Word Bearers

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Their walls will fall.
Their faith will fail.
Their flesh will tear.

The Word Bearers trilogy of books by Anthony Reynolds consists of Dark Apostle, Dark Disciple and Dark Creed, set in the Template:Warhammer 40000 universe. The series focuses on the titular legion of Chaos SpaceMarines, rather than 40K's "good guys" like the Space Marines or the Tau. The books also go into more detail about the traditions and beliefs of the Word Bearers, expanding upon the threadbare picture of one of the most infamous legions in 40k canon. A brief history of the Word Bearers Legion, assuming you know the story behind the HorusHeresy: Their Primarch, Lorgar, was particularly devout and fanatical during the Great Crusade that united humanity, and encouraged the building of great cathedrals dedicated to the Emperor. The Emperor, trying to dispel silly superstition, rebuked him for it - while the Chaos gods offered Lorgar an alternative faith, swaying him to their worship. He corrupted the rest of the Legion through their Chaplains, which is why they were the only Traitor Legion to retain the majority of their Chaplains - or Dark Apostles, as they were now known - while those belonging to the other Traitor Legions had tended to be killed by their traitorous brethren, being more likely to remain loyal to the Emperor. Worse than all of this, however: the Word Bearers, through Chaplain Erebus, were responsible for the corruption of Horus, directly leading to the GRIMDARK *deep breath*]].

The main plot focuses on a specific BadassArmy Host commanded by the Dark Apostle Jarulek and his apprentice Marduk on their search for an artifact that supposedly predates humanity. The prophecies say it will turn the tide of the war against the Imperium but other than that they know nothing. The remainder follows Marduk has he continues his master's work, eventually rising to become Dark Apostle himself and getting caught up in the machinations and intrigue of the Legion's higher-ups.

Word Bearers contains the following tropes
  • A Father To His Men: General Havorn.
  • Authority Equals Asskicking: Par for the course in a Warhammer 40000 series.
  • Ax Crazy: Many of the Word Bearers but Burias and Khalaxis stand out even among them.
  • Badass: Damn near everyone.
  • Bizarrchitecture: The end of the first book. Even Marduk, a freaking Chaos Space Marine, is confused.
  • Chekhov's Gun: The Nexus Arrangement is not only a significant plot device in the first book but ultimately becomes a key element in the third.
  • Cool Old Guy: While an outsider would view the Warmonger as HighOctaneNightmareFuel, the Word Bearers view him as a Cool Old Guy. Partly because he is High Octane Nightmare Fuel.
  • Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming: Marduk, of all people, managed to have one. When captured along with another Word Bearer then tortured and cut from his link with the Warp by Dark Eldar, the other Marines start to crack. Marduk, already angered to see one of his brothers in such a situation, comforts (or verbally slaps) him with some inspirational words and promises he will be avenged for what the Dark Eldar have done.
  • Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Darioq used creative thinking, a practice that is very much frowned upon by the StrawVulcan deeply logic-inclined Adeptus Mecanicus. Kol Badar was surprised.
  • [[DemonicPossession: Burias and Darioq are the two main characters who are possessed. In Dark Apostle, Marduk HumanSacrifice sacrificed members of a subordinate cult so their bodies could be used in summoning the Kathartes.
  • [[DescriptionPorn: All over the place. The rituals and actions of the reverent Word Bearers are some of the most prominently described.
  • [[EvenEvilHasStandards: Probably one of the reasons why the Word Bearers are one of the few Chaos Legions who have not split itself apart. They still act in combat like an organized force, bringing suppressive fire to assist their close combat troops and attempting to minimize their own casualties. Also, some of the legionnaires show real brotherhood and friendship with each other.
  • Evil Tower Of Ominousness: The Gehemehnet.
  • Field Promotion: Captain Laron, after Colonel Boerl is killed.
  • Genuine Human Hide: An old belief from Colchis (the Word Bearers original homeworld) holds that wearing the flesh of powerful individuals gives the wearer the dead's powers. What else do you expect from a feudal world which worshiped the Chaos Gods?
  • Human Resources: The Gehemehnet requires massive amounts of human corpses grinded into Blood Mortar.
    • Magos Darioq, seeing a waste of resources in terms of fuel and biological matter, asks Brigadier-General Havorn if he could use the troopers' bodies instead of having them cremated with honors. When asked why, he said that their bodies would be turned to nutrient paste to "feed" the MechaMooks combat servitors. Havorn was not pleased with this idea.
      • The Mechanicus can also grow more servitors in vats, and it's implied that they may be able to use a similar process as above to "recycle" a servitor instead of feeding one. They didn't make vat-grown servitors, however, since it was too time intensive.
  • Humble Hero Antagonist: Aquilius of the White Consuls in Dark Creed.
  • I'm A Humanitarian: After his old friend Namar-sin is killed fighting gene-stealers, Sabtec declares that in honour of his service, the surviving Word Bearers would eat of his flesh.
  • Kill Em All: By the first book's end, of all named characters, we see only Kol Badar, Marduk, Darioq, Burias and the Warmonger survive.
  • [[Klingon Promotion[[: Marduk, but it was just as much self-defense at the time.
  • Mad Scientist: Darioq-Gren'dhal
  • Mauve Shirt: Boerl, partially Laron.
  • [[Melee A Trois[[: At the climax of Dark Disciple, {{spoiler|the Undying One tries to kill Jarulek and Marduk just as Jarulek betrays Marduk]]. The ensuing fight left Jarulek dead, Marduk in a position to claim power over the warband, and the Marduk getting away from the Undying One.
  • Multi Armed And Dangerous: Darioq.
  • Nice Job Breaking It Hero: In the first book. Nice job breaking it, Word Bearers. Now you've awakened the Necrons!
  • Old Soldier: The Warmonger, who was present at the Siege of the Emperor's Palace (in fact, he thinks he's still there most of the time) and serves as a pillar of spiritual support for the Host.
  • Pet The Dog: Marduk is by no means a nice person, but when you add a certain amount of Fridge Brilliance, then a lot of his interactions with the Warmonger could be viewed as someone talking to a relative in the late stages of Alzheimer's disease. When put in this light it makes the Warmonger's death at the hands of the Undying One and Marduk's subsequent reaction to it in Dark Creed all that much more of a Tear Jerker.
  • Punctuation Shaker: The names of daemons (Drak'shal, Gren'dhal).
  • Religion Of Evil: This legion goes Beyond The Impossible on this trope.
  • Spirit World: This is the way the Warp is depicted for the Word Bearers. Even though Marduk isn't a psyker, he can still use his powers of sorcery enter spirit trances during which he can spy on and take control of people.
  • The Starscream: Marduk to Jarulek in the first book. Ashkanez to Marduk in the third. The series goes out of its way from the beginning to cast Kol Badar as one as well so they can subvert it later when his loyalties to the Word Bearers were ultimately greater than his hatred for Marduk.
  • Supporting Leader: Kol Badar, this is his position as Coryphaus in a nutshell. And he is very, very good at this.
  • Tin Tyrant: How do you show that you're a big, badass evil overlord in a setting where all your minions have Powered Armour? Simple. Don a suit of even larger Terminator Armour!. Not enough? The Warmonger, a former Dark Apostle himself, is one insane(ly badass) Dreadnought.
  • Villain Protagonist: All of them.
  • You Cannot Grasp The True Form: Played with, with the kathartes. In their visible form they look like terrifying daemon furies, but in the Warp they appear as angelic, predatory beings made of light. Of course, in order to appreciate something like that you'd have to go into the Warp, which means you have bigger things to worry about.
Word Bearers in other works provide examples of
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