CHAOS AND PYRRIAH:
GARVUS THE UNBELIEVER
LORD KHARTAX & THE WRATH
The Pyrriah Campaign began with a deceit. A commander of the Astra Militarum aboard the Imperial supply vessel, The Emperor Provides, succumbs to the will of chaos while in transfer between planets in the Cadia system. His troops follow him into mutiny and seize control of the vessel, slaughtering all loyalist crew and passengers. The commander, Lieutenant Nathaniel Garvus, redirects the vessel towards the Pyrriah system, declaring a dark crusade, which he desires to lead under his new name, Garvus the Unbeliever.
Before the vessel can leave the system, however, the raw psychic energy of the slaughter aboard The Emperor Provides attracts the attention of a bloody Khornate warband called The Wrath. The leader of The Wrath, Lord Khartax, hears the same voices as those that drove Garvus mad, and the voices convince Khartax that Khorne is calling him to the Pyrriah system to collect skulls and blood for his master. Lord Khartax and his warband storm The Emperor Provides, and Lord Khartax strikes down Garvus and seizes control of the vessel. What is left of Garvus’s chaos renegades are either butchered or absorbed as cultists into The Wrath. With control of the vessel, Lord Khartax set out for Pyrriah to earn the favor of the Blood God.
But it is a trick. The voice echoing in the heads of Garvus and Khartax belonged not to Khorne, but to a daemon prince of Tzeentch. The daemon had its own purposes in mind: to use Khartax to weaken the defenders of Pyrriah so that the servants of Tzeentch – most particularly Ahriman and the Thousand Sons – can seize the Fortress Monastery of the Black Templars on Pyrriah and gain access to the Webway Portal long concealed in its nethermost chambers. Once Khartax has weakened Pyrriah’s defenders, he and his warband will be expendable and the forces of Tzeentch will decend upon Pyrriah to claim their prize.
It was unlikely that Khorne and Tzeentch could vie for Pyrriah without attracting the interest of the remaining dark gods, Nurgle and Slaanesh. Both sent minions to Pyrriah to assist the daemonic assault when convenient, or to oppose it when it seems a rival will seize the upper hand.
Before the vessel can leave the system, however, the raw psychic energy of the slaughter aboard The Emperor Provides attracts the attention of a bloody Khornate warband called The Wrath. The leader of The Wrath, Lord Khartax, hears the same voices as those that drove Garvus mad, and the voices convince Khartax that Khorne is calling him to the Pyrriah system to collect skulls and blood for his master. Lord Khartax and his warband storm The Emperor Provides, and Lord Khartax strikes down Garvus and seizes control of the vessel. What is left of Garvus’s chaos renegades are either butchered or absorbed as cultists into The Wrath. With control of the vessel, Lord Khartax set out for Pyrriah to earn the favor of the Blood God.
But it is a trick. The voice echoing in the heads of Garvus and Khartax belonged not to Khorne, but to a daemon prince of Tzeentch. The daemon had its own purposes in mind: to use Khartax to weaken the defenders of Pyrriah so that the servants of Tzeentch – most particularly Ahriman and the Thousand Sons – can seize the Fortress Monastery of the Black Templars on Pyrriah and gain access to the Webway Portal long concealed in its nethermost chambers. Once Khartax has weakened Pyrriah’s defenders, he and his warband will be expendable and the forces of Tzeentch will decend upon Pyrriah to claim their prize.
It was unlikely that Khorne and Tzeentch could vie for Pyrriah without attracting the interest of the remaining dark gods, Nurgle and Slaanesh. Both sent minions to Pyrriah to assist the daemonic assault when convenient, or to oppose it when it seems a rival will seize the upper hand.