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As those who frequent the 40k Army List section may know, I am currently working on building a Night Lords army, either using the CSM or BA codex. I wanted to start writing fiction based on the army, with inspiration (hopefully no outright thievery) from ADB's awesome Night Lords series.

Here's what I'm working on, the background of the Night Lords 18th Company, the Strike Cruiser Whisper in Darkness, and their lord and master, Captain Slar'von. (not 100% if I like the name)

The first piece I came up with was a short description of the Warlord, Captain Slar'von (to be portrayed on the tabletop either as a Chaos Lord or Commander Dante)

"One of the more renowned warlords to have arisen from the 8th Legion, Slar’von maintains the rank of company command that he has held since the days of the Heresy. Born of Nostramo, Slar’von was among the first batches of recruits to join the Legion, as the terror imposed by Night Haunter over Nostramo was in transition from fact into legend. Rising from a line Astartes to squad command over the course of the Great Crusade, Slar’von was hurriedly given a battlefield promotion to Captain during the Estere Minor Massacres. While disorder and fragmentation have become rife within other segments of the Legion since the death of Konrad Curze, Slar’von has managed to hold together the majority of the 18th Company through a combination of the promise of terror and slaughter, appeals to their shared duty as sons of Night Haunter, and brute force exercised through the five Atramentar elite that form his inner circle. His company is generally at or near full strength, with the exact number fluctuating from combat losses and replacements being inducted. Slar’von is obsessed with the memory of his primarch, whom he had only fleeting contact with. He continues to nurse jealousy for those among his brothers who were privy to Curze’s councils and inner thoughts, knowing that in his father’s eyes he was just another line officer.

Somewhat unusually for a Night Lord, Slar’von is an avid student of the finer arts of warfare. Among his most prized possessions are copies of the Recorded Musings of Night Haunter and The Tenebrous Path by the War-Sage Malcharion, both bound by Company Apothecary Ecemin in painstakingly-cured Astartes skin. Malcharion’s insights into the nature of the Legion’s strategies has earned him Slar’von’s grudging respect, and before Malcharion’s entombment the two occasionally took part in both verbal and literal sparring matches. His apparently bookish nature at one point earned Slar’von the nickname 'Guilleman’s Bastard' among some of the more daring Astartes under his command. The decade-long excruciation of one foolish enough to utter the name within earshot of his lord led to the term falling out of favor.

In battle, Slar’von carefully constructs his opening strategies, planning the maneuvers of his troops like a composer inking notes, with the goal of establishing a superior position before the enemy is even engaged by forcing the enemy to concentrate their forces on a single key point. Once the battle is joined, and his plans are matched against the enemy, he reveals a brutal tactical mindset, throwing his deadliest forces (and generally himself along with them) into the heart of the enemy formation, with the goal of shattering it quickly and gruesomely, then displaying his triumph to the remainder of the enemy. In his experience, the sight of their best soldiers torn limb from limb and most advanced war machines reduced to slag is enough to make any army turn tail, no matter that if they stood and fought they might still have a chance. Once they run, they can be hounded down and torn apart piecemeal, never allowed to reform and regain discipline. To end the enemy requires only breaking his will, and that is what Slar’von strives for. His tactics do have notable downsides, however: against the likes of Necrons and loyalist Astartes, he must alter his tactics. The best he can work for in these circumstances is to convince the enemy commander that the battle is lost by concentrating all of his strength into a single, deceptively powerful blow, causing them to fall back, even if not from fear.

If the initial attack fails, most would consider the prudent course of action to make a tactical withdraw. Slar’von, however, vastly prefers to see the battle through to its conclusion, no matter what, to enjoy the challenge of adapting to the difficult circumstances. While this has won him some incredible victories snatched from the jaws of defeat, it has also seen him unceremoniously tossed, unconscious and bleeding, into the back of their Stormtalon, as the company beats a hasty retreat to fight another day. While most Chaos Space Marines would leave their own behind without a second thought, Slar'von's Atramentar are strangely loyal to him, possibly because they don't want to take the faint chance that he will survive despite the odds and come looking for vengeance. Another pitfall in Slar'von's tactical process was illustrated at the Battle of Spire Five, where Slar'von's masterful arrival at the turning point of the battle saw him destroying the Guard command tank and crucifying the Major within for all his soldiers to see. When the Guard turned to fall back towards their initial dropsite deeper in the city, Slar'von was smugly satisfied in his trumph and ordered the pursuit with all possible haste, to enjoy the terror of the shattered foe. It was not until the Night Lords reached the Spire's main thoroughfare that they realized the area had been hastily converted into a killzone, with heavy weapons teams camouflaged and heat-screened along the entire avenue. Over thirty sons of the sunless world fell that day before they could extract themselves, and though they reaped a heavy toll in Guardsmen, Slar'von was furious at his failure."

Ideally I'll add to this with more unit descriptions, a history of notable engagements and possibly some narrative. There's not much here, I know this forum can be harsh on bad writing, and that's what I'm hoping for. So, too OTT, something off lorewise, anything to make the and following material better?

I like it, nice how you described his greatest strengths and flaws. More please

Nice piece, but it misses something. I noticed that many Night Lords stories/warbands/projects after ADB's books seem to have commanders who try to act as if the Legion still has its old structure, rather than the more common madness it has descended into.

I think you would probably have Slar'von, pretending to still rule his company, but other that the Atramentar and a few veterans, most of his force would comprise of soldiers/marines who were picked up along the way. A new generation of marines who weren't alive during the times of the Great Crusade and Heresy. Maybe marines from other warbands (who did live during those old times) might have joined Slar'von, but the commander wouldn't trust them that well.

If he is jealous/upset at those close to his father, he would most likely try to deviate more from Curze's ideas as well, or try to do stuff totally on his own. I doubt he would have been one of the warlords who went to visit Decimus during the epilogue of Void Stalker. He might have been there during the Throne of Lies story, but even that is debatable.

Where do his loyalties lie concerning Abaddon? That guy is a serious force to be reckoned with...

I like this alot! & I agree with Malika2 on his point of where his loyalties with the despoiler are.

As stated I above I ponder where his loyalties lie with Abbadon. But beside that I liked it