Thousand Sons

The Thousand Sons defy the conventional notion of what a Traitor Legion should embody. Unlike the World Eaters, who charge headlong into battle with frenzied abandon, or the Word Bearers, who openly venerate the Empyrean in their rituals, the Thousand Sons took a far more complex and restrained path. Had the stars aligned differently, it is conceivable that they would have never severed their allegiance to the Emperor at all.

Comprising solely of potent Psykers, the Thousand Sons stood as an exceptional force within the fledgling Imperium of Man. They were a singular endeavor, a vision crafted by the Emperor himself. Yet, this unparalleled legion would ultimately be undone by the Edict of Nikea, the subversive schemes of the Lord of Change, and the fierce, unyielding hounds of Fenris, who would bring their downfall.

The Thousand Sons initially had a veiled and unclear purpose. They were born during a series of violent warp storms shortly after the conclusion of the Unification Wars, and at the start of the Great Crusade. These potent storms caused panic and upheaval, with shipping disrupted and mutation rife.

The Emperor was – of course – unconcerned by this phenomenon, and instead responded by arranging the founding of key Imperial factions such as the SIlent Sisterhood. Among these were the XV Legion.

The XV began as, frankly, an unremarkable Legion. The only thing which set them apart in these early days was the inexplicable “deliberate and exacting criteria” imposed upon the Legion intake, with “strictures imposed that were beyond that of their fellow Legions.” They only took stable, culturally sophisticated candidates, which meant the Legion was initially very small, and grew very slowly indeed. When one thousand Legionaries were ready, they were inducted as a Legion by the Emperor himself.