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- "Today is a good day to die!"
- —Daimyō Rusuigumi Senjō during the War of the Eight Tombs
The Rising Sons The Rising Sons are a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter of the 8th Founding, born of the gene-seed of the White Scars. Like their progenitors, they are swift, fierce, and unyielding, though tempered by a culture deeply shaped by the traditions of their adopted homeworlds. Their genesis occurred in the shadow of the Nova Terra Interregnum, a time of schism and confusion that tore the Imperium asunder during the 34th Millennium. Amid this chaos, the Rising Sons were unleashed upon the Eastern Fringe, forged in blood and fire as a bulwark against heresy and xenos incursion.
Their most defining chapter began with the liberation of the Yamata Sub-Sector, a cluster of civilised and ritual-bound worlds near the expanding border of the T'au Empire. Rather than impose Imperial orthodoxy by force, the Rising Sons adopted a path of ritualised peace and cultural assimilation. Embracing the codes of honour, philosophy, and martial discipline of the local peoples, the Chapter came to embody a noble warrior-scholarly tradition - ruling not as conquerors, but as guardians. Yet this very fusion of Astartes doctrine with foreign culture, though it birthed a uniquely loyal and dignified force, bred suspicion in the eyes of less tolerant Imperial institutions.
Their fall from grace came during a tragic miscalculation. Seeking to thwart a Necron awakening on the tomb world cluster known as the Eight Tombs, the Chapter launched a preemptive assault - a costly gamble that resulted in near disaster. Inquisitor Octavianus, long harbouring disdain for the Rising Sons and citing the loss of seven of their battle-brothers two centuries prior as evidence of unreliability, declared them compromised. Stripped of their titles and holdings, the Rising Sons were cast into a century-long Penitent Crusade into the blighted Tiji Sector, a region overrun by Ork warbands and the tendrils of the nascent Hive Fleet Nidhoggr. Now, aboard their battle barges and strike cruisers, the Rising Sons sail into the maw of oblivion, seeking redemption not merely in death, but in deeds mighty enough to eclipse shame and restore the glory of their name.
Chapter History
The Sons of Dawn
The Rising Sons Chapter was forged during the middle centuries of the 34th Millennium, amid the calamitous upheaval of the Nova Terra Interregnum - a time when the Imperium of Man split in twain, with the High Lords of Terra ruling from the Throneworld, and the breakaway Ur-Council of Nova Terra asserting rival dominion. In this era of schism and seditious doubt, faith in the Throne withered like blossoms in a poisoned breeze, and entire star systems turned their backs upon the light of the Imperium. The Adeptus Terra, desperate to assert Imperial truth and crush the rising tide of separatism, decreed the formation of several new Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes - the 8th Founding - to become the vanguard of retribution and reconquest.
Among the sons born of this crucible were the the Mantis Warriors, Angels Revenant and the Sable Lions, and a newly envisioned warrior brotherhood whose spiritual ancestry would be drawn from the White Scars, the storm-born sons of Jaghatai Khan. From the vaults of Terra and Chogoris were selected Astartes of exemplary martial bearing and stoic discipline, veterans of the White Scars and their garrison fleets. These warriors were not reckless raiders, but those who had endured the long wars with calm resolve - philosopher-killers, masterful cavalrymen, and warriors of the wind and word alike. At the heart of this newly forged Chapter stood a singular figure: Hiraku Miyagawa, once a battle-brother of the White Scars' 5th Brotherhood. Having served decades as a garrison commander upon the distant shrine world of Ayatoda, Miyagawa had long since absorbed the aesthetic, martial doctrine, and cultural principles of the Yamato Sub-Sector, a cluster of feudal worlds whose peoples lived according to ancient codes of honour and the rites of the blade. His knowledge of these worlds, and the reverence they held for concepts akin to bushidō, proved vital in shaping the spirit of the nascent Chapter.
Upon his ascension to Chapter Master, Miyagawa cast off the inherited title of "Chapter Master" and instead took up the ancient title of Seii Taishōgun, meaning "Great Subjugator of Barbarians." This was no mere vanity; it was a symbolic oath that the Rising Sons would become not only enforcers of Imperial will, but restorers of honour, subduers of corruption, and keepers of an ethos that transcended violence. With their new identity forged, the Chapter was tasked with purging the worlds of the Yamato Sub-Sector, many of which had forsaken Imperial compliance or fallen under the sway of heretics, rebels, and xenos tyrants. The Rising Sons did not come as diplomats. They came as kami of fire and thunder. Operating as a fleet-based Chapter without a homeworld, their warships darkened the skies of rebellious planets without warning. The Kaisha - the Rising Sons' companies - descended like sacred wrath, clad in dark blue and sable lacquered plate, their blades engraved with mantras of death. In an echo of ancient kamikaze - the divine winds of Old Terra - they swept across their foes with unrelenting speed and finality. Cities were scoured to ash, fortress-monasteries fell silent beneath orbital barrages, and no quarter was given to those who had betrayed their oaths.
But once the bloodletting was done, the Rising Sons did not merely withdraw. Miyagawa and his warriors remained, binding the subjugated worlds not through tyranny, but through ritualised peace. He accepted the fealty of noble clans, established dueling laws and warrior codes, and instilled a version of the Imperial Creed interwoven with Yamato spiritualism. The Chapter's primary recruitment hold - Kinkai no Tō, the "Tower of the Golden Sea" - was built atop the shattered ruins of a heretic palace on Ayatoda, and the Chapter formally claimed the Yamato Sub-Sector as their sacred demesne. The worlds became shrine worlds, fortress worlds, and recruit holds, their populations nurtured to revere the Rising Sons not as gods, but as living exemplars of righteous order.
The Rising Sons have since stood as the sword and spirit of the Yamato stars. They are guardians of an oath, keepers of ancestral law, and the chosen executioners of shame and rebellion. Where others see feral worlds and feudal superstition, they see purity of purpose. Where others strike with reckless fury, they strike with shibumi - effortless grace honed through centuries of contemplation and war. Their origin is not merely one of conquest, but of transformation - a Chapter born from a Legion of hunters, tempered in the crucible of civil war, and reborn as warrior-philosophers, blades drawn only in truth. From the Nova Terra Interregnum to the darkening days of the Era Indomitus, they have stood - like a mountain against the storm - a Rising Sun in the long night.
Notable Campaigns
- The Akechi Betrayal (882.M41) - In 882.M41, the 2nd ("Oda") Kaisha was deployed to a shrine world to combat invading Chaos forces. It was on this planet that "Oda" Company sergeant Akechi Mitsuhide and six other Rising Sons were corrupted by Chaos and defected. With their new allies, Akechi's 'Traitorous Seven' ambushed "Oda" Company and dealt heavy casualties. In a climactic battle against Oda Nobunaga, "Oda" Company's Daimyō, Akechi inflicted a mortal wound upon him. Although the ambush was ultimately a failure, the Traitorous Seven escaped and likely fled the planet. Oda Nobunaga was encased in a dreadnought and Oda Hideyoshi took his place as Daimyō of Oda Company. The instance of corruption within "Oda" Company dealt a heavy blow to their honour and earned them varying levels of suspicion among their peers. As such, they are occasionally known as the 'Dishonoured Company', ever-vigilant for any information regarding the whereabouts of the Traitorous Seven, so that they may take their revenge and reclaim their honour.
- Divine Favour (539.M41) - In mid-41st Millennium, a terrible Ork WAAAGH! descended upon the sector which the Yamato sub-sector is a part of, devastating much of the sector and crippling its economy. The inefficient bureaucracy of the Administratum delayed any deployment to aide the planetary defense forces forced to face the green tide. This vulgar display of power attracted the attention of various other Ork warbands, causing the already massive Waaagh! to swell to unfathomable size. No Imperial force seemed to be capable of hindering it even slightly. At last, the Waaagh! made it to Sub-sector Yamato, where Battlefleet Yamato and the Rising Sons navy clashed with the Waaagh!'s vanguard fleet. Casualties on both sides were massive, but they were ultimately ordered by the Shogun to fall back to Sekai to make their final stand. Just as the Orkish fleet cast its terrible shadow over the surface of Sekai, a warp storm erupted and destroyed the entire main fleet! The Waaagh! was dealt a fatal blow by this freak warp storm and soon dissolved into scattered warbands to be cleaned up in the aftermath. The denizens of Sub-sector Yamato saw this warp storm as proof of the Emperor's favor towards them.
Chapter Home World
Sub-Sector Yamato
The Rising Sons do not possess their own Chapter homeworld, preferring to remain a fleet-based Chapter due to their preference for actively deploying throughout the Imperium in the defence of the Emperor's realm. Instead, they govern over the Yamato Sub-Sector located in the Ultima Segmentum which borders the Eastern Fringe. Small by sub-sector standards, the Yamato Sub-Sector hosts a number of closely grouped star systems. Notable worlds are as follows:
Sekai
- Capital of Sub-sector Yamato.
- Medieval tech level.
- Classic Sengoku age Japan on a worldwide scale.
- A densely populated feudal world, where warring clans forever battle for honour and prestige. The Shogun resides here at the planetary capitol. The Rising Sons will often send representatives to view especially important battles and scout for potential space marines.
Ayatoda
- Feudal/Shrine World/
- Feudal level of technology.
- Classic Tokugawa period of Japan on worldwide scale.
Kyotoro
- Heavily industrialized, not hive or forge world, however.
- Produces most of the chapters wargear.
- All major areas are controlled by the Forge-Clans.
- Every 4 years, the various Forges "Bid" for the honour of producing the chapter's wargear through a period of intense conflict between them. The forge that captures the most territory is deemed to have constructed the best quality equipment and is thus awarded the contract. Techmarines are usually from here.
Otera
- Shrine world.
- The spiritual home of the chapter.
- Home to several cults that interpret the Emperor in different ways.
- Warfare is usually considered a "Holy War". Guns are frowned upon by some sects and embraced by others. To avoid undue damage to the shrines and temples, the wars generally consist of duels between champions or take place far away from the cities. The sites of the major battles tend to result in the foundation of a new shrine on that spot by the winning side, with the usual end being that the losing side's temple falls to pieces and eventually returns to being part of the landscape. This results in an eternal cycle of shrines being built and falling to pieces.
Tojo (Destroyed)
- Primary Source of Ashigaru regiments.
- A highly militaristic world, Tojo was home to the fatalistic Ashigaru Imperial Guard regiments that often accompanied the Rising Sons. They were renowned for their uncannily high morale and willingness to utilize suicide tactics at a moment’s notice. Bayonet charges into heavy fire were practically a trademark of the Ashigaru. The pilots within Battlefleet Yamato are also known to display this fatalistic attribute, often loading their small fighters with explosives and intentionally plunging them into enemy battleships. Tojo was destroyed by a Necron attack, the ancient warriors wiping out all organic life on the planet. Soon after, the world was declared exterminatus and destroyed at the order of Inquisitor Octavianus, fearful that the Necron could use the dead planet as a staging point for further attacks on the Yamato sub-sector.
Tengu
- Feral Death World.
- Primary Recruiting world of the Rising Sons.
- It spends much of its time eclipsed by another planet, causing it to have long periods of twilight and nighttime. Every couple of months, the planet slips out of eclipse and is blasted by harsh heat from the sun. The human population often seeks shelter in the planet's vast and thick forests, but the during this period, forest fires are also frequent. During the eclipse period, the human population is constantly on the run and hiding from Tengu's variety of dangerous creatures. To survive, Tenguese learn to be extremely adept at stealth and hunting. Many of the Rising Sons' ninja scouts are recruited from here, as well as Ashigaru Stormtroopers, known as the Tengu.
Chapter Flagship
The Palace of Celestial Victory
The Tenshō Kyūden, known to Imperial records as the "Palace of Celestial Victory," serves as the revered flagship of the Rising Sons Chapter of Adeptus Astartes. A mighty Maelstrom-class Galleas of War, the vessel is a rare and ancient warship - equal parts fortress-monastery, mobile bastion, and logistical nexus. Though smaller than traditional Battle Barges, the Tenshō Kyūden is nonetheless a pocket battleship of considerable renown, known for its ability to traverse deep space for decades without resupply. Gifted to Seii Taishōgun Hiraku Miyagawa upon the Chapter's founding during the 8th Founding, the ship is as much a symbol of the Rising Sons’ martial destiny as it is their spiritual home.
Externally, the Tenshō Kyūden is an awe-inspiring silhouette - its hull a sleek, elongated ovoid flanked by flared war-fins and layered void-armour. Gilded filigree adorns prow and keel, while vast arching battlements and celestial shrine-towers rise like pagodas across the dorsal ridge. At its peak stands the Tenshu, the central keep of the vessel and command citadel of the Shōgun. Built in the image of a Yamato feudal castle, it contains the sacred Hall of Ancestors, the Chamber of Winds, and the Sword Vault of Miyagawa. Despite its elegant form, the vessel is no less formidable. Its port and starboard arms house six Nova Cannon batteries, multiple torpedo silos, and triple-mount plasma lance arrays. Its heavy prow hosts macro-ordinance cannons of Mars-pattern, and void shield projectors form radiant mandalas of defence, said to burn with "divine flames" when activated in full. Its layered decks are protected by meters-thick adamantine hull sheathing, engraved with the oaths and koans of a thousand campaigns.
The Tenshō Kyūden is not merely a tool of war; it is the very soul of the Rising Sons. To dwell aboard her is to walk upon hallowed ground. Sohei (Chaplains) teach that the vessel was forged from the star-iron of a long-dead Emperor-forged star and sanctified by fire during the scouring of the traitor world Mikaboshi. The ship's Machine Spirit, ancient and capricious, is said to communicate in poetic riddles, and no Shokunin (Techmarine) dares alter its inner systems without performing a day-long invocation ritual to its central cogitator shrine, known as the Kōjō no Tamashi ("Soul of the Forge-Castle").
As the Rising Sons are a fleet-based Chapter, the Tenshō Kyūden functions as their sovereign stronghold. It carries the sacred relics of the Chapter, including the First Blade of Hiraku Miyagawa, the Void Sutras of Heaven's Edge, and the Tenshi-no-Kage, an ancestral battle-standard woven from silk salvaged from Ayatoda and blessed in the storms of Warp-realms. Each of the Chapter's Kaisha maintain a shrine-berth aboard the ship's central vault-ring, and the entire vessel is steeped in incense, low chanting, and discipline.
Designed as a Galleas of War, the Tenshō Kyūden has exceptional transport capacity and internal modularity, able to field up to four full Kaisha (companies) at once and provide staging grounds for extended planetary operations. It can deploy Thunderhawk wings, Stormtalon flights, and drop-pods in rapid succession, while still ferrying Rhino-chassis tanks and Dreadnoughts to surface battlefields via armoured assault barges. Its vaulted atriums and meditation cloisters serve as spiritual centers for the Rising Sons, and the Chapter Apothecarion aboard is one of the most advanced of any fleet-based Astartes force, rumoured to hold cloning-vats for salvaging gene-seed through esoteric rites known only to the Shkukenja (Apothecaries). The Reclusiam aboard the vessel, known as the Temple of the Falling Star, is clad in obsidian and white granite, lined with 100 burning braziers and a black basalt statue of the Emperor known as the Silent Judge.
Among the Rising Sons, it is said that the Tenshō Kyūden is the "mount of the thunder god," a divine chariot meant to bring the fury of righteous judgment to the stars. Since the Chapter's earliest conquests - when Hiraku Miyagawa led his Kaisha into the rebellious Yamato worlds - the vessel has borne witness to the oath-swearing of every new Shōgun and the internment of every fallen Jonin. During the Burning of the Hollow Belt, it single-handedly shattered a Chaos fleet led by the warlord Chaurzon the Shamed, breaking his forces in the Battle of Nine Suns, and in 101.M38, it plunged through the heart of the Warp storm known as Raijin's Maw to rescue stranded Sisters of Battle from the Order of the Azure Moon.
To this day, it flies the rising red sun sigil of the Chapter high upon its forward bastion, the rays ever burning above the void—proclaiming to all: the sons of thunder still ride, and the storm has not passed.
Chapter Organisation
Though nominally Codex-compliant the Rising Sons deviate in character as much as organisation and tactics, including the utilisation of unique titles and ranks utilised by the military forces of the Yamato Sub-Sector.
Unit Designations
| Title/Translation | Thetic Meaning | Unit Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Kage-no-Taiyō, or "Shadow of the Sun," is the formal designation for the full Rising Sons Chapter. It represents the righteous shadow cast by the Emperor's divine radiance, and speaks to the role of the Chapter as those who dwell in war and sacrifice so others may bask in peace and light. In Yamato poetry and belief, the Sun is the source of life, but its warriors - like shadows - are ever vigilant. The Kage-no-Taiyō is commanded by the Shōgun, and its number is held sacred, never to exceed one thousand warriors in accordance with ancient precepts. Each Astartes is considered one beam of a greater sun, each ray a blade in service to the Imperial Will. | |||
| Named for the war-fan used by samurai generals to direct armies in the field, a Gunbai Kesshō is a temporary but sacred union of Kaisha under a single command - be it a Daimyō, Shōgun, or trusted Kō Gashira. This designation is used for major Crusade elements, planetary invasions, or multi-theatre responses. Each Gunbai Kesshō functions as a ritualised war conclave, and its formation requires a formal invocation of Hōjin no Rei ("The Circle of Resolve"), where captains exchange war-oaths and battle-sake in solemn ceremony before a strike. | |||
| Each Kaisha is commanded by a Daimyō, and is the foundational martial body of the Chapter. More than just a military unit, a Kaisha functions as a warrior-clan = complete with ancestral banners, calligraphy seals, and sacred combat rites passed down through its blooded veterans. Each Kaisha maintains its own heraldry, monastic rites, and war songs. They are housed within their own Hōjō ("Warding Hall") aboard the Chapter's flagship or void fleet, which serves as both shrine and armoury. New warriors inducted into a Kaisha must undergo a Hajime no Tameshi ("Trial of First Blood") and be formally accepted by the Daimyō. | |||
| Derived from the feudal domain units of ancient Yamato, a Han represents a cohesive tactical element within a Kaisha, led by a senior Kō Gashira or veteran Hatamoto. Each Han acts independently in rapid raids, vanguard assaults, or defensive holds, and may contain multiple specialized squads. Hanen war-banners are typically marked with elemental kanji (風, 火, 水, 雷 – wind, fire, water, lightning) depending on the Han's tactical specialty. These symbols reflect not only combat role but philosophical alignment - many Rising Sons believe warriors fight best when they reflect their inner element. | |||
| The Heishi-gumi, or Band of Warriors, is the smallest autonomous battlefield unit in Rising Sons doctrine. Each squad is led by a Chō Heishi ("Senior Warrior") - a battle-brother of long experience but not yet a Hatamoto or officer. Within the squad, roles are assigned not just by specialization, but by warrior temperament and ritual casting. A Heishi-gumi trains, fights, meditates, and dies together. They observe the Giri no Sanjū ("Threefold Bond of Duty"): to the squad, the Kaisha, and the Shōgun. These tight-knit bonds are forged in fire and oath, and the breaking of one is a dishonour few can bear. Fallen brothers are honoured with the rite of Ketsuen-no-Uta - "The Bloodsong," sung only by surviving Heishi-gumi in mourning. |
Squad Formations
| Title/Translation | Thetic Meaning | Squad Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The honoured elder swordsmen of the Chapter - keepers of sacred traditions, masters of warcraft, and paragons of bushidō. Their presence in battle is as much spiritual as it is martial, symbolising the immovable resolve of ancestral virtue. | The Beteran Butai are the enshrined blade-masters of the Kaisha, battle-tested warriors who serve as champions, protectors of relics, and the spiritual core of their war band; they are the keepers of sacred oaths, their armor marked with calligraphy of honour, their names etched into the Hall of Ancestral Blades. | ||
| The resolute backbone of the Rising Sons - the steadfast warriors who embody chūgi (loyalty and duty). Like ashigaru of ancient Yamato, they form the bulwark against which all chaos breaks, representing the disciplined unity of the Chapter. | These disciplined warriors form the iron cord of every Kaisha, holding firm in defense or striking with precision in advance; they embody chūgi - the virtue of loyalty - and are often compared to ashigaru, the steadfast spearmen who held the lines beneath samurai lords. | ||
| These warriors are the embodied wrath of the kami, delivering judgment through overwhelming force. Like sacred thunder given form, they represent seijitsu (righteousness), wielding divine punishment with precise, devastating calm. | These warriors are the thunderous voice of the Chapter, bearing heavy weapons that can level fortresses or shatter armoured columns; they fight with the calm intensity of monks wielding flame, channeling their seijitsu (righteousness) into acts of calculated destruction. | ||
| The stormfront of the Rising Sons, these are warriors of yū (courage), embodying unrelenting forward motion. Swift and brutal, they are akin to kamikaze riders - fearless, pure, and fully resolved in the moment of strike. | These specialists are the storm-hearted shock troops who descend like lightning upon the enemy - jetpack-equipped or bike-mounted Astartes who wield power blades and flame with honour; they are duelists and stormbringers who live by the creed of yū - courage without hesitation. | ||
| Representing meiyo (honour) and jin (benevolence through restraint), these stealth operatives walk unseen among shadows, striking with the silence of snowfall. As phantoms of retribution, they are the watchers and the judges - young warriors learning the gravity of unseen war. | These shadow-clad Neophytes walk the path of silence and patience, executing reconnaissance, infiltration, and targeted strikes beneath the moonlight; trained in the arts of subtlety by the Jōnin, they reflect the meiyo (honour) of restraint, striking only when the moment is perfect. |
Officer Ranks
- Shōgun (Chapter Master) - The Shōgun is the supreme warlord and spiritual head of the Rising Sons Chapter, a figure both revered and obeyed without question. The title is passed only to those who have walked the Path of the Empty Blade - a sacred pilgrimage through self-denial, trial-by-combat, and meditative isolation. The Shōgun is not merely a commander but is expected to be the embodiment of Bushidō, serving as a living example to all Rising Sons. The Shōgun carries the Kensei-no-Katana (the "Blade of the Sword Saint") and resides within the Sanctum of Iron Petals aboard the Rising Sons' flagship, Tenshō Kyuden ("The Palace of Celestial Victory"). It is said that his voice alone can silence a hundred warriors, and that his word, once spoken, carries the weight of a thousand ancestors.
- Daimyō (Captain) - Each of the ten Companies, or Kaisha, is led by a Daimyō, a warrior-lord elevated not only for tactical acumen but for the perfection of form and deed in accordance with the tenets of Bushidō. These commanders serve as both generals and cultural exemplars, their armor lacquered in personal heraldry, and each carries a sacred katana - a master-forged power blade - individually blessed and named. Daimyō are given autonomy over their Kaisha and lead them as a clan master would a household—guiding, chastising, and mentoring their warriors through rigorous training and battlefield trial. They convene in the Council of Blades, presided over by the Shōgun, to discuss matters of war, honour, and strategy. Their banners (nobori) are carried into battle by Ashigaru-standard bearers and sing of ancestral glories.
- Ko Gashira - The Kō Gashira serve as senior aides and tactical lieutenants to the Daimyō, often commanding squads or acting as battlefield liaisons between different Kaisha. Drawn from the most promising Hatamoto (Veteran Bladeguards), Kō Gashira are warrior-scholars and battlefield tutors, expected to be masters of sword, spirit, and storm. Clad in stylised kabuto-helmed power armor adorned with clan crests and silk tassels, Kō Gashira often serve as envoys to the Chapter's allies or agents of the Shōgun's will in more subtle affairs. In battle, they are the extension of the Daimyō's hand - striking where needed, rallying warriors, or executing duels of honour against enemy champions.
Daimyō Formal Ranks
In addition to the command of an entire Kaisha (company), it is common for the Chapter's Daimyō to hold a variety of other formal titles and functional duties within the Chapter as what are known as Space Marine masters. The following is a list of the formal titles held by the Daimyō of the Rising Sons Chapter:
| Title | Codex-Designated Title | Title Holder | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| This title refers to the Shōgun who personally oversees the Chapter's flagship, Tenshō Kyūden, ensuring its defense, sanctity, and preservation. As Tenshu-no-Kami, he is custodian of the Rising Sons' sacred grounds, their inner halls of remembrance, and the eternal flame that honours their fallen. He serves not only as a warden of structure, but a symbolic guardian of the Chapter's soul, mirroring the stoic watch of feudal Yamato's noble lords who held the citadel through siege and season. | |||
| Named after the mythic archer who watched the skies for yokai and omens, the Yorimasa-no-Kami maintains the Chapter's watch lists, monitors for signs of corruption, and commands all Chapter sentries, patrols, and automated defense systems. A master of vigilance and foresight, he also ensures proper observance of internal purity rites, and is often seen as a spiritual protector - a hunter of shadows within and beyond. His role blends martial awareness with a ceremonial watchfulness that reflects the code of honour-bound duty. | |||
| The Kura-no-Kami oversees the Rising Sons' wargear, armories, and sacred forge relics. His title refers to ancient Yamato storehouse lords responsible for preserving arms, rice, and scrolls - the literal and symbolic nourishment of a warrior clan. Within the Chapter, he safeguards relic weaponry, approves armor restoration rites, and maintains records of each blade and bolter’s history. The Kura-no-Kami is revered by the Techmarines and is also entrusted with preparing the rites of re-armament before every battle. | |||
| Derived from the highest naval rank in ancient Terra's eastern martial orders, the Kaigun Taishō commands the Rising Sons' void assets, oversees interstellar deployment, and governs the tactical dispersal and recovery of their warships. He maintains the Void Banner of the Storm Heavens, a sacred standard raised before all fleet departures. It is whispered among void-born crew that the Kaigun Taishō can sense solar winds and stellar gravity shifts like a hawk upon the wind. | |||
| The Dōshōkan is the chief planner of battlefield deployment and campaign logistics across planetary and void warfare theatres. His title invokes the ancient guardians of the Tōkaidō, Yamato's imperial road that connected all domains. He ensures the swift and honourable movement of Kaisha forces, and interprets omen-scrolls and storm prophecies to plan assaults in harmony with natural and spiritual forces. In his care is the Raijin-no-Taiha, the sacred tactical scrolls of the Storm God. | |||
| The Norito-no-Kami preserves the Chapter's rituals, oral histories, ceremonial rites, and commemorations. His title derives from the norito, ancient Shinto prayer-songs spoken in purification and praise of the kami. In battle, he leads warriors in kanshi - "death-poems" written before engagements - and invokes the ancestor-spirits of fallen Kaisha through sacred calligraphy painted on banners. His voice is the drumbeat of tradition, and his blade is a living scripture. | |||
| The Norito-no-Kami preserves the Chapter's rituals, oral histories, ceremonial rites, and commemorations. His title derives from the norito, ancient Shinto prayer-songs spoken in purification and praise of the kami. In battle, he leads warriors in kanshi—death-poems written before engagements - and invokes the ancestor-spirits of fallen Kaisha through sacred calligraphy painted on banners. His voice is the drumbeat of tradition, and his blade is a living scripture. | |||
| The Kensei-no-Kami is the Chapter's greatest living duelist, master of bladecraft, and custodian of the Rising Sons' martial forms. Only those who have mastered the Jisei no Kiryū, the "Death Poem of the Flowing Blade," may claim this title. He trains the Chapter's champions and duelists, oversees trials of combat among aspirants and veterans alike, and is called upon to enact judgment by the sword in cases of great dishonour. His blade speaks for the Chapter when diplomacy fails. | |||
| The Shōzoku-no-Kami is responsible for the Chapter's sacred relics, including the ancestral banners, reliquaries, and ancient artifacts once wielded by the Shōgun and his Hatamoto. His role is both archivist and warrior, protector and priest. Before any campaign, he performs the Rite of First Light, presenting the blade or icon of a fallen hero to inspire the Kaisha. His shrine-armor is adorned with hundreds of spirit tags bearing the names of the honoured dead, fluttering like a thousand paper prayers in the wind of war. | |||
| A unique title bestowed upon the Captain of the 10th Kaisha, the Jōnin is more than a simple instructor - he is the shadow guardian of the Chapter's soul. The title harks back to ancient Terra's assassins and intelligence officers, but in the Rising Sons' usage, it reflects a master of discipline, secrecy, and foundational strength. The Jōnin is responsible for the initiation, training, and testing of all Aspirants and Neophytes, guiding them through the sacred rites of the Nintai-no-Michi ("Way of Endurance"). Only those who survive the Trials of Flame, Wind, and Void - tests that reflect ancient Yamato beliefs in elemental balance - are accepted into the full brotherhood. The Jōnin often oversees operations requiring secrecy, misdirection, or infiltration, and leads the Chapter's Yurei-kaisha - shadow-squads trained in unorthodox war arts such as silent insertion, sabotage, and psychic counter-insurgency. Many battle-brothers fear his silent gaze more than the roar of a daemonic host. |
Specialist Ranks
- Shunin Sohei - Reclusiarch equivalent.
- Sohei - In the local system's language, this title means 'Warrior Monk'; a Chaplain equivalent. More commonly referred to as a Spirit Priest.
- Shunin Wu Jen - Chief Librarian equivalent.
- Wu Jen - In the local system's language, this title means 'Spirit Monks'; a Librarian equivalent. These psychic warriors command the elements, spirit forces and the very powers of the Warp. more commonly referred to as a Kabuki Mystic.
- Shunin Shkukenja - Chief Apothecary equivalent.
- Shukenja - In the local system's language, this title means 'Wandering Monk'; Apothecary equivalent.
- Shokunin - In the local system's language, this title means 'Artisan' or 'Craftsman'; Techmarine equivalent.
- Shunin Kajiya - Master of the Forge equivalent.
- Kajiya - In the local system's language, this title means 'Blacksmith' or 'Forge-Wright'; Techmarine equivalent.
- Kishu - In the local system's language, this title means 'Chapter Standard Bearer'.
- Ashigaru - In the local system's language, this title means 'Company Standard Bearer'.
- Takai Senshi - In the local system's language, this title means 'High Warrior'; Chapter Champion equivalent.
- Kaisha Senshi - In the local system's language, this title means 'Warrior'; Company Champion equivalent.
- Kodai - In the local system's language, this title means 'Ancient'; commonly used when referring to the Chapter's dreadnoughts.
Line Ranks
- Beteran Gunsō - Veteran Sergeant equivalent.
- Kensai - In the local system's language, a Kensai is a 'sword saint' or 'sword master'. These are the Chapter's elite veteran warriors, whose consummate skills in the arts of the blade and impeccable code of honour, are second-to-none. They are the Veteran Marine equivalent of other, more Codex-oriented Chapters.
- Gunsō - Sergeant equivalent.
- Chunin - Special designation for all sergeants in the 10th Kaisha.
- Samurai - Battle-Brother equivalent.
- Ashigaru - Scout Marine equivalent.
- Shoshinsha - Neophyte equivalent.
- Asupiranto - Aspirant equivalent.
Non-Astartes Ranks
- Kenin - In the local system's language, this title means 'House Person'; Chapter Serf equivalent.
- Geisha - Servitors, altered to appeal to Yamato aesthetics, often have their bionic enhancements hidden beneath elaborate robes known as kimono.
- Kueri - Equerry plural.
Specialist Units and Formations
- Kukkyōna Oni ("Formidable Demon;" Honour Guard) - The Kukkyōna Oni are the personal Honour Guard of the Shōgun, the Chapter Master of the Rising Sons, and among the most revered warriors in the entire Chapter. Their name, meaning "Formidable Demon," is a title earned, not assigned - bestowed only upon the most unshakable and indomitable veterans who have demonstrated unwavering loyalty, martial perfection, and the spirit of giri ("duty") beyond reproach. Clad in highly ornamented ceremonial warplate, often custom-modified relic artificer armour adorned with stylised oni masks, tusked kabuto helms, and lacquered plate reminiscent of ancient samurai, these warriors are both icons of terror and devotion. They wield thunderous power weapons - often specialised glaives or stormblades styled after the nagamaki or ōdachi - and storm shields engraved with ancestral kanji of honour, loyalty, and vengeance. Each member has taken the Saimyō-shō, the "Vow of the Final Name," declaring they will only lay down arms once they have died defending their Shōgun. The Kukkyōna Oni do not speak in battle unless commanded. Their silence is sacred - representing the stillness before judgment. They are the living wall between the enemy and the Rising Sons' supreme will, the final test any blade must pass before it may hope to harm the Chapter’s soul. Among the brotherhood, their presence is more than martial - it is mythic.
Rising Sons Kensai (Veteran) Yamaguchi Iatsu, elite Oni Terminator of the 1st ('Ichi') Kaisha (Company; "Tokugawa" Clan), unknown Beteran Butai (Veteran Squad).
- Oni ("Demon;" Terminator Squad) - The Oni Terminator Squads are first among equals within the Rising Sons' Beteran Butai, comprised of veteran warriors clad in Tactical Dreadnought Armour - most commonly relic Tartaros or Indomitus patterns, extensively modified with oni-masked visors, layered scale motifs, and lacquered gold and black plating symbolic of spiritual wrath and eternal vigilance. These hulking warriors are likened to Oni of legend, demons of destruction whose fury is righteous, yet terrible. Where other Chapters use their Terminators as siege-breakers or line anchors, the Rising Sons deploy their Oni Squads in accordance with ancient texts such as the Tsumi-no-Maki ("Scroll of Wrath") - surgically, decisively, and with terrifying ferocity. They are called upon to fight in the most apocalyptic conditions: daemon incursions, corridor purges, or battles upon cursed ground. Their preferred weapons are thunderhammers shaped as ceremonial tetsubō, lightning claws styled after oni talons, and heavy flamers shaped to resemble yokai-breathing dragon maws.
To become an Oni is to be ritually unmade and reborn. Initiates undergo the Kurobōzu Rite, during which they must face three nights alone in the Silent Monastery, communing with ancestral spirits and enduring trials of both mind and spirit. Only those who return with their will unshaken and their hatred of the unclean flame-honed may be given the Black War Mask of the Oni - a sacred relic worn over their helm and never removed again. To foes, the arrival of an Oni Terminator Squad is an omen of inescapable death. To allies, it is the sound of judgment made manifest.
Order of Battle
Chapter Command
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1st Kaisha | ||||
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| Armoury | Reclusium | Apothecarion | Librarius | Fleet Command |
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Kaisha (Companies)
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| 2nd Kaisha "Oda"  |
3rd Kaisha "Toyotomi"  |
4th Kaisha "Chosokabe"  |
5th Kaisha "Azai"  |
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| Reserve Companies | Scout Company | |||||||
| 6th Kaisha "Hōjō"  |
7th Kaisha "Date"  |
8th Kaisha "Uesugi"  |
9th Kaisha "Takeda"  |
10th Kaisha "Hattori"  | ||||
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Company Descriptions
- 1st ("Tokugawa") Kaisha - The Chapter Master's personal Company.
- 2nd ("Oda") Kaisha - Led by Takashi 'One-Eye' Kuma. A giant of a man who favours the war-axe.
- 3rd ("Toyotomi") Kaisha - Led by Toyotomi Shiro. Currently understrength after suffering heavy losses fighting Necrons of the Eight Tombs.
- 4th ("Chosokabe") Kaisha - Led by Burakumin Kano. A humble but brilliant tactician.
- 5th ("Azai") Kaisha - Led by Kojiro Kuga. The greatest duelist in the Chapter.
- 6th ("Hōjō") Kaisha - Led by Kirin Jigoro. A notedly arrogant, but absolutely brilliant tactician.
- 7th ("Date") Kaisha Badly mauled. This company's Assault squads focus on Bike tactics more than others. Currently without a captain.
- 8th ("Uesugi") Kaisha - Led by Musashi Hanzo. Badly mauled.
- 9th ("Takeda") Kaisha - Badly mauled. Currently without a captain.
- 10th ("Hattori") Kaisha - Veterans who opted to shed both their honour and power armor for stealth and guile in scout carapace. Led by Ishida Ryuga.
Chapter Beliefs and Traditions
After falling Kenchi finds his feet again smiling under his helmet as he grips his spear one handed putting it under his arm so the tip is pointed down to the floor before waiting to ensure the opponent is ready before moving. Taesuro did not expect that trick, and took a moment to get up. However, after gathering his bearings, he bows to his opponent before drawing his Naginata and assuming a defensive posture. Kenchi looks over the posture of the warrior,
He expects me to strike first. So be it.
He moves slowly forward aiming his Bo up eye level aiming for the joint under his shoulder as he thrusts forward. Taesuro steps to shifts to the right, using his sword to parry the spear thrust and achieving a small cut on the forearm armor. Looking to take advantage of this opening, he now advances, trying to get within the spears range and strike with his sword again. Kenchi would dodge the swing going low in an effort to use the momentum to push forward. However his armour took a solid scrape of the blades swing. He now uses this to draw back his spear into attempting to swing it around his feet making him lose balance.
Taesuro would jump, going over the spear before returning to his solid stance. During this jump he would once again knick the armor of Kenchi. With the spear on the other side of his body now, he once again advances in order to maintain the pressure upon his opponent. A grunt in anger that he is missing as much as gaining, he back peddles quickly to get away of the advance to set up for another thrust aiming for a non-vital part of his chest.
The duel continues on for a while, until in a final move Taesuro brings the sword to Kenchi's throat while holding the shaft of the spear with his other hand. He looks into Kenchi's eyes, and for a moment looks to ensure that his opponent realizes that he is defeated.
Kenchi would nod nightly looking up at the marine.
"To my regret, I yield. Well fought brother."
He bit through his teeth suppressing the urge to tell him it's not over until he's dead.
Taesuro walks over to his scabbard, and sheaths his sword, and then bows toward the marine, "Thank you for a good fight. I will learn from this duel."
"I hope the dents I gave you serve purpose in you upcoming fights." Kenchi grins as he takes off his helmet clipping it to his belt.
"I will make an attempt to use what you have given me." Taesuro returns the grin, and awaits the next round.
Kenchi stands up and looks around before taking up his spear and swinging it around him getting the feel for it again. "So shall I."
With that, he awaits the next duel.
Chapter Demeanor
- Uphold The Honour of The Emperor - Nearly all Chapters revere the Emperor not as a god, as preached by the Ecclesiarchy, but as the honoured ancestor and father figure, the individual in whose image the Primarchs were made and whose blood therefore flows in their own veins. They trust above all things that the Emperor will guide their hands and protect them, and his praises are ever on their lips. Battle-Brothers drawn from such Chapters ever seek to prove themselves worthy in the eyes of the Emperor, performing great deeds to bring about his glory. Furthermore, these Battle-Brothers may prove bombastic and prideful, preferring to make bold, frontal assaults over stealthy approaches, so that the enemy may know that their doom is come, and tremble before the might of the favoured sons of the Emperor of Mankind.
Honour the Ancestors
The Rising Sons worships one of its own heroes above all others. Although the Emperor (referred as Kami Ten'nō or Kami Emperor) and the Primarch are likely to be fully acknowledged, the Chapter's ancient hero is regarded as an intersessional figure who sits at the right side of the Emperor. Most Chapters that adhere to this particular form of belief worship one of their founding fathers, often the very first Chapter Master but sometimes another figure who performed some deed that sealed his place in the Chapter's history for all time.
Duelling
The Rising Sons have become well-known for their passion for dueling, a tradition that dates back to the feudal period of the ancient Yamato Sub-Sector. The Rising Sons engage in ceaseless duels against one another, sometimes to settle a point of honour but more often to test themselves and their swordsmanship. The most experienced and long-serving Rising Sons Samurai sport numerous duelling scars all over their bodies, each a reminder of a hard-won victory, or a salutary defeat.
However, there are many kinds of duels that the Rising Sons engage in, and not all of them end in bloodshed. Many samurai feel that drawing blood when it is not necessary brings shame to their blade. Samurai sometimes duel with boken (wooden swords), especially if they are friendly, or from the same clan. Clan Daimyō often forbid duelling within the clan to prevent the loss of valuable skilled warriors.
When a samurai goes seeking a place to test his skill, he often goes to a rival clan school, "looking for a lesson." This is done to show the superiority of one's own technique over the technique taught by the rival clan. This activity occurs with regularity on the worlds of the Yamato Sub-Sector, and is a tradition still maintained by the Chapter, with brash Ashigaru and Samurai trying to gain favour with their Daimyō by proving their worth against rival clan Companies.
When a samurai considers challenging his opponent to a duel, several traditions must be followed. First, the reason for the duel must fall within acceptable parameters, and a proper challenge must be made; second, the type of duel must be decided; and third, the appropriate ceremonies and rituals must be performed. When a samurai feels that his honour has been sullied, he may cleanse it with a challenge to a duel the person who has insulted him. It is also allowable for a samurai to carry a challenge for someone else, such as a courtier, his Daimyō, or his Gunsō (Sergeant). It is not considered acceptable to challenge someone to a duel if they are of significantly higher station than the one issuing the challenge, or if their own honour was not insulted (one cannot claim soneone else's insult as their own unless they have been asked to intercede). Insults from superiors of much higher station are to be borned with honour. If they cannot be ignored, the samurai should ask his Daimyō to take up the responsibility for avenging the insult to their clan.
Further, a samurai many not initiate or accept a challenge to the death unless he has gained the full support of his Daimyō. For a samurai to fall serving his lord is honourable. However, for him to fall in his duty to his lord because he threw his life away is considered shameful.
There are many types of duels. The duel to first blood (ketsuiki) is the most common, as it allows samurai to defend their honour without bringin the attention of their lord or causing shame to their clan. Ketsuiki usually involve the iaijutsu (martial art that involves quickly drawing a katana sword for attack or defense) and ends when blood is first drawn. A strike after the first wound is considered extremely dishonourable. A second, less common duel is the duel to the death (shi). These duels (also commonly iaijutsu) always takes place over extremely serious circumstances, usually on the battlefield, or in a formal setting between to bitter enemies. To challenge someone to this type of duel over a lesser insult is dishonourable, and the challenged samurai may refuse with honour, particularly if his Daimyō forbids him to accept such a demeaning challenge.
Duels allow other weapons as well, provided both participants agree. Witnesses are integral to a duel environment. In formal duels, a messenger delivers the challenge, carefully written in calligraphy on rice paper. The challenge must be made in public - even spontaneous duels must begin with the formal proposal of the duel. It must entail all the insults or dishonours which spurred the challenger to duel and the challenged may freely admit to the truth of the challenger's words. Afterwards, witnesses are assembled. A duel which held without witnesses is no more than a honourless battle, and the participants will gain no glory or honour. Preferably, the samurai's Daimyōshould attend a duel, particularly shi. If a proxy is involved (a bushi defending his honour of a female courtier for example), the noncombatant in question will certainly attend.
If a duelist championing the cause of another fails, that person is expected to suffer the same fate as his champion. Many, in a show of alliance with their champion, will use a knife to inflict similar wounds on themselves, once the duel finishes. In this way, a bushi who takes a minor wound to his arm might see person whom they defended take a knife and cut their own arm open as well. Once a duel ends, the matter is finished. No further accusations or clarifications can be made. Ever. It is considered an insult to the spirits of the two duelists to have the matter brought up again, even if further testimony arises to deny the insult. The duel is considered the absolute arbitration of the matter.
Fear not Death
Within the Rising Sons, fear of death is not only considered improper, it is also dishonourable. This belief is taken from culture of the worlds of the Yamato Sub-Sector. They believe in a spirit world where the souls of the departed go to await rebirth. They expect to join their ancestors in the spirit world after their death. Two worlds - Jigoku ('Earth Prison'; 'Hell'), the land of the dead, and Yomi, the ancestral haven - await the samurai after he has finished with his mortal life. Reincarnation is considered a fact of life: once a soul has 'unlearened' its life in Jigoku, it is returned to the mortal realm to again attempt to reach the perfection that is attainable through enlightenment.
Seppuku
The astonishing courage of a Rising Sons Samurai in the face of mortality can make for short-lived warriors. Often, when a Samurai fails in his duties, or his courage is questioned, the need to prove his mettle arises: the ultimate test of courage. Seppeku is that test, the ritual of proving one's courage in the face of death. Traditionally, there are two forms of seppuku: voluntary and obligatory. Voluntary seppuku evolved during the wars during the Age of Strife as a method of suicide used frequently by warriors who, defeated in battle, chose to avoid the dishonour of falling into the hands of the enemy. Occasionally, a samurai performed seppuku to demonstrate loyalty to his lord by following him in death, to protest against some policy of a superior or of the government, or to atone for failure in his duties.
Before the ceremony, a samurai spends the day in a temple (dedicated to the Kami Ten'nō or one of the Chapter's ancient heroes) writing poems and letters to their closest samurai-brethren. At the end of the day, the samurai, now dressed in traditional white robes, kneels upon a pair of tatami mats to protect the holy ground from his blood. The ritual is usually carried out in the presence of a witness (kenshi) sent by the authority issuing the death sentence. Behind the samurai stands a second (kaishakunin), usually a close friend, with their katana drawn. The samurai begins the ceremony by drawing his wakasashi.
The proper method for committing the act - developed over several centuries - is to plunge their short sword into the left side of the abdomen, draw the blade laterally across to the right, and then turn it upward. It is considered exemplary form to stab again below the sternum and press downward across the first cut and then to pierce one's throat. The samurai must not cry out in pain, as the kaishakunin stands by, at-the-ready to make "the final cut" lest his friend disgrace himself with a sound.
Samurai do not commit seppeku to protect their own honour, but to protect their Chapter's and family's honour. It is, perhaps, the most misunderstood aspect of samurai culture by outsiders. Being an extremely painful and slow means of suicide, it is favoured under Bushidō ('warrior code) as an effective way to demonstrate the courage, self-control, and strong resolve of the samurai and to prove sincerity of purpose.
Chapter Gene-Seed
Like their genetic forebears, the Rising Sons appears to be stable and initially displayed no aberrations or mutations. However, with the introduction of genetic material from the feudal warriors of the Yamato Sub-Sector, the genome seems to have also inherited their predilection for close combat and thirst for war.
A New Generation
Attempts have been made to "breed out" real or perceived flaws in the Progenitor's gene-stock, introducing some divergence. The Rising Sons have go on to define their own traditions and write their own histories, looking forward to the future more than back to the past. Some links are maintained with their Progenitor Chapter, but for the most part, the Rising Sons struck out entirely on its own following their inception. Battle-Brothers from this Chapter follow all the same rules for those drawn from its Progenitor, but are not tied to the Progenitor's Chapter deameanour.
Genetic Flaws
Primarch's Curse: Death Before Dishonour
All Space Marines are the product of their genetic inheritance, benefiting from its blessings as well as suffering from its shortcomings, and the Rising Sons are no different. Space Marines never accept defeat. Sometimes however this can be unwise, and stubbornness can lead to needless sacrifice. The history of the Space Marines is littered with heroic last stands, at leasl some of which were probably unnecessary. The Codex Astartes advises powerfully against this problem, but these teachings are not always heeded by the proud Adeptus Astartes.
The Rising Sons's Primarch was a deeply devoted warrior who fought tirelessly on behalf of the Emperor, but even this exemplar had his flaws, as he himself is known to have acknowledged. Jaghatai Khan's glorious legacy lives on through his descendant Chapters, but so too does his curse. This usually occurs in three levels:
- Level 1 (Suffer Not Failure) - The Battle-Brother believes himself deficient in some manner, whether real or imagined, and becomes truculent and obstructive when ordered to redeploy in the face of a stronger foe. When acting as a squad leader, he makes demands of his squad that others might consider unreasonable, and views any disagreement as outright disobedience.
- Level 2 (Beware Hubris) - The Battle-Brother spends his every waking moment brooding on past battles, seeking even the slightest flaw in his own deeds, and those of others. While he stops short of outright criticism of his Battle-Brothers, he condemns his own actions as falling short of the example set by his Primarch, and seeks to redeem himself in the fires of battle.
- Level 3 (None Are Flawless) - The Battle-Brother obsessively reviews every detail of every mission he takes part in, finding fault with his own actions and those of his squad. He becomes withdrawn, maudlin and confrontational, and unwilling to accept or issue any order that does not result in imminent battle.
Pride in the Colours
While all Chapters take great pride in their badge and livery, some take this pride to such an extreme that they regard anything that hides them as a form of cowardice. They wear their colours proudly and make use of back banners the better to announce their presence on the field of battle. The Rising Sons are one such Chapter that take extreme pride in their Chapter's colours.
Deathwatch Service
Another unique feature battle brothers receive is a change of their chapter rank titles. For example, if a Wu Jen Librarian is seconded to the Deathwatch, he would then be called Kannushi during his service and after.
Below is a list of alternative titles.
- Bansho - Captain equivalent.
- Chūi - Lieutenant equivalent.
- Kannushi - Librarian equivalent.
- Shinobi - Scout equivalent
- Shigan-Sha - Serfs of the battle brothers serving the Long Vigil.
Combat Doctrine
The Rising Sons have been found to be as inflexible in their ways as some of their cousin-Chapters that strictly adhere to the tenets of the Codex, and excel in one particular field of combat. This Chapter excels as a purely close combat force, however, this is at the expense of long-range capacity. Though hungry for battle and eager to get to grips with their foes, this overeagerness has sometimes causes the Rising Sons to overextend themselves and bite off more than they can chew.
The Three Birds
In keeping with the ancient proverb attributed to the three chief Daimyō of Sengoku period Japan, the first three companies of the Rising Sons form their battle tactics around a simple phrase. Oda Company's strategy could best be described as "If the bird will not sing, kill it," reflecting their penchant for relying on overwhelming force and lightning strikes to obliterate their foes. Toyotomi Company's strategy falls under "If the bird does not sing, entice it," reflecting their preference for hammer and anvil tactics: appearing to leave a section of defense open to be exploited, only to have the enemy struck from behind when they take the bait. Finally, Tokugawa Company's strategy revolves around the phrase "If the bird will not sing, wait it out (endure it)." Containing the most honoured veterans, who commonly deploy in Terminator armor, Tokugawa excels in take-and-hold missions and defensive tactics, wearing their opponents down through unbreakable fortification and defense.
Notable Rising Sons
Alive
- "Stone beneath the waterfall; stillness amidst the strike."
- — Poem attributed to Mifune Toshiro
- Shōgun Mifune Toshiro, "Lord of the Tokugawa," "Tenshū-no-Kami," Master of the Rising Sons - To the Rising Sons, Mifune Toshiro is the living blade of their order - silent in poise, swift in judgment, and merciless in the defense of duty. Born to the moon-scarred world of Ayatoda, he was once the orphaned son of a dishonoured warlord, his name erased from the familial ledgers during the Kinjo Reclamations. Inducted into the Rising Sons at the age of ten by the Jonin of the 10th Kaisha, Toshiro showed little flair for dramatics or dueling pageantry. But beneath his reticence burned a flame of precise fury, and it was said even as a Shoshinsha (Neophyte), his strikes never came twice where one would do. This philosophy would define him for centuries. As a rising Ko Gashira, Toshiro served during the purging of the Bladed Saints Heresy, where the warrior-cult of the apostate swordsman Isogai tore through three shrine systems of the Yamato Rim. It was here that Toshiro, then second-in-command of the 7th Kaisha, undertook the Threefold Silence - a ritual abstention from speech, indulgence, and retreat - until the heretic blade was broken. The campaign took seventeen years. He spoke only once: at Isogai's beheading, where he recited the Shi no Yūrei, the "Ghosts of Death" poem, to purify the soul of the fallen enemy before dispatching him. This earned him the moniker Shizukesa-no-Ken - "the Sword of Stillness."
His rise to the 1st Kaisha ("Tokugawa"), in memory of Ayatoda's ancient peacemaker-dynasty - was met with reverence. As Daimyō, he rebuilt the First into a model of harmony between precision and wrath, instilling a doctrine of war called Engetsu no Kōbō - the "Arc of the Crescent Blade." His Kaisha became the exemplars of measured aggression, breaking sieges with serene manoeuvre and annihilating heretic enclaves through calculated strikes. It is whispered that Toshiro once defeated an Alpha Legion warband through predictive feints and false withdrawals alone, never firing a single bolter in pursuit of his final victory. When Shōgun Hayashi Kenzō was slain during the Black Rain of Sūmire, a daemonic invasion of the violet-spored death world, it was Toshiro who led the rite of vengeance, cleansed the planet with fire and storm, and accepted the burden of the jade kabuto - the Shōgun's helm.
In accepting the title, Toshiro also became Tenshū-no-Kami, "Lord of the Keep," master of the Rising Sons' formidable flagship - Tenshō Kyuden. There, he oversees not only the Chapter's strategic readiness, but its spiritual equilibrium, serving as both general and caretaker of the Rising Sons' soul. Toshiro does not speak often. When he does, every word is a cut of iron clarity. His presence is quiet yet thunderous; his gaze unwavering. It is said the banners of the Chapter do not sway when he stands before them. Beneath the crescent moons of Yamato, his name is spoken in shrines, training circles, and among the whispering reeds by the riverbanks where warrior-aspirants meditate. He is not merely a commander - he is the unbroken stone beneath the waterfall, proof that a warrior's greatest strength lies not only in wrath, but in the mastery of restraint.
- Daimyō Takashi Kuma - Current commander of the 2nd Kaisha ("Oda") and Yorimasa-no-Kami (Master of the Watch). Daimyō Takashi Kuma is often likened to a stone lion—unmoving, watchful, and impossibly patient. Towering even among his fellow Astartes, Kuma bears a silence that unnerves even the most seasoned brothers. Born on the fog-choked isles of Hira-Kami within the Ayatoda system, Takashi was once a shrine acolyte in a mountaintop temple before his selection by the Chapter. That monastic upbringing left an indelible mark: in his speech, discipline, and spiritual rigor. When he took command of the 2nd Kaisha, he did so with almost no fanfare, delivering only a single vow: "I will be the wall against the coming storm." As Yorimasa-no-Kami (Master of the Watch) Kuma is the keeper of the Rising Sons' ancient vigilance. He oversees orbital surveillance, warp-traffic scrutiny, and planetary cordons. It is said his gaze sees what machine augurs miss, and he has preempted multiple Chaos incursions and xenos ambushes through little more than instinct and quiet calculation. In battle, he wields the massive relic glaive Yamajin-no-Orochi ("Serpent of the Mountain God"), a thunderous, cleaving blade whose strokes mirror the kata of temple guardians from his youth. His command style is measured but remorseless: Kuma waits for his enemy to reveal their weakness, then descends like the wrath of a thunder god. To the Rising Sons, he is a paragon of the Makoto tenet - truth and sincerity made manifest in stone and steel.
- Daimyō Toyotomi Shiro, "Steel Feather" - Current commander of the 3rd Kaisha ("Toyotomi") and Kura-no-Kami (Master of the Arsenal). Charismatic, sharp-eyed, and possessed of a tactician’s soul, Daimyō Toyotomi Shiro is the Rising Sons’ Master of the Arsenal—Kura-no-Kami. Though trained in the sacred sword arts of the Chapter like all his brethren, it is said Shiro's true weapon is foresight, honed by decades spent studying the esoteric philosophies of warfare and the doctrines of the Omnissiah. As commander of the 3rd Kaisha, Shiro leads a formation known for its precision firepower, careful deployments, and its mastery of siege-breaking techniques rarely seen among Chogorian descendants.
Before his ascension, Shiro was an apprentice armourer aboard the Tenshō Kyūden, trained in both traditional voidcraft maintenance and sacred ritework under Techmarine Nakatomi Yurei. It was during the Siege of Tsuru-no-Kami in 901.M41 - where Shiro led a successful assault on a corrupted forge world bastion with only half his squad intact - that he earned the nickname "Steel Feather." As Kura-no-Kami (Master of the Arsenal), he maintains and organizes the Chapter's vast stockpiles of weaponry and armored war-plate, and is said to converse regularly with the Machine Spirits of each relic weapon in his care, offering tea offerings and ancestral chants.
In battle, Toyotomi wields a custom-crafted plasma incinerator named Tetsufuku, bearing intricate engravings of the Rising Sun over stylised wave patterns. Calm and composed even in the heart of war, Shiro exemplifies the tenet of Gi - righteousness. To disobey his will in combat is to insult not merely a commander, but a living heir to Heaven's thunder.
- Daimyō Burakumin Kano - Current commander of the 4th Kaisha ("Chosokabe") and Kaigun Taishō (Master of the Fleet). Once a nameless orphan found wandering the industrial catacombs beneath Ayatoda's void-forges, Kano's rise to power within the Rising Sons is the stuff of whispered legend. Branded "Burakumin" - a term of low-caste exile - he was not expected to survive the Trials of Stone and Sky. Yet Kano not only survived; he outpaced his peers in both warcraft and starship command, earning his place through trials of fire, blade, and vacuum. Now, as Daimyō of the 4th Kaisha and Kaigun Taishō (Master of the Fleet), he commands the Chapter's fleet deployments across the stars, every naval engagement a brushstroke in his masterpiece of vengeance and rebirth.
Kano is an unorthodox thinker and daring void-combatant. He believes the stars themselves are a sea—turbulent and ever-changing - and that a captain must ride its currents like a swordsman rides the flow of battle. Under his guidance, the Chapter's strike cruisers and escort vessels are deployed with uncanny synergy, performing flanking manoeuvres and warp drop ambushes that leave even seasoned enemy admirals bewildered. His flagship, the Kusanagi-no-Tora, is known for outmanoeuvring even Aeldari vessels - a feat rare enough to be sung in the Chapter's Kaidan (war-epics).
Despite his past, Kano has never once sought to erase the name "Burakumin." Instead, he carves it into the handle of his katana before every battle - a reminder that even the low-born may earn a place among the stars. He is the living spirit of Yuuki - courage without apology, discipline without shame.
- Daimyō Kojiro Kuga - Current commander of the 5th Kaisha ("Azai") and Dōshōkan (Master of the Marches). Daimyō Kojiro Kuga is a warrior-scholar, renowned not only for his brilliant battlefield manoeuvres but also for his deep meditations on bushidō and the tenets of war. Commander of the 5th Kaisha and Dōshōkan (Master of the Marches), Kuga is responsible for the strategic deployments of the Rising Sons across the Imperium, directing Crusades, multi-front invasions, and prolonged compliance actions. His war-maps are said to resemble calligraphy, each movement a brushstroke in an ever-shifting script of divine purpose. Born in the icy shrine city of Gokenzan, Kojiro trained under Sensei Hoshimoto, one of the last living disciples of Seii Taishōgun Miyagawa himself. Unlike many of his peers, Kojiro is known for his reflective nature. Before every battle, he performs a ceremonial ink-brush meditation where he writes his "death poem" - a haiku composed under the assumption he will not return. These verses are sealed and carried by his Gunsō (Sergeants) into combat, to be read only if he falls.
Kojiro leads the "Azai" Kaisha with poetic ruthlessness, deploying his warriors in phalanx-broken wedge formations that split enemy lines before striking at the throat. He once ended a six-month attrition war against a traitor militia by orchestrating a triple envelopment maneuver guided by decoy warp signatures - a move now taught in the Tenshō War Dojo under the name "Crimson Heron's Wing." In all things, Daimyō Kuga embodies Rei - respect, precision, and the grace of a sharpened mind. His blade, Kage-tsuru ("Shadow Crane"), is one of the Chapter's most sacred relics - said to move so swiftly it does not draw blood, only death.
- Daimyō Kirin Jigoro - Current commander of the 6th Kaisha ("Hōjō") and Norito-no-Kami (Master of the Rites). The spiritual heart of the Rising Sons beats in the rituals presided over by Daimyō Kirin Jigoro, the Norito-no-Kami (Master of the Rites). Regal and thunder-voiced, Jigoro is the guardian of the Chapter's sacred war liturgies, seasonal commemorations, death poems, and the ritualised duels that precede many of their campaigns. He is known as a warrior-priest in all but name, reciting sutra-chants even as he fights in the blood-slick front lines. Jigoro was once a reclusive haiku-poet on the feudal world of Tetsu-no-Mura before being chosen by the Chapter's 10th Kaisha. Though initially quiet and hesitant to embrace violence, his spiritual fervor awoke during the Battle of Hiraka Reef, where he led his squad in a death-song charge against a corrupted PDF force under the sway of Slaanesh. Since then, he has made it his purpose to restore balance to fallen souls through fire and discipline. As commander of the "Hōjō" Kaisha, Jigoro trains his warriors in the Shinsei-no-Bokken, a dual-discipline of blade and breath, where one's strike must align with the sacred rhythm of the cosmos. He carries into battle the Ritual Mask of Miyagawa, an ancestral relic once worn by the Chapter's founder, and his bolt pistol is carved with the 108 precepts of discipline. In every word and gesture, Jigoro embodies the virtue of Makoto - sincerity of action and clarity of purpose. He does not simply lead warriors; he sanctifies them.
- Daimyō Musashi Hanzo - Current commander of the 8th Kaisha ("Uesugi") and Kensei-no-Kami (Master of Blades). There are few swordsmen in the Imperium who can match the raw, precise brutality of Daimyō Musashi Hanzo. As Kensei-no-Kami (Master of Blades), Hanzo is responsible for the Chapter's martial discipline in melee combat. Commander of the 8th Kaisha, Hanzo leads the Rising Sons' most elite duelists, shock-assault specialists, and ceremonial executioners. Every member of his company is required to master the twin-blade style of the Rai-no-Niten Ichi-Ryū - the "Two Heavens of Lightning" - developed by Hanzo himself. He is a scarred and silent warrior, his face hidden behind a war-mask styled after the thunder gods of Yamato myth. Born on the molten frontier world of Tsukino-Kaji, Hanzo earned his name during the Ember Purge of Shikawa V, where he personally slew the Chaos Lord Gornas Valdeer in a duel lasting seven minutes and ending with Hanzo removing the heretic's head with a reverse draw.
His personal relics - the twin swords Tenraiken ("Heaven's Edge") and Chi-no-Kiba ("Blood Fang") - are older than the Chapter itself, recovered from the ruins of a pre-Imperial xeno-dueling arena deep within the Ayatoda Sector. To Hanzo, battle is sacred theatre; every move is both declaration and ritual. He enforces strict martial discipline within his Kaisha and demands that all who train beneath him pass the Trial of the Three Cuts - a rite of blade precision, breath control, and spiritual harmony. Hanzo is the living paragon of Meiyo - honour in all things. He kills with purpose and respect, and his silence echoes louder than the war drums of a hundred crusades.
- Daimyō Ishida Ryuga - Current commander of the 10th Kaisha ("Hattori") and Jōnin (Master of Shadows/Recruits). There is no figure more enigmatic among the Rising Sons than Daimyō Ishida Ryuga. As Jōnin, Ryuga bears the dual responsibility of overseeing the Chapter's Shoshinsha (Neophytes) and commanding the 10th Kaisha, a force specialising in reconnaissance, sabotage, and infiltration. Trained in the ancient Kage-no-Kōdō ("Way of Shadows"), Ryuga has transformed his Kaisha into ghost-warriors, able to strike from the dark with surgical precision and vanish like mist. Ryuga was born on a drifting ice-moon, a starving orphan who survived by mimicking animal behaviour and moving unseen between noble hunting caravans. His gifts for stealth and mimicry impressed the Ko Gashira recruiters of the Rising Sons, and his initiation into the Chapter was marked by silence and restraint. His early years were spent crawling through shrine chambers and battle-sim chambers in absolute silence, often unseen even by his instructors.
As a mentor to new Aspirants, Ryuga emphasizes patience, discipline, and self-effacement. His Neophytes undergo the Kuroshi Trial, in which they must walk across a sunlit battlefield unseen by a veteran warrior. Those who fail are not punished - but are given more time in the dark. In combat, Ryuga wields the Yōmei-no-Hari - a mono-edged power tanto once used by Seii Taishōgun Miyagawa for ritual executions. Ryuga lives the virtue of Chūgi - loyalty - not to glory, but to the unseen duty that binds all Rising Sons. He is the hidden blade, the silent judge, and the storm before the storm.
- Kodai Nobunaga, "The Steel Daimyō," "The Slumbering Wrath of Ayatoda," "the Ancestor of the Blade" - Entombed within the adamantine sarcophagus of the Dreadnought known simply as Kodai Nobunaga lies one of the oldest and most revered warriors of the Rising Sons Chapter. He is not merely a relic of war, but a living monument to the Chapter's founding and its earliest trials during the violent reclamation of the Yamato Sub-Sector. Once a mortal warrior of flesh and fury, Nobunaga was one of the first aspirants drawn from the shrine world of Ayatoda following the final pacification campaigns conducted under Seii Taishōgun Hiraku Miyagawa. He was a boy of the sword-castes, raised among the mountain monasteries of Mount Kurai and trained in the thousand cuts of the Katsuragi no Ken before being chosen by the Rising Sons' Jōnin for induction into the Chapter. In life, Nobunaga rose swiftly through the ranks, a consummate duelist and war-philosopher, renowned for his iron self-discipline and mastery of feint-strike-counterstrike patterns.
He earned distinction in the legendary Siege of Ten Thousand Lanterns, where he led a counter-offensive through the shattered gates of the daemon-warped Shogunate of Kurohane, slaying the Arch-Heretic Hozu the Red in a duel fought atop the burning pagoda towers of Ishigane Prime. Gravely wounded in that same battle - his torso sundered by hellfire - Nobunaga was entombed within a Venerable Dreadnought sarcophagus, salvaged from a Great Crusade-era tomb-vault found buried beneath Ayatoda's central continent.
Since his interment, Nobunaga has fought in three dozen major crusades and an uncountable number of lesser conflicts, his armoured hull etched with sacred kanji, kill-tallies, and invocations from the Nisshō-Torika, the Chapter's sun-lit "Book of Triumphs.: He bears the twin weapon-arms of tradition: the Tetsuken-no-Orochi, a master-forged dreadnought blade shaped like a cleaver-toothed serpent, and the Seika-no-Kyojin, a flame-cannon whose muzzle is carved in the likeness of a dragon's mouth.
When Nobunaga walks to war, it is said his heavy treads ring like temple bells and that his voice - deep, thunderous, and noble - can silence even a company of roaring Sons. Within the Chapter, Nobunaga is regarded as Kodai, "the Ancient," one of the final living links to the era of Miyagawa himself. Though he slumbers within the Celestial Reliquary deep in the flagship, Tenshō Kyūden, his mind is not dormant. He is awoken in times of utmost need, consulted for wisdom by the Shōgun, and revered by every Kaisha as a paragon of Gi - righteousness. He speaks rarely, and only in the formal Kōtetsu-go dialect of old Yamato, his counsel delivered in poetic riddles and battle-kōans. But when stirred to wrath, Nobunaga becomes a storm given form, a war-saint of adamantium and fire who annihilates all who dare profane the Rising Sons' sacred charge. His name is spoken with reverence throughout the Yamato Sub-Sector - Nobunaga, "the Steel Daimyō," "the Slumbering Wrath," the "Ancestor of the Blade." His silence is honour, his stride is justice, and his fury is legend.
- Kenin Makoto Fujita -
Inactive/Deceased
- Seii Taishōgun Hiraku Miyagawa, "First Shogun,"Lord of Blades," "Subjugator of the Yamato Stars" - Before he was known as the Seii Taishōgun, Hiraku Miyagawa was Hiraku of the Fifth Brotherhood, a rising blade within the noble White Scars. Born on Chogoris during the waning decades of M35, he was inducted into the sons of the Great Khan and swiftly earned a place within the 5th Brotherhood, where he served for over four centuries. Though many among the White Scars burned with the restlessness of the void, Hiraku was known for his stillness of heart - a trait not mistaken for passivity, but rather the composed mind of a warrior-poet, honed through both war and introspection. It was this serenity that led to his placement as garrison-lord of the fortress-keep on the feudal world of Ayatoda, a world that would come to define his legacy. It was there, amid rolling mist-covered hills and lacquered citadels, that Hiraku first encountered the way of the Yamato peoples. Their feudal customs, their reverence for honour, and the living code of Bushidō resonated deeply with the warrior. He studied the ancestral texts, walked among the mountain monasteries, and took part in sparring duels against the sword-saints of the Shōsei Clans. He did not rule as an outsider - he learned as a student, earning their respect not through dominion, but through discipline. Over decades, he adopted the name Miyagawa - a gift from the local ruling daimyō - and began integrating these rites into his own practice of war. To his brothers, he became "The Grey Monk," a quiet storm who moved with deadly purpose and spoke with ancestral calm.
When the 8th Founding was declared, and the Adeptus Terra demanded new Chapters from the gene-lines of the First Founding Chapters, Miyagawa was summoned to Chogoris. With the Great Khan long vanished into the stars, it was the Great Council of the Khans that named him suitable to lead a new successor. He was offered the mantle of Shōgun of the nascent Rising Sons Chapter, composed of chosen veterans and aspirants drawn from the garrisons and holds of the eastern Segmentum. Miyagawa accepted the burden with solemn grace, and with it, a new name: Seii Taishōgun - an ancient title of Yamato, meaning "Great General Who Subdues Barbarians."
Yet Miyagawa's conquest was not one of simple dominion. The Yamato Sub-Sector was fractured by civil strife, apostate cults, and the festering remnants of xenos empires. With an iron blade in one hand and a lacquered fan of diplomacy in the other, he led the Rising Sons in a campaign known as the Hōketsu no Ran - "The Unifying Storm." Within five standard decades, he had brought the sub-sector into Imperial compliance not through extermination, but through ritualised war, formal duels, and the oath-bound loyalty of warrior-kings. Miyagawa instated the Code of the Eightfold Virtues, an adaptation of Bushidō infused with Imperial Truth, and bound the Chapter and its worlds into a cultural covenant that would shape the Rising Sons for millennia. Hiraku Miyagawa's end came during the Fall of the Mirror Moon, when the warlord-champion Varnak the Bliss-Eater, a daemon-possessed Chosen of Slaanesh, sought to corrupt the shrine world of Kinjo. Rather than allow the planet to fall, Miyagawa led a personal strike into the daemon's sanctum and, in a ritual duel beneath the blood eclipse, slew the champion at the cost of his own life. His final words, recorded by his Kukkyōna Oni honour guard, were: "No death dishonours the blade, if the cut was true." His battle-plate was never recovered. His sword, Amaterasu's Edge, remains in the inner shrine of the Chapter's flagship as a relic of unbreakable resolve.
Today, Miyagawa is venerated not merely as a founding master, but as a spiritual ancestor, a warrior-saint whose teachings are invoked in prayer, his eight virtues etched into the bones of every Rising Son. His memory is preserved in the Book of Bright Shadows, and each Shōgun since has sworn the Oath of Kinjo - to lead not with pride, but with balance, courage, and clarity, as Miyagawa once did beneath the crimson banners of dawn.
- Daimyō Katsuo Yamahashi - Former commander of the 7th Kaisha ("Date") and Okura-no-Kami (Master of Logistics).
- Daimyō Rusuigumi Senjō - Former commander of the 9th Kaisha ("Takeda") and Shōzoku-no-Kami (Master of Relics).
Chapter Fleet
Battle Barges
- Tenshō Kyuden (Maelstrom-class Galleas of War) - Flagship.
- Musashi (Ascension-Class Battle Barge) - The Chapter's primary Battle Barge, a modified Ascension-class battleship taken as a prize in the late 34th Millennium after the chapter's founding.
Strike Cruisers
- Furutaka (Strike Cruiser) -
- Kinugasa (Strike Cruiser) -
- Ashigara (Strike Cruiser) -
- Chōkai (Strike Cruiser) -
Escorts
- Shiranui (Sword-Class Frigate)-
- Kazagumo (Sword-Class Frigate) -
- Fuyutsuki (Sword-Class Frigate) -
- Shimakaze (Sword-Class Frigate) -
- Sakura (Firestorm-Class Frigate) -
- Hatsuzakura (Firestorm-Class Frigate) -
Chapter Unique Wargear
Melee Weapons
Yamato Blades
Weapons whose origins can be traced from the earliest feudal times of the Yamato Sector. During these ancient times, an elite class of men, the chosen few, had the honour of being called a Samurai. They made up the ruling class of the military and later rose to the highest class in their military hierarchy. These samurai warriors were equipped with a range of weapons such as spears and guns, bows and arrows, but their main weapon and symbol was the sword. There are five main streams of the samurai sword, namely Katana, Wakizashi, Tanto, Nodachi and Tachi swords:
- Katana - The most iconic and well known of all the Samurai swords; the katana is distinguished by its long blade and handle that is made to accommodate two hands and strike from a large distance. It has a curved, slender, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard. The katana has a set of dimensions that separate it from other samurai swords. A traditional katana will measure 3 to 4 feet in total length, with the hilt taking up one-fourth of the total and a characteristic curvature of more or less than 1 inch.
- Power Katana
- Force Katana
- Wakizashi - The Wakizashi is similar to the katana but shorter in length. The average Wakizashi is about 50 cm long and was usually worn together with the katana by the Samurai of the feudal era. When worn together the pair of swords was called daishō, which translates to “large and small”. This sword acted like a side weapon and was worn by the Samurai at all times.
- Power Wakizashi
- Force Wakizashi
- Tanto - The Tanto, although not technically qualifying in the category of swords, is the traditional Yamato dagger. It can have a single or double edge. It acts like a Wakizashi and is worn at all times. The main purpose of a Tanto is to be used as a stabbing instrument but having a pretty sharp edge, it can be used to slice and cut. The Tanto has become more ornate over the years and towards the end of the Samurai era, they were mostly used as decorative pieces, and still are mostly used in decorations to this date.
- Nodachi - Nodachi approximately translates to "field sword" or "great sword". They are larger and longer than a typical katana. They were typically used as weapons for foot soldiers and were effective against cavalry and open field encounters. They are not very effective in close range or constricted space.
- Force Nodachi
- Relic Nodachi
- Tachi - The sword is the predecessor to the Katana; the Tachi is a Yamato sword that is more curved and longer than a katana. Having an average length of 75 cm. It was primarily made for Samurais on horseback where they needed more length and curvature to effectively charge on foot soldiers.
While all of these are types of the bladed weapons used by the noble Yamato Sector's warriors, each and every one has its unique characteristics and uses. It would be unfair to ignore all the different types of swords, just to popularize one over the others. A wider approach is needed to recognize the skill and genius of the Yamato Samurai and craftsman.
- Naginatas - Naginatas are an offshoot of the more traditional Katana. These weapons sport a shorter blade on a long handle. Although they are more similar to a spear, the Naginata doesn't function the same way as the spear can. Although lacking the same qualities like a spear, it can be used to cleave multiple opponents.
- Kabuki Glaives - These weapons unique to Kabuki Warriors. Having an even more powerful powerfield than the Naginatas, these weapons cut even more efficiently than the latter ones. There are even force versions of these weapons for Kabuki Mystics. Despite this, there are certain high ranking individuals among the Rising Sons were given their own glaives by the enigmatic warrior artists.
- Bisento - Of all these weapons however, there is none more powerful than the Bisento. Even bigger than the glaives used by the Kabuki, the Bisento is large and massive. So big that only those in Terminator Armour can wield it, and even then they have difficulties in using it. Yet when such a weapon cleaves, then it does so with a terrifying power.
- Ono (Axes) - Axes are rarely used in the Yamato Sub-Sector, as they are among the Rising Sons. These however never appear in the form used usually by other Space Marine Chapters or likewise other Imperial forces. The ones used by Rising Sons are either in the form of smaller, lighter hatchets, or great, two-handed war axes that exist to cleave enemies with every terrifying strike, or if they are lucky, to heavily damage their powerful armours. Only powerful force fields of technology or mystical energies can actually help one survive blows from such weapons. These Ono, as the axes are called, are given to those Rising Sons in command who are known to be incredibly aggressive fighters, or to jump pack-equipped fighters.
Yari Spears
Just like the Yamato Blades, the Yamato Spears are one of those weapons used by the Rising Sons. They do differ in a certain way from normal spear weapons. These are utilized to fell down Beasts and Cavalries. Even Bikers and Eldar Jetbikers experienced a terrifying defeat at the hands of those Rising Sons that were armed with such weapons.
The Yaris, as they are called, are incredibly long and require a long amount of training to be wielded properly, thus only the Veterans of the 1st ("Tokugawa") Kaisha are given these spears. Compared to the naginatas, they are actual, true spears designed to thrust into enemies with great penetrative power.
There are two types of these spears. The Katakamayari used by the Sternguards and Vanguards, as well as the traditional Yari wielded by Terminators. The first is armed additionally with a hook that is used in order to keep enemies from escaping. The latter are the original spear that is used by Terminators.
Terminator Armours aren't designed for chasing enemies (unless it's the Tartaros), thus the Katakamayaris are used exclusively by those who wear traditional armour. In order to make up the differences, the yaris used by Terminators have been made even more lethal. So much in fact that they can be useful against larger enemies, yet still not as powerful to fight against the largest monstrosities.
Yamato Blunt Weapons
Despite having an arsenal of unique bladed and spear weapons, the Rising Sons do have blunt weapons of their own. While the blades are designed to cut clean and fast, to cleave multiple adversaries, or, like in the case of the spears, to impale them with extreme prejudice, the blunt weapons of the Yamato are designed to smash through the hardest of armours, if not outright pulverize their targets.
- Ararebo - The Ararebo is the most common of them. A small club with iron studs and a powerfield.
- Spirit Priest Staff - The Spirit Priest Staff works the same way as a normal Librarian Force Staff, but with the addition of two bladed edges, as well that it's sheathed in a much more stronger powerfield, it gives the user better penetrative power along with the same qualities a Force Weapon has.
- Power Kanabo - Then there is the Power Kanabo, which is essentially a massive club and the equivalent of a Thunder Hammer. Yet even the latter is nothing compared to its larger version.
- Greater Kanabo - The Greater Kanabo can be only used by Terminators, and even then using it is difficult due to the weight and need of both hands as it is very unwieldy, yet when it strikes, even Terminator Armour won't save the unfortunate person from it.
Ranged Weapons
- Raijin Pattern Bolter/Kaminari Guns - Raijin is a name for a terrifying spirit that is attributed with lightning among the people of the Yamato Sub-Sector. It is said that the fury of this spirit is so great that instead of calling him Raijin, they call him Kaminari-Sama (trans: 'Lightning Lord'). If they didn’t, then he’d enact judgement in the form of a lightning bolt and take away people's belly buttons. Another interpretation would be that the Raijin is an extension of the Kami Emperor's will, and that it taking away people's belly buttons may be seen that the person somehow offended the Emperor.
The Rising Sons are a little superstitious in these situations, and in order to not anger both the Kami and the lightning spirit (and have their belly buttons taken away) they decided to create weapons that would reflect the Raijin's nature.
The Raijin Pattern Bolt Weapons (also known as Kaminari Guns) are the result of the Rising Sons's years of studies and technological trials and errors. These weapons have a more enhanced auto-loading system and built in targeting mechanism from Standard Template Construct (STC) the marines managed to uncover during their first two centuries since their founding. All of this combined with greatly above marvelous craftsmanship. While being fired, Kaminari Guns sound like thunderstorms with each bolt round fired.
Because of this, Kaminari Guns are very difficult and take a very long time to produce. Thus only the Chapter's Veteran members are granted these weapons after their introduction into the 1st ("Tokugawa") Kaisha.
- Dragon Fury Flamers - Dragon Fury Flamers are a product of need when the Chapter fought Tyranids for the first time. Utilising a bizarre concoction made out of blessed promethium and plant substances the marines mixed into it, this resulted in an even more volatile, hard to extinguish pyrogel that is also incredibly sticky.
Enemies hit by something like this are burned alive while trying to remove the sticky substance. This is especially useful against Tyranids, as the gel goes inside the smaller creatures’ spaces between their carapaces, literally cooking them inside their own armours.
However, due to the difficulty in which the Rising Sons can acquire the substance that grants the devastating capabilities of the Flamers, these weapons are utilized by the Veterans after their introduction into the 1st Company. Though some of the Chapter's vehicles are equipped with these weapons.
Special Issue Wargear
- Kabuki Mask - The Kabuki are an enigmatic group within the Rising Sons who are seen as an oddity by everyone in the Imperium. Both warriors and artists, these fighting artists see war as a form of art and a way to venerate The Emperor. The unique masks that they wear are a form of ancient STC that the Chapter discovered when it was still fleeting and was in the process of adopting the Yamato culture as their own. The masks incorporate a unique mechanism that generates something of a mist around them that conceals them from enemy fire. The mechanisms behind this are a secret to the Chapter's Techmarines and the Tech-Priests of Yamato.
- Kabuki Mystic Mask - The Kabuki Mystics are enigmatic psyker individuals that, apart of being lethal battle-psykers, are, like their non-psychic brethren, performers and artists who happen to see war as a form of art through which one can express his devotion to Him on Terra. A mystic's mask is made out of the same crystal and technology as a traditional Librarian's Psychic Hood, yet it additionally grants the same concealing mist as the traditional Kabuki Mask.
- Steel Ofuda - A very unique item that is forged by the Techmarines and sanctified by the Spirit Priests, the Steel Ofuda is one of the ultimate honours a Daimyō of the Rising Sons can be awarded for his long time of faultless duty. The Steel Ofuda is a talisman made to resemble the ordinary ofuda talismans that scare away impure and evil spirits, yet it is made out of the strongest materials the Chapter can acquire, the same technology used in Iron Halos, as well as inscribed with symbols and blessed to protect the wearer from psychic powers.
Armour Variants
- Kabuki Armour - A flamboyantly decorated armour used by the Kabuki Warriors and Mystics, it incorporates a gravitic harness that allows the wearer to jump incredibly high and move with great speed. These suits were created, along with the Kabuki Masks, back in the younger years of the Chapter's existence out of ancient STC data. The secrets of their production only known to the Techmarines and Yamato Tech-Priests.
- Spirit Priest Armour/Terminator Armour - Armour that not only is wonderfully ornamental, but also incorporates dozens of hexagrammic wards and holy symbols that come from the Chapter's home sub-sector, as well sport a force field that is powered by the user's soul. Spirit Priests gain this armour after they finish their training and set off to aid their brothers. Certain members do however gain unique versions of these armours in the form of Terminator issue versions.
Vehicle Upgrades
- Firecracker Launchers - Hulls of the Dragon Fortress Land Raiders are decked with launchers that fire salvoes of grenades designed to blind, confuse and damage enemies that either charge the vehicle, or to soften them up before unleashing its destructive arsenal.
- Mobile Pagoda - Fitted on Rhinos, Predators, Land Raiders and Dreadnoughts, these small shrines act to remind that the Kami Ten'nō (God-Emperor) is always with the marines and is always watching them.
Chapter Relics
- Golden Armour of The Wolf Knight - Legends say that in the times when the Yamato Sub-Sector was still young, Chaos Daemons poured into the materium to haunt mortals. These were said to be dark times for the sub-sector, but one day a warrior, wearing a golden armour with a helmet in the shape of a snarling wolf's muzzle appeared and drove off the denizens of the warp. Since then no daemon has ever set his feet on any of the planets, yet the warrior disappeared mysteriously. It was said that the golden warrior was a physical manifestation of the Kami Ten'nō's will.
When the Rising Sons fought against Chaos Daemons in the Parulis Purging, their very first battle against Chaos on a sub-sector wide scale when they were first founded, Brother Kouga was isolated by a pack of Flesh Hounds from the rest of his squad. Readying himself for a last stand, a mysterious chunk of golden metal fell from the sky right between Kouga and the daemons of Khorne. The hounds were suddenly terrified by the mysterious chunk. The marine picked it and threw himself at the warp spawned beasts and defeated them.
After the purging, the Spirit Priests and Techmarines took the chunk and used Kouga's power armour to forge a new suit that resembled the one the warrior from legends wore. It is said that those brothers who wear the armour are granted great power and a thirst to slay every daemon of Chaos that crosses their path.
- Zanbato (Relic Nodachi) - The Zanbato is said to be the ultimate blade. A Nodachi of unparalleled killing power, but it only figured in fiction and legends, as there were no evidence of it existing...until it was proven otherwise. While looking for recruits on Sekai, a group of Rising Sons uncovered a strange coffin-like casket, and within it a blade that looked like a Nodachi of their own production, yet broader and heavier. When the marines were readying to take it back for analysis, a group of Drukhari led by an Incubi ambushed them.
Without hesitation the marines launched at their ambushers. The battle was tough and only brother Kojiro and the Incubi were left. The xenos' Klaivex was incredibly powerful as it shattered his brothers blades due to its mass and slew them without any resistance.
Kojiro picked up the mysterious Nodachi, it's powerfield activating the moment he touched it, and using both its mass and power he slew the Incubi that tried to parry the strike, only to instantly realize that the blade the marine wielded was cutting through his Klaivex and a second later into his flesh. After this event, the weapon has been stored in the chapter's reliquary and dispensed only to those who are worthy of slaying the enemies of the Kami Ten'nō with it.
- Kami Omamori - A unique talisman created millennia ago by the very first Spirit Priest (along with a group of shrine priests from Otera), this item is infused with an incredible power that makes all impure creatures shrivel in fear, as if the Kami Ten'nō channeled a portion of HIS power through it. Nobody knows the materials from which it was created, nor the techniques.
- Cyclone (Relic Bike) - A relic bike that was given to the Rising Sons by their fellow brothers from the Mantis Warriors many millennia ago, the Cyclone was first driven by the legendary Daimyō, and later Shogun Hongo. This bike has a mantis-like look and includes a extremely powerful engine, not to mention the structure being heavily reinforced. Cyclone was numerous times damaged and destroyed, often to the point of being wiped out, only to reappear back in the Reliquary as if freshly build.
In later years, the use of the Cyclone was more frequent due to what happened to the Mantis Warriors during the Badab War. While others saw the chapter as untrustworthy, the Rising Sons started to use the bike more frequently as to show solidarity with their Mantis brethren and completely ignoring how others reacted to this.
Chapter Appearance
The Rising Sons Chapter presents a striking and culturally resonant aesthetic inspired by samurai martial tradition, ancient feudal Japanese and Yamato symbolism, and a disciplined, formal warrior ethos. Most distinctive are the Yamato-inspired elements, such as their kabuto-style helmet crests, which resembles the crown of a feudal daimyō or shōgun, marking the warrior as a person of high status or ceremonial importance. On the battlefield, their sashimono back banners, common among samurai retainers on the battlefield, displays clan or unit markings, often bearing a family mon (or crest) and numeral designating a battle-brother's assigned Kaisha (company).
Each company's mon is displayed somewhere on the battle-brother, usually the sashimono, helmet or poleyn (knee guard). Each Daimyō relinquishes his old surname upon reaching this rank, replacing it with his company's name. Some, but not all battle-brothers will do the same to display their loyalty to the company. These names and mon derive from actual historical clans of Sengoku Japan, which just so happen to coincide with the clans of the Sons' home sector.
The overall aesthetic of the Rising Sons Chapter evokes both terror and awe - not only as engines of destruction, but as avatars of discipline, sacrifice, and ancestral honour. In the 42nd Millennium, where superstition and fanaticism often warp purpose, the Rising Sons stand apart. Their colours and heraldry do not merely decorate - they speak. They tell of oaths written in blood, of swords raised in reverence, and of sons rising again and again - so long as the Imperium endures.
Chapter Colours
The Rising Sons' primary armour colour is a deep imperial indigo, evoking the elegance and dignity of formal samurai attire (especially the hitatare robes of high-ranking retainers). This rich hue is accented with black shoulder pauldrons and knee armor, creating a stark contrast that emphasises the purity and purpose of the Chapter's identity. The black areas of the armour are likely symbolic of discipline, humility, and solemnity, reflecting the Chapter's reverence for the code of Bushidō and their heritage of martial self-restraint.
The trim and embellishments are rendered in burnished gold, especially along the shoulder plates, vambraces, and helm ornaments. This gold trim suggests honour, rank, and the spiritual weight of responsibility 0 each gold line denoting a warrior not only skilled in battle, but worthy of ancestral trust.
Chapter Badge
Chapter badge of the Rising Sons.
The Rising Sons' Chapter badge takes the form of a red rising sun with radiant beams fanned out behind a large white skull. This is an unmistakable reference to the "Rising Sun" motif of ancient Earth's Imperial Japan. The rays (sixteen in total) resemble the imperial war flags of ancient Terra's Eastern cultures and communicate divine retribution, martial enlightenment, and relentless fury - light that burns away heresy and cowardice alike.
At the center of this solar burst is a stark white skull, evoking purity of purpose and the Imperial Astartes' duty to bring death to the enemies of Mankind. The skull also functions as a Memento Mori, a philosophical reminder of mortality and the warrior’s inevitable death in battle.
Relations
Allies
| White Scars |  |
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| Emperor's Shadows |  |
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| Phantom Prophets |  |
The relationship between the Rising Sons and the Phantom Prophets is a paragon of honour, where both Chapters demonstrate heroic feats and a shared commitment to protecting their brothers, and despite the Rising Sons being a younger Chapter from a later Founding, the Phantom Prophets regard them as chosen heirs to carry their legacy, bound by a mutual love for battle that forges an unbreakable bond of brotherhood, deepened through countless campaigns that have strengthened their friendship and solidified their unity in loyalty, valor, and duty. |
| Crimson Vanguard |  |
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| Emperor's Nightmares |  |
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| Guardians Exemplar | +++ERROR: DATA NOT FOUND+++
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Conflicted/Strained
Enemies
| Eight Tombs |   |
Notable Quotes
By the Rising Sons
About the Rising Sons
Glossary
- Issei - Means "firstborn generation"; a term when referring to the Firstborn Astartes of the Chapter.
- Kami Ten'nō - Means "God-Emperor"; often shortened to Kami-Emperor.
- Kami Ten'nō Tenshi - Means "God-Emperor's Angels"; a term used by the locals of the Yamato Sub-Sector when referring to the Space Marines of the Adeptus Astartes.
- Nisei - Means "secondborn generation"; a term when referring to the Primaris Space Marines of the Chapter.
- Yomigaeri - Means "resurrection" or "reborn"; a term when referring to a Issei who has crossed the Rubicon Primaris.
| Eighth Founding Space Marine Chapters | |
|---|---|
| Dark Angels Successors | Black Reapers • Ebon Angels • Sword of Achrial • |
| White Scars Successors | Black Scorpions • Desert Hawks • Destroyers of Worlds • Marauding Eagles • Rising Sons • |
| Space Wolves Successors | N/A |
| Imperial Fists Successors | Ash Scorpions • Bears of Kalum • Crusaders Inexorable • Sable Lions • Thunder Guardians |
| Blood Angels Successors | Astra Khalybes • Blood Aurochs • Great Bears • Immortals • Sanguinary Accipiters • |
| Iron Hands Successors | Iron Depurators • |
| Ultramarines Successors | Bronze Bastion • Bulls of the Emperor • Far Hunters • Tribunes • Warhawks • |
| Salamanders Successors | Silver Pachyderms • |
| Raven Guard Successors | Crow Stalkers • Illuminators • |
| Unknown Lineage | • |
| Renegades | Bloody Hymn • Dionysus Revellers • Gore Vultures • Verum Illuminate • |
Gallery
