THE AVENGING LIONS
CHAPTER NAME: .............. THE AVENGING LIONS
FOUNDING: .................. 22ND [M.36]
CHAPTER WORLD: ............. ALIUM/CRUSADING CHAPTER
FORTRESS MONASTERY: ........ THE STAR FORT CONSTANTIUS
GENE-SEED (PREDECESSOR): ... IMPERIAL FISTS [BLACK TEMPLARS]
KNOWN DESCENDANTS: ......... NONE
“Let us be the Lions of the Emperor, visiting His justice upon all those who have turned their backs on Him.”
Proclamation of Varen Aeolus, First Lord of Lions, in the Chapter Edicts
Thought for the Day: Your sword is the Emperor’s judgement upon the wicked. Always make it your duty to carry out His sentence.
A crusading chapter in the proud tradition of the Primarch Rogal Dorn, the Avenging Lions were created in the years following the Wars of Apostasy. The Avenging Lions were one of several chapters that from the outset was intended to spend its existence on continuous crusade. The chapter has dutifully pursued that goal since its creation, earning honors and renown for their achievements in battles across the galaxy.
For their service to the Imperium in taking part in the siege of the Ecclesiarchal Palace that eventually saw the downfall of Goge Vandire, the Black Templars were honored by having their gene-seed selected for the creation of a new chapter. The Adeptus Mechanicus screened the gene-seed stores submitted by the Black Templars, selecting the most pure samples for use. However, High Marshal Sigenandus surprised the High Lords of Terra by flatly refusing to provide battle-brothers to help train the new chapter, declaring that it was the sacred duty of the Black Templars to further prosecute the enemies of the Emperor and leading his chapter on its interminable crusade. Chapter Master Lazerian of the Imperial Fists offered to provide a cadre to train the fledgling chapter. Another successor of the Imperial Fists Legion and Rogal Dorn, the Imperial Fists had also taken part in the siege of the Ecclesiarchal Palace. The Imperial Fists and Black Templars had enjoyed strong bonds of brotherhood dating back to the 2nd Founding when both chapters were first created from the 7th Legion, and Lazerian understood the motivations of the Black Templars. His offer was an effort to ensure that the traditions of the Legion were retained in the new successor. The High Lords accepted Chapter Master Lazerian’s offer, allowing the Imperial Fists to train the new chapter.
The Avenging Lions are strict adherents to the dictates of the Codex Astartes. The chapter does not view the Codex Astartes as inviolable dogma, however. Instead, they consider it to be the finest military treatise ever penned. As such, the chapter has maintained the high degree of flexibility afforded in the codex and has been able to apply its strength in the full spectrum of battlefield tactics.
The Constantius, a mobile star fort, serves as the chapter’s mobile base of operations. While considering itself to be a fleet-based chapter, the Avenging Lions recruit from four different worlds. Though Berenus V initially served as the principal recruiting world for the chapter, the Berenus star began to collapse in M39 and the role of principal recruiting role transferred to Alium, another of the worlds from which the chapter recruited. The Avenging Lions maintain fortress-chapels upon each of the worlds from which they recruit, and these fortress-chapels serve as a secondary headquarters for training, an armory, storage of gene-seed, and coordination of the chapter’s forces.
Veteran Brother Medokos
Avenging Lions 1st Company
Awarded the Imperial Laurel after the Purging of Kliamanthes IV
Appointed to Chapter Honor Guard
Justicar Berisades
Avenging Lions 1st Company
Posthumously Awarded the Iron Halo after the Purging of Kliamanthes IV
The Avenging Lions are organized along strict Codex lines, with the chapter organized into the ten standard companies of about 100 Space Marines each.
The most experienced of the chapter’s veterans are initiated into an honor guard known as the Guardians of the Temple of Justice, more commonly known as “Justicars.” It is from the ranks of the justicars that the chaplains and captains are chosen, and the formal titles of officers of these ranks are “Justicar-Chaplain” and “Justicar-Captain,” and the Master of the Chapter bears the honorifics of “Justicar-Master” and “Lord of Lions.” The justicars assist the justicar-chaplains in administering the rites of the chapter’s warrior cult and serve as bodyguards to the company captains and Chapter Master. The badge of the justicars is the golden lion shield over a black fermee cross, and the ceremonial weapon of the justicars is a long forward-curved sword (though many justicars use other weapons in battle). The justicars are answerable only to the Chapter Master, who also leads the 1st Company.
One of the distinguishing features of the chapter is its self-appointed mission to punish those that have broken faith with the Imperium. Inculcated in the traditions of the Imperial Fists and raised in the shadow of the Wars of Apostasy, the chapter’s first Chapter Master, Varen Aeolus, determined to proclaim this role in naming the chapter and its first vessel, the battle barge Justice Bringer. The chapter views its mission as avenging the injustices done to the Emperor and the Imperium, and it is utterly ruthless in pursuing this agenda against traitor Astartes, though it does so with cold calculating reason and not blind hatred. The chapter has also been known to sanction extremely harsh action against Imperial worlds that turn from the Imperium, and the chapter’s reputation has served to cause a number recalcitrant worlds to submit upon threat of destruction.
The chapter provides protection to each of its recruiting worlds, but it provides no governance to these worlds, preferring to remain aloof. In addition to the Constantius, the Chapter’s fleet consists of one battle barge, the Justice Bringer; three strike cruisers; and a host of supporting vessels, including two forge ships. The bulk of the chapter’s strength is usually divided between the Constantius and the Justice Bringer. Smaller strike forces will be embarked aboard the chapter’s three strike cruisers. The Justice Bringer and the strike cruisers are typically commanded by the captains of the battle companies, with the Chapter Master commanding the Constantius. The veteran, reserve, and scout companies will generally have their squads spread out aboard the various ships, task-organizing forces according to mission requirements and the preferences of the commanders.
Addendum: Rift with the Angels of Absolution
When the 3rd Company of the Angels of Absolution quit the Viridian Retribution in 884.M39, they abandoned two companies of Avenging Lions who were cut off by a horde of renegades and mutants. Decimated in the fighting, the surviving Avenging Lions reported the incident to the Chapter Master, who accused the Angels of Absolution of base cowardice and desertion. The two chapters were on the brink of full-scale war had it not been for the intervention of the Executioners. To this day, the Avenging Lions refuse to fight alongside the Angels of Absolution.
The strike forces of the chapter are usually assigned to different warzones, though the chapter has gathered en masse on several occasions in order to embark upon major crusades [re: the Stethnyrach Crusade in 125.M37 and the Bhuraeas Expedition in 609.M39]. The commanders of the strike forces often enjoy a certain degree of autonomy while on crusade, recruiting suitable candidates from the worlds they encounter in order to sustain fighting strength. Such measures are temporary, though, with the main recruiting efforts taking place at the established recruiting worlds.
The chapter follows Codex Astartes conventions regarding marking and heraldry, displaying the squad badge in black upon the right shoulder pad. Company affiliation is indicated by the company number in Arabic numerals upon the left kneepad. The chapter’s color scheme is reminiscent of the hunting lions from which the chapter derives its name. Indigenous to Berenus V, these predators were associated with the warrior caste from which the chapter drew its recruits on that world. When the chapter relocated its primary recruiting to Alium, the selection of that world was based largely on its suitability to sustain the lion species and the lions were adopted into the primary feudal orders of that world. The chapter’s badge features a gold shield stylized into the face of one of these lions over a black aquila, symbolizing the chapter’s service to the Imperium. In contrast to many other chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, the Avenging Lions are more spartan in decorating their armor and favor dark markings.
Aside from adherence to the Codex Astartes, the Avenging Lions inherited a number of other characteristics from the Imperial Fists. Most readily apparent among these is the Imperial Fist’s defiance in combat and stubborn refusal to give ground. This tenacity has occasionally resulted in heavy losses for the Avenging Lions, but the chapter has repeatedly recovered and continued to crusade in the service of the Imperium. Additionally, the Avenging Lions have embraced the honor duels of the Imperial Fists and the battle-brothers of the chapter are distinguished by the facial scars that are the results of these duels.
One distinguishing element of the chapter’s organization is its common usage of the office of the Emperor’s Champion, called the Justicar-Champion. Whether this is by choice or if it is an inheritance of the Black Templars gene-seed used in the creation of the chapter is unknown, but the chapter fields battle-brothers in this role much more frequently than most other chapters, including other scions of Rogal Dorn (except, of course, the Black Templars who field the Emperor’s Champion in almost every battle).
The Stethnyrach Crusade [125.M37]
A notable point in the chapter’s history was the aftermath of the Stethnyrach Crusade in the early years of M37. The Avenging Lions engaged at chapter strength in the crusade, fighting alongside a crusade of Black Templars, their progenitors. An Eldar host had conquered the Imperial world of Stethnyrach, attacking without warning or provocation. The Black Templars had established a Chapter Keep upon Stethnyrach over two millennia prior and the small number of Black Templars upon that world had put up a valiant defense before being crushed by the swift-moving aliens. Responding to the emergency, the Avenging Lions provided assistance to the Black Templars. While the Black Templars launched the main assault to recover their chapter keep, the Avenging Lions fought a series of actions intended to draw the main force of xenos away from the site. These engagements included both ground and space battles, the Avenging Lions’ fleet pursuing the handful of Aeldari vessels and eventually closing with them near the twin planets of Stethnyrach VII-VIII, the flux of gravity in the region distorting the stellar energies that facilitated the flight of the Aeldari ships. The Avenging Lions’ crowning achievement in the crusade was the boarding and destruction of the Aeldari flagship, the leader of the Aeldari fleet defeated in combat by Justicar-Champion Alcard and captured.
The crusade was costly for the Avenging Lions, with the Chapter Master and over two-hundred battle-brothers dying in battle. Ultimately, the participation of the Avenging Lions proved a key to the successful completion of the crusade and engendered a blood-debt with the Black Templars, who were able to successfully drive the aliens from the world and recover the invaluable gene-seed that had been stored within the chapter keep. The event marked a turning point in the chapter’s history, where it established a bond with its progenitor chapter. Whenever elements of the two chapters meet, they renew their bonds of brotherhood through feast, ceremony, and ritual dueling, recalling their shared heritage and the aid the Avenging Lions provided to the Black Templars.
The Second Purging of Kanzuz IX [898.M40-904.M40]
Horgast Bellowflame had once been one of the Apostles of the Blind King, a rogue Tech Priest who viewed humanity as an affront to the Machine god. After the defeat of the Blind King in 550.M37, Bellowflame and his loyal bodyguard escaped to Kanzuz IX where they dedicated themselves to the service of the Chaos Powers and established a stronghold from which they terrorized Imperial worlds in the nearby sector. After centuries of warfare against the Imperium and the slaughter of millions, Bellowflame had grown in power. Through the patronage of the Daemon Gods and the embracing of combining forbidden technology with Warp-born power, Bellowflame was transformed into a Daemon Prince and commanded a significant force of renegades and daemons.
Assessing the threat posed by Bellowflame, Chapter Master Ymoris declared a crusade against Kanzuz IX and dispatched a task force equivalent to six companies to deal with the traitor. Justicar-Captain Artakes was in overall command aboard the Redolent Fury. Justicar-Captain Artakes had once fought as the Justicar-Champion and was a figure of awe to the rest of the chapter for his piety and example, and bore the Sword of Thane, a relic of the Imperial Fists Chapter. Justicar-Captain Artakes’ prodigious experience in the Thrall Wars served him well against Horgast Bellowflame’s hellish minions and he established a series of probing actions that quickly pinpointed weaknesses in the defenses of Kanzuz IX while minimizing losses to the Avenging Lions.
Once he had determined the enemy’s critical vulnerability, Artakes planned a rapid assault that took Bellowflame by surprise. Leading a thunderhawk-borne strike force through a deadly defensive grid, Artakes succeeded in attacking Bellowflame at the heart of his citadel, eventually confronting the corrupted warrior in single combat after the renegade had slain Chief Librarian Mortain. Though Horgast Bellowflame succeeded in inflicting terrible wounds upon the Justicar-Captain, Artakes was able to deliver the Emperor’s justice upon the traitor. With the death of their leader, the daemonic horde dissipated and the renegades were thrown into confusion. The Avenging Lions eradicated the remaining renegades in hard-fought combat that lasted a further three days.
Rescued from the field of battle by the Apothecaries once Horgast Bellowflame had been slain and his minions destroyed, Justicar-Captain Artakes was able to survive and his maimed body was fitted with augmetics to enable him to continue his service to the Imperium. When the High Lords of Terra declared a Victorix Maxima for the Avenging Lions in purging Kanzuz IX, Justicar-Captain Artakes was present in person to receive the honorific and complete a pilgrimage to Holy Terra.
COMBAT SQUAD KOTYS
3RD BATTLE COMPANY
Avenging Lions Chapter Icon
Common Armorial Use
Veteran-Sergeant Kotys
Commander Tactical Squad Kotys
3rd Battle Company Avenging Lions
Taken to the Emperor’s Grace, The Purging of Kliamanthes IV
Brother Seuthes
Taken to the Emperor’s Grace, The Purging of Kliamanthes IV
Brother Tereus
Lost, the Purging of Kliamanthes IV
Brother Zalmoxis
Taken to the Emperor’s Grace, The Purging of Kliamanthes IV
Brother Syrmus
Survivor, the Purging of Kliamanthes IV
Addendum: “The Oathbound”
Upon becoming a full battle-brother, each member of the chapter is granted a combat blade, called an “Oath-blade” by the chaplains. This short sword is inscribed with the name of the battle-brother on one side and the date of his acceptance as a full battle-brother on the other side. Decorations upon the weapon typically include lion imagery for the chapter and eagle imagery for the Imperium, though it isn’t uncommon for blades to bear personalized decorations. The battle-brothers of the chapter are seldom without their oath-blades and when a battle-brother dies, the date of his death is added to the engravings upon the blade and the weapon will be added to the Hall of Fallen Lions within the Constantius in remembrance of the battle-brother.
The battle-brothers of the Avenging Lions swear oaths before every battle and major undertaking. These oaths will be sworn in solemn ritual, presided over by the chaplains within the Reclusium. Battle-brothers will typically grasp their oath-blade when swearing their oath, symbolically swearing to accomplish their oath or see their blood spent and blade broken upon the battlefield. Battle-brothers are expected to accomplish their oaths or to die in the attempt.
Successfully accomplished oaths are typically commemorated in tattoo form, and the oldest of Avenging Lions battle-brothers have significant portions of their bodies covered in the ritual tattoos. The most significant of successfully accomplished oaths will be marked with oath-tokens – small tokens with the image of the oath upon them and hung from the pommel of a battle-brother’s oath-blade by a decorative cord.
