62
edits
Changes
From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
no edit summary
'''Sigismund''' was the first [[Black Templars]] [[Emperor's Champion]] and originally First Captain of the [[Imperial Fists]]. During [[Horus]]'s attack on the [[Imperial Palace]], [[Rogal Dorn]] chose Sigismund as the Emperor's Champion, and gave him the best armour and weapons. He went forward to challenge the traitorous leaders to single combat, and triumphed over all he met in battle. When Rogal Dorn accompanied the Emperor of Mankind and Sanguinius in boaring Horus's flagship, he left most of his Imperial Fists behind to look to the defense of the Imperial Palace. Considering him his finest soldier, Dorn placed Sigismund as the leader of the ground forces until Dorn returned.<sup>2</sup>
He was a mighty warrior and after the [[Horus Heresy]] and the breakdown of the [[Imperial Fists]] into [[Codex]] [[chapter]]s, Sigismund led the more zealous of the Imperial Fists as the Black Templars chapter and was elevated to the rank of First [[High Marshal]] of the Black Templars. His personal heraldry, consisting of black and white, became the official colors of his new Chapter. Immediately following the Horus Heresy, the Imperial Fists and their primarch came under suspicion as heretics for their refusal to back the Codex Astartes and break down into smaller Chapters. In addition, the Chapters and former Legions were laden with strife. Recognizing that only an act of supreme faith could quell such suspicion and restore the integrity of the Space Marines, Sigismund declared an eternal crusade, vowing never to cease his prosecution of the Emperor's enemies. All subsequent High Marshals of the Black Templars have renewed this oath, and so the Black Templars have waged their crusade, unbroken, for more then 10,000 years.<sup>3</sup>
During the [[Great Crusade]], Sigismund demonstrated a cold, realist view of the future of the [[Imperium]]. While conversing with [[Garviel Loken]] and other members of the [[Black Legion|Luna Wolves']] [[Mournival]], he stated his belief that the Great Crusade would never end: "we will spend our lives fighting to secure this Imperium, and then I fear we will spend the rest of our days fighting to keep it intact...In the far future, there will be only war." He also delivered a striking statement on the nature of the Imperium, perhaps even the nature of man: "Space is limitless, and so is our appetite to master it." <sup>1</sup>
*<sup>1</sup>:[[Horus Rising (Novel)]], [[Dan Abnett]], p. 130-133
*<sup>2</sup>: [[Codex: Black Templars (4th Edition)]], p.4
*<sup>2</sup>: [[Codex: Black Templars (4th Edition)]], p.6
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sigismund}}
[[Category:Characters (Space Marine)]]
