Triarii

The Triarii are a 24th founding chapter of Ultramarine stock who suffer from a high degree of implant rejection and failed organs in their gene seed. They have a strange, concerning, chapter cult that exalts “The Emperor, The Man”; a belief that what makes them great is their humanity rather than their enhanced ability.
== Gene Seed ==
The Triarii’s gene seed is something of a mystery. While they are undoubtedly of Ultramarine stock, something is very different. They have one of the highest implant rejection and failure rates among the loyalist chapters but they show the absolute lowest rates of mental or spiritual corruption of standard Adeptus Astartes. They also have one of the lowest mortality rates among scouts due to implant procedures. This has led some to speculate that they are intentionally not implanting all the organs or that their gene seed has been tampered to reject them. Regardless, this has put them on the Inquisition’s radar and their lack of key implants sometimes hinders them on the battlefield.
The Triarii do possess superior physical strength to other marines. Whether this is due to their gene seed or the absurd physical trials they put themselves through on a daily basis (to “increase their humanity”) is unclear. When fully trained a Triarii captain is said to be easily on par with a primaris marine in terms of raw physical might.
== Relationship with Other Chapters ==
The Triarii are shunned by the Ultramarines and their successor chapters and have been banned from entering the Realm of Ultramar. They are believed to be cursed, failed experiments, radicals, or even heretical by their sibling chapters and a bitter distrust of the Triarii permeates the sons of Guilliman.
The chapter does have a strong bond with Order of the Stone Lion, a chapter of marines of White Scar genetic stock who are skilled in martial arts, and the Brotherhood of the Mammoth, a barbarous chapter of unknown origins. The three met during a unified campaign during the Indomitus Crusade.
== Wargear ==
Sometimes Triarii marines will go into battle with only their human form whenever possible. This means they wear little more than a loin cloth; a ritual undertaken as a way to gain glory and prestige within the chapter. This is akin to the practice of counting coup that the Plains Indians once had and the more dangerous the enemy they defeat while basically naked the more their humanity is said to shine in the eyes of the Emperor.
However, fighting in the buff is a ritual reserved for marines on a trial or seeking penance and the vast majority of the time the chapter deploys in a fashion dictated by the Codex Astartes. It is worth noting that the chapter has no relics related to their primarch or even the realm of space they are from as they are pariahs in the eyes of their kin. They have some artifacts but they are strictly related to their own glories, not the glories of those who came before them.
=== Spear of the Triarii ===
The one artifact of note that the chapter does have is the Spear of the Triarii. The weapon is a trident whose history dates back to the early days of the Emperor and is said to have been crafted, at least in part, by his own hands (in some accounts it was merely his own designs). The Spear has the unique ability to inflict pure terror in even the most stalwart machine spirits and when a machine is struck by it they are said to “flee”. While the metaphysical implications are best left to the machine priests, the practical effect is that machines struck by it simply stop working for a time (and later suffer glitches). The wielder of this spear must not wear any other wargear and often fight in little more than ritual body paint applied by their chaplain and a half robe.
== Skills ==
The Triarii are a skilled and efficient space marine chapter like other descendants of Roboute Guilliman. They have a somewhat diminished reliance on vehicles and their implants due to their gene seed but more than make up for it with their fervor, cunning, and enhanced physical abilities. They are masters in hand to hand combat and Pankration (ancient Greek wrestling) in particular. Once every decade two of the chapter’s greatest warriors engage in wrestling matches with two members of the Order of the Stone Lion in order to determine who gets to take home an ancient banner that symbolizes a bond of friendship between the two chapters.
== Notable Campaigns ==
* Despoiling of Maliv: A sect of the Dark Mechanicum was expunged by the Triarii. A Hell-Forge was discovered on the distant world of Maliv V and the Triarii were called on to destroy it. Their lack of reliance of technology was both a boon and a curse as they faced the twisted machines of Chaos. The Spear of the Triarii itself was used to deal the final blow to the Hell-Forge and the Daemon Lord that oversaw it.
* Indomitus Crusade: The Triarii were involved in the Indomitus Crusade where they partook in the Second Battle of Terra, though not on Holy Terra itself. The Triarii are noted to have served with the Stone Lions and the Brotherhood of the Mammoth during this campaign. They fought a number of daring boarding actions against the forces of Khorne and a Triarii captain is said to have killed a Khorne champion with a Piledriver maneuver.
Trident.png|The Relic Known as the "Spear of the Triarii"
Triarii Captian.png|A Triarii Captian
Triarii Tactical Marine.png|A Triarii Tactical Marine