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This article, Mourning Cherubim, was written by Glorious Mongoose. Please do not edit or 'acquire' this fiction without the writer's permission. |
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- "He was the light in the darkness. He was the Angel and the galaxy will never see his like again."
- — Kerubiel Hosios 'Mourning Herald'
The Mourning Cherubim are an ancient Loyalist Space Marine Successor Chapter of the heroic Blood Angels. Born during the splitting of the legions, these have a grim, painful history. Due to their creation shortly after the events of the Age of Darkness, these Astartes were perhaps the most emotionally destroyed by the death of their Primarch. These suicidal Space Marines are a fearful opponents, utterly unconcerned with their own well-being and driven join their gene-sire in death, the Mourning Cherubim brought relentless destruction to any they faced. During Hive Fleet Leviathan's invasion of Baal, the Mourning Cherubim finally acquired the release they desired.
Chapter History
Before the Second Founding, which split the Legions into their current forms, the Adeptus Astartes who would become the Mourning Cherubim, served as the 13th Company of the Ninth Legion, under Captain Kerubiel 'Mourning Herald'. During the climax of the Siege of Terra, when the Arch-Traitor lowered his flagship's shields to lure his father into one final confrontation, the 13th Company were mired down in some of the most vicious fighting as they held their assigned gate. Upon the death of their Primarch however, the Marines that would become the Mourning Cherubim were driven near insane with the psychic-echoes of Sanguinius' last pained moments. The 13th Company abandoned their posts then, each one screaming in grief and mindless fury, ripping apart the traitors that besieged them with no concern for their own survival. The 13th Company would remain near feral with sorrow for days after the Vengeful Spirit's retreat from Terra. As the remnants of the traitor legions were wiped from the face of Throneworld, countless Blood Angels would be discovered, caked in blood and wandering aimlessly.
After the splitting up of the Space Marine Legions, those of 13th Company and others who had served alongside Captain Kerubiel Hosios where separated from the 9th Legion into the Mourning Cherubim. Where the others, such as the Angels Vermillion and Flesh Tearers were left scarred by the death of their Primarch, the Mourning Cherubim were left beyond broken. After the severing of the Legions, those of the 13th Company, now dubbed the Mourning Cherubim would settle on the bleak graveyard world of Lamassu. After venting their murderous, bloody-handed wrath on the fleeing traitors during the Great Scouring, those ragged survivors returned to their Fortress-Monastery, left with only their depthless sorrow.
Where it not for the intervention of Raldoron, the Mourning Cherubim would long dead for, in their return to Lamassu, led by Kerubiel Hosios those surviving members of the Chapter sought to reunite with their slain father. Initially, their murderous fury during the Great Scouring had been their first attempt at ending their suffering. They had unfortunately survived. Now though, all gathered in the immense grand hall of the Seat of Mercy, the Mourning Cherubim sought to end themselves with ritual suicide. Such a horrid event was only prevented by the kindness of Raldoron. Concerned by the increasing instability of Kerubiel, the first Chapter Master of the Blood Angels sought to console him, only to discover his cousin-chapter was attempting to end themselves, so soon in their history. What followed would be seen as the defining moment for the Angels of Lamassu; once Raldoron realised what was about to happen, he made all haste in preventing his once-brothers, now-cousins' suicide. With the great crack of the teleport fracturing reality, Raldoron and the Blood Angels' Sanguinary Guard appeared right in front of Kerubiel, stunning all but the Mourning Herald.
In an instant, Raldoron met his brother's gaze. Keening nearly severed the First Captain's fingers as it nearly drove its way through Kerubiel's chest, with the scrape of ceramite Raldoron turned the blade aside, gripping it despite the pain. In this moment, 'The Covenant' was born; Raldoron spoke to the Mourning Herald "Only in death does duty end Kerubiel. These lives are not yours to take." his eyes swimming with mad sorrow, Kerubiel begged for answers, he could still feel the void of Sanguinius' death, only by joining him in could they fill that painful abyss. Raldoron's response was harsh, but he understood. The ever-caring First Captain felt his brother's pain. In the end, an agreement that the Mourning Cherubim have held fast to was formed; the Angels of Lamassu could have their death, if they earned it. Through the destruction of their enemies would they earn their salvation, death earnt with the blood of those that would defile and destroy what the beloved Primarch of the Ninth had given his life to preserve.
The Cantos Pilgrimage
Notable Campaigns
- The Purging of Bolgia V
- Great Scouring (014-021.M31) - With Horus cast down by the Emperor of Mankind, aided by the sacrifice of Sanguinius, the traitor legions were routed from Terra. Initially the Mourning Cherubim were akin to the murderous and feral Flesh Tearers during this time, endlessly venting their grief-filled wrath against the retreating traitors. More and more they launched themselves into the bloodiest battles of the Great Scouring, such was their maddened fervour, they were barely able to replenish any of their losses. Eventually though, the traitor legions were driven from the Imperium and left to rot in the Eye of Terror. Those remaining Mourning Cherubim sullenly returned to their assigned homeworld of Lamassu.
- The Malebranche's End (091-099.M31) - As if place a final, bitter headstone on the Mourning Cherubim's history as a member of the 9th Legion, the Chapter's first major engagement would be against the same foul creatures the Angels of Lamassu fought when they first met their Primarch; though exiled from their home system for decades since the Great Crusade, the sadistic Malebranche endured in the cold, isolated reaches of space, eking out a pathetic existence. Discovered in the depths of the Cantos Tail nebula, the entirety of the Mourning Cherubim descended upon the remaining Malebranche in a sorrow-filled fury, the mere existence of the repulsive xenos when their beloved Primarch had fallen, driving them into a murderous frenzy. It was during this
- First Cherubic Crusade (697-700.M35) - The First Cherubic Crusade was a joint effort by the Angels of Anguish, Carmine Angels, and Mourning Cherubim chapters of Adeptus Astartes to defeat an Ork WAAAGH! led by Warlord Snaggrakka da Planet Krumpa in the Imperial system of Cherun. After nearly three years of brutal fighting, the Astartes were able to turn the tide of battle with a desperate move by the Angels of Anguish, releasing their Death Company members onto the ork horde. In the end, the orks were defeated, but the cost of the battle was high, with many space marines losing their lives in the conflict. The Cherubic Crusade was declared a pyrrhic victory, but it showed the strength and determination of the Adeptus Astartes in the face of overwhelming odds.
- Second Cherubic Crusade (233-235.M40) - The Second Cherubic Crusade was sparked by a sudden and unexpected invasion by the brutal and massive Ork WAAAGH! into the Cherun system. The sector had enjoyed a period of relative peace and security after the last crusade, and the planetary defense forces had grown complacent, allowing the Orks to gain a foothold on the planet's surface. A desperate distress call was sent out, summoning reinforcements from the Angels of Anguish, Carmine Angels, Immortals, Iron Wyverns, Lightning Wraiths, Mourning Cherubim, Nemean Lions, Omni-Legion, and Imperial Guard forces. The Mourning Cherubim led by Captain Zazel Shen, the defenders of the Cherun system mobilized to push back the Ork invasion and protect the system from falling into the hands of the savage xenos. The Crusade was fought tooth and nail across Cherun's treacherous terrain, with the fate of the system hanging in the balance. In the end, although the Astartes were successful in pushing back the Ork WAAAGH! and defending the Cherun system, the cost was high and the scars left by the conflict would be felt for generations to come.
- Devastation of Baal (999.M41) - During Hive Fleet Leviathan's assault on their Primarch's homeworld, the Mourning Cherubim were present in their entirety. The bizarre flaw that had blighted the Chapter throughout their bleak history affected every single Astartes, transforming every single member of the Angels of Lamassu into a miniature facsimile of their fallen Primarch. When the Tyranids arrived, the Mourning Cherubim fought the endless hordes in the void above Baal. In the end, as the foul Tyranids drove the assembled fleet of the Sanguine Brotherhood from to buy their cousins time to retreat, the Angels of Lamassu engaged in a final, desperate gamble; the Tetramorph, the ancient flagship of the Chapter was sent on a final suicide run, ramming into the immense synapse ship that lead the initial assault. Despite its own massive size, though the Tetramorph caused tremendous damage to the xenos vessel as it rammed into it, the titanic hive ship still endured. As the massive battle-barge broke apart those Mourning Cherubim that still endured, including Flamewreathed Rikbiel and the Shedu (Sanguinary Guard) boarded the synapse ship, before rampaging throughout the foul bio-vessel.
Chapter Homeworld
As an Astartes homeworld, Lamassu was an oddity. No prison or death world, Lamassu is a bleak, mist-covered grave world. Since their arrival the Mourning Cherubim have effectively turned the planet into a shrine, devoted to the grieving of their fallen Primarch. As with countless grave worlds, endless sprawling, shanty towns have sprung up, for those wishing to join these Angels of Death in their sorrow over the ninth son of the Emperor.
Fortress-Monastery
The Seat of Mercy is emblematic of the desolation that blighted the Mourning Cherubim. Though in part a facade, the great fortress resembles an immense mausoleum, built in half-mad anticipation of Kerubiel’s Warrior’s final glory. The resting quarters of still living battle-brothers stand beside the converted crypts of those lucky dead. Since their destruction during the defence of Baal, the Seat of Mercy was truly converted into a vast catacomb in the Cherubim’s honour, with Lord Commander Dante wishing to give them their final rest, and not wishing to inflict that same horrific anguish that followed the Angels of Lamassu their whole existence on any other.
Recruitment
Given their past as Marines placed on the forefront of some of the most savage fighting, repeated deployments on the level of Zone Mortalis, the Mourning Cherubim are able to rapidly renew their numbers which, given the horrific casualties their forces regularly sustain, was necessary for their survival. Given the countless, vicious scavengers that prowl the misty sepulchres of their homeworld, those charged with maintaining these ancient crypts are seasoned warriors.
Chapter Organisation
Officer Ranks
- Flamewreathed - The Mourning Cherubim's title for their Chapter Master, in many ways it is a title inherited from Kerubiel, like him, every Flamewreathed has had to saddle the collective grief of the Chapter, to see with clarity their own duty, to guide themselves and their brethren back to Sanguinius, to earn their rest. Such a position may require them to act against the suicidal instincts imprinted upon them.
Specialist Ranks
- The Shedu - The name of the Sanguinary Guard for the Mourning Cherubim. Like all Chapters of the Blood, they maintain a full ten man brotherhood of these gold-clad warriors. Unlike other Chapters, the Sanguinary Guard are not the bodyguards of the Chapter Master, instead, they serve as a cadre of the greatest warriors, prowling the battlefield of their own accord. Though originally like others of the Blood, the Sanguinary Guard were used as bodyguards for the Chapter Master, the increasing numbers of those afflicted by the bizarre mutation and the formation of the Ones who are Blessed, led the Shedu becoming a gathering of Champions, honoured above all but the Flamewreathed and the unnerving brotherhood of those afflicted by the baffling curse of the Mourning Cherubim.
- Ones who are Blessed - This gathering of warriors is a more recent addition to the Angels of Lamassu (relatively speaking). In earlier days the bizarre mutation that afflicted members of the Chapter, transforming them into miniature facsimiles of Sanguinius, was rarer, only occurring at most once every few decades. In recent years however, larger groups of them have been appearing. Ever since then, a new brotherhood was formed; the Ones who are Blessed, given their seeming inevitable demise, this bleak gathering serves as guardians of the Flamewreathed. Their preternatural still put to use in the most vital of tasks, before they meet their doom. They are, in effect if not in guise a second Sanguinary Guard.
Companies
The Mourning Cherubim follow the strictures of the Codex Astartes in a fashion similar their progenitors. Largely maintaining the organisation laid out in Roboute Guilliman's great tome, with only slight adjustments made as is traditional for the Sanguine Brotherhood. Given their suicidal desire and disinterest for the casualties they take which allows them to fight on with a terrible zeal, the Mourning Cherubim are rarely at full strength.
Chapter Beliefs
Of all of the Chapters of the Blood, the Mourning Cherubim are perhaps the most maniacal and mentally disturbed by Sanguinius' death. Whilst the Flesh Tearer's were rendered into psychotic killing machines and blighted by the Black Rage far worse than their cousins, those who would become the Mourning Cherubim became broken, grief-filled souls. During their infancy in fact, the Chapter was almost rendered extinct when they, led by their then Chapter Master Kerubiel, attempted ritual suicide on their new mist-filled homeworld, in an attempt to rejoin their lost Primarch. This desolation permeates every aspect of the Chapter, as they see it as their life's mission to slaughter the enemies of the Imperium, to earn the death they so desperately crave. Even their choice of homeworld; a graveyard planet dedicated to the memory of Sanguinius, shows just how crushing his death was to their psyche. The Mourning Cherubim are a Chapter of broken Astartes, filled with despair and longing for death.
Chapter Gene-Seed
The Mourning Cherubim show all the usual genetic markers of a warrior of Sanguinius, albeit at a potentially higher rate than some other Chapters of the Blood. Ever since the death of Sanguinius, those who share his gene-seed are afflicted by the twin blights of the Red Thirst and Black Rage. Whilst not perhaps a curse of their lineage, the Mourning Cherubim are afflicted by the void in their souls caused by the death of their Primarch. Interestingly, certain members of the Chapter seem to mutate into smaller facsimiles of their long-lost Primarch over time, though the cause of this has never been discovered. It is seen as a personal blessing by the Lord of Hosts when this occurs as every single Marine that this strange quirk has affected, has died shortly afterwards. During the Devastation of Baal, every member began to show signs of this mutation, so, perhaps that belief does have some merit.
Combat Doctrine
The Mourning Cherubim are terrifying foe, uncaring of their own casualties, they charge forwards into almost certain death, each screaming their inconsolable grief for their dead Primarch. Such displays of insensate, suicidal fury are often simply enough to route an enemy, for the mere sight of the Angels of Lamassu, storming through waves of enemy fire as if they were naught but a stiff breeze, is truly terrifying. During the days of the Great Crusade, the Company that would become the Mourning Cherubim was involved in some of the most savage battles experienced by the Blood Angels. This necessary brutality has carried over and, possibly thanks to the misery-ridden culture of the Chapter, has intensified; searing chemicals added into the promethium mixture of flamers, devastating orbital insertions, jump-packs modified to release great belches of fire, scorching their opponents as the Mourning Cherubim take to the air, the better to find a foe who could finally reunite them with Sanguinius.
Chapter Armoury
Because of their age, the Mourning Cherubim's armoury contains a large amount of older gear. For example, they own a sizeable number of the MK II 'Crusade' Pattern Jump Packs. As their suicidal and unrelenting nature dulls them to the cost of casualties, the Chapter is armed with a large amount of the more brutal weaponry of the Destroyer Squads. As well as this, their stores of close-combat weaponry are particularly extensive, allowing them to carve a bloody tally through their enemies in search of the end they so desperately crave.
Deathwatch Service
Before their destruction, the Mourning Cherubim were perhaps, too enthusiastic in their upholding of the Long Vigil, consistently sending more than the required amount. Many believe that this is due to the sheer danger of serving in the Deathwatch, which, when coupled with the suicidal outlook of the Angels of Lamassu, goes a long ways to explain the zealousness with which battle-brothers seconded to the Ordo Xenos' Chapter, serve. Though they are a morose and gloomy lot, the Mourning Cherubim usually go above and beyond what is required of them, perhaps in an attempt to earn their final rest and to join Sanguinius in death.
Notable Members
- Kerubiel Hosios - Former Captain of the Blood Angels 13th Company, Kerubiel Hosios, nicknamed 'Mourning Herald' was the first Flamewreathed of the Mourning Cherubim. When Sanguinius died, Kerubiel was driven nearly insane with grief. When the Legiones Astartes were broken up into their current form during the 2nd Founding, Kerubiel was placed in command of the newly created Mourning Cherubim. Unfortunately, the psychosis that affected them made them suicidal with anguish. Eventually however, when Kerubiel and his men attempted to kill themselves to join their lost Primarch, Raldoron was able to convince his old compatriot to not simply kill himself, quoting a long since forgotten remembrancer “Cleanse yourself in the blood of our enemies.”
- Rikbiel - Last of the Flamewreathed. The final Chapter Master of the Mourning Cherubim, Rikbiel was a warrior of furious devotion and relentless resolve. During his tenure, the Mourning Cherubim were virtually a crusading Chapter. The suicidal monomania of the Angels Lamassu was given release during his bloody reign, and, with Keening in hand, he and his brethren reaped a brutal tally of the Imperium’s foes. Before the Devastation of Baal, Rikbiel, like the rest of the Mourning Cherubim, he underwent the bizarre mutation that afflicts Kerubiel’s Warriors, transforming warriors soon to die, into miniature facsimiles of Sanguinius. For Rikbiel, in his final moments, the transformation grew so extreme that, unbeknownst to all but himself, wings burst from his back, allowing him to strike the fatal blow which would destroy the massive synapse ship.
- Gamaliel Mar - Famous amongst the Mourning Cherubim, Gamaliel before his death served as one of the most celebrated Masters of the Covenant; the head of the Chaplaincy. Against a great horde of bizarre psionic xenos, Mar
Chapter Fleet
Like all Chapters of the Second Founding, the Mourning Cherubim had an ancient fleet, many of the ships being relics of the Imperium's glorious high-point in the Great Crusade. Much like the Chapter they served however, the fleet of the Mourning Cherubim was a bleak, ominous thing, seeming to almost thrum with misery. Since their extinction, after Dante's decision to not refound the Chapter, their fleet was distributed amongst the surviving members of the Sanguine Brotherhood and those new Chapters of Greyshields.
- Tetramorph (Battle-Barge) - An ancient and destructive ship, the Tetramorph was destroyed along with the rest of the Chapter during the Devastation of Baal. During the battle in the void above Baal, as the invading Hive Fleet pushed back the the Scions of Sanguinius, the Mourning Cherubim refused to retreat, both to give their brethren the respite they needed and, to fulfil their own suicidal desires. The Tetramorph itself rammed into the leading hive ship, destroying itself in the process but allowing the Chapter’s leadership to board and destroy the ship.
- Guardian of Paradise (Battle-Barge) - Where countless Chapters of the Blood have vessels
- Memory of Ezekiel (Strike Cruiser) -
Chapter Relics
- Keening - A massive two-handed blade, wielded by the current Flamewreathed (the Sorrowful Angel’s equivalent of Chapter Master) Keening, in its current form was created by Kerubiel; founder of the Chapter and and former Captain of the 13th Company. Impregnated with the harsh acid produced by the hateful Carrion Crawlers that stalk their mist-filled homeworld Keening is a terrifying bringer of the death that Mourning Cherubim so desperately crave, and the soul-crushing emptiness that drove its first wielder and his men near-mad when Sanguinius died. Unlike so much of the Mourning Cherubim's arsenal, Keening was not lost in the fires of their last stand. Somehow, it was inexplicably discovered, drifting in space amidst the scorched wads of flesh that was all that remained of the immense hive ship the Mourning Cherubim destroyed in their final assault.
- The Banner of the Covenant Fulfilled - When Raldoron prevented Kerubiel and his Chapter’s suicide, a covenant was created. Woven by Kerubiel himself, seemingly driven by the prophetic visions suffered by many of the Ninth, this ancient banner shows Raldoron offering a hand to the Mourning Cherubim, each one of whom bears the features of their Primarch, save his wings. Above this scene, skeletal angels watch. Steeped in the blood of every Flamewreathed, this sacred relic is perhaps the most revered in the Chapter, for it displays the moment the Mourning Cherubim truly became who they were and perhaps in a bout of ‘other-sight’ the Angels of Lamassu’s ultimate reward; skeletal Marines rising into a golden sky.
- Cicero's Hammer - Wielded by Epistolary Averroes Seneca on the feral world of Cicero, it was against the Sanguine Brotherhood's most hated foe; Ka'Bandha the daemon lord of Signus that Cicero's Hammer would gain its grim fame. Drawn like a shark to blood, the Hunter of Angels was accidentally summoned forth by the savage residents of the world, as the Mourning Cherubim brought the purging fire of the Imperium to their malignant cults. Led by the Epistolary Seneca
Chapter Appearance
Chapter Colours
The Mourning Cherubim have a primarily two-tone colour scheme with their helmets, backpacks and legs painted jet black, while the torso, arms and pauldron trim are gold. The pauldron insets however, are blood red. Like most successors of the Ninth Legion, their squad designation is displayed of the right shoulder plate with a differently coloured blood drop (depending on the designation) As well, the Mourning Cherubim decorate their armour with images of grief and sorrow, befitting of their misery-fuelled and suicidal fury, for example their Chapter Master's right pauldron is carved with the figure of a weeping skeletal angel.
As with virtually every Chapter, the ranks of the Mourning Cherubim (Including the grim station of the Death Company) are differentiated with both symbol markers and a slight alteration of the colour scheme:
- Sergeant: Gold helmet
- Death Company: Silver helmet, arms and pauldron insets.
Chapter Badge
The Angels of Lamassu's icon similar to their parent Chapter's, but much like themselves a dark reflection. A winged skull, there are however, two pairs of wings and these wings have sinister, staring eyes.
Relations
Allies
- Blood Angels - Much like countless members of the Sanguine Brotherhood, the Blood Angels see the Mourning Cherubim as a heart-breaking effect of Horus' vanity. While all were scarred by the death of their Primarch, the Angels of Lamassu most of all were irreparably shattered by Sanguinius' death. As the Tyranids closed in on Baal, and the strange curse affected the Mourning Cherubim more and more, a distance began developing, as the Blood Angels grew disturbed by the almost inexplicable shift of the Chapter as more and more they became smaller duplicates of their fallen Primarch. After the Chapter's death against Leviathan, Dante declared that the Mourning Cherubim would not be one of the Chapters refounded, declaring the Angels of Lamassu had earned their rest and that to hoist the horrific sorrow that had haunted the Chapter upon a new stock would be an abominable crime.
- Lamenters - In many disturbing ways, the Mourning Cherubim were envious of the Lamenters, cursed as they were with horrific luck and seemingly doomed to die out in the harsh, uncaring universe, exactly as the suicidal Angels of Lamassu wished for themselves.
Enemies
Notable Quotes
By the Mourning Cherubim
- "This ship will burn xenos, your kind will die, and with your death, I will reunited with my Primarch. You cannot stop me tyranid, you will not stop me. Today my brothers and I earn our reward! FOR BAAL AND SANGUINIUS! DEATH IS OUR REWARD!"
- — Last words of Flamewreathed Rikbiel during the Devastation of Baal
About the Mourning Cherubim
- "Whilst the Lord Regent has requested Chapters be reborn with these new Astartes...I would not inflict such a fate on the Mourning Cherubim or any apparent heirs...Let them rest, they have earnt it."
- —Lord Commander Dante regarding the extinction of the Mourning Cherubim
Gallery
