The Skullsworn are an infamous and unusually large Khorne Daemonkin warband that has risen seven times to plague the galaxy, carving a bloody swathe across the stars in Khorne's name.
Warband History[]
The Skullsworn warband colour scheme
Seven times has the Daemonkin warband known as the Skullsworn risen to plague the galaxy. Seven times has it carved a bloody swathe across the stars for the Blood God, its mortal ranks gradually replaced by packs of frenzied daemons until not a single mortal remained. Seven times have its berserk warriors branded themselves into the minds of the galaxy's starfaring races. Now, as the doom of all draws near, they begin their eighth incarnation, seeking to summon not a cohort, but an entire daemon legion.
Compared to many Daemonkin, the Skullsworn possess vast numbers. This is because the daemonic legion these blood-soaked lunatics venerate is that of Skulltaker himself. Built around the Cohort of Blood, the Scriptures of Slaughter tell how this horde is a vast assemblage of daemons many times the size of any of its counterparts. Accordingly, the Skullsworn number in their thousands, boasting every stripe of Khorne-sworn warrior amongst their ranks.
Such a sprawling host of murderers cannot operate as one, for they would soon tear each other apart in their eagerness to offer worthwhile deaths to Khorne. Instead, the Skullsworn are scattered across the galaxy, each warband led by a mighty Chaos Lord who competes with his rivals to wreak the greatest slaughter. From the reaving hosts of Lord Ghalabrax that maraud through the Epstilos Cluster, to the blood-mad warband of the Daemon Prince Agrand the Annihilator, the many hosts of the Skullsworn each carve their own bloody path across the galaxy. It is written in the Scriptures of Slaughter that only the Blood God's Roar will see the Skullsworn reunited as one, and that their coming shall usher in a new age of endless carnage. If this is true, then the prophesied day must surely be close at hand; indeed, an entire conclave of Ordo Malleus Inquisitors have dedicated themselves to preventing this terrible event before it can come to pass.
Notable Campaigns[]
- Sworn to Glory (ca. M33) - Taking the Scriptures of Slaughter from the Infernal Maze, the Chaos Lord Barkor the Bloody forges the first warband of Skullsworn. For over a standard century, he leads his followers on a violent rampage across the stars, depopulating more than a dozen worlds before he finds his ascension on the plains of Ossedor II.
- Immortality's Price (166.M40) - The Skullsworn fall upon the Hive World of Rebas. They are opposed by over one hundred regiments of Astra Militarum, each well dug in and supplied. The war that follows is horrific in its intensity and bloodshed, but after the slaughter of eighty-eight of the defenders' regiments, the eight surviving Skullsworn ascend to become Daemon Princes simultaneously. Soon enough, nothing remains on Rebas but mountains of skulls.
- Revenge of the Silver Prince (Unknown Date) - After a long and difficult journey through the Warp, the Khorne Daemonkin warband known as the Skullsworn overtake their Emperor's Children rivals on the approach to the Civilised World of Hunter's Haven. The Skullsworn launch a bloody strike three solar days before their fellow Chaos Space Marines arrive. When the Emperor's Children make planetfall, there is little left of the capital city's populace but dismembered corpses and decapitated heads stacked in pyramidal piles. Enraged by the Skullsworn's actions, the daemon overlord known as the Silver Prince leads his bodyguard of Chaos Terminators in a sorcerous strike directly at the Khornate warband's commanders. The sudden conflict escalates into a grinding war of attrition that sees both warbands sustain grievous losses; however, both sides revel in the carnage to such an extent neither will back down. The remaining citizens of Hunter's Haven make use of the reprieve to evacuate, leaving the Chaos Space Marines to fight amongst themselves.
- Dangerous Prey (316.M41) - After fierce fighting amid the macrotemples of Skeros, the Wych Cult of Tortured Hopes capture a Chaos Lord of the Skullsworn. Bearing him back to Commorragh, the Dark Eldar throw the Daemonkin champion into their gladiatorial arena. Their sport is spoiled, however, when a Bloodthirster bursts from their captive mid-battle. The Daemonic incursion that follows is catastrophic, and results in the utter destruction of an entire sub-realm of the Dark City.
- Exultance (424.M41) - On the Imperial Shrine World of Idyll, the Skullsworn overrun the Battle-Sisters of the Order of the Bloody Rose. In doing so, they summon a mighty Daemon cohort. This is the fifth cohort they have brought forth of their chosen legion since the Horus Heresy.
- The Swallowed World (998.M41) - Gha'Kharax, Bloodthirster of Unfettered Fury, leads the Eightscarred and Skullsworn against the Imperial Fortress World of Almarit. The Daemonkin face elements of the Imperial Fists and Raven Guard, reinforced by several regiments of Tempestus Scions. The war grinds on long and bloody, but one by one the Daemonkin reconsecrate the planet's furnace-temples in bloody ceremonies of ritual sacrifice. As the last shrine falls, Almarit is dragged whole into the Warp, claimed by Khorne as a new Daemon World.
- Visions of Blood (999.M41) - The 13th Black Crusade of the Warmaster Abaddon bursts from the Eye of Terror and falls upon the Cadian Gate. At the same moment, all across the galaxy, Khorne's Daemonkin are stricken by bloody visions of carnage on a scale none have seen before. Compelled by their wrathful god, the Daemonkin turn as one and begin to carve a path toward the Cadian Gate. It seems likely that, while there is blood still to spill, neither side will be safe in the war to come.
Notable Skullsworn[]
- Barkor the Bloody - In the 33rd Millennium, the Chaos Lord known as Barkor the Bloody took the Scriptures of Slaughter from the Infernal Maze and forged the first warband of Khorne Daemonkin known as the Skullsworn. For over a Terran century, he led his followers on a violent rampage across the stars, depopulating more than a dozen worlds before he found his ascension as a Daemon Prince on the plains of Ossedor II.
Warband Appearance[]
Warband Colours[]
The Skullsworn wear red Power Armour edged with brass. They display squad markings upon shoulders, greaves or knees, and the rune of their warband on their left shoulder guard.
Warband Badge[]
The banner of the Skullsworn depicts the Mark of Khorne in black upon a background of dark, arterial red.
Sources[]
- Codex: Khorne Daemonkin (7th Edition) (Digital Edition), "The Bloodsworn Hordes - The Skullsworn," "Slaughter Without End," "Lords of Skulls," "The Skullsworn"
- Codex Heretic Astartes - Chaos Space Marines (8th Edition), "Revenge of the Silver Prince", pg. 48
Gallery[]
