The Primarch of the Night Lords, the VIII Legion of the Space Marines, is Konrad Curze, also known as The Night Haunter. A haunting and tragic figure, Curze embodied terror and ruthlessness, enforcing order through fear and punishing all forms of corruption and injustice with merciless cruelty. Born under the harsh and oppressive conditions of the hive world Nostramo, his early life shaped him into a grim and uncompromising arbiter of justice.
Konrad Curze’s upbringing on Nostramo was marked by extreme hardship. Abandoned as a child, he survived in the darkness of the planet’s crime-ridden cities, developing a brutal sense of morality. He began as a vigilante, eliminating criminals and corrupt officials with gruesome precision, and over time, his fearsome reputation brought order to the lawless world. When the Emperor found him, Curze had already become the undisputed ruler of Nostramo, though his methods were rooted in terror rather than loyalty or hope.
Under Curze’s leadership, the Night Lords became the embodiment of his philosophy. They were terror troops, striking fear into the hearts of their enemies with horrific displays and sadistic tactics. Their effectiveness was unmatched, but their methods caused tension with other Legions, particularly those led by more idealistic Primarchs. Curze himself was an isolated and tormented figure, plagued by prophetic visions of his own demise and the ultimate failure of the Emperor’s grand plan for humanity.
During the Horus Heresy, Curze’s descent into madness and nihilism reached its zenith. He sided with Horus and the traitor forces, though not out of loyalty to Chaos but rather a deep cynicism toward the Emperor and the Imperium’s hypocrisy. His end came at the hands of an Imperial assassin, M’Shen, who struck him down as he willingly accepted his death, believing it to be a fitting conclusion to his cursed existence. To this day, the Night Lords remain a fractured and savage force, clinging to their Primarch’s grim legacy of terror and vengeance.