Knights of the Dark Prince

"Transendentia Excedenter!"

- Warcry of the Knights of the Dark Prince

The Knights of the Dark Prince are a Chaos Space Marine Warband devoted to Slaanesh. Formed by a Champion of the Emperor's Children named Lord Ressiarch, the warband is an elite fighting force of Slaanesh's most devoted warriors. As such this warband has holds a place of awe, and envy among the followers of Slaanesh. Devoted to attaining perfection through the doctrine of their god, The Knights strike fear into the hearts of all those who do not bow to the Prince of Chaos.

Organization
This vain Warband follows the rites of their god to the letter. In particular is the focus on Slaanesh's holy number, 6. The warband maintains exact numbers at all times, always seeking to remain at a strength of 666. New members are recruited when the Warband loses members in battle, and the Warband will not fight unless at full strength, believing that to do so would offend Slaanesh. Likewise once the Warband is back up to full strength they will refuse to recruit even one more Astartes into their ranks.

When recruiting Ressiarch spreads word among the followers of Slaanesh about the openings. The Warband's elite reputation is such that Slaaneshi Marines travel from lightyears around for the honor of joining. These hopefuls are forced to take part in trials so rigorous that most don't survive, and they are forced to compete with one another to deadly effect. Even if a Marine passes all the trials and bests his rivals he might still not be inducted into the Warband. Ressiarch has final say on whether a Marine may join the Knights, and he will not accept any warrior that does not impress him during the trials.

The Warband itself is formed of 3 sub-groups. These are the 600, the 60 and the 6 in order of rank from least to greatest.

The 600
These are the rank and file of the warband. However it is not wise to view them as simple grunts. Due to the elitist nature of the Warband the Knights only accept truly adept Marines into their ranks. In another Warband these warriors would have a place of respect among their peers, but they gave this up to become a part of this elite, and exclusive brotherhood.

The 60
The 60 are the elite warriors of the Knights of the Dark Prince. In order to become one of the 60 a member of the 600 most not only show excellent skills in battle, but also strict adherence to the asthetics of Slaanesh's dogma. Operating as the warbands Chosen warriors the 60 go into battle with the finest gear. Wearing suits of Artificer or Terminator Armor, and wielding Master Crafted weapons the 60 sow devastation on the field of battle. Furthermore among their ranks are counted many who have given their bodies to Daemons, or have been genetically modified into deadly Enhanced Marines. It is little wonder that they are feared.

The 6
The 6 are the leaders of the Warband. The six Champions that lead their brothers into battle. The group includes Lord Ressiarch himself and his five most favored lieutenents. Ressiarch has remained as a member of the 6 from the beginning, but others were brought in to replace those that had fallen in battle. The 6 a viewed with such awe by other followers of Slaanesh that many believe that the Dark Prince communes directly with them, guiding them to glory. These rumors have never been proven, and may be outright false given that the Warband has a tendancy to spread propaganda. Despite this none would deny that the 6 are truly favored Champions of Slaanesh.

Traditions and Beliefs
The Knights of the Dark Prince are a Warband steeped in ritual and ceremony. The Warbands shows an unusual level of piousness towards the edicts of their god for followers of Slaanesh. They believe that by piously following Slaanesh's path they will rach a point of perfection and transcendence. However it should be noted that while they may have fervant devotion to their religious doctrine, the doctrine itself is one of depravity and excess. Thus these religious zealots of Slaanesh are just as debased as other followers of the god if not more so. The Knights consider themselves to be absolutely pure in the eyes of Slaanesh. As such they refuse to sully themselves by sharing a battlefield with forces not devoted to their patron. The Knights of the Dark Prince are known for crusading against other Chaos factions just as much as agains the thralls of the Corpse-God.

Notable Members

 * Lord Ressiarch