Traitor Legion Loyalists
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Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil. -Exodus 23:2
Traitor Legion Loyalists are the rare few Space Marines who, despite hailing from the Traitor Legions, stayed loyal to the Emperor and the Imperium, proving that despite what some characters in 40k think, having geneseed from a suspect source is no sure indicator of bad character. While most of the information below has just been hints for now, this is a matter that has been popping up every now and then since a few years ago.
As it happens, many of these Traitor Legion Loyalists during the Horus Heresy who did not end up in annals of history became Blackshields, the precursor to the 40k equivalent of the same name where a marine with no emblems or markings can petition to join with the Deathwatch on a permanent basis, no questions asked. The term "Blackshield" by itself leaves it open as to whether the individual marine seeks to redeem himself OR his chapter if it went rogue or was destroyed. Although Blackshields are a rarity in 40k, there were enough in 30k for such a tradition to begin and survive to the present time in the Imperium.
Those groups with enough numbers, or perhaps ties to the right people, were able to pass themselves off as successors of other chapters after the Second Founding. Or their founders purged and changed their own records, so that over time, no one within the chapter knows who their true progenitor is (which can lead to some fun times when an inquisitor comes across evidence that it occurred).
Generic armies of them can be fielded in 30K with the Orphans of Betrayal Rite of War. As is fitting for a rogue, largely unsupported force, the rite doesn't provide many bonuses unless you're fighting Traitor versions of the same Legion you're fielding.
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Known Loyalist Members of the Traitor Legions
Note: Characters whose names are listed in italics have received rules in some form in FW's Horus Heresy releases for the 30k era.
- Death Guard
- Nathaniel Garro (became the first of the Knights-Errant, first to bring word to the Imperium about the Horus Heresy)
- Andus Hakur
- Meric Voyen
- Helig Gallor (Recruited into the Knights-Errant)
- Bajun Kyda (Recruited into the Knights-Errant. Killed at Proxima Majoris)
- Crysos Morturg (Became a Blackshield during the battle of Istvaan III, survived and rescued by Garro)
- Erud Vahn (Became a Blackshield during the Horus Heresy)
- Emperor's Children
- Saul Tarvitz (MIA)
- Callion Zaven (Recruited into the Knights-Errant. Killed on the 'Vengeful Spirit')
- Argentus Kiron
- Ancient Rylanor (Contemptor Dreadnought, MIA)
- Rakatio (KIA in Sol System by traitor White Scars who failed to infiltrate Terra)
- Iron Warriors
- Barabas Dantioch (Sacrificed himself in a glorious battle to save the forces of Imperium Secundus)
- Zygmund Tarrasch
- Venerable Vastopol
- Kyr Vhalen (Became a Blackshield during the Horus Heresy)
- Narik Dreygur
- Auric Saxton
- Tubal Cayne (Recruited into the Knights-Errant. Killed on the 'Vengeful Spirit')
- Zhinnon (Became a Blackshield during the Horus Heresy)
- Annovuldi (Warsmith)
- Luna Wolves
- Garviel Loken (Survived the battle of Istvaan III, Recruited into the Knights-Errant, rules are for Luna Wolf version only)
- Tarik Torgaddon (Killed on Istvaan III by Horus Aximand)
- Iacton Qruze (Recruited into the Knights-Errant, later killed by Horus)
- Severian (Recruited into the Knights-Errant)
- World Eaters
- Macer Varren (Recruited into the Knights-Errant)
- Endryd Haar (Became a Blackshield during the Horus Heresy)
- Tagore
- Subha
- Asubha
- Thousand Sons
- Atharva
- Revuel Arvida (Recruited into Knights-Errant after fusing with a fragment of Magnus and taking the name Ianus)
- Omari Anat (captured by the Flesh Tearers, stayed their captive to test whether or not Amit would go insane and kill him despite ample evidence of his innocence, fate unknown)
- Night Lords
- Fel Zharost (Former Chief Librarian sent into exile, Recruited into the Knights-Errant)
- Kasati Nuon
- Word Bearers
- Kaspian Hecht \ Barthusa Narek (Initially drawn to the Knights-Errant. Went rogue and independent of all other factions)
- Alpha Legion
- Chaitan Seyhan (KIA alongside his crew on the strike cruiser Sigma by Alpharius's manipulation of the Sisypheum's crew while disguised as Shadrak Meduson)
List of suspected chapters
- Blood Ravens (Thousand Sons) - heavily implied
- Brotherhood of a Thousand - minor chapter with a tiny footnote implying heavy librarius.[1]
- Grey Knights (Founders were initially drawn from the Knights-Errant) - outright stated
- Minotaurs (Old Lore) (World Eaters) - speculated
- Minotaurs (Revamped Lore) (Iron Warriors) - speculated
- Silver Skulls (Iron Warriors) - all but confirmed (origin suspected to be from the gene-seed of the Iron Warriors contingent that was led by Dantioch into taking refuge on Ultramar and stayed loyal) Alternatively; potentially not as the Silver Skulls are known for having absolute faith in the emperors Tarot and will follow the word of prognosticators which is a polar opposite from the IW data-driven approach to battle.
- Red Scorpions (Emperor's Children) - speculated
- Death Eagles (Emperor's Children) - all but confirmed (origin suspected due to records of a Loyalist Blackshield warband from the Emperor's Children's Death Eagles company during the Horus Heresy) while the Chapter's recorded actions stretch back as far as M32.
- Storm Wardens (World Eaters) - speculated
- Space Sharks (Night Lords) - speculated (heavily implied to have Raven Guard and Night Lord Chimeric gene seed in Red Tithe)
- Iron Snakes (Alpha Legion) - speculated
- Sons of Antaeus (Death Guard) - speculated
The Ultramarine Connection
- The Ultramarines are confirmed to have harboured loyalist members of traitor legions after the Heresy, rebranding them as their own to obfuscate the newcomer's past (as for why they would do such a thing, Roboute Guilliman himself is characterized as someone who abhorred the waste of any human or Astartes life. This is not surprising given rumours the Ultramarines absorbed the remnants of the two lost legions. In any case, Guilliman needed all the manpower he could get when he thought the rest of the Imperium was destroyed during the era of Imperium Secundus, so giving even legionnaires from suspect sources a chance to prove themselves was a practical solution, for which in the end he was not disappointed). Further rumors speculate that they had been doing this even before the Heresy, grooming members of other chapters in case of rebellion or even harbouring those from the Lost Legions. Among those suspected to have been absorbed are members of the World Eaters, Death Guard, Iron Warriors, and the Lost Legions. After the relinquishment of the Imperium Secundus and the breaking up of the Legions into chapters, some of these refugees founded their own chapters. So, while there are likely no descendants of other legions in the modern Ultramarines, a great many successor chapters who claim to be Sons of Ultramar may bear a somewhat darker history.
Sources
Forge World Horus Heresy Rulebooks
- Betrayal
Horus Heresy Novels
- Flight of the Eisenstein
- Pharos
- Vengeful Spirit
- Corax
- Weregeld
- ↑ How to Paint Space Marines, pg. 86