Abaddon the Despoiler - During and after Heresy
Welcome back, lore-lovers, to Liandrug. Tonight, we step deeper into the Eye of Terror, into the aftermath of betrayal, ruin, and forgotten legends. The Sons of Horus are shattered, their Primarch stolen, their future uncertain. And somewhere beyond reality itself, a name long whispered in fear awaits rediscovery. This... is the search for Ezekyle Abaddon. And this episode comes as a continuation of my first one about him.
The Chronicle
Following the corruption of Horus and his resurrection through the profane power of Chaos, Ezekyle Abaddon gave himself wholly to his Primarch's cause. He stood beside Horus without hesitation, turning his back on the Emperor and surrendering his soul to Chaos Undivided. Under the pretext of suppressing a religious uprising against Imperial Compliance, Horus gathered his forces in the Istvaan System, preparing a purge that would drown brother in brother's blood.
What followed became known to Imperial scholars as the Istvaan III Atrocity. Horus' design was simple and merciless: the eradication of every Loyalist element within the Legions under his command. Amid the grinding war of attrition, Abaddon confronted Garviel Loken within the shattered remains of the Choral City. There, Abaddon struck Loken down and left him for dead among the ruins. Yet Loken endured, bearing witness as Horus ordered the orbital bombardment that scourged the planet and annihilated the Loyalist Astartes still clinging to its poisoned surface.
As the Horus Heresy raged across the Imperium, Abaddon rose as First Captain of the Sons of Horus and commander of the Justaerin, the Legion's elite 1st Company. Clad in black Cataphractii Terminator armour, these warriors became the spearhead of Chaos' most infamous assaults. Abaddon led them through the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V, against Loyalist resistance on Yarant, and finally to Terra itself, where the fate of the Imperium would be decided.
In the end, Horus fell. Aboard the Vengeful Spirit, he faced the Emperor in a final duel and was destroyed by a devastating psychic blast. Abaddon and the Justaerin fought their way through ranks of Imperial Fists Terminators, carving a path to the heart of the flagship, but they arrived too late. Across decks slick with the blood of demigods, Abaddon reached his fallen gene-father and lifted Horus' lifeless body with a warrior's reverence. From the Primarch's armour he tore free the taloned claw that had slain Sanguinius, swearing that one day it would be used to throttle the Emperor Himself.
With Horus dead, Abaddon abandoned the conquest of Terra. Gathering the shattered remnants of the Sons of Horus, their slaves, and their warships, he led a retreat from the dying battlefield. One by one, the Traitor Legions followed his path into the screaming madness of the Eye of Terror, cursing the destiny torn from their grasp. With that flight into the Warp, Abaddon passed from the realm of mortal war and into legend.
In the aftermath of Terra's fall, the Imperium unleashed the Great Scouring. Loyalist forces hunted the Traitor Legions without mercy, burning worlds that had sided with Horus and leaving their dead as warnings etched into ash and stone. Pursued across the void, Abaddon and the surviving Sons of Horus chose exile over extinction, plunging into the Eye of Terror to escape the Emperor's vengeance.
What emerged from the Scouring was no longer the proud XVI Legion. Reduced to a fraction of its former strength and stripped of its Primarch, the Sons of Horus fractured under the weight of defeat. Some clung to Horus' memory; others sought salvation in the favor of the Chaos Gods, inviting daemonic possession and Warp-born power. As unity collapsed, former allies turned upon one another, and the Dark Gods reshaped their servants through rivalry and manipulation.
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Abaddon walked away from it all. Leaving his Legion behind, he took the Vengeful Spirit and vanished into the deepest reaches of the Eye. Broken by Horus' death and weary of endless, meaningless war, he rejected the Legion Wars that consumed the Traitors. He would not bleed for territory or petty dominance. Alone, Abaddon undertook a dark pilgrimage, crossing thousands of Warp-tainted worlds. He learned the Eye's boundaries, its secrets, and its truths, tempering raw brutality with hard-earned wisdom.
While Abaddon wandered, the Sons of Horus carried their Primarch's preserved body deeper into the Eye. On the daemon world of Maeleum, a rusted graveyard of lost ships, they raised a fortress from wreckage and iron, built by the hands of countless slaves. At its heart, they entombed Horus within a vast mausoleum known as Lupercalios, a monument to a Legion that had lost its future. There, many fell into worship of their dead demigod, sealing their stagnation.
As the Traitor Legions tore at one another in the Slave Wars, the Sons of Horus remained isolated, their strength bleeding away. Some captains argued for rebuilding through gene-seed and new warriors, knowing no fortress could withstand a determined Space Marine assault. Others placed their faith in the Warp alone, believing daemonic fusion would grant all the power they required.
Jealous eyes eventually turned toward Maeleum. Horus' corpse, rich with genetic secrets, was a prize beyond measure. In a sudden and brutal assault, the remnants of the Emperor's Children, empowered by their pact with Slaanesh, shattered the fortress' defenses. They breached the tomb itself and stole Horus' body, spiriting it away into the Warp. Some whispered it was destined for the hands of Fabius Bile, who sought to clone the fallen Primarch and forge a new Warmaster--one who might yet unite the Traitor Legions beneath a single banner once more.
In the ruins left by the fall of Lupercalios, Falkus Kibre gathered the last allies he trusted. Aboard the shattered hulk of His Chosen Son, he summoned Iskandar Khayon of the Thousand Sons and Lheorvine Ukris of the World Eaters. Falkus brought grim news: the Sons of Horus were broken, their fortress reduced to ash, and Horus' body stolen by the Emperor's Children. The III Legion sought to harvest the Primarch's remains, to clone him and end the Legion Wars under a new Warmaster. With no strength left for retaliation, Falkus revealed his final gambit--he knew where the Vengeful Spirit lay hidden, and with it, a chance to end the blasphemy.
To prove his claim, Falkus produced a prisoner named Sargon, a former Word Bearer who spoke through a reanimated corpse. Sargon claimed he had walked the decks of the Vengeful Spirit and knew its location: the Radiant Worlds, beyond the Firetide, near the edge of Imperial space. Khayon sensed the truth in his words, though powerful wards sealed the priest's mind. Before any pact could be sealed, Emperor's Children warships emerged from the Warp. Outnumbered, the allies refused to surrender Sargon. Boarding actions followed. In the chaos, Lheor's ship was destroyed, but Khayon tore open reality itself, escaping with Falkus--and dragging away the wounded Emperor's Children commander as a captive.
Their path led through the Webway, along a secret breach Khayon alone knew. After weeks in the lightless null, they reached the Radiant Worlds and the shattered Eldar planet Aas'ciaral. Beneath its storm-wracked surface, they found a colossal voidship buried in ice and stone--the Vengeful Spirit, powered down and hidden beyond all scans. Within its silent halls, a lone Legionary finally emerged, clad in scavenged armour, eyes burning gold beneath matted black hair. Scarred by war and hollowed by exile, he was still unmistakable.
They had found Ezekyle Abaddon.
Closing Words
The trail has been followed. The legend has been found. From the ashes of defeat and exile, a shadow still walks the decks of the Vengeful Spirit. If you enjoyed this story, don't forget to like, share, and subscribe.
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Until next time... This was Liandrug -- and the war is far from over.
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