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|Homeworld=[[Atargatis Prime]]{{Fn|3a}}
|Fortress-Monastery='''Lost Eyrie'''{{Fn|3a}}
|Colours=Black , red, and Redbronze
|Specialty=Orbital Interface Assault
|Battle Cry=
|Miniature Px=125
}}
The '''{{PAGENAME}}''' are a piratical warband of [[renegade Space Marine]]s based in the [[Ghoul Stars]].{{Fn|1}}{{Fn|3a}}
==History==
Notably, [[Praetor (Rank)|Shade Captain]] [[Nerat Kirine]] of the Ashen Claws developed the strategy employed by the XIXth Legion, accompanied by the [[Luna Wolves]], in the [[Battle of Hell's Anvil]]. Initiating a concussive bombardment on the subterranean fortifications, the Legions allowed the [[Imperial Army]] to suffer the worst of the casualties whilst the Ashen Claws launched hit and run attacks on the Overseers. The battle established the reputation of assignment alongside the XIXth as a death sentence to the Imperial Army{{Fn|2b}} and, combined with their heritage as slaver-warlords, contributed to the ill-will that Corax bore towards the [[Terra]]n veterans when he took command of the Legion.{{Fn|1}}
===Exileand Horus Heresy===
In 002.M31, a large proportion of the Terran Legionaries remaining in the Raven Guard were killed in the [[Battle of Gate Forty-Two]]. In the aftermath of the battle, Corax gathered the majority of the surviving veterans of the old XIXth Legion and those prisoners freed from [[Deliverance]] who did not fit his vision of the Legion into Crusade fleets, dispatching them to the [[Ghoul Stars]]. One such fleet, placed under the Deliverance-born Praetor [[Calvus]], consisted of some four thousand survivors of the Ashen Claws, including Shade Captain Kirine. Their fleet consisted of thirteen capital vessels and a score of [[frigate]]s.{{Fn|1}}
The Ashen Claws sacked [[Tenebor]], the fortress-moon of the [[Night Lords]]' destroyed homeworld [[Nostramo]], and sealed the population of [[Cairn]] beneath the collapsed spires of their [[hive]]-cities after destroying the Night Lords stationed there. Combined with the increased activity of [[alien]] species such as the [[Khrave]], this served to destabilise the Nostramo sector until it finally collapsed into anarchy after the Ashen Claws brought down the ''[[Shroud of Eventide]]'' in the [[Battle of Kalleth]], depriving the Night Lords of their leader [[Kheron Ophion]].{{Fn|1}}
At the [[Battle of Desperation]], Kirine responded to hails from [[Praetor (Rank)|Chapter Master]] [[Arceas Odinathus]] of the [[Ultramarines]] by disavowing allegiance to either the [[Emperor]] or the traitorous [[Horus|Warmaster]], apparently believing Corax dead.{{Fn|1}} In the following years, the Ashen Claws raided across the eastern fringes of the Galaxy, attacking both Loyalists as well as Traitors, including on [[Dellar IX]].{{Fn|5b}} In one notable campaign, the "[[Scouring of the Nostramo Sector]]", the Ashen Claws decimated large Night Lords contingents.{{Fn|1}}
===Second Crusadeand later history===By the time of the [[Great Scouring]] in 017.M31, the [[Blood Angels]] 9th Chapter, the [[Angels Vermillion]], arrived to find only scattered remnants of the Night Lords in the region around Nostramo, rather than the determined resistance of up to thirty thousand Legionaries as expected. It was speculated that the Ashen Claws were responsible for the destruction of Traitor forces based in the Nostramo Sector.{{Fn|1}} [[Astropath]]ic fragments intercepted during a deep range patrol of the Ghoul Stars indicate that as late as 062.M31 the Ashen Claws were still an active forceexpanding their realm, bringing worlds into compliance according to edicts of their 'Second Crusade' from a base on [[Atargatis]].{{Fn|1}} They also By [[M41]], they still operate and have an ongoing deal with the [[Carcharodons]], trading recruits and materiel.{{Fn|4}}
===Timeline===
*[[M30]] : [[Unification Wars]]*M30 : [[Battle of Hell's Anvil]]*002.[[M31]] : [[Battle of Gate Forty-Two]] — 18th Chapter suffers significant casualties and is exiled to the [[Ghoul Stars]]{{Fn|1}}*007.M31 : [[Nostramo|Tenebor]] — Killed the defending [[Night Lords]], looted the fortress, and stole the proginoid glands from the slain Night Lords.{{Fn|1}}*033011.M31 : [[Battle of Kalleth]] — although defeated, the [[Nostramo Sector]] is destabilised by the loss of [[Praetor (Rank)|Captain]] [[Kheron Ophion]] of the [[Night Lords]].{{fn|1}}*997011.M31 : [[Battle of Desperation]] — acquire large amount of munitions before retreating.{{Fn|1}}*???.M31: Battle against [[White Scars]] on [[Dellar IX]]{{Fn|5b}}*062.M31 : Compliance of Orcades{{Fn|1}}*~800s.[[M41]] — : Aiding the [[Carcharodons]] against [[Genestealer Cult]]ists on [[Piety V]].{{Fn|3}}
==Culture==
The Ashen Claws still maintain some links with the Imperium, such as with the [[Carcharodons]] [[Space Marines]], and often barter for war material and slaves with the Chapter.{{Fn|3}}
=== Known worlds ===
* [[Atargatis]]{{Fn|1}}
* [[Orcades]]{{Fn|1}}
* [[B'Dar]]{{Fn|5a}}
* [[Maboroshi]]{{Fn|5a}}
* [[Svyatlatagor]]{{Fn|5a}}
==Tactics==
*[[Calvus]] — [[Praetor (Rank)|Praetor]] assigned command of the Crusade Fleet in 002.[[M31]], presumed deceased.{{Fn|1}}
*[[Nerat Kirine]] — [[Praetor (Rank)|Shade Captain]] (011.M31).{{Fn|1}}
*[[Artal Heloc]] — [[Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought]]. KIA on Dellar IX.{{Fn|5b}}
====Post-Heresy====
**{{Endn|3a}}: Chapter III
*{{Endn|4}}: [[Carcharodons: Red Tithe (Novel)]],{{Cite this}}
*5: [[Campaigns of the Age of Darkness: The Battle of Beta-Garmon]],
**{{Endn|5a}}: ''Map inside cover''
**{{Endn|5b}}: pg. 143, ''Blackshields Contemptor Dreadnought''
[[Category:Raven Guard]]
