Editing Nobledark Imperium Forces of Chaos (section)

=== Erebus ===

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%">''''' The Dark Apostle: '''''

Out of all the mortal followers of the Dark Gods, Erebus is one of the most mysterious, as well as the most disturbing. Just about the only thing that is known about him for sure is that “Erebus” isn’t his real name. Despite being well known during the Great Crusade as a chaplain of the Word Bearers, there is no record of anyone matching Erebus’ description ever joining the legion, though people aren’t sure if this is because a “recruit Erebus” never really existed or if he simply did a good job at covering his tracks.

Erebus was born in the Yndonesian Bloc, much like the primarch Lorgar. When he was born, the priests tasked with interpreting the omens of his birth said that Erebus was born to a great destiny, that he was destined to bring the faith to all corners of the galaxy and his name would be remembered throughout history. It was this sense of destiny and a zeal for righteousness that led Erebus to join the Word Bearers, which he saw as the natural path for his destiny to be fulfilled. Throughout his life Erebus became known for his virtue and morality, with some people going so far as to say he was a veritable living saint. However, Erebus did not share these feelings. He always did what he thought was right, but he never achieved that sense of religious ecstasy that he felt he should be feeling if he was as great as people said and in general felt like a fraud. [[Archaon|Erebus had a crisis of faith, and begged for God to give him a sign, to show him that his doubts were unfounded and that he was truly meant to be a prophet as the prophecies had foretold]].

His prayers were answered, but [[Chaos Gods|not by the deities he expected]].

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When Erebus' corruption was discovered by Lorgar during the War of the Beast he was given two chances to repent. The first following the discovery of his actions and subsequent fall from grace, the other opportunity a deathbed confession and repentance. Should Erebus still be in good health then poor health and deathbed could be arranged. Lorgar thought Erebus was just a misguided young man and could be redeemed. Erebus spat in Lorgar's face and was put in the critical care ward after being rushed by the other Word Bearers. Lorgar was well loved in his Legion. Spitting in Lorgar's face whilst the Chaplain-Primarch was holding out the hand of friendship in front of his fellow Word Bearers would have been nigh suicidal.

After escaping from the critical care ward, Erebus pulled every string and cashed in every favor he had during the War of the Beast. This most famously manifested itself in the betrayal of Luther and the majority of the Dark Angels legion, but Erebus was able to convert small chunks of every legion to fall to the Ruinous Powers. However, things were not smooth sailing for Erebus. Multiple times during the War of the Beast people caught on to Erebus and the Dark Prophet was lucky enough to escape with his life. He was almost killed several times, but managed to survive like the roach he is.


Today Erebus is the Dark Apostle of Chaos. While Lady Malys may be the favored servant of the Chaos Gods, Erebus is more often the one who acts as their prophet and transmits their will to their various followers. Indeed, he's usually the one that travels around to let others know that Lady Malys has called for another Black Crusade, and is often the one who tries to keep Lady Malys, Luther, and Be'lakor focused on a common goal rather than fighting each other. He mostly travels between the different Chaos warbands in his flagship. He calls it ''The Chariot of the Gods''. The Imperium knows it as the ''Planet Killer''. It’s a retrofitted Blackstone Fortress.

Compared to the other major mortal followers of Chaos, Erebus is a relatively simple man. He is not a human supremacist like Luther, he does not have the appetite for anarchy and destruction of Lady Malys, and he has no desire for power like Be’lakor. His only desire seems to be the spread of Chaos for Chaos’ sake. As a result, he is one of the few beings that can act as messenger between the major followers of the Dark Gods, as he is the only one who is acceptable to all of them. He is human enough for Luther’s taste, is fanatical enough in his devotion to the Chaos Gods to please Lady Malys, and grovels enough to be tolerated by Be’lakor.


During the War of the Beast, Erebus used the chaos created by Drach'nyen and his horde to break into the Interex Hall of Devices and steal the Kinebrach cursed blade known as "the Murder Sword". After obtaining it, had it melted down and reforged into a series of eight knives known as Anathames, which he entrusted to his most capable followers. These anathames, more colloquially known as "Murder Knives", still had fractions of the power of the original, and as such are capable of ripping holes in the fabric of space-time and killing any mortal provided one knows their true name. Any mortal. This includes the Emperor. Or the Empress' mortal form. Malys and the other Warlords of think they can bring down the Emperor and Empress through vast armies and great fleets of battleships marching on Old Earth itself. Erebus knows victory can be achieved through something far simpler. If more overt attacks on the Emperor or Isha fail, all he need is an opening to try and assassinate the Emperor or Empress via the Murder Knives.

Erebus and the Emperor are in a bit of an unknowing proxy duel of philosophies. The Emperor believes that people at their core are fundamentally good, and all they need is a chance to express that. Erebus disagrees with that assertion. He feels that the idea that the Imperium brings out the best in people is more than a little hypocritical, as it only works because it is a benevolent dictatorship whose dictator happens to be benevolent, strong-willed, laisse-faire towards the populace, and most importantly, biologically immortal. The vast majority of leaders, , do not tend to share those traits. To Erebus, mortals are naturally sinners, who in the absence of divine guidance from an externally defined moral authority (even a brutally Darwinian one such as [[Chaos]]) devolve into [[Malal|complete anarchy]]. If the Emperor were to die, it is likely that no one else would be able to take his place and the Imperium would collapse into a totalitarian hellhole, allowing the nature of Chaos as the fundamental organizing principle of the universe to reassert itself.

All he needs is for the Imperium to have one bad day.

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