Black Huntsmen

*Enjoy some ambiance courtesy of the very talented Tyler Cunningham while you read*

## Black Huntsmen(Sacred Band of Ibrosia)

An armorial belonging to a battle brother of the Black Huntsmen displaying their chapter's sigil and the warrior's choice fetishes of coins and bones. Trim colour dependent on the company in which the Astartes serves as dictated by the Codex Astartes: in this case, the green of fourth company.

Battle Brother Caylon, an Assault Marine belonging to the third squad of the chapter's second band (company). Note his choice of fetishes: coins linked at the pauldron, a devotional scroll on his right pauldron and the skull painted on his visor's grille.

## Space Marine Chapter

### **Allegiance**

Imperium of Man
(*Fedelitas Totalis*)

### **Founding**

Undeclared Founding - ratified by Imperial Edict (unknown date-M32)

### **Successor of**

Mortifactors (lineage of Roboute Guilliman)

### **Allies**

Baleful BladesLibatorsIndominable LegionModronii

### **Number of Marines**

Unknown: lost (last sighted with a nominal 700 Astartes in late M36-early M37)

### **Specialty**

Shock assault, punitive actions, cult purgation

### **Battle cry**

None officially: warriors often recount portions of their catechisms, Thaumaturges may also call on their warriors in chanting the catechism in call and response.

### **Colours**

Black chest, backpack, pauldrons, vambraces, right poleyn and codpiece. Bleached bone gauntlets, helmet and legs. Pauldron trim and left poleyn dependent on company numeration. Helmet lenses tinted orange.

### Successor Chapter(s)

None

"*The hour of death is at hand - the sun climbs high.
The hour of death is at hand - the moon dies behind the rills.
The hour of death is at hand - but I stand.
The hour of death is at hand - the trees are made ash.
The hour of death is at hand - unbowed.
The hour of death is at hand - as the earth trembles.
The hour of death is at hand - unbent.
The hour of death is at hand - while the skies weep.
The hour of death is at hand - unbroken.
The hour of death is at hand - and now the seas boil.
The hour of death is at hand - woe to you!
The hour of death is at hand - ADVANCE!
The hour of death is at hand - woe to the vanquished!
The hour of death is at hand - death to all!
The hour of death is at hand - and all to death!*"
—"Chronicles of Woe" the creed and catechism of the Black Huntsmen penned during the Calth Atrocity and the Underworld Wars.
The **Black Huntsmen** (also known as the **"Sacred Band of Ibrosia"**) are descended from the Mortifactors during the intermediary period between the Second and Third Foundings. Thus they technically were not a sanctioned chapter of the Second nor Third Founding, but their formation as a chapter would be ratified by order of Imperial Edict passed sometime during M32 and as such they would be classed officially as being a sanctioned chapter of the Adeptus Astartes as part of an unstated founding. Compared to their upstanding and stoic progenitors in the Ultramarines, the Mortifactors are a grim, austere and superstitious lot within the roster of the successor chapters of the Thirteenth Legion. The Black Huntsmen follow the example of their progenitors in the Mortifactors - but their morbid and superstitious facets are vastly overshadowed by their morose penchant toward wanton destruction and savagely brutal reprisals. Their flippant disregard for life and heavy-handed streak of sadism makes them more akin to the likes of the Marines Malevolent or the Minotaurs which has garnered the attention of Imperial authorities on numerous occasions and the Inquisition has opened several investigations into their conduct as a result. The bitterness and anger that lies at the heart of the chapter's collective psyche is what drives the chapter to ever greater heights of cruelty to the enemies of man and single-mindedly shaped their doctrine and outlook on the Imperium. This is a direct result of their involvement in the Calth Atrocity during the Horus Heresy and all throughout the subsequent Scouring under the command of their future Chapter Master: Agothocles.

Agothocles during his tenure in the sixth chapter served as captain of its first company under Aurelius, the Legate-Paragon of the Sixth chapter of the Ultramarines Legion; known by his epithet as the "Monster of Ultramar" was Captain Agothocles's foremost friend and ally within the legion. The sixth as a whole became infamous for their ruthlessly callous and cold-hearted disposition with which they conducted themselves. Their victory at Calth was a Pyrrhic one costing the Ultramarines Legion well over a hundred thousand of their battle brothers when the last of the Word Bearers were driven out and slain - a stain on their history and psyche forever after.

## Chapter History

While Aurelius would take on a solo punitive campaign against the Night Lords in the Nostramo Sector, he commanded Agothocles to stay within the Five Hundred Worlds to oversee part of the Scouring in system against any remnant Word Bearers that lingered within Ultramar. The favoured method of execution and interrogation of the Sixth was crucifixion and wherever the Paragon-Legate and his First Captain tread - the crucifix was never far behind. Though all of the sixth chapter used crucifixion; it was the first company under Agothocles who became synonymous with the practice specifically - such that it became their calling card. Though fighting continued and was as dire and bitter as any other theatre in which they operated - no deployment blackened them more than what unfolded on Calth. Agathocles relished in the deed of hoisting up the vanquished upon crosses or stakes and Aurelius, for his part in this chapter of the history of the Ultramarines would secure what elements of the Night Lords refused to follow the traitors into rebellion into his sphere and refocused their combat doctrine around their use of intimidation and shock and awe while tempering it with cold-hearted calculus. Agathocles and Aurelius, now versed in this new rationale and approach would take up arms again in their solo campaigns against the Word Bearers and the Night Lords respectively from then on all the way toward the end of the Great Scouring. The breaking of the Legiones Astartes into their smaller self contained component chapters occurred at the turn of M32 and heralded the Second Founding. All legionnaires would be reassigned to new chapters and among them were the surviving veterans of the Calth Atrocity.

Most notably of these veterans reassigned to new posts were the Indominable Legion headed by former Sixth Legate Aurelius, the Imperius Ravagers under Captain Bruticus Kratos of the 8th Assault Company, and the Mortifactors under Captain Sasebo Tezuka. Agothocles would be reassigned from his station under Aurelius and would take captaincy of the fifth company of the Mortifactors at the outset of the Second Founding under Sasebo Tezuka. He was made to bid farewell with his former commander when he was ordered into the ranks of the Mortifactors; but not before taking as many of his fellow veterans with him after the Legate-Paragon officially relieved his old friend Agathocles of his service to him. The Emperor's Tarot led the newly-founded Mortifactors to the night world of Posul where they established the space station of *Basilica Mortis* in orbit of the planet as their fortress monastery and the Mortifactors swiftly took after Posulan culture and assimilated. As such their chapter's cult and culture was hugely informed by the tribal people of Posul most notably with regard to their superstition, morbidity and the ritualistic cannibalism that the Mortifactors are most known for now (perhaps infamously) by Imperial citizenry and authority alike.

While Agothocles largely integrated and assimilated into the Posulan mortuary cult that was now established within the chapter and the tenets that their beliefs entailed; he still found himself wanting of his comrades and brothers. They served admirably with one another and quickly tallied an enviable roll of battle honours and distinctions. However, Agothocles found this to be insufficient to quench his thirst to for vengeance against the Imperium's many foes and he would butt heads with his superiors and contemporaries constantly; deigning them to not be wrathful or thorough enough in their prosecution of the foes to mankind and mocking them for their lack of zeal to crush the enemy. Drumming up support among his core of veterans, he would challenge Sasebo for command of the chapter on at least two separate occasions and using the Emperor's Tarot to further eek out legitimacy for his cause. On the third he challenged Sasebo to an honour duel for the station of Chapter Master. If he failed he would be slain and if he was victorious command of the chapter would pass to him. Several bouts were exchanged and the combatants drew to a stalemate and suffered grievous wounds in the process. By the end of the duel Agothocles had lost an eye and had a burst primary heart and Sasebo didn't fare much better either. The two mutually agreed to have their supporters disengage and split the assets as necessary amongst themselves in a manner reflective of the Sons of Medusa and the Iron Hands in the Moirae Schism several millennia to come. Though they had fraught relations: they did swear an oath to aid the other should need arise and the two Astartes grew to respect the other as a result of the matter. As such; the chapter of the Mortifactors shed themselves of their malcontents and the future Black Huntsmen shed themselves of their fetters and both could now prosecute their wars on their own terms. Agothocles led the errant Black Huntsmen using the tarot they were led to the world of Ibrosia where they settled thereafter. Ibrosia was in many regards the sister planet to Posul born to a different star. The ash laden skies made for a similarly bleak existence to Posul and the populace themselves were as morbid and morose as the Black Huntsmen themselves. The world's many species of moths dictated day to day life for the people who called Ibrosia home, lighting fires at any time of day outside the home was discouraged and often violently punished. The fear of the people of the moths were precisely why the Black Huntsmen fostered admiration for these creatures, as the local belief posited that they are little angels of death unto themselves and avatars of woe. Names like "Black Witch" and " being common epithets for these creatures; thus the Black Huntsmen took their likeness as their own heraldry. As far as the chapter was concerned: they couldn't have been better matched to the tenor of their newly adopted homeworld.

### The Despotate's Arrival to Modronos

The planet of Modronos is a gas giant that Ibrosia orbits as one of her moons. Though the world is itself not habitable, its position and resources made it a prime candidate for the settling of the Mechanicus to use it as their pre-eminent forge world over the rest of the star system, just as Jupiter served as one of the primary dockyards and forges within the Sol System. The Modronos clan of Mechanicum Maegi were known colloquially as the Modronii and though small in terms of the size, command and prestige that most forge worlds are able to lean on, they nonetheless remained hugely influential in local politicking in spite of how insular they are even by the standards of the Mechanicum. The Cassilar Despotate, by contrast, is a vast and far reaching pocket empire of the Adeptus Mechanicus that hailed from within the Ghoul Stars and makes extensive use of what they refer to as "exclave forges" which for all intents and purposes are the Despotate's own embassies but also serve whatever purposes that the treaty between forge worlds demands. Whether that be trade missions, trading hubs, political and diplomatic missions, mining and manufacturing facilities, medicae and triage, starports and dockyards, or embassies; the Cassilar Despotate will have that exclave forge act as whatever the treaty ratified demands it to act as. The signing of their treaty meant that the Cassilar Despotate was able to send a mission of advisors, gene and forgewrights alongside their own military assets to cooperate with the Modronii in exchange for STCs in a mutual defensive pact, occurring some time during the first quarter of M34. Their expertise especially with regard to ship building and maintenance granted the Despotate the use of the "*Cothon:"* a sprawling starfort that orbits Ibrosia from a geostationary orbit that came to be the defacto home port of the Black Huntsmen's fleet.

The Modronii would become increasingly possessive and controlling of the Despotate's control over the *Cothon* and their dealings with the Black Huntsmen in outfitting them with equipment and armour of their own make rather than the Modronii's own equipment. The Despotate would capitalise on this form of weakness and in the Black Huntsmen's goals to clandestinely improve upon the genetic framework of the Adeptus Astartes offered to them the necessary aid to cover up their tracks in tampering with the gene-seed organs from the Modronii. This would come to a head during the formative years of the Ecdysis Protocol being enacted by the Black Huntsmen and would use them in instigating what amounts to a coup within the Modronii Mechanicum and essentially become a puppet forge of the Cassilar Despotate.

### Ecdysis Protocol

A project spearheaded by the Black Huntsmen's Apothecarion and Armoria was the introduction of a further enhanced version of the standard genetic template on which the gene-seed of their chapter was based upon. The Modronii were hugely suspicious as to the genetic abberancy of the Black Huntsmen following the closer partnership between the exclave forge of the Carcosan delegates and the Black Huntsmen. Though tests and screenings came back inconclusive, reports as to the heightened agility, speed, size, strength, mildly improved healing factor, shortened training and hypno-indoctrination period certainly perplexed the Modronii and drew their suspicion. Even more so considering that these markers were atypical as far as the Ultramarines genetic sequencing was concerned. It was suspected (and rightly so) that the Black Huntsmen were cheating the screening with purposefully selective sampling supplied to the Modronii and that the Carcosans were facilitating the effort in full in covering up their tracks. As for what the Carcosan forge and gene-wrights of the exclave forges did churn out with the assistance of the Master of the Forge and the Chief Apothecary was a new organ that effectively replaced the Progenoid Gland. It held within it a reserve of Larraman's cells and maintains other stem cells that can assume whatever purpose is demanded of them in repairing parts of the body that suffer injury. Should injury occur: cells flood the area and rebuild the lost tissue, and keeping its connective and tactile sense Black Carapace and is almost as strong as bone. This organ also acts as what is essentially a miniaturised kidney to clean and detoxify the cells and blood after sustaining injury.

However, in spite of the short term boons of this project, its wide spread application chapter wide was regarded as a non-starter for several reasons, but the most pertinent of which was the logistics and cost to produce this form of the gene-seed. The progenoid glands were in essence replaced by an organ that heightened the healing factor of the warrior but did nothing to provide ample genetic material for harvest to the Apothecarion upon the battle brother's death or on the voluntary basis some Astartes are known to do before entering battle: essentially rendering the battle brother sterile. Adding to the trouble of these organ sets being sterile, to make one of these sets of organs would cost two full sets of Astartes gene-seed organs to create and implant within a Marine. As such, only veterans or high ranking Astartes who have voluntarily had the Apothecarion harvest their fully matured progenoid glands were granted the privilege of undergoing the *Ecdysis Protocol;* undergoing a process that superficially resembled a more primitive version of the Rubicon Primaris that would follow much later in Era Indomitus after Guilliman's return to the fold.

### Paimon's Covenant

The coming of the figure that would be remembered in Imperial sources as Paimon occurred on the cardinal world of Iyrin, though of a lower standing than the likes of Macaroth who would later become Warmaster during the Sabbat Worlds Crusades, he nonetheless commanded much respect from the Militarum, Navy, and other Imperial institutions. The name of the figure would be lost to time, but not the title he was granted: Paimon. Known for being gregarious, a larger than life grandeur to him and with a natural talent for oratory and charisma, his voice carried unnaturally far and his retinue were disparaged for being more known for their loudness than their talents and upstanding nature as Imperial citizens.

Whatever the reputation of Paimon's following, his career as a general of the Astra Militarum was one that painted a storied career of meritorious service, gallantry and dynamism rarely all encompassed by a single figure. It was while serving as a Commandant that he was awarded the brevet rank of Field Marshall during the Age of Apostacy and for his part in the campaigns against Vandire on the periphery of that theatre on the world of Iyrin and following the quelling of that rebellious world, this Field Marshall restored the Ecclesiarchy's command over the world. It was here that this Marshall would be crowned "Paimon" and from then on would continue to prosecute campaigns in the name of Mankind. Paimon would then launch a series of short-lived but highly successful crusades that included Astartes participants, among them the Black Huntsmen. The last one he commanded was the crusade on the Agares Cluster that had become overrun with an ork WAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH!!! on the marches of Galactic Core and Segmentum Tempestus. The Agarian Crusade would again call on Astartes participation and again it was the Black Huntsmen who entered the picture. Spearheading many of the crusade's advances into the most perilous warzones, the Black Huntsmen were the hammer to Paimon's anvil, and it was the fourth band of the Black Huntsmen that saw the greatest amount of time in service to Paimon's Agarian Crusade. Honorarily, the fourth band took on markings of the disparate crusades he launched and even claimed Paimon's seal as part of their heraldry as a mark of commendation and service.

However, this would not be to last, as Paimon's career came to an end when nearing the end of the Agarian Crusade where Paimon was nearly slain by ork kommandos that somehow managed pass themselves off as part of his bodyguard of ogryns. And it was here that the Agarian Crusade began to lose cohesion, as Paimon began to be consumed by his paranoia. He had summarily executed the ogryns of his guard detail and even issued orders for all ogryns serving in the crusade to be be executed as well. Though this did nothing to ease his mind as his eyes now fell on his constantly quarreling war cabinet and he began issuing impossible objectives to his units and their commanders to weed out those he thought were disloyal or otherwise disobey orders. Singling these officers out he would have them be executed. This continued for months of campaigning until the crusade lost any and all of its momentum against the orks, now stagnating into static attritional warfare against the orks with a front being opened on Iyrin where Paimon had been crowned and was now leading his crusade from as his base of operations. In time even the presence of the Black Huntsmen proved to be insufficient in the face of the odds against them with the ork presence, and though Paimon's dissident officers were dispatched, there were still calls from within the Militarum and other commanders to call Paimon to a tribunal and see him replaced. Somehow Paimon had managed to evade and outmanoeuvre the political machinations of his rivals and escaped the prospect of a tribunal or court martial. But the opposition to his now incompetent and increasingly erratic military decisions began taking such a toll that the Black Huntsmen were issued orders by entities undisclosed that called for them to eliminate Paimon. Though they had staunchly served Paimon throughout the different crusades he had launched over the decades, few parties were more frustrated with his performance than the Black Huntsmen. The order they were issued with called for Paimon's removal both as a means of opening the position for competent command and more over: to test the Huntsmen in their loyalty to the Imperium and that they hadn't fallen too far into Paimon's orbit. The Black Huntsmen slew the Field Marshall, claiming his skull and skeletal remains that would become relics of their chapter, their efforts and reinforced Imperial forces that included Militarum regiments from Vostroya, Krieg and Corsaega under new command then roundly defeated the greenskins on the world of Iyrin the Agares Cluster. Paimon's death was not without unintended consequences, however, a cult of personality to him had become widely spread on the world of Iyrin after his crowning by the High Cardinal of Iyrin. The Frateris Militia of Iyrin was split in half and fell to infighting and strife again claimed the world of Iyrin. The cult that formed around Paimon began to attract more insidious interests and with it morphed into an outright chaos cult to Khorne. The Black Huntsmen then returned to Iyrin again with the Militarum regiments that had just fought the orks off of its parapets and now were the ones climbing up them to put down the revolt. This would become known as the First Purgation of Iyrin, and it would not be the last that millennium either.

## Notable Campaigns

**Calth Atrocities and the Underworld Wars [007-014.M31]:** Before their founding within the years following the Horus Heresy, the Ultramarines were set upon by Lorgar and his Word Bearers in the Veridian System and its crown jewel: Calth. Lorgar had sought to exterminate the legion wholesale in a harrowing of one of the most beloved planets of the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar in a campaign that rapidly devolved from a quick decapitation of the Ultramarines into a slogging attritional war. Captain Agathocles would remain on Calth on orders of Guilliman and his Legate Aurelius in prosecuting the war against the Word Bearers beneath the surface of Calth following the Word Bearer’s poisoning of the Veridian star. At the battle's end, the Ultramarines had paid for their victory with over a hundred thousand legionnaires and another twenty thousand too crippled to fight on. Where Aurelius would depart with his portion of the chapter to prosecute a punitive campaign against the Night Lords; he commanded Agothocles to stay on Calth and to scour the Five Hundred Worlds clear of traitors. This he did and the bodies of crucified Word Bearers followed his wake wherever he travelled. His relishing and sadism in carrying out this deed only further darkened his chapter's already terrible reputation which would be carried with him and his fellows forever after. Those who served on Calth would make up the number of Astartes who upon the breaking on the legions at the dawn of M32 would be seconded to the chapters of the Mortifactors, Indominable Legion and the Imperius Ravagers of the Third Founding. The Black Huntsmen were not among them until prior to the Third Founding after splitting away from the Mortifactors and their founding being ratified by Imperial Edict as part of an undeclared founding.

**Great Scouring [014-indeterminate date M32]:** A continuation of the Ultramarines prosecution of punitive campaigns against the traitors from within the Five Hundred Worlds and toward the Eye of Terror alongside the other loyalists. Though still not a chapter unto themselves nor an undertaking as formative as the Calth Atrocity, it certainly played a part in forming the utterly bleak and fiery anger at the core of the chapter's psychology. In particular alongside other Ultramarines, intermittently with the future chapters that would eventually become the Indominable Legion, Howling Griffons, Nemesis Chapter, Mortifactors, Doom Eagles, Libators and Black Consuls among others. They followed Guilliman throughout the campaigning and fought all across the realms of Ultramar and elements would arrive to aid in driving what traitors remained on the outskirts of Terra back toward the Eye of Terror. This campaign, in the mind Agothocles solidified and validated every grievance they had toward the traitors: in particular the Word Bearers.

**Libation of the Word Bearers [unknown date - early M32]:** The Black Huntsmen alongside the Libators fresh out of the scouring and establishing of their respective Chapters would undertake the pursuing of the Black Legion and Word Bearers an estimated four centuries after the First Black Crusade spearheaded by Abbadon the Despoiler. A flotilla of the Libators third and fourth companies were pursuing the Black Legion back into the Eye of Terror and the Black Huntsmen would join the Libators in their endeavours. Little is recorded in surviving extant records, but the Black Huntsmen sustained the brunt of the casualties suffered at the hands of the Word Bearers and the Black Legion but the Libators carried the day and captured a number of prisoners that included two Dark Apostles. The Libators accompanied the Black Huntsmen back to Ibrosia and observed the rites of the dead of the Black Huntsmen. After doing so they carried at the act of Libation on Ibrosian soil on their prisoners, the Libators and the Black Huntsmen forever after sought to come to the aid of the other should it be asked of them.

**First Purgation of Iyrin [unknown date M36]:** The Black Huntsmen would be drawn to a distress call toward the cardinal world of Iyrin. Little else beyond what is detailed in this entry is truly known or understood to have transpired but it is understood that the actions taken during this campaign would come to roost in the following centuries and see the return of the Black Huntsmen for their lack of thoroughness. Their intelligence painted the situation as a matter of cult purgation and extermination of their people and creed; a task that he Black Huntsmen were best suited to doing. Though officially undocumented: it has been posited that the cultists were overwhelmingly Khornate in their composition. Their efforts against the hastily established Frateris Militia and mobilised PDF regiments were routinely outmaneuvered and slain. Alongside the Black Huntsmen who had arrived in near full chapter strength were elements of another two chapters whose names were not recorded and tens of regiments of the Astra Militarum; most notably of them were the Death Korps of Krieg, the Corsaegan Cuirassiers and their hated rivals in the Vostroyan Firstborn. With the arrival of the Imperial response the momentum of the traitors broke against their lines. The attacking cultists were now cowed and pushed back to the slums that line the cathedral riddled hives and forced them to engage in asymmetrical warfare. The combat was from that point onward was near always in close quarters in the derelict settlements in the shadows of the hives. Above even slaying the traitors; the Black Huntsmen sought to break their spirit and morale and show the traitors that their gods care not for their plight. Weeks of slaughter, sacking, burning of tomes, iconoclasm and masse crucifixion dragged on without end under the Black Huntsmen who were indiscriminate in their slaughter. The confined environs of their combat often resulted in friendly fire incidents, however, these were ultimately deemed to be a matter of poor intelligence rather than deliberate, but imperial command staff remain sceptical given the animosity between the Corsaegans and the Vostroyans. Such was the slaughter that the population of some thirty billion souls was reduced to a mere four billion at the end of the campaign. Though what reports remain indicate and point toward success and called for the resettling of civilians and pilgrims to replenish the world's population; the truth of the matter was that remnants of the cults still persisted and sowed the seeds of another incursion to come in the decades to follow.

**Oxus Revolts [264.M36]:** Following their blunders in the first purging of Iyrin against the chapter known as the Purifiers and being snubbed of the chance to pick any of the spoils of war for themselves for nearly costing the operation a victory, the Black Huntsmen set off again in search of a theatre to deploy to whilst patrolling within the border marches of Segmentum Ultima on the within the Nephilim Sector. The Forge World of Oxus is under siege and overrun by the forces of the Hell-Forges of Cyclothrathe from within the Coronid Deeps of Segmentum Obscurus. What remained of the Mechanicus on the world of Oxus then pledged themselves to the Dark Mechanicum, the distress beacons were silenced, but silenced too late. Regiments of the Imperial Guard spearheaded by regiments of the Chem-Drakes and contingents of Skitarii of neighbouring Forge-Worlds would arrive to contain the errant Hell-Forge that was being made of the world of Oxus. The Imperial answer would be judged insufficient as they were repeatedly thrown back from the sanctum of the hives that dotted the manufactorum complexes. The besiegers themselves would call for aid and it would be Astartes that mobilised as the spear tip of the offensive against the Hereteks that had seeped their way into Oxus. The Omni-Legion would arrive first and enact containment protocols with the arrival of the Black Huntsmen following soon after. The Black Huntsmen would attempt to wrest command from the hands of the Omni-Legion but would eventually capitulate to them as their superiors for the duration of this operation.

**Second Purgation of Iyrin [unknown date M36]:** The second Purging of Iyrin was not the first time that the Black Huntsmen had come to the world of Iyrin; and their lack of thoroughness during their first punitive action some two millennia prior was likely why a second campaign was called on the cardinal world. The local garrison of the Sisters of Battle and Astra Militarum regiments of the Death Korps of Krieg were overrun by a rebellious cult and soon made room for a full Chaos incursion. The distress call sent from Iyrin first attracted the chapter of the Purifiers who arrived in their usual fashion: full chapter strength. Their arrival quickly heralded the end for the Chaos aligned and they were ruthlessly expunged. At battle's end the Canoness of the Order arranged for a parley with Samyaza; the Chapter Master of the Purifiers to offer him her thanks. The chapter and their master were terminally afflicted with a psychosis and jealousy that made them incredibly volatile and in this parley Samyaza unsheathed his blade and tore the Canoness in half. The Purifiers turned their arms on Iyrin itself and her people: once again the world was forced to dispatch another distress signal. In short order a response would come from the Grey Knights of the Order of the Purifiers under Brother Captain Krios. They were very quickly overpowered by the psychosis afflicted Purifiers and slain nearly to a man, save for Krios himself. The continued dispatching of distress calls from Iyrin would soon herald the arrival of contingents of the Imperial Wardens, Drakes Encarmine, Immortals and finally the Black Huntsmen themselves. The Drakes Encarmine and Immortals immediately made planetfall and the Black Huntsmen followed suit. Lines clashed and both the Drakes Encarmine and Immortals managed to stall the advance of the Purifiers despite being horrifically outnumbered by their foes. The Black Huntsmen fought primarily in the void alongside the fleet-borne assets of the other chapters predominantly led by the Imperial Wardens; but also landed their contingents on Iyrin itself to take part in the fighting on the ground. It is unclear as to how the next moments came to be but a friendly fire incident by the Black Huntsmen on the Immortals stalled their advance and allowed the Purifiers to rally under their High Chaplain and to again to take the initiative against the loyalists. The void conflict was similarly fraught as starships and their boarding parties exchanged Marines and slaughtered one another in close quarters. Eventually the tide would turn as the boarding parties of the loyalists made to capture the bridge of the *Cleansing Flame* under command the First Captain Ananiel of the Purifiers and he rammed his vessel into the Imperial Wardens acting flagship *Libertas* and resulting in the destruction of both vessels. The Purifiers would, however, be acting on borrowed time as the reeling loyalists were again able to rally and eventually slay the remainder of the chapter with extreme prejudice. The Ultramarines and additional regiments of Astra Militarum would arrive in system to secure Iyrin and mediated over the disputes between the embroiled chapters and the distribution of the spoils of war. Ultimately the Ultramarines sided with the Imperial Wardens, Drakes Encarmine and the Immortals and did not allow the Black Huntsmen to replenish their losses using the spoils of the Purifiers.

## Chapter Home World

### Etymology

Though unclear, historitors and scholars largely agree that Ibrosia is derived from the local Ibrosian lexicon for the word for moth: ibruxak (sing.: ibruxa), meaning "witche(s)." The word for witch and moth has become wholly interchangeable on the homeworld given the fraught relationship of native tribes with the moths of the planet. The suffix of sia means "the land of," so the conjoined form of the word is rendered as Ibrosia, meaning "the land of witches" or "the land of moths." The Black Huntsmen also took on the moniker of the "Sacred Band of Ibrosia" in honour of their adopted homeworld.

### Homeworld

Ibrosia is a heavily forested and humid world located on the marches between Segmentum Tempestus and Segmentum Ultima and is technically a planet sized moon as it orbits a much larger gas giant called Modronos. Most famed for her wide diversity of invertebrate life: most especially the enormous variety of moths (and the exceptionally enormous moths themselves) that call the world home. Modronos that acted as the dockyard of the chapter and continues to serve as the mustering point for local military elements of the star system. Modronos has in essence become transformed into a bastion world after its requisitioning by the Adeptus Mechanicus to act as the system’s local forge, her Mechanicus governorate are referred to simply as the Modronii. Modronos maintains an exclave manufactorum and research complex belonging to the Forge World of Carcosa granted to the High Suzerain of Carcosa under treaty. The starport that the Carcosan delegation occupies is a monstrous fortress that orbits Ibrosia itself and is called the “*Cothon*,” and once served as the chapter’s home port and dockyard. The presence of the Carcosan elements caused no small amount of controversy and tension since their arrival in the Modronii court and one that the Huntsmen would eventually be drawn into, changing the balance of power as to who held jurisdiction over the forges, ports, research facilities and all other ancillary parts that uphold the system.

In contrast to the largely modernised neighbouring moons and worlds of the system Ibrosia call home, most of Ibrosia's own tribal populace live a largely sedentary existence behind walls and their world that is locked in a feudal game of petty politicking amongst themselves locked somewhere in the Iron Age. That said, the state of technological advancement historicallly has been – and remains – quite drastic and variable in places. Said people live primarily in "castra" (derived from the Gothic for castle) which take on the form of hillforts that number several thousand. Collections of these castra make up a castraña, loosely translated to mean "twinned-castle(s)." The largest of these are called "opedum" (plural opeda) expansive fortified towns and cities that well versed historitors posit resemble settlements of old Celtiberian peoples of Terra during the Iron Age. The word itself is derived from the Ibrosian word “castré” – meaning "to occupy."

Outside of these walls are a declining hunter gatherer population that stubbornly cling to life in spite of the odds and pressure placed on them by the city dwellers to assimilate or in their attempts to conquer, subjugate and civilise them. Though they regularly find themselves engaged in skirmishes and raid caravans that run between these settlements; they much prefer to trade. Their subsistence lifestyle and lack of desire to integrate with the "civilised" people of the fortress cities breed hardy folk that made up the bulk of recruits chosen by the Black Huntsmen before their own disappearance millennia later. Though they recruited from all over the planet and had tithing rights to other planets within their home system: these hunter gatherers were consistently found to be the most suitable for the horrifically invasive process that is the creation of one of the Astartes. Though the people do for their part adhere to the mandates of the chapter and the Imperium; it often appears to be through gnashed teeth.

### Wildlife

The wildlife of Ibrosia is enormously diverse, but above all the planet is famed for the enormity of diversity and size of its invertebrates and most especially the moths. They come in sizes as small as one's thumbnail to enormous predatory species that can lift a man off their feet. Among the populace they have come to be known collectively as omens of death an darkness, especially the largest of these species like the "Black Witch" who have become the heraldry of the Black Huntsmen that are emblazoned across the chapter's pauldrons and battle standards. These moths are hugely sexually dimorphic with the females being some twice the size of males and at their oldest can sport wingspans of nearly six metres across (20 feet), can weigh some 70 kilograms and are of a black colouration with a vaguely skull shaped pattern of bone sported on their backs. The males are the inverse of the females in their colouration and are significantly smaller than the females of their species. These moths in particular favour cliffsides, plateaus or mountains from which they can swoop down on their prey and throw them down the side of the mountain to dispatch them before consuming their prey. The fishing moth, also called the "osprey" is another noteworthy species that favours swamps, rivers, mangroves and brackish coastal waters that hunts primarily for aquatic animals, but is most noted for its kleptoparasitic tendencies: stealing the kills of other animals ad flying away with it to consume for themselves. The smallest, but most perhaps the numerous of these animals are thumb-sized moths that fit the same niche of the cicada called the "whistling witch." Perhaps the most salient point that best illustrates the relationship of the Ibrosians with the moths who they share their homeworld with is the refusal for any local to light fires outdoors or any form of light lest they attract these moths to them.

### Diseases

##### Cruor Mortis

Also called "the flaying" is an especially grisly disease, which at first begins with the appearance of red spots and blotches at random points which begin to itch and bleed. Two days after the red blotches break out, their pallour is bleached and hives break out on their skin. This is then followed by violent fits of spasms and vomiting and the blood vessels in the eyes burst, clouding over in pools of red. The skin swells and bloats, forming enormous blisters full of pus and coupled with the spasms, the violent jerking erodes the connective tissues beneath holding the skin to the muscles. The skin begins delaminate and fall off the muscle like wet clumps of parchments revealing ragged and necrotic muscle tissue clinging to the bones beneath where the victim then succumbs to the catastrophic trauma.

##### Eye-Rot

Also known as "pus-eye", the first symptoms of the disease are stinging and itching of the eyelids which then became inflamed as the afflicted scratches at them to relieve the discomfort. This is the result of a parasitic fungus whose spores fall into the eyes of the afflicted person, feeding off the saline solution in the person's tears. The eyes begin to cloud over a milky white before turning over to a putrid shade of yellow or green. Blinking causes the spores to travel further down the eye sockets and into the spaces behind the eyes themselves. Anchoring themselves to the back of the orbit or the back of the eye itself, the now hydrated fungal spores grow and begins to mature. Its growth drains the effected eye of its fluids and secretes a calcifying agent which causes the eye to harden to stone. This eye then cracks open, releasing a greenish sludge and a cloud of spores which then go on to infect others. Often this is a fatal affliction, if not by the disease itself then on account of secondary infections. But it is possible to survive this disease, most often survivors have only one of their eyes suffer this disease; making it such they can see the effects of the disease with their remaining eye.

## Fortress-Monastery - Great Opedum

The Great Opedum is an enormous, sprawling complex laid atop the foundation of a structure bearing the same name was and still remains the largest of these opeda and that became the foundation of the fortress-monastery of the Black Huntsmen on Ibrosia which inherited the name of the foundations on which it rested. The structure now straddles the chasm between a pair of mountain chains over its rivers and is a baroque reminder of the Imperium's presence and authority on a world backwater world . Its construction prior was a matter of some controversy on the planet with some tribes and clans claiming their ancestry was responsible for its creation, others claimed some mythic entity or lost people were responsible, while others still said the city was an ill omen considering its abandonment. This did nothing to discourage the Black Huntsmen, however, and the fortress monastery raised on the foundations of the old opedum became the world's greatest local monument to the power the Imperium commanded over it. Moreover, on a world that had come to learn that no outdoor fires nor lights should be lit, the fact that the lights of the Great Opedum are always on regardless of time of day was received with mixed reception; more superstitious people thought that the Huntsmen were tempting death and fate or were omens of them. While those of a more optimistic leaning came to reason that their shining lights meant that the Great Opedum was a gift from the Emperor and a place of sanctuary in a world where carrying a light outdoors could mean disappearing forever. A notable structure within the Great Opedum is the tower known as the "Umbral Chapel" where the Shrouded Court (the Librarius) resides and do their recordkeeping from within, their hybridised role as a Librarian and a Chaplain means that the chapter's faith and cult is under the jurisdiction of the Thaumaturges and acts as the place of congregation when brothers enter for prayer, thus its designation as a chapel. Its communications systems also allow the Thaumaturges to deliver their furious oratory to the chapter and to most of the planet.

### The Barrowton

Standing in the shadow of Great Opedum on an outcrop jutting out the side of the plateau on which the monastery rests is the Barrowton. Almost a small sister city in its own right stuffed onto a column of rock overlooking the cliff she rests on; Barrowton wad the place of garrison for the Grave Walkers of the Black Huntsmen. Also called the "Citadel of the Dead," as the name suggests; it served primarily as a place of final rest for Warriors of the chapter or those in service to the chapter - among them the serfs. Its structure is joined to the rest of the monastery by a single, narrow bridge that stretches the distance over the chasm and often this chasm is itself used as a method of execution. Barrowton is itself an enormous complex of catacombs, crypts, sepulchres and mausoleums made of stone, adamantium, wrought blackened iron and bones. Filled with the mummified bodies of warriors of the Black Huntsmen locked away forever in its cold and dark embrace, the area itself was long rumoured by superstitious folk of Ibrosia to be haunted. It would appear not be an unfounded concern as the walkway between the Great Opedum to Barrowton itself is said to be unnaturally cold unto itself for reasons that are not able to be explained away by natural weather phenomena. Skeptics will argue that its more likely to be the case is that the structure is kept frigid to preserve the fallen and to better preserve the vast record keeping and data banks of the chapter. However, even these skeptics report the bridge itself to be cold to the touch and that the air itself seems to feel "sharp" when breathed in. What truly goes on within the halls of Barrowton isn't wholly understood to anyone bar the Chapter Master, the High Thaumaturge and above all the Lord Speaker of Barrowton himself.

## Chapter Organisation

### Officer Ranks

* **Chilliarch:** The Chapter Master of the Black Huntsman adopts the title of "Chilliarch," meaning "leader of a thousand." Additionally, the Chilliarch assumes the title of "Legate-Paragon," the head of the "Sable Tribunal" which is the ruling council of the chapter. This structure is inherited from their forebears in the Indominable Legion's ruling council known as the "Adamantine Forum" and is itself an echo of the "Unbreakable Brotherhood" from the days of the legion.
* **Centarch:** Captains of the chapter take on the title of Centarch - "leader of a hundred" - and each is a Legate who sits in the Sable Tribunal. Each are chosen for their ability to direct acts of unimaginable malice and cruelty against their foe with a degree of detachment unseen in the Ultramarines.

* **Vigiles:** The rank of Lieutenant is rendered as Vigiles, meaning the "vigilant" who serves as the Centarch's executive officer and leads a demi-company sized detachment. This rank has existed since their founding as a chapter in contrast to the equivalent rank reintroduced by the Primaris Marines.

### Specialist Ranks

* **Diocesan Mortis (Chaplain):** Rendered as "Grave Walker" in Low Gothic, these Astartes are wholly dedicated to the reclamation of the bodies of their slain and their burial rites. Their duty with regard to the sanctity and faith of their peers has instead delegated to their Librarius. Instead, they are a brotherhood of scribes and historitors with the powers of a military tribunal or judiciary that also tally the various stories, testimonials and records of the chapter's exploits on campaign all while themselves being sworn to silence save for the Lord Speaker of Barrowton (High Chaplain). Their role as the corpse-takers of the chapter also brings another idiosyncracy to the fore: they are the only ones in the ranks of their chapter allowed to cannibalise their deceased brothers as part of their duties to properly catalogue a brother's past deeds and endeavors. All of these idiosyncrasies when tallied together paint a dark and foreboding image of this organisation within the chapter's own ranks that mark them out as something akin to a class of untouchables within the Sacred Band.

* **Mirkalaeus (Librarian):** Rendered as "Thaumaturge" in Low Gothic, these Astartes are the sanctioned psykers of their chapter who have taken on the dual of role of both Librarian and Chaplain. The Mirkalaeus Prime, or High Thaumaturge is both the chapter's Master of Sanctity and their Chief Librarian. They have inherited both the duties of and the reputations of their Chaplaincy, in contrast with librarians of other chapters that are noted for their lonesome and taciturn nature; the Thaumaturges of the Black Huntsmen are instead regarded for their gregarious nature and their furious oratory - in part aided by their own psychic powers. Among the ranks of the Black Huntsmen; they are the ones that most commonly commune with their dark and sinister mortuary chaplains.

* **Capsario(s) (Apothecary):** Rendered as "Medical Orderlies" in Low Gothic are members of the Apothecarion. Little is divergent in their doctrine and function, but perhaps worth noting is their rivalry with the mortuary chaplains in the reclamation of the deceased.
* **Architoi (Techmarine):** Rendered as "Architect" in Low Gothic are the chapter's engineers and smiths.
* **Moira (Champion):** A company champion takes on the title of "Moira," one of the many feared species of moth found on Ibrosia.
* **Tablifer (Standard Bearer):** A company's pride; their standard, battle honours are held aloft by a Tablifer. To hold the battle standard is to dare any foe to destroy and desecrate the banner and who carries it, thus the honour to carry it is entrusted only to the most steadfast and unwavering of their veterancy.
* **Alfarez (Veteran):** Veterans are referred to as Alfarez, meaning "to be cavalier" or "daring" as recognition of their deeds to be awarded the name. Alfarez is also an Ibrosian term that applies to a form of knightly class in some of their social structures, which is partly embodied by the veterancy of the Black Huntsmen. This is often a prefix to other ranks, for instance, a veteran sergeant is formally known as an Alfarez Cephale.

### Line Ranks

* **Cephale (Squad Sergeant):** The sergeant is distinguished in much the same way as the Codex describes with a red helm. The Cephale are the first and lowest rank of the officer class of the Black Huntsmen.
* **Caparral (Corporal):** The executive officer to a Cephale oversees logistical matters as the squad's own quartermaster and leads the second fire team of a given squad where the Cephale oversees tactical matters and is the chief strategist on the squad level.
* **Máchimos (Máchimoi plural | Battle-Brother):** Meaning "quarrelsome" or "pugnacious," is the title they inherit upon their ascension through the ranks of the aspirants, neophyte and scout training. Itself considered a joking remark given the intensely strong bonds of brotherhood encouraged by the chapter's own doctrine. To become one of the Máchimoi is to be fully initiated into the ranks of the Sacred Band, the word Máchimos is often truncated to "Máchi" when battle-brothers converse with one another.
	+ **Caetratos (Caetrati plural | Battleline):** Named for a class of light infantryman and mercenary unit that are well regarded for their flexibility and discipline, the Astartes have taken to the name.
	+ **Balaeros (Balaera plural | Fire Support):** The word Balaeros is derived from the Ibrosian word "bala:" meaning "to throw." Another mercenary unit that sold themselves out at high rates were light infantry and skirmishing regarded for their skill at throwing javelins, spears, darts, axes, and stones. Famed above these all are their slingers who could outrange most of their contemporaries in ranged combat under a merciless hail of metal, broken pottery or rocks from the ground.
	+ **Caçadore(s) (Close Support):** Meaning "hunter," these are the close support and assault specialists of the chapter. Caçadores are divided into sharpshooters and brawlers, the assault specialists of the Black Huntsmen fit the form of the latter.
	+ **Palaetron:** An honourific - a title earned by being called into service by the Deathwatch.
* **Toxotai (Scout):** Those who have now fully been initiated into the chapter's organisation proper but have yet to firs wear their full battleplate.
* **Limatai (Neophyte):** Those who have climbed through the trials of the aspirants and have received many of the organ transplants but are not yet mature enough to join the ranks of the Toxotai.
* **Cacula (Aspirant):** Named for a subjugated slave class of people who have been selected for the trials of joining the Angels of Death.

### Specialist Units & Formations

**Malebranche Guard:** The Malebranche are a guard detail in the same vein as the likes of the Ultramarines Honour Guard of their Victrix Guard, or the older Invictarus Suzerain. Named for a sinister unit of ephemeral, demonic bodyguards to a mythic figure in Ibrosian folkloric tales which are themselves closely associated to one of the many carnivorous moth species that call the planet home.

### Order of Battle

#### Headquarters

 ***Candamius Ormonde***
*Despot of Ibrosia, Chilliarch of the Black Huntsmen, Legate-Paragon of the Sable Tribunal and High Marshal of the Sacred Band*
***Brother Viriathus,** **Makhai (Chapter Champion)** of the Black Huntsmen**,***
***Lord Commander of the Malebranche (Honour Guard),***
*30 Malebranche*
*Chapter Equerries*
*Serfs and Servitors*
 **Armoria**
**(Armorium)**
**(Reclusiam)**
*Master of the Forge Jaharias Krell,* ***Master of Arms***
**24 Techmarines**
**276 Servitors**
*Chief Grave Walker Antaeus Cassander,* ***Lord Speaker of Barrowton, Master of the Reclusiam***

**10 Gravewalkers**
**13 Barrow Wards**
*Brother Boros Baruch, **Chief Apothecary***

**29 Apothecaries**
 **Shrouded Court**
**(Librarius)**
*High Thaumaturge Zaragosa Iberius,* ***Suzerain of the Shrouded Court, Lord Seneschal of the Umbral Chapel,***

**6 Thaumaturges**
**8 Oracles**
**11 Soothsayers**
**17 Acolytum**
*Brother Iadara Olcadio-Belli,* ***Lord Navarch of the Fleet, Castellan of the Cothon***

**7 Strike Cruisers**
**11 Light Cruisers**
**3 Battle Barges** *(Legate-Paragon's Regard, Shadow of Calth, Black Witch)*
**26 Rapid Strike Vessels (Escorts)**
**43 Thunderhawk Gunships**
**17 Thunderhawk Transporters**
*Brother Galpa Amolon,* ***Quartermaster, Keeper of the Seals and Warden of the Assembly Hall***

646 Chapter Equerries (Serfs and Servitors)

## Combat Doctrine

The Black Huntsmen are regarded and rightfully feared for the cold ferocity and intention of their actions in war. By all accounts, they are paragons of all forms of war making as the Ultramarines are and are themselves lauded for. They view the Emperor as a god of death and they themselves as his personal headsmen and huntsmen; and their mortuary cult is what primarily informs this facet of their doctrine. This manifests itself in their claiming of trophies in the form of skulls as both a tally for their Thaumaturges and as their own accolades are self-evident in determining a warrior's own achievements. They master all forms of waging war just as their progenitors emphasise flexibility as the priority. Any of the Astartes can change their wargear and equipment and need necessitates. Though as all Astartes are inherently at their most dangerous when distance is closed, Marines constantly keep up the advance close the distance to capitalise on this innate advantage.

However, where they diverge from their progenitors in both the Ultramarines and the Indominable Legion that Agothocles had served within is primarily with regard to their penchant toward punitive actions, wanton terror and psychological warfare with no mask nor pretense of righteousness and glory in a manner reminiscent of the likes of the Night Lords. Their aggressive and bellicose nature also draw parallels to the likes of the Minotaurs or the Marines Malevolent especially with regard to their conduct toward other Imperial entities and perhaps most especially other Space Marines. Wherever their chapter treads, the sight of their crosses and stakes are never far behind, left behind after hoisting atop them the vanquished dead and dying as an example to any that would defy the will of the master of mankind or to the xenos that refuse to capitulate.

In spite of their vindictive and vitriolic conduct, their cohesion as a brotherhood is without peer. Their bonding of Astartes into pairs earned them the title of the "Sacred Band of Ibrosia" is encouraged among their ranks to drive Astartes to ever greater heights of endurance and feats of arms to defend their fellow Astartes. It isn't unheard of for an Astartes to fall catatonic at the death of their bonded warrior, in at least two extreme examples the death of the bonded warrior caused a psychic backlash so severe that it killed the remaining Marine or drew them to commit suicide. This, however, is not only rare for how exceptional it is, but the order of the Gravewalkers make a concerted effort to make examples out of any such Astartes to the rest of their brothers and not allowing the departed Marine their communion with the Emperor or their partner upon their death. Civilian casualties are never a factor considered when deployed unless directly ordered by their own captaincy or Chapter Master and complaints to the Inquisition about the savagery on display when the Black Huntsmen are never far behind, such is their contempt for those they are charged to defend.

## Deathwatch Service

Members of the Black Huntsmen saw service in the Deathwatch as an invaluable experience to any of their brother's and advocate for their kinsmen to take the Long Vigil whenever they come to probe for new inductees. In some cases, advancement through the officer corps demands having served tenure under this arm of the Ordo's militant wing. Their quarrelsome and vindictive personalities, however, can often make them troublesome or insubordinate personalities within the ranks of the Deathwatch. To earn a brother's respect is to demonstrate one's own wealth of experience and that they are worthy of their station.

Members of the Black Huntsmen who serve the Deathwatch are typically sought out for their tactical acumen and often become the squad leader of their assigned squad. Above this, their Apothecaries and Chaplains are also prized additions to the ranks of the Deathwatch, the Apothecaries for their expertise in xeno-biology thanks to their extensive testing on subjects in coordination with the Adeptus Mechanicus of the Modronii, and the Cassilar Dynasty that supplanted them Modronos. Their Chaplains, on the other hand, are especially picked for their ability to drill discipline into their peers despite their oaths of silence and their bordering on preternatural abilities to resolve conflicts between squadmates.

## Chapter Gene-Seed

As with their forebears in the Mortifactors and the Ultramarines; the gene-seed of the Black Huntsmen is stable and its rejection rate is not above the average noted among the Ultramarines nor any of their successor kin. As to be expected; those implanted and undergo their indoctrination immediately experience a heightened state of aggression and like their progenitors tend to hew to hierarchy and cohesion. In addition they exhibit a pathological need and desire to strive higher and toward achievement, as is noted in the Ultramarines and their successors at large. However, an idiosyncrasy that has been noted in their genetic make-up appears to be the inclination of a battle-brother to bond themselves to one another into platonic pairs. Though it is not understood either to the Librarius, Chaplaincy, Apothecarion nor even the flesh artisans of the Ordo Biologis what the origin of this behavior stems from, be it in their genetic coding or in the chapter's culture but all parties involve suspect its a combination of these factors that drive battle-brothers to do so and they encourage aspirants and neophytes early on to adopt this practice.

### Gene flaw

The bonding of brothers are not regarded as a flaw in and of itself, but engaging in these bonds have been known to cause some trouble in their ranks. When brothers link together with the other half of their pair; they cleave ever harder to unit cohesion, discipline and the drive to achieve ever greater feats on and off the field of battle. However, this bond appears to have a partly or mildly psychic element at work because it has been noted that if one member of the pair was to fall in battle that the remaining brother could fall catatonic after the battle has concluded and their adrenal levels plummet back to a state of rest. The Chaplaincy under the oversight of the Thaumaturges and the Apothecarion are entrusted to return these fallen brothers back to lucidity and those who return from this catatonic state exhibit signs of dissociative personality disorder where they have "inherited" the personality of their formerly bonded brother. Others were returned with little to no personality of either their own nor their bonded brother, becoming increasingly taciturn, of few words. Brothers report that though they seem lucid, they become hollowed of all their character and behave as little more than automata. Should any underlying personality persist or return, these brothers are said to experience acute anhedonic symptoms and tendencies and appear never to be able to bond truly with their kinsmen. In this way, they appear to have developed something akin to the condition suffered by the Excoriators of Dorn's lineage who are known to succumb to a condition known as "Dorn's Darkness."

Though not a result of their own innate gene-seed flaws, the Ecdysis Protocol and their gene-seed tampering later into their history also have resulted in a number of different idiosyncrasies.

## Notable Members

* ***Agothocles -*** The first Chilliarch of the Black Huntsmen, Agothocles had served as a legionnaire of the thirteenth legion during the days of the Great Crusade, the Horus Heresy and the later Great Scouring all under the command of the Legate of the Sixth: Aurelius, the Monster of Ultramar as Captain of Aurelius's first company. His actions during the Heresy were primarily beneath the surface of Calth against the Word Bearers where he alongside members of the Nemesis chapter of the Ultramarines spearheaded the assaults against the traitors and his calling card became the erecting of crosses on which Word Bearers were crucified. Though hugely effective and respected by his peers, even the likes of Aurelius grew somewhat concerned at the casual sadism Agothocles demonstrated in his slaying of or crucifying of Word Bearers and he would often look to capture prisoners to torture them in front of the enemy before launching assaults on their positions. With the conclusion of the Underworld Wars and the prosecution of the Great Scouring the legions were broken and the Second Founding officially ratified where Agothocles and some of his peers were formed into the Mortifactors. After decades of service in the Mortifactors and the assimilation of the Ultramarines into the Posulan Mortuary Cult, Agothocles and Sasebo after much internal conflict with one another came to agree that Agothocles and his fellow supporters should be disbanded from the Mortifactors and allowed to chart their own course. Though they split, it was officially an amicable one where the Black Huntsmen still regularly assisted the Mortifactors.
* **Taurus Valerius, the "Bull of Iax" -** Serving as Champion Agothocles's command squad and his closest confidant besides Aurelius himself in the garb of one of the Invictarus Suzerain. Hailing from the world of Iax in the realm of Ultramar, it was during his days as a neophyte that his training master mercilessly teased Taurus for his name and often called him the "Young Bull" in mockery of his quick temper and small, lean build. A moniker that Taurus always despised and upon ascending to the rank of a fully fledged initiate of the legion, Taurus quickly grew to fit said moniker for he stood abnormally tall amongst his peers, nearly a whole head and a half taller than his brothers. His suit was partially constructed with tactical dreadnought armour to fit his stature properly and the artificer tasked with creating his wargear - much to Valerius's chagrin - added bull horns to his helm as a jape. In battle he sported a power kopis and a long stiletto in his offhand with buckler clamped to back of his gauntlet as his primary weapons with a volkite serpenta maglocked to his side. During the Underworld Wars on Calth, Valerius carved a bloody swathe through the ranks of the Word Bearers and became known for decapitating the corpses of those he crucified and for throwing these heads at the Word Bearers before closing the distance in hand to hand fighting beneath the surface of Calth. With the breaking of the legions and the subsequent founding of the Mortifactors, he joined their ranks under Agothocles. With the rift that formed between Sasebo and Agothocles, Valerius initially sided with Sasebo in their differences. However, when the Mortifactors and the errant Black Huntsmen parted ways, Valerius followed Agothocles in the founding of their chapter and their journey to Ibrosia out of loyalty and respect for him. His panoply and weapons are now revered relics of the chapter primarily bestowed the chapter's tablifer who bears the Stigmata Miseriae, the chapter's battle standard.

## Chapter Fleet

* ***Legate-Paragon's Regard -*** The flagship of the Black Huntsmen is a battle-barge of unknown provenance prior to its secondment to the Ultramarines legion in the days of the Great Crusade. As far as vessels of her tonnage goes, she is a modestly clad and equipped barge and not even the largest vessel in the fleet she serves under. The vessel scored a killing blow against the Purifiers vessel *Eyes of Fire* during the Second Purgation of Iyrin by ramming the offending vessel and shearing it in half in an effort to draw fire away from the rest of the Black Huntsmen's fleet due to a translation error.

## Chapter Relics

**Stigmata Miseriae:** meaning "Brand of Woe" was the chapter's foremost battle standard woven after the arrival of the chapter to the world of Ibrosia. Woven by their first chapter master Agothocles to commemorate their birth and the ratification of their chapter upon finding the homeworld on which they settled. The battle standard is a black tapestry depicting the form of the chapter's emblem, a male black witch moth. Beneath the moth is a clock wherein each of its hours hold a head that are awaiting the arrival of the hour hand: a bloodied sabre. The bottoms of the banner is dedicated to some of their battle honours, most notably: the mark of the peryton, the heraldry of the Indominable Legion who Agothocles served under during the years of the Horus Heresy and Great Scouring. Other campaign honours are dedicated to campaigns or sigils they were awarded like the Hour of the Blind Night Hag, the Star of Calth, and the Fivefold Crosses of Iyrin. The ornaments of the banner include two rings that hold the chapter's other form of honour rolls suspended on strips of leather: coins and atop all of it rests a blackened haloed aquila.

**Lash of Reason:** Carried by the Lord Speaker of Barrowton, the "Lash of Reason" is a tool and signifer of the position of authority of the order of the chaplaincy within the ranks of the Black Huntsmen. It is a black whip with a gold thread handle that the Gravewalkers use to meet out corporal punishment on their peers within the Sacred Band or in use of interrogation. It was so named for the chapter's propensity toward bonding battle brother's in platonic pairs of fighting with one another shoulder to shoulder. Though it is hugely helpful for morale and drives battle brothers to ever greater heights of bravery and martial feats, it is also partly responsible for the huge rate of attrition that the chapter suffered between the elevated risk for self-harm and flagellation and in extreme cases either suicide by throwing one's self into the enemy in a charge one knows they have no chance of winning or in especially rare cases, after the fact. It has also been used to bring back brothers who have fallen catatonic at the fall of their bonded brother, returning them to their senses and reason. So regularly did this occur before the chapter's disappearance that the chaplains became known to the battle brothers as the "Caste of the Sunless Morning" as these marines would reawaken these catatonic brothers with a lengthy session of lashings in a darkened room where the afflicted brother would awaken near naked tied to a cross with nothing but the sight of the skull-helm of the chaplain loomig over them in the half-light of the room. This particular lash was last held by Antaeus Cassander, the last Lord Speaker of Barrowton before the disappearance of the chapter.

## Chapter Appearance

### Chapter Colours

The colours of the Black Huntsmen are primarily bone and black in recognition of their progenitors in the Mortifactors. Their gauntlets, helms and legs (barring their poleyns) are coloured in bone. The backpack, breastplate, right poleyn, pauldron inset and upper arms are painted black. Their left poleyn, squad numeral, and pauldron trim are dependent on company numeration as described by the Codex Astartes, the squad specialty symbol themselves are rendered in bone. Some Astartes might include memento moris in the form of skull and bone imagery on their armour, most popular is the practice of painting of a skull over the helmet's grill.

### Chapter Badge

A bone coloured Ibrosian Black Witch moth with its characteristic skull shaped pattern printed on its thorax with wings splayed in flight over a field of black. The emblem is of the homeworld's largest predatory moths colloquially referred to as the "Black Witch" by the local populace. The species of moth is hugely sexually dimorphic with females being black and with a wingspan nearly thrice that of the males, the males are the ones sported by the chapter's battle brothers. The reverse in the black moth over a field of bone is worn by the Gravewalkers, the Chaplaincy of the Black Huntsmen or by select members of the Huntsmen as a battle honour.

## Relations

### Allies

 Baleful Blades
 Nemesis |      | The Nemesis chapter and their relationship with the Black Huntsmen are primarily ones where both find common ground in, the Calth Atrocity being where the two chapters first forged a relationship with one another and periodically join together in prosecuting campaigns with one another.

### Strained and Troubled Relations

 Omni-Legion |      | The Omni-Legion and the Black Huntsmen fought alongside one another during the Oxus Revolts. Though the Huntsmen deferred command to the Omni-Legion, their actions cost the Imperium STCs and huge amounts of war materiel that soured relations between the two chapters that would never see the two serving alongside one another from there on out.

## Gallery

High Thaumaturge Zaragosa Iberius arrayed in his panoplyLord Speaker of Barrowton Antaeus Cassander, the Master of Sanctity of the chapter in his panoply and bearing the "Lash of Reason."Brother Boros Baruch, the Chief Apothecary of the Black Huntsmen.Black Huntsmen Alfarez (Veteran) Sternguard Squad Junor, 1st Fireteam, 9th Squad, 1st Band.Black Huntsmen Alfarez Sternguard Squad Orion, 2nd Fireteam, 9th Squad, 1st Band.Black Huntsmen Caetrati (Tactical) Squad Orexus, 5th Squad, 4th Band.Máchimos Viriathus, the Makhai and Lord Commander of the Malebranche arrayed in the "Witch's Blessing" a relic suit of Iron Armour. Note the trim and decorative elements of the Malebranche are in a dark bronze.Máchimos Ducaria, one of the Malebranche: the bodyguards to the Chapter Master of the Black Huntsmen and are among the most heavily equipped Astartes in the chapter. In this case this particular Astartes is clad in Mk.VIII Errant pattern.Alfarez Máchimos Bragado, a veteran of the first band's second squad arrayed in Indomitus Terminator plate.Máchimos Junor, an Alfarez Cephale (Veteran Sergeant) of a Sternguard Veteran squad of the first band's ninth squad. The plumed helmet marking on his left poleyn is a campaign honour earned during the Oxus Revolt.Alfarez Máchimos Leuc'o, a Sternguard Veteran of the first band's ninth squad under command of Junor.Máchimos Baraklys Vyron, a Cephale of the seventh band's fourth Caetrati squad.Máchimos Caylon, an assault marine of the second band's third squad.Máchimos Oretan, a Balaeros (Devastator Marine) belonging to the chapter's seventh squad of its third band.Máchimos Le'naera, a Caetrati (Battleline Marine) of the fourth band's fifth squad.
## Trivia

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