Savage Hearts

This page details people, events, and organisations from the /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. See the /tg/ Heresy Timeline and Galaxy pages for more information on the Alternate Universe.

Savage Hearts
Battle Cry	"Warm blood, cold steel!"
Number	46
Founding	Second Founding
Successors of	Thunder Kings
Chapter Master	Anghav Tangorssen (Founding)
Primarch	Brennus
Homeworld	Dov-Kelor
Strength	1,000 at establishment
Specialty	Melee, Ambush Tactics
Allegiance	Imperium of Man
Colours	Mixed Scrubland camouflage

The Savage Hearts were an Institutorum Astartes-compliant Space Marine Chapter and a proud successor of the Thunder Kings from the Second Founding.

Chapter History

Notable Campaigns

During the Second Vetrovnak Incursion, Dov-Kelor was one of the planets close to the Vetrovnak's first spearheads, and the Savage Hearts found themselves fighting a desperate battle against terrible foes. The ever-hungry Vetrovnak looked upon Dov-Kelor's colossal Hive Cities and the billions of prey animals within, and deemed it a priority target for conquest. What they did not know was that some of the Emperor's most vicious children also called Dov-Kelor home, and they did not take kindly to the Vetrovnak's presence. Fortunate indeed were the people of Dov-Kelor as the Vetrovnak entered their system, for the majority of the Savage Hearts Chapter was on-planet, rearming after an extended campaign chasing a cabal of Black Augurs across half the Segmentum, a duel which required nearly the whole Chapter's might in order to pin down their elusive, Warp-blessed prey. Eight hundred and sixty-three Astartes looked to the sky as blasphemous vessels began to descend, and grimly readied themselves for war.

Shaking off the coat of dirt and plant life which had grown atop the Chapter's slumbering voidships, the Savage Hearts raked the Vetrovnak with unrelenting firepower, knocking many of them from the sky before ever feeling soil. Yet still the Vetrovnak came, now maddened with rage as well as blood-hunger. Though the Dov-Kelor military forces and the Savage Hearts fought like men possessed, they could not halt the tide forever, and a great wailing arose from the Hive Cities as breach after breach let the harvesters enter, doing as they pleased. After three months of nonstop carnage, the remaining Savage Hearts came to a momentous conclusion; there was indeed something they hated even more than the forcees of Chaos, and it was even now glutting itself on their people.

Quietly, quietly, the Savage Hearts withdrew from the field, and an eerie hush fell on Dov-Kelor. The Vetrovnak retrieved many an Astartes body, some even slain by Astartes weapons, and contentedly concluded that the Chapter was no more, that their will had left them and terror took them whole. Yet deep below every Hive Spire, shapes moved through the darkness, crawling through abyssal sewage pipes and drainage tanks with aid of neither sorcery or technology, squirming through collapsed passages and vile gatherings of filth with dire purpose and utmost secrecy. Their minds sealed and sparks dimmed to such an extent that even the best psyker would have had difficulties telling man from beast, the Savage Hearts made their move. And had the Vetrovnak looked a little more closely, or been a little more familiar with Astartes bodies, they might have seen that what they assumed to be friendly fire was instead mercy kills for the dying wounded, enacted with all proper ritual that the warrior might know victory even after death. A mighty ruse.

At dawn on the ninety-seventh day of Vetrovnak incursion, fifteen Hive Spires burned in thermonuclear pyres as their fusion cores detonated from within.

The Vetrovnak reeled in shock, watching from orbit as untold numbers of their own kind vanished into a death from which no nanomachine could save them. They had underestimated the Savage Hearts' commitment to victory at any cost, and paid a terrible price. Though Dov-Kelor and the Chapter were nigh-annhilated, reports from the surface were already arriving, telling the tale of human forces emerging from pits, trenches and tunnels criscrossing the boglands and shattered mountain spires, scything down any Vetrovnak who yet lived after the flame's passage. A retreat was called, one of the few such actions during the Second Incursion. It would be more than three millennia before Dov-Kelor stood proud and strong once more, yet victory was theirs despite the cost.

However, it can be said that the Savage Hearts' vengeful defense of their homeworld may have even done more harm than good in the end. More than one Imperial Scholar has surmised that without this terrible lesson proving the Imperium to be a real threat when cornered, the Vetrovnak might have been less murderous, less destructive, and more willing to ultimately withdraw from Imperiual space than they in fact proved to be. Having come face to face with Humanity's champions, the Vetrovnak did not soon forget Dov-Kelor.

Notable Members

Chapter Master Anghav Tangorssen, once a Thunder King himself, earned fame late in the Heresy when the time came to choose sides within his own Legion. Appalled that Equerry Ferdiad would raise arms against his Primarch, few Thunder Kings wreaked as terrible devastation among those they once called brothers as then-Sergeant Anghav. Though his actions were not enough to shift the tide, it is certain that Anghav's deeds helped pressure Ferdiad into challenging Brennus directly in their fateful duel, lest all be swept from beneath the Equerry's feet. For his efforts on Alessia and elsewhere during the Heresy, Anghav was greatly honored with his Primarch's blessing to forge a Successor Chapter in the Second Founding, a challenge the newly minted Chapter Master took to with ferocious zeal. Traitors lurked in every corner of the faltering Galaxy even after the Heresy's passage, and Anghav intended to see every last one rooted out and eviscerated, with bare hands if need be.

Filled with this all-consuming need for retribution, Anghav stood before his former Legionary brothers one last time before leaving the Legion for good, wearing each of his many amulets, jewelry and other symbolic tokens in grand display, stripped to the waist so that his many tattoos of heroic deeds might be seen by all. Two Battle-Brothers being seconded to the new Chapter stood at either side, carrying multi-stranded whips of hair, woven from Alessian beasts. Striking Anghav over and over, the two Astartes did not relent until every tattoo was erased by wounds and blood, and every badge of honor lay shattered upon the floor. In a loud voice Anghav cried out to his Thunder King brothers, swearing eternal vengeance against those who had wronged them, and vowing never to ornament himself until the last Traitor should fall beneath his boots. Roaring with approval, the Thunder Kings heartily toasted their departing comrade, forging blood-oaths with the still-bleeding Anghav to meet with him in the Otherworld when all was said and done, to hear of his valiant deeds.

Even to this day, a relic of that moment exists, for a quick-thinking Banndaor of an unknown Thunder King's retinue collected a vial of the blood shed by Anghav, carefully sponged from the floor on which he stood. It is a reminder of the eternal quest for vengeance shared by all the sons of Brennus to this day, and treated with great reverence among the Thunder Kings Chapter.

The Chapter Master's final fate is unknown, for he fell amidst the chaos of Dov-Kelor's defense against the Vetrovnak and his body was never recovered from the churning mire. Some Savage Hearts still believe that a man of such indomitable willpower could not have perished, and he must have pursued the vile Vetrovnak back to whatever hole they crawled forth from, an eternal one-man crusade of fire and fury who will someday return to them in honor. Most believe this merely to be a bit of ancient folklore, but it is known that a single Thunderhawk went missing during the battle and was never accounted for, dissappearing amongst the chaos of the Vetrovnak leaving planet. Perhaps it is a mere cogitator error, an unfortunate outcome of the radiation washing over the Chapter's ancient planetbound vessels and their cogitators. But... perhaps not.

Battle-Brother Damien Gellevis, one of the youngest members of the Chapter. Seeing his brothers fall around him as his homeworld slowly died, it was he who first proposed the dread decision to sacrifice the Hive-Spires in order to achieve final victory. It was he who braved radiation, mutants, plague and terror to crawl inside the capitol city of Balcorond and its titanic fusion array, and it was he who threw the switch that commanded all to burn in sympathetic detonation. The Chapter's few survivors made the unusual decision many years after the Second Incursion to give Battle-Brother Damien a rare honor indeed. Above the entryway to the Hound's Eye reactor core is engraved Damien's name, to remind the Chapter what it means to embrace the fire within, and what obeying their creed may cost. Damien forever stands as the Chapter's radiant heart, unafraid to throw away a long and glorious future of honor to do what must be done. For a Chapter so averse to ornamentation, this simple engraving carries great weight indeed.

Master of the Fleet Eriq Isvenor had the terrible honor of returning the Hound's Eye to Dov-Kelor after the Second Incursion, its paltry complement of eighty-three remaining Astartes the only living remnants of his Chapter. Elected the second Chapter Master, it was the work of Eric's lifetime to reassemble the Savage Hearts from their ashes, slowly, painfully, but relentlessly. The new Chapter Master threw himself into rebuilding with every bit of the fervor that Chapter Master Anghav showed pursuing Chaos renegades, and spared no effort to strengthen ties with his Thunder Kings gene-brothers. Gifts of gene-seed and soldiers were obtained, and the Thunder Kings earned themselves a friendship loyal beyond death from the Savage Hearts. It is said that with but a word from the Thunder Kings' Chapter Master, the entire Savage Hearts Chapter will appear in the skies above the Soctis Cluster, a thousand soldiers ready to do or die.

Chapter Combat Doctrine

The Savage Hearts practice a strange form of battle meditation compared to most Astartes, a kind of "coiling" within themselves until the critical moment. They drive themselves into an indescribable fury by contemplating the abhorrent enemies they face on the Emperor's behalf, the galling abominations that the fallen Astartes have become, and the ever-bleeding wound that is seeing the dream of galactic unity under Humanity shattered for all time. Their passion builds like a volcano, boiling with white-hot energy. But not a sign of this may be seen from the outside. So quiet and still do the Savage Hearts become that many observers mistake them for lumps of rock and moss, or empty suits of armor. Even psychically attuned foes often fail to detect the Marines' consciousness within their mental barriers. Yet the hidden fire has not died, but glows all the hotter as the Savage Hearts bend their bodies to their iron wills, awaiting only the first breath of oxygen to ignite an all-consuming backdraft.

When the time is right and the enemy has entered the kill-zone, no order need be given. Each Savage Heart simply understands when the fateful moment has come, bursting from cover with unbelievable speed and ferocity the equal of any Khornate Berzerker. Like arrows from a mighty archer's bow, the Savage Hearts crash into their unprepared adversaries and bring them down in an instant, using any and every means at their disposal to achieve victory. Nothing is left alive, and the Chapter vanishes as quickly as it came, seeking fresh targets to grant the Emperor's Mercy.

The Chapter has a distinct preference for weapons that kill in a single instant, whether keenly honed blades, massive rifles or even colossal artillery weapons. Anything that can end a life in the shortest, most decisive fashion possible will find favor among the Savage Hearts, though they do maintain a stock of more traditional equipment as backup gear. Dreadnoughts are uncommon among this Chapter, for their tactics leave few possible outcomes beyond victory or death. A wounded Savage Heart is rarely carried from the battlefield alive, his inhuman focus compelling him forward to slay more foes even as his body crumbles.

Chapter Beliefs

The Savage Hearts hold that they have never won a single battle, for all conflicts are merely extensions of the Great Scouring, and while a single Traitor Astartes lives there can be no victory feast. The fulfillment of this ancient grudge is their highest purpose, the unattainable dream for which they bend every ounce of their being to the pursuit. Their Chapter fortresses and naval vessels are almost eerily unadorned with the usual trappings of a Space Marine Chapter, honoring their first Chapter Master's example before the Thunder Kings. Famed for their brutal utilitarianism and stoic demeanor, the Savage Hearts do show a deeply felt warmth towards those other Astartes who have proven themselves against the Traitors, and have nothing but good humor and camraderie to share with such warriors. Even mortal soldiers can expect to rise high in the Savage Hearts' esteem, should they have wrought the Emperor's judgement upon those who betrayed him, and many Imperial Guardsmen have been feasted in the Savage Hearts' halls and warcamps.

Interestingly and somewhat unusually for Astartes, the Savage Hearts are also accomplished spies and infiltrators, having learned that to root out the most cowardly or entrenched evils it is often necessary to quietly listen for the scuttling sounds of vermin. Their younger soldiers are frequently used for this purpose, training them to be filled with righteous wrath while never letting their control slip, even when face to face with blasphemy. Though a Savage Heart lurking in the shadows may boil with hatred while observing heretical rituals, he must come to understand that to strike in reckless haste is to risk leaving the task incomplete, an unthinkable shame. Not one seed of evil must escape when the Savage Hearts move against it, a mantra drilled into them from the moment a young boy enters their halls to begin his trials.

Chapter Homeworld

Dov-Kelor is a world with tempestuous history, scarred and blasted by every manner of weapon, its biosphere clinging to tenuous existence. Mired in swamps and fens, the planet's rivers run sluggishly, tangled and distorted when the Savage Hearts unleashed cataclysm upon it. Seas left their beds, mountains toppled over, and every city felt the touch of fire and steel. All this, so that a fortress belonging to the Life Bringers might be laid low. Originally, the Savage Hearts were a fleet-based Chapter, restlessly hunting far and wide for enemies to slay, but the behemoth entrenchments of Dov-Kelor brought them to a screeching halt, unable to force their way through the interconnected mountain redoubts, yet unable to tolerate leaving this nest of corruption behind Imperial lines as the quest to purge Ultima Segmentum rolled onward. Finally, a momentous decision was made.

As one, the eight Savage Heart vessels abandoned all attempts to fight Dov-Kelor's heavy gravity, the Battle Barges Peerless Sword, Dawn of Honor, and Hound's Eye glowing red-hot as they fell. Alongside them dove the Strike Cruisers Red Atonement and Queen of Amentrum, followed by the Chapter's Escort Frigates Doom Caller, Fire Unending, Silent Reaver and Sparkthrower. Though fuelled by Nurgle's arcane sorcery, the fortresses and their cannons could not throw back the descending tide of adamantium and rage. Crashing to the ground in nearly uncontrolled landings, the Imperial vessels themselves scoured Nurgle's corruption whereever they made landfall, flash-boiling lakes of fetid swamp into sterilizing steam clouds kilometers tall. Mere moments after landing, the Savage Hearts were already charging through the conflagration on foot, overwhelming the shell-shocked Life Bringers in a frenzy of butchery and retribution.

Two months would pass before the final Nurglite breathed their last, and many years more would elapse before Dov-Kelor was declared truly cleansed, but the deed was ultimately accomplished. It was an ugly, distasteful world with bitter soil and murky air, but it was wholly the Savage Hearts' own, and forevermore they would call it their Fortress-Monastery in the Emperor's name. The Hound's Eye would eventually be raised to fly again many centuries later, serving the Chapter well until the Second Vetrovnak Incursion.

Dov-Kelor's population is suprisingly high for a Space Marine Homeworld, blessed with a number of massive Hive-Cities which do tremendous commerce converting Dov-Kelor's generous reserves of raw organic and mineral compounds into refined goods. While only the desperate and the accursed would attempt agriculture in the boglands, the Hive Cities contain massive hydroponic facilities with which they sustain their vast populations, large even by Hive standards. Thus fed and watered, the teeming masses of humanity churn out vast quantities of industrial products, everything from a Guardsman's las-rifle to an Imperial Preacher's robes to the nuts, bolts and screws so lovingly installed by a child of the Omnissiah. Dov-Kelor cannot produce advanced technology, but for everything else, they have crates upon crates readily at hand.

Chapter Appearance

Murky brown, green and grey, the Chapter's unassuming exterior betrays no hint of the passionate wrath within.