Exorcists

From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
Jump to: navigation, search
Targetdrone.gif This article is about the the Space Marine Chapter. For other uses of Exorcist, see Exorcist (disambiguation).
Exorcists
 Exorcists Livery.jpg
ExorcistsPrimaris.jpg Exorcistsmini.jpg
Founding Chapter: Imperial Fists[13][14f][Note 1]
Founding: Thirteenth Founding
Descendants: Swords of Epiphany[13]
Chapter Master: Aymir Vasaphon[13]
Homeworld: Banish[5]
Fortress-Monastery: Basilica Malefex
Colours: Deep Red armour, with bone aquila on breastplate, a sculpted horned skull on the left shoulder panel, with black backpack and pauldron trim.[Conflicting sources]
Specialty: Combating Daemons
Scouts & intelligence[13]
Strength: Unknown, mostly codex adherent but maintain two additional Neophyte Scout companies[13]
Battle Cry Reports describe a slow, chilling chant in a number of dark languages, mixed with Litanies in High Gothic

The Exorcists are a Space Marine Chapter with a particular speciality in combating Daemons and the forces of Chaos.[13]

History

The Exorcists are a chapter with a very dubious founding history. Highly secretive and silent, little is known about their early days.[13] On the subject of their creation, a single communication remains, and was sent from a Genetor-Major of the Xenobiologis core, named Lauram Clelland.[12]

The Exorcists were formed as a successor chapter of the Imperial Fists[13] at the end of M35, or early M36, in the Thirteenth Founding (The Dark Founding). Created from resilient Gene-Seed stock, in the early years of the Chapter they proved adaptable to many strategic challenges. However, the fate of the Chapter dramatically changed after the events on Totem IV. During the campaign to liberate the planet from Daemons under the control of the Lord of Change Keriath the Shrouded, the Exorcists proved resilient against hordes of Tzeentchian Daemons. Taking heavy physical damage but able to overcome the mental assaults of the Warp, at the height of the battle Chapter Master Enoch Trismegistus was possessed by Keriath. However, Trismegistus was able to use the possession to awaken his own psychic abilities, reaching into the mind of Chief Librarian Goetos and gaining his aid in driving the Daemon out. Keriath was subsequently banished back to the Warp.[13]

The incident became known to the Plutonians, a Radical sect of the Ordo Malleus. The Plutonians relieved the Chapter Master of command and established a purpose-built facility on the chapter homeworld of Banish. Here, Trismegistus was interrogated relentlessly, but eventually found to be pure. The Plutonians eventually revealed their theories of using the power of possession against the Warp, and Trismegistus found himself agreeing with the Radicals. Thereafter the Plutonians were allowed to remain on Banish permanently and aid the Chapter in its Daemonic Possession trials of Aspirants, hoping to recreate Trismegistus' experience to create an army of daemonically resilient warriors.[13]

One member of the Ordo Malleus' delegation on Banish, Cardinal Rodrigo Nessun, went mad after witnessing the high rate of failure of the early initiation process, turning to Chaos worship and fleeing with most of the Space Marines that couldn't be successfully exorcised, forming the Swords of Epiphany Chaos Warband.[10]

Exorcists original colour scheme. From White Dwarf magazine #101(UK).[7]

During the 12th Black Crusade, the Exorcists were one of three chapters — together with the White Consuls and Red Talons — that entered the Gothic Sector after the Warp storm that had isolated the sector ended and fought in the Gothic War.[1a]

The Exorcists were involved in the Badab War against rebel Chapters.[4] The Exorcists are also one of only four Space Marine Chapters to have fought both in the Third War for Armageddon and against the Thirteenth Black Crusade.[2][3]

Later, upon the formation of the Great Rift, a Torchbearers fleet bound for Banish met with intense Daemonic assault. The Rogue Traders with the fleet came to regard the mission as cursed, and all of its Greyshields fell in action. Even the Custodians of the fleet muttered that such attention from the Ruinous Powers was ominous indeed. However, the fleet was eventually able to reach Banish and present the Chapter with the technology to create Primaris Space Marines, though no living specimens remained. This suited the Chapter well, as they were able to use their own Initiates to raise Primaris warriors under their own taboo methods. Thus far, Primaris Marines of the Chapter have not shown signs of incompatibility with the rites of Daemonic possession. Nonetheless, the Chapter's initiation rites left their mark on the Primaris subjects also. On battlefields where they fought alongside other Chapters whose battle-brothers had endured no forced exposure to daemons, subtle differences between the Primaris elements were apparent. Those of the Exorcists seemed more stalwart in the face of Warp entities, but they were also more prone to unexplained decisions and mood swings.[13]

Notable Campaigns

An Exorcists Reiver[14c]

Daemonic Possession Therapy

The most notable trait of the Marines of the Chapter is the process they undergo known as "Daemonic Possession Therapy". Each Marine is, under very tight security, subjected to possession by a minor denizen of the Warp in an area of their Fortress-Monastery known as the Hall of Tempering.[13] The creature is allowed to remain within the host body for twelve hours until they are cast out by a Daemon Hunter. Some of the Marines are so damaged physically and psychologically that they have to be terminated. Most, however, survive, and need only minor reconstructive surgery.[12]

After a minor period of recuperation the subjects are taught the ways of combating Daemons, trained in the use of the 666 verses of the Book of Exorcisms and equipped with the weapons of an Exorcist. To test their new creations, the Marines are put into combat on a Daemon World on the northern edge of the Eye of Terror. A squad of the Grey Knights are held in reserve, just in case they turn on their masters, while the Exorcist Space Marines usually achieve a kill ratio of 97:1, which is impressive, especially against daemons. Test results show that their adrenaline production triples and levels of serotonin drop drastically. This makes the Marines much more aggressive and gives them increased combat effectiveness. Only 1% of them fall to Daemonic infestation again, but the Imperial scientists believe they could eradicate the likelihood of this happening. On the basis that their souls are incorruptible and pure, they are effectively invisible to most warp daemons, as their souls do not register the leak of mortal corruption. Only extremely powerful daemons are able to spot them.[12]

Those that fail the trials are known to suffer horrific fates that are not limited to permanent possession, transformation into Chaos Spawn, states of deathless torture, and broken minds. These individuals, dubbed Broken Ones, are sometimes used as prison vessels to hold captured Daemonic entities.[13]

After the rite of purification, the Exorcists often bear the side effects of possession - spikes, scales, ugly growths, altered skin, etc. To avoid embarrassing the uninitiated and to avoid attracting the attention of other organisations of the Imperium, they usually hide such mutations under hoods and armour. These mutations are often removed from the body of Exorcists through the so-called Orison rites, where other Brothers physically remove the mutations while the subject Marine endures pain and struggles with the memories of the possession. However, even despite this, over time the mutations continue to grow back, and the Orison ritual must be repeated over and over again.[14b]

Gene-Seed

The Exorcists' gene-seed is supposedly made from particularly resilient Imperial Fists stock. However, it is considered an anomaly, as no other sons of Dorn display the Exorcists' resilience to the Daemonic. In another anomaly, the Exorcists display no outward similarities to Dorn or other Imperial Fists successors. The Exorcists bear no fraternal ties to other Imperial Fists successor Chapters, and their battle-cries make no mention of their primogenitor Rogal Dorn. Only upon initiation to the 1st Company are Exorcists even told of their descendance from Dorn. This truth is held as a great secret by the Chapter.[13]

Organisation

The Exorcists are a Codex Chapter, though they deviate in a number of key areas. The Chapter numbers twelve companies instead of the standard ten. They maintain two additional Scout Companies to accommodate a high influx of neophytes. Without these, the Exorcists would cease to exist due to their highly unconventional training methods.[8a]

Another prominent feature of the Exorcists are the Orisons, specialist cultists who dedicate themselves to particular fields of expertise or knowledge. The most renowned of the Orisons are the Enochian Guard, roughly equivalent to a Chapter's Veteran 1st Company.[8a]

The failed Aspirants of the Exorcists are dubbed the Broken Ones and are used in the Chapter's Daemonic possession trials. These are aided by the Plutonian sect of the Ordo Malleus.[13]

Broken Ones are kept captive in the Purgatomb, guarded by the Daemonium Palatinae, the Wards of the Purgatomb.[14]

Chapter Culture & Tactics

The Exorcists use a variety of esoteric titles such as Brother-Initiate, which signify membership to the secretive Orison Cults. These cults are an important part of Chapter identity, and they open their doors to any Exorcists who would consult their records or learn more of their traditions. These cults operate their own sub-cults and shrines, and its members reflect in different ways upon their duties as Space Marines while working to expand the bespoke libraries each Orison maintains.[13]

Certain Orison Cults do maintain historic association with certain battlefield roles, with many First Company veterans belonging to the Enochian Guard while the Obelisk Thelemus attracts many Techmarines and Devastators. The Broken Tower cult is almost exclusively formed from Librarians. Membership to one cult does not preclude membership to another, and highly regarded heroes of the Chapter may have multiple Orison honours to their name.[13]

Despite their similarities to the Grey Knights, the combat doctrine of the Exorcists differs greatly. Unlike the Grey Knights, the Exorcists possess no special resources other than hardened resolve to fight the Daemonic, and are more strategically flexible due to their adherence to the Codex Astartes. They are known for their effective reconnaissance and large use of Scouts, deploying them behind enemy lines to collect intelligence. Indeed, many of these Scouts undertake combat duties that would normally be reserved to fully fledged battle-brothers. A favoured tactic is to work neophyte forces into positions where they appear vulnerable and then reveal them, drawing out the enemy by giving them a false sense of tactical advantage before crushing their advances with the full weight of the Exorcists’ main force. Since the introduction of Primaris Space Marines, they have made great use of Vanguard formations.[13]

Heraldry

The Exorcists' symbol, the Calva Daemoniorum, is a fleshless skull with horns.[14a]

Notable Elements

Relics

Notable Vessels

Notable Vehicles

Notable Members

Images

  • Chapter Icon - Common Armorial Use[8d]

  • Almoner-Sergeant Idris Commander[8d]

  • Lector Rabelias[8a]

  • Brother-Initiate Gebruah[8b]

  • Brother-Initiate Belloch[8b]

  • Inceptus Kahl[8a]

  • Brother-Initiate Avasi[8b]

  • Almoner-Apothecary Karsweltus[8g]

  • 8th Squad Weapons Panoply[8d]

  • Marine from Space Marine 2.

Trivia

TriviaScrollTrans.png

The following information is not to be regarded as officially sanctioned and/ or is not written from an in-universe point of view. A detailed explanation of the term "Trivia" as used in the Lexicanum can be found here.

Notes

  • Note 1: In the short story "Headhunted", according to Darrion Rauth's POV it is believed by some Exorcists that they are created from the geneseed of the Grey Knights.[6] This should be weighed against the fact that only initiates of the 1st-Company are told their true heritage from Rogal Dorn.[13] Thus it can be reconciled that the Exorcists largely are led to believe they are of Grey Knight genestock, save for those initiated into the 1st-Company.

Conflicting sources

  • There are conflicting accounts as to the exact colour scheme used by the Exorcists:
    • In Insignium Astartes it is written that “Helmet stripe displays company colour”, and shows a marine with a yellow stripe upon his helmet. Additionally, the image depicts the squad number in Roman numerals upon the marine’s right shoulder pad, over the battlefield role symbol. Also their backpack is red, not black.[16]
    • This conflicts with the images from Imperial Armour Volume Ten - The Badab War - Part Two, which depicts marines with no head stripe, and squad number in Arabic numerals on kneepads rather than shoulder pads.[8a][8b]
    • In Adeptus Astartes: Successor Chapters they are depicting showing company colours on pauldron trim and squad number in Roman numerals upon the marine’s right shoulder pad.[17] Furthermore, the marine depicted in Codex: Space Marines (8th Edition, 2nd Codex) has squad number on the right pauldron as in Insignium, but no helmet stripe - company colour is presumably shown through pauldron trim colour.text-middle[Help]

See also

Sources

Uncited

Retrieved from "https://lex.124811.xyz/mediawiki/index.php?title=Exorcists&oldid=730784"