Index Hereticus: Crimson Grasp

[Maatith]

 

INDEX HERETICUS: CRIMSON GRASP

 

Brutal warriors of the World Eaters, the Berzerkers of the Crimson Grasp have become the bane of many on countless battlefields and ship-to-ship raids in the long years since the Heresy. Long since disavowed of any notion of ‘wider Legion culture’ or ‘grand visions’ of a final victory over the Imperium, the Crimson Grasp are instead consumed wholly by their own crusade in the name of the Blood God.

 

 

As with many of the warbands of the Eye, the Crimson Grasp have something of a dual birth; a story of the personality that would come to instil some measure of control and identity over the warriors when the warband formed, and a story of the moment the warband broke free of its former masters - be that some Legion or grand warlord, or the hated Imperium itself.

 

The second birth of the Crimson Grasp is the same as most of the warbands born from the XII Legion, for it took place beneath the freezing skies of Skalathrax. As Khârn shattered the World Eaters, driving them in a broken and mad frenzy into both the Emperor’s Children and their own kin, the World Eaters Legion died. Captains and assault veterans and squad leaders rallied those that they could and held them together, becoming lords and champions of fledgling warbands. The warriors who would become the first of the Crimson Grasp were no different, banding together under the command of Ravager Grarl and seizing the Axeman’s Mercy - a Legion Light Cruiser still stationed above the daemon world.

 

 

GRARL THE FELL

Little is known of the earliest service records of Grarl, who came into the World Eaters Legion from the training fields of Bodt at some point after Angron truly took control of his sons. He seems to have quickly been inducted into the Legion’s Destroyer cadres, and by the time of the Battle of Yarant had been awarded the Blood Hand and was regularly fighting amongst the Red Hand Squads in the vanguard of the World Eater’s assaults.

 

By the time of the Solar War, Grarl had fully embraced the Khornate destiny of his Legion. He, and a number of other devotees amongst the Destroyer squads, even appeared to have begun to gain some of the vitality of the damned, with battle and bloodshed seemingly helping them to endure and revitalise themselves in spite of the heavy toll of their wargear.

 

Much of Grarl’s cohort of Destroyers were destroyed during the Siege of Terra, and he found himself in charge of most of the survivors. It was his first taste of command, and the first time he came to the attention of many within the wider ranks of the World Eaters Legion. Grarl gained a reputation during the long retreat to the Eye of Terror and the early days of the Legion Wars not only for his vicious dedication in the vanguard, but also for his passionate belief in the chance for the Legion to become something greater, even in the face of the Traitor’s stinging defeat.

 

As the Legion fell apart on Skalathrax, Grarl seized the initiative. Taking control of a number of the squads he was dug in with, Grarl led them through a mob of Fulgrim’s swordsmen and seized enough ships to get them back into orbit. The crew of the Axeman’s Mercy were reeling, unable to get a clear picture of the situation on the planet below, and were only too happy when Grarl inflicted a purpose upon them.

 

With a ship, Grarl and his Berzerkers soon became infamous, both as mercenaries in the Legion Wars and as raiders and pirates - Imperial ships too close to the Eye, as well as light cruisers and frigates within the Eye itself were prey to Grarl and his brothers. Soon, many warlords and would-be-princes in Eyespace were calling him “Grarl the Fell” for his fierce boarding actions, whilst his Berzerkers called themselves the Crimson Grasp - amongst their number were some of the last living bearers of a true Legion Blood Hand, and all materials that they needed or craved were rightly theirs to claim.

 

 

ALL WITHIN OUR GRASP

As mercenaries and raiders, the Crimson Grasp’s reputation has continued to grow over the long years since Skalathrax. When they fight under their own banner, they most often do so in order to claim the resources needed to continue their warmongering - enemy ships in particular have become common targets for their assaults. Once all within the ship are dead and dying, or once the bridge is on the brink of collapse, the Grasp and their allies have become masters at stripping every chainsword and bolt round, every drop of fuel and functional servitor, from their prey. Grasp boarding actions often trail heretek cultists in their wake - machine-idolators who worship the Axeman’s Mercy as a lesser god - and these hereteks will point out key machines and components that the Mercy has need of, helping the Astartes rip them from the walls and chambers that house them in order to take them back to heal or improve the Axeman’s Mercy again.

 

Beyond these practical piratical concerns, the Crimson Grasp fight as the Red Hand once did - they fight to prove their worth and to prove themselves as masters of combat and war. They are the template for Grarl’s vision of what the World Eaters could be: the exemplars and speartip of Khorne, blessed and the eternal headsmen of the Blood God.

 

As with all of those who fight beneath the banner of Khorne for any length of time, the size and influence of the Crimson Grasp’s forces have waxed and waned over their long years of service. At their lowest ebbs, the Crimson Grasp has stood at barely a dozen Berzerkers and the Axeman’s Mercy, and they have been forced to act as little more than a single squad in a larger warband. However, at their moments of triumph (including now, as they enter the Era Indomitus), the Crimson Grasp has boasted over a hundred World Eaters of all stripes - from Terminator veterans who fought on Istvann and Terra, to turncoat renegades given the ‘gift’ of Butcher’s Nails by the warband’s Berzerker-Surgeons, and from almost-sane tacticians and squad leaders to slavering and mad possessed elites - as well as packs of Jakhal warriors, mobs of lesser cultists, whole platoons of traitor guard, braying herds of abhumans, and even lesser squads and minor warbands of Astartes Renegades, all packed onto not only the Axeman’s Mercy, but a small squadron of battered but predatory frigates, retrofitted transporters, and crude gunboats.

 

At present, with this comparatively vast force at his command, Grarl the Fell has led the Crimson Grasp out of the Eye for the first time in centuries, seeking to follow the crimson roads being carved through the Imperium by many of the great masters of the World Eaters - Angron the Red Angel, Khârn the Betrayer, Lord Invocatus, Lord Zhufor, Thaurox the Brazen, and many other champions all boast grand banners, and the Crimson Grasp are happy to fight in the vanguard of such chosen of the Blood God, knowing that to stand there is to stand in the Blood God’s gaze.

 

 

APPEARANCE

 

The Crimson Grasp wear the crested and rune-beaten power armour common to warbands of the World Eaters, and like their kin they make war primarily with the weapons once common to Angron’s Legion - with the Astartes chainaxe first and foremost in their armouries.

 

However, where many of their kin now bear armour daubed entirely in crimson, the bulk of the armour of the Crimson Grasp is a dark ash - near-black, save beneath the knee and on their pauldrons, where they wear the red of Khorne.

 

The origin of this colour for each individual varies - some repainted segments upon swearing to the Fell’s banner, whilst others once wore the white of the Legion of old, now long since stained by sin and by the soot of dying worlds. It appears to have first begun as an evolution of Grarl’s own armour, which all the way to Skalathrax remained the dark, pitted Destroyer armour of the Red Hands.

 

In addition to the brass icons of Chaos and Khorne that adorn their armour as it adorns their kins’ in other warbands, several members of the Crimson Grasp wear the Blood Hand - the honour given to the exemplars of death and fury in the Legion of Old. In the case of the oldest and fiercest of veterans within the Grasp, they have worn the Butcher’s Mark since the days of Horus’ rebellion, and have continued to fight fiercely at the front of the warband’s assaults in the long years since.

 

More controversially, Grarl has taken to continuing the tradition of awarding the Butcher’s Mark to his followers when they perform truly outstanding acts of savagery and violence, and some of the warband have earned such commendation that they wear the ‘Blood Hand’ as a permanent icon - the grasping fist of a rightful tyrant in blood-hallowed brass. To the veterans of many other World Eater warbands, this is a disrespect to the Blood Hand, and might even encourage complacency by discouraging the bearers from seeing the honour as potentially transient. However, there are not any signs that Grarl’s marked warriors have ever been content to rest on their laurels rather than constantly proving themselves worthy of the honour, and flinging themselves at the foe in order to re-earn it time and again.

 

 

THE CRIMSON VIRTUE

Whilst they obviously lack Sorcerers or Witches who can Summon and bind the legions of the Neverborn through psychic might, the Crimson Grasp nonetheless make heavy use of daemonic forces during their assaults. Many of the Crimson Grasp have studied a number of crude arcane blood traditions, and use that knowledge to hurriedly daub sigils and runes in vital fluid (both their foes and their own) in battle in order to thin the barrier between the mortal universe and the Warp - ideally until it is weak enough for the daemons beyond to rip their way through.

 

Unlike many ‘true’ diabolists, who bind and enslave the daemons they invoke with these rituals, the Crimson Grasp leave the daemons free: If they are worthy of Khorne’s gaze, the daemons will fight alongside them as allies and linebreakers, whilst if they have fallen short or disappointed the Lord of Battle then the daemons will offer them an additional foe to fight in order to prove themselves.

 

One daemon in particular seems to have taken a strong interest in the Crimson Grasp. Known to the Berzerkers as “the Crimson Virtue”, this daemon appears to be a lord amongst its own kind, and frequently appears as a towering figure wreathed in shadow and gunsmoke and the flames of war, and clad in the echo of knighthood and angelic grace and monstrous might. This creature has never given a name or title to the World Eaters - indeed no Berzerker of the Grasp has ever claimed to hear it speak - and its name comes from the final words of an Imperial preacher who did not die immediately upon being caught by the edge of its blade.

 

Despite its seeming indifference to the Crimson Grasp themselves, the Crimson Virtue seems to stand at their shoulder - swimming and flying in their wake through the Warp, and it is often amongst the first of the daemons to manifest itself once they weaken the veil. It seems as if this is because it feels the Grasp bring it prey of a scale that it feels is worth hunting - fortresses, armoured squadrons, and in particular starships. When ‘summoned’, the Crimson Virtue will generally seem to fly, the screams of the dying like wings upon its back, towards the bridge of the ship or the fiercest and largest opposition, in order to claim its ‘head’ for Khorne, pausing only to kill those that stand in its way. In exchange for giving it access to its prizes, the Crimson Virtue spares the Berzerkers its blade.

 

Even if the veil is not weakened enough to let through their daemonic ‘allies’ (if such terms can even apply to any daemons, let alone the likes of the Crimson Virtue), the Crimson Grasp frequently benefit from their blood rituals. As veterans of combat in Eyespace, the Berzerkers are frequently more used to fighting in the strange conditions where reality is thin than their enemies: They are used to shutting out the wailing air, the brutish machine spirits of their weapons are inured to the lesser horrors of the Warp, and if the walls start to weep blood that is more likely to sooth their Nails than unsettle their spirits.

 

Grarl and the Crimson Grasp do not see their daemonic allies as ‘patrons’, not even the Crimson Virtue. To their mind, the daemons of the Warp can be allies, and they can be weapons, and they can be trials in order to grow stronger, but if a Berzerker wishes to prove that they are mighty enough to earn the blessings of Khorne, then that Berzerker must do so without the comfort and succour of a patron. This is not entirely a philosophical choice, and Grarl has commented on many occasions that the daemons of the Skull Throne make for poor patrons - the likes of An’ggrath and Samus will rarely tolerate a mortal, the likes of the Crimson Virtue barely even see them, and the only thing Angron could do worse than being a father is being a patron. Daemons are ideals to try and emulate, not masters to pander to.

[Brother Sidonius]

Amazing write up. I'd read a whole book that followed the Crimson Grasp 

[Maatith]

Thank you! I was slightly worried they would come across as too generic a World Eaters warband
Hopefully I will end up writing some stuff on them at some point - we will see what ideas strike

[Minigiant]

I wanted to provide feedback on your Index Traitorous article about the Crimson Grasp. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and found the concept of this warband fascinating. I must mention that I'm not an expert in other Index articles besides Index Astartes, so my perspective might differ from a seasoned reader.

 

Firstly, I believe the headings in the article could benefit from some rewording to improve the structure and organization. For instance, instead of using "GRARL THE FELL," I suggest creating a section titled "Notable Members" and making "Gnarl the Fell" a sub-section within it. This modification would enhance clarity and make it easier to navigate the content. As well as open up the possibility of expanding to other warband members in the future.

 

Furthermore, I find Gnarl to be an intriguing character, and I think providing additional development regarding his personality, motivations, or personal journey would further distinguish him from being perceived as just another World Eater Captain. Exploring these aspects would make him more memorable and enhance the overall depth of the article.

Lastly, I suggest incorporating more descriptive language to differentiate the Crimson Grasp from the World Eaters and create a stronger visual and sensory experience for the readers. Here are some examples:

 

Visual imagery:

• "The Crimson Grasp, donned in their rune-beaten power armour, presented a fearsome sight on the battlefield. Their dark ash-coloured armour contrasted strikingly with the vibrant red accents adorning their knees and pauldrons."
• "Engaged in combat, the Grasp swiftly moved, their weapons whirling and slashing through the air. The glint of their chain swords reflected the blood-red light, casting an eerie glow amidst the carnage."

Sensory details:

• "As the Crimson Grasp made their presence known, the air crackled with the scent of ozone and burning fuel. Manifesting alongside them, their daemonic allies carried an acrid smell of sulfur, and haunting whispers echoed through the Warp."
• "Amidst the chaotic symphony of battle, the deafening roar of bolter fire reverberated, accompanied by the resounding clang of melee weapons against armour. The guttural cries and bloodcurdling screams of the Berzerkers, their voices hoarse with a savage fervour, pierced through the chaos."

Figurative language:

• "Like a tide of crimson fury, the Crimson Grasp surged forward, leaving behind a trail of broken bodies and shattered defences."
• "In the infernal dance of combat, the Berzerkers of the Grasp moved with an unholy grace, their every swing of the chain axes creating a deadly symphony of violence, building up to a crescendo of carnage."

By incorporating these suggestions, I believe the article will be even more engaging, providing a vivid depiction of the Crimson Grasp and their actions on the battlefield.

I look forward to reading more of your articles in the future.

[Maatith]

On 6/23/2023 at 11:27 AM, Minigiant said:

I wanted to provide feedback on your Index Traitorous article about the Crimson Grasp. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and found the concept of this warband fascinating. I must mention that I'm not an expert in other Index articles besides Index Astartes, so my perspective might differ from a seasoned reader.

 

Firstly, I believe the headings in the article could benefit from some rewording to improve the structure and organization. For instance, instead of using "GRARL THE FELL," I suggest creating a section titled "Notable Members" and making "Gnarl the Fell" a sub-section within it. This modification would enhance clarity and make it easier to navigate the content. As well as open up the possibility of expanding to other warband members in the future.

 

Furthermore, I find Gnarl to be an intriguing character, and I think providing additional development regarding his personality, motivations, or personal journey would further distinguish him from being perceived as just another World Eater Captain. Exploring these aspects would make him more memorable and enhance the overall depth of the article.

Lastly, I suggest incorporating more descriptive language to differentiate the Crimson Grasp from the World Eaters and create a stronger visual and sensory experience for the readers. Here are some examples:

 

Visual imagery:

• "The Crimson Grasp, donned in their rune-beaten power armour, presented a fearsome sight on the battlefield. Their dark ash-coloured armour contrasted strikingly with the vibrant red accents adorning their knees and pauldrons."
• "Engaged in combat, the Grasp swiftly moved, their weapons whirling and slashing through the air. The glint of their chain swords reflected the blood-red light, casting an eerie glow amidst the carnage."

Sensory details:

• "As the Crimson Grasp made their presence known, the air crackled with the scent of ozone and burning fuel. Manifesting alongside them, their daemonic allies carried an acrid smell of sulfur, and haunting whispers echoed through the Warp."
• "Amidst the chaotic symphony of battle, the deafening roar of bolter fire reverberated, accompanied by the resounding clang of melee weapons against armour. The guttural cries and bloodcurdling screams of the Berzerkers, their voices hoarse with a savage fervour, pierced through the chaos."

Figurative language:

• "Like a tide of crimson fury, the Crimson Grasp surged forward, leaving behind a trail of broken bodies and shattered defences."
• "In the infernal dance of combat, the Berzerkers of the Grasp moved with an unholy grace, their every swing of the chain axes creating a deadly symphony of violence, building up to a crescendo of carnage."

By incorporating these suggestions, I believe the article will be even more engaging, providing a vivid depiction of the Crimson Grasp and their actions on the battlefield.

I look forward to reading more of your articles in the future.

 

So the section focusing so heavily on Grarl the Fell exclusively rather than just having a notable members section was to tie into the idea that a Chaos Warband is so heavily defined by its leader. However if that is not coming across, another section should be added in which I flesh out the modern 'philosophy' of the Grasp to show how Grarl's story defines the warband.

I do have other 'notable members' in mind for the warband, however I think given I do have some ideas for a fic about the Grasp that they will probably get their personalities and importance to the warband explored there, rather than in short bios here.

I always tend to lean away from overly prosaic or literary descriptions in IA style articles, as they are (at least in concept, if rarely in practise) supposed to be semi-in-character documents,. However, there are probably places that it could be punched up a little to make it more engagement.

 

Thank you for your insight