Drakes Encarmine

Armorial of the Drakes Encarmine with Chapter iconography.

Battle-Brother of Drakes Encarmine

### **Specialty**

Shock Assault, Planet-Kill & Extermination Operations (Scorched Earth), Sector-wide Annihilation, Decimation, Terror Assaults, Destroyer Campaigns

### **Colours**

Dark grey helmet, pauldron trim, arms, lower legs and backpack exhaust, Deep red backpack, torso, upper legs and pauldron insets

### Successor Chapter(s)

N/A

"*I was there during a council of them all. I was to make sure they all had karash…as I was walking down to refill Lord Orloc’s goblet my…m-my grandmother calls it my ‘other-sight’…I-I tried to stop it but well…it passed over me, it was like I could see their minds instead of them…It-it was so scary. I saw marble statues of Sanguinius by an oasis, under a misty starlit sky of purple and orange when I looked at Lord Hydarnes…it was so beautiful but so cold, then Lord Seth…I saw…I saw it was like a world of rage and fangs. I saw a wounded angel, fighting against the darkness when I looked at Lord Phoros…b-but the last thing I remember before I fainted…I-I…looked at Lord Apollyon, there was nothing just, desolation, it was like a..wasteland, everything died, plants and animals withered, people bled out, buildings crumbled…everything decayed apart from this cold statue of Sanguinius…nothing endured apart from that statue…everything died.*"
— Blood Angels Serf Cassen
In the Sanguine Brotherhood, few Chapters are regarded with more dread and wary respect than the forbidding and grim **Drakes Encarmine**. One of the few Chapters known to hail from the 13th "Dark" Founding, the Bringers of Revelation are a nightmarish force of annihilation, where they go, fiery destruction follows.

Such a bleak and devastating existence would ordinarily see such a Chapter liquidated by the Inquisition, and indeed there have been calls for that action to be taken, however, the Drakes Encarmine lack the cruelty and malice of Chapters such as the Marines Malevolent. Theirs is a desolate pragmatism, done without cruelty, where the Marines Malevolent may bomb a refugee camp to kill the Orks attacking it, the Drakes Encarmine would intervene, but only to kill the Greenskins, the safety of those seeking refuge is secondary. The Chapter see themselves in a similar manner to the Angels Tears of the old IXth Legion, the final, horrific sanction. They are the fire which burns away the old, making way for something greater, more beautiful.

## Chapter History

One of the few known Chapters to hail from the 13th 'Dark' Founding, the Drakes Encarmine are dark, fearful Chapter. Drawn from the lineage of Sanguinius, the Drakes Encarmine have made it their mission to ward away the horrific dangers of the Halo Stars and those that would exploit them.

## Notable Campaigns

* **The Extermination of Iyrin (M.36)**
* **Ascension into the Halo Stars (M40.817-M40.850)**

## Chapter Homeworld

Surprisingly, despite their austere image and outlook, the Drakes Encarmine's homeworld is, rather unusually for Space Marine Chapters, a pleasure world; Revelation Prime. The world itself is essentially the last, final delight before entering the hellish, eldritch Halo Stars.

### Fortress-Monastery

In the centre of the sprawling pleasure-domes and cities of Revelation Prime, looms the Pit of the Dragon. True to its name, the fortress-monastery of the Chapter sits deep in a dark chasm, a disturbing, ominous area amongst the decadence of the rest of the planet.

## Chapter Organisation

### Specialist Ranks

* **The Chorus of Fire** - The Sanguinary Guard of the Drakes Encarmine. Unlike their angelic brethren, the Chorus of Fire are heralds of world devastating inferno, draconic in visage and bearing forth their master, Lord Apollyon. The Chorus of Fire are the final song of a planet, every note scorching all before them clean of life. All armed with inferno pistols and incendiary grenades, the Chorus of Fire stride through ravenous infernos, seemingly untouched an by the roaring flames. The glaives encarmine of the Chorus of Fire shimmer with a sinister light, its believed that the cores of their weapons are made of a strange, ominous alloy from the Halo Stars.

### Order of Battle

#### Companies

The companies of the Drakes Encarmine, despite their efficiency in recruitment, are rarely at full size for long.

## Chapter Recruitment

Unusually for an Astartes Chapter, the Drakes Encarmine have settled on the world of Revelation Prime a pleasure world. Perhaps the furthest flung pleasure world in the Imperium of Man, at the very edges of the Emperor's rule, the Drakes Encarmine's homeworld borders on the mysterious, terrifying Halo Stars. Because of this, their pool of recruits are usually the spoilt, pampered, drawn by the lure of Revelation Prime's decadent delights, despite the looming spectre of the Drakes Encarmine. Many do not understand why, but the Drakes Encarmine do also choose the most narcissistic and indulgent, not even those necessarily from Revelation Prime itself kidnapping these noble-born for unwilling recruitment into the Chapter.

None are recruited into the Drakes Encarmine willingly. Each member is kidnapped from Revelation Prime, awaking to the looming forms of their kidnappers telling them that they have been chosen. Becoming a member of the Drakes Encarmine is a harsh, horrid affair, that shatters their recruits world and emotionally destroys them. Over the four weeks since their kidnapping, these 'aspirants' are taken to the four moons of Revelation Prime, that they may have only days ago, been enjoying the crueller thrills available to them.

First is the moon of Conquest. The government of this moon is a nightmarishly authoritarian one, even by the weak standards of the Imperium of Man. On Conquest, the identities of these recruits are supplied to the rulers and they are told by the Drakes Encarmine that these former nobles are 'enemies of the state'. So, with the entirety of Conquest turned against them, these aspirants are released onto the world, simply ordered to survive for a week on the moon.

Second is War. By the name alone, the recruit's task is obvious; wage war on this blood-soaked planet for a week. Given the pampered luxury their aspirants lived in, the Drakes Encarmine normally operate, duelling or hunting is often a hobby the kidnapped nobles take up. Such interests, when removed from their luxurious, showy element are tested to the extreme in open, bloody battle.

Third is Famine. On this starvation-filled, plague-riddled moon, the recruits must farm for a week on this blighted world. Starving residents of the moon, those who have descended to cannibalism, hunger, disease and their own inexperience tend to leave recruits withered.

Fourth, and final, is Death. It is a dead world, there is no life, nothing to sustain existence. Once again, the recruits must survive for a week. Before this trial, unbeknownst to those recruited, Conquest, War and Famine were the aspirant's preparation for this cold, dark moon. On Conquest, they learned to hide, to combat the entirety of a world bent towards your capture or death. On War, they learned true combat, the savage, gory clamour of battle, of steel against steel. And, on Famine, the land they worked, the meagre sustenance they produced and lived off, whatever they did not consume, now serves as their only rations. For a week they must survive on whatever small amount they have saved, battling against those who would be left starving, nobles breaking down into vicious, near animalistic beings, desperate to survive. This bleak, shattering experience is what it means to be a Drake Encarmine, to suffer the most vicious existence and know, that you must bring that some apocalyptic destruction to others.

## Chapter Beliefs

"*“We will find out who you are, underneath your pointless family name, underneath all your finery, underneath your manufactured façade, we will cut to your core. We are the end of your life as you know it. This is your personal apocalypse child, prepare yourself. All of your pointless existence will be removed. Only truth will remain. Bleak, but honest, truth. And, when there is nothing but truth, we will take you to fire. And you will be reforged as an agent of annihilation. You will be a Drake Encarmine, and the Emperor has declared that worlds will burn in our wake.”*"
—Drakes Encarmine Rite of Initiation
As a Chapter, the Drakes Encarmine are bleak, austere Chapter. Absent is the usual passion of other Blood Angels successors. The Dragons of Revelation Prime are not the angels of salvation many see the Astartes as. They see themselves as a grim, regrettable necessity. They are destroyers, annihilating all before them, to allow those greater than them to build something greater. Whilst they wage war, the banner flies high, but, after they have eradicated their foes, the banner is draped in a pitch black veil, for its work is donem the end has come, they are no longer necessary. They fly their banner whilst destroying, but when their work is done, drape it in a black obscuring veil, for its work is done. Due to their recruitment methods, it is believed that the Drakes Encarmine choose their recruits as a tithe, a revelation almost, for the highest, most blinded strata of Imperial society, and the horrifying cost its defenders must pay.

## Chapter Gene-Seed

As with every Chapter born from the blood of Sanguinius the Drakes Encarmine are blighted by the twin curses of the Red Thirst and Black Rage. Whilst fairly prevalent, the two flaws are not running rampant amongst the Drakes Encarmine to the extent of the Angels Penitent, Flesh Tearers, Heart Rippers and Children of Seth. Many believe that the sombre, spartan culture of the Chapter has allowed both these blights to flourish.

Fortunately, given the genetic purity of their recruits, the survival rate of those implanted with the Drakes' gene-seed is rather high, which, given the horrendous casualties the Chapter's destructive actions against the bizarre denizens of the Halo Stars can accrue, this is very fortunate.

## Combat Doctrine

When the Dragons of Revelation Prime are summoned, they bring only destruction. The Drakes Encarmine wage war with nothing less than absolute, unrelenting force. Like the destroyers of the old legions, the Drakes Encarmine do nothing but bring utter devastation, using the most brutal weaponry against their foes. Given their shared pragmatism, the Drakes Encarmine have been compared to the cruel Marines Malevolent. Such comparisons, whilst somewhat meritorious ignore the differences in disposition. Whilst the Marines Malevolent are, true to their name, actively malevolent, the Drakes Encarmine when unleashing their brutal armoury, are desolately calm, no cruelty, only pragmatism.

## Deathwatch Service

The Drakes Encarmine are a rarity in the Deathwatch. Though they have pledged to send warriors to the Long Vigil, the sheer danger of their actions often leaves them unable to send Marines to serve. Those few cold, reticent Astartes they do send are often revered and also viewed with wariness, given they often have experiences in the hellish Halo Stars. Those Drakes within the Deathwatch are highly skilled, but disturbingly pragmatic, honoured by their Kill-Team, but never truly finding brotherhood.

## Notable Members

* **Lord Apollyon** - The Angel of Woe, Seal-Bearer, Dragon of the Apocalypse. The current serving Chapter Master of the Drakes Encarmine, Apollyon is a bleak, unnerving warrior. Gloom-filled and desolate, few wish to deal to the Angel of Woe; for whilst he is a calm, well-spoken figure, he, like the rest of the Drakes Encarmine, seems to be surrounded by a near palpable aura of starkness about him. His every word is muted and melancholy, he is aware of his Chapter's every single vicious and destructive act. To him, it is key, that he knows every action done in his Chapter's name. For whilst the Dragon of the Apocalypse heralds devastation and annihilation, they do so with the knowledge, that whilst theirs is a duty to destroy, they make way for those they see as their greater, to bring forth something better.

## Chapter Fleet

* ***Daughter of the End* (Battle-Barge)**
* ***Fiery Throne* (Battle-Barge)**
* ***Vindication* (Strike Cruiser)**
* ***Wyrmstar* (Destroyer)**

## Chapter Relics

* ***Image of the Beast*** - This massive storm shield, bearing the snarling visage of a dragon, is the symbol of the Drakes Encarmine's Chapter Master and his right to rule. Created during the Chapter's maiden voyage against the bizarre residents of the Halo Stars, the Image of the Beast is forged from strange materials native to those pale, sinister solar bodies. None in the Chapter truly understand its creation, few wish to, but the Image of the Beast seems almost alive, as if something is bound to it, though all psychic scans of it have yielded no evidence of that sort. Emblazoned with the image of a snarling dragon's visage, the icon of the strange storm shield seems to sometimes seems to squirm and snarl on occasion, and, when wielded in the clamour of battle seems to lash out and roar, teeth and etheric flames seeming to emerge from it. A sinister, unnerving weapon, the Image of the Beast is bleak and ominous, much like its wielder.
* ***Great Authority***
* ***Banner of Seals***

## Chapter Appearance

Unlike a lot of their more artistic, or violent brethren, the Drakes Encarmine leave their armour relatively undecorated, given their desolate world-view.

### Chapter Colours

The Drakes Encarmine have a two-tone colour scheme. Their backpack, torso, upper legs and pauldron insets are a dark red and the helmet, backpack exhausts, lower legs, arms and pauldron trim are a dark grey. For markings, the Chapter use the standard scheme followed by the sons of Sanguinius. What little decorations they do put on their armour is generally bleak, apocalyptic imagery, with a wrathful angels and rising, bestial dragons being a common motif.

### Chapter Badge

The Drakes Encarmine bear a stylised rendition of the 'Dragon of the End', the symbol of the apocalypse the Drakes see themselves as the heralds of.

## Relations

Given their strange recruitment methods and bleak manner, the Drakes Encarmine have few allies beyond the Sanguinary Brotherhood. Whilst they are hated and feared amongst the majority of Imperial nobility, the Astartes of Revelation Prime are generally seen as an unfortunate, but noble gathering.

### Allies

* **Sanguine Brotherhood** - The Drakes Encarmine are honoured members of the Sanguine Brotherhood.

## Notable Quotes

### By the Drakes Encarmine

"*Where heresy spreads, the beast does rise from the pit, where the ruinous powers flourish, the fire of the end rises, and as the leviathan emerges it shall burn the wicked and cast them into the searing void.*"
—High Chaplain Sheol
### About the Drakes Encarmine

"*They took my children. They took them and made them monsters. Now I see my sons, burning my world down.*"
—Planetary Governor Furlia

[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

[Source]