Today’s Lore is all about the infamous Primarch of the Night Lords, Konrad Cruze and the tough conditions he faced in his youth.
Life as a youngblood was not easy for the Primarch Konrad Cruze. Let’s learn about his struggles and what he had to do to survive.
VIa: Lexicanum
Konrad Curze, also known as Night Haunter, was one of the twenty Primarchs created by the Emperor. Raised on the hellish world of Nostramo and plagued by prophetic visions of death, Curze became known as one of the most brutal and unstable Primarchs, a creature of terror and darkness that set him apart from many of his brothers. Ultimately he betrayed the Emperor and joined with Warmaster Horus in the Horus Heresy. The Chaos emissary to Lorgar called him the Killer.
The child that would come to be known as Konrad Curze was first recorded as crashing through the surface and into the core of the night-shrouded world of Nostramo. The crust of Nostramo bore high quantities of the mineral adamantium, which provided the basis of the planet’s immense mining and purifying industries.
The vast majority of the planet’s population lived in abject poverty, toiling in the mines while the rich grew in affluence, exploiting the already downtrodden workers. Crime ran mostly unchecked, depression was inescapable, and overpopulation was kept in check more by suicide than by any other measure.
Unlike many of the other Primarchs, Konrad Curze was not taken in by any family and was left to raise himself. He spent his early life surviving off his wits and determination, feeding himself by hunting the feral animals that roamed through the vast city of Nostramo Quintus. He was continually plagued by visions of the darkest possible future, horrifyingly potent waking dreams that would curse him throughout his life.
During his short youth, Curze was pitched into a destructive cycle of persecution and murder, focusing on the criminal elements of Nostramo’s society. His vigilante actions began small, intervening when he witnessed something he believed to be wrong, but rapidly escalating into hunting down those he believed had committed transgressions.
At first, several people prominent within the city’s corrupt hierarchy disappeared. Leaders of the most vocal opposition to the status quo vanished in similar circumstances. Bodies of known criminals began to appear, gutted like fish by some cruel assailant. Officials were found hung from high windows. Body parts blocked stormwater drains. Many of the corpses found were so horribly beaten by their assailant that identification was impossible.
Within the year, the crime rate of Nostramo Quintus fell to near-zero. Society underwent massive changes, most notable of which was the self-imposed curfew that came into being. Mothers began to threaten children that if they continued to misbehave, the Night Haunter would come for them. This term quickly came into common usage, describing a dark creature that stalked the city, ready to disembowel anyone it believed to be a criminal or heretic with dirty, razor-sharp talons.
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