The Emperor's Children were among the units assigned to crush Horus and his rebel Legions on Istbaan V. During a parly, the Legion's Primarch, Fulgrim, and his highest ranking officers were corrupted by the decadent pastimes Horus and his Chaos worshippers offered. The Imperial Cult was quickly supplanted by the gratifying worship of Slaanesh. While corrupt beyond human comprehension, the Emperor's Children are a savage fighting force. Like many of Slaanesh's followers, they have become known as Noise Marines. Each suit of armour, evry bolter or chainsword is worked into fantastic patterns and coloured in praise of Slaanesh.
Codex Chaos 2nd ed.
All the First Founding Legions were created to take part in Imperial Crusades. It was, however, nearly sixty years before the Emperor's Children saw action. An accident during gene-seeding almost destroyed the Legion as it was born. Once the Emperor's Children had been re-established with rescued gene-seed they proved to be loyal and efficient, distinguishing themselves in several campaigns. The Emperor's Children were among the units assigned to crush Horus and his rebel Chapters on Istvaan V. During a parley the Legion's Primarch, Fulgrim, and his highest ranking officers were corrupted by the decadent pastimes that Horus and his Chaos-worshippers offered. Drugged, pleasured beyond endurance, and finally broken, they agreed to aid Horus. The rot quickly spread to the whole Legion, and the Emperor's Children willingly embraced Chaos in all its indolent depravity. The Imperial Cult was quickly supplanted by the more gratifying worship of Slaanesh. As one of the Traitor Legions, the Emperor's Children invaded Earth, but took little part in the fighting around the Imperial Palace. Simple pleasures had given way to complex debaucheries. While their allies fought and died the Emperor's Children slaughtered more than a million people and rendered them down to create endless varieties of drugs and stimulants. Countless thousands more died to give the Emperor's Children more direct, if cruder, enjoyment. When the assault failed the Emperor's Children fled into the Eye of Terror with the rest of the Traitor Legions. They were the first to begin raiding the Imperial worlds for captives and plunder. Their excesses soon knew no bounds and simple raiding could not supply enough raw human material for their orgies of worship. At this point the Emperor's Children turned on the slaves and servants of the other Traitor Legions, an action which began a series of wars within the Eye of Terror. The struggles of the Emperor's Children continued until the destruction of the cloned Horus by the Black Legion. While corrupt beyond human comprehension, the Emperor's Children are a savage fighting force. Like many of Slaanesh's followers they have become what are known as Noise Marines. These crazed followers of the Lord of Pleasure have become depraved and totally decadent warriors who seek and find a perverse enjoyment in battle. The danger of combat is a rediscovered thrill and aphrodisiac, allowing them to reach new extremes of debauchery. The louder and more discordant the noise the more extreme the emotional reaction provoked, until only the din of battle and terrified screams of the enemy can stir them. To further enhance their enjoyment Noise Marines carry outlandish weapons that produce deafening loud and pyrotechnically explosive attacks. Because the senses of the Emperor's Children have become so distorted only the most extravagant colors and patterns register on their minds. Each suit of armor, every bolter or chainsword, is worked into fantastic patterns and colored in praise of Slaanesh. Each Emperor's Children Space Marine alters and changes his armor slightly, adding to its quality and 'beautifying' it. For the most favored, the weaponsmiths of the Legion sometimes carve scenes of debauchery into shoulder and breast plates.
