Chapter Summaries

Nimrod convened the Court of the Black Duke to plan the Shadow of Order’s campaign against the Orb Weaver League, prioritizing the seizure of its ancient Teleport gates. After the meeting, he kept Arsena and Adams behind.

• Nimrod praised the six Chapters and awarded Sanchez the Relic-class battleship Void Hunter for his successful ambush against the Exodite Aeldari.
• Nimrod explained that the Legion’s first objective in the Orb Weaver League was to capture all its Teleport gates simultaneously before the technocratic nobles could destroy them.
• The six lords and Szczesny assured Nimrod that the Legion could coordinate the operation and pass his orders down through its ranks.
• Rosicky proposed researching an interference device to delay attempts to overload and detonate the Teleport gates, and Nimrod ordered him to begin immediately.
• Nimrod established succession rules for commanders killed in battle, then drafted an initial war plan with the assembled lords and kept Arsena and Adams behind after the meeting.

Nimrod advanced his research into mystic language and inspected the Legions' spoils while Thomas rejected the Heart-Slayer's attempts to tempt him. The Eleventh Legion reached the Orb Weaver League, where Adams was expected to develop his Gravedigger powers among the Iron Lords' tombs.

• Nimrod confirmed Adams had digested the Corpse Collector potion and told him to use the Iron Lords' tombs to master his Gravedigger powers.
• Arsena showed Nimrod his findings on Core and Auxiliary Runes, and Nimrod told him to expand the mystic word list.
• Thomas used the Eye of Secrecy to study the Heart-Slayer's statue, heard its offers of power and knowledge, and refused to serve it.
• Nimrod found a white, eye-shaped piece of brain tissue among the spoils, identifying it as the main ingredient for Arsena's Sequence 8 potion.
• The Eleventh Legion's fleet arrived in the region controlled by the Orb Weaver League.

The Eleventh Legion launched its planned assault on the Orb Weaver League across the Necromunda system, with Shadow of the Throne overwhelming enemy ships and Legion fleets securing the Warp Gates. As Nimrod ordered Shadow of the Throne toward strategic point E, Diana spotted an enemy fleet heading for point B that no force could intercept.

• Diana Pauline began the void battle after Nimrod ordered the attack, and Shadow of the Throne destroyed a cruiser with its prow Lance before blasting more Orb Weaver League ships with its broadside guns.
• The Orb Weaver League’s command network fell into chaos, and its fleets split, with some retreating toward orbit while others headed for the Warp Gates and ran into the Fourth Legion.
• Diana reported that the enemy had been held outside the blockade line and that capital ships had deployed around the designated Warp Gates.
• The Eleventh Legion and the other five Chapters captured the Warp Gates across the system, while Sanchez’s Void Hunter swiftly destroyed a system fleet.
• Nimrod ordered Shadow of the Throne to strategic point E, but Diana spotted an enemy fleet emerging from the asteroid belt and heading toward strategic point B, beyond the reach of any intercepting fleet.

Diana’s fleet disabled the Orb Weaver League’s Warp Gate and seized control of Necromunda’s orbital defenses, while the other Legions captured the remaining star systems. The Second Legion conquered the agricultural worlds with minimal losses, and Nimrod began his assault on Necromunda’s highest tower to reach the Chief Iron Lord.

• Diana ordered Rosicky to activate the Teleport Jammer, which paralyzed Warp Gate B and trapped three enemy warships in an energy storm.
• Diana redeployed the fleet, and the Eleventh Legion took five Warp Gate regions before defeating the surviving Orb Weaver League fleet at Necromunda.
• Nimrod received a report that the other Legions had captured the Warp Gates in their assigned systems, while the Second Legion faced the strongest void resistance in the agricultural system.
• Merson ordered the Second Legion to strike the ruling towers on the four agricultural worlds, and its warriors occupied 163 towers in 22 hours with only 13 fatalities.
• After securing Necromunda’s orbit, Nimrod entered a specially made drop pod and descended toward the highest tower to attack the Chief Iron Lord.

Nimrod and the Shadow of Order attacked Necromunda’s First Spire and fought their way toward its tallest building through the Techno-aristocrats’ forces. The assault reached a confrontation between Nimrod and the Chief Iron Lord, whose energy field blocked Nimrod’s weapons.

• The Shadow of the Throne’s drop pods destroyed the First Spire’s protective shield and crashed into the spire, while attacks began on the other seven spires.
• Nimrod led the Honor Guard toward the tallest building and encountered Techno-aristocrats and their cybernetically modified Spider Soldiers.
• The Shadow of Order’s Warriors and Hunters fought through the enemy, while Legion aircraft and gunships joined the battle and pushed the Spider Soldiers back.
• A giant metal enemy killed two warriors of the Shadow of Order, and Nimrod identified him as the Chief Iron Lord.
• Nimrod attacked the Chief Iron Lord, but the enemy’s energy field deflected his Bolter rounds and clashed with his sword as the Chief Iron Lord struck at his head.

Nimrod killed the Chief Iron Lord and captured his treasury as the Eleventh Legion crushed the Orb Weaver League. The Legion took control of six star systems, while fighting continued elsewhere in the Salto System.

• Nimrod exploited the Chief Iron Lord’s weakened defenses, killed him with his Power Sword, and forced the Techno-aristocrats and Spider Soldiers to surrender.
• Nimrod ordered five mortally wounded Honor Guard members entombed in Dreadnoughts, then broke into the Chief Iron Lord’s treasury and found ingredients for the Appraiser and Mechanic Expert potions.
• The Seventh Iron Lord killed the Fourth Legion’s Fifth Company captain and three adjutants with a Fishman Artifact, but the captain mortally wounded him with a thrown Power Axe.
• Kion took command of the Fifth Company and directed the purge after the captain and his adjutants died.
• The Eleventh Legion defeated the Orb Weaver League, captured six star systems and their Warp Gates, and sent teams to search Necromunda’s tower depths for unusual creatures.
• The Faceless Ones retook node B-25 from the Orks in the Salto System.

Suarez discovered that the Faceless Ones could gain strength by eating Orks, then showed Joffre captured Squigs for Nimrod. After Nimrod honored the victors of the Orb Weaver League campaign, he dispatched forces toward Tanith and went Underhive hunting with his Honor Guard.

• Suarez ate the Ork boss's arms and found them delicious, but realized he had not eaten enough to gain strength.
• Suarez told Joffre that the Third Legion had discovered Cypra Mundi and showed him captured Squigs; Joffre recommended transporting them on a dedicated ship.
• The Faceless Ones loaded the Squigs onto a transport ship bound for Vostonia.
• Nimrod awarded campaign medals, personally decorating Kion and other outstanding warriors and commanders.
• Nimrod sent the 7th Legion and the 12th Chapter toward Tanith to destroy the xenos and take control of the planet.
• Nimrod led the Sleepless and the Hunters of the Honor Guard into the Underhive to hunt.

Nimrod and the Shadows of Order hunted through Necromunda’s Lower Hive, gathering potion materials and tracking a legendary Giant Spirit Spider. After killing two enormous Raft Spiders, Nimrod considered using the Dice of Prophecy to locate Catachan and plan recruitment worlds for his Chapters.

• Nimrod led the black-armored warriors through the Lower Hive, collecting Spine Crystal and killing Slime Jellies.
• In an abandoned dome, Nimrod identified Ripper Kids as potion materials and used a Psychic Scream to incapacitate hundreds of them.
• A Hunter found giant spider tracks, and Nimrod ordered the Shadows of Order to follow the webs and footprints into the creature’s territory.
• Nimrod found two Raft Spiders in a sewage pool, killed one with a Chainsword and the other with a psychic attack, then brought both corpses into the Kingdom of Disorder.
• Nimrod considered using the Dice of Prophecy to find Catachan and assign suitable recruitment worlds to his Chapters, then went to check the Dice.

Nimrod arranged the occupation of Necromunda and sent forces to Vigilant Star, while Chief Apothecary Mikel prepared potions to improve the candidates’ modification surgeries. The chapter ended with Mikel responding to a subject in distress as Physician Malena Scala departed for Farm No. 5.

• Nimrod tasked Adams with establishing a new order on Necromunda and hunting Giant Spirit Spiders, and assigned Rosicky Czech to study the Warp Gate, Orb Weaver League technology, and Raft Spider tissue.
• Nimrod ordered the Second, Fifth, and 11th Chapters to support the Arbites Lord at Vigilant Star against the Saim-Hann craftworld.
• On the primary planet of the Triken system, Mikel gathered herbs and prepared potions to reduce rejection reactions during the candidates’ modification surgeries.
• Mikel distributed the potions to the candidates and directed them to the operating rooms, noting that his potion had increased surgery success by 5.2 percent.
• Mikel detected a subject trembling in Surgical Chamber No. 4 and began emergency treatment, while Malena Scala left the mountain after surgery and flew toward Farm No. 5.

Malena Scala discovered Aeldari raiders attacking Farm No. 5, defeated them, and healed the blighted crops. Meanwhile, Howard’s attempt to trap the Khaine-Hann Craftworld failed when its Farseer sensed the danger, but the First Chapter received word that the Primarch had arrived.

• Malena Scala inspected Farm No. 5 with Keri and identified a strange blight affecting its crops.
• Exodite Aeldari raiders attacked, and Malena bound and killed them using cultivated plants and Psychic Lightning.
• Malena restored the farmland and crops with her healing abilities.
• Howard devised a trap for the Khaine-Hann Craftworld, but its Farseer sensed the ambush and evaded most of the fleet’s fire.
• The Vox Master told Howard that the Primarch had arrived.

The Eleventh Legion besieged the red Craftworld in the Vigilant Star System, where the Aeldari used holofields to conceal their ships and lure the fleet into an ambush. Nimrod recognized the trap and ordered Aether Cannon attacks, while Howard Fender awakened Warp Insight to guide The Serrated’s Lance against a hidden enemy ship; Nimrod then turned his attention to the Craftworld.

• The Aeldari Farseer ordered the Craftworld to activate its holofields and called the Cosmic Serpents into battle, hoping to kill Nimrod.
• Nimrod recognized the hidden ambush and ordered ships equipped with Aether Cannons to attack the concealed Aeldari vessels.
• Howard Fender relayed Nimrod’s orders and sent Yaxin’s Pride of Vostonia and Michal’s Dark Verdict to fire their Aether Cannons.
• Howard awakened Warp Insight, revealed a ship attacking The Serrated, and guided its prow Lance to destroy it.
• Howard used Warp Insight again to target another enemy ship, while Nimrod set his sights on the Craftworld.

Nimrod and Diana led the Shadow of the Throne’s forces in a battle against the Saim-Hann Craftworld, crushing its aerial assault and forcing the Farseer to order a retreat. As the Aeldari vessels withdrew into the Craftworld, the Primarch spread his consciousness throughout his ship to make its response faster and deadlier.

• Nimrod directed the Shadow of the Throne’s pursuit while Diana organized a concentrated counterattack against Saim-Hann’s aircraft.
• Auxilia pilots met the Aeldari Shuriken fire with relentless autocannon barrages, destroying more than thirty Viper Gunships in the first clash.
• Diana used concentrated fire, flank attacks, and a three-stage assault to annihilate four Saim-Hann clans.
• The Farseer foresaw Nimrod’s Aetheric Field cannons exposing and destroying the Craftworld, so he ordered Saim-Hann to retreat from Vigilant Star.
• Nimrod saw Aeldari warships return through the Craftworld’s docks and spread his consciousness through the Shadow of the Throne to speed its response.

The Farseer ordered Saim-Hann’s ships and aircraft to sacrifice themselves so the Craftworld could escape Nimrod’s attack. Nimrod abandoned its destruction but precisely crippled its departing fleet, then landed on a forested fragment and encountered Aeldari Rangers seeking revenge.

• The Farseer ordered Saim-Hann’s ships and aircraft that had not returned to the Craftworld to attack Nimrod’s flagship and cover the Craftworld’s retreat.
• Nimrod assessed his forces’ heavy fighter losses and decided to let Saim-Hann escape, intending to claim the entire Craftworld later with Aether Cannons and the Dice of Prophecy.
• Nimrod’s Shadow of the Throne disrupted the Aeldari ships and repeatedly struck the same point on the Craftworld, allowing only one-sixth of its ships to break away.
• Three stellar hours later, the Eleventh Legion finished destroying the surviving Aeldari ships and aircraft in the Vigilant Star system.
• Nimrod landed on a forested Craftworld fragment and found more than a hundred Twin Jetbikes and Aeldari Rangers waiting in the abandoned district.

Nimrod captured the Saim-Hann Rangers and searched the damaged craftworld fragment for Aeldari technology, Wraithbone, and Khaine shrines. He left the Vigilant Star System to the First Chapter and returned to Vostonia as the 7th Legion and 12th Chapter attacked the Thalesians in the Tanith System.

• Nimrod subdued the Rangers with a Psychic Scream, ordered their weapons and equipment taken for study, and handed the captives to the Inquisitor.
• Nimrod examined the craftworld fragment, ordered its structures and Wraithbone preserved, and identified Khaine’s shrines as possible potion materials before secretly moving their statues to the Kingdom of Disorder.
• Nimrod instructed Howard and the First Chapter to establish order in the Vigilant Star System and search for a fortress-class energy shield template, while avoiding the dangerous Volian Sandstorm Vortex.
• Nimrod’s fleet returned to Vostonia, while the 7th Legion and 12th Chapter arrived in the Tanith System and attacked the Thalesians.

Sanchez led the 7th Legion in an attack on the Thalesians on Tanith, exploiting their bizarre, showy tactics to defeat them and conquer the planet. After the Legion returned with spoils, Nimrod found that the Dice of Prophecy had finished charging.

• Sanchez deployed fifty-two baits across Tanith and ordered the 333rd Regiment of the Solar Auxilia to serve as bait while the Thalesians were absent from the system.
• After the Thalesians attacked several widely scattered strategic points, Sanchez assigned his companies to strike three targets and ordered them to use different ammunition.
• Sanchez, Szczesny, and Jorginho led their forces from drop pods and attacked the Thalesian war machines from behind as the xenos continued their assaults.
• Sanchez identified the Thalesians' poor combat awareness and led the Shadows of Order in slaughtering them, then killed their captured commander when it danced instead of fleeing or resisting.
• After Tanith was conquered, Sanchez collected Thalesian eyes while the Biologis Magos analyzed them, and the 12th Chapter stayed behind to secure the planet.
• When the 7th Legion returned to the Shadow of the Throne, Nimrod discovered that the Dice of Prophecy had finished charging.

Nimrod used the Dice of Prophecy to divine a route from Cypra Mundi to Mordian, then rewarded Diana Pauline with weapons and authorized rewards for deserving officers. After the Shadow of the Throne returned to Vostonia, Arsena Dunn reported that a transport carrying Ork-raised creatures had gone silent after emerging from the Warp.

• Nimrod chose Mordian as a suitable recruiting and strategic world for the Third Legion and divined a star chart from Cypra Mundi to Mordian.
• Nimrod praised Diana Pauline and let her choose Ring Weapons and Protective Orbs from his armory.
• Nimrod decided to distribute some Protective Orbs as rewards and establish reward systems for ship officers, officials, treasure-raiding teams, and Auxilia.
• The Shadow of the Throne returned to the Vostonia System after five weeks of travel.
• Arsena Dunn told Nimrod that the Groningen had gone silent after emerging from the Warp, and that Auxilia sent to investigate had also lost contact amid screams and roars.

Nimrod captured a Squig giant beast and some Bouncers alive for brewing a potion, then ordered the Groningen destroyed. As the fleet approached Vostonia, he reviewed military and shipyard production and arranged to appoint Lewis Von Valancius as a Rogue Trader.

• Nimrod used the silver gauntlet’s Imprison power to trap the Squig giant beast and dozens of Bouncers, while Arsena destroyed the rest.
• Nimrod sent the captured creatures to the Kingdom of Disorder, ordered the Groningen destroyed, and had the remaining Squigs aboard searched for.
• Arsena reported that the Vostonia shipyards could repair and partially refit capital ships and build standard vessels, and Nimrod ordered Aether Cannons installed on Legion ships and the Shadow of the Throne.
• Arsena reported on Vostonia’s armories producing weapons, armor, and vehicles for the Astartes Legion.
• Arsena told Nimrod that Lewis Von Valancius had discovered five star systems linking Vostonia to the Crystal Illusion Realm, and Nimrod ordered preparations for Lewis’s Rogue Trader appointment.

Lewis Von Valancius received a Warrant of Trade from Nimrod after charting a route between Vostonia and the Crystal Illusion Realm, which Nimrod named the Crystal Corridor. Later, Nimrod received Brainy Cats from the Vigilant Star system and began assigning them to himself and members of his circle.

• Lewis offered Nimrod a Clever-Tongued Parrot and reported discovering five star systems and twelve habitable planets, including the route connecting Vostonia to the Crystal Illusion Realm.
• Nimrod named the route the Crystal Corridor, appointed Lewis the first Rogue Trader under his rule, and promised the Von Valancius family the first cruiser built at Vostonia Shipyard as its flagship.
• Three days later, Nimrod formally granted Lewis a Warrant of Trade, and Lewis swore that his family would serve Nimrod and open new frontiers.
• Nimrod offered the nobles and great families a chance to become Rogue Traders, with each family receiving one frigate to explore isolated worlds.
• After transports brought thirty-six Brainy Cats from the Vigilant Star system, Nimrod selected cats for himself, Maria Kornikova, Tierney, Arsena, Malena, Diana, and Legion members, then opened a cage and picked up his chosen cat.

Nimrod bonded with the largest Brainy Cat and prepared a Provocateur potion using a Squig behemoth, concluding that higher-quality ingredients offered only a modest improvement. Diana struggled to tame her Brainy Cat, and Nimrod summoned her after the 7th Legion returned to Vostonia.

• Nimrod subdued the largest Brainy Cat, soothed its mind, and established a mental bond with it within minutes.
• Arsena and Diana began bonding with their Brainy Cats, but Diana's weak, immature cat caused her body to suffer biochemical effects.
• Diana took the Brainy Cat for a walk on Vostonia's moon and tried feeding and playing with it, but it showed no interest.
• After the 7th Legion returned, Nimrod confirmed that Sanchez and four other Hunters had completed digestion and ordered their subordinates to bring him potion ingredients.
• Nimrod used a Squig behemoth to make a Provocateur potion and judged that it improved the potion's effect by roughly four to eleven percent over ordinary Squigs.
• Nimrod decided that rapid advancement mattered more than minor ingredient improvements and summoned Diana Pauline.

Diana Pauline became a Spectator and used her new ability to discover that the Brainy Cat wanted a Psyker Crystal, helping her begin to build a connection with it. Nimrod accepted a summons to Fenris, hoping to find ingredients for the Tyrant pathway, and his fleet departed while Bukayo Arshavin received the route to Mordian.

• Sanchez provoked his Brainy Cat into attacking him with fireballs, while Szczesny and Jorginho tried to tame theirs by dragging them underwater.
• Nimrod offered Diana Pauline the ability to glimpse the Brainy Cat's thoughts in exchange for her loyalty, and she swore allegiance to him.
• After mastering her Spectator power, Diana noticed the Brainy Cat longing for a Psyker Crystal and bought it a psychic earring, which it swallowed.
• Nimrod received The Old Man in Yellow's summons to Fenris and decided to go in hopes of finding a Kraken for the Tyrant pathway.
• Five work cycles later, the Aether Cannon-equipped Shadow of the Throne set out for Fenris, and Bukayo Arshavin received a star map to Mordian, the Primarch's data crystal, and his Brainy Cat.