Book of Nightshade

## The *Book of Nightshade*

The original tome authored by Hydrian Lorc is currently housed in the Librarium of their Chapter's flagship Ravensong.

## Other Information

### **Followers**

Night Ravens

The ***Book of Nightshade*** is a sacred tome of the Raven Guard Successor Chapter, the Night Ravens. Originally, this book began as a private journal penned by the Chapter's first Chapter Master, but eventually, it evolved into a chronicle of the Chapter as well as a supplement to the *Codex Astartes*. This tome is greatly revered by the Night Ravens, who go out of their way to follow the wisdom of their Chapter's former Council Masters.

## History

The *Book of Nightshade* is the revered and sacred tome originally authored by the Chapter's first Chapter Master - Council Master Haydrian Lorc. Originally, it was written as a chronicle of the earliest days of the Night Ravens' existence, and speaks of the various trials and tribulations it first encountered following their inception. Over time, subsequent Council Masters have added to this tome, adding their own personal experiences and battlefield wisdom which created a sturdy but adaptable strategic framework that speaks of the fundamental strengths and abilities of the Night Ravens themselves.

Down the millennia of their existence this tome has come to define the Night Ravens themselves, as the Chapter's character changed profoundly with the onset of their genetic deficiencies which has continue to plague them. This tome eventually became a compilation of personal notes on various tactics and doctrine used by the Chapter as well as a high-degree of blood-bought battle wisdom down the ages. Some alterations to the *Book of Nightshade* have been superficial, such as the use of shadowmark - the gestural command sign language used by the Night Ravens to communicate on the battlefield - to various changes in close-quarter tactics, martial traditions and warranted additions to Chapter iconography and even language.

Some changes would prove dramatic, with an entire paradigm of culture, tradition and even ideology overwriting what had come before. The outward sign of these changes in the Chapter began to show a development of distinct character in the Night Ravens, far removed from the original patterns of the *Codex Astartes* that the Chapter had adhered to at the outset of their inception, much of which had become largely abandoned or become so modified and diluted as to be in some cases unrecognisable from their original iteration. This tome also contains the litanies and most sacred rites and core beliefs of the Chapter which are held sacred by all Astartes of the Night Ravens, which go out of their way to follow the wisdom of the *Book of Nightshade*. This tome is primarily utilised by the Chapter as a supplement to the *Codex Astartes*.

## Excerpts

"*To achieve victory you must become one with the shadows. Make the enemy believe you are where they desire you to be, by being somewhere else. You must become silent as the grave and move like feathers carried on the wind. When the time is right, reveal yourself with the flash of blade and talon. By the time they realise you were there, they are already dead.*"
— Battlefield wisdom of the first Council Master, Haydrian Lorc, excerpt from The *Book of Nightshade*
"*To win a war of shadows a leader must be paranoid and ruthless.*"
— Battlefield wisdom of the first Council Master, Haydrian Lorc, excerpt from The *Book of Nightshade*
"*It is important to emphasize that guerrilla warfare is a war of the masses, a war of the people. Those who wage such shadow wars are an armed nucleus, the fighting vanguard of the oppressed. It draws its great force from the mass of the peoples themselves.*"
— Personal musings by Council Master, Haydrian Lorc, from the chapter 'Waging War', excerpt from The *Book of Nightshade*
"*To know the enemy is to know thine self. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the foe or yourself, you will succumb in every battle.*"
— Personal musings by Council Master, Haydrian Lorc, from the chapter 'Waging War', excerpt from The *Book of Nightshade*
"*Unless you keep apprised of the enemy's condition; weaknesses, vulnerable points and disposition, and are are ready to strike at the right moment, a war might drag on for years. Hence, when it is time to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.*"
— Personal musings by Council Master, Haydrian Lorc, from the chapter 'Waging War', excerpt from The *Book of Nightshade*
"*Mingle my dust with the burning brand,
Scatter it free to the sky
Fling it wide on the ocean's sand,
From peaks where the ravens fly.*"
— Excerpt from The *Book of Nightshade*, the '*Last Words of Haydrian Lorc*'
"*Speak and we may listen, but loudly you must call, for our blood sings ever louder even now.*"
— Excerpt from The *Book of Nightshade*
"*Curtains of darkness soon to be revealed
Declaration of death soon to be done
The triumphant of the darkness shall be ours
For we are one with the shadows.*"
— *The Book of Nightshade*, excerpt of the holy rite known as the '*Testing*'
"*We now repent for the sins of our father. One who in his guilt abandoned us, to be alone. Carry we his burden, and hope that our strength shall endure.*"
— Excerpt from The *Book of Nightshade*
"*From the depths, we rise, we rise with raven's eyes
In the shadows, we rage, we strike like infernal hate
Blackened wings in the sky, we summon the eternal night.*"
— Excerpt from the The *Book of Nightshade*
"*We are the shadows that stalk the night, the hidden death that none suspect.*"
— Personal musings by Council Master Ramius Crowler, excerpt from The *Book of Nightshade*
"*Where there is darkness,
I shall bring light.
Where there is evil,
I shall bring wrath.
Where there is rage,
I shall show its course.
My armour is contempt.
My blade is hatred.
My bolter is vengeance.
In the Emperor's and the Ravelord's names,
let none survive.*"
— Pre-battle rite known as the 'Rite of Wrath', by Council Master Corban Erebos, excerpt from the The *Book of Nightshade*, circa M37.
"*Thy wrath had come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto they servants - the Angels of Death, the sickly children of the Raven Lord - and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.*"
— From the XXIII Canto, '*Revelations & Visions*', from the *Book of Nightshade*
"*And there was war in the heavens. The Angels of Death fought against the devils and the devils fought His angels, and prevailed not. Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God-Emperor, and the power of his Angels of Death; for the servants of darkness is cast down, and the sickly children will be raised up. And the God-Emperor shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And He that sat upon the Golden Throne said, Behold, I make all things new.*"
— From the XCII Canto, '*Revelations & Visions*', from the *Book of Nightshade*