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From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
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The origins of the Officio Assassinorum itself are traced to the times of the [[Great Crusade]] where a pact was made on Mount Vengeance by the six ''Directors Primus'' of the Assassin Clades, headed by the Master of Assassins. All seven individuals were masked and their identities kept secret from one another and thus they were unaware that their leader was none other than [[Malcador (Character)|Malcador the Sigilite]]. From the six Directors Primus, the founding Clades were formed from [[Sire Vindicare]], [[Sire Eversor]], [[Sire Culexus]], [[Sire Vanus]], [[Siress Venenum]] and [[Siress Callidus]] who all met in secret at the [[Shrouds]]. For decades, they hunted the enemies of the Emperor by way of stealth and subterfuge in order to show these foes that there was no place for them to hide. Such was the secrecy of this agency that its existence and actions were only marginally known to the [[Emperor]] as they intended to maintain his noble purity. As the deployment of an Imperial Assassin was a delicate matter, usually only a single agent was sent into the field or, at maximum, three, but always from the same primary Clade.{{Fn|3}}
Following the outbreak of the [[Horus Heresy]], the agents of the Officio Assassinorum dispatched eight agents from the six primary Clades in order to eliminate the renegade [[Warmaster]] [[Horus]], but all of them failed. The last attempt was made by [[Tobeld]] of the Venenum Clade outside the command tent of the rogue [[Primarch]]. During a meeting at the Shrouds, the Clade Directors Primus debated and argued over how to eliminate their foe. At this point the Master of Assassins, following the advice of [[Legio Custodes]] [[Captain-General]] [[Constantin Valdor]], decided to assemble the first [[Officio Assassinorum Execution Force]] consisting of various Clades, to eliminate Horus. Such an act was unheard of in the history of the Officio Assassinorum.{{Fn|3}} The civil war saw the Officio's many agents scattered throughout the Galaxy, and in its aftermath [[Chosen of Malcador]] [[Khalid Hassan]] succeeded Malcador as the [[Grand Master of Assassins]]. He saw the rebuilding of the organization as vital in order to counter the power of the remaining Primarchs.{{Fn|34}}
In 546.[[M32]] after the disastrous [[War of the Beast]], the [[High Lords of Terra]] [[The Beheading|were slain to a man]] by the Grand Master of the Officio, [[Drakan Vangorich]]. A [[Space Marine]] strike force drawing from the [[Halo Brethren]], [[Sable Swords]], and [[Imperial Fists]] [[Chapter]]s under [[Lord Commander]] [[Maximus Thane]] was scrambled to stop Vangorich. Storming the [[Assassinorum Temple]] on [[Terra]], the force was assailed by a hundred [[Eversor Assassin]]s. Only Thane survived to reach Vangorich and slay the mad Grand Master. Afterwards, the Imperium descended into a period of anarchy.{{Fn|6}}
*{{Endn|32}}: [https://web.archive.org/web/20250923192338/https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/mkh26zdt/meet-the-lords-of-war-venturing-to-the-warhammer-40000-grand-narrative-this-week/ Warhammer Community: Meet the Lords of War venturing to the Warhammer 40,000 Grand Narrative this week] ''(archived from [https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/mkh26zdt/meet-the-lords-of-war-venturing-to-the-warhammer-40000-grand-narrative-this-week/ the original], last accessed 23 September 2025)''
*{{Endn|33}}: [[Codex: Adeptus Mechanicus (8th Edition)]], pg. 34
*{{Endn|34}}: [[Ashes of the Imperium (Novel)]] - Chapter 39
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