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- "Watch them cower, brother. Isn't it pitiful? Even these monsters of Chaos shudder in terror at the sight of our power. Now, send them to damnation!"
- —Mortifier Y'nor
The Excruciators are a Loyalist Codex-compliant Successor Chapter created during the 6th Founding from the lineage of the heroic Salamanders. In mid-M36, the Chapter suffered the catastrophic loss of the majority of their Chapter upon the world of Rylor at the hands of a notorious Chaos Warband known as the Knives of Nurgle. A surviving squad was ordered to depart the battlefield in order for the Chapter's legacy to survive.
Escaping the massacre, this lone squad of surviving battle-brothers made their way back to their chapter homeworld, where they placed themselves in stasis and were eventually forgotten, until their rediscovery in late M41 by a Torchbearers fleet. Offered the chance for redemption, they underwent the process of becoming Rubicon Primaris and were gifted with the means to create a new generation of Space Marines to rebuild their Chapter. At the dawning of M42, the Excruciators Chapter returned in full-force, at the head of the Indomitus Crusade to bring the wrath of the Emperor down upon the followers of the Dark Gods.
Chapter History
The Excruciators Chapter, also known as 'Excruciators Libras' or 'Lantern Raptors', are a Codex Chapter that was formed during the 6th Founding in 831.M33. Utilising the master=crafting skills of the Salamanders, the Excruciators take the fight to their enemy instead of protecting what already is. In mid-M36, the Excruciators were led to battle under the banner of Mortifier Kor'Sarr against a warband of Plague Marines known as the Knives of Nurgle, upon the feudal world of Rylor. Facing utter destruction, Mortifier Kor'Sarr ordered a single squad of Space Marines to escape the battlefield to carry their legacy to where next the Emperor may need them.
Ten Space Marines of the Excruciators chapter survived the battle of Rylor. These Space Marines went into a self-imposed penitent exile to their homeworld of Abyss, where they faded into absolute obscurity to even some of the most adamant of scholars. The Excruciators became a myth, and even when contact was attempted, it was ignored. They had been, as far as the Imperium had known, exterminated entirely and their Fortress-Monastery abandoned on an uninhabitable world.
In early M41, the Hemlok Fortress was uncovered by a Mechanicus exploratory force commissioned by the Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl to retrieve ancient artifacts from the lost Fortress-Monastery. The Adeptus Mechanicus explorators found what they didn't expect: living Space Marines, locked in deep stasis in the bowels of the Hemlok Fortress. Woken from their deep slumber, these ten were brought before Cawl where they told him their story. Cawl, in return, offered them redemption. The surviving Excruciators accepted eagerly and were told to wait for the time to be right.
At the head of the Ultima Founding, the Excruciators returned in horrible force, striking at the heart of a Death Guard invasion. The Excruciators had come back to fight the Forces of Chaos with a deep hatred in their hearts, now lead by the Protomarch Archimedes, and with that hatred they now hew fury and terror into the hearts of those followers of the Ruinous Powers.
Notable Campaigns
- Khelon Crusade (590.M34) - The Excruciators chapter launches a crusade against the hive world of Khelon in an attempt to root out a cultist rebellion in the planet's capital hive. Forty Astartes assault the city of Griffonhald, with Mortifier Kho'Saan leading the incursion. The Knives of Nurgle are first encountered during the battle, emerging from the sewers, where the Excruciators slay them eagerly.
- Assault on Blackhaven (636.M35) - The world of Blackhaven is assaulted by a Nurglite warband, and Captain Archimedes leads the counter attack, striking at the Knives of Nurgle in the middle of the night. Their disorienting glow and surprise attacks confuse the Chaos Marines assailing the city, allowing for their relatively easy dispatching. Using the stale darkness, the Excruciators struck at the heart of the Nurglite infestation with a marching line of bolters, blocking off the roads and exits of the city of Cephelon from the sluggish, swollen Plague Marines that were their opponents. Archimedes faced the Chaos Lord in one-on-one combat, slaying the fiend and making for a swift victory.
Chapter Homeworld
- Abyss,(Death World) The world of Abyss was granted to the Excruciators as a permanent challenge to their resolve. Abyss gained its namesake due to the highly-oxygenated dark oceans that cover over ninety five percent of the planet's surface. The little landmass that does exist makes its presence as shale-like mountainous stone spires, where the fortress monastery of Hemlok Fortress holds its claim. Abyss is populated by titanic sea life, where one would have to be suicidal to dare explore its depths lest the creatures of the deep claim them. Volcanic underwater vents dot the floor of the oceans, the shallowest of these finding use by the Excruciators themselves as exotic heating elements for their forges.
- Helmshand, (Feudal World) The world of Helmshand is said to be reminiscent of Holy Terra far before the Dark Age of Technology. With a surface comprised of oceans, seas, and decently-sized continents, Helmshand boasts a healthy civilization formed by various kingdoms. The people of this world view the Space Marines of the Excruciators as gods, unaware of their true origin. Helmshand initially had little connection to the Excruciators, until the Chapter aided them against an invasion by a warband of the Black Legion. After slaying the warlord Zaakhir and driving the surviving Chaos Marines away, the Excruciators were offered the eternal service of the planet's collective rulers, and to the present day remains as a recruiting world for the Chapter.
Fortress-Monastery
Hemlok is the fortress-monastery that is located atop a ferroshale mountain in the northern hemisphere of Abyss. The Hemlok looms over a clifftop, held in stability by ancient anti-gravitic generators. Numerous lifts and sealed elevators lead down into the depths of the waters below, granting the Marines access to the volcanic vents they use to fuel their forges.
Chapter Beliefs
Chapter Gene-Seed
The gene-seed of the Excruciators is slightly destabilized due to their use of the Damnation psychic discipline and unstable connection to the Warp. Additionally, the battle-brothers of the chapter display a number of odd cosmetic traits. Similar to the Salamanders they supposedly share their heritage with, they sport coal black skin. Unlike their aforementioned cousins however, they also have seemingly luminescent white hair and eyes, granting them an otherworldly visage - Though this trait only spawned after a generation or so of their occupation of the ocean world of Abyss. Some individuals also seem to display an ability to withstand extreme pressure and low temperatures that would be present in their forges under the ocean surface.
Chapter Organisation
The Excruciators maintain a relatively mundane Chapter organisation, only diverging with the fusion of Librarian and Chaplain into the singular role of Mortifier.
Deathwatch Service
The Excruciators are absolutely avoidant of the Death Watch and will not serve, with good reason. Most outsider Chapters view the Excruciators with deep suspicion due to their history and practices. As well, interaction with other chapters and Imperial organizations brings more risk of exposing their secrets.
Chapter Combat Doctrine
The Excruciators, for the most part, apply the Codex Astartes to their combat strategies, while putting an emphasis on shock-and-awe and rapid assaults. They diverge when it comes to Psykers, however. Utilizing the powers of their Excruciators, Mortis Squads will often walk directly into enemy fire and bully the enemy until they're forced to fall back, granting other squads the ability to advance. They put an emphasis on bolt rifles, charging and unleashing volleys of fire into the enemy before smashing headlong into the foe's battle lines like bowling pins.
Notable Space Marines
Chapter Master Archimedes, wielding the relic sword Heart Of Abyss.
- Archimedes the Conqueror: Once a normal Space Marine, Archimedes was a brutal tactician and savage commander, facing the enemy from the front lines instead of hiding in a command center. Archimedes served in countless campaigns, taking the heads of numerous foes and fighting beside many allies. In 936.M35, Talor Archimedes was struck by a Warp Bolt from a Tzeentchian sorcerer, causing his body and power armor to swell to nearly Dreadnought proportions from the unpredictable energies of the Warp. Having fused with his armor, Archimedes can never remove it, and now serves as the absolute word of the Excruciators chapter as the Chapter Master. Often dubbed "Protomarch" by his kin due to his stature, Archimedes earned his nickname while he served beside Guilliman during the Indomitus Crusade and earning the Primarch's approval and forgiveness for his curse. Archimedes now wears the crest of Guilliman to honor his titled brother.
- Mortifier Y'nor: One of the elusive figures unique to the Excruciators, Mortifier Y'nor leads from the forefront of the battlefield. A particularly grim individual, Y'nor was present during the founding of the Chapter. He served beside the founding Chapter Master Mo'laac as the 1st Company's leading Chaplain. The Death Mask of Y'nor is now a revered artifact, worn by the current presiding Mortifier Hel'Vol.
Mortifier Hel'Vol
- Mortifier Hel'Vol: The current leading Mortifier under Chapter Master Archimedes, acting as both spiritual leader and Librarian of the Excruciators Space Marines. Hel'Vol is currently serving in the Indomitus Crusade in the Aberdeen subsector, warring against the ever-present enemy of the Chapter, the Knives of Nurgle. Mortifier Hel'Vol is a master of the unique Psychic discipline of the Excruciators, known as 'Damnation'.
One of two sconce-bearers of the Mortis Squad
- Mortis Squad: Ritualistic individuals, the Mortis Squad is a collection of ten specially-selected Intercessors chosen to consume the preserved flesh of the ten survivors of the original Excruciators Chapter, consuming their memories and experience and adding it to their own. There is no single Mortis Squad, as the mantle and armor of the dead is passed on to a new Marine with every loss. They specialize in fighting off the diseases and poisons of Nurgle, seeming almost unaffected by the diseases his servants churn out. These individuals carry blaring green torch sconces that burn eternally with Warpflame, serving as beacons for the Damnation arts their Excruciators enact on the battlefield.
- Landros the Undying: The first Redemptor Dreadnought of the Excruciators Chapter, Landros the Undying has failed to fall to the grim fate that so many others of his kin have fallen to in the Redemptor chassis. It's said that his will to stave off death until his duty is complete drives him onward,
Chapter Fleet
Chapter Relics
- Heart Of Abyss: A titanic dual-edged sword sheathed in Warpflame, the Heart Of Abyss echoes with the power of Damnation. This blade is wielded by Chapter Master Archimedes into battle, and is capable of chopping through ceramite like butter.
- The Emperor's Fist: A large powerfist equipped to Archimedes' power armor, the Emperor's Fist contains a fragment of the Emperor's armor within its hefty shell, and totes a wrist-mounted Heavy Bolter.
- Opressor's Plate: The Oppressor's was once an Artificer suit of power armor worn by Mo'laac and passed down to the presiding Chapter Master Archimedes. It has since swollen with the powers of the Warp flooding through the new master. It exudes a horrid energy that target the enemies of its wearer and peels back their willpower with overwhelming crushing pressure, denying them their most valued attack opportunities. Even to allies the Plate is said to give off an air of creeping dread.
- Crozius Infernum: The weapon wielded by Mortifier Hel'Vol, this weapon was once wielded by the Grand Chaplain of the Ultramarines in 344.M34. The relic was gifted to them after Captain Ky'Taan and a detachment of Marines aided the Ultramarines in the defense of a vital recruiting world.
- Helm of Y'nor: The death mask of the original Mortifier, Y'nor. While it has no special properties of its own, its presence bolsters the Excruciators into more fervent warfare wherever it goes.
Chapter Appearance
Chapter Colours
The Excruciators wear dark-green armor, with patterned black and bone-white applied by individual Marines as personal identifiers.The lenses of their helmets are always blood-red, with black under armor.
Chapter Badge
Typically an archaic lantern, the Excruciators wear a number of other icons as well, displaying crusade heraldry as well as personal honors.
Relations
Allies
Enemies
Gallery
