Editing War Scribes (section)

=Legion Culture=

''"These are the words of our Primarch and gene-sire, Lord Arelex Orannis. Here are the codes we live by, recorded for all time. Let there never be doubt in your minds of the correct path to take, in any given situation. We know the truths of the universe. We have seen the terrors that lie beyond the path of righteousness. The evidence is insurmountable and clear, and to defy or ignore it is the purest folly. Now, Initiates, repeat after me, the Oath of Orannis!"''

- "First Address" recited by the Chapter Master of the War Scribes for each new graduating class of Initiates, at the completion of their training and gene-seed implantation.

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!The Oath of Orannis
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*We solemnly swear and affirm that we shall uphold the ancient traditions of the Chapter, of the Primarch, of the Emperor and his Imperium. 
*Never shall the War Scribes use the tools of the Xenos, for those corrupted devices will betray them.
*Never shall the War Scribes use the sorcerous magics of the Warp, for those heresies will consume all.
*Never shall the War Scribes use the powers of the Mutant, for those who embrace impurity defile Mankind.
*We shall serve with our whole hearts, our whole bodies, and our whole minds. Though unholy powers of the Warp howl about us, though vile Xenos swarm from the Galactic Core, though the Mutant ever lurketh in shadow, forever onward will we carry the Imperium's torch. 
*We seek the enlightened future promised us by the Emperor, and we seek the glorious past promised us by the Primarch. 
*The glories of Mankind are our sacred quest, and nothing will stay us from that goal. 
*Our righteousness will shake the stars, and our will shall be done, for it is the Emperor's will that we do so. Ave Imperator!
|}

''"Good, Initiates! Now, repeat after me the Five Truths of the Primarch, as passed down through the Chapter Masters of old, to remind you that a War Scribe's greatest weapon is his disciplined thoughts! A true Scribe sees beyond the veils that blind lesser warriors, and peers deeply into both past and future! Rededicate yourselves to the ideals of the man who would reshape the Galaxy itself! Honor the precious gifts that our Primarch has granted his children!"''

- "Second Address" recited by the Chapter Master of the War Scribes for each new graduating class of Initiates, at the completion of their training and gene-seed implantation.

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!The Five Truths of the War Scribes
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*''FIRST TRUTH!'' All things flow from the highest scale to the lowest, from the Galaxy to a single grain of sand. So too assembles our Legion, one indomitable body binding countless soldiers as one!
*''SECOND TRUTH!'' All that exists is part of the whole, naught exists independently. By this truth we shape our battle stratagem. From the Void we emerge, within the atmosphere we fight, upon the ground we crush all opposition! Space, Air and Land, all are but facets of War!
*''THIRD TRUTH!'' To master the Galaxy, we master its resources. All that is shall be ours, in the name of Humanity!
*''FOURTH TRUTH!'' We are stewards of the Emperor's Imperium! Our solemn duty, to nurture His empire! The War Scribes shall always build as well as we destroy!
*''FIFTH TRUTH!'' Our Primarch mastered the technological realm, so shall his sons. Whatever hardships may befall us, we shall restore the relics of greater eras to the Imperium's service!
*This we swear in the immortal Emperor's name, in the beloved Primarch's name, and the name of the eternal Imperium! Ave Imperator!
|}

'''Legion Colors'''
[[File:WarScribesV2.jpg|200px|thumb]]

''"Purple and grey? Those are our colors. Always have been, maybe always will be. Everyone in the Hives had their colors. It's your identity. Friend and foe."''

Quote attributed to Napotiel Greybeard, choosing the Second Legion's livery prior to Arelex's arrival.

The Legion's original livery was unpainted ceramite gray, with a small amount of purple trim. They went about their business garbed in thick shrouds, cloaks, and robes, kept in memory of the rags the Nord Mericans wrapped around themselves for protection back on Terra. A warrior of the Second Legion was also never caught without at least a few pouches or satchels on his person. They remembered the harsh times from childhood when food or water were scarce, and any supplies discovered on their scavenging must be returned to the clan. 

When Arelex rejoined his Legion, he permitted these traditions to remain, seeing no harm in wearing cloth over their armor, or keeping multipurpose containers on their belts. He merely upgraded them, creating heat-dissipating cowls, chamelioline cloaks, or thickly constructed flak-weave tabards capable of deflecting shrapnel. 

After the Legion's victory over the Craftworld, Arelex took their colors as his Legion's own as a kind of trophy befitting their achievement. In addition to their purple garb, their Power Armor took on brilliant hues of turquoise and golden gilding. It was a bold, awe-inspiring heraldry, and served as a key step in unifying the older Terran-born warriors with the new recruits. Finally, every War Scribe had a "color" they could truly call their own. 

And so it has been ever since.

===The Atalantos Worlds===
{{Main|The Atalantos Worlds}}

The Atalantos Worlds are Primarch Arelex's crowning achievement. Though progress was slow and the lives lost were many, no other Primarch managed to push the Imperium's boundaries closer to the Galaxy's Core. The Atalantos Worlds span several dozen major worlds, and countless mining colonies, from which the Galactic Core's resources are plundered with abandon, and shipped outwards to fuel Imperial industry across the Ultima Segmentum. 

Necrons are here in great number, and other xenos as well, and the hazards of radiation and stellar cataclysms are always a deadly risk. Nevertheless, the lure of treasure draws in prospectors and explorers from across the Imperium, and there is never a shortage of slaves and convicts to labor in the crushing pressures and hellish temperatures inside the mines. 

Because of the Atalantos Worlds' vast mineral productivity and Arelex's gift for management and logistics, the War Scribes were able to sustain the largest fleet of any Astartes Legion. Though the Legion was never the most numerous, their influence was felt across the Imperium, heralded by the sound of macrocannons pounding planets and the silent lash of lances spearing across the void. 


===Notable Legionnaires===

'''The Sacred Band: Squad II'''

*'''[[Orend Ymoro]], b. c.765.M30, d.803.M30.'''  He was one of the first Space Marines an was selected to lead the Second Squad of the Sacred Band and led the Second Legion in the Unification Wars.  Orend was a brave and inspiring leader who died too young.

*'''Ereleius the Red, Blood Scribe'''. One of the most fanatic War Scribes, practicing ritual scarification on his own body as a means of recording the most important bits of knowledge granted him on Terra. The words of the Emperor, he engraved on his very bones. Ereleius's work led to the establishment of the "Inscribed" Armor that all War Scribes Chaplains would eventually wear, and Ereleius himself would do great service to the Legion as their Grand Chaplain, ensuring that all remained pure. After the Heresy, his work would continue as the Grand Chaplain of the War Scribes' Chapter. 

*'''Mohxes, the Warp Scribe.'''  This Marine was and remains the only true Librarian of the Scribes, a valuable and highly skilled Marine who achieved the rank of Sergeant just before his Primarch was found. Mohxes' attunement to the Warp was enormous, steadily growing stronger as the Marine became more practiced in its use, and so Arelex was forced to send him before the Emperor himself for judgement for he was still solidifying control of his Legion and establishing their doctrines. In those early days, Arelex had yet to develop the fanatical hatred of Psykers he would exhibit in the future. Because the request was so unusual, and came directly from one of His sons, the Emperor actually took some time to train Mohxes, certifying him pure and performing a ritual similar to what would later become Soul-Binding, though with much more finesse. This eased Arelex's concerns immensely.  Mohxes' final gift to his Legion was to stifle his own powers after the Council of Nikaea, upon hearing his Primarch's rejection of people such as himself. He disobeyed his Primarch at Isstvan, unleashing his stored power to ensure that the Legion's naval arm could escape the blockade by casting an enormous force shield into space to cover their retreat. It is said that Mohxes' sacrifice was the one and only time Arelex even considered the idea that he might have been wrong about Librarians and their potential benefits. Regrettably, Mohxes did not survive his herculean effort, and died in orbit over Isstvan. 

*'''Bilzaion, the Delver.'''  Bilzaion spent most of his time on Terra digging through the savant's databases, practicing his Primarch's art. His efforts would prove crucial during the Heresy and the rebuilding of the Imperium afterwards. Later, he would become Chapter Master of one of the War Scribes' Second Founding Successors. 

*'''Wolzhi Steelblood.'''  This Marine was once a being of simple flesh, but integrated bionics into every part of his body over time, laboring many years in order to prefect himself as an engine of war.  Wolzhi's cybernetics are works of art, integrating ancient sciences with medical technology from distant, half remembered eras of Man. For many years, he was responsible for maintaining the War Scribes' most precious weapons of war, but despite his enhancements, the betrayal at Isstvan claimed this brave man's life. 

*'''Pluthach'''  He had suffered severe burns at Dalvan but the wound to his honour was much harder to heal.  When the Second Legion was deployed to combat operations again, Pluthach showed increasing signs of mental instability.  This troubled soul had the good fortune to find a noble end during the Volemar Gamma Campaign.

*'''Hellakonis, the Earth Striker.''' Hellakonis is a master of planetary assault, the Legion's foremost expert on planets and how to properly subjugate them, even beyond his own Primarch. He's also the Marine who named Arelex's melee weapon, for it was said that Hellakonis is the mattock with which Arelex cleaves planets. Fell at Isstvan.

*'''Celsam, the Xenos-Crowned.'''  The War Scribes fought long and hard to overcome the Necron threat, and none more so than Celsam, who personally led eight missions to infiltrate Tomb Worlds and destroy what lay within. His armor is bedecked with broken shards of dead Phaerons and Crypteks, and a metallic Imperial Laurel adorns his helmet, made of their melted-down Resurrection Circuits, ripped from their unliving bodies before he slew them. Celsam still fights on in the Galactic Core, piloting an advanced Cavilier Dreadnought with great gusto. He has not been awakened for almost two thousand years though, for reasons the Chapter cannot fully explain. They fear the damaged warrior inside may have finally died a natural death, though they dare not open the sarcophagus and risk killing him to find out. 

*'''Ang-Quos'''  This valiant officer led the first assault at Dalvan and was slain by Vurthros Khan's nuclear weapons.  His name was the first inscribed upon the Second Legion's cenotaph for the vaporized dead.

*'''Lygrammon, the Martyr.'''  Lygrammon led the second echelon at Dalvan and although his indomitable will carried him through to the end of that campaign, his body succumbed to radiation poisoning just twelve days after Vuthros Khan's surrender.

'''Other Notable Legionnaires'''

*'''Napotiel Greybeard.'''  Napotiel was the first aspirant recruited from the Hives of Merica to win a place among the Battle Brothers of the Second Legion.  He was an exemplary warrior and a fine officer, epitomising the War Scribes dual nature as warriors and scholars.  Following the death of Orend Ymoro in 803.M30, Napotiel was appointed as Legion Master by order of the War Council.  His brief tenure at the head of the Legion perhaps led to bitterness between Napotiel and his gene-father, and they often differed.  A particularly notorious argument, never resolved, emerged over the decision to take the Atalantos Cluster which consumed so much of his Legion's time. Though he respected his Primarch, Napotiel would forever remain a Terran born, full of a fire for conquest that few other War Scribes could match.  Napotiel would later distinguish himself as the War Scribes' foremost explorer, ranging far and wide across the Galaxy in the quest for relics, and the hunt for new threats to eliminate. His records are required reading for every War Scribes Scout.