The Shadow Hunters: DIY Renegade Chapter

[Stormthroe]

First off, I'm very new to the world of Marine armies and have actually never played them.  I played Warhammer 40k as Necrons for years, but when I left for college I had to drop it to pay for books, and sold all of my pieces and equipment.  Any Input you guys and gals might be able to give me would be appreciated, and I will admit I have not read fluff in a while nor anywhere near all of it.  If there’s something you think I can improve let me know! Anyways, Here goes.  I apologize if formatting is odd, I copied and pasted from Word.

 

Name:  Shadow Hunters (Renegade)

 

Founded:  Approximately 925.M41,
after the Badab War from the Mantis Warriors Chapter and many renegade warbands
and other marine forces.  (see backstory)

 

Geneseed:  White Scars originally, but no specific
geneseed due to recruitment practices.

 

Warband
Backstory:  The
story of the Shadow Hunters is one of hate and vengeance.  During the Badab War, the Mantis Warriors
rebelled against the Emperor of Mankind and served alongside the traitor
legions in their battle against their brother marines.  When the Mantis Warriors returned to the Imperium
and took penance for their actions, among them Battle-Brother Dmitri Gelt.  Gelt had supported the succession from the
Imperium, a force that constantly stepped upon the powers of the Astartes and
disrespected his Chapter.  With their
penance undertook, Gelt, while against it, chose to follow his chapter and his
brothers under the direction of their quickly replaced Chapter Master.  As part of their penance, the Mantis Warriors
were often “volunteered” for extremely dangerous assignments and thanks to the
restrictions on their recruitment, they could not replace their losses incurred by these assignments, and Gelt
despised the High Lords and Inquisition for this dictation.  It was during one of these assignments that
the Shadow Hunters were truly born.

 

As penance, Gelt and his company were sent to clear
out a supposed Tyranid seeding of a death world, deep in the Ultima Segmentum
past the Maelstrom.  Reluctant to take
such an assignment, the Mantis Warriors nonetheless went to the planet in penance.  The world was inhospitable, with sprawling
jungles, deep dark oceans, frigid polar caps, and stone deserts wracked with
canyons.  Even more dangerous, the
Tyranid seeding wasn’t very obvious as many of the native creatures were incredibly
dangerous to begin with, and any Tyranid mutations seemed obsolete.  The Mantis Warriors requested exterminatus to
clear the planet safely without losing brothers to the harsh environment, however
thanks to the deep-rooted hostility towards the chapter, it was denied.  This forced the Mantis Warriors to drop
planetside and begin the purge of any Tyranid infestation they found on foot. 

 

After years of surviving harsh conditions and
dozens of losses, they were finally nearing the end of their stay on the
accursed planet.  The High Lords had
requested their presence elsewhere, and they were withdrawing their brothers
for extraction.  It was here that Gelt’s
squad was moving through the rocky canyons of the planet’s great deserts as
part of the final sweep effort.  As they
were moving along, the auspex began to mark targets, in the rocks.  The squad
spun, tracing no movement, and began to form a defensive circle around the
squad leader and prepared to fire. 
Seconds later, they were set upon by great beasts, emerging from
caverns set in the canyon walls.  They
bore many eyes and were preternaturally fast, and upon their fists were large,
incredibly sharp talons.  Gelt’s squad
opened fire on the advancing creatures, calling for support but there was none
in the immediate response area.  The
squad had stumbled into a hive of these creatures that nested in the canyons,
and they were completely surrounded by a continuous stream of feral death.  Quickly, the squad exhausted its ammunition
into the oncoming wave of ferocity, and was drug into brutal melee with the
creatures.  The squad fought valiantly to
break through, and still no support came. 
Through time, none remained in the battle but Gelt and his squad leader,
the veteran Decadus.  Both had deep
wounds and were approaching death but fought hard.  In a brief lull, Decadus reached for Gelt,
whose armor had been damaged and shorn from his body, and forced him into a
cistern at the base of the canyon, forcing his own power armored bulk into the
entrance.  With his final act, Decadus
locked the servos of his armor, wedging it in place and blocking the
entrance.  The creatures threw themselves
at the armor, unable to budge its bulk from the cave entrance.  Gelt, wounded and trapped with no
communications, lay at the rear in the dark, and put himself into an induced
stasis using his Sus-An membrane, hoping a rescue team would investigate.

 

Unfortunately, The Mantis Warriors could not ignore
the summons of Terra, and was forced to leave him behind, along with the
remains of his squad.  Years passed as
Gelt slept, and he was all but forgotten. 
Then, in a cruel twist of fate, a Dark Eldar raiding party came to the
canyon to capture its denizens for their wicked beastmasters.  They cackled at the bodies of Gelt’s squad,
and came upon his squad leader’s remains, still blocking the cistern
entrance.  Unlike the beasts, the
witch-spawn were able to remove the blockage and took Gelt from his
resting place to be returned to their dark city. 

 

Once there, he was revived by their cruel magics and
sciences, and thrown into the slave pits to be used as fodder in their gladiatorial
bouts.  The Eldar thought he would die by
the swords or beasts of the arena, but Gelt continually surprised the crowds of
the dark city with his victories.  Time
and time again, Gelt won over his opponents in bloody combat, crushing slaves,
beasts, and Eldar challengers in single combat. 
He soon became a favorite of the city, thanks to the ferocity of his
fights and specifically his skill when fighting beasts in the arena.  As the intensity of his bouts increased and
became riskier and riskier, so too did his skills as a warrior, but also his
resentment towards the Imperium of man who he felt had abandoned him to this
endless performance of death. 

 

After nearly 50 years of constant fighting, after a
brutal combat with an entire pack of demonized hounds straight from some
wretched planet, Gelt stood in the arena roaring to the crowd, their support
being his only reason for remaining alive. 
As he roared, he spotted a particularly ornately dressed witch-spawn
approaching the edge of the arena.  In a
voice that exuded cruelty and torture, the Dark Eldar Archon looked down upon
Gelt from the high barbed walls of the arena and spoke of the minisculity of
mankind and their weakness as a species. 
He spoke of their false claim to the stars and their only use as feed
for the many beasts of the cages.  Gelt
stood in silence as the Archon spoke, not allowing any emotion to show before
the leader of the city.  The Archon
concluded his speech with a wicked grin, and asked Gelt,

 

“Would you kill for me?”

 

Gelt chose his next words carefully, analyzing the
situation he was in.  “Give me any man,
beast, witch, or Ork, and I shall show you the weakness in their race.”  The Archon cackled as the crowd roared, and
motioned to the guards of the arena.  The
shoved a man, draped in ragged robes into the arena, across the sand from Gelt’s
bloodstained form.  The man bellowed in a
false bravado at the witch-spawn of the crowd, hurling insults that were
unknown to the Dark Eldar language.  He
spun to face Gelt, and sized him up, before recognizing his form as that of a
Space Marine. 

 

“By the order of the Inquisition, you must help me
to escape these wretches.  I command you
Arbites, die honorably alongside me!” bellowed the Inquisitor.  Gelt stood for a moment, then turned to one
of the demon hounds he had just slaughtered, tearing from it a massive
tusk.  He turned slowly towards the
Inquisitor and taking one slow, measured step towards him.  The Inquisitor’s eyes narrowed, then widened
in shock as Gelt switched the tusk to his sword arm, and took another step
towards him.  “By the Emperor, how dare
you?!  I will see you burn for this
traitor!  You will die by my hand!”
screeched the Inquisitor, scrambling to back away from Gelt’s towering
frame.  Gelt observed the man, tiny
without the power armor of the Inquisition, and raised the tusk as he continued
to move towards the Inquisitor.  His
breathing slowed, and all seemed to move in slow motion as he reached the
cowering Inquisitor’s form, and he looked to the Archon, who still watched with
a cruel grin.  Gelt brought down the tusk
in a wide slash, cleaving the Inquisitor’s right arm, not removing his eye
contact with the Archon.  Then his legs
as the Inquisitor screamed in agony and the crowd roared, before finally decapitating
the loyal servant of the emperor.  The
Archon cackled, and then turned away from the arena as Gelt was returned to the
slave pits.

 

After returning to the pits, Gelt was separated from
the other slaves, who cowered and shied away from the Dark Eldar slave masters,
who were none too concerned with where their whips fell.  They struck all who came within reach, and
the slaves scrambled away, all of them but Gelt, who stood defiantly.  The Dark Eldar, behind their barbed helmets,
spoke to each other, surely offended by his defiance, but none lashed him.  Instead, he was led, under careful observation
and tight shackles, to a room with running water.  Gelt took from their motions he was to clean,
and so he did.  When he finished, he was
presented with a flowing, black robe that wreaked of some dark fragrance, and
his shackles were removed.  He was led to
an antigravitic lift, and the guards took him to the peak of the city.  From here he could see all of the wicked
majesty of the city in its glory, but before he could admire it, he was turned
and entered into a room that looked as if it were the ribcage of a demon.  When he reached the other end, a door,
seamless enough that it seemed as if it did not exist opened in front of him,
and he was beckoned in by a slave woman that barely reached his stomach.

 

Inside, on a great barbed throne sat the Archon, now
dressed in an elegant crimson robe that simulated the wash of blood from a
fresh wound.  The chamber was surrounded by
guards, and as the door closed behind him, the Archon began to speak.

 

After hours, perhaps days within the confines of the
throne room, Gelt finally emerged, no guards nor shackles about him.  As to what had been said, none know.  In reality, the Archon was none other than
Tarsidhe, Archon of the Kabal of the Fiend Ascendant.  All that is known is that after that day,
Gelt began his service to the Archon, and had pledged himself to give his skill
with beasts and his combat prowess to Tarsidhe’s beastmasters, serving to
capture great and dangerous creatures for his fights.  He continued to fight in the Arena, as one of
Tarsidhe’s favorite slaves while serving as his tracker, hunter, and trapper
for nearly 70 years, baptizing both his survival and combat skills in the blood
of men, beast, and xenos alike.  He grew
to relish the hunt, and rejoiced in capturing or killing the great beasts and
vicious alien creatures found across the galaxy.  He soon was being dropped from Dark Eldar
grav-craft onto the surface alone, tasked with capturing or killing some
specific target and left to hunt on his own, only to be retrieved and returned
to the arena district when his duty was accomplished.  If it weren’t for the calm of his demeanor out
of combat and his dedication to bloodsport, many would have said Gelt had
become one with the beasts he stalked. 
In his time away from combat or hunting, Gelt could be found wandering
the great cages where his captured beasts were kept, much to the protests of
the witch beastmasters.  Tarsidhe ignored
their complaints, and allowed his Gladiator, his Huntsman to go where he
pleased within the arena district under pain of death should he be harmed, all
to better his prized fighter, despite the shortcomings of mankind’s
species.  After nearly two centuries in
servitude, Gelt requested to meet with the Archon one time in all those
years.  Behind closed doors, after
bargains were struck in blood and deals were cut and written on the skin of the
men Gelt had killed in the arena, he emerged and was smuggled out of the city
under supervision of the Archon.  To this
day, Gelt owes his allegiance and life to Tarsidhe, along with much more
sinister prices, and regularly delivers great stock of quality gladiator beasts
and shipments of slaves.

 

When he was free, Gelt detested the Imperium.  He viewed them as traitorous and corrupt, and
refused to integrate in any part of their society.  Instead, he turned to the last bastion he had
defended, the Maelstrom.  There, he searched
out those who shared his passion for the hunt but who had not turned to the
corruptions of chaos but were simply resistant to the Imperium’s ideals.  Among renegades, he gained a small following
and soon he wished to find new hunts, and great deeds for himself and his
followers wished to follow him to greatness and share in his strength.  Gelt, having gained some skill in diplomacy
in his time dealing with the Archon and the upper caste of witch society,
maintained good connections with most renegades he came into contact with, and
had maintained his connections with the Kabal of the Fiend Ascendant.  Using this, he bartered himself a Strike
Cruiser, trading a great horde of beasts, prone to devour entire worlds but
controlled by a strong-willed master and capable of carrying mutated toxins or
diseases in their bodies, to another renegade force in return for a Strike
Cruiser.  He redubbed the ship the “Predator’s
Sanctum” in reference to the cistern he had survived in all those years ago,
and thus the Shadow Hunters were born.

 

Thus, it has been, the great hunters prowling the
galaxy under the guidance of the Huntsman. 
Although they are small, they are great beastmasters and capable
warriors, and maintain themselves through mercenary work, and their many
connections with other renegades, heretics, and even xenos races.  They prefer to maintain a secluded, nomadic
lifestyle in the end and travel where there are challenges to be endured and
deeds to be accomplished.  Every Shadow
Hunter is free to go on their own endeavors, but each is honored to be a member
of the Huntsman’s house and have loyalties to brother, Brethren, and Lord.  While a majority of their time is spent
fighting for their own survival, the most pertinent action taken by the Shadow
Hunters are the Great Hunts.  During
these exoduses, every single brother of the Shadow Hunters takes to the ships,
and they embark on a journey to kill great beasts across the galaxy.  Like the Space Wolves tradition of hunting
Kraken, or Catachan’s Devil Hunters, the Shadow Hunters use only traditional
means to hunt their quarry, fighting with spear, dagger, or fist, or with the
great Bows that the Chapter has mastered for ceremonial use in hunts alone,
ineffective in the warfare of combat.

 

As the definition of predators, the Shadow Hunters
seek out the most dangerous game in the name of glory and merit.  Thus, the chapter envies the chance to fight
the Hive Mind’s Tyranid swarms.  The sinister
intelligence, unnatural strength, and preternatural speed as well as the
relentless assaults of the many bio-creatures serves as some of the greatest
challenges the Shadow Hunters can face, and several of their number earned
their place by stalking a Lictor in hunt successfully on a planet in the
vanguard-stage of a Tyranid invasion, only to be extracted and indoctrinated by
the Shadow Wolves just before the full Tyranid invasion.

 

Sector:  The Shadow Hunters
choose to remain in the Ultima Segmentum, as it offers the largest amount of death
worlds they can use for hunts and allows them to avoid contact with others
thanks to its scattered populations. 
They maintain contacts in the Maelstrom and even with Dark Eldar pirates
thanks to Lord Gelt’s powers of diplomacy, but choose to freely ply the stars
and go about their own desires.

 

Homeworld:  Fleetborn warband,
composed of five ships.  The flagship is
the “Predator’s Sanctum”, a Strike Cruiser class and captained by Lord Gelt
himself.  The next most powerful is a
Vanguard Cruiser class, known as the “Fang of Gelt” and captained by the most
senior member of the Brethren, Gaius Broken-Spear.  Two are Escort class ships, captained by two more
of the Brethren and they are called the “Spear of Tranquility” and the “Wind
Talon.”  Each is armed much more in
regards to space combat than their normal workings, and fitted with additional
engines to keep pace with the flagship.  The
fifth ship is an Adeptus Medicae ship, titled, “Sanctuary”.  Oddly, the “Sanctuary” is captained by the
greatest Sorcerer in the warband, a former Librarian named Augustine Corinthius,
but known only to the Shadow Hunters as The Shaman.

 

Flagship:  Predator’s Sanctum.  The first ship gained by Dmitri Gelt, Lord of
the Shadow Hunters, after returning to the galaxy before founding the warband.  The flagship is captained by Lord Gelt
himself, and contains several amenities that define the warband.  Aboard the “Sanctum”, the great hall of the
Shadow Hunters, known as the Hall of Trophies, is maintained for their feasts
and along its walls are displayed all manner of trophies from the deeds of its
inhabitants.  Also onboard the “Sanctum”
is the Coliseum, where Lord Gelt hosts his great gladiatorial tournaments.  The ship is fitted with quarters to house
almost a full company of Marines, chief amongst these the Brethren’s quarters
and Lord Gelt’s personal chambers.

 

Combat
Doctrine:  They
follow the doctrine of predators, added with the genius of (super)human intuition.  Thanks to the indoctrination processes
enacted by their leader, each Shadow Hunter is an expert survivalist even
without his enhancements.  They are adept
at hunters tactics, whether they be bait and strike, flushing prey from cover,
or giving chase to a fleeing enemy. 
Somewhat similar to the Space Wolves, the Shadow Hunters use beasts in
combat, and their ranks contain excellent beastmasters.  However, unlike most renegade chapters they
do not directly serve the Ruinous Powers, and demons do not come to their aid
by their own calling.  However, it is
difficult for them to be efficiently supplied or even for them to store said
supplies, and as such they suffer from a lack of armor, instead using the
storage spaces to keep their beast cages and gladiator arenas.

 

Organization:
 In general, the Shadow
Hunters follow a standard military hierarchy, but due to their small size they
are more resembling of a feral tribe.  Strength
of the hunt and strength in battle are respected above all else and seniority
is determined by the skill of individual members.  The Lord of the warband holds absolute say
and fulfills the role of “Chieftain”, while next in the hierarchy come his first
in the chain of command, the Brethren, but are only respected by their
skills.  The Brethren number 20 warriors,
and each has accomplished mighty deeds as a hunter or warrior to earn their
place as a member of Lord Gelt’s personal guard and counsel.  While the warriors do form squad structures
for combat, they are not directly in any command and each battle brother makes
the choice for his own survival to stand by his brothers.  A senior hunter, usually accompanies them and
guides their actions in regards to the whole of the warband.

 

Recruitment:  The Shadow Hunters
choose to recruit from those who present themselves.  To contact them is to flirt death.  The Shadow Hunters, oddly, maintain a very
widespread means of communication throughout the warbands, and keep it as off
the grid as possible, relying instead on couriers and agents outside of direct
combat to communicate.  The first
challenge of an applicant is to find a means of contacting the Shadow Hunters,
and it is extremely rare that they will contact others actively for recruitment
unless they prove to be very adept hunters. 
For example, Chatha of the Brethren, once a member of the Black Legion,
one of the best trackers in the warband, was recruited by the Shadow Hunters
when news of his slaying of a Catachan Devil with not but a broken combat blade
reached the ears of the informants scattered throughout the ranks.  Since he was upset with the failures of his
Legion, and he held no loyalties to them, he accepted.  Usually, the Shadow Hunters recruit from
existing marines who are either displeased with their loyalties or who show
great ambition as warriors or hunters.  When
recruited, the Hunters insert one of the Brethren, 20 hunters who serve
directly under the command of Lord Gelt, and are amongst his most accomplished
warriors.  They confront the applicant,
wearing the tribal garb that is so prevalent in their ranks on or over their
power armor, always with helmets on. 
They ask the applicant if he is ready to undertake the crucible of the
huntsman to join the ranks.  If he says
yes, then the Brethren member replies with a swift punch to the face, or a
tranq-shot.  The now unconscious recruit
is then extracted to the Shadow Hunters’ flagship, Strike Cruiser “Predator’s
Sanctum,” and maintained in stasis until a suitable death world with a variety
of deadly habitats and even deadlier beasts is reached.  The applicant is shuttled down to the world
by Lord Gelt himself, both clad only in tribal hides.  Unknowingly, this is the first interaction an
applicant has with the Great Huntsman, as Lord Gelt wakes the applicant and
says, “Now your Crucible begins.  Die and
fail.”  Gelt then boards the shuttle, and
the applicant is left alone on the planet for as long as Gelt deems necessary,
and is only retrieved once his honor has been proven to the whole of the Brethren
and Gelt himself.  Such harsh recruitment
leads to a large majority of applicants dying at a rate of near 85%, and
several of the members of the Shadow Hunters have survived their own crucibles
by happening upon the corpse of a previous recruit.  When he is brought back to the ship, he is
simply picked up by the Brethren, who appear and capture a usually very feral
and violent recruit and return him to the “Predator’s Sanctum”.  Once on board, he is clad in furs by the
tribal slaves kept on board, and led to the Hall of Trophies.  He is seated at the head of the table,
directly opposite Lord Gelt.  The
Brethren sit to his right and left, and the surrounding tables are filled by
any other Hunters on board at the time, all wearing bone masks of various
creatures.  A tribal slave reaches for
his face as a great feast is laid out upon the table, but not a single Hunter
moves or makes a sound while the tribals scurry about.  The slave places upon his breast the Hunter’s
Mark, symbol of the warband in black ink. 
Every Shadow Hunter in the hall raises his glass, filled with all manner
of drink, and removes their mask, as Gelt, bedecked in an ornate skull mask, strides
across the floor to the recruit, bearing a trophy taken from the greatest deed
that was carried out upon the surface of the death world.  He removes his mask last, with a wry smile as
the recruits usually recognize his face before giving the recruit their first
trophy as a hunter and takes him by the shoulder, raising him to his feet with
a roar.  The cry spreads across the hall
from Hunter to Hunter, and the recruit is allowed to partake in the feast, now
a full brother of the Shadow Hunters warband. 

 

Beliefs:  The Shadow Hunters
relish in strength of arm, strength of will, loyalty, and courage.  In their opinion, deeds are the only measure
of a warrior.  Great deeds, such as the
slaying of legendary creatures or accomplishments in battle, are celebrated by
the whole of the warband, whereas treacherous deeds, such as murdering a
brother in arms in selfish gain or disrespecting those who have earned respect
is punished, usually through pain in the Coliseum.  In regards to the religion, the Shadow
Hunters have none, but they do have the Prayer of the Huntsman, a chant uttered
in unison by all members of the warband before going into battle or embarking on
a great hunt.  It is broadcast across the
entire comms network across every ship, and goes as such:

 

Arte et marte,

certo cito,

Inter pericula intrepidi,
Merbimur,

spectamur agendo,

et nos novitate vitae enim est ad patres en fratres
et nunc.

Haec
oratio est venatorum.

Dico pro successu pugnae futura.

 

By skill and fighting,
swift and sure,

fearless amidst danger,

we shall be worthy,

by our needs we are
known,

as we hunt for the glories of those before and brothers now. 

This is the hunter’s prayer. 

This I say for success in the battle to come.

 

Mutations:  The Shadow Hunters,
unlike most her turn from the Imperium, shun corruption of the body.  Those who consort with the Ruinous Powers
directly are cast out or killed, for if a man cannot rely on his own strength
he is not fit to eat among those who can. 
The only mutation found in their ranks that is accepted are those of the
Blood Angels and Space Wolves descent, for these mutations come from the
warrior spirit and are instead respected.

 

Estimated
Strength:  Due
to their recruitment processes, the Shadow Hunters are incredibly small,
containing no more than 250 Marines in total. 
Counting their connections in other legions, warbands, or among the
Imperium, they may be approximately 700, but a majority of this number are not
recognized as actually belonging to the warband and instead are simply
respected allies.

 

Modelling:  I plan to model the
army in very tribal ways, using bits from lizardmen, vampire counts, chaos
fantasy, chaos 40k and space wolves to represent their trophy taking habits.  These will take the forms of bones, skulls,
charms and talismans, furs and hides, and such to represent them as a more
animalistic, tribal nature.  Also, as
many machines/demons as I can will be converted to be the warbeasts of the
chapter, to represent their beastmastery. 
Things like the Helldrake will be replaced with some great wyvern or
dragon, whereas something like a bloodletter may just be a viper-wolf pack
guided by a beastmaster or converted raptor-esque creatures.  I’d also like to create some very specific
custom pieces to really, truly capture the feel of this army, like some kind of
giant creature to represent a hellbrute or some such.

 

Painting:  Haven't decided nor have I worked with any of the new wash series or anything so I'll have to figure that out.

 

Chapter
Symbol:  I based the
chapter symbol off of the Predator language from AVP and the dragon language
from TES Skyrim.  It is composed of a
single slash horizontal, tapering to a point to the right like a talon, with
three vertical slashes of diminishing size, like canine teeth, concaving to the
left like a jaw.

 

Major
Characters:

 

Lord Dmitri Gelt-the
Huntsman, Lord of the Shadow Hunters, the Great Predator.  He leads the Shadow Hunters on their nomadic
life through the stars, and maintains all of their relationships that allows
them to exist as the anonymous entity they are. 
Great warrior, towering over even other Space Marines, rippling in the
muscle gained from thousands of gladiatorial fights.  His rule is absolute, but fair.

 

Gaius Broken-Spear-Captain
of the “Fang of Gelt” Vanguard Cruiser, and the Huntsman’s second in
command.  He has served under Gelt since
the founding of the Shadow Hunters, and actually joined from the warband from
which Gelt purchased the “Predator’s Sanctum”. 
He follows Gelt with absolute devotion, and serves as the commander of the
Brethren, as well as his most loyal brother. 
Though every member of the Shadow Hunters view themselves as family, none
are closer to Gelt than Gaius.

 

The Shaman-Formerly,
Augustine Corinthius, Rune Priest of the Skryar’s Dark Wolves Renegade Chapter.  Originally a member of the Space Wolves, The
Shaman was assigned to the Dark Wolves before their turning to chaos, and in
the interest of self-preservation, and a diminishing faith in the strength of
man, went with them.  For years, he
served with them continuing in a twisted manner the role as rune priest.  However, while serving as an emissary from
the Dark Wolves to the Red Corsairs in the Maelstrom, he met one of the
Brethren, bedecked in full battle gear and trophies while the Shadow Hunter
fleet was resupplying before a Great Hunt. 
Reminded of Fenris by the feral elegance of the Shadow Hunter, The
Shaman approached him and challenged him to a brawl.  It was during the resulting fistfight that
Gaius, Gelt’s second in command, noted the beating that the Shaman had given
his brother and brought him before Gelt. 
Gelt sized The Shaman up, and asked what the consequence of hunting
without a pack was.  For hours The Shaman
formulated his answer, returning to the roots of Fenrisian culture, long left
buried in his time with the Dark Wolves. 
After this meditation, he provided a suitable answer, and Gelt offered
him the chance to hunt as a guest aboard the “Predator’s Sanctum”.   During the Hunt, The Shaman hunted alongside
Gelt, Gaius, and two of the other Brethren in a hunting party on a death world
shrouded in sea, resembling Ithaka of the Iron Snakes chapter, close to the
Halo Stars.  Here, the party hunted from
a boat armed with not but harpoons, and the skull of the serpent they slayed,
larger than any mag-train, served as the first trophy The Shaman received as a
Shadow Hunter.  He still wears a cloak woven
from the scales of the serpent to this day as his badge of office of
Shaman-Priest of the Shadow Hunters.

 

Reason
for DIY:  I’ve always
enjoyed Native American and Norse culture ever since I was a small child.  I’ve played Warhammer 40k as Necrons for
years, but when I went to college I was forced to sell my entire collection to
help fund books and such.  Now though, I
have the funds to start again, but I don’t want to be a Necron player
anymore.  I want something unique,
something I can truly make my own.  I
love the Predator and Alien movies, as well as being a survivalist myself.  In my research, I found the Mantis Warriors
who employed the Tranquility Snipers squads, and as a U.S. Marine, I
appreciated this a lot, but I didn’t want to do something premade.  I have strong tendencies leaning away from being a true
Imperial, and so thus the Shadow Hunters were born, a warband in their death
throes but proud to be what they are and content with the nomadic way of life.

 

editted for spelling