Forge Master

A Space Wolf Deathwatch Forge Master. One half machine. One half furry.

A Forge Master is a Techmarine equivalent of the Deathwatch. However, they differ in that Forge Masters also dabble into semi-heretical xeno technology, studying, categorising and determining its potential value or threat. A Forge Master oversees the manufacture and maintenance of Deathwatch armaments of all kinds in a particular Watch Fortress. A Forge Master is commonly a close confidante of the Watch Commander and acts as a central cog in the functioning of the whole Watch Fortress and its associated Kill-teams. Whether in a Watch Fortress or out on a mission, the Forge Master's position is one of the gravest responsibility, for Kill-teams rely on the quality of the Forge Master's work in environments where a single faulty bolt round or inoperable Vox receiver could spell disaster.

Overview

To achieve such heights, the Techmarine must have demonstrated tremendous skill in the arts of the forge as well as the arts of war. Not all Techmarines show a great aptitude with alien technology; indeed, many find it repugnant in the extreme. This is seen as no barrier to them becoming a Forge Master in its own right; many Forge Masters are trenchant conservatives that hate all things xenos. However, a Forge Master must grasp the tainted paths of alien technology on some level so that they can ultimately dispose of malevolence successfully.

Examples of xenotech might include anything from individual artifacts that can be returned to the Watch Fortress to monumental engines that must be examined in site on some alien world or ship. By working closely with Inquisitorial representatives of the Ordo Xenos, it is the Forge Master's lot to pass judgement on the artifacts he surveys.

He must decide whether some element of the alien science he sees may be blessed by the Omnissiah despite its unfamiliar guise, or whether the foul taint of the xenos is so perniciously woven into an artifact's very fabric that it must be destroyed. The slow, often painstaking process of examination can take years of effort to determine the fate of a single artifact and its less than-certain results can be the subject of great arguments between individual Forge Masters. Over the millennia several pieces of "rediscovered" technology derived from the study of xenotech have been incorporated into Deathwatch wargear and even into the munitions of the Imperium as a whole. However, some Forge Masters always remain skeptical and will only ever grudgingly accept any form of xenotech into their armories. More radical (Hint: borderline heretical) Forge Masters are prepared to exploit new ideas without waiting for the results of a full investigation, incorporating xenotech into their own creations with little concern for the fears of others. Hmmmm...that sounds like someone who is oddly familiar with these hijinks.

The maintenance and supplication of machine-spirits is a matter of the greatest import and the Forge Master maintains records of every piece of equipment under his charge, including the Techmarines assigned to maintain it and a history of past rituals undertaken to keep it functional.

The greatest joy of a Forge Master is in the crafting of magnificent armor and weapons for the Deathwatch. While servitors can wield hammers and stoke furnaces, and Techmarines can attend to the maintenance of guns and ships, it takes the touch of a true master of the machine cult to build something anew. It is well known that the chainblades made by a Forge Master will cleave through the toughest alien flesh, and the unquenchable fires of their plasma weapons burn forever hot and true. The most famous Forge Masters are often sought out by the greatest heroes of the Deathwatch, who desire a weapon worthy to carve a legend.

Deathwatch Forge Masters wear a servo-harness, a power axe, and artificer armor as standard issue wargear, but can swap it out with more elusive technology.