The Betrayer’s Path: A Tale of Terror
Welcome back to another installment of our multi-part series diving into the deep, dark and often terrifying lore of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Today, we’re focusing on the riveting tale of a figure known to instill fear and dread into the hearts of the most stalwart warriors: Khârn the Betrayer.
Once a loyal servant of the Emperor, Khârn’s journey into treachery and chaos is a chilling one. His contempt for the weakness of fellow Aartis, both from other traitor Legions and the World Eaters, was so intense it drove him to decapitate his own former training officer. This was just the beginning of his bloody reign.
The night of Scalora was a pivotal moment in Khârn’s tale. As the brutal night unfolded, he turned on his own, causing a massacre among The Emperor’s Children and World Eaters. This earned him the infamous title of ‘The Betrayer.’ His actions that night caused a rift in the unity of the Legion, resulting in the 12th turning into scattered bands of Khornate Berserkers.
Over the next 10,000 years, the remnants of the Legion, once mighty hosts, remained divided. They only united during the first war for Armageddon, a testament to the enduring impact of Khârn’s betrayal.
Following the massacre on Scal, Khârn disappeared into the Eye of Terror, venturing in search of new enemies to conquer. Here, he became the most outstanding champion of Khorne, with a tally of kills that none could rival. Whispers within the warp winds of the Eye of Terror suggest that the pile of skulls beside the Throne of the Blood God is Khârn’s sole offering, growing larger each day.
Khârn relishes in all forms of murder and violence, but hand-to-hand combat holds a special place in his bloodthirsty heart. This love for close-quarters battle, void of advanced technologies or psychic tricks, has made him the exemplar warrior in the eyes of the Blood God. His weapon of choice, the axe Gorechild, has bathed in the blood of countless fallen enemies, each decapitated by the World Eater himself.
One such display of his unquenchable thirst for blood was during the Blood Torrent War on the factory world of Ula. When his axe got stuck in the hull of a Mechanicus war machine and his plasma pistol broke from excessive use, Khârn turned the factory’s solid surfaces into his own instruments of death, causing a massacre so grand that the huge manufactorum ground to a halt, its mechanisms clogged with the shredded remains of over 1,000 pulverized corpses.
During the Mayhem and Chaos of the seventh Black Crusade, Khârn was the first to board the Blood Angel Strike Cruiser Sanguin Tear, and the last to leave. What was once a vessel filled with life turned into a crypt filled with corpses and engulfed in flames.
Throughout his long life serving the Blood God, Khârn has crisscrossed the galaxy, staining countless worlds red in the glory of his bloodthirsty master. Whether they be human, alien, or demon, all have felt the bite of Khârn’s Gorechild. His insatiable thirst for skulls and blood, although a destructive force, has been repeatedly exploited by Abaddon the Despoiler, luring Khârn into his armies.
In the Battle of Dimore, it was precisely Khârn and his Khornate Berserkers that decided the outcome. The forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Blood Angels, and the Legio Titanicus, stood against the bloody massacre of the Chaos Space Marine Warband. At the height of the confrontation, Khârn arrived, his dreadclaw drop pods descending from the sky, changing the tide of the battle in his favor.
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