User:Mob

Regular contributor for four years.

Reminder List

• Rewrite Blood Ravens.
• Create redlinked articles from Thousand Sons.

Hit me up on my talk page for any questions, advice, complaints, ideas etc. Thanks.--Mob 17:31, 24 March 2011 (CET)

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Blood Ravens			65px
		x160px
Founding Chapter:	Unknown
Founding:	Unknown
Chapter Master:	Gabriel Angelos1,2a
Homeworld:	n/a; Fleet-based Chapter2b
Fortress-Monastery:	Battle Barge Omnis Arcanum2b
Colours:	Dark red/black/parchment white.
Specialty:	Large number of Librarians2b
Strength:	Unknown
Battle Cry	"Knowledge is power, guard it well."2c

History

The Blood Ravens are a mysterious Chapter of Space Marines dedicated to the acquisition of knowledge as well as service to the Imperium of Man. Possessed of powerful Librarians, the Blood Ravens are noted for their ability to predict enemy movements and fall on them with the precise application of force required. Their origins are unknown and a cause of much speculation to themselves and to others.^2d

Founding

A Blood Raven Astartes

The precise Founding in which the Blood Ravens were created is unknown; their own chapter histories only begin in M37, though other Imperial records contain some small references to the Chapter as existent before then. It is important to note that the Blood Ravens' histories are completely absent before the M37 date; they are not just spotty or fragmentary records. As a result, the Astartes of the Chapter know absolutely nothing about their origins, including having no knowledge of their primogenitor legion or primarch. This absence of information about a primarch has resulted in the Blood Ravens focusing their spiritual reverence on the Emperor. However, they do have one particular mytho-historical figure of import in the form of Azariah Vidya, known as the Great Father of the Blood Ravens.^2d

Azariah Vidya is reputed to have been a member of the Chapter during its first years. According to the legend (for actual records of this event apparently do not exist), during a disastrous campaign against a Chaotic uprising in the Gothic sector, their Chapter Master, Master of Sanctity and most of their elite 1st Company were killed in action. The young Chapter, now without much of their senior cadre, turned to Chief Librarian Vidya for leadership. Vidya, already said to be an expert in the ways of the Ruinous Powers, turned to both research and guile to achieve victory, using Imperial Guard forces to probe and distract the enemy before leading surgical Astartes strikes on important heretic locations that critically disrupted not only their military lines but also their sources of eldritch power. The campaign was swiftly ended in favour of the Imperium, and in the aftermath it was discovered that the whole rebellion (and therefore the associated extermination of the Blood Ravens veterans) had been organised by the Alpha Legion.^2d

Vidya was asked by the 'Secret Masters' of the Chapter to officially become Chapter Master; something he did while retaining his position as Chief Librarian.^2d This resulted in the tradition of the Blood Ravens whereby Librarians are afforded dual-roles as command officers.^2b

Recent Years

The Blood Ravens of fact, not of legend, are driven by the need to discover the truth about their origins, as well as the philosophy of the gaining of knowledge. To this end, they have developed friendly interactions with the Adeptus Mechanicus and have often been assigned to Explorator missions to unknown/uneplored areas of the galaxy as a result. Combined with their own missions to seek out ancient ruins, mythic sites or other sources of information, the Blood Ravens have done much to expand the boundaries of both Imperial knowledge and space.^2e

The Blood Ravens have also become notable for engaging their heretic brethren, with some of their most recent campaigns featuring heavy interaction against the forces of Chaos. Of particular import are the actions of the 3rd Company under Gabriel Angelos on the world of Tartarus, where the Alpha Legion (as well as various xenos forces) were combated³, the multi-company force commanded by Captain Davian Thule who had to deal with Word Bearers interference during a complex mission primarily directed against a Necron threat on the world of Kronus⁴, and perhaps most critically, the failed Kaurava campaign commanded by Captain Indrick Boreale, in which a full 5 Companies of the Blood Ravens were lost.⁵

This loss was a serious blow to the Chapter, robbing them of half their manpower in one defeat. This resulted in the Blood Ravens being forced to concentrate on building up their numbers and protecting their Recruiting Worlds for some time, although this period did not pass without serious incident. Multiple xenos theats - including a limited Tyranid invasion⁶ - assailed the Chapter, which eventually found itself combating not only the heretics of the Black Legion, but an insidious heretical threats from within its own ranks⁷, which included betrayal by their Chapter Master Azariah Kyras⁸. In the aftermath of all these events, the Blood Ravens are a weakened force, but one reforged in both combat and faith and now led by the acclaimed Chapter veteran Gabriel Angelos.⁸

Recruits are drawn from planets ranging from the most primal feral world to sprawling, violence-plagued hive worlds - the only common factor of the specific worlds they recruit from being their heavy incidence of psyker mutations.

In the Dawn of War: Soulstorm campaign line, if played as the Space Marines (Blood Ravens) and win, the epilogue notes that they were given their own fortress-monastery on Kaurava II in the Lands of Solitude, renamed Borealum in honour of Brother-Captain Indrick Boreale, the force commander who led the five Blood Raven companies to victory.² However, in Dawn of War 2, it's mentioned that the Blood Ravens lost the campaign in the Kaurava System.

Beliefs

The Blood Ravens' ignorance of their own origins has led the Chapter to value information and knowledge greatly. They are known to seek out sites of lost artefacts and ancient significance to deny them to the enemy. The Blood Ravens rely heavily on their Librarians to keep the secret archives in order and compile new records, but just as important as their custodial tasks is their duty to seek out new information to bolster the archives and guide the Chapter in its quest for knowledge. Librarians are highly regarded within the chapter, there are even 2 whole tactical squad made up of librarians.

Geneseed

The Blood Raven geneseed seems to be stable, though the high proportion of psykers in the Blood Ravens ranks has resulted in more regular testing of the purity of their geneseed tithe. Thus far, there has been little evidence of mutation. There is, however, a slight mutation in the Catalepsean Node, which grants Blood Ravens perfect recall, but renders them unable to experience R.E.M. Sleep.

Organisation

File:BRIA.jpg

Blood Ravens from Index Astartes

The Blood Ravens follow the standard organization laid down in the Codex Astartes. Due to the higher proportion of Librarians within the Blood Ravens, it is not unknown for Librarians to lead companies into battle.

The higher echelons of command within the Blood Ravens reflect the high proportion of psykers within the Chapter and many of the Secret Masters of the Chapter are themselves psykers. These warriors obsessively study the ways of the enemy to better fight them.

NOTE: The only time the "secret masters" of the chapter are talked about are during Chris Roberson's Dawn of War II book. This conflicts with canon established in the Dawn of War II game where the Force Commander was promoted by the Chapter Master. This is most likely who leads the chapter, though it is also possible that the Secret Masters provide a council of sorts for the Chapter Master.

The Fated

The Blood Ravens 5th company is known as the 'Fated', and though the reasons for this are obscure, it may go back to an incident recorded in the annals of the Chapter's Librarium, but never spoken of openly. In M38 the entire 5th company was recorded as having been lost in the Warp, but the truth of the matter may be by far darker. It is whispered that one of the company Librarians was seduced by the lure of the ruinous powers, and turned his fellow brethren to Chaos. This notion is by and large dismissed by the Chapter today, but for unknown reasons the current members of the Blood Ravens 5th Company wear badges of redemption, penitence and shame upon their armor suits.^[1] During the Aurelian Crusade Gabriel Angelos remarked the fact the 5^th company is only allowed a single librarian at any time. This is strange since the chapter incorporates so many psykers including two battle squads of the first company being made completely of librarians.^[5]

Ordo Psykana

The Ordo Psykana is body with in the Blood Ravens that is made up entirely of librarians most of which were recruited from the Scholastia Psykana. The order maintains the beacons that are in the Sanctorium Aracanum which were set up by the great father Azariah Vidya.

Noted Elements of the Blood Ravens

Relics

• Alexian's Blade^4a
• Azariah's Cincture^4a
• Daemonhammer^4a
• Gauntlets^4a
• God-Splitter³
• Greaves^4a
• Iron Halo^4a
• Pauldrons^4a

Vessels

• Omnis Arcanum - Battle Barge, Chapter Monastery
• Litany of Fury - Battle Barge
• The Observer - Battle Barge
• Scientia Est Potentia - Battle Barge
• Armageddon - Strike Cruiser
• Rage of Erudition - Strike Cruiser
• Ravenous Spirit - Strike Cruiser
• Retribution - Strike Cruiser

Notable Members of the Blood Ravens

• Azariah Vidya - Great Father of the Chapter.^2d
• Gabriel Angelos - Chapter Master.^{1, 2a}
• Indrick Boreale - Brother-Captain.⁵
• Isador Akios - Librarian.³
• Jonah Orion- Librarian.⁷
• Rhamah - Librarian of the Ninth Company.⁹ (^{[Needs Citation]})
• Ulantus - 9th Company Captain. ^{[Needs Citation]}
• Gordian - Apothecary. ^{[Needs Citation]}
• Martellus - Techmarine. ^{[Needs Citation]}
• Tarkus - Sergeant of the 5th Company, 1st squad.⁶⁷
• Thaddeus - Sergeant of the 5th Company, 7th squad.⁶⁷
• Avitus - Sergeant of the 5th company, 9th squad.⁶⁷
• Cyrus - Scout Sergeant.⁶
• Davian Thule - Dreadnought.

LIST OF BLOOD RAVENS (SEPARATE PAGE)

• Brocus - leads the 6th company. Suffering heavy losses to an ork Waaagh! in M39 and adopted lightning strikes simmilar to those of the White Scars. He named his power axe 'Judgement Of The Khan'.⁴
• Mikelus - Reclusiarch, accompanied the Blood Ravens task-force on Kronus, 1st Company.
• Anteas - Epistolary, accompanied the Blood Ravens task-force on Kronus.
• Saribander - Epistolary
• Borian Arivalt - Apothecary.
• Aramus - Force Commander assigned to the fifth company.⁶⁷
• Konan - Epistolary aboard the Armageddon.⁶⁷
• Hyrcleon - Tactical Marine Sergeant Fifth company second squad.⁶⁷
• Eleazer - Tactical Marine Sergeant Fifth company fourth squad.⁶⁷
• Palmarius - Chaplain attatched to Davian Thule's recruitment mission to the Aurelia sub-sector.
• Gronink - A Dreadnought was entombed in holy armour after being mortaly wounded fighting orks⁴
• Callum - A Dreadnought who once waded into the shallows near the town of Storm Reach to crush an Ork submarine with his powerfists⁴
• Isaak Jordanos - Techmarine Once visited Fenris and crafted the power axe 'Fang of Fenris' in honor of the mighty fortress monestery there.⁴
• Narine - Scout Entire squad died fighting orks on promotion to tactical marine took a vow of silence and opted to remain a scout sergeant.⁴
• Idris - Artificer.⁴
• Jacob - A battle brother who wielded the two handed force hammer 'Doom of Traitors' against Alpha Legion Chaos Space Marines⁴
• Karolus - A young Sergeant who served in the Kronus campaign, armed with a power fist, the field generator of which failed. Received a battlefield commendation for fighting on. The power fist was later repaired, the blood of every Xeno race from that campaign being preserved forever beneath the field.⁴
• Matiel - 3rd Company Sergeant. Named his chainsword after the planet Tartarus where he served and died fighting Orks.
• Nicholas - Was a talented sniper as an Initiate, would whisper a sermon before each shot from his rifle and was favoured by Chaplains of the chapter⁴
• Trythios - The first of the chapter to serve in the Deathwatch. Carried a plasma pistols named 'Hate of Xenos', which would later be passed to all Blood Ravens serving in that elite force⁴
• Ulanthus - 9th Company Sergeant, fought on Valhalla against the Ork horde of Warboss Icekrakka - ending the conflict by driving his chainsword 'Valhalla's Teeth' through his skull⁴
• Ulysus - 2nd Company Sergeant. Served in the Kronus campaign, striking down a Necron Pariah with his chainsword⁴
• Damon - 4th Company Sergeant who whields the plasma gun 'purifier of tombs' ⁴
• Sunnis - Libraian⁴

Notable Battles

• Tartarus Campaign (Dawn of War)
• Kronus Campaign (Dawn of War: Dark Crusade)
• Kaurava Campaign (Dawn of War: Soulstorm)
• The Aurelian Crusade (Dawn of War II)
• The Second Aurelian Crusade (Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising)

Sources

• ¹:Dawn of War II: Retribution
• ²:>Blood Ravens Index Astartes entry - GW website - no longer active.
  • ^2a:p.2
  • ^2b:p.3
  • ^2c:p.5
  • ^2d:p.1
  • ^2e:p.4
• ³:Dawn of War
• ⁴:Dawn of War: Dark Crusade
  • ^a Commander screen; Wargear section
• ⁵:Dawn of War: Soulstorm
• ⁶:Dawn of War II
• ⁷:Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising
• ⁸:Dawn of War II: Retribution
• ⁹:Dawn of War: Blood Ravens

• ^{5</sup*6Roberson, Chris (2009). Dawn of War II. Black Library. ISBN-13 978-1844166862.}
• ⁷Roberson, Chris (2009). Dawn of War II. Black Library. ISBN-13 978-1844166862. dramatis personae pages 404-406

[1]

See also

• List of Space Marine Chapters

[[Category:Later Foundings [[Category:Blood Ravens|*