Word Bearers

The Word Bearers are an army that feature in Warhammer 40,000.

History

The Primarch Lorgar vanished from the gene-labs on Terra while still an infant, along with the other nineteen Primarchs. It is known that he was found on Colchis, a once-advanced world that had regressed into religious fanaticism and strife. The infant Lorgar was discovered by followers of the predominant religion on the world, the Covenant, and was raised amongst them. Studying within a temple of the Covenant, Lorgar quickly became a devout preacher, his oratory skill and the power of his charisma winning him many followers. However, as Lorgar grew in standing amongst the people, members of the Covenant began to grow jealous of his popularity. Lorgar's youth was plagued by visions of a mighty warrior in gleaming bronze armour coming to Colchis, with a cyclopean giant in blue robes standing beside him. At one point, the visions reached such intensity that Lorgar claimed that the prophesied return of Colchis' god was soon to occur. He began to preach this news to the people of Colchis, undermining the rule of the Covenant as people became his followers. Lorgar's enemies in the Covenant saw this as the opportunity they had been waiting for to remove the threat Lorgar posed to the status quo, and declared him a heretic. Those who came to arrest Lorgar were killed by his followers. The Covenant split into two factions, and a holy war of immense proportions erupted, forcing the entire population of the world to choose sides. This war lasted six years, ending when Lorgar and his supporters stormed the temple at which the Primarch had trained, killing the monks within. Less than a year after the victory of Lorgar's people, a landing craft carrying the Emperor and Magnus the Red, along with two Tactical Squads of Thousand Sons Space Marines descended from orbit and landed near the temple. Lorgar was said to immediately recognise these people as the ones in his visions, and swore his fealty to his father and creator. Every facet of the Covenant's belief structure was reorganised towards the worship of the Emperor as their saviour, and the people of Colchis united behind their new god. The elaborate celebrations and displays of piety lasted for months, although it was said that the Emperor did not approve of this, wishing to rejoin the Great Crusade as soon as possible. At the conclusion of the celebrations, Lorgar was made commander of the XVII Space Marine Legion, which came to be known as the Word Bearers.

Lorgar led his Legion throughout the Great Crusade, the Word Bearers seeking to eliminate all blasphemy and heresy within the new Imperium. Ancient texts and icons were burned, and countless innocents slain for displaying insufficient (or no) zeal in their worship of the Emperor. The construction of vast monuments and cathedrals so great they rivaled those built for old gods and the great works of many word bearer Chaplains venerating the Emperor were supervised. The greatest Chaplains of the Word Bearers produced enormous works on the divinity and righteousness of the Emperor, and gave grand speeches and sermons to the masses. The progress of the Word Bearers was slow, but domination of the defeated was complete. However, the Emperor was greatly displeased with the Word Bearers' slow progress, and more so at their religiosity. One of the Great Crusade's major objectives was to liberate humanity from the shackles of religion, and so the Emperor personally reprimanded Lorgar, informing him that his task was to free human worlds from alien oppression, not re-enslave them under a new tyranny. Lorgar was said to mourn the Emperor's command for a month, speaking to nobody, wearing only hairshirt robes. The Emperor was about to reprimand the Legion again for their lack of action when news reached him that the Word Bearers had gone back on the offensive, and this time, worlds fell before them in rapid order. Satisfied, the Emperor turned his gaze to other matters. But this time, the planets were not taken in the Emperor's name.

This event turned the Word Bearers to Chaos. As Lorgar brooded over the Emperor's reproach, Kor Phaeron, Lorgar's most trusted lieutenant and closest friend, first mentioned the Chaos Gods - beings that welcomed, even demanded worship and devotion. Lorgar believed a veil had been lifted from his eyes; He saw the Emperor not as a god, but as an irreverent old man who failed to realize that what mankind needed above all was religious domination. How else, demanded Lorgar, was man to make sense of the universe? Soon Kor Phaeron was tasked with converting the entire legion to Chaos, and, like their Primarch, the Word Bearers came to venerate Chaos Undivided, a pantheon composed of the four Chaos Gods: Khorne, Nurgle, Tzeentch, and Slaanesh. The Legion initially kept their new devotion secret, and laboured to turn the Warmaster Horus to their cause. Thanks to the machinations of First Chaplain Erebus, Horus was snared in a trap on the moon of Davin, resulting in his fatal wounding. While the Warmaster lay ill and feverish on Davin, Erebus saw to it that he was exposed to the powers of the warp and turned against the Emperor. Some time later Horus openly declared his own faith in Chaos, and began the galactic civil war known as the Horus Heresy. The Word Bearers had sided with Horus even before the rebellion, and many of the worlds they had conquered since their conversion turned as well, having been corrupted by the Word Bearers during their conquest. Horus ordered the bulk of the Word Bearers to entangle and cripple the Ultramarines Legion, to prevent the largest of the Loyalist legions from reinforcing the Emperor on Terra. This was a task the Word Bearers took up with joy. After the Emperor had chastised Lorgar for his faith, he commanded him to instead emulate Roboute Guilliman and his Ultramarines. The assault on Ultramar was led by Kor Phaeron, now known as the Master of the Faith, who swore to destroy the Ultramarines utterly. The Word Bearers forced the Ultramarines to retreat before their onslaught, and was halted only after a ferocious defense at Calth. Lorgar led the remaining Word Bearers to Terra, where Horus and his forces had amassed. Horus's army was repulsed and defeated after a fifty-five day siege. The Word Bearers were divided in the aftermath of defeat, with Lorgar's forces taking refuge within the Eye of Terror, and Kor Phaeron retreating to the Maelstrom, a vast tear in the fabric of space where the Immaterium leaked into reality.

Eventually, the atrocities committed by the Word Bearers have allowed for Lorgar's ascension to become a powerful Daemon Prince of Chaos, and it is said his birth scream echoed through the Warp with triumphant vindication. He now watches over the Legion from the daemonworld of Sicarus, directing their efforts to raid, pillage and destroy the Imperium and its Emperor.

Overview

Prior to the Horus Heresy, Word Bearers power armour was stone gray, engraved with phrases from religious texts. The Legion's symbol was an open book, with a flame superimposed over the pages. After their corruption by Chaos, the armour was repainted red, with silver trim. The devotional engravings have been replaced with dedication markings and runes of Chaos. The Legion's symbol is now an open-mouthed, horned daemon, superimposed over the Star of Chaos Undivided.

The Word Bearers have managed to remain fairly unified as a Legion, unlike the other followers of Horus. The various forces and warbands of the Legion are scattered throughout the Eye of Terror and the Maelstrom. Rather than killing the company chaplains, as was the first act of many traitor legions, the Chaplains become leaders of the Word Bearers, known as Dark Apostles. The forces, known as Hosts, range in size from a hundred men to organisations rivaling or sometimes surpassing a Space Marine Chapter. Word Bearers are split into squads of twelve, each led by a Champion who hopes to rise in skill and faith, so that he may become the new Dark Apostle on the previous Apostle's death.

The Word Bearers employ a large number of cults, causing their formation on Imperial worlds to act as a destabilising force to weaken a world before a Host arrives to finish it off. The one thing that prevents the cults from being so effective is the fact that they are often in direct competition with cults instigated by the Alpha Legion, a rivalry that has risen to infect the respective Legions.

The Word Bearers follow the will of the Dark Apostles without question, even when the tactical or strategic decisions of the Apostle are questionable. They will use fear tactics to break the resolve of the enemy force before marching forth in an unstoppable wave. The only way to halt a Word Bearers attack once it has begun is to kill every single Marine present. Word Bearers forces are often completely unbalanced, often omitting heavy support or rapid response troops. This is because the Legion follows the visions of the Apostles, which sometimes border on prescience. Before battle, the Host will summon large quantities of Daemons to be used as fodder, believing them to be lower in the Chaotic order of things than themselves. Occasionally, cultist forces will be utilised, but only as human shields. When fewer numbers are called for, the Word Bearers will often form a coven, a small group of 7-10 marines consisting of a number of specialists such as a close-combat expert, a marksman, a heavy weapons specialist, perhaps even a psyker. Covens are always led by a Dark Apostle.

The Word Bearers Hosts have no set battlecry. Instead, they choose a verse from the unholy "Books of the Epistles of Lorgar" prior to battle, and will repeatedly chant this verse in time to the beat of great drums. One of their favorite benedictions, "All praises!", often surfaces as a recurring chant.

The world of Colchis is long destroyed, bombed out of existence by the Ultramarines with the use of cyclonic torpedoes after the Horus Heresy. However, this is no loss to the Word Bearers, as they now launch their attacks from two worlds, the daemonworld of Sicarus, within the Eye of Terror, and the corrupted Forge World of Ghalmek, within the Maelstrom.

Members

• Lorgar : Primarch of the Word Bearers and Daemon Prince. Currently resides on Sicarus.
• First Chaplain Erebus : He lured Horus into a trap on Davin's moon and caused him to be wounded. Erebus exposed Horus to the powers of the Warp and Horus himself became corrupted and openly stated he pledged his loyalty to Chaos which led to the Horus Heresy.
• Kor Phaeron : Lorgar's most trusted lieutenant and the one responsible for introducing the Word Bearers' new faith in the Chaos Gods.
• Iskavan the Hated : Dark Apostle of the Ninth Host of Warmaster Garand. He fought against the Blood Angels on Cybele.
• Tancred : Torturer and second-in-command of the Ninth Host of Warmaster Garand. He can perform auguries using torture.

Notes

• The Word Bearers were created by Games Workshop and featured in the setting of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Appearances

• Warhammer 40,000:

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