Legion III · traitors

Emperor’s Children

Homeworld: Chemos · Segmentum Ultima

The III Legion bore the honour of the Emperor’s own name and the right to the Palatine Aquila. Their primarch Fulgrim, “the Phoenix”, was obsessed with perfection — and that is exactly what destroyed him: the Laer’s daemonic blade and Horus’s flattering words turned him to Slaanesh. On Isstvan V Fulgrim beheaded his own brother Ferrus Manus, and later ascended to become a daemon prince, betraying even his ally Perturabo. By the end of the Heresy the Legion had become the embodiment of vice and excess.

Side in the Heresy: traitors Fulgrim was seduced by Slaanesh after the conquest of the xenos Laer, taking up the Laer’s daemonic blade. When the Heresy began, Horus won him over for good; the loyalists of the Legion were slaughtered on Isstvan III (005.M31).

Number: III (3)
Side: Traitors
Events in the chronicle: 28 events
Strength: Roughly 110,000 Astartes in 30 “millennials” at the start of the Heresy — the Legion was rebuilt after it had all but died out before Fulgrim’s arrival (only some 200 warriors remained). A Forge World estimate, disputed.

Fate

Fulgrim ascended to become a daemon prince of Slaanesh, having drunk Perturabo’s power by deceit. At the Siege of Terra the III Legion did not storm the walls but indulged in an orgy of atrocities against the civilian population. After the Heresy they fled into the Eye of Terror and were the first of the traitors to split apart, unleashing the Legion Wars.

Speciality

The pursuit of perfection in all things: the “exemplar” Legion made flesh, before the Heresy a model of discipline and marksmanship. After the fall — sonic warfare and Slaaneshi excess.

Tactics

A strict tactical “rulebook” for every situation in battle, combined strikes with heavy and air cover; leading by example and brooking no indecision in allies. It was held that no Emperor’s Child had ever been put to flight. Later — the Noise Marines (the Kakophoni) and the swift Palatine Blades.

What the Legion is known for

The right to bear the Emperor’s name and the Palatine Aquila; the first Legion to fall to Slaanesh; the Isstvan III Atrocity; the first Noise Marines; the Laer blade that doomed Fulgrim.

Wargear

Fulgrim’s Phoenix Spear, the sonic weapons of the Noise Marines, the swift Palatine Blades and the Phoenix Guard; the “enhanced warriors” of the Terata, bred by Fabius Bile.

Notable warriors

Julius KaesoronFirst Captain
Captain of the 1st Company of the Emperor’s Children, one of the first to give himself over to Slaaneshi excess and become an early Noise Marine; later ascended to become a daemon prince.
Events: Cleansing of Laeran, Isstvan III Atrocity, Drop Site Massacre on Isstvan V
EidolonLord Commander
Lord Commander of the Legion and an adherent of Slaanesh, possessor of a sonic “scream”; distinguished himself in the Isstvan III Atrocity and the assault on the Saturnine Gate of Terra.
Events: Isstvan III Atrocity, The Siege of Terra
Luciuscaptain, the Legion’s finest swordsman
Captain of the 13th Company and the greatest fencer of the Emperor’s Children; betrayed the trapped loyalists on Isstvan III and became the immortal Champion of Slaanesh.
Events: Isstvan III Atrocity, Drop Site Massacre on Isstvan V
Saul Tarvitzcaptain (loyalist)
Captain of the 10th Company who remained loyal; raced to the surface of Isstvan III to warn the loyalists of the virus bombardment, saving nearly two thirds of them.
Events: Isstvan III Atrocity
Fabius BileChief Apothecary
Chief Apothecary of the Legion and a master of matters of the flesh; a key figure in the corruption of the III Legion, creator of the early Noise Marines and of the “enhanced” Terata.
Events: Drop Site Massacre on Isstvan V
Rylanor the UnyieldingContemptor Dreadnought (loyalist)
A Venerable Dreadnought and “Ancient of the Rites”, who took Saul Tarvitz’s place in the landing on Isstvan III and rallied the surviving loyalists of the III Legion there.
Events: Isstvan III Atrocity
Marius VairoseanThird Captain
Captain of the 3rd Company; Fabius Bile reworked the pleasure centres of his brain, turning him into one of the very first Noise Marines.
Events: Isstvan III Atrocity, Drop Site Massacre on Isstvan V