1,539
edits
Changes
From Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum
Some clean up, citations go after periods
'''Corvus Corax'''{{Fn|2a}} is the [[Primarch]] of the [[Raven Guard]] [[Space Marine Legion]]. Growing up to become a revolutionary for the workers of [[Lycaeus]], Corax became a master of guerrilla warfare and hit-and-run tactics. He remained true to the [[Emperor]] during the [[Horus Heresy]], and as such his Legion took some of the heaviest losses of the war during the [[Drop Site Massacre]].
==HistoryBiography==
===Youth===
Corvus Corax was separated from the [[Emperor]] while still an infant by the four [[Chaos]] gods. He was discovered on [[Lycaeus]], the desolate moon of the planet [[Kiavahr]]. At this time the planet was a technologically advanced [[Forge World]], providing its city-size factories with minerals extracted from the non-atmospheric moon by legions of mine-slaves.{{Fn|2b}}.
Under the iron watch of heavily armed guards, the inhabitants of Lycaeus; criminals, political opponents and workers who had failed to meet their quotas, had long provided the rulers of Kiavahr a free and unlimited source of manpower. After the slave-girl [[Nasturi Ephrenia]] discovered the white skinned child who became Corax, "The Deliverer" in their tongue, they kept him from their masters, training him in the various skills they believe a leader and warrior needed: urban warfare, close combat and demolitions as well as political and philosophical matters. Ultimately, his abnormally fast maturation comforted the slaves and they became fixed in their belief that he was the savior they waited for.{{Fn|2c}}.
[[Image:CoraxPortrait.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Corvus Corax]]
Educated to be a leader as well as a rebel, he rapidly began his task by organizing the workers into fight teams, promoting the best of the men as squad leaders. He began building huge stockpiles of weapons, concealing them in numerous secret caches. He ordered a campaign of psychological warfare, launching riots and strikes to build up followers in the worker's rebellion and to stretch the garrison strength and morale to breaking point. Waiting for the opportune time to strike, Corax's forces launched their attack, taking key security points and destroying them by crude force or sabotage, killing every man of the Lycaeus defense forces.{{Fn|2d}}.
When Kiavahr's rulers struck back, Corax was ready for them. He outmanoeuvred and ambushed their forces on Lycaeus with his battle hardened warriors, crushing their supply lines and striking the five biggest cities in Kiavahr with one atomic mining charge each. The charges were embarked on small transport shuttles and reached the surface via a supply gravity well. Soon, their forces nearly destroyed, their vast factories unable to produce anything due to the minerals shortages, the Tech-Guilds collapsed in civil war. While thousands had died in the nuclear bombardment of Kiavahr, millions of its people had been freed.{{Fn|12}} Celebrating their victory, the inhabitants of Lycaeus renamed their home "[[Deliverance]]".{{Fn|2e}}.
[[Image:CoraxYoung.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Young Corax{{Fn|16}}]]
It is said that the Emperor appeared on Deliverance that day and, after a day and a night with his son, appointed him Primarch of the Raven Guard Legion. Nothing is said of their conversation but one condition of Corax's acceptance was the help of the Emperor in the task of bringing peace on Kiavahr. Soon the Adeptus Mechanicus stepped in and the world was rebuilt to the benefit of the [[Imperium]] while the black tower which once housed the guards of the moon became the [[Ravenspire]], the [[fortress monastery|fortress]] of the Legion. {{Cite This}}
===Great Crusade===
During the [[Great Crusade]] , Corax's talents for planning and sabotage were of great effect and the [[Raven Guard]], fighting frequently under the orders of [[Horus]], became renowned for an unmatched ability with covert ops, sabotage, infiltration and lightning strikes. But the pair never saw eye-to-eye, and after an argument, the two Primarchs nearly fought each other. Corax left Horus's command.{{Cite This}}. Corax also began to display great ill-favor and mistrust towards [[Terra]]n-born warriors within his Legion as opposed to those from [[Deliverance]]. This was due to Corax's disgust with the Terrans for their use of terror tactics, which reminded him of the [[Night Lord]]s. Corax instead sought to transform the Legion into a force for liberation of the oppressed.{{Fn|14}} While Corax bitterly opposed [[Horus]] violently sacrificing Terran-born recruits in the [[Battle of Gate 42]], he nonetheless began to "purge" Terrans by sending them on forgotten Crusades to the galactic rim and unexplored space.{{Fn|10}}
During the Crusade Corax was frequently compared to [[Konrad Curze]], Primarch of the [[Night Lords]]. The two were not only physically similar but also alike in their childhoods and even how they waged war. However unlike Curze, Corax retained a degree of humanity and did not engage in the mass slaughter that the Night Haunter was known for. Corax himself was disturbed by the comparisons to Curze, while the Night Lords Primarch himself came to hate the Ravenlord for the constant comparisons. During the [[Carinae Retribution]] tensions between the two came to a head, with Corax confronting Curze over his mass slaughter of civilians. The two nearly came to blows, but Corax was able to convince [[Sevatar]] to pressure Curze to withdraw.{{Fn|15}}
{{Spoiler|source=Deliverance Lost (Novel)}}
[[File:Deliverance Lost cropped.jpg|250px|right|thumb|''' Corvus Corax'''{{Fn|1}}]]
The Raven Guard primarch only met Horus again on [[Isstvan V]] .{{Cite This}}. During the [[Drop Site Massacre]], Corax was among the Primarchs leading the loyalist effort against Horus' betrayal. In the battle he personally engaged [[Word Bearers]] Primarch [[Lorgar]] in combat, impaling him with his [[Lightning Claw]]s. Just as he was about to finish Lorgar, [[Konrad Curze]] intervened and forced Corax to retreat.{{Fn|5}}
Though grievously wounded and forced to fight a guerrilla war on Isstvan V for the next 98 days he escaped the slaughter with a handful of loyal Space Marines thanks to the arrival of a small Raven Guard navy led by [[Space Marine Captain|Captain]] [[Branne Nev]]. Captain Branne had been left as reserve on Deliverance and he departed the moon only due to strange dreams haunting the nights of Praefector [[Marcus Valerius]], the commander of [[Therion Cohort]], a loyalist [[Imperial Army]] [[Regiment]]. Unbeknownst to both sides, the [[Alpha Legion]] had allowed Corax's escape to further the plans of [[Alpharius]].{{Fn|2}} On quitting the Isstvan System, Corax sent back to Deliverance all the remaining ships while he himself headed to Terra to seek the counsel of The Emperor. The Primarch was desperate as the Imperium was collapsing, his Emperor needed warriors that Corax could not provide. Moreover, Corax was not granted permission to see The Emperor due to his workings on the man-made corridor to the Eldar [[Webway]].{{Fn|2f}}
===Post-Heresy===
[[Image:CoraxDisappears.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The disappearance of Corax{{Fn|18}}]]
Nobody knows if he received the absolution he required but a year to the day after he had locked himself in, he left the tower and Deliverance on a course toward the [[Eye of Terror]], never to be seen by the Imperium again. His last recorded words were "never Never more." {{Cite This}}
Corax went on to hunt the traitor Primarchs, seeking revenge for the [[Drop Site Massacre]]. At some point he became mutated by the powers of the [[Warp]], turning into a creature made of darkness and shadow itself. Using his new abilities, Corax wreaked havoc on a [[Word Bearers]] [[Daemon World]] in the [[Eye of Terror]]. Far beyond the abilities of average Word Bearers, the [[Daemon Primarch]] Lorgar himself appeared before Corax and the two engaged in a vicious duel. Corax managed to dominate the battle, forcing Lorgar to retreat and close the portal he had arrived from. As Lorgar vanished, Corax vowed that he would hunt down and slay the Daemon Primarch.{{Fn|13}}
