Soul Drinkers
| Soul Drinkers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Battle Cry | "Cold and fast." | |
| Founding | Second Founding | |
| Successors of | Imperial Fists (officially) | |
| Successor Chapters | None | |
| Chapter Master | Sarpedon | |
| Primarch | Rogal Dorn (officially) | |
| Homeworld | Fleet based | |
| Strength | Four lost in the Warp, presumed daemon lunch | |
| Specialty | Assault, boarding actions | |
| Allegiance | The Emperor and Imperial citizens, not the Imperial government | |
| Colours | Purple and gold | |
The Soul Drinkers are a chapter of Space Marines descended from the Imperial Fists (officially). They are the subject of Ben Counter's Soul Drinkers novel series. They are unique among the Space Marines because unlike Imperial or Chaos Space Marines, the Soul Drinkers serve neither the Imperium of Man or Chaos, but rather fight for the Emperor's ideals. If it sounds weird, the reality is much more complex. Perhaps some explanation is in order.
History
Origins
Officially, according to the Imperium's Index Astartes, the Soul Drinkers are a successor Chapter of the Imperial Fists Legion. When Rogal Dorn was forced to break up the VII Legion under the dictates of the Codex Astartes, he was left with five Chapters worth of marines: the veterans would remain with him as the Imperial Fists, the most zealous would serve under Sigismund as the Black Templars, the most tactically flexible would serve under Alexis Pollux as the Crimson Fists, the most masochistic would serve under Demetrius Katalfaque as the Excoriators, and the boarding specialists would serve under Daenyathos as the Soul Drinkers. There has been some evidence that both disputes and proves that this is accurate, but we'll get to that later.
Anyway, Daenyathos served for several thousand years, but he came to the conclusion that the Imperium was corrupt and inefficient. However, Daenyathos believed that the Imperium could be made better through extreme bloodshed and suffering. Daenyathos decided that the Soul Drinkers would be that agent of suffering, laying the seeds for them to turn against the Imperium. Daenyathos laid down secret teachings within the Soul Drinkers Chaplaincy to serve as his agents, while Daenyathos published the Catechisms Martial, a document that would serve as the Soul Drinkers guide to combat and philosophy. Daenyathos was eventually struck down after the Age of Apostasy, but was secretly interred within a Dreadnought.
Rebellion
Fast forward some 5,000 years. It's the close of the 41st millennium, and the Soul Drinkers receive word that one of their sacred artifacts, the Soulspear, has been discovered by a near-do well family owning a star fort. The Administratum, already eager to take control of the fort and its revenue, assembles a task force to occupy the station while a kill team under Captain Caeson and Librarian Sarpedon go in for the Soulspear. Caeson is killed (poisoned rather ignominiously) but Sarpedon manages to locate the Soulspear. Just as the Soul Drinkers claim it, the Adeptus Mechanicus element of the Imperial task force teleport in and steal the Soulspear, immediately sending it to a Forge World the Administratum would lose jurisdiction. The Soul Drinkers demand the Soulspear returned and hold the star fort for a siege. During this time, they meet a mutant preacher named Ysir who worships the Emperor in his aspect as the Architect of Fate, and begin listening to his tales about the Imperium's corruption. The AdMech makes things actually worse by attacking the fort, believing the Soul Drinkers would stand down. Instead, the Soul Drinkers fight off the Skitarii and destroy the fort before fleeing on their fleet. After five months of evading the Imperium, the Inquisition finally shows up. The Inquisitor orders the Soul Drinkers to stand down, and when they refuse, declares the Chapter Excommunicate Traitoris. Eventually, the rest of the Soul Drinkers fleet arrives, and Chapter Master Gorgoleon challenges Sarpedon to combat. Sarpedon is about to lose when he spontaneously develops spider legs and kills Gorgoleon. The Chapter veterans acclaim Sarpedon as Chapter Master, but the younger marines and novitiates reject Sarpedon as a mutant. This leads to the First Chapter War, resulting in many of the younger members being killed off. As of this, the Soul Drinkers officially break with the Imperium.