vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Dark Apostle - Dark Apostles in the Traitor Legions: Dark Apostles make up the priesthood of the Dark Gods. Just as the Chaplains of the Loyalist Space Marines uphold the creeds of their Chapters, the Dark Apostles devote their lives to the propagation of the unholy word, actively spreading the worship of Chaos across the galaxy. Their efforts do not go unrewarded -- Dark Apostles are surrounded by Daemonic auras of protection that shimmer and writhe as they chant their blasphemous prayers.The Dark Apostles preach that, compared to the blood and thunder of their own faith, the falsehoods of the Ecclesiarchy's Imperial Creed are but cobweb-thin tissues of superstition. These are more than idle words -- most Dark Apostles can act as direct conduits through which the Ruinous Powers can speak to mortal men.It is not unknown for a Dark Apostle to suddenly straighten, his eyes glazing over as his mouth spits guttural and blood-flecked gibberish. Those who can understand this glottal tongue claim that it is the language of the gods themselves, the "Dark Tongue."The Dark Apostles sit high in the esteem of their brethren, and their intense charisma and burning conviction inspires mortals and Heretic Astartes alike to great and terrible acts. The often harsh yoke of the Imperium fosters great resentment in those of weak character, and Dark Apostles are experts at fanning those sparks into raging blazes. When these preachers of terrible truths infiltrate an Imperial world, hidden Chaos Cults are brought together and long-fostered alliances are brought to terrible fruition. It is never long before the bodies of Adeptus Arbites, Judges and aristocrats alike, are strung from spire and cable.Mutants and madmen boil out into the populace, infecting those around them with the touch of Chaos. Just as the hysterical citizenry are on the brink of devouring themselves, the Dark Apostle will draw them together into an army and lead a great crusade against the Imperium's forces. It is not only Heretics and Traitors that flock to the banners of the Dark Apostles. It is not unheard of for these devotees of Chaos to subvert entire regiments of the Astra Militarum, or even stranded bands of Space Marines, to their cause.In a galaxy of unrelenting war, rebellion can spread like wildfire; there are records of single Dark Apostles inspiring entire planetary populations to chant damning hymnals until Daemons ran free in the streets. Their power is in the numberless hordes that follow them, an endless tide of the damned that crashes upon the rock of the Imperium.A Dark Apostle arrayed for war is an imposing sight. His battle-scarred Chaos Power Armour of ancient design is emblazoned with forbidden texts and hung with parchments of Human skin covered in potent invocations.The Apostle's own skin is tattooed with runic prayers to Chaos in the Dark Tongue, and in his clenched fist he carries a defiled Crozius Arcanum, an evil corruption of the Loyalist Chaplain's badge of office now called an Accursed Crozius. But the Dark Apostle's most powerful weapon is his voice -- a tool with which wars can be started and the gifts of the gods bestowed.
Dark Apostle - The Lost and the Damned: The forces of Chaos include a multitude of lesser hosts. Amongst them are hordes of bestial mutants, lumbering tribes of corrupted Ogryns and ad hoc warbands of Chaos Knights. The most deadly of these armies are perhaps the least outlandish, those able to bypass the defences of the Corpse Emperor's armies and conquer the Imperium from within.The Dark Apostles take especial pleasure in corrupting the soldiery of the Astra Militarum. Throughout the Imperium there are those who wear the Aquila upon their breasts, but harbour resentment in their hearts.Ground down by the futility of the Imperium's endless wars and the callous inhumanity of the Departmento Munitorum, these warriors embrace whatever freedom from tyranny they can find. In heeding the false promises of the agents of Chaos, they exchange the endless grind of a decrepit dystopia for a short and bloody existence in thrall to the lords of hatred, becoming the feared regiments of the Traitoris Militarum.
Dark Apostle - Dark Apostles in Combat: When Dark Apostles go to war they are terrifying to behold, for the Apostles are fueled by their indomitable faith, daemonic blessings and the super-human might of a Space Marine. Few can stand and fight against a Dark Apostle and live to tell the tale.The Dark Apostles (and all of the Word Bearers for that matter) hold a certain hatred for the Adeptus Ministorum and all those who ally with it. They take great pleasure in destroying Imperial temples, burning Imperial Cult religious banners and above all killing Missionaries, Sisters of the Adepta Sororitas and if possible, Ordo Hereticus Inquisitors.In battle Dark Apostles are skilled demagogues, able to exhort followers to greater acts of bravery and depravity. Their strategies sometimes border on prescience and enemy commanders have often found out to their cost that the only way to truly blunt an attack by such fanatics is to either remove the Apostle, or destroy each and every Word Bearer facing them to the last superhuman.
Dark Apostle - Unit Composition: 1 Dark Apostle
Dark Apostle - Wargear: The main armament of the Dark Apostles is a corrupted Crozius Arcanum known as an Accursed Crozius, a perverted version of the Adeptus Astartes' primary weapon for Loyalist Chaplains. However, the weapon still serves to display a Dark Apostle's faith in the Ruinous Powers of Chaos.Although Dark Apostles have unlimited access to the Word Bearers' Armoury or the armoury of their chosen Traitor Legion, they commonly prefer heavily customised and Chaos-warped Chaos Power Armour and a very ornate Bolt Pistol or Plasma Pistol.A First Acolyte or Dark Apostle will also commonly employ a daemon-possessed weapon, likely a chainsword or chainaxe and a standard Bolt Pistol. A few Dark Apostles or First Acolytes will sometimes make use of other weapons beside the Crozius Arcanum or a Daemon Weapon, swapping them for heavy weapons such as a Heavy Bolter, any type of Combi-weapon or a different type of melee weapon such as a Power Maul. Dark Apostles have access to the standard complement of Frag Grenades and Krak Grenades, when necessary.
Dark Apostle - Sources: Codex Heretic Astartes - Chaos Space Marines (8th Edition), pp. 61, 126Codex: Chaos Space Marines (6th Edition), pp. 13, 35Horus Heresy: Collected Visions, pg. 153Imperial Armour Volume Ten - The Badab War, Part Two, pg. 109Black Crusade: Core Rulebook (RPG), pg. 48Black Crusade: The Tome of Excess (RPG), pp. 27, 30-31Only War - Enemies of the Imperium (RPG) (Forthcoming)Dark Apostle (Novel) by Anthony ReynoldsDark Disciple (Novel) by Anthony ReynoldsDark Creed (Novel) by Anthony ReynoldsKingsblade (Novel) by Andy ClarkThe Lords of Silence (Novel) by Chris Wraight, Chs. 10-12, 21-22Titandeath (Novel) by Guy HaleyWarhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (PC Game)Dark Apostle: Chaos Showcase by Jason Errington (AU)Warhammer Community - Heretic Astartes Focus: The Word Bearers (Image)Chaos Space Marine ForcesCommandChaos Lord • Exalted Champion •  Chaos Champion • Aspiring Champion • Sorcerer Lord • Daemon Prince • Daemon Prince of Nurgle • Daemon Prince of Tzeentch • Death Guard LordSpecialistsExalted Sorcerer • Sorcerer • Warpsmith • Dark Apostle • Master of Possession • Master of Executions • Lord Discordant • Warsmith • Death Guard Sorcerer • Lord of Contagion • Malignant Plaguecaster • Plague Surgeon • Tallyman • Scarab Occult Sorcerer • Scarab Occult TerminatorsTroopsChaos Space Marines • Havocs • Chosen • Chaos Terminators • Possessed • Greater Possessed • Khorne Berzerkers • Plague Marines • Noise Marines • Rubric Marines • Obliterators • Mutilators • Chaos Spawn • Fallen Angels • Noxious Blightbringer • Foul Blightspawn • Biologus Putrifier • Blightlord Terminators • DeathshroudFast AttackChaos Space Marine Bikers • Chaos Space Marine Raptors • Warp TalonsChaos DreadnoughtsHelbrute • Ferrum Infernus Dreadnought • Chaos Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought • Sonic Dreadnought • Berserker Dreadnought • Leviathan DreadnoughtVehicles and Daemon EnginesChaos Rhino • Chaos Predator • Infernal Relic Predator • Chaos Vindicator • Chaos Land Raider • Chaos Land Raider Proteus • Infernal Relic Land Raider Achilles • Land Raider Hades Diabolus • Relic Sicaran Battle Tank • Maulerfiend • Forgefiend • Defiler • Brass Scorpion • Blood Slaughterer • Blight Drone • Foetid Bloat-drone • Kytan • Plague Hulk • Venomcrawler • Myphitic Blight-haulerHeavy Vehicles and Daemon EnginesSpartan Assault Tank • Fellblade • Decimator • Typhon Heavy Siege Tank • Lord of Skulls • Death Wheel • Plaguereaper • Plagueburst Crawler • Silver Tower of TzeentchAircraftHeldrake • Stormbird • Thunderhawk • Chaos Storm Eagle • Chaos Fire Raptor • Hell Blade • Hell Talon • Harbinger • Chaos Dreadclaw • Kharybdis Assault Claw •  Fire Lord •  Doom WingSummoned DaemonsBloodletters • Plaguebearers • Horror of Tzeentch • Daemonette • Nurglings • Beast of Nurgle • Plague Drone • Flamer • ScreamerLost and the DamnedChaos Cultists • Poxwalkers • Pestigor • Plague Zombies • Plague Ogryn • Thrall Wizard • Tzaangor • Tzaangor Enlightened • Tzaangor Shaman • Dark DiscipleChampionsMagnus the Red • Mortarion • Abaddon the Despoiler • Kharn the Betrayer • Typhus • Ahriman • Huron Blackheart • Fabius Bile • Cypher • Haarken Worldclaimer • Invocatus
Dark Brotherhood - Dark Brotherhood: Note: This article concerns the Dark Brotherhood Space Marine Chapter of the late 41st Millennium. For the marauding Blackshield force of the Horus Heresy era, please see Dark Brotherhood (Blackshield Force).The Dark Brotherhood is a Codex Astartes-compliant Loyalist Space Marine Chapter of unknown Founding and origin. Almost nothing is known about this Chapter in Imperial records.
Dark Brotherhood - Chapter Colours: The Dark Brotherhood primarily wears slate grey Power Armour. The white squad specialty symbol (Tactical, Assault, Devastator or Veteran) is indicated on the right shoulder pauldron. A red Roman numeral centred on the squad specialty symbol indicates squad number. The wings of the Aquila or Imperialis on the chest guard, as well as the backpack, are black. Most unusual, the colour of the skull on the Aquila or Imperialis on the chest guard indicates company number in accordance with the Codex Astartes -- i.e. White (1st Company), Yellow (2nd Company), Red (3rd Company), etc.
Dark Brotherhood - Chapter Badge: The Dark Brotherood's Chapter badge is a white Maltese Cross, with a large red skull centred on it, on a field of slate grey.
Dark Brotherhood - Sources: Adeptus Astartes: Successor Chapters (Limited Release Booklet), pg. 29Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (1st Edition), pg. 10
Dark Brotherhood (Blackshield Force) - Dark Brotherhood (Blackshield Force): This article concerns the Dark Brotherhood Blackshield force of the Horus Heresy; for the Space Marine Chapter of the 41st Millennium, see the Dark Brotherhood.The Dark Brotherhood was a large and notorious Blackshield Space Marine force that carved out its own corsair empire on the edge of the Pale Stars during the Horus Heresy in the early 31st Millennium. It fought a long war against an Alpha Legion hunter-killer force tasked with crushing resistance to the Warmaster Horus' Dark Compliance in that region.The Dark Brotherhood formed around a warrior known as the "Nemean Reaver", or simply "The Nemean," a title likely referring to the impenetrable Artificer Armour he was said to wear in battle or to suggestions that he was preternaturally strong and impossible to slay.Of the origins of this war leader very little is certain, though some accounts claim he was a Terran scion of the Ist Legion, the Dark Angels, and a veteran of the Third Rangdan Xenocide, a notion at least partially borne out by elements of the sparse personal heraldry he wore and by the terrible scars that marred his features.
Dark Brotherhood (Blackshield Force) - History: Almost from the outset, the war of the Horus Heresy was a vast cataclysm and one whose events moved with such quicksilver pace that mystery, supposition, lies and simple ignorance cloaked much of the bloodshed even as it occurred, casting a veil over much that would never be lifted.Despite the paucity of records, accounts of small warbands that were once part of the known Traitor Legions fighting independently persisted throughout the war. In some cases, outcast forces proudly bore their original colours and may have regarded themselves as the true inheritors of their Space Marine Legions.Further to this, and perhaps an even more sinister enigma, are the persistent reports of Space Marine forces appearing bearing no sign or seal of heraldry or origin at all, or stranger yet, heraldry which bears no mark known during the Great Crusade.A handful of extant accounts, now sealed beyond all retrieval, makes reference to a loosely-termed and non-formal class of warrior known as the "Blackshields". The majority of Blackshields appear to have been of the Legiones Astartes, though some may once have belonged to other factions.
Dark Brotherhood (Blackshield Force) - The Ruinstorm: One of countless shadow wars fought during the Horus Heresy which would only be known to history by the piecing together of scattered archival fragments, the war for the region to the galactic south-west of the Warp phenomenon known as the Maelstrom was one fought far from the front lines and outside of the chain of command of either side.When word of the outbreak of the Horus Heresy reached the individual planetary rulers, most recoiled in horror at the Warmaster Horus' base betrayal of the Emperor, yet none dared declare openly against him for they dreaded the gaze of Horus and knew that should they provoke his wrath, he could crush them out of hand.Several lonely voices denounced such vacillation as craven and dishonourable, imploring the Imperial Commanders of the region to stand together in common defiance of the Traitors, yet these voices were few and quickly silenced.It was against this backdrop of dread and recrimination that the worlds of the region began to suffer a range of creeping horrors. At that time, none could know of the great and terrible rite that the Traitor Primarch Lorgar had enacted at Calth, that in the sacrificial murder of the Veridia star during the Battle of Calth he had brought the Ruinstorm into being, a Warp storm of such scale and ferocity that the Imperium would be sundered in twain.As the shock wave of the Ruinstorm struck the Pale Stars, terror and insanity erupted across the region's worlds. Thus, as the light of Terra was smothered by the oncoming Ruinstorm, so entire swathes of the galaxy fell silent to the masters of the Imperium.The loyalties of the worlds of the Pale Stars remained unknown to Terra, lost to the galaxy-wide clamour of all-consuming civil war. But for the coming of a great, yet unsung hero of the Imperium, the fate of the Pale Stars might have gone unremarked in the story of the great Horus Heresy; that warrior was Nathaniel Garro -- the so-called Agentia Primus of the Knights-Errant -- and Malcador the Sigillite.
Dark Brotherhood (Blackshield Force) - Envoy of Terra: With the Ruinstorm surging across the galaxy, the War Council of Terra sought by any means to gauge the true scope of the unfolding calamity. Blinded as it was, the council was desperate for other ways to measure the disposition of the Warmaster Horus' hosts and the allegiances of planetary rulers.Astrotelepathic communication was by that point all but impossible, the Warp stirred into a howling cacophony that either drowned out their messages or corrupted their content in insidious ways.The only means of assaying the status and allegiance of the scattered worlds of the Imperium would be to despatch envoys and agents to do so in person, even though the War Council knew that such a hazardous mission would be the deaths of countless loyal and devoted servants of Terra.
Dark Brotherhood (Blackshield Force) - The Storm Rises: With the coming of war to the Pale Stars, there soon followed yet another woe. The turbulence that had afflicted the Warp for so many solar months now flared into a raging tempest, fuelled, so it seems to us now given what we have learned of the Empyrean, by the shedding of so much blood among the Pale Stars.The planetary musters raised at the command of Strike Master Ijax had borne the brunt of the suffering, and the losses sustained by the Alpha Legion and Blackshields were insubstantial in comparison.As the deaths mounted in increments of many thousands, so the Warp grew ever more restive, immaterial tendrils groping in the darkness towards spilled blood like unseen predators about a drowning man. Later studies would conclude that this phenomenon had been brought about with deliberate intent, but others doubt that Strike Master Ijax was fully party to the fell wisdom possessed by Erebus of the Word Bearers and his peers.As ever more blood was shed, Dissolution, Phargos Rex, Mirdath and Larsa were subsumed in a seething mass of what Navigators once referred to as a Warp/realspace interface, but which now is known by far less mundane terminology as a Warp rift.With the Warp Storms came further waves of insurrection and insanity more intense than any before, and if but a fraction of extant accounts from this period are to be afforded any credulity, things born of the Abyss now walked amongst Mankind. Nightmares made flesh tore themselves from the shadows and fell upon the peoples of a dozen worlds, and it is said that the streets ran with torrents of blood.Worse still, great swathes of the population of Phargos Rex reportedly joined the unnamed creatures and turned upon their fellows, rendered by Warp-touched madness to atavistic cannibals and savage murderers.
Dark Brotherhood (Blackshield Force) - Witness: It was to this region of blood-stained space that Rogue Trader Militant Lorn Orpheus finally came. His flotilla had traversed the tumultuous Warp routes from Terra, through the outer marches of the Segmentum Solar and across the depths of the Orion-Crux void. Fewer than half of the flotilla survived the passage through the Khymaran Drift, for here they encountered the leading edge of the Ruinstorm as it surged across the galaxy.The flotilla that at last translated into realspace at Phargos Rex bore scant resemblance to that which had departed Terra only solar months earlier. Those vessels that survived were visibly wounded, their hulls scorched black by immaterial fires and their armoured flanks rent and buckled as if they had been caught in the grasping talons of some god-daemon of ancient myth.Limping in-system, it was immediately apparent from the flood of signals, both electromagnetic and astrotelepathic, that the Pale Stars were in the grip of some terrible woe. Among the numerous names and images repeated throughout this torrent of vox and psychic traffic was that of the Nemean, as if the peoples of the Pale Stars sought his protection and protection from him in equal measure.The envoy of the Council of Terra knew that not only had the ancient tales of the horrors of Old Night been true, but those very horrors had returned. Funeral pyres the size of cities burned across the darkness of Phargos Rex's night side, while a pall of dense smoke obscured the terrors being inflicted upon the surface of the day side.Orpheus however had come too far and risked too much to turn tail and retreat back to Terra, if indeed a return voyage was even possible given the ever-rising intensity of the Warp Storms and the woeful state of his flotilla.The envoy resolved to travel to the surface and to determine if anything remained of the planetary government or the Terran administration mission that had been based there. But Orpheus was well aware of the risk he was taking, and so he prepared a message packet for Terra, to be carried through the Warp Storms upon the fastest vessel remaining to his flotilla.The message that Lorn Orpheus composed for the Council of Terra was as full an accounting of the horrors that had consumed the Pale Stars as he was able to compose. He described the Warp phenomena that had assailed his vessels as they braved the storms, of crewmen driven to rabid insanity and the bloodbath that had ensued.He spoke of the apparitions that had tormented them as they plied the turbulent Empyrean and which lingered still at the edges of vision even days after translation.He recounted something of the unfettered, impenetrable insanity that had drowned the vox channels and the flood of pain and horror which the few surviving astropaths were broadcasting far and wide.He concluded his message informing them that he intended to descend to the burning surface of Phargos Rex and to seek out any vestige of authority in an effort to fulfil his mission, and to learn the identity of the individual whose name and face appeared in so many communications -- the Nemean.
Dark Brotherhood (Blackshield Force) - Dark Compliance: It would be many solar weeks before Orpheus' message runner reached Terra, the fact that it survived the return voyage at all nothing short of a miracle. In the meantime the horrors that afflicted the Pale Stars intensified many times over.The void boiled as other-worldly energies burst across space, the skies above each planet ripped asunder in a livid display of seething insanity. The anarchy that Orpheus had encountered at Phargos Rex cascaded outwards and subsumed each and every world in the region, millions rising up and tearing down planetary governments before turning upon their own.Ruling bodies were compelled to flee the rioting hordes and abandon any pretence of control, and many Imperial Commanders found their authority entirely reliant upon the support of the Alpha Legion.Across the worlds of the Pale Stars, Ijax's subcommanders deployed Legion assets to defend the rulers from their own rebelling populations and, in short order, the strike master became the de facto power in the region, able to precipitate the downfall of entire planetary governments simply by withdrawing his forces and allowing the mobs to exact their bloodthirsty vengeance.Even those rulers not under siege by their own peoples were acutely aware that with their Planetary Defence Forces directly controlled by the Alpha Legion, they were entirely reliant on Ijax for protection from the Dark Brotherhood.At a stroke, the Pale Stars had fallen to the Traitor cause -- Dark Compliance to the Warmaster's shadow empire had been achieved.
Dark Brotherhood (Blackshield Force) - One of Twenty: It might have been expected that the worlds of the Pale Stars would have been lost to the Imperium, as were so many other regions. The Ruinstorm now split the galaxy asunder and hundreds, even thousands of star systems were drowned in blood or brutally crushed beneath the heel of the Warmaster Horus, the Great Betrayer.Countless worlds were lost for all time, consumed in the raw stuff of the Warp, their names to be struck from the stellar cartographs and their approaches seeded with navigational warning buoys. Warp travel became all but suicidal and astro-telepathic communication nigh impossible.No doubt such a fate would indeed have befallen the Pale Stars were it not for the fact that not only did Orpheus' message runner somehow make it back to Terra, but one important detail in his message had caused it to be routed directly for the attention of Malcador the Sigillite, Regent of Terra and the second highest authority in the entire Imperium. That detail was the naming of the leader of the Dark Brotherhood.The warrior dubbed the Nemean was already known to Malcador, for he was one of a score of Legionaries identified by the former Luna Wolf and member of the Crusader Host, Severian.The Sigillite's intent was to gather each of those named by Severian and muster them into a cadre of warriors directly under his control, a band he would dub the Knights-Errant. It fell to the most senior of these, the Agentia Primus Nathaniel Garro, to go forth into the galaxy and recruit all twenty to his master's cause.And thus Garro was dispatched to the Pale Stars, his mission to return with the leader of the Dark Brotherhood at his side that the Nemean might swear himself to the cause of Malcador the Sigillite.
Dark Brotherhood (Blackshield Force) - Coming of the Herald: At 017.008.M31, a grey-hulled, dagger-prowed Warp-sprinter named Eusebeian Herald plunged from the churning Warp Storms closing in upon the outlying system of Optera, a trail of rapidly dissolving Warpstuff forming a kilometres-long contrail in her wake.The Herald had been laid down at Saturn by the hands of the most skilled ship-wrights of that domain and utilised hybrid technologies jealously guarded by the Terrawatt Clans of Ancient Terra and denounced as heresy by the Martian Priesthood.Not only had she survived the tempest but she had made the journey in mere solar weeks and carried her passengers safely through the otherwise impenetrable Immaterium to the frontier of the Pale Stars. It was a voyage few would have dared and even fewer could have survived.Aboard the Eusebeian Herald was a contingent of the Knights-Errant -- Nathaniel Garro, formerly of the Death Guard, Callion Zaven, once of the Emperor's Children, and Tylos Rubio, a scion of the Ultramarines. Each Legionary had been named by Severian and the Sigillite had foreseen they would each prove vital in averting the fall of the Imperium and combating what he had prophesised would come in its aftermath.In the Dark Brotherhood and their mysterious leader, Malcador hoped to secure another weapon for his long, silent war against the darkness.
Dark Brotherhood (Blackshield Force) - Blood-Stained Stars: In the aftermath of the Alpha Legion's ambush at Optera, a bloody and bitter shadow war erupted across the systems of the Pale Stars. The Dark Brotherhood carved their way across the region, slaughtering any force that stood in their way until they vanished into the Eridayn Cataract, not to be encountered again for an age.The Blood Angels under Captain Serron threw themselves into all-out conflict, as if consumed by the need to atone for the sin of their own survival. The 121st Company clashed with Alpha Legion forces deep in the tainted mines of Kyro IV, upon the inner moons of 771/58 and through the xenos-haunted mire-seas of Sidaiva.Serron's force was last seen at Psiom Zeta-I, where it broke suddenly and inexplicably from a battle they were undoubtedly winning and instigated a hasty Warp jump along a vector that would have taken the small fleet broadly in the direction of the Segmentum Solar.History does not record for certain what became of the Blood Angels' 121st Company, although rumours persist that at least some of the company's number were counted as present at the very climax of the great heresy at the Siege of Terra.Of the White Scars that Garro encountered at Optera, still less can be said for certain but one fact alone is known. Nirun and his small force clashed with an Alpha Legion element under the direct command of Strike Master Ijax at Pharghos Rex, mere solar hours before the raging storms closed in upon the system and drowned it in the raw stuff of the Warp.That storm has yet to lift even now, and so the ultimate fate of both Legiones Astartes leaders remains beyond Imperial scholars' knowledge. Though none know the reason why, the name of the White Scars leader is entered into the roll of honour of the House of Orpheus, hinting at some confluence of Nirun's fate with that of the Rogue Trader envoy Lorn Orpheus.All that remains then is to complete the account of Garro, Zaven, Rubio and the warrior they had come to the Pale Stars to recruit to the cause of Malcador the Sigillite. The Nemean would take his place among the twenty chosen warriors that Garro had been tasked by Malcador to gather, but that is a tale that has yet to be satisfactorily concluded.Some say that the Nemean mustered with the defenders of Terra and that he stood to the last upon the walls of the great palace as hell itself descended upon the birth world of Humanity.As with so many accounts of those final days of the Horus Heresy, the truth is hidden beneath a pall of ashes and the crushed bones of the greatest heroes of the shattered Imperium.
Dark Brotherhood (Blackshield Force) - Notable Dark Brotherhood Members: The Nemean (Nemean Reaver) - Though the facts surrounding the establishment of the Dark Brotherhood remain largely obscured, it is known that the Nemean was the group's first master, and it was to him that numerous Blackshields rallied as they sought to carve out their own domain deep with the Eridayn Cataract during the middle years of the Horus Heresy. He garnered a reputation throughout the Pale Stars, as was often referred to as simply "the Nemean." It is generally believed that he was once an officer of the Ist Legion -- the Dark Angels -- though even this was far from certain. Unconfirmed rumours circulated that he was a survivor of the Rangdan Xenocides, the apocalyptic conflict that saw the nascent Imperium threatened with destruction earlier in the Great Crusade, and he had already entered into the legends of the Legiones Astartes long before the Horus Heresy. At the Conclave of Optera, however, he renounced his position and departed with Nathaniel Garro, Knight-Errant of Malcador the Sigillite, for Terra, leaving his lieutenants to take command of the Dark Brotherhood and lead it as they saw fit. It is believed his duty to the Sigillite culminated at the Siege of Terra upon the walls of the Imperial Palace during the very climax of the Horus Heresy.
Dark Brotherhood (Blackshield Force) - Warband Colours: The Blackshields of the Dark Brotherhood often wore battle plate constituted from different Legiones Astartes power armour patterns, and often included elements of dubious nature and origins.Other elements usually included improvised repairs and field modifications combined into a new divergent mark of armour. Not two examples of battle plate were exactly the same, especially when employed by the often highly idiosyncratic Blackshields.The only distinctive trait that was utilised by every warrior of this Blackshield warband was that they were all coloured uniformally black.
Dark Brotherhood (Blackshield Force) - Warband Badge: As the Horus Heresy ground on, many Blackshield warbands developed their own unique heraldic identifiers or came to use their own often highly idiosyncratic sigils and identifiers.The Dark Brotherhood for example, came to be known for the use of a ragged, skeletal version of the Imperial Aquila, rendered in ghostly white or pale gold.It was by such symbols of death and doom that many Blackshield groups would become known, making for a spectacle as terrifying as any Space Marine Legion force deployed in the armies of Loyalist or Traitor alike.
Dark Brotherhood (Blackshield Force) - Sources: The Horus Heresy - Book Six: Retribution (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pp. 29, 84-91, 94-96, 226-227
Dark Castellans - Dark Castellans: The Dark Castellans is a Chaos Space Marine warband of the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion. Its Heretic Astartes are led by the Warsmith Kallus. The Dark Castellans were instrumental in overthrowing their brethren on the Hell-Forge of Taris, and took their place as the new garrison in order to supply the Black Legion with much-needed war materiel.The warband's leader, Kallus, who had hoped to join the Black Legion to put an end to the garrison duty he found so onerous was instead betrayed by his new master, Abaddon the Despoiler, and transformed into the cybernetic overseer of the Hell-Forge's manufactoria.
Dark Castellans - History: The Warsmith Kallus had tired of serving Perturabo, his Primarch, as a garrison-captain on one of the many fortresses of the Daemon World of Medrengard. Kallus thought to betray his Primarch and pledge his loyalty to Abaddon, the Warmaster of the Black Legion.In order to prove his loyalty to his new Traitor Legion, Abaddon tasked Kallus to conquer Taris, a Forge World outside the Eye of Terror. The planet was an ancient world, pre-dating the founding of the Imperium. It was discovered by the great Astra Militarum commander Macharius during the Macharian Crusade, and lost again following the outbreak of the Macharian Heresy. In that time, companies of Iron Warriors took over the world, who transformed it into a primary source of weapons for that Traitor Legion.The Hereteks of the Dark Mechanicum, servants of Abaddon, aided the Dark Castellans with escaping the Eye of Terror. Abaddon developed a plan to take over Taris, which Kallus put to use. Kallus and his small company of men landed on Taris and surrendered themselves to Taris' Iron Warriors garrison.Kallus' former warband comrade, Terrox, the Iron Warriors garrison-captain of Taris, interrogated Kallus, demanding to know the truth. Kallus lied and told him that he had come to Taris to relieve Terrox of his duty, so that Terrox could return to Medrengard. Terrox did not trust Kallus and informed him that he would verify this presumed order with their Daemon Primarch. If it was proved false, Kallus would be severely punished.For three solar days Kallus was present in his prison-chamber, secretly uploading scrapcode into the Forge World's Noosphere, a malignant computer virus created by Abaddon's Hereteks. By the time the Dark Castellans were in position to strike, Kallus had accomplished his task -- he had survived long enough to completely upload the code.The virus was a true technological marvel, a data-infestation that would allow the Dark Castellans to take over the cybernetic Skitarii warriors that composed the majority of the Dark Mechanicum forces defending Taris.The plan succeeded and the Skitarii were turned against their former allies. Terrox was slain and Taris conquered by the Dark Castellans in the name of Abaddon.In the wake of his triumph, Kallus was ready to join the Black Legion and take the battle to the servants of the False Emperor. But this was not to be, for Abaddon had other plans for the former Iron Warrior.To his horror, Kallus was forcefully wired to the Command-Throne of the planet's Forge-temples. His mind would control the forges of the planet and defend it against any and all threats that presented themselves. Its resources now belonged to Abaddon and it would provide its bounty of manufactured weapons to the Black Legion.
Dark Castellans - Notable Dark Castellans: Warsmith Kallus - Kallus was a Warsmith of the Iron Warriors Legion and the current Castellan of the Dark Castellans warband of the Iron Warriors and the ruler of the Hell-Forge of Taris. Warsmith Kallus betrayed his Primarch Perturabo to unite his warband with the Black Legion. While a Traitor to his own Legion, Kallus did not foresee his own betrayal by Abaddon and realized too late what the Warmaster of Chaos had in mind for him -- to spend the rest of his existence overseeing the production of a Hell-Forge, the very same duty he had been so desperate to escape when he still served Perturabo.Brane - Brane was the second-in-command of the Dark Castellans warband and led its assault against the Iron Warriors garrison present on Taris.
Dark Castellans - Dark Castellans Fleet: Fallen Empire (Battle Barge) - The Battle-Barge Fallen Empire serves the Dark Castellans as their warband flagship.
Dark Cells - Dark Cells: The Dark Cells, or Black Cells as they are sometimes called, are shadowy oubliettes located deep beneath the Imperial Palace on Terra that contain entities and artefacts that date back to the Age of Strife that could be used to annihilate the Imperium of Man itself if they were to break free or be used by those with nefarious purposes. It is unknown if the Dark Cells are the same location as the Vaults of Rython that were used for an identical purpose by the Legio Custodes before the Horus Heresy.Guarded by the Shield Host of the Adeptus Custodes known as the Shadowkeepers, the technology used to keep them sealed includes runic locks, psychic wards and sanctic circles. The corridors of the Dark Cells are patrolled at all times by a hundred Custodians of the Shadowkeepers. Although neither light, nor sound can escape from the cells, the dread air surrounding the facility is capable of even putting the iron-willed Custodians on edge.Even worse, when the Great Rift opened, the Custodes discovered that several of the cells actually now stood empty, the entities and artefacts once contained within spirited away by some unholy force to curse the galaxy once more. Fearing the consequences of such dread remnants of Old Night falling into the wrong hands, the Shadowkeepers at last sent warriors out into the galaxy. These jailers must trammel that which should not be, slaughtering all who seek to impede them, before returning their foul prizes to the cells where they belong.
Dark Compliance - Dark Compliance: Dark Compliance was the term used during the Horus Heresy to refer to worlds in Imperial space that were conquered by the Traitor forces of the Warmaster Horus.In the late 30th Millennium, when a world was liberated -- or subjugated -- by the Imperial forces of the Great Crusade, or willingly joined the ever-expanding domains of the Imperium of Man, it was said that it achieved "Imperial Compliance."The "Dark Compliance" is a cruel mockery of this noble endeavour. The term has since become a byword for countless atrocities, having been coined during the dark days of the Horus Heresy and the Warmaster Horus' rebellion against his rightful Emperor for those worlds that were subjugated militarily by the Traitors or somehow coerced to secede from the Imperium and join Horus' shadow empire.
Dark Compliance - Dark Compliance: On many worlds the seeds of corruption had been sown long before the hand of betrayal struck at the Battle of Isstvan III. When the Warmaster Horus led his forces into civil war, hundreds of Imperial worlds not directly connected to his power base declared for his cause. On these planets and dominions, many scattered around the dangerous peripheries of the Imperium's frontiers, it was because his agents and those of his allies within the Mechanicum, the Alpha Legion and the Word Bearers, had already poisoned their hearts against the Emperor.Horus had been chosen to become the Imperial Warmaster by the Emperor precisely because of his diplomatic nature. It should then have been no surprise that he would have known how to use words and promises to sway the allegiance of entire Imperial worlds to his side. Many hundreds more, from isolated and otherwise unimportant Imperial colonies to keystones of the Imperium's economy and military strength would fall under his sway as the civil war progressed in a process that soon became known as the "Dark Compliance."To each world over which the Warmaster's shadow fell, a simple choice was given: total submission and surrender or total destruction and brutal subjugation -- slavery or death. There were to be no other options and the question would be asked but once. It was a perverse parody of the progress and glorious goals of the Great Crusade, but served as more than mere scorn for the Emperor's dream or even the vainglory of a tyrant, for there was an underlying method and intelligence beneath the apparently wanton savagery, far different from the pure and utter chaos and violence that define subjugation by forces of Chaos in the 41st Millennium.When one militant world or stubbornly Loyalist star system was punished by apocalyptic destruction for their brave defiance, such fear was created in others nearby that their surrender came as a rapid and forgone conclusion, often without a shot being fired in their defence. Even to those worlds that resisted, the Warmaster offered mercy and servitude once his victory was unquestionable.Each world that joined the Traitors' shadow empire added not simply territory but manpower, production capacities and supplies, feeding a war machine that was growing exponentially in power. Further, those worlds marked for death -- where possible -- can be seen to have been more strategically expendable compared to those spared to fall through fear, deception, corruption or treachery, or the measured if no less brutal decapitation strikes for which Horus' own Sons of Horus Legion had long been famed.It can also be observed that the devastation visited during the Dark Compliances was never so thorough that survivors were not left to spread the word of what terrors they had beheld, and of the price this new shadow emperor exacted for defiance of his will.
Dark Compliance (Audio Drama) - Dark Compliance (Audio Drama): Dark Compliance is the forty-third audio drama for The Horus Heresy series that was not originally released as part of an anthology or other release. Dark Compliance was first released as an audio drama in July 2017.
Dark Compliance (Audio Drama) - Official Synopsis: As Horus's rebellion gains momentum, more and more worlds flock to his banner. For some, it is through fear of annihilation; for others, it is out of malicious desire. Any that consider resistance are given one chance to swear fealty. To do anything other is to court disaster and worse. Accazzar-Beta is one such defier, but in bringing this heavily-fortified Mechanicum world to heel, just how far is the Warmaster willing to go and what truly is the meaning of a Dark Compliance? As two fleets engage across the gulf of the void, Accazzar-Beta will find out.
Dark Council - Dark Council: The Dark Council is a group comprised of the eldest and most venerated of the Dark Apostles of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion that rule their Legion from deep within the Eye of Terror on the Daemon World of Sicarus in the name of their Primarch Lorgar.These venerable Chaos Space Marines were members of the XVII Legion during the initial corruption of the Word Bearers by Erebus and First Captain Kor Phaeron some four solar decades before the outbreak of the Horus Heresy in the early 31st Millennium. They have survived and thrived through the Heresy and corrupted untold billions of mortals into worshipping the Chaos Gods.The Word Bearers are one of the only Traitor Legions that still retain some of the unity they had during the Horus Heresy, and because of this, the Dark Council has been able to rule over them without the complete anarchy that now defines the operations of most of the Traitor Legions.The influence of the Dark Council and the esteem in which they are held by their reverent brethren is one of the primary reasons the Word Bearers have maintained their unity across the entire 10,000-year span of the Long War against the Imperium of Man and its False Emperor.
Dark Council - History: The Word Bearers primarily reside on the Daemon World of Sicarus within the Eye of Terror. Beneath churning clouds of pendulant fire and blood the surface of Sicarus is covered by massive temples, towering cathedrals and blasphemous monuments dedicated to the worship of the Chaos Gods in the form of Chaos Undivided.Millions of slaves toil endlessly in the construction and raising of new structures and monuments of dark devotion. New levels are built upon existing crumbling edifices which results in towering spires that reach kilometres into the foreboding sky. This results in the creation of the sprawling subterranean warren of labyrinthine passages that interconnect the various devotional structures.From this daemon planet, the Word Bearers' Dark Council, a collection of the Word Bearers Legion's most powerful Dark Apostles, is the ruling body that leads the XVII Legion in the absence of their Daemon Primarch Lorgar.The Aurelian has isolated himself in meditation for long Terran millennia within the great Templum Inficio on Sicarus, and thus has played no role in the direction of his Legion while he pursues enlightenment and an ever-deeper understanding of the mysteries of Chaos at the hands of the Ruinous Powers.The seat of the Dark Council is located within the immense cathedral-fortress known as the Basilica of the Word. This structure is crowned with hundreds of five-kilometre-high barbed spires, each studded with jagged spikes, upon which are impaled countless living sacrifices dedicated to the Dark Gods.The Dark Council is involved in many decisions that affect their Legion. Most importantly, they decide who deserves to rise to the coveted rank of Dark Apostle in situations where the current reigning Dark Apostle is no longer fit to command their Host within the Legion.A Dark Apostle may not be able to command their Host for many reasons, most commonly because he has died in the service of the Dark Gods.Whether this death is caused by the actions of someone within the Legion is irrelevant as the Chaos Gods encourage competition and "initiative" within the ranks of their servants, but in the end, the Dark Council will always make the final decision of who will become the rightful successor and take the former Dark Apostle's place as the leader of a Host of the Word Bearers.
Dark Crusaders - Dark Crusaders: The Dark Crusaders is a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter of unknown origins and Founding.
Dark Crusaders - Chapter Colours: The Dark Crusaders primarily wear dark olive-drab green power armour. The Aquila or Imperialis on the chest as well as the shoulder pauldron inserts are bone.The black squad specialty symbol -- battleline, close support, fire support, Veteran, and command -- is indicated on the right shoulder pauldron. A white High Gothic numeral centred on the squad specialty symbol, indicates squad number.The colour of the trim on the shoulder plates indicates company number in accordance with the Codex Astartes -- i.e. white (1st Company), yellow (2nd Company), red (3rd Company), etc.
Dark Crusaders - Chapter Badge: This Dark Crusaders' Chapter badge is an ebon cross crosslet on a field of bone.
Dark Crusaders - Canon Conflict: In older editions, such as Codex: Space Marines (3rd Edition), the Dark Crusaders were depicted as wearing all black power armour with a golden Aquila or Imperialis, with a white skull on the Imperialis. The Chapter icon was a white crosslet, instead of a black one.
Dark Crusaders - Sources: Adeptus Astartes: Successor Chapters (Limited Release Booklet), pg. 30Codex: Space Marines (3rd Edition), pg. 20
Dark Disciple - Dark Disciple: A Dark Disciple is a normal human Chaos Cultist who serves the Dark Apostles of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion and other Heretic Astartes forces.Dark Disciples are true believers in the Chaos Gods who seek to spread their worship and influence across the worlds of the Imperium of Man.
Dark Eagles - Dark Eagles: The Dark Eagles is a Loyalist Codex Astartes-compliant Space Marine Chapter of unknown origin and Founding, though it is suspected of being a rare Successor Chapter of the Raven Guard. Unfortunately, at this time almost nothing is known about the Chapter beyond its name and Chapter appearance. It hails from the world of Moriorum.
Dark Eagles - Chapter Colours: The Dark Eagles primarily wear olive-drab green Power Armour. The Aquila or Imperialis on the chest guard is yellow. The white squad specialty symbol on the right shoulder guard designates operational specialty -- Tactical, Devastator, Assault or Veteran. A black Roman numeral is stenciled on the centre of the squad specialty symbol which indicates squad number. The colour of the shoulder plate trim indicates company number in accordance with the dictates of the Codex Astartes -- i.e. White (1st Company), Yellow (2nd Company), Red (3rd Company), Green (4th Company), etc.
Dark Eagles - Chapter Badge: The Dark Eagles' Chapter badge is a single, stylised, white eagle's wing, centred on a field of olive green.
Dark Eagles - Sources: Adeptus Astartes: Successor Chapters (Limited Release Booklet), pg. 30Imperial Armour Volume Two (Second Edition) - War Machines of the Adeptus Astartes, pp. 8-9Imperial Armour Volume Eight - Raid On Kastorel-Novem, pg. 104Insignium Astartes, pg. 59
Dark Fury Assault Squad - Dark Fury Assault Squad: A Dark Fury Assault Squad was a specialised Legion Assault Squad utilised exclusively by the Raven Guard Legion during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras during the late 30th and early 31st Millennia.Equipped with the finest wargear, they would launch silent aerial assaults against unsuspecting high-value targets in a vicious decapitation strike.