Rubric Marines - At Present: The suits of armour that once were worn by proud Space Marines from the Thousand Sons Legion can magically move and function thanks to the Rubric of Ahriman, but the mindless shells need orders to do so. They respond to the mental commands of a Thousand Sons sorcerer, obeying him to the letter. Upon completion of their task, however, the sentience of the Rubric Marines will once again lapse. Without a sorcerer nearby to issue new directions, the Rubric Marines freeze in place -- appearing for all intents as statues, mere displays of ancient power armour.The Thousand Son sorcerers have many uses for the Rubric Marines. When they travel from the Eye of Terror in search of arcane knowledge, or to acquire slaves to fuel their magical experiments, they take with them the silent, relentless warriors. They make excellent enforcers and bodyguards. In the midst of combat, something of their former selves returns. During such actions, the Rubricae are able to move with clarity and purpose for as long as the battle lasts.They are formidable fighters and can shrug off horrendous wounds. There are countless reports of the Rubric Marines sustaining great rents in their armour -- their breastplates blown apart by plasma blasts or run through with power blades. The arcane power that surrounds and animates the armoured shells allows them to sustain the damage better than any being made of flesh and blood could ever manage.When the Rubric Marines fire their Inferno Bolters, they do so with ensorcelled shells. Writhing with rune-inscribed fury, the shells burn a blue-white contrail of flame and hit with the ability to blast through power armour and sear their target's very soul. While the automata provide a solid bastion of firepower, the sorcerer himself is free to work his incantations -- sending out his own arcane doombolts.As they are empty vessels, Rubricae make excellent guardians for the libraries of grimoires and vaults of ancient knowledge hoarded by the ancient sorcerers of the Thousand Sons. The Rubric Marines contain not a spark of curiosity and are utterly loyal without exception. They will stand on guard for a solar day, weeks, months, standard years or even Terran centuries -- yet should any breach the wards of their sorcerous masters, they will lurch into action as if mere solar seconds had passed. Their enchantments ensure that their armour never rusts or malfunctions, and they do not suffer the weakness of the flesh, having no need to ever eat or sleep.The Rubric Marines are almost impossible to destroy, and only the total destruction of their power armour tombs is enough to release the spirit trapped inside. With an audible sigh, a cloud of dust escapes and drifts away into nothingness. How, or even if, the Rubric Marines are reinforced is a secret only the sorcerers of the Thousand Sons and Tzeentch himself know. It has been theorized that Thousand Sons sorcerers can use spells of reincarnation to reinstall those spirits freed by the destruction of their armoured forms -- rebinding them within new tombs of power armour.Or perhaps Ahriman himself has had his hand in recreating his infamous spell of old. For Ahriman remains the most powerful of the Thousand Sons sorcerers, and has been endlessly active since his banishment. Over the long millennia, he has raided more magical knowledge and stolen more arcana than any -- his guarded hoard nearly as sizable as that of Magnus the Red. However they are sustained, the Rubric Marines remain relentless enemies of the Imperium, as they have been for nearly 10,000 standard years.As recently as 998.M41, furious battle erupted in the twilight realm of the Webway as Chaos Space Marines of the Thousand Sons Legion fought their way to within sight of the Aeldari's Black Library, the hidden craftworld that contained all of that ancient species' knowledge of Chaos. Protected by the indomitable advance of their automata Rubric Marines, the sorcerers wreaked terrible havoc.Their leader Ahriman was only thwarted when a powerful force of Aeldari Harlequins and their Asuryani allies from both Craftworlds Ulthwe and Lugganath counterattacked. Several major arteries of the Webway were choked with the dead before the warrior-psykers of the Thousand Sons were driven from the secret path. The breach was runically sealed, but many neighbouring sections of the Webway were lost to Chaos forever. It can only be a matter of time before another such attack is launched.