Kserdiek

Kserdiek, also known as Kserdiek-Algr'ok or Lord Kserdiek by his followers, is a powerful Chaos Lord-turned-Daemon Prince. He is the ruthless leader of the Apostles of Death warband.

Origins
Interestingly, not much is known about Kserdiek's past before he became a member of the warband; however, it can be argued (albeit weakly) that he is a former Word Bearer based upon his love of daemonic possession and lack of mutations despite his numerous accpomlishments. He studied under the former Chaos Lord Haxir when the warband was still relatively young, and eventually became a champion Possessed Chaos Space Marine. A very intelligent and rational being, Kserdiek used his position as an officer to observe his surroundings, take notes, and intricately plan his rise to Chaos Lord, which eventually paid off when he seized control in 914.M39 after murdering Lord Valkshar.

Leadership
Once in power, Kserdiek stayed there, as he was one of the strongest and most terrifying Chaos Marines the warband had yet witnessed. After he'd cemented his position firmly and gotten the Apostles of Death back to their peak performance, he undertook his first major campaign against an Eldar Craftworld that had somehow been consumed by the warp. Having studied tactics and combat strategies since before the warband's formation, he easily established himself as a skilled commander by utilizing his subdivisions effectively to methodically crush the xenos resistance. Additionally, several other warbands in the vicinity noticed and attempted to take advantage of the situation. However, Kserdiek had consulted the Black Coven prior to launching the campaign, and was rather easily able to subjugate the opposing Chaos Marines using the Khornate Berzerkers to simply overwhelm them, kill their leadership, and bring them into his fold.

It did not take long for Kserdiek to become relatively well-known throughout the realm of the Immaterium. Legions and very large warbands were largely indifferent to his conquests (save for the Word Bearers, their closest ally), but warbands and renegade groups in smaller number than the Apostles of Death are in danger of being destroyed or consumed by them.

Besides this already fearsome reputation, Kserdiek eventually became such a powerful Chaos Lord with so many victories in his name that the occasional cluster of Khornates would intentionally seek him out, either to try their hand at besting him (always meeting with failure) or to fight under his banner.

Ascention
While conquering a staggering Imperial defense on the planet of Uchastok, Kserdiek was able to gain access to a Reaver Titan and massacre its crew. Through a daemonic ritual using the freshly-slain Princeps as a gateway, he flooded the war machine with the black energies of Chaos and offered himself up to the Dark Gods. For his success he is granted the ultimate reward, ascending to become a powerful Daemon Prince of Chaos Undivided. After mopping up the remaining opposition, he and his warband's sorcerers sacrifice thousands of slaves and prisoners and are able to drag Uchastok deep into the warp, remaking it into his own daemon world to rule over.

Tactics Overview
Main Article: Apostles of Death

While it is well-known that the Apostles of Death highly favor the use of daemons during their crusades, during minor operations they prefer to stealthily achieve their goals without being caught to avoid unnecessary engagements that would waste resources. During battle, they often make use of their Berserkers' tendency towards horde warfare as a devastating first strike against their adversaries. During this time a small covert force will land to set up a forward position, and afterwards a potent combination of sorcery, daemonic summoning and heavy line-breaking with defilers and helbrutes are used to cripple any chance of a counter attack. However, if things go wrong, the Apostles of Death are versatile enough to engage in drawn-out siege warfare. Having warriors from all Legions who've studied many tactics, they have a diverse multitude of combat methods that they can employ with great effectiveness.

Excluded Units

While drawing from the experience and tactics from all sources, there are a handful of units that Kserdiek eschews because they don't fit within his preferred strategies:
 * Raptors: Though an effective combat force with a diverse range of warriors, raptors are not viewed as an essential component. During major engagements, Kserdiek and his fighters use a methodical and thorough approach rather than an accelerated one. While raptors could be hard-hitting, the Chaos Lord feels that Berzerkers are much more effective and durable, as well as being much more of a threat. Because Raptors would not be as effective at distracting the enemy as a horde of angry Khornates, the risk would be too great that the main strike force would not be able to establish a foothold without being intercepted.
 * Bike Squads: The resoning behind the absence of bikes is similar to that of raptors, while also being largely in part to the warband's limited fuel reserves. Unlike a loyalist Space Marine Chapter, with nigh inordinate resources at their disposal, the Apostles of Death obtain promethium fuel almost exclusively through theft and are currently unable to independantly produce it on a mass scale. Combining these factors with the scarcity of these vehicles in any condition other than destroyed, Kserdiek has no ambitions to include these to his arsenal.
 * Forgefiends/Maulerfiends: Despite having a love affair with daemonic possession (including vehicles), thus far Kserdiek has been unable to add these powerful war machines to his armada. By his nature of favouring the daemonic highly over technology, Kserdiek has a poor relationship at best with warpsmiths and the Dark Mechanicus, and therefore has no access to these armoured monstrosities.
 * Greater Daemons: Contrary to their usual doctrine, the Apostles of Death are forbidden to summon greater daemons on the principle that Kserdiek would not be able to bend them to their will. Even after his ascension, he out-and-out refused to allow his minions to call forth any daemons that rivaled him in power.

Preferred Enemies
While enjoying any opportunity for bloodshed, Kserdiek, like most of his warriors, has a particularlarly bad opinion of Iron Warriors, and will often seek out smaller groups of this splintered Legion simply out of spite. Besides the Iron Warriors, Kserdiek also enjoys assailing isolated bands of loyal Astartes, judging it as a competetive sport between his officers of which one can take the most prisoners. He holds those in particularly high favour who are able to bring neophytes, as they are much more easily brought into the fold of Chaos than hardened veterans.

Timeline

 * 701.M39: Kserdiek-Algr'ok gains enough favour to become a champion among the possessed marines.
 * 914.M39: Kserdiek gains complete control of the warband following a disastrous and short-lived campaign against an Ork-infested system. He appoints former liaison officer Khorase'vod as his proxy, who is now a full-time member of the warband.
 * 227.M40: After taking roughly three centuries to solidify his command and bolster his warband's strength, Lord Kserdiek initiates a well-planned assault on an Eldar Craftworld that had become sucked into the warp. Because he is a brilliant tactician and was able to inspire his warriors through his own might in combat, almost all of his warriors execute their missions successfully and are able to not only destroy the crippled Eldar defense but also effectively repel and absorb rival warbands who attempt to prey on them. The campaign is a massive success and this causes his reputation to start spreading through the warp.
 * 474.M40: Insulted by their refusal to fight under his banner, Kserdiek viciously destroys a small contingent of Iron Warriors. The result is their acquisition of powerful artillery as well as a bitter rivalry with the Iron Warriors from that point forward.
 * 638.M40: Kserdiek, following a long pattern of success, recieved a daemonic gift: unholy energies now flow throughout his skeletal structure, making him even more powerful and terrifying.
 * 438.M41: In the process of conquering Uchastok, Kserdiek fuses with a Reaver Titan. It becomes the basis for his new body as he ascends to daemonhood to rule the world as it is sucked into the warp.

Pre-Ascension
Despite officially being a follower of Chaos Undivided, Kserdiek seemed to resemble his warband's Khornate members in that he was completely free of hair, had translucent pale skin, dark black eyes and predatory iron fangs. Due to being daemonically possessed for his entire documented career as a Chaos Marines as well as being gifted by the Dark Gods, he was physically powerful even by Chaos Marine standards. On the rare occasion that he could be seen without his armour, he would be clad only in a rough loincloth, bent in meditative prayer. His muscular body was covered in silver tattoos of Chaos sigils and even the occasional passage from the Book of Lorgar, another indication that he was possibly of XVII Legion origins.

Post-Ascension
A towering monster of daemonic flesh fused with twisted metal, Kserdiek is an embodiment of physical and psychic prowess. Where formerly they ended in weapon barrels, his Titan arms now terminate in clawed hands with two thumbs and eight fingers each. His eyes burn white inside a mechanical visage, and his torso and shoulders still bristle with armour plating, cables, and other reminders of the war machine he melded with. His legs are thick and are covered in mostly intact Titan armour, ending in massive feet that also sport blunt claws. Mortals who look directly at him go blind if they are lucky, and if they're not, they often burst into flames where they stand. His warriors can look at him and remain unharmed as long as they are in favour with him, though if it is for longer than a few minutes it causes them massive headaches and sometimes fevers.