Abyss Stalkers

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"The sky will bleed and the heavens shall rip apart, releasing the beasts from within."

- Line from Wulfentime Prophecy

The Abyss Stalkers are a Non-Codex compliant Space Marine Chapter in the 41st Millenium, created as a part of the Ultima Founding of Adeptus Astartes from the remains of the once lost Abyss Stalker Great Company of the Space Wolves. The Abyss Stalkers are masters of terror combat, attacking bit by bit, destroying enemy morale before striking for a final blow. Though they are a loyal Chapter, they are known to be more aggressive than most of their fellow chapters; attacking those they deem as heretics on sight, claiming it as an act of the Emperor's Executioners. It is unknown if this is one of the side effects of the Canis Helix.

This chapter seems to have a strange obsession with Morkai and his uprising, because of the strange vision that their Chapter Master Vidar had and now every marine has to go through as a test.

The Lost Company
Over the last 10 Millenium, the mighty Space Wolves have resisted the Codex Astartes and have held a chapter ten-fold the size of any other. Instead of being organized into 10 companies the Space Wolves instead divide themselves into 12 Great Company, the size of each can rival that of a whole chapter. Each finely tuned to its Wolf Lord, and so as one passes away a new takes his place and reforms the Great Company in his own vision.

Though rare, some of these Great Companies have become lost to the Imperium through unknown means, and so when such a thing happens a new Great Company must be made to replace them.

The fates of these lost companies are unknown, and such fate was that of the Abyss Stalker great company. Founded during the later part of the 37th Millennium, from the remains of a company lost to the ages. During there time as a Great Company the Abyss Stalkers were known for there effectiveness when it came to hunting and neutralizing chaos and renegade space marines. Hunting them down for months across the galaxy before bringing justice in the Emperor's name. It was for the honor of once again being the Emperor's executioners that the Great Company sought, an honor that they held dearly.

They fought in the Emperor's name for nearly 500 years before during a hunt against the newly named Renegade Chapter the Ebony Ravens. The hunt went as normal, and the Abyss Stalkers made quick work of them, but before the killing blow could be dealt to the Renegades they escaped into the warp. Close behind them the Abyss Stalkers also leaped blindly into the warp, only to be trapped and lost.

Returning to the Imperium
Due to the formation of the Great Rift the veil between reality and the Immaterium had been torn asunder...allowing the Abyss Stalkers to finally escape their 4 millennia-long imprisonment of the Warp. With reality torn asunder, the Abyss Stalkers remaining Astropath was finally able to detect the light of the Astronomican, and immediately made an emergency maneuver to escape the clutches of the Immaterium and burst into the material realm. Disoriented by the extreme time-dilation of their time trapped in the warp, the battered Abyss Stalkers were met by a small flotilla of wicked looking Imperial vessels.

The Wolf Lord was hailed by the commander of the mysterious vessels - a Brother-Captain of the mysterious Grey Knights Space Marine Chapter. These silver-clad Astartes were unknown to them, and even though they had just met, Vidar sensed a hatred in there eyes against them. Fortunately, before a conflict could break out, an Inquisitor of the Ordo Malleus appeared on the viewscreen and explained the reason for their appearance. He informed the Abyss Stalkers to stand down. The Inquisition was well-aware who they were, and what had happened to them, and the Grey Knights prognosticators predicted where they would exit from the warp.

Satisfied that the Space Wolves were, who they claimed to be, one last protocol had to be carried out. The Space Wolves would submit themselves for testing - physically, mentally and spiritually, to ensure that they were pure - body and soul - after such a long sojourn in the Warp, something that surprised Vidar as he had thought they were gone only a few years. After several days, the Abyss Stalkers passed the tests and were allowed to depart the Grey Knights company. However, the Inquisitor informed them of recent events that had occurred - the fall of Cadia, the current Black Crusade that assailed the realm of the Imperium - and most troubling of all - the siege of the Fenris System. The Abyss Stalkers howled with incandescent rage, enraged at what had befallen their beloved home system.

They immediately set course for their Chapter homeworld of Fenris. While en route, they encountered the massive flotilla of Imperial warships of various Imperial forces and the livery of several different Adeptus Astartes Chapters. At first confused, they were hailed by a massive flagship, the likes of which had not been seen since the time of the Great Crusade, ten millennia earlier, and were invited aboard to have an audience with the new, acting Lord Commander of the Imperium. Though cautious, Vidar and an envoy of his finest Wolf Guard allowed themselves to be escorted to the mighty ship.

Once aboard they were brought before the Lord Commander and were immediately stuck silent for the massive being that sat before them upon his command throne, could be none other than a son of the God Emperor. As the mighty demi-god rose from his seat, the Space Wolves immediately dropped to one knee and bowed in servitude to the mighty Primarch. Roboute Guilliman introduced himself and explained to the Space Wolves what had recently occurred. Though pressed for time, as he had a Crusade to prosecute, he offered the Abyss Stalkers the opportunity to join him, to bring the light of the Emperor's wrath to the darkest corners of the galaxy. The Abyss Stalkers immediately rose to their feet, and drawing their mighty frost blades, threw their heads back and let loose with a long and mighty howl. They would go on to serves alongside Guilliman for several decades, helping the Avenging Son to prosecute the enemies of Mankind and help restore order to galaxy rife with insurrection and strife.

Following their long, dedicated service to the Lord Commander, it was upon Guilliman's recommendation to the Great Wolf Logan Grimnar, once contact was finally established with the errant Space Wolves, that these Sons of Fenris that had served so valiantly these last few decades, should be recognized for their sacrifice and dedication to the Imperial cause. In recognition of their deeds, the Great Wolf agreed and relented to releasing the Abyss Stalkers from their duties to the Chapter. They would be one of the first, to be the initial command cadre, to help stand up a newly created Successor Chapter created from the legacy of their gene-sire Leman Russ. And so, Vidar was granted with a substantial number of Primaris Space Marines, the core number of warriors that would become the foundation for the newly founded Abyss Stalkers Chapter.

Niflheim IX
"This land is fertile and will provide many great sons of Russ. It is here my brothers we plant our blades, this is our home. Today we save this planet from chaos, and tomorrow we claim it in the name of the Wolf King Leman Russ!"

- Quote from Wolf Lord Heimdal of the 3rd Great Company the Hræsvelgr

A world lost in time, there are no official reports of the imperium ever colonizing Niflheim. Especially when the dangers of the planet still hold. The surface of Niflheim is covered with giant beasts and monsters that murder almost any humanoid living on its surface. Even worse though is the snapping cold winters of the planet. These troubles make the survival of the planet's natives a harsh and dangerous one, making them perfect for the recruitment into a chapter of the legendary Astartes.

The truth of the planet colonization is that the people of Niflheim are the descendants of the survivors of the planets originally colony. The ship carrying the original colonists had experienced an electrical system failure that led to the ship crashing into the planet's surface, shredding most of the ship to bits leaving the imperial knights the colonists were equipped with to nothing but destroyed hunks of junk. The few surviving imperial knights didn't last more than a century before even there machine spirits gave up.

Locations of Interest


Niflheim is a vast and large world, being classified as a Super-Terrestrial world according to Departo Navigato. The surface area of Niflheim is almost twice that of earth, though Niflheim only has a singular continent with a few isles spread around it.

On this super-continent, there are a number of notable locations marked out by the natives of the planet. Each one of these locations has some importance to the natives, from marking the hunting grounds of different tribes to important holy grounds. These locations are as follows:
 * Land of the Sleeping Wyvern: This stretch of land is constantly in winter unlike the rest of the world. Its snapping cold winters make it impossible for nothing less than the most potent tribes and predators. On these frozen mountains, the most dangerous creature can only be described as a Wyvern from myths before the imperium. These powerful winged beasts can stand up to 30 feet tall and breath bursts of pure ice. It is often a great omen when one of these mighty beasts are slain, and the proud warrior who is able to kill one is usually welcomed back into there tribe as a Chieftain, a warrior above all. The area gets its name from an old myth, that beneath all of its frozen mountains rests a Wyvern like never before, and that the mountains themselves are just the boney spine of the great beasts.


 * The Ravenspire: Acting as the primary border of the Land of The Sleeping Wyvern and the rest of Niflheim, this set of mountain ranges is covered by a set of dark clouds that spew an almost constant array of thunderstorms. This range of mountains has also been noted as the "cursed lands" because of the strange storms. The tribes that live in this region are known to live within the many cave systems and are pale of skin. Because of the constant storms verbal communication is almost impossible so the inhabitants are very well versed in sign language. The mountains in the Ravenspire are the home of many different kinds of animals, with the most common beasts being huge bearlike monsters, and giant Rok's. The area obtained its name because of its highest peak, which is home to a giant black rok, which the natives originally thought was a godlike raven. Since then the area has been known as the Ravenspire


 * The Land of the Giants: This barren land is filled with rolling hills and many different plains covered in thick boreal forests. The tribes of the area are more equipped with technology than many of the other planets tribes. Whereas a normal tribe might have access to crudely made techospears these tribes are known to be equipped with things such as techno-blades, simple augmentations (such as bionic eyes and ears) though they are of the crudest design. Warriors of this region are also known to be equipped with crude sets of Flak armor. Ever since its rejoining to the imperium it has been a mystery of Niflheim's colonization, as not a single imperial ever mentioned such a planet being colonized. This mystery led to Inquisitor Metallius Harlan of the Ordo Hereticus to investigate the planet, his mission was two-fold. 1) Find the truth of the colonization of the planet, and 2) investigate the locals for heresy, as their mysterious colonization could be the work of chaos. After about a year of constant looking and scanning the planet, the Inquisitor was led to a place the natives referred to as "The Land of the Giants" and upon searching the area the inquisitor found the truth of Niflheim. Within a secluded valley the inquisitor found a heavily damaged ship crashed, and upon searching the ship proved to been launched during the long march, humanities first colonies to the great edges of the galaxy. Though threw some technical difficulties (Which in his reports Matallius noted that the difficulties were most likely caused by rouge warp storms in the area) the ship was forced to make a crash landing, upon the dangerous crash many of the ship's crew was murder, and most of its machines destroyed. Even worse was the Imperial Knights crafted for the journey, the few that weren't completely destroyed by the crash soon failed due to heavy damage, and the SCT to create more were badly destroyed during the crash.


 * Hermit Pass: This valley is tightly squished between two of the planet's largest lakes, and so the tribes of the area are known for being fishermen. When tribes of the area go to raid others they are well known for naval base warfare, their mighty ships assaulting the beaches of the tribe's camps before hordes of warriors jump out for the raid. This naval attitude was created because within the valley lives many beasts, some small and some hundreds of feet tall, these many beasts make living with the valley itself impossible. Though it has been noted that a few small tribes of less than 15 men have been able to survive the valley, this is because of the tribe's small size, which keeps villages able to be small and mobile.


 * The Highlands: This region is blanketed in beautiful thick boreal forests and rolling hills. This land has been attempted to be recolonized by the imperium multiple times, but because of native attacks, strange weather anomalies, and the ferocious beasts of the land have made this almost impossible with only the smallest outposts being able to hide away from these threats. Before becoming the Abyss Stalkers homeworld, Niflheim used to send tithes of bodies to the Astra Militarum, and the primary recruitment camp was located in the area. Though since the Abyss Stalkers have conquered and claimed the planet, the camp was repurposed to train new chapter serfs for the chapter. This has led to the camp gaining superior weapon systems such as towers equipped with auto-locking heavy bolters. These lands are known to carry lots of simple prey such as deer and elk, but at the same time creatures such as massive dire wolves also lurk the area.


 * Land of the Old Ones: After there crash landing, the immediate area became too dangerous to survive so the remaining survivors made a treck to find a safe location to settle down. This eventually brought them to these ancient lands, which they settled down in for many generations, though due to multiple civil wars the area was turned into nothing more then ruins. The remains of what was once a proto-hive city still remain here, alongside multiple outposts that were once used as garrison points for PDF forces, but due to the scrambled technology many systems were too scrambled to work. Leading to machines often failing, which led to civil unrest, alongside a weak governmental system led to many civil wars for the city. After what is recorded as a 50-year war the city was no more and its remaining civilians fled to the greater world, forming barbaric tribes to survive the harsh wilderness. This land is know marked as holy, and very few tribesmen have ever even stepped on its beaches.


 * Kraken Isles: This island is covered in a dense swamp that has seemed to grow sentients of its own. Marked as the single most dangerous area on the planet almost everything has evolved to rapidly adapted to anything that may threaten them. Even the simplest venom from one of these creatures as the ability to melt right through the flesh on contact. These extreme conditions make this area perfect for test possible aspirants of the chapter, as this island acts as the second stage for the testing process. Originally thought impossible, there has been noted a few extremely rare tribes that live in the area, though the tribesmen from this island are savage and barely human, even to the point the Abyss Stalkers don't recruit anyone from the islands.


 * Wispy Plains:  The large and flat plains of this area are great for hunting, and the tribes that live here are known to be extremely nomadic, moving with herds of food. These tribesmen are known to be protective of these animals, treating them as high-value resources and the main focus when they invade neighboring tribes. Living alongside these wild beasts often get these tribes into battles with the regions various beasts, wether be small and live in hordes using their mass numbers to strip a whole herd of prey to nothing but bones; Or be large and solitary creatures that could gut a human in a single swipe. Though through the many centuries these tribes have lived here they have grown an intense relationship to canines and often use them while hunting.


 * Forest of Wisdom: The thick forests of this area have been the home to the most numerous tribes in the whole planet, though these tribes have been noted to be a fraction of the size of many of the planets other tribes. Usually only including up to 15 members, upon reaching this limit these tribes create splinter tribes that are made from the extra bodies of the tribe. This is because large scale tribes could never live in the forests, their large size would make them to easy of a target from foreign invaders, and the mass size would make hunting for food to hard as most of the creatures of the forest have adopted many abilities to blend into the are. These tribes are known to be the greatest marksmen of all the planets though, for if a tribesman is born with eyesight problems or body deformities they will be quickly eaten by the forest, within a tribe everyone is a hunter and being able to use a bow is so known to them that its almost a third arm.


 * Flesheater Mounds: The tribes of this area have been known to be the most active in the art of war. Thousands of years of war have stripped the once-wealthy land the tribes originally fought for into nothing more then a barren wasteland covered in mass battlefields. These lands were once covered in lush green plains, and the land provided not many natural predators, making it the most ideal location for a tribe to settle, and could have been the location for a possible new Proto-Hive City. But because of how perfect the land was it was quickly contested by more than a hundred clans, causing wars of the mass size that would last years at a time. Children born into these wars would quickly be taught how to wield a blade and how to fight for if even a simple child can't fight for his tribe then they and their whole tribe will be devoured by other clans, caught in an endless war that not even the wisest shamans remember the start of, only that if they don't win and conquer it will cause great dishonor on the tribe as a whole. Because of how stripped the land has become, the act of cannibalism has become common within the region, as the flesh of the enemy is thought to strengthen one's body and mind, it is also the only source of food in the area.


 * Isles of Gods: Home to the chapters fortress-monastery, this land isnt organic and was artificially created by the Abyss Stalkers upon its arrival. As so this land is covered with many great challenges for any possible aspirants to cross before even becoming in contact with the Astartes chapter. From treacherous seas around the island, to ravenous mountains that populated the region the terrain of the planet has almost to flat area surfaces. The only safeguard for travelers is alone fortress within the great mountain ranges, this fortress is known as The Gate of the Emperor and is the only way to gain entrance to the chapters fortress-monastery through its many underground tunnels. Once getting through these tunnels the aspirant will have to witness the raw power of the chapters fortress-monastery a Ramliles-Class Starfort that hovers hundreds of feet above the ground, it's massive propulsion systems pushing the ground below to the point only a crater lays below it. The only way to gain access to the fortress-monastery from here is to take a small lander vehicle piloted by a sanctioned chapter serf to the fortress-monastery, where they will be greeted by a Wolf Priest, and where they will begin there trials to become one of the Emperors Angel of Death.

People of Niflheim
The people of Niflheim are known as the Niflan, though barbaric in nature the imperium has on multiple occasions had the opportunity to study these tribesmen. Because of the world's extremely harsh nature, many of its inhabitants have grown up to live a nomadic life, only building temporary villages.

Because of how hard it can be to hunt many of the beasts on the planet it is also very common for these tribesmen to participate in raids and wars for food, women, and land. It is for this reason that almost every child is a trained warrior, for the tribe can never truly know when there gonna be attacked, and in the face of war age is only the number of years you have protected your tribe.

The physiology of Niflans is close to that of the basic Terran, except for a few evolutionary traits the natives have developed to survive. This includes more slender muscular forms to keep themselves as small and light as possible for hunting, and more finely tuned senses.

People of War


Due to the nomadic nature of the planet's inhabitants, the people of Niflheim are naturally born warriors, who are trained in the arts of war from birth. Unlike the civilians of the millions of Hive Cities across the imperium, war is constant thought of a Niflan and everyone must be ready for battle at a moment notice. This is one of the main reasons the Niflans have are equipped extremely lightly, heavier and more complex armor could take minutes to fully equip, which is something most warriors do not have in the brink of a battle.

The most common equipment of one of these tribesmen is the pelts of beasts they have slain, these pelts provide some protection from attacks and prevent serious wounds, but are mainly worn to protect the fragile human body from the elements. They are also most commonly equipped with a spear for ranged melee warfare, bows or great bows for ranged warfare, or heavy clubs for close melee warfare. These weapons are usually crafted from either the bones or teeth of the creatures they murder or are made from crude metals. Though uncommon, weapons such as axes and swords are seen, though the craftsmen needed to craft such tools are usually saved for chieftains of high ranking members of society. There are a few numbers of tribes that are completely equipped in these rarer metals, though these tribes have usually grown to such size that building a permanent village is possible to defend.

Even rarer among the tribes are pieces of technology, usually saved for the Chieftan, these weapons have been badly crafted by mixing the advance technology of the 40th millennium with the primitive technology of the tribe. Resembling crude power weapons, these weapons have the same basic goal, to kill enemies with a high degree of success. The most common of these weapons are power spears, which can be anything from having a badly damaged power sword attached to a stick to having a haywire set of technology causing streak of energy to burst from the weapon. The rarest of these weapons are actually functional las-weaponry which is usually looted from destroyed imperial camps, because of the need of energy packs these ranged weapons only last a short amount of time before they run out of energy and are useless.

Society


The tribes of the Niflan have only survived all these years because of there deep investment in the Tribalism style of society. At the top of Niflan society is the Chieftain, these proud warriors have obtained the respect of its fellow tribesmen. Upon the battlefield, there is no one more dangerous than the Chieftan and his personal squad of Karl.

Though technically not part of the tribe hierarchy, the village shamans are highly respected individuals who only bow down to the tribes Chieftan. Highly sought out by tribes, shamans have a strange and mysterious ability to look into the spirit realm and gain knowledge far beyond that of a normal tribesman. Unknown to the shamans though is that fact that there mysterious come from the warp and that they themselves are psychers, it is actually from young Shamans that the Abyss Stalkers recruit there Rune Priests.



Under the Chieftan is the Karl, the honored warriors of the tribe. Equipped with the best equipment the tribe can offer, a Karl is a warrior above all else. The trained elite the Karl are tasked with leading the armies of the tribe and the personal bodyguard of the Chieftan. Upon a battlefield a squad of Karl and its Cheiftan is highly feared, for together this elite squad can wipe out hordes of warriors all by themselves.

The most common sight in a tribe is its warriors, both men and woman gender does not dictate where one is among the society, instead everyone is seen a finely sharpened blade, perfect for war. Most tribes train there young from the moment they can understand orders to become warriors, with those who can keep up with the harsh and rigorous training being abandoned to be devoured by the lands great beasts or to be sold to another tribe as a slave for resources.

The bottom of the hierarchy is its slaves, these humans are treated as less than simple tools. Usually tasked with the most tedious tasks of the tribe, these once proud warriors are stripped from everything that they once knew and "trained" to be loyal servants to there new masters. Upon the battlefield, it is common to see hordes of slaves pushed into the front lines only equipped with the most basic weapons, and barely any armor, it is the dream of these slaves to prove there wroth to the tribe through war so that they can once again be a warrior.

Religion
Because of the tribalistic nature of the people of Niflheim a religion has been formed. This religion resembles many of the greater Imperium feral tribes religions, with a heavy focus on spirit animals and greater beings of ultimate power.

Upon conquering the planet, the Abyss Stalkers planted seeds of the ancient Fenrisian religion, with the goal of combining the two into a Pseudo-Religion consisting of elements from both. Though it took many years the Abyss Stalkers were successful with this mission and were even able to make the Black Armoured Wolf Priests of the chapter seem as Demi-God beings, sent by the gods to choose warriors that would fight alongside them in the heavens.

A Thousand Tribes
The people of Niflheim live in a nomadic tribalistic way, and because of that, thousands of tribes of risen and fallen from power. In the greater scheme of things, a singular tribe is nothing but a single grain of sand. Though rare, there have been times when dozens of tribes have banded together under the leadership of great chieftain as a great tribe. Though these great tribes may stand as an impossibly strong tribe, once this great chieftain dies it is common for the tribes to have a civil war to become the new leader. Such is the life of a these tribes, to rise and fall just like a fire.

Helgafjell


Hidden deep within a man-made island is the Abyss Stalkers mighty Fortress-Monastry, known to them as Heglafjell (The Holy Mountain in High Gothic). Originally a Reamilies-Class Starfort, this massive ship has been hovering only a couple of hundred feet above the many mountains found in the Isles of Gods, this positioning was made to give the massive star fort the benefit of having the nearby mountains as camouflage, but to also prevent ground assaults that may attempt to breach its massive walls.

The massive propulsion systems of the ship have turned the area beneath it's into a chaotic hell of shattered mountains. Another effect of these systems is a storm that blasts underneath it, where the broken remains of mountains are ripped and torn into a whirlwind, these shards are then blasted into every direction with enough force to completely clear the feeble flesh of a human.

The Isles of Gods was designed to be a treacherous domain, with beasts gathered from around the Friorhol Sector running rampant. These beasts combined with the sharp cliffs and splitting mountains of the area make it impossible for travelers to make a direct route to the Monastery, instead the only clear path to the Monastery is through a heavily guarded Fort, this fort is known as the *Gate of the Emperor* and its location is deeply hidden within the island. The forts positioning within the deep valleys of the island makes it a perfect defensive strongpoint for the chapters serfs, who arm the building on constant guard. Once an aspirant has appeared though, it is tradition for a squad of the most honored chapter serfs to lead them through the many cave systems of the mountains, until they arrive a small lander dock, whereupon arrive the chapter serfs are able to fly the aspirant to the steps of the Helgafjell. It is only through this lone landing port are troops able to fly up to the Fortress Monastery and walk upon its mighty steps.

As once being a Remilies-class Starfort, the Helgafjell possess many defensive capabilities, with weapons that could rival even the strongest imperial battleships. In cases of great emergency, such as mass-scale invasion from the forces of chaos the Helgafjell is able to once again enter Niflheims orbit and act as a base of operations for the chapters' naval capabilities and local imperial navy ships. This massive ship was one of the gifts, Lord Commander of the Imperium, Roboute Guilliman granted the Abyss Stalkers upon giving their mission to reconquer the Friorhol Sector for the imperium. While it was only originally supposed to act as a base of operation for the Friorhol Crusade, whereupon its completion it would be given back to the imperial navy, the massive fort was personally gifted to the Abyss Stalkers by Lord Admiral Josef Comondus for there service during the Crusade, and to build a positive between the Imperial Navy of the Sector and Chapter, for they would very soon be working together often.

The Great Ships
Because of being part of the Astartes Praeses, the Abyss Stalkers are almost always under the attack of chaos, this has led to the chapter being needed in multiple systems at the same time. This rapid deployment system works well with the chapters 12 great companies, meaning that the chapter could be split up into many more strike forces than a Codex chapter. It is common for one of these Great Companies to be rathered in a system in preparation for an incoming attack, sent to directly deal with a threat (such as space hulk), or even to just be roaming on the edges of the Eye of Terror looking for a chance to test their blades again. So the chapter has assigned a ship of Cruiser ranking to each of the great companies, these ships are known to the chapter as Great Ships are usually better-equipped versions of already available imperial navy ships, and act as a great companies personal Fortress-Chapel and are equipped with all the basic systems a fortress-monastery is with (such as a miniature Librarius for company Rune Priests, Reclusiam for Wolf Priests, and Forge for techmarines to make repairs to vehicles while on campaign). Because of this, no two Great Ships are the same, as each Wolf Lord may have his own preference on not just naval warfare, but for strategic such as for the 2nd Great Companies Great Ship which has had most of its weaponry removed to increase its stealth capabilities. The only company that does not have a Great Ship is the cursed 13th Great Companies, who's wulfen units are attached to other companies as Auxillary units as needed. The current Great Ships are as follows:
 * Morkai's Retribution: This Overlord Class Battlecruiser is the personal Cruiser of the chapter master of the Abyss Stalker Vidar Farseer and the current flagship of the whole chapter. This is ship has been used by the chapter far longer than any other ships, having been used by Vidar back when the chapter was only a Space Wolf Great Company. Over his years of owning this vessel, Vidar has made the effort to replace the ships prow Torpedo systems with a set of prow-facing weapon batteries, to complement this new set of weapons, Vidar has also greatly increased the generator systems of the ship. The current captain of Morkai's Retribution is a Chapter Serf known as Gerhard Fehr, being granted this great honor for the great degree of piloting skill he showed during the Friorholian Crusade, where his leadership alone was able to his escort squadron alive when they fell under heavy attack from ork freebooters. His quick thinking of fleeing through an active minefield led to his squadron gaining a massive advantage, their small and quick vessels being able to dodge the mines, while the freebooters large and clunky vehicles smashed into almost any mine in its way. Though this plan led to the destruction of half of his squadron, it led to the destruction of the freebooters.
 * Sky Runner: This Dauntless Light Cruiser is the Flagship of the 2nd Great Company, the Sølvräv (Also known as the Silver Foxes in High Gothic). This ship was chosen for its quick speed and responsive maneuverability at high speeds. The ship's small profile already allowed the ship to be hard to detect before its enhancements by the Great Company, this enhancement was the removal of its prow weapons, instead of using the extra space as a location to implement multiple stealth machines. These machines include such technology as radar masking technology. These enhancements work perfectly for the great companies' battle doctrine, which has the heavy implementation of stealth tactics. This allows the great company to arrive at the scene of a mission unnoticed, allowing the enemy to only find out about there arrival when it's too late.
 * The Roc: Named after the mythical beast, this Strike Cruiser is the Flagship of the 3rd Company, the Hræsvelgr (Also known as Corpse Swallower in High Gothic). Being one of the only Great Companies to use the standard space marine strike cruiser, this great company cares not for a naval battle, instead of waiting eagerly for when they can once again breach orbit and invade the ground of an unsuspecting planet with the mighty roar of dozens of drop pods. Because of the great companies' heavy use of drop pods, this strike cruiser has been equipped to hold nearly double the amount of a regular strike cruiser.
 * The Emperors Fist: This Corinus-Class Grand Cruiser was a spoil of war when the chapter went defeated the White Scar Khorne Warband known as the Sons of Khorne. After may months of purifying, the ship was passed as free of chaos taint. The Emperors Fist is the flagship of the 4th Great Company, the Mjölnir (Known as The Hammer in High Gothic). Taken by the great company for the raw amount of damage the ship can output, this ship is a great addition to the companies love for sieges and tank warfare. The great company hasn't made many additions to the ships, with its firepower able to compare to even the mightiest capital ships.
 * Speartip: An unusual name for a ship, this Avenger Grand Cruiser does just that as it says. It acts as a spearhead for the rest of the chapter, using its close-range broadside to engage in heavy naval combat. This is the flagship of the 5th Great Company, the Gungnir (Also known as the holy spear in High Gothic), this great company is famed for its efficiency in boarding operations. The great company is known to use the ships mighty firepower to demolish a ship before launching its many Caestus Assault Rams, equipped with the chapters many terminator suits, ready to destroy whoever cross there path. This ship is not equipped with any Thunderhawk transports like many other Astartes naval vessels instead, this ship has many Caestus Assault Rams and Drop pods, which they use to launch their boarding operations.
 * Spirit of The All-Father: The flagship of the 6th Company, the Aesir (Gods among Man in High Gothic), this Space Marine Strike Cruiser was personally selected by the great companies Wolf Lord, Asger Icehowl to be his companies flagship. While mostly unremarkable when compared to some of the other great ships, Asger choose this ship for one reason, how it designed to be an all-purpose naval vessel. This flexibility with his ship allowed him to be on the front lines or in the vanguard when engaging in naval battles. This ship has served Asger for over a century and in that time it has blasted down countless heretics naval crafts.
 * The Swornblade: This Long Serpent-Class Battlecruiser is the flagship of the 7th Great Company, the Jörmungandr (Meaning World Serpheant in High Gothic). It was chosen by the great company for its fast speed, which complemented the companies natural aptitude for speed. While on the surface of a planet this great company is famed for its heavy use of biker units, but in naval combat, they are famed for using this battlecruiser. The great company favors using the ship's intense engine to blast at extreme speeds at the enemy, before releasing a barrage of fire from its many weapon systems. Though the great company has made a slight adjustment to the vessel, removing its lance battery in favor of a number of torpedoes for a more intense flank.
 * Shield of Humanity: The Shield of Humanity is an Overlord-Class Battlecruiser and the flagship of the 8th Great Company, the Hildisvini (Known as the Great Boar in High Gothic). Though the Overlord-Class Battlecruiser already has powerful weapons, and a decent defense, the chapter has had the vessel modified to have even more defenses, efficiently turning the vessel into an indestructible weapon of death. Taking the blunt of enemy fire before unveiling its firepower at the enemy. Though these extra defenses led to the ship having to remove some weapon systems, though as time has proven again and again the extra defense is a great trade-off for the loss of some weapon systems.
 * Wraith of Russ: This Strike Cruiser is the pride and joy of the 9th Great Company, the Ulfheðnar (Meaning Wolf Born in High Gothic), and so is the Flagship of the Great Company. Being one of the only great companies with the standard strike cruiser, this great company cares not for naval warfare, using the ship to hunt down heretics from systems away. For with this great company, the hunt is life.
 * Star of Humanity: One of the smallest great ships, the Star of Humanity is an Endeavour Light Cruiser, used as the flagship of the 10th Great Company, the Surtur (Meaning Fire Giants in High Gothic). Unimpressed with naval combat, the wolf lord of great company prefers missions where he can bring the enemies of the imperium to the holy flame of the emperor, and so sees little entertainment in the theatre of space. Seeing the need for naval combat though, the great companies wolf lord has decreed this ship to be his flagship so that he may take the support role, using its speed to get behind enemies so that larger and more powerful ships can take them out.
 * Doombringer: While seen as unusual for the chapter, the flagship of the 11th Great Company, Ragnarok (Meaning the End of Days in High Gothic) is an Exorcist Grand Cruiser. It is no secret among the chapter that this company prefers to use melta weapons, and many see that using this outdated vessel is just a sign of the greats incompetence in naval warfare. In reality, the great company chose this cruiser for its large capacity of attack craft vessels, which are composed entirely of Shark Assualt Boats, usually launching hundreds of these with skeleton crews just so the vessels melta-charges can cause heavy damage to the targeted ships hull.
 * Valkerie: The Valkerie is a Dominion-Class Battlecruiser used by the chapters final great company, the 12th great company, the Einherjar (Known as Army of One in High Gothic). This class of cruiser was chosen for its ability to be used in a wide array of scenarios, though the great company favors using large amounts of various attack craft so that they may sneak/blanket there heavier ships (such as thunderhawks), so that an enemy can never know where the majority of the power of the attack comes from. Perhaps the most skilled pilots in the chapter, this great company focuses heavily on naval combat, boasting many Stormwolfs and Stormfang Gunships. Its wolf lord being announced as the Master of the Fleets, the Valkerie is usually the main base of operations and the command vehicle of any naval battle it appears in.

Baldr & Váli
Baldr and Váli are Niflheim IX's two largest moons, both having an atmosphere capable of providing life. Both of these planets provide tithes to the Astra Militarum, as well as providing defenses to Niflheim, whether it is as ground troops, or as sanctioned troops tasked with using planetary defenses.

Planetary Defenses
As every planet in the imperium, Niflheim is protected by not just its loyal Astra Militarum regiments, but various other elements controlled by the imperial navy. Being located so close to the Eye of Terror, planets within the Friorhol sector are well equipped to deal with invading forces. These defenses are scattered across its planet and moons, those defenses are as follows:

Niflheim
Planetary Defense Force: Being controlled by the Abyss Stalkers, Niflheim doesn't owe a tithe to the Astra Militarum, unlike many other imperial controlled planets. Instead, these units are heavily trained so that they may one day become chapter serfs, these serfs are split into three different divisions.

The first being the most well-trained individuals, who are chosen to be the personal serfs of the chapter and are assigned to the chapters many ships. These individuals are known to be as well trained as the Tempest Scions, are equipped as such. Though most of these individuals will never be on the same battlefield as there Astartes Masters.

The second of these is known as Kinsmin and is usually pulled straight from an Abyss Stalkers clan before they left. While these kinsmen aren't trained to any of the degrees as any of the other serfs, they act as the personal servants of there assigned Astartes, and every Astartes in the chapter has one under there service.

The final of these divisions act in the same way as a normal planetary defense force, defending the planet from any foul scum that attempts to attack the planet. Being as well trained as an guardsmen, these unnumbered serfs are the loyal protectors of Niflheim, and every one of them would put their life down to protect there home.

Notable Members

 * Byrnjolf Daggerfist - High Wolf Priest, Honorary Wolf Priest Dreadnought. Among the huge ship metal walls of Morkai's Retribution there lies an ancient warrior, waiting for the days when his wisdom may be used. Or the day when he can once again fight as he did in the days of old - the Honoured Ancient known as Byrnjolf Daggerfist. Within the annals of the Abyss Stalkers Space Marine Chapter, this venerable warriors has forged a formidable legend within the Chapter's sagas, whose stories are told on feast days and to aspiring Neophytes.

Chapter Fleet
Being part of the legendary Astartes Praeses, the Abyss Stalkers face the horrors of the Eye of Terror directly, resulting in them being caught in a constant battle against chaos. To help them in their constant battle, the Abyss Stalkers have not only been granted permission to have ships that would usually fall under the control of the imperial navy but also keep a maintained fleet that is larger than most non-fleet based chapters.

Battle Barges One can never know when the terrors of chaos may come forth from the eye, and assigning such a power vessel to a single great company. Instead, the chapter keeps these insanely powerful ships in reserve around the chapters homeworld, being released to wreak havoc when the situation needs it. The chapter keeps an outstanding 5 battle barges in reserve.

Cruisers The Abyss Stalkers have a total of 16 cruiser class ships, ranging from the standard space marine cruiser to the dauntless-class light cruiser. Each one of the Abyss Stalkers Great Companies is equipped with a cruiser-class ship to act as the great companies flagship. The chapter also has 4 cruisers in reserve, just like its battle barges.

Escorts To act as support to the chapters larger vessels, the Abyss Stalkers keep a large inventory of escort-class ships. Keeping 10 Gladius Frigates, 10 Hunter Destroyers, and 5 Nova Frigates. These support vessels are usually attached to a great companies flagship whenever they leave the fortress-monastery on a mission.

Chapter Relics

 * Eye Of Morkai- This black eye with a yellow iris is the very eye Great Wolf Vidar ripped out during his Test of Morkai. It's kept in a preservation container and is kept in the Great Wolfs chamber, only brought out during times of war as it seems to enhance the psychic powers of any marine carrying it. Looking into the eye's reflects destruction and fire burning all around.


 * Skull of Morblak - This large orc skull was obtained after a battle against a chaos tainted orc boss on a warp planet. After the battle, it was taken as a trophy of victory but once brought to Helgafjell Rune Priests found it still emitted warp energy that causes those around it to fight even after death. After days of purifying, it was placed on top of the chapter's banner to give those around it even more power.

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