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|Fortress-Monastery=
|Colours=Black with white aquila and markings{{Fn|10}}
|Specialty=Dragon Claws{{Fn|11a}}
|Battle Cry="Fire and bone"{{Fn|3a}} or "Bless the curse".{{Fn|3b}}{{Fn|16}}
|Strength=
}}
The '''Black Dragons''' were long rumored to be a [[Salamanders]] [[Successor Chapter]] {{Fn|15}}{{Fn|5}}. The chapter was founded in the cursed [[Twenty First Founding|21st Founding]], just prior to the [[Age of Apostasy]].{{Fn|11a}}
==History==
[[File:Black-dragon-large.jpg|right|300px|thumb|A Dragon Claw.{{Fn|4}}]]
The Black Dragons are chiefly known for their status as a Cursed Founding chapter, and for their uniquely peculiar [[gene-seed]] mutation; their [[Ossmodula]] [[zygote]] has mutated, producing bony crests on their heads and blades from the forearm and elbow. Similar to the [[Death Company]] of the [[Blood Angels]], those with these abnormalities join a separate unit, known as the '''Dragon Claws'''. In this unit, they sharpen their protrusions to a killing edge and coat them with [[adamantium]] to turn them into horrifying [[Close Combat Weapon]]s.{{Fn|11a}}{{Fn|5}} These forearm blades can be retracted into the Claw's arm and then extended at will. The most extreme mutations also cause rampant growth in the rest of the Marine's skeleton; some Dragon Claws stand more than three metres tall and must wear custom [[power armour]] to fit their gargantuan frames.{{Fn|3b}}
There are many in the Inquisition who doubt their loyalty and several other chapters refuse to fight alongside them, including the [[Dark Angels]] and [[Marines Malevolent]].
{{Fn|11a}}
It is rumored that the Black Dragon [[Apothecaries]] deliberately encourage these growths, wishing to create more of the valued Dragon Claws. This is a very dangerous practice and such gene-manipulation away from the genic template of a [[Space Marine]] is forbidden in the [[Imperium]]. When the usual 5% tithe of [[gene-seed]] is requested, the Black Dragons often resist giving it over, and sometimes have needed to be threatened with military action in order to comply with the tithe request. When they do send it in, the veracity of the gene-seed is unknown, as each passes the most stringent tests; some, therefore, believe that it is not even the gene-seed of the Black Dragons. How this is procured is a mystery, although the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] and some ordos of the [[Inquisition]] are eager to investigate the medical practices of the Cursed Founding chapter.{{Fn|1}}{{Fn|3b}}
==Notable Elements of the Black Dragons==
===Vessels===
*''[[Ebon Flame]]'' — [[Battle Barge]].{{Fn|1b}}
*''[[Argent Blade]]'' — [[Strike Cruiser]].{{Fn|11}}
*''[[Sablewyrm]]'' — [[Strike Cruiser]].{{Fn|16}}
==Sources==
*{{Endn|1}}: [[White Dwarf 279 (UK)]], **{{Endn|1a}}: pg. 50**{{Endn|1b}}: pg. 65
*{{Endn|2}}: [[Codex: Armageddon (3rd Edition)]], pg. 32
*3: [[The Death of Antagonis (Novel)]]:
