Editing The Windcallers (section)

==Chapter Beliefs==

'''Inquisitorial Note:''' ''This document was preserved by the Chapter Master within his armor, evidently one of the Windcaller's most sacred rituals, and so important he deemed it vital that it be saved in case the Chapter were ever to be reborn. Most of these fragments appear to be from old tomes, but several hasty marks bear the Chapter Master's shaky hand, evidently written from memory in his dying agonies.''



"To leave the bonds of earth and free one's body is to free one's mind as well. Nothing remains but the warrior instinct, laid bare by howling winds." '''This is the creed of the Windcaller, we who seek excellence through meditation and ascension.''' 

"The eternal winds forever roar through the vast Kolbrem Passage, separating one half of the Arpilium Range from the other as sharply as the Materium and Immaterium. Long ago, a rift began to develop beneath these massive peaks, but lacked the energy to split the continent apart and form a true ocean. Now it is a vast cleft in the rock, more than a hundred miles long and two miles wide, with an endless hurricane of energy pouring through. Here, we find our true selves. Here we open our minds to the world, and divine secrets found nowhere else." '''The fearful fall. The empty rise.''' 

"When the Astartes still unblooded, in shining silver armor fresh from forge's fire, newly stands before the Chapter his brothers, none shall yet deem him Windcaller. With courage alone he will soar, gravsled his steed and wit his only shield. Three brothers he shall follow, three brothers shall stand his vigil, three brothers shall welcome him back, in life or death as the winds will. Into the Kolbrem Passage he shall go, where the wind is fiercest and beast and bough dare not shelter. Bind sled to rock with chains adamant and soar aloft, ere twenty-three days elapse and the mighty moon of Pamtian revisit the warrior once more. Never shall his brothers cease to watch, to the left, to the right, and behind. Neither meat nor drink shall pass the warrior's lips until his test be fulfilled, and never may he slumber until soil be ground underfoot once more. No mortal teacher this, only nature itself and the lessons it holds. As the mighty Sor knows the endless skies by instinct alone, so must a Windcaller read the firmament and evade the earthly debris eternally blowing through the pass." '''To actually fall, the ultimate shame. None remember such a man, though Astartes by blood he became, a Windcaller by spirit he never shall be.''' 

"When the test is complete and he returns to earth, the Marine shall present himself before the Chapter, and we hold silent judgement upon his armor's sheen. The finest Marines with the best intuition prove themselves master of the wind, their armor gleaming even in the tempest's grip. Those less capable will bear plate dingy, pitted, and scuffed, but still we honor their courage and endurance. From that point forward, only those parts of the Marine's armor he protected during the challenge are kept pristine. As the other plates are damaged and replaced, the Marine must carefully scuff them to keep the original pattern his honor forged." '''Sacred honor, sacred augur, sacred portent of our futures. Would that we had read our coming doom in the marks. But even so... we would have gone forth.'''