Siege of Vraks - The Ascension of Zhufor: As the fighting continued, day after bitter day, and the Krieg siege regiments pressed ever onwards, even the defender's Chaos Space Marine allies could not save them from the juggernaut of war the Imperium had set in motion. For the first lime the renegades' ammunition, food and fuel were becoming scarce. In some units supplies were being hoarded, and other units saw their stocks dwindling daily.Morale amongst the original defenders was falling. Some still fought with fanatical determination born of insanity or an unshakable belief in their dark gods, but others despaired and, risking the wrath of their enforcers, threw down their arms or fled. Here was a first: falling morale might result in a catastrophic collapse - if one sector gave up the fight, then the next might also, and soon Cardinal Xaphans heretical army might fall apart. For the enemy commanders this could not be allowed to happen. There were men (or creatures who had once been men), who would not allow this war to end yet. The Traitor Legionnaires would never break. They lived only to kill the false Emperor’s servants, but they had not come to Vraks to see the war end without eking out every last drop of slaughter they could.One such man was Zhufor, Lord of the Skulltakers. Reports from the front that some units had fled rather than fight and that the enemy was almost at the curtain wall brought swift and bloody retribution. Zhufor could not suffer such weak-willed cowardice, and Khorne must see it avenged.It was only during the Ordo Malleus' long and thorough investigation into the events behind the Vraksian war that information regarding affairs within the upper echelons of the Vraksian traitors was revealed. At the time the Emperor's commanders were unaware of what was happening within the Citadel's walls. Only prisoner interrogations and the use of invasive telepathic psykers from the Schola Psykana would later deduce a clear picture.Driven by his own ambition and a desire to prolong the war. Lord Zhufor, commanding the largest Khornate warband, moved to stop the rot before it brought the whole house down. He had only come to Vraks to bring slaughter in Khorne s name, and he neither served nor recognised the authority of Cardinal Xaphan. Zhufor's warband, like the others, had no loyalty to anybody but their lords and their god. Such men made dangerous allies. Potent on the battlefield but, with the situation at the front deteriorating and with supplies becoming scarce, the Chaos warbands quickly turned against their allies and against each other. Death was Zhufor's only motivation: to continue the killing until the last drop of blood had been squeezed from Vraks. For him, this war was far from over Zhufor planned to take over Vraks.First he moved to subjugate the Khornate warbands and unify them under his leadership. This gave him by far the largest Khornate faction on Vraks and then, with their support, he moved to take over the entire Vraksian renegade army - and that meant the removal of the reclusive Cardinal Xaphan and his ineffectual cronies.No doubt the Lord of the Skulltakers had always planned a coup, or was acting under orders from his own master, Abaddon, to run the war on Vraks to his own liking. Zhufor had bided his time, but now he chose to strike Mastery of the Khorne-worshipping warbands was the first of his two tasks. They respected only martial prowess and few could match Zhufor’s. A giant of a man, he led by example and by fear. Now he challenged the leader of the Berserkers of Skallathrax to a duel. At stake would be the leadership of both warbands. To refuse would be an affront to Khorne, and would no doubt see his opponent ousted by his own ambitious followers anyway. Such a battle between his champions would please Khorne mightily.So, stripped of armour and armed with chainaxes the two Chaos lords fought to the death, Zhufor winning the mighty combat. Striking the head from his opponent, he raised it to the baying crowd and claimed, by right of conquest, lordship over the Berserkers of Skallathrax. Any who would oppose his rule must fight him now. None did. Zhufor was Khorne's chosen champion on Vraks and now he had proved it with his own blood-soaked hands. The Berserkers of Skallathrax would fight for him.Next. Zhufor subjugated the Sanctified. To do so he made them an offer - sign a pact and swear to follow him for the duration of the war and in return he would provide the Sanctified with all they needed to open a warp portal on Vraks. The Sanctified were daemonancers, and they worked constantly to bring Khorne's children into the material universe. They had the expertise, now Zhufor would provide them with the tens of thousands of sacrificial victims needed in order to create a warp portal through which daemon legions could pour out. Zhufor also gave them a name and a bold promise. The promise was that he would facilitate the summoning of the greatest daemon legion in Khorne's endless armies. The name was a powerful one - An'ggrath.The pact was too alluring to refuse. The Sanctified joined forces with Zhufor in order to summon the Guardian of the Throne of Skulls himself, the Lord of Bloodthristers would come forth to bring fresh slaughter. The Khorne warbands were now united under Zhufor.The Lord of the Skulltakers now had the single most powerful faction under his sway, so he turned it against the other Chaos warbands. The ultimatum was - join him or face destructor at his hands. To prove his mettle Zhutor suddenly attached and killed the lord and champions of the Black Brethren of Ayreas. Outnumbered and taken by surprise by the treachery, the survivors surrendered after a brief battle. The other warbands followed — all save Arkos the Faithless and the Alpha Legion. They would not submit to Zhufor, but in order to save his warbands from being attacked Arkos made his own treacherous deal. Of all the warband leaders he alone had the trust of Cardinal Xaphan who was hidden away inside his fortress. Arkos knew that the Apostate-Cardinal was already little more than a symbolic leader. Arkos had really been directing the war for years, but many of the Vraksian renegades saw the Cardinal as their messiah. He had proclaimed himself as such. Arkos agreed to turn traitor against Xaphan. To maintain his own independence he would allow Zhufor to capture the Cardinal.The treacherous pact made, Arkos was true to his word. In secret, the Alpha Legion allowed Zhufor and his personal bodyguard of Terminator-armoured killers to the Cardinal's Palace. Those Disciples of Xaphan not assassinated by the Alpha Legion were quickly slaughtered by Zhufor and his men, who swept through the palace leaving a trail of butchery behind them. Deacon Mamon and his closest guards fled to save themselves and would later be found fighting alongside the Nurgle warband of the Tainted - although Vernon’s own refuge was to be short. The Apostate-Cardinal himself was captured alive. Zhutor plucking the feeble mortal from his gaudy throne. The Cardinal had played his part on Vraks but now Khorne only had one use left for him; as a sacrifice. Soon, Xaphan’s skull would now join those who piled before the Blood God’s throne. Zhufor threw the Cardinal and his surviving cronies into Wraks deepest dungeons to await her fate.Zhufor’s coup was complete. By blood and treachery he had made himself master of Vraks. The war was now his to fight. Millions would now march to his command and, as promised, there was a Warp portal to construct.