Ixiptatlan

**Ixiptatlan** is the Primarch of the XIIIth Legion - the Eagle Warriors - whose name is a byword for betrayal amongst the famed Legiones Astartes. Ixiptatlan was a Primarch plagued by rumour of his shortcomings at birth - a supposed failed son of the Emperor - before he would enact the Serpent Lodges, supposed places of warrior equality but tainted with whispers of grisly rituals dating back to the chapter's tribal home of Mexicatii. On the Day of Revelation, the Eagle Warriors' would reveal the full extent of their inhumanity to the galaxy, with horrifying results.

## History

"*Even with all these honors, all these names, they failed. It all started when they found their primarch on a degenerate planet of wildlife and barbaric cultures.
Their primarch was a priest in the largest city, working his way up to becoming the master sacrificer, and being the embodiment of their delusional gods.
The Emperor was disgusted by him..He hated everything about Ixiptatlan's culture. He took his newfound son and forced him to change - thousands of hours of torture changed him. Ten-thousand hours of torture had broken Ixiptatlan.
Ixiptatlan was then taken and put as the commanding officer of the Thirteenth Legion, a once-broken primarch with a strong legion... Ixiptatlan's pain carried across the Legion, and though none saw it the cracks were spidering through the structure...*"
— Excerpt taken from the personal journals of Arion the Doubted, Remembrancer of the XIIIth LegionDecades before the Emperor first came to Mexicatii, a small metal pod slammed down amidst its mountains. From this pod emerged a young child. However, this was no ordinary child but a primarch, one of the Emperor's twenty sons who had been scattered across across the galaxy. This particular primarch would come to be known as Ixiptatlan, primarch of the XIIIth Legion, the Eagle Warriors.
Located on the fringes of what has become the Imperium, Mexicatii is a world which is dangerous and inhospitable, even for a young primarch. Covered in steaming jungles broken up by the odd mountain range, Mexicatii is a world which is around twice as large as Terra and whose terrain resembles that of Terra during the time the Magos Biologis refer to a the Kretasik period. However, human life had endured on the world and was centred around the thirteen temples of the Aztekis gods. It was in the largest of these temples, the temple of Huitzilopochtli, the most powerful of the Aztekis gods, the god who embodied every aspect of human life and created the world, that the young primarch sought refuge. Taken in, named and raised by the priests , this was where Ixiptatlan (whose reap name has never been discovered by any save perhaps the Emperor) was raised. However, in time Ixiptatlan proved to be a priest of such enormous skill and knowledge that none would doubt his talent, with people in hushed whispers calling him 'chosen by the gods themselves'. Using his knowledge of the sacred texts and his observation of the passage of the sun and stars, Ixiptatlan perfected the Mexicatan calendar to fit the passage of a Mexicatan year, dividing it into cycles of 13 days, and he also predicted the passage of a burning comet across the skies of Mexicatii, a sure sign of Huitzilopochtli's favour, all in a matter of weeks. Observing all this, Sagitarii, the High Priest of Huitzilopochtli and the closest thing to a father Ixiptatlan had in these formative years, declared that Ixiptatlan was no ordinary priest but a son of the Gods, sent by them to rule Mexicatii and spread their faith across the stars. As all other temples and High Priests are subservient to that of Huitzilopochtli, this was quickly accepted across Mexicatii and Ixiptatlan was crowned emperor of all Huitzilopochtli's subjects.

As emperor, Ixiptatlan raised the inhabitants of Mexicatii from out of the darkness they had fallen into since the beginning of old night. He created thirteen cities, each centred around one of the old temples, each protected by high walls and fed from enormous terraced farms. With protection and a constant source of food, the people of Mexicatii grew wealthy on gems and gold extracted from earth and education and philosophy flourished in ways unseen for centuries. At the head of all this was Ixiptatlan, guiding his people according to the God's wishes. Though undeniably the saviour of his world, he was often volatile, and saw questions of him or his plans to be mere mortals questioning the gods, rendering him unreliable at times. Even Sagitarii's death and funeral did little to affect this instability, but it is rumoured that the old priest left more than memories attached to Ixiptatlan after his passing.

### Blood and Madness

When a Mechanicum Warp-runner sent word that a Primarch had been found in the Mexicatii system, the information went no further than the Ist and Vth Legions. Much would remain hidden for a mortal lifetime, some was revealed only with the outbreak of the Insurrection, and some has likely eluded even our careful studies. What became apparent very quickly was that the Emperor, with Icarion at his side, had been resisted with fanatical determination by the theocracy that ruled Mexicatii Prime. The defenders tore the hearts from their slaves and offered the blood of thousands to their cruel gods on a regular basis. Now they did the same to the Imperial emissaries and deployed an army of zealots to resist Compliance.

With fists both gold and grey, the Emperor's forces broke the Mexicatii defences, although it would take a lengthy campaign of pacification led by the Halcyon Wardens and abetted by the Officio Assassinorum to achieve true compliance. The Emperor moved on swiftly, for the Crusade was ever unrelenting. The new Primarch, however, was nowhere to be seen. The writings of Vth Legion and auxiliary personnel - those of Princeps Shakti Bijala of the Legio Tempestus have proven especially useful in documenting the affair - make it clear that only the uppermost tiers of fleet command had any inkling of the truth.

Rumours circulated - the Primarch had been somehow incapacitated by the priest-kings, and the Emperor sought to cure his wounds in secrecy. Few guessed at the truth; that Ixiptatlan had been entirely immersed in the vicious cult that ruled Mexicatii for far too long. It was he who, with hands blackened by the blood of those he sacrificed, had slain the emissaries who came in the Emperor's name, and fought until the Emperor confronted and overwhelmed him, killing dozens of Lightning Bearers and several Custodians in the battle that followed. Finally subdued by the Emperor, he proved resistant to all reason.

The Emperor refused to tolerate such defiance from His son, but nonetheless He was unwilling to discard such a precious, unrepeatable creation. So for over ten thousand hours, He set His unmatched will and psychic power to the task of conquering Ixiptatlan's spirit. The details to this day are unknown except for the vaguest hearsay which describes it variously as a dialogue, a battle or an act of torture. By its end, Ixiptatlan was broken, and the Emperor and Icarion began the work of rebuilding him. Two years later, a silent giant was first seen fighting against the Orks of WAAAGH! Bowelhacka beside the Stormborn. He would continue to do so for another decade until the Emperor deemed him ready to meet his Legion, and finally assume his birthright of command.

## Gallery

The now-Daemon Primarch Ixiptatlan battles against his brother Gwalchavad during the Siege of Terra.Gwalchavad, Primarch of the Wardens of Light, confronts the Daemon Primarch Ixiptatlan during the Siege of Terra.