Editing Nobledark Imperium Notable People (section)

== Ahzek Ahriman ==

EDITOR'S NOTE: Incomplete by word of writefag. Needs to add in the [[Nobledark_Imperium_Notes#Ahzek_Ahriman|other information present on the Notes page]]. Writers are unsure if Avenians should be used in this way.

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''“What are you?”''<br>
''“Damned.”''<br>
-- Conversation between one of the [[Nobledark_Imperium_Forces_of_Chaos#The_Fallen|Fallen]] and Ahzek Ahriman of the Daemon Breakers during the battle of Fraxos, circa 780.M39, after the former stabbed the latter through the chest to no effect.

Ahzek Ahriman was born in the country of Achaemenidia, long known as the crossroads of the Old World, during the Unification Wars. As a result, as a child he had the opportunity to watch the Warlord's armies criss-cross the planet, first to the east to head off the western ambitions of Ursh, then to the south to shore up the rest of Afrik, then back to the east again to cross into Persepotropolis and the rest of Azia.

Ahriman grew up in Achaemenidia under the shadow of marching Thunder Warriors alongside his twin brother, Ohrmuzd. Despite being twins, the two of them could not be more different, like fire and shadow. Ahriman was the fire, full of righteous passion and will. Ohrmuzd was the shadow, calm and understanding, but also soft and unassertive. Ohrmuzd often had difficulty hiding his psychic gifts and was frequently harassed as a freak and a witch during his childhood. Ahriman often found himself defending his shyer brother against the other children with his hands and fists, gaining many a bruise or bloody nose in the process. It was these encounters that left Ahzek Ahriman with a lifelong hatred of bullies and those that would abuse power, something that would influence him for the rest of his life.

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Eventually, the psychic talents of the two brothers brought them to the attention of the Imperium, in particular the inscrutable psyker Magnus the Red. Both brothers were inducted into the newly formed XV Legion, and given the enhancements of the Mark III MP geneseed. Although both brothers were tutored by Magnus, Ahriman was clearly the favorite. Ahriman devoured knowledge at a rate that few others in the legion could match, and was always eager to learn more. Ohrmuzd never resented this, he had always been afraid of his powers and was merely happy to be able to know enough to keep them under control. Ahriman grew to idolize Magnus, whereas Magnus came to see Ahriman as his star pupil. Magnus had always been too scarred by his experiences in [[Nobledark_Imperium_Drafts#Ursh|Ursh]] and the Forbidden Mountains of Himalazia to ever consider a romantic relationship, but he considered Ahriman to be the closest thing he ever had to a son. Magnus even trusted him enough to teach him the forbidden arts of summoning and binding creatures of the Warp, passed on to him by his mother Ada.

When the Warlord, now rechristened the Steward chose his Primarchs, Ahzek Ahriman was one of the possibilities at the top of the list among idle gossipers, due to his immense talent and being by far the most prominent son of Achaemenidia. However, in the end Ahriman was passed over in favor of Magnus the Red. To Ahriman, this was only right and proper. He had owed everything to Magnus, and it was only fair that his mentor be recognized for his talents. The student had yet to surpass the master, and he was humble enough to admit it.


Tragedy struck during the Ark Reach Cluster campaign when the Thousand Sons fought against the human Avenians on their capital world of Heliosa alongside the Word Bearers and the Vlka Fenryka. The inhabitants of Heliosa used strange magicks to stymy the Imperial advance, and the Steward had sent his legion of witches and psykers in turn to check them. The more powerful Ahriman stayed behind to protect the rear while his more cautious brother was sent to advance the front. Yet when Amon unexpectedly returned to the rear guard in a panic saying that something had happened and Ahriman had to come with him immediately, Ahriman realized something had gone wrong.

The Avenians were loyal devotees of Chaos and the four Ruinous Powers, which was the source of their strange abilities. Their patrons had taught them nightmarish fleshcrafting sorcery to unleash upon the legionnaires, which turned men into mewling monstrosities and was especially potent on psykers and the weak-willed. When Ahriman finally reached the front, he was directed to a shambling mass that could no longer stand under its own power. [[Chaos_Spawn|It has no axis of symmetry, with numerous limbs sticking out from its melted tumor of a body, many of which were not even human. It labored to breathe, most of the eyes on its faceless body glassy and unfocused. There was no mistaking who it used to be, especially when the creature opened one of its mouths and begged for death with the same voice that Ahriman had known since childhood.]] There was no saving Ohrmuzd, only giving the tortured thing he had become peace. It was when he delivered the final mercy to his afflicted brother that he realized the truth: the gods of Chaos and their daemons were no more than upscaled bullies. It seemed childish and ludicrous a thought to entertain, but that did not mean it was not true.

It is said that twins, especially psyker twins, possess a connection unlike anything else in the universe. The eldar and {DATA REDACTED} can well attest to this, and this is thought to be the principle behind psychic phenomena like Ansible Twins. And the loss of that connection, the loneliness that follows, is one of the worst things anyone can experience. Ahriman certainly felt that way. Tragedy would continue to dog Ahriman. [[Nobledark_Imperium_Writing#Iron_Without_Iron_Within|Achaemenidia was virtually destroyed in the War of the Beast, like most countries of the reformed Tharkian Empire due to the Beast’s forces encamping at the gates of the Imperial Palace to the north during the Battle of Terra]].

However, although it was not possible to recover in full, it was possible to move on. When the Thousand Sons relocated themselves to the psychic planet of [[Nobledark_Imperium_Notable_Planets#Prospero|Prospero]] after the end of the War of the Beast, Ahriman found a second home for himself. Despite being an outsider, his love of knowledge and learning eventually won over the local population, with Ahriman eventually becoming one of the most esteemed teachers and scholars on the planet. Many a letter from Prospero during the Imperial Golden Age speaks glowingly of “Professor Ahriman”, the tutor who seemed to have boundless enthusiasm for teaching and was well-loved by his students. He was for many generations of young psykers what Magnus had been for him.


Then the [[Nobledark_Imperium_Drafts#Fourth_Black_Crusade|Fourth Black Crusade]] happened. Prospero for years had been a source of irritation for Lady Malys and the Crone Eldar, the idea of a human psychic city on a hill was disgusting to them. Prospero had always been a target during the last three Black Crusades, but this time it appeared as though the destruction of the planet would actually happen, as the Cronefleets marched slowly but surely towards Prospero as Imperial fleets, Guard regiments, and Astartes chapters marshalled to its defense. Ahriman had had enough. He had already lost his home and his family twice before. He would not do so again. As Astartes and Spire Guard and daemon and Crone Eldar dueled to the death in Tizca’s streets and nuclear bombs exploded in the planet’s atmosphere, Ahriman gathered up whatever psykers he could spare, ranging from Prosperan students to Thousand Son Librarians, to conduct a hastily made ritual out of what little sorcerous knowledge could be scrounged out of the Great Library of Tizca to send Prospero to a pocket dimension where it would be safe. Needless to say, [[Legion_of_the_Damned|the results of the ritual]] [[Not_As_Planned|did not go according to plan]]. Whether or not the Changer of Ways had any hand in corrupting the ritual is unknown, though certainly not out of the question.

Ahriman and his cabal survived the casting of the Rubric, and at first he seemed to cope suspiciously well given the loss of his adopted home. However, it soon became apparent that any such acceptance was merely a façade, and Ahriman had become deeply broken and self-loathing by this turn of events. A few decades after the Burning of Prospero, it was discovered that Ahriman had been using Magnus’ forbidden knowledge to bind and interrogate daemons and had been teaching other members of the Thousand Sons how to do this. When an Inquisitorial investigation confirmed these claims there was a public outrage. Magnus the Red was particularly horrified by this turn of events. Having seen Ahriman as his potential successor, he had taught Ahriman the forbidden ways passed down to him by his mother because he believed the knowledge needed to be remembered just in case and he felt Ahriman was responsible enough to use them only as a last resort. He didn’t expect Ahriman to start summoning daemons and beating them for information. As everything took a turn for the worst, Ahriman and most of his followers who knew how to bind daemons fled, unrepentant for their actions but refusing to hurt fellow Imperials over it.

NEEDS FINISHING

''Be thine world benighted by esoteric phenomena?''<br>
''And whose aid would you ask?''<br>
''Be you confronted by the unknown, and deem it horrific to look upon?''<br>
''And whose aid would you ask?''<br>

''Men of Ahriman fear no daemon!''<br>
''Men of Ahriman fear no daemon!''<br>
''Be you stricken with ghastly, coursing visions?''<br>
''And whose aid would you ask?''<br>
''Be your boudoir inhabited by wicked phantoms?''<br>
''Aye, and whose aid would you ask?''<br>
''Men of Ahriman fear no daemon!''<br>
''Men of Ahriman fear no daemon!''<br>
-- First two cantos of the Hymn of the Daemon Breakers

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