Egrimm van Horstmann
Egrimm van Horstmann is one of the original Chaos Champions from the earliest editions of Warhammer Fantasy Battles. A sworn servant of Tzeentch, he commands his own mini-empire of Tzeentch-worshipping sorcerers, known as the Cabal, and their warrior-minions, the Thralls, from the daemon-warded castles known as the Silver Towers, which lie at the edge of the Screaming Hills.
Egrimm van Horstmann is the most infamous, and perhaps most dangerous, of the Imperial Colleges’ few known traitors, and he is the White Order’s greatest shame.
In his day, Horstmann was acclaimed as the youngest, most gifted Magister to ever preside over one of the Empire’s Colleges of Magic. As he knelt down to swear his allegiance to the Supreme Patriarch, the Emperor, and the cause of the Order, no one guessed that his loyalties, and soul, had already been given over to a far more sinister master.
As an apprentice Chanter of the eighth circle of the Order, Horstmann served under the late and respected Master Chanter Alric, the Saviour of Apesto, who taught him many of the Order’s ancient secrets. But all the time he served with the White Order, Horstmann was praying to the Chaos Gods for the power and knowledge to surpass his peers, which explained his rapid progress through the ranks. By day, he studied the pure magics of Hysh, and by night he pored over the ancient manuscripts devoted to the tainted lores of sorcery that the Hierophants kept locked away within its libraries. The Daemons of Tzeentch no doubt whispered their timeless secrets into Horstmann’s sleeping mind, and his powers grew strong.
For three years, the wicked Patriarch worked his evil. Seeds of corruption were planted in the hearts of many of Apprentices and Magisters, and many of the most promising initiates to the Order were lost in the shadow Horstmann cast across it. Such was his skill at weaving wicked magics, Horstmann was able to subtly alter many of the Order’s rituals, redirecting their otherwise benevolent powers to his own ends. Most outrageously of all, Horstmann actually used the energies called down by the choirs of Apprentices to work away at the vaults beneath the Pyramid of Light — vaults that had remained sealed since the founder of the Colleges of Magic, Teclis of Ulthuan, had created them as a prison for some of the most terrible creatures and artefacts from the last Great Chaos Incursion. One by one, Horstmann defeated the vaults’ magical locks to reveal the forbidden things they contained. It’s impossible to calculate the damage done or the horrors unleashed upon the world by Horstmann before his evil was uncovered.
The discovery of Horstmann’s corruption is a long, morbid tale with a terrible ending. Before he and his twisted Apprentices fled before the combined fury of Volkmar the Grim, the Witch Hunter (prior to his Grand Theogonist days), and those initiates of the Order who were still loyal to its honest principles, Horstmann managed to free an infamous Chaos Dragon from its prison beneath the Pyramid of Light, and upon its winged and two-headed form Horstmann took to the sky and fled towards the Chaos Wastes. Which dragon that was depends on the source (although there are only 2 possibilities). In WHFRP for example, goes with the story that van Horstmann freed Galrauch from the pyramid of light, and that Galrauch eventually broke free of van Horstmann's control and then van Horstmann got Baudros later. The Egrimm van Horstmann novel on the other hand states that the dragon he broke out of the Pyramid of Light is the same one he rides in the present - Baudros.
At some point later he set about creating a citadel fortress in the Wastes, at the edge of the Screaming Hills. To these gleaming silver towers he summoned many corrupted souls - many of them being the very College folk his machinations had so perverted. Some legends claim the first to answer his call were sacrificed to create the dread Banner of the Withered Eye - slayer of men and symbol of Horstmann’s devotion to Tzeentch. Be this true or not, more power hungry pilgrims arrived at Egrimm’s towers, ready to sacrifice their souls to become apprentice to the traitor.
Horstmann and his corrupted Apprentices formed the Cabal — perhaps the most infamous of any group dedicated to Tzeentch. The sorcerers of the Cabal bow only to Horstmann and only because he is the most powerful of them. The majority of the warriors who protect the Cabal are willing slaves to Horstmann and his Apprentices. They are ignorant men desperate for the chance to learn a fraction of their master’s skills.
How anyone finds the Cabal to join it is a mystery. But once accepted, a sorcerer must swear binding magical oaths of loyalty to Horstmann, and his dark lord, Tzeentch. Once branded with Tzeentch’s rune, the initiate can never rebel against the will of his masters under pain of being reduced to the state of a mindless you know what.
Horstmann’s Apprentices are everywhere, and nearly two thirds of all the Chaos cults in the Empire are either created indirectly by agents from within his network, are controlled by his Cabal in some round about way, or owe direct allegiance to him. Such plotting and scheming no doubt pleases Tzeentch, and he seems to have rewarded Horstmann greatly over the years, making him his most favoured mortal servant.
He has his own Black Library book, telling of his entry into the Order of Light and his eventual flight from it. Not to mention the tragedy that befell him and which made him lie and manipulate his way into the order.
Way, way back, Egrimm was a Sorcerer Lord of Tzeentch riding a Chaos Dragon, sporting a Chaos Runeblade and accompanied by a Chaos Familiar, the Skull of Katam, and bearing the Cunning of Tzeentch chaos reward. He had the unique rule "Power of Mind", which let him make Leadership tests with 3D6 and pick the two lowest results. Also in 6th edition, since the battle occurring could very well be his plan the entire time, if you had him as your army leader you got +1 on deciding on who deploys on which side of the table and which player has the first turn (you could take him as a hero, but if you did you wouldn't get this benefit). Back in 5th edition if your army had Van Horstmann, the chaos player was allowed to straight up say 'I'm going first' (whether rolling was necessary if the chaos player declined to do this was unstated), and was allowed to deploy one regiment in his own deployment zone after all other units have been placed by both players. While he is a level 4 wizard with the lore of Tzeentch, he strangely seems to not have to have access to the lore of light despite his time being a light wizard. He also lacked the empire Van Horstmann's Speculum. He did have access to light magic in WFRP Winds of Magic though.
Whispers are that Egrimm will be returning as the Tzeentchian Lieutenant of Archaon as part of the next release for The End Times. Sadly this proved unfounded despite how useful he would've been. After Ungrim Ironfist died during the End Times, Egrimm attempted to bind the Wind of Fire to himself. Though temporarily successful, it almost immediately broke free and he got burned to ashes for his trouble. Fucking lame GW.