Exorcists

[Dosjetka]

Hello folks!

 

I just wanted to know if there was any novels, WD's, Imperial Armours, etc... that talk about the Exorcist Chapter? IIRC there is some stuff in one of the Siege of Vraks series but I can't for the world of me remember...any help is greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks! :D

 

Ludovic

[Brother Tyler]

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...te=%2BExorcists

 

What do we know about the Chapter?

• The Chapter appears to have been created around M36, just prior to the Age of Apostasy. Most people interpret this to mean that the Chapter was part of the Cursed Founding (21st), though the verbiage at the Third War for Armageddon site was that it was a "Dark Founding" Chapter. The Dark Founding was the 13th. My own view (strictly personal without much to back it up) is that the Chapter wasn't officially part of the 21st Founding, but was created in secret by a cabal of Inquisitors just prior to or nearly concurrent with the 21st Founding.
  
• The Chapter was created by members of the Inquisition. Whether this was officially sanctioned by the Inquisition at large or if it was the act of a small cabal of Inquisitors is unknown. Regardless, it appears that Ordo Malleus Inquisitors were involved.
  
• Battle-brothers of the Chapter undergo a ritual in which they are temporarily possessed by minor daemonic entities, and then those entities are exorcised. Battle-brothers sometimes suffer side effects from this ritual, though these can often be corrected through surgery, psycho-conditioning, etc. The result of this appears to be that battle-brothers of the Exorcists will go into near berserker states when in proximity to daemons.
  
• In addition, the battle-brothers of the exorcists are trained in the "tools of the exorcist" and other daemon-fighting techniques. Exactly what these are is left to the reader's speculation, although the short story in Heroes of the Adeptus Astartes indicates that the Exorcists are taught some of the same things as the Grey Knights.
  
• The short story in Heroes of the Adeptus Astartes also tells us that the Exorcists use the gene-seed of the Grey Knights.
  
• The Exorcists were described as a fleet-based Chapter in earlier versions of the game and in Battlefleet Gothic, though the new codex now appears to assign them the homeworld of Banish. It might be that Banish has been recently adopted, that it is a recruiting world, etc.
  
• Whether or not the Exorcists have Librarians is often debated. After the Third War for Armageddon, many players interpreted the fluff to mean that the Chapter was very much like the Grey Knights, including lots of psykers (though there was no evidence whatsoever to support that interpretation). The 4th and 5th edition versions of Codex: Space Marines both depict a Librarian model in Exorcists livery. The short story in Heroes of the Adeptus Astartes implies that the battle-brothers of the Exorcists have strong distrust of all psykers, and perhaps that the Chapter doesn't have Librarians of its own. There's no concrete evidence either way, though whether or not the Chapter has Librarians will lead towards how autonomous the Chapter may or may not be.
  
• Though the early years of the Chapter held a very strong relationship with the Inquisition, the fluff indicated that the Chapter might be given some degree of autonomy once developed into a full Chapter (which appears to have been at some point in M36). In all of the mentions of the Chapter in the intervening years, though, no mention of the Chapter's relationship with the Inquisition and its level of autonomy is ever given. More importantly, the Chapter is mentioned in a number of key campaigns, including the Badab War, Third War for Armageddon, and the Thirteenth Black Crusade of Abaddon the Despoiler. None of those campaigns indicate anything other than that the Chapter either has full or near full autonomy. If the Chapter has Librarians, it might have full autonomy. If the Chapter has no Librarians, some level of relationship is necessary in order to have psykers available (assuming the Chapter still follows the practice of ritually possessing and exorcising its battle-brothers with daemons). If nothing else, the short story in Heroes of the Adeptus Astartes implies that there is still some degree of relationship between the Exorcists and the Inqusition.
  
• Insignium Astartes indicates that the Chapter is (or was at one time) a Codex Chapter and that company affiliation is indicated by the color of the helmet stripe. The latest Codex: Space Marines also indicates that the Chapter is now Codex, though it doesn't support the helmet stripe.
  
• The Chapter has a total of twelve companies, with three Scout companies due to the rigorous training of the Chapter. Most people, myself included, interpret that to key on the temporary possession/exorcism and other daemon-hunting training resulting in a lot of attrition, though we don't have concrete evidence to support that.
  
• The other campaign we know of in which the Chapter fought was the Aschen War, though we have little on that other than that the 3rd Company was involved.
  

There have been a number of discussions on the Exorcists here at the B&C. You can find many of them here. Some of my favorites that I've been involved in are:

• Exorcists Chapter, let's summ [sic] up what we know about them
  
• Exorcist Space Marines linked to Grey Knights
  
• The Exorcists
  
• Exorcists, any info on them
  

I've developed homegrown rules for the Chapter based on my own personal views. While you can ignore the rules and special characters I developed, pretty much all of the known information on the Chapter is included in the sidebar. You can find that article in the Librarium here.

[Dosjetka]

Thanks a lot Brother Tyler. That's really going to help me ;)

[Brother Tyler]

Last night I realized that I totally forgot a couple of things. I suck.

 

Two relate to the long term results of the possession/exorcism ritual.

 

The fluff for the Chapter given in the Third War for Armageddon gave us one interesting bit of information, that less than 2% re-succumbed to daemonic possession when in proximity to daemons. Now the true significance of this varies with the interpretation, whether the percentage is good or bad. Some view this as a good thing, that it means that fewer Exorcists Space Marines re-succumb to daemonic possession than normal Space Marines because the possession/exorcism has inured them to the predations of the Warp. I maintain the opposite, that since other Chapters don't practice possession/exorcism of their battle-brothers, that none of their members can "re-succumb" to daemonic possession. It's worth noting that we don't have any official fluff about battle-brothers of other Chapters "re-succumbing" to daemonic possession anywhere. The converse of this is that battle-brothers of the Adeptus Astartes might succumb to the influence of the Warp simply through exposure (and not necessarily through possession). An example of this is the Bloodquest graphic novels.

 

Another issue is whether or not Exorcists battle-brothers that have undergone the possession/exorcism ritual become Illuminati. The Illuminati were first described in Rogue Trader era material. In short, anyone (not just Space Marines and/or psykers) that has been possessed by a daemon and is somehow freed (whether through personal effort/willpower or external intervention) becomes an Illuminati. These individuals, knowing the true nature of the Warp and daemons, become more powerful and gain protection from the Warp, daemons, and psykers (the latter of whom utilize the power of the Warp). There's more to the Illuminati than that, but those are the elements pertinent to the Exorcists. The problem with the Illuminati is that GW has largely ignored them since the Rogue Trader era. There were hints here and there, but it seemed that that bit of fluff was being suppressed. The short story in Heroes of the Adeptus Astartes appears to depict the Exorcists as Illuminati, though they are never specifically described as such. The Exorcist battle-brother is pretty much invisible to the Warp senses of the Librarian in the story.

 

Another issue is the relationship between the Exorcists and the Grey Knights. In the Third War for Armageddon fluff, the Grey Knights were mentioned. This mention drove many people to interpret that there was a strong relationship between the two Chapters, including the possibility of the Exorcists using Nemesis Force Weapons, being all psykers, etc. However, the mention of the Grey Knights in that story was solely about a single squad kept in reserve while the Exorcists fought daemons upon a daemonworld. Whether the Grey Knights were there to rescue the Exorcists or kill them if things went awry is totally unknown. That article mentioned nothing about a true relationship between the two Chapters, and it's entirely possible that there was none at that time. However, the short story in Heroes of the Adeptus Astartes gives us the information about lineage and some common training. There is no explicit fluff anywhere, though, that the two Chapters actually interact and have some relationship. So it's possible that they have a strong relationship, that they have no relationship beyond shared gene-seed and training, or anywhere in between (unless/until GW gives us more explicit information).

[Dosjetka]

Last night I realized that I totally forgot a couple of things. I suck.

Don't be so harsh on yourself!

 

And anyway, thanks a million for the information that you gave me! It's gonna help me with all aspects of my army building :cuss (I like very fluffy armies => and no, no bunnies involved! >_< )

[Wildfire]

Another issue is whether or not Exorcists battle-brothers that have undergone the possession/exorcism ritual become Illuminati. The Illuminati were first described in Rogue Trader era material. In short, anyone (not just Space Marines and/or psykers) that has been possessed by a daemon and is somehow freed (whether through personal effort/willpower or external intervention) becomes an Illuminati. These individuals, knowing the true nature of the Warp and daemons, become more powerful and gain protection from the Warp, daemons, and psykers (the latter of whom utilize the power of the Warp). There's more to the Illuminati than that, but those are the elements pertinent to the Exorcists. The problem with the Illuminati is that GW has largely ignored them since the Rogue Trader era. There were hints here and there, but it seemed that that bit of fluff was being suppressed. The short story in Heroes of the Adeptus Astartes appears to depict the Exorcists as Illuminati, though they are never specifically described as such. The Exorcist battle-brother is pretty much invisible to the Warp senses of the Librarian in the story.

 

I seem to recall two key differences between Exorcists and Illuminati. The first is that all Illuminati were psykers. The second is that Illuminati freed themselves through an act of great willpower after getting (inviting?) possession.

 

However, it's been over 10 years since the Army lost all my old 40k books, so I can't back either of those statements up.

[Brother Tyler]

If I remember correctly, the Illuminati weren't limited to psykers; and while willpower was a key, the official information also allowed for external assistance. I'll dig up the relevant citations (grumble - old WDs and the Inquisition Wars books aren't fun to dig through).

[Wildfire]

No worries. Don't stress yourself on my account.

 

None of my information comes from any novel. I've never read a BL book and I never will.

[Dosjetka]

I've never read a BL book and I never will.

You hate BL that much? Why's that?

[Brother Tyler]

I found the recent discussion. It was in the loyalist space marines + daemon weapons thread (I've linked to my post). The information I quoted doesn't cover whether or not an Illuminati must be a psyker, so I'll dig through Realm of Chaos when I get a chance.

[Inquisitor Fox]

Having just read Inquisition War recently I do not recall it mentioning any such requirement.

The crazy Harlequin-esque fellow I don't remember it stating one way or the other if he was or wasn't.. and while the main Inquisitor was a psyker, he also retained his powers after the procedure in the third book.

[Wildfire]

I've never read a BL book and I never will.

You hate BL that much? Why's that?

 

It's not BL specifically. I don't waste my time with fanfic. I've never read a novel written by a hired gun that was worth reading.

[Brother_Kaelgrim]

Pick up Helsreach or Soul Hunter. Or anything by Abnett. You'll change your mind.

[Dosjetka]

Pick up Helsreach or Soul Hunter. Or anything by Abnett. You'll change your mind.

I agree with Kaelgrim for the Abnett part. The other two are very good according to most people from what I've herad.