Revised Historical File on the Blighted Talons
Written by equerry and scribe Gorvan, loyal servant of Lord Thraxus
It has come to my Lord’s attention that information has been released about himself and those of his followers. Some of this information is false and some of it misunderstood and it must be addressed at once. Therefore, I have asked the permission of my master and he has agreed to allow me to fix and update the information that was released. Given my age, this will take some time and so will be done in parts for to write it all at once would be too much. Not to mention also that I have other administrative tasks that I must perform in the service to my Lord.
This first section will deal with my Lord’s past, all information is from what he recalls to me when he wishes to speak of such things. I will see how the rest of you, followers of Chaos enjoy this part and if so…I will continue to make the history of this glorious warband more public for all to read.
There is a question I am sure some will ask…what is Lord Thraxus like as himself?
I cannot speak of him before I was assigned to my task, but what I can say is after this long time is this…
Complex, honorable, devout, cold and practical. But these are what I think of him from what I have seen. Those reading this, I will let you make your own judgements...
Part 1: Rebirth, Blighted Talons, New Purpose
Thraxus, (for he was not a lord at that time, but a simple legionary) was there the day the Destroyer Hive blessed the 14th Legion while in the Warp on the way to Terra. He was on an old Vengeance class grand cruiser, the Oblivion Night when it swept in and gloriously ravaged the crews and legionaries alike. Generous amounts of sickness and pain wracked them all, until the undying Lord of Death agreed to serve the loving Grandfather Nurgle. Within minutes, hours even days, the might host of Death Guard was changing and mutating in ways wonderous to behold.
I personally would have been honored and blessed to have witness this, but have I spoken to a select few that were there that…kind of remember that joyful day.
Thraxus’s gifts would not become visible, save for a horn slowly growing from his forehead, until several thousand years later for there a plan it seems that the Grandfather had for him. But he would be like the those of the legion and be tougher to kill and become slower in time.
In the beginning, Thraxus had no wish to be more than a common warrior. He fought and did his best ever time without question when ordered. But there was something inside him that knew he could do more, but he held that in check for a long time. Like many in the early years, Thraxus found he was able to remove his armor in the beginning but then over time his body and it started to become one. He increased in his size and mass but his speed was only slightly diminished as was his inner rage inside his soul.
When the 38th millennium arrived, Thraxus at this point had become a Blightlord Terminator and part of the bodyguard to Lord Gorepox, a mighty Plague Champion. Instead of wielding a typical bolter and perhaps a chainsword or axe, Thraxus now carried a combi-bolter and a powerful power axe and clad in Terminator plate of an unremembered pattern. The only thing that annoyed him about his new status was the fact he had to change his fighting style but that was an easy adjustment to make in time. Thraxus fought in many campaigns against the Corpse-God’s armies and for the most part he was victorious, but he has admitted a few failures. In the 36th millennium, Lord Gorepox was removed by an unknown person or group of people when he foolishly led his warband into an ambush and left many of his followers died. It is unclear who is reasonable for this, but what is clear is that Thraxus took command and led the warband back to the Plague Planet.
Vaguely irritated by the lack of progress to finding a new leader, Thraxus left the warband and much to his surprise many of the warband followed him. Taking only three cruisers, they left behind the Plague Planet following the numerology and signs that Nurgle blessed them with. After several years of raiding in both the Segmentum Pacificus and Obscurus, the trio of ships encountered a renegade chapter of Space Marine’s fleet. This fleet, one battle barge, three strike cruisers and a handful of frigates, was badly damaged to the point that if carefully plotted out, the four cruisers could have destroyed them. So, when a patrol fleet of a Mars battlecruiser and two Lunar class cruisers appear in system giving chase, the Death Guard destroyed the Imperial ships.
Thraxus boarded the crippled battle barge and gave the fallen Chapter Master three choices, for three was one of the blessed numbers. Run and die without purpose by the Imperium’s hands, die now like dogs at the hands of the Death Guard or to embrace the blessing of Nurgle and give themselves to the God of Decay. They were given seven hours to decide…
One strike cruiser made the mistake of targeting the Slaughter class cruiser Thraxus was on, his cruiser and with the support of the two Carnage class cruisers removed the pest. On the seventh hour, the Iron Hawks space marine chapter declared their allegiance to Nurgle at the feet of Thraxus. This result surprised Thraxus for he had expected the Space Marines to fight to the death, not to give in easily.
Taken back to the Eye of Terror, the ships were repaired and the battle barge was restored to full operational status. When asked for their vectorium’s name, Thraxus decided on the Blighted Talons in mockery of the Iron Hawks. While the ships were being repair, Thraxus had his men sort out those that embraced Grandfather Nurgle, those that were unsure and those that were not true believers of the generous God. The ones found to be wanting were stripped of their weapons and armor and given over to be food for the many daemons and daemon engines of the Plague Planet. All remaining former Iron Hawks were then slowly transformed with various blessings of the planet and by Nurgle.
Now graced with a warband of his own, Thraxus now had to deal with the politics of the various warbands and those that were the true Plague Companies of the Death Guard. It would not be until he was ordered to the Black Manse that Thraxus would fully accept his new role within the Death Guard legion.
(Per my lord’s wishes, the conversation and what happened in the Black Manse between him and the Lord of Death will not be recorded in any form)
Now with a force of nearly 573 marines under his command, Thraxus sorted out the hierarchy of the warband. First, he chose his advisors and the champions that would command the various squads, from there he allowed his champions to choose and workout who goes to what squad.
For a Tallyman he chose, Gangroth, a true follower of the will of Nurgle and a capable warrior if called upon. Festux will normally keep to himself for he is more comfortable surrounded by tomes, scrolls and similar items.
Primus Biologus Putrifier was Festux, former apothecary to Thraxus’s former warband and good humored as he works in the name of the God. While making blight grenades it is reported that he hums to himself for he finds the process to be relaxing. Always on the look out to test his newest mixtures whenever possible and a sniper with his injector pistol. After his acceptance
Scabite, was chosen to be the Noxious Blightbringer, not much to say about this one for he normally keeps to himself, but on the battlefield, it is said he is a zealot of Nurgle.
Grulgius, a Plague Surgeon of skill on and off the battlefield, enjoys working on both the enemy and ally alike in the name of testing out new concoctions of plague and disease. I have personal found him giving surgical lessons to some of the little lords while he goes about his duties on the ship.
A most foul of Blightspawns called Morbardius, while my Lord Thraxus did not chose him, he was brought to him by a horde of little lords that spoke for him. Thraxus saw this as a good sign of favor and offered him a place in his warband. Skilled with making new and unholy toxins, acids and other chemicals, the little lords made an excellent choice.
The Malignant Plaguecaster, Rancox, considered to be rogue and pariah among his kind, he is aggressive in his style of combat for he was not originally Death Guard. He began his life as a Space Marine in a legion that hated psykers, the World Eaters. He had refused the Butcher’s Nails and self-exiled himself, rather than die like a dog. Overtime he has grown into his adopted legion and has been blessed with many gifts and favors of Nurgle. Thus, Thraxus chose him for his warband.
Caipha, one of those that followed him out of the original warband was promoted to the leader of the Blightlord Terminators. He understands Thraxus more than most would for he has been there since the beginning. Not as devout as Thraxus, he however is very loyal to his master and will do what must be done to protect Thraxus.
Then came a request from an ancient warrior, one that no longer walked with the other Plague Marines. Encased in the heavy armor of a Leviathan siege dreadnought, Kalgius the Purge Lord, a plague marine with a taste for heavy weapons, he is one of a few that still has his most of his mind working. His Will and his faith in Nurgle are very strong, it took a Warhound Titan to fully injure him enough to earn him the blessing of being placed into the ancient casket. The Purge Lord’s chassis is covered in growths, pus and other taints, his various weapons have been maintained with great care by the Dark Mechanicum. Kalgius is a rare one in that he doesn’t require to be chained and locked away like many that become bound to the life as a helbrute. He elects to enter states of hibernation while he rests on the Plague planet in his private garden far south of the Black Manse. For one of his caliber to make a request, only a fool would refuse…not to mention dangerous. When he is not resting on the ship, he can be found talking to the unchanged and telling them of old battles in great detail that only Space Marine could.
With this task completed, he was able to requisition armor units and daemon engines from the Hell-forges and plague factories in the Eye of Terror. Once properly outfitted, the Blighted Talons were set to task against the Imperium by order of the Primarch, himself.
The task of the Blighted Talons at this point and time was to free a rather unique and ancient daemon from imprisonment by the hands of the devious Inquisition and its militant forces. From what information I was able to gather from what my various predecessor’s collection of notes, it was a long journey.
Within the Blighted Talons are various factions but all loyal to Lord Thraxus and for the most part they know their place in the way of things.
The Blightlords are the remains of the Septic Wardens warband and answer directly to Thraxus both has his elites and sometimes has his bodyguards. While most of the Plague Marines came from the wreckage that was the Lords of Extinction and the Bloated Stalkers warbands, both were gutted by Imperial forces.
With his promotion to a warlord, Thraxus was issued with three of the most holy of killers in the entire Death Guard, three Death Shroud Terminators. Hulking monsters of armor and flesh and armed with massive manreaper scythes and some kind of short-range sprayer gauntlets. They are led by Sendarg, that is all I know about him and to be honest, I don’t think he really likes me.
Cultists have all banded together in the ship and in the fleet and call themselves Brotherhood of Phage. They are led by some former Imperial guard officer, calls himself “Plague Commander”, that has them trained to fight and die for the glory of Nurgle and the Death Guard. Those that don’t make the cut are given three choices: the can serve the ship, they become infected and turn into poxwalkers or they can walk out an airlock.
Part 2: Carrion Scourge, home and flagship of the Blighted Talons
For hundreds of years, the warband of the Blighted Talons and its small yet powerful fleet roamed the stars upon their quest. As with all things that happen in the Eye of Terror and in the Warp, the ships and crews slowly changed and mutated or were blessed with gifts from holy Nurgle. Oil and other liquids were found to have blood, mucus and other unusual properties mixing into them. Sections of steel and other metals are mutating into bone with veins, arteries and muscle and fat. But that was just the other ships in the fleet…
The fleet at this time was the following:
The Carrion Scourge, corrupted battle-barge blessed by Nurgle
The Viscous Annihilator, a Decimator class battleship (heavily modified Desolator class based battleship)
The Putrid Wrath, a Styx class heavy cruiser
The Agony of Rot, Chaos Marine Strike Cruiser
Four Slaughter class cruisers
Three Carnage class cruisers
Seven mixed Destroyer and Raider squadrons
It was one hundred and fifty years when the Warp Leviathan from the depths of the Warp became one with the warbands battle-barge. From what I am able to understand it had been following the warband for some time, almost like it was waiting for the right moment to strike. After ambushing an Emperor’s Childern raiding fleet, the Carrion Scourge and its fellow ships returned to the Warp in a tactical withdraw. Once in the Warp, the vast creature enveloped the battle barge and merged with it. There were some casualties from this but if one could see the perfect melding of the ship and this majestic daemonic creature…I say they were worth a small price.
The Carrion Scourge evolved rather thing randomly mutating like the other ships in the fleet. Corridors, engineering, cargo and flight bays, armories, every single chamber was evolving before the eyes of the crew. Some of the crew became part of the ship, each serving a function in its biology, but that is only theories of the ‘unchanged’ or humans in this warband.
The leviathan made the Carrion Scourge deadlier and even tougher to destroy, but she was not very fast or agile because of her ship in real space. But when in the Warp, this ship is a hunter of the deep depths in the Immaterium.
Several of the marco-cannon batteries no longer fired normal shells, the ammunition had been blessed with plagues and viruses from the Garden of Nurgle. Lance batteries and lascannons were also blessed with some form of sickness that would corrode the hulls of the ships beside burning into them. But there were some weapons that were ‘grow’ but the leviathan that fired acid streams or sprayed toxins on vessels that got to close to it.
Exo-skeletal plating, thick layers of muscle, flesh and fat and hives for the various colonies of plague insects. All of this has been grafted and fused onto to the heavy armor of the outer hall by the will of the leviathan. I was honored when my master allowed me to journey with him to inspect the outside of the ship in a Thunderhawk gunship. As of yet, this ship has not yet been boarded by the enemies of Chaos, I do hope that some do at some point for I am interested to see how the ship responds to intruders.
The prow flight bay is no more, it has become a maul for the creature to eat vessels that it hunts when the warband is inactive. Large teeth of what I think is bone, have replaced the wide front launch by doors. These teeth are designed to immobilize but more teeth on the inside move the prey into the vast cavern of its mouth, aided by a viscous tongue. I don’t know what happens per say in terms of the sciences, but the ships are broken down into their basic elements, this includes the crews. By feeding and returning to the Warp, this ship heals at an amazing rate that I still find incredible.
It has grown three eyes in the prow, one is above its maul, then one on the end of prongs of the prow, with mounds of thick flesh and autocannons protecting them along with insects. They are yellow orbs with a deep pitted pupil of blackness beyond blackness…
When I am not working for my master, I enjoy walking the corridors of my home. It is strange to call it but this massive creature is my home. I am respected by the Unbroken because of my position but because of what I used to do in the past by their side. Sometimes I am not alone in my walks, I am followed around by what are called, “Little Lords” but I have heard them called nurglings and I can see why. They represent the Great and Generous Nurgle and are his children, one would think. They have accepted me for I do bring them scraps of flesh to enjoy as we walk and explore. I can sense this ship is watching, listening and learning about us while we don’t fully understand all that it can do. Perhaps that is for the best… There are also several galleries in various locations of this vessel that have become gardens. All are welcome to enjoy these places, but if you’re a mortal I would not recommend it after twenty or more didn’t come back the way they entered. The little lords have tried to get me to enter the galleries on numerous occasions. I don’t think their intention is to get me killed or mutated or like that one fellow who slowly melted…They just like to play in there like children.
Bane, he is a little lord who has taken a great interest in me and has become my companion on this ship. For example, he ripped the face off a newly inducted cultist that was rude to me with his teeth. Following his example a group of nurglings joined in on the action and they ate like kings of old that night. I became a cannibal that night also, well it was either that or upset the nurglings which you don’t want to do if your human. They offered me the cultists left forearm with big smiles and they playful mirth in their eyes. Of course I did cook it first, one of the little lords caught himself on fire and the others just laughed at it. And no I don’t fully trust them but I seem to have been accepted by them, so that is good enough for me.
Cargo holds have been molded to accommodate a great many vehicles from Rhinos all the way up to super heavy tanks. They have a great number of Bloat Drones, Helbrutes, Defilers, Blighthaulers and Burstcrawlers to make up for the lack of super heavy armor. In the port and starboard flight bays, house various aircraft such as Hell-blades, Hell-Talons, Thunderhawk and Stormbird gunships and a few Fire Raptor gunships and various landers for the armor. The Fire Raptors, my lord inspects each one before it goes into battle and offers a prayer to Nurgle to protect them deadly ancient craft. There are also plenty of drop pods in various areas of the ship
Cultists tend to stay in the areas of the ship that Thraxus has deemed to be safe for them. There have been some that didn’t obey him and they are now either part of the ship or fuel in the tank. Most of the time the crew of the ship are left alone but there are times when the ship is feeling…playful? It would turn its corridors into mini-mazes and drive the captured crews mad, but it would release them, unless it is hungry.
Part 3: The Quest, the Holy Order of the Scarlett Rose, Kyzara’Zarolath’Kelroze
A unique gift of the Death Guard I have noticed in my time in their service is that once set to the task, you can not stop them. Months, years, decades…centuries of time pass while they were on the quest to locate the ancient daemon Kyzara’Zarolath’Kelroze, the Daughter of Chaos. Raids on known Imperial bases with ties to the Inquisition were not targeted directly for Lord Thraxus didn’t want the target to be known yet, to the Imperium.
Finally, after attacking an Inquisitorial fortress in the northern region above the Eye of Terror, did the pieces finally come together. The world was far from the Eye of Terror, in the borderlands of the Segmentum Solar and Ultra, a world with no name save for the old designation code: Xi-Zeta-8202. It was take some time to reach that world from their location inside the Eye of Terror, so the fleet resupplied before heading out.
Strength of my lord’s fleet at that time was moderate size and power and consisted of the following: the daemonic battle-barge Carrion Scourge, one Desolator class battleship, four Murder class cruisers, three Slaughter class cruisers, two Carnage class cruisers, two Devastator class cruisers, seven Hellbringer class light cruisers, plus the usual amounts of support ships and escort types.
The Xi-Zeta system as my lord had predicted was relaying on stealth more then actual physical defenses and fleets. But there was a fleet present, but one that had not seen much battle in the longest of times. Eight cruisers, two battlecruisers and a battleship, plus the usual number of frigates and destroyers as escorts. According to records, it was an Oberon class battleship called, The Galant Light, that lead the attack against the blessed ships of the warband.
Thanks to some foresight by the few sorcerers and psykers in the fleet, all communication from the system was jammed for a time. Not for long but long enough to prevent a fast response from Imperial forces if the distress call was heard. From what I can understand from those captured during that campaign, the astropathes were claiming to hear screaming and the sounds of billions of flies in their weak minds.
To be honest I wish I could have seen how the Carrion Scourge fought that day for reading it is just not the same. To hear the blasting of his various cannons into the enemy hulls, Imperial bomber and fighter squadrons overwhelmed by vast swarms of flies, to see the bodies be ejected into the void and the boarding actions. After a full day of fighting, all but one of the enemy vessels were destroyed and left as ruined hulks of debris. A light cruiser was the only survivor of the battle, however it was infected and infested with plagues and boarded by plague cultists when it leapt into the Warp. It is my bias opinion that the ship was destroyed or too badly infected that it was destroyed on site.
Several hours pass and the fleet is regrouped and forged ahead to Xi-Zeta-8202 and achieved orbit after removing several well hidden defense platforms. The planet was full of mountainous regions and vast deserts, but the Imperium has a habit of sticking to doctrines and not changing them over time. Once the recon scans of the surface were completed, plans were formulated and the warband began to head for the surface of the world. However, those that were blessed with the gift of the psyker were not welcomed on that world and several of them died before they realized the issue.
In after action accounts, it was later discovered that the world’s bio-sphere was mutated and was deadly towards psykers. All forces were withdrawn and the situation was reviewed before deploying more forces. This was suggested that it was an additional defense against anyone that came looking for the ancient, at this point I would call her a daemon queen given what I have learned over the years about her.
It is said that he was forged by Khorne and Nurgle in secret, a powerful hulking brute of wrath and whose aura was nothing but pure disease, but the Dark Prince somehow influenced her design somewhat. He became a rather beautiful feminine daemon with the gifts and strengths of Khorne and Nurgle. However, the God of Fate and Change was not amused by this development and banished Kyzara’Zarolath’Kelroze from the Warp for a long time. How she became imprisoned or even captured by the Imperium is unknown and those data-tracks have yet to be located.
Lord Thraxus had the cultist brotherhood sent in the first wave with some armor support from several Predator battle tanks. 20,000 cultists were deployed armed with their autoguns, shotguns, grenade launchers and I am sure a bunch of stolen weapons from elsewhere. But sadly they don’t have any real body armor of their own, just their faith in Nurgle and their training. Like I have said before he does use them tactically not just throw them away like causal chaff to slaughter.
From a hidden fortress-chapel in the mountains, came the Holy Order of the White Rose, an Adeptus Sororitas. Power armored and armed with weapons that outclassed the cultists greatly, but that did stop them from charging the sisters. Prepared positions of trenches and defensive barriers were revealed to show that there were also some elements of an Imperial guard presence. Pillboxes and concealed weapon emplacements opened fired once the cultists were in range delivering bullets, bolter shells and melta fire into the horde. Heavy flamers sprayed the cultists that came too close to the defense lines. The Plague Commander drove his forces deep as he could before requesting orbital support with viral weapons. A blood rotting pathogen was loaded and fired from the Carrion Scourge, just three canisters. These shells were set to airburst a few meters from the coordinates relayed to the ship
Judging the battle to be in their favor, Lord Thraxus ordered full deployment of his forces and the drop pods were released fleet wide. Thunderhawk and Stormbird gunships followed soon after the pods along with the heavy landers to deploy the warbands armor units. My master arrived via teleportation with his elite guard of Blightlord Terminators among the dying battle sisters. None they encountered were given a mercy killing, for all enjoying the sweet agony of the pathogen they had been blessed with that day.
Myphitic Blight-haulers, Defilers and Foetid Bloat-Drones charged forward into the defense lines with savage glee. Defilers ripping troopers and sisters apart with their massive claws and various ranged weapons, Blight haulers annihilating pillboxes with their melta weapons and missile launchers. Those that retreated were intercepted by Bloat Drones armed with fleshmowers and plaguespitters like hunting hounds. The Palatine in command of the defense line was infected by the rot inside Lord Thraxus’s axe, when it breached her power armor, she wasted away before the eyes of her fellow sisters.
Plagueburst crawlers, Defilers and even a few bloat drones armed with heavy blight launchers bombarded the defenses of the fortress, while the rest of the warband advanced. Immolator tanks attempted to halt the progress of the warband but were left as rotting hulks in the wake of the followers of Nurgle. Finally, the Blighted Talons reached the entrance to the fortress, using their vast collection of acid spraying weaponry the doors came apart before them.
Once inside the fighting was fierce yet again as bolters on both sides exchanged heavy fire. Flamers and plague belchers sprayed down each other while heavy bolters and blight launchers sent salvo after salvo of death. Bodies exploded, blood and gore painted the corridors and halls and the rot flowed through out the fortress like a cancer.
Their faith was nothing compared to the faith of those that followed Nurgle…
Inside the deepest chamber was a vast tomb that housed a massive red crystalline chrysalis, wards of power and binding were etched into the floor and onto the chains fastened to the chrysalis. Canoness ------ and her Celestian Sacresants were all that was left of the White Rose order, they stood defiant before Lord Thraxus and his Blightlord Terminators. My lord did offer them the chance to convert to a truer path, but the sisters charged them. Combi bolter fire killed the bodyguards of the Canoness, their bodies rotting slowly inside their armor.
The fight between Lord Thraxus and the Canoness of the White Rose is one of my master’s more fond memories. For a time the fight appeared to be equally matched as they fought a blessed blade against a plague axe. But Lord Thraxus was also blessed with an aura of contagion and these took its toll on the Canoness. Her hair began to fall out in clumps as they fought, her teeth fractured apart, veins and arteries slowly turned black with toxins. As her strength began to fade, Lord Thraxus became less aggressive and did his best not to damage the Canoness too much. When her sword fell from her hand, her breathing was ragged and her eyes starting to fail, he stopped attacking her and merely stood before her and offered her a quick death.
“She looked at me and merely smiled in defiance, not once did she scream in agony or for mercy as her body disintegrated.” Lord Thraxus told me
Out of respect for an enemy that fought well, Lord Thraxus ordered all of the bodies of the sisters to be brought inside the main hall of the fortress and their bodies to be burned with phosphex. While that was being done, my master and his advisors studied the chrysalis and tried to figure out how to open it. After three days of debate and theories, Lord Thraxus was alone in the tomb and merely placed his hand on the crystal and allowed his gifts to flow out of him and over the chrysalis. Black lines of rot ate into the crystal and it began to crack apart slowly at first then after a handful of minutes, it fell apart entirely.
