Confirmed Salamanders Successors

[Jareddm]

Apparently the new Codex:Space Marines confirms four Ultima Founding Salamanders successors.

 

Covenant of Fire: The Covenant of Fire crave knowledge of the Imperium they fight for, seeking out lore wherever they can find it, hoping that this information can help them bring light to darkness. Conversely, they purge any sign of heretical material they find, knowing that its knowledge is a false light that leads only to ruin. The chapter eagerly embraced the Promethean Cult, imbibing and applying the wisdom of their gene-sire swiftly.

 

Dragonspears: A fleet-based Chapter, the Dragonspears have won renown fighting alongside the Space Wolves against the Orks at the Gnarion Reef and have become expert Ork hunters. Being constantly on the move, it took many years for the Salamanders to make contact with them, in which time the Dragonspears developed a very strong culture of self-sacrifice and endocannibalism, to ensure their lost brothers never fall from memory.

 

Black Vipers: The Salamanders accidentally learned of the Black Vipers many years after other Ultima Founding Successors. Sar K'god, the Chaplain sent to the Chapter by the Salamanders disappeared without a trace. The Black Vipers appear to claim no world for their own, and spurn contact with allies on the rare occasion where it is seen at war. Wherever the Chapter has been identified, agents of the Bellisarius Cawl have never been far away.

 

Dark Krakens: The Dark Krakens oceanic and night-bathed home world of Nakzis only boasts one land mass capable of supporting a fortress monastery. Nakzis' vast seas are replete with bioluminescent megafauna and shoal-predators, which natives populations hunt for sport and nourishment. Echoing them, in battle the Dark Krakens seek out the largest foes, whether that be in terms of physical size or sheer numbers.

 

Thank you to MuphynToy for bringing this to my attention and Deafrazr for the full text info from r/40klore.

 

Personally I'm quite happy with this.  I think there's decent variety among them, though strangely the Covenant of Fire share the same chapter icon as pre-Heresy Word Bearers, which is a little odd.  I hope that won't have people screaming about traitor geneseed the way it did with the Sons of the Pheonix.

 

Color schemes can be seen on the bottom right at 4:19.

 

Edited October 6, 2020 by Jareddm

[Gederas]

Covenant of Fire: The Covenant of Fire crave knowledge of the Imperium they fight for, seeking out lore wherever they can find it, hoping that this information can help them bring light to darkness. Conversely, they purge any sign of heretical material they find, knowing that its knowledge is a false light that leads only to ruin. The chapter eagerly embraced the Promethean Cult, imbibing and applying the wisdom of their gene-sire swiftly.

 

[snip]

 

Personally I'm quite happy with this.  I think there's decent variety among them, though strangely the Covenant of Fire share the same chapter icon as pre-Heresy Word Bearers, which is a little odd.  I hope that won't have people screaming about traitor geneseed the way it did with the Sons of the Phoenix.

Oh trust me, people will.

 

Because they not only have the same symbol as the Imperial Heralds, they also have a similar Modus Operandi as the Imperial Heralds and their Iconoclasts specialist destroyers :lol:

[Llagos_Tyrant]

These sound really interesting. Are there any images of their colour schemes?

[Jareddm]

These sound really interesting. Are there any images of their colour schemes?

Added to OP.

Edited October 6, 2020 by Jareddm

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Thank you for providing the info.

Black Vipers: The Salamanders accidentally learned of the Black Vipers many years after other Ultima Founding Successors. Sar K'god, the Chaplain sent to the Chapter by the Salamanders disappeared without a trace. The Black Vipers appear to claim no world for their own, and spurn contact with allies on the rare occasion where it is seen at war. Wherever the Chapter has been identified, agents of the Bellisarius Cawl have never been far away.

Does this description make anyone else suspect the Black Vipers are actually of ALPHA LEGION descent? I wonder if Cawl's agents are there to aid the Chapter (and to monitor it for subversive thoughts and behavior), or if they're hunting the Chapter and intending to purge the Black Vipers for acting out-of-bounds.

[ruralguardhipcat]

This is an exciting plot / lore development. From having a few rumoured or suggested successors like the Black Dragons to four confirmed ones is cool. Quite tempted to paint a few...

[Dumah]

I'm just pleased to see an officially official orange chapter! It's a good color (especially with black) that seldom gets used.

[WrathOfTheLion]

I think we will over time see a few more chapters that could be thought of as 'slip-ins' like that. Never confirmed, but left as some fun for the imagination.

[Zebulon]

Yes, out of those four the CoF sound the most interesting but their iconography will require a swift redesign...

[Ishagu]

These are excellent little lore bites. Any word on the paint schemes?

[Dumah]

These are excellent little lore bites. Any word on the paint schemes?

If you watch the video in the OP, there's a glimpse of their schemes at the 4:18 mark.

[Ishagu]

I've had a look at them in the book now. Some pretty cool paint schemes.

[sitnam]

 

Covenant of Fire: The Covenant of Fire crave knowledge of the Imperium they fight for, seeking out lore wherever they can find it, hoping that this information can help them bring light to darkness. Conversely, they purge any sign of heretical material they find, knowing that its knowledge is a false light that leads only to ruin. The chapter eagerly embraced the Promethean Cult, imbibing and applying the wisdom of their gene-sire swiftly.

 

[snip]

 

Personally I'm quite happy with this.  I think there's decent variety among them, though strangely the Covenant of Fire share the same chapter icon as pre-Heresy Word Bearers, which is a little odd.  I hope that won't have people screaming about traitor geneseed the way it did with the Sons of the Phoenix.

Oh trust me, people will.

 

Because they not only have the same symbol as the Imperial Heralds, they also have a similar Modus Operandi as the Imperial Heralds and their Iconoclasts specialist destroyers

 

Theory: Perhaps the parallels to the Imperial Heralds is intentional on Cawl's part. Big Bobby G wont let him create traitor geneseed Primaris, so he created a close approximation to fill the gap of Iconoclasts. Perhaps he even chose to use Salamander stock due to the Promethean Cult and its tenants.

 

Feel free to poke holes, but I much prefer a theory like that instead of loyalists traitors.

[Dumah]

Do we know that Cawl is responsible for the culture and practices of each chapter though, or is that more a byproduct of geneseed and the marines themselves "choosing their own destiny"?

[sitnam]

Do we know that Cawl is responsible for the culture and practices of each chapter though, or is that more a byproduct of geneseed and the marines themselves "choosing their own destiny"?

If my theory was to hold any water, I think it would only make sense for Cawl to have his hand in only a handful of chapters. I don’t think it would be anything direct, but a gentle nudge in a direction perhaps?

 

It doesn’t have to be Cawl either. Maybe Bobby G wanted it, or some Inquisitorial conclave, etc.

 

Perhaps, Guilliman is just trolling his wayward brothers and is conspiring with Cawl to create chapters that resemble the old legions! Probably not

[mawhis]

I think we will over time see a few more chapters that could be thought of as 'slip-ins' like that. Never confirmed, but left as some fun for the imagination.

 

We already know that Cawl has been working on geneseed for all 20 Primarchs, so it wouldn't be a surprise if he already had Traitor-descended Primaris marines ready, and it would make sense for him to slip them out into the Galaxy if he feels that Guilliman is being overly cautious, or doesn't really understand how the Legiones Astartes are supposed to work.

[Nocturne Noble]

The Dragonspears seem to express Vulkan's selfless compassion and tenacity; ever striding forth whilst remembering to keep the memories of their honoured dead with them.

 

The Covenant of Fire have inherited Vulkan's intellect, penchant for philosophy and altruism towards society. And by incorporating the Promethean Creed they'll also gain his wisdom..

 

The Dark Krakens like to test themselves through the crucible of battle, just as Vulkan decreed, and in doing so exemplify his endurance and desire for self-improvement.

 

All in all I'm very pleased with these three successors. They all seem distinct whilst expressing a familiar facet of the Salamanders mythos and Vulkan by extension. I just wish the Storm Giants were canonised too, I have no love for the Black Dragon's or their aesthetic though, so better neither than both. I guess that's what "headcanon" is for.

 

The Black Vipers however seem shady as heck! I would say they took Vulkan's preference for self-reliance way too far by shunning allies, but with Cawl's agents shadowing them I don't think the red of their armour is purely cosmetic... Like the Minotaurs to the High Lords of Terra I reckon the Black Vipers are secretly Cawl's personal attack force, or at least a part of it. They probably murdered the Salamanders' envoy in rejection of Vulkan's legacy, or it's possible their Martian handlers did the deed to avoid leaving a trace that could expose the Chapter's true allegiance,

 

They'll make far better pseudo antagonists/anti heroes like the Flesh Tearers to the Blood Angels than the Black Dragons, a Chapter that flagrantly flaunts their cursed mutations - seemingly without censure.

 

I hope that in time all these Chapters will be explored in more depth, granting the Sons of Vulkan greater exposure and prominence in the overall lore.

Edited January 14 by Nocturne Noble

[Kelborn]

Covenant of Fire are almost 1:1 with my Primaris Ashen Blades chapter I did for the BBC Lasc challenge.

 

*edit*

And they got the old Iconoclast iconography of the XVIIth Legion, which was also my very first concept idea for them...

 

Stop spying on us, GW! *raises fist*

 

 

 

 

:P

 

 

Seriously though, it's great to finally have some official Sallies successors. It was really odd for them to not have at least some.

Edited October 12, 2020 by Kelborn

[ShadowSwordmaster]

I think these are great.

[Charlo]

These are so bloody good!

 

I think much like other refs to traitor geneseed, its intentionally vague and just red herrings.

[Inquisitor Eisenhorn]

Seriously though, it's great to finally have some official Sallies successors. It was really odd for them to not have at least some.

I know, I was just wondering: were there like only 1000 Salamanders flying around the galaxy before this?

[Jareddm]

 

Seriously though, it's great to finally have some official Sallies successors. It was really odd for them to not have at least some.

I know, I was just wondering: were there like only 1000 Salamanders flying around the galaxy before this?

 

Less.  The Salamanders had 7 companies of 120 marines each.  So only 840 + command and support.  People mentioned the Storm Giants and the Black Dragons (and possibly the Brothers of the Anvil) as possible successors, but these are the first 100% confirmed ones.

[Inquisitor Eisenhorn]

 

 

Seriously though, it's great to finally have some official Sallies successors. It was really odd for them to not have at least some.

I know, I was just wondering: were there like only 1000 Salamanders flying around the galaxy before this?

 

Less.  The Salamanders had 7 companies of 120 marines each.  So only 840 + command and support.  People mentioned the Storm Giants and the Black Dragons (and possibly the Brothers of the Anvil) as possible successors, but these are the first 100% confirmed ones.

 

That seems crazy to me.  Every other loyal founding legion seems like it has at least 10 times that many marines counting successsors, or just straight up flouting the codex organization like Space Wolves and Black Templars. 

 

At least I just got to the bottom of why no one ever sees Salamanders. 

[Gederas]

Seriously though, it's great to finally have some official Sallies successors. It was really odd for them to not have at least some.

I know, I was just wondering: were there like only 1000 Salamanders flying around the galaxy before this?

 

Less.  The Salamanders had 7 companies of 120 marines each.  So only 840 + command and support.  People mentioned the Storm Giants and the Black Dragons (and possibly the Brothers of the Anvil) as possible successors, but these are the first 100% confirmed ones.

 

That seems crazy to me.  Every other loyal founding legion seems like it has at least 10 times that many marines counting successsors, or just straight up flouting the codex organization like Space Wolves and Black Templars. 

 

At least I just got to the bottom of why no one ever sees Salamanders.

It's probably because the Salamanders were almost wiped out during the Horus Heresy (Drop Site Massacre utterly wrecked them) and Vulkan had an agreement that his Legion wouldn't be broken down into Chapters.... Because there was only around a thousand of them left.

 

Afterwards, they never really used Salamanders geneseed (or confirmed cases, as the case with the Black Dragons, Storm Giants and Brothers of the Anvil) until the Ultima Founding. For.... Some reason

[Plasmablasts]

I gather that the Ultima Founding includes roughly equal numbers of chapters from each geneseed. Given Salamander geneseed will have been in fairly short supply, maybe Cawl has acquired most of that available over the millennia and hence we have had very few, if any, Salamander successors before now.