Emperor's Spears - Chapter Colours: The Emperor's Spears primarily wear sky blue power armour and a white helm. This Chapter does not display company numbers on its power armour, and it does not paint the trim of its shoulder plates to designate company. Squads are marked with Nemetese runes or High Gothic numerals on the shoulder pauldrons or greaves to indicate their identity.Nemetese runes look similar to Ogham, an early medieval runic alphabet used to write the early Irish language on Old Earth. Outsiders cannot penetrate the meaning of these specific symbols, but they are never used elsewhere in the Nemetese tongue, and do not seem to be numbers.Most warriors bear personal heraldry on one knee plate, which is painted in a deeper blue. This heraldry usually reflects a specific campaign the battle-brother fought in, or the Manticora Bestia Fidelitas, a sigil representing the unity of the Adeptus Vaelarii. The Skitarii of Bellona and allied Astra Militarum regiments often also bear this sigil. Many Emperor's Spears wear cloaks made from the hides of beasts they have hunted and slain on Nemeton.Warriors of the Emperor's Spears' Veteran 1st Company, "the Paragons," have the trident marking on their helms and white shoulder pauldrons, while maintaining the standard sky blue trim. Many of the Paragons also have the trident symbol tattooed on their faces, in red or white ink. Officers from all companies may choose to paint one or both shoulder pauldrons white.The colour of the right knee guard is dark blue, almost black, and is used for personal heraldry. Many Emperor's Spears have the sigil of the Sentinels of the Veil placed there, denoting them as the warriors chosen to watch over the region of the Ultima Segmentum called Elara's Veil. This symbol takes the form of the red and black sub-sector symbol which depicts Elara's Veil on Imperial stellar cartographic maps, for example, or it can be a personalised symbol of the nebula itself. This is similar to the way the Astral Claws, Lamenters, Mantis Warriors, and Charnel Guard wore the unique marking of the Maelstrom Warders to designate their role as sentinels over the Warp rift known as the Maelstrom.Many Veteran members of the Emperor's Spears have the symbol of the Star Scorpions displayed on the right knee guard instead to reflect the campaigns they fought alongside their lost sibling-Chapter. Obviously, their newly-arrived Primaris Space Marine brethren do not display these symbols. Other Emperor's Spears Astartes, including the Chapter's Primaris brethren, often have the Celestial Lions' symbol engraved on their right knee guard, reflecting the many Imperial Crusades the Emperor's Spears fought alongside the Lions.Another common symbol displayed on the Emperor's Spears' right knee guard is the Argent Gauntlet, which is worn by warriors from both the Celestial Lions and the Emperor's Spears and takes the form of a silver fist. This is the symbol of the Exodus Armada. Any warrior of any rank is authorised to wear it, so this, or the symbol for the Sentinels of the Veil, is often the default icon that is displayed on the right knee if the warrior makes no other choice.The non-commissioned and line officers of the Emperor's Spears sometimes make use of helmet plumes. Sergeants can wear red transverse (side-to-side) crests, similar to the ones worn by the ancient Space Marine Legion Centurions of the Great Crusade era. Veteran sergeants wear red-and-black striped transverse crests. Lieutenants have red-and-black striped longitudinal crests (front-to-back) while captains wear white longitudinal crests. While most officers of the Emperor's Spears wear helm crests, others use the standard helms and helm colours proscribed in the tenets of the Codex Astartes, similar to the Ultramarines.The "Druids" or "War-Priests" who take the place of standard Librarians, Techmarines, and Chaplains in the Emperor's Spears hierarchy all wear black power armour, with druidic and priestly elements adorning their battle-plate. Druids who replace Techmarines wear black as well, and they use the standard Techmarine armour technology, but without the druidic and priestly elements.Unusually, the Emperor's Spears' Techmarines don't wear many symbols of Mars. Instead, they opt to display the icon of the nearby Forge Moon of Bellona, which takes the form of a halo (a half-cog) over a skull weeping blood. This is the same symbol used by the Cult Mechanicus and Skitarii Legions of Bellona (mostly black with red patches).The Druids who serve as Librarians, Apothecaries and Techmarines have white helms, and the few that have also served in the Veteran 1st Company of the Paragons possess the red trident on their helm. The Druids who take the place of Chaplains wear the traditional black battle-plate with bone-white helms. Red tear-trails are carefully applied to the skull-mask's cheeks, as if weeping. Any skulls that are displayed on their armour also have these same blood-tears, which represent some unknown meaning from Nemetese legends.Space Marines from the Emperor's Spears have also been known to wear trinkets, talismans, serpent scale-hides and fur pelts. These are usually gifts from the Twelve Tribes of Nemeton, not things the Astartes have hunted or made for themselves.These primitive animistic fetishes are nowhere near as common as they are on the Space Wolves' wargear, but appear very similar to those worn amongst the Space Marines of the Salamanders Chapter. The most common ornamentation worn by the Emperor's Spears are Nemetese runes on their armour, which are usually black, silver, or white -- either painted or carved into talismans.Each warhost of the Chapter marks their azure armour with a range of Nemetese Ogham runes that are believed to comprise a mix of unit markings, honour sigils and other, more esoteric tribal icons.The Emperor's Spears have codes of conduct that forbid them from becoming too filthy. Even in the middle of a campaign, they are forced to maintain their armour as well as they can, to respect its Machine Spirit and to intimidate the enemy, rather than looking battered and therefore weak.