The Mind-Eaters was a thrallband of Heretic Astartes of the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion led by the Sorcerer Hasophet. Hasophet, the Magister of the thrallband, believed he had received a vision from Tzeentch, the Chaos God of Change, that promised that he would eventually ascend to daemonhood if he completed nine hundred and ninety-nine special rites that would further the Architect of Fate's plans in the mortal realm.
But Tzeentch's schemes are rarely straightforward or completely understood, even by his most devoted servants. After almost 10,000 Terran years of carrying out each of his appointed tasks, Hasophet and his warband suffered a fate very different from the one they had hoped for -- but one still pleasing to their ever-scheming patron.
Warband History[]
Notable Campaigns[]
- Omen of Omniscience (Unknown Date.M32) - Hasophet, Magister of the Mind-Eaters thrallband, receives a vision of his Tzeentch-ordained destiny. He sees a time in his future when he will devour the thoughts and memories of an entire world, and in doing so will achieve apotheosis. The Mind-Eaters embark at his direction on the first of nine hundred and ninety-nine rites that will lead to this portended moment.
- Crystallised Night (999.M41) - An endless psychic scream lures Vasellisk the Shrouded, Sorcerer warlord of the Night Lords, to the obsidian mines on Xanthematos. As his warband sets about butchering the Imperial work crews, the terror of those slain continues to linger in the form of disembodied Warp-gheists. The sight of spectral figures crowding the mines and howling with fear blinds Vasellisk to the true sorcery at play, for the planet has been hex-bound by Hasophet and his Mind-Eaters. As Vasellisk revels in the resonant terror, the Mind-Eaters seal the mines with the Night Lords inside. In the final twist of Hasophet's curse, the spirits of the dead burst into Warpfire, filling the subterranean tunnels with screaming flame. By the time the mines are reopened, every last Night Lord has been reduced to ash -- all except for Vasellisk the Shrouded, whose body has been melted into a lump of dark glass. This Shrouded Crystal is the foreseen prize of Hasophet's seven hundred and sixty-fifth rite, and it pulses with the psychic energy of the Sorcerer it once was.
- Wages of Change (999.M41) - After undermining the millennium-long battle plan of Korthuphos -- an Exalted Sorcerer of the Cult of Magic -- Hasophet is challenged to a psychic duel. As the two lock minds in combat it is clear that Korthuphos is the more powerful psyker, but Hasophet unsheathes the Dagger of Reflections, acquired centuries ago during his eighty-seventh rite. The mind-flames cast out by Korthuphos are drawn towards the shimmering dagger before being forced back in a thunderous wave, pulverising the brain matter of the Exalted Sorcerer. Korthuphos begins to slump over with liquid oozing from his helm, but before he hits the ground Hasophet plunges the ensorcelled dagger into his fallen opponent's chest, carving out his still-beating hearts. They are the trophies of his eight hundred and twenty-eighth rite.
- Psychophage of Mangel III (999.M41) - Hasophet and his Mind-Eaters descend upon the Imperial Hive World of Mangel III amidst an ongoing T'au invasion. Before landing the Sorcerer shatters the Shrouded Crystal in orbit, casting its shards throughout the atmosphere to summon an impenetrable darkness which surrounds the planet. Cut off from orbital reinforcements and relays, the T'au armies and Planetary Defence Forces continue fighting in utter confusion. In the Valley of Sacrifice, between the lines of the battling armies, the Mind-Eaters array the trophies and fetishes acquired from their nine hundred and ninety-eight preceding rites in a great crescent, and between the horns of the crescent Hasophet mounts an enormous pyre. From its pinnacle he beholds the encroaching T'au and Imperial forces -- they are to be his, their thoughts and memories devoured as was foretold. Holding aloft the hearts of Korthuphos, Hasophet ignites his pyre with their blood, incanting an oath to Tzeentch as the flames begin to lap his armour. The sudden rush of psychic energy towards Hasophet shreds the minds of the hundreds of thousands of combatants on Mangel III, siphoning their very life force into the Sorcerer. But as the Grand Conspirator's changes take hold Hasophet screams in agony. The armies on the horizon are pulled physically towards him like gnats caught in a thundering vortex. Ranks of screaming bodies and enormous war engines fly across the darkened land, colliding with Hasophet where they are quickly absorbed by his warping form. His body devours metal and flesh with equal voraciousness as it continues to grow, howling in excruciation from newly forming maws. His mass pupates, not into the form of a Daemon Prince as he expected, but to that of a Mutalith Vortex Beast. The Warp vortex emanating from the hideous creature extends outwards with each newly consumed sacrifice until it encircles the planet, and with a final mind-tearing scream Mangel III itself is torn from realspace to become Tzeentch's newest Daemon World. In its place there is left only a perpetual dark shroud and an echo of Hasophet's final, pitiful cry.
Warband Appearance[]
Warband Colours[]
The Mind-Eaters' warband colours are not currently listed in Imperial records.
Warband Badge[]
The Mind-Eaters' warband badge is not currently listed in Imperial records.
Sources[]
- Codex Heretic Astartes - Thousand Sons (8th Edition), pp. 28-31