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This article, Blades of Dorn, is currently under active construction. The author, Algrim Whitefang, apologizes for the inconvenience. |
- "Follow me if I advance! Kill me if I retreat! Avenge me if I die!"
- — Lictor Ivan Gardorian, as the Blades of Dorn Chapter entered the Eye of Terror during the Penitent Crusade of Vengeance (112.M38)
The Blades of Dorn are a proud Chapter descended from Imperial Fists lineage, created as a part of the 12th Founding during the tumultuous centuries of the Nova Terra Interregnum during the 35th Millennium. This was a period of extreme unrest and civil strife, when the Imperium of Man had been split in twain. The Ur-Council of Nova Terra no longer recognised the rule of the High Lords of Terra and had seceded from the Imperium of Man, forming their own empire in the Segmentum Pacifiucs. This period of divided rule would last for nine standard centuries.
During this time, there were multiple foundings of Space Marine Chapters created to counteract the many outside threats to the unstable borders of the Imperium during this tumultuous period in Imperial history. The Blades of Dorn were one such Chapter, created to help provide much-needed security to the borders between the Segementum Pacificus and the Segmentum Solar. Since their inception, this Chapter has earned the respect of their forebears through their courage, battle-prowess, and centuries of service in the Emperor's name. However, there once was a time that the Blades' loyalty was called into question, for it is to the Chapter's eternal shame that they are successors of the formerly loyalist Crusaders of Dorn, who were corrupted after entering the Eye of Terror in 321.M37, as part of the ill-fated Abyssal Crusade, and reemerged centuries later in 112.M38, as the Chaos Warband known as the Brotherhood of Lethe.
History
A Blades of Dorn Astartes in the Chapter's original livery at the time of their Founding in M35. Note: This battle-brother is wearing relic Mk III 'Iron' Pattern from the latter Great Crusade era.
The Blades of Dorn were created during the turbulent era of the Nova Terra Interregnum when the Imperium was split into twin interstellar empires when the Ur-Council of Nova Terra had denounced the High Lords of Terra and claimed rule over the Segmentum Pacificus. This Age was marked by ongoing civil wars for reunification and disputes over old trade terms, tithes, and wavering allegiances. During this period, multiple Foundings of Space Marine Chapters occurred during this centuries-long period of civil unrest. One such Founding was the 12th Founding, which occurred sometime during the ninth century in the 35th Millennium. The Blades of Dorn was one of several Adeptus Astartes Chapters created during this time. However, few records remain regarding this particular Founding which was believed to have come to pass to counteract the rapid erosion and contradiction of the Imperium's borders during this period.
Most of the cadre of the newly created Blades of Dorn were drawn from the 1st Veteran Company of the Crusaders of Dorn, a Chapter that was predisposed towards aggressive and bold styles of warfare, dispatched from warzone to warzone in order to battle Mankind's enemies. During the Nova Terra Interregnum, the Crusaders of Dorn were one of the most highly active Chapters prosecuting the Nova Terran secessionist forces, as well as responding to various emergencies and adding their strength to multiple ongoing conflicts, often tipping them in the Imperium's favour. They were eventually recognised by the High Lords of Terra for their efforts and were found worthy of begetting a new Chapter from their genetic stock. The Blades' first Chapter Master was a bellicose and brutal warrior named Saul Invictarius, the First-Captain of the Crusaders of Dorn Chapter. He was chosen for his zealous prosecution of his duties and strategic brilliance to lead the newly created Chapter. Though oftentimes he was regarded by Imperial authorities as a bitter and hubristic individual, he was an undoubtedly competent commander whose personal valour was second to none.
Soon after their inception, the Blades of Dorn would claim the Feral World of Ostiarius as their new Chapter homeworld. Ostiarius was a planet whose human population was segregated into militant city-states that had only recently developed the use of gunpowder weaponry, making their home an opportune recruiting ground. Constructing their fortress-monastery on Ostiarius' moon, the Warden, the Blades began to recruit from the Ostiarian populace, eventually setting out into the galaxy to prove themselves to their progenitors, their fellow Scions of Dorn Successor Chapter and their Primarch. In the aftermath of the Reign of Blood in M36, the enemies of the Imperium had taken advantage of the turmoil and advanced farther into Imperial space, and thus the Blades of Dorn had their work cut out for them. Aggressively challenging the enemies of Mankind, the Blades became known for exploits such as the eradication of the Cult of the Unclouded Eye, the purge of the Chaos-corrupted world of Rygel V, and the defeat of the Aeldari Corsairs known as the Hands of Khaine, just to name a few. Soon, tales of the Blades' battles were becoming known throughout the greater Imperium.
The Years of Shame
Nearly three millennium passed, and the Blades of Dorn established themselves as a rising star among the more recently founded Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes. Honourable to their allies and implacable to their foes, this Chapter's valiant record might have seen them eclipse Chapters of more ancient provenance and heritage in time. But just as the Blades of Dorn were at their highest point, they were suddenly brought low by devastating news. The Crusaders of Dorn, their own progenitors, had been declared Excommunicate Traitoris after taking part in the massive Imperial Abyssal Crusade in 321.M37. It is unknown what they endured during their sojourn into the Eye of Terror, as Chapter after Chapter fell to the perils of the Eye, for the Abyssal Crusade had entered a hell from which very few emerged unchanged. The true account of what occurred within the Eye to the Crusaders of Dorn is unknown, but by the time they made their way back into realspace many standard centuries later in 112.M38, this once loyal Chapter was no more, for they had become the warband of Chaos Space Marines known as the Brotherhood of Lethe, wholly dedicated to the service of the Ruinous Powers.
While an early founding Imperial Fists Successor Chapter going renegade was a serious blow to all the scions of Dorn, it was particularly hard for the Blades, and not just because of the shock and feelings of betrayal that came with the report. The Inquisition quarantined off the Ostiarius Sub-Sector, placing the Blades of Dorn under the custody of the Ordo Hereticus to investigate them for potential heresy. Many felt at the time that the Crusaders of Dorn's corruption could have been a result of a deficient gene-seed, and as the Crusaders of Dorn's progeny, the Blades of Dorn were made out as potential conspirators. Of course, the Blades chafed at such accusations, refusing to submit to the Inquisition's screening and defiantly stating that they were no heretics. This defiance however only further convinced the Inquisition that the Blades of Dorn had something to hide, and many Inquisitors clamoured for the destruction of the Crusaders of Dorn's 'corrupted' bloodline. Tensions ran high, and no doubt the two factions would have come to blows if the Imperial Fists themselves had not intervened.
The Imperial Fists arrived upon Ostiarius to meet with the Inquisitorial representatives and gave them their proposal. Chapter Master Bronwin Abermort personally vouched for the purity of the Blades of Dorn and proposed a solution to their dilemma. Abermort offered to test the truth of the Blades' conviction by interrogating one of their numbers through the use of their own Pain Gloves aboard their mobile star fort Phalanx. Ivan Gardorian, the current Chapter Master of the Blades at the time, offered himself, personally, to be tested. Admiring his resoluteness, Abermort had his fellow Chapter Master taken aboard Phalanx and secured in the archaic device. During his interrogation, Gardorian maintained that his Chapter was innocent, even while being tortured by the Imperial Fists' most skilled Castellans. While the majority of Dorn's lineage deemed this sufficient proof, the Inquisition was still not convinced. To truly prove the innocence of their Chapter, the Inquisitorial representative argued, the Blades of Dorn would be forced to undergo a Penitent Crusade through the Eye of Terror, to prove their loyalty to the Imperium by braving the temptations of the Ruinous Powers without succumbing to it's corrupting influence. If they managed to return uncorrupted, all charges against them would be dropped.
The Blades of Dorn held an emergency council to discuss the proposed Crusade, and after scant hours of debate, they acquiesced to the Inquisition's demands. They concluded that martyrdom was preferable to an existence of suspicion and doubt. They would not dishonour their Primarch, and would not be judged by their fellow Scions of Dorn as found wanting. The Blades of Dorn gathered their forces and in a solemn procession of Battle Barges and Strike Cruisers, they passed through the Cadian Gate and disappeared into the iridescent dust nebulae that surrounded the Eye of Terror, and entered that hellish realm of Chaos.
Penitent Crusade & Vindication
Little record of the actions or whereabouts of the Blades of Dorn since they launched their Crusade exist within the Imperium's archives, but there were unconfirmed sightings of the crusading Blades on numerous battlefields around the Fortress Worlds of the Cadian Gate fighting against the Forces of Chaos. It was reported that elements of the Chapter appeared in force to take the fight to their hated enemies on every possible occasion, and once victory was achieved, they would disappear yet again back into the Eye. Once thought destroyed, the Blades of Dorn finally resurfaced near Cadia, battered, but still fighting their long war against Chaos. It was their Chapter Master, Ivan Gardorian, who ordered the Chapter out of the Eye after a subjective twenty standard years of combat against the Traitor Legions. Gardorian saw the toll that the Eye was taking upon his brothers and decided to end their Penitent Crusade of vengeance against the Forces of Chaos. To the Blades of Dorn's surprise, though only twenty standard years had passed for them in the Eye, almost eighty had gone by in realspace. Such is the all-too-common time distortion effects of the Warp.
The Imperial Fists were notified by the Blades themselves of their re-emergence from the Eye of Terror. The Chapter's mobile star fort, Phalanx, alongside an Inquisitorial escort, was despatched to Cadia forthwith, and the Blades of Dorn were granted an audience with their genetic forebears. The Blades were detained by the agents of the Ordo Hereticus and tested for the taint of Chaos. Enduring scrutiny from both the Inquisition and the Imperial Fists, the Blades of Dorn passed every test - physical, mental, and spiritual. They were not found wanting and were deemed uncorrupted. Satisfied by this news, the Inquisition formerly absolved the Blades of their progenitor's sins and granted them the Emperor's forgiveness.
It was further agreed that the truth of the Blades of Dorn's gene ancestry would, forevermore, be kept from future generations of Blades of Dorn Battle-Brothers, as this revelation would no doubt break the resolve of the already battered Chapter. The Blades of Dorn had successfully returned from the Eye, having cleansed over two dozen worlds, and with nearly half of their overall forces destroyed. Despite their sojourn into this hellish realm of Chaos, they had returned alive and still devoutly loyal, nonetheless. Deemed free of corruption, the Blades of Dorn were welcomed back into the Imperium's fold with open arms. The Imperial Fists even lent the depleted Blades stores of their own gene-stock to not only help them to rebuild their shattered Chapter but also to instill the purest bloodline of Dorn within them. The Blades were also gifted arms and equipment from the Imperial Fists' vast stockpiles to rebuild their stores of sorely depleted war material. Since their penitent crusade, the Blades of Dorn mainly focused on rebuilding their Chapter, determined to raise themselves to their former heights of glory.
Chapter Homeworld
Ostiarius
Nestled within the austere vastness of the Segmentum Pacificus, the world of Ostiarius is the solemn cradle of the Blades of Dorn Chapter. A place of ancient stones, sharpened steel, and sacred duty, Ostiarius has stood since the Age of Technology as a bastion of knightly ideals and feudal order. Its name, derived from ancient High Gothic meaning "Gate-Keeper," is no coincidence - for the planet guards a vital astro-nexus linking the Segmentum Solar with the outer marches of the Pacificus. Across its war-scarred continents rise monolithic citadels, castle-hives, and fortress-bastions built atop tectonic highlands, each ruled by noble houses that trace their lineage back millennia.
The climate of Ostiarius is harsh and variegated - wind-blasted mountain ranges, vast moors swept with freezing mists, and deep, tangled forests filled with primeval beasts. These lands are carved into fiefdoms by ancient rights of conquest, and the myriad of realms, baronies, and duchies all pay homage to an ancestral warrior aristocracy. The bonds of fealty, trial, and honour run deeper than blood. As such, every noble house raises sons and daughters in the traditions of martial valour, with knighthood being both an aspiration and a sacred duty. Even the lowborn may ascend through deed and courage. From childhood, squires are taught the virtues of patience, sacrifice, and the long siege—echoes of Imperial Fist dogma woven into Ostiarius' native chivalric codes.
A Call to Arms
Permeating the myths and legends of cultures the world over, the stories of knights are a cherished tradition among the inhabitants of Ostiarius, many of whom revere the noble warriors as personifications of glory, righteousness, and the will of the people. Countless knightly orders serve distinct lords, causes and philosophies. Regardless of their exact means, heroes from all backgrounds and nations can serve as knights, hailed as harbingers of exaltation in life and immortalised as legends by their dedicated followers.
Knights often dedicate themselves to the honour of their homeland and the glory of their kingdom. These patriots defend their nation against outside threats or travel the world to spread the influence of their people. Knights who swear their allegiance to the same lord must often work together to achieve goals greater than themselves, though not all such alliances unite knights without strife, and even those who fight under the same banner might not see eye to eye because of ulterior motives. Philosophy can be as much of a motivator as religion or patriotism, and many are the crusaders who fight for a specific cause with no allegiance to god or country. Whether seeking self-perfection through trials of goodliness or delivering the iron fist of law to ignoble miscreants, knights dedicated to disseminating a particular way of thinking can be found acting alone or in large groups.
Of all the motives behind knighthood, honour is perhaps the most ubiquitous as well as implicit. Many are the soldiers who bear a sword as well as a grudge, and those who wish to prove their honor-whether to their people, their nation, or themselves - need to look no further than the path of the knight. In addition to the aforementioned calls to arms, many knights follow a path defined by a particular quest, whether this expedition's mandate is divine, royal, or self-imposed in nature. A knight who dedicates her life to a singular goal or purpose is steadfast in her ways and may journey her entire life in pursuit of such a quest. Although some knights make their odysseys in pursuit of a vile monster or some holy relic, there are those whose voyages are a simple search for wealth and treasure. Knights in search of monetary gain typically do so for the sake of their kingdom or their knightly order and donate their valuable findings to the cause they believe in.
Knightly Orders
From the spires of High Caer Lantirn to the fortress-abbeys of the Western Reach, the knightly tradition is not merely cultural - it is spiritual. Knights on Ostiarius are not simple warriors, but icons of righteous bearing, warrior-saints clad in steel, bound to causes greater than themselves. Each Order, whether ancient or ascendant, upholds its own code, whether bound to a deity, a liege-lord, a lost relic, or the pursuit of a sacred cause. Some knights wander the land as Errants, seeking monsters to slay or philosophies to test in blood. Others take the Crusader's Vow, journeying with solemn devotion to slay the wicked, topple tyrants, or recover sacred texts from the wild wastes.
Yet not all knightly alliances are harmonious. The politics of honour are a blade's edge, and rival Orders sometimes war over precedence, broken oaths, or ancient feuds kept alive in ballad and memory. Despite this, the Blades of Dorn carefully harvest from among these Orders the most exceptional warriors—those who do not merely seek glory but embody restraint, duty, and resolve. Only those who prove themselves through the Trials of Vigilance—rites of war, humility, and sacrifice - are granted the honour of being inducted as Squires of the Chapter. From there, their rebirth into the Astartes is not seen as a departure from their heritage, but its perfection. For the Blades of Dorn are the Paragons of Knighthood given flesh of ceramite and will of adamantine.
Among the most famed Orders of Ostiarius is the Order of the Argent Gate, descendants of ancient guardians of the first stellar port constructed in the early Dark Age of Technology. Clad in silvered warplate and armed with relic-blades, their devotion to watchfulness and duty mirrors the Chapter's stoic ideals. The Order of the Crimson Mantle, zealots of penance and self-sacrifice, mark their flesh with the names of those they failed to save, their bodies living scripts of eternal shame and resolve. The Order of the Black Thorns, meanwhile, are a shadowy Order of duellists and seekers, sworn to uncover corruption wherever it festers - even among their peers.
These Orders form the crucible of Ostiarius, ensuring that the Blades of Dorn are not merely trained for war, but forged in honour. Each generation is a continuation of a martial dream begun by Dorn himself: the image of the perfect knight - unyielding, unbroken, and pure of purpose. Thus, Ostiarius remains not just a world—it is a proving ground of souls. A gate, ever-guarded, through which only the most faithful may pass.
Fortress-Monastery
At the heart of this knightly world lies Bladehold, the Chapter's fortress-monastery - an imposing gothic bastion carved into the Blackstone spine of the Skybreaker Mountains. This mighty citadel is carved into the very bones of the earth where the clouds bleed rust and the sun is swallowed by ash. It is less a structure and more a sanctified bastion-hewn wound in the planet itself, an eternal bulwark sculpted from black stone, grey adamant, and will tempered in endless war. A relic of the Age of Technology, the Bladehold is said to have been built atop the foundations of an orbital defense citadel from before the coming of the Imperium. Every inch of its cyclopean walls is engraved with runes of warding and litanies of Imperial devotion, and its vast bastions stand wreathed in the ever-churning gales that give the Skybreaker range its name.
The fortress rises in tiered grandeur, each level more sacred than the last. The Outer Bastions, manned by mortal vassals and aspirants of the Chapter, bristle with autocannons, void-shield projectors, and Vox-towers that never fall silent. The Ring of Vigilance, a series of towers linked by buttressed walkways and fortifications, houses the watch companies and honor guards of the Order of the Argent Gate, whose silver-armoured knights patrol day and night, banners trailing through the blizzards. Within, the Vaults of Provenance lie hidden beneath the northern slopes - a labyrinth of relic-crypts and consecrated chambers wherein are kept the wargear of legendary heroes, sanctified bolters, masterwork plate, and the fractured remains of fallen Dreadnoughts who once bore the soulfire of the Chapter.
At the fortress’s heart lies the Citadel Sanctorum, a hollowed cathedral-fortress encircled by guardian towers and shrouded in perpetual incense smoke. Here lies the Throne of Stone Oaths, a dais carved from a single slab of obsidian, veined with gold-leaf scripture. This is the seat of the Lictor, the Chapter Master of the Blades of Dorn, where he receives reports from his Knight Marshals and delivers judgments with the weight of centuries. Around him, the Hall of Litanies stretches in solemn grandeur, its vaulted ceilings echoing with the hymns of battle-prayers and the footfalls of oaths renewed in the blood of the penitent. Great statues of Rogal Dorn and the Chapter's founding Lictor, Saul Invictarius, flank the nave - each twenty metres tall and etched with the names of every fallen Prior and Knight-Errant since the Chapter's founding in the 35th Millennium.
Beneath the Citadel lies the Crypta Doloris, the "Vault of Grief" - a sanctum known only to the Grand Prelate and the Lictor, wherein the sarcophagi of slain Chapter Masters and the incorruptible remains of select martyr-knights lie entombed. Here, the walls weep condensation like tears upon the gilded plaques that name the lost. Within its candlelit recesses can be found the Blade of Invictus, a masterwork power sword said to have been forged upon the forge world of Atropos Prime and used by Saul Invictarius during the final pacification of the Kharthax Rebellion. No knight touches it unless called by a vision or sanctioned trial, for to wield it is to assume the weight of generations. Nearby lies the Pain Engine, a dread construct used in the Chapter's rituals of penance - its sigils sear the soul, its pulses scour the pride.
The Chambers of Trial, deep beneath the Bladehold's eastern ridge, house the Trial Circles, combat pits wreathed in relic-torches and watched over by Chaplains and Preceptors alike. Here, Squires are tested in blade and will; here, oaths are broken and reforged. Acolytes of the Order of the Crimson Mantle - those penitents who bear the burden of unfulfilled duty - also walk these circles barefoot, clad only in prayer-robes and bearing chains inscribed with the names of the fallen. In these halls, shame is not weakness, but fuel for the soul. Those who emerge are transformed—becoming either righteous blades or broken husks.
And above all, atop the highest spire known as the Ascendant Tower, the banner of the Chapter flies - an auric sword upon a field of sable, trimmed in gold. From here, the Bladehold watches the world below and the stars above, as a sentinel eternal. Beneath it, the forge never cools, the rites never cease, and the sons of Dorn ever sharpen their blades for the war eternal. Bladehold is not merely a fortress - it is a crucible of oaths, sacrifice, and legacy. A citadel where honour is forged into iron and the will of the Emperor echoes through stone, bone, and soul.
Notable Campaigns
- The Nova Terra Interregnum (Unknown Date.M35) - The Imperium of Man fractures into two interstellar empires, when the Ur-Council of Nova Terra dismissed the High Lords of Terra and claimed separate rule over the Imperium's worlds of the Segmentum Pacificus. The Blades of Dorn were one of several Chapters called upon by the High Lords of Terra to mobilise to this troubled region of the galaxy to help counteract the rapid erosion and contradiction of the Imperium's borders. Fighting alongside the elder Ultramarines Successor Chapter - the Wardens of Orask - and their fellow Scions of Guilliman - the Imperius Ravagers - this powerful triumvirate deployed from one warzone to the next, fighting against secessionist forces as well as adding their strength to multiple ongoing campaigns. These three Chapters helped to tip the balance of several conflicts in the Imperium's favour.
- Castigation of Aetius (345.M36)
- Defence of Amasis VII (389.M36) - Elements of the Blades of Dorn Chapter joined with the entirety of the Ebon Knights Chapter to combat a huge Aeldari strike force that was assaulting the world of Amasis VII. The two Chapters were seriously outnumbered by the Aeldari forces. When all hope seemed lost, the Blades of Dorn reluctantly pulled out their sorely-depleted forces after sustaining heavy casualties in the open phases of the conflict. They promised to bring nearby reinforcements from their Chapter as soon as possible. For five days the Ebon Knights valiantly fought alone, holding the Aeldari at bay. The Ebon Knights' Knight-Commander, Renannius Cole, held a breach in the Imperial lines, slaying two Aspect Warrior Exarchs single-handedly. The Aeldari prepared to launch their final assault on the beleaguered Space Marines when reinforcements finally arrived. The sky of Amasis VII was filled with Blades of Dorn Drop Pods. Soon the two Chapters fought in tandem which altered the course of the battle and destroyed the Aeldari forces completely. After the fighting, the Blades of Dorn praised the Ebon Knights' courage and tactical prowess. Both Chapters formed strong bonds of friendship and brotherhood during this campaign.
- Siege of Velorum Prime (405.M36) - In 400.M36, the civilised world of Velorum Prime was lorded over by the megalomaniacal Planetary Governor Doros Vidius, who ruled the planet with an iron fist. He led a violent and cruel regime and often exercised his sadistic tendencies on those that displeased. Many Imperial scholars believe that Vidius' behaviour was the result of daemonic possession or that he was a willing follower of the Dark Gods. Shortly after he rose to power through various nefarious means (such as extortion and murder) he declared his world's independence from the 'tyrannical rule' of the False Emperor and personally insulted the Master of Mankind. He also (allegedly) sacrificed thousands of Imperial officials to his patron daemon. The actions of such a disreputable individual could not stand.
In response, the local Segmentum Imperial High Command send several detachments of elite Tempestus Scions to quell the world-wide uprisings, but became bogged down in the deadly urban warfare fought within the planet's vast mega-city sprawls, which had been preparing for several years for just such a response from the Imperium. The conflict quickly bogged down into a stalemate, as both sides became deadlocked in a conflict that saw no end in sight. After nearly five years, the High Lords of Terra decided that enough was enough, and so, they sent official orders to both the Blades of Dorn and Tempest Knights Chapters to help bring the ongoing conflict to a decisive conclusion.
When word reached both the Tempest Knights and the Blades of Dorn of Vidius' cruelty and heretical practices, both Chapters immediately mobilised for war, intent on crushing the rebellious Planetary Governor's rebellion. When both Chapters arrived in-system, they immediately held a war council to decide on how best to proceed. Both Chapter Masters expressed their desire of having the honour of personally slaying the heretic governor, and discussed their plans until they both came to an accord. Since the Tempest Knights were the senior Chapter, the Blades acquiesced and agreed to grant the venerable Chapter the honour of leading the assault on the governor's palace. By dawn the following day, the Tempest Knights launched an orbital assault on the heavily fortified capital.
Meanwhile, both Chapters teleported their elite 1st Company formations directly into the heart of the palace itself, while the rebellious planetary forces were distracted by the Tempest Knights' initial orbital assault. The Terminator-armoured elite cracked open the supposedly "unassailable" palace and proceeded to massacre the governor's rebellious forces. Outmatched and outgunned, the mortal soldiers were slaughtered in a hail of assault cannons and storm bolter fire, and slashing lightning claws.
Fighting their way to the governor's command bunker, the Veteran Marines slaughtered all those that opposed them and broke their way inside, past the bunker's formidable defences. Once inside, the Chapter Master of the Tempest Knights personally slew the heretic governor and took his head as a grisly trophy. After flensing the head of the slain governor and dipping it in gold, he sent the gruesome trophy by Space Marine envoy to the Segmentum High Command. Upon the gleaming surface of the brilliantly shining gold-plated skull were etched the Tempest Knights Chapter Master's words, "Thus, perish all traitors to the Emperor."
- Assault on Drusus (587.M36)
- The Clovis Rebellion (112-114.M37) - When a Black Crusade is launched in the Clovis sector, a joint-Astartes strike force is sent to quell the five worlds that have become overrun by bloody insurrection. The Clovis Rebellion quickly escalates when a large force of Night Lords Heretic Astartes arrived and the Planetary Defence Forces of Clovis Prime crumbled. The Blades of Dorn, Blood Vultures, Brazen Lions, and the Ebon Knights launched a counter-attack to secure vital Imperial artefacts before Exterminatus was declared. It takes the three Chapters two more years of brutal conflict to cleanse the rest of the sector's worlds before they are declared free of corruption.
- Penitent Crusade of Vengeance (112-192.M38) - When the Blades of Dorn's genetic forbears, the Crusaders of Dorn, are deemed Excommunicate Traitoris following the events of the Abyssal Crusade in 112.M38, suspicion and doubt fall upon their progeny as well. Despite having their integrity and loyalty brutally tested by the Imperial Fists themselves, this is not deemed a good enough reason to allay the suspicions of the Ordo Hereticus. Therefore, the Inquisition forces the Blades of Dorn to undertake a penitent crusade into the Eye of Terror itself. Should they successfully prosecute this nigh-suicidal task, and emerge uncorrupted from this hellish realm, they would be deemed loyal and saved in the eyes of the Emperor. With no other recourse, the Blades of Dorn set course for the Cadian Gate, and then disappeared into the hellish realm of the Eye of Terror. Nearly eight decades later, the battered Blades of Dorn Chapter fleet once again reemerged into realspace near the fortress world of Cadia.
They were reunited with the Imperial Fists and granted an audience aboard their star fort Phalanx. They were detained and thoroughly tested by the agents of the Inquisition, both in body, mind, and soul, and were not found wanting. Satisfied, the Inquisition absolved the Blades of Dorn Chapter of their progenitor's sins and granted them the Emperor's forgiveness. The Blades had successfully purged more than two dozen worlds within the Eye but had lost nearly half their number in the process. To help assist them in rebuilding their shattered ranks, the Imperial Fists granted them some of their own genetic stock.
This was both symbolic as well as practical, as the Blades would now receive the purest of Dorn's bloodlines, which would help tie them closer to their genetic forebears, as well as absolve them of the tainted gene-seed of their corrupted progenitors. The Imperial Fists also provided some of their most ancient relics, arms, and equipment to help rebuild the fighting strength of the newly absolved Chapter.
- Serkis Compliance (692.M38) - The Ivaldi System was settled by humanity in the distant past and had remained isolated for millennia. Though bringing a new civilisation (who referred to themselves as the Serkis) into Imperial Compliance would bring the Imperium great renown, this formidable civilisation refused to bend the knee to the light of the Imperial Truth, and instead were prepared to fight to maintain their independence. The Imperium wanted Serkis's wealth and resources to harness for their own needs. So the securing of Serkis fell to the Brazen Lions, supported by select elements of the Astra Militarum and the forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Despite meticulous planning, the campaign did not begin well as substantial losses were inflicted upon the Imperial forces. The Brazen Lions recognized the dire circumstances of their situation and issued a request to Terra for reinforcements. Soon, Imperial reinforcements arrived in-system to augment the beleaguered Imperial forces. These forces included several additional Space Marines Chapters, such as the Blades of Dorn, Ice Dragons, Impalers, and Silverbacks Chapters. Despite his misgivings, the Brazen Lions Chapter Master grudgingly accepted these Chapters' assistance and immediately drew up plans for prosecuting the second offensive against the Serkis. Utilising the strength of their new reinforcements, the coalition of Angels of Death launched a successful second offensive against the Serkis that would soon see an Imperial victory.
- The Titan Wars (920-925.M41)
Chapter Organisation
Unlike their genetic forebears, the Imperial Fists, the Blades of Dorn are strong adherents to the dictates of the Codex Astartes, however, they only nominally adhere to the Codex in terms of tactical and logistical division of their troops, with their insignia and command structure varying somewhat in structure and use. Most notably, the conventions of title and nomenclature used by the Chapter are of marked difference from the Codex. Feudal heraldic ranks that originated on the Chapter's homeworld of Ostiarius are traditionally appended to the nomenclature of the Blades of Dorn's command structure. The Chapter Master of the Blades of Dorn, for instance, is known as a Lictor. The Chapter's Lictor awards these titles in recognition of acts of courage and skill-at-arms performed by individual Battle-Brothers. Every rank is fully capable of making tactical decisions on the fly and is encouraged to act on their own initiative should those above them in rank, fall in battle.
Hierarchy & Rank Structure
Officer Ranks
- Lictor (Chapter Master) - The supreme warlord of the Blades of Dorn, the Lictor is both ruler and exemplar of the Chapter. Crowned by oath upon the Throne of Stone within their fortress-monastery of Bladehold, the Lictor embodies unyielding will, discipline, and sacrifice. His word is law, and his banner the rallying point for every campaign.
- Seneschal (First Captain) - The Seneschal is the right hand of the Lictor, overseeing strategic deployments, Chapter logistics, and acting as master of the 1st Order (Veteran Company). He is often a voice of experience and authority, steeped in the lore of siegecraft and honour duels alike. Some Seneschals ascend to Lictorhood; others die guarding it.
- Knight Marshal (Captain) Each of the Chapter's Orders (companies) is led by a Knight Marshal, a grizzled warlord who is both warrior and war-court judge. Bearing the Great Sigil of Command, they lead crusades, command orbital strikes, and uphold the honour codes of their Order. Knight Marshals are chosen by feat and voted into command by a circle of veteran knights.
- Paralictor (Lieutenant) - Junior lords of war and battlefield commanders in training, the Paralictors serve under Knight Marshals and act as company adjutants or task force leaders. They are often given stewardship of tactical detachments, shield-walls, or strike squads. This ancient rank was revived following the Ultima Founding and the integration of the Primaris brethren.
Specialist Ranks
- Grand Prelate (Reclusiarch) - The Grand Prelate is the spiritual heart of the Chapter, High Warden of the Eternal Flame, and Lord of the Crimson Synod - the circle of senior Vicars who tend to the souls of the Orders. He carries the Scepter of Unyielding Will, carved from the stones of the Phalanx’s original shrine, and speaks with absolute authority in matters of doctrine and honour. The Grand Prelate leads the Rite of the Last Vow before every major crusade and performs the Rite of Severance when a warrior must be entombed within dreadnought sarcophagi.
- Viceroy (Senior Chaplain)/Deputy to the Grand Prelate) - Chosen from among the most seasoned Vicars, the Viceroy acts as the Grand Prelate's sword and shield, enforcing sacred law and leading the Synod when the Prelate is at war. The Viceroy may also represent the Grand Prelate during the Mourning March, a ritual procession held when a Knight Marshal falls in battle.
- Vicar (Chaplain) - Holy orators, keepers of oaths, and voice of the Emperor's justice within each Order. Vicars anoint the fallen, scourge the faithless, and invoke the Litany of Siege Unbroken before breaching operations. Each Vicar carries a sanctified crozius known as the Dornbrand, forged with votive metals reclaimed from siege-campaigns.
- Paravicar (Chief Librarian) - The Paravicar is the High Signifier of the Ætheric Circle, the foremost wielder of sanctioned psychic might and the Chapter’s Arcane Castellan. He is entrusted with safeguarding the Vault of Echoes, a sealed repository of forbidden lore and warp-tainted relics. Cloaked in robes etched with wards and bound in golden sigils, the Paravicar walks both the battlefield and the veil between.
- Signifier (Lexicanium, Epistolary or Codicier Equivalent) Signifiers are warrior-mystics, called "The Silver-Tongued" for their ability to speak not only to men but to the empyrean itself. They bear psychic staves shaped like oath-scrolls and their armor is often adorned with silver filigree and rune-etched purity seals. Each is apprenticed to the Paravicar or a senior Signifier until deemed worthy to stand as a full sentinel of the warp.
- Forge-Thane (Master of the Forge) - Clad in reliquary-armour adorned with votive chains and burning brazier-crests, the Forge-Thane is the spiritual and mechanical warden of the Chapter's relics, armouries, and engines of war. He leads the Procession of Iron during major rededications of Land Raiders or Dreadnoughts and is often tasked with overseeing the construction of planetary fortifications following campaigns.
- Forge-Smith (Techmarine) - Battle-brothers who have sworn oaths before the Machine Cult but serve the Chapter first. Forge-Smiths are knight-artificers and siege masters, maintaining sacred war-plate, directing battlefield repairs, and operating as liaisons between the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Chapter. Their helms often bear red ocular lenses shaped like stylized hourglasses—a symbol of time sacrificed in service.
- Medicae Primus (Chief Apothecary) - As head of the Apothecarion and Warden of the Gene-Crypts, the Medicae Primus is charged with safeguarding the Chapter's gene-seed, directing surgical rites, and overseeing the Rite of Last Harvest when a mortally wounded brother’s progenoid is reclaimed. Clad in white tabards over black-and-gold armour, the Medicae Primus is seen as a somber figure of both mercy and finality.
- Medicae (Apothecary) - Healers, harvesters, and battlefield savants, the Medicae are knight-physicians who walk with saw and prayer-knife alike. Each is responsible for maintaining the purity of their Order's lineage and often performs the Rite of Awakening upon new initiates. In battle, they serve at the vanguard not only to mend but to witness - their every recorded word added to the Chronicle of Flesh and Faith.
- Blade Eternal (Chapter Champion) - The Einheri of the Blade Eternal is the Chapter's supreme duelist and champion, the exemplar of the Blades of Dorn's martial perfection. Chosen by the Lictor himself through a sacred trial known as the Crux Ultima, the Einheri bears the Sword of Oaths, a masterwork blade reforged from the broken remnants of siege-born relics. He stands not only as the Chapter's first blade in ritual combat but as its living ideal - piety made steel. In battle, he fights at the Lictor’s side, challenging enemy champions, traitor warlords, and xenos tyrants to single combat, his oath-seals burning with invoked fury. To the warriors of the Chapter, the Einheri is more than a swordsman - he is the Verdict Made Flesh, the embodiment of all oaths taken, of all blades drawn in service to the Throne. His armour is clad in white and gold, signifying judgment and purity, and every victory he wins is recorded in the Scroll of Vindication, which hangs from his warplate like a mantle of glory.
- Paragon Blade (Company Champion) - Each knightly Order of the Chapter is represented by its own Paragon Blade - a warrior whose skill at arms and honourable bearing have set him apart from his peers. These champions are the pride of their Order, often leading the van in breaches or formal duels. The Paragon Blade's duties are not only martial but ceremonial, for they defend the honour of their Company in both word and steel. They are custodians of their Order's martial rites, and they spar often with younger knights to ensure their readiness and reverence for the blade.
Their wargear is a blend of practicality and legacy - most Paragon Blade wield master-forged swords or chainblades passed down from the Order’s founding, inscribed with the blood-oaths of fallen champions. The Paragon Blade answers only to their Knight Marshal and may act as a herald or second-in-command during the Rite of Trial, the Order's ritualized gauntlet for aspirant knighthood.
- Lord Oathsworn (Chapter Ancient) - Clad in relic power armour gilded with pale golden scripture, the Lord Oathsworn bears the Aegis-Standard of Dorn, a towering banner woven with threads soaked in sacred oils and dyed in the blood of martyrs. This standard is a relic of incalculable value, said to have once been blessed upon the ramparts of Terra itself. When unfurled, it sings the Litany of Stone, a reverberation of the Emperor's will and the unyielding legacy of Rogal Dorn. The Lord Oathsworn does not retreat, cannot fall, and will often fight to the death to protect the sanctity of the banner. He stands beside the Lictor during musterings and great oaths, holding the Chapter's legacy aloft even in the darkest reaches of battle. His role is both shield and symbol - his presence upon the field transforms warriors into zealots of unbreaking resolve, making him a nexus of honour and memory amidst the chaos of war.
- Knight-Standard (Company Ancient) - Each Order bears its own Knight-Standard, chosen from amongst its oldest and most revered veterans. The Knight-Standard carries the Battle-Tithe Pennant, which bears the names of all fallen warriors in the Order's history. These banners are etched in prayer-metal and stitched by relic servitors between campaigns. In battle, they serve as rallying points and symbols of the Company's oath, with vox-canticles linked directly to the hearts of all brethren nearby, whispering words of faith and remembrance. It is said that a Knight-Standard's fall is a dark omen - Orders will go to any lengths to retrieve the body and the banner, lest shame befall their legacy. Many have stood until their dying breath, surrounded by corpses, banner still held high.
- Sepulchral Warden (Dreadnought) - Interred within a venerable sarcophagus of siege-relic adamantium and gold, these ancient warriors are not merely engines of destruction - they are living tombs of wisdom and pain, whose iron voices echo with the weight of countless crusades. The Sepulchral Wardens are revered beyond measure, regarded as Knight-Patriarchs of their Orders. They speak rarely, but when they do, it is law. Each Warden is given the right to choose the successor to their own legacy - called the Oath-Heir - who is trained in siegecraft, heraldry, and the history of the Warden's campaigns. Their Dreadnought chassis is festooned with reliquaries, warding sigils, and lamentations carved by Forge-Smiths and Vicars alike. These venerable dreadnoughts are entombed beneath the Fortress-Sepulcher known as The Bastion of Oaths, deep within the Chapter's fortress-monastery. When called to war, they are awakened by the Forge-Thane and Grand Prelate together - through rites of fire, oil, and blood - to lead the charge, often placed at the heart of the breach. Their thunderous march and wrathful roars often precede victory, or utter ruin.
Line Ranks
- Knight Grand Cross - The Knight Grand Cross is not a battlefield rank, but a sacred and solemn grade of chivalry - bestowed only upon those Knight-Errants whose oaths have been fulfilled beyond measure. To be named a Knight Grand Cross is to be recognized by the Lictor and the Chapter's Circle of Honour for deeds of such magnitude that they become immortalised in the Chronicles of Stone, the Chapter's carved legacy-vault. These warriors are not just heroes - they are paragons, walking relics of the Chapter’s enduring legacy. Those inducted into the Grand Cross are afforded the right to wear Terminator Armour, often sanctified relics drawn from the Vaults of Oaths beneath the Fortress-Monastery. Their armour is inscribed with the Laurels of the Crossed Blades, and their names are spoken with reverence. In battle, they fight at the forefront of the breach—embodiments of Dorn’s eternal resolve, bearing titles like Defender of the Pale Gate, Warden of the Godwalls, or Victor of the Hollow Moons.
- Prior (Veteran Sergeant) - A Prior is a Veteran Sergeant, entrusted not only with command but with the spiritual and martial guidance of his brothers. Each Prior commands a Priory, a bonded cadre of three squads (roughly 30 Astartes) that function as a unit of ritual, rank, and oath. The Prior ensures that their brothers remain faithful to both the Codex and the Book of Vows, the Chapter's internal code of martial honour and penitence. In addition to battlefield leadership, a Prior oversees the training of Preceptor-Sergeants, guides Squires during their Trials of Fortitude, and often conducts the Recitation of Deeds following campaigns. When not at war, Priors reside within the Chapter fortress-monastery's Halls of the Watch, where they pass down heraldic lore, blade technique, and tactical insight to junior warriors.
- Knight-Errant (Veteran Marine) - The Knight-Errant is a fully fledged veteran of the Chapter, one who has walked the Thorned Path of Crusades, survived the Siege of Black Cintar, or stood guard on the Walls of Despair during the Ghoul Stars Reclamation. Clad in honoured battle-plate and bearing marks of hundreds of oaths fulfilled, the Knight-Errant has earned his place among the elite. Every Knight-Errant chooses a personal heraldic device, often carved into their left pauldron, displayed on a livery shield, or carried on a tattered oath-pennant. Many wield master-crafted weapons or bear nameswords forged in the crypt-forges beneath the Throne of Stone. They are revered not merely for their survival, but for the weight of their experience, often leading squads into the fiercest conflicts where loyalty and blood are tested in equal measure.
- Preceptor-Sergeant (Sergeant) - The Preceptor-Sergeant commands a standard squad of ten Preceptor-Brothers. "Preceptor" is an ancient term from the knightly orders of the Chapter's homeworld, meaning "one who instructs." In war, the Preceptor leads; in peace, he trains, disciplines, and teaches. He is both sword and mentor, guiding his brothers through both the physical mechanics of war and the chivalric codes of the Chapter. A Preceptor-Sergeant is permitted to carry the Oath-Signet, a relic sigil pressed with wax upon the forehead of his squad before battle, to bind them in a vow of victory. These sergeants are tested continually, expected to forge warriors from fire and failure, and those whose squads distinguish themselves are often elevated to become Priors or Knight-Errants.
- Preceptor-Brother (Battle-Brother) - A Preceptor-Brother is a full Astartes who has passed the Trials of Dorn, including the Vigil of Stone, the Trial of the Empty Blade, and the Gauntlet of the Crucible Gate. These warriors are the core of the Chapter, formed not only by gene-seed and ceramite but by ironbound faith in Dorn’s ideals and the Emperor's Will. Preceptor-Brothers swear fealty to their Order's Knight Marshal, and wear the Order's heraldic trim with pride -often painting kill-mark runes in chivalric script along their vambraces. These warriors are expected to uphold the highest discipline, honour duels of command, and recite the Litanies of Breach before every engagement. They are the sword-arm of the Chapter - unyielding, tireless, and solemn in their duty.
- Armiger-Brother (Scout Marine) - The Armiger-Brothers, or simply Armigers, are neophyte warriors who have undergone the major gene-seed implants but have not yet earned their full battle-plate. They are hunters, pathfinders, and infiltrators, operating beyond the vanguard to test their mettle under fire. They wear lighter recon-plate etched with rune-canticles of patience and endurance, and their trials often determine whether they live to swear the full Oath of Stone. Armigers are trained in siege disruption, enemy targeting, and infiltration, and are taught to operate independently as much as with their kin. Though many perish in this phase, those who survive and show both prowess and restraint are promoted to the rank of Preceptor-Brother, earning the right to wear a full suit of power armour—and a name within the halls of the Order.
- Squire (Neophyte) - A Squire is a youth who has passed the Initial Trials of Selection, often chosen from amongst the Noble Bloodlines or Warden Clans of the Chapter's mountainous homeworld. These aspirants begin their path in dueling pits, fortified ranges, and oaths-forging halls, where they learn the catechisms of siegecraft, rites of loyalty, and lessons in shame and silence. Squires are paired with Knight-Errants or Priors who act as their mentors - tasked with shaping raw potential into stoic resolve. Their training is brutal and unrelenting, including the famed "Seven Labours of Endurance," where they are denied sustenance, sleep, or light for seven days while defending a mock bastion under simulated attack. Failure is not punished - only remembered. Few Squires survive to become Armigers, and fewer still live long enough to take the final oaths.
- Page (Aspirant) - A Page is the lowest tier in the Chapter's martial hierarchy - typically a child between 11–13 Terran years, selected for strength, aggression, or spiritual fortitude. Drawn from the furnace-clans and war-brotherhoods of the Chapter's feudal world, these young souls are taken to the Scholum Bastionis, a stone-walled fortress-temple where their transformation begins. Aspirants are indoctrinated in the Maxims of Stone, trained to hold blade and shield, and taught the meaning of penance, shame, and sacrifice. Their trials are as much spiritual as physical. To speak during meditation earns the Cincture of Silence. To fall in mock battle is to be buried overnight in the earth of the Hall of Shields. If they endure - and are found worthy by the Chapter's Custodians of Oath and Blood - they are passed onward, reborn as Squires and marked for ascension.
Specialist Units & Formations
Blades of Dorn Preceptor-Brother Raban Halbanal, 'Enduring Defender of the Audrian's Stronghold', assigned to the 4th Order ("The Vigilators"), 2nd Phalanx Warders Squad. Note: Arrayed in rare and uncommon Mark IIΣ (Sigma) "Fulminus" pattern (void-hardened) power armour and armed with a relic storm shield and master-crafted Paragon Blade.
- Phalanx Warders - The Phalanx Warders were a specialised unit utilised by the Imperial Fists Legion of old during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras. Selected from amongst the ranks of the VIIth Legion's Breacher Siege Squads, this reinforced company was assigned to the defence of the Imperial Fists' flagship, the Phalanx, and other ships in the Imperial Fists' crusade fleets. Armed with a variety of deadly close combat weaponry and guarded by a formidable, slab-like boarding shield, the Phalanx Warders formed a bulwark against any aggressor that defied any assault and counterattacked with grim determination once the attack was blunted.
In honour of this proud heritage and reverence for the traditions and tactics of the VIIth Legion of old, the Blades of Dorn have adapted this bygone specialist unit into their Chapter's formations. By integrating this specialised unit into their order of battle, the Blades of Dorn enhance their close combat capabilities and reinforce their defensive capabilities both in void warfare and ground assaults.
Phalanx Warders are drawn from the Chapter's elite Close Support squads and void specialists, undergoing rigorous training to fight from behind their shield wall to deadly effect; their armoured protection and the immense firepower at their command provide a deadly match for any foes who dare to assail them. In battle, the Phalanx Warders serve as an unyielding bulwark against enemy assaults, utilising their unbreakable shield wall to repel attacks and protect their fellow battle-brothers.
Staunch and immovable, they are the last line of defence when attack threatens and the first into the fray when the Chapter boards enemy vessels. Warder squads are often seconded to other companies of the Blades of Dorn, honing their skills and lending their might to that of their brothers on battlefields across the width and breadth of the galaxy. Most often they serve aboard their Chapter's mighty warships, both as an unbreakable last line of defence against enemy boarders and as the hammer blow of any Imperial boarding assault.
Overall, the Phalanx Warders embody the indomitable spirit and unwavering resolve of the Blades of dorn Chapter, serving as a symbol of their dedication to defending the Imperium and upholding the legacy of their progenitors.
Non-Astartes Ranks
- Esquire - Senior ranking Chapter serfs that have faithfully served the Chapter for several decades of loyal, dedicated service.
- Man-at-Arms - Known also as an armsman, these stalwart retainers serve as the maintainers of a Preceptor-Brother's arms and equipment.
- Page - A young Chapter serf that serves as an attendant to a Preceptor-Brother.
Order of Battle
As a semi-Codex oriented Chapter, the Blades of Dorn are divided into ten Orders (Companies) comprised of 100 Space Marines each. Each Order is led by a veteran hero of the Chapter with the rank of Knight Marshal (Captain). In addition to their company command, these consummate warriors and leaders are also charged with a particular aspect of the Chapter's logistics.
Since the advent of the Primaris Space Marines being inducted into their ranks, the Blades of Dorn have effortlessly integrated these superior transhuman warriors into the various companies of the Chapter. Within some of the Chapter's companies, the Blades of Dorn have begun to incorporate the bygone rank of Paralictor (Lieutenant) - warriors who serve as sub-company leaders - with two assigned per Order (Company), to help act as the right hands of their Knight Marshals by providing flexibility and helping to direct their fellow battle-brothers in engagements.
When the situation calls for it, Battle Companies can divide into two Demi-Orders (Battle Demi-Companies) of fifty Astartes each, in order to spread their forces across multiple combat zones. These demi-companies are led by a Paralictor, who leads his brothers unflinchingly into battle, therefore taking the burden of command on the ground off the Knight Marshal's shoulders, so that he can concentrate on the overall flow and every-changing fluidity of the battle, and can adjust his tactics accordingly.
Headquarters
Companies
| Veteran Company | Battle Companies | |||||
| 1st Order "Dorn's Wrath" |
2nd Order "The Castellans of Fate" |
3rd Order "Sentinels of the Emperor" |
4th Order "The Vigilators" |
5th Order "The Justicars" | ||
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| Reserve Companies | Scout Company | ||||||||
| 6th Order "The Siege Hammers" |
7th Order "The Absolvers" |
8th Order "The Crimson Blades" |
9th Order "Hammers of Wrath" |
10th Order "The Shadows of Dorn" | |||||
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Chapter Recruitment
In the noble and war-bound traditions of the Blades of Dorn, to be chosen as a candidate for the Chapter is not merely to be selected for martial excellence - it is to be judged by the totality of one's soul, character, and adherence to the sacred Code of Dorn. This ancient code, passed down since the Chapter's founding, is not simply a doctrine of battlefield conduct but a way of life steeped in chivalric tradition, martial purity, and spiritual devotion to the God-Emperor. It is believed that only those who uphold these tenets can ever hope to bear the sacred blade and bolter of Dorn's scions. Aspirants are not gathered through mass levies or tithe conscriptions as in other Chapters. Instead, they must earn the gaze of a Vicar - a Chaplain of the Chapter - through acts of singular valour or expressions of soul-deep virtue. These deeds might be the defence of a village against impossible odds, the refusal to yield under pain and torture, or a life dedicated to guarding the helpless without ever asking for reward. Strength alone is not sufficient; it is the motive behind the act that matters. A sword that is raised in anger or pride is unworthy. A sword that is raised to shield the innocent, without hope of gain, is noble.
Once a Vicar has marked an individual as a potential Page (Aspirant), a long period of observation and spiritual testing begins. The candidate must prove themselves against the Code of Dorn, a binding moral and martial ethos drawn from the legendary knightly orders of Ostiarius and the legacy of Rogal Dorn himself. Aspirants must be loyal beyond temptation, honest even in disadvantage, humble in victory, and reverent always. They are expected to guard the weak, honor women and the defenseless, and restrain their strength until it is needed in righteous fury. Even love, if present, must be pure and unpossessive, for the Blades believe that unchecked passion is the gateway to corruption. Only those who live by this code, or at least strive to, may be offered the right to undertake the Trials of Initiation - a series of soul-breaking tests conducted at the Trial Circles within the Bladehold fortress-monastery. Here, they are tested not just in combat, but in their endurance, resolve, humility, and faith. These trials include weeks of fasting, silent vigil among ossuaries of the fallen, ritual duels with blunt training weapons under the gaze of Prior-Sergeants, and labyrinthine meditations where the mind is broken down and rebuilt in the image of the Chapter. Any show of pride, deceit, or cruelty is grounds for immediate rejection—or execution, should it betray deeper heresies.
Those who survive are granted the title of Squire (Neophyte), and begin the long path toward becoming an Armiger-Brother (Scout Marine). Even then, they are not yet Astartes, and must endure years of training, indoctrination, surgery, and spiritual conditioning. They are trained not only in the arts of war, but in the values of the Knightly Orders of Ostiarius - studying parables of ancient heroes, memorizing litanies of Dorn's service, and practicing not just with blade and boltgun, but with heraldry, horsemanship, and the duels of honour. When they finally emerge as full Preceptor-Brothers, they are more than warriors - they are knight-monks, exemplars of a martial ideal whose very existence is a weapon against the darkness.
Thus, the Blades of Dorn do not recruit merely soldiers. They summon forth champions - scions of a sacred code, oath-sworn to uphold a legacy older than most stars. Every warrior is a living parable of duty and devotion, and every aspirant is told the same truth on the first day of their trial: Only those who would kneel before righteousness may rise as a Blade of Dorn.
Chapter Beliefs
The Blades of Dorn are pious, zealous, and uncompromising Astartes who have a deep and abiding faith in the Emperor of Mankind and their Primarch Rogal Dorn. But faith is not the only thing that drives their actions - they are also burdened by overwhelming guilt for the actions of their former genetic forebears - the disgraced Crusaders of Dorn. When encountered, these stoic and taciturn Astartes seem aloof and standoffish, most likely due to the actions of their forebears, which aroused much suspicion amongst their fellow Adeptus Astartes Chapters. During the Years of Shame, many aspersions and recriminations were cast upon them without just cause, as the actions of their progenitors often overshadowed the loyal and faithful service of the Blades of Dorn. Though ultimately vindicated of their forebears' sins and granted the Emperor's forgiveness, they are sometimes still treated with much acrimony and suspicion by more zealous Chapters. This has caused the Blades of Dorn to tread lightly when working alongside other Space Marine Chapters but has also instilled within them an overwhelming drive to enact retribution against those who dare transgress against the God-Emperor and the laws of the Imperium.
Junker Model of Behaviour
The Blades of Dorn Space Marine Chapter, ever faithful to the legacy of the ancient VIIth Legion, has codified its martial and personal ethos in accordance with the "Junker" model - an ancient code of Prussic origin, known to have once governed the military aristocracy of the Terran state of Prusse. This code, recovered from fragmentary archives during the Great Crusade and embraced by the Imperial Fists upon their reunification with Primarch Rogal Dorn, emphasises rigid discipline, precision in action, and an unyielding sense of honour. For the Blades of Dorn, this ancient tradition has not simply endured - it has been sharpened into a doctrinal cornerstone, defining every aspect of their warcraft and daily life. At its core, the Junker Model demands absolute mastery of detail, whether in the planning of siegecraft, the arrangement of battle formations, or the maintenance of one's wargear. A bolt shell a millimetre misaligned, a ritual performed without the exact incantation, or even a blade cleaned imprecisely is considered a blemish upon a warrior's honour. Within the Chapter, the expectation is not merely of performance, but flawless execution, echoed in the oft-recited aphorism: "That which is not perfect, is unworthy of Dorn." This rigorous standard permeates every echelon of the Chapter, from Lictors down to Aspirants, who spend years perfecting not only their martial form but also their etiquette, bearing, and diction—each considered vital expressions of their inner discipline.
The feudal traditions of the Chapter's homeworld have further reinforced this system. Nobility among the Blades of Dorn is not inherited, but earned through deeds of honour, mastery of arms, and the perfection of one's conduct in war. In this way, the Chapter mirrors the Junker ideal: a warrior-nobility founded not on bloodline, but on unquestioned excellence and virtue. Their Orders function much like knightly castes, where records of personal conduct, tactical proficiency, and execution of duty are meticulously maintained in The Vaults of Sword-Sworn Honour. Even duels, which occur as a matter of solemn arbitration rather than ego, are fought with ceremonial dignity and recorded in the Chronicles of Martial Reproof, their outcomes sometimes shaping promotion or penance alike. Perhaps most importantly, the Junker Model serves a unifying role - a shared philosophical and cultural framework that binds the disparate sons of the Chapter into a single purpose. As it once served Rogal Dorn in tempering the distinction between his Terran and Inwit-born sons, so too does it now unify the varied recruits of the Blades of Dorn. With the galaxy fractured and the Imperium in a state of near-constant war, the need for unbreakable internal cohesion is paramount. The Junker ideal, then, is more than tradition - it is a living code of war, honour, and order. For the Blades of Dorn, it is the blade's edge by which they judge themselves, and the whetstone upon which they hone their endless service to the Emperor.
Virtues
As for the virtues themselves, the majority of them fit the ideals of the Sons of Dorn. Many of them are what would be considered to be Space Marine values as well (the most obvious example being courage - "..and they shall know no fear."), but many of them are peculiar to the Imperial Fists and their successors, especially at the time of the Horus Heresy and continuing into M42:
- Austerity (or Thrift) - To the Blades of Dorn, austerity is not merely a necessity - it is a spiritual discipline. Excess is seen as a weakness of character, a distraction from the sacred labors of war and duty. Ornate decorations and luxurious affectations are eschewed in favor of stark functionality. A Blade's warplate may bear the marks of honor and heraldry, but each embellishment must serve a purpose—either to inspire the faithful or to terrify the impure. Lavishness is considered dishonorable, a sign that the warrior has forgotten his purpose and seeks comfort over courage. This virtue also manifests in the Chapter's material culture and way of life. Fortress-monasteries are built with brutal simplicity, their halls cold and bare but utterly immovable. Every resource is accounted for, every relic maintained with meticulous reverence. A Battle-Brother of the Blades of Dorn is taught to waste nothing—not time, not ammunition, not his breath. To endure without complaint, to fight without extravagance, and to live without indulgence is to be truly worthy of Dorn’s legacy.
- Courage - Courage is the marrow of a Space Marine's soul, and for the Blades of Dorn, it is more than fearlessness—it is resolve in the face of hopeless odds, the willingness to stand firm where others falter. They are schooled from the earliest days of aspirancy in tales of siege and sacrifice, where heroes hold walls until death claims them, never relenting. To flinch, even for a heartbeat, is to insult the sacrifices of Rogal Dorn and his sons who bled on the walls of Terra. Yet courage, to the Blades, is also quiet. It is not brashness nor recklessness. It is the unyielding act of carrying out one’s duty with calm clarity, even as the heavens burn overhead. The Blades of Dorn do not roar into battle without thought—they march with solemn purpose, shielded by their faith in the Imperium and their oath-bound discipline. In courage, they find clarity, for to be unafraid of death is to be truly free.
- Determination - The wars of the Blades of Dorn are not always swift; they are wars of attrition, sieges of mind and will as much as body. Determination is the cornerstone of their battle doctrine—the refusal to bend, no matter how long the campaign or how bitter the toll. From the grinding sieges of fortress worlds to the endless purges of Chaos-wracked hives, they fight on without falter, every moment another nail driven into the coffin of the enemy. Their determination is born from their belief that their will is a weapon as potent as any blade or bolter. Pain is meaningless. Fatigue is denied. Even in defeat, the Blades of Dorn will endure, dragging themselves forward, one bloodied step at a time, until the foe breaks. They are the immovable shield wall, the last bastion of light in the blackest void.
- Discipline - Order is sacred to the Blades of Dorn, and discipline is its guardian. Every act, from the smallest ritual of maintenance to the precision of a battlefield maneuver, is governed by an unshakable code. Each warrior knows his place in the hierarchy and fulfills his duties with clockwork exactness, for to do otherwise is to invite disaster. In battle, their formations move with a grim synchronicity, grinding forward like the teeth of a siege engine. Discipline also governs conduct outside the battlefield. There is no room for arrogance or disorder within the Chapter’s walls. A Blade speaks only when necessary, acts only when commanded, and thinks always of the consequences to the Chapter and the Imperium. Through this unrelenting control, the Blades of Dorn maintain their cohesion, their purpose, and their strength—no matter the cost.
- Fortitude without self-pity ("Learn to suffer without complaining") - The Blades of Dorn do not complain; they endure. Pain is a reminder of duty. Loss is a debt paid to the Emperor. They are taught from initiation that hardship is the crucible in which honor is forged, and the strongest steel is tempered in fire. Whether enduring the brutal trials of recruitment or the endless grind of siege warfare, a Blade suffers in silence, bearing wounds of body and soul with unflinching resolve. To seek pity, even among their brethren, is to show weakness. Within the Chapter, those who whimper or despair are treated not with sympathy but with stern correction. Battle-Brothers are expected to carry their burdens with stoic dignity. This virtue is more than a cultural tradition—it is a spiritual ideal. A true son of Dorn weeps not for himself but for those he failed to protect. He endures, so that others might not suffer as he does.
- Frankness (Or Probity: Be Honest) - A Blade of Dorn speaks the truth, even when it wounds. Honesty, to the Chapter, is not a matter of social grace but of moral obligation. Deception, flattery, and idle diplomacy are scorned—viewed as the tools of cowards and sycophants. In council chambers as on the battlefield, the truth is delivered with the same blunt force as a siege ram. Even in censure, a Blade will not veil his words, for to do so would be a disservice to both the accused and the mission. This virtue also governs the internal conduct of the Chapter. Superiors must be obeyed, but they are also expected to accept criticism when it is spoken with respect and in pursuit of duty. A serf, a scout, or a brother may speak plainly to their Jarl or Castellan - so long as their words are measured, true, and serve a righteous end. This forthrightness is not insubordination, but the very heart of loyalty: the courage to speak what must be said, even to those one reveres.
- Godliness (Coupled with Religious Toleration) - Though the Blades of Dorn revere the Emperor as a divine being, they understand that belief takes many forms among the peoples of the Imperium. Their own rites are austere, drawn from ancient Terra and the cultic traditions of their own fortress-world, but they do not demand uniformity in faith. What matters to them is the strength of devotion, not the name or shape it takes. "Let each man seek salvation in his own tongue," the Vicars often preach, "so long as his soul belongs to the Emperor." Their godliness is thus not zealous, but dutiful-expressed through labor, sacrifice, and battlefield sanctity. Every bolt fired is a prayer. Every fortress raised is a cathedral to the Emperor's justice. The Blades do not burn books or silence voices unless they preach sedition or heresy. They are not inquisitors, nor fanatics, but knights-templar - harsh, honorable, and intolerant only of corruption and lies.
- Humility (or Modesty) - The true son of Dorn does not boast. Achievements are worn like armour - visible, but never vaunted. To the Blades, self-praise is a sign of spiritual weakness, a need for validation that has no place in a brotherhood forged in discipline and sacrifice. A Blade fights not for glory, but because it is his duty. Let others sing songs and raise banners - his satisfaction lies in the knowing that he stood where he was needed, and did not fall. Humility extends even to their victories. A conquered world is not treated as a prize but as a responsibility. Survivors are aided, strongholds are rebuilt, and order is restored. The Blades leave behind not monuments to their triumph, but the bones of trenches and the prayers of freed serfs. In this, they reflect the very soul of the Imperial Fists: builders, guardians, and silent sentinels, unmoved by vanity.
- Incorruptibility - To betray one's duty, one's oath, or one's brother is the gravest sin a Blade of Dorn can commit. No treachery is more abominable. The Chapter holds itself to a standard so severe that even the mere appearance of compromise is cause for scrutiny. A Battle-Brother of the Blades must be above bribes, above pride, above despair. His loyalty must be unassailable - not only in deed, but in thought. This incorruptibility is vigilantly maintained through constant spiritual and martial discipline. The Vicars conduct ceaseless audits of conduct, belief, and mental purity. Battle-Brothers submit to these rites without protest, for they know the stakes. The Emperor's enemies are cunning and subtle. Only a fortress of iron and will can endure their whispers.
- Industriousness (or Diligence: A Strong Work Ethic) - In the fortress-worlds of the Blades of Dorn, idleness is seen as a quiet sin. From the lowest forge-thrall to the highest-ranking Castellan, labor is the soul's proving ground. The Chapter holds toil in sacred regard, whether it be the forging of armor, the cataloging of a battle's after-action record, or the patient construction of siegeworks across a hostile world. Time not spent in service is time wasted. Their fleet-monasteries echo with the sounds of eternal work—oaths spoken over anvil and boltgun, liturgies sung as walls are raised and weapons rearmed. Each brother is expected to know the labor of his station and that of the serf who serves him. Through toil, they believe, a warrior is reminded of his place in the grand engine of the Imperium: not a prince, but a servant forged to carry the burden of mankind's survival.
- Loyalty - Above all things, a Blade is loyal - to the Chapter, to his comrades, and to the Imperium. This loyalty is not blind, but unyielding. When a brother falls, his name is carved into the stones of the Bladehold and burned into the memories of those who remain. When an order is given, it is obeyed without hesitation. When a command is questioned, it is questioned with honor and answered with truth. This loyalty is the cement that binds their wall. It is what allows them to fight as one, to endure siege and betrayal, and to sacrifice without flinching. Betrayal is not simply treason to the Chapter—it is a rupture in the wall of mankind’s defense. And so the Blades of Dorn will never yield, never abandon, and never forget those to whom they have sworn fealty. Their loyalty is a blade, unsheathed for duty, and sharpest in the darkest hour.
- Obedience ("Be obedient, but not without frankness") - For the Blades of Dorn, obedience is not submission - it is duty given form. Orders are sacred covenants, carried out with unflinching precision, not because they are unquestionable, but because they represent the will of command, the chain of loyalty that holds the Chapter together. A Blade who is given an order does not delay, does not seek personal interpretation, and does not fail in its execution. He is the weapon in his lord’s hand, sharp, disciplined, and resolute. Yet obedience does not mean silence in the face of error. The Blades hold to a principle of obedient frankness: to offer counsel when needed, correction when warranted, and warning when danger is foreseen. Superiors are owed deference, but not sycophancy. Thus, the Chapter fosters a culture where honesty and duty walk hand in hand. Once spoken, however, dissent is set aside, and the command is obeyed without hesitation or resentment. This balance is the cornerstone of their internal strength.
- Punctuality - In the theatre of war, seconds mean lives. The Blades of Dorn uphold punctuality with religious zeal, ingraining it from the earliest days of aspirancy. Every manoeuvre, every deployment, every strike must be made at the appointed time, for the battle plan is a sacred script and every deviation a potential heresy against order. A brother who is late is a brother who endangers the shield wall, who opens the gate to disorder and ruin. Within the Chapter's rigid hierarchy, this virtue governs all aspects of life—training regimens, devotional rites, logistical operations. The Templars of Time, a lesser-known order of the Chapter's Reclusiarchy, are charged with the internal synchronization of warhosts, ensuring nothing falls out of sequence. In this, the Blades embody Dorn’s spirit—not merely in strength or will, but in the precise rhythm of unbreakable war.
- Reliability - The Blades of Dorn are the stone in the flood, the shield that never fails. Reliability, to them, is more than consistency - it is the honour of being depended upon. In battle, a Blade's brothers must know that he will not falter, that he will guard their flank, cover their withdrawal, or stand the line alone if need be. To fail one’s duty, even for a moment, is to betray not just the Chapter, but the Emperor Himself. Outside of war, reliability governs all tasks, whether they be the training of neophytes, the maintenance of relics, or the stewardship of human vassals. A promise made by a Blade is carved in stone. He will neither break his word nor shirk his burdens. The reliability of the Blades is why forge worlds honour their oaths, why High Lords begrudgingly trust them, and why enemies fear their approach. Where they are sent, the work will be done.
- Restraint (or Self-Control) - A warrior of the Blades must be master of himself before he can be master of his enemy. Rage is a weapon, but only when tempered; vengeance is a fire, but only when directed. Self-control is drilled into every aspect of the Chapter's martial doctrine - from the precise arc of a blade stroke to the quiet denial of pain. A Blade does not bellow threats or make impassioned boasts. He acts with measured purpose, his wrath held in check until the moment of the kill. This restraint extends beyond the battlefield. There is no tolerance for excess, indulgence, or intemperance in the Chapter's halls. Every indulgent desire - be it sloth, pride, or personal vendetta—is crushed beneath the heel of duty. A Blade who cannot restrain himself is a weapon turned inward. But a Blade who can harness his fury, sharpen it like a scalpel, and strike only when it serves the mission—that is a true son of Dorn.
- Self-Denial - The Blades of Dorn live lives of denial - not as punishment, but as refinement. The comforts of mortal life, the luxuries of title, and the praise of men are things to be refused, for they serve only to corrode purpose. A Blade eats only what he must, rests only when allowed, and takes no reward but the privilege of continued service. Even among the nobility of the Adeptus Astartes, the Blades are known for their severity and asceticism. This extends even to victory. Spoils are left untouched, glories unspoken. A Blade will refuse command if another is more fit. He will labor in the dirt alongside serfs if duty requires it. To deny oneself is to affirm the Imperium. In self-denial, the Blades find a clarity untainted by ego - a cold and righteous purpose drawn from stone, fire, and blood.
- Self-Effacement ("More substance than semblance") - Where other Chapters seek the praise of scribes and the gaze of statues, the Blades of Dorn seek only to serve. Their deeds are not trumpeted; their names are not written in fire. Self-effacement is not merely encouraged—it is expected. A Blade does not speak of his victories unless prompted. His armor may bear scars and sigils, but never more than earned. Even their monuments are unmarked, simple slabs bearing only dates and deeds. To be remembered is less important than to be useful. The Chapter teaches that honor is proven not by proclamation, but by presence—on the wall, in the breach, in the void. Many a hero of the Blades has died unnamed, and this is considered a higher form of virtue than one whose saga is sung across Segmentum records. Let the sons of Guilliman write laurels. The sons of Dorn will write legacies in ash and rubble.
- Sense of Duty (or Conscientiousness) - Duty is the spine of the Blades of Dorn. It is not a burden - it is the joy of service, the core of their identity. Every action is weighed against duty, every decision shaped by its demands. A Blade does not ask if a task is dangerous, nor if it is fair. He asks only whether it is his to bear. From the highest Castellan to the lowest aspirant, duty is the blood in their veins. This conscientiousness makes them tireless. If a wall must be built, it will be built with their own hands. If a populace must be evacuated, they will guide them street by street. If an inquisitor must be defied to fulfill a sacred task, they will do so, unflinching. Their sense of duty does not waver with politics or fear. It is the unspoken oath behind every action: "I will do what must be done."
- Sense of Justice ("May All Get Their Due") - The Blades of Dorn believe justice is not mercy—it is balance. Every soul, whether loyal servant or hated traitor, must receive what they are owed. The Emperor’s law is not to be bent by politics or convenience. A fallen ally who dies with honor is to be remembered with reverence; a noble who consorts with heretics is to be dragged into the light, judged, and punished without hesitation. To the Blades, justice is measured, not vengeful. They are not executioners for the sake of terror, nor do they mete out cruelty with glee. They judge, they sentence, and they carry out their rulings with the same stoic resolve with which they man their walls. When they strike, it is because justice demands it—and it is a blow that falls without apology. Even among other Chapters, they are known as implacable judges of sin and virtue alike.
- Sense of Order ("Know Your Place") - Hierarchy is sacred among the Blades of Dorn. Every brother, every serf, every servitor has a role - and all must know it, respect it, and fulfill it. To question the chain of command without cause is to fracture the shieldwall; to presume beyond one's station is to endanger all. Even among the Chapter's nobility - its Knight Marshal and Castellans - rank is not a privilege but a burden, granted only to those who have earned it through labor and sacrifice. This sense of order extends to all their dealings, from planetary governance to relations with other Imperial institutions. The Blades do not tolerate disorder in their ranks, nor in the realms they protect. Where they walk, order is restored - ruthlessly, efficiently, and permanently. Cities are purged of crime, corrupt nobles are stripped of title, and chaos is met with iron walls and cold silence. To serve the Blades is to know one's place - and to stand there unwavering.
- Sincerity - Deception is a blade turned inward. The Blades of Dorn hold that a warrior's word must carry the weight of a fortress gate. Their oaths are spoken plainly, their intentions clear. A lie, even to an enemy, is seen as a kind of cowardice - a refusal to meet the foe on honest terms. In war, they announce their arrival not with subterfuge, but with the thunder of orbital bombardment and the unrelenting cadence of siege drums. Among allies, sincerity forges unbreakable trust. When a Blade offers alliance, it is without hidden motive. When he pledges to protect a world, it will be defended to the last breath. Even when delivering grim news or hard truths, a Blade does so with plain solemnity. It is better to wound with honesty than to comfort with falsehood. In sincerity, they are as immovable as their fortress keeps.
- Straightforwardness - The sons of Dorn do not twist words or hide behind subtlety. They speak with the same force they bring to bear in war - blunt, direct, and unquestionable. Straightforwardness is the mark of a mind focused on duty, not vanity. In negotiation, they do not haggle. In command, they do not condescend. They state what must be done, and they do it. Those who respond with deceit or misdirection find themselves swiftly corrected - by words if possible, by force if necessary. This virtue is reflected even in their military doctrine. Their strategies, while precise and complex in execution, are never needlessly circuitous. They do not feint or bait unless the situation demands it. Instead, they strike like a hammer upon the anvil, shattering resistance with sheer inevitability. In this, they embody Dorn's legacy not only in flesh and steel, but in mind and method.
- Subordination (Respect for Hierarchy and Chain-of-Command) - Subordination is the iron mortar that binds the fortress. A Blade does not elevate himself above his brothers or his superiors. Even the highest Knight Marshal kneels before the Chapter Master, and even the Chapter Master bows before the Throne. The Blades see subordination not as humiliation, but as sacred alignment: each warrior a stone placed with precision in the wall of the Imperium. Rebellion, insubordination, or self-serving ambition are anathema. Any Blade who steps outside his bounds is swiftly and brutally corrected. Promotions are never sought, only bestowed. Orders are never questioned for ego's sake. And when a Blade speaks, it is because he has earned the right to do so. In a galaxy of ambition and betrayal, the Blades endure because their chain of command is forged of unbreakable loyalty and mutual purpose.
- Toughness ("Be Even Harder on Yourself Than on Others") - To the Blades of Dorn, true strength lies not only in armour and wargear, but in the crushing weight of self-expectation. Every brother is his own harshest judge, his own most unrelenting master. Pain is no excuse. Fatigue is no defence. A warrior is expected to meet every hardship with grim resolve and then demand more of himself when others would rest. If others falter, the Blade must stand. If others fall, the Blade must carry them. This inner toughness extends to every ritual, every trial, every moment of training. Aspirants are broken and reforged beneath the gaze of unmoving statues and burning heraldic flames. Veterans push themselves beyond mortal limits not for glory, but to prove they are still worthy of their oaths. Even in recovery, even in silence, the work never ends. The fortress must be maintained. The soul must be sharpened. A Blade is forged in fire, and fire does not complain.
Arguably, the only Prussian virtues that the Sons of Dorn do not uphold is Austerity, however, they are less elaborate in appearance than most other Chapters (such as the Blood Angels, Ultramarines and the pre-Heresy Emperor's Children) and Godliness, as most Chapters of the Sons of Dorn are not noted for their religious zeal (with the exception of the Black Templars and the Blades of Dorn themselves). Still, as a Chapter, the Blades of Dorn do seem to follow the Junker code very closely.
Oaths of Moment
- "By my blood and soul do I swear myself against the many-faced Forces of Chaos. I will revenge myself against those who wrong the God-Emperor, with an eye for an eye and blood for blood. From me, my enemies shall experience neither mercy nor redemption, and I shall drive Chaos before me as the wolf drives the herd to stampede, until the day that I die or its taint is removed from the galaxy."
- — Oath of Moment invoked by Preceptor-Sergeant Bertrad Dessedrim of the 3rd Order ("Sentinels of the Emperor")
An Oath of Moment is an ancient tradition that harkens back to the time of the ancient Legiones Astartes during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras in the late 30th and early 31st Millennia. These are solemn promises, often invoked by several witnesses, usually fellow battle-brothers, regarding an individual's future actions in regard to a sacred vow or pledge to be carried out no matter the cost.
An Oath of Moment is often sworn before going into battle or setting out on a mission and is taken as a reaffirmation of the sacred oaths made to the Emperor of Mankind and their Primarch or Chapter. A typical Oath of Moment often requires at least two persons - the individual Battle-Brother swearing the oath and a fellow battle-brother(s) to offer it and witness it. The essence of such oaths is an invocation to be a guarantor of the oath-taker's honesty and integrity in the matter under question. By implication, this invokes divine displeasure from an Astartes' primarch or the Emperor Himself if the oath-taker failed in their sworn duties.
Therefore, the import of such a significant pledge implies greater care than usual in the act of the performance of an individual's duty. These pledges usually have an oath-taker swearing them over a weapon. Often times these oaths are written on parchment and affixed to the oath-taker's power armour before he departs on a mission.
A Space Marine squad often swears an Oath of Moment collectively, but an isolated Preceptor-Brother can swear one simply by declaring it aloud during the heat of battle on an uncaring battlefield or even in his own mind to steel his resolve, with the Emperor as his witness. The Blades of Dorn disposes of these oath parchments ceremoniously after having achieved the sworn promise and are thus no longer relevant.
Martial Traditions
The Blades of Dorn strive to be exemplars in the arts of war; paragons of military virtue and excellence, looking down upon those who do not meet their own exacting militant standards. This has led them to attain victory through a combination of acute strategic planning and flawless execution. The traditions of the Chapter mirror those of the feudal knightly orders of Ostiarius, which places a strong emphasis on close combat and testing one's self against the strongest opponents on the battlefield. The Blades of Dorn possess a fierce sense of pride and believe that honour is found in personally striking down an enemy by their own hand. To this end, the Blades of Dorn utilize the traditional longsword used by the knights of Ostiarius, with each battle-brother practising endlessly until achieving mastery of its use.
Senior officers, veterans and sergeants often utilize swords passed down through generations, and some are truly ancient relics forged by the master blacksmiths of Ostiarius and later fitted with power field generators by the Blades' Forge-Smiths (Techmarines) to surround their mighty blades in shimmering, deadly force. A master of an Ostiarius longsword wielding their weapon against the foes of the Emperor is an awe-inspiring sight, inspiring equal measures of pride in the faithful and dread in the souls of traitors, heretics and xenos.
Honour Duels
One of the Chapter's most honoured traditions, which has been handed down to them by their progenitors, is the art of honour duelling. This ancient practice is thought to date back to the earliest days of the old Legion, even before it left Terra on the Great Crusade. Duelling between Battle-Brothers was a part of many Space Marine Legions' martial traditions. For some, these practices were a matter of training and honing the skills of battle. For others, they are a means to effectiveness in war. To the Blades of Dorn, however, duelling is a fundamental part not only of their training but also of their psychology. The duel is the ultimate expression of a warrior's skill and prowess, a mirror which reflects a warrior's essence.
The Blades of Dorn engage in ceaseless duels against one another, sometimes to settle a point of honour but more often to test themselves and their swordsmanship. Only a full-fledged Preceptor-Brother (Battle-Brother) is permitted to duel.
Brotherhood remains strong at the core of the Chapter's heart, and a duel is considered the ultimate test of martial virtue. For especially deserving Astartes, the Blades of Dorn even open their duelling arenas to those born of other bloodlines. The Blades duel knowing that nothing forges a stronger bond of brotherhood than fighting in close combat. There is no need for pageantry and no reason to hold back. Rank is disregarded, and all that matters is the blade in their hands and who strikes first.
Duels are often fought as a form of single combat, with the two combatants facing each other in a small duelling arena, usually located aboard one of their void-faring vessels, but sometimes fought in the Chapter's grand arena located within the confines of their fortress-monastery on their homeworld of Ostiarius. When fighting in these duels, all combatants wear Carapace Armour like that worn by the Scout Marines of their Chapter, which consists of a simple sparring arrangement; a tunic and plated skirt, chestplate, codpiece and ceramite shoulder guards. Plated gauntlets and boots complete the armour. No helmet is worn and both forearms and thighs are left exposed.
The rules of the duel are expected to be followed by both participants. This code of conduct emphasises the importance of honour, bravery and fair play, and imposes restrictions on the weapons that can be used and the tactics that can be employed. When the Blades of Dorn fight in the duelling arena, the combatants first come to an accord as to how many wounds they will inflict upon each other to determine who is the victor. Most of these honour duels are fought to 'first blood', the first person to draw his opponent's blood, but sometimes bouts will go on to second and even third blood. The most experienced and long-serving Blades of Dorn sport numerous duelling scars all over their bodies, each a reminder of a hard-won victory, or a salutary defeat.
However, in cases of settling a matter of honour, despite the restrictions imposed by the code of chivalry, duels can oftentimes be deadly and brutal affairs. The weapons utilised by the participants are designed to cause maximum injury, which can result in a battle-brother being permanently injured, or in rare cases, killed as a result of these encounters. On rare occasions, these honour duels will be fought to Sanguis Extremis. However, such duels can only be approved and fought in the presence of the Lictor (Chapter Master) himself. This only occurs when there is a dispute between brothers, which can only be settled in the arena. Such contents are serious and grim affairs. There is little that passes in the way of brawling or boisterous competition amongst the Blades of Dorn in such matters, for such battles are to the death of those involved. In the Blades' view, honour demands no less.
Should a combatant disregard the strict rules of conduct, and use dishonourable tactics or some form of underhanded trickery, he will bring great dishonour upon himself. For his transgression, he will face one of the most severe punishments that can be meted out to a battle-brother by his superiors - a Death Oath. Found severely wanting, they will be forced to undertake an oath of moment to either fulfil a superhuman task or die trying, exiled from the Chapter. Only if he manages to succeed at this suicidal task and survive will he be allowed to return to his Chapter, for he will be considered to have been absolved of his failures by the Emperor of Mankind Himself.
Chapter Gene-Seed
The Blades of Dorn bear the genetic legacy of Rogal Dorn, the stoic and unyielding Primarch of the Imperial Fists. As a proud successor Chapter, they have preserved his bloodline with reverence and precision. Their gene-stock is derived not from distant repositories, but directly from the vaults of the Phalanx itself - Dorn's mighty orbital fortress - granted to them following the conclusion of the Years of Shame, a period of penitential campaigning in which the Chapter re-earned its place among the honored sons of the VIIth Legion. This sacred trust, granted by the High Lords of Terra with the approval of the Imperial Fists' Lictor, elevated the Blades from mere scions to true heirs of the Imperial Fists.
The gene-seed of the Blades of Dorn is remarkably stable, a testament to the meticulous care with which it is cultivated and preserved. Apothecaries of the Chapter guard its purity with near-religious devotion, their duties more akin to rites than mere bio-surgical operations. The gene-seed expresses many of the same traits found among their progenitors: a stern discipline of mind, physical resilience, high pain tolerance, and the characteristic absence of any desire for self-aggrandisement. Emotional austerity and an unwavering sense of duty are near-universal among their initiates, with many displaying an innate predisposition for stoicism from the earliest stages of implantation.
In keeping with all known Imperial Fists gene-lines, the Blades of Dorn lack two zygotes: the Betcher's Gland and the Sus-an Membrane. The absence of the Betcher's Gland denies the Chapter the ability to spit corrosive acid, a loss that is considered trivial by their standards, as honour rarely calls for such base methods. More significant is the lack of the Sus-an Membrane, which prevents the use of long-term hibernation to recover from grievous wounds or preserve life during stasis. As a result, the Chapter relies on advanced surgical expertise, cybernetic augmentation, and the relentless will of the Astartes themselves to recover from wounds that might otherwise be survived by Chapters with functioning hibernation organs.
Despite these losses, the gene-seed is free from any signs of degeneration or warp-taint. Indeed, the Chapter's Apothecarion has been the subject of praise in the archives of the Ordo Astartes for its diligence in keeping the Blades' genome not merely intact, but refined. Their purity is a point of pride, and any trace of mutation or corruption is met with immediate and terminal correction. No Blades of Dorn has ever fallen to Chaos in recorded Imperial history - a record they intend to keep unblemished for eternity.
Moreover, the Chapter's gene-seed seems to encourage particular neurological traits: a hard-edged conscientiousness, an innate tendency toward martial precision, and a deep-rooted resistance to the temptations of pride or excess. Whether this is a genetic inclination or the result of the Chapter’s intense doctrinal training is debated, but the result is undeniable: the Blades produce warriors of exceptional discipline and inflexible moral resolve.
To the Blades of Dorn, their gene-seed is more than biology—it is a sacred relic, a divine inheritance from the Praetorian of Terra himself. The Apothecarion is often referred to by the Chapter as the Cradle of Stone, and its masters are considered second only to the Reclusiarchs in spiritual authority. Every harvested progenoid is received with solemn rite; every implantation is attended by litanies of endurance, fortitude, and sacrifice. It is not enough to be given Dorn's gene-seed. One must earn it, and then honor it, in thought, deed, and death. Through this sacred legacy, the Blades of Dorn remain ever unbroken - not merely Dorn's sons by blood, but his swords in truth.
Primarch's Curse: Only Honour in Death
Like their progenitors, the Blades of Dorn are more than willing to fight to the last, holding their ground with a siege-like mentality that sees them triumph or die in the attempt. This expression of duty can become exaggerated in members of the Chapter after long periods of combat, especially against foes such as Heretic Astartes. In these instances, these Battle-Brothers see only death; their comrades, the death of their world, and the death of their foes. A Blades Battle-Brother believes that the only righteous path lies in the expenditure of their own life for these purposes and he faces his death with a stoic heart and a single-mindedness that can only lead to the complete annihilation of everything and everyone he faces, eventually including even himself and those who fight beside him. When the Chapter's genetic curse manifests itself in an affected Battle-Brother, it comes in three stages:
- Stage 1 (No Retreat): As the odds mount so does the Battle-Brother's stubborn refusal to retreat, seeing only the glory and honour in defeating such overwhelming foes if even the barest glimmer of victory remains. Even if the doctrine and teaching of the Codex dictate retreat or flexible defence, the Battle-Brother will be loath to disengage until there is absolutely no choice, though often this can come too late.
- Stage 2 (Suffer not Defeat): Defeat is a bitter pill to swallow for the Battle-Brother and he would rather die fighting than accept that he has failed. This can lead to reckless behaviour as he throws himself into the fray or takes on excessive odds to win when prudence and tactical reason would dictate he withdraws.
- Stage 3 (Unto Death): The Battle-Brother has come to accept that perhaps only the cost of his own life will be enough to secure victory and is gladly willing to give it up. This can have dire consequences should the circumstances present him with a chance to martyr himself for the Emperor and bring ruin to the enemies of the Imperium. Should a Battle-Brother suffer mortal wounds, he gains a fatalistic desire to sell his life for the cause and will choose to expend his own life for a chance at victory or the safety of his brothers. This means he will fight on regardless of his wounds and continue to attack or place himself in the path of attacks even though the next blow could mean his end. He will also gladly accept suicidal or near-suicidal tasks (such as disarming unstable warheads, leading a forlorn hope or holding a breach to buy time for his companions) without complaint.
Combat Doctrine
Like their genetic forebears, the Blades of Dorn are the epitome of Codex Astartes doctrine. All ranks are able to make tactical decisions and are encouraged to act on their own initiative, making this Chapter a truly flexible fighting force, able to adapt to almost any combat situation. The combat doctrines of this aggressive Chapter are those of the application of overwhelming force directed to where the foe is weakest. These shattering blows are used to utterly destroy enemy command cadres, and vital strategic support structures and wreak terrible slaughter on the pride of an enemy's forces, often turning the tide of an entire conflict with a single, well-placed, and savage attack. In accordance with the Codex Astartes, the Blades of Dorn combine all arms in flexible, balanced battle groups, each of which can present an opponent with a diversity of threats. The Blades of Dorn will then press their attack so swiftly that the foe is overwhelmed before they can react.
The Blades retain the traditional skills of the Imperial Fists in urban and siege warfare, although they are quite willing to engage and defeat the enemy in open battle in any type of environment. They use fortifications when on the defensive (which rarely occurs, as they are an aggressive Chapter), but only after all of the more aggressive options have been exhausted. Like the Imperial Fists, the Blades of Dorn's principal weakness is their reluctance to accept the possibility of defeat which sometimes blinds them to the risks inherent in their aggressive stratagems. The Blades will stubbornly hold their ground, refusing to withdraw from the field of battle, even when faced with annihilation by a numerically superior enemy force, despite being beneficial for them to do so.
Deathwatch Service
To serve the Deathwatch is to offer one's blade not for glory or honour, but for the survival of Mankind itself. Among the many Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes that contribute to the Long Vigil, few exemplify the stern discipline and solemn martial dignity required more than the Blades of Dorn. As successors of the Imperial Fists and paragons of chivalric resolve, the Blades bring to the Watch Fortresses a rare fusion of tactical exactitude and feudal knightly bearing. Yet, their integration is not without tension.
The Blades of Dorn view service in the Deathwatch not as a distraction from their own campaigns, but as a penitential crusade of the soul - a sacred test of devotion and adaptability. Each Battle-Brother selected is given a ceremonial parting by his Order and a blessing by the Chapter's Reclusiarch. The chosen are called The Veiled Blades, for they fight unseen and unacknowledged by their Order's banners, stripped of heraldry save for their Chapter pauldron and the black of the Watch. To the Blades, this is a form of monastic hardship: to serve without accolade, to fight without the witness of one's brothers, to endure without the laurels of the Hall of Deeds.
Within the Watch Fortresses, Blades of Dorn Space Marines have earned reputations as uncompromising warriors, fiercely reliable, and doctrinally exact. They are often deployed as siege-breakers, assaulting alien fortresses or xenos-bastions with a calculated ferocity reminiscent of their Dornian ancestry. Their preference for methodical destruction over adaptive flexibility can, at times, clash with more pragmatic or unconventional Chapters. Though their battlefield conduct is rarely questioned, their interactions with more erratic Battle-Brothers - particularly Space Wolves, Red Scorpions, or Flesh Tearers - have occasionally led to doctrinal confrontations and formal censure.
That said, when a Watch Commander requires a fortress stormed, a kill-clade drilled in exacting precision, or a Tyranid splinter hive eradicated without fail, the Blades are among the first called. Some have risen to the rank of Watch Sergeant or even Kill-Team Leaders, leading composite squads with the authority and confidence of a knight-seneschal at court. Deathwatch historical archives speak of Watch-Brother Davion Thrask, who single-handedly held the sealed chamber of the Void-Widow Nexus against three Genestealer Patriarchs, never yielding a step. Another, Watch-Vigilant Astemar Ghaul, executed a xenos-secessionist king with a single bolt round through the eye socket—fired at dusk, at three kilometers, without auspex support.
Nevertheless, their time in the Deathwatch leaves a mark. Many returning Blades speak little of their service, and those who do often carry a brooding silence, a disquiet bred not from guilt, but from seeing the darkness beneath the veil of the Imperium. The Chapter's Librarians, when probing the minds of returned veterans, have recorded recurring dreams of shadowed halls, black-armored ghosts, and voices whispering in languages not born of man.
Despite these burdens, the Blades of Dorn continue to send their finest to the Long Vigil. For them, the service is not only a duty but a tempering fire. The experience hardens their convictions, deepens their scorn for xenoskind, and reinforces their belief in the Emperor's silent will. In the end, they return not seeking praise, but bearing knowledge of what lies beyond the stars—and the grim resolve to face it with blade in hand.
Notable Blades of Dorn
- Lictor Saul Invictarius, "The Iron Patriarch," "Blade of the Faith" - Chosen during the 12th Founding in the 35th Millennium, Saul Invictarius - formerly First-Captain of the Crusaders of Dorn Chapter - became the inaugural Lictor of the newly formed Blades of Dorn. From the outset, he embodied the knightly virtues of steadfastness, valour, and strategic foresight. His first campaign was against the heretic enclave on Valcath Prime, where he raised the Bastion of Resolute Iron, a mobile fortress-monastery that would become the Chapter's signature tactic. He earned the moniker "Iron Patriarch" when he stood alone on the shattered throne of Valcath's capitol, sword in hand, refusing to yield amidst a tide of traitor cultists.
Under his aegis, the Chapter embraced a martial culture rooted in honour and unyielding discipline. Invictarius introduced the Oath of the Twin Blades, a ritual requiring his battle-brothers to swear fealty both to the Emperor and to their living brothers. He personally enforced this oath, challenging any who faltered in ceremony or duty. Though Imperial authorities found his rigidity cumbersome, no question lingered regarding his competence: under his watch, the Blades of Dorn never lost a significant stronghold or a vital engagement.
Saul's leadership infused the Chapter with its stoic identity. He commissioned the Vaults of Stonewrought Oaths, an underground hall where each new Prior's oath was carved into obsidian slabs. Tales of his duel with the xenos warlord Savhal N'rus - an engagement he won with a single stroke - still echo through the fortress-monastery's halls. When he met his death during an assault on a Drukhari raiding fleet, it was not from disadvantage but honour—slaying their champion in single combat before falling himself.
Invictarius's legacy endures: Chapter Masters still recite the Iron Patriarch's Words before every crusade - "Steel unbowed, oath unbroken, victory unquestioned." His tenure set the bar for what a Lictor should be: unyielding, honorable, and ever in the vanguard of war.
- Lictor Ivan Gardorian, "The Penitent Watch" - During the early 37th Millennium, whispers reached the Ordos that the Blades of Dorn had veered from Imperial orthodoxy. In response, Lictor Ivan Gardorian took the unprecedented step of leading his Chapter into the Eye of Terror itself - on what became known as the Penitent Crusade. For nearly eighty years, Gardorian's forces battled Chaos Marines, demons, and lost daemonic hordes, fighting not for honor or duty but for atonement in the very heart of darkness. His was a leadership defined by the feudal virtue of humility - a rare trait in the proud annals of the Chapter.
Emerging in 119.M37 as battered but unbroken, the Chapter was subjected to the first-ever full-genetic and psychic purge sanctioned by the Ordo Hereticus. To the astonishment of the Inquisition, Gardorian's warriors emerged untainted, their armour blackened by shame yet unbroken in purpose. In turn, the Chapter received the Emperor's forgiveness, a privilege matched only by their renewed acceptance into the Imperium.
As Chapter Master, Gardorian shepherded his Chapter through regeneration and restoration. He introduced the Rite of Ashen Redemption, an annual penance sung in the fortress-monastery's Chapel of the Hearth. Over the next five centuries, he led successful crusades into the Cadian Void, the Therax Expanse, and against the Ork Waaagh! on Sarkan Prime. His reign combined the virtues of leadership, redemption, and resilience in a time where all might have been lost.
Gardorian's death came in the 811.M37 during the 7th Black Crusade - he died slaying a Greater Daemon of Nurgle, his last words echoing the Rites he held dear: "Through ash, through shame, through steel." To this day, the Chapter's warriors dress their helmets in ashen grey during the Night of Penitent Fire, commemorating his sacrifice.
- Lictor Barathus Thornbur, "The Stonewarden" - One of the longest-serving masters in Chapter history, Lictor Barathus Thornbur ruled for over six centuries, a monolith of steadiness and stoic resolve. Known among the Brethren as The Stonewarden, Thornbur presided over a golden age of territorial control and strategic deep-defense. He fortified the Chapter's fortress-monastery into the unbreachable Citadel of Cold Iron, featuring bulkhead walls inscribed with passages from Rogal Dorn's original Fortificatium Protocol. These construction campaigns earned him reverence as a builder as much as a warrior.
Under Thornbur, the Chapter codified its doctrine of defensive warfare - Champions drilled in shield-wall formation, Priors oversaw engineering schools to revive ancient siege-arts, and the fortress became a training ground for other loyalist Chapters. His martial virtue of steadfast duty kept the Chapter disciplined even in times of relative peace. Despite this extended reign, Thornbur showed he was no paper-master when he personally led the defense of the Galen Heights against a Drukhari incursion, repelling the xenos with unwavering spear-walls and counter-boarding strikes.
He also expanded the Chapter's library of oaths and annals, commissioning the Chronicles of the Iron Watch, which serve as the Chapter's living history to this day. Though some grumbled at his long hold on command, Barathus maintained the peace—and the Chapter's readiness - like no other, valuing legacy over glory.
Barathus eventually passed during a scheduled Rite of the Stone - a dignified death-by-consumption in the fortress' heart-lantern - befitting the man who had been its guardian. His battle-plate remains laid upon the Throne of Stone, a place of vow and remembrance for future Lictors.
- Lictor Fortis Dostriun, "The Ember of the Dawn" - The current Chapter Master, Fortis Dostriun, carries the weight of both the Stonewarden's legacy and the Penitent Watch's redemptive fire. At his ascension, he was seen as a figure of renewal, drawing on both the traditions of Dorn's endurance and the vitality of youth. His reign thus far has been marked by a strategic pivot toward combined-arms crusades, merging siegecraft with rapid deep-strike tactics learned from Ordos Cyphers and allied Chapters.
During the recent Crusade of Seven Scions, Dostriun personally led a boarding assault on a Chaos Void Barge, earning the epithet "Ember of the Dawn" when his final charge - shield and banner aloft - routed the warp-corrupted crew. He is known for the virtue of courageous adaptability - able to shift from fortress defense to hunter-raid campaigns with equal resolve, guided by a faith refined in both stone and steel.
Dostriun has also reinstated the annual Feast of Knives, a chivalric tournament honoring fallen Lictors and sharpening the martial edge of the 2nd Order. He places great emphasis on the line ranks' knightly traditions, ensuring that the Squires and Aspirants learn not only to fight - but to be men of honour, oath, and sacrifice. His rule is a living bridge between the Chapter's ancient past and its uncertain future.
As he prepares the Chapter for the looming shadows beyond the Great Rift, Fortis Dostriun embodies the virtues that made the Blades of Dorn masters of both fortress and crusade: honour, sacrifice, and unbreakable will. Under his command, the Chapter stands poised for whatever darkness awaits—and remains ready, with steel and oath unshaken, at the edge of war.
- Grand Prelate Lucan Valenburg, "Fire-Eyes" - Lucan Valenburg is a figure of immense spiritual gravity, a towering exemplar of the warrior-priest ideal that defines the Blades of Dorn. A veteran of over four centuries of unbroken service, Valenburg is as much a judge as he is a chaplain - his sermons are sharp as a bolter's bark, his condemnations final as a blade's stroke. He is known as "Fire-Eyes" not only for the intensity of his piercing crimson gaze, but also for the red-hued bionic ocular implants that replaced his original eyes after they were burned out by a daemonic psionic attack on the ash-wastes of Cindara Prime. The incident left his face scarred and raw, a perpetual reminder of the consequences of faltering faith - and a mark he bears with grim pride.
Valenburg ascended to the mantle of Reclusiarch during the Crusade of Black Wounds, when the former High Chaplain was slain in single combat against the Chaos Champion Myrakos the Unspoken. Taking up his predecessor's crozius arcanum and shrouded war-tabard, Valenburg slew Myrakos in a duel that would become a cornerstone of the Chapter's saga-cycle. Since then, he has led the Chapter's Reclusiarchy with fire-tempered zeal, blending the dogma of the Ecclesiarchy with the knightly codes of old Dornian tradition. He teaches that strength is a holy burden, that suffering is sacred, and that to kill in the Emperor's name is a form of praise.
Though he speaks seldom outside of ritual, his presence at the fore of a warhost ignites the faith of his brothers. His litanies are thunderous, woven with ancient catechisms and fortress-born battle-prayers. In combat, he is relentless, wielding the Crozius Veritas Ultima - a relic bound with a sliver of stone from the Phalanx's original sanctum. Valenburg often accompanies initiatory rites and final penitent duels, and it is said that no Astartes in the Chapter undergoes their final implantations without the blessing - or the scrutiny - of Fire-Eyes himself.
- Viceroy Gaheris Huntinggard, "Burning Brand" - Viceroy Gaheris Huntinggard is the standing Castellan of the Chapter's First Warhost, bearing the ancient title of the "Burning Brand," a name both literal and symbolic. A warlord of legendary discipline and ferocity, Gaheris earned his epithet during the Siege of Aurenthold when, after being set ablaze by chemical weaponry, he continued to lead his battle-brothers through fire and ruin to breach the traitor palace gates. His power armour, blackened and scorched, has since never been repainted in full - a sign of enduring penance and indomitable will.
As Viceroy, Gaheris serves as the personal sword-arm of the Chapter Master, commanding the elite First Warhost and serving as seneschal of the Bladehold itself. Clad in artificer-modified, relic Mark III battle-plate, and armed with the relic-blade Dornbrand, his presence on the battlefield is that of a wrathful tower - unmoving, resolute, and utterly without compromise. In the council chamber, he is equally formidable. Gaheris is the one to whom the Chapter Master entrusts matters of fortress-discipline, war doctrine, and the tactical implementation of the Chapter's oaths.
Huntinggard embodies the Chapter's ideal of martial nobility: silent, self-effacing, unshakably loyal. He expects nothing from his men he does not demand of himself, and tolerates no lapse in readiness or order. His word is iron; his stare, a challenge few dare meet. To be commended by Gaheris is one of the highest honours a Blade may receive - rare, brief, and unforgettable.
- Medicae Primus Gareth Palworth - A figure of quiet, implacable precision, Gareth Palworth is the architect of the Chapter's genetic sanctity and Master of the Cradle of Stone, the Blades' revered Apothecarion. Clad in stark white Mark VII plate trimmed in gold, with surgical lenses and augmetic limbs in constant motion, Palworth is less a healer and more a sanctified craftsman of flesh. His voice is rarely raised, and his presence in the aftermath of battle is often felt before it is seen—a clean scent of antiseptic mist, a whispered litany of extraction, the precise snip of gene-vaults sealing.
Trained on Terra under the gaze of the Magi Biologis before returning to the Chapter, Palworth is known for his exacting standards in all matters pertaining to the gene-seed. He is chief among the Chapter's Harvest-Brethren, overseeing every implantation, every progenoid retrieval, and every judgment of taint or failure. In over a hundred campaigns, no sample under his care has been lost, a record which is spoken of in hushed tones among his apprentices. He is the last face many mortally wounded brothers see, and he ensures their gene-seed lives on in purity.
Palworth holds a seat of great influence within the Chapter's inner circles, serving as both genetic sentinel and silent confidante. Though not as outwardly zealous as the Reclusiarchs, his devotion to the Chapter's legacy is absolute. He keeps detailed histories of each gene-line and treats each progenoid organ as a sacred relic. To Gareth Palworth, the gene-seed is not merely a tool - it is the soul of Dorn made manifest.
- Paravicar Asmodeus Grimgard - Asmodeus Grimgard is a grim and spectral figure within the Bladehold, known for his deep meditations, iron control, and austere presence. Swathed in dark cerulean robes and wrapped in heavy runes of null-binding, he walks the halls of the Librarius like a revenant, his mind ever fixed upon both the future and the far reaches of the soul. Known as the "Watcher of the Fane-Vault," Grimgard bears the honorific Paravicar, a title denoting his role not only as Chief Librarian but also as spiritual guide to those Astartes who struggle with psychic burden.
Grimgard's psychic gifts are formidable, but his restraint is legendary. He has often counseled younger psykers on the balance between control and submission, belief and will. His sigil is carved into every threshold of the Librarius - a reminder that all power must kneel before duty. In battle, he acts as both war-seer and living weapon. He is rarely seen casting destructive force directly, preferring instead to fortify his brethren's minds, unveil hidden threats, or unravel enemy defenses with eerie precision.
Though psychic might often draws suspicion, Grimgard has earned the full trust of the Chapter Master and the Reclusiarch alike. His interpretations of dream-visions and psychic portents have saved entire warhosts from annihilation, and his presence on the battlefield is viewed as a silent omen of unseen paths and righteous fate. He speaks seldom and is never wrong.
- Forge-Thane Erastil Blackstrong - Erastil Blackstrong is the iron heart of the Chapter's war-machine - a stoic figure of thunder-voiced command and unmatched craftsmanship. Once a siege-brethren from the Obsidian Gate campaign, Blackstrong was elevated to Forge-Thane after the death of his predecessor during the catastrophic collapse of the Skybound Anvil on Malfi. Since then, he has maintained the Chapter's weapons, vehicles, and sacred engines with unflinching devotion and an artisan's fury.
Clad in deep crimson Mechanicus-adorned plate, adorned with a dragon's forge sigil and the Chapter's anvil of oaths, Blackstrong is both smith and strategist. His mastery over wargear modification, field-repair of Dreadnoughts, and construction of siege engines has earned him the begrudging respect of even the Martian priesthood. He maintains a forge-fane beneath the Bladehold's central bastion - The Ash Crucible - where all weapons undergo sanctification before being issued to the Chapter's warriors.
Blackstrong views each suit of power armour, each bolter, each blade as a living extension of Dorn's will. His command over the Chapter's Techmarines is absolute, and the Forge-Fanes echo with the rites of reforging and the booming war-prayers of ignition. He is known to accompany the First Warhost into battle personally, often manning venerable war machines or leading from the deck of the Iron Crown, the Chapter's forge-ship. To Blackstrong, war is not merely waged - it is forged, with fire, oath, and iron will.
- Blade Eternal (Chapter Champion) Tristan Longstride - Tristan Longstride, the Blade Eternal, stands as the singular exemplar of the Blades of Dorn's martial ideal - a living symbol of honour, skill, and the sacred art of the duel. A veteran of over three hundred campaigns, Longstride was chosen from the ranks of the Sword Brethren after single-handedly slaying the Tyrant of Dreska's Fall in a blood-duel that lasted an entire solar night. It was there that his blade, Fang of Solgard, shattered a daemon weapon and struck the fatal blow to a warp-possessed warlord without once compromising his composure or breaking his vow of silence.
As Chapter Champion, Longstride serves as the personal sword and shield of the Lictor of the Blades, Master Dostriun. Wherever the Lictor goes, Longstride shadows him - a silent protector, a blade-in-waiting, a warrior whose presence is both a deterrent and a promise of retribution. Clad in artificer-wrought battle-plate, marked with purity seals and the laurels of uncountable victories, Longstride is unmistakable on the battlefield. His helm, shaped in the likeness of a stoic knight's visor, is rarely removed, and his voice is reserved only for battlefield oaths and funeral rites.
He is said to follow the Path of Quiet Glory, a meditative doctrine within the Chapter that teaches restraint, introspection, and the pursuit of perfection in silence. Unlike many Champions who boast or roar, Longstride speaks through action. His duels are swift, brutal, and merciless. Yet behind that killing precision lies a deep devotion to the Chapter's virtue of self-effacement - he is not famed because he seeks glory, but because he has never failed his charge.
- Knight Marshal Timon Reznor, "Lionheart" - Knight Marshal Timon Reznor is the lion at the gates of the Bladehold, the indomitable bulwark against which all threats break. As commander of the vaunted 1st Order ("Dorn's Watch") and Master of the Keep, Reznor is charged with the stewardship of the Chapter's fortress-monastery and its vast relic-vaults, oath-halls, and command sanctums. His moniker, Lionheart, was earned during the Ashen Rites Rebellion, when he stood alone on the steps of the Sacred Gate against a tide of heretic Astartes, refusing to retreat even after sustaining grievous wounds. By the time reinforcements arrived, he stood atop a pile of corpses - his battle-plate cracked and blackened, his sword arm broken, but his spirit unshaken.
Reznor is a paragon of Dornian stoicism, holding to a rigid interpretation of duty that borders on monastic severity. He trains daily alongside the Initiates of the First, refusing the luxuries of seniority, and expects from his brothers the same unyielding discipline he demands of himself. His wargear is ancient and unadorned, save for the icon of a roaring lion's head etched into the breastplate of his battle plate - a symbol not of pride, but of oath-bound vigilance.
As Equerry and trusted confidante to Lictor Dostriun, Reznor serves as voice and hand in matters of strategic governance, ensuring that the Chapter's logistics, recruitment, and fortress defense are all maintained with cold precision. Should the Bladehold ever come under siege, it is Reznor who would lead its final defense, and few doubt that he would die on the parapets before surrendering even a single stair to the enemy.
- Knight Marshal Cadoc Greyson, "The Shieldborn" - Knight Marshal Cadoc Greyson is known across the Chapter as The Shieldborn, a title granted after he took upon himself the brunt of a Vortex Imploder to save a company banner and its bearer during the War of the Rift Moons. His armor was all but vaporized, his flesh scarred beyond regeneration, but Greyson stood, sword and shield raised high, until every last one of his company had withdrawn. The memory of that moment is etched into the iconography of the 2nd Order ("The Castellans of Fate") and recited during every oath-taking ceremony.
Greyson commands the 2nd Order and serves as Master of the Watch, guardian of the Chapter's long-range auguries, interstellar surveillance network, and its vigil over ancient oaths and cursed warzones. He is the first to know when old enemies stir or new threats breach the Veil, and his counsel is rarely wrong. It is said that he dreams in coordinates and speaks in probabilities - his mind a tactical fortress unto itself.
Despite his extensive augmetic reconstruction, Greyson is fiercely protective of his humanity. He trains daily with the youngest Scouts in blade and buckler techniques, reminding them that a warrior's greatest strength is his will. Clad in ceramite adorned with purity wards and embossed watch-keys, Greyson remains ever-vigilant - both the shield and the seer of the Chapter's endless war.
- Knight Marshal Marellus Crowe, "Cometstrike" - Marellus Crowe, known as Cometstrike, is a name uttered with reverence and dread in equal measure. Renowned for the sudden and overwhelming force with which he deploys his warriors, Crowe earned his epithet during the opening salvo of the Battle of Crython Deep, where he launched the entire 3rd Order ("Sentinels of the Emperor") in synchronized orbital assault across five geosynchronous fronts. The impact shattered the heretic lines in under four hours, and the only surviving vox-logs described the drop as "a comet storm made of blades and fury."
As Master of the Arsenal, Crowe is not only the commander of the 3rd Order, but also the Chapter's overseer of siegecraft, heavy armor deployment, and battlefield munitions doctrine. He has an artisan's love for ancient relics, favouring weaponry with storied pasts and dignified legacy. His wargear includes the thunderous relic plasma pistol Solar Verdict and a custom power halberd, The Dawn Cleaver, said to be capable of cleaving a Land Raider in half with one blow.
Crowe is dynamic, cerebral, and fiercely independent, often skirting the edge of protocol to secure victory. His critics within the Chapter whisper of recklessness; his defenders, of genius. The truth lies somewhere in between - but what none dispute is that wherever Crowe strikes, the heavens fall with him.
- Knight Marshal Merrick Domitus, "Galewalker" - Merrick Domitus, bearer of the title Galewalker, is the cold breath before the storm—the calculating, unflinching commander of the Chapter's void operations. As Master of the Fleet, he commands not only the 4th Order ("The Vigilators") but the entirety of the Blades' void armada, including the mighty Aegis of Solgard and the venerable Honour's Flame. His title was earned after a four-day engagement in the hurricane gas-giant straits of Vorganis VI, where Domitus maneuvered an entire battlefleet through stellar storms to isolate and destroy a Drukhari raiding flotilla.
Unlike his more fiery brethren, Domitus is reserved and deeply introspective. His decisions are measured, often mathematically modeled, and he prefers star-charts and stratagems to battlefield sermons. Yet when the time for war arrives, he is a master of precision, employing fleet actions that encircle, isolate, and obliterate before the enemy can react. He views the stars as a chessboard and his ships as pieces of Dorn's vengeance.
Domitus is rarely seen planetside unless necessary, but his presence is a constant force from orbit. To many of the younger Astartes, he is a mythic figure - part storm, part ghost—whose voice echoes from the decks above like the judgment of the Emperor himself.
- Knight Marshal Meridius Cassader, "Stoneheart" - Current commander of the 5th Order ("The Justicars"), Meridius Cassader - named "Stoneheart" by his brethren - is a warrior of grim countenance and iron resolve. As Master of the Marches, Cassader commands all operations along the Chapter's outermost reaches—those lonely crusades in the long dark where brotherhood must replace walls and survival is its own victory. His nickname stems from the infamous March of Black Ash, where Cassader led a contingent of eighty battle-brothers across an irradiated wasteland for forty days, never breaking formation, never losing a man.
Cassader embodies the Blades' virtues of fortitude, self-denial, and discipline. He speaks in clipped, austere tones and suffers neither embellishment nor exaggeration. His doctrine of war is slow, relentless attrition—every step forward is permanent, every gain purchased by blood and consecrated by stone. The 5th Order under his command often serves as the Chapter's long-range expeditionary arm, tasked with anchoring strategic footholds in hostile systems.
To fight alongside Cassader is to know that you will not retreat. His warriors joke - quietly and only in private—that Stoneheart would sooner allow the stars to burn out than fall back an inch. And in truth, that is not far from the mark. He is the last wall, the final bastion, the grinding millstone of Dorn's endless wrath.
- Knight Marshal Arnro Garadon, "Soulwarden" - Knight Marshal Arnro Garadon, known with reverence as "Soulwarden," is the stoic master of the 6th Order ("The Siege Hammers") and holds the sacred office of Master of the Rites. Among his brethren, Garadon is regarded as a living conduit of the Chapter's ancestral memory, its lore, and its battle-legacies, keeper of the unbroken oath-chains and custodian of the rituals that bind the Chapter in faith, honor, and identity. It is said he has committed to memory every known siege doctrine passed down from Rogal Dorn to the present day, and his quarters within the Bladehold are filled with relic-scrolls of oaths sworn, fulfilled, and broken.
Garadon is a warrior-priest in all but name, known to lead battle-rites with austere solemnity before sieges and planetary assaults. Upon the eve of battle, he engraves the names of the fallen into slabs of basalt and recites their virtues aloud, that none be forgotten. His voice is deep and ironclad, able to command silence even among the veteran Sword Brethren. In war, he brings this same gravity to his foes—unflinching, immovable, a bastion of moral and martial purpose. When the 6th Order descends upon a warzone, their first action is often to erect stone shrines in the ruins of the enemy's strongholds - a monument to retribution, and a warning to others.
Though Garadon is rarely one for flair or ornamentation, his armor is adorned with sanctified oath-scrolls and sculpted purity seals bearing the icon of a bound blade - his personal sigil. He wields Vowbreaker, a thunder hammer engraved with the names of a hundred heretical lords, each one executed beneath its crushing head. As Soulwarden, Garadon preserves not only the memory of the Chapter's deeds, but also ensures that every action taken honors the legacy of their gene-father Dorn.
- Knight Marshal Tylaeus Mirhen - Tylaeus Mirhen is the calculating and precise Master of Logistics, commander of the 7th Order, known within the Chapter as "The Absolvers." Where others see only deployment routes and supply chains, Mirhen sees the arteries of war itself - without which even the finest blade may falter. His mastery of logistics is such that entire planetary campaigns have been won without a single brother starving, faltering, or lacking ammunition. In this, Mirhen's genius is quiet but indispensable, the lifeblood of the Chapter's endless crusades.
Unlike many of his peers, Mirhen rarely leads from the front. He is most often seen aboard the Bastion of Oaths, the 7th Order's flagship, where he coordinates orbital support, void supply corridors, and planetary insertion patterns. His calm demeanor and sharp tongue conceal a tactical brilliance that borders on prescience. It was Mirhen who developed the "Weeping Blade" stratagem, a long-form siege pattern that methodically isolates and starves planetary capitals before a surgical decapitation strike.
Mirhen is a strict adherent of discipline and order, values he instills deeply into his Order. His armor is severe and angular, lacking in ornament, save for a single sigil: a balanced scales etched in silver, the symbol of measured retribution. Though his battlefield presence is rare, when he takes to the field, he wields a relic power maul known as Balance Render - a weapon not of fury, but of justice.
- Knight Marshal Pharus Danithor, "Tempestborn" - Among the Blades of Dorn, Knight Marshal Pharus Danithor is a storm given form - a swordsman of such speed and grace that some claim the winds themselves obey his command. As Master of Blades and commander of the 8th Order, the "Crimson Blades," Danithor trains the Chapter's duellists, swordmasters, and champions, and oversees the sacred sparring duels that determine both honor and rank. His epithet, "Tempestborn," was earned on the tempest-wracked plains of Virellia Secundus, where he slew a traitor general in a single strike through gale-force winds and acidic rain.
Danithor adheres to the Virtue of Restraint, and teaches that the sword should never be drawn in vain - every strike must be purposeful, every duel a sacred pact. His personal style is a blend of Imperial Fist stoicism and courtly dueling forms refined over centuries. He is as much a mentor as he is a warrior, and many of the Chapter's greatest swordsmen, including the Blade Eternal himself, trained at his side.
Clad in crimson-trimmed Mark VIII power armour, Danithor carries the Stormedge, a power blade forged from the meteor-shards of a dead comet. The blade is balanced to such precision that it is said he can decapitate a charging Ork without breaking stride. In him burns the measured fury of Dorn and the noble dignity of a knight-blade unsheathed only for justice.
- Knight Marshal Lorrus Demarnus, "Thunderstrike" - Lorrus Demarnus, the warrior-scholar known as Thunderstrike, is the Master of Relics and commander of the venerable 9th Order, "Hammers of Wrath." Demarnus is a walking arsenal of history and a relentless avenger of ancient sins. No brother knows the Chapter's relic armaments, vault-sealed weapons, or lost litanies of destruction better than he. With solemn reverence, he ensures that these sacred instruments of war are only wielded when duty demands their might.
Demarnus's namesake was earned when he deployed the relic plasma mortar Heaven's Roar during the siege of Garnax's Maw, vaporising an entire daemon engine cohort in one thunderous blast. His command style blends historical analysis with decisive violence - before battle, he studies every prior campaign waged on the warzone; during combat, he leads with the fury of a thunderclap, striking hard and fast with ancient weapons made for righteous annihilation.
Wreathed in golden runes and bearing a storm-scarred thunder hammer known as Justice's Wake, Demarnus is both war-priest and weaponmaster. The 9th Order under his command is entrusted with the stewardship and deployment of the Chapter's oldest and deadliest wargear. They are the keepers of flame, steel, and legacy - and under Demarnus, their wrath is precise and unrelenting.
- Knight Marshal Nereus Lordann - Nereus Lordann is the Master of Recruits and commander of the 10th Order, known as "The Shadows of Dorn." To him falls the sacred duty of transforming mortal aspirants into brothers of the blade - an undertaking he views as a spiritual and physical crucible. He is a stern and distant figure, often described as more statue than man, and his presence looms over the training yards like an executioner's axe yet to fall.
Lordann is a ruthless perfectionist, demanding total obedience and mastery of form from his neophytes. Trials under his gaze are grueling, often fatal, yet those who endure are tempered like adamantium. Lordann believes that only by enduring hardship without complaint can a warrior become worthy of bearing the legacy of Rogal Dorn. He himself is a survivor of a dozen crucible campaigns and a former victor of the Rite of Steel, the Chapter’s most arduous combat gauntlet.
In battle, Lordann fights with measured cruelty, wielding a master-crafted glaive known as Vigil's Edge. He moves like a ghost among his protégés, watching, testing, correcting in silence. Though he rarely speaks, his word is law within the walls of the Chapter's Schola, and many of the Chapter’s greatest heroes count themselves as sons of his instruction. Under Lordann’s cold, tireless watch, the next generation of Blades is forged.
- Sepulchral Warden Aurex the Silent (Relic Contemptor Dreadnought) - Clad in an ancient chassis of Contemptor-pattern design dating back to the Great Crusade, Aurex the Silent is one of the oldest and most revered warriors of the Blades of Dorn. Entombed within the sable and gold ceramite sarcophagus lies the shattered body of Knight-Champion Aurex Veritas, once a rising paragon of the Chapter's dueling circle and a decorated victor of the Rite of Triumph. Mortally wounded during the Defence of Kharon's Reach, he was interred in the Contemptor chassis as the Chapter's final act of honour - preserving his spirit to serve in death as he had in life.
Despite the advanced neural interlink of his frame, Aurex has not spoken a single word since his internment. Whether from psychological trauma or spiritual conviction, his silence has endured for over three centuries. Yet on the battlefield, his reticence gives way to thunderous wrath. Aurex wields a massive twin-linked lascannon and a solar-bladed dreadnought power fist, the latter inscribed with litanies of vengeance etched in High Gothic and Dornic runes. When he strikes, it is without flourish - only cold, absolute finality.
Many in the Chapter believe Aurex's silence is an expression of eternal mourning—not for his body, but for the Imperium he no longer recognizes. Nevertheless, he remains an unshakable sentinel of the Chapter's honour. During the Siege of Karsoth's Moon, it was Aurex who stood alone in the breach, his lascannons melting through three Traitor Knights in sequence, while his silence served as a sermon to all who witnessed his grim defiance.
- Sepulchral Warden Halbrecht Gravenmoor (Venerable Dreadnought) - Among the Sepulchral Wardens, none are more widely revered for wisdom and steadfast fury than Halbrecht Gravenmoor, former Knight Marshal of the 2nd Order and now entombed as a Venerable Dreadnought. Gravenmoor was a tactician without peer, known for weaving unbreakable battle lines and counter-sieges so precise they were likened to duels of cities rather than armies. Gravely wounded during the Battle of the Scouring Spires, he was entombed with full rites into an ornate sarcophagus mounted upon a Venerable-pattern Dreadnought frame.
Gravenmoor retains much of his mental acuity and lucidity, making him a vital strategic asset even outside of battle. He has instructed generations of Blades brethren in the sacred geometry of fortification, and his sermons on the Virtue of Duty are said to reduce even seasoned captains to humbled silence. His voice, though filtered through vox-grilles and data-runes, remains a cold, deliberate presence in war councils.
In battle, Gravenmoor wields a twin autocannon and an energized dreadnought chainfist, allowing him to suppress enemy armor and infantry alike while anchoring the line with indomitable presence. He often takes position at the center of a company formation, issuing orders, relaying data, and laying waste to those who dare challenge the Chapter's will. His chassis is etched with silvered inscriptions: lines from the Covenant of Stone, the foundational oath of the Chapter.
- Sepulchral Warden Davos Krehn, "The Bellows of War" (Mark V Castraferrum Dreadnought) - Where other Sepulchral Wardens are silent monuments or measured titans, Davos Krehn remains a roaring tempest even within his Mark V Castraferrum-pattern Dreadnought, earning him the moniker The Bellows of War. Once a brutal line-breaker sergeant of the 4th Order, Krehn was grievously wounded when a renegade plasma detonation tore through his command post during the Night Reaping of Dolvarn. Despite losing most of his body, he refused to perish, held together by sheer wrath and defiance until interred.
Unlike many of his Dreadnought brethren, Krehn's mind did not fully stabilise in stasis. He is prone to martial outbursts, bellowing oaths and praises to Dorn across the vox even as he tears his enemies asunder. His sarcophagus is heavily reinforced to accommodate the violent neural spikes his temper produces, and his chassis bears deep scarring from multiple attempts by daemons and berserkers to silence his voice forever.
Armed with a flamestorm cannon and assault drill, Krehn specializes in close-range devastation, particularly during siege-breaking and subterranean warfare. In the underhalls of Narvox Prime, it was Krehn who bored through twenty meters of heretic-forged adamantine, his vox howling the Canticle of Sundering all the while, until the enemy’s command node collapsed. Despite his instability, Krehn is beloved by the neophytes and younger battle-brothers, who see in him the purest expression of Dornic fury unbound.
Chapter Fleet
Battle Barge
- Destiny's Blade (Legate-class Battle Barge) - The Destiny's Blade is the hammer and herald of the Blades of Dorn, a colossal Legate-class Battle Barge whose mere presence in orbit has broken enemy resistance before a single lance fires. As the Chapter Master's flagship, it is more than a warship - it is a monument to Imperial might, wrought in adamantium and sanctified in the rites of endless war. Its hull is adorned with towering reliefs of Rogal Dorn's legendary sieges and victories, each lit from beneath by auric lighting arrays that make the ship gleam like a burning icon in the void. Its prow, a layered bastion shaped into the sigil of twin swords crossed over a shield of the Imperium, is both weapon and ward - a symbol of resolute defiance. The void shields of the Destiny's Blade, backed by overlapping Geller-field projectors, have endured nova-flare barrages, Tyranid bio-acid bombardments, and Chaos lance fire that shattered lesser fleets.
Within the Destiny's Blade lies the heart of the Chapter's command and the will of its Lictor. The Throne of Judgment, a sanctified strategium carved from the obsidian of the shattered Citadel of Herat, rests at the ship's core. From this elevated command throne, the Chapter Master communes with fleet-commanders, Strike Captains, and fleet-serfs via vox-choirs and neural command-linkage. Surrounding it, hololithic projectors and lumenglobes map battles across hundreds of kilometers of voidspace, enabling the coordination of precision drop-pod insertions, multi-vector boarding assaults, and synchronized lance salvos. The chamber is lined with adamantine statues of former Lictors, their faces worn smooth by generations of reverent touch. Every battle fought aboard the Destiny's Blade is a continuation of their unbroken legacy.
Below the command sanctum, the ship houses multiple Sanctae Cohorts - elite strike units of First Company veterans in Cataphractii and Indomitus-pattern Terminator armor. Each is stored in stasis cradles adjacent to dedicated teleportariums and thunderhawk decks, ready to launch into the breach at a moment's notice. The main hangars - vast enough to house entire armoured companies - are overseen by the Chaplains of the Reclusiam and the Incantors of the Forge, who sing canticles of ignition and vengeance as the war-engines are readied. Beneath these halls lies the Chapel of the Blade Eternal, a reliquary-hall and shrine consecrated in the blood of martyrs, where statues of Dorn and Sigismund gaze eternally upon the eternal flame of the Chapter's sacred oaths.
The Destiny's Blade has served as the spearpoint for some of the Chapter's most storied wars - including the Iron Covenant Crusade, where it led the orbital extermination of three traitor-forge worlds, and the Cry of Ghalak-Nar, during which it sustained direct impact from a warp-borne behemoth yet refused to fall from orbit. Most recently, it held high anchor above the moons of Traxis Ultima during the Conflagration of Seven Suns, where its lance batteries carved orbital pathways for the extermination of a secessionist fleet. Wherever the Destiny's Blade appears, hope rises among the faithful, and despair takes root in the hearts of the Emperor's foes.
To the warriors of the Blades of Dorn, Destiny's Blade is not merely a vessel, but the soul of the Chapter given form. Its machine-spirit is ancient, potent, and vigilantly tended by the Iron-Thanes who see to its rites and moods with fervent devotion. Some say the voice of the first Lictor still echoes in its data-shrines; others believe the ship itself chooses when to strike, guiding its crew through premonition and encoded instinct. What is certain is this: wherever it sails, the Imperium's will is made manifest - uncompromising, immovable, and eternal.
- Litany of Dorn (Ironclad-class Battle Barge) - Heavily armored and meticulously maintained, the Litany of Dorn is a floating citadel of bastion warfare. Its hull plating bears scars from hateful close-range engagements, testament to its resolute endurance. Within, three void-lance turrets-each the size of a small chapel-can deliver sustained hypervelocity fire, while the forward torpedo sills are reinforced by centuries-old adamantium waivers. Below decks lies the Chapel of Resolve, a vaulted sanctum with walls lined by battle-litanies penned in the blood of fallen heroes.
Here, Brother-Sergeants swear oaths before the Chapter Master or Chapter Champion prior to boarding missions. Adjacent is the Hammer Workshop, where Forge-Smiths recalibrate melee weapons and armor in anticipation of boarding actions. The vessel's boarding craft are kept in near eternal readiness, fueling the Litany's reputation as a breaker of sieges and vanquisher of star fortresses.
The Litany of Dorn has played a pivotal role in turning battles across multiple sectors. In one notable engagement, its presence alone shattered the boarding assaults of Chaos dreadnoughts upon an Imperial shipyard. In every instance, the vessel has been more than a warship - it has been the nerve center of chapters within chapters, generating hope among allies and fear among foes.
- Sanctifier's Blade (Ironclad-class Battle Barge ) - As a counterpart to the Litany, the Sanctifier's Blade carries the spiritual and ceremonial might of the Chapter. Ornately carved saints and cherubim cover its deflection plating, reminding all who behold it that war is both sacrament and sword. Its core reactor chamber is preserved as a holy shrine, though it has seen just as much combat as the main gun-deck.
Inside, the Hall of Benediction contains the Chapter's sacred relic-arsenal: blessing-crowned power swords, robes of the First Legacy, and the banner of Dorn himself. Here, the Chaplains hold sacred rites whenever the Chapter blasts through enemy lines to reclaim threatened worlds. The vessel's chapel-priors also gather novel recruits, preparing them for their baptisms into the Chapter through ritual-both of faith and of fire.
The Sanctifier's Blade has proven its worth not just in war, but in salvation. On the ice-world Tharis V, it became a sanctuary for shattered planetary defense forces, offering both physical protection and spiritual resilience. As the world teetered on doom, its presence gave shape to the Chapter's unseen edge: a shield of faith bolstered by steel.
- Raptorus Aeternum (Warspite-class Battle Barge ) - Dubbed "The Everlasting," Raptorus Aeternum is a mobile fortress come to life. Its reinforced prow houses multiple gatling batteries, and its dorsal macro-bombard guns can lay down magnetically accelerated firestorms. Belted with void-shields thick as cathedral walls, it has survived brazen assaults against Battleships and fleet flagships. Inside, its lower decks contain the Vault of Eternal Watch, where honored warlords and Strategists mediate war campaigns with a calm born from countless horrors. The living quarters are austere, for the crew rarely sleeps - ever on alert, ever watching. The Bloodrelay Station sends data back to the Chapter's fortresses, ensuring synchronized efforts across war zones. In one brutal clash near the Maelstrom, Raptorus Aeternum weathered crippling torpedo barrages and emerged internal-raft boarding-ready. It later spearheaded an assault on a Chaos Battle-Barge, ending in a boarding storm marred by scorched steel and stolen banners - a testament to its unbending might.
- Heart of Glory (Ironclad-class Battle Barge) - Named to honor the Chapter's victories and its fallen heroes, Heart of Glory carries a soft but powerful aura. Though well-armed with lance platforms and guided torpedoes, it is also famed for its medicae facilities-the largest dedicated to functioning chapters in any battle barge class. Adjacent to the Field-Lazar, a triage ward designed to save grievously wounded warriors in transit, is the Hall of Remembrance, whose walls bear the names of brothers lost across millennia. The ship's servo-skulls host vigil masses day and night, and pass along chants to bolster the spirits of the injured and the fearful alike. The Heart of Glory has proven both a weapon and a healer. In the battle for the world of Zarex Prime, it landed in the midst of a deadlock, acting as a sanctuary as squads rallied and counter-assaults launched from its ramps. Its presence turned the tide, merging salvation and slaughter into a single gesture of Chapter doctrine.
Strike Cruiser
- Hell-Strike (Strike Cruiser) - Hell-Strike is a vessel of fire, a brooding prow meant for boarding and breakneck intercept tactics. Fitted with plasma accelerators and seismic torpedoes, it strikes with an almost startling brutality. Its void network is built for speed and detectability suppression. Below decks is the Infernal Bay, where Techmarines maintain heavy boarding-mechs and flamestorm turrets salvaged from destroyed enemies. Alongside is the Reclaimer's Den, where purity seals are planted on weapons returned from the field, each bearing the serial number of the fallen who last wielded it. The vessel's legend was cemented during the Night of Black Torches, when Hell-Strike intercepted a Xenos shuttle storm approaching the factory world of Zadur III. It tore through boarding waves and enemy troops with merciless efficiency before impacting the surface and laying siege with siege-lance batteries. After that night, the void-wardens of Astartes fleet corps built tactics around Hell-Strike's trademark surprise attacks.
- Hammer of Wrath (Strike Cruiser) - Fierce and resolute, this cruiser specialises in surgical boarding strikes against key vessels or orbital fortresses. It operates in tight coordination with the Chapter's escorts, creating openings rather than overwhelming entire defenses - a war pick in the jaws of a predator. Internally, the Hammer's Anvil Chambers are packed to capacity: drop-ships, pod-launchers, and boarding tenders. Each vessel is assigned to the Phalanx Warders, a squad of elite battle-brothers trained in lightning raids and ship-to-ship warfare. The Hammer of Wrath played a crucial role during the Rescue of Pentelean Bastion, breaching the docked position of a Traitor Flagship, freeing ensorcelled crew, and bypassing void-defense shields to rescue captured Imperial High Command—earning the Chapter and the vessel deep respect in Segmentum Obscurus.
- Defiance Unbowed (Strike Cruiser) - Defiance Unbowed is perhaps the most versatile of the Chapter's strike fleet. Heavily bristled with grav-guns and heavy bolters, it operates as both interceptor and boarding platform, capable of adapting to evolving situations in every corner of war zones. Its hanger bays are designed to host drone swarms and scout craft alongside assault pods, and its bridge crew is renowned for swiftly shifting tactical architecture from deep-space skirmish to landing-craft threat. During the Battle of Shardwall Station, Defiance Unbowed joined with Hell-Strike to orchestrate a dual-wave boarding assault - one wave to smash key fortifications, another to disable power reactors - stranding a Chaos fleet in orbit and paving the way for Imperial salvage.
Escorts
- Omnis Contrador (Cobra-Class Destroyer) - The Omnis Contrador serves as the shadow-hound of the Blades of Dorn fleet — a lean, black-hulled Cobra-class destroyer that slips through the void like a whispered threat. Its surface is etched with hundreds of stenciled names - commemorations of battle honors, shipkill claims, and acts of valour stretching back over seven centuries of service. Though far smaller than the Chapter's mighty strike cruisers and battle barges, the Contrador is a weapon of precision and cunning, bristling with long-range disruptor lances, kinetic torpedoes, and flakburst interceptor batteries. Its role is not to dominate through brute strength, but to bleed the foe from the shadows, severing supply lines and crippling escorts before the main fleet strikes.
What sets the Omnis Contrador apart, however, is its infamous Silent Quarter - a shielded subdeck nestled beneath the ship's prow, housing an elite cadre of sappers, saboteurs, and boarding infiltrators. These operatives, clad in void-black mk.X Recon-pattern armor, are specialists in silent insertions, able to deploy through magnetic launch tubes onto drifting hulks, asteroid fortresses, or the flanks of larger vessels. There, they plant thermal charges, disable cogitator arrays, or assassinate command crew - often disappearing before alarms are ever raised. In the Silent Quarter, no words are spoken; rituals of silence and oath-seals are kept sacred by these quiet wolves, whose work is marked not by thunderous glory, but cold necessity.
The Contrador's most lauded feat came during the Tauren Supremacy Campaign, where a devastating counterstrike by the renegade war-fleet had encircled the Blades of Dorn's central flotilla. With dreadnought drop-pods and reinforcement landers unable to breach the blockade, it was the Omnis Contrador that threaded the cordon - cutting a narrow void-channel through minefields and hostile patrols. There, using precise lance salvos and sensor spoofing, the destroyer disrupted enemy formations long enough to pull the fleet into an escape vector. The Chapter records call it a miracle of timing and daring. To the crew of the Contrador, it was simply another mission — another ghost's tale added to the names engraved along her hull.
- Ebon Blade (Gladius-class Frigate) - The Ebon Blade is one of the most stalwart and vigilant escorts in the Blades of Dorn fleet, assigned with the sacred duty of guarding the Chapter's most vital assets during void campaigns. Though diminutive compared to the towering Battle Barges she shadows, the Ebon Blade is a predator in her own right. Her hull is painted a deep matte black, broken only by the gleaming crimson-and-gold shield of the Chapter upon her prow — a mark of vigilance and duty that glows faintly even in the lightless gulfs of deep space. Sleek, maneuverable, and deceptively fast, she excels in defensive interception and picket duties, often the first vessel to intercept enemy scouts or missiles seeking to strike at the heart of the fleet.
Outfitted with advanced lance disruptors and flak-burst missile countermeasures, the Ebon Blade specializes in nullifying long-range threats before they can reach the Chapter's capital ships. Her cogitator systems are tuned for rapid-react engagement, allowing her to detect and neutralize torpedo salvos and fighter screens with uncanny precision. She also boasts reinforced shielding and reinforced adamantium plating around her engines - a design feature that has allowed her to endure flank assaults that would cripple lesser escorts. Her crew, drawn from void-hardened veterans and helmsmen trained in Dornian doctrines of layered defence, pride themselves on their iron discipline and near-clairvoyant battle instincts.
Throughout the Chapter's many campaigns, the Ebon Blade has earned her laurels time and again. During the Karsian Rift Ambush, she intercepted a xenos stealth frigate that had slipped past the primary sensor net, disabling it with a precise barrage from her portside lance array. At the Siege of Varnak Spire, she formed the central spoke in a rotating defense wheel that successfully shielded the Litany of Dorn from a massed missile onslaught. The Ebon Blade is more than an escort — she is a blade drawn in the darkness, always ready to parry the strike that would fell a greater brother, and to deliver one of her own in return.
- Ardent Requiem (Gladius-class Frigate) - The Ardent Requiem is among the oldest Gladius-class frigates still in active service within the fleet of the Blades of Dorn, a somber and storied vessel whose name has become synonymous with sacrifice and grim resolve. Forged in the aftermath of the Nova Terra Interregnum and reforged during the troubled days of the Age of Apostasy, the ship bears the scars of centuries of warfare. Its hull is lacquered a burnished bronze-black, with devotional litanies and mourning rites etched into the plating surrounding its command deck - a tradition dating back to the Requiem's martyrdom during the Defense of Baelis Reach, where it held the line alone against three heretic cruisers until reinforcements arrived.
Unlike many of its sister ships, the Ardent Requiem does not merely serve as an escort, but as a shield-maiden to those vessels carrying the Chapter's dead and wounded. Its role is one of solemn importance - to safeguard the fallen, to ensure their remains are returned to the hallowed forges of the fortress-monastery, and to carry the Chapter's relics safely across the stars. Its vox systems are tuned to low-frequency keening chants, often described by its crew as mournful yet resolute. Its machine spirit is slow to anger, but ferociously protective — prone to periods of intense, almost preternatural aggression when it detects damage to the Chapter's sacred reliquaries or the presence of daemonic warp corruption.
Though it bears the melancholic name of a funeral hymn, the Ardent Requiem is anything but gentle in war. During the Razorlight Crusade, it spearheaded the counter-offensive through the derelict hulls of the Warp-scoured Tyros Fleet, lancing through the void with pulse-cannon fire and boarding torpedoes. Its captain, Brother-Knight Jarnan Hale, was later entombed within a Dreadnought sarcophagus after single-handedly leading a boarding action aboard a captured Mechanicus shrine-vessel turned traitor flagship. The Ardent Requiem continues to bear him into battle - a guardian of memory, a bearer of wrath, and a vessel that sings the dirge of Mankind's endless, honour-bound war.
Chapter Relics
- "In his steadfast hand, it was no mere weapon - it was a promise fulfilled in blood."
- — Excerpt from the Blade of Dorn Chapter's, Commentatio Historica
- Dorn's Spear - Said to have been forged from a fragment of the Imperial Palace's ramparts on Holy Terra itself, Dorn's Spear is an ancient power spear believed to have been created in the wake of the terrible Siege of Terra during the end of the Horus Heresy - to commemorate the those fallen battle-brothers who gave their last full devotion in defence of the Imperial Palace against the tide of the Arch-Traitor's legions. Supposedly, it was once blessed within the halls of the Phalanx by Primarch Dorn himself. Its haft is etched with the lineage of every Blades of Dorn Chapter Master who has borne it, each name a vow renewed in battle. The weapon hums with a golden energy that pierces even the most formidable armour, and when cast in righteous fury, it strikes true as though guided by Dorn's own indomitable will. To wield it is to bear the weight of the Primarch's expectation - to defend, to endure, and never to yield.
- Auric Blade - This master-crafted power sword gleams with an auramite sheen said to never tarnish, a relic from the days when the Blades of Dorn fought alongside the Adeptus Custodes during the Reign of Blood in M36. Its edge is impossibly fine, cutting through ceramite and bone as effortlessly as silk. To the Chapter, the Auric Blade represents the eternal light of faith - the radiance of Dorn’s defiance against the night. Those who bear it are expected to lead from the front, not as conquerors, but as exemplars of knightly virtue and guardianship.
- Hammer of Wrath - The Hammer of Wrath is a relic thunder hammer of immense size, wielded only by the Chapter's mightiest champions. Said to contain the core of a reactor heart from a destroyed Imperial Knight, it strikes with the fury of a falling star. When it descends upon the enemy, it releases a resonant shockwave that can shatter tanks and rupture the ground itself. The bearer of the Hammer is known as the Wrath-Knight - a mighty Chapter Champion and a living instrument of Dorn's vengeance, whose solemn duty is to deliver righteous judgment where walls and wills alike have failed.
- The Shield of Solarity - This enormous storm shield was wrought in the forges of Mars and presented to the Blades of Dorn by the Fabricator-General in recognition of their defence of an Adeptus Mechanicus stronghold during the Nova Terra Interregnum. Its surface shimmers with a refractive sheen that bends light itself, making the bearer appear haloed in burning sunlight. More than mere defence, the Shield of Solarity is a symbol of stoic endurance - the perfect union of the defensive spirit of Dorn and the radiant honour of knightly duty.
- The Chalice of Endurance - A relic of the Chapter's Apothecarion, this golden chalice contains alchemical traces of the gene-seed of the first Chapter Master. Before great crusades or dire wars, the Chapter's chosen champions drink from it in a solemn rite of endurance. It is said that those who partake are visited by visions of the Primarch's unbending resolve and emerge from the ordeal renewed, their pain dulled, their conviction hardened. To drink from the Chalice is both a blessing and a burden - its taste bitter with the weight of sacrifice.
- The Mantle of Oaths - This sacred cloak, woven from the banners of fallen companies, is draped across the shoulders of the Chapter Master upon his ascension. It bears hundreds of embroidered oaths, each representing a vow fulfilled or a debt repaid in the Emperor's name. In battle, the Mantle of Oaths is said to shimmer faintly with a psychic resonance, as though the spirits of the Chapter's ancestors march alongside its bearer. It serves as a reminder that honour is not inherited—it must be constantly won and renewed.
- The Vox of Stone - Housed within a gilded vox-helmed reliquary, this ancient device transmits the voice of its bearer across great distances with unnatural clarity, even through psychic storms or warp interference. When activated, it carries an unyielding tone that can still the panic in mortal hearts and rouse Astartes to impossible feats of endurance. The Vox of Stone once belonged to the first Master of the Arsenal of the Chapter, who led the defence of twenty bastions against overwhelming odds. To this day, his stoic command echoes in the Chapter's creed: "Be the wall. Let them break upon you."
- The Sword Banner - An ancient battle standard of sable and gold, depicting the stylised auric gauntlet and sword sigil of the Chapter. It is carried to war by the Chapter's Ancient, and it is said that even mortally wounded warriors refuse to die while its shadow falls upon them. The Sword Banner is more than a relic - it is the soul of the Chapter, the embodiment of their knightly devotion and indomitable will. When unfurled, the enemy feels dread gnaw at their courage, and allies rally as though touched by the hand of the Primarch himself.
Chapter Appearance
Many Imperial scholars have noted that the Blades of Dorn tend to utilise the most ancient patterns of power armour, weaponry, vehicles, and sacred relics. It is surmised that following their penitent crusade in the 38th Millennium, the Imperial Fists provided the battered Blades with the ancient VII Legion's most revered arms and equipment, in order to help bolster their severely depleted stocks of equipment and war material. The Blades of Dorn have continued to lovingly preserve their archaic arms and equipment, and have borne them down through the ages against the foes of their Primarch and the Emperor of Mankind.
Chapter Colours
Original Livery
Blades of Dorn Astartes in their Chapter's original livery (ca. M35)
The Blades of Dorn originally wore pale white gold and black coloured battle-plate. The faceplate, plastron, belt, groin, vambraces, and gauntlets were pale white gold in colour. The backpack, top of the helmet, shoulder pauldrons, cuisses (thigh armour), poleyns (knee guards), greaves (lower leg armour), and sabatons were painted a secondary black colour, symbolising the Chapter's state of perpetual mourning for the loss of the Emperor and their Primarch Rogal Dorn. The Aquila or Imperialis affixed to their plastrons was also black in colouration.
The left shoulder pauldron proudly displayed the chapter's iconography, while the right shoulder pauldron bore the individual battle-brother's squad specialty markings (Fire Support, Close Support, Battleline, Veteran, or Command). The right poleyn displayed a white-coloured Roman numeral, which designated company assignment. A smaller white-coloured Roman numeral stencilled on the right armorial inset indicated a battle-brother's assigned squad.
Post-Penitent Crusade Livery
Blades of Dorn Preceptor-Brother Arnult Kiergaard of the 4th Order ("Vigilators"), 3rd Battleline Squad displaying his Chapter's contemporary colour scheme.
Following the corruption of the Blades' progenitors and the completion of their Penitent Crusade, the Blades of Dorn re-painted the majority of their battle-plate in sombre black. Though this symbolic colour still marked the loss they felt for the Emperor's mortal shell and the death of their Primarch, it also came to encapsulate the Blades' eternal shame that they were descended from a Chapter of oath-breakers. Parts of their power armour are still detailed in their original pale white gold colours, including the faceplate, parts of the backpack, gorget (neck armour), shoulder pauldron trim, couters (elbow guards), and details around the poleyns (knee guards). A pale white gold-coloured Aquila or Imperialis is affixed to the plastron.
The left shoulder pauldron proudly displays the chapter's iconography, while the right shoulder pauldron bears the individual battle-brother's squad specialty markings (Fire Support, Close Support, Battleline, Veteran, or Command). Alternatively, sometimes the squad specialty marking is indicated on the right vambrace. The right poleyn displays a white-coloured Roman numeral, which designated company number. Sometimes squad number is indicated by a small white coloured Roman numeral on the inset of the right shoulder pauldron or the right vambrace.
Chapter icon of the Blades of Dorn
Chapter Badge
The Blades of Dorn's Chapter badge is a powerful and symbolic representation of their lineage, values, and eternal mission as a Successor Chapter of the Imperial Fists. At the heart of the emblem is a golden gauntlet, a direct homage to their Primarch, Rogal Dorn, whose own heraldry incorporated the image of an ebon-coloured gauntleted fist. This is a clear reflection of the Blades of Dorn's unwavering loyalty to their progenitor and their determination to uphold his legacy of unyielding defence of the Imperium. The gauntlet embodies strength, resilience, and the iron will for which both Rogal Dorn and his sons are famed.
Clutched in this golden gauntlet is a sword, a potent symbol of the Chapter's relentless offensive doctrine. While the gauntlet signifies defence and fortitude, the sword represents the Blades' resolve to carry the fight to the enemy. It is a mark of their never-ending crusade, highlighting that they are not merely defenders but also warriors on the constant march to bring the Emperor's justice to the foes of humanity. This duality of defence and aggression is central to the Chapter's identity.
Surrounding the sword and gauntlet is an Imperial Laurel, an ancient symbol that represents victory, honour, and the blessings of the Imperium. Traditionally, the laurel is awarded to great champions and victors in ancient Terran history, and its inclusion in the Chapter badge reflects the Blades of Dorn's belief in hard-earned triumphs through valour and sacrifice. It reinforces the idea that every battle they fight is in service to the Emperor, and every victory is a testament to their faith and dedication.
The entire emblem is set against a black field, a backdrop that conveys both solemnity and gravitas. The black field may serve as a reminder of the darkness that threatens humanity from all sides—whether it be the alien, the heretic, or the traitor - but also reflects the grim determination of the Blades of Dorn to stand as the Imperium's shining light in the blackness of the galaxy. It encapsulates the stark contrast between the nobility of their cause and the darkness they must combat.
Together, the elements of the Blades of Dorn's Chapter badge symbolises their indomitable spirit as the inheritors of Dorn's legacy, their undying commitment to the defence of the Emperor's realm, and their role as both the shield and sword of the Imperium.
Relations
Allies
| Name | Iconography | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Imperial Fists |  |
Like all Chapters descended from Rogal Dorn, the Blades of Dorn Adeptus have continuously maintained strong fraternal ties with their esteemed progenitors, the stoic and steadfast Imperial Fists. Since their founding, the Blades' unwavering dedication to confronting humanity's foes on the field of battle has proven invaluable during hundreds of campaigns, helping them attain an admirable record of service that surpasses Chapters of greater antiquity. They exemplify the unyielding nature and indomitable resolve of their gene-sire, demonstrating utter unwillingness to concede defeat against even insurmountable odds - qualities that have rightly earned their respected forebears' profound admiration and esteem. Throughout their millennia defending mankind, the Blades of Dorn have ensured the preservation of strong bonds of kinship and camaraderie with their fellow lineal descendants of Dorn, answering calls for aid from brother Chapters on numerous occasions. Proving themselves worthy heirs to Dorn's legacy, the Imperial Fists were first to rush to the Blades' defense when false accusations saw their progenitors fall from grace through no fault of their own. The Imperial Fists stood as the Blades of Dorn's most ardent supporters following their return from the terrors of the Eye of Terror. Having played such an instrumental role in vindicating their name as well as providing the means for their continuation, the Chapter remains a staunch ally of the Imperial Fists to this day in recognition of their esteemed brotherhood. |
| Black Templars |  |
The Blades of Dorn and Black Templars have developed a unique bond that stands out even among Space Marine brotherhoods. Both Chapters descended from the Imperial Fists gene-line and, like their parent Legion, emphasize close quarters combat and ranged firepower to devastating effect. Where the Blades of Dorn and Black Templars especially share kinship is in their unyielding fanaticism for the Imperium of Man. Their conviction in the righteousness of humanity's cause against all threats external and internal allows these Space Marines to face even the most terrifying xenos, heretics and daemons without hesitation or doubt. While the exact origins of this fraternal link are unknown, records show the two Chapters answering the call to battle as staunch allies when the Imperium's need is dire. Their indomitable will and shared devotion to protecting mankind with bolter and blade makes the Blades of Dorn and Black Templars a formidable tandem on the battlefield that even the greatest enemies of the Emperor learn to fear. |
| Brazen Lions |  |
The storied Brazen Lions Chapter has maintained a strong bond of camaraderie with the Blades of Dorn for countless standard centuries. These proud defenders of humanity have repeatedly rendered invaluable support to their battle-brothers of the Blades of Dorn during periods of heightened conflict and adversity. As a stalwart Chapter renowned for their discipline and indomitable will, the Brazen Lions have time and again found common purpose with the Blades of Dorn. Across innumerable deadly campaigns, these heroic Space Marines have stood shoulder-to-shoulder against the dark threats that assail the Imperium of Man. Fighting in close coordination, they have decimated the armies of heretics, xenos, and traitors with bolter fire and power sword in a righteous display of martial prowess. Through their combined efforts on the battlefield, they have ensured that those who raise arms against the Emperor meet a well-earned demise marked by terror and agony. |
| Death Templars |  |
The Death Templars and the Blades of Dorn have maintained a close strategic partnership spanning centuries of military campaigns together. The attack strategies employed by the two Chapters are highly complementary - the Death Templars utilize manoeuvrable, encircling tactics to engage enemies with hammer-like momentum, while the Blades of Dorn hold fixed, immovable positions resembling an impenetrable anvil. The precise origins of the alliance between these cousin-Chapters are unknown. However, when operating jointly in protracted Imperial war efforts across millennia, they have reliably demonstrated superb coordination and mutual support, playing pivotal roles in dozens of major operations. Each Chapter maintains a strong tradition of eagerly responding to calls for fraternal aid from their Dornian brethren without reservation or delay. Their long record of collaborative success on the battlefield stands as a testament to the enduring value of their disciplined, trusted partnership. |
| Hammers of Antaeus |  |
The Blades of Dorn and the Hammers of Antaeus share a kinship born not only of gene-line but of mutual recognition, two Chapters forged from the same unyielding legacy of Rogal Dorn, yet shaped by different burdens. Where the Hammers embrace the cold weight of endurance and restraint, the Blades embody the precision and aggression of Codex doctrine honed to a killing edge. Their alliance is marked by balance: the Hammers’ patience tempers the Blades’ zeal, while the Blades’ swiftness and ferocity lend momentum to the Hammers’ unrelenting sieges. It is said that when these Chapters fight side by side, it is as if the walls themselves close in on the foe, while the sword strikes deep into the heart of their resistance. This brotherhood, however, is not without tension. The Blades of Dorn carry the shadow of the Crusaders of Dorn upon their shoulders, a legacy of shame they cannot easily shrug aside. Where other Chapters offer suspicion or disdain, the Hammers of Antaeus extend a quiet respect, recognizing in their cousins a familiar burden, the knowledge that every action must prove one’s worth anew. It is in this shared struggle that the two Chapters find common ground. Both know the sting of judgment, both have endured the weight of expectation, and both refuse to be broken beneath it. Thus, in the war councils of their commanders, mutual respect is forged not from words, but from the solemn acknowledgment that each has endured trials the galaxy would see crush lesser men. On the battlefield, this alliance has been proven in fire and blood. During the Cleansing of Orphean Spires, the Blades struck with surgical fury, driving through the traitor command echelon in a single, devastating blow, while the Hammers ground down the outer defenses until not a stone remained standing. Together they enacted a destruction so complete that the survivors whispered of gods of stone and steel descending upon them. To this day, the banners of both Chapters hang side by side within Kronos Hold, not in triumph but in solemn remembrance. For the Hammers of Antaeus and the Blades of Dorn alike, alliance is not born of pride, but of necessity, and of the enduring truth that only through brotherhood can the Imperium’s walls stand against the tide. |
| Imperius Ravagers |  |
Sometime during the 35th Millennium, when the Imperium of Man had split in half following the secession of the Segmentum Pacificus, several Space Marine Chapters were created to help bring much-needed security to the realm of humanity. The Blades of Dorn was one such Chapter formed to help counter the many external threats facing the unstable borders of the Imperium during this tumultuous period of unrest and civil strife within. The Imperius Ravagers were among several Chapters called upon by the High Lords of Terra to mobilize to this troubled region of the galaxy and help stem the rapid deterioration and fragmentation of the Imperium's borders. The Ravagers soon found themselves fighting alongside the newly formed Blades of Dorn, which quickly gained a reputation for being one of the most actively deployed Chapters during this conflict, engaging from warzone to warzone against secessionist forces as well as responding to various emergencies and adding their strength to multiple ongoing campaigns. Fighting alongside the Blades and their fellow sons of Guilliman - the Wardens of Orask, these three Chapters often helped tip the balance of several conflicts in favour of the Imperium. Forging unbreakable bonds of friendship and brotherhood in the heat of battle, the Imperius Ravagers were one of the few Chapters that continued supporting the Blades of Dorn following the fall from grace and eventual excommunication of their progenitors, the Crusaders of Dorn. Despite the aspersions, suspicions, and outright hostility shown toward the Blades, the Imperius Ravagers stood by their cousin Chapter, vehemently arguing on their behalf that they remained both honourable and devoutly loyal, despite their progenitor's sins. Whenever called upon, the Imperius Ravagers have eagerly answered the Blades' call and fought alongside this dedicated and stalwart Chapter several times over the millennia. |
| Wardens of Orask |  |
The Wardens of Orask is a stoic and proud Successor Chapter descended from the noble lineage of Primarch Roboute Guilliman of the Ultramarines. Following their inception during the Nova Terra Interregnum sometime in the 35th Millennium, the Wardens deployed en masse to the troubled borders between the Segmentum Pacificus and the Segmentum Solar to help counteract the rapid erosion and contradiction of the Imperium's borders. The Wardens soon found themselves fighting alongside the newly created Blades of Dorn Chapter, which quickly garnered a reputation as one of the most highly active Chapters during this conflict, deploying from war zone to war zone, fighting against secessionist forces as well as responding to various emergencies and adding their strength to multiple ongoing campaigns. Working together, these two Chapters helped tip the balance of several conflicts in the Imperium's favour through their unyielding bravery and tenacity in battle. Forming unbreakable bonds of friendship and brotherhood in the heat of combat, the Wardens were one of the few Chapters that continued to support the Blades of Dorn following the fall from grace and eventual excommunication of their progenitors - the Crusaders of Dorn. Despite the aspersions, suspicions, and outright hostility shown to the Blades, the Wardens stood by their cousin Chapter and vehemently argued on their behalf that they remained both honourable and devoutly loyal, despite their progenitor's sins. Whenever called upon, the Wardens have eagerly answered the Blades' call, and have fought alongside this dedicated and stalwart Chapter several times over the millennia in defence of humanity. |
Enemies
| Name | Iconography | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Alpha Legion |  |
The Alpha Legion employ an unconventional and covert method of warfare that stands in stark contrast to the time-honoured traditions of the Blades of Dorn. Where the Blades value courage, loyalty and martial prowess in open battle, the Alpha Legion favour deception, cunning stratagems and subterfuge to achieve their aims. Rather than engaging their foes directly and honourably in close combat, the Alpha Legion are known to utilize insidious tactics such as misinformation, espionage and sabotage. Such underhanded methods are considered dishonourable by the staunch and principled Space Marines of the Blades of Dorn. Whenever these two factions clash, the Blades make certain to decisively defeat the Alpha Legion and eliminate any threat they pose through open and forceful confrontation on the field of battle. The Blades show no leniency or clemency towards these adversaries who so flagrantly disregard the chivalric code that governs Space Marine warfare. Through strength of arms and unwavering resolve, the Blades of Dorn ensure that honour and tradition prevail over deception and trickery. |
| Word Bearers |  |
The Word Bearers Traitor Legion has long stood as the most deceitful of the traitor forces that turned against the Emperor and mankind during the Horus Heresy. As the original architects and instigators of the Heresy itself, the Word Bearers worked deliberately to undermine the vision of progress and unity that the Emperor had begun to forge across the galaxy. By sowing seeds of discord, heresy, and rebellion wherever their influence could take hold, the Word Bearers disrupted the fledgling era of peace that the Imperium had hoped to establish. Beyond merely instigating chaos and unrest, the Word Bearers promoted the worship of corrupt and malign powers that had long lurked in the darkness between the stars. They willingly deceived populations across many worlds, turning citizens' faith toward the Ruinous Powers and ensnaring untold souls. Through manipulation and trickery, the Word Bearers stole the hope and futures of entire civilizations to fuel their dark designs. Whenever the Blades of Dorn engage the Word Bearers in battle, they do so with the knowledge that they fight those who betrayed both the Emperor and all of humanity. The Blades take satisfaction in eliminating Word Bearers battle-groups and outposts, viewing it as their sworn duty to remove this treacherous Legion wherever and whenever the opportunity arises to do so. In this way, the Blades of Dorn continue their work of protecting mankind and avenging the Empeor's vision. |
| Blood Axes |  |
The members of the Blades of Dorn Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes have long held a steadfast dedication to the protection of humanity from alien threats. Within their gene-seed runs an inherent distrust of xenos species, who are seen as existential dangers to the Imperium of Man. The fact that certain factions would consider open trade or military cooperation with the Ork klan in question is viewed by the Blades as the ultimate betrayal of mankind's interests. As defenders of the Imperial Creed and Humanity's manifest destiny to rule the galaxy, the Blades see it as their solemn duty to eliminate any and all xenos, particularly the savage and warlike Ork race, whenever such threats are identified within the spheres of Imperial space under their watch. To stand idle while an Ork presence grows goes against the Blades' devoutly-held mandate to safeguard Imperial citizens from the depredations of xenos. By proactively combating this greenskin klan, the Chapter aims to prevent further incursions that could endanger Imperial lives and destabilize the Emperor's realm. |
| Hive Fleet Kraken |  |
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| Necrons |  |
Notable Quotes
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By the Blades of Dorn
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About the Blades of Dorn
- "I certainly expected that a duel with veterans of your Chapter would be a difficult test of my fencing skills. In the end, it's hard for me to admit it, but your knights demeaned my right to be called an "Undefeated Blade"."
- —Champion A'den Harron of the Blades of Resurgence during a Feast of Blades
- "I remember your Chapter Master Ivan Gardorian. He had the audacity to glare at me when I suggested that your Chapter was not as pure as they professed themselves, considering the dead he had left behind. I can see a little of him in how you glare at me now. I am glad that I now bear the mark of shame on my armour for having been proven wrong - you children are far greater than your forebears."
- — Phoenix Commander Deus Krost of the Unbroken Spears
Acknowledgements
I cannot take sole credit for this article, as the Blades of Dorn were originally created by TheSpawn117 over on the affiliate Warhammer 40,000 Fanon Wiki. As the originator and inspiration for this Chapter, he was kind enough to place his special trust and faith in me, by entrusting his original article to me, in perpetuity, and letting me revise it as I saw fit. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed bringing it to you!
| Twelfth Founding Space Marine Chapters | |
|---|---|
| Dark Angels Successors | Obsidian Spears • |
| White Scars Successors | • |
| Space Wolves Successors | N/A |
| Imperial Fists Successors | Blades of Dorn • Lyran Guard • Terra's Hammers • |
| Blood Angels Successors | Blood Serpents • |
| Iron Hands Successors | Iron Wardens • Shadow Claws • |
| Ultramarines Successors | Thunder Lords • Tidebreakers • |
| Salamanders Successors | Dragons Amaranthine • |
| Raven Guard Successors | • |
| Unknown Lineage | Sun Warriors • Winged Axes • |
| Renegades | Nameless Stalkers • |
Gallery
