Emperor's Children

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Emperor's Children
Primarch Fulgrim (Daemon Prince) Possessed
Battlecry "Children of the Emperor! Death to his foes!"
Colours Pink and Black
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In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000, the Emperor's Children are a legion of Chaos Space Marines that worship the Chaos god Slaanesh.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Fulgrim

The Legion's history begins with the descent of the Primarch child Fulgrim to the resource-poor world of Chemos. Dependent on interstellar trade for food, and cut off from the rest of the galaxy by ferocious warp storms, strict rationing and improvisation could not prevent Chemos's slow death. After the capsule containing the infant Fulgrim fell on the planet, the scouts who had recovered the child pleaded with the Executive, the leaders of Chemos's foremost settlement, Callax, to spare the child's life. Orphans were seen as a strain on Chemos's thinly-stretched resources and were normally put to death.

Named after a long-abandoned god of Chemos, Fulgrim soon became a legend in his own right. At half the age of his fellow workers he fulfilled his obligations to the Executive. He quickly understood Chemos's technology and began to improve it, increasing efficiency dramatically. By the time he was fifteen, Fulgrim had risen from the rank of Callax's workers to the ranks of Callax's Executive. Learning of the gradual deterioration of both Callax, and of all the other settlements of Chemos, Fulgrim set himself the task of saving his home world.

Under Fulgrim's leadership, teams of engineers travelled far from Callax, reclaiming and repairing many of the far-flung mining outposts on Chemos. As minerals poured back into Callax, Fulgrim supervised the construction of more sophisticated and energy-efficient machinery. As recycling efficiency grew, Chemos began producing a surplus for the first time in centuries. Fulgrim fostered a re-emergence of art and culture, aspects of humanity Chemos had sacrificed long ago in the struggle for survival. Chemos's other settlements allied with Callax, and fifty years after arriving on Chemos, Fulgrim was the planet's sole leader.

(The name 'Chemos' derives from Milton's 'Paradise Lost,' after the fallen angel representing lust.)

[edit] The Great Crusade

Some fifty years had passed when the Great Crusade arrived at Chemos. Hearing reports of the prosperity of the planet, the Emperor had sensed the work of one of his long lost sons and had descended to the planet to meet with him. Fulgrim instantly recognized his father and swore fealty to him, and was placed at the head of the Emperor's Children Legion. From the Emperor, Fulgrim learned of the distant world of Terra, of the Great Crusade to reclaim the galaxy, and of his own origins.

After traveling to Terra to meet his new Legion, Fulgrim learned an accident had destroyed much of the Emperor's Children's gene-seed; without Fulgrim, replacing it had been slow and laborious. Fulgrim addressed the two hundred Space Marines comprising his legion, and the words he spoke so inspired the Emperor that he named them the Emperor's Children, allowing them to bear his personal symbol, the double-headed Eagle, on their power armour. From this early disaster Fulgrim earned his nickname The Phoenix, as both he and his Legion rose from the ashes of tragedy.

During his stay on Terra, Fulgrim first encountered his brother Primarch Ferrus Manus beneath Mount Narodnya, the greatest forge of the Urals. Manus had been demonstrating his unique talent for manipulating metal to the forge masters of the Terrawatt Clan when Fulgrim and his Phoenix Guard had descended upon the complex. The two instantly recognized their shared fraternity and rejoiced. Fulgrim claimed that he had come to forge the most perfect weapon ever created. Manus laughed at such a boast and challenged Fulgrim to a contest. Each toiled for three months before finishing their weapons. Fulgrim had forged a mighty warhammer, Manus an exquisite golden blade. The two Primarchs complemented each other on the quality of their weapons, and exchanged them to seal their friendship before parting ways.

Fulgrim was eager to contribute to the Great Crusade, but his Legion's small size meant that they were seconded to Horus and his Luna Wolves. During this period Horus and Fulgrim grew close. Also during this time, Fulgrim tutored the Primarch Konrad Curze also known as Night Haunter, who had recently been discovered by the Emperor and reunited with his own legion, the Night Lords. The two became friends, and Fulgrim was one of the few Primarchs Night Haunter felt he could confide in. They met again during the pacification of the Cheraut System. Fulgrim came to the Haunter's aid after a violent fit. It is probable Night Haunter told of his nightmare visions and the certainty that he would be killed by the Emperor. Fulgrim was deeply troubled by Konrad's revelations. He confided in Rogal Dorn of the Imperial Fists, but Dorn took exception at the slight of the Emperor's name and confronted Night Haunter. Little is known of what occurred, but Night Haunter was later found crouching over Dorn's bleeding body. While the Primarchs held a conference amongst themselves, Night Haunter escaped from their care, butchering his honour guard and fleeing his would-be prosecutors into the warp. Fulgrim's reaction to these events is unrecorded, though it is known that he never spoke of that night again.

Shortly after the events in the Cheraut system, swelled by recruits from Chemos and Terra, the Emperor's Children were finally authorised to lead an expedition of their own. Following the great triumph at Ullanor and the Emperor's granting to Horus the title of Warmaster, the Emperor's Children took their leave from the newly renamed Sons of Horus after almost a century of comradeship. The legion having grown to an acceptable size to act independently was assigned the leading role in the newly formed 28th expedition. Desperate to make up for lost time, Fulgrim pushed his legion to new limits of excellence, seeking to prove his legion's worth.

[edit] Cleansing of Laeran

Shortly into the expedition the Emperor's Children entered the system of the Laer, an advanced race of xenos. Through chemical manipulation, individual Laer were adapted to their roles in society, be they workers, soldiers, or diplomats. Initially relations were not hostile until the Xenos destroyed an Imperial detachment sent to scout their core worlds. The Council of Terra had suggested bringing the Laer into the Imperium as a protectorate, due to the huge cost in men and materials needed to best such an advanced race. Fulgrim dismissed the notion out of hand. He stated "Only Humanity is perfect and for an alien race to hold its own ideals and technology as comparable to ours is profane. No, the Laer deserve only extinction." Reports from the Council Of Terra suggested it would take a decade to overcome such an advanced foe, but Fulgrim, eager to show his legion's might, replied that 'In one month's time, the Eagle will rule Laeran.'

Fulgrim launched the assault. After battles, many specimens of dead and living Laer were taken aboard the Twenty-Eighth Expedition's ships to learn more about this species. Apothecary Fabius Bile led the research. Bile was the first to realise the Laer's program of genetic and chemical alteration to achieve perfection. During his studies Fabius began to posit that the current form of the Emperor's Children was merely the first step towards perfection, and that, like the Laer, they could benefit from genetic manipulation.

When Bile first broached this subject with Fulgrim, Fulgrim was incensed: the Space Marines and their gene seed were already perfect. Bile changed tack, and played on Fulgrim's sensitivity about the near-destruction of the legion at birth. Bile suggested that imperfections in the legion's gene-seed had been to blame. Bile claimed that unravelling the mysteries of Space Marine genomes and attempting to improve them, as the Laer had done with their own genomes, would pave the way to perfection. Only through imperfection could the legion fail the Emperor, Fabius claimed. Fulgrim reluctantly agreed to the apothecary's plan.

During the war on Laeran, casualties caused a reshuffle in the legion, with two new company captains ascending to their ranks: Saul Tarvitz of the Tenth, and Lucius of the Thirteenth. Both were to play large roles in the story of the Emperor's Children over the coming years.

A month after Fulgrim had made his declaration, the final battle of campaign was waged throughout a temple-like complex in the center of Laeran. Inside the temple were strange scents and the sound of frantic music. Battling their way into the center of the temple, the Emperor's Children and their Primarch stumbled across a central dome, where hundreds of Laer were involved in some form of orgy. The temple was garishly decorated and statues of bull-headed creatures adorned the circumference. In the center was a block of veined black stone with a sword set in the middle. Making his way to the center of the temple, Fulgrim approached the block of stone, drew the sword from it, and planted the standard of the Imperial Eagle in its place. The remaining Laer were massacred.

To Fulgrim, his legion's victory vindicated his claims of the perfection of the human race. Unknown to Fulgrim, his downfall had already begun, for the Laer had been worshippers of the Chaos god Slaanesh, and within the Laeran sword dwelled a daemon in the thrall of the chaos god.

[edit] Diasporex And Actions On Murder

Following the victory on Laeran, the Emperor's Children responded to a request for assistance from the 52nd expedition, that of Ferrus Manus and his Iron Hands. The entire legion was to be deployed to this new war zone, with the exception of a small detachment led by Lord Commander Eidolon and Captains Saul Tarvitz and Lucius, who were to depart on a 'peace keeping' mission to the Satyr Lanxus system.

The 52nd expedition has been fighting a war against the renegade human culture called the Diasporex with little success. The Diasporex were a remnant of the first humans that had set out to colonize the universe from Terra, but in the millennia since then had fallen into corrupt practices and were in league with numerous Xenos races. Although meeting long-lost cousins of the Imperium was normally a joyous occasion, their association with Xenos left the Iron Hands no option but to attack them.

After arriving in the system and meeting with their brothers, Fulgrim and his legion correctly assumed that the only reason the Diasporex had not escaped the Iron Hands was that they were confined to the system, needing to collect solar energy from a Carollis Star to power their massive fleet. Fulgrim devised a strategy whereby the combined legions would bring the Diasporex to battle by threatening the Diasporex's solar energy collectors. Ferrus Manus and his legion rashly launched an attack on the collectors without informing Fulgrim, leaving his legion in exposed to an enemy counter attack. It was at this moment when the daemon within Fulgrim's sword openly began whispering to him, claiming that Manus was ruining Fulgrim's perfect plan. Fulgrim, disturbed at the voices whispering to him, considered it a last trick of the Laer. Over the days Fulgrim hypothesized that the voice was simply his own conscience, daring to say the things that he would never dare say openly. He soon began welcoming the voice's counsel.

During the resulting battle, the Iron Hands took losses including the battleship the Heart of Gold and Metallus and the Diasporex nearly escaped. The Emperor's Children, however, unmasked their presence and closed the door on the fleeing Diasporex. Fulgrim took the battle to the Diasporex's command ship. En route Fulgrim's personal craft was almost destroyed, and was saved only by the intervention of the Iron Hands' own flag ship.

The fight was bloody but, eventually, the Emperor's Children prevailed. Captain Solomon Demeter's second company captured the bridge of the ship before even the Primarch and his Phoenix Guard arrived. It was at this point that the daemon whispered to Fulgrim again. It claimed that Ferrus Manus and now Solomon Demeter had ruined what was meant to have been Fulgrim's moment of glory. Fulgrim refused to accept this, and reminded himself that Ferrus Manus had saved him from certain death, and that Captain Demeter had fought with great bravery and honor to claim the bridge. The daemon then further corrupted Fulgrim's thoughts, claiming that Manus and Demeter only performed such acts for their own glory, causing him to leave the bridge without recognizing Demeter's actions.

[edit] Corruption

The Emperor's Children took leave from the 52nd expedition after this decisive action against the Diasporex, and headed towards the Perdus Anomaly, a largely unknown region of space. Traveling through the region, the expedition encountered six uninhabited worlds of unparalleled beauty. In defiance of Imperial Law, Fulgrim ordered that the worlds remain as they were to preserve their beauty. Following the order, discontent surfaced amongst many of the legion's officers, primarily Vespasian, Demeter, and Tarvitz about the path the legion was taking and Bile's enhancing of the legion's marines. After a discussion between Demeter and Vespasian, it was decided that Vespasian should voice their concerns to Fulgrim.

Thirteen days after the expedition's arrival, the Emperor's Children were contacted by the Craftworld Ulthwé and its Farseer Eldrad Ulthran, who desired a meeting with Fulgrim. After much debate, it was agreed that the two should meet on the planet of Tarsus. During this parley, Eldrad revealed why he had come. He claimed he had seen visions of Horus on Davin, injured, dying, and falling into a pact with the dark gods. Eldrad claimed that Horus had chosen a path that would lead him to betrayal and the universe into darkness. Fulgrim was shocked. He refused to believe "Xenos lies" that the Warmaster Horus could even consider such a thing. Adding to his confusion, the daemon dwelling within the Laeran sword continued to feed lies to the Primarch, claiming that Eldrad was lying and attempting to sow dissent amongst the Emperor's troops. It ordered Fulgrim to kill the Seer.

After a tense confrontation Fulgrim lunged for Eldrad. Eldrad noticed the weapon the Primarch was wielding and realized what dwelt within it. Seeing how far Fulgrim had stepped onto the path of corruption, Eldrad ordered the Eldar of Ulthwé to attack. The battle was a loss for the Eldar. Fulgrim destroyed the Wraithlord Khiraen Goldhelm, unknowingly feeding its soulstone to the daemon within his sword. Fulgrim also confronted an Avatar and, exhilarated and empowered by the battle with the Wraithlord, dispatched it back to Ulthwé. It was then that the Chaos daemon spoke openly to Fulgrim, mentioning for the first time the name of Slaanesh, and that only through the Prince of Pleasure could Fulgrim reach perfection. The Eldar quit the battlefield with heavy losses. Fulgrim subsequently ordered that all the worlds within the Perdus Anomaly be virus bombed, scoured of life forever.

After departing the system, Fulgrim was visited by an emissary of the Administration of Terra. The emissary informed him of the Emperor's censure of Magnus the Red for sorcery, and of Leman Russ's mission to apprehend the renegade Primarch. The Emissary unwittingly confirmed Eldrad's claims that Horus had fallen on a moon of Davin, and that in the panic following this calamity, his marines had massacred Imperial citizens in their rush bringing him back aboard the Vengeful Spirit. The Emissary commanded Fulgrim to meet with Horus and his brother Primarch Angron to report on how the Emperor's subjects were conducting his wars. Shocked by the brashness of the scribe, infuriated that petty clerks were now questioning Horus's authority as Warmaster, Fulgrim agreed to the mission - but not without making his displeasure clear. During the journey to the Auretian system, the Emissary's words hurled Fulgrim into turmoil. What if the Eldar's claims were true, and Horus was turning against the Emperor? If so, where would he stand? The daemon added to Fulgrim's torments, taunting him that Horus had turned and that Fulgrim was already on the same path. Fulgrim's denials became more and more desperate.

The 28th expedition arrived in the Auretian system. Fulgrim immediately entered into council with Horus, with his senior officers mingled with Horus's Mournival. Unknown to Fulgrim, Erebus of the Word Bearers was also invited to the conference. Over three days, Horus told Fulgrim what had befell him on Davin. Throughout Fulgrim felt a creeping horror steal across him, as the words of the Eldar replayed in his mind. As Horus revealed his treachery, Fulgrim refused to accept it, defending the Emperor and his actions. Fulgrim stood up and turned to leave.

Horus then presented him with a copy of a tract written by the members of the 'Lectitio Divinatatus', a sect that worshipped the Emperor as a god. Horus compared the sect and its rapid spread across the Imperium to a virus; for all his words and legislation the Emperor was betraying them all to embark on a selfish quest for godhood. This finally broke Fulgrim's resistance. Fulgrim left the Vengeful Spirit a changed man. Before he left Horus gifted him with the Anathaeme that had nearly taken his life on Davin. Fulgrim entrusted the weapon to Fabius Bile.

[edit] Separate Ways

[edit] The Horus Heresy

Main article: Horus Heresy

As Horus denounced the Emperor, Rogal Dorn ordered seven Legions to intercept the Warmaster and bring him to justice, and destroy him and his followers if necessary. This armada consisted of the Night Lords, Iron Warriors, Word Bearers, Alpha Legion, Salamanders, Iron Hands and Raven Guard. They were to confront and apprehend Horus in the Istvaan System.

A detachment of Emperor's Children led by Lord Commander Eidolon was already on Istvaan III. It was soon joined by the rest of the Legion. Fulgrim met regularly with Horus to make battle plans. Fulgrim and his legion were to prepare Istvaan V for Horus's plans, while the Sons of Horus, Death Guard and World Eaters would deal with the loyalist elements among their ranks on Istvaan III. Some elements of the Emperor's Children chafed at the decision after it removed from the Istvaan III, but Horus assured Fulgrim that the work on Istvaan V was more important, and his assigning of the Emperor's Children to it was a sign that Fulgrim was Horus's most trusted lieutenant.

During the opening stages of the attack on Istvaan III, Saul Tarvitz, Captain of the Tenth company, fled to the surface of Istvaan III to warn the loyalists among the traitor legions. This forewarning saved a number of loyalists from the initial virus bombardment. Tarvitz led the survivors against the traitor ground forces. They defied the traitors for months and inflicted grievous losses. In the end, their cause was betrayed by Tarvitz's friend Lucius, and Horus bombarded the few surviving loyalists from orbit.

As the campaign moved to Istvaan V, the Emperor's Children were at the front line when the Salamanders, Iron Hands and Raven Guard assaulted the traitor fortifications. The fighting was especially bloody between the Iron Hands and the Emperor's Children, for Ferrus Manus and his men harbored a burning desire to avenge Fulgrim's betrayal.

During the battle the two Primarchs met in single combat. At its conclusion Fulgrim bested Manus, but could not deal the deathblow. The daemon of Slaanesh, who had been lurking within the sword Fulgrim took from the Laeran altar, goaded him to decapitate Manus. After performing the deed, Fulgrim became racked with guilt. He saw the vanity that had guided his quest for perfection, and fell into suicidal despair. As Fulgrim attempted to impale himself on his sword, the daemon stayed Fulgrim's hand, and suggested it could give him the oblivion that he craved. Fulgrim agreed; as he did, he realized too late that he had made the biggest mistake of his entire life. The daemon took Fulgrim's flesh for his own, and crushed the Primarch's soul into the furthest recesses of his consciousness, a mute witness to the daemon's pleasures.

After the Dropsite Massacre, the Daemon-Fulgrim presented Ferrus Manus's severed, mutilated head to Horus. It revealed its true nature to Horus, who demanded to know what had happened to Fulgrim. The daemon told him that Fulgrim's soul endured, his agony keeping the daemon amused. Horus reluctantly agreed to hide the daemon's existence from the other Primarchs, but as he did, Horus glimpsed the earliest consequences of his actions. Horus vowed to free his brother once the siege of Terra was over.

Horus's rebellion spread, plunging the Imperium into civil war. All trace of decency amongst the Emperor's Children had vanished by the time they partook in the Siege of Terra. The Emperor's Children invaded Terra but took little part in the fighting around the Imperial Palace. While other Traitor Legions assaulted the Palace, the Emperor's Children, led by the Daemon-Fulgrim, embarked upon a spree of murder and gratification amongst the helpless citizenry of Terra. The Horus Heresy artbooks state that the Daemon-Fulgrim grew bored of waiting for the walls to be breached, and let his Legion loose upon the civilian population of Terra, Realm of Chaos stating that over a million people were slaughtered and rendered down to create drugs and stimulants. Countless thousands more died to supply the Legion with more direct, if cruder, enjoyment. When the siege reached its climax on Horus's command ship and the Warmaster was struck down by the Emperor, the Emperor's Children retreated in confusion along with the rest of the traitor forces.

[edit] Post Heresy

After Horus's defeat by the Emperor, the Emperor's Children left a trail of depopulated worlds as they fled to the Eye of Terror with the rest of the Traitor Legions. They were the first to raid Imperial worlds for captives and plunder. Because simple raiding could not supply enough raw human material for their orgies of worship, the Emperor's Children turned on the slaves of the other Traitor Legions, beginning a series of wars within the Eye of Terror. Eventually, the Emperor's Children were crushed and shattered into separate warbands of hedonistic fanatics.

The Emperor's Children later took part in a joint assault on the Sons of Horus's homeworld in the Eye of Terror. During this they captured and cloned the body of Horus. Immediately afterward, Abaddon the Despoiler took control of the Sons and renamed them the Black Legion. Abaddon's first act was to devastate the Emperor's Children and destroy the cloned Horus[1].

As for the Daemon-Fulgrim himself, he was elevated by Slaanesh to the rank of Daemon Prince, and rules over a planet of unending, unlimited pleasure. Fulgrim's soul has never been fully destroyed, and still dwells within his warped body, tortured by the visions of ten millennia of service to Chaos. To this day, Emperor's Children warbands and expeditions from the Inquisition seek out Fulgrim, but none have returned. It is a sign of how seriously the Imperium takes the threat posed by Fulgrim that the Inquisition still maintains a dedicated strike-force committed to following up any rumor of the Primarch's existence, no matter how vague.

Fulgrim's one reported appearance following the Heresy occurred one hundred years after the Second Founding, on the world of Thessala, where an Emperor's Children warband battled the Ultramarines. Each Primarch led their forces in person. Billowing clouds of heady musk enveloped the battlefield as Roboute Guilliman and Fulgrim met in single combat. None who were present on that day can say for sure what happened, yet, when the cloying musks cleared, the Emperor's Children were gone and Roboute Guilliman lay still, a single bright slash of blood across his throat. Guilliman was hastily placed in a stasis field by the Ultramarines apothecarions to halt the onset of death.

Various members of the pre-Heresy legion are still active today, including Lord Commander Eidolon, last seen as one of Abaddon's lieutenants during the Thirteenth Black Crusade, and Captain Lucius, now known as Lucius the Eternal and champion of Slaanesh. Former Apothecarion Fabius Bile also is much sought after by the Traitor Legions for his expertise in cloning and knowledge of Space Marine gene-seed.

[edit] Organization

From its humble beginnings, the Emperor's Children Legion expanded to a full thirty Companies. The legion was a strongly hierarchical army with orders coming down via a rigid command system and marines taught to follow orders without question and aspire to the perfection displayed by their officers. The Primarch Fulgrim was the commander of the Legion and exercised authority over all, he directly issued his orders to his two Lord Commanders, namely Lord Commander Eidolon and Vespasian in the latter days of the Great Crusade, who would in turn issue the orders of the Line Officers of each company.

Like the other legions of the Great Crusade, the Emperor's Children operated a lodge system although it was much more formal than in their comrade's systems and was open to only the Primach, the Lord Commanders, and select Captains.

In the 41st millennium, the Legion has fragmented into a small number of warbands of varying size, each led by their own commander.

[edit] Noise Marines

As with all followers of Slaanesh, the only focus of admiration is senseless indulgence. This makes the Emperor's Children the most violent, sadistic, and debauched creatures imaginable. Many Emperor's Children have become Noise Marines. The original Noise Marines were created by Fabius Bile; due to Fabius's alterations, a Noise Marine's hearing is a thousand times more sensitive than even a 'normal' Space Marine's, and can distinguish between even the subtlest differences in pitch and volume. A Noise Marine's enhanced hearing affects his whole mind, causing extreme emotional reactions that make all other sensations seem pale and worthless. The louder and more discordant the noise, the more extreme the emotional reaction provoked. Eventually only the din of battle and heightened screams of fear stir a Noise Marine.

The name comes from their preference for weapons that use sound: the Sonic Blaster - outwardly resembling a bolter - produced discordant blasts of sound; the Blastmaster - a rifle-like weapon that fires different frequencies that overpower senses and destroy flesh; and the Doom Siren, a loudspeaker melded into the Marine's body that enhances his screams to violent torrents that can knock the largest enemy back. Noise Marines also possess an ability called the 'Warp Scream'. This dulls the reactions of all in close vicinity to them. Not all Noise Marines are Emperor's Children and not all rank and file Emperor's Children are Noise Marines. Other Chaos Marine armies may field Noise Marines as part of their troops.

[edit] Headquarters

The Emperor's Children's homeworld of Chemos was declared exterminatus and destroyed following the conclusion of the Horus Heresy. In the current time frame of the Warhammer 40,000 universe the legion exists in fragmented warbands each adopting their own headquarters from which to strike out from, rumours also persist of a daemon world dedicated to pleasure ruled over by the Daemon-Fulgrim, although how substantial a detachment of Emperor's Children marines he retains, if indeed such a planet exists, is unknown.

[edit] Notable members

  • Lord Commander Eidolon - One of the two pre-Heresy 'Lord Commanders' of the Emperor's Children. A traitor during the Horus Heresy. Commanded to destroy the Loyalists among the Traitor Legions.
  • Lord Commander Vespasian - One of two pre-Heresy Lord Commanders. Killed by Fulgrim prior to Isstvan III.
  • Julius Kaesoron - Captain of the First Company. Turned traitor with the rest of his legion. Killed Gabriel Santor, Captain of the First Company of the Iron Hands.
  • Solomon Demeter - Captain of the Second Company of the Emperor's Children, remained loyal during the Heresy, killed on Isstvan III by Lucius.
  • Marius Vairosean - Captain of the Third Company of the Emperor's Children, turned traitor during the Heresy, among the first Noise Marines.
  • Lord Commander Cyrius - A post-heresy Lord Commander, defeated Lucius the Eternal in a gladiatorial match before being transformed into Lucius by the Chaos God Slaanesh.
  • Lucius the Eternal, Champion of Slaanesh and Captain of the Thirteenth Company. Greatest swordsman of the legion. Challenged former friend Saul Tarvitz and lost. Survived the Heresy, became Lucius the Eternal.
  • Saul Tarvitz, Captain of the Tenth Company, Primary commander of the Loyalist resistance on Istvaan III. Defeated treacherous former comrade Lucius. One of the few survivors of the final bombardement of Istvaan III. A reference in the novel Fulgrim to an underground hangar may indicate his eventual escape from the planet.
  • Fabius Bile - Former Chief Apothecary.
  • Gaius Caphen - Second in command to Captain Solomon Demeter of the Second Company
  • Charmosian - Chaplain of the 18th Company. Traitor during the Horus Heresy. Beheaded by Captain Lucius.

[edit] Appearance

Artist's rendering of the pre-heresy Emperor's Children emblem
Artist's rendering of the pre-heresy Emperor's Children emblem

Prior to the Horus Heresy the Emperor's Children wore dark purple armour trimmed with gold. Theirs was the only legion permitted to bear the double-headed Imperial Eagle (the Aquila) on their chestplates: a rich irony, given their eventual betrayal of the Emperor. After the Heresy the armour of the Emperor's Children bore vivid colorful markings (often pastels or pink and black), the patterns and composition depending on the particular cult of which each Space Marine was a part. Dedication markings to the Chaos god Slaanesh are common.


[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness. Nottingham: Games Workshop. 

[edit] References

  • Index Astartes: Emperor's Children, White Dwarf 255
  • "Codex Space Marines" (2004). Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-526-0. 
  • Ansell, Bryan; Brunton, Forrest, Priestley (1988). Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness. Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-869893-51-4. 
  • Abnett, Dan (2006). Horus Rising. Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-294-X. 
  • McNeill, Graham (2006). False Gods. Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-370-9. 
  • Counter, Ben (2006). Galaxy In Flames. Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-393-8. 
  • McNeill, Graham (2007). Fulgrim. Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-476-4. 
  • Merrett, Alan (2007). The Horus Heresy: Collected Visions. Black Library. ISBN 1-84416-425-X.