"I even cast my eyes over the splendidly decorated and gorgeously coloured banners of the knights, whatever was left of duties. All around the serpent image were runes spelling out the accomplishments and praises of its bearer. By the standard stood a knight of striking appearance. My heart seemed to beat faster in my armored chest. I recognized the mark of the changer of ways, trimmed with an engraved pattern of intertwined snakes whose writhing form were embellished with red and white enamel, and whose eyes were set with small rubies. At this knight's feet lay a huge round shield. The armor shone like the purest silver, but was trimmed with an engraved pattern of repeated intertwined snakes whose writhing form and colors, sometimes standing alone like a bold flame, often repeated so that it formed an interwoven pattern of twisted color that burned my eyes and confused my mind. I saw their banners woven into the image of flaming birds and grails of fire, others adorned with interpretations of the ever-watching eye of the change lord, and many more bearing images of twisted multicolored reptiles, birds, and scorpions. Slightly apart from the other standards stood a banner of velvet that was the color of the sky, but faded and mellowed as with age. Upon it was woven, with golden thread, the image of a coiled serpent, its scales picked out with gemstones and its eyes represented by two huge rubies set on a background of scarlet flame. The knight wore a highly polished silver helm which shone like a mirror and which bore two pairs of silver horns, the lower part curled and tipped like those of a ram, the upper part sleek and long like a gazelle. Though the helm covered his face completely, I could see through the narrow eye slits the flickering of small sapphire flames. As I looked upon the form of this mighty being, this coldest of all chaos champions, I remembered the reason why I had left the knights so many years before. Lord Kaldour."
- —Excerpt from Memoirs of Redemption by Kazimir Leninov.[2a]
Kaldour's Knights, also known as the Knights of Tzeentch, are mighty warriors, men native to the southern realms of the Old World of great intellect and wit, cunning and wisdom devoted to the Chaos God Tzeentch, the god of change and intrigue.[1a]
Many were once nobles of great importance, men with great temporal power. They despised their peers so much that in yearning for the company of equals they abandoned Humanity and civilisation. Scorning warbands of brutish Beastmen or uncouth Ogres, they have joined together as a band of knights in service to the goals of the Lord of Change.[1a]
History[]
The Knights of Tzeentch choose their grand master from amongst themselves with a complicated and twisted process of voting. The current grand master of the Knights of Tzeentch is Lord Kaldour. He is blessed with the many-layered wisdom of Tzeentch himself, and is as cruel as a Daemon. He is first amongst equals, a man who uses his considerable talents and intelligence to bring misery and destruction upon the mortal world.[1a]
Many are the stories about Kaldour and his Chaos Knights, and none of them end well for the cause of man. Kaldour's Knights are mighty and terrible warriors, men of great intellect and cunning. They are not, as one might reasonably expect, warriors who have risen through the ranks of the tribes of the Northmen, but are instead Men of the Empire, Bretonnia, Tilea, and Estalia who have turned apostate, abandoning the wholesome gods of their native lands for the dubious favors of Tzeentch.[2a]
Many of the Knights of Tzeentch, including Kaldour himself, were men of great importance and temporal power in their former lives, some being statesmen and nobles, and others famous templars or renowned military men. For whatever reasons, they abandoned civilization and the free peoples of the Old World and set off towards the desolation of the Chaos Wastes beyond the lands of Norsca.
Such stories as exist about them in the southern realms make it clear that they so despised those they saw as lesser intellects that they scorned the warbands of brutish Beastmen or uncouth mutants that populate the Northern Wastes, and instead joined together as a band of noble warriors and formidable tacticians.[2a]
Just how such a disparate group of men managed to find each other across the endless expanses of the Chaos Wastes and then how they decided to join together is anyone's guess, although Tzeentch, or one of his more powerful Daemons, may well have had a hand in the process.[2a]
Appearance[]
The Knights of Tzeentch are all mounted troops as their name implies, riding into battle atop their great Chaos Steeds and carrying tall lances that are a grotesque echo of the knightly orders to which many of them once belonged. The Knights of Tzeentch are also noted for carrying ornate back banners decorated with the symbols of their divine master -- be that the flame chalice, the unblinking eye, or the coiled serpent (the symbol of the broken balance). Kaldour, being the Grand Master of the Knights, is said to bear the device of Tzeentch's own rune upon his shield, both as a mark of his devotion to the Lord of Change and as a sign of his master's favor.[1a]
Lord Kaldour wears silver plate armour that is polished to shine like a mirror. It is said that a man can see his reflection on the surface, but that reflection will be warped and twisted, showing the innermost potential for darkness in his own soul.[1a]
The Knights of Tzeentch prefer to wear garments of deep imperial blue and rich yellows, and their weapons are often gilded and decorated with gems and carvings.[1a]
Some of the Knights of Tzeentch ride to battle in Chaos Chariots. These are splendid and spectacular creations. They typically boast a whole array of silk banners, ribbons and feathered standards. The chariots of the Knights of Tzeentch are slender constructions, finely made from rare materials like silver or ivory.[1a]