Ahzek Ahriman

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"If the path to salvation leads through the halls of purgatory, then so be it"[8]


Ahzek Ahriman
Ahriman2.jpg

Ahriman, Sorcerer Lord of the Thousand Sons[8]

Title(s) The Exile
Homeworld Prospero
(Formerly)[1h]
Born c. Late M30,

Terra[1a], Sol System

Active Period M30 — Present
Species Human
Type Astartes
Gender Male
Relatives
Occupation(s)
Affiliation(s)

Ahzek Ahriman is a Chaos Space Marine of the Thousand Sons Space Marine Legion and the greatest Sorcerer they have ever produced.

A Terran marine, Ahriman rose through the ranks of his legion to become their First Captain, Chief Librarian, and preeminent master of one of their psychic disciplines: precognition. Surviving the various battles of the Great Crusade, Ahriman found himself at the centre of the events that would lead to the fall of the Thousand Sons and their collective descent into the clutches of Tzeentch, Chaos God of sorcery and change, during the Horus Heresy.[1] His actions after the Heresy - particularly creating and enacting the great spell that bears his name — would result in his eventual banishment from the Legion he had spent most of his existence trying to safeguard. His current status is that of wanderer, apparently fated to quest for something never achievable; understanding of the nature of Tzeentch itself.[2]

Despite the nature of his doom, Ahriman has embraced his quest totally, and no bastion of knowledge in the entire galaxy can be considered safe from his rapacious intellect.[2]

History

Crusader

The Rise

Ahriman during the Great Crusade[22]

Ahzek Ahriman was born on Terra, among the wealthy tribes of the Achaemenid Empire, whose kings had allied with the Emperor during the Unification Wars early. Because of this alliance, Ahriman's tribes were largely spared the horrors of the atomic wars and proto-Astartes invasions of the Unification period. Following the Emperor's victory and Terra's alliance with Mars, Ahriman and his twin brother Ohrmuzd were selected to be inducted into the ranks of the Legiones Astartes. The Ahriman brothers traveled to the stars alongside the Emperor and his legions as part of the Great Crusade, but five years into the expedition the Thousand Sons legion began manifesting psychic abilities, and with the manifestations began the terrible flesh-changes. Over time, the problem became so severe that many voices throughout the Imperium began suggesting that the Thousand Sons be disbanded. However, when the Crusade reached Magnus upon Prospero not long after, the Primarch of the Thousand Sons was seemingly able to eradicate the threat of the flesh-change; although only a fraction of the affected marines survived the mysterious process. One of those who perished was Ohrmuzd Ahriman, whose passing instilled in his twin both great grief and a great dread of the flesh-change. In remembrance of his brother, Ahzek had Ohrmuzd's pendant (the twin of his own, both gifts from their mother) worked into the shoulder-guard of his armour.[1a]

Ahriman rose to hold the positions of Chief Librarian of the legion, Captain of the First Fellowship, commander of the elite Sekhmet and leader of the legion's most powerful cult, the Corvidae, all at the same time.[1] Despite this impressive record, little is currently known of the bulk of Ahriman's career as a legionary. The earliest mention of him is a note of his five years' secondment to the Word Bearers legion, where he found himself uncomfortable with their expressions of belief in the Emperor's divinity without a knowledge-base to back it up. Despite this period being one he thought of unhappily, Ahriman did consider that he had become friends with the Word Bearers Astartes named Erebus during it. He is also on record as being in favour of the assignment of remembrancers to the Crusade forces, believing the documenting of his legion as being one way in which the wider body Imperium could learn to understand - and therefore no longer fear - the psyker.[1b] The earliest detailed mention of Ahriman in historical records currently known of is during the Aghoru campaign, a compliance action carried out by the Thousand Sons of the 28th Expedition towards the close of the second century of the Great Crusade.[1]

During this campaign, Ahriman is noted to have risked his Primarch's displeasure by leading a search team for him after Magnus made himself absent from the legion, despite Magnus' prior insistence that he was not to be disturbed. This is the first time he is known to have both mistrusted the judgement of his Primarch and ignored his wishes. Towards the end of the campaign, when a contingent of Space Wolves arrived to convey a message to Magnus from Leman Russ, Ahriman found himself falling into an association with the Space Wolf Rune Priest Othere Wyrdmake, during which he shared information on the Thousand Sons' psychic disciplines in what he thought was a meeting of like-minded individuals, but which would later prove treacherous. His perceived fledging kinship with the Rune Priest proved helpful however, when both the Space Wolves and the Thousand Sons were forced to engage in combat with xenos weaponforms and hostile denizens of the warp before leaving Aghoru.[1c]

Around this time, Ahriman was charged with inducting the remembrancer Lemuel Gaumon into the ways of the Thousand Sons by Magnus the Red, in an overt attempt to develop Gaumon's own psychic abilities and help spread understanding of Magnus' philosophies. Ahriman took Gaumon on as his Probationer, and spent a significant amount of time illuminating and training the remembrancer throughout the period leading up to the Burning of Prospero.[1d,1] This training included taking Gaumon along on combat missions during the pacification of Heliosa, where Ahriman was present for the return of the flesh-change in his legion and the execution of the afflicted Thousand Son by the Space Wolf Primarch, Leman Russ. The return of the flesh-change to the Thousand Sons after Magnus had previously promised that he had banished its danger forever made a deep impact on Ahriman, his feelings of dread at the possibility of mutation and hurt betrayal caused by his Primarch's inability to protect the legion, were so strong that Gaumon was able to detect them.[1e]

The Fall

Ahriman, Chief Librarian of the Thousand Sons

Ahzek Ahriman is next recorded being present at two of the most important historical events of this time period; the Triumph of Ullanor[1f] at which Horus was made Warmaster and the Council of Nikaea, at which the Emperor outlawed the use of psychic powers within the Legiones Astartes. To Ahriman the Council of Nikaea felt more like a trial of the Thousand Sons, and his sense of angry betrayal and disillusion at the turn of events was made all the more keen by the fact that the first person to step forth and accuse the Thousand Sons of malign practices was his supposed ally and colleague, Othere Wyrdmake. Compounding this emotional turmoil, it was also at this time that Ahriman discerned that Magnus was not only aware of great powers within the Warp, but that he may previously have struck some kind of 'bargain' with them in order to halt the predations of the flesh-change upon the Thousand Sons. Aghast at the revelation, Ahriman's ability to trust Magnus was shaken - though Magnus removed the details of the bargain from his Chief Librarian's mind before Ahriman could puzzle it all out.[1g]

Ahriman is next spoken of in a another strained meeting with his Primarch, as Magnus unveiled his own discernment, that of the upcoming fall of Horus upon Davin. Ahriman, along with the other senior figures of the Thousand Sons, was enlisted in aiding Magnus in his attempt to psychically protect Horus. In the aftermath of his subsequent failure, Magnus explained to Ahriman that he had been thwarted by agents of something he did not know of or understand called the Primordial Annihilator...however Ahriman once again realised his Primarch was lying to him and that Magnus not only knew of this 'Annihilator', this 'Chaos', he had dealt with it before. Rocked by these uncertain events and desperate to learn of the future, Ahriman authorised the 'super-charging' of the precognition power of the remembrancer Kallista Eris, attached to the Thousand Sons. While she was able to deliver a prophecy to Ahriman's waiting ears, she also died - literally burnt out - in the process. Ahriman's sanction of the death of an innocent prompted Lemuel Gaumon to turn his back upon his mentor, ending both his training and their friendship. Magnus similarly cast about for direction at this time and similarly, made a questionable moral choice - he decided to use sorcerous techniques to attempt to contact the Emperor directly and communicate to him the news of Horus' betrayal and the machinations of Chaos; Ahriman was selected to help him enact the spell - thus learning of the existence of daemons — and to guard Magnus' mortal body during the process. Again, in the aftermath of failure, Ahriman discerned that Magnus was keeping knowledge from him and the Legion; this time learning not only the truth behind the cessation of the flesh-change - Magnus' striking a sorcerous deal with a power of the Warp to save his children - but also why he and the other Corvidae had been unable to predict an incoming retributive attack on Prospero...Magnus, in his grief and shame, had prevented it.[1h]

Finally at his first great breaking point with his Primarch, Ahriman angrily refused to follow Magnus' order to stand down and await punishment, instead declaring:

"We are the Red Sorcerers of Prospero, damned in the eyes of our fellows, and this is to be how our story ends, in betrayal and bloodshed. No...you may find it nobler to suffer your fate, but I will take arms against it."[1i]


And with that the Chief Librarian of the legion turned the Thousand Sons away from Magnus' design and led them in the desperate defence of their homeworld in the doomed battle that would come to be known as the Burning of Prospero. Though he knew much knowledge would be lost or destroyed during the battle, Ahriman vowed to restore all of it, no matter the cost. Recognising that, despite all their powers and strategies, there was only one person on Prospero who could decisively alter the fate of the Thousand Sons, Ahriman regularly implored Magnus to come to his Sons' aid during the battle; Magnus did not acquiesce. With signs and portents of the end building up all around him - as well as finally achieving understanding of a vision he had received on Aghoru concerning the fate of his legion and their works - Ahriman issued orders for the surviving legionaries to mount a last stand defence, while he attempted the kind of unorthodox tactic only available to the Thousand Sons.[1j]

Sensing Othere Wyrdmake's presence in the approaching horde of Space Wolves, Ahriman made psychic contact with him, dragging him into the aetheric plane to confront him there. The two psykers duelled for a time, before Ahriman eventually gained the upper hand, using the opportunity to link minds with Wyrdmake and 'dump' the truth of the matter into the consciousness of the Space Wolf. Wyrdmake learned it all - Horus' betrayal, the setting-up of the Thousand Sons and Space Wolves and the mistakes that had led them to this point. Returning both himself and the dazed Wyrdmake to the mundane dimension (but still keeping their minds free of their bodies), Ahriman paused to look around the battlefield, witnessing Leman Russ kill Thousand Sons by the score and the Space Wolves' mindless destruction of all that he cared about. In a moment's reflection upon vengeance, instead of releasing Wyrdmake (and therefore potentially allowing the Rune Priest to spread his newly acquired knowledge of the truth behind the conflict to his fellows), Ahriman spitefully cast Wyrdmake's soul to the waiting void-predators of the Warp. Returning to his material body, Ahriman chose to fatalistically accept the consequences of his action, believing his own imminent death and that of all his legion was now inevitable.[1j]

This belief was proved false, however, when Magnus the Red finally chose to enter the fray, entering a duel with Leman Russ that stilled the battlefield, allowing Ahriman to pull the remaining Thousand Sons back to Great Pyramid of Tizca. There, he learned that Magnus, while unsure of his own fate, had foreseen that Ahriman would survive this day and so had bequeathed to him the Book of Magnus, the Primarch's own tome of collected knowledge and incalculable sorcerous power. In psychic communication with him even as he fought the Wolf-King, Magnus instructed Ahriman to do one last thing for him, and to receive one last gift; as Magnus fell, he transmitted a huge burst of his own aetheric power into Ahriman, using the Chief Librarian as a psychic and sorcerous conduit to all the surviving legionaries. Used as a vessel for Magnus' great spell, Ahzek Ahriman and all the other Thousand Sons vanished from Prospero.[1j]

Heretic

The Shards of Magnus

Ahriman following the Burning of Prospero

Having been transported through the raw Warp itself, Ahriman found himself awakening upon a world that would be dubbed the Planet of Sorcerers, where he was reunited with the survivors of his legion and - now transformed into a being of aetheric energy - Magnus the Red himself. Ahriman's next actions - and the details of his participation in the Horus Heresy - are not currently known, but what is recorded is his decision to enact his own, now infamous, master spell.[1k] Ahriman was forbidden to conduct any research into curing the Flesh Change of his legion, but nonetheless worked on it in secret. This was the beginning of an even larger falling out than before between Ahriman and Magnus.[14]

Ahriman was later assigned by Magnus to recover the Iron Oculus, recruiting a fellowship which included Sobek, Tolbek, Lucius, Sanakht, Ignis, and Menkaura. The group had to fight through Yokai to retrieve the bound Daemon Aforgomon in order to aid in the retrieval of the Crimson King's shards. While before the Oculus, Ahriman struck a bargain with the creature. Ahriman and his entourage of Hathor Maat, Sobek, Lucius, Sanakht, Ignis and others journeyed to Kamiti Sona, past Terra via the Reckoner, and finally Nikaea to retrieve multiple shards before being confronted by a violent essence of Magnus possessing Lemuel Gaumon on Nikaea. Confronted by the overwhelming power of this shard, Ahriman relented to his deal with the Aforgomon, which he allowed to possess Hathor Maat. Ahriman demanded more power to defeat Magnus, which the Aforgomon gave, and he was able to merge with a portion of both the Daemon and the Shard of Magnus recovered from Terra to defeat Gaumon. After the shards of Magnus merged they transported the Thousand Sons back to the Planet of Sorcerers and the daemon vanished.[14] Ahriman next appeared alongside Magnus on the ruins of Prospero, seeking the Daemon Shai-Tan in order to weaken the Emperor's psychic shielding of the planet. During the search Magnus revealed his crimes on the world of Morningstar and his subsequent erasure of the Thousand Sons memories of the campaign. Ahriman's faith in Magnus was permanently damaged, though he stated he did forgive his Primarch.[20]

Terra

Ahriman commanded the Battle Barge Ankhtowe alongside Ignis and Menkaura during the Solar War. He had been assigned by Magnus to accompany Abaddon's armada as it sped towards Luna. During the Solar War, Ahriman proved decisive for the traitor war effort when alongside the Word Bearers he initiated a ritual on The Comet that allowed for a massive Warp Rift to open over Luna. From this rift spilled the endless fleet of Horus. He went on to take part in the Siege of Terra at the climax of the Horus Heresy.[19] During the Siege, he was part of Perturabo's command staff and later accompanied Magnus as he manipulated Mortarion into launching an attack on the Colossi Gate.[21a] During the attack on the Colossi Gate, Ahriman alongside Adepts of the Order of Ruin summoned large amounts of Daemon's and psychic force to assail the loyalists, but were foiled by Naranbaatar and his Stormseers.[21b]

After the setback at Colossi, Ahriman alongside Menkaura, Amon and his new equerry Atrahasis were recruited by Magnus to infiltrate the Imperial Palace and recover the Primarch's last missing shard. Infiltrating through the Great Observatory and Hall of Leng, after learning from Malcador that the last shard was beyond Magnus' reach the Crimson King instead pledged to kill the Emperor.[23a] Managing to make it before the Golden Throne, the group was confronted by Vulkan, his Draaksward, as well as the pack of Bodvar Bjarki. In the subsequent battle Ahriman managed to slay Olgyr Widdowsyn but was overcome by Bjarki's frost-magic, as the anti-Warp wardings of the Palace sapped Ahriman of much of his power. Before Bjarki could deliver the final blow Magnus gave himself fully to the powers of Chaos during his battle with Vulkan, causing all the Thousand Sons to vanish from the Imperial Dungeon. After the battle Ahriman began to have a lingering doubt towards his father, caused in part by his callous execution of Atrahasis.[23b]

Later during the final stages of the Siege, Ahriman infiltrated the Library of Leng deep within the Imperial Palace. Meeting Kyril Sindermann and Hellick Mauer, Ahriman did not display much hostility and explained that he was in the Library to secure its knowledge before other less-disciplined traitor forces arrived to burn it.[26a] During his conversations with Sindermann, Ahriman learned that the Emperor was destined to become the Dark King after repeated readings of the Imperial Tarot.[26b] Much to Ahriman's frustration, his deck kept drawing the card Daemon until Horus was defeated. Shocked, Ahriman promptly left the Hall of Leng, leaving Sindermann and the others behind.[27]

Scouring

After the Siege of Terra, witnessing the survivors of his Legion continue to suffer the flesh-change, Ahriman determined to free himself and his brethren from its threat. Using the Book of Magnus and enlisting the aid of a cabal of senior surviving members of the legion including Hathor Maat, Amon and Sobek, Ahriman conceived a spell that aimed to permanently rid the Thousand Sons of the curse of the flesh-change.[1k] The result of this so called 'Rubric of Ahriman', while imperfect, is said to have satisfied Ahriman in its consequence. In essence, it turned all the warriors without psychic abilities into mindless automata, and greatly amplified the abilities of all who had more then a spark. Ahriman was a veteran Thousand Son from before the coming of Magnus the Red, and Ahriman's revulsion at the corruption of the Legion was so great that even the terrible price of reversing it was not too high.[2]

Magnus was not of like mind, however. So great was his wrath when the cabal was discovered that the Primarch threatened to obliterate them utterly, but the very patron who had worked the mutations upon them in the first place was said to have intervened. Who can say what the most enigmatic and capricious of entities intended? In any event, the Daemon Prince stayed his hand, instead banishing Ahriman and his cabal from the Planet of Sorcerers and condemning them to wander the Eye of Terror and beyond in a hopeless quest to understand the Chaos god Tzeentch.[2]

Exile

When Ahriman was exiled, at first he served master to master, trying to cling on to what life he had left. For a time he went by the identity of a lowly sorcerer named Horkos in The Harrowing warband. However, his true identity was discovered by Tolbek as the warrior met with Gzrel, the lord of The Harrowing. Realizing his identity had been compromised, Ahriman released his latent powers against all present in an attempt to escape, killing most The Harrowing's leaders as well as nearly succumbing to a suicidal mental trap constructed by Tolbek.[9a] Ahriman eventually discovered that he was being sought out by Amon who was sending an array of agents to kill the exiled Sorcerer. Ultimately Ahriman was able to infiltrate Amon's warband and kill the Sorcerer, taking Amon's armour for himself.[9b] Afterwards Ahriman took up the Army and fleet he had built up during his entire time in exile and formed his own warband, the Prodigal Sons.[9] Ahriman eventually agreed to form an alliance between the Prodigal Sons and Abaddon the Despoiler and his Black Legion.[10]

Now across the ensuing millennia he has become a scourge, raiding ancient museums, librarium, scholaria and reclusia, places of learning, religion and contemplative thought. He seeks to acquire artefacts, data, or even persons he believes can lead him to mastery over the way of the sorcerer. He fosters cults on dozens of worlds at a time, providing cult magi with sorcerous power until such time as they have acquired some antiquarian trinket or satisfied another of Ahriman demands before turning the wrath of his warband upon them. Notably, he went out of his way to locate and acquire the lost and otherwise forgotten writings of Mahavastu Kallimakus, personal remembrancer to Magnus the Red during the Great Crusade.[2]

Saga of the Second Rubric

Ahriman and his cabal eventually attempted to cast a second Rubric to save his Legion, despite the ritual resulting in the destruction of Magnus himself. Ahriman nonetheless went through with the rubric, but unbeknownst to the Sorcerer the plans for the Second Rubric were implanted into his mind by Magnus himself. The ritual was hijacked by Magnus, who used it to re-combine with many of his remaining lost shards. The only shards that were lost to Magnus were those that represented his noblest qualities.[16]

Ahriman, Sorcerer of Chaos[28]

Ahriman and his Cabal's second Rubric had dire unintended consequences. Creating a devastating affliction known as the Pyrodomon, Sorcerers of the Thousand Sons began spontaneously transforming into Rubricae while existing Rubricae simply combusted. Guided by the Pariah Maehekta, Ahriman and his Cabal begin a new journey to cure the Pyrodomon, fighting the Iron Warriors warband Born of Iron under Hargoron over an ancient Necron artefact.[30a] The artefact later reveals the preserved body of Setekh, an ancient Chronomancer of the Hyksos Dynasty. Setekh agrees to lead the Thousand Sons into the Webway to recover the Key of Infinity in order to reverse time and cure the Pyrodomon.[30b] However upon arriving in the heart of the Necron Tomb in the Webway, Setekh betrays the Thousand Sons and intends to use the Key of Infinity to alter the past to ensure his Dynasty's supremacy. Ahriman is able to seemingly kill Setekh and disable the Key of Infinity, but the Pyrodomon still remains a problem.[30c] The solution comes when Ctesias and Ignis journey inside the mind of Helio Isidorus, diving into the domain of the Rubric itself. Isidorus is revealed to be the vessel of the Pyrodomon[30c], while Ignis succumbs to it and is transformed into a Rubricae. Ctesias sacrifices himself to destroy Isidorus' memory, containing the spread of the affliction for the time being[30d] but also inadvertently erasing Ahriman's memory.[30d][28a]

Still trapped in the Webway, Ahriman is eventually able to regain his memories and formulates a new plan to stop the Pyrodomon, which has reactivated inside Isidorus and is spreading throughout fleets of the Thousand Sons.[28a] Setekh is reborn afflicted by the Flayer Curse, and both he and Ahriman travel into the past using the Key of Infinity.[28b] Allying with his Cabal in the past, Ahriman battles a group of Daemons known as the Bitter Kin that have been sent from the future.[28c] The Pyrodomon spreads to the past, converting Gaumata who launches an attack on the rest of Ahriman's Cabal.[28d] Ahriman is seemingly killed by the Bitter Kin, but Ctesias is able to enter his mind and communicate with the Sorcerer.[28e] Ahriman hatches a plan to have Ctesias erase his mind once more, adopting the name "Horkos" to hide from the Pyrodomon and reach the Key of Infinity. Ctesias agrees at the cost of his own life just as Setekh and his Flayed Ones attack their flagship Hekaton.[28f] Both Ahriman and Setekh are able to enter the Key once more, restoring his identity and using the device to have the Necron Overlord completely consumed by the Flayer Virus and trapped within his own device.[28g] Ahriman is able to use the Key to reset the timeline, traveling back to the moment of casting the Second Rubric and erasing Isidorus' soul. Ahriman reappears on Sortiarius just a few days after the casting of the Second Rubric, preventing the creation of the Pyrodomon. Fleeing the Planet of the Sorcerers a second time, he declares his objective to find the Black Library.[28h]

Ahriman has of late turned his relentless predation upon the Eldar, determined in his belief that the lost knowledge he seeks can be found in that darkest of halls of enlightenment, the vast repository of arcana referred to in whispers as the Black Library of Chaos.[2] To that end he led the Prodigal Sons warband during the 13th Black Crusade to the world of Arcadia in order to plunder the ancient library there and gain entrance to the Webway. This scheme was foiled by the actions of members of the Blood Ravens and Eldar Harlequins.[3x] Another of Ahriman's schemes centred around using the captured Inquisitor Czevak and a long forgotten webway portal on Etiamnun III.[4] At one point, Ahriman captured the Daemonifuge, Ephrael Stern, intending to use the former Sister of Battle against his rivals after conquering the Black Library.[5]

Thirteenth Black Crusade

Sometime shortly before the 13th Black Crusade, Ahriman was summoned back to the Planet of the Sorcerers by Magnus himself. Magnus agreed to once again work with Ahriman towards a common goal.[15b] During the subsequent Siege of the Fenris System the two fought together in mutual vengeance against the hated Space Wolves.[12]

Ahriman subsequently summoned a Leviathan from the Warp to bring chaos to the Eye of Terror, a giant voidbound warp beast[34] Ahriman again captured Inquisitor Czevak and was able to extract from him a way to rip open the walls of the webway aiming to reach the fastness of the Black Library, but was rebuffed from reaching the library's doors by Harlequins reinforced by a garrison from Ulthwé,[33a] to whom Ahriman in turn used great magics to twist the Webway upon itself trapping the Eldar in now-closed the Webway.[33b] To make matters worse, Czevak escaped his capture taken by the Harlequinade of the Red Masque[33a] and the Webway Gate he used to enter was sealed, never to be used again.[4] Nevertheless Ahriman managed, only in astral form, to reach the Black Library allowing his physical body to transcribe onto hermetic parchment what his simulacrum saw inside the library halls and in so doing, managed to copy the contents of the fabled Tome Labyrinthus - the map of the hidden Webway passages.[15a] In the eyes of his Primarch, Magnus the Red, his star was on the rise once again.[33a]

Age of Ending

Kept from the parts of the Webway the Harlequins defend, Ahriman claimed many of the Chaos-tainted parts of the Webway. When word reached Ahriman that there was a new god in the galaxy which could defy death itself, with haste he gathered his Daemonic servants and sent them into the Webway to listen where they could. Sacrificing nine hundred and ninety nine captives to Tzeentch, Ahriman and his host of Thousand Sons were able to ambush the Ynnari on their quest to Kalisus in the webway subrealm of Psychedelta bringing with him nine Exiles. During the battle, Ahriman managed to cast the ruling triumvirate of the Ynnari: Yvraine, the Visarch, and Yncarne, outside of the Webway's walls. Facing oblivion, Yvraine demonstrated the ability to resurrect a dozen of the Rubricae and offered this cure in exchange for their lives. Overcome with emotion, Ahriman agreed and moved the trio back into the Webway. However, he was subsequently betrayed by Yvraine, who cast the cured Rubricae into an abyss, causing Ahriman to fly to their rescue, before making her escape.[13]

Dark Imperium

Ahriman has since gained much knowledge of the Webway, including perhaps a map of the ancient labyrinth from the Black Library of Chaos through astral projection.[31] He has become obsessed with the Aeldari, particularly the new Ynnari, in hopes of using their lore to restore his Legion. To this end, Ahriman has recently sought to abduct the Ynnari on several occasions.[24] He is particularly interested in the ability of Yvraine to capture the souls of the dying and even to restore the essence of one who has died.[31]

Sometime later, Ahriman aided the Exalted Sorcerer Khethos Vorsch in invading Mordian as part of his goal of reaching the Black Library.[32]

Appearance and Abilities

During his tenure as an Imperial Astartes, Ahriman was equipped with the red power armour of his legion, a highly artificed bolt pistol that featured swept-back hawk wings made of gold on the casing and a stippled psychneuein-hide handgrip, and a hooked hequa staff of ivory and blue copper. Ahriman's Tutelary was named Aaetpio, and was a vision of ever-turning wheels and eyes of light. His Enumeratory rank was that of Adept Exemptus, meaning that he had attained mastery of a psychic discipline (precognition in Ahriman's case), connection with a Tutelary, could unshackle his astral form from that of his body, sense and read the auras of ensoulled creatures and possessed complete knowledge of the legion's rites and practices.[1l] According to Iskandar Khayon, in the years since the Heresy Ahriman's face has been replaced with a screaming void. However, Ahriman is unaware of this fact and believes himself to be completely unaltered.[17]

Ahriman's pre-Chaos life appeared to be one of dedication to his calling, studies and Primarch. Indeed, Ahriman's relationship with Magnus is pivotal to his character and personal history.[1] Apart from his gene-sire, Ahriman is noted to have formed close connections with his twin brother Ohrzmud and his mortal student, Lemuel Gaumon. Interestingly, it was only after their respective deaths that he was able to admit to himself that both Apophis and Phosis T'Kar of the legion had been old and true friends. His relationship with Othere Wyrdmake was an important one in that the treachery and (as Ahriman saw it) hypocrisy of the Space Wolf personally affected Ahriman during the tumultuous times surrounding the fall of the Thousand Sons; Ahriman's murder of Wyrdmake was not only notably cruel, it also placed personal satisfaction over doing what may have been best for the legion. When considering the importance of his decision over Wyrdmake's fate, it is unlikely to be a coincidence that immediately after the event, Ahriman's force staff spontaneously changed from its original colouring to jet black.[1m]

Ahriman is a true master of sorcery and one of the most powerful psykers in the galaxy, his knowledge of the dark arts rivalled only by the greater daemons of his patron. In addition to the multitude of Chaos Psychic Powers he can call upon, he is armed with The Black Staff of Ahriman; an ornate Force weapon which provides a potent focus for his psychic energy. He also carries an enchanted bolt pistol which fires powerful Inferno bolts similar to the weapons of his Rubric Marines.[2] In the time before the Heresy, Ahriman wielded a similar Force Weapon known as the Corvidaean Sceptre.[25]

Ahriman's sorcerous powers are apparent even in the cast of his skin; his facial features seem to blur and shift constantly, making it almost impossible to focus on anything other than his eyes, which appear as constantly burning with a blue flame.[3a] He also became significantly larger than he was during the Horus Heresy.[18]

Ahriman sometimes utilizes a proxy Daemonhost known as The Vessel to serve in his place when he is not present.[32]

Quotes

  • "The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."[1n]
  • "Change is sometimes necessary. But I prefer order. It is more...predictable."[1o]
  • "And what are the achievements of your fragile Imperium? It is a corpse rotting slowly from within while maggots writhe in its belly. It was built with the toil of heroes and giants, and now it is inhabited by frightened weaklings to whom the glories of those times are half-forgotten legends. I have forgotten nothing, and my wisdom has expanded far beyond mere mortal frailties."[7]
  • "Knowledge is power, and with the key to the Black Library, I shall claim it all."[2]

Images

  • Ahriman (2016)

  • Ahriman (1996)[11]

  • Heresy-era Ahriman (2016)

  • Heresy-era Ahriman Joytoy figure[29]

Trivia

TriviaScrollTrans.png

The following information is not to be regarded as officially sanctioned and/ or is not written from an in-universe point of view. A detailed explanation of the term "Trivia" as used in the Lexicanum can be found here.

  • Ahriman and Ohrmuzd are the names of the evil and good deities, respectively, of Zoroastrianism.
  • Aaetpio is an angel of fire in the Enochian magic system.
  • Several of Ahriman's possessions[1] are references to historical texts or objects of curiosity. Amongst the (relatively) conventional items mentioned are the following notable pieces:

Notes

  • Ahriman states at one point that he was Magnus' Neophyte, despite also being described as a member of the Thousand Sons before the discovery of their Primarch. It is likely he was referring to a Cult Enumeratory rank[1p] rather than to the term for a newly-inducted Space Marine candidate, but this is supposition and it may just be an authorial mistake. The implication that he was directly trained by Magnus is the same in any case.

Sources


Thousand Sons Forces
Command Exalted Sorcerer • Sorcerer • Scarab Occult Sorcerer • Aspiring Sorcerer • Infernal Master • Daemon Prince
Elites Scarab Occult Terminator • Sekhetar • Castellax-Achea Class Robot
Troops Rubicae • Tzaangor • Tzaangor Enlightened • Tzaangor Shaman • Cultists • Thrall Wizard • Mutants
Vehicles Helbrute • Ferrum Infernus Dreadnought • Osiron Dreadnought • Chaos Rhino • Chaos Predator (Infernal Relic Predator) • Chaos Land Raider • Chaos Vindicator • Vulcan
Daemon Engines Defiler • Forgefiend • Maulerfiend • Heldrake • Silver Tower • Fire Lord • Doom Wing
Aircraft Stormbird • Thunderhawk • Storm Eagle • Hell Blade • Hell Talon • Harbinger
Daemons Lord of Change • Herald of Tzeentch • Horror • Flamer • Screamer • Tutelary • Chaos Spawn • Mutalith Vortex Beast
Special Characters Magnus the Red • Ahriman • Kairos Fateweaver
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