Erebus

The First Chaplain

Erebus was First Chaplain of the Word Bearers during the Great Crusade — Lorgar's most trusted lieutenant and the single Astartes who travelled with him on the three-decade warp-pilgrimage that converted the Legion to Chaos worship. He returned from the pilgrimage as the architect of every subsequent Word Bearer doctrinal manoeuvre.

He was also, more than any single individual including Lorgar himself, the operational engineer of the Horus Heresy.

The Architect

Erebus arranged the Davin engagement, the Anathame wound, the serpent-lodge ritual, and the prophetic visions that broke Horus's will. He guided Horus through the early months of the turning. He coordinated the Word Bearer ambush of the Ultramarines at Calth. He was present at every major Heresy decision-point where Word Bearer influence shaped outcomes.

Lorgar gave him latitude no other Dark Apostle has ever received. Erebus used it to engineer events at a scope no other operative in galactic history has matched.

I gave him to the gods. The gods will remember.

— Erebus, attributed Heresy era

After the Heresy

Erebus survived the Heresy intact. He withdrew with the Word Bearers into the Eye of Terror and the daemon-world Sicarus. He has remained operationally active for ten thousand subsequent years, appearing periodically in zones where Chaos influence is rising or where Word Bearer theological projects require senior priestly oversight.

His whereabouts in any given decade are sealed even within Word Bearer intelligence. He answers only to Lorgar — and Lorgar has not, by Imperial intelligence reading, publicly commanded him in centuries.

M42

Erebus has been active in the Era Indomitus. He has been observed during the Plague Wars in a supporting role to Mortarion. He has been observed during the Arks of Omen campaign in conversation with Abaddon. He has been observed, by Imperial Inquisition fragmentary reports, walking in Khornate Bloodletter formations on at least one occasion.

The Imperium would very much like to kill him. He is, in the Inquisition's informal ranking, the single most-wanted individual in the galaxy alongside Abaddon.