vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Abaddon - Horus Heresy: Following Horus' corruption by Chaos and his resurrection through its profane power, Abaddon backed his Primarch to the hilt and firmly aligned himself with Horus against the Emperor, ultimately giving his soul over completely to the service of Chaos Undivided. Horus, under the guise of putting down the religious rebellion against Imperial Compliance on the world of Istvaan III, amassed his troops in the Istvaan System.The corrupted Warmaster had a plan by which he would destroy all the remaining Loyalist elements of the Legions under his command, a plan that would ultimately unfold into the nightmare of what Imperial scholars would later name the Istvaan III Atrocity. During the resulting campaign of attrition, Abaddon was responsible for the wounding and abandonment of the Loyalist Captain Garviel Loken within the ruins of the Istvaanian capital known as the Choral City, although Loken survived the combat and witnessed the beginning of the orbital bombardment of the planet and the remaining Loyalist Astartes on it by the Traitor Legions' fleet on Horus' orders.Throughout the seven brutal standard years of the terrible Imperial civil war that was the Horus Heresy, First Captain Abaddon led the elite squad of the renamed Sons of Horus Space Marines from the 1st Company known as the Justaerin, who wore singular black-coloured Cataphractii Pattern Terminator Armour. Abaddon led this elite unit during many of the most infamous actions by the forces of Chaos during the Horus Heresy, including the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V, the battle against the Loyalists on Yarant as well as in the climactic Battle of Terra.Yet the Warmaster fell at the last. As he duelled his once-beloved gene-father, the Emperor, upon the bridge of the Vengeful Spirit, Horus' flagship, the Warmaster was vanquished by a psychic blast. Abaddon and his most heavily-armed warriors fought their way through squad after squad of yellow-armoured Imperial Fists Terminators to the command centre of the starship, but they were too late.Running across iron decks that were slick with the blood of demigods, Abaddon took up the lifeless body of his father with great tenderness. Wracked with emotion, Abaddon detached the taloned claw that Horus had used to kill the PrimarchSanguinius from his Primarch's armour and resolved to use it to one day throttle the Emperor Himself.With his gene-father dead, Abaddon abandoned the conquest of Terra and instead retreated with the Sons of Horus Legion and all of their remaining assets, Legion slaves and starships, blazing a trail across the stars to the forbidden realm of the Eye of Terror. The Traitor Legions retreated in his wake, cursing the hour that had stolen their destiny. With this act, Abaddon passed from mortal space and into legend.
Abaddon - Vanquishing the Past: Their fortress in ruins and their Legion decimated, the Sons of Horus stood on the brink of vanishing forever from the galaxy and fading into cursed memory. The XVI Legion devolved into in-fighting amongst themselves, giving in to dark despair or uncontrolled rage. The divisions between the Legion's captains turned into bitter bloodshed and murder, as order completely collapsed. The salvation of the Sons of Horus came when one of its greatest captains, Ezekyle Abaddon, returned from his Dark Pilgrimage in time to watch the battle from afar. It was in that moment that he saw, with cold clarity, that it was Horus' failure that had led the Legion here, to them tearing each other apart in the blood-soaked ruins of Maeleum. Abaddon swore that he would succeed where Horus had failed in overthrowing the "Corpse-Emperor" and proclaimed himself the new Warmaster of Chaos. Finally, sickened by how far the Legion had fallen, he stalked through the ruins hunting down his fellow captains, cooling his rage with their final screams. In the end, Abaddon alone remained of the Legion's leaders, demanding obedience from his brothers.Some saw Abaddon as Horus' rightful successor and fell at his feet willingly, while others recognised his raw strength and bowed their heads to his might. A few turned their back on Abadodn, and were either cut down by their brothers or managed to escape into the Warp. With his Legion brought to heel, Abaddon turned his attention to the clones of Horus; he commanded his warriors to extinguish all trace of their former Primarch and free themselves from his shadow. He then personally led an attack on the Emperor's Children that destroyed the body of the Primarch Horus and all its clones, and in so doing, ushered in a new age for the XVI Legion. He had the Sons of Horus repaint their viridian Power Armour black, the colour of mourning and of vengeance, and cast-off the XVI Legion's former moniker of the Sons of Horus. From then on, they became known as the Black Legion. Through his actions, the Despoiler had reinvigorated the Legion, reviving the old notion that none could stand in their way and that they stood first amongst the Traitor Legions, destined by the will of the Dark Gods to one day inherit the galaxy itself. When the warbands of the Black Legion and the other forces of Chaos gather under the wrathful banner of Abaddon the Despoiler to unleash yet another of their Black Crusades to overthrow the False Emperor, the words of Horus are heard upon their lips -- let the galaxy burn. The Long War for control of the galaxy by Chaos and the Black Legion had begun.
Abaddon - The Folly of Drecarth: When Abaddon ascended to command of the Sons of Horus, not every warrior of the XVIth Legion swore allegiance to him. Many of the Traitors clung to their worship of Horus as a god, believing that he would one day return to lead them and punish those who had forsaken their oaths. Others considered the Horus Heresy to be the end of their subservience to gods and masters; the Emperor and their Primarch were the last overlords they would ever bow down to and they saw no reason to make an exception for Abaddon. Most of these Renegades were gradually lost to the Warp, disappearing into the Eye and vanishing from record, though some prospered and would return to be a thorn in the side of Abaddon.One of these splinter warbands was the Sons of the Eye, led by Drecarth the Sightless. A former Battle-Brother of Abaddon's, Drecarth had been one of Horus' captains, escaping in the chaos after Maeleum fell. Abaddon had heard whispers of Drecarth's escape and treachery from his cabal of Chaos Sorcerers, who also claimed that an old ally would one day rise to subert the Black Legion, twisting its loyalty with the memory of the dead Primarch. So, under the guise of truce, Abaddon made a pact with the Sons of the Eye and allied with them during the 6th Black Crusade in 901.M36. Abaddon wanted to make an example of the Sons of the Eye, a dire warning to any that would consider challenging his power, but he needed to set the stage for his vengeance just right so that none would ever doubt his resolve.During the 6th Black Crusade, Abaddon besieged the Imperial Forge World of Arkreach, offering Drecarth and his Sons of the Eye an equal share of the plunder. For months, the two forces of Chaos Space Marines fought side-by-side against the defences of the Adeptus Mechanicus, bombarding their great forge cities from space. Finally, the Traitors stood triumphant in the smouldering ruins of the great manufactoria, dead littering the ground. As Drecarth extended his hand in greeting, Abaddon grasped it with his own, only to thrust the claws of the Talon of Horus into his fellow Chaos Space Marine's gut. Drecarth lived long enough to see the Sons of the Eye bow to Abaddon and be reabsorbed into the Black Legion before the Warmaster of Chaos tore out his skull and spine. Thus did Abaddon deliver a dire warning to any who dared challenge his power.
Abaddon - Dark Pacts: While other Chaos Space Marine warlords were content to make pacts with individual Chaos Gods and daemons, eagerly giving up control for a sliver of power, Abaddon was different. In the long decades of the Great Crusade and the bloody years of the Horus Heresy that followed, he had studied the way in which Horus had waged his wars and dominated his allies. What Abaddon observed was, first, the hand of the Emperor and then later the influence of the Dark Gods at work, limiting the greatness of his Primarch and ultimately leading to his demise. Abaddon would make no such mistake, and though he would court the Chaos Gods as allies, he vowed, foolishly perhaps, never to be completely in their thrall.It is still unclear how Abaddon was able to use the will of the Dark Gods for his own ends while remaining unscathed by their power. Some say that it is the blood he shares with Horus, fuelling old rumours that he was the Warmaster's one pure clone son. Others say that Abaddon was broken in some fundamental way by the death of his Primarch and the defeat on Terra, his mind consumed by hatred and rage until nothing of his humanity remained. Another tale maintains that Abaddon was never human at all and is instead a construct of the Dark Gods -- an expression of their hatred for Mankind. Whatever the reason, the Ruinous Powers chose Abaddon to be their champion and gifted him with a freedom of will denied to so many of their servants, perhaps impressed by the audacity and grandeur of his vengeance.Regardless of how this favour was won, the period after the destruction of the clones of Horus during the Slave Wars and the renaming of the Sons of Horus was a time of war and domination for Abaddon and the Black Legion. As it grew in size and strength, it exerted its power over the other Chaos Space Marine warbands within the Eye of Terror, crushing and absorbing countless lesser warbands, bending them to the will of the Legion and adding their strength to its growing ranks. Meanwhile, Abaddon also sought other ways both to increase his personal power and to learn all he could about the new and dangerous realm in which the Traitor Legionaries found themselves. The Despoiler had already discovered much during his own Dark Pilgrimage, the journey he took in the lost years between the end of the Horus Heresy and his return to the ruins of Maeleum. On his travels, he had learned that the power that daemons represented and embodied could be harnessed and controlled, just as one man might control another. He also realised that the Eye of Terror was a place containing unnumbered arcane devices, forbidden weapons and lost worlds, the likes of which were unknown to much of the galaxy -- and that many of them could be turned to his ends.
Abaddon - The Tower of Silence: As the bloodshed of the 1st Black Crusade reached its frenzied heights, cities burned and worlds were stripped of people to feed the dark desires of the Traitor Legions. Leaving his Black Legion to continue their brutal reprisals and raids against Imperial worlds, Abaddon pursued his own plans. Using the howling souls unleashed into the Warp by so much death and destruction, he made a secret daemonic bargain. In payment for the feast of despair, pain and anguish Abaddon had created with his Black Crusade, the Dark Gods gifted him with knowledge of the secret location of the Tower of Silence on the world of Uralan.Cloaked in the shadow of the Eye of Terror, Uralan was whispered of in daemonic lore as a place where the gods themselves locked away their secrets. Following strands of fate unravelled by his cabal of Chaos Sorcerers, Abaddon had discovered a concealed path through the Warp and across the shifting sea of worlds beyond to reach Uralan without needing to breach the Cadian Gate. With a cadre of the Black Legion's elite warriors, each one a brutal veteran of a thousand battles, Abaddon set foot on Uralan and entered the Tower of Silence. Almost at once, the tower's guardians set upon them, ancient constructs of dark energy that shifted and flickered, their claws tearing at the ragged edges of his warriors' souls.After the bitter battle, Abaddon climbed down into the mirrored heart of Uralan. There, Abaddon wandered the massive haunted labyrinth for what seemed an age, fighting off the spirits of the dead that threatened to add him to their ranks. Eventually, Abaddon made his way towards the centre of the labyrinth where a shard of shifting darkness hung suspended in the air. Reaching out into the void, Abaddon felt the cold hilt of a blade meet his palm and he pulled it into reality; the Daemonsword Drach'nyen took terrible shape before his eyes. After the recovery of the malefic sword, Abaddon's power swelled to inhuman proportions and the new Warmaster of Chaos become nigh unstoppable. Whole cities were burned in sacrifice to the every-hungry daemons of Chaos, and entire armies were torn apart by gibbering Warp entities. Abaddon's power swelled to inhuman proportions as the Gods of Chaos rewarded him lavishly and he undertook acts of fiendish bravery which horrified those who stood against him.
Abaddon - Black Legion Ascendant: Infused with the might of Chaos, the Black Legion grew in power and glory during the 1st Black Crusade. Under the command of Abaddon, they seized ever more victories and triumphs. It was a glorious time for the XVIth Legion, as the bloodshed and death of the Crusade washed away some of the memories of the Horus Heresy and their great defeat before the gates of the Emperor's Palace. However, despite the reckless carnage and terrible destruction it caused, eventually, the 1st Black Crusade ended. Responding to the deadly peril, the Imperium had gathered its newly founded Space Marine Chapters and Titan Legions and sent them against the Traitors. Even so, scores of worlds had been silenced forever and millions of slaves were dragged screaming back into the Eye of Terror. Abaddon had tested the defences of his enemies and vastly increased his power with his newly acquired Daemonsword Drach'nyen. He also took to using the title of Warmaster of Chaos, rising to claim all that Horus had once possessed. None within the Black Legion argued Abaddon's right to the title, the 1st Black Crusade proof of his right to lead.For the Black Legion, their first foray out of the Eye of Terror had done much to restore their position among the Traitor Legions, fostering a new grudging respect for the black armoured warriors and their self-proclaimed Warmaster. If nothing else, Abaddon had proven that the Dark Gods favoured him, something not even the Daemon Primarchs could ignore. Conflict still sputtered and flared between the Traitor Legions, but they now had a new purpose, something they had almost forgotten in the half millennia since the fall of Horus. In the wake of the 1st Black Crusade, a time of constant raiding of Imperial space began. Abaddon was content to give a Black Legion warlord and his warband of Chaos Space Marines the chance to make a name for themselves, allowing them the freedom to strike where and when they would. He fostered this independence on one condition: the atrocities they committed must be done in the name of the Black Legion and at cost to the Emperor.
Abaddon - Chosen of Abaddon: The Chosen of Abaddon are four powerful Chaos Lords that serve under the patronage of Abaddon the Despoiler, the Warmaster of Chaos and master of the Black Legion of Chaos Space Marines. Rather than a single force with a single leader, the Black Legion became after the Horus Heresy a mighty host of many warbands and warlords. Within this host, all would swear complete allegiance to Abaddon, and through an inner circle, he would lead them with absolute dominion. These favoured lieutenants became known as the Chosen of Abaddon.The Chosen were his favoured generals, standing above all others and enacting his dark will; a warped shadow of the Luna Wolves' Mournival in which he had once served. Nowhere in the galaxy can a more feared and merciless collection of tyrants be found, always eager to put entire worlds to the sword in the name of Chaos. Nowhere in the galaxy can a more feared and merciless collection of tyrants be found, always eager to put entire worlds to the sword in the name of Chaos. The last recorded deployment of a full Officio Assassinorum Execution Force was against the so-called Chosen of Abaddon. These four individuals were so hated by the Imperium of Man that an entire team of Assassins infiltrated Abaddon's flagship. This was an extraordinary event, for it is rare for even one Assassin to be sent to deal with a threat. Abaddon learned of the impending attack and laid a trap for the Assassins, slaying all four and protecting his Chosen.The Chosen bear an assortment of titles, reflecting their role in a past Black Crusade or honouring particular acts of cruelty for which they are infamous. Their numbers are ever-changing, for Abaddon has little tolerance for failure amongst those who serve him. The current holders of these four titles are described below.
Abaddon - Lord Ravager: The Lord Ravager leads the Black Fleet of the Black Legion and its allies. It is he who first makes landfall on the surface of a world.Devram Korda - Devram Korda, also known as "The Tyrant of Sarora," is a servant of the Chaos God Slaanesh, the Prince of Pleasure. A former Veteran sergeant of the Sons of Horus Legion, after the events of the Horus Heresy, he rose to prominence and became a Chaos Lord. He became infamous for his blasphemous actions on the doomed world of Sarora, where he distilled the life essence of the citizens of the planet's largest hive city for a single vial of a sorcerous elixir which made him virtually invincible. He eventually became the current Lord Ravager, the individual who leads the invasion fleets of the Black Crusade in the name of Abaddon the Despoiler. It is Korda who first makes landfall on the surface of a world about to be assaulted by the forces of Chaos. Korda also commands the personal retinue of the Despoiler, known as the Chosen of Abaddon. In the closing days of the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41, Devram Korda returned to his master's side, bringing with him two individuals (later identified as Skyrak Slaughterborn and Urkrathos) who had journeyed to the centre of the Eye of Terror. Together with the Chaos Sorcerer Ygethmor the Deceiver, they presented Abaddon with the Heart of Chaos, a powerful artefact that Zaraphiston, a Chaos Sorcerer and rival Chaos Lord of the Despoiler, had long claimed could not exist.
Abaddon - Lord Deceiver: The Lord Deceiver is a powerful Chaos Sorcerer whose visions of the Warp lead the Black Crusade from star system to star system.Ygethmor the Deceiver - Ygethmor the Deceiver, known also as the "Twice Damned" and the "Purgator of Corrialis," is a formidable Sorcerer Lord of the Black Legion. He currently serves as one of Abaddon the Despoiler's lieutenants and a member of his personal retinue, the Chosen of Abaddon. Ygethmor is the current Lord Deceiver, whose visions of the Warp lead the Black Crusade from star system to star system. During the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41, the Officio Assassinorum sanctioned the deployment of an assassin team to eliminate Ygethmor, amongst other notable targets in service to the Archenemy. Whilst scrutiny of their field records is impossible, at least seven Assassinorum agents are known to have failed in the attempt to take the life of the Deceiver. Ygethmor led the assault of the forces of Chaos during the campaign known as the Fall of Medusa V in an attempt to become a Daemon Prince. This effort failed and Ygethmor was slain by the blade of the Eldar Autarch Elarique Swiftblade of Craftworld Alaitoc, and those Champions of the Dark Gods who had followed him were left to their fates on the dying world as Medusa V was consumed by an onrushing Warp Storm. However, death rarely represents an end to the service of a Chaos Lord, if the Dark Gods still have use for him. The galaxy may yet suffer the tread of Ygethmor the Deceiver once more.
Abaddon - Lord Corruptor: The Lord Corruptor is tasked with instilling fear and hatred amongst the Chaos Space Marines of the Black Legion. His trophy rack is adorned with the skulls of failed servants.Skyrak Slaughterborn - The Chosen of Abaddon lieutenant named Skyrak Slaughterborn, the current Lord Corruptor, leads the warbands of Nurgle within the Black Legion into battle. Collectively known as the Bringers of Decay, they spread their disease and corruption throughout the Realms of Man. Skyrak is known to have led the large warband of Chaos Space Marines known as the Slaughterkin in the assault on Cadia during the 13th Black Crusade.
Abaddon - Lord Purgator: It falls to the Lord Purgator to ensure that every man, woman and child left alive on a world conquered by the Black Legion is dragged in chains into the hold of the Legion's starships, and that no edifice remains undedicated to the Dark Gods.Urkrathos - Within the ranks of the Black Legion are those who are bloody-handed servants of Khorne. Though not a single unified warband within the Black Legion, they are collectively known as the Hounds of Abaddon. Urkrathos, also called Urkanthos, is the current Lord Purgator of the Chosen of Abaddon and commander of the Legion's Black Fleet, claims all followers of Khorne within the Legion as his own and directs them according to the will of Abaddon. Ironically, Urkrathos, who had become a Daemon Prince after pleasing his patron, was temporarily slain during the 13th Black Crusade on Cadia itself. He fell just before Cadia's destruction at the siege of Kasr Kraf combatting Saint Celestine and her two Geminae Superia, the Living Saint's protectors, the former Adepta Sororitas Canonesses Eleanor and Genevieve of the Order of Our Martyred Lady. Urkrathos had previously killed both in combat before their resurrection by the power of the Living Saint to serve as her eternal honour guard.
Abaddon - Bringers of Despair: Abaddon also formed from the Black Legion's ranks a personal bodyguard known as the Bringers of Despair, among other dark titles. Selected from the strongest and most vicious of his Chaos Terminator elite, these fearsome warriors are a terrifying sight, their arrival announcing the presence of the Despoiler himself.
Abaddon - Vengeful Beyond Reason: Whilst his rival Traitor Legions struggle amongst themselves for the fickle favour of their chosen gods, Abaddon has a purity of purpose that all have come to respect. Under his banners march twisted Chaos Space Marines from every Traitor Legion, Renegade Chapters that have defected from the post-Heresy Imperium, hordes of Chaos Cultists, beast-headed mutants, Abhumans, Space Marines who have given their bodies to possession by daemons, war engines from the Soul Forge and a thousand other freakish strains of anarchist and monster. The denizens of the Eye of Terror have learned over the millennia that those who swear an oath of fealty to the Despoiler would do well not to break it.When the World Eaters that had promised their aid to Abaddon left his armies to join the fighting upon Skalathrax, the Warmaster abandoned his plans, tracked the Berzerkers down and severed their limbs before cauterising their wounds with a Flamer, leaving them as little more than screaming stumps unworthy of a place at the Blood God's table. When the Emperor's Children that had joined the Black Legion turned upon their masters at Faeruthia he blinded and deafened them to a man, tearing out their tongues and sealing them in inert gel-skin so their sensory deprivation was complete. Upon the crystal planet of Liolonac the Sorcerers of the Thousand Sons denied Abaddon the audience they had promised him, having found a Chaotic relic of unsurpassed value. The Warmaster visited a mutagenic plague upon them that twisted them into bulging repulsive mounds of flesh before lobotomising them and hunting them until death with a pack of warped, daemonic hounds.Abaddon's vengeance is not limited to his brother Traitors. When a wilderness shrine upon Plutol refused to bow to his authority, Abaddon killed every other human upon the planet before personally visiting the shrine and forcing the priests who maintained it to eat the bodies of those they had once prayed for. Such is the magnitude and thoroughness of each act of revenge that even daemons fear to cross Abaddon. In his singleminded quest to bring the galaxy to heel he earned a new name; the Despoiler, he who would stop at nothing to secure his revenge against the Corpse-Emperor.
Abaddon - Abilities: Abaddon is possibly the most powerful still-mortal individual in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Abaddon is a powerful warrior of immense strength and skill who is armed with a deadly array of both Chaos artefacts and abilities that make him an overpowering foe to face on the battlefield. Abaddon bares the Mark of Chaos Ascendant, which bestows all the benefits of the four other Marks of the Chaos Gods, forever branding him as the greatest Champion of Chaos Undivided.He is also described as a demagogue, able to sway other followers of Chaos to his cause against the Imperium despite their natural inclination towards internecine conflict. Abaddon's extraordinary connection to all four of the major Chaos Gods and multiple arcane layers of Daemonic protection means that he cannot be killed outright by anything in the purely physical world, even direct fire from a super-heavy tank such as a Baneblade or a Land Raider.Like his predecessor Horus, only the power of the Warp, harnessed by a psyker of immense power and undoubted purity of mind and heart, will be able to slay Abaddon the Despoiler for all time and forever place his soul beyond the capabilities of even the Ruinous Powers to resurrect.
Abaddon - Trivia: Abaddon (also known as Abaddan, Apollyon, Appolyon and Appolion) literally meaning "destruction," "ruin" or "perdition" -- is the Hebrew name of the demon identified as the "angel" of the bottomless pit, or the abyss, in the Christian Bible in the Book of Revelation of St. John; Revelation 9:11.Abaddon has also earned the nickname "Failbaddon" by Warhammer 40,000 fans, due to his many failed Black Crusades -- until the last one.
Abaddon - Sources: Apocalypse: Reload (4th Edition), pg. 55Arks of Omen: Abaddon (9th Edition), pg. 17Battlefleet Gothic RulebookCodex Heretic Astartes - Chaos Space Marines" (8th Edition), pp. 90-91, 118Codex: Chaos Space Marines (6th Edition), pp. 11-12, 20, 57, 92Codex: Chaos Space Marines (4th Edition), pp. 22, 46-47Codex: Chaos Space Marines (3rd Edition, 2nd Codex), pp. 8-9, 44-45Codex: Chaos Space Marines (3rd Edition, 1st Codex), pp. 22-23Codex: Chaos (2nd Edition), pp. 17-18, 34, 98-99Codex: Eye of Terror (3rd Edition)Deathwatch: First Founding (RPG), pg. 91Gathering Storm - Book One - Fall of Cadia (7th Edition), pp. 36-53Index Astartes IV, "Sons of Horus - The Black Legion Space Marine Legion"The 13th Black Crusade by Andy Hoare, pp. 18, 72, 79The Art of Warhammer 40,000 (Art Book) edited by Matt Ralphs and Marc Gascoigne, pg. 150The Fall of Medusa V (Booklet), pp. 12, 16-17Warlords of the Dark Millennium: Abaddon The Despoiler (Digital Edition), pp. 5-6, 8-10, 12-13, 27-32White Dwarf 287 (UK), "Death by a Thousand Cuts," pg. 36White Dwarf 239 (UK), "The Slayer of Worlds," by Gav Thorpe, pp. 103-109Horus Rising (Novel) by Dan AbnettFalse Gods (Novel) by Graham McNeillGalaxy In Flames (Novel) by Ben CounterAge of Darkness (Anthology) edited by Christian Dunn, "Little Horus"Nemesis (Novel) by James SwallowExecution Hour (Novel) by Gordon RennieDark Adeptus (Novel) by Ben CounterSoul Hunter (Novel) by Aaron Dembski-BowdenThe Talon of Horus (Novel) by Aaron Dembski-BowdenForgeworld - Abaddon vs. Loken DioramaForgeworld - Abaddon vs. Loken VideoWarhammer Community - Abbadon RevealedThe Horus Heresy - Siege of Terra Website, Book 1 The Solar War (Image)
Abdemon - Abdemon: Abdemon was a notable lieutenant commander of the Emperor's Children Legion during the Great Crusade and the opening days of the Horus Heresy.He commanded the campaign remembered as the Katara Xenocide, where he was charged with prosecuting a campaign against the Abhuman civilisation known as the Katara. Abdemon brought the conflict to an end by besting a Kataran champion in single combat. Unfortunately, the defeat was such a dishonour in the Kataran culture that the entire Kataran people proceeded to commit suicide.Abdemon himself is believed to have died on the traitorous blade of one of his own captains on the field of the Choral City during the Isstvan III Atrocity.
Abdul Goldberg - Abdul Goldberg: Abdul Goldberg is an Imperial Rogue Trader infamous for his treacherous and double-dealing behaviour across the galaxy.
Abdul Goldberg - History: Goldberg is known to have won another captain's starship in a rigged poker game, in which he spiked his opponent's drink. The enraged captain and his crew, who had been evicted from their vessel along with their belongings after the game, tried to retake it by force before Abdul and his own men fled aboard it. The final outcome of the clash is unknown.On another occasion, Goldberg agreed to provide a getaway ship for a fleeing band of thieves of unclear motivations, but when these reached the spaceport with the local authorities on their tails, Abdul was nowhere to be found. This forced the fugitives to try and hijack another ship present there that was in the process of being refuelled.Goldberg facilitated certain Imperial criminals' capture to later engineer their escape from high-security jails, in order to follow them to their secret hideouts so that he could locate their ill-gotten gains and steal them.These exploits have understandably earned Goldberg many enemies, and he is under constant threat from vengeful ambushes and raids against his forces when he is out on the Imperial frontier far from the Emperor's light.
Abelard Werserian - Abelard Werserian: Abelard Werserian is a former officer of the Navis Imperialis who has served as seneschal of the House von Valancius Rogue Trader dynasty in the Koronus Expanse for solar decades under the leadership of Theodora von Valancius.When Theodora was recently assassinated during a Warp incursion on her flagship, Werserian had to transfer his solar decades of loyalty and experience to the house's new Rogue Trader, a distantly related individual who had met Theodora only a scant few solar hours before her death.
Abelard Werserian - History: Rogue Traders are the bright stars of the Koronus Expanse. They traverse the void, conquering savage worlds, hunting ancient treasures, and bringing the light of the Emperor to the wild frontier. Their great minds are focused on major tasks (or distracted by the pleasures that the lavish lifestyle of Imperial nobility brings...but that's another matter). In any case, each Rogue Trader needs a trusted person to handle the not-so-great tasks, like keeping the colonial governments on all those conquered worlds from falling apart, or turning all those ancient treasures into actual profit. Enter the dynasty's seneschal.Solar decades ago, the diligent and imperious Abelard Werserian was first officer on a Navis Imperialis cruiser, until fate intervened in the form of Theodora von Valancius, an eccentric, wayward Rogue Trader. Different as night and day, the pair learned to appreciate and respect each other during a joint operation between Navis Imperialis and Rogue Trader forces. Impressed, Theodora used the right of requisition granted by her Warrant of Trade to claim Abelard as her new seneschal -- a position that confers the highest honours, as well as the greatest burdens.Decades later, Abelard, as the Rogue Trader's right hand, remains vigilant against threats to House von Valancius' trade empire. Time and its tribulations have turned his hair gray and his demeanour even more difficult than it was in his Imperial Navy days. And yet Abelard is still one of the most reliable of the Rogue Trader's crew, fiercely loyal to the trade empire he helped to build and operate. Anything that endangers this precious creation he views as a personal threat. And these dangers are many, for great and fearsome powers lurk in the depths of the Koronus Expanse. Is there still enough strength in the aging seneschal's hands to hold the trade empire together and protect it from ruin as he seeks to guide a new and untested Rogue Trader in their duties?
Abelard Werserian - Wargear: ChainswordFlak VestMedi-kit
Aberrant - Aberrant: An Aberrant is a Genestealer hybrid who was born mutated for a number of different reasons from the normal phenotype for their generation of the brood cycle.Though misshapen and possessed of an inferior intellect, Aberrants are physically powerful, have superhuman endurance and are possessed of a potent need to protect the other members of their Genestealer Cult. For this reason, they are used as shock assault troops by their cult's leaders.Like Hybrid Metamorphs, Aberrants also sometimes undergo a rapid genetic restructuring as a Tyranid hive fleet draws near their homeworld and they spontaneously develop the biomechancial biomorph weapons of other Tyranid bioforms.
Aberrant - Aberrant Hypermorphs: Like Hybrid Metamorphs, some Aberrants mutate as the Hive Fleet approaches, in response to the psychic command of the nearing Hive Mind. As these mutations take hold, the creature's spinal column extends into a muscular tail, tipped with a hooked barb sharp enough to slice through meat, bone and even infantry armour.Known as Aberrant Hypermorphs, these creatures are even more ferocious than their kindred, lashing out mindlessly with their industrial weapons or grabbing whatever makeshift weapon they can even as they charge towards their foes.The occurrence of Aberrant Hypermorphs is more sporadic than that of Hybrid Metamorphs, with individual Aberrants mutating rather than whole broods, yet their appearance is still seen as portentous by the cultists around them.
Aberrant - Unit Composition: 5-10 Aberrants1-2 Aberrant Hypermorphs
Aberrant - Aberrant: Rending ClawHeavy Power Hammer or Power Pick
Aberrant - Aberrant Hypermorph: Rending ClawHypermorph TailHeavy Power Hammer or Heavy Improvised Weapon
Aberrus System - Aberrus System: The Aberrus System is an Imperial star system located in the Eastern Fringe of the Imperium Nihilus close to the Grendl Stars. It is currently gripped in a conflict between the military forces of the Imperium of Man and a tendril of the Tyranids' Hive Fleet Kraken known as the War for the Aberrus System.The invasion of the system by the Tyranids in the Era Indomitus was picked up by the ancillary scry-station located on Hedhan, the outermost world of the system, that was controlled by the Iron Lords Chapter of Space Marines. The Chapter homeworld of the Iron Lords was Sternac, which was located close to the Aberrus System.The Iron Lords had long sworn to protect the rest of the Imperium from the hyper-violent xenos species known as the Barghesi, who they had quarantined within the Grendl Stars.But if Hive Fleet Kraken managed to overrun the Imperial defenders of the Aberrus System, then they would be able to sweep into the Grendl Stars, potentially adding the Barghesi's savage genetic diversity to their own. The Ordo Xenos feared that were Aberuus to fall, the fate of the entire Eastern Fringe could be put at risk.
Aberrus System - Notable Planets: The following six worlds orbit the Aberrus star, listed in order from closest to farthest from the star.Vander's Folly (Dead World)Ligrides (Dead World)Luann (Jungle World) - Luann is one of the two Human-settled worlds of the Aberrus System, the other being Glacemaw. Luann is home to its own militarum regimento of the Astra Militarum, the Luann Lineholders, who were heavily engaged in the battles to save the world from the hundreds of millions of Tyranid bioforms who are currently seeking to claim it. Luann's ecosystems were home to extremely carnivorous fauna, which had been contained by a string of fortresses known as the Four Towers. These fortresses are now under siege by the Tyranids as is the Hinnoq Delta Tribridge, where the 81st and 935th Luann Lineholders Regiments assigned to its defence proved unable to withstand the pressure and collapsed.Glacemaw (Ice World) - Glacemaw is the second Human-settled colony world of system. It is a frigid planet, marked by sweeping tundras. It is also home to an Astra Militarum militarum regimento, in this case the Glacemaw Ridgeguards. Glacemaw, like Luann, has also been invaded by hundreds of millions of Hive Fleet Kraken bioforms and hundreds of the feared Tyranid Bio-Titans. The Permaberg Citadel has already been toppled by the Tyranid assault, The Tredi Forest on Glacemaw, viewed as impenetrable for millennia, was all but consumed -- only by the efforts of the Catachan Jungle Fighters LV Regiment, supported by the Knights of House Curtana and House Borgius and the Sisters of Battle of the Order of the Crimson Chalice, had the outer reaches been held. The Sanctuary of Saint Vilutia was sure to fall if the forest was lost. The ice fields of Kutris crawled with Tyranid bioforms rampaging towards the major settlement of Glation City, which was expected to be destroyed within three local days of a concerted attack by the Tyranids.Saint Vaux's Hope (Mining World) - Saint vaux's hope has already fallen to the Tyranids, its enitre biosphere consumed by the maw of the great Devourer.Hedhan (Iron Lords Ancillary Scry-Station) - This world long served as the base for a scry-station or observer's post of the Iron Lords Chapter. When this scry-station picked up the Tyranid invasion of the Aberrus System, it relayed its warnings to the Iron Lords who initiated the Adeptus Astartes reinforcements who have recently joined in the War for the Aberrus System, providing renewed hope and morale for the beleaguered defenders.
Abeyant - Abeyant: An Abeyant is an anti-gravitic transportation device often used by high-ranking tech-priests of the ancient Mechanicum and the Adeptus Mechanicus.Considered in part as a symbol of status as well as a functional tool, an Abeyant is the name given to a class of anti-gravitic, hovering conveyances into which the rider's augmetic and life support systems are connected, so that the machine-vehicle becomes an extension of their own body. Often taking the form of a stylised throne or enclosing scarab-like framework, its levitation suspensor field allows the owner to cross most war-torn battlefields with ease. They are commonly used by high-ranking Tech-priests, especially in battlefield situations.As a powerful archmagos of the Dark Mechanicum domain of Cyclothrathe, it was not unheard of for Yelav Draykavac, the commander of that Forge World's Taghmata, to stride into battle mounted in an Abeyant such as he did during the Liberation of Numinal in the Horus Heresy.
Abheilüng - Abheilüng: Abheilüng is a former Imperial vassal world now controlled by the Dark Mechanicus and wholly dedicated to the Ruinous Powers. It was lost to the Imperium in 995.M41, when elements of the Dark Mechanicus that had long been hidden in the subterranean depths of this volcanic world caused every volcano on the planet to erupt simultaneously, killing millions.The servants of the Dark Gods then unleashed a horde of Daemon Engines to cleanse the planet of any survivors. Those few unfortunate souls who remained after the slaughter were taken as slaves to toil in the hellish forges of their new, dark masters.
Abheilüng - History: Much of the early history of this isolated world has been lost to the long passage of millennia. Abheilüng was once considered a vital deep void empyreal waystation since it lay on the Armageddon-Paramar Grand Conduit. The survivors of a mission group despatched by the Inquisition to the Abheilüng System recently returned and reported that Abheilüng was now lost to the Imperium.They revealed that elements of the Dark Mechanicus, who had hidden beneath the surface of the world, employed forbidden rites of techno-pyroclasm to cause the many dormant volcanoes present on Abheilüng to erupt as one, sealing the deaths of millions in a single moment. Worse was to come, for out of the roiling black clouds and rivers of molten rock charged an uncountable host of Daemon Engines.It was estimated that the entire population of Abheilüng has now fallen to the Dark Mechanicus; slaughtered, consumed or dragged beneath the ground in fetters to tend the infernal forges below. It is believed by many within the Inquisition that Abheilüng is now entirely in the hands of the Dark Mechanicus, which must have lurked unseen in its volcanic labyrinths for centuries.While that admission galls many within the Imperial government, Abheilüng is now beyond any hope of deliverance. Furthermore, it is likely that Abheilüng is already on the path to becoming a significant locus of production for infernal engines of war and that soon the Traitor Legions and others dedicated to the Ruinous Powers will be able to procure the services of machines wrought in its forges.
Abhorrent-class Knight - Abhorrent-class Knight: An Abhorrent-class Knight is a Chaos Knight of any standard class that has been so warped by the energies of the Warp that their very structures have mutated into savage new forms.These war engines are often hybrids of the Knight's original mechanical form and daemonic flesh grafted onto its frame by the reality-reshaping powers of Chaos.
Abhuman - Abhuman: An Abhuman is a descendant of baseline Human settlers whose ancestors mutated and physically adapted to various extreme environmental conditions after being isolated for thousands of standard years on colony worlds across the galaxy. Some Abhumans may also be intentionally genetically engineered mutants created for a specific purpose.The term may be short for "aberrant Human", "abnormal Human," or, less pejoratively, derived from the High Gothic term ab humanis, "from Humans."In an Imperium of Man where genetic mutation from the Human baseline and spiritual corruption are often viewed as interrelated or one and the same, Abhumans are a focus of much controversy for the Imperial government. Abhumans are distinct from true mutants in that they conform to a common physical phenotype, demonstrate reproductive stability and are no more susceptible to further mutation than normal Humans.In more enlightened times under the direct rule of the Emperor of Mankind during the Great Crusade in the late 30th Millennium, even markedly divergent Abhumans such as the Beastmen could serve in the Imperial Army.Since the Emperor's stasis on the Golden Throne began at the end of the Horus Heresy, however, only the lesser Abhuman mutants, such as Ogryns and Ratlings, are allowed full citizenship in the Imperium. However, they are still distrusted by the Puritan members of the Inquisition and by the more devout believers in the Imperial Creed in every corner of the Imperium. Imperial citizens tend to treat Abhumans with a mixture of hatred, fear and prejudice and it is rare for Abhumans to reach positions of power within Imperial society.By the 41st Millennium, the Adeptus Terra had recognised seventy-three different Abhuman strains, of which forty-six have been declared extinct, and twelve more are on the verge of being declared so due to lack of contact with Imperial representatives. Some of the most important and notable Abhuman strains in the Imperium are detailed below.Abhumans like Ratlings and Ogryns who are considered Imperial citizens have proved their worth as specialists in the Militarum Auxilla, an auxiliary specialist appendage of the Astra Militarum. Indoctrinated in the Imperial Creed to ensure their loyalty to the Emperor, they are taught self-loathing, and watched closely by the commissars and priests of the Ecclesiarchy.
Abhuman - Navigators: A Navigator (Homo navigo) is a very particular form of Imperially-sanctioned Human mutant, who possess the Navigator Gene and have existed within the Human gene pool since the time of the Dark Age of Technology. All Navigators possess a third eye, commonly called the "Warp Eye," on their foreheads which gives them the unique ability to see into the Empyrean without losing their sanity.Using the psychic beacon generated and directed by the Emperor known as the Astronomican as a stable reference point, Navigators use the power granted by their third eye to guide Human starships through the currents of the Warp. Their ability to sense the tides of the Warp is considered psychic, although Navigators never possess any psychic abilities beyond the powers of astronavigation their Warp Eye affords them.Since the Navigator Gene is hereditary rather than a recurring random mutation, the existence of Navigators is tolerated by an edict from the Emperor Himself issued at the time of the Unification Wars in the 30th Millennium as the Navigators and their politically powerful Navis Nobilite aristocratic houses were essential to the continued functioning of the Imperium's commerce and defence.Navigators all live within the special precinct of the Terran world-city that was given to them by the Emperor millennia ago. The politics of the Navigator Houses are known to be byzantine and treacherous in the extreme.
Abhuman - Afriel Strain: Afriel Strain soldiers are genetically-engineered warriors created during an experimental project conducted by the Adeptus Mechanicus, of which little is known.The initiative was an attempt to capitalise on the characteristics of the heroes of the Imperial past's genetic material, to recreate all the best traits which had made them great. The project was ultimately an attempt to create the perfect Human soldier, and it failed miserably.Afriel Strain warriors, for some reason, have the worst luck ever seen among Humans, to the point that some Mechanicus adepts believe that their cloned genetic makeup may interface with the Warp in some way to alter the laws of probability. Afriels are normally albinos, with pale alabaster skin, pale hair and colorless, pink eyes.
Abhuman - Beastmen: Beastmen (Homo sapiens variatus) are horned, hoofed, and quite hairy Abhumans who appear like nothing so much as humanoid goats or rams. They were formerly recruited for the Imperial Army and later the Astra Militarum, where they used their innate bloodlust to fight for the Emperor and atone for the sin of being born as mutants. They were led by other Beastmen called "packmasters."At present, "Pureblood" Beastmen are no longer seen in Imperial service, since overt mutants now only serve in the forces of Chaos. No doubt Puritan elements of the Inquisition convinced the Administratum that the Beastmen could not be so radically altered from the normal Human form without being tainted by Chaos.Some lesser variants of the H.s.variatus strain, who are less physically mutated than their peers, are allowed to still exist within the Imperial armed forces, where they are used as cannon fodder and as expendable assault troops. These Beastmen are the Warhammer 40,000 equivalent of the Warhammer universe's Beastmen.
Abhuman - Ogryns: The dim-witted Human sub-species called Ogryns (Homo sapiens gigantus) evolved on high-gravity, low-temperature prison planets. They are huge and unusually stupid for a Human subrace, but unquestionably loyal to the Imperium once introduced to the faith of the Imperial Cult.Ogryns are used as the Astra Militarum's shock troops, and for this role, they are commonly outfitted with the Ripper Gun. The Ripper Gun is a weapon simple enough for them to operate, although some feral Ogryn cannot even fathom this device. Ogryn are also frequently used as bodyguards by Imperial military commanders.Ogryns tend to be claustrophobic and thus are difficult to transport. They are typically led by "Bone 'eads," who have undergone a procedure known as Biochemical Ogryn Neural Enhancement (or BONE treatment), improving their intellect to near-Human standards.Sometimes, when speed is of the essence, Imperial commanders with a fresh batch of conscripted Ogryns do not bother to teach them the comparatively complicated use of the standard Ogryn Ripper Gun, merely giving them another club and telling them to smash the enemy with it.As one might guess, the Ogryns are the Warhammer 40,000 equivalent of the Warhammer Ogre.