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The Carmine Shrikes are an ancient Space Marine Chapter created during an Unknown Founding and from uncertain lineage. This Chapter claims to owe their allegiance and loyalty to the Emperor of Mankind. They make their homeworld upon the strange feudal world of Bryth, which is a planet of frozen tundras. The Carmine Shrikes are a Chapter steeped in superstition and ritual, who listen closely to their Gladewalkers and their Fire Keepers, and reverently record most of their own histories. This said, they are no slouches in war, and the Carmine Shrikes are primarily a close-quarters chapter, as eager for a fight as they are to laugh, eat, drink, and be merry when occasions call for it.

The Chapter is old, its origins dating back to the fires of the Horus Heresy - and it is from these old fires that they draw their memory and strength, to take vengeance upon those who murdered the dream of unity. Though their cause is just, their methods and origins put them close to being considered renegades - thus it is that the Imperium at large refer to these unwanted sons (derogatorily or otherwise) as ' The Emperor's Bastards '.

Chapter History
For over nine thousand years, did the Carmine Shrikes fight in service to the Imperium of Man - Nine thousand years since its founding, with courage and wrath in their hearts, even though there are many within the Imperium who would see them humbled or worse, cast out for their wayward ways, and their wayword world that they call home.

Their true origins prior to their founding are shrouded in mystery, where only myth and legends do describe what became of their founders’ names. The Predecessors of the Carmine Shrikes, Astartes of such grandeur their lives have all but been lost to time, were well spoken of having fought vigilantly against the traitorous Warmaster Horus’ legions with fierce tenacity. However, they operated on their own, without banner or border by the loyal Legions of the Imperium. Throughout this Heresy they would fight until they could fight no more, becoming lost on a distant planet of alien beauty and feral danger that awaited them.

None know exactly what became of these vigilantes after they were lost to space and time, but when their names did resurface, it was not as they once were; rather, their successors—those who had forged the core foundation to raise a new Space Marine Chapter from, had welcomed the Imperium’s returning eyes with open arms. It was this Chapter who would band together as one, despite divisions and grudges borne before that time in the infamous Brythright Wars, to combat the forces of Chaos and those diabolical xenos who wished ruin upon their new homeworld and its people.

The vigilantes of old had been lost for nearly a millennia since their disappearance into the wilderness of space, but now here were their descendants and sons, ready and willing to usher forth the vengeance of the Emperor upon his foes. They were officiated by the Imperium into being a new Chapter, one whose founding and origins were lost upon man but their deeds far from it. They would be based from the very planet they had come to be stranded on for so long. They would take the name of a powerful airborne predator on their world—from then on being known as the Carmine Shrikes, their homeworld dubbed Bryth.

The Comlann Alpha Betrayel (Circa 263.M32)
About seven hundred years have passed since the Founding of the Carmine Shrikes, in the time known to the Chapter as the Era Artwyron - for it is considered the Chapter's golden age, when the first Highlord led the Chapter with temperence and just wisdom.

At that point in time, the Carmine Shrikes have answered the call to defend the critical world of Comlan Alpha against the Forces of Chaos - and waged a fierce war to protect it, and to buy them all time before Imperial Reinforcements could relieve them. But it was during the latter stages of the war during that year where treachery most vile would strike.

Few know for sure the motivations of the one called Mordradus - many say that his heart was tainted by jealousy which allowed darker powers to enter his heart. Some believe he coveted Artwyr’s position. A few say that he knew secrets of Bryth itself - secrets that he felt held both astartes and the humans of that world hostage. Regardless of the reasons, the Company-Lieutenant listed the aid of both the 7th Clan-Company at that time, and other willing renegades in a dark alliance with the same foes of Chaos besieging Comlan.

At the height of the war, Mordradus would strike - his forces tearing the Carmine Shrike forces apart in a bloody alpha strike. It was said that despite this betrayal, Artwyr was still able to lead his forces whilst simultaneously dueling with Mordradus. Mordradus reportedly was able to slay Artwyr, but not before the Highlord bought the Chapter and world time for the Imperial Navy Battlefleet Andeval to intervene in the battle and save the Carmine Shrikes from destruction.

Mordradus took Artwyr’s famed blade - the Pax Caliburnus - and escaped the wrath of the surviving Carmine Shrikes, thus forming the Ebon Talons with those traitors and renegades that sided with him. From now and until the end of time, they would be the foremost enemies of the Chapter.

Strangely, Artwyr’s body was reportedly missing - though his death was unmistakable. How this is so remains a mystery to even the most learned of scholars to this day... but many within the Chapter subscribe to the belief that the first Highlord of the Carmine Shrikes shall one day return in the Chapter’s darkest hour, at the end of time.

The Partholon War (Unknown Date.M36)
During the 5th Black Crusade of the 36th Millennium, the Carmine Shrikes were not left untouched by the whims of fate - for shortly after the Black Crusade had launched, omens were cast by many of the Chapter’s Glade-walkers, portending doom and woe for life itself.

Interpreting the omens as this coming Black Crusade threatening the Imperium’s very soul and balance, the Chapter had gathered itself war... but it was caught off guard by what happened next.

A decade ago, Bryth was infiltrated by a devotee to the Dark Gods - a single follower of the God of death and decay, Nurgle. He was led there through nauseous visions and eventually was able to infiltrate the Chapter Serfs. Eventually, many succumbed to the subtle corruption right under the noses of the faithful and even the Glade-Walkers, calling themselves in secret the Marbhdhraoithe (Lit. “Cult of the Necromancers”) and were even able to spread beyond the isle of Avalon.

Before the Chapter even departed for their vessels in orbit, enemy vessels were detected at the edge of the home system - tentatively identified as a Death Guard warband of unknown identification. At the same time, the omens of doom and woe intensified, to the point that several Glade Walkers became overcome with potent waking visions.

Then, disaster beyond imagining struck the Chapter - from within the burial crypts of Partholon, warriors from long ago would start to emerge in droves, attacking all save the members of the Marbhdhraoithe. The dead rose all across Bryth, but it was Partholon that was struck the hardest - for the dead within those crypts were all great warriors dating back nine millennia, and the cult was eager to take advantage.

As the Chapter fought the frenzied assault of their undead brothers, their fleet engaged with the intruders in orbit - but caught unprepared and outgunned, the Chapter Fleet was forced to make way, and so Bryth underwent invasion by the Death Guard. Sickness spread rapidly like ferocious cancer, the realms of Brosaria, Raonbentan, Tír na gCrann and Avalon in particular where hit the hardest as the Death Guard invaders took advantage of the Chapter’s collective paralysis by the undead crisis within their hearth.

None of the dead were spared from the accursed reanimation, even the corpses of beasts such as scores of Dire Shrikes from the past were touched by the Plague God’s curse of reanimation, such as the legendary great Black Adder of old - which proceeded to tear a breach through Partholon’s Walls in a bid to reach the Crann Saol despite the full might of the Fortress-Monastery’s defences being brought to bear upon the ancient creature.

The Carmine Shrikes and Bryth itself may have very well fallen to the forces of the Dark God Nurgle that day, where it not for a number of heroes who stepped to the fore - newly ascended Lord-Captain Diarmuid the Black of the Badb Catha, Lord-Captain Roibeart Mac Anstruther of the Nathraca Crann,  Lord-Captain Eogan Morcant of the Boghaichean Sinnoach and Champion Eoin Heira of the Stormydd Hydodda, and the wielder of Dyrnwyn at that time. They, along with the Chapter Ancient Khenbis the Long-lived would take the fight to the hordes of the dead and the damned within their home.

Ancient Khenbis would go on to fight the undead Black Adder, and although he fell in battle to the great beast his sacrifice was not in vain - for upon falling, he detonated his Thermic Reactor to not only deny the enemy another corpse to resurrect, but also to cripple the creature. The great creature fell shortly after, its second death come upon it as the Necromancers animating it were slain by the Lord of the Nathraca Crann in a daring mission.

Eoin Heira himself held a critical junction within the Fortress Monastery for many hours, slaying countless cultists and undead who stood against him and the legendary flaming blade Dyrnwyn, to the point that the corridors were choked full of bodies.

Eventually, the Fortress Monastery had been purged of both the cultists and the undead - in this aftermath, the catacombs were checked and purged, all save for the tombs of the Exemplars, which were reportedly guarded by grey ghosts that faded shortly after the Fortress Monastery’s securement, leaving the tombs unmolested.

Barely after the Fortress Monastery was considered secured, the Chapter launched a full-scale counterattack against the invading Death Guard forces, the wrathful Diarmuid at the forefront, having taken temporary full command of the Chapter as Highlord at that moment in time. With ruthless fury that even unnerved the warriors of the Na Torc Cré-umbha and the Stormydd Hydodda, he drove the Death Guard before him all the way to Fiodha - which at the time was under heavy siege by the enemy.

The Fox Bows were one of the few Clan-Companies who were not present at Partholon during the great war - they were preparing to leave for Partholon, gathering up the initiates and the scouts just before the Death Guard struck. For many, many hours they defended Fiodha fiercely, the same grey ghosts that defended the tombs of the Chapter Examplars also fighting beside them from time to time, and Lord-Captain Eogan Morcant not shying away from the fight himself even as he masterfully lead and directed the defence.

It was said that Diarmuid had fought and engaged with the leader of the Warband toe-to-toe as he broke the Siege of Fiodha, a corrupted warrior of great stature wielding a hammer of blasphemous power matching the Highlord blow for blow, before seeing fit to retreat when the tides turned against him. So driven by vengeance and wrath was Diarmuid that he would commit himself utterly and completely to the elimination and destruction of the Forces of Chaos and all things warp-touched immediately after Bryth is declared secured and the forces of Chaos are driven out of the system completely...

The great vengeance of Diarmuid would last for centuries afterwards, war after war after war fought in the name of righting the wrongs of the Partholón War: the Crow Lord would not settle for an eye for an eye, and took a hundred score in return. At first his campaigns met with acclaim, backed by the cheers of millions of Imperial citizens freed from Chaos’ yoke. They called him Dreadspear, in that strangely endearing manner Astartes adulate their most accomplished murderers, and it was a name said in love and respect...

And yet, no matter how many he killed, no matter how much blood stained his gauntlets, the rage of Diarmuid an Dubh could not be sated. It was a cold, insidious thing that hollowed out his core, and soon came to be the only thing that defined him. The name Dreadspear no longer held any notion of fraternal warmth, and soon the War Crows themselves could no longer willingly go along with the words of their beloved lord, he whom they had once loved like no other.

Diarmuid an Dubh “The Dreadspear” would fall in 220.M37, gored by a Chaos beast nearly thrice his size - and even then, his anger saw its body still and cooled long before he bled his last. It is said that twice did he call for his Glade-Healer, and twice did his brother hesitate, his desire to save his lord conflicting with his conscience.

Only upon the third hail did he finally respond, yet by the time he arrived it was too late - the Dreadspear was gone, his last breath long since rendered but a whisper on the wind. He was interred within the Catacombs of Partholon alongside his predecessor and mentor, and his fellow Examplars who fought side by side with him during the Patholon War, afforded the peace in death he had never truly known in life, the great spear Rhongomyniad which he wielded placed within the reliquary to remain for ever more.

As for the dreaded Warlord who nearly destroyed the Carmine Shrikes with his cunning scheme of undead warriors under the influence of Nurgle, he still remains at large to this day... and the Carmine Shrikes became ever vigilant forevermore for signs and sightings of him and his cohorts, and a marked change would come over their common funeral rites.

Another consequence of the Partholon war, would be the Keepers of the Fire Circle themselves becoming more insular - while they still take care of the spiritual health of the Chapter, the Partholon war had taught them bitter lessons, and so they founded the Order of the Black Watch and the Ember Knights, charged with security and rooting out any heresy within the ranks of the chapter before they conspire to ruin all...

The The Scáthach Crusade (Unknown Date.M37)
Within the early years of the 37th Millennium, the Warpstorm known only as the Tempest of Damnation would break out, cutting a swathe through Imperial Space and severing many critical supply lines as well as drowning countless worlds in chaos.

A hundred years or so after in preparation, the Imperium responded to this catastrophe with the launch of the Velveron Crusade - at its vanguard, countless Imperial Guard regiments, the vast majority of Battlefleet Andeval, Legios Excelsior and Conquestor (sic. ‘Dawn Breakers’ and ‘Onyx Rams’), and the scions of the Knightly House of Phrygnaia. When the Adeptus Astartes were approached to lend a hand to the Imperium, the Carmine Shrikes answered with the entirety of their 5th Clan-Company, as well as assets from the 4th, 3rd, 1st and 10th. On the precipice of the Crusade, however, a lone woman came forth, privy to visitations of the God-Emperor Himself – the warrior-scholar who would come to be known as Saint Scáthach.

Now with the fervent backing of the Ecclesiarchy, the newly minted Scáthach Crusade set out in earnest, a grand campaign of reconquest that lasted for nigh on half a century. Ever was the warrior-scholar herself at its head, the light of the Emperor guiding her ever onward, and on many occasions the physically diminutive frame of the Saint would be haloed in combat by a cadre of mauve-armoured posthumans. Precisely how the 5th (and seemingly the 5th alone) became so enamoured with the Saint’s teachings is largely unknown, that knowledge privy only perhaps to the mystic orders of the Gladewalkers, though the ramifications of Lord-Captain Colm Cille’s close cooperation with the Emperor’s chosen daughter would come to have irreversible ramifications for his Clan’s beliefs and to an extent, the beliefs of the Chapter entire.

Guided at last to the roaring eye of the Tempest at the cost of many battle-brothers of the Carmine Shrikes, especially amongst the 10th and 3rd Clans themselves, finding much honour and glory through the cost of blood and sacrifice in the process - including but not limited to 50% casualty rate for the 10th Clan, the loss of many champions and heroes of the Carmine Shrikes, the death of Lord-Captain Eogan Morcant and others. Scáthach bade farewell to her companions and fought on alone, leaving behind her attendants and her bodyguards to fight in a rearguard action to buy her time to ritually sacrifice herself to the God-Emperor of Mankind, resulting in a miracle that collapsed the anomaly in upon itself, at last releasing realspace from its stygian grip in a pillar of incandescent golden light.

It was during this conflict that the Lord-Captain of the 3rd Company Evalan, rose to legend as well, ensuring that the rearguard task force did not fail in covering Scáthach during the climatic engagement, his pure-white Stormshield painted with a blood red aquila from the blood of one of the living Saint’s attendants who daubed it with her life essence as she died speaking to him.

Though the Saint was forever lost to the Imperium in her final martyrdom, her memory lives on not only in the Ecclesiarchy, but in the annals of the Chapter. Why exactly the 5th alone deployed in full remains unclear to most, though the War Crows know full well. In the light of Colm Cille’s selfless dedication to the protection of others was the black stain of Diarmuid an Dubh scoured from the Badb Catha’s mien, and it is perhaps no surprise that a then-dishonoured Clan-Company, still seeking to atone for nearly two centuries of wrongs, were unusually receptive to both a doctrinal and spiritual renaissance, which trickled to the rest of the Chapter at large.

It was not only the War Crows who saw some change either in the aftermath of the Crusade - the 10th would began to tend to their wounds, during which a split is caused in the 10th Company, many calling for the reinstitution of the Grey Foxes during this trying time in order to rally the Chapter, while others stated that the Grey Foxes were simply to be untouched due to their holiness and status as martyrs and redeemers.

Lord Captain Finlay Baird would shut the faction asking for the rebuilding of the Grey Foxes down, stating that the Grey Foxes were too holy to ever be recalled and setting the standard that them being recalled to service must mean that something even worse than even the Company falling to fifty percent strength must happen to need their help once more and recreate their Order.

Lord Captain Finlay then had convened Priests to divinate when exactly the Grey Foxes would be needed again. Through much deliberation, it is agreed upon that the Grey Foxes will only be recalled to service years before the very foundations of the Imperium shake, and it is split in half. Such prophecy is written upon a stone tome placed within the Tomb of the Grey Foxes.

Chapter Homeworld
-Insert the map of Bryth here- '''The Homeworld of the Carmine Shrikes is the remote world of Bryth, a world that bathes in the light of two suns. It is a cold tundra world of forests and mountains - fertile with greenery adapted to the conditions in which this world orbits, with clean air and soft mists that hide its more elusive, otherworldly creatures and extraordinary predators. '''

Bryth is a unique Feudal Tundra World situated in the farthest reaches of Segmentum Ultima. It’s history is vast, though Imperial cartographers had thought it no more than a distant Xenos homeworld until the early M32 millennium, when it was rediscovered by probing Explorator vessels as bearing host to a Space Marine Chapter: the Carmine Shrikes. When they discovered this, the planet was aptly reclassified and reincorporated into the larger Imperium of Man. Unfortunately, Bryth’s placement lay within 24 AU of the later-formed Storm of the Emperor’s Wrath—a raging warp storm that poses an unyielding threat to the Chapter that resides so close to it. Fortunately, Bryth is safe from the ritual menace that lurks within such a formidable celestial phenomenon for the time being, allowing the Carmine Shrikes Chapter to prosper in relative peace.

Bryth’s earliest recorded history begins with its life as an Aeldari Exodite World. The wildlife of Bryth was viciously hostile to those unfamiliar with how to tame it, and even while it was a known, prospective world for Imperial colonization during the Great Crusade, the Imperium had deliberately chosen not to expend resources engaging the Aeldari due to the Horus Heresy unfolding. As such, Bryth faded into obscurity from Imperial eyes, and it would not be until a millennium later when they would hear from it again; this time, Imperial explorators being met by Space Marines of the Carmine Shrikes Chapter.

With the Exodites that formerly inhabited Bryth summarily purged or driven into near-extinction by the Shrikes, human settlement had taken its place. The Shrikes’ predecessors had delivered a host of Serfs that propagated the surface of Bryth rapidly, developing feudal communities to call Bryth home. After the discovery of the Chapter, foreign settlement was drawn to Bryth; be it from refugees of dying worlds or deliberately brought by the Shrikes. Bryth is one of two habitable planets in its star system, colorful in its diversity of both natural and imported inhabitants. The many human kingdoms on Bryth strive to co-exist alongside the inhospitable fauna and flora that the Exodites were cultivating before their arrival; some argue Bryth should be categorised as a Death World, however its success in sustaining mankind’s realms begs to differ for other scholars.

To this day Bryth has not once endured a successful, nor even attempted invasion by the organized enemies of the Imperium; however there have been instances of incursions on the planet’s surface from within. Tendrils of Chaos from the warp storm they reside by have made themselves known in Bryth’s past, from Cults to Daemonic exclaves forced into reality by the machinations of the Warp. Ever still, the Carmine Shrikes stand vigilant on their dangerous homeworld, awaiting the day the Emperor’s Storm may just finally break all hell loose upon Bryth, as prophesied by their Glade-walkers ages past...

Physical Characteristics
Bryth’s surface is best characterized by a semi-continental pangaea landmass that represents the bulk of civilization on Bryth. Several breakaway islands do exist in its vast, unilateral ocean, though only one of which is prominent enough to host a proper clandom. This pangaea, bearing the titular name of “Greater Bryth”, is where the majority of Bryth’s inhabitants do reside—including representing its Planetary Capital, the Fortress-Monastery of Partholón.

The geography of Bryth is a myriad of frigid cool and temperate zones encompassing alien ecosystems both foreign and endemic to Bryth. Its poles are ice shelves, massive amalgamations of frozen water that occasionally cause drifting pack ice to break off and fill into its massive ocean; this defines where the ocean turns coolest from therein melting ice, for the rest is considerably warmer due to equatorial geothermal exposure. The southern ice shelf connects to the southernmost part of the Brythian supercontinent, leading into the planet's warmer, temperate regions.

Lands on Bryth working closer towards the equator from here display characteristics of fertile soil and hospitable temperatures to sustain fruitful human life; because Bryth’s surface is so cool compared to Terra, it runs the very line of being a habitable planet at all. Fortunately, an equatorial crevice running alongside the Brythian supercontinent allows for a sustainable amount of geothermal heat to provide various variable climates along its west coast. Its polar coastlines and eastern coast however are prone to more extreme climates.

Uniquely, Bryth is one of few planets to demonstrate unending weather phenomena; to its south pole, there exists a phenomenon known to natives as the “Everwinter,” an ongoing blizzard that formed in M31 and has not disappeared from Bryth since. The eternal winter storm has significantly cooled the southern pole enough to freeze entire portions of the continent, a disaster that its native Astartes have been using to their advantage to found remote fortresses from the eyes of the human realms, so as to ever keep watch on this supernatural phenomenon and to guard against it...

The Ten Great Realms
All these land masses on Bryth’s surface are divided into ten realms - ten great clandoms, each one guarded and administered by one of the ten Clan-Companies. Within these kingdoms are numerous more nations, tribes and smaller clans who come and go as history marched forward. Some ruling dynasties being as ancient as the Chapter itself, others who came about more recently. Such is their number that only the Badb Catha themselves have anything close to an accurate count and recording on them all.

Compared to many Astartes recruiting worlds, the native population of Bryth is reasonably advanced technologically - many of its societies dotted across the landmasses of Bryth are feudal in terms of technology, though there are also more tribal societies and nations as well that dot across the supercontinent.

This is deliberate in design by the Astartes overlord-guardians of Bryth, for while strength and the ability to survive is good, having a population that can more easily adapt to life and circumstances off-world is also a boon, allowing for ease of transition for potential Astartes recruits - though traditionally the technology levels of the populace is always kept to such levels and the more dangerous predators of Bryth are kept from extinction - so as to continue to challenge the human populace and to ensure that there will always be strong potential recruits for the Clan-Companies.

Dùthaich nan Faileas is the northernmost Clandom upon Bryth’s supercontinent - hearth and responsibility of Clan Badb Catha, the superstitious War Crows have established their castle-monastery Dún Scáith (trans. “Fortress in the Shade”) upon a rocky crag overlooking one of the inland seas, effectively making this their region’s capitol. The Kingdom itself is a land covered in Pine forests, and while the land itself is also bestowed with highlands and wild moors, the name of the Kingdom itself has stuck throughout the millennia due to its double-meaning, for the “Country of Shadows” not only does it have a great great forest across its lands, but its people are also considered to be isolated and insular.

One of the two Clandoms neighbouring the so-called “Country of Shadows” would be the modest realm of Cymru, the region watched over by Clan Gwaed Gocha. The elite Blood Dragons rule the Kingdom from their region’s ancient castle-monastery of Carmolon. One notable geographical feature would be found right on the border between Cymru and Dùthaich nan Faileas - The Muirburn, a permanently scorched land from the ancient time of the Brythright wars, when the Dragons and the Crows once tore into each other to a standstill. This geographical feature now marks the solemn, silent border between the now allied kingdoms, with no one but the mendicant badb calling it home.

The other Clandom that calls itself neighbour to Dùthaich nan Faileas is the Realm of Avalon - shrouded in mists and forests, this realm itself has a notable in-land sea containing a sizeable island known only as the isle of Avolon, upon which the great World-Tree of Bryth resides, the very same tree which the realm’s guardians, the strange and secretive Clan Nathraca Crann protect with zeal and fervour. The Tree Snakes themselves watch over the land and island itself from the Chapter’s Fortress-Monastery of Partholon, which is called home to all of the Chapter, including its Tree Snake custodians.

Below Avolon and Cymru at the world’s equator is is the fertile breadbasket kingdom of Talamhméith (trans. “Fertile Land”), over which Clan Scáth Fiagaí keep watch and protect. The Shadowhunters themselves guard the fertile farmlands of the region from their Castle-Monastery of Dún Bigil (“Fort Vigil”), from where they also gather and send food supplies across the planet itself.

Across the eastern coasts of Talamheith, would lay the huge island-continent of Tír na gCrann, home to the warriors of Clan Na Torc Cré-Umbha, who watch over the island from their stronghold of Droichead Nua (trans. “New Bridge”). The Bronze Torcs themselves watch over the inhabitants of the island itself, which is covered in forests surrounding a mountain range in which the stronghold itself resides.

South of the Clandom of Talamheith is the Clandom of Brosaria. Brosaria is known to be diverse both in culture as well as in geography, with mountains, rivers and lakes to be found across it. The Stormydd Hydodda Clan protect and watch over this region from their Castle-Monastery of Gwyliocaer (“Watch-Hold”), the Iron Alks themselves choosing to only interfere in mortal affairs when the entire realm is threatened by the most dire of events.

To the west of Brosaria, would be the cold realm of Raonbentan, watched over by the Arann Madra (The “Iron Hounds”) from their watch-fortress of Coinnigh Arann (AKA “The Iron Hold”). Raonbentan itself is a region known for its frigid environment and its great mountain range bordering the sea. Its people are considered the most technologically sophisticated amongst the realms, but that does not make them any less superstitious or hardy.

South of Brosaria would be the realm of Machair, a land of tundra plains as far as the eye can see. Its people are amongst the most rural of the realms of Bryth, but fierce and strong, with a penchant for nomadic lifestyles, mounted warfare and ritualised raiding. Clan Gala Pegacorii does not maintain a single Watch-Fortress within this realm unlike the other clans, but instead watches over its people from afar, intervening and intermingling with its human inhabitants only as they see fit.

West of Machair and south of Raonbentan would be the realm of Fiodha, under the guardianship of Clan Boghaichean Sinnoach (“The Fox Bows”), who watch over the realm from the Watch-Fortress of the same name. The land itself is frigid with many forests, a perfect environment for the training and testing of new recruits for the wider Chapter.

South of Machair and Fiodha would be the southernmost realm of Bryth, known as Raointean, The realm of snow and blizzards. The Claisen Sneada clan watches over this realm and guards against the supernatural phenomenon to the south known as the Everwinter from their watch-fortress of Daingneach. Raointean is considered to hold the harshest environments of all the realms, but its human inhabitants persevere regardless and tend to make excellent recruits into the wider chapter.

Bryth is home to a number of creatures unique to it, from the regal Alks to the Dire Shrike - a monstrous bird with the unusual but brutal characteristic of impaling its prey upon jagged rocks and spiked objects, from whom the Chapter has taken its name.

A number of other dangerous creatures that roam the realms include the giant, crude but dangerous metal-devouring Ogrindr, the “Galloping Hounds”, and the ambling Ursiform, besides a number of other wild creatures, some whom scholars claim to resemble creatures of ancient Terra (those rumours are heavily disputed and often dismissed with scorn).

The realms also host to a number of other creatures that are considered myth - and although they are never confirmed by the Carmine Shrikes themselves, rumours of such creatures roaming the rural countryside and wilds still persist amongst the human populace to this very day...

Partholon
Partholón (lit. “Paradise of Parthalán”) is the current Stronghold-Sanctuary of the Carmine Shrikes Chapter, situated upon the Isle of Avolon, encompassing the Great Tree situated there. Before the erection of Partholón, there instead stood a modest castle by the name of Dun Pharlain.

The old Kingdom of Avalon it sat within had regarded it as sacred neutral ground, to be offered to their Astartes overlords in the earliest years of human settlement on Bryth. For centuries, kings and nobles of all kinds from within and on occasion without the realm would convene there to discuss matters of importance before the court of the Emperor’s watchful Angels, and the great tree itself.

Dun Pharlain soon became a natural part of Brythian life, with aristocrats coming to bury their dead under the roots of the great tree and seek the wisdom of their benevolent overlords. But it was only shortly after the founding of the Chapter did Dun Pharlain become eclipsed as an entity, replaced instead by the mightier Fortress-Monastery of Partholón.

From this point forward, Partholón would be the central hub of the Astartes on Bryth for millennia to come. From the Artwyrian Era’s formation of the contemporary Carmine Shrikes to the current modern era, Partholón has withstood the many eras of wars the Chapter has undertaken.

While the facility itself is a gargantuan bastion intended to serve the needs of the Astartes, humans have still congregated around its base, developing a city of their own right that would supply many of the Chapter’s Serfs to staff Partholón—a duty that most claim to be a great honor to bear.

This town, known by Dun Pharlain, and unofficially as Kingsmound—named so after becoming the cairn for High King Uthyr Penshrike—would end up serving as a focal trade node for the other Ten Clandoms of Bryth. Partholón itself is magnificently large, able to pierce the skies and even reach into the outermost layers of the atmosphere. From almost any part of Bryth its twilight spires can be seen, with the occasional airborne traffic flying into its many hangar bays along its centermost pillar: the Megalithium.

The Stronghold was designed to be an all-in-one supercomplex so that the Chapter would not require any additional bases, comprising a massive facility surrounded by two formidable stone walls over adamantine supports overlooking the greater lake surrounding the isle. Orbital defences designed to protect the bulwark of the entire planet are stationed on the ramparts surrounding the true keep within.

Partholón powers itself through a trifecta of sources: hydropower, geothermal energy and an ancient plasma generator buried deep below ground. The last of these three was its original source for the longest time, but has since begun to fail and as such new sources have been experimented with. Between all of its many spires lies a huge central courtyard that houses the Great Tree, ever guarded by the Nathracra Crann.

Some within the Oaken Circle believe that Partholón is a site of devotion to the Emperor, for it stands as a monument to the Carmine Shrikes’ immortal sovereignty over Bryth. Ground passageways do exist to facilitate vehicular travel, consisting of gates and bridges that allow passage between the layered walls. At its heart, Partholón’s Great Keep—famous for its iconic Primaris-grade armaglass stained windows and vaulted arches bearing the symbol of the Chapter—is known to be the very seat of the Chapter, sporting many noteworthy features such as the Megalithium Spires, the underground forge complex, the Terrarium Courtyard housing the Apocryphal World Tree and additional other facilities necessary for the Chapter's survival and function.

Chapter Organisation
The Carmine Shrikes Chapter utilizes an organizational doctrine that is not only somewhat different from a Codex-compliant Chapter, but also eerily echoes that of the old Space Marine Legions, something which alarms a few Inquisitors out there who are keeping a suspicious eye on the Carmine Shrikes.

Instead of 10 Companies with 100 marines each - with each company assigned certain roles - the Chapter is divided into 10 Clan-Companies with anything between 50 Astartes up to 120 Marines or so of 10 or more Squads each, though it is rare for a Clan-Company to gain such numbers. The maximum is strictly observed by all the companies as well as Chapter Command, and whenever there is a member overflow, lots are drawn and made to make bonds of kinship with an under strength clan company. Scout Marines are considered not part of this maximum, but no more than 20 or so at a time can be typically found attached to each Clan-Company after their primary training is complete with the 10th.

The Clan-Companies follow typical Codex-Compliiant organization for the most part, but most act like Codex-compliant Battle Companies regardless of designation, wherein they would go and execute their own Campaigns, more often than not on their own. They are each lead by a Lord-Captain, and they would each normally have two Lieutenants who help the Battle-Captain with his duties both on and off the battlefield. Each company often works as an independent force, only coming together with others if the need arises, save for the 1st and 10th Clan-Companies who act more akin to their Codex-Compliant counterparts.

The Carmine Shrikes also a number squads of marines in specialist formations - mainly two, the Fire-Knights and the Grey Foxes.

The Fire Knights is the militant arm of the Chapter's Chaplaincy, known as the Fire Circle, created in the aftermath of the near-disastrous Partholon War to watch their fellow brothers for potencial heresy, and rooting it out whenever it is found at the Fire Circle's behest.

The Grey Foxes are a formation of penitent brothers who are seen fit to be given a chance of redemption, who are forced to abandon their previous clan and adopt the silver-grey and new names, until they die in glorious battle. For both said squads, no more than ten are made part of each formation at any given time.

Another oddity of the Chapter's formations is its Circles - whereas the Fire Circle (The Chapter Chaplaincy) and the Iron Circle (The Chapter Armoury) is more or less akin to their more codex-compliant counterparts, it is the Oaken Circle and the Chapter War Council that breaks the norm.

The Oaken Circle is effectively the Chapter Librarius and Apothecarion merged into a single superstitious organization, that not only ensures the Chapter's genetic purity is maintained but also oversees the care and training of those Carmine Shrike Recruits that came to possess psychic abilities, training them thus to be the Carmine Shrike's equivalent of Librarians, albiet those who are also learned in the ways of treating the battlefield injuries of their brothers - and when need be, retrieve their progenoid glands.

The War Council is the ruling body of the Chapter - headed by the Highlord, which traditionally is elected by the Council to be their representative and face to the wider Imperium. The War Council consists of all Lord-Captains and the heads of the Chapter's Oaken, Fire and Iron Circles, and this ruling body typically dictates the course of the Chapter, with the Highlord as the residing voice, such was the case since the time of the first Highlord Artwyr himself.

Officer Ranks
Highlord - Effectively Chapter Master in all but name, typically elected from amongst the other Lord-Captains, and continues to hold their previous rank upon election.

Lord Admiral - The Carmine Shrike's designated master of the fleet, like the Highlord he is also elected from amongst other Lord-Captains, and maintains his previous rank upon election, and serves to guide and direct the Chapter's navy.

Lord-Captain - The Carmine Shrike's equivalent of a Company Captain. Like their Codex Counterparts, each Lord-Captain typically has a number of responsibilities they uphold, from Lord Executioner to Master of Recruits.

Arch-Walker - The Lord of the Oaken Circle, the Arch-Walker serves as the equivalent of a Codex-Compliant Chapter's Head Librarian on the War Council. He is normally the most powerful Glade-walker the Carmine Shrikes possess, and his word is usually heeded with care.

Arch-Healer - When an Arch-Walker cannot be present his counterpart the Arch-Healer takes their place. He serves as the equivalent of Chief Apothecary in more codex-compliant chapters, and effectively oversees the Chapter's geneseed in all aspects.

Fire Warden - Lord of the Fire Circle, the Fire Warden serves as Head Chaplain in more standard Chapters.

Reclusiarch - A Fire Keeper (AKA Chaplain) in charge of guarding the Chapter's Reliquary, their duties involve mainly the maintenance and safeguarding of the Chapter's relics.

Knowledge Keeper - The primary Chapter Historian from among st the Fire Circle.

Company Lieutenant - Two such Lieutenants exist in each Company, each effectively serving as their Lord-Captain's left and right hand respectively. They share in their Lord-Captain's duties and help assist him traditionally, and typically represent their superior's authority in their absence.

Vehicles
NOTE; Should there be no numbers next to the name, assume that it is a commonly used vehicle.

Transports

 * Drop Pods
 * Rhinos
 * Razorbacks
 * Termites
 * 3 Damocles Command Rhinos
 * 7 Rhino Primaris

Dreadnought Patterns/Variants

 * Castraferrum Pattern Dreadnought
 * Hellfire Dreadnought
 * Ironclad Dreadnought
 * Siege Dreadnought
 * Venerable Dreadnought
 * 3 Contemptor Dreadnoughts

Light Vehicles

 * Astartes Attack Bikes
 * Astartes Bikes
 * Scout Bikes
 * Land Speeders
 * Land Speeder Storms
 * Land Speeder Tempests
 * Land Speeder Typhoons
 * Land Speeder Tornados

Tanks

 * 2 Land Raiders
 * 1 Land Raider Redeemer
 * 1 Land Raider Crusader - Due to the love/hate rivalry with the Black Templars, this one was the only one made for the Chapter’s service.
 * 1 Land Raider Terminus Ultra - Only one due to certain difficulties maintaining it, but is kept for its very useful tank-hunting role.
 * 1 Land Raider Excelsior
 * Predators
 * Stalkers
 * Hunters
 * Vindicators
 * Whirlwinds
 * Whirlwind Hyperios
 * 3 Vindicator Laser-Destroyers
 * 1 Sicaran Battle-Tank

Aircraft

 * Caestus Assault Ram
 * 1 Fire Raptor Gunship - Leftover from the Horus Heresy
 * Stormraven Gunship
 * Stormhawk Interceptor
 * Stormtalon Gunship
 * Thunderhawk Gunship
 * Space Marine Landing Craft

Support Elements

 * Hyperios Missile Launcher
 * Thunderfire Cannon
 * Tarantula Sentry-Gun
 * 20 Rapier Armoured Carriers - Leftovers from the Horus Heresy, though their numbers are supplemented from a nearby Forge World

Equipment
NOTE; Should there be no numbers next to the name, assume that it is a commonly used Equipment. Limited numbers means that the particular piece of Equipment is not something that the average marine would have, with Extremely limited making it something only a number of Veterans would have in their possession.

General Wargear

 * Auspex
 * Bionics
 * Cameleoline Tarpaulin
 * Grav-Amp
 * Grav-Flares
 * Jump Pack
 * Luminator Signal-Flare Capsules
 * Omniscope
 * Photon Beam Searchlight
 * Signum
 * Stalker Flares

Beacons and Homers

 * Jamming Beacon
 * Locator Beacon
 * Teleport Homer

Shields, Power Armour and Variants

 * Power Armour MK 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 suits
 * 46 Power Armour MK 2 suits - Limited numbers, typically assigned to honoured veterans.
 * 32 Power Armour MK 8 suits - Limited numbers, typically assigned to honoured veterans.
 * Artificer Armour - extremely limited numbers, assigned mainly to Officers.
 * Boarding Shield
 * Carapace Armour
 * Centurion Armour
 * Combat Shield - limited numbers
 * Storm Shield - Limited numbers, typically assigned to honoured Veterans
 * 35 Indomitus Pattern Terminator Armour - Limited numbers
 * 15 Cataphractii Pattern Terminator Armour - Limited numbers
 * 10 Tartaros Pattern Terminator Armour - Extremely limited numbers

Specialised Equipment

 * Carnifex - Apothecary Tool
 * Familiar - Librarian Equipment
 * Narthecium - Apothecary Tool
 * Psychic Hood - Librarian Equipment
 * Rosarius - Chaplain Equipment
 * Reductor - Apothecary Tool
 * Servo-Arm - Techmarine Equipment
 * Servo-Harness - Higher ranking Techmarine Equipment
 * Mechadendrites - Techmarine Equipment
 * Purity Seals

Weapons
NOTE; Should there be no numbers next to the name, assume that it is a commonly used Weapon. Limited numbers means that the particular weapon is not something that the average marine would have, with Extremely limited making it something only a number of Veterans would have in their possession.

Close Combat Weapons (Standard)

 * Combat Knife
 * Shortsword
 * Chainsword
 * Eviscerator
 * Short Axe
 * Chainaxe - Limited numbers

Close Combat Weapons (Specialists)

 * Crozius Arcanum- Chaplain Weapon
 * Force Weapon - Librarian Weapon
 * Relic Blade - Extremely limited numbers, normally assigned to Officers and few other Veterans. Can take the form of either Broadswords or Two-handed Axes.

Close Combat Weapons (Veterans)

 * Chainfist - Limited numbers
 * Power Axe
 * Power Fist - Limited numbers
 * Power Maul
 * Power Sword
 * Power Spear
 * Thunder Hammer - Limited numbers

Dreadnought/Centurion Close Combat Weapons

 * Ironclad Chainfist
 * Seismic Hammer
 * Close Quarters Combat Arm with Storm Bolter attachment
 * Close Quarters Combat Arm with Flamer attachment

Ranged Weapons (Standard)

 * Godwyn, MK4, Phobos, Ultima, Umbra and Ultra pattern Boltguns
 * Godwyn, Phobos, Ultima, Umbra and Ultra pattern Bolt Pistols
 * Ignis Pattern Hand-Flamer
 * Astartes Assault Shotgun

Ranged Weapons (Specialists)

 * Astartes Sniper Rifle
 * Combi-Flamer
 * Combi-Plasma
 * Combi-Melta
 * Combi-Grav
 * Flamer
 * Plasma Gun
 * Plasma Pistol
 * Meltagun
 * Inferno Pistol
 * Grav-Gun - Limited numbers
 * Grav-Pistol - limited numbers
 * Storm Bolter

Ranged Weapons (Heavy)

 * Heavy Bolter
 * Cyclone Missile Launcher
 * Missile Launcher
 * Heavy Flamer
 * Lascannon
 * Multi-Melta
 * Plasma Cannon

Ranged Weapons (Dreadnought)

 * Assault Cannon
 * Twin-Linked Autocannon
 * Hurricane Bolter
 * Missile Launcher
 * Twin-Linked Lascannon
 * Multi-Melta

Explosives

 * Cluster Mines
 * Frag Grenades
 * Krak Grenades
 * Remote Detonation Pack
 * Melta Bombs - Limited numbers

Chapter Culture
The Culture of the Carmine Shrikes mimics that of the fierce tribesmen and people of their adopted home world - superstitious yet lax, unafraid of fights and joyous both in battle and in feasts. That said, while much of the Chapter’s recruits come from Bryth - they also recruit from other nearby worlds, and on occasion pick up promising youths from abroad during their campaigns.

This means that while the Chapter’s culture is predominantly similar to that of the tribesmen on Bryth, marines from other worlds don’t necessarily have to follow certain cultural formalities of the Chapter, but such marines are in the minority and can be looked down upon for not observing ritualistic rites from some of the more stricter, superstitious members or clan-companies of the chapter.

Chapter Beliefs
The Chapter only follows the Codex Astartes in the most loosest of terms, and views more strictly Codex-complaint Chapters as unimaginative. Predictably, they do not get along with most Codex-oriented Chapters.

The chapter's traditions are steeped in no small amount of superstition due to the tribal influence of their homeworld - they are individualistic, and place stock by individual heroism and initiative just as much as unity, teamwork and organisation.

While the Chapter is steeped in superstitious ritual and belief, they don't view the Emperor as a god - rather, they view him as the greatest of all men who had ever lived, or will ever live. That said, they tend to observe personal prayers among themselves.

The Chapter's Librarians are called Druids - Marines who have developed psychic powers. They tend to scry the Chapter's future, so that they might deliver death to their foes - or avoid it. They also act as lore keepers for the Chapter, guarding many written works and maintaining a library within their Fortress-Monastery. In a Chaplain's absence, they can also observe and perform rituals that are inherent to the Chapter.

The Chaplains of the Chapter work similar as any other Chaplains from other chapters - they observe the Chapter cult, and ensure that their loyalty to the Emperor remains true. They are learned in the varied rituals and ways of the Clan Companies, who maintained various degrees of individual sub-cultures in the chapter.

That said, they can at times be at odds with the Druids due to overlapping duties - some Chaplains tend to written words, keeping track of the history in the absence of the Druids and even guard said written works in the Reliquaries and the Library, while there are some Druids who would at times step in to help observe ritual rites within the Chapter. It is very rare for the two organizations to come to blows thankfully, and more often than not, they maintain distance between each other.

Every 200 years, the Chapter comes together - as many of them as possible - to attend to The Great Feast, celebrating their Founding over 10 millennia ago. Drinks and food are had, and it is during these times that the Clan Companies observe blade tournaments and mock melees - to settle perceived grievances and ensure that honour is satisfied and that all their blades are sharpened. The Great Feast is not only a time for rivalries to be scored and settled, but also for the Chapter to come together and renew their bonds of brotherhood, and the tales of the dead told and written down, with funeral rites observed before inevitably they set out for fresh campaigns.

It is also during the Great Feast that individuals within the Chapter can choose to renew bonds with their Clan-Company, or to otherwise move on and renew said bonds with those they feel closer kinship to. While an uncommon occurrence, it is usually done with a certain amount of respect, though there are times when the Clan Companies have come to blows over such matters of individuals swapping companies due to intense rivalries.

Chapter Gene-Seed
The gene-seed of the Carmine Shrikes is extraordinarily diluted and leaves no clear trace as to who could be the Chapters Gene-Father. While the gene-seed is stable over all it does leave a significant chance for mutation that, unlike other Chapters, does not seem to hold a unique pattern. Where you might find a Chapter like the Black Dragons, who almost all have bony protrusions and protuberances, or the Salamanders who all have coal black coloured skin, you may find within the Carmine Shrikes with mutations with little to no relation to one another.

Chapter Combat Doctrine
The Carmine Shrikes Combat Doctrine favours two strategies in particular - aggressive guerrilla warfare and combined arms assault.

They make a swift, coordinated attack on the enemy using any means at their disposal at the time, typically improvising and adapting along the way as the situation changes. Whether by dumb, sheer luck, cunning or by great will, The Carmine Shrikes do their best to overcome their foes and secure victory, sometimes at great cost.

The Carmine Shrikes have developed a bias for close combat over the millennia, with many of their warriors carrying a spare short sword at the very least when they go to fight, if not spears and axes.

Allies
Feel free to add your own
 * Blood Angels: Close Allies.
 * Raven Guard: Friendly
 * Salamanders: Friendly
 * Silver Skulls: Friendly
 * Astra Militarum: Friendly

Notable Rivals

 * Black Templars: Rivals of the strongest degree - the Black Templars and the Carmine Shrikes have almost come to blows before, but they usually settle matters of honour and blood by honour duels.
 * Flesh Tearers: Untrustworthy Berserkers.
 * Iron Hands: The Flesh is strong.
 * Space Wolves: Cultural differences, honour duels also tend to be frequent with them.
 * Ultramarines: Haughty Brothers.
 * Ordo Astartes: Overbearing Overseers.

Enemies
Feel free to add your own
 * Heretic Astartes: Priority Target