Murderhorde

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The Murderhorde are an infamous Warband of Chaos Space Marines comprised entirely of murderous Khornate Berserkers that splintered from the World Eaters Traitor Legion many millennia ago. Led by the mighty Daemon Prince Goreripper the Horned One they have rampaged across the galaxy for nigh on 10 thousand years. During the final years of the 41^st Millennium, during the 13^th Black Crusade, this warband fought alongside the monstrous Butcherhorde, a conglomeration of multiple World Eaters warbands led by the infamous Khârn the Betrayer, who led them in the slaughter of the Imperial world of Amethal in the Diamor System against the valiant defence of the Blood Angels Space Marine Chapter.

History

With a history that stretches back to the very last days of the Horus Heresy, the Warband now known as the Murderhorde came into being following the Battle of Skallathrax, a battle which finally shattered any remaining coherence the World Eaters still possessed. Like most of their Brothers the Astartes of the what would become the Murderhorde willingly followed their Father into rebellion, first at Isstvan III where the Traitor Legions purged thier still loyal memembers and then during the Drop Site Massacre where the World Eaters were unleashed and were instrumental in the destruction of three loyalist Legions.

During the following years of the Heresy the World Eaters carved their way across the Imperium before finally joining their fellow traitors in the Solar War. The first emergence of what would become the Murderhorde came at the final Siege of Terra where roving bands of World Eaters, ignoring all tactical considerations, attacked the Loyalists, seemingly at random, seeking only to cause carnage for carnages sake. One such band, said to number over 3,000 and purportedly led by a Sergeant of the 7^th Assault Company called Styvath Jeddek, assaulted the loyalists with such ferocity that is is said that the blood flowed in rivers. The berserk warriors of the World Eaters came closest to taking the walls but ultimately the traitors were defeated and the Heresy ended with the death of the Arch-Traitor Horus and in its aftermath the World Eaters descended to even new depths of bloodlust and destruction, reaving across the already shattered Imperium of Man before plunging into the twisted depths of the Eye of Terror.

Eventually the Legion came to the daemon world of Skallathrax where they battled their hated rivals the Emperor's Children for control, during the battle and thanks to the actions of the former World Eaters Captain Khârn the Betrayer, the XII Legion all but consumed itself in a bitter internecine conflict that saw it fractured into countless smaller warbands, the future Murderhorde among them. With their Legion shattered, Styvath and his Brothers took to roaming the Eye of Terror and the Galaxy as a whole, seeking nothing more than the opportunity to spill blood and take skulls.

The first time the Imperium would encounter the Murderhorde came over 11 centuries after the Heresy at the Battle of Matichtax where the berzerk Astartes assaulted the Matichtax System, appearing like a tidal wave from a becalmed ocean, the Murderhorde slaughtered their way across the system, leaving nothing but blood and devastation in their wake. At Matichtax Secondus they butchered their way through the defences, eventually putting the entire population to the sword before disappearing back into the warp.

Decades later they would battle the Astartes of the Blood Angels, Charnel Brethren and Flesh Tearers in a bloody war of attrition on the war world of Ogrur that only ended when the very planet itself began to disintegrate beneath their feet. Both sides took heavy losses as the Astartes, Loyal and Traitor fell to a murderous rage, slaughtering civilians and allied forces alike. During the battle, a mysterious fourth Loyalist Chapter clad in black and red with weapons attached with chains was also reported to have joined the fray, attacking the traitors with such hatred and rage that some have compared them to the Astartes of the berserk Murderhorde.

It would be almost three thousand years before they would be seen within the materium again, descending upon the Imperium once more during the Invasion of Hranxetri VII. Once considered one of the most important worlds within the sector, Hranxetri VII had begun to experience increasing civil unrest as Pirates prowled the shipping lanes and a Cult that called themselves the Heralds of the Throne began to carry out greater acts of destruction, the attacks increased in regularity to such an extent that a pair of Cruisers drawn from Segmentum Pacificus Battlefleet had been stationed in the System. Such was the world's import to the Imperium that even an entire company of Astartes drawn from the Sons of Dorn had been dispatched to rid the System of the Heretics. Despite the strength of the Imperial forces in the system, they were unprepared when the Murderhorde erupted from the Warp, overrunning the outer defence stations they engaged the Imperial Navy cruisers, destroying both before launching themselves headlong at the world below. The Sons of Dorn formed up outside of the main spaceport and prepared to sell their lives in defence of the world but it was all for nought, for the Murderhorde were savagery personified, uncontrolled, unbound, unrestrained, they crashed against the Sons of Dorn in rabid packs but it was the creature at their head that heralded Hranxetri's doom. Goreripper the Horned One, Daemon Prince of Khorne, summoned to the World by foul acts committed by the Heralds, unleashed his wrath upon the doomed world, wherever he fought the Astartes it was a though a tank shell had exploded amongst them, his every blow sending corpses tumbling through the air, the Sons of Dorn for their part hurled themselves at the gigantic Daemon in their midst yet they were laughably outmatched in every regard, heads were ripped from their shoulders, bones pulverized, gene-forged transhumans torn apart as if they were nothing, none could stand before him. It took less than an hour for the Sons of Dorn to be slaughtered to a man before the Murderhorde turned their attention to the others. In a single blood-drenched night they butchered the worlds entire population, even the Heralds of the Throne fell victim to the uncontrollable fury of the Murderhorde. Leaving behind a dead world they would depart as quickly as they arrived, returning to the Warp to visit their fury upon another.

The Muderhorde would appear once more during the Dominion of Fire in the mid-38^th Millennium, joining their father Angron as he and 50,000 Chaos Space Marines slaughtered their way through a large swathe of Imperial space for over two standard centuries. They took control of over 70 sectors. In response, a combined force of four Space Marine Chapters, 2 Titan Legions and more than 30 Astra Militarum regiments participated in a massive Imperial Crusade to retake what the Imperium had lost to the Red Angel's assault.

During the 41^st Millenium, the Daemon Primarch Angron, the favoured Champion of Khorne, unified his World Eaters after the Battle of Skalathrax, and led the XII Legion once again deep into the heart of the Imperium and invaded the Hive World of Armageddon in 444.M41, in a lesser known conflict that would come to be known as the First War for Armageddon. The Muderhorde deployed in it's entirety for the War, Goreripper leading hundreds of Berserkers and carving a bloody trail of slaughter across the doomed planet. But in the end, victory was denied to the Forces of Chaos due to Angron's own foolish belief in his victory before completing a total conquest of the world and the successful intervention of the Grey Knights Chapter of Space Marines. The Grey Knights' assault banished Angron back to the Warp for one hundred standard years, Goreripper and the other Daemons were also banished at this time and the Forces of Chaos were routed after they watched their leader defeated and only the World Eaters managed to retreat back to the Space Hulk Devourer of Stars and escape into the safety of the Warp.

Later during the Cerberus Crusade the Murderhorde were one of the many Chaos Warbands that fought during the War, most notably during the Battle of Likal against the Iron Snakes. Fighting alongside Angron's Chosen and Gladiator Group 138 as well as other World Eaters forces, they inflicted significant casualties on the Iron Snakes and thanks to the carnage they caused, Goreripper and the Curia quattuor along with legions of Daemons were able to manifest upon the Planet. Eventually the Grey Knights were forced to intercede, however the Curia quattuor and the Heretic Astartes had already departed leaving their Daemonic allies in control, after battling the Daemons for days the Grey Knights evetually withdrew and enacted exterminatus, wiping the world from existence.

Goreripper, the Muderhorde and their World Eaters Brothers also reportedly battled an unknown Chapter upon the world of Angel's Hope although Imperial scholars believe that this conflict was fought independent of the greater Cerberus Crusade, it's outcome is also unknown though the casualties are believed to be extremely high.

The Muderhorde would appear once more during the 13^th Black Crusade alongside the monstrous Butcherhorde that was led by Khorne favoured mortal champion Kharn the Betrayer. The Diamor Campaign took place within the Diamor System. Initially led by the Chaos Lord Kranon the Relentless and then by the Black Legion's Chaos Lord Xorphas, several Chaos Warbands spearheaded the attack on the Imperial world of Amethal, on behalf of Abaddon in order to obtain something the Despoiler desired.

Although not intended to be part of the invasion, Khârn the Betrayer and the World Eaters descended upon Amethal with but a single goal -- to take the heads of the most worthy and mightiest of the heroes of the defending Blood Angels. Descending to blood-soaked depths the Murderhorde caused untold carnage throughout the Battle. Ultimately, though Imperial forces drove off the Chaos assault, the resultant slaughter weakened the barrier between the Immaterium and the material realm to such an extent that the Blood Angels were forced to call for aid from the daemon-hunting Grey Knights Chapter.

In the decades following the opening of the Great Rift, the Murderhordes' raids into real space have become far more common, particularly within the Imperium Nihilus, one such raid pitted them against the Drukhari Kabel of the Screaming Skull and their Wych cult allies, the Cult of the Flayed upon the world of Mortis XI. Despite inflicting horrific casualties upon each other, neither side was able to gain a clear victory as although the Murderhorde forced the Drukhari from the world, the Xenos had already completed their objectives and abandoned the doomed world to the berserk Astartes.

Another attack upon the Hive World of Radnura VI in 107.M42 saw them battle a Warband of the Emperors Children, The Ripping Nails, a battle they emerged victorious from, only to come under attack from the Orks as they returned to orbit. The Orks had attempted to capture the Space Hulk Spawn of Ruination while the Murderhorde were planetside, but they had not reckoned with the legion of Khornate Daemons that inhabit the core the Hulk who assaulted them as soon as they had gained access to the hulk. With the return of Goreripper and the Murderhorde the Orks were almost annihilated in vicious combat within the twisted corridors and were forced to flee, they now inhabit the far extremities of the Hulk where they are periodically purged, only to return in ever greater numbers.

Notable Members

Goreripper the Horned One - Goreripper the Horned One, also known as Ska'grath the Gorelord is a Daemon Prince of Khorne, it is unknown exactly who he was before he was raised to Daemonhood by his foul god though it is known that he was once an Astartes of the World Eaters Legion, he fought during the days of the Great Crusade and the battles of the Horus Heresy in the early 31st Millennium. Since becoming an immortal creature of the Warp he is now a being of grotesque power, an embodiment of the rage and fury of the Blood God, he is wrath incarnate and lives only to reap skulls and souls for his lord in a storm of rage.
Styvath the Slaughterer - Ordo Malleus records states that the individual known as Sergeant Styvath Jeddek of the World Eaters' 7th Assault Company before the Horus Heresy, is thought to be the beast now known as Styvath the Slaughterer. If this is indeed the case, Sergeant Styvath Jeddek now commands an entire company of Khornate Berserkers known as the Murderhorde. It is believed that he fought at the climax of the of the Heresy in the siege of the Imperial Palace during the Battle of Terra.
Ukrahl Worldthirster - Berserker Lord of the Murderhorde, Ukrahl was once a member of the Rampagers, elite near-berserker assault units that were comprised of the most savage and bloodthirsty World Eaters Legionaries, when his Father turned from the Emperor, Ukrahl willingly followed him into rebellion, he fought in dozens of engagements during the Heresy and now 10-thousend years later he commands a portion of the Murderhorde.
Rhaegam Voidclaimer - Rhaegam is the foul lord of the Daemonkin within the Murderhorde, an horrific amalgamation of Astartes and Daemon he towers above his brothers, possessed of strengths and abilities far above those of other Astartes. In battle, his already mighty form swells as hands turned into rending talons and jaws into slavering, fang-filled maws twisted beyond reason and reality as the foul entity that has subsumed him comes to the fore, known as Zhoghuth, he is said to rank high in the favour of Khorne.
Kheragion the Carrionlord - Once a member of the 85th Assault Company's elite jump-pack equipped assault squads, Kheragion is now a psychopathic berserker who now commands an entire unit of Raptors within the Murderhorde.
Khoragrag - Berserker Lord of the Murderhorde.
Baraghag - Legionary of the Murderhorde

Warband Fleet

Like other devotees of the Blood God, the Murderhorde's use of starships was limited to whatever ships they could lay their blood-stained hands on, subsequently the number of ships they have used over the millennia numbers in the dozens, recently however they have taken control of the Space Hulk, the Spawn of Ruination. Like all Space Hulks, the Spawn is a twisted amalgamation of celestial debris and dozens of ancient starships that drifts through space, seemingly at random. The Spawn of Ruination is a gigantic edifice that stretches over 30km, within it's corridors lurk all manner of creatures, from colonies of Ambulls who have created a warren of tunnels within the rocks to Hrud and even Orks who inhabit the outer areas of the Hulk in their thousands, even Drukhari have been encountered within the Hulk. Although comprised of derelict starships, at least some of the hundreds of weapon batteries that dot the Spawn of Ruination's surface are still operational as seen during a the assault upon the Imperial world of Thridyra Quintus when an Imperial Navy Cruiser was crippled as it attempted to intercept the Hulk as it moved in from the outer edges of the system.

At it's heart is a cavernous room, so large in fact that a dozen Imperator Class Titans could be housed within with room to spare, within this area is a massive warp rift, the result of an ancient warp drive failure, it is here that Goreripper and his Demonic Legions reside and where Goreripper, seated upon a throne of brass and bone, rules over the Murderhorde.

Subordinate Cults

Within the vastness of the Spawn of Ruination and the hundreds of thousands of humans that inhabit it, a number of Cults have emerged, although barely acknowledged and regularly slaughtered by their rage-fuelled trans-human masters , these cults are fanatically loyal to them and to the Blood God himself. The most notable of the Cults to inhabit the Spawn of Ruination are;

Pilgrims of the Eightbound Throne
Eightfold Apostles
Disciples of the Iron Chain
Apostles of the Crimson Throne

Warband Appearance

Warband Colours

The Murderhorde wear the colours of devotees of the Blood God; blood-red Power Armour with brass trim. These colours are identical to those used by their parent Traitor Legion, the World Eaters.

Warband Badge

The Murderhorde's badge is the same as that of their parent Traitor Legion, the World Eaters, which is a fanged maw engulfing a world. Some warriors wear a modified version of this symbol which omits the world, using only an open, large, fanged maw.