Word Bearers

The Word Bearers are one of the nine First Founding Space Marine Legions that betrayed the Emperor of Mankind during the Horus Heresy. They became Chaos Space Marines, their allegiance pledged to their Daemon Primarch Lorgar and to Chaos Undivided. The Word Bearers were also the first Space Marine Legion to be corrupted by the Ruinous Powers of Chaos and through their actions they corrupted the Warmaster Horus and brought on the terrible civil war of the Horus Heresy in all its savagery. Today they bend all their considerable efforts towards the overthrow of the Emperor of Mankind and spreading the "truth" of Chaos to all Mankind.

Lorgar
Along with his brother Primarchs, Lorgar vanished from Terra whilst still an infant; mysteriously transported through the Warp by the Ruinous Powers of Chaos from the Emperor of Mankind's gene-lab deep beneath the Himalayan Mountains and scattered throughout the galaxy. Of all the sons of their secular father, Lorgar was perhaps the most divergent, for he landed on the highly religious world of Colchis, and spent his entire life prior to discovery by the Emperor as a player in the complex socio-religious political structure of that world. Prior to his discovery, Lorgar had overthrown an ancient Ecclesiastic Hierarchy based upon the debased worship of Chaos gods. Lorgar was discovered by the Emperor on the feudal world. His lost son had unified the world of Colchis beneath his authoritarian rule in a series of brutal religious wars in response to his visions of the Emperor's coming arrival. Upon the arrival of the Emperor, which Lorgar saw as the confirmation of many visions and prophecies, Lorgar and his people embraced the ruler of the Imperium as their messiah and God-Emperor. Perhaps the most manifest display of this belief was the now infamous “Lectitio Divinitatus,” a document written by Lorgar expressing the divine nature of the Emperor. Ironically, this document created the foundation for the Imperial Cult during the Emperor’s lifetime, for the new religion would eventually emerge on the multifold worlds of the Imperium following his internment in the Golden Throne. When the Emperor finally met his long lost son face-to-face, as Lorgar had foreseen, the Primarch immediately dropped to one knee in obeisance, leading the population of his world in rejoicing and worshipping the Emperor as a god. At the conclusion of these festivities, the Emperor bade Lorgar, take his best warriors and induct them into the XVII Space Marine Legion derived from his own genome which he named the Word Bearers and join his father on the Great Crusade to reunify the human worlds of the galaxy under a new Imperium. Lorgar appointed trustworthy regents to rule over Colchis in his absence and devoutly complied with his father's direction.

Great Crusade
Lorgar was an unusually pious Primarch. While the other Space Marine Legions were rapidly conquering planet after planet, the Word Bearers proceeded much more slowly, as they would build temples and shrines in veneration of the Emperor, who was also deemed the God of Mankind by Lorgar, on each newly conquered planet. All forms of blasphemy and heresy that threatened the divine centrality of the Emperor in the new regime, all manner of ancient scrolls, books, artwork and icons dedicated to the worship of beings other than the Emperor were burned and smashed before the advancing ranks of the Word Bearers Legion. In their place, vast monuments and cathedrals all dedicated to the worship of the Emperor were erected upon the mounds of corpses belonging to those who had resisted conversion. The greatest Chaplains of the Word Bearers Legion produced enormous devotional works on the divinity and righteousness of the Emperor, and Lorgar himself delivered countless speeches and sermons, converting millions to the worship of the Emperor with his words alone.

A Legion Rebuked
During this period, the absolute loyalty of Lorgar and the Word Bearers Legion was absolutely unquestionable. Their worlds regularly delivered tithes in the Emperor’s name, and the orders of Terra were accepted without question throughout the worlds liberated by the Word Bearers. Lorgar and his Legion had successfully prosecuted the Emperor's Great Crusade for almost a century, and in that time the Emperor had never once admonished his zealous son or the Word Bearers Legion for their fervent worship of Him even though such doctrine clashed with the Emperor's policy of spreading the Imperial Truth.

But the Emperor, for all his love of his son, was greatly unsatisfied. He had initially tolerated the beliefs of the less secular of his sons, even those of Lorgar, but as the Great Crusade reached its maximum extent, the Emperor found himself increasingly frustrated with the slow pace with which Lorgar conquered and then converted worlds for the Imperium. The Emperor finally ordered the Word Bearers to cease their religious activities, as their mission was to reunify the galaxy under the banner of the secular Imperial Truth, not preach of the Emperor's personal divinity. The Emperor had long opposed the spread of organized religion and was determined to use the creation of the new Imperium of Man to enshrine reason and science, not religion, as the true guiding light of a new interstellar human civilization. The Emperor was particularly troubled by any notion that he should be worshiped as a god and the actions of the Word Bearers Legion in slaughtering those who refused to accept the Emperor's divinity stank of the religious excesses that had so often poisoned human history.

The Emperor ordered a task force composed of the Ultramarines Legion and lead by their Primarch Roboute Guilliman and accompanied by a force of his elite personal bodyguards, Adeptus Custodes and the Imperial regent, Malcador the Sigillite, to destroy the planet Khur, a world dear to the Word Bearers, whom considered its capital, Monarchia, the "perfect city" because of their intense devotion of its citizens and the sheer number of cathedrals and monuments dedicated to the worship of the Emperor as a God. Following the cities destruction by the Ultramarines, the entire Word Bearers Legion (100,000 Space Marines strong) were ordered to assemble on the planet's surface, within the smoldering ruins of Monarchia, and was humiliatingly rebuked by the Emperor himself, who forced everyone, including Lorgar, to kneel before him, and simply told them that they had failed him and humanity. Lorgar is said to have been stunned by his father's reproach and refusal to accept his worship, and to have fallen into a melancholic state.

Feeling betrayed by the Emperor, he refused audience to all but Kor Phaeron, the Word Bearers Cardinal and adoptive father whom raised him on Colchis. He had served as Lorgar's chief lieutenant and advisor since his time that he ruled as the theocrat of Colchis. Kor Phaeron sympathised with Lorgar's unrequited religious longings, and felt that the Word Bearers Legion should serve gods truly worthy of worship. Kor Phaeron explained that he knew of such gods, and thus, Lorgar learned of the existence of the Chaos Gods, who not only accepted the zealous worship he offered, but demanded it. Thus the seeds of the Horus Heresy were first sown among the Word Bearers. Eventually the Warmaster Horus would finally be turned against the Emperor in the name of Chaos largely due to the machinations of the Word Bearers' Chaplain Erebus, who arranged for Horus to be exposed to the temptations of the Chaos Gods, and the Word Bearers quickly joined the rebellion. The worlds they had conquered since their conversion also joined the side of Chaos, having been secretly corrupted to the worship of the Ruinous Powers in the final days of the Great Crusade.

The Horus Heresy
As the Horus Heresy unfolded, the Word Bearer battleship Furious Abyss set off for the realm of Ultramar in the Eastern Fringes of the galaxy after its secret construction was completed on the Jovian moon of Thule. The Furious Abyss' first kill was the Ultramarines starship Fist of Macragge as it was heading for repairs to the Vangelis spaceport. The astropaths of the Fist of Macragge managed to send out a telepathic warning through the Warp, ultimately received as a very powerful psychic scream at the Vangelis spaceport. Seeing visions of Macragge and the impending terror brought by the Traitor Marines of the Word Bearers Legion, Captain Cestus, the Fleet Commander of the Ultramarines Legion, quickly gathered a force of starships at the main Vangelis hub of Coralis. He managed to find seven Loyalist starships: the Wrathful (which Cestus commandeered as his flagship) and her escorts, the Fearless, the Ferox, the Ferocious, the Fireblade, and the Thousand Sons Legion's starship Waning Moon. Captain Vorlov of the starship Boundless also requested to join Captain Cestus, and was accepted. The Loyalist fleet pursued the Furious Abyss and battled with it, suffering heavy casualties (all of the Loyalist starships but the Wrathful and Fireblade were destroyed), ending when the Furious Abyss entered the Warp to continue its journey to Ultramar. The Wrathful and Fireblade made the transition as well, but the Furious Abyss deployed a psionic mine which disturbed the Warp, causing the Fireblade's Gellar Field to fail, and the ship was torn apart by the daemonic forces of the Immaterium.5

When the Word Bearers of the Furious Abyss finally launched their attack against the Ultramarines' dominion of Ultramar, the strike against the world of Calth was led by Lorgar's greatest champion, the former Master of the Faith, Kor Phaeron. He swore to utterly destroy the Ultramarines' homeworld, and was very nearly successful. From his personal battle-barge, now renamed Infidus Imperator (False Emperor), Kor Phaeron directed a full-scale invasion of the Calth System. Calth's three sister planets were all destroyed, massive geo-nuclear strikes ripping them apart at the core. The system's once gentle sun was laced with deadly heavy metals and other unstable substances that increased the star's radiation output tenfold; within a century after the Heresy's end, the final elements of Calth's atmosphere were burned off and the world was left an airless void, its populace forced to live in gigantic underground caverns.

The war on Calth was devastating and horrific. The Ultramarines were shocked by the millions of Chaos Cultists the Word Bearers used as human shields and disgusted by the hordes of daemons they unleashed from the Warp. The Word Bearers, in turn, had underestimated the tenacity and resolve of their Loyalist foes. In the end, Lord Kor Phaeron was defeated when Ultramarines reinforcements from Macragge drove the Word Bearers from the surface of Calth. Kor Phaeron retreated all the way to the Maelstrom, a turbulent Warp rift much like the far larger Eye of Terror where the Immaterium of Chaos seeped through into the material realm of the universe.

Lorgar himself lead the rest of his Traitor Legion alongside the Warmaster Horus in the forces of Chaos' siege of the Imperial Palace on Terra, where he helped invade the realm of the master he had once served with the fanaticism of a zealot. In the end, Horus was defeated personally by the Emperor aboard his own flagship in orbit of Terra, and the Traitor Legions of Chaos were forced to flee into the Eye of Terror. The Word Bearers were also forced to retreat to the Eye of Terror with their traitorous brethren, and there they have remained, returning to the worlds of the Imperium only to raid, pillage, and destroy.

Post-Heresy
From the Daemon World of Sicarus, Lorgar now watches over his Legion and orchestrates the vast corruption from within that the Imperium suffers at the hands of his various sponsored Chaos Cults and covens. Unlike many of the other Traitor Legions of Chaos Marines, the Word Bearers have remained a unified, if loosely organised, military force, the main ruling body of which is known as the Dark Council, which rules in Lorgar's self-imposed absence as he meditates on the mysteries of Chaos.6 From the two primary bases of the Legion, Sicarus and the factory-world of Ghalmek which is located within the Maelstrom, the Word Bearers launched twisted wars of faith against the Imperium. On each world they attack, they incubate a seed of heresy that will one day contribute to their ever-expanding web of Chaos Cults. Sometimes, however, this brings them into competition with the efforts of the Alpha Legion. Though the Alpha Legion and the Word Bearers have united several times to take part in the Black Crusades of Abaddon, they are more usually in states of bitter division and rivalry. However, these conflicts are but distractions as their war against the Imperium of Man is a total one, and they do not intend for it to end until every icon of the False Emperor lies shattered at their feet.

Legion Organization
Before their fall from grace, the organisation of the Word Bearers is not currently known but it is recorded that they were not considered particularly different from the organisation of a typical Astartes Legion apart from the number of zealous brothers whom served as Chaplains. Before the Horus Heresy, the Word Bearers Legion, like many of their fellow Astartes Legions were sub-divided into Chapters. A full Chapter consisted of one-thousand Astartes, sub-divided into 10 Companies, each 100 strong and led by Captains. It has also been noted that not all Chapters consisted of the standard 10 companies of 100 Astartes each. The Serrated Sun Chapter for example seems to consist of only three companies which each originally consisted of a 100 marines each. Also noted is that the order of companies in those Chapters is rather Chaotic. The Serrated Sun Chapter includes the 7th, 15th and 37th Companies of the Legion. Other Chapters are known to even have 20 or more companies. Despite being part of the greater Word Bearers Legion, every Chapter has its own traditions and its own role within Lorgar's Word.' Furthermore, each Chapter has its own iconography, symbology, and specific tactical role within the Legion, giving each their own distinct appearance.5.

Known Chapters of the Pre-Heresy Word Bearers Legion: Four of these Chapters remain known to the Imperium today, bearing these logos: Each of these Chapters represented a different aspect of the Word of Lorgar.5 After their corruption by the Ruinous Powers, alone amongst the Traitor Legions, the Word Bearers maintain a facsimile of their former discipline and faith. Word Bearers do not worship the Chaos Gods individually. Instead, the Word Bearers venerate and regard them as a Dark Pantheon of Chaos Gods, placing their faith within the concept of Chaos Undivided. The Sons of Lorgar view those who limit their worship to a single Chaos God with contempt and are partially at odds with the Emperor's Children for their decadence and devotion to Slaanesh alone. The Word Bearers often rely on daemons as shock troops, 'meat-shields', and to form the bulk of their armies. Their elite Chaos Space Marines are used to accomplish vital tasks. The Word Bearers have been known to have a massive base of Chaos Cultists, and have used cultists and insurgents in their assaults since the Great Crusade. However, unlike the Alpha Legion, the primary use of Chaos Cultists for the Word Bearers is only as cannon fodder and distractions.
 * The Burning Hand Chapter - Commanded by Chapter Master Deinos, in keeping with the name of his Chapter, Deinos's gauntlets were permanently wreathed in flames from gas jets built into his vambraces. Nothing is known of this Chapter's particular function or specialty.
 * Chapter of the Coiled Lash - Nothing is known of this Chapter's particular function or specialty.
 * Chapter of the Crescent Moon - Nothing is known of this Chapter's particular function or specialty.
 * Chapter of the Opening Eye - Commanded by Chapter Master Faerskarel, nothing is known about this Chapter.
 * Chapter of the Osseous Throne - Nothing is known of this Chapter's particular function or specialty.
 * Chapter of the Void - Led by Chapter Master Tenaebron, the Chapter of the Void was probably the least respected among the Word Bearers Legion for it was by far the smallest, with less than seven hundred Astartes. There was little glory in its history, used moreover as a reserve force that enacted its missions behind the front line. This grim dishonourable purpose fell to the Void and Tenaebron. Their Master did not complain, for he knew that his Chapter's true role was to create and test new weapons and tactics for the rest of the Legion. It had not gone unnoticed that Lorgar had ordered Tenebron to concern himself with the exploitation of the Word Bearers' psychic resources.
 * The Crimson Mask Chapter - Commanded by Chapter Master Rukis, battle-brothers of this Chapter were known to have the faceplate of their helmets wrought to resemble fearsome red-skinned snarling creature (daemons).
 * The Ebony Serpent Chapter - Commanded by Chapter Master-Skolinthos. Nothing is known of this Chapter's particular function or specialty.
 * The Quillborn (Chapter Symbol: A Quill with a drop of Blood at its base) - The Quillborn were so named because their traditions emphasised their birth, created in the Labratories and Apothecarions of Colchis. They were written into existence, born as syllables of the Word. A dedicated naval formation, the Quillborn were true marines, fighting ship-to-ship, completely at home battling through the cramped structure of a starship.
 * The Serrated Sun Chapter - Nothing is known of this Chapter's particular function or specialty.
 * A quill with a drop of blood at the nib
 * An open hand with an eye in the palm
 * A burning book
 * A sceptre crowned with a skull

The Word Bearers are notable for being the only Traitor Legion who still have a corps of Chaplains, now known instead as Dark Apostles. The Word Bearers follow the words of their Dark Apostles with total faith in battle. The Dark Apostles divine through many ways how a battle is to be fought and won, and the warriors of the Host of Lorgar obey unquestioningly. Before battle, the Word Bearers gather in ritual prayer, chanting hymns and cult doctrine to affirm their faith in the power of Chaos Undivided. Often these chants will be answered and it is common for the Word Bearers to fight alongside daemonic entities.

Specialty Units

 * Host - This evil priesthood enforces a strict regime of worship of the Ruinous Powers upon their fellow Word Bearers and are also highly likely to be found leading the Legion in battle. Each is gifted an army of their own, known as a Host. The numbers vary, with the smallest typical size for a Word Bearers Host roughly analogous to that of a Space Marine Company, and the largest exceeding the manpower of a full Space Marine Chapter. The organizational make-up of each Host differs wildly as well, and can change depending on the whims of the Dark Apostle that leads it. Often they will suddenly alter the hierarchy of their Host for reasons known only to themselves. These changes can result in seemingly unwieldy or tactically inflexible formations. The Word Bearers themselves accept these changes without question. The most commonly occurring structure for a Word Bearers Host is that roughly equating to a Space Marine Company, with the Host broken down into units of about twelve Traitor Marines. Each is commanded by a Chaos Champion of the Word Bearers who strives to become as devout a war leader as the Dark Apostle in the hope of one day being chosen to succeed him on the occasion of his death. The Word Bearers then march into battle beneath their standards, bellowing catechisms of hatred at their foe as drums beat out a dolorous thunder. The relentless advance of the Word Bearers is a terrifying sight, as the monotonous chant and beat of drums can break even the strongest will. The unshakable belief of the Word Bearers in the truth of Chaos and their cause has seen them marching into certain death, yet unwilling to take a single step backwards. A battle ends either in victory or the utter destruction of the Word Bearer Host.1
 * Coryphaus - The largest known Host of the Word Bearers numbered over two thousand Chaos Marines at its peak. The size of this force required that the Dark Apostle be served by two chief lieutenants, his First Acolyte and a Chaos Champion, called the Coryphaus. The role of the Coryphaus is to be the intermediary between the Dark Apostle and his Host. This allows the Dark Apostle to be seen primarily as a spiritual figure. Furthermore, the Coryphaus is essentially in charge of the majority of tactical decisions on the battlefield, freeing the Dark Apostle to commune with the dark powers, fuel the hatred of the Host and ponder strategic matters.
 * The Annointed - Additionally, the Host possessed an Icon Bearer and an elite unit of over two hundred Chaos Space Marine Terminators known as the Annointed.4
 * Gal Vorbak (Colchisian for the "Blessed Sons") - Space Marines of the Serrated Suns Chapter of the Word Bearers Legion who ventured into the Eye of Terror Warp rift and brought back the Primordial Truth of the existence of Chaos to their Primarch Lorgar. The Gal Vorbak were originally the 1,000 Space Marines of the Serrated Sun Chapter of the Word Bearers lead by their Chapter Master Argel Tal. Their Power Armour was painted red as opposed to the standard pre-Heresy Word Bearer colour scheme of grey, which differentiated them from the rest of the Legion. During the Drop Site Massacre on Istavan V when the Traitor Legions betrayed their Loyalist brethren, the Gal Vorbak underwent another change. When Lorgar attacked Corax, the Primarch of the Loyalist Raven Guard Legion, all of the members of the Gal Vorbak were possessed by daemons; their flesh and ceramite fusing and warping into new, bestial forms. The Gal Vorbak resumed their normal forms of Space Marines again, though the battle had proven costly and only six of their number had survived taking on a Primarch in battle to continue to fight in the service of Chaos throughout the rest of the Horus Heresy. They remaining members of the Gal Vorbak became the most feared unit in the Word Bearers Traitor Legion.

Combat Doctrine
The Word Bearers follow the words of their Dark Apostles with utter loyalty and faith in battle, and they in turn interpret the will of Lorgar by many and varied means. The means to win a battle may be contained within the entrails of a particular captive, a particular alignment of the stars or the pattern of cast bones. The Dark Apostles decree how the battle is to be fought and the warriors of the Host obey unquestioningly. Before battle, the Word Bearers gather in ritual prayer, chanting blasphemous hymns and forbidden doctrine to affirm their faith in the power of Chaos. Often these chants will be answered and it is common for the Word Bearers to fight alongside hideous daemonic entities that have made diabolical pacts with the Dark Apostles.

The Word Bearers then raise their damned standards high and march into battle beneath cursed icons, bellowing catechisms and canticles of hatred at their foe as hideous drums beat out a dolorous thunder. The relentless advance of the Word Bearers is a terrifying sight, as the monotonous chant and beat of drums can break even the strongest will. The night before battle, the enemy can hear dark mutterings emanating from all around, echoed in the pounding drums, stretching the nerve and instilling every man with fear. The unshakable belief of the Word Bearers that they alone can save the galaxy has seen them marching towards certain death, yet unwilling to take a single step backwards. Any victory won over the Word Bearers is only won at a terrible cost, as their attacks will only ever end when all are dead.

Legion Beliefs
Rooted in the beliefs of Lorgar himself, the Word Bearers are the heralds of a terrible new age of religious servitude. Only united behind the teachings of a god and offering the obeisance that such a god requires can the masses of Humanity be saved from the perils of alien menace and internal schism. There is only one power in the galaxy worthy of such submission, and that is the dark majesty of Chaos. Each warrior of the Word Bearers is a missionary bringing the darkness of Chaos with them, preaching the one true faith to those that will hear it and exterminating those who will not. Their belief is simple, tread the path of Chaos or die.

Gene-seed
The gene-seed of the Word Bearers was originally thought to be pure, but events subsequent to the Horus Heresy revealed the weaknesses inherent in their genetic make-up. The Space Marines of the Word Bearers have a marked tendency towards dogged, unquestioning belief and stubbornness that verges on insanity. Since the Heresy, their gene-seed has become corrupted beyond redemption and those negative traits have been magnified to hideous proportions. The Word Bearers do not display a particular tendency towards mutation, though those who are gifted with such blessings of Chaos are much favoured amongst their Host.

Notable Word Bearers

 * Lorgar - Primarch of the Word Bearers.1
 * Kor Phaeron - Black Cardinal of the Word Bearers.1
 * Erebus - First Chaplain of the Word Bearers.1
 * Jarulek - Dark Apostle, former War Captain and Coryphaeus to the First Captain Kor Phaeron (Deceased) 4 -
 * Eliphas the Inheritor - Dark Apostle, leader of the Dark Crusade on Kronus. Currently allied with the Black Legion. 3


 * Chapter Master Deinos - Commanded the Burning Hand Chapter. In keeping with the name of his Chapter, Deinos's gauntlets were permanently wreathed in flames from gas jets built into his vambraces.
 * Chapter Master Faerskarel - Commanded the Opening Eye Chapter.
 * Chapter Master Rukis - Commanded the Crimson Mask Chapter. Like all Astartes of his Chapter, Rukis wore a helm whose faceplate was wrought to resemble a fearsome red-skinned snarling creature.
 * Chapter Master Skolinthos - Commanded the Ebony Serpent Chapter. Skolinthos's oesophagus had been crushed in the early years of the Great Crusade when it was the Emperor whom the Word Bearers vaunted above all others. His voice crackled sibilantly through a vocal synthesiser on his chest.
 * Chapter Master Tenaebron - Commanded the Chapter of the Void, the least respected Chapter amongst the Word Bearers Legion, primarily used as a reserve force that enacted its missions behind the front line. Though his Chapter's true role was to create and test new weapons and tactics for the rest of the Legion as well as studying ways to exploit the Word Bearers' psychic resources.


 * 7th Grand Company/Host
 * Argel Tal - Captain of the 7th Assault Company of the Chapter of the Serrated Suns. After the Horus Heresy, Argel Tal became known as the Crimson Lord of the few remaining Gal Vorbak.
 * Ekodas - Dark Apostle


 * 18th Grand Company/Host
 * Sarabdal - From Colchis, handpicked by Lorgar for his position within the Legion.


 * 34th Grand Company/Host
 * Aecton - Battle-Brother
 * Arshaq - Brother-Sergent
 * Bachari - Assault-Sergent
 * Burias - Battle-Brother: Born on Colchis, was inducted after the Word Bearers switched to the worship of Chaos. Lived in a Monastery-Prison. Fought at Calth.
 * Khadmon - Battle-Brother (34th)
 * Kol Badar - Assault-Brother Sergent/Tacticion. Later became Coryphaus of Jarulek and then Marduk.4
 * Marduk - Dark Apostle, former First Acolyte of Jarulek. 4 Part of The Brotherhood which eliminated all Word Bearers who failed to comply with the new direction of the Legion, including all Terran born marines. Fought at Calth against the Ultramarines Legion.
 * Paeblen - Sergeant
 * Sor Talgron aka 'Warmonger' - Captain of the 34th Company. Stationed on Terra during the Horus Heresy. Wore Terminator armour with a Chaplain-esque skull helm. Eventually became a Dark Apostle.
 * Urhlon - Apothecary


 * Known Word Bearers of the Furious Abyss
 * Zadkiel - Fleet Captain of the Furious Abyss.5
 * Baelanos - Assault-captain of the Furious Abyss.5
 * Ikthalon - Brother-Chaplain of the Furious Abyss.5
 * Reskiel - Sergeant-commander of the Furious Abyss.5
 * Malforian - Weapon Master of the Furious Abyss.5

Legion Fleet
During the Horus Heresy the Word Bearers are known to have possessed the following vessels:2
 * Crucius Maledictus (Infernus Class) - Pre-Heresy it was known as the Flame of Purity. Heavily damaged after fighting the White Scars Legion.
 * Destiny's Hand (Battle Barge) - Commanded by First Chaplain Erebus.
 * Furious Abyss (Specially-built Battleship) - Commanded by Fleet Captain Zadkiel.5
 * Infidus Imperator (Battle Barge) - Commanded by Lord Kor Phaeron.1
 * Infidus Diabolus (Strike Cruiser) - Commanded by Dark Apostle Jarulek. 4
 * Kamiel (Battleship)
 * Lorgar's Spite (Battleship)

Legion Colours
The Pre-Heresy Word Bearers Legion originally wore slate grey coloured Power Armour complete with inscribed/engraved prayers, phrases, and words of devotion, with no contrasting colors. Word Bearers Chaplains wore the slate grey armour of the Legion, being distinguished by gold armour trim and their Crozius. The Chaplains repainted their armour black following the Legion's reprimanding by the Emperor in Monarchia, "...in remembrance of the ashes coating every warrior's armour." First Chaplain Erebus was known to have a clean shaven head which was richly tattooed with religious sayings and imagery. It is not known whether or not this was standard practice amongst the members of the Chaplaincy. After their fall to the Ruinous Powers the Word Bearers adopted a new colour scheme: red-coloured Power Armour the colour of spilt blood which is sometimes worn with black or silver trim. Heretical prayers are inscribed/engraved directly onto the surface of their armour. Often times Word Bearers Traitor Marines are also seen wearing devotional prayer sheets hanging from their armour's shoulder pads - the blasphemous words of the 'Book of Lorgar' inscribed upon them.

Legion Badge
The insignia of the Pre-Heresy Word Bearers Legion was an opened book surmounted by a burning flame of truth, which was prominently displayed on the left shoulder pad. Falling their corruption by the Ruinnous Powers the Word Bearers adopted new iconography; the screaming head of a demon superimposed over a blazing fire.

Loyalist Word Bearers Controversy
Although the Word Bearers Legion had initially been thrown into disarray after their public humiliation and rebuke by the Emperor on the world of Khul, it has been established by the Post-Heresy Word Bearers novels that the Legion was divided into two camps. Those who remained faithful to the previous religion taught by their Primarch (primarily the Astartes from Terra) and those who began to embrace the dark precepts of Chaos, rediscovered by Lorgar after long meditation and study (primarily the Astartes from Colchis.) The Word Bearers initially kept their faith in Chaos secret, remaining loyal, at least in name, to the Imperial path, until the events of Istvaan V, after which time they openly embraced the new faith without any pretense and eagerly joined the Horus Heresy.

Were there those among the Legion who still wished to serve the Emperor? The current literature would seem to indicate as much. The post-Heresy novels inform the reader that those who refused to accept this new creed were “purged” from the Legion over the course of one week. They intimate that this involved the elimination of every one of the Terran born members of the Legion, as well as any Colchian Marines who refused to accept the doctrine espoused by their Primarch.

The Word Bearers Novel Dark Creed by Anthony Reynolds speaks of the purges withing the ranks of the Word Bearers against the Terran-borne Astartes:

Page 111: "Our Fraternity represents divine change. On ancient Colchis, a billion souls were released from earthly flesh in the Brotherhood's purge of the Covenant, and great was the rejoicing; and stronger did Colchis become. The second cleansing saw the Legion's ranks purified of Terran taint; and stronger did the Legion become, its chaff cast aside."

Page 184-185: "The Second Purge came a century later, after our blessed lord, the Urizen, had reunited with his Legion; after our glorified primarch's eyes were opened to the lies of the golden-tongued so-called Emperor of Mankind."

"With realization came the understanding that the old beliefs of Colchis were the only truth in the universe; that the old gods were the only powers worthy of our faith and worship. There were those amongst our blessed Legion that would not have understood these things, brainwashed and conditioned as they had been in their formative years. Our lord Lorgar once more reformed the Brotherhood, again with great mourning and remorse. Thus were the Legion's ranks cleansed and unified. In one week, thus were all warrior brothers of Terran birth eradicated, leaving only those brothers of Colchis blood behind."

"Great was the Urizen's lamentation, for those warriors slain were his sons, his flesh and blood, children of his own gene-code. And yet, through no fault of their own and as a direct result of being raised in isolation from him, they had to be removed. Their will had been utterly corrupted by the lies of the False Emperor. Their souls had been closed off to the great truth."

There are a number of unanswered questions, as current fluff repeatedly describes units of Word Bearers stationed on Terra even as the Horus Heresy broke out, but it does not explain what happened to them. In addition, like every other Legion, it is quite likely that the Word Bearers had their Astartes scattered in several different sectors, on missions that were sometimes held in common with other, Loyalist, formations. What of the fate of these men?

The simple answer, for the moment, is that we can generally assume that, however briefly, there were Loyalists in the service of the Word Bearers, but we cannot be certain how many, where they were located, or even for how long they were permitted to exist. The Old Chronology intimated that there were loyalists from all of the Traitor Legions who were eventually absorbed by other Legions or chosen for new tasks – but the New Chronology has yet to completely come to grips with this contentious issue.