Crimson Skulls

The Crimson Skulls are a Space Marine Chapter of an unknown founding, led by their Chapter Master known only as the "Forgotten Father".

History
Much of the Crimson Skulls' past deeds remain a mystery.

A cluster of freak Warp Storms cut their homeworld of Antares off from the rest of the galaxy for millennia, leaving the 10th Company stranded outside of the system with no leadership for the better part of a century. It is unknown to this day when exactly these Warp Storms first manifested.

The stranded Initiates remained in orbit around a distant world until they received a distress signal from another Crimson Skull, a Captain whose name has been lost to history, returning from his tour with the Deathwatch only to find their homeworld seemingly lost, with the Chapter's new recruits being the only known stragglers. Assuming command once more and declaring himself acting Chapter Master, the Captain led the Initiates out into the galaxy, vowing to rebuild their numbers in the hopes of one day returning to Antares.

The Captain himself had suffered a near-fatal injury during his tour with the Deathwatch, costing him his voice. Finding himself among a Company of recruits who weren't yet familiar with the Chapter's traditions or history, and himself being unable to teach them, he worried the Crimson Skulls as a whole may die out.

The remaining Crimson Skulls soon reformed into a fleet-based Chapter and began travelling Imperial Space, slowly building their numbers and joining numerous Crusades. The fleet made a tradition of returning to Antares' solar system to monitor the Warp Storms once every century.

At some unknown point, the Captain was grievously wounded and interred into a Dreadnought chassis. He became known as "The Aeternal" due to his lack of a known name.

Thousands of years passed, and the Chapter's routine inspection of Antares' home system some time in M39 found that the Warp Storms had vanished without a trace, with the planet itself seemingly untouched. Initial surveys found that the world's Hive Cities had been seemingly destroyed, with the native populace reverting to a primitive feudal society, with nations ruled by noble houses fighting amongst one another for land and scavenged technology.

Once deemed safe, a small expeditionary force was sent into the mountains to explore the old Fortress-Monastery in search of any survivors, with The Aeternal joining them as a guide. To their surprise, the entire complex was abandoned, with no signs of struggle; the inhabitants seem to have left of their own volition and vanished without a trace, and all records held within had been expunged for reasons unknown. The only evidence that any Astartes had been here prior was the abundance of old models of Power Armour, and a single dead body slumped in the Chapter Master's throne, clad in rusted MkII "Crusade" Armor and a single Lightning Claw on his left hand.

The expedition reported back to the fleet and soon the Chapter made planetfall, taking up residence in the Fortress-Monastery once more. Their time away had caused them to develop a single-minded obsession with their past, scouring countless worlds for even the tiniest shreds of information and hoarding relics wherever they were found. The Fortress Monastery was named "Ancestors' Summit" in honor of their lost forefathers.

Initial contact with the native populace was unsuccessful; they had come to worship the disappeared Chapter as "Messengers of the Emperor" and did not believe them and the new arrivals to be one and the same. The then-Chapter Master, an Astartes by the name of Cretian Arkus, returned to Ancestors' Summit and adorned himself with the ancient armor worn by the corpse found in the throneroom, and later returned to make contact once more. Meeting with the nearest noble family, calling themselves House Pleiades, Arkus was this time greeted with open arms, with the nobles proclaiming that the "Forgotten Father" had returned. Soon a meeting was held with Arkus, House Pleiades and the other noble families of Antares and a truce between them was formed, ceasing their squabbling and swearing fealty to the Crimson Skulls once more.

Chapter Initiation Rites
The Crimson Skulls initially recruited from any suitable worlds they would encounter while cut off from Antares, but recruitment was restricted entirely to their homeworld upon their return.

Each Noble family offered up all but one of their sons each generation to join their ranks, and tournaments were held amongst the common folk, with the victors being chosen for implantation.

Upon selection, potential Initiates were sent unarmed into the ruins of the Hive Cities for a full year with no weaponry, and were expected to survive by themselves by any means as well as search for any lost relics of the Chapter. Approximately seven in ten aspirants would disappear in the ruins, never to return. Those that did were then inducted into the Chapter's 10th Company.