"I have a shape. It is a shape like that of a man, but I am hollow. I am just the outline. I have hands, but cannot touch. I have no mouth, but I have been screaming since I began my fall. I want to breathe, but I cannot. I cannot remember what it is to breathe; only what it is to drown in an abyss, to sink without hitting the bottom."
- —Helio Isidorus, Rubric Marine
When their armour is punctured by bolt or blade, the dust of the Rubricae pours out. And yet it is from this dust that the Rubricae can be given animus again -- not life, but a ghostly simulacrum, devoid of thought or passion, and capable of great destruction.
Rubric Marines, also known by the High Gothic term Rubricae, are the spectral remnants of those Astartes of the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion who are now trapped within their suits of ancient power armour as mindless automatons. Remorseless, implacable foes, the Rubric Marines are forever cursed. They bestride the galaxy in armoured suits that are little more than sealed tombs, within which only a handful of dust remains of what was once a proud Space Marine.
During the razing of their homeworld Prospero, the Thousand Sons Legion was forced to flee its beloved capital city of Tizca. The Emperor had sent against them the Space Wolves, the Custodian Guard and the Sisters of Silence, His intent to call the primarch Magnus and his fellow psykers of the XV Legion to account. For all their esoteric skill, the Thousand Sons could not stand against the combined might of these invaders, and escaped to the Eye of Terror and the Planet of the Sorcerers, Sortiarius, that awaited them there through a Warp Gate opened by their sorcerers and Magnus. However, their rapid evasion and dabbling with forbidden powers was not without price.
Coupled with many solar decades of harnessing the energy of the Empyrean, the warping effects of Chaos began to take their toll. Mutation spread rapidly and unchecked through the Legion. Ahzek Ahriman, the Chief Librarian of the Thousand Sons, attempted to halt this process of degeneration by unleashing an incredibly potent spell that would become known as the Rubric of Ahriman. Sealing Daemonic pacts and harnessing the energies of his fellow Librarians, Ahriman intended to permanently enchant all of the Thousand Sons, forever shielding them from the corrupting effects of Chaos. Tzeentch, the Changer of the Ways and patron of the Thousand Sons, granted his wish, but in a manner most twisted.
In a way, the Rubric of Ahriman succeeded beyond all expectation. It was at a cost none could have predicted. The most powerful sorcerers of the Thousand Sons survived the casting of the Rubric of Ahriman with their knowledge and powers greatly augmented. The battle-brothers whose psychic ability had been slight or non-existent, by far the larger part of the XV Legion, were altered in a much more profound way -- their armour was sealed shut, as if every clasp and join had been welded tight, and their bodies were reduced to nothing more than dimly sentient dust.
Truly, physical mutation would plague them no more, but their fleshless spirits were trapped inside their battle plate for all eternity. Whether the souls of these warriors were eradicated entirely, or whether some small fragment continues to linger, not even the most powerful mystics of the Thousand Sons can say.
Although these living suits of power armour still move and function, and can respond to orders just like an ordinary man, they are little more than automatons. They quickly fall into inactivity unless a sorcerer is nearby to direct them, although in the fires of battle, something of their former battle-hunger returns and they move with greater clarity and purpose.
Conversely, they are far more durable than the Chaos Space Marines of their brother Traitor Legions -- solid-shot weapons have little to no effect upon them, and even a plasma blast or powered blade may be deflected by their fate-altering auras, for the power of Tzeentch sustains them better than any physical protection could. Only the most grievous wounds can lay open the sealed shell of a Rubric Marine and dissipate the dust inside, breaking the spell and effectively slaying its essence.
The ancient Prosperine armour that houses their essence bears little resemblance to its former appearance, having been melded over many Terran centuries by the empyric powers of the Warp. Where once their raiments were the embodiment of Imperial might, they are now a testament to the will of Tzeentch.
The articular servos and fibre bundles that give the interlocking ceramite plates movement are infused with sorcerous energy, providing the Rubric Marine with a semblance of animus. This same power coalesces around the armour, creating a protective shroud against incoming fire. Even those attacks that do manage to pierce the shell of a Rubric Marine have little effect, for they have no flesh to be torn by bolt or blade, and only by sundering the armour completely can they be taken down.
When a Rubric Marine does fall in battle, the desiccated remnants of their corporeal form pour from the rents in their armour and are scattered to the wind. As such, many worlds have ancient battlefields that are seeded with the dust of Rubric Marines. Yet even dispersed, the warrior is not granted the release of oblivion. Should the fragments of their armour be collected and resealed, the essence of the Rubric Marine can be returned to its vessel to once again serve the Thousand Sons.
The sorceries required to achieve such a rebinding are as dangerous as they are powerful. A single misspoken syllable can kill the intoner or drive them insane. But should the profane rituals be successful, the essence dust of the Rubric Marine will be drawn back to its prison. Many Aspiring Sorcerers amongst the Legion will perform these rites, and the most skilled can will the essence of a Rubric Marine to coalesce even if the dust of its body has been strewn across an entire planet or buried deep beneath the surface.
Rubric Marines are forever yoked to those who have entrapped them. The Aspiring Sorcerer who has gained control over and commands a squad of Rubric Marines can direct them in battle as a puppeteer would operate a marionette. Often, the Aspiring Sorcerer will use their enslaved soldiers as a bulwark against the enemy while they themselves work their dark magics. Should the Aspiring Sorcerer fall, the Rubric Marines continue to follow the path on which they have been set, killing and maiming until all before them have been obliterated.
The Chaos Sorcerers of the Thousand Sons now use their Rubricae as bodyguards and enforcers. These undying warriors make excellent guardians for the libraries of esoteric lore hoarded by the sorcerers, for they possess no spark of curiosity and are utterly loyal without exception. Such sorcerers will sometimes offer the services of their Rubricae to those who promise them knowledge and magical power, and many have pledged themselves to the Black Legion Chaos Lord Abaddon the Despoiler, hungrily taking any opportunity thrown up by the Warmaster of Chaos' campaigns to seize exotic relics and captives. Before battle, the sorcerers enchant the weapons of their bodyguards so that the munitions they fire blaze with magical flame, burning the minds of their targets just as they melt armour and flesh.
History
Origins
"As I am your son, they shall become mine."
- — Magnus, as he knelt to accept Primacy of the Thousand Sons from the Emperor
A Rubric Marine of the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion
The tale of how the Rubric Marines came upon their unique fate is a twisted one. It has its beginnings in the time when the Emperor's primarchs were mysteriously scattered from their incubation upon Terra. The one who would be called Magnus came to rest upon the remote colony world of Prospero.
He could hardly have been more fortunate: Magnus was a ruddy-skinned mutant who would have been feared and most probably slaughtered had he arrived on any other world in the Imperium. Instead, he was delivered upon a hidden planet of kindred spirits, because, as fortune would have it, a commune of outcast Human psykers had settled the planet Prospero.
Magnus quickly reached maturity, having grown into a giant in the psychic, intellectual and physical senses. He lived in the lone city upon Prospero, which was nestled deep in the planet's ventral mountain range. Tizca, the so-called "City of Light," was a glittering metropolis with silver towers, soaring obelisks and majestic pyramids. Its citizens devoted themselves to the pursuit of knowledge and the mastery of their psychic powers.
Magnus too showed great psychic attributes. He did not just channel power from the Immaterium, however, but instead the primarch could see into that very realm. Magnus the Red quickly went from adept to absolute master. And then, one long foreseen arrived upon the isolated world of Prospero in 840.M30. The Emperor had perceived and recognised His prodigy through the Warp and made haste to find him.
It was said that the two knew each other immediately -- their minds having long since found each other across the Immaterium. The Emperor immediately granted Magnus the command of the XV Legion of Space Marines -- the Thousand Sons. They had been created from his own genetic profile and thus far had already shown a strong tendency towards psychic mutation.
The first thing Magnus did upon taking over the Thousand Sons was to halt the flesh-curse mutation that had swept through the ranks -- although finding the knowledge in the Warp to achieve this cost Magnus an eye. Next, Magnus led the Thousand Sons to join the Great Crusade -- the epic campaign that swept outwards from Terra. It was the Emperor's plan to reclaim Humanity's lost colonies and to establish a galaxy-wide empire.
During the far sweeping conflicts, the Thousand Sons made extensive use of their psychic powers. In battle, it was their way to avoid close combat, instead relying upon their sorcerous ways to carry the day. Guile, feints, confusion and misdirection were their hallmarks. The Thousand Sons were very successful, achieving via arcane means what many Space Marine Legions lost vast numbers of their troops to achieve.
A Rubric Marine armed with a Warpflamer.
That the Thousand Sons accomplished their triumphs through deception as often as by strength of arms did not initially draw concern. Victory was victory, after all. However, the further out the Emperor's new realm expanded, the more tenacious grew the opposition. More and more frequently, the Legions of Space Marines would make planetfall and find not colonies of Mankind eager to join the fold of the Imperium, but societies of mutants and psykers who violently opposed them. Many of those they encountered were enthralled to Daemonic forces from the Warp. These new foes were granted powers that few could fail to notice were much akin to those wielded by the Thousand Sons of Magnus.
Gradually, it emerged that there were some amongst the Imperial court that were suspicious of the Thousand Sons' methods. Paramount amongst them were Mortarion, primarch of the Death Guard, and Leman Russ, primarch of the Space Wolves. Throughout the fledgling Imperium many called for the purging of all psychic mutations, save the third eye of the Navis Nobilite. The growing schism threatened to undermine the foundations of the nascent Imperium. To solve the growing dilemma, the Emperor Himself convened a meeting on the planet Nikaea to debate. This event would later be known by Imperial scholars as the Council of Nikaea.
In the end, neither Magnus nor those who opposed him prevailed, and instead a compromise was adopted. Human psykers were to become a priority -- those that proved they could serve Mankind would be rigorously trained and sanctioned. Outright sorcery -- Daemon-summoning and incantations learned from the entities within the Warp -- was to be outlawed forevermore. To many non-practicers this was a very fine line, for all such powers seem as witchcraft to those who are most suspicious.
It was not the decision favoured by Magnus, and the Emperor Himself halted the primarch before he could storm from Nikaea in protest. During that fateful face-to-face confrontation, the Emperor bade Magnus to cease the practice of sorcery and the pursuit of all knowledge related to the arcane arts. It is said that the cyclopean primarch's face appeared as stone as he received his father's command. Magnus bowed, pledging that he and his Legion would obey.
The Great Betrayal
"The minds of gods are not for mortals to know or to judge. Accept that Tzeentch has a place for all of us in his grand scheme, and be happy in the part you have to play."
Utlising forbidden sorcery, Magnus' astral form breaches the sanctity of the Imperial Palace on Terra
The threat to the Imperium resolved by the Emperor's council and the Edicts of Nikaea served to mask other, darker deeds already in motion. On the world known as Davin, events were reaching their tragic climax as Horus Lupercal, first amongst the primarchs, Warmaster and right arm of the Emperor, fell under the manipulative sway of Chaos. This impending doom would not be resolved by any debate or decree.
Staring into the depths of the Warp from his sanctum upon Prospero, Magnus beheld a vision of Horus' pledge of fealty to the Dark Gods. Every detail was laid bare -- for Magnus saw the foibles of his brother primarchs, seeing all too clearly how Horus would play upon them, turning them to his unjust cause. He saw the trap being laid upon Isstvan V, and the decoy that lured away the Ultramarines and Dark Angels. Alone in the entire galaxy, Magnus saw more clearly than any what tragedy was about to unfold. He understood each consequence and every role, save for his own.
In this precognitive vision, Magnus thought he had found certain proof of the value of his magical studies. He would need yet more sorcery in order to warn the Emperor in time. With the combined power of his fellow sorcerers, the primarch set about casting a spell across time and space. Breaching all protective psychic wards on the Imperial Palace of Terra, Magnus projected his warning of impending revolution into the presence of the Emperor, naming the Warmaster as traitor.
If Magnus hoped that this would be his moment of triumph, it did not turn out so. The Emperor, His own works ruined by the breach caused by the primarch, judged Magnus' blatant use of arcane powers the worst sort of oath-breaking. Magnus' continual pursuit of forbidden knowledge was deemed tragic proof that he had fallen under the sway of the very powers the Emperor had warned him about.
It was said that the Emperor broke contact with Magnus' projected visions with such force that psychic wards through the palace arced with lightning and shattered. Magnus' warning was delivered but unheeded, and the Emperor directed Primarch Leman Russ to lead his Space Wolves Legion to attack Magnus upon Prospero and return him to Terra in chains to face his gnene-father's judgment.
The Fall of Prospero
The Thousand Sons defend their homeworld from the Space Wolves during the Fall of Prospero.
There are many accounts of the Space Wolves' assault upon Prospero -- some of which contradict each other. What is beyond dispute, however, was the massive destruction they, accompanied by elements of the Custodian Guard and the Sisters of Silence, brought down upon Magnus' homeworld. The City of Light was ravaged, many of its libraries already burning, half of its silver towers toppled. It was the ultimate horror for the scholarly Thousand Sons, as Russ and his Space Wolves rampaged through their city of learning.
Pyres of books, parchments and ancient scrolls lit the night. Everything that mattered to Magnus was burning to the ground -- but he knew he could still save his Legion, still save what was left of his accumulated knowledge. By turning fully to the powers in the Warp, Magnus knew he could salvage much, but the primarch at last realised that the true power of magic was not something he could master -- but rather one that he must submit to. Magnus hesitated, but even as he debated within his superior mind, his city, works, and Legion were being reduced by the howling brutality unleashed by the Emperor.
In the end, Magnus felt he had no choice at all. With that, the primarch of the Thousand Sons changed his allegiance. In that instant, to the amazement of Leman Russ and his Space Wolves, their foes disappeared. In a flash of blinding furor, the City of Light -- all its remaining towers and libraries, along with the Thousand Sons and their cyclopean leader, vanished forever from the face of Prospero.
Rubric of Ahriman
"I remember fire. It was white, the stark white of a sun's heart. It roared from a black sky and remade me. I fell to my hands and knees. The ground beneath me was red dust, the colour of rust, the colour of dried blood. Pain, hotter and sharper than any wound, filled me. I could not see; the fire took my eyes first, and then it took my tongue before I could scream. Inside my armour my muscles bunched, straining against metal. The fire burned through me, blistering my skin. I felt mouths open across my body, a thousand mouths each with razor teeth, each babbling a plea for the pain to stop. The fire pulled through my body like hands through wet clay. I was suffocating, as if sinking in sand. The acid touch of panic burnt my flesh. I could not breathe. I could not move."
- —Helio Isidorus, recalling what it felt like to be consumed by the Rubric of Ahriman.
Ahzek Ahriman casting a sorcerous enchantment.
Following the Fall of Prospero during the opening days of the Horus Heresy, the Thousand Sons settled upon a world prepared for them by their patron Chaos God Tzeentch, the Changer of Ways, god of change and intrigue. This world was Sortiarius, the Planet of the Sorcerers located deep within the Warp rift of the Eye of Terror.
Given the potent psychic heritage of their primarch, it is no surprise that the Thousand Sons Legion has always been prone to mutation. Prior to the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, stringent genetic purity checks and relentless discipline had kept mutation at bay whilst the Astartes of the XV Legion simultaneously developed their potent psychic powers. Having steeped themselves in the raw power of Chaos, however, the Thousand Sons fell prey to the rampant and uncontrolled mutation they called the "Flesh-Change," to such an extent that a cabal of the Legion's senior Librarians, led by their Chief Librarian, Ahzek Ahriman, determined that something drastic must be done to save the Legion from complete dissolution.
With the Legion's primarch Magnus the Red retired to the highest tower of the City of Light on the Planet of the Sorcerers, his mystic, all-seeing gaze cast bitterly upon the dimensions without, Ahriman and his cabal of like-minded Chaos Sorcerers set about enacting a mighty spell that would purge the Legion of mutation and genetic impurity.
Ahriman delved deep into the pages of the Book of Magnus, a massive tome compiled by Magnus during the Great Crusade that was filled with forbidden lore and knowledge of the Warp from ancient, forgotten days. Ahriman believed the Book of Magnus held the key to his Legion's salvation. In the labyrinthine collections of formulae, incantations and rites, Ahriman devised what he believed would be the beginnings of a mighty arcane spell to undo all that had befallen his battle-brothers, known as the Rubric of Ahriman.
Ahriman and his cabal cast his Rubric, and the skies over the Planet of Sorcerers erupted in an ætheric storm of unprecedented proportions. The spell they wrought was of such unimaginable power that even Daemonic horrors fled before the roaring maelstrom. The Planet of Sorcerers was enveloped in impenetrable storms of blue and yellow, forks of titanic energies arcing across the world to strike down each of the Thousand Sons.
Bolts of power formed from the raw stuff of the Warp arced from the roiling clouds and struck down and engulfed the remaining Thousand Sons in the flames of magic, which turned their physical bodies to dust inside their power armour. With every clasp, joint and seam welded tight by infernal fire, their spirits were now bound irrecoverably within. In a multi-coloured flash, they were transformed into little more than undead automata for all time.
A Rubric Marine brought to war by the powers of his sorcerer master.
But still, the storm did not stop, and raged on over Sortiarius, until all but Magnus in his tower and Ahriman's cabal of sorcerers had been scoured by the mighty rubric. Who knows what might have happened had not Magnus intervened. The former primarch was now an immortal Daemon Prince of Tzeentch, and his rage was terrifying to witness, his anger generating new storms that raged across the Warp. Using powers beyond the ken of mortals, Magnus banished the arcane tempest.
When the storm finally receded, Ahriman saw the awful truth of what he had wrought. Those that possessed the greatest psychic powers found their abilities augmented, and they arose from the lightning strikes as the most dangerous sorcerers in the galaxy. The majority of the Thousand Sons, however, had a much more sinister fate. Although the spell had worked, after a fashion, the effects of the Rubric of Ahriman were nothing at all like what the cabal had hoped for.
In a single stroke, the Thousand Sons had been destroyed utterly, while simultaneously preserved for all time. Magically fused into their armour, and with no physical bodies to speak of, they were never again to suffer mutation. The Legion that Magnus had sired, the ones for whom he had sacrificed everything, was no more. In their place were ghost-haunted armoured shells, mindless servants ready to obey, their thirst for knowledge wholly extinguished.
So great was Magnus' wrath that he would next have obliterated Ahriman and his cabal of sorcerers, when Tzeentch himself intervened. Who can fathom what that most enigmatic and capricious of entities intended -- perhaps this was the plan all along. Forced to stay his hand, Magnus instead banished Ahriman, condemning him to wander in a hopeless quest to understand the nature of the Changer of the Ways.
With this done, Magnus ascended the tallest tower on Sortiarius. Everything he had ever done, every decision he had made had been founded on two beliefs: that knowledge was pure, and that he was its master. Now, with everything he had sought or cared for beyond him, he cast his bitter cyclopean gaze outwards, and watched as the galaxy burned.
A pair of Thousand Sons Rubric Marines in combat.
The newly created Rubric Marines were living suits of ancient battle-plate which still moved and functioned, and could respond to orders just like a sentient man, though they were now little more than robotic constructs. They quickly fell into inactivity unless a Thousand Sons Chaos Sorcerer was nearby to direct them, although in the fire of combat something of their former battle hunger returned and they moved with greater clarity and purpose.
The Thousand Sons Chaos Sorcerers use their Rubric Marine brethren as bodyguards and enforcers as well as guardians for the great libraries of grimoires and vaults of ancient scrolls established on the Planet of the Sorcerers. The Rubric Marines are quite excellent at the latter role, for they have no spark of curiosity left and are utterly loyal. If promised knowledge and an opportunity to enhance their psychic powers, the sorcerers are willing to offer the services of their unliving warriors to others among the forces of Chaos.
In battle, the Thousand Sons' Chaos Sorcerers enchant their weapons and those of their undead bodyguards, their bolts blazing with baleful sorcerous energies and exploding with sorcerous blasts that burn the souls of their targets as much as they do physical damage.
At Present
"All is dust...All is dust...All is dust...All is dust...All is dust...All is dust..."
- —Battle-cry whispered by the Thousand Sons
A Rubric Marine of the Sons of the Cyclops, a group of Chaos Space Marines in the Black Legion dedicated to the service of Tzeentch.
The suits of armour that once were worn by proud Space Marines from the Thousand Sons Legion can magically move and function thanks to the Rubric of Ahriman, but the mindless shells need orders to do so. They respond to the mental commands of a Thousand Sons sorcerer, obeying him to the letter. Upon completion of their task, however, the sentience of the Rubric Marines will once again lapse. Without a sorcerer nearby to issue new directions, the Rubric Marines freeze in place -- appearing for all intents as statues, mere displays of ancient power armour.
The Thousand Son sorcerers have many uses for the Rubric Marines. When they travel from the Eye of Terror in search of arcane knowledge, or to acquire slaves to fuel their magical experiments, they take with them the silent, relentless warriors. They make excellent enforcers and bodyguards. In the midst of combat, something of their former selves returns. During such actions, the Rubricae are able to move with clarity and purpose for as long as the battle lasts.
They are formidable fighters and can shrug off horrendous wounds. There are countless reports of the Rubric Marines sustaining great rents in their armour -- their breastplates blown apart by plasma blasts or run through with power blades. The arcane power that surrounds and animates the armoured shells allows them to sustain the damage better than any being made of flesh and blood could ever manage.
When the Rubric Marines fire their Inferno Bolters, they do so with ensorcelled shells. Writhing with rune-inscribed fury, the shells burn a blue-white contrail of flame and hit with the ability to blast through power armour and sear their target's very soul. While the automata provide a solid bastion of firepower, the sorcerer himself is free to work his incantations -- sending out his own arcane doombolts.
Thousand Sons Rubric Marines in the heat of battle.
As they are empty vessels, Rubricae make excellent guardians for the libraries of grimoires and vaults of ancient knowledge hoarded by the ancient sorcerers of the Thousand Sons. The Rubric Marines contain not a spark of curiosity and are utterly loyal without exception. They will stand on guard for a solar day, weeks, months, standard years or even Terran centuries -- yet should any breach the wards of their sorcerous masters, they will lurch into action as if mere solar seconds had passed. Their enchantments ensure that their armour never rusts or malfunctions, and they do not suffer the weakness of the flesh, having no need to ever eat or sleep.
The Rubric Marines are almost impossible to destroy, and only the total destruction of their power armour tombs is enough to release the spirit trapped inside. With an audible sigh, a cloud of dust escapes and drifts away into nothingness. How, or even if, the Rubric Marines are reinforced is a secret only the sorcerers of the Thousand Sons and Tzeentch himself know. It has been theorized that Thousand Sons sorcerers can use spells of reincarnation to reinstall those spirits freed by the destruction of their armoured forms -- rebinding them within new tombs of power armour.
Or perhaps Ahriman himself has had his hand in recreating his infamous spell of old. For Ahriman remains the most powerful of the Thousand Sons sorcerers, and has been endlessly active since his banishment. Over the long millennia, he has raided more magical knowledge and stolen more arcana than any -- his guarded hoard nearly as sizable as that of Magnus the Red. However they are sustained, the Rubric Marines remain relentless enemies of the Imperium, as they have been for nearly 10,000 standard years.
As recently as 998.M41, furious battle erupted in the twilight realm of the Webway as Chaos Space Marines of the Thousand Sons Legion fought their way to within sight of the Aeldari's Black Library, the hidden craftworld that contained all of that ancient species' knowledge of Chaos. Protected by the indomitable advance of their automata Rubric Marines, the sorcerers wreaked terrible havoc.
Their leader Ahriman was only thwarted when a powerful force of Aeldari Harlequins and their Asuryani allies from both Craftworlds Ulthwe and Lugganath counterattacked. Several major arteries of the Webway were choked with the dead before the warrior-psykers of the Thousand Sons were driven from the secret path. The breach was runically sealed, but many neighbouring sections of the Webway were lost to Chaos forever. It can only be a matter of time before another such attack is launched.
Unit Composition
- 4-19 Rubric Marines
Wargear
Like their marks of relic power armour, the weapons borne by the Thousand Sons' Rubric Marines are twisted mockeries of Imperial wargear. Their gun stocks are bedecked with ornate runes that writhe and mutate with shifting currents of empyric energy, and muzzles gape open and snap shut like the maws of unnatural creatures.
The most common armament of the Rubric Marines is the Inferno Boltgun. The mass-reactive bolts they fire are charged with baleful sorcerous energies that are released upon impact, shredding the armour, flesh and soul of those they strike.
The Soulreaper Cannon is a heavier and even more devastating weapon, and despite its great bulk a Rubric Marine can pour out a constant stream of fire without breaking their rhythmic stride.
Some Rubric Marines march to battle armed with Warpflamers. Though similar in appearance to the Flamers used by other Chaos Space Marines, the Warpflamer's gouts of fire burn through reality itself. Instead of simply incinerating that which they touch, the iridescent flames have a mutagenic effect. Matter engulfed by these flames is melted by searing heat before being fused back together in hideous configurations.
Rubricae
- Inferno Bolter - The weapons of the Thousand Sons are shaped by the craft of artificers and sorcerers alike. When their guns roar, they fire not only explosive bolts that tear flesh, but uncanny empyrean energies that can melt even ceramite.
- Aura of Dark Glory
- Warpflamer (Replacement for Inferno Bolter)
- Soulreaper Cannon (For every 10 Rubicae, 1 may replace their Inferno Bolter with this weapon.)
Aspiring Sorcerer
- Force Axe (Optional replacement for Force Stave)
- Force Sword (Optional replacement for Force Stave)
- Aura of Dark Glory
- Warpflame Pistol (Optional replacement for Inferno Bolt Pistol)
- Plasma Pistol (Optional replacement for Inferno Bolt Pistol)
- May take a gift of mutation
- 1 Icon of Flame - Coruscating Warp energies surround the icon, swathing the weapons of the devout in mutagenic flames.
Sources
- Codex Heretic Astartes - Chaos Space Marines (8th Edition), pp. 20, 82, 133
- Codex Heretic Astartes - Thousand Sons (8th Edition), pp. 40, 72
- Codex: Chaos Space Marines (3rd Edition, 1st Codex), pg. 21
- Codex: Chaos Space Marines (3rd Edition, 2nd Codex), pp. 29, 62
- Codex: Chaos Space Marines (4th Edition), pp. 37, 51
- Deathwatch: First Founding (RPG), pg. 87
- Index Astartes III, "Masters of Forbidden Knowledge - The Thousand Sons Space Marine Legion", pp. 62-69
- Index Chaotica - Rubric Marines (Digital Edition), pp. 3-4, 6-16, 18-19
- War Zone: Fenris - Wrath of Magnus (7th Edition), pp. 34, 53, 56-57, 59, 65, 66-68, 70, 73, 97-99, 101, 104, 108-109, 118-119, 122-125, 127-131, 133-134, 140, 145, 148, 162, 164-165, 167, 169, 171
- White Dwarf 202 (US), "The Sorcerer: Tzeentch, Ahriman", pp. 9-14
- White Dwarf 227 (US), "Chapter Approved - Ahriman: Chaos Sorcerer, pp. 73-80
- White Dwarf 230 (US), "Bitter and Twisted: Ahriman"
- White Dwarf 267 (US), "Index Astartes First Founding: Masters of Forbidden Knowledge, The Thousand Sons Space Marine Legion"
- A Thousand Sons (Novel) by Graham McNeill
- All is Dust (Novella) by John French
- Battle of the Fang (Novel) by Chris Wraight
- Ahriman: Exile (Novel) by John French
Gallery
