vizn3r/warhammer40k-lore huggingface dataset:
Biologus Putrifier - Role: The great labour of the Death Guard is to spread Nurgle's bounteous gifts to every corner of realspace. The Biologus Putrifiers have a vital role to play in this process, for it is they who refine the batches of diseased slurry brewed by the Foul Blightspawn, and distil them to utmost potency.Biologus Putrifiers bear a unique mutation: lidless, milky eyes that grow like cysts concealed beneath their flesh. Known as "occulobes," the gaze of these foul orbs can penetrate armour, flesh and bone to perceive every nuance of an infection's spread through a living body. Putrifiers croak out their observations to scurrying menials and capering daemonic scribes, filling tomes of mouldering parchment with forbidden lore.Driven by an obsessive desire to test their plague-batches to perfection, Biologus Putrifiers take a very active role in spreading disease upon the field of battle. From their backs dangle racks of Blight Grenades, churning with the latest strains of noxious plagues to issue from the disease factories. Death's heads drip foetid slime. Brittleglass alembics seethe with bubbling fluids and potent gasses. With every movement these flasks and vessels rattle and clink together, threatening to shatter and spill their noxious contents. As the fury of battle rages around them, the Putrifiers urge their brother Plague Marines to pluck the Blight Grenades from their racks like spoiled fruit and fling them into the ranks of the foe.With each volley of hurled ordnance the epidemic spreads, the Biologus Putrifiers watching every nuance as though in slow motion through their occulobes. Yet to simply observe is not their way; samples must be extracted, and tests must be run. This is when their Injector Pistols come into play. Striding into the midst of their reeling foe, the Putrifiers pick out the most intriguing entities to assail. Some look for the most resilient enemies upon the field of battle; others seek out the most easily infected, the bravest, the swiftest, or whatever other esoteric criteria they decide their test subjects must display.With their victims selected, the Biologus Putrifiers strike. They fire their Injector Pistols into vulnerable spots such as exposed flesh, chinks in armour and eyelenses before squeezing a concentrated dose of foulness into the target's body. The results are rarely less than spectacular, with victims erupting in explosive boils, liquefying into screaming sludge, vomiting billowing clouds of flies, and countless other revolting -- and mercifully lethal --symptoms. Those specimens whose deaths are especially fascinating are pierced with Injector Pistols once again, this time to extract whatever clotted foulness now passes for their blood, ready for later study.Those enemies who understand the threat posed by Biologus Putrifiers do everything in their power to kill them swiftly. Yet even this may prove their undoing, for should a Putrifier be struck by sufficient firepower or a powerful enough blow, the attack is liable to rupture his racks of Blight Grenades, releasing their deadly contents in a billowing cloud that slaughters any nearby who lack Nurgle's blessings.
Biologus Putrifier - Disease Factories: The disease factories of the Plague Planet are as bloated and corrupted as the beings that wander their halls. They are sprawling abominations of gurgling pipes, bubbling vats, belching smokestacks and rusted cages crammed with test subjects and living ingredients. So vast are they that their masters, the Foul Blightspawn and Biologus Putrifiers, have divided them up into virtual nations, each ruled by the Blightspawn elders that fester at their hearts.Millions-strong mortal Chaos Cults reside in these factories, scurrying to do the bidding of their foul masters and worshipping the Plague Marines as demigods of Nurgle, even as they slowly sicken and die. Devoted to brewing the plagues favoured by their ruling elders, these rag-clad lunatics regularly engage in sectarian warfare through the smog-wreathed passages and brewing chambers, much to the amusement of their Death Guard masters.
Biologus Putrifier - Notable Biologus Putrifiers: Slert - Slert is a Biologus Putrifier of the Death Guard warband called the Lords of Silence. A twisted monstrosity like all of his kind, Slert is blind save for the dozens of mutant eyes that now exist across his body which can perceive disease and other organic abnormalities in others. He is in charge of all of the Lords of Silence's efforts at developing new diseases, toxins and plagues. Slert proudly maintains a collection of horribly mutated slaves and Plague Ogryns to test his latest ideas upon. Slert takes enormous pleasure in testing out his new contagions, often using them on the crew of the warband's warship, the Solace. He is not considered trustworthy either by his commanding Death Guard Lord Vorx or any of the other Plague Marines of the warband. It was Slert who, at the order of Vorx, assembled the arcane machinery needed on the captured former Space Marine Chapter Homeworld of Sabatine to transform its remaining populace into Plague Zombies and Poxwalkers. Sabatine had been conquered from the White Consuls by the Lords of Silence and the Word Bearers warband called the Weeping Veil. Slert's action spoiled the Weeping Veil's attempt to sacrifice the planet's people to the Chaos Gods in a ritual that would have summoned three Greater Daemons and their daemonic legions to Sabatine. Instead, Sabatine was transformed into a new Daemon World dedicated to Nurgle that became a mirror image of Mortarion's own Plague Planet in the Eye of Terror.
Biologus Putrifier - Wargear: Corrupted Power Armour (Any pattern)Injector PistolPlague KnifeHyper Blight GrenadesKrak Grenades
Biologus Putrifier - Sources: Codex Heretic Astartes - Death Guard (8th Edition), pp. 23, 34, 61, 79Lords of Silence (Novel) by Chris Wraight
Bionics - Bionics: Bionics, also called augmetics in the Imperium of Man, are mechanical or electronic cybernetic substitutes for biological Human limbs or organs. Generally the bionic replacement is stronger, more durable or effective than the original, or gives its user completely new and/or enhanced physical abilities.The use of bionics is widespread in the Imperium. However, bionics are expensive and mostly limited to valuable servants of the Emperor, such as veteran warriors and officers of the Imperial armed forces, skilled adepts, high-ranking Imperial officials, Inquisitors, merchants, Rogue Traders, planetary rulers and members of the Imperial nobility who possess the required wealth.
Bionics - Effects and Distribution: An individual may have artificial bionic limbs and organs implanted to replace diseased or damaged parts, or simply to improve their innate abilities beyond the unaugmented Human norm. Bionics include partial and full replacements of organic body parts, brain implants, cybernetic weaponry and other devices.There is no standard level of bionic technology throughout the Imperium -- many bionics are clumsy and inefficient replacements, while the best can replicate or even improve upon the performance of the original limb or organ. The Inquisition's bionics are among the more sophisticated and can reverse what would otherwise be fatal or crippling injuries.In most Astra Militarum regiments, only the officers will have access to bionic equipment. On the other hand, there are a few regiments where virtually every soldier is bionically enhanced.Also, the Space Marines of the Iron Hands Space Marine Chapter are infamous for making extensive use of bionics, almost to the point of obsessively replacing all their flesh in favour of machinery, much like the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus, in the belief that organic flesh is weak and that the more machine-like they are, the less Human frailties will afflict them.In fact, personnel in practically all branches of the Imperial armed forces and government use bionics in some capacity. Even some particularly wealthy members of the Imperial citizenry can afford, and have been known to use, bionics.Although bionic parts are mechanical, many of them are tied into the user's bloodstream, nerve endings, etc., so damage to one may be as debilitating as an injury to the original organic part, although in general bionic replacements are a lot more durable than their organic counterparts.
Biophagus - Biophagus: A Biophagus is a Genestealer hybrid who acts as a medicae and biomedical scientist for Genestealer Cults and specialises in perverse genetic engineering and bio-alchemy using Tyranid DNA. Their primary role is to determine new ways to spread and adapt the Genestealer Curse to the needs of the cult.In conflict, these scientist-surgeons can use injector goads to enhance the unholy might of Aberrants and other favoured cultists, or to dose enemies with a mutagenic cocktail that rapidly dissolves them from within. Coupled with hurled vials of bio-acids, this arsenal renders the Biophagus a deadly agent of biological warfare.
Biophagus - Wargear: AutopistolInjector GoadAlchemicus Familiar
Biotechnical Division - Biotechnical Division: The Biotechnical Division was a scientific research group of the early Imperium of Man that was formed on Terra before or during the ancient Unification Wars of the late 29th and 30th Millennia by the Emperor of Mankind. Many of its laboratories were located deep beneath what later became the Imperial Palace complex in the Himalazian (Himalayan) Mountains.The skilled scientists and engineers of the Biotechnical Division were tasked by the Emperor with carrying out both the Primarch Project and the creation of the Space Marine Legions.The first director of the Biotechnical Division was the famed Terran geneticist Amar Astarte, who gave her name in High Gothic to the Legiones Astartes but who betrayed the Imperium late in the Unification Wars when she participated in the Imperial Palace Coup in the misguided belief that with the loss of the primarchs to the Warp, the Space Marine Legions created from their gene-lines would prove to ultimately be too  unstable to achieve the goals the Emperor and she had wanted for them.By the time of the Horus Heresy in the early 31st Millennium, Astarte had been replaced as director after her death by the even more skilled Terran scientist Ezekiel Sedayne. A portion of Sedayne's personality and memories would later be digitally copied and incorporated into the psyche of Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl through the use of his "soul-merging" technology and would help to provide the archmagos with his unparalleled skill at genetic engineering and the ability to create the Primaris Space Marines by improving upon the original work of the Emperor, Astarte and Sedayne.
Biovore - Biovore: The Tyranid bioform called the Biovore (Tyranicus patris-boletus) is a powerful "living artillery" weapon for the Tyranid swarms.Deep within its squat, lumpen form, the Biovore nurtures a clutch of Spore Mines -- living bombs that cloud the battlefield and cover enemies in acids, poisons and pieces of chitin.Biovores thump forward in battle, bony protrusions on their forelimbs anchoring themselves into the ground as they release their vile payload from a dorsal aperture by means of a powerful, shuderring muscle spasm. As the Spore Mine is flung through the air, its internal gas bladder inflates and it floats down towards ground level.A Biovore can fire three types of Spore Mines: fragmentation, bio-acid or poison.Even if the shot misses its target, the danger is far from over, for the Spore Mines are possessed of a rudimentary animal intelligence and detonate not on impact, but when they sense the proximity of a non-Tyranid lifeform.Fortunately, the Biovore's relative rarity amongst the Tyranid swarms is taken as a sign that the Hive Mind prefers to win its battles in bloody melee, but the truth is subtly different.Over time, as the hive fleets pressed ever deeper into the galaxy, their victories were much harder won as their enemies began to concentrate on destroying the swarm from great distance. In response, the pragmatic Hive Mind recognised the need for a bioform that could neutralise the enemy's long-range weaponry, thus leading to the birth of the Biovore.When the Hive Mind wishes to deny the enemy access to a particular zone upon the battlefield, it will direct hosts of Biovores towards the area. There, they will unleash dozens of Spore Mines, creating a deadly and impassable hazard.Imperial savants believe that the Hive Mind may have made use of Orkoid genetic material to create the Biovore. Thus this creature is not merely a powerful weapon in the Hive Mind's arsenal, it is living proof of the adaptive nature of the Tyranid menace.
Biovore - Wargear: Spore Mine Launcher
Biovore - Ordo Xenos Departmento Analyticus Record: Ordo Xenos Departmento Analyticus RecordDesignation:BiovoreCommon Title:GunbeastSpecies Name:Tyranicus patris-boletusAverage Height:2 metresAverage Weight:2 tonnesFirst Encountered:Ichar IV (Second Tyrannic War)Role:Indirect fire supportThreat Evaluation:Low
Biovore - Sources: Codex: Tyranids (7th Edition), pp. 66, 101Codex: Tyranids (6th Edition) (Tablet), pp. 125-126Codex: Tyranids (5th Edition), pg. 48Deathwatch: The Jericho Reach (RPG), pg. 184Imperial Armour Volume Four - The Anphelion ProjectGames Workshop Online Store - Tyranid BiovoreWarhammer 40,000: Collectible Card Game (Picture)
Birmingham - Birmingham: BirminghamBlack PlanetImperialFeral WorldSegmentum TempestusAstra MilitarumAs of 998.M41, its regimental tithe results in the recruitment of 5 million to 10 million Imperial Guardsmen per Terran year.Birmingham is also the Chapter homeworld of the Harbingers Space Marine Chapter.
Birmingham - History: Birmingham is known as the Black Planet because it receives almost no visible light from its system's sun. As a result, the world receives few visitors from the wider Imperium, and its inhabitants have become linguistically and culturally isolated. Its technology is primitive and pre-industrial compared to the rest of the Imperium. For instance, the favoured weapon among the natives is still the black powder musket.In 849.M41, a Drukhari raiding force attacked several outposts on Birmingham, causing the Imperium to lose all contact with the planet. Subsequent investigations discovered that almost the entire planetary population had been slaughtered or carried off as slaves by the xenos raiders.In 888.M41, the desolate world was again the site of conflict. This time the Daemonic horde of Skulltaker, a Bloodletter Herald of Khorne, attempted to transform the planet into a Daemon World through dark rituals.Warned of the attempt, a force of Grey Knights managed to land on the planet, and the Purifier Garran Crowe challenged the mighty Daemon to single combat. Crowe managed to weaken the Daemon with a vial of the Emperor's tears, battling the Daemon to a standstill and buying enough time to win the day.By 998.M41, Birmingham's population had recovered enough to once more serve as a source of recruitment for the Imperial Guard. Birmingham also now served as the Chapter planet for the Harbingers, a Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes known to specialise in voidship boarding operations and planetary drop assaults.
Biscopea - Biscopea: The Biscopea, also called the "Forge of Strength" or the "Warrior's Vigour" (within the Silver Skulls Chapter), is the third of the 19 gene-seed organs implanted into a neophyte Space Marine during the induction process to create a new Astartes.These organs enhance a Space Marine's physical combat ability and survivability to superhuman levels should he live to become a full Astartes of a Space Marine Chapter.The Biscopea is implanted into the chest cavity. It is small, approximately spherical in shape and, like the Ossmodula, its primary action upon the body is hormonal. The presence of the Biscopea greatly stimulates muscle growth throughout the body, increasing a Space Marine's physical strength beyond the Human norm.It can be implanted at the same time as the first two organs, the Secondary Heart and the Ossmodula, generally between the 10th and 12th standard years of age of the neophyte.In at least one known case, a Silver Skulls neophyte suffered an undetected discontinuity in his psycho-conditioning which led to a traumatic stop in the action of inhibiting genes. This allowed the Biscopea to keep producing muscle hypertropics which could not be detected until the process was irreversible.The subject was removed from the implantation process and physically restrained within the Apothecarion's Reclusia until the accelerating muscle growth caused the fracture of the reinforced skeleton and even the inner organs, killing the hapless aspirant.Nevertheless, Chief Apothecary Malus considered that, in a controlled environment, muscle overgrowth could be beneficial for the creation of more efficient assault warriors.
Biting Blade - Biting Blade: Biting Blades are large, two-handed, long-bladed Chainswords wielded by the Craftworld Aeldari Striking Scorpions Aspect Warriors reminiscent of the massive Eviscerators used by religious zealots within the Imperium. However, where Imperial Eviscerators are heavy, noisy machines, Biting Blades are slender and quiet, but no less deadly for their relatively light weight.Wielded properly, the razorsharp teeth can tear through flesh and bone with horrific speed, and a skilled warrior can cleave a man in two without difficulty. These deadly weapons are wielded exclusively by Exarchs of the Striking Scorpions Aspect Shrine.
Biting Blade - Notable Biting Blades: Dragon's Tooth - Whether fanciful myth, or a legitimate truth, the Dragon's Tooth chainsword has been seen in the hands of Striking Scorpion heroes of legend. Though extremely rare, the presence of such a weapon is considered a good omen by the warriors of Karandras; the roar of the Dragon's Tooth is often the last thing the enemies of the Aeldari ever hear. The teeth of this weapon are heavier than usual, which makes the weapon heavier. However, because the teeth are so much sharper, it has a much easier time opening armour wide open.
Bitter Sons - Bitter Sons: The Bitter Sons was a warband of the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion. The Chaos Space Marines of the Bitter Sons were deployed to the Macragge System as part of the Ultramar Campaign of Abaddon the Despoiler's 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41. They managed to capture one of the Hive World of Ardium's three subterranean hive cities -- Hive Magmaria -- and fortified it against the Ultramarines' expected counterattack.However, during this campaign, the Ultramarines Primarch, Roboute Guilliman, was resurrected. He assumed command of the defence of Ultramar and led the Ultramarines' 4th and 6th Companies into the hives of Ardium to drive out the forces of the Heretic Astartes. Guilliman launched a surprise attack with the aid of some of Ardium's own Planetary Defence Forces on the Bitter Sons from Magmaria's under-sump runoff locks and thermic processing stations, which caught the Bitter Sons off-guard. The Iron Warriors force was ultimately destroyed.
Bitter Sons - Warband Colours: The Bitter Sons' Power Armour is the same as that of the Iron Warriors, tending to muted and dark metallics, weathered by the aeons and heavily scarred by the rigours of battle. Much could be said of the souls of those who wear such wargear, for Iron Warriors like the Bitter Sons never forget the inequities that befall them, using them as fuel for the fires of their hatred.
Bitter Sons - Warband Badge: The Bitter Sons warband badge is that of the Iron Warriors, an iron mask formed into a shape of a skull often superimposed over the symbol of the eight-pointed Chaos Star.
Bjorn: Lone Wolf (Short Story) - Bjorn: Lone Wolf (Short Story): Bjorn: Lone Wolf is the thirteenth short story published in the Horus Heresy that was not originally part of an anthology novel. It was originally published online in December 2013 as part of the Black Library Advent Calendar, on the Black Library's website. It is also now included in Legacies of Betrayal anthology novel. Covers for both the original and updated artwork is shown.
Bjorn: Lone Wolf (Short Story) - Synopsis: As daemons swarm across the fields of Velbayne, bringing madness and Chaos to all that they touch, Leman Russ and the Rout stand arrayed against them. Packs fight back to back, brothers protecting one another except for one. The Lone Wolf, the warrior without a Pack, stands alone. And somewhere on the battlefield is a foe against which he will have vengeance.
Bjorn Stormwolf - Bjorn Stormwolf: Bjorn Stormwolf is a Wolf Lord of the Space Wolves Space Marine Chapter, one of twelve legendary warriors who lead the Great Companies into battle. The military actions of Bjorn Stormwolf's Great Company are typified by noise, intimidation, and splendour. Bjorn is a hairy, red-faced mountain of muscle to whom calm and introspection are foreign concepts.He has taken the Thunderwolf as his symbol, for he too is a creature of might and ferocity over stealth. Bjorn fills a silence with his booming voice just as completely as he fills his ornate suit of Terminator Armour. He has been known to interrupt Imperial dignitaries with a loud belch (or worse) if they begin to bore him.Bjorn's spectacular assaults reflect his impatient and aggressive nature, and invariably includes lots of Long Fang squads, Bikes and Vindicators -- essentially anything that makes a great deal of noise. The Great Wolf Logan Grimnar employs Bjorn for frontal assaults rather than the stealth missions favoured by Erik Morkai, which the Stormwolf dismissively refers to as "whelp-work".
Bjorn Stormwolf - Heraldry: Bjorn Stormwolf and his Great Company bears the totem of the Thunderwolf. According to the ancient legends of Fenris, Leman Russ fought and tamed the great wolf packs of Asaheim. He cast down the two-headed wolf Morkai, and made him the guardian of the gates of death, a task which Morkai has endured ever since. There are many stories of how Russ fought Morkai's lieutenants, and banished each in turn to an appointed place.According to legend, the Thunderwolf was one of the ancient wolves that Russ fought and vanquished. The Thunderwolf ran from Russ and continues to run to this day, forever circling the world of Fenris. The creature can be seen as a constellation in the night sky fleeing across the heavens. As he passes overhead his howling cry is said to create the thunder, and his flashing fangs are the lightning. The symbol of the Thunderwolf is highly favoured as an emblem of Wolf Lords.It is quite rare for one of the Great Companies not to display this symbol, and many renowned leaders have borne this distinct emblem into battle. It is regarded as a very lucky symbol, and over the centuries many Great Companies bearing this badge have earned everlasting fame.
Bjorn Stormwolf - Wargear: Terminator ArmourBelt of Russ - Each Great Company has in its Armoury a single Belt of Russ. A mighty ward against enemy attacks, these powerful girdles incorporate potent gravitic force fields that protect the wearer. Forged by the master Iron Priest Stef Blacksoul after the disappearance of Russ, these belts are important relics of the Chapter.Storm BolterFrag GrenadesKrak GrenadesFrost Blade
Bjorn the Fell-Handed - Bjorn the Fell-Handed: Bjorn the Fell-Handed, also known as "the Eldest," "Trueclaw," "Revered One," and "Last from the Company of Russ," is a Venerable Mars Pattern Mark V Dreadnought and former Great Wolf of the Space Wolves Chapter. He is also the oldest living Space Marine in the Imperium of Man, for in his mortal life he fought beside the Emperor and his primarch, Leman Russ, during the Great Crusade and the bitter wars of the Horus Heresy.More than ten thousand Terran years have passed since that age of legends, yet Bjorn remains a living link to the Chapter's distant past -- it is little wonder that his counsel is sought by many within the Space Wolves when they gird for war. Despite his extreme age, Bjorn is a steadfast warrior and lumbers into battle entombed within the sacred sarcophagus of his Dreadnought.A venerable hero of immense power, Bjorn has masterminded many of the Space Wolves' greatest victories, and by his hand have some of the Imperium's most heinous adversaries been slain. Always eager to crush the foes of the Allfather, Bjorn continues to fight amongst his Chapter's ranks as he has done for millennia.Legend claims that the spirit of Russ ever watches over Bjorn, and that no harm will come to him until the primarch returns to fight alongside his friend once more in the battle to end all things -- the Wolftime.
Bjorn the Fell-Handed - Prospero: Ten thousand Terran years ago, before his internment within the armoured sarcophagus of a Dreadnought, Bjorn fought alongside Primarch Leman Russ of the Space Wolves Legion during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy and saw the Emperor Himself before He was interred within the mechanisms of the Golden Throne. Bjorn was a member of the Vlyka Fenryka (Wolves of Fenris)'s Tra (3rd) Great Company where he served under the command of Jarl Ogvai Ogvai Helmschrot. The stern, taciturn warrior saw combat in many theatres of the Crusade, including the Olamic Quietude Campaign and the Battle of Prospero, during which he served as the (rather unwilling) guardian of the Remembrancer Kasper Hawser to atone for his mistake of wrongfully shooting the man's shuttle out of the sky during the Remembrancer's initial arrival on Fenris.Bjorn's saga of greatness would begin in earnest during the Battle of Prospero. The exact account of what happened on Prospero has been lost to time, but it is known that some thing, whether foul warlock of the Thousand Sons or Neverborn abomination had taken a special interest in Kasper Hawser, ostensibly attempting to use the mortal as a spy against the Vlyka Fenryka, but in truth to ensure that the confrontation between the Space Wolves and Thousand Sons resulted in their mutual annihilation.The being revealed itself to its unwilling mortal pawn on Prospero, and when Hawser defiantly planted his axe into the foul creature's head, the monster started to choke the life out of him due to its inveterate malice. Bjorn intervened, hacking the foul being's arm off at the elbow and saving Hawser's life. Pressing his advantage, Bjorn dealt the creature several ruinous blows, but the Daemon refused to fall, and used fell magicks to pluck the Space Wolves' true names from Hawser's mind and to use it against them as part of its foul sorcery.Yet, the sorcery failed against Bjorn, for Hawser, having always subconsciously translated his name to "Bear," in Imperial Gothic, did not know Bjorn's true name. Refusing to be daunted by the messy death of his fellows, Bjorn kept hammering at his opponent, driving it back until the foul being managed to grab his arm and send a massive surge of Warp energy through it. Bjorn's hand immediately started to smoulder and decay, and the corruption started to crawl up his arm, yet Bjorn grimly fought on.Luckily, succor arrived in the form of a Rune Priest accompanied by a squad of Sisters of Silence, two Space Wolves Dreadnoughts, and (according to some accounts) Constantin Valdor of the Legio Custodes. The Silent Sisters' Pariah Gene interrupted the being's fell magicks, and it was ground to paste by the two vengeful Dreadnoughts.At the same time, either Hawser or Valdor intervened and saved Bjorn's life by hacking his arm off at the elbow, preventing the corruption from spreading further. Bjorn was later lionised by the others, especially Hawser, for resisting and driving back such a monstrous opponent.
Bjorn the Fell-Handed - Wargear: When he was still counted amongst the living, Bjorn was outfitted as befitted a member of Leman Russ' retinue of Wolf Guard: garbed in a mighty suit of Artificer Armour, one hand a master-crafted Wolf Claw which he always wielded with tremendous skill, and in his other he bore a bolter modified with a pistol grip, allowing him to fire the weapon one-handed. Bjorn's Wolf Claw was not so much a weapon as a replacement for his lost organic hand, for the Iron Priests had refused his request for an augmetic replacement. As such, he had stolen the Wolf Claw and chose to use it as an appendage and weapon alike.Shortly after his internment in a Dreadnought chassis, the Chapter's Iron Priests fashioned a unique Wolf Claw sized to match his massive chassis in honour of his favoured weapon in his former life. Bjorn wields this mighty weapon, known as Trueclaw, as deftly as ever, ensuring that he continues to live up to his name. It is much more devastating than the weapon he bore as a living Astartes, and is additionally equipped with a built-in Heavy Flamer that allows Bjorn to carbonize anything escaping his claw's attentions.On his other arm Bjorn also bears a mighty ranged weapon: most often an Assault Cannon, which is to a Dreadnought like the standard bolter is to an Astartes. However, if the situation requires it, the Iron Priests will equip Bjorn with a Plasma Cannon, Helfrost Cannon , or Twin-linked Lascannons.However, Bjorn's most potent weapon is neither his Lightning Claw nor his tactical acumen, but his legend. To be in Bjorn's presence is to the Space Wolves akin to being in Leman Russ' presence by proxy, spurning them on to commit acts of courage so foolhardy that even their "usual" acts of near-suicidal bravery seems only like child's play in comparison.Although he rarely complains, Bjorn finds the decorations and embellishments with which his brothers have decorated his sarcophagus an annoyance and a lie, for he is convinced that Leman Russ left him behind for some failing on his part, and that he is as such unworthy of the reverence in which he is held. Yet, he is canny enough to understand his value as a role model to his younger brethren, and thus only voices his opinion in private to the other Dreadnoughts beneath The Fang.
Black Arts of Shaimesh - Black Arts of Shaimesh: The Black Arts of Shaimesh is the name given by the Drukhari of Commorragh to the arcane sciences that surround the distillation of various poisons and toxins. The term refers to the Dark Muse Shaimesh, renowned as the Lord of Poisons and the patron of assassins and murderers.The Drukhari are expert in the use of toxins. Entire districts of Commorragh are given over to the manufacture of the most potent necrolixirs and vitriolic compounds that can eat through duralumin as if it were soft flesh. Many of the weaponised syringes and needlers used by the Drukhari contain potent cocktails of the most virulent venoms available, for the Kabals appreciate the toxic spectrum much as an artist would the myriad colours of a sunrise.The Haemonculi are the most skilled of all when it comes to administering a painful death, and should one come too close one would find that their sting is always poisonous.Their toxin-based weaponry, of which the Liquifier Gun is most infamous, fires organo-acidic compounds that can trigger blood vessel explosion or implosion, pharyngal contraction, extensive haemolysis, skeletal disintegration, sclerotic corrosion, intercostal spasms, hyper-reacted thermoreceptors, subcutaneous necrolysis, Eustachian collapse, cardiac and respiratory atrophy or wide-scale exsanguination -- sometimes all at once.Toxin traders thrive in Commorragh, and though antidotes exist, they are difficult to obtain and generally frowned upon as being the refuge of the weak.
Black Brethren of Ayreas - Black Brethren of Ayreas: The Black Brethren of Ayreas are a warband of Chaos Space Marines drawn from the Black Legion who follow the Chaos Champion Ayreas. They were among the Forces of Chaos and the 11 warbands and Renegade Chapters of Chaos Space Marines who participated in the the infamous Siege of Vraks (813-830.M41).
Black Brethren of Ayreas - Notable Campaigns: Siege of Vraks (813-830.M41) - The Black Brethren of Ayreas were one of the 11 warbands of Chaos Space Marines who heeded the Alpha Legion Chaos Lord  Arkos the Faithless' call to the Imperial Armoury World of Vraks Prime to take part in the slaughter and mayhem that marked the 17-year-long siege by Imperial forces.
Black Brethren of Ayreas - Warband Colours: The Brethren of Ayreas wear predominately black Power Armour with gold trim. Like many different Chaos warbands and companies, many warriors of this particular warband choose to adopt individual schemes and iconography on their armour.
Black Brethren of Ayreas - Warband Badge: This warband typically adopts the symbol of the Black Legion, incorporating elements of the Legion badge of the former Sons of Horus with the eight-pointed Star of Chaos.
Black Brethren of Ayreas - Sources: Imperial Armour Volume Seven - The Siege of Vraks - Part ThreeImperial Armour Volume Thirteen - War Machines of the Lost and the Damned, pg. 43
Black Carapace - Black Carapace: The Black Carapace, also known as the Interface, is the last and one of the most important of all the 19 gene-seed organ implants a Space Marine Neophyte will receive as he is transformed from a normal, adolescent human male into a transhuman Astartes.This neuroreactive, black, organic, fibrous material is implanted directly under the skin of the Neophyte's torso. Points are then cut through the carapace by an Apothecary using surgical tools that allow a Space Marine to directly interface his central nervous system with his Power Armour's cybernetic systems and with the interfaces of certain Adeptus Astartes vehicles.After a few solar hours, the material hardens and invasive synthetic fiber bundles that will serve as connection points for neurons grow inward and interlink with the newly created Astartes' central nervous system.Note that a Space Marine needs the Black Carapace to use his Power Armour to its maximum capabilities, but Power Armour technology in general does not require this implant in order to function. The Sisters of Battle, for example, as well as some Inquisitors or wealthy Imperial functionaries such as Rogue Traders, also wear Power Armour into battle.However, since their central nervous systems are not linked directly to their armour's Machine Spirit (artificial intelligence) as a Space Marine would be, movement is cumbersome in comparison to the surprising grace and natural movement afforded by Astartes Power Armour, and the suit is likewise less capable of efficiently providing bio-monitoring and auto-treatment functions.Also, while driving or piloting Space Marine armoured vehicles such as Rhinos and Predators, a special spinal interface plugged into Astartes Power Armour through the Black Carapace provides the Space Marine, known as the "Custodian" of the vehicle, with an intuitive "feel" for its systems and controls, literally making him a part of his vehicle.
Black Carapace - History: The prototype genetic template for the Black Carapace was designed by the Terran geneticist and director of the Imperial Biotechnical Division Amar Astarte.But this initial design was flawed and had to be perfected by another legendary scientist named Ezekiel Sedayne who had been alive during the Age of Strife. Sedayne ultimately replaced Astarte as the director of the Biotechnical Division.Ezekiel Sedayne's mind was later digitally combined with that of Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl during the Horus Heresy through the use of Cawl's "soul-merging" technology. This was why Cawl would dimly remember working alongside the Emperor in the creation of the Space Marine gene-seed organs, particularly the Black Carapace, thousands of Terran years later.
Black Consuls - Black Consuls: The Black Consuls is a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter that was a Second Founding Successor or Primogenitor Chapter of the Ultramarines. An ancient tome of knowledge known as the Mythos Angelica Mortis lists it as one of the 20 Chapters of Astartes founded to make up the Astartes Praeses -- an ever-vigilant Space Marine task force assigned to guard the regions of the Imperium surrounding the Eye of Terror.Known as the least compromising of the Primogenitor Chapters, and brooking no deviation from the tenets laid down in the sacred Codex Astartes, the members of this Chapter, whose history is rich with battles won, are stern and uncompromising, with a history of xenophobia and unusually brutal combat tactics for an Ultramarines Successor Chapter.The Black Consuls were recorded as having been annihilated at the Siege of Goddeth Hive in 455.M41 by elements of the Word Bearers and Iron Warriors Traitor Legions. At the same time, Imperial records indicated that a force of Black Consuls was still operating in the Jericho Reach as part of the Achilus Crusade.Yet, it is very rare indeed for every one of any Chapter's battle-brothers to be present at any given battle, even if their homeworld is under attack. Individual squads were more than likely detached to perform special duties or serve as part of a composite Space Marine force attached to a larger Imperial Crusade.Individual officers were also likely undertaking consular duties, conversing with their opposite numbers in brother Chapters in order to coordinate larger scale strategy. Some Black Consuls battle-brothers may have been undertaking duty in the Deathwatch, while in the case of the Black Consuls and other Primogenitors, individuals or small groups were probably engaged on a pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Primarch on Macragge.Following the start of the Indomitus Crusade in the wake of the resurrection of the Chapter's Primarch Roboute Guilliman in ca. 999.M41, the Black Consuls were returned to full strength with the introduction of Primaris Space Marine reinforcements upon its homeworld of Cyclopia. They now serve as stalwart guardians of the Imperium in the Segmentum Pacificus.
Black Consuls - Indomitus Crusade: During the recent events of Abaddon the Despoiler's 13th Black Crusade, the long-standing Fortress World of Cadia was destroyed. With Cadia's fall and the loss of the network of Necron-built Cadian Pylons that had long prevented the Eye of Terror from naturally expanding into the Materium, the Warp rift began to expand exponentially across the width of the known galaxy. This tear in reality, known as the Great Rift, effectively rent the Imperium in half.The beleaguered forces of the Imperium increasingly found themselves overwhelmed as the power of Chaos and the xenos hordes grew unstoppable. Whole sectors of the Imperium lost contact with Terra, while others reported the onslaught of rabid greenskin hordes, aggressive T'au fleets or undying Necron hosts, seemingly driven to conquest in the face of the expanding Warp Storm fronts.Heretic Chaos Cults and rogue psykers rose up in the billions, and every Imperial world now seemed set to burn in the fires of unending war. But all was not lost, for upon the Ultramarines' homeworld of Macragge during the Ultramar Campaign of ca. 999.M41, the genius of Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl combined with the power of Ynnead, the Aeldari god of the dead, to resurrect the Primarch Roboute Guilliman from his millennia-long, deathless slumber.Guilliman had anticipated the need for a new breed of hero for this, the darkest age in the Imperium's history. He knew that the galaxy would need warriors resilient enough to stand against the Forces of Chaos as the Imperium found itself poised on the brink of annihilation. To that end, for 10,000 standard years, Archmagos Cawl had been working upon improving the Adeptus Astartes themselves.The result were the Primaris Space Marines of the Ultima Founding, a more powerful corps of transHuman warriors, more potent than even the original Astartes. New armies were raised in breathtaking numbers and new and terrible weapons were developed whose fury even the worshippers of the Dark Gods would be unable to withstand.Gathering a great new armada, composed of elements of the Adeptus Custodes, the Silent Sisterhood and a vast war host of Primaris Space Marines from many newly founded Chapters, the lord commander of the Imperium launched his Indomitus Crusade.Guilliman decreed that those Chapters who had suffered the keenest losses and the highest rates of attrition fighting against the myriad foes of Mankind would be the first to receive these newly created and genetically superior Astartes.The Black Consuls were one such Chapter, and so their sorely depleted ranks were finally replenished with hundreds of newly-created warriors of the Ultima Founding.Once again the Black Consuls were able to take the fight to the Great Enemy directly. This stalwart Chapter continues to steadfastly defend the Segmentum Pacificus even as the Great Rift unleashes new daemonic horrors upon Mankind.
Black Consuls - Chapter Combat Doctrine: The Black Consuls are well known as the least compromising of the Primogenitors and brook no deviation from the tenets laid down in their Primarch's epic tome. Their stern approach to the Codex makes them worthy inheritors of Roboute Guilliman's legacy.The Black Consuls are notable for having the entire Chapter commence campaigns with a massed Drop Pod landing. Such an assault is a thing of terrible beauty, with a hundred or more Drop Pods descending like screaming harbingers of doom.
Black Consuls - Notable Black Consuls: Chapter Master Arrias Cordos - Arrias Cordos was the first Chapter Master of the Black Consuls. A veteran of both the Great Crusade and subsequent dark days of the Horus Heresy, Arrias was a former legionary of the Ultramarines Legion's 72nd Chapter. He would survive the desperate battles of the Heresy and go on to become the first Chapter Master of the newly created Black Consuls following their inception during the Second Founding. During one of his Chapter's first campaigns in the early 31st Millennium, Cordos would lead his Chapter to victory in the Orbstar System against the hated Traitor forces of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion during the Cleansing of the Orbstar campaign. This earned him the accolades of his warriors and the moniker "Bane of Lorgar." Following his death, his Power Axe, Lorgar's Bane, would become a treasured relic of the Black Consuls.Captain Estrus - Captain of the Black Consuls' 3rd Company, Estrus led the combined forces of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Companies against the rebels of Hive Thuram on Suracto.Captain Vanem - Captain of the Black Consuls' 4th Company.Chaplain Mortem - Chaplain of the Black Consuls.Apothecary Mordinian - Apothecary of the Black Consuls.Standard Bearer Aeorum - Standard Bearer of the Black Consuls' 3rd Company.Codicier Levi - Librarian of the Black Consuls.
Black Consuls - Chapter Relics: Lorgar's Bane - Lorgar's Bane was a master-crafted Astartes Power Axe wielded by the Black Consuls first Chapter Master Arrias Cordos. Some believe that the relic was lost during the disastrous campaign of the Black Consuls on the Hive World of Yearsli, where the majority of the Black Consuls were killed. Over 100 Chaos Space Marines from the Word Bearers Traitor Legion have met their end at the razor edge of this Power Axe, named Lorgar's Bane for its bloody work. It resides for the moment in the vaults of the Deathwatch's Watch Fortress Erioch, but as the stories of the Word Bearers assault on the Black Consuls spread, some wonder if it will be brought against its ancient foes once more.
Black Consuls - Chapter Colours: The Black Consuls primarily wear black power armour. The Aquila or Imperialis on the chest guard is gold.The white squad specialty symbol -- battleline, close support, fire support, Veteran or command -- is indicated on the right shoulder pauldron.A black High Gothic numeral, indicating squad number, is stenciled in the centre of it.The Black Consuls proudly adhere to the tenets of the Codex Astartes by wearing their company colour on their shoulder pauldron trim, i.e. White (1st Company), Yellow (2nd Company), Red (3rd Company), Green (4th Company), etc. Black Consuls Sergeants sport red helms per ancient tradition.
Black Consuls - Chapter Badge: The Black Consuls' Chapter Badge is the profile of a large, white, left-facing eagle's head centred on a field of black. The style of the image is the same used by the White Consuls, although the colour scheme is completely different.
Black Consuls - Canon Conflict: There seems to be some confusion in canon as to whether or not the majority of the Black Consuls Chapter was largely annihilated at the Siege of Goddeth Hive in 455.M41 and by whom.Different sources report that the destruction of the hive city's nucleonic stacks were achieved by the Iron Warriors or the Word Bearers Traitor Legions, with a Word Bearers battleship being present as well; either the Crucius Maledictus noted above or the Infidus Imperator, the flagship of Kor Phaeron, which was believed destroyed at the Battle of Calth nearly 10,000 standard years before.The 8th Edition Warhammer 40,000: Rulebook, however, mentions that the Black Consuls contributed four companies to the defence of Cadia during the 13th Black Crusade. This would mean that the Chapter either was NOT annihilated at Goddeth Hive or somehow reconstituted itself after the fact.As the Chapter received reinforcements of Primaris Space Marines once the Indomitus Crusade began, it does seem that the Chapter had suffered extensive losses, though it had not been wiped out in its entirety at Goddeth Hive.
Black Consuls - Sources: Adeptus Astartes: Successor Chapters (Limited Release Booklet), pg. 15Codex Adeptus Astartes - Space Marines (8th Edition), pg. 30Codex: Space Marines (9th Edition), pg. 46Codex: Space Marines (8th Edition) (Revised Codex), pg. 26Codex: Space Marines (7th Edition) (Digital Edition), pg. 110Codex: Space Marines (6th Edition), pp. 8, 32, 99Codex: Space Marines (5th Edition), pp. 8, 24Codex: Ultramarines (2nd Edition), pp. 9, 41Warhammer 40,000: Dataslate - Space Marines Strike Force Ultra (Digital Edition)Deathwatch: Honour the Chapter (RPG), pg. 129Deathwatch: Know No Fear (RPG), pg. 7Deathwatch: Rites of Battle (RPG), pg. 57How to Paint Space Marines (2004)Insignium Astartes, pg. 60Dark Creed (Novel) by Anthony ReynoldsRogue Trader Timeline (RPG Download)Storm of Damocles (Novel) by Justin D. Hill, Ch. 12Unthinking Justice (Short Story) by Andras Mill WardWarhammer 40,000: Rulebook (8th Edition), pg. 161
Black Crusade - Launching a Black Crusade: A Heretic's steps on the path to glory are inevitably shaped by their attitude towards the Chaos Gods, and especially their patron (or lack thereof). This is as true when their footsteps shake the galaxy as it was when they first set out in service of the Ruinous Powers. A Warmaster serving Khorne does so by bringing about a Black Crusade that drowns the galaxy in the blood of open war, while one serving Tzeentch advances his forces according to an inscrutable agenda that can no more be opposed than it can be understood. Each of the Chaos powers directs their servants towards a unique path of conquest fitted to the particular gifts and stratagems they favour. No less deadly are the campaigns plotted by the unaligned, for anyone who can claim the title of Warmaster without a Dark God’s backing must be a power in their own right.