Lords of Decay

The Lords of Decay are a warband of Chaos Space Marines originally drawn from the Death Guard Traitor Legion though they have grown large by recruiting members of the other Traitor Legions and Renegade Space Marine Chapters dedicated to Nurgle who have deemed their commanders' attitude towards the Imperium of Man in general and the defence of Terra in particular to be too fearful. The Lords of Decay are known to have been led for a time by the Daemon Primarch Mortarion himself. The Lords of Decay are known to be the only Chaos Space Marine warband in existence to have attempted a direct attack on the Solar System and to have ever defeated a member of the Adeptus Custodes in combat since the Horus Heresy. They were also heavily involved in assisting the Forces of Chaos during the terrible Siege of Vraks. The Lords of Decay are primarily composed of Plague Marines.

Warband History
The Lords of Decay are one of the largest Death Guard warbands operating in the galaxy today. They have been led into battle by both Typhon, the Herald of Nurgle and even the Death Guard Primarch Mortarion, now a powerful Daemon Prince dedicated to the Plague Lord. The Imperium of Man has recorded multiple encounters with these foul Traitor Marines since the start of the 41st Milelnnium, of which several of the most notable are recounted below.

Notable Campaigns

 * Battle of Pluto (Unknown.41st Millennium) - This event was recorded by the Chaos Lord Typhus, the former First Captain of the Death Guard Traitor Legion and the Herald of Nurgle, who was present aboard his flagship, the Chaos Battleship Terminus Est, which was overseeing the battle from orbit. Over Pluto, the Lords of Decay and several other fleets of allied Nurgleite Chaos Space Marines broke out of the Warp and quickly dispatched the nearby merchant ships. They quickly descended to the surface of Pluto where the Chaos Lord Festernius unleashed a plague of nitrogen-fixing bacteria that turned all of the nitrogen storage cisterns present on the planet for Imperial industrial use into toxic ammonia deposits. The Imperial Navy's entire Battlefleet Solar emerged from the Warp 6 hours later in response to the distress call from Pluto and engaged the Nurgleite fleet above that frozen planetoid. A strike force of Adeptus Custodes from Terra teleported down to the surface of Pluto and were supported by several units of Howling Griffons Space Marines who were in the vicinity of the Sol System at the time and Grey Knights from the nearby Ordo Malleus base on Titan. In single combat, Festernius challenged the sergeant leading the Custodes detachment to combat and reportedly slew him and his strike force of 6 Custodes to a man. Festernius was reported to have vomited on the Custodes' sergeant's breastplate, melting through the ceramite layers of his Power Armour and then, thrusting both his hands into the hole, tore the powerful Custodes warrior in two. Despite this brief victory, 4,000 Traitor Marines were slain to a man by the Howling Griffons and Grey Knight forces with Festernius eventually being defeated in single combat by the Captain of the Grey Knights. He was recorded to have burst apart Festernius' plague spewer with a shot from his Stormbolter before extinguishing the Chaos Lord's disease-ravaged mind with a psychic blast. Of the Chaos warfleet that assaulted the Sol System's outermost defences, 27 starships were destroyed by the wrath of Battlefleet Solar while only 3 Imperial vessels were lost.
 * Siege of Vraks (813-830.M41) - The Lords of Decay were one of the Chaos Space Marine warbands that answered the call of the Chaos Lord Arkos the Faithless of the Alpha Legion to support the defence of the Forces of Chaos entrenched on the Armoury World of Vraks from the assault of the Imperium of Man. After the Siege of Vraks ended with the fall of that benighted world to Imperial forces after a horrifically costly military campaign in 830.M41, the Lords of Decay fled off-world. Their last reported sighting was in the Mentieth Sector, where Imperial forces were in pursuit.

Warband Colours
The Lords of Decay's Power Armour is the same as that of the Death Guard, decayed and cracked plates of Ceramite discoloured in sickly greens and browns. The Lords of Decay's Chaos Space Marines, like those of the Death Guard, often wear the antique Mark III "Iron" pattern of Power Armour.

Warband Badge
The Lords of Decay's badge is a modified version of the standard Mark of Nurgle.

Notable Lords of Decay

 * Festernius - Festernius was the Chaos Lord who led the Nurgleite assault on Pluto and slew an entire contingent of Adeptus Custodes. Despite this notable victory, Festernius was slain by a Captain of the Grey Knights Space Marines.