Golden Blades
| Golden Blades | ||
|---|---|---|
| Battle Cry | "Charge, for the Emperor!" | |
| Founding | Twentieth Founding | |
| Successors of | Imperial Fists | |
| Successor Chapters | None | |
| Chapter Master | Great Lord Lancius | |
| Primarch | Rogal Dorn | |
| Homeworld | Karina | |
| Strength | Usually between 750 and 900 (1 Veteran Company, 8 Battle Companies and an Initiate Company) | |
| Specialty | Battling Orks and Necrons at close range. | |
| Allegiance | Imperium of Man | |
| Colours | Gold, Red trims and decorations | |
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
The Golden Blades were originally created as a color scheme for Dawn of War but eventually got some lore of their own. Descendants of the Imperial Fists, they take their chaper tactics as "Black Templars light", choosing to charge at the enemies, brandishing Chainswords and fighting in the tick of battle.
The Chapter
The Burning Blades have no original recorded home world, and instead, currently have a fortress-monastery on the tropical death-world Riuula. Riuula is slightly comparable to Catachan, minus the massive man-eating flora, instead having a larger, and slightly less aggressive, population of animals. Most of the people on the world have learned to live along-side the animals, and there is relatively few signs of war, conflict and rebellion on the planet. Every couple of years or so, unfortunately, the Orks, seeing the planet as an opportunistic planet to strip for resources, launch raids on the planet, only to be mostly over-run by the warrior-people. The Burning Blades themselves do not have much pride in being a Space Marine, rather seeing their position as one of a sacrifice for the betterment of the galaxy. Since after their arrival, the Astartes have been teaching the local population about honour and sword fighting, and this has lead to almost every battle-brother in the Chapter able to wield a sword, at least, and the more skilled ones use two swords. The planet is often subjected to terrible rain-storms, and the vast seas in the planet can also cause tsunamis, some of which have swept away entire villages. As such, the Burning Blades are reputed as being quick-thinking, and daring in their attempts to succeed. Mostly adopting the idea of 'act first, ask questions later' has lead to some brothers being quite rash and reckless in their decisions. They are also known for their innate love of fire and heat, and deep, intense hatred of the cold. While their love of fire is nowhere near as fanatical as that of the Salamanders, they can still take large amounts of heat-based punishments. Their hatred for the cold, and ice, however, has seen the Chapter falter in battle many times, as their devotion to their task of protecting the common people, and never backing down or surrendering, is stronger than their hate of the cold. During their free time, the Burning Blades like to enjoy a wide variety of activities, including, but not limited to: -Painting artworks that praise the Emperor, sometimes depicting a victory over heretics and xenos -Forging masterwork swords -Practicing at the sparring rooms of firing range -Spending time with their fellow battle brothers at the hot saunas -Neatly and intricately decorating their armour and weapons They are quite obsessed with their armour and weapons, and as such, decorate the weapon, sing litanies of praise both to the Omnissiah and the Emprah, and they possess very many relics and suits of artificer armour as a result. In fact, most of the Veterans have earned the nick-name of 'Shinies' amongst fresh neophytes, for their armour gleams from so many decorations.
Gene-seed
The gene-seed of the Burning Blades is quite unique. Most of the gene-seed has no effect on their physical appearance whatsoever, their skin already dark and tanned from extended exposure to the tropical sun, and further exposure to heat and flame. In fact, they actually suffer from a gene-seed defect, as they are smaller, and weaker, than other Astartes. What they lack in size and strength, however, they make up for with incredible will-power, and it is said that not a single Burning Blades Astartes has ever fallen to the Ruinous Powers. They are also extremely stubborn, to the point where some would dis-regard orders from superiors, and refer to the order as a 'guideline.' I.e Vanguard Veteran Squad is lurking in the ruins of a building. Command tells them to not engage the Chaos Vindicator quickly approaching. As a work-around, they plant charged in the building they are in, detonate it, and causing the building to crumple on top of the forsaken vehicle.
They also possess some psychic strength, and every Astartes is able to throw a small fireball with slightly less strength than a bolt pistol. As this presence is not strong enough to attract daemons, they do not have as hard a rigorous training process as Librarians. The light training process often means that he will not have enough skill to throw sustained bursts, tiring the Astartes very quickly. To counter-act this, they found that gold, when placed straight over the body gloves at the hands, allows him to shoot small bursts.
Differences Between Codex-Adherent Chapters
Staff Titles Chapter Master -called a 'Great Lord', he is chosen from the 'Lords' (Company Captains) by bravery and honour rather than tactical skill or combat prowess. Also the leader of the Celestium Wings.
Company Captains - referred to as 'Lords', Astartes reach this rank by acts of glory and fortitude.
Honour Guard - The Blades of Honour, wielding relic Power Swords and Jump-packs
Vanguard Veterans -Known as the Seraphs, the First Company is almost exclusively comprised of these. Tend to fight with a Power Sword and Combat Shield, usually with a jump-pack aswell.
Organisation 1st Company -The 1st Company of the Golden Blades tends to have between 50 and 70 Battle Brothers, plus the Masters of the Librarium, Sanctity, the Honour Guard and the First Lord, currently Blade King Vancel. They lack Terminator armors, possessing only about 20 suits, but since they feel they are too bulky and cumbersome, they rarely use them anyway.
Battle Companies -Battle Companies of the Burning Blades maintain 4 Tactical Squads, 5 Assault Squads and 1 Devastator Squad.
Reserve Companies -Like a Codex chapter, the Golden Blades maintain 4 reserve companies, but rather than 2 tactical, 1 assault and 1 devastator, the instead have 2 assault companies and the Devastators are coupled with the tactical companies.
Initiate Company -Rather than having scouts, the Golden Blades put their Neophytes, called Initiates, directly into combat situations when needed. The Initiates are thought how to wield a sword and charge at Xenos and Heretics alike, but unlike the Black Templars, due to their low numbers, the Initiates are watched over carefully and made sure to survive.
Training Aspirants- The Golden Blades recruit from their home-world of Karina. They go around the planet looking for children with love for combat. They are then put trough several tests in order to determine, not only their physical aptitude, but more importantly, their resolve and determination. As the children of the planet hear the stories of these golden-armored knights, they practice blade-wielding since early childhood, and often spar with eachother, in order to be considered worthy of becoming a Golden Blade.
Initiates- after the proper procedures, Aspirants are given Carapace armor, a chainsword and a Bolt Pistol and formed into 5-man squads, overseen by a Battle Brother. While most of them enjoy this style of fighting, there are those who prefer ranged engagements. These are given Bolt Guns and will be put into future Tactical or Devastator squads.
Battle Brothers- Once all the procedures are complete, the Initiates are elevated into Battle Brothers. Here they are inducted into either the Assault Reserve Companies or the Tactical Reserve Companies, depending on their fighting style during their time as initiates.
"Assault Squad-" The Battle Brothers who are more agressive and determined join the Assault Squads. They are given a Chainsword and a Bolt Pistol (or occasionally Hand Flamers) and told to destroy the enemies of the Emperor, something they do very enthusiastically. Ocassionaly the choose to use the much larger two-handed "Claymore" Chainsword, but due to it's weight and unwieldyness, they cannot use a Bolt Pistol or a Jump pack at the same time.
"Tactical Squad-" Not all Golden Blades are happy to fight Orks, Necrons and Tyranids at close range. These Battle Brothers are instead given Bolters (or Flamers, Meltas and Plasma Guns), and are tasked with laying down supressing fire on the enemy. Even among Tactical Marines, there are those that prefer larger and more powerful ranged weaponry. These are tasked into Devastator Squads.
"Devastator Squad-" The few Golden Blades that choose heavy weaponry over.
"Command Squad-" Unlike Codex adherent command squads, those of the Burning Blades are permitted to be equipped with Jump Packs, in order to keep up with their officer, who is often equipped with a Jump Pack themselves. The apothecaries in the command squad are not full apothecaries. They are only, in fact, an initiate. Trained to use the Narthecium and retrieving gene-seed from the fallen battle brothers, they aspire to train to become more efficient, and thus, be able to attend to more allies.
"1st Company-" Due to the weight and the cumbersome nature of Terminator armour, the Burning Blades 1st Company only use it in dire circumstances. Beautifully decorated, these suits are revered for their extreme value. The captain of the 1st is also not required to wear Terminator armour. Seeking honour and glory in combat, the Captains are often equipped with a jump pack, and closely followed by his command squad and Vanguard Veterans. Sternguard Veterans are slightly rarer in the 1st as well, yet they are equally valued and respected as their vanguard counterparts.
Significant Burning Blades Members
Blaze, Primarch of the Burning Blades- One of the 20 Primarchs created by the Emperor, he was transported to an unknown planet. The only records of the planet, other than his first-hand accounts, show that the northern hemisphere was dominated mostly by dense, tropical forest, and the southern hemisphere was a cold, barren desert. The planet was inhabited by humans, which were grouped into techno-barbaric clans, and constantly at war with each other. When the child landed on the planet, many search parties were dispatched to see what the falling object from the sky was, hoping that it might be some weapons or armour to use against their enemies. None returned, and many recovered accounts hint that raid parties would often come across the scorched corpses of people amongst the thick jungle. Eventually, one of the clan leaders, a woman, decided to go out and investigate herself, with a small, hand-picked team of bodyguards. What they found was most intriguing. A small child, wearing the scorched armour of the people he burned, standing in the middle of a small, scorched area. The woman, unbeknownst to her fellow clan-mates, as a half-eldar, exiled for her parents' relationship. Being a half-eldar, she possessed psychic power, and even possessed a spirit stone, embedded onto her glaive. Piercing the mind of the child, she was astonished to feel a resistance, and a warning, that should they attack, he would kill them. Eventually she was able to soothe the young Primarch, and he agreed to return to the village with her. Satisfied with the result, they returned to the village. The villages though, were a mess. It was a very feudal society, where the richer, higher-class citizens would abuse the lower-class, often making them their slaves for a small, meagre pay. He felt the need to go and help them, but the woman stopped him, telling him that he would be killed for his actions. He was inducted into the soldier ranks of the clan, and he showed great potential in sword-play. During a sparring match, his opponent, the then commander of the strike forces for the clan, mocked him, declaring that even with two swords he would not be able to beat him, and threw him a second sword. To the astonishment of the commander and all the onlookers, he moved so fast, and drew blood from the commander, ending the duel. From that moment, he was promoted to rank of commander, and a second sword was forged for him. He would often draw and sketch new uniforms for the soldiers, and would enquire with the black-smiths as to the most effective forms of weapon and armoursmithing. As a Primarch, he learned extremely quickly, and within a half-year, had forged himself two swords; Evaryn, and Xenosious. In secret, he also forged another set of light armour, which he would wear during his plans to improve the living conditions for the lower class. By small, and subtle sabotage, he was able to introduce new laws in the clan to better support the people, and people found guilty of abusing others would be punished severely, and often would have all their estates taken off them. Another year passed, and attacks against the clan lessened, and the military would lose fewer soldiers in engagements, and the clan swiftly rose to rule the upper half of the planet. Unbeknownst to them, the lower part of the planet was not empty, rather, it was the haunting grounds for a clan, who openly worshiped the Ruinous Powers. Enraged to see a rival empire rise to power, they summoned all of their troops, and went to march to the clan. Slaughtering the weaker, smaller clans that lived in the out-skirted of the jungle, each new area of lush wildlife they conquered would quickly wither and die, the life force corrupted and destroyed by the servants of the Dark Gods. Corrupting the weaker-minded, they were able to replenish their ranks quicker than the lost them, and further necromancy would raise fallen soldiers and enemies to do their bidding. Launching an attack on their enemy clan, Blaze, and the woman, saw their soldiers being slaughtered. Revealing to Blaze that she not entirely human, the woman then began to chant words of great power, in a bid to raise a shield to block the inner walls of the city, and Blaze then set about single-handedly saving and evacuating the citizens. The Chaos-worshippers, having killed and gathered enough skulls to appease Khorne, summoned an army of Khornate daemons. The daemons and the Khornate berserkers, unable to walk through the protective shield, attempted to smash it. She was only able to maintain the shields for another few hours, at least enough to equip more citizens with weapons and armour to attempt to defend their village. The shield broke, and the daemons and Khornates quickly swamped the outer defences, slaughtering any that got in their path. Witnessing some of his best soldiers slain effortlessly by the abominations, Blaze's mind broke, and he charged into the middle of the fray, slaughtering daemons left and right. Seeing that she would no longer be able to summon a shield, she also entered the fray. After both forces were slain, to the man, the woman would come and face a Bloodthirster, a greater daemon of Khorne. Blaze, who was separated from her during a battle against a mob of bloothirsters, rushed to try to aid her, as he would see that she was horribly under-matched against the Bloodthirster. He watched in horror as one of the whips lashed into her heart, killing her instantly. His mind lost all reason, and, consumed by pure, seething rage against the Bloodthirster, threw both of his weapons aside, and charge the daemon head-on. His mastery of psychic flame was great, and the fire he burned was usually a blue, second hottest only to white. He tried, in vain, to burn the daemon, only to be whacked aside by its double-headed axe. Seeing the woman's glaive only arm's reach away, he grabbed it, and used the last out of his strength to reach apotheosis, and his fire burnt a brilliant white. Slaying the daemon, his fire died down, and he fell to his knees. Seeing the destruction and death brought to his clan, he then picked up the woman and his most prized possessions, and set off to find her a suitable burial site. He spent many months trekking, until he found a small, secluded area, still vibrant with tropical life. Burying her, he built himself a small house, and set about crafting weapons, and creating sculptures, to honour his dead comrades. Eventually, the Emperor came, and He gave him the Burning Blades legion, renowned for lightning-fast assaults, wielding swords and bringing fire. He taught his gene-sons the dual-blade discipline that he had been taught himself.
Adiral, the Grand Prometheal- The Grand Prometheal is the Burning Blades' equivalent of a Chapter Master, just a fancier title. By default, all Grand Prometheals carry the Chapter's most prized possessions, Evaryn and Nosious. Evaryn was one of the two swords Blaze carried, and Nosious was the shards of Xenosious re-forged into a new blade, after their Primarch's disappearance at the battle of Aevis. Previously to the Defence of Meeproj II, Adiral held the rank of Captain of the First Company.While the previous Grand Prometheal fought a Greater Daemon of Khorne, Adiral was pre-occupied battling some traitorous Bloodied Shards that threatened to force a new entrance for daemons to enter. He saw the Grand Prometheal get knocked off his feet, and as he ignited his jump pack to escape the daemon, the foul beast grabbed his foot, and slammed him into the ground, then proceeded to slay the Grand Prometheal. Rare, visual accounts say that when this occurred, Adiral fought with a rage unmatched by the Khornates, and after battling his way to the gloating Daemon, challenged it to a one-on-one battle. Picking up the dual swords, they fought for an hour, until the daemon, finally worn down by the attacks from the two Astartes, was finally able to be banished. Following the re-taking of the planet, he was promoted to the rank of Grand Prometheal, in a bitter-sweet victory. Feeling like he failed the previous Prometheal and the Emperor, he prays every night that one day, he may gain the chance to redeem himself, betraying the energetic facade that his waking hours holds.
Kieran Narvaez, Captain of the 1st Company- The current Captain of the first company is the maverick individual known as Kieran Narvaez. He is well-renowned within the Chapter for having intense levels of anger, something which has drawn the attention of Inquisitors. Furthermore, the sword he carries, The Sword of Darkness, is a large, two-handed broadsword, its surface a crimson red, and emanating a dark shroud. No heretic, nor daemon, has been able to withstand blows from this blade. It was crafted by Kieran himself, raising further suspicion, although the Chaplains maintain that there is no presence of taint within his spirit. Unlike other Chapters of Space Marines, the Captain of the 1st Company of the Burning Blades need not march to war in suits of Terminator Armour. Their joy of rapid engagement, and of flight, means that to sacrifice their armour and jump pack for a suit of Terminator armour to be a cause of extreme threat. As such, he is trained in either the usage of both suits. Several accounts of his battlefield engagements show that his desire to slay the enemies of Mankind, he can push his brothers, even those in Terminator armour, to their extremes while charging, and cutting down fleeing foes. Previously to the engagement at Meeproj II, he was a veteran sergeant in one of the Vanguard Veteran squads, and promoted for his ability to lead his brothers to victory
Aarone, Captain of the 2nd Company- Aarone was the Captain of the 2nd before even before the Defence at Meeproj II, and denied the position of being elevated to Captain of the first company. He is well known of his abilities in battle, and just his blade is just as famous. The relic blade, crafted by the finest Chapter artisans, was initially crafted as a punishment to the foul xenos, by taking the blood of those that fall by the blade, and by a technology long lost, purify it, and rejuvenate the wielder. Rumours have surfaced that the blade has possibly been tainted after the Meeproj campaign, and that Aarone is a secret servant to the Dark Gods. His lack of mercy or remorse while slaying the heretics and xenos, however, show his loyalty is with Man.
Chaplain Auius- The Burning Blades' Master of Sanctity, and High Reclusiarch, he is a silent and foreboding figure. He wields an ancient crozius, that was crafted long ago for the Emperor once they returned to real-space. Upon learning that he was near-dead, he broke it, and left. Couple thousand years later, a Chapter artisan found the weapon, and re-forged it. It is an elongated crozius, and as such, can also be used two-handed to deliver stronger, more deadly blows.
Some more notes: I know this is quite sloppy, I'm quite new to this whole wiki-edit thing. As my fluff is currently still a little baby, not yet solidly formed, expect some minor plot-holes, errors and future retcons.