Inheritor

The Horus Heresy #Short Story

by Gav Thorpe

On the world of Kronus, deep within the grand realm of Ultramar, Torquill Eliphas of the Word Bearers brings his grand designs to fruition. As part of Lorgar’s Shadow Crusade, the Ark of Testimony Chapter has fought alongside their berserker allies from the World Eaters for many months. But the slaughter of Ultramarines is not their only goal – Eliphas seeks to harness the power of the warp, in the construction of the mighty Templum Daemonarchia...

Read it because
In the Shadow Crusade, two Traitor Legions united to set Ultramar aflame, but inevitably, they were gonna end up fighting each other, weren't they? Well, here we go...

Genres: 40k, Short Stories, Science Fiction

20 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2016

About the author

Gav spent 14 years as a developer for Games Workshop, and started writing novels and short stories in the worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 when the Black Library imprint was launched in 1997.

He continues to write for Black Library, and his first 'homegrown' novel series The Crown of the Blood has been released via Angry Robot.

Currently living in Nottingham, Gav shares his home with his loving and very understanding partner - Kez, and their beautiful little boy - Sammy.

Reviews

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The cathedral of impurity towered two hundred metres into the sky, built from the ruins of the flattened city of Typhaedes on the Deimos Peninsula."





"Dawn of War: Dark Crusade" was one of my most favourite videogames ever and Eliphas the Inheritor's Chaos campaign my most played one, so this short Horus Heresy story about the Word Bearers' creation of the Templum Daemonarchia on planet Kronus was a real nice surprise.



Sadly the story of Eliphas' title meaning was just like a brief footnote, but I really liked it very much (you can almost feel how much Gav Thorpe loved that game too!) and Captain Eres was a great character, so different by usual psychopathic World Eaters.



Highly reccommended to all Dawn of War videogame series Chaos players out there in the Warp!

[RatGrrrl · Rating 5 out of 5]

March 2024 Read using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project Reading Order - Omnibus X Shadow Crusade III Chosen of Chaos (https://www.heresyomnibus.com/omnibus...) as part of my Oath of Moment to complete the Horus Heresy saga and extras.

Folx seem to be rather tepid on this, but I found this to be an impressively rich and entertaining short story that serves nice amuse bouche for Betrayer.

The Shadow Crusade continues to roll out across the Five Hundred Worlds and Eliphas the Inheritor has a fancy plan for a Daemonic Rube Goldberg machine that runs on Ultramarines and delusions of grandeur that do not enamour his World Eater allies, just as his assumed title does not bring him the respect and power of his peers and Primarch...

For someone who is as hyperfixated on everything Warhammer I'm actually embarrassed I totally forgot Eliphas is a mayor character in Dawn of War: Dark Crusade! I'm going to put it down to the hundreds of hours of other Warhammer games between the last time I played it, but I did pick up the mega everything Dawn of War ever bundle in the Steam Spring Sale, so it is on my radar to return eventually return to. I am absolutely loving Armageddon right now, but I I digress.

I echo others' sentiments about it being cool to see this character canonised in the Horus Heresy, just as so many authors have written their original 40k characters into the Heresy, particularly Graham McNeill with his Iron Warriors and Ultramarines. I do find the idea of Warhammer canon to be a rather funny concept with just how constantly rewritten the lore and history is, especially when it comes to the Horus Heresy. I was actually working on an a timeline of the evolution of the Horus Heresy from the throwaway line in the Book of the Astronomicon, through the Emperor soundly beating the Traitors and chucking them in the Eye of Terror and the various references and allusions throughout the various games and books to this series, but...autism and ADHD giveth and then taketh away.

Remember Centurions, Primaris, and T'au have always been a thing lol

Anyways, this isn't the most serious story, but I found it be really well written and marked a wonderful reminder for me of just how talented Thorpe is, after not being so in love with some of his Dark Angels short stories in the first Dark Angels and Night Lords Omnibus a few back.

The characterisation and detail given to the Word Bearers and World Eaters is incredible, particularly around the Colchisian runes and aetheric machinations from the XVII and the discussions about the Legions and the description and considerations around the Butcher's Nails for the XII.

This is also a short story that has a clear and full, however brief, narrative, purpose, and adds context and detail to the series as a whole. Namely, this serves as an introduction, at least within the chronology of the Heresy, to the jolly cooperation of the of zealots and berserkers, bringing Eliphas into the mix, and serving as an epilogue for the Shadow Crusade and a preface to Betrayer and the project of making an offering of the original recipe Red Angel and his Legion to Khorne.

Honestly, I just think this is neat and I had a good time. It's absolutely non-essential, but for Dawn of War nerds, completionists, and lovers of Bearing Words and Eating Words, of which I am guilty on all counts.

I've added warnings to my reviews when I know I've read something during a particularly acute spike in my C-PTSD and depression, but I am wondering if this one might need the opposite as, despite having a nasty C-PTSD episode earlier, I've actually had a few days of good spirits on the bounce for the first time this year and I am like Tinkerbell in that I can only hold one emotion at a time...but I did genuinely just find this to be a thoroughly entertaining short story

Through using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project (www.heresyomnibus.com) and my own choices, I have currently read 18.41 Horus Heresy novels, 11 novellas, 50 short stories/ audio dramas, as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, 9 Primarchs novels, 3 Primarchs short stories/ audio dramas, and 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels...this run. I can't say enough good about the way the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project suggestions. I'm loving it! Especially after originally reading to the releases and being so frustrated at having to wait so long for a narrative to continue.
Of

[DarkChaplain · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was incredibly excited when Inheritor appeared on the publisher's website. A story about Eliphas the Inheritor, antagonist of the Dawn of War expansion Dark Crusade and onwards? Sounds brilliant, and seeing characters like him actually canonized after a long period of hands-off behavior from Games Workshop when it came to the Dawn of War video games, had me happy.

The story itself, though, was a big letdown to me. The amount of focus placed on Eliphas was frankly laughable. We learn very little about him as a character, and more care and attention is placed on the World Eaters captain allied with the Word Bearers than Eliphas himself.
The story promised to dive into the character more and explain how he came to earn the title of Inheritor - and it does. But then, this explanation comes in the form of barely a footnote at the very end, rather detached from the plot. It held no real shock value or purpose and felt tacked on.

Multiple Word Bearers characters besides Eliphas are introduced by name and appearance, just to do nothing at all for the rest of the short story. Only one, the spiritual architect of the temple erected by the Bearers of the Word, appeared even relevant to the story as a whole, and more so than Eliphas.
It didn't help that the Inheritor's goals were nebulous at best, and nonsensical at worst. The big reveal of the story made me shake my head over how disruptive Eliphas' goal was to his Primarch's grand plan, for no apparent gain or necessity other than his own need to get a pat on the back.

What I did enjoy was the World Eaters captain Eres, who was somewhat unconventional for his Legion. His conversation with his second in command about Eliphas and co's arrogance was spot on, and that is, to me, the story's saving grace next to the wicked architecture described.
Other than that, this story was disappointing, especially as far as fan-service for Eliphas and the world of Kronus (which was the setting for Dawn of War: Dark Crusade) are concerned. I didn't feel like it tied well enough into the game's overall plot either, and instead just opted for using familiar names.

An origin story for the Inheritor could have been so much more. Sadly, this attempt was a definite miss for me.

[Dylan Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah man I couldn't wait to read this story! The fact that Black Library have a Dawn of War character(and the one I play most at all!) a solid backstory is awesome. unfortunately it's not really an origin story, as it focuses on what Eliphas the Inheritor was up to in the HH, and at that point he was already the Inheritor. The story was still awesome, with a cool set of Word Bearer villains (who twirled their mustaches a little heavily) and some very kick ass set of World Eaters. I do wish it had the origins of the Inheritor title, but it was still great fun. I hope we see him in one of the main line Word Bearers stories for sure.

[Ross Cudmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taking place before "Betrayer" during the Shadow Crusade, Eliphas the Inheritor of the Word Bearers has dedicated himself to the Dark Powers, building a grotesque cathedral of flesh and bone in their honour. He is joined by Captain Eres of the World Eaters.

I really enjoy the Shadow Crusade because of the uneasy alliance between the Word Bearers and World Eaters. Neither side has much respect for each other, and violence always appears imminent.

Gav Thorpe wrote this short with great style and detail. The imagery was appropriately grotesque and the characters had enough going on to stand out and appear interesting.

I quite liked the ending, as it shows Lorgar's growth as a character. Where once he was consumed with revenge, now his ambitions are loftier. He serves the powers not for personal satisfaction, but because of genuine belief, which almost makes him scarier than if he did it for revenge against Guilliman.

Eliphas is actually an old character, introduced as the antagonist in the Dawn of War expansion Dark Crusade, which I thought was a fun addition rather than an entirely new character.

[Matt Argueta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unless Eliphas has a bigger part to play in later narrative, this one felt pretty inconsequential and just okay. Main piece of the core narrative here is that once Angron had ascended, the "Shadow Crusade" ended alongside him

[Lanfear · Rating 2 out of 5]

Los portadores de palabra son un chiste, lo eran cuando iban con el imperio y lo son ahora que van con el caos.

[Michael Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set during the Shadow Crusade on the Imperial world of Kronus, Gav Thorpe’s short story Inheritor is the latest in the Heresy Series to return to the 500 Worlds, but this time the focus is on the fragile bond between the Word Bearers and the World Eaters. Under orders from their primarchs, Eliphas of the XVII and Eres of the XII Legion have forged a tenuous alliance in pursuit of a common goal, in spite of their clear differences. Despite its billing on the Black Library website, this isn’t a story of outright conflict between legions but rather an exercise in tension as the ties between them are tested.

Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/20...

[Alexander van der Pol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, where will they go

[Regan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the World Eater in this.