Index Astartes: Warcallers

The Warcallers are patient hunters, ever diligent in pursuit of their foes as well as forgotten knowledge. They venerate the power of stories, which connects them to the spirits of their ancestors and fuels their every deed, dedicating substantial resources to seeking out more. Created to fill the void left by a lost Chapter, the Warcallers are determined to live up to their legacy and to uncover the truth about their predecessors’ unknown fate.

"A warrior's life is death. Yet, as long as his name is remembered, his spirit still lives. The Warcallers still live."

- Captain Dorius of the Genesis Chapter.

In 738.M41, the 26th founding of new Adeptus Astartes Chapters was initiated. Several of these were created to take up the tasks of older ones lost to the ravages of war. The original Warcallers were one such Chapter, whose history stretched back to an unknown founding sometime between M37 and M38. They were last mentioned in Imperial records in late M40 and are believed to have disappeared sometime after this. Noted as sons of Roboute Guilliman, little else is known aside from several recorded engagements from their time as wardens of the Caligo sub-sector. Their absence from the region soon became a problem only a new Chapter could solve.

The new Warcallers were created from the old Warcallers' gene-stock on Mars, taking their name, heraldry and homeworld, Ortus, which was mostly unscathed by the conflicts of Caligo. A large portion of the initial recruits came from this planet's population of hardy hunters, whose culture quickly influenced the nascent Chapter. A veteran cadre from the Genesis Chapter was commissioned by the Imperium to oversee their training, with instructions to join the newly formed campaign to retake several Ork-infested systems in the Caligo sub-sector. which the Warcallers would once again oversee after the campaign's completion.

During the campaign, as they slowly swelled their numbers, the Warcallers fought mostly in support of other more established Chapters, leveraging their natural talent for infiltration and intelligence gathering. The young warriors were eager to learn and reveled in the company of other Astartes, absorbing every retelling of great wars and heroic deeds the others were willing to share. Inspired by their fellow Astartes, the Warcallers developed an urge to prove themselves, and the opportunity came in one of the closing battles of the campaign. As the Orks decimated Imperial forces in a final act of defiance, the Warcallers mustered all their ground forces and threw themselves at the greenskins’ flank in a ferocious counter-assault. The attack took its toll on the Chapter’s already low numbers, including the heroic death of the Genesis Chapter veterans, but the ploy proved effective. The Imperial forces survived, the Orks were broken and victory was secured. The Warcallers were celebrated as heroes and the stories of the campaign still shapes the Chapter to this day.

After successfully reclaiming the Caligo sub-sector, the Warcallers have kept watch and the Chapter's name brings stability to the region as it once did before. Few have threatened their control, which has left them free to strengthen their dominion and seek out their lost history. However, with the turmoil following the opening of the Great Rift, priorities have shifted and the Chapter is spread across numerous fronts. Still, there are those among them who believe that to overcome the coming struggles it remains crucial to learn from the past.

"So did I, child. For so long, the stories had seemed like nothing more, and I, like many others, had started to doubt the truth of them. But never again. For when they came back to us, each as tall as the stories had foretold, each one as strong as a hundred of us, there could be no doubt. And when they met with the elders, do you know what they did? They asked us what we knew about ourselves - and about them! It was a test, you see. A test of our knowledge and our spirit. And before they left, when we asked what they would have us do, the Gods said only this: Remember and survive."
- Elder Orator Z'Akhar of the Great Tribe.

Ortus is a small and harsh world of mostly water, dotted with islands that form a giant archipelago, covering nearly a quarter of the planet's surface. The small amount of land combined with the gravitational effects of its two moons causes unpredictable tidal cycles, often accompanied by devastating storms. The numerous islands play host to a variety of dangerous creatures to hunt and exotic plants to harvest, uniquely adapted to the conditions of the archipelago. While the larger islands might have been more suited for agriculture, they are mostly found in the harshest climates of the equator, and are littered with both ancient mechanical debris and various craters, ranging from hundreds to thousands of years old. These places are known as the forsaken lands, home to evil spirits and metal demon, and are shunned by the living.

With an environment ill-suited for long term agriculture, the resilient people of Ortus live a semi-nomadic life as hunter-gatherers, moving from island to island in a perpetual quest for a better life. They make rafts and boats as well as primitive tools and weapons out of what material they can find, including ancient scrap metal of unknown origins. The bulk of the population lives together in the Great Tribe, surviving through larger numbers and cooperation. While splinter tribes occasionally split off, these rarely survive for long due to natural disasters, disease, lack of sustenance, infighting or direct conflict with others. Only the Great Tribe has survived in some form for as long as records of Ortus has existed, unified by their shared culture of oral history and ancestral worship. They believe the spirits of their forebears live on and guide them through their memories, using stories to keep the memories alive. The people of Ortus provides a hardy stock of recruits and many of its customs has greatly shaped the Warcallers themselves.

To the Great Tribe, the Warcallers are known as gods who periodically come to steal away the most worthy children to join them in the skies. This all too real children's story serves to motivate young boys to prove themselves worthy to the tribe and by extension the gods, hoping to escape to a better life in the sky. The gods have noted the value of this setup and has done little to disrupt it. The only direct contact the Chapter made with the people of Ortus after they reclaimed the planet was sending unarmored envoys to speak with the elders of the Great Tribe in a secret meeting. Wanting to learn more about their forbearers, the envoys asked the elders to share their stories about the gods. Beyond vague accounts of the few times they had previously made their presence known to the people, and the latest extended period were the gods had not been seen, little of value was gleamed from these stories.

The original Warcallers made Ortus their homeworld sometime after their founding and is recorded as their only source of recruits. When the reborn Warcallers arrived, they found a relatively small Fortress-Monastery at the center of the planet's largest forsaken landmass, covered in mostly sand and rock. Called the Monument, the Fortress-Monastery was built around a huge and naturally formed monolith, covered in ancient symbols theorized to represent historical events, though it is unclear if the original Warcallers, the tribes or others first carved them. Beyond this, the Monument's halls were close to empty save for some equipment, a handful of minor artifacts, banners, trophies and an intact geneseed vault. Due to its small size and lack of contents, it is speculated that The Monument was only one of several facilities the original Warcallers maintained, although others have yet to be found.

"So, you know the story? Good. Better yet? I was there!"

- 3rd Captain L'Orik the Red.

The Warcallers have adapted their homeworld’s reliance on oral history and ancestral worship into a strong belief in the power of stories and knowledge in general. They believe they become stronger by remembering legendary battles and emulating the heroic deeds of those who came before. They are even convinced that the spirits of fallen warriors live on in the Immaterium, that they can call on their presence and then harness and channel their power through their own actions. In fact, they often call upon specific spirits to help overcome specific challenges, but only if they know them and can form a connection with the individual spirits. Some older spirits may be stronger than others, but actual memories are thought to form stronger connections than simple knowledge. If a warrior fails in their goals, it is considered a sign of weak connection with the spirits and a source of much personal shame.

Unsurprisingly, the Warcallers have integrated stories and storytelling into most aspects of their customs and ceremonies to facilitate their spiritual connections, as stories are viewed as a way to turn simple knowledge into something closer to memories. From recruitment to higher ranks, the Warcallers constantly recount the stories of warriors and leaders, both recent and ancient, who embody the ideals of the roles they are to assume. Whether it’s the noble sacrifice of the Genesis Chapter Cadre in defense of their allies or the cool-headed leadership of their Primarch in the aftermath of the Horus Heresy, the Chapter has no lack of heroes to draw inspiration from. Out of all of them, the Emperor is the greatest. Also known as the Great Spirit, the Warcallers may call upon Him as they would any other spirit, even if only the worthiest can form a meaningful connection. 

To help them remember and channel their spirit-kin, each Battle-Brother collects and carries many trophies of great victories and tokens of fallen brothers. In addition, they paint their armor with ashen white markings, often in a similar style to the simple markings of the Ortus tribes, commemorating important events in their careers so that all around them might see their entire story at a glance. By the time a warrior enters the Veteran Company and dons the white company colors, their whole armor is almost completely white with markings. Even the Chaplains, whose armor is traditionally black, cover almost every inch of plate in white script and symbols, so that they can better recite their knowledge to their fellow Warcallers.

A key element of many rituals is endocanibalism. The perspective on this strange ability, to experience the memories of fallen brothers by consuming their flesh, varies considerably from one Chapter to another. Some might view it with pragmatism while others shun the act entirely, but for the Warcallers, this ability is treasured and celebrated. If the bodies of a great warriors are recovered from the battlefield, it is not uncommon for the survivors to ritually feast on the remains in a great celebration of their fallen brother, and is viewed as the ultimate way to form strong bonds with their spirit-kin.

With their reverence for knowledge and stories comes a thirst to seek out more. Wherever they go, the Warcallers dedicate time and resources to learn whatever they can to become stronger, and even request to share stories with those they fight alongside as well, a behavior which is met with a wide variety of responses. However, what drives them the most is the lack of knowledge of their predecessors, which is viewed as a hole in the spirit of the Chapter itself. While they know that the original Warcallers might be truly lost, many believe that somehow, they may still find and reconnect with their spirit-kin and become whole.

"The portents are clear. It is time. Sound the horns of the hunt!"

- Chief Librarian Mizan, Keeper of the Cards.

The Warcallers revere the wisdom of Roboute Guilliman and adhere to the organisational principles of the Codex Astartes, maintaining a ten-company structure, each consisting nominally of a hundred warriors. As a relatively young Chapter, they lack the powerful arsenals of older Chapters, but have found success in relying on infantry, cunning and more readily available equipment and vehicles. They have no Battle Barges and only seven Strike Cruisers, but have built up a healthy fleet of smaller vessels. Little else sets them apart from the norm, except for a slightly larger than normal Librarium and the formation of Seeker Squads.

The Librarium and its members play an important part in the directives of Chapter Command. Librarians are respected for their role in seeking out and preserving knowledge and are revered for their ability to psychically extract and share memories between brothers. They also have great autonomy and the authority to request special resources to accomplish their goals, which is how Seeker Squads are formed. Seeker Squads are teams of Battle-Brothers, assigned from any Company, who have volunteered to assist a Librarian in a quest for knowledge, often in the hopes of experiencing great stories of their own that they may pass on to the rest of the Chapter. These missions rarely result in anything concrete, though many Warcallers value the journey itself almost just as much as any potential discovery.

Dreadnoughts are revered as tragic heroes to the Warcallers. On one hand, their interment into sarcophagi denies their spirit passage into the Immaterium to join their fallen brothers. On the other, they serve as powerful connections to forgotten times through their ancient memories. Consequently, the Chapter has relatively few Dreadnoughts and they rarely deploy the ones they have in combat, partly because they don’t fit their preferred combat doctrine, but mostly for the risk of losing their precious memories. If they are deployed, Dreadnoughts become beacons of strength to the Warcallers, striding through the battlefield like totems of power. 

"Hear me, Dorius. Guide me. Make my deeds strong. Make my words true. As you guided us before, guide me again now, so that I may lead others as you did."

- Chapter Master T'Kell the White.

The Warcallers train for and partake in a wide range of combat scenarios, as expected of the Adeptus Astartes. However, they prefer to exploit their natural affinity for infiltration and to learn as much as possible about their foes before they strike. This has led to a reputation of being a slow to answer calls for aid, but the Warcallers strive to compensate by ensuring success. When they finally do strike, they typically rely on speed and aggression, using jump-packs, bikes, speeders and gunships in favor of heavier equipment.

After learning what they can about their opposition and plans have been laid, the warriors call upon their spirit-kin to guide them in battle. While their customs and ceremonies off the battlefield are designed to remember, during combat they serve to channel power. Chanting, singing, call-and-response speeches, with rhythmic chest beating and stomping, followed by horn-blowing and death wails are typical affairs. These death wails continue as they attack, often broadcasted through vox-amplifiers to terrify weak-willed enemies, while preemptively mourning those brothers who will pass away in the fight and guide them into the Immaterium. 

Despite all their careful planning, the Warcallers often fight with a reckless fury once they have committed to an engagement. In the heat of battle, they can fall into a spiritual trance fueled by emotion and operate on a near instinctual level. However, there is also a somewhat more rational reason for this behavior. Just as they use stories and memories to strengthen themselves, many are compelled to create new stories through their deeds, moments of glory and victory, to pass on and inspire future generations. Even if it comes at a great risk to themselves and sometimes their mission.

"As we stand on the shoulders of giants, we shoulder the weight of legacy."

- Chapter Mantra.

According to both Imperial and Chapter records, the original Warcallers were gene-sons of Roboute Guilliman. While it's not known if they had any direct predecessors beyond the Ultramarines, the current Warcallers have never seen any reason to doubt being born of the thirteenth legion's stock. The continued genetic purity and stability of their geneseed only serves to strengthen their conclusion. Still, not knowing for sure is a point of contention and further fuels their continued quest for enlightenment.

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