After spreading the Great Crusade from one end to the other of the galaxy, the Emperor suddenly decides to punish the Word Bearers harshly—for bringing the new worlds into Accord too slowly, and for their religious worship of Him, the Emperor of Mankind. For greater convincing effect, he orders the destruction of dust and rubble—the city that once was the pride of the Word Bearers.
The humiliation of the legion seriously unsettles the primarch Lorgar’s inner balance and directs his spiritual searches to the very edge of the material universe, where the warp seeps into the real world—where the voices of the gods can be heard and where one can touch the truth. This truth, grim and painful, will become the cradle of the Great Heresy.