vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Black Library - Structure: The Black Library is a "dark" craftworld eternally travelling through the Webway. Its location and route are secret, hidden from all but the Harlequins and the members of the governing Black Council. Like all craftworlds, the vessel is conscious and psychoactive, hiding itself from all psychic probes, while simultaneously repelling Warp entities and intrusions.It is an enormous construct with a scorched, crystalline appearance, covered in vanes and flourishes but with the typical flowing grace of Aeldari architecture. The interior is an intentional labyrinth with all manner of convoluted passages, corridors, and chambers.Bubble vaults full of stasis caskets containing forbidden lore and dangerous artefacts hang from the superstructure, whilst inside and above are myriad citadels, obelisks, monoliths, and spires where the rest of the craftworld's arcane contents are kept.Among the varied structures present within the Black Library is the Wraith Tower, the section of the Library devoted to Humanity's interaction with Chaos, the accumulated lore of the Imperial Traitors. The psychic emanations of the Webway are known to have a regenerative effect upon Human tissue, which greatly benefited the Human Inquisitor Bronislaw Czevak when he became the first of his species to gain entry to the hidden craftworld.Several standard years after he was granted permission to study at the Black Library, a much younger-looking Czevak returned to realspace and the Imperium, no longer needing the assistance of his cryogenic suspension suit to easily move his once-aged body around.
Black Library (Company) - Black Library (Company): The Black Library is a section of BL Publishing, itself a division of Games Workshop, devoted to publishing novels, art books, background books, and graphic novels set in the Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000 fictional universes.The Games Workshop fiction publishing company took its name from a famous location in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, where the Craftworld known as the Black Library that was hidden in the Webway contains all the knowledge of the Aeldari species concerning Chaos and the foul Necrons.Some of the Black Library's best known Warhammer 40,000 titles include the Gaunt's Ghosts and the Eisenhorn series of novels by Dan Abnett, The Horus Heresy series and the Gotrek and Felix series of novels set in the Warhammer Fantasy universe by William King and Nathan Long.
Black Library (Company) - History: The Black Library was founded in April 1997 to publish INFERNO! magazine, a bi-monthly digest-sized anthology of short stories, comic strips and features from the Warhammer worlds. INFERNO!'s success spawned Warhammer Monthly comic books, and then from September 1999 a lengthy series of fantasy and science fiction novels. Their first art book, Inquis Exterminatus was published in May 1999. Black Library's catalogue now runs to well over two hundred titles, with a Warhammer or Warhammer Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000 novel appearing every month.In October 2003 BL Publishing started a sister imprint, Black Flame, which applied the same pulp styling to novels featuring New Line Cinema characters such as Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, and 2000 AD comics' Judge Dredd and others. In 2006, Black Flame produced the novel for the New Line Cinema's hit feature film Snakes on a Plane. In the summer of 2005 BL Publishing announced another fiction imprint, Solaris Books, that will publish original science fiction and fantasy.
Black Library (Company) - Periodicals: From 1997 to 2005, Black Library published INFERNO!, a magazine of short stories, artwork, and other features set in the various fictional universes of Games Workshop's fantasy and science fiction games. These initially included Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40,000, and Necromunda, and later added the Mordheim and Gorkamorka settings.From 1998 to 2004, Black Library published the Warhammer Monthly comic book based on the Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000 fictional universes. The comics were republished as a series of trade paperback comics.Black Library discontinued the two periodicals because their sales were meagre compared to their novels.
Black Library (Company) - External links: Official Black Library websiteOfficial Black Flame websiteOfficial Solaris website
Black Library Weekender Anthology (Anthology) - Black Library Weekender Anthology (Anthology): Black Library Weekender Anthology is a two-volume anthology of short stories, released exclusively at Black Library's Weekender event on November 3 and 4, 2012. The book contains several short stories from different Games Workshop properties. The short stories contained within were later released separately.
Black Library Weekender Anthology (Anthology) - Synopsis: No official synopsis is given.
Black Library Weekender Anthology (Anthology) - Contents: The Black Library Weekender Anthology contains the following short stories:
Black Library Weekender Anthology (Anthology) - Horus Heresy: Lost Sons by James SwallowThe Divine Word by Gav Thorpe
Black Library Weekender Anthology (Anthology) - Warhammer 40,000: Know Thyself by Andy SmillieCrucible by John FrenchThe Smallest Detail by Sandy MitchellOld Scars by George MannSignal to Noise by C.Z. DunnShadow Play by Rob Sanders
Black Library Weekender Anthology (Anthology) - Warhammer Fantasy: Gods of Flesh and Blood by Graham McNeillBerthold's Beard by Josh ReynoldsThe Great Maw by Laurie GouldingBloodwalker by C.L. Werner
Black Oculus (Short Story) - Black Oculus (Short Story): Black Oculus is a short story published in the Horus Heresy Series. Black Oculus was originally published simultaneously as a part of the anthology novella Blades of the Traitor and as a stand-alone e-book. It is also now also included in the War Without End anthology novel. Black Oculus is the sequel to Book 23, Angel Exterminatus and is the beginning of the Battle of Tallarn story arc of the Horus Heresy.
Black Oculus (Short Story) - Synopsis: After Fulgrim's ascension to daemonhood at Iydris, Perturabo and his Legion were trapped by the singularity at the heart of the so-called "Eye of Terror". Their only option? To thread the needle, and dive into the heart of the black hole. Perhaps by sheer blind luck, they were transported far across the Warp to the Tallarn System, but the Navigators in service to the Iron Warriors fleet were irreversibly corrupted by that harrowing experience, becoming the ominous Black Oculus Navigators. Now they serve a new purpose, and Perturabo's plans for revenge come closer to fruition...
Black Oculus (Short Story) - Tallarn Series: The following is the chronological order of the Tallarn Series story arc set within the Horus Heresy:Black OculusTallarn: SirenTallarn: ExecutionerTallarn: IroncladThe Eagle's TalonIron CorpsesTallarn: WitnessThe Tallarn Series begins shortly after book twenty-three, Angel Exterminatus.
Black Psalm, The - Black Psalm, The: The Black Psalm are a warband of Chaos Space Marines. They were once a Loyalist Chapter of Space Marines of unknown genetic origin and Founding, known as the Illustrians.They were corrupted after entering the Eye of Terror in 321.M37 as part of the Imperial Abyssal Crusade. It is unknown what they endured during their sojourn into the Eye, but by the time they made their way back into realspace, they had become the warband of Heretic Astartes known as The Black Psalm.
Black Psalm, The - Abyssal Crusade: Following the Ecclesiarchal Purges of 321.M37, a dozen star systems were engulfed by Warp Storm Dionys, its echoes rippling along the spiral arms of the galaxy as it raged through the Empyrean. Records of mutation and Chaos Cultist activity quadrupled overnight. Worse yet, it was not only the citizens who were affected by the sudden influx of Chaos. Many of the Space Marine Chapters with homeworlds affected by the Warp Storm found that the secret imperfections in their gene-seed were writ large upon their new recruits, giving rise to a wave of disturbing manifestations both physical and psychological. The Illustrians were one such Loyalist Chapter of Astartes that had been affected by these Warp Storms.When the Ecclesiarchy heard of this sinister tum of events, Saint Basillius the Elder demanded that all those Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes whose homeworlds had been touched by the Warp Storm be rendered unto his judgement. Such was the elder's influence with the High Lords of Terra that within a standard year this had come to pass. After a series of stringent tests and prognostications, hundreds of Chapters were deemed unaffected by the Warp Storm. No less than thirty were found wanting. The Judged, as these fallen Chapters came to be known, volunteered for a redemptive Penitent Crusade. The most militant of their number demanded the right to purify their tainted flesh in the fires of battle, to make a noble end from tragic misfortune. To the surprise of his closest advisors, Saint Basillius agreed to this proposal. He saw it fitting to send the accused into the Eye of Terror, taking the fight for the Imperium's future to the Daemon Worlds inhabited by the Traitor Marines.A representative from each of the doomed Chapters held an emergency Council of Dismay to discuss the proposed Crusade. After scant hours of debate, they acquiesced to Basillius' demands, for they believed that martyrdom was preferable to an existence of suspicion and doubt. The last few days of 321.M37 saw a solemn procession of Strike Cruisers and Battle Barges pass through the Cadian Gate into the Eye of Terror, relay systems dormant and heraldic colours obscured by black mag-plates. One by one, the Chapters of The Judged disappeared into the iridescent dust nebulae that surrounded the Eye. As the massive Space Marine flotilla entered the Eye of Terror, they were set upon by a massive Chaos warfleet. The resultant battle was so fierce that the ships of The Judged were forced to retreat and were scattered to the furthest corners of the Eye.Chapter after Chapter fell to the perils of the Eye, for the Abyssal Crusade had entered a hell from which very few emerge unchanged. The true account of what occurred within the Eye to the Illustrians is unknown, but most of the tales of the Chapters of The Judged ended in tragedy and sorrow. By the time they reemerged from the Eye many standard centuries later, the Illustrians were no more, for they had become the Chaos Space Marine warband known as The Black Psalm, wholly dedicated to the service of the Ruinous Powers.
Black Psalm, The - Warband Colours: The Black Psalm warband's colours are not listed in current Imperial records.
Black Psalm, The - Warband Badge: The Black Psalm warband's badge is not listed in current Imperial records.
Black Rage - Blood Angels Freed From the Flaw: Mephiston - Originally Battle-Brother Calistarius, a Blood Angels Librarian of some considerable ability and strength of character, Calistarius was almost overcome by the curse of the Black Rage when he served as part of the relief force for Hades Hive during the Second War for Armageddon, where, having suffered for 7 solar days and nights trapped in the rubble of the collapsed Ecclesorium building, a vision of Sanguinius helped him fight off the effects. He was reborn as Mephiston -- the Lord of Death, and with his full psychic potential unlocked, quickly achieved the position of Chief Librarian for the Blood Angels Chapter. He is seen as the spiritual son of Sanguinius, a figure of hope to his Chapter. He is now considered to be the most powerful Librarian in the Adeptus Astartes, and possibly the most powerful psyker in the Imperium, after the Emperor of Mankind.Rafen - A battle-brother -- later promoted to sergeant -- Rafen had to kill his brother Arkio who was claiming to be Sanguinius reborn but was in reality deceived by Chaos, having been made, through mutation, into a likeness of Sanguinius. Rafen then had to succumb to the Gene Curse to unleash the power of the Holy Spear of Telesto (a weapon wielded by Sanguinius himself) in order to defeat Malfallax, a Lord of Change who had deceived Arkio. However, he was eventually able to pull himself to the surface of his consciousness, and also succeeded in helping Mephiston defeat the Black Rage within himself a second time. Rafen was the protagonist of the Blood Angels series of novels by James Swallow.
Black Ravens - Black Ravens: The Black Ravens was a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter of unknown Founding and genetic origin. Unfortunately, the Black Ravens met their end while fighting The Harvest -- a warband of Khorne Daemonkin -- within the walls of their own fortress-monastery.
Black Ravens - Notable Campaigns: The Threat Within (946.M41) - The Khorne Daemonkin warband of "The Harvest" erupted from blood-portals within the fortress-monastery of the Black Ravens Chapter. Solar days of fierce fighting followed, during which the Harvest killed every last Loyalist within the monastery's walls and used its Defence Lasers to blast apart the Black Ravens' orbital shipyards. Bloodied and exalting, the Daemonkin dropped the fortress' void shields and prepared for the true battle as a tendril of Hive Fleet Behemoth filled the skies.
Black Ravens - Chapter Colours: The Black Ravens' Chapter colours are not listed in current Imperial records.
Black Ravens - Chapter Badge: The Black Ravens' Chapter badge is not listed in current Imperial records.
Black Reach - Black Reach: Black Reach is an Imperial Hive World located in the Ultima Segmentum that was fought over by the Ultramarines 2nd Company under the command of Captain Cato Sicarius and Goff Klan Orks under the control of the Greenskin Warlord Zanzag following the invasion of Black Reach in 855.M41 by WAAAGH! Zanzag.
Black Reach - History: In 855.M41, Black Reach, and to a lesser extent, its neighboouring planets Jede'ogh and Voldermach, were overcome by a surging Ork WAAAGH! primarily composed of the Goff Clan under the control of the Greenskin Warlord Zanzag. The planet of Black Reach, though ostensibly valueless, was of great tactical import to the Ultramarines Chapter's Realm of Ultramar. The planet is surrounded by a series of asteroid belts so dense that should Black Reach and its vast array of orbital debris ever become infested by xenos, it would take centuries to exterminate them all.Furthermore, the magnetic elements of the Black Reach asteroid belt made it extremely difficult to contact Black Reach from out-system, let alone augur the whereabouts of individual armies and their war leaders. An alien invasion of the Imperium could be mustered there, right under the nose of Ultramar, and remain undetected until it was time to strike against the Ultramarines' home region.All three planets in the Black Reach System were overcome by a surging Ork WAAAGH! which burst into realspace through Jorgund's Eye, a wormhole thought to be connected to the Aeldari Webway in the Vidar Sector. How the primitive Ork fleet pulled off such a feat of interstellar bravado is unknown, but the Greenskin forces descended upon the Black Reach System so quickly that such disturbing questions were put aside by the Ultramarines high command on Macragge in favour of readying for the coming battle.As an Imperial Hive World, Black Reach's massive hive cities were home to billions of Imperial citizens. Much of the planet's population was slain during the initial assault of WAAAGH! Zanzag, and the hive cities and surrounding territory of Black Reach's northern continent were completely ruined by the sheer intensity of the fighting.After the defeat of Zanzag by the Imperial forces led by the Ultramarines' 2nd Company and its valiant commander, Captain Cato Sicarius, Black Reach's inhabitants still had to take back the rest of their world from the pockets of surviving Greenskins. One Terminator and twelve Space Marines from the 2nd Company were slain during the Ultramarines' operations on Black Reach.
Black Reef - Black Reef: The Black Reef is an astronomical phenomenon of intense, unnatural gravity found within the Jericho Reach.The Reach is littered with celestial perils from the Slinnar Deep Gulfs to the Hadex Anomaly, a combination of stellar debris and void-born chaos so common in the far galactic east.Among these wild zones, the Black Reef stands as a briar patch of gravitational madness stretching across a dozen light years and effectively closing off an entire area of space.Located at the extreme edge of the Canis Salient on the coreward rim of the sector, it has for solar decades been a natural shield against the Achilus Crusade's advance, providing the outposts of the T'au Empire in the Reach with a solid edifice against attack.Bordered by the T'au worlds of Tsua'Malor, Krrk'tikit and Iphigenia, the Black Reef is practically impassable to voidfaring ships, its gravity storms reaching into the Warp itself, fouling Warp routes and disturbing the Immaterium, forcing vessels to return to realspace and face the anomaly's brutal power.The T'au have made extensive use of this barrier to shield their worlds from assault and have created their defensive line to either side, confident that no Imperial battlegroup could hope to cross it alive.The Black Reef is far more than a mere celestial hazard however, and over the years both the Humans and the T'au have made attempts to determine its purpose and perhaps what lies at its core.It is known to both sides that it covers a number of ancient systems and perhaps hides the remains of some long lost civilisation, one that predates both the T'au and the Imperial presence in the sector. The laws of physics however break down as soon as a vessel enters the Reef and gravity loses all reason as it pulls, pushes and crushes areas of space seemingly at random.Entire worlds are flung across the void, torn away from their stars by these random forces and imperiling all in their path.Those few intrepid explorers that have penetrated deep into the Reef (and returned to pass on their findings) tell wild and conflicting tales of their experiences, though all seem to agree there is something hidden deep within its core, something big...
Black Reef - The Gravity Storm: The Black Reef is a gravitational anomaly which follows none of the natural laws of the universe. Vessels crossing into the Reef, across what has become known as the Stygian Break, are immediately assailed by gravitic eddies and tides.These ripples across the void are practically impossible to detect or predict and any one can smash a ship to fragments. Even those vessels fortunate enough to avoid the worst of the gravity storm will likely be thrown wildly off course by the constant energy fluxes and shifting nature of the void.This problem is compounded by the fact that the gravity storm does not just affect ships crossing the Reef, but all celestial objects and bodies within it, making it virtually impossible to take an accurate bearing as planets, gas clouds and even the stars themselves move erratically across the sky.Gravity swells and navigational mayhem are not the only perils of the Black Reef, however, as it is filled with the detritus of dozens of worlds and the wreckage of thousands of vessels.Given the vast size of the Reef, more than one captain has scoffed at the notion of "running into" such stellar flotsam and jetsam, and under normal circumstances it is a simple matter for a vessel to easily avoid such perils when plying the void.However another astronomical quirk of the Black Reef is that the same gravitational ripples which can rip a ship apart seem to cause all kinds of mass to be drawn together. This means wrecks, asteroids and rogue planets will all seek out ships trying to cross the Reef, changing course and accelerating as if drawn in by some potent magnetic force.Often a craft will have only moments to detect, avoid or destroy such objects as they appear, before they crash into the hull with massive destructive force.
Black Reef - The Black Heart: Several attempts by Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator fleets have been made to navigate the Black Reef, though to date all have met with failure. Lord Commander Sebiascor Ebongrave himself has also launched numerous scouting parties into the Reef in the hopes of somehow flanking the T'au positions and gaining a decisive military victory.These too have met only with failure, many of them disappearing completely, leading the paranoid Ebongrave to suspect treachery. A few Imperial explorers have managed to delve deep into the Reef and return, among them the famed Rogue Trader Telas Kai and his ship the Ancient Fable.With the aid of his skilled Nostromo House Navigator, Telas has been able to glimpse the heart of the Reef and discern some of its ancient secrets.What he has passed on seems hard to believe, though if true could turn around the fortunes of the Canis Salient in a single stroke. Telas asserts that beyond the chaos of the Reef's outer regions lies a dark centre and a macro-system of dozens of worlds from dozens of systems, all drawn into the orbit of a single, massive, star-sized object.As with the rest of the Reef, this macro-system, dubbed the "Black Heart" by Kai, is a tangled web of gravity fields and unpredictable orbits.Kai tells how he explored several of the worlds and discovered the remains of an ancient, highly advanced xenos civilisation long turned to dust. He also encountered primitive reptilian aliens, which he deduced to be the descendants of the race which once dominated these worlds and this region of space.The aliens, which called themselves the Syrshin, roam the worlds of the Black Heart, defending the ruins and warring among themselves. Without the technology to cross the void, Kai discovered they could use naturally occurring gravity wells, vast plumes of air and water millions of kilometres in length, which would periodically link the planets and allow the Syrshin to literally "fly" between worlds.Cobbling together xenos writing from the walls of the ruins, and secrets pulled from the minds of the Syrshin by his psykers, Telas came to the conclusion that they were waiting for some powerful enemy which they believed would soon return, rising from a millennia-long slumber, once more to enslave them as it had so long ago.Of more interest to Kai than the ghost stories of the Syrshin was what he discovered about the great mass at the centre of the Black Heart. Though he was not able to get closer than a billion kilometres from it, he believes it is in fact a vast engine built by the lost Syrshin civilisation to protect them from the ancient enemy and is the cause of the Reef itself.Telas also suspected that while no ship could approach, it might be possible to travel "on foot" using the gravity wells to skip between worlds. Unfortunately for Telas, the shifting gravity tides forced him to leave the Black Heart before he could put his theory to the test.Thus far he has not been able to find the Heart again, though Ebongrave has become interested in his tales and the possibility of harnessing this Syrshin Singularity Engine. He is eagerly funding a return trip for the Rogue Trader.
Black Reef - The T'au and the Black Reef: The Humans are not the only ones to explore the Black Reef and the T'au too have been sending scouts into its gravity-ravaged depths. Less willing to needlessly sacrifice their warriors, the T'au have employed those aliens from their empire with an affinity for the void and a skill at space faring, such as the ethereal Ji'atrix and the void-dwelling Nicassar.More successfully than the Imperium, the T'au have mapped a number of routes through the edges of the Reef, at least on their side of the anomaly, allowing their voidships more tactical flexibility than those of their enemies and also allowing them to lay deadly ambushes within the edge of the Stygian Break.The T'au also enjoy a rare speed advantage over the Imperium within the Black Reef as their unusual method of near-Warp travel works more effectively than completely entering the Warp and is less prone to disruption by the gravity storm.The T'au have long been aware of the Syrshin and their lost empire, from artefacts gathered from the fragmented worlds of the Reef. Aun'El Basel'kyth himself has taken an interest in understanding the empire which once dominated this area of space.The senior T'au researcher's interest in the Black Reef and the amount of T'au resources allocated to its secrets has increased in recent times since T'au spies learned of Kai's discovery of the Black Heart.While Aun'El Basel'kyth does not fully believe the wild stories of the Rogue Trader, his research so far makes him believe that such a thing as the Singularity Engine could exist.While the T'au high command in the Jericho Reach is generally skeptical about the existence of such a device, they have nevertheless decided to allow Aun'El Basel'kyth to make a serious attempt at reaching the Black Heart before the Imperium and harnessing the power of the Syrshin Singularity Engine before Telas Kai and his crew can find its location again.
Black Ships - Black Ships: The Black Ships are the dread Imperial starships that make up the fleet of the League of Blackships, which forms the recruiting division of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica of the Imperium of Man.The great fleet of Black Ships belongs to the Adeptus Astra Telepathica but are often administered by the personnel of the Inquisition and the Sisters of Silence. Independent of the Imperial Navy, they represent the second largest Human fleet in the galaxy.There are many thousands of Black Ships but only the highest-ranking adepts in the Adeptus Astra Telepathica know the true scale of the fleet and the vast scope of its operations. New vessels are constantly commissioned to replace the inevitable losses and to further increase the fleet's size.Thus it is that each standard year, more and more planets of the Imperium are visited and stripped of their psykers for transportation to Terra as part of the Imperial Tithe, where they will be either trained to become Sanctioned Psykers who can serve the Imperium in a number of important roles or their lives will be sacrificed to the Emperor of Mankind so that He will have the psychic energy necessary to maintain the crucial telepathic navigational beacon of the Astronomican.Black Ships are typically incredibly ancient vessels, and it is a rare sight to see one of these foreboding starships enter a planetary system. Even rarer is to have one of these built to replace inevitable losses incurred by the very nature of their mission, as vital to the Imperium as it is fraught with danger.Due to the exacting standards and particular specifications required to construct a Blackship, usually this is undertaken nowhere else but at the orbital shipyards of Mars itself, though records indicate a small number were constructed at the orbital shipyards of the Segmentum Fortresses of Kar Duniash and Cypra Mundi.For all its imposing bulk and the abject fear mere mention of this ship brings, each one is little more than a gigantic transport vessel and high-security prison, albeit fitted with a heavily augmented and carefully-tuned Gellar Field to shroud the beacon-bright imprint so many pykers in such close vicinity would have upon the Warp during a Black Ship's transit.Additionally, such vessels always embark a large contingent of Untouchables, those cursed with the Pariah Gene that appear as psychic Nulls to the Warp, along with a mission of Adepta Sororitas to keep order aboard the ship and to serve as a final line of defence against enemy boarders. Additionally, in the Era Indomitus, with the return of the Sisters of Silence, the female Nulls of that order now also accompany the Black Ships as they did during the time of the Great Crusade.Because of the enormous bounty such a cargo would represent to Chaos or the Drukhari, Black Ships mount weapons comparable to front-line warships, and it is rare that a Black Ship ever plies the void without being under heavy escort.
Black Ships - Origins: During the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras in the late 30th and early 31st Millennia, the ancient Astra Telepathica possessed a militant arm which was referred to internally within the records of the Adeptus Terra as the Departmento Investigates.But they were known throughout the galaxy as the Sisters of Silence, the Silent Sisterhood and the Witchseekers. The Silent Sisterhood was an all-female Imperial order of Witch Hunters dedicated to the elimination of psychic threats to Mankind.Their primary base of operations was the Somnus Citadel on Luna, the moon of Terra. Their purpose was to hunt and kill rogue Human psykers whose activities presented a terrible danger to the people of the newborn Imperium of Man.The Sisters of Silence were well-trained warriors, and with the added benefit of their natural and innate anti-psyker abilities they were dangerous opponents to the psychic enemies of Mankind. Unlike other living beings, these women sworn to silence possessed no presence in the Warp and were therefore unaffected by all forms of psychic power.There were many names for them in the multitude of Human cultures to be found across the galaxy: Untouchables, Nulls, Pariahs, Blanks. All of the members of their order were non-psychic, for they bore the Pariah Gene which made them immune to all forms of psychic assault and rendered their minds unreadable by telepathy.The Sisters operated the Astra Telepathica's infamous League of Black Ships, which ranged across the galaxy following behind the Great Crusade's Expeditionary Fleets in search of rogue psykers to capture or expunge, seeking to collect and carry them back to Terra where they would be tested and their eventual fate decided.Though few in number, the Sisters of Silence commanded great respect within the Imperium and most servants of the Emperor regarded them with some awe. Few would willingly stand in their way or interfere with their activities and few indeed were those who were comfortable in their presence.The ultimate fate of the Sisters of Silence was long absent from Imperial records, and remained unknown until the 41st Millennium.It was believed for a long time that they were either destroyed long ago or were ultimately folded into the organisation of the Imperial Inquisition following the Horus Heresy, which now administers the League of Black Ships.In the mid-32nd Millennium, a lone bastion of Sisters of Silence had proven crucial to the victory of the Imperium over the Orks during the War of the Beast, but little more was known about them over the following millennia, and their order was believed to have gone extinct.However, in the wake of the Great Rift's birth in the Era Indomitus, the Sisters of Silence have been restored to a prominent place among the Imperium's defenders by the command of the resurrected Primarch Roboute Guilliman.Though still small in number, it is now possible once again to see one or more of the Sisters of Silence accompanying the Black Ships on their vital duties.
Black Ships - Indomitus Era: With the opening of the Great Rift it became nigh-impossible for the Black Ships to continue operating as they once had.To say nothing of those that had been lost beyond the rift, the remaining craft found themselves forced to dare roiling war zones wherever they travelled, delving into planet-wide battles in order to extract their tithe.The Sisters of Silence who often commanded the Black Ships after Guilliman's resurrection were formidable warriors, but they recognised that this situation could not continue forever.The solution came in the form of the Indomitus Crusade fleets. While some Black Ships continued to ply the space lanes they always had, and to harvest inthe conventional fashion, many more were deployed as so-called "Flights of Crows" that followed in the wake of the Indomitus battlegroups.Like carrion birds picking over the trail of a campaigning army, the Black Ships fell upon recently reconquered Imperial systems and reaped a rich bounty from populations already battered into absolute compliance and so terrified that they would obey the Silent Sisters without question.So did the Black Ships continue to function, throughout the reconquered systems of the Imperium Sanctus at least, and so did they keep the Golden Throne and the Astronomican from faltering in this desperate hour.
Black Ships - League of Blackships: Constructed solely by the Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars and administered by the Inquisition, the so-called "Black Ships" are among the most secretive of warships currently in the service of the Imperium.Sometime in the distant past the Grand Masters of the Inquisition viewed the reliance upon Imperial Navy or Space Marine forces for transport, support and protection as unacceptable and a new vessel capable of independent action was required.Like their predecessors from ten millennia earlier, these Black Ships (so-called due to their somewhat sinister reputation as well as their colour) combine many features of a Space Marine strike cruiser with a full-sized battlecruiser hull. These formidable vessels can deploy company-sized formations with orbital support.Usually operating alone or in conjunction with Imperial Navy or Space Marine escorts, these vessels can serve as the core of a formidable battle group for dealing with rebellions or Heretic incursions.The Black Ships are feared transports filled with mournful, unsanctioned psykers held in cavernous, psi-shielded holds to be taken back to Terra to feed the voracious psychic appetite of the Emperor. Only those with the strength of mind to withstand the constant, soul-numbing despair projected telepathically and unwittingly by many of the captured psykers that permeates a Black Ship may crew it, so mentally traumatic is such duty.These psykers will become either official Sanctioned Psykers trained to serve the Imperium in a variety of capacities or they will be bound and sacrificed to the Emperor, their lives snuffed out to maintain the power of the telepathic beacon of the Astronomican that the Emperor's mind directs in the Immaterium to guide all Imperial interstellar transport and commerce.The Black Ship fleet travels constantly throughout the Imperium. Each Imperial world is visited every hundred standard years or so by a Black Ship. When a Black Ship nears a planet, its Imperial planetary governor is instructed to prepare the customary levy -- a tithe of unsanctioned psykers drawn from the world's population. Once the levy has been collected, the Black Ship's captain makes an initial evaluation of his cargo before proceeding to the next world in his circuit.When the starships are full of psykers they return to Terra and the psykers are transferred to the Scholastica Psykana of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica for evaluation and training before the ship leaves again to continue its eternal search. It is common for Inquisitors of the Ordo Hereticus or Ordo Malleus to travel on board these ships, as this gives them a good opportunity to investigate a planet's potential for psychically-based corruption.
Black Ships - Notable Black Ships: Aeria Gloris - This notable vessel was operated by the Silent Sisterhood during the Great Crusade era of the late 30th Millennium. Whereas conventional vessels of an Imperial expeditionary fleet ran with pennants and signal lamps to illuminate the lengths of their hulls, the Aeria Gloris came in darkness, arriving out of the interstellar deeps as an ocean predator might slip to the surface of a night time sea. It was difficult to make out anything more than the most basic details of this formidable warship, as it blended with the void. The Imperium's Black Ships were originally the flagships of the Silent Sisterhood during the Great Crusade and were responsible for carrying them back and forth across the galaxy on the Emperor's witch-hunting missions. The Aeria Gloris was one such vessel under their command. The vessel saw action against the xenos known as the Jorgall during the final days of the Great Crusade with the Death Guard Legion. It also later escorted the Phalanx to Luna after the Imperial Fists Primarch Rogal Dorn picked up Battle-Captain Nathaniel Garro, The Seventy and the other mortal survivors of the Vengeful Spirit Remembrancer massacre above Isstvan III such as Kyril Sindermann, Euphrati Keeler and Mersadie Oliton who had fled on the doomed Death Guard frigate Eisenstein from the Isstvan System. On Luna, at the Somnus Citadel, the Silent Sister Amendera Kendel took custody of Keeler to determine if her unusual talents of persuasion and resistance against the entities of the Warp were the result of psychic witchery or not.Ecclesiarch Nevsky - Such is the secretive nature of their work few of the exploits of the Black Ships are known. However, the destruction of the Ecclesiarch Nevsky while destroying the Tyranid incursion on Horatia III stands out. The Nevsky and her Escorts managed to destroy three Hive Ships of the invasion fleet before succumbing. The destruction of the hive vessels prevented any Tyranid reinforcement reaching the embattled planet and the Astra Militarum, coupled with a Deathwatch Kill-team from the Nevsky, helped with the extermination of the Tyranid horde.Validus - A notable vessel that was operated by the Silent Sisterhood during the Great Crusade and early Horus Heresy era, the Validus became stranded within the Warp. Further details in regards to this vessel and its ultimate fate remain classified, even ten millennia later.Irkalla - This vessel was in service to the Imperium of Man during the Horus Heresy era. It was boarded by Astartes of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion who took its Human cargo away for their own unholy purposes.
Black Skull - Black Skull: Black SkullChaos Space MarinesFoundingHeretic AstartesChaptersThe remainder of their number are comprised of Chaos Cultists. They are thought to be loyal to Chaos Undivided. Little else is known of their actions in current Imperial records.
Black Skull - Warband History: When the Crimson Sabres Chapter began their descent into madness, they were determined to sell themselves dearly, and so, they turned to the Eye of Terror where they planned to die fighting the enemies of Mankind and in doing so reclaim their honour.The planet known as Nebulon was one of the outermost of the planets ringing the Eye of Terror, a world only occasionally veiled within that region. Onto that bleak orb swept the Crimson Sabres like avenging angels. In a twisted land of derelict hive cities the red-armoured Space Marines hunted and gunned down any quarry they could find. None could stand before them -- none, that is, until the Black Skull Renegades emerged out of the stygian depths of the underhive.The two forces clashed, both nigh on Chapter strength, however, only the core of the Black Skull was comprised of Astartes. The Crimson Sabres fought as one unifying force, and were able to overcome the Renegade warband.
Black Skull - Notable Campaigns: The Renegade Wars (929-938.M41) - When the Renegade Crimson Sabres fled the Imperium into the Eye of Terror, they fought and destroyed countless cults, but also faced many warbands of Chaos Space Marine Renegades within the Eye. They first engaged and defeated the Black Skulls upon the world of Nebulon, and went on to face numerous other warbands that have been forgotten by history.
Black Skull - Warband Colours: The Black Skull's colours are not listed in current Imperial records.
Black Skull - Warband Badge: The Black Skull's badge is not listed in current Imperial records.
Black Talons - Black Talons: The Black Talons is a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter of unknown genetic origin and Founding.
Black Talons - Chapter Colours: The Space Marines of the Black Talons Chapter primarily wear bone-white power armour. The trim of the shoulder plates as well as the upper torso and groin areas are black. The black squad tactical specialty symbol -- battleline, close support, fire support, Veteran or command -- is indicated on the right shoulder plate.A white Low Gothic numeral centred on the squad specialty symbol indicates squad number. The colour of the Aquila or Imperialis on the chest indicates company number in accordance with the Codex Astartes -- i.e. white (1st Company), yellow (2nd Company), red (3rd Company), etc.
Black Talons - Chapter Badge: The Black Talons' Chapter badge is a large raptor's talon centred on a field of bone-white.
Black Templars - Defence of Terra: At the Siege of Terra during the Horus Heresy, many Champions of Chaos arose from the Traitor Marines' ranks. During this time, the Primarch of the Imperial Fists, Rogal Dorn, chose the Imperial Fists' First Captain Sigismund to fulfill the role of the Emperor's Champion.First Captain Sigismund was given the best armour and weapons the Legion possessed, and he swore a holy duty to seek out and destroy the foul Champions of Chaos. He did so by challenging over two dozen of the enemy leaders to single combat and slaying them or banishing them back into the Immaterium.At the end of the Horus Heresy, each of the Space Marine Legions was broken down into smaller organisations known as Chapters, each composed of one thousand Astartes, as part of a plan to spread the power of the Imperial armed forces so that no one man could bring to bear the influence that the Warmaster Horus had over the Space Marines.Rogal Dorn, as Primarch of the Legion responsible for the defence of the Emperor's homeworld, Terra, initially refused to have his Legion broken down. Dorn fought with his fellow Primarch Roboute Guilliman over the issue, calling the Ultramarines' Primarch a coward, and Guilliman in turn accused Dorn of heresy and disloyalty to the Emperor.The Primarchs Leman Russ of the Space Wolves and Vulkan of the Salamanders favoured Dorn's stance while Jaghatai Khan of the White Scars and Corax of the Raven Guard supported Guilliman's position on the issue.It was only after an attack on the Imperial Fists' Strike Cruiser Terrible Angel by the Imperial Navy and the threat of a renewed civil war between Dorn's Legion and the newly-formed Successor Chapters of the other First Founding Legions that he decided to relent and allow the Imperial Fists to be divided.
Black Templars - Second Founding: One of the Imperial Fists' first Successor Chapters, the Black Templars have since become one of the largest and most feared Space Marine Chapters. The surviving Imperial Fists were split into four Chapters during the Second Founding. The younger warriors became the Crimson Fists, while Dorn's chosen warriors remained the Imperial Fists, and the orbital assault specialists were long believed, erroneously, to have formed the ranks of the infamous Soul Drinkers Chapter.The fourth Imperial Fists Second Founding Successor Chapter were the Black Templars. Sigismund, named the Black Templars' first Chapter Master, took with him the most zealous of the Imperial Fists brethren and those that shared his fervour took on the black and white panoply of Sigismund's armour, and then they embarked on an Imperial Crusade to prove their loyalty to the Emperor.Sigismund refused to adhere to the Codex Astartes, seeing the foundational treatise written by Roboute Guilliman as an insult to the teachings of his own Primarch, Rogal Dorn. Instead, he led his warriors into the depths of space, taking the war directly to the enemies of the Imperium.In the centuries since, the Chapter has diverted even further from the standard tenets of the Adeptus Astartes. Embracing their faith and acknowledging the God-Emperor's divinity, the Black Templars have developed a fanatical zealotry and aggressiveness. This deviation from orthodoxy disturbs many of their fellow Space Marine Chapters, though the Black Templars' dedication to eradicating the enemies of Humanity cannot be questioned.Sigismund swore an oath "to prove his loyalty, never resting in the prosecution of his duties against the enemies of the Emperor." It is an oath that every succeeding High Marshal has renewed, resulting in the longest Space Marine crusade in the history of the Imperium. It has smashed through the stars for over 10,000 years and came to the fore during the wars for Armageddon.
Black Templars - Notable Crusades: The Black Templars Chapter is the only Space Marine Chapter in existence known to still follow the Emperor's original vision of a Great Crusade to protect and reunite all the scattered worlds of Mankind across the galaxy.Since their creation during the Second Founding from the survivors of the Imperial Fists Legion, the Black Templars have waged a righteous war against the many enemies of the Imperium, the single longest Imperial Crusade in its history, persecuting the witch, the alien and the Heretic with a devotional zeal unmatched by the other Chapters.Smaller crusades are created within this ongoing greater crusade and some of the more notable Black Templar crusades are noted below.
Black Templars - Age of Rebirth (M31-M34): Great Scouring (Unknown Date.M31) - With the division of the Imperial Fists, Sigismund became the first High Marshal. He began the Chapter's first crusade by leading the Black Templars to purge Chaos forces from the Donatello System, in what would be one of the final campaigns of the Great Scouring. A force of Night Lords who refused to retreat, in doing so giving their allies time to plunge into the Eye of Terror, was destroyed utterly.1st Black Crusade (781.M31) - A massive Black Templars fleet under High Marshal Sigismund himself defended the Cadian Gate against the first of Abaddon the Despoiler's incursions into Imperial space since the Horus Heresy. Sigismund led the Black Templars for several centuries after their founding, obsessed with hunting down the Traitor Legions who had fled into the Eye of Terror during the Great Scouring. During the 1st Black Crusade of Abaddon the Despoiler, when Sigismund was over a thousand Terran years old, the forces of the Black Legion assaulted the Black Templars' flagship Eternal Crusader determined to kill the High Marshal. Sigismund met Ezekyle Abaddon in single combat and was slain by the new Warmaster of Chaos, but not before he had buried his Black Sword deep into the Despoiler's chest, leaving a scar that would remain with the Warmaster for the next ten thousand years. The Black Templars were ultimately defeated in this engagement, but the Black Legion forces were forced to withdraw from the Eternal Crusader to tend to their wounded Chaos Lord and to face their other foes. Before his death, Sigismund warned his old friend Abaddon, "You will die as your weakling father died. Soulless. Honourless. Weeping. Ashamed."War of the Beast (544-546.M32) - During this great conflict against the greenskins, the Black Templars were a part of the Last Wall protocol and later contributed part of their strength to rebuild the extinct Imperial Fists Chapter.The Howling (401.M34) - The Black Templars Chapter ended the Catelexis Heresy by executing the Cacodominus, an alien cyborg whose formidable psychic presence allowed it to control the populace of thirteen hundred planetary systems. Alas, the Cacodominus' death scream echoed and amplified through the Warp, burning out the minds of a billion astropaths and distorting the signal of the Astronomican. Millions upon millions of Imperial voidships were lost in the resulting upheaval and entire sub-sectors slid into barbarism without the dictats of the Adeptus Terra to guide them. This tragic event became known as The Howling.