Test of the Iron Gauntlet
The Test of the Iron Gauntlet is the initial trial given by Iron Priests to potential Techmarine aspirants.[1]
Overview
A young and gifted Fenrisian smith may choose to make the lonesome voyage to the Isles of Iron as a pilgrimage to meet with gods. The smiths of the Fenrisian tribes worship the Gods of Iron, who are in truth the Space Wolves' techmarines, who dwell within the volcanic Iron Isles amid the Boiling Sea. The journey is arduous and requires wit and skill to survive. Those that do will meet their gods, or at least the transhumans that readily maintain their guise as gods.[1]
The Iron Priests task each pilgrim with creating the finest swords within the lava forges. Skin and sweat sizzles as they labour at the mouth of the volcano. They are also forced to do so whilst wearing bulky iron muscles, both hampering their dexterity and making their muscles scream from exertion. The crude metals must be transformed into deadly weapons of war at a masterful standard: anything less and they fail. Those that pass will be be taken into apprenticeship and initiated into the Space Wolves, going on to journey to Mars to become versed in machine lore and the Cult Mechanicus as all Techmarines are, before eventually returning to Fenris to take their place amongst the Iron Priests.[1]
Few among these young pilgrims pass the Test of the Iron Gauntlet, roughly only one for every hundred that attempt it. These subhuman creatures are taken to the dungeons and forcefully transformed into servitors, punished for the heinous crime of wasting an Iron Priest's time. These failures are so low in status that they are seen as beneath even the cyberwolves, the bionic beasts of war that accompany Iron Priests in battle. These servitors must atone for their shortcomings by aiding the Iron Priests in battlefield repairs or as living weapons, eventually repaying their debt in one way or another.[1]
See also
Sources
- 1: Codex: Space Wolves (8th Edition), pg. 36
