoing for they had not accounted for the Apostates of Ash.

* **Apostates of Ash** - The Azure Viziers had earned the enmity of this warband in the past. Though masters of manipulating and misdirection, they failed to account for the Word Bearers. Whether Tzeentch aided this warband will forever remain a mystery.

## Quotes

### By:

"*"The weak-bloods are scattered, divided, leaderless. They will not withstand our might."*"
— An Azure Viziers sorcerer, referring to the impending attack on the Bloodbound Chorus.
### About:

"*"Holy Father, I will lead the Anointed in a teleportarium strike here. We will finally be avenged of these duplicitous wretches, praise the Gods!"*"
— Bathusa Khedimar, Coryphaus of the Apostates of Ash, discussing the battle plan with his Dark Apostle
## Disclaimer

This article was created with Yeetphater's input as part of our collaboration to flesh out the Bloodbound Chorus's history and ideology. Just so it's clear I'm not piloting his lore.

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

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