Characters & Relics

The Ash-Wing, Master of the Skyfangs

Captain Vaedran Marr is the descending blade of the Onyx Dragons, a commander who embodies speed, precision, and the inevitability of death from above. As master of the 3rd Company—the Skyfangs—he does not simply lead aerial assaults. He defines the moment they strike.

Marr rose to prominence during campaigns where timing was everything and hesitation meant failure. From his earliest days as a battle-brother, he demonstrated an instinctive understanding of vertical warfare—how to read terrain from above, how to anticipate enemy movement, and how to strike where the foe could not defend.

As a Sergeant, he led jump assaults into fortified positions that conventional forces could not breach. As a Lieutenant, he refined the coordination between airborne units and ground support, ensuring that every descent was not just violent, but decisive. Under his guidance, the Skyfangs became more than a rapid strike force—they became a weapon of precision annihilation.

When he took command of the 3rd Company, Marr reshaped its doctrine into a fluid and relentless cycle of descent, strike, and redeployment. Where other forces might hold ground, the Skyfangs under Marr remain in motion, never allowing the enemy the time or space to recover.

The Ash-Wing

Marr’s title is not symbolic—it is earned in every battle he fights. Equipped with a jump pack that burns hotter and faster than standard patterns, he descends at the exact moment the prey is most vulnerable. His arrival is often the signal that the hunt has reached its killing stroke.

Armed with the relic glaive Ashfall Talon, Marr strikes with devastating precision, using the momentum of descent to amplify the force of each blow. Enemies who survive the initial impact rarely survive the follow-through.

Command Style

Vaedran Marr commands through timing and motion. His forces do not advance in lines or formations—they fall in waves. Incursors and Phobos elements mark the prey. Storm Speeders strip away defenses. Then, in a single coordinated moment, the Skyfangs descend.

He does not linger once the strike is complete. Marr is known to redeploy his forces within moments, turning one successful assault into a chain of kills across the battlefield. To fight under his command is to exist in constant motion, where every second is part of a larger, perfectly timed sequence.

Presence on the Battlefield

Marr is rarely seen before the moment of impact. His voice is heard over comms only when necessary, his orders brief and absolute. When he appears, it is in fire and speed—jump pack screaming, blade already in motion.

To the warriors of the Skyfangs, he is the certainty that the strike will land true.

To the enemy, he is the moment the sky begins to fall.

The Stonebreaker, Master of the Iron Drakes

Captain Garran Volkr is the unyielding force of the Onyx Dragons, a commander who embodies endurance, pressure, and the certainty that all walls must fall. As master of the 4th Company—the Iron Drakes—he does not merely wage siege warfare. He becomes it.

Volkr’s rise through the ranks was forged in the slowest and most brutal campaigns the Chapter has endured. Hive sieges, fortress breaches, and grinding urban wars defined his early service. Where others sought decisive breakthroughs, Volkr learned the value of patience—of pressure applied without pause until the enemy could no longer stand.

As a Sergeant, he was known for holding ground that should have been lost, anchoring his brothers in the face of overwhelming resistance. As a Lieutenant, he refined the Iron Drakes’ approach to siegecraft, coordinating heavy infantry, armor, and fire support into a single advancing front that could not be dislodged.

When he assumed command of the 4th Company, Volkr did not change its doctrine. He perfected it. Under his leadership, the Iron Drakes became a force defined not by speed, but by inevitability.

The Stonebreaker

Volkr’s title is earned through action, not ceremony. Armed with the relic thunder hammer Drake’s Bite, he is most often found at the point of breach, where the enemy’s defenses are strongest and the cost of failure is highest. Each strike of his weapon lands with crushing force, shattering fortifications, armor, and those who stand behind them.

He does not seek the open field. He seeks walls, gates, and choke points—places where the enemy believes itself secure. There, he proves them wrong.

Command Style

Garran Volkr commands as a force of pressure and control. His assaults are deliberate, methodical, and relentless. Infiltrators and forward elements identify the weak points. Fire support strips away defenses. Then the Iron Drakes advance—Heavy Intercessors and Aggressors stepping forward into the breach while Dreadnoughts and armored units drive the assault deeper.

He does not overextend. He does not rush. Every meter gained is held, fortified, and turned against the enemy. Under Volkr, ground is not taken—it is claimed.

Presence on the Battlefield

Volkr is always where the fighting is hardest. His presence is marked not by speed, but by stability. Where he stands, the line does not break. Where he advances, the enemy is pushed back step by step until resistance collapses.

His orders are few, delivered with calm certainty even in the heart of the fiercest engagements. To the Iron Drakes, his voice is the anchor that holds them steady in the storm of battle.

To his warriors, he is the certainty that the line will endure.

To the enemy, he is the moment their walls begin to fall.

The Night Fang, Master of the Skyshadows

Captain Ravik Kael is the unseen blade of the Onyx Dragons, a commander who embodies silence, precision, and the certainty that death comes before it is understood. As master of the 5th Company—the Skyshadows—he does not wage open war. He ends it before it can begin.

Kael’s rise through the ranks was marked not by spectacle, but by absence. Enemy commanders vanished. Supply lines collapsed. Entire defensive networks failed without warning. Where other warriors proved themselves through visible victory, Kael became known through the silence that followed his strikes.

As a Sergeant, he led small kill teams deep into hostile territory, eliminating key targets and withdrawing before the enemy could respond. As a Lieutenant, he refined the coordination of stealth units, fast attack elements, and armored support into a seamless doctrine of disruption and collapse. Under his guidance, the Skyshadows became more than infiltrators—they became the moment the enemy realized the battle was already lost.

When he assumed command of the 5th Company, Kael did not abandon stealth for authority. He deepened it. Under his leadership, the Skyshadows evolved into a force that blends shadow and fire, striking unseen and finishing with overwhelming precision.

The Night Fang

Kael’s title reflects both his method and his presence. He does not announce his arrival. He is there when the prey is weakest, when its vision is clouded and its defenses are misaligned. Armed with the relic blades Talons of the Void, he strikes in rapid succession, each movement calculated to end the fight before resistance can form.

To those who survive, the attack feels less like a battle and more like a failure of reality—an enemy already inside their lines, already at their throat.

Command Style

Ravik Kael commands through misdirection and control of information. His forces do not advance—they appear. Reivers disrupt communications and sow fear. Outriders and fast-moving elements cut escape routes. Impulsor-borne units strike key nodes, while armored assets remain hidden until the moment of commitment.

He times his assaults so that the enemy never fights a complete battle. By the time resistance forms, it is already fractured. By the time counterattack begins, the Skyshadows have already shifted to the next target.

Presence on the Battlefield

Kael is rarely seen, even by his own warriors. His voice is calm, measured, and often the only indication of his presence before the strike begins. When he does appear, it is at the moment of decision—when the prey is isolated and the kill is certain.

To the Skyshadows, he is the assurance that the hunt is already won.

To the enemy, he is the realization that the darkness was never empty.

The Cinder Voice, Reclusiarch of the Iron Claws

Chaplain Kael Vorath is the voice of fire within the Onyx Dragons, a keeper of the Chapter’s creed whose words carry as much weight as any blade. As spiritual guide to the 2nd Company—the Iron Claws—he does not merely inspire warriors in battle. He binds them to purpose, ensuring that every advance is not only relentless, but righteous.

Vorath’s presence is most keenly felt in the moments before the assault. Where engines roar and armored columns gather, his voice cuts through the thunder with measured clarity. He does not shout. He does not rage. He speaks with the certainty of flame—calm, consuming, and inevitable.

As a battle-brother, Vorath was known for his unshakable composure under fire, standing firm where others faltered. His path to the Reclusiam was not born from zeal alone, but from an understanding of discipline: that fury without control is waste, and faith without action is hollow. When he was elevated to Chaplain, he carried that philosophy with him, shaping the Iron Claws into a force that advances not in anger, but in purpose.

The Cinder Voice

Vorath’s title is earned through the manner in which he speaks. His litanies are not cries of desperation, but declarations of inevitability. Each word is deliberate, reinforcing the Chapter’s creed as the company prepares to strike.

Before every major assault, he leads the Oath of Ash, anointing the warriors of the Iron Claws with sacred ash mixed with promethium oil. Upon their armor, he paints draconic runes that mark them as hunters, binding each brother to the hunt that lies ahead.

Keeper of the Flame

Vorath’s duty does not end with the charge. In the aftermath of battle, he walks the field, ensuring that no brother is forgotten. He oversees the Flame Vigil, standing watch as the fallen are committed to the pyre, their deeds spoken aloud so that their memory endures within the Chapter.

To him, death is not loss—it is passage. A warrior’s fire does not fade. It is carried forward in the blades of those who remain.

Presence on the Battlefield

Vorath advances with the foremost elements of the Iron Claws, often alongside Assault Intercessors as the breach is made. His crozius rises not only to strike, but to direct, guiding the flow of battle with measured authority.

His voice is constant, even in the chaos of close combat, grounding his warriors in the discipline that defines the Chapter. Where panic might take root, he replaces it with certainty.

To the Iron Claws, he is the fire that steadies the hand and sharpens the will.

To the enemy, he is the calm before the line breaks—and the voice that carries through the flames that follow.

The Falling Ash, Reclusiarch of the Skyfangs

Chaplain Vaelkor Threx is the voice that falls with the storm, a spiritual guide who descends alongside the Skyfangs at the moment of impact. As Reclusiarch of the 3rd Company, he does not stand apart from the assault—he is within it, sanctifying the strike as it unfolds in fire and motion.

Threx earned his place in the Reclusiam through campaigns where the sky itself became a battlefield. As a line warrior, he fought in countless jump assaults where timing meant survival and hesitation meant death. He learned that faith must move as swiftly as the blade, carried not in long sermons, but in words that strike as cleanly as any weapon.

When he was elevated to Chaplain, Threx brought that philosophy with him. His teachings shaped the Skyfangs into a force that does not simply descend in violence, but in purpose—each warrior bound to the hunt even as they fall through flame and smoke.

The Falling Ash

Threx’s title reflects both his method and his presence. He descends with the first wave, his jump pack burning bright as he leads the assault from the front. His litanies are spoken in motion, carried over open vox channels as the Skyfangs fall from the heavens.

Where other Chaplains might gather their warriors before battle, Threx delivers his rites mid-descent. His voice is heard in the seconds before impact, steady and unwavering, reminding each warrior of the moment to come—the instant where the hunt is decided.

Keeper of the Descent

To Threx, the act of falling into battle is sacred. He teaches that the descent is not chaos, but commitment—the final step before the kill. Every jump, every drop, is an oath fulfilled in fire.

He conducts the Oath of Ash not only before battle, but in the holds of Stormravens and at the edge of deployment zones, marking warriors just before they launch into the void. In this way, the Skyfangs carry the Chapter’s creed with them into the sky itself.

Presence on the Battlefield

Threx is most often seen at the point of impact, landing alongside Assault Intercessors and Vanguard Veterans as the strike begins. His crozius falls in measured blows, each strike reinforcing the momentum of the assault.

He does not linger once the kill is complete. Like the Skyfangs themselves, he moves with the flow of battle, redeploying as needed, his voice guiding the next descent even as the previous one burns behind him.

To the Skyfangs, he is the certainty that the fall will be true.

To the enemy, he is the voice heard just before the sky ignites—and the moment the hunt reaches them.

The Unbroken Pyre, Reclusiarch of the Iron Drakes

Chaplain Garrus Vorn is the flame that does not falter, a spiritual anchor whose presence ensures that the Iron Drakes endure where others would break. As Reclusiarch of the 4th Company, he does not inspire through fury or speed, but through unwavering certainty—the knowledge that the line will hold, and the hunt will be finished.

Vorn’s path to the Reclusiam was forged in the longest and most brutal campaigns of the Chapter’s history. He stood in siege lines that lasted months, in hive corridors choked with ash and ruin, and in fortress breaches where every step forward was paid for in blood. Where others burned bright and were spent, Vorn endured.

As a battle-brother, he became known for holding ground that could not be lost, standing amidst fire and collapse without yielding. When he was elevated to Chaplain, he carried that same endurance into his role, shaping the Iron Drakes into a force that does not simply advance—it remains.

The Unbroken Pyre

Vorn’s title reflects the nature of his faith. He teaches that the flame is not meant to flare and die, but to burn steadily until all is reduced to ash. His litanies are not shouted across the battlefield, but spoken with measured strength, reinforcing the will of those who fight beside him.

Before a siege begins, he leads the Oath of Ash, marking each warrior with runes of endurance and resolve. These marks are not for the charge—they are for the long war that follows, where victory is measured in ground held and enemies worn down.

Keeper of Endurance

To Vorn, the truest test of faith is not the moment of the strike, but the hours and days that follow. He walks the line during battle, ensuring that no warrior falters under the weight of prolonged combat.

He oversees the Flame Vigil even amidst ongoing campaigns, holding rites within secured zones while the war continues around him. In this, he reminds the Iron Drakes that even in the longest battles, the fallen are not forgotten and the flame of the Chapter does not dim.

Presence on the Battlefield

Vorn is always where the pressure is greatest—at the breach, at the choke point, or at the line that must not give. His crozius rises and falls with deliberate force, each strike a reminder that the enemy will break before the Chapter does.

His voice is steady, carrying across vox channels and through the chaos of battle, anchoring his warriors in discipline and purpose.

To the Iron Drakes, he is the certainty that the line will endure.

To the enemy, he is the flame that does not go out—no matter how long the siege lasts.

The Silent Pyre, Reclusiarch of the Skyshadows

Chaplain Nyxar Vael is the unseen flame of the Onyx Dragons, a keeper of the Chapter’s creed who walks the line between silence and fire. As Reclusiarch of the 5th Company—the Skyshadows—he does not proclaim the will of the Chapter. He ensures it is carried out without sound, without hesitation, and without failure.

Vael’s rise through the ranks was marked by absence rather than presence. He served in campaigns where visibility was a liability and noise meant death. As a battle-brother, he operated alongside infiltration units, striking key targets and vanishing before the enemy understood what had occurred. Over time, he came to embody a different kind of strength—not the roar of flame, but its quiet persistence.

When he entered the Reclusiam, Vael did not abandon that path. Instead, he shaped it into doctrine. He taught that faith need not be spoken loudly to be absolute, and that the Emperor’s will can be carried in silence just as surely as in fire.

The Silent Pyre

Vael’s title reflects the nature of his belief. He teaches that a flame does not need to blaze to consume. A hidden fire can be just as deadly, spreading unseen until there is nothing left to save.

His litanies are rarely broadcast across open vox channels. Instead, they are delivered in low tones, over secure links, or in the quiet moments before the strike. Each word is deliberate, binding his warriors to the hunt without breaking the silence that defines their approach.

Keeper of the Hidden Flame

To Vael, the sacred rites of the Chapter must adapt to the nature of the hunt. He conducts the Oath of Ash in darkness, often within transport holds, concealed staging areas, or moments before insertion. The runes he marks upon his brothers are smaller, subtler—but no less binding.

He oversees the Flame Vigil with equal restraint. Where other companies gather in visible ceremony, the Skyshadows hold their vigil in shadow, speaking the names of the fallen in low voices until the last ember fades.

Presence on the Battlefield

Vael is rarely seen, even among his own warriors. His presence is known through precision: a command given at the exact moment it is needed, a correction that prevents failure, a voice that cuts through uncertainty without raising its volume.

When he does take to the front, it is at the moment of the kill. His crozius strikes with controlled force, each blow delivered without excess, without noise, and without hesitation.

To the Skyshadows, he is the certainty that the hunt remains true—even in silence.

To the enemy, he is the fire that was never seen… until everything is already burning.

The Ember Warden, Keeper of the Gene-Seed

Apothecary Serak Vhal is the guardian of the Onyx Dragons’ future, a warrior whose duty is not to end the hunt, but to ensure it never truly ends. As Apothecary of the 5th Company—the Skyshadows—he walks the battlefield not only as healer, but as warden of the Chapter’s most sacred charge: the gene-seed of its fallen.

Vhal’s path into the Apothecarion was shaped by campaigns fought in shadow, where casualties were often unrecoverable and the loss of a single brother could echo across decades. As a battle-brother, he fought alongside infiltration units, learning to move unseen and act with precision. He came to understand that survival was not measured only in victory, but in what could be preserved when the fighting was done.

When he was elevated to Apothecary, he carried that understanding with him. Under his watch, the Skyshadows became as disciplined in recovery as they are in the strike, ensuring that even in the most hostile conditions, the Chapter’s lineage would endure.

The Ember Warden

Vhal’s title reflects the nature of his duty. To the Onyx Dragons, the gene-seed is a sacred flame—one that must never be allowed to die. Where others might see the fallen as lost, Vhal sees embers that must be gathered, protected, and carried forward.

He moves through the aftermath of battle with quiet efficiency, retrieving the gene-seed of the fallen even as the conflict continues around him. His work is often unseen, but never unimportant. Each recovered seed is a future warrior, a continuation of the Chapter’s will.

Keeper of the Fallen

Unlike many Apothecaries, Vhal does not wait for the battle to end. He operates alongside the Skyshadows in the midst of the hunt, moving through darkness, smoke, and ruin to reach those who can still be saved—and those who must be preserved.

He is known to extract gene-seed under conditions that would deter lesser warriors: behind enemy lines, within collapsing structures, or in zones still contested by the foe. His precision and composure ensure that even in chaos, nothing is wasted.

Presence on the Battlefield

Vhal is rarely at the center of the assault, yet he is never far from it. His presence is marked by efficiency rather than spectacle—arriving where he is needed, acting without hesitation, and moving on before the enemy can react.

To the Skyshadows, he is the assurance that their sacrifice will not be forgotten—that even in death, they will continue the hunt.

To the enemy, he is a figure barely glimpsed, moving through shadow and fire, ensuring that nothing of value is left behind.

The Iron Maw, Ancient of the Iron Claws

Brother Kharvek Draal is a warrior who refused to die. Entombed within the armored shell of a Redemptor Dreadnought, he endures as one of the Iron Claws’ most feared and revered weapons—a living engine of war whose wrath has outlived the flesh that once bore it.

In life, Kharvek Draal was a linebreaker of the 2nd Company, a warrior known for his relentless advance and refusal to yield ground once taken. He fought at the forefront of countless armored assaults, earning distinction in breaches where survival was measured in seconds and hesitation meant failure. It was said among the Iron Claws that where Draal advanced, the enemy line would break—or be ground to ruin beneath him.

His final battle as a mortal warrior came during a prolonged siege where the Iron Claws were tasked with cracking a fortress complex that had resisted Imperial assault for months. At the moment of breach, Draal led the assault into the heart of the enemy’s defenses. Though the line was broken, the cost was severe. Draal was struck down amidst the wreckage of the gate he had helped shatter.

He did not die.

The Iron Maw

Recovered from the battlefield and interred within a Redemptor Dreadnought chassis, Draal was given a new form through which to continue the hunt. The machine that houses him is no silent tomb—it is a weapon shaped by his will. Its weapons systems are tuned for close-range devastation, its armored frame scarred by battles that would have destroyed lesser engines.

The Iron Claws named him The Iron Maw, for the way he advances into the breach, consuming everything in his path with fire and steel.

Enduring the Flame

Unlike many who are interred, Draal has not faded into quiet reflection. His mind remains sharp, his will unbroken. Yet the cost of his new form is not without burden. The strain of the Redemptor chassis is immense, its machine spirit fierce, its demands constant.

Draal endures it as he endured everything in life—with unrelenting purpose.

Chaplains of the Iron Claws speak to him often, ensuring that his mind remains anchored and his fury remains controlled. To them, he is not a relic to be preserved, but a warrior who still has battles to fight.

Presence on the Battlefield

When the Iron Claws advance, Kharvek Draal walks at the point of impact. Where tanks break the line and infantry pour through, he follows—finishing what remains. His weapons tear through armor and flesh alike, while his massive frame anchors the breach against counterattack.

To the warriors of the 2nd Company, his presence is a sign that the assault will not fail.

To the enemy, he is the moment the breach becomes irreversible.

He does not retreat. He does not falter.

He advances—until nothing remains.

The Ash Seer, Keeper of the Veiled Flame

Librarian Aethon Khar walks the edge of sight and certainty, a psyker whose visions are drawn not from clarity, but from the shifting patterns of ash and fire. Serving alongside the 3rd Company—the Skyfangs—he is both guide and warning, reading the flow of battle before it unfolds and marking the moment where the strike must fall.

Khar’s psychic gift did not manifest as raw force, but as perception. From his earliest days within the Librarius, he demonstrated an ability to sense movement not yet taken, to anticipate enemy action through fragments of possibility that others could not perceive. Where some Librarians wield the warp as a weapon, Khar learned to read it as a map—one that is never still, and never fully understood.

As he trained within the shadowed halls of the Ebon Spire, his visions grew more refined, though never more comfortable. He speaks often of seeing battlefields as fields of drifting ash, where every motion disturbs the pattern. It is from this ever-changing vision that he earned his title: The Ash Seer.

The Veiled Sight

Khar does not claim to see the future. Instead, he interprets the currents that lead toward it. He identifies moments of weakness, paths of least resistance, and the precise second where action will have the greatest effect.

For the Skyfangs, this makes him invaluable. His guidance allows Captain Vaedran Marr to time assaults with unnatural precision, ensuring that each descent lands not just with force, but with inevitability.

Keeper of the Veiled Flame

Though his abilities are subtle, they are not without danger. Khar understands the risks of the warp and treats his power with strict discipline. He does not draw deeply unless necessary, and when he does, it is with purpose.

Chaplains of the Chapter maintain a close watch over him—not out of mistrust, but out of respect for the power he carries. Khar himself welcomes this, seeing it as another form of balance. The flame must be controlled, or it consumes all.

Presence on the Battlefield

Khar operates ahead of the main assault, often in Phobos armor, moving with reconnaissance elements to identify the prey’s critical weaknesses. His voice is rarely raised, his guidance delivered in precise, measured commands that shape the flow of battle before the first strike begins.

When the Skyfangs descend, it is often because Khar has already seen the moment—and chosen it.

To the warriors of the 3rd Company, he is the certainty that the strike will land true.

To the enemy, he is the unseen hand that turned the battle before it began.