"Knowledge is power, and with the key to the Black Library I shall claim it all."
- — Ahriman, Chaos Sorcerer
The Prodigal Sons are a warband or thrallband of Chaos Space Marines dedicated to the service of Tzeentch, the Changer of Ways. The members of this warband are composed of a cabal of powerful Chaos Sorcerers who have chosen to follow the potent Exalted Sorcerer Ahriman in exile from the larger Thousand Sons Traitor Legion out of their desire to seek out knowledge from Tzeentch and to gain some of his power for themselves.
Unlike the Thousand Sons' Daemon Primarch Magnus the Red, Ahriman would never allow one of his own Prodigal Sons to cast him aside, for there is no Book of Ahriman to be stolen from him, as he had once acquired the Book of Magnus.
Ahriman and his Prodigal Sons have turned their relentless predations upon the Aeldari, determined in the belief that the lost knowledge of Chaos Ahriman seeks can only be found in the darkest of the halls of enlightenment, the vast repository of sorcerous arcana referred to in whispers as the Black Library of Chaos.
Warband History[]
Prodigal Sons thrallband colour scheme
Notable Campaigns[]
- Assault on the Athenaeum of Kallimakus (Unknown Date.M32) - After Ahriman cast the great and terrible spell known as the Rubric of Ahriman and was exiled from the Thousand Sons, he recalled the writings of the Remembrancer Mahavastu Kallimakus, the Scrivener Extraordinary and personal scribe of Magnus the Red. When the Horus Heresy began, Kallimakus realised his records were a collection of mystic rites. He feared for his safety and fled Prospero with his works. After the Space Wolves destroyed the Thousand Sons' homeworld, none in the Imperium spared a thought for the missing Remembrancer. For 1,600 standard years Ahriman sought the works of the Remembrancer. He eventually found the assembled books on the world of Apollonia. A priesthood had grown up around the books, guarded by a fanatical sect of warriors. A citadel housed the library of works, called the Athenaeum of Kallimakus. Beneath the citadel, along a fault line protected by mystic runes, the books sat amidst smouldering sorcerous flames. When Ahriman led the Prodigal Sons to claim the books, the wardens of the Athenaeum fought with zealous determination, if little skill. Aided by his fearless and deadly Astartes Sorcerers, Ahriman eventually triumphed after a bitter month-long siege. The sorcerer plundered the writings of Kallimakus, before burning the library to ashes so that only he would hold the secrets it had contained.
- Raid on Arcadia (Unknown Date.M41) - The Prodigal Sons' most notable action occurred on the Harlequins' library world of Arcadia. Using their sorcerous powers to aid their master, the Prodigal Sons battled both the Harlequins and the Space Marines of the Blood Ravens Chapter. Ahriman had come to plunder the Arcadium Libarium in order to gain access to the fabled Webway so that he could achieve his ultimate goal of finding the Black Library and claiming the secrets of Chaos the hidden Craftworld held within its repositories. Though Ahriman was able to steal several texts from the library and successfully gained access to the Webway, he ultimately failed to achieve his objective, as the Harlequins deceived the sorcerer into mistaking where the Arcadian Webway Gate would lead him.
- Second War in the Webway (999.M41) - Hidden daemonic spies seeded throughout the Webway draw Ahriman's eye to the Reborn of the Ynnari, for in their resurrection he saw hope for his own fallen brethren among the Thousand Sons Legion. In the wake of Cadia's fall to Abaddon the Despoiler during the 13th Black Crusade, the Arch-sorcerer led a contingent of Thousand Sons into the Webway, there to lay an ambush for the unsuspecting Aeldari forces that were rushing towards Klaisus, the ice moon and last world of the Cadian System where they sought to form an alliance with the Imperial survivors of the destruction of Cadia. Just as the Ynnari were entering the Psychedelta, Ahriman sacrificed nine hundred and ninety-nine captives to Tzeentch to complete his ritual of translocation, shifting him, his warriors and his Daemon thralls to the Ynnari's location. Warpfire, ensorcelled bolts and the flicker of monomolecular blades filled the fractal tunnels as the armies clashed. In the midst of the carnage, Ahriman created a void-like pocket reality outside the walls of the Webway, and into this emptiness he transported the champions of the enemy, the Triumvirate of Ynnead. As Ahriman prepared to wrench the knowledge he sought from his dying captives, Yvraine -- the Ynnari priestess and champion of the partially awakened Aeldari god of the dead Ynnead -- demonstrated the power she could offer by restoring to life a dozen Rubric Marines. The resurrected Thousand Sons were staggered by their sudden awakening, knowing not where they were or who they were fighting, yet they recognised their battle-brother Ahzek Ahriman whom they had not beheld with living eyes for ten millennia. Filled with a mixture of elation and grief at seeing his warriors restored, Ahriman yanked Ynnead's luminaries back inside the Webway before they perished. No sooner than the Triumvirate of Ynnead --Yvraine, the Visarch and the Avatar of Ynnead, the Yncarne -- were safe, than a Wraithknight sliced through the arcane superstructure of the Webway tunnel, creating a yawning chasm between the Aeldari and the Thousand Sons. The Yncarne inhaled mightily as the Aeldari forces withdrew, pulling the reanimated Thousand Sons over the precipice into the void. Ahriman screamed in horror as these flesh and blood warriors tumbled away. They were lost to him once more, but he now finally knew that the reversal of his Rubric was possible, and he knew who had the power to do it.
Notable Prodigal Sons[]
Chaos Sorcerer Ahriman, Thousand Sons exile
- Ahriman - The Prodigal Sons follow the infamous and powerful Chaos Sorcerer Ahriman, the former Chief Librarian of the Thousand Sons Legion, Captain of its 1st Fellowship and the Magister Templi of its Corvidae Cult. In the distant past, Ahriman had sought the knowledge of the galaxy for himself and for his brothers; he had stood proudly at the side of Magnus himself, bathing in the swirling pools of information and knowledge unearthed by the misguided Primarch sorcerer and his Thousand Sons. But there came a day when Ahriman's knowledge challenged even that of Magnus, just as the power of Magnus had once rivalled even that of the Emperor of Mankind. The key was knowledge itself, and Ahriman had learned quickly that he should be more cautious than his old master about with whom he shared his knowledge. Ahriman was banished from the Legion by Magnus after casting the powerful spell now known as the Rubric of Ahriman which halted the hideously corrupting mutations which had plagued the Thousand Sons after their escape into the Eye of Terror from Prospero, but resulted in the creation of the undead Rubric Marines. During his banishment Ahriman has continuously sought out knowledge across the galaxy to bring him closer to an understanding of Tzeentch and Chaos itself. His actions have recently healed the breach between him and Magnus the Red.
- Obysis - Obysis is a Chaos Sorcerer and the sergeant of the Prodigal Sons warband.
Warband Appearance[]
Warband Colours[]
The Prodigal Sons wear power armour in the Legion pattern of the Thousand Sons, favouring royal blue with gold trim to the Thousand Sons' traditional red and gold.
The Prodigal Sons maintain the use of ornate crests on their helmets similar to the striped cloth crowns once worn by ancient Gyptian pharaohs.
Warband Badge[]
The Prodigal Sons, like the Thousand Sons, incorporate the ouroboros, an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail, as their badge.
Sources[]
- Codex: Chaos Space Marines (4th Edition), pg. 51
- Codex Heretic Astartes - Thousand Sons (8th Edition), pp. 29-31, 37, 67
- Blood Ravens: The Dawn of War (Omnibus) by C.S. Goto