Van Horstmann Book on November

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Here a nice little background story on him.



STORY OF EGRIMM VAN HORSTMANN, SORCERER OF TZEENTCH


The edge of the Screaming Hills stand the Silver Towers of the Cabal. Here Tzeentch's Sorcerers study arcane lore and augur divinations, trying to foretell the moment when the Storm of Chaos will arise again, and how to harness it to their will. The Sorcerers of the Cabal do not speak: instead they communicate using telepathy, even over great distances. This way no one will know their plans.

The Chaos warriors of the Cabal are called the Thralls ? they are the willing slaves of van Horstmann. Upon joining the Cabal, a warrior or wizard must swear unending loyalty to the master of the Cabal and his lord Tzeentch. He is branded with the magical sign of Tzeentch on his forehead so that he can never rebel against the will of his masters. In return he is initiated into the secrets of the Cabal.

The armour of the Cabal is archaic and ceremonial to the point of impracticality covered in a mass of talismans, ribbons and warding sigils. Their weapons are often magical, ensorcelled by the sorcerers of the Cabal. In battle their blades give off an eerie glow that is frightening and yet at the same time fascinating. The Cabal are a terrifying foe: they act and fight in perfect synchronicity, guided by the mad genius of the Chaos sorcerers. Their battle plans are infinitely complex and often seem contradictory, and yet they are always victorious. Their opponents feel that they are part of an act in which their roles are predestined, and trying to resist is like struggling against invisible chains. The symbol of the Cabal is the unblinking withering eye of Tzeentch on an open palm. Their banner bears this symbol, and it is a source of pride to the Cabal that it has never been captured. It is said that a man who gazes into the Withering Eye will grow old and waste away in mere moments.

When Egrimm van Horstmann was ordained as Grand Magister of the Order of Light he was acclaimed as the youngest and most gifted wizard to rule over a magical order. As he knelt down and swore allegiance to the Emperor, no one guessed that his loyalty had already been given over to another, far more sinister master.

As an Apprentice Chanter of the ritual bound Order of Light Wizards he served under Master Chanter Alric, the Saviour of Apesto, who taught him many of the order's ancient secrets. But all the time he served the Order of Light, Horstmann prayed to the gods of Chaos for the power to defeat his peers. His progress was rapid. By day he studied Light Magic, and by night he pored over ancient manuscripts devoted to the lore of the Chaos gods. Daemons of Tzeentch whispered their timeless secrets into his sleeping mind and Egrimm's evil powers waxed strong.

For three years the Grand Magister worked his evil in the darkness. Seeds of corruption were planted in the hearts of the Acolytes of the Order of Light. Rituals were subtly modified and their powers redirected. Beneath the College Egrimm laboured at the sealed vaults one-by-one defeating their magical locks to uncover the forbidden things they contained. It is impossible to calculate the damage done or the horrors unleashed upon the world by the Grand Magister before his evil was uncovered by the Inquisitors of Sigmar and the Grand Theogonist Volkmar.

The search for and discovery of the source of corruption would make a long and horrific tale in its own right. In the end the Grand Magister unlocked the Dragon Baudros from its timeless prison beneath the Pyramid of Light and upon the winged and two-headed form of this most infamous of all Chaos Dragons he ascended into the sky and departed towards the Chaos Wastes. With his corrupted acolytes Egrimm formed the Cabal, perhaps the mightiest of all the warbands of Tzeentch. These sinister warrior-wizards of Tzeentch deemed Egrimm van Horstmann as their master. Egrimm covets nothing less than dominion over the entire world. He is a great conspirator, second only to his master Tzeentch. His acolytes are everywhere, and many of the secrets, cults and covens in the Old World are ultimately controlled by Horstmann. Such plots and schemes please Tzeentch immeasurably, and he has rewarded van Horstmann greatly, making him the most favoured of his servants.