Icon of the World Eaters Traitor Legion
Kossolax, also spelled as Kosolax and known as Kossolax the Foresworn, is an infamous Chaos Lord who supported Abaddon the Despoiler's 13th Black Crusade.
He now leads a large warband of Khornate Berserkers known as the Foresworn, drawn from the ranks of the sundered World Eaters Traitor Legion.
History[]
Origins[]
One particular Chaos Rhino, belonging to the World Eaters Legion, was reportedly present at the Siege of Terra, and has been identified on numerous occasions over the millennia since as being the vehicle of Kossolax the Foresworn.
That Rhino, identified as Barbarus by its nameplate, is covered in iron spikes, each adorned with the severed head of an Imperial warrior. The records of the Ordo Malleus state that Barbarus belonged to the squad commanded by Sergeant Solax of the World Eaters' 3rd Assault Company before the Horus Heresy, and this individual is thought to be the beast now known as Kossolax the Foresworn.
If this is indeed the case, Sergeant Solax has risen to the command of an entire company of Khornate Berserkers in the form of the Foresworn, and Barbarus has served with him and his warband across 10,000 standard years.
First War of Armageddon[]
In 444.M41, Kossolax joined his Daemon Primarch, Angron, in the First War for Armageddon. At that time, Kossolax's veteran warriors had already proven themselves in eight campaigns against the Imperium of Man.
Though the forces of Khorne overwhelmed the planet and caused a bloodbath, their hold was ultimately broken. Angron and his daemonic minions were banished and the warriors of Khorne repelled. During their withdrawal a part of the Foresworn warband was left behind on Armageddon.
13th Black Crusade[]
Four companies of Blood Angels answered the call to defend the Cadian Gate during the 13th Black Crusade, arriving towards the middle of the conflict. A significant force of Blood Angels immediately fell upon the Chaos hordes assaulting the Forge World of Agripinaa in the Agripinaa Sector, and they sought out the leader of the attacking forces, the notorious Chaos Champion of Khorne Kossolax the Foresworn and his World Eaters warband, the Foresworn.
In an epic confrontation likened to the mythic conflict between the Blood Angels' Primarch Sanguinius and the mighty Bloodthirster Ka'bandha at the closing of the Ultimate Gate of the Imperial Palace during the height of the Horus Heresy at the Siege of Terra, the Blood Angels took the fight directly to the enemy.
Kossolax, fully aware that his bodyguard was no match for the frenzied sons of Sanguinius, called upon the slavering Daemons of Khorne for aid. The summoning rite was an act of wanton, traitorous carnage, as the warlord ordered his World Eaters to sacrifice the lives of their Chaos Cultist allies in order to gain the favour of the Blood God.
Uncounted thousands were slaughtered in mere solar hours, their blood flowing in rivers through the corridors of Agripinaa's primary hive city, and cascading from ventilation grills as waterfalls of gore. The sacrifice had the desired result, and as the first of the Blood Angels' veteran Assault Squads screamed into battle, a blasphemous avatar of the Blood God, a Bloodthirster, ripped its way through the skein of reality to confront the sons of Sanguinius.
The first Blood Angels to meet the Greater Daemon were torn limb from limb, the beast devouring their sundered bodies as a taunt to their battle-brothers. The remaining Space Marines were sent into paroxysms of rage at such desecration, and threw themselves at the Daemon with no thought for their own safety.
At the height of the battle, the Sanguinary High Priest Numitor confronted the Daemon, and dealt it a blow that stunned it for a brief moment. Seizing the advantage, the brothers of the Death Company leapt upon its back, but the Daemon recovered, and severed the High Priest's arm with a crack of its long whip.
The priest was holding one of the sacred Chapter relics known as a Blood Chalice, which bore an infinitesimal amount of the blood of the Chapter's Primarch, and the blessed liquid was spilled across the tarnished paving.
The Blood Angels during the brutal fighting on Agripinaa.
At that moment, a deathly still overcame the scene, as the Blood Angels were momentarily shocked beyond action at the sight of their primarch's sacred blood seeping into the ground. Then, the silence was broken, as Numitor staggered to his feet and bellowed the words of the Rite of Exsanguination.
The assembled brethren of the Death Company were overcome with visions of the last time their primarch's blood had been spilt by a servant of Chaos, when Sanguinius had fallen at the hands of the Arch-Traitor Horus.
The Death Company went berserk. They hacked down the Bloodthirster in a savage, rage-fuelled frenzy, oblivious to the fact that it dragged half their number down with it, before turning their hatred upon the warband of Kossolax the Foresworn.
The World Eaters were expelled from Agripinaa at great cost to the Blood Angels, though the annals of the Chapter's history celebrate the casting out of the Greater Daemon. The Chaos Champion Kossolax was not found among the remains of the Heretic Astartes who fell at the hive city, and the Sanguinary High Priest Numitor vowed to hunt him down, no matter the cost.
Era Indomitus[]
Following the destruction of Cadia in the 13th Black Crusade, the forces of Chaos launched a second assault on Agripinaa. Daemon Engines led by many Warpsmiths invaded the Forge World, diseases and maladies ravaged its population, released on the surface from the space hulks that continued to emerge out of the Eye of Terror and then later from the Great Rift after its formation.
Hordes of shambling undead crawled from the vents and cog clusters of the world's forge cities. Later the battle was joined by Chaos warfleets of the World Eaters, Night Lords, Black Legion, Thousand Sons and Death Guard Traitor Legions under the command of the World Eaters Chaos Lord Kossolax the Foresworn once more aboard the ancient World Eaters flagship the Conqueror. Even Daemons were now able to manifest on the planet due to the proximity of the Cicatrix Maledictum.
However, despite all this, the Cadians who had survived the destruction of their world, many of whom dispersed to systems surrounding the Cadian System like Agripinaa, proved to be the decisive force in once again keeping the Forge World out of the hands of the Ruinous Powers.
Sources[]
- Codex: Eye of Terror (3rd Edition), pp. 16, 25
- White Dwarf 286 (UK), "Index Astartes: The Eye of the Storm - Blood Angels," pp. 68-69
- White Dwarf 275 (UK), "Index Astartes: Beasts of Steel - Chaos Space Marines tanks - The Rhino"
- Conquest of Armageddon (Novel) by Jonathan Green
- The Lords of Silence (Novel) by Chris Wraight, Ch. 14