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Kol Badar, Coryphaus of the 34th Host of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion

Kol Badar was a Chaos Space Marine of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion serving as the 34th Host's Coryphaus under the Dark Apostle known as The Warmonger and later his successors Jarulek and Marduk. He was considered by some to be one of the most brilliant tactical commanders within the XVIIth Legion. Possessing an innate understanding of warfare and its psychology, Kol Badar's perfectly executed stratagems enabled the 34th Host to achieve unlikely victory in the face of certain defeat time and time again.

History[]

Kol Badar was born upon the Feudal World of Colchis, growing up on the streets as a cult gang member. Inspired by the fiery oratory of Lorgar, Kol Badar later participated in Lorgar's holy war known as the Great Purge, where his faction cast down the devotees of the Colchisian's Old Faith and conquered the entirety of their world, uniting the disparate masses in the service of Lorgar's sect of the single Colchisian religious faith called the Covenant. After the Emperor of Mankind came to Colchis and reunited with His long-lost son, He brought the Primarch into the Imperial fold and gave him command of the XVIIth Legion of Space Marines known as the Imperial Heralds. They were gene-bred warriors who had been created from variants of the Emperor's own genetic code. Kol Badar had been one of the first Colchisian candidates found worthy to join the ranks of the Legionaries of the XVIIth Legion, which was redubbed the Word Bearers by Lorgar.

Many of Badar's fellow Astartes had also been former cult gang members, fighting by Kol Badar's side during Lorgar's holy war, and forming lasting bonds as blood brothers. Badar was so physically imposing that he was a giant even amongst his fellow Astartes after receiving his gene-seed implants. He soon proved himself as a capable commander and formidable warrior and Kol Badar quickly rose to the rank of Captain during the Great Crusade. In the latter part of this Imperial campaign, Kol Badar was instrumental in the assault upon the world of Forty-Seven Sixteen, helping to bring it into Imperial Compliance shortly after his Legion's admonishment on the world of Khur by the Emperor himself. The Emperor had rebuked the Primarch Lorgar and the entire XVIIth Legion for their slowness in bringing worlds into Compliance and their violation of the Imperial Truth by spreading their misguided faith in the Emperor's divinity.

He would go on to serve under the Dark Apostle known only as The Warmonger and become the 34th Host's Coryphaus, a symbolic title granted to the most trusted and capable war leader and strategos of the Host. Kol Badar's word was second only to that of the Dark Apostle himself in the Host. The Coryphaus was the Dark Apostle's senior war captain, but more than this, he was the voice of the congregation. The mood and opinion of the Host was delivered to the Dark Apostle through him, and it was his duty to lead the chanted responses and antiphons from the gathered Host in religious ceremonies and rituals. It was also his role to lead the responses within the true house of worship of the Dark Gods -- the battlefield.

Kol Badar would continue to serve in this position for millennia under the patronage of The Warmonger and his subsequent Dark Apostle successors, Jarulek and Marduk. Kol Badar harboured an extreme hatred for Marduk, who was responsible for the death of his closest blood-brother at the beginning of the Horus Heresy. Kol Badar was also known to have been a part of the Host that fought at the siege of the Imperial Palace during the Battle of Terra at the close of the Horus Heresy.

Despite their mutual hatred, Marduk recognised the Coryphaus' talents as a brilliant tactician and as a peerless warrior. He had proven invaluable to the warriors of the 34th Host, despite his contempt for Marduk's ascension to the position of Dark Apostle of their Host. In the later 41st Millennium, Kol Badar proved his loyalty to the Dark Apostle following the Word Bearers' battle for the strategic Imperial star system called the Boros Gate, slaughtering the co-conspirators of the secret cabal known as The Brotherhood. They had betrayed their dark oaths of loyalty to Marduk and attempted to kill him once he had uncovered their plot to attempt a coup against the senior Dark Apostle Erebus, deposing him from the Dark Council and installing their master Kor Phaeron in his place.

Wargear[]

Kol Badar was known to wear an ornate suit of Terminator Armour with a horned helmet that sported the Blessed Horns of Colchis. His helmet's face plate was crafted in the likeness of a snarling bestial visage. He fights with a Combi-Bolter and an ancient clawed Power Fist. Kol Badar lead an elite cadre of Chaos Terminators known as The Anointed into battle.

Sources[]

  • Dark Apostle (Novel) by Anthony Reynolds
  • Dark Disciple (Novel) by Anthony Reynolds
  • Dark Creed (Novel) by Anthony Reynolds
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