Word Bearer tattoos and texts

[tuo]

Hello all,

this is more an inquiry for inspiration or source material rather than fluff itself.

I am currently designing the Banners for my Titan, which is under control of a Word Bearer warband. In the Word Bearer novels, the Dark Apostles are described as beeing covered with tattoos all over their body (Erebus is described in a similar matter in the Horus Heresy). Does anybody have a good image source for these tattoos OR something similar? Basically daemonic imagery, pentagrams and stuff?

Secondly, as I have no knowledge of latin, are there any resources for Chaos or even Word Bearer specific sayings which could go on a banner, either in latin / new-gothic or some daemon language? Of course I could download some "Lord of the Rings" elvish fonts and write something up, but I am much more in search of original 40K material. All sources I found are in english, while there are enough examples for loyal marine art showing new-gothic expressions.

Thanks in advance for all help!

regards

tuo

[Zombiecrackers]

Have a lookie through this, there could be some Word Bearers stuff mixed in http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Quotes_Chaos

[Wyrmwood]

From the fires of Betrayal unto the blood of revenge we bring the name of Lorgar, the Bearer of the Word, the favored Son of Chaos, all praise be given to him. From those that would not heed we offer praise to those who do, that they might turn their gaze our way and gift us with the Boon of Pain, to turn the Galaxy red with the blood, and feed the hunger of the Gods.

Thou shalt have no work save the destruction of the Imperium of man. Thou shalt have no reward save the blessings of Chaos. Thou duty is war. Thou shalt obey only the Lords of the Word. Thou shalt rejoice in Killing. Thou shalt be a tool of Chaos. To disobey the Lords is death. The greatest reward is the instillation of Hatred in those that stand against us. Thou shalt speak but hatred of the Emperor of Mankind. The Heretic is the chosen one; protect him, for his life is pain to the Emperor.

Like the great storm of the Horus Heresy the forces of the True Gods will descend upon the Emperor's minions. The stars will tremble at their passage and the mighty armadas of the Warmaster Abaddon will bring annihilation to a hundred worlds. Know this, for these things will come to pass.

Hear my warnings, unbelievers. Carried to your minds by the power of the Prince of Excess himself. We have raised altars in this land so that we may sacrifice you to our gods. Veterans of ten millennia of unholy war wait to grind you beneath the treads of their mighty boots. The chosen of Khorne hunger to add you to their bloody tally. The Blood God himself has marked this land, and will claim your skulls for his throne. There is no hope in opposing the inevitable. Put down your arms, unbelievers, and bow before the forces of Chaos Undivided.

These should be helpful to you.

[tuo]

Thank you both, excellent stuff Exactly what I as searching for

[Lord-Caerolion]

For some reason, I've always imagined Colchisian looking similar to mesopotamian/sumerian/persian cunieform, as it fits the roughly arabic feel to the Word Bearers, as well as looking similar to the true Chaos runes. Of course, you could also simply use said Chaos runes, the image of which shouldn't be too hard to track down.

Also, I like to keep Chaos free of pentagrams. That's associated with modern satanism, which is an entirely different thing than Chaos. 8-pointed stars everywhere is fine, but the number 5 has very very little to do with Chaos, if anything at all.

[MvS]

I would just add that it's unlikely that Words Bearers would refer to themselves or their actions as 'unholy', 'evil', 'cursed', 'heretical' or any other such eeeevil wording that tends to creep into Chaos dialogue, even when they are discussing themselves.

The Word Bearers would see themselves as holy, justified, correct, blessed, pleasing to the gods. They are the most extremist and self-satisfied of any religious fanatic in the history of civilisation, so although they have a more pragmatic understanding of daemons and Chaos than most Imperial citizens, they would still probably still see themselves as genuinely blessed above all, bathing in the righteous glory of the only True and Holy Gods of the universe. Their language should reflect this.

They may seek to recruit 'heretics' as the Imperium sees them, but the Word Bearers would more likely see these 'heretics' as the 'lesser faithful' - beings just stepping upon the true and holy path to the enlightenment of Chaos. Although this doesn't mean they would necessarily treat them very well. The road to Chaos is intentionally hard, that's a stipulation of faith in the Chaos Gods, so Word Bearers would probably be very harsh towards their loyal mortal servants, not just because they're two-dimensional evil characters, but because it is only through hardship and suffering that mortals can become strong enough to bathe in the glory of the True Pantheon (and because the Word Bearers are almost certainly tainted by the daemons they worship, so may not notice how ruthless or brutal they are being to their servants and recruits from time to time).

[malika]

The Word Bearers wrote their texts in Colchisian, which is most likely some variant of the 'Dark Tongue' (Chaos language from the Rogue Trader era), since it seems to be spoken by the original Chaotic Cadian tribes and various other Chaos worshipping civilizations before the coming of the Imperium.

Here is a scheme with some of the Chaos runes, perhaps you could use those to form words rather than writing it down in English.

[TheDungen]

As for latin use google translate, it wont get it perfectly but that shouldnt really matter.

[prowla]

Hello all,
Basically daemonic imagery, pentagrams and stuff?

IIRC many of the texts are from Book of Lorgar and other such devoted writings. I don't think pentagrams are used in any Chaos iconry.