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{{QuoteBox
|quote = '''''What they conquer and tear down by force of arms is bad enough, but the damage done by the very dread of them is disastrous.'''''
|source=-[[Marshal (Imperial Guard)|Marshal]] [[Blackwood]], '''775.[[M41]]'''{{Fn|4a}}
|}}
{{Otheruses|USE=Chaos cult|OTHERUSE=novel|OTHERPAGE=Blood Pact (Novel)}}
[[File:BloodPactartwork.jpg|right|200px|thumb|An Imperial soldier's rendition of a '''Blood Pact''' soldier{{Fn|4b}}]]
The '''Blood Pact''' is a highly organized [[Chaos Cult]] devoted to [[Khorne]]. Unlike many cultist warbands, the Pact fought as a disciplined army, similar in training and organization to the [[Imperial Guard]]. Originating as the personal army of the warlord [[Urlock Gaur]], they quickly became a dominant "elite" of the Chaos forces opposing the [[Sabbat Worlds Crusade]], and caused the people of the [[Imperium]] no small amount of suffering and woe.{{Fn|4x}}{{Fn|8}}
As the Gaur's influence grew and spread to neighboring worlds, it was this bodyguard force that led his conquering armies. It soon became a mark of respect to be 'bloody-pacted" to the Gaur. Numbers grew, recruited from vassal worlds, and the bodyguard force eventually became an army in its own right; the current Blood Pact.{{Fn|4x}}
Uniquely, every single member of the Blood Pact (and Imperial tactical estimates suggest there may be as many as three quarters of a million Blood Pact warriors) is personally inducted into service by the Gaur himself. To prove his allegiance in blood to both the Gaur and the Blood God, each aspirant ritually gashes his hands on the sharpened edges of the Gaur's battle armor.{{Fn|4x}}{{Fn|8}}
The [[Imperium]]'s first encounter with the Blood Pact occurred in the aftermath of the [[Battle of Balhaut]] in '''765.[[M41]]''', when [[Archon (Chaos)|Archon]] [[Nadzybar]] was slain in personal combat with [[Warmaster]] [[Slaydo]]. A member of Slaydo's bodyguard unit, [[Imperial Guard Sergeant|Sergeant]] [[Commodus Ryland]], was captured and interrogated by a cultist, identifying herself as a warrior of the Blood Pact, loyal to Urlock Gaur.{{Fn|5}}
Blood Pact warriors usually resemble a particularly ragged or barbaric [[regiment]] of the [[Imperial Guard]]. They wear fabric battledress uniforms either looted from the corpses of Guardsmen, or manufactured to resemble a basic Imperial design. Over this are worn packs, webbing and the usual assortment of infantry kit, including a steel bowl-helmet. Because their kit, equipment and battle dress is essentially a mix of plunder and homemade, no two Blood Pact troopers are ever identical. Their appearance is rough and ill-kempt: their clothing torn, patched and dirty, and helmets chipped and dented.{{Fn|4x}}
A Blood Pact member is most characterized by their ritual iron visor, known as a "[[grotesque]]," and which is worn by all [[human]] members. These generally portray a grimacing, or leering face, often coupled with an exaggerated hooked nose or chin. These masks are usually a black color, although it has been known for senior officers to wear one of gold or silver.{{Fn|4x}}
Their armor and clothing is all a drab red, the color of dried blood. In fact, one of the Pact's rituals prior to battle is to dye their clothing with the blood of their enemy. As a result, the Blood Pact warriors exude a revolting, charnel stink, made even less palatable by the unguents and oils with which they anoint their bodies and their own lax standards of hygiene. Their support vehicles all tend to be painted this universal crimson as well.{{Fn|4x}}
The Blood Pact - thanks to these captured Forge Worlds - have numerous armor and artillery formations. Blood Pact armor is generally slightly inferior to standard Imperial issue, most of it being Urdeshi-pattern variants such as the [[SteG 4]], and the [[AT70 Reaver Battle Tank]]s, though they do also have more limited numbers of the larger and more powerful [[AT83 Brigand Super Tank|AT83 Brigand-pattern tanks]] as well as a few of the rare [[Baneblade]] super-heavy tanks. The Blood Pact also field a lighter-armored variation of the [[Defiler]] known as the [[Stalk Tank]]. All Blood Pact armoured vehicles are painted red, inscribed with numerous obscene Khornate slogans, and are often decorated with the skulls and hides of their enemies.{{Fn|1}}
In addition to their fearsome weaponry and vehicles, the Blood Pact have special [[psyker]]s known as [[Gore Mage]]s. These dark wizards can possess Blood Pact warriors with [[Daemonic]] spirits, turning them into ferocious, almost unstoppable creatures that they call [['''Blood Wolves]]'''. Also, Gore Mages radiate a sense of irrational fear and have access to many other powers involving blood.{{Fn|3}}
==Notable Members==
*{{Endn|1}}: [[White Dwarf 292]], {{Cite This}}
*{{Endn|2}}: [http://web.archive.org/web/20080928005105/http://www.blacklibrary.com/articles/blood-pact.asp Blood Pact Article] (found on the old Black Library website, accessed through the internet archive).
*{{Endn|3}}: [[Blood Pact (Novel)]] by [[Dan Abnett]], {{Cite This}}*4: [[The Sabbat Worlds Crusade (Background Book)]] by '''Dan Abnett'''
**{{Endn|4a}}: pg. 81
**{{Endn|4b}}: pg. 80
**{{Endn|4x}}: {{Cite This}}
*{{Endn|5}}: [[Regicide (Short Story)]] by [[Aaron Dembski-Bowden]]
*{{Endn|6}}: [https://www.warhammer-community.com/2019/12/04/look-inside-the-sabbat-worlds-crusadegw-homepage-post-4/ Warhammer Community: Look Inside the Sabbat Worlds Crusade (Posted December 4 2019)] (Last accessed 12/4/2019)
*7: [[Urdesh: The Serpent and the Saint (Novel)]]
**{{Endn|7a}}: Chapter 3 - Section 16
**{{Endn|7b}}: Chapter 3 - Section 29 *{{Endn|8}}: [[The Guns of Tanith (Novel)]] — [[The Saint (Omnibus)]], Prologue
[[Category:Chaos Cults and Mutants]]
