LEGION XIX RAVEN GUARD

Loyalist Legion

---

The Raven Guard is one of the original First Founding Chapters of the Space Marines and was originally the XIXth Space Marine Legion before the Second Founding and the adoption of the Codex Astartes.

Primarch Corvus Corax

Corvus Corax, also known as "The Liberator," "The Deliverer," "The Raven-Lord," "Chooser of the Slain" and "The Shadowed Lord", is the currently missing Primarch of the Raven Guard Chapter of Space Marines and its Successor Chapters. Corax presented a striking countenance, at least when he wished to be seen. His skin was alabaster white and he was possessed of shoulder length hair as black as the feathers of his namesake, the raven. Most remarkable and unsettling were his eyes, which appeared as entirely black shards of solid shadow. His sable armour was edged with fine, golden figures and upon his back was mounted a Jetpack formed into a pair of articulated pinions that he wielded as a murderous, blood-edged weapon of war.

Like most of the Primarchs, Corax was blessed with an extensive armoury of artificer-wrought weapons, but he most often bore to war a pair of metre-long Lightning Claws and a coiled whip at his belt. The latter was carried as a reminder of the cruelty enacted upon the people of Lycaeus by the tyrannical guild of Kiavahr and with it countless enemies have been laid low. Though few even amongst his sons know of it, Corax is blessed with the ability to pass unnoticed should he will it, this preternatural ability allowing him to slip from the perception of his enemies even when he was in plain view.

After the near-destruction of his XIXth Legion during the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V at the start of the Horus Heresy, Corax was desperate to rebuild his Legion. With the Emperor's permission, he and his Astartes delved deep beneath the Imperial Palace to recover the advanced genetics knowledge that the Emperor had used to create the Primarchs. Corax then made use of these techniques and a recovered, undifferentiated Primarch genetic template to accelerate the development of new Raven Guard Astartes. The repercussions of those actions came back to haunt him, leading Corax to eventually grant the Emperor's Peace to all the twisted, mutant spawn who emerged as the result of his experiments. In the wake of the Horus Heresy, Corax vanished into the Eye of Terror in search of penance for his shame. His current whereabouts and status remain unknown to his Chapter and the Imperium.

The Legion

Warcry

"Victorus aut Mortis" ("Victory or Death")

The Raven Guard is one of the original First Founding Chapters of the Space Marines and was originally the XIXth Space Marine Legion before the Second Founding and the adoption of the Codex Astartes. Named for a Terran avian seen by many cultures as the herald of fate and messenger of death, the Raven Guard have served the Emperor faithfully throughout the glories of the Unification Wars, the Great Crusade and the dark days of the Horus Heresy and beyond

From its earliest days, the warriors of the XIXth Legion were known as cunning and patient hunters, adept at biding their time until the moment to strike was at hand. When the Legion was united with its Primarch -- Corvus Corax, the Raven Lord, the Deliverer, theirs was a form of warfare exemplifying speed, stealth and precision which was codified into their doctrine, and under the ivory-skinned, shadow-eyed and sable-haired Primarch, the XIXth Legion carved its name in the annals of the Great Crusade. As the tragic histories of the Horus Heresy were recounted, however, the Legion's glories were to be scattered upon the black sands of Istvaan V during the Drop Site Massacre, and the Imperium was almost shorn of one of its greatest champions.

Though severely decimated, the Raven Guard would rise from the ashes of betrayal and go on to continue to serve the Imperium of Man as its protectors. As masters of the unseen war, they fight their battles with stealth and speed rather than fury and flames. For thousands of standard years, across thousands of worlds, they have continued to stalk the enemies of the Imperium as shadows of death, waiting for the perfect moment to deliver the killing blow before melting back into the darkness once more. The Raven Guard's homeworld is the planet called Deliverance, the airless mining moon of the Forge World Kiavahr, though its original name, before the Horus Heresy, was Lycaeus. The Raven Guard's fortress-monastery on Deliverance is known as the Ravenspire.

The Raven Guard are known for their cool-headed, even intellectual temperament, their superb infiltration skills and skill at furious close-quarters engagements. The Raven Guard are the masters of unseen and guerrilla warfare, only engaging in frontal assaults when no other option presents itself. The Raven Guard is also rightly feared for the potent units of Assault Marines they field, who use a pair of Lightning Claws instead of the usual Bolt Pistol and Chainsword.

BACK