Chapter Summaries

Ramsey learned that the voice guiding him was Tear of Silence Kalugula, a C'tan imprisoned at an unknown location, and reported the star chart to Nimrod. After Nimrod granted Ramsey the Sequence 7 Hermit potion, Magos Arkhan Land set out for the galactic core to investigate the League of Votann's advanced technology.

• Ramsey heard Tear of Silence Kalugula claim to be a god and show him a star chart through the Siren Dust, then had the Librarians record it.
• Ramsey prayed to Nimrod and shared the chart, which Nimrod recorded while concluding that the imprisoned C'tan was not on the Penal Colony of Saint Athena.
• Ramsey demonstrated Whisper of Silence, and Nimrod praised its strength while warning that Ramsey could sustain it only briefly.
• Nimrod sent Ramsey back and arranged for him to receive the Sequence 7 Hermit potion, which Ramsey drank.
• Magos Arkhan Land boarded his ship to investigate the League of Votann's advanced technology in the galactic core.

Nimrod chose Aventinium as a new recruiting world for the depleted 11th Chapter and ordered Per to lead half the Chapter there. Per’s fleet arrived to find Aventinium at war.

• Nimrod completed alliances with ten Navigator houses and learned that the 11th Chapter had fallen to twenty thousand four hundred troops.
• Nimrod used the Dice of Prophecy to obtain a star chart from Carium Gate to Aventinium, then sent Per the chart and ordered him to establish the world as the Chapter’s recruiting ground.
• Per agreed to recruit only from Aventinium’s noble class and immediately began deploying the Chapter’s forces.
• The 11th Chapter’s fleet traveled through Carium Gate and reached Aventinium in five solar weeks.
• Per ordered a maximum-power scan, and the Vox Master reported that Aventinium was in a state of war.

Per’s 11th Chapter fleet confronted Aventinium’s divided orbital forces and quickly defeated them with Aether Cannons and a boarding assault. After Osopol surrendered, Per learned of the civil war and prepared to intervene on the planet, while Nimrod considered the Yellow Cult’s psychic practices and beliefs.

• Per ordered Aventinium’s orbital fleet to surrender, while Osopol learned that the nobles and the Yellow Cult were fighting across all thirty-six Hive Cities and that his house could provide no support.
• Osopol requested three days to consider, but Per gave him thirty minutes and prepared to attack and board the fleet.
• Osopol sent two warships with Aether Shields to test the enemy, and Per’s first Lance attack failed to penetrate the frigate’s defenses.
• Per’s Aether Cannons pierced the shield, after which his fleet attacked and boarded Aventinium’s ships; Osopol surrendered.
• Per questioned Osopol about the events on Aventinium, then returned to the Son of Vostonia and prayed to the Black Emperor before ordering an orbital drop.
• Nimrod called the situation a “Kingdom of Disorder” and wondered about the Yellow Cult’s psychic powers and Lectitio Divinitatus.

Nimrod told Per that the Yellow Cult was likely a branch of the Lectitio Divinitatus and gave him Mitu psychic search devices to find its members on Aventinium. The 11th Chapter attacked the cult, killing a powerful Psyker, while the cult’s leader fled the First Hive City after losing twenty-three disciples.

• Nimrod explained Chaos and the Lectitio Divinitatus to Per, then warned him about Enuncia and gave him Mitu psychic search devices.
• Per promised to uproot the Yellow Cult, and the 11th Chapter’s Drop Pods descended on Aventinium one Terran hour later.
• Gibbs led his honor guard through rebel resistance, using a psychic search device to locate a Yellow Cult Psyker.
• The Yellow Cult Psyker killed one Cataphractii Terminator and attacked Gibbs, but Gibbs endured the flames and cleaved the Psyker apart.
• The yellow-robed cult leader learned that twenty-three disciples had died and fled through the crowd toward the edge of the First Hive City.

Per Koschelny pursued a powerful Yellow Cult Psyker who used Enuncia to evade the Vostonian forces. As the Yellow-Robed Man neared a hidden tower meant to destroy the Hive City, Per teleported into the battlefield to confront him.

• A guard captain told Per that a powerful target vanished despite squads tracking his signal, and a Royal Court Friar reported hearing a supernatural sound unlike any language.
• Per ordered the forces to keep tracking the target and send him a Teleport beacon when they caught up again.
• A Vostonian Rhino column broke through a Hive City gate and pursued the signal through the ruins while Auxilia 1st Regiment moved to disarm the Council of Nobles.
• The Yellow-Robed Man fled toward his Enuncia-built tower, blaming the attackers for killing his apprentices and ruining his plan to seize Aventinium and activate the Chaos Guiding Tower.
• As the Yellow-Robed Man came within range of his tower, Per teleported onto Aventinium in the Saturnine Terminator Prototype.

Per killed the Yellow-Robed Man and reported the destruction of the Yellow Cult in Aventinium to Nimrod. He also found a Chaos Guiding Tower and a huge stock of Enlightenment Crystal Worms, while Nimrod advanced Tierney to Sequence 7, Cipher Scholar.

• Per used Adamantine Sand to link the Yellow-Robed Man to his weapons, weakened his Enuncia defenses, and destroyed his leg with sustained fire.
• Per resisted the Yellow-Robed Man's Psychic Scream and fatal Enuncia strike, then killed him with his Power Sword.
• Fifteen days later, Per reported to Nimrod that the Yellow Cult had been cleared out and showed him the Chaos Guiding Tower found in the ruins.
• Per told Nimrod that the laboratory held more than a hundred thousand Enlightenment Crystal Worms, and Nimrod ordered them gathered and sacrificed to him.
• Nimrod approved Per's plan to keep recruiting new soldiers from Aventinium's nobles and later gave Tierney the Cipher Scholar potion, advancing him to Sequence 7.

Ahriman and Hathor competed to prove themselves worthy of becoming the Thousand Sons’ Chief Librarian during the Dawn Star operation. Ahriman uncovered a vision of Zarukin’s destruction, while Hathor began using his abilities in Dawn Star’s largest city.

• Ahriman worried that Hathor Maat’s growing standing threatened his claim to become Chief Librarian.
• Ahriman led his retinue into Zarukin’s ruins despite the approaching magnetic storm, seeking knowledge of the city’s past.
• Ahriman used the Raven Art and the Great Ocean to glimpse a city burning at the summit of the world.
• Hathor led his Third Fellowship and Pavoni onto Dawn Star, choosing its largest city as the place where he could best use his abilities.

Hathor captured and questioned members of the Sons of C'tan, learning the origins of their cult and the curse on Dawn Star. He recorded the information and hoped it would draw Magnus and Perturabo’s attention, giving him a chance to save the planet’s people and gain an advantage over Ahriman.

• Hathor identified the Sons of C'tan among the refugees and struck down their members when one tried to incite the crowd.
• The Psychiatrist calmed the refugees and ordered his Thousand Sons to bring the unconscious cultists to him.
• Hathor questioned an awakened Son of C'tan, who explained the cult’s belief in the Storm Lords and a coming golden apocalypse.
• Hathor learned that a Dragon Empire colony ship and the draining of psychic prisoners had created C'tan, whose curse affected Dawn Star’s colonists.
• Hathor questioned the other Sons of C'tan, recorded their intelligence, and hoped Magnus and Perturabo would help him carry out Lord Nimrod’s command to save Dawn Star’s people.

Hathor told Magnus that the Sons of C'tan threatened Dawn Star and its refugees, prompting Magnus to alter his Warp device and order an investigation. Hathor and Asava were to approach the C'tan while Magnus prepared to join them, leaving Hathor hoping his father would arrive in time.

• Hathor reported that the C'tan colony ship had experienced a psychic awakening during Old Night and that its cultists were tied to Dawn Star's destruction.
• Hathor warned Magnus that Sons of C'tan held positions among the Red Dragon planetary defense force.
• Magnus warned Hathor not to mention Warp entities publicly and judged the cultists a threat to any world the refugees might reach.
• Magnus ordered Hathor and Asava to investigate the C'tan and report back, while he planned to tell Perturabo about the danger.
• Magnus said he would modify his Warp device to help control the C'tan and set out once the changes were complete.

Ahzek Ahriman’s search of Zarukin led Hathor Maat and Asava to a C'tan hidden inside an ancient colony ship. Asava opened its gate and was possessed, triggering a catastrophic magnetic storm and earthquakes across Dawn Star.

• Nicole Ashkali guided the Thousand Sons through the storm toward the C'tan, while Hathor warned Asava to report their progress to the Primarch.
• Asava heard the storm, approached the C'tan, and forced Ashkali to open its gate by rapidly activating its runes.
• Hathor struck Asava with lightning, but Asava unleashed a Psychic Scream that injured guards and sparked a fight between the two fellowships.
• Hathor told Phosis T'kar to take command and restrain Asava, but Asava spoke an unknown language and triggered a magnetic field reversal.
• Earthquakes split Dawn Star's crust, swallowed a Hive City cluster and three coastal cities, and let Asava escape into the C'tan's cabin.
• Hathor saw Asava emerge from the C'tan in red armor and realized the C'tan had possessed him.

Perturabo’s evacuation plan for Dawn Star collapsed amid disasters and a rebellion, so he joined Magnus to use a device against the C’tan. On Zarukin, Hathor Maat survived by soothing the voices within the C’tan until the Thousand Sons retreated, and Magnus arrived just as the C’tan sensed a threat.

• Magnus told Perturabo that Dawn Star’s accelerated magnetic reversal was part of a conspiracy, but earthquakes, tsunamis, and the Red Dragon rebellion disrupted Perturabo’s evacuation plan.
• Perturabo revealed the completed Warp navigation device and went with Magnus, who combined it with his own machine aboard a Stormbird bound for Zarukin.
• Asava overwhelmed Hathor Maat and the Thousand Sons with psychic and molten attacks, killing more than a dozen Legionaries and shattering Phosis T’kar’s Force Shield.
• Hathor realized he could soothe some of the dead Psykers within the C’tan, and his words persuaded the entity to let the Thousand Sons retreat while he stayed behind.
• Magnus’s red Stormbird arrived, and Asava sensed a lifeform capable of threatening him.

Magnus used a device built by Lord Perturabo to wound the C'tan, then entered a psychic battle with it aboard the ancient colony ship. As the Thousand Sons rushed to his position, the ship's damaged systems failed and it began to fall.

• Magnus struck the C'tan with a beam from the modified machine, blasting it through the colony ship's hull and forcing it inside.
• Hathor told Magnus that the C'tan contained the voices of persecuted Psykers and suggested easing their resentment to resolve the threat.
• The colony ship rose into the air and aimed its cannons downward, so Magnus called the Thousand Sons to his position and reached the bridge with his consciousness.
• Magnus clashed with the C'tan in the Great Ocean as Ahriman and the Pavoni Cult hurried through Zarukin to reach him.
• Ahriman warned that the colony ship was falling after Magnus's psychic clash destroyed its weapon, control, and power systems, and Magnus called on his sons to gather their strength upon him.

Magnus stopped the colony ship from crushing Dawn Star and captured the C'tan, though many Thousand Sons died bearing the strain of his power. Eleven days later, the C'tan escaped his restraints only to be sucked into the Book of Magnus, while Hathor watched the book return to Magnus.

• Magnus used the Warp device and the Thousand Sons' combined power to halt the falling colony ship, but the strain turned many of the connected warriors to dust.
• After the colony ship crashed, Magnus bound the wounded C'tan in golden chains and sealed him inside the device, while Hathor prepared to question him.
• Magnus praised Hathor's performance and carved runes that would hold the C'tan for roughly ten days; Hathor began his work as a "Psychiatrist."
• Eleven days later, Magnus praised Hathor for helping at least a thousand Psykers find peace, but the device suddenly shattered.
• The C'tan cried, "All is dust!" as the Book of Magnus sucked him into its pages, then fell into Magnus's hand.

Nimrod joined the council as Magnus and Perturabo reported on the Dawn Star evacuation, and the Fabricator-General presented new Iron Pattern armor. The Emperor chose Nimrod to accompany him to Barbarus and recover their brother Mortarion.

• Nimrod heard that Perturabo and Magnus had evacuated 1,030,000 people from Dawn Star, while Magnus concealed the C'tan's involvement.
• The Emperor and Constantin Valdor arrived, and Magnus gave the Emperor a detailed report on the evacuation without mentioning the Warp entity C'tan.
• Malcador reported that the publicized evacuation had encouraged Imperial worlds, and the Fabricator-General introduced Iron Pattern armor for frontal combat and confined environments.
• The Emperor announced that a man on Barbarus was leading attacks against the xenos Overlord enslaving humanity, then chose Nimrod to accompany him and recover Mortarion.
• Nimrod considered the chance to obtain the Overlord as potion ingredients and accepted the Emperor's order.

Nimrod arrived on Barbarus and accepted The Old Man in Yellow's order to help Mortarion overthrow the xenos, receiving the strike cruiser Dark Monarch as a reward. As Nimrod flew down to meet Mortarion, he found the Primarch preparing to defend the fields from a larger-than-usual xenos raid.

• Nimrod arrived at Barbarus and met The Old Man in Yellow, who ordered him to help Mortarion overthrow the xenos and promised him the strike cruiser Dark Monarch.
• Nimrod accepted the assignment, ordered Arsena Dunn to take possession of Dark Monarch, and flew toward the planet to meet Mortarion and discuss support.
• Mortarion harvested crops with his followers on Barbarus while they prepared for the dangerous conditions and the threat of xenos raids.
• Mortarion spotted a larger-than-usual xenos force approaching the fields and rallied his followers, with Calas Typhon readying himself for battle.
• Mortarion charged toward the xenos commanders, seeking to stop the raid before the attackers damaged the crops.

Mortarion and the Death Guard fought the Overlords’ corpse army to protect Barbarus’s farmland, but the militia suffered heavy losses and the group was forced to retreat. Nimrod arrived in a black aircraft and joined the battle, leaving Mortarion stunned by his weapons and speed.

• Mortarion and the Death Guard attacked the Overlords’ walking corpses while the Overlords routed the militia with poison and sorcery.
• Mortarion ordered his warriors to gather around him and retreat toward the fields as the Death Guard’s scythes broke under the corpses’ corruption.
• Mortarion spotted a flying object approaching through the fog, and Nimrod landed in a black aircraft.
• Nimrod offered help, and Mortarion accepted as the militia collapsed nearby.
• Nimrod killed several Overlords with his Plasma Gun and Perturabo’s plasma air gun, astonishing Mortarion.

Nimrod traded food, weapons, armor, and filtration devices with Mortarion and the people of Barbarus for local plants, animals, and Overlord heads, helping Mortarion rapidly grow his resistance army. On the fourteenth day, Mortarion returned with captured Psyker children, including a powerful boy he dragged in chains, and the camp’s hatred of witchcraft came into view.

• Mortarion introduced himself to Nimrod, who explained that he wanted to trade for Barbarus’s plants, animals, and Overlord heads.
• Mortarion accepted Nimrod’s offer and assigned Typhon to negotiate the trade; a transport ship delivered food and equipment, prompting the people of Barbarus to accept the deal.
• Mortarion used the supplies to recruit followers, and Malena Scala reported that Nimrod had acquired 140 species and more than 7,200 specimens.
• Typhon brought in thorn-covered Flesh Roses, and Nimrod offered steel scythes, antidotes, and protective gloves in exchange for more.
• Mortarion arrived with chained Psyker children, whom the camp’s people met with fear and hatred, while Nimrod noticed that Mortarion singled out a boy with exceptional psionic power.

Nimrod intervened to save a gifted child from Mortarion’s execution of the captured Psykers, bargaining custom weapons and armor in exchange. Fifteen days later, Mortarion received his promised equipment and departed, while Nimrod reflected that their deal had kept them from becoming enemies for now.

• Nimrod decided to save the gifted child, judging that his future relationship with Mortarion was unlikely to last.
• Nimrod confronted Mortarion and demanded the children; Mortarion insisted that Wizards deserved death, but Typhon supported the exchange.
• Mortarion agreed to spare the children in return for custom-made armor and weapons, and Nimrod freed them from their chains.
• The saved youth, Ethan, pledged his loyalty to Nimrod and followed him away from the camp.
• Fifteen days later, Mortarion put on the Plasteel armor, took up his new scythe, and left after acknowledging that Nimrod had kept his promise.

Mortarion fought his way through the overlords’ forces to confront and kill the Pale King Necare. With Barbarus liberated, he ordered Typhon to trade the other overlords’ heads to Nimrod for antidotes and farm tools.

• Mortarion and the Death Guard led Barbarus’s militia up the mountain toward the overlords’ fortress.
• Mortarion fought through the walking corpses, using a Combat Nutrient Injection to regain his strength as he reached the fortress.
• Mortarion confronted Necare, and his traded armor protected him from the overlord’s attacks until poison gas began seeping through a damaged plate.
• Mortarion injected the Black Serum he had obtained from Nimrod, recovered from the poison, and killed Necare with his scythe.
• Mortarion told Typhon to trade the other overlords’ heads to Nimrod for antidotes and farm tools, declaring Barbarus liberated.

Nimrod recovered Mortarion from Barbarus, then prepared a massive Shadow of Order invasion of Gardinal. As his fleet arrived, William Wood was hunting in Gardinal’s chemical-waste mountains, and the High Lords ordered the intruders to leave.

• Nimrod brought Mortarion aboard the Bucephalus to meet the Emperor, and five days later departed Barbarus with the Dusk Raiders fleet.
• Nimrod ordered six Legions, the Tiger Eye Titan Legions, House Mordred, and the Veroni family to assemble for the campaign against Gardinal.
• Nimrod used the Dice of Prophecy to divine events in Gardinal, where William Wood hunted for food and killed a Ravager in the chemical-waste mountains.
• Shadow of Order’s Ramillies-class Star Fortress and fleet arrived in the Gardinal system through Carium Gate.
• Gardinal’s orbital defenses sounded alarms, and the High Lords ordered the intruders to leave.