The Dark Apostles are the fell preachers of the Heretic Astartes, spiritual leaders who turned the zeal of their former calling toward the worship of the Ruinous Powers. Their tradition began among the Word Bearers, whose primarch Lorgar instituted the role of Chaplain to tend the souls of his brethren; when that Legion fell, its Chaplains became the first Apostles, redirecting their boundless faith from the Emperor to the gods of the Warp. Where once they preached the Imperial Creed, now they howl the glories of Chaos across the battlefield.
An Apostle's deadliest weapon is his voice. Charismatic beyond mortal measure, he can whip his warband into a frenzy of devotion, and his sermons have been known to turn entire regiments of the Astra Militarum, or even wavering Space Marines, from their oaths in a single impassioned hour. Into war he bears the accursed crozius, the debased echo of a Chaplain's holy maul, now a profane icon that both shatters bone and marks its bearer as a favoured servant of the gods, warding him from harm and drawing the denizens of the Warp to his side.
Rarely does an Apostle march alone. He is attended by Dark Disciples, cowled acolytes who bear his unholy relics and chant the responses to his invocations, deepening his connection to the Dark Gods. Through blood sacrifice and relentless preaching he can tear open the veil between worlds, calling daemons to manifest amid the carnage. He is at once general, priest, and executioner, and where his litanies are loudest, the servants of Chaos fight with the terrible certainty of the truly damned.
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