Chapter Summaries

Nimrod discovered that the golden Mechanical Eagles and flame Runes in the xenos ruins formed a Necron prison that drew power from a C'tan Shard. After he activated the central eagle and descended through the pyramid, he found the Void Dragon Shard Asimos struggling as the underground prison began to collapse.

• Nimrod, Adams, and Arsena destroyed the half-flesh, half-machine undead inside the first ruins, then Nimrod sent the others to excavate while he traveled toward the xenos ruins with Freddy.
• Nimrod entered the hot mountain ruins and found a platform covered in flame Runes, with a single golden Mechanical Eagle at its center.
• Nimrod traced the platform's Runes onto the eagle, causing it to rise and uncover a spiral passage descending underground.
• Nimrod descended through the levels of the pyramid, where the Mechanical Eagles grew larger and tremors signaled that a powerful creature was struggling below.
• Nimrod reached a vast golden Mechanical Eagle and recognized the imprisoned creature as a C'tan Shard, realizing that activating the Runes had weakened its seal.
• The underground space shook violently and magma erupted as the C'tan Shard neared escape.

Nimrod fought the Burning One, a powerful shard of Nyadra-Zatha, as the golden Mechanical Eagle broke free and carried him into the sky. Freddy’s dream attack failed, and Nimrod was left severely burned and nearing his limit while the Emperor watched without intervening.

• Nimrod attacked the golden Mechanical Eagle with the Sword of Vaul and his Power Fist, while the C’tan Shard struck his mind with a devastating sound.
• The Mechanical Eagle broke free of the Necron restraints, unleashed molten flames, and took flight; Nimrod ordered Freddy to pull him into a dream.
• Freddy transformed into an eight-legged black wolf and cast eternal darkness over the Burning One, allowing Nimrod to keep striking its wounds until the flames destroyed the dream and badly burned Freddy.
• Nimrod recognized the creature as the Burning One, a shard of Nyadra-Zatha, while Ferrus Manus and Gabriel Santor watched the blazing battle from the surface of Medusa.
• The Emperor judged that Nimrod might gain immense power by killing the weakened shard, but he chose not to help; as the Burning One carried Nimrod higher, its flames burned away his armor and left him near his limit.

Nimrod used a psychic scream to disorient Nyadra-Zatha and killed the C’tan Shard, but was trapped beneath the lava in its burning essence and golden Necrodermis. The substance rebuilt his body and gave him golden wings, and he emerged from the lake as the Emperor and the others watched.

• Nimrod put on the Howling Mask and unleashed a psychic scream through the wound in Nyadra-Zatha’s back, throwing the Burning One into confusion.
• Nimrod tore apart the golden Mechanical Eagle’s right wing, then was struck into its body by a fireball and sensed that the C’tan Shard had been killed.
• The golden Mechanical Eagle fell into the lava lake, trapping Nimrod in C’tan Essence and Necrodermis as the Emperor, Ferrus Manus, and Alpharius arrived.
• Nimrod’s body was reconstructed by the golden substance, which formed a metal covering and a pair of golden wings on his back.
• Nimrod discovered that magma no longer burned him, covered his waist with liquid metal, and flew out of the lava lake as the others watched.

Nimrod recovered Freddy and explored the Necron ruins before meeting Ferrus Manus at the giant manufactorum. He proposed that they share and research both discoveries, leaving the two Primarchs in agreement to cooperate.

• Santor stopped the Iron Carriage near the magma lake as Nimrod descended in golden armor and wings, and Ferrus Manus examined the transformation.
• Nimrod flew to the ruins, found the badly burned but living Freddy, and carried him out while inspecting the durable golden Mechanical Eagles.
• Nimrod returned to the excavation site and joined The Emperor and Alpharius in examining the manufactorum, where he recognized equipment linked to the Simulacrum Sanctum.
• Ferrus Manus conceded that Nimrod had won their contest, but Nimrod proposed a draw and joint ownership of both ruins, citing a Punishment-class Reactor and an automatic-charging Void Shield.
• Ferrus Manus agreed to cooperate with Nimrod and offered to forge him a new suit of armor.

Nimrod attended Ferrus Manus’s celebration on Medusa, where Manus pledged the Tenth Legion to The Emperor and welcomed Nimrod’s son Gabriel into the Legion. Ten days later, the Storm Walkers arrived, and Nimrod saw the accomplished commander Amadeus DuCaine pledge himself to Manus.

• Nimrod assigned Gabriel to remain on Medusa and serve alongside the Tenth Legion, then traveled with Gabriel and Arsena Dunn to Manus’s clan assembly.
• Manus announced Medusa’s allegiance to The Emperor, and the clan representatives swore loyalty before The Emperor accepted their oaths.
• Manus gave Nimrod a banner depicting Nimrod slaying the Golden Garuda, and he welcomed Gabriel as an excellent artisan who would be welcome in his Legion.
• Ten days after the celebration, the Storm Walkers arrived on Medusa, and Nimrod accompanied The Emperor back to the Bucephalus.
• The Emperor praised Storm General Amadeus DuCaine’s Storm and Hammer tactic as DuCaine knelt to Manus and pledged his loyalty.
• The Emperor invited DuCaine to tell him about his achievements in the Wheel of Fire.

Nimrod reported his victories at the Wheel of Fire to The Old Man in Yellow, received honors and a chance to choose a treasure, and fully digested the “Briber” potion. He chose a crystalline eye, coordinated with Manus and the Iron Hands, and discovered that the Fourth Layer Space had opened.

• Nimrod presented Soriano's head to The Old Man in Yellow and recounted the Second and Sixth Legions' achievements at the Wheel of Fire.
• The Old Man in Yellow praised Nimrod, promised a triumph on Terra and honors for his Legion, and offered him a treasure from the private vault.
• Nimrod completed digestion of the “Briber” potion, chose the crystalline eye from the vault, and agreed to teach Manus how to adapt to the Imperium.
• Manus told Nimrod that the Storm Walkers had become the Iron Hands and explained how they would become truly Medusan through trials on Medusa.
• Nimrod returned to Shadow of the Throne, introduced Manus to the Imperium, and then confirmed that the Fourth Layer Space had opened.

Nimrod discovered that the Fourth Layer Space could form bidirectional connections and used it to bring Arsena into the black-mist realm for a private briefing. After learning the Legion’s losses and recruitment figures, Nimrod summoned Adams and Gabriel back to Medusa IV and planned to connect them to the space as they searched for ruins.

• Nimrod realized the Fourth Layer Space could establish connections, then used invisible threads to link Arsena’s ball of light to it.
• Nimrod summoned Arsena to the black-mist realm, revealed that he was the Black Emperor there, and heard his report on the Wheel of Fire campaign’s casualties, Titan losses, and Legion recruitment.
• Arsena returned to his office convinced that Nimrod was the Black Emperor after being transported without sensing psychic power.
• Nimrod summoned Adams and Gabriel to remain on Medusa IV, where Adams would seek ruin locations from ghosts and develop them with Gabriel and the Iron Hands.
• Adams and Gabriel began building an altar while Nimrod continued experimenting with connections to the Fourth Layer Space.

Nimrod used the Kingdom of Disorder to summon Sanchez for a private meeting across the galaxy, establishing a way to communicate and receive reports while learning about the 7th Legion’s progress on Catachan. After ending the meeting, Sanchez returned to the dangerous jungle.

• Nimrod contacted Sanchez through the Kingdom of Disorder and ordered him to separate from his squad before summoning him into the Fourth Layer.
• Nimrod explained that the space allowed private meetings and interstellar communication, but that its high spiritual cost limited how many people he could summon and for how long.
• Nimrod told Sanchez to keep the Black Emperor’s existence secret and to teach Mikel and Malena the ritual method.
• Sanchez reported that the 7th Legion had recruited fifteen hundred Catachan aspirants and that new birth incentives had raised the birth rate and lowered child mortality.
• Sanchez described how Catachan weapons and tactics had changed the Legion, and reported Malena’s help defending settlements and creating Catachan’s first farmland in thousands of years.
• Nimrod ended the connection, and Sanchez returned to Catachan’s jungle.

Adams and Gabriel summoned Nimrod through a ritual, where Adams briefed him on the Fourth Legion and Gabriel reported on his study of the Golden Garuda. Gabriel discovered that fire activated one of its runes, while the Imperial fleet headed for Terra and Tierney prepared to ensnare greedy nobles.

• Manus suppressed the resistant Terran-born Storm Walkers as the altars for Adams and Gabriel were completed, and Nimrod gave Gabriel the Solagu.
• Adams and Gabriel performed the ritual and met Nimrod in the Mysterious Kingdom, where Adams reported the Fourth Legion's recruitment and Nimrod ordered it to recruit from Necromunda.
• Gabriel told Nimrod that his attempts to activate the Golden Garuda had failed, and Nimrod instructed him to drench it in Promethium and ignite it.
• Gabriel's fire test lit a rune on the Golden Garuda, so he ordered ten more barrels of Promethium for further experiments.
• Nimrod sent six Relic-class warships to Vostonia for refitting, and the Imperial fleet departed for Terra as Tierney prepared to trap the nobles who had taken his bait.

Tierney posed as the wealthy foreign noble Eric and used his extraordinary abilities to persuade Europa’s nobles to contribute antiquities to his Babylon paradise-world project. He traded away ninety percent of Babylon’s future profits for 250 collectibles, then left believing he had mastered the power Lord Nimrod granted him.

• At the Commag family castle, Europa’s nobles discussed Babylon and waited for Graham von Erich to arrive.
• Tierney entered disguised as Eric, wearing ornate Artificer Power Armor, and used Spirit Sight to confirm that the nobles admired rather than suspected him.
• Tierney described Babylon and used mental interference to make the nobles envision its pleasures and recognize its potential value.
• When nobles offered financial support, Tierney used Thought Misdirection to ask instead for halls of art and antiquities.
• Patriarch Commag offered his hanging clock, and Tierney accepted it as the first artwork for Babylon.
• Two days later, Tierney had promised away ninety percent of Babylon’s profits in exchange for 250 collectibles and departed by luxury airship, convinced he had become a true Swindler.

Mikel presented Nimrod with the newly evolved Catachan Wolves and reported on Catachan’s incoming specimens and successful human modifications. On Catachan, Malena inspected and repaired her farmland’s plant defenses, then prepared the altar her workers had completed.

• Mikel summoned Nimrod and showed him an emerald-furred Catachan Wolf, explaining how Thunderwolves had adapted to the jungle and gained limited armor.
• Nimrod urged Mikel to develop heavy weapons for riders of the Catachan Wolves, and Mikel reported that a fleet carrying Catachan flora and fauna was underway.
• Mikel reported that all fifteen hundred Catachan modification candidates had undergone surgery without a failure, then returned to the Void Hunter with the wolf.
• Malena inspected her farmland’s defensive wall, repaired a damaged section, and returned to her residence past the crops she had cultivated.
• Malena’s attendants and Legion Servitors completed her altar after thirty-eight stellar days, and she ordered them out before arranging it.

Malena Scala reported on her work transforming Catachan’s soil and asked Nimrod how she should prepare for the conflict between his identity as the Black Emperor and the Imperium. Nimrod tasked her with exploring the Howling Banshee path and training Catachan women, while his fleet arrived in the Sol System.

• Malena Scala prayed to the Black Emperor and reported that she had begun stabilizing experimental farmland on Catachan with transformed soil.
• Nimrod ordered Malena to preserve Catachan’s Death World character and asked for her opinion of its women as soldiers.
• Nimrod explained his plan to adapt the Aeldari Path of the Howling Banshee for non-psychics, and Malena volunteered to explore it and train Catachan banshees.
• Nimrod transmitted the Howling Banshee teachings and related techniques to Malena, who returned to her underground altar and began studying them.
• The Shadow of the Throne and the Imperial fleet emerged from the Mandeville Point and arrived in the Sol System.

After the victory at the Wheel of Fire, the Emperor and the Primarchs gathered on Terra for a celebration welcoming Nimrod and Manus. Malcador honored Nimrod with mystical gifts and the Emperor announced that Nimrod, Russ, and Hannibal would receive public commendations the next day.

• The Emperor, Nimrod, and Manus arrived at Terra, where crowds and Malcador welcomed them in a lavish celebration.
• At the banquet, Manus observed the other Primarchs, while Russ and Hannibal competed over food and Russ urged Manus to drink Fenrisian mjod.
• Malcador gave Nimrod a mystical puppet that could disrupt his thoughts, but Nimrod quickly overcame its effect through his trained will.
• Malcador also gifted Nimrod armor taken from the treasury of the false king Akkad, which Nimrod could have modified into inner armor.
• The Emperor announced that Nimrod, Russ, and Hannibal would receive commendations before the people the next day, and promised Manus a future celebration for his achievements.

Terra celebrated Ferrus Manus’s return with a military parade, where the Emperor introduced him as the Primarch of the Iron Hands and Nimrod, Russ, and Hannibal received honors for the Wheel of Fire campaign. The ceremony ended with the three Primarchs standing before the Emperor as he prepared to award them.

• The Emperor appeared on Terra’s holographic screens, introduced Ferrus Manus as the Primarch of the Tenth Legion, and Manus vowed to lead the Iron Hands in the Emperor’s service.
• Nimrod’s Shadow of Order led the parade, followed by Jorin and Enoch Lashiven with the Space Wolves, then Suarez, Erlin, and Mads with the Faceless Ones.
• Citizens cheered the Legions, while workers discussed the prestige of the Luna Wolves and Shadow of Order and the selection of new candidates.
• Titans of the Adeptus Mechanicus and marching Skitarii joined the parade to display the Imperium’s military strength.
• The Emperor announced honors for the three Primarchs with the greatest Wheel of Fire achievements, and Nimrod, Russ, and Hannibal stepped forward as Ferrus Manus watched enviously.

The Emperor rewarded Nimrod, Leman Russ, and Hannibal for their victories in the Wheel of Fire campaign, giving them medals and Auric Halos, while Hannibal and Russ received additional gifts. He then presented Nimrod with the cursed Spear of Dionysus, leaving Nimrod resolved to keep his own will despite the Emperor’s plans.

• The Emperor awarded Nimrod, Leman Russ, and Hannibal medals commemorating their victories against the Orks.
• The Emperor gave the three Primarchs Auric Halos, upgraded Iron Halos able to withstand attacks as powerful as an Annihilator Cannon.
• The Emperor gave Hannibal a Thunder Hammer that stunned enemies with sound waves, and gave Russ Wolf-Fang Fortress as a reward for the wolf pack’s sacrifices.
• The Emperor raised the Spear of Dionysus and explained that he had forged it before giving it to Nimrod.
• Nimrod accepted that he could not refuse the spear but resolved that it would not dictate his choices, while wondering whether it would react to him as it had to Russ.

Nimrod received the Spear of Dionysus from The Old Man in Yellow, recognized its curse and the danger of being watched through it, and resolved to reshape it once he became powerful enough. After attending publicity events the next day, he learned that The Emperor would meet him at the Grand Observatory.

• Nimrod took the Spear of Dionysus and suspected The Old Man in Yellow could use its connection to spy on him.
• The Old Man in Yellow ended the celebration and left with Malcador, while Nimrod reflected on being forced to accept the spear.
• Nimrod asked Manus to mount the spear on his armor, and the Primarchs examined their statues and discussed their weapons and abilities.
• Nimrod told Hannibal that he had won his golden mechanical wings from a Golden Garuda on Medusa.
• The Primarchs went to their prepared residences, and Nimrod attended Malcador's publicity events the next day.
• Malcador told Nimrod that The Emperor would meet him at the Grand Observatory at eleven that night.

Nimrod discussed the constellations with the Emperor, who named him Pegasus and gave him a ring. Later, Tierney delivered stolen treasures to Nimrod and warned him about rumors targeting him and the Shadow of Order.

• Nimrod entered the Constellation Hall and discussed the constellations with the Emperor.
• The Emperor declared Pegasus the constellation that best represented Nimrod and gave him a gold ring.
• Nimrod instructed Tierney to use a sacrificial ritual to transfer the treasures he had stolen from Terra’s noble families.
• Tierney warned Nimrod that rumors against him and the Shadow of Order had been circulating on Terra for about a year.

Nimrod learned that rumors accusing the Eleventh and Fifteenth Legions of sorcery were part of fallen Horus's conspiracy, and assigned Maria Kournikova's Assassins to investigate it. Later, Violet Visscher met with him and offered House Visscher's alliance and service.

• Tierney told Nimrod that a book called Book of Revelation had sparked rumors on Terra accusing the Shadow of Order and the Fifteenth Legion of sorcery.
• Tierney showed Nimrod a portrait of a hooded figure who had spread the rumors, and Nimrod recognized the conspiracy as fallen Horus's work.
• Nimrod ordered Tierney to stop investigating and decided that Maria Kournikova's Assassins would pursue Horus's organization.
• Nimrod returned to Terra and continued helping Malcador's propaganda activities.
• Violet Visscher met Nimrod and offered House Visscher's alliance and service to the Eleventh Legion.

Nimrod negotiated an alliance with House Visscher, exchanging access to the Eleventh Legion's star charts and trade opportunities for Navigators and shared charts. He also established the Shadow Guard with House Visscher and House Drake, gaining House Drake's loyalty and preparing selected Shadow of Order members for service among Terra's powerful families.

• Nimrod offered House Visscher the Eleventh Legion's star charts and trade connections in exchange for permanent Navigator support and shared charts.
• Nimrod decided to imitate the Wolf King's alliance with House Belisarius by stationing Shadow of Order members with influential families.
• Nimrod ordered Barton Drake to receive a squad of Shadow of Order, and Barton pledged House Drake's loyalty to Nimrod.
• Three days later, Arsena signed an alliance pact with House Visscher on Nimrod's behalf.
• Nimrod selected fifty-four Shadow of Order members to form the first Shadow Guard and sent them to House Visscher and House Drake.

Nimrod received his newly forged armour from Ferrus Manus, used the Spear of Dionysus to collect Tierney’s offerings, and then learned that a Flao fleet occupied two planets. He ordered a joint expedition with Manus and the 10th Legion, and five days later they set sail aboard the Shadow of the Throne.

• Nimrod visited Manus’s courtyard, where Manus and Tech-Priest Malevolus presented the armour they had forged for him.
• Nimrod donned his black, Iron-Scaled Kraken armour, tested its golden wings, and mounted the Spear of Dionysus before casually hurling the spear across the city.
• Nimrod opened a way for Tierney’s offerings to enter the Kingdom of Disorder, returned other items to him, and inspected the offerings and their accompanying data-slate.
• Nimrod learned from his attendants that Lewis Von Valancius had encountered a Flao fleet occupying two planets and requested support.
• Nimrod ordered the 11th Chapter and the 10th Legion to mobilize, then boarded the Shadow of the Throne with Manus and departed five days later.