Life and Death at Honor Hold

[Erasmus of Baal]

Not knowing of this forum's existence, I posted this previously in the Liber. It has been edited, however, such that it is not a simple repost; I thought that those who frequent this forum would appreciate this text more than those in the Liber did.

 

 

 

In any terms imaginable, it was the most costly conflict for a single Chapter in recent memory. It had happened before that mighty Chapters were brought so low, but never before at its own hands. Indeed, it would not be difficult to argue that the Crimson Paladins would have been better off defecting to Chaos than they stood at the end of their civil war.

 

Ladies and gentlemen of the Legio Bolter & Chainsword, I am Erasmus, a Remembrancer called “of Baal” for my specialty of chronicling events surrounding the Blood Angels and their successor Chapters. No matter how often I walk in a Fortress-Monastery discussing past events with these mighty warriors of mankind, I will never become accustomed to the incredible sense of awe and wonder I feel every time I look upon those mighty figures. And of all the Chapters whose histories I have worked to chronicle, no event has brought me so much amazement as the internal conflict which brought the Crimson Paladins to their knees.

 

If you are reading this, then it is likely that you are already familiar with Sylvana, the Warp-entity that took possession of the Chapters’ souls in early 010.M42, and the divide that slowly grew within that noble Chapter concerning whether it was better for them to purge the daemonic from the Imperium by their own deaths or live, tainted, in the Emperor’s service. I will spend no more time discussing this matter here, though I am working on a separate text detailing Sylvana’s nature.

 

The actual conflict began on 6.841.012.M42, in early November, after the conclusion of a session of a council called by the Chapter Master. All the Chapter’s section commanders were there: All ten Captains, the Fleetmaster, the Sanguinary High Priest, the Commander of the Sanguinary Guard, the Grand Reclusiarch, the Chief Librarian, the Chief Logisticier, and the Keeper of the Armory. I list no names because it was requested of me by the current Chapter Master; all of these were honorable and mighty warriors, and no dishonor should come to their names for the events that transpired in that month. The first blood shed in this war was that of the Captain of the Seventh Company, who was beheaded outside a council meeting by the Commander of the Sanguinary Guard with a ritual knife. The Chapter Master had declared a temporary recess because of the rising tensions, not realizing that his attempt at cooling tempers would result in the exact opposite.

 

The Sanguinary Guard immediately knew that the time had come to fight; they were the first to charge, and their assault was devastating. Had the entirety of the Sanguinary Priests not sworn to save every Marine they could from such madness and fought against the rebelling Sanguinary Guardsmen, it is likely that there would be nothing left of the Crimson Paladins but a footnote in Imperial history and a group of Sanguinary Guard on a death-crusade. Most of the Chapter was stuck fighting against the Sanguinary Guard, victims of their terrible crusade. A few groups, most notably the Second and Eighth Companies, joined the Sanguinary Guard in the attack, though these were fewer in number than they likely seemed at the time because of the extreme aggression which they brought to bear. The most effective and note-worthy opponents to this crusade (aside from the Sanguinary Priesthood) were the Ninth and Fourth Companies. Those companies not mentioned here were torn to pieces either by the relentless assaults brought upon the Chapter by the Sanguinary Guard or by their own squads’ disagreements with each other.

 

Of more interest, though, is what happened to the other two major groups within the Chapter: the Librarius and the Reclusiam. In the Reclusiam, the matter was simple. Whatever the result of this conflict was, the Grand Reclusiarch believed that it was their duty to remain separated from the fighting to preserve the Chapter’s traditions, and none of the reclusiarchs or chaplains disagreed with him, despite the fact that many of them feared the Sanguinary Guard winning and hunting down those who did not side with them. In the Librarius, the conclusion was similar, that the Chapter’s knowledge should not be threatened so lightly, but a young Codicier, emboldened by the relationship he shared with Sylvana, challenged the Chief Librarian to single combat for the position. While the young Librarian had his evocation-like powers, they were no match for the Chief Librarian’s decades of training, mastery, and control, save for the fact that the young librarian’s emotion-fueled powers were multiplied by Sylvana’s power, and the elder Chief Librarian fell. Sylvana, though, is the Warp God of Passion, however, and these passions are volatile in every sense of the term; no sooner had the elder fallen to the ground than the new Chief Librarian fell to his knees and wept for the needless slaughter. His first command as Chief Librarian was simple: “End the killing.” The Librarians traveled throughout Honor Hold, pacifying bloodlessly what conflicts they could and pacifying violently only those who would not listen to words of peace. There was nothing, though, that they could do about the battle raging in the Chapter’s council chamber.

 

As other section heads had rushed to their section’s command after the beheading, the Chapter Master simply stood, staring darkly at the Commander of the Sanguinary Guard. The Commander simply turned and pointed his blade at the Chapter Master. This Chapter Master had been the staunchest supporter of Sylvana’s presence since she first fully manifested herself on the battlefield, and this Commander of the Sanguinary Guard intended to cut the heart out of those who still resisted him. The duel between them lasted for weeks, as each would retreat without clear advantage or disadvantage to heal their wounds, then charge back at the other after only a day’s rest. Neither was able to triumph over the other until the new Chief Librarian visited the Chapter Master and explained the events that had occurred in the Librarius. It took some time and even a touch of Sylvana’s influence, but the Chapter Master was eventually convinced of the truth of the matter: This “civil war” had grown too costly; either side’s victory would be pyrrhic at best. The only way to continue was for the Chapter to stop and heal.

 

When the great duel was next to continue, the Chapter Master entered combat armed with a pair of storm shields and no weapons to speak of. The fight was understandably one-sided, as the Commander battered against the storm shields to no avail, striking blow after blow until his mind began to slip towards the Black Rage, impacting over and over until the weapons were charred and useless, then hammering at the Chapter Master until the Commander’s gauntlets had been smashed to pieces and his hands were raw and worn. Exhausted in a way that he had never been before, the Commander collapsed at the Chapter Master’s feet after nearly twelve hours of continued attack.

 

The Chapter Master then knelt down to the Commander and rolled him onto his back, looking straight into his eyes. “Behold, Commander, the proof perfect,” said the Chapter Master. “Endless war means nothing but endless death for us and our foes. For the Imperium to live, endless war is not enough. There must also be construction, building, and healing.”

The Chapter Master turned to those who surrounded him. “I have fought many wars on the Imperium’s behalf and slaughtered thousands in the Emperor’s name. We have forgotten, however, that both Sanguinius and the Emperor were dedicated to ensuring their own peoples’ prosperity. It is indeed ironic that a Warp-creature, one of the most foul things in all that exists, was what showed us this path of righteousness and love. I do not claim that we will never fight again, nor do I claim that we will ever cease to be mankind’s strong arm against all the alien, daemonic, and heretical forces of the galaxy. We are the Emperor’s angels of death, the Adeptus Astartes, but we now see in our own fortress-monastery the fruits of death. We have brought too much death into the galaxy by our actions, and it is no longer enough. We, the Crimson Paladins, scions of Sanguinius and successors to the Blood Angels, must be the emissaries of life as well, for the blood that runs through living veins is the same crimson red as that which spills upon the field of battle.”

 

The small speech would have meant nothing had it not been for the tireless work of the Chapter’s many Librarians and Sanguinary Priests shutting down the combats across Honor Hold. Hostilies officially ended at 6.913.012.M42; this time was chosen because of the last event in this odd tale. After the Sanguinary Priests had finished healing Commander Dargor of the Sanguinary Guard and Chapter Master Josiah, the two met in private. Commander Dargor insisted that the fault for the entire civil war lay upon him and his Sanguinary Guard. He even declared that Josiah was right about the intentions of the Emperor and Sanguinius, and that death could no longer be their sole duty; however, the bringing of death was so much the nature of the Sanguinary Guard that they could not be permitted to be as free in this new Chapter as they had been previously. After some deliberation, they came to a conclusion: The current Sanguinary Guard would be no more. They would keep their armor, but it would be painted grey, and they would be the Gargoyles. The Gargoyles would still be permitted to train new Sanguinary Guardsmen, however, until a new Sanguinary Guard had been fully formed.

 

Thus ends the account of the Crimson Paladins’ civil war. The Chapter’s future is still unclear, as they have embraced Sylvana more fully, claiming that she now bears the gene-seed of Sanguinius as much as any of them, and have turned their attentions towards rebuilding and building anew. Ever since that first encounter with Sylvana, the Crimson Paladins have been in flux, and it is with great excitement that I await another tale to record of this amazing Chapter’s history now in the making.