Chapter Summaries

Lord Ramsey brought thirteen Bone-Drinker parasites to the 10th Battalion’s Apothecaries so they could develop a way to capture them. After experiments, Mikel devised a compound drug to immobilize the parasites and proposed using Attila’s Oveja as bait.

• Ramsey delivered thirteen Bone-Drinker parasites to Chief Apothecary Mikel, who used moonlight to keep some of them dormant during testing.
• The Apothecaries studied the parasites and found that they depended on hosts, fed on biological bones, and died within hours of leaving a body.
• A Potion Professor used Catachan Spike Grass sap to destroy the parasites, but Mikel and Ramsey rejected the method because they needed to capture them alive.
• After several failed tests, Mikel combined Mirel Catcher toxin and Nuceria Anesthetic into a compound that immobilized a parasite.
• Mikel proposed mixing the trapping drug into Attila’s Oveja to lure Bone-Drinkers from as far as five hundred kilometers away.

On Andrews Prime, civilians feared being overrun by fluff-covered xenos until the 10th Battalion of Shadow of Order, sent by Lord Primarch Nimrod, purged the threat. Survivors emerged from their shelters and praised Lord Nimrod and Shadow of Order.

• A Water Guild overseer saw Lasgun fire fail to stop the fluff-covered xenos, and the creatures approached the civilians' shelter.
• The xenos withdrew from the shelter and swarmed a strange, downy creature until it became a huge sphere.
• Shadow of Order broadcast that the 10th Battalion had been ordered to rescue Andrews' people and told civilians to remain inside.
• Three hours later, black-armored warriors appeared, and two standard days afterward Shadow of Order announced that the xenos had been purged.
• The survivors left their shelters and thanked the warriors, while a spaceport clerk recalled the Bone-Drinker and praised Lord Nimrod and Shadow of Order as stronger than the Space Wolves and Night Lords.

Maria Kournikova and William Wood used the Shadow of Order’s covert methods to capture Bone-Drinkers on Santpedor and Milton before the Space Wolves could reach them. Bjorn struggled to understand how the targets had vanished, while Nimrod received the captured creatures and learned that Mikel had arrived at Terra.

• Maria Kournikova killed King Pep and his convoy, then used the Witches and Ovejas to deal with the Bone-Drinkers on Santpedor.
• William Wood lured the barbarians carrying Bone-Drinkers together on Milton and used Ovejas to capture them, then told the Wolves they had arrived too late.
• Wolf Lord Ogvi Heimschrut questioned Bjorn about ships connected to the Bone-Drinkers, and Bjorn reported that Ovejas and the xenos had vanished from their cargoes.
• Tierney prepared to sacrifice the Bone-Drinkers collected aboard the Fire of Vostonia to his Lord.
• Nimrod received the Ark-Haris sacrificed by the 10th Battalion, sent them into the Seventh Layer Space, and learned that Mikel had arrived at Terra.

Lemuel Gaumon left for the Himalayas seeking a cure for his dying wife, Marika, while agents of Lord Nimrod arrived at her home to treat her. The chapter ended as Eivoss began an operation to remove her brain cancer.

• Lemuel exhausted conventional and forbidden treatments for Marika before deciding to seek reclusive Magi in the Himalayas, and he sold his assets and departed.
• Ivos Jovan, Mikel, and Barton learned that Lemuel had set out, and Mikel and Ivos left to treat Marika under Lord Nimrod's decree.
• The Sanga lord led Barton, Mikel, Ivos, and their companions to Marika's sickroom, where Mikel prepared her for surgery with a diluted medicine containing the blood of the Primarch Omega.
• Mikel put Marika to sleep and told her the medicine would eliminate her astrocytoma, then Eivoss prepared to operate with an oak tree sap from Laern.

After learning that the Shadow of Order had taken Marika for treatment, Lemuel Gaumon sold his fortune and earned approval to become a Remembrancer for the Thousand Sons so he could seek help for her. Meanwhile, Petronella Viva arrived aboard the Shadow of the Throne, determined to write Nimrod’s biography.

• Lemuel returned from the Himalayas and learned that Lord Sanga and Lord Drake had taken Marika away for treatment by the Shadow of Order.
• Drake told Lemuel that Marika was alive and advised him to seek help from the Fifteenth Legion and the Thousand Sons.
• Lemuel decided to become a Remembrancer, sold his fortune, and gained Lord Sanga’s support for his application.
• An Administratum reviewing official approved Lemuel’s application to record the Thousand Sons’ achievements during the Great Crusade.
• Petronella Viva arrived on the Shadow of the Throne as a Remembrancer, choosing Nimrod and the Shadow of Order so she could write Nimrod’s biography.

Petronella Viva sought an audience with Nimrod, claiming she could offer him unique value, while Nimrod recalled her future role in recording Horus’s fall and resolved to prevent her from witnessing his own. He reassigned Marika, under the name Lorraine, to serve as Vostonia’s clerk as he considered the risk that Petronella might uncover her identity.

• Petronella reviewed records about Nimrod, focused on the private epithet “Blood King,” and went to request an audience with him through Arsena Dunn.
• Nimrod recalled Petronella’s future as Horus’s remembrancer and her eventual death, then agreed to meet her at eleven.
• Nimrod considered the possibility that Petronella could discover Marika’s identity and promoted Marika, known as Lorraine, to clerk of Vostonia.
• Nimrod sent Arsena to escort Marika and remembered Hathor Maat’s report that Lemuel Gaumon had become a Legion Remembrancer and befriended Callista Orestes and Camille Shivani.

Petronella Viva persuaded Nimrod to appoint her as his documentary author, while Nimrod advanced Thomas and set plans in motion to capture the Hraf Originator. The chapter ended with the Legions preparing to gather at the Carium Gate in 997.

• Petronella Viva dressed for her meeting with Nimrod and asked to become his chronicler, arguing that she could shape an image of him that Terra’s nobles would respect and love.
• Nimrod accepted Petronella as his documentary author, and she left delighted by her success.
• Nimrod gave Chief Librarian Thomas the Sequence 5 Astrologer potion after Thomas mapped the Ark Fringe Cluster, then instructed him to gather Librarians at the Carium Gate in 997.
• Nimrod ordered Sanchez and fifteen Conspirators to use Lady Hera’s Data Crystal to devise a plan to capture the Hraf Originator alive.
• Nimrod instructed the lords of six Legions to assemble at the Carium Gate in 997 without auxiliary troops, intending to seize Lady Hera and obtain its valuable technology and materials.

Nimrod prepared to hunt the Hraf Originator on Indra-Sur, while Petronella insisted on chronicling the expedition and Togon Khan joined him out of admiration. Nimrod assigned forces to deal with the Indra-Sur rebellion and ordered another group to set out for Muspel, where the Ninth Legion had not eradicated the xenos.

• Petronella refused Nimrod's offer to stay behind, and he gave her a Vespid Pariah skull to protect her during the expedition.
• Hasik brought Togon Khan to meet Nimrod, and Togon accepted Nimrod's invitation to join the hunt.
• Nimrod influenced Petronella to erase her notes about Togon and Hasik, then sent her away before the war council.
• Nimrod gave Sanchez a Black Blade and assigned the Second and Fifth Legions to assist the Seventh Legion against the Indra-Sur rebellion.
• Nimrod ordered Howard Fender, Bukayo Arshavin, Adams, Ramsey, and William Wood to set out for Muspel, whose xenos Sanguinius had left undefeated.

Chapter Master Sanchez prepared a conspiracy to divide the Hraf on Indra-Sur while Librarian Okafor patrolled the warship, but Governor Yersen used psychic control to turn the planet’s people against the Shadow of Order. The chapter ended with Yersen vowing to bury the arriving Astartes, followed by an author’s New Year notice promising readers an impossibly rapid path to godhood.

• Sanchez reviewed his past connection to Indra-Sur and planned to lure and divide the Hraf, keeping a reduced crew and disabling the ship’s Simian Field.
• Sanchez asked Okafor to patrol the Void Hunter, while Edwards followed a psychic whisper and gathered twelve others to sabotage the ship’s power core and energy conduits.
• Yersen broadcast that the Shadow of Order had unlawfully removed him, and the Hrafs spread a psychic network that silenced opposition across Indra-Sur.
• Yersen commanded the planet’s people to fight, and they armed themselves and moved into defensive positions against the Shadow of Order.
• Yersen, weakened by his psychic exertion, vowed to bury the Shadow of Order before leaving Indra-Sur.

The 7th Legion bombarded Indra-Sur and launched an assault, but Hraf’s influence turned civilians and crew against Shadow of Order. As the Legion broke the psychic control and charged the Planetary Governor’s mansion, the Hraf Originator instantly killed two company captains with psychic flames, leaving Sanchez to face the threat.

• The 7th Legion destroyed Indra-Sur’s orbital defenses, and Okafor saw its bombardment sever the psychic tendrils rooted in the planet.
• Edwards, controlled by Hraf, tried to lead Enforcers to attack Shadow of Order, but Okafor and the Librarian fought back, and Okafor’s Gryphon’s Roar shattered Hraf’s psychic network.
• Hraf-controlled civilians killed several black-armored warriors at the Planetary Governor’s mansion before the psychic control ended and they recoiled in horror.
• Sanchez ordered the attack, and the “Conspirators” charged the mansion to reach the Hraf Originator without burning the civilians it had enslaved.
• The Hraf Originator killed the Fourth Company Captain and the 13th Company Captain with psychic flames as Sanchez advanced.

Sanchez and the other “Conspirators” fought the Hraf Originator Yersen, resisting his psychic attacks and driving him back with their flames and weapons. After the battle, Sanchez ordered the survivors to gather the aberrant parasitic bodies for a sacrificial ritual to the Black Emperor.

• Sanchez controlled blazing white flames to weaken the Hraf Originator’s psychic fire, while Polti and the other “Conspirators” joined the attack.
• Planetary Governor Yersen tried to break the captains’ mental defenses by boasting of his age and insulting Nimrod and the Black Emperor, but the captains held firm.
• After Sanchez taunted the ancient Hraf Originator, Yersen unleashed his power, and Sanchez used Warp Vision to spot Yersen’s weakness and charge him with the Thunderwolf King and the Catachan Wolves.
• Two Hraf hosts attacked the “Conspirators,” but Stevenson overcame a traumatic memory and killed one with the poisoned Catachan Fang, while Polti decapitated it.
• Yersen shattered Sanchez’s shield and broke his right arm, but Sanchez stabbed him in the chest with the Black Blade, severely wounding the Hraf Originator and forcing him to retreat.
• Sanchez collected the remains of fallen “Conspirators” and ordered everyone to gather the aberrant parasitic bodies for a sacrificial ritual to the Black Emperor.

Nimrod directed his forces to pursue the Hraf Originator and learned that Muspel had suffered a series of suspicious losses, confirming the xenos threat there. When Muspel’s orbital defenses unexpectedly activated, Hasik presented a new hunting plan, leaving Nimrod to face the changed situation.

• Nimrod praised Sanchez for wounding the Hraf Originator and ordered Santiago to search for the entrance to Origin Space while Wilshire supported the operation.
• Petronella told Nimrod about years of unexplained losses and disruptions around Muspel, including missing ships, personnel, and communications.
• Nimrod connected the abnormalities to the Hraf Originator on Muspel and considered whether the Lion would still miss the Ullanor Campaign.
• Hasik and Togon arrived, interrupting Petronella as she praised the jewelry made for her earrings.
• Hasik reported that Muspel’s orbital defense system had activated, and Nimrod concluded the Originator knew they had tracked him.
• Hasik told Nimrod he had a new plan for hunting the Originator.

Togon Khan joined Hasik’s campaign to conquer Muspel and was assigned to capture Elegy Island alongside the Shadow of Order. During the assault, he destroyed a Swordtail Interceptor and reached the island’s runway as his bike was hit.

• Togon asked Hasik to assign him an assault mission so he could fight alongside the Shadow of Order, and Hasik gave his brotherhood the objective of taking Elegy Island.
• Togon resolved to reach the island before the Shadow of Order and prove he could follow Lord Nimrod’s footsteps despite failing to become his gene-son.
• Togon led 520 bikes in a rapid assault on Elegy Island, where Hera’s defenses shot down four of his battle-brothers.
• Togon evaded the Swordtail Interceptor, crashed his Scythe-Lance into it, and split the fighter in two with his Curved Power Sword.
• A shell struck Togon’s bike, so he kicked free and slammed onto the runway as his warriors charged.

Lord Bukayo Arshavin entered Banks’s Nightmare and destroyed Hraf’s parasite, freeing the pilot from her psychic control. On Elegy Island, Togon Khan fought Hraf while the Third Legion captured three islands ahead of him and Shiban.

• Bukayo chose a landing zone near Elegy Island as the Third Legion’s Stormbirds and fighters attacked Clawhook Island’s defenses.
• Bukayo entered Banks’s Nightmare, located Hraf’s tendril, and destroyed it with psychic powers and scrolls.
• Banks recovered from Hraf’s intrusion, and Bukayo praised him and promised he could serve their lord after Muspel.
• Togon Khan fought Hraf on Elegy Island, endured her psychic attacks, and struck her with his Curved Power Sword.
• Togon saw that the Third Legion had already captured Meilizhen Island, Clawhook Island, and Tailbone Island, beating him and Shiban to the islands.

Togon Khan and the Third Legion assaulted Vaneskrey, where Hraf’s forces and heavy defenses inflicted losses before Bukayo defeated Hraf using powerful weapons. The battle remained unresolved as two War Hounds Titans advanced under the Hraf Originator’s control.

• Togon Khan reunited with the Moonlight Brotherhood, learned fourteen battle-brothers had been lost, and led them south with the Third Legion.
• The Third Legion attacked Vaneskrey under heavy fire, then broke through the gate and drove its armored vehicles into the fortress.
• Hraf appeared and used psychic power to destroy armored vehicles and attack Togon, while Bukayo fought him with Ring Weapons and a Protective Orb.
• Bukayo silenced Hraf’s psychic shriek, froze him, and punched him to death.
• Two War Hounds Titans, Asia Predator and Hellhound, approached and raised their weapons under the Hraf Originator’s control.

Nimrod fought the Hraf Originator as it attacked the Titan crews and tried to overwhelm him with visions of civilizations erased by time. Nimrod destroyed its psychic tendrils and found its hidden host, while Togon Khan arrived to witness their battle.

• The Asia Predator and Hellhound crews turned against Nimrod under the Hraf Originator’s influence, but Nimrod’s psychic power froze the Titans and shattered an iceberg formed from the tendrils.
• Nimrod detected a tentacle inside the Hellhound’s plasma reactor and saw visions of ancient species, the rise of humanity, and a future in which the Imperium decayed.
• The Hraf Originator taunted Nimrod with visions of his empire turning to dust, but Nimrod reached the third Mindset of Thelema and declared that he and the Shadow of Order would outlast Hraf.
• Nimrod shattered the tendrils with psychic impacts, charged through a city wall, and found the Hraf Originator hidden among soldiers in a human host.
• The Hraf Originator attacked Nimrod with an aetheric blade, and Nimrod struck back with his Power Fist as Togon Khan arrived and cut down an Enslaved.

Nimrod defeated the Hraf Originator by turning the fight into his own mind, where he located the Hraf origin world and seized a piece of the Originator’s true body. The Hraf parasites on Muspel lost their psychic focus, and Togon Khan saw Nimrod holding the xenos leader’s host.

• The Hraf Originator disrupted Nimrod’s foresight and attacked with the Aether Blade, but Nimrod countered with Entropy Energy and destroyed the weapon.
• The Hraf Originator drew Nimrod into his mind and claimed that Nimrod’s powers were useless there, but Nimrod revealed that he controlled the mental world.
• Nimrod overwhelmed the Hraf Originator’s mind, tracing its psychic images to a shattered star system in the northern galaxy.
• The Hraf Originator tried to flee, but Nimrod seized one of its tendrils along with the host body, obtaining a piece of its true body as a divination medium.
• The Enslavers on Muspel stopped, the Asia Predator and Hellhound reactors shut down, and Togon Khan looked up to see Nimrod holding the Hraf Originator’s parasite.

Santiago Bergkamp charted the Hraf home worlds and divined that the six systems faced destruction, allowing Nimrod to plan an expedition to find an entrance to Origin Space. The Hraf Originators recognized the threat and united, recalling their tendrils from the real world.

• Santiago Bergkamp used a Data Crystal and divination to map six Hraf home systems and foresee their destruction.
• Santiago delivered the star map to Nimrod, who decided to search the Hraf home worlds for an entrance to Origin Space.
• Nimrod ordered Santiago to find the entrance and distributed the star map to the Legions participating in the war.
• The Hraf Originators learned that the Shadow of Order had found their abandoned home worlds and agreed to unite against Nimrod.
• The Hraf Originators recalled their tendrils from the real world and returned their consciousnesses to their bodies.

Santiago Bergkamp led the Shadow of Order fleet against Lady Hera’s Hraf ships, then locked onto their positions to begin a teleport assault. Dickson and the Terminators arrived aboard a Hraf vessel, where a Hraf immediately attacked the Honor Guard.

• Lady Hera’s Hraf ships attacked the 7th Legion’s Simian Fields with tendrils and Psychic Weapons, while Santiago Bergkamp directed the fleet’s response.
• Santiago ordered the Starship’s Aether Cannons to fire, damaging Hraf ships and gaining the Shadow of Order fleet an advantage.
• Santiago used his Aetheric Sight to locate the Hraf ships’ positions and record teleport coordinates.
• Dickson and the Terminators teleported aboard a Hraf ship, where a Hraf emerged through the wall and tore through a Punisher Knight’s armor and body.
• A Punisher Knight struck back with a Power Fist, but the Hraf screamed psychically and raked its claws toward another Honor Guard member.

Dickson and the Honor Guard fought the Hrafs aboard the Crystal Spindle, using their forbidden psychic power to weaken the xenos and capture one. Dickson continued charging toward another Hraf as the battle raged on.

• Dickson struck Herav with his Power Fist, and Obsidian stunned Herav while Dickson imprisoned him in transparent mucus.
• Dickson sensed more xenos approaching and turned to fight the Hrafs emerging from the bulkheads.
• A Hraf wielded a Warp Distortion that clashed with Dickson’s Power Fist, while the other Hrafs attacked and killed members of the Honor Guard.
• Dickson and the surviving Honor Guard invoked their forbidden power, weakening the Hrafs’ Warp weapons and psychic attacks.
• Dickson smashed a Hraf’s Warp Distortion and imprisoned the xenos in mucus before charging toward another Hraf.