While other Legions took some time to acquire formal names, the XVIIth was named the Imperial Heralds almost immediately after their founding. 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. 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. They fought with utter devotion and a fanatical zeal. The earliest days say the XVIIth Legion stand apart from their brother Legiones Astartes in duty and outlook. The Primarch of the Word Bearers, Lorgar, vanished while still an infant, just like all of the other Primarchs. 2.2.1 Known Post-Heresy Sects and Sub-factions.Known for their extreme religious fervor even before their conversion to Chaos, the Word Bearers are some of the most fanatical Chaos Marines, notable for using Dark Apostles, a corrupted version of Space Marine Chaplains, to inspire their Marines and their cultist allies in battle. They were the first of the nine Legions which betrayed the Emperor, becoming the first known Chaos Space Marines, pledging their allegiance to their Primarch Lorgar and to Chaos Undivided.

The Word Bearers, originally known as the Imperial Heralds and the Iconoclasts, is the XVII Legion of the original twenty Space Marine Legions. For other uses of Word Bearers, see Word Bearers (disambiguation).Īn appropriate passage from their sacred texts and dolorous roars. This article is about the Chaos Space Marine Legion.

Horus heresy word bearers