Angels of Solemnity

"He called us the defenders of humanity, His bulwark against terror. Today we honour His words, today we fulfill His vision, today we hold this city and its people with our lives!"

- The Solemn One (Founder of the Chapter and first Grandmaster, the Battle of Blackspire

The Angels of Solemnity are a Dark Angels Successor Chapter based within the Segmentum Solar. They have a great deal of compassion for ordinary humans and will refuse to withdraw from battle if there are innocent lives in peril (even if there are known Fallen in the nearby area, much to the ire of their Founding Chapter).

Notable campaigns
*The Fallen of Kalson (Unknown Date.Early M34) - *Remember Omala Hive (385.M36) - In 385.M36 on the planet Telcas in the Segmentum Pacificus was under siege by the chaos war-band known as the Pain Reavers. The Angels of Solemnity lead a relief force to lift the 5 year siege. After a 2 week long battle in space the relief force managed to break though the blockade and drive the remain chaos warships back into the nearest warp-storm after a series of orbital bombardment and ground based manoeuvre a significant amount of the chaos forces were destroyed, however a large force headed towards the capital of the planet; Omala hive, a strike force lead by company master Demetrius Salus of the 4th company, the strike force was comprised of: a standard lions blade strike force alongside 12th armoured infantry regiment of the Telcas PDF were deployed to defend Omala hive.The defence of the hive was a valiant endeavour however as weeks carried on with only limited support from the fleet and the citizens of the hive who took up arms, multiple efforts were made to break though the lines however the remainder of the war-band concentrated themselves around the hive bolstering the siege force, as time passed it became clear to company master Salus that the defenders will not leave the city alive using the limited communications with the fleet and the chapter command an orbital bombardment will clear out the air defences at the eastern edge of the city, creating an air corridor for transports used to evacuate the remaining civilians and high value guard assets (to this day the name of the 2nd in command of 12th armoured infantry is held in the highest contempt for managing to get in one of those transports, he was later executed for cowardice by an unnamed commissar). While the evacuation took place Salus lead the defenders in a glorious last stand against the forces of chaos, when the last transport was confirmed clear the star port of the hive was intentionally destroyed denying the warband an escape route. The defenders held on for another 4 days until finally Salus and a small band of survivors stood their ground for the last time under the banner of the 4th company each one fell until Salus was dealt a seemingly fatal blow, as he fell the sky burned as ordinance came raining down from orbit to burn the remains of the Pain Reavers from the face of the planet. all that was left was scorched earth and rubble or so it was thought, when a recon force was sent in to confirm they frantically reported they had found master Salus barely alive his armour in ruins. With all speed he was placed in the stasis crypt of a dark talon and brought back to the chapter flagship, there the apothecaries determined he could only be saved if he is interned within the armoured cocoon of a dreadnought. To this day he still serves in the 4th company advising the current master with his invaluable experience, he is forever known as "the wall of Omala" on Telcas for his unyielding resolve to hold at all cost. And those in the forth company shout Remember Omala when he is bought out to battle. *

Chapter Command
For the most part the chapter is laid out like any other chapter of the Unforgiven with the exception of the 11th Company (See Below).

Master of Dalris and 11th Company
Set apart from the rest of the chapter are those under the command of the Master of Dalris, who acts as the governor of the planet seconded to advise/support him are 1 Interrogator-Chaplain, 1-librarian (typically a Codicier), and 2 veteran squads of marines. The Master of Dalris is for all intense and purposes a company master and as such is a member of the chapters inner circle and is occasionally referred to as the master of the 11th Company. His responsibilities are to ensure that the world of Dalris outside of the fortress monastery is suitably defended and its forces up to standard. Those seconded to his command are focused primarily with the task of training the PDF forces (known as the Dalris Men-at-Arms).

1st and 2nd Companies
As an inheritance from their progenitor chapter the 1st and 2nd Companies of the chapter do not follow standard Codex layouts, but rather follow the structure of the Dark Angels (albeit with different names)

The 1st company (equivalent of the Dark Angels' Deathwing) are called Ashwalkers while the 2nd Company (equivalent of the Dark Angels' Ravenwing) are called the Huntsmen

Planetary history
A hive world of 12 billion souls, Dalris is a hive world/fortress world. Unlike other hive worlds there is no elite living in the upper levels of the hives ruling over the planet, instead each hive has an elected counsel with the leader of each counsel representing at a planetary level with the master of planet (equal to a company master and member of the chapter's inner circle) as acting governor with an interrogator Chaplin and a senior librarian as support. The planets population live a stoic existence with many doing away with nearly all the luxuries seen on normal imperial worlds, most of the planets resources are mined not on the planet but in space the Astoria fields spread around the system are so rich that mining the planet seams not worth the effort though the excess resources mined are sent to the near by forge world in exchange for high quality war materials, on Dalris luxury good and items of little practical worth are seen as a waste, even entertainment has to have a practical value and normally has an educational message behind it (it should be noted that both the inquisition and Eclessiarchy both have manipulated these messages to protect against heresy) There is one aspect of life on Dalris that is given exquisite treatment; war, when it comes to soldering little expense is spared on equipment quality the Dalris men-at-arms as they are called have equipment and training to match even Cadians, the planetary defences have also been lavished on making the planet more akin to a fortress world than a hive world even the hives themselves appear to be great foresees in there own right the reinforced walls, the defence in placements even orbital defence batteries and auxiliary power and communication hubs. it should be noted that the Dalris men-at-arms are only ever deployed as support to the chapter.

Geography of Dalris
Dalris is a cold harsh world outside the relative comfort of the hives. with great swathes of the lowland covered in coniferous forests and despite the pollution from the hives the biosphere is in remarkable condition. The planet has 5 continents and several large island chains, the remainder of the planet is covered with frigid oceans the 2 polar ice caps are large and cause numerous ice burg fields (it is not uncommon to see a burg the size of a Leman Russ tank at the equator) the continents themselves are criss-crossed with tall mountain ranges showing the tectonic activity of the planet however the are all heavily populated with each continent housing at least 20 hive cites each, the planet has few natural resources so mining is not undertaken planet-side. On the largest remote island situated near the centre of the great ocean in the north west of the planet is the ashen monastery (the great bastion of the chapter)

The Ashen Monastery
The home of the chapter is a remote and sombre place within its walls voices are never raised even in anger, laughter is never heard even in times of rejoicing, cries are silent even in times of great sorrow. it is a monument to the chapters nature, built to the highest standards but remote the island it is built on is devoid of other human life bar the small port town from witch all the chapter serfs are recruited (to the people of the town this is the greatest of honours bar becoming a brother of the chapter). To get to the monastery from the town you must travel the road of memory as it is called (to walk this path is to see every step in your life that has brought you to this moment and to see every failure the individual has made) at the end of the path is the gate of angels in which only the aspirants may enter and the dead may leave.

Recruitment
Initiates are excursively drawn from Dalris and recruitment into the angels of solemnity is a two stage affair:

The first stage is held in a ceremonial arena found in every town and city on Dalris and consists of a usually non lethal 1 on 1 trial by combat. the purpose of this trial is simple it is a test of whether or not the applicant has the base aggression to become a space marine. the non lethal part is a test of restraint to see if the applicant can control himself and follow instructions to the standards required how ever accidents do occur and are judged appropriately.

The second stage is much more difficult. also held in the arena a librarian will face an individual applicant alone and enter his mind and force the applicant to face the worst horrors of his own making in what ever form they take, this can in some cases prove to much for the applicant and may cause permanent psychological damage or in rear cases death. some applicants can suffer adversely from the intrusion of the librarian and cause physical damage ranging from temporary migraines to fatal strokes.

Relics

 * Eternal Vow : A gift to the chapter from their Progenitors, the Dark Angels, and the only known relic belonging to the chapter, it is one of the legendary Heavenfall Blades forged from the black obsidian of the meteorite that struck The Rock in orbit of the feral worlds of Al Baradad. It serves as the badge of office for the Grandmaster of the Chapter (at present Tyrone Anders) it is in the form of a two-handed greatsword in the Calibanite style.