Officio Assassinorum
The Officio Assassinorum is an organization that features in Warhammer 40,000.
Contents |
History
The Officio Assassinorum (Office of Assassins) was an organization that existed within the Imperium of Man that was responsible for the deployment of highly skilled assassins. Imperial Assassins were an ancient order having dated back to the Unification Wars for the elimination of key enemies of the Emperor of Mankind. During their earliest days, they answered to the Ephoroi of the Adeptus Custodes. According to one account, the Officio Assassinorum itself are traced to the times of the Great Crusade where a pact was made on Mount Vengeance by the six Directors Primus of the Assassin Clades, headed by the Master of Assassins. All seven individuals were masked and their identities kept secret from one another and thus they were unaware that their leader was none other than Malcador the Sigilite. From the six Directors Primus, the founding Clades were formed from Sire Vindicare, Sire Eversor, Sire Culexus, Sire Vanus, Siress Venenum and Siress Callidus who all met in secret at the Shrouds. For decades, they hunted the enemies of the Emperor by way of stealth and subterfuge in order to show these foes that there was no place for them to hide. Such was the secrecy of this agency that its existence and actions were only marginally known to the Emperor as they intended to maintain his noble purity. As the deployment of an Imperial Assassin was a delicate matter, usually only a single agent was sent into the field or, at maximum, three, but always from the same primary Clade.
Overview
In appearance, the Office of Assassins was a branch within the Imperium that was responsible for the recruitment, training and deployment of specially skilled assassins. Its head was the Grand Master of Assassins whose power meant that by tradition they sat as a member on the Senatorum Imperialias.
Imperial Assassins were terrifying genetically engineered killing machines bristling with arcane technology and bred to slaughter their targets in one of many exciting ways, from shapeshifting disguises to unmitigated psychic grief.
Assassins were recruited at a very young age, from the orphans of Imperial servants raised in the Schola Progenium.
It was divided into a number of temples that trained their respective assassins which included:
- Vindicare Temple :
- Callidus Temple :
- Eversor Temple :
- Culexus Temple :
- Venenum Temple : Clade Venenum Assassin were an expert with poisons, toxins, and venoms – an arsenal of nasty chemicals strong enough to take down even the toughest prey. It is said that the Assassins of the Clade Venenum had the highest success rate among the Terran Temples during the Age of Darkness. Their Assassins were selected from the finest alchemists who could create exotic concoctions that could cause death without leaving any metabolic trace.
- Vanus Temple : operatives of the Clade Vanus use information as their weapon, processing staggering amounts of battlefield data and detecting enemy troops from the moment they arrive. Their advanced augury equipment can even peer into the noosphere – the veil of communication between machines and their controllers – and twist transmissions to their own ends. With the keys to friendly and enemy weapon systems at their fingertips, Infocytes can intercept newcomers with a barrage from their own allies’ weapons. They can also wreak havoc on the internal systems of Mechanicum automata, making them perfect counters to the robotic legions of Traitor Taghmata.
- Adamus Clade : believed to be the oldest of the formal orders of Assassins, and its operatives are experts in the art of the decapitation strike – proving that old Terran adage about the body dying if you can kill the head. They study how their enemies fight, noting their strengths and learning their weaknesses, which they ruthlessly exploit. Clade Adamus Assassin were fast and absolutely lethal in melee, able to go toe-to-toe with almost any foe – and defeat them with their nemesii blade.
- Maerorus Temple :
The Shrouds was the name given to a secret chamber located within the confines of the Inner Palace that served as the headquarters of the Officio Assassinorum during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy.
Members
- Malcador the Sigilite :
- Drakan Vangorich :
- Elixa de Mornay :
- Fon Tariel :
- Iaeo :
- M'Shen :
Notes
- The Officio Assassinorum was created by Games Workshop and featured in the setting of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
In other media
Video games
- In Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters, the Officio Assassinorum assassins were introduced as playable units in the setting of the video game through the "Execution Force" DLC.
Appearances
- Warhammer 40,000:
External Links
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