Dragonkin

Dragonkin Armorial with Chapter iconography

Dragonkin Chapter Appearance

### **Specialty**

Shock Assault, Daemon Slaying, Search & Destroy, Cult Purgation and Anti-Warp Incursion Operations, Void Warfare

### **Battle cry**

"Our words have power, let them shatter the skies!"

### Successor Chapter(s)

None

A strange chapter shrouded is disturbing rumors and deeds, the **Dragonkin** were created during the ill-fated 21st 'Cursed' Founding from the ancient and venerable Salamanders. Whilst they would ordinarily be investigated and sanctioned by imperial authorities the Dragonkin appear to have powerful allies in the Holy Inquisition, most notably the Ordo Malleus. Though they appear to have avoided the uncontrollable mental and physical abnormalities of many of their brethren in the 21st Founding the chapter appears to have an almost palpable aura of death and ending about them. With the opening of the Great Rift, the Dragonkin have been mobilised on a scale unseen, more and more, the depths of the Abyssal Vaults are opened as the Ruinous Powers rampage through the galaxy.

## Chapter History

The first mention of the Dragonkin is during a raid by the Kabal of the Black Heart, the scions of Asdrubael Vect sought to harvest the world of Calad XVI, the sheer numbers of potential victims on the pleasure world and, to the absolute horror of the nobles the denizens of Commoragh unleashed some of the horrid beasts that lurked in the darker, more daemonic realms of the Dark City. Due to their relative infancy the Dragonkin were unprepared for such a swift and unnatural assault, their daemonic opponents undermining the tactics and edicts of the codex Astartes. As the force sent to destroy the Eldar began to overwhelm the sons of Nemesis the Exorcists arrived, banishing their neverborn foes, allowing the Dragonkin to properly battle the dark Eldar. After the Kabal of the Black Heart were driven back, the Exorcists divulged some of their secrets, beginning the Dragonkin's obsession with eldritch lore from every species and their use in banishing the servants of the dark gods.

## Notable Campaigns

* **Into the Depths of Oliensis (809.M41)** -
* **The Dark Master Walks (020.M42)** - Destruction of Cadia, the warp tore a great rend in reality. With the endless hordes of the Dark Gods spewing forth from the Great Rift, the Dragonkin began marshalling at Nemesis, increasing recruitment (the Primaris Marine creation technology having yet to arrive for the Chapter), declaring to the High Lords of Terra that they were preparing to crusade against the forces of Chaos. Before they could leave however, their own world, already a planet with weakened barriers between real-space and the immaterium, suffered perhaps its greatest daemonic incursion yet, with maniacal hordes of Chaos Marines and daemons spilling into the depths of the capital hive of Nemesis.

## Chapter Homeworld

The world of Nemesis is a cold, dark place rank with superstition. A place of darkness and fear the homeworld of the Dragonkin is almost perfect for their warp-creature slaying needs, with a population already wary of the shadows and the beasts that could lurk within them, those that struggle in the bleak hives of Nemesis are practically professional daemon-slayers (whether real or imagined) by the time 'those who speak death' come to recruit them. Once a mining world that supplied the Imperium of Man with vast reserves of hydrogen for plasma weaponry the Adeptus Mechanicus mined the world dry and, as they are wont to do abandoned the world and, as with many other worlds that suffered said fate degenerated into gang warfare and barbarism with the planetary governors barely keeping a semblance of control.

Eventually this planet, which had so rapidly become a primitive hole of superstition, treating the factories that created the mining equipment the savages used as weapons like celestial forges, gifts from a 'Golden Master' to prove their mettle against their rival tribes and gangs was selected as the homeworld for the newly created Dragonkin, one of the innumerable spawn of the 21st 'Cursed' Founding. As a hive world Nemesis is generally unremarkable, save for single thing; a weakness in reality that can, on occasion allow small daemonic incursions (usually only brief and releasing at most five daemons at a time) thus leading to the immense superstition and mythology about the denizens of the immaterium and their rivalry with the Master of Mankind.

### Chapter Recruitment

When the Dragonkin begin their recruiting process those who have been chosen by the Dragonkin are kidnapped in the night, stolen away from their bewildered gang-mates and tribesmen. When they awaken they are greeted with a depthless void, with only a single, rickety stairway of metal leading in the darkness. This is the first sight these potential members of the Dragonkin will have of their new home; the Abyssal Vault, a vast fortress of eldritch lore and dark secrets built over a literal underworld, where the underhives of most hive worlds are hell pits twisted into horrid conditions by radiation and toxic waste filled with degenerate mutant nightmares, those of Nemesis are also corrupted by the fell magicks of the warp, filled with abhorrent monsters. Those who the Dragonkin have chosen must simply survive for eighteen days whilst their kidnappers watch them, throwing challenges in the way of their new recruits.

## Chapter Organisation

The Dragonkin generally follows the edicts of the Codex Astartes. Of note however, is the Chapter's council-based leadership. The Fourteen; an assemblage of Chaplains and Librarians, each one tasked with a different facet of the Dragonkin, for example, Librarian Erenkyl Delrio, the Lord of Sight, ensures that the Warriors of Nemesis remain undeceived by the dark tides of the Immaterium.
### Officer Ranks

* **The Fourteen**: The council of Librarians and Chaplains that rules over the Dragonkin. Composed of some its most learned and spiritually pure members of the Chapter, the Fourteen are an ancient and venerable warriors. Though rarely ever seen, the effect they have in leading the Dragonkin is undeniable. Each seat is charged with ensuring that, though they may stray into the darkness, the Warriors of Nemesis never stray from the Emperor's light. During the invasion of Nemesis by an ancient, unknown, shadow-clad daemon, the majority of the Fourteen were killed, leaving behind only the Lord of Sight; Librarian Erenkyl Delrio and the Lord of Piety; Chaplain Verechelen Scherer

### Specialist Units & Formations

* **Doom-Driven**: While the Chapter is controlled by a ruling council of librarians and chaplains on occasion a warrior will rise to the head of Dragonkin command. Called the Doom-Driven these Astartes are propelled towards the destruction of the daemonic, often being drawn from marines who have an all-consuming grudge against specific daemons (in the case of the current Doom-Driven; Fafnir's nemesis is the notorious Bloodthirster known as Skarbrand). To test their purity these hopefuls are required to exorcise a daemon devoted to same god as their nemesis daemon and, as the horrifying mutations the Neverborn wreaks on their host as it attempts to gain control of the Dragonkin's body the potential Doom-Driven must bring the changes under control and cast the monster out, using only his iron will in a ritual given to them by their close allies in the Exorcist chapter. While they are technically akin to a Chapter Master, the Doom-Driven is more akin to a combination of Chapter Champion and Commander, for they are the mightiest warrior of the Dragonkin whilst also assembling forces on a more ad-hoc basis.

* **Grudge Bearers**: A secretive brotherhood of only twenty warriors, the Grudge Bearers are the guardians of all the collected knowledge regarding the banishment of warp-beasts, separate from the Librarium, the Grudge Bearers are a rare-sight on the battlefield, bringing with them scraps of dark knowledge from the deep crypts of the Abyssal Vaults.

## Combat Doctrine

The Dragonkin broadly follow the strictures of the Codex Astartes regarding combat. Where they truly shine however, is when the denizens of the warp emerge; through their dealings with the Ordo Malleus and Exorcists, the Dragonkin have delved into the eldritch lore with which to banish the monsters of the Immaterium. Battle-Brothers of the Dragonkin wield a sinister force known as the Death-Tongue, an ominous language forged for the sole purpose of killing daemons. Each word is carefully constructed, chosen to the break the hold of the warp, combining primitive totemic practises and forbidden knowledge regarding the ruinous powers. The brutality of Nemesis and the superstitions of the techno-barbarian gangs make fighting the Dragonkin a daunting task, given their frankly ominous aspect and expertise in arcana manipulation. Their contacts in the Ordo Malleus allows them a greater amount of leeway to practise the darker parts of their craft, stalking through the long forgotten depths of hive cities, burning out the cancerous cores of dark and heretical cults. Whilst primarily battling against the hellish legions of the Dark Gods, the Kabal of the Shifting Gloom, whose immaterial creatures do not operate under the will of Chaos, the Death-Tongue holds little power. Such creatures fall into a curious middle-ground, cunning and deadly enough to slay a Marine, they must be lured with echoes of emotion, the scent of thought. Many of the markings that cover the Dragonkin's armour were made in anticipation of these beasts, to confound their senses, to pain their eyes, harsh angles or jagged curves making warriors almost instinctively unpleasant to gaze upon.

## Chapter Gene-Seed

Born from the gene-seed of the Salamanders the Dragonkin are (genetically speaking) a rather pleasant surprise when compared to others of the 21st Founding such as the Blood Gorgons, Black Dragons etc. Other than the mutations that the Salamanders themselves suffer the Dragonkin are apparently relatively unchanged, save perhaps the slight increase in size. While not necessarily a mutation in the gene-seed each member of the chapter appears to have an almost palpable aura of doom surrounding them, as though each Astartes is destined to bare a grim fate. Unknown to all those outside the Dragonkin the chapter's gene-seed is in fact spectacularly unstable and, outside of the unsavoury means they discovered, the chapter would have been liquidated and removed entirely from history. Much to their desperate shame the Dragonkin brought the uncontrollable mutations under control with the addition of the heretical mutagen; daemonblood (the same mutagen which created the corrupted raptor marines during the Horus Heresy) This addition of daemonblood into an aspiring marine, though stabilizing the gene-seed also increases rejection rates. These curses however are kept under the tightest of secrecy, to ensure the Ordo Astartes remains unaware of these potentially damning blights.

### Primarch's Curse: (The Voice takes Hold)

Thanks to the dark and dangerous nature of the Dragonkin's work the Astartes of that chapter are characterized by their quiet natures, speaking only when necessary for their voices are their greatest weapon. Such travels into the malefic are treacherous however and a brother can find his words are not always his own.

**Stage 1 - Half-Glimpsed**: The more a battle-brother sees and learns of the cults and daemons they must face the more he comes to believe that safety is an illusion as nightmares lurk just outside of his full view, half-glimpsed beasts cackle and cavort in the corners of his eyes as the Dragonkin struggles to resist unleashing the strength of his voice against creatures that he knows don't exist but can't deny.

**Stage 2 - Banish the Creatures**: The hidden creatures known only to the battle-brother have gathered in even greater numbers, he wonders how his fellows cannot see them. Whenever conversing with others the Dragonkin will occasionally slip in a word of the Death-Tongue causing a small phantasmal disturbance here and there. The more he does this the easier he finds it is to use the intoxicating power of the Death-Tongue.

**Stage 3 - Stolen Voice**: The Dragonkin has delved too deeply and too greedily into the depths of the Death-Tongue's power, the beings lurking in the corner of their eyes have been banished but a far darker fate has taken them; with their mind so fundamentally unprepared for the words they used the Death-Tongue has taken control of the brother's voice, from his mouth spills an endless stream of the dark tongues, words he didn't even know existed pour forth as the world around him becomes like a vicious poltergeist's playground, each word sends objects flying, floors rumbling, lights become dim then blinding. It is up to the brother to regain control of his will, else the chaplains will be forced to put him down.

## Chapter Beliefs

The Dragonkin are a deeply spiritual Chapter. Though, once recruited, they largely outgrow the more strange superstitions of the Nemesis gangs, rather fortuitously, given the intoxicating and dangerous effects of the Death-Tongue, the Dragonkin are a taciturn gathering, speaking only when necessary, even amongst themselves, believing only fools waste words. This belief has its origins in the Nemesis tale of daemons stealing the voices of those who speak with them. The effects of the Promethean Cult on the Dragonkin are obvious, though, as with all things regarding the Sons of Nemesis, veiled in mysticism and secrets. They will, without question, sacrifice themselves to bring ruination to the machinations of the Warp Gods, though they know they are damned souls, they long to ensure this damnation serves the God-Emperor who had them survive horrors that had so far befallen the Chapters of the 21st.

## Deathwatch Service

While the Deathwatch do not deal with the chapter's daemonic foes, the Dragonkin often go above and beyond when it comes to taking the black, many savants believe that this is due to potential interest in other race's anti-daemon capabilities. Given the number of marines sent to the Deathwatch many have joked that the Dragonkinin fact have eleven companies: ten to fill the usual roles and one for the Deathwatch. Despite this desire to go beyond the call of duty, members of the Chapter seconded to the Deathwatch are taciturn, rarely speaking and never seen outside of their armour. Despite this sinister and off-putting manner, the Dragonkin are incredibly loyal, unquestioningly aiding those even from Chapters who have a more strained relationship with Those Who Speak Death. Though rarely used given their opponents, the Death-Tongue is a valuable, if eyebrow raising tool for any Kill-Team.

## Notable Chapter Space Marines

* **Lord Fafnir** - Current Doom-Driven of the Chapter (a combination of Chapter Champion and Commander) large even for an Astartes, this grim warrior is a terrifying sight when ready for war. Like all of the Dragonkin, Fafnir is taciturn, speaking only when he believes necessary, his voice like a rolling boom of thunder. As with all Doom-Driven he has a deep and intense enmity with a particular daemon, in this the mad exile Skarbrand, the two share a deep rivalry and have tirelessly striven to see the other dead. Lord Fafnir was first chosen as Doom-Driven during the Desolation of Musag, where Skarbrand, at the head of a ragged horde of outcast daemons, nearly annihilated the Chapter's 1st Company. During those days, Lord Fafnir was known as Brother Lind Deza, sergeant of Khat squad. During the Exiled One's mad rampage, Khat squad was obliterated, their armour no proof against the unbridled madness of the bloodthirster. Despite being nearly flayed alive by his insane roars, Brother Lind endured, through this experience, a bond was forged, bound by hatred, Lind Deza became Lord Fafnir, thirteenth Doom-Driven. Wielding the tenebrous power sword known as the Blade of Separation and a bolter consecrated with holy water and armed with special shells filled with the sacred blood of martyrs Fafnir is an unrelenting foe to those most hellish of the dark god's servants. Outside of the Dragonkin, none have seen Lord Fafnir's face save for Inquisitor Rhia Dia.
* **The Teju Jagua** - Sent to serve the long watch after Nemesis repelled a daemonic assault. The Teju Jagua is a candidate for a seat on the Fourteen, namely the title Lord of Voices. During the shadowy daemon’s attempt to destroy the Dragonkin, the Teju Jagua showed a surprising control of the Death-Tongue. Given the myriad other warp-beings not in service to the dark gods, many believe that the Teju Jagua's volunteering for the Deathwatch is to solidify his potential appointment. Quiet and withdrawn, the Teju Jagua is an oddity for a Chaplain. Absent are the bombastic exhortations and pulpitry, replaced instead with more reserved, simpler, yet no less effective declarations of faith. On the battlefield, the Teju Jagua is a menacing sight, spitting forth eye-watering syllables of his Chapter’s ‘Death Tongue’, hacking and bludgeoning aside opponents in a relentless march. Though ominous and distant, the Teju Jagua is always willing, to speak on matters of faith with those he serves alongside.

## Chapter Fleet

The fleet of the Dragonkin is built for speed, though only containing a single battle-barge, the sons of Nemesis can deploy with a stunning alacrity, ploughing through the tides of the warp to wherever they are needed.

* **Tiamat's Roar (Battle Barge)**
* **Words of Ending (Strike Cruiser)**
* **Banishment (Strike Cruiser)**
* **Light in the Darkness (Strike Cruiser)**
* **Grim Baptism (Destroyer)**

## Chapter Relics

* **Blade of Separation** - One of the heirlooms of each Doom-Driven (an odd mixture of Chapter Champion and Commander) of the Dragonkin the forging of the Blade of Separation is a truly grim tale. Crafted from the bones of pariahs, sheathed in adamantium and engraved with the words 'Nahr Unziid Vleta' when swung this dark weapon temporarily severs the victim's connection to the warp, this can lead to fatal consequences for daemons separated from their very life energy and forced to experience mortality.
* **Devotion's Light** - Part of the Doom-Driven's inheritance, the materials of this weapon were cooled in sacred waters, blessed by priests of the God-Emperor. Armed with bolts impregnated with the blood of Imperial martyrs, the bark of this gun is seen as a prayers to the Master of Mankind and a scourge against the unholy.
* **Silencing Plate** - This ancient suit of power armour, worn by the current Doom-Driven, bears the work of countless generations, carved with the most powerful ancient runes and glyphs, with the machine spirit of the panoply imbued with circuitry that pulses in binaric codes and processes. Where the one who bears the Silencing Plate walks, an aura of tranquillity follows, almost a cold, empty point in the warp, its existence is anathema to the creatures of the aether.
* **Ruin's** **Tome** - Each page of this great book of eldritch lore is inscribed with the names and deeds of every battle-brother and the daemon that they see as a personal foe and the words able to help in their quest to permanently obliterate their warp-based foes. During 'great times of trial' (the most apocalyptic of daemonic incursions such as the Gheistos Cataclysm, which much to their fury the Dragonkin were unable to aid the Imperium in.) Ruin's Tome is removed from the depths of the Chapter's vaults and brought forth to perhaps finally annihilate some of the daemons whose name stain the dark volume's pages.
* **Passion Siphon** - Born from the Dragonkin's delving into the strange quirks of warp beasts not bound to chaos and created through secrets gleaned from the cruel xenos of the Kabal of the Fathomless Gloom, this strange device has a horrific effect. Appearing as little more than a bizarrely worked, trinket worked into lower arm of power armour, the Passion Siphon seems to almost drain the emotion around it, almost fostering apathy, weakening creatures of the warp, who are created and feed upon emotions.

## Chapter Appearance

### Chapter Colours

The Dragonkin are primarily a two-tone scheme; their legs and torso are a dark silver, their pauldrons, arms and backpack are a deep red and finally, their pauldron trim and helmets are a pure white. Aside from their colours, the armour of a Dragonkin is covered with arcane markings and dark runes believed to aid in their fight against daemons.

### Chapter Badge

The Dragonkin's chapter badge is a black stylized dragon, its wings spread as it roars fire.

## Chapter Relations

The Dragonkin are a secretive and forbidding Chapter, their sheer ruinous presence generally puts off anyone attempting to ally with them. Some however, such as the Exorcist Chapter and certain factions of the Ordo Malleus have made inroads with co-operating with the insular Marines of Nemesis. Both the Inquisition and Exorcists have allied with the Dragonkin given their shared interest in permanently destroying the servants of Chaos (with the darker members of the Ordo Malleus approving of the Dragonkin's desire to understand their enemy.) Their fellow Chapter of the 21st Founding; the Nemean Brotherhood are brothers in blood, the two Chapters service alongside each other during the assault on Oliensis.

### Allies

* **Ordo Malleus**
* **Exorcists**
* **Nemean Brotherhood**

### Enemies

* **Kabal of the Fathomless Gloom** - Whilst the Kabal of the Black Heart was the first to truly expose the Dragonkin to the horrors of the warp, amongst the Dark Eldar of Commoragh, the Kabal of the Fathomless Gloom has been the Chapter's most recurring foe. Skilled in the birthing and raising of warp entities, the Fathomless Gloom unleash countless preternatural abominations against their foes. Unbound by the bizarre strictures of the Dark Gods, the nightmares of the Kabal operate under a baffling 'logic' of their own. Lord Fafnir himself, bears a cape made from the bizarre, ever shifting flesh of Archon Kyurial's personal warp monster, slain in a duel.

* **Skarbrand**
* **Fateweaver**
* **Ordo Hereticus**

## Notable Quotes

### By Your Chapter

"*I do not bow to the whims of the Inquisition. I answer only to the Outlander. The Lord on Terra. I am Doom-Driven, a servant of his will. One of a number. One of nine.*"
—Lord Fafnir to Inquisitor Apollyon
"*Come beast, do you not wish for the fear you smell? Gaze upon your death...if your instincts do not drive your eyes away.*"
—Librarian Erenkyl Delrio, the Lord of Sight, hunting a Niyiix of the Kabal of Fathomless Gloom
"*I envy you human, to feel the sensual pain, the pleasure of me killing you, to know it will never happen again. I must know, I have to! Tell me human, does it burn? Does it hurt?"
 Sil'yuer shrieks in pain suddenly
"Tell me, does it burn, does it hurt your wretched parasite, do you enjoy the pain of being severed from your disgusting creator?*"
—Lord Fafnir battling Sil'yuer herald of Slaanesh
### About Your Chapter

"*We may both share the Lord of Drake's blood, but do not trust them, those conjurers from Nemesis...there is a darkness about them...a grim fate, too much like the Dragon Warriors of old.*"
—Captain Shu'khar of the Salamanders

[Source]

 White Scars Successors
 Space Wolves Successors
 Imperial Fists Successors
 Blood Angels Successors
 Iron Hands Successors
 Ultramarines Successors
 Salamanders Successors
 Raven Guard Successors
 Unknown Lineage
 Renegades

[Source]
Lord Fafnir, Doom-Driven of the Dragonkin and clad in his symbols of office (note the servo-skull made from Archon Kyurial's personal warp beast