The Thousand Sons look

[Ravingbantha]

I've read some of the background on the Thousand Sons, and there is some conflicting info I am coming across. First off the color of the armor, I've seen refrences stating this happened when the Ruberic was cast, other places suggest Ahriman has been changing the color of the armor when he takes over a new Cabal. So is it reasonable to say that there are some warbands out there that keep their original coloring to honor their Primarch?

Secondy: Head crests, in a pre Hersey galaxy only CO's and NCO's seemed to have them, the rank and file marine sis not. So what changed? Are all chaos Thousand Sons marines now sporting these head crests? Seems to me that only Aspiring Champions, Sorcerers, Chosen, and Terminators would have them.

Thirdly: Given the point of the Ruberic, would the armor of the Thousand sons have warped into 'Chaos Armor'? All the arrows, spikey bits, and skulls? Or shouldn't the armor have maintained it's original look that it had 'pre-hersey'?

[Katharon]

1: Most people seem to agree that the change in color from Red-Gold to Blue-Gold came about as a result of the Thousand Sons now being allied with Tzeentch. That crazy bird guy really digs the colors blue/cerulean, yeah? That said, it is unlikely that any warbands would continue to carry their old legion colors. Those were colors that they wore when they were loyal to the Emperor and the Imperium. They would rather wear the color of their Primarch's new master than the color of the old -- I think.

That said, the fact that the spell unleashed a gold and blue light across the entirety of the Planet of Sorcerers...is kind of really hinting at the fact that it was the Rubric spell that did the color change -- all according to plan. [/Tzeentch]

2: As has been demonstrated by the World Eaters helmets, even frontline grunts wore the stylistic crests upon their heads. Although I should point out that only Aspiring Sorcerers and other psyker-leaders have the special pharaonic crests -- which means that the two are still distinctly separated.

3: The Rubric of Ahriman was a spell meant to preserve their flesh against the ravages of Chaos mutation. And, for the most part, it worked. Those that had little or no psykic talent had their flesh turned to dust and their very souls imbued into their armour -- turning them into slightly higher functioning automatons for the most part. Because Chaos has always had a far greater impact upon flesh and blood, it might not be too erroneous to say that since the Rubric Marines no longer have flesh and because their spirits possess their armor, and due to the effects of the Rubric spell, that their armor is protected against the ravages of Chaos mutation; not as Ahriman had envisioned, but effective none the less.

Other Chaos Space Marines that are not quite as dusty have often had armour that develops fairly strange and chaotic attributes. I would make the supposition that this is because they are still composed of flesh and blood. Like Argel Tal - whose armor became a second skin for him. As long as there is flesh, belief or faith in the Chaos Gods, and time spent within the Empyrean (EoT, etc) then a normal CSM will likely see his armour and such changed suitably.

[Charon]

Secondy: Head crests, in a pre Hersey galaxy only CO's and NCO's seemed to have them, the rank and file marine sis not. So what changed? Are all chaos Thousand Sons marines now sporting these head crests? Seems to me that only Aspiring Champions, Sorcerers, Chosen, and Terminators would have them.

Depends on the Author. I like ADBs take that the crested ones are more "ceremonial helmets" and are worn in gatherings rather than in combat (like a formal military uniform is not worn in actual combat). The need for replacements could have led to some CSM to use their ceremonial helmets instead of their combat helmets.
Could also be that the ritual required all attendents to wear their ceremonial stuff and thus many of the rubric marines wear their ceremonial gear forever now.

[Mr Mystery]

If I'm reading Prospero Burn/Thousand Sons correctly, the Legion wasn't in Tzeentch's service when the rubric was cast?

Might be wrong, has been a while!

[Path Walker]

Rubric was cast after they'd been exiled on the world of sorcerors, the red king had made his second deal with Tzeentch but i don't think most of the remaining legion were actively worshipping him

[Katharon]

Rubric was cast after they'd been exiled on the world of sorcerors, the red king had made his second deal with Tzeentch but i don't think most of the remaining legion were actively worshipping him

At this particular point they were still largely on the brink...with an extra few tons weighing them towards Tzeentch. At the point in which they exiled themselves to the planet of Sorcerers, things had pretty much gone beyond the point of no return. A forgone conclusion you might say.