Legion VIII · traitors
Night Lords
Primarch: Konrad Curze
Homeworld: Nostramo · Segmentum Ultima
The VIII Legion turned terror into a weapon of war — just as Curze himself, “the Night Lord”, had once pacified criminal Nostramo through terror. Their betrayal was nihilistic: Curze did not serve Chaos but wished to prove that the Imperium was built on hypocrisy. After the ambush on Isstvan V he led the genocidal Thramas Crusade against the Dark Angels, and then became a mad prisoner of the Imperium Secundus. In the end he exposed himself to the assassin’s blade, accepting his prophesied death as the final proof that he was right.
Side in the Heresy: traitors Betrayed out of nihilism, not out of faith in Chaos. Having destroyed Nostramo, his own world that had slid back into crime, Curze was strengthened in his decision to join Horus — in order to prove the hypocrisy of the Imperium. They declared openly on Isstvan V (006.M31).
- Number
- VIII (8)
- Side
- Traitors
- Events in the chronicle
- 16 events
- Strength
- Deliberately unclear — the Legion operated in isolation; Imperial estimates put it at around 90,000–120,000 at the start of the Heresy.
Fate
The Legion could be stopped only by the killing of Curze himself: he allowed the Callidus assassin M’Shen to kill him on Tsagualsa, accepting the prophecy of his own death. Without their primarch the VIII Legion split into warbands and fled into the Eye of Terror. They are famed for not worshipping Chaos even in M41.
Speciality
Terror as a weapon of war: intimidation, ambushes, raids, piracy and decapitation strikes. They do not serve Chaos — they fight for plunder and fear.
Tactics
Psychological warfare, night raids and exemplary atrocities to break the enemy’s will; grotesquely adorned armour that inspires dread. Terror Squads, Night Raptors, and Atramentar and Contekar Terminators.
What the Legion is known for
The terror of Nostramo and its pacification through terror; the refusal to worship Chaos even in M41; the Thramas Crusade; the Kyroptera council; Curze’s death by an assassin’s blade.
Wargear
Lightning claws and “terror weapons”, trophy standards and grotesque heraldry; the Atramentar Terminators of the first company; the relic Corona Nox, the crown of Curze’s authority.
Notable warriors
- SevatarFirst Captain, “Prince of Crows”
First Captain, commander of the Atramentar Terminators and an officer of the Kyroptera, Curze’s equerry; one of the deadliest warriors of the Heresy.
- Zso SahaalTalonmaster, Curze’s heir
Talonmaster and Curze’s designated successor, heir to the relic Corona Nox; after the primarch’s death he vanished into the warp for ten thousand years, pursuing his killer.
- Shangcaptain and equerry of Curze
Captain and equerry of Konrad Curze, one of the Legion’s senior commanders in the slaughter on Isstvan V and in the Thramas Crusade.
- Malithos Kulncaptain of the 9th Company, officer of the Kyroptera
Captain and member of the Kyroptera council, executed on Sevatar’s orders during the Thramas Crusade.
Events involving the Legion
Eve of the Storm
The Isstvan Massacre
Shadow of War
- Thramas Crusade
- Tsagualsa Incident
- Vulkan Escapes the Nightfall
- Battle of Sotha · seizure of the Pharos
The Road to Terra
- Trial of Konrad Curze
- Battle of Desperation
- Battle of Kalleth
- Scouring of the Nostramo Sector
- Battle of Trisolian
- Thassos Incident
The Siege of Terra
Epilogue — The Great Scouring
Characters of the Legion
Sources
- FW Black Book VI: Retribution
- Lexicanum: Night Lords
- WH40k Fandom: Konrad Curze
- WH40k Fandom: M’Shen
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