After Isstvan V, Corax labored laboured with various methods to control the Sable Brand. He developed the [[Trifold Path of Shadow]] as a result in an attempt to control the outbreaks of madness. The doctrine has indeed led to fewer battle-brothers becoming afflicted with the Sable Brand. However, should the afflicted not be slain in battle, they are eventually incarcerated in the [[Ravenspire]] and used in experimentation by the Chapter's [[apothecaries]]. This attempt to cure their gene-seed is carried out in total secrecy.{{Fn|36g}}

Because of their hit and run tactics and sowing confusion in enemy ranks, the Raven Guard also make extensive use of [[Assault Squad]]s as well as any other formation that uses [[Jump Pack]]s.{{Fn|55}}. The [[Tactical Squad]]s of the Raven Guard are often deployed via [[Thunderhawk]]s or [[Drop Pod]]s. The favourite weapons of the Raven Guard [[Space Marine Commander|Commander]]s are the [[Lightning Claw]]s and it is a common sight that their command squads also come equipped with these weapons in addition to their [[Jump Pack]]s.{{Fn|2}}

Raven Guard Captains are fiercely independent, and it's incredibly rare for the chapter to fight as a whole. Individual companies are completely autonomous and are quick to lend their aid to Imperial commanders across the galaxyGalaxy, with or without the sanction of their Chapter Master.{{Fn|2}} Such behaviour has led to some to question the Raven Guard's soundness, but most recognise that such fluidity of command proves the presence of formidable discipline, not its absence.{{Fn|4a}}

[[File:TauVsRavenGuards.jpg|thumb|right|350px|Raven Guard assaulting Tau T'au position]]Core to Corax’s teachings was the '''Trifold Path of Shadow''', often rendered in pictorial form as a short-bladed trident or triple-bladed lightning claw.{{Fn|36e}} The first path of shadow is Ambush,{{Fn|36e}}, the second Stealth,{{Fn|36f}}, and the third Vigilance.{{Fn|36g}} Mastering one Path, he taught, brought the possibility of victory; mastery of two rendered triumph likely, and accomplishment in all three made the foe’s defeat all but inevitable. From the beginning, the chapter’s Chapter’s battle companies were based on this Trifold Path. Companies 3 through 5 each specialised in one branch, and a battle-brother’s promotion to the 2nd came only when true mastery was attained. Such promotion is far from guaranteed. Even amongst Corax’s sons, there are few who can replicate his skill so completely, and many battle-brothers live out a life of war in the same Battle Company, peerless in their own path, but never truly able to grasp the fathomless depths of the others.{{Fn|36e}}

Due to their specialised combat style, the Raven Guard makes less use of heavier vehicles and tanks (such as the [[Land Raider]] and [[Predator]]) than most chapters.{{Fn|3}} However , they conversely make heavy use of [[Land Speeder]]s and gunships, and due to their extreme tactical autonomy and genetic instability nearly every deployment with see an [[Apothecary]] of some sort of included. As a result, the Raven Guard maintains more Apothecaries and [[Helix Adept]]s then than most chapters.{{Fn|43a}}

[[Image:RGvsTau.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Raven Guard battle the [[TauT'au]] ]]The Shadowmasters or [[Mor Deythan]] were a unit of Raven Guard during the [[Great Crusade]] and [[Horus Heresy]]. They were ordinary battle-brothers who had [[Corax|their primarch]]'s ability to '''Shadow-walk'''. It was a quirk of the gene-seed in a few [[Deliverance|Deliverancian]] born Raven Guard that had more than just the standard gene code. One unique trait about of the Shadowmasters is that they were completely unknown to their own legionLegion. The marines were selected for testing "Thermal Technology" which was considered "highly temperamental". Corax and select apothecaries were the only marines in the legion Legion that knew of the group at the time of the [[Horus Heresy]]. The Mor Deythan acted as an elite stealth team and saboteurs and communicated through [[Stalk-Argot]] while working in concert with the rest of the legionLegion. The Shadowmasters performed flanking manoeuvres and sabotaged columns of rogue [[Skitarii]] on [[Constanix II]].{{Fn|18}}

The '''[[Moritat]] Protocol''' dates back to the Horus Heresy, and sees individual Raven Guard dropped into warzones to train local defenders or pro-Imperial elements in order to wage a local insurgency in support of the chapterChapter's own war effort. Other chapters that also employ local insurgencies to their own ends include the [[Alpha Legion]] and [[Word Bearers]].

The Raven Guard are known for their grim and brooding nature. They are thought to be isolationist, dour, and laconic. These traits combined with their preference for secretive and stealth has made them few friends in the wider Imperium.{{Fn|55}} However , due to their history as liberators of slaves, the Raven Guard maintain close ties with mortals, particularly those of their homeworld [[Deliverance]].{{Fn|36a}}

The Rites of Shadow are a Raven Guard and Successor Chapter silent ritual with ancient roots. Conducted in complete silence, Corspake sign language is used for traditional questions and answers. The Rites teach that the shadow contains both trues truth and lies, the purpose of each is the separation of one from the other, and glimpsing of verities otherwise hidden. This is applied to one's Battle-Brother's, one's cause, and even one's foes. Once one has completed the rites, they will earn the status of "Shadow". The title holds great respect, but no rank or authority.{{Fn|36m}}

[[Image:RavenGuardReiver.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Raven Guard [[Reiver]]{{Fn|34a}}]]Owing to the instability of the Raven Guard gene-seed and the experiments of Corax, much of the chapterChapter's genetic stock has been irreparably damaged. Now, much of their genetic material comes from supplies held on [[Terra]]. This means the cycle of recruitment for the Raven Guard is much slower than other Chapters chapters and fewer Raven Guard candidates for the Chapter prove able to survive their training and genetic modification. This means the chapter Chapter is constantly short-handed.{{Fn|2}}

The Raven Guard's chapter planet homeworld [[Deliverance]] is said to lack the population resources available on other chapterchapters's homeworlds. By the time of the Horus Heresy only a few thousand marines in the Raven Guard's number were recruited from Deliverance, the rest made up of the original [[Terra]]n forces inducted before the [[Great Crusade]].{{Fn|1}}

Today, [[Aspirant]]s are considered to be given a high honour of receiving the rare and unstable Gene-seed of the Chapter. They are thus subjected to harsh training in the force-domes of [[Deliverance]] and [[Kiavahr]]. They face lethal conditions with little food, water, or sleep, and are required to evade or kill monsters and [[Mutant]]s and must learn patience, stealth, and the art of the hunt in order to survive. In the Trial of the Watcher, an Aspirant is required to navigate the ganglands of Kiavahr and undertake missions with only the most minimal of visual clues to guide them to their objective.{{Fn|43a}}

In the Trial of Justice, they are tested to see if they can uphold to the ideals of Corax. In this challenge, Aspirants are strapped to a chair in near total darkness and has have their mind examined by Chapter [[Librarian]]s as they are given questions by [[Chaplain]]s on questions relating to loyalty, courage, freedom, and justice. They are often given hypothetical scenarios and complex moral dilemmas and forced to give solutions. There are no true right or wrong answers to these questions, though due to the presence of Librarians an Aspirant can not cannot lie and give responses he knows will please his overseers. A mere attempt at dishonesty sees one killed on the spot or made into a [[Servitor]].{{Fn|43a}}

The Trial of the Wraith is a more physical challenge and forces Aspirants to be dropped alone into the Ologothien Wastes on Kiavahr. They must then traverse 199 miles of lethal territory in three days without sustenance and to be not spotted evade detection by a native predatorpredators. Thus aspirants are forced to utilize utilise their stealth training to the utmost extreme.{{Fn|43a}}

Those that complete their trials can expect long service in the [[10th Company (Raven Guard)|10th Company]] as [[Scout]]s, of which the Raven Guard maintains a higher amount of number compared to other Chapterschapters. Upon proving themselves after years of service in the 10th Company, a full Battle-Brother can take on a new name, often that of a past Chapter champion or a Kiavahran word for a beast, weapons, weapon or folk hero.{{Fn|43a}}

*While stated in the background that all ''Raven Guard'' have black hair, there is at least one instance where [[Games Workshop]] showed a miniature [http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m1860548_Raven_guard_AssaultMarines.jpg with a different hair colour] (accessed 2011/09/08){{CME}}. If this is a mistake or deliberate is unknown.