THE FOUR WINDS OF CHAOS

This report has been tendered by Inquisitor Byron as requested by His most holy order.

OVERVIEW/LEADERSHIP

The Four Winds of Chaos are led by four individuals, in my humble opinion as a servant of the Emperor, and that each is the epitome of their chosen god's ideals. The many years I have been studying the Four Winds, I have managed to conclude that below the Lords are their most trusted Lieutenants, and the number of Lieutenants within the Four Winds ranks are unknown at this point. Beneath them, are the Chosen and the Aspiring Champions, each bearing ‘blessings’ from their chosen gods in much the same way as their masters. It has been remarked that these individuals are of note as each capable of issuing orders to their units and acting independently of their masters.

The acts of Valdor Prime highlight this, of which I know little more then brief reports. It is clear however, that Lieutenant Callis attacked, along with several small but elite units, and although he was slain, which was proven with presence of his body in the aftermath of the battle. The forces under Callis managed to accomplish their objectives due to their leader’s resolute leadership. This left the planet ripe for the world to be brought under rule of Lord Adual when he did, finally arrived a month later. The exact status of that world is unknown.

Lord Arnell

Lord Arnell himself is a ghastly beast of a warrior, standing fully 12 feet tall, stab-like muscles dealing death to anyone who opposes him, or so that I can glean from the reports. I have also included a short description of Arnell taken from an interrogation of a traitor guardsmen from the Danitun Guard, captured at the Battle of White Bridge on Daryaun VII. ‘Moving forward upon his powerful, almost daemonically agile hind legs, Arnell wields a weapon of destruction, a prize taken from a slain Khorne Champion that Arnell himself killed upon taking control of the Daemon world Iunsan.’

It is clear that his warriors are fearlessly dedicated to Khorne and his ideals, akin to that of the Adeptus Astartes are loyal to our beloved Emperor. It is also clear that these warriors will fight until death itself steals them from the battlefield. They will never yield to a superior foe as proven at Falturk when a smaller army of Khorne Berserkers managed to destroy a full regiment of Imperial Guardsmen, whilst sustaining massive loses on their side.

Lord Damius

The one known as Lord Damius has not arisen to the power of Lord Arnell in the eyes of his patron. Again, our reports suggest that he still bears the body of a mortal. Whilst it is impossible to know, I think it is reasonable to happen a guess that very little is left of his original form, as he hides within the bulky suit of Terminator armour and wielding Draul, his trusty plague sword. He bears many of Nurgle's most damned gifts, he will not arise to daemonhood until an unknown event has occurred as this is my guess as to why he still retains his mortal body.

The Plague Marines beneath Damius' command often rely upon sheer numbers of plague zombies to overwhelm their foes, but when encountered, they will fight like daemons, giving no ground to their enemy. This has been proven too many times to recount, and I shall not endeaver to here.

Canoness Gemiel

She still bears the power armour of her Order, which I believe, is the Order of the Sacred Lady, one of the many minor Orders. The tales of her skill as a warrior are numerous indeed, and any major battle when she has fought tell of her fighting with daemonic speed and grace whilst her foes are marred by her undeniable perfection.

Her forces are more cunning then those of the Plague and the Blood Wind as highlighted by her tactics. They will often attack, then withdraw to ensure that terror seeps into their foes before they finally crush all opposition.. If encountered, they will fight until death if their Canoness orders it, but will have no hesitation to withdraw should she order it.

Lord Adual

Adual's has ascended to daemonhood much like Arnell, and but relies upon his powerful battlefield magic to ensure he survives. ‘His armour has become horrible to behold, gapping mouths and eyes and faces forming and transforming to his every whim.’ The last statement was taken from a convicted traitor, also taken from the Danitun Guard. It has been said that Adual's mood is often reflected upon the expressions of those that appear within and upon his armour and it was also rumoured the faces are those he has slain throughout the centuries.

His forces are like most other damned Tzeentchian forces, with the bold exception in that Adual willingly and actively encourages the use of Cultists within his battle plans and forces. The Traitor Marines loyal to Adual, which, due to their descriptions, fighting style and outward use of disturbing psychic powers, have got to be Thousand Sons.

HISTORY

If I were to hazard a guess as to why the Four Winds of Chaos were formed, I would have to say it was due to their mutual hatred of the Imperium. However, unlike other Chaos warbands, it is only when a worthy prize needs to be seized that they call upon their combined might to secure such objectives. There have only ever been a few reports of such combined forces being employed against the Imperium, nor indeed any foe. They will fight alone and often do, but such attacks are, no doubt, in keeping with their grand plan of some day attacking Earth and destroying the rule of our beloved Emperor. What will happen if they succeed, no one can ever be quite sure whether this alliance will deteriorate or they will rule as a combined force for Chaos.

Very little else is known about why they decided to ally, and no-one can guess as to why such an alliance has not broken up by now, or whether it was the will of the Chaos Gods themselves to ally such powerful champions. However, it is known that such an occurrence as an alliance between a number of Chaos worshipers can be worked as in the case of Abaddon the Despoiler, when he launched each of his Black Crusades.

It is known that they have, in the past, resorted to infighting, particular between the two Lords Arnell and Damius, and this is well documented in the history of Kyraln, one of a few worlds that survived an attack by the Four Winds of Chaos. It is recorded that they each struck at differing points and would proceed to a common goal. Lord Damius had ordered the main arms factory at Dunhurst to be destroyed, whereas Lord Arnell had wanted the prize to turn it to his ends. When news of its destruction reached Arnell, only a few days away, he was furious with Damius. His forces attacked those under Damius' command and managed to slay over half of the plague ridden Plague Marines on the world before Damius ordered them off planet. It would take a further two years before Lord Arnell and Damius would put it behind them.

There have been many such incidents that was recorded Imperial history, one of them was at Xyuan. Arnell, Damius and Adual had begun laying waste to the world as outlined in the in the records of the world that survive. I have believed that a small force of Eldar fighting beneath the leadership of a known Farseer. His name remains unclear, but their actions do. They intervened and begun attacking the traitorous forces of the Four Winds. Both Lord Arnell and Damius attacked the Eldar, and they did crush the Eldar that they found. During the fierce battle against the Eldar, Lord Adual ordered his forces away, and begun attacking the central Hive city of the world, leaving the forces of Lord Arnell and Damius to bare the brunt of the shattered Eldar counter-attack. The Eldar quickly withdrew shortly after, shortly before they could force the right flank of Arnell's forces to collapse. It was clear that the Eldar had intended to buy some time, but by the time the combined forces of the traitors hit the Imperial lines again, they were already dug in and were well defended. The world was not lost to the Chaos gods that day, but a week later, it was reported that an unstoppable force of Eldar reclaimed the world and started the foundations for a new exodite colony there, that, I belief is still there today.

ARMOUR

The Fours Winds are known to have a number of armoured vehicles ranging from Dreadnoughts to fully armoured tanks and even Daemon Engines of Chaos have been reported. The vehicles themselves are fine examples of Chaos vehicles of their type, and often will fight with a tenacity little known or seen in their Imperial counter-parts. This was demonstrated on Xeanin Minor when an entire Imperial Guard tank company was obliterated by only six Khorne Dreadnoughts dropped from orbit right within their formation as they were en route to engage Lord Arnell's forces as they attacked the world’s capital.

DAEMONS

It has been noted on many occasions that the Lords of the Four Winds, with the exception of one, are clearly against the use daemons. Of the hundreds of reports, it is clear that Lord Arnell, Lord Adual and Lord Damius rarely employ daemons. The reasons behind this are unclear. It could be hypothesized that daemons are affront to the martial pride of the warriors who serve under the Four Winds, or that where they fight, often many light years away from the Eye of Terror especially in the case of Lord Adual.

Another thing to note about this threat is that their warriors are often augmented by daemonic entities, with the vast majority of them entering daemonic pacts and being possessed much the ‘Possessed’ are. Whether this is a short-lived measure and the daemon consumes the soul of the Chaos Space Marine or whether the daemon in unable to gain full control of the mortal vessel is unclear. It has also become clear that Lord Arnell's forces are those with the highest number of these ‘enhanced’ troops.

COMBAT DOCTRINE

Each Lord favours a particular style of combat, with Lord Arnell's forces being so focused on combat and those who follow Lord Adual use of ranged psychic powers to destroy their foes. With the exception of Lord Adual, the other Lords prefer getting close and personal with their foes rather then ranged fire-fights.

ICONOGRAPHY

When the forces of the Four Winds takes to the field of battle, there troops often fight with a small number of icons and symbols denoting their alliengance. I have included a number of symbols, one for each Lord and the main Four Winds symbol.

KEY ALLIES

The Four Winds of Chaos are not alone within the galaxy unlike most other Chaos warbands and can call upon known allies. Lord Arnell in particular, can call upon the might of the Danitun Guard, turned traitor shortly before their home world was destroyed by the Inquisition. The details of which have been sealed within the Vaults for all time.

The forces of Lord Damius are nearly always followed to battle by hordes of zombie-like creatures, often drawn from the world's population that their attacking. Lord Adual, often harbours darker secrets and when they strike, there are often an increase in the numbers of cultists loyal to Tzeentch as word spreads within the underground Cults. Of the Four Lords, Adual maintains the most contact with his allies for obvious reasons. Gemiel, on the other hand, relies on both mortal and immortal beings as allies, for when she broke her pacts to the Order and to the Emperor, all her former allies cast her out as the heretic she was. During the course of the next few years, she managed to contact the Iron Talons, a sect of Chaos Space Marines who offered her aid should she need it. I have included an extract from a diary of a known of a traitor.

Danitun Guard

The Danitun Guard follow Khorne and Lord Arnell with equal devotion, and although they are now a ship bound force, they are believed to be using the two moons of Hulen as training grounds and a temporary staging base. These sites have been marked for orbital bombardment at the Navies convience. The information on the Danitun Guard is very conclusive and they are known to use large numbers of conscripts in their forces. Also, their numbers have not dwindled despite the destruction of their former homeworld. It has been hypothesized by many Imperial agents that they keep their numbers up by a multitude of differing ways. This is a sketchy area in the information we do have. One proposed way is that they employ stolen cloning technology, or that they ramshack Imperial ships and capture Imperial citizens and force them to fight. Of course, there are those who are willing to fight and willingly seek out the Danitun Guard and join their ranks. [More Information]

The Zombie Hordes

Lord Damius brings untold numbers of corpse like zombies to battle, often drawn from previous battlefields, especially in the dawn of a new conflict. The virus responsible for such has not been identified yet, but what is known is that it is highly infectious and capable of adapting, to a reasonable extent, to whatever lifeform it comes into contact with. There have also been reports that a limited number of Eldar Guardians have also been effected, but such reports are without proof of late.

The Tzeentchian Cultists

These Cultists are unusual to other Cultist groups in that they are in contact with Lord Adual more frequently then previously thought by my fellow Inquisitors. The exact location of said cultists is unknown as they are widespread throughout the sectors neighbouring the Eye of Terror and individual bases are often created and destroyed as a matter of course by these Cultists as they travel in response to Lord Adual's communications.

The Iron Talons*

The following has been excerted from a diary captured that was believed to be from a known Cultist, simply known in his writings as Shale’l.

‘As the Traitor legions pledged their alliance to Horus at the start of the great heresy there was far darker treachery brewing in the legions of the Iron Warriors. As the mighty fleet set out to aid the Warmaster, a break away faction numbering only a few ships, and several thousand Space marines, changed coarse to Sarlax, a small agri world of the Agripiana system.

Led by the twisted commander Anarchk’tor and his right hand man Shadowrage. The renegades set out to forge there own unique future. It is now clear that Anarchk’tor had already been corrupted by the power of chaos and had, seen visions of his downfall as an Iron Warrior. He needed away out in order to escape his doom.

When the fleet arrived at their destination, they quickly fortified the area, to protect against any onslaught should they be found, or the Iron Warriors seeking answers. The commander then led a serious of small attacks on the local planets, to collect necessary resources and equipment.

Although cut off from the heresy word came that the attack and been thwarted and the remaining, broken legions had retreated to the relative safety of the Eye of Terror. Centuries passed but finally the chaos gods spoke, giving Anarchk’tor a chance to prove himself as a rightful leader of his renegade chapter the Iron Talons. He was told of a space marine chapter patrolling a near by system - the Angels Encarmine, successor chapter of the Blood Angels and given a chance to destroy them. Instantly Anarchk’tor knew that this was his calling, his time to shine and so immediately led a full attack on the unprepared chapter. The battle was short and vicious; the Iron Talons were an unknown threat so quickly gained the upper hand, eventually the Angels Encarmine broke, and retreated to a small world where they were eventually slaughtered. Over countless centuries Anarchk’tor led more of these small attacks to slaughter small space marine units that were separated from their main chapter for various reasons. The Chaos gods followed their new prodigy with great interest, and eventually granted his final wish - Daemon hood. Now, the present day and the Iron Talons stalk the galaxy, tearing huge holes in the imperial defences. The tale of their leader is long since forgotten and now leads his army, known only as ‘the Nameless One’.’

ENEMIES

Certain Imperial organisations have been on the search of one or more the Lords of the Four Winds. The Dark Angels, for example, have been rumoured to be hunting the Lord Arnell, but this has been unconfirmed. I do hold the belief that Arnell may be one referred to as the ‘Fallen’. Gemiel, herself, is a symbol of hatred and she often inspires acts of heroism when she is nearby to any force of Adeptus Soritas. There are those who are loyal to the Four Winds that are also hunted by known Imperial organisations, such as Champion Ulvcar, who are hunted by the Tau for his actions of Kiadrian VI. A number of Eldar Craftworlds, namely that of Iyanden and Beil-Tann have had minor skirmishes with the Four Winds but these seem minor compared to the deep rooted hatred I have for them.

DAEMON WORLDS

As I have already stated, each Lord owns a number of worlds both within the Eye of Terror and outside the Eye. Arnell himself own Iunsan, and currently has partial control of another, his forces are currently in a bid for control of the daemon world of Calonous. Gemiel has Isyudann, and although Adual has no daemon world, he has a number of outposts located in random parts of the galaxy, mainly run by his underground covens and cultist groups. Damius, as Gielorn. I have attached a number of files detailing these worlds. [Iunsan] [Gielorn] [Isyudann]

BATTLECRY

The Four Winds of Chaos have a number of battle cries, most of which are dependent upon the particular followers own patron. The followers of Arnell, for example, often use “For the Bloody one!” as their battlecry, whereas the Nurgle worshippers of the Four Winds use “For Nurgle, for disease!” Gemiel and Adual, on the other hand, has no known battlecry that have been noted down in Imperial reports.

*The item about the Iron Talons appears courtsy of a traitor.

Copyright Farseer Tyross 2004