Sanguinary Priest

A Sanguinary Priest is a specialist officer unique to the Blood Angels Space Marine Chapter and its successors among the Sanguinary Brotherhood. The Sanguinary Priest performs the duties of an Apothecary in a Codex Astartes-compliant Chapter as well as other services peculiar to the genetic inheritance of the Primarch Sanguinius. While the Apothecaries of other Chapters monitor their charges for genetic purity and provide all needed biomedical services, the duties of the Sanguinary Priests transcend this mundane medical need.

Some scions of Sanguinius are driven by a terrible death-seeking madness called the Black Rage, brought on by visions of the death of their primarch when he confronted the Warmaster Horus aboard his flagship the Vengeful Spirit in orbit of Terra during the closing days of the terrible Siege of Terra. Others are afflicted by the Red Thirst, a savage and nearly uncontrollable craving for blood which some claim may be the first signs of corruption by Chaos. The Sanguinary Priests tend to the Astartes afflicted with these genetic curses that comprise their Chapter's Flaw. They are also responsible for inducting all aspirants into the Chapter as neophytes as well as overseeing their implantation with the gene-seed and Astartes organs.

Like other Apothecaries, the power armour of Sanguinary Priests is often painted white to desginate their their status as purveyors of medicae.

History[]

SanguinaryPriest1 — A Sanguinary Priest, wielding Blood Chalice and chainsword.

Every Space Marine Legion, and every Chapter since the Second Founding, has maintained a corps of Apothecaries to safeguard its gene-seed and the health of its battle-brothers by providing medicae services. Yet Primarch Sanguinius knew that his gene-sons would require more than physical curatives if they were to endure the endless war that was to be their mission in the years to come.

The Blood Angels primarch foresaw the darkness that would manifest itself in his children, and knew that it must be guarded against. He knew the shadow of death would come to nestle in his scions' hearts -- though he knew not how it would descend -- and judged that constant guidance would be needed to put this darkness to the proper use. So he transformed the IX Legion's Apothecaries into Sanguinary Priests, setting them as high in honour as the Chaplains of the Reclusiam, and just as vital to the spiritual guidance of the Blood Angels.

Sons of Sanguinius by MajesticChicken — A Sanguinary Priest leads his fellow battle-brothers in battle.

The Sanguinary Priests keep a vigilant watch upon the genetic and spiritual well-being of their charges, and counsel them through the darkness of their Chapter's Flaw. It is known that some amongst the Blood Angels spend much time seeking a cure for these conditions, although most have resigned themselves to the slow and terrible decline of their Chapter. Some scholars say that it is because Sanguinius was more touched by Chaos than the other primarchs during his gestation capsule's flight through the Warp after he and his superhuman brothers were stolen from the Emperor's gene-laboratory. They cite the fact that he possessed wings -- an obvious mutation -- to support their case.

Their argument runs that the gene-seed that was extracted from him was genetically flawed and corrupted even before the IX Legion was created from it by the Emperor, and thus terrible consequences were preordained. Other savants of the Astartes deny this, citing that the Emperor Himself trusted Sanguinius implicitly, and personally oversaw the creation of the Blood Angels. Certain Heretics counter this with the argument that the Emperor also once trusted Horus above all others in his Imperium, and that even He could make mistakes.

Whilst the sermons and ceremonies of the Chapter's Chaplains exhort their battle-brothers to reject the anger within, those performed by the Sanguinary Priests call upon the Blood Angels to embrace the Red Thirst and wrest it to their control; unleashing its strength to buttress theirs when the day is darkest and the battle goes ill. Even to this day, the Sanguine Tower of the Sanguinary Priesthood, also known as the Tower of Amareo, is the only part of the Blood Angels' fortress-monastery that challenges the dark glory of the Chapter's Reclusiam.

There are tales told of a secret chamber atop the Sanguine Tower from which emerge howling cries that demand the blood of the living, but none are willing to say for certain what secrets lie hidden in that haunted, desolate place. These two towers -- one a shining beacon of redemption and renewal, the other sinister and sombre -- remain a physical monument to the dual nature of every Blood Angels' soul.

Role[]

SanguinaryPriestMini — Sanguinary Priests are the preservers of their Chapter's gene-seed and the bearers of the sacred Blood Chalices.

Sanguinary Priests are both medics and mystics, for they are called upon to counsel the battle-brothers of their Chapter in regards to the Flaw, to preach how it might be overcome, or, when needed, harnessed. While it is the task of the Blood Angels' Chaplains to guard for the onset of the Black Rage, it is the duty of the Sanguinary Priests to guide the brethren through the worst excesses of the Red Thirst, and to remain noble and pure throughout. The Sanguinary Priests call upon the Blood Angels to embrace the Red Thirst and wrest it to their control; unleashing its strength to buttress theirs when the day is darkest and the battle goes ill.

For those Astartes who are wounded in battle and can be saved from the clutches of death, the Sanguinary Priest will do his utmost to preserve his battle-brother's life. The injured battle-brother is returned to full fighting health, so the gene-seed within him will survive and the Chapter endure. Yet for those Space Marines that are mortally wounded in battle and rendered incapable of recovery, the Sanguinary Priest can do little but calm the spirit in preparation for oblivion, sometimes relieving his charge's mortal agonies with a single shot.

Once death has come, the Sanguinary Priest performs one final act for his fallen comrade, extracting the Progenoid Glands -- the reservoirs of gene-seed -- from the corpse. This is by far the hardest part of a Sanguinary Priest's duties, for the Red Thirst cares little for the nature of blood -- only that it is warm and flowing. So it is that every gene-seed extraction performed by a Sanguinary Priest becomes not only a ritual necessary for the continuation of their Chapter, but also a trial for the mind and soul of the Sanguinary Priest himself.

Sanguinary Priest2 — Sanguinary Priest in Artificer Armour with Blood Chalice relic.

Within the veins of every Sanguinary Priest runs the blood of Sanguinius, so that they might continue to Insanguinate the Chapter's aspirants -- the process by which the gene-seed is activated using a sample of Sanguinius' blood drawn from a Sanguinary Priest's body and drunk from the artefact known as the Red Grail. As befits so potent and blessed a legacy, there are few Sanguinary Priests who do not in some way share the tiniest fraction of their primarch's legendary grace. The presence of a Sanguinary Priest is heartening for all those who descend from the blessed Sanguinius, and few Astartes can deny the presence of a primarch's blood.

However, so vital to the Blood Angels are the Sanguinary Priests that it does not bode well if one is permitted to fall in battle and be abandoned. If a Sanguinary Priest is slain, and his body and wargear not recovered, the dishonour of such an act reduces the honour of the Chapter as a whole.

Sanguinary Novitiates[]

Before they can take up the robes and chalice of the priesthood, a Blood Angel must first serve time as a Sanguinary Novitiate. Trained in the arts of surgery, they are equipped with the Narthecium and Reductor common to all Apothecaries, and attend to the wounded under even the heaviest enemy fire.

Should a patient prove beyond saving, they provide the Emperor's mercy and extract their fallen comrade's gene-seed. Once a Novitiate proves himself, he is then properly inducted into the priesthood's hallowed ranks, where he is made privy to the order's secrets.

Blood Chalice[]

The Sanguinary Priests have as the symbol of their office a gold-wrought cup called a Blood Chalice, a vessel into which it is said a portion of the blood of Sanguinius himself was once poured. The very first Blood Chalices were presented to the priesthood by Sanguinius. Legend has it that the primarch somehow placed a part of his being into each vessel, and that the bearer of the relic and all battle-brothers near to it can hear Sanguinius' voice in their mind, urging them to greater glories.

Over the long centuries, many Blood Chalices have been lost to the caprice of war and, though there are no longer Blood Chalices equal to the number of Sanguinary Priests, each Exsanguinator -- the Sanguinary Priest's chief tool of healing -- contains a shard from a shattered Blood Chalice so that the blessing is not lost. The greatest of the Blood Chalices is known as the Red Grail, into which the blood of the slain primarch was poured and from which every Sanguinary Priest and Blood Angels aspirant will drink, but every Blood Chalice is still a relic of the utmost reverence.

In the 41st Millennium, there are more Sanguinary Priests than there are Blood Chalices, for the capricious ebb and flow of galactic war has led to some being lost or destroyed. Yet, the Blood Chalice is such a potent symbol of the Chapter's inheritance that those Sanguinary Priests who are considered worthy bear one into battle in order to inspire their fellow Space Marines. Even battle-brothers not of the Blood Angels' line cannot help but feel inspired by the proximity of such a relic, for the blood of a primarch is a potent essence to all of the Adeptus Astartes.

Should such a sacred relic be lost upon the field of battle, or its bearer fall to enemy fire, the Blood Angels and their allies will fight as savage animals to recover it or to avenge its loss. Entire campaigns have been launched by the Blood Angels and their successors in the Sanguinary Brotherhood to recover a lost Blood Chalice, and the mere rumour that one has been identified is sufficient to drive the Blood Angels to the edges of the galaxy and beyond to retrieve it.

Deathwatch Service[]

DeathwatchPrimarsApothecary — A Deathwatch Primaris Apothecary seconded from the Blood Angels Chapter -- known among them as a Sanguinary Priest.

A rare few Sanguinary Priests come to take the Apocryphon Oath and serve a Vigil of the Long Watch with the Deathwatch Chapter, the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Xenos. When doing so, they perform all of the usual duties of an Apothecary: monitoring their battle-brothers' genetic purity, healing wounds, and recovering the Progenoid Glands of the fallen.

In addition, they are highly gifted in oratory, and the very best of them is able to inspire not only the sons of Sanguinius but any Space Marines they serve alongside. However, there is one duty above all others that a Sanguinary Priest serving in the Deathwatch must attend to, and that is the counselling and monitoring of others of his genetic kin serving in the same watch fortress. Should he detect any sign of the Black Rage, he must act for the good of all, and ensure that his lost battle-brother is returned to their parent Chapter, or that his suffering is ended through the administration of the Emperor's Peace.

Wargear[]