Greetings and salutations friends and welcome back to more war 40K lore well today considering the spirit of the season and all we’re going to change gears just a little bit for all too often we focus on the sheer Grim dark nature of the 41st Millennium and to be
Fair this is the universe that invented things like the demon Kaba and even just in the last few months we’ve talked about what genocide as a virtue with ACH Moore and his red and if that isn’t quite horrible enough we could always talk about that time a chaos Saint threw 30,000 Space Marines
Into hell where each and every one of them got to experience his own personal Purgatory before having all faith hope and belief stripped from him like so much bacon of a fat man’s dinner plate and even if that isn’t good enough well we did talk about the sword you know the
Sword so dangerous so powerful that his very existence endangers the entirety of the Imperium of humanity and the only thing protecting us from aention blade is a patently brain damaged gray Knight simply too stubborn and or stupid to be corrupted so yeah the 41st Millennium is a dambly undesirable place to have to
Put up shop and yet and yet even in the dark future there are moments of genuine goodness one of which we are going to talk about today namely the bond between the star dragons and the blood swords of the god Emperor’s adeptus aartis and speaking of bonds one last
Shameless self-plug the classical role playing game Rogue Trader made by the same people behind Pathfinder Wrath of the righteous amongst others came out just the other week and it is really damn good I’m currently playing through it on my secondary Channel where there will be V of the first couple episodes
And a live stream scheduled for today presuming I’ve gotten all of my times right unusual enough in and of itself so if interested please do go check it out and that’s enough Shameless Silling for one day the star dragons and the blood swords these two chapters are lesser
Known in fact very little concrete is really known about them but the reason why they are known is a rather uplifting one normally Space Marine chapters are known for remarkable Feats of Martial prowess or tragedy suffering extensive casualties in the face of overwhelming odds or on occasion they’ll be famous for significantly darker
Dianes like the exorcists for example but the star dragons and the blood swords are famous first and foremost for their remarkable friendship with one another and in a galaxy as blood soaked as 40K that is a feature well worth celebrating but who are these two mysterious chapters precisely and what
Is this bond that binds them well a little bit of speculation might be required to explain it all but that has hardly discouraged me before now has it let us begin with the star dragons it is likely that the star dragons are a later founding chapter as
They do not possess the kind of long-term reputation and accolades that the OG chapters do this too could also simply be explained by the fact that they haven’t sought out the spotlight but it seems a reasonable assumption that they’ve uh only emerged in relatively recent 40K history they are
Also supposedly an iron hand successor chapter but I do not believe this for even a single solitary second the star dragons have a reputation for well honor decency and treating both those around them and those who serve them with respect and even kindness to the point where many of the chapter’s
Surfs even come to outright worship their officers and commanders I don’t know about you but um generosity kindness the ability to get along with others these do not sound like the traits of your average son of feris Manus and then there is their heraldry to be considered a a dragon along with a
Penance for enormous lizards and a particular vocabulary that leads them to referring to their squads as scales and daily meetings of the chapter’s high command as clutches finally at least one amongst their number also likes decorating his armor with the scaled hide of of an enormous Drake like creature apparently
Native to their home world of drath now to be fair it is entirely possible that all of these little things their peculiar wording their symbols their naming conventions are all simply just products of their home world and the presumed native alpha predator serpent thing it could all just be simple coincidence
And yet it is very hard to deny that the star dragons do bear a distinct resemblance to another lizard Affiliated chapter even more so when their relatively mellow temperament is taken into consideration and as a final piece of apparent evidence the Star Dragon’s war cry is fire and
Fury which does seem to Echo that of the salamanders into the fires of battle onto the Anvil of War indeed the only real indication in the Star Dragon’s history and practices that seem to indicate any connection to the iron hands whatsoever is their pict peculiar habit of ritual
Scarification now that in in of itself is hardly rare amongst the ranks of the estares and not particularly indicative of the iron hands but the star dragons further amplify this process by embedding electo circuitry into the scar tissue and into the wounds themselves these will then form intricate patterns
Glowing with a bluish hue this gives the star dragons an appearance that has been described as kin to a caged star again this is certainly a uh Far Cry from the mass voluntary and desirable augmentation of the iron hands but it is at least a nod in their general
Direction but all in all I would quite confidently say that the Star Dragon’s genan seed could be far more likely traced to nocturn than to meduca Beyond this however not a whole lot is known about the chapter they appear to be largely codex compliant organizing themselves and their General indicative iconography things like
Company markings for example along the lines of the Cod estares the only other truly noteworthy and immediately apparent feature of the star dragons is that they possess apparently a rather complicated relationship with the Odo malice of the god Emperor’s Most Holy Inquisition the Odo malice of course is the branch of
The Inquisition that is specialized in dealing with the Servants of the warp and the ruinous powers now of course it is far from unusual for inquisitors to enlist the aid of aarti chapters should whatever objective they are currently pursuing prove worthy of the Space Marines martial prowess but
There is one incident that has to do with a space Hulk The accursed Eternity which we will probably return to later which seems to suggest that the star dragons have a bit of History with the order malice as despite being quite hesitant of accepting the inquisitor’s
Mission they felt onor bound to do so anyways any speculation as to the reason why would well remain pure speculation as there isn’t really enough to go on there are countless reasons why a space mine chapter might consider itself indebted to the Inquisition perhaps the chapter had previously made some sort of commitment
To them or perhaps the Inquisition had overlooked some impropriety in return for later favors or perhaps the Star Dragon simply felt that it was their civic duty shall we say to assist in whatever way possible and they do certainly seem to be good guy Marines but let us now move on to the
Second chapter the blood swords a chapter whose Heritage is far more readily discernable the blood swords are another later founding chapter probably created in the same founding as the star dragons and likely a founding specifically designed to deal with increased activity coming out of the eye of Terror as both
Chapters of course are located ated in the segmentum obscurus an area that has seen several foundings created specifically to guard against incursions coming out of the great eye furthermore the blood swords home world of Jager fall is very close to the Star Dragon’s home world of drath suggesting that both were created
As a way to strengthen the defenses around the eye and counteract chaos raiding activity this also of course means that the chapter would have been heavily involved with dealing with the occasional Fallout of um well warp activity in and around the systems that they have been assigned to in fact one
Of these instances is the earliest recorded mention of the blood swords the purging of the inand system in 84 45 Millennia 41 when the blood swords chapter participated in a campaign against the inard system presumably alongside other Imperial and inquisitorial forces though the details of this campaign has since
Been lost to history or being deliberately misplaced as the end result of the campaign was well over 100 billion Imperial citizens dead after the ultimate sanction of exterminatus was carried out considering the frequent and close cooperation between the blood swords and the star dragons this might also conceivably be where the star dragons
Gained their debt to the order malice perhaps they elected to escort some transport ships of civilians out of the Exterminator Zone before before the ultimate sanction was passed down perhaps the Inquisition elected to Simply overlook this misguided Act of mercy and thus gain the Star Dragon’s falty it’s
Possible but at the same time there are a lot of purging campaigns going on in the vicinity of the eye of Terror so this campaign where a 100 billion civilians lost their lives lives well it’s really nothing all that special or noteworthy in the grand scheme of things although it does indicate that
The blood swords have a reputation for fierce loyalty as the Inquisition tends to only use those aares chapters whose falty and um understanding of the hard necessities and realities of the Imperium can can be relied upon to carry out such strident missions as there have been plenty of
Occasions where the Inquisition has damn near ended up in outright Warfare with the stares chapters when their allies have been chosen poorly besides this potential inquisitorial favor very little else is known about the blood swords except that they are presumably a codex compliant chapter and that they have
Had unusual leadership for quite some time now of course the chapter master of a chapter is usually amongst its eldest and most respected individuals but very rarely indeed if ever in the entire history of the Imperium has a chapter been commanded by someone quite so ancient as the blood swords as their
Chapter Master for quite some time was the venerable dreadnut Dagon this is most unorthodox and also raises some interesting questions about the chapter as well see usually the chapter master of a chapter needs to be around all the time and usually dreadnots aren’t due to the strain placed upon the mutilated
Body within the dreadn casket most dreadnots in fact 99.99% are allowed to while away the centuries in deep Sleep aboard their chapter’s warships and to not do so would probably lead to Madness at best and outright homicidal Insanity at worst and yet Dagen not only managed to retain enough wisdom
Intellect and calm cunning to lead the chapter he maintained it for centuries as he was intered within the dreadn before being elevated to the position of chapter Master now a chapter master being placed within a dreadn and continuing to serve in that capacity would perhaps be more understandable a
Way of honoring him and continuing his rule until he himself voluntarily gave it up or perhaps transforming it into an honorary title but for a Dreadnaught to be elevated to the position I think this may very well be a unique situation in the entirety of 40K as again it is very difficult to
Overstate The Strain and the burden placed upon the venerable pilot of a dreadn for danan to retain his faculties to this degree will have required a will of Spun steel which also incidentally as mentioned does raise some question S as to the chapter’s Heritage the blood swords are supposedly
A successive chapter of the blood angels and their actions and history particularly during the devastation of Bal seems to reinforce this obvious notion and yet we know of course that the blood angels are afflicted with the red thirst and the black rage seemingly near inescapable consequences of their Gene
Seed and its connection to their sire sanguinius it is the near inescapable fate of every blood Angel to either die honorably in combat or to be subsumed by this Gene curse there are exceptions of course as with every rule miston the chief librarian of the blood angels or Lord
Commander Dante their chapter Master but these exceptions are Beyond rare and for a venerable Dreadnaught to not only retain his faculties despite centuries intered within a dreadnots tomb but also avoid falling to the rage whilst in the form of a near constantly awoken dreadn that stretches credulity and there have been certain
Whispers that mayhaps the blood swords although generally accepted within the fraternity of the blood angels might not necessarily belong amongst their ranks suggesting mayhaps even a darker Origins and we do know that certain other chapters ostensibly connected to the blood angels a certain sticky fingered one for example have been strongly suspected of
Quite different parentage still the simple fact that aforementioned chapter Master Dagon died in the defense of sanguinius’ very tomb on Bal alongside Brethren blood angels well that in an of itself is enough to Grant him the title of son of sanguinius at least in my opinion but we haven’t even yet gotten
To the blood swords fraternity and relationship with the star dragons so let’s get started on that shall we much like the two chapters themselves their Cooperative actions are unknown for the most part but what is absolutely known is that the star dragons and the blood swords in large Parts due to the
Relative proximity of their home worlds often operated cooperatively and together both in full chapter strength L and as individual Detachment blood swords would be attached to Star Dragon operations and vice versa the two chapters fleets would operate in mutual support of one another they would lend one another resources shelter and Aid
When never required in fact the two operated so closely that I imagine there were more than a few inquisitors sniffing around for that very reason wondering if this sort of a unified or near unified command structure that communicated frequently could not potentially prove to be a little
Dangerous now of course groups of Space Marines working together is not uncommon and it’s certainly not unsanctioned either but it does have a bit of an unfortunate history see the wardens of the Maelstrom for further examples of that but I do also want to emphasize that this Bond was beyond merely two chapters
Using one another for additional Force for additional ships or brother Marines it struck far deeper than that through their continued and mutual cooperation they developed genuine fraternity between one another the lacks of which usually only reserve for battle brothers within the same chapter which is also interesting as normally the sons of
Sanguinius and those of Vulcan well whilst both Noble chapters their temperaments again might not go along with one another quite so well though depending upon the speculations as to both chapter’s actual Heritage that too could go both ways iron hands operating handin hands with oh I don’t know certain sorceress prudes
Perhaps that would be an interesting project and no doubt about it but speculations surrounding parentage not withstanding the two chapters formed friendships true and honest friendships based on mutual respect and honor and they went well beyond the usual lines of Brotherly Duty as well the blood swords you see lost control of
Their home world of Jagger fall exactly what happened to it is unclear now there are quite a few reasons why a chapter might lose their home World a taint may have been discovered and the chapter itself may have divested itself from the world to avoid avoid such a taint the
Inquisition may have come calling and simply confiscated it both are hardly unknown things this near to the eye of Terror there is also the potential that well chapter Master Dean was wounded supposedly by a tyranid spor mind and that was what saw him anded within his Dreadnaught body a lengthy war against
Those monsters well that would readily explain The Disappearance of quite a few worlds and the blood swords would not be the only Space Marine chapter to have been driven from their home planets by the ever expanding and ever greedy jaws of the hive fleets regardless of how it happened
However the blood Source obviously took it very very badly this was a planet that had been entrusted into their Care by in essence the god Emperor himself via the Imperium this was their world to protect more so than any other and so the blood swords elected to take upon themselves a penitent
Crusade now I want to be quite clear as well that this was probably a self-imposed punishment which is why I worded it as I did penitent Crusades are not simply ways of punishments they are not always something hoisted upon chapters without their approval or their agreement sometimes it is punishment
Sometimes the chapter does not have a choice sometimes the chapter goes willingly and sometimes the chapter chooses to undergo a penitent crusade to Rectify some error some failing either of spirit or of body to make amends in essence for some grave misdeed and in the case of the blood
Swords the reason for it is obvious the loss of that home world and it is also a partial penitent Crusade as normally the entire chapter embarks upon it and they forbid themselves from recruiting any replacement Marines until the Crusade is done now whether or not the blood swords has imposed this restriction upon
Themselves is unclear but it appears as if only a portion of the chapter is currently undergoing The Crusade and that this is a revolving Duty where presumably companies or maybe ships will switch off on the duty of joining containment Fleet Kappa which is the official designation given to the penitent Crusade patrolling the
Outskirts of the eye of Terror another potential interpretation is that only a portion of the chapter is dedicated to it because the other half is made up of star dragons now again to make it absolutely clear here there were no bonds of commitment between the star dragons and
The blood swords the star dragons hadn’t signed a contract or promise that in the unlikely circumstance of one or the other undertaking a penitent Crusade that the other was obligated to join the Star Dragon simply volunteered themselves to do so without any demands without any strengths attached they
Simply joined in and it might then be that this was a a form of argument all right Brothers we understand that you feel you have failed but we think the Galaxy are better off with you and so allow us to share a part of your burden something like that purely speculative
Mind you but it sounds good doesn’t it and it would probably be within character for the star dragons but yet again I must unfortunately disappoint you by also now saying that not a lot is known about this buddy cop comedy either which is a damn shame because this is a really
Interesting part of law that probably deserves a bit of exploration a moment of light in the dark that does not actually defy the dark see I do have a lot of complaints about the direction that modern day 40K is going in in that it is making the world far too bright
And hopeful again there is a way to have good honorable and uplifting stories without actually making the world any less grim and any less dark bringing back God dang loyalist primarch and launching Galaxy spanning Crusades reforging the legions in essence is not one of them
But we do have one exploit at least we can celebrate the attack and the eventual destruction or possibly just the driving off of the space Hulk The accursed Eternity now space hulks of course can vary tremendously in the threat that they pose to the Imperium some are
Simply just masses of Steel and various ships f used together by the vagaries of the warp no more dangerous than any plane sized chunk of metal spiraling through the Galaxy others might be home to enormous armies Of Orcs or tyranids or darker things still others might be
So poisoned by the warp that their mere presence and existance is a danger to any nearby world again see the badab series for more on that the accursed eternity however appeared at first to be the first and none of the latter it appeared to be a
Drifting Hulk it did come with a little bit of a chaos escort however which was engaged by Ordo malice agents of the Inquisition and Fleet ships probably gathered from Imperial Navy elements nearby this inquisitorial flotilla demanded the aid of nearby aarti forces which just happened to be containment Fleet kapper
And its Consignment of blood swords and star dragons after driving off the chaos warships the Ordo malos Inquisitor informed the Space Marines that he would require an escort so that he may Venture into the depth of the accursed eternity the Marin were hesitant to allow this as they would much rather
Simply destroy it from range with their Weaponry but due again to the unspoken debt perhaps that the star dragons owed the order of malice it was agreed that he would be granted three squads two from the Star dragons and one from the blood swords as they entered the space Hulk it
Appeared to be largely relatively inert a little bit of warp [ __ ] not withstanding and eventually the Warriors and their charge found the central chamber of the spacehulk where the ordor males Inquisitor revealed that the entity that had been trapped or who had trapped itself who had embodied this
Enormous Hulk was none other than one of Zena’s most favored servants chyos fate Weaver also known as the architect of Fate having come prepared to deal explicitly with this threat the Ordo Mala agent produced a book inscribed with a prayer to the god Emperor intended to banish chyos back to the
Warp forever and it would have worked but the entity was not kyos fate Weaver it was a far blooder brutal and darker entity that had been entrapped within the accursed eternity specifically as a trap for The Inquisitor his prayer useless his power worthless The Inquisitor was the first to
Die and standing now against an entire demon-possessed space Hulk the Marines were faced with no choice but to flee for their lives back to their vessels which they did suffering tremendous casualties they did eventually manage to escape back AB their vessels and order the annihilation of the spacehog the Marine warships open up
Immediately and succeeded in at least banishing it although the quantity of wreckage Left Behind was uh sparse and if one was to be a pessimist one might very well suggest that the accursed eternity had done exactly what it was intended to do killing precisely who it meant to and sparing precisely who it
Meant to before moving on with its Master’s plants at least as another bright spot in the darkness the blood swords and the star dragons had both managed to live to fight another day which points back to my previous Point as well about it being enti highly possible to have light in the
Darkness without it overpowering the darkness I would like to see more of the relationship between these two brother chapters though as it is a really cool and unusual story but until next time that is all we know about either one of these chapters so I been Arch thank you all very much
For listening and I hope to see you all again soon till then have a good day
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