A Flawless Blade of the Emperor's Children Legion armed with Bolt Pistol and his blissblade.
The Flawless Blades are elite Champions of Slaanesh of the Emperor's Children Legion, who are the dark, Chaos-corrupted mirrors of the ancient Palatine Blades who served the III Legion as its finest swordsmen before its corruption during the Great Crusade.
Role[]
Those Chaos Champions of the Emperor's Children Legion who give themselves over fully to the furious thrill and vicarious sensations of close combat become Flawless Blades, a dark mirror to the elite Palatine Blades of the Great Crusade, a warrior fraternity of the uncorrupted III Legion that was composed of its finest swordsmen and close combat specialists.
What few gaps the Flawless Blades' own matchless combat skills leave are filled with a constant cocktail of combat stimms and psychoactive substances that keep them in a continuous state of adrenaline-fueled bliss. Their hideous, heavily mutated appearance echoes the Daemons of Slaanesh whose "gifts" they readily accept, though they are not possessed like lesser Heretic Astartes -- rather, they are far too selfish to share their flesh with anyone save their own perfect form.
Seeing themselves as the greatest fighters of their warband, Flawless Blades may begin anywhere from common Heretic Astartes warriors to Chaos Lords, but have since been consumed by their obsession with swordsmanship. They gather in elitist groups, setting themselves apart from their fellow warriors and instead fighting to prove their superiority in front of each other. Their arrogance and elitism leads them to usually be despised by the rest of their warband. Flawless Blades endure this scorn this proudly and as a badge of honour, seeing this resentment among their fellows as a form of jealousy directed at their extraordinary combat skills. Groups of Flawless Blades will seek duels across alien worlds, gladiatorial arenas, battlefields, or even within the Warp itself.
The Flawless Blades of the Emperor's Children Legion are armed with powerful, 2-handed Power Swords called "blissblades".
Each Flawless Blade carries a personalised masterwork melee weapon, honed to lethal perfection over countless battles. Referred to as "blissblades", they perceive them as paragons of perfection. Flawless Blades deride the concept of the economical killing strike and the merciful execution, instead preferring to tear their foes apart in gory splendor or even leaving their foes to die in agony. All that matters to them is the excess of the display and acknowledgement of their own superiority. They seek not just to show off their abilities to their own allies, but also to the Daemons of the Warp and Slaanesh themselves. The patronage of Slaaneshi Daemons is keenly sought after by Flawless Blades, as is wresting that favour from another of their own kind.
Excessively sadistic and psychotic even by the standards of the Emperor's Children, Flawless Blades are known to parade their contempt for their enemies and deliberately expose themselves to danger in battle as a form of mockery. So assured are they that no foe could threaten them, Flawless Blades wear exotic and unique power armour that leaves portions of their bodies unprotected. Despite their arrogance and mania, however, they are nonetheless horrifically skilled and potent warriors.
Besides their abilities in swordsmanship, the skills of Flawless Blades are further enhanced by combat stimms of a vast multitude of origins. The power of the Warp flows through them as well, causing their flesh to swell and contort and their bones to mutate into a form more similar to that of Slaaneshi Daemons.
Most Flawless Blades augment the mutational "gifts" Slaanesh grants them with hideous surgeries and bio-grafts. Some may have reshaped their limbs or exposed their musculature, while others may have altered their pores to emit sickening hormonal essences or chameleonic patterns. Those with sufficient Warp patronage may display more exotic abilities, such as ethereal mantles that shield them from inferior enemies or those that attempt to strike from a distance. Empyric omens may also flicker through their minds, luring them to new sites of depravity or teasing them with the locations of prime enemies.
This Daemonic patronage has its consequences, however. The desperation of Flawless Blades to attain such favour mirrors their insatiable compulsion not to lose it. Should a Flawless Blade displease their Daemonic audiences with cowardice, failure, or lackluster performances or passion, they run the risk of being punished. This may take the form of the Flawless Blade himself being overcome by agony, the tearing out of his soul, a slow plucking apart of his identity over many long standard years, or instant consumption by a swirl of immaterial fangs and claws. The unworthy warrior's soul will then provide his former patrons with all the pleasure he denied them in life.
Wargear[]
- Chaos Power Armour (Any pattern)
- Combat Drugs Dispenser
Sources[]
- Codex: Emperor's Children (10th Edition), pp. 24-25
- Warhammer Community - LVO Preview 2025: Establish exactly how much is too much with the Emperor's Children?