Keepers of the Accord

**This article, Keepers of the Accord, was written by Graythorne. It may be linked to any page without asking for the author's permission.**

## Keepers of the Accord

Armorial with Keepers of the Accord iconography.

Keepers of the Accord color scheme displayed by Brother Morieshal of the 5th Company.

## Space Marine Chapter

### **Allegiance**

Imperium of Man
(*Fedelitas Tenebrae*)

### **Specialty**

Void Warfare, Armored Assault, Intervention Actions

### Successor Chapter(s)

None

The **Keepers of the Accord** are a Loyalist Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes shrouded in mystery and symbolism, thus worthy successors of the Dark Angels and their Primarch Lion El'Jonson. Presumably - like their forebears and brother Chapters - the Keepers are part of the Unforgiven, the brotherhood of Chapters that hunt the Fallen Angels. However, they are distant from their fellow Unforgiven if they are even included among them, not because of a grudge or spite, but because of their creation. The Keepers of the Accord's exact Founding is unknown or forgotten, but they were founded on the order of the High Lords of Terra both as a political move and a strategic one. In return for the creation of the Keepers, the Dark Angels' behavior would be overlooked for a time.

The other side to the Chapter's birth is mired in classification and mystery. What is known is that the Keepers have always stood vigil over a wandering planetoid named "Thessalon" from a great space station acting as their Fortress Monastery, the *Caelestis Castellum*. The Keepers of the Accord have the grand fortune of boasting an enviable amount of Land Raider tanks, which the Chapter uses to their full extent in armored assaults.

## Chapter History

The Keepers of the Accord are rarely seen by other Imperial forces, but not that they have a distaste for others, indeed, those that have met a Keeper in person recall them being cordial and respectful but guarded with their words. Only, when other Imperial vessels approach their Fortress Monastery unbidden are given a single chance to withdraw before being fired upon. It would seem the only outsiders readily welcome are vessels of the Adeptus Mechanicus, whose occupants disappear into the depths of the planetoid the *Caelestis Castellum* follows.

While the Keepers focus on the defense of their Monastery and the strange Thessalon, they retain an ample service record of victories as any true Space Marine Chapter would, though few outsiders have heard of their accomplishments. Eldar pirates, Ork hordes, and Chaos fleets have been routed by the impressive firepower the Caelestis Castellum itself holds, not to mention the Keepers of the Accord's experience in void-borne combat.

Recently however, under the leadership of Grand Master Erathaol, the Keepers of the Accord have begun to reach out and provide relief and deliver the Emperor's wrath. And when companies leave the Chapter's fleet, it remains on high alert until they return. Currently the Chapter's fleet has tracked to the Ghoul Stars region of Segmentum Ultima, where they guard Thessalon amidst the numerous Dead Worlds of the region. Having drawn the attention of many vicious xenos breeds and warbands of Chaos Space Marines, the Keepers' 3rd and 5th Companies have begun a campaign of expurgation in the lawless expanse of the Ghoul Stars.

## Thessalon

The unassuming exterior of the planetoid Thessalon is the greatest shroud to the great secret that the Keepers of the Accord guard. Though it is a preciously guarded secret, Thessalon is actually an artificial construct of the Dark Age of Technology. It was discovered at some point after the Horus Heresy by an Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator team after it drifted into Imperial space from beyond the galaxy's edge. It has been very difficult to discern who created Thessalon, but what was discovered was that it has been inactive for millennia and that its purpose and function is the absorption of stars and planets as raw material and energy to fashion battle-ready fleets of autonomous vessels. But damning it to tech-heresy is the fact Thessalon's directive is maintained by an artificial intelligence, presumably the same intelligence coordinating the finished fleets the installation produces. However the intelligence appears in hibernation as Thessalon is inactive.

Naturally, the Imperium immediately moved to destroy Thessalon for its abhorrent intelligence and heretical nature. The Adeptus Mechanicus took heavy weapons into the construct's winding inner hallways and chasms to obliterate the core systems. Alas, even in its slumbering state, any damage to the installation was almost immediately repaired, and Thessalon's insides shifted under the attack, with panels carrying vital systems being sped away from the intruders. Worse still, no central chamber for Thessalon's power or command center was discovered, so the Adeptus Mechanicus retreated and reported the situation.

The High Lords of Terra responded by assigning an entire Astartes Chapter to protect Thessalon while the Adeptus Mechanicus works to understand and find a way to decommission the installation permanently. This is the source of the Keepers of the Accord's number of techmarines, to help deal with their duty to shield the Imperium against this grave heresy. For if Thessalon were to fully activate it could cause untold damage with its fleets and drain resources that belonged only to Mankind. Thus the current mission of the Keepers of the Accord is to find a solution to disable Thessalon from ever becoming active and to prevent anyone from bring the slumbering leviathan to wake.

### Fortress-Monastery

The *Caelestis Castellum*, or the "Heavenly Castle" in Low Gothic, is the spiritual and martial stronghold of the Keepers of the Accord Chapter. A monastery in the form of a mighty space station, it was gifted to the Chapter by the High Lords to aid in the containment and defense of Thessalon. The *Castellum* houses enough firepower to eradicate nearly any ship that engages it, to say nothing of the Chapter Fleet surrounding it. Statues and effigies of angelic figures line the Monastery's hull, their shadowed cowls staring eternally outward into the uncaring void. Over time, the Keepers have integrated such iconography and symbolism of the I Legion into the *Castellum* to honor their forebears, even if it is ignored by the Dark Angels themselves.

## Chapter Organisation

The Keepers of the Accord observe most statues of the Codex Astartes, as it would be expected and required given their mission and their rumored direct servitude to the Adeptus Terra. The Chapter's forces consist of ten companies in total with the first and second Companies imitations of the Dark Angels' own Deathwing and Ravenwing respectively. The 1st, "the Wrathwing," as it is called, consists of the elite Terminators of the Chapter, supported by a great number of heavy tanks. The "Talonwing," in turn, houses the Keepers' high mobility forces of bike squadrons and Land Speeders.

The remainder of the companies are as one would find in the Codex Astartes, although there is some doubt as to the number of battle-brothers that are kept in active service in the Keepers of the Accord. Some within the Inquisition cite that there is no feasible way that the Chapter could adequately staff their fleet, the *Caelestis Castellum*, and the defenses set on the surface of Thessalon proper while also having considerable strength left in the Battle Companies yet remaining only one thousand Space Marines. However, given that other Inquisitors are aware of Thessalon's true nature, and of the Keepers' loyalty to their impossible task have shielded the Chapter from accusations of deviation or heresy.

## Chapter Culture

    The Keepers of the Accord are monastic in nature, valuing wisdom and patience in tandem with martial prowess, much like their brother Chapter, the Guardians of the Covenant. Battle-Brothers are very much encouraged to study the Chapter's extensive libraries on Imperial records detailing the Imperium's enemies, both alien and heretical. The Keepers also make a point to study any weapon they come across produced by the Imperium, whether ancient or unspeakably rare. Hidden in the Armory are stores of collected weaponry that serve as the objects of study and examination by neophytes and Techmarines, to learn of their capabilities and faults. But it is forbidden to take an item from these stores to battle due to their nigh-irreplaceable value, unless it is necessary and possible to forge a duplicate. Despite the Keepers' high number of Techmarines and the seeming alliance they have with the Mechanicum, the Battle-Brothers rarely give praise to the Omnissiah, and save their blessings for the Emperor and the Lion instead.

It is a mystery if the Keepers of the Accord are truly part of the brotherhood that is the Unforgiven, but their insular duties and oaths of fealty to the High Lord are ample reasons for them to be excluded and set apart from their fellow sons of the Lion. Further to this belief is that Keepers and Dark Angels have never been recorded to have fought alongside one another, or even met.

However, the Keepers of the Accord still make use of iconography and symbology of the 1st Legion, though it is unclear if this is intentional or not. Similarly, Keeper Veterans don hooded robes, as the Unforgiven do, but it has been argued that this fact is merely a matter of imitation.

## Chapter Combat Doctrine

"*When our iron treads meet their fragile bodies, let them know the Lion's anguish.*"
—Master Rostiello
Like all Dark Angel successor Chapters, the Keepers of the Accord are partially Codex Compliant with the 1st and 2nd Companies being elite formations named the Wrathwing and Talonwing respectively. Due to the size of the Chapter's armory, the 1st Company has an envious number of Land Raiders and Dreadnoughts for the Terminators of the Ironwing to make use of to demolish an enemy. For the rest of the battleline Companies, they are the most experienced with defense for obvious reasons, but are constantly drilled in numerous other attack plans, but rarely are given the true opportunity. When attacking, the Keepers of the Accord usually use overwhelming force and armored assaults to crush an enemy without remorse.

## Chapter Gene-Seed

As successors of the Dark Angels, the Keepers of the Accord are bearers of one of the most pure gene-stocks in the Imperium but also inheritors of its defects. While mutations are virtually unheard of, all Chapters borne of the 1st Legion are possessed of a dark and secretive nature and prone to despising outsiders. It is largely unknown the extent to which this affects the Keepers and where the dogma of their culture and mission is to blame.

## Notable Members

**Master Rostiello** - A calculating and dignified soul, Rostiello is the Keepers of the Accord's current Master of the Arsenal and thus marshal of the Chapter's impressive armory. The Chaplaincy has praised Rostiello for wielding the wisdom of knowing when to obliterate in a tremendous show of force and when to hold the Chapter's prized relics from unnecessary danger. Currently, Rostiello and the 3rd Company are on a crusade into the Ghoul Stars region.

**Master Sorath** - Company Master Sorath is a living legend of the Keepers because of his martial prowess and aura of brotherly camaraderie the Space Marine emits when fighting on the battlefield with his 5th Company. One of Sorath's greatest accomplishments was his slaying a reviled Chaos Lord of the Emperor's Children Traitor Legion and banishing the heretic's daemonic patron to the Warp, earning him the title of "Bane of Profligacy.". Respected among within the Chapter and without, his name has forever been engraved in the Keepers' roll of honor.

## Chapter Relics

* ***Herald of Order*** - A source of immense pride and power both to the Keepers of the Accord, the *Herald* is a Legion Fellblade tank that the Chapter's Techmarines scavenged on the surface of a forgotten world. Recovering most of the vehicle, they were still unable to repair the reclaimed super-tank. After centuries and millennia, the Chapter had accrued enough favor and bargains with the Adeptus Mechanicus for one of their greatest artificers to aid in the restoration of the *Herald of Order*, as it was soon named. Though it took great effort and time, the Herald once more thundered across the fields of battle, reaping death and terror for the Imperium. The *Herald* now serves as the Master of the 1st Company's greatest weapon, and the prize of the Chapter's arsenal.

## Chapter Appearance

### Chapter Colors

The Keepers of the Accord's Power Armor is primarily sable black with dark green arms, legs, and lower torso. The right poleyn is also painted black, where company heraldry is painted white. Squad markings are painted white on the right pauldron, where squad number is painted red. The aquila and shoulder trims are painted silver.

### Chapter Badge

The Keepers of the Accord's Chapter badge is a pair of white stylized double-edged swords running parallel, one pointing left and the other right centered on a field of black.

## Notable Quotes

### About the Keepers of the Accord

[Source]

[Source]