Chaplain - Chaplain: A Chaplain is a Firstborn and Primaris Marine specialist officer of the Adeptus Astartes and serves as the appointed spiritual leader of a Space Marine Chapter.Chaplains are the warrior-priests that minister to the spiritual and psychological well-being of their fellow battle-brothers, instilling in them the values and beliefs of the Chapter and promoting the veneration or in rarer cases the actual worship of the Emperor of Mankind.Chaplains lead from the front as awe-inspiring warrior-priests, fighting wherever the foe is most fierce, leading their brethren and praising the Emperor through the destruction of His enemies. Rejoicing in the glorious act of war, Chaplains exhort their battle-brothers to ever greater deeds of bravery and devotion.In battle, the Chaplains will be at the forefront of the Chapter's battlelines, rousing their fellow Space Marines through their words and actions. Their power armour is black and often incorporates Imperial gothic skull iconography, most commonly in the form of a skull-shaped helmet. Most Chaplains wield a Power Weapon that takes the form of a mace and is called a Crozius Arcanum. They are also equipped with an Imperial holy symbol known as a Rosarius.Individual Chaplains are assigned to each company within a Space Marine Chapter. Others, including the Reclusiarch who cares for the Chapter's sacred Reclusiam and the Master of Sanctity who is the chief Chaplain of a Chapter and an officer whose rank is usually subordinate only to that of the Chapter Master himself, operate within the Chapter's command structure independent of any specific company.A Chaplain is fanatically loyal to his Chapter and to the Emperor, and works to instill a similar devotion in his fellow Astartes. Chaplains are the true spiritual leaders of a Space Marine Chapter. They are awe-inspiring warrior-priests who administer the rites, preserve the rituals and perform the ancient ceremonies of initiation, vindication and redemption that are as important to a Space Marine Chapter as its roll of honour or its skill at arms.Chaplains are daunting figures even for other Space Marines to behold. Their power armour is jet black and adorned with icons of battle and tokens of ritual and mystery; their Skull Helms are death masks that evoke the stern visage of the immortal Emperor. Every aspect of a Chaplain's garb serves to remind all who gaze upon him of mortality's impermanence and thus the importance of preserving the immortal soul. Beneath this stern cladding is a man no less grim of aspect and manner.Chaplains are notoriously strict individuals. They are responsible for the spiritual and psychological well-being of their battle-brothers and renowned for their unwavering sense of duty. Through tenet, dogma and catechism, they armour their brother Space Marines against heresy and false pride, instilling the wisdom of both primarch and Emperor in those who are their most trusted servants.Every company in a Space Marine Chapter has its own Chaplain. He acts as a leader in both devotions and combat and is second only to the company captain in rank. A Chapter's Chaplains are also the keepers of the Reclusiam, a hallowed place overseen by the greatest and most veteran of their number, the Master of Sanctity.The Reclusiam is the fortress-monastery's central shrine, where prayers and meditations are conducted. It is a place of great spiritual reverence, where the Chapter's battle standards hang from hallowed walls and the very stones echo with remembrance. Here are kept the Chapter's most holy relics: fragments of armour, banners from times of legend, and the raiments of ancient heroes who long ago passed beyond mortal service. However, the Chaplains teach that the presence of a formal chapel is not necessary for a Space Marine; the fires of battle serve as their places of worship, the roar of bolters and chainswords their prayers and the righteous slaughter of their foes their truest offerings.The first Space Marine Chapters were founded centuries before the development of the Imperial Cult or the Adeptus Ministorum, and with the exception of the Black Templars and several others, Space Marines have never acknowledged the doctrines or religious supremacy of the Ecclesiarchy. Space Marine Chaplains care little for the ravings of the Ecclesiarch's priests and ignore the dictates of the Imperial Cult in favour of their own ancient traditions. While the Adeptus Ministorum has gradually extended its influence throughout the Human-settled galaxy, it has failed to sway the Space Marine cults, which remain as stubbornly independent as they ever were in millennia past.When war calls, a Chaplain takes the fight to wherever the conflict is fiercest. He leads from the fore, rejoicing in the righteous slaughter of his enemies, all the while rendering thunderous praise to the beloved Emperor of Mankind and his primarch. A Chaplain chants the liturgies of battle with every breath, punctuating his oration with strikes from his Crozius Arcanum -- the battle staff that is both the symbol of his office and his chosen weapon of war.Through his example and his devotion, the Chaplain exhorts his fellow battle-brothers to the pinnacle of their dedication, so that they might conquer with valour those most dire threats which would resist all else.