Excoriators - Chapter Beliefs: Like other Successor Chapters of the Imperial Fists, the Excoriators have a morbid fascination with pain and ritual scarring. They too, possess their own unique Chapter traditions.Most notable of these are the "Rites of Castigation" and "Donning Dorn's Mantle", the latter of which involves ritual mortification of the flesh, particularly about the neck and shoulders.When there is a breach of protocol or a laxity in their duties, an individual battle-brother or his entire squad may be punished by being forced for several solar days to forgo this ritual observance, as they are considered unfit to don the mantle of Dorn due to their dishonour.The Excoriators believe that union with the Primarch through pain is a privilege and should be denied to those whose actions have proved unworthy of his ideals.To ensure the punished adhere to their commanding officer's orders, a company Chaplain oversees the implementation of this punishment and makes sure that none of the reprimanded battle-brothers seeks to find solace in pain.Another sacred Chapter ritual is known as the "Trial by the Blade." If an individual battle-brother has a personal grievance with a fellow Astartes or even one of his superiors, he has the right to demand to settle such a dispute through the solemn contest of a duel.Once this right is invoked by the accuser, it must be answered in kind by the accused, as only the company's Chaplain or the Chapter's Reclusiarch can call off or postpone such a duel. These duels are usually fought with ceremonial weapons retained in the individual company's Chapel-Reclusiam, but in certain circumstances, the duel can be carried out with whatever weapons are at hand.As all Excoriators are equal in Dorn's sight, victory goes to the warrior who draws first blood. However, as the Excoriators focus on resilience, no matter how grievous the wounds taken by either opponent, first blood can only be drawn from the face, and the duel will not end until one of the contestants manages to strike his opponent's visage.Once a clear winner is decided by the Excoriators Chaplain overseeing the contest, both battle-brothers will indicate their understanding and the matter is considered settled. Once the winner has been declared by the Chaplain, the loser will ritually renounce his claim or the cause of the grievance that had initiated the Trial to formally end the duel, and put a definitive end to the Trial by the Blade.The time and place of the Trial will then be recorded in the Chapter's sacred records. For the loser of the Trial, the Chapter will honour his scars as he now will honour his opponent with vindication.The Excoriators take great pride in the facial scars they earn through self-mutilation, a practice eerily similar to the World Eaters Traitor Legion's practice of the "Triumph Rope," or Lucius the Eternal's early ritual scarification of his face.However, the Excoriators take this practice to a whole new level, in that they do not concern themselves with just the wounds of the flesh. Scratched in High Gothic lettering, adorning each nick, sword slash and bullet hole on their Power Armour are inscriptions.The Excoriators' battle-plate is often covered in such markings, with each gouge and las-burn bearing its own notation, dates and location where these battle honours were earned in glorious combat.The ebon script stands out boldly on the Chapter's cream power armour. In a similar fashion, when a battle-brother dies in glorious combat his body is laid out as Chapter custom dictates, with all the horror of his battle wounds on display.When still a neophyte, an Excoriator's flesh has yet to be deemed worthy of the lash; and no dents, rents or craters yet mark his Power Armour, which his battle-brothers revile as the ignoble sheen of combat virginity. Whilst neophytes are trained with the Gladius, they are not deemed worthy of wielding a full Adeptus Astartes Chainsword or Power Sword, nor allowed to partake in honour-duels until they attain the full rank of Space Marine.The machete-length and cleaver-like cutting blade used by the Chapter's Scout Marines, referred to by Squad Whips as a "Scout's-only-friend" is still a graceful taker of lives, despite being looked down upon by their fully-fledged battle-brothers.The Excoriators are pious, zealous and uncompromising Astartes who have a deep and abiding faith in the Emperor of Mankind and their Primarch Rogal Dorn. This Chapter is known to perform small forms of religious observance in its daily tasks.When saluting a fellow battle-brother or before going into battle, an Excoriator often recites the ritual prayer Dextera Dornami, which loosely translates from the High Gothic as the "right hand of Dorn." Then they form a fist with their right gauntlet before touching their forehead with one knuckle, then their lips and then their breastplate -- one Astartes heart, then the other.When a subordinate battle-brother is in the presence of a superior officer, they will perform an impromptu salute by kissing their right gauntlet out of respect for the officer's esteemed rank. Even Excoriator Chapter serfs and bondsmen perform this ritual salute.It should be noted that though the Excoriators venerate the Emperor as more than a man, like most Space Marines they do not believe that He is divine. An Excoriator Astartes does feel the love of his genetic father Rogal Dorn, as Dorn felt the love of his, the Emperor.The Emperor's loss during the tragic events surrounding the Horus Heresy lives on within the souls of those Excoriators afflicted by Dorn's Darkness. The Excoriators believe that the fear felt by Mankind's ignorant masses have transformed the Emperor into a god.The Excoriators despise the Ecclesiarchy and those weak and foolish "mortals" who in their trillions need the Emperor to be more than He truly is. The Excoriators know that the Emperor was only a human being. An exceptional and extraordinary human being, perhaps the most extraordinary who has ever lived, but still only human.The Emperor's deeds are His own and the Excoriators Chapter aspires to emulate His greatness and example -- not appropriate it, mythologise it and worship it as a shield against a galaxy filled with doubt, dread and pain. For the honour of the Emperor, the Excoriators are willing to make any sacrifice.