Word Bearers
| Word Bearers | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Battle Cry | Verses from the Book of Lorgar | |
| Number | XVII | |
| Original Name | Imperial Heralds | |
| Original Homeworld | Colchis | |
| Current Homeworld | Sicarus | |
| Primarch | Lorgar Aurelian | |
| Champion | Erebus, Kor Phaeron | |
| Strength | Legion strength | |
| Specialty | Mass Indoctrination, Summoning Daemons, Cult Uprisings. | |
| Allegiance | Chaos Undivided | |
| Colours | Dark crimson and steel | |
"By its very nature, theology tends - and under certain conditions, must always tend - to become demonology."
- – Thomas Mann, Doctor Faustus
"From the fires of betrayal unto the blood of revenge we bring the name of Lorgar, the Bearer of the Word, the favoured son of Chaos, all praise be given unto him. From those what would not heed we offer praise to those who do, that they might turn their gaze our way and gift us with the boon of pain, to turn the galaxy red with blood, and feed the hunger of the gods."
- – Excerpt from the three hundred and forty-first Book of the Epistles of Lorgar
"We are twice armed if we fight with faith."
- – Plato
The Word Bearers are a legion of Chaos Space Marines, sons of the Primarch Lorgar, and the most infamous army of zealous, violent demigods of war this side of the Eye of Terror. Their bloody, thunderous, bellicose fury would make the Black Templars blush if they weren't so GOD DAMN HERETICAL. Imagine a Legion of bioengineered psychopathic Jehova's Witness Space Marauders.
History
There is a phenomenon of psychology that some people are prone to zealotry. It does not matter what they believe in, when they come to believe in something they believe in it with all their heart. This type of individual who is likely to end up becoming a fanatical member to a certain ideology will if they somehow become disillusioned with it will often find it easier to adopt an opposing or opposite ideology and be just as fanatical to said new cause rather than simply moderating their commitment to their first ideology as needed and making caveats and exceptions to its general principles. The Word Bearers are this phenomenon at its most extreme.
Early History
The Emperor used the genetic templates of the Primarchs to create the Legiones Astartes after the powers of Chaos stole the gestating Primarchs. Those who received gene-seed from template number seventeen stood apart from their brother Astartes in duty and outlook. They fought with utter devotion and a fanatical zeal. Their original recruits were drawn from the sons of defeated enemies, raised to know the crimes of their fathers and the price of the Emperor's forgiveness. Thus while the other Legions went to war with righteousness, the XVIIth fought with the cold fury that only the condemned and redeemed could know. While other Legions took some time to acquire formal names, the XVIIth was named the Imperial Heralds almost immediately after their founding. This was due to their early role: to deliver the Emperor's ultimatum of submission or destruction. Upon defeating an enemy, the Imperial Heralds would empty their libraries and records of any contents deemed heretical or sorcerous. Condemned works, individuals, and buildings would be destroyed in the name of the Imperial Truth (though they also tended to exterminate the entire population of the places they conquered; see Antarctica). The Imperial Heralds repeated this process all across Terra during the Unification Wars. This gave the Imperial Heralds a rarely-spoken nickname among the greater Imperium: the Iconoclasts.
Great Crusade
The planet Colchis was full of people that worshiped a watered down version of chaos. Primarch XVII was adopted by Kor Phaeron, one of the chief priests, and given the name Lorgar. Lorgar received a vision of the Emperor and formed a religion around him, leading to a six-year religious civil war that Lorgar's faction eventually won, shortly before the Emperor came to Colchis. During the Great Crusade, they bore the word of the Emperor to new worlds, wiping out any traces of dissenting faiths as they assimilated cultures into the Imperial way of life, including enforcing the worship of the God-Emperor. Seriously though these guys were like the Black Templars on super-steroids, as they were at Legion strength, lacked the moderation of the Inquisition, and had their Primarch to guide them.
Their thorough attention to this kept them far behind the pace of other expeditionary fleets and drew the ire of the Emperor. He repeatedly made it clear that he did not consider himself a god and wanted Lorgar to knock it off and catch up with the other fleets. Lorgar responded by penning the original Lectitio Divinitatus, which would much later form the core of the beliefs of the Temple of the Saviour Emperor. Finally, the Emperor had enough and ordered the Ultramarines to make an example of him. They torched the city of Monarchia, capital of the planet Khur and custom designed by Lorgar, and called the entire Word Bearers legion to kneel in its ashes before Guilliman, Malcador, and the Emperor.
To say Lorgar was devastated would be an understatement. He spent an entire month in seclusion, taking only the advice of Kor Phaeron and First Chaplain Erebus. They revealed to him that they had kept the old faith alive and that many worlds appeared to have religions that aligned with it, suggesting a more primal truth than worship of the God-Emperor. They convinced Lorgar that the primordial truth was truer than the Imperial Truth and he took his legion on a pilgrimage to the Eye of Terror to learn more about Chaos.
Chaos
They were the guys who used to be really, really, really loyal to the Emprah. Like, these guys used to be the Church of the Emprah. After the Horus Heresy, they became the complete opposite. Now they go around fucking up the Emprah's sepulchre planets, relic worlds, and cardinal worlds, setting up cathedrals to the Chaos Gods in their places. They are also notable for being the one Chaos legion to still have Chaplains, known as Dark Apostles, which is probably because they invented the idea of Space Marine preachers and no other traitor Legions wanted them after the Horus Heresy was over, because there is little sense in having morale officers in a Chaos force. Unlike the other Chaos legions and renegade chapters, Red Corsairs notwithstanding, these guys actually managed to sort of keep their shit together rather than having everyone with a slightly fancier costume take his ball and go home. They're sorta like grimdark Chaos Taliban Al-Qaeda ISIS. Except the Word Bearers make the Taliban Al-Qaeda ISIS look like hippie sissies in comparison.
Their hobbies include human sacrifice, prayers to the Chaos Gods, daemon summoning, and occult study.
First Chaplain Erebus was actually pretty much the driving force behind Horus turning to Chaos. At the climax of Horus Rising, Erebus steals a weapon from the Interex, which caused them to get all butthurt and blame Horus and the Luna Wolves for the theft. In the next book, False Gods, Horus and the merry Luna Wolves take a trip to Davin IV on Erebus's advice, during which all hell breaks loose and Horus takes some wounds and comes as close as a primarch can to a near-death experience (he basically took a nap). Abaddon, having as many daddy issues as Horus, decided it'd be a good idea to follow the advice of Erebus and take Horus to a local temple run by the serpent-worshiping locals, where it was said he could be healed. Erebus sent Horus into a trance and basically whispered sweet nothings about Chaos into his ear the entire time, planting the very first seed of corruption.
Word Bearers Today
After 10,000 years of violence, terror, destruction, and fervent worship of the Ruinous Powers, combined with the orchestration the Horus Heresy, the Word Bearers have achieved god-tier infamy status unmatched by nearly ANY OTHER CHAOS WORSHIPERS. The Black Legion has proven to be a much greater threat to the Imperium overall, but the Word Bearers' sheer zealous hatred for the Imperium and the Imperial Cult propels them to some truly legendary status. It truly cannot be overstated. The Word Bearers trilogy by Anthony Reynolds has some good examples, and include a Chaos Lord and his Terminator bodyguards taking on an Imperator Titan and WINNING, a Dark Apostle killing a Space Marine Captain with his bare hands, the main character summoning Daemonettes without any rituals and setting them on a Dark Eldar Archon...
Despite this fanaticism, however, they are the most uniform Traitor Legion by quite a lot, and one of the most organised and structured ones (Iron Warriors are more organized within their autonomous Grand Companies, but every Company is its' own political entity; the Black Legion are generally only uniform during a Black Crusade; and while the Alpha Legion is capable of amazing feats its' also extremely divided, maybe even more so than the other Legions). As such, combined with their surprisingly understandable and HUMAN conflict during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy, the Word Bearers function as a true brotherhood. Backstabbing is mostly minimal (which is quite of an irony considering they are led by the two biggest backstabbing cunts ever), command hierarchy is mostly respected, the Marines themselves are comrades or sometimes even FRIENDS, and great honors are given to those who fall in battle and those who rise to power. However, it is not accurate to say that they join hands and sing the gospel of love in comparison to other Legions though, as bitter rivalries can surface, the Leaders of a Grand Host can...."Excommunicate" you if they aren't a fan of your interpretations of the faith, and, in true Chaos Space Marine fashion, the strong are strongest alone. As for the aforementioned backstabbing cunts, Kor Phaeron and Erebus have apparently cannot stand each other anymore, and have spent the last ten millennia scheming and plotting against each other while Lorgar's been on vacation. Many of the Word Bearers have lined up behind one or the other, depending on who they think is stronger/has a better vision for the legion's future, and they will openly talk shit about the one they don't like, even if they're conversing with someone who's loyal to the other guy.
Lorgar's also gotten off his daemonic ass and has started leading his Legion once more in a massed Jehovah's Witness March. Well, maybe; the novel Apocalypse implies that he's still on his millennia-long gap year, and that the Legion has different ideas about what will get him to come back.
Organization
Yeah, we know what you're thinking: organization? Of a Traitor Legion? While it may surprise you, the Word Bearers still function as an organized Legion (though much looser than the Legiones Astartes). Ironically, their uttermost commitment to Chaos as a religion gives them a semblance of order (DOUBLE HERESY?) As such, they have a clearly designated hierarchy and command structure. Lorgar always remained the ultimate master of the Word Bearers but during his self-imposed silence/penance/... the Legion organized as such:
- Master of the Faith: The de jure head of the Word Bearers in Lorgar's absence, currently held by First Captain Kor Phaeron.
- Chief Dark Apostle: The head of the priesthood, and true power behind the throne of the Legion, currently held by Erebus.
- Dark Council: A collection of Dark Apostles who oversee the overall actions of the Legion, and confirm the ascension of other Dark Apostles.
- Dark Apostle: spiritual leader of a Host, the primary organization of the Word Bearers following the Horus Heresy. Dark Apostles are confirmed by the Dark Council and in turn make the decisions of the rank and advancement for the Host.
- First Acolyte: Direct assistant to a Dark Apostle, with many having a Sith-like "master in need of a strong underling to get shit done" - "disciple that is powerful but who wants his master's place and more power" relationship.
- Coryphaus: The senior military commander of a host, comparable to a Chapter Master or First Captain. The Coryphaus leads the Host's returns during religious ceremonies (and trust us, the Word Bearers have a lot of religious ceremonies) and makes all tactical decisions during actual combat, freeing up the Dark Apostle to better commune with the Chaos Gods.
- Icon Bearers: A Word Bearer charged with carrying the Icon of the XVII Legion in battle, similar to a Company Standard Bearer in a Space Marine Chapter.
- Champion: The leader of Word Bearer squads, know as coteries. Comparable to a Squad Captain from the Legiones Astartes.
- Aspiring Champion: Another Squad leader, comparable to a Sergeant.
- Anointed: The Terminators of a Host.
- Gal Vorbak: The Possessed Marines of a Host.
- Warrior-Brother: The rank and file soldiers of a host.
Daily Rituals
- 04:00: Morning Prayer: The Word Bearers are roused from their cells to begin the day with sermons from the Book of Lorgar read by the Dark Apostle. Prayer lasts four hours, one dedicated to each of the Chaos Gods.
- 08:00: Morning Firing Rites: The Word Bearers engage in target practice. Often using human slaves captured during raids.
- 09:00: Battle Practice: The Word Bearers descend to the practice cages for training.
- 12:00: Midday Meal: A light meal is prepared by the Legion Serfs. They are frugal with meals, as all intake of nonessential sustenance is considered indulgent and obstructive to enlightenment. Basically a permanent fast.
- 12:30: Tactical Indoctrination: The Word Bearers gather for a tactical briefing, showing which planets they will be invading, and locations of cathedrals to the False Emperor which must be destroyed. Cultists who have demonstrated enough daily heretical devotion are dispatched to go door to door in Imperial neighborhoods with the Book of Lorgar, inquiring "“Excuse me sir, do you have a moment to talk about CHAOS?"
- 14:00: Evening Firing Rites: The Word Bearers gather for target practice.
- 15:00: Evening Prayer: The Word Bearers gather for the Dark Apostle to lead them in prayer. Pacts are often made during Evening Prayer, and Marines may be blessed with possession.
- 19:00: Evening Meal: A light meal is prepared by the Legion Serfs. Sometimes Legion Serfs are on the menu.
- 20:00: Evening Maintenance: Word Bearers will be stripped of their Power Armour (assuming they can still remove it) for repairs to be completed. Sometimes Warrior-Brothers will see the Apothecary to check on the status of mutations.
- 00:00: Rest Period: The Word Bearers retire to their cells for rest.
Famous Word Bearers
In Dark Crusade, the Dark Apostle Eliphas leads a warband of Word Bearers to take over Kronus. Awesome ensues.
In the videogame Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate, an ENTIRE Word Bearers ARMY OF 10,000 MARINES is lead by the Chaos LORD Zymran, who is the main antagonist of the game. Apart from sounding MANLY, he does nothing but taunt the Ultramarines like a saturday morning cartoon villain (Seriously all he needs is that large mustache to twirl and he'll be as contrived as the Warmaster himself). Ultimately somewhat forgettable.
There's also a guy named Marduk from the book series, that shows how one can get shit done despite being a villain and how to do proper just as planned out-plotting your rivals by factoring their plots into your own. Sadly for Marduk, he is being completely overshadowed in awesomeness in his own books by his terminator Coryphaus, Kol Badar, who for instance takes an Imperator Titan out by entombing himself and his squad just next to where it'll be forced to pass, revive just in time to hop aboard the leg bastion and then storming in and slaughtering the whole crew. And that's just in the first book.
Amongst /tg/, the most famous Word Bearer would be Dranon.